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This is very much the last post I ever thought I’d write. Me? Writing about gyms? Me? GOING to the gym? Regularly! I do not like sweaty people and I do not like lycra and I have always had a gym phobia….

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Calling all Orla Kiely fans. This gorgeous Sport Relief apron is now available to buy from TKMaxx both in store and online here, Homesense stores and Sport Relief. It retails at £12.99, with at least £5.25 going to Sport Relief. There are also matching tea towels in two designs on sale at £4.99 (£2.50 goes to charity). Meghan from the Feisty Tapas Facebook communities has had the awesome idea of buying both the apron and the matching tea towel (which she has already done) and use the tea towel to sew a pocket onto the apron.

The winners of the The Great Sport Relief Bake Off will receive one each night so you can pretend to be a bake-off star in the comfort of your own home. The The Great Sport Relief Bake Off starts today, Wednesday 27th January, at 8.30pm on BBC1. If you are a member of the Feisty Tapas Thermo Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas, Rosemary is sure to remind you later! Thank you Rosemary for the daily “what food programmes to watch” updates.

My apron was sent to me to help promote it, I am a huge Orla Kiely fan so I’m very excited and Sport Relief is a very good cause! I will donate the money it would have cost me (£12.99) to buy the apron
to Sport Relief aaaand, the moment 20 of you buy one of these and share
a photo as proof, I will share a photo of me wearing it. 

If 50 of you
buy it and share a photo, I’ll pose for a photo while pulling a silly
face. You all know I don’t do cameras, right??? Aaaaand, the big one…

If 100 of you buy it,
I’ll do a nice giveaway of some sort. 

I posted the above in my Thermo Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas Facebook group the other day and tons of members have been to buy theirs and ordered online already so basically I am doomed! I should really look into covering the greys or improving my photo editing skills!


In the groups, just post on the apron thread from the other day or onto the wall. If you’re not a member of my groups, make sure you tag me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Obviously, feel free to include
baked goods and recipes in your photos to keep the fun going! And make
sure you tell everyone in your social media and offline that it’s all
that Feisty Tapas woman’s fault. So that’s Instant Pots, Foodsavers, Mia Tui bags and aprons that I am guilty of you all buying, just that, right? Ah I forgot the Philips pasta maker that you’ve all been getting your paws on. I can only apologise people and make sure that you use them all regularly.

While you’re in TKMaxx, don’t forget to take a look at the cooking
section for the amazing Nordic Ware baking tins at really good prices! If the section is as big as the one there is in the TKMaxx in the centre of Cambridge, it’s worth canvassing it once and then do it another go. I tend to find one, sometimes two tins. Oh and look out for the Dumpling Cube too, we will be having another dumpling cook-off in a few weeks, I just need to get the right attachment for my Philips pasta maker, the one that makes thinner sheets.

Apron price: £12.99, at least £5.25 goes to Sport Relief.

Tea towels: £4.99, £2.59 goes to Sport Relief.

Ready? Steady? Go bake yourselves proud!!

Win an Instant Pot just like this one

I have been running an Advent Calendar in my Feisty Tapas Facebook groups (Thermo Cooking UK and Pressure Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas), on the days that I’ve remembered! Blame the Spaniard in me who didn’t grow up with advent calendars (you can also blame the freelancing work-at-home mum who doesn’t know which day it is anymore).

The other day a lovely member, who you all know rather well by now, offered me a brand new, still-in-the-box Instant Pot like this one as a prize. At first I told him that it was too generous an offer but well, you know him, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

To enter you need to be a member of one of my Facebook groups (the two stated above) and be signed up to receive the Feisty Tapas newsleter, which you can do easily here.

If you are not a winner, don’t forget the awesome Feisty Tapas Instant Pot offer, now extended until the end of January 2016! A massive saving, a couple of freebies, basically the best Instant Pot in the UK, find out more here.

In the meantime, you can check out what you can cook in this wonderpot here.

Ready to enter?

The bits and pieces you’ll get. This is my Instant Pot by the way, not the one the winner will receive.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just in case you haven’t seen it, the first issue of the brand new Feisty Tapas newsletter is now out! I may be a tad excited about this.

If you didn’t receive it in your email inbox, you can read it by clicking here. From now on the newsletter will bring the Feisty Tapas blog and its Facebook groups together with news, discounts and links that you will not want to miss.

Make sure you sign up here!

After spending many years refusing to read audiobooks because, well, it just isn’t proper reading, is it? I signed up to Audible a few months ago, not many, and I have to say it has been life-changing. Firstly because I now actually manage to read. As someone who works with words all day long (and is a mum), when I finally get to reading for pleasure words jump around, they dance a bit of salsa with each other, my brain switches off, I fall asleep. Basically, I wasn’t reading and I wasn’t taking the few sentences I was managing to read.

So, having decided that, after all, that wasn’t proper reading either and ready to take on a few business books, I took an Audible trial when someone recommended a network marketing group and, from there, thanks to one of the business women groups I belong to and the lovely Daisy from Devon Sun Yarns, I found my list with a long wish list. Here are the books in the order I’ve read them and why I think they are fantastic for people like you and me: ideas people, parents, busy people, people with dreams that one day just must come true because they are good dreams worth pursuing.

The following links are affiliate links which, funnily enough, is a direct result of reading these and a conversation I had with Mr Tapas a while ago but, well, you know me: I only recommend these because they truly have changed my life in one way or another.

If you don’t have an Audible account, click on the banner below for a free trial.

Ready?

1. Go Pro – 7 Steps to Becoming a Network Marketing Professional by Eric Worre

This was the book that got me hooked to Audible. The long school run on foot suddenly became productive. I don’t agree with everything the book says, there is no way I am going to start nagging people by calling them on the phone. First of all, I am not a call-on-the-phone person anyway. But bits of it do make sense. This is the book that got me hooked to Audible and for that alone it has made the list.

