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 (2)

I love stationery and the associated bits and bobs. I’m not really fussy, a beautifully fabric covered notebook, or a moleskine or even a plain Staples exercise book will do the trick…

One of the things I love about stationery are the pens or, more specifically, Fountain pens. I love the idea of the ink, the sound of the nib on the paper. The colours of ink available...I flirted with purple and turquoise and green.

My first fountain pen was bought by my Grandparents when I started Secondary school. It was a plain Parker fountain pen that could take ink cartridges or be used with an ink filler and a bottle of ink (not recommended for a clumsy 11 year old). You were expected to write in pen now not in pencil as you’re ‘grown up’ (times have changed they are encouraging children in BigR's school to use pens so they don’t have to press as hard to make a mark as you would with a pencil!). 

This pen saw me through my GCSEs and my A-Levels. Came to Uni with me and through my PhD. I had the nib and barrel replaced about 2 years ago when it had to be sent to the pen museum (oh the shame) for replacement parts (OK, it is 30 years old).

So when I finished my PhD, I was surprised but so pleased to be given a pen and pencil set by my PhD supervisor. This is the grown up Fountain pen – it signed the papers for our house, it signed my lectureship job contract, it’s signed hundreds of Christmas cards from us both not just me. 

Although on a daily basis I’m using whatever lidless ball point pen I happen to have at the bottom of my handbag, I love both my pens.

I‘m still using cartridges though - more than a bit clumsy at 41 too!

Joining in with:

Sarah at Mitenska

Leanne at Today’s Stuff

Bee at The Linen Cloud

You’ll find their Precious Things there.

I am. I try to be. I am not.

I am

• Cold – all of a sudden it’s Autumn and Autumn with a vengeance. The sandals are gone. I need to get some new socks and dig out my boots.
• Enjoying days out – We went to the zoo at the weekend. LittleR was so, so, so excited to see a real elephant!
• Going on another cookery course next week. I've not really challenged myself with technique but chosen things we might like to eat again in the future. I’m still using the goulash recipe I learnt a while ago very regularly.
• Making lists. Of things I need to do at work. Of things I need to remember to do at home. Of things to make. Of ideas for things for the blog. Of books to read and books I've read. Of stuff to cook. Suddenly realising there’s a name for all the info keeping – a commonplace book.
• Reading lots. I've found my mojo again I think. And I've lots of new book ideas from Laura and the year in books.
• In awe that people can actually read. BigR is doing phonics at school. She’s blazing a trail in phonics and I’m struggling to keep up – letter sounds, blending, and the songs…I keep using the wrong tune with the rhyme!! Learning to read is really hard – especially for the parents!!

I try to be

• Patient. In all aspects of my life but especially with small children.  I’m finding it hard to moderate my voice and not let the frustration show. I know I’m not the only one attempting  to get shoes/uniform on, hair sorted toys off the middle of the stairs all in the 2 minutes before we leave the house. I have to remind myself that BigR is only five. And might need to be told more than once with extreme patience.
• On top of things and I think I’m getting there. Term started, my admin support went off sick and my Mum had surgery. I was super busy at work and then really tired. The kind of tired that creeps up on you and you fall asleep with the light on and wake up at 1am and have to get up out of bed to turn stuff off. I've been absent from here and from commenting and I've missed it. Here's to normal (whatever that is) service being resumed shortly..
•  Happy to be sat outside in the rain at a children’s party. Still it was better when the other children went home and I got a go. Thank goodness I’d been prescriptive about pelvic floor exercises!!

I am not

• Going to tire of old rom coms. I love You've Got Mail. It’s very good ironing fodder. And full of great (and coffee related) quotes “The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.”
• Able to remember how to join the initial circle in a granny square and then start the next row. I'll have to youtube it.
• Able to stop buying new mugs. This one is particularly comfy in the hand.

• Going to finish Christina’s sock pattern (I'm on January!) before the end of the year. I’m just not going quickly enough.

I saw this great post from Jennifer and then this good one from Leanne and felt it was a good way to ease back in.

The year in books - October

This month I found my reading mojo thanks to the latest novel in the Shetland series, Thin Air, by Ann Cleeves. I love this series of books. I love to hear about the different parts of Shetland, her descriptions of the terrain and the light and of course, a good story wrapped within all that went down well.

My second book of the month was ‘Whatever you love’ by Louise Doughty. I really enjoyed this novel. The story centres on the relationships of Laura, after death of one of her children and how her past and present feature in her future. Doughty is a very accomplished writer. I loved Apple Tree Yard and this was an exceptionally story too. There was only a fleeting moment where I didn’t believe every part of her characterisations but it didn’t stop my enjoyment.

I’m finishing September and starting October with the first in the Cazalet chronicles (which I have already started). I’ve just downloaded Stephen Fry’s latest autobiography so hopefully the reading will continue.

Joining in with Laura.

More happies on a Friday

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on my last post. I’m so pleased to be a part of the ‘precious things’ collaboration that Sarah devised.

It’s been a busy week. I’ve been struggling to fight off a cold which seems to have burnt itself out without too much paracetamol or sniffing. So, BigR’s first full week at school was tiring for me as well as her! Trying to remember what day library books get taken in, to tick off her dinner choice in the morning and also to get to grips with phonics. How anyone learns to read is beyond me. It’s really hard! It’s here I could go all education research-y and talk about unconscious incompetence but I won’t! Safe to say I think I’m more traumatised by the whole thing than BigR who is just keen to talk about obscure rhyming words (no more show and go, it’s flair and éclair!!). We’ve also had the first head lice letter through the magic portal. The ABO and I are now constantly itchy even with the lack of lice...for now. Any tips on dealing with it for an under 2 year old? Even the combs have age restrictions on them!!!

