Day 181. Hope is the thing with feathers.

Big skies are a recurring theme in my posts. What can I say? I'm a sucker for them, and like many people living in Norfolk, the vast sky is one of the things I love most about this county.

I've spent most of the day reflecting on some news and I'm reminded of this poem:


Hope is the thing with feathers 
by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune - without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

At times life events can leave you feeling helpless and hopeless but in fact I'm hopeful that something good can come from the news I've received this weekend.

Someone has to take care of the thing with feathers.

Day 180. Shouldhamberry.

Each year the school hosts 'Shouldhamberry' the Norfolk alternative to Glastonbury. Well, West Norfolk's Glasto. Ok, it's really just for the school but there's music, a BBQ, a beer tent and camping; very little mud and proper loos. For parents the biggest upside is being able to let the children run free for a few hours as it's all within school grounds and is totally familiar to them. It gets the thumbs up from me.

Unlike Glastonbury the live act, singular, is unknown, and in all honesty unlikely to hit the Pyramid stage any time soon. The beer tent houses beer - nothing else - not even a sherry for the ladies. It's ok, I was driving anyway.

No wellies, no sign of Jagger or the boys from Sheffield, no queuing for the loo or anything for that matter. I did hear a rendition of Get Lucky that I'd never heard before, and will almost certainly never hear again. For that reason alone, it's pretty unique.

Day 179. Good habits.

A slower than usual start for the adults today so we suggested Bea lay the table for breakfast. She put us to shame. An assortment of cereals, our own dried fruit mix, fresh fruit, yoghurt and juice awaited us and rather than the fruit presented in its shop container she used cut glass bowls and dishes.

Day 178. Lemon drizzle cupcakes.

School was closed for an inset day and as it's Norfolk County Show day many people headed there.  Not us though. After a working morning, Bea and I headed out to Ely for a cheeky lunch at Pizza Express, picked up some birthday cards and then spent the afternoon baking lemon drizzle cupcakes. Honestly, the lemon drizzle loaf I usually make is much more zingy but as a cupcake with lemon icing these are delicious.

Day 177. Stocks.

Almost a week after I received these, the house is still filled with their heady scent.. Totally intoxicating.

Day 176. More cupcakes.

Not enough time to bake this week so instead I picked up a box of Lola's cupcakes for the office. When did it become traditional for the person who celebrates a birthday to provide the cake? These are delicious though, even a tennis ball to mark the start of Wimbledon. Coconut for me. Needless to say they were soon all gone.

Day 175. Priority moments.

Meetings at O2 today. The offices here are very cool with lots of open space, creative meeting rooms and depending on your preference for coffee brands, both a Costa and a Starbucks, as well as WHSmith - are all in the building. Sure beats the facilities on offer at The Marketing Hive which makes me think it's time to redecorate. I'll make it a priority.

Day 174. Napping.

I'm in need of sleep. Didn't get to bed until almost 3am, add to that a 400 mile round trip and another long day ahead tomorrow and it's early to bed for me. Exciting post this one.

Day 173. Me and my monkey.

Tonight I spent the day in Manchester with one of my oldest and dearest friends. A bit of shopping, a lot of talking and an evening with Robbie Williams. Not in person of course but great seats, chauffeur driven there and back and the show wasn't too shabby either. The main man himself hasn't lost any of his confidence since he last toured in 2006 and he really is quite the entertainer. Plenty of highlights but the inclusion of 'Me and My Monkey' on the setlist was definitely one of them.

A top night ending with hysterical laughter over the mispronunciation of an inappropriate phrase. Never again will I be able to say it without laughing which believe me is not a good thing.

Thank you to Mrs Swift and Mr Crescenti for a your wonderful hospitality.

Day 172. Sunny day.

Sweepin' the clouds away.

Outside drinking coffee at the end of the day. At last a bit of sun.

Day 171. Workshops and birthdays.

After a late night I had to be up and at 'em today, in the office by 8am, organising a workshop for 50 people. Most of the attendees didn't know each other so we started with a 'make your own name badge' ice breaker. As it's my birthday today I was of course Head Girl.

I had hoped to leave early which didn't happen but I did manage to leave London before all the trains were cancelled - as Bea was patiently waiting at home with balloons decorating the trees on the drive, banners adorning the door and fireplace and flowers, fizz and stacks of gifts, I think she would have been even more disappointed than me if I'd had to stay away again.

Thanks for all the cards and good wishes.

Day 170. Behind the camera.

Black tie awards do in London tonight. This is me. Happily hidden behind the smokiness of the mirrored wall. The man in the background? No idea.

