Me

Me

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Happy 21st Birthday Charlotte xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My lovely daughter is 21 today!!!

She loves zebra print!
I hope you've had a great day - shopping in Birmingham with your sister :)

Love you lots

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x




Monday 29 October 2012

1000 page views!

1000 page views!!!

This may not seem like much, but at least I know I am not just talking to myself!

I have 6 followers, so I know that others read, but do not want to follow me. I am unable to comment on my favourite blogs and cannot work out why, so I'm unlikely to gain any further followers. I'm stuck :(

Thank you for reading this, it really makes me happy.

Mandy xxx

Back Pain Again!!!

Hi, sadly my back pain has returned!

This time I simply picked up a bottle of bleach, that was all then the pain and lack of mobility had returned. This happened a week ago and now I am at the stage where I can sit up on the sofa and walk around slowly. I was advised when I injured my back 5 years ago that recovery is quicker when you're active. I have learnt that actually I recover quicker by giving in and resting my back. I take ibuprofen and use my tens machine to ease the muscle pain and wait...

It is so annoying because I have loads to do and I have to rely on my daughter to do all my chores while I get to cuddle my grandaughter ;)

Hopefully things will be back to normal soon.



Some good news... the boiler man is coming round on Wednesday and hopefully the boiler will be fixed??? The boiler broke down at the beginning of the year and finally we can have the choice of putting the heating on. We have got by with oil radiators and the electric fire in the living room, but now we have to keep the rest of the house warm because we have an 8 week old baby here and mould is beginning to appear around the windows. Daisy-May has a heater in her room to keep her cosy. The rest of us wrap up warm and keep busy (apart from me with my bad back!), we have hot drinks and soup, blankets on our knees in the evening and hot water bottles.

I hope you are all keeping warm :)

Mandy x

Thursday 18 October 2012

Thrifty shopping and stocking-up the cupboards...Approved food

Approved Food Order

Hi, I have not had any time to blog lately because of our new arrival in the family. Little Daisy-May has turned our lives upside down (in a good way) and left no time for stuff like blogging. She is 6 weeks old now and absolutely perfect! Alice's pre-eclampsia has finally gone and she is feeling much better. I had forgotten just how much time is taken up looking after a new baby, but we are trying to get into a routine now. I did manage to make an Approved Food order last week...



There are all kinds of cupboard fillers here. I particularly stocked up on tins and packets for easy quick meals when I need extra time. I normally spend quite some time in the morning preparing the evening meal ready to be cooked later in the day, as I think it's important to cook from scratch.

Some items are to help me fill my chest freezer. I bought chocolate cake mix (even though I am quite capable of baking a cake) because cocoa is so expensive. This sack retailed at £14.99 and I bought it for £4.99. To me this is a bargain because my children loved the chocolate muffin mix we had before and I can fill the freezer really cheaply with cake for packed lunches and ready for pudding - chocolate pudding and chocolate custard : )

This is a good way of shopping for standby meals and so cheap. I only ever buy items in date which does prevent me from getting some fantastic bargains, bit it's an area I can't be frugal on.

I made 6 chocolate sponges earlier today, so I'll let you know how they taste!


Have you ever bought goods from Approved Food???


Hopefully I'll be back soon,

Mandy x


Saturday 1 September 2012

I'm a Grandma!!!

I've got a beautiful little grandaughter!!!


She arrived this morning at 2.55, safe and well.

Her mummy is not so good :(

Alice has pre-eclampsia, made a lot better by delivering her baby, but still poorly.
Yesterday was full of stress and worry, today is joy and relief!

She weighed in at 6lb which was excellent as her predicted birthweight was 5lb (and she was delivered early). She has been through a lot of struggles when she wasn't growing properly, but she came through at a healthy 6lb - our special little miracle!

Today is a happy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mandy x


Friday 6 July 2012

Look what I found in my loft... fantastic 80s albums!

Hi

I've been sorting through the endless boxes of stuff stored in my loft over the past few days and I found my beloved 80s albums!

Wham 'Fantastic'! I absolutely loved wham and this album is very precious to me because it was a present from my grandmother. Shirlie Kemp has a beautiful blog which is well worth reading - I love her style. This album is my favourite.



A-Ha were another band I loved. 



Next is the Housemartins. I loved this band and went on to love The Beautiful South too.



I love Madonna's music, but only the older stuff - my ipod is full of it!



Scritti Politti weren't one of my original favourites, but I did love their music and still do.



