Petrolhead

The Boy has developed a new obsession, this time with one of these:

Image Credit: eBay

That, my friends, is a toy Honda Civic.  But he’s not obsessed with the toy one, oh no.  He actually wants to buy one of these:

Image credit: Wikipedia

Yep, that’s a REAL (top of the range, of course) Honda Civic. It costs around £26,000.  He’s saving his pocket money.

Apparently Honda Civics are COOL.  Black ones are COOLER.  They are COOLER than Mummy’s car, which up to now has been the COOLEST.  Apparently when (!) my car breaks down he will come and pick me up in his COOL black Honda Civic.

We cannot go anywhere without the request to drive past the nearest Honda forecourt or the playing of the popular travel game “I Spy (With My Little Eye) a Honda Civic”. He studies SubHub’s car magazines and tells anyone who will listen (and those who didn’t want to but are kind of forced into it) that he’s saving to buy one.  Long gone is the obsession with the Monster Truck game on my iPhone; now he likes to customise his own Civic on the Honda app.

We actually had tears before school on Friday because he didn’t want to be taken in a lowly Ford Fiesta Titanium, even though it is black and has automatic fold-in mirrors (previously his favourite thing).  Oh no, I was instructed to go out and buy a Civic before breakfast so he could turn up in a COOL car and not an EMBARRASSING car (charming!).

If he asks me one more time how many months it is before he can learn to drive or tells me life’s not fair because he can’t do it right now, I think I might cry.  He’s gone all Kevin the Teenager on me.

By the way, this is not a sponsored post.  But if Honda would like to provide me with a Civic, preferably a top of the range one in black, I know one member of my family who will be happy to accept.

Review: Harvesting the Heart

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

A young woman who was abandoned by her mother when she was 5, left her father behind in Chicago to pursue art school. She marries an ambitious doctor and soon becomes a mother herself. She cannot forget her mother’s absence and the shameful memories of her past, which make her doubt herself. Out of Paige’s struggle to find wholeness, Jodi crafts an absorbing novel that explores issues and emotions we can all relate to.

I’m a huge fan of Jodi Picoult but this book just didn’t do it for me. What I love about her novels are the twists and turns of the plots, the dilemmas the characters have to face and the ability she has of making you imagine yourself in the protagonist’s situation. I just didn’t get that with this book at all. I found the characters unlikeable and their relationship sterile and not very believable. Normally I could read a Jodi Picoult novel several times over but this won’t be one of them unfortunately.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Saturday at the Caravan

We spent Saturday afternoon with the in-laws visiting Wray Scarecrow Festival which was celebrating its 25th anniversary.  Pretty much every house in the village puts on a display of at least one scarecrow.  The themes this year seemed to be the Diamond Jubilee, the anniversary of the Titanic, the anniversary of the Pendle Witch Trials and the Olympics.  Here are a few of my favourites.

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Afterwards we stopped at Bridge House Farm for a lovely cup of tea and slice of cake and the Boy got to run through the maze and play on the other play equipment (and use up some energy!).  Wray is a lovely little village and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area, even if not at May Day bank holiday for the scarecrow festival!

We had a fab Chinese takeaway back at the caravan courtesy of my FIL and watched my beloved Chelsea win the FA Cup Final.  Despite the Chinese coming from a takeaway called “Red Luck”!

Minced Beef Cobbler

This is proper British comfort food at its best and very quick and easy to make.

Servings = 4
ProPoints per portion = 12

Ingredients

  • 500g extra lean minced beef
  • 1 large onion, chopped finely
  • 2 carrots, grated or chopped finely
  • tin of sweetcorn or peas
  • 100g button mushrooms, halved
  • 250ml beef stock
  • 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1tbsp plain flour
  • 170g self-raising flour
  • 1tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme
  • 15g margarine
  • 100ml skimmed milk

