Gimli, Gimli, where art thou Gimli

Ted Auditions for the Hobbit...

Really! This is one days growth!

Remember Remember grow a 'tache in Movember

Ted, looking a bit on the saucy side sporting a mustache.

Really!!! It didn't take long at all to grow!

Actually I think he could probably Model for GQ Magazine

Tom Selleck eat your heart out!

Millies Fungi Foray!

A couple of weeks ago we hit Chadkirk Park for some mushroom foraging,
Millie is dressed up snug and warm

It is a bit chilly out here...

 

 

 

We came across a little patch of Fairy Ring Champignon

These make nice eating for Makie

 

A nice small selection of Amethyst Deceiver (despite a few nibbles here and there by the local critters)

Really!!! It wasn't me who nibbled them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Millie finds a TINY Makie sized shroom

Perfectly Sized!!

Look what we found in here, a pretty rare Cauliflower Fungus

Nice- Don't want to get too close- I've watch enough Dr Who to know better

Millie decided to venture a little further down the path and we came across this newly built bridge over the river

 

 

 

I must take a photo of this!

My What a lovely day it was, despite the wet and mud!

Time to stop at the Chapel and have a nice hot cuppa!

The finished result (with a SHRUBBERY!!!)
Sorry for the crap pix but this is literally an 11th hour finish (as the boots arrived today for customising)
I won't have a chance to take any more daylight pix until we hit makielab!!

A nice one and not too expensive

Working on a costume

An elf, a wood fairy a minxy sprite?
It's millie modeling my interpretation of Makie Labs Elf costume
This is Makielab version

And here is my real life interpretation

The real thing!

I made wings (but they look like bat wings rather than fairy wings - my first attempt)

Big wings!

Still I think I didn't do too bad

Ah - the life of a wood fairy

Look, I can do the splits!

The last little bits...

The sorting is done, well almost :-O Just need to dress a few dolls and sort out some doll clothes (mainly Millies wardrobe) It's always the last little bits that take the longest to sort, where do I put them, what should I keep etc etc.
The Craft room is ready for use so now I can get back to posting... It's been a while

Something is rising in the North...

I decided today for breakfast to treat the family to freshly made bagels. Four hours in the making I can tell you it was all WELL WORTH IT!. Paul Hollywoods book, 100 Great Breads didn't have a recipe for them, so I did a search online and found a recipe by Rachel Allen. I've seen her on tv, and she's pretty good, so I thought I would give her bagel recipe a try. I woke up quite early around 6.30 to start the dough. (Millie was still sleeping so I didn't want to disturb her) As the recipe stated I could use a mixer or do it manually, I decided to try using my dough hook on my Kitchen Aid mixer (as normally I am quite the traditionalist and like to make anything bready by hand) So needless to say as long as it took to make these bagels, they were absoultely the BEST bagels I have ever eaten.  I'm not sure now if I will be able to eat another supermarket bagel again. Millie finally got up about the time that the proving had finished, so she was able to help me with the rest. It was a fairly easy recipe to make and I highly recommend it! Millie below shows you how easy it's done!

The proof is in the rising... Now that's a nice dome

Punch down the dough on a lightly floured surface

Divide the dough into 7 portions

 

 

 

Poke a hole in the middle and place on a prepared baking pan.

 

 

They need to prove again for another 10 mins or so, Time for a cuppa!

Boil them in water, this gives them their chewy texture- Careful there Millie, we don't want to poach you!

Brush with an eggwash, add topping and bake in the oven- OOOh they look so tempting

There you go! Sesame seed bagels- NOM!

The human's breakfast, scrambled eggs, juice and freshly baked bagels!