No one could understand me liking Bronski Beat, but I went on to love The Communards. I saw them at the Oxford Apollo in 1987.



These are just a small snippet of my singles collection:
*Tina Turner*
*Band Aid*
*Bananarama*
*Thompson Twins* (reminds me of babysitting)
*Whitney Houston*
*Tears for Fears* (my friend bought me this for my 14th birthday)
*Frankie Goes to Hollywood*
*A-HA* (I played this song over and over again!)
*Wham*

The first single I ever owned was by Dollar 'Shooting Star' - sadly I have no idea what happened to my copy. It was a birthday present when I was about 6 or 7.

The first single that I bought with my own money was Nick Heyward 'Blue Hat for a Blue Day' I can actually remember going to buy this in High Wycombe.

The first album I owned is pictured above; Wham 'Fantastic'

The first album I bought myself was the a-ha one.

Sadly I don't have a record player :-(
So I store my records in the loft and look at them every now and then. They hold positive memories for me. Music has been and always will be very important to me.

What was your first single or album

Thanks for reading!

Please leave a comment below or follow my blog

x    x    x    x    x    x    x    x    x





Wednesday 4 July 2012

Baking for the freezer, decluttering the loft and baby Daisy.

Hi
Just lately I've been doing a bit of baking. The problem is that everything seems to get eaten too quickly and then I have nothing left for the family pack-ups. So now I try to batch bake and put some bits aside to freeze. This has worked quite well and I've found that fruit cake freezes really well (I hate fruit cake!)






Today I have been really busy sorting out our loft, so it was handy being able to get a fruit cake out of the freezer for the others as I haven't had time to bake. I have found some really interesting things from my childhood - I am a dreadful hoarder! However, I have recently been inspired by reading other people's blogs to declutter properly. I obviously can't throw away items from my childhood because I have kept them this many years (I'm 41), but I have reduced the amount of birthday cards etc. I have been keeping them since I was 17 in 1988!!! Sadly there have been a lot of bad people in my life and I have felt so good to rid myself of them completely by throwing away those cards. These are people who only pretended to love and care about me and my family and now I have erased as much as I can. It may sound strange that I have thrown away my 18th birthday cards at this late stage, but the family I had then turned out to be pure evil (a strong word but a necessary description) and don't deserve to take up space in my loft or my memories, I still have numerous cards from my children and my husband, but that's about it. The loft sorting continues tomorrow...

On a happier note - my lovely daughter is having a baby and 2 days ago I felt her kick!!! We could see little flickers and feel tiny little kicks. She only weighs 2lb 10oz at the moment and has been predicted to weigh 5lb at most at birth. There have been many health problems along the way for Alice and the baby, but she is still growing and can stay cosy in her mummy's tummy for a while longer. Alice is being monitored every week by the hospital now and having growth scans fortnightly to check the weight gain and blood flow through the cord. We don't expect her to go full-term, but every week we get to is a bonus for the baby to be born healthy. I have bought some premature clothes ready and tiny little nappies for her. I'm so excited, it's just what my family needs, some happy news!

I had a bit of a 'use-up' from the freezer for tonight's tea:

Fish Pie

I took 3 portions of cod in butter,
(bought for Alice but she threw up one and now won't touch them again!)
and put them in a shallow oven dish.
Next I made up a packet of parsley sauce (approved food)
and poured over the fish (adding a little milk).
I sprinkled on some frozen peas and then
I boiled and mashed a large pan of potatoes and spread over the fish.
I made a pretty pattern with a fork and put it in the oven for 45 mins (180 oC)
I served it with carrots and broccoli.
(Alice had a chicken breast instead!)


My husband said it was really nice which I wasn't expecting because I was just using stuff up before it went out of date. I have a huge struggle trying to get my children to eat fish. No time to make pudding today, but this is what we had the other day:

A strawberry victoria sponge cake with fresh cream!!!

Thank you for reading and please follow me ;-)

Mandy xxx

Wednesday 30 May 2012

What I bought at the carboot sale...

Hi,
A lovely little basket (you can never have too many) which I will fill with sewing stuff. It was 50p.

10 little vests, all 20p each.



This baby box was filthy! I scrubbed it clean and peeled off the ABC label as it was hanging off. It cost me £2.

These blankets cost me 50p each. We love the hand knitted and crocheted baby blankets. We have loads now, preparing for an Autumn baby. They are in excellent condition.
A pretty little dress, some pink spotty leggings, a heart sleepsuit and pink fleece jacket. All cost 20p each.


