The Kindness of Strangers and a Tad-ah moment

Hi guys :) Have you had a good week? Mine's been super busy!!

This is the face of Marie when i'm baking and not paying enough attention to her! ;) Isn't she looking so grown up now?

I've been a busy bee in the kitchen, We have a new shop opened in the village  and they were selling 200g punnets of strawberries for 79p! So, as usual when i get fruit, i made jam!

Look at that lovely rich colour! 

Sure, it only made 1 jar, but that's enough for me and The Bearded Wonder! 

I also canned my very first batch of apple pie filling, doesn't it look nice? 

I made the usual batch of scones...and a big ta dah moment! 

I made bread rolls!!! Ta daaahh!!! Now, everyone who  knows me knows that i have had..um... issues with baking bread, i just couldn't get it right! It either turned out like a brick, went doughy in the middle and black on the outside, or was completely inedible.

So after months of scouring the internet for that elusive easy bread recipe, i found one in an old cookbook at the back of my drawer! 

Ta-dah! Yum! They were super easy and super soft and scrummy! So we scoffed two each with some homemade leek and potato soup and slathered in butter :)

The kindness of strangers. Isn't that a lovely sentence? Well, I got to say it twice this week! 

First, last Sunday i got the most AMAZING gift of a vintage Jones hand-crank sewing machine off freecycle. It came complete with needles,bobbins,feet, original receipts, including one with a King George VI stamp! 

The second was this lovely dining table and chairs, which has taken up residence in my "sewing room" haha, too grand a title for a room with barely anything in it!

 I also found a fun little fabric with sheep on it and made a wee pin cushion 

How has your week been? Have you had any nice surprises?

Wonderful things :)

Hi Guys :) How have you been?

It has been a slow week here,not much doing until yesterday when EVERYTHING happened haha. The weather has been gorgeous here! I have lots of washing done, which is always a bonus, i love the smell of air dried laundry.

Look at this little beauty! I found it sadly awaiting to go to the tip! Well, i couldn't let that happen, so i grabbed it and now it's in a lovely new job as a coffee table ;) 

Isn't the design lovely?  I'll have to find a nice tablecloth and coasters

Marie had a new box to play with, this one contained the most DIVINE chocolates ever! It was sent as a free sample from Hotel Chocolat (not affiliated,sadly) when i signed up to Quidco, i was going to do a proper review, but i can't really do that without pictures, and they didn't last long enough for me to take any! Whoops!

 Lazy cat sunbathing :)

We walked to the town to do some shopping :)

 Everywhere i looked was lambs! In almost every field!

i'm only slightly obsessed ;) 

I canned some pasta sauce and lemonade concentrate

I made a chicken casserole, as i had a lot of chicken leftover from when i made curry 

And, every household staple, scones. We love them in our house!

So, what have you been up to? I'm off to do another load of hand washing, so wish me luck! :)

Sewing Up A Storm

 Hi guys! :) 

What a busy week! I have been sewing up a storm! I am determined to have an almost fully handmade wardrobe, that's what its all been about this week!

I finally added some legs to my mannequin, using a pair of old shorts! Ignore the ugly look of her so far, she isn't finished as i ran out of tape! haha.

 I'm going to make a cover for her eventually too, as soon as i get a decent stretchy fabric

I upcycled an old jumper and turned it into a skirt :)

I took the sleeves and made yet another set of slippers (I'm obsessed)

I made another skirt out of an old sheet (i know, i know, it desperately needs ironed)

And finally, i made myself a pair of pyjama shorts! They are far from perfect, and some of the stitching is terrible, so ignore it, but i love them! I didn't have enough material at first, but i added two lace panels on the sides so they fit comfortably :)

I've been baking a lot this week too, making lots of pies for the freezer and ginger snaps and scones! yum!

Marie doing her best meerkat impression, she has grown so much! We have had her 3 weeks today! Already!

Woohoo! A sunbeam! 

She has finally discovered the outside world, and now happily sits for hours watching the birdies :)

I'm off to make some more ginger snaps as they have mysteriously disappeared ;) 

*Wanders off, whistling innocently*

We Took The Scenic Route (AKA: Why We Got Lost)

Hi guys! :) 

Well, we decided to go to the town today to get some much needed supplies, so we decided to try and cut down the journey and went a different, new way, Uhm yeah. That went well. Me being the know it all i thought i knew the way, so we went my way, managed to go in a completely different direction and ended up walking about 10 miles (No joke. The town is only 5 miles away) before we managed to get back to where we needed to be. Whoops.

We sat on a bench and had a cup of tea (i remembered to pack a flask) with this as our view :)

I enjoyed the lovely sheep in a nearby field

The Bearded Wonder on a footpath (Bit of a misnomer considering there is no path to be seen at all!)

A beautiful babbling brook next to a caravan park

A very old wooden bridge! With holes in it! I scurried across that thing like Greased Lighting!

More lovely sheep :)

And lastly coming home (On the bus, i hasten to add! I think i would have keeled over if we had to walk back) to this beautiful face, mad with us because we dared leave her!

SO, that's my highlight of the week! What's yours? :)

I'm off for a cup of tea!

A Whole Month!

Hi guys! I can't believe it!We have been in our new home a whole month already!

Where did that go? Did i miss something? 

Apparently we have just had so much fun that the time flew!

So, whats going on with you guys? I have had so many new followers (Thank you so much!) 

The Bearded Wonder and i had plans to WALK to the town today for some much needed supplies....well, i'm looking out of my window and declaring a snow day! It is so windy right now that it is rattling my letterbox!

Marie and i have made the executive decision to stay inside ;)

Marie has also decided to use the time wisely and work on her (non existent) tan

You may have noticed that i have changed the name of my lovely blog. Don't worry, i shall still be posting as The Undomestic Diva, but i shall be adding more, such as cat and dog related products,advice etc etc :) 

So, what are you up to today? 

More Kitten Spam and Opinions Please :)

Hi guys, sadly there hasn't been much on the Undomestic front, i went and helped out at an Easter fair last Sunday, but that was all really.

So to bulk out i have more kitten spam for you :)

Marie wearing yet another swanky collar, made by me :)

She's already starting to look grown up! :o

So adorable!

Hover-cat!haha :)

Now, on to slightly more serious matters, i am thinking of starting up a pet business, making handmade collars, accessories, treats, toys etc :) What do you guys think? I have a wide range of knowledge about most pets due to growing up with so many. My dad was a registered Labrador breeder and trainer and learned most of what i know from him, and the rest is from experience

Born out of my love of all pets and a need for good quality collars, accessories and natural treats and toys for my kitten Marie
 Creating bespoke accessories and toys for your best friend at a fantastic price.

We also offer free impartial advice on dog behaviour and training, diet and nutrition, Cat behaviour, diet and nutrition along with many other subjects.

My Facebook page is here if you would like to have a look.

A new range of soft fabric collars made especially for kittens and puppies who haven't had their jabs to leave the house yet, they come in all shape s and sizes, and come with an easy snap button for safety. These snaps will break away if your kitten or puppy gets their collar caught on something. They can come with or without bows and in lots of different fabric options for the fashion followers

Any opinion would be super helpful :)