Car park rage...and more macarons!

Why is it that there are some people who seem to think that 'parent and child' or 'disabled' parking spaces are for people who fit neither category.  It makes me really cross.  I almost said something to some woman today who pulled up next to me - no car seat, no child, no nothing and plenty of other spots to park in but no...she had to park in the parent and child parking spot.  Frankly, I know they are in useful places in terms of proximity to the entry to the shop/park etc, but if you don't have kids you do risk damage to your car as the parents try to manhandle the children, car seats, shopping etc into the door!  Another bunch of people who have annoyed me this week (should I up my happy pill dose?) are people who drop litter - it's everywhere and I saw someone doing the other day from their car....oh, it makes me livid.

When the coalition were asking everyone to come up with money saving ideas to kick start the economy, Peter and I had many a conversation (normally over a glass of wine or three).  Amongst the ideas which I could never of course put forward seriously as it's slightly right wing (@), was the idea of some form of satellite thing which zaps people from space and they turn to dust!  So, it could zap litter droppers and they would simply blow away - their litter wouldn't need to be collected by the council and that would save us money!

Anyway, onto more serious issues.  I have, as I mentioned previously, been baking.  Today I have prepared the ingredients for 2 christmas puddings (based on Delia's recipe) and also been making macarons (again!).  All to overcome my rage at those car park space people!  I was given a mass of apples so I thought I would make some sort of apple based macaron.  I added cinnamon to the macaron shell and then made a filling with 3 apples, some lemon and orange zest (about zest of half of each), melted butter (3 tblspoons) and 4 tablespoons brown sugar.  Simmzer for about 30 minutes.  If the apples aren't soft and basically merged with the rest, bash with a masher!

Am quite pleased with the result.  Used that natural food colouring again - it really doesn't like to be cooked.  These ones were meant to be green......

Bring out the figgy pudding

Apple macarons....not quite green

Dosa and LEDs

Quite a busy week.  Finished off by an hour in a baby sensory room (see above) which is like a chillout room in a nightclub but for babies.....and tired mums!

Forgot to take my pill another few times - it's not a good idea to stop suddenly apparently.  I have been told that I need to be on them for about 6 - 9 months in order to really get over this.  I still wonder how they really work - do they mask the symptoms and give you the space you need to sort yourself out and for your hormones to settle or do they somehow help 'fix' you by creating positive feedback loops.  The counsellor couldn't really explain that bit - but then the counsellor has, to be frank, been rubbish.  I've seen him twice in about 4 months.  He arranges everything by text, then cancels, then says 'I'll see you again in a few weeks' and then doesn't get in touch.  All a bit odd.  So I think I'll look at some private counselling as I think it would be good to get someone to talk through coping mechanisms with.

My main issue I needed to help tackle (and may still need to) is insomnia.  I had no idea that depression could lead to sleep problems but apparently it's one of the classic symptoms.  It was amazing - 6 weeks exactly after Arthur was born, it started.  It was exactly the same as with after Isobel (I had been told by my doctor at that time that I should ask my husband to 'make me a cup of tea').  I think it was worse this time because I knew it had come back and I was sooooo hoping that it wouldn't.  I used to get so wound up and angry that I couldn't sleep, convince myself that I would never sleep again and have some quite scary thoughts about how I could stop my mind racing.  I thought I was going mad.  I thought I was having a nervous breakdown.  The health visitor tried to help.  A homeopath tried to help.  Peter tried to help.  I tried hot chocolate, valerian tea (not recommended when breastfeeding though!), tranquility tea, camomille tea, reading a book, not reading a book etc etc.  What worked?  The pills worked.  As soon as I took them.


Anyway, moving on.  I have had a productive week on the creative front.  In addition to planting bulbs in the front garden (clearly I can't remember what they are called), I've been cooking and baking - a lot!  Last week my great triumph was the masala dosa I made following a Jamie Oliver recipe which uses gram flour.  I love masala dosa.  I used to eat it a lot when I worked in Malaysia.  It was a staple, in addition to nasi lemak (or fat rice....which I must try to make).

Adding the potato mix to the dosa

Trying to illustrate the crispy base!

Yummy.  With yoghurt and MD Mango Chutney

Macaron anyone? Or maybe macaroon?

Now, I've been looking at the difference - and it seems that the difference is that macaroon relates to the coconut one which is dipped in chocolate whereas macaron is the colourful one made from egg whites and almonds and sandwiched together (see below)!

