My last new recipe for 2024...

 Baked Zucchini 'Mac' and Cheese.

2 large zucchini spiralised or grated.

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

115 g butter

1 cup grated Mozzerella

125 g cream cheese

2 cloves garlic crushed

1 teaspoon mustard

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated parmesan. 

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Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F

Place the zucchini in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt.

Melt the butter and cream cheese in a large pan over a medium heat, add the cream. and stir together.

Add the cheddar cheese and mozzarella, garlic, mustard and salt and pepper.  Stir well until the sauce is smooth.

Squeeze the water out of the zucchini with paper towels or a clean tea towel and stir them gently in to the sauce.

Pour the whole lot in to a greased baking dish, sprinkle over the parmesan and bake for 20 mins until the top is golden. 

Notes

We found this very greasy, in future we would half or even omit the butter.

I have used a very similar cheese sauce recipe (No butter) over cauli and broccoli. 

Sometimes I add mixed herbs or diced crispy bacon, or left over sausage.

Yum!

The Chookshed Stitchers Challenge and other goals for 2025.

I've been dabbling with this list for a couple of months now. LOL

I have opted to make a new page for the Chookshed challenge again, you can see it at the top of the blog. I also created a page especially to show my Christmas ornaments, it's up there too. I had a dig back through my photo files looking for some of the many ornaments I've made over the years, but lots are missing. 

I've given myself a lot of quilting projects for the Chookshed Challenge, as well as some piecing, stitchery and applique.

There will of course be squirrels I'm sure.

And Santa stuck a few spanners in the works!

I'll keep you updated regarding those when they pop up.

I also plan to continue to make progress on some of my current projects.

My latest EPP is Celestial Stars.

This is the most ambitious EPP I have started to date. The first star is in progress and I have a few more made up into mini kits in the project box.

I have a crochet scrappy project in progress. It has slowed to a stop at the moment, maybe it will see more love in the cooler months.

Nothing fancy just good old granny squares which I will join using a single colour and it will be donated to work. Some of the residents really do prefer to sleep under a good heavy woolly blanket.

And of course there is the great big cross stitch project that I just started.

Winter Fairy has progressed since I last showed her. 

Still not a lot to see except the kitty cat. So glad I have him for company.

I very much doubt I will complete this one in 2025, but hope to make a lot of progress. 

I've still to find and settle on a Christmas ornament for next year. I have a bunch pinned and hopefully next time I look something will leap out. 

It's going to be another busy year.

Since I was at Baradine/Scrub Stitchin' in April 2023 I have lost 18 KG. It would be nice to keep going and lose some more. So I hope to get back to my walking, I've become a bit lazy since I changed to morning shifts at work, time to crack my own whip and go for a walk after work or during my lunch break or whenever.... But I need to walk.

On the subject of weightloss, we have had some chats on zoom and I know I have blogged about Tony's journey with the carnivore diet and following that with the keto diet. Many people have asked about the recipes I use and how different they are.

I tried last year to share a new recipe each month but I don't think I managed it.

So for 2025 I resolve to share only the best recipes. Some I may have shared or linked to before, some might be brand new. They might be sweet or savoury.  They will all be Keto, or low carbs and sugar free. 

Wow! 

Two blog posts in one afternoon!

Time for me to go a stitch.

The end of year round up.

 Another year over and a new one is about to begin. Time is flying by.

This year saw me making goals, I think it may be the first time I've made so many. I joined in with Deana and the Chookshed Stitchers Monthly goals. They were our own choice with our own imposed level of pressure/stress, I kept mine low. And achieved all of them, plus more than a few squirrels along the way. So here you have it, in alphabetical order because that is how they were saved on my laptop.

I used up some smaller scraps to make some place mats.

Three of these Kaffe and blue ones. And a set of six batik and green.

There were a few more along the way too. I'm very happy with them and love how they turned out.

I did quite a bit of EPP through the year, but Blue Lanterns has to be my Favourite.

I very much enjoyed stitching on this one. Only the top is completed, it's in the too be quilted pile.

More scraps were used up in this mile a minute/improv/just sew and cut style scrappy quilt. I don't like it, but I can say I had a go.

