Moving house

We have decided to move house. Or rather, I have decided to move house and the rest of the family are going along with it.
The New House is still a 3 bed with enclosed front and back gardens...but on a much smaller scale. The gardens are both concrete and pebble affirs, so very low maintenance. I ma already perusnig the seed catalogs and planning my container veg plot - peas, tomatos, beetroot, aubergines, garlic and potatos wil be planted in due course - and I am sure the list will grow!

August Bank Holiday washout

Had a nice bank holiday morning out in Larne - despite the torrential rain!! We had a nice lie in because Grace had stayed in mums, then picked her up and went to pick up a wee sofa bed for Corey's bedroom. We got it in the charity shop for £30. Then Grace and I went to our favourite exotic pet shop next door so she could see the snakes. I like going in there mid week because it's always nice and quiet, so the animals are much more chilled out. There were no mammals this time, but we did see a small rattlesnake that rattled his tail a lot at us. Grace liked him a lot, and was not too impressed when I told her he was not coming home with us! We also saw some nice lizards, including a very cute baby bosc monitor and some funny little bearded dragons who ran up to the glass and did better "Let me out!" puppy dog eyes than most dogs could! We bought some wax worms as a treat for our own geckos, and then treated ourselves to brunch in a little cafe across the street. Sadly, it was home time all too soon because I had to go to work.

Seeing as it was a bank holiday, I decided to take a half day and surprise the family. I arrived home at 6.30pm - just in time to share in a yummy steak pie with spicy wedges for tea :)

After that I got into my jammies and had fun playing with my new toy. I bought myself a heat gun and some embossing powders from Ebay. I got a good bargain - the heat gun, an embossing ink pad, 3 tubs of powder and 9 farmyard stamps for £9 including postage. A similar lot I was outbid on a week earlier went for a whopping £35!!!!! I had loads of fun experimenting with the different powders and I think it is going to be a very worthwhile investment, especially for my Christmas cards. I got them all out and had a look at them last night. They look good, I have decorated each envelope to match the card, and packaged them in cellophane bags. I am waiting on some little stickers with my name and email address on them, I'm going to seal each bag with one just to give them a nice professional finish.
Wish I could go home early tonight too, but I am working on the reception desk so I am stuck until closing time :(

Live at the Castle

What a weekend!!

Friday night we packed up our raincoats and folding chairs and headed into Carrick on the train. We arrived just just in time to see Imelda May's set. It was well worth seeing, she was really good.

Next on stage was Paul Carrick, of Mike and the Mechanics fame. His set was good too, but soon it was time for the main event of the night - Jools Holland and his Rythm and Blues Orchestra!

They were absolutely brilliant, despite the fact that it was utterly freezing! He has a few special guests with him, but it was Ruby Turner who really stole the show - even Aaron was very impressed.

Saturday night was far less refined!! It kicked off with an excellent set by Tin Lizzy - a brilliant Thin Lizzy tribute band who are even endorsed by Philomena, Phil Lynott's mother. They were the hilight of the weekend for Aaron, but I decided it was time to relax with a pint of cider.

I had good reason to conserve mysef. The long-awaited moment was fast approaching - Hayseed Dixie were due on next. Aaron and I managed to muscle ourselves into the third row from the front of the stage, so we had a perfect view.

They did all my favourtie songs, including Walk This Way, Fat Bottomed girls and I'm Keeping Your Poop In A Jar - I think I was the only one who knew the words and sang along to that one!!

After that, the cider started to kick in. Except for me, I only had the one hahahaha. And looking back at the pics from when Status Quo finally hit the stage, I'm glad!!

Frugal food

Here it is, the fruits of all my labour earlier in the week.

Firstly, here is the butter we churned.

We made enough to fill 2 ramekins this size, that's enough to do us about 2 weeks - or it would have been if our parents hadn't demanded samples!!

I also spent about 3 hours shelling peas. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, as I sat in front of the TV and watched a movie.

