Tuesday 31 May 2011

Oops

I've been a bad bad blogger and I should be punished! I broke my pledge already *hangs head in shame* I said that I would blog everyday even if it was only one word and yesterday I missed a day but in my defence I have been really busy, it's school holidays, it's my daughters birthday today and I spent most of yesterday baking and sometimes life just gets in the way of living and doing anything!

Today my sweet sweet daughter is 17 so in a moment of gushy muminess I just have to say I am so so proud of my beautiful daughter and all she has achieved and the wonderful adult that she is becoming.

I made her a cupcake tower with a giant cupcake on top, I have baked and baked and iced and frosted till I can't frost no more but it was worth the finished result was lovely







And she was really happy with it so that my dear friends is the most important thing!

Sunday 29 May 2011

I'm a bit of a Biblio Invertabrate

I love reading, I will read anything and everything, no cereal box or leaflet is left unread in my house!

I can't help myself, maybe it's the words I love, I love plays on words, I love phrases, expressions I love all things expressed through word!

When we read, we paint pictures with our minds we use our imagination, probably why no film ever compares to the book!

But what really annoys me are literature snobs! Those that look down their noses at the likeS of us that might read a trashy novel over a so called literary masterpiece.

Don't get me wrong I love the classics but not all of them! I will admit that I haven't read all that I am apparently supposed to have read but I'm also not one of those people that would pretend I had!

All books have worth, they mean something to the author and given the chance to read it, there will be someone who enjoys it.

I have heard people knock the Twilight series of books but I would personally like to thank Stephanie Meyer, thanks to her my severely dyslexic daughter is never without a book or 5! There was a time that my daughter was quite literally scared of reading, it caused her such distress then came 'Twilight' wonderful, wonderful Twilight, my daughter heard so much about it she wanted to read it so I bought it, she slowly read through it finding ways to manage the words, she loved it so I bought the next one and then the next and this made her want to read different books , she developed methods of coping with the words, she gained confidence and now she, like me is never without a book.

I choose books that I think I will enjoy, I have no specific genre that is 'my thing' I read the blurb, I read book reviews and if I like the sound of it I buy it, I don't use the library I don't download a book, I like the physical act of holding that fresh tome in my hands, opening the first page , I love the look, the feel and I love my walls being lined with books.

My favourite book, well that's a hard one, it just seems so unfair to choose a favourite, no one would ask you to choose your favourite child would they?
There are so many books that I love and for different reasons, I love Terry Pratchett books because I love his use of guess what...... words! I love The Time Travellers Wife, A Thousand Splendid Suns made me cry and will stay with me forever, Of mice and men stays in my memory as my children like me have had to read it for school, A redbird Christmas makes me happy, I love books that make me laugh, I'm partial to sci-fi and fantasy and I like biographies.

And in telling you all that I have avoided choosing my favourite because I just can't!

Can you tell me your favourite? Or what books mean to you? I'd love to know!

Silent Sunday

Friday 27 May 2011

That Friday feeling

When I was younger, so much younger than today, sorry can't help myself, seriously now when I was younger Friday meant the weekend! The weekend meant clubbing! More often than not on a Friday and Saturday night now Friday means "Thank God I haven't got to get up at 6 in the morning!" I'm just so Rock and Roll!

Seriously the thought of not having to get up fills me with joy you wouldn't believe! of course theses days a lie in is more like 8 o'clock or whatever time I hear that lovely cry of "Mummy I need you!" from my 2 year old but still anything is better than 6 !

But how to fill the weekend?

Lazily doing nothing? I'm quite good at this but then feel guilty for not having accomplished anything.

Doing all the things round the house that I never got round to during the week? Boring! Mundane! And then I feel guilty for not doing things with the kids!

Kids activities? Ok this is one that we should do but in all honesty this usually ends up stressful as not everyone agrees on what to do, one of them is always 'bored' , the little one gets tired and cranky and all I think about is getting home to that bottle of wine!


So what to do, suggestions on a postcard please?

Seriously though, how do you spend your weekends and more importantly what shall I do with mine?

Thursday 26 May 2011

The big weigh in

Well as you know as part of my 3F's challenge I joined WeightWatchers and tonight was the end of my first week. I must admit that I was a little dubious of the whole thing, I thought how can paying to join a group to lose weight possibly work? Surely if you're ready to lose weight you just eat less and exercise more, well yes you do but that hadn't been working for me so I thought what have I got to lose! Apart from the 20 quid a month it costs me! Well let me tell you what I lost was 4.5 lbs this week, I am so happy!

Whether it's the thought of not getting your money's worth or the competitive side of me I don't know but for this week at least, it worked!

I hope it's not just a fluke and it's the start of something more positive but only next weeks weigh-in will tell.

More news on the fabulous part of my challenge I have dyed my hair bright red and it looks good if I do say so myself, I always used to have it bright red ( Rihanna obviously copied my style!) And my daughter was dying the back of her hair bright red and I thought why not, so I went for it before I get too old and look like mutton dressed up as lamb ( I love sayings like that, please tell me yours! ) it really brings out the green in my eyes and it makes me happy so right now, today, all is right with the world!

