Bear With Me!

 

This morning started nice and slow...and with of course a cuppa and ginger biccie in bed.

 

 

 

Hubby and the Teens went to a young peoples Bible study last night...and look what they brought home with them...

 

 

...delicious shortbread!

A bakery passes on excess stock to a local church, who in turn use it to feed the homeless with, but occasionally even the homeless can't eat it all!

This was a really delicious shortbread I must say, even if the date was gone, it hadn't affected the quality in anyway.

 

 

During the winter months, Saturday lunch is invariably a homemade soup of one kind or another.

Last year the Teens really enjoyed butternut squash and lentil soup...Teen Two in particular really loved it.

Whilst reading this blog in the week, I took a fancy to the spiced Thai soup the blogger had made, and decided to give it a go.

It took me quite a while to track down the red Thai paste, and decided to also buy the green Thai paste,  which promised to be aromatic but without the heat....just in case the red was too hot!

 

 

 

However I had no need to worry, it really was delicious and will definitely be on the favourites list.

I will try the green paste another time, I am sure it will be equally as yummy but without the heat.

 

 

 

The afternoon was a quiet hive of activity....for me it was some Christmas crafting...

 

 

 

...Teen One also continued with the Christmas crafting she and Teen Two had started the other week...

 

 

 

 

before going on to make a dessert for tomorrow...

 

 

 

...pineapple  upside down pudding (just waiting for the mix to go on top)

We use this recipe, using pineapple and cherries instead

 

 

 

Teen Two indulged in some bunny hugging...

 

 

...and some online music making.

 

 

For Hubby it was an afternoon  in  a damp garden, starting to get the new fence up...which like all things proved to be rather a trial, so will have to wait for another free weekend to be finished.

 

 

Teen One needs a Harry Potter outfit for a special day at school next week, so we popped into town briefly to get a couple of items from Primark.

Once back home the Teens and I played a game of Rummikub....along with a cuddly observer!

 

 

Our local football team were playing at home today, which meant when we got back from town, parking the car was pretty difficult, but I just managed to squeeze on to the end of our road, but I was over a driveway slightly, so was keeping on eye on the situation.

Part way through the game I saw there was space outside our house, so said to the Teens...I am just going to move the car...bear with me.... when I came back, my chair had these cheeky creatures....

 

 

..and a chair full of bears....

"well you told us to bear with you"

Teen Two said as he rushed back to his seat, after zooming upstairs to bring all these down before I came back from parking the car!

He does makes me laugh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast Cooked By A Princess!

 

 

You will remember yesterday I found this fab Disney Princess kitchen....all singing and dancing too!

Teen One loved it and I am sure wished herself back to the age when everything was pink and Disney Princessy...she did however make the comment "I think that talking could get quite annoying"

How true those words would be!

 Two or three times in the night I was aware of something waking me, but wasn't woken enough to work out what it was.

By 4.30am I knew for sure...all I had heard for the past half hour was "Snow White, your cookies smell amazing....Sleeping Beauty shall we make cakes...Lets help Snow White make dinner for the dwarves."

Then there was the sizzle sizzle sizzle, ping ping ping, whistle, whistle, whistle....

finally  I couldn't stand anymore, I crept out of bed, went downstairs to find the "off " button...which it appears  the cruel designers failed to include!

I was in no mood for hunting down a screwdriver in order to take the batteries out, so instead took the kitchen into the front room and promptly shut the door.

Only trouble was, once upstairs again, the pinging, sizzling, whistling and never ending high pitched  voices could still be heard!

There was nothing for it but to go back downstairs and leave out if for our binmen who were coming in a couple of hours hide my head under the pillow and pray sleep would come before the sun rose!

As I was trying to get to sleep, Hubby, who had been disturbed by it all, came back from the bathroom..."sorry for the noise" I said...

"The Princesses have been busy making your breakfast!"

 

I am happy to report there will be no such disturbances tonight, it has been safely dispatched  church and the girls LOVED it!!!

 

 

Morning finally dawned and I got cracking making some soup to take to one of my Recycled Teenagers who is unwell.

She lives by herself and has gall bladder problems, she is unable to eat any fat or is in excruciating pain.

I know she eats a lot of soup and thought as she was unwell she may not be in the mood for making it herself, so  made some veggie and lentil soup.

