3 Good Things - Sun 31st Mar

1. Spending the afternoon with a friend
2. In the fresh air
3. With views like this

3 Good Things - Sat 30th Mar

1. Having a portable laptop again - I gave in a bought a new battery
2. Anticipation of a new episode of Dr Who
3. Chocolate cake

3 Good Things - Fri 29th Mar

1. Forgetting to turn the alarm off wasn't a good thing but being able to turn it off and turn over and go back to sleep was!
2. A little Good Friday drinkie

3. Still having three days off

3 Good Things - Thurs 28th Mar

1. This

2. Being told 'you've been very impressive'!

3. Getting home to find Bramble Bunny waiting for me (he made it one piece even though he was posted!)

3 Good Things - Weds 27th Mar

1. Chair fairies (written on the chair it say 'OAPs please take a seat')

2. Natures beauty
3. Bilge stew!

3 Good Things - Tues 26th Mar

1. Lambs in the fields (it must be Spring!)
2. Having this 200m from the office

3. Getting out an hour early and it's only my second day!!

3 Good Things - Mon 25th Mar

1. Starting a (nother) new job

2. Charlie Cat

3. Finally letting the cat out of the bag (yeah I know, groan!)

3 Good Things - Sun 24th Mar

1. Lazy morning
2. Yummy chocolate desserts
3. Tea and Jaffa cakes

3 Good Things - Sat 23rd Mar

1. Being able to go out and not get wet
2. Dinner

3. My 200th post!

3 Good Things - Fri 22nd Mar

1. Staying in the dry
2. Nanna nap
3. Winning eBay auctions!

Experiments in Salt Dough

I've been wanting to try this for a while since I saw Simply Being Mum first mention that she used it.  Well a few days ago she posted her Simple Salt Dough Recipe and tips for making and as the weather took a decided turn for the worse I decided it was as good a time as any to give it a go.

Now you have to remember I have very limited supplies here. I managed to pick up one cookie cutter at a local charity shop for 10p but that wasn't going to get me very far. I had intended to go to one of the big shops in Exeter but it was right over the other side of the city and the weather really was atrocious! As it happened I bumped into my landlady and asked if she might have some I could borrow so I could give it a try on the cheap so to speak! Off we toddled to the kitchen and out came a lovely selection!  A quick trip to the local supermarket for salt and food colouring, and a set of knitting needles from the charity shop to make holes and I was all set (I thought).

I came back and checked Jo's recipe - ah yes, a mixing bowl and a rolling pin! Well I didn't really want to go and bother the landlady again so I got my biggest cereal bowl out and decided I'd only make a small batch! (I went for 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of salt and water). As for a rolling pin...

A nice glass bottle that fortunately hadn't made it as far as the bottle bank!

It really is a ridiculously simple recipe and it was actually quite good fun getting my hands dirty! It did take me a couple of attempts to work out the best way to peel the shapes off the worktop but I think I did pretty well for a first attempt. I did however completely forget to put the food colouring in so these are all au naturel!!

There are more than this but they didn't fit in the picture! I don't have an oven so these are sitting on foil on a shelf above a radiator to dry out. Jo says it could take up to 5 days but I'm hoping with the radiator underneath (although it isn't on all the time) it'll be a bit less! (pm Thurs 21st)

I've just been and turned all the salt dough shapes over (am Fri 22nd)

As you can see they are drying nicely round the edges, and hopefully now the underside is exposed they will dry out all over. Patience has never been a strong point of mine!

I've now got to wait for Jo's post on ways to decorate/paint them. You can see in the first pic that I stuck buttons in a few. After a search on Pinterest I'm also watching some letterpress letters on eBay so that I could stamp words/names etc into future batches.

I'll update this post with progress!!

3 Good Things - Thurs 21st Mar

1. Necessity being the mother of invention - rolling pin!

2. Making things

3. Catching up with G after waaay too long

3 Good Things - Weds 20th Mar

1. Making something (instead of buying it!)
2. These two - keeping dry and surveying their realm!

3. Memories

3 Good Things - Tues 19th Mar

1. Decadent breakfast

 

2. Buying buttons

3. Relaxing

3 Good Things - Mon 18th Mar

1. Cheap food delivery (all of the below for £31.01 including delivery)

2. Walking up to town AND back
3. Going in about 10 charity shops and not buying anything!

3 Good Things - Sun 17th Mar

1. The smell of freshly chopped parsley
2. Seeing shapes in the clouds
3. Not having to get up for work tomorrow

3 Good Things - Sat 16th Mar

1. Lazing about for most of the day
2. Missing (most of) the rain when I did go out
3. Finishing another book

3 Good Things - Fri 15th Mar

1. Payday
2. Start of a week off
3. Choosing new recipes to try

3 Good Things - Thurs 14th Mar

1. Nearly Friday
2. Being strong and not buying a cinnamon danish
3. Giggling

3 Good Things - Weds 13th Mar

1. Rainbow (that speck is the police helicopter!)

2. Getting an early pass from work
3. (Fake) Baileys hot chocolate

3 Good Things - Tues 12th Mar

1. Using my tea sub for the first time (thank you J)

2. Knowing M is in good hands
3. Dinner that turns out as yummy as you planned it!

3 Good Things - Mon 11th Mar

1. Happy endings
2. Tidy rooms
3. Hot showers

3 Good Things - Sun 10th Mar

1. Watching the rain from my comfy chair by the radiator
2. Knowing M liked her pressies
3. Finishing another book

3 Good Things - Sat 9th Mar

1. Proper ham from the supermarket counter
2. New slow cooker cook book
3. Getting home before the rain!

3 Good Things - Fri 8th Mar

1. Book three of a a four part set
2. Cake
3. A lie in tomorrow

3 Good Things - Thurs 7th Mar

1. Catching up with friends
2. Laughter
3. Being snug as a bug (hence the delay in posting coz I only remembered when I was all tucked up!)

3 Good Things - Weds 6th Mar

1. Putting clothes on straight off the (hot) radiator!
2. It's nearer Friday night than Monday morning.
3. Not having a clue what K was talking about when she started on about Coronation Street (I haven't watched any soaps since I came back to Devon)

3 Good Things - Tues 5th Mar

1. Internet back on the laptop
2. Making something by hand
3. Sticky bakewell slices (not what I made!)

3 Good Things - Mon 4th Mar

1. Long phone catch ups
2. Prospect of getting wifi back tomorrow
3. Pound shop goodies!

3 Good Things - Sun 3rd Mar

1. Short term solution to having to get dressed and got to the basement fridge before breakfast!
2. Business meeting over pizza!
3. Hot chocolate with squirty cream AND a flake!!

3 Good Things - Sat 2nd Mar

1. A little trip
2. A little something different
3. A little tidy up

3 Good Things - Fri 1st Mar

1. Good food
2. Great company
3. Meeting the 'pretend' other half ;-)