butterscotchartgirl

That thing we call love...

2012-01-26T21:54:00.004Z

I started Tuesday morning thinking this was going to be the worst day of my life and ended the day thinking it was quite possibly one of the best days of my life! Looking back on Wednesday morning I felt I'd been to the biggest and most amazing party on the planet! And I have my Mom and RIP Father to thank for that feeling. Tuesday morning was incredibly hard and painful but even the first service had touches of lightness and laughter (something you really wouldn't expect at a Crem!) thanks to Jack. My nephew is an amazing lad who knew exactly what to say and had a delivery worthy of any politician! His recollections of his Grandad (on behalf of his fellow grandchildren) and my Father were on the money and had us all in fits of laughter.

Jack said his Grandfather was a hoarder! "Quelle Surprise!" Whilst he could understand his obsession to keep plastic pots, jam jar lids and other bits and bobs just because they might come in useful one day, Grandad's obsession for collecting used lightbulbs and keeping them in an old onion net bag hung up in the garage was still a mystery to us all. His Grandad was solely responsible for the teasle population explosion in mid Wales and all the grandchildren remembered that as soon as they had learnt to drive they would be invited to go along to the skidpan with Grandad. As Jack said, it wasn't the skidpan that frightened them, nor the fact that there was usually an ex policeman sitting beside them, nor the slipping around and need to brake when the car began to skid. It was the fact that they had to drive there with Grandad in the passenger seat and just one 'tut' meant they were in trouble!

Jack's recollections of his Grandad were exactly what we needed and lifted our spirits in a way I would never have expected just a few hours before.

When we got to Trinity, the car park was full and the church was packed with a brightly dressed congregation. There will never be another man like my Dad. And there will never be another service like that one. The wonderful slide show that Greg, my brother put together depicting Dad's life from a baby to adulthood, with his family, during the war, touching moments with Mom, with his children, grandchildren and more. Greg's eulogy, Liz's Robert Frost poem, Jacob's recollections, Marie's poem and Andris's Hungarian story made this a day to remember. I don't think I've ever sat in Church and felt so exhilarated and emotional all at the same time! There were tears, there was laughter, there was sadness and there were some real touches of genius! I was so proud of everyone, particularly my children of course, and all the grandchildren who showed extraordinary strength of character and great courage. I love my brother and sister to bits and both of them found that inner Szabo strength to read, enlighten and entertain - I know Dad would have been so proud and have no doubt he knew exactly what was going on. Finishing with a fabulous montage of photos and that special photograph of Mom & Dad with Eric in Morecome Bay with the tune, 'Bring me Sunshine' was inspired!

I was left with a great feeling of belonging and no amount of pain or feeling of loss can ever take that away. Dad may now be with us in spirit but his (and Moms) family values, their positive attitude to life, their courage. joy and patience, their encouragement and that 'Superfamily' Szabo strength are so deeply rooted in all of us that they are the glue that binds this family together every single day. As Jake said, Grandad taught all his grandchildren to stand up for themselves, be strong, be outspoken and that's why all seven are individuals and know who they are.

This was the final chapter so we celebrated by raising our glasses to Dad. I know that whenever I want to think about Dad and remember him, I have an amazing book of wonderful memories to call on.

My Syrupy SPIRIT!

2012-01-23T18:05:00.001Z

I can quite honestly say that this morning I was 'beside myself!' I have looked it up and apparently the ancients used to believe that the soul and the body could part and that under great emotional stress the soul would actually leave the body. When this happened a person was said to be 'beside himself'. So there it is... it's a fact and an uncomfortable one at that! Right now, the very fabric of my past and present life has been pulled from beneath me and I don't like it. My future is incomplete without my father but like my mother and the rest of my lovely family, we have to deal with the loss in the best way we can :(

