Mrs Birks Blogs

This year I have certainly got Christmas Spirit and I don't mean the alcoholic type.  Of the recent years I can remember, this is the most excited I've been.  The Christmas tree has gone up extra early, the house has more tinsel than ever (usually completely restricted) and not only have we got an advent calendar each (thanks Mum) we also have advent crackers.  In the last few days of school, we had Christmas dinner (yum!), a carol service, Christmas films and lots of Secret Santa.  Christmas feels like it has really started even though there are still days to go (only a couple now!) There is something about a Carol Service that just feels right at Christmas.  If you no longer have young children, or don't go to church or aren't a teacher in a Christian school, there's a chance that you might miss out on singing festive classics like Once in Royal David's City and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.  Working in a school which has its own Chapel and a well establishe

A few weeks ago, just before Halloween, I was invited to a craft evening with the theme of biscuit decorating.  My lovely friend Kirsten had previously read my post about Princess Biscuits (see here) and, being a maker of fantastic cookies herself, suggested I have a look at the blog of the amazing Sugarbelle .  It was from this blog that our craft evening was inspired.  With some ghost shaped and circular biscuits fresh from the oven, I popped over to Kirsten's ready for a night of outlining, flooding and, of course, biscuit sampling. Using Sugarbelle's recipe, Kirsten had made up some icing - in a huge quantity! - ready for us to water down a little into the consistency desired.  This is where I picked up my first tip of the evening which was to use a water spray bottle for adding water.  This allows a bit more control and you are less likely to add too much.  I, of course, did add too much, so ended up with flood icing when I'd wanted icing for outlining but nevermind

Back in July, I signed up for Crafty Creatives , a craft box scheme which, for £10.95 a month (plus p&p), sends you a little box of delights full of crafty fun.  Each month the box has a particular theme and the items included will somehow be linked.  So far I have had: July:  Flowers (this was the CC birthday box) August:  The Wild West September:  Monochrome October:  Circus   I loved the first box, which, with 5 kits had plenty to make without me having to think up lots of different ideas.  The kits ranged from a simple paper flower hair slide to a more complicated beaded flower.  I tried all of the kits but have to admit that some of the more time consuming ones still aren't finished.  I have promised to make the crepe paper flower ball (see below for the Crafty Creatives tutorial) for my daughter but I find making the flowers a bit boring and really don't know how long it will take me to finish this! My crepe flowers are not quite as good as these :/

As soon as the school holiday arrived, we jetted off for sunny Spain - just as the UK was experiencing a heat wave!  Nevermind, we had an air conditioned apartment and a pool at hand, so it made the heat very enjoyable rather than a little bit torturous if we'd still been a home. Unfortunately, we forgot to ask anyone to water our garden, but that is another story... Whilst on holiday, I love to read.  I love reading at anytime but with two children, there never seems enough hours in the day and I'm always too shattered by bed time to even contemplate opening a book.  I used to read loads of books on holiday, in fact my husband and I would always try and out-do each other with who could read the most books the quickest (I've always been the slower reader but I maintain that this is because I get so engrossed in the plot).  This year I managed to read three books, although one I had started months ago so perhaps doesn't count.  Anyway, I'm going to give a brief r

Further to my previous post about Scandi-Drama (read it here ) I have had a chance to catch up with The Killing 2 over the last couple of weeks (again box set borrowed from the in-laws - thank you very much).  I'm not going to say much about it here but how good was it to see Birgitte's dishy husband from Borgen in a rather more sinister role?  Fantastic!  However, moody crime drama with subtitles was as high culture as it got this summer and for me, it was all about kids films at the cinema which is what this post is about. I appreciate we had some great weather and that you wouldn't want to spend too much time at the flicks when it's blazing outside - which is why we haven't seen all the blockbusters - but sometimes you want something different to do and being able to take advantage of Cineworld's Movies for Juniors has meant that we've had a few trips out that haven't been completely extortionate.  Now if they can just subsidise the Magnum Classic f

