Saturday 25 July 2009

Bad Kitty

I had visions of making lots of bits...jewellery bits from Fimo.  Alas, Junior has other ideas and is currently designing AND making her own collection:o)  She has, of course, commandered all bits of Fimo in the house!!  lol  All moulding and cutting implements are courtesy of my redundant sugar craft equipment:o)

I shall just have to resort to making blinds for the garden room....a long delayed project because of arthriticky joints.    It tends to piss you off when you can't thread a needle, let alone put needle in desired spot!!   And, I have so wanted of late to stick a needle in certain places!! 

Meanwhile, Mr 'laid back' Ringo is SO in the bad books.    Came back with bird (feathered type)  firmly clamped in jaws.  Ack!!  This is the second in a week, so he's under house arrest for a while...until baby birdies are definitely out of the nests.  They would have to live in our hedges, wouldn't they!!  First one was a wren, this one was a black bird.  I so hate mogs for this.  
Bad Ringo.  Note.  Hideous curtains have been removed.  This is the bedroom where wallpaper 'self peeled'.  lol

Son No 2 doesn't want us to stay here. Wants us to be nearer to him and his family. Me thinks he's being protective in part. All this arthriticky stuff worries him as it is just not 'Mum'. Aaaahhh:o) He's a good lad. Tough nut, soft centre sorta guy. Let down at school, perceived as a trouble maker.  There was a time when friends always came first. Not surprising since his birth family let him down and he ended up in care. He lost trust in adults close to him. Now that he has a family of his own he gets the family bond thing and doesn't blame me for his crap start in life.   It was never a piece of cake, this adoption stuff.  Amazing what love can do, though:o))  He'd do anything for his child.


We made a lovely chilli veggie stew the other day.  Served with pestoed pasta.  Sounds vile, I know, but it was actually very nice.  This I managed to photograph before we scoffed it:o)

Junior is a big fan of pesto sauce.  Pasta with pesto is her fave meal.  We're growing lots of herbs, basil being one and shall endeavour to make our own sauce asap.   Wonder how long it keeps in the fridge?

We've been putting up posters and piccies. Home ed and art stuff. They've been rolled up for ages since the move and so were resistant to change! lol We got them up in the end...thanks to two rolls of sellotape! lol  She actually showed an interest in the Periodic Table today.   Memorised a couple of symbols.  No pushing there:o)

Have to go.  Baking Fimo time!  

Thursday 23 July 2009

Rant

Sorry about this.

I absolutely and totally hate politics.  Yuk.  There seem to be too many bullying slime balls in office who have, unfortunately, managed to climb up the ladder of power!!  Some seem to have acquired selective hearing when it comes to what people want.  Worse still, people have become apathetic about it. 

More about the Badman stuff.   Read  this.

Poor bloke is feeling a tad picked on.   Bless   Might be because of this

Suppose that's what you get for producing a shoddy piece of work, the contents of which tars our home edding community quite badly.. like we're child abusers.  A set up.  "Write a report but it must include tosh like this, this and this, blah, blah.   Autonomous home education, particularly, is under threat and we're boiling mad about the slurs and untruths and dodgy figures.   Home edders are fighting back.  Sick of all the lies and sick of all the bullying from the overbearing and controlling powers that be. 

Home edding isn't a doddle.  There is no financial help for one thing but I'd rather have a happy home edded child  than the miserable, incontenent schooled one who barely ate or slept.  I know people who send their kids to school.   That's their choice.  Everyone is different and if it works for them and suits their philosophy then all well and good.  As a parent you do what's best for your kids.and home edding is right for us.  It is legal but I find that lots of people are unaware that it's a valid choice.   Then there's the overbearing LEAs that some home edders have to deal with...

Anyway, people should be made aware of what dodgy tactics and spin are being used against our community and how our enquiries.... as to where they get their figures from, have been and are being fobbed off by the DCSF and the like.  It is all very dodgy and, quite frankly, it stinks!!! 

If we lose this freedom, then others will go too and so not just home edders will be affected.  

This, this and this   Home edders who are decent people doing their best to sort these bad guys out.  


     




    Tuesday 21 July 2009

    Well I Never

    I am lucky enough to have won a giveaway:o)

    Yippee!!

    From here, which is our favourite craft blog:o))

    My luck has been down of late, so this is a lovely boost.

    Thank you to Tracy:o) x

    Monday 20 July 2009

    Bug Soup

    Still on our 'don't buy anything midweek' adventure.  I'm trying to get out of the having a 'full fridge' mentality.  We always end up chucking stuff out, which is not good.   Makes sense to just buy what you need.  I, unfortunately, have inherited my Mother's 'WW2, food is scarce so hoard it' food addiction, which means we have to have LOADS in!!..which always ends up being chucked out.   I'm doing my best to get shut of this mentality.  lol   I would love to get into canning and preserving.  Much more sensible.  Don't know if I have the nerve to do it, though.   

