Summer photo challenge

Ciao lovely readers! Being a teacher I'm fortunate at the moment to have 6 WHOLE weeks off to recuperate from a manic year. However whilst I am love love loving having some proper free time (most of which I am using to sit in front of the telly and watch the Olympics) I need some challenges to keep me having a little focus at least this summer.

One of these challenges is I've found an awesome (or annoying according to the hubby) app for my phone which helps me learn Italian for our impending trip- hence the greeting at the beginning of my post!

The second challenge I've set myself is to further my photography skills after earlier this year I invested in my first DSLR camera. So, I have written myself a summer photography bucket list which I intend to complete during August. The list is as follows.....

 

More importantly I would love other people to join in my challenge! So there are several ways to do this. Firstly you can upload photos to a Flickr group I've set up here. Secondly you can e-mail me photos that I can upload to my blog (if you do this please give me your name/nickname). Thirdly add comments to my blogs with links to your Flickr accounts or blogs. Fourthly- be creative! Come up with your own way to participate!

I'd rather have more people involved than anything so if you only want to participate in some of the photos then do so! If the only camera you have is your i-phone (and you're addicted to Instagram which is my recent discovery) feel free to join in. How ever much and whatever you want to contribute will be welcomed!

Happy snapping!

P.S. If you can't read the list so well then you can find it on my Pinterest account here or on Flickr here.

A spot of deliciousness courtesy of my Great Grandmother Gregory

I love cooking but as much as I love cooking, I love baking twice as much. Unfortunately I'm trying to trim down of late so I have to stop myself from baking. However this afternoon as it rained and poured I couldn't resist baking this recipe that has been passed down three generations to me.

It is so scrummy! My Mum used to bake it in batches at Christmas time and freeze and remainder for the rest of the year, but it is lovely anytime of year either with a cup of tea, smothered in butter or if you're from Lincolnshire with a slice of cheese on top (let me state the latter is NOT my preference but whatever floats your boat!). One of the best things about this recipe is that it is so simple to do. So here it is....

Ingredients

• 2 cups of mixed fruit
• 2 cups of self-raising flour
• 1 cup of sugar (I think caster sugar works best)
• 1 cup of milk
• 1/4 lb of margerine (you can use Stork which is much cheaper than butter)
• 1 egg

Method
1) Line a rectangular tin with greaseproof paper and turn your oven to about 125 degrees celcius.

2) Put your fruit, margerine and milk into a pan, mix together and bring it all to the boil.

3) Add your sugar, flour and egg to the mixture. Mix together really well though be gentle and try and fold the mixture as much as you can.

4) Pour the mixture into your tin and place in the oven.

5) Cook for an hour and a quarter. To test if it's cooked properly put a skewer or knife into the middle. It should come out clean. If it doesn't return it to the oven for a short while but be sure to not let it burn on the top.

6)Allow to cool in tin for a while before letting it cool fully on a cooking rack.

7) Eat and ENJOY!