Double Trouble!

Last weekend saw me at the first crop of the year and I have to say I was very productive, well for me anyway!

I decided to have a crack at the weekly challenge over on UKScrappers and it was a great challenge to kick start my creativity for 2014.  We had to use this sketch:

We also had to include paints or misting and lots of journalling.  Here's what I came up with:

This is one of my favourite photos of Maddie and Alfie.  It was taken in 2010 and they were leaning on the gate saying goodbye to me as I went away for the very first weekend without them.

I can't say it was a fantastic weekend because I was so worried about the pair of them but I needn't have been because they were fine and had a great time!

How have you kick started your crafting for 2014?

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Week Two Round Up

Well week two of the New Year has whizzed by!  Here are some of the highlights of my week:

I had the first full week back at work and it was good to get in to a routine again.

I tried another new recipe so I'm keeping on track with my New Year goals, yes I know it's early days but I do intend to keep this up.

The sun finally came out and  chased away the rain clouds that have been hanging about forever!

My little car, Goldie, reached a milestone!

I finally got brave enough to set up the Selphy printer my mum got me for Christmas, I love it and if you take a lot of pictures on your phone then you'll love it too :)

I managed to lose the 3.5lbs I gained over Christmas and I won the fruit and veg raffle :)

This week's dirty pudding was a Krispy Kreme doughnut, I can't remember the last time I had one and I enjoyed every bite.

You see that crumb on his nose? That's the evidence that he stole a sausage roll!  I couldn't tell him off though because it was the same day that one of our little doggie friends went to the Rainbow Bridge :(

I went to the first crop of the year and had a great time, I managed two layouts which I'll share on here soon.

And finally I had some lovely cuddles with Alfie, he fell asleep on my lap and I could barely hear the TV over his snoring!

I hope you had a great week.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo x

Potato and Leak Soup

Another week, another recipe and yes it's soup again!  I think it's just what's needed for these cold, wet days we're having.  This weeks soup was potato and leek and it was delicious.

You will need:
1 large onion
2 bay leaves
1.2 litres of vegetable stock
700g potatoes
1 large leek
salt and pepper
150g fat free fromage frais

Finely chop the onion and leek and peel and dice the potatoes.

Place the onion and bay leaves in a pan with 150ml of stock and bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, leek and remaining stock to the pan and season well.  Bring to the boil before covering and letting it simmer for 25 minutes.

Discard the bay leaves and whizz the mixture up in the food processor.

Return to the pan, add the fromage frais and reheat gently.

Voila, a lovely thick soup that tastes great reheated and is free on Slimming World's Extra Easy plan.

These soups have really been helping me because I lost 3.5lbs this week which means I got rid of the little bit of weight I gained over Christmas and the New Year.

I hope the first full week of the New Year has gone well for you.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo x

Week One Done!

Well the first week of the year started off very wet and it seems to have stayed that way!  Here's a quick look back at my week:

The garden is looking worse for wear due to a combination of heavy rain and nutty Alfie running around like a mad man!

I found time to relax with a coffee and box of chocolates that I really shouldn't have opened!

We went to a friend's house to play boardgames and see the New Year in with a cup of tea :)

There was plenty of time for cuddles and crochet :)

Ok I still had dirty pudding (the pudding I have after I weigh in at Slimming World and I never count the SYNs for) but at least I picked one with jelly and fruit :)

I went back to work after 12 days off and spent all day dreaming about a bubble bath!

I met up with an old friend that I haven't seen for over a year.  I showed her my Project Life album and she loved it.

I packed Christmas back into its bags and boxes and put it all up in the loft, I'll miss having the twinkling lights on in the evening :(

How has your first week of the year been?

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Excellent Guard Dog

Hello everyone, it's me Alfie!!!

Mummy is busy taking the Christmas tree down and I'm so pleased about that because I didn't like it, if my toys went near it I was always too scared to go and get them!  Anyway mummy was so fed up with me sniffing all the stuff she was putting in boxes that she sent me away :( Never mind though because I've come here to tell you what a good boy I am.

The other night mummy couldn't find me and was wondering why she wasn't getting lots of cuddles from me.  The reason was she'd just baked some sausage rolls and had left them on the side in the kitchen.  Now I'm so good I only go in the kitchen for breakfast, dinner and if I want a drink but I saw those delicious sausage rolls on the side and I thought I'd better guard them in case that Lily cat from next door tried to get in and steal them! We all know that you can never trust a cat, I know because she's always going in my garden but I'm never allowed in hers, she doesn't play by the rules!

Mummy eventually found me and took this lovely picture of me:

And she was so pleased that I'd stopped Lily cat getting in and stealing the sausage rolls that she gave me one....boy was it lovely :)

Anyway I'd better go, I'm sure I hear Lily cat in MY garden again!

Hope to tell you more stories of how fantastic I am

Love Alfie x

Carrot and Ginger Soup

One of the things I didn't list in my New Year's goals was that I hope to try a new recipe every week this year.

Today I'm here to share a great, healthy recipe for carrot and ginger soup:

You will need:
Low calorie cooking spray
One onion peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
2 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
1.5cm of ginger finely grated
1 litre of vegetable stock
600g carrots peeled and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper

So all you need to do is prep the ingredients.

Using the cooking spray fry the onion, garlic, ginger and celery for 2 minutes.

Add the carrots and stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

Blitz it all in a food processor or using a hand blender.

And serve.  You can stir in a dollop of fat free natural yogurt but I never seem to have much success with that, it always seem to curdle or split so I left it out and the soup still tastes great and is really filling.

If you are doing Slimming World then it is sin free and speedy.

I hope this encourages you to have a go at trying a new recipe.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo x

Welcome to 2014

Happy New Year to you!  I am so excited about this year, I was born on the 14th and 14 has always been my lucky number so I have high hopes that there will be exciting times for me this year.

I had a look back at this post from January 2013 to see how I'd done with the goals I'd set myself for last year, all in all I didn't do to badly.

This year I want to focus on the following:

1. I still need to work on my time management.
2. I will carry on losing weight.
3. I want to try to make/bake/create at least two things a month from the hundreds of things I pinned on Pinterest.
4. I'm going to stop just hitting the 'like' button on Facebook and Instagram and make more of an effort to actually leave comments and interact with people.
5. Me and Maddie are going to go out and do something together at least once a month.
6. I'm hoping to read more this year.
7. I want to blog more regularly.
8. I intend to enjoy every moment!

I think that's a manageable amount of things to see me through the year.

I hope this year is fantastic for everyone.
Jo xx