It's my birthday...and other general chit chat

I'm 42 today.  I'm like WELL old...as Chatterbox would say.  Although, yesterday whilst I was cleaning at my Grandma's flat (she lives in sheltered housing) one of her very elderly neighbours came out to see why one of her windows was wide open (Grandma never opens her windows for fear of wasps and burglars), I was distressed to see this little old lady wearing exactly the same jacket as me!  A jacket that I thought was very hip and young looking! Perhaps I need to update my wardrobe? LOL

Hubby bought me a lovely bottle of single malt whiskey.  I am slightly suspicious that really he's bought himself a little present there!  But he did take the time to find an oak aged one, which I love.

The girls are having a sleepover at their nana's tonight and me and hubby are going out for a meal. Should be lovely. Yay!

Mum and Dad are coming around later for cake and coffee - two of my most favourite things - mmm cake and coffee.... The cake must be large and the coffee must be strong and black.

Well, I'm not sure I've ever shared a tour of pictures of our new (ish) house.  We moved here in November, so perhaps I'll take some time to take some photos later.

I mentioned in one of my other posts that I've been ill recently.  We think it was e coli and one of the places I could possibly have picked it up is cleaning out the cat litter tray.  So I'm slightly very paranoid about getting sick again because I was really, really poorly.  Hubby took a sneaky photo.

Hahaha, lookin' goooood! :D

Have a lovely day. xxx

Crafty

I was blessed with a number of plants this Christmas.  The Poinsettias came in regular brown pots and I didn't have anything to put them in, so I've decorated them all Christmassy.

This one was in a basket, but I thought it needed jazzing up a bit.

The next two came in rather nice pots, so I didn't need to change anything.  Does anyone know what the white flowers are in these two?  The flowers in the second pot are much bigger but seem to be of the same variety.

Chatterbox is upstairs with the flu, poor thing she was so feverish last night, I was a little worried.  She is still hot this morning but not as bad and is a little more cheerful.

Squidge has been busy in the meantime.

She is teaching herself to knit here.  It involves a great deal of getting very cross and frustrated and I'm not allowed to help! :)

I'll get my latest two Advent posts up later on today.  I must get on we have a dentist appointment.

Bathroom work, weekend, and update on Granddad

We are having our bathroom done finally.  But it's not been easy.  Our plumbing is old and complicated and our bathroom is small.  But in around 10 days all the work should be done.  I'll post some photos when it's all finished.

I'm blessed to have my mum and dad living close by so that we can use the shower and also just be at their house because it is SO cold at home because the heating has been turned off whilst they work.

Boots (the cat) is not impressed AT ALL.  All the banging and strangers in and out of the house has totally stressed her out.  Poor puddy-tat.

So right now I'm at my mum's, I've just done some ironing, had a shower and put a load of washing in her washer.

G came back yesterday from a trip to the Lake District for a friend's stag do (that's a bachelor party for my USA friends).  They did clay pigeon shooting, carting, paintballing, walking and biking.  He was exhausted, LOL. But he certainly got plenty of exercise! :)

Chatterbox has gone back to school today after time off sick.  Poor thing.  She's still not 100%, but well enough to go back I think.

I visited Granddad yesterday.  I didn't take the girls up to see him because of Chatterbox being poorly.  I waited in the hospital café whilst my mum and dad went up to see him. The plan was for mum to come down after a while and sit with the girls whilst I then visited Granddad.  It was quite cold so I ordered a coffee for me and hot chocolates for the girls.  They came in those cups with lids and stupidly I said to the girls to take the lids off so that the hot chocolate would cool quicker. Instead what happened was Squidge spilt hers all over the table, Chatterbox, the floor and her hand. It scalded her hand.  So I ran over to the chap behind the counter and he got me some iced water and some napkins to put on her hand.  I cleaned up and tended to Squidge's hand and it soon was fine again.  After about 15 minutes Mum and Dad turned up to take me to see Granddad.  I said to them, "You'll never guess what L's just done?" And with those words I demonstrated...far too well.  I spilt my coffee everywhere, including all over my new coat!  Well, we did laugh.  I said to the chap running the café, "I bet you rued the day we came into your café!"  Hoist by my own petard. LOL

Anyway, Granddad is not doing great, his chest is awful.  He has a drain fitted.  He's also not eating.  He looks so frail and he's so tired.  Please continue to pray.  Particularly for his salvation. Even if he comes through this he may not have many years left.  I'm so grateful for your prayers and love

So, that's where I am up to with things.  How was your weekend?

