Holiday in Bude, Cornwall

This Easter I went to Bude, in the North of Cornwall for our family break.

We stayed in a lovely house with a hot tub, within a working farm! The cows mooed constantly, the chickens pecked outside, and we had cats meowing outside the kitchen window (I am allergic to them so I was not letting them in).

It was a fantastic family holiday where we walked, played board games, saw beautiful new places, and even saw new life being born!

I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful English County!

*~*~*

Eden Project

The first day trip was to the Eden Project.

The site itself is fantastic and I was impressed by the facilities, activities for children, food, service, and views.

I even did an assault course - on a bouncy castle, nothing too strenuous!

It is amazing what an idea can start... the people who built and thought of this project should be thrilled!


Tintagel

Look out for those rocks...

I was terrified going down...

The second day we visited Tintagel - the ruins of a castle built around the 11-12th Century.

Stunning views, which unfortunately nearly scared me to death at times due to my fear of heights, were all around and I could not even begin to imagine how the place was fortified and used hundreds of years ago.

Human beings (some of them anyway) really are capable of magic...



Beaches

Surfer dude!

I never imagined there would be SO many surfers in April in England!

It is obviously a massive sport in Cornwall and I took some great shots of them over some decent sized waves.

If the water had been warmer I would have joined them, but funnily enough I was happy to sacrifice myself and watch!

Ha ha...

The Big Sheep - Devon

New life born in front of us!

Since we had children in tow, (aged 7, 12 & 13) we had to visit a theme park and we decided to go to The Big Sheep in Devon!

We had a great day and even managed to watch a live birth... the kids thought it was disgusting!

My daughter & I did the egg hunt and got some prizes for our efforts - they did not make it easy!

A fantastic show rounded up the day... loved the sheep with the dreadlocks!

The Big Sheep - Fantastic day out..

We arrived in the morning and were one of the last to leave. We made the most of the visit and loved it! I am glad we had no more buggies or young children - makes life so much easier...

We ate some Cornish pasties, did some sightseeing, relaxed and spent time together as a family. Perfect!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Thank you to the family in Scorsham Farm in Bude

Luxury accommodation... :)

Happy Easter

I am heading off to a Center Parks in Belgium for Easter.

Can't believe it was 10 years ago when I last went there!

We used to go to Eperheide a lot when we lived in Rotterdam and it has an amazing ball park which I am sure my youngest will love.

Even though I had to add the cost of the ferry, it still worked out cheaper than booking a UK one! And you get to experience a different culture...

So, I hope the rest of you enjoy the week. I can't imagine I'll be online much - but, I will be reading a lot!

Enjoy your time with family, friends, and CHOCOLATE! If you need some ideas for Easter baking click on the LINK! 

All the best,

Vanessa

I have had no time at all...

I have a lot of blogs to write and no time at all! I desperately want to finish the edit for my book, but it is proving difficult since life has to take priority!

Hopefully, in the next few weeks I will find the time to knuckle down and finish the job! I hope my readers are patient.

In the meantime, a few pictures for you to enjoy...

GURNARD BEACH - ISLE OF WIGHT, ENGLAND

Swim... anyone?

MADNESS AT HOME

HOLIDAY IN BENIDORM

REWIND FESTIVAL IN HENLEY-ON-THAMES

Civilised - everyone takes a seat...

 Hello - it's me!!

Belinda Carlisle is AWESOME

ENJOY...

Vanessa :) xx

Shropshire, Stratford, Oxford & more... ENJOY

It’s been a while since I last blogged and there is a reason for this! EASTER…

I spent the first week at my sister’s house in Shropshire. I find it hard to believe there was snow there still! It was cold… but inside my sister had a log fire, which when lit was like being next to an inferno (roasting…).

Whilst there we visited a lovely farm…

And took the kids to Drayton Manor Park (fantastic & OUTSTANDING value for money)… 

My youngest loves Thomas the Tank...

so she was in heaven!

The older two thought the rides were incredible!

