Photo diary: week 24, project 366

Social media could be a blood pressure raising tool. In the last week there was so much hate posted, and accusations thrown around, that at times all I wanted to do was to look at the pictures of flowers and fluffy kittens.
It was a difficult week for me personally as well, as my Mum has been quite unwell for several days. My brother helps as much as he can, but I'm totally helpless, can't do anything, being thousands of miles away.

On the positive side, Eddie's a real book worm. At the start of the year I opened a Goodreads account in his name, and he put a goal of reading 35 books this year. Well, believe it or not, he's already beaten his own goal!

The other day I was checking my Facebook Memories, when a post from four years ago popped up. Eddie's school (like many other schools in the UK) was celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday. Eddie was very excited about it, but when I came to collect him, he said in a disappointed voice: "There were lots of people, but the Queen didn't come". It tickled me to think that my little boy was expecting the Queen to arrive.
He still cracks me up with his jokes.

Tomorrow we're reaching a new stage of the lockdown, with shops selling non-essentials getting open. Not sure if I'd rush into the shops, though I do need new shoes urgently, mine are looking like they're not going to last much longer. I can't buy shoes online, as I have "difficult" feet, and need to try the shoes on. I hate shoe-shopping, it's always such a chore for me.
We can't wait for Waterstones to be open. Not that we don't have enough books, but we missed visiting the book shop.

Last Sunday I was walking in High St and spotted that Huffkins cafe was open for takeaways. They have the tastiest eclairs in town. I got a strawberry eclair and a rocky road for my boys.

Eddie's year is studying The BGF right now, with daily tasks. They sent a link to an audio book, but we prefer a real book, it's also much easier to use as a reference, when you need, for example, to find all the words and phrases which describe movement in a chapter.
One of the tasks was to do a drawing of the BFG, when Sophie first spots him.

Our local manor farm Cogges has opened its grounds to the seasonal ticket holders. My husband decided to get tickets for himself and Eddie. So far, the play area is not opened, and there is not much to see, except their beautiful walled kitchen garden and some animals.
This photo of Eddie at Cogges was taken by my husband.

On Wednesday we attended a celebration of life event at the cemetery. Our friends' daughter would have turned 18. She died last year. She was one of Sasha's class mates.
It was raining earlier, and I wasn't sure if we'd be able to attend if it kept raining.
The cemetery is on a hill outside the town, in a serene, peaceful location, with the wild flowers all around.

Eddie and I have seen quite a few rainbow stacks of books on social media, and fancied making our own. We chose a few of our favourite authors. Since we have all Cressida Cowell's books, it could have been just a rainbow of her books, or Liz Pichon's, or Robin Stevens, since they tend to have book covers in different colours.

I've mentioned the "ghost house" in the neighbourhood before, with the façade completely overgrown with the creepers. It's a home to a big number of white doves, who have nests in all windows.

I made a tomato salad a few days ago, with Galbani burrata and Newman's Own Italian dressing, and tagged them in my Insta story. Newman's Own re-posted my photo in their story, and called it perfect.
It made me smile.

What have you been up to in the last week? And do you plan to hit the shops now that they are re-opening?

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Biscoff-flavoured granola cookies

Before you point out that there are perfectly tasty Lotus Biscoff biscuits available everywhere, let me explain. My younger son is a big fan of Biscoff: he loves the biscuits as well as Biscoff-flavoured ice cream and crunchy spread. Recently my husband bought a jar of smooth Biscoff spread, and my fussy child said he didn't like it.
I prefer savoury toast, or just a thin layer of jam on toasted bread for breakfast, and poor old smooth Biscoff jar is staying unloved in the kitchen.
I put my thinking bonnet on to decide what to do with it. Biscuits can take any spread/nut butter. Typically I would add oats to biscuits, but having a good rummage in the kitchen realised that all oats are finished. Instead I have had two small pouches of Lizi's granola, which were products in the latest Degustabox. Good, that should do.

I used a 50g pouch of Lizi's Low Sugar Granola which includes jumbo rolled oats, rapeseed oil, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashew nut pieces, almond pieces, hazelnut pieces, walnut pieces, dessicated coconut, fructose and black treacle.
Nutritional information: 250kcal per small pack and 1.9g of sugar. It's a good source of fibre, GMO-free and suitable for vegetarians.

