Home sweet home...

Wellies... one of the best restaurants in Mallorca so in true Diva style.. we went there twice! This fine restaurant is right on the coast in Puerto Portals marina where the rich and famous rock up with their yachts and to say they are enormous is still an understatement! How the other half lives... !



Sun, sea and swimming... well, not quite swimming but I got my paddle! Here's the view from the beach just outside the hotel. If I were sitting at breakfast, I could be on the beach in around 15 seconds... not bad hey! It's been a hectic few days and with such a lot to do in the studio, I just had a few hours off on Thursday morning. It was bliss! A late start, a sit on the balcony in the sun and then a walk along the beach and a paddle. It's just what I needed to restore my sanity! x

Majorca moments...

Oh, where did that week go? I'm here in Majorca filming a new dvd and gosh, I'm so tired tonight. It's 25 past 8 here in not so sunny majorca, (it's rained with thunder and lightening tonight!) and we're still filming...! I arrived on Monday evening so we were filming yesterday, though problems with the cameras took out the morning so we're playing catch up now. It's not a bad place to be.. people are nice... it's hard work but good too at the same time. The experience is good, if you know what I mean, though tonight I'm just tired and would like to chill with a glass of wine and some food. Oh well... more to do yet and I'm just catching a moment to write whilst the others are on set.

So far I've stamped, embossed, glued, cut, trimmed, tied, painted, glittered, written, stuck, folded, taped and all in the name of craft! I've also been bitten by those little blighters you can never see, but you know they're there! They started on myself and Ann Marie so I guess they're just starting at the beginning of the alphabet and it will be your turn next! Believe me, the bites are very painful and could quite easily put me in a mood.. and that would be a rare sight! I must be a tasty bird, don't you think, either that or I'm just lucky.. yeah right!

When I get back home I'm going to be so happy to chill and just sleep... and eat chocolate... mmm.. x

Little Missyx2

In fact two little missys have arrived at the apartment today...! How lovely to see Liz and her friend Sahdia. They have certainly made me laugh today! We had lunch in Cheltenham, wandered the shops then came home to watch a dvd and eat crispy duck pancakes... Liz's favourite feast... ! And I've got my new phone so I'm back in the real world again. Well, I will be once I've replaced some of my photos and given it an 'anna-restyle'! I also bought myself a new bag which is too large for a handbag, but too small for overnight! I'm going to call it my 'HL' bag because it's perfect for my latest adventure to far flung destinations..! The lady in the shop was very helpful, though did try to sell me the latest new colour... pistachio green! I think not! My mind wandered back to that fateful day oh so many years ago when I had a colourblind moment and painted the entire hall, stairs and landing in a disgusting shade of pistachio green! Not one of my finest moments... but it always makes me smile when I see the colour and it makes a great story! x

Home of the '2in1'.. Pie!

Earning a crust has never been such a pleasure... well, so they say! Tonights supper was none other than a taste of the infamous 2in1 pie at the Weighbridge Inn. Created 20 years ago the 2in1 pie is known all over the world! It's served in a large bowl and contains a choice of filling in one half with the other half made up of tasty cauliflower cheese. This mouth-watering creation is then topped with pastry and brought to the table on a wooden board! Thankfully, I chose a dainty mini, which is a darn sight smaller than the much larger daddy of a pie, the 2in1 which was easily consumed by mr minty! It was tasty but perhaps more suited to a winter meal because it was a bit too heavy for me, but worth trying. I managed to eat half of mine so had space to off a large glass of saint emillion, which was wonderful. Came back home with a brisk walk up the hill which gave me an appetite for a hot cross buttered bunny, of all things! Where would we be without a hot cross bunny on Good Friday Eve?! x

guess who came to dinner?!

It is true! I happen to have some of my maddest moments when Ginger is around! I love that girl...! We've not done much crafting because we've both been working our socks off, but we've had those special tiny moments of sheer madness that make our friendship so memorable. And this wasn't all...! x

It could only be YOU!

Do you recognise this person? There's only one thing better than a box full of Green & Blacks... a tummy full of Green & Blacks butterscotch chocolate and a box full of smiley Ginger Pie! It must be the altitude in my place that causes such silliness.. okay, perhaps it's more to do with the fact that we're both bonkers conkers! It made us laugh after a very long but fun day... x

A great idea for a new diet!

How about if we lost weight according to how much, and how fast we worked? If I could lose oodles of calories as my brain whirred faster than a fast things fast bits, then I'd have started the day as a size 12 and now be a size 6! Mmm, just looked and it ain't true... ! Oh well... x

Better than...?

What's better than a friend with chocolate...? A friend with a bottle of bubbly... Verve Cliquot at that, my favourite..... she knows me so well...! And as we're just a couple of sweet little chicks, I saw these yummy mallow biscuits in the cake shop and just couldn't resist! Of course, as with all things sweet and vaguely beautiful, they tasted absolutely horrible! In this case it was possibly something to do with the radio active sunshine topping... but hey, they raised a smile and had their great photo moment... then hit the bin! x

Just doing my thing...

