My weekly sketch...Baking

My weekly sketch of things I love this week is.....Baking. Nothing makes me happier than the smell of cake batter. During pregnancy, the lack of alcohol never fazed me, but the idea that I couldn't lick the spoon whilst baking a cake was simply mortifying. Some of my earliest memories are baking with my Mum or Grandma. To this day, the smell of cocoa powder reminds me of my late Grandmother. I have never been able to replicate her amazing chocolate cakes, but not for lack of trying.

One of my husband's most inspired gifts was my kitchen aid. I am not usually one for exercise, so anything to save effort on my part is greatly appreciated. However, I now have plans to get fit and healthy, so I suppose if I am going to be decadent and bake a cake, the least I could do is exert some effort whisking.

Later this month, I am very much looking forward to attending Forge in Sheffield on 23rd June. It is an art, design and craft fair that has been put on by Hallam Roses W.I to raise money for Roundabout and the W.I. I hear their baking is legendary and urge anyone in the area to join them. You will find me resident at the cake stall eyeing up the tasty treats! More details found here.

My weekly sketch...Books

My weekly sketch, of things that I love, is books this week. Although I am slowly but surely making my way into the digital age, I still enjoy the feel of a book in my hands. Despite the ease and convenience of the kindle, nothing compares to the smell of a leather bound book with ageing pages. My husband's love of books is far greater than my own. He owns several copies of the same book. We are unable to go anywhere without my husband going missing down some quaint little lane. He is adept at sniffing out an antique book shop or charity shop within a mile radius. Recently, we decided to read each other's favourite book (Little Women and The Count of Monte Cristo). This he felt was an excuse for him to buy a new copy of each. I really should blame myself for this collecting getting out of hand, as I foolishly allowed my husband to have one of the rooms in our house as a study. This has now been filled to the brim with books.

Writing books has recently become a love of mine. I have been writing children's books and these are available to download for free on the My Books section of my blog. These are currently works in progress and I hope to revisit these soon. This seems to keep going to the bottom of the to do list since I became a mummy. I really urge anyone, who has a passion to write, to try it, as I gained immense pleasure from creating something. Although I have made mistakes along the way, I relish the prospect of redrafting until I have made them as close to perfect as possible. I am bursting with lots of ideas of how to improve them and plans for future installments in the Bones The Dog series.