MimiinDublin

The Winner! and the Answer

2012-02-11T20:29:00.006Z

I'm afraid nobody guessed right.....

the answer is Angelica from The Rugrats!
Those who commented went into a draw, and the winner is comment number 2, Stephanie V.! So Stephanie, if you'd like to email me your address, i will get "Pamper Me" oil in the post to you this week. Congrats Stephanie and thank you to everyone for trying.

Cookie Cutters Clearout and Giveaway!

2012-02-08T00:23:00.002Z

I've been doing a bit of a clearout, and my cookie cutter tin got downsized too.
I had duplicates of some cutters, and some are just too babyish to use now, so they're off to the charity shop, for someone with kids younger than mine to pick them up.
I hope they have as much fun with them as we did.

It was a real trip down memory lane, looking at the different shapes, and thinking about how we used to love working with the dough. And there was always lots of eating dough during the cutting process!
We also used salt-dough with the same cutters, to make Christmas tree decorations.
None of ours survived, but my friend, whose kids made some here on a playdate, lovingly takes theirs out every year, and proudly hangs them on her tree.This last cutter puzzled me for ages. I think I can say what it is, but would you like to guess? Have a go, and I'll confirm on Saturday.
Edit note: Rudee's comment has inspired me to do a giveaway! Since i reached 100 followers, I've been planning on one, but just hadn't got round to it, but here it is:
Put in your guess, and a correct one will be picked on Saturday (if nobody guesses correctly, I'll just pull a random number). I will send the winner a "Pamper Me" burner oil. Anywhere in the world, so start guessing! As many entries as you like.

World Nutella Day and Orchestra Rehearsal

2012-02-06T00:00:00.006Z

We had a brilliant orchestra rehearsal today. We broke into sections for the first hour and a half, which worked really well. Then the full orchestra came together for another hour and a half, to play James Bond Medley, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, and a few others.
We've a concert coming up in April, and, you guessed, it features film music.

When I got home, at 7pm, I was too tired to make any elaborate cake for Nutella Day, but still I wanted to do something. This was a bit of an experiment, just whatever I had available to hand, and it worked out great!

Nutella Brownies
About half a jar of Nutella, softened (10 secs in microwave, medium power)
1 large bar of dark chocolate with hazelnuts, melted
a handful of walnuts, chopped, not too finely
2 eggs
3 tablespoons self-raising flour
1 tblespoon soft brown sugar

1. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in the remaining ingredients.
2. Bake in oven, about 200 degrees C, for about 15 minutes, until the sides are firm but the centre is still slightly soft.

Whenever I bake, if possible I like to make a little dairy-free treat for Eldest, who is vegan.

I had some chocolate ganache (made with dark chocolate and oat cream, yummy!) in the fridge, so I spooned out some and coated it in chopped walnuts. Instant chocolate truffles!

The post that got away!

2012-01-29T17:28:00.006Z

Did you ever have something happen, and just as soon as it's over think : " blast, that would have made a fantastic blog post"? Blast because you forgot to take photos.
That's what happened this week.
We bought a gig-bag a couple of months ago for daughter's tuba. After about 3 uses, it began to rip, so I contacted the seller, a website in Germany. They asked me to send photos, which I did, and then asked me to return the bag, by post!
Of course, we had got rid of most of the original packaging, in fact all but a huge box that was way too big for the bag, and which I had given to the Art Department in school.(image from Google- ours looked nothing like this!)
Eventually, after more emails, the company agreed to send a courier to collect the bag, but we had to have it ready and packed. So, Thursday night, Hubby wrapped the bag in Clingfilm, and on Friday I brought that package to school, and put it in the huge box. When I say huge, it was about 4 feet cube!
This is one of the photos of the bag that I had emailed to the company. The bag cost €160!
The company had warned that we had to pack it in such a way as not to cause more damage en route, so, to fill the empty space in the huge box, I gathered all the bubble wrap and plastic bags I could find and packed them round it. Then the Art teacher showed me a great trick..filling a black refusesack with air by running along the corridor with the bag held open! And that black air-filled bag helped to fill some more space in the box.
The last job was to secure the lid, as one layer of flaps had been cut off. One roll of duct tape later, it was still not secure, but the courier was already on his way! When he arrived, he didn't think he would get the box into his van, whereas my only worry was that the lid would give way! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it gets to Germany in 1 piece.

