Weight Watchers, Make-a-Wish Charity Evening at the Rovers Return and beckoning summer!

Week one of the Easter holiday draws to an end, but no Sunday night blues, as there is another week to go. Sorry to brag but after 16 years of the rat race, I’m still yet to get over the novelty of working term time only.

A few exciting this to share with you:

Cake Action at the Rovers

I have been invited to put my cake making skills to good use for a charity evening in aid of the Make a Wish Foundation.

Friends from 3sixtymedia, Susanna Rowlands and Matt Carruthers (pictured left), are scaling the heights of Kilimanjaro January 2011. I’ll keep you updated with training progress and why they have chosen to undertake this daring feat, but in the meantime can invite you to the aforementioned charity evening. The Rovers Return replica bar at Granada TV, Manchester is the venue for the evening, 22nd April; tickets are available for £5, email mattyboymatt@hotmail.com.

I’ll get more detailed information posted this week.

Weighing Bananas – to skin or not to skin

Okay I know it may sound odd, but I have a weighing dilemma. This will probably mean nothing to you unless you are a Weight Watcher (or fellow Fat Club Member as I like to call us), and non-dieters may wish to skip to the next section, who actually weighs the banana with the skin on?!

16 years ago (ouch!) I was told by my first ever leader, to weigh with skin on, however the points tracker has a medium banana at 100g.... if you can really find a medium sized banana that weighs 100g with the skin on you are a better hunter than I!

Last week I selected a medium (as I honestly believe it to be as it wasn't small and there were much larger ones available) left the skin on and cut it in half, that was still 104g.

To be honest I have been giving them the wide berth, as you do not get enough return for your points. But at desperation point I have been over cautious and weighing with the skin on, and resenting them greatly!

I will check with my leader when I get back off holiday next weds and update with the official 2010 approach!

Little People - Entertaining but exhausting

I love my sister Lucy’s children inside out and back to front, she has two girls, Jessica 9, Emily 6 and a son Callum who is 3 but looks about 5! The girls have stayed with me on a number of occasions, usually with the aid of my other sister Sophie, or my fiancé Rob. This week however Callum was joining his big sisters for the first time.

Thursday, we visited Reddish Vale Farm in Stockport. I would thoroughly recommend it. The farm is open to the public Apr-Oct, at a fairly priced entrance fee, children over 3 years £2 and £3 for adults. We were greeted by friendly staff and went straight to the nursery section where we were able to pet 3 week old lambs, chicks, ducklings and baby bunnies, all available for purchase… so we need name suggestions for a grey and white bunny!

Other facilities are bouncy castles, climbing frame and a toy tractor zone that is very similar to bumper cars. There is a good-sized coffee shop with indoor and outdoor seating, although we only grabbed an ice cream on the way out to have on the drive home.

Over the two days, we visited 3 play parks, a Crown Carvery (great value for a family approx £3.59 a head) and two other centers. The first for Friday was Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary in Rossendale; they only ask for a mere 20p donation for parking, so please spend some money in the gift shop, they deserve every penny you can spare. We had a wander round cooing at the numerous cats, dogs, rabbits, donkeys and horses, but you can book dog walking sessions, the surrounding countryside is a perfect setting for a stroll with a rescued pooch.

Next on the schedule was one last stop on the journey back home, a place I have been a few times for lessons and have been waiting for an opportunity to drag the kids along. I am talking snow play on a sunny day, the Chill Factore at the Trafford Centre. £6 for 30 mins snow play may not sound too unreasonable, but when there are 3 kids to pay for, it soon mounts up. Children must be supervised, but here is where Chill Factore redeem themselves, it is only £1 for the accompanying adult, something other venues could learn from. Half an hour was just enough time as little Callum was freezing and I was developing a rather sensitive head. We ditched the snow boots with good intentions of warming our bodies with hot chocolate, at least until we got to Fredericks Ice Cream parlor en-route to the coffee shop. Heaven in a tub.

We hit rush hour on the return to Hazel Grove, it was 1800 by the time I got home, and the headache had developed into a migraine during the 2-hour drive. I was overjoyed then to find Rob watching TV from our bed. I dropped a couple of Anadin and climbed into bed with that combination of hunger and nausea that accompanies the start of a migraine. 3 hours later I awoke, groggy, but no headache, starving with no intention of leaving the bed…. Hello Zaidys?….. Chicken kebab and garlic bread in bed, how decadent?

And finally, summer is officially here in Stubbins

It is officially summer when I can sit on my bench at the front of our house. Yesterday morning I enjoyed a cup of tea and a nice chat with neighbour John. Last night we had vintage cava and G&T’s on the bench, oh yes, summer has arrived, and long may it last.

Clare x