Category: Children

It’s so easy to make and a great way of using up a glut of onions. Mind you, grilling cheese on the top with croutons can get a bit messy, so my take is to just serve the soup with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side. The old Breville sandwich maker died a few years ago, so I returned to the traditional way of constructing the sandwich in a dry frying pan. Bread, butter side down. Add your grated cheddar, bread butter side up. Turn with a spatula and brown on the other side, now butter side down! I hope that made sense.

I won’t list ingredients, but thinly slice several large onions and sauté in a little oil until browned and soft. Dissolve three or four beef stock cubes (I favour Knorr) in about a pint and a half of boiling water and add to your pot. Depending on your caramelisation, add a small splash of gravy browning. Salt and pepper to taste and a further 10 minutes of simmering. I always add two or three teaspoons of marmite to mine – completely optional!

John has been asking for this French classic for a couple of days now! Lunchtime bliss. The children love soup also, but only because we introduced it into their menu early on. They can be so fickle can’t they? Bon appetite.

I have not actually read a book in ages. I suppose I am so used to reading what I write in the edit, the perpetual re-read actually puts me off a bit! Is that daft? I love that word ‘daft’ it’s a bit like the word ‘drat’, seldom used nowadays! ‘ That dratted man’, just has a certain ring to it. Why not think of a sentence that you could use it in? Drat or indeed dratted, maybe time for a reintroduction, don’t you agree?

Okay, I have been reading at my PC both yesterday and today! Yes, a book that I am planning on reviewing for a fellow tweeter! He is reciprocating for me by reading and reviewing ‘ Eighteen Moons’ on Amazon. His title is ‘The Clouds Still Hang’ and the author is Patrick C Notchtree. I will let you know how that goes? It is an engrossing read and at present he is giving it away for free on ‘Smashwords.com’.

Do you have a book on Amazon that you would like me to review? If so, a mutual swap of mobi files might work for both of us?

Anyhow, John was so impressed with me that he also picked up a Grisham novel from the bookshelves and is presently reading, oblivious to the world! All of the children are self entertaining today with their Fire 7’s.

Dinner time for them. Penne bolognese cooked earlier today, with Daddy and Dadda’s portion being converted into chilli con carne for tonight’s dinner! Yum.

Moules et Frits with garlic mayonnaise. Enough said really! Definitely on Dadda’s top ten list!

All quiet now. A slightly screamy bedtime manoeuvre. Aaliyah wandered down a little later, as she has done these last 4 nights or so! Just to affirm to daddy that they are the best of friends and that his iPad in in fact his and hers!

Remus has been hiding in Daddy and Dadda’s bedroom these last hours. It seemed odd to have Gracie alone doing the evening garden run tonight! She did a lot of nasal sniffing when she returned from doing her ablutions, as Remus normally does! I reckon that in his absence, she rather fancies herself as ‘Top Dog’! Well, for tonight at least – bless!!! Goodnight!

Thank you to the Michigan Mama for her bucket list of yesterday! One of her items listed was ‘Dance Party’! And I figured, why not have an impromptu party. Some balloons in the cupboard and fancy dress in their bedrooms!

We have run out of bread, but I have raided the freezer and cupboards to come up with some last minute party food. ‘Hey Google’ all set. And do forgive my singing, I know it’s not the best!

We haven’t been pushing the homeschooling so much this week in respect to the Easter Holidays, but these last days have all seemed a little samey, haven’t they? I know, we are all in this together! However today, the use of the words ‘Groundhog Day’ just made it into our family vocabulary! I have avoided them thus far. But on the counter attack, I feel that we really must try to do something new each and every day to combat repetition!

With screen time dominating events indoors, the garden has been a well appreciated diversion. Very overcast weather today, though warm enough to allow for a couple of excursions like ‘The Teddy Bus’ on the terrace. We played a little music on the lawn earlier on the lithium battery powered Bluetooth amp/speaker (no flex). We often play 1960’s music for the children. It just seems a lot more innocent! Cass Elliot, Own Kind of Music – Respect! Anyhow, Tara had me in stitches running around with the mobile speaker trailing behind her, Caleb chasing after her desperately trying to catch her yelping with his well practiced, high pitched squeak. The speaker is like a suitcase really, wheels and an extendable handle. Sadly I was playing the music via my phone so taking a video was just not possible! Maybe I’ll ask Tara to do the same another day and I will use another device to record the event! Though perhaps that would be a little too staged!

On the subject of smiles, Daddy and Thor also raised a couple earlier! Daddy asked Amritsar and Thor to name 10 adverbs! A little beyond even Amritsar’s understanding at present. ‘But what is an adverb’ Amritsar implores!!! Thor pipes up ‘it’s the bits between the telly programs Amritsar’! Clever Thor.

The fairy is called Genie and she is very happy tonight as Amritsar has yielded yet another tooth for her privilege. A one pound fifty gift has been bestowed upon a unsuspecting little girl in tomorrow morning’s fairy mail.

You couldn’t make this up! Oh, we do don’t we!