    Yesterday, decided to make soup, seeing as the weather was turning cold (blooming great big, whopping rainstorm arrived and soaked my washing!!)  Why do they always know when I'm doing the laundry?  Arghhh.  My dad always used to ask me not to wash clothes when I lived at home.  Said it was a dead cert for it to precipitate it down!  lol  Oh, wise one:o)  lol

    I've been looking at this butternut squash for ages.  Been on the counter top in the kitchen for so long that I thought it might expire and 'puff' up to heaven on its own.  Mother bought it as a 'gift'.    They are very nice, I am told.  Best use it me thinks.  So, roasted butternut squash with olive oil, onions, garlic, herbs, ginger, lots of pepper and veg broth and voila...lovely soup and loads of it.  Whizzed up in blender till smooth.  Mmmmmm.  Looking forward to this with some nice bread:o)

    Then, visitors arrive:o)  Big bro and Bro in law, bringing with them supplies in  the form of Hoover (ours has blown up, lol) and Harry Potter type trunk...for storage of craft materials.  'Tis lovely:o)  The mogs (always eager to explore) made themselves at home and had to be booted out, sadly, to make way for my stash.  Can't get over the size of this trunk.  It's ginormous!!  Could hold a body!!   Trunk is on loan, but I have other ideas...lol   Well, Bro in law announces that they are starving!!.....so I dishes out the soup, which was a hit, so that's another recipe to my fledgling vegan repertoire:o)   It was nice, have to say.

    Hoover is required because we found 'wildlife' in the carpets!!  Eeeek!!  Carpets have now been oiked out.  Have found all sorts of creatures in the house that I don't want to share my space with ....so they are on their way to being 'evicted'..hence request for working, powerful hoover.

    This is an old house...very old..and damp..so we inevitably have beasties about.  The carpets and floor coverings are ancient!!  Eeeeew!   One night Junior and I were in her bedroom relaxing and hears this ripping sound.  I just think that the little darling has passed wind:o)  Alas, 'tis not so.  Looks up and sees that some of the wallpaper behind us has decided to strip itself from the walls.  Underneath is one big yucky damp patch.  Well, we being brave and all that, starts to jump up and down like a right pair of wusses!...certain that there are creatures behind the wallpaper, too.  Turns out to be true.  Arghhh.  So, Operation Deep Clean in underway.  We mean business so all the rooms upstairs have been vacated!!  lol   The mogs are doing a sterling job of munching woodlice and intercepting rogue beetles and silverfish.  Protein and all that:o) (they've been Drontaled)   Have to do all the house.  'Tis hard work. 

    So, here we are, downstairs..with mogs and Cilla.....watching Junior's Chrissy pressie (Charmed dvd's) with duvet tightly wrapped round necks,  planning our next attack!!  lol

    Yesterday, was looking out of the garden room and I spotted a dragonfly, whizzing around the garden, as they do.  Beautiful thing it was, one of the amber coloured ones.  It makes a change from the usual population of winged creatures that we get around here!!   Didn't have camera to hand:o(  Calls Junior in to watch and there we are 'ooing and aahing' when, out of the blue,  swooped this little bird.  Little bird obviously had lunch on its mind and caught the creature in one swoop.   First time I've witnessed anything like that.    So, Ringo is on Team Dragonfly....came home later on in the morning with a feathered friend firmly clamped in his jaws.  Arghhh!

    On the crafting front, we're going to have a go at some fimo jewellery.  Been wanting to try this for ages...and hand made beads...now that I've found my beading tools!  yay.  Anyway, Christmas ain't that far off!!  lol 
     
    Olive taking Pole position on the Harry Potter trunk!

    Bart and Henry VIII with that 'dodgy' look. lol

    THE trunk!!!

    Junior's gratuitous arty farty pic


    Thursday 16 July 2009

    Time to worry about parents

    I've been very preoccupied with my mum at the mo.  She's knocking on a bit.... she never expected to get to 80...nor did we 'kids'.

    She's a tough, old bird (I mean this in the nicest way, of course).  She's had such a hard life, not uncommon with folk who have lived through Stalin and WW2 and all the crap that left.  So, she says it as it is nowadays.  She can be blunt, bossy, aggressive, etc but it's only because she's had to be, to survive.  She says what she has to say, then it's gone.  Back to normal for her.  She just thinks if she tells it how it is, ie; truth in her eyes, then everything is ok.   She doesn't 'get' the aftermath.  lol

    So, she had a 50+ year marriage.  Nursed my dad most of the time and went out to work to support us all when we were little, because he couldn't.  No benefits or handouts in those days.  A hard life, indeed.   I remember having no toys and being hungry on occasion, but you don't get why when you're a kid, do you? 

