Fake Cake

I like cake. I like cake so much that even when I'm not eating cake, I'm still thinking about cake:

Made from a felt kit sent to me from Japan :)

Sunshine and Clouds

The annoying thing about living in a flat is that we don't get much sunlight. The flat faces north-east and is surrounded by other blocks of flats. Not ideal. Two of the windowsills get sun for an hour or two a day but it doesn't really get any further into the room.

When the sun does shine it brightens up anything on the windowsill, currently roses:

One of our cacti is growing another lobe. With the light glowing through, the buds look almost like highlighter pens to me:

Dramatic skies can be fun too though:

Some day I shall have a garden. I can only hope it is south facing and suitable for flowers and fruits and vegetables, I can't wait to meet it:)

Camera Bag

For my upcoming trip to Japan (hurray huzzah!!!) I decided a small camera bag might be handy. The one I have is very sturdy but also huge. My boyfriend suggested I make a travel-bag that could double as a support for taking photos without a tripod.

A little bit of sewing later and, the underneath:

The top (both pieces of fabric from John Lewis fat quarters):

The camera inside. The blue fabric is from a t-shirt to give a big of extra protection, and also means a layer of fabric between the camera and the strap:

Camera safely tucked away and zipped up:

When I'm Japan (yay!!) I plan to fill the case with rice or pasta or something. I won't be putting the camera away anyway and a camera sized cushion will be perfect for getting steady shots (or more likely, cheesy self portraits).

Green Summer

Everything is looking so lush outside, lots of sunshine and lots of rain. The plants like it at least.

Lacy flowers down by the burn:

Looking up through layers upon layers of branches:

A busy bee and a relaxing cat:

And luscious peach, blueberry and almond cake:

Recipe at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/20/nigel-slater-recipes-summer-cakes

Tea

I do like a nice cup of tea. But then I suppose I have to since I'm from Yorkshire. I've pretty much always used a teabag in a mug, and kind of felt something was lacking. Then at Christmas, I got a gorgeous red 2cup teapot! Fantastic I thought, tea will be a much more civilised experience now! Except I still only had mugs. Pouring from a teapot into a mug somehow seems sacrilegious...

Two months later, I've had no luck finding nice teacups in the charity shops of Morningside, or even cheap ones! Luckily my new job is right next to a charity shop, £1.50 later:

Knitting Elephant

I made an Elijah, he's very slow at knitting but luckily he has a friend to fetch him cosy wool:

Epic Buns

Mmm, I just spent a lovely evening baking. Chocolate Brownie (Nigel Slater's recipe) for a pot luck lunch at work, plus *Epic Buns*.

Epic Bun recipe:

Make a tasty vanilla sponge-type bun mixture (I used the one in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook but you could use any bun mix)

Put the mix into bun cases (I used my new silicone ones, much less fiddly than paper ones!)

Put a cherry into the centre of each case (I used tinned cherry filling stuff, I think it's meant to be for putting in pies)

Bake for the time required by the bun recipe

Allow to cool completely and add icing

Delicious, moist and juicy:)

Buns hot from the oven

Cherries hidden beneath icing and sprinkles, a tasty surprise:)

This being selfish and baking selfishly is definitely a good thing!