Reading Challenge - March Update

Hi! I have had a much better reading month than February and am feeling back on track with the old challenge. I've even gone through the barrier on the challenge I had set myself on GoodReads! I pledged 24 books this year and have already finished 25. I wonder if I can increase it...

This months book from The List was Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I've read a few of her books before and always enjoyed them but was slightly disappointed with this one. It started well enough, and I liked the flashback style of storytelling, but I was left thinking it could have been more than it was.

The story centres around Snowman, the lone survivor of a viral epidemic which wiped out humankind. He is living with a group of genetically engineered "Crakers" who he is sort of responsible for. 

The story sees Snowman set out to collect more supplies and along the way he tells you, via flashback, how the world became the way it is now and his role in it. I honestly found the flashbacks to be more interesting than the actual present story! And also the ending was a bit odd. It just felt as though it had more to be said but didn't have the space. 

Snowman spends all of the book collecting his supplies and explaining the back story and then when he gets back to the Crakers the story sort of ends. This is because the book is part of a trilogy (which I didn't at first realise) but I think books should be able to be read independently to their series and still feel complete. 

It didn't even feel like a cliffhanger, which I could accept.

Do I recommend it? Yes, I guess I do. I sort of want to read the next parts to see how the story progresses. But I think you probably need to already like Margaret Atwood or post-apocolyptic style novels in the first place. 

My full list of books read in March was:

1. Sew Step by Step by Alison Smith (8/3/14 - 8/3/14)
2. Stitch Step by Step by Maggi Gordon (8/3/14 - 8/3/14)
3. Bonjour, Blogger! by Hayley Constantine (10/3/14 - 11/3/14)
4. 12 Years A Slave by Solomon Northup (7/2/14 - 13/3/14) 
5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (14/3/14 - 17/3/14)
6. Knit Step by Step by Vikki Haffenden (17/3/14 - 17/3/14)
7. Crochet Step by Step by Sally Harding (17/3/14 -17/3/14)
8. Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood (1/3/14 - 18/3/14)
9. The Fault in our Stars by John Green (17/3/14 - 19/3/14)
10. Only One Way Out by Oliver Clarke (19/3/14 - 19/3/14)
11. Jack Pepper by Sarah Lean (19/3/14 - 23/3/14)

That last one was a book I read to madam at bedtime, but as I'd never read it before I counted it!

I have not managed to get through a Heyer book in this month, it's in progress at the moment. I'm about a third of the way through A Quiet Gentleman and enjoying it so far. I'm also still reading The Time Machine so those will both have to go onto next months list!

This might be a good thing as I have BIRTHDAY to look forward to and will hopefully be having a busy social life! I do have my book lined up and ready to start tomorrow... I'm really looking forward to this one, it has to be said :)

I have made a page dedicated to this challenge, so if you don't know what it's about or just want to catch up, it's at the top waiting for you to check it out! I also added in a new photo of me doing a reading! Hope you like it! 

This challenge was inspired by the Books Are Amazing posts on essbeevee.co.uk :)

Have you got any recommendations for me?

Love, Pearl.

Lifestyle - 20 Of My Good Points

Mothers Day! It’s here again. I have been given a lovely card and a pretty pot plant. I have given my mother a different pot plant and a teeny weeny box of Thornton’s chocolates. She told me not to, but I figure a box of 4 can’t be *that* bad. 

I have become very aware this year that not everyone has the same Mothers Day experience to me, so for that reason I shall move on. 

The other day on Twitter I saw a tweet go past asking for help with a bloggers post. It asked for ladies to name five things they liked about themselves.

OK ladies, I need help for a blog post. Can you list five (or more!) things you like about yourself? I can quote you anonymously #lbloggers
— Emma Farley (@EmsLF) March 27, 2014

I thought, sure. Easy. I tried to think of five things and found after I got past the first couple I really struggled. This struck me as troubling. I did think of my 5 things in the end but it made me realise how hard it is to really feel free to like things about you.

