*HoNEy I'M hOMe*

Well that was short n' sweet {like meself} - did I miss anything? I'm sure I did, I love to pop in to everyone's blogs and seeing their latest projects and ofcourse all the latest juice about this & that. I'm sure there is lots to catch up on.

So, it was every bit as wonderful as I'd hope. The North Antrim coast that is. I've never actually spent much time there, ever. That is a bit sad considering I'm a native of County Down {Its close neighbour} I can't believe I have left it this long, but it has to be said, it was such a special time for both myself and Mr Mac.

We travelled to Ballintoy Harbour, bought the sandwiches and boarded the bus to The Giants Causeway - it is unbelievably beautiful. It knocked me for six. We travelled along the coast by foot, the views from the clifftops were unreal. 5 and a half hours later we arrived back in Ballintoy and drove back to our cottage, The Blacksmiths. It was unbelievably cosy and charming, I could have lived in that house forever. Overall, it was well worth the wait.

Northern Ireland is many many things, but of all things it is beautiful. Forget the politics and the stupid tit for tat that has been going on for an age or two, this is a landscape and a people that you will never forget. So many tourists head down to Dublin or Cork, most go all the way over to west coast and miss out on the magic of the North. Visit Northern Ireland - and you won't regret it. If you need convincing pop over to my flickr for more pics from my travels.

Time Flies...

I can't quite believe that on this day, at this precise time, five years ago, I was getting ready to marry my darlin' Mr Mac. It was such a crazy day - I was late for eveything... hair, makeup, oh yes and the ceremony too. Poor Fr. Des had a funeral to go to and he had to hand out the chapel key to one of the guests for lock up. Then my veil blew off outside..... aw its like a comedy when I playback everything in my head....

We are heading to the North Antrim Coast {in Northern Ireland} this evening, we've booked a cosy cottage for us two, and ofcourse Miss Mitzi as well. I've always really wanted to visit the Giants Causeway but never got round to it , so now is our time to explore. I can't wait but I've so much preparation to do, packing up my stuff, mitzi's stuff ... oh and I need to make Mr Mac a card too- aaaaahhh i forgot...

Time really does fly! I'll see you all next week with news of our adventure...

{The image above comes courtesy of Gezza xxx}

Hey hey its a beautiful day! :)*

Well it is a very mad Monday - lots of wedding work, sample requests and art to finish off. I wanted to start the week by saying 'thankyou' to all who enquired about my poorly chicken. Some people might have laughed but not my buds - I think you all know by now, how much I love my girls...

To be honest, I really didn't know whether Henrietta would make it through or not. When she showed the first signs of recovery, I was just a tad hesitant to tell you all. {Never count your chickens before they're hatched - isn't that what they say?} I'm delighted to say that she has made it through the worst and is now getting back to her old tricks again, not the full 100%, but we are getting there.

To celebrate I cooked the girls their favourite treat, porridge with sultanas! As you can see they all {Henrietta included!} really enjoyed the banquet. For now I can rest easy - fingers, knees, thumbs and elbows crossed :)* Thankyou so much to everyone for their kind words and good vibes and understanding, we all really appreciate that.

So here's a big fat 'Mwah' from the girls,
xxx!! :)*

P.S I can't go without showing off our Mitzi - she has won the coolest dog collar from Lucky Fiona - click here for all the juice!

Poor wee Henrietta!

My gorgeous girl is feeling ill. She hasn't been acting like her usual mad self this past few days. I've been putting it down to moulting, as in when hens go off the lay {stop producing eggs} and lose a tonne of feathers. But this is much worse, she has started puffing out her belly and making squirmy sounds like she's in awful pain. My heart breaks as I lost a hen a couple of years ago, wee Boody, who had exactly the same symptoms. I have changed my vet since then, who seems to take me and my girls a bit more seriously thank god. He has given me medication for her so fingers crossed, she'll be grand.

{This is a pic of her I took a while back when she was at her best, on my back doorstep}

Molly Blooms of Sycamore Street...

This is the second in my LittleVille series. I've a build up of sketches that have been sitting around for way too long. I don't know what it is about my houses but they do tend to draw me back to childhood. I'm hoping that when I'm finally finished, LittleVille will be like a storybook full of whimsical places with colourful stories attached. I'm wondering when this house thing will dry up. I do dabble in lots of other things/mediums etc. {i.e something more serious} but my houses keep coming! I've decided not to fight it and I'm really enjoying it. Losing myself in this little topsy turvy place I've found myself building is a great stress buster! :)*

Fancy a Crumble?

