31//Life

Today I am 31. I can't quite believe it yet. I'm going to the cinema with my lovely family and for pizza!!

31 is going to be a better year; I resolve for it to be.

V xo

RIP Miss China//Life

Today we sadly lost China; she was a beautiful and amazing cat. She had a wonderful life and we will miss her presence.

Quick Post

My last 2 posted were both scheduled; I have actually been in hospital for the last 11 days and will be inpatient for a further 10. I've got limited Internet access so I'm quickly updating.

I am still knitting; just working solidly on 1 project - I will share that as soon as I possibly can.
Happy Knitting, V xo

Basic Bread//12 Breads

I love fresh homemade bread; so I thought a nice new feature on the blog would be 12 Breads - that's one a month for the year. So I decided to start with a nice basic bread; it smells delicious even as it's prooving!! So the recipe is Jamie Oliver's; it's quite simple but not necessarily the quickest bread as there is quite a bit of prooving time. Here are some pics of my bread: 

 

Here is the dough as it's being kneaded:



 Here is the dough just before it's 2nd prooving; it's covered in clingfilm that's why the photo is odd:



Here is the loaf before going in the oven:

 Here is the loaf all baked, and looking yummy!!!

I'm really pleased with how this loaf turned out, it's super yummy. I would change a couple of things - I did make this on my work surface as per the instructions but alot of water leaked out and it was quite messy however I will try again. I also put some rock salt over the top of my loaf before baking. I will use this recipe again; but I might try some different flavourings etc. The bread is really nice but it's quite a close bake; so I might make 2 loafs using the mixture instead HOWEVER it's lovely as it is dipped in soup!!
What have you been baking lately?
V xo

Christmas//Life

Well it's officially Christmas Eve here in Scotland, I can't believe how quickly December has gone in. I have been knitting like crazy to get my Gran's shawl finished - it's pretty much done and I'm really happy with it. I'll be sharing pictures in the next week or so, I promise. I will also be looking for pattern testers for this knit before I release the pattern in the New Year.

I just really wanted to pop by and say MERRY CHRISTMAS to all my lovely followers and readers - I'm so excited for 2013 and the direction of my blog.
V xo