The last couple of days have been glorious. The sun has been drifting in and out, baby clothes have been fluttering cutely on the washing line, all the garden toys have been brought out of their winter storage. However, in all this fine weather, something else has come out – insects.

I have to confess, I’m not a great insect fan. I’ve tried to hide that from Akra Jr (recent ant escapades not withstanding) and as long as the offending wee beastie has been outside where it belongs, I point it out to him and we have a chat about what its doing and whether it’s scurrying home for its tea. However, the other day I slipped up and I have probably emotionally scarred Akra Jr for life as a result…

It all began as we were out in the garden over the weekend and he pointed out a rather chubby and cheery bumblebee minding its own business, weaving across the lawn. “BUMBLEBEE!” he cried, “can I stroke him?” (I blame all those children’s books which have cute furry bumblebee pictures in them) Without thinking, I said “NO!” a little forcefully and pulled him back out of reach. I then explained that bumblebees can sting if provoked and you definitely didn’t want to touch them. This had the result of him leaping back, terrified and crying if the bee veered back towards us. Realising my mistake a little late, I tried to explain that bees were generally nice and only stung if severely provoked, then made matters worse by mentioning that wasps you had to be more careful with.

Now I have a toddler who jumps and hides behind me at any hint of flying thing and demands to know “what’s that, is it a bumblebee?” Given the current state of the weather this is every two paces. He even got distressed at the approach of a butterfly, for goodness sake! I pointed out that not even Mummy was afraid of butterflies, and that the worse they could do was tickle, which molified him a bit, but I’m not sure he 100% believes me.

I hope this is a phase he grows out of quickly.

Well, I waited in all day yesterday and in the end the delivery driver didn’t turn up until 6pm after getting completely lost and Akra having to go out and rescue them. We’ve been incredibly brave, and removed the plastic wrappings, exposing the white sofa and chair to the elements and small toddlers. Thought you’d like to see our incredibly rash purchase:

I’ve already risked my life by drinking a cup of tea *WHILE SITTING ON THE SOFA*, and we currently have a sweepstake on whether I’ll be the first to christen them with a glass of red wine or by my waters breaking while seated on one of them…

You *have* to visit this site. Trust me.

Oooo… how exciting! Looks a good one: Q&A: The Photographic Interview. So who’s game?

What have you currently got as your desktop background? Do you change it frequently or are you a purist with just the plain default colour? Does what you have up affect your mood and your productivity?

I ask because I’ve recently changed mine – I get bored with it fairly often and go for a bit of virtual redecoration as the mood takes me. Ideally, I’d like to always use a photo I’d taken, but as it takes small miracles for my photography to be up to much I usually end up with other people’s.

For a while, I used a picture Ed allowed me to use – a beautiful image he’d taken in Dovedale, an area of the country which holds many childhood memories for me. Then, I had a scanned in copy of one of my mum’s wintery watercolours. A month or two saw me in duck mode – an actual photograph I’d taken, but I needed a change.

Now, I’m using an image I stumbled on during a browse through iStockphoto.com – a fantastic database of very reasonably priced royalty-free images. It’s a soothing image of a deciduous forest in Germany, reflections of a perfectly still lake and light streaming through the leaves of the trees. It looks so inviting and safe, I’d quite happily go for a stroll through it right now if I could.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible, so I’ll have to go on a virtual stroll instead. Either way, it’s a very nice background.

Another major wash/sort/prepare day, with lots of “baby on the way” related chores. Feeling seriously nesty now (after all, it doesn’t feel that far away anymore, particularly if I’m going to be induced early). I have even managed to get organised and put up the old pushchair on Ebay so hopefully that will pay something towards the cost of the new one.

Incidentally, we’re not the only nesty ones in the near vicinity – we have discovered that just above baby-to-be’s room is a nest of starlings. We heard the babies tweeting earlier this afternoon, and I’ve seen mummy or daddy fly up into the guttering several times. Daren’t have too close a look in case we make them feel unsafe, so haven’t located the nest exactly – will probably have to check later in the year to make sure all our gutters aren’t blocked up with nesting material.