2. The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

This book is good, very good! My favourite lesson was the concept of Einstein time: time comes from you. It took me a while to get to grips with it and fully understand it. I think something just had to go “click” for it to snap into place. Not only does time come from me but I should stop hoping that someone else will help me make me make time to make things happen. Once that all fell into place, a few blocks were lifted.


3. Stop Talking Start Doing by Shaa Wasmund

Discovering Shaa Wasmund has brought along many revelations. I first came across her and her work in one of the businesswomen Facebook groups that I belong to. Those of you who are members of my Facebook group or know me personally will know that I’m an ideas girl: one idea a minute, that’s me. It actually bothers me somewhat that I can’t put those ideas into practice more often so, in between the new concept of Gay Hendricks’ Einstein time and this book the foundations of the new me where laid.


4. Do Less Get More by Shaa Wasmund

Hot on the heels of the fantastic book that is Stop Talking Start Doing, I attended a webinar where Shaa was talking a lot of sense. So much sense that I wished she could move next door and be my new neighbour. Seriously, with someone like Shaa in your camp you are never going to stay down for long. I know that a lot of people say that about me, but I don’t have a me to help and, when my “me” falls apart like has been happening on and off since the school run started last September, the picking up of the various pieces becomes harder and harder and it feels like every time I break, I don’t manage to collect all the bits that make me so yet another bit stays behind, impossible to glue back on.

Don’t get me wrong, there are bits of me that I am totally happy to shed but there are others that are intrinsic to my nature and that just need to stay because they make me, well, ME.

Unlike Stop Talking Start Doing, Do Less Get More is read by Shaa herself which just makes it that much better, her energy and beliefs jump at you. Her voice makes you believe you really can achieve this too: doing less and getting more might actually be feasible when you hear it straight from Shaa.

Shaa speaks directly to my soul, her energy is unique. She runs regular bootcamps which get amazing reviews and I can see why. She is a direct, no-nonsense lady. So hopefully soon I’ll be able to make one of Shaa’s weekends. You know how sometimes you just need someone to talk to, someone who understands where you are coming from, why you want to get where you want to get and that you are lost a bit on the way from A to B, so much so that you are losing hope? 

This book truly is life-changing, it’s in fact also a game changer. I have listened to it many times because the thing with Audible is that sometimes you get distracted and so listening to the books several times is a good idea but this book is like my bible now. I think I will be listening to it regularly for quite a while.

Make sure you sign up to Shaa’s newsletter for regular snippets of kick-your-ass-into-gear information at http://www.shaa.com/

5. Thrive by Arianna Huffington

In Do Less Get More, Shaa Wasmund mentions this book as a game changer for her. I have only read just over half of it on Audible so far but it already speaks a lot of sense. In fact, many of the things  can be combined with what I have learnt from the previous three books to create what I hope will be a winning formula.

The book, read by Agapi (Arianna’s sister) is quite long at over 9 hours but is full of fantastic insights, from redefining success to the fact that quality should over prevail over quantity.

Some of the wonderful terms I have been introduced to have been: social entrepreneur and go-giver. I am liking a lot the concept of “go-giver” rather than “go-getter”, I totally identify with this.

A few of Thrive‘s chapters are a bit long for where I am at right now and so I switch off but I am absolutely aware that at other stages, perhaps in a few months time when I look more into meditation and mindfulness, they will be right for me so I will just need to revisit them. Do bear that in mind when reading this very long book as it may be the same for you.

The lowdown

Basically, all of these books combined have so far given me a new perspective on life: where I want to be, how I want to get there. It’s all clearer in my mind now.

I leave you with one thought for all of you sitting on ideas, waiting for the right time or for them to be just perfect before going for it.

Seriously, do it, today

This offer is now closed but make sure you sign up to my newsletter to hear of other offers. By the way, three years on I still love Readly and still subscribe 

Extended! Click here to go straight to the Instant Pot website, enter ft20151 at checkout (opens in a new window

This offer has now expired, sorry you missed out but you can always get in touch to see if I know of any other offers!

I has been a wake-up and smell the pretty spring flowers few weeks

I published this post last week, it had taken quite a few days to decide to hit publish but I did it. Then 5 minutes later there were 3 messages in my Facebook inbox from people checking if I was ok which was not at all the desired intention of the post. So, let’s try to do this differently this time.

I shall start by saying that I write this from a very good place. Feeling more like me than I have in years. A place where I feel excited about future plans, I have fallen in love again with my husband, with my life and with my little family.

It had been a while since I had written a diatribe and back then I did write from a different position (one of safety behind my anonymity).

It’s not that I hadn’t had anything to say, it’s that I had too much to say and sometimes when there is too much to say it’s best to say nothing at all.

In fact it’s best to contain it all so that you don’t have to think about it, if you don’t move much then feelings and thoughts stay with you.

No sentimental songs, no liberating tunes. No. Feelings. At. All.

It’s best to transfer nothing to paper because then it’s real.

And it’s absolutely best not to ever let go.

Until you explode of course, and then it all comes out.

But, of course, you do this in private because why should you let anyone see your weaknesses and that you really are not the supercapable person everyone believes you to be.
Because, deep inside, you really are supercapable, because you can take it all on, anything the world throws at you.

Until you can’t.

Not anymore. Not this last curveball. Whatever it is, work, school run or the latest email that makes you want to scream.

But there is nowhere to turn, you try opening up to someone and you don’t get the support you need, it actually goes very much the other way and life throws something else at you instead.

So you retreat again, you take it all inside you again. You keep juggling it all.

It’s better that way.

Until it isn’t.

There comes a point when you need to knock down that wall you’ve built around you, stand tall, grab those balls you’ve been juggling and start a counterattack. Then sit down with a nice drink and start thinking of moving forward.

You start listening to those tunes again, letting go and speaking up because there comes a point when the world (your world, however big or small) is actually ready to hear you.

You start finding your inspiration again. You start looking at the blue sky, at the pretty flowers, clouds start taking shapes again.