It can be swapped for any quality granola or muesli, or even a pouch of porridge oats.

Biscoff-flavoured granola cookies
Ingredients:
70g demerara sugar
60g Biscoff smooth spread (3 heaped tsp)
50g granola
1 medium egg
160g self-raising flour
50g butter

In a big mixing bowl beat together sugar with Biscoff spread, mix in granola and egg. Add the softened butter, flour, and mix together until you have an evenly mixed cookie dough.
Pinch cookie dough the size of a walnut, roll between palms, flatten into a small disc and place cookies on the tray, lined with parchment paper, or on a baking sheet.
Put the tray in the oven preheated to 180C.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.
Remove the tray out of the oven and carefully transfer cookies on the cooling rack. The cookies will be very soft at this stage, but will get firmer in texture once cooled.
If you like your cookies very crispy, keep them in the oven for longer.

I still have some smooth Biscoff spread left, and am thinking of using it to make a marbled cake, with chocolate/cocoa. What would you suggest doing with the spread?

May BBQ & Snacking Degustabox

Sun's out, BBQs are out. A couple of weeks ago it was a National BBQ week, and many households have enjoyed their meals al fresco. 

While I like the taste of BBQed dishes, I am not a fan of smoke and smell of burnt food, so we just don't bother with it. Having meals in the garden, on the other hand, is really lovely, especially in the shade of a big tree, or a parasol. 

May BBQ & Snacking Degustabox was brimming full of snacks and condiments to enjoy, whether you're keen on BBQs or avoid them.

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 probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

Each time the 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 £3 off discount from your first box (and you can unsubscribe any time), just use code DKRLN when you place an order.

What did we receive in May BBQ & Snacking Degustabox?

There was a lot of excitement about the chocolate and jelly.
Hartley's Juicy Jelly Pouches (£2.79) are pouches of wobbly jelly. Super convenient for kids (and less messy to eat). Made with real fruit juice and under 100kcal, it's a lovely sweet snack on the go, or a lunchbox treat.
Available in the major supermarkets.

Lindt Lindor Milk Bar (£0.85) is the ultimate milk chocolate bar, smooth, creamy and moreish. It's the perfect combination of the finest Lindt milk chocolate with a smooth melting filling, crafted with expertise and passion by master chocolatiers.
This bar is also available in Orange and Mint.
Available in all major retailers, and online at www.lindt.co.uk

Barebells Hazelnut & Nougat Protein Bar (£2.50) is a milk chocolate coated protein enriched bar with hazelnuts and nougat. A tasty snack, to have after gym or with a cup of tea.
It contains 20g of protein per bar. No added sugar, 205kcal per bar.
Available at Sainsbury's, Holland & Barrett and Amazon.

YES! snack bars (£2.99) are wholesome snacks, a mix of fruit and nuts and chocolate. They are wrapped in recyclable paper packaging.
A good source of protein and fibre, these tasty bars are a handy snack to carry in a bag for when you're feeling peckish or as an addition to a lunchbox.
Multipacks are available at ASDA and Morrisons.

Mission Street Tacos (£1.20) are soft tacos in the signature recipe, ready to fill and fold for street style eating.
These wheat flour tortillas are ready to enjoy, and are also suitable for home freezing to eat at a later date. Typical values: 68kcal per taco.
We received two packs in the box - Original and Mex Chilli and Lime.
Available now in Morrisons and Sainsbury's.

For my younger son I made soft tacos with meatballs, sweet peppers, BBQ sauce and cheese.
I also made some vegetarian tacos with grilled vegetables and grated cheese.
I still haven't used the second pack, it's in the freezer, but have an idea of making taco chips (baked in the oven with oil and spices).

We do love BBQ sauce, and were happy to receive a bottle of Bull's Eye Original BBQ sauce (£2.49). It's sweet and smokey, perfect for all kinds of sandwiches, burgers, chips or even pasta.
I enjoy it with a grilled cheese sandwich, it adds a lovely sweet flavour and spice.
Available in major supermarket chains.

Hellmann's Fat Free Vinaigrette/ Classic House Salad Dressing (£1.65 each) disappeared very fast, as it's a season of salads. These handy bottles could be used in a variety of salads, adding flavour and zing, without the unwanted fat, artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
Available in all major supermarket chains.

