Going, going, gone! Waiting....waiting....waiting.....

What a stroke of luck.  Yesterday the weather heated up to about 35C I think - hot and humid and yucky.  We were alright while we worked inside as we had the airconditioning cranked up but outside it was awful.  Andrea had spoken to the post office and they said to bring the parcels up at 1230-ish and wait for the post office van to arrive so that we could load directly into his van from Andrea's van.  What we were dreading was the heat!  We didn't want some of the "contents" to melt!!!  But what a stroke of luck.  Overnight a cool change came through!  Unbelievable!  

All the boxes were loaded into Andrea's van,

 And then transferred straight into this post office van and that was it - over in a flash.

And you all thought that was the hard bit!  Wrong!  Now we have to wait.  I just want to know that all the parcels arrive safe and sound and reasonably all at once.  It is just like Christmas eve when I was a kid and that was torture.  I love giving surprises but the hardest part for me is keeping the surprise. 

So now we wait........just as well Christmas is coming and I have plenty to keep me busy!!

A few weeks ago I had a giveaway which was won by Jean.  this is the bag she won and now that she has received I can share the contents.

This is what Jean saw when she opened her bag.  Some good old Chocolate Freddo Frogs, some Aussie fabric, two potholders and a tissue holder.

Now here are the recipes I promised you last night. 

LEMON COCONUT SLICE

1 cup SR flour

Pinch salt
1 cup coconut
125g marg
¾ cup raw sugar
½ cup milk
2 eggs

Icing

1 cup icing sugar

1 teasp marg
Lemon or lime juice

Put flour, salt and coconut into a bowl.  Melt margarine and raw sugar together in a saucepan.  Add flour mixture and stir well.  Beat eggs with the milk and add to the mixture.  Combine well.  Pour into a greased lamington tin and cook at 190°C for 18 to 20 minutes. To make icing, combine icing ingredients and mix well.  Add warm water until desired consistency is reached.  While still warm ice with lemon/lime icing and top with extra coconut.

This recipe freezes well.  The recipe can be used as cup cakes (makes 24)  by increasing the milk by approximately ¼ cup.  Put mixture into patty pans and bake for 18 minutes. 

APPLE ALMOND CAKE

125g butter

¾ cup caster sugar

2 eggs

½ cup SR flour

½ cup plain flour

1/3 cup milk

1 apple grated

¼ cup slivered almonds

Grease deep 20cm cake tin and line.  Cream butter sugar till light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Beat till combined.  Transfer mixture to large  bowl, stir in ½ flours and ½ milk, then remainder of both.  Pour into pan. Top with apple and almonds.  Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes.  Stand 5 minutes then cool on a rack.

And now for the main feature tonight!!!!  I have to say a big thankyou to SSS Pty Ltd.  I wrote to them on behalf of the Gumnuts and asked if they would be prepared to donate some materials for us to work with when we make our charity quilts.  I told them what we have been doing, culminating in the latest project for our boys in Afghanistan and TA DAH!!!!! 

Let me introduce you to Sew Easy Batting!

 And

 And here they are in person.  A huge roll of batting - 100" by 16.5 yards, 15m of homespun, 108 500m of thread in red, black and cream and 15 rotary cutting blades!

 Won't that all go along way!!!!   A very big thankyou to the lovely people at SSS Sewing and Craft Supplies!  You have a great community spirit!

And finally, we gave one of the Aussie Hero Quilts to one of our number to give to her boss for her nephew who is currently in Afghanistan.   The boss was so touched that she donated a heap of pretty fabrics to us for our battered women's quilts that we hope to do next year.    She had bought the fabrics but realised that she would never get around to using them so she gave them to us.

 I didn't measure them all but I think each length is about 1.5m if not 2m and aren't they pretty!

They will make some lovely quilts.

Now, a question - can anyone help me!  I really want to put the logos from SSS on my blog - how do I do it?  All I have are the logo photos on a USB Stick.

All suggestions gratefully received.

Till next time..happy stitching!