Sewing and baking

The new sofa (red) with the old sofa from the bedroom.

I didn't finish everything on my list yesterday but I made great headway. I'm always pleased when I have a full agenda at the start of the day because I know I'll get a lot done and not wander around between jobs thinking about what to do next. A full list gives me direction as well as the tasks on it.

Clicking on the photos will enlarge them.

I made four patchwork arm rests for the lounge and will finish the final two today. I made two aprons for the fund-raising kiosk in bright colours that I hope will attract a lot of people over to us. I really liked working on these projects because they used fabric from my stash that has been sitting there for some time. I will make the lemon butter and Anzac biscuits later this morning.

Aprons - pink sausage dog and floral cotton with pink linen sash and pocket.

One thing that wasn't on the list yesterday but was done nonetheless, was making biscuits for Alice. She's been biting and scratching her skin lately so Hanno took her to the vet a couple of days ago. She had a skin allergy, probably due to the commercial biscuits we had been feeding her. We wanted to get some biscuits with Omega oils in them, but even though the ones we bought were supposed to be a healthy option, they contained colourings that made Alice come out in the worst rash. The vet gave her an injection of cortisone and told us to stop giving her those biscuits. I used to make dog biscuits in the past so I set about making another batch, much to Alice's approval.

The recipe is similar to the previous biscuits. It can be made in the bread machine or by hand - it should be kneaded for about 5 minutes.

• 2 cups plain (all purpose) flour - I used full grain flour
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup milk powder
• 1 tablespoon of Vegemite OR peanut butter OR beef stock powder dissolved in a cup of warm water

Mix the above ingredients together and add more water to give a good dough consistency. Knead by hand or add to the bread maker. When the dough is soft and smooth, roll it out with a rolling pin and cut to the desired shapes.

Bake in the oven on 180F (350C) for 15-20 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight jar.

I told you all a couple of weeks ago that my son Kerry had travelled to New York with the intention of working in Canada for a year or so, before going to Cuba and Brazil. Well, he arrived in Toronto (he has lived there before and has friends there) but he couldn't get motivated to look for a job. He was missing his girlfriend, Sunny, too much. Eventually he decided he couldn't go on without her and after a few phone calls to her and me, he decided to come home. He's on his way back now but is zig-zagging through the USA before getting on the flight home. He's been to Montreal, which he loved, then back to NYC, to Phoenix, he's in San Francisco right now and tomorrow he goes to Las Vegas where he'll meet with Sharon's daughter (Sharon who helps me here and at the co-op) and her boyfriend. They have kindly offered good old fashioned hospitality to him so he'll stay with them while he's there. Then it's on to New Orleans, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and back to NYC for the flight home via LA. He'll be back home on August 20. It will be good to see him again, I've missed him.

I'll draw the winning names for the Envirsax bags later this morning. Good luck if you entered.

Just a few quick answers here: Rebekka, that bucket would be idea for ginger beer. My knitted blanket is coming along slowly, I think I have about half my squares now. How is yours going?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. If you have to work this weekend, I hope you have ample time to relax. Welcome to all the new readers who came here this week and a warm hug to all the long time readers. I thank you for your warm and generous comments during what has been a tough week for me. They mean more than you know. Reading snippets about your lives helps me build up an idea of you in my head. See you again next week. :- )