Cooking, Cars, & crafts

merry christmas?

2011-12-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

I love christmas, I'm a really festive person and love singing tacky christmas music and watching old and new christmas movies, curled up on my couch, usually drinking spiced imperial tea out my giant spotted teapot from whittards.

This year I will do as always, go to church/chapel/cathedral and light a candle in honour of my friend. My good friend, Lorna. We grew up across the road from each other in number 7 & 8 respectively, we went to the corner shop, got a quarter pound of sweets and tab clear, walked to school from there, chatting all the time. I can't remember what, but it was good.

We both moved away from our old area, her to somewhere nice with her mum & dad and me to somewhere less nice with my parents, but we still seen each other on christmas day, every year, come rain, snow or shine. It was a tiny Tradition for us, her christmas presents where always so much better wrapped than mine, I was always SO jealous of this. Every year I seen her though, regardless of if I hadn't spoken a single word to her throughout the year.

Then I found out she died, I can't remember who told me or when it was in the day but I remember being devastated at losing such an amazing person from my life and wondering what I could have done to change it, the answer was nothing, no one could.

I attended her funeral, payed my respects and left, christmas came and I didn't see her but I lit a candle in her honour, always as close to christmas as I can, as was our tradition, i'd do it on christmas day, but I can never find any where open to do it.

Then after years of remembering her with my candle i found out I was pregnant with My daughter, now I don't personally believe in tradition and naming children after people but I knew that if I had a daughter i'd want to again, honour my friend, I went, asked her parents if it was okay and when my daughter was born She became Rachel Lorna Murray.

Rachel grew up and wondered why her middle name was as it is, i explained and then one day she wanted to go visit Lornas parents, they gave her pictures of Lorna and we left, Rachel put them on her wall, she's just that kind of kid.

So this year again, I will go, light my candle and remember a truly magnificent person.

So yes, it will be a merry christmas because I will never forget my friend.

Chicken Satay

2011-09-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

Apologies, once again for the big gap in my blog, work has been mental, plus a few person problems which I won't bore you with, I've also been knitting, well cursing at wool mainly, but still, I'll call it "knitting"

I decided I'd give chicken satay a go

and this was how it turned out

I forgot to take pictures as I went along as I've been marinading my chicken for 4 days....

you'll need groundnut oil for this, also known as peanut oil

So for the marinade you need

Chicken, I used about 2 breasts, as it was just for me
1 tbs clear honey (i just put a random amount in)
1 clove garlic crushed (I forgot about this woops)
and i put 2 tbs smooth peanut butter and 1tb crunchy peanut butter, not a must though but my choice

for the sauce i used

1tb crunchy peanut butter and then added another, you can use roasted peanuts if you like
3 shallots, (I used 2 as I'm not a massive onion fan)
1-2 red chillis
2 cloves garlic (crushed) I used 3, I love garlic though!
1tb lime juice (which i forgot to buy...)
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

so put 1-2 tb of groundnut oil in the pan, heat up, add the shallots, garlic and chillis, (until soft)
then add the peanuts, cook until brown, then you'll need to blend it

put it in the blender and add your lime juice, soy sauce and ginger if you like, i added soy sauce and honey and some water, as I felt the consistency was a tad too thick for my liking.

then cook your chicken under the grill, on skewers or just turn them over (my choice here) and then put the sauce in a dish at the side.

This was pretty tasty, but I'd have preffered it hotter, so i'm going to make it with more chilli next time, hopefully give it a bit of a kick.

I loved this and will be having it again, with my make do of peanut butter, tasted amazing!

hope you're all well

Coca Cola chicken

2011-09-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had heard a lot about this recipe, and thought I might as well give it a bash, you can use diet cola too, if you want to be a bit healthier and can swap the passata for tomato puree to make it fully unhealthy

It looked tasty before I demolished it

For this take one can of cola

pour into a frying pan or wok

I think I'll use my wok next time, as i found this very hard to ensure it didn't splash down me when it was boiling, not exactly ideal

next add

5 tablespoons of passata, i found this was a bit much for me, i'm going to swap for plain ole tomato puree next time and a bit less, hopefully making it a bit less sweet.

add a splash of Worcester sauce

now stir, on a high heat, until the cola reduces

I really enjoyed making this, I tend to eat the same things over and over again, I also found a good website just for chickenRecipes, which is quite handy for me because I don't really eat much red meat, if any at all.

Anyway, this sauce can be used with ribs, pork etc, apparently if you use apple tango with pork, it's amazing!

I might give it a bash, i've not eaten pork in years

A big thing.....

2011-08-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

So, I've had two topics on my mind the last few nights, one about traditional relationships and expectations and this one, which is going to be about something very personal, it will also include pictures. If you're at all squeamish, i would not read it, it's going to involve details, graphic details.

If you're curious, I'm going to write about me, and my breast reduction, I am going to include a picture of my surgical scars, which will be current, so if the thought of seeing this upsets you, please don't read, I'd also appreciate it if there's no snide or "amusing" comments, It's a big decision to make to write about this, and has taken me a few days to get round too. I hope you can appreciate it.

I asked my mum for a before picture, but alas I have none, hopefully the scars will show you the after though.

I developed really early, I was relentlessly mocked for having a huge chest at both primary and high school, I didn't have a lot of friends, really. I'm not saying this to gain any sympathy but to try and paint a picture about what it was like, for me to go through this.

I went to high school with a 32 inch chest, and a D cup breast, not bad for 12, eh?

