Campfire food

I mentioned in my last post that I LOVE cooking on a camp fire - here are some pics of my fave food from our trip last week:

Emma and Duncan drink a lot of tea - proper tea in a pot and they bring it all camping! I made Emma the teacosy (their surname is House) for her birthday nearly 3 years ago now.. It's still going!

Making bread dough in a field is no more difficult than in a kitchen. Mix bread flour, yeast, splash of oil and warm water..

Then rather than kneading it on a surface, wring it like a wet towel.. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recommends this method in his bread book and it really does work!

Then pop it in a warm, oiled pot with a lid and let it prove/rise - a warm tent is perfect for this

We make pizza's - I literally pull off small balls of dough, flatten and stretch it in my hand, cook one side on the hot skillet and then flip it and top it and hey presto. Pizza! (Emma makes a mean Hugh soup!)

This camp we made s'mores - a big win! Toast a marshmallow, then sandwich it with a piece of choc between two savoury crackers. Amazing!

Emma invented 'chocolate bombs' using my dough, she wrapped chocolate spread inside before we cooked them on the skillet.. Just fabulous!

This was my fave meal of the trip - leftovers! We cooked jacket potatoes in the fire (the black blob at the top of my plate) we cooked beans in their tins in the fire, had left over hugh soup, sweetcorn, tuna and fried halloumi. A FEAST!

The kidlets don't like charred potato skins, so I generally pull their skins off and they have what is in essence cheesy, buttery mash with beans! Niamh eats her body weight in tuna too.

I needed to get this post written asap Clanettes - tomorrow I am embarking on a 3 day detox.!!! Assuming I live through it, I am hoping to rid myself of my caffeine and sugar addiction..and shift some of the 7lbs I have gained eating and drinking my way round the UK for the last 2 weeks.. Also need to reacquaint myself with the gym!

I shall of course update - assuming I can see to type with what I believe is going to be a killer withdrawal headache!!

Camp!

So we went camping Clanettes! Four days and 3 nights at the Sus centre in petersfield. We have been there before (see here at the end of this post) and we LOVE it. Generally speaking we go twice a year, but this was and is our only camp this year. We go with our friends The House family and The Tippers, and anyone else who fancies joining us.

We particularly like the sus centre because it is safe. It is friendly. It has solar showers and composting toilets. And because of the camp fires - providing warmth but also food. I ADORE cooking on an open fire. I have deliberately omitted any foodie pics here - I will do a separate post dedicated to campfire food!

This trip seemed easier - the kidlets are getting bigger and more self  reliant, they go into the brush and play hide and seek, they go to the loo by themselves and get water from the tap.. A far cry from the heady days of camping with a 4yo, a 3yo and a newborn..! These days Paul and I get downtime.. WOW!

Anyway. The high lights of our four day stay in pics.
Enjoy xx

Yoga

I have 'dabbled' in the concept of Yoga in the past. I have been to classes here and there, I even took a 10 week intro class with the Yoga Sanctuary and discovered that their 'religious' approach to yoga didn't suit me - I appreciate that yoga is in  fact a religion, but I like to think you can practice it and appreciate it without joining, what felt like to me, a beautifully presented, softly softly, in essence 'cult' at the Sanctuary!

I have been suffering with stiffness now that I am post-op and back to exercise - I don't know how to stretch any more and I have been floundering. Anyone who knows Lucy (and Dave) will know that they embrace Yoga as a way of life and they are now on a teacher training course to enable them to teach Yoga to others - so when Lucy suggested that I try a 1-2-1 with Sharon, a lady who Lucy does a weekly class with, I was sold. Perfect! Sharon is lovely lady, very practical, very easy to talk to - right up my street and I have enjoyed my first two meetings with her.

In our first meeting we talked about my life style, my daily routine, my surgery, life pre and post op, when I fit things in that are just for me, what I want to gain, and then she went away and wrote me a 'posture set', which we went through in our second meeting. It is a very easy, gentle set to get me started on the road to greater stretch - and I guess Yoga knowledge.

And so I am enjoying spending 15 minutes on myself early in the morning - not everyday, Sharon and I agreed that 3 times a week is enough to start, and if I can do it 4 times all the better.

Spending time on myself involved a new yoga mat, and some candles - obviously - just because I'm not particularly interested in the religion of Yoga, doesn't mean I don't like to honour the divine feminine. Lucy replaced my broken Yoni ('female') statue when we were in Glasto last week and I am thrilled to be able to burn votive candles again. I treat myself to the large candle - brand new just for Yoga. Love a little bit of quiet time! Love a little bit of magic in the morning.

I go back to see Sharon in 3 weeks, then we'll 'tweak' what I'm doing and talk about my breathing. Then if I'm happy, I'll see her every 5 weeks and we'll move onto meditation in Yoga.

In addition, I have also embarked on some cranial osteo and am considering a juice detox - more on those in posts to come. Needless to say, I am very excited, I feel like I am taking postive action over my body - limits in the months to come will be gently pushed and anything I can't do going forward, won't be because I didn't try!

Thanks for reading Clanettes, thanks for your continued support x x

Wales

Paul and I went to Wales, with our friends Jo and Dylan. Paul and Dylan had entered the Eiras middle distance triathlon and we made a weekend of it. We spent two nights at the foot of Snowdon and I was brave enough for my first 'wild swim' in a glacial lake - COLD! BRILLIANT!
Whilst the boys were racing, Jo and I went for a little bike ride along the race run route and I enjoyed my first leisurely cycle that didn't involve me testing myself. IT WAS GOOD!

A fabulous weekend - here it is in pictorial form:

The sun setting over Llyn Cwellyn the swim was so liberating, although very cold. My breath came in really short sharp rasps until I was used to the temperature, and even then I didn't stay in as long as everyone else. The lake is clear and clean, but once you're in and if you're brave enough to put your (goggled) face under, it is black and murky under the surface!

The day of the tri:

 

 

The boys did really well in the event, I am so proud of Paul. It was great to be a spectator on a public course and we were able to see them and talk to them on all the laps.

Special massive mention to my Mum and Dad for having the kidlets for two nights. Thank you. I know you know. But its nice to be told too. Thank you, it was such a great weekend, we really appreciate it.

See you soon Jo - hopefully sooner than last time - my only regret is that we didn't get a photo together. Don't worry, I won't forget our tri pledge..! xxx