My sister then took my older kids to the Harry Potter studio so our family shrunk to three and we spent the day in Stratford upon Avon (where I got the chance to row…



Absoutely beautiful...

and did not loose an oar – unlike my husband (who then had to go retrieve it! HA…)

And then made our way to Oxford, where we spent to night in a very nice B&B.  The following day we visited the Botanical Gardens before we picked up the older two.  We returned to Oxford and did the bus tour (interesting, but probably not worth the £35 we paid…)

After a lunch with a few very tired and “ready to go home” kids we made our way back to the Isle of Wight.

The only downside to the second half was the fact I have been plagued by migraines… worst ever!  It made working on the computer, or doing pretty much anything difficult. I tried to do stuff with the kids, we went for walks, etc… but nothing made it better.  And finally, today (a week later) a friend on Twitter (@strawberriesncr) suggested it might be hay fever related.  So, I found my stash from last year (still in date … phew) and as soon as I had some I felt instant relief! I am such an idiot!

I am definitely allergic to pollen (I am also allergic to cats) so now it all makes sense… I was getting depressed about the fact I felt so lousy! 



My Artists!

So, overall life is good... hope you enjoyed the pictures - the sun was shining!

Vanessa :) xx

Easter Fun with children... Homework for parents

As any of you parents out there know, school life imposes certain "chores" on parents... Schools run a lot of competitions to enable the children to create things at home for either project work or seasonal fun.

I have always believed that if the children should be making something, it should be their work.  A lot of times I have despaired when you see a children bring a wooden model to school (when they are only 6!) or a cake that looks like it belongs in a shop... Now, I'm not saying parents should not get involved with what their kids do... encouragement is essential. My son is not very creative, and he needs some ideas at times. BUT, then I expect him to go on and do it himself.

Today is the closing date for a Literary competition I am running at the primary school, I am intrigued to see the submissions. This is the first time I have done this, it'll be interesting to see what I get. If I have enough entries I am planning to publish them as a collection to raise money for the school - should be fun (maybe?)

Anyway...

My daughter (who is a regular feature on this blog) decided to make a simnel cake for her Easter Competition Entry. She got the recipe from a Mary Berry Cook book and followed it... (I did have to put the cake in the oven again since she insisted it was ready even though it needed an extra 40 mins... oh well!)

I was very proud of the fact she got all the ingredients together, measured them out & basically made it herself! The she made some decorations modelling the marzipan, and painted them using food colouring... a job well done! (I even learnt something - the 11 marzipan balls represent the 11 apostles)

My son needed an idea... I suggested he should do something that matched his sense of humour (he is a joker!) - So, I suggested he make an Easter Garden (that still had not arrived due to the cold weather).  He found the characters, make captions for them, stuck them on to card and cut them out... then he planted the bulbs that have yet to flower, and job done! I think the captions are quite funny!

Anyway, today I have to make an Easter bonnet for my youngest (it never stops) and bake more cakes for her Easter party tomorrow.

Am I the only parent that thinks... STOP, enough? Ha ha

Okay... since I wrote this post I have made the Easter Bonnet with my daughter (her pointing at me saying there mummy, there... oh, and add this!)

I also facepainted a LOT of children at the Easter fun Day at the pre-school, bought lots of cakes & won a few prizes in the raffle... hooray!

Joanne was searching everywhere for eggs during the egg hunt... even though I tried to "stage" a few discoveries the other kids were hot on her heals! It's a bun fight for the eggs!

Talking of buns... I managed to get my mums "Easter Bread" recipe and helped my eldest make it yesterday. It is the first time I have tried it and I have to say it looked just as good as "me mums"

RECIPE

325g margarine
4 eggs
125g sugar (I used caster)
The rind of 1 lemon & 2 large oranges (& the juice from the oranges)
I teaspoon vanilla essence or aniseed flavouring (I used the vanilla)
Approx. 350g Self Raising flour

I mixed the Margarine, eggs, sugar & flour together.  Then added the rind & juice & flavouring.  The dought needs to be "bread like" so add more flour until it is a good consistency, i.e. not sticking to your hands.

