Long Gone

Long have the painted pictures from my son gone from the fridge , long gone are the school projects of yogurt pots , egg boxes and string,Long gone are the party invites , noisy whistles and lego feet traps , long gone is the overflowing laundry basket with its only one minute worn item.Long gone is the wait for the hot water again , long gone is the arrrgh from toilet paper run out or on the wrong way.Long gone is the parents evenings and is this my child I’m hearing about , long gone is the running out of shower gel when you’d just brought it.

Long gone are you now you’re at university ..

But still we keep in touch :-)

Wether it’s blackout blinds or lightbulbs leaving Mr T to wonder if we did too much for you in training you about lightbulbs.Texts fly about lightbulbs and success and we were beginning to wonder how many students it took to change a lightbulb.

How many students does it take to change a lightbulb? 

Six - One to change it and five to campaign to make light bulb changing a new degree subject.

Long gone are you but you’re still there in the corner of your home.

Coconut Carrot Tomato Shallot Soup

Firstly I think I deserve a medal for using my nutri ninja they scary piece of kitchen kitchen that blends and ninja chops it is lethal and even though it has a lid making it tighter than when One Direction were together ..

I used to have a soup maker but that blew up



Ingredients 

Bag of carrots

shallots or onion chopped

Tomatoes Italian or otherwise maybe a shot of tomato puree as well

can of coconut milk

700 ml of stock

salt and pepper to taste




Method

Firstly get those carrots pureed

then add the coconut milk whizz up a bit more

Fry the onions through

Put everything into a big sauce pan

Add the stock and heat through constantly stirring

for about 15 minutes


you could add a little grated toasted coconut on top for that Michelin star approach.

Easy Way To Clean The Mircowave

The inside of my microwave looks like the Valentine Day massacre with splattered sauce and some of these stains do seem to defy the laws of gravity . Every short cut points at the not so humble lemon , oooh but alas I used my last lemon in a Gin and Tonic , such is life. Everyone knows phrase

"If life gives you lemons then first clean your microwave "

All I had was vinegar ! everyone is aware of the cleaning benefits of vinegar .

This cleaning technique was the best 5 minutes of my life except that time when I thought I'd won something on the lottery. Here is the horror scene that was my microwave before I got all domestic and decided to clean , I do apologise if you're getting twitchy looking at this . 

Fill either a microwave bowl or jug with at least 2 cup worth of water

2 Tablespoons of vinegar

A squeeze of lemon juice > the one that's shaped like a lemon ( your lemon juice doesn't have to be contained in a lemon )

Place the bowl / jug in the microwave and shut the door !!

Then microwave for 5 minutes , please be careful when opening the door ! 

You could if you wish let the steam work for a further 2 minutes .

Wash the glass turntable and dry , return the glass turntable to the microwave 

You should then have a sparkling clean microwave .

You Better Believe In Fairies

On my train journey once down to London on a blogging mission me and my son sat in a quiet coach or so we thought. There was the lovely fluffy granny with her two grandsons awwh. My son was quietly playing his electronic device or reading . I was worrying about weather I would  make it through dodge city =London. The little boy came starring over my sons shoulder by standing behind him, this wound J up but he and I were too polite to say anything. And then it all cracked off

Little boy to Granny

Little boy " If you say you there are no fairies then a fairy will die"

Granny " But you just said it"

Little Boy" I said IF you said it" 

Granny"Oh'

Little boy  "Also if you say, you  believe in fairies then a fairy is born"

At this point the little boy's older brother jumped it and swearing my journey, couldn't get any worse  he decided to chip in.

Older brother"I don't believe in fairies!"

Well that  was it wasn't the little boy snapped ....

"Fairies are real . I believe in fairies"

So this continued for an hour with the two brother toing and froing  believe me the mood I was in once I got off the train I would have sorted any rioters out!. The first half  of our journey the little boy as you read earliar was staring over my son's shouder.

