Further adventures...

So Christmas has been and gone.  I was spoiled with lots of lovely goodies including some of my favourites: books!

The lurgy keeps rearing it's ugly head and infecting us in waves.  It made January a lot more boring challenging than we'd have liked but we survived! (Ok it was only the fifth disease/flu/a cold/random viruses but it wasn't great.) Obviously the cats had to join in the fun for their annual boosters. Muwahahaha!

I've also had the pot removed from my thumb, been given some physiotherapy exercises and allowed to do a few more things.  Not skating yet, the doctor advised me to hang fire a little longer and be more careful. That's pretty tricky when learning how to skate for roller derby... so I'm listening and buying more protective pads soon.

I'm also looking forward to lots more baking, excursions, my 30th later in the year and a good friend's wedding.  It's going to be a great 2016!

Another update.

Sooo it's been a while! It's not that I've been ridiculously busy although there have been moments I suppose... since my last post I've tried and failed at Nanowrimo again, started roller derby pre-minimum skills practice, worked, baked, danced and parented.

After Roller Derby practice.

Roller derby is hard work! It requires lots of fitness, running and jumping to warm up then lots of skating skills to master. It requires lots of kit: mouth guards, wrist guards, knee pads, elbow pads and of course roller skates. I started out with ok/the wrong gear and am slowly getting better things.

Old mouth guard.

New mouth guard.

I am finding it great fun, learning new things like cross overs, jumping on skates and transitions as well as it being a good form of exercise.  I've been trying to keep fit and healthy for a while now with differing degrees of success.

 So I've also been sporadically doing work outs around roller derby practice, as well as a little baking.

The end of November and start of December was busy with Christmas do's, leaving parties and club nights, so I got to wear sparkly things! I also had to fix the gutters, car and kitchen tap so  I've been a tad skint!

Unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll be doing much skating or baking for the next month or so as I have broken my thumb.  Luckily it is Christmas and there will be plenty of nice things to eat without me adding to them! I'm just hoping that I don't lose too much fitness by the time my thumb has healed.  Still at least there's a new Star Wars film to watch and a few weeks of work to look forward to.  (I'm going to see it on Tuesday.)

So if I don't post between now and then have a very Merry Christmas!

A tad more baking.

So the other week I baked my first lemon drizzle cake and shared it with my work mates.

It proved an acceptable first attempt and another was requested... I guess that means it was enjoyable!
Here's a few pictures of the baking process.

Preparation...

Crazy faced selfie.

Butter and sugar creamed.

Finished article.. after a small snack.

So that was one of the more productive things I did last weekend, along with filing the first draft of my first novel away and boring boring household chores.

Animated gems.

Recently I have been procrastinating watching a few more films with my son.  Mainly whilst he was ill the other week but also occasionally when we've just needed a bit of a chill out. Unfortunately toddlers love repetition but there are only so many times a woman can watch Frozen in one day... so we watched a few other things.

I discovered this delightful short film called Feast about a dog and his owner's life shown through the meals they share.

Another film I've enjoyed recently was The Book of Life about a tale of three Mexican children involved in a game of the gods.  The story spans from the land of the living to the land of the remembered and the land of the forgotten.

I also watched Song of the Sea which has a completely different pace and tone to The Book of Life but it still manages to bewitch through it's telling of Irish fairy tales and simple but beautiful animation.  Song of the Sea is mainly about two siblings learning to work together to help the faeries and each other as well as the failings of the adults who should be caring for them.  The animation of this is more traditional to the other films mentioned above but it blends well with the traditional Celtic music used in the film.

We've also watched a few more popular films like Despicable Me 2, Inside Out and Big Hero 6 which have been fun but the films above are the ones that really stood out for me.

A bit of baking.

Things have been quiet here recently as I've been working, procrastinating on the novel, dabbling in skating, keeping fit and baking as well as the normal child raising malarkey.

Here's a few pictures of recent bakes.

I felt the knead urge to make bread and experiment with pizza rolls.  The pizza rolls made with pizza dough were rubbish though so I need to find a better recipe. (Although I ate them all so they couldn't have been that bad... or I could be a human dustbin!)

Quick catch up!

For the last month or so I have been away from my blog by accident more than design.  I've enjoyed treats and socialising with friends a little more than normal.

My cats turned 5! How did that happen!

Thanks for the birthday chicken Mummy!

 The weather hasn't been amazing every day but that's ok.

Post park picture - it rained unexpectedly.

I've also tried experimenting with overnight oats and while this looks pleasing it doesn't actually work like this you have to mix it all together for the moisture to soak into the oats. Not one of my cleverer moments....

 We also acquired a new vehicle and a few golf balls.

 As well as venturing out to the main stage at Tramlines to catch a few acts.

I also met my sister Sarah, friends Tom B and Charlotte to celebrate their birthdays, saw The Dandy Warhol's at the Leadmill and had a belated birthday meal in Nottingham with my sister.  So I guess there hasn't been loads of time to blog!

I'm currently still working on the first draft of my second novel Time for Tea and have passed the 57,000 word mark.  There's still loads to do but it's getting there. 900 more words and I'll have written as many words on this as my last novel! (Which will never see the light of day.)

So this is just a virtual wave to say I'm still here busily trying to carve a niche out for myself.

So I'm 29 now... it's rather fun!

 Last week I turned 29 and was happy to enjoy spending a few days with my little family enjoying the finer things.  You know croissants, ribs, sculptures, curry, full English breakfasts/brunches, cupcakes, marvel films... it's a hard life!

I got to have a lie in on the day which is a miracle with a toddler!  Then enjoyed some nice warm buttery croissants before opening my many cards and presents.

After that we got ready and headed out for a birthday lunch at Damon's then a nice cultural walk around the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.  (Of course we weren't shouting "poo", "sheep poo", "sculpture" you must have us mistaken for someone else...)

Later after a long drive back via Aldi we enjoyed a takeaway curry.  The next day we ventured to my son's toddler Spanish class then enjoyed full English breakfasts at Fancie.  It was good! I had Paul's mushrooms and black pudding and my son had my beans.  The lovely waiting staff also gave him a giraffe toy which he adores.  Obviously we ended the visit by purchasing some cupcakes as a cake-a-way.  This resulted in a bit of a toddler meltdown on Ecclesall Road... turns out they can't handle the idea of seeing cake and not eating it. 

 We consumed the cupcakes later with a cup of tea when the sleeping beauty had awoken from his rage induced nap and enjoyed a kick about in the local park.  The day was topped off with the rest of the left over curry, a visit from my Mum who babysat so we could have a trip to the cinema to see Avengers: Age of Ultron.  It was an entertaining film and a very good day

Since then I have also returned to work, watched a couple of roller derby bouts and enjoyed a birthday lunch with my Dad, Step Mum, Sister, Grandparents as well as my small family unit.

After a couple of days of healthy eating I decided to test the Giant Cupcake mould I was given as a birthday present.  It would be rude not to wouldn't it? So obviously I have had to experiment.  The results were not quite up to the Great British Bake Off standards but still rather tasty.  Might need to practise a little more.

So it seems that being 29 is every bit as good as being 28! I've been spoilt my my friends and family with nice cards, thoughtful presents and more nice food than I should really consume in a month.  I think this will be a good year.