Quick Craft - Bored Jar

Anyone that has or looks after children will know that on occasions we hear the dreaded words "I'm bored"!  Aargh!!

The school summer holidays are only a week old and I have to admit I've heard them said already.  So I decided I would put together a Bored Jar. 

I recently came across this idea when reading a blog post by Mum in the Madhouse, which you can read here http://www.muminthemadhouse.com/2014/07/17/ultimate-summer-activities-lists-bored-jar-lists/.

So I purchased some lolly sticks, found a marker pen and a pretty container to keep them in (yes I know it's not exactly a jar, but hey!).  Then sat down with Scarlett and George and we came up with some ideas.

We needed a few more activites, so the list from Mum in the Madhouse was really useful and in the end we have about 50 sticks to choose from.  A mixture of fun and games, some at home, some out and about. 

These will be kept in the kitchen ready for any "bored" moments. Hopefully we won't have too many, but if we do, we are fully prepared.

Until next time.

Sarah xx

The week that was!

Sorry I'm a little later with this post than normal. Kiddywinks are on their summer holidays and we are busy, busy!

Anyway, if you can remember last week I only needed to lose 1/2lb to achieve my 3 stone award. Unfortunately this didn't happen and I was rather grumpy. I actually put on 1/2lb!! So no purple certificate for me this week. 

After being really good and not having many syns at all, I've come to the conclusion that maybe I've not been eating enough and will try this next week to eat much more super free food (fruits and vegetables) and enjoy a few more syns.

However there was some good news, I achieved Slimmer of The Month for July after losing a total of 5lbs. This I was really pleased with. Look at the sparkly sticker!!

We did eat some delicious meals last week and I thought I would share these with you.

Warm Breakfast Salad

We ate this for dinner, but it would be perfect for any meal of the day. And it's completely free on Extra Easy.

There are two recipes for this, one in the Extra Easy Cookbook, the other in the May/June edition of the Slimming World magazine, both have slight variations. I used the recipe from the magazine.

The combination of bacon and eggs is always a winner. Add that to new potatoes, radishes and lots of salad and it makes a delicious alternative to the traditional all day breakfast.

This will definitely become a favourite.

Hot and Sour Soup with Noodles

This was again from the May/June edition of the Slimming World magazine.  It only took about 30 minutes to make and was absolutely delicious and very filling.

It is jammed packed full of delicious flavours to tantalise your taste buds, including ginger, lemongrass and chillies. And it's only 1/2 syn per portion.

I made the whole amount to serve 4 and had it again for lunch the next day. It was so tasty.

As well as these newbies, we enjoyed some old favourites BBQ Chicken and Salmon Kedgeree.

I'm feeling positive for the week ahead and we have already planned our meals, so fingers crossed for the right result.

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Adventures on a hot Sunday afternoon!

It was hot and sticky and we wanted to do something exciting with the kiddywinks, but keep them cool at the same time.

After seeing pictures posted on Facebook the previous day by a friend, we knew the perfect place.

So we headed to Kingston-on-Soar and went on a little adventure.

We parked up on the village green and crossed the road towards the Public Footpath. We climbed over the stile and made our way across the field, with the sun warm on our backs. Kingston Hall could be seen peeking through the trees. I'd love to have a nosey round, but this is a residential property. What a lovely place to live.

As we wandered through fields and over more stiles, we eventually came to a field full of corn. What a lovely sound it makes when swaying in the breeze.

A little further along and we finally made it to the spot we were looking for. And it didn't disappoint.  A beautiful brook full of fresh, cool water.  The kiddywinks were very excited. And went straight in for a paddle. 

We then went further into the water to explore. Navigating deep areas, low branches, fish and frogs.

It was such a beautiful place, so peaceful, cool and calm.

After our little adventure, we headed back to the car. Some of us were a little pooped and needed help.

We all really enjoyed our little adventure, even if we did get rather wet and I nearly fell in when trying to climb out (thankfully no pictures of that). The kiddywinks are already asking when we are going again!

Until next time.

Sarah xx

100 Days of Nature Challenge

Last week I read a status on Facebook by BBC Springwatch that was asking people to join them in a challenge between now and the start of Autumnwatch.

