Last few hours of freedom

It's my last few hours of freedom of what has been my laid back Bank Holiday weekend

My friend left after lunch so I was able to pick up the knitting needles

I'm quite pleased that I remembered what I was doing quite easily!

Shortly I'll be running myself a bath and then off to bed by candlelight from one of my home made candles 

Candle Making!

Today I finally had the energy and enthusiasm to complete a few tasks round the home, the most noteworthy being some candle making

A few weeks ago I had a free weekend and decided to tackle some crafts and whilst this did not happen I had purchased all the supplies now sitting around waiting for me

This tutorial  made teacup candle making look so simple and they were not wrong! 

It really is as simple as weighing the wax, popping in the microwave to melt and pouring the liquid into whatever container you have to hand, in my case teacups

All I can smell is lemongrass (my fragrance of choice) on my hands! 

If you fancy trying this yourself my supplies were ordered from WhicksnWhacks

Approx 200grams of wax + 20mls of fragrance will make one teacup candle 

This evening I'll be watching Scott & Bailey the new ITV detective drama series and preparing for a friend coming to lunch tomorrow. It's time for another appearance of my roast chicken!

For those of you interested in my film choice last night I'd wait for it to come on TV!

It's not just any food.. it's Marks and Spencer food

Sometimes I can't bare the thought of "proper" cooking and the mess it'll make and that's where good old Marks and Spencer comes in

Sometimes it's good to cheat!

You have to kiss a lot of frogs....

to find your prince they say so this little guy is the perfect bedside companion

I love these trinket boxes and the frog prince has found his "bird" to keep him company!

The bird can still be found in some Monsoon stores, the Frog Prince however was picked up in a local gift shop - if only the real thing was as easy to find!

Making a Change

I made a small change in my bathroom recently by changing my bathmat

I'd always admired these bathmats from BHS and picked one up for my bathroom

Whilst I had always liked them it was the pale pink version I'd really wanted but too impatient to look for an alternative meant I can home for one anyway!

I didn't ever feel it looked right so decided a pale pink bathmat was to be looked for! 

Sainsbury's offered the answer!

The right colour and smaller it fits in much better with my bathroom!

It's so nice to be able to make these small tweaks in my home

Book Review | My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

Once again there hasn't been much reading from me the past couple of weeks but today I'm starting Russell Brand's Booky Wook

After watching him on Piers Morgan's Life Stories recently I decided to read a bit more about him - I think we all know he's had an "interesting" life!

And here's a quick photo of my ribs from yesterday

They were delicious!!

Slow Sunday!

Last night I went out for dinner and drinks with friends and knew the possibility of a hangover meant I'd be tempted to reach for takeaway menu's for today's meals!

Instead I reached for some reduced ribs and a Nigella recipe and planned ahead! 

Left to marinate in the fridge overnight all that is required from me today is to throw them in the oven and enjoy!  

Even better I don't actually have a hangover so I can enjoy a lazy Sunday watching TV, reading magazines and browsing blogs! 

Sweet Sausages!

A recipe for maple glazed sausages and a packet of sausages in the freezer meant last nights dinner was decided

I intended to cook all the sausages and then have some for leftovers but they were sooooo delicious I demolished the lot!

I highly recommend you try them!

Cook sausages as you wish (I roasted mine with some onion)

Mix equal parts of maple syrup and brown sugar with a couple of tsps of mustard powder

Pour over the sausages and then return to heat for approx 3-4 mins or until done

Local Loot

After giving the flat a good clean yesterday I headed into town to get my nails painted and couldn't resist popping into a couple of charity shops en route!

And I'm glad I did... look at my haul!

I don't usually find I have much luck in my local high streets charity shops as often the prices are too high but all these goodies were reasonably priced

Of course more pictures for "the wall" 

(I'm slightly nervous about hammering nails in the blank side of the wall as there's a plug socket in the middle!)

I wasn't sure whether I "needed" all this gorgeous utility wear but knew I'd regret it later if I didn't!