@EmsLF my eyes, my sense of humour, my determination, my risk-taking and my creativity. That was hard to think of! #lbloggers
— Pearl Sanguine (@p_gen_says) March 27, 2014

I’ve decided that I will attempt to think of another 15 to make it a list of 20. Emma wrote a full list of 40 things and I thought it was amazing. So, here are the things I’m proud of about myself, I'll start with the ones from that tweet above!

1. My eyes. Really, they may not work so great, but having spent years not really knowing what colour to describe them as in French lessons I have realised how pretty they are.

2. My sense of humour. This is really how I choose to look at the world. I like to see the funny side and I use humour as a defence when I'm uncomfortable. 

3. My determination. This does dessert me sometimes. But I usually do the things I want to do. No matter what. I have never been afraid to do something on my own if it means I get to do the thing I want to. I have flown to other countries where I don't speak the language but mostly I just go to the cinema! 

4. My risk-taking. I think this ties in with the determination thing. I will take a risk on things that others would may be be afraid to. No pain, no gain sort of a thing! (except heights, I'm terrified of heights)

5. My creativity. I love the fact I can create things from nothing to something that is either beautiful or useful and hopefully both!

Right, so on to the next 15 things... I had to wrack my brains pretty hard I can tell you!

6. My eye for detail. I am really good at spotting the little things. Sadly, this usually means I see the tiniest errors in things too! (not always my blog posts, even though I read them through several times!) It does mean I'm really good at spot-the-difference though :)

7. My vocabulary. I am one of those people with a love for words. I like to know where they come from and I love knowing the meaning of peoples names. Pearl, my chosen name, actually is the meaning of my real middle name (complex, huh!)

8. I'm well read. I know I'm on a reading quest at the moment, but I have actually read quite a lot already! Nothing in comparison to some of my friends or my mother, but certainly above the average amount.

9. I speak French quite well. I have always loved learning new languages and French was the first one I was taught at school. I also speak German, Greek and Igbo though none of those awfully well!

10. I am a good listener. I appreciate that I have actually been trained in listening skills, but I had an underlying ability to build upon. And I feel like people can talk to me if they ever want or need to.

11. My loyalty. I have always been a loyal friend and employee. Sometimes to my detriment in regards to working!

12. I make a mean Victoria sponge. Yup, I love baking and a good old fashioned Victoria sponge is my go to recipe. I add stuff to it and play around with it all the time. I also made a rather good chocolate beetroot cake once...

13. I'm quite tall. It annoys me a lot of the time, but generally speaking, being tall is better than never being able to reach the top shelf in the cupboards like my mum!

14. I am loved. It might seem a strange thing to put on this list,  which is supposed to be about my good points. But I think being loved shows me that I am a good person, even when I'm having a down day.

15. I am intelligent. I am conscious that when I put my mind to something I can move mountains. I tend to not let this show too often. Probably a leftover from never being pushed as a kid. But if I really want to, I can work it out. (but not long division, it's a bit of my brain that's missing!)

16. I know loads of useless information. Need someone to partner you on Pointless? I'm your girl! :)

17. I've never had a filling. Brilliant teeth, yup, totally have them! I did have a brace as a child, but that's corrective, not repair work!

18. I always look to the future. I don't dwell on the past. Sure, it affects my life, but I can't change it so lets keep pushing forwards.

19. I can make it on my own. This is a new development for me. Learnt through years of experience. I might feel lonely sometimes and I might wish I had a partner to share things with. But I don't *need* someone. In fact, I can be myself much more easily when I'm on my own!

20. I'm a good mother. I know, this should be the first thing on the list! But I genuinely didn't even think of it when I wrote those first 5 things. I think I place little thought into how my parenting is something I should be proud of, I spend so much time worrying I'm wrong. But I have a beautiful, happy, strong, intelligent, confident little girl. And she wouldn't be like that without me. So yeah, I'm a good mum. And I'm proud of that!

What are your good points? Please feel free to share...

Love, Pearl.

