How to lose a lot of weight (100lb, or 7 stones and counting, in my case)

It amazes me to say this, like I’m having some sort of
wonderful dream that I’m about to wake up from. But, the truth is that I have
lost 101lb or 7 stones and 3 lb so far, in about a year. Little old me! Me who
has been fat her whole adult life, and who has been on every diet going. Yet one
of those endless tries at weightloss worked, even though I suspected they were all going to end in
misery. Yay! Don't give up!

Let me tell you, there is NOTHING special about me. If I can do
it, you certainly can.

This is me on the 24th August 2012, and the 24th August 2013:

In my experience, people who ask this question want me to
answer that I’ve found a magic tablet / supplement / diet plan, and the weight
has fallen off quickly and easily. I bloody wish. Sadly, the “secret” of my
weightloss is no secret at all. 

If you want to take away a headline, then this is probably
it:

To lose 100lb, you
need to do what you do to lose 1lb, but for longer.

Like, durr. We all know that. But, do you KNOW that? Really
know it in your heart? Because, in my experience, people tend to expect that I
have dieted harder, been more extreme, found something new. But it doesn’t work
like that. You didn’t get fat overnight, you aren’t going to get thin overnight
either. You need to change your habits. Long term. Long. Term. But you know this.

Whilst we’re about it, I’m not keen on the word ‘diet’
either. I haven’t followed any commercial diet plan, been to classes or had hypnotherapy, or read a certain book. I have no beef with other weight loss
plans, I suspect its about finding one that suits you. This time, for me, I
have NOT DIETED. I have eaten healthily and counted calories. I've just eaten sensibly.

Tip 1) Don’t diet. Eat
wholegrain, eat your five a day. Try not to eat too much meat, but enjoy it
without guilt when you do.

Tip number two would be this. And
yes, you are reading right.

Tip 2) Eat cake every day. Yes, really. Yes, I
have eaten cake every day and still lost seven stones. Pinky promise.

Counting calories is just magic, I promise. Don't dismiss it because its not as fashionable as Dukan, or 5:2 or whatever. A
calorie is a calorie is a calorie. You could eat just Mars bars every day - if
you stop when you get to your allocation, you’ll still lose weight. It might
not be sustainable long term, but it works. This means that NOTHING IS OFF
LIMITS. Yes, that’s right. Take a minute to think about it and let it sink in.
You don’t have to give up anything. You can have whatever you like and you can still lose weight. Even 7 stones. 

For me, I have a wicked sweet
tooth. My normal diets usually go like this: start hugely committed and stick
to them rigidly. Fight that darned sweet tooth. Have some success. Get a bit more
laid back. Fancy something I shouldn’t have. Dabble with the banned food. Maybe
gain a pound or stay the same. Thereafter, for the next few weeks / months, I
can be found face down in the banned foods, scoffing as though my life depended
on it. My self esteem goes through the floor as, yet again, I have failed, yet again.

Well no more, my friends. What I did was to work out exactly
what I needed, and what I could give up on. Wine I liked, and crisps, but I can
generally give those up without too much stress. Chocolate, cakes and biscuits?
Not a chance. These are my weak spot. So I have them every day. There are a few
rules. I count EVERY calorie, especially the treat ones. I only treat myself
once a day. It's better to go out for cake, because the rest of the cake isn't whispering to you. If I can substitute a treat for something that hits the same spot but is
more filling, I do that. A great example is Nutella on crumpets as a mid
afternoon snack. It has roughly the same number of calories as a bar of
chocolate, but actually fills me up more whilst still satisfying the craving.

Prioritise the cake (or whatever your 'thing' is) – its what keeps you on the wagon. Its
much harder to fall off if you allow yourself to eat anything you fancy. Do
this every day. Enjoy it. Nothing is banned. I even allow myself wine and crisps on occasions.

Tip 3) Write
everything down

As I type it’s the end of August 2013. I have written down
every single thing that has passed my lips, with the exception of two days (that
I regret when it was my children’s birthdays) since January 2013. Every single
thing. It keeps me accountable. I love ‘My Fitness Pal’ which is available as a
web site and app. It is a database of calorific values and helps you record
what you eat. It’s a GOOD discipline to get into. Do it and do it religiously. 

Tip 4) Weigh
and measure

Yawn! I can hear you from here. Weighing portions is so
unfashionable. We perceive it to be a massive bore. You know what? It takes
seconds. It keeps you on the straight and narrow. It helps produce pretty
graphs in My Fitness Pal. Trust me on this; just do it.

Tip 5) Exercise

I’ve just lost 50% of the audience, I know. You know this
stuff. I was the MOST unfit, 20 stone lump of womanhood, seriously, I couldn’t
run for a bus. I was almost 40, mother of 3, morbidly obese. Don’t tell me you
can’t exercise, because you can. I know you can because I did.  I downloaded the Couch to 5K app (C25K, I used
the Zen Labs one, but there are loads and they’re all the same) and I had a go.
It was not a pretty sight, but I did it. Remember this:

It’s never easy, but
its always possible. Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

You can do it. All you need is a decent sports bra and, once
you’re sure you’re going to stick with it, a pair of proper running shoes – but
I didn’t even buy these for six weeks. If its too hard, repeat a week. If I can
do it, you can. 

Within five months, I was running a 10K. Looking knackered,
and a bit grey, but I did it. A year ago I would have laughed in your face if
you’d told me I would run a 10K, but look! Here I am! I'm about a stone lighter now too.

And that’s the basics. I am hoping this blog post will be useful
to those who are trying to lose weight, and will be a place I can refer others
when they ask me what I have done. Of course, I can only speak for myself. If
you have any questions, experiences, tips or suggestions, please will you consider leaving
them in the comments section below?

 

Good luck with your journey. Your health is the most
precious gift. Hard is the new black, yes? You can do it too.

 

Claire x

I'm a Loser, Baby...

The eagle eyed amongst you might have noticed by my Twitter feed that I've taken up running recently. It's true - don't laugh! Believe me when I say I was about as fat and unfit as they come. When I quietly mentioned that I fancied having a go at running to my nearest and dearest, around the end of December, no-one said much. You could see that, although they didn't want to be unsupportive, they were thinking "yeah, right! I give that a week!" I didn't post on here about it because, if I'm honest, I didn't think I'd keep it up myself. I didn't buy myself any running gear or fancy trainers (for a few weeks, anyway). It just sort of snuck into my life. However, I'm slightly amazed to report that, sixteen weeks later, yes, I am still running three times a week and yes, I am loving it. No-one could be more surprised than me! I now run 5k three times a week, and I'm signed up to do the Hull 10K on the 19th May. I'll be honest, this absolutely terrifies me. Still, it's good to get outside one's comfort zone, yes?

