Catching up with happy days

Good morning everyone - I hope you have had a good week.  The boys and I were up very early this morning (5.45 am) to watch the live qualifying for the first Formula 1 Grand Prix of the season - we were pleased to see our favourite driver qualify 5th, with seemingly a much improved car.  We will be up at 4.30am tomorrow to watch the race live from Australia - quite an early start for Mothers Day isn't it?!

Anyway, as usual work has been hectic, but lots of lovely things have been happening since our trip over to Spain.

First of all I was blessed to receive gifts from two of my lovely blogging friends from the USA, first of all is this beautiful snowflake hand made by Gracie...

so pretty, it really sparkles in the light.  Love it!

Then, this little beauty arrived from Teresa...

Isn't it lovely?  To me this has a real Scandinavian feel, and you know how I love all things Nordic!

Here are both gifts together, side by side...

Gracie and Teresa, thank you so very much for these lovely gifts - I am very lucky to count you amongst my friends.

And, this morning, the postie has been very early and delivered an exciting looking parcel from Sue in New Zealand - I have shown great restraint however in opening it as my darling daughter isn't awake yet and she is my "helper" when opening swap goodies - thank you very much indeed Sue, hopefully I will be writing a post soon all about it! 

Back in the Moonstruck household, it has been a time for celebration...

second eldest son turned 21!  DD was back in her pinny baking up a storm...

this was a chocolate orange cake, with no less than 3 chocolate oranges used!! Baked in a bundt tin it was so delicious and moist, long gone now of course!

As part of the gifts I gave him, I commissioned this cushion from a colleague at work...

These are logos associated with our favourite Formula 1 driver, Kimi Raikkonen.  The symbol is based on a flying bird, and Iceman is his nick name, based on his cool, calm manner of dealing with things.  It is in Ferrari red as that is the team he drives for.  I think it is probably fair to say that it is a very unique cushion!  He spends many long hours sat at the dining room table on his computer completing his university course work, and often complains of the hard seating arrangements, so hopefully this will solve the problem.

Well, must away, I am feeling quite smug as the washing machine and dishwasher are both humming away, I  have tidied around and found time to write a blog post, but other errands are now calling.

Have a lovely weekend, Helenxx

Lovely Heart surprise!

Hello everyone, hope you are having a great weekend.

We had a very busy day yesterday, with in-laws visiting us, so cue a big clean up operation and a big cooking session.  I will show what I made at the end of this post as first of all I would like to start off with what definitely cheered my day amongst all it's hectic-ness.  My dear friend Betsy sent me a lovely package all the way from the United States - just look what was inside:

Betsy has made this lovely felt heart brooches for me and some of our other dear blogging friends...

I love the sweet embroidery of this flower...

and isn't the card adorable?

I shall be wearing this tomorrow on my return to work...

 

Betsy, thank you so, so very much for this gift and your sweet message, you really are a sweetheart!

 

And the arrival of these lovely gifts were such a pick-me-up: I don't mind cleaning and cooking marathons, but have to confess that I do find these things a little stressful when having to complete them to a set deadline.  My work life is what you might call "an extreme deadline environment" so in my everyday life I choose to be on a slightly more flexible timetable.

 

But thankfully everything was done and dusted (literally) with 30 minutes to spare before the visitors arrived.

 

And this is what I had spent 3 hours making:

 

 

 Galnish...

 

A traditional dish from the Caucaus region...

 

 

To give you some idea of the quantities, it requires 2 large bags of flour, 4 pints of water, and a lot of elbow grease and patience!  The trays (of which eventually there were three in total) are large enough to cover almost a third of my dining room table - that is each tray is that big!  Yes, we are talking of industrial quantities here.  Does my family have a healthy appetite?  You bet!!

The flour is wholemeal, but has to be sifted to take the larger pieces out.  Then, it is mixed with water to form a stiff dough.  About 6 years ago I had surgery on my hand and found kneading the dough too painful, so DH treated me to a Kenwood Chef Major so that I can use it with the dough hook for this dish.  Yes, it is a family favourite and worth investing in such a piece of kitchen equipment!!  Then the dough is rolled out (by hand) into long sausage shapes, about the diameter of my little finger.  These are then cut into pieces about 2 inches long and hand rolled into the shapes you can see above.  The good news is that any left over pieces can be frozen before cooking, so every time I make this dish I freeze some.  This means that on average, after 4 times of cooking I end up with a 5th batch in the freezer for "emergency visitors".  Or when DH wistfully says "I really feel like having Galnish for dinner"...

 

A soup is made with meat (the relatives) or onions and milk (me).  The meat (or onions) is taken out and put on one side, then the Galnish pieces are cooked in the soup in the same way you would cook pasta.  The cooked pieces are served with the meat (for the meat eaters) and a garlic sauce.  It is a very rustic but delicious dish, and although I sometimes groan when I am making it, the eating of it makes it all worthwhile!

 

Today I am taking things a little easier, just a big pile of ironing and some paperwork tidying later on.

 

Have a lovely Sunday!

 

Helenxx

 





Lovely surprise!

Good morning everyone, hope you are enjoying the weekend.  We are slowly getting our head around the fact that it is back to work, school, college and university tomorrow.  The last 2 weeks have been wonderful, but have flown by far too quickly!  Oh well, only six weeks to half term...and we still have today to make the very most of!

Yesterday I had a lovely surprise all the way from America.  I heard the post arrive and was very pleased and excited indeed to see an envelope with this stamp...

and this sweet drawing in the corner...

This is what was inside the envelope...

A card from dear Teresa, my dear blogger friend!  I love the picture on the card, I think I am correct in saying that it is a photo of Teresa's fireplace in her lovely farm house, edited by the iphone or ipad watercolour app.  I think it is so effective...

Such a sweet message inside!

But that is not all - just look what Teresa made for me...

It is so intricate, absolutely stunning.

I am so delighted...

Teresa, thank you so, so much for thinking of me, I really do appreciate it.  The heart will be hung in my living room year round, it is too pretty to put away with the Christmas decorations!  I am so blessed to count you amongst my blog friends.

Bloggers really are the best!!

Helenxx