The Wednesday Hodgepodge #73

I hope you are all having a good week. It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce who blogs at From This Side of the Pond! Each week there are 6 questions, we answer and then link up. Simple!

1. How do you define beauty?

Beauty, to me, is not about how someone looks, it's about the way someone behaves. Someone can be the prettiest, most drop-dead gorgeous person in the world but if they are unkind and rude to people, it makes them ugly in my eyes! Real beauty is being kind for no reason, giving a nice word when someone needs it, a smile for no reason, being thoughtful and making others feel good about themselves. The way someone treats others always reveals more than their appearance ever could.

Beauty is not limited to people! Beauty is all around us. In a sunrise or sunset, a song that drags you right back to an old memory. Sometimes it’s the view from a hilltop, a meal that just hits the spot or a nice cup of tea that you desperately need. Beautiful moments don't need to be planned, sometimes they just show up when we least expect them.

I think we tend to overthink what beauty means, it took me way too long to answer this question. For me, it’s the little moments, how people make each other feel and noticing the good stuff that’s all around us. That’s what really makes life beautiful.

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World)

I have travelled by train quite a few times, mostly to York and Newcastle upon Tyne. I enjoy it when everything goes to plan and I like being able to sit back and look out of the window. You see things that you wouldn't normally see from the road. The last trip we had to Newcastle Upon Tyne, we saw the other side of the Angel of the North statue and the rows of bridges across the River Tyne!

Of course, trains have a habit of testing your patience with delays, cancellations and when they are overcrowded. Eek! A good few years ago, we travelled by train over Christmas and it was a complete nightmare with people sitting in our reserved seats, people thinking we were in their seats and people pushing and shoving! I wrote a blog post all about it. Travelling by train makes people angry!

A few years later, there were train strikes when we were travelling, so we had to change all of our plans but it worked out well and we just started our holiday a few days earlier. We'll just forget that in my panic I booked the train tickets for October instead of September. Oops! I realised before we left and it was sorted out quickly! Phew!

If I could choose a train journey anywhere in the world, I would want to ride on one of those sleeper trains that is part of the holiday. Looking at the Best Train Trips in the World list, the one I'd most like to do is the Rocky Mountaineer in North America. The scenery looks amazing and I think it would be such a memorable trip with the glass-domed carriages where you can see right around you. It sounds like a trip to add to the bucket list!

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells...choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently.

I don't think any of these relate to my life at the moment so I chose in a nutshell because I'm all for keeping things simple. When I saw this question, I had to Google what a bandshell and shellacking were because I had no idea what either of them meant! You learn something new every day, especially on a Wednesday from the Hodgepodge. Hehehe I think in a nutshell is a good phrase because sometimes you don't need a long explanation or loads of unnecessary details. In a nutshell, I like keeping things simple and learning new things along the way.

4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs...your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell?

I think I am going to be pretty basic and say eggs. I love that you can have them in so many different ways. Fried, scrambled, hard-boiled and my favourite, dippy eggs. There's something about dippy eggs with toast soldiers that I never get bored of but eggs are one of those things that can be eaten any time of the day, breakfast, lunch or even for tea!

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate.

Yes, birthdays are a big deal in our house. We've had 3 in the last month and a half. My fellas and both my daughters. We love having an excuse to celebrate, have a nice meal out, make a fuss of each other and of course, there is plenty of cake! It will feel strange this week not eating birthday cake. hehehe

I like celebrating my own birthday too. I like having a day that's all about me, doing something I want to do, eating what I want to eat and maybe getting a few presents along the way. It's my birthday in November and it seems such a long way away. Hmmf.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The TV is getting good here! Big Brother is back on, Strictly Come Dancing is coming soon with new presenters and The Great British Bake off too! Nigella Lawson is taking over from Prue Leith. Sir David Attenborough is returning with Blue Planet III and a whole bunch of celebrities are taking part on The Traitors! It looks like a good line up. I am looking forward to seeing Miranda Hart and Richard E Grant!

