Fluff!

Well, our UK chickadees are now safely ensconced in their new nest.  Their parents are absolutely exhausted, but Madame Cholet's little Dolphin Chick is ecstatic!  She can reach all the light switches and best of all, all her toys now live in her room.

Given that this is the chickadee that can be heard singing and talking to herself (albeit in her bed!) an hour (or more!) after 'lights out', I'm not quite sure how they're ever going to get her to go to sleep again.She has been very good about not getting out of bed though... except for one night when I went upstairs while I was visiting and found her lying on the bottom shelf of her change table.  Every nappy had been chucked out to make space and there was no way she was going back to the comfort of her little bed. It reminded me of the times I would 'camp' under my bed when I was little. 

The brilliant news is that their Skype connection seems to be so much better than it was before and their picture is that much clearer.  I reckon it was definitely worth moving for that! 

April Blackbird

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Just a few pics from the last week of sight seeing...

Central Athens in the Monasteraki area.

A view over Athens.

A reconstructed Treasury at Delphi... this site is 2000 plus years old!!!

Part of the temple of Apollo at Delphi...

Coming from a relatively young country (New Zealand), I just can't get over how old some of this stuff is, and how amazing the sculptures and buildings were.  It is a shame most of it is in ruins, but when you think about how old it all is and how many wars and occupations it has been through it kind of makes sense.

Arabella Chickie in Greece

A little bit of sight seeing...

We have friends from New Zealand visiting us here in Greece at the moment, so we are taking a little bit of time out in between working on the boat to do some sight seeing around mainland Greece.

Last week we went to Delphi and to see the Corinth canal.  This week we are heading to Olympia and Mycanae.

Pictures to come soon!

Arabella Chickie in Greece

Sunday Stash #3

Retro style fabrics from Dorothy Prudie fabrics on Etsy...

Happy Sunday!  More Sunday Stash posts can be found here.

Arabella Chickie in Greece

Spice Biscuits

Christmas is coming and it's time to bake biscuits.  Lots of them. Lovely spicy biscuits.

This is an old family favourite.  My chickadees loved them (even the chickadee that never got cakes and things...).

7 cups flour
7ml bicarb
Pinch salt
3 cups sugar
1 tsp ginger - ground
1 tsp cloves - ground
1 tsp cinnamon - ground
2 cups butter
3 eggs - large
1 cup smooth apricot jam.

Rub butter into dry ingredients.

Add beaten eggs and jam. Blend.

Roll dough into small balls.  Press balls flat with fork onto a baking tray lined with baking papers. 

Bake 10-15 mins at 180 deg C.

We've been baking these biscuits for at least 20 years now. 

The move is on!... dah, dah, dah, dah, da... the move is on!

Well, it's probably a little early in the morning for my London chicks, but they'll be starting the big move today. 

Madame et Monsieur Cholet et chickadees move to their new nest. In the same suburb mind!  So not far from friends and family and all things familiar.

I am thinking of them and wish I could be there to help. Moving with a 5 month old baby and a 2 (nearly 3 now) year old should be interesting and we're all looking forward to Madame Cholet's account of Dolphin Chicks assessment of her new nest. Let's hope she likes it nearly as much as she did that holiday nest in Cornwall! 

Here's wishing my chickies dry carpets, happy moving, and a good nights sleep tonight.

April Blackbird

Wordless Wednesday #2

Arabella Chickie in Greece

ButterChicken Chickadee Quote Of The Week.

We were doing some activity books before bed and MegaChick had to guess the odd picture out from four... she managed to spot it way before I did and then said...

"Mum! When I do this... "she clicks her fingers"... it means AH! HA!!! I've got it sorted out!"

hmmmm... maybe you had to be there to see it :)

So, you think you can't bake...

This cake is so easy to make that it's a perfect cake for little chickadees who want to learn how to bake.

It has a great pedigree.  I got it from the woman (thank you Brenda!) who taught me how to ice cakes. 

250 grams butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs

Cream well.

Sift in:

2 heaped cups flour - 500 grams
2 teaspoons baking powder

Fold in with wooden spoon.

Then (using the same wooden spoon) add:

1/2 cup mil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Don't overmix the cake or it will be tough. 

Bake at 420 degs for 20-25 mins.

Chickadees can ice this cake as they wish.

Mummy-chicks can read on:

I used this cake to make the Barbie cakes little girls love so much.  Pop the mixture into an oven proof dish which has the right shape to form the skirt you want to create for your doll.

When the cake springs back to the touch and your skewer comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven, let it cool on a wire rack.

A Barbie cake needs a very pretty plate to sit on.  Put a little icing on the plate before you place your cold cake in place. That will stop your creation falling off the plate and onto the floor!  The cake should be placed upside down so that you'll have a full 'skirt' on the bottom.

Remove the legs from your (clean!) Barbie doll (they can be put back on later).  Use a sharp knife to remove enough cake so that Barbie sits 'in' the cake up to her waist.  We want a snug fit or Barbie's torso will wobble around.

Now you can ice your cake.  Ice a bodice as well as the skirt. 

Have fun.

April Blackbird

Sunday Stash #2

I can't believe Sunday has come around again already!  Where has the week gone? 

Here are some fabrics I recently purchased from Above All Fabric... 

I have nothing in particular in mind for these fabrics... just collecting as I see things at the moment.  I have my eye on quite a few fabrics from the latest Quilt Show though... can't wait until they are all released!

More Sunday Stashers found here.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

Arabella Chickie in Greece