The lesson for me? Take photos! Oh, and don't throw out the packaging, give it to the Art Department!
Have you ever forgotten to take photos of an event that would have made a great blog post?

TGIF and camera found

2012-01-20T17:45:00.008Z

It's been a long week, and I'm so glad it's Friday, moreso than I can remember in a very long time. I've been just about hanging in there!With all the stress of the recent family deaths, my stomach has been playing up again, and I've ended up on medication (again). Even though it's only an acid inhibitor, and I will probably only need it for a few weeks, I hate taking it.
Is anybody else like that?I'm (touching wood!) so healthy that I never even have to take paracetamol, so I shouldn't complain about a few stomach tablets.
I've had to buy a big pillow, which I also hate, and which interferes with my sleep, as does the acid that's still causing pain.
Moan over! It's the weekend and I plan to enjoy it. I'm doing a little shopping tomorrow, band on Sunday morning (another recording coming up soon! some of it is not too challenging, see below!) and on Sunday afternoon I'm meeting up with 3 former colleagues (referred to by my kids as "Mary, Mary and Joan" since they were tiny!) whom I haven't seen for about 5 years. We send Christmas cards to each other, always saying "we will meet up next year", but, finally, we've got it organised! They're great fun and I know I will probably have pains in my side from laughing at/with them.
Can't wait!
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
My camera went missing in September, and I searched high up and low down for it, without success. While we were down the country at the funeral, younger daughter was rooting around in the car and found it. These photos were on it, and I needed them to brighten up today!

Thanks and here's to (the rest) of 2012.

2012-01-11T20:22:00.006Z

Thany you all so very much for the supportive comments after our big ordeals over the New Year.
Things have now settled, and we're getting back to a new normal. I really appreciate your comments and emails very much; it makes a difference when people empathise and sympathise.

We're all back to work/school, though eldest daughter is not back to college till next week (lucky girl!).

As an easy new post, I came across this somewhere in blogland, can't remember where, but I enjoyed doing it, and you may enjoy it too.

The Number 1 single when I was born was:

Harry Belafonte - "Mary's Boy Child"

For Number 1 single over the subsequent years click here

The Number 1 album was:
Original Soundtrack - "The King And I"

For Number 1 album over the subsequent years Click Here

Born on 24th Nov:
1941 - Pete Best ( drummer, The Beatles from 1960 to 1962 )
1942 - Billy Connolly ( comic vocalist; solo and in The Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty )
1955 - Clem Burke ( drummer, Blondie )
1957 - Chris Hayes ( guitarist, vocalist, Huey Lewis & The News )
1962 - John Squire ( guitarist, The Stone Roses / The Seahorses )

I'll leave you to work out for yourselves (if you want) what year I was born!

Difficult Days

2012-01-02T22:54:00.008Z

Happy New Year to all my blogger friends. I hope it's a year of peace, health and happiness for all.
I'm a bit late with good wishes, but we've had a difficult start to 2012.
Hubby's Mum passed away suddenly on 30th December, and we're just back from her funeral. She was 90 years old, nearly 91, and was active up to the very end, even doing crosswords the night before! at 90 years of age! She had a heart attack that morning, her daughter was with her, and she passed quickly, peacefully and without pain. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, and will be sorely missed by all.

Unfortunately, a tragedy has also struck the family. Hubby's cousin, a 20 year-old student, was assaulted on 23rd December, struck on the head several times, fell to the ground and sustained head injuries. He has been on life support since then, and that was switched off yesterday,
New Year's Day.

His parents are devastated, heartbroken. Their only consolation is that his organs are donated.
(Edit:"AT LEAST five people have been given the gift of life by a biomedical science student who died after a horrific assault on a festive night out: his lungs, kidneys, liver and heart were donated")

Please keep them in your thoughts at this very difficult time.