Ten on Tuesday

I’ve seen many blogs doing “Ten on Tuesday” so thought I’d join in… looks fun!

This week’s list of 10 is “Inventions that have made life easier”. Here goes!!

1. The Internet. I have no idea what I would do without the Internet now! In many ways the net is my lifeline. It makes keeping in touch with family & friends much easier and I can get information about so many things in a few clicks! If it wasn’t for the Internet I wouldn’t have met my fabulous husband!
2. Microwaves. Ours gets used all the time and it certainly makes my life much easier.
3. Digital Cameras. Not so long ago getting photos developed was such a faff. Now I can have prints of my photos in seconds and not have to spend loads of money on camera films only to realise that half the pictures were rubbish when they were developed. I love being able to check how good a photo is and simply pressing delete if its no good!
4. Modern transport, be it cars, buses, trains etc. Imagine having to walk everywhere!
5. TV. It definitely makes my life easier! Sometimes Cbeebies is a godsend!
6. Washing machine/dryer. I lived without a washing machine for 18mths when I was single and living in my tiny flat… it was hard! When I finally got one I was so grateful!
7. Electric sterilisers for baby! 8 minutes and bottles are done! So much easier than waiting ages for them to sterilise in cold water!
8. Telephones. Being able to communicate with someone in an instant… fab!
9. Teabags. I couldn’t be doing with making tea with loose tealeaves all the time! Teabags are a genius invention!
10. “Anyway up cups”. We would have lots of spilt juice in this house if it wasn’t for these!! Every toddler should have one!

Google Images…

I’ve stolen this from Hayley, who stole it from someone else!

“Enter each of your answers into a Google Image Search, and use the first one that comes up as the picture.”

What is your 1st name? Mel

What is your favourite food? Curry

What high school/University did you go to? Howard of Effingham

What is your favourite colour? Blue

What is your favourite drink? Pimms & Lemonade

What is your dream vacation? The Carribean

What is your favourite dessert? Lemon Tart

 DROOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!

What do you love most in life? My family

What is one word that describes you? Pensive

What is your blog name? MeltedMoments

 

 

Goodbye 20’s… Hello 30’s!

Just a quick blog tonight as soon dh & I are sitting down to a yummy dinner of steak, chips, onion rings and mushrooms to celebrate my 30th birthday! 😯

I’ve had a lovely day… it began last night when mum and dad came round for a fathers day/birthday meal. We had a really fab evening.

This morning I have had my present from Anthony… a Nintendo DS! I have wanted one for ages so I was over the moon when I opened it. He has been saving up for ages to buy it. I’m so lucky to have such a thoughtful husband.

Right… I’m off to drink my Pimms & Lemonade! I wonder if that’s a sign of getting old… when I was celebrating my 20th birthday I was drinking bacardi breezers and aftershock!

 

Fundraising

Yippee!!! I have sorted out the problems with the Church Ebay account and I’m happy to say that it is now up & running. At the moment I just have a “test” auction on there to make sure the charity settings etc were all in order. Its looking promising… the 1st item I have listed is just a baby toy and it is selling for over £3.00. It ends this evening so will be interesting to see how much it makes.

£3.00 doesnt sound like much but the item was donated for the church £1.00 sale (as was most of the stuff I have in boxes upstairs). Making the effort to pick things out before the sale to put on ebay means we can raise more money for church… which has to be a good thing!

Items I have to list include a bureaux, some Coalport Paddington Bear figures, a couple of Wade Whimsies and a silver charm bracelet. There is loads more too.

The link to the church Ebay account is in my links box here on my blog. Take a look every now & again… you might be able to grab a bargain and support a worthwhile cause at the same time!

UPDATE: The toy (which was a Lamaze activity cube) sold for £6.00! Ive got a good feeling about this project!! :o)

Some Photos…

Today I got an early birthday present… a new digital camera, so I thought I’d add a couple of new photos. I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with the camera and taking some good photos!

My big girl Robyn chilling out after school.

And cheeky Katie in a rare moment of standing still!

More About Me…

I saw this on a forum I lurk on and thought it might be interesting to add to my blog…

Five places I have lived

• Yorkshire
• Northampton
• Surrey
• Lincoln
• Lichfield

Five of my favourite past-times

• Surfing the net
• Going to church
• Reading
• Playing on the Wii
• Playing with my daughters

Five of my favourite foods

• Curry
• Cheese
• Cakes
• Chinese
• Toast

Five things to do before I die

• Go back to Taize. It’s such a wonderful place.
• Learn how to sew
• Own a house
• See my children grow up happy
• Write my memoirs

Five people (or groups of people) who have helped make me the “Mel” I am today

• Anthony
• Mum & Dad
• Robyn & Katie
• Lorna
• The Church

The Things Children Say

Don’t you just love the things that kids come out with?!