I think it was worth it though - a full collander of fresh peas for only 70p :)

Family time

Me, Owen, Megan and Grace had a fab morning out yesterday. We went to Slemish Market Garden at the Ecos centre in Ballymena. We had a lovely time looking around the working garden, which is completely organic, and came home with 2 big bags of organic veg for just under £6.
We headed on up the road to the Ecos centre as none of us had ever been there before. It was fabulous!! They had enormous sculptures of insects that we could clamber about on, grace especially liked the big snail. Then there was a play park, with swings and a slide. Next stop was reception where we were able to buy a bag (or two!) of bird seed. We made our way to the lake, where we fed the ducks from a lovely sloping pebble beach. It was great being able to get right up to the edge of the water with no fear of Grace falling in! There were stacks of pigeons as well as ducks. Grace and I put seed on our hands, then sat very still - and the pigeons came right up and pecked the food from our hands!
After we said goodbye to the ducks, we found a large sand pit that had 2 or 3 ride-on tractors and diggers in it. We didn't stay there long, Grace is still too little to pedal and mummy isn't fit enough to push the tractor for more than a couple of laps. Outside the sandpit, Owen found a great big sculpture made from different size tyres. Grace said it looked like a snail shell. There was also an outdoor room that had a picnic area. There were walls on 2 sides of it, but no roof. The walls were decorated with lovely ceramic mosaics made by a local primary school.
Lastly we found a zip line ride. Me and Owen both had fun riding it, and we held Grace on and ran with her so she could have a turn too. Megan didn't have a go - flip flops and short skirts aren't exactly appropriate attire!!
Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore the many nature walks and the island, or the actual Ecos centre itself- we had to get Megs to her youth work in Belfast. But we are definitely going to go back - and next time it will for a full day including a picnic!!
After we got home and had dinner, we went to Pesky Tescys. I picked up 7 packs of peas for just 10 pence each, and 4 small tubs of whipping cream for 25p each. The peas were duly podded and blanched, and are now in the deep freeze. The cream was decanted into 3 jam jars and shaken hard by me, Owen and Corey until we had churned our own butter from it. We drained off the buttermilk, washed the butter under cold water and then refrigerated it. This morning we all tried it on our toast and it was really really good!! It was also special because it was our first activity as a proper family. As of last night, Corey officially lives with us :)

Making Christmas 2009

Firstly, welcome back to my blog. I have been somewhat neglectful of late. Ho hum. But I'm back now.
Preparations for Christmas are officially in full swing. No, this isn't an old post from last year, and I have not lost my marbles either. I have started Making Christmas. The craft fair is early this year, 22nd November, so I don't actually have much time to get stuff ready. It's a serious business this year - I have even re-arranged the furniture in the living room and kitchen to give me a much bigger crafting area with a lot more storage.
I have been making a lot of cards. They are mostly Christmas cards, but have made a few others, like birthday cards and thankyou cards so I don't get bored doing the same thing all the time. I have definitely rediscovered my crafty mojo - it deserted me for a while. My new "thing" is stamping - which works in rather nicely with the card making. I'm really enjoying experimenting with the different inks, and layering the cards, and colouring the images...I'm bidding on a heat gun with embossing powders on eBay , currently winning the lot for just £6!! Really hope I get it, I'm dying to try heat embossing. I saw it on one of the shopping channels ages ago and have wanted to try it ever since.
I've been looking at other crafty pursuits I can indulge in all in the name of Christmas. I think a lot of family and friends will be getting home made or semi-home made gifts this year. I'm planning on trying some mini Christmas cakes for the craft fair, pyjama cases for Grace and Joshua, fruity vodkas for assorted male cousins, girls night in baskets for the females and various other hand made sweets and treats, as well as flavoured oils and vinegars. I'm also making Grace a recycled art kit.

Not blogged for a long time

Just seems like when I've had something to say I've had no time, and when I have had the time I have nothing to say.
There has been progress in the employment department. We now officially have taxi insurance on the car and it has been wired up for the sign, radio and meter. The fire extinguisher is installed and the local mechanic is booking his fortnight in Torremolinos since we had the work done to bring it up to scratch. Now all we are waiting for is a date for the PSV test - then my beloved will finally realise his dream of having his very own taxi. I really REALLY want this to work out for him; he has wanted it for such a long time.
On the home front, DeeDee laid her second clutch of eggs about a week ago. They are cooking away in the incubator and hopefully will hatch around mid-June. The first two are looking very bad though. I don't think they are fertile, but I have left them in the incubator for now just in case. I think it may be too humid in there so am going to have a look at it tonight and try to sort it out.
The vivarium build/conversion project is progressing slowly. The shelves have been secured and sealed with silicon aquarium sealant. I'm hoping to get the chance to play with my dremel on Monday to tidy up the back - the screws were longer than the depth of the backboard so the ends are sticking out. After that I need to drill the holes for the vents before I take the lot to the glaziers to get runners and doors fitted. Unfortunately I can't get it glazed until hinself is working, so I will have to busy myself with making bits and pieces like hides until then.

