Not the evening we expected

Daughter No2's phone received a text whilst we were driving to the pub. It was her boyfriend and he was letting her know he had been in an accident and was on the way to the hospital in an ambulance. She had been with him all day and was catching the bus from town to our village. Her boyfriend wanted to make sure she got home okay as it was dark so decided to follow the bus on his scooter. As soon as daughter arrived home we set off for the pub, this is when she got the text. She's had a call since saying he's okay and needed stitches to his head and is bruised badly but is allowed home. Apparently a car hit him and did not stop. A man walking his dog witnessed the incident so the police are involved and his scooter is in the hands of the police who are looking for clues as to the colour of the car that hit him.

What gets me is motor bikes and scooters. Every time he visits or returns home I worry about him being on his scooter on the dark country lanes from here to his home. I would never let one of my daughter's have a scooter, I just would not settle when they were out on it. I know lots and lots of teenagers around here have motor bikes or scooters because transport is not good and it is long distances between friends but I could never allow one of mine to have a bike.   Poor daughter is riddled with guilt because if she had come home when it was still light he would not have followed. Anyway, thank heavens he seems okay and he's here to tell the tale. The bastard who hit him most probably won't be found but how can that driver live with himself . He must have known he hit him and he drove off and did not care about his well being. He could have killed him. I hope the bastard is tossing and turning in his bed tonight with the worry of what he's done. Daughter's boyfriend; he's not even my child and I worry the hell about him!

Happy Halloween

Hello fellow Bloggers and how are you this fine Halloween? Must admit I have always hated the constant knocking on the door of every child in the village and I think I have only ever taken my girls trick or treating once. They have always gone with friends parents or with big sis when she was old enough to take them. Then when they were old enough they used to go out with friends. I know it's good fun for the kids and they love it but myself I hate it. So this year I have bought no sweets and I'm off out for the night to the local pub with one of the daughters and having a cheap pub meal and keeping away from any trick or treaters. I know, I'm a miserable cow but I don't care. Daughter No3's going out with friends to trick or treat. She was not that bothered for going but friends wanted her to go with them.

MENU PLAN WEEK 31/10/11

MONDAY - Off to pub
TUESDAY - Chicken & leek pie, roast potatoes and vegetables
WEDNESDAY - Seafood risotto
THURSDAY - Spaghetti bolognese & homemade garlic bread
FRIDAY - Sausage, mash, vegetables and onion gravy
SATURDAY - Chicken/tofu fajitas
SUNDAY - pork, apple sauce, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables

When I did my shop in Aldi today they were selling a roll of brown packaging paper for £1.49.

The roll is 15meters long. What I plan to do is print Christmas images on the paper using potatoes and paint then use it to wrap presents. Will update you with the finished wrapping paper.

Bloody Rain!

Rain messed up all my plans to prune two trees in my front garden today. Shall have to wait for a dry day to do the job now. Instead I had a day of bread making. Made my usual hot cross buns for daughter No3's breakfasts and then made some rustic roasted veg bread. I needed to use up some marrow I had in the fridge for ages and I had lots of peppers so roasted these and about 4 cloves of garlic. I made my bread dough using some olive oil left in a jar of olives I'd finished. When the dough had risen I knocked it back then added some of the roasted peppers, marrow and garlic all chopped into small pieces.

The bread is covered in a lot of flour, I always sprinkle the bread with flour before cooking, it gives the bread a soft crust. So we had one with our meal and the other is in the freezer for another day.

Used up some leftover mascarpone cheese in the pasta sauce we had tonight and also blended into the sauce some of the roasted marrow and some of the peppers. Still got some roasted veg to use in a sandwich for lunch tomorrow and for work tomorrow night. Got lots of odds and ends used up today so no food waste happening in this house. Tea tonight, good old cheap pasta with the use it up sauce with some value tuna mixed through it. Lovely it was too.

Nothing much of a day

Had quite a nice sleep after my night shift. Daughter No3 took the dog out for his walk this afternoon so I didn't have to get up and take him out. Daughter No2 was busy at the hairdressers she works at usually at weekends. Wanted to prune some trees in the front garden today but I never seem to have much energy after a night shift so shall tackle them tomorrow. Had an evening tea of Fragrant pork rice one pot. This is a very frugal meal needing only a few main ingredient, sausages, rice, tin tomatoes and half an onion. Was a request from Daughter No 2 this week. The recipe is here http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9527/fragrant-pork-and-rice-onepot    we had this with some homemade bread.

Nothing much happened today. It's been a quiet day and I hope to have a more productive day tomorrow. To tell you the truth, a none productive day is quite a lovely day and a rare day here!

Must just finish on a high. So pleased with my views on my blog each day, I'm up to about 150 a day which is a big increase on my blog. Thanks to all who view. Much appreciated.

