Happy Hallowe’en!

Our pumpkin lantern

It’s no secret I love Hallowe’en! Always have!

Just because I’m an adult now doesn’t mean I can’t get dressed up and enjoy the spooktacular festivities. Actually, being a Mum means I have the perfect excuse to join in.

Tadpole and Choochie chose their own costumes this year. Tadpole is a scary surgeon and Choochie is a cute little pumpkin. I went with being The Corpse Bride. Just because.

Tadpole and Choochie, ready to go trick or treating

So, Hubby is out trick or treating with the kids, and I’m home answering the door to the young revelers when they knock.

We have a selection of sweet and non-food treats, and everyone who knocks can take one… Or they can be brave, take a challenge, and win two treats for their trouble. Most are opting for the chance of an extra treat. Teeheehee!

The challenges are all silly and easy, things like singing “I’m a Little Teapot”, or patting their heads and rubbing their tummies at the same time, or pretending to be a ballerina or a monkey, or telling a joke – funny little things to make them laugh.

The Corspe Bride, ready to greet all who dare knock!

Have a happy Hallowe’en, a spooktacular Samhain, and a fabulously festive end to October. And stay safe, everyone! If you’re trick or treating, stick with friends, and don’t go into anyone’s house, wear something reflective, and check all your treats before tucking in!

Have fun, guys!

Pick your own fruit…

Today I went to a pick your own fruit farm with Tadpole, my big sister, and one of my nieces

Despite feeling a little under the weather, it was lovely to get out in the sunshine and pick our own fruit. We filled our baskets with the sweetest most delicious strawberries and raspberries (and more than a few were eaten while picking, as those jewel-like beauties were just too hard to resist!), and got in a little exercise at the same time – all good!

Our resultant haul was a lot cheaper and far tastier than we would have got from any shop, and we had fun doing it too.

Definitely a worthwhile endeavour.

It’s worth mentioning, when we got there, the sign said the strawberries and raspberries were “extremely limited”. I have to say their idea of limited wildly differs from mine, as there were loads to be had and we didn’t even have to look very hard – they were right there and easy to find.

If you have a pick your own fruit farm nearby, I highly recommend going along and doing a little Body Magic while you bag yourself some delicious speed food!

Growing things…

So, we now have our allotment plot, but not much has happened to it yet! I have the plot, and I have a shed on it (as of Thursday!) with a nice, big padlock on the door, and some tools. I’m next on the list to get the rotavator, which will break up the earth nicely.

According to one of Hubby’s customers (who has an allotment that produces bumper crops), chicken manure is the way to go, so I’m looking into a supplier for that, so I can enrich the soil ready for planting. I know it’s a bit late in the season to plant much there just now, but I’m plan to get some winter vegetables planted, before getting down to a major, full-on planting schedule next spring.

In the meantime, however, I am not idle! My kitchen windowsill is beginning to look a bit like a mini allotment all its own!

At present, we have some cress (Tadpole loves to plant that stuff as he loves it in his sandwiches!), a tomato plant, two little pepper plants, and some garlic sprouting nicely. And as of about half an hour ago, we have planted pumpkin seeds, peas and golden courgette seeds (which were neon pink – I was so surprised when we opened the packet to see such a flash of colour!).

Our tall tomato and little sweet pepper plants

Ou sprouting garlic

Left to right: pumpkins, peas, and golden courgettes

I’m hoping my allotment will be entirely organic, as I like the idea of not having any nasty chemicals on our food. Of course, this means planting everything from seed to be 100% sure, so it’s going to take a lot of work and a steep learning curve – I’ve never been particularly green-fingered!

I have such wonderful plans in my head. I have to get them onto paper and then into practice, along with a timetable of when to plant and harvest the crops I want to grow.

I am so excited to get started!

Getting green-fingered…

My empty allotment, ready to start work!

I don’t have the best track record with plants, but I’ve long harboured the wish to grow my own organic fruit and vegetables. Till now, I haven’t had the room to fulfill that wish, but now I do – as of a couple of days ago, I have an allotment!

At the moment, it’s completely empty, but I have big plans.

