A pocket of my life

It BEAN a while since I've visited the White rock but what a Giant show it was! My last show of 2025 and this one did not dissapoint! The panto trip is now an annual event and one that I truely look forward to with the family. This years panto is Jack and the Beanstalk, a classic one that always brings joy with with the panto cow normally being cheeky, the dame showing off their outfits and the hero of the hour saving the village and winning over the princess. This years cast consisted of two soap starts, Clair Norris (Fairy Sunshine), who played Bernadette in Eastenders and Richard Blackwood (Jack) who played Vincent in Eastenders and Felix in Hollyoaks. We have the two show regulars who always managed to put a smile on our faces, Ben Watson aka Silly Simon, his comedy timing is brilliant and he always seems to be enjoying the show himself with giggles and audience participation.  Then theres Tim McArthur who was this years villian, Fleshcreep, making the audience boo ...

Over the Christmas holidays from school I love to keep Lils entertained with a lot of baking,  we usually share our makes with family and friends. This time we have added a very yummy recipe to the list which is Peppermint creams, these were one of my Mums favourite sweets so will now be a tradition to make them in memory of her. This recipe only has 4 ingredients and is so easy to make and requires no baking.  Recipe 400g Icing sugar 1 egg White Juice of half a lemon 1/2 tsp Peppermint extract  Method 1. Beat egg until a foam appears on top.  2. Add a small amount of lemon and mix.  3. Add the icing sugar and stir to form a dough.  4. Add the peppermint extract and stir into the dough 5. Roll the dough out on an icing sugared surface to about the thickness of £1 6. Cut out shapes and place on a tray.  7. Put in the fridge to set.  These are so good and go down a treat after dinner but just a warning that they are though very sweet. I hope you enj...

This year I have really struggled to find new ideas for the elf and Olivia is fully invested this year. She has been making it her missions to find Ellie every morning before school.  1. Toilet roll snow man - This one is a simple one to do, I used an eye liner for the coal parts (eyes, smile and buttons) then a light red lipstick for the carrot. 2 rolls for the bottom part fits the elf perfectly and slot one on the head to finish the look. 2. Dad's fart - This was one that made Olivia laugh, she was able to read the note this year. We hide the elf in a pint class with her hand over her nose, a note explaining why and a can of air freshener on the side too. Such a quick one to do. 3. All toasty warm - Perfect for a frosty cold night, one slice of toast with some arm and leg holes cut out to make a blanket. I used an apple cover to cut these out as it seems to be the perfect size for that. Another small note from the elf too to finish the look. 4. Poo on the mirror - Oli...

Christmas time is the perfect time to slide into a festive story and take your mind of the pressure for a bit. My book of choice this year is One Perfect Christmas and other stories by Paige Toon. The first story is a novella of another book called One Perfect Summer.  The story starts with and girl called Alice getting ready for her uni friends wedding, and is set in Cambridge. Each character is introduced with a small backstory making you familiar with them quickly.  We eventually meet Joe, Alice's love interest and a huge movie star. They have managed to keep there relationship under wraps but Alice's wonders how long she can keep her normal life before it becomes unravelled. From the first sentence you are sucked into the story, Paige adds so much detail so you feel like you are there. ★★★★★   Victoria x

These cupcakes are so delicious and simple to make, you only need a few ingredients and take 30 minutes. to make and cook. This mixture made 16 - 20 cupcakes. Ingredients Eggs - 3 Medium Eggs Marge - Weight of Eggs in oz Sugar - Weight of Eggs in oz Flour - Weight of eggs minus 2oz Drinking Chocolate - 2oz to make up the flour Chocolate frosting Red m&m's or smarties curly wurly bits Edible eyes Method 1. Preheat your oven to 180oC / Gas mark 5 2. Cream the sugar and marge together until it resembles whipped cream. 3. Add 1 egg at a time, if starts to curdle add a small amount of the flour. 4. Once all eggs are mixed in slowly sift in the flour and drinking chocolate and slowly mix. 5. Separate your mixture into cupcake cases evenly and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until springy to touch. Once cooked and cooled its time to get decorating: 1. spread your chocolate frosting evenly over the cakes. 2. Add your eyes and nose to the cakes 3. push your curly wurly ...

Every story holds a memory of years gone by and I absolutely love to tell and retell these stories as my children grow. This is just a selection of Christmas/festive books that we have but these are also our favourite ones too. The dinosaur that pooped a reindeer - This story just makes us laugh and adds to our dino that pooped collection.  Kevin and Katie's Christmas adventure - We have many of the Kevin and Katie stories from over the year thay we love to read.  Santa comes to Hastings - A special one for me, my Mum brought this for Lilly and it always brings back a moment in time. Squirrels Snowman - We love a bit of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler in this house so this is a story we enjoy.  Mogs Christmas calamity - This is a bit odd but I love that it shows that Christmas isn't about it being perfect but about who you spend it with. The Snowman - A classic story that we love both in book version and film. Betty and the Yeti - A lovely story if not judg...

So here I am trying out blogmas. I do vlogmas over on my YouTube and would love to grow my blog too so I will be blogging every other day on here and hopefully I don't miss a day. I hope that you enjoy my content over the next 25 days leading up to the big day and would love you to give me a comment below on any. We have a tradition in our house now which is to make our annual Christmas cake, its something that is important to me, to make memories with the children and teach them how to cook some yummy Christmas treats, something that they can pass on if they have families of there own. This Christmas cake is a 6 inch round cake which works for our family as its just me and Lilly that eats it so far. I love the decorating of the cake too, this is the main part that Lilly loves as she gets some of the leftover icing and marzipan. I'm not going to lie, its not the easiest bake but its well worth it if you like Christmas cake, and its rewarding when its done. My Recipe...