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!