Tis the season of mellow fruitfulness...

And I have been busy in the kitchen! In the last week I have made chocolate walnut brownies, blackberry and apple tarts, slow cooker apple and blackberry jam and currently baking a carrot and courgette cake. Oh, the agony of falling headlong into a patch of nettles as I plucked juicy blackberries from their brambles. Seriously, why are nettles and brambles companion plants - it's madness, madness I say! Anyway, after many scratches, and stings (to which I am becoming innured) I picked 2.5 pints of blackberries. They will be the last of the season I suspect as many are withered dessicated husks, and the few remaining lurk deep within a thicket of nettles and thorns. I looked up a slow cooker jam recipe and decided to give it a go (I was getting rather bored with apple and blackberry tartlets, even with a dollop of clotted cream on top!). Basically you lightly mash the blackberries in the slow cooker, and add a finely diced, lightly cooked golden delicious apple and 2 cups of sugar. You can use more, I objected on moral principles :P Then you cook on low for 3 hours, stirring occasionally, then turn up to high with the lid off for another 2 hours. Decant them into jars and they will last 6 weeks in the fridge. The jam was runny, but sooo DELICIOUS!  Today, due to a slight miscalculation with Tesco where I ordered 5kg's of carrots I made carrot and courgette cake. Naturally I used the recipe as a guide and made all sorts of substitutions and additions :) Now the recipe says to cook it for 30 minutes, and you can do that if you like your cakes liquid in the centre. I shall be cooking mine for at least 40 minutes :) So here's the recipe if you want to try it.

Carrot and Courgette Cake
2 eggs
170g (6 oz) brown soft sugar - I added a splash of golden syrup
75g (3 oz) soured cream - I used greek yoghurt and a teaspoon of mayonnaise
75g (3 oz) carrots, peeled and grated (peeled? what is this peeling of which they speak?)
75g (3 oz) courgettes, peeled and grated (see above lol)

80ml (3 fl oz) sunflower oil
225g (8 oz)  wholemeal flour
3 Tbsp baking powder
75g (3 oz) raisins - I used sultanas
I added dried cherries, mixed spice, vanilla essence and cinnamon

In other news the Maths GCSE is going well. I passed the surprise test in the first session (which half the class failed) and to my eternal surprise seem to be tutoring my seatmate! If my maths classmates could see me now they would believe the world had ended lol. I nipped off to the library for a GCSE book and am waiting until payday so I can purchase the proper textbook. However I am doing exceptionally well if I do say so myself, and am getting everything right so far! It won't last :)

School is going well for the boys. Kieran is loving his new teacher and has shown no reluctance to head off to school in the mornings. Cameron switched over to mornings this week and it has been a trial by fire. He fought to be able to eat his chocolate muffin before his savoury stuff (sausages) and as a result ate nothing that day. He threw a massive tantrum the next morning as he had determined that school was a tool of the devil, designed to frustrate small boys, and haunt them with pangs of starvation. However we seem to be shifting to a more positive outlook :)

Cubs started back last night and I have mapped out activities for the Cubs to work towards three badges this Autumn term. I plan for them to read WW1 books, give report on them and then use that information to present a group play on a WW1 theme where they can sing, dance, write a script and tell a story. It will be good fun and will earn them a Book reader badge and a Creative performance badge! The other badge is athletics and I have come up with some thoughts on that too :)

Yesterday was busy as I was preparing agendas and the documentation for FOUR meeting next week. Four of them!! My hands will be cramped little claws by the time I finish minuting that lot :) Mind you, my arms have only just stopped hurting after I pruned every bush in the back garden with the bluntest, stiffest pair of shears it has ever been my misfortune to use. Then I got to drag the vegetative remains to the wheelie bins, smearing rotting vegetable matter on my shirt. Oh yeah, I was living the dream :) However I did a trawl around the op shops looking for cheap white polo shirts for the boys (school uniform) with no success. However I did find a smashing pair of brown leather boots that turned out to be Doctor Martins. And I bought them for the princely sum of 2 pounds - BARGAIN!!

School's back!

