Weekending

Well a weekend of solo parenting looms. I’m looking forward to these being at an end soon and so is the ABO. It’s only a week or so until we find out the roster for April and likely the ‘shenanigans’ that will bring. At least when he works weekends in the future, he’ll be here for breakfast or bedtime….unless they send him out of base but that’s a whole other story. I like to have a plan of action to get us out and about but still be able to do any jobs that we need to do.

So what are our plans for the weekend? I’ll need to go to the supermarket (ugh…on a weekend with 2 children…bet you wish you were me!).  I was hoodwinked into buying some pink glitter sprinkles and some hearts and flowers so BigR has requested some baking. I’m fully in favour of a nice madeira cake but am open to suggestions. I also need to buy a new mug. I’ve started a new role in a different office and obviously a new mug is a high priority. It needs to be comfy in the hand and reflect me but not be too expensive or have me care too much about it if someone else ‘steals’ it. Tricky eh?

 I think if the weather is good we’ll head out to the park or maybe to Harlow Carr to burn off some steam. LittleR is starting to walk but she’s not ready for that first outside walk yet so it needs to be somewhere buggy friendly. It’s possible I could meet up with a friend, her little boy (who’s 2 this week, once again I am reminded of the passing days, how does time move so quickly?)  and their dog (no Harlow Carr then) which would be nice for us all. Failing that some time in the garden would be good. We’d like to grow potatoes again this year so maybe a trip to the garden centre would be an idea to get some for first earlies.

When the girls are in bed I’m going to indulge in some TV, I’ve been waiting for this new series for what feels like forever. I’ll try and finish knitting the final pieces of dog I’ve been making for LittleR. I’m still working out how I’ll get the pieces to look like a dog but I’m hoping it’ll all come together in the sewing up/stuffing phase! I’m also hoping to sort through a big cupboard in our living room. It houses all our DVDs, photos, random instruction manuals for things we probably don’t have anymore and an assortment of things I’ve forgotten. I do love a big clear out. I’m thinking about getting rid of my old CDs and DVDs I don’t watch anymore. I have most of my music on the computer now (backed up lots of times) and we could do with the space that the CDs take up. Maybe I could consolidate them into sleeves or envelopes rather than keep the cases? When I was at University, I was music editor of the Uni paper; it sounds glam doesn’t it –the year I did it no one else wanted to! I wasn’t the best writer but free gig tickets and CDs made it worthwhile so my collection grew there and continued to grow. It’s only with the onset of downloads that I’m not avalanched under a pile of CDs!!! Anyway, what will probably happen is I’ll clear up, settle on the sofa with blogs and TV and not move until bedtime! Hope you all have a good weekend too.

The picture has really nothing to do with this post. We were on our way home and we were stopped in traffic. The rainbow looked so vibrant in real life and looks OK here taken with my phone!

A new kitchen encourages activity

Where does the time go?
Working and not having a kitchen hasn’t helped me to blog. It was a weird level of inertia where the days revolved around letting in builders/plasterers/plumbers/electricians whose grip on time keeping was in a parallel universe to ours. Anyway the good news is that we now have a fully functioning kitchen complete with my first daffodils of the year. Last week when I was in the supermarket I had a complete blank. I was totally lost as I had no idea what to buy considering now I had the option of an oven and hob and could cook ‘proper’ meals!! I’d been institutionalised into sandwiches, crackers and picnic food! Anyway we’re back on track again now and I have the added excitement of doing the washing up by using the dishwasher. Loading and unloading isn’t a chore yet! A cake has been made, once again using this fail safe recipe with the addition of apple. I find it used to take about 55-60 minutes in my old oven and now around 50-55 minutes in my new oven. I need to keep an eye on things that might need a bit more attention not to be too singed. I’m also planning to work on expanding our range of dishes once a month. I guess January has gone but I can still come up with 11 more things….a nice night in scouring my collection of cookery books to look forward to.

Our bedroom is also finally finished. The curtains arrived and have been hung and the room looks complete. Now all I need to do is tidy up the toys that find their way into our room and put away the mountainous piles of washing!!

