a slice of the good life

Have at last managed to do something creative:


This layout is for week 27 of SLYMI - scrap a happy story. My happy story is our decision to home-teach Oliver, and my pride at how he is developing so well away from the confines of school. I really enjoyed doing this layout, and I am pleased with the final look. Also I got to use my new curved & scalloped templates, just like the ones Jill and Linda were flashing around at the crop last week! Gotta copy.....

I have been very productive in my little kitchen over the last week - I have cooked up:

- a ginger cake (a la Tana Ramsay)
- 2 jars of strawberry jam (our own strawberries)
- 2 jars of pickled beetroot (our own)
- a batch of lentil & carrot soup
- a rhubarb crumble (our own rhubarb)
- chard and mushroom pasties (our chard)
- chard and mushroom quiche
- jam tarts (using my strawberry jam!)
- plus other family nosh of varying culinary standards lol

Although I feel very pleased with myself when I make/freeze something using our own produce, a little part of me can't help but wonder at how much more actual time I would have to spend elsewhere if I just bought already made food......

Talking of my little kitchen, had a bit of a freak out a few days ago when trying to dish up tea for the 3 of us and found I had no room to put out three plates. Now, you must agree, that's a bit rubbish. Even by balancing plates on top of the washing up and the cooker, I was still struggling. Soooo, today I intend to clear up this space:

And here is the rest of the non-space I have:

Ig


Inore the lack of grouting in my tiles - it was one of those jobs which didn't get done when we moved in as it was unecessary, and now I don't even notice it. Well, I didn't until I posted these pictures.

I made the Home Page!

I am sure that by the time anyone reads this that my layout will have disappeared from the UKS Home Page, but still, it felt nice to see it there this morning under the SLYMI challenge section....

A friend has been emailing me following on from my James Bond diatribe re the violence/sick content of modern films. I (and she) think it quite disturbing that film makers are given such carte blanche with such horrifying storylines. I am quite sure this is contributing towards the downward spiral of intolerance, ignorance and 'animal hatred' towards fellow humans. Frightening indeed. I am astounded at what is branded 'entertainment' - I know I am a bit fragile and old-fashioned when it comes to films and here is my top 5 list of things that piss me off with films:

1. The lead character dying at the end
2. Gratuitous violence (shooting is just about bearable)
3. Torture in any form
4. Endings which tail off and leave you to form your own conclusions - quite frankly this is lame and totally unacceptable - directors/writers/producers who take this cop out should have their wages docked for not doing their job properly
5. over-acting Americans

Really I'm surprised that I can watch anything these days using the above criteria. Just to strir up a flurry here are my top faves:

1. The Star Wars saga
2. The Disney/Pixar classics (what's not to like)
3. Sleepless In Seattle
4. The Bond films (but not the last two with that twat Daniel Craig in)
5. The Harry Potter films
6. Lord Of The Rings trilogy
7. Grease
8. The Indiana Jones trilogy (before that pile of shite about the Ice Skull)
9. Night At The Museum
10. The Bourne trilogy
11. The Matrix trilogy
12. You've Got Mail

Sure I will think of more - there is usually some weird 'comfort' factor with the films I like. And I do like Daniel Craig by the way - I even like him as Bond, I just hate the way the Bond character is written and the plots now.

Mark was trying to get me to watch 'The International' a while back. It looked like a potential no to me from the cover and plotline, but he likened it to the Bourne Supremacy. A quick check with my violence-ometer revealed that the BS was rated a 12 with 'some moderate violence and one use of strong language'. The International was a 15 and contained 'strong bloody violence and language'. HA! I have been reading between the lines with these reviews long enough to realise that whilst the BS makes me wince in parts, The International would probably make me feel ill and shaky and have to leave the room.

Right, let's just pop that soap box away then.....

James Bond and the kitchen

yeah, yeah, I know - two posts in one weekend is a bit unheard of, but I am putting off returning to my kitchen where, balefully waiting for me are:

1. a bowl of rhubarb pieces awaiting it's crumble topping
2. a saucepan of mushroom, chard and cheese sauce ready for making pasties
3. a fridgeful of carrots for lentil & carrot soup
4. a ginger cake I made this morning which needs putting into an airtight box (no, not hard but surely worth a mention as it is yet another thing I have to do)
5. shitty washing up (not literally)
6. and it will soon be time to prepare our tea of stir fry - lots of stuff to chop up

I have fallen out with Mark and he is sulking (he is brilliant at it) in the living room watching his Father's Day present (another source of marital discord that was) 'Quantum of Solace' . We attempted to watch this film last night, but I hated it. Let it be known that I LOVE the James Bond franchise - love the actors, the gadgets, the locations, the spy stuff, the womanising the whole 'essence' and Britishness of Bond and now it all lies in ruins. I couldn't watch the whole film - hence why Mark is watching it alone. In the first half an hour I cringed my way through 3 long fights, 2 yawn-tastic car chases and several bouts of violent menacing behaviour. This is not Bond - this is modern, nasty film-making using my Bond comfort blanket. I am unspeakably upset about the whole thing. And I thought Casino Royale was shit as well. So there.

No scrapping today - sorry. Am too busy pretending to be a domestic success.

bit of a weird week...

Since my last post, Beaky died in the night which was horrid, I had a big row with my supervisor at work, which left me feeling horrid and I had my 41st birthday - which was very lovely all round.

