Photo diary: Project 365, week 25

 Last week was all about surviving the hot weather. 

Our old house is not built for the high temperatures, and the only marginally cooler space is the ground floor. Bedrooms are basically like trying to sleep in a tepid soup. And I move around like a zombie.

It was Father's day on Sunday, and I did remind my younger one in advance so that he could sort out the present for the occasion. I was tempted not to say anything, as they all forgot about Mother's day, but decided it was too petty. Eddie got a present and a card for his Dad, and I bought a Neapolitan cake on behalf of Sasha. 

It was time to pick white currants. They are not as tangy as the red variety, but still lovely.

A tricky day, as Sasha hasn't slept a wink all night, walking up and down, moving in his room, vocalising, and only went to bed at 7am. I was totally shattered. 

On Wednesday we had a school email on the results of mock exams. Overall, Eddie did well, but could have done better. I believe he needs to re-think his priorities, and work harder next year for the actual exams.

The only photo I snapped was of Abel and Cole extra Med veg bundle.

While Sasha was out with his PAs, my husband and I checked out a new cafe in town. I had an iced chai. The menu is not bad, but won't really work for Sasha, as there is not much of what he would want to drink or eat there. That means, we can cross it out, and not suggest to PAs as a possible place to take Sasha to.

I wasn't deliberately making a silly face, I just had a gulp of a very icy drink, when my dear husband took a photo of me.

Pretty poppies in town.

I'm currently reading The Man Who Was George Smiley: The Life of John Bingham by Michael Yago. I've read someone describing it as a book for George Smiley die-hard fans, and I rather agree.

There is a lot of information, however, the style is slightly stilted. I only manage about a chapter at a time. The only chapter I truly enjoyed is The Genesis of George Smiley, about the times when David Cornwell (John le Carré) joined MI5, his relationship with Bingham, and the eventual fall-out. 

While reading this book, I realised that both Bingham's wife and daughter were writers. There is going to be a re-issue of Peers and Plebs by Madeleine Bingham later in summer, and you can pre-order it at £52.99 for a Kindle edition. Thanks, but no thanks, I'm not that invested in the family.

Curious, I checked out the publisher of the Rutlegde revivals series, and found out that some of the books in their series cost a hundred per Kindle book. That's not exactly Revivals, it's more of Let's Bury this classic series. Who is going to spend a hundred pounds for an e-copy? What am I missing?

Another book I was reading last week (and just finished yesterday) is The Emerald Shawl by Louise Douglas (out later this summer). It's a dark Gothic historical novel, set in Bristol in 1864.

The main protagonist, Nelly Brooks, is one of the first female journalists. Nelly has a tragic past, having spent ten years in an asylum, where her parents put her as a teenager. 

Nelly writes articles on fashion, interior, frilly things, suitable for the genteel reader, but secretly she wants to do investigative journalism and make a difference. 

One day a woman approaches her, saying she has an information that the wife of an aristocat who supposedly died in childbirth, was actually murdered. The next day Nelly finds out that her informant ends up dead herself. If Nelly is going to pursue the story, she is risking her own life.

And how was your week?

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Photo Diary: Project 365, week 24

 A typical English weather this week - it cannot seem to make up its mind, whether to be sunny or rain in buckets, so we often had both most days. Whenever there was a sunny break, I popped into the garden to do the weeding, and trimmed the Virginia creeper at the house front. While working, I spotted this moth.

It is likely an Eight-spotted forester, but don't take my word for it.

We were taking Sasha out, and my husband asked if we could go anywhere else but Cafe Nero, as he's a bit fed up with it. Sasha is happy with Coffee 1, as they have his favourite Coke and nice cakes and pastries. 

The pistachio craze continues, and there is a new Pistachio cream bun available in Coffee 1, which Sasha has chosen. It does look pretty good, though that's some serious amount of cream.

And if you visit Costa, they have a new pistachio chocolate cookie. I had a reward on my Costa card for a free can of iced coffee, and bought a cookie to take with me. Eddie and I shared it. Not too bad, quite chocolatey, though the pistachio flavour tastes rather artificial.

I'm happy with all the pistachio offerings, as it's one of my favourite nuts (that, and hazelnut). 

A clematis in town...

I was looking forward to the Strawberry Moon on Wednesday, but alas, the Moon was hiding from us in the clouds, and we couldn't see anything special. I ventured into the garden several times through the evening and early night, and it was dark dark dark. Did you manage to  get a glimpse of the rare Moon?

This week I've been trying to figure out what to do with the boxwood hedges in the garden. All of a sudden, some parts of it have been attacked by nasty pests. I bought some special boxwood spray to kill off the pests, but not sure what exactly the disease it. It's not the boxwood blight, or miner. I cannot see any worms or bugs, or any insects at all, but a lot of damage. In fact, one hedge looks pretty destroyed.