A little toy - 20p.

Avent bottle warmer, £2.50. Brand new.

Dvds


Great Uncle Bulgaria! I didn't need him, I just love the wombles. He was £2!!!


Cotton - yellow, bright pink, black and white (£1.40) I've got loads os sewing projects waiting, so I'm collecting different colours.


£1 a bag. I am knitting squares to make a blanket/throw for my sofas. I love these colours!

Brand new - £1 each. These books follow on from 'Call the Midwife'.



2 pretty little glass jars. I've been looking for these for so long. They cost me 20p each! I will fill them with cotton wool balls and cotton buds to go on my dressing table.



2 bras for Alice (new) costing £1 each. She's pregnant!!!



These sheets are brand new and cost me £1.


This wallpaper border cost me £5 for the 3. It is mamas and papas. This is going up in the baby's room this weekend!


6 little cardies, each beautifully knitted by someone much more talented than me! We have bought a couple of pink bits, but not much. all of these are different sizes, but the baby is predicted to be 5lb because she hasn't been growing properly. I am constantly looking out for tiny clothes. These cardies were 20p each - bargain!!!



Didn't we do well???!!!


Hopefully the nursery will be finished soon :-)




Mandy xxx

Ps: please leave a comment or follow me. I am unable to leave comments on my favourite blogs - don't know why???

Thank you for reading.






Sunday 27 May 2012

Happy Birthday Alice xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY ALICE!!!

My baby is 17 today and she's going to be a mummy herself soon. My baby is having a baby so I suppose that's it, she's all grown up now.

I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!
;-)

I'm so excited about the new baby and have been buying gorgeous things. I'll have lots of pictures to share soon because the nursery is being decorated at the moment.

I hope you've had a lovely birthday Alice
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x






Tuesday 8 May 2012

My marriage of steel!!!

Hi

On Friday we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. This year is represented by steel, which I think is appropriate for us because our marriage grows stronger everyday. We have been through an awful lot in the past year, but we help each other to keep on going, no matter what is thrown at us next.

Ashley bought us the dvd 'Call the Midwife'.

We went to Stow-on-the-Wold for the day, it was lovely! We love the Cotswolds and treated ourselves to a look around the shops and lunch in a tearoom.

I didn't take any photos, but I have some of the other things I've been up to lately:

Cheese scones
Lemon cake
Waving goodbye to our old car, making way for the Mitsubishi Warrior.
My 1st attempt at millionaire's shortbread
Rock cakes
Fruit scones

Plain scones

I did baking on Sunday too, but as usual, I forgot to take any photos. I made 2 victoria sandwiches, one with strawberry jam, the other with my homemade blackberry and apple jam, some individual coffee cakes and iced fairy cakes. The cake tins are full and I'm building up a stock in the freezer too.

A crafting afternoon ahead for tomorrow...

p.s: I can't leave comments on anybody's blogs and I don't know why and I don't know how to make it better :-(

Please help if you know how.

Mandy x







Tuesday 24 April 2012

A little bit of baking...

Hi,

Today I decided to do a quick bit of baking while my jacket potatoes were in the oven. I cannot afford to waste electricity so I made a batch of cheese scones, really yummy fresh out of the oven with butter, and a lemon cake. This cake was a new recipe, where you pour dissolved sugar and lemon juice over the warm cake and allow to soak in. When the cake is cool, you ice it with lemon glace icing. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it will be really moist. I forgot to take a photo earlier, so hopefully I will remember tomorrow before it's all gone!

Blogger is still preventing me from leaving comments on my favourite blogs :-(

I'm off to learn some more thrifty tips off fellow money savers on you tube now.

Decluttering of my bedroom planned for tomorrow...

Mandy x

Monday 23 April 2012

The weekend

Hi,

I'm still annoyed, but the weekend was good.

We did another carboot sale on Saturday and I took £70!!! That's a lot of stuff decluttered because I brought back 6 empty plastic boxes. I sold my stuff for 10p, 20p, 50p or £1. We were swarming with customers and a little hectic at times, but well worth it.