It's all been part of a drive to live a healthier life. There are lots of reasons why I wanted to improve my health, and I'll share those in a future blog post. However, dear God, I wanted to be WELL. 2 years of illness made me realise that health was a precious gift and if I didn't do everything that was within my power to wring the last drops out of life, then I was a fool.

I've been asked to share pictures by lots of people now. I've lost quite a bit of weight. This isn't just from running, I've been consciously eating healthily too - and breastfeeding has helped me, certainly. I've been stuck in a weight loss plateau for the past 5 weeks and, although I am diligently eating healthily and exercising at different levels of intensity 5 days a week, its very frustrating. I've not put these photos together before, so it seemed like it might be a good motivator for me too.

Although I've lost weight, this is part of a journey. I've been losing weight very slowly for 10 months now. I expect I still have another year or more to go. I'm over half way, but this is very much a work in progress. This picture sums that up better than words:

This was me at the start of my journey (July 2012), at the heaviest I've ever been. I only own one photo as I found them all so revolting that I deleted them straight away. My Mum has some on her camera though as she refused to delete them for me. I am hoping that I get my hands on those one day.

This was me in January 2013:

This was me yesterday:

That's 80lb gone for good, or just shy of 6 stones!

I feel better for it in every way imaginable. I just feel more comfortable in my own skin, I'm not afraid of running up stairs or running for a bus or similar. My IBS symptoms have gone - ditto headaches and random aches and pains.

I still have another 4 stones to lose to get to a sensible BMI; I was very overweight. I see this as a work in progress. I've never been a thin adult but this time I am going to nail it, before my 40th in March 2014.

You'll probably be curious as to how I've done it. I could write a whole BLOG about that, its not always been successful and its not always been pretty. In short, there's no secret or trick, I've just eaten healthily and exercised. Eaten less, moved more. However, here are some of the things that have worked for me. They may not work for you; I honestly believe we need to find our own recipe to living a healthy lifestyle.

• I write down everything I eat and drink, without fail. It makes me accountable. I use My Fitness Pal - its free


• I exercise between 3 and 5 times a week. Mainly running, but also swimming, walking, cycling, dancing and weights. I need to exercise to eat the type of food that I want.


• Great music and gripping audiobooks motivate me to exercise.


• I eat a treat every day - biscuits / cakes / chocolate all work for me. In order to do this I exercise and juggle calories from elsewhere. it keeps me motivated.


• I realised I don't like most diet food, so I don't eat it. I just eat a bit less.


• I weigh all my carbs without fail


• I eat wholewheat


• I've mostly given up alcohol. Sweet treats were more important to me. 


• I eat smaller portions - its not as painful as I thought it'd be


• The Hairy Dieters book is BRILLIANT


• I home cook from scratch as often as possible


• I follow healthy eating blogs and I belong to a supportive Facebook group. We all need cheerleaders.


• I give myself days off and don't feel bad about it - this is a lifelong change. I'm not fat because I eat Easter eggs at Easter. I'm fat because I eat a packet of biscuits every day without thinking about it


• It wasn't my willpower that was lacking, it was my ORGANISATION. Meal planning and shopping ahead make healthy eating far more likely


• My tastes are changing the longer I eat healthily. I'm not even that keen on McDonalds these days. This is a very big deal for me.


• I forgive myself if I make poor choices.


• This is controversial - Slimming World didn't really work for me. I lost weight initially but I failed to keep it off (many, many times) because it didn't teach me about portion size. I needed to be more directly connected to calories in order to re-educate myself.

There are more, I'm sure. If anyone wants to add me on My Fitness Pal or Runkeeper, I'm ClaireBoynton. I'm happy to provide encouragement and support.

If you're inspired by this post, please will you consider sponsoring me for the Hull 10K? I'm raising money for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal. She was such an inspirational woman, and a great example of someone who achieved what she set her mind to. The charity does great work in supporting children's and cancer charities - sadly I have known too many people this year who've been diagnosed with cancer - scarily all of them women, and all of them my age. One of them is no longer with us :( 

If you can afford it, £1 would make such a difference. 

https://www.justgiving.com/Claire-Boynton2/

 

With love

 

Claire x

 

 

 

 

This woman's work: Limoncello and amigurumi

Just a quick post tonight, as its late and I am exhausted. Its been a busy day at the cottage. The baby fed, quite literally, all night and I woke with a sore back from twisting around her slightly in bed. Thankfully I feed her lying down an night, so I managed the odd doze. I awoke late, so Charlie was late for school and, because I'd had to wake her abruptly (and she hadn't had enough sleep either,) the baby was grumpy. Just as I'd poured myself the first cup of tea of the day, Jonny appeared and said he'd missed the school bus. 15 minutes later I'm driving us all the 15 mile round trip to school.

I've tried to work today, honestly I have, but the darkness and the horrible, cold rain has conspired to prevent me from being too motivated. I cut up some paper, and finished my hand and footprint tiles, which I will share with you another day. I am pleased with them. Then, right on cue, Florence woke up and I spent most of the rest of the time baby wrangling. Or baby wrestling, as my friend calls it. Florrie's a big, heavy baby now who won't sit still. She's prone to suddenly arching her back and flinging herself around. Wrestling is an accurate description.

Still, the baby went into the sling and that gave me chance to work on the next stage of the Christmas alcohol - home made Limoncello and Blackberry vodka. I spent a relaxing couple of hours mixing up sugar solution, sterilising jars and pottering about.

 

The now sweetened lemon vodka will now retreat back into the fridge for a week to infuse some more, before I strain the lemon zest out and bottle it. 

Here's the recipe in case you fancy having a go. There's still time before Christmas

Limoncello

6 small unwaxed lemons

1 litre bottle vodka - cheap will do

750g caster sugar

750ml boiling water

 

1. Wash and sterilise a large Kilner jar by putting into a cool oven for 10 mins (gas mark 1/ 140 degrees C)

2. Wash the lemons, then grate the lemon zest finely, taking care not to take the pith (ha!)

3. Put lemon zest into sterile jar and pour over the vodka. Secure well and store in a cool, dark place for one week. Shake everyday - it looks like a snowstorm of yellow snow (nice)

4) After a week has passed, measure out the sugar into a large bowl. Add freshly boiling water and stir carefully until the sugar dissolves.  You can tell when the sugar has dissolved as it goes clear, and if you put a spoon into the mixture, you can't see or feel any granules on the back of the spoon. Stir the lemon infused vodka into the sugar syrup.

