The things a girl has to do

We've had conditions like this for nearly a week now. It doesn't look bad compared to some of the pictures you see on the news, but believe me, the road and pavements are solid ice under that fresh layer of snow. They're forecasting more of the same this coming week too. I don't mind the cold, but when it's so dark and dreary it gets boring after a while

SO, because of the weather and feeling poorly for a week, a girl has to take drastic measures sometimes. The little choccie alarm in my head kept going off so I had a look at Sarah's blog for this recipe for white choc and cranberry cookies. Thanks Sarah!

So, working on the basis that:
a) cranberries are fruit and therefore good for me
b) oats are good for me and low GI so they'll release energy slowly
and finally
c) choccie contains milk and therefore calcium which is good for my bones.........

I raided the cupboards (which are looking very sad now - note to self: really must venture out and go food shopping) and found some white chocolate buttons - borrowed, I might add, from my niece's Christmas stash. Instead of chocolate chunks I just chucked in the buttons and it worked quite well. At last! After a very long time searching for a cookie recipe that gives you chewy cookies, I found it. (I might leave out half of the sugar next time though as they're a little sweet for me).

I now have a luscious pile of about 20 enormous chewy cookies to scoff my way through. Bang goes the diet, but as they're packed with all that goodness, I shan't feel too bad about it :-)

Odds and sods

Stuck at home this week with a rotten virus as well as evil weather outside, I've done a fair bit of crochet to keep myself occupied when I wasn't back in bed shivering and croaking. Not all of it was done this week but after some severe nagging by certain people in Hastings, I've finally managed to take some pics of what I've been up to lately. So, here we go...

This variegated yarn started off as a scarf but I didn't like the way it was working up so I unpicked it and it sort of ended up as a blanket. I put the black edging round it to try to make it look like a stained-glass window effect, but I'm not sure it really works. The colours are a bit richer in real life, but I'm rubbish at taking decent photos.

I don't really know why, but I sat in bed the other day and decided to try an amigurumi doll. I've unpicked her face twice now but I still think she's got a sort of freaky expression. Doll faces aren't my strong point I've decided. Oh, and the bunny I did the other evening when I was bored.

For want of something better to do, an Easter chick appeared yesterday. Pity the beak is so big - yet another freaky effect!

A dismembered bunny, yet to be sewn together.....

A croilie I forgot I made when I was in Portugal. It's supposed to sit in a square basket so the corners drape nicely over the edges. Not so sure it'll work - maybe if I bothered to press the thing I'd have a better idea! I had to work out the instructions as best I could by the way - I mistakenly nabbed a magazine written in ruddy French off the shelf. Well, fancy putting a French mag on a shelf in the middle of nowhere in Portugal. Grrrrr.

And, for your delectation, a couple of Christmas croilies I forgot too. The first is definitely a Diabolical doilie. Not quite the most hideous yet, but it's well on its way to joining the club.

Maybe if I actually got round to pressing and starching the things properly they might look better. Or not! I like the challenge of making them, but they're not really my taste at all so I've a box stuffed with all sorts of the things :-/

Then came a little heart which I faffed about with yesterday. The other design has been consigned to a basket in disgrace. French patterns are a pain to follow when you don't really speak French.

And finally, for this very long post - sorry about that! - some of the goodies I had for Christmas. The beautiful beads and beady book are from one of my sisters, and the beads all came in a special beady workbox. Wonderful! I've never tried wirework so it'll be interesting. The crochet book was from my eldest niece and is a really good find.

Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to practice taking pics. I'm really quite bad at it, so I apologise!

Well, that's me. I'm exhausted now and think I'll go for a lie down :-)