Westonbirt and my first sprout of the year!

Today I got there at last! Where you might ask? I went on a mini adventure to Westonbirt. It was the first weekend of their Enchanted Christmas light spectacular. It is always lovely to spend time with mum and dad and despite the chilly weather, we had fun. I booked Christmas carvery for the three of us and it was very welcome after our walk in the woods. One day I'll get my season ticket. Then I'll be able to go more often when there aren't any queues... x We spent the rest of the weekend looking at photographs and building our family tree. That's another great adventure!

Mistaken identity...

Having been little miss bump yesterday, I thought I'd have a bath this morning. I decided to throw in one of my cupcake bombs and really wish I hadn't. They might look sweet and even smell of tropical islands but don't be fooled. I think it's birdfood masquerading as a bath bomb! This sweetly looking concoction dissolved in the bath to leave a very scummy circle of oil with what I can only describe as bird food floating on the surface. If I didn't have aches and bruises, I would have loved to have skipped the bath in favour of a shower. I can only assume that being dipped in birdseed & oil will give me the complexion of a goddess and make my skin feel as soft and supple as a peach! It hasn't yet but here's hoping.. ;-)

fallin...

1 grazed forearm
3 bits of fruit thrown up in the air
1 laptop (caught safely, phew!)
5 painful ow’s
2 bruised elbows
1 double somersaulting phone
1 tear shed
1 sore bum
1 painful grimace
7 shocking swearwords “oh xxxxxx”
2 cd cases sprung open
3 cds rolling across the carpet

things to be thankful for..

1. I don’t appear to have broken anything!
2. I wasn’t carrying a cup of tea
3. I already know how stupid I am!

Thank thursday for nurofen x

Coconut dreams...

Sometimes, something can happen that you weren't expecting to happen, when you least expect it! It's just like flipping a coin. Life is full of surprises. On Monday night, I was combining my love of chocolate cakes with a desperate need to tidy my studio when I came across my tatty old recipe diary. There, between the dog-eared pages of my little notebook, I found one of my favourite recipes. The world famous and absolutely scrummy chocolate coconut slice. So on Tuesday evening I made it for the girls at work. They seemed a little surprised at my domestic goddess status. NOTE to self > bake more often. It's good that you remember the great tastes of your life. I remember my grandma's plated apple pies; my mother's chocolate cake; my father's stuffed cabbage and his less than lovely caraway seed soup! My first sticky toffee pudding at Goblets wine bar, my mother's fairy cakes that always used to escape all over the baking tray; my very own sausage nutty plait (don't ask!) and a pantry of other ideas. I'd been thinking about the recipe that morning, then just as I was tidying up that evening, I found it. So without further ado, here it is...

To celebrate "Happy Thanksgiving Day", I'm leaving this recipe in ounces. I also made twice the amount to fit into a fairly large baking tray. If you want to make less because you have less friends than I do :-) just use a smaller tray.

Delicious Chocolate Coconut Slice
You will need
4 oz plain chocolate
4 oz desiccated coconut
4 oz granulated sugar
1 egg
handful of glace cherries

Here's what to do
Preheat oven to 170°C, 325°F, gas 3.
1. Mix egg, sugar and coconut together.
2. Melt chocolate in a bain-marie.
3. Grease and line a baking tray.
4. Pour melted chocolate in the tin. Spread out and leave to cool.
5. Put coconut mixture on the top and press down lightly.
6. Decorate with cherries cut in half.
7. Bake till golden brown.
8. Leave to cool then cut and serve when cold.

All the girls in the office tried it and seemed to love it! What's next week, I wonder... mmm

ps and if you want to use those brightly coloured glace cherries - go ahead! Mine were the 'oh so naturalle' cherries that made me feel healthy just looking at them. Glace cherries must be one of the most sugar-packed, syrupy sweet ways to eat fruit that I know. And interestingly, all the girls in the office chose a slice with a cherry! Maybe they'd lost theirs!

I love great quotes!

I appreciate that quote are very personal. What inspires and moves one person, will turn another person to stone. I was sitting this morning browsing around the site 'lovefilms' to create my "wishlist" of delicious dvd entertainment when I came across this great quote. There I was just enjoying the short clip of film when "ZAP".. it was like one of those lightening moments of inspiration. Have you ever had those? When you hear or see something that triggers a reaction in your brain. It's like igniting a spark that is powerful enough to light up a room. Okay, I've lost you now, perhaps it's just a 'me-thing'. Anyway, this quote is from the film "What a girl wants" and it has just stuck in my mind ever since.

Why are you trying so hard to fit in, you’re born to stand out

As humans, we love to belong to something, anything, someone, because we are essentially sociable creatures. Those who yearn for solitude are quite rare and their behaviour is fundamentally extreme. We are all guilty of changing our behaviour to 'fit in'. We've all done it and turned into someone we don't recognise. it's a fact that over time we may discover that we don't recognise ourselves any more if we continually strive to align ourselves with others. Great people have one thing in common, they stand out from the crowd. Some do it for the sheer greatness, the fame, the glamour and the notoriety. Others are more humble and stand out for more noble reasons. My very wise mother says "moderation in all things" which is such a sound piece of advice. It doesn't mean be a blancmange of a person and sit on the fence. It doesn't mean be indecisive and have no opinions of your own. To me, it means set your goals, reach for the stars, stand out from the crowd but with respect for everyone you meet. Some people will look up to you to learn from you. Others will look down on you and they aren't worth the time or effort. Stand out from the crowd and be yourself. Most important of all believe in treating people right, being happy, smiling through all life's challenges and never be happy with 'average'. I'm off to check those school reports.. ;-) x

Fabian Perez

Born in 1967, Fabian Perez started painting at the age of 9. He grew up in a small city outside Buenos Aires. Edua, his mother, was the creative force in his life, with his father, Antonio Perez, the inspiration for many of his paintings. Now living in LA, Fabian was in Cheltenham today to launch a fantastic exhibition of his work. I really like quite a few of his paintings but as always, the originals are very expensive because he's already an established artist. I went along to the gallery with Dom & J. We had a glass of champagne and a pleasant hour deciding which we liked the best, which were framed to our liking and which we'd buy if we could afford one.

