Spring and stuff

March, as it happens, hasn't turned out quite the way I'd (we'd) expected.

Spring is definitely here. I've been doing my best to appreciate it. Looking out for new growth in the garden, enjoying sunny days, buying some new garden furniture, seeing my camellia burst into flower, having some work done to make the garden secure, enjoying Mother's day, making pom poms (in blue wool!) to turn into Easter chicks.

In amongst all this we have a sick child. Potentially she might be very, very sick. In the last weeks the medication and the surveillance have become second nature. There have been trips back to the hospital, where indecision and caution (and waiting, oh the waiting!) seems to be the name of the game, especially in paediatrics. I understand this being involved in healthcare professional education but it is frustrating.

How on earth do you get a 2 year old to take nasty tasting medicines? She's no fool and knows when it's coming! She's not up for bribery either anymore. If anyone says just point it on the inside of her cheek, they're seriously deluded by her capacity to struggle, not to swallow and just spit it out! Shes very determined (but not as determined as me!! Current vehicle of choice  Dairy Milk Pots of Joy - the irony!).

So I'm a little bit in denial about it all, a little bit let's wait and see what they say this week, a little bit preparing for the difficult discussion. What's surprised me the most is how easy it is to feign normal. And for the most part it is normal - her behaviour is that of a normal, happy 2 year old.  To look at her you would never know.

So I've been a little bit out of the loop. I've not really commented on anyone's blogs although I've been reading them I've not had the access (what is it with commenting on your phone?) or brain capacity to string together coherent thought.. I'm hoping that April will pick up and normal service will be resumed. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, bear with me.

Frosty business

Well the festivities are (mostly) over. The ABO managed a swap and didn't have to go back to work until the 27th, which was lucky due the snow! even so the journey the next day took ages...I really dislike the M62! Hopefully this will be his last out of base for a while... 

I've been trying to assimilate the new toys into the house so that I'm not stepping on it (duplo/lego), pushing it out of the way of an almost 2 year old (playmobil) or finding it stuck to me (mosaic jewels).

The days have been cold and crisp. We stayed at home yesterday not leaving the house. The roads hadn't been gritted and I couldn't face slip sliding with BigR and a buggy! e didn't need to go out. It was cosy. We made loom band bracelets whilst LittleR napped. The girls played without too much refereeing. I didn't even have to rely on my faithful cbeebies baby sitter. Today we went out and did a few little errands. It was such a lovely day but it did take more than 15 minutes to de-ice the car.

Tomorrow we go to collect the ABO and then we start our holiday. I've got an extra week off after BigR goes back to school. We're planning some nice days but I think we'll end up doing some house maintenance stuff too. So it's likely to be a little bit quiet around here over the next couple of weeks. Then LittleR is 2. Time really does fly. Especially when you're having fun.

Thanks for visiting my blog in 2014. Wishing everyone health and happiness in 2015.

Miscellaneous and happiness and random thoughts

Sarah over at Mitenska has had posts on miscellaneous things in her week. Gillian writes about her weekly happies. I'm going to do a combination of these two things. I not usually such a join-er in-er (is that a word/phrase??) but I can't not join in with these.

We survived our first half term. It was a whirlwind of getting stuff done, reading, trips out, family visiting, eating lots, treats, cinema visits (Daddy and daughter day)  and catching up on sleep. It has (almost) been a relief to get back into a routine and back to work/school - although I'm pleased this is my last working day of the week....

We had a fabulous day out in Whitby. The sun shone and the weather was warm (for the end of October). We made collections of stones (and brought a few home), played crazy golf, ate fish and chips and ice cream. It was a very good day. We all slept well after the sea air!

I traversed the entirety of Leeds to get a pumpkin on Halloween. A trip to big Tesco resulted in no pumpkin (but nappies - the real reason for going) but BigR did see Tesco staff members dressed up for Halloween, and from no where (when the music started) run into the centre of the store and start dancing (in time) to Thriller. Very random but very good. This resulted in much YouTube after to see MJ in action. She wasn't sure if he was brilliant or not.

I did eventually get a couple of pumpkins in our local veg shop. One was very anaemic....scary :) they're still sat on plates in our kitchen and going slightly fusty now so I'll have to spirit them into the bin later tonight (under the cover of darkness) so there are no protestations.

I made a ginger cake following this recipe. Yum. It's gone now.

I ironed and ironed and ironed to X factor. I think the ironing made X factor better. I finished all the ironing and gloried in that moment where there was no more ironing. Sadly, there's now more ironing. who though uniforms and being smart was a good idea?