The various bowls are Johnson Bros' Rosedawn, Meakin's Rosa and Peach Petal by Grindley and in my defence the price was good and I do use serving bowls often for entertaining

I seem to be on a thrifty run of luck at the moment!

Lighten Up!

As you know I've spent the past few months decorating the flat and buying new furniture, cushions and things but the one problem I had was finding the right light shades to compliment my lounge

In the end I turned to Not On The High Street, specifically The Old Lamp Shed and purchased 2 Cath Kidston shades

Before

After

I was worried they were a little small for the room but everyone tells me they look great! They weren't cheap but they're handmade and I hadn't found any budget alternatives on my search so I'm happy!

I have another day off work today (I love not working on a Monday!) so it's time for some housework and then off to town to have my nails done!

Wishing you all a lovely day

Home Sweet Home!

I arrived home a few hours ago from my brother's having had a fantastic time!

Thursday we packed up the picnic basket and headed to Walton-on-the-Naze

The weather wasn't completely on our side but at least it didn't rain and scones with jam and cream are good in any weather!

Brody enjoyed walking on the beach with his dad

And dad enjoyed some sand drawing!

I managed to spy some charity shops on the walk back to the car and came home with these two framed pictures

And we ended our day with pizza purchased with funds supplied by my mum whilst watching the latest Harry Potter film (which my SIL & I were very disappointed with!)

Friday it was off to the zoo where I fed an elephant!

Brody chilled out watching the animals 

and dad discovered elephants were heavy!

We had lunch in McDonalds (and I was happy to discover the Oreo McFlurry is back!) and later that evening watched another film comfy in pj's on the sofa

Saturday was less activity and more laying around at home in our pjs. My SIL did sneak out for a few hours to visit my favourite vintage shop down the road where I sensibly only purchased some cake forks

A BBQ that evening accompanied the Eurovision Song Contest and an end to a lovely weekend!

I had a lovely time and it really did feel like a holiday as my brother and SIL are great hosts and thoroughly spoilt me with good food, company and things to do! I didn't have to lift a finger the whole time I was!

Thirty Day Challenge - Question 6

Your favourite season and why?

Without a doubt Autumn!Whilst I'm enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather so far this year (and believe me this is usually the time I start wanting to hibernate!) Autumn will always win for me!

When the sun is shining so you need sunglasses but it's cold that you need scarves and snuggly jumpers... Halloween.... Bonfire Night and all the excitement leading up to Christmas! 

Just perfect!

Thirty Day Challenge - Question 5

Tell us about your 3 favourite colours

My favourite colours seem to chop and change and despite thinking one colour is my favourite I find another seems to be more dominate in my life!

Black is one of them - and in the Audrey Hepburn classic way not in the depressing way!

Many of my clothes, especially for work are black! It's slimming and looks good and can be dressed up or down and of course the little black dress can be instantly updated with accessories

I also love Coral at the moment which I believe is very fashionable right now with clothes popping up in those colours in the shops

I've yet to purchase anything other than a pair of earrings and some nail polish in this shade but I intend to change that for Summer!

And my signature colour - RED

I don't wear as much red as I used to (my old college friends say their first memory is of me walking into class with bright red lips!) 

If I have an option I will pick the red dress every time, red lips and especially red nails!

Thirty Day Challenge - Question 4

Write about your closest friend(s)

Well this is an easy post to write and I will certainly be using the plural when I talk about my closest friends! This will be a self-indulgent post with some trips down memory lane for me so apologies in advance for the length of this post!

We'll start with Kelly, you already know much about our adventures which have been from LA to Bristol via London on this blog

Kelly & I actually met through our brothers at the local rugby club where I worked and Kelly would be supporting, we'd join our brothers for drinks, occasionally pop out on our own and always found ourselves parked in Kelly's car outside my parents house talking for another couple of hours!

When I broke up with my fiance many years ago it was Kelly that phoned up and rather than ask how I was or if I wanted company instructed me she'd be round in an hour to pick me up and we were going to watch the boys play rugby (there was a lot of rugby in our early years - spectating not playing your understand!) and from there we spent more and more time together - well we were 2 single gals now and things were really cemented on a trip to Florida where we sat up all night, every night talking about things we wanted to do much of which led to our blogs!