"Remember the journey and don't be in a hurry to make it to the finishing post" I'm not sure who said that, but the sentiment fits perfectly with this week's efforts. Today I'm enjoying the journey. Resolved to being cut off from the world, I'm having a day just doing my own thing, stamping and making cards. I've had a good week for just 'doing stuff' and 'being arty' taking a glorious evening out to make Ginger's birthday book. She had a misty moment when she opened it... that's why we're buddies ;-) x

I'm such a bright spark..!

Of course, no one could say I was a true teccie and when it comes to electricity, I'm sure I have my own charge! Take my phone for instance. Won't recharge so I've had to go and order a replacement. Not a problem except for the fact that this morning the battery was low on the silly replacement standby phone they've lent me and could I get it to charge? No way, Hose! Every which was I tried it just wouldn't work - ever get the feeling it's YOU?! Spookily yes, I did so I walked away from the phone (as my best friend Ginger would tell me to) and whilst I was away the screen went blank, the phone went dead so now no phone at all! x

What a week... !

It started with a few busy days at work and it's been a fun-packed week! Highlight of the week has to be race day and what a great day it turned out to be! With the previous day's racing cancelled due to the storms, the racing was due to start at 12:30 with 10 fabulous races throughout the afternoon. I met Dom and we drove to her friend's house so we could park close to the course. Both of us had done our homework and had got a few racing tips so we wouldn't appear as green as the grass we were walking on! I've never seen the course so packed with men, I'd say 50 to 1 and they reckon a total of 60,000 race goers for the day. I managed to win the 4th race with Master Minded and picked up £20, woo hoo! And we shared a bottle of bubbly with a great couple of girls. One is horsey physiotherapist to the stars, whilst the other has a race horse that we're hoping to see back at Chelts for point to point in May. We met their single friend who had hands large enough for any horse and it was a fun hour in the champagne bar.
Lunch was fabulous, a seafood platter between us. The waitress said she'd find a couple of single men to sit with us! She managed to find a vintage racer, Graham, who turned out to be a brick! A brick with a bottle of bubbly too... woo hoo! He helped us with a few more racing tips and I'm sure we made his lunch a tasty treat. We finished the afternoon back in the champagne bar to hide from the drizzle, along with the other 59,998 punters of course who were sheltering from the downpour!! The place was jammed packed so we cruised from one crowd to another and I even picked up a kiss! All in all, the day was fabulous ending back in the Wine Bar, a quick pub crawl around Montpellier in and out of the Irish bars and then off to put our feet up on the HDVin sofas!

Redefining the word cute.. just call me curly...!

Confession time... no, I'm not the pretty good looking slightly tanned blonde in the pretty pink frock... nor even the smiley, squinting girly in the middle with the red hot scooter and the pigtails... that's big sis... I'm the chubby little brewser sitting on the church chair with the curly hair and a face full of ice lolly! Those were the days... obviously did as my father told me and ate all my crusts to get hair that curly.. x

In need of a hug...

I was having a huggable, lovable kinda day... trees... buildings... parents.. every single one of them had a hug! If you could only wrap a hug and post it in an envelope... put a smile on my face doing my hug thing and I'm sure anyone who may have been watching would have been annamused too!
As you can see, it's contagious too... dad was doing it! It might be a bit mad but it's fun and it's good to be a bit mad at times... ;-) x and for those of you who are wondering, I'm not bringing the dear old tree home with me.. I'm just marveling at the time it's stood there just growing and the things it's seen in all its years... and they say I'm old! Who said that...? Go on, give them a hug... x

Kati and dad...

Hey, me and dad were looking through some of the Hungarian photographs and found this one... a very special photograph... Kati is posing, no doubt just thinking she was having a quiet moment enjoying the sunshine.. little did she realise because along comes dad with his camera and snaps away to create yet another classic family shot. I love it... ! I was going to include this earlier with the lovely necklace Kati made for my birthday but who wants to hide such a fab piccie... 'hello Kati.. lovely to hear from you last night and thank you for my lovely pressie..' this piccie made me smile.. ;-) x

Rococco Gardens Rocks!

What a stunningly beautiful archway even without any foliage or florals... it was made to be photographed!
A mad moment... I blame it on a bit of fresh air and sunshine! The funny thing though is that it's my mum behind the camera... ! Hello mum... x
I set up the camera on the bench and hey presto... ! Sheer blind faith resulted in this fantastic shot... though, there was a slight chance that it could have been a below the knees shot, but thankfully it wasn't!
Here's me and my dad just taking a moment to enjoy the view... ;-) x
From being in small enclosed spaces with family, to being in big open spaces with the parents, we longed for a little bit of english garden and what could be nicer than in Painswick at the Rococco Gardens. It was lovely to feel the sun on our faces even though there were a few grey clouds overhead, and the snowdrops had sadly finished for this year. The coffee shop satisfied our thirst for coffee (and butterscotch tiffin!) before we had our wander around the garden... and then it was back into the coffee shop for a light lunch! We had a lovely, lovely day with a few raindrops, a few snowdrops and a lot of laughs! It's what Sunday's are made for. Followed of course, by a yummy Sunday roast chicken dinner finished off by a slice of my luscious lemon cake. Hey, what a great hostess I am... little bruv Greg, it's your turn next! x

Lemon drizzle my way...

