Stepping into Sixty

Salad and Stickers

Phew!

Summer has hit with temperatures in the high 20’s at the end of this week and expected next week too.

It’s definitely salad and BBQ weather. I made a very yummy pasta salad this week using popcorn chicken and for my pescatarian daughter I used prawns instead. You can find the recipe here

https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/popcorn-chicken-bacon-ranch-pasta-salad/#recipe

FREEBIE – I have created a number of sticker sheets for my Etsy shop this week but have made one special sheet specifically for one of my friends and you. We had a fun craft and chat evening this week and were chatting about going through the menopause and how some days you just need a friend to help you to see things clearly and make you smile or give you a kick up the backside 😂. So I created these stickers to give you those things when there is not a friend around. Feel free to download and print onto sticker paper. You can then just cut them out and stick them in places that you regularly look at and have a little chuckle or a motivational incentive to stop prevaricating.😂 If you require a different format I will have a PDF and PNG available to purchase on my store.

Mental Health Stickers Download

I love Jamie Oliver recipes and am looking forward to his new book due out later this summer. Last night I made his Fragrant Prawn Balls from his book 7 Ways. I had to slightly adapt it as my daughter is not a fan of coriander. https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/category/books/7-ways/

As mentioned last week I decided to go into Exeter on the bus. It was a very enjoyable experience and definitely cheaper than driving in and finding somewhere to park. We had a lovely wander around the craft fair which was in the cathedral grounds, bumped into one of the ladies I do Tai Chi with who’s husband makes beautiful silver jewellery and had a stall there.

We then had a mooch around some shops and a nice lunch and then back home on the bus. It was a long day but with no stress, so will definitely be doing the same again.

My youngest daughter turns 20 this week so I will no longer have teenagers in the house. We are planning a BBQ and meal out as she has a friend coming to stay. She has requested a grasshopper cake for her Birthday so I will post a photo and the recipe next week. It’s definitely a favourite in this house.

Stay cool but try to enjoy this warm weather as we don’t get enough of it in my opinion.

Chris x

Happy Half Birthday

Hello and here we are in July and exactly 6 months of this blog, so happy half birthday to Stepping into Sixty.

So how has this first six months of Sixty been? I started this blog to push myself to do things that were different and slightly out of my comfort zone. I think I am achieving this although I feel slightly restricted on getting out and seeing new places as the price of petrol has made traveling very far a strain on the bank balance. That being said it has made me think about other ways of getting around and next week there is a craft fair in Exeter which rather than driving and then paying for parking which is also very expensive, I am going to catch the bus from my town directly into Exeter.

Yes it does restrict the freedom of times a little but it will be so much cheaper and a little adventure as I cannot remember the last time I traveled on a public bus!

This week I did manage a little trip out as Dartmoor is just on my doorstep so my daughter Mia and I took the little dogs out to Shilley Pool.

Shilley Pool is one of Dartmoor’s best-kept secrets, a beautiful natural tarn found sheltered below the roaming and heather-bound heathlands of North Dartmoor. The pool is fed from flat rock rapids and is located in the valley of Blackaton Brook. For years, this magical place is where villagers from neighbouring South Zeal and Throwleigh came to bathe and learn to swim. It also features in Roger Deakin’s enchanting and timeless book Waterlog, which receives ‘cult status’ amongst the wild swimming community.

The climb up is over rough terrain but the dog’s appear to be part mountain goat so no real problem. It was such a peaceful spot that we had all to ourselves.

Now onto what has been going on in the kitchen. Last week I made the Fortnight Birthday cake which apparently the kids loved. This week word got around and I have been asked to make a Lemon Drizzle Cake for next week. Therefore I decided to have a practice as in the past I have made loaf cakes but not actually a round Birthday cake style. I found a nice recipe that I adapted

200g caster sugar

150g butter

4 Eggs

150ml sour cream

275g self raising flour

Zest of 2 lemons

Cream the butter and sugar together, slowly add the beaten eggs. Combine the sour cream and then fold in the flour and zest. Divide into two sandwich tins. I line the bottom of them with parchment paper to guarantee they tip out nicely. Cook on 180 degrees for around 20 – 25 mins. Cool slightly on rack before turning out. I then combined the juice of the two lemons with 2 tbsp of sugar to drizzle over the base of the two sponges whilst still warm.

