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Daddy’s little girl: a guest post from Hollybobbs

Domestic Goddesque — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:07:14 +0000

Hi I’m Lisa, I am 28 and live in the North West of England with my husband, our crazy Jack Russell Jasper and our beautiful daughter Holly. I created Hollybobbs to follow my parenting journey as well as discuss my love of all things crafting. I’m guest posting today whilst Domestic Goddesque convalesces, so if your little one is snoozing, grab a brew and delve into my world for a minute or two!

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My Dad has recently had a nasty health scare and it has made me step back and take stock of our relationship, and that between my daughter and her Daddy. After letting my sister and I know the extent of his scare (he is fine now, thank goodness), it has made me realise just how much I take my Dad for granted in my life. Throughout the years he has always been there, whether it be to dispel his words of wisdom or to hang wallpaper in many of our abodes. I have always relied on him as a pillar of strength, steady and constant in my life, and looked up to him immensely. Despite our sometimes tumultuous relationship he has been there for me to impart harsh words when required and guide me along the right path, even when I refused to listen.

My Dad with Holly

Now my husband, John, and I have a daughter of our own and are trying to uncover the secrets of the parenting handbook someone seems to have forgotten to give us! I know John will be just as an important figure in Holly’s life as my Dad was in mine and I love watching his relationship with her grow every day. Although I am Holly’s full time carer and there are times when, due to familiarity, she turns to me rather than John for comfort, it always melts my heart when after a hard day at work he walks in the door to be greeted by a beaming smile and the call of ‘Daddy’ in her little baby voice. I love nothing more than to watch them play together or to listen discreetly over the monitor to him reading a bedtime story to her as she listens intently.

Watching TV with Daddy

John wasn’t always comfortable with children before Holly was born and I know he was worried about being the same with a baby of his own. But I knew as soon as he held her it would be different and being a dad would just come naturally. As it turned out he had very little choice as after my c-section I was out of action for quite a while, so he had a baptism of fire which included meconium nappies, learning how to burp a newborn and projectile vomiting! As I thought, he was a natural.

Tummy Time Together

I can already see how much Holly dotes on her daddy and I look forward to watching this grow. One day she will look back and know she was blessed with having such a brilliant Daddy and be so thankful of everything he does for her, just like I do my Dad. And on the day when he walks her down the aisle as she begins a new life of her own, I know how proud he will be to call her his daughter.

With my Dad on my wedding day

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Pumpkin cake: a tutorial

Domestic Goddesque — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:59:36 +0000

If you are having a Pumpkin-themed party, as we do every October half-term, then you will be in need of a centrepiece. Step forth my guide to creating a marvellous Pumpkin cake. It was a big hit last year.

Firstly, of course, you need to make your cake. I opted for three layers of cake, made with recipes I use regularly, but it would be just as easy to use a cake mix, or indeed shop-bought. The layers are for the height, as a ‘classic’ pumpkin is usually as high as it is round. Sandwich your layers together with frosting (I always keep a stash of Betty Crocker for party cakes) or buttercream. It’s also worth sticking your base layer to the plate with some buttercream too to prevent shifting whilst you are decorating it.

Next you need to ‘model’ your pumpkin. Trim the top so that it has a pronounced dome (if you made a well-risen cake, you won’t need to do much!) I then cut a couple of wedges into the top to give the impressiomn of the dents in a pumpkin’s skin. Remember that, when covered in icing, these dents will be less deep, so don’t panic if you end up with a bit of a chasm in your cake top. Using the leftover bits of cake, I fashioned a stem, sticking it together with a good splodge of icing.

Once you are happy with your basic shape, then get busy with your icing:cover the whole cake in yet more frosting, in a thin and even layer, and put to one side. Then roll out your icing: I used about 3/4kg of orange fondant icing, bought at my local cake shop, and rolled it out (using plenty of icing sugar to stop sticking) to about 4mm thick. Then cover your cake with it, using the edges of your hands to push the icing into the crevices and around the base. Once you are happy with it, trim off the excess and use the end of a knife to tuck the cut edge under the base of your cake.

