The cups of tea that get me through the day!

It turns out there really is a day for everything and National Tea Day might just be my favourite of the whole lot. A whole day dedicated to sitting down with a cuppa and pretending it’s not just something we do on autopilot every single day. National Tea Day feels like the perfect excuse to stop and notice how often tea pops up in my life and routine.

Tea just fits into my day. It’s not rushed, not complicated, it just shows up exactly when I need it and if I haven’t had the right cup at the right time, the day feels a bit off.

I need a proper cup of tea to actually wake up on a morning. My morning tea is my quiet time before the day properly kicks off. The whole process matters. Boiling the kettle, finding my favourite mug which is usually near the sink, not washed from the night before. It's not rushed. I let the tea brew properly, add a bit of sugar, the milk and then give it a stir. It’s a little routine that tells my brain it’s time to wake up!

Lunch tea is a bit more flexible and it depends on what I’m eating. If it’s something hot, then a cup of tea is almost guaranteed. It just feels right but with cold lunches, especially sandwiches, it depends. Some sandwiches demand tea and others do not. There are days when a glass of milk feels like the better choice.

My afternoon cup of tea is special. After doing things around the house, the afternoon slump hits me hard and this cup of tea is usually accompanied with a slice of cake if I’m lucky, or a cereal bar if I’m being sensible. It's a little boost to keep me going for the rest of the day.

I don't have a cup of tea with my evening meal, I save myself for my evening cup of tea at around 8pm. Ellie always puts the kettle on at around this time and Stu makes the teas. I get to sit and have it brought to me. There's no rushing, just some calm and a couple of biscuits.

I really love the cup of tea that I have when I go to visit my dad each week. It's always with lunch and his tea seems to taste better than mine. For a long time we thought it was down to the tea-bags but we switched to the same brand then we thought it must be down to the size of his cups but no, the explanation was simple. It was the milk! He uses whole milk and at home I use semi-skimmed!

What I love most about my tea routine is that it’s totally mine, there are no strict rules and no crazy schedules. Tea’s not just a drink for me, it is how I pause, reset and sometimes just sit quietly and National Tea Day feels like the perfect excuse to appreciate all that.

Do you drink tea? When do you have your favourite cup of tea during the day?

Our weekly meal plan! 20th - 26th April #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you have all had a good weekend. Ours has been a good one even though I was full of cold. Ugh! I am hoping by now I am over the worst of it. I thought it was just hayfever on Friday but it carried on over the weekend. We had a weekend of watching Wrestling. Two nights of Wrestlemania, the WWE Hall of Fame event and of course, all the pre and post shows.

Last week's meal plan was a bit hit and miss. We didn't eat anything on the right day but we did eat all the meals. Stu made me chuckle on Monday, he cooked the Sesame Pork & Egg Fried Rice and he's never really made a Gousto meal before and struggled to follow the recipe. He is more a chuck things in and see how it goes instead of following a recipe type of person. We decided to ditch the chippy tea and get McDonald's delivered on Friday. I was starting with the cold, so I really wanted junk food. I know I probably should have eaten something healthy but I so wanted a milkshake and it did make me feel slightly better!

This week is back to normal after the Easter break, so I will have some days when I am home alone which hasn't happened for the last fortnight. I am looking forward to doing my own thing. Becky is off to see a concert and is having a few nights away, so she is very excited and still has to pack. She is never in a rush to pack, which always stresses me out. I know I should just leave her to it but I like her to be prepared. I haven't ordered a Gousto Box for this week because I wanted a week of having some of our favourite meals.

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - Red onion and bacon tart with baby potatoes!

This one is inspired by a Gousto recipe for Bacon and Leek Tart that we had years ago and it’s stuck with us ever since. I decided to make our own and Red onion and bacon tart became a thing. Ready-made puff pastry, a layer of soft cheese, topped with red onions and smoky bacon. I will make a little extra so I have some for lunch the next day because it’s just as nice cold.

Tuesday - Sausage casserole and mashed potato!

This is a proper family favourite, especially with the girls. It feels like ages since we last had it, so it’s definitely due a comeback. I keep it simple and use a packet mix, then add sausages, onions and mushrooms and let it all cook away in the oven until everything has thickened up. I’ll be making extra of this one too because it freezes really well and it's great to have something as a backup in the freezer.

Wednesday - Minced Beef & Onion Crispy Pancakes with chips and baked beans!

A nice easy, out of the freezer meal. I might make homemade chips but it depends on how I feel and how busy I am.

Thursday - Thai style pork patties with sweet potato wedges and salad!

This is another one of our favourite Gousto meals which I have made many, many times before. They are so full of flavour and always go down well.

Friday - Chippy tea!

Friday night is a chip shop tea! No cooking, no fuss and the biggest drama is deciding what we fancy.

