Oooodles of Noodles

New kids on the block!

2010-07-26T21:06:00.001+01:00

As some of you will already know I acquired some new hens the weekend before last. At the end of a long day volunteering on a rescue day for the British Hen Welfare Trus t there were 5 hens left over. I have been volunteering for the charity for about 6 months now, but this was the first time I had actually gone to the battery farm and taken hens out of that awful place. So as I had seen first hand where these five hens had been the night before (and even though we would have been able to find homes for the last five) I felt that I owed these girls! Plus I don't need much of an excuse to get more hens!! Watch this space, as once back from our summer holidays the run on the allotment is going to get an extension so might be able to save some more - just don't tell the hubby!!! :-)

So here they are - names courtesy of Vamp_Kelly!

Meet Eddy - name courtesy of Ab Fab - she is the largest of the five therefore had to be called Eddy!!

Eddy

Meet Patsy - again Ab Fab inspired and she is the leader of the new five. And when we integrated them with the existing hens she is the most daring of them all - and does seem to have the personality of Patsy - just needs to find the bottle of wine!!

Patsy

Next is Bolly. Look at her tail - its a plume of feathers - looks like one of those exotic dancers!

Bolly

Then comes Moet - she is probably the shyest of all of them (maybe she only comes out on special occasions!) - very wary of us humans - and to be honest who can blame her!

Moet

And last but certainly not least is Rosy. There is hardly anything to her - and she seems so much smaller than all of the others.

Rosy

It breaks my heart to think of all the hens that are still sat in cages. It is not right that animals are kept in these conditions - a live chicken should not be as bald as this . . .

Bolly pruning her bare behind!

Please make sure that you only buy free range eggs and chickens. And look out for 'hidden' eggs in produce that you don't always immediately associate with eggs - pasta, biscuits, cakes, ice cream . . . .the list is endless. If everyone stops buying these items with battery hen eggs in them the manufacturers will get the message. It is slowly getting through but there is still a long way to go. Here endeth my sermon for today . . thank you for listening!

Baked gooseberry, ginger and creme fraiche cheesecake

2010-07-11T21:40:00.000+01:00

After harvesting a lot of gooseberries from our allotment, and making a lot of them into jam, I decided to have a flick through my recipe book, where I have kept a lot of recipes out of magazines, printed from websites etc. I came across this cheesecake recipe, and thought it just had to be done. So invited some friends for a BBQ at the weekend as a good excuse to make it, and during Saturday afternoon got stuck in to baking.

The ingredients you will need if you want to make this are -
Butter, for greasing
500g full fat soft cheese
225g caster sugar
3 medium eggs (free range of course!!)
2 tbsp cornflour
5tbsp ginger cordial (I used a ginger and lemongrass cordial)
350g gooseberries, topped and tailed
200g tub of creme fraiche

For the base
75g butter
100g ginger snap biscuits
100g digestive biscuits
2 tbsp demerara sugar

Firstly I preheated the oven to gas mark 2 (150 deg c/fan 130 deg c), and greased a loose bottom tin (recipe says 23cm spring form tin). To make the base, I melted the butter, bashed up the biscuits using a rolling pin (biscuits in a food bag of course!) and mixed them with the butter. I totally forgot to add the sugar at this point (and after tasting the finished article think it did need to sugar to give it a bit more sweetness), so you should add the sugar and then mix. Then the mixture was pressed down into the tin, and put in the fridge until set.

I then beat the cheese and 150g of the caster sugar until smooth . . .

then beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by cornflour and 3 tablespoons ginger cordial.

Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake in the oven for about 55 minutes, or until set with just the slightest wobble in the centre. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in there to cool, as this stops it from cracking.

While the cheesecake is cooking in the oven its time to get on with the gooseberry topping. I put the gooseberries, 25g caster sugar and the remaining ginger cordial into a saucepan and brought to a simmer. This needs to be cooked gently for 5 minutes until the gooseberries are soft but still keeping their shape. Tip the berries into a sieve over a bowl and leave to drain.

I left it there for the remaining time of the cheesecake cooking (mainly cos I got on with other things). When you are ready tip the syrup that has dripped into the bowl back into the saucepan and boil rapidly until it has reduced to about 2 tablespoons.

The gooseberries then need to be tipped into a bowl and covered with the reduced syrup and left to cool.

When the cheesecake has cooled it needs to removed from the oven, and the oven needs to be turned back on to Gas mark 2. Spread the gooseberries evenly over the cheesecake. . . .

. . . then mix the creme fraiche and the last 50g of caster sugar and spread over the gooseberries to cover them completely.

It then needs to be put back in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Again, turn the off the oven and leave it to go cold inside, and then transfer into the fridge. I made mine the day before I needed it, and recipe stated that it will keep for 3 days in the fridge! Not sure mine will get that luxury!!

And here is the finished article!

It is yummy, and well worth making. Had a lovely taste thats both sweet and sour!

Hope you like the recipe, and the way that I have laid it out with photos too. Please leave a comment so I know what you think!

Jam, Jelly and Icecream Making

2010-07-04T20:47:00.000+01:00

The allotment has an abundance of fruit at the moment, and as I didn't get any better offers of something to do today I thought I would turn some of the fruit into something yummy.

Yesterday me and the better half went to harvest as much as we could, and so first thing this morning (well, 10 a.m. is first thing on a Sunday to most! ;-)) the hubby started topping and tailing the gooseberries.

These will be turned into jam - but not managed to do that today.

