I made it!

Hello everybody, I am sorry I have been absent, but I have a wonderful excuse, I was celebrating my 30th birthday! Yay! I made it! I have been having the most brilliant time, my very dear friend organised a girley weekend away to Leeds and we had a ball! Of course I had to put a spanner in the works and sleep in for our train journey. I was devastated, I felt like I ruined the whole trip, but it was fine we could just get on the next one. It stung me fifty pounds but that's what you get for sleeping in eh Claire?

When we got there, the hotel was lovely but they made a mistake with our room, so we got moved to the executive suite. Plush! We left in our bags and went for something to eat. The lady who served us asked if we were there for a special occasion and my friend blurted out, "Shes thirty!" For that I received a free glass of champers! Lovely!Now, my friend was well impressed by this and everywhere we went, on the bus "It's her birthday yeknow!" in the tourist office, "are you gonna give her anything free, she's thirty yeknow!" but we didn't bag anymore free stuff. worth a try though. We went shopping,



(I am not sure what this is, I don't know where I am going to put it, but I LOVE IT!)


We had some lovely meals

and drunk far too much wine.......................far too much.

But hey, I am 30 ya know! So on the eve of my birthday, I looked out to the moon and thanked her for my twenties and all the ups and downs, but now please take them away with strong lessons under my belt and lead me into my thirties! I stared hard at my reflection in the glass

and waved my twenties goodbye!

I am loving my time off with Big fella and relaxing! I am off to see what you have all been up to!

So I will leave you with a wee friend I made,
Little miss red hot chilli peppa!

Ta Ra for now!

Wish Cast wednesday

The dare filled Jamie asked us this glorious Wednesday, What do you wish to dare yourself?
Alright then, I'll answer. It is a dare after all. Well I have been daring myself a wee bit everyday.
As I am running the race for life in July for cancer research, I have got to start training. Now, believe you me, I am not the sporty type as such. I walk everywhere, climb trees and rocks as such, but if you put me in a gym I will clam up and start rocking back and forth when witnessing a treadmill with millions of other people surrounding the place. ( What? I have issues OK?)

My diet also left a lot to be desired. Three cans of coke and a packet of chocolate biscuits do not suffice for dinner.
But, I do have access on my very doorstep a beautiful promenade to run up and down with the sea beside me and the sun shining. So about two weeks ago, I squeezed into my now moth riddled running gear and stepped outside. I looked up to where I was going to run to. Not too far, i thought and proceeded to jog. Five minutes later I was being escorted back home by two lovely passersby while I limped about saying, " This is never happened to me before, i am normally such a great runner!" Liar. liar, pants on fire.

So after having a good chat with big fella, about stretches, good music to run to and a sports bra, (that was my problem first time, I think i tripped over them) I started my training again. You know what, after the first week of huffing and puffing and not running very far, I have found my self improving. I can run up and two the whole promenade without stopping! I am extremely proud of myself and has given me that extra ommp! to get better. I actually listen to James Brown when running, just when I feel myself flagging and think "can't go on, cant go on" James picks up and says, "Come on, with your bad self!" and I do! James keeps me going! God knows what the neighbour's think when I jogging past their gardens screaming to my self " Get up on this!!" but it is my way of keeping going!
I have also dared myself to take on some dance lessons. My trapeze lessons have finished, so I want to be Beyonce now. I keep watching her music video "All the single ladies" and want to be her. But I tried it the first time and Big fella walked into the living one evening to find with me in the spilts position and could not move from it. I had been there half an hour. So dance lessons are next on my dare list. altogether now "woah, oh,oh oh ,oh, if you like it then you shoulda putta ring on it!" Have a lovely week, and I need to prepare now with some stretches and a run! What do you wish for today? Go on, I dare ya!

How not to bake sconces, by me aged 29 and a 3/4 and a wee bit.

Howdy do everyone. Well, I did tell you in my last post I was going to make sconces for big fella and I did, only... they.... they..........ohhh, just read on. My inner Monica Gellar is yelling at me at the moment for silliness. I was just determined to my sconces!



WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN!!!!!

It may be small, but my word, it is compact and does the job! I have every nook and cranny filled with cooking books, utensils and even the kitchen sink. I had everything ready for my sconce recipe post, I had even tidied up and put on a apron! (Gasp!) So first things first. Preheat your oven at 200 degrees. In doing this, it will probably not bellow out smoke like ours did.

This picture does no justice, the smoke was rife. So what do you do in this kind of crisis of confusion, fear and smoke filled lungs? Ring big fella of course.