Saturday - Pizza!

It could be homemade or it could be out of the freezer. Who knows? It depends on the plans for the day.

Sunday - A help yourself evening!

I have no plan for today and everyone can just help themselves to whatever they fancy.

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 12th -18th April Week 16 of #Project365

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all having a great weekend. Mine hasn't been so bad so far but I have another cold. Ugh! I thought it was my hayfever playing up when it started on Friday as I was walking to my dad's. I left the house feeling fine but on the way, walking past all the trees and flowers, I felt a scratchy feeling in the back of my nose. By the time I got to my dad's, it was running and my eyes were streaming, then came the sneezing, which is totally typical for hayfever. Friday night I went to bed and I was full on snotty and sneezing. As of writing this yesterday, I don't feel much better but I suppose at least the worst of it is happening over the weekend and I am hoping to feel better by tomorrow. I am totally blaming Becky for bringing it home from work. She had a cold last weekend but I thought I had escaped catching it. Ugh!

Now for a photo every day!

102/365 12th April

This photo sums up our Sunday. At one point it got so dark outside that it looked like it was about to chuck it down and I am pretty sure it did at some point. We were all sat in the living room, full from lunch, watching TV and it just got darker and darker. We kept saying we should put the light on but no one moved, we just sat there in the dark being lazy.

103/365 13th April

Stu was out for the afternoon and came back with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts! This isn't something that happens often as he is not into sweet things, so it doesn’t cross his mind to pick up treats like that. My girls and I love sweet treats so we were very happy.

104/365 14th April

Ellie finally got herself an F1 T-shirt. It came from Primark. Alpine isn’t her favourite team but she really liked the design of the top and it is quite nice.

105/365 15th April

The grape hyacinths are back in the garden in their usual spot, against the fence. I really don't understand how they grow there as it is so shaded but every year they pop up and do their own thing.

106/365 16th April

My Ew, People T-shirt made an appearance and I still love it just as much as the first time I wore it. It sums up my mood on the days when being sociable is a lot of effort.

107/365 17th April

Ellie ended up helping her grandad with his vintage car, which was really sweet to watch. He needed someone to sit inside and press the brake in and out while he was underneath doing whatever he was doing under the car. It was a two-person job so she arrived just at the right time.

108/365 18th April

It's WrestleMania weekend! I set a reminder on Netflix which is not needed because there’s no way I’d forget but I'd rather have the reminder set just in case. lol

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This week my Word of the Week is: Patience!! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is: 

Happy Saturday! I hope you are all having a good weekend so far. I am here today with my Word of the Week. I’ve got plenty I could say at the moment but I’m keeping some things to myself because the blog isn’t the place for it right now. That’s where the patience comes in already. The gist of it is that Becky my eldest, is making exciting plans and that's all I will say about that, for now. I feel like I am being so good and keeping quiet until the time is right.

We have had a good week overall. Right at the start of the week, some loose ends were finally tied up. Things were completed, emails answered, boxes ticked. All those bits that seem to take forever when they’re not in your control. It was boring financial stuff which all tied into the admin I was doing at the start of March. That is how long it has taken and it has been hanging over me. It has really tested my patience. I don’t mind doing the jobs, it’s the waiting around for other people that gets to me. Finally, someone did what they were supposed to do and came back to say everything is sorted and all is good. Phew!

For the last couple of months I have been hearing about a book that everyone is raving about: This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page. I found it on the BorrowBox app (where I get most of my audiobooks from) and I’m sure I must have missed it before because it had a different cover. I saw it was reserved until August but I still reserved it for myself anyway. I’ve been keeping an eye on and the date has been creeping closer and closer. Now it’s saying it should be available next month!! Either people are flying through it because it’s that good or they’re giving up halfway through. I’m choosing to believe it is because it’s amazing and no one can stop listening. I’ll soon find out but more patience is required until I get to hear it.

It has felt like a strange week having Ellie home from college, she is still on her Easter break. We haven't really done much apart from talk about movies, potter around the house and just taking the days as they come. We did have a bit of drama with Ellie's hair dye, not actually dyeing her hair, just getting hold of the dye in the first place. She was out with Stu and couldn’t find her usual brand anywhere, which meant going back out again during the week to the shop she normally gets it from. She said she spent a good 10 minutes in there looking for it before a shop assistant asked if she needed help. She said yes and it was found straight away. I don’t know whether to laugh or roll my eyes. I will keep saying it, I am sure that girl walks around with her eyes closed. lol.

I am sat here now being very patient, waiting for a weekend of watching wrestling. We have last nights to watch tonight, tonight's to watch tomorrow and then Becky and I are staying up until the early hours watching night two live!

How has your week been? I hope you have had a good one! I am of course linking up with Anne who blogs at Raisie Bay to join in with her Word of the Week linky!