Now, those artistic beauties above were made by me! I can't believe it.  I don't know what came over me but I'm incredibly happy.....and likely to get incredibly fat if I eat them all!  I forgot to take my happy pill this morning - I've just remembered this and won't bother today now (not sure what happens if you forget...I've forgotten before) but I'm wondering if making and eating macarons is the new way to overcome PND!

I've been thinking of making them since watching the Great British Bakeoff when they all said 'oh those tricky little wotsits, reduce you to tears etc etc'.  I thought I would give it a go - but oh my, which method to choose?  There seem to be two - one uses what I would call a normal meringue approach (i.e whisking the egg whites with sugar in a bowl) and the other is apparently an 'italian meringue' which creates a hot syrup liquid to pour into the almonds...or something.  The advice re. colour is also mixed - some say to use a gel based colour and others a liquid one.  Mmh.

So, as we had plasterers in today and Arty was tired, I stayed in to rest.....and make macarons using the normal meringue recipe.  I used a combination of the recipe on the Pink Whisk (runner up in GBBO last year) and also one from the BBC food magazine.  Made half the amount the recipe called for as wasn't sure how they would turn out.  I also used liquid egg whites for the first time which was exciting and, as many others have said, has meant I don't need to find a use for all those egg yolks.  I used these ones - Two Chicks

Here is my approach to macarons (makes 9 largish ones, so maybe 12 - 15 smaller ones):

(a) line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and draw little circles on them (my circles were maybe a bit big - I used an almost empty sellotape roll to go round)

(b) mix 87.5g icing sugar and 62.5 g ground almonds in the food processor and keep mixing while you make the meringues (this was me following the Pink Whisk)

(c) whisk 55g egg whites (probably about 1.5 eggs) until they reach soft peak (I did this by hand so I could see how the egg whites were doing) and then gradually add 37.5 g caster sugar (I added in 3 lots) until it is smooth and glossy.  My mum taught me to rub my fingers together with a little of the mix to see if it was still grainy.  If no longer grainy, it's done

(d) add your food colouring.  Now I used Natural Food Colourings which I found in the shop and tried to make them pink (as you can see, they are not - either because I didn't use enough or because they are sensitive to heat and so changed....next time I'll use plenty of E numbers!).  Whisk a bit more.

(e) Fold in half of the almond/icing sugar mix, seiving it in first.  Always fold with a metal spoon (or spatula...just not a wooden one).  Then add the other half.

(f) I then folded for a couple of minutes but followed the tip I found on the BBC website that it should form a thick ribbon coming off the spatula when it's done and then 'melt' back into the mix within 30 seconds

(g) Pipe (or use a teaspoon as I did as I couldn't muster the energy to make a piping bag) your mix onto the trays, bang the trays a few times to sort out the air bubbles and leave to form a skin for about 30 - 40 mins.

(h) Bake for 13 minutes in 160 degrees.  Remove from oven and leave to cool

Here are mine resting:

(i) Fill with whatever filling you fancy.  I made a chocolate one - with 55g of dark chocolate chopped finely (I had to use a mix with some orange lindt chocolate) and add to that some warm double cream (60g).  Leave for a few mins then mix together.  Then add 12.5 g of soft unsalted butter and mix.  Leave to cool/set a bit and then fill your macarons.

Oh my.  I have eaten one.  I have never had a macaron before.  I shall be making them every day (well, ok, maybe not everyday....).  Lovely. lovely.  Am already contemplating various flavours.

Here are is another pic to bore you with.

Back to reality and naan breads!

So we're now back from holiday and it's back to reality - getting the boiler fixed, Peter going to work, constantly having to think about what everyone else is going to eat (is that a mum thing? no idea.  I never used to think about it - marmite on toast would suffice when I was unmarried and couldn't think of anything else/didn't have anything in to cook....but now?), etc etc.

I am going to keep my crafts up to help keep fighting this PND - even went and purchased some batting and lining in preparation for some Xmas present making.  Did my bit for the 'big society' and helped out at a local Nearly New Sale which was entertaining - why does anyone buy anything new for children???

So, Peter and I have decided to stop eating meat for a bit.  The thing that sparked this was a Radio 4 interview with Hugh F-W (can't spell it) from River Cottage who had apparently lost loads of weight after reducing his meat intake, cream etc (and probably al-k-hol).  Now the challenge is - what on earth to cook?  Obvious things are pasta based and pie based (eg. spinach pie, a favourite, yummy) but a good opportunity to open new doors to new things?

