Day 151. Cat in a bag.

Packing Bea's mini case for the journey up to Whitley Bay and came back upstairs to find the cat sleeping happily on it. Needless to say we made sure she wasn't hiding in any of the overnight bags before we left.

Day 150. Spa-ing.

Finally, despite a false start, at 10.00 am I began a (half) day off and headed to Congham Hall Spa. The sauna, hot tub in the garden, massage using oils fragranced with lime and bergamot and tropical showers were just what I needed. Add to that almost an hour spent lying on a day bed reading my book and I was feeling very relaxed by the time I arrived in the restaurant for lunch. Here's what I wrote about my visit on Triptease

Day 149. Molly Bloom's soliloquy

the sun shines for you he said the day we were lying among the rhododendrons on Howth head in the grey tweed suit and his straw hat the day I got him to propose to me

James Joyce, Ulysses

Day 148. Being Mum.

These days I don't seem to have much time to just be a Mum. So today I indulged totally, well almost totally. First stop a trip to the hairdressers for Bea's summer haircut. Then a bit of shoe shopping, again for the little one, this time summer sandals. Next stop home as we'd invited Bea's best friend over for the afternoon. They disappeared into the garden but I managed to coax them inside for 20 minutes with a batch of lemon cupcakes ready for decorating and here are the results. Sprinkles and sugar hearts everywhere.

Happy Bea. Happy Mummy. Happy days.

Day 147. Busy doing nothing.

Not totally but at least I'm not working. I have done the usual washing, ironing and cooking but I've also sat in the garden and read a bit of my book. I've drunk wine before 7pm and indulged in several episodes of The West Wing as I prepared uniforms and work clothes ready for next week.

As bank holidays go, it's been a pretty good one.

Day 146. Divorced, beheaded, died, ...

... divorced, beheaded, survived.

Today I learnt a new song to remember the fate of each of Henry VIII's six wives. Honestly? I already knew the order in which he married them and how the story ends for Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Kathryn and Katherine. But for kids, it's a pretty cool recall method, if not a bit distracting in an exam situation.

We were at Horrible Histories in Kings Lynn, this time seeing Terrible Tudors; we saw Vile Victorians in February.

The show was funny, clever and with front row seats, no-one in front of us to block the view, although the flip side is that you have to keep an eye out for high velocity saliva during the dramatic speeches.

Loved it. Now how does that song go again?

Day 145. We are aMused.

Today the sun shone down and we headed off to London to see Muse at the Emirates. When I say we, I mean all of us, Bea too. After our trip to the Paralympic closing ceremony we were better prepared this time with spare jumpers, coats and hats in case it got cold. It didn't. We took ear defenders for Bea in case it was too loud. It wasn't. And we were prepared to leave early so that we wouldn't have to wait too long for a train. We didn't. In fact we stayed until the boys left the stage and someone turned the lights on and coughed signalling the show was over folks, time to go home.

It was a spectacular night kicking off at 6pm with Bastille. We then had a face grimacing forty-five minutes listening to Dizee Rascal swearing his way through his set; when you have an 8 year old in tow every 'f*ck' seems to be amplified and the giant speaker in front of our seats didn't help. 'Just ignore it,' I told Bea. 'How can I when it's so loud!' she correctly replied.

Finally at 8.20pm, ten minutes ahead of schedule, it was time for the main event: three boys from Devon, a stage resembling a space station on acid and 60,000 of their closest friends.

Favourite moments for me were CGI versions of Barack Obama, David Cameron, Angela Merkel and Francoise Hollande doing the running man dance to Panic Station, everyone on their feet singing along to Knights of Cydonia - in the first hour of the 2 hour set - and Matt Bellamy acknowledging the moshers as they created a human whirlpool with "It's like f*ckin' Fight Club down there!'.

But the highlight was during the finale. On my feet, with my girl, jumping up and down, joy on our faces as we sang along to Uprising and Starlight, the latter being one of the first songs that brought sheer delight to Bea's face as a toddler. There couldn't have been a better way to end the show; from our car in 2005 to the Emirates in 2013, 'Hold you in my arms, I just wanted to hold you in my arms, I just wanted to hold.' Hold her I did. Oh what a night.

Last year I saw Bruce Springsteen, one of my all time music heroes. It was a gig I didn't think any band or artist could top but tonight I saw Muse and they kicked it out of the park. Out. Of. The. Park.

