The big 3-0 #5 week 14-18

I have had the busiest month and a half. I honestly don't know where the time has gone, such a cliché but it's true! Here are about a months worth of photos, whoops!

 

Sunday 8th September- a picture at 8pm of me blogging my 8pm photos, bet your mind is blown!

 Monday 9th September- Where I spend the majority of my time

 Tuesday 10th September- Got me a horcrux...

 Wednesday 11th September- faces in strange places

 Thursday 12th September- My eldest drew this when she was 5, it lives on our kitchen wall and it is still my favourite picture she has done.

 Friday 13th September- Dark evenings are drawing in

 Saturday 14th September- Did some colouring with my girls, got a bit hypnotised and put far too much effort into it!

 Sunday 15th September- Got a roast delivery courtesy of my Mum, they're the best kind

 Sunday 16th September- Watching Breaking Bad. It is the best show ever made.

 Tuesday 17th September- Practising my bay parking

 Wednesday 18th September- New cooker

 Thursday 19th September- Classics

 Friday 20th September- Made by my eldest. I love all the random things kids make

 Saturday 21st September- One of my dear friends turned 40 and he had a fancy dress party. I went as Jareth the Goblin King

 Sunday 22nd September- Forgotten Easter eggs being demolished- have to make room for the Christmas confectionery.

 Monday 23rd September- Wish this was sunshine not lampshine

 Tuesday 24th September- Night driving

 Wednesday 25th September- Playstation 2 times, retro gaming!

 Thursday 26th September- Present from my Mum, what a woman.

 Friday 27th September- Plethora of scrumminess

 Saturday 28th September- jealous of my husband's new Heisenberg t-shirt.

 Sunday 29th September- I went to Snapped up market with my eldest today. It's an amazing event that The Printhaus printing company run. They have lots of stalls selling home-made trinkets and clothes etc and they have sections where you can print your own t-shirts, tote bags and tea towels. it is all amazingly priced and my eldest had so much fun there. This is a t-shirt I printed myself the design is by Godmachine. I can't wait for the next one in December. Check out their website http://www.theprinthaus.org/ or find them on facebook and twitter

 Monday 30th September- Booboo Bakes had a stall at Snapped up market and I couldn't resist buying a few to bring home. They are just too scrummy. order yours today at http://booboobakescakes.co.uk/

Tuesday 1st October- because eating all those cupcakes just isn't quite enough sugar!

 Wednesday 2nd October- Bit of paper craft for the evening. There is nothing more satisfying than cutting and ripping these pages its such an awful book!

 Thursday 3rd October- Having my hair done by the wonderful Zoe again in her new salon Soho Hairdressing in Penarth. Go find the salon and book in with her.

 Friday 4th October- Creepy street

 Saturday 5th October- I don't even know where to begin with this delightful couple. Ryan has been in my life for about 10 years and he is just wonderful. I wish I could describe him but he is impossible to describe. he makes me howl with laughter yet I know I can talk to him about anything and everything. He's kind and loyal and he introduced me to my husband so I feel like I am completely indebted to him. The beautiful woman is Jen. Even though I knew Ryan first I don't see Jen as Ryan's wife, she has become one of my closest friends and I'm just in awe of her. She is beautiful and funny and wonderfully weird but she is the smartest person I know. I have seen these two struggle for so many years. Living in shitty flats, eating value beans and stale bread whilst Jen slogged it out for her PHD in neuroscience and Ryan for his hairdressing. They have settled in a beautiful home, both are qualified and happy in their jobs and I'm just so proud of them and everything they have achieved. I don't know what I would do without these two in my life.

 Sunday 6th September- Michael Jackson and tea- the best combination

 Monday 7th October- Dreaming of a sunshine holiday

 Tuesday 8th October- I made rice

 Wednesday 9th October- You know you're a parent when all the plasters in your house have cartoons on them

 Thursday 10th October- Feeling the cold- Soup, pyjamas, slippers and dressing gown all by 8pm

Friday 11th October- I may as well sleep in the kitchen, I'm in there so much!