So, crank up those tunes (or the equivalent for you) and let’s have a go at this, at life, at your life, at the life you want. 

Tell me, what do you want from YOUR life?

PS – Normal service will be resumed soon with something like this but hopefully you can expect more diatribes in future, I quite enjoy writing them 😉 Edit (20-6-2015): this Quark Cake recipe for the Thermomix is now live here.

September 2014 has quite literally been a pain: chickenpox, the start of school, the adaptation to said school, unexpected garden works and illness (mine, not pretty!) but it actually started really well, with a visit to Ox Pasture Hall Hotel for a review.

The place is rather photogenic so expect a photo-heavy post, ready?

Ox Pasture Hall Hotel is located just outside Scarborough, in an idyllic spot in the North Yorkshire countryside. When the view from the hotel’s car park looks like this:

…it’s no surprise that, when you turn round you find a quintessentially British place like this one:

In fact, I say quintessentially British but it really reminded me of the place where I spent my childhood, Galicia, and in fact a lot of an old house my family still has in a little village in that region of Spain. I digress, back to the Ox Pasture Hall review. This now 4* hotel used to be a farm house, Ox Pasture Farm, home to the Asquith family who farmed the land from April 1918-19 until it was sold in 1961. The hotel formed part of the Best Western hotel chain until a few years ago when the owner decided to run it his own way and I have to say that, after talking to the manager (Alan), about the investment and the fairness of the owner, it sounds to me like leaving Best Western was absolutely the right decision. I discovered during my chat with Alan that it was the owner himself who had been emailing me, talk about taking charge!

Reception

Ox Pasture Hall Hotel has been investing a lot of money in upgrading the hotel and bringing a serious touch of luxury to it. For the purposes of the review we stayed in suite 31, in one of the outbuildings, one of the newer rooms. To get to it we had to take a rather charming route across the courtyard, want to join me as I take a trip down memory lane?

The courtyard

Through the rather beautiful courtyard we arrived to our outbuilding, which looked a bit newer as work seemed to still be in progress:

The view that surround the hotel continue into the bedroom. Impressive, aren’t they. The charm of the main building however doesn’t and the bedroom feels a bit devoid of character which is a real shame but I think it could be easily solved with a collaboration with a local artist, a coffee machine and a few quirky touches that reflect the history of the hotel perhaps.

Then I opened the door to the bathroom and found this… the photos speak for themselves so I’ll let them do all the talking:

The bathroom was huge. Now, this was pure luxury. I loved the touch of the cotton wool on the window sill and the little ceramin Le Bain bath tub but did miss bath robes and a range of pampering toiletries because, if you have a bath tub like that during holiday, you’re going to want to take a long soak!

The shower did leak a bit into the other areas of the bathroom but it’s so big that nothing would spoil that, just make sure you have a towel waiting for you to stand on. The soap dishes and toilet roll holder were loose and I think they just are not to the same level of quality of the other components in the bathroom and should all just be removed and replaced with suitably sturdy fixtures.

I would personally add a ton of hooks both in the bathroom and the bedroom (for the coats, above all in winter), a space for muddy shoes, as well as a stool and bathrobes in the bathroom, bath salts, shower cap, nail files, a few nice touches and surprises basically. I am pleased to say though that the bath towels were quite large, which is always nice, perhaps not as fluffy as I would expect of a 4* hotel.

But, you know what, none of that mattered the moment we stepped back out of the room, there are lots of spot to enjoy around the hotel and T had a lovely time running and dancing around the front lawn:

The staff is so welcoming, friendly, attentive and efficient and I think that is the key to this place: if you mix the classic British farm charm with the amazing staff, the result is unforgettable but, talking about unforgettable, I haven’t told you about the best part of our stay: the food!

Now, the food at Ox Pasture Hall Hotel is simply worth of a Michelin star, I could try to describe to you how amazing it is but it is just impossible to convey. The only thing that let it down a bit was the service, the same guys running reception and the bar were looking after the restaurant but, to be honest, they did an awesome job. With professionally trained waiters, I think this place could become a very sought-after destination both for hotel stays and for restaurant visits.

On the evening of our arrival we ate at The Courtyard Restaurant and this is what we chose (it wasn’t easy to choose by the way, I strongly advise the hotel to create a savoury taster menu like they do with the desserts):

Tomato and red pepper soup as amuse bouche – delicious and buttery (a surprise from the kitchen)

Albariño white wine, the wine of my homeland

Duck as a starter

Cod with chorizo ratatouille (well, it said chorizo and you know what I’m like: succulent and delicious (the cod, not me)

Mr Tapas loves pork belly and this was the best pork belly he has ever had, same applies to me. Absolutely amazing.

To give you an idea of the prices:

 Then T decided she was ready for bed and, since until then she had been really well-behaved, I didn’t want to chance it and left husband with the desserts, making him promise me that he had to bring the tray to the room… which he did! As well as the rest of the albariño.

We did ask for Albariño wine and were brought something else, first they forgot it to one end of the restaurant (which I think may have been caused by my daughter’s multiple trips to the toilet). We were brought some Italian white wine that just wasn’t right, above all with the succulent fish I was having so they promptly brought us a bottle of the wine of my region of Spain: albariño.

After that, I went back into the hotel to talk to Alan, the manager and find out more about the hotel (no Thermomix in the kitchen, something they need to explore, obviously!). The kitchen has been kitted out with the latest equipment though and a big portion of the recent investment has gone there.

The sofa in our suite converted to a bed so T slept there… so did husband after a while. I myself had a really good sleep in the rather big bed, in the peace and quiet of the North Yorkshire countryside.

Perhaps breakfast and afternoon tea are not quite at the same level but, in the case of breakfast, that was very welcome. It’s nice to have a proper full English rather than a fancy take on it. According to my 4 year  old the cereal selection could have been better, this basically means there were no Cocoa Pops. A jug of water among the juices wouldn’t have gone amiss and, talking about missing, I really missed good coffee throughout our stay.

