on the 6th, 7th and 8th day of Christmas..........................

21 items - swans, geese and milking maids!

think of it as a hold up in the postal system!

Did you know that Swans mate for life? If their partner dies they live alone for the rest of their lives.......................that is so romantic, but i doubt a swan thinks its romantic! It's just what it does. Shame more humans can't be like that instead of 'flitting' from one partner to another, maybe then there would be no need for the CSA or family courts, or children of divorced parents growing into confused and angry adults?

On the Fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me....................

Thats more like it!
A truly romantic gift, was it an engagement ring?

or a wedding ring?

An eternity ring?

And although I know it refers to the 5 books of the old testament

I really want to take a more romantic view of this gift!

I have fallen behind a bit with the 12 days, the plan was to post one a day (obviously!) but life happens, especially my life and at this time of year!
the day this should have been posted - 28th December - I spent a rather stressful time with my Dad, whilst never the easiest person to get on with, this week was just 'special' when we arranged the day he said to me 'don't get here before 11' which to me means be there sometime after 11! thanks to a clothing crisis (me, why do I always forget to do my laundry over Christmas?), tantrums (middle child) and a lorry from Italy driving far too slowly along a road far to narrow for it, got to love sat navs eh?! Anyway we got there at noon - not good enough apparently, he was cross and after being there for a couple of hours it was obvious we had to leave. I appreciate they had to get back to sort out the dog, but I am not sure Dad had to make it so obvious he wanted us to leave!

on the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me............................

four calling birds

mmmmmmmm well I am assuming the author didn't mean a group of birds on a party line, so some research into the true meaning is needed.

I have to say I am finding this very interesting, I had always assumed that this song was simply a love song, so to find out it has biblical references is very enlightening!

ok four calling birds, means the four Gospels or the four evangelists
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
but as they are typically portrayed as Angel, Lion, Ox and Eagle I am not sure how they got demoted to four calling birds!

So I looked up calling birds, apparently its a blackbird - as calling used to be colly and colly is an old word for black - so there you have it. day one you get a partridge, day two you get french hens, day three you get turtle doves and on day four you get blackbirds - plain, noisy, bullying balckbirds! Maybe they had a lovers tiff on day four?

on the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me.............................

26th December 2007, Boxing Day

The 3 french hens signify Faith, Hope and Charity
very good sentiments indeed.

Faith, mmmmm havent had a lot of that in a long time, this family seems to have been dealt more than its fair share of 'stuff' over the last few years. I could be very deep about this and say its God testing us, or that we are paying for past sins, but from where I stand it is just so unfair (hey a bit of kevin the teenager came out there for a minute).

Hope, yup always have plenty of that, I hope I will make it through another day without throttling the kids, I hope I can keep up with my coursework, I hope there is enough money in the bank to pay the bills. But most of all I hope for peace and harmony, for my children to grow up strong, brave and wise, and for me and my family to keep our good health.

Charity, mmmmmmm well everyone has their own individual take on Charity. Some will drop coins in a box and consider that their bit, some will stand and shake that box. Others give up their time to help others or ensure all their shopping and gifts are ethically bought. Me? I think Charity is about thinking of others with every act we make and doing what we can to make the world a nicer, kinder, brighter place.

Now onto it being Boxing Day - I have often idly wondered why it was called that, but never that bothered to look it up, so tonight I have and here is what I found

Why is 26 December called Boxing Day in England?

Traditionally, this was the day to open the Christmas Box to share the contents with the poor.

interesting, goes hand in hand with the french hens - faith in those who have to help those who have not, hope of the poor for the box to be shared with them and Charity from those who share

I hope Christmas has bought you cheer and goodwill and lots of love and kindness from those dear to you

good stuff, bad stuff

Good stuff - middle daughter has succeeded in wearing her thumbguard and hasn't had to wear it during the day for 2 weeks now. And last night she slept without it, and without sucking her thumb!

Bad stuff - I didn't get the job, I thought the interview went really well, but I am obviously not the right person for them *sob*. I had stupidly got my hopes up about it and am really rather disappointed not to get it.

