Clocks Back

September and October have flown by and we have arrived at half term; as usual we are tired, full of colds and ready for the break!

Our veg box provided us with veg for another winter stew yesterday.

I fried onion, carrot and beetroot until soft, added mushrooms, ready cooked puy lentils. (Gourmet Food variety), a tin of tomatoes,  slug of wine.

I flavoured it with paprika, sage and fennel seeds and served it with mash and cabbage.

The beetroot added sweetness and earthiness,  a perfect stew for a wet autumn day.

It was almost a vegetarian version of Boeuf Bourguignon.

Autumnal Mornings

This week has been beautifully warm; in fact it has been unseasonably warm. The dirty washing baskets are empty and there are baskets of dry washing waiting to go back in drawers and cupboards all over the house!

Autumn is my favourite season; cool misty mornings warming up to bright afternoon sunshine. This week I have been contemplating my first year at University. I was near the University on my way to work this week. I experienced a huge wave of nostalgia; as I got off the bus. Something about the weather; the new freshers jostling for space on the buses; took me back 27 years to my Fresher's Week.

I had already started making pies and crumbles - autumn puddings  -  a couple of weeks ago; when the weather was less warm. Our apple tree has provided us with the sweetest apples ever; our blackberries have been abundant. I was trying to calculate how many raspberries I have picked this year and I think it is probably well over 4 kilos. I have run out of jars for jams; no room in the freezer for anymore fruit or sorbet; so I made raspberry cordial.

It was a Good Housekeeping recipe - very simple; 400 g raspberries; 400g sugar 300 mls of water and a lemon. Boil and the simmer for 5 mins - strain through a sieve and you have a rich red cordial; which absolutely captured the fragrance of summer.


Our veg box has also started echoing the change of season. We had swede; and beetroot this week.  The children asked for stew - although it seemed an odd thing to be making during such  a hot week.  I was short of time; so I roasted the carrots; beetroot and swede; made a Hungarian goulash style tomato sauce. (Paprika and fennel for flavour) Topped the tomatoes with simple dumplings and fried up some curly Kale to go on the side. All that was lacking was some pickled cabbage or gherkins!

Our lovely cat is making herself at home - she has discovered lots of tiny spaces around our house that we didn't know existed. She is looking out of the windows longingly - I think she will enjoy being able to go outside in a week or two.

This is her in her favourite place   - the top of the wardrobe

Caturday!

At Easter this year the children started a concerted cat campaign.  Today that campaign ended in victory.

Sooty a black 2 year old cat joined our house!

We had an inspection by the RSPCA who deemed us a suitable home. They had warned us that she was shy and might retreat for a few days until she was used to her new surroundings.

We brought her home at lunchtime,  she was timid at first and seemed to be looking for a secluded spot.

She found it..the chimney!!!! She spent most of the afternoon and early evening sitting just up inside the chimney. A lot of soot and dust followed her down.

We managed to lose her twice this evening; black cats are invisible when they are under beds.

The girls were a little disappointed today as they were expecting the cat to settle and be purring on their laps by the end of the day.

I am sure she will bring a lot of joy!

Sorry for neglecting you!

Hello Blog, it has been a long time!

The holidays have flown past in a blur and I now find I am at the end of them and due back to work tomorrow.

I think the reason the blog has been neglected has been because I haven't had my laptop out much and so haven't written it.

I am thinking of some ideas for the start of a new school year!

1. Give up social media for a month
2. Start exercising some more
3. Read more
4. Write more


It has been a summer of wonderful weather and bounteous produce.

Rather than writing it all down - I think I'll put photos of some of the highlights!

Garden produce post our week away

Lots of loom band fun... Disney Princesses and Owls

Raspberry Jam

Plum chutney in its early stages

In the jars... quite a few hours later

Beautiful Scotland

Blackberry and Apple Pie

Another fantastic Crop of Raspberries

End of holiday treat - sadly I didn't make these!