My breakfast, just what I needed

After breakfast we went to explore Scarborough and ended up at Sea Life, T’s first aquarium experience! It was great but on the pricey side.

Then back to Ox Pasture Hall we happily went for afternoon tea. The cake and scone selection was impressive although I would have preferred lighter cakes, I am an éclair in afternoon tea fan but we were up North and this was proper Yorkshire fare I reckon, wholesome! We were a bit short on clotted cream and asked for more and were promptly presented with a huge bowl of cream and strawberries.

I would have loved more savoury sandwiches as they were really good. In
fact, so good that my daughter (not a sandwich eater, more of a sandwich
deconstructor) wanted more and the kitchen kindly prepared her a
sandwich, they use smoked cheddar and white bread… perhaps that’s where
I have been going wrong?

We met a group of ladies of a certain age while having afternoon tea, every week they have lunch there, they praised the consistently good service and charming atmosphere which perfectly complemented the wonderful food.

After that we said goodbye to the lovely hotel staff after thanking them for looking after us and left for an afternoon at Scarborough beach, which we absolutely loved: a sandy beach, a pirate boat, arcades, a milkshake at an awesome ice cream parlour called Harbour Bar. A fantastic afternoon before heading back home, stopping in Lincoln along the way as it was a long car trip.

Would we go back as fully paying guests? Absolutely!! But probably wouldn’t be able to afford in the suite.

Would I recommend you to spend your hard-earned money there? Definitely and, if you are a local, I would recommend you go check out the restaurant soon!

Quick sumary


Pros:

• Quiet, as in properly quiet, can hear animals and not much else
• Fantastic service
• Wonderful location
• Amazing food 
• Good afternoon tea
• Good hearty breakfast
• No waste policy, for example fresh fish is delivered at 5pm on Saturdays, what’s not used goes on fish stock or fish pie for Monday
• Permission to build a house pub, it MUST have a roaring log fire!

Cons:

• The level of luxury in the room doesn’t seem to be right up there with how it should be but a few touches would soon sort that out.
• Sloppy maintenance, the maintenance schedule needs tightening up:
• a) Fixtures in bathroom need looking into.
• b) Cigarette butts on the step of the outside door that led into our suite, there were no ashtrays anywhere to be seen, they would soon put an end to that).
• c) The next morning, just before checkout at around 11am, the tables and chairs in our suite’s courtyard still had drinks glasses from the night before. A vigilant eye should be doing the rounds early in the morning to make sure they go before people wake up.
• The coffee wasn’t great (well, you know I am coffee-fuelled, right?).
• Wifi didn’t work in our suite, if staying for any longer and, given that we hardly had any mobile coverage at the hotel, this would have been an issue.
• The TV in the suite needed reprogramming both times we tried to use it, although perhaps this should be in the Pros section above?!

Disclosure: For the purposes of this review, our stay and nourishment at Ox Pasture Hall Hotel were totally free, this included: one night stay at suite 31, dinner (including drinks), breakfast and afternoon tea. The car journey from London (after attending a wedding there the day before and staying at my MIL’s) and back home on the Monday were paid by us, as were all the extra activities we did outside the hotel. All opinions are my own and 100% honest based on what I saw and lived while there.

The Tapas family would love to express their gratitude to the owner and staff of Ox Pasture Hall Hotel, it was a fantastic chance to have little trip to the seaside, we don’t often take holidays and this was just perfect.

Last year my birthday took a whole new meaning for me. This time last year I was about to turn 40, for months I had been dreaming of a big party with a forties theme but then I realised that that wasn’t really what I wanted anymore. What I wanted was to make it a day that put a smile on people’s faces so I came up with the idea of making August 9th a pay it forward day, a day full of random acts of kindness and so I wrote a post, here you have a screenshot:

People across the globe took part, I received messages of amazing RAKs.

This year I would love to do the same, I would love to make it all about paying it forward again. I know the blog has become very food and Thermomix centric, I have had people say that they miss the chatty posts which has made me a little bit sad but it has all been a reflection of my life. A life that has been busier than ever and that has evolved quite a lot in this last year.

If you look back at the posts from the last year, I really haven’t had a chance to post much. Last September my daughter (then 3) started a new routine of childminder in the morning, preschool until mid-afternoon and then the rest of the afternoon with mami (me!), then I tend to continue doing a bit of work in the evening. In January I also started working regularly at a client’s office once a week most weeks. I am still a freelancer who mostly works from home but suddenly I could put a whole day in in an office surrounded by people!

I have found a social life, I have made great friends from that team and that office building, I get to work with actual real-life people. Now, for someone who has been a full-time freelancer since 1999 mainly working from home with sporadic stints at client’s offices when they needed me on-site for certain projects, this is quite a change.

I also created the Thermomix Owners UK group towards the end of last year and I can’t tell you just how much I enjoy spending time there with the members, we are almost 400 members which to me is quite amazing. Now, dear members, I’m calling on you too to help me out with this, perhaps thermomix something to take to a shelter, a home or a friend just because… there are so many ways of putting smiles in people’s faces.

It has become clear that one of the things I love doing in my little free time is cooking (man I never
thought I’d say that, to think I hardly cooked just 4 years ago!) and so life has changed but I have to confess that I love it. I love being able to work in an office with human beings one day a week, I love actually stopping for lunch and I love that the work I do with that client started as translation but is now as Digital Content Editor. I love the digital world, I love social media and I still love translation, of course, and my work as a freelance translator too. Did I mention that I also love writing?

There you go two birds, one blog post: a chatty post with a goal to get you all to do a random act of kindness to put a smile on someone’s face on or around August 9th! What do you say? Are you in?

Lots of love and gratitude to you all for still being there after three years and a half of blogging!

Maria Feisty Tapas Chorizo Polkadot

PS-Big thank you to Lucy from The Smallest Smallholding for photoshopping the badge above, it would have taken me ages to do it.

