Gingerbread Travels - Februar 2021

Making The Most Of It

They’re on their way, we’ve decorated rooms, made routines and schedules.  We divvied up jobs and made plans.  We have decided to spend as much time together as possible.  We have been going out and having fun.  We decided to visit a place that keep popping up on my Instagram, it’s nearby to where the boys currently live, we laughed about each noisy boy being one of them but we didn’t actually know about them.  We found the area and as well as a lovely Japanese Garden, it has a reservoir walk, treetop trail and lots of moorland.  We will be back with the boys.

Gingerbread Life - Februar 2021

Now We Wait

Wondering which one we will use...  I’m Team Cot (early years), The Ginger One is Team Bed (big ones), we’ve been approved for 0-18 with a preference for under 10’s.  One of us will be in their comfort zone but both will be happy.

After weeks of waiting, being tossed around (emotionally) by social workers, being considered for a 4 year old and a 1 year old sibling group, a 1/3/7 sibling group, we have been matched.  The duvet needs to be washed and ironed, the frames need some artwork, we might even paint the wall but from next week this bed and it’s matching neighbour will be home to two boys 8 & 9.  

What do 8 and 9 year old boys do?  My experience is in The Early Years (3-5) I can’t remember the last time I even spoke to a 9 year old, never mind carer and lived with one or two. 

Nervous - ✅

Scared - ✅

Excited - ✅

Looking forward to new adventures - ✅

Gingerbread Haus - Februar 2021

We don’t do Valentine’s Day.

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt. – Charles M. Schulz

I hope the Ginger One appreciates how much effort I put in to NOT doing Valentines Day. This will be the last one we spend just the two of us, for now anyway.

Gingerbread Familia - Februar 2021

Golden Wedding

These two amazeball humans (who have raised a legend and her brother) are celebrating 50 years of wedded bliss. They’ve had ups and downs (haven’t we all) but are the strongest couple I know.  GO and I were talking marriage and acknowledged that it isn’t always easy, we’ve had our own rough patches (we can’t remember them but we must have had them) however, it did get me thinking that if these two have had their own “bad times” then they kept it very well hidden because I can’t think of anything.  Don’t get me wrong they fight like cat and dragon (she’s no puppy dog) but always make up and carry on as usual.  They truly are #couplegoals so let me take this opportunity to congratulate you and as Ulrike in Ohio said “it’s lovely to see the ageing on your faces together” cheeky mare, don’t know what she means you look fresh as a daisy.

Gingerbread Haus - January 2021

We are trying to make the most of the time we have left as a couple.  The next few weeks and months will be hard adjusting to a new normal, what ever that will be.  We hope we are up to the challenge, I’d like to think we are but in the mean time let’s celebrate Burn’s Night.  We planned a three course meal; Scottish muscles for starters, Haggis, carrots and mash for mains and raspberry roulade for dessert.  All washed down with a yummy Speyside Single Malt Whisky.  To get it on the theme we have started watching Outlander, which has been great.  I do love a man in a kilt.

Gingerbread Familia - January 2021

Life as we know it is about to change, I got a call at work regarding a sibling group of three 1, 4, 7 (boy, girl, and boy).  I am not going to lie I got really excited, I started making plans I bought bits and pieces.  We started to decorate the room, we moved some furniture had a “boy” room and a “little kids” room.  GO found a pram and a friend donated clothes and toys.  We had our approval changed from a sibling group of two to three.  Then we got the call Lancashire had chosen another couple who they knew well. So now we wait again, this is such a hard process.

Gingerbread Travel - January 2021

Snow just makes everything look lovely, I expected a few little flurries and was delighted to wake up to a full on dump (sorry couldn’t think of another word), we made the most of it.  

We decided to go to the park, a quick there and back, twenty minutes tops.  We got chatting to a neighbour who suggested visiting a nearby wood.  Two miles and the most amazing views later we’ve started our 1000 miles countdown, two hours outside and 200m ascent.  We were all snowed out. 

Gingerbread Life - January 2021

Here we go again back to rotas, not leaving the house and watching daily government briefings.  The difference this time is that there is a vaccine there could be and end to this.  As I am now working towards leaving my role in school has become more transient, I have worked in nursery, reception and year one.  I have have developed, made and delivered workpacks for EYFS and have taught live lessons (maths, English, phonics and topic) for year one and reception.  I have hated every second of it.  When in school I have taught a group of 13/14 (nursery and reception) children in the morning and then the afternoons have been 2/3 children.  