Credit crunched

Looks like the credit crunch has finally caught up with us. Poor Owen got paid off from his job on Friday afternoon. It was just a case of the shop not making enough money, so they couldn't afford to pay him any more. It did come as a bit of a shock at first but we have been in worse positions financially and survived, I'm sure was can do the same again. So we've drawn up an action plan to cut our expenditure. Come Monday morning the Sky package will be cut to the minimum, Setanta sport will be cancelled, the phone will be on incoming calls only and we'll be shopping in Lidl and reduced to clear for our food. It doesn't help that the fuel pump in the car went on Friday morning and is costing £200+ to replace. Nor am I looking forward to telling Jenny the childminder. Grace just loves going there, and Jenny and her family are so lovely. I think I'm more upset about that than about Owen losing his job!!
I'm also planning to get the veg planted in the garden so we can supplement our diet with those later in the summer, and am going to get some "stuff" on eBay so I can fund the rest of the vivarium building without dipping into our day to day household money.
Am off to lurk Down the Lane now and get some frugal tips and motivation!!

Eggs eggs eggs!!!

Yesterday morning I followed my normal routine. Grace and I had a wee play then got up, watched some kids tv, had cereal and toast and a nice cup of coffee for me. Grace ended up wearing more coco pops than she ate and I had no hot water, so I rang mum and arranged to take her round there for a bath. I was going to my boss's leaving lunch and had just washed my hair so I rushed round getting it dried, letting the dog out, checking on the geckos. And I found this.....
I was so shocked and so excited! But then I started to panic a bit. I had all the bits for the incubator but it was not built and I didn't have a thermostat to control the temperature. So I very, VERY nervously lifted them into a box of damp vermiculite, packed the box into a bigger box with loads of styrofoam peanuts and seatbelted it onto the front seat of the car. I bundled Grace into her car seat and raced her round to mums for her bath. I then rushed to the pet shop in Carrick to see if he could incubate for me - he had no incubator!! On the pet shop man's advice I got a matstat to complete the incubator and raced back to the house to get it built. I built the incubator in 3 minutes flat then tore round to mums ans stashed the eggs in her airing cupboard to keep them warm.
I was running so late that I had to get mum to drop Grace to the child minder. I made it to work to pick up the girls just in time. We had a nice lunch out then I took the rest of the day off to come home and sort out the incubator.
It has taken most of today but I managed to get the temps to settle between 81f and 88f. They are still plump and a good colour, so hopefully they will turn out to be fertile and hatch soon

Has it really been a year...?

Yesterday mum, Grace and I went to the graveyard to put flowers on my grandparents grave. We couldn't quite believe it has been a whole year since Granny Ross died, it has really flown by.
It was a nice enough day, not sunny but it was calm and the view across Larne Lough was lovely. Grace enjoyed the trip, she carried a pot plant and put it on the grave all by herself. It was a nice trip, good to see the new headstone in place and the grave looking so neat now we've had the stones replaced and the surround cleaned. For anyone visiting from Down the Lane, please note that the conifer is tiny and in a pot!!

Not blogging much....

I've been very lazy about my blogging this month. This is mainly due to being off work with a dodgy disc in my lower spine - I find I can write better in work at a proper PC than I do at home on my laptop. Also the office I work int he majority of the time is in a nice quiet part of the building and mostly of all there is no trace of children's television!!!!
There is nothing much to report with the leopard geckos. DeeDee is fat and pissed off, much like any heavily pregnant female. I am currently planing how to convert 2 shelves of a bookcase into 2 vivariums so they can be separated - I'm worried about DeeDee getting stressed and think she needs her own space. I think I'll blog that separately as it's a big job and I think if I write it all down it'll help me get it clear in my head.
I will definitely be blogging more regularly now my back is all better!!