Made a curry root vegetable thing (2 medium onions, 3 cloves garlic, 5 carrots, 2 parsnips, 4 biggish potatoes all mixed together and cooked for 8 minutes or so in some vegetable oil; then add about 120g of red split peas and curry powder - which I had to make up and consisted of about 1 tsp garam masala, turmeric, mustard powder (not too much), dried chilli flakes, fennel seeds and cumin I think - and some stock.  Simmer until vegetables tender.

It was yummy.  But the most yummy thing (apart from the MD Mango Chutney which is the best in the world - have only found it in shops in Tooting in SW London and not where we live now.....oh my it's lovely!) was the naan bread! 

mmmh, yummy

My first attempt at naan bread (based on a M Jaffrey recipe) and it was pretty good - used 150 ml warm milk, 1 tsp sugar, 7g active dried yeast which I left in a bowl for about 20 minutes until it was frothy.

Then add this, 1 egg, 150ml yoghurt, 0.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp baking powder to 450g of plain flour.  Mix it, kneed it for at least 10 minutes (I had to add about 10g more flour as it was quite sticky) then put in greased and covered bowl and leave to rise.  I ended up leaving it for about 4 hours due to various other tasks!

Then knock it back when it's doubled in size and form 6 balls.  Pre-heat oven to highest temperature and put in baking tray, and preheat grill.  With one of the balls, form a naan bread shape - round, teardrop, however you like really, and then plonk on baking tray (which should be hot from oven) and put in hot oven for 3 minutes then move over to grill and grill for about 1 to 1.5 minutes or until brown on top.  And voila.  Naan Bread.  Yummy.  We tried various toppings - garlic, seasame and caraway being particularly exciting.

Finished garlic naans

Good 'crumb' I thought.

Agricultural Auction - a random stop!

I thought I should share this one.  On the way back from Norfolk we stopped in Sutton, Cambridgeshire to meet one of Peter's friends who he worked with many years ago driving relief trucks in Bosnia during the Bosnian war.  He happened to be selling some stuff at this 'vintage machinery' auction (well, that's what I was told it was but it seemed to be all sorts of tractors, steam buses, milking machines and so on...).....so Isobel and I were in the clear minority as we wandered about this place in the sunshine - I reckon I counted about 12 women in total and there were hundreds of men there!  What was interesting (apart from the random selection of items out for sale - see some pictures below, I was particularly taken by the piles of rusting stuff....probably very important...but it does make me think of the pile of motorbike parts we have in our shed as a result of Peter's ebay addiction a few years ago), was that none of these men seemed to know what to do with a 2.5 year old toddler who was screaming 'look mummy, tractor,' and smearing ice cream all over the seats.....

A John Deere - I know some little boys who would be very happy to see one!

My mum and dad used to have one of these wringer things

There was a lovely old Daimler, some great old garage signs and some steam engine type things which were worth a nosey...so I mustn't be too rude about it all!

A to Z of North Norfolk.....

Now our holiday is over, I thought I would try to capture all the highlights in an A to Z. What isn't in here is the agricultural bits and bobs auction we went to on the way home (to come.....very bizarre) and the wonders of the maclaren buggy. North Norfolk - recommended for all I think, couples, families and everyone.

Here goes:
A is for apples which were of the exciting varieties; and austerity measures which were in full swing with homemade picnic every day and eating it outside whatever the weather even if quite cold and really windy;
B is for beaches of which there are many, including Holkham beach which is apparently voted the no. 1 beach by readers of Coast magazine (led to many a discussion in the car on the virtues of a more interesting beach with cliffs and wild shorelines and memories of the photographer we met in Wales who declared pictures of sunny beaches were sp boring and it was much more interesting to tie yourself to a rock in a storm and snap away....); and Blobs; and Burnham Market; oh and birdlife which is really quite apparent here in Norfolk

Norfolk Blob and some sticky date cake!

