Gin And Marmalade Cake

This is not a cake that the children can eat , we will leave the little angels to to their fairy cakes which are lovingly iced.

Ingredients


110g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
110g/4oz caster Sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
175g/6oz plain flour
30ml of a good quality gin
4 tbsp of marmalade ( one that doesn't set your teeth or edge.Adjust quantities to suit.


Method 


Preheat the oven to 160c or gas mark 4 . You can either grease and line a 2lb cake tin with baking parchment or as I did use cake release from Lakeland.

First mix the sugar and butter together till fluffy .

Add the plain flour , gin and marmalade  and baking powder, 

Next mix in the eggs.

Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf tin .

The bake in the oven for around 35 -40 minutes adjust your cooking time if you have a fan assisted oven.

Turn out the loaf , leave to cool.

Then decorate as you wish .

The Mind Forgets The Heart Skips

I am recovering from depression whether I ever get over it is another story I would like to but we will see , I will strive to do my best in the endeavour I truly will. I have a resolve to no longer please other s I do not need the acceptance of all. I struggle day to day on occasion with my memory and I am not talking about forgetting to buy milk I am talking about naming objects.

Depression it is depression .


Compassion yes I would like you to have compassion but that is ok if you don't I am dealing with that now, if you can message me and tell me that I have a good soul then I know that you are my friend, fat beyond the swirling social media hamster run.


Depression needs to pick me up.

Depression needs me to pick you up.


At the end of the day I am a person with a beating heart, I am a wife and a mother and my family make me proud.

I am proud of what I have achieved in social media , how have I done it I have no idea , no I have not won awards ~ not sure I ever will but none of that matter compared to knowing you and you and you. When I hear my friends have my back then I know they mean it and I won't ever let them done.

Depression but you have depression.

Well it's not like I have to ring a bell shouting " hear ye hear ye I have depression"


I write lists not * bullet journals and I have my friends to thank for that.


I want to be confidant, I don't want my anxieties to hamper him and this is why I  push out of my comfort zone like going to London for a blogging event . they say do one thing a day that scares you and I do from washing up  to going to London.

Never do I want my son to experience what I did at school from me being bullied and polls being done to see who liked me.

Adventure starts here will reading my blog be the one thing that scares you today ?


To my true friends I salute you as captains of my soul.

Relax With Hallmark

There are just times when you have to just pull the curtains shut , lock the door, take the phone off the hook and relax the world is a pretty busy place and we all need a time out. There is nothting better than baking some chocolate cupcakes with melty mashmellows in them combined with a cup of tea.

And when you decorate the cupcakes you'll feel all the more special , the range is perfect also if you want to hold a special tea party or a birthday tea perhaps. Make sure you have your cup of tea in this fine bone china mug by Lucy Cromwell ~ that you can use in the microwave as well! Why not make a cake  in a mug in it by using the cup in the microwave! Go on treat yourself.

This beautiful mug is £8.00

So pop over and have a look at the Hallmark site you are bound to find something you can squirrel away for Christmas or treat yourself : go on you know you are worth it.

Disclosure : I was kindly sent these items by Hallmark and I wasn't told what to write and all opinions are my own.

Malmaison Birmingham The Mailbox Special

Ever the travel blogger I am reporting to you live from the scene, I am staying very near to this to amazing place that is going under a transformation. I am in the Malmaison Birmingham, I think this is an amazing hotel chain that panders to the inner architecture and historian than lies within me.

I feel like Stuart Little crossed with crocodile Dundee but instead of the knife scene mine would be :

"Call that a light , nah this is a light "

The times I have to come to Birmingham are on the increase due to one factor or another , gone or going are the gritty building front once blighted by the industrial age., we are now seeing Birmingham as our forefathers saw this wondrous city. Birmingham is going under more than just a transformation from the cleaning process , there is regeneration going on , shops being built. So much so that I hardly recognise the place when I come, though once I see the iconic Bullring then all is settled.