It's called #100DaysofNature and it's a photograph project to take one nature picture a day.

You are asked to use the hashtag to share your pictures with them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

The photos can be taken on a phone or other type of camera and as they say "Captures your nature moment from that day however big or small, bee or beach, epic or ordinary."

Each day they will share their favourites on social media.

It started on Thursday 24th July and runs until October 31st.

As Scarlett loves all things nature, we have accepted the challenge. Hopefully we will remember to do it every day!

Here are the first three pictures we have posted so far.

Day 1 - A Bee trying to find some shade on our garden path. Spotted by Scarlett and George.

Day 2 - A Ladybird in the corn field trying to escape from George's fingers! Spotted by Scarlett.

Day 3 - A huge Puss Moth Caterpillar crawling along the side of the cricket pitch. Spotted by Tim.

It's a great little project for the kiddywinks to get involved in during the summer holidays and beyond and I'm really looking forward to what my little nature detectives can spot.

Why not take on the challenge?

Until next time.

Sarah xx

CBeebies Birthday Card

We love CBeebies in our household. It all started with Scarlett watching In The Night Garden and Boo! and has now moved onto George loving Topsy and Tim and Octonauts.

Due to their fondness of the BBC channel, we decided that we would send in a birthday card each year to the station, to be hopefully shown on their birthday section. There are no guarantees that the cards will be shown and a couple of times Scarlett's haven't been. But we still put the effort in, just in case!

And this year is no different. George did want a Topsy and Tim card, but unfortunately there are not a lot of pictures of them around so we went for his second choice Octonauts. The challenge has been set.

I try and collect as many of the CBeebies magazines that have the appropriate pictures in, so that I can cut and paste to my hearts content. Thankfully both kiddywinks have accumulated a fair number over the years, so I have plenty to work with.

I try and think of a scene, rather than just stick random pictures around. Probably far too elaborate, you can understand why I get a little frustrated when they don't get shown!

Here are a couple of the previous cards I've made.

When I had a spare few minutes I sat and started cutting out characters and planning how I wanted the card to look.

I decided to do half underwater, half beach, so that I could have a mixture of creatures. Most of it was from magazines, but a bit was some drawing and colouring. 

The next day we popped to Loughborough to get a photo of George printed out. It was quite tricky getting the right size to fit perfectly onto the body of Captain Barnacles. But we got there in the end and I'm really pleased his head fits!

I then cut George's name and a number three out of card using templates I have and it was then time to stick everything down.

And voila. Here's the finished card. I love it and George does too. 

It has to be at CBeebies HQ at least 4 weeks before the child's birthday, so I think I've just made it by the skin of my teeth. As I said earlier, they cannot guarantee all cards are shown, so we will keep our fingers crossed and watch on the day.

If this has spurred you on to make a card for your little one, you can find all the details of what to do here http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/help/birthdays

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Quick Ikea Pinboard Craft

Recently I had a visit to Ikea and as I was meandering around the room sets I noticed a lovely fabric pinboard. 

It basically said that you needed the Vaggis noticeboard and Majlis Tea Towels. So they both found their way into my trolley.

Add a staple gun and some pretty ribbon (not shown in picture as I decided to use this at the end) and we are ready to go. (Apologies for the poor lighting in the photos, this was a late night project!).

After giving the tea towel a quick iron, lay it face down on a table and place the noticeboard face down on top.

Next pull one of the edges of the fabric tightly over the back of the board, making sure the pattern is straight on the front (mine is slightly wonky, oops). Staple in place.

Continue with the other edges, folding neatly at the corners and making sure the fabric is pulled nice and tight. Secure well with plenty of staples.

I then decided to add some ribbon to hang it up with, securing it tightly to the back of the frame with plenty of staples.

And there we have it. All done. Nice and simple.

All I need now is a sturdy hook to hang it up in my kitchen. A lovely little job for Tim!

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Who doesn't love a trip to Ikea??

As it was almost time for the kiddywinks to break up for the summer holidays, I thought myself and George would take a trip to Ikea before it got ridiculously busy.

I had a small list of things that I wanted to get, but as we all know there are a multitude of things that always find themselves falling into your trolley, of which I shall tell you about later.

