LBLC: Three Happy Things

Another Monday has arrived but it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. We of the LBLC have decided to get some positivity in our lives and this is our way of doing it. We have each made a cuppa, or a brew whatever you wish to call it and sat down to reflect on three things from our day that have made us happy.

I have had a fairly good Monday, as far as Mondays go. My day started at 6am when I drove to work. These type of days are always very long and I'm trying to keep my eyes open by this time of night.

Good things

1: Some how today I managed to tick EVERYTHING off my to do list! This is a first in my job, I have never done this before. I actually feel a bit like I'm in control of my workload *manically touches wood* this makes me very happy indeed. I also got my probation review document to check off, 3 weeks prior to my meeting and was pleasantly surprised to see I've already met all of my 9 month objectives.

2: I went for lunch late which was a bit rubbish because I was starving, having been up so early BUT when I got my sandwich out of the fridge I saw a box of milk tray in the kitchen with a 'help yourself' note on top. Our office is full of chocolate loving women so when I tentatively opened the box not expecting to find anything, I actually was shocked to see my favorite strawberry sweet left. Hurrah! It is a good day to be a strawberry sweet lover!

3: Is a tie really, between coming home to discover that Deefer is still here (hurrah chocolate labrador cuddles), getting to see my first ever veg box delivery (which was free) and finding out that we got a free veg companion book YAY, having yummy roasties for tea. Finally, mother had crackers with Blacksticks Blue cheese (my favorite ever) and she shared them!

I have had a very good day I think!

How have your days been?

Cheerio,

Rach

Brussels

So, I went to Brussels on Thursday and spent 4 days there. I am a bit of a rubbish flyer so wasn't looking forward to this but I can't really complain as it was a very short flight.

On Thursday we managed to check in early to our beautiful hotel Be Manos which is just outside of the city center. It was lovely, very spacious and clean and with a super huge bath! I did manage to slip in the bath though and got myself an almighty bruise for the privilege!

During our time we had moules mariniere, pecan tart, Belgian fries, waffles and truffles! I also got to see Manneken Pis - who is surprisingly tiny! 



We saw the Grand Place which is beautiful, we arrived at dusk so it was magical seeing it all lit up surrounded by little shops.



We went all the way around and through the city on an open top tour bus, which was lovely and took pretty much the entire day. The best part of this was getting to visit and explore in the Atomium:



You start by taking an elevator to the top ball and getting a panoramic view of the city which is amazing. It's such a contrasting city with giant sky scrapers next to homes and churches dotted through out. There is also a palace right in the center and some truly stunning parks.

We spent our other day exploring Leopold park, the automotive museum and the Natural History museum. All of which were fascinating but we walked a very long way!

It was a fabulous break, because not only did we get to visit a lovely city and spend time doing some exciting things but we got to spend some time relaxing. Our last holiday was fabulous and out of this world and amazing but most definitely not relaxing so it was really lovely to have some time to just catch our breath.

Of course, one of the best things about it was the fact that I got to do it with Grant, we always have such a good time together and laugh lots. I love spending time just wandering around getting lost and exploring. I'm a lucky girl to be able to go on breaks like this but also to have somebody like minded to do it with.

And no, we didn't drink a sip of beer the entire time we were there. We were more interested in the chocolate!

Rach

Monthly Round Up - October

So, having returned from my holidays in the last week of September, October for me has been all about getting settled back into my routine. I'm sad to say that the weather has been massively disappointing! I am used to being able to predict when Autumn is happening and unfortunately it has been a bit hit and miss... I guess due to the mild weather. I was quite looking forward to crisp leaves and walking in the forest with foggy breath. Ah well, fingers crossed November happens this way!

Read - I had a bit of a reading break after my holiday but I finished the month up with the final in the Meg Cabot Abandon series, which wasn't a disappointment! I have read my good food magazine this month, on time which is a first for me! There are some ace recipes that I can't wait to try out.

Watched - Wow lots this month! Breaking Bad seasons 2-5, New Girl is back, Awkward is also back. Vampire Diaries and Glee are too but I'm not caught up on them. In terms of normal TV, Tom Kerridges Prroper Pub Food but mainly The Great British Bake Off. We've also started the new Karl Pilkington series, The Moaning of Life - it is very funny indeed!

