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

This week my Word of the Week is:

I don't know why every year I get surprised how early it gets dark when the clocks go back. It's always a bit of a shock when by around 5pm on an evening it's pitch black. I don't think the weather has helped this week though, it has mostly been raining or looking like rain. 

Becky was at work on Saturday night when the clocks changed and she wasn't happy about having to do a 13 hour shift. An extra hour doesn't seem like a lot but seeing it go from 2am back to 1am is very disheartening especially when she knew the rest of us were getting an extra hour in bed. 

Ellie was very excited for Monday and going trick or treating for Halloween. She got in from school at about quarter to four and was all set to go out then. I said no way, she could at least wait until it was nearly dark. She was pacing the floor, looking out of the window watching it get dark. I managed to keep her in until just after half past 4. I sent Becky out with her to keep an eye on her.

Stu and I decided to have a walk to the shop, it seems ages since I was out in the dark but it was fun to see all the little kids dressed up enjoying themselves. The girls got back in just before 8pm and they timed it right, just as they got in the heavens opened. Ellie had a big bag of sweets which should keep her going for a while. hehehe

Becky had her first experience of driving in the dark. Her driving lesson started just after half past four, just as it was coming in dark. She said she was fine on the main, busy roads but going down country lanes with no street lights was terrifying. She has been thrown in at the deep end with her driving lessons, she's had blazing sunshine, rain and now driving in the dark. Her next lesson is at 10am one day next week when hopefully it will just be normal so she can focus on just driving and not thinking about weather conditions and the dark.

Poor Ellie has realised that she won't be playing out with friends unless it's a weekend from now on. By the time she get's in from school, gets changed, has a snack and would be ready to go out it's getting dark. As nice as it is around here I don't like her being out when it's dark.

Ellie and I were back out on Wednesday night because on the local Facebook group someone said that there was a ton of reduced stuff in Tesco. We were in two minds about going out as it was starting to rain and it was really windy but Ellie said that's a good thing, less people would be there to buy stuff. We ended up getting a ton of sandwiches for less than 50p each, a ton of fruit and some cream cakes. Most of the sandwiches and fruit was put in the freezer. 

Tomorrow night we're out in the dark again, we're going to see the local bonfire being lit and the firework display. We could probably see it from our house but there's a fair there and food stalls so it will be something nice to do as a family.

I hope you have had a good week?

One pot sausage and vegetable rice - Recipe!

This is a kid’s cheat paella. It is a great way to use up any leftovers that you may have in your fridge and you can pack it out with plenty of vegetables. It's all cooked in 12 minutes, in one pot which saves on the washing up! This uses sausages but they can be swapped for prawns added for the last couple of minutes of cooking or chunky vegetables like courgettes or mushrooms, fried in place of the sausage meat.

Serves: 4.

Prep time: 10 minutes.

Cook time: 12 minutes.

Ingredients:

30ml of olive oil.

1 diced onion.

2 cloves of garlic, chopped.

4 sausages.

1 tbsp fennel seeds which are optional.

2 tbsp of tomato puree.

250g of basmati rice.

1 chicken stock cube.

625ml of hot water.

250g of frozen peas.

250g of frozen or tinned sweetcorn.

Half a red pepper.

1 lemon.

10g of fresh chopped parsley.

How to make:

1. Fry the diced onion and fennel seeds, if using, for a few minutes before adding the garlic then squeeze in 1 inch chunks of the sausage meat.

2. Season the pan with salt, pepper, add the tomato puree and rice and mix together.

3. Add stock (ratio of 1 rice : 1.5 water), stir until fully mixed together, add more water if rice is not fully submerged.

4. Slice the red pepper and place on top of the rice.

5. Bring pan to a simmer, then cover with lid and reduce heat to low for about 15 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat and leave to rest with lid on for five minutes.

7. Garnish with chopped parsley, squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the top and a little drizzle of olive oil and serve.

