Rising to the occasion...

36 little cup cakes later and thankfully there were enough early risers to butter up with lemon curd and take downstairs to the party! Naomi came for the day and we had a fab time. We went to Sainsbury's searching for ingredients and bun tins. The search continued in Nailsworth where we found a measuring jug too.. oh, how sad my life is that I'm excited about buying a new measuring jug! Had lunch at Hobbs and wandered round town before coming back to bake cup cakes. Thank goodness little missy N was awake and noticed I hadn't added any baking powder! I thought fairy cakes just rose on their own.. who invented plain flour anyway... it's useless for making cakes!±@ Hey ho & anyway, the afternoon was delightful, we watched Devil Wears Prada dvd, Tash arrived & we had mum's christmas cake, and I made more cup cakes.. & this time remembered to add that all important ingredient... baking powder... he he... where would a girl be without baking powder hey?!

I saw the New Year in with my lovely neighbours... the mad, the bad and the certifiable... we ate, drank fizzy, formed a penny whistle band and sprinkled star dust on more neighbours at midnight with a few well chosen and very long sparklers! As befits the occasion and as always seems to happen on these occasions... they all tripped round my place for a guided tour just before midnight... they loved it.. but not half as much as I do! x

me and the girls...

I took the girls to OPA in Bath and we had a fantastic time! The buffet was amazing, the food was lovely and the staff were so friendly. Naomi loved the Tiropitakia - triangles of cheese - so much that she brought some back home with her. The Papoutsakia - stuffed aubergine with mince topped with bechamel sauce was my favourite and Tash, I think just loved it all... there were 12 individual dishes with two served of some, there wasn't room on the table for more! Their father really doesn't know what he's missing... mfh x

My 1st girly party...

The girls came around tonight... woo hoo! It was an experiement really... just to see how many girlies I could fit into my apartment and guess what... there's room for so many more! Angela came with Dom & Lisa and Nix came too... we dined on scrummy butternut squash, chestnut and blue cheese, my fragrant indian spiced baked salmon and lovely gruyere cheese and chive baked potatoes.. we drank cocktails and topped it off with Dom's banoffie pie... yum! Angela was doing tarot... very interesting... but a secret... x

It's a wonderful life...

Fi, Rob & Ellie came today... it was just so lovely to see them. Fi, Rob and me went to the Britannia for lunch. Rob brought crackers, Fi bought me some fabulous bowls and chop sticks and we planned 'time out' for 2008.. woo hoo! Great friends are such a precious gift. Fi & me have been friends for over 30 years. We first met on a pavement in Dudley and spent the next two years living in an attic room on Lingfield Road. We decorated every spare inch of that room with posters and here we are today and nothing much has changed. We still feel 19, we're even better friends but the challenges have got much greater. We're now trying to decorate the entire world with bits of paper and take photographs along the way so that we can remind ourselves where we've been! We've come a long way since those days in Dudley, some of us have travelled to more continents than others (I'm not bitter, honest!) being great friends is what really matters.

This holiday has been as wonderful as the friends and family I have around me, they all mean the world to me.

The BIG day!

Happy Crimbo... what do you get when you combine Liz and presents?! Excitement, rustling and a flurry of feverish unwrapping!
One happy bunny!
Make that two happy bunnies!

before and after...

here's the happy couple... before and after... there is only one way... x x

Phew.. home ... break open the pink champagne!

A taxi from Greg's house... a very quiet train from Lancaster... picked up by Rich in my sparkly, clean car! We dropped mum and dad off first then I managed to prise my son from behind the wheel of my mini so I could drive back to chez-anna. I flew home, literally, then armed with a bottle of plonk and chocies...

