Hawthorn's March Photo Hunt

I am once again joining in with Hawthorn Spellweaver (click here to visit her blog and see links to other people who are taking part).  She provided the list of words before the end of February and as usual I had to think hard!

So off we go.

1  Flowers

For a long time now, Caravan Girl has given me

an Amaryllis bulb just before Christmas.

This year there was a second flower stem but it

grew out at a funny angle; perfect for displaying

its wonderful flower.

2  Baking/Cooking (with recipe)

Top - size of dough

Middle - first set of 9 cookies cooling

Bottom - sampling one (or was it two?)!

Maple Pecan Cookies

Makes about 40, depending on how big a heaped tablespoon you use!

110 g unsalted butter 225 g granulated sugar 85 g dark brown sugar	Beat together; it will be grainy rather than a smooth mixture.
1 egg, beaten ½ teaspoon vanilla extract	Add to beaten butter/sugar mixture and mix in.
285 g plain flour 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda	Sift together into the bowl and mix in; it will be more like crumbs rather than a smooth mixture.
2 tablespoons maple syrup 55 g pecan nuts (chopped/broken into pieces by hand)	Add to bowl and mix in; again it will be crumb-like rather than a smooth mixture.

1   Preheat the oven to 150-180 °C (GM 2-4); you will need to experiment with the temperature.  I find GM 4 is best for me.

2   Line two baking trays with non-stick baking parchment.

3   Drop a heaped tablespoon of mixture onto a tray and allow room to spread.

4   Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.  I find mine take at least 12 minutes to bake.

5   Cool on the baking trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  They tend to be crunchy with a chewy centre.

6   They freeze well and are as good as if just out of the oven.

3  Reading

I love books!  I used to have many, many more but when we moved I had to be realistic and

only take what I thought I would use!  Not an easy task.  In addition I downsized all my

gardening and cookery books too!

4  Comfortable

Thank goodness for Lucy from Attic24!  Here are the 3 blankets I've made, inspired by

her blog.  I've another one waiting to be done....  The top right one was made for 

Beloved and he wanted it lining as he felt it was not warm enough so I lined

it with some fleece fabric, I just happened to have in my fabric stash!

The one at the top left has been made for me!

The one at the front is Lucy's Moorland CAL blanket.

They are great to snuggle under .......

5  Favourite Colour

Mine is red!!!!  Closely followed by black and purple.  I treated myself to this yarn and pattern

back in early 2013 and it is only now that I'm getting around to knitting it up.

Having nearly done the back I found out that I've misunderstood the YON instruction

in the pattern.  Blue and Yellow Morning (one of the Knit N Knatter ladies) showed me

where I was going wrong!  Oh, we had a good laugh.  So my plan is to stop work on the 

back, start a front piece using the correct YON technique and see if I can master

the pattern.   If I do, then I will frog the back and start again....

Might be finished this time next year as I have to concentrate very carefully

and can only manage about 4 rows before I have to put it down.  I need to do about 170 rows

for the back.....  there is no rush to finish it.....

Update - pattern sorted, back pulled back and I can knit the pattern in company!

6  Candles

Well Hawthorn this was a hard one!  Whilst I like scented candles, I do not have any (fire hazard as I know I will walk away and forget them and Beloved does not like the flickering light or smell).

Talk about a light bulb moment!  I remembered I had

some candles to use when we have electricity cuts.

They have never been used (I do have other that are used).

They were bought from a local hardware shop back in about

1984 but it sadly closed a few years later.  The label

takes me back all those years and what a good

old-fashioned shop it was too.

7  Hat

I like hats!  I am generally cold so always wear a hat (and gloves and scarf, even when others are in shorts and short-sleeved blouses ....).

Top - find a crochet pattern in one of my books and select yarn from my stash.

Middle - follow instructions to make the hat; problem is, it does not

turn out as planned and I had to do extra rounds (decreasing!) until it fitted; it is

like a beret and I do not like it.....  spend several days thinking about it.

Bottom - look!!!  I had enough yarn left over to start another one.  At round 10 (out of 23

rounds) it said to repeat round 5.  This was an increase round - WRONG!  It should 

have been repeat round 6, which was not an increase row.

I do like this hat as it fits snug; I've made another 2 using the correct pattern!

8  Walk

June 2014 Beloved and myself went for an evening walk around our village.

Look what we saw in the sky, a moustache cloud.  Click here to read about this cloud.

Amazingly the 'cloud' on the right is someone on the Recreation ground flying

a kite of a very similar shape....

9  Favourite mug (or cup and saucer)

I love mugs.....  whenever I am out I often see beautiful mugs but I don't

buy any as there is no room in the cupboard!  I rarely break a mug but

I will be good and not deliberately break any.

This was a gift from a lady I worked with in my last job; she knew I

liked chickens and that my kitchen was red.... 

I used to keep chickens until we moved....  still miss them but

I do not miss the work of looking after them!

10  Own choice

A silk-painted scarf I made on a day course.  Yes, it is a chicken!

I've never worn it but hang it on a wall, out of direct sunlight.

I think it was made in the mid 1990s and I still like it!

Well that all for this month.  I hope some made you smile.  Sorry I could not sneak Boris in, but who knows if I will succeed in the future!

Now I must go and look at everyone else's photos.  Don;t forget you can click here to see other people joining in with Hawthorn this month.