5) Wash the Kilner jar, along with another of the same size, and sterilise both. Pour the combined mixture of lemon vodka and sugar syrup into the jars. Store for another week, shaking every day. Strain the Limoncello through a clean muslin cloth and decant into pretty, sterilised bottles.

Store in the freezer and drink neat, use in cocktails or pour over ice cream.

 

 

The blackberry vodka is proving to be more of a challenge as we've gone a little off piste with this. We wanted to use the blackberries left over from the railway jelly, so we bundled them into a demijohn and added vodka. I've been keeping notes. I'll share them with you at a later date.

 

I also wanted to share this little dude with you. Well, dudette. It's Cactus Jacqui!

How I enjoyed making her! The pattern was free, enjoyable to crochet, and I made her up in a night! a perfect project. You can find the pattern here.

Cactus Jacqui is part of a gift I've made for a handmade Secret Santa. I need to post her tomorrow, hopefully the postman will deliver her safely to her new home on the other side of the country.

 

Well. That wasn't quick, was it?! Thanks for hanging out with me again, though, its always fun.

Claire x

 

 

Jam

I do love making preserves. There's something about the alchemy, and how much nicer home made jams taste than shop bought, that makes me feel all domestic goddess. It's quite simple, really (but don't let on to anyone else...) As part of my Christmas series, I am making jams and jellies this year for my nearest and dearest to go in their stockings.

If there is a secret to jam making, then I think it is this: use the right tools. My jams and chutneys have been a hundred times better since I bought a jam thermometer and use jam sugar. The thermometer was a fiver from Lakeland, so its not as though these tools cost a lot, either. Jam sugar, unlike granulated, has added pectin  - the stuff that makes the jam set. You can just use granulated sugar, and its a lot cheaper, but I had a lot more failures. I say failures, the jam still tasted delicious, but it was runny and only really good for adding to ice cream. Jam sugar has so far meant that every jam or jelly I have made has set beautifully.

I save jam jars throughout the year, and get our relatives to pass theirs on too, which not only is good from an eco point of view, but also saves a substantial amount of money. Just make sure reused jars are thoroughly washed and dried before storing - the dishwasher does a great job for us.  Alternatively, I have heard that Asda sell value Lemon Curd for 22p, which is cheaper than you can buy the jars for online. You can ditch the Lemon Curd (although that feels a bit wasteful to me) and just use the jar.

My other tip is to use turps to get rid of all those old sticky labels - it cuts through the old glue like nothing else, and believe me I have tried EVERYTHING. Be very careful to wash it off thoroughly though, because turps is poisonous. I rinse and wash my jars six times, using fresh water and neat Fairy liquid straight onto the glass each time to ensure that the turps has been properly washed away. You then just need to sterilise the jars and their lids by putting them onto a baking tray and putting into a low oven (gas mark 1, 140 degrees C) for about 20 mins. This kills off any bacteria hanging around that would otherwise ruin your jam.

This year I used old pesto jars and teeny, tiny Kilner jars that cost £1 each from The Range - what a bargain! Not only do they look pretty, but they are fabulous for single people who may not use a big jar quickly enough - and they make your produce go further, which is a bonus when economising. The Union Jack jar labels were from Lakeland in the summer - 49p for the lot in the sale after the Jubilee! Unfortunately they've sold out now, but I do keep an eye open on their site as they have some lovely things.

I made Lemon Curd and marmalade (from this brilliant kit; it was easy and delicious, and I didn't need to remember to buy Seville oranges in January.) I also made blackberry and apple jelly, which I called "Railway Jam" as the blackberries were picked from our local disused railway line in September. Dom's Grandad, who is almost 90, drove the very last train along that line. We asked him how he knew it was the last train, and he said it was the one pulling the machine that pulled up the lines! The blackberries were delicious, and it has made lovely bittersweet, jewel coloured clear jelly. Dom got a few war wounds picking them in the first place, though, but thanks to his valiant effort, we got 4lb of free fruit! The jelly is also suitable for some of our older relatives who have false teeth and don't appreciate jam with little seeds.

I'll admit to a disaster - I tried to make the delicious sounding Apricot and Champagne conserve. I found a recipe in a lovely preserving book I have, peeled the 4lb of apricots and soaked them in sugar overnight, as instructed. However, despite following the recipe to the letter, the fruit burned on the bottom of the pan before we'd even got to the rolling boil stage. I later found out that this is quite common with apricot jam. Delia recommends buttering the bottom of her pan - I tried this and it worked beautifully second time round. The butter also meant there was no scum on the top of the jam.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and, in this case, it's true. I didn't have anymore fresh apricots and I needed to finish the jam that day. I raided the cupboard and came up with two cans of apricots, and two of peaches. I decided to risk it - and it worked beautifully. The fruit kept its shape well, and didn't need soaking overnight either. I used Asda's Smart Price peaches and apricots and, at 28p a tin, it was much cheaper too!

The end result was delicious - sweet and tangy, with golden slivers of fruit suspended in the clear jelly. I decided to call it Bellini Jam, and I am happy to share the recipe with you.

Bellini Jam

Makes 2 x 1lb jars

2 x tins of apricots (approx 225g drained weight of fruit per tin)

2 x tins of peaches (approx 225g drained weight of fruit per tin)

630g Jam sugar

Juice of one lemon

200ml dry sparkling wine or Champagne

A little butter, for greasing

 

1) Put a couple of saucers into the freezer

2) Wash and dry your jars, then place into an oven at gas mark 1 / 140 C for 20 mins.

3) Butter the bottom of your pan thickly.

4) Strain the fruit from the juice. Chop finely.

5) Add the chopped fruit to the pan with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, the lemon juice, the Champagne and the jam sugar. Put in the jam thermometer whilst the mixture is cold.Heat gently until the sugar has totally melted - you can see when this has happened by checking the back of your spoon - there should be no granules visible. It'll probably take about 10 mins.

6) Once the sugar has melted, turn the heat to high and bring to a rapid, rolling boil. Keep boiling until the temperature reaches 220 degrees. Around this stage test regularly to see if you have achieved a set. Get the frozen saucer out of the freezer, and drop a teaspoon full of the hot jam onto the saucer. Bring the saucer up to eye level and slowly push your finger through the jam smear. When the setting point has been reached the jam will wrinkle up.