Whilst cake is cooling I whipped up 300ml of double cream and combined 3 large tbsp of lemon curd to make the filling and topping. I also decided to make candied lemon peel, which I have never made before. I followed this recipe https://decoratedtreats.com/candied-lemon-peel-how-to-make.html

Once the cake was cold I put it altogether and decorated the top with the candied peel. Now I just have to do the same thing again next week but at least this week I get to eat it too! 😋

I have also been busy creating more printable planners for my Etsy shop. I am thoroughly enjoying coming up with different designs and hope to branch out into other printables too. Here is a sneak peek at one of the pages for my cute 2023 calendar I am creating. I’m going to make planners to compliment each of the designs too. If you are interested in checking out my shop this is the linkhttps://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CraftyTeenyBeeny

My crocheted scarf has got a little further but not much as have been busy with other things. My daughter Mia on the other hand has been extremely busy with her newly found crocheting and has been busy making cute little amigurumi creatures and putting them on Tiktok https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNSeHj9a/

I’m going to head off now and hope to get out for a dog walk before more rain comes. Have a good week.

Chris x

Summer Pickings

We had the Summer Solstice this week and just like that the night will begin to get shorter! Let’s not despair yet as we still have the rest of the Summer months to get through.

July is just around the corner and therefore I have created a wallpaper calendar for your Android phone, you should be able to download it from here.

July Android Wallpaper Download

I mentioned last week I had been asked to make a Fortnight cake for a friend’s sons birthday. I created a green and brown marbled, two tiered cake and made it into a pinata by cutting a section out of the top layer and filling it with sprinkles and mini chocolate beans (llama loot) and then replacing the cut out and covering the whole cake with chocolate fudge icing.

I also bottled up my elderflower champagne and made labels to go on them. It should take around 2 weeks for them to start to become alcoholic.

Elderflower Champagne all bottled and labeled

I also made some ginger beer syrup which is lovely topped up with soda water and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

200g peeled and thickly cut ginger
Peel of 2 lemon
75g golden caster sugar
100g light muscovado sugar
500 ml water

Bring to boil and then simmer for 15-20 mins until syrup. Allow to cool before straining into glass jar or bottle. Will keep in fridge for 2 to 3 weeks. This is also great for making cocktails rather than using sugar syrup.

I bought a gooseberry bush this year, it was quite small so I didn’t expect any fruit but I have picked a small bowlful. I found this recipe for sour cream gooseberry cakes. https://nadelundgabel.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/sooour-cream-cake-with-gooseberries/

I did not have any sour cream but did have yoghurt so decided to use that instead. As they do not contain any fat other than whatever fat content your cream or yoghurt has they are rather a dry texture but with the gooseberries they have that little pop of sourness and then the sweeter taste of the cake. Yum!

My youngest daughter Mia has managed to hurt both her legs by over doing exercise and therefore is having to rest up but still needed something to do. She has had a go at knitting in the past but did not really get on with it. She decided to have a go a crochet and watched a few tik tok videos and decided to make a bee. She headed into my stash of yarns and found some chunky wool she liked and went with that, not the easiest start but she is determined! After a little trial and error she completed it. She is making a second smaller one which is looking amazing. I will try to post a photo of it once complete either on next week’s blog or the Facebook page.

I have not done any crochet for a while but with Mia doing her crochet it stimulated me into wanting to make something. Do you remember my cute little tin can covers I made with the Stylecraft cotton yarn? Well I have a reasonable amount left so decided to use it to make a pretty scarf.

This is the pattern I found, it looks quite complicated but actually is a fairly simply pattern. https://www.yarnspirations.com/gb/caron-go-to-crochet-shawl/CAC0126-026931M.html

With the price of petrol at the moment it is hard to justify taking trips out and about too far therefore I have restricted myself to just doing my normal, close to home walks with the dogs. They have baled up the grass in one of my favourite fields so we used them to practice our ‘go around ‘ skills and they also made a good photo opportunity.

