3 is a magic number

I started this blog with a I cant believe its Sunday night already blah blah blah....type blog.

I thought to myself no lets be more positive, here is my weekend in 3, 3's....

 1. A fab traffic jam. We were held up for 10 minutes by a parade off to church.
 

2. Soup making.

3. Wardrobe sorting.

ok back to the weekend jobs......

home made soup and washing on the line.

A much more productive day today, than last Saturday.

Spring is defiantly here and I have been able to put some hours in the garden. After a nice morning of a lazy breakfast in front of Saturday kitchen I slowly prepared some home made veg soup for lunch.

It was yummy if I say so myself.....

I was then able to turn my attention to the garden. I started by hanging the washing outside for the first time this year! I love the smell and feel of washing that has been dried outside......

The flower bed has survived the winter well, I think there have been a few casualties of the snow but not too many. Its time for some serious dead heading and weeding.

Before

After

My rampage through the garden was brought to an abrupt halt when I managed to slice half my fingernail off.
(no pictures, that would be gross)

I was so gutted as I was doing so well, but it was to uncomfortable to continue. The garden is springing to life, slowly. I am a bulbaholic, there are hundreds in this small flowerbed,

But there is always room for a few more......

(they were bought before lent)
A day at home means no temptation, so I am keeping to the 40 day's of no shopping!

Shopping seems really trivial, having watched any of the news in the past 2 days.

Please look at my friend's post flora and purl, my wish would be that everyone would be ok, Although I know that will not be possible. As I watched the images in the news of the past few day's I have found the scale of the disaster so hard to comprehend. seeing images of buildings, boats, cars, trains and planes being swept along by the massive wave. You cant help thinking of the the thousands of people who will have been killed or injured and the millions of people whose lives will have been affected by the tragedy. My thoughts and prayer's are with them.

Camp Beddles.

One advantage of having grown up children, is that you can have lazy day's. Today was a lazy day.

LSP is still unwell so we cancelled our lunch plan's and retreated back to bed.

We prepared ourselves with book's, magazines, a stack of DVD's and 2 laptop's.

We even managed lunch in bed......

Yes I was feeling brave and we managed big cups of tomato soup in bed without any spillage's. 

I really enjoyed the chance to have some R&R, its been a busy week in work and I am very very tired. So the chance to kick back and have a very very lazy day. no going out, no rushing around, the housework can wait till tomorrow. We had some time for us! 

As you know I love our bedroom, its such a pretty room, here are some more of its elements.....

Hope you all had a great Saturday!!!

(beddles is how we tell the dog its time to go upstairs)

Salad Days!!

Soup or Salad?

Soup or Salad is the question I ask my partner each evening, that are our choices for lunch the next day and will be for the next 12 months.

So far I have lost 6lb so I am now 18st. My target is in 12 months time I will be 12 stone. This equates to 1/2 stone per month loss which is quite achievable. I will not get as boring as to blog each lb lost, but will let you know the major milestones.

This week I have mainly been eating Salad, ham salad, fish salad, egg salad chicken salad. etc.

Today was my favourite so far, chicken and grape Salad, yum.
Take 1/2 bag salad leaves,
1/4 cucumber sliced,
1/2 green pepper sliced,
20 grapes.
place in a lidded lunch box.
mix 5ml olive oil and 10ml balsamic vinegar, pour over the salad, place the lid on and give it a good shake.
Then add 2 slices of thick sliced roast chicken.
And enjoy.....

Tomorrow....Soup!
2 onions,
1/4 swede
2 leeks
4 carrots
4 potato's
10ml cooking oil
1 1/2 pints veg stock.
season to taste.

Dice veg finely,
first add onions and start to lightly brown, then swede and carrot, keep stirring as you don't want the veg to burn just colour, then add the potato's and leek, fry for 2 more minutes add the stock, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
The soup can be served 3 ways.
1 as a broth with the whole pieces of veg with a stock sauce.
2 as a thicker soup, by using a potato masher to break up the  veg.
3 as a thick soup by blending the veg together.

Whilst I have been diligently eating my way through fields of greens. I have been creating some very yummy treats. 2 old fashioned favourites.

1st bread pudding. I baked a large bread pudding with banana and sultana's.

2nd, a chocolate tiffin,

I had completed a punishing aerobics class and had made chicken and veg for tea. I then found myself stood over the hob, stirring a pot of melted chocolate and adding fruit and biscuits.

It was hard but I managed to make it without eating any of it. !!

oh and the recipe's for these will be in my forth coming cookery book. !!!

(pictures this week were from Internet not my camera)