lemon curd, sewing, dogs and a quilt

I had an urge to make some lemon curd so dug through my recipe book to find the recipe I used to make many, many years ago. Here's the result. Oh my goodness, it was delicious. I say "was" because it didn't last long. I really need to make some more!

In case anyone's interested, this is the recipe.

Lemon Curd
Makes 2 x 250 ml jars.

4 lemons
200g granulated sugar
100g unsalted butter cut into cubes
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Method
Zest and juice the lemons and put into a heatproof bowl along with the sugar and the butter.

Put the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir now and again until all the butter has melted.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk. Add to the lemon mixture and stir until everything is combined. Leave to cook for about 12 minutes stirring every now and again.

When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove it from the heat and pass it through a plastic sieve to remove the zest and any egg white that hasn't mixed in. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.

Once cooled, spoon into sterilised jars and seal.

Keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks if it lasts that long!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I made myself some trousers. I used the old faithful pattern which I've used many times before - the Jalie pull-on pants. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!! I forgot to take a photo of them before I wore them so took one after I'd taken them off hence all the creases! LOL They are black, by the way. It doesn't look like black in the photo, but they are black!

Next, let me show you what we did with the frame for our old swing which finally gave up the ghost. Well, the swing part did. The cover needed replacing - it would have been the third time I'd recovered it - but, before I even got the idea in my head to make another one, Douglas sat on the swing and one of the metal parts holding the seat part together sheared off making it unsittable-on. (I'm sure that's not a word, but you get the idea!)

We had put it beside the side gate with the intention of taking it to the tip when our big bird feeding station bent over in one of the storms we've had recently depositing all the bird feeders and seed and suet balls all over the grass. I wondered if we could re-use the frame of the swing as a bird feeder thingy. It's not perfect but it works. The birds don't care what it looks like - in fact, I think they like it!!

Next, let me introduce you to Maisie. Debbie (and her family) got a new puppy. She's a Cavapoo and a wee terror by all accounts but then she is a puppy so that's her job! Isn't she adorable?

I was chatting on FaceTime the other day with both Joanna and Debbie and both their dogs put in an appearance. I suspect Tilly was quite glad that Maisie was in Canada. She really isn't sure what those funny little squeaking noises are. We're just telling her it's Maisie's Canadian accent! LOL

Lastly, Jo's neighbour is expecting her first baby so I offered to make them a baby quilt with all the appliquéed squares like one I made before shown here. This is the pile of all 49 appliqués. It took me nearly 2 weeks to make them all!

Here's the quilt all finished.

And here's the fleece on the back and the label.

If I make this again, I need to remember that it takes a l-o-n-g time to make all the squares but that it's worth it in the end. I just LOVE this quilt and hope Jo's neighbours and their baby will too!