Spring must be on the way!

The signs are all around, you just have to look! 

The bulbs are starting to come up, the central heating is only on for 12 instead of 24 hours a day, hot cross buns are in the shops, AND MY HUBBY HAS DECIDED TO CLEAN OUT THE LOFT!

.....I would just like to add one thing. 

The whole point of having a loft is so that you don't have to clear out the rest of your house.

Really Useful Website

I found this really interesting website earlier, it's a guy who claims to be able to answer any obscure question that you have...

http://www.needananswer.co.uk/ask.html

Check out some of the pending questions on the right hand side.

Go on, give it a try!!!

Hee hee!!!!

Family Guy

Does anyone else outwardly hate Family Guy but secretly snigger when being made to watch it?

(I've even started humming the damn theme tune!)

Wibble

Ben is currently only doing mornings at school (getting over Glandular Fever), Deacon is off for nine days and Josh and Holly have viruses. Taking this all into account I still managed to stay in bed until gone 11 today...! This isn’t something to be proud of; I just couldn’t drag myself up. Trying to surround myself with constructive positive actions at the mo but have realised that it is still something that I need to work at. ...Slowly slowly catchy monkey.


Afternoon a lot more constructive, played card games with Ben and was surprised at how quick he is to learn, memorise etc...He beat me hands down at Alphabet Soup!! (I am bursting with pride when it comes to my kids no matter how trivial the activity).

Wishing that spring would hurry up and come already!!!!

Recipe of the week - Lovely Lentils (suitable for babies from 6 months old)

This used to be Ben's favourite, will be trying it on the twins as soon as they hit 6 months!

Adding lentils to a baby puree provides a good source of protein and beta-carotene and also folate, fibre and vitamin C. Orange-fleshed sweet potato is an excellent source of beta-carotene and this recipe makes a sweet, soft, smooth puree that appeals to young babies.

Ingredients
30g (1oz) butter
125g (4oz) leeks, finely sliced
30g (1oz) celery, chopped
30g (1oz) red pepper, cored, de-seeded and chopped
60g (2oz) red lentils
100g (4oz) 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
250g sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
15 fl oz vegetable stock or water

Method:
Melt the butter in a saucepan and saute the leeks for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the celery, red pepper and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Add the lentils, saute for one minute, then add the sweet potato and bay leaf and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables and lentils are tender. Remove the bay leaf and blend to a puree.

Information:
MAKES 6 PORTIONS

If you add more stock you can turn this into a lentil soup for the rest of the family.


This is an Annabel Karmel recipe,  http://www.annabelkarmel.com/

Good God

When did Saturday night telly become so dire?  Just switched over to ITV to see a programme called 'Take Me Out' - I say bring back Blind Date.  Right, I'm off to find a good book. (I would just like to add that is it a man thing that men don't like women reading...? I can hardly get to the end of the page without being interrupted about 10 times..) Anyway, back to finding the book. TTFN xx

Question: Why do the British like their tea so much?

Answer: Because it's made properly!

I love tea, in fact, I claim to not be able to operate (no I am not a surgeon) until I have had at least 2 cups in the morning. 

Tea is comforting, warm, relaxing.  If any of my friends are in need I usually put a cup of tea in front of them. (The exception here is when wine is called for!) 

Tea is an enabler, it encourages us to communicate. 

For me, you don't get that from Coffee, coffee is an on the go kind of a drink, one that creates a buzz so much so that you can't really hear what the other person is saying!

So, if you don't think that you like tea, come on over and like a true Brit, I will make you a brew properly. 

If you're lucky, I might even have one of my cakes on the go too!

A Few Tea Facts:

• Tea breaks are a tradition that have been with us for approximately 200 years.


• 80% of office workers now claim they find out more about what's going on at work over a cup of tea than in any other way.

• By the middle of the 18th Century tea had replaced ale and gin as the drink of the masses and had become Britain's most popular beverage.

• Tea contains half the amount of caffeine found in coffee.

• The number of recommended cups of tea to drink each day is 4, this gives you optimal benefit.

• Tea was created more than 5000 years ago in China.

• Tea is a natural source of fluoride that can help protect against tooth decay and gum disease

• The first book about tea was written by Lu Yu in 800 A.D

• Tea firstly appeared in Europe thanks to Portuguese Jesuit Father Jasper de Cruz in 1560.