C is for cake of which we have eaten quite a bit of, our favourite being sticky date cake from grooms bakery; and for Cley on Sea which was lovely and home to some smoked fish as well as a long walk out to the beach; and churches - never seen so many in such a small space
D is for dunes which have tested the maclaren; and for dinosaur as there were lots of toy ones in our cottage which isobel had great entertainment with; and Deepdale Cafe which gave arthhur and Isobel their first experience of a full English (ok so arty had weetabix and isobel porridge....with blackpudding and sausage as you do)
E is for the eerie noise with wind made at Brancaster beach;
F is for farmie (aka farm shop) as there are loads, though some of them cheat a bit and have nothing that local to speak of; and for fish which we ate and which was yummy;
G is for Gun Hill which is apparently a very high sand dune though we couldn't find it; and for gifty which we looked in nut didn't find anything to buy....Norfolk living requires you to buy a bit of driftwood for £500 by the looks of things
H is for Holkham which has a lovely long beach and a country park with deer and lions (!) and massive scones;  Hunstanton where kites were purchased and the Hoste Arms which was not worth the money.

Holkham beach

I is for intrepid Isobel who wasn't afraid to run into th sea on her own and wants to climb on the big girls and boys climbing frame; and for 'I don't want that/to' which seemed to be the new phrase for our toddler
J is for Joules shop which sells tweed coats for children at £75 a pop
K is for kite and kite flying (not sure if this was for Isobel or for dad.....)
L is for local beer and topples which we tried, including Nelsons Blood bitter (dark, flat, slightly spicy) and Nelsons blood spiced rum from the Lord Nelson pub which to be honest tasted like a cross between benilym and mouth rinse.

On the left is the famous blood rum!

M is for the marvellous maclaren; the mad woman who wanted to look after arthur and of course, those Peppa Pig favourites, muddy puddles
N is for narrow gauge railway from wells to Walsingham which was great fun and highly recommended (as are the bacon sarnies which you can get from christine's van at the start); and for nelson, admiral of the high seas, who was born at Burnham Thorpe just round the corner

O is for orange sky which we saw a lot of in the evenings as we had good weather and it really showed the birds up as they flew en masse
P is for pink footed geese which is apparently what we saw flying each night to their roosting grounds; and for pavlovs dog as Arty seemed to demonstrate a real understanding that if you wipe his face after food it means there is no more and queue the crying 'I want more'
Q is for Queen who wasn't in at sandringham; and the q of cars trying to park at holkham beach when we had our heatwave
S is for sandringham and scones (with cream and jam of course); and sea lavender cottage which is where we stayed and would be recommended; and snail as in snails pace which was the average speed of Isobels walking (until we discovered bribery with muddy puddles)

Part of adventure playground at Sandringham

T is for Titchwell where there were lots of twitchers who didn't look top kindly on our descriptions of dicky birds; and time off thanks to Dawn who looked after the little ones to let us go out one night
U is for umbrella whch wasn't needed until the last few days
V is for VW campervan at sandringham which was called PeppA and HMS Victory of course.
W is for Windmill - there were lots, although much to Isobel's disappointment they weren't pink (Cley windmill is particularly nice); and wind which almost blew Isobel away
X is for eXicted which is how we all were almost every day
Y is for yacht and Yurt which was the name of a restaurant we wanted to try but it was closed
Z is for Zoe zebra from Peppa pig......and nothing to do with Norfolk!

Peppa pig, daddy pig and pavlovs dog

We have discovered that life is based on Peppa Pig........having picked up a Peppa Pig magazine for Isobel to act as distraction should she kick off (a bit old for her at the moment but she likes the stories and pictures) we found a highly entertaining and realistic story about daddy pig trying to get fit! Now I love Peter dearly but even he laughed at the similarities - daddy pig wanting to get fit by doing press ups, Peppa pig catching him out as he lay on the sofa shouting out numbers rather than doing them.....and so on. Not sure if it's online somewhere but it is quite entertaining.

The other thing I have been pondering is whether Pavlov's dog experiment really applies to everyone......learned behaviour....you will apparently learn to do or not to do things if repeated enough times. So eventually a toddler should learn not to touch hot things if they keep touching them and find it hurts. So, here we are in this cottage which is a Norfolk cottage with low ceilings etc. And Peter is very tall. And the owners have a low hanging light fitting in the loungey bit. And Peter is not good at looking where he is going. So for 10 days now he has banged into it - every day. A good few times a day.Even when walking straight towards it when you would think he would see it given that his eyes are up there. I have to shout 'head' every time he goes near it!

Lovely trousers don't you think!?