     

Lifestyle - My Week on Instagram #1

A week is a long time on social media. I have accounts all over the place and try and update them pretty regularly. I'm kind of out of love with Facebook nowadays, but I do still check it out because I have all my family on there. And we're all pretty spread out and hard to keep track of!

One that I love almost the most is Instagram. I add several photos a week there and thought it might be cool to do a quick round up of my week. So here goes:

1. Lego Fire Car and House

2. Twice Baked Quorn Chilli Jackets and Ranch Salad

3. Grape Hyacinths

4. A Cake That Went Wrong

5. Beautiful Daffodils at Madam's School

6. Chicken, Chorizo and Mushroom Risotto

7. Madam in the New Dressing Gown Her Nanna Made

It was hard to not repeat what was on the blog already, although the grape hyacinths snuck in again because I really love that shot! I really love the light in that photo of the daffodils. I had to kneel on a bank and shoot up the hill to get it. There were no strange looks from the other parents. Oh no. And as you can see I photographed a lot of the things I ate too! 

Oh, and yes, madam is doing great posing/duck face in that shot. She made me take it three times until she was happy. Not for nothing is she known as madam!

What have you been up to this week?

Love, Pearl.

Lifestyle - Honeysuckle Farm, Hornsea

I have taken some more photos of Spring flowers to add to my collection of signs of spring, but I shall restrain myself for today as there were loads to add to this post already! (I collaged them to save space!) 

Yesterday (26/3) madam's school was closed due to the teacher's strike. So we decided to take advantage of the situation and go and visit our local farm. This is one of our favourite days out and we try and go a couple of times during their short opening season. 

They opened this weekend just gone (22/3) and they will close on the last day of the school summer holidays. Meaning madam cannot have her birthday party there no matter how much she wants to! Anyhow, we had avoided opening day as we thought it would be stupidly busy and had planned a visit this weekend coming. Having to find something to do on Weds led to a rather easy choice. 

We decided that we would try and make it in time to see the milking demonstration. This is at 1.30 and we don't usually make it in time! This is cause we usually go after lunch. Madam and I petitioned to be allowed to have a picnic this time and this meant we set off early enough to get there...

When we arrived we were impressed with the new entrance and layout of the milking area. Madam wriggled to the front and then ran away back to my dad as everyone shouted good afternoon to the dairy hand! She's a wimp with loud noises. The guy was really good, very informative and pitched it at the right level for the 5yr olds to understand what was going on. 

that's the Pearl parents getting their heads in all my photos!

The woman behind me that was surprised that cows needed to have a calf to provide milk made me rather depressed. She was a teacher... FFS! Also, the guy that asked why they only used female cows... (really. Really!)

After the milking demo we let madam loose in the barn to play on the hay bales, we also saw the rabbits, guinea pigs, kids and goats that live in there. We wandered round to see the pigs in their new enclosure which now has space for them to root. They were having a famous old time in there. 

Rabbits, pigs, madam taking it all in and the goats with their kids.

The red squirrel and the *massive* carp in the pond were all hiding out of the cold weather (don't blame them!). But what we came to see were the lambs. And there were loads of them, everywhere! So cute! We found a field with sheep who were still waiting to lamb and one of the farm hands explained that the different colours told you how many lambs they were having. Yellow for 1, Red for 2 and Orange for 3! 

So many sheep! 

The lambs once born all had matching numbers to their mothers and madam was rather thrilled to see a pair together! We did see lots of other things too. The calves and cows were in one field and horses in another. Everywhere there were beautiful primroses in bloom and we saw loads of frogspawn in the ponds. 

There weren't as many ducks as we've seen before, but many more chickens! Tommy the horse was pulling the cart for the rides and Tinkerbell was in the stalls getting her feet seen to by the farrier. I didn't get a photo of her though, sadly. 

Tommy in his finery, an all-over blue/green mallard, the herefords and madam in the car on the way home!