The blackcurrants (the few we have!) were to be turned into jelly at the hubby's request - so no need to top and tail - just got them onto boil with some water.

Then into the jelly bag they went . . . but not after a bit of a mishap which made hubby look like he had been shot (big reddish blog on front of t-shirt!!!) . . . and they stayed there for most of the afternoon.

In the meantime I warmed some sugar in the oven, and then layered a bowl with sugar, strawberries and gooseberries.

They then stayed there covered for most of the day . . . . ready for me to make Strawberry Jam with a twist! More on this later!

I then decided to make some strawberry ice cream while waiting the blackcurrants to drip through etc etc.

Think it turned out well . . .don't you?? Tasted good too!!!

So back to the Strawberry jam with a twist. The berries had been in the bowl with the sugar for 6 hours. I then transferred them into the jam pan, and added 5 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

Then i just had to slowly heat it up, until all of the sugar was dissolved .. . . . . which looks like photo below.

Then had to boil until it reached the setting point . . . . and at one point I thought I was making the pink bubbling slime from Ghostbusters!!!

And while all of this was going on in one pan, the blackcurrant juice had dripped as much as it was going to drip through the jelly bag, and was put into a pan with sugar, and heated up, and then gently boiled . . .

Incidentally if you want to turn a wooden spoon pink - blackcurrants do a great job!!!

And finally . . . . the end of results of a busy day.

One jar of blackcurrant jelly!

And five jars of Strawberry Jam with a twist!

The gooseberry jam will have to wait until tomorrow, and still have half a bowl of strawberries left too . . . which may get turned into jam too!!

Messing about on the river

2010-06-29T22:11:00.001+01:00

About three weeks ago I, along with the hubby, a mate and her hubby, went to Norfolk for a holiday. It had been booked since September of last year, and so when it finally came we were all well ready for it.

The Norfolk Broads has a special place in my heart. When I was a child (living in Cambridge) we used to go on boating holidays nearly every year, and more often than not with my Nana. As some of you will know I lost my Nana in April of this year, only about 3 weeks before my holiday to Norfolk. She was the most important person in my life up until that point, and will forever stay with me. She regularly went to Norfolk in recent years, particularly to a village called Horning. Any regular to the Broads will know that Horning is a lovely village to stop at. A week after the funeral my Dad scattered her ashes in Horning.

So this year it seemed very poignant to go on the Broads. The first couple of days were fabulous. As one of the crew gets sea sick at the drop of a hat (think she only needs to see water and feels it!) we thought it could be interesting but she took it like 'a duck to water'!

As we approached Horning in the boat I felt a strange sense of sadness come over me (and had a few tears too). I felt sad that my Nana wouldn't be able to go on her holidays there now, and that I wouldn't be able to tell her about my boating holiday on my return home, as she would always like to know where abouts on the Broads we had been as she was so familiar with the area.

However whilst moored up in the village one night I felt thankful. Thankful that for the time my Nana was in my life she shared this special place with me, and that now I will always hold this place dear in my heart forever.

I will always return here at various points in my life. I don't know how I know that but I do.

Anyway enough of the serious stuff - The holiday was brilliant. Plenty of fun was had - including me being left on the river bank as hubby tried to moor up but totally misjudged everything!!! A boating holiday is all about either witnessing episodes like this or starring in them!!!

So if you get the chance to go on a boating holiday on the Broads - GO!!!!!! You will love it!!!

And finally . . . . . . . . . on a walk to a brewery came across this sign . . . . . and fell in love with it . .. . . hope you like it too!!!

The ultimate summer recipe

2010-06-21T21:26:00.000+01:00

This is one of my favourite recipes using a vegetable that I don't really do a lot else with - Spinach!

Creamed Spinach is scrumptious. If you like cauliflower cheese with your dinner, then this is for you.

Creamed Spinach

500g fresh Spinach

1 onion, peeled and cut into thick slices

250ml whole milk

1-2 bay leaves

50g unsalted butter

25g plain flour

sea salt

A couple of twists of black pepper

A few gratings of nutmeg

Trim the spinach, stripping out the coarse central talks and wash well (especially if they have come from your allotment!!!). Cook the spinach, covered, in a large saucepan - you don't need to add any water, as the droplets clinging to the leaves from when you washed it will be enough. When the leaves are wilted and cooked through, refresh them briefly in cold water then squeeze them with your hand to extract as much water as possible (kids love doing this!!) and then roughly chop.

Put the onion and bay leaves in a pan with the milk, and bring almost to the boiling point, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes (if you haven't got time to do this don't worry). Strain into a jug discarding the onion and bay leaves.

Melt the butter in the same pan (you don't need to wash it) and stir in the flour to get a loose roux. Cook this gently for a couple of minutes, then add half the warm seasoned milk and stir in. When the sauce is thick and smooth, stir in the rest of the milk. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for just a minute. Season well with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.

Next stir in the chopped spinach. Heat through until thoroughly hot, but don't let it bubble for more than a minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and touch more nutmeg if you like. Serve at once - great on it owns in a large bowl with a bit of bread!!

(This recipe was obtained from River Cottage - but has been tried and tested a lot by me - and comes highly recommended!)

The Allotment on a summers evening

2010-06-16T21:27:00.000+01:00

After a bit of nagging from Snaffles Mummy, and after finding lots of new allotment buddies on Twitter, I thought I would head up to the allotment and take some photos of the allotment. I ~~will~~ do my best to take more pics in a couple of weeks time to show you the progress that is being made.

