For a girl who has big feet, I do alright for shoes

I buy my shoes from a variety of places, and each time the size varies (a bit like clothes shops).

I would like to get rid of some of my shoes, but what happens is,  I find a nice pair of shoes in my size* get excited that they actually fit me, and feel that I must buy them, because chances are - they'll never make them like that in my size again.

But in reality, I have about 4 pairs of footwear that I wear regularly, and the rest are just doing nothing.  I would like to bring together a list of shoes with specific jobs, so that I can stop buying shoes willy-nilly, and the shoes I do buy, get worn.

*For the benefit of anyone who doesn't know, my feet are a size 9 (ish), I'll squeeze my feet into smaller sizes, but I'm only kidding myself.

My tooth

I was due a new filling in May 2010, I missed the appointment and made a new appointment mid-June, the earliest date they could give me was October!!  I wasn't too upset, the filling wasn't hurting, it was still intact and I could happily wait until then.

Then in July - disaster struck!

The filling broke, and a big gaping hole appeared.

It didn't hurt, it was just uncomfortable.  It was also awkward, every time I ate something I'd have to have a rummage around with a toothpick afterwards, getting all of the food out of the hole. I rang the dentist and explained what had happened, they said that they didn't have any earlier appointments, and that they'd only consider me 'an emergency' when I was experiencing pain or swelling.  I had considered asking someone to punch me in the face, but thought better of it.  I was told that I could call them each morning to see if there were any cancellations.  I decided that this was my best option.

By September, the hole was still there, and I hand't managed to get a cancelled appointment.  I was due to go on holiday to Spain in a few weeks time, and decided that I actually wanted them to do something temporary until I got back.

So when I rang up to do my usual 'have you had any cancellations today?' I asked if I could have something temporary, and they told me that I won't be able to get a cancellation appointment because my dentist was on holiday for 3 weeks, and that I wasn't allowed to be treated by another dentist, why? Because my dentist had 'already begun treatment' - I told them that no treatment had been carried out - that's what I was waiting for!!  Reluctantly they gave me an appointment for a temporary fix with some other dentist.  He filled it with cement and didn't charge me a penny :)

I came back from my holiday - temporary filling in tact.  And had my replacement filling appointment, as originally booked, October. The filling is fixed and looks grand.

The moral of this story is - when you get an appointment at the NHS Dentist for a filling - don't cancel it!

Last night I dreamt about ice cream

I was somewhere between Longbenton and Four Lane Ends, and there was a funfair on the go, I had a wrist band so I could have unlimited goes on the rides, and this also included ice creams.  I asked for coffee ice cream and the man said that the only one he had, had peas in it.  So I accepted, coffe & pea ice cream.  Claire Briggs asked for the bacon and eggs flavour ice cream - which is just wrong.

I also briefly dreamt that the car would need a new exhaust.

The car was due a service and MOT today, and it needed a new exhaust-part (not a full exhaust).

Chocolate chunk cookies

I took this recipe from a free booklet in The Guardian 2007, the original recipe listed double-quantities, but I've reduced it as I can only manage to bake 12-13 of these at a time with my baking trays.

112g unsalted butter

190g light soft brown sugar

25g caster sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

175g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

25g cocoa powder

150g broken chocolate pieces

Oven temperature 170°C (150°C for fan-assisted)

Beat together butter, brown sugar, caster sugar & vanilla extract until light and fluffy (save time and whack it in a food processor).

Add the egg.

Sift the flour, bicarb and cocoa powder together and add to food processor (or bowl, if you're feeling strong fore-armed).

Stir through your chocolate chunks.

Prepare a baking tray (cover in greaseproof paper, or grease it)

Scoop ice-cream scoop sized blobs onto the tray, spaced evenly apart.

Cook for 12-14mins until puffed up and coloured at the edges.

Remove, cool & eat!

2-4-6-8

Two four six eight
Who do we appreciate?
B-r-o-m-p-ton


Two four six and a quarter
Who are we about to slaughter?
Broom-field

We would sing this at primary school when we played netball, football, or rounders against the other schools

Halloween Costume 2010

For me the fun of fancy dress is making the costume.


Halloween Costume 2010 (Lisa Vincent)



Making it from second-hand, hand-made, recycled, reused stuff.


I know if I make my own costume it'll be unique, no one else will have one, and I'll stand out from the crowd, which I like to do in fancy dress.



I use google-searches for ideas in my head, this year it was 'headless zombie' I pulled out a few images and decided to replicate what I'd seen. I'm the kind of person that looks at things and says I can make that and I often manage to!

As Charles Caleb Colton said in 1820, Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (btw -I had to google for that reference).

So the headless zombie grew out of a vintage charity shop dress for £7.50, a papier-maché neck and shoulders (plain flour & water paste with newspaper strips), and a foil buffet platter.

The results worked a treat, I still laugh at how well it turned out!