Day 90. What no Easter Bunny?

The Honeybone Easter Egg hunt has become something of a tradition but this year I was less than organised. It was only when we heard the two 8 year olds rushing around the house trying to find where the Easter Bunny had left their eggs that we realised the first ball of the day had been dropped. Twenty minutes later and a variety of chocolate filled plastic eggs and Haribo easter bags were around the garden with a number of clues leading to their hiding place. The hunt ended with a booty of eggs and chocolate chicks for which of course we gave credit to EB. Not sure if the kids really still believe but watching them run around the garden screaming with excitement makes it worth the while.

Day 89. Forever friends.

I've already posted this photo on Facebook but it really was THE moment of the day for me.

Bea, Chris and Dan don't have to get on. Just because we're friends with Jacqui and Andrew doesn't mean they will have things in common but it has been with great pleasure that we've watched them enjoy each other's company for the past 8 years. Bea may not have any brothers or sisters but in her eyes these two boys are family and she'll argue the point if I dare to disagree. Terrific photo. Brilliant kids. Hopefully forever friends.

Day 88. Les Dawson is in the house.

This afternoon the Sugden family joined us for the Easter weekend. We hadn't planned the musical entertainment that accompanied dinner as Bea, Chris and Dan played a variety of show-off tunes on the piano. The highlight was probably Dan's interpretation of the songs in Bea's piano book, generally singing the words and bashing out any tune on random keys. It was a feast for the ears.

Day 87. Colouring in.

At a conference last week someone described Marketing as the colouring in department. Well if you looked in my work bag this week it would be hard to disagree. After running 6 workshops, a client event and spending the day talking about campaigns and events with another client in London, my paperwork has stacked up and there's now plenty of opportunity for using my favourite felt tips.

A pretty good week for work but Bea brought me down to earth with a bump when she commented, for the second time in a week, "Mummy, there is no food in this house!".

Work Emma 1, Home Emma 0. Next week I'll try a different formation.

Day 86. Let's get ready to RUMBLE.

In the week that P.J. and Duncan stormed the download charts with their 1994 hit, Let's Get Ready to Rumble, I headed up to Newcastle and Sunderland for the day to run a couple of workshops for O2. The day started well when Bea's sleepy face appeared at the landing window as I reversed out of the drive just after 6 a.m., especially as I hadn't seen her since yesterday morning.

Twelve hours later I was back at Newcastle Station ready to board the train home. I managed to entertain my fellow rail passengers when I accidentally knocked up the volume to max on my iPhone and jumped out of my skin. The polite middle-aged, middle-class men around me smiled wryly and I conveyed an expression that was essentially a facial bow to the audience. Before you ask, I was listening to Bruce Springsteen not Ant and Dec.

Arriving home bang on 10 p.m. it was a long and tiring day. Tomorrow I think any sort of rumble will be out of the question.

Day 85. The best station in Norfolk.

Downham Market may not be the hub for broadband, fine dining or boutique shops, but when it comes to rail travel, or more specifically pre-rail travel facilities, it can definitely claim the crown.

The Railway Arms, a tiny little bar and café on platform 1, is where I have a quick coffee before catching the train to London and where more hardy souls partake in a glass of real ale. Featured in Great Railway Journeys of Britain and listed in CAMRA's 'The Good Beer Guide' for the past 3 years it really is a gem.

Always a great start to the day.

Day 84. Tell me why.

Actually I don't really dislike Mondays and this mix of heavily scented lilies, spiky thistles and distinctive eucalyptus certainly makes the day more bearable. A thank you from my customer at O2 it's a reminder of how much I love my job; particularly important at the moment as my home life appears to be crumbling around my ears as I type.

The silicon chip inside my head has definitely been switched to overload.

Day 83. Wishful thinking.

Yet another Sunday paper waiting to be read. You'd think the weather would be conducive to lying on the sofa and reading the papers but half the day disappeared at Shouldham Warren where Bea finished the Cross Country Running season with a personal best and the rest of the day seems to have been spent making and eating Sunday lunch. I have the rest of the week at least to read the non-news focused sections. Like that's going to happen. Fuel for the fire it is then.

Day 82. Shouldn't it be sand?

Footprints in the sand.