On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me.............

25th December 2007

2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments

dont' know why, but apparently it does, maybe someone could enlighten me?

So today is Christmas day (well tomorrow, I am posting this on the eve, my family are very tolerant of me but internet time on Christmas day is a big no-no!) a day of hope, love and good will. A day when we can relax and enjoy the company of the ones we love. we are spending the day at home with Mr.B's Brother and his Wife (Uncle D and Auntie J) visiting. I hope middle daughter won't have too many meltdowns, I hope smallest daughter will understnad that not ALL the presents under our tree are for her, and I hope eldest daughter will manage a whole day without a teenage strop or nasty dig at her sisters or stepdad *sigh* I can live in hope.

Merry Christmas everyone I hope you have a wonderful and restful time, and I hope all your dreams and wishes come true.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me.............

24th December 2007

A partidge in a pear tree

The popular song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is usually seen as simply a nonsense song for children. However, some have suggested that it is a song of Christian instruction dating to the 16th century religious wars in England, with hidden references to the basic teachings of the Faith. They contend that it was a mnemonic device to teach the catechism to youngsters. The "true love" mentioned in the song is not an earthly suitor, but refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person who is part of the Christian Faith. Each of the "days" represents some aspect of the Christian Faith that was important for children to learn.

http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Personally I like the song because it's jolly and cheerful!

I had planned a lovely romantic dinner for Christmas eve, it is our first married christmas after all, and in line with the first true love gift I had thought a lovely meal of partridge followed by pears soaked in coffee. But as Tesco didn't deliver the Partridge (sent 2 poussin instead!) and I forgot to buy the tin pears, we will make do with roast beef and yorkshire puds instead!

lots of people and a moment of moist eyes!

whats going on then?

Being a shockingly nosey person, I put a visitor counter on this blog, generally I get a steady plod of 3 - 5 visitors a day

But today I have had 21 visits! Why the interest? what have I said thats so amazing - wish I knew!

Today we went to watch smallest child (3 in February) in her school play, she was an evil monkey in The Wizard of Oz! mmmmmm well cast methinks! Joking aside though, it was fantastic the story was reworked by the drama club and they even choreographed the dancing themselves - all the kids in the school were included from the littliest nursery pupil to the top of year 6 (although it is a very small school!) but fantastic, and yes I shed a tear or 2!

O boy O boy O boy!

I have been full time Mumming for 7 years now - more or less to the day - after middle child was born, I decided not to return to work after my maternity leave finished.
So apart from raising 3 daughters, keeping house, being a good (hahahaha) wife, being a Brownie guider, running my own business until youngest child arrived, plus voluntary work with the toy library and the NCT, and now my OU course - I havent really done anything with my time (do you notice the tongue in cheek tone there?)

But now the time has come for me to take a break from my long term relaxation and to think about getting a job!

One such thing caught my eye a week or so ago in our local paper, I phoned for a form, received it, completed it (first application form in a very long time) and posted it back.

And today - surprise surprise - I had a phonecall inviting me in for an interview, a week on Monday.

I haven't had an interview for a job in over a decade! So to say I am nervous is an understatement!

and the job? Cook at our local firestation - yum yum

life is like a box of chocolates

according to Forest Gumps Mum,
and sometimes it really is.

our middle daughter (6, soon to be 7) has always had a complicated outlook on life (she is being assessed for Autism) and things have to be handled very carefully with her (think hand grenade with no pin!)
And so to the point, she sucks her thumb, has done from just a few weeks old, but now as she has lost one top tooth, with another wobbly one next to is and 2 new teeth coming through at the bottom - not to mention repeated episodes on TW - we have decided it is time to stop the habit.