Chocolate Fondant Day

Had a morning of catching up on a huge pile of ironing whilst catching up on my celebrity master chef (don't tell me who won, I've not totally caught up yet) Felt good to have gotten rid of the huge pile of ironing but it doesn't take long for it to grow again!

Think it was one of the earlier parts of master chef that I saw one contestant making chocolate fondants and thought to myself I must try making these myself one day. I have wanted to make them for years and have never gotten around to it. I bought a bar of chocolate a couple of weeks ago so thought today shall be the day. We are not pud eaters in our house but I'm sure we will enjoy them. They are cheap enough to make using just chocolate, butter, eggs, sugar and flour. All the ingredients people usually have in except the chocolate. My eggs are cheap because I get them from the farm. I bought two dozen free range seconds yesterday for £2.00 so the fondants have not cost much to make. I have spent half hour making them and they are sat in the fridge ready to cook later. That's the hard bit, cooking them for the right amount of time or I shall have no runny centre. We shall see later.

The last few days I have looked out of my kitchen window and thought what a lovely colour my blueberry bush is. So today I thought I'd take a picture to show you.

I then went on a walk with the dog. It's been another lovely day here again. We walk each day by this apple tree

It's on the edge of the carrot field Sherlock harvests every time we pass it. I like to pick an apple when I fancy one on our walk. Here's todays picking

They are lovely apples, taste a bit like a golden delicious but sweeter. Shall have to come and pick the rest off soon as they are all dropping on the floor and the tree is on the turn now so they won't be there much longer.

Fondant update

They worked! Came out perfect.

Could not finish mine and Hubby only had half of his as they are quite rich . The girls polished off theirs though. I halved  the recipe by Gordon Ramsay http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8168/chocolate-fondant 

Menu Week 24/10/11

MONDAY - Creamy pesto chicken, jacket potato, peas and roasted tomatoes

• Mascarpone tomato & tuna sauce on pasta with homemade garlic bread
• Fragrant pork rice one pot with homemade bread
• Creamy beef and potato layer, carrots, broccoli and peas
• Thai fishcakes with noodles
• Roast chicken, Yorkshire puddings, mashed potatoes and vegetables  

Will choose what we fancy on the day from the list above.

Back on track this week. Hate it when things get in the way of my routine. Hated not knowing what to have for our meals last week and so glad I normally menu plan, makes life so much easier. Because I was on a course last Monday I could not do my usual shop. Tuesdays I'm too busy to go shopping, Wednesdays in bed because done a nightshift. Anyway, you get the picture so ended up shopping as I passed a shop and picking up something for a meal that day. I hate shopping this way. Come this weekend the cupboards and fridge have been bare. Ran out of lots of essentials and toiletries so today I was back on track and have replenished all my cupboards and fridge. Got a couple more Christmas presents too so my stash is building up. I bought a bag of nibbles to put away for Christmas too. I like to buy a bag of nuts or nibbly things and I stash them away each week and I have a good amount to cover Christmas and New Year and I don't notice the extra £1.00 - £2.00 each week.

No heating on yet. I admit to popping it on for a hour to take the chill out of the air in the morning when grandaughter was here this weekend and it was on for about an hour or so on a cold day last week but managing just fine without at the moment. Took advantage of the lovely breezy day today and have done a load of darks and a load of bedding and also decided to throw the dogs bed in the washer and get that done whilst its a good day for drying.

Oops look at the time. Better go and sort out tea.

Another rubbish day yesterday

Thought things were on the turn for the better then we had Thursday! My crown on a tooth broke so had to get a quick appointment at the dentist. They could fit me in at 2.00pm she said so off I toddled to the dentist yesterday. The dentist put a temp crown on my tooth and took an x-ray  because the bit of tooth my crown gets attached to was wobbly and she wondered if we should take a different route with crowning my tooth. One route was to go private and have a dental implant but this was expensive she said. £1500-£2000 per tooth! dont' think I'll be having that done then. On the NHS it's a plate or another process she explained where a metal plate is attached to the tooth next to the one I want to crown and this has the tooth attached to it somehow. Anyway shes going to check my x-ray and write to me with the options so I can study them and decide which way I want to go. Hoping the temp crown lasts until after Christmas then I will tackle the expense of a new crown in the new year.

Then, yesterday evening whilst eating my evening meal I began to feel unwell. I could not eat my meal so left it and said I may try to eat it later that evening. We had to be at daughter No3's school for 6.45 due to her receiving two awards at the award presentation evening. There I was sat in a crowded hall feeling unwell when I said to Hubby I was going to stand near the hall door because I was feeling sick. A teacher brought me a chair and another brought me a glass of water. I felt dreadful and just as the presentation was starting I had to make a quick exit into the car park. I had been hit with a D & V bug and ended up going home and missed daughters presentation which I was gutted about. So today I'm still not fully right but nearly there. Rang the voluntary job to let them know I would not be in this morning so I think I shall go back to bed now and try and get some more sleep.

