Cheat's pesto and other business...

First of all I want to start this post by announcing the winner of the Lovely Little Giveaway....congratulations to Joann at Woman in Real Life: The Art of Everyday.  I'm so pleased that Jo is our winner, she's lovely and her blog is fantastic.  Check it out!  I also want to say a massive thank you to Tabetha for putting the giveaway together and for all her hard work organising eight unruly bloggers.   You really are a marvel Tabetha!

I also wanted to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to each and every one of my wonderful followers. I am so grateful to anyone who would take the time to follow my blog or read my bits and bobs.  Whenever I have a little nose at my figures I am pleased as punch, thank you all so much.  If you have a blog yourself and you don't use it to follow, please let me know your URL so I can follow in return!

Right, back to business....

I am a bad Mummy sometimes when it comes to feeding my children. For some reason I get "Meal Blindness" when I try and think of a suitable nutritious meal for them to eat that doesn't take six hours to prepare. I am also prone to suffering from "Google Blindness". This does not involve looking up rude stuff on the interwebs until my eyes stop working. It is the far more common phenomenon of sitting in front of the Google homepage without a flippin' clue about what I was supposed to be looking up....

Anyway, I digress....usually my emergency spare tea for That Baby is pasta & pesto. Quick, simple and she loves it. I've always been a little concerned about the lack of vegetable matter in this dish, but I try to console myself with the thought that it does contain lots of basil and she doesn't have it that often.

Yesterday we'd eaten a big lunch (thanks Dad) so didn't want anything else to eat til late, but we needed to feed the little ones. No problem I thought, I'll crack out the pasta and pesto! Yes problem I discovered, no pesto. Drat!

So I improvised! I boiled the pasta as usual, took two frozen spinach blocks and popped them in a pan on the hob to cook through. Once they had I added a little grated mature cheddar and a little olive oil and stirred.

It looked like pesto. But it contained spinach. In our house spinach is an elusive vegetable, loved by me, but treated with deep suspicion by everyone else. It's my own fault, when she was very small I'd sneak some into quite a number of That Baby's dishes to alleviate my fear of bad things happening upon the presentation of vegetable free meals. What can I say, Annabel Karmel looked at me with those eyes, those disapproving, step away from the nuggets, eyes. My cover was eventually blown when I was unintentionally outed by another Mum who casually presented my daughter with a tea of macaroni cheese that wasn't....gasp...green!

Last night I didn't tell the little scamp that we had no pesto, I just gave her the spinach laced dish and remained silent. She asked no questions and wolfed the lot!

I spent the next hour feeling incredibly smug that I'd tricked her into eating an iron rich vegetable dish without her knowledge.

Admittedly it's not exactly the four year old's version of haute cuisine, but I like to think Annabel would at least tip me a wink for not calling on the services of Captain Birdseye.

Silent Sunday - 10th March 2013

10/52

A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013.

10/52 You've always got your sister...

There is a four year age gap between That and This Baby. Some were sceptical, saying there'd be jealousy and unhappiness if a child was forced to share focus after having her parent's sole attention for so long. How wrong they were. Instant friends. That Baby shows patience I didn't know she was capable of. She's so sweet with her baby sister, explaining the world to her in whispered tones and telling her not to be afraid.

Strange happenings...

*Edit Monday 11th March 2013. I decided to use this post to link up with Jaime at Oliver's Madhouse and get Magic Moments, because I love the idea of sharing this sort of thing.  Recognising the positive. But not all Magic Moments are massive revelations right? Sometimes there's magic in the tiny things too. Anyway, I'm happy to be joining in*

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This isn't really meant to be a proper post. Today was such a busy day I haven't had chance to sit still really. I just wanted to share a few things.

When I got home from work this evening both my girls were in their pyjamas. For the first time I gathered them both around me smelling sweet and delicious from their fruity bubblebath and read them both the same story. Impossible only a short while ago as This Baby's attention span was too short. Tonight she listened. And didn't try to rip or eat the book. And it was lovely. A real reward.

