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

This week my Word of the Week is:

I feel so late in writing this blog post, I usually get it written on a Thursday morning but here I am at almost 4pm and I have just started it. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not late but it feels it for me. This week has been busy and I have really enjoyed it although I feel like I could do with another week to recover from half term.

Ellie realised this week was her last ever half term at secondary school. By the next one in May she will have left school and be in the middle of doing her GCSE's. Eek! It really doesn't seem that long.

On Monday we went to town to open Ellie a bank account. We have been trying to with Stu's bank since the summer and they have really messed us about, telling us to do it online via a video call but then having no convenient times so we thought stuff them and went with my bank, it was all done within half an hour, in the branch and Ellie is now patiently waiting for her bank card. We had breakfast out and a mooch around town which was nice. 

It was of course Valentine's day on Tuesday. I didn't expect Stu to buy me any flowers as he was on the long shift at work so I bought my own and it turns out he nipped out in his lunch break and got me some and then got told off by all the ladies at his work for putting them in his locker. hehehe They were moved to a jug and survived the trip home, they were beautiful!

Ellie made plans to spend some time with her boyfriend and they bought each other gifts. Ellie came home with a cute teddy and a card. Ahh, young love! hehehe Stu and I enjoyed a Asda Valentine's meal deal which was nice, not amazing but it was something different.

We had another busy day on Wednesday. I decluttered and sorted out all of the kitchen cupboards. Now no one knows where to find anything and Ellie and Becky went through all of the memory boxes of everything that I have kept from them both being born and put everything into bigger boxes. They were on for hours just looking at everything and remembering random things. Seeing their first baby clothes was so strange, it is hard to imagine these girls, one who is taller than me and the other who is an inch or so shorter than me could ever fit into those small baby grows.

I thought I was going to have a nice chilled day yesterday but ended up catching up on the housework and doing a bit of baking while the kids went to the cinema to see the new Puss in Boots film which they said was brilliant and so funny. I was in two minds about going with them but I wanted some peace at home.

We are supposed to be going to see my dad today but I am waiting in for a shelf to be delivered. It was supposed to be wallpaper and a shelf but I paid and ordered the wallpaper and then they turned around and said it's been damaged so it can't be sent. I really expected more from B&Q! I am waiting for a refund and have ended up buying the same wallpaper for £4 less a roll off Ebay. lol I did think about using Ebay to start with but thought B&Q would be more reliable. Ugh.

Next week Stu is off work and he is going to be decorating Ellie's bedroom and we also have the landlord overseeing some building work. We're getting a extra layer of insulated plasterboard put on the living room wall at the front as it is so cold in here. Apparently it's not a big job but the radiator has to be taken off, the light switch pulled through to the new wall and who knows what's going to happen with the coving at the top of the wall. I am tempted to go out and tell them to ring when it's finished.

I hope you have all had a good week?

Savoury Crepes - Recipe!

Pancake day is coming and it is one of our favourite days of the year for food. We usually just stick to sweet one's but that is only because I have never really thought about savoury one's until now.

Pancakes and crepes look almost identical and are made in the same way but pancakes are much thicker than the very thin, lacy French crepe. 

Made with just four base ingredients, these savoury crêpes are ready to be filled with whatever you can find in the fridge: cheese, ham, mushrooms, tomatoes or even a fried egg! I think these are a great thing to make at the end of a week before a shopping trip when you want to use up random leftovers in the fridge.

This recipe makes 6 crepes.

Prep time: 5 mins / Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 large eggs.

200ml of milk.

120g of plain flour.

Butter for greasing pan.

Fillings: grated cheese and ham (torn into pieces) / grated cheese and mushrooms which are sliced and pan fried in butter but these crepes can be made with any filling of your choice! Onions, peppers, tomatoes, chicken and even vegetables.

Equipment:

A large mixing bowl.

A whisk or fork.

A small ladle or tablespoon.

A pancake/Crepe pan or large frying pan.

A spatula.

Method

In the large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk and flour with the whisk to form a runny batter. 

Place your pan over medium heat and grease lightly with butter before spooning in about 2-3 tbsp of batter and swilling it around to form a thin, even crepe.

Return the pan to the heat and leave to cook for 30 seconds, then using the spatula, or flipping if you feel confident to, flip the crepe over and cook the other side for a further 30 seconds. 

Place the crepe on a plate and repeat steps 2 and 3 until all of the batter has been used, stacking them up as you go.

 

To fill, take one of the crepes, place it back in the pan and sprinkle with grated cheese and ham/mushrooms. Leave for 30 seconds, then fold the crêpe in half and then half again to create a quarter fold. Flip the whole thing over to brown the other side lightly and ensure all the cheese has melted, then serve.

