We have loads of plums in the freezer that I want to use. The challenge is that I am trying not to eat very much sugar at all, so I don’t want to use them in crumbles and pies etc. So, this morning, I got out a little pot of them and whizzed them up with 300ml fridge cold skimmed milk and a tsp of dark muscovado sugar.

It made nearly 3 of those little glasses and at 180 calories in total, made for a virtous breakfast. I could have made it a thickie with the addition of 2 tblsps of porridge oats, although it was already pretty thick, but it would have added a few more calories which you may want. It tasted sharp and fresh from the plums and creamy from the milk (which could, of course, be any kind of milk… almond, soya, whatever you like), and the fruit too can be whatever you have stashed away, value peaches or mandarins from a tin, value mixed frozen berries, banana and apple, kiwi and apple, raspberry and strawberry, an infinite variety. Or make it up and have a small glass each with a boiled egg and a slice of toast, yum.

My younger daughter is getting married next June and we made the invitations ourselves based on this design .

We made a pocket using purple card, decorating the front with a design created on the computer and tissue paper crinkled in a Cuttlebug machine, used by crafters and costing around £70. I would not have done that part in that way as I don’t have one, but I know a friend who does and I borrowed hers

This is the finished result (I’ve blocked out the names and date with those bright coloured dots, they’re not part of the design!) All the component parts go into the pocket (the one with the names and date on) and are tied up in a bow and put in a purple envelope to be posted. What a lovely package to receive in the post, even though I say so myself! There is a ceremony or evening invitation, an RSVP and an envelope to put it in, a list of B+B’s, directions to the venue, a menu and a poem

This is unique and will never be repeated by anybody anywhere,  just the kind of thing a bride likes, and we had loads of fun doing it.  Judging by the prices in the catalogue we were inspired by, it would have cost £200 for the day invites, £120 for the evening invites,  £60 for the place cards that we also did to match the invites and £265 for thankyou notes. A total of £645, an extraordinary figure, and that’s just for this small part. No wonder weddings can cost so much.

It cost us a  few £’s for 2 reams of purple paper, plus some ordinary white paper, a bit of  inkjet ink, £2 for 2 reels of ribbon, £2 (I think) for a packet of tissue paper, plus a few £’s for the stick on bits and the purple envelopes, a total of £20 at the absolute most. And it was a lovely thing to do together