All in all we had a great time as usual and it's a fairly inexpensive day out. I think my dad paid £15.50 for all four of us. We will be back again at the end of the Summer to see how much everything has changed in those months. Madam would go every week if she could! There are loads of play areas dotted about and you can feed all the animals as you go round.

It's definitely a favourite place of ours, do you have anywhere you go all the time?

Love, Pearl.

   

Lifestyle - Spring is on it's way!

I am so happy that Spring seems to be finally getting itself in gear and getting going. It's pretty much my favourite season. I love the fresh colours and the way the start of the warmer weather and proper sunshine seems to put you in a good mood.

For some reason the arrival of the Spring flowers - daffodils in particular - makes me think of my friend V. Funnily enough, she says the same about me! This year the Spring is feeling extra especially wonderful as my garden is sorted and I can enjoy it properly! 

I'm loving the gorgeous flowers popping up all over the place as well. My parents garden is a fabulous riot of fresh greens, purples, whites and yellows. I was trying to get a decent photo of their Rosemary yesterday, but it wasn't having it! I did get that wonderful one of their Grape Hyacinths though :) 

actually, now that's enlarged a bit it's not too bad!

I've also been going a bit manic on Pinterest and have made several new boards including one for Spring & Easter as well as some dedicated to various colours! I've had a re-jig of my profile and everything, so do check it out and you can marvel at my random collection of things!

I do love a collection. I have been a bit of a collectaholic since I was small. The first thing I remember collecting was frogs. I had a little display shelf for them and everything. I have also had a collection of ladybirds that was mainly due to my friend L. 

I  can't remember how it started, but she used to get me ladybird themed gifts for all occasions :) It was cool. 

My most precious collection was always the one that my Grandma triggered when she gave me her porcelain doll, Peggy. Technically,  it should have gone to my older cousin, but she wasn't really as interested in dolls as I was. I used to buy myself a new doll every summer holiday when I was younger with the money I had saved up for ages. 

They were mainly all girls, but I have a beautiful little boy doll from Venice dressed in a little blue velvet outfit. He is the only one on display now. He sits in my parents den and supervises our computer use! The rest are packed away and never get seen. 

I would love to have them out again. They remind me of such happy days. I have nowhere to display them and a madam who I worry would break them. But I was given Peggy when I was smaller than she is now, so maybe I should have more faith in her. 

Peggy herself is pushing 100 years old, so perhaps I will leave her safe in the padded box my grandma made for me to keep her in. She is an Armand Marseille Dream Baby doll, they seem to be quite popular on ebay. I know some people find dolls spooky, but I love them! Never liked the ones that talk though...

Have you got any collections?

Oh, before I go, I uploaded that photo of my mum and I and I thought I would share it with you...

I was cute, right? And how 80's is this photo!

I do love this photo...

Love, Pearl.

Pearl's Pantry ~ Recipe 2: Cottage Pie

Hello! Time for another exciting installment in my recipe series :) Today I'm going to show you how I make Cottage Pie. Now, this is one of those dishes with an infinite number of variations. I like it this way, but you might not. Feel free to change ingredients as you wish.

Also, I cheated quite a lot with this version as I was doing it mid-week and madam and I just wanted fed. If I did it at the weekend I might make more of it from scratch.

To make Cottage Pie for 2/3 you will need:

200g Mince (I've used Quorn mince because it means you don't have to brown it off before using in the recipe.)
125g Mushrooms.
400g Mash.
100g Cheese (optional, but I can't leave it off!)
1 Small Onion.
1 table spoon Tomato Puree.
2 Cloves of Garlic or a big squeeze of Garlic Paste like I have here.
1 table spoon of Oil.
Salt, Pepper and Mixed Herbs to taste.

Equipment
1 large, deep Frying Pan/Saute Pan
1 Ovenproof Dish 
Set the Oven to 200C or Gas Mk 6

Now, has to be said before I start, I only used about half that pack of mince, and half those mushrooms. Just use the full pack if you want to make enough for 4-6 servings!