 

 

I have experimented in the past, with fatless scones, Yorkshire puds etc, and today thought I would try making dumplings, using egg yolk as the fat. I made a mini one to test...

 

 

...and they came out pretty good, quite light, a little eggy but what do you expect!

 

I also cooked up some apples as I know she enjoys stewed fruit.

I called in mid morning and she was very grateful, but wouldn't let me in as she had a nasty cough and didn't want to pass it on...I just hope she didn't catch it from me in the first place!

 

 

 

With the shopping trip for groceries  out of the way and the sun still shining, I thought it was time to give the car a good clean and for the first time a polish!

Whilst it is lovely to see her all shiny and new looking again....it was hard work and I am seriously thinking of letting the supermarket guys do it next time...or at least invest in a power washer to make it easier!

I was just finishing when Hubby came home and shared the news its going to rain overnight!

However.....an hour after I had finished, the friend who bought the car for me made an unexpected visit!

I was so delighted he could see I was taking could care of his generous gift, his timing was perfect!

 

 

 

Dinner tonight was a hurridly put together toad in the hole...which rose nicely to the occasion...and whats more, it didn't stick to the dish like to sometimes does!

The family really love this dish, but I rarely cook it for visitors as its one of those things that can be a flop despite doing everything the same as usual!

 

 

Whilst I had been busy cleaning and cooking, Teen Two had been whittling away in the garden, with a bit of bunny hugging in between.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Search Of The Rainbow

 

Today was Parent and Toddlers as usual ( am doing my best to drop the "Mother") and we had a dad come along for a change....we have had dads, granddads, uncles in the past, but not for a while, so it was good to see one today, making the most of being shore based for a while.

On the way home I spotted this Disney Princess kitchen out for the bin men!

I quickly pulled over, gave it a once over, and aside from a little cleaning needed, it looked fine.

Having got it home the cats were very interested in it!

Despite being left out in the overnight rain and awash with leaves and debris, I was amazed to discover it "talks!"

The story book pages talk ( something to do with Snow White's apple pie) and the hob "boils" and "sizzles."

I cant wait to see the little girls faces when I take it to Friday club tomorrow!

It has cleaned up perfectly and I am so glad I pulled over and checked it out.

 

 

This afternoon, with the chores out of the way, I sat down to give the pom pom

fuzz ball braider a go.

The instructions were just about impossible to understand...

 

 

...just what does "convex and concave bit stack  Alloy" mean?

Thank goodness for pictures!

 

 

 

I have to confess, even with pictures, it took several attempts to get the positioning right, but finally I got there...

 

 

...with both sides filled, and a few attempts to work out how to close it...

 

 

...the rest was easy, a nifty slot to snip round....

 

 

... and tie up in the usual way...

 

 

...then after a little trimming....ta dah...a pom pom fluff ball!!

Once the art of using the "device" has been mastered, it really is a much quicker way of making these fuzzy wonders, changing colour will also be much easier.

 

 

It is only 4pm and the sky has gone a most peculiar colour!

There is some heavy rain about to fall for sure...infact...as I type it is starting, which must mean there is a rainbow about to develop....I am off in search of it...rainbows are always so uplifting and reminder that God always keeps His promises.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fluff Ball Weaving??

 

 

Fred the Painter came this morning, promising to have finished the job by lunchtime....

 

 

 

 

...and true to his word, it was all lovely and fresh looking before midday!
He even cleaned up some areas we had  accidently marked with paint  a few years ago, when we attempted to freshen up the place with a roller!

He also painted the gate, which we had not asked him to do, but it was in dire need of doing, so we are all spic and span outside now.

If only it lasted!

 

 

I popped into town briefly, and on my return Amazon had delivered some pom pom makers I had ordered for the Friday Club kids.....I hope the instructions make more sense than the advertising!

I am going to have a play later.

 

 

 

After lunch I had a bit of a spring autumn clean upstairs, and tried to get to the source of a mystery smell in the bathroom, but with no success!

It smells like some sort of glue/resin and is getting stronger!

In the end it was making me cough, so I abandoned that idea, and hoped that Hubby could smell it when he comes home...so far he hasn't noticed it and I thought maybe I was imagining it, but there is something wafting out a strange aroma for sure!

Feeling a bit frustrated that I hadn't been successful in my mission, I took pity on myself and sat down with a cuppa and some granny squares that needed the ends sewing in.

I don't mind that job, but have to be in the mood!