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Wednesay

That's all I have right now hopefully there will be more later!

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Miserable me!

Do you ever have one of those days where you just feel utterly miserable, annoyed with everything and everyone?

I am having one of those days.

I feel all of the above and a little bit lost and I have no real explaination why, I have many theories as to why I might feel like this but no definite fix on any one thing, I guess we could just put if down to being 'One of those days' , you know the ones where you just feel a bit sorry for yourself and then all the little things accumulate and become one big thing!

Or is it just me that gets that way?

They say a problem shared is a problem halved, so if you're having an off day feel free to share maybe we can help each other.

On a serious note I am actually a trained counsellor so maybe if I can't help myself, I can help you.

Monday 23 May 2011

I don't like Mondays!

Mondays suck! They herald the start of early mornings for 5 days! The morning chaos of "MUM" I can't find, can you iron, where's my bag/shoes/p.e. Kit/ blazer? the only good thing about Monday is tomorrow is Tuesday then so on and so until the weekend.


As you can no doubt tell I had a bad morning, I actually have nothing personal against Monday's it the school morning madness I really have a problem with!

What about you? Is there a particular day of the week you don't like and why?

Saturday 21 May 2011

I'm still here! Are you?

Well I'm still here! As I'm sure are most of you!

The thing is there was this tiny part of me who actually did wonder what if? And what if all the good have been saved without much fuss and all of us here are up for 5 months of torment!
Are we all here? Has someone you know suddenly disappeared? Quite literally off the face of the Earth, No, Are you sure?

People have made money from all this, People set up businesses to care for the animals left behind most with a no refund policy and of course you had to pay up front!
Seriously this is the site you have to go read it for yourself


http://www.eternal-earthbound-pets.com/


I couldn't stop laughing but it's serious not a joke at all

There is always someone out there willing to exploit someones religion or gullibility or are they?

So what are your plans for the next 5 months?

Friday 20 May 2011

It's the end of The World as we know it

So apparently tomorrow is the rapture and then on October the 21st the world ends something to look forward to then!

When I did a search this is what I found




Judgment Day!
May 21, 2011

hourglass
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. Revelation 9:5

The End of the World
October 21, 2011



Not sure what I think about this apart from "Damn I do have to face my 40th Birthday then!"

Seriously though what do you all think? I mean The Bible is open to interpretation isn't it? but if the world is going to end I'd much rather it happen quickly than have 5 months of torment but then again I have suffered teenagers so what's 5 more months of  torment!

Thursday 19 May 2011

Same Challenge , different approach

So tonight in my continuing quest I decided to join weight watchers well technically I joined online yesterday,I did try and get some kind of sponsorship from weight watchers in return for reviewing them on my blog but alas and alack I didn't even get a response to my email! So I paid my £12.95 for my first month and then after that it's £19.99 a month and in return I get a membership card that entitles me to attend as many meetings as I want in a month and access to their online resources.

Tonight is my first meeting, I'm not quite sure what I was expecting before hand, images of Marjorie Dawes from Little Britain did spring to mind


But thankfully it was nothing like that! It was held at local school and by time I got there it was pretty packed , the weight loss industry is big money! I already knew that though we all crave to be thinner anyway I digress, I lined up to weigh in , was greeted by our lovely Leader Claire, nothing like Marjorie! and she herself is a weightwatchers success story having lost 5 stone and looks fab, then the part I dreaded the actual weigh-in! I weigh, not sure if I want to share this but a staggering 14st 7lb! I was given a personal record card which has some small achievable goals first of all which are losing 5% of your weight then 10% of your weight and then with your leader you choose your goal weight.

I was given my daily points total, and lots of literature and handy guides then Claire talked to us about this weeks topic, planning ahead, then we split into groups to discuss different scenarios that might hinder weight loss.

All in all a positive experience, so let's see if it pays off!

Wednesday 18 May 2011

I am creative therefore I create

I was thinking today , I do that sometimes, not often enough according to some people! But anyway I digress I was thinking about creativity and how some of us are and some of us aren't and how those of us who are creative in one way are often creative in many ways, make sense? Well hopefully it does.

Take me for example I love to write, one form of creativity but I also love to paint, knit, crochet, cook, make things, I generally like to create, I thought I might share a few of my creations with you, a bit of a show and tell if you will.

Well obviously I created this little cutie! but I created the cardigan she's wearing too!      




my daughters bedroom as lovingly painted by moi!


My sugar pot, see I just can't stop myself!


this is from my serious art days and one of my favourites

These are just a few, don't want to bore you just wanted to share a bit more of my crazy creativity

So I've shown you mine , now you show me yours! Ooh er Mrs!

Tell me if I'm on to something, are you creative in more than one way?

Tuesday 17 May 2011

When did life become so cheap!

