A-Z Blogging Challenge - O is for Off-Screen Weekend

 

This is a bit of a stretch for O but it kind of works and I was struggling to come up with anything else!

JD and I decided to have a screen-free weekend last weekend to see how it'd be. We thought perhaps we'd catch up on things we keep meaning to do but are always on our phones/computers doing other things instead. We encouraged the kids to join in but they didn't want to. So on Friday night, after having a good think if there was anything I'd need for the next two days, I turned off my phone and computer and went to bed.

Turns out if you're putting off things by being on your phone you'll still put them off by sitting on the sofa talking! We had a really nice weekend even so. We read books, baked, went for a walk, did some spring cleaning, talked more and did crosswords.  JD made some biltong and I made a lime cake. 

The biltong drying in our oven.

It felt really relaxing not having to check emails, write or work on blog posts. I did miss not being able to take photos of things, especially as we went over to York to have a park meet up with my sister Sally.

We did actually sit down on those blankets!

We also couldn't use our phones for directions, for music in the car or to check the weather! Luckily it was sunny 😊

I spent some time sewing a new ribbon on my hat because the old one had fallen off. I'd usually listen to music or a podcast whilst sewing so it was different just focusing on one thing at once.

I also varnished the painted pebbles I'd done to put in our front yard. We had plenty of time to talk to the kids and we all had a walk to the park on Saturday evening since it was nice weather. Usually we'd be catching up on whatever show we're currently watching. 

We'd previously said we'd have a pizza takeaway on the Saturday but couldn't get in touch with Deliveroo to order it with no screens so JD and I walked to our local pizza place to order it in person then bring it home. 

The whole weekend felt like a mini holiday even though we were at home and we've said that we're quite keen to repeat the no-screens for maybe 1-2 days a month. The pace of the weekend was much slower with no rushing to get anything done. I felt relaxed and like I had plenty of time which I enjoyed.

Do you think you would enjoy screen free time or hate it?

Trying New Crafts 1/5 - Pebble Painting

This year I've set myself a goal of trying 5 new crafts. I really like making things but there's so many things I've never tried. So here I am in April thinking 'oh shit, I'd better get started on this!' I was given this book at Christmas as I'd planned ahead and put it on my Amazon wishlist.

I'd also planned ahead and collected these stones from our last beach trip. I keep them in this classy broken cardboard box. 😂

Armed with some paint markers I took some ideas from the book and started painting. These were my first two tries.

I kept going and quite enjoyed it. The kids were annoyed by me shaking the paint markers to activate the paint but despite that I carried on.

I did quite simple designs at first but after a while I tried more difficult patterns with different colours on top of others. The paint dries quite quickly so you can add other colours on top. I really love this tiny cactus I did.

I love beach pebbles and collecting nice looking ones is always something I do if we visit a beach. It was really nice to use them to paint on. Picking out shapes that would suit certain paintings.

I might finish off some with clear varnish and put them in the garden as decorations.

It was fun to try something new but it's time to move on to my next project which will be felting a Blue Tit. See you next time! 😊

Slow Cooker Favourites - Turkey & White Bean Chilli

 

This is definitely one of our favourites! Turkey mince instead of beef to be a bit healthier and you can add whatever veg you fancy or whatever you have to use up. We've had this chilli lots and it goes great with a sprinkling of cheese and a dollop of yoghurt. Other toppings could be some chopped coriander or some slices of avocado.

Ingredients:

500g turkey mince

1 onion

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tin tomatoes

1 tin cannellini beans

1-2 sweet potatoes

1 red pepper

2 tablespoons chilli powder

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 cups chicken stock

For this recipe the mince needs to be cooked in a frying pan before it's added to the slow cooker. 

Chop all the veg into bite sized pieces and add the crushed garlic along with the spices to the slow cooker. Tip in the beans and tinned tomatoes. Stir in the mince when cooked and pour over the stock.

Leave to cook on HIGH for about 6 hours and then LOW until you're ready to eat it. It can be thickened with cornflour and cold water or you could add some tomato puree instead. We have it as it is.

It's such a tasty chilli and the slow cooker does all the hard work once you've added all the ingredients. Your house will smell lovely as it cooks and then you can tuck into bowls of spicy chilli at tea time. Add a crusty roll to dip in and I don't think you could have a more hearty meal. We love it!

Family Game Review - Pictureka

 

Pictureka is a game we got for Christmas several years ago but we still bring it out for a game now and again. It's so simple to play for anyone of any age.

The 'board' consists of 9 double sided tiles showing lots of images of all kinds of animals, things and people. You just lay them out any way you like on a table or floor.

In it's simplest form (for example if you were playing with small children) you could just use the blue cards. Each card has something on it and you have to find it's match on the tiles.

Like this diamond.

Or this farting horse!

There are also red and green cards where you have to pick a category of things to spot within the time (tiny hourglass included) or bid against others about how many of a category you think you can spot and then attempt to do so.

It's a really fun game and it doesn't get too easy as throughout the game there are prompts to turn cards over or rotate them so you don't get used to where everything is. We've played lots and still don't know where everything is each time.

I really like the art style and that there's so many funny little things to spot on the tiles. It's a clever game that has you relying on speed and your ability to recognise what you're seeing as the colours are different on the card than the tile.

Ratings: Emma - 5, JD - 4, Val - 5 and Erin - 3

N is for North Yorkshire

 

Carrying on with my A-Z Blogging Challenge, I find myself on N and the first thing that comes to mind is the place I live. North Yorkshire!

The countryside is beautiful, folk are friendly and I'm proud to be a Yorkshire lass. I've got my favourite places to visit in North Yorkshire so here's a list of my favourites.

