*tagged - six weird things*

I have been tagged by Gretel and have to divulge six weird things about me; I'll be honest, I'm struggling, and partly because one person's idea of weird might be another person's everyday normality. So bear with me for a sec, whilst I try and dredge up some vaguely interesting, if not necessarily that weird facts about moi...

1. I can turn my tongue right over - there are no real practical benefits in being able to do this, but it does freak out the children.

2. I have one leg (the left one) shorter than the other - I was born with dislocated hips, which lead to a leg length discrepancy, and after a couple of operations as a child the difference is no where near as great as it was. I still walk with a limp, though. And I have two fabulous scars, that look like fat centipedes, one on each hip. Also great for freaking out children.

3. I can tie a knot in a cherry stalk with my tongue, à la Audrey Horne in Twin Peaks - I'm not sure whether this is too closely related to weird thing number 1 to count as a separate item, but since it's my blog and I write the rules, AND I'm struggling for weirdness, it'll have to do!

4. My home is either really, really tidy, or really, really messy - there is no happy medium. I am at my most content after a good clean through - mess makes me low, but I find it a constant battle to try and stay tidy. I'm sure I'm not alone in this...

5. I don't like hotels. Even really 'nice' ones. I would much rather be at home. I find being in a hotel, even with people I love, a very isolating experience, and I am always itching to get back home.

6. I am pedantic about spelling and grammar to the point of being anally retentive, bit I freely admit it, and I try not to let it affect my daily life too much!!! And I realise that by posting this I am laying myself wide open to criticism from other grammar pedants/enthusiasts, but so be it...!!!

There, that wasn't so bad, but I don't know how weird any of the above could be classed as being. I have, in the spirit of these blessed things, to tag six lovely fellow bloggers, so I'm tagging Debbie, Fiona, Sue, Maria, Kirsty and Rena :) - sorry dolls, I don't know if any of you have already been tagged - don't feel obliged!!

*dolly beads!*

This is my lovely new bead and necklace, which arrived this morning from Jaq - she has just started making Dolly Beads, and they are going down a storm! I am on the lookout for a turquoise one, and a turquoise and pink combo, but for the time being I am very happy with my little pink bead.

More later!

*impromptu photo shoot!!*

Not really a photo shoot, but I've realised that when we can't get outside as regularly at this time of year as we do in the spring/summer time, I don't take nearly as many photographs, and I'm going to try and remedy that, because I don't want there to be chunks of time with no photographic representation. I called an impromptu photo shoot in A's room this afternoon after school, and got an enthusiastic response, which isn't always guaranteed!! The girls are used to me sticking a camera in front of them, and most of the time they're prepared to be photographed, but occasionally they're just not in the mood, and really, who can blame them?! A was reluctant to let go of her sucky this afternoon, grubby old thing that it is:


She was quite prepared to pose with it, though!!

F was all smiles and grins this afternoon; she is enjoying school very much at the moment - long may it continue - and came home today full of enthusiasm about Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. Her teacher this year is absolutely fantastic, and seems to fire the children's imagination at every turn. F is a different child this year, and it really shows.



We decided, the three of us girls this evening, that, as it is so cold and dark outside, we would have a carpet picnic for the girls' tea. Now that they are having a hot meal at school at lunchtime, a new departure this term, they don't seem to need as much in the evenings, so today's offering was a very healthy plate of olives, red and yellow peppers, carrot sticks, tomatoes, apple, cheese and hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters. They wolfed it down - I wish I'd taken a 'before' and 'after' photo, because I thought I'd done too much, but it all disappeared!

I leave you this evening with a fave from today, taken on A's bed, mid-loon!!



Night, all!

*a quick catch-up!*

Quick round-up of what we've been up to over the past week; time has run away with me YET again, and I haven't updated as regularly as I'd intended to. Where does the time go - answers on a postcard, please.

