I do love it when the kids get slightly unusual Christmas presents and one of Little Miss C's uncles really came up trumps this year (not that the other two uncles didn't, if you're reading, as the kids love all their presents too thank you!) with a flowerpot bread making kit. Flowerpot bread you may think - what on earth? The idea's quite simple really. You make bread, but rather than put it in a traditional bread tin or on a baking tray in the oven, you instead bake it in terracotta flowerpots. It's incredibly easy to do and a great activity to do with kids, so here's my how to ... read more
In love with … Radio 4
As much as I completely love my daughter I have to admit that if we're just the two of us at home together then the conversation is a bit one way. I'm sure she has some very deep considered views on the state of the country and how the coalition government is working out, but at the moment she seems to be keeping those views to herself. After several hours without adult conversation I do find that I need something to keep me sane and a re-discovery of Radio 4 is meeting that requirement rather well. No where else can you get such a range of audio delights and a typical day can ... read more
Food for thought
Although we didn't get any snow, yesterday was a very grey day. Even by nine o'clock in the morning the skies still looked very heavy and made it see much earlier than it was. A day that needed to be spend inside the house. A fresh batch of scone (from a tried and tested Delia recipe) enjoyed with a cup of tea and catching up with the BBC Cranford series (how did I miss this when it was originally on TV?). Lovely. It also gave me time to make great progress with a second bootee, this time to match the version 2 one that I completed earlier in the week. The other thing ... read more
Am I a Yappy?
According to tonight's thelondonpaper it seems that I'm a "Yappy". The article doesn't seem to be on their website so I'll summarise here for you.Apparently a "Yappy" is a Young Aged Pensioner; young people who rather than go out, instead stay in and knit, make jam and tend their allotments. In an article by Johnny Vaughan he asks whether or not this is a result of the credit crunch that's currently hitting us, or possibly something else.Thinking about it I've probably been a Yappy for a while now. I don't (yet) have an ... read more
Evening entertainment
Saturday night at home. Mr C and I used to play a lot of Scrabble against each other. Recently we've been busy with other things, but tonight the board was dusted down and the book that's necessary to prevent arguments found on the bookshelf. We still play with the set that originally belonged to my parents and we take the scores very seriously with an excel spreadsheet that plots our scores and personal averages.Annoyingly Mr C won. Again. ... read more