Impulse Buy!!!

I am not the worlds best house keeper, I aspire to have a nice house but with working full time there is always something that gets in the way. I have lots of ideas but usually run out of time before I get to translate them into the real thing!! This year I plan on swapping some of my furniture. Carl will be moving into a new flat so its a great time to look at buying some furniture that I have had my eye on for a while!

I have started by buying a new kitchen table, the one I have had for an age was perfectly fine but for years I have been battling with getting the chairs around it. The table I had was a round one that converted into an oval, but even as an oval you could only get 4 chairs around it (you could seat more but the chairs stuck out). So I decided to look for a rectangular table. When we visited Fran and Pete a few weeks ago they had a lovely rectangular table and chairs exactly the same as mine except they had painted theirs and they looked lovely. So this week I bought a table off of The Bay I am thrilled with it I can get all six chairs tucked in under the table which seems both bigger than the last one but takes up less space!! I now plan to buy some ESP (easy surface prep)  as suggested by Fran and change the chairs into something far more beautiful.  Strange thing about the new table, when I rung the lady to arrange to collect it I thought I recognised her voice, it turns out it was a lady I used to work with a few years ago, its a small world!!

Anyway onto my impulse buy. I popped into Aldi to pick up some cereal bars when they had an electric mini cake maker on offer. So I came out with the machine and grand ideas of what I could do with it. It has turned out to be a really useful machine and I have used it lots already. I am not usually a cake maker as it takes a lot of effort and seems to make a load of mess. But I decided to try this maker with a packet mix just to give it a go. I have been most impressed. The cakes are bite sized and cook in less than ten minutes. 

They only had pink ones left and at £7.99 I thought it was worth a go.

I have found that Petit Four cases from Asda are the perfect size. You can only cook 7 at a time and whatever mixture you use you can only get one teaspoon in the case.

Yesterday I made a couple of batches some fruit cakes, which was dried fruit and mixed spice added to a basic Victoria sandwich cake mix!! I also made another batch using left over bananas mashed down and mixed in with the basic packet mix. I know that this doesn't make me into a Nigella, but for a quick and easy cake which because of its size must be better than eating a full sized cake calorie wise, I am pleased with how they have turned out.

I have even pushed the boat out and added proper swirly icing to the top of some of them !! I have started to look on line for other recipes and it seems that you can make mini tarts in the machine as well, so I can feel some experimentation coming on!!

So as I said quite an impulse buy when  I was only planning on buying some cereal bars!!!

Finally I have had a bit of a week and I am glad that it is over so I can move onto a fresh week, Beth has been very helpful and she knew I was feeling a bit fed up with everything, so she surprised me a beautiful bunch of flowers to star on my new table!!

I hope you all have a lovely week make the most of the last of the lovely weather, you can definitely feel a change to the air first thing in the mornings, we are heading into autumn, my favourite time of year!!

Busy Times!!

I have neglected my poor blog and I have been reminded by several people, so I'll take the slap on the wrist and get my finger out once again!! Beth appeared in the local paper after they did an article of her hair cut and fund raising efforts. She was thrilled to have made the cut and loads of people seem to get the paper as we have had lots of comments from people noticing her!!

In the past couple of weeks Beth has had her GCSE results and she obtained enough A to C grades to start her college course at Oaklands. She is studying early years learning and she is so excited!!!

After enrolling at college we all went out for a celebratory lunch!!!

We have harvested our potatoes and this year the amount was just a tad disappointing. I think that we have something going on in the container as they all appeared to be small and scabby and not in a very nice way!!!

Next year we'll try some in a different container. The weather is still fantastic so we are making the most of the last beautiful days of the summer. 

I love the way the air smells as we approach the autumn, because of the children were born in October and November its a smell that reminds me of a very happy time of year. Going into hospital and coming out with a lovely baby, going into hospital in the warm balmy weather and coming out with a frost and the start of cooler weather, before we know it, it will be Christmas.

I am enjoying doing my sewing again. It is amazing how good it feels to be able to put pieces of cloth together and producing a dress. I have treated myself to a new sewing machine, Beth had loaned me her little one, but its not really able to do the full range of things. I need it to be able to do straight stitch and zig zag, also I need to be able to change the foot and put in  a zipper. I tracked a beautiful Elna machine on EBay and managed to win it. Tom and I took a trip into London to collect it and I have given it a bit of a run out. So far all seems to be fine. So I am looking forward to putting it through its paces this weekend.