Freya had a voucher for Borders which had been burning a hole in her pocket since her birthday last August (!), so she and I had a day out on Saturday, and drove to Oxford which, from here, is a beautiful route down through Moreton-in-Marsh and Chipping Norton. She and I rarely have a day out together alone, and it was lovely to have a bit of quality one-on-one with her. Anja, in turn, had a fab day having daddy all to herself, and had a birthday party to go to as an added bonus. I didn't take the camera with me, but took a couple of photos on my phone, although the quality is pretty poo! Freya still finds real novelty value in any journey on a bus, and she was, yet again, in 7th heaven on the short journey from the Park-and-Ride car park into Oxford!!



I don't know whether I've blogged about it before, but Freya is extremely considered when it comes to making choices when she's spending her money. She takes ages to decide what she'd like, and as her voucher was for a whopping £20, it took us some time in Borders before we were ready to go to the till!! It also meant that I had to keep a running total in my head each time something else went into the basket, which was no easy thing when she was choosing items costing anything from 35p up to £3.99. She came away with a fantastic haul, including another Jewel Fairy book, a skipping rope, a whoopee cushion, a rubber ball, and other items too numerous to mention (and that I can't remember!!) By the time she'd chosen everything she wanted, and I'd done some shopping for birthday presents, and spent some of Anja's pocket money for her (on her instruction - a Horrid Henry audio book and book to read), it was time for a bite to eat. Naturally, we had to stay in Borders and pay a trip to Starbucks - this was Freya's day, and this was what she wanted to do - who am I to argue... She went up to the counter whilst I stayed with the bags, and selected a prawn and watercress sandwich, giant chocolate chip cookie, and a hot chocolate for herself - what can I say, the child has great taste!! This IS as big as it looks:



It was yum!! Chocolate moustaches and sticky fingers all round...a lovely day out.

The girls were treated by my sister to a trip to the Snow Dome at Tamworth on Sunday; they had their first skiing lesson, and had a mess around on the little slope, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I should point out that I have an aversion to snow, and have absolutely no intention of taking them skiing, but my sis and Ed are both keen winter sports enthusiasts, Sian a skier, and Ed a snowboarder, and they would love to get the kids involved. I'm not even interested in the apres ski, so I think they might be holidaying without me!!! Sian plans to go to Whistler next winter, and I think Ed is harbouring ambitions to join her for a week or so, with the childers. I will have to find something else to do...

Am going to go on a blog trawl tomorrow morning, to catch up on my favourite reads, and to tweak my 'links' section; even in the short time since I started this blog last August, several of the links have fallen away, and some blogs that I read regularly need to be added.

Toodle-pip!

*holding out for a hero - lovin' Shrek!!*

*a quick jaunt around YouTube...*

The main purpose of this post is to see whether I have worked out how to insert a YouTube broadcast into a blog entry - mundane, I know, but having spent FAR too much time last night hopping around YouTube, it occurred to me that, in keeping with several fellow bloggers, if I find any gems I ought to share them. The first offering is a piece that began doing the rounds ages ago, and I'm sure most people will already have seen it, but if it's been a while, it certainly stands up to a second viewing. Evolution of Dance:



Yay! Just looked at the preview, and it appears to be working!! OK, indulge me a second while I just post a few more. Once the novelty has worn off, I promise I'll limit the amount I post - you are not, of course, obliged to click on any of the links!! Real life Simpsons intro:



I know this is juvenile, nay infantile in the extreme, but I miss this:



And finally, for today, some ER out-takes:



More inconsequential ramblings later today, with a proper catch-up and some photographs!!

*a lovely birthday...*

I have had a really lovely day, and am now quite ready for my bed!! In all the excitement of card and present opening this morning, I was late getting the girls to school for their first day back, but neither of them seemed remotely bothered, and remarkably, F went in without a backwards glance. I had been prepared for clinging and whimpering, but birthday good feeling must have prevailed!!

I have been spoiled rotten - a very nice feeling!! Ed has bought tickets for us to see Mamma Mia in the West End in March - front row seats in the circle, which should be tremendous. I haven't seen it yet - must be one of the few children of the 70's/80's who has yet to see it - and he couldn't have chosen a better gift. To say I am thrilled is an understatement. Had some of my fave perfume, a beautiful necklace off two of my friends, some great reading material, and some fab scrapbook stash. Was particularly delighted with this gorgeous hand-made envelope file, sent to me by Caz, my birthday swap partner at the Pad:


The tag reads: "Dear Jo, A little album for you to fill with you 2007 memories" - thank you, Caz - I will treasure it.