I hope you have a lovely week and will pop by again next week.

Chris x

Leading you down the garden path

I have been super busy creating printables for my new Etsy shop. Whilst it seems quite an easy thing to do, the amount of times I’ve had to go back and tweak things because when I printed them out they did not look as good as they had on the screen. Here is the link to my shop so you can see some of the things I have done. I have a few projects nearly ready to be uploaded but not quite happy with them yet.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CraftyTeenyBeeny

In the garden I have managed to complete the top garden path and clear most of the steps to the downstairs garden but with the hot weather hitting us at the end of the week decided to wait till next week to start that.

The wild flower bombs that I sprinkled over the newly dug flower bed are beginning to make an appearance and I have baked all my egg shells this week to crush and sprinkle to deter the snails, hopefully!

I also picked my elderflowers and have started to make my champagne. The recipe

Alcoholic version
Ingedients:

15 elderflower blooms
3 lemons
800g sugar
5 litres water (2 litres boiling, 3 litres cold)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
6 glass screw top bottles
Method:

1. Put the sugar into a large saucepan (or bucket) – it needs to be big enough to fit 5l water!

2. Add 2 litres of boiling water to dissolve the sugar and stir.

3. Then a further 3 litres of cold water to cool it down.

4. Squeeze out the lemon juice – add the juice and zest to the saucepan.

5. Add the elderflower blooms and give it a gentle stir before adding the white wine vinegar and stir again.

6. Leave for 2-3 days covered with a tea towel to ferment. Stir occasionally.

7. If there’s no sign of fermentation after 1-2 days (you should see bubbles at the surface) then you can add a champagne yeast at this point.

7. Strain through muslin into sterilised screw top bottles (easiest when done through funnels).

8. Leave a gap of 1″ at least to allow for expansion.

I am having to add champagne yeast which I just purchased off Amazon. I will update you once bottled and consumed.

One of my friends has asked my to make a Fortnight Cake for her son this coming week. I have some ideas, so photo next week.

As some of you know my profession is a dog trainer and I teach Hoopers Agility as well as basic obedience.

This week I sent my entry off to compete in my first Hoopers Agility competition, so we are off to get a bit of practice done 😂

Chris x

Freebie and New Venture

So after all the fun of the Jubilee it’s back to normal for most of us.

For me it’s starting a new side line. I love creating digital artwork and thought I would try creating my own wallpaper for my phone using one of the photos I took recently of a Solomon Seal I found on one of my dog walks. I like having a calendar of the month to refer to quickly if needed so decided to add it to the image so it is there on my home screen.

If you think this might be nice to have on your Android phone then please feel free to download by clicking the download button below. This is a first for me, so hope it works 😂 I will try to get to grips with an iPhone version too!

junewallpaper Download

I am also creating monthly themed planners to upload to my Etsy shop so will let you know when I have got my head around how to create and list a downloadable item. All these new technology skills I’m learning at Sixty 😂

I used an ‘S’ spice this week which I have never used before Sumac.

This wine-coloured ground spice is one of the most useful but least known and most underappreciated. Made from dried berries, it has an appealing lemon-lime tartness that can be widely used. In Iran, they use it as a condiment, putting it onto the table with salt and pepper. You can try this yourself and it will complement most dishes.

I found a recipe for Sumac Chocolate Brownies. These are really chocolatey and fudgy. You can find the recipe here

https://food52.com/recipes/84479-best-brownie-cookies-recipe-with-olive-oil-sumac?epik=dj0yJnU9SGUzUjVtNVN5cDYzenZSMTJXOHNvZExabGtzcWVXQ1gmcD0wJm49d0NlSVpvdEw1elB3U2N2MGVaaGhvQSZ0PUFBQUFBR0tsbXpn

Another recipe I made this week was Jamie Oliver’s Fishballs, these actually had no fish in them but we’re made of prawn and squid rings. They taste a bit like scampi and were surprisingly easy to make.