Listened - Quite a musical month, which is unusual for me. Imagine Dragons are great inspiration in work! I love Haim at the moment too. Towards the end of the month, I took my brother to see Jamie Cullum which I wasn't hugely excited about as I've not listened to a lot of his music but having been, I can't stop listening to him. His support was a band called The Lottery Winners, who are pretty new so only have three songs out at the moment but all are brilliant and I will be waiting for more.

Most Used Beauty - Probably my Soap and Glory Arch de Truimph eyebrow pencil. My threader got a bit excited, and one brow is a bit on the baldy side. I now have Archery to try out as the Arch de Triumph pencil is driving me a bit mad with the amount of sharpening it requires.

Ate - Hmm probably roast potatoes. Excitingly, this time of year means we have loads of roast potatoes in our house! Also, parsnips - hurrah for those being in season.

Drank - Tea, so much of it. I have actually stopped drinking water and am drinking so so so much tea. Its good though, warms your cockles!

Did – I've had quite an exciting month really, but the best thing was probably seeing Jamie Cullum. Partly because he was incredible, his 2 hour 15 minute set was just breathtakingly good but the other part which was possibly even better than him was seeing my brother so happy and enjoying himself.

Went – YeeRah, first time trying here but went with mum and it was really good. We also went on an open top tour bus in our home city of Liverpool, which was a really good laugh.

New Favourite Item - My green lego lunchbox, it is ace! Or my Unicorn Pandora charm - I love Unicorns!

How about you, what has your October held?

Rach

Nostalgia Q&A

LBLC was feeling nostalgic this month so has decided to share some childhood memories and favourites. I struggle to remember a huge ammount about my childhood but when I think hard, I end up cackling with laughter remembering how much of a diva I was and how I thought I knew everything! So here goes...

Book - From a very young age, I read a lot! I remember sitting in class whilst everybody else was reading Biff and Chip with my head buried in Roald Dahl books - my favorite was definitely Fantastic Mr Fox but The Magic Finger came a close second. As I got older, I started reading a massive range of things, I was the weird kid who spent Saturdays at the library flicking through books. I remember loving Kasper in the Glitter by Philip Ridley when we read it in school and also feeling really lucky to be in top set English and get to read The Hobbit by J R R Tolkein. I think a big influence of my childhood though, has to be Harry Potter. I was 7 (1 day off 8!) when the first book was released so grew up with Harry. I never did get that Hogwarts letter though! I remember being fascinated with how J K Rowling managed to adapt her writing style as the books progressed so that you felt like the writing style was becoming more sophisticated as Harry got older. Sorry... I could go on all day about books!


TV - I grew up with a big brother so my TV watching was very much influenced by him. We used to sit together and watch Quantum Leap which was amazing! The Crystal Maze was also a firm favorite for both of us, we used to watch it and shout at the TV when they were doing it wrong! We also loved watching Simpsons. I also loved watching kids TV though, the likes of Bernard's Watch and The Queens Nose - oh and Fun House! I watched Blue Peter religiously and remember always trying to make the things they had on there, mine were always pants though. Especially the Tracy Island I tried to make! I was lucky when I was younger that we had Sky, so remember fondly watching Dexters Lab, Cow and Chicken and also Recess - watching these now scares me slightly though haha!

Song - Hmm, I could often be found singing my own versions of songs at the top of my voice, like 'Faster than Pasta'! I had a lot of musical inspiration when I was younger, my brother, my mum and my auntie who all had very individual taste. I think the songs that were my favorite though was anything by Steps, perhaps Tragedy or Eifel 65 - Blue Da Ba Dee. I also loved Scatman!

Film - I loved anything Disney, especially Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid. I had most Disney films on VHS and watched them religiously. Although not a film I also loved a series I had on VHS called Huxley Pig! I remember the fist time I saw Tarzan very clearly as I absolutely adored the music in it. 

Band - Oh this is a hard one! I loved Westlife, Blue, A1 and later McFly when I was younger and acted like a right fan girl! With having a big brother though I tended to listen to his music a lot (it was louder) so as I grew up I developed a love of The Corrs, Nizlopi - The JBC song, Jamie Cullum (this one I'm massively grateful for!), Lena Marlin, Eva Cassidy, Steps and many many more. I also had a lot of musical influcence from my auntie Lee Lee who had me listening to Aretha Franklin, M People, Eurhytmics, Snap, DeBarge - basically great 90s music! We used to sing and dance around like loons, these are truly happy memories of mine!

Magazine/Comic - I didn't really read magazines. If I did it was because I'd picked up my mum's best or bella! On those really rare occasions though that I did get one, it was CosmoGirl or later on when I was older, Kerrang. I still don't really read magazines.

