Monday 7 December 2015

Goodbye Blogger, Hello Wordpress

I've said farewell to Blogger and migrated to Wordpress. My new site is online at https://mymummyblogs.wordpress.com/

All the content from this blog is also available on the new site, as well as lots of new posts!

Thanks for reading :-)

Friday 7 August 2015

Bristol bucket list

Since we moved to Bristol, we haven't had a lot of time to explore the local area much. With a baby and toddler, our days are quite short once we factor in naps, feeds, and tantrums. I've been collecting a mental list of things to do and places to go, and it's time to decant it as my brain space is full.

Our Bristol Bucket List

Clifton Village and Suspension Bridge
Old Down Country Park
Ashton Court
Bristol Zoo
Dyrham Park (on a Tuesday, as there are toddler activities then)
Lawrence Weston Farm (Wednesday farm tots)
Brean Leisure Park
Day trip in Weston (reliving my childhood!)
Wot Pots pottery painting
Clifton Arcade
Eastfield Inn (our local pub, reputedly one of the most family-friendly pubs in the UK)
Day trip in Clevedon
Chew Valley Lake (walk and fish and chips)
Henbury Park
Hengrove Park
To be continued...

Wednesday 5 August 2015

Sea swimming {30 for 30}

Goal 9. Swim in the sea

I did it! And it was really, really cold!

On holiday last week, I swam in the sea. I love sea swimming, the water salty and refreshing, the seaweed brushing toes and ankles, the horizon in the distance. I had wanted to swim longer, but we were in Brittany, so my toes and fingers needed to get out. Hoping for a warmer swim next year! Sophie absolutely loved the water and would have stayed in all day if she could, but, seeing her shivering all over, we insisted that she get out and wrap up!

Completed: 1/30

Thursday 18 June 2015

Strawberry ice cream

We made this ages ago, but I forgot to publish the post, oops!

300ml double cream
200ml milk
200g strawberries
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Wash, hull, and chop the strawberries. Crush with a hand blender, food processor, or potato masher. Sieve to remove the pips.

Mix the cream, milk and maple syrup or honey. Then mix in the strawberries.

Pour into an ice cream machine and leave to churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. For our machine it takes about 20 minutes to create a thick, yet soft ice cream.

Delicious!

30 for 30

In a little less than three months, I will be 30 years old. Exciting! You certainly won't find me snivelling or whining about this milestone. I'm pretty relaxed about birthdays generally but this is a whole new decade! I'll be able to say I'm 'in my 30s'. I won't feel bad about being boring, having no social life, or enjoying knitting. I spent my 20s acting like I was in my 30s, and soon I actually will be!

I've been thinking about some things I'd like to do or achieve in honour of my 30th birthday and - inspired by my love of all things list-y - I decided to make myself a 30 for 30 'challenge' of 30 things I would like to do in the coming year. It's not really a challenge, as I won't feel bad if I don't manage to do any or all of them: it's more of a 30th birthday bucket list. A good number of them will be easy, some will be more challenging and some will be outright too expensive - but hopefully I'll achieve some of them! I will be the first to admit that this list is pretty self-centred, but that's the nature really of personal goals. Of course I want to keep growing as a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and person, and keep (or get better at!) being kind, hospitable, compassionate, gracious, and wise. Those things go without saying, but they don't appear on the list. They're not just for my 30th birthday - they're for life.

30 for 30

  1. Picnic at a park or beach
  2. Read a book (preferably in a day, but just reading a whole one would be fab - even better would be writing one!)
  3. Blog more
  4. Pray more
  5. Do a jigsaw
  6. Finish my jumper (that I started about four years ago!)
  7. Make macarons
  8. Learn and perform a new piece
  9. Swim in the sea
  10. Exercise more
  11. Make someone a birthday cake
  12. Go on a day trip to the seaside (Weston-super-Mare, anyone?)
  13. Sort photos into albums
  14. Buy new cushions for the lounge
  15. Enter a baking competition (or run one?!)
  16. Host a dinner party
  17. Do something different or dramatic with my hair
  18. Have a facial
  19. Do a 10K run
  20. Take the children to the zoo
  21. Sew a skirt or dress
  22. Invest in and use good face creams (I'm in my 30s now!)
  23. Go out for Japanese food
  24. Host Christmas
  25. Start studying something
  26. Floss every day
  27. Do a hat making class/course
  28. Go on a hot holiday
  29. Spa day
  30. Go on a weekend trip with Nick (Paris? Bruges? Bognor?)
Other things that didn't make it onto the list included using cloth napkins (I have them, I should use them, and not buy paper ones except for big parties), printing and framing photos (we live in a rented house, and have nowhere to hang them), writing letters (I will do this anyway so it's not much of a challenge), a bike ride (I no longer have a bike), join the WI (I'm 30, not 50 - but I might still join!), and sell unwanted things on eBay (I should do this, it would fund some of the other things on the list...). 

Ready. Set. Go!

(Oh. Nothing happened. That'd be because is 21:05 on a Thursday evening and it's past my bedtime. Rock and roll.)