A Give Away!! Roll Up Roll Up!!

Recently I entered a draw to win a book on The BabyBudgeting Blog and was super lucky and won!! (yay me!)

Then a weird thing happened, the lovely book that arrived was not the book I expected to win, it was not Cool Camping Kids, but was in fact The Cool Camping CookBook. Now, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth so I started to read it and hoped it would be filled with fabulous recipes that I could use when camping in one of my many tents (oh the camping addiction!) but..

...it's not a recipe book for me; to start with the foreword is written by Bear Grylls, never mind his daft name, the picture of him says it all, lounging, posing on a camp bed with artistically smeared muddy face.....yuk, loves himself far too much, give me Ray Mears any day. So a bad start but let's be brave and launch into the food itself, after all it's what the book is about.

The recipes are illustrated with gorgeous pictures of food and campfires. The recipes themselves sound lovely and use various cooking methods, fire pits, barbecue's, camp stoves, pots etc......... But (and it's a big but, as would yours be if you ate too many of the roasted chocolate bananas ) most are not 'easy' recipes for a minimalistic camper, so unless you take a large amount of kitchen stuff with you, you'd be out of luck. many recipes rely on planning at home such as marinating or bringing a large selection of both food and cooking utensils and so for me this book was not really helpful. I need to know what to cook in a single pot on a single stove with only a penknife!

That said if you planned a barbecue or an evening round a fire pit with friends, or even an evening in, there are some great recipes, it's just that I don't think they are ideally suited to camping.

I may be wrong of course, you may always cook elaborate meals outside your tent in which case you'd love to take this book camping!

And with that in mind I would like to pass it on, give it away, to a blog reader, all you need to do to enter is to comment on this post and tell me either your best or worst camping food story! have you cooked a great meal in 10 minutes/ or slaved for 2 hours to produce a burnt sausage? let me know.
(if you've never camped tell me what you would attempt to cook - that should be fun!!)

I'll draw the name from a hat and contact you for your address if you win on or about the 10th July 2010

I haven't actually told you the best bit, when I told the lovely Becky at BabyBudgeting she sorted out the correct book to be sent out - and it is perfect in all respect and I love it! but even better, the lovely publishers sent me an extra book.....which I will reveal and review soon...it's a cracker!

Not a rant - a nice post about my holiday, sorry

I know you'd all prefer a rant but I honestly don't have one! well I do, I have lots but nothing that would take up a blog post, just lots of tweet sized (140 characters for those that don't tweet) ones that are over in a jiffy, so if I blogged them this would just be a repeat of the 'I am Grumpy' Meme that I did a while ago.......

So I shall share a few pics and a comment on my recent Holiday to Port Aventura in Salou, Spain, where I stayed in a lovely hotel, ate lovely food, drank too much beer, went on awesome rides and met the lovely Very Bored in Catalunya, who was not boring (and hopefully not bored by me!) she was in fact delightful, as was her tiny boy.

  Here we are! trying not to look like the same person!

So....

We (my DD and I)  stayed The Hotel Vil La Romana, a great hotel that I've now stayed in twice, I always enjoy the food and the staff are very helpful and it's only a 10 minute walk to the PortAventura theme park, which is pretty much why we are there at all!

One of the things they are good at is decorative food!

There was sea

There were cocktails

There were theme park rides

Including 8 loop roller coasters :-)

Really there was just WAY too much fun ;-)

and we can't wait to go back.

You never expect

The Spanish inquisition; I've been tagged by London City mum…

Here’s the thing, you get to be interrogated and then make you own questions and interrogate some other unsuspecting bloggers – what fun!


Here are the questions I have to answer..


1. Name of your first pet?

Hmm I’ll lie as it’s a common one to check passwords ;-) but I have (at some point) had a pet named Shamus, he was a savage hamster that ate live caterpillars and bit anyone that wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way. I never ever touched him until he died, preferring to transfer him from cage to box on ‘hamster clean out day’ using a paper cup. Strangely I loved him.



2. Your most delectable piece of lingerie?

I buy cheap undies (what a confession!) Hubby likes plain stuff on me anyway, I like black with pink trim, my fave set is from Primani. I like wearing stockings though.....


3. Be a famous person for a day - who and why?

Tricky, I’m not really keen on famous, don’t know many celebrities and those I do I mostly loathe. Someone that gets to travel a lot I guess, that annoyingly posh Saba Douglas-Hamilton who does the nature programs, I’d love to see lions and elephants in the wild, and she’s good looking, so that’s a bonus.