My favourite card has to be this one, made by F, having raided my stash:


It's not a great picture because the light wasn't very good, but there is lots of glitter glue, some squishy embellishments, and the dots at the bottom spell 'love', although you can't see the red ones against the card in the photo!!

Tonight, Ed has cooked steak, chips, peas and mushrooms - nothing fancy, but just what I fancied, and he has now just made me a huge mug of hot chocolate complete with some sinful squirty cream!!! A perfect end to a jolly good day!

Night, all :)

*short-haired daughter, and the eve of my 35th...*

...birthday!!! Yes, tomorrow I will be 'celebrating' my 35th birthday. Still don't really feel grown up - I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not. I have no idea what I'm getting for my birthday - Ed has been suspiciously silent on the subject, and hasn't asked for any ideas.

Onto something completely different, and the news that A finally has the short hair cut that she had been nagging me about for ages - I took her to my hairdresser just before Christmas, and after we'd both counselled her extensively, and had assurances from her that yes, this really was what she wanted, he went for the chop!! She is delighted with the outcome; a couple of days before, she went to a birthday party, and had asked me to try and make her hair into a 'boy' style; this was the best I could do - not a great effort, but her hair was too long to do much else:



Not terribly impressed, as you can probably tell!!!

Anyway, this is 'after', and I still don't think she could look less like a boy, but she is very pleased with it, as are we, and I think it suits her:



I had made a search of the internet before going to the hairdresser, having it in mind to take along some photos of little girls with similar styles so that Stephen would have some idea as to what she wanted. It appears that, amongst little girls of A's age, having such short hair is virtually unheard of. Indeed, one of the mums at school asked me (jokingly) whether she'd had head lice and I just couldn't be bothered to deal with them!!! And several people have said "is that what she wanted?" - no, I am a cruel mother, who is happy for one daughter to have long hair, but not the other... I ask you! Anyway, we are happily indulging the 'boy' phase at the moment; I have tried explaining to her that there is nothing a boy can do that a girl can't do (with the possible exception of peeing standing up - but I don't want to put that into her head...), and that there is, therefore, no need to be a boy, but she is adamant that that is what she wants to be. A boy called George.

Will leave you with this photo of A, Rudi and F, taken a couple of days ago in front of a roaring fire. I am very pleased to report that, despite having been quite poorly in the week before Christmas, Rudi is now fighting fit, and her legs, whilst not quite back to their old selves, are certainly a lot more useful than they were. She almost has a spring in her step again.

*quick catch-up - more tomorrow!*

Just one of the gems I should have posted over Christmas but didn't - A in her first nativity...playing an angel, most miffed, but ended up having a great time. She thoroughly enjoyed the experience, sang her heart out, did all the actions with much gusto, and beamed throughout. F, on the other hand, missed the Christmas production due to illness for the second year in a row :( - must try for better next year. She's just so susceptible to ear/nose/throat-related infections. Back for more tomorrow - need my beauty sleep!!

*HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!*

Can I remember how to blog??!! Sheesh, I'm sorry I've been AWOL again; I'm hoping it won't happen again. Just been a tad busy with all the lead-up to Christmas, and then the festivities themselves that blogging has gone by the wayside. Just wanted to pop in now to wish you all a very happy new year - who knows what 2007 will bring? I haven't made any resolutions, but I do have certain goals that I am going to keep to myself for the time being - nothing major, and probably nothing life-changing, just a few things to keep me on track! Just a short post for tonight - need my beauty sleep, but I'll be back tomorrow with some photos from over the festive period, and maybe a word or two about some of things Father Christmas left for me!!

*costumes...*

I have spent all evening turning one of mum's beautiful jewelled scarves into a cloak for a Wise Man which, together with the "brightly coloured plain top, and black or brown (we have gone for black) trousers" will complete F's costume for the Christmas play, 'jesus@bethlehemstable.com' - A is taking part in the same production and, much to her disgust, has been cast as an angel. Her class has been divided along gender lines, the boys playing stars, and the girls, angels. Naturally, A wanted to be a star... To appease her, I have managed to borrow an angel costume which is much more tabard than dress, AND has a silver star on the front, and she looks VERY cute all togged up. I will, of course, be taking photos - the performances are next week.

