I did a spot of baking this weekend after a busy week at work. I find it quite relaxing (as long as the recipe is simple!)
I made a Banoffee pie for a family BBQ (Link to my blog post recipe here ) & a banana bread cake. This one is for my mum. I had plenty of left over, very ripe bananas!
I love documenting what we get up to in the Summer holidays.
Though thanks to Covid we didnt actually have a Summer ‘holiday’, I also didn’t have to work this Summer, so I had all six weeks to enjoy, have fun and relax ready for Sept!
So, without further ado, let’s have a look at what we got up to…
Its day 38 of social distancing for me and another 3 weeks of lockdown has been announced.
That being so, I thought I would share a few of my ‘Lockdown’ faves that have been keeping me going and keeping me sane during this crazy time.
I’m not posting these to show off all the lovely things I’ve been doing, trust me there have been plenty of very unproductive days too.
Lets take a look!
Books, Books,Books
This is my ultimate, favourite hobby anyway but it is so nice to have the time to finally indulge in it. I do a reading challenge on my blog anyway and my aim is to read two books a month… I read two books last week… and I got so stuck into them I couldn’t put them down.
I know this is such a luxury, especially without having dependents, I have lot more time for me, but I’m taking full advantage because we are unlikely (fingers crossed) to be in a similar situation again.
Plus, I get alot of enjoyment out of immersing myself into stories, its a great way for me to relax, feel happy and less anxious about the current COVID situation.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
I entirelly blame my friend Dan for this new obsession haha!
I was always a Harvest Moon gal, back in the day, and I loved playing that on my DS, so, whenever Animal crossing came out I never got it as they are quite similar games.
We’ve had a Switch for a little while and lockdown was the perfect time to get stuck into a game like Animal Crossing, and I have to say, I am really enjoying it. Its right up my street and its really getting me through the long days.
Plus, there’s a nice little community and me and my friend Dan have been playing together which is really nice when you are so disconnected (physically) from everybody at the moment.
TV
I have been re-watching Glee since it came onto Netflix in Oct/Nov time but I am very thankful for its familiarity and awesomeness right now. Its nice to be able to just pop it on and watch and enjoy something without having to think too much about it. The same goes for Friends too. I have also really been enjoying Disney + which we got at the start of lockdown, as well as Jamie’s ‘Keep calm and cook’ on program on channel 4. TV is probably one of the things I have been using the least but its great to have a few firm favourites to pop on if needed.
Learning Guitar
As part of my ‘Things I want to learn before I’m 30’ย I started to learn to play the guitar just before Christmas. I didn’t really have the time to properly do it then so it was a bit of a non starter, However, since I started social distancing I have been able to focus on it and have made lots of progress so far.
My brother in Law showed me a subscription website that does online guitar lessons (Fender Play) and it is really good. I feel like I’m learning so much and really understanding the basics, creating a good basis to really learn the guitar.
I’m trying to take my time and enjoy the learningย aspect of it as I often get a bit impatient and skip ahead. I’ve got plenty of time anyway!!
I’ve enjoyed learning guitar tab in my last few lessons and have been learning the Harry Potter theme tune (Of course!) as well as nursery rhymes to play for my nephews.
Enjoying the little things
Although this situation is less than ideal it is nice that the extra time and the restrictions have given way to a appreciation of the little things. Taking 5 minutes to sit and be calm, sitting in the sunshine and fresh air, journaling, listening to a podcast, having a relaxing bath…
ย We are often rushing through our days soย being forced to slow down has really made me appreciate and enjoy them and they have become a great source of comfort and wellness in this strange time.
Yeah, we can do all of these things normally but maybe we will remember how they made us feel in lockdown and this will bring extra appreciation and comfort to them once we are back to ‘normal’ life.
I for one have enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air in particular… Being in a flat means we are stuck inside so I am really enjoying having the double doors ,in our lounge, the fresh air rolling in with the sunshine, at midday feels lovely.
Quizzes
At the start of the social distancing time it was my brother in laws birthday so we did a family skype quiz, which I wrote.
Since then we have made it our little Friday night activity, we take it in turns to write the quiz and the winners and/or losers choose a category for the nextย weeks quiz.
This has been really fun and its so nice to see all the fam.
Me and my twin sister Sarah have also been doing some online quizzes that people have been posting online and Youtube. We have done a couple of Harry Potter ones, a Disney one and a Gavin & Stacey one.
I’ve always loved a quiz so I’m quite enjoying all of these being available.
Video chats
What would we do if this wasn’t an option!! These have been a god send.
Its so nice to still be able to see peoples faces and chat! We are so lucky that there are so many different platforms to do this on too, I mean before this I only ever did the odd Whatsapp video call! Now its all skype, Zoom, Facebook, Houseparty and Whatsapp! Its all going on, but it is definaltyย the thing keeping me sane the most.
As I am a Learning support assistant in a Primary school (Reception) I have been doing phonics lessons for my nephews via Skype so that has been nice, I feel like I am helping them and I really miss my job so its nice to have that each morning.
Baking
I love baking so I am enjoying having a bit more time to just do some random baking if the fancy takes me. Usually its for an occasion so its more time pressured, so its nice to just be able to enjoy it.
Thank goodness there is lots of extra exercise content available otherwise Im sure my waistline wouldnt be enjoying it all haha.