Mamma Mia!

Here's my early Christmas pressie from Liz! I got home and there was a package sticking out of my letterbox. Just a plain white box and the only clue were the words 'Mamma Mia' written on the side of the box. This great package gives me 4 months of dvd entertainment, woo hoo! I can rent one dvd a week, how exciting is that?! Everyone who knows me will tell you that I'm a BIG rom com, chick flick fan. I also enjoy adventure movies, crime thrillers and period dramas. I've started to write my wishlist then I'll sit back and wait for them to drop through my letterbox.

A busy day at Origin towers.

it's been a weird day really. Early morning meeting and I never learn. I walk in and walk out with another job to do! They'd be lost without me and that's no lie. Lunch was crackers. I had a strange deja vu, groundhog moment because I had had crackers for breakfast too! Sorted out the newsletter for my new project, craftbubble this afternoon, set up my Strictly Come Crafting challenge and then went to Loch Fyne to meet Dom and Lisa. Dinner for just £11 including 2 courses and a glass of wine, how good is that. We had a good gossip and I was back home for around 7:45pm. Tv is rubbish tonight so I've been catching up on my mail and I decided to get back online ;-) x

A view from the city...

If I lived in the city, I'd love a view like this one. It's very different to mine and I'm not planning a great move, but it's interesting to wonder just how different life would be. No driving at the weekends, more walking, more noise, less friendly neighbours parties! I was just wondering...

Saturday night is cocktail night.. !

And the best cocktail has to be a lemon drop martini! All the way from Vegas and mixed to perfection by my own fair hand, my contribution to this evening was a small glass of this quite sharp, tart concoction. Why? Because we're just practicing for our Christmas cocktail party in December. The evening would see us sampling 9 cocktails in total and voting for our favourites. In that way, we could make sure we got exactly the right mix of shaken and stirred for the real thing. Here is my friend Dom & J making their Mahito, which is another one of my favourite cocktails. Lisa did us all proud by serving up a yummy homemade curry followed by delicious Eton Mess. I have to say that I missed the last cocktail due to having gone to bed early! Note to self > don't lift heavy furniture on your own because you're likely to hurt your back, doh! So, I missed the verdict. At the end of the evening, the votes were added up and guess what, my favourite cocktail is also everyone else's favourite! It came top, along with the Mahito... ha ha.

Oooops...

No, I haven't got abducted by aliens, fallen down a crafting pothole, been eaten by the biggest butterscotch-loving ducks and neither is there trouble at mill! I've just been a bit busy, distracted, overworked and yes, enjoying myself far too much doing stuff!

Back soon with pics and stories... x

Pudsey fun at Hobbycraft

Oh we had such a lot of fun last weekend with Pudsey. We even raised some money for The BBC Children in Need appeal. This wonderful bear with his big padding feet really makes everyone smile. Here are the girls creating the Quick Cards Big Card. Not an easy task but they were attempting to break the record for the world's biggest greeting card. We have yet to see if the Guinness Book of Records will accept the evidence but it was worth it just for the entertainment factor. The guys from the Royal Mail were amazing (pics to follow!). They arrived at the show at 6pm. They'd made a wooden frame so we could deliver the card to another hall. Of course, you can't post a card without a stamp so they'd also created a BIG franked stamp especially for this challenge. We're not talking about a small card here. Our BIG card was 12 x 4.5 metres!

Pheasants on the run..!

Not your average sight I'll admit! I am driving up the country lane and come face to face with about 10 pheasants feeding in the road. Of course, by the time I have grabbed my camera and got out of the car, they've started to disperse. I guess I'm not what they were expecting to see either! It's one of the joys of not living in a town or city and something I value very highly.

Obama.. makes history...

Today Obama made history.. and I'm a happy bunny too! Take 1 swan, 1 gentleman, 1 girl and what do you get? BIG H.. for happiness. No matter what happens from this point, my heart is a little happier x

Thank toffee it’s the end of Monday!

The tell tell signs of two toffee meringues! There’s nothing like a 3 hour meeting with online after a lunch of meager crackers to make you crave sugar in a seriously BIG way. The sight of my wicked toffee meringues sitting on the desk when I got downstairs was just too much for me. Two toffee meringues gone in less than two minutes! All I can say is that they were twoolly YUMMY!

Flying lessons

Mum and dad appeared to have flown the nest and left the 3 cygnets to fend for themselves. It's a great place to learn to fly and although they're still mainly grey, these ugly ducklings are starting to lose their colour and turn a majestic white.

31 steps to a Green Goddess!

Take a number 4 round sable brush, some good quality pressed paper, a few paints and lots of concentration and what do you get? My Green Goddess painting is copied from one of my favourite books on botanical painting. I decided to concentrate on the techniques so I copied the drawing then followed each step to take me from a basic sketch to the finished painting. Thanks to Marie for this idea! x