Ickles Fancies mmmm... Now eaten!

Following on from my post here, unveiling Ickles Fancies' chocolate cheeseburger and fries, I thought I should tell you how it tasted!



I ate the fries first, they are slices of white Belgian chocolate coated in a cinnamon sherbet. They were nice, the cinnamon sherbet was delicious.

I de-constructed the burger, so I could taste each piece individually.

The Bun top was a Belgian white chocolate shell filled with lemon and ginger cheesecake ganache. Oh my goodness, if I just had more of this I would have been very happy!

The Bun bottom  was Belgian almond chocolate filled with fresh raspberries. Although it was lovely, I did prefer the top.

The Burger itself was for me, my least favourite part, although still nice.

The cheese slice was mango flavoured Belgian chocolate. a beautiful delicate flavour, not too faint or overpowering.

The lemon and ginger cheesecake ganache in white Belgian chocolate for the bun top was divine, definitely my favourite part. I could eat this all day long!

Reasons to be Cheerful

For more information on what Reasons to Be Cheerful (#R2BC) is all about please check out this post from Michelle at Mummy from the Heart for a full description.
  1. I had some good news this week from DWP, which in itself is a novelty.  I'm entitled to some pennies and no appeal!  
  2. My little lady continues to develop well, and awe and inspire me. She has never crawled and has a novel way of getting around that involves sitting and rolling.
  3.  Daddy finished his job at the agency, which means no more waking me up at silly o'clock on a Monday to email time-sheets.

Ickles Fancies mmmm...

I recently won a competition on twitter from Ickles Fancies, who does wonderful creations from chocolate. 
My prize was to be either the full English breakfast or the Cheeseburger and Chips, both made from chocolate!

Chocolate Full Breakfast


Cheese Burger and Chips


It had to be the cheeseburger and chips for me.
It arrived this morning, and I thought I'd share the unveiling of my chocolates with you my dear readers...

So here it is.






What do you think? Fancy a nibble?
Which one would you have chosen?
  
I will post later, letting you all know if it tastes as good as it looks.

Ickles Fancies on Facebook
Ickles Fancies on Twitter 

Sewerby Hall & Gardens

Sewerby Hall is a Grade 1 listed building constructed between 1714-1720 by the Greame family.

 

The landscaped gardens are over 50 acres, and are multi-award winning (Yorkshire in Bloom Gold: 2008-11). As well as the Walled Garden, there is also a sensory and rose garden, beautiful for a walk or picnic. There are many woodland walks too.

















They offer children's activity sheets and guides; all ready to help you plan your visit on their own section of the website, Kids at Sewerby. There is a children's playground on site.


Oh and did I mention it has a zoo too?!





















Great family day out, although I'd suggest checking the weather before you go. 


Bondville Village

Whilst on holiday I decided that we should take Little Lady to Bondville Miniature Village. I went as a kid and was fascinated, would it live up to those distant memories?

There are over 200 individual buildings and 1000 handmade painted character figures, depicting everyday scenes. A steam train runs on a track throughout the village, although it wasn't operating when we were there. There is even a river and a harbour complete with boats.

The details are amazing. There are various funny things planted around for you to spot as you walk through. If you want to, there is even a quiz provided. It took several attempts walking around for us to find the answers! 























It is well worth a visit, definitely if you have kiddos.
The lovely lady who runs the village now, also runs a cafe, which sells homemade cakes too!



Bondville Model Village
Main Street, Sewerby, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, YO16 1ER

Reasons to be Cheerful

I haven't done one of these for a while....
For more information on what Reasons to Be Cheerful (#R2BC) is all about please check out this post from Michelle at Mummy from the Heart for a full description.

  1. Me, Daddy, and Little Lady had a good holiday. Regardless of the stress from the previous six weeks that the week had to be perfect, I realised it probably wouldn't, I just needed to relax and enjoy it. I always find it a bit easier to cope when Daddy is around. It has taken a lot out of me though.
  2. Whilst we were on holiday, Daddy got a 'phone call to tell him he had been successful at his interview, so a new (well same, but permanent) job! So proud of him.
  3.  My beautiful girl managed to stand up all by herself this week. Although she has been standing whilst we held her for a while, this was the first time that she did it by herself. I am such a proud mummy
  4. And a little extra one, I have rejigged the blog. I would appreciate any feedback you may have.

Benefit hoops and renewal

My Employment and Support allowance is due for renewal and as always, the letter filled me with dread. Anyone who has been involved in trying to claim benefits probably knows how hard it is. And if you have mental health problems, this can be exasperated by 100%!

I have said before, that although I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, I don't think I am illiterate or stupid. So why do the endless forms and hoops I have to jump through to claim benefits, that I don't want to be claiming, seem designed to trick, confuse, and destroy me?

That might seem an overreaction if you have never had to face the situation, I assure it isn't!

The whole form focuses on what you can't do to fit in with their criteria. I understand there has to be criteria, but having had to go through the appeal process previously, I was going in to meltdown at the thought of it. I started to receive a letter every couple of days over a period of about six weeks, everyone more confusing that the last. I didn't understand them or what I was meant to be doing! Each letter increasing my anxiety and stress levels 100 times! I had to get help from my Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) to understand what I needed to do, when and how, as each one contradicted the previous one. In the end I was a crying, shaking mess every time one dropped through my letterbox, I stopped opening them, as I just couldn't cope with it anymore!

The hoops I feel I'm forced to jump through, increases my stress and anxiety levels, as well as my paranoia that it’s all going to be wrong. I worry I'll have to go to another tribunal; which although I eventually won my appeals, for both Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) felt like a form of torture. Having to wait nearly a year to go in front of a panel and explain exactly how pathetic and unwell I feel. I was physically shaking, sick, and it was a major effort to attend. Had I not had support with me, I probably would have run away from it!
But when living with depression, everything is!
One of the main criteria DWP uses seems to be your G.P.'s opinion. Now I know many people who have mental health problems do see their G.P. as it is the only option available, but I don't. I rarely see my G.P. for any of my problems, as I have been lucky enough to see a consultant psychiatrist for several years, usually on a monthly basis. I also have my Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) that I see weekly.  As I said, I know I'm lucky. However, DWP don't see it that way. They only write to your G.P., nobody else. Actually in their defence, they did write to my CPN's student (two prior to the one she was currently working with) last year! Nobody seems to know why or how they even got the students name.

At the time I was going in to meltdown over this, Charlotte Walker posting over at Purplepersuasion, wrote a blog post, It’s official – the WCA is unfair, in which she included a checklist of suggestions that may help. 

One thing really stood out for me:

Assume no knowledge.

A physiotherapist conducted my last medical, which led to the appeal.

The post came a great time for me, as many points helped me. I used the weeks since creating a dossier of information that might help. Which included a lengthy personal statement detailing exactly what my diagnosis was, what it meant to me in my daily life, and information on what each diagnosis meant and the medications needed to control it. I’m not sure if it will help, but I felt better knowing that I was providing them with everything they could possibly need. 

Now we wait….