• Tea has potential health maintenance benefits in cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention.

• 96% of all cups of tea drunk daily in the UK are brewed from tea bags.

• Apart from tourism, tea is the biggest industrial activity in India.

• 98% of people take their tea with milk, but only 30% take sugar in tea.

Interesting article about tea:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A61345

Grrrr...

Feeling a bit tired and worn out this week. I am totally bemused as to how some people manage to keep their houses so immaculate. I can only assume that they store their kids, animals and husbands in the shed whilst they walk around with dusters on their feet. I think that cleaning is a bit like the painting of the golden gate bridge, a never ending job. If only I could get to the tipping point between clean and dirty that would be a start!


Right, on that note, I am off to tackle the other bane of my existence, the laundry...toodlepip!

Disney Pixar's UP

Deacon Ben and I settled down to watch 'UP' last night, have to say that it's the best Pixar film so far, a wee bit sad, but heart warming at the same time, I love the little wilderness scout Russell, he deserves a film all of his own.  If you haven't seen it, go rent it, it'll be worth it!

Don't Forget....Shrove Tuesday tomorrow!

It's Shrove Tuesday tomorrow, pancakes all around in the Davis household!!!  Yummy!  Still deciding what to give up for lent...

Recipe of the week - Delia's Yokshire Puds

This one's for you Kat... The only Yorkshire Puds worth serving!

Delia Website - Yorkshire Puddings

Personally, I use a Yorshire Pudding tin and vegetable oil instead of beef dripping, works just as well!

When did I become so clumsy???

I don't know what the matter is with me lately, I have always been accident prone, but it seems that since I have become aware of it, my clumsiness has got worse. Only yesterday I feel over by tripping up on my trousers!!! When I was pregnant with Ben, I fell over no less than 5 TIMES, I fell up the stairs, I fell down the stairs, I fell over on a slippery floor (where's theirs blame there's a claim.), you get the drift. When thinking about it, this is not a new occurrence. When Deacon and I got engaged we were given some beautiful crystal glasses....8 of them, I broke, yes 8! I even got myself some plastic glasses because I broke so many, I even broke them. I am a Mr Man book, it's quite scary!

Any advice to being less clutzy would be gratefully received, in the meantime, if you want something to remain in one piece, don't give it to me...I may even ask my husband to start putting things out of my reach...ha ha, imagine the fun that I would have trying to get them down!

Did you know?

That a google is a number?  It is 1 followed  by 100 0's. 

There is also a number called a Grahame...!

Yep, I've been watching Horizon this week, fascinating!

Am quite confused now though.....

Joke

What's green and round and goes up and down all day?





......A pea stuck in a lift!

Slowly getting back to normal, and then...

Finally got Ben to eat something today, even if it was only have a bowl of cheerio's and two frubes!  He went back to the Doc's today as although he seemed a little better in himself he now has a rash!  Todays diagnosis is...Glandular Fever! Something that Deacon and I had thought that it might be.  Now on new antiboitics, as he rash may have been caused by the previous AB's and no 'rough play' for a month... No bouncy place for Ben then. 

Holly and Josh are coming along nicely with their new tastes of food!  Josh loves his food (especially messy carrot), Holly still not sure about the whole opening the mouth thing, she's pulling some great faces!  She's obviously holding out until she is old enough for chocolate!!!

Update on Puddytat - Nearly back to normal, can get down the stairs now as well as up!

Settling down now with a large glass of wine and a bar of green and blacks (just a wee little fall of the diet wagon... hee hee).

xxx

Why are we so obsessed with Vampires? Discuss.

With over 2000 vampire movies in existence, An ‘I am obsessed with Vampires’ Forum and a recent Vampire book (Twilight by Stephanie Meyer) that spent over 143 weeks on the New York Times best seller list, you’ve got to ask yourself, WHY THE HELL ARE WE SO OBSESSED WITH VAMPIRES???

There is no denying it; I am as obsessed as the next person!

For me it started when I was given the ladybird book of Dracula as a child. The story scared me so much that I used to turn the spine the wrong way around in my book shelf! What can I say, it was a scary spine! My obsession was reignited in my teenage years with the release of the movie Lost Boys (something to do with all those sexy young bad boy vampires...)

I even gave my husband a Bram stoker’s Dracula Video as a first Valentine gift. As a result, we have spent the last 16 years watching horror movies (including vampire movies) every anniversary. – It helps that we got married a week after Halloween!!!)