Whilst there we enjoyed lunch, which is always delicious and such good value.

George had a childrens lunch box, which included a sandwich, packet of Goodies biscuits, raisins, apple and yoghurt. As you can see he was very pleased with it!

I enjoyed Gravlax with salad leaves and a lovely dill and mustard sauce (at least I think that's what it was). I also added a salad bowl of vegetables, mixed beans and hard boiled eggs. All very healthy and I'm sure the sauce can't have been that bad!

So here is what I bought!!

Now I won't bore you with the details of everything, just a few things that I got a little excited about (sad I know)!

Firstly the Virserum Frame. 

A while back we purchased a number of vintage school information posters and I've been looking for the right frame for them to go in. This one was perfect. I needed to crop the edges of the poster slightly, but I hope you'll agree it looks fab. Now I just need to buy some more frames (any excuse for another trip to Ikea) and to figure out where to put them!

Next up is the Hemsta Lampshade in pink. 

After getting some house inspiration from Instagram, I wanted to freshen up some of our rooms. So I decided the black lampshade in the Sitting Room had to go.  I actually wanted a grey shade, but when I saw the pink I was swayed and into the trolley it went. 

And here it is. I love the ruffled material and the soft pinky glow it lets off.  I stole the lamp base from George's room as I'm making him a new lamp, which I'll tell you about further in the post.

What fell into my trolley next were the Vaggis noticeboards.  These were not a planned purchase!

As I wandered around the rooms settings, I came across a lovely pinboard, perfect I thought for my kitchen. It said all I needed was a noticeboard and a Majlis Tea Towel (which also fell into the trolley)! I shall let you know how I get on with this craft at a later date.

Next was a small Lampan Table Lamp. It may look a little boring at the moment, but I have a plan for it. Only a couple of days ago I saw this craft http://www.hearthandmade.co.uk/2014/07/lampshade.html while reading a blog I follow. It's going to be for George's room and I plan to use his farm fabric.  I'll do a little post to let you know how I get on.

At the bottom of the picture you can just make out a pole. It is in fact an Ore Shower Curtain Rod! But I won't be using it in the shower. I'm planning on using it in the kitchen window to hold a little curtain. We don't have any blinds or curtains in the kitchen and at certain times of the day the sun shines really brightly and it is difficult to use the main work surface. So I'm going to try and make something pretty. I'll keep you posted on whether it's a success, or not!

So there we go, a few projects planned. Not sure how quick they will get completed once the kiddywinks are on holiday, but we shall see.

And not one candle fell into my trolley as I strolled through the enormous Swedish emporium. I must try harder!!

Of course if you want anymore information on all things Ikea, or just want to browse it's lovelyness you can check out their website here http://www.ikea.com/.

Until next time.

Sarah xx

The week that was!

So as you are probably now aware Monday night is weigh in at Slimming World. This week I was really pleased to lose 2 1/2lbs and received Slimmer of the Week, now only needing 1/2lb to reach 3 stone lost.

Once again I thought I would share with you a few of the meals we ate to help me get that loss.

Some favourites crept in again this week, BBQ Chicken and Diet Coke Chicken, but we also tried a couple of new recipes.

Salmon Nicoise Salad

This is from the Extra Easy Cookbook and is syn free on Extra Easy.

I was feeling a little under the weather last week, so Tim prepared me this lovely salad. 

It took about 30 minutes to make and was really fresh and tasty. Just what I needed.

King Prawn Dopiaza

Did you know that Dopiaza means 'two onions'? No, me neither!!

This is from the Fakeaways book and is syn free on Extra Easy.

I love curry, so i was really looking forward to this and I wasn't disappointed.

It was really easy to make and only took about 40 minutes to prepare. I made enough sauce to feed 4 and was supposed to split it before I added the prawns, so that I could freeze it for another meal, but forgot. So the picture does show it to be quite saucy!

I served it with a portion of Basmati rice.

It was absolutely delicious and this may now make my favourites list!

Warm Potato and Ham Salad

Now this recipe I made up myself from things I had left in the fridge and from the storecupboard, simply as I was running low on stuff for lunch, especially salad vegetables!

