Sweet things

It's a bit bleak today so perfect for indoor things. I've caught up on the mending and made these "Buckeye candies" for my daughter who adores them! I think I found this recipe in a Nestle ad. They are super easy and taste a bit like Reece's buttercups!

Buckeye candy
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter - smooth or crunchy
50g butter, melted
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups Nestle dark (or milk) chocolate melts

Put icing sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Roll into small balls. Refrigerate 1-2 hours.
Melt the chocolate and using a toothpick or skewer dip each ball leaving about a third uncovered. Place on a tray lined with baking paper or foil and refrigerate again until chocolate is set.
Makes about 25-30.

I hope there are sweet things in your day today.

Where have I been?

I've had a weekend in Rotorua. Not many photos, sorry. It rained.
I'm working full-time. Again.
I'm disheartened with blogging. What's the point? I still don't know the answer but here I am.
I've made some changes to the blog. If I can't figure it out at least I can make it pretty.

Once again I have a camera

So now I can show you what I've been working on....

Slugs! Slugs! Slugs!

But not ordinary, garden-variety slugs.
These are fridge slugs!

And, as you can see, I'm over-run with the little beasties. So I'm giving some away. If you have a fridge, email me your address and I'll post you a randomly selected slug.

They are made from new polar fleece with vintage button eyes and filled with polyester fibre. The magnet is sewn in on the inside so it won't scratch your fridge.

Reflections on a burglary

I'm grateful the dog wasn't harmed or traumatised. No damage was done to the house and only insured, replaceable stuff was taken. I'm so glad they didn't take my desktop computer because I would've lost all my photos and music. I have NEVER backed up. So lessons learned: back up, back up, back up.
The husband discovered he's also lost his favourite shirt. He liked this blue shirt so much that a few months after he bought it he went back to the shop to get another in a different colour. Unfortunately they'd sold out of the other colours and only had blue left so he bought one and ended up with two identical shirts. So.... has he really lost anything? After all, he still has his favourite shirt.

Enough about burglary. Here's a sweet sentiment from a local bakery.

I need a scarier dog

My house was burgled today. The place was trashed - everything pulled out of drawers and cupboards. But no damage so it could've been a lot worse. But my laptop, iPod and - disaster! - my camera were taken.
Unfortunately I have some new stuff that I've been meaning to photograph to show you. Something I'm pretty excited about. So until I get a new camera...

It must be autumn

Maybe it is Autumn because I really wanted to knit and I decided on... gloves! I'm using this old pattern. It has a price of 15 cents and the measurements are Imperial but I don't know how old it is. Or even how I got it.
I'm using a sock wool. I've made gloves before and found pure wool just doesn't go the distance. You seem to need some nylon for durability. Unfortunately there wasn't a great colour choice. I was hoping for orange but ended up with this coffee brown which has become strangely appealing. The wool itself is lovely - a New Zealand brand, Waikiwi, - a merino/nylon/alpaca/possum blend.

And, just to prove it must be Autumn - my Camellia has gone mad with blossoms...

West coast

No time for favourites. No time for anything. I've been away - to the rugged West coast of the South Island. It's a wild and beautiful place.

The Pancake rocks at Punakaiki.

Beach looking North from Punakaiki.

Somewhere between Punakaiki and Westport. Didn't see any penguins :(

Buller River

General store, Blackball