Have spent the entire day sorting and washing baby clothes and the like. I’m in shock at just how tiny newborn clothing is – Akra Jr was never that small, was he?! Second child syndrome is already kicking in though – Akra Jr had all his sheets washed and ironed ready for his arrival. Kid number 2 is going for the very fashionable crumpled look…

Just stumbled across this UKBlogger map (okay, so I followed the link from my referrers…), a project created by Phil Wilson. Well worth a look.

I have finally hit on the perfect cottage pie recipe.

Now, you’re probably thinking “well, how hard *is* cottage pie, for goodness sake?!” and it’s true, there are lots of recipes floating around. However, I’ve always found them overly fussy and diverging from the cottage pie of my childhood, so I’d made it my goal to experiment until I found the ideal combination.

There are three crucial things I’ve found during my many cottage pie incarnations:

Firstly, paying for the tubs of fresh beef stock is worth it – the flavour is far superior to just using gravy or a stock cube. It’s just not a good idea to cut corners on this.

Secondly, I’ve only managed to get the right liquid/meat ratio using packs of ready minced beef. Ideally, it’d be nice to use left-over beef from a Sunday roast (not that we EVER manage to have leftovers from our Sunday roasts, but still…) – but I haven’t managed to get the right moistness without being too soggy.

Thirdly, the quantities of mashed potato seem high, but the really crucial part of cottage pies is to always use one more potato than you think you need. Also, using a fork to make wavy lines on it isn’t just for idle decoration, it helps to brown and crisp on the top.

With no further ado, I shall share my recipe with you (if only so I don’t forget it myself!)

Pewari’s Cottage Pie

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
250g carrots, sliced
400g beef mince (best quality you can afford)
300ml fresh beef stock
800g floury potatoes (I prefer King Edwards for a really good mash)
butter and milk to help mash the tatties

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F Gas Mark 5)

2. Heat the oil and fry the onion and carrots for 6 minutes.

3. Add the mince and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the stock, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

5. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes until tender (takes around 15 mins) and mash well using the butter and milk as per your usual mashing preference.

6. Transfer the beef mixture to an oven dish and cover with the mashed potato. Use a fork to make wavy lines on the top of the mash.

7. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serves: 3-4. Best dished with some lightly steamed savoy cabbage (4-5 mins in steamer).

Enjoy!

Do you have any? What are the things you do that you know are completely irrational but you go ahead and do them anyway? Do you have to drink out of a certain cup? Have the loo roll facing a certain way? Do things in a particular order before you leave the house?

Mine is toy and book organisation. Every toy has its home and it HAS to go there. Our arrangement is:

• dinosaur & small soft toy drawer
• jigsaw & puzzles drawer
• freebie toys drawer (mcdonalds, cereal packets etc)
• building blocks drawer
• metal cars drawer
• all other plastic cars/transport drawer
• bob the builder drawer
• miscellaneous toys drawer
• wooden railway drawer
• other wooden toys drawer
• zoo & farm animals drawer
• large toy box (i.e. anything that won’t fit anywhere else!)

I also *have* to straighten up the wooden dolls house on a regular basis. Akra Jr doesn’t actually play with it, he just goes in and wrecks all the rooms then wanders off to play with something else. So I *have* to go and straighten it all up again and make nice little furniture arrangements. I *have* to. I can’t just leave it like that.

Then there’s the books (and this is only in Akra Jr’s room I hasten to add). They have to be in size order… but not height, oh no, that would be too simple… they’re done by width so he can always read the spine and see which book is where. Of course, he’s only two so can’t actually read, but that’s not the point!

Of course, Akra and Akra Jr aren’t totally cooperative with my organisation system, and I have to go around once in a while sorting everything out back into their proper home. It’s daft. Life’s too short. But it helps me sleep at night, okay?!

So what are yours? Make me feel less weird.