Fake Bake

All I had to do was make something for the middle son's nursery charity cake stall on Saturday. Good people made glorious cakes, chutneys and jam. I, however, made my step-mother an offer she couldn't refuse: a bottle of robust red wine for a pile of fairy cakes. Sometimes the work/life balance doesn't work and isn't balanced. That's when I improvise/exploit a weakness for Rioja...

Comfortable shoes...

A pair of Clarks shoes to be precise. I didn't realise quite how much of a landmark it was at the time. All I'd done was wander past the shoe shop in town pushing the littlest one in the buggy on the way to the post office when a pair of shoes on the sale rail caught my eye. I went in, tried them on, bought them and left the shop wearing them (I like instant gratification). My mother said she liked my shoes. Thanks, I said, they're so comfortable...

Cheap Champers

I read something that made me laugh out loud on a heavenly family-of-five-in-a-small-confined-space car journey last weekend. Apparently someone once said that one of the foremost over-rated things in life is cheap Champagne. Along with lobster, picnics and anal sex.

Although, as a friend (the one for whom we made the long car journey) pointed out, do them all at the same time and perhaps you're onto something. Hhmmm. Personally, I don't think cheap Champagne is acceptable whatever the circumstances...

Harvest Moon

Big night in our village tonight: the Harvest Supper. I was on the 'young' table (i.e. six out of eight were under 45) and we were entertained by a singer who made her name singing the hook line for the old Fairy Liquid adverts. Then there was the raffle (notelets & dusty bottle of Hock: check) followed by a walk home under the starriest sky...

Mum's the word..

My mother is about to appear at the door with our supper. She doesn't do this every night - that would make me lazy - but she lives a few doors down and her roast chicken always saves me whenever I'm husband-less and on the verge of morphing into a shouting nightmare. We're going to watch the 9 o'clock drama on telly, she'll ask annoying questions on the plot just when we really need to be listening. All is well with the world...

Hello old friend..

My husband says I'm not to mention him in this blog unless it is in a positive light. So, unless my devastingly good-looking, intelligent, witty, so-hands-on-with-the-children-I-don't-know-how-lucky-I-am husband does anything to upset me, he won't be featuring.

And so to the wines. A girlfriend turned up tonight to drop her son off for a sleepover and we disected our week over a glass of tonight's white in the fridge...

Thought it might be useful to suggest two wines a week:

1) the white in the fridge

2) the red on the side

If I find a good rose or sparkling, I'll include these too.

I'll make sure they are widely available and promise that they will be good value.

I promise not to share my children's poo stories and will avoid all other cliches where possible. I am not Alpha, Beta or even Gamma Mama. I love my children and I love good wine. Simple as that.

Recommendations to follow...