I have decided that I should only keep things that are beautiful or useful. I am a dreadful hoarder and keep things just-in-case they may be needed one day. Every piece of ribbon or buttons are saved, bubble wrap and envelopes, the list is endless, but I have to stop! I am keen to recycle and make things out of recycled materials, but I haven't got the space. My utility room is full of crates for carbooting and ebaying, sewing and crafting. My aim is to sell as much as possible so I can have my utility room back. What's the point in having a beautiful oak worktop (which my husband made) and a lovely belfast sink with smart cupboards and a quarry tiled floor, if I can't see any of it???

I've had a really bad headache today (which began yesterday) so I've pottered about, but I have organised my junk ready to sell again next week.

My daughter has handcrafted some lovely jewellery, but people just aren't interested at boot sales because they want everything for 10p!!! She also hand paints mugs which are beautiful. We want to sell at craft fairs one day, so I have encouraged her to increase her stock. I collect vintage items but want to part with most of it because I need to raise cash for my other daughter for when there will be a big event in September. This is our dream, it's just a question of how to put it into practice.

So I'm happy with the money I made for Alice and also I had my hair cut. Not very exciting to most people, but I haven't had it cut since December and now I actually have a hairstyle!

Tomorrow I plan to have shifted this horrible headache and get selling/crafting.

Mandy x

I'm so annoyed!!!

Hi,

Why oh why won't blogger allow me to leave comments on my favourite blogs???

This has been happening for a while now and I don't know how to fix it :-(

It says that my comment has been published... then it disappears! I don't bother writing long comments now because I am expecting them to disappear again.

Please help.

Mandy x

Friday 13 April 2012

Car booting tomorrow

Hi,

Tomorrow Charlotte and I are off to do a car boot sale in Finmere. I haven't been able to go for a while , so hopefully it will be busy with lots of buyers. I seriously need to clear the clutter and get rid of things that I really don't need. I'll let you know how we get on...

Mandy x

Wednesday 11 April 2012

I don't understand blogger???

I don't understand what's just happened. I just tried to sign into my blogger account and it said my blog had been removed! Well I never removed it. After getting a verification code sent to my mobile, I found my blog again. Also, sometimes my comments on other blogs just don't stick. It tells me it has been published, but then it disappears??? Then I got excited because I have another follower, but guess what... it's me!!! How on Earth did that happen? Now I'm really confused.

Well, nevermind, it's back now.

Today I changed my outlook, I've decided to focus on the positives from now on (easier said than done) and to get myself motivated to make the changes needed in my home. I'll be back when I have something exciting or useful to report.

Today I sorted out my knitting basket in preparation for actually doing some more knitting. My daughter has cast on for me (I can't remember how so something I need to learn) with some beautiful fushia pink wool. I am knitting large squares which I will sew together to make a throw/blanket for one of my sofas. This will be square number 2, so I have quite a long way to go!

I've been so fed up with my recent ill health lately, that I have even lost interest in cooking and baking. My wisdom tooth removal meant that I couldn't eat solid food and it's so disheartening to cook a lovely meal and then have to cook mashed potatoes just for me. Tomorrow morning I am going to do a bit of baking and I'll put the photos up to prove it! I've got some oranges and lemons that need using up, so there will be orange and lemon cakes at least. My tea-loaf turned out well and improved with age, so I may make another one tomorrow. I hope the chickens won't let me down with their supply of eggs.

So tomorrow is baking and knitting - things that I usually enjoy. Sadly all the boring jobs will still be there...ironing :-(

Right, fingers crossed that this post will actually be posted!

Mandy x

Monday 9 April 2012

Happy Easter!

Hi and Happy Easter!

I've had a lovely day with my family, playing board games all afternoon!

Ashley's girlfriend is spending the weekend with us, which is special because she's been in France, teaching children how to ski since the first week in December. 

I've been away from blogging for a while because I haven't been well. After my back problem was getting better, I got a cancellation appointment to have my upper wisdom teeth removed at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. These teeth prevented me from going to the dentist for 10 years! Silly, I know, but I was petrified of having teeth out. One had developed early decay because I simply couldn't get at them with my toothbrush, so they had to go. It was nearly 3 weeks ago now, but they still haven't healed up completely. I have followed all the rules so haven't had any problems and I am getting there at last. The procedure began with the injections (I'm fine with these) and two of these were into the roof of my mouth. This made my mouth swell up and the roof was touching the back of my tongue. This set off my gag reflex and I was sick 4 times :-(
After that, I had to sit with my head bowed to prevent any further vomiting. The surgeon then removed them with me sat with my head right down and my mouth nearly shut! He was so good and understood my anxiety. The dental nurse and surgeon really looked after me and sat me in a side room to recover (head still bowed until the anaesthetic was wearing off). It was traumatic because I was so scared, but the actual removal of the wisdom teeth was really quick and easy (definitely down to the skill of my surgeon) and I'm so glad they're gone now.

