So, with such silence on the site you’d be forgiven for thinking things have been ‘full steam ahead’ out at the house. Unfortunately not. You know things have hit a low when even your builder says he feels things are moving backwards and that he finds the days he’s out at the house depressing (at least he now knows how I feel!).

When we got the keys back in April we were inundated with friends and family demanding to know when we would be moving in. Bizarrely they all seemed to think all we needed was a ‘couple of coats of paint and you’ll be alright’, or ‘just move in and work on it one room at a time’. So, just to give them a necessary reality check we explained that we’d be in by ‘Christmas if we’re lucky’. Oops!

Yes, the festive season is approaching at rapid pace and we currently have no central heating, no kitchen, no bathroom, windows needing replaced, no flooring…and that’s just the internal work! So, I think, given the cold snap, we will be postponing all exterior work to the Spring and keeping our fingers crossed we can get the house habitable in the next couple of months.

There have been dramatic changes and, of course, ones that take days but are barely noticeable.

We’ve been doing our best to document them and have updated our Flickr if you want to have a look.

 If there’s anything in particular you see you want to know more about or what our plans are for it, then please leave a comment and we’ll share what we have in mind (if anything!).

100% Design London is the UK’s leading architecture and design event showcasing everything for the modern building and interior.

The event features world-class interiors show 100% Design, cutting-edge materials exhibition 100% Materials, emerging talent showcase 100% Futures and innovative and sustainable architectural products event 100% Detail.

Featuring over 350 hand-picked exhibitors, selected for their creativity and originality, the show runs at London’s Earls Court from September 24th – 27th. 100% Design London is primarily open to design and architectural industry professionals, with public visitors able to visit on the Sunday only. Opening hours on the Sunday are 11am -5pm.

From furniture to futuristic materials, emerging talent to building products, 100% Design London offers unrivalled bright ideas and visionary solutions for designers, architects, specifiers and buyers.

For more information about 100% Design London, visit the website: http://www.100percentdesign.co.uk

I for one, as you may have noticed from the posts so far this month, rarely need an excuse to settle down with a nice cuppa and a slice of cake. However, this month there is a perfect reason to indulge. 

September 25^th is when Macmillan Cancer Care hope to set the world record for the world’s biggest coffee morning. The aim of the event is to raise a much-needed £8m for the charity. It can be as simple as charging a small fee for some home baked cakes on your tea break at work or a full blown event. Every penny counts.

 Click here for further details and to find or register an event: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Get_Involved/Worlds_Biggest_Coffee_Morning/WBCM_home.aspx

Cupcake in Glasgow's Merchant City

I have to admit that I’m not as fanatical about cupcakes as everyone else seems to be these days. (It’s probably because I’m so greedy and there’s just not enough cake there but who’s to say you can’t have more than one!) 

Surprisingly, I’ve yet to try out the recently opened Cupcake here in Glasgow (especially surprising given it’s about 2 minutes from our flat) but I have feasted upon the gorgeous new cupcake range in Marks & Spencer’s and heartily recommend the Carrot Cake variety.

They may be a little on the pricy side, but you can always make your own (see our recent recipe for some basic chocolate ones) and, if you really need the excuse, you can do it to celebrate National Cupcake Week which runs from September 14^th – 20^th

I have so much to tell you about how things are going (albeit slowly) at the house as well as some developments with our range of crafty items but, firstly, I want to say “Sorry”.

I have been neglecting this site while focusing my attentions on the house and my health (back to hospital again on Thursday) and I apologise. I am trying to regain focus on AHFAS so hopefully you should see normal service resume shortly.

It’s been a long time since we had a recipe on the site and that just shows how long it is since I dusted off my apron and got down to some baking. The thing that always surprises me when I do make the effort is the fact it takes almost no effort at all! Especially when you consider the rewards! 

We are slowly but surely trying to clear out the surplus items from our flat in preparation for the move (still months away) and the first kitchen cupboard to get the treatment was the baking cupboard. Most ingredients went in the bin but a long forgotten tin of cocoa powder prompted a quick batch of chocolate cupcakes which were amazingly moist, light and sticky. Lovely!

