Bread

As mentioned, my projects now consist mainly of baking and knitting. I have always loved these two things so its really just picking them back up now I have the time.
A new challenge for me is bread making. In the UK I never had a real need to make bread, with lots of lovely bakeries as well as the supermarkets selling a huge range at reasonable cost why bother. Here its very different. Their pre packaged bread is full of random ingredients that I never knew could go into a loaf of bread, and end up making a very sweet, cloggy loaf that just doesnt work with the standard sandwich fillings. It also troubles me to eat so many ingredients I cannot pronounce!
The other factor is cost, finding a normal loaf costs about $3 (yes if you do a conversion to pounds its not too bad, but we are paid in dollars so its pretty high in my opinion).
I do not own a bread machine so I go old school just a bowl, my hands, a damp tea towel and a hot oven.

So far the attempts have been successful with the latest white bread being pretty awesome, more a fool proof recipe then my amazing talent!

Wholemeal with sesame seeds

Plain wholemeal

Simple white loaf

Everyday update, November 2012

I cannot believe I’ve not blogged since April, oops!

In May my mum and dad came to visit which was wonderful we had so much fun, but it didn’t help with my home sick feeling. As much as living in California sounds great, take away friends and family, that everyday support network, and its kinda hard work and a little sad.

Train Town, Sonoma, CA

With determination and, well, just being very outgoing, I managed to make Myles a couple of friends at his gym class. I was motivated by the thought of him having no friends to celebrate his birthday with in June.

After several weeks of hello and the odd smile, I went for it and introduced myself. It paid off and we have become friends with two of the families from the class. It made for a lovely party and playdates since.

Happy 2nd Birthday

I also used the local Moms Club to find friends. Yip I literally posted, hey I need friends! It worked and even though I only had a couple of responses the ladies I met from it are proving to be great friends, and their children get on so well with Myles.

I did notice though that everyone is less inclined to plan here, which meant at times we would have very busy days and then days of nothing. Going a week without any other adult company and trying to entertain a very busy boy is hard work.

School field trip, Artora Pumpkin Patch 

This prompted the decision for Myles to start a day care twice a week. Oh my gosh, it’s one of the best decisions for him we have made. Having started in August, he already has two best friends, Maggy and Oliver. I frequently have his teacher telling me what cheeky antics the three of them get up to in the day.  It has also really helped with Myles’ talking, we were finding he was being lazy, the words were there but he wasn’t bothering to try and use them, now we have to ask him to have quiet time!

I joined him on his first field trip to a local pumpkin patch. It was such a fun morning, I loved seeing him with his class mates and how he responded to his teachers (with hugs and agreeing to anything they asked of him). It also meant I got to meet the moms of his partners in crime.

They are fab ladies, we had the pleasure of joining them for Halloween and hope to have more playdates, and dinners soon.

Trick or Treat

Add in house warmings,  ladies (and gents) that lunch, house work and my projects and it feels like we are really creating a life here.

I still miss home, friends and family but I don’t feel so isolated and ready to jump on the next plane to England!!

(Oh and we got pregnant, so expecting our own little Californian babe early next year)!

Garden furniture

So, garden furniture here seemed really pricey, and at the time we only had a small deck to sit on so I hunted on craigslist and found these for $20, bargain.

Both pieces started this dingy brown colour and all a bit wonky

After a good clean with some chemical peel for furniture and a good stain

I am now looking out for some more seating for the yard we have :-)

Bed frame

Our bedframe has lasted for years and moved so many times its taken a scrape or two, so it was time to freshen it up

Im really happy with the finished result

The Bookshelves and draw units

Very simple, but a great fresh look to these very old units!

Still working on finding the draw pulls I want, but Im happy with the paint.

Updates on old projects - The Dining Table

I did finish the furniture projects I had planned so here are some pics ...

The dining table

Lets Start Again

Ok, so im pretty rubbish at this blogging thing!

Life got busy as we have started to settle here in California. We have been out and about a lot, plus lots of lovely everyday living.

About 2 months ago we moved… again. The first house we were in was lovely and big inside but unfortunately I could not get on with the location (or the noisy neighbours), so we downsized and got our perfect location in downtown San Carlos. It’s a cute little town full of restaurants and boutique stores. A real plus is that we can walk Myles to his day care, no more morning tears about having to get in the car, yay! We also have a yard to play in which is so great.

With downsizing, I really don’t have the need or space for furniture projects so after finishing my last already planned project I stopped looking for bargains. Instead I swapped sanding and painting for baking and knitting.

I love love baking, the whole process is relaxing, the smell always makes me smile and whilst pregnant I figure I can get away with an extra treat or two J

Bread is something I have really started to work on. One thing we really miss is English bread, its simple yet scrummy flavour. Here they seem to insist on adding honey, corn syrup, molasses etc, you name it, and it’s probably in the bread. Not everything turns out perfectly, the new house has a gas oven which is all new to me, so I seem to need to make at least two attempts at any recipe to figure out the best timing, but it all still tastes good and Pete seems to be happy eating anything!

The other great thing about baking is Myles loves to help me. Its so nice to make things together and he will try everything as we go, so a lovely way of getting him to try new things without bribery.

Knitting, well its not as fast as baking but I find it a great way to switch off in the evening. I really enjoy knitting but I am far from being very good. I still stick to very simple items. My plan is to eventually find a group that I can learn from but for the moment you tube will having to suffice.   

So, my plan is to share with you my projects, and you can nag me to speed up on the knitting (so a blanket doesn’t take 3 months)!