It’s a play day

After our sad few days I’ve had a pretty constant headache so I decided yesterday that today would be a quiet play day to allow myself to relax with Katie.

This morning Robyn got up complaining of a sore throat and said she’d like to stay at home. I figured that she needed a quiet play day too so duly telephoned the school to inform them she wouldnt be in.

At 10am Robyn announced she felt better so she went upstairs with Katie and came back down dressed as a ballerina. This morning they have also bounced on my bed, rolled around the floor, played with the train set, done some colouring and had a picnic lunch on a blanket in the living room.

Katie is now having a nap while Robyn is lazing around on the floor with a book in preperation for the afternoons activities. We always go to a family service at church on a Monday after school. This afternoon we are all taking some food and having a party to celebrate the end of term. It happens to coincide with Granny Marys birthday today. She loved both lazy play days & parties xxx

 

Our Granny Mary

Today is a sad day. Granny Mary passed away during the night and I’m left feeling very empty. The world has lost a wonderful person. Heaven has gained an angel.

Rest eternal, grant unto them O Lord,
and let light-perpetual shine upon them.

May they Rest in Peace – and Rise in Glory.

Sports day

Sports day was one of the events in the school year that I used to dread. I have never been very sporty and unfortunatly one of my senior schools was joined onto the leisure centre. School had full use of all the facilities. Gah!

I used to manage to get through a rounders match at school by ensuring I’d be out as soon as possible & therefore spend the rest of the time sat at the edge of the field making daisy chains! If I was on the fielding team I’d strategically stand  where I knew the ball was very unlikely to land so that I could stand still for as long as possible.

When it was netball I took a similar approach… always being goal keeper meant that I was confined to one end of the court so didnt have to run very far. Jumping around a bit when the other team tried to score was about all that was required!

Cross country was my idea of complete hell. I can remember the course we had to take like it was yesterday. Round the athletics track once, round the small bike track, round the big bike track, down the side of school and behind the leisure centre, along the back of the netball courts & hockey pitches, up the side of the art block, round and along the English block, along the mound and back into the school entrance to the leisure centre. Once back at school you had 5 mins to shower and change before going to your next lesson. There was never enough time to get dry properly so I’d end up damp and uncomfortable for the rest of the day.

Swimming on the other hand I used to enjoy. No running involved you see! I even used to take up the chance to go swimming at lunchtime once a week. I still enjoy swimming now. I’m not terribly good at it but I always find it quite a relaxing experience so long as its an adult only session!

Yesterday was Robyns sports day. She told me yesterday morning she was going to win a race for Granny Mary and she excelled herself! My wonderful daughter won 4 out of 6 races, something that I could only dream of! After school we walked through the park to see my mum and dad. We passed the ice-cream van and so I rewarded Robyn (and myself & Katie of course!) with a lovely creamy 99 with raspberry sauce.

Football Star!

Number 1!

On her way to victory!

Sad times

We are currently struggling to come to terms with the fact that Robyns Granny is dying.

Granny Mary is Robyns biological fathers mum. She is the matriarch of their whole extended family. She holds things together and people go to her for help when they are stuck knowing that Mary will do whatever she can to help and make things better. When Robyn goes away to “stay with her dad” the reality is that she stays with Granny. Granny does all the looking after while her Dad doesnt do a fat lot. He takes her to the park, to McDonalds but doesnt do any of the night times or the day to day care.

Robyn is the apple of Marys eye. She has 4 sons. None of them are married or even in a stable relationship. Robyn is the only girl in the family and she is the grandchild Mary thought she would never have. Robyn & Granny Mary are like two peas in a pod, best friends.

In the 6 years I have known Mary she has done so much for me. She was there when sometimes it felt as though nobody else was. I feel as though I’m about to lose a huge part of my life.

I have just had to email over a letter for someone to read to Mary telling her all the things I should have said a long time ago. She is a wonderful woman and will be sadly missed by so many. With the email I sent the following pictures. I hope she can find some comfort in them.