Not like me really, I usually follow the path of least resistance when it comes to the kids and let them give things up when they are ready, and it hasn't caused any problems (see oh marvelous Health visitor, my almost 16, 7 and 3 year olds do not sleep in my bed, despite your doom mongering about 'rod for your own back'!)

and so after a lot of thinking, talking to other mums who have gone down this path, and of course discussion with middle child we ordered THUMBGUARDS from the states, they are available in this country but with the Dollar being so week I thought I would save us a few pennies, and I would have too if the meddling customs folks hadnt slapped a charge of £13.66 on the parcel grrrrrrr. And worse it was stuck in customs for 3 weeks, so the lovely preparation I had done with middle daughter had all been forgotten!

Anyhoo customs notice arrived Saturday, I collected it Monday, and attempted to get middle child to wear it on Wednesday ~ no chance!
So after a lot of chat and negotiation it was decided that Friday night would be the night, with great excitement the instrument of torture was applied (if you are interested she chose green and purple for her wrist bands, she sucks both thumbs so has to wear it on both hands!) and the evening commenced.

We had take away pizza, which she managed to eat without getting too messy. We watched a DVD and she got to stay up a good hour after her usual bedtime. poor mite didn't know what to do with herself as she normally sucks her thumb when watching TV, so she was a bit of a fidget.

Finally the time arrived, and with much fear of tantrums and crying and sleepless nights we put her to bed.

And the next thing I know is its 8am (an unheard of lie in!) and she has woken up from a peaceful thumbless night, very very pleased with herself.

like I say, life is like a box of chocolates ~ full of surprises!

and whilst we are on the subject

yesterday morning at around 4.30/5am I got woken with an urgent call of 'mummy, mummy' I lept out of bed, and ran to the side of my youngest (2 soon to be 3) to find out what was distressing her so much.
'mummy, mummy my nose isn't working'!
poor mites noses was bunged up and she couldn't suck her fingers (essential sleeping aide!) and breath. Awwwwwwwwwwww

how many vegetables in a box of cereal?

This morning middle daughter (6 almost 7 years) asked her Daddy
'whats a calbrese?'
Dad replied
'its a vegetable'
to which middle daughter replied
'there is a 111 vegetables in my cereal'

think she meant calories?

I will survive, did you think I would leave you dying....

Mr.B is a bit of a D.J. and a good one at that in my opinion! Anyway the one song he can't stand is 'I will survive' he says its the womans anthem, and all brides ask for it at their weddings.

Well let me be controversial and say if thats our biggest crime - what say you men when I say how comes you get away with 'Two little boys' at every stag do and kareoke night!?!

Never having introduced myself formally.............

and yet there is so much you could know about me, just by reading this and my first blog.

• I like Nick Knowles
• I don't sew as much as I want to
• Mr.B & me have been courting for over a decade
• Mr.B can't spell!
• I have some wonderful friends, Caroline, Jude, Krystle, Elaine, Pippa to name a few
• I love food and shoes, and food and shoes oh and food and shoes!
• Mr.B carelessly lost his job
• my Spelling and grammar are terrible
• I had 14" of hair cut off last year
• I have 3 beautiful daughters
• I am a Brownie Guider, and Mr.B is a scout leader
• we drive an old banger
• I have lost nearly 2 stone in weight thanks to weight watchers
• I have my eyebrows waxed and my nails done!
• I am a member of freecycle
• For a brief while, we kept chickens
• I like, like, like shopping at Milton Keynes
• I live in St. Albans, and it rained a lot here in August
• I am not a vegetarian!
• I fart a lot
• I am a pirate called Calico Charity Bonney
• I am under 45
• I can cook, and really enjoy it
• I am doing an OU course
• Mr.B rides a motorbike

so there you go, you actually know an awful lot about me!

whilst wandering around blogger land.................

I found this


hours of entertainment.....................................................................

This morning I was sitting at the dining table catching up with some study, I took a pause to look out the window, saw my dahlia now needing to be dug up and stored for the winter. I got that Dahlia at the sell off at the Hampton Court flower show this year, next year I want to go to the Chelsea flower show, So does my mum, we are spending boxing day at my mums house, must think about what I am going to wear, soon be Christmas must make sure we have enough gas in the bottle for the BBQ, thats our BBQ out in the garden, oh look there is my Dahlia, ready to pull up before the frosts get it, I bought it in the sell off at the Hampton Court flower show this year..........................................................................