Directions

  • Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
  • Dry-fry the mince and onion in a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat.  Stir frequently to break up the mince, until well browned.
  • Add the mushrooms and carrots followed by the stock and Worcestershire sauce.
  • Bring to a simmer, then gently cook for 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, to make the cobbles, mix the self-raising flour, baking powder and thyme together in a bowl.  Rub in the margarine then stir in enough of the milk to form a scone-like dough.  Don’t let it get too sticky.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out to the thickness of about 1.5cm and use a cutter to stamp out 8 x 5cm rounds.
  • Stir the sweetcorn or peas into the mince mixture, and stir through the plain flour to thicken the gravy.
  • Transfer to a baking dish.
  • Randomly place the cobbles on top of the mince, then bake for 20-25 mins, until cobbles are risen and golden brown.

This is delicious served with a big dollop of mashed potato.

Neighbourhood Watch Pt 4!

Yesterday we received a letter to say that the neighbours two doors away are being evicted.  It has been a long running battle as you know, not with us personally but with the neighbours next door to us.  We haven’t had any run-ins with the people at the end house but next door have been subjected to a lot of harrassment some of which we’ve witnessed.  It came to a head this week when our next door neighbour tried to pressure me into calling the police on her behalf because the end neighbours were playing music very loudly.  They do it most days and nights, and sometimes we can hear it so loud we can’t hear our own television (like the night I posted a picture of the police van outside) but on this occasion it wasn’t that loud as I couldn’t hear it, but that’s not to say they can’t when they live right next door to it.  Anyway, she asked me to call because she and two other neighbours had already called and she needed to get the call logs up.  I did speak to the police and they came to see me to check I was OK because I did mention that I felt we were being drawn into this a little unfairly but the officer also explained that it really isn’t a police matter as it’s down to the local council.

The next door neighbour told us a week ago that the noisy neighbours had been given an eviction notice but this week she looked at me blankly when I repeated her own words back to her, and then said that they had lodged a counter claim against her and us.  According to her they had said our tumble drier was too noisy and on all day and night.  Straight away this aroused our suspicions because (a) we don’t have a tumble drier and (b) if they meant our washing machine, ours hasn’t worked for over a month (a bone of contention between the husband and I, but that’s another story)!

We have long since believed that our neighbour stretches the truth when it comes to the noisy neighbours because she regularly says things about them one minute that then seem to be something else the next.  There’s no denying they have serious disagreements with their neighbours but in my opinion she gets so worked up by it that they then do things just to aggravate her.  She has made it her mission to get them out of the house by any means and they have made it their mission to wind her up as much as possible.

On Friday our neighbour came to advise us that she had arranged a meeting for Saturday at 10am between our local council (for the noise aggravation aspect), the police and the benefits people (who apparently pay their rent) to talk about getting them evicted for harrassment and they had asked to interview all residents of the street.

We had plans yesterday to drive up to the in-laws’ caravan and spend the day with them, but we delayed leaving to wait for this meeting.  It didn’t happen.  The neighbour then came round to say that the meeting was going to happen in the afternoon.  At that point the postman arrived with a recorded delivery letter for each of us; a letter from the landlord of the noisy neighbours apologising for any aggravation we’ve had and advising us that he has asked them to leave the property.  The neighbour has now decided to let the landlord deal with it in the appropriate manner and if there are any further problems she will then go back to the police and the council and everybody else.  Hurrah!

A Range of Atrocious Hairstyles

For Lisa, who blogged about an 80s themed party that she will be attending soon.  I mentioned my dreadful hair from that era and decided I would share it with you for your amusement.  It’s fine, mock away…!

This is me, circa 1987.  I was 15 and of course I knew everything about everything.  Except, apparently, decent hair styles.  I would usually wear the (orange – I paid a lot of  money every couple of months for that colour – I couldn’t afford to do my whole head) fringe straightened and at a gravity defying angle, held there only by firm hold Ellnet hair spray (which still looks the same!!) which was glued in place by blow drying at the same time as spraying.  It’s really a wonder I didn’t set fire to my head.

Also of note are the bleach washed denim skirt and The Smiths “Meat is Murder” t-shirt (obscured by large cat).  I actually remember this photo being taken.