7) Once the setting point has been reached, turn off the heat and use a slotted spoon to lift off any scum that has formed. Carefully pour the remaining jam into the hot jars using a ladle and jam funnel. Be careful, it's REALLY hot! Put the lids on tightly and leave to cool for a few minutes. Using oven gloves or a tea towel, turn each jar upside down momentarily - this will heat your lid and create a vaccum, keeping your jam fresh for longer.

Enjoy over luxurious breakfasts and lunches.

 

Claire x

So, I've been keeping a little secret....

And before you ask - NO! I'm not pregnant! hahaha.

Earlier in the year I had the good fortune to come across some very lovely ladies who work at All Craft Media, the publishing company that produces such brilliant magazines as Handmade Living, Sew Hip, Knit and Inside Crochet.  The link was made through the Folksy blog, as they were looking for craft writers. I sent off a quick 'hello' with some ideas, fully expecting to hear nothing in return. To my amazement I was offered a regular gig - a monthly column at Handmade Living. Yippppeeeee!

I've got a few editions under my belt now, so I wanted to share them with you. I wanted to keep this under my hat for a bit, because it didn't seem fair to share the content of my pieces with those who had not read the magazine. I'm going to use my blog to share the back story of my pieces, and to point you to the places you might buy this magazine of fabulousness. It's available from Hobbycraft, WH Smith, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys and Martins. Good local newsagents will order it for you if you ask them. You can download an individual digital edition by clicking here, or you can subscribe by clicking here.

Here was my first piece:

Called "Tea at Nan's" this piece reminisces about my summers as the youngest child of a gaggle of 10 cousins. We would chase each other around the vegetable patch, play hide and seek and feed our dolls with a bakelite pink plastic teaset.

 

 

Sunday tea was always a special occasion. There were loads of us crammed into my Nan's best room - twelve adults, ten children and sometimes other friends and neighbours. The adults *all* smoked - the men mainly smoked pipes, from what I recall, and I still remember it's heady scent, mixed with the tang of coal dust, fondly. After tea we were allowed a sip of sherry mixed with lemonade, if we were lucky. I don't even think that the adults were allowed undiluted sherry, and one was very definitely everyone's limit. My Nan was extremely concerned about What The Neighbours Might Say.

 

Whether it was winter or summer, tea was always tinned salmon sandwiches (cut into triangles; a luxury in our house), plain crisps bought from the pub, salad separated out into individual bowls and pork pie. Woe betide the person who ate the last slice of pork pie! Pudding was a community affair - my mum and most of my aunties were keen bakers, so we often had a selection of home made shortbread, chocolate cakes and - best of all - my Nan's pointy little rock buns. These delights were usually served with warm Cornish ice cream (Nan had no freezer, so someone would dash to the village cafe for the ice cream before Tea, and we would eat it semi-melted.) Strangely enough, our family would also eat bread and butter with their pudding - my Mum tells me this is a war time trick to make the good things go further. Even if it sounds weird, brown bread and butter with ice cream is delicious, believe me.

During The Tea, my Grandad's friend would always turn up with a contraption that was something important to do with racing pigeons. To this day, I'm not sure what it was. As a five or six year old, I was never allowed to accompany Grandad to talk to this man in the hall. Instead I used to stand next to the door, and push my face against it's creamy, smooth gloss paint in an effort to work out this mystery.

 

I thought I'd share with you the recipe for my Nan's delicious buns. The photos are ones that I took this summer, having given them a bit of a modern facelift. Nan's were always plain and, as I said earlier, always pointy. They didn't come in fancy cases either. This is a war time recipe passed down my family, and it's still just as good today as it ever was. I only need to bake a batch to be transported back to my Nan's happy, hot and slightly damp house. My sons love them too, unaware of the history behind them. Enjoy! X

 

225g Self Raising Flour

85g Margarine

30g Vegetable Fat (like Trex)

110g Caster Sugar

2 eggs, mixed with milk to make 1/4 pint

 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 90C / 200F / Gas Mark 6

2. Rub the margarine and fat into the flour, or whizz in a food processor, until it has a breadcrumb-like texture

3. Mix in the sugar

4. Whisk the eggs and, if they measure less than a 1/4 pint, top up with milk

5. Add the egg mixture slowly (I drizzle it in whilst the food processor is whirring). The final mixture should be a dropping consistency - slowly add more milk if it's dry.

6. Spoon the mixture into greased bun tins, or paper muffin cases.

7. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown.

 

You can change the recipe by adding 110g of dried fruit, glace cherries or chocolate chips. You can also substitute 30g of cocoa powder for the self raising flour. Decorate with melted chocolate and brown sugar.

 

Summer Update Part One - Baby Knitting and Adventures With Cake Part Two

Hello, blog lovers. I'm sorry I haven't had chance to pop by, but it's been a BUSY summer so far. I hope you are well and that you are having lots of fun with your crafting adventures and your families.

I'm doing just fine. I had an ME flare at the beginning of the summer, and was stuck in bed for about three weeks. That was incredibly frustrating as it just came out of nowhere with seemingly no reason. Having said that, it did pass eventually, and I need to remember to simply be patient and remember to just let it all wash over me. As luck would have it, my best friend Naomi was about to have a baby, so I spent that time knitting a couple of lovely little jumpers. I made a lilac baby hoody, which was so adorable my ovaries winced, from this pattern booklet (which was the one I very first re-learned to knit from, back in 2002) 

Yes, I made that little square hat. It was green with navy stitching. I even knitted the little garter stitch jacket in shiny green. It looked OK after I had finished (OK, brilliant in my eyes), and I was extremely proud of them. However, when Charlie came along three years later, he looked ruddy awful in them. And so they have never been worn, and will be lurking around somewhere in the loft. They're not so badly knitted (honestly), they're too bulky and badly shaped. Although, to be fair, it IS difficult to make a nice baby garment with just garter stitch and no shaping, I am sure. 

I also knitted that checked blanket. It took weeks and was so wonky that I threw it away. Sadly, no-one had told me about the joys of blocking. What a waste!