Divide into four portions, shape into buns, then criss cross and bake for approx 25 mins until golden brown (like mine...)

Once cooled, slice thinly and spread with butter, jam, etc as you would with scones or eat on its own! I wrap them in tea towels to keep them fresh.

Enjoy, let me know if you try them and what the results were like!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

(I am planning to eat cake, chocolates, and spend time with family... can't wait!)

Speak soon,
Vanessa :) xx

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR... I hope 2013 proves to be an amazing and inspirational year!

Personally,. I find it hard to imagine it could in any way compete with 2012... Let's face the facts...

2012 Olympics - AWESOME

I published 2 books, a short story & two short story collections under a newly formed collective group.

I have had fantastic support from many friends & family, who I have mentioned in my books and online already... Kay, Kathyrn, Katie, Adam, Lynn, Sarah, my in-laws (all of them), my sisters & parents, children & husband.  They have all helped in their own way...

I also joined Twitter, created blogs, and made lots of online friends... some of which I must mention now! 

@James_Sm1th James Smith: What a great person to meet!  A like minded teacher, father of 3, avid reader, and health conscience guy! Thank you for inspiring me take the plunge and investigate the world of "short stories" ... it has made me enjoy writing in a totally different way.

This friendship led to the creation of the Short Stories Group

@Gelakel Angela Kelman: A lovely lady that is down to earth and a fab editor!

 @neckache Sonia Wright: A great down to earth person that I will someday meet up with for a natter seeing as we only like a few miles aways from each other,...

@Ir0bark Steve Venables: You make me laugh a LOT

@GaryAlanHenson Gary Henson: An American with a sense of humour... great guy!

@MackBrownBooks Mackenzie Brown: A fantastic guy, who loves to RT and support fellow authors

@sammylou37 Sam Bachus: Sam is great to talk to online... really nice, friendly person

@samcroftauthor Sam Croft, @MJHolleywriter Michael Holley, @K_Einsel Karen Einsel, @DonaWatson Dona Watson, @JoanneGPhillips Joanne Phillips - All fantastic authors you should check out...

Other Twitter friends I must mention:

@strawberriesncr & @great_one04 Two fantastic ladies to chat to - I consider you my friends!

@Gallecian Another American with a great sense of humour and clever and quirky insights into life!

@CarolJHedges Carol is a funny, friendly and lovely person to chat to... we talk about cake a lot! And she featured me on her blog Carol Hedges: The Pink Sofa today!

@shellmeister84 Fantastic health & life blog posts! And a lovely person to boot...

@Strangewolf64 Recently got chatting to Joe... great person!

@KingTaffWrites Another fellow author, great guy to talk to and friend on The Word Cloud as is @Flickimp (the best of luck to him when he publishes his book in February this year) & @LeannexBray Another great person to talk to!

@RayChatie Thanks for the encouragement and kind words... it is nice chatting to you!

@LiteraryGary Gary is extremely supportive towards Indie Authors... thank you

@Susan_Buchanan A great friend, with a great year ahead of her - 2013 will be interesting... keep us posted!

@TerryTyler4 Terry is an active Tweeter and has a lot of interesting and and insightful comments into the world of self publishing

@OlgaNM & @MikeLamson Both featured me on their sites but also happen to be fantastic people to talk to... it is great knowing you. Mucho gusto de concerte, Olga...

@davepperlmutter We have a running joke - I describe beakfast for him! ha ha... Great guy to talk to!

@BalletMuzik Fantastic piano music... and I love his Tweets - they are pretty!

@MasqCrew @Kindle_Promo @Booksforpromoted @TweetTheBooks Fantastic support for Indie Authors

Now, I know there are many, many more of you out there to mention but then I do follow 2560 of you... so it is impossible to mention you all!

I hope you all have an amazing 2013... personally, if it is anything like 2012 I will be a happy lady.

Best wishes & huge gigantic hugs,
Vanessa :) xx