Homemade play dough, false lashes and happy days!

I was pretty poorly last night so today was a bit of a write off. We didn't go out, we just had a lazy day in drawing and playing with play dough. I made this play dough simply ages ago, July I think. After a quick squish together any salt crystals were disturbed and it was pretty malleable. 

I think I will make another batch with the tangerine food colour gel which I have been using for the Halloween cookies. 

Here is a link to the food colour. I highly recommend it just based on the intensity of colour it produces. I will have to try it with macarons soon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sugarflair-Spectral-Concentrated-Paste-Colour/dp/B005FGR92G

If you fancy making home made play dough yourself, it is pretty simple and as I have discovered it lasts for ages when stored correctly ( I used a purple ikea food bag). 

This is the recipe I used from a fab blog: 

http://www.thefabulousmomsguide.com/2012/05/how-to-make-play-dough-play-doh-3/

Here is Lily making her daddy play dough cookies :)

No dressing up for us this October 31st. We essentially had our Halloween do yesterday with friends. Lily dressed up as Princess Leia, a costume she was given as a christening present last July from her uncle. He thought he had the baby size but ended up being sent the toddler size, which was perfect for her costume this year.

I was a bit boring and just wore a lot of black and purple with a black cobweb style scarf. I wore a lot of pink,purple and charcoal eyeshadow with purple corner false lashes. I managed to stick them on quite well despite it being my first try ever and not having any tweezers to hand.

 The lashes were pretty flicky and kept brushing my eyebrows! Rob liked the look, but I reverted to usual makeup before ballet (which due to illness I missed :( )

Lily was not impressed when I plonked the Leia wig/hat on her head. For the most part she looked more like Luke Skywalker :)

In other (exciting and relieving) news...

I did plenty of PC testing this morning and essentially the device drivers are all hunky dory which despite being good news did not highlight why the USB ports won't recognise my camcorder.

I stuck in my USB cord which charges my creative zen MP3 player and checked that it worked and it did. So I thought, wait a minute if that cord fits my camcorder then it may just work.

Alleluia! It does and now I can happily continue my future vlogging plans without feeling downcast that they will never come to fruition. Fingers crossed it stays this way. Bit of a worrying few days for both me and Rob, phew!

Possible computer issues and Meals

Rob took his PC to Plymouth for a weekend of gaming with friends. When it returned it did not want to play ball. The noises it made! And every USB port seems to be a bit weak, sometimes it connects sometimes it doesn't. I'm worried it will conk out. I use the PC for editing so I'll be in a pickle if it conked out.

Anyway, unrelated, I lost last weeks meal footage :(

But I can tell you what we had anyway which is the same thing really, you'll just have to conjure up your own images :)

Monday- duck casserole with rice. Lily adored this!

Tuesday- breaded turkey escalopes. I usually use Mrs Crimbles sage and onion stuffing mix as the coating but ocado only offer Hale and Hearty as their gluten free version. It was tasty, but certainly different. We much prefer Mrs Crimbles.

Wednesday- slow cooked BBQ lamb ribs with a beetroot and potato salad with peas. Since there isn't much meat on ribs I could eat this meal before ballet.

Thursday- super quick broccoli and pancetta pasta bake after a day out with Claire and Violet

Friday- sausages and mash

Saturday- shepherds pie

Sunday- gluten free fish fingers, sweet potato, peas

Because if this potential computer problem I am reducing next weeks editing by skipping the meals vlog. Plus it will be a short week as from Friday until Monday we will be away. In fact I will add a picture to here rather than film.

Toodle pip :)

Update 31st October- the USB ports won't "read" anything so I cannot upload any footage from my camera

:(

So the PC did not like it's weekend away at all.

Hope it is something that can be fixed :(

Happy Halloween!

Back to blogging?!

I made an effort to resume blogging again. I started last year but swiftly got distracted with wedding koans and little Lily. I started again a month or so ago and used my laptop which is sadly nearing the end of its days. It was an immense hassle and I'm not sure why that is but it was very difficult to complete a post without experiencing a crash and controlling where photos went was the bane of my life.

So, I had a brainwave today and got the blogger app. Hopefully this will work because I have some ideas to supplement what I am already up to on YouTube.

