Well, my family are going to benefit from my slightly foul mood this afternoon if nothing else. Normally, well no actually, not normally these days (as I have kids, who hamper my mood loosing abilities these days) but in days past, when someone has aggravated me enough to get me into a bad mood, I've been known to go and stomp the hills for a few hours/miles until I'm feeling fresh as a daisy again, full of lovely clean (ish) air and nature and its wonderful calming effects. This afternoon however, as I have the kids in tow, I cannot do that, (if I did it'd be fruitless, as the whinging a 3 and 5 year old can produce when being asked to walk up a hill to admire a view, is beyond the limits of comprehension) so between random shouts of 'mummy' and screams of 'she did this, she did that' I've attempted to therapeutically bake my way to sanity.

This has mainly worked, bar me just attempting to have 5 mins with the cat on my knee to write this, during which time I've upset dd1, as I asked her to leave me alone, just for a few minutes, so she's now stomping about upstairs very loudly.....

So what's put me in a mood, my dearest daddy of course. The only person in the world who can possibly wind me up so much (although dh comes a close 2nd some times, but I can divorce him right? so he's never managed to hit the mark quite like an errant parent can, dd1 is possibly thinking this about me right now too....) Anyway the issue arose, when I asked my dad to meet me at the hospital and look after my kids for 15-30 mins in the canteen, so I could go and see my gran, his mother, who I've not seen for a week, due to visiting hours starting at school finish time and ending at the kids bed time (which is just about when dh gets home, if he's not working an evening) He said no to meeting me at the hospital............he did say I could travel an hour to his, drop the kids, go to the hospital (half hour back where I'd come from, then back to his to get my kids, then an hour home) surprisingly I said no, or should that be NO!

He is now going to the hospital to visit her, himself with my mum, but has refused to look after my kids for half hour when he's there, so I can see her too. I tell you, WTF is that about then? other than him behaving like a child? a very selfish one at that......my mum tried to offer to have them with him, but he's told her she can't? I don't want to cause WW3 between them, so I've just left it and come to grrrrrrrrr at home on my own.

The result of my Grrrrrrrrr so far has been Apple and Blackberry Crumble for dh, Apple Muffins for the girls and I (and Richard if he wants some too) plus a now rising loaf of bread, which needs another kneed soon, before it hits the oven. (I'm gonna kneed that Grrrrrr right out of my hair)

The house smells lovely and Autumnal now, lots of cinnamon spice (which incidentally was the first smell to hit me, when I got to Meridians this am) The girls had fun baking the muffins with me and coating them with cinnamon sugar, so its not been all bad for them either, particularly as they get to feast on them shortly too!

We also picked up some Pumpkins for carving today too, although its a bit early for that, on Meridians recommendation we went to the farm that sells mainly apples and 'woot' only £1.00 per pumpkin, so we have two adorning the fire place now, I guess its a spot of crafting next then, after all October is the month to 'do' Halloween.

Tis the season....

Tis the season to purchase new PJ's is what I say! well it wasn't exactly what I went out for initially, but you know, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do right?

My day started ominously enough, with tummy ache, so I ignored the fact I'd pledged to my fattening tummy that I really would attend body combat today and instead accepted a cup of Earl Grey tea in bed, which promptly went cold as dh let me sleep for another hour, 9am wake up bliss! but I have kids, so cold tea is really not a problem, kinda the usual really (Mondays in case you hadn't guessed are a day off work here, and with the kids being off school an excuse not to shift!) I eventually surfaced, fed the kids and dunked and de loused them. (Yes folk's! we're a nit free house once again, stage 2 treatment complete 'salutes the air', well until summer club tomorrow again anyway, when I swear I will kill someone if dd1 brings them home again.....)
then I promptly left dh with the kids, as he'd kindly offered to 'look after them' whilst I went to meet my old friend Sue for lunch and a natter.

Obviously when girls get together, we can rattle on a bit, which we duly did whilst working our way around several home stores (including Ikea and Starbucks twice!) as we both needed a few ideas and bits of storage stuff, then it all kind of went awry when we just popped into Next for a look around and I remembered I needed some tights (its nearly autumn right) and then I saw some lovely new slippers, and well the PJ's next to them did match, so......gah! I brought them....after all the nights are drawing in and it was kinda cold last night, so surely I can't begrudge myself new PJ's eh? I did stop short of buying the hoodie top to go with them, I figured I may let myself have that later in the year, when it gets truly freezing......the good news is I didn't buy any actual clothes from there, as the only top I liked looked horrible on!

I get home to the ominous sound of dh exclaiming 'what have you been doing down here!'
'ah' thinks I before opening the door, classic absent parenting must have been going on whilst I was away (the sort that involves an X-Box for the man and the house and contents for the kids) ....I didn't stay long, just long enough to admire the mess, the kids in swimsuits? and a harassed dh, whilst saying 'I'll go to Sainsburys to get something for tea then dear' whilst he looked disgruntled.

When I got back again, the place was tidy with grovelling kids :-) So I coerced them into baking a lemon cake with me, which might yet be a drizzle icing one, as we've not gotten that far yet, because its still baking. I've even rustled up some chicken and Mediterranean vegetables now ready to cook for tea, not sure what's come over me? its the most domesticated I've been in weeks! maybe its the seasons running two weeks early (according to the BBC) is making me go all Autumnal and nesty now?