My Life's Ingredients

Well… I’ll try my best with it this year. Not sure if any of Shimelle’s “students” are still doing it, but who knows.   Right … this month’s 10 Things on the 10th is brought to you courtesy of Craftsters.org – or better said the Geeky Swaps there. We have a new Geekdom/Fandom swap going, and that’s the 3rd Geekdom/Fandom swap I’ve done, so I thought I better write down some fandoms/geekdoms for the future.   Ok, here we go… Avengers/Thor/Iron Man/X-Men (Marvel) DC Comics Characters from TV Series/Movies (as I don’t read comics really) (Green Lantern/Batman/Superman/Miss Martian/Supergirl/Green Arrow etc) The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings Sherlock (BBC Series w Cumberbatch/Freeman & Movies with RDJ / Law) Doctor Who Disney Harry Potter Outlander Series (Diana Gabaldon Books & Starz production) PS3 Lego Games (LOTR, HP, Marvel Superheroes etc) Murdoch Mysteries (and other Canadian Series)… Yeah… that’s the list I provided for the swap (bar #10, and I had The...

… and this time I hope I can stick to journalling etc.   Yup, it’s time for the   Journal your Christmas (JYC) 2013!!! It’s my favourite class from Shimelle, and despite me having not finished ONE SINGLE journal/album since I started in 2005 (?), I’m hoping for the best for this year.   My plans are to use my newly (??!) purchased SN@P album for it and work with that. Have to prep some things, i.e get embellishments and cardstock/patterned paper sorted/into one box – I’ll try to get some time each evening to make my layouts. Or at least I am planning on blogging every day for the duration of this class. If you like Christmas and are a fan of Shimelle’s, you might want to have a looksie here to read what it’s all about and to purchase the class. As with all of Shimelle’s classes you purchase it once and then get the prompts (for annual classes) the next year around for free. For all the “alumni” – I’ll see you at “class”.  

Ok, not the best in keeping up … think I just haven’t found yet what I learned the last two days but will work on it… Today I learned that I shouldn’t try to go anywhere “new” with the Hobbits while they’re still suffering from colds/teething/nasty bottoms… We went to Bookbug today for the first time in a year, and while the girls had been to the Library for a couple of times during that year, having to sit down and having soooo many kids around (mostly babies) was probably too much for them … Supergirl was crying through half of the session (it’s Rhyme Time effectively), while Miss Martian had a ball doing some actions after warming up and LOVED doing the “Sleeping Bunnies” twice!! However, Miss Martian kicked off on the walk back home from the Library (in Hobbits Walk that’s 15 mins) and was CRYING all the way … and flopping periodically down to the ground so I had to carry her on the back of her reins. Supergirl on the other hand was all happy to walk and was even skipping ab...

And we’re back after a looooong break of “Ten on the 10th”! I don’t think Shimelle is still doing it officially – very busy girl – but I thought I’ll still try from time to time…   This time I thought I’m going for places I want to go (non-UK) while the twins are young (not necessarily in order of importance or possibility). 1) Orlando (that’s planned for the year before the girls go to primary school) 2) Chiemsee 3) Tegernsee 4) Rügen 5) Senftenberg (most likely next year for a couple of days when we’re visiting family) 6) Croatia (lots of nice places) 7) Lake Garda 8) Side , Turkey (my mum said it’s fab there for the girls) 9) Malta 10) Greece (again, lots of nice places) There are lots more place, like in Austria or Switzerland, which I haven’t really looked into much so far. If you have any suggestions for family holidays feel free to post!

What easier to go for in December than Christmas baking! So after a lot of Christmas Markets in my November 10 things , my 10 things for December are my favourite baked goods during Advent/Christmas time (not necessarily all made by me or at least not yet): (photos for first 3 items are mine, the rest is courtesy of Google) “Stollen” (usually just the buttery type with candied fruit and raisins, but also like the Nougat type or Poppy seed one – just NO MARZIPAN one please – can’t stand the taste of it!!) – best with some squishy cream and a cuppa hot chocolate or tea! “Vanillekipferl” (vanilla crescents – tried my best in this country to get my granny’s recipe going, but somehow they don’t rise properly and go all flat – would have thought I’d have figured out why after 13 years!) (2008 batch) (2009 batch) And the 2010 batch looked again like the one from 2008!!! I wonder if it’s the butter … or flour…   “Husare...

Geesh – is it really the 10th already???? Let’s see what I manage this time… Decided on the Markets/fun fairs etc in Germany I’ve visited often while still living there – either just for fun or working (all linked to Kriftel as member of the Kriftel Red Cross Group). All photos bar the Hofheimer Wochenmarkt one are stock photos from the Internet. Christmas Market Frankfurt Christmas Market Hofheim (stalls manned by members of sports clubs, Red Cross etc selling stuff for their organisations) Krifteler Red Cross Christmas Market (Small Christmas Market at the Sports hall Kriftel with the Red Cross selling food, handmade things and holding a Raffle, plus having Santa coming around – worked in stalls myself for several years) Christmas Market Rothenburg (beautiful Christmas market set within the city walls of Rothenburg) Hofheimer Wochenmarkt (Farmers Market) Hoechster Wochenmarkt (Farmers Market) ...