Share our lives - I wish I had known!

It's that time of the month again when I join in with the Share Our Lives bloggers. This month's prompt is: I wish I had known!

I wish I had known is such a simple sentence but it really had me thinking and I found this blog post really hard to write, not because I didn't know what to write, I just had too much! There have been so many "I wish I had known" moments throughout my life.

I wish I had known about my girl's heart defects sooner!

This was the first thing that I thought of. I always wonder and think I wish I had known. For so long, the problems with my girl's hearts went undetected. They were both born with holes in their hearts which needed surgery to fix and are left with leaky valves now. I was just an irrational young mother saying to any health professional that would listen that something wasn't right. The day my youngest was born she was sweating a lot and the nurses said it was normal as it was a warm day, it wasn't normal. My eldest couldn't put weight on, she was skin and bones despite me feeding her as much as she would eat. The health visitor told me to feed her fatty food, all the things that in hindsight probably weren't great for her heart. Then there were the constant chest infections and colds they would catch, all normal, apparently. All of those things were because my girl's hearts were working harder than they should. When the reality finally came crashing down it was overwhelming. The appointments, the specialist visits, the what if's but the relief was amazing too. It turns out mother really does know best. If I’d known I’d have fought harder, asked more questions, pushed for more opinions but hindsight is funny like that. You can’t change what you didn’t know at the time.

I wish I had known that losing things gets worse as you get older!

I honestly thought I would become more organised with age but no! The older I have got, the more I have become that person who puts something somewhere safe and then spends the next hour trying to remember where that safe place is. I find myself looking for my phone when it is in my hand and that thing I was looking for is usually right in front of me. Life now has a built-in treasure hunt. lol

I wish I had known to enjoy time with my girls more when they were younger!

When you are in the thick of it raising little ones, you spend so much time constantly looking ahead to the next big milestone. I was guilty of it when my girls were little. I was always wishing time forward: I couldn't wait until they slept through the night, learnt to walk and talk, I couldn't wait for them to start school and so on. Looking back now that they are older, I miss those younger years. I do wish I had slowed right down and soaked in the magic of those everyday moments while they were happening. The endless bedtime stories, sitting in the park shivering while they happily played, them asking why about everything, the disaster zone of a kitchen after we tried baking together, those days out that felt like such an effort at the time but turned out to be our absolute best family memories and even the arguments over their homework. Now that the house is quieter and they're all grown up, those are the moments I'd give anything to have back just for one more afternoon.

I wish I had known that rest isn't something you have to earn!

Ugh, the guilt that used to come with just sitting down on the sofa for five minutes! For years, I had an invisible checklist running in my head and I wouldn't let myself actually relax until every single job was ticked off. I used to treat downtime like a prize that I had to work hard for. I would make the beds, put a load of washing on and have a quick tidy around before my first cup of tea in the morning. Why? No one was here saying I had to work to have a cuppa. It took me far too long to realise that rest isn't a reward! These days I am trying to be much kinder to myself. If I want to spend an hour just sitting there watching rubbish on TV or scroll on my phone, I do it without the guilt trip. The jobs around the house will always be there after I have relaxed for a little while.

I wish I had known sooner that not everything deserves a reaction!

Learning to bite your tongue is definitely one of those things that seems to come with age because I certainly didn’t have that skill when I was younger! I used to be the sort of person who felt like every little comment, disagreement or bit of drama needed an answer. If someone said something I didn’t like, I’d be straight in there, ready to explain myself and set the record straight. As I’ve got older I’ve realised that not everything needs a response. Sometimes people are looking for a reaction and the best thing you can do is not give them one. These days I let a lot more things slide. In real life, I’ll smile, nod and carry on with my day. Online it’s even easier. I can just ignore it, mute someone or block them. Life is too short to spend your time arguing with people who have already decided what they think anyway.

I wish I had known that being a good mother doesn’t mean being perfect!