My sis came for lunch today, and I completely forgot to get the camera out - duh! She entertained (or was entertained by!) the girls whilst I went to band practice this afternoon, as Ed had some stinky work work to do. He's just packing up his laptop as I write...too much at the weekend.

Have also made a sweet potato and pumpkin soup this evening, in between stitches, in preparation for a visit tomorrow from one of my scrapping friends. juliab (formerly Jay Jay) on UKS has been visiting a very good friend of hers who lives in the same village, and so she is going to come for lunch tomorrow on her way home. Looking forward very much to seeing her.

As promised, another of my favourite carols, for your enjoyment:



Peace out, dudes!!

*Christmas carols*

So, advent has begun, and at lunchtime today, the Wychavon Student Wind Band had its first public outing, playing outside the church Christmas fayre for an hour and a half. It was really good fun, and I had forgotten how much of a buzz I get from playing in a group, in public. Here is the evidence - note, it is impossible to look remotely cool or attractive whilst playing the clarinet!!!



I am hopelessly ill-prepared for Christmas, thus far. I have not bought a single present, and I have yet to shop for Ed's birthday on December 12th. I'm not worrying about it, though - it will all come together, I'm sure.

Managed to collect my sis from the airport on Friday without delay or incident. It is fantastic to have her back at home; she is coming over for lunch tomorrow, so I will have to take some crafty shots of her to blog tomorrow evening!!

Just about to make another couple of carrot cakes, one for us and one for wind band rehearsal tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking bets on how long we'll last before we're well and truly sick of it - everyone's enjoying it at the moment, but I might have to start spicing up the recipe with some secret ingredients.

Anyway, every post between now and Christmas Day, I am going to try and upload a suitably seasonal picture, taken from images found on the great www. - I really liked the photo at the top, of the wreath against a pink door. Will also try and post the sheet music to a Christmas song or carol, just for fun!

*normal service resumes!!*

Good evening, peeps :) - yes, I'm back, after a self-imposed absence from being online - just needed a little time away from the computer, but now I am back and raring to blog!! Just to reassure any of my buds who may have been worrying that I'd fallen into a black hole, here I am, larking about last week taking self-portraits in the mirror:



And, especially for Charlotty, a cheery photo of the little beans:



So, I feel like I've been haring around all over the place over the past couple of weeks. Have been in school a lot, performing various governor duties, been on a school trip, have cooked lots (although managed to avoid any caterpillars that may have been lurking), perfected my carrot cake (one in the oven as I type), shopped for a couple of advent swaps in which I'm taking part (yay - first parcel opening tomorrow!!), rehearsed with the wind band (playing Christmas carols at the village fête on Saturday)...I could go on - but I won't!!! BUT!!! The biggest excitement of all, and something that I haven't dared to go on about before now, because I just didn't ever think it would happen, is that my little sister, who has spent the past 6 years living in Sydney, is coming home for good tomorrow! I am collecting her from the airport tomorrow morning - her flight lands at 11.40, and we are all extremely excited! I have just about managed to keep a lid on my own emotions, for the sake of the girls, so that they didn't get too wound up, but now, knowing that I will see her in approximately 12 hours, I am beside myself!! I will try and take photos tomorrow at the airport (through a haze of salt water, prob'ly)

By way of a wonderful diversion, I spent a good chunk of the middle of the day today with another friend I've made through the www. world of blogging - I had placed an order for Christmas cards with Gretel, and since she is only 35 minutes away, I went and picked them up, rather than have them posted to me. We went for a fab walk in some of the beautiful West Oxfordshire woodland, and then came back to homemade soup, and some of my carrot cake. A perfect way to spend a late morning and early afternoon. Had I not had to rush back to collect the chicklets from school, I could have happily spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to Gretel. A good friend.

And finally, thank you for coming back - I am going to try and get round my regular reads over the next couple of days, and catch up with everyone's news.