As you can probably see (hopefully through the sunshine) that our allotment is anything but immaculate! I would absolutely love to have one of those allotments where weeds do not even dare to poke their head through the soil, and where everything is in perfectly spaced rows - one day maybe . . . . . . . . oh sorry went off into my own little world then!!

Having a full time job does make it hard to keep on top of the allotment. I often look out of my office window and think what I could be doing up on the allotment. But hey, at least we have got one, there are plenty of people around the country that are sat on waiting lists just begging to be given the opportunity to own an allotment, so maybe I should keep my moaning to myself about weeds etc etc!!!

The strawberries are finally coming through, however I have taken this photo very carefully as our strawberry patch is extremely over grown - in fact some of the nettles are nearly as tall as me - possibly a job for the weekend I think!!

This year the strawberries don't seem quite so sweet, but think this could be due to the lack of sunshine they are getting due to the weeds - what do you think?

The potatoes are finally flowering, and according to the grapevine up on the allotment (in the form of our allotment next door neighbour, Alan, who practicaly lives up there) our potato tops are the best looking, which is surprising cos we were probably one of the last to get our potatoes in, but that did mean that we missed all of those late frosts.

The gooseberry bushes are looking really healthy this year, so should be getting plenty off of them.

Anyone got any good gooseberry recipes??

The sweetcorn plants are looking nice and healthy. We grew sweetcorn successfully for the first time last year, after purchasing the seeds from Marshalls, and things are looking good for this year too.

And here is a lovely row of iceberg lettuces. Last year we didn't manage to grow these to full maturity, but this year I started them off in the greenhouse, which seems to have worked quite well.

Last year we had a section on the allotment where the other half sowed seeds from a bumblebee mix. We didn't get round to digging this area over in the winter and as a result quite a few seem to self seeded around the bottom part of the allotment.

There are also some Sweet Williams Mr B's sister planted (as she has part of the allotment we are on for a while).

There are plenty of other things planted on the allotment, but thought I would save some of those for my next post. And an allotment post from me wouldn't be about my allotment without a photo of my girls. Here they are enjoying a short time in the brassica patch (they soon got moved along once this photo was taken!)

Writing Workshop #20 - Meeting the team

2010-04-14T09:12:00.001+01:00

I thought I would have a go at Sleep is for the Weak's Writing Workshop this week . . so here goes!

As some of you may know I have recently started volunteering for the British Hen Welfare Trust. I am a support coordinator for the Lincolnshire team, which involves me taking calls from prospective hen re-homers, and assessing their suitability to adopt hens. I have been doing this since February, but last Saturday I attended my first re-homing day.

I had met AHL (another support coordinator for the area) as we knew each other from a previous life, and had to get together for some database training, but I had yet to meet the rest of the team. C & J are the farmers that collect the hens from the battery farm, and bring them back to their own place for the re-homers to collect.

On Saturday I woke up early (announcing to my other half that it was 'Chicken Day' in a very loud voice!) but was also a bit apprehensive about the day. I am not always the most confident of people when meeting new people, but once I get to know you there is no stopping me! I was concerned about where I would fit in within the team on the day (as I knew they had been together for a while).

Hubby drove me to AHL's so that we could go to the C & J's together. On our arrival AHL was greeted with hugs and kisses by C & J (and a couple of other volunteers that help out on re-homing day) and I was greeted with handshakes and 'pleased to meet you' etc etc. After going and 'ooooohing and aaaaahing' over the hens we all ended up in the farm kitchen for a cuppa and a muffin (kindly made by AHL) before the masses arrived to collect their new family members!

The day was wonderful, seeing all the excited re-homers, and was nice to meet some of the people I had talked to on the phone. By the end of the day we had raised our target amount in donations, and I truly felt like a member of the team. C & J are lovely, wonderful people, and made me feel very welcome. J has an amazing presence and he is one of those people that you would instantly know if he walked in the room, and is always making you laugh with his witty comments! At the end of the day I was given hugs and kisses along with AHL, and knew that I belonged!

Below is a pic of Martine Mc'cluck'tcheon! One of the hens from the February rescue!!!

My Nana

2010-03-24T19:19:00.000Z

Snafflesmummy gave me a prod the other day mentioning I hadn't blogged for a while - so here I go.

Where to start . . . . . my Nana has been and is one of the biggest influences in my life. She has had such a dominant presence in my life, and I really don't know how life will be when she is gone.

My Nana is not well. She hasn't been for a long time now. But over the past year she has been pretty much bed bound. This in itself is a strange scenario. My Nana has always been such a strong woman. Running a farm house when I was younger, with not only her own children and grandchildren around, but also all of the animals, and countless number of foster children. About 20 years ago she received the BEM (British Empire Medal) for services to the community, as at that point she had fostered over 100 children. By the time she stopped she had gone well over the 200 mark.

My Nana has always been there for me. I have led a relatively complicated life (my friends can vouch for that!) but she has always been my constant thing - like my moon - always there in the background, and has a pull unlike anything else. When I was 13 I went to live with her, as due to various events I couldn't live at home, and I stayed with her until I went to Uni (all be it for a very brief time) at 19. However even before that, and especially as a younger child a day didn't go past with out me seeing her, or hearing from her.

