This morning there were heavy showers coming across. Also two boats just outside the harbour.

My brother, Malcolm, wrote this in 2002, just before his 50th birthday on 17th February.

I’m breaking the silent Sunday code today, because for a change (of late) I have stuff to say. I have at last got some time to actually sit down, cup of coffee at hand, letting the world trot past at a leisurely pace. So leisurely that I barely need to [...]]]>

I’m breaking the silent Sunday code today, because for a change (of late) I have stuff to say. I have at last got some time to actually sit down, cup of coffee at hand, letting the world trot past at a leisurely pace. So leisurely that I barely need to keep a half eye on it all. Ahhh, and breathe.

Needless to say that the last few weeks, of which are so numerous that I cannot recall how many now, have been hectic beyond belief and I’ve been worn out. Inevitably the blog suffers. So it’s nice to be able to share some time with anyone that wants to share.

At the end of January Jasper turned one. Then he had his immunisations, and on the same day he became rather ill. It was more coincidence than anything else, but a simple cold like thing knocked him sideways and all ways. We were at the doctors on several visits, hospital twice, and three bottles of antibiotics. I am happy to report that he is all well now and back to normal. The whole thing left me, and the husband, worn out and dazed. As well as picking up some nasty germs ourselves.

Today the sun is shining and even though we were rudely woken at a rather early hour, today feels much better than other Sunday’s recently.

A lot of the time when I am busy I often think of things I want to share. If only I could wire the PC into my brain, I’d be ok. For example, I was on the bus the other day. Just sitting there watching the world go by. There were two women sitting behind me having a conversation about jacket potatoes. They were “older” ladies. One was saying how she has these jacket potatoes in the freezer that are really good, tasty and so easy to use. They were talking about where to get them, and went on to say that there are two types, one being McCain and the other is in a brown box, and something to do with farmers.

By this point I really wanted to turn around and say “Bannisters”!!! Of course I didn’t, as that would have been rather rude. But I was so wanting to!

There is also more going on with my daughter. Some of it is good, but we’ve had some turns for the worse too. I don’t really want to discuss details at this point, so it’s maybe something for an entirely different type of blog post. She’s doing ok though.

My bargain for today (I love going to the supermarket on a Sunday) was an over filled punnet of blueberries for only 39p. Got to love it.

Anyway, I will be back again soon. I have many things to share with you.

Today it was beautifully sunny but deceivingly cold.

Penn state pretzels come in a variety of flavours to suit most. They come in a handy 175g bag, big enough for sharing, for partying, for keeping until another day.

Pretzels are one of those snacks you forget how good they are until you have them again. Pretzels of course have the reputation of [...]]]>

Penn state pretzels come in a variety of flavours to suit most. They come in a handy 175g bag, big enough for sharing, for partying, for keeping until another day.

Pretzels are one of those snacks you forget how good they are until you have them again. Pretzels of course have the reputation of choking a former President of The United States. How can we forget the jokes and the innuendos? We won’t go there now.

But what if you’re wanting something different? What if you want something more from your pretzels? Well, we had a think. We scratched our heads, we nibbled on Pretzels and thought some more. We pondered and we puzzled. And this is what we came up with. How are you going to eat yours?

It’s Valentine day and I’m sure some of you are wondering what you can muster up to whoo your loved one, or offer them something light to nibble, while you watch a romantic film. Take a look at a pretzel, and you will notice that they are in fact little hearts.

So how about pretzels with cream cheese, strawberries and champagne?

Or how about a pretzel chocolate fondue?

Dip them in melted chocolate and sprinkle with cake glitter or sprinkles.

Here’s what others came up with when I asked them:

Mouse, in South Wales. Use them instead of tortillas for a nacho style meal – with chilli, salsa, cheese, soured cream and jalapenos.

A perfect pocket picnic – Pretzels and Primula.

Cazza in Scotland prefers something simple. Marmite, or cheese and Marmite – yum.

Whereas Big Fluffy Chicken goes a little further. Stuart eats his with marmite  grapes and cheddar cheese.

Red Squirrel enjoys her salted pretzels with slices of apple, and Grey Squirrel eats his on a ‘nibble plate’ , with olives, chillies, onions & Chorizo.

Granny C is a little more adventurous. I fancy they’d be good for crunch in a pitta bread Broccoli and Cottage cheese sandwich.  A ‘Must’ Try !!