My recovery has been slow because I was living on sloppy mash potato and mousse. I felt so tired, sick, dizzy and weak. I am just beginning to eat more solid food now, but finding chewing some foods difficult.

My lovely daughter Alice has been really ill for some time now. We know part of the reason why she's been so sick, but then she had a water infection that developed into having E-coli in her bladder. Our GP wouldn't admit her to hospital because her immune system is low and the hospital has too many bugs that she would have then caught. We were really worried because she was dehydrated, not even able to keep fluids down. We never worked out if it was the E-coli or the anti-biotics making her sick, but thankfully she has been fine the last couple of days. She eats very little and has lost so much weight. I just hope that her health will improve now, I feel so helpless. I'll say why she's ill another day because it's not for public knowledge at the moment.

Also, my other daughter crashed her car and was very lucky that the car coming the other way was going slow, otherwise it would have hit her and she could of been seriously hurt. She is ok though and bought another car the following day!

Doom and gloom as usual, but hopefully things will start to improve for us soon.

Hope you're having a lovely Easter weekend,

Mandy x

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Candle making and the Buckingham Garden Centre

Hi,

Over the past few days I've been pottering about the house, getting my back moving again and catching up with the jobs I couldn't do when my back was painful.

Yesterday I made candles:




I put all my candle scraps in a tin (mine was an old soup tin) and put the tin in a saucepan with a little water. As the water simmered away, the candle wax in the tin melted. I used the same containers that the candles came in when I originally bought them. First I measured and cut a length of string to fit the containers and then tied one end to a pencil. When the wax had melted, I poured it into the container and left it to set overnight. This morning I removed the pencils and tested out my new candles - they were fine with simple household string, just like new candles. I'm really pleased because I didn't have to buy wick, but managed to recycle what I would have normally thrown away. Different cooking smells are making my daughter feel sick at the moment, so we have a scented candle burning most of the day. I'm proud to be a money saver!!!

I also made some little pencil pots:




I used old instant gravy granule containers and covered them with pastel blue paper. I then covered the paper with pretty hearts tissue paper. I hid the edge with thin red ribbon to neaten them up. I have loads of pens and pencils to sell from when I left my job as a Teaching Assistant. When I worked, I was always buying things to make my activities more exciting for the children, and I hadn't realised just how much stuff I had collected in my walk in cupboard. I have no plans to go back to teaching, so I will try to sell all of my stuff at the car boot sale. I have packets of unopened pens which will look nicer in these little pots, so hopefully they will sell, clearing the clutter and getting some much needed cash for my daughter (I'll tell you why another day). The car boot sale starts again on Saturday and we will be getting ready for that this week.

On Sunday we (Steve and I) went to Buckingham Garden Centre. I really love looking round garden centres (especially Burford) and we had never been to this one before. We bought some seeds and seed potatoes for the vegetable plots and some wild flower seeds to try and perk up the back garden. We also bought some little Yankie Candles (for Alice), as they have such a strong scent (but are also really expensive). There was loads of Cath Kidston toiletries, but I was good and didn't buy anything that we didn't need. I love Cath Kidston things, but I don't need them !!!

We bought some lovely primrose plants which I will hopefully plant out tomorrow. I have planned to get out in the garden and begin the big tidy up that it needs. Flo loves to dig, so it could be quite a challenge to keep the garden looking beautiful. The dogs love being outside, so we may have a lovely day with lots of fresh air ahead of us (weather permitting).

Before we left the garden centre we sat outside with a coffee and a bit of cake! Not necessary, I know, but important, because we were spending time together, away from our troubles, just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. This is something we rarely have the time or opportunities for. Steve had carrot cake (because I never make it) and I had millionaires shortbread (because I'm greedy!) I am inspired to make some millionaires shortbread now, something I have never made before.

Hopefully I will have some photos of my 'sunny' garden tomorrow, but it will more than likely rain ;-(

Mandy x

Saturday 3 March 2012

Ooops!

I meant to say my BACK not bad!!!!!!!!

I've been poorly!

