All at Sea - with a bucket and spade!

From Mattersons. I like. Not worth 97p in my humble opinion. But very much worth half that. Which is what I paid in asda. Because they are on offer. They come in various flavours. I tried tikka. Me and Jeanette shared a bag of chinese spare rib. Emma had roast. And let me try one. All three were good.

I made cookies the other day. Tesco cookie mix for 75p or thereabouts. They turned out pretty well I think. Three were wrapped up for Barry. Jeanette and Leah came round. They each had one. And one was saved for Emma. I think she enjoyed it. I think she had fun. She took a photo of herself with a cookie smile. Or beard. Or something??? And she took a picture of a cookie head Lindsey. I’m glad she enjoyed it. I’m glad she had fun.

This is Harriet. Harriet is a student nurse. She likes cookies. She takes one to work with her to eat in her break. She keeps it in her own pink bag. The bag makes her happy because it’s pink. With a smiley face button.

Harriet was made for a special friend’s birthday. I like making presents by hand if I possible can. I don’t always have the time. But this week, I had the time. Just. Harriet is made from felt. And stuffed with the insides of a discarded cushion. Her arms and legs are attached with buttons. See. Her face is stitched with embroidery threads. I used a bit of pink felt for one rosy cheek. I’m not sure why one cheek is rosier than the other. Maybe she got punched by an angry patient. I doubt she is teething. She’s a little old.

Archie the incontinent, as he is currently known, wanted to make friends. He is a very friendly bunny. Quite quite lovely. Unfortunately rather smelly as well. So I whipped Harriet away and wrapped her up in tissue paper of my very favourite colour. I also made some cookies and packaged three of those aswell.

Although my friend’s birthday had passed some days earlier, I did put a candle in a lemon muffin, to mark and celebrate her birth 32 and a bit years ago. I am quite glad she was born. Because I like her. She is a fine person. And one day she will be a fine nurse. The kind that really cares for patients. And doesn’t have to work at preserving dignity. Because it’s second nature.

Happy belated birthday Barry xxxxxxxxxx

Saturday was a lovely day. Not least because I was off and didn’t have to get up at some ridiculous hour. Leah had a Brownie parade followed by a fete. Didn’t quite make the parade but saw the end bit when they were all assembled together in the middle of the field before marching off together. Leah has lots of Brownie badges. I think she likes Brownies. Abbie, Lauren and Libby met us there. Abbie and Lauren have matching pink stripy pushchairs. There were stalls with cakes, sweets, odds and ends. And tombolas galore. Leah won a horse picture. It’s hideous. Jeanette sneakily stuck it up in our lounge and both me and Emma are too lazy to take it down. It still has a ticket with the number 140 stuck to the glass. She also won a second hand soft toy and a gingerbread man that oiginally came with a McDonalds happy meal.

We came back and sat in the garden. I got the Barbie’s out. I say Barbies; there’s all sorts in there. Barbies. Sindies. One of the blokes from hearsay. A couple of Action men. A few cheap imitation Barbies. Random other similar sized dolls. Loads of kiddy and baby dolls. As well as a box of dolls, I’ve got a bin bag full of furniture. And a carrier crammed full of clothes. Evidence of the many car boots I have attended throughout my adult life. And charity shops. Leah used to play with them when she was a small person. Occasionally I still add to the collection. We all joined in, even Abbie. And Libby. Lauren picked out all the small people and had a little nursery going on. Leah wandered around taking photographs for me.

We had a picnic lunch. Emma made the sarnies and cut them into shapes with my cookie cutters. I liked the idea. I always overeat whenever there’s a spread to choose from. So at least the sarnies are small. Lorraine joined us which was lovely. She managed to avoid the camera most of the afternoon. We finished off what was in the fridge. Smoked salmon. Cocktail sausages. And crisps.

Abbie kindly brought licquorice allsorts and jelly babies. I love both. I managed to munch my way through most of the licquorice allsorts. Mainly because children don’t like them much. I love the big pink round ones with dessicated coconut in and a back centre. And the chocolate layered ones. And the blue jellies covered in hundreds and thousands. And the pink version. I also like the black cylinder sweets with white in the centre. And the pink sandwich ones. But I’ll eat any. I made cookies. Round oaty ones with sweets and chocolate drops. Chocolate ones cut into bunnies. And muffins. Plain muffins with smarties in. Yummy.