The door proof fairies exist especially at the bottom of your garden because she has a door in her tree for them )

 So please for love all things magical fairies do exist it may just save a rail passenger from losing the will to live.

A Relaxers Guide To Ibiza

Admittedly when I was searching for a family holiday this year in no shape or form did a Ibiza cross my mind. It is not the first place I would have though of for a family holiday but the lure of the free child place was all too good. I had to be told of unbelievable sunsets that simply just melted into the sea and I didn't believe them until......

You can relax in Ibiza but just make sure you research where you're staying we were stopping at the Fiesta  Tannit which is 3 star whilst I'll be honest I'm a 4 star person think Holly Go Lightly on holiday from "Breakfast at Tiffany's " and you're not far off the mark!

Clean and adequate , the room was typically tiled and airy , the beds a little hard but clean and the balcony gave breath taking views over San Antonio bay. Having got up at 3am that morning to get a 6 am flight to Ibiza , we were all tidied , the teen was cranky by the time we got to bed. Now I'm no holiday grinch I understand children are going to bounce their little bouncy ball ( they win oh so joyfully from the bouncy ball machine ) but when it got to 11.40 at night my eye was beginning to twitch.

So I finally cracked I stomped down to reception complete with me in stripy pyjamas looking like an escaped Where's Wally with a hint of Jack Nicholson from the shining. Now I know no Spanish except hello , thank you and 2 beers please, so trying to explain " the bouncy ball bouncing on the floor above me is starting to annoy me " was hard . They did speak English but it got animated and I looked like I was on ' Give us a clue' they came up but guess what it went completely quiet but then the dum dum went off again, off to the offending room and sorted it out. And so peace was restored and we could begin our relax in earnest.

We never ever go to to welcome meetings preferring to do our research before we go and then if necessary asking the happy smiley reps in the hotel.

One of the first places we went being 20 minutes outside the bay of Antonio was the little aquarium which was along a beautiful breathtaking coastal path.

The aquarium is situated in a very picturesque area 5 minutes away from our hotel Fiesta Tanit the aquarium is tucked tucked into the cave on the edge of a cliff, and the walk there along the sea front path was breathtaking. The admission price is just over 4 Euros for adults and less for children ( you can pick a leaflet that gives you a discount at the Fiesta Tanit hotel.

Aquarium Cap Blanc

It is a very small aquarium , I'll be honest you're not going to see the marine life you'd see in a Sea Life centre there, but the ambiance and atmosphere of the place, the setting and the sense of fishing history make it well worth a visit. There is great snorkeling in the bay, and most of the fish you see in the aquarium are the fish you would see in the water around this area. The sea directly enters the cave where the fish are kept; the small bar, more resembling an Australian surf shack immediately outside the cave entrance is very atmospheric, and you can sit outside here with a drink, overlooking the sea is a great place to spend a short visit, also quite spectacularly amazing when the sun goes down and the breeze rustles your hair.

From aquarium Cap Blanc you can a water taxi to San Antonio it's not much 4 Euros one way and cheaper if you have a return. The water taxi is a proper little boat , one that looks like it could have been used in the Dunkirk landings but completely serviceable and safe.

For the ultimate Ibiza beaches visit this blog 

Ibiza old Town

We got a taxi from our hotel and it was about 26 Euros and that took us to the top of the old town where the fort is and a cathedral  and I am glad it did as I am asthmatic ! then we could wistfully wind our way down and oh what a serene and inspiring journey it was.

And being finally tuned to no wifi I was able to look up and see the shimmering beauty of the whitewashed houses than wound their way down to the bottom.The old town is split into distinct areas from restaurants ,bar and hippy clothing. Do wear good shoes as they streets are cobbled , luckily I did ! 

A holiday is what you make it and on the days when we weren't wandering about I were lazing by the pool reading or taking a dip, but a week was just enough for us perhaps long enough there had been more at the hotel but it was enough and sometimes that is all you need.

Me time
You time
We time

Family Time