Brancaster beach and blackberry crumble

Had a lovely day at Brancaster beach which is basically a long expanse of sand and dunes on the edge of some tidal marshes. Owned by the National Trust who are happy to warn you that the beach gets cut off at high tide when the road in floods. Very good. Quick check then needed with the car park man re. tides and we were good to go. Now then the challenge with long expanses of sand in Norfolk appears to be the wind.....it was like being in a sandstorm so not really conducive to a long walk with a toddler who was finding it difficult to hold onto her bucket and spade. Few runs needed by mummy down the beach to rescue it.

But nothing as dramatic as daddy who decided to have a go at flying his new stunt kites (for the kids he said.....despite the fact they were nowhere near it....). The kite twirled and twirled and then whoosh it was off, blowing down the beach with Peter sprinting after it. I laughed so much it almost made me cry.

Anyway, after the dramatic kite experience we headed off for a walk to Brancaster Staithe along theq coast path. The trusty maclaren made it yet again. It is truly a wonderful pram.

Did some foraging for blackberries on the way back which allowed some more baking now that the bake off is over! Blackberry, apple and pear crumble was made. Peter loves a nice thick crumble but each to their own when making it. Basically, the crumble needs about 3 apples (we had eating apples but they were quite big) and one pear (conference this time but Comice is also nice) which I sliced into thick slices then stewed slightly with a bit of water for about 10 mins. No sugar added as wanted to keep some of the fruit to wean Arty. Then add the blackberries and simmer for another few minutes, think we had about 600g so it was quite blackberry heavy. Crumble mixture made with 75 g or so of butter rubbed with about 200g flour and then a handful or two of porridge oats and one handful sugar. Baked in oven for about 35 minutes at 200 degrees. Yummy. Isobel loved it and so did arty though he was restricted to just the fruit.

Close up to show the depth of crumble to keep Peter happy!

I made it!

Am feeling very good this evening. Have taken another big step I think towards getting over this post natal depression. I've been running for a few weeks now as i am trying to action the advice I had to do something for me. I used to run loads and loved it. It gives me time to relax which I know some people think sounds a bit odd!

Anyway, since having kiddiwinks I haven't really been able to run. I tried it after Arty was born but stopped, telling myself that my fitness had gone and being annoyed and slightly fed up I think that my running wasn't as it used to be. So I started, slowly slowly and this evening I have managed to run about 4 miles (including hills) with two big achievements - I didn't stop and.....wait for it....I ran to Nelsons birth place! Now I know that might seem a bit strange to be so excited about this but having seen it on the good old ordnance survey (I love those maps, they are so great, perhaps the greatest maps in the world) I decided it was my goal to build up to getting there whilst on holiday. So I was very excited to see the plaque to Nelson....the house having been pulled down in the 1800s.

The running is definitely helping with the PND - not only does it give me a bit of time to myself, it also makes me feel better about myself and counters the sheer amount of cake I like to eat! Stopping the breastfeeding has opened up a whole new set of options for exercise which is great. It's funny as the doctor actually told me to stop breastfeeding - now this is not a normal doctor thing to do! I fretted about it for ages - the breastfeeding lobby had worked their magic on me and the guilt I felt as I thought about stopping was immense. I stopped reading articles about it as it just stressed me out and I got too annoyed by the righteousness of some of the people writing them and acting like you were the biggest evil ever for stopping. The doctor said that whilst breastfeeding is the best thing if it works for you and the baby, sometimes it can make the baby too dependent on the mother when the mother needs her own time and space to get her head back. Happy mother = happy baby. I am glad I stopped. I did it slowly so kept it up until just over 5 months but the difference it has made in terms of my ability to get out a bit more, Isobel's ability to have more time with me (Arty took forever to breastfeeding and about 5 mins with a bottle!), Peter's opportunity to have more time with him and his reduced vomiting and improved skin as a result (I know, weird that - it's meant to be better with breast milk but we had the reverse) is fantastic. And I can wear great bras again - hoorah :-)

What an amazing sight.....

