Fernando Torres You've broke my heart

On Friday I heard the news no Liverpool fan wants to hear that Fernando Torres had handed in a Transfer request to move to Chelsea Football Club.I cannot explain without sounding like an irrational lunatic how this has made me feel.

Fernando Torres is Liverpools No.9 he is our best player and most loved I feel all Teary just trying to put into words how I feel, I feel empty and let down.I know players flit from club to club all the time for bigger riches etc, but Fernando was different, he bonded with our club and even took a pay cut to come here.

So what has changed? I could have understood it last year we had really bad owners, in a huge amount of debt, a manager that was taking us nowhere, but that's all changed we have new owners, a legend of a manager in Kenny Dalglish and are investing in new players.

Fernando we loved you you said you loved your fans and our club, what I can't work out is why?


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The Sunday Cookathon

I love Sundays when I can spend time in my kitchen and cook.My life is quite hectic during the week so when weekend comes around I love to cook and try out new recipes. I like to get myself prepared for the week ahead and feel if I cook proper meals to freeze at the weekend I won't be as tempted to eat rubbish, being organised is the secret of healthy eating for me.

I usually look to see what I have a lot of in my cupboards and fridge and try to use up rather than throw them away so seeing as I have an abundance of carrots I decided to make up some soup for the weeks lunches as it still is quite cold and soup is always warming with some nice bread. I have made up two batches for me and for my mum, I tend to cook a lot for my mum as she is elderly now and has the tendancey not to eat properly if I don't keep an eye on her.

The first batch of soup I made was Carrot and Corriander a simple classic soup which I never tire of. I also made a batch of carrot and ginger for mum as ginger is quite good for some of the ailments she suffers from. I made a nice Mediterranean Olive bread to go with my soup, so thats lunches sorted out for most of the week.

I made two batches of muffins the first was mincemeat muffins, I had a jar of mincemeat which I had made for Christmas and not got round to eating so this was a good way to use it up, followed by my favourite spiced apple muffins.

For main meals I try to cook from scratch when I get home from work but sometimes it is handy to have something prepared so for tomorrow evening I have made some mexican enchiladas it will be a quick meal when I get home I just have to add a salad with it.The remainder of the Chilli I have froze and on another night I will simply cook some rice to go with it.

With the remainder of veg I found in the fridge I will make a vegetable pie consisting of celery,leeks,carrots,potatoes,peas and sweetcorn,with a mashed potato topping.
These are all quick and simple Vegan meals anyone can prepare in advance the secret of cooking i have found is be organised and use up what you have in store.I hate throwing food away I think its a sin when there is hundreds of starving people in the world it only takes a little imagination and you can turn your left overs into tasty meals.

Since turning Vegan last year I have simply eaten so much more heallthier and now my muffins are also so much healthier as I now replace the eggs in them with flaxseed and a few spoons of water and they come out perfect.

Now to enjoy the rest of Sunday afternoon with my book.

Australian Open 2011

It's those two weeks of the year when I wander round looking like a Zombie for two weeks, yes it's once again the Australian Open.Living in the UK the time zones are pretty punishing means having to get up in the middle of the night to watch the matches. Well when I say matches I really mean who Rafa Nadal is playing.

There is no other Tennis player on earth I would get up for at these unearthly hours for,but you have to admit The Rafa is something else.








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My Fashion icons

I developed a love of fashion at a very early age, I can remember being about eight and ripping and chopping my clothes for a revamp.As I got older my love of clothes has never waned.

I have never really been into the so called latest fashion I have always had a love of vintage although it's now a trendy word in the media but I love picking up something old and beautiful from another era.

I know everyone has their own fashion icons but for me I love the glamour of the old movie stars but I also love the trashy messy punk look from my youth. My teenage years were in the 70's and I feel lucky to have witnessed some great styles, I always laugh when I hear people slam the 70's as a tasteless decade, tasteless? We lived through glam rock,punk rock how could your individuality not shine through this era? But there are several women I have got my fashion inspiration from and these are Louise Brooks I am an avid collector of clothes from the 20's and nobody pulled the look off better than Louise Brooks the actress, I see her style even today.

















Another big influence on me was Lauren Bacall, I love her masculine,tailored look,although it's not a look I myself carry off well I think Lauren Bacall looks amazing in most outfits, once again a trendsetter and not a follower.










I think every womans fashion icon has to be Audrey Hepburn, I love her quirky,gamine look I love how she can be glamerous one minute and casual the next and still look like a million dollars, Audreys style is still adopted by many women today a classic timeless look that never dates.








As I mentioned I grew up in the Punk era and though the clothing wasn't exactly beautiful I loved some of the ideas that came with it, it was a time to be creative with your clothing your individuality really shone out, of course a lot of these women went on to influence many styles of today for me this time was a time you could really let your imagination run riot, I used to love to mix up clothes from different eras I had the time of my life in the 70's,it was this decade which decided the style of clothes I go for today.

Obviously being a lot older now I have calmed my look down a lot but I still love to mix and match things from every era I like to give clothes my own touch.
Patti Smith for me always looks great I know people usually raise an eyebrow when I say this but she has that casual laid back I don't give a stuff look about her which I love.She eludes the take me as you find me look.