Over the past year she has become more and more unwell, and I and the rest of the family have said goodbye to her thinking she wasn't going to make it to the next day or week. But she is still here. But over the past few days things have got worse. She is now receiving drugs intravenously and nurses are going in to her home daily. I saw her on Mothers Day, as I always take her a card and some flowers, and she was 'ok'. On Friday my stepmum and dad came round to say Nana had taken a turn for the worse, and they were unsure how long she was going to be with us for. She is still here today, and I went to see her for the first time since receiving the news on Friday. I was in two minds whether to go, as (some may think for selfish reasons) I wanted to remember her how she had been on Mothers day. She was in bed, but able to talk away to me, even managing to get a dig in about the lack of great grandchildren! So I walked into her bungalow somewhat tentatively this afternoon. My stepmum greeted me, letting me know that Nana was very sleepy as the drugs that she is on are making her very drowsy. When I walked into the room I don't think my face could hide the shock. My Nana was there looking so frail, and it was very obvious that the drugs were definitely having an effect. It was horrible. I only managed to stay for about 3 minutes before I made an excuse and went into the living room to sob my heart out. In the next room was what was the strongest woman I have ever known, and will probably ever know, and it breaks my heart that she is like this. I just keep thinking what she was like, and what she would be doing normally at this time of year - getting ready for her potatoes to go in her tubs in the garden, doing her spring cleaning, and planning her holidays to the Norfolk Broads.

I am really surprised at how badly I am coping with all of this. I thought I would be really strong, and be able to hold it together, but I am just a blubbering wreck. I have not really lost anyone close to me since I have been an adult (although still not sure I am one of those yet!), and I really cannot imagine life without my Nana. Even though through the years she 'has done my head in' (something I regularly used to say to her during my teenage years) and I am sure I have 'done her head in' too she has always been there, always been my rock, with advice (and not what I have always wanted to hear) and honesty (sometimes a little too honest!).

One of the biggest surprises that has come out of all of this is what could potentially and shockingly become my new rock - my step mum. I have had a very tempestuous relationship with her (part of the reason I ended up living with my Nana), but over the past couple of weeks she has been fabulous to me. I think I probably got the first 'real' hug from her last week (that will sound strange to many of you, but to those that know me this is a shocker!!). She has been amazing with my Nana, and has been someone I can really talk to about whats going on in my head when it comes to dealing with what is happening with Nana. So although my Nana will eventually leave us, maybe my stepmum will step into the shoes, even though they are massive shoes to fill.

Stop and think about those chickens.

2010-02-25T19:12:00.000Z

About 4-5 years ago I watched a programme on the televison, and that programme had a huge impact on me.

The documentary was about chickens, but not chickens wandering about in an open field, or under apple trees. It was about 'battery' chickens. During the programme I sat and cried. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and that as a society we let this happen.

Ever since then I have been very conscious of where my eggs and chicken come from. And finally, nearly a year ago, I managed to fulfill a dream I had had since watching that programme, and rescued 6 ex battery chickens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.

I have recently taken on 6 more chickens, and now dream of having a small holding where I can even more. I have also recently become a volunteer administrator for the BHWT, and a fellow administrator sent me this poem, which made me almost cry. I feel that if this poem was printed on all cheap chickens and battery farmed eggs people would think twice about what they were buying.

Please feel free to copy this poem (but give credit to the person who wrote it!) and send it to as many people as you can. The more I can get the message to people about this the better!

BATTERY HEN

By Jenny Moxham

Submitted by the author - 15 Mar 2004

Can you imagine how I feel

Condemned to life within a place,

Where I cannot ever take a step

Because there is no space.

Can you imagine how I'm aching,

How I long to flap my wings,

I've swollen feet and knee joints

And the pain debeaking brings.

Each day's a living nightmare

Of uninterrupted pain,

For my feather-pecking cell mates

Have already gone insane.

Each day seems an eternity,

Yet one more day to dread.

I've runny sores and tumors

And I wish that I were dead.

And I wonder if, at breakfast,

With my egg upon your plate,

You ever think about me

Or my cruel and tragic fate.

And when your breakfast's over

And you toss away my shell,

Do you realize that the cost to me

Was one whole day in hell?

And to try and leave you on a positive note heres a pic of my recent 'rescuees'

The second coming of the chickens

2010-02-21T16:25:00.000Z

Today I went to collect some more ex battery hens to add to the 5 I already have.

After arriving at the farm to collect them it was apparent they were in better condition that the ones we got last year from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. But they still are very different to the hens that have been with us for nearly a year now (doesn't time fly!!).

So here they are in the box . . .

And now getting their first proper glimpse at the blue sky . .

They seem to have settled in to their new temporary home (once they have got used to the outdoor lifestyle they will be integrated with the others, and stay in the larger hen house).

They are all shut in now to get used to each other, and to try to keep them warm, but will be up bright and early to try and coax them outside in the morning!

On a snowy allotment with the chickens

2010-01-09T15:26:00.001Z

It's Saturday, and after a rather stressful work at week it was nice this morning not to think about getting up early! However our chickens needed us. During the week their grandparents (aka Mr Noodles' Mum and Dad) look after them for us, as we can't get up to them in daylight hours on the allotment. At weekends though its back to us, and we need to make sure their coop is cleaned out etc etc. With the weather being like it is their water freezes up so easily that we can't leave it too late before we go up there.

So today we made our way up to the allotment, and this is the view that greeted us!

A rather snowy allotment! We soon got our wellies on, and went up the path to see the chickens, who were more than pleased to see us! We love letting them out of their run, and normally they will dig around the allotment trying to find worms! Unfortunately they weren't going to find many of them today. Instead they just had a run around! Below you can see one them running after Mr Noodles down the allotment path.

