The long weekend

It has been an extraordinary weekend. Not because anything extraordinary happened but because of how I felt about it. I shall elaborate. Noooo, I hear you cry, we don't need to know, you nutter. Leave us alone! Well tough, it's my blog and I'm tellin' ya, right?

On Thursday evening, Anne and Karen came over. On Friday, I had some visitors for coffee; I was to go out that evening but couldn't go although I'd got organised, just incase. Too boring a story, I'm sleeping even think zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

On Saturday, I had lots of children over in the afternoon, kids were also coming and going to their friends and therefore, being picked up and dropped off by parents and that evening, I had my friends Ricky and Irene round for dinner they tasted like chicken. On Sunday, Kelly was once again picked up, gallivanting round Glasgow with her chums whilst I got organised for a soiree with Ann (without an e) and Val coming over for drinks, canapes and chat.

This seems like a lot, I know it does, it does to me too, reading it. But...and this is the extraordinary thing...it didn't to me at the time. I was totally fine. I looked forward to each and every one of the plans I'd made, didn't get even an iota of stressed about it and I had a great time.

The tidying and cleaning, I did as normal and didn't worry about the fact that my bathroom is in drastic need of a rehaul or that the hall table always has a pile of various items, ranging from clean washing about to be ironed to legwarmers...sorry, one legwarmer on it and a monster type creature growling at me from a box. Or that the conservatory is freezing and is that a cobweb up there?

I let Fraser pick the music...Norah Jones on Thursday and Sunday, The Eagles on Saturday ok son, next time, maybe I'll ask Lucy....lit some candles, put out the canapes, chilled the wine and sat back to enjoy the conversation. Isn't that something? It's like a veil has been lifted, a maturity, like growing...it happens so slowly you never notice it and all of a sudden, you go to sleep and wake up a good three inches taller.

A chilled out, friend-filled wonderful weekend.
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Fraser was off sick today; I knew he was sick when he creeped into my bed and spent the entire night kicking me in the face, sniffing like an addict and sitting bolt upright with fever, talking to some imaginary foe. "Shush" I said "mummy's here, I've killed him and he's dead...mummies rule". "Mummies rule" he murmured as he fell into yet another fitful kickboxing session.

He awoke to find me staring at the ceiling, wondering if I'd ever get a full night's sleep ever again. I was unusually chipper, considering and sent Kelly and Lucy off with Lyn and cuddled the lad up on the couch. After a morning of rest, we played an escape game on the computer who owns the fish? You'll either get that or you won't, don't ask me to explain, I wouldn't know where to start...ok ask, if you must but only if you then go find out who owns the fish; it's a pre-requisite of asking, read a book and watched a film called The Secondhand Lion which we both loved.

Lyn dropped the kids off and stayed for coffee so we caught up on what she got up to on the Friday night.....gutted to have missed it....whilst the kids munched French Toast or eggy bread, depending on where you come from.
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It's recipe time! This is a simple recipe for toasted almonds which everyone always seems to absolutely love. It's a no brainer and is a good snack for munching with a cold beer or glass of wine.
Toasted spicy almonds
A packet of blanched almonds
A good pinch of dried chillies (bird's eye is the best but any will do)
A good few pinches of sea salt
A teaspoon of olive oil

Place in a hot pan all of the above. Shake every 30 seconds or so until the almonds start to toast. Keep shaking until the almonds are properly coated and a mix of white and brown; don't let them burn. Sprinkle over some more sea salt and place in a dish. Sprinkle over yet more sea salt and leave to cool.

Not being one to eschew a food simply because of nutritional value, I do prefer that foods have a certain amount of goodness. We are what we eat to a certain extent so tasty food can be good for you too, right? Right?? So, ignoring all that salt for a moment......

Almonds are high in fat so can they be good for your health? You betcha. Almonds are high in monounsaturated fats, the same type of health-promoting fats as are found in olive oil, which have been associated with reduced risk of heart disease. They also contain large amounts of vitamin E and a lot of magnesium, around a quarter of your daily allowance plus potassium. All those are good for the heart and help keep it healthy. A true story.

Enough of me waxing lyrical about potential health benefits, I'll need to go eat some chocolate and lie down.