Over the years our family has gained lots of expressions thanks to various children who have given us little “Gems”! A few examples…

• “Oooooh it’s a bit windmill” (Windy!)… from Sophie
• “The moon can’t talk actually” (after being told “The moon is saying ‘time for bed!’)… from Mikey
• “Wake up… I wanna talk ya baby!” (when Nanny was in church, praying with eyes closed)… from Sophie
• “It’s still crap Dad!” (Daddy was trying to get a decent picture on the TV!)… from Robyn
• “Oooooh my like it lick-it my do!” (Thinking a red candle wrapped in cellophane was a stick of rock!)… from Sophie

There are many more which I will try and blog in the future… but I wanted to note down Robyns latest little gem:

At church this morning we sang “Make me a channel of your peace”. My mum & dad have a beautiful little statue of St Francis in their garden so my mum whispered to Robyn “Robs… you know that statue in my garden? Well that’s St Francis and he wrote this hymn”. Robyn looked at Nanny, then looked at the typed words in the hymn book, then back at Nanny with a confused expression and replied

“Oh!! He’s got good writing!”

Famous Last Words…

“Yeah… I’ll head up the church Ebay account!”

The last week or so has seen me stressing infront of my laptop trying to set up a charity ebay account. What a nightmare!

Why do these things look as though they will be simple to do when in reality it means you need to stock up on paracetamol and give up your sanity. A government health warning should be issued!

After many hours of input I have finally got an account set up on Ebay that is linked to the church. We have a seperate paypal account and are registered with “MissionFish” (although our charity doesn’t come up when you search… yet another email has gone in to iron that problem out!).

I have one item on there for sale at the moment as a “test” auction. We are meant to get a little charity ribbon symbol beside our listing but thats not there. I think this will be sorted out alongside my other query.

Hopefully all the stress will be worth it. I have a few boxes of stuff upstairs ready to list (all donated to be sold for church funds). Lets hope we can raise lots of money for church!

Now… where did I put that parcel tape?!

New Words

Katie is suddenly starting to say all sorts of new words…

• “Doddy” (Doggy)
• “Wooooooof”
• “Eeeya” (See Ya!)

She also makes a hilarious noise by poking her tongue in and out when she is trying to say “Tickle, tickle, tickle!”.

Of course all animals are now “Doddy” although she can “Quack”, “Baa” and “Miaow”.

I love this age. She is nearly 18mths old and is a lovely little girl. Her sense of humour is fantastic and she is so full of mischief! At the moment she is using a dining room chair as a climbing frame (helped along by big sister Robyn!).

Chicken Korma

I make a lovely chicken korma (even if I do say so myself!!). Even Anthonys quite fussy eater niece ate it and told me it was gorgeous… praise indeed!! Thanks Jade!! 

I have just cooked it for tonights tea and thought I’d pop the recipe on here. Enjoy!

CHICKEN KORMA

Serves:     6

Preparation Time:    
15-minutes, plus time to marinade.

Cooking Time:    
1-hour.

Ingredients:    
1.5kg/2.5lbs chicken breasts or chicken joints, skinned and washed     
      1-inch cube of root-ginger, finely grated     
      150g/6oz thick natural set yogurt     
      1-medium onion, coarsely chopped     
      2-3 dried red chillies     
      3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped    
      6 tbsps ghee or cooking oil    
      450g/1lb onions, finely sliced    
      1 tbsp ground coriander
      ¼ tsp powdered black pepper    
      1 tsp garam masala
      1 tsp ground turmeric
      225ml/8fl oz warm water    
      75g/3oz creamed coconut
      ½ tsp salt    
      2 heaped tbsps ground almonds    
      2 tbsps finely chopped coriander leaves
      Juice of ½ a lemon    

Instructions:    
1. Cut chicken breasts into 1½ inch chunks or, if using joints, separate leg from thigh.
2. Mix the chicken with the ginger and yogurt and cover and leave to marinade for 3-4 hours or in the fridge overnight.
3. Put the chopped onion, red chillies and garlic into a food processor or liquidiser and liquidise to a smooth paste. If the mix is too dry add a little water.
4. In a wok or large cast-iron pot, heat 4 tbsps of the ghee or oil over medium heat and fry the sliced onions until they are golden-brown. Remove the pan from the heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a bowl for use later. Leave any remaining oil in the pan.
5. Add the remaining 2 tbsps ghee or of oil to the pan over medium heat.
6. When hot, add the ground coriander, garam masala and turmeric stirring rapidly for about 1-minute (take pan off the heat if the oil is too hot).
7. Adjust the heat to medium and add the chicken along with the marinade. Stir fry for about 10-minutes.
8. Add the liquidised spices and continue to stir-fry for about 8-minutes.
9. Add the water and slice the creamed coconut into the pan. Bring to the boil stirring until the coconut is dissolved.
10. Add the fried onions and salt.
11. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer until the chicken is tender (30-40 minutes).
12. Remove from heat, sprinkle on the ground almonds, chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice and mix well.