They continued to grow and at 15 I went to see about getting my breasts reduced, I'm unsure of my cup size at that time, then at 19 4 years later, I got a short notice call, my time was up, I was going to get a reduction. At 19 I was a 32HH, this, was at the time bigger than Pamela Andersons implants, that should give you, hopefully an Idea of just how large my chest was at 19.

I don't remember the surgery, I remember being very afraid and watching the green coloured liquid drain into me, before which the nurse had told me I would be asleep before the liquid had drained past a certain point, then that was it, in i went.

The surgery used to be an anchor shape like this (thank you google images)

this surgical procedure leaves scars like this (another thanks to google images)

As you can see, those are rather large scars.

When I went to get my surgery I was informed by my surgeon that they had changed the procedure and now they no longer done the anchor style surgery and would I like to try the new method, the new method was completely different.

They now cut up, and round your nipples, leaving you with less of a scar, during the surgery your nipples are removed, the excess tissue removed and then the skin is removed then your sewn back up. After surgery your woken every hour to check if your nipples are attached correctly, as you can lose then, you can also lose all sensation and generally as a rule you can't breastfeed after the surgery.

So afterwards, i got home, eventually, where I had a rather magnificent bruise on my chest, from my collarbone down to my ribs, black, blue, purple and yellow, i was a mini rainbow, it didn't hurt though....the bruise that is.

I got my first 36d bra, a nice soft sports one, as you can't have wires on your scar and now, I'm 29 and I have the scars left.

The scars don't bother me, I don't notice them and mostly anyone who is my partner doesn't, I've been told they're not noticeable and this is the point I show you my scars.

it's taken me 4 days to pluck up the courage to write this blog post, and an hour to write this post, now, all i need to do is show something about me that makes me me, something personal and intimate that most people don't get to see, I hope it's taken in the way I intend it.

So onwards

this is my scar around my nipple

my chest.

That's me folks and my scars, laid bare for all to see, something that wasn't easy to do, not easy to share with the public, not because I'm shy, or afraid, but because It's personal to me, and me alone.

I love my breasts now, I have "great jugs" and get compliments on my cleavage all the time, I'm a complete nightmare about badly fitting underwear, I don't see a reason, especially as I have been there with larger breasts than average, and had a reduction, it's good for your health your back and you to have a nice fitted bra.

if you don't know where to get measured I recommend Bravissimo or House of Fraser. La Senza aren't worth going too, their staff are not correctly trained and the majority of people who go there do not get a well fitted bra. Bravissimo are good for larger breasts and do a good service, I have personally always used House of Fraser, I've found their service to be right on the money, they're always very helpful, although it can be rather embarrassing if you're young as most of their staff are about 40, it's worth going somewhere and buying underwear, don't just pick some up.

This is for your own good, buy some good fitting underwear and embrace your boobs.

I hope you read this and didn't judge me too badly for sharing something so person to me.

Julie

Something a little more female

2011-08-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Warning, massive, massive warning, I'm going to write about things that MAY gross you out, that you may agree with, will be talking about womans body functions (oh oh) and using the V word.... So if any of this makes you feel uncomfortable, please feel free to not read this post.

Please don't say I didn't warn you.

I read thispost after seeing it pop up on my facebook page, before you click it's about Mooncup, a menstrual cup, so could make you feel a bit awkward, or uncomfortable.

Now, I use this, and this woman talks complete and utter nonsense, I do not in any way feel restricted in using my mooncup, where as before it was gross, disgusting and the smell of blood was nauseating, who feels sexy when changing a tampon/sanitary towel, not me that's for fricken sure.

I have to wonder if this woman has a clue how her body works, she mentions "If we think women have a long way to go to get parity in the boardroom, it's going to take even longer if they're fiddling about with a Mooncup 24/7, one week out of every month." you don't need to "fiddle" with it, I personally don't go near mine at all, it sits there, does nothing and I don't notice it, its inconspicuous.

I only touch it when I'm cleaning it out, which you don't need to be near a sink for, contrary to her ridiculous article, you wipe with a bit of toilet roll and tada, sorted, wash your hands and you're done, you rinse next time you're at a sink, usually at home.

I know most of you are like OH MY GOD, TOUCHING YOUR VAGINA??? (yes folks the V word) but you wipe it when you pee, you wipe your bum when you do *aherm* other stuff so how is this any worse?

I was grossed out too before i tried it, thought oh how minging is that (sorry a lovely Scottish word there) but still I was curious and thought I'd give it a shot, I love it, I feel like a whole new person, no longer is my life dominated by blood every month, pop my cup in and I can just continue on, don't worry about it getting on my jeans, skirt, etc etc. Having a heavy bleed was the norm for me, with back pain galore. Not now though, now I get a little ache and nothing else, it's actually an amazing product.

I have NO idea what it does that I don't get as much pain as usual, a lot of people on the Mooncup facebook page andwebsite have the exact same thought, less pain, shorter bleeds and an improved life, until something more scientific comes along I'm going to have to assume they're magic.

I bet you're still NOT quite convinced though, that mooncup is for you, i've had mine 2 years, best £20.00 I spent in my life, and no, i'm not a big raging hippy, not am I really a feminist but I still love it, it's one of the best products I have ever bought, I'm actually going to buy another one, I love it that much.

So Ms Burchill, stop being a narrow minded idiot, and judging something you clearly know nothing about, and in the independent no less, poppycock. So glad I don't ascribe to your way of thinking the world would be a lot less pleasant if most women did.

So folks, that was it, a bit about blood, periods, tampons and mooncup, you never know you might like it

Julie

A change...