Each week on a Friday I buy That Baby a small gift. This week she asked me if she could have some chalk in all the colours of the rainbow. I found her some and she was so happy, declaring me "the best Mumma ever". I love how such little things please her.

Earlier I got a text from an unknown number letting me know that this was their new phone number. I didn't recognise the name of the sender. It took me an age to realise that this was a message from my Sister in Law using her grown up name. I love the fact that I get to call her by her childhood name as though I'd known her all her life. It makes me feel like a real part of my husband's family.

That Baby had colouring pen all over her fingers this evening. I asked her if she'd been colouring at school. "No Mumma" she said "I've been making you a Mother's Day card, but it's a secret and Daddy says I mustn't tell you". So innocent!

Speaking of Mother's Day, I don't really want gifts from my darlings, a card and a cuddle is lovely (any excuse) but plenty. Every year my Mum buys something small, gives it to Mr Husband and tells him to give it to me "from him and the children". I am not supposed to know about this either. But I do, and I think it's lovely.

It was Bring Your Mummy to School day this week at That Baby's school. Loved spending the morning with her on her turf. Pottering around with playdough and jigsaw puzzles and interacting with her friends was lovely. And I didn't embarrass her! Except for the bit where I accidentally banged my bottom on a table corner and it hurt A LOT. Apparently her friends thought that was very funny though. Winner!

That's everything! Right, to bed. Goodnight all xx

Currently...#7

Once again I am very happy to be joining in with Ot and Et and Harvesting Kale and their Currently series.  This week I have been:

Eating: Treacle sponge.  Our winter evening treat.  There's something about the cold weather that makes me want to eat pudding, I'm never usually that fussed.  I do make a mean treacle sponge, even if I do say so myself.

Drinking: Chai tea.  I've only just discovered it.  The perfect compliment to treacle sponge.  Oh how I love it.  Curse you Teapigs for your expensive, but wonderful tea.

Listening: I had my ipod on shuffle on my walk to work last week and discovered Frank Turner.  I'd never heard of him before, but I loved his style and his lyrics.  I don't know anything about him really, but I can't stop listening to his track "Long Live the Queen".  It's about the death of a dear friend. A completely brilliant take on it.

Reading: The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The Hungry Caterpillar. Elmer the Elephant. Over. And over. And over.

Thinking: I wish I could switch off thinking sometimes, I'm sure I'd get more sleep that way. I can't really list everything I've been thinking about, there's too much. I could list what I haven't thought about?! Blancmange! I haven't thought about blancmange once. Except just then, when I had to think about something I haven't thought about. Oh poop.

Next week: Watching, Craving, Looking, Loving, Planning.


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Allotment jobs for March...

A before photograph - not looking too hot, right?

What we call The Raspberry End - still in need of a little love!

We spent two lovely afternoons at our allotment this weekend giving things a good sorting.  March is usually a time for having a good tidy around, turning over the ground ready for new crops to go in, pruning, mending and making sure everything is looking good.

You can also sow some vegetables as early as March.  These include:

• Beetroot
• Broad Beans
• Early peas
• Brussels Sprouts
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Radish
• Parsnips

This weekend we put our Broad Beans in, but so far I think that's pretty much it.  We've been concentrating on moving our fruit bushes about a bit so that we have specific (fairly low maintenance) beds which consist of just one thing.  We now have a very appealing looking gooseberry bed and a bed of blackcurrant bushes with a little added asparagus.

Let the digging commence!

It's good soil....

Some crops need to be rotated each year as they take a lot out of the soil.  Mostly we try to avoid planting anything that requires too much crop rotation, although the big exception to this is potatoes.  We have to have a little get together to discuss where we're going to house the potatoes each year as they have to be moved about a lot.  We have an allotment book so we can jot down what has gone where every year.  It's incredibly handy, as I can never remember once we've dug everything up

Lots of digging and marking out going on.  Some very neat paths, I thank you.

I got busy with the strimmer and cut back some of the grass on the pathways and around the edges of our plot so that's all looking pretty good. I did a little digging, but the men - grrr - did the majority.  Though on the Sunday afternoon Mr Husband Sir was very preoccupied by a football match that didn't go his way, so he spent a fair bit of his time checking his phone and rolling his eyes!

