SFTW: Summer coolers and round tuits

Happy Sunday everyone! I’m toasting the weekend with a summery cocktail made with some rather delish Absolut Raspberri Vodka that I was given at work. I normally don’t touch vodka (rum is my spirit of choice), but this smelt so good that I had to stop myself from tucking in right then and there in the office… This cocktail is a quick cooler rather than anything more fancy – just pour a generous shot of the vodka over ice, add 50ml of apple juice, top up with lemonade and garnish with mint – but I just know this vodka would be gorgeous in a Cosmo. Cheers!

Since returning from my holiday to Turkey, my other summer drink of choice has become an iced coffee. They’re so easy to make: put some ice cubes into a glass, brew a shot of espresso, froth half a glass of milk for a few seconds, then pour the milk over the ice and add the coffee. Voilà! Make sure you use the best-quality coffee you can. We love Pact coffee – and, as Rachel has been discovering, they can make regular bean deliveries straight to your front door.

I’ve also tasted my first (and definitely not my last) poptail – that’s a boozy ice lolly to those who’ve missed them. I stumbled across the joy of this mojito ice lolly yesterday in my favourite local child-friendly (and parent-friendly, obviously) café. If I was doing shots of rum with Oscar in tow, I would look like a bad parent. But with this lolly, I totally look like a responsible parent. Inspired.

Oh, and at a barbecue last Sunday hosted by the still-heavily-preggers Rachel (don’t judge me – she insisted despite my offers to cook!), I was treated to an amazing watermelon sangria by Joy the Baker. If you’re looking for a way to welcome people to your home, then this lovely drink is a seriously stylish option – and completely yummy.

Here’s what else I’ve been up to this week:

Visiting friends with babies – but no, not Rachel’s (yet). I have been using my days off work to do the rounds of friends who have recently given birth, and seeing all those new babies has made me feel very nostalgic for that time when they need to be picked up and cuddled every five minutes. So much so that I have to shake myself and remind myself that the first few months are hard work.

Getting handy with the potty. A few weeks ago, Juan and I decided we would try to get Oscar acclimatised to the idea of a potty before we started potty-training him in earnest. So we’ve been encouraging him to try it out for size before bath time – and so far, he’s surpassed expectations. To date, we’ve had four wees and five poos go into the potty, and evenings in our flat have now become a time of great will he-won’t he excitement. This week, Oscar actually told me he needed a poo, so I think the time has come for us to steel ourselves and start full-on potty training. I’ve never felt so indebted to whoever invented rubber gloves…

Expanding my Peppa Pig-related reading. You remember how much I love Peppa Pig, right? Well, apparently, not everyone feels the same as me (I know). This post by Unmumsy Mum, with an alternative script to the show, looks at the scenarios from a realist’s perspective.

Thinking about words. Being a complete language geek, I also enjoyed this blog post about great Spanish words. If you speak another language, you’ll know that some words or phrases in that language are just way superior to anything you could utter in your mother tongue. For example, I love the Spanish verb agobiar, which is so more versatile than its English counterpart, to overwhelm. You?

Trying to cross some niggly little jobs off my to-do list. I’m sure that, like me, many of you completely identified with Rose’s post on Tuesday about life admin she never seems to get round to. It reminded me of a jokey plaque my grandparents had on their kitchen wall, called A Round Tuit. Now, sometimes I’m an absolute machine when it comes to odd jobs. But all too often, I’m so exhausted from tackling the biggies, that the easy, non-essential chores languish at the bottom of the pile. Consistently top on my list of jobs that never get done is sharpening my knives – this takes literally 60 seconds per knife, so I can’t explain why I find it so impossible. What are yours?

Considering taking a six-week break from alcohol (see above…). I have friends who do this, and they seem to get a lot out of it. In my head, I want to try it. But then I remember the meal out I’ve booked at the restaurant with great cocktails, or the NCT meet-up where we’ll share our stories over a couple of bottles of wine, and my resolve weakens. Juan and I both feel like we drink a lot more as parents than we ever did before (except perhaps at uni…). I’ve never been someone who needs alcohol to have a good time, but for me, now, a glass of wine or a beer after Oscar’s bedtime has come to signify ‘adult time’. Still, it would be good to know I still could do a six-week stint of abstinence, wouldn’t it?

What have you been up to this week? What’s your summer drink of choice? And do you take breaks from the booze once in a while?

P.S. A kid-friendy recipe for fruity ice lollies, how to make cold-brew coffee, and a much-too-easy-to-drink rum punch.