That's what I'd like to be looking at now. Deep, water filled footprints. You know the ones you leave as you walk along the ocean's edge? The ones where you can feel that slight pull, the suction from the wet sand, as you lift up each foot. Footprints that look best on warm sand, next to clear blue water and underneath sunny skies.

Instead the fire is lit and we are at risk of needing to order more oil in the next week if it stays this cold. Tonight seems the perfect time to book a summer holiday. By which time of course we'll be complaining about a heatwave. For now though I'll make the most of the crackle of the logs; that's one of the main upsides to wintry weather. That and footprints in the snow.

Day 81. Good parent.

After being an absent parent all week I made it home for Bea's class assembly this morning. This half term has been all about robots and the children wrote their own robot themed short story which they then illustrated and turned into a pop-up book.

To celebrate they hosted a champagne reception book launch after their robot assembly where we were able to go along to witness the book signings. A glass of fizz (y water...) and a handful of wotsits at 9.45 a.m.; what more could you ask for?!

Proud Mum, good Mum and now looking forward to the weekend. Happy Friday all.

Day 80. England v Wales and just a little salt.

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is organising events and I really don't do it as much as I'd like. Today was an event for O2 at Twickenham hence the England v Wales and not Wales v England in the title. There's always something a bit special when you host an event in a place with so much history and Twickenham certainly has that.

When I arrived at 8.00 a.m. I checked which entrance to use with a chap conveniently placed in the car park to provide assistance only to find he was Welsh! For the die hard England rugby fans who joined us today, this 'humorous' touch didn't go un-noticed and the several Scots who also attended found it highly entertaining.

Inside the stadium, this interesting installation is in the corridor near the main conference room we were using and this afternoon, when I was heading back from one of the executive boxes, I turned the corner to find a guy making a phone call. All very normal. Except he had placed his note book on the backside of the player on the left and was standing right behind said backside on his call. Up close, totally part of the scrum. I tried and failed not to laugh but as I didn't recognise him I refrained from taking a picture. Although I so wish I hadn't.

Day 79. Beautiful details.

Driving through Richmond this evening I had plenty of time to admire the local architecture. My sat nav told me I was 10 minutes from my destination for an hour! Makes me appreciate Norfolk and all its slow paced glory.

This row of terraced houses caught my eye though with its exquisite and intricately carved stone detailing. So different to the traditional style of carrstone houses in our village.

If it wasn't for the traffic, I think I could live here.

Day 78. Scotland v Sweden.

I spent the day driving from Glasgow to Dumfries and back again, with a couple of meetings in between and without doubt the scenery was breathtaking. But. The joy of arriving to pick up a hire car and finding this beauty waiting for me eclipsed all the snow capped peaks and rolling hills.

I love driving a big car and the Volvo XC60 could only have been bettered if it had been an XC90. Joyous. What a shock to jump into my old, geared jalopy when I arrived back in England this evening. Next car is definitely going to be an automatic.

Well done Swedes. A joy to drive.

Day 77. Going retro.

An actual book and the welcome return of Spicy Seafood Udon Soup to the menu at Yo Sushi! Their exclamation mark not mine.

I managed to spend an enjoyable 20 minutes enjoying both at Stansted Aereoport which I can only assume is a combination of a mint chocolate bar and a European airport.

Day 76. Normal service resumed and a recipe of sorts.

Vegetarians look away.

Sundays are all about family, so after yesterday's craziness slow roasted lamb seemed the perfect antidote. A quick trip to Dents, snapping photos of Egyptian Geese and the deer in the woods set me up perfectly for catching up with work later in the day.

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and it never fails. Here it is for those who have yet to discover its heavenly delights.

Slow roasted shoulder of lamb

Preheat your oven to full whack. Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife. Lay sprigs of rosemary and garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting tray, rub the lamb all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the tray on top of the rosemary and garlic, and put some more rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place in the oven. Turn the oven down immediately to 170°C/325°F/gas 3 and cook for 4 hours – it's done if you can pull the meat apart easily with two forks. 

Day 75. The wrong direction.