So is that A.D.D? or just mind numbingly bored from reading about formats, standardisation.................................................................... I will complete this course!

GGGGRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

• middle child if I say I cant afford lunch in the cafe having a tantrum in town does not help
• Britannia building society, having 1 member of staff on duty at lunchtime on a market day is dumb
• general public, I know you are having a lovely day out but when you suddenly stop dead in your tracks on a packed pavement to gawp at a market stall I will end up ramming the buggy into your legs - no point giving me 'that' look
• Mr. NCP man, if I come to you and tell you my car I has broken down on the third floor with no lifts working and ask you what happens about the exit ticket whilst am waiting for the AA don't shrug your shoulders and say 'not my problem' when I am obviously harassed, hanging on to 2 (very hungry) kids having carried the buggy and shopping and the small child up 3 flights, and then had to carry child back down 3 flights to get help and then with the prospect of carrying them back up again! and then look on in amazement as I burst into tears
• Argos man - if you have an offer advertised in your brochure and it doesn't go through the till, I don't care - just sort it
• post office lady, £42.30 - £21.50 is not £15. no matter how many times you try to work it out on a piece of paper. use a calculator

however to the AA man who came out to me within half an hour, couldn't get his truck in the car park so came up said 3 flights of stairs (all smelling of wee) smiled at me and the kids and had the car going within 5 minutes - I LOVE YOU

ok that's it, feel better now, having shoved McDonald's down the kids throats (hey at nearly 3 that was poppy's first one!) and sat them on the playstation so I can have a cuppa in peace (and some rice cakes , i did not have McDonald's!)

SMIDSY

I am going to use this blog to have a little rant about all the twits who drive cars with no regard for other road users.

I am talking about the drivers who do not see vehicles with 2 wheels!

Poor Mr.B got knocked off his bike yesterday!

He loves his little Honda C90, does Mr.B. It may be 20 years old, and he may have other bikers point and laugh at it - but it gets him out and about.

But now its poorly, maybe even gone to the other side (no, no, no, not that other side!)

Thankfully Mr.B is OKish, he has a sore chest, a bad graze on his elbow, a cut on his leg, cuts on his hands and A SORE RIGHT BUTTOCK!!

He said as it was happening all he could think was 'this is going to hurt'
after it happened he thought 'that wasn't so bad'

and then the driver said 'sorry mate I didn't see you'!

remember think once, think twice, think bike!

MOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You got it, beef stew and mash - although once again noses were turned up by the younger 2, but I guess they will catch on soon enough - eat or go hungry!

beef stew

serves 5

5 points per serving

625g lean braising steak, diced
lfs
1 onion chopped
5 rashers lean smoked back bacon, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped roughly
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
500g tin chopped tomatoes
375ml beef stock
200g small mushrooms

• preheat oven gm2
• lightly SEASON beef and brown in lfs in a CASSEROLE, in 2 batches, removing to a plate as it browns
• spray casserole with a bit more fat, and cook onion, bacon and celery over a high heat for 5 minutes
• stir in garlic and cook for 30 secs, then add tomatoes, beef stock and browned beef
• season stew bring to simmer, cover and cook for 45 mins
• stir in mushrooms pushing them down into the liquid, then replace lid and cook for a further 45 minutes

serve with mash

Spent the afternoon at the main town library, trying my best to study

it was going really well to start with, then some daft woman from the local authority sat hersef down (I think she was a social worker) and started chatting to her client - with the clients son in the buggy!
Hey I like kids, after all I have 3 of my own, and fair play to her she was getting help to fill out forms to start a college course and get childcare help...................

But is the study section of a library really the place to sit with a pre school kid and chat about it?!

No I didn't think so either. Still got a couple of hours in before I had to leave.

the big cook-off!

Like I said this really is a blog for the ramblings of a boring housewife!

