Wordless Wednesday and Don't Leave Alcohol Near Your Pumpkins!!

My Inspiration Has Got Up and GONE!!!

Hi my little bloggy friends.  Where have I been, you might ask yourself.  Well, I have been searching the inner recesses of my tiny little brain, desperately seeking some inspiration for an entertaining blog post!  Did I find anything lurking in those dark corners? I DID NOT!

In desperation, and as it will soon be Halloween and pumpkins are starting to appear in the shops, I thought I would share a recipe with you.  Now my daughters would tell you that if I'm mentioning the word recipe, then things really must be desperate!

PUMPKIN  AND GINGER CUPCAKES

Preparation Time : 10 Minutes.

Cooking Time : 25 Minutes.

Makes : 20

200g/7oz unsalted butter, softened.

175f/6oz unrefined light muscovado sugar.

2 large eggs

85g/3oz stem ginger in syrup

250g/9oz pumpkin, grated

200g/7oz plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

l and a half tsp allspice

1 and a half tsp ground ginger

quarter teaspoon ground clove

quarter teaspoon ground nutmeg

Icing

125g/4 and  a half ounces unsalted butter

A splash of Milk

125g/4 and a half oz full-fat cream cheese

225g/8oz icing sugar

1.  Preheat the oven to 190c/fan 170c/gas mark 5.  Line a muffin tin with cupcake or muffin cases.

Grate or finely chop the ginger.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy in appearance.  Beat the eggs in one at a time.  Add the stem ginger and the pumpkin to the mixture and stir until evenly blended.

3.  Sift in the flour, baking powder and the spices.  Fill the cupcake or muffin cases three quarters full with the mixture.

4.  Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch.  Take out of the oven and transfer on to a cooling rack.  When the cakes are nearly cool, start making the icing.

5.  Cream together the butter, splash of milk and cream cheese.  Once blended, add the icing sugar and whisk together till smooth.  If you prefer a thicker icing, add more icing sugar.

6.  Spread some of the icing on top of your cupcakes using a spoon, or fill a piping bag and pipe a pretty swirl.  Top your cupcakes with sliced stem ginger, crystallised ginger, a sprinkling of cinnamon or anything else that you fancy.

These cupcakes are very moist and have a light, almost melt-in-the-mouth texture, and you'll find them difficult to leave alone!  The pumpkin makes them perfect for an autumn treat.

ENJOY!

I Feel Truly Spoilt!

Hi my little bloggy friends.  I have never been really lucky - oh, I have been well and truly blessed in my life, with loving parents, a husband who quietly is there for me and has never let me down, two beautiful and healthy daughters, two caring son-in-laws, three beautiful and healthy grandchildren whom I adore, the true gift of friendship and a warm and comfortable home, so, yes indeed, I count my blessings every day.

But luck is another thing. I'm talking about when you buy raffle tickets and enter competitions and things like that.  However, I do feel at the moment that luck surely is shining on me, as, here in bloggyland, such good things are happening for me.

It started with me winning the Mini Skirt Competition, and my prize from my lovely leetle friend Carol (facing50withhumour) arrived in the post a couple of days ago.  Thank you my friend!  Don't forget, if you haven't yet bought her first novel, Mini Skirts & Laughter Lines, you must do so, as it is every bit as funny as this lady's hilarious blog!!

Yesterday, I received a little gift in the post from my good friend Eva at http://embasonartcorner.blogspot.com/  If you haven't met Eva before, please do go and visit her blog.  She will make you very welcome and I know that you will love her artwork.  Eva really is such a talented lady.  Her gift was a CD entitled A Different View by Paul F Xavier.  Paul is Eva's partner and this is a CD of 14 beautiful, relaxing tracks, all written and played by Paul.  Can you imagine just how much talent is going on in their house! Thank you Eva and Paul. (I have been listening to the CD as I typed this post, and it really is delightful).

About a week ago, my lovely friend Becca, over at Every Day Life, told me that I had won her first ever Weekend Giveaway.  Ta Da!!

Signed copy of CD Labor of Love by Scarlett Cherry.

 This is what Becca had to say about her giveaway -"Thisis by far one of my favorite Cd's to listen to and the best part is you don't have to be a mom to enjoy it you just have to know what it's like to love and everyone has had love or been loved at some point in their life. This CD is beautifully done Scarlett's voice is pure and songs are so diverse. From slow and soothing like "Angel" to upbeat and fun like "Fiecre mama" there is something for everyone. If you have had a child in your life at any point you can so relate to this songs even you Dads who double as mom and dad will enjoy this Cd as well as grandmas, aunts, moms to be even if all you do is care for children you will love this Cd. It is so amazing." So as you can imagine, I can't wait for that one to arrive!  Two beautiful new CD's to listen to, and I do love my music. 