I made some more bunny biscuits with my cookie cutter. This lot were for the Blunts. Well, Abbie and Lauren. Nick can’t partake of the majority of baked goods. And Libby doesn’t really have all that many teeth. Jeanette nicked a couple. I also made four just for the Poole household.

I nicked some of the mixture before baking. I didn’t bother with the biscuits. The dough’s loads better. Apparently they were nice. Some were pink with a strawberry flavour. Some had pecans in and a few drops of maple syrup. Some had chocolate chips. And some were plain oaty.

The mix is on offer at the moment. 50p. Not bad eh!

I also started a new blog. The link’s here. It’s a bit boring. Mostly to do with uni stuff. Feel free to have a look. Or not.

Bess has chosen a mate. Colin it is. Emma’s going to pick them up tomorrow after work. I’m so excited. But it does make me feel a pang of grief for Oscar. Colin’s arrival reinforces the loss of Oscar. But Colin is supposedly very lovely. He likes a fuss. Which is a good job because he needs to be groomed every day being a long-haired bunny. He thinks he’s being fussed when he’s being brushed so he’s quite happy. He’s old but we don’t know how old. I hope he lives a long time. I’d hate to think Bess needed to find a new mate again anytime soon. Pictures will follow soon.

Aunty Sue bought me a bunny rabbit cookie cutter. Today I made my first batch. Having made so many muffins lately, I automatically put the oven on gas mark 7. It should’ve been gas mark 5. Actually, they weren’t that bad. Slightly burnt at the bottom, but tasty. Especially because they were still warm.

I put the cookies in the oven in two lots. The second lot went in at the right temperature. Lots better. I made a round one for Emma because she likes things just so, you know. Me and Leah had a little play with the icing pens. I think the mixture’s about 75p from Asda. Just got to add a bit of butter or margerine and a couple of tablespoons of water. I got an oaty mix as well. For another day.

I was also assertive with the bank today. I got a letter the other day telling me there was a problem with my account. I bought something online last week which went over my overdraft by £1.08. The letter said I had to go into the bank and credit my account to get me out of the red and informed me there would be a charge. The letter neglected to say what the charge would be. I went in the bank with a few quid to deposit, hopefully covering the fee and leaving money in the account. I nearly fell over when they told me the charges were £38. And if I didn’t pay £31 of it today, my account would be in the red tomorrow, a new month, and another charge of £28 would be added. I was cross and upset. I didn’t put the money in but asked to speak to the manager. The manager was busy. I was promised that I would receive a call me before the end of the day. I wasn’t going to let it drop. £38 and another £28 all for £1.08. I’ve been with them 4 years and never had any charges incurred. I’m a student on a low bursary. I was really annoyed.

Anyway, the manager said they weren’t allowed to refund the fee unless there was a bank error but they did give me another number to call. They were actually pretty supportive. They told me the number was for the complaints department and that I should explain the situation and my current circumstances fully and tell them that I believe it is unlawful to charge such an extortionate fee for the sake of £1. I got through to one person who was very unsympathetic. I was basically getting nowhere. Thankfully my phone died. I redialled and got someone human. She (the lovely Dawn Barson apparently) refunded my account without any problem. I did head over to the cash point this evening and credit the account so there shouldn’t be any hassle. Phew.

Well, I’ve done my first week of my second placement. It’s great. Not much to say really. It’s just really good. There hasn’t been much ‘new’ stuff really. I’ve come across most of the ‘illnesses’, ‘disorders’, ‘conditions’ or whatever you want to call them. Mostly in previous jobs. I’ve also come across most of the personality types before. People who deal with their distress by screaming in the world’s face and people who deal with their distress by hiding away and trying not to get noticed. And (perhaps luckier?) people who have partners, children, jobs, responsibilities and this whole thing around mental health difficulties has come right out of the blue and takes a bit of getting used to. This week I’m reading up on schizophrenia and antipsychotic drugs. Next week mood disorders and mood stabilising drugs. After that, who knows. Hopefully I’ll have met my mentor by then and we’ll have a plan. There’s a fair bit of Uni work to be getting on with aswell.

The team are lovely. I haven’t met anybody who isn’t willing to answer my questions and take a bit of time explaining the implications of various scenarios. And everyone seems happy to give a bit of feedback and encouragement.