Today was a really odd day; a 400 mile round trip to Manchester, on a precious Saturday, to take Bea to a One Direction gig. We met up with my best friend from 6th form and her niece, how naive we were to think that we'd get a chance to catch up while the girls had a sing and a dance: it was deafening. The group of girls behind us screamed so loudly I had to put tissue in my ears at one point, they were bleeding (figuratively speaking but borderline literally).

However that's not why it was odd. I have blogged before about the pace at which Bea is growing up and how I wish I could just slow it down a little. Today we hit the autobahn. I watched as my 8 year old was swept along with the atmosphere. As she sang, screamed and danced her way through 2 hours of songs - I knew 4 of them - she seemed unable to control herself. It was primal. Sometimes when she danced there seemed to be a different song playing in her head and I was thankful when she commented that she thought it was weird to see girls crying so much they had mascara running down their cheeks - yep, if you're gonna bag yourself a 1D boy that's how to do it....

The little girl I'm more familiar with returned when we had a bite to eat in Harvey Nicks afterwards (a reward to me for surviving the experience) as she giggled over photos of the boys and messed about with her 1D glow stick. But there's no escaping what I'd seen. There it was. A glimpse into the future.

To all other Mums of primary girls: hold on tight, it's going to be one hell of a ride.

Day 74. #didsomethingfunnyformoney

Today was all about Comic Relief and I needed it running a major campaign for Transform. Basically we shared some stupid photos of the Transform team (myself included) with our clients and sent them a batch of red nose accessories and sweeties, asking them to tweet us their own photos. We then made a donation to RND on behalf of their team.

I hoped for a good response but never expected such a high level of ingenuity: planking in the office, red noses making a dash for it in the lift and even Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace switching from French campaigns to RND campaigning. It was full on and a terrific experience. To date with our donations and the additional donations from people who saw the campaign we are running at £615. Do something funny for money? We did just that.

Day 73. In need of comic relief.

Don't trust me with your laundry.

This is what happens when a deep pink pashmina (that I hate) ends up in the same wash as a beautiful silk trimmed scarf and a new jumper.  Perhaps I can save the scarf if I dye it, I bought it in New York and would hate to throw it away but the jumper may not be so easily rescued despite me having only worn it twice.

Not my finest hour. One of my finest scarves though.

Some comic relief would be welcome at this point.  £30 now donated: http://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/emmahoneybone

Day 72. Flowers.

I didn't buy these for my Mum. In fact my Mother's Day gift saga deserves a blog post of its own.

At 75p, this rose bouquet from Tesco was too good to leave behind. A little battered around the edges but nothing some ruthless dead heading and trimming couldn't resolve and the two bouquets I bought for such a bargain price actually look pretty stunning for supermarket flowers.

I can't say I'm surprised there were so many reduced bunches. When I nipped out to get some milk on Saturday evening our local store was extremely well stocked. Even taking into account the forgetful teenagers who headed there on Sunday morning, it's fair to say they seem to have over estimated demand.

My Mum would actually have loved these but they wouldn't have travelled well to North Wales. Sometimes you need to treat yourself and I'm certainly worth £1.50.

Did you spot the red nose? £25 now donated to Comic Relief: http://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/emmahoneybone

Day 71. Last minute photo.

Cat and nose stand off. I got back late from London. Had a Vic and Bob day with no time to venture out and take a photo in one of the most vibrant cities in the world so I resorted to this. Pet exploitation.

£20 now donated to Comic Relief: http://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/emmahoneybone

Day 70. Will there ever be a boy born who can swim faster than a shark?

If you watched The Office when it first aired in 2001, you'll no doubt remember questioning whether it was a documentary or a comedy. It was one of the most uncomfortable pieces of TV to watch and I absolutely loved it. The Brentisms, Gareth's social ineptitude, seeing Tim slowly dying inside in every episode and Keith, the mostly silent scotch egg eater. It was before Sky+ but in reality if you didn't watch it when it was broadcast you'd be left out of the playground banter the next day at work so recording it wasn't really an option.

The office used in the opening credits is Crossbow House in Slough and only a few minutes away from my meeting today. It was a bit windy when I took this photo but it seems fitting that the red nose is rolling away, attempting to escape the life-draining horror that lies behind those windows. Not these actual windows of course, they filmed it in a studio not here in Slough, actually they filmed it at Teddington Studios, in the office space not one of the actual studios. So not these windows.