I headed to neighbours Chris & Fiona's for that much needed drink! Pink champers, woo hoo... and lots of interesting and wacky neighbours to chat to, fab! People are so interesting, don't you think? The mad ones are the best, the most fun and my neighbours are certainly an entertaining bunch! A few glasses later, a few nibbles (and I'm not joking there!) a guided tour of two properties and we were celebrating the dawn of Christmas Day 07! Around 1:30am I was ushered back to my door and although I didn't see Santa, or his sleigh, I was smiling and happy... .x

Lancaster bound...

Home sweet home... that is in Greg & Rachael's pad in Lancaster along with all the menagerie... had an eventful journey up there with mum and dad, oh how I love trains... not! The Bay Horse is a treat and had a lovely singsong at the carols and readings xmas service

It just had to be real...

Real... artificial... real... artificial... ? It just had to be real and little me struggled with it all the way up the stairs and it looks very twinkly now. It adds just the right kind of light to the room and has just enough space below for santa and his presents...

chestnut and stilton quiche...

This one's for you Greg! Who could resist this fabulous Hobbs quiche? Not me...! Makes the Xmas shopping so much easier to swallow.... !

HDV + OPL

Welcome to Vegas... well, it was in Bristol, but it was a good effort! Another year over and another Origin Party, though this time I arrived on my own and left with a date. Last year, as I recall, it was the other way around! How random is my life when it's spinning around planet singledom. It put a smile on my face anyway... which is exactly where my smile should be. There was plenty of glitz, champagne on the door, spirits flowing all night, got quizzed by another AM (gosh, I didn't realise he was another one!) and we danced until the small hours until my lift arrived. And, of course, HDV - just perfect x

my fav xmas thingummy

i just couldn't resist this very cute silver reindeer to hang on my xmas branches... it has to be my most fav xmassy trinket this year x

I love photoshop... my new 07 bling xmas cards...

Solved the 'make your own xmas cards' dilemma that I seem to be having this year. If you receive a card from me this year you might recognise this.... he he... x if you don't get one of these, you could get one of my world famous triangular creations... if you don't receive either of these, it means you've slipped off my xmas list... whooosh... or perhaps you were never on it.. ! it's amazing what you can do with a photo, courtesy of my fab but chilly day out at Westonbirt with 'my wonderful parents' a bit of playing around, courtesy of my very own personal photoshop guru - DAD and a couple of little gems... one being the glitter, the other being me! x I've realised that the secret to true happiness comes in an orange box, guess what that is?!

surreal...

Last saturday morning I was swimming in the outdoor pool at the hotel under glorious blue skies listening to Andy Williams 'It's the most wonderful time of the year'.. beat that! The pool was as hot as a very warm bath and stretched from inside the hotel out to the infinity pool which overlooked the city of Barcelona and the sea beyond. Sun... sea.... and solitude! x and what am I doing this morning... nothing quite so glamorous, I have some very special xmas cards to make for family and friends, I'm going to schmooze into town to peruse the bookshops and tonight I'm taking my new hair out to dinner! x

what can i say...

Gaudi...

I'm in awe of this guy. Here I was sitting on a bench admiring the sheer scale of one of his masterpieces. The curves, the ironwork and the creativity are beautiful and all the more amazing being here in one of the main streets of Barcelona. Try getting planning permission for this in the UK!

church chairs...

Would we all be standing up in cafes if we had carried on going to church? Every cafe and restaurant these days seems to have its fair share of church chairs. Sitting in a cafe in Barcelona on a church chair and looking around, I could see chairs with an obvious religious history. Who knows whose bums had graced these seats, if seats could talk hey! On second thoughts... x

water sculptures...

there was plenty to sit and watch whilst relaxing.. from the corkscrew water fountain to the wall of water that cascaded down the side of the pool... the screens of patterns on the side of the pool were also pretty cool...

amazing light sculpture

this dazzling light sculpture decended through from the top floor all the way down to ground...

announcing annabananas arrival...

a bit OTT i thought but very nice to let everyone know I was coming, all the same... x

woo hoo...

all I can say is that someone had to do it... champagne cocktails... that is... what a fantastic place to relax amongst the xmas trees, comfy sofas, coffee table books and just enjoy a champagne cocktail, or two. Beats rushing down to the beach, sitting on the top of a tour bus and made me feel home from home.. x

What a view...

