Gift of Chintz

I thought I would show you one of our anniversary gifts

The other lovely gifts we received were holidays and dining out in a lovely resturante,

so I can't show you those but this I can

It was a present from dear friends and I love it.

I know Sandi from Rose Chintz Cottage would too,

Sandi loves Chintz as you can tell by her blog name.

It is Royal Albert English Chintz

Aren't the little roses and for-get-me-knots on it beautiful

I teamed it with a little hand painted vase of sweet peas and love-in -a -mist.

It's from Royal Albert 100 year collection

I hope you are having a lovely week

and my American friends are safe with the threat of  terrible dangerous weather

I will be joining my usual parties this week

The links are on my side bar.

xx jeanetteann

Time to eat less and fresh

Summer on the way in another month and a half so time to eat less and fresh

I picked these lovely fresh greens from the garden today

All ready to turn into a beautiful crunchy salad.

I had to buy tomatoes which are very expensive at the moment :(

The ones on my bushes haven't set yet.

A nice healthy quiche to go with it.

This is just broccoli ( cooked in boiling water for just a couple of minutes and drained and cooled before placing into the pastry case)

 2 eggs mixed with plain low fat yoghurt and finely sliced

low fat cheese over the top

I made the crust with plain wholemeal flour

I made a little one with the left over pastry for my Grandson

who is on a no salt special diet at the moment

Served with crunchy home made no salt wholemeal bread

I love the black crusty tops

Wholemeal Bread Recipe

50 grms(2 oz) fresh yeast or 30 ml(2 level tsp dried yeast and 5 ml (1 tsp honey)

900 ml(11/2 pints) tepid water

1.4 klg (3 lb)plain wholemeal flour   (I mixed 1/2 and 1/2 wholemeal and strong white)

30 ml (2 level tblsp) demarara sugar ( I used raw sugar)

20 mls (4 level tsp) freshly ground salt ( I left out the salt because my grandson is on a salt free diet at the moment)

25 grms (1oz) vegetable margarine 

optional cracked wheat.

Grease two 900 grm (2lb) loaf tins or 3-4 smaller ones

Blend the fresh yeast with 300ml (1/2 pint) water 

For dried yeast,mix with 1 tsp honey and 300ml (1/2 pint) water and leave to bubble for 15 mins

in a warm place

Mix the flour,sugar and salt (if using) together in a large bowl and rub in the margarine. 

 Stir in the yeast liquid,adding enough of the remaining water to make a firm dough that leaves the side of the bowl clean

 You can use a food processor or Kenwood mixer and dough hook for this if you have one

Turn out onto a floured board and knead until the dough feels firm and elastic and no longer sticky.

Shape into a ball,cover with a clean cloth

 and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled in size

Turn the dough out onto your floured board again and knead again until firm,flattening out with knuckles to knock out any air bubbles.

Divide into two large tins or 3 or 4 smaller ones

I used 3 x 450 grm for mine.

Optional brush with salt water and sprinkle with cracked wheat

Cover with the clean cloth and leave in a warm place again until the dough fills the tins 

Bake the loaves in the oven at 230C (450F) mark 8 for 30 or 40 mins until well risen and firm

Turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack

TIP 

Tap with the knuckle on the bottom. They should sound hollow

If they don't, return to the oven for another 5 - 10 mins.

For pudding, blueberries with low fat yoghurt and drizzled with honey

While I was on a roll in the kitchen

I made orange marmalade

Refreshed all the vases with more blooms

And filled baskets and bowls with the fallen petals,

the scent is so fragrant throughout the house

I am visiting my usual parties this week featured on my side bar.

Hope you have a lovely sunny week

xx jeanetteann

Spring garden & Dream catcher

Two of my favourite teacups with the sweetest pink roses

Pink to remind us that October is Breast Cancer Month

Violets with a nice Almond biscuit.

Come with me on a little tour of our Spring Garden

Love in a Mist

Sweet Peas

The first of the Holly Hocks

The sky is so blue today

A lovely backdrop for our Black Boy rose

Stocks

Petunias

Daisies

Roses

Gyraniums

I have forgotten the name of these?

I finally mastered the art of making a dream catcher

This is for my daughter Kerry Lee's birthday

Please join me for my usual fun parties

The links are on my side bar

x jeanetteann

What's in my cupboard and thrifty find

What's in the cupboard?

Sandi from Rose Chintz Cottage is having a what's in your cupboard party

This is one of my many stocked full cupboards with collections in progress

I am attempting to collect the whole dinner set of this pink transfer ware.

It has a cottage and horse drawn carriage as the picture.

It's Johnson Churchill made in England

It is one of the more readily available patterns,

 but the cups and dinner plates are proving to be alluding me.

I also teamed pink Glamour Rose by J & G Meakin dinner plates with them, as I still haven't found the matching ones

I bought this for $3 and it was marked as a single bed sheet,

but I thought it odd that it had a really nice floral border.

If it is a sheet,the border would not be seen when tucked in under a mattress.

So, I am going to use it as a tablecloth.

I couldn't get this picture without the shadow today,

but you can see it's a sheet size (it's double on the line) with the hems top and bottom.

A little posy of my Cecile Brunner roses

The first of the Iris

Please join me at my usual parties this week

The links are on my side bar.

xx jeanetteann

Anniversary cake and dream catcher

We celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary this week.

I have been worrying whether I should attempt to make the cake or not

We are having a family dinner out at our favourite Italian Ristorante.

Sooooo,I am taking the cake.  I wasn't sure that it would be nice enough

to take, but I played around for weeks with so much icing,I was about to give up

and buy one.

You know how you talk yourself out and then into things

Well that's what I kept doing,until this week,only a couple of days until the dinner,

and too late to order one,I made a heart shape butter cake.

I wasn't sure whether to use the roses I had made or the purchased ones

These are the ones I made from Royal icing.

So I got to decorating and within an hour it was done.

All that worry and it just fell into place.

I put the ones I made on the cake and the bought ones around the edge.

I'm not very good at the iced writing,so stuck on some I cut off a 50cent card.

I think it's really come out all right.

Now I wanted to make a Dream Catcher which seems to be all over Blogland at the moment.

My friend Sandy at For the Love of White blog

posted a tutorial of some she had made.

I haven't had time to shop for a hoop yet but had a pair of plastic bag handles

 in my stash of bits and bobs

I thought I could practice with those.  They are only small but still a hoop.

This is my first attempt which I got a bit confused with the middle spider web

This is my second attempt.  I think I need lots more practice when I get a bigger hoop.

I still quite like these though,even though they aren't perfect,I can't quite get the 

spider web middle right.

I think this one might just be a little too tissy,  but it's fun playing with the different looks.

I think it looks better on my bedroom curtains

A little vignette for Fresh cut Friday

Sweet little roses from my garden.

I so love the soft pink

I am joining my friends at my weekly blog parties

Links to these are on my side bar.

Happy Week 

xx jeanetteann