word of the week

The word this week is definitely "out". The lovely socialising of last weekend continued, with a trip to the theatre on Tuesday to watch Daniel Kitson, and a night out watching Bruce Springsteen with The Husband, my parents and my brothers. 

We had also had art class on Monday, so Thursday night was a designated easy night! We still got out, taking Millie for a walk in the sunshine before a quiet night in.The bank holiday weekend has been lovely so far, with a long lunch with friends yesterday, and then a few hours sat in the sunshine this afternoon round at another friend's house.

I've also been out at two maternity appointments this week, a vaccination on Monday and bloods on Wednesday. Monday is officially thirty weeks, so after that, our weekly countdown will be down to single figures. Time seems to be flying by! 

Project 52: Week 21

The highlight of this week had to be a family trip to see Bruce Springsteen live. My step-dad has been a life-long fan, and has seen him lots of times over the years. This was my first concert of his though and after three hours of non-stop performance I could definitely see the appeal, and we all had a really great night.

word of the week

I must admit to struggling for a word this week, nothing is springing to mind easily, so I think I shall go for morning.

This week has gone very quickly, lost mostly in a haze of work. I have been getting in early, and managing to be productive, so I finish the week feeling a lot more organised that I was last Sunday. There will still be a busy few days ahead, but it is good to look back and realise what has been achieved.

I have written before about struggling with early mornings, but when I feel under more pressure I find it easier to get up and into work, particularly as I know that precious first hour before most other people arrive is often the most productive, and gets me off to a good start. In recent months I've also been making more of an effort to sit and have a proper breakfast before heading out to work. I set the table, and make myself a drink and feel all the better for it. 

Each weekend I also now make a batch of flapjacks, with this weekend's effort pictured above, as always Millie is to be seen hunting for crumbs by my feet. I was finding the mid-morning hunger pangs quite strong during pregnancy, but didn't want to keep buying sugar laden snacks, so a big batch tends to see me through the week. They aren't sugar free, and I've yet to get the recipe right so that they don't crumble or taste overly sweet so any recipe suggestions would be very welcome!!

This weekend though, the mornings have been gentler. After a great trip for dinner and to watch a comedy show with The Husband and my parents on Friday night, we slept in on Saturday morning. With our shopping delivery due between 9 and 10, the poor driver was greeted with a rather bleary-eyed, messy-haired version of me when he arrived just before 9 as we were still chatting in our pyjamas about our plans for the weekend!

Today was another slower start, breakfast with The Husband, then out to the cinema with my mum and a neighbour, who we count as a close family friend, to watch a preview of Me Before You. Having read the book, I warned them it was a weepy, and tissues were taken and duly used, with the three of us snivelling in unison by the end. We followed it up with a more cheerful gathering, at a second neighbour's house, and the four of us spent a lovely few hours chatting, catching up and enjoying the fact that we have such good friends on our doorstep.

Project 52: Week 20

After a lovely Sunday with family and friends, I returned home to The Husband, Millie and a gentle Sunday evening. The fading sunlight was painting rainbows in the hallway, and scattered a spectrum of colours across the edge of the white roses on the table. I couldn't quite get a picture where you could see them in their full glory, but there is a hint of it here.

word of the week

I was going to have "home" for this week's word, but realised I had used that not so long ago, so instead I have chosen "back". After a few days away, and a long four and a half hour drive, it was good to be back from Cardiff on Wednesday night, to a clean, tidy house, and dinner in the oven, courtesy of The Husband. There was also a newly purchased pregnancy pillow waiting for me, to try and help me with the still elusive sleep. I keep waking up in the middle of the night and finding that I have rolled onto my back, which breaks one of the very many rules on the excessively long list of things to worry about during pregnancy! Millie took to the pillow straight away, as I found her snuggled up in the middle of it almost as soon as it arrived. I can't say I have found it quite as comfortable, and it did get rather unceremoniously dispatched to the bedroom floor at three in the morning the other night, but the pillow and I are gradually learning to love each other.

