Thing 1 - Oatmeal biscuits (or cookies if you're American)

<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT11qkimacpgKPXh-9qGoBN0ZZMl1EuJ_2WVX3AYfbheEWUauftbR_1K_9nStCByP45Es7CPSCCzLMG8gEHOW5g0ZezxdlzVeJHTNTeWTvZf7xjuQhaEiWe7XaAcn2-aZ0qLIzHXbBvEQ/s1600-h/scales-old.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433382243009548738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT11qkimacpgKPXh-9qGoBN0ZZMl1EuJ_2WVX3AYfbheEWUauftbR_1K_9nStCByP45Es7CPSCCzLMG8gEHOW5g0ZezxdlzVeJHTNTeWTvZf7xjuQhaEiWe7XaAcn2-aZ0qLIzHXbBvEQ/s400/scales-old.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" /></a><br />This is my old weighing scale. I've had it for about six years, and prior to that, when I lived in Ireland, I had a very similar but less pink one. It's always served me well. I dump a few ounces of flour and sugar and so on into the bowl, mix it up by hand or with the aid of an electronic implement, throw it in the oven and it turns into scones, biscuits, cakes, pastry or whatever.<br /><br />Unfortunately, pounds and ounces have recently become extinct and all my newer cookery books give the measurements in metric only. My mind doesn't think in metric, and apparently my eyes don't see in metric either because the metric measurements on my old pink scale are impossible to see. I made some blueberry muffins yesterday from a Nigella cookbook and they turned out lovely but I ended up with terrible eyestrain from trying to see where 125g was on the dial.<br /><br />There were two solutions to this problem - either I sat down with a calculator and a pencil and converted all the recipes back to imperial, or I bought a new scale with a big, easy to see display designed for the (nearly) blind. I went for option two. Here's my new scale which I bought yesterday.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTkiKm8h7LUtPx7eL1hyU9XA9QW7WbrfGwVisZRC8KY83tJ43eFrfinKIlSFBp2Kr3DD_ZtjI39tSrekAmJiKo0_fXKGIM7n2k2IpO8PJZ1P7pViB5czSI6Su1gXhb2bRozUIe5CMTfE/s1600-h/scales-new.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433382235225113010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTkiKm8h7LUtPx7eL1hyU9XA9QW7WbrfGwVisZRC8KY83tJ43eFrfinKIlSFBp2Kr3DD_ZtjI39tSrekAmJiKo0_fXKGIM7n2k2IpO8PJZ1P7pViB5czSI6Su1gXhb2bRozUIe5CMTfE/s400/scales-new.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><br />Obviously I had to try it out, so I made some oatmeal biscuits tonight. Yum yum. They're from the Be-Ro cookbook, and if you'd like to try them (and I strongly recommend you do) the recipe is <a href="http://www.be-ro.com/f_insp.htm">here</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2AMWI6MmxYL7DwJuNU5xYS3656C9B6BpbEdp1lckxNnfvb1PxVVLU6VZ1XM2T7KTpwIlcukPGJ-imqZMssJ0CZ_MuCskuak8x9w1qjW6lSW0R2Ami3hDAvu_ii1TsrNrxaSAqJKrR7Q/s1600-h/cookies.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433382245551507426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2AMWI6MmxYL7DwJuNU5xYS3656C9B6BpbEdp1lckxNnfvb1PxVVLU6VZ1XM2T7KTpwIlcukPGJ-imqZMssJ0CZ_MuCskuak8x9w1qjW6lSW0R2Ami3hDAvu_ii1TsrNrxaSAqJKrR7Q/s400/cookies.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>So here's my first Thing for February. Oatmeal biscuits. And now I'm off to make a cuppa.<br /><br /><br /></div>

Thing 1 - Oatmeal biscuits (or cookies if you're American)

This is my old weighing scale. I've had it for about six years, and prior to that, when I lived in Ireland, I had a very similar but le...

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How I will get my mojo back.