Day 144. Hobson's choice isn't always a bad thing.

When you arrive at St John's Farm in Beachamwell, the farm workers are busily prepping the just picked asparagus spears and bundling them ready for sale in the tiny little building that serves as a farm shop. 

It's all about local produce: tomatoes (grown at the British Sugar factory at Wissington), Norfolk cordials, strawberries from Claire Pickles at Brandon and this weekend only fresh Beachamwell lamb - whole, half or just a joint - is available before it heads to the freezer.

It's more time consuming shopping this way, and there's limited product choice, but tonight's dinner of prosciutto wrapped salmon served with baked asparagus, olives, tomatoes and chilli more than makes up for it.

Day 143. Marbles.

Finally a day at home. Working, but in the home office at least.

On Tuesday afternoon Bea entered a competition at school to design a lego marble maze. This is her construction. While I was away; she won.

I'm a proud Mum even if I am sometimes an absent one.

Day 142. Contrast of cultures.

So lucky to be hosting a client event in this spectacular building: the RSA in London. The mural on the walls, portraying progress and evolution the perfect contrast to the high tech lighting and AV kit.

The video on the screen is the result of my filming excursion to Cambridge with Spotreels; it's hard to believe the day we've been working towards for 9 months is finally here.

All those sleepless nights, long days and stretching deadlines seem worth it today. A proud moment.

Day 141. Tidying things up.

Tomorrow is one of the biggest days of my year. It's an annual launch event for one of my clients and it's always insanely busy right up until the lights go down and the presentations start. So in a moment of frantic, last minute preparation I took time out to straighten the cushions on the sofa in the London office. OCD? Not me.

Day 140. Defenders of the ear.

In 5 days time we're heading off to the Emirates stadium (pah) to watch Muse. The fact that they're renowned for turning it up to 11 sent me in search of these. Someone at work pointed out that once Bea's wearing these she probably won't be able to hear the gig. What the hell. It's Muse. Even with the volume turned down to 1 or 2, they're going to sound awesome.

Day 139. All things yellow.

Rapeseed in the background and a scrummy lemon drizzle cake. That's a perfect Sunday right there. Add in a walk to the river and it really is the icing on the cake. Here's the recipe for the cake. The rest of the day you'll have to create for yourself.


Lemon-Syrup Loaf Cake: Nigella Lawson

125g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
175g self raising flour
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons milk
23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin buttered and lined

For the syrup:
Juice of 1 and a half lemons
100g icing sugar

For the glaze:
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
150g icing sugar


To Make The Cake:

Preheat your oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4.
Butter and line your loaf tin well.

Cream together butter and sugar and add eggs and lemon zest, beating them in well.
Gently fold in the flour and the salt, mixing thoroughly and then add the milk.
Spoon the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 45 mins or until cake tester comes out clean.

For the syrup:
Put the lemon juice and icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.
As soon as cake is out of oven, puncture all over with skewer and pour over the syrup.
Leave cake to cool completely before removing from the tin.

For the glaze:
Combine lemon juice and icing sugar until smooth and white, add a little more icing sugar if needed.  Make sure your cake is completely cool before drizzling with the glaze.

Enjoy - this is easy to make and exceptionally tasty. Fairly sure it won't last long.

Day 138. Chuck another steak on the....oh hold on.

Tesco in Downham Market is optimistic abut the weather. Piles of charcoal at the entrance which I feel disinclined to buy as I run into the shop to escape the rain. Anyway we have a gas BBQ; rusting away behind the house as another year of al fresco dining passes us by.

Let's hope the forecast for tomorrow is accurate and that this fuel stack is depleted by lunchtime as people makes the most of a seasonally appropriate day. Old school men assuming the position: donning masculine aprons and prodding meat cooked over fire. If it's sunny here we'll be cooking on gas.

Day 137. Ant and Dec.

I really wanted to call this post 'Let's get ready to rumble' but I've used that title already.

Friday tea - fish and chips as a treat. Rumbles is opposite the Downham Fryer, the other fish bar on Bridge Street (we'd say chippy in Liverpool) and although I think the food is better across the street, the service is famously slow. So I'm here instead.

As is the norm, the anticipation wasn't matched by the consumption but it saved on cooking and the washing up was minimal. TFIF.

Day 136. Breakfast for one.

