A sweet something ....

Ginger sherry roll ...

During a run of chats on face book and emails I have since received  I have discovered  that many folks have never tried this simple desert ... it was extremely popular in the 1960's 

 and was my stand by for Dinner Parties ....

So here it is have a go ..... will take just minutes to assemble

For 4 to 6 people ...

1. Pkt Ginger Nuts

1.  glass of Sherry

Whipped Cream    ....   enough to cover  the size of a Pkt  of  ginger nuts biscuits ..... with 2 table spoons  icing sugar to help hold shape

1. Cadbury Flake  ... or more if you find you eat to much of it while making the desert.

Process....  Dip each biscuit in sherry quickly as you do not want them to go soggy.

                   Sandwich with a very  small amount of cream ... then  place in a roll on plate

                    Cover with whipped cream  sealing to the plate

                    Crumble Flake over the top

Refrigerate for a couple of hours ....    Then enjoy !!      

I have never found anyone  who has not liked this ... except those who do not like ginger of course .....      

Big Thank you day.....

I have been taking part in a swap called " A Little bit French"  there has been lavender  patterns posted by Cheryl the swap Mama and we had to do one or more and send off to a secret swap partner ... well today a parcel arrived from my secret partner who turned out to be Miss Debs from Christchurch ... So thank you so much Debs .... The lavender sleep pillow and lavender bag smell wonderful ..... in fact lavender is my favorite smell ... the post man was very intrigued by the parcel as it smelt wonderful even while wrapped in it's postal bag.....

But ... the big surprise is that ...... on Deb's facebook and blog she put a photo of a very pretty tea cosy she had knitted .... a friend of Deb's commented  "she would like one in  another colour"  ... Me .. for a bit of a joke said " Please make mine Pink "  Well !! can you imagine my surprise  when I opened the lavender smelling postal bag there also was a lovely tea cosy  that Deb had knitted in pink for me.

So my down days have had a great big lift today ... Thank you so so much Deb..

May be this month will finish soon.....

Take a cuppa and sit comfortably.... Okay you get nothing for ages then along comes the saga ...

Some times life dishes up the wrong things at the wrong time ... and when it does it seems to be able to do it in abundance, or that is the way I feel at present ....

But of course it also does the opposite and does the nice things for you ... so nice things first.

Harvey before the haircut and after ... what a difference ... Harvey was adamant not to have his haircut but he finally gave in ... and what a smart chap he looks ....  this picture was just a couple of weeks apart

This week Harvey had a teacher only day at his school and I got to spend the day with him or him with me which ever way you look at it ....  when he arrived we sat very quietly , him on my computer and me at 8 am sewing and having breakfast it was a lovely moment in time.
He was on his facebook he is 8yrs old ...gosh how life has changed ... but Grandma is beginning to accept it if with some reluctance ... I just love spending time with my Grandsons and especially when I have any of them alone just one on one.
So we went shopping, he also came to Arthritis Exercise swimming in 37 degrees of hot water ...wonderful!! and he enjoyed the warm water as well. He also had to tag along to a meeting for 45 minutes with a Rep. from  Arthritis NZ from  Wellington as I am secretary of same here, she was so impressed with him as he was an angel and sat with a Hot Chocolate and Brownie with out making a peep of noise.... so Grandma was proud of him also.

So my sewing ... I am doing some more Sue Thomson Corn pad work this time a hussif all in a single  colour  on  Linen with the lining in Blue and white ...

 

I love this technique it is so free and easy to do and grows so quickly... it may not be long before you see the finished item ....



The weather has been awful ... torrential rain for a couple of days ... along with this came the flooding and wash outs of gorges and roads of course so far we have not heard of any fatalities which is a blessing.


So the not so good bits ...
My son had his car broken into and his wallet taken along with sunglasses and a few other items ...lucky there was no cash in the wallet .. but the inconvenient thing of having to stop all his cards is a bummer.
The following day I had my bike stolen  from my garage ... this was a very opportunistic theft as I had just been in the garage to load the car to go out .... went back to the house for a few minutes leaving garage door up  ... "viola" it was gone. Informed the police they came to finger print but nothing !!
So I called the insurance company ... it was a fairly good bike  a few years old but well looked after etc etc.    Only to be told it had no value ... according to insurance companies .... bikes it seems lose 35% value in first year and 30% each year ....  by the time they are 3 years old no value at all.

So moral of this ...Do not insure your bikes it is a waste of money the insurance company basically told me so..... so read your policy very closely.  therefore  it is down to me to pay for a new bike ... so am looking at Trade Me  if they have no value should be able to pick up a good one there for next to nothing....Yeah!!
The cat has hurt his paw ... sliced the pad again  ... I wonder how he does it  ... this is the second time... oh well!! keep licking it Chivers it will heal.

