* The Bestest Fox? *

So I went to see one of my all time favourite Disney films at the BFI (British Film Institute) the other night with some other loyal fans: Robin Hood! What a classic - the whole audience was over 25 and roaring with laughter pretty much everytime Peter Ustinov's Prince John made an appearence and 'ahh-ed' when the cute little bunnies said anything. I thought I'd share the iconic song, Oo-De-Lally with you on this sunny Friday!



Enjoy!
x*x*x

* Monday Treat Time *

Ok, so this isn't exactly in time for the Friday Treat, but better late than never! I've been recommended to look on 'Not on the High Street.com', a shop selling all kinds of different crafty, homemade, vintage stuff - if you're a 'Country Living Fair' regular - you'll recognise some of the items!

I've been looking for somewhere to keep our keys all safe - and they had this rustic old key holder for a mere £11! I've posted up a few other favourites that I found. Just click on the bunny at the end to check out the shop yourselves!

If we have a little boy, I'm seriously considering this for his bedroom...

A nice idea with white wool...

Sweet!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time *

Well, wow-ey, what a beautiful day! Time for ice creams, playing outside, listening to warm sunny music, making cooling treats and drinks, dining alfresco, sitting outside cafes and bars 'til dusk, going to the seaside, walking shady forests, sniffing blossom trees... To help you on your way this sunny weekend, I've made a Springtime playlist on Spotify - just click on the daisies below!


Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time! *

I have to share an amazing film I saw last week called Benda Bilili - one of the most inspiring films I've seen in a long time!

It's about a group of street musicians in Congo-Kinshasa and follows their journey from the streets to performing across Europe. Its out in cinemas now and received a standing ovation at Cannes.

Here's a little trailer for you to watch:



Hope you get the chance to see it!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time *

Today, as spring seems to have definitely arrived, I wanted to share this beautiful animation (found by Jon, of course!) that is set in the snow, and is about imagination, childhood and growing up into who you are meant to be...

the silence beneath the bark / le silence sous l'écorce from joanna lurie on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time! *

Here's a story to warm you on this cold, cold Friday - a little Robin who has found shelter from the snow in a Co-op shop in Aberdeen! He's so content that he sings by the tills and nibbles on crossiants and blueberries laid out for him by the staff. Click on the image below to read the story and watch a little video of his antics:


Happy Friday!

x*x*x

* Christmas Friday Treat Time *

Hurray! It's the 10th December - now we can REALLY start to enjoy and get ready for Christmas! I've made a little playlist of classic, vintage and alternative songs to get us in the spirit - just click on the Christmassy picture!


Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time! *

As the beautiful season of autumn is nearly over I thought I would cheer us up with some fun autumn-y activity sheets, featuring squirrels, Hobbes the Cat and Bert & Berta!

This is a fun project I started a while back - and its definitely a work in progress, learning lots along the way! The activities are from a black and white 'seasonal' magazine aimed at 2-5 year olds, including photo stories, making a coat for a sausage dog, autumn recipes and more! I guess I need to start a winter one now!

Just click on one of the images below to download the three activities.

Happy Friday!

x*x*

* Friday Treat Time! *

This week's Friday Treat Time is in honour of magical storytelling in this time of build up to Christmas - and my little sis, Cat Bean and her friend Sarah Neil, who I'm a big fan of!

Introducing: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, audio book, told by Stephen Fry:







If you want to continue listening to the rest of the story, just keep following the links that pop up at the end of Part 3.

Enjoy!

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

An arty but hopefully inspiring treat for you today - a BBC Radio 3 audio drama starring Martin Freeman of 'The Unfortunates' by BS Johnson. What's inspiring about the original book is that it was published in a box, in 27 sections, to be read in any order, except for the first and the last sections.


Here is the official blurb below on the BBC Radio 3 audio drama:

"Adaptation of B.S. Johnson's 1969 novel in which a sports journalist travels to a strange city to cover a football match, only to discover it was the city where he first met his friend Tony who has died young of cancer. We follow the journalist from his arrival at the train station, through lunch, to the match and on the journey home, as different memories of his friend are triggered.

Listen as the author intended - in a random order.

Its structure is intended to mirror the arbitrary way that the author’s mind worked on this particular day – the random coming together of memories of Tony and the business of reporting a football match."

Click here to listen!

Enjoy!