4. Your neighbour's dog chews up your prized, and very expensive, Manolos. What do you do?

I would be amazed I had any Manolos! I once had a fox chew up a pair of Birkenstocks I left overnight on the lawn…..I blame myself.



5. If you could only eat three things for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Cheese & Branston Pickle sandwiches on fresh white bread

Chicken Dhansak with rice

Fresh raspberries

Do I get a drink too? BEER!!

6. Caught speeding. How do you get out of it?

I never speed. No really, I pride myself on it.



7. Secret crush as an adult?

Too many to list all – at least one on twitter, you all know I have a thing for @jasonbradbury – it’s the lycra clad geekiness of the man!



8. Which side of the bed do you sleep on?

Right (when you are laying on it)


9. Tom Cruise: kiss, marry or send to live permanently with the Pope?

He’s a freak. The Pope is welcome to his Scientology loving short little arse.



10. Rudest word you have in your (child-free) vocabulary?

I don’t know many good rude words (just the usual) , I tend to steal portmanteau words from my 10 year old – they have more impact, current favourite is Poo-bum-willy-head


and with that I shall pass this on to


Muddynosugar


MamaCrow


Susan


Marley & Lola - see even dogs can play!


and Kay, at born to be a red headed woman



And they shall answer the following questions



What is your favourite name for a girl that you haven’t used for any of your own children?


If you could live in any country EXCEPT the one you live in now which would you choose and why?


Chocolate or chips – if one was to be banned which would you pick?


If you won a million on the lottery what would be the first thing you would buy?


What catches your eye first in a member of the opposite sex?


Trapped on a dessert island you can only have one book to read, which would you pick?


You get out of a store and realise you have something in your hand you didn’t pay for. You got away with it. Do you return it? Or keep quiet and keep it?


What always cheers you up?


You have a whole day to yourself, but no money or internet. What would you do and would it be heaven or hell?


Where will you go when you die?

Looking forward to the answers!

Wordless Wednesday

a recycled picture from a few years ago....

Motherhood

Some blogs have been posting pics of what motherhood is to them. I can't compete with the awesome blog posts. So am not linking. But here is me, and my daughter, being us, being crazy, being similar.

Edited to add, apparently I am linking! This is an entry for week 15 of 

do you know what makes my blood boil?

A while ago I was tagged for a grumpy meme (thanks lovely)

It got me thinking, I’m becoming an increasingly grumpy old woman, whilst also being more laid back, which is an odd combination. I find my self wildly annoyed often at tiny things but do nothing about them (except tweet them! LOL), as a teen I would have done things, protested, commented and been generally annoying to all around. Did it change anything? Nope. So now I’m older, maybe wiser, maybe just dulled, and of course things that were black and white when I was a teen are shades of grey now. (and no, not talking hair….although…..)

I was very anti-abortion as a teen, marched to downing street, placards etc etc the whole works. The thought of someone killing a baby because it was ‘inconvenient’ made me intensely angry, any abortion seemed wrong. As a mum I’m still against it ‘on demand’ but the shades of grey have crept in, I’m not rabid about it, I still see it as wrong, but I know others think differently and that is for them, their conscience, their soul to decide, and situations are all so very different, so I no longer protest, or even talk about it much….anyway……ahem………where was I? oh yes things that make me grumpy. (rambling on blogs - bloody annoying that!)

I was asked for 7 things, now that makes me grumpy! Don’t you restrict me on my own blog you grumpy meme!! If I want to over-grump I bloomin’ well will, so without further ado, things that make me grumpy.


I have divided them into two groups.

Group One – Big things that will always make me grumpy.
This group includes (but this may not be a complete list)
Pollution
People that don’t recycle
Rudeness
Bad Driving, especially aggressive driving and dangerous driving
Junk food being cheaper than healthy alternatives, especially in hospitals!
U2 especially Bono – he is a hypocritical twat, seeing him praised as a saint makes me feel sick. And he wears sunglasses indoors, prat.
Twitter being ‘down’ – this makes me down too.
'Teacup'  dogs - and any woman (or man) that regularly carries a dog in bag.
Facebook’s privacy settings (actually no longer fussed as I deleted my account there!)
People yelling, and worse, swearing, at small children, not just one quick yell but an ongoing, pointless and upsetting tirade.
Rainy weekends when I want to go camping
The phone ringing late at night
Men and remote controls – enough said
Knee jerk reactions by politicians and the public – someone shot? Ban guns! Fox bites a baby? Kill all foxes! Etc etc ad infinitum
Celebrities doing good works
Cheryl Cole (Woman of the year? My arse!)
Racists (they actually make me a lot more than grumpy)
Chavs (Yep I'm a snob - so sue me!) I can't really define a chav, but they are usually oddly easy to identify when you see one. If they are nice, they are not chavs.