The countdown to my birthday is on and this year it is a big one. Huge in fact. Come the 9th of August I will be 40. I know, I know, I look so young in polka dots, you would never know that I carry 4 decades around with me.

At the beginning of the year I had dreams of a forties themed 40th birthday party, I started a Pinterest board and everything. I was dreaming of a day of vintage clothes, makeovers, music, cocktails and all round fabulousness. Wrong decade but think of Sabrina’s garden party. As I dreamt of it I thought, perhaps I could request guests not to bring any cards or gifts and instead have a little area for charity donations where I could raise some money for a charity or ask them to take it directly to the charity of their choice.

Turning that big 40 into an even bigger figure for charity while wearing a vintage little number? Well, yes, right up my street and, if you have ever watched the Gilmore Girls, you can probably picture my ideal party too.

All thoughts of a 40th birthday party vanished when the boiler broke in January and then we had a million expenses thanks to Murphy’s Law (husband calls it Sod’s Law) staying in our close vicinity for way too long, but the thoughts of doing something for charity stayed and then the other day (yes, I am that slow at the moment) it hit me that I could perhaps do a little something from here, my little corner of the blogosphere.

When I scheduled an update on my Facebook page to be published at midnight on my birthday to tell the world (or rather a tiny fraction of it) about my charitable thoughts, things started to look up as I was reminded about Twinwood and then I saw that Duxford is having a Back to the forties day at the end of September and then I found out about Ramsey’s 1940s Weekend too. So, instead of that 40s themed birthday party I dreamt, I thought that perhaps it could be a forties themed year (or decade!) and that actually sounds even better because, if it’s difficult or impossible to see friends on a regular (if any) basis, imagine trying to get more than one person in the same room on the same day and at the same time. Mission impossible. Not to mention that this way I get to drag the celebrations over a few months!

So, during this countdown, I have a request for you all. Should you go past a shop that sells birthday cards and see a polka dotty card that would be perfect for me, I would be extremely grateful if you could check the price and then carry out one of the following ideas:

Take that amount of money to the nearest charity collection box of your choice and drop it in there

OR 

use it to buy cereal, flour, etc. to donate to a foodbank

OR 

just do something nice for someone, whether someone you have never met through a good deed or a suspended coffee, a call to someone you haven’t talked to for a while… it definitely doesn’t have to cost you money to put a smile on someone’s face

OR 

of course, while you are near the card section. you could buy a card for someone close to you just because, it will cheer their day up surely

OR 

if things have been difficult for you lately, do something to cheer yourself up, try slowing down, looking up at the sky and breathing deeply, give yourself a minute to think or not think at all. I’ll give you a tip, count to seven when inhaling and to eleven when exhaling. 7-11. 7-11. It helps, doesn’t it?

OR 

whatever you can think of that could mean putting a smile on your face or on someone else’s

Help me celebrate this birthday in a meaningful way, you don’t need to tell anyone, not even me, that you have done it. I just want to make this birthday special this year. A pay it forward day.

What do you think? Can you help me put a smile on someone’s face?

You may have clicked through to reminisce of a time when your children were younger or because your child’s third birthday is around the corner, perhaps you have hope that the terrible twos will be over the moment your child hits lucky number three. Let me tell you what it’s really like to have a three year old.

It’s like this:

Yes, that is my three year old daughter dressed as Toy Story’s Jessie having created a slide with her mattress and throwing herself. All her own creation, from conception to implementation. The blogger in me had to get the camera phone out before interrupting such happenings, the mother had to repress laughter, the knackered almost 39 year old trying not to stink in the middle of a heat wave… well, I won’t tell you what she thought, it wasn’t pretty.

And that is basically what happens when you think: “she’s three, I can leave her in her room, where she will be safe with the gate closed (after all I do it every night) for a few minutes while I take a shower in the adjacent bathroom, where she can in fact see me and chat to me from her door”. And that she did, what I didn’t realise is that every time she was coming to chat to me she was also doing this:

These were obviously in her way, poor Thumper included

And there I was picturing a calm angelical child quietly playing with her toys or having an impromptu tea party with her dolls. You know, like you see in those tranquil soft-focus photos in pastel colours. I shall live in hope.

What do you think? Engineer in the making? Are/were your children the same or is it just my child who is “a tad” mischievous?

Did you know that you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook for micro posts? And my particularly favourite: Instagram. Or of course you can subscribe to receive updates by email by scrolling back up and looking at the top of the right hand column (no spam, promise).

I had been looking forward to June 1st for months!

There are days when you really have no idea what you’re stepping into. You wake up knowing it is going to be a special day because, at the very least, it is going to be a change from your routine of toddlerhood, motherhood, wifehood and workhood. Yes, I just made some of those words up but hey that’s how we roll in my ‘hood. Welcome to the crazy Tapas household. So, you want to know why blogging conferences really are special? Come this way…

On June 1st 2013 I caught a train down to London, I got up really early (I know that because LittleT was still asleep), was driven by my husband to where he usually drives himself or I drive him for his commute: the train station. Slightly nervous
and very excited to be spending the day surrounded by a wonderful bunch
of female bloggers, I had arranged to meet my fellow polka dotty lover
Kelly from Miss Dotty Loves on the train. She is absolutely lovely and was wearing splashes of red (a total kindred spirit). Make sure you check out her blog!

This was my second Cybher but it was her first so, armed with my previous knowledge of the venue (i.e. where to go when we arrived and where the toilets were), we joined the queue of eager bloggers waiting for their leather satchel from the Leather Satchel Co. (also known as the Cybher badge of honour). 

When you’re in a queue, usually (not always) someone comes behind you and joins it after you (in areas of Spain they even ask “¿quién da la vez?” to find out who is last in the queue but there is no need for that sort of thing in England, in England queues are formed in a very orderly fashion). On the 1st of June that person was a lovely tall girl with a dark bob and cute glasses. Kelly and I, of course, got chatting to her. Well, we were there to mingle and meet like-minded female souls after all.