Oliver's evident joy at bursting into our room at early o'clock with sleep encrusted eyes and bearing a carrier bag of gifts is something I will remember for a long time - bless. I had lovely things from him (graciously paid for by Mark) - a 4-pack romcom dvd set, fab red/black sock quartet, wine (always pathetically gratefully received), Tana Ramsay cookbook (more liked now her husband is now obviously a complete shit) and two lacy camisole top-ettes. In a size 12 - more bless, because they were too small so all hail to Mark for imagining I may be a size 12 at the moment. Kim (sister-in-law) and Vanessa (niece) came over in the morning bearing more gifts (lovely lovely lovely) - a very pretty plant in a very pretty pot, a puzzle book and some very well-chosen chick lits. I keep them on the sofa next to me in the evenings and stroke them periodically. I can't decide whether or not to read them greedily now, or save them for my hols in a couple of months. I had hard currency from Mark and my mother-in-law, so got to spend that on beads and scrapbooking. Sigh with pleasure.....

In the afternoon, the three of us went to the pics to see Night At The Museum 2, more fab because it was so quiet in there and then we went to Bella Italia for grub. Then on to the parents to receive more gifts! How good does it get?!! Both brothers bought me wine - get in there..

Today I went to the Exeter Scrapaholix crop - managed two layouts - really, I think that's my daily limit:

In the evening Mark and I watched more of the series Psych - if you've never seen it - it's worth a go - slightly off the wall, funny in a good American way and there seem to be lots of episodes. Bonus.

Last but not least - or, actually this is least is a way - I have now lost 10 lbs on the Rosemary Conley diet. Got to hand it to the woman, her 'diet' is the most common sense and easiest to stay on I have ever experienced.

our new baby

Yesterday evening, Mark rescued a baby bird from the evil clutches of the cat. The bird, hereafter known as Beaky, seemed, not unnaturally, to be in a state of shock and bleeding and we immediately thought she would cark it within the hour. I held her (I decided she was a girl) in my hands and sent Mark and Oliver out to forage for worms.

After a crash course in wild bird care on the old internet, I mashed up some Iams cat food (serves Tabba right I say) with water, tapped the side of Beaky's box whereupon she immediately opened up and tweeted for food. I shovelled it in with the aid of a lolly stick and when she was full, she shut her beak, did a poo and went back to sleep. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life. I then set my alarm and fed her hourly throughout the night. I don't think I even found feeding Oliver as a baby as draining.

Mark now wants to keep her. I have to admit, she is quite endearing - she is much stronger today and straining to be picked up and held. The evil she-cat Tabba has now evidently eaten the two remaining chicks and the parent birds are outside calling for their dead babies...tis quite heartbreaking.

scary weather and not being arsed

I have one layout to share:



And I managed to drop a blob of water on it (clearly visible) and I swore copiously. Which made it go away, clearly. Not.

Again we had downpours of rain yesterday and some roads got flooded! Can you Adam and Eve it. I don't live in some little backwater with inadequate drainage - I live in one of the biggest cities in the South West! I watched the hailstones bouncing off of the wall outside and remembered the film The Day After Tomorrow where suddenly everyone was plunged into floods, giant hailstones and the dawn of a new ice age.....

I told Oliver I would take him into town today to get a few things, and then McDonalds for lunch and he (rather disinterestedly) remarked that he might come if he wasn't 'doing anything else.' I was rather taken aback and found myself saying 'oh - OK' in a bit of a feeble voice. Remember, this boy is just 7 and home-taught - I know where he is and what he is doing every second of every day. It was the dismissiveness which took me somewhat by surprise.

Today my friend rang and asked if we wanted to meet her and her little girl in the park for a splash around in the municipal paddling pools. I am so rude that I greeted her offer with as much enthusiasm as if she had rung to offer an afternoon of pulling our own teeth out. Good job she knows me pretty well. I managed to drag myself there in the end and it was good. I like friends who just accept my blatant rudeness as if it's the norm. It saves me the tiresome effort of having to deal with other people's hurt and disappointment. Got enough of a job dealing with my own, thank you very much.

We went to Longleat last week for Oliver's birthday, which was rather lovely. The 'Lions of Longleat' were exceptionally dull though- they were just lolling around in the sun and waiting for the delivery of their next carcass - lazy buggers. After the extortionate entrance fee (well I think anything over £2.50 is extortionate quite frankly) I expected a few roars and dripping fangs at least. And another thing - we bought food there and it never ceases to amaze me how food in this country at these sort of attractions is so highly priced and so shockingly crap. We bought the 'kids lunchbox' which was OK up until the 'lemon flavoured raisins'. Now what the frig is that all about? Why flavour perfectly decent raisins with lemon?? People don't eat lemons. They stick them in drinks or recipes - why make a kid's snack taste of lemon?? I had a ham salad roll made from something masquerading as a bread which was curiously spongey in texture... Cue more incredulous complaining about British food. If I was younger I might have made a(nother) scene, but now I am 40 I feel too old to make the effort. I think I am genuinely worn down with so many years of vitriolic spite......

quelle bloody surprise

The very day after my last post we awoke to claps of thunder, bolts of lightning and a flash flood which would have impressed Noah. I rest my case. So glad I invested so much time and effort into the paddling pool debacle.

However, the day was not a total washout (tee hee) as I spent the afternoon in the kitchen cooking up batches of Quorn Chilli and Lentil Shepherds Pie. I am a Domestic Goddess - no doubts....

Scrapped this for this week's SLYMI - Scrap a self-portrait.

During the heaviest rain I have seen for years, our brain-dead cat went out and I had to go and track her down since, knowing her utter stupidity, I figured she would not realise how to find shelter from the downpour. Sure enough, she was in her usual place in the hedge, soaked to the skin and looking utterly miserable. The next day I had to climb up a tree to rescue her after she'd shot up there in a fit of showing off. I heard Oliver muttering to his friend at the bottom of the tree about how he thought his Mum was 'too old' to be climbing trees. Got that right.