Things That Make Me Happy

1. Parcels of delicious, squishy yarn in soft, springlike colours. There's something absolutely luxurious about buying hand-dyed yarn, and the plotting of projects that comes afterwards. Sometimes I like to take the yarn out and just touch it - it's a very tactile, sensuous thing for me.

2. Baking. To me baking is a kind of magical alchemy. The blending of ingredients to make a lovely, sponge cake, or crisp shortbread. There's something very loving about baking for somebody, and something very indulgent in baking for yourself.

3. Nail polish. Because I spend most of my time at home, I generally don't bother with a full face of make-up, but I am almost never caught out with bare nails. I like adding a little colour and glitz to my life, by way of nail polish.

4. My husband. Because I would be lost without him.

5. My cats. Because sharing my living space with two small, fuzzy things feels a little less lonely.

6. Watching my seeds sprouting. Particularly now they have been moved into the sunny, little garden and are now flourishing.

7. Walking by the sea. It's hard to feel sad when you're near the sea. Particularly when the skies are blue, the waves are crashing, and there is icecream to be had!

8. Knitting in the garden, with a cup of tea and the radio on. Hopefully basking in the sun.

9. Taking a break. You may have noticed I have been blogging much less recently. I need some time.

Recipe: Violet and Chocolate Shortbread

I absolutely bloody LOVE shortbread. So much. And I love chocolate. So, what could be better than combining the two? Well, adding a little delicate violet flavour, of course.

And the deciding factor in making these? They take about five minutes to prepare and only use a few ingredients! Yum!!

Ingredients

125g butter
55g caster sugar
140g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
7 drops of violet essence

1. Preheat the oven to 190C.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together, until completely blended.

3. Stir in the flour, cocoa powder and violet essence and blend into a smooth paste.

4. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll into a tube shape (try not to laugh at the way this looks, I promise it works better than cookie cutters!)

5. Place on a baking sheet and put in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.

6. Bake in the over for 20 minutes, and then take out to cool. The biscuits will feel a bit squishy, but they firm up as they cool, I promise! Sprinkle with sugar/icing sugar.

Let me know if you bake them, I love hearing about it!

April Reads

A bumper month of books! I had a bit of a sad moment when I had to adjust my yearly target to 100 from 110, due to falling behind. But, 100 is still a good amount - and it's all about enjoyment, not numbers right?

Slash's autobiography was a very bizarre book - naming and shaming most of the people involved in 1980's hard rock and the LA scene. But it was a brilliant insight into the behemoth that was Guns N' Roses, and what happened behind the scenes. Worth a read for any fan of 1980s rock.

I didn't really enjoy Drive, Rob read it before me and really enjoyed it. But I found it a bit sparse, and I don't understand why James Sallis dedicated paragraphs to describing the food that Driver ate, but missed out on some more important points. A bit dull to be honest.

Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure was amazing. I'm a huge Joanne Harris fan, and was super-excited to see this book in shops, and was even more excited when I realised it was a sequel to Chocolat and The Lollipop Shoes. I think this is one of my favourite trilogies, and I really recommend them if you haven't read them.

There's a Xena book. I'm a geek, I know. In my defence, Rob brought it home from work after finding it pushed to the back of a cupboard. So, I didn't buy it, so that makes it better, right?