Talking of cans... my father was renowned for buying anything useful, including tins of fruit from the pound shop. Bless him, he could never resist a bargain - my mother has a shed, a garage and a house full of bargains! I was completely at a loose end today unable to concentrate on anything, so I decided I should clear out a kitchen cupboard to make space for my lovely baking goodies. Then at least I could feel I've achieved something!
I moved just the first few items, something I do often and realised they were sitting in a pool of liquid, a syrupy liquid. It had very little odour so at first I couldn't work out what it was. I had to take everything out of the cupboard before I discovered where the leak was coming from. Right in the corner at the back was one of Dad's big cans of apricots! It has to have been there for perhaps 2 years and has been perfectly okay. I know, I don't eat apricots very often and I don't get to the back of my kitchen cupboards very often either. But, ready to burst it had obviously sprung a leak which I'd say has happened in the past 24 hours. My Father works in mysterious ways :) Father, dear father, you may be gone but you've left us with plenty of reminders to ensure that you're not forgotton!! x

A little bit of love...

2012-01-22T18:11:00.000Z

I saw this and just couldn't resist xx xx

Swans in January?!

2012-01-17T21:08:00.001Z

This week's busy and highly emotional A to Z

2012-01-15T20:08:00.003Z

A is for Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost was fully come (a great family saying), amazing friends and family, my father ‘The Alien’ and here’s to planning more adventures in 2012!

B is for the beautiful voice of 14-year old Birdy, a bright new future and one of my parents favourite tunes, ‘Bring me sunshine’

C is for car problems (it was only a stuck stick!), the biggest Christmas present I think I’ve ever had (thanks R&J for my fabulous 7’ bamboo plant!), cherishing the memories and coffee at motorway services :)

D is for daring to believe this isn’t the end, driving the wheels off my car and sleep deprivation!

E is for EIGHTYSEVEN wonderful years of my dad

F is for freedom, family and facing up to life, which means learning, accepting and adjusting to every single experience, good and bad

G is for a lovely Ginger visit, ‘Great loves {mean} Great losses’, Greg’s pickle (we all now know it was Rachael’s!), setting new goals and John Grisham’s ‘The Summons”

H is for happy memories, Hungarian Lecho, big hugs and what will be a Happy 2012!

I is for impeccable timing

J is for January, a painful month but still a better one that December

K is for my new Killers cd Day & Age

L is for losing my mojo, letting go, my little brother’s birthday and unconditional love x

M is for Miklós, the father I love and my amazing mother, without whom none of us would be here!

N is for new Hobbs dress, NO black and red nail polish!

O is for overcoming our fears and believing that everything happens for a reason

P is for “Pull yourself together”, proud to be Szabó and sodding plumbing problems!

Q is for quiet

R is for relief, rejoice, reality and wonderful rays of glorious sunshine

S is for special friends, my surprise parcel from ‘Smile, I am not another bill’, strong family ties and smiling through the tears

T is for being thankful and Tim, Tim the property man (yet again!) :)

U is for understanding all this

V is for vicars, I see none for years then two appear within 5 minutes!

W is for wavelengths that work in a way we’ll never understand

X, Y and Z are again just my impossible letters

And that concludes the week that was, thank you! X

87 years of happy memories...

2012-01-13T22:22:00.000Z

My dad, a most interesting and extraordinary man who gave us so many happy memories in all of his 87 years. Being a Szabó meant we were always pretty unique. If I got into any trouble at school, I couldn't hide from it with a name like Szabó! Dad, being dad, always taught us to be the very best at what we did. He was a 21st century man that was way ahead of his time!

As a child I remember seeing him one week and not the next, due to his shifts. However, I always knew when he'd arrived home in the evening. I could smell the soup and croutons which mum made for his supper, though I never dared go downstairs because my dad was very old-school. His influence was legendary. Imagine a mix of eccentric red-blooded Hungarian foreigner combined with a good helping of English sensibility, patience, intelligence and the unfailing ability to cope with anything life throws at me and that's what makes me truly unique.

