Monday 28 September 2015

Dear Cat




Dear Cat

I am starting to get a bit paranoid as every time I enter a room you walkout all nonchalantly as if I was a death eater from Harry Potter. Perhaps it was because I stood on your paw 3 weeks ago I'm not really sure or that I 'm constantly telling you off for hogging the duvet.

Perhaps it's the cat food you were all excited and very purry when I brought 2 boxes on special offer of brand X oh how happy you were chirping away in excitement at the first box . This was until the second box when a switch was flicked and you no longer liked that food , currently it's a Mexican stand off at feeding times. 

I will not bend , you will not win.



Cats don't give a flying wallaby.

Saturday 26 September 2015

Simply Roasted Carrots

All my son ever wants with his meal vegetable wise is sweetcorn , sweetcorn and yet more sweetcorn and I thought a change was order and plus there was no sweetcorn in the freezer. I think as a family we must purchase the worlds quota on sweetcorn I see yellow in my dreams. So I thought the humble carrot needed to be thrust into the limelight yes "come on down " I really do adopt the game show mentality when I am thinking of what to do with my fruit and vegetables asides sticking googly eyes on them.

Ingredients 

Carrots ( well there's a surprise) cut into batons.

A glug of olive oil 

Method 

Turn on the oven - no brainer 

And preheat to 180 c

Now some chefs will be telling you to coat the carrots with honey etc but you really don't have to. Also you can speed up the roasting process by either slightly cooking by whacking the carrot batons in the microwave for about  7 minutes or by a quick boil on the hob ( same timings )

Drain

Place in a oven proof dish

Glug some olive oil over it all and roast for about 20 minutes.



Friday 25 September 2015

Upon The Autumn Light

Sometimes you just have to grab the Autumn light and seek the glow of the evening fall.







And see the tractors pull and plough.










And wish upon an Autumn sky "Oh please do be kind to be keep me from the dalliance of the modern life and pray to keep my soul a wondrous sprite "



Life is life the countryside is an an open book and you write you own adventures and seek your own truths.

Thursday 24 September 2015

The Digital Dance

I  think in all the blogging whirl I have forgotten my roots and the people I started with. I think that needs to change * why follow the herd. Just because I am no longer flavour of the month in 'some ' quarters. You can get sucked in and be the blogging bunny in the headlights. I have forgotten how I started but not why and you might think that the early posts I did have a naivety about them but you know what I think that was an innocence that was lost . You can be quite mournful of what you have lost ,as you do the digital dance and the hard cold fact is that it is a digital dance that can spiral out of control. This however doesn't have to have the alarm bells ringing you can bring yourself back on track that's what friends are for.


I am most glad of the fiends / friends ( I mean of course ) that I've got and the opportunities that have come my way . How refreshing it is to breath the clean air and realise where I can take my blog and more importantly myself.





Friday 18 September 2015

Power Slide Into Your Age

So you are counting down to 30 or even 40 well jolly good for you , I am sliding towards the age of heated foot warmers , life insurances emails , and more emails like "stair lifts have you planned for this" Stop just stop . I refuse to be old before my time I really do  and when I saw a local undertakers were doing glitter coffin that really took the biscuit , they even had an open day where you could take a trip in a horse drawn hearse.


So this is the year in which I am 43 and I am not liking it one little bit , there seems to something glam about turning 30 and 40 , When you hit 41 that is still ok as you are in the vespers of being 40 still and you are jolly with it.

You can have your cake and eat it too ~ a moment on a lips a lifetime on the hips. Trouble is there is quite a few moments at the minute ....



The Promise Of Autumn

For myself who has #depression and is coping with it #photography is such an important release. 

Sometimes silly 



Sometimes needed 


Sometimes just because 


And Autumn has so much promise I can't wait to capture...

Thursday 17 September 2015

One Pot Sausage Wonder






Simple cooking day to day doesn't have to be complicated , we can feel overwhelmed when we stare inner fridges as we wait for the culinary inspiration to smack us clean in the face.

Once the ingredients of the sausage , potatoes, onion and pepper are prepared and int he one then you are free to relax * you have my permission to do what ever you like !


Ingredients

Sausages for however many people !

1 -2 large baking potatoes

One Pepper deseeded and chopped up

One onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

2 teaspoons dried Oregano

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to about 200 c adjusting if it is fan assisted .

