Monday, we are halfway through February and maternity leave has officially started – errr how did that happen??

At the moment I feel like I’ve got the treat of a Monday off work, it doesn’t feel like I won’t be going back for 10 months. I’ve had a productive morning so far as Mother Nature has decided that sleeping past 6am is for losers and it’s the best time to get up (please note the sarcasm). I stayed in bed until 7am but gave in, got up and since then I’ve vacuumed, mopped the kitchen floor, made a bit pot of Bolognese for the freezer, tidied up a bit, looked into what phone upgrade I can get, phoned the dentist and now I’ve sat down to type up this post and it’s not even 10am yet.

Doing this week’s meal plan was fun as for once I didn’t have to think about what was quick and easy to have after work or what would provide leftovers for lunch the following day. I can actually have a proper oven baked jacket potato for lunch or make a casserole that doesn’t involve advanced planning. Saying that I found it really hard to come up with meals as I’m so used to planning for a working week.

I’ll be very surprised if bubs arrives this week but I’ve decided as off next week I won’t do a big shop or a meal plan, I’ll take each day as it comes as I don’t want to fill the fridge and be left with a load of food waste.

This week…

Monday – Lasagne

Tuesday – Pork Chop Arrabiata (Mary Berry Cooks the Perfect…)

Wednesday – Squash and Spinach Pasta (Save With Jamie)

Thursday – Beef Stew

Friday – Burgers

Saturday – Chilli (Nigella’s Kitchen)

Sunday – no idea, winging it haha!

So that’s this week, maybe bubs will arrive early and I won’t write another one of these for weeks but knowing my luck I’ll still be here next Monday!

Have a great week everyone!

37 weeks – how on earth did that happen?

As I type this I’ve a few days left at work and I really cannot believe the end is in sight. In many ways this pregnancy has flown by but at the same time it has dragged too.

Up until last Friday we were both under the impression that bubs was breech but at my 36w midwife check on that day we discovered he is finally head down. It was a relief to hear as for this whole pregnancy he has been transverse then breech so we were losing hope that he would turn.

It’s great to know I can now experience labour and a natural delivery but in a way I feel quite odd about it too. For the past few weeks both of us have mentally been preparing ourselves for the more than likely event of a c-section and now we are having to get used to the fact that we will get that natural delivery. It’s not even that I wanted a section, the thought of surgery freaked me out but I had made peace with myself that there was such a high chance of it taking place and the end goal was him being born safely.

Now everything has quite literally been turned on its head (excuse the pun) and I’m having to prepare myself for labour and what I want from the birth. Do I go for water? What pain relief will I have? Do I try an active birth? I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by the options. The big bonus is knowing I can have skin to skin straight away which I’m hoping will make establishing breastfeeding a lot easier. I know recovery will be quicker too.

I guess my main issue is getting myself in the right headspace for it and trusting my body to do what nature intended instead of relying on surgeons. 

I'm definitely done with pregnancy now. I feel so lucky and so fortunate to have had a fairly easy time of it (bar the tiredness and backache) and I know so many women would swap with me in a heartbeat but part of me feels like I've been pregnant forever (we found out on the 23rd June). I just want to finish work and meet this little man we have been growing and preparing for over the past 9 months.

Pregnancy is a strange thing, it messes with your emotions in so many ways. I'm trying to savour these last days and weeks as this could be my one and only pregnancy. Ideally I would like 2 or 3 children but we just don't know what the future holds. I want to enjoy it yet I'm fed up with it too and can't wait to start our new life as a family of 3.

I've been getting Braxton Hicks these past few days and I keep wondering is it time although I really don't want my waters to break at work - could you imagine??

One thing I have loved and I'm so glad I made the effort to do was to take bump shots most weekends. It's amazing to see how my body has grown from a little podge to a huge bump!

Sorry for such a rambling post but this is inside my head these days - a crazy jumble of thoughts and emotions. How did you feel in your final few weeks of pregnancy?

Amazing to see how my body has changed over these 9 months!

I adore going for afternoon tea, it’s one of my most favourite hobbies (eating tea and cake is a hobby – yes?) and I especially love finding new places to try out.

Last week I turned 30 and surprisingly I wasn’t fazed by it at all. I always said I wanted to be married, in a good job, driving, pregnant and own our own house by that time and so far we achieved almost everything on that list apart from owning our own house. The deposit is there, we just haven’t found the right house yet.

