Sometimes spilt milk IS worth crying over

Yes it is.

Image via

I'm afraid it's all been a bit beyond me today. Getting the kids up, making breakfast, school run and petrol filling. I've got a little cough you see. And while I'm here feeling very poorly, I'm wondering why I have been telling the kids to man up and get over it.

It's whooping cough, and while the kids haven't had that characteristic whoop that I seem to have been blessed with, I think it might be the same cough. So while I struggle with another baby disease (last year was Chicken Pox/Shingles), I'm making the most of it and downloading all those movies the husband scoffs at.

Where do I start on the whole vampire vs werewolf debate?

For me, Edward is the clear winner.

What's not to love about Edward and his swoonyness? He can quote Shakespeare! 

Possibly a tad too pale, but gosh there is something irresistible about a vampire...

If only he had Jacob's body, I think we would all be happy.

Sadly, I've never had to *choose* between vampire and werewolf, but I'm pretty sure I'd know which way to go.

So while I lie here pondering these important distinctions, forgive me my illegal downloading, illicit thoughts and milk sookery.

Don't buy balloons in a windy day and other pearls of wisdom...

Of the six balloons I bought on Friday, only three made it home.

Dogs destroy lawn.

Houses do not paint themselves

And paving is never going to happen if I keep spending money on nail polish

But the new tank is full, the pump is working and the garden is loving the rain/sun/rain/sun combination.

Scarfy present

It's small...but so are kids. 

When you are eight, things don't need to be big (although if I was to be honest, I ran out of wool and probably would have made another couple of squares). 

I kind of hate the tee, who would have thought a plain grey tee would be so hard to find? Why do they all seem to have inappropriate, tacky things on them? Admittedly this one is not a great example of beautiful simplicity, but there you go.

I compensated for the plain tee with a crochet hanger and necklace.

Because, let's be realistic. I'm not in the business of garment making. One has to draw the line somewhere.

Vietnamese Coffee: How to

As I mentioned last post, I've fallen in love again with Vietnamese coffee.

What's not to love about that combination of super strong coffee and syrupy condensed milk?

There seems to be endless ways to enjoy coffee and each gives you such a different result.

We are big fans of our La Pavoni Lever. it makes consistently good coffee, and its how I start my day. Everday. I'm not a big milk fan, so my morning latte is my only real calcium intake (other than hefty helpings of washed rind cheese). 

But all that milk is just too much and I revert to tea for the rest of the day.

While in Vietnam we enjoyed great coffee, but I hadn't really tried to replicate it at home until now. 

These little presses are so nifty. We have two and they are so simple to use. The first was a fancier version from the Luke Nguyen range, and comes with a glass and bamboo coaster, but this one is works the same and was only $7.50 from an Asian grocery store.

Simply place two teaspoons of condensed milk in the bottom of a glass

and three teaspoons of coffee in the base of your press and tamp down with the top press/filter

sit on top of the strainer  and add boiling water to the top of the screw, then cover with the lid.

It's not something you can rush, but the coffee will eventually drip through.

I'm looking forward to summer and being able to pour this over crushed ice.

Crafty

I gotta tell ya...

it's been a while.

And I spent all day at it. I'm intent on making a teensy scarf for an eight year old by this weekend.

I've already broken my rule of sewing in the ends as I go, and cursed myself when I finished the squares. Sooo terribly tiresome. 

Once again I used skeins of tapestry wool for my crochet. The colour range is just so much more extensive, and for small projects like this scarf I really didn't want to spend a fortune on wool that might not get used again. The scarf is reasonably short at only sixteen squares long and will team well with a grey tee. I used this pattern as a guide for my sunburst in squares, but adapted it somewhat as I was only wanting three rounds. Once you get the hang of patterns, they are pretty easy to tinker with. I'll finish joining it together this evening and hopefully post a picture tomorrow.

And this is what I've fallen in love with all over again.

Vietnamese coffee.

Strong and sweet and completely different to my morning coffee. Such a treat and a real afternoon pick me up.

Disappeared!

Well, not exactly. Just nothing much to say I'm afraid. 

Possibly I could have made a half-hearted effort and simply reposted old posts, but really...

Keep tuned, and I will attempt to return good and proper in the next few days, with an interesting tale or two (I may have to invent them) and some flattering photos of the house, the dog and the springy garden (after I've retaught myself to use the neglected camera).

Meanwhile, say hi to the triplets.

 Sadly there will be no more. The menfolk have made threats and I fear for their safety on a daily basis.