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End of an Era, Melting in the Heat and Finding Some Quiet Family Time

Ok, so where did this week go exactly? It feels like all of a sudden time is running away with me and I can’t believe that my eldest daughter has just two and half days left of her junior school career.

She finishes a few weeks earlier than my other two, so for her, last week was all about rounding up and finishing off the year. We had sports day on Monday (the third sports day we’ve attended this term!), prize giving on Thursday and a barbeque leaver’s party on Saturday. I can’t put in to words yet just quite how I feel about this approaching, end-of-an-era moment. Perhaps I will have a few more thoughts about it next week after she’s actually finished for good.

In a week that also found us spotting the strangest insect in the garden, to later be told that it’s a Hummingbird moth, it seems like the hot weather has brought everything out in the open this week.

Hummingbird moth - Nikki Young Writes

I’m rounding up the rest of my week by joining in with the #LittleLoves linky…

Read
My monthly copy of Writing magazine arrived this week and as it’s the only magazine I subscribe to, whenever it arrives, I feel like a child who’s just been given a new toy. I always make time to sit down and devour every page and it doesn’t fail to disappoint, with helpful hints and informative articles, as well as inspiration from other published authors.

Nikki Young Writes #LittleLoves

Watched
Sunday’s, if we get organised early enough, are family movie nights. We get the younger ones bathed and ready for bed, then get the trays out and sit in the lounge with our dinner and each week one of the children gets to choose a film. Las week was Lilo and Stitch, which is a film I haven’t seen for years. We have busy weekends, going in all directions, so this Sunday night ritual is a way of bringing us back together. Everyone sits down to watch the film, no one is allowed to rush around tidying or preparing for the week ahead. It’s just the five of us, sharing dinner and a good film.

Wore
Well, after moaning last week about the difficulty choosing what to wear everyday due to the changeable weather, I found myself wanting to wear precisely nothing this week. Knowing that going to school in a bikini would frighten children, adults and dogs alike, I opted for light and flowing. Wednesday was something else wasn’t it? I stepped out of an air-conditioned office in the afternoon, into a wall of heat that almost knocked me over. It was of course an amazing week, weather wise and I’m certainly not complaining. Dare we say that summer is here at last?

Heard
When I drive to work on a morning, there is a programme on my local radio station called ‘We Love the 90’s’. Although I am a child of the eighties, the nineties was my coming of age decade, so I love listening to tracks that take me back to that time. Every now and then, they play a real corker of a tune. You know, one of those that transports you straight back to a memory or even a feeling from the time. When a song like that comes on, I have no choice but to turn it up and absorb as much of the memories and feelings as I can manage. This week, the corker was by Everything But The Girl – Missing.

Made
My bake for this week, as blogged on A Free From Life, was Apple Slice. The only trouble with making your own treats, is that they never last long enough, especially when you have three growing children. It seems like the more I make, the quicker they eat and I can never seem to keep up!

Gluten free, dairy free, egg free apple slice - A Free From Life

And Lastly…

Allergy and Free From show 2015 - Nikki Young Writes

I went to the Allergy and Free From show on Friday and came home armed with a tonne of samples and reading material. I went both as an ambassador for my blog, but also as a consumer. Basically, the show was like a market place for free-from products, but there were also talks and demonstrations alongside. I really enjoyed it, but did feel as though there were too many cakes and biscuit being shoved in my face. As someone who eats as little sugar as she can manage, I didn’t want that. I also discovered that the majority of pre-blended bakery products contained potato flour or starch and as someone who can’t eat potatoes (they are part of the nightshade group and I am allergic to them), I couldn’t eat any of them anyway. I did find a few products, based on coconut, that I am eager to try out, one of which works as an alternative to butter and the other as both butter and milk. I also got some interesting information from the IBS Network, plus I got a signed cookbook from Bob Moore, of Bob’s Red Mill fame.

IMG_1829

How was your week?

butwhymummywhy

Comments

  1. Mummy Tries says

    Missing is one of my all time absolutely favourite tunes… Although it reminds me of quite a dark time: 16, homeless and heart broken. Gosh that feels life a different life!!

    Glad you’ve had a great week. Sounds like the FF & Allergy show was fab experience, despite all the potato starch. Personally I keep well away from processed food altogether, and I’ve found that there is more sugar and general nasties in the free from stuff. Not good 🙁

    • Nicola Young says

      I’m surprised you still like that song despite those memories! You avoid starch on the GAPS diet don’t you? What you find with a lot of free-from products is that they are predominantly starch and like you say, full of sugar. Many are really unhealthy, which is why I make my own. I use some starch, but not as much. I need to research arrowroot a bit more I think.

  2. Life as we know it says

    Junior finishes junior school in a week and a half and it seems quite shocking that he is old enough for this milestone. I expect tears between now and then (his not mine). I hope your daughter has a fantastic last week, full of happy memories x

  3. butwhymummywhy says

    I love your Sunday evening ritual, I might have to adopt it into our family routine. It’s good to get some uninterrupted time together isn’t it? Hope you’ve had a good week this week xx

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