It was tough waking up to this view and I had to try really hard to beat the one I wake up to every day...! and that's not the ugly mug of some 'rat'.. it's the view of the lake which is unquestionably more stunning, reliable and pleasing. Barcelona is fantastic! I admit, it took me a while to get over being there on my own but with such a stunning hotel, lots of air miles between me and home and such lovely people, by Friday I was starting to chill.

Leopards... and their spots..!

Success... and I love it!
Don't you love getting to the part with the BIG brush.... that's the easy bit!
What a pain having to concentrate for so long... phew... but, it will be worth it!
Leopards might not change their spots but I can change the way things look. A tin of paint, a couple of brushes and I have a feature wall in my bedroom! FAB!

Ardea cinerea..

I wonder if it notices how cold its feet are...? Perhaps that's why its knees are so high up. Won't fall over because it's got very long toes. Gosh, today, I'm a heron guru! It must be a lonely life being a single, solitary grey heron. Where is its partner, soulmate, fish-flapping buddy to share all those cute, fishy stories with? It stands so still just watching, a young child could take lessons from a heron! Either that, or it's spotted me and my binos eyeing it up, though it's not exactly the singleton I was hoping for! Hey ho, it can stand all day by my big lake because there are plenty more tasty fish for me!

Birthday girls

Liz & Emma are both 25 on Saturday... !! Liz asked me to do 'one of my crazy cards' and send her for her birthday. I wanted to make them both similar cards to celebrate them being born on the same day. Two cute cards with plenty of bling and lippy! x

City girl...

What a busy weekend! Slipped down the stairs on Friday and I think I've broken my toe... hurt like hell on Friday night! Saturday I was determined to drive to London to see Liz. I only managed to hobble from the taxi into a chinese restaurant for lunch in Islington, then got the tube and a bus home. Wow... a bus... that's a first for quite a number of years...! Had a lovely long sleep on her sofa, Liz is very hospitable and it was lovely to stay with her. Her sofa is very comfy and the apartment is fab! Sunday was for a lazy start and the real test.. could I get around London? I wanted to walk across the Millenium bridge across the Thames... We walked from Oxford Street all the way down to the Thames, through Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, past Big Ben, the London Eye, the Oxo tower, St Paul's and across the Millenium bridge. The walk was amazing and it was fantastic to see so many sights, all within an hour of the apartment. I'd love to visit Tate Modern next time I get the chance to walk across the bridge... !

Thames walk...

My weekend...

dozy bird.... yawn... sleepy me!

London Eye...

What a spectacular sight... both from my side of the river and from the London Eye. What goes round, comes around... should have known better when you came around... Justin is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXm3Qg7sBo

Look out...

My life is a laugh a minute, (and that's a girly minute, not a blokey one!) I made a mistake, it's not a heron up that tree, nor a hawk but another bird, a kite! Wow... it's got a tail and flaps a lot and it used to be tied to a small child! Doh! It's amazing how clear life becomes with a pair of binos. I've bought this tiny pair with a bit in the middle you can twiddle and a perfect size for my handbag! I have this vision of me peering into someone's window down here and finding a guy staring back at me. I'm astonished you don't need a license for them... ! They'll be great to take to the races for totty spotting and who knows, I may even use them to look at the birds! Well, any red-blooded male would so why can't I?! x

BOOOOOOoooooooooops!

Sitting watching big, grey bird up in tree! Life doesn't get much better, hey! Counter thought... it could be watching me... mmm... need to buy binos because life lacks clarity... working and watching... I just paid my council tax and I think it's time for soup. You know what they say about all work and no play... ! Bad news... I knew it would happen, slipped down my stairs and I hadn't even had a drink... well, only my early morning cup of tea! Hope I haven't broken my toe... it's ouch ;-( Good news... new neighbours must like me because had invite this morning to the headmasters & mistresses xmas eve drinks party! Better practise my jive steps... can't with ouch toe... dam! x

ThankGit'sthursday...

