Bad habits!

Tabby-Kat has a new habit.
Which is to empty everything out of a bottom drawer.

So that she can sit in it!

This is infuriating!

But also extremely endearing!

Menu Planning

This is my fridge:(ignore the hideous curtains - it's a rented house. What can I say?)

There is (starting at 12 o'clock and going clockwise) A card of the Icon of St Nicholas, our parish saint (and who doesn't love St. Nicholas?), my weekly TO DO list, some magnets, an article on 'De-cluttering your life' (because intention is everything!), more magnets, our weekly menu, and an affirmation on Motherhood from The Mother Magazine.
Sacha over at braindribbles posed an interesting question; How can you feed your young children a good and varied diet, when the fact that you have young children leaves you very little time to cook and prepare food?
Our answer is a menu. It has to tie-in with the whole family, and be flexible. But, so far it's working for us.

Monday: All the children have had a hot lunch at school/pre-school/nursery, so in the evening we have pitta bread, houmous, olives, etc. If we have plenty of time I can chop up some veg for crudities, and if the weather's nice we can eat in the garden. If time is tight and we're running late I can still toast pittas straight from the freezer. And I like not having to cook on Mondays.

Tuesday: Phoebe has gymnastics 5-6pm. So when she gets home from school, instead of juice and biscuits I give the children a burger or hot dog. It gives Phoebe a bit of an energy boost before gymnastics, and it means that if the other children fall asleep on the way home, I can put them to bed and not worry that they'll wake up hungry in the middle of the night. If they're still hungry when we get home they can always have more.

Wednesday: Curry and rice (or sometimes noodles). This one is infinitely variable!

Thursday: The children cook dinner on Thursday which means that it's always some sort of pasta bake. Which is fine. Everyone likes pasta. And I like getting the children into the habit of pulling their weight.

Friday: Soup and snacks. Which again can be as exciting or boring as you want. It can be a good way to use up left-overs, or spare vegetables.

Saturday: We usually have pancakes or waffles for breakfast quite late, so we often don't have lunch. Then we have Risotto (of some sort, not always pea!) as an easy, early supper.

Then Sunday, we don't have anything special lined up - Crazy, huh?!
In other news, Tabby went for her eye tests this week.
They put the drops in which make her eyes HUGE! I took her to the cafe afterwards. Here she is eating a currant bun.
And here's a Bushbaby: Spot the difference!There was a profound statement from the parking machine on the way out of the Eye Hospital.
Change is possible. Oh, yes, it is!

Rest in Peace, Keith.

This is Keith.
He is my father’s oldest and best friend. He has been my honorary Godfather and official legal guardian (for when my parents were over-seas) for my whole life. For some of my childhood, when I used to spend half-term holidays and long weekends with him and his wife, I spent almost as much time with Keith as I did with my father.

He worked with my father in bomb disposal when they were in the army. He was blown up in Northern Ireland, but survived the blast. When he recovered, he went into business and became renowned for turning failing businesses around. And, when necessary, closing them down.
He gave my sister and many of our friends their first job.
He often said that he felt he could so easily have died in the bomb blast, that every day was a bonus.
He gave the eulogy at my grandmother’s funeral.
Although he was unable to fly planes, he found out that he could fly microlights. This became a driving passion for him; first competing, then eventually becoming the President of the British Microlight Aircraft Association.

He was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in the autumn of 2009, and died on Friday the 4th of February 2011.

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

-John Gillespie Magee, Jr

Rest in Peace, Keith. And may your memory be eternal.

Lots going on!

Time for making marmalade!

We ate pizza for lunch while the marmalade boiled.
Then we went out for a walk/bike ride around the village.We sold my car back to the dealers that we'd bought it from originally.

So, goodbye Ford S-Max
And, Hello 807!
Needless to say, Tabby-Kat has already been sick in it!
In other news; we've exchanged contracts on our house! And we're due to complete on the 14th (please! Please! PLEASE!)