Silence Please

DD1 just managed a whole minute of silence for rememberence sunday.

DD2 was asleep, so was quiet too.

Hamster Dance

DD1s hamster - Nibbles - escaped. I went in to her room to feed him this morning, and obv after she'd come and woken us up at 7.30, he'd made a bid for freedom. The cage door had been opened (It's a wire job which has a clip. The hamster had leant against it and opened it up.) and there was no sign of him.

After much frantic searching of her room, we discovered him hiding out under the wardrobe. DD1 has a pine slated wardrobe with canvas cover, so thankfully he was easier to spot. After 45mins of pleading, he eventually moved out from under the wardrobe and was caught and placed back in his cage. We then put cable ties on the offending door and will be using the other access point from now on.

Friday night goes with a bang.

Well, TH and DD1 have just been to local rotary clubs firework display, at middle school in town. The bangs were a bit loud but the colours were very pretty, apparently. DD1s favourite were the green fireworks. (See piccies to choose your favourite!)

Yet more pickling.

Have been busy again, making a fig, apple and sultana chutney. With apples gathered off a tree on common land, and figs from our tree (!) The sultanas had to come from the local health food shop, but a 66% free chutney isn't bad scoring.

Winner!

Well, life is good here. Have just won the Green Parent draw and My taller half bought home the prize - a powabyke!- this morning after picking it up from local dealer.

Unfortunately, I was too small to mount said bike, even with the saddle down in its lowest position. At only 5ft 3 I did have a slight niggling feeling that it wouldn't be the perfect fit to be honest. Although dissapointed, I got TH to try it, and lo its fine for his 6ft 3 frame! So the universe gave me a bike, which will be used by someone else. I however, have a folding bike, which I aqquired from freecycle a while back, and laspsed from using while preggers (it also really needs a bit of love..) as I had no balance to speak off at all. Its now been dusted off and once we aqquire TH a helmet we'll be off on family bike rides. :D

Pickling a-go-go

Well its been a busy day here. Have been pickling all manner of items to give as tasty crimbo treats... The list so far

6 jars of pickled red cabbage (makes a great addition at christmas time and both sides of the family are saurkraut demons)
1 large jar pickled shallots, with chilli flakes (Pressie for Mum, who likes it hot)
1 large jar pickle beetroot (for in laws who are slightly more traditional in their tastes)
another large jar pickled beetroot.... for the buffet table on christmas eve. Its a tradition we have a help yourself going in the evening while everyone arrives at the house.
1 final large jar of pickled mini cucumbers, which were the last (rather megre) offerings from a friends plants. They didn't have time to mature and get to any size before the plant caught a chill.... they'll go down well christmas eve too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/cabbageredpickled_3409.shtml

Back!

After a long period of not being able to access my account - here I am. And then I find myself with nothing monumental to report. sigh.

Lavender's Scarce (Dilly Dilly..)

A plea went out on my local lets scheme from me for lavender to make lavender bags for elderly aunties christmas presents (this year it going to be a homespun yule!) but no-one has much to offer seems to been a bad flowering season for local lavender...

I'll be making the bags to this pattern - http://bp0.blogger.com/_fdnFINgKGRg/R4sXslS9jyI/AAAAAAAABoI/fxowthsYGC4/s1600-h/panty+card+template.jpg - with a few adjustments, as this is a card template. My aunties are all young at heart and I'm sure they'll see the fun in adding these to their smalls drawers....

The Great Outdoors

Well, what with that glowing orb in the sky over the weekend, we thought we'd venture out as DD2 wouldn't have a pool forming in her sling, or buggy (she's getting heavier now, and carrying is sadly getting painful, 'cos of the back injury.) - unless of course it was of her own making!

So off we adventured. 1st to Willen Lake, which is a very nice stroll, and home to the peace pagaoda, pictured right. Peacefull, apart form the call of an irrate goose, who had discovered someone fishing on her patch of bank.