Friday's Fave Five #265

I'm joining Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and sharing my five favourite things from this week.

Visit Susanne for more Friday's Fave Fives

1. Bible College

I started my first week at Bible College.  I'm loving it already.  The full course is three days a week, but I can only do two as I care for Grandma on one of the days.  But that's fine.  At the moment we are learning about the Book of Zechariah, Book of Philippians, the Father Heart of God, and Fruits of the Spirit.  It's a lot to take in, but very enjoyable!

2. Getting my bathroom done

We are finally having our bathroom done.  When we moved into this house thirteen years ago the bathroom needed doing, and here we are FINALLY getting it sorted.  We are just having a very simple white suite and tiles.  It'll be lovely not to have that old blue suite anymore...or water intermittently coming through the kitchen ceiling!  I can hear the workmen banging and crashing away upstairs.

3.  The Pearl of Great Price

I have always understood the scripture about the Pearl of Great Price as being directed at us being the ones who seek out the Pearl.  But this week I attended our Ladies Night at church and we learned that WE are the Pearl of Great Price!  I think the scripture can be interpreted both ways, and to be honest I was rather dubious.  I wondered about it.  But then yesterday a chappie at Bible College taught about the Father Heart of God and guess what he said?  Yes, WE are the treasure in the field, WE are the Pearl of Great Price!  Either that is a great coincidence, or God is trying to tell me something. LOL

4. My Children

Every week I realise just how much I love my little girls...well Chatterbox is 12 now and Squidge is 9, not so little anymore.  They are beautiful, funny and so precious.

5. Spring Flowers

We've been very blessed not to have suffered from particularly bad weather like a lot of the UK has suffered in recent weeks.  It's been very wet - rain, rain, rain - but I've been able to get out into the garden and plant out narcissi, tulip, snowdrop bulbs and some primroses.  We've had no hard frost either.  I do want some snow though, not as bad as has been suffered by areas of the USA but just enough to go sledging, build a snowman and for the girls and G to get snow days away from work and school. :)
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Update on Granddad:
He's had a scan and it seems he has an infected gall bladder, which may mean he doesn't need an operation just a course of antibiotics.  Please keep praying.  He has a bad chest too, pray against pneumonia - always a danger in a man his age (95) who is stuck in a hospital bed.

Hugs.

Poorly Chatterbox and other tidbits

Chatterbox has been off school today.  She's got sore throat, headache, sore nose and tummy ache.  She looks so pale poor thing.

It was my first day at Bible College today and fortunately my Mum and Dad were able to look after her for the morning whilst I was out.  She lay on their settee playing games.

Bible College was fun.  There were three speakers today.  The focus was firstly about the counterfeit things the world and the devil offer us compared to the truth and wonder of God.  Then a chappie spoke about fruit of the Spirit and then another chappie taught some from Philippians.

Last night was fun too.  We had a ladies evening at church.  The topic was the pearl of great price and then afterwards we all got creative and made cards or bookmarks with all kinds of pearly and sparkly pretty things.

Right now I'm glad I have an easy tea to make because I am so tired.  Getting back into the swing of early mornings again after the Christmas break is always a bit of a shock to the system!

Someone's living the life of Riley!

Hope you're having a good day!

Blessings.

Good morning! Some more cooking

Good morning.  It's a grey day here.

It's back to school for the girls.  I think they have done all their homework. We had a slight panic this morning when we couldn't find Chatterbox's blazer.  I've paid for music lessons and school dinners.

Squidge's 'Learning Log' task this holiday was to design a modern sleigh for Father Christmas.