Rainy Monday

The weather has welcomed us home and we have contented with Hurricane Bertha for the last two days and sadly it looks like it is with us for the rest of this week!

Children make their own entertainment on wet days; and my two and their friend who was here too; were very reluctant to go out today!

I listened to them playing schools; teenagers (the ultimate game for 6 year olds!) and make up parlours.

At one point my youngest was heard to shout; "my fingers are numb; I need a pencil" - she was loom banding!

I did persuade them to go outside for a short while to make up some hanging baskets and pots with me - I hope the slugs won't eat all the flowers.

My 10 YO wanted to do some science experiments with corn flour - this is the result!

At least corn flour mess is very easy to clean up; I discovered you can just sweep it...

Happy Holidays

Last week; we were in Anglesey with our friends; staying in a beautiful cottage in Aberffraw. Although we did have wi-fi; I didn't have my laptop and I find typing on a tablet very slow going.

I last went to Anglesey in 1991 with three friends from my course at University. It was a post exam trip; we stayed in a Youth Hostel and visited a National Trust Property - Plas Newydd; famous for its Whistler mural and fantastic views over the Menai Straits. We also went to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch and stood under the railway sign like hundreds of tourists before and since!

My only other experience of Anglesey was in about 1993; when I went to Ireland with a friend and we got the ferry from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire. My memories from that trip; were that we failed to find the fast North Wales Express way and nearly missed our ferry!

Anglesey is a place much loved by Mancunians; I hadn't quite appreciated how close it was! (It only took just over two hours to get there!) Every person I spoke to before we went had advice about what to do; best beaches; best wet weather activities!

I was looking forward to going to Stone Science; a museum of the geology of Anglesey; but we never had a day wet enough to do it!

The place we stayed was a 10 minute walk from the beach; great body boarding beach and it had a stream running from the village to the sea that was perfect for wading; swimming and kayaking.

I loved the view from the beach; the mountains on the Llyn Peninsula. (I am sure I could see the mountain we had camped at in 1981 when we did our first family trip to Wales) It was also possible to see the edge of Snowdonia from the village. I don't think we saw Snowdon the whole week we were there; it was always shrouded in cloud.

The children; my friend and I went for a hack along part of the Menai Straits; we had amazing views of Caernarfon.

It was a relaxing and enjoyable week; the coast paths were studded with fantastic flowers and lots of unusual butterflies. We found Neolithic Burial Chambers and churches only accessible at low tide. Castles that were almost in the sea.

On the day we left; we met some other friends in Caernarfon and looked back over at Anglesey; We could see the riding school. It was a great way to finish the holiday!

My memories of Caernarfon had been that it was a grey town with an imposing castle; I found old photos from my trip there in 1981; we had obviously been there on  a very rainy day and it does look grey and quite bleak. Thirty plus years later; on a sunshiny day it was glorious! It reminded me of the French City of La Rochelle. It was apparently based on Byzantine Castles.

I wonder what memories my children will have laid down during this holiday. I hope they remember some of the stories their Dad has told them about the history and legends of Wales. (I hope I remember them too!)

Beaumaris; nearly in the sea.

Aberffraw Beach

A random bit of Yarn Bombing near the neolithic tomb

End of a long week

Finally we have reached the end of what has seemed to be the slowest week ever! The children were disagreeing with me on that point. They have had a week full of activity; one playing her instrument all week; the other singing, dancing and acting.

The moments of joy in my week have been watching them both perform. Small girl sang her heart out; songs from Shrek the musical and The Lion King. Tall girl played quartets; orchestral pieces and sang and moved to the music too.

I have huge respect for the staff who run these summer holiday programmes. Fantastic organisation skills and brilliant at knowing how to get children to perform their best.

In other news; Tall girl has finally mastered the art of loom band charms. We have had a penguin and an owl made this week. I am hoping for one to attach to my keys which have been lost several times recently!

