Onsie Roller Skating Flashmob - The Photo Gallery

10 things you may not know about Arthritis

This week it is National Arthritis Week and so I thought I would take the time to share with you how my cousin, Annette, is coping with the condition.Here are her 10 things you might not know about arthritis:

1. The condition I live with is called: Chronic systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

2. I was diagnosed aged:15

3. How my condition most affects my day to day life: The pain has got to be the worst thing I have to deal with, as there's always something that hurts.

4. A new hobby / interest I’ve taken up since my diagnosis:My card making.

5. What living with my condition has taught me: That not everything in life will go to plan and to take nothing for granted.

6. My advice for other people living with my condition: To keep going and never giving up.

7. A gadget I couldn’t live without: My grabber. I use thing every single day.

8. What gets me through a tough day: My amazing family and wonderful mates.

9. How my friends and family help me: Through support and kindness. They are always there to listen and pick me up when I feel lonely or angry at the world.

10. This National Arthritis Week I’d like to say thank you to all my family and wider family for doing everything the can to help. To all the dr's and nurse's; to my mates who have stuck by me through everything and websites for people who are suffering the same things as myself.

If you would like to know more about arthritis and Arthritis Research then follow this link to their website - JOINT PLEDGE

Onesie Roller Skating Flashmob #No16 #No20

Today, I realised the importance of having wonderful friends and family as they turned out in force to help me with three of my challenges. It was a mere idea a few months ago to combine the challenge of roller skating for a mile in a onesie with organising a flashmob however today this thought came to fruition. Dressed in a range of onesies, some with face paints and some matching, we skated, cycled, scooted and walked a mile along Bognor Promenade in the glorious October Sunshine. All with smiles on our faces and plenty of laughs to be had. The people of Bognor looked shocked and bewildered, as did many of us, however they shared their prom with us and marvelled at the strange spectacle. The team did well - navigating around a train and many pedestrians, we even picked up a cyclist and a few walkers! The pace was slow, due to a range of skating abilities!! However this did not matter as it added to the fun (the movie has been speeded up though! It was half an hour long!!) I will be posting a seperate movie entitled 'How to Roller Skate by Mrs Payne!' :-) Yes it might not have been your usual flashmob and the film is not your usual flashmob style (try filming and skating at the same time!) However in my books it is and was a flashmob and was a success. My participants only got the details of the event a few days before!

Our youngest recruit being two and half month old baby Ethan, who smiled most of the way - I think that was the giant bananas fault! Young and old, we all did it, reminding us all that Arthritis can affect all ages - young and old. Life is for living and having fun, most importantly do it being surrounded by wonderful, kind and loving people. Thank you to my everyone who took part today, be it skaters or photographers, you are all stars. Tomorrow is the start of Arthritis Week and I will be posting more as the week goes on, however today was all about raising awareness and having fun, something I think was had by all.

#No18 Brazilian Delights!

Well with only 2 days left of September, today was the day for a bit of Brazilian cooking. I hunted around for Brazilian recipes, surprisingly many were drink related! Eventually I found one which I could obtain all the ingredients: Coconut Curry!!

Here is the recipe, I adapted it slightly so my recipe with photos is below! Enjoy! 

My ingredients:

All the same except I used one large onion, 2 large cloves of garlic and replaced curry paste with cumin!

1. Slice onion and garlic.

2.Melt butter in a pan and add cumin. Then add coconut milk and simmer.

3. In another pan, sauté the garlic and onions until soft.

 4. Add cubed chicken and lightly cook.

5. When chicken is lightly cooked add the coconut mix. Cook on a high heat until boils and reduce to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Boil rice. After 20 mins add cornflour to coconut mix to thicken.

7. Serve over the rice! Viola!! Enjoy!

I know it looks very pale, I think that's the curry paste missing, however it tasted good. Even better with a popadum or two!!

#No18 Cooking Turkish style

August saw the country of Turkey as my recipe challenge. Having been to Turkey, I had fond memories of some wonderful meals- fish, kebabs on skewers-so I really wanted to attempt to make something that would be fit for a Turkish table. I searched the Internet for countless recipes however nothing really caught my eye until I spotted this one! It has a very strange name but I called it lamb kofta casserole! Enjoy if you make it- we did! 

First grate an onion, add two eggs, a teaspoon of cumin, chopped parsley, half and half a teaspoon of chilli flakes. Mix together. 

Add 500g of lamb mince and mix together. Then roll in to thick sausage shapes as below:

Slice the Aubergine in to chunks and sprinkle with salt. Leave to soak. Before adding to the casserole, use a paper towel to absorb excess water. 

Chop up carrots and peppers. Slide potatoes and place altogether, with the Aubergine in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with herbs and chilli flakes. 

Place the lamb koftas in between the vegetables. Then cover in chopped tomatoes and 300ml of water:

Place into the oven, 180 degrees for 50 mins approx. 

whilst it is cooking boil the rice:

Then Enjoy!!! We did! (Watch the chillis!!)