Jump Jump

A while ago I decided to toilet train my cats. Literally. You could buy a device which progressively taught them how to 'use' the toilet, although you had to ensure the seat lid was left up and they obviously wouldn't flush when they were finished.  I am rather proud of the fact that I have successfully managed to teach train nag the gorgeous husband and the amazing sons to both put the seats down AND flush but I was prepared for the cats to forgo this. Despite my best efforts it failed. I think my cats were too old, and one of them too big. If we ever get kittens in the future I will try again.

Following the toilet training failure I am rather impressed with the amazing husband's cat training skills. We only have one cat now - Harvey, who very much adores the amazing husband as highlighted in a previous post. The cat now 'showjumps' for his food. If you stand at a certain point in the kitchen and raise your leg he will jump over because he knows he will then get a food reward. I have video footage as evidence. Quality stuff!

What To Do?

Today is a very unusual day for me. The amazing sons are away on a camp for a few days and so I have the whole day to myself. The gorgeous husband in his gorgeous way has told me to have some fun once the glass shelf for his new tv stand has been delivered. It is 8.35am and that said same shelf is already sitting in the hallway. So the day is mine. I have made a quick list of some of the possibilities (things I both could and should do) on offer to me today:

1. go to the gym (there is a an abs class followed by a spinning class at 10am which I really enjoy) - very likely
2. clean the bathroom (have been meaning to do this all week, it is a quick job and would make me feel better) - quite likely
3. tidy and clean the kitchen (I have already emptied the dishwasher this morning, that feels like enough) - not at all likely
4. have a nice lunch (though after suffering for my 2 glasses of wine at lunchtime yesterday BEFORE a circuits class in the evening I will go to the gym first) - very likely
5. do some gardening (feel quite nauseous at the thought, although that could be the double espresso on on an empty stomach) - very unlikely
6. have a mooch around town (there is a maxi dress I would rather like, so think I will try it on.....again, and see if it is cheaper in the sales) - very likely

I think you might get the idea. Thankfully, the gorgeous husband seems to understand (or is at least reconciled to) my aversion to housework and is somewhat appeased by the fact that I love to cook for him and the amazing sons. Now, let's get on and enjoy the day.....breakfast thanks to the Vitamix.

That will be an apple, half a carrot, a slice of lemon, a chunk of ginger with some water and ice and whizzed for 30 seconds to produce:

So nice! And (with my housework aversion) so clever that the washing up of the Vitamix literally takes seconds. Total brilliance.

Time Away

We are just back from a wonderful weekend with the brilliant friends in Somerset. They moved away from Nottingham last year and we miss them massively, so it is always very special when we get the chance to spend some time together. We went to Lyme Regis for the day on Saturday and chatted a lot, ate chips, watched the Red Arrows, ate ice cream, spent pocket money in a fossil shops, ate fudge......it doesn't get much better.

Chui Males

Yesterday was our Chui Family Birthday - a day of great significance as it is when we celebrate the day the amazing sons came to live with us. 'We' were 7 years old yesterday and it felt like a real milestone. We celebrated with pizza for lunch and spent the day having fun. Well, not all of it was my idea of fun (an hour in a computer gaming shop deciding on some new games?!) but then I am clearly outnumbered by the males in the family.

Even the cat is male. I managed to take some video this morning of how much he loves the gorgeous husband. I don't think this behaviour is normal. As we say "not natural".......My lovely friend calls the cat "Sir Fleabag" and is not entirely enamoured with him. I wonder if this footage will change her mind?

The amazing husband has surpassed himself again though and bought me a new toy. A Vita Mix! I suppose you could call this a blender, but seeing as it can make hot soup and ice cream that title really doesn't do it justice. I can't wait for it to be delivered and try it out. More about it another time.......

New Vocabulary

It seems I have acquired a new word in my frequently used repertoire of vocabulary - SHENANIGANS. It needs to be written with capital letters and in bold to to imply the way it needs to be said. Shock, horror, disbelief......

The reason for this new word? The antics of the amazing sons over the last few weeks. Well, over the last few years if I am honest, but the last few weeks stand out in particular.

For example......The sneaky buying and eating of about 14 chocolate bars EACH in the space of just 3 days over half term. The spitting of toothpaste out of the bathroom window so it looks as if our garden steps have been daubed by a rather unwell flock of birds. The sneaking of the treat box upstairs after bedtime. The discovery of a stash of sweet/crisp/chocolate wrappers under the floorboards. Rotten sandwiches discovered hidden away in their bedroom. The drinking of chocolate sauce out of the bottle from the pantry shelves. The sneaking of the computer upstairs after bedtime to play games or watch DVDs. Being found INSIDE the duvet covers (buttoned up) when asked to strip their beds. Being caught on camera eating ice cream after not being allowed to have any or take any spending money on the school trip due to previous SHENANIGANS.......a parent on the trip inadvertently emailed me the photos not knowing what she had discovered.

I laugh. A lot. Usually after getting cross. Usually after a large glass of wine. I've had 2 large glasses of wine tonight. You have to agree, SHENANIGANS sums it up rather well.

Chui Chilli Chop

The amazing sons helped me to cook lunch today. Nothing fancy. It is the end of the 2 weeks of half term and I really urgently desperately need to go to Sainsbury's. There is not much 'fresh' food left in the house so we made a bean and lentil chilli with a few carrots and stalks of celery that were languishing in the fridge. The amazing sons' knife skills are definitely getting better. That last sentence read out of context would be extremely worrying.

For extra spice I chopped up a few chillies. It wasn't the gorgeous husband who suffered for his chilli eating bravado this time. Amazing son number one looked more than a bit watery around the eyes it has to be said after crunching through a few of them. He was also heard to say 'I think I prefer mustard, it [the effects] doesn't last as long'. Regardless, I bet he'll be back for more when we have the leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

Cheesecake Conversion

I'm not a huge cheesecake fan. Despite my very sweet tooth it is not a pudding I often eat or want to eat.  Probably due to the school dinner variety that I was offered throughout my education. And until last week I had never made one or had a desire to do so.

I don't know what came over me therefore, but with 8 friends coming for dinner I decided I simply HAD to serve cheesecake. Baked cheesecake. Baked cherry cheesecake. With a soured cream topping. It seems that a recipe for this does not exist on the internet, so I had to combine 2 recipes and add my own twist.

It almost went horribly wrong when I discovered that the foil (above) had failed to keep the water (from the 'bain marie', what culinary sophistication) away from the tin and there appeared to be some seepage. I was imagining a very damp biscuit base but carried on regardless. Thankfully my fears were unfounded and the cheesecake was something of a resounding success.

I served it with sour cherry compote to complement the cherries in the mixture. And even I had seconds. I may be converted to cheesecake it seems. As long as it doesn't have a soggy bottom.