I am not a big birdwatcher but on my run this evening I saw the most wonderful sight of geese migrating to their winter home I presume. There must have been thousands of them. Quite a sight (and quite a noise). Was quite inspired by nature. Run was good too! If only I had had a camera. Oh and a blob is called a blob because it is just a blob of dough.....not shaped like a cob....so there we go, a nice simple reasoning behind the Norfolk Blobb

Bake off and blobs

So the Great British Bake Off is over.  What will I do now on a Tuesday evening to get my cake fix? More baking maybe? Was pleased that Jo won although was really rooting for Janet cos her facial expressions were so great! Jo's cakes looked great though and she was quite inspiring in that she had focused on her kids for so long and was now doing stuff for herself. Peter is now wishing me to make a sachertorte! Anyway, onto more sensible matters.  Took Isobel and Arthur on the Wells and Walsingham light railway yesterday. It's the worlds longest narrow gauge steam railway and was great fun. Isobel wanted to clean it with a baby wipe but didn't get far. At £8 per adult per return it's not the cheapest, but then southeastern trains aren't the cheapest either and they are overcrowded and nowhere near as much fun! Ate our picnic in Walsingham in the shrine gardens - the vicar was pleased to see us there, saying that 'small children remind us we are alive and on planet earth'. Not sure the pilgrims who were trying to contemplate things quietly would have been thinking that as they were treated to a loud rendition of twinkle twinkle. Went running last night (there are hills in Norfolk!) and upon my return Peter told me of the mad woman who had knocked on the door wanting to 'take the poppy seeds from the flowers' before they died.....mmmh. Then apparently offered to come in and feed and cuddle arty who was hungry telling Peter that there was nothing to be worried about, she had had five children.......'normal for Norfolk, is apparently a term doctors and nurses used to put on their notes at the Norwich hospital to describe various patients...... Purchased a Norfolk Blob from the bakers this morning. A picture will follow. Basically seems like a brown cob loaf but is called a blob. I will ask the baker tomorrow what the story is. Peter forgot this morning. Isobel loved it! Off to the beach soon and to buy some seafood. How do you cook crab? No idea. Will have to look it up. Presume it will squeal like a lobster but maybe not!

Apples

Found some lovely apples - was so excited as there were apples for sale I haven't seen for years! Peter can't bear apples so I rarely have them at home but this is an error I realise. Firstly, Isobel loves them. Secondly, they are lovely. Thirdly, you can always make a crumble! So we were driving Isobel back from Hunstanton beach where we had been flying kites (well Peter had been flying a kite) and we stopped at Drove Orchards where they are growing more than 100 types of apple. Lovely coxs orange pippin, Spartans and egremot russets! Yummy. The owner even gave Peter a free one (much to his happiness - although he did have a bite of Isobels today and declared it quite nice!). Ok, I need to get out more to get so excited about apples. But its so frustrating to only find about 3 types of apple for sale in the supermarkets and to be honest many fruit and veg shops near us. Interesting article about it here in The Ecologist.

Norfolk, tractors and gin

So, not such a good day on Friday. The health visitor told me that with PND you have good days and bad days and that what they are looking for is for the bad days to get less frequent and also not as bad. The pills can help as they can (as in my case) help with sleep and energy but in combo with other thing like exercise, omega 3, gardening or other crafty pursuits and trying to get some time for yourself. I think things are definitely getting better so hopefully this trend will continue, in particular if I keep up the baking (!). On Friday I think it was the combination of heat, trying to pack the car, deal with unhappy Isobel ( mainly tired!), clear up arty's reflux vomit, feed them etc etc and then get on the road to sunny Norfolk before the traffic gets really hideous! Peter was at work and we were meeting him here. We made it!

Isobel was much happier once in the car and in particular when we stopped at Wicken Fen for some ice cream - god bless the man who runs the cafe there who had a host of magic gadgets to distract hot and grumpy toddlers! We counted the tractors on the road - amazing numbers (well, we counted 10 in half an hour) pulling potatoes and onions which you could smell a mile away. Bodes well for nice food on holiday. Cottage is in Burnham Market which we have now found out is also known as 'Chelsea by sea' presumably due to prices and the large number of 4WD which don't look like they have ever seen any mud.

Fish on sale at the local fish shop

 
Entertainingly all the cottages in North Norfolk which we looked at were really small and only with double beds.....a double bed for 2 weeks with a giant husband was not something I was looking forward to so this little cottage (Sea Lavender Cottage) is great as it has a kingside bed! Hooray. And Isobel showed no fear going up and down the very steep staircase like she was on speed or something! Put them to bed and enjoyed a lovely gin whilst awaiting Peter. God bless Gordons. Although I do like the Bombay Sapphire! Must remember that drinking doesn't help my sleep though.