Reach for the stars...

Lemon_Tree

love this thread, please note that i did post first on the time expanding theme therefore i get Dr Who next.... but i don't want the new one.
wish yesterday being friday meant the end of work but i've had to bring some home as there's no other way to get stuff done, oh well OH will be working this weekend so it gives me something to do without resorting to cleaning.

niccatw

Lemon Tree, you did indeed get in there first. Which doctor do you prefer? I'll send David off in his Tardis to return with the correct one!

I am going to have to resort to cleaning today! Before that though, I've to send my Dad our favourite cake recipe (Paradise Squares - with a name like that, how can you go wrong?) so he can make them for his mum tomorrow .

Which technically means I should be on yahoo or hotmail, not here! Oops!

You never saw me...

Lemon_Tree

i'll be more than happy with David thanks. Paradise squares sound lovely you'll have to share the receipe.

niccatw

Paradise Squares

Shortcrust Pastry base
9oz Plain flour
6oz marg
3oz castor sugar

Jam

Topping
8oz marg
8oz castor sugar
2 tbsp semolina
2 tbsp farola (I don't know what this is and have never found any of this so I just double the semolina)
2 tbsp coconut
4 tbsp ground almonds
2 cups of sultanas
4 tbsp chopped cherries (I just put in all of a wee tub of glazed cherries)
2 eggs

Mix base ingredients together and pat into tin.
Spread with jam.
Topping
Cream marg and sugar together.
Add semolina, farola, almonds and coconut and mix together.
Mix in the eggs.
Add sultanas and cherries and mix together.
Pour over the base.
Heat in oven (180/200), approx 1-1.5 hours (probably less with a fan oven)
Sprinkle with castor sugar when cold.

Mmmmm, yummy scrummy! They last great in a sealed tin too - and taster even better a few days down the line. Pregnant friend eats them with custard poured over them. I was upset that hadn't occurred to me!

Flat now sparkling but everything else is on hold while I watch the rugby .

solventsoon

Hi nicca:hello:
Didn't realise you had a diary. :j I've subscribed now so will be able to keep up with your progress (and provide a kick up the **** when you do either of those two p words:rotfl:).

The paradise squares sound yummy, might try them tomorrow.

spoon
x

niccatw

Hey Spoon :j You may quickly realise (not that you hadn't already) just how expert I am at the two p words, so you might want to strengthen your leg muscles in anticipation of all of those kicks in the posterior I will need!

Today I have been mostly tackling that blocked bathroom drain!

Warning!! For those of you with a nice cuppa and piece of cake, or about to sit down to dinner, perhaps go and read another diary for a wee bit and come back when your stomach is strong!


Because I like to do things in as environmentally friendly way as I know how, it's taken longer than anticipated! Lots of bicarb, lots of vinegar (I can feel my fingers tingle despite my fairly traided rubber gloves :A) and lots and lots of boiling water. And a pair of old tweezers... which I inevitably lost down the drain, so had to go find another pair to tweeze out the first pair! Anyway, eventually up came a massive great hairball! Lovely! Luckily I know it's all my own hair as my flatmate shaves his off. But, really! I can't believe there's any hair left on my head given the amount I found in the drain and the amount picked up when a sweeping and a mooping the rest of the flat! And I've only got a short bob.

And the bl**dy drain is still not unblocked. Well, not properly anyway. I've taken my environmentally friendly ways as far as I can. I'm afraid tomorrow I'll be getting Mr Muscle to finish off the job for me. The pedant in me wants to nip to the shop just now... but then I'd have to admit to unblocking the bathroom drains of a Saturday night. Rock'n'roll! Are you guys sure you can keep up with me :rotfl:! So instead, I will flick from "Highlights from the Lambing Shed"! (?), finish my cuppa and scoff my last creme egg .

Then I might as well go to bed since I've no dignity left anyway .

niccatw

I thought I'd warn you all I'm off to vist my friend and her two kiddies until Tuesday... the things I'll do to justify procrastinating, eh!

On the plus side I have cleaned the flat, completed all but the hand washing, started my meal planner, written almost 8 pages of A4 on how work and supervison might work better for me than it has been so far (on advice of counsellor on Wednesady, which I haven't yet seemed to find time to enlighten you on!), phoned mum and discussed yoga and knitting (including Mother's Day card being strategically placed in the page of the lovely jumper pattern on the Let's Knit magazines I got at 3 for £1) and yoga course being cancelled due to lack of interest - boo!, reminded wee bro that it's Mother's Day... a full days work for me and it's only half 10 on a Sunday!

Love a Sunday drive to my friend's - a couple of hours chilling, listening to the radio... I may even get to put my sunglasses on today too! Woo hoo!

