A month to the day... Now where did that go?!

As the title suggests, a whole month has passed since I last managed to blog... OMG, where did that time go?!  It's amazing how quick time flies once you age & have children, it is always one thing after another & with every good intention to prioritise your time to fit everything in something always goes wrong or gets in the way!


What takes up all my time you may wonder???  Well it's like this I have 3 children & they require care, as do my pets, husband & adopted daughter... there's washing, cooking, cleaning, errands, grocery shopping, bathing, school runs, tidying etc, etc, etc.  Now if everything ran to plan, things would get done quickly & easily but children are not robots & do not always do as they are told or as they are asked & sometimes just plain ignore you so time is wasted repeating yourself over & over trying to get through to them.  As the saying goes 'A woman's work is never done' not a truer word is spoken as there is always something to hold you back or get in the way of progressing through the day!


Still, enough said... I wouldn't change it for the world, I love my children & they make me so very proud.  Only last week was parents evening & to say I am proud of my 10yr old high-functioning autistic son is an understatement - he is amazing at school & has had the best report ever, in the past year his reading has excelled & his maths is off the scale he is astounding them all with his knowledge which makes me all warm n fuzzy inside as only a few years ago we were so concerned when he refused point blank to write anything down & would hide under tables in class, not join in with others etc, etc - As a treat for this he is coming with me to the cinema to watch Twilight Breaking Dawn pt1 after school today & I can't wait =)


It's hard to believe but Christmas is only just over a month away too... I don't feel that Christmasy yet, although I am sure that will soon change in a couple of weeks & the tree is up with the twinkly lights.  My shopping is almost complete & better still I have started wrapping & apart from the children's presents everything is wrapped & labelled already!  I don't have a clue what to get Duncan & although he tells me not to worry about presents for him, I do like to get a few from the children & me as I feel it is still important to show that he is just as an important part of the family as the children are!


I have a few subjects that I want to blog about, but weather I will get the time or not is another question... Why can't Blogger create an app for the iPod touch/iPhone/iPad (or Android/Blackberry)???  If there was such an app, I could log-in via my iPod touch & blog away any time... alas I have to physically have the time to unpack, plug-in & load up my laptop which in my hectic life is not always a possibility "/


Until next time, whenever that may be...

One of those Days... Yes, really!

What more can I say?!  It has been one thing after another, all trivial but none the less all happening to me & I feel I should have stayed asleep today "/


Finally got to sleep around 2:30am/3am this morning after waiting up for Duncan to finish work, catching up with Coronation Street from being away last week, having some food & then going to bed... I first woke at around 6am briefly, but dropped back to sleep for a while (dreaming of the most amazing family home in Bicester that I last dreamed about over 7yrs ago, don't ask me where it is or if it actually exists - I can tell you where it's supposed to be & the whole layout of the downstairs to great detail tho, lol) anyway  I have digressed - I finally awoke properly at 7:45am, my alarm was set for 8:30am & the first thing I hear is Duncan on the PS3, Cameron & Hermione playing & Anneliese whining, just another normal day at home so I decided to try & catch up with FB on my iPod touch...


Here starts my woes of the day, I reach over to my bedside lamp to turn it on & discover Duncan had removed the bulb to replace his blown bulb & left me with none... Gee, thanks! Lol, then FB kept crashing while loading, so that was a no go.  I figure that Smurfs Village may be working now it's had an update, but alas no that kept crashing on loading too. Same thing with Bejeweld & I am starting to feel like giving up, but for good measure try Words with Friends - hallelujah an app that works today!  So I played for about an hour before my battery depleted after all the failed attempts at other apps "/


I lay in bed for approx 15 minutes deciding if I should get up or not & Duncan comes to surprise me with a wake up kiss, but I surprised him instead by having my eyes closed & then opening them just before he kisses me Lol...   I decide that I am going to get up as I have Hermans to sort out, need to shower & wash my hair etc, etc.


So I get up take my clothes down to the bathroom, make a coffee, sort Cameron & Hermione out to do some homework while Duncan goes to sort out logs for the fire, was planning to jump in shower at 9:30am everyone needed the bathroom first... I decide to update my FB status via txt message as it was the only way this morning due to my iPod being temperamental! Hermione was reluctant to do any writing & Cameron had got no further than one sentence of a poem he was writing, so I assist Hermione with her writing & ask her what she want's to write & say I will write it down so her spellings are ok & she can then copy it while I am in the shower, Cameron does another sentence of his poem in the meantime & then says he can't think of anything else that rhymes.