Sadly the weather has not been so fair as it was the last few weeks; but we still managed to squeeze in a picnic in the park yesterday after the performances.

I am now only in work for a few more days; and the children still have four and half weeks of the holidays left!

Lets hope the sun starts to shine again.

Penguin

Star the Owl

Sunny Holiday Days

I realised I haven't blogged anything for over a week. I think that is a sign of the general unraveling that went on in the last 10 days or so of the school term!

I managed to organise a night out; and then forget about it. (I didn't really forget - just thought it was a week later than I had actually arranged) Luckily someone texted me to check the details; and quite a few people had cancelled at the last minute - so that meant that a re-scheduling was a good option!

I also managed to send a group text round for another night I had organised with the wrong information on it about the venue we were meeting. Again disaster was averted in time; because of a chance conversation I had.


So the end of term was on Tuesday; and I have had two days off work in which to start winding up the ball of wall that had started to roll down the hill at quite a pace!

Last weekend started with torrential rainstorms and huge thunder storms; so we spent much of the day in doors; trying to do some tidying and sorting. For me a weekend at home; is a great excuse for getting my pinny on and my pans out!

Jam on Friday; Chutney on Sunday; and a couple of cakes thrown into the mix as well.

This week; we have had the most glorious weather. Hotter days than we have had for a very long time. Yesterday I was looking after two extra children for the day. We went to Lyme Park for a picnic. It felt like a return to the summers of my youth. I sat on the bank of a stream for about 2 hours; while the children paddled and climbed trees. They couldn't have been happier; I couldn't have been more relaxed!

My 6 YO wanted to go back to Afflecks Palace today; to buy a fairy dust necklace that she had spotted at half term. It was a hot day for being in the city; but we managed to visit a few shops and stock up on holiday clothes and books.

We have spent this evening having a lovely meal in a friend's garden. It was such a beautiful evening that we completely lost track of time. The girls were happily trampolining and playing with rabbits until 930!

Shame that I am back at work tomorrow; I am sure the girls will have a lovely time with their friends tomorrow!

Slow Sunday

After all the sunshine yesterday,  the evening was punctuated with heavy rain storms. Heavy summer rain is a different beast to the rain of other seasons. The pungency of the scent of wet dust; the amplification of the rain falling through open windows, the drop in temperature as the rain breaks the humidity.

It certainly felt a cooler day today.

Our day started slowly with us all catching up on much needed sleep. I had invited friends gor lunch, but was a bit horrified when I looked in the fridge to find how few ingredients there were.... lots of eggs though!

I managed to pull together another frittata, (with potatoes from a pot in the garden!) Melanzana Parmagiano, a cous cous salad and some polenta chips. (They were not a great success as they fell apart in the frying pan!

Our friends brought lots of lovely dips, crisps and bread, so it ended up being a very substantial meal!

My lovely 10 YO is getting more adventurous with her baking by the day and made a delicious blackcurrant and redcurrant almond cake.

Sunday swim for the small girl who seemed to be having a relapse today,  but said "swimming always makes me feel happy" I can relate to that!


I haven't got a picture of the cake,  just the blackcurrants and redcurrants.

Sunny Saturday

I haven't posted for a few days; Thursday was my daughter's end of year concert. An epic evening, which started at 7 and finished at 10. The children were in bed after 10:30 which resulted in a grumpy start to Friday morning.

The concert was fantastic; some amazing talent and showmanship.  Music is a great strength of the school.  A brilliant lead teacher and some fabulous peripatetic instrumental teachers too.

Friday was a welcome end to a long week and ended with drinks with the year 1 Mums. A surprisingly restrained evening for once!

Today, I have had one of my favourite days. It started with ballet (not me!) And a run. It was hot, but my route was shady.


Lunch was delicious and made from things in the cupboard.  Including some Turkish Flat breads, which turned out well!