And even though there are few brussell sprout tops left, we still took them up some watercress (from M&S no less . . . . we have very distinguished chickens you know!!)

We also stopped by a Wilkos on the way to allotment to get some wild bird food. We really need a bird table up there, but being on the allotment we just made do with what we had . . . . a pile of pallets!!

But now it's nice to come in from the cold, get the kettle on, and do some blogging!! Hope you are all keeping nice and warm!

And then the snow came! My first rant of the year!

2010-01-06T19:26:00.000Z

Well what a start to 2010 (and have we decided whether we are saying two thousand and ten, or twenty ten yet?).

Where I live we never get snow, but this week . . . . oh my god!! We have had loads. I work at a school, and it actually closed today for the first time in years (apparently - have only been there for just over a year so cannot be definite about this!). But this is where my moaning begins . . . . I have warned you! I work in the office at the local high school, and it is literally a five minute walk from my house to school. I am the first person in the office (at 7.45 a.m.), so am responsible for being there when other members of staff ring in ill, or when the parents of our little darlings ring up to say their son/daughter is not well!

I got up this morning at the usual time, looked out of the window and saw we had had more snow overnight, so turned the computer on to see whether the school was going to be open or not. It wasn't - there was an announcement on the schools website. But as a member of the office staff, and especially as the first one in, I knew I still had to go in, especially with my proximity to the school. Being the headteachers pet good girl that I am, I went in a bit earlier as I knew the phones would be mayhem with parents wanting to find out whether the school was open or not (although I do imagine most (if not all) of them will have the internet or a radio they still ring in!!!) After my walk to school, and missing the snowballs thrown at me by the caretaking team (nice try boys . . . but really . . . you throw like girls!!) I sat at my desk. I thought that surely I wouldn't be the only member of the office team that will come in a bit earlier, as they know what it will be like! But no, it just seems that I was the only one with 'sucker' written on my forehead!! No sooner had I got in but the phones started to ring! After continously answering the phone for 20 mins I was starting to get a bit hacked off. The headteacher arrived not long after me, and helped with the phones, as did the caretakers (but only after the promise of a cup of tea!). In amongst the phone calls from parents were ones from members of staff saying how they couldn't possibly get in . . blah blah blah!!!

The headteacher lives a good hour drive from school in the middle of nowhere, he managed to get in, and the only reason he shut the school was due to bus service issues in the surrounding areas. But members of staff that live within the town didn't manage to get there!! It's a bit of a joke really! The roads were bad, but passable. It doesn't really seem fair that me (and some other members of the office who came later) stayed until 3 p.m. this afternoon whilst nearly every other member of staff where having a 'Snow Day'!!! It's alright for some!! Tomorrow will be the same . . even though we haven't really had much more snow the stuff we do have hasn't gone anywhere, and the roads are going to get icy overnight.

There is a message in here somewhere . . . .

To all of the parents out there - please listen to the local radio stations and look at applicable websites. You don't need to ring school to check that the information is correct!

To all members of staff - get your backside into work!! Its what you are paid to do!!

And there endeth my moan!!

P.S. for everyone that did get out and about in the snow I hope you had fun!!

Happy New Year - to the past and the future

2010-01-02T11:22:00.000Z

Well good morning . . long time no see (or write!!). Thought it was about time I got myself back into this blogging lark.

The past month seems to have been a bit hectic, and haven't really felt like writing much. About a week before Christmas found out that I was pregnant, but it obviously wasn't to be, as two days before Christmas I miscarried. Not the best time of year for it to happen, but I do believe these things happen for a reason. Better luck next time!

So what happened in 2009.

1. Me and a few friends turned the big 30. My best mate (Vamp Kelly) was the first to reach this milestone in my close circle of friends. To celebrate we went to the Peak District with Snaffles Mummy and had a fab weekend. A murder mystery night had been organised, and we all got into the spirit of it by dressing up as our characters. The highlight had to be deciding to go into the local pub dressed up in our said costumes, and people actually clapping when we walked in!! Hilarious!! For my 30th I went off to Rome for a few days with the husband, which was amazing, and really want to go back. When I got back I had a fab night out with all my friends!

2. I got my chickens! In May, after what seemed like weeks of building a chicken run on the allotment, we finally went to collect my chickens from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. It was a bit of a shock to see the state of them, and the worst of the bunch was named Delilah! They settled in really quickly, and soon learnt what life was all about outside of a cage. One of them unfortunately died about a month or so later, but the rest are still going strong, despite the recent cold snap that we have had.

And what does 2010 have in store for me?

To be honest I have no idea. Have a couple of holidays planned, to the Norfolk Broads and the Dominican Republic - cannot wait for some sunshine, as it feels like an eternity since we have had a beach holiday. With that in mind I could really do with losing a little bit of weight in preparation for this, but whether that will happen . . . nobody can predict!!

We are going to get a few more chickens once the spring arrives. Just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit, and then hopefully we may actually get some more eggs. Still in two minds whether to get more ex battery hens or young birds. I do really want to get rescue ones again, as I strongly believe that chickens should be allowed to roam free! Our chickens love being let out of their run, and wander around the allotment!

I am looking forward to blogging more, and especially look forward to reading the posts from Vamp Kelly, Snaffles Mummy, and my new friend from the Secret Ornament Swap, The Madhouse.

I am still here!!

2009-12-14T15:33:00.001Z

This is just a quick one to let you all know that I am still here! But my laptop is very poorly, and is currently at the laptop doctors, which in turn means no blogging!! I am sneakily doing this whilst at work!