One of the first things I heard when I turned the radio on this morning was that yet another 'child' has been stabbed in London, the radio used the word teenager , the word young man was used on another station but he was a child, I still call my 14 year old my child and that's what they, they are our children and instead of focusing on knife crime, black on black crime, gang crime or whatever title the media have decided to call it Today,we should be asking ourselves and our children why they seem to think that the way to solve an issue, prove themselves or their status or their gangs status is to take a life!

As a society we immediately start to place blame, we blame the parents, the environment, the lack of discipline, they weren't hugged enough, computer games glorify violence you name it and someone somewhere will blame it for the breakdown of values but what happened to personal responsibility? We need to figure out why our children and they are 'our children' they are the next generation of adults who will either choose to be a positive member of society or continue on the path of negative behaviour and attitude are choosing this life.

I live in one of these so called crime hotspots, I've worked in the education system and I can tell you that for the most part these children that have been labelled negatively when you speak to them one on one they are not bad kids, they have hopes they have aspirations but all too often they feel a little lost and unheard by those around them even by some of the do-gooders who think that by taking them horse riding or to the theatre they will turn themselves around, I think and this is a personal opinion that we need, especially in London to be asking questions of our children from a young age not all families work as a unit, not all parents care and nuture as much as they should but the one common place where we get our kids is school and the government should put some REAL funding into making sure that from as young as nursery age in a safe age appropriate way we talk about consequences, empathy, communication
and the value of life!


You may think I'm talking complete codswallop if so please tell me , I'm genuinely interested in your opinions.

Monday 16 May 2011

But what do I call it?

I made this yesterday, it's not quite what you'd call a terrine, it's not quite what you'd call meat loaf so if I tell you what's in it and how I made it can someone name it please?

I first made it 15 years ago and to I haven't made it for about 5 and quite randomly when I asked the kids what they would like for dinner my daughter said what about that thing you used to make with bacon and chicken and apricots so I made it , here it is!



And here's the recipe!

You'll need a 2lb loaf tin , no need to grease it .


Ingredients

Around 16 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
500g sausage meat
2 chicken breasts sliced to fit length and width of tin
250g soft dried apricots


This is so incredibly simple yet so incredibly tasty!

Heat the oven to 170

Line the loaf tin with bacon, including both ends of the tin, leaving the Bacon overhanging as it will be folded in across the top when finished.
Next fill with a layer of sausage meat, then slice your apricots and lay on top of the sausage meat, next layer on the sliced chicken breast, then another layer of the apricots and finally a layer of the remaining sausage meat, then simply fold the overhanging bacon across the top to cover the sausage meat completely

Now place the loaf tin in a roasting tin and fill the roasting tin with water up to about half up the loaf tin then just pop it in the oven for about an hour.

When you take it out of the oven drain off all the fat then turn out, if you wish to brown it a little more simply pop it under the grill or in a hot oven until brown.

Leave to settle for about 15 mins then slice and serve! We had ours with new potatoes and wilted spinach , delicious


Now all you lovely people have to do is make it, enjoy it and please name it for me!

Just a little break from the norm

Monday is usually the day I give you an update of my 3F's challenge and quite frankly at this the end of week 8 all I can think of are another 3F's that I can't repeat in polite company or yours for that matter!

In case you were curious this weeks weight loss in a big fat ZERO! Now I have questioned myself greatly about all of this, by this point I had hoped to have lost at least 16lb and be waxing lyrical about how fabulous I felt but instead I infact weigh slightly more than my start weight but hey if you're going to fail do it big, right! so in all my questioning and thinking I have come up with either I wasn't in the right place emotionally to do this( I'm a serious emotional eater, pick an emotion any emotion and I will eat my way throughout it!) or quite simply I love cooking and eating!

The thing is I started this challenge not only to get myself out of a post baby fashion rut that has lasted 2 years you know the one comfort over style but I had also forgotten how to apply make-up and use a hairbrush let's be honest half the time I don't even know where the hairbrush is! Paint a pretty picture don't I? But to do something about my future health before I turn 40 in August, there are many health implications connected with being over-weight and with a little one to take care of I wanted to be in the best condition I can be and of course the idea of turning 40 sends me into a state of panic and hysteria , I'm not coping very well with the idea of turning 40, you'd never guess would you?

So seeing how absolutely fabulous Jennifer Hudson looks I have decided to join weight watchers! The first meeting is Thursday so from now on my 3 F challenge update will be on Thursday evenings.


Wish me luck and if anyone out there has tried or is doing the weight watchers pro points then get in touch! I love to hear your experiences and maybe we can support each other!

Saturday 14 May 2011

Because I said I would!

So a little while ago I said I would write something everyday and I have realised that with a busy life thats not always as easy as it sounds, there are times like today when not only am I busy, I'm trying to get my lovely lot ready to go visit a dear dear friend, that makes us sound old so! scratch that , going to visit my BFF, too young? ok the fact of the matter is she is my best friend, my female soul mate, partner in crime and drinking partner! Better? I hope so!

So as I know it will be late when I return I am trying to get all the mundane tasks out of the way so I don't wake up to chaos in the morning, so I'm off now to eat good food, have a drink or 3 and a catch up.

Normal service will resume tomorrow if I can think of something interesting to write!