So I'm doing this now...

Only we won't be doing nudes (at least I don't think we will) and we have not taken up Victorian garb and I certainly am not ready for the paints yet.


In an endeavour to straighten out my frazzled existence and to try and find some calm in the current rough sea (I'm trying to be polite and not explode into a rant about the f**king social worker who is mucking about with mother.)  This is my answer and, after my first dip into the world of art in a few years, I have chosen well.


Two hours, in the company of older, more well-heeled women than I might not sound fun but it was the quickest two hours of the week.  As I focused on the little seed pods, trying to get the shading right, I lost the pain and worry that has been the black hound at my back this past disappeared completely.


Utter bliss.




*The Women's Life Class - Alice Barber Stephens, circa. 1879

Meet the new Jamie Oliver

Youngest Hobbit has taken to watching Masterchef Goes Large with great intensity. While viewing Friday's offering (on BBC2 Wales thanks to gaelic programming stuffing up the Scottish schedules) he decided that he liked the look of the very fancy and very long titled pheasant dish being made and announced he would like that for his dinner. Fancy on my boy I'm not that good.

When not watching cookery programmes he does like being involved in the preparation and cooking of food itself, the ingredients used and when that isn't happening he likes to talk about food. Interestingly although he enjoys eating and eats a fair amount of food he is not fat, no where near fat, actually he is on the lean side. Possibly because, apart from the treats, he eats about 80% good stuff. Strawberries, raspberries and mandarin oranges being particular favourite snacks.

So watch this space. He has the right temperament for being a chef certainly (take no prisoners, doesn't suffer fools gladly etc.) I discussed this with my mother today and the first thing she said? For me not to let him become a chef.

Considering that 2 years ago his ambition was to be a dinosaur I think he has a long way to go before deciding where his life will lead him. Certainly it is fun to speculate but I would never say to either Hobbit they couldn't follow what they wanted to do. That is what happened to me and look where I ended up! Same mother told me that when I left school I was expected to get a job as there was no way they would support me through university and even though it was expected I could get into art school that was discouraged to the point I completely lost the way.

Had I had parents who let me try, let me discover what I could do things could be different (not focusing on the Hobbits here as I would always have chosen to be a SAHM regardless. In fact it would have been nicer to have a proper career to take a break from and know I had one to return to.) Hubby and I often discuss how what our parents did affected the paths our lives took.

So be it a dinosaur, or a chef, or something completely different, youngest Hobbit I know will at least do one thing. Be able to cook and enjoy the experience of cooking and eating good food. Career wise he can do whatever he wants, he is 5 FFS, though I might discourage it if either Hobbit mention becoming lawyers or politicians. I don't like my boys lying!

The Emperor's New Clothes

Do you ever get the feeling that something blindingly obvious is only ever noticed by you?

Like for example how long Tony B*liar has gotten away with being a complete sycophant? I digress.

Anyway, have just watched a programme on childrens diets and lack thereof. I cannot believe that any mum would give her child two packs of crisps, a well-known brand of sugary drink that is hyperactivity in a bottle and expect that child to get through the school day. Yet that was in just one example of the lunchbags they looked at.

I'm sorry but how long does it take to make a packed lunch? How long does it take for the parent to then wonder why little Jonny or Jessica bounces off the walls after every 'meal'?

I don't believe the bull about children not eating good food. I haven't been blessed with the worlds best eaters by any means, the Hobbits would sell me for a Kinder egg in a second (then buy me back so I can open the toy for them - what is the reason for that little capsule to be so tricky to open? Kinder, s'for kiddies, right?) I have to say I don't bother with carrot sticks, I just hand them the carrot and they munch the entire thing, just like I used to do. Yet I can maintain a fairly good and healthy balance for them with the treats of chocolate, sweeties and crisps as that - treats.

Everything in moderation after all, that is the motto in the TIBS household.

Contemplate the idea of charging the parents, such as the ones who were feeding their fat children chips through the school fence last year, with abuse. Surely it is abusive to clog their little arteries with fat and food that the dog wouldn't touch, and lets face it, when you see the things a dog will eat, if it doesn't touch a certain food would you?

Being a SAHM has meant I have time to think of what they have to eat every day and to spend time and effort preparing their meals. But I know plenty of working mums who are equally as vigilant and it isn't really us or WOHM who are to blame. Once again the eye falls on those who are living off benefits. They say they cannot afford proper food, not so say I and everyone else living on a tight budget, and with things the way they are now it is people on low wages and not on benefits who are truly poor. Maybe that is the key, they need to budget the money they get each week better and organise their time better. How long does it take to make a good nutritious meal? It can be as little as 15 minutes from first opening the fridge door to setting the plate in front of the hungry little devils. I know I sound harsh, but having lived in an area rich in the 'jobless culture' I have ample experience of the attitude that is causing this problem.

I have to say that before the Hobbits came I wasn't really into cooking. Sure I enjoyed watching cookery programmes and reading books but I never really bothered with anything other than recipes I already knew. Certainly the family I worked for as a nanny in the US would testify to that (you want gourmet, you pay me better.) Now I enjoy it and even bake (see photo for proof, banana bread - slices make for very good lunchbox snacks!) The Hobbits enjoy it too, especially the gooey bits...and the eating bit.