 

 

 

Today Teen One is doing her first bit of real teaching.

All the students have been assigned a table of Year 4's and have got to deliver a maths lesson.

She has two rather "lively" lads on her table, one of whom loves dinosaurs, so the extension work she has planned includes dinosaurs and she hopes it can be used to help engage him in the lesson.

Next week she and her partner will deliver a whole class lesson for the first time.

I am eager to hear how she got on.

 

 

 

 

 

Is It Too Early For Mince Pies?

 

 

 

 

With the sun shining beautifully this morning, my first task had to be taking as much garden waste as I could to the dump.

My little Clio was packed to capacity at the back...

 

 

...and my "passenger" was as many bags as I could safely pack in the seat!

I had asked two neighbours if there was anything they wanted taking to the dump...and its just as well they didn't!

 

 

The garden has gone from what you see above....full to capacity with bush cuttings...

 

 

...to this yesterday....

 

 

....and now this today, so I feel like I am finally getting somewhere!

The bunnies are always very interested in any goings on and I had to make sure they were safely in their hutch at  one point, as I tried to load the car from the open garage.

 

 

 

It was pretty exhausting work and by the time I arrived home ( via The Range) I was fit for nothing but a sit down.

Having made Fred and myself a cuppa, I spent a quiet hour doing some embroidery and watching The Housing Enforcers...and feeling very thankful indeed that we own our own home and do not have to live in the terrible condition some poor souls do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With my batteries recharged, it was time to change the beds, put some washing away and the get on with making some pastry....but just as I was weighing it all out, the door bell went...it was a friend in need of a cuppa....well I had to oblige didn't I!

Thankfully she finished off that delicious chocolate panettone, taking temptation out of my way....as the rest did indeed make it into the lunchboxes!

 

 

When my friend left, I cracked on with making chicken pie for tonight's dinner, using the left over meat from the weekend.

With the work top already mucky with pastry and flour, I thought I would make some mince pies....

 

 

...using some mincemeat I was given last year!

It had got lost in the back of the fridge and I only discovered it the other week when we had the fridge disaster.

With the first Christmas adverts on yesterday ( well first for me to see) I thought...well it really isn't too early to make mince pies is it?

 

 

I made two dozen, have frozen half and this is what is left of the other half!

But don't forget....I do have Fred around... and he was more than delighted to take a couple of my hands with his afternoon cuppa....then when Teen Two came home to the smell of freshly baked mince pies, he was drooling at the mouth.... and no doubt Hubby and Teen One will be equally delighted to have this mid week treat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scarifying And Springboks!

 

Today sees the start of our house front being painted.

It is well overdue and I hope the dry weather lasts a few days longer!

Having got Teen One to school early, I then was able to crack on with some chores whilst waiting for Fred to turn up.

 

 

Pretty soon, he arrived and it was good to see the work finally started.

Having given Fred a large cup of coffee  (it was freezing out!) Teen Two and I went to visit my Monday Recycled Teenager.

 

 

 

We had a catch up over a cuppa before heading out the Morrisons...

 

 

 

...and look what is in stock now...the delicious chocolate chip panettone!

Oh dear...that's not a good start to the diet, having that in the house...I will have to make sure most of it goes in the lunchboxes!

 

 

 

Having chatted to Hubby about our serious lack of gardening knowledge, he suggested that we actually owned a springbok rake.....he was imagining it looked like the horns of a springbok.

Well...good thought...but turns out its the more basic rake

 

 

....which we also own, amazingly enough!

 

 

 

With the sun still shining, I decided to brave the cold weather and try some scarifying!

I found the smaller rake easier to use, but even then, it was quite hard work!

Having scarified ( anyone guess I just learnt a new word??) this small patch, my back was complaining a bit, so I decided this was a "five minutes a day" job and will hopefully have another go in the week.

 

 

The clearing of the bushes needed some more work, and I was able to detangle our clematis from next doors plants.....it was like sorting out a massive hair knot!

 

 

I know have the small matter of getting all this rubbish to the dump now!

The old fence will be chopped up for the wood burner , it is so thin it will probably burn in under an hour....but its an hour of free heat!

 

 

 

Teen Two amused himself with the gerbils and then the bunnies....enjoying a rare cuddle with the black and white one, who is very hard to catch, but enjoys the cuddle in the end!

 

I have made endless hot drinks for Fred and take my hat off to him for being out there all day in this freezing weather!