 Saturday 12th October- Penarth Marina- Looking beautiful with all the reflections in the water.

There we are, all up to date. It's taken about an hour to do this blog, I'm sure it'll take almost as long for you to read it, apologies :)

The big 3-0 #15 - Learn how to cook rice

I don't like to brag but I am a pretty decent cook. I enjoy cooking and baking so if you enjoy something then you do tend to be adequate at it. When I met my husband he had quite a bland pallet and half the stuff I cooked for him he hadn't even heard of let alone eaten before.

I'm not saying I am an excellent cook but I will go as out there as to say my cottage pie is one of the best things I have ever stuffed in my gob!

Yet, I have a nemesis in the kitchen. Rice.

I have no idea what it is but I just cannot seem to cook rice properly, it's my culinary kryptonite!

Whenever I open the cupboard those tiny grains of complex carbohydrates sit in their crinkly plastic homes and mock me.

It just never ever comes out right. I remember once, my sister and I decided to cook a chili and we had three (THREE!) massive saucepans cooking rice because we had measured it wrong and it kept expanding so we had to keep separating it then we kept adding more water, suffice to say there was A LOT of inedible rice thrown into the bin. It haunts me every time I cook some sort of dish that's sidekick is rice.

That's why I am so thankful for microwavable rice (in fact this is pretty much the ONLY thing I use my microwave for)

So as part of my 30 before 30 list I decided to punch rice right in the kisser.

I gingerly picked up the bag and read the instructions, I also looked at several on line guides. 1 part rice, 2 parts water, easy peasy. I was ready.

It didn't start well as, when I picked it up, my butter fingers appeared in full force and I watched the bag fall in slow motion and my hands tried desperately to grab but to no avail then I heard the thud and the bag ripped spewing its contents all over my work top...

And floor!

 I kept reading that you should place rice into a colander/ sieve and run cold water over it until the water runs clear- I had a blonde moment and poured my rice into my drainer that has holes big enough for kidney beans to fall through - hence the sink being full of rice!

 After re-measuring and rinsing I got the rice into the pan, then it was just a waiting game

 

I got a bit concerned by the starchy water overspill but I was told not to remove the lid under any circumstance!

 

 10/15 minutes later I carefully lifted the lid and to my utter surprise I was faced with some fluffy rice!

 Taste test began...

 Smelt good, looked good...

 I ponder and chew...

 And it ain't bad :)

 

Nicki- 1 Rice- 0

My machine and me

This time last year I joined a part time creative writing class. I love writing and write all the time but I had forgotten a lot of technicalities of writing and wanted to refresh.

As the weeks past we were given assignments and one of the assignments we had was to write something autobiographical.

This is a huge step for me. Although I want nothing more than to be a writer I am really nervous of putting my stuff out there. Seeing as this was the hardest assignment throughout the course I thought I would post what I wrote.

So here it is...


Something was wrong. It was the same feeling I had had six months ago. That little beast was gnawing the pit of my stomach again. I hate that feeling. I could tell by the way he was looking at me it was going to be bad news. I was uncomfortable so I kept rubbing my sweaty palms on to my flared jeans. It was then that I noticed that these were the same jeans I had on that fateful day. My mum hated these jeans. They flared out so much that the bottoms had scuffed and ripped and I tripped over the flare all the time. I had adorned them with badges and custom-made rips. They were how I felt, torn and broken. My sister had loved them but she wasn’t here anymore to tell me that she loved them. I felt another rip appear.

 

I glanced briefly at the Doctor again - he was addressing my parents more than me so I just gazed out the window instead. I knew I should be listening but I just couldn’t muster the energy. I felt like nothing could be worse than what it already was. It had been sunny before we got here but now it was grey, like the sun – like me – had just given up. It was poetic really; the sun would have been an inappropriate guest to our gathering of misery.

 

Minutes passed. I could tell because the clock ticks were pounding in my ears. Time had slowed down for months – since the dark day – and it felt that every clock mocked my existence.