Superduck, thinks crushing them up and mixing with cheese. Then putting on top of a pasta bake, grilling for a short time would be scrumptious.

Mouse and Wilder both think they’d make nice croutons on a home made soup.

My great intention was to try something at Christmas. Of course time has got the better of me for various reasons. I wanted to break some pretzels up and mix them in with my vegetarian stuffing balls. I think they would have added a tasty crunch to the stuffing. One day I will try this. One day.

Neets and Bear face think that Pretzels with melted cheese on them would be tasty.

Lulu thinks she could maybe make a biscuit up with some pretzels in it. Which reminded me of “chocolate stuff” that a friend used to make. Basically Chocolate stuff was smashed up biscuits, mixed in with melted chocolate and squashed back together into a tray bake. Simple but effectively yummy. So I think Lulu’s idea could work like this. Combine some broken pretzels up and some biscuits, and mix together with melted chocolate. Press into an oven tray and let it set. Sounds good.

Whatever you decide, I’m more than sure you will enjoy your pretzels just the way you prefer.

Fuss Free Living Ratings

Taste 10/10 Very tasty. Nice and crunchy. Nice variety of flavours.

Convenience 10/10 A large bag of pretzels goes a long way.

Value 9/10 rrp.  £1.49/ 175g A reasonbale priced tasty snack.

Allergy Information

Contains: Gluten, Wheat

Nut Statement: Factory: These snacks were produced in a nut-free factory.

For more information about Penn State classic American snacks, please visit the website.

Do you remember Drumsticks, Refreshers, Love Hearts and Double Lollies? Some of my favourites as a child (and still as yummy even though I’m slightly older). Now they are available in Squashie form, literally. Swizzel Matlow now make these sweets in gummy variety. They are available in 45g and 160g bags.

We were sent some [...]]]>

Do you remember Drumsticks, Refreshers, Love Hearts and Double Lollies? Some of my favourites as a child (and still as yummy even though I’m slightly older). Now they are available in Squashie form, literally. Swizzel Matlow now make these sweets in gummy variety. They are available in 45g and 160g bags.

We were sent some sample to try out, because we make such sacrifices, like eating sweets. I realise that not every confectionary is as good as the next, and some are a disappointment, but rest assured, these do not disappoint at all. They were a hit with all the family (except Jasper, being only 11 months). We tried the Drumsticks and the Double lollies. They were a big enough bag (160g) to pop into a bowl and share while we watched a film. The Drumsticks taste just like Drumsticks. Very nice. The Double lollies weren’t quite what I hoped for (Double lollies being a favourite of mine). They tasted quite different, but the children certainly enjoyed them.

Ideal for parties, cinema, at home watching TV or anytime, any place you feel the need for something soft, sweet and squashy.

The sweets are soft and chewy. Not like a toffee, more like a mallow texture.

We think these sweets are excellent, and recommend them to anyone that likes a sweet treat.

Squashies are available nationwide from retailers including; Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury?s and Co-op RRP £1.49 for a 160g bag, RRP 45p for a 45g mini packet. For more information and some Squashie fun visit the website.

The Squashies World App, a cute and challenging game,  is available on both iphone and android. The app is available to download from www.squashiesworld.com.

Squashies contain no artificial colours. Unfortunately Squashies are not vegetarian due to containing gelatine ( I did eat them though).

Fuss Free Living Ratings

Taste 9/10 The husband and kids all rated these sweets highly. My only issue was that the Double lollies didn’t taste like the actual lollies.

Convenience 10/10 In the 160g bags, they are great for sharing. The smaller bags are ideal for an individual treat.

Value 7/10 Food value, I can buy three cucumbers for the same price. But then they aren’t sweet and squashy. So for a treat, these are reasonable and worth it now and again.

Nutritional information for Drumstick Squashies

Here is today.

A cold wintery day, with snow hanging in the air. It was actually snowing when I took this, but you can’t see it.

With writing on Fuss Free Living, I have been able to share some of our family life and we’ve all helped out with reviews or opinions at some point. For the most part, with exception to getting my soap box out, life ticks over with relative ease. That is on the surface it would [...]]]>

With writing on Fuss Free Living, I have been able to share some of our family life and we’ve all helped out with reviews or opinions at some point. For the most part, with exception to getting my soap box out, life ticks over with relative ease. That is on the surface it would appear so. However not everything is apparent, and sometimes it is easier to cloak the darker aspects rather than open up about them.