My 10YO loves a book (actually mine) which is full of ideas of thing to do from children's books. Her plan for today was to make butter. She and I had a wee trip into the village to buy cream; stopping off on the way back to sample a new cafe in the park.

The butter was a triumph, as were the scones she made to spread the butter on. We made the butter by shaking the cream in a pot with a marble for 20 minutes. Great to see the transformation happening before your eyes.

Last week a friend was telling me about an interview question she had heard which was "When are you at your best?" I've been thinking about it a lot this week.

I decided that my answer was; I am at my best in the kitchen with music up loud creating food for friends and family. It can be baking a cake or making lunch; I am content and in the moment then.

Picnic Wednesday

A rare day off today; started with a gentle run by the river; the heavy rain yesterday had made everything lush and verdant.

I spent a bit of time on thankless, but somehow satisfying jobs.  (Emptying the dishwasher, sorting the washing- sadly the pairing sock fairy never visits our house!)

I had originally invited my friends and their babies to lunch; but then found out daughter number 1 had sports day in the local park. We changed our plans and decided to meet in the park for a picnic.  I pimped up the left over couscous from dinner yesterday to make a tabbouleh,  and then did a frittata. I think frittata has become my "go to" lunch recently.  It is  tasty and quicker than a Spanish Omelette.

The babies were delighful, 9 months is such a great age from a communication point of view, amazing to seem them shift their focus of attention when an adult looked up!

Daughter no 1's team was 3rd in the relay. The egg and spoom waa disappointing because someone stole her egg and slowed her down!

Lovely pizza for tea, and amazing fruit in the garden!

Dinner party Tuesday

Lovely evening with the amazing ceilidh committee!

I cooked a few favourites from Hugh F-W and Ottolenghi; my friends brought lovely salad; amazing bakewell and delicious chocolate.

Pimms to drink made it a perfect evening!

My beautiful wedding Anniversary Flowers

Swimming Monday

I missed my yoga class again this evening; a combination of being late home from work and wanting to be there to put the children to bed.

Instead I swam; 30 lengths of the local pool. Swimming is restorative; relaxing and helps me to sort my day while I do length after length.

I miss it when I don't go; but I have found it hard to squeeze in to my week recently.


We have always had a "five minute" play before baths; stories and bed as part of our winding down routine. The five minutes is very flexible; short if the children are tired or I am tired and irritable; longer if they seem to need it. Tonight they decided to make a bath bomb... in the bath room! A very blue bath bomb; some of which is now colouring the white bath mat a fetching shade.

The bath bomb had the desired effect and made beautiful patterns in the bath as it dissolved.

It is always lovely when they can work together on a project; Big girl was the scientist complete with goggles and gloves; small girl had goggles too!

I wasn't quite quick enough with the camera to get the full fizzing effect.

Tour de Yorkshire Weekend

Torrential downpours on Friday all day; I took the small girl to the library after school; while the big girl was at Orchestra. We were also stocking up on beer and wine for a night with my brother and sister-in-law in Leeds; we went to Carringtons first and then the library; small girl announced as we left Carringtons; I really like the beer shop! We clinked into the library with our purchases; hoping nobody would notice all the bottles!

Our journey across the Pennines was slow. (My brother had pre-warned us there was an accident); Google Maps suggested we should come off the M62 and travel via Halifax.  I suddenly was aware that I was driving down roads I had seen in a gritty TV drama; Happy Valley. Luckily no drug crazed psychopaths were following us down the windy roads.

It was our first glimpse of the efforts that local communities were going to for the Tour de Yorkshire; lots of bunting; yellow bikes to mark the route and local businesses celebrating in different ways.

My brother and Sister-in-law ordered take away Thai for us all. Early Wedding Anniversary Present for us.

The children were up early on Saturday morning; lots of excitement about being with their cousins. Somehow despite the early start we managed to miss the "Caravan" that precedes the Tour de France and throws out lots of freebies.

