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Friday, September 30, 2016
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
30th Birthday Fun
Darling friends and family have been spoiling me rotten. I've been for a long weekend in Mere, a fancy dinner at the Pig in Brockenhurst, and for a weekend away in Brighton. More to come as well!
Friday, September 23, 2016
Birthday cake number two. Rhubarb mousse, ginger biscuit and champagne.
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We have curtains and carpet in the hall. Boom! And I finished varnishing the floor. #diy
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Friday, September 16, 2016
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Friday, September 09, 2016
Sandy's socks mark #1 done. Will get to check fit in two weeks time. #knitting #socks
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Hannah's Mum's chocolate cake recipe
The amounts first up are for a single layer cake in spring form tin that goes up like a volcano. The second, larger amounts are for two normal size victoria sponge sized cake tins, creating a very tall double layer cake; or a traybake as per a brownie tin:
Plain flour 7oz (10.5oz)
Bicarb 1 tsp (1.5 tsp)
Baking powder 1 tsp (1.5tsp)
Cocoa 2 tbsp (3 tbsp)
Soft light brown sugar 5 oz (7.5 oz)
Golden syrup 2 tbsp (3 tbsp)
Large eggs 2 (3)
Sunflower oil 150ml (200ml)
Milk 80ml (100ml)
Put all ingredients in at once and mix thoroughly. I use the Kitchenaid for several mins on medium. It makes a sloppy, pouring mixture.
Put in a lined tin and cook at 160 C for 45 to 50 mins. If making the double round sponges, start checking after 25 mins or when it smells done. Gas mark 5. If the middle has risen too much and you don’t want a volcano, saw off the top.
Icing - melt half a 100g bar of dark 75% chocolate, add a large teaspoon of honey and tbsp butter (approx amounts). Mix till all just melted and glossy, then pour over the cooled cake.
For a birthday cake decorate with white chocolate buttons, minstrels or smarties.
Alex's notes: Very good with 3 medium beetroot steamed and pureed added.
Thursday, September 08, 2016
Housey things.
So the stairs will be carpeted tomorrow, and the hall curtains await alteration. The small bedroom is yellow, and now awaiting a new doorstep.
I have been sanding and varnishing the bottom steps. I think I look like Rosie the Riveter.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Friday, August 19, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
Comfort in, Dump out
Found this today: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-oe-0407-silk-ring-theory-20130407-story.html
Really helpful advice on how not to put your foot in it if someone in your life is going through a difficult time. Some people do this instinctively, others need a helping hand
Really helpful advice on how not to put your foot in it if someone in your life is going through a difficult time. Some people do this instinctively, others need a helping hand
"Draw a circle. This is the center ring. In it, put the name of the person at the center of the current trauma. For Katie's aneurysm, that's Katie. Now draw a larger circle around the first one. In that ring put the name of the person next closest to the trauma. In the case of Katie's aneurysm, that was Katie's husband, Pat. Repeat the process as many times as you need to. In each larger ring put the next closest people. Parents and children before more distant relatives. Intimate friends in smaller rings, less intimate friends in larger ones. When you are done you have a Kvetching Order. One of Susan's patients found it useful to tape it to her refrigerator.
Here are the rules. The person in the center ring can say anything she wants to anyone, anywhere. She can kvetch and complain and whine and moan and curse the heavens and say, "Life is unfair" and "Why me?" That's the one payoff for being in the center ring.
Everyone else can say those things too, but only to people in larger rings.
When you are talking to a person in a ring smaller than yours, someone closer to the center of the crisis, the goal is to help. Listening is often more helpful than talking. But if you're going to open your mouth, ask yourself if what you are about to say is likely to provide comfort and support. If it isn't, don't say it. Don't, for example, give advice. People who are suffering from trauma don't need advice. They need comfort and support. So say, "I'm sorry" or "This must really be hard for you" or "Can I bring you a pot roast?" Don't say, "You should hear what happened to me" or "Here's what I would do if I were you." And don't say, "This is really bringing me down."
If you want to scream or cry or complain, if you want to tell someone how shocked you are or how icky you feel, or whine about how it reminds you of all the terrible things that have happened to you lately, that's fine. It's a perfectly normal response. Just do it to someone in a bigger ring.
Comfort IN, dump OUT."
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Flowers for the in-laws' big birthday party. All from their garden!
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Sunday, July 03, 2016
Worries
I sometimes fear that people might think that fascism arrives in fancy dress worn by grotesques and monsters as played out in endless re-runs of the Nazis. Fascism arrives as your friend. It will restore your honour, make you feel proud, protect your house, give you a job, clean up the neighbourhood, remind you of how great you once were, clear out the venal and the corrupt, remove anything you feel is unlike you…It doesn’t walk in saying, “Our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution.”
Michael Rosen (via femmesorcery) http://ift.tt/299LcaH
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Michael Rosen (via femmesorcery) http://ift.tt/299LcaH
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