My Kitchen Stories

If I were posting about my kitchen in general right now it would be a tale of woes: How everything has packed up, one by one, while I'm on maternity leave. My washing machine and dishwasher included. Alas.

I had to pick one to replace with immediacy and that was the washing machine... Which left me with a packet of Fairy Platinum to write about and no dishwasher.

No panic. NCT antenatal friend to the rescue with the offer of her dishwasher and kitchen, her opinions based on her experience of her dishwasher AND a free dinner. Oh, and superb company, naturally.

Del's kitchen, much like mine, is the hub of the home. A place where laundry gets done, tums get fed, artwork gets hung and the world has been put to rights many a time over a brew. Like me, she dreams of a few more cupboards but muddles through and the fridge door masquerades as her office.

When she offered to cook me dinner, I asked what we'd be having. Her reply was "Lasagne, because the baked on bits are a great test of a dishwasher tablet". I'm inclined to agree. So dinner was prepped, the dog was tripped over (another similarity with my kitchen, only I have two of the critters fighting for the warm patch in front of the oven) dinner was baked, eaten, and a huge pile of dirty kitchen utensils and dishes generated. It was getting late. "We'll use the quick wash setting, THAT will be a good test!" mused Del.

You can see that the lasagne had indeed baked itself on well. We were both impressed with the result - particularly given the quick wash setting - everything came out shiny and sparkly clean and the only residue of lasagne was a tiny bit of pasta, that clearly just hadn't drained away as it was by no means stuck on. Del's response was "gosh, if it's that good on a quick wash then I'll seriously consider changing to these!" - high praise indeed for the Fairy Platinum dishwasher tablet... And I agree with Del, I think I'll make the change too when I'm eventually reunited with a machine...

So while my kitchen is still in a state of semi dis-repair, I have good things to report: Fairy Platinum will clean up greasy, baked on lasagne, even on a quick cycle, I love my new washing machine even if it is the only thing functioning right now, and the woman you thought was a smidge batty two and a half years ago at an antenatal meeting may well just be the saviour of your blog post. And sanity. Many hurrahs! 

This post is an entry for the "My Kitchen Story" Linky Challenge, sponsored by Fairy Plantinum.

Family Photo Friday #25- 27/06/2014

A week of being poorly and feeling sorry for myself does not a family photo make. But I have been reflecting.

This photo was taken a year ago this weekend. The same day we found out we were pregnant again! Effy looks so little. She's so grown up now, she's grown into her features and lost so much toddler chub... And now we are four!

What a difference a year makes. Do you have a family photo from this time last year to share?

With reflecting on the brain, I particularly loved Loved By Mummy's post about their "spot". Thanks for much for sharing! 

Usual rules...

Share a family photo from your week just gone OR a photo from this time last year. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday.

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

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Word of the Week

*shocked noise*

What's up, Effy?

A bug! A buggy bug!

Where? 

On the window?

Really, what's it doing?

'Swalking! Flying away!

All the time. Bug obsession.

Bug obsession turned bad on Wednesday night: nightmare about bugs.

Cue screaming toddler. Hiding BEHIND her sisters cot.

SCARY BUGGY!!!!

She demanded to lie down with me under the duvet and clung to me all night.

All of Thursday morning:

Lots of tiny ones spiders. On my pillow. Big one on floor. Not scared. Bit scared.

Even the girls at nursery were told.

On Thursday night and bedtime she was relieved that there were actually no spiders on her pillow.

Phew!

Get your bake on

My little part of Northamptonshire seems to have its own microclimate. While my friends on the south coast upload piles of pictures of them on the beach in glorious sunshine, the weather here has been more hit and miss. Cooler, wet, stormy, bit windy as Effy would say.

Visits from friends and left over clotted cream called for scones... You'll know that D is the baker in this household and he loves baking with Effy, but this time it was my turn to get mucky... Ish. Not going to lie, I made my dough in the KitchenAid, but the rest of the making was (mostly) left in the capable hands of my two year old.

Recipe - makes a lot of smaller scones perfect for smaller hands, tummies and YumBoxes. And you can obviously eat twice as many as they're half the calories.

Ingredients

350g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
85g margerine/butter (I used marg)
175ml milk
Dash of vanilla extract (I used Dr Oetker) 

Extra flour for dusting surfaces
Trex for greasing
Baking parchment is desired

Copeous amounds of jam and clotted cream to serve. Bon.

Method - using a blender but this could be done by hand with a little more time

• Preheat oven to 200/Gas 7
• Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and marg until you have the consistency of breadcrumbs.
• Warm the milk slightly in the microwave and add to the dry mix along with the vanilla until a sticky dough forms.
• Dust the work surface with flour. Turn out dough and fold in until the dough becomes a smoother consistency and holds itself together.
• Because we were making little scones, we rolled to about a 1cm-1 1/2cm deep.
• Cut shapes and lay out on a baking tray that you've greased well.
• Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, watching them closely and remove as the tops are turning golden. Allow the cool on a wire rack.
• Eat soon after.

