The Crafting Mojo Is Back

With all that has happened this year, I haven't even looked at my fabric stash once. It was just too depressing, so I just buried that subject somewhere, but I always knew that one day I would start again. And voila, I am happy to report that the crafting mojo is back - in fact I have spent the last couple of days scouring the internet and discovering various incredible blogs of fabulously crafty people. More of that next week.

I always had the idea of making an advent calendar for the little man and I doubt I'll have the time to start and finish it this year, but it will definitely be a project for the next year. So far I have found a few that I like, now all I have to do is decide which one to go for.

I love this design, very simple but relatively easy (ha ha I'll probably regret saying that ...). It's from Lina at Linaloo.

This one is probably even easier, all instructions here from the ever inspirational Martha at Martha Stewart.

And last but not least, I also love the idea of these tins on a baking tray, from TyAnne at inspiremecrafts.


Decisions, decisions ...!

Stew Good

Temperatures have started to drop a little here, mind you it is still sunny and about 18-20 degrees during the day so not too bad. But we're a far cry from this:

I'm a big fan of throw-together-what's-in-the-cupboard and this quick stew is perfect for this time of the year.

Chorizo and Chickpea Stew

(this serves about 3-4 people)

600 g Chorizo, sliced into halves
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
good handful of dried herbs (oregano etc) or fresh thyme, whatever you have to hand
1 can of chopped tomatoes
Boiling water
Vegetable stock powder
Half a head of Savoy cabbage, sliced
2 cans of chickpeas, drained
Salt and pepper

• Heat a heavy pan and fry the chorizos for about 10 minutes. Stir regularly as you don't want to burn them. You don't need to add any oil as the chorizo will give off its lovely paprika-coloured oil
• Remove chorizo, gently fry onion and garlic
• Add dried herbs
• Return chorizo to the pot and fry for 5 minutes
• Add chopped tomatoes. Fill the empty can twice with boiling water from the kettle and add to the pot.
• Sprinkle the vegetable stock powder over it, let it boil for about 7-8 minutes
• Add the savoy cabbage, let boil for about 5 minutes.
• Add the chickpeas, stir well and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

This is best preapred in advance and eaten later in theday or even better the next day. Serve with crusty bread and a nice glass of Rioja.

Look at you now!

Thought that the blog needed a bit of an update so forgive me for playing around a bit with it these days. In the meantime have a look at this video, isn't it wonderful?

Still fighting strong

Hello there, yes we are still here, are you? Well meet Joshua, who is now 8 months actual, 5 months corrected. He finally left NICU on the 5th of August, a little more than 5 momths after being born, and came straight home. He has since been readmitted twice with bronchiolitis, each time for a week, and we have just gone through another cold, luckily he escaped hospital this time round.

The fact that he is home doesn't mean that all complications from his prematurity have been resolved, far from. He has Chronic Lung Disorder and is still oxygen-dependent, but hopefully his lungs will grow stronger and he will eventually not need the extra help anymore. He never developed a proper sucking/swallowing reflex and is therefore still fed by NG-tube which is very very uncomfortable and causes many problems for him and us. Getting him off the tube will be our objective over the next months, but it will be a hard task. Worst case scenario he will have a g-tube where he is fed directly into his stomach. The fact that he has spent so much time in hospital also means that his development is quite delayed, but hopefully he will eventually catch up. Usually for babies with lung problems the first year really is the hardest, especially the first winter when the flu season starts. All we can do is try and keep him away from possible infections, but when you have an older toddler who goes to pre-school that is quite hard.

But despite all the the problems and worries we are so glad to have him home and take each day as it comes.

Hello world!

¡Hola!

Nearly four months after my last post .... and we're still here. I thought I should really make an effort and write something - I know I've been pretty bad at posting but I have been a little busy ...  we are still in Spain and our little 'miracle baby' as they call him is improving but still in the intensive care unit in Malaga. He weighed 900g at birth (2lbs) and has now gone up to nearly 2.9g (coming up to 6lbs) - he is doing incredibly well in many ways but his little lungs are still very weak, hence the reason why he is still in hospital. He has also had pneumonia which didn't help making his lungs any stronger but for the last couple of days he managed to breathe nearly unaided. It's been a scary time so far but I am so incredibly proud of him given everything he has already been through in his short life. Initially we had hoped he would be out of hospital by his due date (which was at the end of May) but he could well be there for another two to three months. The next challenge we now have is that he has to learn to suck and swallow so that eventually he'll be able to take his milk independently whereas at the moment he is still being fed via tube.

I often miss the life I had before all this happened and I admit I don't read any of the 'creative' blogs that I used to before not only because of the obvious lack of time, but because I miss my sewing machine and my fabrics. But as soon as I walk into the ward, come up to his cot and see his perfect tiny face it's all forgotten and so worth it. 

Wordless Wednesday

The One Where She Has The Baby

Exactly a week ago I wrote that I would spend 7 weeks in hospital unless there were any complications .... well the next day there were. Just after lunch time I suffered placenta abruption and within 40 minutes our son Joshua was born by emergency cesarean at 27 weeks of pregnancy. It was a very scary day as we did not know if he would make it through the day, his brain was deprived of oxygen at birth and in the first hours the doctors had very little hope of survival for him. But he made it through and we have now made it through the first week. We are grateful for every additional day we have with him and take every day as it comes.

So just when I thought I would have all this time on my hands the game plan has changed again and we are now settling into a daily routine of new nursery (which the little man adores, in fact so much more than his nursery back in the UK) and then going to the hospital twice daily for the allocated visiting hours ... oh and me expressing milk about 8 times a day which really is what I do all day long, at least it seems that way.

The neo-natal unit in the hospital is fantastic, in fact if it had to happen anywhere in the world we are very lucky that this particular hospital in Malaga is one of the best places to be under these circumstances.

So again I'll keep the blog updated with progress but I'm kind of hoping that it'll involve less drama in the future!