2011-08-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

Well folks, been offline for a wee bit, just got myself a job, working event safety for Securigroup, I have been to T in The Park, Wickerman, Hopetoun Horse Trials, a few football games, no gigs as of yet though :(

I have decided that I fancy loosing some weight, so as of Monday I'm going to be excercising, gutting my flat and throwing away anything I don't need.

A change, will do me good, eh?

Hopefully the next blog update will have something more interesting

Time for tea

2011-06-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

I came home and done this

Pretty boring for most people, but I'm happy :)

made sure my bed was ready

got my tea pot out, yes it's red

got my cup ready, yes it's got campervans, I'm a vw geek

got my lovely new tea ready,

while buying this I learned that whittards are moving, this saddens me, i hope they don't go far.

got my infuser out, yes it's a rocket ship, how awesome am i?

A spoonfull of my wonderful looking tea

infuser in pot, mmm

i added my hot water and left it for 5 minutes, and I got a beautiful purple coloured tea out of it.

it was beautiful

As you can tell I LOVE LOVE LOVE tea.

Hope I didn't bore you too much :)

Silent Sunday

2011-05-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

no bizness i know!

2011-05-28T14:09:00.001-07:00

Hey hey there bloggeroo's (channelling Ned Flanders from The Simpsons there)
First of all apologies, my i on my keyboard is broke, so i am copying and pasting it

i decided that i'd write a wee review this week, no - i did not get any money for it, and it's more of a recommendation than a review.

As most of you parents know soft play areas are HELL, or is that just me!? i always find that there are loads of kids running around, screaming, getting hurt, etc. (i know kind of the point, right?) but this means its always REALLY busy, and Rachel finds it hard to enjoy herself.

We decided instead of going to the big adventure today we'd head to Braehead and go to Monkey Bizness The price on the door seems expensive, i'll give you that, but the prices for the food and drink made up for it by a long shot

i got cake - huge slice of chocolate cake, pot of tea, large jug of cordial juice (they said it had 10 glasses in it but it has way more, Rachel drank 8 glasses and it was only half empty!) and it was the princley sum of £5!

i sat on a nice red leather sofa, took my shoes off and sat there, rachel returned and asked to have a shot on a rock climbing wall, so off i went, fully expecting it to cost yet more money, as most things in kids places tend to, nope included in the price.

You can stay there as LONG as you like, so we stayed for 4 hours, all in it cost me £14.00 not too bad considering 2 hours at the big adventure has cost me MUCH more than that.

i loved the place, with the couches, it had bean bags too, for kids and adults to sit on you just grab one from the corner. i felt comfortable and relaxed, read my book and the staff were on the ball, they kept the kids under control, no mean feat when there's loads of them.

Can not recommend this place enough, will be going back without a shadow of a doubt!

i have never recommended anything, especially not soft play.

i may take pictures next time!

until later xxx

It's time to relax

2011-05-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

So, first of all, two blog posts in a week, aren't you lucky?

What's going through my head? This

I've had an utterly exhausting day, so I decided I'd chill out and relax

so I decided

A nice cup of tea

and my footspa where in order, yes I know I'm a wee bit middle aged

I'm also wearing my Pyjamas (they're grey jogging types, no picture sadly)

I'm also watching terrible TV, which consists of beauty and the geek

and in case you're wondering - which i doubt, the thing in my background is this

Its shaun the sheep, it's a footstool and it's FREAKING awesome, It's a bit dirty, cause I use it loads, but I love it

So what do you enjoy relaxing with?

Cat Tastrophe

2011-05-08T03:26:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I'd like to apologise, I've not updated since November, had some rather pressing personal issues, so my poor blog got neglected. I'm sorry blog, I do love you, honest.

Then today, I was reminded why I love Blogging by Lisa Hughes Lisa has just made her blog all pretty, it's very much like her, lots of cake and tea. I am a fan of both cake, and tea.

So...What have I been up to?

Well alot actually. I made some cake for my friends birthday, with fake cream filling, which was fun to make

and then I headed off to her birthday party where I had a rather lot to drink...

Not all my booze, but a selection of booze

I also saved a sparrows life, hence the blog title, my little monster cat caught a sparrow and it wasnt dead, i let it go free. Hooray for sparrow saving!

I also applied for a job, with the RAF, I'm actually a little terrified, why? Because you need to be SUPER fit, It's avionics mechanic job, I'm just about to send away my application form, just need to hit submit, just building up my courage first. Cough! This is the role I am looking at, at the moment, scary stuff.

So, again I can only apologise for my tardy blogness, it's been a tough few months, but I do have you lovely people and my blog to keep me from going nuts.

until next update, take care folks.

Exhausting

2010-11-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

So, how are we all?

Me I'm knackered

I love my job, I honestly do, it's epic, the staff are starting to relax and get to know us better now.

We had an EPIC party for Frasers birthday, i kinda got drunk and forgot to take pictures, woops!!

We had a birthday party for Rachels birthday, which I will eventually share with you lucky, lucky people.

We're going out this Friday for dinner to The Witchery In Edinburgh, then the birthday surprise, I will take pictures, so expect an update on Saturday/Sunday :)

This week, I've been mostly doing outcomes, got 4 to do, two rewrites and two submissions, who said college is easy going? Well not rewrites, just expansions.

I've been getting epic migranes recently, I dont like to complain, but the nausea pain is starting to drive me MENTAL!