Bit of a shock to the system this morning getting up at 6.20 am. We won't be back into a routine for a few weeks though.  I start a course at a local Bible College this week and we are having the bathroom done.  At the moment we have a delightful (NOT) blue suite and regularly have leaks coming through the kitchen ceiling!  So I'm looking forward to a) having a lovely new bathroom; and, b) having a working shower!  Our shower is currently one of those hose type attached to the taps held on with cable ties.  Classy! :)

My Bible study course doesn't start until Wednesday and the chappie doing the bathroom isn't coming until Wednesday.  So today I'm hoping to get as much cleaning and washing done as possible; I also have some errands to run, like drawing some money out for their dancing lessons and Squidge's gymnastics.

Some more on my Journey into Loving Cooking.  On Saturday I made a beef stew in Guinness.  It wasn't to a recipe, and I couldn't taste the Guinness, but it was pretty tasty.  I think next time I do stew I will attempt dumplings.  I will look up how to cook in ale and still be able to taste it.

Anyway, I had some...stew 'juice'? 'gravy'? 'roue'? left,  I put it into the fridge and used it on Sunday in some homemade mushroom soup.  Again, not from a recipe.  I chopped up the mushrooms very small, added some water, milk and some cream cheese.  It was very nice with bread.  It could have done with being slightly creamier, but as I didn't do it from a recipe I think it went well.

Homemade mushroom soup

Sunday evening I made some pizza dough and then the girls and I made some pizzas.  They were delicious.  Except I used Cheddar cheese which is a bit too greasy for pizza I think.

My pizza dough is doughing...it grew to twice this size

I have since watched a video to see how to make one's pizza circular :)

Presentation could be better, but it was yummy!

I've learned a few lessons:
1. Use recipes more for success!
2. Don't put the dough to rise in the bowl that you used to mix the dough, when I took it out there were dried bits of dough stuck to it.  But it wasn't a big problem.
3. I need to start meal planning.  I do plan meals at the moment, but because I don't do a great deal of cooking from scratch I need to be more thorough to make sure I have all the necessary ingredients.

I think I'm doing well so far.  I've not burned down the kitchen yet. :)

Colour amidst the grey

It's cold, grey and damp today.  But I've managed to get out into the garden and hopefully we'll get some colour here and there.  My winter pansies are fading a bit so we need a bit of colour.  After planting out my narcissi daffodil bulbs that I'd saved in my shed I was itching to get out again and plant some primrose, snowdrops and tulips that I'd bought with my Christmas money.

Unfortunately, this photo is a bit blurred (I took it on my mobile phone camera), but it gives you an idea.

Today is going to be catching up on ironing whilst watching Pretty Woman and taking down the Christmas decorations

The house is fairly peaceful, the girls are busy and G is out at church helping with some sound equipment.

Yesterday's cooking went well (if you don't know I'm doing a journey into loving cooking!).  The fajitas were lovely.  I made my own spice mix with cornflower, cumin, paprika and chilli powder...no cayenne pepper because the girls don't really like food that is too hot and spicy, I also added some garlic, red and green peppers, and mushrooms.  We had guacamole and salsa (not homemade!), cheese and lettuce with it.  Delicious.  I might try my hand at burritos next time, just need to get the right beans, etc.

A journey into learning to love cooking - Day 1, well Day 2 actually

My name is Sarah, and I'm a mum who doesn't like cooking. *Sigh* quite an admission here in blogland. :)

From here

I like nice food.  I want my family to be healthy. I love my family and want the best for them. But me + cooking don't get on.

I have mageirocophobia - haha.  I just love a new word.

I'm not sure why I don't like cooking.  My mum never really seemed to enjoy cooking, she dislikes the fact that everyone is elsewhere chatting and enjoying themselves and she's in the kitchen cooking.  But she always cooks really nice meals.  I kind of feel the same, I like to be with people and it can be rather a lonely job.  My ideal would be to have a kitchen/diner with room for comfy seats so that I can be with the family when I cook...but right now that's not an option.  So I'll just have to suck it up. LOL

My other issue is attention span.  Here is a transcript of a typical conversation:

G:  What's that hissing noise?
ME:  I've no idea
[smoke alarm activates]
ME: Oh poo, I forgot, I was cooking.

