Here’s a couple of pictures of my twin daughters not long after we adopted our wee tortoiseshell cat, Heidi in November last year…

The first photo is Rachel. Check out her wobbly tooth! LOL She ended up with no front teeth before Christmas!

The second pic is Sophie, who still had all her top teeth at the time! She also had no front teeth at Christmas!

I’m linking up (albeit late!) to:

• Twin Tuesday
• Tortie Tuesday

… and also Wordless Wednesday.

1. Do you (or is it appropriate to) talk about your kids/marriage/dirty laundry at work?

Well, I’m not sure if it’s really appropriate or not, but I’m afraid I do!!  I often offload my woes to my colleagues, and they are good listeners, who give great advice and tend to cheer me up!

Today, for example, I shared the bad news that my husband’s job is in serious jeapordy because the firm he works for went into administration today.  This is really scary for me, as Hubby is the main breadwinner,and we barely keep our heads above water with both our incomes coming in.  If he cannot find a suitable replacement job, our finances will seriously suffer! 

2. Favorite recipe!

Tonight I cooked Honey and Orange Roast Duck, and it was delicious!  I had never cooked duck before, but my local supermarket had a special offer on and all ducks were half price, so I thought I’d give it a go!  I got the recipe from All Recipes UK.  Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 (2kg) whole duck, rinsed.
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh root ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 orange, quartered
• 475ml water
• 350g honey
• 110g butter
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 125ml freshly squeezed orange juice

Preparation Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C / Gas 4
2. In a small bowl, mix together the basil, ginger and salt and sprinkle mixture inside and outside of duck.  Stuff duck with orange quarters and lay in roasting tin.  Add water.
3. In a small saucepan combine the honey, butter, lemon juice and orange juice.  Simmer together over low heat until syrupy; pour a little of the mixture over the duck, saving the rest for basting.  Cover roasting tin.
4. Roast duck in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.  Turn duck breast down, reduce heat to 150C / Gas 2 and roast covered for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until very tender.  If desired, turn duck breast up during the last few minutes of cooking to brown.  (I took the foil off the duck for the last 5 minutes or so.)

(Recipe by Kayleew at All Recipes UK)

Join in the WMW fun over at Work, Wife,Mom, Life!

It’s a great way to share photos of our lovely tortoiseshell cat, Heidi! 

Visit The Beaded Tail to see the beautiful tortie, Isabella, who is celebrating her fifth birthday today!

Happy birthday, Isabella!

This week’s Girl’s Talk has another Shopaholic theme, and this time it’s all about housewares / homewares.  What items of homeaware do I like to browse and buy?

Last week, when the shopaholic question was about health and beauty items, I told you that, as a Vie At Home consultant, I tend to purchase the bulk of my health and beauty products from there. Well, Vie At Home also do a homeware range, so I like to purchase bedding, cushions, throws and table linen from there.

I am a cushion junkie!! I *heart* cushions soooooooooooooo much!! I have LOTS of cushions (8) on my bed (too much, according to Hubby!) and several cushions on my sofas in the livingroom!

I also love throws, and have three (yes, THREE) for our bed, plus a spare couple for the sofas, which I tend to only use as blankets for cuddling up on the couch in the winter!  In the summer, I only use two light throws over our duvet, and it’s more for decoration than warmth.  However, in the winter, I bring out a huge kingsize throw which completely covers the bed, and makes it feel sooooo cosy!!

While I’m talking about my bedroom, I’ll fess up to having three changes of bedlinen for our bed, and I’m thinking of buying another set!

What I really need to stock up on are crockery and glasses.  Over the years, we’ve had a lot of breakages and so we’re due for a replenishment!…  This is so apparent when we have guests over for dinner and/or drinks.

What about you?  What homewares do you enjoy browsing and/or buying?

You can join in the Girls Talk fun over at The Beauty Queen Gene.

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Now it’s time for a shameless plug…

November Bedding Offers

Tuesday 2 November – Wednesday 1 December 2010 (whilst stocks last)

We’ve got a fab bedding offer to keep you snuggled up inside this winter, with 50% off and a free Elegance Throw this is sure to be a hit so get in quick!

SINGLE OFFER

Buy the La Belle VIE Single Duvet, Single Fitted Sheet and Single Standard Pillowcase and get 50% off AND a free Elegance Throw! Offer price just £40.75/€51.00. Save £105.75/€132.20. RRP £146.50/€183.20

To order please quote: LBVSINGLE

DOUBLE OFFER

Buy the La Belle VIE Double Duvet, Double Fitted Sheet and 2 Double Standard Pillowcases and get 50% off AND a free Elegance Throw! Offer price just £57.75/€72.20. Save £122.75/€153.50. RRP £180.50/€225.70

You can order online here.

To order please quote: LBVDOUBLE

Guidelines

1.    Items are whilst stocks last and are subject to change.

2.    Offer includes La Belle VIE Single and Double bedding only.

3.    Offer available between Tuesday 2 November – Wednesday 1 December

4.    This offer is not part of the Hostess Gift Programme.

Spend £25 and choose from the following items for £5.00:

Today, I’d like to share a couple of Halloween freebies with you:

1. FREE Spooky Halloween Recipes to make your Halloween spook-tacular!
2. FREE Halloween e-card to share and scare!

Why not treat your little monsters to The Barefoot Book of Monsters by Fran Parnel and Sophie Fatus? 

WAS £12.99 – Now £11.99 (HARDBACK)

*guisers – Trick-or-Treaters.  In Glasgow, children go ‘guising’, rather than trick-or-treating.  They have to tell a joke or sing a song in return for some fruit, nuts or sweeties.

DISCLOSURE:  I am an Ambassador for Barefoot Books.

Burst pipe. No heating. Household chaos.

The One-Minute Writer: Today's Writing Prompt: Pet


Today, I have to describe an everyday scene from the point of view of a pet.

Yikes!  I nearly bounced through the roof of the run there!  I wish The Nice Lady would get that noisy back door fixed.  Every time the humans open or close that squeaky door, my sister and I get quite a fright.  Us rabbits are nervous creatures, you see.  That’s on account of us being prey animals.  Our fight or flight responses are finely tuned.

We soon calm down when we realise that it’s just The Nice Lady coming out of her home.  Then we watch her to see what she’s up to.  Yes!  She’s opening the trunk with all our rabbit goodies inside.  It must be feeding time.  Yippee!

“Race you to the bowls, Sis!”

Hop, hop, hop!…

Today’s Writing Prompt: Disagree

The One-Minute Writer: Today's Writing Prompt: Disagree#links#links#links