*weekend photos*

Well, this post will do exactly what it says on the tin!!! I was a lazy old blogger over the weekend - had great photos from Saturday AND Sunday, and was just too darn tired at the end of both days to blog them. Think I'll save the ones from Saturday for a rainy day (!!), but here is a small selection from yesterday afternoon, when Sue and I took our four girls (with Elizabeth in her new pushchair - no pram required!!), and one of their friends to the park in Pershore, and then to the lovely tea room in Pershore which is owned by our friend Debs, and where children are made to feel extremely welcome. It was such a lovely autumn afternoon yesterday; fresh and crisp, a dazzling sun bathing everything in sight with its cold glow. I have to start with a photo of this little cherub who, at 11 weeks old, is turning into such a little character. She is one of mellowest, most chilled out babies I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.


I love the photo opportunities available at children's playgrounds - the vibrancy of the play equipment lends so much to the end product!!




And, what could be nicer than pink lemonade and chocolate cake with your chums at the end of a gentle afternoon's play? Quite a lot, apparently; the chocolate cake was not at all well-received, and for the life of me I can't understand why. I thought it was delicious!! Debs has a wonderful selection of organic cake, but I treated myself to a slice of white chocolate and Amaretto ganache, which was absolutely delish.



Before I finish this post, I'm just going to post a photo of the home-made pizza my lovely hub made on Saturday night; he makes it all from scratch, including the pastry for the base, and it is the best pizza I have tasted: witness - anchovies, bacon, green and black olives, tomatoes and cheese - FABULOUS!!

*chicken stock...*

...STINKS!!! Seriously, I have just, for the first time, made a pan of proper chicken stock using the bones and carcass left over from our roast this evening, and it whiffs. It's not a totally unpleasant smell, but it hangs heavy in the old nasal passages!! I have been poring over Lindsey Bareham's 'A Celebration of Soup', and many of the recipes advocate, nay insist on the use of proper stock as the basis for the soups. I know it makes sense, but it doesn't half pong!!! (That's a technical term, by the way...)

Just a short post tonight; it's way past midnight, and I should be tucked up in bed.

*alternative Christmas giving*

We've done this for the past few years with some of the people for whom we buy gifts; it's not for everyone, and although I would be quite happy if all of the gifts I received were alternative, I understand that some people like to have a present for themselves at Christmas!! Anyway, although I'm sure all of my regular readers will already be aware of alternative giving, I just thought I'd post details of a few of the different sites where life-giving, alternative gifts can be purchased. I had fun trying to explain to my (now) 95 year-old grandparents why I had 'bought' them a goat a couple of years ago. I think they got it!!!

*Click on the name of the organisation to be taken to their site*

Oxfam


World Vision


Unicef


Life-giving Gifts


Christian Aid


Save the Children



Practical Presents


The gifts that keep on giving - peace out, people!!

*new beds!*

There was, indeed, great excitement yesterday afternoon upon the girls' return from grandma and grandad's house; Ed and I had worked very hard to assemble their new beds and get the rooms tidy, but these jobs always take longer than you think they're going to. Anyway, the girls had chosen their own bedding from the IKEA catalogue:




Both sets are really lovely; there are quirky little details, like mice peeping out, or the odd dragonfly here and there. Needless to say, the girls love them, which is the main thing. This is the corner of F's bedroom where the new bed is:



And, similarly, A's bedroom:
You can't see it, but to the right of A's bed there is a leaf like this one, the tip of which hangs over the end where she sleeps.

We don't think we've ever seen them as excited as they were yesterday; I wish I could bottle that excitement and enthusiasm. There is a dragon on A's bedspread, and she now wishes to be addressed as 'Prince George'.

F is Princess Rose...


The rooms aren't finished; we need to paint the walls and do a bit of rearranging, and I want to get lights for the play area underneath the beds, but for the time being, I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out!