Also been having more issues with mini/school lately, her teachers not very professional and when I tried to ask her questions, I was accused of threatening her, needless to say I contacted the head teacher, I'm not a fan of being lied to, never mind by a professional.

I've not seen anyone in absolutely ages, I bought myself an embroidery kit from the publishers works, so I think tonight im going to start that and drink apple tea from my tea pot. MM tea pot.

i tried to sign up to lisa's xmas swap but for some reason my emails idiotic and didnt sent it, Sigh.

Other than that, im awesome, as always

Oh also....this is the only picture you're getting because

I MET GOK WAN!!!!

I'm amazingly pleased about this, I had been following the book tour for ages, and I wanted his book anyway, because well ya know i love him.

I went to Braehead, the times where 12:30 to 1:30, 1:15 i get there, find the BEST parking space ever, get in, am the LAST person to get my book signed and I'm now amazing.

Downside? I had an engine oil handprint on my face, I smelt like 9,698 mile old engine old/sweat, and was wearing a tech support tshirt, joggy bottoms, a digital watch and my vans.

I am class Personified.

Talk soon

Lush for life...

2010-10-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've been super busy and neglecting my blog for a bit, so what have I done?

HUNDREDS. It's going to be picture heavy as I have done hundreds, so bare with me...!

I made myself some awful slippers, the picture honestly doesn't capture just how shocking the wool is for this :)

I ordered myself some new boots

they where an obscene price £250.00 here, so i got them from USA via my friend Jeff, saving me about 120 bucks.

I got mini two new pairs of boots

the school pair

the sensible pair, well for out of school, they are not however this horrendous purple colour, they are chocolate brown, which is awesome :)

I also got a new car

It's a 2.5 litre v6, loads of torque and BHP (I can see the non car folks going HUH right now...)

Its a lovely colour dead nice to drive full service history, ching ching, costing me a small fortune to run, but it's pretty and fast so I don't mind so much...!!

I booked minis birthday party, 24th October she's going to be 7, feart that we won't have enough kids showing up though and we need a minimum of 10! She's having at the Science Centre in Glasgow from 12-4 on her actual birthday, excitement :) we've invited 14 kids but it's October week so Im struggling to contact people at the moment, joy.

My boyfriends birthday is on the 8th November, we are going to the witchery for dinner and doing another thing, "the surprise" (haha Fraser hope you didn't think i'd tell you on here, nosy man) There will be pictures

finally I got a job, I now work for Lush in their Buchanan Street Store. Currently I'm a christmas temp, but hopefully I'll get kept on after xmas!!!

I want to take loads of pictures at work and run their twitter, as it would be amazing and I'd love for it to be really popular.

I think thats it from me, other than that

Hope you're all well :)

Happy Birthday Lisa

2010-08-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

On Friday 20th August it was the wonderful Lisa's birthday

This Girl Is

That is her blog there, I recommend you read it, it's a marvelous blog full of sewing, crafty goodness

Her husband, Dave told me on Wednesday that it was her birthday this week (next time more notice Mr Hughes)

So I decided to make her some ribbon roses

red ribbon rose

Two gold ribbon roses

two tiny blue ribbon roses

I made these into hair slides, so hopefully the wonderful Lisa will like them!!

gold hair slides

big red ribbon rose

I also got my boyfriend to make her a card,

here is a little tutorial to make your own ribbon roses!!!

Not a very good video

Ribbon rose tutorial

Anyway!

Happy Birthday Lisa xx

Busy

2010-08-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

I decided that since mini is now back to school that I did not want to spend good money on buying her a cheap scarf. I therefore decided to make her one myself!!

I bought Artesano wool

and got cracking

row number one

two tone scarfyness

it took me a few weeks, going back and forth, frogging my work every time i got it wrong (for those of you who don't know what frogging is - rip it, rip it, rip it!)

It took a long time coming but finally it was finished.

Complete

Its rather short but Rachel loves it just the length it is.

next project is a hat to match!!

I have also done 5 other things, but they're for a seperate project, they won't be posted until after the person they are for has received them!!

I hope they like them :)

changes, top to dress

2010-07-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quicky

I bought Rachel a size 8 womans top from primark

I took the straps off

added some ribbon

made the ribbon into straps, which are crossed over at the back and tada one dress

Not bad for £4!!!

Quite pleased with this wee effort :)

it's all about her

2010-06-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

So this time it's all about my daughter.

My daughter Rachel was born on 24th October 2003, she was 6lb 12oz, I alas don't have any pictures of her here as a baby, since they're all in her photo album, which is at my mums

she loves getting her picture taken and was talking away at just over a year, she could hold a full conversation and still asks major questions.

this is her about 8 months old

She started walking when she was 9 months old, and she was tiny at the time, looked like she was about 3 months old, due to her height, she was wearing 18 months clothes at 2 1/2

She grew up exceedingly fast

on her 2nd birthday with her noddy cake, made by my friends wife Luci

She went to a private nursery, which was amazingly expensive and learned a fair bit of French
she came on in leaps and bounds and ended up singing to me a xmas song in French, she wasnt even 3 yet!!

at nursery on halloween, still 2

when she was 3 we moved home and she contined going to her private nursery, when she was 4 she went to the council nursery, it was weird having her at home half of the day!!

She turned 4 in 2007

4th birthday, with her bear percy which was brought home from America for her before she was even here yet.

She was still growing and before i knew it she was off to school!!

first day of school

she went to school with Mrs Connell and this is where the problems started, the teacher said she was dreamy, and I wasn't convinced, my daughter loved to read and asks majorly inappropriate questions for her age, including what blackmail is and the holocaust.