My little baker was thrilled with her efforts, she loved watching the oven (usual conversations of careful, hot apply) and eating some of her freshly made "making".

Easy peasy. All cleared up before the baby woke up.

You're welcome!

G is for...

Growing.

I love this time of year because of it. I'm still amazed by it.

Linking up with the #alphabetphoto linky.

Review: Big Fish Little Fish at The Dog, Coventry

Last month we were offered the opportunity to attend a Big Fish Little Fish event at The Dog in Coventry. The event, which was part of the Coventry Mysteries Festival, I lovingly refer to as Baby Rave, because that's really the best way of describing it.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I love new discoveries and I love music, so I didn't hesitate to accept the invitation. 

Picture this, if you you will: A local live music venue, loud (but monitored to be completely safe for very small ears) music, glitter balls, a chill out area with small tents, a craft area... And lots of small children dancing with their parents. Surreal? Yes. Cool concept? Yes. That's exactly what Big Fish Little Fish Events are about; creating a kid friendly dance party that children can enjoy with their parents, and that's exactly what was happening. Big Fish Little Fish are also sponsored by some familiar faces; Happy Monkey Smoothies and Bear (of fruity snack fame). 

The event seemed well attended and adults and children were having a good time dancing and exploring what was an incredibly multi-sensory environment. The children were enjoying their UV glow-sticks, strobe lighting and confetti canons while the parents were reminded of music from their youth (I'd forgotten about the Beastie Boys!). When it got too much there was a fabulous craft area for making crowns and a huge colouring wall which Effy delighted in scribbling over. There was also a chill out area where lots of mums were feeding... There was a really nice vibe about the place, and actually, I don't feel that the £5/£3 admission price was overpriced for the two hour event, so long as your children were happy in a new and unusual environment. Lowen seemed to enjoy the dance floor in short bursts too, particularly the glitter ball which she could have stared at all day I think, given the chance! Effy had a great time, even if I little shy of dancing at first (I expect due to lack of nap on the way there!) and proudly marched her crown around town when we left. Happy toddler. Happy baby. Win.

So, I love the concept. Adore it in fact, and I'd take the girls again. There were, however a few things I'd like to see tweaked. The venue choice probably could have been better considered; an event that involves stairs and no lift isn't ideal for anyone with a buggy... And there were a lot of buggies. We'd taken the sling that day, so not an issue for us and the staff coordinating the event were helping parents with buggies out, but I felt that somewhere on ground level would be more practical. Also, the toilets weren't child friendly, very much what you'd expect of a live music venue, not the cleanest and changing facilities were understandably somewhat makeshift, but I didn't feel happy about changing a tiny bottom in them. Thirdly, a slightly contentious issue perhaps, but I wasn't 100% sure how I felt that at, what is a children's event, there was need for an alcoholic bar. PLEASE don't get me wrong, I've had a pint at the pub over Sunday lunch in the company of my kids, and I drink at home in the evenings yuddy yuddy yudder, but both D and I felt that perhaps it wasn't neccessary. I'm all for free choice, but at an event specifically aimed at young children... Arguably I attended knowing full well there would be a bar and even though we weren't drinking, other adults would be. Just worth considering when making an informed choice about attending an event such as this.

In conclusion, I love the idea of "baby raving" and think that the multi-sensory element of such an event is fabulous, particularly the musician in me who tries to expose the children to as many different styles of music as possible. There was plenty for them to do beyond raving, and it was a pleasant way to spend my Sunday afternoon. And the good news, festival lovers, is that similar events will be running at Camp Bestival later on this year in the Bollywood tend from 2-4pm on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of August...

Here's to the baby rave, long may our children embrace florescent clothing and dance like it's 1992.

Big Fish Little Fish provided me with complimentary tickets for the event, however all words and opinions are my own.

Strawberries Sweeter

Pick your own. Childhood memories of picking gluts of fruit with my grandparents for my grandmother to turn into jam that she would gift in excess for the rest of the year. Grappling around on your knees to find the best fruit and eating more than you took home. Try before you buy. Times have moved on, it would seem.

As a woman who had inherited a strawberry allergy from her mother at birth, leaving her mother allergy free while she dreamed of strawberries all summer, I was OVER THE MOON after having Effy that I not only seemed to have ditched the allergy, but Effy wasn't allergic either. So we have spent as much time as possible eating as many strawberries as possible ever since. Safe to say my little fruit bat can inhale strawberries faster than sweets, which makes me a very happy woman!

