Not-so-yummy mummy

Yesterday Joe and I took a little trip to Ramsbottom. Don't be fooled by the blue skies, by the way - it was bitterly cold. I envied Joe being all bundled up in his duffel coat, mittens and blanket.

We had a wander and went in a few charity shops on a little treasure hunt. And I have to say, those places are a nightmare if you're trying to manoeuvre a pram around. We knocked over a basket full of bras on the way out of the RSPCA shop.

Anyway, we stayed long enough for a very brisk, very brief walk (my fingers were frozen by this point) and a big sandwich (I needed it to keep the cold out). Rammy is becoming quite trendy - little eateries and 'lifestyle' shops. It's classed as 'desirable' because of the easy commute to Manchester I think. You know, live rural and work in the city.

I have to say, the 'Lancashire tapas' in here is pretty good.

The shop with the green awning belongs to my butcher, Tommy Topping. He does the best sausages for miles around. And the shop's been in his family for years - when he was little they all lived upstairs and he had to sleep in the bathroom. Those were t'days etc.

There wasn't much that caught my eye in terms of secondhand gems. Although I did pick up a book for 99p: The Green Beauty Bible.

I'm no 'yummy mummy' - in fact, I think it's just something else for women to live up to along with working, childcare, taking care of relatives, housework... seeing pictures of impossibly thin celebrity mothers back in their pre-pregnancy clothes weeks after giving birth can be quite dispiriting. If you let it.

Having said that I do like makeup and taking care of myself. I like natural products. So while the possibility of my following an exfoliate-epilate-moisturise routine with each morning shower is virtually nil (I don't have the inclination, let alone the time) the book did prompt me to look at my own makeup stash and tidy it out a bit.

Sadly, most of it is old and not very green. So I threw some things out and sorted through what was left.

I have three bottles/tubes of foundation. I don't even wear it any more. Yet I couldn't bring myself to get rid of two of them. Oh dear. But I did lose plenty of other things. And I decided that - tempting though it is - I won't just throw it all away and start again with a new, streamlined, eco-friendly collection. This is due to the cost and the fact that wasting what's already there would be a bit pointless.

So I'm looking at it like a coal-fuelled power station. It's being gradually decomissioned. 

I'm still on the lookout for a junkshop dressing table though.

Later on I made some meringues which were a bit of a disaster. According to Nigella all I needed was eggs (4) and caster sugar (250g). Baked at 140 degrees. I did that, following the instructions to the letter. I even left them in the oven longer than she said. And the bowl was grease-free.

The result: collapsed meringues with soggy undersides which couldn't be prised from the baking paper. Any suggestions as to where I went wrong would be gratefully accepted. I did stir some crushed raspberries through the mixture by the way, but they weren't particularly soggy.

Like I said: not-so-yummy mummy...