Peppermint Bark !

Merry Christmas ! I recently saw some Peppermint Bark but the price was a little out of my price range (£30). So what else do you do on a cold snowy day ? Make your own. Here is what we did.......

You need 2 packs of either dark or milk chocolate, two packs of white chocolate and some peppermint candy canes or similar sweets (how many depends on how much peppermint you like to eat, you can also add more or less chocolate depending on how big the tin is you are going to put it in).Chop up both of your choclates but keep them in separate bowls for now.

Put the chocolate in a bain marie or microwave to melt it. Start with the plain/milk chocolate first as you want this to set in the fridge before you do the white chocolate.

Whilst you are waiting for the chocolate to melt you can get your willing helper to crush the candy canes for you. You need the bits to be quite big and chunky though.

Once you have meted your chocolate your need to put it in a tin lined with either foil or greaseproof paper. It then needs to go into the fridge and you need to start and melt the white chocolate. When the milk/dark chocolate has set in the fridge you need to pour the white chocolate onto the top of the set chocolate. (tip: let the white chocolate cool before you put it on the set chocolate as it will melt it).

When you have put the white chocolate on the top you need to tip the baking sheet to cover the top. Whilst your chocolate is still runny you need to sprinkle the crushed candy canes on the top. Put it into the fridge to allow it to set.

When it is set this is what it will look like. Take it out of the tin and remove the paper/foil. Chop it into bitesize pieces.

(tip: it will be quite hard to cut as it is cold so I would get the strongest member of the family to do this for you.)

Serve.

Yummy yummy yummy !

I would store it in the fridge to keep it fresh and stop it from melting, although I suspect it wont last very long as it is so yummy.

Gifts From Heaven

Whilst talking to my nine year old son the other day he said the following to me.

Before babies are born they live in Heaven with God. When the baby is ready to be born GOD looks down to earth and chooses the perfect parents for the Baby and sends it. GOD chose you and Dad to look after me.

This year has been an emotional rollercoaster for us due to my son going to hospital for open heart surgery. So yes my Dear, you truly are a gift from GOD. I could not be more thankful that GOD listened to my prayers about you.

Does it get any better ?

Playing with Lego in the drive which has been freshly decorated by ones sister with chalk, and eating a big bowl of ice cream.

I sit here now quickly updating on here because this is a moment I want to remember, remembering when they were playing out in the sunshine, no arguing, no games machines, just plain and simple playing with eachother.

Thank you for your comments on my last blog post, I am going to do a post on simplicity for me but I feel that as things have been complicated recently it may be more of a slow process to get things back to the way I need them so it may turn into lots of blog posts on the subject.

Simple

If I were to ask what what "Living a Simple Life " meant to you, what would you reply ?

Would it be living in a Hobbit Hole and having nothing to do with other people ?

Living like Tom and Barbara Good ?

Or do you just like your modern comforts ?

Answers on a post card please !
(there is no wrong or right answer, I am just pondering )

Things he wishes he had known !

Here are six things that my hubby wished he had known before we got married.

1 Ladies absolutely, never, put petrol in the car. This is a Mans job.

2 I am impatient. I love to sew but I want it finished NOW. I love it when he decorates but
I want it finished now. Ok so now you see what I mean.

3 I hate anything that crawls, creeps, shifts and scurries and it is his job as the man to deal
with such uninvited visitors.

4 I am completelty anti feminist. There are things which are for ladies to do and other such
things are deemed as mans work.

5 I will at all costs avoid touching raw meat. YUK !

6 And probably the four words he dreads hearing the most "I have been thinking"
These four words are sure to make the hairs stand up on his neck. Ha ha ha !

Having said all of this, he has known me since I was eight years old so perhaps he knew about these silly things beforehand.

All Change

This post will probably be a long ramble so please feel free to skip over ;-) but it comes straight from the heart, no editing, changing or deleting allowed.