<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.thing-a-day.com/">Thing a day</a> is starting again! Registration opens on 24 January and I will be signing up. Last year I managed to post something every single day in February apart from one and it really kept me motivated so this year I hope it'll help me get my inspiration back. Are you signing up this year?<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: verdana;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkNuytrSDWkrRlVEBjjneOFEWNJ-51xrLAE6v18CZ_TjVjmEFpGLizM7TiajTMSnhRF9_pTsUTzwahe7qSVfuCUP2Uv7GEcWxjnyzH39bowmrrnUUMLCW8qlS-uYZvcSqINmpaKZmXzE/s1600-h/garland.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426716276150828034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDkNuytrSDWkrRlVEBjjneOFEWNJ-51xrLAE6v18CZ_TjVjmEFpGLizM7TiajTMSnhRF9_pTsUTzwahe7qSVfuCUP2Uv7GEcWxjnyzH39bowmrrnUUMLCW8qlS-uYZvcSqINmpaKZmXzE/s400/garland.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a><br /><br />I thought I'd show you a Thing I made recently - a crochet garland. It was really for Christmas, and I made it with sparkly yarn from Lidl in gold and dark red, but I liked it so much that it's staying up all year! Also see the snow? It was much worse than this. I had five (!) days off work when I couldn't get out because of snow or ice.<br /><br />And see my little bonsai on the windowsill? It doesn't have a lot of growth yet, but it's developed some new leaves since I got it. I've always been fascinated by bonsai and I just signed up for a day-long beginner class next month and I can't wait. Watch this space, I'm sure it'll be one of my Things next month because bonsai are definitely creative.<br /></div>

How I will get my mojo back.

Thing a day is starting again! Registration opens on 24 January and I will be signing up. Last year I managed to post something every sin...

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I'm still alive and here's what I've been doing.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21JUPNyGPwdfUePkjZZ1VQ6qTt2L9vUZGv4UgFar1Ky00IfHmrDq_x6Fz3kvq3JzToHfhnQ8tAqjSr8K5ZpIrEnHlpMxMjc9maVmshzqy5KKGTkz2mL_599LRgakD2Z4x_Ucs5QgSCbI/s1600-h/muffins.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426253203997050946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21JUPNyGPwdfUePkjZZ1VQ6qTt2L9vUZGv4UgFar1Ky00IfHmrDq_x6Fz3kvq3JzToHfhnQ8tAqjSr8K5ZpIrEnHlpMxMjc9maVmshzqy5KKGTkz2mL_599LRgakD2Z4x_Ucs5QgSCbI/s400/muffins.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh dear, it has been a long time, hasn't it? Every week I keep thinking "this week I'll definitely post something" but it just hasn't happened. It's been a busy and strange few months. We've moved from London to Wiltshire in search of a new life away from city stresses... except it hasn't really worked out like that. First I struggled to find a job, and got rejection after rejection for jobs I was qualified for and had relevant experience in, and to be honest receiving so many rejections is absolutely soul-destroying after a while so I felt really rather poo. Then I did find a job, but it was in Oxford, which is about an hour's drive away through the most horrible traffic imaginable. Most days it's absolute gridlock. And I don't get home till around 7pm by which time I'm too exhausted to do very much. <br /><br />So basically I sit in front of the TV knitting socks (which I'm churning out like a one-woman production line, by the way). About the only thing I seem to have any energy for is cooking, which I've been doing in copious and unhealthy amounts, hence my expanding waistline, but the recipe for the muffins in the photo above actually came from a Weightwatchers recipe book and I'll have to make sure I make more recipes like that if I don't want to end up the size of the house.<br /><br />I seem to have lost my mojo for drawing and painting. Has anyone seen it anywhere? Please send it back if you do find it because I really miss it. I'm determined that one of these days I'll pick up a pencil again. <br /></div>

I'm still alive and here's what I've been doing.

Oh dear, it has been a long time, hasn't it? Every week I keep thinking "this week I'll definitely post something" but it...

Read more »