It has been quilted and donated.

Another scrappy project this year was to use up some Debbie Mumm fabrics that came to me in a big bag of scraps. I fished a few bits and pieces out of my scrappy stash and collected together enough to make up another  quilt top.

Inspired by the Churndash block that I found I made more of the same.

Another top that is sitting in the to be quilted pile.

Yet another EPP project. I purchased/rescued a started project from a facebook page. No pattern, just a bunch of hexies and extra fabrics.

It is also sat in the to be quilted pile.

My Friendship bag that was part of the Scrub Stitchin' bag back in 2023.

It was fun to do.

Toward the end of the year I completed cross stitching this piece as a gift for my son Joe and his new wife Lee.

Hard to see in this image but there are lots of beads in the vine that twines it's way around the letters.

Another kit I acquired at Baradine was this Ready Set Sew kit made by Jude and her Fairy.

It was fun to do, easy and mindless. As you can see it has been quilted.

A wedding gift to Joe and Lee was this crochet blanket. Made with 100% pure wool so very heavy and cosy. It was a great one to work on through the winter months.

No fancy pattern or blocks, Lee asked that I just go round and around using the variegated yarn.

A quick squirrel project was to add some hexies over the company logo on this Jute bag.

That was fun and quick to do.

Three scrappers were quilted back in March. 

They were all donated.

As you can see one was EPP and all were quick to make. 

Some more Cross stitch took place. I stitched this black kitty cat as a gift for my lovely Tony.

It hangs in the hall way keeping an eye on the front door. I felt like it was keeping an eye on me while I stitched.

Something else you see as you walk through our front door is Morning Moon Fairies.

I'm so happy to have this one completed and hanging in our home.

As you know I make and swap or gift ornaments each Christmas. Last year I ran out of steam and didn't complete my list so they had to be completed in 2024. I had three more to make.

This years ornament was this happy kiwi. I made 12 of them.

There were two other completed pieces that were made in to ornaments also. 

Quick and easy quilts were the way to go in 2024. For this lovely bright quilt top I used some fabric samples. Cutting them down to 10 inch squares and using the off cuts and smaller pieces as a border.

I think this one is still in the to be quilted pile.

The Bunny is not. He was quilted and bound and is in the for sale/donate/gift pile.

The quilting on this one was a new to me design called Take flight, it seemed right as the bunny is surrounded by moths and butterflies.

Another panel quilt waiting in the to be quilted pile.

I found just the right shade of blue for the borders and opted to keep it simple.

Papaver Pazazz got some attention thanks to the Chookshed challenge

All of the applique is completed, it in the to be quilted pile. And a second Papaver quilt top was started.

This one still needs all of the applique to be stitched down.

Moving away from my needles and threads I took a class  using powertex or Paverpol or what ever they are calling it these days. It was a fun day suggested by a colleague.

I'm so happy I went and adore my wee Fairy. She was supposed to go outdoors but I just can't bring myself to put her out.

A quick repair job for DIL Lee, a blanket made by her Granny. It didn't take much to fix up and we agreed on a purple border as it didn't have one.

I sewed along with the RSC for most of the year making these cute Kiwi, a free pattern by Louise one of the Chookshed Zoomers. I did have issues with beak sizes, but I can live with them. 

I have a pile of them resting in a project box awaiting finishing inspiration.

My local quilt club brought in a tutor for a day and we played with rulers. I had lots of fun and really look forward to seeing her come back for a free motion class in the coming year.

Another cosy crochet blanket. I can't seem to find an image of the completed piece, I did add a border around the edges. As you can see no so special pattern, just rows of ripples until the yarn ran out, then join a new yarn and keep on going.

I see this one often at work, a few of the ladies like it as it is a heavy piece and they like the weight.

These scrappy triangles were paper foundation pieced and were supposed to help use up scarps

They did use a lot of my neutrals, but I still have tons of scrappy florals.  

A colleague had a baby and this green quilt top was a great quick quilt. the 10 inch squares came from spotty and the green border was right there on the same shelf. I shopped the stash for the red inner border.

