Hello Again…

Hey guys!

I cannot believe the last time I posted was AUGUST. So much has happened since then; both good times and some maybe not so good, but now is time to get back on it. I have spent so much time thinking ‘oh I really must get back into my blog’, and life has just happened. So I apologise for that, I’m back 🙂

While I sit in my bed with a hot cup of tea I thought this would be the perfect time to look over my goals for the past year and review where I am so far. If anyone had told me this year would have gone the way it did I wouldn’t have believed them.

 

So… if you want to look at my post in January here it is

It’s so interesting to look back, this is one of the many reasons I love blogging. Do any of you guys do this, read back through old posts and get a little nostalgic? I love a bit of reminiscing.

 

So let’s have a look how I have done with my goals.

 

‘2015 is the year I complete my Post Graduate degree and (fingers crossed) become an Early years Teacher.’

I did it! I completed my EYTS in August woop! I worked so hard and it was all worth it, I was graded Outstanding which is unbelievable!

‘It will also be the year I truly focus on my blog, attend bloggers events and interact with my fellow bloggers!’

I have to be honest and say my blog took the back seat this year, and while I have made some amazing friends from blogging, I want to attend more events and meet my blogging friends next year.

‘I am also really hopeful that 2015 will be the year I feel a bit more settled, and spend more time with loved ones.’

Sadly this hasn’t really been the case. I lost two members of my family this year, which has been really tough on us all. It’s horrid how grief can affect you. I also had a really tough few months from September to November, and so I haven’t really felt settled at all. However, I feel so positive now I have had the time to grieve and restart, I feel secure in my relationship and my friends and family are just so wonderful! Here is to 2016.

‘I want to look back and see that 2015 was a pivotal year in my life in terms of career path. The year that I set my own challenges and surprised myself. I also want 2015 to be the year I embraced the people/things I love.’

I definitely see 2015 as a pivotal year in my life, although not how I thought it would be at all. I feel that due to shit (excuse my language but sometimes no other word will do) going on, I really have learnt about who I need in my life, as well as what I need to do to keep them in my life.

Rather than focus on work, work, work, for me, my lifestyle is what is important. My happiness. I work to live, not live to work. This next year is all about saying yes to new experiences, not being afraid to go for what I want, and being proud of who I love.

 

‘What is your number one goal for 2015?

Be a total badass, work hard, and play harder.’

 

I will carry this forward into 2016, I will continue to be a total badass.

 

 

 

In January I will be posting all of my new year’s resolutions, I can’t wait to read all of yours!

How do you think your 2015 has gone?

Was it how you expected it to be? Any surprises?

Love,

Sophie xxx

 

Yummy Battenberg Recipe!

Hello everybody!

Wow I’ve had a long break from blogging… post on that very soon! But I thought I would pop on a wonderful little recipe for battenberg cake which I made today. Enjoy!

Ingredients

4oz softened butter

4oz caster sugar

4oz self raising flour

2 large eggs

1 tsp baking powder

2oz ground rice

Red food colouring

Almond paste if desired

 

Apricot jam

Marzipan

Icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c, and grease and line a square baking tin. The tin I use is an 18cm square tin, not too deep.
2. Add the butter, sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder and ground rice into a mixing bowl and beat for about two minutes, or until it is smooth. Have a boogie to Beyoncé as you beat the mixture, it’ll go quick as a flash.
3. Split the mixture in half. Put half of the mixture carefully onto the right side of your baking tray.
4. Add a few drops of red food colouring into the mixture you have left in the bowl. Mix it until it is a deep pink colour. If you were really fun you could mix things up and have some different coloured sponge in your Battenberg; go wild you only live once.

   

5. Carefully spoon this mixture onto the other side of the tin, make sure the line between the two colours is smooth, and make sure your mixture is even. Smooth over the surface.
   
6. Pop it into the oven and bake for about 35-40mins. Once it is cooked, check it springs back when touched, and maybe try the skewer test like I did. Leave it to cool for a few minutes in the tin, then put it on a cooling tray to fully cool down. Remove baking paper.

   

7. Once your sponge is cool, trim the sides and cut it down the middle so you have two sponges each a different colour. Then cut the sponges in half again, so you have four long pieces of sponge, two of each colour.
8. Warm the jam in a pan, and use this to stick your sponges together in a checkerboard style. Pop some jam on the top of the sponge, ready for the marzipan.

   

9. Sprinkle some icing sugar on your surface, and roll out you marzipan. This can be tricky and I had a small disaster when my marzipan decided to stick completely to the surface. After wailing for a moment I was handed a scraper to scrape it off the surface and start again. Dust your surface well.
10. Once rolled out, pop your sponge on one side of the marzipan, then wrap the marxipan round the cake. Make sure you pinch the corners and edge so it stays together.
    
11. As a finishing touch, you could score a pattern on the top of the Battenberg, or sprinkle some icing sugar on top.
12. Pop the kettle on, call your mates and have a gossip with a lovely cup of tea and some yummy Battenberg, and listen as your friends shower you with baking compliments. Job done.

NOMMY.

Love Sophie xx

What are you happy for?

Hey guys and happy Monday!

I hope you have all had as relaxing an Easter weekend as mine has been; I have barely moved!

So one of my fave bloggers Louise has written a lovely little post as part of her ‘Motivational Monday’ series, which you can find here. Here she lists some of the things that make her happy, so I thought I’d write a little list of my own, and encourage all of you to do the same 🙂

Sometimes it does us good to remind ourselves of the things that make us happy; big or small, and that sometimes, parts of life aren’t bad at all ❤

This Monday I am happy for –

Waking up to sunshine streaming through the window
Green tea
My newfound love for yoga and all the wonderful youtube videos out there
My lovely squishy doggy
Long phone calls with loved ones
Family time
Leggings with cats all over them
Reuniting with my university friends and nothing changes (they’re still crazy and wonderful as ever)
Ideal home magazine
Beautiful notebooks full of ideas and lists
Leave in conditioner
The smell of coconut. YUM.
The blogging community (especially on Twitter the little gems)
The rewarding feeling when you work with children and how magical the journey can be
Chocolate buttons and cup of tea

So let’s all make this Monday a truly happy one, list some of the things that make you happy on this lovely sunny Monday; it will perk you up and make you smile!

Calling all Early Years Teachers, Childcare Practitioners and Nursery Nurses!

I’ve never really written huge amounts about my job. It means a huge deal to me and I know there are so many of you out there that love working with children as much as I do! I’m an Early Years Teacher and Nursery Manager working in Nottingham and spend a lot of time working with the community, families and wider agencies. I always love going to conferences and training events as well as visiting other settings to build relationships and gain new ideas. Working in partnership is so important to me, and I love collaborating with practitioners.

My thoughts are maybe we could create a community where we can discuss ideas, issues and everything in between, giving advice and organising meetups where we as professionals can share ideas and websites; and meet new practitioners. I’m also thinking about hosting a Twitter discussion once a week where we can have topics to discuss?

We could share useful websites, links and events linked to Children’s education, share training opportunities and collaborate together!

If anybody would be up for that and would know others who might want to be a part of it, then let’s see what we can organise!

Share this post with your fellow Early Years Practitioners, let’s build a strong community.

If you want to be a part of this, comment below or send me an email on sophie_deacon@hotmail.co.uk with your name, job role and something you would like to discuss or share with other practitioners.

My twitter is sophie_d247

My Pinterest is sophietea24

So get in touch, I’m so looking forward to meeting lots of people with the same passion I have 😀

Love,

Sophie xxx