LIFESTYLE: A very special announcement

Today's post is a super special one. And one I've wanted and been so excited to post for a while.

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

Or course that was blindly obvious from the photo but I love seeing the words, saying them out loud!

We've wanted this for such a long time. We started trying shortly after getting married, but lost the baby at 9 weeks. We then put off trying again for a while and then decided to let nature run it's course.

TRAVEL: A day in Amsterdam

On our little winter cruise we stopped off for a day and a bit in Amsterdam.
It's a place I've heard so much about and have wanted to visit for a while so this mini trip was a great starting point.

The evening we arrived we took a wonder and took in all the pretty Christmas lights and worked our way around the city.

We took a much longer stroll and cruise around to see the beautiful sights. The canals give you the best view of the place and the tour takes you through the history of the canals and the river, as well as the buildings lining the way. And the whole place has an amazing history. 

Unfortunately as we weren't there for too long and we were on a fairly tight budget we didn't book any excursions, but we did hear good things about Anne Franks house/museum. 

However we did take a wander to the Flower Market which was so pretty and stopped off at many cheese shops along the way. Dann ate many many samples! Sheep cheese being his top choice! 

We definitely hope to visit again in the future, maybe in the summer time. 

Here's some photos...

FOOD: Homemade Honeycomb (aka Hockey Pockey)

This year for our friends and family we are putting together little packages of homemade bits and bobs for Christmas. We're trying to save money and doing Christmas on a budget this year, but wanted to show we'd put lots of thought and effort in, and what better way than homemade yummy treats.

I thought I'd share one of my recipes for you, which I think you'll all love, and it's super simple to make, and kinda fun as it's a little bit like a science experiment.

This recipe is from Nigella Lawson, and can literally be made in 10 minutes.

What you need
100g castor sugar
4 tablespoons Golden Syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons Bicarbonate of Soda
Greaseproof paper for the tray

How to make
Mix the sugar and golden syrup together in a pan off the heat
Place pan on the heat and melt the mixture. It will then start to bubble (approx 3 minutes) - do not stir, swill the pan if you want to but no stirring
Remove from the heat and add the bicarb
Immediate whisk the mixture (this is the fun sciency bit) where it will foam and go a light gold colour
Pour onto a tray (use greaseproof paper to make it easier)
Let it set (put in the fridge to help
Once set smash, and put in a box/tin

Store in the fridge until gifting

We're also adding a tag to our boxes saying it is best served chilled.
It also goes well crumbled on top of ice cream or a fruit crumble!

TRAVEL: A mini cruise in November

If you've been keeping up with my social media you may have seen that I went away for a mini break at the end of November.

We try to go away/abroad at least once a year (I've been abroad twice now this year) so booked a mini cruise to Amsterdam and Brugges with P&O cruises. As they sail out of Southampton it only made sense to try out a cruise. We started out small as neither of us had been on one before, and opted for an adults-only break.

We set out on the Arcadia, a medium sized ship for four nights away. 

Unfortunately due to the terror alerts in Brussels we couldn't stop in Brugges which was understandable though a shame, and due to the weather and time frames couldn't stay in Amsterdam or stop at another port. I'll be doing another post on Amsterdam shortly but in the mean time here's what you need to know for a cruise.

Due to the weather our first night was rough and made for an interesting nights sleep. Our extra day at sea also wasn't the smoothest which wasn't ideal but manageable.

The evenings were so much fun, as there was a dress code each night. The best night had to be the Black Tie evening where everyone was beautifully dressed up and Dann busted out his James Bond Tux. The menus in the restaurants were amazing every night, but they went all out on black tie night with a special four course dinner. Even if I did miss dessert from feeling a little under the weather. We went to the theatre (actually we went to the Theatre three out of four nights) where they put on an amazing dance show themed on Queen. It was 100% my favourite night, even if a little poorly for some of it.

Here's some photos from our time on the ship!

 ^^don't we dress up smart. And of course it only made sense for Dann to order a martini (with olives) to match his tux!!^^

 ^^isn't this ceiling just spectacular!!^^

^^our fave piece of art on the ship... I could have happily taken this home! Creepy cool!^^

ADVICE: Things you should know when buying a cat or kitten

I love cats.... If you didn't know! 
Ok that was a little bit of an understatement to be honest.
You've likely seen my little (giant) fur babies here many, many times, and you either love it, or you hate it - hopefully the former.
If you haven't met my fur babies before - here's a little introduction.