So yesterday, we went to pick our own. We finally got to explore Dovecote Buttery in Newton between Kettering and Corby, having driven past a million times, commenting on how we really should visit.

In the afternoon sun the strawberries shone like little red beacons throughout the rows and rows of plants ready for the picking. Delicious. But the plants weren't down on the ground, they were on legs, making them perfect adult picking height... And not quite so toddler friendly picking height. However, it became apparent that it was probably no bad thing, as Effy quickly realised that there were a lot of strawberries for the eating and she needed careful supervision. No sooner had daddy put some strawberries in the punnet had a little hand grabbed one to munch on... And another. And another.

With two punnets and a toddler full of strawberries, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and played in the play area while Lowen slept and indulged in an icecream before heading home.

A really perfect summer afternoon activity... And a perfect excuse for eating strawberries for the rest of the week. Whipped cream? Rude not to...

Family Photo Friday #24- 20/06/2014

On Sunday we celebrated Lowen's baptism. We had a beautiful day with our closest family and friends. 

Trying to get a photo of Lowen's godparents proved tricky, however. Either the kids looked lovely and non of us were looking at the camera, or the kids looked like they'd had too much Pimms. Never work with animals or children, right?

I enjoyed looking through Caroline's holiday photos last week over at Becoming a Stay at Home Mum. She spends lots of time with her family and always does a great job of snapping what's been going on! 

Usual rules...

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday.

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Word of the Week

Good manners cost nothing but mean everything.

Since before Effy could talk, we would "ta" everything. And of course very quickly she cottoned on. Please and thankyou, a long with the sign for please have been her speciality for some time.

But with toddler stroppiness has come a forgetfulness, or her manners have become screaming "MEEEEEEEEEEASE" (please) at the top of her voice in a demanding fashion. Right now I can hear her having a fit downstairs because she's just shouting "MORE MILK! MORE MILK!" and not getting what she wants.

This week I have spent a lot of time explaining and encouraging her to stop, calm down and try "more milk please, daddy" or "Tissue, please" or "watch Peppa Pig please" and such. 

I feel like a very polite broken record.

F is for...

F is for...

Festivities, fruity, filled, faith.

Lowen's baptism.

A beautiful day for our little girl, and the most fabulous cake I ever did make!

#alphabetphoto

Word of the Week

A busy week preparing for Lowen's baptism on Sunday. Hair cuts (with both children in tow!), things to pick up, outfits to wash, cakes to bake, shopping to do, flowers to order, I haven't really surfaced to breathe!! Very much looking forward to celebrating our little chicken on Sunday with her godparents, friends and family but will also enjoy throwing the to do list for this week away!

Family Photo Friday #23 - 13/06/2014

A little post bigging up my big one today. She's been SO much fun this week. She's effortlessly cool and I felt she deserved the spot light. I cannot believe she is nearly 2 ¼... going on 15!

A couple of pictures from the weekend enjoying the sunshine and playing with daddy.

I particularly enjoyed the photos of four generations from Life's Little Treasures last week - thanks so much for sharing Kelly, for someone reason it wont let me comment but I thought they were a lovely record of your family! 

Usual rules...

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday.

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

E is for...

Expectant.

My best friend is expecting baby number 3, a little girl, in just a few short weeks.

A joy to be able to capture it.

#alphabetphoto

Three months

A quarter of a year. It feels likes yesterday that I was writing about 2 months. I must have blinked.

I have no recollection of life without you in it, but yet in my head you're still brand new. Actually, after a fussy week 12, you've proved yourself a bit of an old timer. You want to push up on your legs, sit up in the pram in a proper seat and you grin for everyone who locks eyes with you. You can lift your head right up when you're on your belly and you almost rolled over from your back to your tummy this evening for the first time. There's no stopping you! 

You work like clockwork now and life finally feels normal again. You are incredibly chatty and love to shout! You chuckle when people pull silly faces at you. You can grab hold of toys on your play mat and you've found your fingers and your mouth. I suspect you have a tooth on the way because all you do is chew on them. We got the Jumperoo out of the loft this week and you think that it's brilliant being upright! 

You will settle yourself to sleep now 90% of the time, and you sleep better now you are in your cot in a room with your big sister. She prods you and sings to you and puts all kinds in your cot, but you're not bothered at all. You often spin around on your belly during the night. You love Effy most of all.

I can't believe how far we've come already. And now the fun really starts!

Review: Mr Nutcase Executive Flip Case for iPhone 5

The opportunity to review a Mr Nutcase phone case really appealed to me for three reasons. Firstly, my phone is always being nabbed by my toddler and despite her very best intentions it almost always ends up dropped, and we don't have carpet anywhere downstairs in our house which means my phone, which still has 7 months to run before I can upgrade, looks a state. Secondly, I am incredibly clumsy, even when sober. Thirdly, anyone who follows me with any regularity will know that I love photography and take a lot of photos. A lot of photos. So many photos that I'm constantly switching my backgrounds about because there's another image that I love and can't stop looking at. First world problem.