Brrriinngggg, Brrinnnnggggggg:

Big Fella: Hiya!

Me: Big fella! The oven is bellowing out smoke and I haven't even baked anything yet!

Big Fella: You blew up the oven again?

Me: Not yet! There is just lots of black smoke coming out after I switched it on! Is it broken?

Big Fella: Mmmm, no, but I made cheese and onion toasties today and I watched a load of cheese melt down into the oven, loads of it, just melting off and all over the oven! It was pretty funny. That's probably the cause.

I won't go on with the rest of this conversation, it just goes down hill from there.

After spending an half an hour cleaning the oven and hoping on a wing and a prayer, I switched it on again and hoped for the best.
Now, prepare. Get all your utensils and ingredients ready. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT forget that you took out the bolt from the weighing machine earlier in the week that is rendered useless if lost and you have no replacement for.

But myself with lightening thinking, quickly took a bolt from one of big fellas guitars and replaced it with that. I must remember to put it back before I forget...........

Anyway, get your ingredients measured and put into bowls and the like so your all raring to go and....I smell onion coming from this butter...............aaawwwww, Big Fella!

Start again. Weighing scales fixed, (remember about the replacing the bolt Claire, remember.)

and fresh butter replaced. This would make you put on 5lbs just by looking at it, wouldn't it? But that's how you know your tasting something good, cause it's bad! That equals yum in my book!

Get a big massive bowl and lets get messy, it's OK, we have aprons on!

add a wee pinch or two of salt to your flour and pour in the baking powder.

Then this is the best part about baking apart from eating it. Add your butter, delve your hands into the mix. It will feel like velvet just after the sticky part as you add it all together. Lush!

Then add your sugar. Mix that in good and proper too!

Then add your milk to your cauldron of delight and make into a soft dough.

Sprinkling your work space with flour before hand, slap it down and give it a good kneading to get all the air bubbles out! Very therapeutic too!

Then roll your dough. Be sure to liberally sprinkle your rolling pin too or the dough will stick to it, as it did with me and I nearly threw the lot out the window by this point. Tip: If you don't have a rolling pin don't despair, my mum used a wine bottle to roll her dough, but that's a whole other blog.

Now, time to cut out the shapes. I just use a cup to cut up my sconces, shapes don't really come out as they are raising.

Then, thank God, finally place cuttings on a floured baking tray, glaze with milk.Then find some smelling salts. Not for the sconces, for me.

As I opened the oven I realised that cleaning it has not made a blind bit of difference and the smoke continues to bellow out, only not as bad.

I soldier on and wait for the smoke to clear, stick the sconces in the oven and start walking around the place humming "High hopes" in a very high pitched squeal.

Which in doing that, I proceeded to walk in flour all in the carpets and wearing a apron made no difference in my case because I forget to take my lovely scarf off in the madness of it all.

I was then frantically worried that the fire alarm might go off and the fire bridge would come, so I manically opened and shut the oven door repeatedly to let the smoke out the window. It was not a pretty picture.
In the end I had some every flat sconces due to the oven door always opening with a tinge of ash and cheese wafting from them

Aww well, when Big fella came in, he laughed at my red sweating face, asked me why I had a face like thunder and took a bite of my sconce. They were not very nice. So I laughed at him too.

So here is the correct recipe if you wish to have a go. Follow my method and you can't fail.

Sconces

500gms self raising flour

12gms of baking powder

a pinch or two of salt

125gms of butter

125gms of caster sugar

250ml of milk

(Twenty minutes in the oven or when golden. Try not to open the oven door.)

I hope all is well in your world and ...................... aww no, big fella has just picked up his guitar and it has fallen to pieces at his feet, I got some explaining to do! Bye!

Days like this

Hi de hi everyone! I do hope your weekend is doing you the world of good and you enjoyed it immensely. I certainly did. Big fella had a very rare Saturday off and so we got up early and went and on a wee adventure! I will tell all very soon, but here is a sneak pic of what is yet to come!

It was a glorious day and to top it all off, on the way home we stopped off by the Pier and had a brilliant time

We did all the touristy seaside things

looked in all the wonderful wee shops

watched a wee bit of Punch and Judy. (My work light bulb flicked on in my head and I thought "Kinda violent") but it was nostalgia at its best.

you could I have a peep through the telescope and try and spy some dolphins in the sea!




or if your that kinda person you could get weighed by the enormous over sized dial face for everyone walking past to see. I declined, as did big fella. I don't even know, I like to keep it that way.

and just for the icing on the cake, we sailed through this big bridge in the car on the way home and it brought back childhood memories of being picked up by my auntie at JFK airport in summer and driving over I think, was the Brooklyn bridge to get home. I always loved the noise and feeling of driving over it! It was all so new and exciting for a young girl from, at the time, the sad streets of Belfast!