To continue my sage ....
When in Hamilton at beginning of month I managed to  bump a car in a carpark... whooops !! my fault  ...   But the lady who owned the other car did not want me to pay for her damage ... I think because she was parked in a NO Parking area she seemed very worried by this ... I did try to urge her to let me  pay for the damage but to no avail .... so all I have to do is get the red paint off the wing of my car and have the bumper  touched up..

I have in June so far  achieved 2 Electricians bills ... double power bills ( another story) dropped a bottle of nailpolish on the bedroom carpet with no lid on ( did mange to clean it up ) have broken 3 items of crockery ... not valuable but upsetting.
 Had a haircut and the hairdresser was so busy talking she cut it far to short ... but looks okay and it will grow which is also a blessing.

I am still feeling  low and have not made it to the Dr's  ... but will do I have promised myself ... I have started on vitamins and folic acid and anything else to give me a lift,  I think it may be working a bit just need that sunshine and warmth and I would then bet every thing will be seen in a different light.

So now I guess you are all depressed at reading this  ... but cheer up it will be August soon and things have just got to change then .. I know they will... Oh!! and by the way I seem to have hit the chocolate big time in last few weeks ...Ugh!!! not so good I know that but what the heck the girl needs it.

Here I am already ..... concentrating !!!

Have to share this it came via my son .....

A man came home from work and found his 5 children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn around garden, The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and no sign of the dog, walking in the door, he found ...an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, the throw rug was against one w...all, In the front room the TV was on loudly with the cartoon channel, the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel... She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?...
''Yes," was his incredulous reply..
She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it....

 

Me and my computer

Just look at this cute picture ... I guess they are biscuits.

So back to the subject,   my computer and I are not on the best of terms ... I seem to have trouble settling to do things on it,  my concentration is low for other than playing games  and reading  your blogs  .... Everything on a day to day basis is getting done but not until the last moment... but  I am stitching and doing all my other hobbies.
So emails and my blog are getting neglected ... I have no idea why ..  May be it is the winter effecting me  I can not put my finger on the reason why.    We have had a really cold winter with  beautiful days  but I think I am in need of some really warm sunshine ... I have thought about taking a holiday to one of the Pacific Islands but believe it or not I can not be bothered to book it,  yet alone travelling to it.

So if you don't get comments from me it is not because I am neglecting anyone I am reading all your blogs and getting inspiration from them  ...
So may be a trip to the Doctors will be on the cards for a blood test .... perhaps I am suffering  from the lack of something ...

So I am still here ... just not very active on the blog at present.

For all you young Mum's this will happen.......

Some thing for every  Mother to read especially if you have young children or Grand children the best explanation I have ever read.....

This was written by a mother...  when her elder daughter asked  Does Santa really exist.

She wrote the following ....

A few months back, the Tooth Fairy got busted. She left a note for Alice ( the younger) up on her computer.
The Tooth Fairy cursed her need to write notes in elaborate fonts and tried to come up with a cover story, but it didn't fool Lucy ( the elder ).

To her credit, Lucy has kept the secret from her little sister, who still hasn't lost a tooth and deserves to wake up with money under her pillow.

But the Tooth Fairy knew it couldn't be too long before Santa was similarly unmasked. She didn't know when or how, but she knew the days of magic in her house, at least magic of a certain sort, were coming to an end.

And the Tooth Fairy—by which I mean myself—was pretty darned sad about the inevitable, which finally arrived last week.  Lucy left me a note .....



I NEED TO KNOW, she wrote, using capital letters for emphasis. ARE YOU SANTA? TELL ME THE TRUTH.

What do you do when your kid asks for the truth? You tell it, of course, doing your best to figure out a way that keeps at least some of the magic intact.

Here’s what I wrote:

Dear Lucy,

Thank you for your letter. You asked a very good question: “Are you Santa?”

I know you've wanted the answer to this question for a long time, and I've had to give it careful thought to know just what to say.

The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa.

I am the person who fills your stockings with presents, though. I also choose and wrap the presents under the tree, the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (And yes, Daddy helps, too.)

I imagine you will someday do this for your children, and I know you will love seeing them run down the stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sit under the tree, their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won’t make you Santa, though.

Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to have belief in something they can’t see or touch.

It’s a big job, and it’s an important one. Throughout your life, you will need this capacity to believe: in yourself, in your friends, in your talents and in your family. You’ll also need to believe in things you can’t measure or even hold in your hand. Here, I am talking about love, that great power that will light your life from the inside out, even during its darkest, coldest moments.

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student, and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he’s filled with joy.

With full hearts, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no. I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I’m on his team, and now you are, too.

I love you and I always will.

Mom