Place every thing in a big roasting pan

Place eveything in the pan and drizzle with the oil


Every 20 minutes or so just give everything a little toss


And toad you have a meal which you could just eat on its own , serve with bread or add some cous cous to .



Tuesday 15 September 2015

Washington D.C Butterflies

When We went to Washington D . C in the summer one of the museums we visited ( psssst all of  Washington Smithsonian museums are free all thanks to an Englishman !)


The exhibition to the butterflies was a payable extra at $ 6 I think it was . I did this on my own and it's where my husband and son went off to look at the rest of the museum.



Butterflies are so sweet who doesn't love 
It when they flutter by ...


It was $6 well spent to see such beauty at close call.

I could have easily spent all day there with the myriad of colour.


Monday 14 September 2015

Crossing Blogging Bridges



As a blogger there is nothing worse then staring at a blank page but you put a picture up and immediately everything is transformed , just because it is not the glossy magazine type quality of others it doesn't matter. As bloggers we really should stop comparing ourselves to others , if anything we should take inspiration as comparing ourselves to others really can become self consuming .  After all I have seen those I know who started at the same time at me do very well and that is super and others like myself just stay as we are. If a change is thrust upon us do we lose a bit of who we are or do we gain ? I feel ti s a little bit of both after all it is real life.

Blogging is crafting and they are so many various of blogs nowadays.



If I feel low or just need a break I take myself out and capture the world around be to be inspired , what you do might me different.








I can blog about again I mean if you look back I blogged about my en suite toilet being broke , just in case you were wondering it is still blog and the plumber is coming at 7pm to suck through his teeth and give us his diagnosis. On the school front I am another £35 down for a state school I am finding the whole process of 6th form a very expensive one indeed consequently I am juggling blog design costs for my blog makeover.


I could leave my blog at it is after old it is old faithful and people say leave it we love it  ? I think we all need a little change as it is what keeps us fresh though we do have what keeps us constant in life and blogging.

I have crossed many bridges to get where I am today and I am proud of what I have achieved , still gaining in strength though keeping my eyes out for any frailties.



Where I live inspires my blog and myself so much and I am so lucky to have the countryside / woods on my doorstep.




You know once I had a flash of fame in the blogging world, you might need to sit down for this it was on the Mumsnet Blog Network and the blog subject was on Gnome Knickers , it was a post about Gnomes that wear knickers . I mean I know I am semi rural but we aren't that peculiar round here My Gnome lives upstairs in the bedroom is quite wild out there .



You see blogging for me can take me any where and every and that is how I like it .


I liken blogging to a toddler unpredictable .


Sunday 13 September 2015

A Problem With My Waterworks

A bit of Autumn calm is what I need  , never think oooh my week is going to well as the moment you think that the plumbing gods will throw a spanner in the the water works. This morning I work up to a broken ensued toilet and paddling water  * le sigh . It could be worse


" oh dear holy hedgehogs I have jinxed myself now"






Isn't Autumn marvellous and it us a welcome assault upon the visual senses after the morning I have had .


See friendship like rather like these two conkers it really doesn't matter who the bigger is in the friendship. All that matters is that you support each other as friendship is a fit.


I have so many friendship fits there is no one size fits all !

Saturday 12 September 2015

The Conker Hunter

Ever the readily dressed explorer it is the time of year where I need to go out and hunt conkers. I got my conker hunting kit together and headed out.

 
The pen is in there just in case I have to sign autographs...


Why you ask am I hunting conkers?


Well it is time to renew the conkers in the corners of my sons room to keep the spiders away. They seem to stay away ? ! I haven't seen any spiders holding placards demanding the removal of the conkers. 

There is a set time where in between you closing and opening your eyes when the world freezes , thus occurs primarily at sunset.


Go travel local and you can also be a Conker Hunter and see the freezing of time in a magical sunset.



Friday 11 September 2015

How Do you Know You are brilliant ?


How would you know you are brilliant if no one told you ?

Being told you are good at something goes such a long way to improving your self confidence and self worth and you feel part of life. you don't feel that you are peeking in on things. We tell our children all the time that they are brilliant * mostly but the lift that you both get from it is amazing.  Being told you are brilliant is a simple kindness that does back itself forward in turn you will tell someone that that brilliant .


The thing that we mustn't do is let self doubt creep in ie put ourselves down .


Beating myself us is what I'm trying to do less of.