Recipe by Theo Michaels for Fruit Bowl. For more info visit their website.

(Ad - Gifted) Body by James Davies - Book Review!

I don't know if it's my age, too much or not enough exercise but I have aches and pains. My back which always aches, some days I wake up with a sore neck after sleeping funny, I get the odd headache and random achy legs so when I had the chance to have a look at the book Body: Simple techniques and strategies to heal, reset and restore. I was very interested.

From stress and anxiety, to everyday wear and tear and injury, life takes its toll on our bodies. Now, internationally renowned osteopath James Davies can help you heal your body. This book is full of strategies to prevent pain and fuel your body to its fullest health potential.

Packed with stories and employing his 360-road map to well-being, James presents a new understanding of chronic pain, what needs to be done, and where to find further help. Using simple and practical methods, James shows you how to shield your body from injury, understand and manage pain and puts you on the path of adopting full body health. 

Included in this book are simple techniques and strategies to:

Heal

From stress and anxiety, to everyday wear and tear and injury, life takes its toll on our bodies. Now, internationally renowned osteopath James Davies can help you heal your body.

Reset

With tips and tricks to help recognise, manage, and treat everyday aches and pains, this book will reset your approach to understanding your body. James presents a revolutionary blueprint for holistic body wellbeing.

Restore

Improve your wellbeing with exercises expertly designed to optimise your body. Enhance your health and mobility by understanding common conditions from arthritis and muscle strains, to IBS and stress, and empower yourself with the knowledge you need to achieve full-body health.

This is such a brilliant book. It isn't just for old people or those who suffer from chronic pain it is for anyone who wants to look after their body and learn a little more about it. It covers everything from head to foot.

I was fascinated by some of the advice in it. The way the book is written it is simple to understand and it is good to have something to reference when something isn't quite right with your body, those niggles we get which we know are not serious but annoy and frustrate us. It has lots of diagrams,  really helpful explanations and I have read plenty of things that I did not know about my own body. 

When I first picked it up and skimmed through it I saw the pages about legs and it was a good place to start since the backs of my legs have been sore for a couple of days. There were some exercises to try and they seem to be helping.

The advice in this book isn't patronising, it feels like I can look at this book for minor ailments like achy legs instead of going to the doctor who will just tell me to lose weight and exercise more, which I am doing anyway. This book should of course be used as a supplement to health care rather than replacing the advice of medical professionals if you know that something is seriously wrong with you.

I think this would make a great addition to anyone's bookshelf and with Christmas coming up it could be fantastic for someone who is hard to buy for. You can buy this book from Amazon in hardback, paperback, kindle edition or Audio book.

I was sent the book Body by James Davies free of charge in exchange for this blog post.

In October I was grateful for... #365DaysOfGratitude

I have seen many people on social media list something every day that they are grateful for and thought I would join in and have on my private Facebook account every day and I thought I would share here too. I am hoping to continue it for the rest of the year and longer.

In October I was grateful for:

Day 274 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Becky got to sleep for work and Ellie got to go out with friends while I stayed at home doing the housework. Do you sense my tone, the sarcasm.

Day 275 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that I stuck with watching Orange Is The New Black! It's so good! I'm up to the riot. Who'd have thought prisoners rioting could be so funny.

Day 276 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Becky has finally got her first driving lesson booked. It's been a long time coming! Covid stopped all of the lessons and then there were massive waiting lists. Now it's her time.

Day 277 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Ellie has her timetable for her mock exams. 

Day 278 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that we had a good parents evening for Ellie. We are so proud of her. We got the whole chat about how she's quiet in class and needs to be more confident from the teachers but she works hard, understands the work and is looking to do well in her GCSE's as long as she revises. 

Day 279 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that I am ahead of watching Orange is the New Black than Becky! She can't spoil it any more for me. hehehe

Day 280 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for Passion Fruit Martini's. 