The other little jumper I knitted for the baby, who has now been born by the way and is an adorable bundle called CHARLOTTE, and is very obviously not a boy as we'd all believed, is from this fabulous blog: http://www.whattoknitwhen.com/ It's an adorable blog, and an adorable little cardigan, knitted in one piece:

Now I'll be honest, I haven't finished this one yet and it's gone onto the WIP pile. It is, therefore, entirely possible that lovely Charlotte may not be it's recipient given the rate that baby's grow. But I have adopted a new sentiment, which is that of the "hope chest." Mine is a small chest of drawers in the spare bedroom. Whenever I fancy knitting baby items (which, let's face it is frequently, given how adorable they are, and how quick they are to complete) I can make an item without guilt, and without needing to know a pregnant woman. These lovely items are blocked, labelled with their size, wrapped in acid free tissue paper and put into a plastic zip lock bag, ready for any appropriate gift giving opportunity. I hope to live a long time, and have a lot of babies to knit for amongst close family and friends (even if I have no more myself.) Therefore this is an entirely practical, and NOT RIDICULOUSLY EMOTIONAL thing to do at all, obviously. Even if all I do is give them to a charity shop, at least I get the enjoyment of knitting them in the first place. It's taken me a while to convince myself that these are not the actions of an almost menopausal woman who would actually quite like another baby even though it's pretty much impossible. These are, indeed, the actions of a benevolent, mature woman, for whom it is a sensible decision. Honest, guv.

 

Oh, and Aunty Pauline was 60 and I made her a cake. 

It was great fun, but it literally took a week to make. Which is why I don't do these things professionally.

I won't leave as long next time!

Thanks for dropping by,

Claire x

 

 

 

Adventures with Cake! Part 1

In more cheerful news, we have had a couple of BIG family birthdays this month. My Father-in-law Baz, or Pops as my boys call him, was 65. He finally retired from his job as a school caretaker, which he absolutely loved. At this moment, he and my mother-in-law are sunning themselves on a cruise of the Med, the lucky things, in celebration of the next stage of their lives.

There are a few things you need to know about Baz. He's a musician, and a self confessed ladies man. And he looks a bit like Father Christmas. As he's a big flirt, my mother-in-law asked me to make him a booby cake. A BOOBY cake?! Well, erm OK then, it could be a laugh....

 

I made two cakes, one a vanilla sponge and one a coffee cake - Baz's favourite. I baked them both in Pyrex mixing bowls, as the cake needed to feed 60 at his surprise birthday party. This took HOURS - about 3.5 hours per cake! After this, I cut them in two places and sandwiched them back together with vanilla buttercream and sieved home made raspberry jam.

The sugarpaste came from the fab Squires Kitchen, an online shop that I could spend hours browsing (and often do). It took me about 3 hours to ice the cake, having covered it roughly in more buttercream.

The best fun for me, by far, was making the cake topper. I have a really talented friend, Jenny (http://www.hillandatree.com/) who does fabulous things with Fimo clay, and she'd inspired me to have a go myself. I'd seen wedding cake toppers, and wanted to make a model of Baz playing his guitar. It was marvellous fun.

The structure of his body is made from wire, with tin foil putting flesh on the bones. The clay then needs to be softened and rolled out quite thinly and wrapped around the tin foil. This was not as easy as I thought, especially for his clothes. Eventually I blasted him with a paint stripper gun. It felt a bit odd (and could, I imagine, be quite cathartic, depending on the member of family one had modelled...)

I was quite pleased with the outcome. Quite a good likeness I thought...

 

The party was brilliant - Baz had no idea that most of his family and friends would be there, so was thrilled to bits. The cake was a hit too - and apparently a lot of fun was had at the end of the night after we had gone home.

Do you think boys ever grow up?

Lots of love

Claire x

Half Term Crafting

Well hello lovely ladies and gentlemen of Blogland - it's nice to see you again. I've been away much longer than I intended.

It took four days of intense crafting to get the secret project into something that could be given as a gift - an hour before the party started! My fingers were sore, my back bent and my eyes crossed. The gift was held together with wonderweb and had a (smallish) key ingredient missing, but it was good enough. Dominic was thrilled. I was thrilled. Everyone was thrilled. It was all good. I shall post pictures tomorrow, if it's sunny. We've not had much sun, although this afternoon was nice. Fingers crossed.

I did not want to post pictures here until it was finished properly but, hoorah, I put the last tiny handstitch in yesterday! There was a good few days of behind-the-scenes hand sewing left to be done, but thankfully it is now complete.

I got a blog block. I feel a bit silly now I've just properly got on and JFDI, but there it is! I did not want to post until I could do my 'Taa-daa' post, and it took much longer to complete than I expected. I have also had six orders to make for Mrs Bee (three hats, one newborn hammock, one bookmark and one beehive sponsorship). I've also had a bit of an ME flare up which took a couple of days out of the equation whilst I slept / lazed around feeling sorry for myself.

Bedsides all this, it's half term. We've been quite lazy (again!) despite good intentions, but everyone is so tired at the end of each school term that it seems foolish to run headlong into big chores. So, we've been a bit lazy, eaten out a lot, seen friends, done some crafting.

Charlie made a stained glass 'window' and did a very good job of it indeed! He meticulously painted every bit (it was painting by numbers, but he didn't stick to that!) I helped a little too. I have put it away carefully and will frame it as a birthday present for my Mum.

Today we went pottery painting! We go to a cool place near York called Langlands which has the most delicious restaurant, and some pretty lovely things to look at. We had hot chilli chicken wraps with homemade chips and they were deee-licious.  We love going to 'Pottery Painting with Claire' (no, not me!) and this is one of our regular holiday activities. It's well worth a trip out if you're local.

This was Dominic's mug, he was very proud of it:

 

 

He has been spending a lot of time spinning honey this week, so the bee mug was very apt. He has reserved it for garden tea.

I had in mind a hand painted striped affair - wobbly, uneven lines, but thin, in shades of blue, white and pink. Oh fate, how you laughed at me:

 

Each time I got somewhere near what I wanted, the table wobbled, my arm got knocked or I just plain buggered it up. When it's fired these powder tones will become ultra bright. Even so, it looks a bit, urm, special, doesn't it? I have said I shall reserve mine for those times we have no guests. My fugly mug will be banished to the back of the cupboard at moments of celebration and sharing. Pottery painting fail.

Charlie looks rather pleased with his robot 'piggy' bank, doesn't he?!

 

He did a good job, but whizzed through the painting and had to be encouraged to go back and add more coats and touch up the white bits. He had a veeery long wait whilst Dom and I got stuck in and pretended we were there for Charlie's sake. Ahem.

I'll collect them in a week or so. I'll take some photos then and show you how they came out. Even though I wasn't overly thrilled with my efforts today, we had a lovely family afternoon, which is what counts I think.

Hope to see you again soon

Claire x

Saturdays

Saturdays are a lazy affair at The Cottage, especially in winter. Jonny always goes to football training, so often Dom goes with him taking a flask of coffee and reads in the car.