Last year I shared a recipe for Banana Lava Pancakes which my family have had several times and we all love them.

 

This recipe is from the Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by UK Flour Millers, making baking simple. You can find more Easy Peasy Baking recipes and information on the campaign over on the Fab Flour website.

The Harry Potter Hedwig Lego set - Review!

I got the Harry Potter Hedwig Lego set a while ago and never got around to putting it together until the start of this year.

Bring the magical personality and elegant movement of Hedwig, the celebrated snowy owl from the Harry Potter movies, to life. The collectible LEGO Harry Potter Hedwig display toy offers a rewarding building experience and looks magnificent on show. The 630 piece set suitable for children aged 10 years plus.

When I opened the box I thought it will only take a couple of hours to put together, I was so wrong. lol The last time I did anything with Lego was when the kids were much younger and their Lego sets had a lot less parts. When I was a child I had Lego but no real sets, I just built what I wanted with the blocks that I had. This set came with 4 bags of Lego, pack one being the base, the 2 pack being the body of Hedwig, 3 mostly being the wings and 4 everything else that was left.

Building the base and body of Hedwig was pretty straightforward and what I did notice was the little handle, I had no idea that the wings on Hedwig would move until I was building. Turning the handle operates a mechanism that drives Hedwig's wings up and down.

I found it a challenge to put the wings together and on. I had them on upside down and the wrong way around at one point but I eventually got them right. It wasn't looking much like an owl until I got further into the build and started adding things to the wings. The detail is really amazing and it looks so realistic.

The finished Lego Hedwig really is stunning! It was well worth the effort that it took to put it together! The instructions are easy to follow but there was a few parts where I really had to study them to figure out where parts went. It took me about 3 and a half hours to put together, I did it over a few days. It measures 20 cm (7.8”) from beak to tail and 17 cm (6.7”) tall and looks really realistic. I love that the wings move, that is a really nice addition.

This is a great set for any Harry Potter fan! I love it, I now have it on a shelf in my living room as I am so proud of it!

I paid about £29.99 for it a while ago when it was on sale but I have since seen it on Amazon for just over £30.00.

Do you like building Lego sets?

Our House Rules.

Here we are another month of linking up with the Not Just A Mom ladies and this month's prompts is: House Rules!

I racked my brain trying to think up the rules that we have in our house and to be honest there are not that many. Most of the rules fall under the common sense category like shut doors when you leave a room to keep the heat in especially during the colder months, make sure you flush the toilet, wash the bath out after you've used it, shoes off at the front door, scrape your plate when you've finished eating and if you're the last one in or out of the house lock the door.

I try to keep us organised as a family and we will always prepare as much as we can the night before school or work. Sunday's are always fun. Baths, ironing uniforms, making packed lunches and things like that. It's the rule that everything is done before we sit down on an evening to relax.

I think the biggest rule I have with my girls that they always try to break and bend is that there is no food or drinks upstairs. The only exception is that they can take a bottle of water up to bed. The amount of times I have caught them trying to take a bottle of coca cola, fizzy pop or even juice upstairs is unreal.

Most of the rules that we have in our house revolve around my girls. They're 20 and 15 years old so I have to make rules to keep them safe and make our home run smoothly. I think I am a pretty relaxed parent when it comes to rules. I tend to say yes to more things than I say no to. A few years ago my girls wanted to dye their hair so we compromised, only during the summer holidays and only the ends of their hair. I find that compromise is a big part of parenting a teenager and young adult.

I think the biggest rules we have are about mobile phones. Ellie does not take her mobile phone to bed with her. I really don't want her texting, looking at social media or scrolling through TikTok when she's supposed to be sleeping. The same rule used to apply to Becky but she's old enough to know better now. If she wants to spend her night looking at her phone she'll be tired in the morning. We stay off our mobile phones when we're eating or spending time as a family and if the girls go out their volume has to be turned up. I don't know what it is about the youth of today who always have their phone on silent. 

Both of my girls know the rules about social media. Don't add people that you don't know in real life, don't send photos you wouldn't want your Grandad to see, hehehe, don't give out personal information and don't buy things off unreliable websites. Becky learned that lesson the hard way when she ordered some clothes and it was a dodgy website who were going to just take her money without sending anything until I stepped in to help her get her money back.

If the girls go out I need to know where they're going, who with, when they will be home and how they are getting home. I always like to know who they are with, I don't like them going out with friends which I have never met. They are pretty good at staying in touch when they are out. Ellie has been grounded a few times for going further afield than she should and then losing track of time.

What rules do you have for your teenagers or young adults?