I've burned frozen peas, yes frozen peas. I forgot to put water on them.  Forgetting to put water into a pan is a common problem.

My other issue is oven gloves.  I burn them.  I've had to evacuate the house a few times, twice for oven gloves and once for a grill tray handle that I had detached and put under the grill.  I worked for a few years in a school kitchen and I am renowned as the only person to have ever burned a hole in an oven cloth. :)  Amazing that they ever let me loose on the deep fat fryer!  G bought me some fire-proof oven gloves and I have burnt them.  It's a gift.  He's threatened to get me some welders gauntlets as a last resort.

It's the attention span, I'm rather like these dogs from the film Up! SQUIRREL!



I can be cooking away, someone says something to me and I totally forget that I am cooking awakened only by hissing and spitting sounds from the kitchen, or the smoke alarm going off.

Cheese on toast is a great problem.  I have actually sat staring at the grill pan whilst the cheese on toast cooks, I've drifted off into a daydream, and it's set on fire in front of my very eyes.

Anyway, 2014 is the year I'm going to start loving cooking...maybe.  I've set up a couple of cooking programmes to record for some inspiration - one is Jamie's Money Saving Meals and the other is The Taste with Nigella Lawson.

SQUIRREL!

What was I saying?...

Oh yes...

Day 1 - was actually yesterday.  We had homemade vegetable soup for lunch and roast chicken dinner for tea.

Day 2 - we had a quick lunch because we were going out, I just made eggs on potato waffles.  For tea I'm using up the leftover chicken to make some chicken fajitas.

So, have you had a good day? It's been cold, wet and miserable today.  I want to plant out some primroses, tulips and snowdrops.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better for that.  I'm planning to take down our Christmas decorations today or tomorrow too.

Here's to Sarah Super-Chef!

Day 2 of 2014

What have a done today?

Well, today I had an appointment with the dental hygienist.  Exciting, life on the edge type of stuff you know. :)  I'm not a huge fan of dental work, even simple hygiene work.  I spend the entire time trying not to gag or choke.

I've finally (and rather lately) planted out my daffodil bulbs.  Squidge and I ventured out into our soggy sodden garden to plant them out.  I'm praying we don't have a hard frost for a bit to give them a chance!

Chatterbox went up to Malham Cove with a friend today, so the rest of us had a...fun...ish...time emptying the shed and taking a load of stuff to the tip.  I've been on a real 'life laundry' thing at the moment and just want to throw everything away. The shed was full to overflowing!

I've done my weekly grocery shop.  Bought some pretty towels and tea-towels from TK Maxx with some of my Christmas money.  Now I'm blogging and roasting a chicken with various veggies and honey roast parsnips.

I've never really enjoyed cooking.  I haven't the temperament - I'm forgetful and impatient.  So things are either burned, I've forgotten to defrost something...one time I forgot to make an evening meal at all, or, I overestimate/underestimate the time things take to make/cook.  I find being in the kitchen boring.  BUT one of my goals for this year, is to eat healthily and to eat more things from scratch and to GET OVER hating cooking.  Maybe I'm a lost cause, but I am determined! I WILL ENJOY COOKING probably. I will share my successes, and, if I am brave, my failures. LOL

Here are a few fun photos from the last couple of weeks:

Chatterbox looking like a little [storm] trooper - she's quite the Star Wars fan

Put a box in the middle of the floor and the cat will sit in it

Photobomb!

The girls opening their presents on Christmas Day - can you see the cards on my fireplace? They'd all fallen off over night!

Success!

Here are my honey roast parsnips, a spoonful of runny honey, a little salt & pepper, mixed with some olive oil, smear over parsnips, cook for 30 minutes.

Yummy!