I've baked a birthday cake but there's no one around to eat it, but me! Happy birthday to everybody whose birthday it is today... Ginger! I thought I'd share my recipe with you because it's more yummy than a yummy person's yummy bits! Don't just take my word for it.

Lemon Drizzle My Way
Ingredients
2 large fresh eggs
175g (6oz) caster sugar
150g (6oz) soft butter
Grated zest of 1 lemon
175g (6oz) sifted self-raising flour
4tbs milk
Half tsp vanilla essence
pinch of sea salt

For the lemon syrup
150g (5oz) caster sugar
50ml (2floz) juice from two freshly squeezed lemons

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Line the bottom of a well-greased loose-bottomed (cheeky!) 17cm circular tin with baking parchment. Remember, if you're talking to Ginger whilst you're doing this (as I was!) allow plenty of time for cutting out with one hand! I've just read the rest of the recipe and discovered that I didn't follow it at all, too busy talking! So, here's my version, which in my view is twice as tasty!

Cream the butter until soft by beating it with a wooden spoon in a mixing bowl. Yeah, I know it's old fashioned but it's much more satisfying than using an electric mixer and the good news is that it will help keep you fit at the same time! Don't be tempted to use margarine, you just won't get that lovely, buttery taste. Believe me, I've tried both and unless you prefer bought cake, buy good old fashioned salted butter for this recipe. I bought Somerfield English butter which says it's salted sweetcream butter. Works for me! Stir in the caster sugar and continue to beat until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time (very large super fresh eggs hand delivered from Trowbridge chuckaloos are the best!), the half spoonful of vanilla essence and beat. Fold in half the sifted flour, the salt, lemon zest and 4 tbs milk. Fold in the remaining flour. Avoid stirring too much now, unless you enjoy eating tough cake. Your mix should be very light and fluffy if you've done it right! I managed the first bits, (even breaking the eggs with one hand) whilst holding a phone conversation with the lovely Ginger, and I think the slapdash, laid back approach really does help!

Spoon into the tin and bake for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Now remove onto a cooling rack, or in my case as I don't seem to have one any more, slide the sides from the cake tin by standing the base on a mug!

To make the syrup, gently heat the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is clear. Prick the warm cake all over with a cocktail stick, then spoon the syrup over the top. Leave to set and the cake to cool, then cut yourself a slice whilst it's still warm. Yummy... ! Now invite all your friends round for a slice, yeah right! I'm only joking... x

Birthday boy!

My lovely young son is 23 years young today... woo hoo! He'd wish that this smart red hot rod was really his.. but alas, it's just one of many on the hotel car park in Dubai! I must admit, he looks cool enough to be the owner and then it would be the best cleaned and polished vehicle in the entire world! Great holiday, must do it again sometime... happy birthday, love u x

A mug shot!

Ok, I may be a bit of a blur, but it is me, honest! Captured for all to see with my face stuffed inside a big mug of something... it has to be tea! Well, at that age, quite probably not! How could I ever have been this small...? When you're all grown up it's hard to imagine being less than you are today. I don't remember being this small, and naked... mmm, it's a good job I don't remember! My earliest memories come from being in infant school at Birches and even then the memories are sketchy. Friday afternoons were film afternoons, I remember that, and the old car in the playground where we used to play. H&Safety would have a field day with that today! x

Who would be a coconut?

I'm certainly sure I wouldn't! A tad boring on the outside, could even be called hairy and certainly a tough nut to crack! Yet, on the inside, very tasty and I guess I'd have to say, worth all the effort as far as taste goes. And, all this from just one small bowl of yummy soup this lunchtime. Yes, Hobbs wins again with a bowl of tasty sweet potato, coconut and mild chili soup... and what a triumph! Have you noticed, triumph seems to be my word of the week? I sat and chatted to a lovely lady whilst supping my soup and managed to stave off the attention of mr vertically challenged at the same time, not difficult with my head firmly stuffed inside the newspaper. Gosh, my multi-tasking skills were being put to the test. I do believe that jupiter, or whoever hails from planet confusion, was causing some problems this evening. I learnt a long time ago that when you don't know what to do, it's best to do nothing. So, I have done nothing apart from met my ivc friends in Chelts and just chilled. And, hey presto, it appears that the clouds have cleared, the bits of the jigsaw have dropped back into place and all is calm again... woooooooooo x

See what a smile does for you... !

Woo hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo there is some justice in this world! Mr Very Nice Council Tax Man just appeared and has reduced my council tax banding! Very glad about that ;-) After all, I have no garden, no garage, no conservatory, not even a window box with a few weeds. Made him smile when I signed the agreement and suggested he could perhaps even change his very squiggly letter to an 'A'... he just laughed at my optimism and chuckled his way out of my front door. What a nice man x