I have both parents to thank for my drive and hunger for work, my passion for life and my creativity. If I ever mentioned any project I was doing at school, my dad wanted to get involved and although I might have resisted, he always knew the best way to do anything. "Do it this way" was just one of his mantras! He'd help me with my projects, encourage me to keep trying until I got something right and he believed in me even when I'd almost given up. He's also the one that kept me up until after midnight giving me photoshop tutorials! God, I loved that man, my dad!

I'll admit, there's no easy way to prepare for what has happened in my life this week but even as dad's life was fading, he still knew what was best for his family. He couldn't give us anything but time and that's exactly what he gave us. He's always been the strongest and most determined character that I've ever known. Someone very close to me told me that he will decide when it's time to leave and I believe that's what he did. He may have been ill but he didn't leave before Christmas because he knew it would be unbelievably hard. He made it into January and then must have thought 'Oh B*&%$r' because of mom's birthday on 3rd and my brother's on 9th so he clung on knowing that we could share those special memories... and then it would be okay to leave. However painful our loss might be, we can be comforted by the fact that he is not suffering any more. His pain is now shared between everyone who ever loved him. His body was 87 years old and was failing him quite miserably but now there is a sense of relief because his spirit is free.

87 years of memories cannot be washed away with one day's new tide

Miklós Szabó 16 Nov 1924 - 10 Jan 2012

Happy Birthday Aunty Dot!

2012-01-09T21:36:00.000Z

Sisters hey... Dorothy and Mary.

Ha ha Aunty Dorothy... who's that in the background, I wonder...?!

2012-01-09T20:13:00.000Z

This made me laugh out loud!

Happy Birthday lickle bruv...

2012-01-09T00:47:00.000Z

Ha ha hahaha, ha ha hahaha... BIG love xxx there are plenty more where those came from...!!!

Here is my New Year's wish for 2012...

2012-01-09T00:27:00.002Z

I am going to posterize the entire world, one photograph at a time... :) x

I bought 5 new compact discs, otherwise known as cds last week when I couldn't sleep. Okay, I'm not the only one in my family right now with unusual nocturnal habits! I awoke on Thursday morning, well woke was a slight exaggeration because I'd hardly been asleep. I reckon I'd had about four hours when I finally gave up at 5:30am. "Can I drive to work yet?" was my first thought! "Perhaps it's a bit early" so I decided to surf and buy some of the music I've been thinking about recently. Amazon is easy to use and within half an hour I'd bought five cds and hurrah, I could shower and drive to work without people thinking I was a complete nut!

So which is my fave cd so far? That's easy.. it's BIRDY. Anyone who I accuse of having an obsessive personality look away now because when it comes to music, I can be as obsessive as the next person. In my defence I don't know the artist very well and apart from hearing her single, skinny love, I hadn't heard any of the tracks before I put it in my dvd player this afternoon. I'm now on cycle number 4 and I love it!

BIRDY is a 15 year old musician who lives in Hampshire, UK. Her debut album is brilliant!

Greg's pickle... !

2012-01-08T23:12:00.004Z

He's my brother and I love him to bits! Yesterday he rolled down the M6 from Lancaster and I climbed up the M5 to meet half way at chez-sz. I bought a chocolate covered caterpillar cake which I had spent all morning making... mmm, she lied! Whereas my little brother brought a Hungarian dish, a homemade Lecho for our lunch. My brother is a dark horse because later he brought out jars of his homemade piccalilli and something very black and sticky which I now refer to as Greg's Lancashire Chutney! I was so inspired by this homemade produce that this afternoon I made my favourite loaf, a recipe of Nigel Slater's. I bought some brown flour and buttermilk on the way home in preparation for my baking adventure. I also made some red pepper and tomato soup and as you can see, it turned out a treat! I only have just over half a jar of piccalilli left! It's often the simplest meals that are the most tasty :) yesterday I shared my meal with some of my lovely family (another time Maz :) and today I shared my meal with... ME! I thought of you all whilst I was eating it... honest, I did!

ps HAPPY BIRTHDAY for tomorrow GERGELY XlotsXofXlove

Smile... I am not another bill!