Moving onto the drinks:
Beronia Rioja Crianza 18.75cl (£2.99 for 18.75cl or £11.79 for a 75cl bottle) is made predominantly from Tempranillo, complemented by Granacha and Mazuelo. It's intensely fruity, with blackberry and strawberry notes and hints of vanilla and spice from ageing in mixed French and American oak barrels for 12 months before bottling.
Available at Waitrose & Ocado and Tesco.
I'm planning to make a small batch of red wine jelly with it, to serve with cheese and crackers.

XITE Energy Drink (£1.49) is a healthier alternative to the energy drinks that are currently out there.
Made with natural caffeine and flavours to create a refreshing boost to help you stay focused through the day. These energy drinks are zero sugar and use as little unnecessary ingredients as possible.
Available at Holland & Barrett, WHSmiths.

And finally we got two tins of Skinny Tonic Water (£0.75) - Indian (a Botanical blend of Sicilian lemon, bitter orange and thyme) and Mediterranean (a Botanical blend of fresh citrus, thyme, floral and sweet basil notes).
Available in BOOTHS, Amazon and online.

Photo diary: week 23, project 366

Every week I tell myself that I need to be more organised: read, blog, declutter, but my good intentions somehow don't quite materialise. I seem to be doing an endless, thankless chore-fest. Now that everyone is at home, I seem to be cooking non-stop, homeschooling, gardening.

Eddie follows me like a tail, he wants us to watch films together and read together, I sigh and oblige.
And while I don't mind watching Alex Rider series, it takes away my precious time which could be used more productively.
Have you heard of Carlo Goldoni's The servant of two masters? Well, I'm a servant of three masters.

Last Sunday I saw this tiny critter on the wild iris in the garden. Its legs were almost transparent green.

The creeper at the front of the house has totally overgrown, and that's another task I've been postponing. Monday was a sunny day, and there were shadows from the creeper in the entrance hall, by the vintage mirror.

Walking in town, I love seeing the changes in nature through the seasons. These beautiful red leaves of acer rubrum will grow dark green in autumn, the opposite of what many other plants do, going from green to red.

I had to go to the pharmacy, and waved Good bye to Eddie. I rather like this picture, with reflections in the window.

In the last weeks I've been adding quite a few of Eddie's drawings to my Instagram, where we were spotted by Topkidart. They've re-posted three of Eddie's works (the dog, the cat and the Harlequin) among many others created by children.
If you have kids who love to draw and paint, give them a tag and a follow. They have a lovely gallery.

I know it sounds awful but there are days when I crave solitude. I'm not a social animal in the best of times, and enjoy being on my own, when children are at school and DH is in his office, doing things at my own pace, savouring the quietness. Being constantly surrounded by people, even those whom I love the most, I find it testing at times. So, I volunteer to go shopping, just to escape for an hour. (please don't scorn me, I know many people are struggling on their own and crave company)
This aeroplane was flying low over the town centre.

We continue doing Seesaw (homeschooling app) tasks with Eddie. There are several tasks based on Tom's Midnight Garden. One of the latest assignments was to read a couple of pages from the book, then imagine what the garden looks like and do a drawing, and only then turn the page and look at what the illustrator did. This is Eddie's drawing, which he did the day before, while I was gone shopping.

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Isaac Newton's 21st Century Entanglement by Noel Hodson

He was time-shifted, into this fascinating if alarming future, and at root he did want to go home; he was aware of homesickness and did not want to be stranded far from his familiar haunts and habits. He had been transported against all reason and without his permission; a transport which might affect him physically... He was aware, at a subconscious, dream-like level that he was in two, perhaps three places simultaneously; with tremendous energies linking and flowing between the locations - all focused on body and mind.

Isaac Newton's 21st Century Entanglement by Noel Hodson is a genius combination of science fiction, time travel, history and geekiness.

Waking up in the future would be one of my worst scenario (hyphothetical) nightmares.
All the scary unknown of technology, social norms and regimes would leave you dizzy and disoriented.
That's how Isaac Newton feels when one cold morning he finds himself transported to the 21st century. One day he is quietly studying prisms and light in the laboratory at his family's farm at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, where he is escaping the bubonic plague of 1666, the next day he is sitting on the banks of the river Withan, observing a strange-looking boy.