I picked some blueberries off the bush in the garden and made a cake. It’s my fail safe recipe from here.

The blueberries were really delicious. Very sweet and certainly benefitting from a few extra weeks to ripen after first turning that deep blue-purple. The cake was good too and gone in a flash.

Last Sunday the girls and I went to Harlow Carr to collect fallen leaves and have a walk. It was mild when we left home, although I took jumpers and coats for the girls, I forgot mine. It was cool in the shade and I was really pleased from a brisk walk when we were in the cover of trees. It was so good to see their Autumnal planting, there was so much colour and so many flowers. BigR loved hiding under the ‘umbrellas’ as she calls them – to me they seem to be leftover from prehistoric times.

We love to see the kitchen garden and there was a vast field of pumpkins and different gourds.

I loved the dahlias. BigR loved the gentian (Elsa flowers!). LittleR loved it all.

We’ve been decorating and finally the hallway is finished. The woodwork is painted and more importantly dry! It was a stress keeping our two girls away from the doors whilst they were drying! Now we’re trying life without a stair gate...although it might go back on upstairs just for peace of mind...

I love how light and fresh it feels, what a difference having colour on the walls makes. It really highlights the picture we bought in Cornwall (not shown in the photo, the picture at the top of the stairs is by an unknown (to us - there's no name!) Leeds artist). It's given it a new lease of life. After school this afternoon we went to get some photos of the girls printed to go along the stairs, we’ve had them portrait this time rather than landscape, and again, it looks really different.

It’s been a good week.

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.

Friday happies on a Friday

I can hardly believe it is Friday already this week. The time (especially as I’ve been off work) has just been zipping by. It’s been a couple of weeks of change not only in the season, there’s definitely more than a sniff of autumn in the air but also changes for us. BigR started school and turned 5. I survived a children’s party and the immense pressure of pass the parcel (who knew it was sooooo stressful? Making sure every child had a turn, making sure it wasn’t my child that ‘won’ the big prize – or maybe that’s just me?!). I also survived another bout of sickness which led to an extra couple of days off work for me to care for LittleR (she was fine but there was a 48 hour exclusion period after illness so she couldn’t go to nursery!). We’ve been switching things round at home too. Clearing a few things out – this time of year really appeals to my getting organised side. We’ve changed BigRs room a little bit by giving her a big girl bed and some new wardrobes now the old furniture doesn’t fit in the room (they’re still to be delivered and then built!). We’ve made upstairs a bit more play friendly by moving some toys into LittleRs room so it’s more of a play room for the girls too. I’m feeling exceptionally smug about my pinterest find for Barbie type dolls....it’s stopped me stepping on them. Of course, it could be they just have too many toys....

So in no particular order and joining in with Gillian, here are my happies.

The garden

I’ve been loving being outside. The ABO has been on lates so I’ve been doing the school pick up (still not quite used to that) and we’ve been having an hour in the garden before tea. It’s really helped to ensure a good night’s sleep for everyone! LittleR cannot get enough of being outside. Someone just has to mention the word garden and she’s off to get her shoes. She really cannot get enough of it.

We seem to have quite a few sunflower buds appearing. I thought they’d flower a lot earlier who knew they’d be perfect in September?

 I’m enjoying the second flurry of flowers my clematis are having. The deep red one was bought as it has the same name as LittleR (there’s also a heuchera in the garden with BigR’s name - no one is left out) and the purple one appeared in a flower pot of sweet peas my Dad gave me a few years ago. Can you see the green beetle in the purple one? I wonder if he thought he was shielded by the flower centre? Not sure what he is or if he’s a danger to my clematis but I was struck at the colour contrast.

We’ve had great success with our blueberries. I was a little bit quick off the mark and offered one to BigR about 3 weeks ago which she declared disgusting. An extra few weeks of ripening and they are delicious.

I’m also very pleased with the success of our pepper. It’s not very big but is turning a beautiful red colour. I wonder when it’ll be best to pick?

School

BigR is loving school. She didn’t cry. I didn’t cry. I ate biscuits and wondered about the house being quiet.

One thing I am amused by is the magic portal of the school bag. BigR comes home and messages are imparted via the magic portal. I am amazed by the sheer number of letters she has had already. Also, it has magical properties. She brings home a wonderful creation (or some tat – for example she may have brought home a 12 egg egg box filled with pom poms and wool cuttings and still wet pva glue) which we consider as decoration in various places in the house before LittleR grabs it and attempts to inhale the contents thereby it makes its way back into the magic portal not to be seen again.

We live opposite her school. This is good for a whole number of reasons. However one downside was realised today. The ABO was sorting something in his car boot and she was outside (in a lesson) which resulted in lots of shouting ‘Hello Daddy!!’. We joked that she’d be asking where we were if the car was not on the drive when she was at school!!

Birthday

BigR was 5 on Monday. Five. Five. How did that happen?
We all survived the party and the present opening and all the grandparents visiting before school in the afternoon. She had a fabulous time. She loved her ‘Frozen’ party and her ‘Elsa cake’ (which even though I say so myself, was delicious, and yes I had the final slice!).

Elsa barely leaves her side now.