As this girl, mother of two girls, dweller of Liverpool, started telling us about herself, how early she had had to get up that morning, what exact time she caught her train, where she was staying… I clocked on to the fact that I knew this girl, I
had been chatting to her about Cybher on Instagram in the run-up to the conference, I
got all excited and asked her if she was “X” (there really is an X in
her Instagram handle would you believe!), she indeed was and then she
realised who I was: THE @feistytapas, of course!

As we talked some more we found lots of things in common, including the fact that she studied for a few months in the university of my home town: Vigo, a town that not many English people have ever heard of.

The queue moved along, we chose our satchels from the Leather Satchel Co. and we were a rather well accessorised
trio: Kelly, X and me. Along the way we met other people whose names I can’t actually remember right now (yes, I know!). It is brilliant to have a friendly face amongst a sea of 300 when you’re starting to feel a bit lost. Even if we chose different talks, we still kept on finding each other.

At one point I discovered e.on and the lovely +Emily Leary from A Mummy Too were giving away an iPad Mini, I promptly grabbed a slip to fill in for the competition and ran upstairs to another talk and made sure I told X about it (of course!). Imagine my surprise when the winner was announced to a room filled with 300 people… Actually first picture me sitting at a table towards the front of a huge ballroom, on the right, with pretty much every attendee to my left. Now see me looking to my left when the winner’s name is mentioned and my confusion when I don’t see anyone leaping with excitement, only to look to my right as I realised the name was Victoria, Victoria X. Oh my word, there she was sitting next to me, to my right, white as a sheet: Victoria X had won the iPad Mini and was telling me it was because of me (me, the one who never returned her competition slip!). It was such a fantastic moment.

Since we were staying at the same hotel we went to take our bags before the evening cocktail party started, with big smiles because of Victoria’s luck and making sure I finally got to meet face to face the lovely +Peggy Poyser who is even more fabulous in real life than I imagined.

With Peggy Poyser from Perfectly Happy Mum

We still couldn’t quite believe Victoria’s luck when the girl went and got an upgrade to her room, from a single to a double. We then realised there might be a slight chance of getting a lottery ticket for that same evening before the cut-off time if we ran, so run we did down the Strand in one of London’s livelies areas and we made it with one or two minutes to spare. Victorious Victoria bought two lottery tickets and gave me one. Neither won but by then it didn’t really matter anymore; just in case, I had told Victoria that all I wanted was a new car.

We had breakfast together the next day and said good bye, now friends, my usual bad luck appeared when I lost the pearl on my lovely lovely ring probably in Trafalgar Square and then it was time to head home.

A few days later we were still on a high after a fab weekend and remembering her good luck on Twitter when Victoria sent me an email entitled “Not a new car but…” 

There were more words further down the email, but everything got a bit blurry after that. We have had such a run of bad luck lately but it took one single email to restore my faith in humanity. At every step there has been something hindering us, usually of a financial nature, broken boiler anyone? And, if you follow me on social media, you will know of our many other mishaps.

Among the potential 300 girls who could have joined the queue right after us, the girl in question was Victoria Sutton, the blogger behind Darlings and daydreams (mrsdarlingx in Instagram and Twitter, see? I told you there was an X in there). One of the loveliest girls I have met in ages and the kind of blogger who keeps me writing. I love blogging, I love the support and friendship I find in the blogging community and this may go a little way to explain to my non-blogging readers why blogging is so much more than typing words into a computer, hitting publish and sending them off into the big bad online world.

Blogging is friendship and I can’t wait to see Victoria and all her darlings this summer at Center Parcs. We will be going to Whinfell Forest and, have no doubt, you will be hearing all about it. Now, I have never ever been to a Center Parcs and my Spanishness is struggling to get my head around the concept of booking activities weeks before going but I can’t wait to be there, Mr Tapas is very excited and LittleT has caught wind that she is going to a fairy party while there and now has a fairy outfit, complete with wings, flower clip and fairy dust (which I keep finding all over the house).

Karma may still be a b*tch and actually not work at all like it’s supposed to in the case of the Tapas family but, you know what, fate still remains fate and I can’t wait to introduce our fairy godmother to my little family and meet hers.

A big thank you goes to Victoria, Tots100 for running a competition to choose Center Parcs bloggers and Center Parcs themselves for organising everything so extremely promptly.

Totally unrelated photo of a cute flower from our garden: the Life begins at 40 rose

Growing
up in Spain, the night of June 23rd marked the start of the summer
holiday. School always finished mid-June and was quickly followed by the
move to the beach house until September. The night of June 23rd, known
as the night of St John (San Juan), was all about bonfires and eating
grilled sardines on corn bread.

I haven’t written about my fear of driving for a long time. When you have a fear so deeply rooted it can be difficult to find the words to explain how you feel about it, why you haven’t driven for ages. What happened the last time you were at the wheel while going through a good driving phase that stopped you driving again….

Read More

Bilingual post. English in normal font, Spanish in italics.  
Post bilingüe, inglés en letra normal, español en cursiva.

Easter 2013, a 4 day weekend, the Tapas family was on the move, to London to be exact, first to see friends, then to see the in-laws, then to spend the night at my mother-in-law’s. I felt ill that night, so unbelievably ill (this is something that happens quite often when I finally get to have a rest) that I thought I would not have the energy to go spend a day in court at Hampton Court Palace, as planned for the next day. I was massively disappointed.


Semana Santa 2013, un fin de semana de 4 días en el Reino Unido (donde los días festivos son el viernes y el lunes), metimos los bártulos en el coche y rumbo a Londres nos fuimos. Primero visitamos a unos amigos, luego a la familia política y, ya de paso, pasamos la noche en Londres en casa de mi suegra. Esa noche me puse malísima (me suele pasar cuando por fin descanso, si es que no paro), tan mala me puse que creí que me iba a perder la visita al Palacio de Hampton Court que teníamos prevista para el día siguiente. Menudo disgusto me llevé.