An hour passes with discussions about what Cameron can put, trying to persuade both children to actually write something down & trying to keep Anneliese out of their way as well, so I figure at 10:50am I may just get in shower... alas not yet as kids still bickering putting each other off not co-operating etc, etc.  Finally manage to jump in at 11:15am & am washed, dressed & drying hair by 11:30am to come out hoping the kids have sorted their act out & got on with homework - no they haven't :(


11:40am comes around & Duncan is struggling getting the chainsaw to start - I am thinking this is a doomed Sunday as everything everywhere is going wrong for everyone!!!  Around 12pm my brother stops by so I make us all a hot drink, that may make things better?!  Nope as I take Duncan's & Mik's out to them I slop Mik's coffee all over my hand, WTH the cup wasn't even overfull!!!  Lol, gotta laugh else you'd cry eh?!  My brother asks if I am ok so I briefly explain that today I must be jinxed & should've stayed in bed, I say the kids are messing around, I think I left my camera charger in Disneyland Paris, my iPod is being an ass etc, etc. Told you it's all trivial stuff but it was one thing after another.


I go back inside to drink my coffee & feed Herman as I had figured it was better to bake him & his babies tomorrow given the fact everything was going more & more pear shaped for me.  Elaine had been txt'in me all morning as i had originally planned to pop round & pick some loaf tins up from here to batch bake on route back from Tesco, altho I had decided at 11:35 I was not going to attempt leaving the house alone so she shortly turned up after I had gone back inside so I made her a cuppa... by a pure stroke of luck the tea came out fine =)


Elaine is my hero today as she got my 3 items for me & is coming to straighten my hair at 7:30pm then we're off out to The White Hart for a bit of karaoke with Jason as she has missed not going out since last Friday & I think nobody should come near me in case I turn them to stone or something with my bad luck today, lol!!!


Now Elaine stopped for a couple of cuppa's & a chat etc, I quickly flicked thru last weeks pictures with her & then she had to go - next bit of bad luck, I forgot to give her the money for the bits she picked up - doh!!!  Good job I am seeing her later so I can pay her back.


My brother comes in to chat with me & I start looking on eBay & the internet to replace my lost camera charger, a daunting task when they don't make that model any more... then I have a bizarre idea of looking in the camcorder case & bingo it was there!!!  Lock me up at the funny farm now I say.


Well my brother goes & leaves us to it & about an hour ago 3pm ish, I decide I may as well blog about my down day thanks to some brief FB comment chats with my good friend Jason - This blog has not been easy to write at all, Hermione finally finished her homework but all three children have the devil in them today & have been squabbling all day pretty much... I have made numerous typing errors, but hopefully have fixed them all now - apologies if i have missed any & the grammar or spelling is off, but I officially give up now "/


Duncan is now cooking the Sharp Family Roast in the kitchen as he is a true knight in shining armour - I fear I may burn my self if I go near anything hot today, hence Elaine is straightening my hair later (plus she does a much better job than me with it as short as it is) lol.


Better late than never, my blog is complete... hope you are still awake after reading this?!

Herman causes kitchen chaos!

Who is Herman I hear you ask?!  Let me explain...

Early this year I was given a tub of yeast mixture with a list of instructions as follows:

Herman is a friendship cake that you cannot buy but give away. Herman is alive. He grows slowly because of the yeast process. It also takes ten days before you can eat him. Herman shouldn’t be put in the fridge & also requires to be covered by a tea towel. He grows at room temperature.

Hi, my name is Herman.
I am a friendly cake. I can live a long time & travel a long way.

This is how you should look after me. I am made from natural yeast, which is ready in ten days. Then you should divide me into four parts so that three friends can spread the friendship & pass it on to their friends & so on.

Do not put me in the fridge & make sure that I'm not too hot, but I like to be warm. Put me in a large bowl so that I can grow, but do not cover me with a lid, just a clean tea towel. I need to breathe.

Day 1: Herman arrives

Day 2 & 3: Stir Herman well several times a day with a wooden spoon

Day 4: Herman is hungry, please feed him with : 200g sugar, 125 g plain flour, 200ml milk. Stir well.