Then let the mayhem commence as two wee boys find a new toy to pummel for a few days and their mummy laughs and sneaks off to catch up on some much needed sleep .

Happy Mother's day to all of you mummy's out there... when are they going to introduce Anuty's Day too!!!!

Lemon_Tree

enjoy your visit with your friend. I learnt many years ago to put one of those sink/plug hole things in my bath/shower to catch my hair. OH can't understand why i do it as he says it gets clogged with hair when he's in there, duh that's the point! much easier to clean that out than the actual pipe.

niccatw

Lemon Tree... I was sure I had one of those things. Just don't know where it went! Perhaps the sheer amount of hair disintegrated it... but it's definitley on my shopping list!

I had a lovely time at my friend's house, lots of trampoloning, sending the kids to their room to chill out!, drinking of tea and of beer, watching of movies and a rather haphazard attempt to change the massive, old telly (attacked by children with magnets!) for a miniscule, temporary telly.

This basically involved me in cow print PJ bottoms (cos I'd spilled my tea on my jeans, right where it looked as though I hadn't made it to the toilet in time ) and a bright orange top wobbling backwards up the drive, giggling like a teenage girl, arms getting longer and longer and weaker and weaker every wobbly half-step... until the point I had to stop because it was slipping... sorted that, then friend had same problem... and inevitably the telly landed screen side down half way up the drive (thereby putting an absolute end to any fancy ideas of trying to fix it)! We eventually managed to get in into the boot (how, neither of us have any idea!). But the boot wouldn't shut. So then I was in the boot with the telly... which was working fine until my foot went throught the boot to where the spare wheel lives!

By which point we couldn't do anything for laughing too much! And the dog appeared from the distance. She'd obviously wandered off in a state of disgust and took herself off for a walk while we made complete fools of ourselves!

Moral of the story: get some-one else to do it!!!

And then we had to watch movies on a telly so far away I had to go find my glasses!

Anyway, I'm back now (with a few more, rather grand bruises and a couple of extra inches on each arm) and trying to figure where I'm at so I can start that list all over again. Groundhog day... so I might as well tackle it and move on .

niccatw

Ok, think I might be wobbling a bit... noticed I spent money on a lovely - but completely uneccesary - necklace. It matches the wondrous dress! (And I have persauded my friend to let me "borrow" her beautiful bright pink shoes (she can't actually wear them as they hurt her feet... perhaps I should care for them for her!).)

I've also bought a load of nonsense from the supermarket - creme egg ice cream (mmmm!), pizza, various oaty crunch cereals (which I eat in the same way as my friend eats chocolate and biscuits). None of this matches with anything in my meal planner!

I'm ignoring the spending diary studiously and I don't want to check my online banking. These are generally not great signs! Especially as it's only the 18th of the month!

I suspect it's because it's because I'm feeling guilty that my friend's mum paid for lunch out on Sunday and that I still owe another friend money for my ticket to see Frankie Boyle on Tuesday past. He wouldn't take the money from me.

But sometimes these things make me feel worse. Even when I know people do them with the best of intentions and even though I know people only offer when they want to do these things for you! Even though I know I would do the same for friends if I was in a position to.

:mad: Sometimes it's such a pain owing money, isn't it!!! Ok, pick yourself up women, dust yourself down and get back to it!!!!

Went back to my doctors today. Either she's feeling brave, or she thinks I'm feeling better, as today was the first time she used word depression over the word anxiety! And it didn't bother me. She's clearly a clever lady and knew I'd maybe freak if she'd used the word depression before now!

Counselling was good too. I was expecting it to be full of akward silences as I tried to figure out what to say! But actually I just started blabbing away, and heard myself say stuff and wondered where on earth that came from! I felt as though I was just chatting to a friend. But one that was completely objective and didn't already know how I might react to certain suggestions or questions! She even gave me homework .

Some of which was to breath - always handy, I find! I can completely recommend it

Some of which was to figure out how my boss and I can work better together.... So far I've 8 pages of A4!!!! I think I'll leave it a few days before looking at it again! Although I'm sure there's sensible stuff in there, there's bound to be a feww little petty grievance here and there . Probably best I edit it beofre handing it over to the boss :rotfl:. Especially if I want to keep the job!

Found a spider in the bottom of the mug I was about to pour my cuppa into! Good job the counsellor told me about that breathing thing! I almost forgot how! Pesky little beggar! I had to deafen him out of the mug by hitting said mug on side of the sink until he fell down the drain! As long as he stays there, he won't bother me. I don't mind them when they are sitting, stationary on the wall. But mugs are definitley out of bounds! In fact, the kitchen, full stop, is out of bounds! Any-one know where to get conkers out of season?