Being a good mother doesn’t mean being perfect! I used to put so much pressure on myself to get everything right and compare myself to other mums so much. I always felt like I could be doing more and had a little voice telling me that I could have done something better but the older I’ve got, the more I’ve realised that children don’t need a perfect mam. They need someone who loves them, supports them, listens to them and is there when they need them. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way but my girls have never held those against me. They know I love them and they know I’ve always been there for them. That means far more to me than whether I got every single parenting decision right.

I wish I had known how much fun middle age would actually be!

The world tells us that getting older is all downhill and middle age something to dread but no one really talks about the good parts. About the freedom that comes with getting older or the confidence that slowly appears when you stop worrying about the little things. I love being in my 40s. I am comfortable in my own skin, I don't have to impress everyone any more, I have life experience, survived things I once thought I couldn’t and I have become kinder to myself. Middle age isn’t the end, it is just the beginning. Getting older was definitely not something to fear.

What about you? What do you wish you had known?

I am linking up with:

Adrienne from Mom Life with Adrienne.

Dara from Not In Jersey.

Jen from Show me & Sweet tea.

Joanne from Slices of Life.

Our weekly meal plan! 14th - 20th September! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We had a nice quiet one, which was just what we needed after all the birthday celebrations we've had lately. In the space of three and a half weeks, we have Stu's birthday, Ellie's birthday and Becky's birthday. I love birthdays, and I love having reasons to celebrate, but it is a lot when they all come along one after the other. There is always something to organise, presents to think about, cards to buy and, of course, food to eat! I wouldn't change it though. Now we have a few months' break until it is my birthday.

Last week's meal plan went well. I did swap a couple of meals around but we ate just about everything. Our favourite meal was of course the roast chicken dinner yesterday. I even enjoyed cooking it. It's nice to eat out on a Sunday but even nicer to eat it at home, it is just a lot of effort! There are leftovers, of course and I am planning on using them up today.

We are back using Gousto boxes again this week. If you haven't heard of Gousto before, it is one of those recipe box services where you pick a few meals from their menu and they send you the ingredients you need to make them at home. I decided to order another box after I received an email offering me 40% off the next two boxes I bought, followed by 20% off a few more. I do like a discount. I got a little carried away with ordering the meals and when I was choosing the recipes, I ordered the Creamy Chicken, Leek & Carrot Pie without realising that we were already having pie today! I am going to cook the filling and freeze it. Then I can use it another time when we fancy a pie.

I have quite a bit on this week, a mixture of things I need to do and things I actually want to do. I am helping my dad out with some paperwork but it will be time spent with my dad and he will feed me lunch, so that's a bonus. I am also planning on having a mooch around the shops to look at all the autumn things. I don't need anything but that has never stopped me having a look! I also have a few life admin jobs to get done. Nothing exciting but I am hoping to tick a few things off this week so I can feel a little more organised. It seems like a good mix of fun and boring things. Becky is also back at work after almost two weeks off, so that is going to be a shock to her system. Ellie is still plodding on with the job hunting. Ugh!

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Leftover roast dinner pie!

We are starting the week with one of my favourite make it up as you go along meals. We had a roast chicken dinner yesterday, so I am planning on using whatever is left to make a pie. I'll mix the leftover meat, pigs in blankets, stuffing and veg with some gravy, pop it into a pie dish and cover it with ready-made pastry. Then it just needs to go into the oven. I am sure there will be leftover mashed potato to eat it with too.

Tuesday - Gousto meal - Baked Chicken Thigh & Almond Curry With Rice And Naan!

We have had this before and it is delicious. The curry is made with chicken thighs in an almond and garam masala sauce. Finished with creamy yoghurt and served with rice and warm mini naan bread. I do like trying different curry recipes at home and this is a good one. We have a few favourites that we go back to that my whole family enjoy.

Wednesday - Gousto meal - One Pan Alpine-Style Sausage & Waxy Potato Hash!