I’ve also been eating lots of sweets. From the best selection I’ve ever had at any one time.  I bought a nice little pick and mix in Banbury. I added the sweets from the chinese shop. I added the sweets from the weekly food shop. Then I bought a few bits and pieces of chocolate and sugary confection when I was out and about. The selection just got bigger and bigger. I was so impressed I had to take photographs. Here. Here. And here. I’ve stopped adding to it and it’s thankfully getting gradually smaller. If I carried on at the rate I was going, I’d be the size of a house. I do love sweets though. A lot.

Finally, bunny rabbits. It’s not going so well for Bess. She’s still away at the Bunny Bonding lady’s house. So far they’ve tried her with Mork, a gentle giant who lost his Mindy a while back. No joy. And with Cooper who has a very very sorry tale to tell. He’s all matted and manky and he has a scar across his neck where his throat was cut. We really wanted him but again, no joy. They’re now trying her with Colin. I don’t know much about Colin except that he’s pretty old. And very good looking. He’s a cashmere lop apparently. So far, Colin is the only one she hasn’t attacked through the bars. So there’s some hope. She’s not really a very nice bunny rabbit. Bless her cotton socks tail.

Last night Sue and Baz came over. We went to Hatton for a while. I bought some beads from the bead shop. Just a few. 300 to be exact. They were 2p each and cost me 6 English pounds. I like them. Letters, numbers, animals, shapes, that kind of thing. I’m sure I’ll find a use for them.

To celebrate Sue’s birthday, we went to the Fernleaf Cantonese restaurant not far from where we live. I like it in there. The staff are very friendly and warm. The food is lovely. We had Peking Duck for starters. The duck was gorgeous and it was fun making up the pancake rolls. The main course was equally lovely. Sue, Baz and I shared four dishes. We had Cantonese style pork. I really liked that; it was probably my favourite. The flavour was lovely but it’s the texture that really appealled. It’s chewy. I like chewy. We also had seafood combination chow mein. With squid. I like squid. But I get nervous eating it. In case I choke. I didn’t choke. I was pleased. We also had a beef dish which is my usual choice and always good. And house special fried rice. With allsorts in it.

Emma had omelette of the chicken variety. She enjoyed it a lot. She says she would definately order it again. It did look nice.

The food was good. The company was good. The conversation was good. We chatted about all sorts of things.

We went back to our house and ate cake I made earlier in the day. Sue blew out the candle while we sang happy birthday. I presume she made a wish although I couldn’t be sure. Then Baz blew out the candle. We didn’t sing happy birthday though. Then it was my turn. Nobody sang and I didn’t make a wish. Jeanette, who just happened to appear briefly at the right moment, took her turn. And finally Emma, who informs me that she didn’t make a wish either. We ate the chocolate bunny rabbit cake. I liked it. I do like Asda’s 74p chocolate muffin mix. And the extra chocolate, the chocolate spread and finally the chocolate frosting merely adds to the appeal. The sunshine was safely boxed up to take home along with these. And the pink bunny couldn’t handle all the excitement and had a little cigarette to calm down.

All in all, I think we all had a lovely evening. I know I did. I hope Sue did. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR TOMORROW SUE xxxxx

Tomorrow is Aunty Sue’s birthday. Aunty Sue also goes by the name of Emma’s mum. I made a cake. With my lovely new bunny rabbit muffin mould. The pink bunny cake was made from a plain muffin mix with a few drops each of pink colouring and strawberry flavouring. I sliced it and sandwiched strawberry jam between the two halves. Then I covered it with pink frosting (vanilla frosting with pink colouring) and added some glittery sprinkles.

The chocolate bunny was made from the chocolate mix but I did add a little extra chocolate. This one was filled with chocolate spread and covered with chocolate frosting. I added three chocolate strands for whiskers.

The sunshine is plain mix with a drop of yellow colouring and a couple of drops of lemon flavouring, filled with lemon curd. I covered it with yellow frosting (vanilla with a bit of yellow added).

Icing pens are great. I decorated the board to look (slightly) like grass and sky and put the cakes on it.

Obviously I didn’t just make one of each. I have several spare bunnies and fairy cakes of various colours and flavours sitting on the tope shelf of the freezer. All neatly labelled. Ready for decorating to give away. Or scoffing after a particularly depressing shift on placement!

After the great bunny muffin marathon the other day, I filled the mould with jelly, just to see if it would work. It doesn’t.

But I now want a jelly mould. Aswell as some cookie cutters. Baking and making of foods is much more fun with shapes. Especially bunny rabbit shapes. Because I am obsessed.