Rachel Bustin

Word of the Week 23/01/2016

Well it’s the end of another week and my baby girl still hasn’t arrived yet. I am 40 weeks on Monday and very impatient. Which is this week’s Word of the Week – Impatient.
I feel as if I have been waiting forever now. Looking back at last weeks Word of the Week which was Nesting, and my lack of it! I have to say that I think it is starting to kick in now. I woke up at about half past four this morning thinking about cleaning the window sills in the nursery, it was very strange. So that is what I have been up to this afternoon – cleaning around the windows and sills!
Hopefully this urge in cleaning means she is on the way. My patience is wearing thinner by the day! I am so excited and cannot wait to meet her and see her little face.
Maybe next week…………
Great thanks to The Reading Residence for hosting the Word of the Week linky. I love to use this linky to sum up and look back over my week.
The Reading Residence

7 Hints and Tips on Preparing your Winter Garden for Spring

Well it’s Thursday again so time for another 7 Hints and Tips post. This week I want to help out with tips on preparing your gardens for Spring. Being nearly 40 weeks pregnant at this time of year I am really behind with my Winter garden prep, so it’s going to have to wait this year. The upside is that I have all Summer off on maternity leave so I am sure I will have some spare time to get out and about in the garden.
So It’s that time of year, where we are all waiting for Spring to arrive. Now is the time to get outside in the garden on a dry day and start working on the garden preparing for Spring. If you get some work in now, you won’t be caught out if we get an early Spring. Here are my 7 Hints and Tips on preparing your Winter garden for Spring.
            winter garden

  • Tidy – Now is the time to have a bit of a tidy up. Clear up dead leaves and debris from around the garden, flower beds, boarders and patio areas. Remove any dead flowers that have been missed, prune bushes and shrubs before the first Spring growth.

 

                   
  • Compost Area – Create a compost are where you can put all your garden waste. This could be one you have made yourself with a few pieces of wood, or a compost bin bought from your local garden centre. This is great for putting all your vegetable peelings and grass clippings.
  • Fix Fences and Trellis – Get the fixing jobs out the way so you have more time for planting in the Spring and Summer.
  • Garden Pests – Now is the time to remove and control pests around the garden before they get out of hand in the Spring. Remove hibernating slugs, snails and aphids.
  • Install Water Butts – I have 2 water butts in my garden and I couldn’t do without them. Not only does it save on the water bill during Spring/Summer but the rainwater is much preferred by some ericaceous plants such as Rhododendrons and Blueberry bushes.
  • Greenhouse – If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse (I unfortunately do not due to my garden being a hill so no flat areas for one!) I would suggest giving it a clean out before you start to plant your trays of seeds. This is so that any pests that are hibernating inside are removed.
  • Gardening Tools – Clean and sharpen your gardening tools, to not only prevent the spread of diseases but also to preserve their lifespan.

 

                   
Hopefully these hints and tips will help you get a head start on your garden for Spring. Now I have sat down and written about these tips I have just realised I have a lot of work to do in my own garden!
Do you have any of your own gardening tips on preparing for Spring?
 A Cornish Mum

Monkey and Mouse

Slow Cooker Recipe: Beef with Vegetables

Last week I got a slow cooker for my birthday. I have wanted one for ages but have never got around to actually buying one. For my first cook I thought I would start simple and just do beef and vegetables. I know people usually use a slow cook type of beef like braising steak or brisket but all I had was a small joint of topside in my fridge, so I sliced this up into steaks. I made this recipe up as I went along and it turned out very tasty!
                 Slow Cooker vegetables


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Book Review: Exposure by Helen Dunmore

Well it’s Monday again so time for #BookReviewMondays. I aim to provide you all with a book review each Monday, of a book I have been reading the previous week and finished over the weekend. I seem to have the most time to finish a book on Sunday afternoons. I find it a very relaxing way to end the weekend.
Today’s book review is a book called Exposure by Helen Dunmore. I am a huge fan of Helen Dunmore’s books and this one looked really intriguing, full of mystery, suspense – the perfect spy story.

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#MySundayPhoto 17/01/2016

One cold frosty morning this week with a view from my bedroom window. It was so cold I didn’t really feel like getting up! 
                                        
There is something beautiful about cold, crisp January mornings. It is actually on of my favourite months of the year. The weather can be so changeable here in Cornwall. For example yesterday was icy and the car was needed to be defrosted, yet today I have looked out the window and its a very foggy slightly warmer morning. I live in part of a valley so it can be foggy down here and bright and sunny when you get up to the main road. Very Strange!
Enjoy your Sunday! 
OneDad3Girls

Word of the Week 15/01/2016

My word for this week is Nesting. As you know from last weeks Word of the Week I am waiting for the birth of my first baby. I am now nearly 39 weeks and still waiting! but this week I thought i would pick the word Nesting for my #WotW, although waiting still applies!
So apparently most pregnant women go through some sort of nesting phase before the birth of their little one. I am not sure I fit into that category as I haven’t had that nesting feeling, or so I think! A few weeks back my husband and I got the nursery ready, I washed, folded and put away all her little clothes. I have double and triple checked my hospital bag. Does this count as nesting?
I always thought nesting was cleaning and scrubbing every surface possible but that part hasn’t come to me (yet!). I really don’t have the energy to clean out the fridge or mop the kitchen floor. Nesting is a natural way of preparing and protecting your unborn baby from the outside world.
I would love to hear what were your nesting habits? if you had any.
There is an old wives tale that when nesting urges begin labour is about to come on. So maybe my little girl isn’t ready to come yet! I hope this isn’t true as I am getting really fed up with waiting. I have been on maternity leave for two weeks now ( I had 4 weeks holiday to use up from work before that) so I am all out of waiting now. It is the most exciting thing in life to wait for and I am so eager to meet my baby girl.
Maybe next week I will have a completely different Word of the Week!
Thanks to thereadingresidence for hosting the great Word of the Week linky.
The Reading Residence