We didn't win. There were eight finalists in our category and we were Highly Commended (only 3 out of 17 categories awarded HC as well as the winner) which I guess is a good result. We were all a little disappointed. But as the pre-cursor to my birthday, it was a good way to kick off the celebrations.

Day 169. Not the Blue Peter garden.

This is the quiet space in the grounds of St Martin's at Shouldham primary school. Clearly it's not the Blue Peter garden, here in rural Norfolk, although the shield always reminds me of the badge.

I never got one.

I'm not bitter.

Day 168. Back at the gym.

Finally set foot back in the gym and it feels good. Looking forward to making this a more regular part of my week again.

Day 167. Raising a glass to my Dad.

It's Father's Day (apostrophe placement intentional) and like Mother's Day (again, intentional) it's one of those days when I miss my parents the most.

My Dad is an absolute gem.

In large gatherings he's often quiet and reflective but in smaller groups, he has a wicked sense of humour and a laugh that I appear to have inherited. Today I'd like to be cooking lunch for my Dad but as we're 240 miles apart it's a little unpractical. So instead, as I help Bea make the day special for her own Dad including roast beef with all the trimmings, I'm raising a glass to him from the opposite side of the country and saying "Happy Father's Day. I couldn't wish for a better Dad. Thank you, for just being you." x

Day 166. The Little Cupcake Company.

I used The Little Cupcake Company for a corporate mailing a few years ago, sending individually boxed cupcakes to 100 clients. Not only were the cakes delicious but the staff and paid great attention to detail and were extremely helpful (especially as I'm just a bit of a detail freak too). Now they have a beautiful little store in the Grand Arcade in Cambridge. Pop by if you're there; you won't be disappointed.

Day 165. TGIF, no TFIF.

It's the end of the week and this is going down rather nicely. #ginandtonic

Day 164. All the colours...

... of the rainbow. The weather was threatening to arrive all afternoon and as we headed over to our friend's stables for Bea's riding lesson we were expecting it to be rained off. The wind whipped around the school, the sky darkened and the humidity increased. But it didn't rain. Not until we reached the end of their drive on our way home.

Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

Day 163. Follow Me.

I was listening to Follow Me as I drove up to Ryston Hall today and the road was blocked with sheep. It was more a case of me following them as they sprinted ahead unsure which way to turn and clearly without any leadership whatsoever. When they were finally safely positioned off the track they became brave, cocky even, staring me down with a mixture of suspicion and stupidity in their eyes. Or maybe not.

They didn't follow me though.

Day 162. Breaking the no speaking rule.

On the train tonight the door on our carriage was broken, opening and closing every few seconds, which for a 90 minute journey is more than a little irritating. Ten minutes into the journey myself and the other 4 passengers in the carriage began glancing at each other, slightly uncomfortably of course, using British facial expressions to register our growing frustration. One brave figure jumped up and tried to fix it by placing his bag in the way. It didn't work. "Nice try' someone said, and the no speaking rule was broken. We looked around for something more sturdy to replace the bag, nothing, and then I remembered the sensor in the ceiling. 'How about stuffing the hole with tissue?' I suggested rummaging in my bag for a clean one. So we did. And it worked. We congratulated ourselves with a simple 'That's better' and silence was restored as we returned to our pre-teamwork activities.

Normal service has been resumed.

Day 161. Sk8er Bois (and girls).

I doubt the kids in here are rocking' up MTV but The Shed in Kings Lynn is filled with Sk8er Bois and girls and a fair few BMXers too. Part of the Lynn Sport development, I had a chat with the guy manning the entrance and apparently it's a well used facility. Snack bar, loud music and under cover, this facility offers a place for teenagers to go all year round, unlike an outdoor skate park.

Day 160. Enter at your own risk.

Bea has booby trapped her room. When you open her door a skeleton and various comic relief noses fly out towards you. The noses are ok but the skeleton's almost the same size as me! It's also glow in the dark so I hope I remember it's there when I check on her before I go to bed or I could be in for a bit of a shock.

Day 159. Melting Moments.

One of my first memories of baking at home is making Melting Moments with my Mum. The recipe was in the Be-Ro Flour Cookbook, a tiny paperback book about the size of a Chinese takeaway menu, filled with tasty treats; although to be honest I can only recall making these and dumplings.

You can still buy the cookbook - the 41st edition - for £2.50.

Here's the recipe to make 25-30 of these morish, coconut covered biscuits. Easy to make and a good starting point for budding young bakers.


Ingredients

• 5 ounces soft butter or 5 ounces soft margarine
• 3 ounces caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 ounces self raising flour
• desiccated coconut or oats
• glace cherries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 180ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4. Grease two baking trays.
2. Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla essence or extract.
3. Stir in the flour and mix well.
4. Roll walnut sized pieces of the mixture into balls and toss in rolled oats or desiccated coconut.
5. Cut each glace cherry into quarters, for quarter for each melting moment.
6. Place on baking trays, flatten slightly and place a small piece of cherry on each biscuit. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown but NOT dark brown.

