a new house

We moved! wow that went quick!

We had a phone call on monday evening last week to ask us to come and view a house, we moved in on Saturday. So shocked and pleased, we now have a bedroom each and Stephanie has settled straight in to her room I was worried, unnecessarily it seems, how she would react to sleeping in her own room after spending the past 4 years charing with me.

We also have a garden, its small so will not bw growing our own vegetables in it unless they can survive in pots, but we can fit in larger pots than we had on the flat windowsills.

We also seem to have no heating,I Just cannot get it to work. Neighbour has had probs with his which a visit to the builders a couple of houses up fixed for him, so hopefully I can catch a builder tomorrow to fix mine. Its ok in the day but by night it is FREEZING in here! I didnt appreciate how cosy my flat got.

Have spent past couple of days unpacking and am very pleased to say I am nearly there, must buy a loft ladder so I can place things such as christmas decs up there and clear under my bed/ corners of rooms of the boxes I just can't find anywhere else for.

My mission for tomorrow is to get on with my uniwork. My bedroom is big enough for me to have a kind of office at one end of it-so no excuses really. Off for an early night to try and catch up on lost sleep from my non stop weekend!

oh and yes I have been told you cannot catch up on lost sleep ;-) but surely it doesn't hurt to try!

NIGHT

a learning curve

I got up this morning to bake the bread and muffins; the muffins taste great, the bread however was a little on the heavy side, but Stephanie likes it. It tasted good with a little of my home made blackberry jam spread on it.

the muffins

the bread

Have been and watered the plants we are growing and they are looking very impressive, if I do say so myself. Just look at these fine specimens:

Am currently considering a new shampoo, should I try a organic/no chemical type one which costs more financially but is good for the environment or do I buy a normal shampoo which costs little financially but not as good for the environment. Hmm pondering and internet research required I think..............

baking day- well night

Have decided to give making my own bread a try. In the past I have had a bread maker and found the bread that came out is very heavy- almost cake like in consistency. I prefer a lighter loaf and so have am trying a different recipe which I found on the net and has good reviews. Will let you know tomorrow once it has been baked and tried if it is better than my breadmaker attempts at home. The results of my attempts before baking:

I have also made strawberry muffins mix ready to put in the oven once we wake up in the morning. They should make a nice sunday morning breakfast and will use up the oven space left over whilst the bread is cooking, thus being more eco as I won't use the oven twice. Also the preparations for the morning bakings is excellent procrastination material- I have yet to open a uni book despite Stephanie being so exausted she went to bed at half past 6!

Making bread is part of my effort to be less reliant on supermarkets and their uneco policies. I am also investigating the possibility of using the local butchers for our meat, am not sure how feasible this will be when I am out of the house for uni or even later work. If I can get in the habit now then perhaps it will be easier when I get to that stage. And as Dylans aid the other day "we need to use local shops more mum so that we don't loose them". A good head on his shoulders has my boy.

Oh and speaking of Dylan he has passed his ju-jitsu grading and is now an orange belt. Very proud of him.