Saturday, 20 September 2025

This week my Word of the Week is: Surprise! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

Surprise

Life threw quite a few surprises my way over the last week, not bad ones but surprises all the same. There's nothing life changing or that exciting but this was my week with takeaway mix up's, Ellie’s sore arm antics and me channelling my inner Mary Berry.

Stu and I had Saturday evening home alone. Ellie was out with friends and Becky was at work so of course we decided to treat ourselves to a takeaway. What could be better than a cosy night in with pizza in front of the TV. The order arrived late which I could forgive since they were busy but when I opened the box I was greeted by chicken and sweetcorn instead of the beef house special that I had ordered. It was a total first world problem but I was hungry! No offence to chicken and sweetcorn lovers but if you’re expecting beef, cheese and all the extras you can understand how let down I felt. So I had to wait another half an hour for the right one to show up. Poor Stu had to put up with me being hangry. I tried to be patient but the temptation to swipe a slice of his food was there. The surprise turned into a reminder that sometimes waiting makes things taste even better because I really did enjoy my pizza.

Ellie has had her fair share of surprises too. She had a little medical procedure on her arm, it wasn't anything to worry about but she was surprised at how much anaesthetic hurt being put in. I don't know what she was expecting but a needle in your arm is going to hurt. She struggled with normal everyday things which seemed to surprise her like putting a ponytail in her hair, not having a shower for a couple of days to keep the dressing dry, getting dressed and putting make up on. I shouldn't laugh but she made it so easy. She’d forget about her sore arm, try to use it, yelp and then burst out laughing at herself. She's fine now and her arm is back to normal apart from a huge bruise.

The garden decided to surprise me this week too. Only last week I found tomatoes after I thought the plants had died and while I was out checking on my cucumbers I spotted what I thought was just a very round cucumber but curiosity got the better of me so I popped it into my plant identifier app and surprise! It wasn’t a cucumber, it was a melon so the app says, happily growing among the vines like it owned the place. I did plant melons but I didn't think any survived. I'm still not convinced it really is a melon but time will tell.

Here’s the biggest surprise of all, I made jam and it was/is amazing. The smell while it simmered away, seeing it set and then that first taste!! I felt like some kind of domestic goddess. It’s not something I ever thought I’d do but now that I have I can see why people get hooked on it. There’s something so wholesome and rewarding about making something completely from scratch that you've never made before. Of course I didn’t stop there because then I was in the baking mood. I made mini apple pies and an apple cake. The kitchen smelled incredible all weekend. If someone had walked in, they’d have thought I was auditioning for Bake Off. Everything disappeared quickly too which is always a good sign! I’ll be sharing a blog post next week about my jam making adventure.

Becky and I have both been struck down with a cold this week which came as a surprise because Stu caught the cold from work, had it for about a week and was over it when I started feeling yucky! I thought I had got away with not catching it. Hmmf. I won’t go on about it here because I already wrote a whole post about the things which have got me through my poorly week which was published yesterday. It hasn’t been fun but came at the perfect time, after all the birthdays and before the plans that I have next week.

Surprise really sums up the whole week. It’s been full of little moments I didn’t see coming! How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one! I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay for her Word of the Week linky!

Word of the Week

13 comments :

  1. Jam making is fun, you did have a week! I am with you on the pizza, we set our taste buds on notice for one flavor and then expect them to accept another, it just doesn't work!

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  2. We'll be looking for you on a future Bake Off series!

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  3. I can imagine the Hangry feeling. Such a disappointment. Do youu think your 'melon' has enough time to make it? I hope so. Blessings for a fab weekend and week ahead and I hope you get over the cold soon.

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  4. Congrats on your jam making and baking! I just made some pepper jelly jam so we are twinning across the pond :). It is so cool that you have access to apples from your dad! I would be disappointed with the pizza, too. That has happened to us. I hope your weekend is going well!

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  5. My week has been pretty chill and I've stayed healthy! I'm glad you are feeling better, but sorry you all had to suffer with a cold. I hate it when a take-out/delivery order gets messed up. Glad your pizza got there and was delicious! Congrats on the jam making!! I look forward to reading more about it next week!! Happy weekend, Kim!

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  6. Kim,
    I AM A PIZZA LOVER and I would be a HANGRY mad woman. LOL!!!! I bet it was good though once you received it. YOU GO....making Jam!!! Awesome!!!! I am glad your daughters arm is feeling better and I hope the rest of you feel 100 from the yucky cold soon.

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  7. Poor Ellie, you don't realise how much you realise on your arms until they are painful to use.
    I can almost imagine how delicious your house smelled while you were baking and jam making.
    I'm hoping your surprise melon grows so that you can eat it, I love that your garden has yielded little surprises for you this year.

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  8. Wow get you with your Domestic Goddessness! I'm just jealous LOL! Bless Ellie, hope her arm feels better. The pizza thing and the melon did make me laugh though Karen Early Rising Mum

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  9. Making jam sounds fun, not something I've ever tried. Hope Ellie's arm is better now #wotw

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  10. I totally know what you mean about making food from scratch. You won't be able to go back to shop bought now. I bet the pizza swap was surprising. You get yourself ready for one thing and another turns up. Our tomatoes are still going strong too. Nice surprise to have a melon growing. I've not had much success with melons, but squashes is another matter. Hope next week is full of more good surprises

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  11. What a full week! I hate it when take outs go wrong, we have that problem a lot seeing as I'm often buying for 6 of us. I've never made jam, I do remember the first time I made custard though and it was so easy...why buy a can or carton, home made tastes much nicer too. I hope Ellie's arm is better now, at least she could laugh about it.

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  12. Oh I have never tried to make jam before but this makes me want to! I'm so glad yours turned out so well. I hope everyone is on the mend now and I hope you don't have any more bad surprises this week... only good ones!

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  13. Oh that is frustrating when the wrong takeaway order turns up, especially when you’re hungry! Glad you got the right thing in the end. Hope Ellie’s arm is all healed now after her medical procedure – it’s so easy to forget you can’t use it as normal. Well done on making jam and glad it turned out so well. Hope you and Becky are feeling better now. #WotW

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