I couldn't possibly pick a favourite scene, there are simply too many to choose from. Most of them are melancholic, embarrassing and roll on the floor funny but if you google 'stapler in the jelly' that ranks pretty high on my Top 10 list along with 'Keith's appraisal' and 'David Brent's blind date'.

This is for you Rob Green. Our very own DB.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXy72PByQU

And as I managed to include the red nose again, I've donated another £5 to Comic Relief: http://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/emmahoneybone

Day 69. Fine dining and comic timing.

A last minute decision to eat out on Mother's Day (apostrophe placement because this is all about me) was a risk but luckily Pizza Express was full so we managed to squeeze into The Bank House in Kings Lynn instead. Glass of fizz, amazing anti pasti plate and then confit of duck; after being spoilt by Bea with 'bed and breakfast', it was the perfect day. I did promise to include a red nose in each photo this week and much to the amusement of the diners around us we obliged with these.

£10 now donated to Comic Relief - http://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/emmahoneybone

Tomorrow I head to Slough. Ever see a blind man cross the road?

Day 68. She wanted a dog.

Instead she got a fish tank, an artificial crocodile skull (Bea is obsessed with salties) and so far, six teeny tiny fish - 3 glowlight tetras and 3 black neons. In a couple of months, once the tank is well established, she's adding a fighting fish and snails.

It may not be a dog, or even a cat, but they're living creatures and we now have one very happy eight year old.

And the red nose. Well I thought for the next 7 days I'd include a roarsome nose in my photo and for each post I'll make a donation of £5 to Comic Relief. Today seems particularly fitting as this morning Bea woke up with 14 mosquito bites. 14, including one on her eyelid! Tonight she's sleeping under her mosquito net and we're so lucky that we don't need to worry about malaria, only the irritation of very, very itchy bites.

If I post every day until Friday I'll round up the figure to £50 and if you'd like to dare me to take a silly photo and make a donation too, all the better. Here's my page. I'm already thinking about what I can do tomorrow for Mother's Day - I'm at the gym and probably out for pizza. Any thoughts?

Here's my page: https://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/emmahoneybone

Day 67. Burn in the bag popcorn.

Microwaveable popcorn arrived in Bea's Graze box this week with very clear instructions: 2 minutes on high and once you hear just one 'pop' every 2 seconds take it out regardless of whether the 2 mins is up. This is ours at 1m 7s. Looks lovely. What you can't see is the mass of burnt popcorn in the middle of the bag. We salvaged what we could and it was devoured by the 8 year old eating machine.

Great concept, poor execution as someone at work would say. What the hell, it's Friday and that can only be good.

Day 66. Right move, wrong agent.

Estate agents don't have a great reputation. Today did nothing to improve that perception for me. We arrived to view a house but the owner didn't show. It turned out the estate agent was supposed to call him back to confirm the time and date but hadn't. We rearranged, this time directly with the owner and managed to meet him mid-morning.

He was very apologetic about the mix up and as we headed into the garden said, 'So as you know we're not selling this property now but Paul (estate agent) said you were happy to see the other one'. We of course knew nothing of this. We'd even asked the agent if the owner was reluctant to sell when he hadn't turned up. Obviously he said no. We ended up having a look around the other property and it was an interesting building but it's not what we'd hoped to be viewing. Poor management and a truly terrible customer experience.

The problem is what can we as buyers and sellers do? Well the seller can opt to move to another agent but as a buyer, if the property you're interested in is registered with an agent that shows little regard for 'a customer', then you either suck it up or walk away from what could be a dream house.

When you're talking about hundreds of thousands of pounds, it's not unreasonable to expect better service than we experienced today. Sadly it seems to be unrealistic.

Day 65. Do you want to see some puppies?

My friend's been using this line for a week now. Thankfully her terrier had four puppies last week so it's genuine. Here's Bea, her best friend Suki and little brother Barns each holding a tiny bundle of fur. No surprise that "Can we have one?" was the first thing Bea said as they're absolutely gorgeous. The answer was a resounding 'no'.