A couple of weeks ago we acquired a chest freezer via freecycle

So my personal challenge was to fill it! but not with 'mums gone to Iceland' type of stuff, but with good, wholesome, healthy, tummy homecooked meals - well OK homecooked meals anyway!
Last Monday I did the big tesco online food order, on Thursday the big delivery came, and on Friday my alram clock rang out at 5am and the cooking began!

Apart from the school runs, and a pee break or 2 I didnt stop cooking until 7pm!

At that point I lost the will to live, so stopped for the night for fish and chips. The table laden with meals cooling down, and the fridge full of ingredients for more meals.

Saturday morning no alarm, but up at 9 and cooking again until 3pm.

And there on my table were 29 different meals, all pointed to the weight watchers plan. a lot of chopping, peeling, washing up and clearing up.
But now I can be Mrs. Smug at every meal time (except Sundays when we will have a good ol' fashioned roast) when my family will eat well without a miserable Mrs.B having slaved in the kitchen.

Tonight it came into its own. Brownie night for me, Rainbows for middle child - normally a hectic mad evening of corner cutting meals, but not tonight oh no! tonight we had;

cottage pie

serves 5

7.5 POINTS PER SERVING

1250G POTATOES, PEELED AND CHOPPED ROUGHLY

2 LEEKS, TRIMMED AND SLICED

625G EXTRA LEAN MINCE BEEF

1 ONION, CHOPPED FINELY

220G CARROTS, PEELED AND DICED

150G MUSHROOMS, CHOPPED

375ML BEEF STOCK

2 TBSP TOMATO PUREE

1 TSP WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

60G VFL CHEESE

5 TBSP MILK

• PREHEAT OVEN GM6
• SIMMER POTATOES FOR 15 MINUTES. ADD LEEKS FOR LAST 2 MINUTES. DRAIN WELL AND MASH WITH CHEESE AND MILK
• BROWN BEEF AND ONIONS FOR 5 MINS
• MIX IN CARROTS AND MUSHROOMS, THEN STOCK, PUREE AND WORC SAUCE. BRING TO BOIL, SIMMER FOR 15 MINUTES. POUR INTO A LARGE DISH
• SPOON POTATO MIX ON TOP, BAKE FOR 20 MINS.

complete with dry fried leeks and button mushrooms. Yum Yum - well 3 out of 5 of us thought so, middle and smallest children turned their noses up - but hey theres no pleasing the under 8's when it comes to mealtimes is there?

come back tomorrow and see what fab food we are having for Tuesday (swimming night) tea (hint: it came from a cow and was cooked for a long time!)

conversation with 6 year old

picture the scene, Me and two small daughters, aged 6 and 2. almost bed time, watching the bedtime hour on cbeebies. In the night garden. I am curious, never having really watched it before and I am asking about all the characters.

small person (SP): thats the pinkyponk
me: indeed
SP: it goes slow, and the generator tells it to hurry up.
me: oh?
voice on TV says 'hurry up pinkyponk'
me: did you mean NARRATOR?

sometimes the things they say are priceless they really are!

So! what is this blog for?

After all the last one was for the lead up to the wedding to let everyone know what was going on (really it started as my own mad ramblings, then found out others were reading it!)

Is this going to be my own ramblings? will it have a purpose? will anyone read it? will anyone want to read it?

*shrug*
who knows?

I would like to make some plans for my future though, not big ones - just a few things that I (or is that which I?) want to do before I am 45.

1. go to the opera. Not just go to an opera, but have a box, get dressed up, go for a meal etc etc, the grand stuff.
2. visit a sushi bar
3. own a pair of JimmyChoos - OK I know thats sad!
4. have a spa holiday
5. have dinner at Sopwell House Hotel

thats a start, I am sure I will think of more as time goes on.

watch this space!

I am a Pirate

My pirate name is:

Calico Charity Bonney

Often indecisive, you can't even choose a favorite color. You're apt to follow wherever the wind blows you, just like Calico Jack Rackham, your namesake. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Welcome everyone

here - and only here - is the place to find out all about my (possibly dull and mundane) housewifey life!