When we decided to get a puppy there were things I was expecting: getting up and going outside at absurd hours and frigid temperatures, discovering whole categories of 'edibles' that I had never considered, pockets that smell like dog treats, less craft time, etc.  It had not really occurred to me that a puppy would inspire large amounts of new sewing but I've finished another dog project and am planning more.


This is a blanket for Abby's crate. She sleeps in her crate at night and anytime we are out of the house. It's plastic (the kind of crate you can put on an airplane) and we keep an old towel in the bottom to make it a little more comfortable. The towel works but gets pushed around when she scrabbles at the crate floor when she's anxious to get out (around 6:30 am) and I usually have to straighten it out again before we go to work.

This blanket should stay in place (or at least fall back into place) a little better. It's another old towel on top and two layers of cotton batting with a piece of cotton quilting fabric on the bottom. I used Anna Maria's Puppy Love applique pattern again so Abby's blanket will match her hot water bottle (plus, it's so cute). I cut the layers to the same length and width as the crate and just rounded the corners by hand. I followed (roughly) the quilting and binding instructions for the patchwork table runner project on The Purl Bee because it used also two layers of batting. I like the look of the diamond quilting pattern. It was really easy to do. I thought the binding would be difficult around the corners, because I didn't have enough fabric to cut the strips on the bias, but it worked just fine and actually went very quickly.


I finished sewing down the binding this morning and gave Abby her blanket. She immediately went for the applique and tried to get the puppy off but it held on nicely. The blanket has stayed on the floor all day and been the go-to place whenever Abby comes into the family room.


[That's a lump of snow from a trip outside. Rob had to do a bunch of shovelling yesterday so we'd be able to open and close our side door and Abby loves the lumps of icy snow to chew on. We've had quite a few of them come inside today. Does anyone know when puppies start teething?]

But really ... why lie on a blanket when Mum is sitting on the floor with her camera and you can just crawl in her lap.

There is a new eatery in town. It's a cute little green place that displays their goodies on open cake trays like ornaments in a shop. They've only got one little table with two chairs but lots of delicious sweets and savouries. It's going to be a great place to stop by in the summer when we can eat outside. I got this apple hand-pie there when I went with Joyce for our afternoon break yesterday. It was so good: buttery but not too rich and full of nicely spiced apples. This place has the best name too - Yummy!

p.s. I notice I've been posting a lot of food lately. I promise some crafting soon :)

Ever since we finished the German gingerbreads I've been wanting more. My friend Katy has promised to try and procure a real German recipe for me but I am impatient and decided to experiment. I made these for breakfast this morning and they are so good. I added raisins, currents and peel to a gingerbread cake recipe I had, cooked it in muffin tins and added a glaze. They are not identical to the German cakes by any means but they have the same types of flavours. They're sweet but not too much and would be nice for tea or dessert and are a special treat for breakfast.


Glazed Gingerbread with Peel and Raisins

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs

2/3 cup boiling water
1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup each of golden raisins, currents and candied peel.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Put raisins and currents in a small bowl and cover with hot water (if your peel is kind of dry you can soak it too). Cream shortening and sugar. Blend in molasses and beat in eggs.  Pour boiling water over soda and add, stir well. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine (it will be a bit lumpy - that's okay). Drain and add fruit.

Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tops spring back slightly when pressed (this cake is actually best slightly underdone).

While muffins are baking combine juice of half a lemon with 1/2 cup icing sugar and blend well.

As soon as you take the muffins out of the oven brush tops with lemon glaze. Let the glaze set and then brush again. When the tops are dry carefully loosen muffin edges with a knife and lift them out of the pans. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 generous muffins.


If you leave out the fruit and cook this in an 8" pan (about 1 hour at 325, the centre should fall as it cools) it will be a cake my mum used to make. She always served it with a lemon sauce (heat up juice of 1 lemon and add sugar to taste).