If you do then this is an amazingly gorgeous and utterly delicious recipe for you to try. If you are on a diet then please look away now.....

Its called Plum & Blackberry Crumble Pudding, and it is delish, seasonal and very very tasty and really easy to make. It will serve 6 regular people and maybe 8 skinny carb conscious people. I make it once {twice if lucky} every year, when the brambles are brimmimng with ripe fruit. If you are a townie please don't worry, you can try finding them in the shops or alternate the berry quantity with figs, cooking apples or rhubarb. We are going for tartiness, so don't try fruit that is too sweet otherwise this will be too cloying and heavy.

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Plum & Blackberry Crumble Pudding

For the Crumble Mixture...

• 5 oz. Plain Flour
• 2 oz. Demerara Sugar
• 3 oz. Good Old Fashioned Butter, cut into pieces
• 2 oz. Finely chopped Toasted Hazelnut

For the Juicy Filling....

• 1 lb 9 oz. Ripe Plums, Stoned & Quartered {Roughly 2 punnets}
• 9 oz. Blackberries {Get out there and enjoy picking these!}
• 2 oz. Golden Caster Sugar
• 1 tbsp. Plain Flour

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1. Heat the Oven to 200c or Fan 180c
   
2. Make the Crumble - mix the flour and sugar in a bowl, then rub in the butter pieces to make a fairly lumpy crumb mixture {love this bit} Stir in the Hazelnuts if you like {not essential but very nice}
   
3. Make the Filling - Mix the sugar and flour together, pop your plums and berries into an ovenproof dish and then toss gently with the sugary mix until golden and syrupy.
   
4. Level out the fruit and sprinkle your lumpy crumb on top.
   
5. Bake for 40-45 mins, you know your oven better than I so don't blame me for burnt crumble!
   
6. The Easy Bit - Dish out warm and serve with custard or vanilla ice cream. A hot cup of tea is compulsory to cut the sweet tartiness of the pud.
   Enjoy :)*
   
   {I have more step by step pics over on flickr in my yummy stuff folder for your salivation}

Suzi Blu... we love you :)*

So I'm on new meds from the docs and they have been really getting the better of me this past couple of days. Gezza, my darlin' momma, decided to take the trip down south to spend the weekend with me, perhaps do a little art and maybe even a little chocolate to cheer me up, fix the cramps and brighten my mood....

So she brought down her laptop and showed me her latest Suziblu class. I don't know what it is about this Suzi girl, but she is really inspirational and seems to be such a warm, caring person. It was fun to view the lesson and see my mother so inspired to create. She has made some really cool drawings of late, using a lot of clever techniques I didn't previously know about, so I am learning from her in turn. This is her most recent, which she made on my kitchen table, while I peeked over her shoulder :)* I love it....and her....

P.s I'm really fine, just a few dodgy hormones - nothing that a few little pills can't fix :)*

R i s e & S h i n e

I don't know about you, but this grey, damp, miserable weather is really making me... well miserable....

So today when I popped over to etsy, I thought I'd cheer myself up by putting together a bright and cheery treasury to wake up the happiness... this is for all the wet, miserable folks out there... enjoy :)*

See it in full at http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=24315 and support handmade! XX

In the works...

I finally got round to adding more detail to this canvas, its been looking at me for the past three weeks. I simply got to a point where I didn't know what to do next, sheer frustration I suppose?

The base took an incredible amount of time to make, a blend of textured and patterned paper strips {wallpaper, tickets, giftwrap, score sheets etc.} not forgetting waste trimmings from a recent stationery order. I like to reuse as much as I can. The rich colouring is a mix of pigment/dye inks, wax pastels and watered down acrylic put down in layers to create extra depth. Brought together in this way, it almost has the look and feel of a wood floor. Very pleasing but slightly odd.

The detail on top was completely freestyled with my sharpies, I just clicked out and kept drawing. The end result is something I didn't anticipate or expect. I like how the detail floats above yet binds with the background. I've tinted and embossed some of the details, to make it less flat but I still feel it needs more... more what though?

It might be another three weeks before I find out...