I'll let you know how that is going just as long as the cat doesn't run off with my knitting ...


Thursday 10 September 2015

How I can feel

Mental health is something we talk about yet we don't talk about , it can be very hard handling it day day and a battle can be going on in your mind especially if this is coupled with anxiety. I work in a school so obviously I get the the long holidays which is super but it can also be a curse to my mind. I work with wonderful people and it is a superb school but I have to engage myself with more people than I have been used to in the holidays.  And while I did pop to London on my own and this is a huge step it took a lot of courage to do so.


I am talking about the return to routine which if you have a mental health condition you yearn for but at the same time you don't want it . It is very much a double edged sword I feel I have to justify my feelings so much at times to people but all I am simply am going through is a blip . I can't help it at all and nowadays if I am feeling it I make sure I stay away from situations where I could dig myself a very big social media hole.


I should be off to a knitting club later, I have not knitted since I was 7 and I knitted a scarf for my teddy bear , which was very long  ( similar to Doctor Who Tom Bakers )and it is with people which I find worrying at the best of times. I think the cats would like a knitted scarf and wouldn't they look a treat.



Tomorrow I have to go and listen to information about sons sixth form and ask questions ( of which my family told me I am very good at )


You see I know I can be confidant but I dislike being called on when I makes errors I feel so small and embarrassed , some people do seem to take pleasure in correcting others a very erroneous grip on power !


But for now the light is shining though the windows which are clean hurrah ! and I can plot and plan holidays you see I need something to focus on to get me through.





Wednesday 9 September 2015

Happy Place

Happy place is 

Getting the kitchen sorted a itty bit from this



to this 


A bag like this 


A cat in a box 



Dreaming of my bicycle 



Hugging a tree 



Tea 


However an opinion is a where I come unstuck especially when I said " I don't like Moulin Rouge " I suspect I should have sugar coated it with some sort of a back story. You see it takes a hell of a load for me to give an opinion without causing offence .  

And while we are at it I don't like marzipan either ...

Tuesday 8 September 2015

Things That Like to GO Whee

Are you ready for the adventure ?

Where my blog will take you from September onwards ? I am hoping by the end of the year I will have my beloved bicycle with a basket as it is really my hearts desire . To whisk down the lanes round here with my feet off the peddles joyfully going wheee. There're so many villages round here that I will be able to cycle to the next door which holds a well dressing each year. which is very indicative of Derbyshire.




Well it is September and my bicycle is still a dream , I dream about her everyday and she will be called Myfawney and I think many hope I will get a bicycle soon so I can finally shut up about one. I keep thinking about where I will go , I know you can buy one for a few hindered pounds but the one I want is rather more than than than . Why settle for polyester when you can have silk , I want to eek back to a simple time and cycle down to the shops and wander around with my basket. Did you know the bag tax is coming into force by the 5th October so no longer will you hear after the cashier has glided 60 items through the till


"Do you want a bag with that ?


And you are ever so tempted to say

"NO I will walk each one individually to the car"

You think it but don't say it.


Your inner monologue keeps you in check , very ,such I think life have an angel and demon on your shoulder keeping you on the straight and narrow but that flash of "what if I did say this"

I had my haircut the other day, nothing understand in that other that i only ever go between 2 hairstyles as my hair will never go long and silky and swishy like the lying  adverts. The usual hair dresser chit chat ensued which way does your fringe go ?where did you go on holiday ?

"Washington D.C "

Replies I

"What's there then ?"

" I 've seen it in movies "


I really had the devil in me spluttering , no doubt that will be because horror of horrors they served me instant coffee and not latte ?

Oh and today I did my first aid course at school , and if you've got an injury probably best not to see me !!

Don't worry you'll survive * probably 


But for now I'm channelling my inner Mr Flibble ...



Sunday 6 September 2015

Family Frugal Things Do In Washington D.C




You're going to love Washington D.C you feel feel right at home immediately and it is so easy to get around the city. The moment we arrived in Washington D.C we didn't immediately go into the city instead we got to know the neighbourhood where we were staying at the Omni Shoreham which is brilliant for the urban explorer. Though you are in a a city the Capital of USA it is so leafy and green and the pavements are so wide you really did not feel jostled as you might on Oxford Street for example.