The teacher's weren't convinced, but her teacher was so she challenged her and the problem went away

until this year, when again i was told she was dreamy, i explained that I wasn't convinced as she reads Roald Dhal, Harry Potter and such other things, the book she gets at school are a-typical kids books, so not very challenging.

I was also told she wasn't a very good writer, I asked if the teacher could do anything about it, and she shrugged, which didn't impress me, so I asked for a worksheet to be sent home so we could work on her writing at home. If this happens again, I'll be making an official complaint to the school.

So that's my daughter, she's now 6, she loves, loves having her picture taken, she's going to be a complete heartbreaker when she's older!!

In the park, picture taken by my friend Pete

easter dress that my mums friend bought her

another park picture

I love my daughter, I'm amazingly proud of her and I want her to be happy and I hope that the school actually does something with her

on the slide

hope this was a good update

it's all about me....

2010-06-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

So hello, I think it's about time you got to know me and my family?

Before you read this, you should know, some of it may offend and or upset you and if this is the case there's not much I can do about it.

Well I do anyway

I'm Julie, I'm 28, I live in Paisley

this is my flat in Paisley

I play airsoft with my team at various sites around Scotland, they are called Sierra 8, I've been playing for about 2 years now and own a few rifles of my own, at the moment though I don't really play as we're skint!!

I also have just starting Marshalling for car racing and this weekend I am doing my first marshal at the Scottish Rally in Dumfries.

I'm fairly excited about this prospect, it could be a good career move for me as due to my age I'm not employable as an apprentice.

I have a 6 year old Daughter called Rachel, who i'll post more about next time, when it's all about her.

When I found out I was pregnant I was beyond devastated, I'm not hugely maternal and never really have been, something you're not meant to say as a parent, and especially as a female. You're meant to be wanting to have a family as apparently that's what everyone with ovaries wants to do.

I rarely tell people that I wasn't happy about becoming a parent and still shrug my lack of being all "mummy" off as my maternal instincts being lost in the post, as I'm aware just horrific it is to not want to be a mother, especially to your own child. I've grown with Rachel though and she's turned into a fantastic little girl, she's going to be a heart breaker when she's older!!!

The fact that I wasn't very maternal was written off as "PND" which I know can be a legitimate cause, but being forced to talk about it, when I knew I didn't have it wasn't a pleasant experience, midwives wheren't very accepting of the fact that at 21 I just didn't want to be a mum.

I wouldn't trade my daughter for anything or any money in the world, I also wouldn't want any more kids, even though my boyfriend is fantastic and would absolutely make a fantastic father, he's incredibly patient and calm.

Myself and Rachel at the beach, she's 6 in this picture and we're on the beach at Millport.

I have a big sister, she's 35, she's called Angela and at Christmas she got a nasty infetion in her leg and collapsed

Me and My big sister (she's on the left)

We used to knock lumps out of each other when we lived together, she's made some incredibly bad choices in her life, which are hopefully now getting better.

I have a wonderful boyfriend

Fraser

He's 35, works at napier university and comes from an incredibly middle class family. I met him at airsoft and he moved in last September, well he came over to go on holiday and just never went home, I wouldn't part with him either. He isn't the typical guy I imagined myself with, or even thought i'd end up with, but He's great :)

I drive a mark 3 1995 VW golf, I called him George, I name everything, I don't know why!

I'm currently a level 2 qualified mechanic and next year I'm doing my HNC at Clydebank College, I'm hoping to go work for the AA and hopefully end up lecturing as a motor vehicle lecturer at some place good.

Hope that tells you a bit about me, and if it did upset and or offend you, then I'm sorry, I suppose, but the truth can hurt and being honest here was hard.

Pate cake, pate cake

2010-06-05T10:37:00.001-07:00

Yes, yet another cack blog title, sick of them yet???

I decided to make chicken liver pate (with orange...)

you'll need

100g Butter
1 garlic clove
1 small onion chopped ( I only used half mine and I used a red onion)
250g chicken livers
1 Orange
1 Tbsp Orange Juice
1 Tbs Milk (optional)

Wash your chicken livers in cold water and pat dry.
Take half your butter, melt in the pan
add your onion and stir until soft
crush your garlic clove into the pan as well cook for 1 min
take onion and garlic out of pan with slotted spoon and set aside

heat butter up again, add liver, cook for 2/3 mins until brown on outside but pink on inside (I cooked mine a bit more than this as I'm funny about cooking meat...)

Add Orange juice, zest of your orange, livers, garlic & Onions into the food processor blend until smooth.

I tasted mine at this point and wasn't keen on exactly how it tasted, So I added the juice from the orange and a tablespoon of milk and blitzed again.

Tasted again, much better

Tada, it didn't make a whole lot, but it was a trial run to see if it turned out okay.

enjoy if you try it!!

feminism

2010-05-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

On seeing a few of my internet/actual friends had joined a facebook group for Feminazis from hell, for all the women out there who aren't typical women (as it were). I know a few amazing women who consider themselves feminist. In no way do I think that their choices are any better than mine, nor vice versa. But this is my take on it...

I'm not a huge feminist, I sew, I bake, I have a partner, I'm a student, I have a six year old.

Very much the "typical" female role in the household. On the other hand, I'm very much anti "girl" Not that being a girl is a bad thing, I'm just not that person. I don't live in an immaculate showhome and I never will, not with a 6 year old who has two giant guinea pigs, 2 cats - one long and one shorthair, plus a labrador.