Katie - July ‘09

Robyn at Morecambe – June ‘09

Robyn at Butlins – May ‘09

Robyn & Katie sharing a moment – May ‘09

An Update

It’s been far too long since I updated my blog. Apologies. It’s been all change here recently so I hope to update a bit more regularly.

Anthony is 2 weeks into a 13 weeks New Deal training scheme. He is currently at a training centre every day but is waiting for a work placement to come up. He has something in the pipeline but is waiting for the details to be finalised. He’ll hopefully find a placement where he can prove himself with 10 or so weeks of free employment to the company. The hope is that he will be offered a job at the end of the placement.So, after nearly 18mths of him being at home all day I find myself home alone with Katie. It’s a relief to get back into a routine, I’m finding myself again and we have things to talk about in the evenings!

I have applied to enroll on an Open University Digital Photography course to start in October. I’m currently waiting to hear whether I’m eligible for the full funding for it (I’m 99% certain I will be). I’m feeling very inspired by some friends of mine and would love to be able to take and edit some photos for my friends and family to enjoy looking at. I only have a point & shoot camera but hopefully I’ll be able to learn how to use it to its full potential.

Katie’s speech has come on in leaps & bounds. Last week she went for the hearing test that the HV referred her for & passed with flying colours. The speech therapy groups we go to are fun & the therapist can’t believe how well she is doing. Occasionally we get a 3 word sentence now. The other day she said “Is nice Mummy?” while I was eating my breakfast.

Katie is now out of nappies during the day. She missed the potty stage out completely and went straight for the toilet. I was expecting a huge battle with her but it just goes to show how much I underestimate my youngest daughter!

Robyn is also doing very well. She is nearing the end of Year 1 at school and is chomping at the bit to get into Year 2! She continues to astonish me with her reading ability.

We are currently very excited about my sister & my wonderful nephew moving here next week. It will be a very happy day for the family when they arrive

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

Just a quick one today with a picture and recipe of my Simnel Cake. I have used this recipe from Nigella Lawsons “Feast” book a couple of times now. It is very yummy!

You can find some information about the origins of a Simnel cake here

Ingredients.

100g glacé cherries
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
500g mixed dried fruit
25g ground almonds
175g soft, unsalted butter
3 eggs
175g caster sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Zest of 1 lemon
1kg yellow marzipan to decorate
225g plain flour icing sugar for rolling
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon apricot jam, melted
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg white

Method

- Take everything you need out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170C. Butter and line the bottom and sides of a 20cm springform cake tin with a double layer of brown baking paper. Chop the cherries very finely and add them to the rest of the fruit.

- Cream the butter and sugar until very soft and light, and add the lemon zest. You could do this by hand, just with bowl and wooden spoon, but I own up to using my freestanding mixer here. But it’s not crucial, not least because the intention with fruit cakes is not to whip air into them. Measure the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and ground almonds into a bowl and stir to combine.

- Add 1 of the eggs to the creamed butter and sugar with 2 tablespoons of the dry flour-and-spice ingredients, then beat in the remaining eggs in the same way. Beat in the rest of the dry ingredients, and then the milk. Finally fold in the fruit.

- Dust a surface with a little icing sugar and then roll out about 400g of the marzipan. Cut it into a 23cm circle that will fit in the middle of the cake later. Spoon half of the fruit-cake mixture into the cake tin, smoothing it down with a rubber spatula, and then lay the marzipan circle on top of it. Spoon the rest of the mixture into the tin on top of the marzipan circle and smooth the top again. Bake for half an hour and then turn the oven down to gas mark 2/150C for another 1½ hours or until the cake has risen and is firm on top. Let it cool completely on a rack before you spring it open.

- Unspring the cooled fruit cake, and unwrap the lining from the cake. Roll out another 400g circle of marzipan, paint the top of the cake with the melted apricot jam, and then stick it on.

- Make 11 Apostle balls out of the remaining marzipan, roughly 2.5cm in size. Beat the egg white – just till it’s a bit frothy and loosened up a little, no more – and use that as glue to stick the Apostles around the edge of the cake.

- Now for the bit I love, but you can ignore altogether. Paint the whole of the cake with egg white, and then blow-torch the marzipan so that it scorches slightly, giving a beautifully burnished look.