Equals bliss. No interruptions and the chance to spend 30 minutes catching up on some reading and actually sit still; enjoying a pot of coffee rather than moving my cup around the house until the coffee goes cold. It was only fruit, cereal and a slice of toast but I savoured every mouthful. Back to reality tomorrow.

Day 135. Still calorie counting.

Week four of calorie counting and I had the first real test of my resolve when I went out for dinner tonight. Thankfully this stunning plate of food was also low calorie and with a glass of Stellenbosch as an accompaniment I didn't feel the pain of watching what I eat at all.

Day 134. Boris.

One lonely Boris bike on Euston Road. I was lazy and jumped in a cab. Well it's raining. I finished work late. I've got a long journey. I'm running out of excuses.

Boris.

Day 133. A partridge in a pear tree.

Or rather a pheasant in an ash tree. Just outside Bea's bedroom window, sheltering from the rain.

Day 132. Retro Sunday.

Another cold Sunday calls for a glass of wine, game of Monopoly and Star Wars. Our box set is on video.... I'll let you digest that for a minute.

Video. The quality was rubbish.

Day 131. This sceptred isle.

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Where late Spring/early Summer is defined by high winds, brooding skies and cool temperatures.

Gone is the lead flashing from Bea's clubhouse but the apple tree is filled with blossom and the field behind is all set to bloom into a field of gold.

This is England.

Day 130. You can't handle the truth.

The Hot Wires lie detector. This is a great kit for kids teaching them the basics about circuits, not just  tools to test the trust worthiness of family members. This one works from moisture on the finger plate - assuming that if you're lying you're more likely to be sweating. It was a last minute addition to an already long Christmas list but one I'm glad we bought.

Day 129. My little car.

My little car is a bit crap. The front bumper is cracked from an unfortunate collision with a deer, it has a definite clunk from too many trips up and down our track and there is now a click from the steering wheel when I turn right. All that becomes insignificant though when I fill up with fuel and see this message - it's a bit exaggerated as really I can only get between 750 and 800 miles per tank but hey that's good enough for me.

Day 128. The best key grip in town.

Spent the morning filming vox pops in Cambridge for one of my customers. Although quite a few people say no when you approach them, some even appearing terrified at the prospect of being on camera, surprisingly there are plenty of people who are more than happy to talk to camera. We had wind, sunshine and a little rain but nothing seemed to dampen the spirits of the city dwellers and tourists  we spoke to. Reminiscent of my university days but without the broken camera, edit suite or snoring man, it was certainly a fun way to spend a day.

Day 127. Rachel's Cakes.

Monday is cake day at Transform but as yesterday was a bank holiday this week the cakes arrived on Tuesday; my day in the office. These Spring cakes by Rachel were as tasty as they were pretty. Worth every calorie.

Day 126. Lady Perdita of Huntingdon.

Too busy today and completely forgot to take a photo so just before bed here is our cat.

Day 125. Getting into GEAR.

Happy to be a 'running Mum' as Bea's love of running continues. And let's face it, standing around in the sunshine in Kings Lynn is much more enjoyable than standing in the rain, wind and snow at Shouldham Warren during the Cross Country season. This was Bea's first mini GEAR and I was suitably proud as she headed towards the finish line in her white and green Ryston Runners' vest.

Day 124. The Fixer.

Denver Mill was featured on The Fixer with Alex Polizzi last year and the future looked promising. So when I headed over today it was such a shame to see it in a state of disrepair. We've visited several times to make bread or just to pop into the cafè for freshly made cakes. Sadly the Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust, owners of the mill, last year decided to sell and the couple running the mill, cafè and shop weren't in a position to raise the money required to stay put. One to watch but let's hope the future sees this landmark building back in working order soon.

Day 123. Tea with Bea.

'Tea with Bea' was one of our favourite books when our own Bea was little. Tonight she had a friend over for tea and a play and it was a joy to be able to serve the same food we would normally eat. A lovely evening for them and for us.

Day 122. Yellow.

So then I took my time,
Oh what a thing to have done.
And it was all yellow.

Day 121. Night all.

It's heads down on a brand refresh and website relaunch at the moment in addition to organising a client event and planning the content for an internal workshop for 100 people. Fairly busy. So tonight it's an early finish purely because I can no longer think or see clearly. The books in front of my bedside clock taunt me with their opportunity for escapism; we all know I'm not reading them, or the Kindle on top, any time soon.