It's been a while since I blogged and the reason for that is because I've been on my summer holidays.  I know I should rave on about the vocational joys of being a teacher and inspiring young minds and all that but one of the best things about being a teacher is the holidays.  This last holiday has been the best.  I have love, love, loved it and I'm going to tell you all about it! But not in this post. Someone told me recently that they don't read blog posts that are too long, so I'm going to break it up into several blogs on different themes - I'm thinking something crafty, something book related and something film based.  So watch this space for a proper update soon x

So the time of year is upon us when exams are just about over and the wait for results begins.  Alongside that, is the wait for the inevitable slating of exam results and comments about Media Studies being a Mickey Mouse subject.  We all know it's coming...and most of us know it's pretty unfair.  After years of studying and revision, then weeks of exams, A Level students won't be congratulated on their results but told that exams are getting easier and that subject content is being dumbed down.  You'd think as a nation we'd be pleased when our children do well... I know many of the people reading this blog will be students who have either studied Media at A Level or are currently at University studying a related subject (hello to you!).  These students know it is not easy to get an A grade in any A Level regardless of the subject.   Media Studies is no exception.  If it were easy, everyone would be getting As when in reality, it is a ti

I am now on Bloglovin!  I haven't quite worked out how to use it yet though...Watch this space! Any suggestions for blogs to follow are gratefully received x Follow my blog with Bloglovin

You might have guessed by now that I love to bake.  I enjoy all sorts of baking and often try to challenge myself with something new (I have been in training for the Bake Off for about a million years - I hope they pick me one day!).  Joining the WI recently has given me more reasons to bake and more people to eat my baked goods - there's only so much a family of four can get through, especially when one of the four is only 10 months old! I have to confess that I have never been very good as biscuits.  I am getting better but apologies to anyone who has had to eat one of my not-so-great attempts over the years.  I have discovered that the secret of a good biscuit is all in the rolling out.  Usually the thinner the better, depending on the type of biscuit you are making. Oh and getting them out of the oven before they get too brown - usually only a little colour is perfect, even if you think they might be undercooked.  Anyway, years ago, on a trip to New York, I bought this love

Last week, thanks to the generous babysitting of Nanny, Mr Birks and I went to the cinema. The last time we went was to see Skyfall, which I loved and started writing a big blog post about straight away.  Unfortunately, I never quite finished it and now it seems a bit dated.  But nevermind, I will tell you about Star Trek instead! Now, I wasn't entirely sure what was on at the flicks when we arrived, it seemed to be mostly action films and in the end we decided on action of the sci-fi variety.  It seems unusual to me that two big action films (the other being Iron Man 3) have been released at around the same time but judging by the number of people watching Star Trek, the gap between the release dates has been significant enough. Those who know me, know how much I love to get a bargain. Which is probably why I find parting with nearly £10 to go and sit in a darkened room a bit of a rip off,especially as I'm not convinced you really get what you pay for. I'm not criticis

Shhh! Don't tell anyone I'm here! I should be marking! What could distract me from my professional commitment and enthusiasm, I guess you're wondering.  Well, I just had to take a moment to lament the loss of Merlin from our TV screens.  Yes, I know the award winning, prime time BBC TV show left our screens at Christmas but, quite frankly, I still haven't got over the loss and am extremely grateful that I received the series 1 box set for my birthday back in March (I hope the others will follow shortly!) Now to some, Merlin was the annoying medieval programme that followed the glitter and glamour of Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday night (that Merlin-yoke as described by Marian Keyes on Twitter).  It's true, you could not get a bigger contrast than these two programmes - one is about fake tan, sequins and posh frocks, whilst the other is all running around in the forest with mud caked clothes.  But I loved them both and I can see why the BBC scheduled these two