    Anyway, one thing that she's good at is nursing.....caring.  She'll be there at the drop of a hat if anyone needs help.  Always been like that.   We once fell out quite spectacularly, 'cos of aforementioned bossiness.  I became seriously ill and she was there within half an hour of the 'help' telephone call from my kids.

    After Dad died we kept her busy with things and she was ok.  Eventually, she met people, friends, etc and started getting 'out and about'.  She met someone.  Nice.  They love one another, although she will never admit her feelings in such a direct way, but you can see it.  They got on very well, most of the time.!!   Both independent.   So well that they promised to be there for one another if need be, if one of them became ill.  My mother keeps promises:o)  She and her friend made plans for a life together.  They wanted a stab at happiness second time around:o)

    But, other person has, apparently, got dementia.  Had a panic attack and got oiked into hospital.  Been taken over by social services and locked up in a hell hole aka care home.  Mum can't see this person anymore, because when she first went to visit she was so appalled by what she found...and she let them know about it.  They reckon she's making up this relationship that she has with her friend...  Been barred because she won't conform to their rules and stays true to her promise to her friend.  Daring to criticise procedures.  They have been split up.  She can't see this friend without an army of 'observers' around them,  to inaccurately record their conversation, so they can't have a normal, private meeting.  This is not good.  It's not right.  It's a breach of Human Rights.   If her friend becomes upset, for whatever reason, then mother will be blamed and barred from visiting, even though friend wants her there, wants to be with her, go places with her.  Breach of HR.  Abuse.

    I've gone apeshit, of course!!  How dare they treat an elderly person with such disrespect?   And what about the 'friend', who is so lovely? 

    The origin of all this aggro is a personality clash with certain so-called professionals, who ought to know better but, it seems, have twisted things to make out mother is 'unsuitable'.  They want to prove a point that they have 'power'.  

    She cries every day.  Sometimes, she cannot be consoled.  She feels lost, desolate.  Bereaved again. It's horrible to witness.  I can't make it better.  Why are some people in social services and the care sector such power crazy bastards?........  Because they can and do get away with it.    Abuse is everywhere!!..  some just hide behind the SS 'badge'.  They need monitoring, totally.

    I hope the people who are responsible for splitting up this lovely relationship go to hell for eternity.   Bastards indeed. But, what goes around, comes around!!


    Saturday 11 July 2009

    Pasta and Waddling

    Our test frugal/use what you have/don't buy anything this week week has seen us making some right concoctions in the food department.  Also, been going through clothes that don't fit Junior anymore and these have been cut and stored, ready to be used as rags/dishcloths, etc.  And we've been busy turfing out old carpets so floorboards can be cleaned and painted a nice fresh colour.  Bathroom carpet might go, too.  Lino's much better.  We have, at present, a carpeted bath panel!!  lol  I hate this sort of thing..the turfing out of old floor coverings.  It always generates so much dirt and crap and we seem to be endlessly hoovering!!   The poor little machine cowers away there, in the corner with a look that says ' No more...please!!'.  lol  Anyway, all this extra diy will have to wait for a while as Junior has a cold.  She's all 'Vick and tissues' at the mo.  

    Son no 2 had flu a few weeks back but is now feeling better.  He was tested for swine flu but he didn't have it, thankfully and is now back at work.  

    Here, we're cooking from scratch mostly and one recipe we chucked together was a veggy pasta dish.

    Put pasta on to cook.   We used the twists, which are probably the wrong sort, but it's what we had in.

    Saute an onion and some chopped garlic in olive oil for a couple of mins.  Add sliced mushrooms and a sliced courgette.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add tablespoon of tomato puree and a couple tablespoons of the pasta water.  Stir.  Season.  I added basil, salt and pepper.  Then, while cooked pasta is draining, add a tablespoon or two of cream cheese to the veg sauce and stir in thoroughly.  Mix it into the pasta and there you are!   You could, I suppose, blitz the mixture so it's smoother.

    Sadly, we have no piccies as we scoffed the lot before we thought of that.  lol

    When I was younger and times 'was really hard', Mother used to cook pasta and stir in cream cheese into the pasta and that was your meal.  No money in those days for extra veg and the luxury of a 'sauce':o(  Sometimes it was pasta for pud, too.  Basic pasta, knob of butter stirred in and sugar sprinkled on top.  Mother used to rave about compote.  Boiled fruit.  I used to HATE it.  Eughhh. And she'd just try to get it down our necks, saying 'Das is goot for you', but mouths stayed firmly shut.  lol

    Back to Min & Junior's kitchen, sometimes we have pasta and a basic tomato and onion sauce and herbs (I pestle and mortar black peppercorns and fennel seeds and add a pinch of that).  Put grated cheese into the bottom of a bowl, add a bit of pasta, then sauce, then cheese.  Layer it up as far as it'll go without tipping over the bowl.  Junior's favourite cheese for this is mozzarella as she likes the stringy chewiness.  

