Wednesday 31 October 2012

Project 366 305/366

Used a mask and a bat from our baking the other week, and have added a few effects in picmonkey to give me the final picture.



Tuesday 30 October 2012

Project 366 304/366

Manage to find time for a walk today, been a hectic last week.

A nice walk along the river, and its weird that there are lots and lots of autumnal leaves on the ground but the trees still look green.





A quick guide to Christmas flower arrangements




Learning some simple techniques on flower arranging can be all you need to get you and your family into the best of spirits for this festive season - and can save you money too by becoming the next DIY queen.

A home-made centrepiece for your dinner table made of Christmas plants, flowers and candles looks amazing, and flowers also make ideal gifts.

If you are truly creative and want to take on the task yourself, you could always look at some of Interflora UK’s Christmas flower arrangements for inspiration and give someone a creatively unconventional Christmas gift this year.

White represents peace, which is after all what Christmas is all about. A selection of white roses, lilies and freesias in a clear vase tied with a gold ribbon look wonderful.

Alternatively, surround a large white pillar candle in a gold stand with some evergreen plants – gardenia has small white flowers which will add to the effect.




Create your own seasonal ornaments to complement your flower centrepiece. Spray pine cones gold and dip bunches of grapes in sugar syrup to turn them silvery and make them 

Arrange these in a wide, shallow bowl with a mixture of colourful, seasonal fruits and intersperse with your favourite Christmas flowers, cutting the stems down in keeping with the height of this arrangement.
Sending a loved one a Christmas hamper lets them know you care, especially when you take time to fill it with all their favourite things. Layer their favourite seasonal treats in a nice basket and give the arrangement height by adding a bottle of wine and a well-presented bunch of flowers. Include seasonal poinsettia for a traditional feel. 


This is a sponsored post.

Project 366 303/366

Had no children yesterday, they had other things on more important than coming her, but such is life.

Sharing with you a picture of a wall hanging in the children's room, made with my own fair hands. Its' actually a floor rug but too nice too put on the floor.






Project 366 302/366

Playing catch up with the posts, took them, not exciting as life has been hectic, but sum up my life nicely.

smoke pork sausage omelette  for tea.

Monday 29 October 2012

Show me your pumpkins

This is a linky being run by The Boy and me


Instagram and twitter are full of everyone's fantastic carvings at the moment, and so I thought I'd set up a linky for you to show off your pumpkins! Pumpkin carving seems to bring out the artist in all of us.
Please join in below with your carvery skills, show off your witches, wizards, ghouls and goblins.
If you don't have a blog, link up the Instagram or twitpic URL.


so I will share mine with you 



also want to share this other one with you, it was made by E across the road, who does piercings for a living.





Saturday 27 October 2012

Project 366 301/366

Hubby has spent a lot of this week on a bit of a mercy mission, so again I am home alone.


Friday 26 October 2012

Foodie Foto Friday

Joining in with Helen, you can too at The Crazy Kitchen . Foodie photo friday is just what it says...a picture of food I have made.



Tonight I made a chocolate and banana bread and butter pudding, to use up some bananas I had. Sprinkled with coconut. Added drinking chocolate with the egg and milk mix and layered the bananas between the bread.


topped off with oatly cream



Cottage Croquet set - a review

I was offered a cottage croquet set from Garden Games  for me and the children to play with. It is one of many croquet sets that they have on off. So as it was not raining when they were here the last time we went out to play with it. The park would have been ideal but the grass in the park would have been more suited to swimming costumes and arm bands, so we used the patch of grass round the side of the house, and no I didn't notice the sign that said no ball games 



Garden games tell us
This smaller sized set is ideal for the smaller garden, adult beginners and children. The 4 hardwood mallets are 32 1/2 inches long with smaller sized heads. The set contains 4 lighter weight full sized balls, lighter weight steel hoops, hard wood winning post and rules. Everything you need to enjoy the game in full. The Croquet Set comes packed in a zip fastening nylon bag with handles for portability. A perfect set for the family to start out with, croquet is an all time family favourite and can be enjoyed by the whole family. 

complete with the storage bag
So we went out and set up the hoops and the finishing post. We did not spread them out the way that was recommended as it looked to complicated for Bob to follow, and playing games should be fun not stressful or argumentative.

mallet nearly as big as Bob


Bob is six, but the size of an average three year old so he found the mallets rather to big for him, I think had I been buying one with young children and seeing just how big there mallets really are I may have gone for the Sandford Croquet Set which has two smaller mallets mores suited to young children, Ours I think even if Bob had been an average six year old would have been a bit big and heavy.

Fifi was a better size


We had fun with the game, and I think like any game it really is about the interaction between adult and children that the children get the biggest buzz out of.




