I'm a Barbie Girl

Well actually I was a Sindy girl when I was younger, but it's Barbie's birthday today and she's one who got a song named after her.

Did you know that Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts?
No neither did I.

Did anyone see this documentary last year by the brilliant Mary Portas?
If it's on again I recommend watching it.

Barbie has the most extensive wardrobe of any woman on the planet ever so of course I went with clothing option.
Barbie's first outfit was a black and white striped swimsuit and one of the accessories she had to go with this was a pair sunglasses.
So my stripy top with sunglasses brooch were an ideal pairing.

Of course I couldn't not include a splash of Barbie pink somewhere, so tucked round my neck keeping the chill at bay as I walked to work, was this scarf with it's multiple shades of pink.

International Women's Day

For International Women's day G and I watched Suffragette.
Due to G's working pattern we saw this movie last Saturday evening.
As the review on the front says it is certainly an inspiring and unforgettable movie, but at times it was not easy film to watch.
Pair that with all the crying I did during Call the Midwife on Sunday and this meant we had two evenings full of emotion.

Cary Mulligan plays Maud Watts, an East End laundress whose world is torn apart as she becomes more and more involved in the Votes for Women movement.
The poverty, the abuse of and the violence towards women all make for extremely uncomfortable viewing but it is a movie that all should see.

Secret Cereal

Here we have my best girl and the cheesy biscuits we made together this evening to celebrate Cereal Day.

Not the most obvious choice to go with for cereal day I grant you, but these cheese biscuits contain crushed Rice Krispies.

For 14 biscuits you will need
25g Rice Krispies
70g plain flour
50g unsalted butter
115g grated cheddar
large pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 190c, fan to 170c or gas 5.
Crush the cereal with the end of a rolling pin. S was very happy to do that bit!
Rub butter into flour to make fine breadcrumbs.
Mix in cheese, crushed cereal and cayenne.
Shape into 14 balls and place on a greased tray, pressing down on each with a fork.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Enjoy.

Frozen Food

Frozen Food day is exactly what it says on the tin.
Though I suppose it would be more fitting to say box or packet rather than tin in this instance.

Given that Clarence Birdseye was so instrumental in the development of frozen food I suppose we should have gone for fish fingers for our evening meal, but instead I have turned to Aunt Bessie for assistance.

We have another one of our family therapy sessions tonight and I need something easy to prepare. It can be quite a quick turnaround time wise from when we are all home from work and school to when we need to be on our way out the door again.
Served up with mash, peas, sweetcorn and carrots I know it will be enjoyed and a fuss free meal.

I know that Toad in the Hole is a pretty quick dish to cook from scratch but sometimes a-take-it-out-the-box-and-throw-it-in-the-oven meal is what's needed and who am I to argue with frozen food day?

Staying with the food theme let me round off this post with what should have happened on Friday evening.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr Seuss, was born on 2nd March 1904.

G spent many happy hours reading these stories to the children and as a family we would enjoy watching the Cat in the Hat movie.

My plan was to layer strawberry jelly and vanilla yogurt in glass dishes as a nod to the Cat's stripy hat but, as I previously posted, S was sick at the tail end of the week and so this kind of food was best avoided.

Instead they were eaten last night, not in the intended layered way, but they were enjoyed nonetheless.

Patsy Cline and my Dad

The majority of the events I have chosen for this year long project are happy occasions, although that can not be said of today's choice.
On 5th March 1963 singer Patsy Cline was killed in a plane crash.

The main reason I chose this is because my dad really liked Patsy and in particular he liked the song Crazy.
I can't listen to that song without wanting to cry. 
Her voice, the lyrics, memories of my dad. 
Too much.
I much prefer Walkin after Midnight. 
As you can see from this photo Patsy embraced the cowgirl country and western image. I didn't fancy all those tassels so I went for this horsey scarf which echos the pattern on her skirt and is about as way out west as I want to go!

Last Thursday was St David's Day.
I had intended to go out in the garden and decide on where would be just the right spot for my new daffodil to live.
Then the snow happened.
Call me a wimp but I didn't fancy those weather conditions so I will be doing that little task this coming weekend instead.

Last August my sister T paid for a notice to be put in the local paper on the anniversary of when our dad died.
Unfortunately they printed some details incorrectly.
My sister complained and they refunded her money.
She had suggested we go out for a meal one evening, but trying to find a date when the three of us are free has provided more difficult than you would have thought.
So she decided to use the money to buy each of us one of these daffs to have in our garden.
I thought it was a really lovely gesture. 

You Drove Me Crazy

Back in the 1980s I was madly in love with Shakin Stevens.
His show was the first live music act I ever saw.
I think I was 15 at the time.
I remember a lot of people at school laughed at me for wanting to see him, but I didn't care one bit.

Today is Shaky's 70th birthday.
Shaky rocked the double denim look so this had to be my clothing choice for having the photo taken.
S saw me put the jacket on and asked 'Where are you going?'
Quick as a flash G replied 'Back to the 1980s!'

I can't tell you how many photos G took of me as I wobbled around the lounge trying to get 'that' Shaky pose just right, it was a sight to see I can promise you.

Now I'm off to relive my early teenage years and watch Shaky in action on you tube.

Relying on my Wardrobe

Being busy with T and S's birthdays I knew that I wouldn't have much time to think about my daily activities last week so I went with the time saving option of using items in my wardrobe to reflect the occasion of the day.

Wednesday 21st Feb was King Harald of Norway's birthday so I went with the red, white and blue of the Norwegian flag.

Two polka dot items with a red brooch.

Fast forward to Sunday 25th Feb and we have the birthday of Elkie Brooks. Two songs of hers seem to have been played constantly when I was younger, those being Lilac Wine and Pearl's a Singer. 
I went with the pearl theme and wore this bracelet.

Monday 26th was another birthday event. This time the birthday of Levi Strauss. I wore my denim skirt as I don't own a pair of Levi's but I can share this Levi's t-shirt which was one of our birthday gifts to S this year.

Tuesday's strawberry craft can be seen here and then it was back to the clothing theme for Wednesday's floral design day.

Plans for today and tomorrow have been slightly scuppered by the snow and S being sick during the night.
I kept her off school, which ended up being closed from lunchtime onwards anyway, and I'm pleased to say she is definitely brighter this evening. 
We've already been informed there won't be any school tomorrow either.