When I was asked how I wanted to celebrate my 30^th all I wanted to do was go for a nice afternoon tea with my friends and a yummy meal out with Mr T (he’s not a fan of the sweet stuff – weirdo!) as anything more hard-core is out of the question with me ready to pop in the next few weeks.

We booked for the Blackhouse 50% off January sale and it did not disappoint and I wanted to do something as equally yummy with my friends but much more cake orientated. I had seen a few posts on Facebook about MamaDoreen’s and after a bit of googling I found there to be one in Leeds and one in Harrogate.

We opted to go to the one in Harrogate as it’s only 20mins away from me, one of my friends who was coming lives there and it’s on the train line for my other friend who was coming too.

It’s just up the hill from Bettys this quaint little tea shop is all kinds of amazing! The shop area is bursting with delicious baked goodies that we all somehow managed to resist buying. Beyond the shop area is the tea room and oh my, it’s so glam and girly without being tacky – we all loved it!

We were seated in the window and even though it was grey and raining outside (good old January weather!) it was lovely to watch the world go by. Initially we planned to order 2 afternoon teas between 3 and a cake platter but they got the order wrong and brought out 3 afternoon teas. We forgave them though as honestly, I have never ever seen such an amazing arrange of cakes and sandwiches. It was utterly stunning – truly scrumptious.

I snapped a few photos on my phone but we were too busy enjoying ourselves to take any more.

Not only did we have sandwiches but there were also a few slices of quiche. The scones were delicious and I lost track of how many cakes there were. They even brought out a side plate of 3 slices of Victoria sponge and a birthday cupcake for me! None of us could finish it and we all ended up bringing a box of goodies home with us.

The service was truly impeccable too, I could not fault it at all. At the last afternoon tea we went to they wanted to charge us for more tea (!) while at Mama Doreen’s the pots were kept well topped up.

I was asked when baby was due and one of the waitresses told us that there has been a spate of pregnant women going in to labour after visiting there, thankfully that hasn’t happened to me!

I really could go on and on about how good Mama Doreen’s is and for the bargain price of £15, you can’t go wrong. It’s definitely up there with the best afternoon tea I’ve ever had and I’ve had a lot!

Thank-you Mama Doreen’s for a lovely afternoon, we will definitely be back!

I was not asked to write this review. We paid for our visit in full, I just wanted to tell you all how good it was.

• Chop the dates and soak in boiling water for around 1 hour
• Preheat the oven to 160C (fan)
• Grease and flour your chosen bundt tin
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
• Add a tablespoon of flour to prevent curdling then add the eggs and vanilla extract
• In a separate bowl mix the flour, bicarb, salt and ginger
• Add some of this to the cake mixture followed by yoghurt mixing well between each addition. Repeat until at the ingredients are combined.
• Stir in the black treacle and dates
• Pour into the bundt tin
• Bake in the oven for around 1hour/1hour 10mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean
• Leave to cool in the tin for 30mins before tipping onto a wire rack to cool

• Mix the icing sugar with the water until thick but still pourable
• Pour over the cake
• Drizzle over the caramel

It’s Monday, it’s the 1^st Feb, I’ve 2 weeks left at work and I can officially say our baby will be born this month eep!

Last week we pretty much stuck to our meal plan woop! The unknown plans for my birthday turned out to be going out for a yummy meal at our local Italian in Otley, Buon Apps. Then on Saturday we went to Blackhouse in Leeds for our annual tradition of taking advantage of their 50% off January sale. I was sad I couldn’t have the steak as that is what they are famous for but I believe you cook food right or not at all and well done steak is all kinds of wrong in my book. I did have the apple tart for pud and oh my, it was delicious! Usually I’m disappointed in restaurant desserts as often they are bought in but this was freshly made and so good – crisp pastry, apple puree, sliced crispy apple on top and drizzled with salted caramel. It was heaven on a plate!

Yesterday I went to Mama Doreen’s in Harrogate for Afternoon Tea with the girls. I’m going to do a separate post on it but it’s actually up there with the best and I’ve been for a lot of Afternoon Teas! I strongly recommend you local folks visit.

So this week….

Monday – Spag Bol

Tuesday – Beef Casserole

Wednesday – nipping in to see my nephew for his birthday on my way home from work. I might eat there or grab something on the way back

Thursday – Homemade fish and chips (using up some reduced cod Mr T got in Sainsburys the other week)

Friday – my parents are here so thinking of making pie, either cottage or sausage…

Saturday – Out for curry with the parents and some friends

Sunday – Going to make a nice roast before dropping Mum and Dad at the airport

As always I’m linking over with Mrs M – have a great week!