Our veg plot has come along in leaps and bounds recently, even more so when I look back at how it was a couple of months ago (then again where have the last couple of months gone???) Being so busy that I don't have time to check on it every day means that when I do go and take a look I am always amazed at just how much things have sprung up. Keeping on top of the weeding and generally keeping the plot tidy has been a tad difficult of late, but we are at least reaping the benefits from our first attempts at growing our own. Over on the right hand side of the ... read more
One pair of Hands – Monica Dickens
I did manage to squeeze in one more Monica Dickens book before Little Miss C's arrival finishing it only a few hours before I went into labour: One Pair of Hands. In this book Dickens pulls together a series of vignettes of what it is like to be a cook in a variety of households. It's not that she is a career cook or anything like that, but more that she thought she ought to get a job and realised that there was not much that she was qualified for. Some embellishments about what she learnt in various finishing school type places means that an agency soon finds her a first ... read more
Introducing Little Miss C…
She's here! Baby C arrived last Thursday morning in the form of completely adorable Little Miss C. I realised I'm biased etc, but she's just completely scrumptious as far as I'm concerned. The less said about the birth itself the better. Not quite how I planned things, but I'm still very happy with the end result.The last five days have been a steep learning curve for both us and her, but we're getting there and even planning our first little trip out later today. I'll try and keep you updated on here with progress, but until I master one-handed typing whilst ... read more
My Turn to Make the Tea – Monica Dickens
I'm still here waiting for Baby C to make an appearance so I've been cracking on with some more of my Monica Dickens collection. My Turn to Make the Tea was next on the shelf and was written based on Dickens' experiences working on a local newspaper. Now, I know a few people who either do or have worked on local papers so I was intrigued to see if Dickens' version of events fitted in with the modern day world that my friends have found and in a word it seems that very little, other than the technology, has changed. There may now be computers ... read more
Kate and Emma – Monica Dickens
For some reason (and I'm not completely sure why) I have quite a large collection of books by Monica Dickens on my shelves. All of them old Penguin copies with orange spines. I've no idea what prompted me to buy them all, but I do seem to recall having had them for a while. In comparison with today's books they are nice and thin though which means that when I've been looking for something physically light to read I've been drawn towards this part of the shelf. For those of you not aware Monica Dickens is the great-grandaughter of Charles Dickens and ... read more
The Secret Adversary – Agatha Christie
The pain in my hands has reduced enough to be able to hold some books, but this does mean that my reading at the moment is dictated by books that I have thin, lightweight paperback editions of! The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie is one that falls into this category. I went through a phase of reading Agatha Christie books when I was doing my finals at university. The main reason was that they were just enough to distract me from what I had been doing during the day if I read a few chapters before going to sleep at night. The fact that the charity shop below the flat ... read more
Hummingbird Bakery Chocolate Muffins
Life is greatly improved when you add a chocolate muffin and cup of tea to it! Muffins from the recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. Slight deviation in that I used chocolate chips rather than a bar of chocolate broken into pieces. Still tasted good though - I just need to learn how to stop the chocolate pieces sinking to the bottom! ... read more
Home grown salad
More photos and less words are what is needed in blog posts here at the moment. The first "harvest" from our veg plot as served up for dinner the other night. So much more satisfying than having bought a bag of the stuff from the supermarket - and tastier too! ... read more
NTTVBG catch up
Reading is something that has taken quite a hit of late, mainly because I'm struggling to hold a book and just generally find sitting or lying in one position really uncomfortable. I've therefore been falling behind a bit in my reading challenge for the first half of 2010. In particular I've missed the last two NTTVBG discussions online. I really did try with The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan and was seriously hoping to join in the chat about this one, but to be honest the book just got the better of me! I struggled so much to get into this and ... read more
The joys of pregnancy…
I thought I knew what to expect from pregnancy. I'd heard about morning sickness and feeling tired all the time. I knew that by this last month I'd feel rather fat and be looking forward to the prospect of one day regaining a waist and wearing "normal" clothes again.What I wasn't expecting was the physical pain involved in putting my own socks on or the continuous discomfort of pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome. For the last couple of weeks I've struggled to do so many things which should be so simple. Typing is painful and my laptop has therefore been ... read more