After this we took a stroll round the lake, with a brief stop on DD2s part for 'refreshments' and then on to Willen Old Village... And the church. It seemed to be a day for religious structures..

Victoria Beckham has cut her hair

And the funny thing is the papers think I care, nay I am supposed to be interested.
I so love being the house popular culture forgot. Doesn't make for great light conversation at mums and tots though.

Well, the world hasn't ended.

So, we've re-created the big bang. And the world hasn't ended.
Treated myself to a coffee with DD2 while DD1 was at school today, and had a brief chat with owner/another customer (we're in there a lot, they do a lovely cappuccino, and an even lovelier apple slice!) and came to the conclusion we could very well be in an alternate reality, and there's only one small difference which no-one has discovered yet...

I'm hoping that its the fact the rain appears to have stopped, for the time being at least.

Love Your Leftovers

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/food/mealideas/leftovers/leftovers.htm

Parsnip & Chickpea Curry

Ingredients
Serves 4
2 medium parsnips 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced 200g chick peas, cooked 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed ½ inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated 1 fresh chilli, deseeded & chopped (or equivalent dried chillies) ½ teaspoon cumin seeds ½ teaspoon coriander seeds ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds 1 tin tomatoes, chopped Handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method
Heat a large pan with no oil. Add the cumin, coriander and fenugreek seeds and cook for about 2 minutes, until they start to "pop" and "jump". Remove from the heat and crush in a pestle & mortar or grinder.
Heat the oil in the pan and gently sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli until soft (about 10 minutes).
Add the ground seeds and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Scrub or peel and chop the parsnip into ½ inch cubes. Add to the pan and stir well to coat. Cover and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and chick peas, stir well. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, until the parsnip is tender.
Remove from the heat and stir in the coriander leaves.

School: the report.

DD1 had a great time, and drew the promised pictures, and also learnt how to spell the number seven and the number ten. She learnt a counting ryhme and then asked the teacher 'if letters are different from numbers, how do you spell a number?'...

Her 'special needs' seem to be being provided for, too - I'm glad she's being challenged, as we strive so much to keep her enquiring at home.

DD1s first day at school.. today!

Well, dropped my dd1 off for 9am (got there at 8.45 to help with settling in, and so she could find coat peg etc,etc) and by 9.01 I'd been told by my daughter, to leave. apparently she'd draw me a picture, I wasn't to worry - she'd make loads of friends - and that she'd see me and dd2 when we picked her up at 'half an eleven' (11.30am)

*sigh* its nice she fits in so easily, but it be nice to feel like she needs me.. occasionally!

Oh, Look, It's Raining...

Nasty weather all round today. Doesn't help DD1 is scared of thunder storms... we've been cuddled up for quite a bit of the day, as we've had flashes and bangs overhead...

At least there have been some interesting snails to spot, when we had to go out in the insessent rain to run an errand. Puddles are highly underrated too... gave me an excuse to wear my animal print wellies ;)

Maraschino Choc Truffle Cups.

Yum!
bases:
100-150g plain chocolate cake flavouring, melted.
filling:
142ml Double cream
100g bar plain chocolate
8-10 maraschino cherries
paper sweet/mini cupcake cases
piping bag, or plastic bag with corner cut

1
brush the inside of cases with chocolate cake covering
chill the cases for a bit, to make sure chocolate is firm
remove from fridge and peel off peper cases.
2
bring the cream to the boil
remove from heat & add plain chocolate
stir until chocolate dissolves, and wait for it to thicken, stirring every so often
when cooled, chill in fridge till firm enough to pipe
3
cut cherries into small pieces, pat dry with tea towel
keep single piece for every cup you've made, and scatter the rest at bottom of cups.
4
pipe from bag into chocolate cases, top with cherry peice.

will keep for 4 days in cool place.

Nana has landed..