Bob getting some help


Bob did need some help else he would have ended up doing either himself or somebody else and injury with the mallet. Fifi did mange this quite well on her own. Everybody had fun, and we hope to get more use out of this game next summer, if we get a summer anyway.

We were sent the set in return for an honest review.

Project 366 300/366

gosh 300 pictures, 300 insights into what makes my life unique, different and mine, 300 highs and lows of my year so far, and Im still loving it and still going strong.

My car is unavailable to me this week, and so I have been walking, cycling and using taxis. Today I walked, it was a pleasant if cold morning. and there are a few streets round here where the trees grow in the edge of the road....strange but true. Thought I would share one such street with you. The trees grow in the edge on both sides all the way round this crescent.

 

Thursday 25 October 2012

Project 366 299/366

Well the work has started, I come back and the pavement is gone. This can only mean more chaos.


Wednesday 24 October 2012

Project 366 298/366

Was round visioning a friend earlier today, and took this from her balcony, just liked the way the sun was hitting it. Very few trees in the parks round here are changing colour so it was nice to see. Was tempted to go kick my way through the piles of leaves but I resisted the temptation.


Tuesday 23 October 2012

Project 366 297/366

Took my car for a treat  some essential maintenance today....and took this picture while I was waiting on it.




Monday 22 October 2012

Messing around at Auchincruive Estate

We pass Auchincruive Estate  on the route between my grandchildren's house and mine. So as it was not raining we stopped off to see if there were any apples on the tree, and to run off some energy.


Round the edge of two of the fields  there are various pieces of keep fit equipment that the general public can use.


Over the jumps


Bob tries to copy Fifi, but he was not big enough to push himself up and got stuck, he couldn't get up and he couldn't get back down. so I had to go and rescue him. Silly sausage that he is.




the tongue must help to balance

up and over the top

balancing act across the wooden bars

Linking this up to

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

We made Halloween cakes.

We decided we would make some cakes today to help keep the children amused and feed them at the same time.

Pretty standard recipe for Fifi's except we used carotino oil for its orange colour instead of margarine.

Bobs was a standard recipe for Bob friendly cakes with the carotino oil as well.





Bobs icing was a bit runny.



I let Fifi loose with an icing set to decorate hers with lemon flavoured orange coloured butter icing. First time I have let her use one, she did well.





Project 366 296/366

I picked the children up today as my daughter had a funeral to go to, so we stopped off at Auchencruive estate to run off some energy on the way to my bit. Sometimes Fifi is just so beautiful not.



TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

Sunday 21 October 2012

Project 366 295/366


Took a drive to the shop for bread and milk, and was going to get chips to eat whilst we watched the sun go down. But when I got to the shop....I didnt have my purse.....so we raided the loose change out of the unused ashtray and bought ilk, and headed to the beach regardless for a walk.

So I took a mass of pictures and wasn't sure which one I preferred so I numbered them on my desktop and ask somebody to pick 1,2,or 3. So 3 it is.


sunset taken in the car mirror.



just in case you are curious I will also add 1 and 2 in that order.



a silhouette of a couple taking pics of the sunset 

same couple, different angle

really need to click on them to appreciate them totally. 

Saturday 20 October 2012

Project 366 294/366

I am doggy sitting again today, but at least time I was asked in advance and had chance to agree. I went through to the kitchen to make tea, and when I turn round there he was sitting patiently waiting, not sure what for, but waiting none the less.





He has had his tablets, been for a walk, and is now settled down at the end of the couch.



Friday 19 October 2012

Project 366 293/366

This is the area at the end or our cul-de-sac that the council are going to be building houses on. It was an overflow car park. The council came and did research about 18 months ago to see how many of us use it as a car park. I do think they had their own agenda when asking and not just doing it to be nice to us.

Why do we not use it they ask?  .....well I think the puddle that is deep enough to go over your wellies as you drive in may be the giveaway - I mean would you take your car through it?




Cooking with a pumpkin

I used a pumpkin as my 366 picture the last two nights, and today I have been using the pumpkin to cook with, which was after all the main reason for buying it.



So first off I made pumpkin bread

Ingredients

12 oz Einkorn flour
12 oz white bread flour
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon instant yeast
8oz milk
1 1/2 tablespoon oil
6 oz cooked pumpkin pulp




warm milk and place in bottom of bread machine pan.
add oil to pan

Place rest of ingredients in pan with yeast on top.

Set machine to a white loaf, soft crust.

I served mine with lacto free cheese spread, tomato and parma ham.


Pumpkin Cakes

I got a request from E to take her some of these across as she wanted to try some, so they were made egg free especially.

8 oz dairy free margarine
8 oz coconut sugar
6oz tofu
1lb flour
8oz cooked pumpkin pulp
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 bag choc chips
few handfuls raisins

Cream marge and sugar together.
Add tofu, pumpkin and cinnamon and mix.
Mix in flour. and then split into half.
In one half stir in choc chips, the other half add the raisins

Put into cake cases and cook for approx 12 mins at 180oC

Once cool decorate to suit,the choc chip ones I melted chocolate and covered in sprinkles. The raisin ones I just left as were.