I finished knitting my hat. It's blue and green not purple. It's a bit big. Maybe I should've made the biggest child's size? It looks a bit wonky here too but 'in real life' it isn't. I will be wearing it. Maybe I'll even model it?

I took more pictures of roses in the garden. Still yet more appear and flower (don't look at the black spot on the leaves) and it's November. Just beautiful.

I've been reading lots too....recipe books mostly. In bed.

Today I've been embracing The Smiths. Spurred by this post from Leanne. This isn't my favourite Smiths song but it's got very good jangly guitars. I love Johnny Marr.

Monday Happies

I

Once again I’m joining in with the very lovely Gillian.

I’ve finally cast on some new knitting. This time it’s a hat for me. I received the pattern and the wool as a gift last Christmas and then, of course, by the time I’d finished the dog for LittleR it was way too warm to even consider making a hat for winter. It’s an easy knit and is coming along apace. So much so I can already see the finishing line. Maybe I should’ve taken another picture of progress so far? Although it may be too warm for a hat. Although I’ve dredged the boots out of the wardrobe, I’ve actually been coatless today. Outside. In Leeds. At the end of October. The weather is unseasonably warm.

I used a birthday voucher for a trip to Bettys Cookery School last week. It was brilliant. Not only did I make some delicious dishes to take home I was well fed and watered during the day with lots of Betty’s cakes and biscuits. It was a smaller course than normal and I chose the ‘One Pot Wonders’ day – although there were so many tempting courses to choose from. I thought it would be better to try out some things I might actually cook again rather than a patisserie day or elegant entertaining – both brilliant but the former is too much faff for a school day and the latter unlikely to happen until my children leave home.

We ate like Kings for the next 3 days as the ABO and I tucked into; Lancashire hotpot, Steak and Mushroom Pudding (thanks to an IG cry out Sue saved me from a steaming faux pas) and a chicken, chorizo and bean stew. There were also Autumn fruit charlottes. And we didn’t have 2 each. With ice-cream on the same night. No not at all.

I’ve already recreated the Lancashire hotpot – well what I mean is as is often my way I’ve changed it completely but just used the potato topping with what I had in the freezer!! This time it was a hotpot with beef and veggies in the pot.

All this savoury cooking has meant I’ve needed some sweet treats to go with it. The ABO saw an interview with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall somewhere and was hankering after some of his ultra choc brownies (available in his new book). I resisted the book for about a week (I loved Everyday veg but wasn’t so keen on Three Good Things) but it has some interesting recipes in it and lots that can be adapted or are specifically for various ‘free’ diets (e.g. gluten free). 

The recipe for these brownies is gluten free but my supermarket didn’t have any rice flour or gluten free flour and as that isn’t a necessity in our house I just used regular flour. It didn’t seem to make a difference to the outcome. They were (please note use of past tense) very, very chocolatey. The recipe is available online here. 

The garden continues to surprise me. There are still roses about to bloom.

The blueberry leaves have turned the most gorgeous red.

And the chillies continue to ripen (until LittleR picks them and attempt to chop on one…fortunately she stopped before she bit into it!).

I’ve been browsing some seed catalogues and bulb seller websites and getting totally carried away.

Although I’m not usually a fan of the actual day (or the days after) the clocks change (one of my children thinks 4am is a newly acceptable time to put the lights on!), I’m trying to embrace it this year with more coffee opportunities and extra time awake to chat to BigR and read or knit especially as the ABO is on an early shift. Hopefully normal (by that I mean post 5am!) service will be resumed shortly.

Precious things

I’m delighted and really exited to have been asked by Sarah at Mitenska to become part of this blogging collaboration. Sarah asked what are our precious things? What would we save from a burning building? It’s really made me think about the things I have and what I would miss. Perhaps things I see and use every day and yet don’t always register.

This small postcard sized ink drawing in its dusty (and cheap) frame is my first item. It sits amongst the toys on our living room fireplace. It was one of many pictures that sat on the hearth, initially to cover the horrendous fireplace (we changed that) but we’re now down to two. It’s an ink drawing street in Monmartre at night with the Sacre Coeur in the background. I bought this in 1998 when I went to a conference in Paris.

This was a significant trip for me, although at the time it didn’t feel like it. It was the first time I’d travelled alone. It was the first time I explored a city alone and entirely able to do as I pleased. It was the first time I’d had to present and defend my work to a (pretty big – eek) audience. I walked and walked and walked and walked. Along the Seine. Through Monmartre. Around La Defense. I went to the Louvre and the Musee D’Orsay. I ate steak and chips alone in a restaurant served by a surly Parisian waiter. It wasn’t the romantic trip lots of people have to Paris. It was an international conference on obesity and my head was full of genetics and the work presented there was a chapter in my thesis. It was when I felt like a real academic. When I felt that I was contributing to the world and I wanted to remember this. I looked at the pictures the artists had on display on the streets, thinking I’d like to take a little piece of this with me. It took me ages to decide which to have. Something about this one, drawn and coloured on a piece of brown paper, spoke to me. Now it reminds me of a time when my work was most important, when the Rs weren’t even considered and when I was building up to be who I am now.