To cuddle her 2nd grandaughter, and play with dd1, obviously.
She also turned up with some very cute frilly overpants for dd2s terries.. call me old fashioned but they look so cute under dresses!

Rain Rain..

Go away!
I comforted myself with the fact everything in the garden was being watered. That's now done. Then that DD1 liked playing in the puddles. Have exhausted that now. Then we had one glorious day of sunshine where we went for a long walk, raided local bramble bushes and came home tierd but happy. Having been *outside* and enjoyed *being out without rainmacks and wellies* and (shock horror) actually got to get a few jobs done, without feeling guilty about driving into town (something we've had to do recently, for fear of being caught in a downpour, DD1 getting soaked, DD2's buggy/sling becoming a swimming pool and both me and Taller Half (hence refered to as TH) resembling drowned rodentia.)

And then we wake up to torrential downpours... so long summer - yesterday was nice.

Charlie 2 boobs

Well, DD2 is living up to her nickname. She now weighs in at 10lbs 1 1/2 ozs. She weighed 8 1/2lbs when born 24 days ago...
Does my nappy look big in this?

The Search For Sensible Shoes...

*Sigh* did think on saturday my dd1 would have to go to and from school barefoot when she goes for the 1st time on Friday (5th sept). Have been searching for sensible (without a ridiculos heel, and without being a 'must have ballet pump style' - great for looking pretty, not so when wanting to walk to school, and having a daughter who likes to step in puddles, and would wreck these shoes within minute of putting them on.) school shoes, in the right size....

Now y'see the comment above should be easy enough to attain - you go into clarks, child is fitted, they tell you width fitting and you buy shoes which are (A) right size (B) right width. Ooooh no, this is not the case. You go into clarks, and are told your daughter (who when last fitted for shoes was a 'D' width fitting) is a 'G' and that she takes a 9 1/2. Tried a 'G' on, and you could have got both her feet in one shoe. Which although would have possibly saved on expense, but I doubt they'd only sell you one shoe at a time.

Eventually went to our local john lewis this evening, wide eyed and desparate, had her properly fitted, and atttained a pair of sensible mary janes in black leather (with leather insole, for breathablity) in a 9 1/2 'E' - so although they got the size right, god only knows what the shop assistant in clarks was mesuring when she got the width, its sure wasn't dd1s feet!

Tab Tops For Dummies

Link for making tab top cutains. Super simple, and saves a large ammount compared to shop bought, especially if you can find a remnant on ebay big enough for your window.

http://alternative-windows.co.uk/tabtop-curtains.htm

Starting School

DD1 is 4 1/2, and will be starting school in september (5th to be precise) - it now seems much closer. A friend of ours turned up with some prefectly servicable 2nd hand uniform (her daughter, 2 years older, had outgrown) and we're going to try and find school shoes (in a size 9 1/2 D width fitting - that'll be fun, nad a whole other post) tomorrow. Waited until we knew she'd got hopefully all of her growing in, so we didn't get to the day before she starts and realise they were now too small. Thankfull for that as when we started the holidays she was a size 9.

DD1 also seems very comftable with the idea of going to school, and has friends she knows who'll be in class with her.... all in all looks like we're in for a smooth transition. However, it does now seem to be getting very close. And you just cant help but feeling your 'baby' is all grown up!

Zero Waste

A friend of mine has recently launched a website for zero waste - http://myzerowaste.com - which is a highly inspiring tale of liveing without waste, and trying to reduce impact where ever possible by limiting the rubbish you produce. There's also a pledge section, where you can take a number of promises, to reduce your waste and to encourage recycling among family and friends.

One of the pledges (there were 4 I didn't already do) I took was to take a container to the butchers instead of using the wrap and plastic bags they give out. I went, container in hand to acquire some chuck steak for our slow cooker. having passed my container across, and having a bit of an odd look from the butcher, I proceeded to put my re-useable contain in my reuseable bag. Then I made an observation....

