Jessica Norris

Basic Whey Bread Rolls

Today I used up some of my yoghurt whey to make some tasty dinner rolls. I thought it might be fun to present this as a pictorial how-to, rather than a “recipe”. Enjoy! 🥖

It has been very wet here over the weekend, with a last hurrah for summer. I think we may have received much of our rainfall for all three months in that last weekend! Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it was wet, wet, wet. And cold! I feel like Autumn snuck in aContinue reading “Autumn garden gallery”

Nappy leaks: getting to the source

A few weeks after making my two new wool nappy covers, I found that Evie was constantly having nappy leaks. One moment she is standing there, looking suddenly focussed, the next a great flood of wee comes down her leg. “Poo-poo!” She announces, and I sigh. I was pretty disappointed, and I blamed my newContinue reading “Nappy leaks: getting to the source”

Scrappy Toy Tea Bags

I didn’t think I’d have anything to show for Finish It Up Friday, but at the last minute I’ve pulled it out of the hat. Or perhaps, the tea box? 🙂 Here are some lovely tea bags, destined to be gifts for my daughter (the pink ones) and my youngest niece (the purple). How sweetContinue reading “Scrappy Toy Tea Bags”

Orange Infused Vinegar

I have discovered a great way to make some great smelling cleaning products, using ordinary white vinegar, and orange peels. Cleaning with vinegar is nothing terribly new: there are hundreds of recipes and creative uses for this staple cleaning product. I think the most straight-up useful way is as a glass cleaner. Just squirt itContinue reading “Orange Infused Vinegar”

Octopus Tutorial: Legs Alive!

Welcome to part two of my tutorial series on constructing an Octopus Softie! We have already constructed the body, and now we are going to make some plaited raggedy legs. 🙂 In the last tutorial I made some suggestions about fabrics for the legs. If you haven’t already sorted this out, go choose some longContinue reading “Octopus Tutorial: Legs Alive!”

Cleaning my Sewing Machine

I came across a blog post recently, outlining how to clean a sewing machine (which I can’t find to share for you, sorry!). I remember thinking — you need to do that? I’ve never done that! This week, after I finished Izzy’s duffle bag and had decided to take a brief sewing break, I decidedContinue reading “Cleaning my Sewing Machine”

Morning walk in the garden

Walking through the garden yesterday morning, there are a lot of new crops coming along, and a couple of problems to deal with: We shall have to do something about the citrus: the Orange tree needs immediate attention, I think. Then there is also this guy: This goanna sometimes visits our chicken coop looking forContinue reading “Morning walk in the garden”

Kitchen Redo: Phase Two Surprise!

Last year I knocked over painting one wall of cabinets in the kitchen, and pretty soon I was ready to get on with phase two: painting either the cabinets under the bench top, or the ones over the stove. I took a few weeks to mull this over, as both were significantly harder, logistically, thanContinue reading “Kitchen Redo: Phase Two Surprise!”

Shameless brag: Giraffe Cake :)

It was Isobel’s birthday yesterday, and today we are having a party! This is the first time I’ve tried making a fondant cake, and hey, all that play dough practice has paid off! I made my own fondant, and it was really easy to work with – not stiff at all. I also bought packetContinue reading “Shameless brag: Giraffe Cake :)”