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It's a dog's life...

Monday, 16 June 2014

Having just spent a relaxing week in the sun, I'm now back home and back to reality.  In between the mountains of washing (which in itself is ridiculous considering we were only away a week), I thought I'd do some baking.  Our elderly lurcher (and the love of my life - next to my husband of course!) has an auto immune disorder, which means, poor thing, that she can't eat meat or meat derivatives.

This we discovered some 4 or 5 years ago, when her nails began to fall out and after countless steroids, other drugs and a complete diet overhaul, we now manage it on diet alone.  Anyway, whilst it's a simple matter of feeding her fish and rice, it's not so simple buying off-the-shelf treats, so I took to scouring the internet for home-made dog treat recipes.  This is one of her favourites and quite frankly, if you're a fan of marmite (?) more than suitable for human consumption too!

I got this one of this site http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/658700. It's dead easy and to be honest you can use any flavour of stock cube.  I use vegetable, rather than the chicken suggested.  If you use a large egg, then don't bother with the milk as it makes the dough too sticky.


  • 150 g plain flour
  • 1 heaped tbsp cornflour
  • 60 g butter
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp Marmite
  • 1 tbsp milk, optional



Add the butter (or margarine) into the flour and cornflour and rub together to get a breadcrumb texture.



Then rub in the stock cube, which should easily crumble into the mix.  Then mix the marmite into the egg and whisk well together (I just use a fork).  The marmite will initially be a bit globular but enough mixing will incorporate it into the egg, so you'll have a rather unappetising looking egg!


Mix the egg into the dry ingredients and combine until you get a dough.  Roll out to about 1/2 a centimeter depth and use your cutter.  Place on a baking tray.  I used a cute bone shape that I got through eBay.


The recipe says to bake for 15 minutes at 130 degrees C fan.  I always bake for longer.  15 mins gives me rather anemic, soft biscuits and I prefer them to be a bit crunchy.  I usually bake for 20 minutes, sometimes a bit longer.


Hey presto!  Yummy dog treats (well Beth thinks so)

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike......

Tuesday, 3 June 2014

I'm a bit limited in what I can do at the moment, having had a Carpal Tunnel operation of my left hand last Friday.  Luckily I can still use my right hand, so I've been back on the computer playing around with Photoshop Elements.

My husband (Paul) is a very keen road cyclist.  Every spare minute he's out on his bike and has even got me going out every week!  For the last 3 weeks, he's watched the Giro d'Italia, in July it will be the Tour de France, swiftly followed by the La Vuelta a Espana in September.  In honour of him and his bike(s) and the 3 Tours, I've been working on some bicycle tags.




My new obsession

Saturday, 31 May 2014

A month or so back, I wanted to have a go at some digital scrap-booking, so took the plunge and bought Adobe Photoshop Elements 12.  I couldn't afford Photoshop CS and so I did my research and read nothing but good things about PSE, plus it was a whole lot more affordable and supposedly easier to master!  Ha! Well I don't have anything to compare to ,but this has become a bit of an obsession for me and and I am DETERMINED to get to grips with this.  I've even started a notebook - it's as if I'm studying for an exam...

I've got to say there are some fantastic tutorials on You Tube out there and some amazing downloads, either for free or a small price.  My favourite is http://www.frenchkisscollections.com/.  Many of these people are so generous with their knowledge.

Anyway,  I had to share today's efforts.  I might be a feeble amateur, but I feel that I'm finally starting to master some of it.  :)



My gorgeous girl, Beth


A rose from my garden

All of the elements (frames, overlays and backgrounds) above are from http://www.frenchkisscollections.com/

Friendship

Friday, 30 May 2014

It was my dear friend Cath's birthday today and as she is a fellow crafter, I wanted to create something lovely for her.  I'd been playing around with some resin recently and wanted to incorporate a piece, plus Cath had been fascinated with it.  I'd created some round bezels that I thought I'd use, but in the end this lovely image of the cockerel felt right.  I can't tell you how many times I made this piece before I was happy with it!


The beads are a mixture of amethyst, hematite and some lovely beigy beads I had hanging around in my stash.


Of course, I then had to create a handmade card as well!  Pretty pleased altogether.  Happy Birthday Cath X


New beginnings

Wednesday, 28 May 2014

After 9 years of working for the same company, I made the huge decision to change direction and leave. Totally scary but all the pent up creativity in me was driving me insane!  It's done now though. No going back.

Time to put my money where my mouth is and start living my life........