My Life as a writer - When I'm not scribbling

I love comfort food; it makes you feel all warm inside.  Once of the meals I love to make as comfort food is hearty rustic lasagne.   Originally I learned to make this when I was around ten or eleven, I had a bit of an obsession with Italian food so I started to experiment.  Over the years I've tweaked, changed and adapted my recipe.   This version was partly inspired by the brilliant Mary Berry and uses wraps as a pasta substitute and partly by my mindset of trying to eat as many vegetables as I can.  Hopefully you'll enjoy!  Ingredients to make four servings  Mince 500g (steak mince at 5% Fat)  Olive oil (1tbsp)    Two medium Red Onions    2 Carrots    Frozen garden Peas    Mushrooms (Button or chestnut)  Broccoli    Green Beans    Tomatoes  Beef stock (1 cube)    Worcestershire Sauce (to taste)   Sugar tsp.    Tomato Passata 500g  1 cup Water    Fresh Basil  Mediterranean Wraps    Grated Cheese    Red Wine    Garlic Step 1  I st

I was catching up on my Face book groups the other day and someone had asked the question, if you blog and work how do you fit it all in and it got me thinking how do I fit it all in and am I achieving what I set out to? Well as the old saying goes - "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade" 1. Day Job As an independent author I still need a 'day job' to earn a living, I'm not in a position yet where the money I earn as a novelist is enough to cover my expenses,  I am working towards that but for now I need to support my writing by working. I'm a Personal Assistant in the Fire Service, I'm lucky in terms of my job is flexible.  A lot of writers and bloggers starting out are in jobs where the time they are in the office is set and unchangeable.  I'm lucky that mine is flexible.  Having this flexibility allows me to plan my days effectively. Most days I'm at my desk by 7.30,  depending on what the day holds which being an emergency servic

I love holidays, I am one of those people who starts there Christmas shopping in January just because I love to celebrate things. So after Christmas when it's those cold dark months of generally rain up here in the North I look forward to Easter and the time of year when everything starts to change and become new again. This year Easter is early, so its still quite cold so my garden isn't looking its best.  Since there's been so much rain and damp there's been no chance of tidying of planting so my Spring clean focused on the interior of my house.  This involved paining everything! Anyone who owns a dog especially a large one will feel my pain when it comes to white walls and light coloured carpets, they just aren't a great match.  Now the weather is picking up just that little bit the amount of mud being trampled through the house and shaken on to walls has reduced, it was time for the paint brushes to come out of retirement and the white paint to be sloshed

So this past week was my Birthday, no I'm not saying how old!  I've been enjoying some time off from my day job which has given me the opportunity to enjoy the following; 1. Girl's Games Night  I'm a bit of a home body, I love entertaining in my house.  As it's hard sometimes to get a group together due to everyone's commitments it's really great fun to finally have everyone in the same place.  Every month or two I try to have a girls night in.  This usually involves lots of picky food, something nice to drink and some weird and wonderful board games. Now this might sound a bit boring but for my group of friends it's a great way to have a catch up, relax, enjoy some food and have a laugh. What would a night be without desert or three of them! 2. Birthday Treats I'm not a huge Birthday person, I much prefer Christmas!  But this year I had a really nice day spent with my Mam and then a gorgeous Italian at Bellini's with my two best frie

Follow my blog with Bloglovin So I seem to be going from weekend to weekend in these posts!  I promise I do other things but it's just the way events have unfolded! Yesterday, Saturday again, I got the chance to catch up with a couple of my girlfriends and have a nice meal and a killer desert! It's hard sometimes to see your friends when your working, they're working, your trying to fit a million and one things in to life so these moments to me are very precious.   Any way, as it was two of my friends birthdays recently we decided to have a catch up at the local pub and have a nice meal.  The meal was great, but the deserts were amazing! I had an Eton Mess Sunday - believe me you would have your calories for the whole day in this thing.  It was a tower of ice cream, raspberries, meringue and cream which took an age to get through!  my Friend went for the Chocolate Brownie Death by Chocolate and Sunday and my other friend went for Lemon Pie Sunday.  I think by th