N.B. To help shape "ball" type biscuits, slightly dampen the hands.

Day 158. Italian vista.

This photo could so easily have been taken on one of our Italian trips but it's just a few fields away from our house. Blue sky, neat rows of budding green shoots and terracotta soil. Glorious Norfolk.

Day 157. Home skills.

A quick google of Cub badges and I found a Home Help badge that includes some similar activities to this Brownie badge. Interestingly one of the chores they can both choose to complete is cleaning; it still includes brass and silver so I have visions of cubs polishing brass door fittings and Brownies buffing up the silverware against a 1950s soundtrack. There's a level of modernity in Brownies now that I didn't experience but given the fact that in two weeks time Bea is flower arranging, things haven't changed that much.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into this but as most cubs are boys (is this true or my misconception?) and Brownies are still predominantly, if not exclusively, girls, are the Scouting and Guiding associations leading us to think that girls still need to ensure they have the skills for domesticity whereas boys will only need to 'help' with these chores? No? The Cubs have a DIY badge...

Admittedly there are plenty of badges for interesting subjects like stargazing and my research into this is scant, so it's an impression not quite an opinion, but this aspect focused on the home feels old fashioned and outdated. Like I said, maybe I'm reading too much into this.

This is Bea's Home Skills badge which she earned by laying the table, washing dishes, tidying her bedroom and making her bed, for a week. With those skills, she's all set when she leaves home.

Day 156. Defying gravity.

I'm not one for expensive products. Especially beauty stuff. But today I embraced my 40s and bought a cleanser and moisturiser more suited to my age and changing skin type. Stress and terrible sleep patterns have contributed to my developing a mild form of Rosacea over the last year. It can mean that people think I'm flushed or blushing but the reddening of the skin on my cheeks may well prove to be something I wish for in old age when I'm pale and in search of a touch of rouge. Surely I should just be worrying about lines at my age!

This smells beautiful, has a built in SPF and I'm assured will help reduce red cheeked flare-ups. Personally the fact it's called Ole Henriksen was enough for me; although as the founder is Danish I'm fairly sure it's not pronounced with a Spanish accent. Coincidentally the beautician that served me was Spanish and her pronunciation of 'Rosacea' was delightful - ros-a-see-a.

It's also advisory to cut out caffeine, alcohol, hot showers/baths and get plenty of sleep. If they are the determining factors I may well be doomed. I'll have to wait and see.

Olé!

Day 155. Her majesty and the Hogwarts' house cup.

As you look down Regent Street you could be forgiven for thinking that HRH has won the House Cup at Hogwarts with row upon row of purple and gold banners adorning the street.

I rather like the idea of Queenie heading off to Hogwarts, skipping up the stairs to the Great Hall and excitedly waiting to hear which house she's in.

"Ding Dong." the sorting hat would say, "Never mind mudbloods, we've got blue blood here!" before announcing she can choose any house she wishes.

Philip of course would be in Hufflepuff.

Perhaps it's just me. Some celebration or other today. Nothing to do with Harry Potter. Except in my head.

Day 154. St Mary's at Bexwell.

This is such a beautiful building, tucked away in the tiny hamlet of Bexwell, just off the A1122 near Downham Market. Typical Norfolk style, constructed mainly of carr stone, St Mary's is part Norman and part Perpendicular.

Day 153. Reluctant to leave.

Once again our trip to the North East was far too short and as the Sugden family's local Rugby club was hosting some sort of Zumba fundraiser, followed by a Sunday BBQ, we thought we'd delay our departure and head here first. We were late. We'd missed the 'Zumbathon' but were in time for the barbie. After a late night and perhaps a few too many drinks this was probably a good thing.

Sunny day. Picnic tables to sit at. Cheap bar and a big field so the kids could run free. Just the ticket before a 4-5 hour drive. So long Whitely, see you again soon.

Day 152. Red, white and blue.

The Fish Quay at North Shields.

Spent the afternoon with one of my oldest friends and we ended up here to recce restaurants for dinner. Plenty of choice as you can imagine and fish on the menu was a given. We wanted somewhere child friendly but not too kid friendly - no sausage and chips/ chicken nuggets and chips on the menu - ideally just reduced portion sizes from the à la carte.

David Kennedy's River Cafe ticked all the boxes and to confirm we'd made the right choice not one of our 21 plates (7 people, 3 courses each) returned to the kitchen with a scrap of food left on it. Although the sticky toffee pudding almost broke us. Great night out.