The problem I face with being my gender is the child factor. The fact is I don't want children, and this may sound horrific but I was never the "having kids" type, Yet I'm so anti abortion I have my daughter. I don't feel the need to procreate, so i asked to be sterilised, Something which is such a huge decision in anyones life.

I thought long and hard about it, deciding the pro's and cons of it, I realised I don't want to be stuck attached to drugs to control my body to ensure I might not have a family. The fact of the matter is no contraception is 100% affective and the decision to not do it any more really made me happy.

It would mean that I can't have children at all, the very thought of which fills alot of women with fear. So I went to the doctors, made the appointment, got a referral where I was ridiculed for being 27 and not wanting to kids, how dare I make such a choice. The consultant is so sure that I will want a family that he refuses to steralise me until I'm 30, even saying he would bet me that I would change my mind.

I don't feel this was a very mature or professional thing to do, but me being the stubborn girl I am, took his bet. I absolute abhor losing anything, plus the more insistant that he is that I'll change my mind the more insistant I am that I won't.

My doctor says I should write him a letter, as apparently I was happy with this choice, to wait until I'm 30, but I just can't get the courage to do it yet, It's two years away, minus x months, I know in my heart that I don't want a family but it's still such a huge commitment.

I just thought I would share that with you guys, so thoughts would be nice :)

Julie

carma cawheelion

2010-05-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

Yes I know it's a rubbish title but I don't care! :)

So, let me see....

I'm Julie, I'm 28 I drive a mark 3 VW Golf 1.6 litre and it has no where near enough power for my liking. I'm a complete car geek, I love cars, not like you'd know from my blog, it's been all cooking and crafts to date!

So I decided tonight for you lucky few I'd write a bit about my days at college.

First of all

Mechanics like doctors aren't infallible, we do make mistakes. Myself, I got a socket set jammed under the safety switch on the four poster ramp, jamming it.....while my car was on the bloody thing.

We used a jack to jack the leg up, getting it high enough to move the socket set from under the switch and move the ramp, phew disaster averted.

Today Chloe cross threaded a nut on a fuel injector

this was the injector, she cross threaded the bolt that attaches between the camshaft and the actual injector, meaning our lecturer had to fix it with a hacksaw.... It worked though!

To make us all feel better Peter told us one of his horror stories, he was working on a Suzuki motorbike and overtightened the timing chain, leaving it in a silver mist of fuel, writing off the guys engine. He said he felt like asking if he should get his coat.

Mistakes are part and parcel of the job, it's kind of terrifying to know that someones pride and joy is in your care and you solely are responsible for it. This is why I am glad to look at things but I would NEVER attempt something if I wasn't 100% confident I could do it.

This is a formula four car, from Knockhill racing circuit, they brought it down for us to do pit stop challenges on, our team "The Dubnuts" (Hey me and Liam like VW's sorry...) got 38 seconds, which is good, but no where near the 28 seconds that won the prize - an all expenses paid trip to Knockhill and a chance to see the touring car final full hospitality!!!!

We have a variety of lecturers on our course

this is two of their cars

The one on the left is a Blue Citreon Picasso and the one on the right is a V8 Red Chevy Camaro Belonging to V8 Pat as we've dubbed him. I love this car, left hand drive, BHP and torque coming out its ears. (you non car people are like blah blah what now, aren't you? I'm sorry!)

We've done a few things so have some other car pictures

One of the students in another class put the jack in the wrong place on a red Saxo the college have, bending the chassis and moving the radiator, myself & Liam had to strip it right down and rebuild it. I have one picture of it stripped down to the bodywork

I think I'm just about done.

I'll leave you with a very very very badly spray painted yellow wheel

This had nothing to do with me nor Liam, this is a car on my street, with one painted yellow wheel, beginner spray painting tip mate, don't drive with your newly painted wheels!!!

Hope that was quite enjoyable for you, if so I'll post a whole day of stripping and parts and oh you'll love it ;)

Little & Large Craft swap

2010-05-06T02:54:00.000-07:00

I participated in Vonnie's Little and large craft swap.

I've now posted my stuff away, so let me show you what we got and sent! I can't apologise enough for how picture heavy this post is, but I just couldn't help but show off!

we received this

Which I took some more pictures of. It included a hair band, 2 packets of sweets for Rachel from USA, A box of oreos, chocolate, a bracelet and a little peg doll. (which i forgot to take a picture of, sorry!)

some more pictures of what we got :)

A little pillow, it smells of something, which I can't quite put my finger on!

Some Green & Blacks Dark chocolate, Lush shower gel

A nice knitted hair band for Rachel.

Some Tinkerbell sweets all the way from USA

And we sent this...

A lion teddy bear, a horse, 2 bars of chocolate an amigurumi pikachi, jigglypuff, a little mario mushroom. Rachel also wrote a letter and made a little bracelet Which I forgot to take a picture of.

Lion teddy bear, that rachel sewed and stuffed herself

Amigurumi Pikachu, made by me, my first ever one also.

Amigurumi Jiggly Puff, made by me

Rachel's horse that she helped to stitch and decorated by herself.

and finally

MMM chocolate!!

Again, apologies for the sheer picture heavyness of this post but I'm pleased with both what we sent and what we got in return

Gotta have cake, cake, cake, gotta have cake!

2010-05-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Since it's a bank holiday, and the weather here, although hot isn't staying dry for any length of time to allow Rachel to not be in doors, nipping my head!