Today, Jonny was at a friend's house for a sleepover. Instead Dom, Charlie and I rolled out of bed late and trundled down to our local garden centre, Sandhills, for a mug of tea and a bacon sandwich. Yum.

Sandhills is one of those places that sums up our weekends. It's a pretty relaxed, run down even, sort of place but the food is good. I like to spend an hour wondering amongst the flowers whilst Charlie plays in the play area. They have pet sheep and chickens, giant rabbits and a pet shop next door with parrots and tortoises. You don't need to dress up, or wear make up, and everyone is polite but distant enough for early morning anonymity. Just the place for a young family to enjoy mooching.

This afternoon I will finish the tassles on my Doctor Who scarf and block it - the taa-daa picture will come soon. I had an order last night for eight metres of pirate bunting, so I have a date this afternoon with a mug of tea, my sewing machine and radio 4.

Dom will clean out and feed the chickens, check the bees are OK and get on with some DIY jobs around the house.

Saturdays here are a quiet, home based affair. I'm glad we don't go shopping or other traditional Saturday pursuits; there's something very lovely in marking time in this slow, domestic, cosy way of ours. Soon it will be time for working in the garden; I'm enjoying the chance to laze around whilst it lasts.

Claire x

PS Lucy at Attic 24 has a fab recipe on her blog for cheesy nibbles. I may have a go at baking these this afternoon.

 

Busy Busy Busy!

Well, it's the last day of the Easter holiday for the boys, and the first day back at work for Dom. To ease the shock (and my guilt) I have made some homemade bread and lamb tagine for dinner tonight. I am feeling guilty because I took Charlie to school on a teacher training day. Oh my! Black mark in the good mothering chart, again.

I hope you are well and it's lovely to see you again. Isn't the spring weather lovely? This morning I was singing 'my favourite things' in my head and pondered upon the line 'silver white winters that melt into spring'. We sure had a silver white winter this year, but not much melting. January was snowy, February was cold and grey and damp, and then in March it was like someone turned the dial to 'spring'. One day of lovely sunshine and we never looked back.

We had a fun Easter - I had a go at making my own chocolate eggs (fun) but left it until Easter Sunday morning before the kids got up (stressful). Will I never learn?! In my defence, Dom and I had had some horrible virus, but really I should have done better. I did, however, bake a trio of cakes (Bakewell cake, simnel cake and passion cake), make lemon curd, and freshly bake a plaited easter loaf so that our families all got an "afternoon tea" hamper as a gift. Domestic goddess reputation restored then ;o) Sadly I did not take any photos as I crawled into bed to feel poorly and sorry for myself not long after.

We had a fab day at Whitby with our friends Andy and Lucy and their daughter Lauren. Andy has an iPhone and Lucy is six months pregnant and I am not sure which I was more jealous of! The broody bat has stayed away, but I do have the realisation that I don't have many years left to make the choice, and now would be a good time career wise. However, I have been so ill over the last year, and I am enjoying my crafting so much .... And so the dilemma goes on. The boys had a marvellous time. They especially enjoyed searching for fossils and were sure they came home with some dinosaur poo. Riiiight.

Charlie, who has recently been obsessed with broken limbs, was sure he had broken both of his ankles when we returned. I did get a bit worried about him as he refused to walk all day. However, the next day, he leapt into our bedroom and shouted "taa-daa! I can walk!" So we experienced a little miracle of our own. I put it down to aching muscles - boy we walked up some big hills. I nearly died, but had to pretend I was really very fit (which I am absolutely, completely and utterly, not). Less cake, methinks.

Whitby is about an hour and a half's drive from our house. Three if you get stuck behind a tractor. There aren't any motorways, so it's pretty coastal roads and 'A' roads all the way which I love, and reminds me of Sunday School Outings and old fashioned days out.

Funnily enough, Whitby feels quite exotic compared to our usual seasides. Locally, they are pretty quiet with just the odd purveyor of buckets and spades and fish and chips. Bridlington is good, but a bit, ummm, scruffy. A bit too much of the chips and amusement arcades for my liking.

Scarborough is really lovely, but I have only been once. Filey I have never been to. I aim to rectify that this year.

Charlie was amused by the donkeys on the beach at Whitby, with their bright painted harnesses and big cow bells. He was desperate for a go, but we didn't get round to it and the donkeys packed up before we realised. Also, there are various boat rides including, as you see above, the pirate ship. It's definitely something I want to do this year too. I love this picture because of it's quirkiness; how I long for a decent macro lens...

Anyway, there are jobs to be done so I will hop off. See you tomorrow.

Claire x
  

 

Smile

 
  
YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAWW! The Horrible Task is done! I did it! Me! And I lived to tell the tale. AND, on the back of the success of tackling the Scary Paperwork I have made a phone call and received two. I am so proud of myself my heart I could easily explode. It sounds silly, really, that I could be so floored by something I once took for granted. Funnily how life can change and how quickly.

I found out that the business had been making a loss long before I thought it had. I should have known this, I know, but it was a classic case of burying my head in the sand. Also, I was so busy taking on extra teaching work to bring money into the business that I had even less time to spend on managing the money. Looking at the figures in black and white, Dom and I both felt that we had closed the business at the right time, from a business perspective. The business had been losing money; we started to recoup that by expanding, but our income was reduced by a third when the recession hit, and it was a downward trend. We gave it a sensible chance to recover and didn't give up too soon either.

How do I feel about it? Relieved actually. I can see now that I was in a bit of a trap trying to keep everything running. I understand why the business had to close, and I don't feel as ashamed as I did. I feel as though I gave it my best shot, and hung on when other people would have given up. However, I don't think I hung on stubbornly when it never was going to get better; I was sensible and, for some reason, that feels important and gives me more faith in my own judgement, something I lost for some time.

Actually, it's been a pretty nice 24 hours. Charlie and I made a snowman yesterday, which is currently sporting a hand knitted scarf. I will take a photo of it later. I am making toad-in-the-hole for tea, which I am looking forward to disproportionately, and I am knitting a pair of socks. I have had a good go at my 101 in 1001 list - managed two alcohol free days this week, as well as the three phone calls. I am going to print off a list and stick it on the fridge, as well as sort out my blog files later.

I hope you are doing OK today.

Lots of love, Claire xx

101 in 1001 Challenge

1001 in 101 : The Project

 

It's January 2010 and I am starting to feel as though I am recovering from the depression. I need something to keep me busy, and to help me keep pushing myself and putting me out of my comfort zone little by little. The 1001 in 101 project seems ideal.