First shed

Since the geckos came along, my morning routine has changed somewhat. The wait til grace wakes/change nappy/get back into bed together and roll around tickling each other for half an hour while watching Balamory on iPlayer is still pretty much unchanged. but now when we head downstairs, I do not check my emails with a leisurely coffee (milk and 2 sugars for future reference) No, as soon as Grace is munching her cereal I do Egg Check. I go into the viv, gently check all the hides and nooks and crannies to see if DeeDee has laid. Then I try to tempt her to eat a waxworm as a treat because I don't think she is eating much at the moment.
This morning I was excited because Mo has been coming up to shedding his skin. Last night just before bed he looked very white, and I could see a tiny hole in the old baggy skin under his leg - you can just see it in the first photo behind his front leg.
This morning when I looked to see how he was doing, and he looked like a hoodie!!
He was NOT in a good mood so I popped his hide back and left him to it. A further check an hour or so later and he only had his tail left to go, and my dinner time just one foot. By bedtime he still has skin stuck on half a toe so I got a cotton bud soaked in water and helped him ease it off. Am now very proud of both myself and Mo - first big gecko event went very smoothly for both of us! Now it's back to egg watch........

New pets

I have become the very proud owner of 2 very beautiful leopard geckos. Believe it or not I got them for free on freecycle!
I had been looking into getting some kind of lizard for a while. Considering how badly I got it wrong with Rocky, I wanted to really do my homework and be all set up and ready before actually getting the lizard. After a lot of reading I settled on a leopard gecko. So I put a wanted ad on freecycle to see if anyone had any spare bits and bobs like heat mat or bits of wood etc. for decorating their vivarium. To my surprise a lady emailed offering me a vivarium - complete with occupants. She said Echo (the gecko) and Lizzie (the lizard) were a pair of 1 year old females. So the following day, Grace and I tapped the postcode into the satnav and went on our jollies to Tandragee - a journey of around 50 miles. It was not the most comfortable journey for me, my back had been achey from early January and had taken a definite turn for the worse the day before. When I finally arrived I was barely able to walk and getting worried about how I was going to get a vivarium into the back of the car!

The lady, also called Sarah, was lovely though. She brought the viv (only small, about 1ft by1ft) out to the car for me and helped me get it all strapped in. Another 50 mile + drive home, then a stop at the pet shop to order a new viv (a 2 foot one) and I was done!! I couldn't even drive any more so my dad took me to pick up the new viv later in the afternoon plus some crickets etc. for them.
So, over the past week we've re-named them Mo and DeeDee. We have discovered that Mo is a boy and DeeDee is a girl, and guess what? Yes, DeeDee is pregnant! So we have installed a nesting box of damp vermiculite int he viv in the hope that she'll lay a few fertile eggs and start a family. That's DeeDee on the left, she's paler because she's a Bell's Albino. My big boy Mo is a normal and slightly bigger than DeeDee

This week...