We waited about an hour before we started to see the first cars coming past; the French Gendarmes and all the British Police on motorbikes.

The weather completely took us by surprise; it had been cloudy and cool first thing; but by the time the bikes came past the sun was shining and the sky clear and blue.

It was great to see the crowds out supporting the event; the children needed some encouragement to keep them focused on the import of the occasion!

The rest of the morning was spent at the spectator hub; the children enjoyed the free inflatables; and there was decent coffee for the adults too.

We spent a very enjoyable afternoon with my brother and his family; the children having a great time with their cousins.

My brother threw together a Barbecue for tea and we made our way back over the M62; enjoying the superb views.

I then went out with some of the Mums from school; for a beautiful meal and cocktails.  A great end to the day!

Small girl has been poorly today; with the same virus her Dad had last week; a poorly child was the perfect excuse for watching day 2 of the Tour de Yorkshire.

The route today went through places we go frequently; amazing to see places that you regularly visit transformed by huge crowds of spectators.

Big girl was lovely to her poorly sister; and made some chocolate cakes for tea; completely unsupported. They were light and delicious. I think I have a baking rival! I definitely could not bake so well at the age of 10!

The waiting was a bit boring at first

First few cyclists coming through

Blue skies and a helicopter

Leeds City Library Bus was visiting the Spectator Hub - it doesn't get better than that!

Taco Thursday

My friend and her two children came round for tea tonight; I had a total timing failure and instead of getting home in good time to make the tea before I had to pick up my older daughter - I got home with 10 minutes to make dinner! Poor poor planning.

Luckily I pulled a dinner out of the bag; that has been a favourite for longer than I have been a vegetarian. My first job after graduating was in York; my now husband (then boyfriend) was vegetarian when we first moved in together and one of our first joint purchases was a vegetarian recipe book from Sainsbury's. Still probably one of our most used and well loved books.

In the book was a recipe called Mexican Tostadas - which is essentially a refried bean and salsa recipe.  It introduced me to borlotti beans - A king amongst beans - more tasty than the kidney bean and very good to mash.

The recipe is very easy; you fry onions and garlic until soft; add a teaspoon of cumin. coriander, and chilli,  and fry for a few minutes. Add drained  and rinsed tinned beans and some vegetarian stock to cover.  Simmer for a few minutes (or no minutes if you have none!) turn off the heat and mash the beans!  Perfect re-fried beans. I think the original recipe suggests mashing half the beans and leaving the rest whole -but I find a consistent texture goes down much better with children.

You make the simplest tomato sauce (fry garlic and add a tin of tomatoes and seasoning and boil)

Then pile the mixture in big taco shells with tons of cheese, and any other Mexican accoutrements you happen to have in your fridge - (Guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos etc)

I found out tonight that you can prepare this in about 15 minutes!  Great for those people like myself who are disorganised and trying to cram too many things into a day.

Good to have a Mexican Meal - to show support for my team drawn in the World Cup Sweepstake!

Fruity Tuesday

Another beautiful day today; most of which I spent inside a stuffy and hot building. Long light evenings do allow you to feel like you can claim back some of the day from "the toad work". (I've been reading A' Level poetry again)

I cleaned out our old Guinea Pig tonight; new hay and sawdust are great summery smells. The children were quizzing me today on the pets I had had when I was a child. Judging by the numbers and range that we had; I think my dad was trying to live the "Good Life" Suburban Dream. We had ducks; chickens; rabbits; guinea pigs (Lots of litters - that was what the girls were most interested in) hamsters; fish; gerbils and cats and a dog. We were fortunate to have an enormous garden; which meant sharing the garden with all these creatures was no hardship. I was particularly fond of the ducks; who had great personalities. Francis (who was of course a drake!) would chase you down the garden with his head down; but as soon as you looked round at him; he would pretend he was looking for worms in the soil.