Also, if you use minced beef/pork/lamb whatever you'll need to fry this off to brown it and keep it to one side (empty it on to a plate with some kitchen towel on) while you get to the point where I add the mince in! Likewise, if you're making your own mash you need to pop the potatoes on to boil before you start anything else. 

Right, I always start by making sure everything I need to chop is done first. In this case, the onion and the mushrooms. I like big bits of mushroom, so mine is chunky. Substitute mushrooms for carrots or swede or whatever you prefer (red pepper is another fave of mine, but madam is having a no peppers phase *sigh*)

Then heat your oil in the pan and when it's hot add your onion and turn the heat down. Cook them for a minute or so by themselves.

Next, add your mushrooms (or whatever veg you used) cook that for another minute or so.

I then put in my tomato puree, garlic paste (so much easier!) salt, pepper and mixed herbs.

You need to let it cook like that for 30 seconds or so. If you think it's sticking, don't add more oil, just a splash of water to loosen it off.

Then we add in the mince (the pre-browned stuff if that's what you used). I then put a small amount of water in. We do not want watery mince, people! You can use stock if you prefer, I'm cooking for a small child I don't want to add too much salt...

Right, let it come to a simmer, put a lid on and leave it to cook away to itself for 10mins. This lets our flavours develop!

While that's cooking, we have to sort out the mash. Now, if you boiled potatoes you will have to drain them and mash them as you normally would. Me being lazy, I bought it ready made! And this is potato, carrot and swede mash as it's our favourite. Again, use what YOU like.

I shoved it in the micro for 3 minutes to make it easier to use and then gave it a stir. If you skip this step you will probably have some rather unco-operative mash on your hands...

The cooked mince should look a bit like this, see, not too watery! The more water there is, the more your mash will sink, more dense mince makes this next bit easier!

Then, when your mince is ready, tip it in the ovenproof container of your choice.

Spoon the mash on the top, carefully before smoothing it over.

Top with the cheese, if using. If you're not adding cheese you might want to use a fork to make marks in the mash to give it a bit of yummy texture.

Bung in the oven for 15-20 mins to make sure the cheese is melted and it's piping hot throughout.

Serve with your choice of vegetables/salad/whatever and enjoy! We like peas with our pie. And I like big marrowfat tinned peas the best of all! Mmmm, luminous green!

Any questions?

Love, Pearl.

Lifestyle - Throwback Thursday

I took part in the Blogtacular Twitter chat last night and we were talking about theme-ing your blog around the seasons etc. and general blog design. And I got to thinking that I might like to change my background photo to something a bit more Spring-like (first day of Spring today folks, Google says so!) Naturally, this meant I've been trawling through old photos on my laptop cause I knew there were some lovely Spring ones in there somewhere.

I found the right photos but I also found some rather cute ones of a younger madam sitting on a lovely sunny Hornsea beach. And it kind of set me thinking. Today is Thursday and there is a popular tag featuring old photos called Throwback Thursday and I wanted to share some with you. Also it's Mother's Day a week on Sunday and I wanted to do something to celebrate that too.

I *really* wish I had some photos of my mum to share with you as she (obviously) means the world to me and recently I have been taught to value her even more. I have a lovely one of me when I'm little dressed in a red velvet dress and wearing a drum majorette's hat with a baton sitting on her knee with us both grinning like maniacs. It's in a frame on my mantleshelf in my bedroom.

But here are some photos from my mothering experience so far. She is my favourite madam, but she is *such* a monkey sometimes!

Not my best angle! But very pregnant...

Mere minutes old

Her first photo! My mum took it whilst I was being stitched back together after my C-Section. K had just been asked what type of black he was so they could fill in the forms. This confused him greatly and amused my mother no end!

Fast forward to one of the best holidays I've ever had... Road trip to see some of my bestest friends. The highlight of the trip was a massive swarm of bees right next to my friends cottage, and this photo of a madam who *always* needs to know what you're doing!

She couldn't get much closer to the camera, really!

She and I were in the happiest point of our lives about here. Her dad was about to blow our family apart, but it hadn't happened then. It would have happened anyway, just maybe less dramatically!