Hope your New Year has started well too! :) x

Plans for the future, and a bit about last night and today

I have made some New Year resolutions 'hopefuls'. I usually shy away from making fixed resolutions because I verge between perfectionist and phenomenally disorganised (not great bedfellows).  So, I've made lots of plans, but I am remembering that a) I need to allow myself to change my mind or let something go because I'm fickle a free spirit [ahem]; and b) that God warns us in James 4 not to make strict unbreakable plans because who knows what tomorrow will bring. So my plans are not so much set in stone, as set in putty. LOL :)

I have the usual plans to eat healthily - at least 5 portions of fruit & veg a day; drink more water; exercise for 15-30 minutes a day; get on top of the housework/clutter; and, generally be absolutely awesome!

Today has gone a bit awry, Hubs has been called into work to deal with a leak - boooo! The girls have gone with him so the house is quiet, which is nice really.

I've done a load of washing, cleaned up the front door, made a batch of carrot and coriander soup, done a spot of shopping at the supermarket and now I'm blogging! :)

We had an interesting evening.  The teenage girl next door invited some friends around and the noise was deafening it was like there was a herd of elephants running up and down the stairs with the boom of music in the background.

We went to bed about 1 am and I put my earplugs in to try to get some sleep.  About 4 am my earplugs had worked their way out and I could hear an almighty argument going on next door with lots of choice language and screaming.  G was awake so I asked him what was going on.  Apparently mum had returned in the early hours and started screaming about the house being wrecked.

We get up this morning and there is glass and beer cans all over the street, one of our neighbour's fences has been kicked down, there's glass in people's gardens, and bizarrely tea lights strewn across our lawn!  Praise God there was no damage to our house.  We saw the mum and her daughter claims her party was crashed by some boys and they wrecked the house.  Oh dear.  G helped one of the other neighbours sweep up the street. If it was up to me I'd have made the girl whose party it was clear up!

I don't think we've ever had a quiet new year. One day I'll have a house with really quiet neighbours! God willing!!

We plan to get the house ready to sell this year.  We're having a new bathroom put in (our old one is falling apart and we have intermittent water coming through the kitchen ceiling as a result).  I've also started bits and bats of decorating.

So, do you have any 'resolutions' or plans for the year?  Did you have a quiet new year or a did your new year start with a 'bang'? :)

A blog a day keeps Facebook at bay

Well, it's the last post in my 7 posts in 7 days.

I really have no inspiration what to post about.

The other night I dreamed I'd got four numbers on the lottery.  I was very disappointed to discover that I'd only won £14.99.

So when I got up I told my hubby. "I dreamed we got four numbers on the lottery.  All we won was £14.99, what was that all about?"

"When did we start playing the lottery?!" Sayeth the G in incredulity.

"It was a dream! Chuh, you never listen to my stories properly."

I then saw Mum.

"Mum, I had a dream last night that I got four numbers on the lottery and only won £14.99! Wonder why I dreamed that?"

"Is that all you get for four numbers?  When did you start playing the lottery?"

"IT WAS A DREAM!"

No-one listens to me.

LOL

Day 4 - the blogging challenge starts to take its toll

I'm taking part in Jen from Conversion Diary's 7 Posts in 7 Days Epic Blogging Challenge.

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I had a lovely birthday.  The hubster and I went out for a meal, it was delightful.  Except it didn't agree with my stomach.  I was awake 'til silly-o'clock with a very large and growly belly.  I often have stomach issues, it's the cross I have to bear [note melodramatic tone].

We are on holiday in Cornwall with my Mum and Dad at the moment.  When I came down in the morning Mum had decorated the living room of the cottage we are staying in with streamers and...wait for it...Red Nose Day balloons! No expense spared on the decorations then. LOL

We visited St Michael's Mount during the day.  It's an old castle and church, there used to be a monastery there.  It is so called as there is a legend about some fishermen seeing Archangel St Michael in 495 AD standing high on a rocky ledge.  