I have just realised I haven't blogged in a week. Lots has happened this past week. We have a new child minder, Jenny. Grace starts with her this coming Monday. Unfortunately Maria just wasn't able to accommodate my shift pattern. Mum and I met with Jenny last Monday and she seems very nice. We also went to work to borrow some screens for a charity fashion show one of mum's friends is putting on. While walking across the car park, Grace waved at two of our regular golfers and said "hello" That stopped me and mum dead in our tracks - she's always said "hiya" before.
On Tuesday I went for lunch with Leigh and Joshua in Pizza Hut. We had a nice lunch - all you can eat buffet is always good!! and the babies had a ball playing together. Sadly got a phone call mid-way thought lunch to say that Grace wouldn't be able to go to Maria's for her last week because maria's mum had just died. Poor Maria was so upset, we took round some flowers and a card.
Wednesday I finally bit the bullet and went to my first gym membership meeting. I have been ducking them since I started the job because I really don't feel they apply to me much, but it wasn't as bad as I expected and I got a lot of support on various issues that have been causing me some worries. Grace learned to say "peeeeessss" (That's please for those of you who don't speak toddler!)
Thursday was an extra day off because Maria couldn't look after Grace. Went to Belfast with mum to take her to see the company doctor about her knee, then to Maloney's for lunch. Had a really nice lunch, and it was not too expensive either. 2 main courses (both definitely home made to a high standard and delicious) 2 soft drinks, 2 puddings (same high standard as the mains) 1 tea and 1 coffee came to £28 in total. I have paid more for a hell of a lot less, I would not hesitate to recommend it. And it was a very frugal lunch for me - mum paid because I drove her to the docs :)
On Friday we bought hot sausage rolls and a fresh cherry cake from the local bakery and took them up to Nana's for lunch. Grace had a great time feeding most of hers to the birds in the garden and generally entertaining papa. Clever girl also said "cake" and remembered the makaton sign for it that she saw on "Something Special" Worked the late shift, had a long and very interesting chat with David about my position here and what was worrying me. He has given me some very interesting food for thought. Grace was staying at mums, when I rang to say goodnight the clever girl sad "nee neeeeee" back to me :) So proud of her, she's getting new words every single day now. In the morning she had spilled a cup of cold tea over the sky+ box. She told me the TV was "bro-un" and when I asked who broke it she pointed to herself and said "meeeee" - let's hope she's always so honest LoL. Got home from work at 10pm, went straight up to spare room to hang curtains because Aaron and Nicola are coming to stay. Fell into bed knackered at 11.10.
That just about brings me to today - another Saturday in work. Next Saturday is my first one on my new shift pattern so I will be off - Yay!! Had a really terrible nose bleed earlier. So glad I am a mummy now - I had plenty of tissues and baby wipes in my bag, but still needed to get specialist cleaner to fix the carpet. Grace has been in to visit and get her weekly treat of jelly beans out of the machine in reception. She was all hugs and kisses - so nice in the middle of a dull day!! Aaron and Nicola are coming down later to babysit. We are taking mum and dad to Sozo for a meal to thank mum for helping out with Grace so much over the past month or so. I am looking forward to it - not been for dinner in Sozo since I was pregnant!!

But I don't LIKE salads!!

I was very disappointed when I weighed myself after the gym on Wednesday - I have not lost a single pound. Ok I have only been REALLY trying for a week, but 1 pound - is that so much to ask?? Apparently yes, it is, even though I had been to the gym every other day for that week.
I have had to conclude that I need to do more on the food front. Evidently cutting out snacks and smaller portions is only serving to stabilise my weight.
At first I was quite down. I don't like "diets", and I definitely don't like diet food. In case anyone hadn't noticed, I'm a bit obsessed with food. I love food. I love simple food, home cooked food, fancy food, foreign food, even junk food sometimes. I love cooking and creating, making something tasty from scratch is so satisfying on so many levels - especially if it's frugal as well as tasty. I love talking about food, every day in work we talk about what we've made for dinner, what we have brought for lunch, interesting recipes we have come across....well, you get the picture. Food is very important to me.
The more I thought about this, the more I got determined to make this work for me. I decided I was taking salad to work for my tea. I don't like salads. I had a think, why don't I like them?? And what can I do about it??
Well, I don't like that floppy lettuce you get, or all the fancy ones. I like a nice, fresh, crisp iceberg. And having big leaves on my plate puts me off too - don't know why. So let's shred that. I don't like salad cream or mayo or vinaigrette or any of those dressing-type things, they need to go. Instead I used a generous drizzle of good quality Greek olive oil - the best in the world. Next I threw in some cherry tomatoes. I cut them into quarters so they would spread some colour - you eat with your eyes long before anything goes in your mouth. I sprinkled over some grated Wenslydale I found in the back of the fridge. It had gone hard, but I threw it in anyways. last in was a grated carrot. I stuck the lid on my trusty tupperware and gave it a good shake. I was worried that it wouldn't feel like a proper meal so I grabbed a small tin of red salmon that had been lurking in the cupboard for months - a present from Nana (don't ask LoL) - and headed off to work. A small tin of sweetcorn from the garage down the road was also duly purchased.
Come 6pm I was somewhat apprehensive. I added my salmon and half the sweetcorn, gave it a good shake and tipped it into a nice bowl.
And the result.....well it was lovely!! The tomato juice, olive oil and cheese had combined to make a really nice dressing and I was well impressed with the tinned salmon - another first for me. I am even happier to think that the whole thing cost me the price of a small tin of sweetcorn - everything else was already in the house! I will definitely be experimenting more with salads over the coming weeks. And I was not very hungry when I got home at 10pm, although I did treat myself to a couple of pumpkin seed ryvita with home made humus on with my pre-bed cuppa.
This morning I put grated apple and cinnamon into my porridge before I microwaved it - another attempt at sneaking more fruit into my diet!! It was very nice, went well with the sultanas that were already in the porridge. I think next time I'll put less cinnamon in though - might have been a bit heavy handed this morning!!

