Weekends = Ginger Biccies and Tea In Bed!

 

Every family has it's own traditions, and one that we inherited from my in-laws is, ginger biccies and a cup of tea in bed!

For us its a weekend treat and when the Teens were small they would snuggle down into bed with us and have a ginger biscuit to dunk in our tea.

Nowadays of course they would much rather lie in ( Teen One especially) although Teen Two has adopted the practice of a cuppa and ginger biccie when he comes downstairs.

Lidl's sell the best and cheapest ginger's at only 25p a pack.

 

 

This morning Teen Two helped me make another pan of butternut squash and lentil soup, ready for our lunch.

He isn't keen on onions (that he can see!) and chopping the onion today probably put him off for life!

The fumes really got to him so I think when he is ever cooking for himself, onions will be off the menu!

I did say, they are now available frozen ready chopped, so if he was really desperate to have them, that might be an option.

 

 

 

 

Teen Two occupied herself using our good old faithful Be-Ro recipe book to make a pineapple upside down cake, for tomorrows family service bring and share lunch.

 

 

The Teens let the gerbils explore their play pen

 

 

They are such inquisitive and gentle creatures ( sorry if you are rodent phobic!) and bring such a lot of pleasure to the Teens lives and are so easy to look after!

 

 

I finished the dreaded button and neck bands, sewed in all those fiddly loose sends, then blocked the front, hopefully it will dry overnight and I can block the back tomorrow.

I feel like making a little beanie hat to match so am going to google for a free pattern tonight.

 

 

 

 

Hubby has had an industrious day.

The front seat of my car has been stuck in the same position for a couple of years now, it wont move on its runners, making it impossible for the seat to be tipped forward and allow any passengers to get in the back (downside to a three door car!)

It means I have to be constantly getting in and out when making drop offs/pick ups etc.

Mostly its not a problem, but there are times when it would have been so much easier for the passenger to get out instead.

Hubby bought some new ones online, which have been here for a few weeks, but today he managed to replace the old ones.

As usual it wasn't a straight forward job, and took some time, but I am very thankful it has now been done, it will make my  life much easier!

 

 

Hubby also managed to tackle a job he has been itching to do for ....probably years!

The garage has been a dumping ground for a couple of decades, but in the last couple of years we have tried to declutter it.

Our neighbour gave us some metal storage shelves, which have been sat in pieces since he gave them to us, as there was no floor space left.

As you can see....hubby is now the proud owner of a set of shelves to store his tool boxes on.

In the place where the shelves now are, once stood a chest freezer.

When it packed in the garage was too full up to attempt removing it, so I had the bright idea of hubby using it as storage.

Seemed a good idea at the time...but what we didn't reckon on was, the top of the freezer would suffer the same fate as every other available worktop space in our house...it would become a dumping ground!

So every time hubby wanted a particular tool out of particular toolbox, he first had to clear the freezer top, then remove all the tool boxes...as invariably the one he wanted was under all the rest!

So now, he can just walk into the garage and put his hand straight on the tool he wants...well that's the theory anyway!

 

 

Our only excursion out of the house today was to buy the gerbils a gym pod.

The previous gerbils really loved this, but we made the mistake of leaving it in their gerbilarium.....and found it chewed to pieces the next day!

So they can only play on it when being supervised, then as soon as the nibbling starts we can take it away.

 

 

 

Dinner tonight is quick and simple.

I saw these sweet potato fries advertised on TV, so made a special trip to Iceland to buy them.

We are not really fans of frozen chips, but have enjoyed sweet potato  fries out in restaurants, and figured they probably use frozen ones.

These ones are really tasty and I will be going back to get some more!

 

It's been a lovely stay at home day and we are now settling down by the woodburner for a lovely quiet night in.

 

 

 

Spaghetti and Marshmallows!

 

This morning was spent whizzing around various shops trying to get last minute prizes for the "shop" we have at Friday club.

The kids earn points throughout the term, which can then be exchanged for various items such as stationary, toys, puzzles etc.

It gets harder every time to find something within the budget that the kids will really want to "buy." Even when you consider the items are actually free, they still are a little too discerning at times, obviously not used to having items costing less than a pound!

I have been looking for sometime for a new veggie rack. I have been keeping my veg in a big plastic tub for the past couple of years...but its not been ideal, it makes the veg sweat and go mouldy if not used up in the week. But finding a simple tiered veg rack has, up until today, proved hard to track down!

When looking in The Range for some prizes for the boys ( always the hardest to buy for!) I saw this rack. It was just what I was looking for.

It said on the pack "assemble in 3 mins" I managed it in less than one! Brilliant!

As you can see, Crystal came to investigate the new item in her domain!

