Went into the local Coop yesterday and found some organic, fair trade chocolate chips. Great, exactly what I need to bake the cookies for Little Darling's birthday treat on the Playbus. This had already been postponed from last week due to bus problems so I had no excuse.
At 11pm last night went to the fridge, after fighting with the Tax Return, to find that it had no eggs. Oh dear, I couldn't make his choc chip cookies - hopefully he will have forgotten by the morning and mummy can go and buy some.
Little Darling was up early at 7:30, a miracle for him. Where are my Playbus cookies mummy? Mummy felt really guilty and assured him that they would be there for snack time. After dropping him off at Playbus poor mummy rushed to the local farm to get eggs, rushed home, made cookies, put them in the oven and packed up the orders to take to the Post Office - all in record time and arrived at the bus just in time for snack.
Little Darling after wolfing down choc chip cookies and chocolate crispies brought in by another birthday boys frantic mum, was then sick in the soft play centre on the bus. Poor Mrs Playleader then had to clear it up. I decided to make a quick exit with Little Darling in tow!
If only I had done it earlier and not left it until the last minute. Why do they make Tax Returns so difficult to understand. I have even been on two courses at our local Tax Office and its still clear as mud. Fortunately I just send the accounts off to our accountant and he comes up with some magical figures.
And then its the VAT return to do...
Why is running a business so difficult sometimes?
We are now at the cottage in Mundesley, North Norfolk having a welcome relaxing break after the hectic Christmas rush. The weather is lovely and, although cold, we have been for some bracing walks along the sandy beach. The children have been looking for shells and drift wood and we even managed to drag the 10 year old away from SKY TVs 24 hour Simpsons.
Paul and I have also been tidying, cleaning and working in the garden in readiness for the next guests. I started cleaning the oven and at first thought it wasn't too bad but after 3 hours of scrubbing gave up exhausted. Thats the problem when you don't use chemicals, its takes a lot of elbow grease. If any one knows of an oven cleaner that is ECO please let me know!
Rachel
Wow, its been so busy for the past 6 weeks that I haven't been able to do anything other than pack orders - it seems like 24/7. My husband Paul and my friend Claire have been a great help with the orders and now its time for a break. Our last posting date for Christmas delivery is tomorrow so its now slowing down and not so manic.
Thanks to all Green Eyed Frog customers and I hope you visit again in the New Year.
Rachel
xx
I have been suffering from a bad back and its been agony. Probably caused by the car accident I had a couple of weeks ago. It seems to have got worse after the birth of each of my three children and the youngest was a big baby.
Green Eyed Frog has been handed over to Paul, my husband, who I'm sure is managing fine... until I can sit at the computer for longer than 20 minutes. I wonder what I will find in the stock room when I get back on my feet!
Rachel
Its only the second day of the School Holidays and what bliss. No more getting up at 7am to get breakfast, sort out drinks bottles, make sure the book bag has the right book in it and of course drive to the school and try to find a parking space. Its been quite peaceful in the Green Eyed Frog house in the early mornings. I have been getting up at a leisurely 8am hung washing out and doing over an hours work before the children even appear at 10am. I just get too tired in the evenings trying to fit all the household chores in, ironing for the cottage and catching up on voluntary work.
I have some ideas of things I'm going to do with the children that won't cost a fortune, are educational and hopefully they will enjoy!
Nature Trails
Take the children on walking trips in the town or country. We will be exploring the footpaths in our village. Now that my youngest is three he can hopefully walk for long enough before getting bored or tired. A list of things we will be taking:
Its been raining for so many weeks now and the flooding keeps getting worse. I wonder just how much of this can be attributed to climate change and global warming. Fortunately, in Suffolk we have been OK. Green Eyed Frog and family live on a high plateau which has been earmarked for a windfarm closeby so I know that the only flooding we are likely to get is localised on the roads as the water runs off the fields. I feel so sorry for the people who have lost their homes and possessions, I just hope that the water will soon subside and people can get back to normal and start repairing the damage.
Our cottage in Mundesley, North Norfolk, is close to a Beck and small stream. When it r
ains the water follows a path down the side of the house into the ditch at the bottom of the garden. Our holiday makers are having a very wet but enjoyable break at least they can still hook up to the internet and read the blogs!