This week's highlights...so far

Monday- I actually managed to film a complete Day in the Life. Getting back into the swing of actively filming something that involves me rather than the usual Vlogtober. Lily and I had a great day at soft play despite me feeling like I was getting a UTI. I am fine now though, perhaps the 2l of cranberry juice over 2 days helped!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UAD--meeBg

Wednesday- Rob was away on business, but luckily a friend looked after Lily whilst I went to ballet class. I am really really enjoying it, everything is flooding back and I improve every session. Good exercise too, I am definitely getting my flexibility back!

Thursday- We had a day trip involving a just over an hour train journey and met up with Claire and Violet. The station at the destination had no functioning lifts which was super duper annoying for those with prams and disabled people or the elderly. Luckily a young woman with a toddler looking at the stairs in despair results in kind people offering to help. I filmed a DITL throughout the day and that will be published very soon. We had a great day, as usual we wore the girls out at soft play and hit the shops and enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte. I think Claire got my dose of spice in her latte as mine was pretty weak whilst she got a spice overload towards the end of the drink!

Friday- we went to Sainsburys and I couldn't get a look in down the toy aisle since it is the once-yearly half price toy event. From what I could see it looked pretty good, but with so much traffic down that aisle I didn't want to even attempt it!

We got a pumpkin, pumpkin cutting instruments, Halloween cookie cutters and a funky witches outfit for Lily to wear to a Halloween theme birthday party this Sunday.

Rob went away to Plymouth yesterday for the weekend and has taken his PC for a gaming night so my weekend Vlogtober vlogs have been scheduled to publish at 7:30 each morning. Back to normal on Monday! 

My night in consisted of trying to watch tv with a delicious The Collective banoffi live gourmet yoghurt (bit of a mouthful, haha!). That was so good but the tv was not. Hmm maybe we ought to get youview...

I started searching for toddler entertainment for the long flight to San Diego in December. Maybe a pair of toddler headphones would be a good idea since I'm sure not everyone will want to listen to Sarah and Duck or Peppa Pig!

Saturday- Lily was a poorly girl around 10pm last night. She must have eaten something that disagreed  with her but she snuggled on the sofa and cooled down, had a dose of cal pol and a drink of water followed by an episode of Sarah and Duck. Then she went down to bed in fresh bedding and as out like a light. She is her usual self today, hooray!

I have my uni best friend coming up to stay this evening, so I'm excited to have a girls night in. I haven't seen her in ages. She was unable to come to our wedding last November as she had a car crash on the way! So it will be almost a year since I last saw her, not on! Oh well, she is days away from being a qualified science teacher now, so I'll forgive her, haha!

Sunday - we went to a 3rd birthday party today with Lily dressed as a witch. I made some shortbread cookies and added orange food gel so they were really vibrant. Last night was so nice, nail painting, film, cheesecake and Pringles. Plus talking in bed until one of us dozed off, much like sleepovers!

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Such a busy weekend!

I hope you have all had good weekends. We have been here, there and everywhere!
A lot of good food was eaten and good wine and champagne was drunk.
My in-laws leave for San Diego on Monday and that is where they will be living, so we won't see an awful lot of them which is a shame. But it is a new chapter of their life, so good for them!

Got round to shopping for Lily's autumn clothes. She now has a few more long-sleeved tops and outfits. Rob took her to Gap and she immediately grabbed on of their white rabbit cuddly toys and insisted that he bought it for her, such a daddy's girl!
Rob bought her some interesting clothes. One is a checked boy's shirt!! May sneakily give it to one of my friends who has a son of the same age. Lily can look pretty androgynous at the best of times so it may be a good idea...

Day out!

I have had a very busy but enjoyable day with Lily. We met up with my friend Milly and her son who insisted on calling Lily "Theo", which was very funny. For the most part they entertained each other whilst we went round Primark :)

I have a bone to pick with National Rail though. Perhaps in future, it would be better to HELP the lady with the pushchair trying to get on rather then blowing the whistle and asking said lady with pushchair to get off.
I was sooooo annoyed and a bit worried as my friend did not have her phone on today in order to contact her.
That is Sod's Law for you.

But other than that hiccup we had a great day and despite the misty wet rain in the morning once we reached our destination the sun came out and it was the warmest day of the week so far!