Recent events in our home have made me stand back and look. When did I get so busy that I didnt have the time to stand back and just look. Look at the beautiful family I have been blessed with, my Husband and children. Look at the things we have, they may not be the latest and greatest but they are ours and we have worked hard for them. Look at the things that are important in life.

It saddens me to think that I have changed so much over the years, from the carefree stay at home Mum who would welcome you at the door with paint in her hair and funny yummy children running around behind her. The chaos you would come into was so much fun, the house may be a mess but there was lots of giggles and laughter and there was always a cup of tea and some freshly baked cakes (iced by little people of course) to be shared.
Now you come into our home and the chaos is still there but for me it is not a nice chaos. It is the type that consumes you, takes away the very soul that made you the funny mummy. You no longer have the time to do the fun stuff with the children as you are always dashing here there and everywhere, the house is a mess but not with toys and laughter, there is work stuff on the table and school papers pilled up waiting to be signed, ironing waiting to be done and Mummy just doesnt have the time anymore. I guess the point I am trying to get across is that although these things are normal in most families these are the things that take over my life and we seem to have forgotten to have some fun.

I am sat in the kitchen right now and I can see craft kits that the children have left here, waiting for the day when I dont say "I dont have time" or "Later".. I can see the dissapointment in their faces when I suggest that whatever I am doing at the time is far more important. Yes there are times when we just cant fit it in, but surely we should be making the time to be with our children before they decide that you are just too much of an embarresment to be seen walking down the street with and they get you to drop them off a street away from their destination.

Now I am not going to beat myself up too much at my personal failings, i dont think that it would do anyone any good. I just want to make some changes along the way. I think that it is important to spend time with your family and enjoy them, let them know that they mean the world to you. Not by buying them stuff but by been with them when you can and making it fun , quality time. My son is currently sat inside the biggest box you ever did see and he is having so much fun.

So right now, starting from today, this house is changing. yes there is still day to day house stuff that needs doing in order for us to have clean clothes and food in our bellies but the focus is going to be more on family.

If you are still there and not gone to sleep, I thank you. I am looking forward to this next journey in life to getting back to been the old me, I hope that you will join me in stepping back and looking at what is really important to you and your family.

GOD Bless.

Hello

Well I cant thin of a suitable title for this post so that will have to do for now.

Well the last few months have gone in a blur, they are not the kind of months that I would want to repeat. Things have been kind of difficult here in this little house, we are all ok praise the Lord, but there were times when I had to rely on others to get me through the day. I am not trying to be cryptic but I am just not really ready to talk about some events on the blog just yet.

Anyway, there has been a serious lack or crafting of ANY type happening here and this makes me a SAD bunny. This is something that I hope to change and update you with some Yummy crafty candy very shortly.

I had a lovely trip to a local WI with the ever so Vintage looking Melanie (pop on over to her blog and say Hi ). Well I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, a talk on vegetarian cookery and fab compan with lovely new friendships been formed. Melanie is sure that she is the one to teach me crochet, well she must have the patience of a saint because many have tried and failed before her.. ha ha ha ha........

Well if you are still reading this, infact it has been so long since I updated you probably have given up on me, I hope that I will be able to update more often about what we are up to. I am looking forward to the summer and all of the fun and adventures that this brings with it. There are only afew more week until school is out and the real fun begins.

Thank you for leaving your comments, I love reading every single one of them.

GOD Bless.

It doesnt have to be perfect.

I am my own worst critic, honestly I can quite easily pull myself to shreds in a matter of minutes. I am the first person to urge people to try things and tell them all of these wonderful things about themselves but when it comes to me I am not quite so positive.
Is this good for the soul? I doubt it and I am sure it is not good for others to watch you beat yourself up over something quite ridiculous.