Vampires to me symbolise romance, glamour, love and sex appeal.

Vampires are escapism at its very best! Take into account just how depressing the global recession has been over the last 12 months, is it any wonder that we are turning to world of the vampire for a bit of light relief? This is made all the more appealing by the vampires’ lifestyle....for example a vampire doesn’t have to go to the gym, they don’t get sick...and for the majority they look amazing! Why the heck would we not be attracted to their lifestyle....?

So we all love vampires....Buffy, Twilight, Bram stoker’s, Lost Boys, Count Duckula, Sesame Street, Underworld, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Being Human, Van Helsing, Blade, From Dusk till Dawn, Interview with a Vampire to name but a few.

The current depiction is alluring.

It’s a far cry from the first vampire movie: Nosferatu (1922) a silent German classic that is the original and some say scariest Dracula adaptation ever made.

Nosferatu conveys the darker side of vampires. Take away the glamour and you have a supernatural spin chilling killer, a walking corpse who cannot die. The obsession with this element of the vampire is thankfully less common. At least I think it is!!! However there have still been reports of humans who had role played as vampires to carryout murders in Florida. (oo-er!) To some vampires present an alternate existence, away from the monotony of ‘Being Human’ (excuse the pun).

Interesting Fact:

To date, it has been reported that of all those interviewed who believe that they are vampires; none admitted that are (unfortunately) immortal and most apologised for not being dead! – Now if they were then that would be intriguing!!!!!

So whether it's Buffy, Twilight or True Blood, let me have your comments on the subject...VAMPIRES, ARE WE OBSESSED?

A couple of interesting links for you:

Article about Vampire Obsession

Wikipedia - Vlad the Impaler

Swine Flu - Update

So, as it would have it we did escape Swine Flu. Deacon called the out of hours GP last night because Ben’s temperature was on the increase again. Turns out that Ben has severe tonsillitis and is now on the highest dose of antibiotics known to man. This upset me rather, as having without reflection diagnosed swine flu (online) and started Ben on a course of Tamiflu. I told Deacon that he doesn’t need to see a doctor because he has flu symptoms and they advise patients to stay at home and away from the GP. Had Deacon not put his foot down and called the GP, Ben would most likely be getting worse today.


The whole situation has brought into question my judgement which is usually about as commonsensical as it can get. The guilty mother syndrome set in and I started beating myself up for my poor assessment. However I hastily stopped me bashing and recalled that I was only following well documented advice. I guess that the lesson learned here is to heed your own advice and instincts and to remember that the Government and Authorities are only giving you another opinion. At the end of the day, they are not the super humans we all seem to take them for. They can make just as many mistakes as the next man (and generally do!).

Recipe of the week - Dorset Apple Cake

Deelish served with Clotted Cream (a must!)

Ingredients
225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
450g Bramley apples
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
225g caster sugar, plus extra for dredging
3 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
25g ground almonds
1tsp ground cinammon
1 tbsp demerara sugar

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease a deep 23-24cm springform cake tin and line with baking paper. Peel, core and cut the apples into 1cm pieces, and toss with the lemon juice.

2. Using an electric hand whisk, cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth.

3. Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl and fold in with the ground almonds and cinammon. Drain the apple pieces well, then stir into the mixture.

4. Spoon into the prepared cake tin, lightly level the top and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well-risen, brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake starts to look a little too brown, cover with a sheet of baking paper after about 45 minutes.

5. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Dredge heavily with the extra caster sugar. Cut the cake into generous wedges and serve warm with a spoonful of clotted cream, if you like.

Does anyone actually know what SPAM stands for?

As in Unsolicited Email?  And if it doesn't stand for anything, why is it called SPAM?

Swine Flu or just plan old Flu?

Apart from Deacon's bog standard run of the mill flu earlier this winter, I thought that we had escaped swine flu in the Davis Household; however Ben seems to have been struck with the most hideous flu known to man. He has a temperature, glands the size of golf balls, no appetite (even said no to curry!) and sounds like he has landed from the planet snot. Had this occurred round about July/August time when the press was at its swine flu scaremongering worst...You know who you are (Daily Mail...).. I think that I would have ran out onto the streets screaming 'unclean' before reaching for the red paint! However, now it is here I can only continue to dose him up on Calpol and give him a huge amount of mum tlc. I did get a prescription for Tamiflu and have started him on the course (and no, his head has not fallen off), although to be honest I have no idea whether it is or it isn't, all I can hope for is that he feels better soon. xxx

Saturday!