Like many, I jumped at the chance of indulging in some Great British Bake Off before the return of the new series and watched the Easter Masterclass (you can no longer see this on iPlayer but there are re-runs of series 2 - hoorah!). Of all the deliciousness on offer, I opted to make The Berry's Lemon Pavlova complete with mini nests and garnished with mini eggs. I've only ever made pavlova once before, it didn't turn out too badly, a little bit soggy in the middle but an ok first attempt. What I'd forgotten about my first attempt was how long it took to make. The recipe I followed can be found here . The pavlova is made with 6 egg whites, caster sugar and a few teaspoons of cornflour and white wine vinegar. I was a bit impatient with the meringue and really thought I had gone wrong until eventually it thickened up and I was brave enough to do the "meringue over the head" test. I probably should have whisked a bit more, as when I added the cornflour mixture

Sooooo, I have seriously neglected my blog for the last month - did anyone notice? I'm not sure!  But whilst I've been away I have in fact been doing proper work - my actual real life job.  Yes, my maternity leave came to an end in February and since then I've been focusing all my energy on preparing students for exams and getting them through coursework.  I did have time to enjoy a trip to New York just before half term but apart from that, it's been work, work, work (and in fact, NYC was work too as I was accompanied by 38 students) Before returning to work, I did have time to do a few bits. Firstly, I tried out a little project from a book called Sew a Metre, which contains loads of ideas of things to make with just a metre of fabric. I needed to make something to tidy up my knitting needles (and newly purchased crochet hooks - more on these later) so opted for a simple needle roll. From my scraps of fabric, I cobbled together a metres worth, in two complimentary

So, I haven't updated my blog for a while and that's mainly because I've been watching TV.  I am working on a post about Skyfall (coming soon!) but mostly it's all about spending time with the box.  After all, if it's good enough for Homer Simpson, it's good enough for me.  I will confess right now that I do have a bit of a thing for trash tv.  I'm still a devoted Eastenders fan (always will be) and I also indulged in a bit of Celebrity Big Brother (sorry!).  However, at the moment, I think the best thing on TV is the so called Scandi-Drama that has been brought to us from Denmark. Now, I'm not an expert on Danish TV drama, I've only watched Borgen and The Killing 1 but I love both and I'm going to explain why... We first started watching Borgen when it appeared on BBC4.  It had great reviews in the TV guide and Saturday night is generally a bit of a wasteland when it comes to TV drama (especially now Merlin is finished) so we thought we

At the moment I'm on maternity leave so I've got more time then most to get stuck into making stuff.  That said, I always find myself in a making mood at Christmas time and baking in particular gets me feeling festive.  This year I tried a range of new stuff although I didn't take pictures of everything. Firstly, I made mince pies using  this recipe .  I'm not a great lover of mince pies usually but this recipe by Nigella is fantastic.  Rather than being too traditionally "fruity" this recipe is heavy on the cranberries and gives a different flavour.  I loved the fact that they weren't too sweet, just deliciously tangy.  The pastry is a bit of a faff (in and out of the fridge and the freezer) but it's worth it.  Overall these were a big hit - perhaps too much of a hit with me - I couldn't stop eating them! I also made my very first gingerbread house.  In fact, I made three small ones, so that myself, my hubby and my daughter could all have a g

Now, before you read this post, I have to confess it wasn't written specifically for my blog.  It's something I wrote for  Media Magazine  in June 2011 but was never published.  It's a little bit dated - I believe series 8 has already been shown - but it might still prove useful for media students studying TV drama.  For everyone else, it might just be a good way to appreciate this fab show.  Incidentially, I still haven't watched series 7 or 8 - anyone want to lend me the box set??? Back in September, a student, after hearing my confession that I was a House fan, lent me the first six seasons on box set.   Now (the following June) I have almost finished watching the lot.   That’s 34 discs and 133 episodes.   Approximately 5320 minutes of my time or about 3.5 days.   It may not sound much to you ( I remember the days of watching box sets in bed when I was younger) but it’s hard to fit in such committed viewing along with a full time job! House is a TV drama p