So, by the next summer we had moved house and settled in to our new life with just her and I against the world. She was as independent as ever (I have a feeling she is going to achieve great things) and her hair had grown back in properly!

Ah, Sudocrem. I think every parent has a photo like this somewhere!

The summer after was 2011 and we had got very happy in our routine, and she in her little house in the garden! I do wish we'd been able to bring it when we'd had to move the next Spring, but the garden we have now is just not suitable.

Eating breakfast in my own house is just better!

2012 marks itself out as being a rather horrid time for me as K managed to make our lives infinitely harder by coming back in to them, but not in the way we needed. Madam just got on with it though, that's who she is! She started her new nursery in the September and insisted on wearing this when she went for a look around! She's a style queen!

Doesn't look too weird from the front...

Yup, it's a Frohican!

Almost up-to-date now! Last year I accepted the end of my relationship with K (yes, it did take that long). I also went through one of my worst personal periods with my depression getting a really strong hold on me. It was already starting to show in that last photo, look at the state of the floor! That was early Sept 2012. Moving on to a happier photo though...

She had to look serious so I could get a decent photo! Purple and pink cats are the best...

Honestly, we had such a good day, she was way happier with her cat than it looks! Also, she was asked what she wanted to be and said a cat and then when asked what colour (whilst the lady was getting her black and white ready) she insisted on purple, with pink. I love that kid! She was the only purple cat there... 

And now it's Spring 2014 and I am feeling strong and healthy and happy again. So much so that I am allowing you to see who I am a bit more (there is an actual photo of me in the sidebar!). So here is my last photo for today. Madam, with her very short hair, looking beautiful and very grown up!

No, I don't know why she needed the wellies on with her fairy outfit! Or why there is a bowl under the radiator...

I am going to go home and take a photo of my mum so I can show you how much I don't look like her, but madam does! I know not everyone is going to celebrate Mother's Day in the same way that I am, I know it will be a horrible day for many. So, I will think of you and send you my love. And if madam could she would draw you all a picture.

Love, Pearl.

I have updated this post as I got the date of Mother's day (UK) wrong in the original version! Whoops! Sorry if I panicked anyone...

Books - A Full Set of Happiness

So, you remember how I said I got some new books the other day and I said how I had my eye on two more that would complete the set? Well, my friend Tabatha tweeted me the other morning to tell me she'd ordered the books I was after from The Works. Then she sent me this:

@p_gen_says Ordered them from The Works website. Knit was £4.99 and crochet was £5.99 but then got 20% off with code SPRING20 xx

— Louise Z (@tabatha_tweedie) March 14, 2014

I mean! How could I resist, so I didn't! And they arrived yesterday (prompt service, The Works, well done!). And I unwrapped them in all their polka dotted loveliness and, obviously, took a photo! (Bloggers are weird creatures).

Knit and Crochet Step by Step

I then spent a happy afternoon reading them and learning an awful lot more than I thought I would! Who knew there were *quite* so many cast-on techniques for knitting! And I discovered that the stitch pattern I used for my hat and scarf set is called Tiara stitch! 

The books are just as good as I was hoping and there are a few projects in each that I want to have a go at. And then I put them all on my bookshelf with my other craft books :) I am such a dweeb I rearranged them a couple of times to get the colours the way I wanted them! 

Pretty books all in a row!

The only downside to all of this (other than my bank balance) was actually The Works website! I have to say that although I put one book in my basket with no difficulties the second increased in price when added. I had to take it out and put it in a couple of times. And do a different search to get the price it was actually displayed at! (No, I did not feel like paying £5 more than the advertised price!)

And when I checked out I couldn't use the reward card that I had just carefully registered! It wasn't even an option. Why give them out in store, make you register them online and then not let you collect points online! Stupid. 

Don't get me wrong, my addiction to The Works is still in place and I will definitely be shopping online with them again. Just, could someone clear up the glitches on the site, please!

Have you got any new books recently?

Love, Pearl.