I could go on and on with stories over the fun we've had over the years but one that sticks in my mind as I type (apart from Kelly's attempt to capsize the gondola she was attempting to steer in Venice!) was when we were holidaying in Italy. Many evenings we'd happily sit in bed, applying face creams and talking but one night we were particularly giggly. So much so that her mum had to come in and tell us to keep the noise down as we could be heard all over the camp site - and that was not the last time our talking through the night got us in trouble!

Then of course there is Ben, my "faux husband"

Ben has been a friend for a long time now and he's my rock, plus one when I need a man on my arm and more importantly someone who can't fail to make me laugh no matter how sad and miserable I am

 My first "real" memory of him is from some years ago. We only really knew one another from nights out so he wasn't what I'd call a "friend" then but he was in the pub when I was celebrating and walked over with 2 bottle of wine (Blossom Hill Rose - oh the memories... well more memory loss actually but that's a whole other post!), plonked them on the table and said "Happy Birthday". It was such a nice gesture (buy me a drink and we're friends for life!) and as with Kelly the occasional nights turned into much more

Not our best picture but time with good friends isn't always being glammed up on nights and it's the simple things. This is Lisa and I on the day my trip to Las Vegas was cancelled last December and she joined Ben & I to walk in the snow and visit our local haunt for breakfast

Lisa is the sister of one of my exs - sometimes break ups aren't always a bad thing because you get a good friend! Lisa shares the parking outside my flat so is always popping in for a chat after work and my days at the office would be dull without our email conversations getting me through the week

Lisa also seems to be my theatre pal, last year we saw Dirty Dancing but the funniest was going to watch The Rat Pack at Christmas time... the lights dimmed... the music started and Lisa announced how much she loved "White Christmas". The realisation that had nothing to do with the Rat Pack had us in stitches we missed the first 10 mins of the show! Not to mention the time we booked tickets on Christmas Eve to see The Nutcracker but never made it out of bar we'd met for lunch in beforehand!

And last but by no means least are my friends Sarah (also my SIL!), Rose and Nikki

Sarah might have been my brother's girlfriend first but due to his being stationed in Germany and serving in Kosovo for the first couple of years of their relationship it meant that Sarah hung out with us gals. Sarah is our Disney princess and Horror Movie Queen and she loves gossip! The first thing she asks me whenever we see each other is "what's been happening" she loves to hear stories! And most importantly she LOVES Christmas, no one gets as excited about Christmas as Sarah does!

Rose and I met on a train... well ok we saw each other in the pub once or twice but when we found ourselves catching the same train into London we decided to talk to each other and then nights out followed! Rose & I's friendship outlasted the nights out and I have lovely memories of her sofa watching Family Fortunes and X Factor as well some great stories from nights out which will remain in the vault! I even live in Rose's old flat now since she's moved on with her boyfriend Chris! 

And then we have Nikki... we broke up with boyfriends at the same time and there commenced our Crazy Summer as it is now known! Once again these stories will remain in the vault especially now she's married with two kiddies!!! 

So there you have it, my closest friends! 

Saturday Specials

I had many plans for Saturday but as is always the case time got away from me, I did however find time to pay a visit to my favourite charity shop

A bit early for Christmas but this copy of A Christmas Carol looked suitably "battered" and will be perfect when the season to be jolly arrives! And for some reason I adored the mug and didn't want to leave it behind

Like the mug I loved this lone teacup.... with it's large bowl I thought it perfect for a tealight by my bedside or perhaps to throw my jewellery into of an evening

I already have a similar black swan from my great aunts house and have developed a love of all things swan like recently thinking the idea of having "ying and yang" swans was a nice idea

My bathroom is already filled with mermaids and shell dishes so this trinket box couldn't be left behind

It's so much fun looking for goodies now I have a home to bring them in to and place directly on a shelf or in a room - and also helps my purse as I'm more sensible with purchases!

What did you find this weekend?