MMORPG

EVE

Whats an MMORPG ? its a massivley multiplayer online role playing game on a computer which at present my other half seems to be spending a lot of time on!!

He plays this game called EVE online, its an online game in which you interact with other people, some of whom can be any where around the world. EVE is a space based game in a persistent virtual universe, which carries on going even when you log off. The game involves flying various spaceships, fighting, trading, mining building in its simplest form. At its most complex it involves conquering regions of space, diplomatic negotiations and an economic trading model akin to the real world.

All I know is that he can be on it for hours at a time but i guess as far as hobbies go its better than going down the pub every night with his mates! Now i wonder if there is one that involves shopping and shoes for me !

Butternut and Sweet Potato Soup

Well i love cooking as a hobby and despite it being nearly summer i still love to sit down to a bowl of home made soup. I doesn’t matter what time of year you can adapt to suit was vegetables are available at the time. It doesn’tt have to unhealthy either in fact there is something very cleansing about a healthy detox soup

So here’s one of my favourite roast butternut squash and sweet potato

What you need is:

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2 red onions
• 1 dessert spoon of cinnamon
• 2 tea spoons of ground nutmeg
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• Pint of boling water

What to do

Chop up the vegs in to cubes, lay out on a deep baking tray and sprinke the cinnamon and nutmeg evenly over the top

Cook in a pre heated oven gas mark 6 for 1 hour till all go brown even slighty chared. Remove from tray and add to a deep pan. Add stock cude to the boliing water and slowly stir in the the cut vegatable

Blend to smooth mixture if too thick add more bolied water

Why not try Go Karting as a Hobby

Why not try Go Karting as a Hobby!
Did you know?
It was in California that’s Go Karting was first invented over 50 years and is now one of the fastest growing in North America.
Go Karts was originally referred to as go carts, gokarts, and shifter karts
After the Second World War fighter pilots and airmen started racing Go Karts and a sport was born.
Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton started their career racing in Go Karts before graduating to Formula One and Indy Car.
Since Go Karts started they are now capable of speeds 200 mph and scarily they have no suspension
Why not have a look in your local paper for a Go Karting track near you idea for Hen and Stag do’s or a work outing

What book to read?

As the weather is so poor what better way to spend the day reading on the sofa .. that is if your not at work

I Am in desperate need of a good book at the moment has anyone got any ideas?

I recent read Shopaholic and baby and at the time it was just what i was after lighthearted no stress read that you could just pick up if and when ever you had half and hour

However i am struggling at the moment. My spare time what little time i have of it needs to be send reading something worth while . I get sop annoyed with myself as despite how crap it is i just feel compelled to read on in the hope ot will get better .. but more often or not i should have gone with my gut instinct and stopped pages before

So whats good then I’ve heard the below are good feed back anyone?

Magic in the Wind by Christine Feehan

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa,

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

How to make a kite : Diamond Kite

DIAMOND KITE
What you need
String, cord or thin garden twine
sticky tape or glue
1 sheet of strong paper (102cm x 102cm)
2 strong, straight wooden sticks of bamboo or wooden dowelling
first stick 90cm stick 102cm
Any thing you want to personnel you kite paint or crayons glitter
1.Cross the two sticks, with little stick placed horizontally across the longer stick – like a crucifix shape
2.Tie the two sticks together in middle with the string and also a little glue
3.Cut a notch at each end of both sticks. Make the notch deep enough for string to fit .
4.Cut string long enough to stretch all around the kite frame.
5.Make a loop in the top notch and wrap string around the stick, stretch twine down stick. Stretch the string through the notch bottom. Re do for vertical stick too
6.Lay the paper flat and place the stick frame face down on top.
7.Cut to fit shape leaving lip of 2-3cm for a margin. Fold over frame and tape or glue it down
8. Cut string about 122 cm
9.Tie the string through the top loop of the kite and before threading it through the bottom loop make a little loop in the middle opposite the centre of the cross
10. Thread through the bottom loop then back up through the middle loop – this is you twine for holding when flying
11. Make a tail by tying a small ribbon roughly every 10cm along the length of string.
12. Go crazy with the glitter Decorate!

How to bake a cake

I would love to know how to bake properly and if I truly want to class it as a hobby I must master the basic art of the mumble sponge cake
Agreed this is not the most exciting but any budding student has to start somewhere

Now it may seem simple place all the stuff in a bowl and beat but still best to document
You can mix with a wooden spoon or by hand-held mixer but remember to take out that days tension the better combined the better the mixture

75g (6oz) margarine or
softened butter
175g (6oz) caster sugar
3 large eggs
175g (6oz) self-raising
flour, sifted
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1.Heat the oven to 180C (gas mark 4) and grease an 18cm (7in) round cake tin with a little extra butter or margarine
2.Cut a piece of greaseproof paper or non-stick baking parchment to fit the base of the tin.
3.Put all the combined mixture into tin.
3.Pour or spoon the mixture in
4.Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 45-50 minutes.
5.Let the cake sit in the tin for 5 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edge and turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool.

