Easter Simnel cake

If you fancy something other than hot cross buns this Easter or like us you have family coming to visit and want to make something special, here is a recipe for a light fruit cake with chocolate and marzipan all topped off with mini eggs it really is just delicious as Sophie proves with a face plant to gobble it up.

On yer bike

With petrol prices soaring it really is getting to expensive to get in a car, and driving short trips around town to pick up earneds or do a bit of shopping really is not efficient with all the stop starting of town driving. last year i sold my car so no more costs on MOT services, insurance, tax as well as the ever increasing petrol prices.

Too too cute tutu

When we moved into our house we had a Vegas party, and needed to use the conservatory for a casino so i made a tented ceiling and put up twinkling lights. However 3 years later it is still up as it looks so much better than the plastic roofing that is there, so ever so often i have to pull it down and and give it a clean as during the summer months it can become a bit of a fly trap.  If you see the above picture that pretty white chair with the real rattan seat which i rescued from the town dump, i actually got 4 of them and they didn't look like that when i got them, they had woodworm and were brown, someone had thrown them away.  I thought the shape was so nice so paid the dump keeper £10 and got them and took them home to treat the woodworm and restore them afterwards i painted them up white.

Easter day

Getting together for the kids for an Easter day ahead of the holiday on what must be the hottest day so far.
The day started with everyone looking their best which was very short lived, as the day unfolded everyone got messier and clothes where stripped off.

Raised veggie plots

Last year my clever Ali built me some raised veggie plots so we could save some money by growing our own food in the garden.  Ali beavered away in the garden over a weekend pulling together decking boards and stakes before digging hole to drop the stakes,  Sophie was walking by herself at 11 months so a month on she was very strong on her feet and was keen to help out by carry daddies tools, unfortunately off and up the garden.  What a funny little thing she looks here with a big nogging and her baby fat so different from now almost a year on where she is better proportioned but growing taller and faster than a weed.

Why are the weather men always wrong

One thing that bugs me is that the weather men are always wrong in their predictions, they have loads of expensive computers and satellites but no matter what they say the weather is generally incorrect, if they say its going to rain we usually have a grey or sunny days and if they predict sun we get showers they never get snow forecasts right and the council never get the much needed salt on the roads. The only time they get the weather right is when it has already happened.

Recycled gardening pots

Well we are getting busy in the garden and potting up is a job that requires a few different sizes of pots which i didn't  have so we headed out to buy some and when we found them in the shop 5 for £1.65 i kinda clenched up.

Home made beef burgers

Well the sun is out and BBQ season is upon us, we have always loved cooking outside and have cooked all kinds of things fish wrapped in banana leaves, whole legs of lamb etc 

Gardening in April

Well the gardening is really ramping up now it is April, and it's all about weeding, and its the best time to do it while they are still tender as you can pull them out root and all with out getting a shovel out. Planting seeds and watering has defiantly become Sophie's forte and she learnt to do pinching fingers and evenly spread seeds over the soil she is also a dab hand with her little pink watering can. re potting the smaller plants up a pot or in the ground was also on the agenda, we had 2 disasters where peas and cucumbers didn't come up so have had to start from scratch and buy new seeds and re pot. We also got grooming in the garden to help it look more structured, by mowing, striping and edging the lawn, squaring up the box hedges.

Jerk belly pork

                                         
Since becoming a mum which is a no pay job apart from kisses, and the recession we like to think about what we eat with meat becoming more of a treat as it is so expensive, so looking to cheaper cuts of meat really helps on budgeting family meals.  One such meat is belly of pork which taste delicious, just like my comment on my frugal use of 2 medium chickens where the legs and thighs tastes so much nicer than the breast, belly of pork is defiantly one to try.

Garra rufa fish pedicure

Lucky me i got a pampering treat recently of a fishy nature !!! Ohhh what ?

Mixed berry Cheesecake

I pre ordered and am the proud owner of the latest Hummingbird bakery cake days recipe book

Raspberry ice cream

What better way to keep your cool on a hot day than eat home made ice cream in a nice hat

Centre parcs woodlands

The last week of March for us mean a trip to Centre parcs, since Sophie came along we have made it a family tradition and this is our second year.

Wroxham barns

 

At a recent visit to Granny and Grumps they suggested a trip to Wroxham barns for a fun afternoon here are the adventures of Sophie Poppy and a petting zoo and her first fun fair.

heavy breather

If you ever wondered who that heavy breather was on the phone here's the culprit.