The begining of my two weeks holidays start tomorrow and I am not going to waste it! So, I have decided in the morning to take a train, all by myself to a magical place, the home town of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. This is all part of a bigger plan of course and if you just click here, the lovely Vanessa will tell you all about it in due course! All I can say is, I am so looking forward to having you for tea and sconces at the Mad hatters tea party when the magical time arrives!

Oh, and before I go, I suppose you may have heard about the volcano that has erupted recently in Iceland, and in turn the volcano ash is dancing with the wind and causing havoc with airports over here in Blighty.

it is also causing some strange and fascinating sunsets too.

I do hope all is well in your world, and am actually going to make some sconces now for big fella as a surprise when he comes home after a hard days work. If all goes well (hehe) I will do a wee post with the recipe, complete with pictures! I know, I know... I spoil ya!

Tatty Bye!

What a lovely wee day I had!

Hello everyone, how are we all doing? Sorry I have not been here, but there is a good reason. It's Friday, it was my last day in work for two weeks (YES!!!!!) and I have been working to earn it, it would seem. It has just been crazy in there so I thought I would just get through it and then be free to do some blogging without moaning about work. You don't wanna hear about that, but here it goes.



This week in work has been whirlwind, with shouting parents and crying staff and a whole other bunch of palava needed to be soothed and sorted out. So this day could not come quick enough.

As soon as I walked in the door the big boss lady asked me to come into her office. "Be right with you!" I cheerfully cried out before rushing over the the receptionist saying in hushed hissing tones "What did I do now?" and "Whats going on?" If you get called into the big boss woman's office trouble slams the door after you walk in.




She wanted to talk about how I was getting on and then asked me about the weather and such before looking out the window and saying "That will be all, thank you." and ushered me to the door. I was very confused. What was that all about?

I walked down towards my room to be alarmed to hear nothing. No screaming and laughter of children, hustle and bustle of work and the room looked very still from the window. I began to panic, thinking something was wrong and burst in the door sweating only to be so cheerfully surprised by the all the children and staff team jumping out wishing me a Happy Birthday!


My birthday is not for another two Weeks and a couple of days but who's counting? I had booked holidays ages ago so I would not be there for the big day, so they celebrated with me today! The big boss woman was a decoy as I am a bad un for coming in early to do work and they were trying to get the cake inside before I saw it. I was spoiled rotten, Was sang happy birthday to every room I walked in by the wonderful singing voices of the children, got some beautiful presents and cards

but my favourite gifts were from the children! They helped make this wonderful card and very Las Vagas hat! I wore it all day and could not stop skipping around!

I had a wonderful Un birthday if you will But if you think I am telling you lot what age I am going be, think again. I am not stupid you know....... Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to get in touch with you soon with my wonderful two weeks off to do it! Count down to big day begins!

Feeling much brighter.

Well today is Sunday and I woke up, got up out of bed went into the living room and sat down. I knew I could well be here for most part of the day, so haziness sets in. I can't even remember signing into my blog, but there on the computer screen were comments waiting to be read. I forgot I had posted, it had become more Wish Cast Wednesdays and My town Friday shoot outs on my other blog recently.

All I can say is thank you so much, I really needed to read your comments and supportive words. As I sat reading, I realised I can not go on like this and anyway I was seriously out boring myself at this point in time with this strange mood which has knocked me like a ton of bricks recently.
I am better at pictures explaining things instead of words, so let me put it to you this way. (Yes, I started taking pictures again, Yay!)



Sometime ago now, my little world suddenly started to turn a icy grey and everything in it turning silent still. Everything stopped for reasons unknown at the time. Now I know it does not need a reason sometimes.


This slowly turned into a kaleidoscope of strangeness,that would not let go and towards the end, I don't think I could let go of.

"I miss the comfort in being sad" was a lyric by Kurt Cobain and looking back that lyric was making sense to me.
My life felt like it was right through that door, I had just mislead the keys in my hazy strange new world somewhere.



Well, let's just say the keys are in the latch and I am using all my might to turn it and open that door. Give me back my wee world the way it was, please!


My wee world view at the moment is like this

Still haze round but the warmth is coming back! Thank you so much again! I have left you all a individual comment on the comments page in reply to you. I will try and do that from now on, so keep a look out!