It never rains but it pours as the saying goes. Promise my next blog won't be a moan.

Having a moan

Whatever I said a few days ago about being better with my cold did not hold. I actually felt terrible after that posting and it has taken me a few days to get myself together and feel ok to blog. All last weekend was taken up with me sleeping and not feeling up to doing much of anything due to my really bad cold. I can't believe the crap time I've had this week with work, training and just trying to catch up with life has had on me!

I started to feel like a human being today after many days of crap.I had an horrendous night last night taking a bank nurse out on our rounds around Leeds last night. She asked if I would drive which I said no problem. After an horrendously busy night I arrived back at base 45 minutes after my night shift had finished. Then to have another hours drive back home. I had not eaten in over10 hours and I was fit to burst because my shift had been so busy I had not been able to empty my bladder in over 10 hours! We had not had a break in over 10 hours and they wonder why the NHS is not working! No wonder I want to get out of the NHS!

After calling the kids to inform them I wouldn't be back before they left for school/college I had a long drive before I arrived home. On arriving home the dog needed taking out and feeding before I could contemplate having any sleep.Slept crap because the electricity cut off for a moment in our village ( a regular occurrence in our village) ended in me being woken at 12.30 in the day with the alarms ringing in the village and our alarm beeping in the house because our electricity had been turned off. So end of my moan and on to other stuff.

Bought these lovely squashes when I nipped into Morrisons the other day. They were only 50p each and I knew exactly what to make with them. The lady at the checkout said they were too pretty to eat.

I cut one in half and scooped out the seeds. In the cavity I grated a clove of garlic, added a knob of butter and seasoned well. One half I added some sage and the other half I added some chopped rosemary. Both herbs were from the garden. I baked these until tender, the smell in the kitchen was lovely. When cooked I scooped out the pulp and mixed with some feta cheese and returned to the oven for 10 minutes. A lovely autumnal meal.

Me and my cold

Hi all,

Thanks for all the views today. There has been a good turn out today!

 I managed to survive work last night. I drew the short straw and had to drive all night around the streets of Leeds doing visits to patients and dealing with all the call outs.  We had a visit at 5.30am on the other side of Leeds and my partner looked at me and said she would drive to the visit. She said my eyes looked so sore and I looked dreadful. Our boss said we might as well both go in our separate cars to the visit then go home after as we were quite quiet. Bless her! I drove to the last patients home, did our work then home on the motorway for the 40 minute drive home. I don't know how I got home this morning! I was on the verge of falling asleep at the wheel on  numerous occasions it was scary! I think I felt this way with feeling so run down with my cold and my sore eyes. I finally arrived home in total darkness and took the dog for a walk. Fed the dog  and finally fell into bed just before 7.00am shattered. I always eat some breakfast before I go to bed, it helps me sleep longer. Today I could not face food and flopped in bed and slept for a staggering 10 hours! I never normally sleep this long  after a night shift but I needed it today.

We had homemade pizzas tonight and I wanted to take a picture for my blog but with rushing around and getting everyone to help with the preparation for our meal I forgot to get some pictures. I will one day get some pictures of our pizzas for my blog. I normally love my homemade pizzas but to tell you the truth I had trouble enjoying it tonight because I could not taste it with having my cold.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be back to normal. See you then. Thanks for reading, your all a great bunch of followers.

Karen x

: (

I've got a cold and my eyes are sore with it and I've to go to work shortly : (

See you tomorrow,

Bye x

I'm here

Snuggled under my nice warm fleece with no heating on. Had a busy day with mandatory training for work. I hate this time of year. All my mandatory training needs doing in October/November and there's a lot to do with the NHS. I've another day of training on Monday, can't wait until it's all done. I've noticed a lot of blogs doing  a  MY A-Z, so here's mine.

Age - 47
Bed Size - King size
Chores I hate - Ironing
Dog - Labrador
Essential start to day - Cleaning teeth. Can't do anything until my teeth are cleaned
Favourite colour - Plum
Gold or silver - Both, depends on what I'm wearing
Height - 5ft6
Interests - Cooking, dog walking, voluntary work & reading cookery books
Job Title - Nursing assistant
Kids - 3 daughters
Live - North Yorkshire
Mothers name - Maureen
Nickname - Moody cow (by Hubby) Kaz when I was younger
Overnight hospital stay - Maternity
Pet peeves - Bad manners
Quote from a film - Surley it was a good way to die, in the place of someone I loved. Noble even. That ought to count for something.        Bella, Twilight
Right/left handed - Right
Siblings - 1 brother
Time you wake - 7.00am
Underwear - white & flesh
Vegetables you hate - None. Not come across any veg I hate yet.
What makes you late - Traffic
X Rays - Teeth
Yummy food I make - Pizza from scratch
Zoo Animal - Prairie dog, they are so funny with their squeaks