So we decided to bake

nice simple cake recipe since Rachel made it, I just supervised

250g butter
250g sugar
250g self raising flour
200 degree oven/gas mark 6
3 large eggs (approx)

Mix butter and sugar together in bowl, sieve flour into bowl (and all over washing machine, cooker.....)

mix eggs in stir, spoon into cake cases and bake for about 30 mins

the end result is

lots of multi coloured cake, we gave some to the neighbours, since they got harassed by my neighbour last night, Rachels really pleased with them. We made some amount of mess but hey it was fun!

Mummy where are you

2010-04-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter is doing a project on Egypt.

She made a mummy at school from a doll she had and the same material you make casts from for broken bones.

this creepy little bugger is the result.

I think its a bit spooky, especially since you can see the eyes, nose etc. Shes made an excellent Job though!

Amigurumi In progress (crocheting)

2010-04-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Im taking part in little and large swap so i've been busy crocheting for it.

Im making an Amigurumi project, which is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures.

i thought I would give it a try and this is my first completed project.

Im really pleased with this, I wont be showing what it is until the swap's taken place, sorry guys!

Crochet my hat

2010-04-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've been learning how to crochet recently and thought I'd attempt my first project.

I decided I'd make my daughter a hat/scarf and maybe gloves/mittens.

I'm thinking mittens will be easier than gloves to be fair, but she's 6 so gloves are probably more likely to fit and make her happy.

So this morning i started crocheting a hat

I have ended up with a nice red hat with a scallop edge

finished hat

scallop edge.

I am amazingly pleased with this, having never made anything, ever in my life like this. My daughters barbie head is the model.

I have made a wee video for beginners, which I need to edit and will post up ASAP!!!

Soup, Bread, Cake & Peg Bag

2010-03-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was meant to be going to airsoft so I decided that I would make soup since It's still rather cold out. I made an epic amount of cake, bread and Soup.
I love making soup in this weather, especially when it's rather wintery, like it is just now.
I also usually make cake for my team, this week it was caramel shortbread, which I love, as does my whole team.
Hopefully going back to airsoft will encourage me to make more stuff.

I made Leek, Potato & Onion soup

Recipe

4 Leeks
4 Large Potatoes (dice small)
1 Medium onion - chopped finely
Knob of butter
1 1/2 pints chicken/vegetable stock
10fl Oz Milk
Large Pot

Take the outer layer off your leek
chop through the middle
chop them finely
peel and dice potatoes
chop onion finely
Put potatoes, onions and leeks in pot with a bit of butter
coat them all in the butter
sweat the vegetables for 15 mins
add the stock & Milk and simmer until the vegetables are soft
once soft, leave to cool and blend
put back in pot and season to taste, soup, sorted

I also made wholemeal seed & Grain bread,

Recipe

650g seed and grain flour
10g/2tsp salt
10g/2tsp sugar
15g butter or 15ml vegetable oil
15g/1tbsp dried active yeast (you can use normal yeast and if so recipe is a little different)

In a bowl rub the flour, salt and 1tsp sugar in the bowl
in a jug 100ml cold water, 50ml hot water, and 1tbsp of the yeast
stir and leave in a warm place until it has 2cm of froth
add the yeast mix when it's ready with 1tsp of sugar
add more hot water until your bread is a nice dough
take out bowl, onto well floured surface
knead for 10mins or until elastic and smooth
put it in a bowl and cover with a damp teatowel/clingfilm (if using cling film, coat with oil)
put bread in a warm place for about 30 mins or until double the size
take bread out, put into loaf tins and into the oven at 230oC/Gas mark 8
bake for around 30 mins
take bread out and tap hard to check if it sounds hollow, if not put back in oven without the tin and test until it sounds hollow
YUM!

last but not least I made cake

Recipe (final one, promise...)

Ingredients (Biscuit Base):
8oz (200g) plain flour
6oz (150g) margarine
30z (75g) caster ugar

Ingredients (Filling):
2oz (25g) margarine
2oz (25g) soft brown sugar
A large tin of condensed milk

Rub the margarine and flour together in a bowl until you have a mix which is similar to breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Spread the mixture evenly into a 9" (23cm) square tin which has been lined with baking parchment. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170C/340F (160C/320F if fan assisted) for approximately 35 minutes until it is golden brown. Allow the base to cool.
Heat the filling ingredients together in a pot, making sure that you stir it constantly (otherwise it will stick!) until it begins to simmer. Continue stitting until it thickens (which it should do in a few minutes). Spread the filling evenly over the base and again allow to cool.
Melt the chocolate so that you can spread it over the filling.
When it has cooled and you are ready to eat it, cut up into squares or rectangles with a sharp knife.

finally I made myself a peg bag, as I got sick fed up of having my pegs being in a plastic bag
simply just sewed up one of Rachel's old nightgowns at the bottom and added a coat hanger
TADA

women in the media

2009-11-27T03:15:00.000-08:00

I've been pondering lately about women in the media, I personally am sick fed up of hearing how models are shopped to perfection. Removing every blemish on their body to make them spot free, cellulite free, wrinkle free, fat free and the perfect shape, skin colour and glow.

Now, I for one do not require to be anything like these size zero perfect women, who at the end of the day are nothing but false.

From Loreal advertising for making your hair "better", to mascara adverts, to nail polish, eye liner, shoes. Most of the advertising for women is falsified with beauty.

I like the dove adverts, were natural women are promoted, regardless of their shape, age, hair colour, size of their arse.

Big can be beautiful as can slim, be who you want to be not who you are required to be by the media, your mascara isn't going to miraculously make your eyelashes the same as the models. Why? because she has false ones in. You don't - well you might, but if you don't you have no chance.