Any word of advice? Should I remove all the affected bushes and burn them? Or will they be able to recover after treatment?

On Thursday my friend and I arranged to meet for an hour, while Sasha was out with his PAs. We haven't seen each other for over a month, and it was lovely to catch up on the latest news. 

On the way to her house, I ran through the flood fields area. I love it there, it's just so peaceful, with birds singing, and tall grasses waving in the breeze. You can often spot a local cat there, named Mischief. I've known this cat for at least seven years, but he must be older than that. He is a mouser, and spends most of the day outdoors. He is the most chillaxed cat you can encounter, often lying in the middle of the path or bridge, without a care that someone might step on him.

Mischief is a local mini-celebrity, as people often menion seeing him on the local Facebook group.

The weather was funny again on Friday, with a mild rain, and a bit of sunshine. I picked up some of the red currants for lunch. 

I could see some of the apples too, though this year there are going to be less of them. Last year's harvest was abundunt, so this year the apple trees are having a bit of a break.

A few days ago I got a message on Insta from author Shannon Morgan, saying that I won three of her books (all horror). They arrived yesterday, with a lovely postcard. I follow the author on social media, but haven't read any of her books yet. I do enjoy horror.

What else have we been doing? Eddie and I finally started watching The Last of Us (season 1). I was waiting and waiting for it to get less pricey, but it is not happening. Only watched two episodes. 

If you haven't watched it, my unsolicited advice: don't do it before bedtime, or you might have trouble to sleep. It's pretty disturbing.

I keep reading Icelandid Noir, and just finished reading The Clues in the Fjord by Satu Rämö (currently free on Amazon Prime).

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Photo diary: Project 365, week 23

 An overall uneventful week... After last Friday's trip to the bowling place, I managed to lose my voice, and have been croaking for days, which wasn't the most pleasant experience.

My husband was away from Sunday until Friday evening, visiting Colombia. He likes doing a disappearing act, not telling me exactly where he travels. I knew he was somewhere unsafe, as it's his usual trick just to message me with short sentences, and only told me where he was once he came back, supposedly as not to worry me. Yep, that works. 

 Last week's Penandinkchallenge prompts were all Succulents-related, and I painted fairies of all kinds, including this Ice Plant Fairy.

What a striking shape and colour of a poppy, growing in the street, just next to the stone wall.

Eddie's after-school meal of choice, noodles with a poached egg. He likes Soba the best, but says Batchelors is not too shabby either.

On Wednesday morning we were supposed to have a chat on Teams with Sasha's new social worker. He left me a reminder message on my phone, and the transcription made me laugh. Selena Scary is my new name.

On Thursday my art prize from Manuscript has finally arrived. I won it a month ago, and the package got "lost", aka stolen in transit. I don't know what people who took it expected to find, it's a very niche product. Unless you are into calligraphy and painting with inks, it's pretty useless.

I was delighted with my stash. The shimmer inks are so beautiful, and the glass dip pen is good quality too.

I wanted to try the new inks at once. The Queen of the Night is painted on Clairefontaine Mixed Media Denim paper.

It was such a wet week, raining almost every day. I haven't had a chance to do much in the garden, and the weeds are growing, well, like weeds.

Roses look beautiful in any weather.

One of my pet peeves - when supermarkets do a sneaky ploy to make you buy things which look like an offer, but are not on offer. Passing by the stand in Waitrose, saw the Dettol wipes on offer for £2.50, grab a yellow pack only to realise once I paid that I picked the wrong pack for £6. Why are those packs in the aisle corner of offers? It's clearly a strategy, not a mistake. Super annoying.

Operation De-clutter Children's Books continues. 

I enjoyed At the Sign of The Sugared Plum and Petals in the Ashes by Mary Hooper, and will take them today to the charity shop, hoping that someone else will like them as much. They are probably more suitable for tweens/teens rather than younger children as they deal with such harrowing themes as the Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666 in London. 

Both books are a mix of historical fiction and coming of age stories. If you're interested in the history of medicine, the first book gives a fascinating account of what it was like to live through the Plague and what remedies people thought would work to keep you safe (from powdered dried toads to Abracadabra amulets). 

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Degustabox May Box

 Degustabox is a monthly food and drink subscription box. It's an excellent way of discovering new products which have only just appeared in the shops, or those which have been around for a while, but you haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Thanks to Degustabox, I have found new favourites to add to our shopping list, including some products which I otherwise wouldn't have tried.

Each time a monthly box arrives, its contents are a total surprise. You get a good selection of foods and drinks.