Sooooo following on with my Blessings theme I think it is time that I took some time out to be me. Who is me? Well if you ask my Husband I am a cross between Barbara and Margo from The Good Life and Alice from The Vicar of Dibley. My personality changes between the three depending on how Hippy/Green/Eco I am been, how Snobby (me a snob???? NEVER) or been just plain stupid and ridiculous, it can change apparently at any given moment and does quite frequently. Well just for the record he is a cross between Victor Meldrew and Gregory House, misserable, bitter and twisted to the core and you know what I like him just the way he is (ha ha ha).
Anyway in an effort to stop punishing myself for all the millions of things I do I am going to try and be a little kinder to me. I am going to take some time to do the things I want to do and be the person I am Barbara/Margo/Alice....I guess you can bee all three, you dont just have to choose one and stick with it.. We can have different personalities and quirks and still be a good person. I read a quote on another blog recently and it has really stuck with me.

Practise Been The Person You Want To Be.

Think about it, who do you want to be?

Blessings!

There has been alot of talk in blogland about choosing a word to focus on for the coming year. I liked the idea but have found it hard to choose just one. There are many many things that I need to focus on right now that I found it almost impossible to choose only one. However the word that I finally chose is BLESSINGS.
Why this word in particular? Well there are many people or things that bless us every day but sometimes we just have to take a step back and realise it, "Stop and smell the roses". I mean sometimes it can be the little things we do that mean so much to someone. My eight year old son stood in the kitchen this morning and washed all of the breakfast dishes for me, a small and random act but what a blessing to both him and I. It meant there was one less job for me to do and for him it meant that I was able to do some fun things with him and he was so really proud that he had actually helped me. This year I want to focus some time on the blessings we receive and give to others be it something as little as watching the sun rise over the snow dusted fields (truly a blessing from God) or the kind actions of people.

We have had a lot of snow here recently and in some ways the country has come to a stand still. Whilst this has been in someways an annoyance and of course dangerous, I have enjoyed the slower pace of my life that it has brought with it. Most of the childrens clubs were called off so there was little running around and we were able to snuggle up inside the warmth and watch the snow fall from inside. We didnt go out much to play as the children have been getting over coughs and colds. I did get out for some walks with the dog and we enjoyed the solitude and silence of walking through fields of snow or sugar sprinkles from heaven as I have heard it called. Although it is hard work on your legs and your dog just runs and jumps in it without an issue.
I had a hankering for baking pie the other day, not just any pie but a hot, vanilla, sugary, apple and blackberry pie. Truly, truly yummy. There is a tiny weeny bit left but I doubt very much if it will last untill the morning.
Thank you for calling in at the Little House today and for you kind comments on my last post, I truly enjoy reading them. Keep warm and safe during this winter weather.

GOD Bless,

S x

Sparkley and new

Not only do we have a new day but also a bright, shiney, sparkley new year. I dont normally care much for the New Year celebrations but for some reason I have looked forward to this one. There are no resolutions in this house but I feel it is certainly time for a change, really a chance in pace.

I have never wanted nor needed the "Rat Race" but have somehow found myself peddaling at 100 miles per hour down "Burn Out" lane. My days are far too busy and I literally have been hitting the ground running from the moment I get up. Breakfast is a thing of the past or it eaten, bowl in hand whilst walking around the house getting things ready to head out of the door. Lunch ???? Not sure what that is.. Sometimes I get to eat during the day when I am working bt then I can hardly claim it to be nutritious. Dinner on an evening is something lovely and scrummy cooked for the children but if DH is not home to actually cook I just end up snackng on rubbish. The lack of food and far too much crammed into the day has left me exhausted and run down (there I admitted it... ha ha ha) not to mention the two weeks I spent in my bed ill with the flu.

I really must make an effort to eat properly and take control of my days so that life is a little slower and I am sure that the health benefits of this will be great.

I have PIF's and another gift to send out that should have already been done some time ago, to you lovely people I apologise and will get onto it as soon as possible.

I hope that your New Year is shiney and sparkley and filled with magic.

S x