You may remember I am a translator… Well, because I specialise in Tourism, Hampton Court Palace comes up a whole lot in my translations. The way it is always described, the photos… I have been wanting to go for years. So, despite not feeling great, there I went, dragging my aching body to the Southwest of London, right by the river Thames.

Como muchos ya sabeis, soy traductora especializada, entre otras cosas, en turismo. Los textos que traduzco hablan del Palacio de Hampton Court MUY a menudo. Ya llevaba años con ganas de ir. Así que me vestí y, a pesar de que me dolía todo el cuerpo, allá fuimos todos (suegra incluida) al suroeste de Londres, junto al río Támesis.

It was so worth it, we had a fantastic day, the way the Palace is displayed and looked after, the staff, the actors… it was like going back in time to the 17th century. Back a few centuries to a time when women wore heavy but oh so pretty dresses. We saw a duel, a dance, we were privy to court secrets, we were the rapt audience at a Masque and we got up close to King Charles II’s heavily pregnant mistress (Barbara Villiers). To think that he was on Honeymoon at Hampton Court at that exact moment with his bride Catherine of Braganza. Cheeky or what? Yep, cheeky (no what), I can confirm this as at one point we were a few feet to the right of his cheeky grin.

Mereció la pena, lo pasamos fenomenal. El palacio está tan bien cuidado y conservado. Es como viajar en el tiempo, directitos al siglo XVII nos fuimos, a la época en que las damas vestían enormes trajes. Vimos un duelo, un baile, una mascarada, nos enteramos de los secretos de la corte, vimos de cerca a la amante del rey Carlos II (Barbara Villiers, a punto de dar a luz). Y pensar que el rey estaba de viaje de novios en el propio palacio, tras su matrimonio con Catalina de Braganza. Menudo caradura. A metro y medio de él estuvimos durante la mascarada (increíble).

Wherever we went there were people in period costume, they were performing for us but at the same time seamlessly interacting with us. Brilliant actors and improvisers, let’s just say that you can rehearse all you want but, the moment someone gets in your way, you need to improvise and you never know where the nearest Spaniard is going to stand. Yes I may have got in the way of one or two of them but I wanted to get up close to admire the costumes and the wigs! Plus you have to understand that the costumed actors basically have free rein of the palace, they walk around it as they would have in their daily lives, stopping to talk when they run into each other in the courtyard, in the corridors…

El palacio estaba repleto de actores, magníficos intérpretes que obviamente seguían un guión pero tenían que improvisar en todo momento, hablando con los visitantes de palacio. Estas cosas se pueden ensayar pero nunca se sabe dónde se va a situar el público, ni cuánta gente va a haber. Sobre todo dónde va a estar la españolita de turno sacando foto tras foto, dónde te vas a tropezar con ella. Pero qué bien lo hacen.

Don’t be afraid to take the kids, there is a Buggy Park that is easily located, which also offers a family room with toys, activities and fancy dresses. LittleT is now two years old (heading way too quickly for three) and had a blast during her day in this amazing Tudor setting. We didn’t get to see the whole Palace but we shall be back this summer to enjoy the gardens and check out the maze. We caught a glimpse of the gardens from the windows and there is a maze, perfect for someone who has no sense of direction whatsoever (iPhone and Google Maps will help me, right?).

Que no os dé miedo llevar a los niños, incluso si teneis que llevarlos en sillita, hay donde aparcarla si no la necesitais y está en buen sitio para volver a buscarla si los peques se cansan. Basta con buscar el Buggy Park (que también tiene una sala con juguetes, actividades y disfraces). Mi hija tiene dos años y medio y disfrutó la visita como la enana que es, no vimos todo el Palacio pero lo pasamos fenomenal. Ya volveremos este verano a ver los jardines y el laberinto que se supone que son preciosos (los vimos de refilón y sí que tienen una pinta increíble).

Overall:
Staff: So helpful, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. From helping us around the palace, to advising us that there was a buggy park to the kind security guard who waited at a distance when LittleT tripped and fell face first just as we were leaving. Approaching us when he deemed appropriate in order to check that she was ok and to offer us to go into their office to clean her up. A lot of the staff are volunteers apparently.
Price: Definitely not as expensive as I thought it would be and divided in tiers (you can pay to just visit the grounds if you want. If you live in London, annual membership to HRP is really well-priced and I reckon well worth it as you can visit any of the palaces any time.
Queues: The queue to pay was very well-managed and we had a queue to eat but it moved quite swiftly. Despite being Easter Monday, it didn’t feel crowded.
Food (important): Tasty and in a gorgeous setting. I believe we ate in the Tiltyard Café (I was in need of a sit-down by then). Members get 10% off at the HRP cafés and restaurants by the way.

En general:
Personal: Muy servicial y entendido, todos mostraron un gran entusiasmo. Nos ayudaron a orientarnos por el palacio, una chica nos informó (incluso sin preguntar) que teníamos el Buggy Park para dejar la sillita. Un vigilante hasta se paró y esperó cuando mi hija se cayó, acercándose al cabo de un rato para ver si necesitábamos ayuda.
Precio: Mejor de lo que yo creía. Si vais a estar en Londres una temporada compensa hacerse miembro para visitar cualquiera de los palacios en cualquier momento.
Colas: Pues mucho mejor de lo que me imaginaba, solo tuvimos que hacer cola para comer la verdad. 
Comida: Comimos en el Tiltyard Café (aunque para aquella ya estaba yo lista para sentarme y puede que me equivoque). Algo de cola pero la comida rica (nos sorprendió), a buen precio y en un sitio bonito. Creo recordar que hay jarras de agua, no hay necesidad de comprar botellines (como hicimos nosotros). Por cierto que con la tarjeta de miembro ofrecen 10% de descuento en las cafeterías y los restaurantes de los palacios.