We’ve all been unwell too. I had a cold then a terrible cough…you could hear me coming for miles. BigR had a strange temperature which only occurred at 3pm and left her totally flat until bedtime. LittleR just appeared not to be her usual smiley self. You’re never entirely sure if a 1 year old with a runny nose has a cold or is just teething…or more horrifically a combination of the two. Thank goodness for calpol! We all seem to be over this patch of illness now thankfully and I’m pleased the weather has been better so we’ve been able to get out and about to the park and for some short walks. I did a few short bits of gardening. Keeping on top of the weeds and making plans for growing plants and where this will go. I bought BigR some sunflower seeds and she’s itching to get those planted but I’m making her wait until March so we might get a bit more success. I can’t believe how mild this winter has been compared to last year (new baby+ partner with broken ankle+ crutches+ snow and ice = no fun) although I could do with a little more sunshine please.

At the start of February and in the midst of our no kitchen nightmare I was able to attend my knitting in the round workshop. What an excellent day it was. The tutor Gwen was really approachable and friendly and we received all sorts of goodies. I now have one extra Baa Ram Ewe bag which is housing my unfinished work at the mo. Of course I am now an expert at knitting in the round and have course finished the mitts and hat that we started…hahahahahaha…..but I have made progress on the dog I’m making for LittleR the body, head and one arm is finished. I’m calling this a success! I’m keen to attend another workshop they run…maybe crochet? Maybe a more complicated knitting one? There is one on making socks…so maybe I could join in with Christina’s sock year?

I also managed to finish my two books in keeping with Circle of Pine Trees. In January I read ‘The Rosie Project’ which I found to be an excellent read… I loved to hear the story form Don’s own point of view and how his search for the perfect partner can’t be pinned down on his questionnaire. In January and February I read ‘The Goldfinch’. I loved it. For about 85% of the book (yes I was using an e-reader) I loved it then I found it a little tiresome… a bit too much like she didn’t know what to do with the end and ‘so they all woke up as it was a dream’ (not the end of the book), so for me, a bit of a cop out. The book created characters that although were inherently flawed you wanted to know what happened to them and where they went but ultimately I felt a bit disappointed in the end. I’m not sorry at all that I read it though.

March’s book is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. I’ve heard good things and seen this on other bloggers’ lists. For a little light relief I’m also reading ‘Tales from the Secret Footballer’. I do love a bit of football. Perhaps I’ll be able to work out how to add myself to the link again too!

Wondering in January

:: The phrase ‘the days are long but the years are short’ seems very true at the moment. The weeks go by very quickly at the moment even though I seem to be busy at work I spend time being ‘bored’. I love my job but I’m not ‘in love’ with it anymore and I have to say I’m a little shocked by this. Not sure what I’m (we’re) going to do about it as yet but I’ve been looking at the flexible working policy. Maybe I need to give it a little more time.

:: LittleR was 1 last week. There were presents and Grandparents and a Mary Berry Victoria sponge. It was all very jolly….even with teething thrown in.

:: To go alongside the teething we’ve also had colds. Everyone apart from me, with the ABO feeling the worst and doing the most (building Ikea furniture, going in the loft lots of times, preparing for the chaos).

:: Why is it that the traffic on Tuesday is busier than any other time of the week? I’ve often wondered this. It’s even more pronounced when it’s raining. Whilst I’m sat in the traffic I’ll ponder this some more.

:: I have finally started knitting my Knitting and Stitching show project. It’s this pattern by Sirdar and I’ve got 2 colour ways to do for the girls. So far I’m barely through the first dog’s body. I’m hoping the girls like them….when they eventually get finished!! My extremely competent knitter friend, S, has offered to do the second dog so the second girl isn’t left out…

:: I’ve been reading like a demon…however a demon reads that is. In so far as I have finished a book and am 30% (so my kindle tells me) through The Goldfinch. I'm loving it.

:: Have you noticed that it's lighter in the evenings? Is it too early to say this? I am aware of this as currently we haven’t any curtains in the dining room and it was light when the girls had their tea.

:: The kitchen chaos starts tomorrow. I'm already counting the days until we have a functioning kitchen again. I’ve made some freezer dinners, especially for the girls but am expecting a lot of sandwiches and jacket potatoes. Anyone have any good ideas for things to ‘cook’ in a microwave?