*fireworks and glow sticks!*

*not taken by me!!* Taken from here

Had a great evening at the village firework display last night; it was very fresh, but we wrapped up, and, apart from the feet getting a little numb from standing still watching the fireworks, we were just fine. The girls had a fantastic time, running around with their friends, munching on hotdogs, and waving glow sticks: glow sticks are the new sparklers. Sparklers were strictly off-limits, but in all honesty, the kids seemed to have just as much fun with the glow sticks, without the attendant hazards of burnt fingers and pokes in the eye. My efforts at photographing the fireworks were woeful, and certainly not good enough to share!! I take my hat off to photographers of fireworks - it is no mean feat!!

Anyway, here are a couple of shots from last night, wide eyes and cold cheeks!





Ed and I sampled the joys of IKEA this evening; the girls are at grandma and grandad's for the night, and we have rearranged their rooms with new cabin beds, and canopies over. Freya's is a sort of princess theme, and Anja's is more knights and nature - it's what she wanted!! They won't be properly finished until we give each room a lick of paint, but I think we've done enough to guarantee two very excited little girls upon their return tomorrow. Can't wait to see their faces!!

*cold and frosty morning*

Brrrrr. This post is especially for my ma and pa, who yesterday jetted off to Australia for a month. It is literally freezing here now - you got away just in time!!! This morning, the grass was crunchy, the breath hung heavy in the air, and everything was crisp and bitingly fresh. Quite exhilarating, actually, but bl**dy cold!! We had to break out the hats, scarves and gloves from their box in the garage - I was impressed at how easy it was to put my hands on a full set: I must be getting tidier in my old age!



Crunching patterns in the grass was a lot of fun, although it meant that A went to school with damp feet, and blowing warm breath in to the cold air was a novelty. If you look really hard, you can just about see the breath!



Forgot to say yesterday that we took delivery of our first organic fruit and veg box, and it was absolutely brill. Potatoes, leeks, celeriac, carrots, savoy cabbage, winter salad leaves, a cucumber, tomatoes, onions, a yellow pepper, mushrooms, apples, oranges and bananas. I am sure it is enough for a week; I have the option to order 'extras' of all sorts of things, so I may add in some more potatoes, but I'll see how we get on with our first lot. It's very exciting, and is making me think a lot more about what I cook.

*all things pumpkin!*

As promised, all manner of pumpkin-related treats from yesterday.

The morning saw me run out, on impulse, to buy a pumpkin to make some soup; A and I had the afternoon to ourselves, as F was being collected from school by Victoria's mummy, before their modern dance lesson. A usually likes to muck in in the kitchen, and I knew she'd enjoy being my assistant for a spot of flesh gouging (the pumpkin, not ours!!) Shock horror, our local farm shop was all out of pumpkins, so I was forced to drive about 3 miles to the next nearest farm shop, where there were not only some beautiful pumpkin specimens, but also some too-tempting squash, so I bought a couple of small pumpkins, and squash of the butternut, ambernut and spaghetti varieties, as seen above.

I prefer to roast my pumpkin for soup, rather than chopping it up and boiling it. You get less wastage with roasting, because the flesh just slides away from the skin, it's so soft, and I also firmly believe that it's much tastier to roast, than to boil all the flavour out of it. Just a personal preference, though. Anyway, I cut both pumpkins in half, scooped out the seeds and stringy bits, and then put the halves face down, i.e. cut side down on a baking tray lined with foil doused with olive oil. Roasted on a moderate heat for 45 minutes until it was lovely and squashy, and then just left it, skin still on, until the afternoon when A and I were ready to continue.

When we got home from school, it was straight into the kitchen to get our hands dirty!! This is the fun part! We had to scoop the soft roasted flesh away from the skin, using spoons, hands - whatever!



It was a messy, but satisfying job:



The flesh then went into the blender, along with a couple of potatoes which had been peeled, diced and gently boiled until soft in some vegetable stock with a pinch of saffron and a crushed clove of garlic. It was all whizzed together, returned to a big pot on the stove for a generous slosh of single cream, and then brought to the boil (but only just) to warm it through. Put into bowls with a swirl of cream and a twist of salt and pepper to finish it off, and it was absolutely deeee-licious!!!



And finally, from yesterday, our ever-so-scary window decoration which failed to deter the trick-or-treaters!! Carved by the girls, with grandad, on Sunday: