Potato cakes

Potato cakes, staight out of the oven

Lovely warm with a knob of real butter

We used to have these for Sunday tea when I was a child, Sundays were always spent at my Grandparents house and she made these every week with leftover mashed potato. We called them potato bats, I've no idea why!

The School Run...Actually the School Walk (as if I'd run!)

Tomorrow is the last school run before the Easter Holidays, but tomorrow I'll have to drive as it's a work day for me. I made the most of being able to walk to school today, in glorious sunshine.

I start off by cutting through the farmer's field, all freshly ploughed - it is a public footpath, I'm not trespassing! Then along the leafy and very quiet lane.

This is the view of the village church form my walk.

I didn't realise how green everything was until I looked back over these photos!

 It really is a pretty walk, I ought to do it more often.

And then home again with Little Miss, it takes twice as long now there's two of us!

A lovely, chatty, relaxing walk on a sunny afternoon.

Of course as soon as I got home the peace was shattered by having to jump into the car and pick number 1 son up. He had an after school session of IT revision to prepare for those

 end-of-school-leaving-forever-hooray! exams.

 He instructed me to pick him up at 4.30pm from McDonalds........

so I guess the IT teacher now runs his classes in there!

Chocolate in the tumble dryer?

I know it's an odd title for a post and no there wasn't a bar of uneaten chocolate (why would anyone have uneaten chocolate?!)  in anyones trouser pocket as it went into the wash.

We seem to have a mouse in this house.

I did a BIG shop recently at a local warehouse / cash 'n carry style shop nearby. I only pay them a visit  3-4 times a year and stock up on industrial size washing powder etc. This time I bought few treats to cover school and husband packed lunches for those days when I wake up all homemade goodies have been hoovered up while my back was turned.

I bought some cereal bars, in fact a box of 20 cereal bars. Number 2 son (aka sweetaholic) spotted them immediately and asked for 1 within minutes of me unpacking the car. He was told, as usual, no, they were emergency bars for the days we have no food for school. I hope I don't sound mean but there was a huge box full of homemade chocolate brownies nearby which he was welcome to.

Well yesterday I moved the bars along the shelf of the pantry...and some slid out! They'd been opened at the bottom and then placed back on the shelf so the box looked unopened. With my detective hat on I proceeded to question the family - daughter had none, number 1 son had eaten 2 but said I hadn't told him not to!! He's figured out that if he doesn't ask then he's not to know they're not to be eaten - therefore he's not in the wrong.

Number 2 son is the usual culprit and owned up to taking 2 bars.

So that all sounds fine and not really cause for too much concern.... except when I counted the bars left in the box there are only 12....so where did the others go??

So from now on all treat food is being kept inside the tumble dryer, no one will EVER look in there!!

Another Busy Weekend

It's been another busy weekend in the cottage, they always seem to be like this. We started on Saturday with hubbie and I going in different directions, he went to cricket practice with number 2 son and I took Little Miss to an audition for Oliver!
She's never done anything like that before and had been practising "Consider Yourself..." for weeks! I should have either bought earplugs or gone for the audition myself - I am word perfect (probably out of tune, but word perfect!) Anyway she didn't get through but enjoyed the morning, true to the little drama queen she is.

Number 2 son brought a friend home to stay and spent the afternoon in the garden, practising cricket skills, the friend is here until Sunday evening when they both go off to cricket training.... there's a pattern forming, can you tell?

Sunday we went to the Spring Fair at number 2 son's school, it was a lovely day and didn't result in taking out a loan to pay for sweets, ice-cream, drinks etc - always a bonus at things like this.

Number 1 son took himself out for the day on his bike, of course as he's just turned 16 his day didn't start 'til noon!

All 3 children attend different schools, just to make life a little more complicated for us - we never take the easy option at The Cottage.

Hopefully everyone else has enjoyed the sunshine over the weekend, it's been lovely in the East of England.

Spring has sprung

Beautiful Wednesday!

It's been a beautiful day here in the East of England, lots of sunshine and clean washing flapping on the linen line.

I had a visit from some old friends, here on a 5 week break from Australia - there was a lot to catch up on! The last time we saw each other we were both mothers of boys under 11, now those boys are men - in the blink of an eye too! They emigrated 6 years ago but we've managed to keep in touch via a popular social network site, such an easy way to keep in touch with people who would otherwise disappear.

I haven't got to grips with Blogger at all yet - I will try to post photos.... sometime soon.

The area we live in is very pretty, a firm favourite with holiday makers especially those who enjoy boats. I live in a cottage which we've renovated, or are continually renovating I should say, we've been changing it and rebuilding in for approx. 19 years and I don't expect it to finish anytime soon (I'd punctuate this with a sad face if only I knew how!).

Oh well time to do a school run, and then prepare the "boys" for tonights cricket, it is an all-year-round-sport in England, right??

The start of something new.......maybe!

Today is the day I started a Blog!

I've been a reader of many blogs for some time, but in a moment of madness I seem to have signed up to one myself! I have given this very little thought and may not last long!

It will be a way of recording the random and sometimes very bizarre things that seem to happen in my life, as my 40 plus year old brain seems to retain a lot less information than it used to this will also be a reminder to me of whats going on!