Chocolate Beetroot Cake

We have finally found a way to get Ben to eat beetroot.

Not entirely sure it is that healthy though !

But it is yummy !!!

Here is the recipe we use.

KERRANG !

Ben has just been to a concert at the UEA (University of East Anglia) - he went on his own as either his friends weren't yet 14 or they weren't into that type of music (don't ask me what type of music it is !!)

He really enjoyed himself - so I guess it wont be the last concert he goes to.

A Wintery Walk At Blickling Hall

Today was a beautiful crisp wintery day - so we drove to Blickling Hall (claimed birthplace of Anne Boleyn) and had a walk around the lake and finished off in the coffee shop for drinks and cake !

There are some amazingly large trees in the grounds.

This is Ben standing next to a tree !

It had been so cold that a large part of the lake surface was frozen - so Julian & Ben spent ages throwing stones over the top to see how far they would skim and how big a hole they could make - BOYS !

When we got back to the car, a robin came and sat on the wing mirror waiting to have it's photo taken.

Our Christmas Present

We have decided that we are going to keep some chickens in our garden for egg laying. So just after Christmas we went onto eBay and bought a chicken house & run.

Julian has spent a few hours today putting it all together in our dining room - all the time I kept asking if it would fit through the back door - THANK GOODNESS IT DID !!

We have also chosen which chickens we would like but they are out of stock at the moment - so figures crossed it wont be too long before they arrive.

Here is their new house :-

Happy New Year !

We had Julian's sister Nicola & her husband Peter round last night for a meal - it was lovely to see them. We don't see enough of them and they don't live very far away - but we all live very busy lives and time just flies by so quickly.

Ben's ipod nano recently broke - he took it on a Scout group hike (Don't ask me why !!), and someone dropped it in a puddle. I took it to a local shop to see if it could be repaired, but sadly no.

So on Monday this week we went onto Amazon and ordered a new ipod classic, with a staggering 120GB memory !!!!! Ben paid for it with his christmas money and his wages from his after school job.

Anyway it arrived yesterday while Ben was out, so I put it away because I knew if I gave it to him before Nicola & Peter arrived we wouldn't see him all evening.

So this morning I went through to his bedroom to tell him it had arrived -

but I had to fight my way through this :-

Then I had to wake him !! Isn't he cute ?

I think he was very pleased with it !

Fish & Chips at the seaside - Yum Yum

My Dad and Sylvia came down on Sunday for a few days - it was lovely to see them again.

We introduced them to the Wii and had them playing ten pin bowling, golf & baseball - they said they might buy one when they return home ! I was chatting to my friend Denys the other day and she said her parents have got one and when they get together with her children they can't get any of them off the Wii - and the grandparents are the worst !

Today the weather was dry and bright so we decided to wrap up warm and go to Cromer on the north Norfolk coast for a walk and a blow. Quite alot of other people had the same idea - so by the time we wanted some fish and chips for lunch the queue at the shop was very long !!

Christmas Day

Our Tree

Ben helping Sam open his presents

And the tradtional wearing of cracker hats !

Sam's never stays in one piece for more than 30 seconds !

Even Phoebe enjoys Christmas !

Ice Sculptures

Today was not the best day to be trailing through Norwich city centre on the 4th annual Ice Sculpture as it was very mild and the sculptures were rapidly melting in front of our eyes.

As usual Ben didn't feel this would be an exciting use of his time, so he stayed in bed (after all he is a teenager !) Had he come with us he could have visited his favourite stall on Norwich Market, where he spends most of his hard earned money !

This is the first time I have been on the trail and it was very interesting - here are some of the sculptures that we saw :-

The Friar

The City Dweller

The Dragon

The Church & State

And my favourite - Norwich Cathedral Spire

Sam's 12th Birthday

Molly & Layla's Christening

Molly is my neice ,Jason (my youngest brother) & Amy's daughter and Layla is Molly's cousin.


I went up to Glossop in Derbyshire on Friday on my own, as luckily Sam had a respite weekend, and as Norwich were playing Ipswich (our local derby) on the Sunday neither Ben or Julian wanted to miss the match. (The christening had been postponed by one week already because it clashed with the Manchester United/City derby !)

I stayed at my Dad's and we went out for an indian meal on the Saturday evening with my Dad and Sylvia, my middle brother Alex and his partner Helen, my Dad's best friend Michael and my mum.

Sunday morning we all met at the Methodist Church in Glossop and joined the Brownies and Guides for their toy service and Molly & Layla were christened. They both wore matching outfits and were really well behaved. Molly was waving at everybody.

Molly with her favourite rabbit blanket

Proud parents Jason & Amy

After the service we all went over to Hadfield for a buffet. It was lovely to see most of my family all together. My oldest brother Greg only made it to the church as he was feeling quite poorly (something had disagreed with him !)

In the evening I went over to Jason & Amy's new house where Molly & Layla opened all their lovely presents.

A GREAT DAY - topped off with a beautiful sunset over Hadfield.

Blu Tac Art

Ben's school friends Rosa, Lauren & Fiona popped round today after school and produced a piece of art work on Ben's bedroom wall just by his pillow !!

It Snowed Today

Some photos out of our front window :-

Ben Is Poorly

Ben very rarely has a day off school through illness. But this morning he woke up with a stinking cold. So he stay in bed for a while then got up and had a duvet day.


Being a sweet, kind mummy I made him a lovely hot bowl of porridge with strawberry jam.

Ben's 14th Birthday

It's Ben's birthday today - 14 years ago he was a 7lb baby, today he is a 5ft 6 long haired teenager - but we still love him !

Birthday tea was Ben's choice - Gammon, Chips & Fried Egg - Yum Yum

Sorry no photos of the day

Feeding Time In Our Back Garden !