Then on Friday night, my parents returned from their holiday, and it has been lovely to have them back home. Today we had a gathering at their house to celebrate my stepdad's birthday and also my auntie's birthday, both of which are this week. So it was also back to doing some baking, and I made a bakewell tart rather than a cake, as it is one of my stepdad's favourites.

This week will be back to a more normal routine at work, although it also back to that time of year when I have to submit a portfolio of evidence. Despite promising myself every June that I will do it more gradually, over the year, May rolls around and I suddenly find myself needing to do a long hard slog at it to catch up. It isn't helped by the fact that there have been lots of changes to the process and the content which are taking me a while to get used to, but I will be very glad when it is done.

And I know I keep saying this, but I do hope that soon I will get back to posting a little more often, and catching up on replying to comments. I do read all of your comments, and all of the comments about Millie in last week's photo made me smile! Thanks again for visiting, and I hope you all have a lovely week ahead.

Project 52: Week 19

This week's Sunday photo is actually from Saturday night, and a lovely late evening walk with The Husband and Millie. It was quiet, with no-one else about despite the good weather, and I enjoyed being out and spending some time together, wandering in the sunshine.

Project 52: Week 17 and 18

The main project for the Bank Holiday weekend was the nursery, and after lots of DIY I am absolutely thrilled with it. We keep going having a little peep around the door in the mornings, and it feels very exciting to have the room ready. Millie, however, was less pleased with being banned from the room, and particularly when the construction process meant that she was physically unable to join us she made for a very sorry sight indeed. I loved this picture of her peering in as we put together the changing unit!

This weekend we have done lots of travelling, and I took this picture in my cousin's garden during our visit to see them. It was a lovely trip, and there was fabulous sunshine. It was great to be able to sit out in the garden, enjoying the weather, and the company. 

word of the week

After lots of travelling in recent days, this week's word is miles. We took a trip to London and back yesterday, which involved just over 7 hours on the road. Luckily for me The Husband did the driving, and I was able to sit and enjoy the journey, and his company! I was also taking part in the 1day12pics project on instagram, and although lots of the pictures ended up like the one above, it was good to be joining in. It was a lovely day spent with our family, sitting in their garden in the sunshine, and gratefully loading the car with all manner of fabulous baby things that they were kindly giving us. It was so good to see them and to spend a few hours catching up.

We arrived home and then after a lazy morning of pancakes, I was back in the car to do a three hour drive to Cardiff today as I am visiting the city for work for the next few days. It is my first time to Cardiff, and the scenery was superb as I drove here in glorious sunshine. It is always a little bittersweet being away from home but hopefully it should be an interesting few days.

Cookery Calendar Challenge: April

In April, I chose the Hairy Bikers' Good Eating book, which is the third one in their Hairy Dieters range. I bought the first book in the range after watching the associated television series, and both that and the second one quickly became regularly used. The second one improved on the first by including cooking times and a range of serving sizes, but I hadn't ever cooked anything from the third book despite having it for quite a while.

The first recipe was for creamy chicken and tarragon pots with rosemary potato wedges. It was simple to make and the flavours were beautiful. We didn't have any large ramekins so made one larger portion which we then split between us. It could probably have done with some more vegetables on the side, but I do think this is one I would make again. 

The second recipe was for a beef and coconut curry with roasted spiced cauliflower on the side. This wasn't a complete success, although The Husband said he really enjoyed it. It is a definite weekend recipe, as it involved a period of marinading, followed by a very long, slow cooking process, I don't mind that particularly, it's nice to keep popping into the kitchen and doing a little bit more, but the final result was pretty underwhelming, and I found it incredibly salty, which I think might have been as a result of the marinade. I did like the idea of a spiced cauliflower alongside the curry as an alternative to rice, and I have made it again since as a side dish. I had to buy about six new jars for my already pretty well-stocked spice rack so I will have to look for some more recipes to make good use of them all!

I was glad to finally make use of the book, and it has made me tempted to try a few more of the recipes out of it too. To see what books other people have used in April, do pop over to Penny's blog to have a look at the Cookery Calendar Challenge.