Ay me! Whilst thee the shores and sounding seas
Wash far away, where'er thy bones are hurl'd;
Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides,
Where thou perhaps under the whelming tide
Visit'st the bottom of the monstrous world,
Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied,
Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old,
Where the great vision of the guarded mount
Looks toward Namancos and Bayona's hold:
Look homeward Angel now, and melt with ruth;
And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth.

~Lycidas, John Milton

I have lots of photos, but I'll upload them when I get home I think.  Here's one from my phone camera:

St Michael's Mount is accessible on foot during low tide and we walked over, we got back just a the water was starting to cover the path.  The above photo was taken as the water had become too deep to cross on foot.

After that we drove back and got ready to go out for our meal.

A lovely day...apart from the stomach issues, ha.

Hugs.

A sit down and a cup of tea...

Wow, a sit down and cup of tea.

Lovely...so what have you done today?  I'll tell you alllll about my day. :)

My day has been busy but productive.  I cleaned Grandma's flat today, it is sooooo hot in there.  She lives in terror of "THEM WASPS" (the 'a' pronounced as in 'apple' lol), bless her, so the windows are only open the tiniest crack.  I was rather perspiring somewhat, but it's had a right good clean. I was a bit naughty whilst she showered I opened all the windows wide for a bit to let some air in.

I've been so busy catching up on cleaning at home too.  But it's time for a sit down before I make tea (evening meal tea I mean).

I'll tell you it's lovely here right now, the sun is tempered by a haze, there's a lovely breeze and I can hear the beautiful tones of Kate Rusby ringing out (on the stereo she's not in my kitchen or anything).

You Belong to Me by Kate Rusby:



...oh, and I can also hear Chatterbox annoying Squidge by yelling the tune to Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach at the top of her voice upstairs, LOL.

This evening we are going to see Despicable Me 2 tonight at the cinema with a couple of friends from church.  I love Gru, really looking forward to it.

Hugs.

Another bend in the road...

From Flickr

Well, I'm so excited!  It's a new beginning.  Another bend in the road, if you will.

As of today, I'm no longer an employee of anywhere except my family (LOL).  Our family has had a hard past year and we made the decision that it would be better for all if I could stop work and just concentrate on family things.  So, I'm now going to help Mum care for Grandma and just look after my family for now.  It was a scary decision, I had a great job at a school, but it needed to be done and I am so grateful that we are in a position that I am able to do this.

I would be grateful for your prayers for my husband, who has found out he has some health problems, for my Mum who has had some health issues, for my wider family too...and for me too, I'm so fatigued with all the stress and a busy job and family...etc.

Here's to family!

Hugs.

The best laid schemes...

O' [Sarah], Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain.

Aye, Rabbie Burns knew what he was talking about.

Yes I have grand plans for the day, and I am ignoring the sense of impending doom that often clouds my big plans.

I AM GOING TO SORT OUT MY FILING!

This is my confident proclamation for the day.  The small print says that this will mean that by the time G gets home from work the house will be awash with a sea of paper and I will have a headache and be a bit grumpy.

But I don't ever read the small print, so I forge ahead.

Such a cute picture, just like my Boots.  From here: Flickr

It's a lovely day today. The sun is shining.  The washing is on the line.  The guinea pigs are pigging around the lawn hopefully reducing our need to get the lawnmower out. :)

I am absolutely not noticing the finger-prints and dust on the living room window that the sunshine is highlighting, no, it's not there, I can't see it. ;)

I have plans to pull out dandelions in the garden too, but one thing at a time.

Have a lovely day. xxx

Stuff and nonsense

I don't know why the title. LOL

It's been a wonderful Easter holidays, the girls have been off school and I've been off work since Good Friday, we all return on Monday next week.

I'm quite nervous returning to work.  I have been working in the school kitchen now for almost three years, but on Monday I start work in the school office.  It's more hours over four days a week.  It'll be interesting at first getting into a new routine, so if I don't post here or visit your blog you'll understand!  I'm rather nervous because it's more hours, but rather excited because I'm back in a job I think I do well - those who know me know that catering in any form is not my biggest talent! :)

So last week we did two exciting things - we visited the Lake District (see my previous post for some AMAZING photos of the beautiful landscape) and we bought a new car!  Well, new to us.  It's so SHINY!

