Recipe: Super smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 150g mixed berries
• Handful fresh mint
• 2tbsp chia seeds
• 150ml water

Instructions:

1. Chop

2. Blend

3. Drink

DIY: Bathroom Windows

This week we finally finished covering our bathroom windows.

We've had problems with blinds and mould from the condensation and Nico found this adhesive covering that has the additional benefit that it lets all the light in but obscures the view.

I love the effect and the light and after a couple of months trialing one half, we've now done the whole thing. Very pleased overall.

Recipe: Rhubarb Compot

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of rhubarb
• 3cm ginger
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 cups frozen mixed berries
• Ice cream to serve

Instructions:

1. Chop the rhubarb into 2cm chunks and place in a baking dish.

2. Grate the ginger into the orange juice. Stir in the honey and pour over the rhubarb.

3. Bake at 200c for 30 minutes. 

Make it Monday - Sofa Cover

For a while now, I've wanted to cover the sofa in Joshua's room. It was originally half of an Ikea corner sofa I bought for my old flat. We wanted more space in the living room and since Isabella has a double bed, we thought Joshua might appreciate it.

Having been torn apart from the other part of the old, black sofa, it didn't look great and needed brightening up but I had no idea where to start.

In the end I ordered three meters of a nice green material with white dots and got cracking with the staple gun. The sofa is an odd shape and I'm no upholsterer but I just went for it and improvised on the fiddly bits.

I'm really happy with the result. The room looks brighter and more inviting and should the material wear out, I can always re-do it. Joshua seemed to like it too.

Balcony Blooms!

The long weekend proved to be very good for our garden as I also got our balcony boxes replanted.  The heather was supposed to withstand some dryness but clearly not as much as I gave it!

I've given up on the idea of growing from seed up there and took the kids to the garden centre for these lovely red blooms on Saturday.  With a few extra steps on the fitbit carting the boxes up and down the stairs, I got them all planted and with the heat we're experiencing at the moment, they're getting water daily. 

The colour really brightens the place up and puts a smile on my face when I get home.

Raised Vegetable Bed

On Tuesday, the last day of our long weekend, we finally got around to building this raised flower bed in the middle of our veg patch.  I saw some on one of the gardening projects we watched and loved the idea.

We used loose bricks that we don't want for our herbs anymore since the ants got in.  Then Nico built a wooden frame to give it a bit more strength.  At the moment it is half full with the old rhodedendrons that Nico cut down and we're going to cover it with compost and soil at the weekend so we can get planting!

Hopefully it will inspire me to get in the garden more, and I think it will.  Last year we didn't really do much veg - it was hard with a little baby in the house but with Joshua ever more active and loving the garden, we should be able to give the garden, veggies and cooking a good kick start again!

Make it Monday: Crochet Mandala

Yesterday I completed this cute little crochet project from Mollie Makes in about an hour. I love the colours and it was the perfect little stress reliever for German Mother's Day. Isabella has already laid claim to it. As ever, I loved trying something just a little bit different.

Fitbit

For my birthday, Nico bought me a fitbit. It had been on my list for a while and I wasn't sure whether it would just be fad. So far, I love it.

It tracks my steps, heart rate, sleep patterns, water intake and more. 

So far I've learned that I am very good at getting seven hours sleep each night. It's the goal I hit most often.

I'm working on the other goals and tracking my weight again. The great thing is that it automatically recognises when I'm exercising. It picks up my cycling or zumba classes. 

Also, I've set it to remind me at ten to each hour, to get to the next step goal. 

The downside is seeing how little I move some days.

I'm also loving the silent alarm on a morning and the notifications when I get a call on my phone. Technology is amazing!

So while I know the Fitbit can't do the work for me, for a goal junkie like me, it's a brilliant inspiration. I'm hoping it will help me refresh my outlook on health this Summer and help to refresh my weight-loss attempts!

Make it Monday - 1SE Video

One of my daily new year's resolutions was to refresh my attempt at using this app (search for 1 second every day video), to keep a record of our family.

I don't want to share the video here as I don't publish pictures and videos of the kids publicly but I'm backing up fairly regularly and so far I love it! I'm only sorry I didn't stick with it last year.

I'm making sure we all get on there (although there's a clear bias towards the kids), and capturing big events as well as day to day occurences.

Putting it on my to do list has definitely helped me to remember to use it more.

Really, I can't recommend it enough. Here's where I first heard about the 1SE app if you want to see an example.

Paleo Restart

Since Monday I've restarted my Paleo diet. It takes a bit more planning but I'm down two kilos already and feeling so much better.

For breakfast I've been whipping up the banana pudding recipe I shared earlier this week. It's tasty, quick and filling.

Lunches have been salads or leftovers. I was surprised how many ingredients we had in the fridge and pantry.

For dinner I tried a new recipe, which I'll share next week, and bought a cooked chicken to eat with veg which lasted two nights.

Basically you can eat meat, fruit and veg. I've been gluten free for a while but I notice a big difference when I cut out dairy too.

I can't recommend it enough.

One Little Word 2018

Following the success of my year of 'create', I want to share my new One Little Word for 2018 today. It is:

Refresh!

I thought long and hard about this and 2018 is going to be a whole different set up for me. Both kids will be in daycare, I'll be starting several new jobs and it seemed to make sense that I refresh several areas of my life in the process. Here are some of my goals for 2018:

• Refresh my work situation.
• Refresh my home environment.
• Refresh my attempts at One Second Every Day video keeping.
• Refresh my crossstitch efforts.
• Refresh my diet and fitness plans.
• Refresh my finances.

By the way, although I loved and acheived last year's goals - I'm actually enjoying creating and reading much more now that the pressure is off.

Also, I've decided not to have my mobile phone upstairs at night any more and after just four nights, I'm feeling refreshed!