Hi,

I've not been posting for a while because my bad has been causing me a lot of pain for the last 2 weeks. Exactly 2 weeks ago we walked the dogs quite late in the afternoon and it had started to get dark. We quickened our pace and I struggled to keep up with Jake. It was really muddy and I was worried about slipping over. What I didn't notice until the next morning was the enormous strain that walk had put on my back. We went to do our food shopping in Leamington, and by the time we got back, I could hardly walk. My muscles go into spasm because I had a back injury nearly 5 years ago now (pulled the facet joints in my lower back out of place) and the muscles surrounding the bones can't forget it. They continue to protect the bones by going into spasm when I strain my back. This is really painful and disabling for me. I live on painkillers and my TENS machine helps too. Two weeks on, I still can't sit on a chair or my sofas (I spend a lot of time standing or walking around the house) and I can't reach the floor either. My mobility is improving every day, but I get annoyed because I don't feel ill and get bored. I have started pushing myself to do more (remembering the advice of my physiotherapist) but it took me 30 mins to unload and load my washing machine. I am also trying to look after my very sick daughter at the moment too.  I have been feeling really sorry for myself, but now I am trying to be more positive about things and hope to get back on track soon.

Here are a few photos of what's been happening since my last post:

Ashley's birthday cake with Flo watching with interest!

I attempted to make some microwave jam with the blackberries I picked last year.

I managed to make all these jars.
 I had an order delivered from Approved Food, I spent about £40 and got all of this:
We love this quick pudding in the week.

These batteries cost £1.50 which is a bargain even if the quality is not too good.

Sadly I am having trouble uploading my photos, so I will just tell about the rest...

~Hobnob snack packs~
Handy for packed lunches.
~Small cans of tomato juice~
I put these in any mince dish I make like spag bol.
~Cashew nuts~
Steve loves these.
~Parsley sauce~
I'm the only one who likes it, so I can never be bothered to make it from scratch for me.
~Bread sauce~
We love bread sauce!
~Special K snacks~
I got these on Charlotte's request.
~Barley sugars~
These were my little treat - although not good for my teeth.
~Pork scratchings~
Another treat for Steve.
~Cheesecake mix~
We love cheesecake and this is the cheat's way, but I can't resist a bargain.
~Mint sauce~
I stocked up on this, I eat it with any gravy dinner.
~Fruit pastiles~
These were for Alice.
Ginger cake bars~
These were for Alice, but they weren't very nice.
~Beef oxos~
I get through loads of these.
~Square crisps~
We like them.
~Massive bag of boiled fruit sweets~
This was a shock, the bag will last us several years!
~Paxo stuffing~
This is lazy stuffing - bake in the box, but it was cheap.
~Catering tins of chopped tomatoes~
I got these to do some batch cooking one day.
~White wine vinegar~
Again, a shock - a huge bottle.
~Massive bag of walkers crisps~
We get through too many crisps.
~Steak & Onion crisps~
~Tomato ketchup crisps~
~Biorepair toothpaste~
I thought I would try this out, again a massive tube.
~Chocolate muffin mix~
I don't normally bake like this, but cocoa is really expensive and I know Ashley will love these in his packed lunches.
~Monster munch~
~Cadbury's teacakes~
We love these!

Hopefully there will be more exciting things to write about soon.

Mandy x

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Monday 13 February 2012

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Today is my son's birthday, he's 22 now.

Happy Birthday Ashley xxx

I hope you've had a wonderful day (he doesn't finish work until midnight)

Love you very much,

Mum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sunday 12 February 2012

A lovely Sunday... walking the dogs and baking cakes.

Today we went for a really long walk over the fields with the dogs. When we got back I had a baking session...

This is a syrup loaf (Ashley had a slice before I took the photo!) It's really easy to make, just syrup, milk, flour, bicarb and a pinch of salt. I think we will have it with custard for pudding tomorrow.

It's Ashley's birthday tomorrow so this will be his cake, I just need to add candles, 22 of them!!!


Ashley asked me to make cake for him to take to work to share. This is a lemon sponge.


I'm actually ahead of myself and organised! This is for my Valentine, my lovely husband.

This was a new recipe - spiced fruit cake. The texture is strange because you add a crumble topping.

Gorgeous chocolate fudge cake squares. I have made these since Ashley was a baby when I was 19. The cake is very moist and the icing fudgy - yum yum! Ashley will take some of these to work too.


I've just watched 'Call the Midwife', a perfect end to a perfect Sunday. I wonder what Monday will bring??? Ashley's special day.

Mandy x