This is a one-pan meal and less washing up is always a good thing. The sausages and onions get cooked together with crushed potatoes until everything is golden and crispy around the edges. Then it all gets coated in butter and herbs with a bit of thyme and topped with melted cheese. This is one of the only Gousto meals that Stu has ever cooked. It took him about an hour and a half and he decided there and then he hated making Gousto recipes. I made the same meal a little while later and it took about half an hour at the most and Stu just couldn't understand how. I told him it's because I am a better cook than him. Hehehe

Thursday - Gousto meal - One Tray Fishcake With Peri Peri Wedges & Sweet Chilli Slaw!

This meal seems a bit different from what we usually get from Gousto. Usually I would have to make the fish cakes but these are all ready just to pop in the oven. I'm not complaining, usually by Thursday I am losing the will to cook.

Friday - Chip shop tea!

We are back to having a chip shop tea this week and I am looking forward to it. No cooking and no fuss. The biggest drama is deciding what we fancy. Fish and chips? Sausage and chips? A burger? Kebab? Maybe a pie? There are so many options.

Saturday - Burgers in buns!

We will be having burgers in buns with the usual toppings, such as cheese, onions, lettuce and whatever sauces everyone fancies. We can all put our own burgers together, which is handy because not everyone likes the same things. I think I will make some onion rings and corn on the cob to go with them.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plans for Sunday at all. Everyone can help themselves to whatever they fancy and use up bits from the fridge, freezer and cupboards. There is always something that needs using up.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 6th - 12th September! Week 37 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. We have had a great week with lots of nice things happening! Birthday celebrations for Becky, a nice meal out, sorting the garden, lots to watch on the TV and my dad feeling better after a trip to the hospital. He got bit by something on his big toe, it doubled in size, turned bright red and he could hardly walk. He's got a bunch of tablets, is feeling much better now and is running rings around us again. Phew! I would like to think this would teach him to wear proper socks and shoes when he is out working instead of Crocs with no socks but I don't think he will have learnt his lesson.

We had a lovely quiet day on Friday. My dad popped round to show me he could walk properly again and he ended up staying longer than he had planned. He only put the cricket on to check the score and an hour later he was still watching while having a chat. Yesterday I spent the day having a good tidy up and clean around the house and really enjoyed myself with a playlist of sing-along songs. hehehe Today is all about sport, of course which is pretty normal for a Sunday. F1 and then some football. It's Man City V Man United this afternoon, which I am quite looking forward to. I am also cooking a proper roast dinner today. Chicken, all the veggies, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire Puddings and lots of gravy!

Now for a photo every day!

249/365 6th September

We of course watched the F1 race. It was, of course, full of drama. Is there ever an F1 race that doesn't have something happening!

250/365 7th September

Stu and I had a busy day on Monday pottering around the garden. I did the weeding while he mowed the grass and we also got a few loads of washing drying on the line. It is getting to that point in the year when I am making the most of drying clothes outside. It won't be long until it is too cold, too wet or just too miserable and the tumble dryer will have to do its thing.

251/365 8th September

Becky made lasagne from scratch and did a fantastic job! There were leftovers too, which is always a bonus.

252/365 9th September

Ellie got her certificates through the post from the Mechanical Engineering course that she did in college. It was really nice seeing them arrive and having something official to show for all the work she put into the course. Of course, I had to take a photo because that's what Project 365 is all about. I like being able to capture these little moments.

253/365 10th September

It was Becky's birthday and her presents were sat there for most of the day. It wasn't until about 10pm until she got around to opening them. She was very happy with everything she received.

254/365 11th September

My dad came around with a present for Becky. There is a story behind these ducks. My dad has had them hanging on one of his doors with bath towels on for years. He has always said they would be left to Becky, so she had known for ages that they were eventually going to be hers and then, completely by chance, my dad came across another hanger that was exactly the same! He knew Becky would love it, so he got it and she was over the moon about it.

255/365 12th September

We're back on the Gousto Boxes! I pick the recipes and they send everything I need to make them! The fridge is now full of everything that I need to make 4 meals that we will have next week.

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