30 days hath November…

I did it! I got through another year of NaBloPoMo!!

Not only that, but it wasn’t really that hard this year. I have to admit, there were days that I didn’t feel like posting (today is one of them) but I felt the need to just write a little something and often that turned into a whole post. There are still many parenting posts that are sitting half-finished in my draft folder so I will be working on those and I promise to keep up the posting on a more regular basis.

I have to say, it is going to feel great not feeling like I HAVE to post each day, which in many ways, takes away from the way I want to blog.

Now to relax a bit and continue preparing for Khéna’s party tomorrow..

Thanks for following!

New Hats…

On Tuesday I shared this picture of a project that was on my hook at around 8pm just before I wrote the post: beginnings of a hatIt was my first “real” pattern and I was wondering how it would turn out though I was really liking the results… I put Wilhelmina to bed and went back to it and did another two rounds and realized that the pattern was not going to work out for me because even the smallest size was too large for my little head (hats rarely fit me because of that) so I took a deep breath and unraveled it down to about the 3rd round and started again from there. I deviated from the pattern after that for a few rounds to keep the size from getting bigger by adding a few decreases and then got back on track and adjusted the rest of the pattern logically because the stitches no longer matched and it was much easier than I would have guessed. By 11:00 I was done. I did it! I made my first hat, and not only that, I made a hat that actually fits me well (I think!)

My new HatMy new Hat!

Then, today, as Willa napped on me, I whipped up another hat in her size from a different, but similar pattern. All in her nap which was about 1 1/2 hours. We all have small heads here so I might pass this one to one of the boys and make her another a bit smaller but I love the look!

Willa's new hatWilla's Hat

My Khéna is six!

For those who has been following my blog for a while you may remember following my unassisted pregnancy and then the birth of Khéna. His birth was such a healing time for me. He was my largest baby and after two long and hard labours that did not go as planned, his birth was perfect and so was he.

Just born…. a few days old…. 9 weeks old

just bornKhéna 10 days oldKhéna ~ 9 weeks- 19 pounds!

He was such a big baby and he has grown into a tall and heavy but now thin 6 year old. There are days that we look through pictures and I find it amazing how much he has changed and grown.

Khéna 1 month old!Smiley face ;)he spotted me!khénaskrunchy face...

Khéna sleepingall smiles with a new haircut...KhénaKhénasmile!!

KhénaProud big brother Khéna...KhénaKhénaKhéna

Khéna is an amazing kid. He is always happy and laughing and trying to make others laugh. He loves cars and trucks, policemen and firemen and anything with a motor or mechanical , something that the other boys had their phases but then moved on. He can play with playmobils for hours and is now getting into making elaborate Lego sets. He loves animals and his favourite show to watch is Zaboomafoo and he will mention obscure animal fact at random times in the day. Today we went to Build-a-Bear and he made the coolest bear with two of favourite passions. A Jaguar bear in a Police Uniform. (I’ll take a picture tomorrow)

Khéna is such a loving kid. He loves to give hugs and kisses and is always saying I love you. He is considerate and understanding and wants everyone to be happy around him.

Khéna and I

He is such a joy to be around…

I love you Khéna, Happy Birthday!

Khéna 

Busy, busy, busy…

I have been loving this crocheting thing.

Seriously… why wasn’t I doing this before?!

Here are the squares that I have been working on that will I will sew together to make a blanket… I have 10 out of 30 done and ran out of yarn in this colour so I need to find another skein and I might make 15 of those in a green yarn that I already have. These are so easy to do and very repetitive so I do them to fill in gaps or when I want to work on something without really thinking about what I am doing…

Here is a crown I made for Wilhelmina with yarn that she had chosen. It isn’t as lopsided as it looks and was a very quick project to make.

here is a better picture of it… though Willa was not wanting to look at the camera…

Here is a head band I made for myself. It has many mistakes if you look up close but it was a great way to learn how increase and decrease and once it is on it looks quite nice and the mistakes are not too apparent. I can’t believe how little time it took to make!

This is one project that I started to work on and I am taking a break from at the moment… it is a scarf that is knit and has two crocheted panels… (I just realized I took a picture of the back of the project… oops!) I have the 6 flowers done which make the two crocheted flower panels and have knit 2 of 3 panels that make up the rest of the scarf. I just have to cast on the middle (and longest) piece and start working on it again. honestly though, I am loving crocheting much more than I like to knit at the moment but I will do it soon.

Finally, this is what is on my hook at the moment… It’s about half way done and is looking great.. I can’t wait to see how it will look once finished!

 

Vanilla Bean Scones

This is a variation of the simple scone recipe that I recently shared.

I wanted to make scones one weekend morning I wondered how I could make everyone happy since not everyone has the same likes, so I came up with these…

 (Vanilla bean scones with a simple vanilla icing)

I used the same simple base that I used in my other scones with a few small changes.

(makes 12)

Ingredients:

  • 400g flour, plus more for handling the dough
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 5 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup cold or frozen butter
  • 280g-300g milk (I used coconut almond milk)
  • 1 Vanilla bean, split and scraped

For the Icing:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp butter (room temp)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla (I make my own)
  • milk
(Vanilla bean)
vanilla goodness

Directions:

  •  Preheat oven to 425° F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

With a food processor:

  • First pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar (if using) and the salt a few times until well mixed.
  • Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add them to the dry ingredients and pulse four or five times until the butter is mixed in and the largest pieces you can see resemble small peas.
  • Mix the scraped seeds of the vanilla bean into the milk and stir so that it there are no clumps of vanilla and then slowly add the cold milk to the dry/butter mixture and pulse again just until the dough comes together. There should be no longer spots of flour and the dough should not be too wet.

By hand:

  • In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar (if using) and the salt.
  • Get your cheese grater out and grate the butter into the flour and just mix. You could also go the longer way and cut the cold butter into small cubes use a pastry cutter or two forks as you would with pie dough. The important thing is to not handle the dough too much and to not smoosh the butter into the flour too much.
  • Mix the scraped seeds of the vanilla bean into the milk and stir so that it there are no clumps of vanilla, Add the milk and stir in quickly just until the dough comes together and doesn’t show big spots of dry flour anymore.

Dump onto a well floured surface, sprinkle with flour and knead just 2-3 times if needed. If the dough looks good already, just pat it out on the floured surface. Over-kneading the dough will make the texture tough and they will not rise right, so you want to be very gentle with the dough!

When you pat the dough out you want it to be about 3cm thick (about an inch) and then using a round cookie/biscuit cutter, or a glass or any other round object, cut out the scones. Make sure you don’t twist your cutter but use a simple up/down motion. Twisting the cutter will fuse the sides a bit and they may not rise.

Place the scones on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 13-15 min until the are golden in colour. Let them cool a bit.

While the Scones are baking, you can make the Icing.

Place the powdered sugar in a bowl and add the tsp of butter and mix the butter in with a fork until there are no clumps of butter left, add the tsp of vanilla and mix well. Slowly add the milk about 1/2 tsp at a time and mix until smooth. I don’t give a quantity of milk because it depends on how thin you want it but however you want it takes a very small amount of milk.

Spoon the icing over the scones and serve.

 

Vanilla scones with Vanilla icing

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