Isaac can recognise the river, but everything else - the fields, the trees, the road - had changed.
Archie is not alarmed to meet an odd character, who he presumes has special needs (or as he puts it, "Care-in-the-community"). He generously shares his food with the stranger and answers the avalanche of questions. Once they both realise that Isaac has been transported to 2018, Archie calls him a Time Traveller very matter-of-factly.

It so happens that both Isaac and Archie are quantumly entangled. The scientists at Cambridge who try to untangle the problem and prevent the nuclear disaster come to a conclusion that "Newton time-shifted. Newton entangled at a quantum level... And he has to be entangled in his Time and our Time. He IS Schrödinger's cat. Both here and not here. A quantum bridge from past to present and back to the past again. Which is channelling the radiation!"
"And young Archie!" queried MacDonald.
"He is "The Observer", cut in Hooke drily. "Archie has somehow opened the box and observed that Newton is alive and present. Newton's presence here requires Archie's intelligent observation."

Newton is overwhelmed and over-stimulated by the modern technology. "Most of all, however, overmastering all else - he was curious. He wanted to know. In this future-scape of miraculous technologies, he was greedy for knowledge. Greedy for scientific miracles and explanations that he could take back three hundred years to his college and colleagues. But at what cost? And at what risk?"

He feels a responsibility to assist Hooke's team at Cambridge "to tame the invisible powers, which he could feel coursing through... no, not just through his body, but through his being, his very essence".

Riding the timelines is an unprecedented and unique business. Since Isaac and Archie are entangled, return back to the 17C doesn't proceed smoothly. The 21st C boy finds himself amidst the major epidemic of 1666, where his unusual appearance and modern gadgets trigger the accusations of sorcery and witchcraft.

Newton and Archie go on the run back to the college to try to find the solution and return Archie to his own timeline. At present, the Cambridge team are working on bringing the child back to his mother. Will their combined efforts succeed?

The time travel element in the book is explained in great detail, and would appeal to geeks of all ages. I can't say I understood every single bit (and I did have to re-read some scientific chains of thought).

There is plenty of humour in this book, when our main protagonists find themselves in the "wrong" timelines and are trying to comprehend how to cope in the strange circumstances. The Cambridge team is portrayed with a certain level of sarcasm, and if you're familiar with the academic world, you can't but chuckle at the spot-on portrayal of some pompous, self-centred academics.

I enjoyed this book. Isaac Newton's 21st Century Entanglement is a well-plotted, thought-provoking and clever read with a splendid twist at the end. Great fun.

Disclosure: I received an ARC for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Photo diary: week 22, project 366

It's the last day of May. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new era for school, as some of the years are going back. Eddie's year is not one of them, so we will continue to study at home. I don't think I'm ready psychologically to send him to school anyway, and we have now a nice pattern of homeschooling, and actually learning quite a lot.
Our next door neigbours still continue their persistent banging and frequent drilling. It was nice to have a relatively quiet weekend.

Looking at last Sunday's photo of tomato plants, I can see that they've doubled up in height and width since then. These are the tomatoes I've been growing from seeds. Not sure which variety they are, as I had two different packets of seeds. They didn't germinate well, or maybe I'm a rubbish gardener.

Rocket is doing very well. We've had some for salad yesterday and today. I was surprised that all the seeds have sprouted, as the packet of seeds had an expiry date from 8 years ago and I even thought to throw it away. But the tomato seeds were new, and should have fared better than they did, I had three plants out of a dozen of seeds.

I haven't walked in the flood fields in a long time. It's so peaceful there, with birds singing their hearts out.

Eddie is a big fan of Liz Pichon's series of books about Tom Gates. He has quite a collection of Pichon's books, and would love to read more. In fact, since the photo was taken we got two more books for him. I tweeted the photo of Eddie with his book stash to the author. She was very kind in her reply tweet.

Sorting out some old stuff, we found a LED lighting unit for one of Ravensburger 3d puzzles. The puzzle has been broken but the light still works. Eddie liked playing with it late in the evening. He looks like Zorro here.

The Moon was up and early in the blue sky.

Thomas Taylor, the author of Malamander and Gargantis, was running a children's drawing competition on Twitter. You had to do a squiggle, and then create a sea monster out of it.
Eddie tried his best to draw a monster. But I got the dates completely wrong. I thought the closing date was the last day of May, but the competition closed on the 27th. I was sorry for my disappointed child, and it's entirely my fault.