I am also enjoying a bit of card making using an on line word program. I am quite proud of myself I have made my own colour combinations by using hexi-decimal codes!! (I am not even sure I know what that means!!!) But it works for me!

Today Mum had an appointment at the hospital, a pre med for her knee replacement operation which is planned for later this month. Everything seems to be OK so its all go for the 24th of September. I hope the knee makes a difference and that she will soon be back on her feet.

A Productive few weeks.

I have had a productive few weeks, I love it when I have a few projects on the go. Sometimes its great to have a few deadlines to stick to. I have also rediscovered my love of sewing. So it was great to spend a few hours making myself a dress, something I have not done for around 25 years!!  I was amazed that the techniques all came flooding back. I am really pleased with the outcome, I carefully measured to make sure that the fit was good, it is good!! The one measurement I didn't pay too much attention to was the length, so I will need to add a few more inches to it the next time I make one!!! 

On the plus side Beth has fallen in love with it and it looks like she will have the first one!!!

I was also asked to make a couple of personalised gift tags for a friend.. I had fun designing them and I was pleased with the results!!

I also made some pretty little glass angels for another friend. I hope that the friends she intends to give them to likes them. 

Finally last week Beth finally had her long hair chopped off to raise money for Cancer Research. She has donated the hair to another charity called The Little Princess Trust who make the donated hair into wigs for children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy treatment. Our hairdresser Micheal at Ashley Charles Salon in WGC, offered to do her hair for free. So we went one afternoon last week for the big 'chop'

First of all they had to plait her hair so that they could chop it off without it getting tangled.

Here she is with her hair around a foot shorter!!

Finally she dyed her hair and packaged up the newly chopped off plaits to send to the charity. So far she has raised in excess of £300. Well done Beth and thank you to all our friends and family who have supported her.Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine over the coming Bank Holiday weekend!!

Not been the best of weeks.......

I finally finished all of washing created by a few days camping I am still amazed at how much is produced!! There seems to have been a load of things happening this week. Carl has gone on his holiday to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. He is there at the moment and sending back reports of what he is up to. I am really jealous and I wish I could have done the trips he is doing when I was younger. The closest I got to exotic places like Hong Kong is writing to my old Brown Owl when she left the pack and moved to Hong Kong  40 odd years ago. I am pleased that he can experience all these things. This week he has been in Bangkok and today he has been tending elephants in Chang Mai, what a fantastic experience.

Back to more mundane things - Bottles of coke. Throughout the summer Coca Cola have been issuing bottles with names on them. I found Laura when we were on holiday in Rome, I had a couple of bottles of Thomas and this last week I had a few sightings of Liz. Carl and Beth were proving to be far more difficult. I have my neighbour Karen to thank for this collection!! She sent me this photo after spotting all the names on the same shelf in just about the right order!! Brilliant.

Sometimes when its been a long hard week something happens to lift your spirits. Last Friday my hip took a turn for the worse. It became so painful that I couldn't walk. It really got me down in the dumps. I think its the pain that drags things down, it really took me by surprise because up until now I had been managing with painkillers and taking things easy. In the end I went to the Doctors and he referred me straight away to the hospital for an X-ray. Within the space of a couple of hours I had the X ray and that ruled out a fracture (thank goodness) . He has given me new painkillers and on Friday afternoon I took two of those and spent the rest of the day completely spaced out. The pain was under control but I couldn't stay awake. I decided to take it easy for the weekend and see how I felt on Sunday evening. Things do seem to have settled down so fingers crossed that I will get through tomorrow. 

Anyway on Friday when I was feeling particularly sorry for myself I received a beautiful floral display and a box of chocolates from a chap who I am helping out. It was so nice that he had thought of me.

This year my holiday seems so far away, I don't like having to wait until later in the year, but that's how it goes I suppose.

Have a good week.

Goodbye Weekend....

The weekend has flown by again,we seem to have packed a fair bit into it. Carl came back from Cub camp with a ton of washing....

This was AFTER I had washed two loads and got it out on the line!!

It took forever but it was a case of cracking on or having the house smell like a campfire for the rest of the weekend!

Saturday we invested in some more weed suppressing membrane to replace the stuff which was under the gravel that was under the trampoline. While the trampoline was in place the dog decided it would be a good idea to dig it up! Of course to replace it we had to shift a ton of gravel!! We left it until Sunday morning to attempt that feat, thank goodness there was a bit of a breeze or I think we would have cooked. I am not expecting to be able to walk tomorrow as its a while since I did that much physical labour!! It was lucky that Tom and I attempted it together we took it in turns raking and shifting!! I am happy that its done and we now have a nice space in the garden to sit in.