My dad was (and is) an amazing gardener; we always had a garden full of raspberries; plums; and lots of vegetables. He grew amazing tomatoes in his green house; most of which he ate himself or turned into pickle! I wish I had developed my taste for freshly grown tomatoes much younger; I've only really been eating them for about 10 or 15 years.

I do not appear to have inherited my Dad's ability to grow - I love being in the garden; but I am not naturally green fingered. I don't think the Manchester Weather helps either - rain and slugs are great destroyers of produce. Having said that; soft fruits grow like mad in our garden; we have a raspberry forest; which has crept from one raised bed into all four of the beds we lovingly put in 12 years ago. (The original plant came from my Dad - so I think that is why it is so fecund) We also have a couple of 3 year old blackcurrants and redcurrants. They gave us a few pots of jam last year and some delicious cordial. I am picking as they ripen and putting them in the freezer until I have enough for a pot of jam.

We also had a very unexpected present from my lovely friend who stayed with us last week. I'm looking forward to drinking that!

Washing Monday

Today is a celebration of the small pleasures; hanging out the washing on a day full of promise. Mornings are not my strong point,  I always envied my old neighbour who would be out hanging her washing before I had showered. My lovely new neighbour shared her top tip... hang it out the evening before! I don't know why I'd never thought of that!

This morning I managed to fit in the washing before leaving for work.  I also managed to bring it in again before it started getting damp again.

The smell of sun dried washing is hard to beat! Luckily the uniforms are clean,  as pomegranate juice was smeared over dresses and t-shirts. The pomegranate is a sore point today as my OH threw most of it away, not realising that the seeds were the good bit!

Beautiful fragrant fruit thrown in the bin with the left overs..

Sunny soupy Sunday

It's been a busy few days; Friday was an evening in. Film night for the girls and for us. I watched Wayne's World for the first time. I am sure that must be on some list of a hundred films to watch before you die. I was slightly comforted to think that it would only take me two years to watch them all, if I watched one a week!

Yesterday was a party day. The little one went to a Frozen Party; then she and her Dad watched the film in the evening.  I went out with the older one and her friend to a 25 Wedding Anniversary Party (combined with 50th birthday party, 10th birthday party and a 21st birthday party) It was a really lovely event. The venue is a haven of tranquility in a buzzing part of the city.

Today I wrecked my day by having a lie in! I am sure the sleep did me good; but it got to lunchtime alarmingly quickly.

We had a "fridge soup". There wasn't much in the cupboards... alphabet pasta goes well in a Rustic Tuscan soup or Ruscan Soup.

My oldest and I had a wee bike ride; while the little one was at yet another party! It didn't seem sunny when we ventured out, but my face and neck tell a different story.

Tea was pie, a fake mince beef and onion. (Quorn) In fact it was almost a moussaka in a pie, once flavoured with red wine and aubergine. We had mini crumbles with the lovely rhubarb from my friend's allotment.

I am reading "How to be a woman" by Caitlin Moran. I am enjoying parts of it, but on a different level, I am finding it very challenging.  I hadn't realised quite how much of a prude I am!


Lovely late night visitor, most welcome as he loves slugs!

Thursday Curry Night

We tried a new restaurant tonight; it had been recommended by two different friends. We were advised to book; although actually we hadn't needed too.

It was fantastic food; delicious dosas and puri to start. The Puri were particularly fine; complex flavours including a pomegranate seed on top. The dosas were spicy; with delicious pickles to accompany them.

The restaurant is entirely vegetarian; so it made choosing a main course quite a challenge! You get so used to only having a couple of options on the menu; it is overwhelming to have so much choice.

We ended up with a tomato and paneer dish; with rich complex flavours and a vegetable dish; which was unlike anything I had ever eaten; a cashew butter was the base; it was sweet and warm.

It was still light when we left; the midsummer air was full of the scents of Lime and Philadelphus. Two of my favourite scents.