This week so far I've visited Granddad (Dad's dad) on Monday with the girls, he's doing well - thank you to those blog friends who have been praying for him, please continue to pray though. In the afternoon Chatterbox had a friend over for tea, which was fun.  Yesterday I went to see my Grandma (Mum's mum) in the morning, in the afternoon me and the girls did some drawing and then went on a bit of a walk. Today I need to try to get some cleaning and ironing done.  Tomorrow I'm not sure...

Hope you're having a great week! :)

Still enjoying the sunshine and pesky Vikings!

Well, it's another gorgeous day.  I didn't have a great start though.

Squidge has a Viking Day at school.  She has dressed up as a Viking and she had to take in Viking-like food.  One of the items was crusty bread.  So I set a loaf to bake in the bread machine whilst I went out to church group last night.  When I got back the bread hadn't risen properly and was uncooked and very yeasty in the middle.  So I got up early this morning and baked another one...then I extended the bake.  It had risen and was a lovely golden colour, but no!  It was yeasty, doughy and uncooked in the middle and in various places!  What is going on?

So of course then there's a mad dash to the local shop for some crusty bread, G can't go to work until I come back because we only have one car and he's late to pick someone up.  Finally we get everything together, set off for school for me to realise halfway there that I've forgotten the apple juice.  So we turn around...EVENTUALLY my little Viking is at school - hopefully she will enjoy her Viking dinner!

Anyway, I'm sitting here with the laptop on my knee watching the guinea pigs through the window.  I've put them on the grass for a little bit of sunshine.  They love to eat the grass - perhaps if I got enough guinea pigs we would never need to mow the lawn again.

Guinea pigs enjoying the sunshine

Of course, you-know-who turns up for a gander.  She is fascinated by them...likes to sit on top of their cage on occasion.  She doesn't seem to bother them though.

"Aha!", said Boots, "Dinner!"

"Ha, ha!" said the guinea pigs, "You can't get at us!"

So, EVEN MORE EXCITING, I have washing on the line - *sigh* it just thrills my soul.

Such a joyous sight!

One of my baskets has tiny daffodils blooming, I have two more pots which haven't yet bloomed.

Spring has sprung.

Mum brought me some daffodils from Marks & Spencer for 10p!  Bargain. :)  You can see them in the next picture, I love spring flowers, so cheery after the winter months.

On the picture below you can see various little clay pots, etc. that the girls have made for me over the years, right from the green blob on the left that Chatterbox made me in nursery.

Kitchen windowsill

Well, I'd better get ready for work!

Have a lovely day, I hope that Spring is springing near you soon! :)

It's a beautiful day...

...but it's cold!  So bitter.  But I just love these crisp days.  The sun is shining, it's frosty and fresh.  We've had some snow flurries yesterday, but today it's pretty clear.  I've hung my washing out - and as you know this brings me untold joy! LOL.  The cat is sunning herself outside, all is well with the world. :)

I've been having a clear out, which always makes me feel a bit freer somehow - less stuff I guess.  Spring is on its way, the nesting instinct is always strong at this time of year.  I'm not going to make myself overwhelming spring cleaning plans, but I will clean and organise as the mood takes me.

Have a super dooper day! :)

Happy Homemaker Monday - 4th March 2013

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The Weather:
Sunny, but cold.  I've actually got some washing hanging outside on the line, which always makes me happy!

Right now I am:
Drinking some Coke and eating Cadbury Twirl Bites - Mmmmm *dribble*.  I might make myself a coffee in a minute, G broke our coffee jug last week and the replacement finally came today. Huzzah!