Another popular outfit of mine at the time was a long black jersey skirt, a huge baggy neon yellow and black pinstriped men’s shirt around which I would wear a wide black belt balanced jauntily on my hips, neon orange socks and ankle boots.  Luckily for me I can’t find a picture of this amazing ensemble (and I promise I looked REALLY hard).

Oh the eighties… how I miss you.

But then the nineties arrived… and I grew it.  Like this.

That’s my ex-husband and me, in 1990 at the Motor Show in London.  I’m 18 here.  I’ve pixelated him, not because I am protecting him from the huge publicity he will receive from being pictured with me on this blog (ha) but because I can’t bear to look at his gormless face.  Also, I like the way it has given him little pixie Spock ears.

Luckily a couple of years later I came to my senses and cut all my hair short again, and it remained that way until about four years ago when I grew it long and spent an hour every morning straightening it to within an inch of it’s life.  I soon grew bored of that and wanted extra time in bed so now it’s short again and I expect it will remain that way, now I’m getting old and all.

Now it’s your turn.  I want you all to blog an embarrassing photo of you, so that I can come and laugh.  Let me know when you’ve done it!

Neighbourhood Watch Pt 3

Just another day in our little cul-de-sac.  The neighbours two doors down from us are playing dance music so loud we can’t hear our own TV.  Half an hour ago I watched the old lady from the house to the left of us march purposefully across the road and I knew the police would be here before long.  And now they turn up in a riot van!  Oh joy…

Last night their landlord paid us a visit.  He said he wanted to find out the truth about what was going on so we told him that while we’ve not personally had a run-in with his tenants, we are well aware of the animosity and antagonism between them and our next door neighbours.  We talked to him for about 15 minutes before he said he had now heard all he needed to know and would go home to make a decision.  Unfortunately as he knocked on our door and we invited him in, his tenants’ daughter arrived and saw us talking to him so no matter how uninvolved in this whole thing we try to be, once again to them it will appear a different matter.

Watch this space…

Hump Day

I seem to have spent the first half of this week with a constant feeling of tightness in my chest through anxiety once again.  I can’t relax, I can’t stop thinking.  Or perhaps, over-thinking.  I dread bedtime because then I have no distraction and will lie awake with all sorts of thoughts that I can’t shake off.

The husband has been amazing, it has to be said.  He has now seen a counsellor as part of the carer service and I think that although he isn’t a carer in the true sense of the word, it helped him a lot.

My nurse is on holiday this week which hasn’t helped.  I wasn’t told she was off until yesterday so both myself and the husband had been leaving messages for her and we were both told that she would call us back.  Not great service, especially after the crisis team’s involvement at the weekend, plus I need to speak to her about a legal document urgently.  She’s back tomorrow I am led to believe so hopefully I can rearrange my next appointment with the consultant (currently set for 4th July – so far away!) and discuss all the recent goings on.

I’m trying, really trying, to keep myself busy.  I’m reading a lot, planning meals and finding recipes, trying to update the blog (and apologies to those who subscribe if you’re getting emails of old posts, I’m trying to bring all my archives up to date and in one place), trying to participate in online discussions.  I’m doing the morning and afternoon school runs, mostly just so that I actually get showered and dressed otherwise I tend to wallow in my bed.

Today the sun is out and my friend L is coming over to keep me company, have some lunch and then we’ll pick up both sets of kids and let them have a play date for the first time in ages.  Dinner is in the slow cooker (it’s never been used so much!).  Today’s menu is peanut chicken (pretty much a chicken satay) – not tried it before, but it sounded yummy and so far it smells pretty good too.  I’ve cleaned the house and I’m having half an hour to relax.

Oh and the neighbours I blogged about before have been asked to leave, and we even had their landlord round last night asking questions about them.  Thank heavens for small mercies.

Now all we need is to get a new washing machine, pay all the outstanding bills, sort out the old landlord and get our deposit back (MUST blog about that some time) and lose a couple of stone, and maybe, just maybe, I can start to feel grounded again!