I kept A Cactus Alive

 It started with a cactus or 3  from Tesco and I thought I can keep them alive , I can be the hero that these cacti’s deserve .And for a while we were a happy plant family staring out through the kitchen window season s com in grand going .But then as lockdown stretched on and on without me even baking banana bread .Also I bought an airplant that has a post box in it , it was lonely in the garden centre which more than likely saw me coming .

I went out to the garden centre again , I masked up and it wasn't busy . The garden is valuable to my mental health been staring at 4 walls for bloody months. And I did pick some other plants in the reduced section as I believe on giving objects that are now on their luck a chance in life.

Oh and I got a knobbly bobbly cactus it’s called Gorden 

“ Gordon’s alive “

So it is all go in the garden even though the weather at the weekend was very much Fools Spring , but still a start is a start and Spring is a very hopeful month I mind after the bleakness of Winter at times.At I think at this very moment in time with can all do with a little seed of hope to plant in our souls , and I have just noticed the first bloom on my tree as well and it makes my heart and soul so very glad.

3 scraps craft challenge

I’m not sure if 3 things craft challenge is a thing but I thought I’d have a go .First was a scarp of lighthouse paper then it was a golden tassel lastly come coloured string.

I already had the white card blank . I stick the lighthouse paper at the top and in the white space I placed the tassel if it was a seed head blowing on the wind . Then I used the coloured string ad the stalk of the seed head .

AURICCHIO Provolone Cheese Recipes

 #Ad

I love cheese I am quite the cheese fiend and I love recipes with cheese in and on ! and I think back fondly to my holidays in Italy which involved a lot of cheese dishes well when in Rome as the saying goes . I used some AURICCHIO Thin slices of mild Provolone cheese 100 g in a variety of ways and this month at Ocado the cheese is on offer 

AURICCHIO - 

Thin slices of mild Provolone cheese 100 g.

Thin slices of strong Provolone cheese 100 g.

Thin slices of smoked Provolone cheese 100 g.

These are all on offer to buy or any 3 for £6.00 from 17th Feb - 16th March. 

Ingredients 

80 g of macaroni pasta per person ( to serve 4) 

500 ml milk 

2 tablespoons of plain flour 

Knob of butter 

Mustard teaspoon or 2 of 

4 slices Provolone cheese

80 g Cheddar cheese 

20 gParmasan

Knob of spread/butter

Method

Preheat your oven to 1800 c

First cook the Marconi and then set aside 

Add the flour in a saucepan and add the spread/butter over a low heat

Stir to form a roux 

add a little of the milk and stir until smooth 

Keep adding the rest of the milk 

Whisk as necessary add in the cheese the Cheddar and the Parmesan 

Put the cooked macaroni in an oven proof dish then pour over the cheese sauce 

Cook for 30 minutes 

Makes some croutons and sprinkle over the top of the macaroni cheese add over the cheese slices and bake for a further 15 minutes 

You can switch up the taste of your crotons by perhaps as I did cooking them straight after cooking some bacon to impart some extra special flavour into them.

I also do like the occasional burger

Ingredients 

500 g good quality mince 

1 small onion diced up

1 egg

seasoning to taste

salad items to taste

Method

Mix the mince with the diced onion 

and bind with the egg

Divide the mince into 4 piles roughly about the size of a tennis ball

The flatten then to an acceptable width with the plan of your hand 

 Then cook on a grill for about 10 -15  minutes 

Picking up all your favourite authentic Italian food and drink has never been easier with the Ciao Gusto Italian Deli at Ocado.  

For the first time, a simple tab brings together over 30 of Italy’s most popular brands, so you can find exactly what you’re looking for – and discover new and exciting ingredients – in just one click. 

You’ll be familiar with many products, such as Riso Gallo, Filippo Berio, Giovanni Rana and Cirio who are joined by products less well known in the UK such as Valsoia dairy free ice cream, Auricchio cheeses and Negroni charcuterie – everything you’ll find at the Ciao Gusto Italian Deli has been specially selected for its reputation as an authentic Italian favourite.

Here’s a full list of the Italian brands you’ll discover at the Ciao Gusto Italian Deli:

Pasta - Barilla, Rana

Rice - Riso Gallo

Flours - Polenta Valsugana

Tomato and Vegetable Conserves - Cirio

Cheese and Dairy - Auricchio, Parmareggio 

Fish - Delicius, Medusa

Herbs and Spices – Cannamela

Tuna - Rio Mare

Cured Meats - Negroni

Soya and Rice products - Valsoia

Olive Oil - Filippo Berio

Vinegar - Ponti

Bakery - Colussi, Misura, 

Dried fruits – Noberasco

Jams - Santa Rosa

Coffee - Lavazza

Herbal Teas - Bonomelli

Water and Fruit Juices - San Benedetto, Santal 

Wine - Zonin, Santa Margherita 

Spirits - Vecchia Romagna

Cherries and Syrups - Fabbri

3 Evils Pigeons

3 Evil pigeons that is the start to the birds appearing in my garden , I can see them now as I write this while I stand in my kitchen staring out in the wonder and the pigeons are there staring .I see them bobbing their heads will they look at my form varying positions on my neighbours extension . I think they're the neighbours that own the cat that look s like a serial killer because this cat is as hard as nails. 

I move into kitchen to make a cup of tea and they’re there staring making notes on when to try and kill me.I’m pretty sure they are there in the dark as well . You might think they’re all sweet a myth portrayed by Mary Poppins with that song 

“Feed the birds”

I go for my regular pandemic walk and I’m sure they’re stalking me . Pigeon s will take over the world I’m sure of it.

How I Came To Be Diagnosed as Autistic

How did I come to diagnosed as Autistic ? I mean I did not happen to pop into into my shopping basket one day as a 2 for 1 off or find in in the bargain bin with a CD of a long singer long past their Christmas prime.It was a gradual lighbulb moment like a cartoon symbol appearing over your head and it helped in my previous existence I was a special needs teaching assistant working hosting with Autistic children who had an infinity with me.

I was tripping to the doctors with various things thinking something in me didn't quite fit and at one stage a doctor did ask if I heard voices and it was at this stage I felt like turning round looking over my should and say

"We don't hear voices do we now people "

I was the free range child the one running about and climbing trees and jumping out of windows , I have to add these were ground floor windows.

I think I was very much the child who was like Wednesday Adams from the Adams family except I had bobbed hair fashioned by the hairdressers from hell.And I never really like my hair as it went in only 3 styles but in time I have learnt to like it for it is part of me and I won’t  be bent to the whim of anyone

I was sort of repellent to friends unless they were boys and I got on so much better with them .

I struggled with school work though despite being capable in thought , it was the committing those ideas to paper that was the chore . I always had on reports 

“ Claire asks very searching questions “

I could not at all get maths it is and still is like voodoo for me .

It’s is culmination of life events abs indeed working as a SEN teaching assistant that prompted me to see what that nagging issue was in my life .I’m the lost generation of Autistic women from the 70,80 90 s as everyone thought Autism just affected boys ,but we now know that isn’t true .