Reading lists

I have a confession. I love books. Any sort at all. And bookshops. And libraries. As a child I was a voracious reader. There were weekly trips to the local library and to the library where my grandparents lived. One of my favourite games was playing libraries, making the tickets to go in the books (none of this computerised stuff back then!!), organising the book shelves and fining people when they were late with their books.

In recent years I’ve been more ruthless donated lots of my books to the charity shop or friends. Novels I read once and didn’t enjoy,books that I don’t need anymore (7000 baby names) and things that I just won’t look at again. These have been replaced with numerous cookery and craft books, replacing the fictional world with factual things.

When bigR was born something amazing happened. I stopped reading. Gone was the 2 books a week rapacious reader and in its place? Nothing. I don’t even know what I did with the time (apart from looking after a baby but you know what I mean). After a year, I started reading again, slowly, maybe a book every other month if I was lucky. 

Then, suddenly, there was a change and I can only attribute it to one thing. I received a kindle as a birthday gift. Now I never thought I would like an e-reader. I like the feel of the novel in your hand, the smell of the pages, searching out the book in a book shop but the kindle has been a revelation to me. I can have a huge number of books with me at any time and since Christmas when I received a kindle with an inbuilt light I can read in the dark – (that would’ve been amazing during night feeds!!)  My only bugbear is that you can only get books via amazon but there are plenty of self-publishing authors that way so maybe it balances out?

Initially, via Leanne, and then Christina and Sarah, I found the reading link up at Circle of Pines.

So this month I’m going against my usual trait and becoming a joiner. I’ll be reading The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion and The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt. (When I’ve worked out how to add myself to the links I will!!) I’m looking forward to finding lots of new books to enjoy.

Hello 2014

Well 2014 has been a bit of a shock to the system…I’m back at work. Hopefully this might bring some more spare moments for thinking and blogging. It’s a little bit strange being here, especially as the ABO is still off, but in some ways extremely familiar. There’s plenty of change afoot at home…our bedroom is in the process of being decorated….tantalisingly close but not there yet. And we’re about to undertake installation of a new kitchen. I’m not looking forward to the upheaval but I am looking forward to new adventures in cooking and baking!! My mantra during the process will be “it will all be OK”!

I’m hoping I’ll be able to strike a good balance between family and work…and being a bit more creative and mindful.

So what am I thinking of doing this year??

I still have things on my list from October…I’m going to revisit those…

:: making the tea cosy and giving it to S

:: an appliqued blanket for BigR

:: embroider some tea towels

:: take BigR to ‘pots to go’ for some ceramic painting fun

But what else will be new for 2014?

I was really lucky to receive some lovely wool and a pattern book from my knitter friend S and I am booked onto a ‘knitting in the round’ course at a local knitting shop (thank you to the ABO!)

So with that in mind…

:: Knit a hat

:: Knit a hat in the round (or maybe socks?)

:: Sort out the new garden beds…we had trellis separating a part of our garden that fell down in the strong winds recently (taking with it two climbing roses) so I’m seeing this as a new opportunity to re-establish the garden

:: When the kitchen is complete…attempt to cook a new dish once a month for all the family (once a week might be a step too far with everything else that goes on in life). I’m really lucky that both girls really love their food and always try new things (I’m holding onto this with BigR who the other day turned down chicken casserole but ate Rapunzel’s favourite chicken dinner!!) I really should try to menu plan better as well. We’re a lot less wasteful than we were a few years ago… but, I do rely on the old favourites for ease as well as lack of imagination.

So that’s where I am at right now. It’s a change this January when last year I was about to meet a new little person. Which gets me thinking about cakes for a first birthday…

Busyness

Where does the time go?

We've been busy. Days out (to Harlow Carr , and a local garden centre for inspiration) various Grandparent visits; them to us and us to them and the necessary Christmas preparations. Amongst this we've had builders doing what they do, causing chaos and mess but then finishing and leaving with a satisfying job. It was only 2 days but it was a hard 2 days of mess. Now we can think about the redecoration and the trip(s) to Ikea. I'll forget all my clothes are in suitcases and we're in a bit of disarray!! We're due for more of the same early next year when we're having our dated and old when we moved in (10 years ago) kitchen remodelled....

I'm happy our tree is up, cards are (mostly) written and we're getting to spend lots of time together.
Here's to more frequent blogging in 2014.