Of course, there’ll be a shed – everyone needs a shed! But the rest of it, well… My plot is right at the edge, so one side doesn’t overlook any other plot, meaning I could have some fruit trees and not have them encroach on anyone’s light. So I plan to have several small fruit trees – perhaps apple, plum and cherry – along the outside edge. I might also have room for a blackcurrant and a gooseberry bush. Along the fence that abuts other plots, I plan to grow raspberry canes. And in guttering hanging from the shed, I will plant strawberries. That takes care of the fruit!

Tadpole with the allotment key!

The rest of the allotment will be divided up into various vegetable plots, where I plan to grow potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, squash, peas and beans, tomatoes, and all manner of wondrous things. Both the boys will have their own little plots for growing whatever they like too.

But that’s not all.

You see, I’ve been in touch with someone. A very special someone. Someone who keeps bees and needs a place to put a new hive. My allotment will be home to a new hive of bees! How wonderful is that?! I won’t have anything to do with the beekeeping – that will be left to the other person (and all the equipment is hers too) – but the bees will pollinate all the plants and I will get a few jars of honey out of it too.

So, it’s an empty bit of land at the moment, but it won’t be for long! It’ll take a while to get everything up and growing, but I’ll get there, and so will the lovely bees!

A new challenge…

The sign on my fridge, just to remind me!

My 52 things in 52 weeks list of challenges is going rather well: Fourteen challenges are now completed (not bad for under two months!), and some others are part way through (some of those will take all year, but some are half done already).

This week I decided it was time to try being vegetarian for a week. The first year I did these challenges (back n 2013), one of them was to be vegetarian one day every week for the year, which I did. I like a lot of vegetarian food anyway, so that wasn’t too difficult to do and I enjoyed it, but I have never consciously chosen only vegetarian foods for a longer period.

So, this week, starting today, no meat or fish will pass my lips (eggs and dairy produce is allowed – I’m not going vegan). I already almost had a slip up at lunch time while making Hubby a sandwich with leftover roast chicken – it was an automatic reaction to snaffle a teensy piece for myself, but I remembered with that tender morsel of chicken half way to my lips and I put it down. This was despite the notice I put up on the fridge last night to remind me! That’s going to be the challenge – remembering not to eat meat. Because I like meat. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I love meat, and I eat it most days as part of at least one meal each day. To go for a whole week – breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, and all snacks – meat free is going to take conscious effort.

Breakfast this morning: Natural Greek yoghurt with a drizzle of honey, passion fruit, and dragon fruit – look how colourful! And SO delicious!

Perhaps this will lead to me being more mindful as I eat and more discerning in my choices. It will also give me the motivation to try out some new recipes (another challenge on the list!). I have a wonderful Jamie Oliver recipe book that has some delicious looking meat-free meals gracing its pages, and I’m more than tempted by quite a few of them. It has already lead to my trying something new, and I hope to continue that too (another challenge to cross of the list soon!).

Who knows, if this goes well, perhaps next year I’ll try going vegetarian for a month. Then the next year I might be vegetarian for the whole year – one never knows where it could lead! I just have to make sure I still get enough protein as the week progresses. This could take some inventive thinking!

Recipe: Banana Bread

I often buy bananas, and they usually get eaten, but sometimes, just sometimes, we just don’t fancy eating them and they get a little bit over-ripe. There is however, a solution that does not involve throwing them out uneaten! Banana Bread!

It’s tasty, satisfying, and just a little bit indulgent without going overboard, it’s perfect for a snack or afternoon tea, or even for breakfast if you fancy it, and it’s easy to whip up in no time. This one’s actually a lot of fun to do with the kids, especially when you let them mash up the bananas.

Banana Bread
Makes 1 small loaf yielding 12 slices

Ingredients:

• 3 small bananas
• 40g honey
• 2 eggs
• 50g margerine/butter
• 200g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
• Mash the bananas till they’re all fluffy, then add the honey and eggs and mix well.
• Add the margerine/butter and mix well.
• Stir in the flour and mixed spice.
• Line or lightly grease a 1lb loaf tin and pour in the batter.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the banana loaf is golden and cooked through.
• Slice into 12 equal portions and keep in an air-tight container.