If you haven't tried Degustabox subscription box yet, and would like to have a go, I have a £3off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time), just use code DKRLN when placing an order. 

What did we get in May Box Degustabox?

Cirio Polpa Finissima (£1.50) is the Product of the Month. This is the latest addition to the impressive Cirio range of tomato-based products. 

Cirio Polpa is an extra finely cut tomato pulp, which retains all the natural flavour of 100% Italian freshly picked tomatoes. Carefully prepared with selected tomatoes that are finely chopped and enrobed in thick rich sauce.

You can always trust Cirio to give an authentic taste of Italian cuisine in your own kitchen.

What mouthwatering meal will you cook? Pizza, pasta, oven-baked dishes?

Available in Ocado and Morrisons since 12 May.

Batchelors Super Noodles Air (£1.45) are new noodles from Batchelors, that are air dried and not fried.

High in fibre, low fat and a source of protein, these noodles are ready in just five minutes. You should receive two items - Super Noodles Chicken Flavour and Super Noodles BBQ Beef Flavour.

Nutritional values: 138kcal and 0.73g of salt (chicken) and 139kcal and 0.64g of salt (BBQ) per 1/2 pack. 

Available in the major supermarket chains.

Each pack is supposed to contain 2 portions, which we've never realised.

My younger son is a Noodles King, and was happy to eat the whole lot. As you can see, it's not exactly a ginormous portion. He also likes to add an egg and some spring onions to his meal.

Lorenz Crunchips X-cut Paprika 75g (£1.75) are paprika-flavoured crinkle cut potato crisps. 

These crunchy crisps are full of flavour and are great on texture. Lovely with creamy dips, or on their own.

Nutritional information: 519kcal and 1.4g of salt per 100g; gluten free.

Widely available in world food sections, across independent and symbol group convenience stores.

Proper Mature Cheddar Propercorn (£1.90) is a new flavour of Propercorn, made with mature Cheddar cheese flavouring.

Mixed reviews in our family. I love popcorn, and I love cheese, but perhaps not together. Saying that, my guys rather enjoyed it. Have you tried this new flavour?

Nutritional values: 91kcal and 0.47g of salt per 20g (one pack is approximately 3 servings); high in fibre, gluten free, B corp, natural flavouring.

Available in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, ASDA and Ocado.

The Hungry Boar Flamin' Piri Piri Sticklers (£1.50) are filled pork sticks, well seasoned, smoked and dried.

A good source of protein, these snacks deliver hits of heat and flavour.

Nutritional values: 451kcal and 4g of salt per 100g (one pack is 50g).

Available in Tesco and selected convenience stores.

Cape Herb & Spice Greek Style Lemon & Herb Rub (£3.75) is an exciting seasoning mix. 

This aromatic blend of iconic Greek Flavours is great with lamb, chicken and potatoes. If you're not keen on roasts, use this mix to flavour a salad dressing, or when cooking fresh fish. 

Blend a helping of the mix with olive oil and rub over your preferred cut of meat for marinading.

Ingredients include: sea salt, dried rosemary, roasted garlic, black peppercorns, dried oregano, dried lemon peel, dried spearmint, natural lemon flavouring etc.

Availble in Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.

Pelagonia Chargrilled Aubergine Slices (£3.20) is a versatile product for a variety of recipes, from pasta to salads, from meze sharing boards to antipasti. These wonderfully smoky slices of chargrilled aubergines are just perfect as a bruschetta topping.

Nutritional values: 112kcal and 1.34g of salt per 100g; gluten free.

Available at Ocado, Co-Op and Booths.

Mixologist's Garden Freeze-Dried Strawberry Slices (£2.50) are a fruity garnish for a cocktail or mocktail.

Ingredients: 100% strawberries. Enjoy with sparkling wine and ice.

Nutritional values: 310kcal and 61g of sugar per 100g (one pack is 10g).

Available in Tesco, Amazon, East of England Co-Op and on www.mixologistsgarden.com.

Nestle KitKat 4 Finger Hazelnut chocolate bar 41.5g (£0.85) - is a tasty bar of crispy wafer fingers covered with milk and dark chocolate with a hazelnut filling.

1 bar = 1 serving

Nutritional values: 209kcal and 20.5g of sugar per serving.

Made with Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa.

Available in the major supermarket chains.

We enjoy seeing new KitKats flavours and sizes, though we'd love to see the European KitKats to catch up with the Japanese immense variety of colours and flavours.

Creative Nature Apple & Cinnamon Oatie Snack Bar (£1.40, see above) is a wholesome snack which combines natural ingredients with a touch of warming spice. 

Free from the top 14 allergens (gluten, dairy, nuts, etc), this bar is also vegan, kosher, and contains no added sugar or artificial sugars.

