APRONS

Aprons seem to be all the rage at the moment, as long as you are pencil thin and flat chested, they cover what they are supposed to.  Now, I am neither of the above, you try to keep "nice" whilst baking only to discover one of the girls is now covered in flour because she has slipped out from behind the curtain.   So to rid myself of this dilemma, I have been working on these. 

Cupcakes seem to go hand in hand with the apron theme....

or we can go with a little bit of Pink and Poodles .....

The poodles and the Eiffel Tower came from a set called "Ooh La La Applique" that is available from Designs by JuJu.    I used fleece for the poodles.

I have one more apron to go, a little floral number.   When I have worked out the kinks, I will tell you "how to" if you want to make one for yourself.   

Now I have to get on to one of my crabby rants and sink the boots into......

 ITEMS THAT ARE NOT LIVING UP TO THEIR EXPECTATIONS.

So far this week, I have had to replace the toilet seat on a reasonably expensive suite.   It has been in operation for five, possibly 6 years, the seat split.   Guess what, that style is now obsolete.   I have a new seat, it is not the right seat and it looks wrong - curved seat versus squarer style porcelain.   At this point I am settling for this arrangement, 1. because there is nothing worse than having your thighs pinched in the middle of the night, and 2. because it is better than parking it on cold porcelain.     I have been watching one of the renovation shows on the go at the moment (The Block) and laughed when somebody put in a loo that cost a grand.     How ticked off will the lucky owner be when the seat breaks and a replacement part is unavailable because it is out of fashion.    Thanks Porcher, I won't be buying my next suite from you.

Now I'd like to move on to the next failure, and that is my Sunbeam Pro Stick Mixer.    I have been making smoothies for breakfast and like to use this unit.   That was until yesterday when I suddenly realised that milk was seeping up the rubber seal and  fermenting in the tube - gross.     As it is still under warranty, guess what Mr Sunbeam will be getting back.

And drum roll...........finally (for this week anyway) I'd like to thank Mr Ilve and his team for an expensive and shoddy product.    The piece de resistance today;  when I noticed part of the badging of my oven laying on the floor.   It is only a little thing you say, but surely an oven that is going to be used, a lot,  should have it's badging riveted or screwed on, especially when it is in a prominent place on an oven that gets hot...... and wouldn't you think it would be enamelled, not plastic on what looks like brass, but probably isn't.    How is it attached?  Well, as you can see, this bit isn't, but the brass part is glued by the look of it.  (See how it has dropped).

  This was an expensive piece of equipment and truly, I don't think it lives up to the hype - remember - those model type people covered in food, look of ecstasy on their faces. (Google Ilve and go to their Advertising Page).

Where to start, where to start, lets see:   

*   Even cooking - no need to turn trays - somebody forgot to tell my oven.  

*  Oven that would impress great cooks,  the shelves bend when you put a heavy    casserole  dish on them.

*  The actual unit spent three weeks on my kitchen bench, when one of the controls burnt out. 

*  The unit had only been installed for 4 months and nobody was available to repair it over the Christmas/January break. 

*  The knobs come loose too easily.

*  As part of the matching set, I have the cook top as well.   Wouldn't you think, in this day and age, that the trivet part of the burners would be made in a metal that could go in the dishwasher, instead of being made of aluminium that is impossible to get clean?   I'm just saying......

If you are doing a kitchen renovation, think carefully.   I can't wait for the next exciting installment with  Ilve.

Ok, now I have this weeks issues off my chest, I will go and sew  something and take calming breaths until something else drops off, blows up or catches fire!

Bye for now, Sue xxx