Group Two – odd individual incidents that have riled me.
Seeing a mum give a toddler a full can of coke as a drink and then swearing at the poor kid when she spilled some of it
Someone in the car park that couldn’t decide where to park and drove slower than a snail on crutches while sometimes changing direction and not signaling at all
A Drama teacher that took my DDs one line in a play away from her because DD was sick one week of rehearsal, despite her learning her line and being great and everything.
Ryanair - for charging me excess baggage on a case that passed the weight checks in the UK and have nothing added to it on holiday – mysteriously it seems suitcases can also gain weight on holiday
People in foreign countries that speak badly of tourists in the local language when they think you can’t understand them
Twitter going haywire when I want to tweet about all the vital things I need to tweet about (like #bb11)
A trampoline that claimed it could be set up in 1 hour, thus raising DDs hopes (it took 2 evenings in real life!)
People that ask for things I offer on freecycle and then fail to turn up to collect the items, seems to be happening a lot lately.
Hubby telling me I don’t need bunting or solar lights for my tent and telling me to stop buying camping things.
My boss resigning. She is a lovely boss, I doubt I’ll ever have another one as lovely. This makes me sad and grumpy. How dare she leave to have a better life doing something else! What about ME!
People on twitter moaning about stuff others tweet (I’ve done it too! Bloody twitterscopes! They annoy me!) follow or don’t follow but shut up moaning. (note to self there!)

Gggrrrrr! Even typing this out has made me grumpy! I’m off for a coffee, and we better not be out of coffeemate, cos coffee with milk, that makes me raging!

STOP RIGHT THERE! YOU’RE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S UNDERWEAR!

Yup. You read right. This ain’t a musing from Tattooed Mummy, like you’ve come looking for and are expecting.

Nope, this is a musing from Mamacrow.

Now did you read Tattooed Mummy’s post on disliking guest bloggers?

If you didn’t, go read it now. I’ll wait right here for you.

Done?

Ok, well I read it to and you know what – I agreed TOTALLY – in fact, every point she made is exactly how I felt about it too.

‘What could possibly be a good reason for a guest blogger on a blog…………..?’

I just couldn’t have agreed with that statement more.

Until…

I got to thinking.

See, a while ago Tattooed Mummy started the Plastic Joy Award.

Oh dear. You think I wouldn’t have enough time on my hands, but lets just say I’ve worked my 5 out – for purely books AND for TV/Film!

BUT I have this little problem. You see, I started my blog to record our Home Schooling, and therefore, I’ve spread the URL around to people who might need or want to read about that. Like my mother-in-law. And the Local Education Authority Home Schooling lady.

Yeah.

Sooooooo….. I thought… Perfect reason for a guest blog!

TA DA! Mamacrow’s Plastic Joy Awards!

No particular order, and I’ve done the book characters first…


1. Noel Merton (Angela Thirkell Books)

I HAD to have a Thirkell character; I’m obsessed with these period satires. And Noel is just awesome – he totally stands out from most of the others which generally fall into ‘types’, he’s witty, urban, kind, attractive, and marries Lydia who is my ultimate FAVOURITE Barsetshire character EVER, the one I want to be.

2. Captain Arthur Hastings (several Agatha Christie books)

I similarly had to have a Christie character. I never really stop reading her books… The writing is sublime (although admittedly, some are definitely better than others), and I have such a soft spot for Hastings. The first person narration is used so cleverly, so often, and he’s just so lovable – he keeps soldiering on, despite being constantly outfoxed by Poirot so effortlessly. It’s really satisfying when he finally gets the girl (Murder on the Links); the expression of emotions about his dead wife and his children in Curtains gets me every time. I include a picture as I feel that Hugh Fraser is as close to perfect castings as we’re ever likely to get.

3. Pa Ingles (Little House books)

Alright, I admit this one is kinda CREEPY. It’s not that I want a one night stand with him or anything, more that Ma is the ULTIMATE mother role model – I’m never going to attain that perpetual calm and patience although I wish I could – and I wish I could be her when I grow up. Pa is clever, hard working, resourceful, musical, dependable. The Ingles come across as a loving, strong knit family unit… I’d definitely want to build something like that, and Pa would be an ideal candidate to do it. No, not Almazo or Cap Garland – far too flighty.

