I love the Merlin series on the BBC!

I just love this fan trailer on You Tube. It is so lovely and I think it sums up the first series of Merlin (BBC) really well.

Memories of the snow

Seeing the snow drifting down from the heavens and failing to settle on the ground, brought back memories of earlier this month.

Sprouting - Cress

Last year I bought a packet of Cress in a local garden centre. I had this idea that somehow I would overnight love gardening... it didn't happen and I never got around to sowing them.

Anyway, I managed to dig them out of the seed tin and with a firm resolution, decided that I would sow them this week. I was absolutely amazed how quickly they grow! I would water them before college when they were just seeds and when I returned home, they had already sprouted.

Having said that, I just checked on them.... and they look flattened. The paper had just completely dried up. Dad said that wasn't like that when he woke up this morning. Perhaps it was the heat from the oven.

As it has lots of health benefits, there is a good side to growing them. Not that I do it for that- just that it tastes lovely in an egg mayonnaise sandwich!

Become your destiny

Home Made Yoghurt- from a friend

I'm making it regularly at the moment: the first batch was runny, as we agreed often happens with the home made variety.

I made a second batch, in the same one, one-and-a-half-times-as-high-as-it-is-wide, 1 pint jar. I used the previous batch for the next starter, just to test the theory that yogurt thickens the more batches you re-make from the 'same' starter. That batch was even runnier than the milk I used to make it! "Oh," thought I. "That's no good."

Having bought a load of milk in the Eurostar at 10p a pint I decided to see what would happen if I tried to make yogurt from that starter. Just how runny can cured milk get? As I had quite a big quantity to use up (2 pints), I made it in the scrupulously clean, stainless steel saucepan where i boiled the milk and where I had made yogurt before. The saucepan is one and half time as wide as it is high and I pretty much filled it. That watery milky supposed 'yogurt' starter made a perfect batch of set yogurt.

Incredible. Thought I ought I ought to share that little gem with you...

(Used with permission.)

I can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary

(The picture and the quote belong to their rightful owners. Thanks!)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me

(The picture and the quote belong to their rightful owners. Thanks!)

Do not be overcome by evil

(The picture and the quote belong to their rightful owners. Thanks!)

God gives us dreams a size to big

(The picture and the quote belong to their rightful owners. Thanks!)

Crying over onions- a few remedies?

I was flicking through 'Carla Emery's Old Fashioned Recipe Book- An Encyclopedia of Country Living' that my Mum had picked up from the Book Barn a few years ago and I stumbled across an interesting entry.

Carla Emery had been told by some of her readers about a cure for the onion tears. I have never tried it before, so I would love to know if this is true. Next time someone is chopping onions I'll try to remember to ask them to test it.

• Keep a supply of onions in the fridge so that they are ready when you need them

Alternatively you could try:

• Putting them in the freezer 5-10 minutes before you need them. Apparently this doesn't effect their flavour or texture.

Or:

• Put a bread crust between your teeth, as it makes you breathe through your noes.

Prince Arthur- portrait

I spent the whole weekend working on this one but I think that is about time I move on from portraits. Having said that, I am very pleased with this.

New Year 2010 buffet

This was our buffet for the party. I am really pleased with how this turned out. My parents gave me a budget of £20 for the food and they allowed me to choose whatever I wanted. The Iceland shop was a fantastic place to buy the finger food (mainly Chinese and with an American Sweet Platter for pudding). That cost around £10 and the ingredients and decorations for the mince pies, gingerbread and the candy canes, came just under £10. Mind you, to find a good deal involved spending two weeks before Christmas, wandering around the shops and markets stalls to find a bargain. After I had sussed them out, I then returned the following week to buy them.

The gingerbread recipe came from the BBC Merlin Annual 2010 and will soon become my most used recipe. It made about 30-36 biscuits and was so delicious- they only lasted 2 days! A definite family favourite.

A problem that I encountered on the evening was trying to organise all the food, so that it would be on the table at the same time. Fortunately Dad helped me with that and he also made the warm salad (frozen mixed veg, red peppers and melted cheese). It was simple and delicious!

Overall a great time was to be had by all and we saw 2010 in with a toast and a laugh! One of the best New Years party since the Millennium!

Snow glorious snow!

I could hardly believe it when it snowed and college was closed for a few days. It was a perfect beginning to the start of the new year! As well as providing extra revision time for my AS History exam, I was able to make a start on making my green dress. It has been in my sewing box for ages and was in desperate need of some T.L.C. Having said that, I gave up after coming to a problem- the hem was longer on two sides.

As you can see from this photo, I realised that I should have matched the hem line first and then worked up. It is amazing how the obvious things are sometimes the hardest to work out!

The dress is based on a simple Medieval gown and with that amount of fabric it must have been for a wealthy noblewoman. I have to admit I am dreading putting the sleeves in, as I have never done that before.