Back from the block...

Its been a bad start to the year for posts from the Freerangehomestead. I should have known it would be when I made it my new year resolution - nobody keeps to their resolutions, so why should this be any different - and why did I have to give myself a goal of something that I love to do, and never had any problem getting started with in the past.

Writers block - who would know it strikes bloggers too! But in this case, it was bakers block, gardeners block and just doing anything but working and building block. Ironically we are further on with our building work than ever, we've been having walls plastered and everything - seven weeks of plastering to be precise. We've knocked down walls and moved more dust from room to room than should ever be allowed. but there's something about getting things done...its draining...you start with CHEERS but as the weeks and months drag on, the YAYs start to sound pretty hollow, cos you just want the work to be over!!!

the hallway ceiling before...

and after!

I started this blog to follow and share the trials and tribulations of our lives in Yorkshire, and what do you know its those trials that almost brought me to a standstill. I suppose after a day of shifting muck around and climbing over palletboards to do your laundry you have to wonder who would want to know about it! but then I don't want to write this record through a rose tinted lens. I love our life in Yorkshire but I don't love living in a building site. I know it will all be worth it but that doesn't help me right now!

Our feature staircase...

Even the  vacuum cleaner has gone on strike!

And so I came close to calling it a day on the writing front and then something pretty amazing happened - people started to ask me when the next post was coming. A lovely blogger emailed me to ask me if I was alright and to top it all we watched Julie and Julia this weekend...and it all reminded me why I started writing this in the first place - to share the journey, to see the funny side and to make sense of it all. So I figured it was time to start taking my own advice and pick up the pad.

So i've got some making up to do, seeds to sew, a cardigan to knit, a whole season of events coming up and a plant sale to organise - more of that to come - oh and a building to finish, but enough of that. We're getting there....slowly!

A Bundt in the oven...

Snowy paths and icy roads make for a good excuse for staying home and baking...

I bought plenty of stewed apple at our village Christmas fair for the freezer, so that came out and went towards a Spiced Apple Breakfast Bundt Cake...



I got this recipe from 'Passionate Vegetarian' I'm not veggie but I've been carting this book around with me since my student days as everything I've ever tried out of it is a winner.
We couldn't wait till breakfast though...



Its very dense and moist, half pudding, half cake really. I don't know if i could go to work on a slice of it though - i think i'd need a mid morning nap!

The other reason for hiding out in the kitchen this weekend is the continuing schedule of work going on in the rest of the house. Walls continue to be knocked about, dust continues to fall,so this weekend the kitchen has been my sanctuary, and here it is...


Trust me it doesn't usually look this tidy but as I said there's nowhere else to run to! I've been playing around with furniture this weekend and brought my retro kitchen cupboard back in from the cold



I love it - it was a birthday present from BH but its always needed a repaint. I'm thinking of brightening it up with some colour...any ideas?


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White out!

Last night I wrote on the windscreen, this morning I couldn't find the windscreen! The snow has definitely hit East Yorkshire and this morning the scene that greeted us was gorgeous...


The Minifreerangers had to be forced to eat their breakfast as they were itching to get outside. Once amongst it there was no stopping them...



We've snowballed, sledged, rolled around and just got plain cold...now its hot chocolate time...mmm!

The other plus side to the snow...



This is the tidiest my veg patch has looked in months!

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White stuff...

Finally...



It's very light but it's here! The Minifreerangers are looking longingly at their sledges and right now there is no way near enough... But it's a start right? And a good excuse to throw another log on the fire - thats if we can get anwhere near it...



These two have staked their claim...

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The inspector said yes!!!

After sleepless nights and fretful thoughts we've had the good news we've been waiting to hear...the building inspector says yes - he's happy with our build, it meets all standards...we done good!!!!

So after months of this...




And plenty of this...




Were finally getting to this...



And now the plastering can begin - at last. I know buildings get signed off every day but they usually are built by people with lots of experience and a project manager. BH got a book from the library and watched a lot of grand designs but he's never built a home before and so when the man from the ministry said yes he was a very happy chap- and he might get some sleep now.

And me... Well I can't help it I'm planning cushions and wallpaper and carpets and now I can't sleep for thinking about it - help!!!

This will have to do for starters...



We call him John Deer and he's been waiting to find his home for too long now. We couldn't resist trying him out...

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He knows me so well...

Now that I've finally cleared up from Christmas - well almost - I can show you what Santa put under the tree for me this year... My very own Nigella red (I believe that's an official colour now!) lovely chunky Kitchenaid...swoon...

I believe BH finally buckled under ren years of hints and figured it was a bit like self gifting as he gets to be official cake taster! He also got a great bargain online which made it altogether a much more palatable purchase.

As for me I still have to stroke it every time I pass, I can't wait for all the Christmas grub to be used up so that I've got a good excuse to start baking again!

And thanks to freerangenan I've also got a fab new kniferack - the one sitting behind my lovely red Kitchenaid ( did I mention that already!) so thank you to my lovely family for totally totally getting me x

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A little taste of sunshine...

