Saturday 29 December 2012

Cooking With Plink: Christmas Cake part 2

Hullo!

Look what I got for Christmas!

Untitled
Har. No it's not an offensive weapon, it's for making tasty griddled treats, honest
Anyway. I thought you might like to see how the Christmas cake ended up. Given the human wasn't feeling so well, she wasn't able to photograph my progress, but I'm pleased to say this has been flawlessly covered in marzipan and the fluffiest royal icing which did NOT run down the sides in an alarming fashion in any way shape or form at all ever never oh noes.
Achievement unlocked: respectable looking Christmas cake :)
Aww, cute little snowfamily
The snowmen were Melchie's idea, we used ready-to-roll icing and leftover black writing icing from Halloween  The tiny buttons and the hats and the scarf and from bits of rubbish the human left lying around.

I'm going to go into business next year. Can't wait to tell the human...

Thursday 27 December 2012

Introducing Alexa

The family is continuing to grow... not through any fault of mine, I should add!
Alexa
Glasses! 
This is Alexa. She's a Nicky Lad, and was entirely selected and purchased by the Bloke as a Christmas present without ANY prompting from me*.
Alexa
Top: "On Blythe Street". Skirt: Homemade.
Glasses and boots: Stock. Socks: Chicki.co.uk
Apparently he chose her as she's the one that he'd buy if he was 'buying a doll for himself'.
Alexa
Don't get excited, it's a computer desktop background!
He likes her glasses and boots. This is good, because I rather like them too :)


*I am generally entirely unhelpful when it comes to Christmas present suggestions. "What do you want for Christmas/your birthday?" is a question that invariably gets a silly answer.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Merry Makiemas!

We made it to Christmas Day!

What with all the Dr-Whoing and cooking and eating and falling asleep on the sofa, we managed to have a lovely, quiet and restful day. The girls' new glasses got painted up in time, and have been declared 'perfect'.
Untitled
Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all Makies!
Unfortunately today, Plink and Melchie decided to get out their presents to each other...
Untitled
To the DEATH, Melchie Vader!
... I can see a veto fast approaching...
Untitled
Haaar, Plink Skywalker! You shall not better me!
Oh help. Anyone know how to switch a light sword off?


Monday 24 December 2012

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Well, I'm exhausted. That's proper, went to sleep from 2 til 5 and still tired exhausted.

The Makies and Blythes have been contained, thankfully, and have been amusing themselves with the NORAD Santa tracker (noradsanta.org)

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Sunday 23 December 2012

Progress?

I was feeling a bit better today, so I've hustled around a little housework and started some cutting out...

...but now I'm feeling decidedly wobbly again! Time for a sit down and some rubbish TV!

Saturday 22 December 2012

Argh, not again...

One more, I find myself in a state of 'ill', with an associated side order of 'utterly craptastic'. Can't remember the last time I had wall-to-wall viralness for three months, but this winter seems to be taking the biscuit.

Because I've spent the last week just about making it to work, getting through the day and getting home to collapse in a heap, my Christmas plans for the girls are going completely out of the window. I've managed to cobble together one dress, which I'm considering an achievement (it looks brill on Plink), but I don't think everyone is going to get one. I'm actually a bit concerned about getting the house together ready for Christmas day and the inlaws coming over!

Just so's this post has a picture, here's my Guild Wars 2 character looking badass.

Guild Wars 2
She's the one on the left. 
Have a good weekend, everyone, and remember to keep that trolley rage under control!

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Hatses!

A purchased hat and a parcel of surprises from the utterly lovely Fil, arriving as such parcels should on a day which was wall to wall crappy.

Thanks, Fil! Christmas has come early :)

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Wrappin', innit?

Goodness, how is it the 19th already?
(Okay, I know the technicalities. The sun rises and sets, the hours pass. But it seems to go faster).

There still seems to be a lot to do, so Plink and Melchie volunteered to help me wrapping the presents.
Wrapping

And actually, to my surprise, the corners were folded neatly.
Wrapping

Labels were written and put on the right presents.
Wrapping

We got all of it done in record time and with minimal use of naughty words.
Wrapping

And we were still friends at the end of it!
Wrapping

I really don't think it'll last.

Monday 17 December 2012

Cooking with Plink: Christmas Cake Part 1

Hullo and welcome!

A few weeks ago, we make Christmas Cake. Here are the ingredients! 
Cooking with Plink
That's lots of mixed fruit soaked overnight in brandy, flour, sugar, eggs, butter, spices, citrus zest
We used Nigella's recipe from "How to be a Domestic Goddess"

You'll also need to be good friends with some of this...
Cooking with Plink
She didn't get any. 

Lining the tin is terribly important. 
Cooking with Plink
O hai!
See? And apparently I got the wrong idea about what creaming means.

Cooking with Plink
We beat the heck out of it!
I think you're allowed to make wishes when you're stirring Christmas cake... I didn't really have time for that, cause I was licking the loose mixture off of my fingers. Yum!
Cooking with Plink
There was mixture on the Makie, the floor, the ceiling... 
But I guess the one wish I had did come true... the human did all the cleaning up!
Cooking with Plink
And it took *ages*
We'll be marzipanning and icing the cake next weekend. Can't wait! 

Saturday 15 December 2012

Aaaargh! Another hedgehog!


...number 7 appeared rocketing around the garden yesterday at dusk. Only 320g. We thought the last two would be our lot for the Winter, but it appears they're just going to keep on coming! 