I've had a couple of other cases for my phone but there's been fundamental issues with both. The first was just a pouch and I lost it all the time. In fact, I think I stopped using it because I lost it. Good. The second was a photocase, with one image on the back and a rubbery enclosure which saved the corners but didn't protect the screen when it was in my handbag etc.

The first thing I noticed when I browsed the Mr Nutcase web page was that I was going to able to include lots of images on the case, not just one. Big tick. I could also choose an executive flip leather style case that would protect my phone from all the stuff that rattles around in my handbag. And from my clumsy self. Another big tick.

The third thing I noticed was the wide variety of devices that were catered for... Apple products, Nokia, HTC and more! 

So I set about designing my case online. You choose which images you'd like to use and upload them before dragging them onto the template to create your design. The designing was a little fiddly to start with but I soon got the hang of it (I didn't realise you needed to press and hold the zoom button, for example and was clicking it repeatedly wondering why it wasn't doing anything). You're reminded that you need to ensure that the images fill the whole space to ensure that you're not left with any empty gaps on your case and you can move the image around so that you capture just the part of the image you want in each frame. Point to note here is that I was designing a solid panel - the front of the flip - but the template allowed space for the camera hole, which is in fact in the back of the case, so I ofset an image to compensate for the hole and then it looked a bit odd when it arrived, however the lovely people at Mr NutCase let me reorder my case and tell me that this is a little kink in the design of the website which is being fixed at the moment. Once you've finished designing you can preview your item before ordering. Simples!

The delivery of my case was really speedy and first impressions were excellent. Sturdy, an excellent fit for my iPhone 5, well made, and the image quality is good despite the slightly textured nature of the case. I've already had several comments that it's an unusual case and lovely that I can have so many images on too. I agree. The magnetic closure on the case is strong enough to keep it shut but not so strong that I can't flip it open one handed - vital with a small baby in my arms a lot of the time. The case doesn't impede the volume buttons or the camera at all. Overall, I'm really happy with it and am seriously considering a case for my iPad too.

There are a few things that I feel could be improved though. Firstly, the case is currently only available in white. That's fine, I was told that was my only option but I can see it getting grubby quickly in my back pocket of my indigo jeans, toddler fingers, general use, and some bright colours or some more exective options would widen up the demographic who might want to use such a case. Secondly, it would be nice if the website could identify if you haven't quite used the frame completely and double check that you'd intended it to be that way before going on to preview; I've ordered two cases and despite me checking carefully I've still ended up with tiny white border on a couple of the tiny images that I just hadn't detected on screen. I know that's my fault but other websites that I've ordered personalised items from in the past have flagged similar issues up. Finally, I'd prefer it if the case flipped up, not down. Maybe I'm being really picky, but there's two reasons for this: Firstly I can't charge my phone without the case being open which I just find a bit niggly (this might well be to stop the phone overheating while charging, I guess, but I have a similar design of case on my iPad and I can charge it shut, but secondly, I find it hurts my hand a little using my phone with the flip in the way, presumably because the case cuts in to the heel of my hand and my thumb is having to stretch a bit more. It's fine for a quick text or a phonecall, but if I'm writing a blog post, or an email, or browsing for longer than a couple of minutes I end up taking the phone out of the case and popping it back in after. It's easy enough to do, but the flip being at the top could solve that. Just personal preference I suppose!

Looking about online I'd say Mr Nutase's prices were pretty competative. Photocases for an iPhone from Photobox (my "go to" place for things like this!) normally retail at full price for £22 compared to £15 at Mr Nutcase while they do offer multi-image designs, they don't offer the flip case design that Mr Nutcase do. They also seem to have a much more comprehensive coverage of lots of different makes and models of devices.

So, overall I love my phone case. I've got eight of my favourite pictures of my beautiful daughters on the case and it's protecting my phone in its entirety for £20, which beats the excess on my insurance in the event of it being dropped. The price is competative and it's completely unique to me, and I feel like I've got a good quality product. Mr Nutcase would make an ideal one stop shop for gifts for family, perhaps if they've recenty become new aunts/uncles/grandparents and the like. Their customer service has been great. I'd give it 9/10 and that's purely because for me, I'd like the flip the other way around but it's not the end of the world that I can't close my case while charging or I have to pop it out for extended use.

And the good news is you can have a Mr Nutcase case for your device too! Use the code "Thanku10" at the checkout to receive 10% off your order. Hurrah! 

Mr Nutcase supplied me with a case for free for the purpose of review, however all words and opinions are my own.