2012-01-08T22:58:00.001Z

Notanotherbill is the perfect choice for anyone such as me who loves surprises. Today I arrived home to find my postbox bulging with 5 music cds I ordered early Friday morning, some bills and this parcel which was clearly marked to say 'Smile I am not another bill'

The whole parcel oozes with love and care. I didn't want to open it at first so I just placed it on the side so I could savour the moment when I unwrapped it and found out what this month's surprise might be.

My daughter knows I love words and one of the loveliest things about this parcel is the letter that accompanies the gifts. In a world when so much is anonymous, this letter is wonderfully personal. In a world when so little time and effort is taken over packaging, it's lovely to receive a gift that brings a smile to my face - just like it said it would :) I'm a very lucky mummy bear xx

My Chinese symbol of longevity...

2012-01-08T22:41:00.001Z

It’s big and leafy and it's all mine! And guess what, I managed to fit it in my car. It’s rare these days to be totally surprised when I receive a gift. It’s certainly not like being six any more when everything that happens to you seems like a big surprise. Both my children have surprised me this year with thoughtful gifts. Youngest first...

I popped around to Rich & Jess’s yesterday after spending the day with Mom, Greg and his lovely family. It was great to see little Peter and Lois again. Rich asked me to follow them home so I could collect my Christmas gift. I was quite taken aback when I stepped into their hall and there was my 7ft bamboo tree complete with monster pot. There had been some debate as to whether I'd be able to get it home in my car but I did. I drove it to Lisa's mom & dads where it has sat overnight in their hall. Then I packed it up again this morning, took it to Sainsbury's on route home and now it's in situ in my hall.

I've just discovered that bamboo plants are the fastest growing plants in the world! Given the right conditions they can grow 100cm in 24 hours... yikes!

Ha ha... my family know that I can't keep plants, it's a gift of mine. So however realistic this bamboo might be, it's not alive so even I won't be able to kill it off. I'm unsure whether this is the right place for my new ornamental bamboo tree (perhaps I'll call it Panda?!) but I think it looks pretty cool where it is right now. Perhaps it also needs twinkle lights... mmm...

Happy New Year 2012 and a slice of SZABO rock...

2012-01-01T13:39:00.003Z

I make no apologies for the fact that I'm dedicating the very first post of 2012 to my mom and dad. My dad has made it into 2012 - only just! The stubborn old 'so and so', that we know and love so dearly, has rallied enough to still be giving us all palpitations and tearful smiles into this brand new year.

I know it seems odd to say Happy New Year when the start of the year will inevitably be a sad one but that’s what my dad would want. It’s going to be a challenging start to 2012 but we’re a strong family and we know how to pull together and support each other through the tough times. My mum and dad have given their three offspring so much to be thankful for, not least some great fashion sense in headgear! I'm always the Pollyanna of the family and play the glad game just like Mr Kipling, exceedingly well. The past few months have given us all the opportunity to play the glad game and although we've all had misty eyes, and more from time to time, we can still laugh and that’s such a relief.

We’ve always had a lot of laughs as a family and however tough life and it's passing might be right now, we won’t feel guilty for taking time out to smile about the good times and laugh our loud about the crazy ones. Learning, accepting the changes put in front of us and adapting to those changes has been the key to our coping mechanism right now. It's the precious oil that is making us keep working and living when the landscape around us is changing.

"Great loves mean great losses" is a phrase I keep using. Sadly, I've had a few of those but none like this one. I try to learn from every situation I put myself in or find I'm in through the actions of others. I learnt a while ago that when I truly love someone, it's not easy to let go. They may move on but my love remains the same. It may fade in time but I find it comforting to have lost loves. Strange as it may sound, it feels right to know that I have the capability to love deeply and strongly and I'd rather love with all my heart and lose that love, than live a mediocre life.

I love my mom and dad to bits (shouldn't we all!) and the great thing for me is that this doesn’t have to change. My wonderful dad has had enough influence on my life for that to continue, certainly while I still live and breathe! He’s here with me now and always will be. I know the love we have for each other is unconditional so it doesn’t matter whether we see each other once a day, twice a week or once in 5 years – we know we’re loved and that’s what binds the Szabo family together. If you sliced me in half then just like a stick of rock you’d find SZABO LOVE hand written, “Always your best handwriting” dad would say, and I’m exceedingly glad about that!

