Week 20 of #Project365 12th - 18th May. A photo every day for a year!

 Hello there and happy Sunday! I hope you are having a great day. We don't have much planned for today, I don't even think we will be leaving the house. It's Stu's only day off work today as he has to do overtime next week but instead of spreading it over a week he is doing it all tomorrow on his day off. Today is his lazy day.

I have had such a faff writing this blog post. Our internet kept going off. I had the previous hour planned, write this blog post while watching Doctor Who off the BBC iPlayer but I couldn't do either. Then when I came to write it I couldn't add the photos and then when I could I couldn't make them bigger. I don't know if it's a blogger issue or an issue with my internet. Ugh! So if the photos look a bit wrong I do apologise.

Now for a photo every day! 

133/365 - 12th May

Stu and I went out for lunch and I claimed my free bottle of wine that I won at the bingo. I thought you can tell we're heading into summer with the pub using plastic glasses but it turns out their glass washer was broken.

134/365 - 13th May

I had a few hours in the garden moving my plants into bigger pots. They are doing really well.

135/365 - 14th May

Just me. I was back to wearing Autumn looking clothes. It rained off and on all door but was still so warm. I am so glad I just wore tights under my dress and not leggings or jeans.

136/365 - 15th May

Becky bought some new clothes and of course had to try them on to show me. She said she was way out of her comfort zone not wearing baggy t-shirts and a hoodie but she needed something smarter for a night out.

137/365 - 16th May

My dad went to the cash and carry and bought me a huge bag of tea bags. 1040 should keep us going for a while.

138/365 - 17th May

As much as I love the Gousto meals I do change things up a little. Instead of having normal chips I made sweet potato one's and thought the Peri Peri fishcakes would be too spicy so didn't want the spicy peas so made minty one's.

139/365 - 18th May

This was my Saturday morning wake up! I had planned on a lie in but someone nearby was getting concrete/cement delivered and they made such a racket.

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

This week my Word of the Week is:

My Word of the Week was going to be insects but Ellie informed me that some of the creatures I am talking about (slugs) are not insects, they are ruddy pests thought! Ugh! 

Spring is a wonderful time of year with everything coming back to life and growing including bugs, insects and lots of creatures that I would rather not have in or near my house. I wrote a blog post earlier in the week "Ways to keep wasps out of your home!" and at the moment they are the least of my problems.

On Saturday I was hanging washing out on the line and saw things moving around my feet! Ants!! I would say at least 50 of them scurrying around when I looked closely. I know about ants, we had them coming into our house years ago. I know they follow a path and found out they were going to the box that has the tins and jars in to recycle. I know they are attracted to sweet things and I am totally blaming the kids and their empty cans of pop. Thankfully they were not coming too close to the house so I have moved the recycling box and Stu did some weeding and must have hit their nest as he saw hundreds while I went running! 

Our second creature problem this week is slugs!! We have always had the odd one in the kitchen and we keep them at bay with slug pellets and salt but now the slimy slug trails have appeared in the living room. We really can't fathom how they are getting in unless they are coming through the bricks on the fireplace. Stu is going to block even the smallest of holes tomorrow. We used to have holes to the outside, under the floorboards but we we got the insulated wall put up last year and that seemed to stop a lot of random creatures coming in. The slugs in the living room is a new thing! Eek! I refuse to come downstairs during the night now, even if I am desperate for a drink or the loo. I don't want to be confronted with the slimy slugs. Eww! I am blaming the weather we have had over the last week, it has been warm but very wet. It think it has rained every day since Monday. I keep having to run around the house shutting windows making sure the rain doesn't come in and then 10 minutes after a rain shower it's blue sky and sunshine again.

Ellie is refusing to hang the washing out on the line at the moment, there are too many spiders for her liking. The other day the line was full of web and lots of tiny spiders. It's no good, she used to be my spider catcher. hehehe

At the moment I am being tortured by a fly which has came in through the open window. I have my fly swatter but I just haven't been able to get it yet! I will swat it before it drives me totally insane, if it's not buzzing around my head it keeps landing on my laptop screen! Grr!

How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one!

What I have loved this week! Week 20. #FridayFavourites

I have had another one of those weeks where I was so busy for the first half and then things were quiet for the rest of it. After a busy weekend, Monday and Tuesday I was glad to have Wednesday to catch up on some blogging and jobs around the house and yesterday too. The weather hasn't been great over the past few days so it was nice to stay home. It's still been pretty warm, I've had the windows open but it has been raining. Not proper rain, that fine, misty stuff which seems to get you soaked more than normal rain. Ugh!

Today I am linking up with Erika and Andrea and share some of my favourites from this past week.

My youngest watching Grey's Anatomy!

Over the last few weeks Ellie has been watching Grey's Anatomy which has made me so happy as it's one of my favourite shows. She always said she wouldn't watch it as there was too much to catch up on but here we are, she's halfway through the 3rd season. She watches on her computer or tablet and will turn to me and just say random words and I know exactly what she is on about. It's times like this I wish I could go back and watch it for the first time. She stopped watching last night even though she had one more time for one more episode but knows something big happens at the ferryboat accident. hehehe

Out for lunch!