Whitby

A boat trip, a walk on the beach and some fish & chips at Whitby might be my perfect day. It's a great place to visit any time of year.

Malham Cove

It's a lovely walk from the car-park to this limestone formation and then if you want to, lots of steps up to the limestone pavement above. A more circular walk will take you past Malham Tarn. Gorgeous countryside!

Brimham Rocks

We've been coming to Brimham Rocks for a walk since I was a little kid. I love this picture JD took of my Dad leading an expedition through the rocks with me, Val and Erin following him. It's a great place for climbing, walking, hiding and general exploring fun. Plus they sell ice cream!

Bolton Abbey

A great place for a summer picnic and a walk. We did a Treasure Trail here and it was a lovely day out. The stepping stones are fun and there are lots of trails along the river and nearby woods.

Knaresborough

I always love a visit to Knaresborough. An ice cream on the benches in the Castle Yard with a view of the viaduct and then a walk down the steps to the waterside to feed the ducks. We also love the Conyngham Hall side of the Nidd too for paddling in the river, jam-jar fishing, kayaking or swimming. My Dad was born in Knaresborough and one of the nicest walks we had was when my Dad acted as guide telling us the history of everywhere we passed. Good memories!

Studley Royal Deer Park

A lovely place to observe animals in the wild while out for a walk. Hundreds of deer, rabbits, pheasants, squirrels and more. The park is well maintained and includes the water park too where you can feed the ducks, geese, swans etc. 

Armscliffe Crag

A place close to my heart is Almscliffe Crag. We climbed to the top and Dad got some great shots of his beloved Red Kites. It's a lovely place for a walk as the views are amazing when you get to the top. You can take a short-cut going straight up or meander round on a more leisurely ascent. Be careful though, someone got stuck halfway up last week and had to be rescued by firemen!

Pateley Bridge

More lovely countryside than you can shake a stick at! Gorgeous walks, lovely little shops and reservoirs to walk around. It's a lovely little place to visit and even the drive there is ridiculously scenic. Love it!

There's lots of places in North Yorkshire I could've mentioned but these are my personal favourites. Just seeing the countryside around here makes me feel happy. I love seeing sheep, dry stone walls, hills, trees and fields wherever you look. I feel lucky to live here!

Masterchef Invention Test

 We've been watching a lot of Masterchef on Netflix lately. Our favourite thing about it (apart from Gregg Wallace's weird faces) is the Invention Test. It's brutal to watch the contestants have to choose between two ingredients then go on to make a dish from it. No recipes, no planning, it looks difficult.

So, of course, I wondered how we'd do at the Invention Test! I asked my sisters, Caroline and Sally to suggest an ingredient each. They chose Celeriac and Cherries. A quick trip to the fruit & veg shop and we were ready to go.

Neither JD or I had cooked with celeriac before so all we knew was that it was a root vegetable. JD chose it anyway and I opted for the cherries. We each had an hour (at separate times, we only have one kitchen!) to make a dish out of our chosen ingredient using our food cupboards for additional ingredients.

It's just as difficult as it looks!! I decided on some cherry muffins (as muffins bake quicker than a cake) but completely blanked on ingredient proportions even though I've baked muffins dozens of times. I made the batter as best I could and stirred through a handful of halved cherries. I put them in the oven and started on the frosting for the top. I made a reasonable butter cream frosting but then made a bad decision to stir more cherries into that. The juice from the cherries split it and later when I tried to pipe it onto my cooled muffins the cherry pieces got stuck in the nozzle. It was a 'comedy of errors' that was quite stressful and I was in my own kitchen! It must be much more stressful having Gregg and John staring at you while you cook.

My finished muffin was baked quite well and the cherries inside the muffin were lovely. The frosting was disappointing though which detracted from the overall presentation of my dish. I wish I'd picked the savoury option as baking is much less forgiving if you don't get measurements correct.

JD made us a lovely celeriac casserole. He chopped it up and cooked it in some tinned tomatoes and a beef stock cube amongst other things. This is the kind of cooking JD is good at. He hardly ever follows recipes and just adds things until it tastes good. He will try some traditionally unusual ingredient combinations though which make me question his sanity until I taste the finished dish. We ate his celeriac casserole for lunch and although the celeriac was an unusual taste for us, we enjoyed it.

The best part was the cheese topping JD had added before putting it in the oven for a bit. JD's presentation left a bit to be desired too which cheered me up a bit!

JD was declared the winner of our Invention Test and we'll carry on watching with added respect to all that do well in the Masterchef Invention Test.

Subscription Box Review - Papergang

 

Papergang is a stationery subscription box that is delivered monthly for £14. I got a half-price offer so received mine for £7. I love all things stationery so I was looking forward to seeing what I got. 

The box arrived through the post a few days after subscribing and it was really cute. The box fits through the letterbox which makes for easy delivery. 

The contents were beautifully packaged in orange tissue paper (which is also a treat for me and I'll put it in my craft basket). Papergang works with different artists each month to create unique stationery items for subscribers. Also for every 4 boxes sold they plant a tree. Over 40k trees planted so far, impressive!

Three pencils with positive messages on them and a gold pencil sharpener.

This was my favourite item in the box. A tiny set of post it notes shaped like apples. It's so cute and I use notes like this a lot so it'll be really useful.

A planner with space for lists, notes and doodles. I really liked how everything in the box was co-ordinated including the box and packaging. Such a nice touch. 

There were other things in the box too but I don't want to ruin all the surprises.

Overall, I was pleased with my box of stationery. It was lovely to receive as it was all so nicely presented. The items were all things that I'll use and were of good quality.