I have just finished editing my Primark haul and now going to hunker down for the evening.
I was struck down by a headache when we got back home and I rarely get headaches and taking my lenses out didn't seem to shift it :s
I hope everyone had a good day wherever you are :)

RIP Spotty and other ramblings

I started writing that last post on my laptop and I knew it was running low on battery, but chanced it. So it ended up being published a few days later :) Silly me!

Today has felt like a long day. We went for a long walk via Tescos and had a nosy around Next for an overdoor hanger. I can't seem to find one I like, they only had diamond glass style decorated ones which are not my taste at all...
I'd like something that maybe has a shabby-chic look to it, perhaps cream... Oh I don't know. If it was up to Rob he'd probably just throw towels around!

Lily adored the rabbits in Pets at Home, she finds them hilarious and had a proper belly-laugh going on much to the bemusements of the pent up bun-buns. She also noticed a baby pigeon that had decided to have a little rest outside Next, and she gave it one her best stern stares.

Rob has been complaining about having a tickly cough, so I quickly baked a quartered onion with a drizzle of honey for 30 mins at 200degC. You can eat the baked onion if you want, it will be a bit sweet but the syrup has antiseptic and antibacterial properties thanks to the honey and it is rather soothing.
Since the honey is cooked, there isn't any worry about Botulism, but perhaps only give it to those over the age of 1.

I'm currently experimenting with maize meal, so if the muffins I just made are successful you will see a recipe on my Youtube channel: sophclare30989.

Random Fact of the Day ~
In random news, my old supervisor from Uni has declared that he had to put down his son's pet goldfish in red wine due to a possible case of Tuberculosis marinum which is a nasty pathogen present in 40% of fish tanks which can be transmitted from fish-to-human. So if you have a fishtank make sure you wash your hands thoroughly after touching it and definitely use gloves whilst cleaning it!

 

Back again?

I am indeed!
I actually stumbled across my blog on the interwebs after noticing that my friend Claire has started a blog. Can't believe the last time I posted was last February!

Let me tell you, a lot has changed.

LILY

Lily is almost 20 months old, 20 MONTHS OLD! Oh my goodness me, where does the time go? Seems like only yesterday that she was a teeny baby the length of my forearm, but in reality the days of plenty of baby sick, night feeds, explosive breast-fed poos and cluster feeding are behind us.
She is quite a big girl, I am not one to follow her centiles, but she does have long skinny legs which look even funnier when she wears a big cloth nappy!
Lily has almost a whole set of baby teeth now, I just can't tell if she is getting her rear molars as I daren't stick my finger in there. Rob tried and suffered for it.
She has started jumping (not just like jumping off the sofa, but off the ground feet together) and is really into her imaginative play. She likes to make me cups of tea, which I must sip dutifully when they are pushed into my face :)
She is currently rocking the mullet hair do, it is getting a bit long at the back, but still short at the front, but it is a lovely golden syrup colour.

Playing with some squishy playdough today :)

LIFE

We are still living in the lovely county of Oxfordshire, not far from the "Chipping Norton Set", but I have only seen Jeremy Clarkson once.
As much as I like it, I feel SO landlocked. Oxfordshire borders 5 other counties, and we are nowhere near the sea. I spent 3 years in Brighton, and truly miss the sea air, pier, gulls (they are a bit annoying though). 
I am attempting to try to find Rob jobs in the South. Although Oxfordshire is classified under 'London and the Southeast'!

LOVE

Rob and I got married on the 3rd of November in 2012, which was a great year for big events, including the birth of Lily.
Despite my previous ramblings about inviting family you don't really see...well, in order to keep the peace and prevent grandma's faking heart attacks (no joke) we had to invite everyone. We insisted on missing out my mum's brother for various, well-justifed reasons which resulted in my Grandma wearing "dull" occasionwear in protest. We did not notice.
Some family guests will NOT be invited to future family events of our own as they make no effort to get in touch even if we try, and if they think they can insult the mother of the groom to the mother of the bride at the wedding breakfast, they can jolly well jog on.
You may be able to tell that this still riles me. But alas you cannot choose your family.
Aside from the above the wedding was amazing and I want to do it all over again (but differently, i.e. guests). We were married in the heart of the Cotswolds and the day after had a snow flurry which was really picturesque.

 

 Lily was 10 months old at our wedding and showed off some crawling moves and hid under my dress.

:)