Yes indeed. St James went back today. Chris fled the house early for a presentation and interview. Kieran got kitted up in his uniform and Cam and I dropped him off at school before heading off to the Adult Education Centre so I could have my first session of GCSE maths. Once that finished, we frisked home and changed Cam into his uniform - bless. He was so very excited to start school. This afternoon we have the health visitor coming to check him out, then I have to go get the Scout hut sorted. I have popped into the school and found out the meeting dates for my role as Clerk to the Governors - yay! At the moment I am making apple tartlets for dessert and may pop off to pick some blackberries. Life is good :)

Days Forty-six to Forty-nine: School holidays

In short, we chilled out and then we went to Wales :)

Days Forty to Forty-five : School Holidays

On day 40 of the 49 days of summer holidays we headed out to the Glossop charity shops. Bubbling with delight at the thought of being able to buy whatever they liked with their pound the boys practically frolicked out the door. We stopped by the library first and the boys happily played on the computers and chose a few books. Chris staggered under the weight of the massive pile of boys that he chose, and in fact had to head off home to drop them off. meeting us at one of the nicer charity shops. The boys had a lovely time choosing things, and eventually chose a Spongebob lunchbox (which Kieran broke 3 hours later, jumping off the bed) and a smiley face stuffed toy. I bought a Junior Scrabble, which both boys were very keen to play. On day 41 it was the boys swimming lesson. We sauntered up the hill to the pools, just missing the deluge in our 30 minute walk. The swimming lessons went smashingly, and the boys did really well. On our way home we found a patch of mushrooms, which the boys were quite excited about, as well as a caterpillar and 2 butterflies. I headed out later that afternoon to pick up some dress-ups which I had found cheaply online. I walked for miles! Literally! I did find a lovely new playground though so this, the exercise and the bargain made all well in my world. Plus it wasn't raining. On day 42 We cancelled the Legoland plans and I took the boys to Whistlestop cafe for the fun day - bouncy castle, face painting etc. We invited Frankie and Minnie along and they had a blast. We were the only people there, as the fun day had been cancelled. However, all four children had a blast which is the important thing :) On day 43 We headed out on a playground mission. We headed out to the new playground and the boys were in alt when we got there. It was brilliant. They were knackered when they finally trudged home though given that it was a mile each way, but not so knackered that they couldn't pause for an invigorating 20 minute play at the playground by the stream :). On day 44 we took the boys along to the dentist as Kieran's shark teeth remain firmly in place. Once there we discovered that one of his back (adult) teeth is developing a little hole where the toothbrush wasn't reaching it. So we had a little chat about how to brush our teeth properly. Then we discovered that Cameron has a cavity on one of his teeth, so he gets to go and get that filled on Thursday. Yippee yi yay! All in all it was rather depressing, and expensive. On day 45 (today) I threw on some decent clothes and some makeup and headed off to St James for the interview for the Clerk to the Governor role. After a fairly decent interview I prowled around the house waiting for news, before picking blackberries and prowling some more. I was extremely pleased to get a phonecall giving me the job late this afternoon :) Then Cameron managed to acquire my glittery, red nail polish and paint his face, fingers and toes with it - lavishly. Sometimes I despair of that child :P
In other news Chris has been spending his holiday time by applying for work and cooking up a storm! I have been mooching around and getting school supplies in for the boys, and applying for jobs. Lots and lots of jobs. Cameron now has school shoes, school pants and shirts and a lovely new school book bag. Roll on Monday when school starts, I have my first GCSE session, Cam has the Health visitor around and life starts getting back to normal!