Yesterday, the postman beat a path to my door with yet another little pressie, this time from my good friend Linda over at News from Italy.  Linda very kindly sent me a copy of a book that she had reviewed.  I said that I would love to read it and, hey presto, I am now reading and enjoying the book very much. It is called The Summer House by Christobel Kent and is based around Italy's Riviera Coast.  As I adore Italy, I know that I will love this particular read!  Thank you so much Linda.

But that, my dear friends, is not the end.  Yesterday, I received a note from another lovely bloggy friend, Maureen over at Daydream Living. Maureen has a delightful blog, filled with gorgeous photos of truly lovely things.  Maureen was also holding a giveaway, and I have won these lovely little French goodies.

I won't be entering any more giveaways for a while, because I think I have been quite lucky enough for the time being!

I hope you didn't mind me sharing these with you.  If you don't already know of the blogs I have mentioned in this post, please pop over and spread the love!

Take care until I see you again and I hope you all have a lovely, relaxing weekend wherever you are.  Bye for now!

Just Had To Share This Post With You



Isn't this a gorgeous Buddha!  My friend Duncan takes some wonderful photos and he has written a post about The Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall.  I thought this was such an interesting place that I asked Duncan if I could share it with you.  Duncan writes about life in Kuantan, Malaysia, where he lives with his beautiful wife and two young daughters.

Please go over and enjoy his wonderful photos - I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I will now share with you a few quotes from Buddha -

"Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others.  He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind."

"You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger."

"Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without."

"Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike, each has their suffering.  Some suffer too much, others too little."

Tomorrow I will tell you about three lots of lovely goodies that I have just received in the post, from my very kind bloggy friends!

Keep Calm for a Monday with Just a Bit of Fun

This past week has seen Paris Fashion Week over in France, and my daughter has been going along to see all the action.  On Saturday, my granddaughter went along as well, as she had such a good time there last year.  My newer followers might not know that several of the top French Magazines (Vogue & Elle & Harpers Bazaar)were taking her photo.  This is one of the photos from last year -

Here is a photo from this year.  I thought it was a really cool photo!

Look at those long legs!!

We've all seen those Posters that say Keep Calm and Carry On, well  I thought I would just have a bit of fun to start the week off and show you some variations on this theme.  I must admit, I never knew that so many versions of the saying were available! All images courtesy of Pinterest.

I hope you all have a lovely week, whatever you may have planned, and remember - KEEP CALM!!

Sunday Snaps!

When the grandchildren come to spend time here, we have mostly trains and cars for them to play with.  Whilst Ruby Violet is quite happy playing with them, I thought I would buy a little buggy and baby doll for her to play with.

I looked after her on Friday, and you should have seen her little face when she saw it.  She was so excited, and it gave me such happiness watching her play with the buggy and baby doll ALL day. 

Her little legs must have been tired out, because she walked up and down the garden for hours -

She also had to give the baby lots of cuddles -

Then it was time to play in the Play House -

Then it was time to do some dusting -

So, as you can see, little Ruby had quite a busy day!

Those gasps of astonishment, those shrieks of pleasure, those sighs of delight, lost long ago when your children grew wise and worldly ~ are suddenly given back to you by your grandchildren. What seems to be the same small hands clutch yours, dragging you from one excitement to another ~ "Look! Oh, look! Come ON!"

Another Season is with us ....

Hi little bloggy friends.  Hope you are all doing well.  I am delighted to say that, at last, my energy levels seem to be very much back to normal, and that dreadful fatigue has almost gone.  My husband came back from Buckfast Abbey a few days ago, and he had bought me home a bottle of Buckfast Tonic Wine. 

Buckfast Abbey is a beautiful, peaceful place on the edge of Dartmoor (National Park) and is only about ten minutes from where we live.  The Abbey is home to a Roman Catholic community of Benedictine Monks, and for nearly a thousand years, people have been drawn here. They have come to search for God.  God  is everywhere, certainly, but as they happened upon this place, they sensed that its beauty, its silence and tranquillity, its community of people who were similarly searching, made it a place where God might easily be found.

The Monks make their very own Tonic Wine and it is very well known.  All I can say is, I have only had two glasses so far, and yet I feel so much more alive and energetic.  No wonder the Monks live to such a sprightly old age!

Well, here we are at the beginning of October - that wonderful season of "mists and mellow fruitfulness", although, at the moment, it is like high summer on the Mediterranean, here in my little corner of England!  The shops are starting to put their Christmas displays up, chunky knits and boots are the order of the day in all the fashion stores, and Heathrow Airport up in London have just displayed their brand new fleet of snow clearing machines!! Hey Ho!!  It's a funny old life, isn't it?!

May October bless you all with health and kindness, and here's to many more sunny days. Cheers!