Nayu's Craft Time #192 Bob returns! + Pineapple Palace Review

A bunny themed sea-slug

I'm so happy! My family not only met Bob the slug (mentioned in a previous post) on the drive but I then found both him and Doris (the smaller slug) in the garage last night! I thought they may have died since I hadn't seen them for a few nights, but they are most definitely alive! Go Bob! Go Doris! 

Ahem. Who knew slugs would make me happy? Anyway, on Friday I ventured off into the unknown to seek out a pineapple. 

Yum to juicy pineapple!

No, that's not quite right. I sought out a new to my family cafe & shabby chic/vintage shop, The Pineapple Palace, Lower Way Farm, Thatcham, Berkshire, Lower Way Farm, RG193TL, England.

Image from Pineapple Palace Facebook page

My family had gone there earlier in the week and highly recommended it, so I went to check it out. It was easy to find, there's ample parking by the shop/cafe. The staff are super friendly, were pleased I'd found it through a recommendation. The shop and cafe are fairly small, but in a nice way, if that makes sense. There was all sorts of crafts by local artists, cards, figurines, woodwork, plaques, blankets, metal work, jewellery and much more. 

Picture from Pineapple Palace Facebook page

I overheard staff saying that normally they are busy around lunch - I was almost the only person there at one point. I nabbed a delicious hot chocolate and a milk pudding which is apparently like a custard pudding. 

So very yum! Picture taken by me ^o^

I adore custard puddings and this milk pudding was divine! You can't really see it but I loved that a cake fork was given instead of a normal fork - I have a thing for cake forks, they are really nifty and make cutting into sweet treats simple. Look at the perfect swirled dome of cream! I liked the fact the hot chocolate tasted real - I mean I couldn't tell if it was made from a powder or a syrup. I've been let down in the past by powdered hot choolate when out and about, making this a real treat. I also liked the mismatch of saucers and cups - it fitted the feel of the place. 

Minor disclosure which in no way is affecting my review (it was a super place) - I am going to see whether in the future I may be able to sell some of my work there. Not all my pieces fit in, but a few of the newer ones do. I'm only mentioning this so I can't be accused of favouring a place should I eventually sell my stuff there. This review is genuine.

I was so relaxed I lost track of time while gaming and sipping my hot chocolate that I ended up doing my groceries during prime lunch hour - something I really dislike! Definitely a place to go to if I need a break and have the energy to go out somewhere. Do check out it, it's one of my local towns! The website is down but they are on Facebook

Today I'm doing blog work, so possibly no crochet but I don't know for definite yet. Will see how well my laptop behaves, and my body ^o^ 

Nayu's Product Review #3 Non-dairy milk

Happy Sunday! I hope that whatever your week was like today is a good day for you. When saving the file that I wrote this post in I put the month as April...no idea why! It's definitely July with vaguely warm weather.

 

Since I've been feeling bleh the last few days I haven't done any craft, but I have been thinking about my current patchwork projects. Maybe that's why my audiobook relisten is an Amish tale, which involves quilting! 

It's first in a series I highly recommend if you like family focused tales, good morals with lots of mistakes made, clean romance and of course typical Amish life, which always seems to be full of pie.

What else goes with pie? Milk!

I love the old fashioned bottles ^o^

Milk goes with everything, ornso I thought. Since the tummy bug/possibly out of date food induced illness the other week I couldn't tolerate my favourite drink, the white stuff. I've had that happen a few times in the past, and the length of time I was unable to tolerate dairy varied from a few days to a few months. Thankfully there is a broad range of non-dairy milk so I gave them a go! Here's my current top 5 non-dairy drinks! Generally I avoid the unsweetened ones as they aren't nice tasting in my view.

#5 Koko

This is pretty much just water and a tiny amount of coconut. It's drinkable, but isn't very exciting and not one I will go back to

#4 Waitrose original soya drink (not

unsweetened)

Sorry about picture quality, this was the best I could get.

This surprised me in being fairly tasty for plain soya milk, so happily goes on my rebuy list.

#3 Alpro Almond/Hazelnut milk

Tasty! Not my picture though.

 I've had both of these in the past and rate them highly as milk alternatives

#2 Breeze Almond Milk

Again not my pic

This one surprised me as I expected it to be ok, and it's rather delicious! I'm definitely keeping an eye out for it.

#1 Alpro Vanilla flavoured soya milk

This tastes like...

I'm not kidding when I say this is drinkable custard: it's smooth, fairly creamy, and is even a little bit yellow! I absolutely adore this flavour from Alpro, and will be drinking it on a regular basis, especially as I can't really eat custard every day!

I also recommend Alpro soya yogurts, the blueberry and cherry flavours which taste like ordinary milk based yogurts.

I can now drink milk again, but I've enjoyed the non-dairy alternatives so much that I will have cows' milk 1 x a week and non-dairy the rest! I'd love to hear if you've tried any of these, and if you have a favourite non-dairy milk drink!

Nayu's Craft Time #125 Ode to heat, forgotten groceries, flavoured milk love!

I love cute parasols - they are used like umbrellas a lot in Japan when it's sunny to stay in the shade

I'm a bit sad by the fact the wonderful mini heatwave seems to have stopped here in my part of 

England. Please come back! Minus yesterday when I randomly felt flakey the heat has really helped my too cold self.

Ideally I'd use fresh limes, but this would be an expensive habit, so lime squash it is for me! Picture source

While my original plans of writing yesterday went out the wide open window, I managed to get a few groceries, albeit going back round one shop after I'd shopped there as I'd forgotten 2 essential items: 

1) lime cordial - This is refreshing as an occasional drink when I want more than water, plus I have it when I wake up as it takes away a bit of the taste water gets after a night's sleep.
 

2) crisps - absolutely necessary as they help ward off headaches as and when they occur. Doesn't always cure them, but salt does seem to ease it a bit.

My favourite flavour is cheese and onion, then salt and vinegar and sweet chilli, although so long as it's a crisp I often don't mind the flavour!

Felt a bit silly going back in the shop, but needs must. 

Total fangirl love! Starting book 3 today, book 4 isn't pictured but there is one.

Before and after shopping I was stuck in a series by James Patterson, the Young Adult Confessions series. Totally brilliant! Highly recommend for being full of plot twists. Reread book 1 as it had been too lon since I first read it that I wanted the characters fresh in my mind-I'm readin the series for review for the publisher so while book 2 does recap book 1 briefly, I knew it wouldn't be enough for me.

 

I do!

There was no craft yesterday as I wasn't up foe it, i did watch some anime-almost always able to watch it! However, I was able to 'make' chocolate milk! That counts as cookin in my view ^u^ My family had treated me to Hershey's syrup. 

It was a twin-pack - double yum!

I adore anything Hershey's, so heated up some milk in the microwave then squeezed the sauce in, not measuring it but checking the flavour by taste. Super yummy!! Highly recommend it, and if you don't like Hershy's maybe try with different sauces! Naturally real chocolate melted into milk creates the best chocolate milk, but sauces are handy when you are short on time/chocolate (fine for an occasional treat)  I'd love to know what your favourite type of milk drink is and how you make it! 

I possibly like banana milk the best...only I like banana flavoured milk, not milk made with actual bananas as they don't taste quite right (bad me for liking artificial milk over fresh bananas! The flavour is too variable when real bananas are involved. I've had both banana milk from the store, and made banana milk using banana essence (must get some more..))

This cute banana picture is for a Korean banana milk!