The idea is to make a list of things you want to do over the next 2.75 years of your life. Each task must be achieveable and time limited. Since I have recently experienced a very driven stage of my life in which target setting was a daily task, I will prioritise goals that I believe will bring me greater life satisfaction, happiness and self awareness. These may well be trivial to others, but will hopefully help me achieve my biggest goal: to discover who I am now and what I want to do with my life.

More information about this project can be found here: http://dayzeroproject.com

Start Date: 1st January 2010

End Date: 29th September 2012

The List

Items crossed out have been achieved

Items in italics are underway

 

 

Items Relating to The List

1. To write my list of 101 things and upload to my blog. (1/1)

Challenges

2. To make 5 phone calls a month

3. To answer the door whenever it knocks.

4. To go on an aeroplane. (0/1)

5. Smile when I want to cry.

6. Clear the credit card 

7. Complete a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle (0/1) 

8. Ride on a rollercoaster (0/1)

 

Personal

 

 

9. To enrol on a new course. 

10. To dye my hair at least 4 different shades. (4/4)

11. To read a book every 3 months. (11/11) 

12. To wear wacky socks every day for a month. (0/30) 

13. To conceive my third child 

14. To grow my hair to my bottom. (1/1) 

15. To visit 3 stately homes. (0/3)

16. To visit at least two art galleries (0/2)

17. To visit at least one photography exhibition. (0/1)

18. To keep an art journal 

19. To crochet a handbag. (1/1)

20. To write a letter to the me that was in 2000. (0/1)

21. To write myself an letter that I will open in 2020. (0/1)

22. Make a will  (0/1)

23. Have a massage (1/1)

24. Have a facial (1/1)

25. See five films at the cinema (3/5)

26. Buy a piece of artwork I love (0/1)

27. Buy false eyelashes and wear them on a night out (1/1)

Health

 

 

28. To go to the dentist (1/1)

29. To eat my 5 per day every day for 30 consecutive days. (0/30)

30. To permanently reduce my alcohol consumption to 10 - 15 units a week

31. Go 30 days in a row without eating takeaway. (0/30)

32. Go 30 days in a row without eating chocolate. (0/30)

33. Swim twice weekly for at least three months

 

Romance

 

34. Spend at least 10 times beekeeping with Dom. (0/10)

35. Have at least one date per month with Dom, even if it is at home. (0/33)

36. Spend six weekends away with Dom. (0/6)

37. Send my husband a love letter (0/1)

38. Kiss in the rain (0/1)

 

Family

 

39. To start an open diary to Jonathan. (0/1)

40. Take the children swimming 5 times. (5/5)

41. Go camping four times. (2/4)

42. Own a new pet. (0/1)

43. Have a picnic. (0/1)

44. Go for ten walks on the beach. (2/10)

45. Create a piece of art with the boys for the playroom. (0/1)

46. Teach Jonathan to cook five dishes (0/5)

47. Teach Charlie to read (1/1)

 

Friends

 

48. Give 5 'I saw this and thought of you' presents. (0/5)

49. Send 10 handwritten letters. (0/10)

 

Helping others / the planet

 

50. Donate something for charity each month (money, time, items) (0/33)

51. Perform five acts of random kindness (0/5)

52. Donate blood four times (0/4)

53. Plant a tree for each decade of my life (1/4)

Craft

 

54. To learn how to do interstarsia knitting and produce an item. (1/1)

55. To open an Etsy shop to sell my hand crafted items. (1/1)

56. To knit a pair of socks. (1/1)

57. To knit a handbag. (1/1)

58. Make three quilts  (2/3)

59. Knit an item using only double pointed needles (0/1)

60. Make and felt an item for the house (1/1)

61. Dye a skein of yarn (0/1) 

62. Learn how to spin yarn (0/1)

63. Make an item of clothing for myself (1/1) 

64. Make an item of clothing for Charlie (1/1)

65. Attend a craft fair both as a buyer and a seller (1/2)

66. Crochet a handbag (1/1)

 

Blogland and T'interweb

 

67. Update my inspiration album once per month. (0/33)

68. Keep a blog of your personal achievements and photography that is updated weekly. Read it and feel good about your place in the world.  (0/143)

69. Leave a comment on someone else's blog every week (0/143)

 

Home and Garden

 

70. Hatch duck or hen eggs (1/1)

71. Grow at least 10 different sorts of veg. (0/10)

72. Take a course in butchery. (0/1)

73. Slaughter and cook a hen. (0/2)

74. Have cut flowers every fortnight. (0/72)

75. Decorate play room (1/1)

76. Decorate lounge (0/1)

77. Decorate hall (0/1)

78. Finish kitchen (1/1)

79. Make blinds and curtains for dining room (0/4)

80. Landscape / move plants to front garden (1/1)

81. Make new vegetable plot (0/1)

82. Use the Lady Shed for my projects between May and September

83. Put all the family photographs up in the hall (0/1)

 

Words and Pictures

 

84. To write 10 short stories. (0/10)

85. Take a photo of all 101 things. (0/101)

86. To upload a photo every week to HPAD group on Flickr (0/143)

87. Make a photo yearbook of our family life at The Cottage for each year (0/3)

88. Make a photo collage of each month at home in The Cottage. (0/33)

89. To organise my photo files every month. (0/33)

90. Take a photo of 30 happy things. (0/30)

91. Arrange Charlie's baby photos into an album (0/1)

92. Take family photos off computer and put into albums (0/1)

 

Seize The Day!

 

93. To jump in a puddle (1/1)

 

Culinary

 

94. Cook 101 recipes from my cookery books. (0/101)

95. Bake once a fortnight.

96. Eat in a Michelin starred restaurant. (0/1)

97. Make a birthday cake for Dom, Jonny and Charlie each year. (6/9)

98. Make a Christmas cake each year. (2/3)

99. Cook a souffle (0/1)

100. Buy meat from a local butchers 20 times

101. Try sushi (0/1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick Catch Up

November at The Cottage

Good evening ladies and gentlemen of Blogland. How are you doing? I hope you are well, relaxed and looking forward to Christmas.

So much has happened here in the last week, I really am caught up in a whirl of Christmas preparations. My knitting list feels as long as my arm and I am starting to feel the pressure to get the projects finished. I have completed the Christmas shopping, deep cleaned the house (downstairs, anyway), caught up on Mount Laundry, looked after Jonny when he was poorly, put up the Christmas decorations, been for another drive around Sunk Island, been to pottery - my word, the list seems endless.