Red pepper soup and my dad

2011-12-21T13:31:00.006Z

There's nothing nicer than a bowl of homemade soup, particularly when I have yeast-free bread in the freezer! It's a slight improvement on the toast and prosecco diet :) I'm currently on. I'm sure cooking is a great therapy right now though I'm holding off making any more cupcakes in case I have a really bad day and decide to eat them all!

The best news of the week is that my dad has now been moved from NX hospital, where he's spent the last 3 weeks, into a nursing home where he'll be more comfortable. The nursing home is warm and the staff care more, as dad sleeps more and cares less.

It takes a special kind of man to be able to cope day after boring day with no tv, no book, no music, (his choice, not ours) and no stimulation other than someone popping their head around the door from time to time (and that was rare!) and our lovely family popping in to visit him. He's always managed to keep his mind pretty active, which is a blessing. The last time he was stuck in hospital staring at 4 bare walls and being ignored because he couldn't hear properly, he admitted that he'd kept himself sane by reciting to himself all the bus stops on different routes, one after another! He was a driver so naturally, he knew them all off by heart. As my brother has said, he's never cared much about his surroundings so although we found the bleakness of his hospital room disturbing, it's likely that he didn't care half as much as we did about it. When you've spent time in a POW camp, escaped from your homeland, been an alien in another country, learnt a new language and been shot by a stray bullet - you're destined for a life that's extraordinary and not just run of the mill.

My dad came into the country from Hungary on 3rd April 1948 as part of an operation called 'Westward Ho!' and he has had a most amazing life. On the document that confirms that he had been accepted to come and work in Britain it says:

The land and sea journey will take about 6 days during which time food will be provided.

Luggage: you are not permitted to take with you more than you can carry.

Currency: It is an offence to take out of Austrian more than 40 Austrian Schillings. In any case Austrian Schillings cannot be converted to English currency! They actually put an exclamation mark.. !!

For your personal comfort on the journey you are advised to take with you a blanket, a cup for drinking purposes and a knife, fork and spoon.

That was just the beginning of a new adventure for my dad that has been so extraordinary in many ways. Married to my mum for 58 years is a pretty impressive record. Attending the Olympics in 1948, he's a gold medal winner in so many ways in my eyes.

87 is a ripe old age for any of us to get to and I haven't had a quarter of the adventures my dad has had! My NY's resolution for 2012 has to be to start planning some of the adventures I only dream about to make sure that when I reach the same age as my dad, I've got a life story as amazing and as fulfilled as he has :) xx xx

We have a waterfall...

2011-12-16T08:37:00.002Z

I've missed the wonderful sound of the water crashing down the slipway, and now it's back!

Wintry weather

2011-12-15T22:08:00.002Z

My tree adventures

2011-12-15T22:06:00.002Z

My first Xmas dinner...

2011-12-09T23:20:00.002Z

Though of course, although I love nothing better than a turkey dinner, I ordered red mullet with garlic green beans and olive mash! My Craftseller team had organised a lunch and bless them, they invited me along too. We went to Severn Shed in Bristol and had a great lunch. Lots of light banter, good food and happy faces - that's what I like and need right now xx xx

A night out with the girls!

2011-12-08T17:52:00.002Z

There's nothing quite like a girly chat with good girlfriends! Lisa invited me to dinner at Tivoli with herself and Jayne and we had a fab time! I obviously didn't feel quite like myself because I chose fillet steak & fries as top of my favourites for dinner! I rarely order steak! I certainly wasn't disappointed. The steak was succulent, the Prosecco free flowing and all in all, we had a lovely time.
I topped off my gorgeous meal with a glorious liqueur, Tia Maria coffee - get me!

My adventure of the day...!