Day 5,6,7 & 8: Stir well a few times a day

Day 9: Herman is hungry again. Please feed him with: 200g sugar, 125 g plain flour, 200ml milk. Stir well.

Day 10: Divide me into four, one for you & three for your friends.

Add the following to the part you have kept:
150g melted butter
3 eggs
250g plain flour
100g brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 apples, peeled, cored, grated
100g dried fruit.

Mix well & pour Herman into a large greased tin, or 2 smaller ones. Make sure it has about a quarter of the tin to rise because otherwise it will overflow. Sprinkle with brown sugar, then bake at 150°C, Gas Mark 2 for 1½ hours.

ENJOY!

Sounds simple enough, right?!  Well earlier this year when I got my very first Herman everything went perfectly & we enjoyed a few batches of Herman giving only a couple away & keeping one to re-grow... finally after about 8 Herman’s (I cook in 2 smaller loaf tins) we decided to give all three away & Herman was no more after the last slice had passed our lips :(

I had been hoping to acquire another Herman offspring but alas, there were none to go round every time I heard of a friend with Herman his offspring had already been allocated to other people much to my disappointment.  Now imagine my surprise after a few quiet months 7 no word of Herman when I noticed via Facebook that my friend was in possession of a newly grown Herman!!! So I was hot on my keyboard commenting on the said status asking if there was any possible chance I could have one of Herman’s offspring - my lucky was with me as low & behold I was told there was some offspring left & I could have some =)

So, Monday morning (10/10/11) I pop round to my fellow blogger Jason's house to enjoy coffee with him & his lovely wife Claire (both very good friends of mine & Duncan's)... we sit, we chat, i get baby Herman in my pot & pop him in my bag, we drink coffee, we chat some more then it's time to wander off home, life is good!

But what I don't know is... baby Herman is not happy, baby Herman is getting angry in my pot, baby Herman is not liking the dark of the bag, so baby Herman starts seeping through the lid into the bag!  I get home, all cheery as I finally have another baby Herman all of my own to nurture & grow so I head into the kitchen to put baby Herman into my cherished Mason Cash mixing bowl (it's nice & large, perfect for baby Herman to grow) - what happens next???

Well, I start getting the few bits of shopping out of my bag & notice baby Herman has tried to escape.  So I figure let's take the lid off the pot so he can breathe & everything will be fine.  So I take my pot out & try to open the lid... how tight did Claire do it up?!  It wouldn't budge at first & panic starts to creep in as I am thinking baby Herman has already started seeping out, will his temper go completely over the edge & will he manage to explode my pot?!  I keep trying & after a few attempts it finally slowly starts turning while more of baby Herman is escaping; now my pot has about 5 threads on the lid... I'd undone the first thread, was slowly moving onto the second thread & BOOM!!!!!!  The lid from my pot propelled into the air & about a third of baby Herman had covered me & the kitchen!

I have never seen anything so funny, my coat needed washing, my hat needed washing, I had to wash the cover from the dogs cage, wipe down my cupboards, wipe down the walls & mop the floor - my, oh my can baby Herman fly!

After approx 30 mins, my kitchen was back to normal & you wouldn't guess anything had happened there... Baby Herman looked tiny when in my bowl so I fed him & now he is happily growing as he should be =)

Blogged Out?!

Could this possibly be true?!  Could I be all blogged out???  I sincerely hope not!


I haven't blogged since the start of the school summer holidays, now the school holidays are always a busy manic time for me with keeping the children occupied and before you know it 6 & a half weeks have passed and they are back to school!  They have been back to school 2 and a half weeks & I haven't had 5 minutes to blog or so it seems... when I have had 5 minutes I have lost my mojo & not been able to think of a single interesting thing to blog about - mental block extrordinaire!!!


Now you may be thinking, hold on a minute this blog seems to be flowing fairly well what on earth is the problem here?!  But that's just it... it is not flowing well at all & I keep hitting a brick wall with what to write so I think I am just rambling on about nothing in particular (don't I always?!).


Over the summer holidays there were some really fab days & events that I could blog about and last week Cameron had a school residential from Mon-Fri... but my head is really all over the place due to a bit of a hic-up and I just can't seem to blog about anything.


It is really good to know that I have some really, really good friends that realise mistakes do happen & that I am not a bad person.  It is also even better to know that I officially have the best husband in the whole world & I am so lucky to have him: Duncan you are one in a million & I love you so very, very much!


