Hello again Autumn..

As summer draws it's final breath, it's time to welcome cosy jumpers, fluffy socks and warm scarves. There's nothing better than snuggling up by the fireside with your favourite book and hot drink. Outside, there's a carpet of red, yellow orange and brown that crunches beneath your feet. The air is so much cooler and the darkness draws much quicker. It only means one thing - Autumn is finally here!

 

Oh Autumn, how I love; warm blankets, lovely cups of tea, boots, rainy mornings, knitted jumpers and walks in the park in the morning dew.

It's apparent that the slither of afternoon sun is becoming ever smaller, leaving less sunny patches for my furry friend to snooze.

 

| Insulated mug - Primark | Tartan scarf - Primark | Knit sweater - H&M |

 

 

 | Watch - Argos | Knit sweater - H&M | Tartan scarf - Primark |

 

 | Tartan scarf - Primark |

 

 

Thankyou for reading,

 



Lemon drizzle cake

Hello my lovelies.

It was recently my birthday, Tuesday 22nd September so just a week back now so as I am very fond of my Auntie's home made lemon drizzle cake, I thought I'd give it a go with my mum. It turned out really well and better than expected so I ought to share it with you all as it tasted really delicious!

 

 

 

 

Cake mixture:

 

You will need:

♥ 6oz Self-raising flour

♥ 6oz Caster sugar

♥ 6oz Butter/margarine

♥ 3 Large free-range eggs

♥ 1 teaspoon of Baking powder

♥ 1 Lemon (zest)

 

Before you even start to bake your cake, you need to pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius and also line an 8inch cake tin with grease-proof paper or if you don't have any of that, you can happily use some butter or margarine.

 

Now to start baking!

 

You'll need to measure out your ingredients first using weighing scales; battery or weights - it's entirely up to you! To make the whole process of making the cake quicker and easier, I added all of my ingredients to little bowls but you don't have to if you don't want to. After you've done this, just add the sieved Flour, Butter, Sugar and Baking powder to the mixer and mix it all for a good five minutes until light and fluffy.

 

When the mixture is at the right consistency, you'll then need to add in your eggs and mix it again for another five minutes. While it's mixing together, you can be grating your lemon - try to get all of the zest off as it will make the cake have more of the lemon flavour in it.

 

When the mixture is finished mixing, add in your lemon zest that you have grated and mix all of the ingredients together one last time.

 

Then, when all of it is mixed together and there aren't any white lumps of flour around the inside of the bowl, you can then go ahead and pour the mixture into your cake tin. When you've poured all of it in and there isn't any left in the bowl, it's a good idea to shake the tin from side to side while still on the counter top. This will ensure your cake is level and is even on the top.

 

Then place in the oven and leave for 25-30 minutes. If it is still sticky on the top when the time is up, just leave it in the oven for another five minutes then take out to cool for a good 1-2 hours. A good tip to see if your cake is cooked is to poke a knife into the middle of he cake - if the knife comes out clean, then your cake it cooked!

 

Once your cake has cooled, you can icing it. I always find icing really hard to make and judge so it's important you get the right amount of icing sugar and water to get the right consistency.

 

Icing:

 

♥ 3-4 table spoons of Icing sugar

♥ 1 lemon (juice)

♥ 2-3 table spoons of cold water

♥ yellow food colouring

 

To make your icing, you'll need to add your 3-4 table spoons of Icing sugar to a medium sized bowl with 2-3 table spoons of water and mix together with the same spoon. The consistency of your icing should be in between runny and thick. If you think it's too runny, add a little more icing sugar or if you think it's too thick add another table spoon of water at a time until it's the desired consistency. Remember it has to be thick enough to cover the top of the cake.

 

Once, you have the desired consistency and amount of icing you wish add the juice of the lemon you squeezed earlier to your icing Only add however much juice you like then pour it on top of your cake making sure it covers the whole of the top. Spread the icing out with the back of your spoon if you need to.

 

Leave the icing to set for 1 hour then make the same amount of icing up again but this time with 1-2 drops of yellow food colouring. This is just an added touch to your cake if you want it. I thought it finished the cake off and made it look very presentable and it colour coordinated with the lemon that was used! You'll just want to lightly drizzle t off of a spoon all over the top of the cake and leave it to set from 1 hour to over night - It all depends on when you want to eat it!

 

 

And there you have a delicious lemon drizzle cake. If you make this yourself, please do tag me in picture of your cake on Twitter; @shannondixon22 or Instagram; @sprinkleofshan @shannonjodixon. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

 

Happy baking!

 

Thankyou for reading,

Mental Illness | Shannonxo

Shan here,
It's come to me that I should finally write this post since I said I would write how I felt. I know there are many, many people in the world who have mental illnesses, maybe thousands or millions but me being one of them people. Having a mental illness does not mean you are mental/crazy. I suffer from Depression and Anxiety, which is very difficult for me to deal with.

With having Depression, the slightest negative thing could just hit me and put my life off balance. It's like a storm; it starts slow, picking away at you, then it becomes stronger and causes more damage. Then it stops, and you seem like you're fine, that it's getting better. Like it's safe to go outside now, and enjoy the finer things in life. Kind of like the eye of the storm. Then out of nowhere, it hits you again, knocking you down, harder than before, until you're no more.

I have my good days and bad. Just tell myself to muddle through it all. I haven't been the person who lives a very perfect life so far at all with things keep going wrong in the family, with illnesses. Me and my family definitely haven't been very lucky with life but all I can say is that it brings us closer together. We stick by each other, tell them everything's going to be alright.

I don't have much self esteem with having this mental illness as it leaves you thinking the worst of yourself. I constantly have troubles running through the back of my head. It just traps the real you inside of someone else, who you don't want to be. Anxiety, is another big problem of mine. I'm not very good around lots of people. I get very anxious very easily and have to try getting myself out of the situation some how. Resulting in this, there's some days I have to listen to calming remedies on my phone through various different apps.

This, making school a struggle for me too. I don't have a great deal of friends. Making socialising very difficult. However, this doesn't bother me. Having family by my side means a lot and I'm grateful for that.

It is a real struggle, but remember to keep fighting. Always keep in mind that if you also have a mental illness, you aren't the only one. "Do more of what makes you happy". If writing about it makes you feel good, or you enjoy other things to ease your mind, then go for it!
I did not write this post to get sympathy at all or for people to feel sorry for me because I know that I'm not the only one. Writing about things, just makes me feel that tiny bit better.

Stay positive.

Xoxo,
Shannon