Of course one of the most iconic images for women in the 70's was Debbie Harry she had the punk Rock attitude but was very beautiful with it, I think a million teenage girls wanted to look like Debbie Harry.





Another lady Who's style I love is the actress Helena Bonham Carter, I know she always ends up in the worst dressed list of celebs but for me she has that eclectic, look which I so love, she doesn't let fashion dictate to her she has her own style and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but I love the fact she is brave enough to do her own thing and hell to what people think.




There are many more women I admire like Greta Garbo,Marilyn Monroe,Twiggy and Kate Moss, women who made fashion and not followed it to all these women thank you for your inspiration to other women to just go out and be yourself and not simply wear clothes because some designer will tell you a look is in or out, Women get out there and were what makes you feel good,sod what everyone else thinks.

Monet on Winter

Seeing as we are still in Winter I will stay in winter mode.Well why not the weather is still cold and the nights are still dark and I don't feel a bit spring like yet.

I had thought of changing my blog from it's winter theme but I'm not inspired just yet by the seasons.

As a person who loves and embraces the beauty in every season I thought I'd share some of these beautiful Winter landscapes by Claude Monet.Most people associate Monet for his colourful beautiful colourful landscapes but with these pics I just love their basic starkness and lack of colour.

My Vegan Year

2010 was the Year I finally went completely Vegan having been a Vegetarian for 36 years I actually don't know why it took me so long.

I think like a lot of people I didn't realize that the Dairy industry was every bit as cruel as the meat industry I so despised, same for eggs I presumed as I only bought Organic free range eggs it was ok, my motto was always I don't eat anything with a face on and I didn't look much beyond that to be honest.

I always bought cruelty free beauty and cleaning products so I was ok in my little bubble thinking I was doing enough.Wow I can't believe how shallow I sound now looking back, if I thought I was doing my bit I was sadly mistaken.

My first turning point to going truly Vegan is all down to a wonderful lady named Coleen Patrick-Goudreau I caught one of her podcasts earlier in the year and I was truly hooked on the Vegan lifestyle after listening to one episode, everything she said opened my eyes and made perfect sense to me. I then armed myself with two of her cookbooks and I was up and running.

Turning Vegan has been no problem for me maybe it was easier as I was already on a meat fee diet and was used to cooking with whole vegetables I have always embraced healthy living and eating so my new diet wasn't to much of a hassle. I soon discovered the joys of all the various dairy free milks which are on the market I've tried them all and my two favourites are Oat milk and Almond milk I tend to use Soya milk more in baking.

There is a lot of Dairy free products available nowadays in our supermarkets I was pleasantly surprised.I've learned so much on my new journey like how to bake without using eggs all the various things you can use for binding has amazed me leaving a normal life on a Vegan diet is possible.

Many of my friends sounded out the warning bells about travelling and eating out as a Vegan and granted it's not always easy but it is possible it just needs a bit of homework first. I prefer to eat in Vegetarian restraunts anyway I figure if they have gone to the trouble of catering for my wants and needs it's only right I support them. Of course this isn't always an option but I've always found something on a menu suitable for me sometimes it's just a matter of opening your mouth and asking for something to be made without butter on a sandwich or in a baked potato.

Travelling to foreign countries at first was a little difficult but once again do your homework find where there are Vegetarian restraunts and use them, Indian Restraunts are always a good option for me and most Italian restraunts will conjure you up a vegan dish if there is nothing on the menu.

What I visualized to be my biggest challenge was Christmas I must admit I had my reservations here my first selfish thoughts were oh no I won't be able to have my Baileys or my Stilton or all the number of delicious cheeses I usually bought at this time of year, I worried needlessly over my Christmas cakes,mince pies, chocolates,stollen etc. Christmas has always been a big time for me in the kitchen as I love baking Christmas stuff. Well surprise surprise Christmas was a breeze thanks to all the wonderful Vegan blogs I follow I created a beautiful Christmas cakes (Thanks to the Hungry Vegan blog) mince pies were no problem I veganised a recipe I had for stollen turned out delicious as well. I bought Dairy free chocolate for the family I myself am not a huge chocolate lover but do love an after dinner mint I found dairy free ones very easy.

Believe it or not I even found beautiful dairy free cheese by a company called Sheese they do a beautiful version of blue cheese which tasted like the real thing and I made a lovely Stilton and apple pate with it, I also bought their cheddar with Cranberries and chives which was good, basically no matter what your favourites cheese is you'd find it with Sheese.

The drinks was also easy most spirits are Vegan anyway I bought vegan wines and even managed to make my own version of Baileys using Whiskey,Coffee Liquor and almond milk absolutely delicious and actually not as sickly as Baileys can get.

So anyone who has toyed with the idea of veganism give it a go you may be surprised, just do a bit of homework and arm yourself with some good cook books or blogs and you'll be up and running.

Oh and the added bonus I lost several pounds in weight without wen trying just goes to show how animal fats can put weight on.

I'm so glad 2010 turned me into a Joyful Vegan.