As much as I love the internet and do plenty of online shopping (including my weekly supermarket shop) I am really trying to make sure that I use my local shops too. If you don't use them then I figure that you've no right to complain if they then close. As I've mentioned on here many times before I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful local toyshop in St Albans in the form of Cuthberts Toys. When a friend was asking on Facebook if anyone knew where to get hold of some specific Octonauts toys that she'd promised her daughter as a reward for having to take some particularly nasty ... read more
Pancakes
We don't normally bother with pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, but I thought we'd make a small effort this year. A very small one. Only problem was that my tossing wasn't really up to the required level... Please don't laugh. ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
I'm not totally sure why, but recently I have bee feeling a bit guilty about the number of "classics" that I've never actually read. I own many, often picked up in charity shops like many in my book collection, but most of them still sit in my "to be read" pile. Rather than feel bad about it I decided to do something about it recently and am therefore making myself alternate between classics and more modern books. Having looked at my bookshelf I realised that they all appear to be in alphabetical order by author, so starting at the beginning I found myself ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Topsy and Tim
To say that Little Miss C loves books would be an understatement. The first things she wants in a morning is for us to read books to her. When we put her to bed at night the main reason she doesn't want to go is because that means no more bedtime stories. I remember Topsy and Tim books from my childhood and happened to pick up a couple of modern versions in a charity shop recently for LMC and she already loves them. In one day last week we ended up reading about Topsy and Tim visiting the dentist seven times! Of course today's Topsy and Tim books are somewhat different from the ones I ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. ... read more
Scone based pizza
T make the scone base: Ingredients: 200g self-raising flour Pinch salt 50g grated cheese 50g butter 1/2 beaten egg About 160ml skimmed milk Method: Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Place flour in mixing bowl and add pinch of salt Add the butter to the bowl and rub into the flour with your fingertips Mix in the grated cheese Make a well in the centre and add the 1/2 beaten egg. Mix Add sufficient milk to form a soft dough. Mix with a knife. This volume of ingredients will either make one large pizza or two smaller ones. Shape by hand or roll out as desired. To complete the pizza: Spread tomato ... read more
seven days
A weekly photograph capturing one of the magic moments of the last seven days. (Or two of them if, like me, you forgot to post one last week!) ... read more
Elevenses
In some ways Little Miss C is a very girly girl. She loves playing in her little play kitchen and one of the Christmas gifts that she loved most was a tea set that we bought her. We often have pretend tea parties together and I don't think it's coincidence that two of her first words were "cake" and "tea". The tea parties aren't all make belive though. Most mornings after a good play session or a quick trip out I do try to make sure that we stop and sit down for a spot of elevenses together. By that stage of the day I need a cup of tea (normally Earl Grey these ... read more