2 pieces of stale bread made into breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice
1¾ cups of frozen raw squid rings or tubes
1 cup frozen peeled raw prawns
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger or tsp of lazy ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 egg
3 tablespoons cornflour

Blitz the prawns and squid with ginger, coriander and egg. Then mix in the cornflour and pop in fridge for 30 mins. Mix the 5 spice into the breadcrumbs. Take large tsp of the prawn mix and drop into breadcrumbs and cover with more breadcrumbs and then create ball shape. Drop in preheated frying pan with olive oil, cook till brown and then turn over. We really enjoyed these but Jamie does them with a sweet and sour rice which we found a bit bland but will definitely be making the balls again. Maybe with chips and salad.

I can almost lead you down the garden path as have started on gravelling the pathway as I was forever having to cut back the grass around the slabs. It should have been finished by now but have had a summer cold which has affected my sinuses and caused really bad sinusitis, which I have now had for 5 days and is a real pain, literally!

Have a good week everyone I hope to be back to my normal self by next weekend. Whatever normal is!

Chris x

Let the Summer Begin

I hope you are having a wonderful Jubilee Weekend. This week I decided to take the week off and not do any dog training sessions as there were so many things happening.

On Wednesday I had one of my best friends from the South East visit with her husband. We go way back and as soon as we got together it was as if we had seen each other just a few days before. Do you have friends like that?

I had prepared a simple afternoon tea style lunch and the weather was perfect for Al fresco dining out on the patio. Afterwards we had a little wander around my tiny town and down to the Taw river which is part of the Tarka Trail.

Inspired by the route travelled by Tarka the Otter, this 180 mile, figure eight route traverses unspoiled countryside, dramatic sea cliffs and beautiful beaches. The southern loop incorporates the longest, continuous off-road cycle path in the UK.

In the evening we had the first BBQ of the year and New Orleans Hurricane cocktails which are

2oz light rum
2oz dark rum
1oz passion fruit syrup
1 tbsp grenadine
1oz lime juice
Topped up with orange juice

We finished the evening with Mudslide Martini

1 oz Baileys Original Irish Cream
1 oz vodka
2 oz cold coffee
2 oz single cream

I have finished digging my new flower bed and decided to create a small water feature. I can now sit and listen to babbling water whilst drinking my morning coffee.

I used 2 different sized frost resistant ceramic pots. These were on half price at my local garden centre, I also used a plastic upturned pot to stand the smaller pot on. I filled the drainage hole with expanding foam. The bottom pot is filled with soil and planted with nasturtiums seeds around it. The orange and yellow flowers will look lovely against the blue.

I also got a floating solar fountain off Amazon which is floating in the top pot.

Total price around £50.00

For the Jubilee Weekend we have had various festivities and events happening in the town, starting with a parade down the high street and tonight finishing with a play at the town hall ‘Into the Woods’ which apparently is a take on Babes in the Wood.

Next week normal life will resume but until then enjoy whatever you are up to.

Chris x

Tasty Meals and Pretty Crafts

Little late in posting this week as attended the wedding of one of the first friends I made when I moved to Devon. They have had to cancel twice due to COVID but the sun shone brightly as if it knew how much this day meant to them ❤️

I created a few really yummy evening meals this week.

The first was teriyaki salmon, veggies and pad thai noodles

With the potato peeler I sliced carrot and courgette and then sliced up a whole pak choy and broccoli florets and added to a pan to saute and soften. Meanwhile I cooked some pad thai noodles and drained.

I then cubed a couple of fillets of salmon and then added to pan with soften veggies. Once the salmon had started turning pale pink I added the noodles and a packet of #bluedragon Sticky Teriyaki Sauce and combined everything so it was all coated in the sauce. This took about 30 mins to prepare, cook and dish up.

Yum!

The other meal was Sausage and Gnocchi Bake
I used #tescofoods Finest Pork and Chorizo sausages but any good quality sausages would work.

I cubed courgette, red and orange peppers, diced up broccoli florets and whole cherry tomatoes. Added half a packet of gnocchi and drizzled some oil over it all and mixed thoroughly. Chop up the sausages into 4 and place into the veggies and then add blobs of soft goats cheese on top. Cook in oven for about 45 mins on 180. I mixed it at about the halfway stage so everything browned.