    It's the cheese that lets me down on the being totally vegan front.  Junior likes to try different foods, so she's still an omni at heart. (garlic sausage kid).

    Must go and do some waddling (exercising of joints and which is a sight to behold!!).  If I sit for half an hour or so it feels like concrete has settled in.  lol    'Tis worse in the morning.  I'm really peed off with the having to take painkillers....makes me tired but I wouldn't get anything done otherwise.  Can't win. 


    Monday 6 July 2009

    Birthday Girl

    Was a certain Miss Honeypot Schooler's first birthday:o)  

    Junior absolutely dotes on this cat.  She's so well trained, you could enter her in for Crufts.

    So, Junior presented her with a lovely hand made card and the mog even got some beef as a birthday treat.  as did the others of course!  No birthday cake, 'cos they'll only chuck it up!   (There's nothing worse than cat puke)  Banners all over the place Happy Birthdaying the mog and she even found some party hats, which the mogs did their best to kill.  Olive was playing a twanging game with the elastic!  She likes to chew on weird stuff.   Funny little animal, but she is quite potty:o)  In a nice way, of course.  She's getting quite good at the Great Escape.  When we open the garden room door to the back garden, off she goes, with Junior in hot pursuit!!

    This week, Junior is in charge of the household finances.  Eeeek!  She knows things are so very expensive and I wish I could buy her extras.  You know, the nice, girly things.  Even go on holiday.  Have a little car:o)   Public transport is so expensive.  Sometimes it's cheaper to get a taxi.    So, we're looking at menu planning (again), trying to get into the habit of not buying ANYTHING midweek and thus  'making do',  etc.  The aim is to spend only what we need to, thus save a bit, live simply.  I get really fed up with the cost of living.  It's all taxes, taxes...red tape, being told how to parent (Balls & Co).   Ack!  When my joints get back to normal, maybe I'll be able to get the business back on track and make enough money to emigrate to a home ed, single parent friendly land!  Mother keeps egging me on to find an old, rich sugar daddy!  But, money doesn't do it for me..only love:o) 

    Anyway, been looking at adopting a couple of rescue hens.  We have the space and accommodation now, just need to make it predator safe.  There's loads of folk have them around here and it's nice to hear them during daylight hours...even the cockerels who can't quite manage to cockadoodledoo:o)  Bless

     

    Popeye and Olive.They were grooming one another (rare moment) and stopped when the flash went.

    Laid back Mr Ringo, waiting for the party to start:o)

    Ditto Popeye:o)


    Junior's hand made card. Quite cool
    The Birthday Girl, not looking too happy. She just wanted to eat the hat!! lol


    Friday 3 July 2009

    Home Made

    Junior has decided that she'd quite like to make her own beauty products....like lip balm, cleansers and..... eyeshadows!!  So, the research is in progress and we might have something made soon.  We need beeswax for the lip balm and have approached a beekeeper in the area for supplies, which should be here soon.  Yay. 

    We want to make bathsalts, etc but finding a cheap enough source for the ingredients is proving difficult, especially if you don't want to pay by plastic!  Junior is thinking ahead....Crimble pressies....hand made with love:o)  I'm just thinking in the 'soothe my aching joints' department.  lol

    We've been unpacking our books at last and this has taken an age.  Mainly because we had forgotten how nice some of them are...and useful and have been looking through them before they hit the bookshelves:o)  We have a great cake decorating one.  Some of the examples in it are very on trend.  So Junior would like to try sugar crafting.  In a previous life I went to night school for this so have all the 'tools'.  It's just that I've forgotten some of the techniques.  lol  Still,  we'll have a go. 

    We've been cooking from scratch.  Made mini goats cheese tarts the other day.  Junior's first attempt at making shortcrust pastry:o)   Some had spinach and tomato added, the others with roasted red pepper.  The latter was the tastiest.  Pity we got waylaid (reading the books!) and ended up with overbaked but very nice and crumbly pastry.  Was a bit dry or maybe we were too mean with our fillings? lol   Beetroot salad with onion relish accompanied.   

    We throw away too much food, so I'm trying to use everything up nowadays.    

    Home made ice cream is next on the list of 'to have a got at'.  Yum

    Yet more gratuitous piccies:o))
    Sons 1 and 2 hijacking their sister's game!!!


    A certain Mr Ringo keeping a beady eye on his charge and ensuring that Junior does her work!!!

    Cilla...enjoying the tranquility of her new garden. She looks so peaceful:o)

    Henry VIII - caught in the act!!!

    Ringo, when he was younger. Asleep in the fruit bowl!!!

    Wednesday 1 July 2009