Sports Wednesday

My youngest had Sports Day today. Since last year; they have certainly developed their awareness of the competitive nature of Sports.

Some of the children were running like the wind! My daughter managed to run like the wind and collect her hat during each race; this extra obstacle didn't seem to prevent her team from coming first several times.

This year; the Sports Coach only wanted 9 parent volunteers; you couldn't hold them back! I had prepared myself for the event by wearing trainers and my sports bra; but I was not up off my feet quickly enough. I was relieved when I discovered that it was the sack race!  Hard enough when you are 6; but when you are a little older than 21; the sack race is a little harder.

Mouse vs Man Tuesday

We have had a mouse in our house for quite a few weeks; it has resisted the poison and traps we have put down for it.

It has knocked light bulbs down in the cupboard... we are wondering if it is a higher form of mouse.

We noticed that it had chewed through my youngest's book bag; I don't know if she had a stash of sweets in there.. (Knowing her - the answer is a yes!) Annoyingly it had also chewed her raincoat which was in the bag.

Tonight we noticed it had eaten the peanut butter out of the trap; without tripping the trap. We reloaded with chocolate spread; and it seems to have done the same again.

War has been declared and poison has been placed in its nest.

We'll see who wins this one!

Monumental Monday

I am a few days late with this post. On Monday; a friend was staying with me; as she was at a conference at the University on Tuesday.

I took the day off work; and we caught the tram into Manchester. We experienced the dizzying heights of Cloud 23 Bar for the first time.

It was a fantastic June day; the views from Cloud 23 were unbelievable. Pennines in one direction; Peaks in the other. The service was attentive; but not over the top. We didn't eat there; just had coffees. A few years ago another friend and I had had a hilarious conversation with two Octogenarians; who had been visiting Cloud 23 with a view to booking it for their WI. They were scandalized by the cost of the coffees; but more shocking to them was the lack of biscuit on the side!

After our vertiginous coffee we descended and soaked up some rays on the balcony at Dukes 92. Beautiful greek salad; with falafel (and thin chips) and a sneaky glass of white wine.

We were challenging our vestibular systems completely; as we then went to look round the newly re-opened central library! Round buildings also make you feel quite giddy.

It was a great day; we laughed a lot!

View from Dukes 92 Balcony

View from Cloud 23 Bar

Where we were!

Central Library

Midsummer Weekend

A beautiful sunny weekend,  and a Midsummer's day on a Saturday.  A great combination! We were very late home from our school ceilidh; but even at 1130 there was still some light in the sky. It was one of those evenings when the sky was a dark rich green.

The patio project has been progressing rapidly this weekend.  The slabs are covering nearly half the cleared space.  The cat next door but one is enjoying rolling in the dust and earth.

We had a beautiful sag paneer for tea tonight; followed by a microwave chocolate cake. It took five minutes to prepare,  7 to cook,  5 to cool and 2 to ice.

I was initially sceptical about the taste,  but actually it was delicious.  More of a pudding than a cake, but so light!!

Sunny Friday

Another beautiful day today. I had time before school pick up to wander into Didsbury to collect more raffle prizes and more loom bands. (I had sucked up quite a few in the hoover today!) I

It was a glorious afternoon; the children bounced out of school and handed all the possessions to me! That gave them hands free for ice creams on the way home.

My youngest is having her first sleep over - the excitement has been so intense that it has spilled over into tears and hysteria! They were both asleep by 10; having been to the park for a run around; watched Tangled ( for the umpteenth time) and had a midnight feast (at 9 pm)

While we were in the park; we saw the most amazing vapour trails making a perfect star shape!

And my tweet about Grand Designs was shown after the advert break on 47. That made my day!

Grand Designs Thursday

Not much telly watching goes on in our house; but we do love a bit of Grand Designs! In fact to be truthful it is almost the only thing my other half and I watch together.

Kevin McCloud is a hero, I love his quips to camera.