It’s easy to double up the quantities if you want to make a larger loaf, or more than one loaf or to partially adjust them to fit however many bananas you have left to use up.It has very little fat in it and if you need gluten free, just substitute an alternative flour and raising agent.

Go, quickly, go to your kitchen and grab those bananas – you could be enjoying a delicious slice in little over half an hour!

That said, it’s now 9.45pm and I have some in the oven right now, so we can have some for breakfast tomorrow. I can hardly wait!

 

(2015) 52 things in 52 weeks update

I won’t promise to do a monthly update, as life often gets in the way of such things, but here we are at the end of January and I find myself with a few minutes to spare, so I’ll do a quick round-up of how my challenges are going so far.

Surprisingly, I have now completed TEN of the 52 challenges:

2. Watch 5 films nominated for awards in the 87th Academy Awards
I’ve actually now watched seven films this year that have been nominated for various Oscars, and several of the films I watched last year have also been nominated for Academy Awards. You can check out all the films I’ve seen HERE (and there are sometimes links to reviews I’ve written if you click on them!)

4. Post predictions of Oscar winners
Click the link above to be taken to my predictions post.

8. Apply to be a giver for World Book Night (fourth year running!)
I actually applied at the tail end of last year as I didn’t want to risk being late, so I started the year with one challenge completed. A teensy bit of a cheat, perhaps, but for a good reason. I really hope to get chosen again as I love taking part in this!

9. Drink no alcohol for 4 weeks (28 / 28)
Not one drop of alcohol has passed my lips during the whole month of January. It wasn’t particularly difficult, as I’m not really a big drinker, but I do tend to have a few drinks over the course of the festive period, and I have occasionally been tempted to crack open one of the bottles left over from the end of last year!

32. Make a summer holidays bucket list
You can see my list for this summer HERE. It’ll be a work in progress, as I’m sure I’ll hear of various events being held locally nearer to the summer holidays.

35. Make a family photo book/album of last year’s (2014) pictures
My photo book arrived a couple of weeks ago and I love it! It’s sitting with the previous two on the shelf in the living room. If you’d like to make one, I highly recommend Vistaprint – it’s a very easy to use system and a very professional finish.

39. Not shout at my kids for 4 weeks straight (28 / 28)
This was perhaps the most challenging of my challenges. I’m not a partiularly angry person, but I do have a six year old son who likes to push the boundaries! Nevertheless, I have managed not to shout at my kids all month, and I intend to continue as long as possible, I have raised my voice to call out to them from another room or over some distance, but I have not raised my voice in anger. I may have lowered my voice and spoken slightly forcibly through gritted teeth once or twice, but I have not shouted, and of that I am incredibly proud. I have once or twice gone into another room (or even a cupboard) and given out a short, sharp scream to vent some frustrations, but never in the same room as my children. And it hasn’t gone un-noticed. Tadpole has commented on it several times and seems quite pleased. We’re also trying to work on how he vents and expresses himself, so hopefully we will soon have a harmonious and peaceful home where nobody shouts. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?

43. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 15 months (10 January)
We made it past this milestone and he’s still going strong. Honestly, Choochie is a total boob-monster! He no longer nurses at night, but wakes around 4.30am for a feed and a cuddle, then a couple of times through the day he climbs up on my knee for his Milkies, but mostly when he’s feeling tired and wants to nap. He does, however, usually stop before he falls asleep and will now go to bed while still awake and settle himself down. He’s also started sleeping a little bit longer (most of the time, anyway), which is making a huge difference to me and my quality of sleep!

48. Make / contribute three items for charity (3 / 3)
I’ve actually made about 40 items now! I’m taking part in the Be Aware, Make a Square charity drive to raise awareness and money for a meningitis charity. The squares will be made into various items which will be auctioned off.

52. Make a new list of 52 things in 52 weeks for 2016
I’ve already made my list! It won’t be posted until the end of the year, so I may well tweak it a little bit, but it’s got 52 challenges on it ready to go!