The Joys of Charity Shopping

This has been a hobby of mine for quite some time now. I LOVE charity shopping. I can;t walk past a charity shop without going in for a nosey. I know a lot more people are doing it now because of the "credit crunch " (whatever THAT particular soundbite is supposed to mean) but for many it's still something they just won't consider. Well, maybe they could consider some of the following.
It's CHARITY shopping. Whatever you spend is going to help a good cause. Action Cancer, African Children's Missions, Age Concern, Northern Ireland Hospice and Barnardos all benefit regularly from my shopping trips. Where would you rather your hard-earned cash went - to them or to line the pockets of another faceless multi-national??
But what if you like the clothes those faceless multi-nationals sell?? No problem - you'll find them in charity shops at a fraction of the price. My daughter wears Gap, Next, Pumpkin Patch, Rocha Little Rocha, Reebok and a whole load of other "brands" - all from charity shops. And I never see other children wearing the same as her because the clothes she's wearing are no longer in those shops - I like her being an individual.
This leads nicely into my next point. You find all sorts of little treasures that you just can't get anywhere else. I have a huge library of audio books that has mostly come from charity shops - a few came from car boot sales and eBay too. They are really cheap because they are on tape - I never pay more than £3 for a 2-tape story or over £5 for 4 or more. I also have some beautiful oven ware from the charity shops - I just can't find those lovely, deep casserole dishes anywhere else (You can see one in my previous post about dumplings!!) And you will never find the same thing twice, so every visit is just as interesting as the last.
Next, it's cheap. When times are hard (and that's a lot of the time these days!) you can cheer yourself up with a new pair of shoes for under £5, add on the extra feel-good factor of giving to a worthy cause AND it's guilt free!! It's great if you have a hobby. I have seen or bought wool, books, fabric, paints, beads and jewellery...no matter what your hobby you can do it on the cheap at the charity shops. Plus, you'll probably find books relating to your hobby too. There is even a charity shop near me which sells food. Anyone who can do 3 packs of chocolate digestives for £1 is alright in my book!! They also sell lots of tinned goods, and I get really nice spreadable butter there for just 80p per 500g tub!!
It's ethically sound, and green too. Send your old clothes, shoes, toys, household stuff etc to the charity shops and stop them from going into landfill! You can help the environment, a charity and your own pocket all in one go - how many chain stores can claim that??
Finally, it's a very social hobby to have. Charity shops tend to be staffed by volunteers who are very friendly and always ready for a chat.
I hope, if you have read this far, you will consider looking into your local charity shop next time you pass. Go on, you might just enjoy yourself!!

Feeling good today

Friday the 13th, however, lived up to it's reputation. Poor Owen had toothache, and after spending the whole day in agony ringing round dentists, we had to got to the emergency dental service at the City Hospital in Belfast. Humph. Emergency tell you off for not seeing the dentist then give you some pills that don't work service would be a more accurate description. Not only that, it turns out he has an abscess, poor thing, and he'll just have to take the anti-biotics and painkillers until a dentist can see him.
The day did improve considerably when I went to bed. No, not like that, get your mind out of the gutter!! I took my laptop up with me, and a nice cup of tea. My best friend JD was online and we had a good old natter for the first time in ages. It was so good to catch up with him properly, between me not having access to instant messaging for a few months, and work, and babies, and being several thousand miles away... it had been too long since we got a chat.
So I am in a good mood today. I have been missing JD a lot recently, it's been 3 years since we last saw each other. I used to be able to jump on a train to Dublin and go and visit him for a day or a weekend, and I've missed that - I can hardly have a weekend break in Los Angeles!! But our long chat last night reminded me that with t'interweb, LA isn't that far away. We can still stay close, just not geographically for a while.
Also I have my new shoes on. New shoes always lift my mood. These are black work shoes, but they have a little heel - I have not worn heels since I found out I was pregnant over 2 years ago - and a nice round buckle and they make me feel...well, more like me, I feel nice today. Nice shoes, nice hair, makeup on...I'm feeling good today!!