I am really missing being able to blog as I have had a pretty eventful couple of weeks, but am hoping that I will get my 'baby' back soon, and will catch up with everyones blogs, and get some blogging done myself.

Take care

x x x

Smear Test Trauma

2009-11-23T18:43:00.000Z

So the time had come around again for me to have a smear test.

The word smear sends me into a state of panic on it's own, but after three reminder letters that I was due a smear test, and knowing that it it a good thing to do, I made the appointment. Now there is where the problems start. Really, I think you should be able to turn up, unannounced, at the doctors and have a smear test, so that you don't have the time from the making of the appointment to the actual time of the test to think about what is going to happen to you. But we can't have what we want all of the time, so instead I have known for a week that at 4.40 p.m. Monday 23rd November I was going to be having a smear test!

To be honest I haven't given it much thought up until today, apart from when flicking through my diary from time to time for various reasons, and seeing those words in there . . Smear test . . see its horrible . . they should think of another name!

So all day I have been thinking about going for this test, but kept telling myself 'It's not that bad', 'Every woman does it', 'It's not really embarrassing'. So when I walked into the nurses room tonight I thought I was doing ok.

However it turns out I wasn't. The nurse asked me to undress from the waist down, and cover bottom half with the smallest piece of tissue type paper (she might aswell have used a Kleenex!). She then starts to talk to me, obviously trying to make me think about something else, but to be honest talking about the new headteacher at school probably isn't the best thing I need to talk about when in this 'position'. Without going into too much detail (and for us women we know what happens next!) she then asks me to relax. RELAX!!! How can you relax when she is coming towards you with, what can only really be described, as a big corkscrew!! She then tells me 'You really need to relax, it will only be worse if you don't'. LIKE I DON'T KNOW THAT!! Without even realising I have pretty much stopped breathing, and I am so tense that she is really struggling. 'You must breathe', the nurse says. Eventually she gets what she needs, but says 'I have made you bleed, so here is a sanitary towel'. So basically she has in no way helped me to relax, and as a result has injured me!! I know I sound dramatic, but I feel traumatised by this experience. I don't think enough is done to help women in this situation. Surely they could use a nicer implement, or not even attempt it if they can see that you are not relaxed enough. However if they didn't do it then and there I would only make it worse in my head!

I do think that it is very important for every woman to go for a smear test (there I said it again!), but it has to be one of the worst things about being a woman!

So fingers crossed everything will be all fine, and I won't have to think or say those words again for another 3 years!

Hungover and feeling old!

2009-11-22T11:00:00.000Z

Good Morning.

Well it's Sunday morning, and I feel very hungover! Being hungover is not something that normally happens to me after a night on the town, but today seems to be an exception to the norm.

After a few issues at home, my hubby decided that we should go out last night, so he booked a table at a restaurant in town (which in itself is a shock cos I am normally the organiser!). It was really to good to get out with my other half, it really showed that we had been neglecting each other a lot recently. When the waitress bought the menu across I was persuaded had my arm twisted ok I didn't put up much of a fight to order a whole bottle of wine, as it worked out much cheaper than buying by the glass. However when there is a whole bottle of wine on the table, and your other half doesn't really like Rose, it would have been rude not to drink the whole bottle!! On leaving the restaurant, and walking to a pub close by I did feel a tiny bit tipsy, but once in the pub the cocktail menu was calling my name!! And one cocktail quickly led to another, and then we bumped into one of hubby's relatives (who was home from China for the week) and all his mates, so the night turned out to be longer than I thought it would have done!! But it was a good night!

We got home just before midnight, and at this point I was well and truly hammered. Its been a long time since I have drunk that much, and although I know its not clever, it is good to let go sometimes.

However I am paying for it this morning. My head doesn't totally feel attached to the rest of me, and it's 11am and I am sat on the sofa, in my PJ's, and I don't really feel like moving for the rest of the day if I am honest. But where has the hangover come from. A few years ago I would have been up for another night out straight away, but now there is no way I would be able to go out tonight. The only true answer can be that it's my age! Even though I am only 30 my body obviously can't take it anymore. I still feel the same as I did when I was 18 and could go out for multiple nights out on the run. But I have to face facts . . . I can't take the pace!!

The age thing has been even more cemented when a group of Year 11's at school asked if I was one of their friends mum!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ask you!! Surely to a group of 15/16 year olds I don't look old enough to be one of their mums!! But they obviously thought I did. This is not good! Although after retelling this story to various people a lot of people have said the same thing, 'When I was 16 I thought 30 was soooooo old!'. And I have to say I agree with them. I reckon it must be time to start the anti wrinkle treatments!! ;-)

Cupcakes

2009-11-09T21:56:00.000Z

Well tonight I have mostly been making cupcakes!! I have made cakes before, but this is my first attempt at what I would call 'American Style' cupcakes!

I do think I may need some icing lessons from Snaffles Mummy as she is the cupcake queen in our part of the world! But I am quite impressed!

I have made them for a friend at work's 50th birthday, so I hope she likes them!

And this is the first time I have added photos to a blog too, and a link!! Get me!! Lots of virgin outings today then!!

Wordy Wednesday

2009-11-04T18:33:00.006Z

Evening all,

I thought I would change the usual 'Wordless Wednesday' to Wordy Wednesday. Mainly because I haven't written anything for a while, and thought that it was about time I did! So I have had a word with myself, and here I am, tapping away on my laptop, in my living room, in my house, in the town I live, in county I live in, and in the world we all live in!