The modern city metropolis of Birmingham is altruistic in its state, the Mailbox though is being done up still delivers stylish shopping dining and lifestyle, and lifestyle doesn't mean you have to spend money though the shop keepers and restaurent owners would rather you do that. The lifestyle you can have is just to be of the moment and despite many of the posh shops that will inhabit the mailbox , everyone yes everyone is equal.

I find it so very hard to shop for myself and let my family do it themselves and even when face with the free run of a shop like Harvey Nichols I can not bring myself to get some gloves for £65 I work in a school so I need to be practical. Earlier this year a fox managed to run off with one of my Mark Todd leather gloves and I don't even rides horse I am highly allergic to horses and not Mark Todd , I have met him and he is a gentleman.

I did manage to get some Benefit makeup to which the makeup lady did state.

"Madam it takes a lot to stay beautiful" ~ right 

Mr T got a watch it tells the time and links to his iPhone and all sorts of other stuff , Mr T has a watch problem and is addicted to watches. Don't ask me why but we also managed to get a bottle of Vodka for when my son is old enough it has gold leaf floating in it and has a glass sculpture of a dragon inside.

Indulgence does us good , but what I am essentially getting at is indulgence doesn't have to cost the earth and this is what you can have at the mailbox. The surrounding are stunning particularly of a clear evening when the lights are glimmering on the canal, a city doesn't metropolis that doesn't make me want to bolt on this occasion and this is coming from a rural person.

Review Of The Eye-Fi Mobi Wireless Memory Card

It is no secret that I love my photography, every waking moment I am snapping away , I am that person ( sorry) who will suddenly stop dead to take a picture I have seen. My minds eye is important to me and this is why I feel the need to snap away , if it looks right to be then 9 times out of 10 it will be a stunning shot. Capturing pictures of moments are important to me and what pictures I do take are reflected in my blog posts , I love to have a snergy flow in my life  so a dual purpose is always in hand.

My photographic essential 'tools' are my Nikon, Panasonic Lumix instagram and my IPhone , I must admit to lately having a modicum of guilt having used my iPhone so much recently so the other day I ditched it. And used my Panasonic Lumix and my photographic harmony was restored for the time being. I adore instagram it allows me to see photographic styles and influences from all over the world, the power of connecting with other like mined people must never ever be under estimated.

I am multifarious, I once thought of myself as niche ,perhaps I am a little but I am always willing to push the boundaries and very happy to come out of my comfort zone. My dropbox is stuffed to the hilt as till recently I was awful at deleting pictures , Mr T had to upload before our holiday, 10 squillion of my photos that I needed to the cloud storage device that we now have, well perhaps it wasn't 10 squillion but it felt like that to Mr T.

Saviour has come to me in the form of the Eye ~ Fi Mobi wireless card.

Here is the magic technological bit ~ that is straight out of a science fiction film.

The Eye-Fi Mobi memory card lets you transfer your photos and videos from your camera to your smart phone or tablet. The Mobi card creates its own Wifi network which your mobile device is then able to connect to. The Eye-Fi Mobi is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities priced £30 - £50.

• 1. Put the Eye-Fi Mobi card in your camera. Your Eye-Fi card is ready to use - just like any SDHC memory card.

• 2. Install the Eye-Fi app on your mobile device - Download the free Eye-Fi app to your iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device. Launch the app and enter the code ( which is a 10 digit one)found on the back of the SD card case. 

• 3. Take your first photo - Watch the magic as your photo appears on your mobile device, in full resolution. Now your best photos & videos are instantly saved and ready to edit or share.

I can not imagine a life where in some instances I wouldn't share my photos right here right now as I have to convey what I am feeling straight away. the feeling might now always been happy ones but this card give me the power to share my life where appropriate with you even though I may be deep in the middle of the countryside.

And this is a photo I shared instantly of me being happy as the sun was out , my photography is therapy for my soul and is a domino effect for others , my photo could very well make someone say "

"Hey I want to go out and achieve that"


So if you are tired of always snapping away with your phone ( and believe me there is nothing wrong with that) but if you want to have the freedom to share there and then with A DSLR quality image then you can achieve this with having the Eye-Fi Mobil Wireless card in you camera.