I have felt this way for some time, until recently. I have realised that it is noticeable that posts are less frequent and I seemingly have less time to share ramblings of family life and all that goes with it. I can keep saying that life is hectic and that time flies, but it’s not going to make things better or change anything quickly.

Perhaps it is time to open up and perhaps it is time to share more. Perhaps this will help those involved, and perhaps what I am going to share with you will be something someone can relate to. Perhaps even sympathise or learn from.

For a prolonged period of time now, someone very close to me has been struggling with life in general. On the surface everything appeared healthy and content. Then cracks started to appear, and problems started to arise. In turn these problems only fuelled any existing predicament and without realising it, things had got very bad indeed.

I’m talking about my daughter. I was aware of changing in her mood, and was putting this down to the usual hormones and development that come with her age. Her behaviour at home was acceptable most of the time, but she started to show reluctance with going to school. After several weeks of difficulty, she informed a school nurse that she was being bullied at school.

Very quickly things started to be put in to place to safeguard her, and to offer a support network. But at the same time, this was all just before the summer holidays and so everything was rather rushed and left hanging during the break from school. Time in the holidays was a mixture of calm and the exact opposite, with mood swings and lack of control with emotions. The change was significant. It was worrying as her Mother to watch.

However, on returning to school, things again picked up with the support she was receiving. The bullying had been dealt with and there were things on offer to help my daughter enjoy her time during school. But there was no significant change, and alarmingly things did not improve they got worse.

Her mood swings at home were becoming more regular and more extreme. She wasn’t sleeping well. She wasn’t eating well. She become less communicative, had less compassion, less understanding. She was becoming someone totally different to the daughter I knew. This wasn’t just hormones and age related development, this was obviously more.

Fortunately one of the people in the support network, the school nurse, was able to recognise that further help was needed and instigated the process for this to go ahead. It was a long wait, and during that time I became more concerned for my daughter. She was refusing to go to school, and it was like watching her crumble right in front of me and I felt helpless as her Mother.

The next step up was seeking professional help through an organisation designed to help children. We had to travel a 60 mile round trip to get this help, but it would appear to have been the turning point.

If I described this as a journey, I would say we started off on a very confused route, with blind turns and no direction. Then we found a route that had hope, but it’s up hill and we’re only just starting off. It can be difficult, and sometimes we slip back, but as I’ve told my daughter, at least we’re only our way now.

My daughter has been diagnosed with deep depression. She is only twelve. As explained my the doctor, this can happen during adolescence, and has been fed by the issues with the bullying at school etc. The doctor described it by explaining that given a problem, most of us deal with it somehow. We find a way. But when in a deep depression, along side adolescence, there is very little understanding for dealing with the same problem and thus the outcome is confusion, sadness and all kinds of negativity associated with depression. My daughter’s self-esteem has been shattered, her compassion is so low that she doesn’t feel it. She lacks understanding, so being able to deal with everyday things has become a nightmare.

It’s very hurtful to see, and it take a lot of strength as a parent to stand up to this with your own strength to be able to deal with it. But you do. I’m with her all the way. Even when she screams that she hates me, I know that only a few minutes later she will be in my arms crying and saying she needs me.

I wanted to share some of this with you because it’s has a massive effect on our family life. Time can be eaten up without so much as a blink. We have good days and bad days. The bad days just eat time, and before you know it, the day is gone. Sometimes I have no time for just sitting and writing. Sometimes I don’t even want to put the computer on.

What I will say now is that I feel things are getting better, very slowly. My daughter is even finding it difficult to accept that things will get better. She is eaten up with negativity. We are finding ways to help, and heal. She is getting help from people that know how to, and from those around her.

Our GP suggested a book to read to help to understand it all. It is “I had a black dog”. The writer describes throughout the book that his depression is like a black dog, and that it tries to take over, but he has learnt to control it. Winston Churchill described himself having a black dog, and he led us through some significant and important times.

My daughter doesn’t like calling it a black dog. She says she likes dogs too much. So we call it The Black Blob.

What I have told you here is really just the surface but it’s enough to understand. I’m sorry if I’ve been distant and have neglected to keep Fuss Free Living on form. I hope you understand now why that is so.