Now what to talk about . . ?

Life at the moment is pretty uneventful. I feel a little bit like I am just going round on a big wheel, where each day is the same as the previous one, and tomorrow will be the same again. I suppose everyone feels like this from time to time, but I have felt like this for a few weeks. And probably the worst thing about it is for the immediate future I can't see it changing. I am the only one who could change it, but I don't really know what to change.

Part of it, I feel, is that I don't really do anything outside of work and home. I go to work, come home, go to work, come home. Maybe I need to do something in between. The main issue I have is someone to do these things with. As much as I love my other half, it would be nice to do something away from him. Many of my friends lead very busy lives, have kids or work funny shifts so often can't commit to anything, and I am not someone who makes new friends that easily. So what to do . . answers on a postcard please!!

Do any of you feel this way, or have you? And what did you do about it? I would love to hear your thoughts.

I may just bring myself out of it, and I am sure I will. Maybe it is the lack of daylight hours thats affecting me (as you can feel a little trapped at home when its dark outside at 5 p.m. and the curtains are closed), and I just need to think forward to my Caribbean holiday next year. At the end of the day I do lead a good and healthy (well sort of if you forget the wine and the chocolate!) life, and am more fortunate than many people. So maybe I should just be grateful for what I have, have had and will have.

Writing Workshop #3 Exhilarating adventures and Ridiculous Recipes

2009-10-27T21:50:00.013Z

This is my first time of joining in with Sleep is for the weak 's writing workshops. Each week she gives 5 topics or headings that you can talk about, and this week I have decided to join in. This is probably because one of the headings caught my eye - Tell us about your best friend.

My best friend is K. In fact she is more than a best friend, she is like the sister I wished I had (I have got a step sister but don't really see her!).

I have been friends with K for about 14 years now, but have known her for more. We were at school together but were in opposing friend sets. I was a goody two shoes at school, whereas K was a bit of a tearaway, hanging around with the girls that were always in trouble. Anyway, we both went to the same college once we had finished school, and through circumstances that I can't totally remember, ended up together, and then there was no stopping us. From the moment we really talked we just clicked. We both like similar things (although I am still persuading her that Vanilla ice cream IS the best flavour!), have similar sense of humour, and both have very similar attitudes. We soon became inseparable, and to be honest we still are. I cannot imagine my life without K. We always have something to talk about, and can't go too long without knowing whats going on with the other.

After college, and many Pot Noodles in the common room, we both went off to separate universities. I went to Bretton Hall in Wakefield, and K off to Newcastle. We still kept in touch, writing to each other all of the time (this was in a time before mobiles were well used and Facebook!) and meeting up whenever we could. The postman used to get as much fun out of our letter writing as we did, as we used to write messages on the envelopes and get the postman to tick a box! Hours of fun!! Anyhoo . . back to the story . . I didn't really get on well at uni, and came home after a matter of months, and started in the world of work. K carried on, but did transfer to a more local uni. We both started to settle down, both with our now respective husbands. And the rest they say is history. Even though we do live fairly separate lives, we still get together as often as we can, and like I said earlier I couldn't imagine my life without her.

She makes me laugh.

She makes me cry.

She makes me stop and think.

She is always honest.

She is lots of fun.

She is THE best friend that every girl should have!

K is always there for me, and boy has she been there for me. Through bad times, funny times and good times. She is the person I always turn to if I need to talk to someone. The person that I will always turn to. There is so much more I could write about K. So many funny things we have done together, and maybe over the next few months I might do a few reminiscent blogs.

All I can hope is that she looks on me the same, and feels that I am there for her, as much as she has been and will be for me. So here's to K . . . I love ya babe!! You are the best, and I know we will be friends for many years to come! Here's to the next chapter!

Today at work . .

2009-10-23T20:04:00.003+01:00

Well it's Friday today, and the end of term. But it has been a bit of an eventful day!

For those of you that know me I work in a local grammar school. It's a job I really like. The people I work with are great, and the the students are brilliant.

One of my duties is to be a First Aider, and today I got a call over the radio that a student had pains in his chest. So off I went to the classroom where I was expecting to find someone who had maybe been hit in the chest with a football at lunchtime, or maybe punched? But no, when I got there another First Aider had got there, and the student was not looking good. He was struggling for breath, could hardly speak, was very pale, and was clutching his chest. When I did my first aid course I thought I will never remember all of this, but when faced with a situation like this, the adrenaline kicks in, and what you are supposed to do comes flooding back! So we got him into the correct position to open his airways up, but even after a couple of minutes he was still struggling. He then nearly lost consciousness, so we got him straight into the recovery position, and radioed the office to get an ambulance. Over the next half an hour or so his status kept changing. One moment he would seem ok, and would be talking to us, and then next he would look like he was about to drop off to sleep and complaining of serious pain. The time it took for the ambulance to come seemed like forever. Once the ambulance came, they assessed him in the ambulance, gave him pain relief, and took him off to hospital.

It's only once its over you realise what a situation you were in. It was one of those situations that could have gone either way. It could have got very serious, especially at the points when it looked like he was going to lose consciousness. I was so glad that I was there in that situation with another First Aider (Big hug & thanks to C!! Who by the way only qualified on Wednesday, but was marvellous at keeping the boy talking!) It makes you realise how responsible you are for the kids that are at school. Only a couple of years ago, and before my time, a boy died at school, and some of my colleagues where the ones that kept him going as long as they could. Today brought some of that back for one of my colleagues who was there on the field with that boy. She wasn't helping me today with the student in question, but was reminded when the boy in questions brother came in to the office to find out what was going on. The boy who died a couple of years ago has a brother who came to the office when he knew something was wrong with his brother. If something had happened to that boy today, I don't know how I could live with myself.