Embrace yourself, tell closer, heat, more to shove it.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paisley-United-Kingdom/ban-photoshopped-models-in-magazines/217476073573?v=wall

simple food, simple pleasures

2009-11-05T00:15:00.001-08:00

This time - no photos. I can hear you all crying from here ;)

I made gnocchi with soured cream, garlic & herb sauce. I'm still not 100% keen on the flavours of the sauce yet, I feel like there's something missing which I can't quite put my finger on.

Anyway, since I wasn't keen on it, i decided to make something simple, which I love.

Boiled egg, soft boiled with toast soldiers.

It was epic

I recommend this

It's all political

2009-10-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not very politically minded, but I thought I would give this a bash.

I'm going to post about the dispute going on between communication workers union and Royal Mail

I know this story from both sides, so I will do my best to lay out both sides.

From a union perspective, being an ex trade union rep myself, I wholey understand why they are striking, but I can't understand why CWU aren't advertising the reason to the public, to make them more aware of the plight of the postie (as it where).

Royal mail have, in recent years, taken the 2nd class post away, meaning more work for less post men, rounds have been lengthened, they are now expected to do twice the work for the same amount of pay. A situation which I am sure is prominent in many a workplace, although most of these workplaces don't involve the adverse weather conditions and mood of Joe Public to deal with.

CWU are basically striking to ensure that the postmen are getting fair pay for working more hours, for the same money and to help modernisation along without the loss of jobs. This would result in more hours needing worked by the less postmen, not exactly a fair deal, is it??

Now, for the flip side, the other side of the coin. Who is the strike affecting?

Well, it's affecting...Joe Public, small businesses like

This Charming Girl

This website is run by Jackie, her business is being affected as the mail isn't being delivered, either by royal mail standard or recorded delivery, leaving her at a loss as to what to do.

The obvious option is courier, this is an expensive option for her and many other small business people, meaning that if this strike doesn't pick up, it could affect how their business ends up.

For this reason I'm inm turmoil, I understand why their striking but seeing how its affecting myself and many other people along with small and possibly large business people.

I'm staying on the fence.

Turns out, this wasn't political at all!

Mince, Potatos and doughballs

2009-10-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Firstly apologise for the rubbish photos, im using the one built into my laptop, will try and resolve that ASAP!!!

Tonight I am making mince potatos and doughballs, something my mum used to make me when I was a kid, and its tasty, filling and not very time consuming.

Hence my love, will be less picture heavy tonight but here goes

you will need:

Mince (dur!)

any vegetables you wish to add to your mince

gravy granules (I love bisto, I know, corporate whore here..)

Baking soda

self rasing flour

cup of milk

cup of water

Brown your mince in a huge pot (I use a pressure cooker for extra yumminess)

I drain off any grease, dependant on mince quality and then add gravy to it, let it simmer and today I added some carrots through my mince, because I was far too lazy to make them seperatlely.

Now, to make doughballs, something my mum loves, they end up fluffy and soft, they're very filling and I'd recommend them, especially with Mince!!!!

so, now how to make doughballs

one mug of flour into a bowl (for approx 4/5 small doughballs)

1/2 teaspoon of bicard/baking soda (so your doughballs rise)

some milk and water

stir milk and water in equal amounts, so for every spoon of water you want one spoon of milk, until there is no dry flour left in the bottom of the bowl, your mix shouldnt be too sticky though.

flour your counter, to roll your balls on

they should be covered in flour totally now, not be sticky anywhere

add them to your pot of mince

when you cut them open they should look quite fluffy inside - it was really difficult to show how fluffy they are.

Hope you enjoy!

Chicken Balmoral

2009-10-21T09:32:00.001-07:00

Tonight I made chicken balmoral for myself, my boyfriend and my daughter.

I love this, tis very tasty and doesn't require any real effort (in my opinion but I love cooking)

you will need:

1/2 chicken breasts each

some haggis

whisky (blended is fine...)

100ml double cream

250ml chicken stock

pre heated oven to 200 degrees

firstly get your chicken (i know obvious...:))

then put a nice wee slice in it (you can see the haggis next to it)

add haggis into middle

fold up, wrap in tinfoil and cook for approx 30 mins -dependant on the size of your breast (I'm paranoid that my chicken will be undercooked!)

to make whisky sauce

250ml or so of chicken stock

2 tablespoons of whisky (this is my good stuff, as i had no blended left!)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 knob of butter
100ml double cream

Blended whisky works fine for this, though that's the only reason I'd have it in my house. And the mustard really does have to be dijon mustard, other types just don't come out as well.

How to do it:
Mix the whisky in a pan with the stock, and bring to the boil.
Reduce by half.
Add the cream and the mustard, and stir while you do so.
Finally, add the butter to thicken the sauce and serve over whatever you're eating it with.

so, simmer your sauce away, and take your chicken out and serve

chicken on plate, with no veg/sauce

add sauce

this was for my daughter

she's only 5 so, its not as whisky tasting or thick as it should be, i'll make more and thicken it up later :)

expect more pictures!

Intro

2009-10-21T08:34:00.001-07:00

I'm Julie, I'm 27, I cook, craft (when I have time...) and I'm a trainee mechanic.

I'm mostly offline, dealing with my daughter who is 5, well, 6 soon. I have 2 cats a dog and a vw golf.

You're going to get posts about clothes, cars, cooking and airsoft.

I'm hoping a blog will encourage me to be more crafty and creative so heres hoping.