Monday 25 May 2015

Snapshots

Bit of a snapshot overload I'm afraid - have a few weeks to edit and upload! We have been taking advantage of the sun with lots of day trips - Cotlestone Hill to see the wild horses, the Tarr Steps for some paddling, the park for tree climbing and bike riding, Dorset for the knob throing festival and the garden for hot dogs on the fire. Its been great - if a little exhausting..... Hope has started sleeping through the night which seems to be making us more tired - what's that all about?!??! I suppose we have 3 months of sleep to catch up on.... oh no.... I'm talking about sleep again.... snore......
paddling


BF's

Looking longinly?!?!

climbers

Fox's cream

blue eyes


mo

flower boy 
3rd child = bottle propped up, fends for herself 

clan

cuddles
every night the same book

daisies

smiler watching the trees 

peepo

looking very like Elizabeth 1st!

fire starters

gals 
goosey

Lenny giving me a grass shower

yep. Dumb and Dumber.

hot dog chef

move over  Tony McCoy

king of the castle

Dorset's Knb Throwing festival. You throw bread rolls (knobs) as far as you can - British eccentricity at its best.

big bro

yoghurt lollies

milk drunk

this guy



boys

Friday night 8.04pm and I'm in bed reading a vegan cookbook. It doesn't get sadder than this.

10 mins after Lenny's lunch. I make myself a salad so he comes up and says, "I'll just get myself a fork then...." When will a meal be mine and all mine?!

scratches

here's hoping



Tarr steps

Todays special pulled venison with a side order of mo chop

tunnelling

watching Tarzan, again. 
walkers

chill out

wild horses
weeeee
current obsession - riding bikes over bubble wrap
do you like butter?
my Wren

standoff at the waterhole

1 to Lenny


Friday 22 May 2015

Friday Fancies

Thought I would share some of my top 'love, want, need' finds over the last few weeks..... some I have, and some I am saving the pennies in the jar for but all fabulous.....
Clockwise from top:

The Handmade Doll Company - these unique dolls are adorable. They are all individually created with love and great skill. Hope has a mermaid which takes pride of place in her cot. Lucky girl. There are lots of designs and even some wonderful ones for boys! At last!

Mahabis slippers. You know that irritation when you are slopping around the house on a rainy day in your slippers but have to pop out to the car to get your phone meaning an annoying change into proper shoes - an irritation no more. These are very stylish slippers with removable rubber soles. Lots of cute colour combos too.

Mother sweatshirt. Well, what can I say? It is simply a must.

Soothed by Nature cream - I have suffered from eczema all my life. I have tried 100's of creams, ointments and oils. Some work, some don't, some soothe and some make it worse. This all natural blend of shea butter, almond oil and essential oils is magic. I promise. If you have eczema please invest it some it will not disappoint! Thank you Bec!

Persiana - I want to learn how to cooked more persian food. Out of my kitchen comfort zone but very much in my taste zone. Starting with this book.

All terrain pull along wagon. 3 children under 4 = too much gubbins. Our beach trips have become a military operation to manoevre everyone from the carpark to the sand to set up camp for the day. No sooner has the blanket gone down than someone yells "I have left my ****** in the car". It's maddening. This is my solution. I know people generally use them from pulling kids around festivals but with their all terrain wheels it will make the beach a breeze...... in theory..... The original retro ones are made by Radio Flyer but they are a little £££ so think I will go for a slightly cheaper version the Tuff Terrain.

Friday 8 May 2015

Happy Anniversary

5 years, 4 house moves, 3 children, 2 jobs, 1 marriage

Happy Anniversary Mr H XXXXX


Thursday 7 May 2015

Brown Risotto Rice

This is my new store cupboard gem. Biona's Brown Risotto Rice - we have, over the last 6 months, switched nearly all our white floured foods (pasta, bread, rice etc) to brown ones for obvious health benefits. The kids didnt even really notice and brown 'stuff' is so much tastier so it has been an easy switch all in all. However, and it's a big however, I have not been able to find an arborio risotto rice alternative. We love risotto and so this Biona one is perfect. After a lot of trial and error I have found a cooking technique that works for us - it has still got that thick soupy consistency of conventional risotto, is healthier and best of all requires none of that tedious constant stirring!



1) Soak 250g of the rice in water overnight. (The packet says to do this but I ALWAYS forget so at most it gets 10 minutes and a lot of rinsing - seems ok.....)

2) Fry 1 white onion and 2 celery sticks in olive oil in a large heavy based casserole pan.

3) Add the rice to the onion and celery along with 250ml white wine and 600ml of chicken stock.

4)) Bring to the boil and gently simmer for about 45 minutes. You may have to top up the liquid with water if the rice is not cooked when it has absorbed all the stock.

5) Flavour at will - this one is pea, mint and pancetta but anything goes.... mushroom; goats cheese, pine nuts and kale; prawns, pea and mint; butternut squash and parmesan......

I buy it from our local health food shop for £2.60 for 500g but you can buy in bulk on Amazon

Worth a go!