Last bakeup of the holidays today and a taste of somewhere sunny was definitely needed. We've been surrounded by rain and wind all day, rattling the windows and blowing the wheelie bins down the garden so i wanted something light and zesty to take away the winter blues ( and to use up some the leftover lemons sitting in the fruitbowl!)

These lovely lemon bars come from a favourite cookbook of mine The Dairy HollowHouse Cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon - fab name I know! Every recipe has a great anecdote with it so if you ever see a copy snap it up.

Here it is...



And here's the recipe

Mix and press into the bottom of a baking tin

Half cup of butter
1 cup plain White flour
Quarter cup icing sugar

Beat

2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons flour
Half teaspoon baking powder
Juice and rind of 2 lemons ( I added 1 more to the original recipe)

This mixture will be thin. Pour it over the first layer. Bake for 30 - 35 mins. Let cool slightly then sit with icing sugar.

Okay so they won't help with any diet resolutions but they are lush and brighten up the idea of tomorrow's back to work packed lunch.

I did think that a good walk with the dogs would make me feel less guilty about eating cake...I shook the lead, I put my coat on but these two are having none of it!






Oh well i tried!

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Stilton crazy...

Today signals the start of cheese week at our house, when the five tons of Stilton that we bought, received and somehow acquired must be eaten up or rendered somehow useful as part of our war on waste.

First up was the thanks to the mega talented Shaheen at Allotment2kitchen. I saw these cheese, potato and kale pasties on her site and new we had just the leftovers to make them...


Then using the same mixture with addition of cranberry sauce I made smaller puff parcels...



These started off bite size but grew... Or maybe that says something about the size of my mouth!

Then I moved on to cheese scones.




Never having made these before I went to Internet for inspiration and followed the recipe from the Stilton website- where else?! They turned out pretty well, they're bound for the freezer so i'll have to see how they fare there.

And to finish, blue cheese pasta, nice and simple after the afternoons bakeathon...



Okay so that's a blue cheese dressing too! Phew - at least the Stilton is all gone now...until next year that is. Now does anyone know what I can do with a wheelbarrow full of Brie?

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Happy New Year!!!

What a year it's been here at the freerange homestead - not much blogging done, not much gardening or cooking, but plenty of building, hence the lack of anything else. When we started out on this year we had plans to do all sorts but as those of you who've ever built a large project yourselves will know, once foundations are dug and the plans are accepted you can forget any idea of social or recreational life full stop until the work is done.

Well we're not there yet but we are much closer. The roof is on, the windows are in, the floors are concreted and most of the plasterboard is up. We await a visit from an electrician on the fifth before we can have the final sign off from the planning office and then it's onto the last leg - curtains and cushions still seem an awful long way off though!

Writing about the project is partly what retains our sanity about it and I am very wary of making it all sound like roaringly good fun - oh those halcyon days of cement dust and climbing over wet floors covered with pallets to get to the washing machine - what japes! BH conquering his fear of height (albeit temporarily) to tile the roof in the wind is not an experience either of us would want to repeat, nor is eating our breakfast in our coats as we had to before the blessed insulation arrived. But were almost there now, I won't start ordering wallpaper samples yet, but I might just start looking...

Apologies to those of you who have been kind enough to keep reading during these lean times, I promise to write more in 2012 and to be a much much more frequent visitor to all of you and your sites that I love to read so much, and finally Happy New Year - keep blogging x

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The Barcelona Skirt is finished - at last...

At last - a finished item! My Barcelona Skirt was in danger of taking root in the project basket until Freerangenan threw me a helpline and took her favourite grandchildren to a magic show this afternoon. This left me free to ignore the ironing and get sewing! I'm so proud (or should that be sew proud!) of the completed item - not least because I've never read a pattern before making this - or put in a zip! I doubt I'll be offering the zip up for close scrutiny but it works, and that will do just fine...

Part of the reason I hadn't got any further with this until today is due to the upcoming craft fair in our village. I was asked to contribute something and had nervously offered up my own handmade decorations...

...expecting to be turned down or at best be asked for half a dozen, instead Ive had preorders for twenty six and then Ive got to create enough for the stall - yikes!!! It looks like Christmas has come very early in the freerangehouse - The living room has started to look like Santa's workshop with felt cutouts resting on every surface and I'm virtually stitching in my sleep...I'm sure I am completely confusing the kids sense of the seasons, they're wondering when the tree is going up...

So if your in the Rudston area on the 20th of November come and see if they did get made - or if I've thrown in the towel and moved onto the mulled wine...I'll keep you updated!

How we're getting on...

We not only have a roof - we have windows too!


The big build is getting there at last! After months of scaffolding and cement we have a building that looks like we might one day be using!



The windows and the paint have made all the difference and thankfully they were done before the weather turned - hurrah! The glass is now in all of the doors and concrete floors have been laid. We're getting closer to picking curtains - but as BH assures me we're not there yet.

Our current project is this...



The beloved insulation! Its such a boring topic, task and thing to spend money on - but I know we'll be thankful for it in the cold Yorkshire nights ( which aren't limited to winter unfortunately!)

So that's how we're getting on...and why I've been absent from the blogspace...it's like I said, we're getting there...slowly! But when we get there- oh brother its going to be worth it!



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