Days Thirty-two to Thirty-nine: School Holidays

Seven weeks of holiday are slowly drawing to a close. Sadly, the gloriously warm summer days are also drawing to a close and turning cooler. On the bright side the mornings and evenings are a little darker. On day 32 we did head off to the library. While the weather was not fantastic, it wasn't too cold, and it wasn't raining - woot! We had a blast at the library and the boys collected many, many, many books. We also bumped into Alex and Brodie and we had a lovely chat with them. On Friday (day 33) I dropped the boys off at Alex and Brodie's house so that I could catch a train to Manchester, then a bus to London. Aaah Londinium! The bus ride took forever. The bus left nearly 30 minutes late and arrived late as a result. I did see some lovely London Streets including Baker street where some of Sherlock series is filmed. Sadly, I did not see Martin Freeman or Benedict Cumberbatch, more's the pity. Once arrived at London I met up with Mum, Mike and Kirst and we headed off to dinner. It was fabulous! After dinner we walked through Hyde Park, looked at some of the statues and buildings and saw Buckingham Palace. The next day (day 34) Mum and I headed off to London to hop on the London Bus Tour. It was awesome! London is a stunning city, and the details on the building exteriors, and the statues and artworks in the parks are just amazing.We got to see most of the major sights, took some amazing pictures and got to go for a ride on the Thames too. We hopped off the boat when we reached the Tower of London as I have been desperate to see the poppies installation celebrating the WW1 centenary - over 880 000 poppies, for each fallen soldier. We finished the day at Harrods where we strolled around various departments and marvelled at the prices people would pay for some rather unlovely items. Kirst whisked us off for dinner when we got back to the 'statue of Eros', when the rain absolutely bucketed down!! It did clear after 15 minutes or so however, and the rest of the evening was pleasantly mild. Dinner was lovely. After dinner she took us to Panorama in the Centerpoint building where we could see most of London below us as we enjoyed drinks. On Sunday I headed back to Glossop. I can't say the countryside between London and Manchester was especially attractive, but I was a bit distracted by our slug like driver, who arrived late at Birmingham (what a dump!!) due to his practise of going through roundabouts twice before exiting them. The new driver managed to set a cracking pace, once he sorted out some technical issues and got the bus running again. I have never been happier to see Manchester, still awash with good cheer from the Manchester Pride celebration. I scurried off to the train station with my loaded backpack and managed to get the 7:49pm train. The journey to Glossop went well, bar some tweens who got on, as high as kites and puledl the emergency cord when they got off so the train was frozen on the tracks. Despite these minor irritants my heart warmed as I saw the Dark Peak rise before me and I positively pranced home. The boys were delighted to see me, and rejoiced in their gift of London buses. On day 36 it rained. A lot. The boys battled it out on the Kinect and then I took them to the Scout hut to paint the benches. Day 37 was better, and we had a glorious time at the library as Cameron had completed his mythical maze summer reading challenge and so got his stickers and mini maze game. Day 38 we had more Kinect and then I whisked Cameron off to get his last lot off immunisations (until he's 15 at least). He ran in happy and laughing and crept out weeping and sore. But he was such a brave wee boy. A brave, wee, hefty boy who I had to carry until we got to the playground by the stream where some vigour reinvigorated his meager frame. He had a lovely play there with a friend from kindy and perked right up. Once we got home he thrilled his awed brother with the tale of his trials and feasted upon pumpkin pie AND an ice cream cone. On day 39 (today) I took them to Freetown playground where they ran and leaped and cavorted - and generally had a lovely time. We stopped in at home and collected the rugby ball and headed to the fields for a romp and to pick blackberries before toddling home as Cameron told me he needed a nap. A nap was had, and the poor feverish darling has slept most of the late afternoon and sleeps yet. Tomorrow I plan on taking the family to Lymefield in Broadbottom, and Saturday is Legoland.

Days Twenty-nine, Thirty and Thirty-one: School holidays

Ah, how changeable the weather in the Penines is. No sooner had Mum and Mike fled Glossop for more salubrious climes than the sun began to show its face again. I am saddened to report however that we have begun the slow slide into that season of mellow fruitfulness and abandoned the steamy haze of summer (snort!). My spreadsheet of summer holiday activities is going along crackingly too, and I shall use it for all future holidays to come. We're over halfway and the end is in sight :P. On Monday I took the boys over to Julia's house for a playdate with her daughters Ellie and Mollie. Their house abuts the Nab and is lovely. The boys especially loved the trampoline and a recently discovered nest of mice! We watched the children cavorting and Julia and I got to chat as adults, all by ourselves. It was a very odd and pleasant feeling and we have agreed that we will get together to watch DVD's once the children are at school. We headed off around 2 and stopped in at the Freetown playground. Sadly the glorious sunshine dimmed, and the clouds darkened ominously. Mindful of my washing on the line I gathered the children and fled home post-haste. We did very well, skidding in the door only slightly damp, and I managed to salvage the washing too - woot! Did a bit of baking and made mini chicken and vegetable pies/quiches - which were delicious!! On Tuesday I gathered the lasts and headed off to the Scout hut, where hours of backbreaking labour resulted in a usable storage room. Massive achievement, and one that has taken three days of effort to achieve! I still have Cub and Beaver records to sort out, but can do that at home. I will also be painting the benches next week - in an upright position this time tho!! Once home the boys retreated to their room with a large box of Sticklebricks generously donated by Akela and played like little angels. Today dawned gloriously (Praise the Lord) as we were enrolled in a Woodland Explorers event out in Charlesworth. The boys thrilled in the bus ride through Gamesley, past Melandra castle, and positively danced down the road. We finally found the correct road and trudged down it for ages (or a mile and a bit) before meeting up with the others. We then turned and walked back up the sodding hill for a quarter mile. The boys were not best pleased by this but all was forgiven when we entered the woods, built dens, created nature mobiles with bracken and brambles (guess which poor sod got to lash those on!) and explored abandoned railroad infrastructure and were treated to another exciting bus ride. Truly, their joy knew no limits. My joy knew no limits when I finally found my camera under Cameron's bed, to the amazement of both boys who had denied any knowledge of its whereabouts when I was trying to bring it along today. Ah well. I threw together some chicken soup in the slow cooker and we'll have that for dinner tomorrow and some homemade bread rolls, into which I shall cunningly incorporate grated courgette and carrot. Tomorrow, we are heading off to the library to replenish our stash of books and play with the library toys. Pray the weather holds!!