Game - Was and still is Monopoly. I am still rubbish at it though. Mum has always encouraged me to play scrabble as well, which has helped immensely with my ability to spell. We played loads of board games in our house, which I loved.

Clothes - I used to wear tracksuits. Mum used to bribe me every Christmas day so that I would put a dress on but it only ever lasted a couple of hours. I was always in matching tracksuits! I am told when I was a lot younger I wore leggings and T-Shirts, but I only really remember the tracksuit days... which then became the goth days of band T-Shirts, studded belts and jeans. Now, you would struggle to get me to wear pants.. funny how things change ;).

Subject at School - It was always English. Absolutely no question there. I equally loved the language and literature sides, I think I was better at literature though. I used to love to spend my days making up stories. I still remember the day I had the light bulb moment where I realised that you could write sentences without using 'and' every third word haha. I used to love Art as well but as a terrible drawer there wasn't much I could do with it.

Food - When mum first started working me and my brother had to cook for ourselves so lived off scrambled eggs and pasta. I used to make him and his clients scrambled eggs when they had meetings! So, I think my favorite food was pasta with Dolmio tomato sauce and cheese. 

Sweet - Fruit salads and black jacks! Or penny sweets. I remember those days, when penny sweets were 1p. I used to love the fizzy cola bottles, foam banana's, those giant liquorice, laces and giant strawberries. I also remember sneaking Hubba Bubba with my pocket money because I wasn't actually allowed it!

Hobby - I danced from a young age so spent a lot of time doing this. When I got a bit older I was encouraged to go to Drama classes to help my confidence, and it really did help and was brilliant fun. I don't really know if these are classed as hobbies though? I was never particularly crafty. I suppose writing stories, or diaries was a hobby of mine. I do still wish I was musical, and hope that when I have kids I can encourage them to get into music. I'd love to be able to play the Sax.


Well, writing that has made me feel all happy and warm inside and I'm now listening to M People... what are your memories of childhood?

Rach

So its about time I posted again!

Well I've been a terrible blogger this year and ever, I am very bad at finding time and making time to write about anything. So, I've decided to blog about a project that I have and have had for many years and I am now determined to finish!

When my brother was young my mum started to create a patchwork quilt with cut off's of the clothes he used to wear (she made all of his outfits). When I was born she added too it and later, handed the unfinished quilt to myself to complete and present to somebody in our family.

So the challenge is to finish off our patchwork quilt,  I am going to blog about my progress and add some pictures. So if you fancy giving me some encouragement or advice, please do so!

Happy Friday

Rach

Come Dine with Us!

So today is the day of LBLC ladies to share their love of food by posing a Come Dine with Us menu! We have decided to split the courses and have the essentials of a dinner party between us. I will be brining the pudding to the party! The starter will be from Karen, the main course from  Keisha and cocktails from Louise. 

I love love love pudding! I could quite happily eat pudding after every meal. It has been a fair challenge for me to select one but I thought I would choose a fairly easy pud that always seems to go down well. Passionfruit and orange cheesecake. This is a family recipe and has never before been seen on the internet (or on paper for that matter!) it has been quite a challenge writing down quantities because for so long it has been a chuck it in the bowl recipe!

You will need:

whisking implement - can be a hand held whist or an electric whisk 

large bowl

spatula to get all of the yummy bits off the side of the dish!

shallow dish, a flan dish is what we usually use

large tea spoon

Ingredients:

1 packet of ginger nut biscuits

2oz butter

1 tub Philadelphia cream cheese

4tbsp icing sugar

330ml cream

2 passionfruits

Rind and juice of 2 oranges

Passionfruit coulis to finish

Method:
Bash up the ginger nut biscuits to a fine crumb
Melt 2oz butter and mix together with the biscuits, spread out and leave to cool in a shallow dish for about an hour
Whisk the cream until stiff peaks form (so you can hold it over your head without anything falling out)
Mix together thr 4tbsp icing sugar, philidelphia cream cheese, rind and juice of 2 oranges and the insides of the passion fruits
Fold the above mixture into the cream and spread on top of the biscuit base
Sprinkle with icing sugar and leave to set for as long as you can resist!
Blob on a bit of passionfruit coulis and enjoy!

    

     Quantities can be easily doubled if desired and just to warn you it is very moreish!

     Enjoy - Racheeface

15 questions