Extracted from Feast: Food That Celebrates Life by Nigella Lawson. Published by Chatto & Windus at £17.99.
© Nigella Lawson 2004

Ten on Tuesday…

 Ten things you won’t miss about winter!

1. Having to put coats on.
2. Having to walk carefully in the ice
3. Waking up when its still dark
4. Taking/collecting Robyn from Rainbows in the dark
5. Wearing thick socks/slippers
6. Having to have the heating on all the time
7. Headaches from the cold outside. Brain freeze is the worst!
8. My mum being sad because she hates winter
9. Having the kids cooped up indoors
10. My glasses steaming up as soon as you enter a warm room!

My new hobby

A while ago I was prompted to think of 5 things to do before I die. One of those things was to learn how to sew. I’m pleased to say that I set about this ambition and for Christmas I received my very 1st sewing machine.

I started out with some scraps of fabric and before long I had made a couple of bags for Katie to keep her toys in. Not bad someone who had only used a machine a couple of times (and that was almost 20 years ago at school!).

I got a book out of the library and found some instructions for making bunting. I made a set for each of my girls and was very proud of it. I showed it off on my Facebook page and a couple of friends got in touch asking if I would be willing to make some for their children too!

I’ve made quite a few sets now and have got better each time. I’m thinking of making some for Robyns teacher at the end of term to go in her classroom.

I’m so glad I started my new hobby. It’s fantastic to be able to create something so pretty out of a few bits of fabric! Soon I hope to make a skirt each for Robyn and Katie

Ten on Tuesday…

Ten on Tuesday this week is “10 ways you can make your life better”.

1. Laugh. I believe that laughter is one of the best medicines. Laughing is good for the soul.
2. Live your own life. Don’t let anyone tell you who to be.
3. Bake. Baking makes me happy. I get a huge sense of achievement when someone eats something I have made and declares it yummy.
4. Nurture those close to you. For me it is my children. I believe I was born to be a mum. My job is to see my children grow up to be happy and fulfilled.
5. Have a hobby. I have just discovered sewing and am realising that when I sew I am “Mel” again – not Mummy, not a wife, not a daughter… just Mel.
6. Believe. I have a strong faith and at times that keeps me going. Everyone needs to believe in something, even if it’s the fairies at the bottom of the garden. Most importantly though believe in yourself.
7. Learn from your past. Don’t repeat the mistakes but learn from them and use them to make your life better.
8. Look to the future. It can be exciting if you let it!
9. Don’t go to bed on an argument. It does nobody any good. Clear the air before you sleep.
10. Regret nothing. You are who you are and you might just find people love you for it!

A trip to the park

Saturday morning was stressful in the MeltedMoment household this week. Katie was awake at 6am shouting at the birds on the roof of the old mill opposite our house. Therefore everybody else in the house was awake at 6am and bad moods soon followed.

We’re skint at the moment so places to go are a bit limited. I had thought a quiet day indoors would be nice but soon realised we’d all be climbing the walls if that happened so decided that a visit to the park was in order.

We 1st drove to my mum and dads and got the girls bikes out the garage (we have nowhere to keep bikes here which is a shame). Then off we went. Robyn is too big for her bike really but she needs to learn how to ride it without stabilisers. Once she has mastered that we’ve promised her a new one. For now we have kept the stabilisers on… we’ll tackle it once the weather gets a bit warmer.

Our park has a lovely bike track for kids. Its got little road markings, roundabouts and signposts… and most importantly benches lol. After a good ride around there we carried on to the playground. There wasnt too many kids there which was nice, Robyn and Katie managed to have a good go on everything without queuing up.

Katie sat on her bike being pushed halfway round the park and ran the rest of the time. Her cheeks were bright red by the time we’d finished. Incidently she didnt fall over once the whole time we were out. As soon as we got home though she tripped over a shoe! We’ve concluded that she has no problems with her legs, its the noticing obstacles that she struggles with. If she sees them she can avoid them, she just doesnt notice what is under her feet.

We had a lovely time in the park with our girls. We’ll be making more of an effort to do it much more. It did us all some good.