Check your cake over and dust off any excess icing sugar, but don’t stress too much about the overall appearance, as pumpkins aren’t all smooth and blemish free (on which note, don’t look too closely at the pictures for the same reason ) Then take your green icing, with a star nozzle, and pipe on the details: I covered the stem in icing and then piped curly trails across the orange body of the pumpkin.

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Click to win £15,000 of prizes.

Domestic Goddesque — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 05:47:31 +0000

If you have a child aged 3 or under (or you’re expecting) then you’re eligible to take part in this survey, for a chance to win a brilliant set of prizes such as a Quinny Buzz, a spa break, a Britax car seat, a Maclaren Buggy, children’s clothes, baby bouncer, bursing pillow and a high chair. In all, there are £15,000 of prizes for just a few (about 20) minutes of your time. I’d say it’s absolutely worth taking part.

You have to click the link to fill in the questionnaire, which will be the largest study into infant nutrition of its kind, online. The first question will ask you where you heard about it, and it would be fabulous if you could mention me: choose ‘Blogging mothers’ and then scroll down until you find Domestic Goddesque.

Closes 14th August.

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Silent Sunday

Domestic Goddesque — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 01:11:00 +0000

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In which I love a bargain, or how Poundland has all you need for Easter Crafts!

Domestic Goddesque — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:00:20 +0000

I am a big fan of Poundland and, if my small corner of this green and pleasant land is anything to go by, I’m not the only one. In the middle of this recession, our local branch has actually doubled in size. Quite simply they offer great value. For a mum of young children, I am a particular fan of the wealth of crafting goodies that you can pick up. So I was surprised and delighted recently when a lovely PR firm sent me some Poundland Craft goodies to make for Easter.

Dimples set upon the chocolates before I had even removed them from the parcel, and as soon as PD saw the finger puppet set, she demanded I immediately got out the ‘Messy Mat’ and do some ‘Blu-ing’. We had such fun making the little puppets and talking about Easter. I think that PD was disappointed that there wasn’t a new set in the post the next morning!

Check out your local store for Easter Eggs, Bonnets, craft kits and much more. You don’t really need me to tell you how much they cost, do you?

[disclosure: Poundland sent us these crafts as a gift and without expectation. But I was delighted and thought I'd share with you in case you need ideas to keep the kids busy during the holidays or just fancy a Toblerone.]

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Silent Sunday

Domestic Goddesque — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:06:55 +0000

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Hair raising.

Domestic Goddesque — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:20:54 +0000

Morning hair

Facial 'hair'

Where's my hair?

No story, just gratuitously cute photographs of Dimples.

For other Hairy stories, check out The Gallery.

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Silent Sunday

Domestic Goddesque — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 19:54:53 +0000

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Remembering doesn’t stop just because it’s not Remembrance Day

Domestic Goddesque — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:12:19 +0000

Somebody pointed out to me today that I shouldn’t be wearing my poppy.

It’s not November, they said.

You don’t need to wear it.

It’s not November, I repeated.

I don’t need to wear it.

It’s not November.

Yet there are British men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan and now over Libya.

They don’t need to wear a poppy because they can’t forget: conflict is their life.

Their families, trying to get on with life at home and praying they don’t get ‘The Call’ don’t need to wear poppies: they can’t forget.

It’s not November but they remember every minute of every day.

It’s not November but they are still coming home in coffins.

It’s not November but conflict still needs resolving.

They still have bills to pay so our brave soldiers go to work and do what they were trained to do: they go to work every day, like you and me. But they don’t sit behind desks and use iPhones on their lunchbreaks.

They take guns to work and risk their lives to bring democracy and safety to the World.

Because it’s their job.

I get to stay at home with my children and feel safe,

because of their job.

It’s not November.

I don’t need to wear it.

But I want to.

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Silent Sunday: WTF??

Domestic Goddesque — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 21:56:08 +0000

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