The same family was gifted my Spots and Stripes EPP

I really do enjoy EPP.

Town Squares was quilted and went to a colleague who was leaving to go to a job on the North Island.

My Master Piece this year was a wedding dress for Lee.

It wasn't a 'real' pattern and gave me quite a few issues, but I got there in the end and she looked beautiful on the big day.

I also made the pretty green dress that Grand daughter Charmaine is wearing.

Another cross stitch finish was this Wild life sampler that I rescued at a sale.

I had only 90% of the border to stitch. One corner had been completed and I had only to copy what had been stitched previously. This piece is now framed and hanging in our laundry. 

Another completed quilt top is this paper foundation pieced play on the Storm at sea quilt. I first made it in blues a couple of years ago as a gift for DIL Lee, now I have my own Autumnal coloured version which I call Windswept.

The papers are still in place and when they are gone it will be added to the to be quilted pile.

I think that is all of my finishes and progressions for the year...

Looking back like that, I'm rather impressed.

I had a good year. 

Was Santa good to you?

 He was very good to me. Santa has been paying attention to my mutterings and twitterings recently and even took note of a request.  I asked him to see if he could get hold of this book, and he did.

Oh my Gosh! Not the project for starting my felt journey! 

LOL I do love it though and would love to make this quilt.

I've been showing him some of the amazing work and pretty stitches on the Pintangle website and he has taken note of that too, surprising me with one of Sharon's books.

Thank you Lin for the link to Pintangle, you inspired both of us.

Santa has also taken note of the fact that I attended a ruler work class and found a cute ruler for me to try out.

One final gift couldn't be wrapped. Santa set up a special link for me to follow and directed me to it.

He had paid for a downloadable gift at Flyingfishkits.com.  The whole quilt, every single flower is paid for and I can download them all. That might be a good place to start my Felt work journey.  I may have to adjust my goals for the year. LOL

All lovely gifts, thank you Santa.

My secret Santa at work did very well too, I was delighted to unwrap a charm pack at our Christmas Eve get together.

Jo the activities lady who works on the same shifts as me also bought me a gift, to say thank you for my help this year.

LOL She knows me well too. I'll have to find a spot in my room for this great  notice.

Jo says that she is loving working with me since I switched to the morning shifts. She never had a crafty colleague to help and support her before, she is loving it. Me too Jo, I get to be crafty at work as well as at home.

Our neighbour over the road surprised me this year. She is also a crafter and gifted not one but two layer cakes to me.

She said they were in her stash and will never get used, so better to go over the road where they will be used. LOL

Such pretty colours.

I'm sure I can do something with them.

*

Joe, Lee and the children joined us for a Christmas brunch and some fun and games before going on the Lee's Dad for Christmas dinner.

The children had been given Nerf guns by Santa at their house and brought them along. Nerf war broke out as soon as they arrived. So much fun was had. Everyone ganged up on Grandad, who loved every moment. We took a break to eat bacon, eggs, mushrooms and haggis with baked beans and broccoli and cheese tots. Then it was time for gifts. Santa left Ludo here for them so we had a game of that before the nerf guns reappeared, this time Daddy was the target.

*

We had a wonderful day and hope that you did too.

I wish you all the very best seasonal wishes and hope that 2025 will be all that you hope for and more. 

This years secret ornament...

 They have all been delivered so it's time to share this years secret ornament.
It's a cute kiwi. I just snapped this image on my tree right now as I had forgotten to get some good images as I worked!

How on earth did I manage that? So busy telling myself they are secret I suppose and imagining that I have plenty of time. LOL

As I did mention in a previous post while I was sorting out backings and trims I came across two other stitched pieces that I also turned in to ornaments for gifting.

If you recall last year I ran out of steam and did not complete my list of secret ornaments, I made up for it this year and some people received two ornaments.

This cute gnome.

Or Gonk as my daughter called him was last years. Some were made in blue and some in red. 

This chap went on to my tree unfinished last year. At sometime over the festive season I pulled him down and added the finishing touches.

I'll need to start thinking about what next years ornament will be if I am to make a start in January. 

I might have a play with some felt....

I'm off to have a look for ideas on Pinterest.