The first day we were there we took the Metro from Woodley Park ( which is the Washington Zoo stop) and went to see the sights so we could get our bearings for the subsequent days. We immediately headed for the White House as will everyone else and we weren't disappointed as not only will you get a great view of the White House but you will also get a cracking view of Washington Monument as well. And be prepared to be moved when you are gazing upon the White House for when the Secret Service say move this is what you do and you do it with speed !



Now you can go up Washington Moment but do make sure that you book on line for this , I have heard that you get a awesome view and the lift is jolly fast ! However even with your feet firmly planted on  terra firma you can still appreciate the majestic nature of the monument.


Just a quick note if visiting Washington DC in the summer months do take a hat, carry water and possibly an umbrella ( for shade) as the temperature soars and the humidity is very high.

The Washington monument is like an exclamation point on the landscape and is 555ft , the reason that the monument is 2 colours is after construction started in 1848 the Civil War stopped work at 156ft. And when work restarted in 1876 the stone from the original quarry had dried up and contractors had to go else where by Federal law no building can be build higher than the monument.



Then we went onto the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream speech) you'll know instantly the spot as this is where everyone gathers to have their picture taken or taken pictures from that spot. The Lincoln memorial is the monument for the countries 16th President  the style is evoked by a Greek temple design. Lincoln gazes out over the Reflecting pool and it really a defining DC visit moment.



Friday 4 September 2015

If you are Hap Pee and You Know it Clap Your Hands

In the good all days I would be heading off into town alas not wearing stilettos never could get on with those instruments of torture. If a drink looked pretty then I would have it  , 20 20 you name it  never one to get drunk in fact I am one of those people who get terribly sober. Fast forward 20 odd years and responsibility has crept up on me , marriage a child and 2 cats , well it was 3 but Rollie mark 1 got run over but such is life. And Rollie mark 2 has no soul anyway seen Pet Cemetery then that explains my cat. The husband answers the television when a game show is on , the son does his own thing like having a tamagotchi in the house you feed it and keep it alive.


Then there are the cats the fluffy bundles of joy to the house , if you read here not only will you get a recipe but you can read about the antics of the mouse that was on my stairs. Life I have to say is never dull in this household I am pretty sure a camera crew will appear any minute and film us for a documentary.








SO what am I doing on this rock and roll of a Friday well I am taking bets on how long the flat pack furniture will take to be made up, having a debate on the price of cucumbers * a question I do believe that was on Question Time. No I am cleaning cat pee off the front door , not my cat but another that has a gripe with one of my cats * probably Rollie . Oh and the front door that I will replace one day who the hell paints the front door  *  brown my husband that is who.

Rock Cat and Roll.







Washington DC Where to Stay For The Urban Explorer

For us the Omni Shoreham was a perfect location feeling like a home from home.



Omni Shoreham


We had breakfast once in the hotel as a treat as every day would have been pricey and we love to be urban explorers in the areas we stay in. There's so much choice eating wise around the Omni Shoreham you will be spoilt for choice , I only had one meal I wasn't keen on and that was when we went to some shrimp place and they insisted tieing a bib around us all .



The Omni Shoreham is a 1930s historic hotel , the Beatles stopped there as well as Frank Sinatra . Inaugural balls for various presidents have graced the marble floors and high ceilings. History is embedded very much in this luxury hotel , there's even a haunted suite which the concierge will let you visit if no one is staying there .




There is always a conference cracking off and whilst we were there it was a Nelson Mandela young African leaders conference.

There's a gym which We didn't visit and a pool which we didn't dip out tootsies in . 



The Metro( their version of the underground) is only a short walk away and enables you to get about Washington DC with ease.

Thursday 3 September 2015

Sorry I can't love you

Sorry I can not love you.


Sorry I can not love you in the way that you want , I wanted to but my heart just isn't in it , I feel remorse at that I have already cheated on another. It was never my intention to stray but you caught my eye with your film star looks complete with smouldering dark features. You were smooth and you spread yourself around , you didn't say a lot but you didn't have to.


You tried to emulate my first love by being strong you only needed to be strong in small measures , you took my breath away. Every time I tasted your love my heart was crying for my old love you had me torn. How could you do this to me ?


They say flattery is the sincerest form of compliment.


I am odds with my self.


Last time we were together I chocked on my emotions.


The taste of you upon my lips tingle me in all sorts of way.


This is goodbye.


Please don't try to contact me.



And please don't try to get into my shopping basket again.


Sorry Vegemite I can't commit to you, Marmite has my heart and soul.