I also have quite a few challenges ongoing and partially completed:

1. Watch 52 films in 52 weeks (17 / 52)
5. Read 2 books each month (2 / 24)
18. Lose 14lbs (9 / 14)
27. Split all my coppers between Tadpole’s and Choochie’s piggy banks each month (1/12)
28. Save all £2 coins into the Xmas fund each month (1/12)
29. Save all silver up to the value of 20p into the Xmas fund each month (1/12)
30. Put aside £2 for each challenge completed into Xmas fund (£20/£104)
31. Save £10 per week (£50 / £520)
34. Visit family in Scotland
36. Take the kids to the library once a month (1 / 12)
41. Share a photo of my kids and me each month (1 / 12) (see the photos HERE)
44. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 18 months (10 April)
45. Write 12 letters (total, between them) to my various pen pals (3 / 12)
49. Make six gifts /Xmas decorations (3 / 6)
50. Release twelve new cross stitch charts (1 / 12)

And these ones will be started in February:

10. Eat no chocolate for 4 weeks (0 / 28)
11. Drink a green smoothie every day for 4 weeks (0 / 28)
16. Try out 6 recipes I’ve never tried before (0/6)
17. Try 6 foods I’ve never tried before (0 / 6)

So, quite a lot of progress made, and I’m well on my way towards fulfilling my list of challenges!

Of tea and Christmas spirit…

My beautiful Twinings Floral tea caddies, soon never to be filled again!

There are few things in life more comforting than the Great British Cuppa. Had bad news? Have a cup of tea. Feeling a bit blue? Have a cup of tea. Under the weather or worse for wear? Have a cup of tea. Friends come calling? Sit down with them and have a cup of tea and a chinwag.

Tea is marvelous – the elixir of life to those who love it – so when you find a tea you truly love, it’s a wonderous thing.

For me, that tea is the floral tea range by Twinings. My absolute favourite is the Blossom Earl Grey (Earl Grey with just a hint of orange blossom), but I also love their Rose Garden and Jasmin Earl Grey, and if I’m having trouble sleeping, their Lavender Earl Grey helps ease me into a sleeping state. In the cold weather, their Mulled Spice tea is quite the most luxuriously warming drink, redolent of traditional Christmases in front of the fire.

So imagine my dismay when I discovered Twinings are now discontinuing the entire range!

It came at a time when I had only a few teabags left of some of them, and none at all of others. When the response to my enquiry came through, I’m not ashamed to admit, I actually shed a couple of tears.

I then hurriedly asked if there were any left of my favourites, so that I could re-order, as two of the teas were not even showing on their website. The reply was that there is no more Lavender Earl Grey, but a box of each of the others is being sent to me, free of charge, as a gift, and my comments are being passed on to the development team.

I was quite blown away by their generosity!

I still went straight to the website and ordered £54-worth of the teas that were still listed – 440 teabags should keep me going for a little while at least. I shall eke them out and make them last as long as possible, as I will be very sad to see the last of them. IN the meantime, I shall enjoy every last drop, especially of the ones that are being gifted to me in a display of Christmas spirit not usually associated with large companies.

Twinings, I salute you and your customer care. I only hope you decide to change your minds about my beloved floral teas, and that by the time I’m running low again, you will be putting them back into production!

Our new home – phase three

It’s getting ever so close to moving day now, so here are a few more pics to keep you going till we get in and post the walk-around video…

The kitchen really started taking shape…

Then all the cabinets were up…

Then Tadpole had to check the cabinets were right…

Then the kickboardswere in place!

Towel and toiletry storage in the bathroom

And I had to scrub this filthy bath clean!

The Boys’ space-themed bedroom

And their Avengers-themed play room

Some of the books and toys are now unpacked and in place in the play room

The living room started looking livable…

Then the ssound system was wired in…

And I unpacked some of my books to make it more homey

The kitchen is now almost entirely done – only the back-splash to tile up with four more rows behind the cooker, the hood to go up, and then the fridge freezer to get moved into place and the table and chairs to set up. Just a few finishing touches to be made there. And check the look on Tadpole’s face as he helps Hubby measure up!