Days Twenty-five, Twenty-six, Twenty-seven and Twenty-eight: School holidays

Sadly for Mum and Mike the weather continued grey, cold and drizzly. This is especially annoying considering how lovely the weather was just a couple of weeks ago!
Anyway on Thursday Mike drove us to the Heights of Abraham. The Derbyshire Dales are really pretty - and quite far away!! We got to admire the heather on the moors, which is really beautiful! Once there we found a carpark with some difficulty and then dashed off to make the ascent in the cable car. The boys were ecstatic! A few minutes after we arrived a Punch and Judy show began and the boys had an absolute blast! I lot count of the fart jokes and delighted giggles. After that we had lunch and looked out over the view while the boys frolicked in the playground. We then entered Masson Cavern, a lead mine that stopped operating 50 years ago. The boys loved it, and dashed around in the dark like a pair of loons. Once we ascended the many steps to exit the caverns we scrambled about on rocks by a lookout before the boys discovered another playground. Finally, they enjoyed another ride on the cablecar as were descended down to Matlock and then headed off home.
On Friday the weather took a turn for the better and actual sunshine bathed Glossop. Naturally, this was a sign that we needed to go visit Lyme Park, the exterior of which was used for Pemberly in the Colin Firth BBC production of Pride and Prejudice. Sadly Colin wasn't swimming in the Reflection Lake when we got there. Despite this our tour around the grounds was very enjoyable, even though Kieran's legs ached from the steep steps of Massons Cavern the day before. We saw a lovely begonia garden planted to resemble poppies to celebrate the centenary of WW1, a lovely orangery, the Reflection lake, a hare sculpture and a sweet little rose garden before we leapt back into a buggy to go back to the carpark so we could picnic by Darcy's lake. Once the picnic had been consumed we caught another buggy up to the house. The rather affable and easy going driver had allowed Cameron to sit in the drivers seat and pretend to drive on the previous arrival. Remembering this, Cameron leapt into the front, turned the key in the ignition and drove hell for leather with the driver galloping alongside on his left, and Mike galloping along on the other. I stared bemused, thinking that this was planned and under control. We promptly fled the scene once the culprit was dragged from the vehicle. After this, we toured the interior of Lyme Park, which was stunning. No photos could be taken sadly, but the detailing on the ceiling, mantels and fireplaces had to be seen to be believed. Most striking were a set of Chippendale chairs in the extremely well named Stag Parlour, the cushions of which were made from Charles the first cloak, handed to the staunch royalist Richard Legh, as Charles divested himself of his clothing on the scaffold. The boys soon grew tired of walking around the various rooms however to I took them off to the Crows nest playground while Mum and Mike got to have a better look. The boys had a most enjoyable time in the playground and then we stopped in at New Mills on the way home to view the Archimedean screw 'Archie' installed there. We also got to admire a dead tree carved to represent trout leaping in the river, and the boys had a little paddle once we moved off the Millenium bridge. Then Mum and Mike came over to babysit so Chris and I could have a night out - the first in a year! I got all dressed up and we headed off to the Wheatsheaf where I had a most delicious steak and Chris tucked into bangers and mash. Afterwards we strolled around Old Glossop and then moseyed off home.
On Saturday it dawned cold, windy and grey - a perfect morning for the boys swimming lessons. Fleeing the house at the crack of dawn we got them there in good time, and a wonderful lesson was enjoyed by both boys - their enthusiasm a delight to observe. Mum and Mike joined us at the pool and watched the kidlets leap and frolic. Once home we headed out to the Pikes Lane fields to try and fly the dragon kite that Mum and Mike got for the boys. There was much leaping and running, and more running and the boys had a wonderful time! Mum and I left the festivities early to pick blackberries which I turned into delicious apple and blackberry tartlets. After that I applied for many, many jobs. Then I set the boys up in a tent in our room which they were very excited about - bless their hearts. Tomorrow, we shall see what tomorrow brings! Hopefully sunshine! Sadly no, it bucketed down and we had a pyjama day!