 

I was so disconnected to everything around me I hadn’t even noticed my mother wailing next to me. I looked at her for a long time not knowing what do to or if I even cared to ask what had happened to make her a sobbing mess.

 

The doctor was staring at me; I felt my cheeks prickle with heat and sank a little lower in my seat. I was aware he was probably thinking I was just been a stroppy teenager but I just didn’t even know how to exist anymore.

 

“Are there any questions you want to ask me Nicola?”

 

“Um, I’m not sure?” I didn’t even know what he was referring to.

 

“Well, the options are a bit limited with how severe it is but it is your choice with what you want to do” The doctor said with such a monotonous tone these words had been uttered  as many times as he had greeted his wife.

 

My mother’s voice boomed and snapped me out of my haze

 

“Whichever one is going to keep her alive is the one she’ll have!”

 

I’m dying.

 

I caught snippets of words as I felt my chest tighten. Electric pulses, not working, prolonged rhythms, cardiac arrest, pacemaker but nothing made sense. I felt my heart start to hammer against my chest, as if it’s secret that it was broken had been uncovered and he needed to make a quick getaway. My head swirled and I felt a searing pain in my ears, I needed to get out of the room. I needed to throw up, to scream, to smash something, I needed my sister.

 

It transpired that I had the same heart condition that had crawled in like a dirty rat and snatched my sister in her slumber. We had more in common than we thought. I needed surgery and have a machine to help my heart beat properly. I wasn’t even eighteen yet.

 

I became older that day. I felt what was left of my youth flutter away with the wind that churned through my hair. My friends became names I wouldn’t recognise soon. I would always be referred as that girl who’s got the pacemaker. My body didn’t work, I didn’t work. I was broken in so many ways and there was nothing I could do about it.

 

The big 3-0 #5 week 11,12 & 13

The last few weeks have bben a struggle for me in so many ways. My quitting smoking is still going strong and it has only been in the last few days that I'm starting to feel a bit better. I have been pouring all my energy into focusing on that hence the slight abandonment on this blog. Here are the last 3 weeks worth of 8pm photos.

Sunday 18th August- New bathmat

Monday 19th August- Tired eyes. I took my children to Bristol Zoo for the day, was quite an experience looking after two cranky children on a rammed train after a full day out.

Tuesday 20th August- One of my favourite programmes started again - The Great British bake off. I love baking and I just spend the hour salivating at the tv!

Wednesday 21st August- I never get tired of looking at this face

Thursday 22nd August- My husband got me this E.T. scarf, I can't wait for it to get colder now!

Friday 23rd August- Celebrating the wedding of my cousin.

Saturday 24th August- My husband went out for the night, I spent the night with two great loves. If you haven't read this book I strongly suggest you do.

Sunday 25th August- There is a small pizza takeaway from our house and I don't know if its because I have grown up with these pizzas and therefore biased but these are the best pizzas ever!

Monday 26th August- I have quite a few tattoos but this is my favourite one just because of the hilarity of it.

Tuesday 27th August- Our pirate themed bathroom

Wednesday 28th August- Penarth Marina

Thursday 29th August- My hubby and I attacked an all you can eat buffet

Friday 30th August- Whenever he falls or gets stuck i will always say "come along, Henry"

Saturday 31st August- Been reading this to my eldest and it is such a good read. I think I'm enjoying it more than she is!

Sunday 1st September- After a long day trip to Folly Farm I had a nice soak in the tub complete with bubbles and a Bowie duck

Monday 2nd September- Driving with my mum

Tuesday 3rd September- My husband and I being really affectionate and ignoring each other

Wednesday 4th September- Made my dad a cinnamon and raisin loaf cake for his 61st birthday. It was bangarang!

Thursday 5th September- Planet earth - you take my breath away

 

Friday 6th September- The nip in the air has come back, time for the slippers

 

My youngest daughters hand and foot prints, she'll be three next month. Kids grow too quick. 

I really have to get cracking on all the other things that are on the list.