4. Shane (Jack Schaefer)

Not the film. In fact, I’ve only seen clips from the film. I’m talking about the original Jack Schaefer novel. I discovered it one rainy afternoon when I was about 14 one of our many family bookcases and it just BLEW me away. Just THE most ROMANTIC thing ever. All the more so because it’s all inference and atmosphere. He’s the mysterious stranger who rides in from no where, beats all the bad guys and then continues on his lonely way in the sunset *happy sigh*

5. The Highwayman (Alfred Noyes)

This was the second ever poem I memorised, and I chose it solely because it has a horse in it (albeit briefly). If you’re wondering what my first choice was, it was The Young Lochinvar for exactly the same reason! This is an AMAZING work – the pace, the use of language, it’s just beautiful. I know highwayman were vicious and brutal and sordid in reality, but in this – wow. SO romantic. Moonlight trysts and self sacrifice and his reaction when he hears – he dashes back in broad daylight trying to take on the whole army, just not caring that he’ll be instantly blown away – wow. Just wow.
‘When they shot him down in the highway, down like a dog in the highway, and he lay in his blood in the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat’
It still gives me thrills and chills. And think, he probably wore thigh high boots….

And now for the ones from screen –


1. Boromir (Lord of the Rings)

Ok. I’m a very visual person. So all the characters on this list – the actor is always going to have a little bit to do with it, and – as in the case of this first entry – I do have a bit of a thing for Sean Bean. Having said that, I don’t particularly fancy him in Sharpe, Golden Eye or Equilibrium, but as Boromir – it’s just the PERFECT casting. Boromir is one of my favourite characters from the book – and yes, I read the trilogy before I saw the films – he is a strong man, a courageous warrior of great skills who struggles with his doubts and fears. He just wants to protect his city and his people, an urge which the ring exploits. He ultimately triumphs, and is reconciled to Aragorn as his king before dying in a glorious, blood spattered blaze of glory.

2. G’Kar (Babylon 5)

Hoo boy. Well, seeing as the actor (Andreas Katsulas) is pretty much unrecognisable under all that latex, this is totally about the character. G’Kar has such an AMAZING character journey in Babylon 5; I can’t even begin to do it justice in a few lines. (However, I am going to bash on and have a try anyway.) He starts of as a somewhat brash freedom fighter, has a spiritual epiphany, and even achieves peace, of a sort, within the complex relationship he has with his fellow ambassador and racial enemy Londo Molari. We get a few treats in later series where he’s wandering about in his quarters with his shirt off *swoon* and yes, the spots go all the way down. Also – his voice. I could listen to it ALL day. He could be reciting the phone book for all I care.



3. Jareth the Goblin King (Labyrinth)


Admittedly I’m NUTS about David Bowie, but you have to understand I saw this film before I ever really listened to his music – in fact, this film pretty much kick started my obsession with him, and it wasn’t just about the tight trousers! (note from Tattooed Mummy - 'fess up, you know it's all about the Bowie Cock!!) I could have been Sarah – I had all those books, posters, toys, played those games – and Jareth not only could have sprung right out of my adolescent fantasies, but in fact he went on to inspire quite a few of them! He’s a maverick, apparently a controlling tyrant, Sarah, as she eventually discovers, has the ultimate power – ooh, it’s a heady mix! And I love, love, LOVE the fright wig.


4. Kareem Said (Oz)


Oooooooh. Just watch it. Yes the actor (Eamonn Walker) is a total hunk, - and a totally amazing actor as it happens – but this one’s DEFINITELY about the character. Said is a man of great integrity but he is real, three dimensional, flawed. He struggles with those flaws. And his voice! Ooooooh man….


5. Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer in Star Dust)

Oh come on, I had to get a girl in there somewhere. Female attractiveness for me is a very visual thing – If I’m reading about a woman I’m more likely to want to be her – and Ms Pfeiffer just gets better and better… But, again, it's not just the actress – the character is a fab one. I always did like to root for the bad guy, particularly if they were a wicked witch!


Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed your short sojourn in my knickers, so to speak ;-D

And from this experience – three more cast iron reasons why you should NEVER have a guest poster for your blog –

1. They never meet the deadline.
2. They rabbit on for ages and ages
3. They hid from you on twitter ‘cos they STILL haven’t finished yet