Pumpkin and lentil soup.

1lb carrots
3 sweet potatoes
2 onions
1/2 pumpkin
2 ham stock cubes
6oz lentils
1oz pot barley

Peel and slice vegetables, add to a large pan. Add 2 pints water, the stock cubes, the pot barley [3and the lentils. Cook for approx 30 mins or until vegetables are cooked.





linked items came from Healthy Supplies, but the recipes and ideas are my own.



Thursday 18 October 2012

Project 366 292/366

Yesterday I shared a pumpkin with you, today you are seeing it cooked ready to be pulped, tomorrow it will be pumpkin cakes and pumpkin bread, might mae that tomorrows picture, well I lead such an exciting life what else do you expect?

cooked ready for pulping and the seeds roasted

Project 366 291/366

I bought a pumpkin to do some cakes with and thought it would make a good picture, but hubby had other ideas and decided to play with it first.


my version and his version.


Wednesday 17 October 2012

The Photo Gallery - Old

Love some of the themes that Sticky Fingers comes up with for her gallery - this week the theme is old. 

This is one of the very first pictures of my paternal grandparents that shows my mother, this must have been about 1955. My mother is on the left. I have such happy happy memories of spending time with my paternal grandparents, dont remember huge amounts abut my maternal grandparents as we never spent the same amount of time with them, and they went to live in Australia about 1970 and we never saw them again.






Tuesday 16 October 2012

Project 366 290/366

Our children are on October holidays at the moment so it is quite nice as I do not have to put them to bed early or take them home the minute they get up and dressed in the morning.

Today Fifi was happily amusing herself with hama beads, a flea on a hot brick sits still longer than she has the attention span for anything she is doing normally. I was shocked, she spent over two hours in the kitchen today playing with these. Guess I know what to buy her for her birthday as she wants to make Christmas decorations with them.

But granddad had to go in and torment her, as per usual.






TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky

Do YOU know how to use an Epi-Pen?

Bob carries two Epi-pens as part of his emergency kit. These pens are changing their style and colour. My daughter has been provided with a "training" pen. It looks and acts like a really pen, but obviously has no needle or adrenalin in.  The training pen is very handy as we can all use it, play with it, become comfortable with it, see how it feel and works, so that in the event of Bob actually needing to have it used on him we will all feel comfortable and confident to use it correctly.
My daughter, in her wisdom, feels that as many people as possible should learn to use this as one day it may save either her sons life, or that of some passing stranger. Schools and other organisations readily teach basic first aid but no first aid course I have ever been on has had Epi-pen training as part of it. My daughter has had a fast response paramedic turn up to treat Bob but had no idea how to use a pen as she had not been trained.

So over the weekend she spent time allowing the children, Fifi's friend K ( who spends a lot of time with the family) K's mum and various others to use the pen, which unlike a real one is able to be re-set, until they all felt comfortable with it. Now while Fifi or K will never be made responsible for Bob, who never goes out without an adult, they may at some stage find themselves with him and a panicking adult and they hopefully should remember what they have learnt and take over and use the pen on him.

So whilst I had the children last night Fifi very proudly taught granddad and I what she had learnt by way of training us on how to use it.



You need quite a bit of strength to get the pen to click. The instructions say "from a height of approx 10cm" but the children are using it from further away than that to make sure their is enough strength behind their swing to get it to fire. Bob cannot manage to get it to fire but knows how to instruct somebody else to use it. Ideally it should be used in the outer thigh of the patient, rather than on top as Fifi is doing for convenience as she is sat down.

I am sharing this with you as allergy sufferers are growing in number and it should give you the confidence to use one if you may ever be called upon to do so.

To acknowledge their achievement they all go a certificate to say they had passed the training.

Monday 15 October 2012

Project 366 289/366

Auntie Heather is often off on a Monday and when she is she comes over to spend time with us and the kids. After tea tonight we got out some board games. Auntie Heather was losing at ludo and so decided to sulk.....and Fifi and Bob said this has to be the picture of the day.



So here we are


Auntie Heather sulking during ludo. 

Sunday 14 October 2012

Project 366 288/366

At work today one of the girls was retiring. So being the nice people we are in our break time we threw her a wee goodbye party. We all brought in a few munchies, presented her with flowers and got her a cake.

Enjoy your retirement Jean I will miss you and your thingamummyjigs, your whatyoumacallits your whogemaflips and your daft ways. Goodbye and good luck Jean, it has been a pleasure to know you and a privilege to work with you.

Hope the presentation from your own shift was not too emotional.

She was even lovely enough to allow me to use her picture as my picture of the day.