Archimedes - he's the jet black, Bengal-cross. He's nearly four and is a mummas-boy completely. He is faster than sound (mild exaggeration) and the dominant cat of the house. He can usually be found on our bed, in the conservatory or on my pillow.
Dante - he's the gigantic fluff ball who is two. He's a Persian-Bengal - Bengal face, Persian fur. He's is daddy's little menace. He can usually be found at the top of the stairs, on the bathroom matt or inside a draw, usually with Dann's socks.

I thought I'd share with you some of the things to keep in mind if you want your own kitten or cat, because they aren't always advertised, but kind of come in the feline bundle.

Claws

Those little needles are the absolute worst. And they need blunting, and your cat will know this. And the absolute best place to do that is on your sofa! It doesn’t really matter that you put the scratching post right next to the sofa, and it’s a really tall one with jingly mice, the sofa is WAY better. Accept it. That nice sofa is probably going to be shredded - thank you Archimedes. 

Fur, fur, fur

The hallmark of the cat owner. You can ID a cat owner, and the type of cat from the appearance of said owner and the level of fur coverage they have on their clothes. Invest in lint rollers if you wish to de-fur, but be warned this should only be done just before you leave as it has an innate ability to cling to you within 30 seconds.

This leads to HAIRBALLS… for those wishing to own a fluffy kitty, be warned, they DO NOT look like the balls of fluff vomited up in cartoons. And cat sick smells FYI, and stains! Invest in laminate flooring… better to clean and no fur can stick to it like it does to carpets. This is a particular problem for Dante who has long hair and barely chews his food. Malt extract really helps enable the hair to go through his system and not get stuck, but always seek advice from a vet about fur and long-haired cats.

Night time races and ninjas

Those eerie hours between 12am and 4am are the cat witching hour. You’ve seen your cat or kitten nap ALL day. Well that is all in preparation for the sprinting around your home, and leaping from high places at 2am. Double the destruction with two or more cats. Never leave anything up high that can fall. On a side note, black cats are particularly good at hide and seek, especially at night. You think you’re safe popping to the loo in the middle of the night…. You’re not. Take a torch, or you will be feeling the carpet quicker than you would like when you trip over the black ninja that hid in the corner awaiting his prey – you!

Cuddles.. at your peril
I know you want to smush you face in your kitties fur and squish him cos you love him so much.... well he will more than likely hate it. Unless you're really lucky (we have one of each) and he loves cuddles, most cats will squirm and claw their way out of your grasp (see point one). Our two agree to cuddles on their terms, and their terms only. Usually when you need to pee or grab the remote. Dante has also developed a new habit of curling up on our backs as both Dann and I sleep on our fronts fairly regularly. He's also heavy so it is virtually impossible to move.

Sleep
Cat's love to sleep. You'll find this out very quickly. In fact cats sleep for about 2/3 of their lives. And not always in the places you might expect. We usually find our two either asleep on our bed together, or inside drawers, specifically sock drawers. And we wonder why our clothes are covered in fur. 

Boxes vs. Toys
Over the years we've spent a fortune on toys for our cats, including climbing frames and various scratching posts (the sofa is better apparently). We've learnt the favourites for ours. Boxes are always, and I mean always a hit, no matter the size. Did you see Dante in my Degustabox? He is also a huge fan of hair ties, and more recently rubber charity wristbands. We now collect them and he plays fetch. Much safer than the hair ties he had a habit of eating.
Other favourites include anything with feathers, and of course the trusty laser pen!

But you've got to love them. For all their odd little quirks it makes them who they are. And I honestly wouldn't have them any other way.

You can read more about our cats here, here and here

What's your favourite thing about your cat?

FOOD: Nostalgic for Family Favourites

As you may have noticed I’m a bit of a foodie, especially for homemade food and recipes made from scratch, usually simple but effective meals or treats. I’ve collaborated with Wren Kitchens to bring you something a little new today.

The campaign #WrenFamilyFavourites is all about getting nostalgic. And nothing gets us kids more nostalgic than reminiscing about our favourite home cooked meals. Every mum, or dad, has that go to recipe that their kids love. My mum has a couple of firm family favourites, including this chocolate biscuit cake that I blogged a few months back! You’re welcome – it is yum!