On Sunday my fella and I went out for lunch, Becky was sleeping for a night shift and Ellie wanted to watch Grey's Anatomy so we went without them. The table was booked for 1.30pm and we didn't get back home until just after half past five in the evening to the girls saying what time do you call this. I felt like a teenager again, being told off by my parents.

By the time we got there they had ran out of the gammon which I usually have but they had pork and it was amazing! There was the pork, broccoli, cabbage, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, mashed potato, roast potatoes and roast parsnips. It's a meal I have thought about all week!

My eldest planning!

Over the last 6 months or so Becky has been to theatre shows, a couple of small concerts and club nights and now she is planning on going to a proper concert. She realised during the week that she had left it too late for Taylor Swift, she's sold out but has found tickets for Pink! Then it came to which venue to go to, how to get there and where to stay! I was laughing at her as she has only just realised there is so much to plan. I do sometimes wonder about her, she asked are we in Europe? I can understand her confusion about Brexit and technically we have left Europe but her next question was do I need a passport to go to Scotland?. It is a different country, again I can see where she was coming from but it is still part of the UK. I thought these were things that she should have known.

Potting plants.

The seeds that I planted are doing really well but I think they were getting too big for the seed trays that they were in so on Monday I moved them into bigger pots! Gardening is so relaxing and I had a lovely few hours outside. I hid in the shade, it was still warm but bearable.

I have lost track of what everything is though! The little labels I had on the seed trays had fallen off, I guess we will find out what everything is when they grow more. There's cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, sweetcorn, tomatoes and strawberries.

The end of the college year!

Ellie is speeding towards of the end of her first year in college and into exam season. Her lessons are all mixed up over the next month to fit in those resitting exams and tests. On her engineering course so far she has passed every test and exam so there is no extra work for her. The only exams she has coming up is her English GCSE which she is resitting from last year which she is not looking forward to although she is feeling confident. She is happy that she doesn't have to resit her maths GCSE, she is the only one in her engineering class who doesn't so she gets to have a late start a few times. Hooray!

Fancy drinks!

I went out for a meal during the week and ended up having a few drinks and they were a lot more fancy than I usually have.

I had a Peach Blush Spritz which combines my favourite drinks: rose wine, Archers peach schnapps and lemonade. Then we got really fancy and had a Strawberry Daiquiri, a Jammy Dodger shot which was black raspberry liqueur topped with Baileys and a Strawberries and Cream shot which was strawberry liqueur topped with white chocolate liqueur, it tasted just like milkshake. Eek!

What have you loved over the last week?

No Knead Lemon Curd Doughnuts - Recipe!

I love doughnuts. Earlier in the week on my blog post about my favourite foods it was a toss up between which out of doughnuts and carrot cake would make the list. Carrot cake won but only just. 

National Doughnut Week starts on Saturday and it is a very special week where businesses including bakers, coffee shops and offices take part and sell lots of delicious doughnuts to raise funds for The Children’s Trust.

Every week when I get the food shop delivered I buy doughnuts of some sort. Jam, sugar, chocolate or even custard but I have never had lemon curd one's. They sound amazing! These no knead Lemon Curd Doughnuts don’t only look great, they’re ready in under an hour! 

Made with less than 10 ingredients in 7 steps these are filled with lemon curd for a citrusy alternative to a traditional jam filling. 

Makes 8 doughnuts

Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

375g of plain flour.

150ml of warm water.

70ml of warm milk.

1 sachet of fast action yeast.

20g of caster sugar and extra for dusting.

30ml vegetable oil and extra for shallow frying.

2 teaspoons of baking powder.

A pinch of salt.

A jar of lemon curd.

Equipment

Large mixing bowl.

Deep fat fryer or large saucepan.

Wooden spoon.

Rolling pin or wine bottle.

Round cutter or glass (8-9cm).

Teaspoon / piping bag / sandwich bag for filling.

Method

In the large mixing bowl combine the warm water, warm milk, yeast, sugar and a third of the flour. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 10 minutes. Use this time to heat your oil for frying in the pan / deep fat fryer to 185°c.

After the 10 minutes mix the 30ml oil, baking powder and salt into the yeast mixture before adding the remaining flour and bringing it together by hand to form a sticky dough.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle some flour on top of the dough, then roll out to a thickness of 2cm. 

Cut out the doughnuts using a glass or a cutter then carefully transfer to the hot oil 2 or3 at a time, dipping away from you as you put them in. 

Let the doughnuts cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side until golden brown then use the wooden spoon to flip them over and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove the doughnuts from the oil and drain them on some paper towels before rolling them in the caster sugar to generously coat the outside of the doughnuts.

When all of the doughnuts have been cooked, sugar dusted and cooled slightly, use the end of the wooden spoon to poke a hole at the top of each doughnut before filling with lemon curd using a piping bag, corner of a sandwich bag or carefully teasing in with a teaspoon. 

Frying tip: To check if the frying oil is hot enough carefully put the stick end of your wooden spoon into the oil. If there are lots of little bubbles around the wood the oil is ready for frying. If it is bubbling vigorously and there are lots of bubbles taking over the pan, this indicates that the oil is too hot, remove the pan from the heat to cool down then try again. 

This recipe 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.