Nutritional information: 85kcal and 12g of sugar per 30g bar.

It's a lovely healthy snack that everyone can enjoy, at home or outdoors, on the go.

Available on the Creative Nature website - https://creativenaturesuperfoods.co.uk/product/apple-cinnamon-box/

SqueezeIt Blue Rasberry/Bubblegum (£0.69) are still juice drinks with spring water.

Coming in bright coloured soft squeezy bottles, these fun drinks are refreshing and vibrant.

Made with sweeteners (aspartame and saccharin). Too sweet for my personal taste, but my sons enjoyed the drinks.

Available in ASDA, B&M, Home Bargains, Iceland and many more.

You should receive 2 items in your box.

And that's it for May. What a fun box!

Photo diary: Project 365, week 22

I'm not food-obsessed, honestly, but looking at the amount of food pictures in the last week, I started to question myself. 

I did a couple of sketches, including the Kraken with a bottle of rum. Not quite sure why I decided to draw this mythological creature from the ocean, though we did talk of Kraken (film) with my Mum the day before. She asked me if I've seen it. 

It was the Witney Pride festival on Saturday, celebrating the diversity. The postbox in the town centre has acquired a new yarn bombing outfit to match the theme. The yarn building in the middle of the installation is the Buttercross, the clock turret built in the 17C.

It was the Bank Holiday on Monday, and Sasha's PAs were not supposed to work that day. My husband stayed in the UK this week, which was lovely for all of us. He came home earlier from his office to take Sasha out. We were just getting ready, when Sasha's PAs arrived, as if they didn't say anything the previous week about the Bank Holiday. Sasha was a bit bewildered, since we told him we would go together to his favourite cafe.

We decided then to visit the Middle Eastern cafe with my husband for a quick coffee and a sweet treat.

I have chosen a pistachio maamoul, served with ice cream and pistachio cream. It was a nice combination of flavours and textures. 

My DH has opted for a Nutella Manousheh (a Levantine flatbread with melted Nutella and fresh strawberries). A very generous helping.

Spotted these cute Haribo Harry Potter sweets in Poundland, and couldn't resist buying a pack. I don't particularly like the chewy sweets, as they all tend to taste more or less the same, but my guys love them.

Wednesday is our Abel & Cole delivery day. Saying that, I sometimes skip two or three weeks. Our delivery guy is very friendly and usually cracks jokes.

Personally I could live on cheese and crackers. Santa Gadea goat's cheese is superb, so creamy and not too smelly. Didn't like this brand of Iberico ham, it was too oily.

This funny shaped cloud made me think of a mermaid's tail. Can you see it too?

I've been having low abdomen pains for quite a long time, and the pain isn't going away. I finally found courage to call the clinic a week before (I haven't been to see the GP since before Covid), and even managed to get an appointment. The GP examined me, we had a long chat, and I will need to do several tests, before we try to figure out what the actual problem might be. The blood test is in a month's time, as it was the nearest available slot.

Since Sasha was out with his PAs, my husband met me after the clinic and took to Coffee 1 cafe. While there, I had a call from our new social worker who wanted to "update" Sasha's files and talk to him. I said, You do know that he is non verbal, right? 

Is it too much to expect a professional to actually look at the file of the person they are going to work with? That information is on the first page, you don't need to read the whole life story. Sigh.

Friday was fun. All of us went to Oxford to the Hollywood Bowl. I booked the slot the day before, and almost gasped at the prices. I have never gone bowling before in my life, and didn't expect it to cost so much. 

Sasha was very happy there. He understood the concept, and how to hold the ball correctly. We used the frame to help him with the throwing/pushing. Sasha was thrilled, and actually did quite well.

Even I did several rounds. I didn't expect to enjoy the outing, but I had a very good time. 

Saturday I spent at home, because my throat was very sore, and I lost my voice. It's not because I was wildly shouting at the bowling (I wasn't). Not sure how and where I managed to pick up the virus, but feeling a bit sorry for myself. 

What did I read in the last week?

Snow Blind by Ragnar Jónasson is the first book in the bestselling Dark Iceland series. First published ten years ago, with over a million copies sold. I bought this Kindle book a few weeks ago, when it was on offer for 99p.

Ari Thór Arason is a rookie policean who accepts a job at the remote supposedly quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland called Siglufjörður. A young woman is found lying in the snow, like a snow angel, and an elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre. Are these events related? 

An avalanche cuts off all the roads into the village, and Ari feels like a prisoner in this strange place, homesick and claustrophobic, blinded by snow.

"There's something about a murder in a small community that's disturbing, especially at a time like this - the middle of winter".

This is a classic Iceland/Nordic Noir, with a strong protagonist in an isolated community.

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