The mornings go quite quickly but the afternoons drag like a dog with worms.  We “made” snowmen when I looked at the clock it had only been twenty minutes.  The lady working with me said as we finished up “what a lovely activity, we’ve had such a nice afternoon.”  My response was “Mrs P it’s only 1.30pm!”  

Gingerbread Life - Dezember 2020

Festive Food

Is it just me or is the food around Christmas the best all year?  Is it the combination of cinnamon and vanilla or the fact that we allow ourselves to become gluttons?

Part way through the pandemic we began meal planning.  In all honesty food was really all we had to look forward to.  From deciding what to eat, acquiring the food (which has actually become dangerous) from supermarkets or deliveries, to spending time (some time hours) cooking it, then devouring it in seconds.  Food really has been the highlight of the year.

When we realised that we wouldn’t be able to spend Christmas with Mamilein and Papichen in Deutschland we decided to hunker down and just spend the festive season together.  We didn’t break our bubble we didn’t see anyone or go anywhere but we did want it to be special.  So GO began planning the big meal himself, he has never been a fan of whole turkeys as they can be quite dry.  He wouldn’t tell me what he was planning but did mention that he was thinking of ham (doesn’t he always?).

My job was Christmas Eve and I knew I didn’t want anything too heavy or fussy but I did want something festive.  Christmas is always such a meat feast and often brings on heartburn and indigestion.  I wanted some kind of fish dish but didn’t know any.  As luck would have it one morning, I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a  Recipe Tin recipe for baked festive salmon.  It was easy, light and with all of the fruit and herbs looked extremely Christmassy.

I also planned our breakfast, having spotted a recipe for a French toast casserole on Pinterest years ago, it struck me as a yummy thing to have on Christmas morning.  Ma and Pa have very set ideas about breakfast it’s either a feast (fry up) or famine (toast) and never anything else.  I knew that if/when I was in charge of Christmas I would have the casserole on Christmas morning.  We have lots of fruit (berries, grapes and oranges) and yoghurt to dress it and it was yummy.  It was really easy to make, I just can’t find the recipe again.  I will hunt it out one day to make again I’m sure... 

We decided that as our breakfast had been so filling we would have our big meal in the evening.  I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the kitchen GO had everything under control.  He had ordered a “box” from Pappy’s BBQ which had a smoked ham and Turkey crown for four, stuffing, gravy and deserts.  He cooked it all along with some vegetables and without much fuss we had a delicious Christmas dinner. It was a lovely meal and for days/weeks after I could smell the smokiness of the ham and turkey.  It has permeated into the pots, pans and microwave and no amount of cleaning got rid of it.  It wasn’t bad, it’s just smoky porridge isn’t a thing for a reason.

Boxing Day/Zweite Weihnachts Tag is a day for laziness, long walks, movies and reheated leftovers.  As the BBQ turkey was meant to serve four people we had two meals leftover.  We also had some smallish baking trays left so we portioned up the food into two trays reheated them, added gravy and had two Christmas tray meals to enjoy on the sofa.  It was yummy and it went a little way to easing the guilt I felt for taking GO on a walk that ended up with him slipping in the mud, it wasn’t funny, it really wasn’t....

Betwixtmas for me is just full of festive snacks and boxes of chocolate.  I love sitting down on the sofa and drinking coffee out of a lovely cup and not a travel mug.  We had lots of “picky” teas and cheese boards so could both relax as no one needed to cook anything.

I had big plans for New Year’s Eve, we were going to have a Raclette with a selection of meat and veg.  We had chilled the Bucks Fizz and got our selves all glammed up and as we sat neither of us could be bothered to set up the Raclette, so we had the most German meal ever; Bratwurst, Brat Kartoffeln  and Sauerkraut.  It wasn’t what we had planned but it was quick, easy and tasty and filled a hole.

Recipe Tin recipe - www.recipetineats.com/christmas-baked-salmon

Gingerbread Travel - Dezember 2020 🎄🎅🏼🎄

We haven’t been anywhere (apart from work as key workers) so I thought I’d share some of the ornaments that we have purchased on our travels over the years.  I love that our tree is full of memories, it truly is a tree of remembrance, of trips and milestones.  It has souvenirs of places we have visited (Las Vegas, Canada, Edinburgh, Berlin), homes we have shared (Oxford, Manchester, Lancashire) and milestones we want to hold dear.