I cooked some new potatoes and cut them into quarters. While they were still warm, I stirred in a 35g tub of Philadelphia Light (half of my Healthy Extra A), which turned into a lovely creamy sauce. I then added some chunks of ham and some chives.

I served it with a mixed bean salad in fat free dressing.

I have to say it was absolutely delicious and I will definitely make it again, but next time have some salad leaves with it.

So that was last week. We have some really nice meals planned this week and I look forward to telling you all about them soon.

Until next time.

Sarah xx

Sunday afternoon in the sun!

After what was a very wet Saturday we were a little worried Sundays cricket match may be cancelled. But thankfully the sun made an appearance early and everything dried out lovely so that Tim could have his 2014 outing for Sutton Bonington CC.

Today's game was over in Nottingham at Burton Joyce Cricket Club, situated in a beautiful spot by the River Trent. 

My uncle and auntie decided to join us for the afternoon, which would involve lots of walking, playing, exploring, watching and picnicking.

With the faint sound of leather on willow floating through the air, we headed off to explore a little bit of the riverbank.

We firstly came across a lovely wooded area with a path leading to small spots for fishermen to sit and wait for their catch.

Through the undergrowth we then came to a small bridge with the most beautiful little clearing looking out to the river.

Further along, the landscape opened up and we left the woodland for a roadway next to the river. We were lucky enough to spot a single swan trying to find a shady spot.

We weren't the only ones riverside, a group of people were enjoying a barbecue while watching their friends jet ski up and down the water.

We then decided to head back, as the kiddywinks were starting to feel hungry. One of their favourite parts of the day is picnic time!

Today we had packed sandwiches, pasta salad, pizza, crisps, hard boiled eggs, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, melon and some cookies that were hidden away from the sunshine.

We sat and enjoyed our picnic whilst watching SBCC slowly but surely take one wicket after another and listening to TMS on the radio where England were sadly not fairing as well.

The weather was glorious and the kiddywinks enjoyed playing chase, football and catch. George was so tired by the end of the match, but managed to hold out to see Sutton Bonington clinch a thrilling victory by 3 runs and daddy even got a wicket and a run out.

Until next time.

Sarah x

Plans for the summer holidays - Part 1

With the school summer holidays nearly upon us, I've started thinking about what we are going to do over those 6 weeks.

I don't need to have a definitive plan for each day, we like to go with the flow, but I do like to have a few activities booked in for each week.

So I've decided to write about a few of the places we will hopefully be visiting. Here's the first.

Attenborough Nature Reserve

We love visiting the reserve in all seasons, but especially summer.

Situated about 7miles from the centre of Nottingham it's a great place to explore all sorts of flora and fauna, especially birds!

It was recently featured on the BBC2 programme Springwatch, where they showed their new Sand Martin bank and hide. 

The reserve covers around 145 hectares of lakes, wetland, grassland and scrub. Visitors are able to walk around these lanspdscapes and learn about the different wildlife and plant life and it's habitats.

Surrounded by the peaceful waters of the reserve is the Attenborough Nature Centre. This is an eco-friendly visitor attraction which is run by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. And was listed in the top 10 Eco destinations in the world by the BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Inside the Nature Centre there are numerous areas to excite all ages, including the nature table where there are specimens to look at, puzzles to complete and activity sheets to colour in for a small fee.

There are also the interactive screens, where you can play games as well as find out information about the wildlife that can be found at the reserve and it's habitats.  There is also a large screen that can be seen from the cafe, which shows footage of their nesting boxes (when available) and also information on upcoming events.

The cafe is lovely and has fantastic views of the reserve.  Sitting either inside or outside on the lovely balcony, you can enjoy a light snack or more substantial lunch from their menu, which includes quality local, fair trade and organic homemade products.

There is also a shop which sells great nature related items for a little pocket money treat as a reminder of the visit to the reserve or nest boxes, bird seed and feeders if you want to create your own little nature haven at home.

It's a fab day out and what's even better it's free. They only ask for a small donation of £1.50 for the car park, which I think is totally worth it.

You can find out more information about the reserve and activities going on throughout the year here http://www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk/.

We can't wait to visit and see how the landscape has changed since the last time we were there.

Until next time.

Sarah xx