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

* The Good Life *

This Friday, let's get snug with a glass of Pea-pod Burgundy under a blanket and watch one of the best examples why its great to grow your own, wear dungarees and generally not let the whirl of city life get you down! Presenting:

The Good Life - The Wind-break War

Enjoy!

x*x*

* Friday Treat Time: Fairtrade Chocolate & Blackberry Cupcakes *

So, here's a Hummingbird cupcake recipe for you with a little autumn, ethical twist - just add some wild blackberries and Fairtrade cocoa powder!

Bert and Berta gathered some blackberries for me last Saturday, and I made these cakes for them (and other friends)!

Chocolate Cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Book with added blackberry twist!

Ingredients:

• 100g plain flour
• 20g Fairtrade cocoa powder
• 140g Fairtrade caster sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 40g unsalted butter
• 120ml milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Hand picked blackberries (8-10)

Frosting:

• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• 100g unsalted butter
• 40g Fairtrade cocoa powder
• 40ml milk
• Handpicked blackberries (12)
  

Pre-heat oven to 170/gas 3.

Put flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl and mix together until you have a sandy consistency.

Roughly cut your hand full of blackberries in half and add to the mixture, stirring so the blackberries break up into very small pieces.

Whisk the egg, milk, vanilla in a jug, then slowly pour into the bowl with the flour etc, stirring all the time. Mix until the cake mixture is smooth to get rid of any lumps.

Spoon the mixture into cake cases until two-thirds full and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes.

When ready, leave cupcakes to cool on a wire cooling rack and make the chocolate frosting.

Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together in a electric mixer (or just mix with a wooden spoon like me!) until the mixture is well mixed together.

Add the milk a couple of tablespoons at a time, whilst mixing. Once all the milk has been added, continue mixing/beating until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Add the frosting to your cooled cupcakes, with a blackberry on top of each one to finish.


Yummy autumn goodness!

x*x*

Wednesday Treat Time: Calvin & Hobbes

Ok, so this is a pretty late Friday Treat Time, I grant you, but I hope this treat is worth the wait (we were away on a short break)!

In celebration of our new kitty, Hobbes, here are some classic Calvin & Hobbes strips - double click on them to enlarge. Enjoy!








x*x*

Sunday Treat Time!

Sorry this is late everyone!

A short and sweet treat - Jon sent me this little picture on Friday when I was having a busy stressful day - it made me smile!

* Bjork and Moomin *

I'm working on my water feature tomorrow - will be posting some snaps!

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

After a week or so of 'Friday Treat Time' deprivation, here's one that I think is soooo clever - you have all probably seen these clips already, but I haven't seen them before and think they're ace!

ANIMATOR VS ANIMATION

There are lots more to watch on You Tube if you want to see more fun!

If anyone has a Friday Treat they'd like me to share next week, then let me know!

Happy Friday!

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

Firstly, an apology for neglecting my blog - I have been poorly since I last posted and haven't been able to do much crafting or making :(

But this little vid should cheer us up - the latest OK GO! music video - as always - brilliant!
(Check out the little goose friend that keeps appearing!)



Happy Friday - and here's to being healthy and happy this summer!

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

Today I've gone for a retro childhood memory theme, and found just a few of my favourite cartoon intros! Watch these and see how easy it is to remember the theme tune and the words!

Thundercats

Dogtanian

My Little Pony

SuperTed
(this is especially for Sue!)

CareBears

Pussy Cat Bleu & Friday Treat Time

I LOVE cats, so I have made my very own one: meet Pussy Cat Bleu!


She is a french cat of a loving disposition - you can see this by looking into her big brown eyes and by the flutter of her pretty eyelashes!
She is also keen on floriculture...

...and sitting in teacups.

Of course, many people want to be a cat - they are super cool, calm in (most) situations and very refined! So here is my Friday Treat: 'Everybody wants to be a Cat' from the Disney film: The Aristocats!




Happy Friday!

x*x*

Friday Treat Time!

Today I want to share a little bit of one of my favourite ever films, 'Totoro'!

To help with the overcoming the gloom of such a rainy day like today, just imagine meeting Totoro and teaching him how to use an umbrella (and him jumping up and down!)

Friday Treat Time!

It's that time again! This week I have some thought provoking film clips for you - it's good to do a bit of thinking and reflecting on a Friday sometimes...

I came across this on the Made in Me blog (they make interactive materials and stories for very young children). It's a wonderful 4-minute animated short where a 12-year-old with Asperger’s interviews his Mum.



The animation was created by The Rauch Brothers for StoryCorps, a US charity dedicated to providing everyone with the opportunity to create and share the stories of their lives.

...and I was brought to the attention of this film by husband Jon when researching for my job at Comic Relief - a great film to make you think and ACT!