I am so pleased that we now have a place to sit outside, I have ordered a screen to hide the recycling bins which are a real eyesore. We also dug out some tubs that had been full of weeds and replanted them. We have plans to plant up some troughs and have flowers up against the bare fences. 

The weather has been so hot that it has really had a negative impact on the plants. We have been watering for England but they are struggling. Getting rid of the trampoline meant that I could trim the roses back and I am afraid its a kill or cure, I hope it comes again next year!!!

During the week Beth and I went diving again, this time it was my second week snorkeling. I am really impressed with how easy it is and how far you can go underwater with just one breath.  It has been years since I had to duck dive, but I was still able to do it and that really helped getting along bottom of the pool! I think I am going to have another go during the week and see if I can perfect my skills.

Yesterday I went out with Carl to buy some clothes for his holiday, he was buying I was along for the ride, I finally found a coke bottle with my name on it HURRAH!! simple pleasures!!

It was funny being in his car, He went back into Matalan to get Beth some socks, a couple of different people said 'cute car' what they actually meant was what is a middle aged woman like you doing in a sports car?? Oh well it was a good trip and we got what we went for.

Have a lovely week, don't work too hard.

One Long Party....

Its funny how the nice weather brings out the party animal in all of us, we seem to have been to a few gatherings of late and the odd alcoholic drink has slipped down almost un-noticed!!

Last night the beautiful weather took a turn for the worse and we had a humdinger of a thunderstorm. The only problem was that we were out at a barbecue, it was a real shame that the weather literally put a damper on things. The only good thing was that the rain came quite late after a lot of people had consumed a lot of homemade wine. (who knows how strong that stuff was,)

I didn't know too many people there, but Andy my washing machine man was on fine form, he managed to cook the barbecue and then it was all downhill from there on, he had great fun but managed to smash his head off the conservatory wall and while stumbling around in the garden he face planted a garden chair, no blood, but there will be bruises, it looked pretty battered last night!!!

I am getting too old for all this merry making, its exhausting.

On a more sober note, this week I tried snorkeling, having had a go at scuba I thought this would be easier, well it wasn't easier, but it was different. I will need to practice the skills needed to snorkel. You don't have to  panic, you have to keep your breathing steady, you also have to conserve energy, by not flapping around with your arms and practice using your fins  instead. It was a very nice first attempt and I think I would like another go at it. Its less equipment intensive and not quite as scary. As a bonus I got a certificate and a badge, I do like a nice badge!!

Back into the fray, hope you all have a great week. 

The Great Weather Continues.

This past week the weather has been fantastic, really hot and lovely. Its been ages since we have had such a lovely run of weather. Today was Mums birthday, 78 years young, so we decided to take her out for lunch at The Beehive Pub.Laura wasn't feeling too well so she wasn't able to make it. Beth had a shift at work so it was just the five of us.We had a lovely Carvery meal, turkey in July, you can't beat it!! I am afraid my eyes were bigger than my belly and I had a bit left over!! They were very kind and put it all in tin foil for Hunny, who was very pleased that I had a little present for her!!

When we got back we popped in for a cuppa and a slice of birthday cake.

The weekend off got off to a great start, we went out for the evening with our friends Rick and Dina, we hadn't seen them for ages and they live so close so there is no excuse really!!! We had a  ticket that we won on a quiz night earlier in the year, so we used that. In the end we all had a main course and three puddings between four of us, it worked out around £2.50 each for the food!! (We split the outstanding amount!) Bargain!!!

Yesterday we had our friends the Jackson's around for a pre holiday planning meeting (or a barbecue!!) Here I am wearing my Disney outfit! Last time we went we all dressed in matching T shirts with our adopted names on the back - Shandy, Randy, Brandy, Candy, Andy, Dandy, Mandy and Sandy!!!!! This time I have found some T shirts in the Primark sale so this year we will have matching back in the day shirts!!

We finished the evening off with a couple of rounds of the saucepan game, its funny how it gets funnier and harder to play when you have had a few drinks!!

Sadly the weather is due to break this week, the forecast is for storms mid week so we had better make the most of what we have left.

Have a great week!!

Heat Wave!!!

We finally have the summer that we have all been waiting for, for ages it seems!!! At last we are having long hot days which of course means long hot nights as well! I enjoy the days but the nights are something else!!!