Tonight a man was building a castle from mud and straw. It was one of the most beautiful projects I have seen on Grand Designs. The house/castle was gaudiesque, the two sons helped with the build.  One of them sculpted a relief of a tree on the side of a wall.

There was something visceral about the way the layers of mud grew up to form walls. What joy it would bring you to look on a wall you had shaped by hand (and foot)

My creativity started and ended at the stove this evening.  I wanted to recreate the jambalaya recipe,  but hadn't the time to properly follow the recipe.

The meal I created was more of a spicy Mexican rice than a Jambalaya,  but the children and their friends ate it lustily.

Our neighbour told us his son had spotted the girls and their dad on Google Earth. We found them too; skipping down the road! It was a lovely photo of them on a sunny day!

Our car was photographed twice for Street View, in London and Manchester! Good way to confuse Google!

Rhubarb Wednesday

A lovely friend with an allotment gave me some rhubarb on Monday; huge fat sticks of it. We have a tiny clump in the garden; but it never does very well. We are usually lucky to get one small crumble.

My daughter had a friend for tea; so I thought I would make something with the rhubarb; but crumble didn't seem the right choice on such a hot day.

I did a quick "google" search of rhubarb and almond cakes; and then remembered a lovely plum muffin recipe I have.

The plum muffin recipe has some ground almonds in; so seemed ripe for adapting.

I love the pungent smell of freshly chopped rhubarb. (My daughter and her friend were not so keen!) I stewed it and then chucked it into the muffin mix.

It has made a lovely moist muffin with a pungent rhubarby kick!

The great thing is that I now have a huge box of stewed rhubarb in the freezer for a crumble on a wet day; or a fool on a foolish day!

Book Club Tuesday

Tonight I sat in my friend's garden, eating home grown strawberries, drinking home brewed beer, discussing many things. It doesn't get much better than that!

We did occasionally talk about the book; Americanah. None of us had finished it, that in itself was a good discussion point; beautiful descriptions, but maybe the narrative rate was too slow to engage us.

My friend lit her chimonea, we ate home made flapjack and compared notes about what the children were learning at school.  We shared holiday stories and planned escapes from the humdrum of life.


Next book, Mansfield Park, an escape in itself.

Arrived home to find my DH had saved the washing up and tidying up for me. Such a treat! I should save it for him when he goes out, instead of selfishly hogging the job to me self.

To be fair, we often do end up washing and tidying together. It is 30 minutes in our busy days to chat and catch up.

Singing Monday

Today our singing group met at my house for lots of wine beer crisps and strawberries and a little bit of singing.

My other half was out practicing with his band which is why the singers met here instead of at someone else's house.

The children were very good; the little one came down a couple of times to say hello and to tell me how much she was enjoying our singing!

We had a new recruit tonight - another bass to double our numbers of low voices! It made a huge difference to the sound we made. I hope we didn't annoy the neighbours too much.

My bites are numerous and very itchy; the antisan is working a little. I definitely think it is time to start investing in Avon "Skin so softly" - goodness knows what is in it that keeps off the mosquitoes!


The age of our singing group is reflected by this photo - everyone needed to borrow reading glasses!

Midgey Weekend

My Saturday started well, with my first run for weeks with my friend,  her son and the dog. It was a nice morning and the run did me good!

After lunch we set off to the peaks to a camping barn near Buxton. Great location but very remote!

We were meeting friends who were over from Germany for a month and four other families.

The children last met 3 years ago; so I wasn't sure how they would get on.

I needn't have worried.  A few shared activities  (loom bands, stained glass painting, origami) and bunks to climb on and they had instantly gelled!

They all slept well despite the uncovered sky lights!


The bunkbarn was fully catered and the food was amazing.

The only down side was that there were loads of midges and mosquitoes!!

I need to cover myself with Antisan before bed.


Here are a few views of the barn and from the barn.