Before we had kids we used to have a small pile of 5 to 10 books in our bedroom that was the "IN" pile of books we had yet to read. Since we have had kids, we have continued to acquire books at the same rate as before (charity shops, book sales, etc.) but unfortunately we haven't had much time to read them. So in approximately 2 years our "IN" pile has graduated from 5 or 10 books to needing a new bookcase, which Dan built rather amazingly from our old bed,
from this tangley, horrid, multi-length, multi-coloured mess:
to this sleek and short one-length effort.
Not sure if I like it yet....kind of wanted it much shorter at the back but this length at the front. The hairdresser got scared!
 cheeky monkey - spice |  cheeky monkey - primary |
 down on the farm - bluebell |  butterfly - bluebellx |
 blue discs |  floral 2 |
 roar - red |  fish - red |
 piccadilly - cobalt |  jigsaw - lime |
 spot on - raspberry |  spot on - chambray |
 tiddler - ocean |  |
 oasis - green |  primavera - petrol |
BBC director general Mark Thompson. Photograph: Richard Saker
The BBC plans to axe two radio stations – 6 Music and Asian Network – cut spending on imported shows and halve the size of its website, it is claimed today. The Times says the measures are part of the BBC's strategic review to be unveiled next month. Under the plan, the BBC intends to shrink overall services and focus more on quality over quantity. There have already been reports suggesting that the BBC will axe the digital radio stations 6 Music and Asian Network.
very very excited!I've been working for some time trying to get the perfect recipe and method for butter tablet. I'm getting pretty close now, I think I have the right recipe, it is just the method that is trouble. Specifically I think the issue is the crystallisation of the sugar. I'm working on the theory that too little beating once the mixture is cooked will result in an amorphous toffee, and two much will result in crystals so small what you really have is a fudge. Although I clearly had good crystallisation visible this time, and the tablet had the required 'shatter' when I tried to cut it, the texture is slightly gritty.
Either way I think this is one of the greatest things that you could encounter in a cake tin!
Pancake day turned into jam tart day in our house. Despite loving them last year, Anneli totally refused to eat them this year. Oh well, all the more for me and D. Bug had a good go, but I think a lack of teeth made things difficult. Still jam tart making was a huge success, and I love the fact that from the photos you can clearly see that Bean has been eating flour when I wasn't looking.
They taste a lot better than they look!
I have been trying to get the garden in order. Last year I was so pregnant and also dealing with a one year old I just didn't get any weeding done, and we decided to concentrate on veg rather than flowers, so the garden looked a bit crap. This year we will be just doing flowers and fruit. We have an apple tree and a plum tree and we just planted another apple. We have loads of raspberries and strawberries and also blackcurrents and red currents. Probably we won't be able to resist a few veg, and tomatoes practically grow themselves...I usually get a bit carried away so no doubt we'll end up growing loads. BUT this year I can't stand looking out at a big patch of weeds so I have been sorting things out in the dark after the girls are asleep! D's let me do some on the weekend too 8)
But of course it is Valentine's day and I didn't want the old card to be as freaky as last year's. So I did a lovely monster bookmark for D this year (he has been using one of the celebrity top trump cards I made for him many years ago. It is the Barry Bethel one and since he is *allegedly* a child abuser and wife beater I thought he needed a change)
Of course when Anneli saw it she wanted some monsters too so I had to quickly make a family.
Happy Valentine's everyone.