We have lots of these weird wild irises in the garden. They are quite elegant, but slightly creepy.

Hope the new week of the eased lockdown is not too scary, and that we are all keeping safe.

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Banana and guava jam cake

Just after Christmas I won a couple of food prizes on Instagram and Twitter. The Insta prize of a food hamper from Tropical Sun, including a lovely book of Caribbean recipes arrived promptly.
The Twitter prize from Cirio has never materialised, and after several attempts at communication I gave up. The excuses were rather unconvincing, and I still see them tweeting comps regularly. It doesn't put me off buying Cirio products, but I don't think I would bother with their giveaways any longer.

One of the exotic products from Tropical Sun was a jar of guava jam. It's a thick jam, which reminds me of the quince paste in flavour and texture. My guys are more of a strawberry/raspberry/black currant jam type of eaters, and were not enthusiastic about the guava jam.

Then I remembered that years ago we used to bake a sponge with jam mixed into the cake batter, with lots of soured cream.

This is a variation on the theme of the Russian jam cake, which I used to bake as a student, with soured cream (Smetana), 1 egg, flour, oil and any jam that was available (strawberry, raspberry or black currant).
Yet again, I had bananas going over-ripe, and a single pot of yogurt that nobody wanted to eat. I didn't include oil in the photo, but I did add it.

Rum adds a bit of a tropical flavour too. It has been suggested by my Twitter friend and queen of baking Antonia, who mentioned adding rum to the banana bread a couple of times.

Banana and guava jam cake
Ingredients:
2 bananas, mashed
100g demerara sugar
2 medium eggs
3 heaped tbsp guava jam
1 small pot of yogurt
juice of 1 orange
1tsp ground cinnamon
2tbsp spiced rum
50ml mild olive oil
250g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder

Mash two peeled bananas with sugar, using a fork in a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs and guava jam. Add a small pot of yogurt, orange juice and spices, rum, olive oil, flour and baking powder.
Mix all the ingredients together, and pour the cake batter in a well oiled bundt cake tin.

Place the tin in the oven preheated to 180C and bake for about 45 minutes (check if it's ready with a wooden toothpick).
Remove from the oven, leave in the tin for  several minutes before removing it out of the tin and letting it cool on the cooling rack.

What have you been baking recently?

Photo diary: week 21, project 366

Life in the time of Covid is one long groundhog day. Everything is repeated in a cycle.
On top of our "exciting" life in the lockdown we have a new rather stressful development.
The house next door has been sold, and they started major works inside, breaking the wall, ripping the floors, rebuilding the conservatory. The noise of drilling and non-stop banging starts before 8am. Since we live in a terraced house, we are like prisoners of Zenda. There's no escape.
Conveniently the new neighbours do not live here, in fact we don't know if the house is going to be rented or sold on at a higher price later.

Who begins major building renovation works during the lockdown?! (insert a string of swear words)
Eddie and I tried to annoy the builders by playing out loud "Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows" and the Eurovision called Uno (Russian entry). Any suggestions for highly annoying songs are most welcome.

Last Sunday I walked in town, and once again, admired this gorgeous lighting. Alas, it needs a modern style house, and won't fit with the old beams and old house features.

Eddie was looking like a little yeti with a fringe going down over his eyes. It was time to trim his hair. We both had a giggle at my hairdressing skills. But looking at some recent images on Insta from people I follow who subjected their family members to the lockdown hair cuts, my attempts are not that awful after all.

It was a hot May afternoon, and I was sitting in our garden on a picnic rug, engrossed in a crime book Silent Nights. It's a selection of short stories, which I really enjoy. Christmas tales of crime hold a special place in my heart. I have quite a collection of books of short stories set at Christmas.

One of Seesaw tasks was to create a model of states of matter from recycled materials, representing Solid, Liquid and Gas. I told my Mum on the phone that Eddie was working on it, and she got anxious, asking if it might explode. I told her: Mum, it's not a real gas.

The pond irises started blooming. The pond is an exaggerated name for an overgrown hole in the ground.

On Friday Eddie and I were watching Thor: The Dark World (again). I saw a short video recently that originally Tom Hiddleston auditioned for the role of Thor. Thanks goodness, they didn't offer it to him. He's perfect as Loki, and Chris Hemsworth makes a splendid Thor.

From the bathroom window I saw this dove washing in the puddle on the roof top of our kitchen.

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