The bathroom now has a storage cabinet for towels and toiletries. I also had to scrub the bath (the picture shows it half done – I should have taken a photo before I started!)

The Boys’ bedroom is all but finished now – just the bedding to put on and the cupboard door to be transformed into the entrance of the T.A.R.D.I.S – that last part will be done further down the line.

The playroom is now finished and there are now some of the books and toys in place ready for the boys to play.

The living room only needs the flooring down now – the sound system is all wired in and we’re good to go. And yes, I already unpacked some of my books and put them on the shelves – a house isn’t a home till there are books on the shelves! There is also my new desk and chair to go in the left-hand alcove.

52 things in 52 weeks – August Update

OK, it’s been a while. A few months in fact. I’ve been keeping tabs on my challenge progress, but sometimes I just didn’t manage to find the time to make the monthly post about it, so here is one big catch-up to keep you up to date with where I’m up to on the challenges. Quite a few are now completed, which is great, and some are still in progress.

Here’s how things are going:

Food challenges (30 days each):
17. 30 days of green smoothies – July (20 / 30)
Again, I didn’t manage the full 30 days, but I had a smoothie most days and will still take part in the October challenge.

Other food challenges:
19. Take the kids blackberry picking
We got a large enough haul for a crumble, but not enough for jam as yet. I plan on grabbing some more blackberries over the next couple of weeks and hopefully we’ll get enough to make a small batch of jam at least!

Financial challenges:
23. Put £20 into Tadpole’s savings every month (£160 / £240)
24. Put £20 into Button’s savings every month (£160 / £240)
25. Split all my coppers between Tadpole’s and Button’s piggy banks each week (35/52)
26. Put £1 for each day of every month into savings (£243/ £365)
27. Put £1 for each challenge completed into the Xmas fund (£30 / £52)
28. Save all £2 coins into the Xmas fund each week (35/52)
29. Save all silver up to the value of 20p into the Xmas fund each week (35/52)
These all continue as usual. The totals are totting up nicely and our individual piggy banks are looking a bit healthier!

Entertainment challenges:
30. Read 52 books in 52 weeks (17/52)
Still not caught up to where I should be with this challenge, but as I have a 10 month old baby who never sleeps and clings to me like bindweed, I think I can be forgiven for not being able to find so many quiet moments alone to read. you can get links to all the reviews HERE.
33. Visit six local attractions (6 / 6)
We’ve now been to LOADS of places locally. You can see which ones on my list HERE.

Family-related challenges:
34. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 6 months (10 April)
35. Continue breastfeeding Choochie to the age of 9 months (10 July)
Another two milestones crossed off here, and Choochie continues to be a total boob moster. He’s coming up on 11 months now and it doesn’t look like he’ll change any time soon!
38. Share a photo of my kids and me each month (8 / 12)
I’ve been sharing them, some on here, but mostly on my Facebook page, where, granted, you’ll not be able to see them, but they’re being shared. Here are a few recent ones though!

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41. Take the kids to the library once a month (8 / 12)
We continue to make our monthly visits to the library. Tadpole loves stopping in to check out the books.

Personal challenges:
47.  Get a new job
Technically, I got my old job back, as I managed to secure a transfer to my local branch after my maternity leave ended. Unfortunately, I was then forced to quit because I wasn’t able to cover the shifts they wanted me to work due to childcare difficulties and the fact that they wanted me to work full days when I was only supposed to be part time. So, for the time being, I am being a Stay-At-Home-Mum, but I shall be looking for another job to see if I can find something that will fit in with our family needs.
49. Make twelve Xmas gifts /decorations (1 / 12)
I’ve now gathered craft pretties to make more Xmas gifts, so this section will shortly be completed as I get my crafting hat on and my fingers get busy!
50. Release twelve new cross stitch charts (12 / 12)
Completed! I’ve actually have another eight that will be released over the remainder of the year as well, so this one is well and truly smashed!
51. Post a monthly update (8 / 12)
OK, so I haven’t technically given monthly updates here, but I have made regular posts which have kept the blog up to date and everyone abreast of all kinds of goings-on, so I’m choosing to count those here and renewing my resolve to keep up monthly challenge updates from now on!