Joining in with

Sarah at Mitenska

Leanne at Today’s Stuff

Bee at The Linen Cloud

You’ll find their Precious Things there.

Why I write

I was nominated to participate in this blog hop by Christina at A Colourful Life. I was really flattered to be considered as my blog is fairly new.

I’m writing this after being on the go all day...this is not unusual...I should really think about time management some more! I wanted to post before I became busy with work this week and then a short break. So I may edit in some more when I’ve thought a little more...I’m sure there’ll be something I think of the minute I press publish!


What am I working on? At this precise moment, nothing in particular. I don’t really plan these posts in advance (can’t you tell?) They come about organically. Sometimes I have an idea and think...’ooh I’ll blog about that’ but generally I post what’s in my head at that moment.


How does my writing differ from others in my genre?
I’m not really sure what genre I fit into. I guess it’s the ‘working mum of two young children who likes books, gardens, crafty stuff, tv and wine’. I’m a little bit secretive here about who I am, mainly for professional reasons. I don’t really want random students finding my private space – it’s like when they want to ‘friend’ you on facebook...er, no. I want to be able to write here about anything I like and not feel constrained.


Why do I write what I do? In a previous life I kept a written journal. Snippets of the day to day and how I felt about things. Some days I would write lots and navel gaze in great detail. Other days were just the odd line or two to remind me what I was up to at that time. My blog is a more public version of that, just me, documenting aspects of my life and allowing me to have a record of this time. This time where my children are young and where I’m balancing life as a mummy, an academic, a friend, a partner, a daughter, a woman. Seeing where my life fits in to the world and generating friendships through this.


How does my writing process work? I don’t really have a planned process but I fall into when the mood strikes me. I blog from my sofa and during breaks at work. Usually, the latter is when someone is having a loud phone conversation and I can barely concentrate. - the joys of academia in an open plan office. Sometimes I make notes on my phone if I want to blog about something specific. My photos all come from my phone - I have much to learn about light and making these much better. I think one of the reasons I don’t plan to much is I’d then think I’d need to revise and refine my writing (as I do at work) and I like this being straight from the heart.

Part of this blog hop is to nominate others to join in. It’s so hard to choose! I’m still waiting to hear from a couple of people and wanted to post before time ran away...

So I nominate Sarah from Mitenska – this was one of the first blogs I plucked up the courage  to comment on. I love Sarah’s beautiful photography and writing. Her blog is so full of inspiration and positivity. She writes beautifully about her life, home and the world around her. I love seeing snippets of her notebooks and her drawings.

 

Ten random things

Having seen a few of these random lists on various blogs (but most notably Annie and Gillian) I thought I'd compile one of my own.
Pic is a random cloud I saw today and liked.

1.  Growing up I wanted to be a marine biologist who specialised in crustaceans (not marine mammals that everyone else wanted!!).  When I was 11 I wrote to a Professor in Cambridge (who had written a book I found in Foyles book shop) to ask how to be one. I got a handwritten reply and still have it.  I did go on to study science but not marine science (even fewer jobs and opportunities in that than my chosen field!).

2.  I kept tropical and marine fish when I lived with my parents and would love to again but marine tanks are a lot of work.

3.  I wear skirts everyday to work (no need to...I  just do) but jeans and leggings at home.

4.  I'm not particularly tidy but I cannot bear knives, forks and spoons not to be in their correct sections in the cutlery drawer. I know the ABO frequently challenges this state of nature for his own amusement.

5.  My cookbooks are arranged in colour order on their shelves.

6.  I have strange food allergies being allergic to types of squash, pumpkin, courgettes. I have a severe allergy to beet root.

7.  In 1982 John Craven (of Newsround fame) was on the same plane as my family (to somewhere in Greece). My mum stopped me from bothering him on his holiday on the way out but didn't have a leg to stand on the way back. I spent the entire flight chatting to his daughter.

8.  My parents had a holiday romance (also in Greece!) and found out they lived 4 miles from each other.

9.  I hardly ever wear make up as I always look like a clown when I apply it plus for some reason it slides off my face within minutes even with 'primers'.

10. I love lemons and will always choose a lemon dessert over anything else.