 

 

My next stop was Lidl's.

I was intrigued to see these new "sprays" they had in stock.

They come in various flavours, Oregano, chilli etc, I opted for garlic.

I am not altogether sure what one is supposed to use it for, but it looked fun so I thought I would give it a go.

 

 

They also had bottles of flavoured balsamic vinegar. Teen One really likes the bottle we bought at the Pumpkin Festival the other week, and this was a fraction of the cost, so I thought I may as well give it a go as well.

She had some on a tomato and mozzarella salad and said it was very tasty.

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent pottering doing some housework and making a turkey chilli for dinner. I haven't used turkey mince in a while and had forgotten how nice it is. Its much cheaper than beef mince and probably better for you.

 

 

 

 

We had an extra helper at Friday club tonight, a lovely Irish girl, she was so helpful and just slotted in with us. She and Teen One went to a Young Peoples evening afterwards.

They played the spaghetti and marshmallow challenge, which if you haven't tried it, is a lot of fun!

We did it many years ago one Christmas with all the family and have copied the idea many times since then.

The church ordered  a delivery of Domino's Pizza for supper! Now that's going to be a hard act to follow!

 

Out In The Cold!

 

Today has been a usual kind of Thursday for me.

Mother and Toddlers in the morning, followed by cleaning next door after lunch.

I did manage an hours sit down in the afternoon, and was in the mood for a spot of knitting. I have finished the main parts now and have the miserable task of picking up stitches for the button band now.

I say miserable, because I can never seem to make it look neat. I may resort to knitting it separately and sewing it in place!

 

 

 

After the usual Thursday evening excursion to Teen One's piano lesson, it was back home to the kitchen for me....some homework for Teen One....

 

 

...and Minecraft for Teen Two!

 

 

A while ago, a friend gave me a bag of "hand me downs" for Teen One. In amongst the clothes was a pashmina scarf....however I have decided it makes a better autumn table runner!

 

 

 

The title of today's blog is dedicated to Hubby.

For the past four hours he has been stood outside, in his short shirt sleeves, at work whilst several fire engines deal with a chemical spill.

It's almost 7pm and I haven't heard he has been given the all clear to come home...when he does he is going to be cold hungry and tired from being out in the cold for so long!

I guess we can be thankful though that he has a home and hot meal to come home to, not everyone will have that privilege tonight.

"In all things...give thanks"

A Run Around Day

 

It's a shame today was such a rainy day, because I had lots of running around to do, in various parts of town, with no easy parking access.

 

 

 

My first trip was to the shops to try and find some work trousers for hubby. I was delighted to see these down from £59 to £8.99! In fact one pair was £64 originally. I bought three pairs...its a bit of a gamble as they are non refundable...the assistant suggested selling them on ebay if they didn't fit ...not a bad idea!

 

 

 

 

 

Next I had to go to the Civic offices to drop off all the paperwork for Teen Two's EHC plan.

It has taken some time to get all the forms filled in and necessary evidence, so I am glad it's now out of the way...just have to see how the Annual Review goes in a few weeks!

 

 

The next job was to go to the Post Office with Teen Two's passport renewal application.

As usual there was rather a queue and I was wishing I had done this job before popping into Wilkinson's to buy hay and sawdust for the gerbils...it was starting to weigh heavily and I was by this time dripping wet from all the walking around!

 

With a few more errands out of the way, I was relieved to be home, albeit very soggy and in dire need of a cuppa!

 

The afternoon has been spent having a bit of a clear out of my wardrobe, where I tend to hide things away.....I managed to get rid of half a charity bag of clothes...discover some Christmas stocking fillers I forgotten  I had bought and generally tidy it up a bit so I can see what I have got in there.

 

 

 

 

I discovered Hobbycrafts Blog yesterday and was rather taken with these sweet little felt houses...I can almost feel my crafting mojo coming back!

 

 

 

Christmas Comes Early!

 

A friend from up north was visiting today...and she came bearing gifts!

With postage being so expensive these days, its good to plan ahead and make the most of these rare opportunities when we catch up.

 

 

With the just a few of last years blackberry harvest left in the freezer, I made a quick blackberry and sunflower * flapjack. I served it warm with some Greek yogurt as a late breakfast treat. She enjoyed it so much she had two portions :)

 

 

 

For lunch I made butternut and lentil soup....unfortunately she wasn't able to stop long enough for lunch this time...but Teen One and I enjoyed it.

I used a cup of lentils ( which I soaked overnight, but they don't actually need to be soaked) a onion, which was sweated down in some butter, the butternut squash, chopped into small cubes and three quarters of a pan of water.