I went to the gym!

WooHoo!!!!
I finally made it into the gym yesterday after work - and I am not dying this morning!! It was a bit nerve racking as there were a few of our "regulars"up there, but I smiled and said hello, then put my headphones in so I didn't have to talk to anyone for a while!!
I did 5km cycle, then 5 mins on treadmill for a brisk walk - I intended to do 15 mins but I dropped my iPod and it flew off the back, so I scarpered red-faced into the other room. I had a chat with a colleage for a couple of mins then got on the cross trainer for 10 minutes. By the time I'd done that it was comeing close to home time, so I did a 5-min cooldown on the bike again then went for a much-appreciated hot shower. I talked to Andrea the fitness instructor this morning and she said I did well for my first time and to keep it up. I'm hoping to go again tomorrow afternoon after work.
I weighed myself today on the scary talking machine in work. Starting weight is 14st8lb - here's hopping it starts coming down soon!!

Making Humous

Just a quicky while I have 5 mins peace and quiet. I made my own humous recently. I whizzed a can of chickpeas in the hand blender's bowl attachment with some lemon juice, some garlic and little olive oil. I use Greek olive oil - preferably from Crete if I can get it, it's the best I have ever tasted. I have a special bottle of Cretian oil I brought from Greece last September and NO-ONE is allowed to touch it, and it's NOT for ordinary cooking - it only gets used "raw" so the flavour doesn't get hidden.

Anyways, I digress. Whizz up your ingredients. Taste them, add a little more garlic or lemon if you need to. If you need to add a tiny bit more olive oil, then do so. But be careful, it can overpower the chickpeas. I add a little ordinary vegetable oil if the humous is too thick - it doesn't have any flavour, it just helps with the consistency.

For variety you could try stirring through a little pesto, or some smoked paprika. Humous is lovely on seedy ryvita or oatcakes. It's also a great healthy snack for little people. Grace loves her "dipdip". You can buy baby crackers that have vegetables in them and are salt free etc. so she can munch away to her hearts content - much better for her than dipping salt-coated ritz crackers!!

Dumplings

As promised, here are pictures of my dumplings.

First I softened a chopped onion in a little bit of oil, then chucked in the mince and browned it. Next I put in some Worcestershire sauce and a bit of dried parsley, and some stock (made from a stock cube and boiling water!!) When it had all simmered for a while I added some carrots and frozen peas, and thickened the gravy with some cornflour. I put the mince into a casserole dish. I made the dumplings according to the recipe on the side of the Atora suet box, rolled the mixture into balls and popped them on top of the mince. The whole lot went in the oven at 200 until the dumplings looked ready.

See?? They look done to me LoL I served them with some boiled potatoes. Grace enjoyed her share - and then came and sat on my knee and ate my share too!!

God Bless Google

What did we do before we cuold "google" things??
I have had many a happy hour recently "googling" things to make and do. I have now got an enormous list if projects to try, projects to research more, projects to modify....
I'm especially excited about some recycling crafts I'm going to have a bash at. I'm planning (in no particular order) : candles in teacups, hats and mittens from old wooly jumpers, bowls from old records and CDs, gifts in jars, fat balls for birds (already done that - pics to follow soon!!) a seed propagator from toilet rool tubes and plastic bottles, tin can lanterns for the garden, a cargo scarf (a scarf with small pockets for mobile, keys, money etc) - it';s all just so exciting!!
Plus, it has helped me find my mojo. I've had a terrible creative block recently, but thanks to googling various projects I think I'm getting back to normal. Whatever that is.
If anything has inspired me more, it's been the Down the Lane forum. People there are so supportive, and no matter how odd or obscurea question might seem, someone always comes along to help. Especially Ilona - her various craft projects and her skill at making very beautiful somethings from nothings (literally from rubbish at times) has been so inspirational and helped me find the motivation to get back on track rather than doing nothing and moping about getting nothing done!!

Another week.....

Surprise surprise, BT did not put the order for the broadband through, so I have to wait another whole week. Humph. And I've been so excited about putting pictures on here.