I still think on balance I would rather have the nice hot weather!

I have had a busy time of late with a trip to Cambridge for a birthday get together at the beginning of the month, then last weekend I had a night away in Brentwood in Essex for another conference. It was at this conference that I had a very strange experience. 

During the evening we had a disco, a nice buffet and a bit of a bop. There were other people around on the same conference and a couple of the ladies worked for businesses locally so I spoke to them with a view to doing a bit of networking. During that evening one of the ladies husband turned up and I thought I recognised him, so I spent a while trying to sort out in my head why I knew him. Eventually I had to ask and it turned out he was a lad who lived in the same village as me and was in the class above me at the village school!! He was also the first boyfriend of one of my dear friends, who stole his heart and in his words was 'my one true love' I hope his wife didn't hear that comment!!!

All the wonderful weather has really bought on the plants , Dad has some lovely Sweet peas, they smell gorgeous!

I was on a walk when I noticed some deadly nightshade, looks very pretty.

You can't beat summer roses, we finally have some beautiful blooms. It has taken a few years for them to establish themselves again after they were battered when we had the fences replaced, but the circumstances are perfect for them this year. 

Open Topped Car Ride!!

I was very pleased with myself last year to fit into Carl's car, the next step was to have a go on a nice sunny day with the top down. That day finally arrived last week. It has been an issue waiting for a hot sunny day but we have now had a few hot days so I asked Carl to take me out for a spin!

The car is so close to the ground it feels like you are sitting on the road. In fact getting in wasn't too bad, but getting out was interesting. I had to make sure it wasn't parked too close to the kerb because I couldn't bend my knees that much to get out!!!

It was good fun zapping along with the wind in your hair!! I wish I had had a sports car when I was younger!!!

I have had another of those weeks, frantically busy with work trips into London and a train trip into Cambridge. The trouble is when the weather changes into real summer with heat and sun, travelling becomes unpleasant. After my London trip I did something I had never done before, I was walking to the station with a colleague when we walked past a pub, a pub serving cold draught cider, draught cider in an air conditioned pub, it was too hard to resist, we went in and had a pint, not even a half pint, a whole pint each and it was so good!!!!

Last night we went to Cambridge for an evening reception, it was lovely, a buffet in a marquee, some good speakers and free wine. FREE WINE!!! Whats not to like? I joined my friends chatting ad before I knew it I was feeling a little light headed and on the way back to the train station, I have no idea where the evening went, I felt delicate while on the train, but luckily I was OK this morning!!! Thank goodness I had Tom to chaperon me!!!

Beautiful Flowers!

We recently celebrated our Wedding Anniversary (I am sure that you realise that by now!!!) We were very lucky as friends and family sent us flowers and gifts. My friend Karen gave us these beautiful Gerberas. They have been lovely, really bright vibrant colours and they have lasted ages and ages. They are still going now, two weeks later. 

I took them for a trip into the back garden to get a few shots of them.

I love the detail in the centres. They are all different and individual. 

Mum and Dad sent us a beautiful hand tied bouquet, so we have been very lucky!

Last year we decided to plant the gardens with plants that come every year, well every couple of years. This year we have a great big clump of this plant, trouble is I have no idea what t is !! Its very pretty though.  

Our bird feeders are still being regularly visited by mainly big fat pigeons who hog all the seed, we are getting through a whole feeder of food a day!! This morning I was getting ready for work when I spotted a squirrel tucking into the peanuts!! Its the first time I have seen a squirrel in the garden for years, since we had the tree taken down a few years ago! I wasn't quite quick enough with my camera to get a shot!!!

Prom Night!!!

Last week Beth had her year 11 Prom. We had prepared well, we started months ago looking for dresses. Beth knew what she wanted so we decided to take a chance and order the dress from a company in China. Beth had firm ideas on the style and colour so we eventually tracked the perfect dress down and ordered it. It took around 7 weeks from order to arrival. Once it was here it was just what she wanted!!

It was good to have the bodice style top as it made the fit fully adjustable.

On the night of the Prom it poured with rain, so I didn't get much chance to take many photos. Luckily there was a photographer and Beth bought some photos for the album.

The Prom was held in a marquee at The Noke Hotel in St Albans, Beth said it was great fun and she really enjoyed herself, although she also said that the toilets were not too good!!

Beth and Chelsea.

Beth and her friends!! I can't believe that the time has gone so fast and that in September she will be starting college and the next part of her education.