Pesky football...

Marking out ready for the Broad Beans...

Time for a break...

That Baby and Woolly ran around and entertained themselves with talk of creating mud hotels and mud restaurants.  This Baby had a little sleep in her buggy and then joined us on a picnic rug with a few of her toys.   It's lovely to see them getting involved, enjoying the fresh air and getting some colour in their cheeks.   It's not so easy to dig and entertain a small child, but we seemed to do ok.  Some friends popped up whilst we were all there for a bit and said hi, we shared a beer, a flask of tea and a left over bottle of wine.  I swear the other allotment holders think we're party animals!  I suppose we are in comparison, a lot of them are getting on a little!  They're lovely folk though, always happy to give us tips or leftover plants to put in.  We're very lucky.

This Baby plays in her muddy little marshmallow suit...

I was there too!

 All in all I'm pleased, we've made a lot of progress and things are starting to look ready for getting busy when it's time to plant out.

Potatoes in next!  I love our plot.

Looking pretty tidy!  Oooh my strimmer :)

Fire Escape Plans

We've all got smoke alarms nowadays haven't we?  Some even have carbon monoxide alarms.  We know the do's and don'ts of using candles, smoking in bed all that kind of stuff.  But so few people seem to have an escape plan in place should a fire break out in your home.  According to statistics two people every day die in house fires.  This is a subject that has been playing on my mind a lot lately.  In October last year six people from one family all died in a house fire in Essex, leaving a husband, a father alone in the world.  I cannot, imagine anything more horrible or more painful.

At the time a friend of mine was involved in dealing with the aftermath of this fire.  As a mother it affected her terribly and she wrote to several of her friends urging them to think about creating a Fire Plan for their homes.

I think most people remember the Fire Services saying "Get out! Get the Fire Brigade out!  And stay out!" but have you thought about what your escape route would be in the event of a fire.  There is little point in trying to think straight in the middle of the night if something awful happens.  A simple preemptive discussion could make all the difference.

Plan together.  Make sure that your children would know what to do.  You don't need to frighten them, just a simple talk should cover it.  Make sure they know that in an emergency they should not go looking for favourite toys or pets.  Think about your escape routes.  What is the easiest way out of your house?  What are your alternatives if this route is blocked?  Make sure that you keep house keys and window keys handy and that everyone knows where they can be found.

The fire service also suggest that you have think about having an "Escape Room", give some thought to which room in your house would be the best to survive in if there is a fire.  Your room should have a window that is large enough for you to climb through (no point just having a sky light).  Ideally your room should also have a telephone with which to call the emergency services.  Make sure your children know your address (if they are old enough) in case they have to telephone themselves.  If you are calling from a mobile phone it's worth knowing that the European emergency number is 112 and that dialling this number will override locked keypads.  If you are unable to telephone the emergency services before entering your Escape Room you will need to raise the alarm.  If your window is locked and you do not have the key use a heavy object to smash it.  Strike the window in the corner with your chosen object as hard as you can.

The best location for an Escape Room is at the front of your house so you can raise the alarm by shouting and so you can be seen by others.  Draw attention to yourselves.  Lean out of the window to breathe fresh air if necessary.  If at all possible try decide on an Escape Room with grass or earth below the window, or a shed or porch below it to allow you to drop down in stages.

You should only escape from a window if you are in immediate danger from fire.  This should be a last resort.  Block the bottom of the Escape Room door with bedding or clothing to stop smoke from coming through.  If you are escaping from an upstairs bedroom throw the mattress out of the window to try and cushion your landing.  If you have two or more adults in the house, one should drop first and then assist with helping children to escape.  They should be lowered as much as possible and then dropped so that the adult at ground level is there to help them.  Never jump from a window.

This link provides some excellent information on drawing up a Fire Escape Plan.

A short conversation going over these things really could save your life.  Think about it.  Decide on your Fire Plan.  Please.