Thinking:
That I might just get to do some gardening this week, and also that I need to go out and check whether my washing has dried and do some ironing. :)

On my reading pile:
Haha do you really want to know?  Well here's a picture:

Well, there's various Bibles...but bookwise I am reading The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid - it's a crime thriller.  I'm reading How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie - which someone from church lent me.  Lioness Arising by Lisa Bevere - again lent to me by someone from church, but I'm struggling to finish it, I'm not sure it's for me.  Me and My Big Mouth by Joyce Meyer - I've almost finished it, but have slowed down due to the amount of books I've got going on.  On my Kindle I'm reading How to be Assertive in Any Situation by Sue Hadfiled and Gill Hasson.

The other books you can see in the picture is the Power of Praying collection by Stormie OMartian - I dip into this every so often.  Effortless Change by Andrew Womack - Mum's lent me it.  Why Pro-life by Randy Alcorn - G brought it home from work.  The Book of Common Prayer - I'm dipping into it for the Lenten prayers and scriptures.  Light for My Path - scriptures for every situation, sent to me ages ago by my bloggy friend Michele.  Domestic Tranquility: A Brief Against Feminism by F. Carolyn Graglia.

I bet you're glad I shared all that aren't you ;)

On my TV:
Ooooh, new season of CSI.
Person of Interest
Rev series 1 so funny

Favourite blog post this week:

It's not a post from this week, but I read it this week :)  It's Answering the Question of Suffering Without Words by Jennifer Fulwiler, I have some thoughts on suffering myself, but I will perhaps share that another time. Jennifer Fulwiler is a atheist to Catholic convert and I always enjoy reading her thoughts on various topics.  Here's a quote:

"And so when we are asked "Where is your God when people suffer?" and we can't seem to find the right words, the crucifix provides its own, wordless response: He is right here, suffering with us."

Yes, Christ understands because He has suffered it all, has been tempted by it all.  He understands.

Something fun to share:
Haha, Taylor Swift I Knew You Were Trouble (Goat Edition), really made me and G chuckle:


On the menu for this week:

In no particular order:

Chicken in white wine sauce and rice
Pork loin steaks
Lasagne
Salmon
...and then I go shopping

On my to-do list:
Ironing
Clean kitchen floor
Clean bathroom and toilet

What I am sewing, knitting, creating:
Nothing, the only thing creative I've been doing recently is writing.

Homemaking tips:
If you're feeling overwhelmed it's amazing what 5 minutes tidying in each room, working your way round the house, can do to improve your sanity.

Looking around the house:
Spilt guinea pig food I've found at the back of a cupboard, G playing Medal of Honour on the Wii (he's off work sick with a flu-bug), sunlight filtering through the living room curtains heralding spring!

From the camera:

Sneaky crocus that I never planted has appeared - a lovely surprise.

On my prayer list:
A friend who has difficult family issues to deal with.
My mum
My granddad
G and his flu-bug

Bible verse / Devotional:
"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." Luke 7:47

Lord let me be filled with gratitude for your love and forgiveness towards me.  I have sinned much, but I have been forgiven much too.  Let me offer a response of love towards You Lord, but also towards those whom I might otherwise look down upon because of their sins, instead remembering that I have been forgiven much and therefore I ought to love much.  Let my gratitude overflow with mercy. Amen.

Weekend

We had a bit of a silly Saturday.  When we were eventually ready to go out for the day we decided to go visit a picturesque village about an hour away from our house...but when we got there it was three cottages and that's all. Not much to see.

Noticing a sign advertising a local stately home which was a short drive away and had a restaurant we thought we'd try there, but it was shut!  I did get this lovely picture in the gardens though:

So by now we are starting to get very hungry for some lunch.  We drove to a farm that takes visitors, but it turned out it would be £28 for us and all it seemed to be was a muddy field with three very fed-up looking donkeys.  It certainly didn't look worth the money.

Faint with hunger...LOL...we drove to a nearby town to visit a museum, but we couldn't find any parking.  When we did eventually park up we realised that we weren't allowed to park there and the museum was now just a restaurant which we couldn't stay to eat in because we couldn't find anywhere to park legally!

Decidedly fed-up we got back into our car drove around and found an ASDA, bought some snacks and then drove to a shopping centre where we had lunch/tea.

Talk about a waste of a day! :)  Better luck next Saturday I hope.