Day 281 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for remembering to do my grateful post with 10 minutes to spare. Just kidding! I am grateful for red hair dye! I've ditched the blue/purple and gone back to the red. My dad won't be happy! He hates the red. hehehe

Day 282 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Stu enjoys DIY. He made some shelves to go in some wasted space in the kitchen. Made them from an old bookcase and a curtain pole. In hindsight he should have painted them before he put them up but it doesn't matter, they look good, they're solid and painting can happen later.

Day 283 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that I have more new shelves up! I now just need to figure out how to hide the wires. I wish I had ordered a couple more shelves for the other side of the fireplace. I have tried but they're out of stock! 

Day 284 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Ellie is working hard at revising for her mock exams which start next week. She must know everything there is to know about A Christmas Carol now.

Day 285 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that I have come up with a few more ideas for Christmas presents for the girls. They're so hard to buy for now that they're getting older.

Day 286 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that I have discovered Daisy May Cooper! I watched Am I being Unreasonable? over the last couple of days and now I've started on This Country! She's so funny!

Day 287 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Stu and Becky managed to get home, eventually. Stu from work waited for the 5.25pm bus and it didn't arrive then the next one was 25 minutes late and Becky was in Scunthorpe and waited over an hour for her bus home. 2 didn't turn up for her and she defiantly didn't miss any. I know the bus drivers are striking over the river in Hull but they did say our bus would not be affected! Grr!

Day 288 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today (yesterday!) I am grateful that I saw the advert for the new series of The Handmaids Tale and have started rewatching it.

Day 289 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for a nice relaxed day with only a little bit of housework.

Day 290 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for Sudocrem! Burnt the tips of my thumb and pointy finger while making tea. Not bad burns but enough to hurt and make me realise how much I use my thumb and finger! Ouch! The cream is helping.

Day 291 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Becky had a fantastic first driving lesson!! She loves the instructor and she did a fair bit of driving which she thought was amazing and equally terrifying. She went around roundabouts, only stalled once and thinks indicators are going to take some getting used to! She's so chuffed with herself and rightly so.

Day 292 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for gingerbread scented candles although they always make me feel hungry when I smell them.

Day 293 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Liz Truss resigned. It won't fix anything, our country is messed up but it's a start! It sure can't get any worse.

Day 294 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Becky seems to be getting over the cold she has and so far hasn't passed it to any of us. Hooray for her being on night shift, sleeping all day and us hardly seeing her. (It's not Covid, she's tested several times).

Day 295 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Stu and I had a lovely meal. Steak and red wine pies, root veg mash and veg. We have lemon cheesecake to have but we're still too full. The kids had to make do with pizza. lol They weren't bothered, it was their favourite Chicago Town one.

Day 296 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that my family let me watch Doctor Who without talking all the way through it! Shouting what at the end was totally acceptable. lol

Day 297 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for a fab day out shopping at Hull. Got a few more Christmas presents and went to the all you can eat place!

Day 298 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that Ellie is really into Doctor Who at the moment. She is slowly working her way through every episode and we have so much to talk about. hehehe

Day 299 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that the boiler man came to do the gas safety check and the boiler and cooker is good for another year. The gas fire wasn't so lucky though, it has been condemned. It didn't come as a surprise, it's probably nearly as old as me. lol

Day 300 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for a peaceful afternoon while the kids went to the cinema. They had a great time and I had chance to catch up on a few jobs.

Day 301 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that the rain stopped which meant the girls and I had a nice walk out to see my dad.

Day 302 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for cookie cutters! They really helped with the carving of the pumpkins! I can't believe I haven't thought of it before but saw the idea on TikTok! 

Day 303 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful for a lazy day, watching films. The School for Good and Evil which was good but a little cheesy, Jessica Darling's It List a totally random one off Netflix but it was cute and funny, The Hunger Games and now The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will see me through until bedtime.

Day 304 of #365DaysOfGratitude 

Today I am grateful that I managed to grow my own pumpkin! It might not be the biggest but I am proud of it!

What were you grateful for in October?