The people in the q were all giving me a *funny look* - but the majority of them had re-useable bags.... surely a reusable container is just a natural progression from a re-useable bag? I mean, I han't used one before, until pledging to do this as a method of reduing our waste, but I'd toyed with the idea, but just never remembered to take container to the butcher when going. It was the fact I'd promised which was the push I needed to make myself put it in the bag the night before, a foolproof method when trying to herd 2 children in the morning - I'd even written it on our notice board.

I suppose the question I'm posing is - is it such a progression to have a reusable container? And where do *normal* folks draw the line at being eco? If my container seemed a bit 'weird' to the others in the q, is that because reusable bags are now the norm, which is good, or are they viewed more as a fashion accessory?

Cheesecake....

Ingredients
2 package cheam cheese,softened (8oz)1/2 cup sugar1/2 tsp vanilla2 eggs1 graham-cracker crust,9Directions
Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with electricmixer until well-blended. Pour into crust. Bake at 350'F. for 40minutes, or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours orovernight, Makes 8 servings.NOTE: You can also use lighter Neufchatel-type cheese.Variations: For chocolate, melt four squares of semi-sweet bakingchocolate; add after eggs and mix until blended. For candy version,sprinkle 1 cup of chopped candy bars on top of cake before baking. Forpumpkin, add 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamonand a dash each of nutmeg and cloves in the first step. Then add eggsand proceed as directed.
Servings: 8 servings

The wonderful world of flapjacks...

http://www.flapjackrecipe.com/

Does what it says in the URL.
A wealth of recipes for making something easy with the kids.

GP Lets, Q&A

GP LETS – Q&A:
So, what is a lets scheme?
LETS (local exchange trading schemes) are all about exchanging goods and services without the need for cash.
Ok, now you’ve lost me.. how do you pay for stuff then?
Right, you trade using wooden dollars. This means you can buy and sell without having to swap, as such. The way this works is someone keeps a spreadsheet, and every time you trade, you let the person with this spreadsheet know (that’d be me)
- who the trade is going to (credit) , including their member number
- where the trade is coming from (debit), including their member number
- how many ‘greenies’ the trade is for (you agree this with person you’re trading with, via PM or email)
- what the trade is for (describe what you’ve received in return for your ‘greenies’)
I think I’ve got it now… I talk to who I’m trading with, agree a price and then let you know about the transaction?
Yep, that’s it.
Ok, bear with me… what about my ‘account’?
Right, it’s all kept on spreadsheet, and I’ll let everyone know balances via PM once a quarter (three months), more if you request a balance via PM. Don’t worry about going into commitment, as no-one will be asking you to pay it back! You get 10 ‘Greenies’ at the start, so you don’t need to feel like you’ve got to have someone buy something before you can trade – this’d mean everyone waiting till they had greenies, so it just gets the whole thing started.
Think I’ve got the hang of it now.
Good, lets just recap a few of the biggest points I’ve talked about above, plus a few other bits which might help get your head round it.
- The currency is called a ‘greenie’
- To help when sorting out how much to trade, 1Greenie=1Pound
- You need to inc your membership number, the person your trading with number and amount of greenies and description when you email a trade to me.
- You sort out paying any cash for postage etc, or for raw materials, and do this outside of the main scheme. Pay pal or cheque/po is probably best way to sort this.
- All members get 10 greenies to start with, so you have something to trade in straight away.

Hope that’s covered everything, more questions, add comment below.

The new natural collection 'Community'

Natural collection now have a series of community pages, accessed via their main website www.naturalcollection.com - recipes look very interesting, think we might be trying the vegtable tangine next week.

Wooly Bugs..

We've just come into the recipt of two cute and cuddly ladybirds, one just the right size for DD1 and one perfect for DD2. A very kind friend of ours made them, after my confession I can't knit for toffee! Thanks.

Slow Cooker recipes link:

http://www.momswhothink.com/crock-pot-recipes/crock-pot-recipes-for-the-crockpot-and-slow-cooker.html

RECIPE: Parmesan and Poppy Seed Twists.