48 Hours and counting!!

The day is fast approaching, this tuesday my broadband connection at home should (in theory) be connected!! I'm very excited as this means I can add photos to my blog - can't do that in work at the moment!!
I had yesterday off- I usually work saturdays, but mum and dad were away for the weekend so I stayed home with Grace. We had loads of fun dancing to Mickey's Moovers and Groovers and doing the lundry together. Earlier in the week my mum was saying she missed feeding the birds at her bird table and patio because her (my) cat Frank eats the birds, so as a birthday present Grace and I made her some fat balls to hang in the trees. I'm hoping we'll be able to hang them on the very outer twigs in the hawthorn hedge so the birds will be able to stand on them but the cats wont. I'll be posting photos of our efforts when I'm online at home!!
I also have some nice food pics to post. I learned how to make dumplings last week, and also made Greek meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce for tonights dinner. With a bit of luck they should be gently bubbling away in the slow cooker.

An apple a day...

I ate an apple today. I know this wont seem very newsworthy to many, but while I could eat veg until they come out fo my ears, I'm crappy at eating fruit.
Grace was having a picky day today, so when she started eating my lunch I wasn't going to stop her - but it left me with less than half and an empty belly!! Being short on time I grabbed a wee red apple in mums- and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm definately going to make an effort to up my fruit intake. I need the viatmins. I'm so tired allt he time, and I've not shifted this awful cold - 2 weeks on and I'm still headachey and sinusy. Bleargh.
The phone was connected to day - HURRAH!! so I will have t'interweb by this time next week. I'm looking forward to adding pics to my blog and have been planing some nice craft projects that I can photograph and share here. now all I have to do is work out how to get a profile picture on!! Answers on a postcard please....
I've made an appointment to get my hair cut on Wednesday. not terribly frugal, but it's getting right on my nerves, I want it cut shorter - much shorter - so I have to go to the hairdresser.
In other news, it has been showing steadily for over an hour now. Hope it lies - I'd LOVE to show Grace snow for the first time tomorrow!!

Cloth San Pro and Mooncup

I have decided to give both of the above a go. I was noseying around on http://www.debbiesnappies.co.uk/ looking for fleece nappy wraps for Grace, and came across some nice cloth sanitary towels. I have been thinking about it for a while, since I use real nappies, why am I putting plastic, chemical-filed pads on myself and then into landfill??
So, a pack of 6 is winging its way to me as we speak.
If you are tempted, put the discount code "new" in when prompted and you will get a 15% discount as a new customer :)
I'm also going to get a mooncup to go with them - might as well replace tampons as well!! I'll let you all know how I get on with both when the time comes!!

Storms and the garden

We went to B&Q today to get a new shed. the one that came with the house is one of those tin things, and the high winds last night blew it to bits. I had seen a nice wooden one for £105 online in their sale, so went for a nosey. While the very helpful salesman was off checking when we could get on ordered in for, we spotted 2 plastic ones reduced from £129.99 to £75. We worked out the dimensions and it is 3cm shorter than the wooden one. Well, I'll happily trade 3cm of height for £30 less money spent!
So we had so squeeze it into the car - thank god we have a 7-seater!! There goes my day off this week - I'm gonna be shed building!!
We also lost a big chunk out of the back fence in the winds. It's not our fence so we dont have to worry about fixing it, but it does make our garden open to 3 or 4 others which border it - and one of those has the scary dogs. Poor Jessdog is not impressed at being supervised now - she'd much rather be left to it to run around for ages on her own, not hustled back indoors as soon as she's had a pee!! On the plus side I'm going to ask if I can have any of the bits that are too broken to be put back up as fencing to go towards making my raised beds. I also spotted some huge wooden crate-type things on a very isolated farm on my way to work the other morning. I'm going to go back and see if any are going spare.

To absent friends....

Most of my friends are far away. My best friend is in LA, and has been for 3 years. Not seen him in that whole time and I'm missing him like all hell. Wish I could still jump on a train to Dublin for the day to visit him. It takes a special kind of person to talk utter crap for that long without it getting boring!!
The internet is a godsent though. I would have lost contact with JD, and so many more friends if I didint have emails and facebook and instant messaging.