The ‘P’ for last week was poppy seeds. It’s not that I haven’t used them many times in a lemon and poppy seed cake but decided to add them to butter biscuits and also grated lemon. The flavour was lovely and the poppy seeds added that little extra to them.

The recipe I used was https://thegardeningfoodie.com/danish-butter-cookies/

Now onto crafts, I told you last week that we had our monthly Crafty Butterflies evening due. We made Shaker Cards which was great fun and I was rather pleased with the outcome.

I also finished my trio of tin can covers designed by https://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2022/05/stylecraft-blogstars-garden-party.html

I have started on making a bucket hat for my Nephew’s Birthday and creating a shoulder bag for my Niece who’s Birthday is next week and I will be seeing them over the Jubilee Weekend as they are visiting Devon for the half term holidays.

I also have one of my best friends and her husband visiting this week, so hoping for a nice day and evening so we can eat in the garden and drink plenty of cocktails and chat and giggle till the early hours just like we used to many moons ago!

I have taken a week off work to enjoy all the festivities, wishing you a wonderful week whatever you are up to.

Chris x

Chores can be Fun!

Creating a weekly blog takes effort, no one wants to read about the boring everyday things you got up to. Everybody has to do the cleaning, washing and cooking. Coming up with content means you have to do things that you would not normally do or are not a chore or do I?

Here are a few natural cleaning products and tips that you can use around your home to ditch some of those chemicals.

Wood cleaner and polish

½ C White Vinegar (just plain old white vinegar, or you can use ACV for darker woods, if you like)
¼ C Olive Oil (organic, extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Vegetable Glycerin (optional, but a really great addition – non-GMO, organic vegetable glycerin)
20-30 drops Lavender Essential Oil (organic lavender essential oil)
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in a glass spray bottle. Shake well before each use.

Spray on wood and rub with microfiber or other soft cloth.

Toilet Cleaner

1 cup vinegar (just plain old white vinegar)
7 drops each ginger essential oil, helps reduce campylobacter strain, cinnamon essential oil, clove essential oil are effective at killing E. coli, staphylococcus, salmonella, and streptococcus.
Glass spray bottle

Instructions

Combine the vinegar and essential oils in the glass spray bottle.
To use, shake vigorously before spraying on the sides of the toilet bowl and under the rim.
Take the top off of the spray bottle and dump the rest of the contents into the bowl. Let the vinegar soak in the bowl for an hour before scrubbing thoroughly with a brush and flushing.

Drain cleaner

Baking Soda – ½ cup
Distilled White Vinegar – 1 cup

Instructions
Pour the baking soda over the drain followed by the vinegar. Let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes and then flush with very hot water.

This last one makes me happy every time, no not because it’s cleaning my drains but just watching the chemical reaction. Simple things! 😂

I was talking about school dinners recently with some friends, the ones we loved and those that were awful. Pink Fluff was one we remembered enjoying and I decided to make it for Sunday Dinner dessert. Just raspberry jelly and evaporated milk, simple but oh so good! 😋

Dissolve the jelly (I used raspberry) in half the amount of boiling water suggested.

Whisk a tin of evaporated milk until frothy and then add the slightly cooled jelly and continue whisking until fully combined.

Pour into serving dishes and chill for at least 2 hours. You can add fresh raspberries as a garnish to make this simple dessert a little more special.

What school dinner or pudding do you remember?

This week I have had fun joining in with #StylecraftBlogstarsGardenParty event. I have so far made two of the three cute tin covers. #Stylecraft have a lovely selection of coloured organic cotton yarns. The pattern designer for the tin covers was Lucy #Attic24

Here is the link to the pattern https://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2022/05/stylecraft-blogstars-garden-party.html

These will be great for my summer dining table to pop some wild meadow flowers in and cutlery and napkins for all our outside dining I hope we can have.

So yes this week the Spice/herb should have been ‘P’ but I have not got around to making the Lemon and Poppyseed Butter Biscuits but will be making today ready for tomorrow’s Craft Butterflies Meeting where we will be making Shaker Cards. Therefore I will post on next week’s blog.