I would like to end this post with photos of what *may* have been my favourite part of the palace: the kitchens (yes, plural!). A tad predictable I know. My daughter loved stirring the fake pie mix, regularly adding imaginary water from the bucket without anyone having to tell her. By the way, you can hire them for events, just don’t tell me, I will be totally jealous. Keep an eye out for dates to meet the food historians this spring/summer.

Os dejo con unas fotitos de mi parte favorita del palacio: las cocinas (sí, plural). Desde una zona dedicada a las tradicionales empanadas inglesas hasta cocineros de la época que te pueden contar con qué ingredientes se trabajaba, pasando por el aroma de las aves asadas en el fuego de leña de la enorme chimenea. Por cierto, se pueden organizar eventos en las cocinas, ¿quién se apunta? En primavera y verano van a organizar jornadas con historiadores gastronómicos, que no os dé miedo si no sabeis mucho inglés, el lenguaje culinario es internacional.

All the cooks were keen to share their knowledge about the ingredients used back then

Unfortunately not available to eat, we asked. A catered event in the kitchens would be just tantalisingly delicious

Los cocineros hablan con los visitantes de los ingredientes utilizados en la época

New here? Why don’t you make yourself comfortable, grab a cuppa and stay on for a while? If you’re in a hurry, you can keep up with any new happenings on Facebook, Twitter and (I must confess my favourite) Instagram.

¿Es tu primera visita? Aprovecha para ponerte cómodo y quedarte un rato. Si tienes prisa, puedes volver en otro momento y estar al día en Facebook, Twitter y (mi preferido) Instagram.

I will turn 40 this year. Yes, I know, shocking! I look so young in polka dots after all, don’t I?

So far my 40th year (mind-boggling, isn’t it?) has brought quite a few changes already, above all as 2013 dawned. Some fabulous opportunities have come my way and a lot of them are due to the fact that I adopted the Feisty Tapas personality.

So, I am creating a list of things I would like to achieve this year. With the aim of staying with this dual character of mine, one of them involves building on what my blog has brought along.

I am actually looking forward to my 40th and I think that this is due to where life has led to in the last few months.

Yes, I took a photo of my camera with my phone

Photography: I want to brush up on my skills, I used to take good photos back when I was a youngster with lots of time in her hands and always (always) a camera in her bag, but now (as an older youngster, let’s leave that clear) I have a fantastic DSLR and no skills whatsoever to use it on manual. First things first: learn to use the DSLR on manual and hopefully combine it with a food styling course. I hate that my food photos tend to be really bad because I am always rushing, because there isn’t good lighting in the kitchen and because I basically want to sit down to eat the food I have cooked.

Staying with the photography topic: a tripod, a light tent or a pretty corner with a good light source, anything that will allow me to take better photos are all in the wish list to make me improve the immortalisation of life’s little moments.

I will not ask for extra time to take those photos, I am demanding but I am not that naïve!

Since it’s World Book Day, a photography book: Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography & Styling to be exact, as recommended by the ever so lovely Karen at Lavender and Lovage. I must get ordering but also making time to actually read, learn and apply it.

On a totally different topic, machine sewing: I wrote about this wish before here. I have been looking at workshops. The opportunity to check out whether I am cut out for this without having to buy a sewing machine.

Right, who else is turning 40 this year? No,  I won’t let you turn your life into doom and gloom just because you’re hitting a new decade, so go on tell me: how are you planning on making your 40s your most fabulous decade yet?

In April last year we moved to our new house, it took us until mid-December to decide how exactly we wanted it to look. We knew we had to “live” our new space first. As the space under the stairs is open, when we arrived we plonked a sideboard from our old kitchen into it and left it there. The back wall is orange and the sideboard is white so the contrast looked lovely. However, with time it became apparent that it didn’t work as under stair storage or organisation method for us. When you arrive home with a toddler, things tend to be dropped rather than put away unless you make it easy.

This is how it looked a couple of days after arriving, the screen and lampshade were removed but more and more things were left in there, one on top of the other, there was nowhere to hang coats… it didn’t work for us.

Obligatory “before” shot

By early December we really wanted the house to be looking more homely for Christmas, while were looking for much-needed storage for the living room and deciding on some BESTA and EXPEDIT units, husband had the idea of checking whether we could include a EXPEDIT under the stairs. We could! At its highest point the gap is 170 cm tall (5 foot 5 inches), basically I fit under that flat bit really nicely without knocking my head.

Yesterday I tidied up down there, removed a cabinet that we were using for shoes and that I kept meaning to get out of the way as it really was no longer needed so, while at it, took a few photos. READY?? I know you’re at the edge of your seat with excitement.

Right, I will admit that the idea of positioning the shelving unit like this was husband’s, I would have never thought of dividing the space like this:

We chose a brown-black Expedit with green inserts

After tidying up yesterday I had the idea of placing the pop-up house/shop there and it was an immediate hit! We have been spending a lot of time there already (yes, adults included) and LittleT is loving it.

To be honest at first I thought it looked a bit like a school, an old
school at that, and I wasn’t too sure but now I love it.

The more practical and functional but less cute houseless version

We are using the drawers and cabinets for shoes, the two drawers for each of the grown-up’s “stuff” and the open cubicles mainly for bags (would you expect any less from me?)

The coat hooks have been placed at T’s height (with a bit of room for growth), this means that she knows where to go for her coat (or painting apron) and also that she can hang it back up herself (most of the time anyway, she is only two and a half). You may be able to see in the photos that, going up the stairs, we have placed a coat rack for grown-up coats.

The decals were made by LittleT and me for Valentine’s but they’re too cute to remove

It won’t stay this tidy for long

Best of all, it’s all out of the way

The set-up works for us, we’ve been using it for two months, although the play house is a new addition, the good thing that it is a pop-up tent is that it doesn’t have to stay there all the time.

Total cost: just under £125. The play tent we already had, we got it in the Tesco Clubcard Exchange last summer so basically it was free.

Well? What do you think?