Spring Cleaning in Summer?

I guess Spring Cleaning is just a fact of life? My Other Half (I refuse to say better!) has been on holiday for the last 2 weeks and boy does it show! The house is a bombsite.... So Spring Cleaning it is...

He has been warned to clear up all his precious belongings before I start - but well, let's just say there wasn't much activity last night!

Now... how am I going to do this? Lots of black sacks... all his belongings that are scattered around the house are going into black sacks and then I will put them into his study... that is if I can open the door! The laundry will go into one of the 4...yes 4! laundry bins he owns rather than decorating the bedroom and bathroom floors... Thankfully we don't share a bathroom and mine is at least a feminine fragrant area to which I can escape!

I guess I am not the only harassed housewife out there - well these articles sure make that plain!
Harrassed Housewife - part 1
Harrassed Housewife - part 2

O well back to cleaning... model aeroplanes to move next :o(

Vegetarian / Vegan Red Thai Curry

Vegetarian / Vegan Red Thai Curry

Shared via AddThis

Dining out...

You know there are somedays that you just eat out because - well you feel like it really, other days there is an occassion you are celebrating. But eating out should be a pleasure and not a chore! Ok - yes it costs money (more or less depending on where you go)... But there is no washing up and no preparation. I must admit when I eat out I try to go somewhere that does food I can't make, or food that takes a lot of preparation.

But the one thing I do insist on is good service and good food - as I said above "I am paying for this" and I expect it to be right... So, when it all goes wrong, yes, I will complain. Yes, I will speak to the manager... and yes, I will contact the parent company.

This is a link to a really good "Top 10 tips" to a successful complaint when eating out, though I suspect it will work for most complaints... --> click here for the article!

Now here is a story about a recent meal out I had... yes I followed the advice in the article... My meal was free and I have received vouchers from the restaurant to the value of double my meal.

• Arrived @ 8.30pm
• Server finally spoke to us @ 9pm - to take a drinks & food order
• Server forgets drinks order and asks someone else to get it... this arrives @ 9.15pm, she was too busy dealing with two larger tables.
• Starters arrive @ 9.45pm
• Mains arrive @9.50pm while the starters are still on the table being eaten
• My main meal had pickles on the burger which I had clearly stated must not be there as I have an allergy to them.
• Server offers to change the tomato part of the burger, this is no good anything that has touched pickles will make me ill.
• Server then informs me it will be a while for another burger - is this ok? (This was a rude comment from the server...) My response it is yes that's fine or I am very ill
• My dining companion finishes his meal - with no sign of my replacement burger or any contact from the server.
• I ask to talk to the manager - I wasn't allowed to do this, the server comes back over and again rudely tells me the burger will be a while @ 10.15pm
• My replacement burger finally arrives @ 10.20pm this time there is a hair on the bacon in the burger - I again ask to talk to the manager...
• The server's response "If you complain I will get it in the neck - do you want that?" She was rude and really upset me with this attitude.
• The manager came to see me to sort things out, she hadn't been told that I wanted to speak to her earlier.
  
• The manager did manage to sort things out, with a new burger and she understood how serious getting something I am allergic to on my food was.
• The server continued to glare at me and I can say this was one of the worst experiences I have had at *******. It left me upset and lacking confidence in the staff's abiltity to deal with food allergens, plus the customer service from the server was awful.

The Perseids Meteor Shower

It really is quite amazing to think that we are hurtling through space and we don't notice it. That the Earth keeps on spinning and revolving around the Sun and we never really know... all we do notice is that the constellations move across the sky.

The Perseids are simply a debris field that we are passing through, doesn't sound so wonderful as a meteor shower... But we pass through this debris field left by the comet Swift-Tuttle at the same point on our orbit of the Sun every year. This is why we see the meteor shower at the same time every year.

If you want to know more of the Science click on this link ---> Click here!

The lunar eclipse 5-6th August 2009

I am sure that there will be lots of people on "t'interweb" that can tell me more about the spiritual significance of this event, as I know very little about it...

What I do know about are the tarot cards and in particular the fae cards.... So, I asked the fae to pick a card to signify this event and their choice was the Ace of wands.


My interpretation of this card is that now is the time to start something new with determination and strength. The red crystal on top of the griffin feathers and oak branch connecting to the earth brings great power and significance to this event. Pick wisely and have the courage of your convictions... The card is very autumnal in nature, so I fell that the changes that you put into place now will begin to show their effects in autumn (fall).

As you may have noticed from my brief profile as well as a spiritualist I am a scientist - for those of you also interested in the science behind a lunar eclipse this is a good site lunar eclipses explained

Sometimes it is good to be in England! My thoughts go out to...

OK - so England may not have the biggest or the fastest or the best... But I love living here!

We have reasonable weather, yes it changes a lot so we Brits talk about it a fair amount - but we don't have the tornadoes, droughts, floods that other countries do. My thoughts go out to all those in Louisville Kentucky --> http://www.huliq.com/1/84481/major-louisville-flooding-paralyzes-city

We have our coughs and sniffles, and in theory swine flu is on it's way... But at least we don't have the pneomonic plague! My thoughts go out to those quarantined in China --> http://healthmad.com/conditions-and-diseases/bubonic-plague-symptoms-treatment-transmission/


We have hills, dales and the most beautiful countryside with the National Parks and my persoanl favourite the Costwolds, pictured on the left is Lower Slaughter. My thoughts go out to those in Baja California --> http://scienceray.com/earth-sciences/earthquakes-causes-effects-and-prediction/


My thoughts go out to all those who have been victims of disease or disaster - may the blessing of the godess be with you all.

Blessed be

Cooking is fun...

I thought it was time that I gathered some of my favourite recipes together from their homes online and put them all in one place... So here goes!

Bolognase sauce made in a slow cooker

This is simply the easiest bolognase sauce to make, if you want to make chilli add beans and a little more spice. If you want to be healthier add turkey mince not beef and for the vegetarians you can use Quorn mince...

Best ever home-made multiseed bread

Easy to follow and works every time. I have never had a loaf that didn't turn out amazing from this recipe. Simply follow the ingredients down the list into the breadpan - turn it on... wait and Voila! amazing homemade bread... At a fraction of the cost of store bought and soooo much better for you!

Chocolate & nut brioche bread and butter pudding

In a word - DIVINE! Tastes out of this world, light fluffy (thats the brioche) creamy, chocolatey (nutella) and just simply wonderful. Yes it is indulgent but well worth it.

Caramelised carrots

I make this for people who say they don't like carrots - they seem to change their mind afterwards ;o) Again it is simple to do and nothing too expensive is needed - carrots are one of the cheapest, most readily available and versatile vegetable out there...




As you can probably tell by now my motto with food is "keep it simple sweetie"... and yes I do make food that you would want to "KISS"!




I am going to be adding more of my recipies as I upload them so do pop back to see what is new on a regular basis.... Just click on subscribe at the bottom of the page and e-blogger will keep you up to date ;o)