It's Saturday again.  Saturdays rule in my house!  No getting up ridiculously early to take Ben to school, just leisurely feeding the twins before going downstairs for breakfast, tea and cartoons.

The hierarchy of the school playground

I hate picking my son up from school. Actually I’ll rephrase that, I hate waiting in the playground to pick my son up from school. It’s one of those places that makes you feel inferior no matter how confident you are.

Waiting, smiling, cowering, talking, not talking, talking too loudly and hoping that someone is listening...

I try to stay out of the playground politic but get drawn in, for fear of condemnation.

Deacon's new pets (God forbid if they get out, there'll be hell to pay)

The Madagascar hissing cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), also known as the hissing roach or simply hisser, is one of the largest species of cockroach, reaching 2–3 inches at maturity. They are from the island of Madagascar off the African coast, where they can be found in rotting logs.
Unlike most cockroaches, they are wingless. They are excellent climbers and can scale smooth glass. Males can be distinguished from females by their thicker, hairier antennae and the pronounced "horns" on the pronotum. Females carry the ootheca (egg case) internally, and release the young nymphs only after the eggs have hatched. As in some other wood roaches, the parents and offspring will commonly remain in close physical contact for extended periods of time. In captivity, these insects can live 5 years. They feed primarily on vegetable material.

The hisser has featured in Hollywood movies, prominently in Bug (1975) as roaches who could set fires by rubbing their legs together, and in Damnation Alley (1977) as post-nuclear-war mutant armor-plated "killer" cockroaches. In Starship Troopers, a movie about a war against an enemy called "The Bugs," a teacher is shown encouraging her students to step on this species as part of a TV propaganda broadcast.

A Madagascar hissing cockroach has been used as the driver of a mobile robot.[2] They have been encrusted with Swarovski crystals and used as necklaces and brooches. They were used in the reality television series Fear Factor. The species also made an appearance in the movie Men In Black in 1997. This was later parodied in the comedy Team America: World Police (2004), where a Madagascar hissing cockroach emerges from Kim Jong-il's body after his death, enters a tiny spaceship, and flies away.

Popular Culture
In September 2006, amusement park Six Flags Great America announced it would be granting unlimited line-jumping privileges for all rides to anyone who could eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach as part of a Halloween-themed FrightFest. Furthermore, if a contestant managed to beat the previous world record (eating 36 cockroaches in 1 minute), he would receive season passes for four people during the 2007 season. This is a difficult record to break because raw cockroaches contain a mild neurotoxin that numbs the mouth and makes it difficult to swallow[citation needed]. The promotion ended on October 29, 2006.

The roaches were used in a runway challenge for the sixth cycle of America's Next Top Model.
(taken from Wiki)

Found this interesting, thought I would share:

http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2010/02/judge-multiple-levels/

Animals

Sad day today, our wee puddy-tat had to have her leg amputated after being hit by a car, the thing is, this is the third time that one of our animals has been in an RTA and the second time that one has had to have its leg removed. (Unfortunately one of our animals didn't survive its encounter with a car)... It's not even as if we live on a busy road.

So we now own a three legged dog and a three legged cat... The moral to this story?

Don't come and live with the Davis's if you are of the four legged variety!
(on a more serious note, don't underestimate just how dangerous cars can be...)

Updated Piccies

Ben, News Years Eve 2009

Holly (4 months) - Christmas 2009

Josh (4 months) - Christmas 2009

In pursuit of the domestic goddess

Long time no blog....

It's been a long time, things have moved on, I see this as a bit of a reminder to myself of what I get up to, an online diary to all the nomads out there who want to read about my little life.

So, how would I describe myself now...? If I am asked what I do for a living, I struggle, housewife? homemaker? Mum? Wife? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! Thanks to the likes of Nigella Lawson and Kirsty Allsopp, I think that I must be a trainee domestic goddess! (trainee because one can never reach perfection!) My love is of family, friends and all things simple. Ideally my world would be a small holdings, with all that goes with it. Unfortunately trying to live the good life in a 1930's semi does have it's restrictions!

This is my record of me. The highs and lows and all that goes in between. xxx