Yes, rambling... but all very true & cannot stress it enough: Elaine, Gabby, Becky K, Teresa, Becky S, Andy, Jason, Mark & Nigel you guys are amazing, thank you for being you & caring about my mental state.  I know most of you probably don't even read my blog, but when I eventually get back to Facebook I will be linking you all so you know how much I appreciate each & everyone of you.  This is not a guilt trip, but without Duncan's & your support/friendship I would no doubt be carted away in a lovely white jacket that ties at the back & locked away for a very long time!


Now there are also a handful of other people that I haven't mentioned that have also been here for me too, you all know who you are (well at least I hope you do) THANK YOU =)


I probably shouldn't have blogged the last three paragraphs, but hey I have as I want everyone to know how much I appreciate them & how lucky I am to have each & everyone of you in my life... I really don't deserve it, but I am so grateful you are all standing by me & still happy to be my friends.

Loving Torchwood... but OMG, Just seen the new Dr Who trailer!

This is the closest blue to Tardis blue that I can get, so I hope this will do for this blog?!


So a brief description of what the new Torchwood is all about: One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep ageing -- they get hurt and sick -- but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight.


With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four month's time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?", he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.


Now what can I say???  Captain Jack is back & as amazing as ever, we have only had the first two episodes of the four part series shown & all I can say is WOW!!!  Miracle Day, The New World (ep 1) was epic, but I was quite happy to wait for episode two the following week... however, Miracle Day, Rendition (ep 2) left me wanting the next episode on straight away!!!  It was fantastic & kept me on the edge of my seat, it was action packed & pure class.  Miracle Day, Dead of Night is this weeks episode (ep 3) but I will not get to watch it till I get in the early hours of Friday morning as I will be starting my birthday celebrations an evening early & going to karaoke down at The Kings, rest assured though watching Torchwood at 12.30am is going to be the best birthday present ever... if only Captain Jack was to knock at more door, that would top it!!!  I could cheat & watch this episode online through the Starz website as this episode is due to air in America before it airs here, but that would only make the wait for next weeks final episode Miracle Day, Escape to LA (ep 4) even longer!


Now, after Torchwood finishes what is a Torchwood/Dr Who freak like me to do???  I will no doubt keep watching the DVD's & episodes we have on the hard-drives till the final few episodes of Dr Who series 6 come on air... I must say I am a little excited though, as have just seen the full trailer on the BBC website (I've put the trailer below, hopefully).


We have episodes 8-13 still to come, with the first of these episodes being called: Let's Kill Hitler (ep 8), now according to Wikipedia this is to be aired Saturday 27th August - if this is the case: YAY!!!  Also according to Wikipedia the next few episodes are called: Night Terrors (ep 9), The Girl Who Waited (ep 10) & The God Complex (ep 11)... I am a little disappointed at Wikipedia though, as it has no information on episodes 12 & 13.  Now yes if the information is wrong I'll be a little peeved to say the least, but for the moment I am in my happy little bubble as it all sounds so good =)


Here's a link to the trailer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/videos/p00jb05r 


Isn't it just amazing??? 

Fun with the Funky Fulfords

WoW, what a day we had yesterday...


6am start to the day when the alarm clock went off, after getting the clothes ready for the children the night before so we could get up & ready to leave at 7.30am for the long trip up to Staffordshire so we could spend the day at what in my opinion is the best UK theme park ever: Alton Towers!


Cameron had wanted to go for his birthday this year, but as we were at a wedding on the Saturday that weekend & it would've been no good going on the Sunday with the children going to school on the Monday morning, we had no option to go before now.  So we decided a few weeks ago as it was our good friend Mike's birthday on the 14th, that we could go on Saturday 16th instead!


Now, Cameron is not afraid of anything really... except Hex & Duel, I don't know what it is about Hex that he doesn't like, but I do know Duel is too loud for his sensitive ears - he will do Duel at a push but he keeps his ears covered, I did say to Duncan about getting him child ear defenders for such instances but Duncan didn't seem to keen on this... I think it would be a good investment as not only could he use them on things like Duel that are too loud for him, but he also struggles when we go to the cinema so we could use them there too - it would save seeing him with his fingers in his ears for the whole film or even more amusing is when he has snacks, he has devised a way to keep one hand free to eat... he wraps his right arm over his head & sticks his finger in his left ear while his right ear has been covered by his arm - ingenious I think!