My favourite colour

Menu Week 10/10/11

MONDAY - Homemade lasagne, salad and homemade bread (did not have this last week so brought it into this weeks menu)

• Roasted garlic chicken, corn-on-cob, salad, pasta & coleslaw with homemade bread
• Beef casserole, mash, greens and Yorkshire puddings or dumplings
• Roast pork, apple sauce, potatoes, vegetables
• Homemade pizza, homemade coleslaw & wedges
• Sausages, mash, veg and onion gravy
• Homemade fish cakes, chips and peas/beans 

Had a productive morning in the kitchen. Used  a lot of bits to clear out the fridge before I went shopping. Made a panful of colcannon soup using up half a savoy cabbage, a couple of leeks and some potatoes. Had this for lunch with a bagel sandwich daughter left in the fridge a few days ago. Made a beef lasagne and made myself a tuna lasagne using up half a tin of tuna that had been in the fridge a couple of days and a handful of mushrooms I had. I also added the remains of our Saturday night fajita vegetables. I also made a batch of hot cross buns for breakfasts.

Stuck to what I said I'd do on Sunday and turned the heating off again. To be honest I think it's been very mild today and I was actually very warm in the house and opened the door when ironing this afternoon.

Bought another Christmas present today for daughter No1 (won't say what in case she reads this) The item was on offer so thought I'd have one at the price. Need to find my wrapping paper in the loft so I can get wrapping. I like to wrap presents as soon as I buy them. It saves me from having to spend ages wrapping and getting bored with it.

Any xmas prep done at yours yet?

I succumed to the heating only because......

the grandchildren were coming to stay. To tell you the truth I would have happily not turned the heating on for a while yet. But I went into the living room today and thought it felt quite chilly. I mentioned to Hubby I was going to put the heating on for the grandchildren because I thought they might feel the chill when Hubby declared, he was feeling cold and had felt cold yesterday too! Now my Hubby declaring he feels chilly is unheard of . He is the one who every year lives in t-shirts in the house and declares it is warm and we don't need the heating on so high. He wanted the heating on! I was shocked. I have not felt the cold in the house yet. I only had a t-shirt on today with a hoody and I was really warm and reluctant to put the heating on. Daughter No 2 and her boyfriend were commenting on how they were chilly the other day and when  I said "it's not cold. Move around a bit more, you won't feel the chill" Daughter No2 reminded me it was only two years ago I was always feeling the cold . True. I had this thing where I had to have the central heating set to 21degrees or above! Then last year I started to take control of the thermostat and would not let it go above 20 degrees even when it was really cold. I think I have finally acclimatised to cooler temperatures and I honestly am not feeling the cold at the moment and will put a fleece on first rather than the heating. Once the grandchildren return home to Leeds tomorrow the heating  is off and if we feel chilly its a fleece blanket and a thick dressingown or jumper on thank you! We can do this a bit longer if you ask me. I really think the rest of them are getting softer as I'm getting tougher.

Great night with friends

Had a great night out with a lot of friends from the charity shop I volunteer at last night. It was a charity event to raise money for the charity we all volunteer for. Artists did a really good show for us and did not take a fee for performing choosing  instead to donate it to the charity night. They had a raffle to raise more money and we had a bucket collection to take everyones change they had left at the end of the night. Everyone had a great night and a lot of money was raised.

In true frugal style I went to the evening in a charity shop creation. Everything I wore was sourced from the charity shop except my trousers.

The top and necklace I bought last week. The sandals and bag were bought at the charity shop just before last Christmas. I love my little satin purse bag, it's a Jasper Conran bag.

My bracelets were bought from the charity shop too. A lot does not have to be spent to look smart for a night out.

Have you had any bargains from the charity shop lately?

Menu Week 03/10/11

Google image

Doing the same as last week and just making a list of what we will eat this week but not giving any meal a set day.

Yesterday we had, Sausage pasta and homemade garlic bread. Rest of the week we are having

• Mince and onion pie, vegetables and potatoes with gravy
• Lasagne, salad, sauteed potatoes and homemade garlic bread
• Fish pie, peas and carrots
• Pork escalope, fries, peas and salad
• Chicken/tofu fajitas 

Tomorrow I am going to a charity event and at the moment my wardrobe is a bit bare of autumn/winter clothes so I have been searching the rails of the charity shop for something to wear to the charity do.  I found a M&S purple top last week which I bought for a couple of pounds. Today I found a nice necklace to go with it for a pound. I have also found a grey/black top and matching necklace so all I need to do now is decide tomorrow which to wear. Shall post a picture of the one I choose tomorrow.

Off to work now. Bye