So my mum makes a mean chilli con carne, but so does my husband! And they can take a lot of work, and I wanted to share something quite simple, but really tasty with you.

So I’m sharing my mum’s lemon and thyme chicken, with herb potatoes. This is kind of a winter staple and was a popular dinner when I was growing up – though I did always avoid the carrots (sorry mum). This is the dish that I taught my husband, and I’ll be honest he’s most definitely the cook in our household, so me teaching him a recipe is kind of a big deal (though things be changing as I get a bit more confident in the kitchen!).  

So what do you need?

For the chicken:

Skin-on Chicken Drumsticks

Fresh Thyme

Lemon

Ground pepper

For the herb potatoes:

Potatoes

Carrots

Onions

Fresh Rosemary

Garlic
Olive oil

What to do?

Lemon and Thyme Chicken
Gently peel back the chicken skin and score the flesh. Squeeze lemon juice and pour a small amount over the chicken. Crack pepper over the top. Rub fresh thyme leaves into the flesh, including into the cuts. Cover the skin back over and place inside a deep dish. 
Place the lemon rinds inside the dish and cover with extra lemon juice and black pepper. Add a couple of thyme sprigs. 
Bake in the oven for 35minutes, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through and golden. 

Herb Potatoes
Peel and dice the potatoes, carrots and onions. Crush the garlic and add fresh rosemary into a dish with the potatoes, carrots and onions. Drizzle with olive oil and toss the mixture together. Roast in the oven until crispy, approximately 35 minutes. 

Read all the blogger recipes here!

*collaboration post with Wren Kitchens

FOOD: Spiced Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Autumn is all about soup right... especially homemade soup.
We love making soup in our house, served with crusty buttery bread so I decided to make Spicy Curried Butternut Squash Soup. It's a variation on this Spicy Butternut Squash Soup as I love the curried flavour with butternut squash.

Ingredients
Two tablespoon olive oil
Sprig of rosemary
Two bay leaves
Three garlic cloves crushed
One teaspoon mild curry powder
Half medium chilli (we used a whole one but we like it HOT!)
One medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Two carrots, chopped
One large potato, peeled and cubed
Two celery sticks, chopped
One medium onion, chopped
Pinch cumin seeds
Half teaspoon chilli powder
Pinch smoked paprika
Two pints veg/chicken stock
Half tub of fat-free natural yoghurt

Get cooking
Heat oil in a large saucepan and add garlic, chilli, mild curry powder, paprika, bay leaves, rosemary and cumin seeds and heat for 30 seconds (do not colour, you only want to release the flavours).

Add all the remaining ingredients apart from the stock.

Saute the vegetables for two minutes until they are fully coated in the spices.

Add the stock, turn down the heat and allow the soup to simmer for about 45 mins.

Allow the soup to cool and then blend with a hand whisk, until free of lumps. If the soup is too thick add a little more stock until you have the desired consistency. Add yoghurt dependent on how much you need to cool the heat of the spice (we needed lots as our chilli was hotter than we realised! Woops.) This is healthier than cream and works just as well!

Reheat when ready to serve and eat with a big hunk of crusty bread and an extra dollap of fat-free yogurt, delicious!

Leave me your favourite soup recipes in the comments below so we can try out some new ones!

TATTOOS: Inked Palette Art Exhibition

You'll remember a few weeks back I blogged a little preview of a new tattoo inspired art exhibition coming soon! (See post here) Well at the weekend myself, Dann and my best friend Grace had the pleasure of attending the opening night in Leamington Spa.

Back to the art exhibition... I've worked with the lovely Beccy at Inkluded before ( you cam see my interview with her on her blog here, and her interview for Illustrated Teacup here) so I was very excited when she invited me and a couple of guests along. I mean, it combines two of my favourite things, art and tattoos! What's not to love? Plus I finally got to meet the lovely Beccy!

We had a lovely, albeit fast, visit to the Deasil Art Gallery to see the exhibitiom, but it was thoroughly worth the trip to see the amazing talent that collaborated for this project. 16 tattoooists showing casing their work in alternative mediums in a gallery. 

^^super cool tattooed rubber hand! Thanks for the photo Beccy^^

The Inked Palette art exhibition at the Deasil Art Gallery in Leamington Spa runs from the 3rd October to the 20th October. Admission is free. See Inkluded for full details of all artists and opening times.