375g puff pastry
1 med egg, beaten
1-2 table spoons grated parmesan
1/2-1 table spoon pooppy seeds
(You also need a baking tray, lined with parchement)

Set oven to hot/gas mark 7/220oC
Unroll Pastry and trim off edges. Cut in half width ways, brush egg over one half of pastry, and sprinkle with about 1/2 the poppy seeds and parmesan.
Place other half of pastry on top, and roll out a bit.
Brush egg glaze over the top of this layer, and sprinkle remaining cheese and poppy seeds on it.
Cut into strips, and twist, lay on baking tray and chill for about 10 mins or until firm.
Place in oven, and bake for 15-20mins. Best served hot.

GP Lets... Again

Well, its all go here! Have started a 'sign up' on the forum, and have had a good response - with offers ranging from jam to rune readings with tie-dye and basketry inbetween. It's lovely to see what a varied skill set these women have, and puts pay to the idea that all sahm do is drink tea/coffee (delete as appropriate) and watch daytime TV! We also make baskets and cards thankyou... :-D

Dummies for breastfed babies prevent cot death?

Had DD2s health visitor come over today, for our 1st visit, adn she gave me all the usual paperwork about breastfeeding, weaning and sleeping. She also happened to mention that it was now 'reccomended' that any breastfed baby over 4weeks had a dummy when being put to bed, as it was researched and showed it reduced the risk of cot death... I told her DD2 wasn't having a dummy, and after she'd gone decided to do a little more research in regard to this dummy reccomendation...
I've come up with this links:
http://www.babyexpert.com/Baby/Can-a-dummy-prevent-cot-death%5E/v1


Comments appriciated on this one, as I'm finding it very hard to swallow (excuse the pun), and would love to read research papers which claim this to be the case.

GP Lets...

So It looks like I've stuck my hand up to be 'group co-ordinator' for a completely internet based lets scheme. Yikes, with that and a 2 week old baby, a duaghter due to start school at start of next month and WEN/Local Lets comitments - will I have any spare time, whatsoever?

Well, I suppose I should explain Lets a bit, for all reading who might not have come accross it. LETS (Local Exchange Trading Schemes) are a way of exchanging goods and serivces without any cash trading hands. Think along the same lines as freecycle, but with wooden dollars being *paid* for items which are no longer req by whoever's offering. You then send a record of the transaction via email (or using paper cheques, as our local scheme do too) and this is kept in the 'accounts' so that everyone knows a balance. It doesn't matter if you go into commitment, as this isn't like a real account, it just means the co-ordinator etc have a way of seeing what trading is going on, and what in.

All members have a membership number, and to report a 'trade' you email with:
your name and membership number
ammount of LETS agreed for trade
person they're going to, and their number
description of the trade

example:
Anne, member 10
5 LETS
Bob, member 2
Gutter Clearance

Hope that made a bit more sense to everyone!

Now back to GP forums lets scheme...
This would be entirely internet based, and transactions would only be sent by email. This'd be an interesting experiment, as although our local scheme has an egroup, through yahoo, and does a lot of reporting of trading online, I'd like to see how e-communication only would work for exchange. I would guess you'd email, or PM, with what you'd like, and then sort out delivery of the item (prob by post, if its a *real* item, or by email, if its something that has been requested be typed up, or a sewing pattern/knitting instructions etc).

Naming Day

Todays the day I register DD2 birth... I can't help but find myself wondering...
'Does she *look* like a Charlotte?'

I've got 'blogged up'

After ages playing with the idea of getting myself a blog.. I've bitten the bullet and pushed aside my 'worries' - will I have enough time, can I come up with anything meaningful, will I be able to post enough to make this interesting, who'll want to read my 'soap-boxing'? - so here I am. With a blog. Watch this space, will be posting up soon with various bits and pieces that I have ideas/views about, or things that just matter to me.