A mummy of teenagers....

Being a mummy of teenagers means ....

• When the boys come home filthy  (& deliriously happy) from a week away at SU camp my first thought is to make them something to eat.... 

Chocolate Marshmallow Delight

• Jumping into the car & driving from one end of Ireland to the other (that's over 5 hours driving) to watch son number one in the Irish Rowing Championships

in the rain (of course!)

• An endless battle (which I never win) with the laundry pile...

• More cooking... 



Barbecue Pineapple Chicken with Wild Rice & Leeks

• Squeezing in a little bit of sewing when everyone has gone out 

Liberty Purse for my In The Frame Swap partner

• More baking....

Making Millionaires Shortbread

• And, if I have any free time left.... trying to catch up on all the wonderful stitchy stuff in blogland!

I hope you have had a great, fun-filled week. I'm so sorry I haven't been around, but I'm off now to see what you all have been getting up to...

In the meantime, if you fancy the look of the Millionaires Shortbread, here's the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 160' C / 325' F

Ingredients:

SHORTBREAD: 

• 225g Self Raising Flour
• 150g Butter
• 75g Caster Sugar

CARAMEL: 

• 1 tin (397g) Condensed Milk
• 150g Butter
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 15ml Golden Syrup
• 2 drops Vanilla Essence

TOPPING:

• 150g Dark Chocolate

1. Shortbread: Mix flour & sugar & rub in butter. Tip into a 30cm X 20cm swiss roll tin & press down evenly. Bake for 20-25 mins in preheated oven. Leave to cool in tin.
2. Caramel: Melt butter, sugar & syrup in a saucepan. Add condensed milk & vanilla essence & simmer for 6 mins, stirring continuously. Pour over shortbread base & leave to cool.
3. Topping: Melt chocolate and pour over caramel. Leave to set (if you can resist!) & cut into squares

I hope you have a great weekend... I'll be back soon.....
Take care
Karen

Floral Finds

Hello there!
I hope you have had a great week....over here on the Causeway Coast the sun has finally come out & the flowers have been enjoying a sunny respite from the rain

I've been trying to get a better grasp of instagram & its amazing filters, but unfortunately I think (yet again) my children are better at it than me... This is Hannah's photo from a sunset walk....

Anyway, if you are on instagram do let me know, or if you have any tips I'd love to hear them... I'm birdsongstitches - I think...

As you can probably tell, I've been spending a lot of time in the garden enjoying the flowers & scents (in between weeding & grass cutting) & dreaming up lots of stitchy possibilities,  so I thought I would share some flowery loveliness with you ...

Crochet Flower Card

Pattern available here: little birdie secrets

Flower Hair Clips

Tutorial available here: oh for sweetness sake 

Aneela's Summer Flowers Embroidery

Pattern available here: comfort stitching

Krista's Liberty Lemonade Table Cloth

Tutorial available here: poppyprint

I hope this gives you a little bit of floral inspiration... if you're looking for some other interesting stitchy stuff, click here which will take you to some more pinterest finds.....

Hope you have a lovely rest of the week & wherever you are, that the sun shines - at least a wee bit!

Take care

Karen

Giveaway Greetings

Hello there & a special holiday greeting to all American readers!
I hope you have had a wonderful week whether you were soaking up the sun...

 walking in the rain

 or building castles in the sand

With the children out of school for the summer, I've been doing all three this week - which was lovely, but it means I am a wee bit behind on lots of other important things, like blogging & catching up on all the fun on Flickr.... 

But back to the giveaway. Thanks again for all the lovely blogiversary wishes (especially to Judith & Amy!!) & congratulations to number 72 

who was
gccmom29 June 2012 23:12
What lovely things. Congratulations on your blogiversary! Fudge is my absolute favorite candy!!

Could you please email me your address so I can get this lot of lovelies off to you

If you didn't win this time, don't forget I'll be having another giveaway at the end of July & it might just be your lucky month!
While I was away, we stayed in an old converted monastery deep in the mountains of the tiny island of Majorca

The scenery was stunningly beautiful & I tried to capture it on Instagram

At every turn there were wee courtyards, cobbled streets, a wonderful sense of history 

and most importantly, NO RAIN!

I'm off now to see how Andy's getting on at the tennis, but I'll be back with a tutorial next week & some exciting news

Hope you all have a lovely rest of your weekend & if you have any instagram tips, do please let me know

Take care

Karen

A Momentous June

Hello there

I hope your week has been going well..... Thanks so much to all of you who sent me such lovely blogiversary wishes - I really enjoyed hearing from each one, so many thanks again... If you haven't already entered for the June giveaway, please do by clicking here ....

As I sit here in front of the fire (YES, THE FIRE IS LIT....its the end of June & its so cold we have a lovely fire crackling in the hearth....) But anyway, I was thinking how momentous this June has been for our country with the Queen's Jubilee. But for me, it was also a momentous month for family & friendships.... 

Here are some of the highlights:

The FAT QUARTERLY RETREAT in London was wonderful - a fantastic weekend to meet & laugh with bloggy friends ...& maybe get a wee bit of stitching done too!

I managed (just at the very last minute) get this backpack finished with some wonderful Summersville fabrics

The Olympic Torch arrived in town & my two lovely boys (& the rowing coach) were there to help receive it!!

My wonderful daughter finished her school years....

It seems that only a wee while ago she had her first day in a tiny school house in Scotland

How the years have flown by!!

Fathers Day included some more stitching

McGinty became a model (at the request of a local photographer I might add!!)

And in between all this & the exam (GCSE & A level) trials & tribulations & trying to avoid the rain, I made this sunshine tote for someone in our do. Good Stitches Circle

So a few stitchy things done & some still to do... Here's (some of) my plans for July

You might notice a lot of hand sewing over the next couple of weeks!! I'm wondering what you all will be up to.... Well, no matter what your plans are for July I wish you all a great month, filled with lots of stitchy creativity & birdsong!

Take care

Karen