Hannah Elizabeth

 Last weekend, I did some Halloween baking. With a somewhat last minute decision and sparse supermarket, the things I wanted wasn't all quite available, but nevertheless, although they didn't come out quite as the inspiration did, I still think they are super cute!  For the recipe we did 170g of butter and caster sugar, creamed together. Then 3 eggs mixed and the dry mixture added in thirds together and folded together. The dry mixture consisted of 100g self-raising flour, 70g cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.  The mixture actually made quite a lot of cupcakes and probably could have easily made more but we split it between 18 cases.  These were then put in a fan oven at 180 degrees, for 20 minutes, checking regularly after 15 minutes for a non-sticky skewer. Of course, before decorating, you then have to leave the cupcakes to cool for at least an hour.  For the buttercream icing, it's 100g of butter, 200g of icing sugar and 3 drops of vanilla essenc...

 As you probably know, I have just moved into a new house so I have kept decor simple this year. Sadly, I can't go overboard just yet as I am still waiting for furniture and have some boxes to pack up!  I actually reused most of my decorations and only bought a few little bits. I have tried to link the closest aspects instead, but you can also read my last decor post here . In the kitchen, I put up the pumpkin garland, glow in the dark pumpkin window stickers and then also had an extra little section on the window sill. I had some leftover black present packaging so used that the create a base. I placed my two little pumpkins on top and then scattered the pumpkin carving tools around. I bought a pumpkin bucket for 39p from Tesco's. They had a huge selection of different characters but I wanted to keep it pumpkin themed, and then I bought a bag of £1 Haribo's.  I also had a hook up in my central wall, for a photo frame, which was the perfect place for my BOO sign from Am...

It's official...the main paper from my research has finally been approved and will soon be in a Midwifery journal near you. It's just a short post today but everyone can officially read it here . They have given us 50 days free access to all so be sure to go ahead and read it soon. In the next month or so, I'm going to share all about my experiences of working towards this research project and in the research team, but it's defintely been a journey!  What is the research about?  The objective was to investigate midwifery students’ experiences of viewing childbirth on mainstream factual television and to explore implications for student career intentions and potential pedagogical uses of television excerpts in midwifery education. Where can you find it? Roberts, Julie, Bennett, Beatrice, Slack, Hannah, Borrelli, Sara, Spiby, Helen, Walker, Louise, and Jomeen, Julie (2021) Midwifery students’ views and experiences of birth on mainstream factual television. Midwifery 92(1)...

This week was all about moving house, building furniture and making it home! Click here to watch the vlog or see below.  After a few days visiting family, I headed to the estate agents to pick up the keys and sign the final contracts. Sadly, the clips somehow got deleted but it ended up taking a lot longer than I anticipated and it was before my first of two night shifts, so probably not the best time to do it. Nevertheless, I got the keys and headed to the house.  I forgot to take pictures of the actual empty room but I did record a full empty house tour. It was so short, I decided to just keep it in with the vlog instead of making a second video. There were quite a few problems as I was going around so instead of taking full room pictures, I was taking detail pictures so it just slipped my mind in all honesty. Considering I was told I couldn't move in earlier due to a "deep clean", I was very disappointed at how dirty it was, especially the kitchen, but the new carpets ...

 A new vlog is going up this weekend with a full empty house tour included, and some sneak peaks of the decorating and furniture, but I thought it would be fun to share how the property looked when I first came to see it! Since the last tennants moved out, it has undergone a full refurbishment and so when I looked around, it was a little bit of a building site. Of course, I completely forgot to get pictures of the empty rooms after the renovations were completed so this is as close as it's going to get!  The kitchen was getting completely retiled and the splashback replaced. In the end, I also got a new fridge/freezer and oven too!  All the walls were repainted into a neutral grey, throughout the property. Likewise, the carpets were all ripped out and replaced. They're now a speckled grey instead of brown. The living room also used to have a large fireplace that has since been removed and plastered over.  The bedrooms also had a basic makeover and new heating systems...

 As you may have read a couple of week's ago, I have a small update on my announcement ...I've moved! I can't believe I finally have my own place, my home. It's so perfect. It's been a little chaotic and a little stressful. I don't do well with living in clutter or mess. In fact, I'm a little OCD about it so when I say I've struggled to sleep, you better believe me.  As I write this, I've been in the house for just short of a week and through that week I've packed up one place, moved into the other and done a mix of night and day shifts. It's been well and truly a nightmare. I picked up by keys on Monday morning and it took a lot longer than expected to finalise paperwork. I then got in and practically went straight to work. After a sleep, it was another night shift and sleeping on an air bed didn't go very well so I didn't sleep great in all honesty sadly. I had about 3 hours sleep on Wednesday before my mum came and we got cracking ...

Following the success of " This is Going to Hurt " by Adam Kay, many authors have released similar stories from the nursing, midwifery and other healthcare professions. I have actually loved reading them and I think most of them share the honest reality of the field, albeit some with more taste than others.  " The Secret Midwife " shares a similar perspective, but that of the midwives role. Interestingly, the author chooses to remain anonymous during this book and whilst, she states that some may recognise her from the stories and experiences she shared, that is how she wishes to remain to the public majority.  Described as a "heart-breaking, engrossing and important read. At once joyful and profoundly shocking, this is the story of birth, straight from the delivery room." "The Secret Midwife reveals the highs and lows on the frontline of the maternity unit, from the mother who tries to give herself a DIY caesarean to the baby born into witness protec...

Before all the chaos, I enjoyed some much needed downtime in Wales! Click here to watch the vlog or see below. With lockdown restrictions on the rise, I thought it was about time I made the effort to see some friends again, before we wouldn't be allowed. Nottingham has the highest number of cases in the UK and despite the university arguing it's due to asymptomatic testing, it's still scary. I feel like I've been pretty safe and not been mixing with lots of different people but it is what it is.  I ended up going out for tea with Bridget and having not wanted to go back to my temporary accommodation, I instead messaged to see if I could call at a friends. I went to Sam and Vicki's flat to chill for a few hours and watch the coffee cupcakes get finished. It was a lot of fun and I feel so much more comfortable there than in the house. Luckily, I'm hopefully moving soon, if not already by the time this post goes live!  I ended up having three shifts next to each ot...