Welcome to the world, from left to right, Quentin, Sebastian, Lavinia and Tarquin (out of shot). Do you think the new owners will want to change those names? It's unlikely we would, after all we called our cat Perdita ... Lavinia and Perdita, that has quite a nice ring to it. Did I say no?

Day 64. Sun and snow.

A beautiful drive across the Pennines tonight after two full on work days in the North West. Traces of snow and brilliant sunshine; what a glorious combination. I can see Spring from here.

Day 63. The Planners.

I have recently discovered the joy of 'The Planners'; a BBC2 show about UK planning processes. The seemingly random decision making practices of the planning committees alongside the ability to witness a range of applications and contraventions has me gripped every week, I know, time to buy a Geek t-shirt.

Earlier this week I watched an episode that featured the Shot Tower in Chester, a Grade II listed building that is in danger of falling down in the next few years and is the oldest of just 3 remaining towers in the country. Now, did you know that they used to make lead shot by pouring molten lead through a copper sieve at the top of the tower and during their fall, the droplets would form into perfect spheres before landing in a vat of water at the bottom? Perfect spheres!

So back to the geek comment. Imagine my delight when I drove to a client meeting in Chester today only to see that I was within touching distance of the Shot Tower. After my meeting had finished I drove around for 15 minutes in an attempt to find a place to take a picture of this historic monument - all smiles when I finally did.

This simple process for making ammunition for muskets has been used since the Napoleonic Wars and only stopped here in 2001. Absolutely made my day seeing it. Geek.

Day 62. Chocolate pear pudding.

It's Sunday and as a thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings here's another recipe. Like the Blueberry and Pear cake I shared a few weeks ago this is really quick to make and a real crowd pleaser with its oozing chocolate centre. It's taken from Nigella Lawson's 'Nigella Express' so if you're dieting look away, this isn't for you.

Chocolate Pear Pudding

2 x 415g cans pear halves in juice
125g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
125g caster sugar
150g soft butter (plus extra for greasing)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 medium eggs (although I always use large)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6 and grease a 22cm square ovenproof dish with butter.

2. Drain the pears and arrange them on the base of the dish.

3. Put all the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you have a batter with a soft drop consistency. (You don't need to do this in a food processor - today's the first time I have - the bowl and wooden spoon approach is just as effective).

4. Spread the chocolate batter over the pears and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

5. Let the pudding stand for 5-10 minutes after removing from the oven before serving. Delicious with cream or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy.

Day 61. What Saturdays were made for.

Spent many a happy hour in The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Today however we headed to Loch Fyne, the seafood restaurant opposite this magnificent piece of architecture. Walking through Cambridge in the late Winter sunshine with the promise of steamed mussels and a crisp glass of white wine ahead of us was what Saturdays were made for.

Day 60. Tarts.

I promised Bea we'd make jam tarts; we chose fillings of raspberry, blackcurrant and lemon curd.

These take me back to family tea time at my Grandma's house. Of all my Grandparents, I had 4 sets, my paternal Grandmother is the person that I most associate with smell. And no, not old person smells although she did overcook cabbage whenever we had a roast, but the smell of bacon frying, cakes baking, Imperial Leather soap and cucumber. That's the strongest association, cucumber. Whenever I slice one, which is almost everyday for Bea's lunch, I am transported back to her tiny little kitchen chopping vegetables for a salad. I would help her to prepare buffet lunches and the whole family would arrive to eat, drink, talk loudly and find our points of commonality. There would always be a huge bag of shell-on prawns and from an early age I was extremely adept at removing the shells and tiny orange eggs. Bea has inherited this skill and recently we had lunch with some friends at The Victoria in Holkham where she ordered a 1/2 pint of shell-on prawns which she was happy to peel; she was then dared to eat a prawn eye - in it went!

Back to Lyndhurst Road and my Gran certainly knew how to lay on a spread. Sweet treats were always in plentiful supply and her old fashioned larder, with marble slab, always contained cakes, biscuits and chocolates. Making pastry with her and then filling the cases with an assortment of preserves is a fond memory. She died nearly 20 years ago but I still really miss her. She was modern in that she worked almost until she died, keeping the books for the family business and travelled regularly, mainly throughout Europe with her sister. A remarkable woman. I think she'd have picked raspberry.