Put the kettle…..enjoy

Collecting Barbies for a Hobby

I loved Barbie Dolls as a little girl and even now. She is the icon of girlieness and was Barbie’s introduction at the American International Toy Fair in 1959. A serious collector I had as many as my pocket money would allow plus I wanted the accessories. The serious collectors, who have hundreds of dolls, spend thousands of dollars each year, and look at their collection as more of investment wash you mouth out if you think they are toys.
Barbie was invented by Ruth Handler in the 1950s and she named the doll after her daughter, Barbara. Ruth shortened the name to Barbie when she saw her daughter preferred to play with adult looking dolls over the baby looking dolls.
Barbies birthday is March 9, 1959 as this was the day she was introduced to a trade fair.

Basic Knitting

Every where I turn at the moment people seem to be talking about knitting. If its not on Kirstys Home project on Thursday night channel four, its on Britain’s go talent lats night. God did you see it the three old women were hardly an advert so I thought I’d get on the band wagon

Knitting dates back as an ancient craft with Queen Elizabeth I known to have worn knitted stockings very vogues. So what do you do?
When you purchase your wool / yarn ask what they recommend with needles rule of thumb the thicker the yarn the thicker the needles a super chunky and simple yarn no bobbles, light colour so can you see and nice and chunky.

Getting started
If looking at knitting books and patterns you will find that there are many different ways of doing the same thing.
Right-handed knitters, the needle that makes new stitches is held in the right hand whilst the needle which holds the finished stitches is held in the left. And opposite if left handed

Garter stitch
Two or more rows of knit stitches are called garter stitch perfect for a scarf
1.Put right-hand needle into the stitch loop and lay the yarn across
2.Hold yarn over the forefinger, under the middle finger, over the last finger and then loop it around the little finger, this give tension and will help you to knit more quickly later on.
3.Pull a new loop through the first loop and then slide it onto the left-hand needle.
4.You now have two stitches on the left-hand needle. All the rest of the stitches are made the same way. Don’t worry if your stitches are slightly different sizes,
5.Make a series of 29 new stitches .
Casting ofF
1.Have the first two stitches so that they are now both on the right-hand needle and tip left-hand needle into the first stitch you knitted.
2.Lift it over the top of the second stitch you knitted and let it come off the tip of the next It will now be around the neck of your second knitted stitch. Knit the next stitch and repeat.

How to make a perfect pond in easy steps.

How to make a perfect pond in easy steps.

1. Shape

It is very important to establish at the start what kind of pond you want. Fish, plant life or simply to listen to the sound of the water. If you have a small area located this could limit you to how many fish you can have.

Koi Pond needs to be no less than 1000 gallons in volume, the bigger the better. It also needs to have an area of the pond at least 3 feet deep, 4 – 5 may be better.

Water Garden needs to be 2 feet deep.

The below are simple directions for a basic plant pond
2. Where do we put it

I know it sounds daft but put it somewhere you can see it all year round. Think about the surroundings you don’t want to be collecting leaves off it all the time but you need to make sure that is some shade for part of the day if you want to have fish. The use of a pump pond will allow you to keep more fish, and also the sound of the pump / running water adds to the pond effect!

3. Get digging!

Mark out the ground and basic shape. Dig down ½ foot only from the outer edge to create a rim. Move roughly in one foot and dig down a further 2 feet to create a step. Move in another foot then dig the remainder of the pond.

4. Lining

Cut to fit the pond and put small pieces of tape to stop from moving when the pond liner is placed. Try to avoid folds and wrinkles. After the water is added the folds should flatten out.

5. Make it pretty

Place stones, sand and pebbles around the edge of the lining and pond.
5. Place the stone or other coping around the edge of the pond or water garden. Fill the pond with water to within a few inches from the top

Roasties

PERFECT ROAST POTATOES

To go with any roast diner as part of the trimmings, great roast potatoes are an essential part of any roast dinner, this is the way I like to cook them, give it a try and tell me what you think.

Ingredients as with all cooking is very important as any person that chooses cooking as a hobby should know. Chose a flowery potato, I find maris piper is a good variety, also the fat that you use to roast the potatoes in is also very important. For every day use normal vegetable oil will be fine but for those special occasion try goose fat, believe me it does add that extra depth of flavour to these roasties.

Put your roasting pan in a hot oven with the oil, whilst putting your potatoes on the hob and let them boil for a few minutes until they are just starting to become soft. Drain the potatoes and shake gently in the pan, this helps to give the potatoes a rough edge and makes them more crispy.

Put the potatoes into the hot roasting tin and baste in the cooking oil/fat, season and for the extra flavour add some chopped fresh rosemary. Then leave to roast in the top half of the oven turning the potatoes every half hour or so to ensure crispness all over.

Yum Yum!!