It's not been a bad time, really, with a few exceptions. Dom had serious chest pains on the way home from work tonight, so went straight to the doctors - I know it must have been bad for him to do this as he NEVER goes to the doctor unless he's dying. However, all is well and the doc thinks it is a panic attack. That worries me just as much to be honest - he's working 60 hours per week at the moment, although he seems in bouyant spirit. He's happy to carry on as normal, but I really worry about him. And I worry that my illness is putting additional strain onto him too.

On Friday we had rabbot stew for dinner, and it was divine. I have never eaten or cooked rabbit before, but I certainly would again. It was very similar to chicken, but much cheaper. I slow cooked it with carrots, onions, mushrooms and parsnips and made gravy from the pan I browned the rabbit in, stock and flour. Washed down with lashings of home brewed beer. It was oh-so-yum.

The Christmas tree is up, which caused great excitement in Charlie, and typical teenage nonchalance in Jonny. I am a bit miffed because I let Charlie have complete creative free reign and it looks much, much better than my co-ordinated attempts in years gone by. Harumph.

Anyway, it's late and I have stayed up to knit Elijah the elephant as a Christmas present for Charlie. Isn't he a darling? I'm knitting him in the softest bamboo yarn, but it's really splitty and hard to work, so mine is not so good and looks much more like the elephant man. Ho hum.

Oh, and my £300 Ebay target is looking a bit shaky - I have 12 parcels to send out tomorrow and we've made £70. Grump.

Lots of love from East Yorkshire. Tuck yourselves in all lovely and warm.

Claire x

PS - this is a watercolour I've been working on recently. It's not perfect, there's a lot I'd change if I did it again, but what do you think?

Today is offically a holiday - tell your friends!

Last year, I worked my nuts off getting Christmas sorted. I try to think of original and thoughtful gifts; I make a lot of them. I handmade decorations and baked a lot in advance to freeze. Nothing came from packets - everything was homemade. I did all the shopping, wrote all the cards, had 10 people round for dinner on the big day, friends before and afterwards ad family staying for 4 days. I was really looking forward to it.

Then, guess what? 5 days before Christmas I got the flu. I honestly felt like dying, I don't think I have ever felt that ill. But I hauled myself up out of bed on Christmas Eve and, ever the martyr, made sure that Christmas went ahead as I had planned.

Whilst I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, I realised that everyone else was having fun and, having done the lion's share of the preparations, I was still working my nuts off, even though I wasn't well. And I felt a bit resentful.

This year I am making lots of changes. I am only going to do the things I want to do. And one of them is this: I am going to take lots of secret mini holidays in advance, to make up for all the extra effort. I think you should do the same. Email this page to all your girlfriends because I am, officially, giving you permission to have a mini holiday. It could be today, or any day, a whole day or just 10 minutes - but you must do something you enjoy, and you wouldn't ordinarily do. I am looking forward to hearing what you get up to!

I have already been to town and bought myself a few treats. I am now firmly planted on the sofa where I will stay until school time. I have:

New reading material

Coffee and chocolate

Fuzzy friends

Hooky loveliness (I'm crocheting together mum's throw before startig the border. It's at the pre-blocked ugly duckling stage)

 
  

Christmas shopping to do

(oh how I am tempted by the free apron)

and there is also a snooze to be enjoyed once I have finished chatting with you.

Given it's the middle of a difficult week at the end of a difficult year, it's raining horizontally and it's windy and cold, I have also decided to treat my boys. Although they will not know about my own treats, oh no.

When Charlie and Jonny come home from school, they will have a tea of boiled eggs, fresh from the chickens, with squirty cream topped hot chocolate, their favourite:

Unbenown to them, the pain au chocolates they grieved over this morning when they thought they were Daddy's, are being saved for a special pudding for two special boys:

Let's not forget a special Daddy, of course. I have not been easy to live with recently, and this is a little way that I can say 'thank you'. Once Jonny and Charlie are in the land of nod, Dom and I shall be enjoying a little treat that I picked up from our local market this morning:

Moules mariniere, with freshly caught local mussels and crusty bread to mop up all the delicious, garlicky sauce. Not forgetting a nice bottle of plonk:

 I have to dash now and begin my hectic schedule. Have fun with yours and, if you do nothing else today, treat yourself.

Lots of love and hugs

Claire xx

Noticing the small things

Hello lovely reader, how are you today? I hope all is well with you and you enjoyed your weekend. Mine was surprisingly bright, actually.

I love, love, love the photo above. It's a moss covered rock by our pumpkin patch in the garden. The new habit that I am currently trying to learn is to notice detail. Look at the textures on this rock. It looks cold, slimey, rough and furry, doesn't it? I wonder what critters call it home? How much it's surface temperature varies? How and where it was formed? I know for sure that it has resided in Liverpool, London and now Yorkshire because Dom and I have transported this pile of rocks whenever we have moved house - I wonder where it was before? And how old it is? I don't know about you, but I really enjoy feeling very small. Thinking about how old things are always helps.

This morning Charlie and I were looking closely at spider's webs. There were two perfect specimens on the handles of his slide, and we spotted a tiny one on the railing at school. One of the other mums scoffed and said there were hundreds and, anyway, they looked better when "visited by Jack Frost." I don't doubt icy webs look beautiful, but dew drop laden webs look amazing too. I hope to teach Charlie to notice all the miracles around us that it's easy to overlook and pah! to the other mother; her loss.

We had a lot of fun over the weekend as we visited some old friends of ours, Martin and Naomi. They had a bit of a shin-dig at their house, with fireworks and sparklers. The children loved it, but I think the grown ups loved it best! Dom and Martin shuffled the kids into the house and then spent a good long time trying to blow up a pumpkin with fireworks, the big kids. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the wine and, oh my, the delicious food. There were hot dogs and onions, chicken soup, jacket potato with cheese and coleslaw, apple cake and dough nuts - all very much on a help yourself basis. I just love winter comfort food, and Martin and Naomi's home is always so comfortable and so much fun. It was just what I needed and it's perked me up no end. Naomi has had problems with depression in the past, and so little more than a few words, an understanding look and some acknowledgement was enough. It's wonderful to feel so accepted with so little fuss.

I hope you had a good time too, and you're feeling warm and cosy now these winter days have settled. If not, pour yourself a drink and enjoy a virtual hug from me. I get you.

The battery on my camera has run out, and I can't find the charger! Quel disaster! I don't have pictures of crafting, other than to say I am working on the crochet joining strips for mum's blanket. It's quick but a bit bland, so I am looking forward to getting my teeth into something else. I can't wait to show you Baz's scarf, I am so pleased with it. You'll love it.

Catch you later

Claire x