A break between the rain at the beach in Mundesley!
Fantastic News, we heard today that the local Pre-School I am involved with has been successful in £300,000 of funding to build a new, bespoke Eco building on the grounds of the Primary School. We are all over the moon and looking forward to being in our new building soon. Its taken over ten years to get this far. I'm looking forward to seeing the grass roof grow and attract wildlife, for the hemp walls to take shape and for our solar generated hot water and electricity.
I'm also hoping that I will be able to use the facilities for after school care for the children so that I can then get the opportunity to go on some of the 'green' Trade Fairs and conferences and maybe do some more training.
My 3 year old son has been suffering badly from chicken pox all week so we have been confined to the house. There has been no swimming, no PlayBus and no Pre-School, even the garden has been out of bounds because its been so wet. Consequently, boredom has set in because mummy spends too much time on the computer sending emails, preparing orders and doing voluntary work trying to "make a difference" to the environment.
During a brief lapse of concentration after making lunch, I forgot to lock the fridge door! If you have normal, well behaved children this wouldn't be a problem however while I was busy trying to concentrate on working out 17.5% of 100 in a spreadsheet that wouldn't add up my darling child was raiding the fridge. He ran into the office, a huge grin on his face and yoghurt all over his hands and face. Forgetting the spreadsheet and instantly jumping up, I ran into the living room (maybe this has happened before) to discover pink Thomas Tank Engine yoghurt had been carefully spooned out of 8 pots and smeared all over the sofa and cushions. The cover is now in the wash and I hope it dries before mother-in-law comes over tomorrow to babysit!
Its not easy being a mum and working from home!
I later had to collect the children from school accompanied by a small child with a spotty face and pink yoghurt all over him. Fortunately it looked just like calamine lotion so not too many strange looks...
As Chair of the local Pre-School in Stonham Aspal I have been helping to plan for a new Eco building for the children and staff, to be located on the grounds of the Primary school nearby. Committees have been working on this project for over 15 years and now with an Eco twist we hope to win the hearts and pockets of funders.
The Pre-School has been running for over 25 years in temporary accomodation at the local village hall. A new building will be safer for the children and provide facilities for those with special educational needs. It will be a true sustainable Eco building with rain water harvesting, grass roof, solar panels for water heating and electricity and a biomass heating system.
We are all hoping that this will be the last time that committees will need to go through this time consuming and lengthy project and hope that next year children will be playing in their purpose built contemporary eco haven. Our award winning architects Ralf and Meredith at StudioMGM have been very patient and even more patient as it has taken nearly two years to get to the planning stage but we hope that there is now light at the end of the tunnel.
"Mummy, is it shop pizza?" the children ask when I tell them we have pizza for dinner.
"No, its mummy's pizza" I reply.
"Oh no, why do we have to have your pizza, we like shop pizza" they say.
Mummy now gets annoyed and says in a high pitched voice "mummy's pizza is good for you and much nicer because its made from organic wholemeal flour, organic cheese & mushrooms and vegetables from the garden - and I have just spent AN HOUR IN THE KITCHEN MAKING IT"
"Mummy, is it shop pizza?" the three year old pipes in.
Mummy puts the food on the table and says eat it or go without...
What do you do when they say this, its so frustrating? Good food with organic ingredients made with love is far better than a frozen shrink wrapped wilted thing from the supermarket but they are not convinced and think I'm a horrible mummy for making them eat such nasty food!
If you would like my recipe for pizza just ask...
I love this time of year, you know that winter is now over as the daffodils start blooming and everything comes alive in the garden. We have been busy with the vegetable plot and released some of the worms from the wormery to hopefully make even better soil for next year. We have still got leeks in the garden and yesterday had the last of the carrots from last year. I baked a lovely spinach flan using our own spinach from the garden and local free range eggs from the farm. I think its going to be leek and potato pie for dinner today!
Green Eyed Frog has some new additions in the form of fair trade flower seeds from South Africa. We are looking forward to planting these later on in the year. We have also put together a lovely gift for Spring - the Paper Potter Gift Set which includes a packet of seeds, jute bag and the popular wooden paper potter. You can then make your own seedling pots from newspaper and plant the seeds in the greenhouse or windowsill before going outside.