The next couple of weeks are looking super busy, youngest daughter coming home from University for the Summer, friends and relatives visiting, a friend’s wedding and the Jubilee Weekend. This should give me some good content for the next couple of blogs 😂

Have a great week and thanks for dropping by.

Chris x

Paper and Wool with a Sprinkling of Oregano!

So how many of you stayed up last night to watch the Eurovision Song Contest held in Italy? What an amazing finish and a great result. Ukraine winning not necessarily with the best song but with the love of the public votes. Sam Ryder, UK did an amazing job and should be super proud of coming second.

This week has been quite a crafty week starting with last Sunday going on a paper making workshop which was great fun and I produced a number of handmade sheets. I will definitely be having a go at home and am saving suitable paper to rip up and recycle.

I also crocheted a small bag to use for my phone, keys and bank card when I go out and about with no pockets. I tried a nice herringbone stitch which I had not done before and then embellished with a couple of flowers. Really pleased with the result.

I also crocheted one of the tin can covers from https://www.stylecraft-yarns.co.uk/blog/blogstars-garden-party. The pattern was created by the very talented Lucy of Attic24. There are 3 styles to choose from, I will definitely be trying the other two. Plus some of the other bloggers gorgeous creations. You can find the pattern

herehttps://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2022/05/stylecraft-blogstars-garden-party.html

Keeping with the Italian theme of Eurovision, this weeks herb is Oregano which is a culinary herb, used for the flavour of its leaves, which can be more intense when dried than fresh. It has an earthy, warm, and slightly bitter taste, which can vary in intensity. Most known for its use in Italian pasta dishes.

I made a Bolognese Pasta Bake by making my own tomato sauce using passata, tinned cherry tomatoes, garlic, onions, beef mince and dried oregano. Mixed through cooked pasta and sprinkled with cheese and baked until cheese browns.

The dog’s have joined Tiktok, they are pretty good at this social media lark and have posted their first video. 🤣 The link is here if you want to see it.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLc5pnVk/?k=1

We have a house guest arriving for a few days, Carmen a 13 year old Standard Poodle. She used to stay with us regularly when I lived in my last home. Her owners are coming down to Devon and the hotel wanted her to be crated when they left her in the room at mealtimes. She has never been crated and at 13 they thought she would much more enjoy coming to stay with me and my dog’s. It will be lovely to see her and her owners again.

Enjoy your week, whatever you are up to.

Chris x

Tame Week

As Sunday was a complete washout I didn’t go anywhere but the rain stopped on Monday which was the Bank Holiday so my eldest daughter and I went into Tavistock to have a mooch around the Pannier Markets and get some lunch.

I found two lovely paper napkins and used them to create two decoupage tins for my kitchen island, very summery ❤️

I still have not located Lovage although one of my friends from back in Oxfordshire informed me she had recently pulled and divided her plant and could not find anyone who wanted it so had to throw away! 😢

This week we are on ‘N’ and I have chosen Nigella seeds they are also known as black cumin. Nigella may provide an array of health benefits. The most well-researched benefits include protection against cell damage and inflammation, improved blood sugar control, a stronger immune system, and a healthier heart and brain.

Nigella seeds are widely used as a spice and condiment in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine. They can be dry-roasted and used to give a smokey, nutty flavor to curries, vegetables, and beans.

I made falafel, there are a few things I changed to the recipe below, I did not add chilli or sesame seeds. I mixed the Nigella seeds into mix and chopped feta into small pieces and mixed into whole mixture. Personally I will bake my next batch as not keen on frying them. Flavour was really nice and great with my homemade Tzatziki for simple a lunch. Here is the link

https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/starters/feta-and-nigella-seed-falafel

It was a pretty tame week and did not do any actual exploring with the dog’s, I am hoping to do better this week with the return of the nice weather.

The garden is beginning to really spring into life so looking at doing something with the downstairs garden. It is the area that gets the morning sun so would love to make it into more of a little chill out space with bistro table and chairs.

Finally a quick check in on my 16:8 diet, it’s going well and I am much less hungry in the mornings and definitely cannot eat as much at mealtimes. I lost 0.4kg (0.8lbs) which is not huge but definitely going in the right direction.

Have fun this week.