One of the advantages of the SPD is that I am at home a lot more than I used to be and, because so much of the Domesticity is delegated to those more able, I can spend more time in the kitchen. This too is a complicated process since I cannot stand for too long, or walk carrrying heavy things, or get them in and out of the oven, so still need a lot of help. These cookies are fantastic for that reason. Whizz all the stuff in the Magimix, roll, … [Read more...]

I was standing in a very long queue at Waterstones yesterday, buying yet another dog-related product (in this case quite a sweet book at a very reasonable half-price) that the Pocket Dictator had tried to shoplift. No-one tells you the perils of pushchairs and low-lying shelves at your NCT classes do they? In order to avoid being 'nicked' I have spent a fortune on things I didn't want this winter to appease irate shopkeepers. Anyone would think I … [Read more...]

Picture: Cath Tate I'm having the kind of day where you resent everyone for everything. It comes from spending two hours on the bedroom floor dwelling on all the things that make your life unnecessarily complicated. I fell and couldn't get back up and neither DH (who was working) nor houseguests heard me calling. Painful and humiliating. … [Read more...]

Poor DH- whenever he starts to wind down and think of taking a break (ie: Christmas, Wedding, arrival of the PD), work which has long been dormant suddenly bursts back into life and he has to fight fires and take control of it all. I won't denegrate Solicitors, but let's just say that they are dirty words in this house whenever we have family time to look forward to. As with this weekend when, instead of spending quality time on the beach … [Read more...]

The festive season approacheth, nay is upon us. The reason I know this is that there is Christmas muzak laying in all the shops, and there are 3 for 2 offers in every corner of the shopping centre. Bromley Christmas Market is up and running, featuring a Waffle and Gluhwein stand directly outside Mothercare (which says a lot about the shopping in Mothercare). The reason I choose to take note is that my birthday is now, sadly, over. Falling at the … [Read more...]

Again, I'm a little late. I've been occupied of late trying to find 'help' I should probably have consulted Dulwich Mum about this sort of thing, since she appears to be a pro in the help-hiring department. It's very odd, having once been a nanny and then maternity nurse, to find yourself on the other side of the table, interviewing rather than being interviewed. But I really can't cope any longer by myself and am lucky enough that the DH has … [Read more...]

Violet Posy is having a Halloween 'do'! I thought it only fair that I do the same....PD with her trick-or-treat stash last year. And WH in witchy glory! The Pocket Dictator is having a Halloween Party tomorrow, a whimsical notion caused by the arrival of some lovely new cake cutters (the former cake cutters having been commandeered by said first born child. And destroyed.) I concluded that she, being only 17 months, was still too little for Trick … [Read more...]