Ingredients

• 165 g all-purpose flour
• 1 g baking soda
• 9 g baking powder
• 65 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 45 g butter, softened
• 300 g white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 ml vanilla extract
• 235 ml milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Ideally you should then frost these cakes once cooled but we devoured them before we had the chance!

The Homes & Interiors Scotland Exhibition is organised by Scotland’s biggest selling home interest magazine, Homes & Interiors Scotland. Each issue features stunning lavishly photographed homes, interior design, architecture, property, art, news, views and exciting new concepts. It has been awarded ‘Magazine of the Year’ and picked up the much coveted ‘UK Magazine of The Year’ award at the PPA’s Independent Publishers Awards.

Back for the fifth year running, the Homes & Interiors Scotland Exhibition is the only show in Scotland dedicated to quality interiors. Now well established and a key date in the diary of design conscious individuals from Scotland and afar it already boasts an impressive selection of leading interiors companies onboard for 2009.

When? Friday 28th, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th August 2009.

Venue? SECC, Glasgow

• Fri 28th Aug 2009 to Sun 30th Aug 2009
  Show times to follow.
• Ticket prices to follow.
• Available from SECC Box Office: 0844 395 4000

I made the tough decision to wind down my blogging over at my other site She’s Crafty for a few months to allow me to concentrate on this site and working on the house, along with trying to sort out a couple health niggles. The lack of the pressure that comes from juggling too many things has helped me up my creative output and stopped me from being as ‘all ideas and no action’ as I usually am.

That’s not to say I’m not still full of good ideas, the most recent of which was suggesting the name Clyde for the Glasgow Craft Mafia mascot. The name won their competition and I subsequently won a goodie bag of mafia makes. One of my favourites was a delightful little feltidermy from mafia member Madness of Many.
I cannot wait to put it up in the house! It also made me daydream about a bigger piece for our grand hallway or maybe something like this stag head by Doe-c-Doe. So inspiring/crafty!

I have always been a hoarder when it comes to clothes and have always had far more than is entirely necessary (I long to be Gok’d and have a capsule wardrobe of just 20 interchangeable pieces). I think it stems for my tomboy teens and my various jobs requiring smart clothes so effectively had to have two wardrobes, one skater/grunge/scruffy and one suits/working/smart. I’d like to think that I could now meld these into something that is both creative/different but still able to wear into the office (though may be working from home from next year when I fear I may never be out of sweatpants).

So, I am gearing myself up for the mother of all clearouts when we eventually move into our new home and know that my stash of clothes is something that will have to be seriously downsized. However, I also need to curb my love of retail therapy in order to prevent the number creeping back up (and save my bank account).

Enter Wardrobe Refashion. A website which encourages us to take the following pledge:
 I __________________ pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed__________________.

I love the idea. One of my favourite makes and subsequently garments from last summer was a scarf made from an old dress and 2 old t-shirts. So, I’m hoping my desire to reduce storage needs, live more economically and have a fun new wardrobe will lead to a great Wardrobe Refashion, I’d love to hear from others who take part.

You’ll have noticed very often that on shows such as Channel 4’s Grand Designs, when people are asked when they expect to be into their new homes they say in time for Christmas. It makes sense. Christmas is a time when you spend more time with your family than at work, more time in your home than at your desk and it’s also marks the final straight of the year.

As the months have flown by we’ve gotten pretty frustrated having to reiterate how much work the house needs and how it needs more than ‘a lick of paint’. Every time we say we’ll ‘hopefully be in by Christmas’ we get a little laugh as if there’s no possible way it could take so long and that we’re obviously having a little joke, or that I’m playing up my pessimist side.

The truth is that adding up the number of things still to do the other night and then how many working days there is until Christmas, I’m really starting to think that it’s a bit optimistic to imagine our first Christmas in our new home will be this coming year.

But, I am going to think positively (for once!) and use it as a goal to aim for so am busy imaging our new home brimming with festive cheer and smiling faces – I’ve even begun making the decorations!(see above) Now *that’s* positive thinking!!