After reading your comments and having a stern word with myself, my ever knight in shining armour, big fella of course, got the day off work early and came bounding in and proclaimed he had the biggest eggs in the world. Would I like some breakfast for a change and then go for a wee walk?
Just what I need! A hearty breakfast and a lovely Sunday walk! After giving big fella a big hug and a smile he said he nearly recognised me, and I asked about these big eggs. He pulled out of the bag, a box of duck eggs! Huge big things they were and me being a huge fan of dippy egg soldiers, could not wait to try the even bigger ones.

Sadly I was slightly let down, I prefer chicken eggs to be honest. Twenty minutes later it would seem the feeling was mutual and lets just say duck eggs and me do not agree with each other. Ah, well at least I know eh?

Anyway, it was a beautiful day so eventually off we went for a wee walk around the neighbourhood with my camera armed in my hand and not in my bag. As I walked out the door on the window ledge outside, these wee gorgeous beauties were wishing me good morning. I already realise how much I have been missing.

Tulips were raising themselves for that last dance in the sunlight in full bloom

and wow, my favourite, cheery blossoms were being to bloom! I think these are the most beautiful fairy tale like tree for when you are walking underneath them in full bloom and the petals fall everywhere, it is like magic itself.
I am missing the magic! I loved the walk it was exactly what a needed and big fella knew it. Isn't he the best? I would contact Ricki Lake chat show about him, but I don't think he would be up for it. Could be worse, could be Maury. (You are........NOT....... the father! is not an episode we want to take part in)


Any road, later today big fella had to go and asked me what I had planned. Well, not sitting down anytime soon sir! I put on my running gear, and took a walk down to the bottom of the prom watching the sunset. Glorious pink orange and red encrusted cloud skies. I closed my eyes listened to the waves and soaked it all in. The vitamin D was needed I think!

Life was coming back to me. Then I turned around, took a deep breath and began to run. I ran and ran until I could not anymore (which was about six houses up) but it did me the world of good and here I am blogging again. Sometimes it is best to writing it all down and it has done me the world of good. Please do not get me wrong, I am far from my usual self, but I am definitely getting there!

Thank you so much again for your support, your words can move mountains, mean the world to me and I will catch up with you all soon! ((hugs))

Trying to explain myself.

Oh my goodness, I have had the most strangest of times recently. Everything has been topsy truvy in my world at the moment. Hazy, strange and confusing, but I can not put my finger on it. I have a very long list of really silly and strange things that have been going on from the time every technical I owned has broken down completely computer, Printer and phone (which we are having a current nightmare trying to recieve a new one, the first one arrived with no sim, the second with no battery. Third time lucky with next one on its way eh?)



These things do not really bother me as such, these things happen, but it has been the start of silly things occurring. Really silly thing that i have done. Examples. I recently bought myself a beautiful if over expensive address book I had the rare chance to spoil myself with.

I fell in love with beautiful material, paper and font and it was one for life and I made the impulsive decision to buy it for myself and could not wait to show it to big fella.When I eventually got home, I rummaged about my purchases, but it was not there. I had left it somewhere, never to be found again. Lost treasure. After asking all the shops if it had been handed in, big fella was lovely in saying he would but me a new one. Until he saw the price. He proclaimed I was mad to pay that when I can get one in the pound shop. If I win the lottery I will come back for it.

I have left my wages in pockets and done the laundry, lost important paperwork and had password failures on computers at the most awkward of times in work. Then today I waited in a twenty minute queue to get money out of the cash machine only to realise that i forgot my purse, left on the table at home miles away! This is just a snippett of the silliness.

I had just written a very truthful post about these strange couple of weeks of blahness only for me to delete it half way through writing it by mistake! I has written about how my current mood is reflecting on my posts and everything else and it kind of made sense. I felt I was showing something real on the blog for once, showing the real me, opening myself up to you but this has been the way things have been at the moment and all I have to give you now is this post.

I do hope this blahness fades and fast, I and will be back to being me soon. Nothing is wrong yet nothing is right. Just a haziness surrounding me and no pictures on my camera have been taken.I have been walking about like a zombie for the past couple of weeks and I feel I have been put under some strange spell. So I had to write on my blog, just to move out of the haze if only a wee bit.I do read your posts as best as I can, I sometimes just feel that when I write a comment or write on my blog, doesn't come out right, sounds silly, or makes no sense at all. Onwards and upwards as they say. I hope so anyway! Hopefully back to being me soon! All the Best!