So far I have made Two banana breads, double choc chip cookies, chocolate orange cookies and mini cheese scones! YUM!
Craft
I’ve always enjoyed crafting anway but obviously now that I have a bit of extra time I can do a few projects.
I have started making cards again recently and I am trying to make a big batch so that when I can actually start giving them/posting them again, I have a load ready to go.
I was thinking about co ordinating with mt birthday book to sort out how many I need for each month and then maybe make a few extras too.
I also bought a little scrapbooking project for me and Tim to do, on our wedding anniversary in June, as I pretty sure this will still be going on then!
I’m going to do a post on this so keep your eyes peeled for that. Its a really cute idea and I thought it would be nice to have something to do together. We have loads of random photos and bits and bobs from when we were dating.
We usually go away for our anniversary whether that be on the day or the nearest weekend so I thought it would be nice to still have something special to do, to mark the occasion.
Extra content
As I said , I am loving all the quizzes online, but also there is loads of extra content on online platforms too. PE with Joe Wicks, Cooking with Jamie Oliver, Instagram lives, video interviews, workouts, online parties, just loads of fun extra things that you can do whilst staying at home. Its been great!
Podcasts are amazng too. Any fellow Gleeks out there, check out Kevin & Jenna’s Showmance Podcast Glee Recap Edition. They are still putting them out remotely so these have been great to listen to each week.
I hope you had a nice weekend, it probably wasn’t the weekend we all planned or thought it would be.
So, we actually have a few traditions that we usually do at Easter but obviously this years a bit different (for now)
But, lets not dwell on what would have/should have been… So, what did we do to make the Easter weekend fun and what traditions did we manage to uphold in lockdown?!
Board games are a must!
We opted for LOTR Monopoly as we haven’t played it for a while and Monopoly is the Queen of board games, so it’s the perfect choice.
Plus, this one is great as you move the one ring along so you can either play a manageable length game or go the long haul.
We also got together on Good Friday night (on Skype) as we have been since this began, to do our weekly quiz night so that was good to get together that way.
Easter treats!
We also made the good old Easter tradition that is chocolate crispy cakes.
We made individual ones using shredded wheat, chocolate and Terry’s choc oranges mini eggs.
The large one was cornflakes, chocolate, cut up Creme eggs & lots of sprinkles.
Delicious!
Easter Sunday Breakfast ๐ฝ
As a family, on Easter Sunday we usually get together, exchange Easter eggs, do craft with the kids and have a chinese takeaway for dinner (I know, traditional Easter food ๐ but that’s just what we do, my Nana started it!)
Our Asda Chinese ‘Takeaway’
It was nice to play games together, just me and Tim, watch some TV and have a few treats. (Well, quite a few treats but it’s one weekend aye!)
Plus, I had a nice video/call from my niece and nephews so that was lovely as I am missing them alot and I love to spoil them on special occasions like this. But, most of all I just love to give them a big hug and have some fun with them!
Let’s hope we’ll all be together again soon!
How did you get through the isolation Easter weekend?
During this crazy time it’s so important to do what you can to stay calm, and this is so individual to you. Don’t worry what everybody else is doing.
& what a great opportunity to work on you, give yourself a bit of time. Give your home a bit of time, your kids some extra time… when does life every give us extra time!?
It may he scary but focus on what this time away, this distance could do for us and our families.
And just think how amazing all those little things we take for granted, will be when we can do them again!!
Maybe it will give us some perspective maybe we will enjoy all those mundane things a little bit more.
& remember to be kind to each other, help out where you can and spread some positivity during what is a very scary time, something we havnt (& hopefully never will again) experience in our life time.
๐ Social Distancing ๐
โKeep busy, work if you can โ
โกRead a book ๐
โBinge Netflix/Iplayer ๐ฅ
โกExercise ๐ช๐ป
โSelf care, nails, a nice hand cream, face mask, bath bomb ๐ง๐ผโโ๏ธ
So I haven’t done a recipe post for a while and what better way to start off a new year of baking than with these delights…
….chocolate orange cupcakes.I’ve used a BBC Good Food recipe because they always work out well for me.I slightly modified the recipe to make then orange as the recipe was for just plain chocolate cupcakes.Let’s take a look at the recipe. I’ll leave a link here and then you can see on the recipe below how I modified it.
โข100g Plain Flour
โข20g Cocoa Powder
โข140g Caster Sugar
โข1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
โข40g Inslated Butter
โข120ml milk
โข1 egg
โขOrange Extract
To decorate:
โขChocolate buttercream flavoured with melted chocolate orange or the orange extract.
โขChocolate orange segments
โขSprinkles
I hope you enjoyed this little recipe. Chocolate orange seems to be everywhere atm (I’m not complaining) so theres plenty of chocolate orange adornments to choose from.
I added sprinkles too because why not!!
I would usually use a piping bag but mine broke last time so I glhas to just spatula it on, so not quite a professional finish but so yummy.
This is where Christmas really starts. I definatly count this as one of the big ‘Christmas days’ inc Christmas day ans boxing day and any subsequent family Christmas days after these few days.
The day started off by having a Christmas Eve brunch with my sister and my niece Evie-Mae.
After brunch we had a look through Evies Christmas eve box…