As a First Aider you take on this duty, but always thought, when practicing for CPR for example, that I will never have to do this for real. However looking at it from the other side I would want to be able to help if I could rather than being a bystander that couldn't help or didn't know what to do.

The latest from the hospital was that his breathing was under control but he was still in pain, and was waiting to be seen. I do hope he is ok, but he is now in the best place for him to be sorted.

So that was a bit of an end to term. So when asked if I fancied going to the pub after work, as a member of staff was retiring today, I couldn't think of anything better than a nice glass of wine after the afternoon I had had!! Lets hope the weekend is a lot less eventful!!

1 week in

2009-10-21T18:52:00.002+01:00

So it's one week since I took the plunge and started my blog! I haven't done loads, but enough I think.

The one thing that I has surprised me though is other people's blogs! It is like an underworld that not many people know about, and where people can share their inner most thoughts and feelings without fear of reprise. Many of the posts I have read have been emotional, which I didn't really expect to find. Bloggers seem very honest, and there seems to be a genuine connection between people, sometimes through obvious things such as having children or a hobby, and then you find people who make you sit up and think about things that you don't think about, or even know about.

I never expected one week ago to have found such a community, but I am glad I have. The only problem is I wish there was more of a community in the normal world (instead of the virtual one). I do sometimes wish I had lived in times gone by, when mums stayed at home, and talked to each other over the garden wall, and had time to go to pop into their neighbours for a coffee. Or maybe these times never existed, as they do say that people look at their past through rose tinted spectacles! I am not even very old (30 if anyone missed it off by bit about me), and already I am saying things I heard my parents say to me. Times just flies by nowadays, and I wonder what time is like when you get to 50, or 60 or 70 etc . . . because if I already feel like time is going quicker than it did when I was younger, what do people of those ages think? They must get up out of bed, and then get straight back into it!

So here's to another week of blogging . . long may it continue! And if you fancy popping by my blog for a cuppa you are more than welcome!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-18T09:41:00.000+01:00

Saturdays

2009-10-17T09:48:00.003+01:00

Well its Saturday.

I love Saturdays.

You still feel like the weekend is stretching before you. By the time it gets to Sunday lunchtime you are on a count down to going back to work. So what to do this Saturday?

It looks like it going to be another day on the allotment. Looking out of the window it looks like a lovely Autumn day. This time of year is possibly one of my favourites. There is a chill in the air, but its not too cold. I love the colours on the trees, and then the freshly dug earth from the allotment after pulling up the last few crops of the year, before planting things that are going to get a head start before the frost appears. I love it when you come back home, get the kettle on and snuggle in for the evening.

Today we need to get some more allotment dug to get ready to plant the onions, garlic, peas and bean that have arrived this week. Going to have a go at growing elephant garlic this year, and the bulbs for planting are HUGE!! Going to be good seeing them grow.

So here's to a good day on the plot!

Thursday 15th October 2009

2009-10-15T21:51:00.003+01:00

Ok . . so this is really my first blog. The last one was just to see if what I did actually worked! And it seemed to. I am still not too sure what I am doing but I am sure I will work it out as I go along!

Well today has been pretty uneventful. Had a good day at work. I work in a school and have been there for 1 year and 1 day today. I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown by. I still feel like the new person, however I can no longer use the excuse of 'I wasn't here this time last year' in a response to a question from another member of staff! I have found it very strange working in a school. It seems odd not to be working to targets and budgets etc as you do when working for a business. However it is much more relaxed in the main because of the lack of targets etc. I can see myself working there for a long time, as it is a job I can go to and then come home and not have to worry or thing about what has happened or is going to happen. And of course there is the 10 weeks holiday i get a year. But then that is not all its cracked up to be because then I have to pay the extortionate rates on holidays!

After work I went up to the allotment to see my chickens. We have 5 chickens, ex battery hens, up on the allotment. We did have 6 but in the early summer one sadly died. Think all the running around etc had been a bit too much for her. When they came to us they were in a very sorry state, with one (called Delilah) having hardly any feathers at all. But now they look like totally different chickens, all complete with feathers. They love nothing more than scratching about in the dirt looking for worms, which is incredible considering they didn't even know what dirt or worms were 6 months ago. Its amazing how natural instinct just kicks in.

This evening I have been doing a bit more work on my Halloween outfit. My best mate, K, is having a Halloween party, and thought it would be good to try and make my outfit this time. At the last one I went as Beetle juice, and in the costume competition did well but got pipped to the post by a homemade Ghostbusters outfit. I am not sure that the costume I am making is quite up to that standard but at least I will have made it!! Can't tell you what it is yet though, else I would have to kill you!

Mr B has just realised that I am typing a lot more than normal, and after telling him what I am doing, i.e. blogging, I have received a very strange look! Not sure he knows what blogging is, and to be honest I am not sure either, but as I said earlier, the next few weeks will be a learning curve.

My virgin outing!

2009-10-15T21:20:00.000+01:00

Well this is it . . I have finally succumbed!! After reading lots of hilarious and sometimes moving blogs from snafflesmummy, I thought I would give this blogging lark a bit of a go!! Not too sure what I am gonna write about, but am going to try and write something most days!

So watch this space . . you never know what you might find!

x x x