It seems like the longest week in the world.... ! Don't believe anyone who tells you that time passes by at the same speed no matter what.... take trying to get ready in the morning when you've sneaked another 15minutes in bed.. time rushes by and 15 minutes having a shower and drying my hair goes by in a flash! Whereas sitting waiting for someone to get ready to go out and the time just drags... it's time to get myself a watch with 'men' time on it! There's so obviously a difference between 'girl' time... and 'men' time... !! Sat through a dull meeting trying to get through 15 pages of wibble today, yawn, had my video cancelled which wasn't a bad thing, had redesign strategy meeting which was fun and I think I had lunch.... I'm not quite sure. Going out with the lovely Tash tonight so I think we'll go to the Indian and have pineapple and chat to the lovely, young waiters... that's much more fun that staying in!

Roll on Friday! Roll on the weekend! Roll on my week's holibob too... woo hoo!

Having a Vanilla evening...

Went to Vanilla tonight for their beauty open evening. Had a bizarre drive there... only just drove up the hill at the back of the development and the wall had collapsed so squeezed past, then stopped to chat with mr bmw estate man (nice looking but as Nicky correctly pointed out, he's bound to have kids or a dog!) then had to reverse for white van man and hadn't even reached the top of the hill yet! It was pouring down with rain so went through some big puddles and a blooming great stag (with antlers!) ran across the road in front of me... what a journey. Got into Chelts and had to go through some red lights on roadworks because it just wouldn't change... I was so glad when I'd parked the car... ! A top night tho chatting to the great stretched, taut, treated and pampered then had a meal downstairs. It was packed out, very surprising for a Tuesday & Nix enjoyed it too... so her birthday treat went down very well... !

Better late than never...

Fi & Ros came on Sunday so I finally managed to make dad's birthday card! It kinda evolved having decided I wanted to include a photograph I'd taken at Westonbirt with him hiding in the undergrowth! I also wanted to use this folded layout. I think it's kinda nice and it's currently winging it's way by snail mail... only a few days late! I also made on for my little sister who's birthday was last Tuesday...! The best things come to those who wait... and who are exceedingly patient... !

Fi and Ros had a lovely time and they just loved the apartment. Ros is already a wizz at scrapping and Fi, well... who could have predicted all those years ago when we shared a room at college that later in life we'd both be spending our Sunday's scrapping! I feel so so lucky x

A J Lewis day

Wow... went browsing today... wallpaper, paint, bedlinen, lamps... I can feel a spot of decorating coming on! I just adore the new flock papers though a single roll is the price of a small island... and that's without Ant or Dec! And, I bought a short red coat... looks fab! Dave & Lynn escorted me to my neighbours drinks party in the evening and I got to meet lots of my lovely neighbours. I had a taste of jive with C for charming Chris the headmaster who lives in the corner (with his headmistress!), the one with the decking, and they have already been inside my place... apparently! I had a long chat with mr jag man who told me his life story and was with the bonnie, 4ft nothing woman with A for attitude! Bless... Lots of people who I may not see again until the next party... but it was great to take a look at another property, and one with a bigger sink in the downstairs cloaks and very interesting doors... oh to be an interior designer thingummy person... me thinks.. I may go to Jive now on a Thursday to be thrown around by my neighbours... and hopefully get invited to lots more parties... woo hoo!

Guess the fattie...?

NOT ME! One sure fire way to make yourself feel good after a binge evening on bannoffie pie. Went into W for soup and a coffee at lunchtime and who should walk across the road but these two sumo wrestlers! Not a sight you see every day so when they came into the shop I just had to get a photo. No, Nailsworth hasn't gone completely bonkers, the girls were just out collecting for Children in Need. Worth every penny I'd say, for such a good laugh... x