365 Photo. Day 14 - Recipe

I've had this recipe in my scrapbook for years, but only tried last night for the first time. It was so yummy I thought I'd share it.
I belong to the dollop and splash school of cookery, so please bare with me.

Ingredients:
150g cous cous
lemon (to be honest I used lime juice coz that's what was in the fridge)
200ml boiled water
1x egg
15g melted butter
2x large chicken fillets, cut into strips (you could use any meat/fish)

Add the juice of a lemon (or a good slosh of lime juice) to the cous cous, mix then add the water. Leave for 20 mins, then fluff with a fork.
Beat egg, add butter.
Dip meat in butter, then into cous cous and place individually onto a baking tray. Bake in the oven until cooked thoroughly (about 180 degrees c. for about 20 minutes).
I served them with homemade chips and peas. Yummy!

365 Photo. Day 13

Oops, had a week off. On the plus side, I've been busy. I finally made the curtains for the bathroom (fabric has been sitting around for a wee while), which means that it's one more room that's a little closer to being finished. Whoop! I've gone for a tropical escape look, with a fruity colour scheme; purple, lime, pink & teal. It's only a dinky room, but since I live with boys, I decided to make the bathroom a girlie escape where I can have a quick pamper session, even if it's just to throw on a facemask & paint my nails.

Annoyed by other people's statuses...not me

On the radio this morning they were discussing that one issue that just keeps cropping up when it comes to Facebook and twitter; how easily annoyed people are by other peoples statuses about their kids/dogs/jobs, etc.

I understand their point of view, but why are people so miserable?

So what if I go on about whether or not my kids have gone to bed nicely? So what if a friend’s baby took her first steps? So what if someone’s dog had a great walk in the woods? And so what if they are counting down until Friday coz they hate their job? I think these are the things that are important to people, that’s the sole purpose of Facebook/twitter feeds, these are the things happening in our friends everyday lives, and that’s exactly what I’m interested in. We can’t all only ever put cool witty remarks on every single update.

I don’t watch Eastenders or Corrie, but I love reality TV, I love watching real people reacting to real events and situations, and I think that’s why I love social networking sites. I’m not in it for the wise cracks, the constantly shared photos (except the ones that really make me laugh), or the constant flirting on twitter. I just want to hear/read about people’s normal lives. Raw and honest. And if that means that every Monday and particular person is groaning about their job, and every Saturday someone is out on the town looking a tiny bit trashy, and the constant stream of baby talk, dog photos is absolutely fine with me.

If you’re not interested, turn the damn computer off, or just unfriend/unfollow them. Easy as pie.

Arguing with my phone again

I have completely screwed myself over.

I ‘tidied’ my phone contacts.

Driven mad by the idea that there could be duplicates, oh how I hate duplicates, I love it when things are clean and precise and even.

So, I put them all on my Gmail account (most were there anyway) and expected my phone to be clever enough to find them all when I put the contact list in the Gmail setting. Nope. There are a few important ones missing, like my mum, my baby sister, my besties and....my husband. Oops.

So now it’s not tidy. It’s not even. I now just have a very small contacts list (minus all the Facebook imported junk). I don’t see why it had to take out only important people. Must be karma. I deserved it for being so goddamn pedantic.

To top it off, this morning I had a text from an unknown number, telling me they had a dream about me last night. Not exactly what I want to hear from a stranger haha, but thankfully it turned out (as I had guessed by the dream specifics) to be a close friend my phone has decided to ‘forget’.

Only 3 more months until my contract is up and I can get an iphone!! Whahoo.

365 Photo. Day 12

I had a lovely day at Bean's Pre-school today.
When the rain finally stopped, we found a damp butterfly amongst the outdoor toys, so I picked it up, showed it to some of the kids and then we put it up here to dry off in the breeze. Happily it soon fluttered away. It was a lovely moment, and a fabulous chance to encourage anyone small to look after their world. Sorry the photo isn't better but I was on the hop and I took it with my phone.

365 Photo. Day 11

My husband, who has a nasty habit of bringing home junk and cluttering up our very cluttered house and consequently driving my up the frickin wall, brought these home last night.

Normally I would hit the roof (he loves to build bikes and therefore has a few of them already loitering in my garden/loft/anyway he can find space), but these babies have made me a very happy bunny. I’ve been jealous of Ed’s scooter for a while and wanted an adult size one, and I looooove the ladies town bike, I was looking on eBay a while ago, but I couldn’t justify the spend so I gave up. He found both of these in a skip, and yes, they both need a lot of work, but it’s nothing he’s not capable of. And I know it's really hypocritical of me to not be cross this time, I'm so very selfish sometimes. In my defence, my husband is a very busy man, and building bikes is not something he actually has anywhere or any time to do.

I am very excited, they are going to be beautiful and coooool as. I’m so looking forward to when Bean can ride his bike a bit faster and we can all go to school on wheels.

I was riding round the house on the scooter last night and it’s amazing!  Argh! I can't wait!

And yes, today's photobomb was brought to you by Milly.

365 Photo. Day 10

Yesterday, as I went to school to collect the boys, I was holding my car keys instead of shoving them into my bag. I usually put my handbag on the buggy, but I’m trying to get Bean to walk sensibly with me (rather than run off which is what he normally does grrr), so I left my bag at home in order to be more hands-free. I glanced at my keys and realised that the photo of the boys made me an official 'Mummy', if you know what I mean. I don’t know many parents these days, who don’t have photos of their kids on the keys. Isn’t that odd? I don’t know when it happens, it just does. I think I got a photo pack when the Tempest lady came to our Mums’n’Tots group and there happened to be little photos and I happened to have a spare key ring for it to go in.
So anyway, that lead me to think about the concept of the contents of a person's pockets or a woman's handbag says a lot about who they are, and I reckon keys are the same. So I thought I photograph mine.
So there's my car key of course, still quite new to me as I only got my licence a year ago. My house key, keys to my Mum’s, a butterfly trolley thingy, Tesco clubcard swiper (love Tesco), the photo of my boys and a monkey my mum bought me donkeys years ago (it was in my Xmas stocking one year, no idea when. It's being washed as I type since looking at it made me realise quite how dirty it is).
So, there you have it. What do your keys say about you?

365 Day Photo. Day 9

Bean in his uncle's garden yesterday. He's the biggest animal lover I know (he's not sure about preston the pug though, who licks him in his face - yuk).

365 Day Photo Challenge. Day 8

I made this for my nephew's first birthday yesterday, using 'up-cycled' cards. I'm really pleased with it, it's so cute & cool.

365 Day Photo Challenge. Day 7

I spent my day finishing off my superhero capes and giving them a good press. So now they are all hung up over a door for fear of getting them creased again haha. I'm really pleased with them, they look fabulous. Just need to finish the red ones and them i can put them in my shop. Lovely.

365 Day Photo Challenge Explained

I thought I’d take the opportunity to explain the whole 365 day photo challenge.

It’s something I came across on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Framed365) completely by accident. I don’t even remember how, but I was immediately struck by it. I might be wrong, but it seems to be an idea either invented by, or taken on by therapists/analysts, and can be used as a method of self exploration.

So the general idea (which changes from person to person as everyone amends it for their own uses) is to post a photo a day which is either; a photo taken by me, a photo of me taken by other people, a self portrait, a family album photo or a found image.