Friday 14 December 2012

New Specs

Freshly arrived from MakieLab today and waiting for a paint job. We shall look GLAMOROUS this Christmas!

Sunday 9 December 2012

Oh no... more hedgehogs!

We're rather fond of our local wildlife, it has to be said. As well as providing food for various bird species and squirrels, we've been feeding and keeping an eye on the local hedgehog population... Plink even managed to snap one of them wandering around the garden. We've blossomed out into two hedgehog houses, which the Bloke visits of an evening to provide food and report back on occupation status and the health of the residents.

Unfortunately, this year the hedgehogs have been rather late in breeding and producing young. I think this is probably due to the very wet Summer that we had. This means that the juveniles aren't getting to a weight where they are likely to survive the Winter. So far, we've scooped up 4 microhogs who don't look like they're going to make the weight, and I have to say that we were expecting that to be our lot for the season. Given the recent rain and the cold snap drawing in, we were pretty certain that any sub-par hogs wouldn't have made it this far into the year.

So when the Bloke came in from the garden today and announced that he thought there were two tiny hedgehogs in the house, we were pretty surprised. The kitchen scales were usurped and the weigh-in completed...


...and both of them came in at less than 350g. This is no way near enough to make it; you want your hoglets to be pushing 500-600g by now, which makes them about the size of a football.


We've taken them both inside for tonight; they're currently in a box in the downstairs loo. In the morning we'll get in touch with the excellent City Wildlife Care, who will arrange for them to be de-ticked, wormed and provided with a cosy living space for the Winter.

They provide this as a free service. Obviously, we'll be sending them a Christmas present (as well as offering the garden as a release site for hedgehogs in April next year), but if you've got a couple of pennies in your pocket, please have a think about making a donation to Operation Hedgehog. They're an entirely voluntary organisation, cover a massive area and need all the help they can get.


A sort of final unveiling!

Apart from a squirt of MSC and a fringe-iron, Number 3 is finished!
Number 3

She's got a hint of eyeshadow now and decided that the best blush colour was the one I wear on a day-to-day basis...
Number 3

I think she's whispered her name to me. We'll see.

Saturday 8 December 2012

Winter Warming

When you're off out on a frosty walk, you need your warmest coat. Happily, our warmest coats are also our newest and smartest.
Aspen
Glittery hairbands are FESTIVE
Aspen's coat is made in red cotton twill, finished with black velvet ribbon for the collar.
Aspen
...where'd that Reindeer come from? 
The coat pattern is I think from a Dolly Dolly book, although I purchased it as a PDF from an unscrupulous Etsy seller who appears to have scanned it and is passing it off as their own. I've since reported them (although doubt that's going to make any difference).

Melchie's new coat
O HAI DEER
Melchett is modelling a herringbone wool version, which is made from the fabric that keeps on giving. I purchased 3m on evilBay and I've got a dress and two skirts for me, a cushion and now a Makie coat out of it, and there are still scraps left!
Melchie's new coat
Admire my beautiful back end
The back pleat gives an active Makie room for Mischief.
Melchie's new coat
This is what we technically call 'posing'
Melchie, stop faffing about.
Melchie's new coat
Taa daa

Thursday 6 December 2012

Blergh

Yup. The coldbeastie well and truly has me. Given I ache from top to bottom and am coughing and sniffling and really don't want to give it to my patients, I'm spending today in bed.

Definitely a good opportunity for a bit of Christmas sewing. Aspen and Melchett are happily immune to human bugs, so they're joining me as fit models.

Unfortunately, Bagpuss came too.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

O Chrimbly Tree, O Chrimbly Tree!

Hey Guys.
A very Makie Christmas
Hooray for Boyfriends that retrieve large boxes from attics!
Come to help with the tree? Okay. Pull those branches out for me.
A very Makie Christmas
No, pull out the branches, not show off. 
Check the lights are still working.
A very Makie Christmas
Plink contemplating hooking Melchie up to the mains. 
Melchett, gravitating towards the noisiest ornament, as usual.
A very Makie Christmas
Jingly bells; ornamental as a well as alerting us to feline climbing attempts.
Plink's got her favourite too.
A very Makie Christmas
Shinies!
Ack. No worries. There's always one casualty.
A very Makie Christmas
Bother.
Taa daa!
A very Makie Christmas
I shall spend the next week rearranging the ornaments.
That owl's already been shifted!

Monday 3 December 2012

Number 3, now with chalk...

I'm really so pleased with how number 3 is progressing. Chalk pastel face-ups are HARD WORK, but we're getting there.

Here are the latest progress shots: she's going to need a name soon :)

Sunday 2 December 2012

Jinglybells!

Yay, December!

Despite having attained the venerable age of Twenty-Mumblemumblemumble a month and a half ago, I still enjoy prepping for Christmas. This year, the Makies are determined to join in, so I find I've got a helping hand or two... or three... oh dear... and some tentacles... I guess I shall have to rely on the Blythe troupe to provide common sense.

In any case, whether your Christmas preference is for the traditional...
A very Makie Christmas
Better than a chocolate one, I reckon :)
...or the unbearably kitsch...
A very Makie Christmas
I call this the most epic reindeer ever.
The boyfriend calls it an Abomination Unto Nuggan.
...I hope you'll enjoy plodding along with us. You can look forwards to cooking, dressmaking, tree-trimming, a tutorial or three and a grand countdown to the new year. So keep watching this space!