It only took about 40 minutes to cook and was then put through the blender.

 

 

 

For seasoning I used this All Purpose Polish Seasoning from Lidl's.

Its around £1.50 for a huge tub which lasts forever it seems! They are back in stock at the moment, so I bought a new one,  but this one, over a year old isn't half way used yet!

The soup was very scrummy indeed ( if I am allowed to say so!) and with some fresh crusty bread made a very tasty lunch.

The trouble with home made soup is, it makes any other sort of soup taste very synthetic.

A friend and I had soup out a while back...it was clearly made from a packet with some hot water added...had we known we wouldn't have bothered.

You can't beat fresh ingredients...and remembering our disappointment at the pumpkin soup the other weeked....some tasty seasoning too!

 

 

 

 

During lunch time a Toys R Us flyer came through the door.

It had these dolls advertised at half price £2.49

I bought quite a few last year for some of the Friday club girls, and they went down a treat.

Most things with the Disney logo are popular and generally good quality too, so when I saw they were back on special offer, Teen One and I whizzed on down to stock up.

We bought half a dozen,  and so my Christmas shopping has officially started!

The challenge is now on to see if I can buy the bulk of the Friday club prizes before October is out!

Christmas has come early!

 

 

 

*Basic Flapjack Recipe

 

125g (4oz) marg

125g (4oz) soft brown sugar

75g (3oz) golden syrup

250g(8oz) rolled oats

dash of lemon juice

 

Melt the marg, sugar and syrup in a pan.

Add the lemon juice and oats

Stir well

Bake  180 f Gas 4

 25-30 mins

 

 

Today I added handful of sunflower seeds and around a cup of frozen blackberries.

 

The Lord Is No Man's Debtor

 

Today started with me refreshing my little pile of "post it note promises" for my Monday Recycled Teenager.

She really looks forward to me taking down the old one each week and replacing it with a new one. How many times throughout each week she looks at it, I don't know, but I know its a source of comfort to her.

Teen One has a Promise Box, so I pick out a handful and then copy them onto the post it notes.

A quick, simple, but effective way to share some thoughts from the Scriptures.

 

 

 

 

After our usual chit chat and a quick whizz round with the vacuum, we went to Lidls.

The queues were even longer than usual...and I had never seen this sign before....

 

 

 

Obviously a waste of money producing them... you can see from the first picture how far behind the sign I was!!

 

 

As I left my Recycled Teen, she thrust this into my pocket saying " have a treat with the kids next week on half term."

I did my best to give it back but without success and in the end accepted that she gets as much pleasure from giving gifts as recipients do in receiving them.

If you read yesterday's blog, you will know what I mean when I say "The Lord is no man's debtor"

Its almost exactly the same amount as Teen One found and returned!

 

 

What Would Jesus Do?

 

As I was getting ready for Church this morning, Teen One came in and said "Mum...look what I have found in this box of tights!"

 

 

 

 

It was three twenty pound notes!

Now....I have to admit, it was very exciting....£60 from nowhere! Wow! How often does that happen?

"Random Acts of Kindess" or RAKs, as they are known, are very common these days..although not so common that we have ever been at the receiving end...maybe today was our day!

But then as Teen One and I stood and looked at this unexpected find, we recalled that the tights had infact come from our late next door neighbour. She had given me two or three boxes around this time last year, I gave some to Teen One, and one of these boxes is where the money was found.

Now then...what to do with it? Keep it as a gift? After all, the box had been given to us as a gift...did that not make the entire contents ours? Our neighbour was no longer alive so we couldn't return the money.

Her husband however was alive of course, and knowing from previous experience of helping sort out her belongings, I knew she had a habit of stashing away folded up twenty pound notes....so my conclusion was, she had no idea she had money in the box when she gave it to us.

At times like this it's always good to ask yourself "What would Jesus do?"

The answer was, go and explain to next door what we had found and give him the money back.

To say he was astounded is an understatement.

I insisted he take it back, and he wanted to give Teen One  a reward for her honesty, but of course no reward was necessary....she will have a far greater reward one day from her Heavenly Father :)

When I went in with his lunch a few hours later, he insisted on her having a couple of pound coins for her honesty.

 

 

 

Today has been an even busier day than usual. On top of the usual three church services, hubby was preaching out of town in the middle of the afternoon.

It meant I didn't quite have time to clear all the dinner dishes, with the dishwasher loaded, I had to leave the sink looking like this....not what I really wanted to come home to later on!

 

 

 

We had a pleasant drive  to the historic city of Winchester.
It's a beautiful city, but needless to say, today was not the day for sightseeing or shopping.

 

It's good to be back home again, with half of the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and the other half will have to wait until tomorrow.