Why do I leave it all until Sunday night?

Title says it all really - I am still in the throes of baking which isn't ideal seeing as I have the school run, work and the dentist to contend with tomorrow! Ah well - you're only young onc.. oh, wait a minute!

Life this week has been pretty hard but good in places. Things are still tough on the separation front - but for those who've been there, done that.. I think it always will be. With children, it's the hardest thing knowing that no matter what, the person that changed it all will be in the rest of your life whether you really want it or not.. and at times this week, it was a definite 'not'. Facebook has an awful lot to answer for!

On the plus side, weekend with the kiddies and so we ended up going to the funfair in town where for a small entrance fee, all the rides were free and you could meet the legendary Peppa and George Pig. Of course, weather was shite so we were either frozen, windswept, wet or all three. Kids had fun - have discovered my son does not take being removed from the kids carousel (you know the ones with buses and motorbikes and taxis on them!) well at all.. Luckily it was towards the end of the day so we just stayed on... for what felt like forever! Luckily, instead of the normal banging tunes, the guy in charge was playing 'Help' by the Beatles so I could sing along!

On the baking front, well - it's been a busy one. I belong to a rather excellent group on Facebook called 'Whats for Dinner Mum' (I have no idea how to link to groups on FB, so I do apologise in advance if you end up nowhere!) and the last couple of weekly challenges have been baking orientated, so have given them a whirl..

The swiss roll challenge didn't go badly except I used the wrong flour - I through in loads of strong bread flour instead of nice floaty light self raising flour - so it worked and looked ok'ish but wasn't especially airy like it should be! Kids ate it though which I would say is a good sign, but they will eat almost any form of cake! This week was scones and I thought I'd try savoury.. hmmm - not my finest hour but they tasted ok (cheese and parsley ones in case you're interested!) but I wasn't sure if scones work like cakes - in that once the oven is opened, they sink like stones? I think they look a bit anaemic and could've done with a little bit longer... Next week, beetroot - uhm....

For me, I made tomato soup (well, mediterranean tomato soup except I didn't have plum tomatoes and forgot the onion), florentines for my friends at work and some sticky date flapjacks for the kids. I haven't tried the flapjacks yet - still baking - but am actually a bit concerned as the middle went sort of like tar. I am hoping they taste better than they looked before they went in.. actually they should be done about now! Do you like the way I tried to make my 'too big' baking tin, the right size.

Anyways, enough waffling! I made the 'mistake' of getting my daughter a Dr Seuss compendium for Xmas (from my son) so bedtime now takes twice as long as I tongue twister my way through such delights as 'Fox in Socks', 'The Sleep Book' and my personal favourite, 'If I owned the Circus'  - Sneelock makes that story the best of the bunch. I am delighted my daughter seems to love a good book though as:

“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” 
Anna Quindlen