The rides we covered yesterday were: Sonic Spinball, Oblivion, Enterprise, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Twirling Toadstools, Rita, TH13TEEN, The Flume, Congo River Rapids, Runaway Mine Train, Duel, Nemesis & Air... Cameron only skipped Duel (for reasons already mentioned), Hermione skipped a fair few due to height restrictions (so not really her fault) & a few more were skipped as she suffers dreadfully from motion sickness (so much so, that even on the journey to Staffordshire with preventative measures not only was she sick but we had to put her in the front passenger seat while I moved to the rear seats), the rides she did were: Enterprise, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Twirling Toadstools, & Runaway Mine Train.  Now Anneliese would have been up for every ride going if she was only taller than a meter high... sadly too many height restrictions, much to her disgust Lol!  She did manage to do the following though: Enterprise, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory & Runaway Mine Train.  Duncan has done them all before & so have I, so we only sat out a few to watch the children that couldn't ride.  Duncan skipped 5 all together: Sonic Spinball, Oblivion, Twirling Toadstools, Rita & Duel, I skipped out only 3 of the rides: Twirling Toadstools, The Flume & Congo River Rapids.


Now out of the Funky's Kirsty was the adrenaline junkie like me & did every ride going - go Kirsty!!!  Stevie was a bit too reserved for my liking only doing Enterprise, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Twirling Toadstools, Rita, TH13TEEN, The Flume, Congo River Rapids, Runaway Mine Train & Duel. Caroline was my Hero of the day & I am so, so very proud of her as she overcame a lot of fears, she rode the following: Sonic Spinball, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Rita, TH13TEEN, The Flume, Runaway Mine Train, Duel & Air, although she did call me a choice name while on Air, Lol!  Considering she is afraid of heights I think she did remarkably well with the rides she did.  Mike was also a star, even if on some of the rides he was screaming like a girlie... Mike rode: Oblivion, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Rita, TH13TEEN, The Flume, Congo River Rapids, Runaway Mine Train, Duel, & Air.


Despite the girls not doing very many rides they had a marvellous time, however we ran out of time to visit Old MacDonalds farm, Sealife or do the Squirrel Nutty ride.  This just means we will have to go back again very, very soon to keep them perfectly happy!


All in all we had a most enjoyable day out, the weather wasn't perfect as we had a fair few showers of heavy rain in the morning, but the afternoon it was wonderful as the sun came out & dried us off :)


2 Birthday celebrations, lots of rollercoasters, screams & fun had by all = Perfect Day Out =)

There's A New Arrival!!!

Firstly, apologies for not Blogging sooner but I have been so hectic with cake making that I just haven't had time to turn on the laptop let alone Blog!


On Sunday July 3rd it was Cameron's birthday... he was 10 this year, where does the time go?!  We had been to a friends wedding on the Saturday where another friend had told me & Duncan about her sisters kitten that needed a new home, she showed us a picture & what can I say???  He was adorable!!!  We fell in love with him & Duncan liked the name, so it stuck... Colin!


We have had Colin a little over a week as we picked him up the evening of Cameron's birthday & he has settled into the home just nicely, although he is a cheeky little character & full of mischief when he's not sleeping!!!


Oliver is quite used to him & friendly with him, although Pebbles still let's him know who's boss - this little kitten needs to know his place, Lol!  On meeting Merlin, Colin decided to let him know who was boss... this was quite funny as the other 2 cats tend to avoid the dog, not Colin though - he hissed & growled & made Merlin back away!  Not bad for a 9 week old kitten eh?!


He is now just over 10 weeks old & really come out of his shell, the girls love him to death almost... but he doesn't seem to mind all the fuss they give him =)


He had his first vaccination on Saturday, which he didn't feel at all - but it did leave him incredibly knocked out... the poor little mite slept pretty much all day & wasn't back to his normal self until Sunday, but he is as right as rain now (didn't keep him down for long) Lol.  His second vaccination is booked in for July 30th, the day after my birthday so we booked him in for 11am rather than an early appointment as it's bound to be a late night/early morning on the 29th (a little lie in will be more than needed) but hey, it's my birthday so it would be wrong not to celebrate!

He's certainly a little cutie, wouldn't you agree???