2011-12-08T17:50:00.001Z

I love HduVin for so many reasons. It has the best rooms and my studio room for this evening is outstanding!
You know when you walk into a room and it takes your breath away..? Does that ever happen to you? It just happened to me when I walked into my bedroom for tonight.
To say its large is an understatement. I've stayed in some rooms here and I've been disappointed. I'd describe them as compact and bijoux! Like all size issues, it's all about expectations!! I expected to see a regular sized room and this one is huge! It has a giant wardrobe, a big three sweater sofa, a desk, side table, large LK g size bed and room to dance around it!! I'm I'm HduVin heaven!
I'm in the bar right now drinking tea and eating mini mince pies. I've eyed up the cocktail I'd like 'The Sparkling Poinsettia' which includes triple sec snd cranberry juice topped up with Champagne! It's on their Merrily du Vim menu. I love everything about this place. It's the little touches that turn a good hotel into a great one!

Sushi for lunch anyone?

2011-12-03T15:59:00.001Z

I love doing extraordinary things, particularly at weekends. How many people outside Japan are sitting in a Sushi restaurant having Sushi on a Saturday lunchtime? And by that i mean good sushi, great sushi, not snacky English sushi! Chilling and doing what makes you happy is what weekends are for...
The prawn tempura was delicious. The miso soup, it always makes me ferl healthy The sushi platters absolutely wonderful. The plum wine on ice, my favourite xx xx

Back in Boston...

2011-11-27T00:14:00.002Z

Lovely hotel, great city, cocktails and dinner... perfect :)

Frank and Jeans

2011-11-26T19:48:00.001Z

My abode for the past 3 nights :)

Xmas fair

2011-11-26T19:47:00.002Z

This morning I went to the Gardener Xmas tree fair! You pay $5 and get 21 raffle tickets which you put into pots by the trees you'd like to win! If I win the big baking tree, they're going to send me a cookie cutter!

Justine and Amys place

2011-11-26T13:01:00.001Z

Jeremys brothers family live high up in the mountains in the forest so it was no surprise to see snow up there. It's not as remote as it seems but a far cry from Boston city! Its an amazing place for the kids to grow up in but a pain for shopping!! Amy is a fabulous cook and we had delicious homemade blueberry pancakes, lasagne with ricotta cheese, tiny potatoes seasoned with onions and garlic and spiral ham. What's spiral ham?! It's a sugar coated yummy ham which tasted delicious :)

A quick bucket of balls... For 3!

2011-11-26T12:53:00.001Z

Guess what we did before going to dinner? Frank, Liz & Jeremy decided they'd like a half hour to whack some golf balls on the driving range. Hitting them seems tough enough so getting one to drop into a tiny hole somewhere on the green seems impossible!

Dive in... Me thinks not?!

2011-11-26T02:10:00.001Z

Tonight I was invited to sample the dreaded scorpion bowl! A mix of fruit & alcohol with a sting of 75% proof alcohol in the centre! Dangerous stuff...!

The museum of fine arts, Boston

2011-11-24T20:48:00.002Z

I love visiting galleries because there are always paintings there that surprise me! Best painting by far at the MFA was the Renoir! It took my breath away! I love Impressionist paintings so to see originals by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissaro, Degas and more just blew me away! I don't know what it is that draws me to certain paintings. All I know is that it's magical and I never want to lose that feeling.
The Degas 'Naked' exhibition by contrast was below par. I skipped round it wanting to find a gem but nothing struck me as much as the magnificent Renoir. It alone was worth the trip!

Things to be thankful for...

2011-11-24T20:39:00.001Z

Fran & Jean have warned us that we'll be invited to say something at Thanksgiving dinner about what we're thankful for.
Jean says I should be thankful for that fact that I have the super-doopa down duvet and Liz & Jeremy unfortunately for them, don't!
I'm thankful for my new extended family here in Fitchburg, for health, happiness and wifi!

Thanksgiving dinner

2011-11-24T20:36:00.002Z

I've spent my whole life wanting but never expecting to experience a Thanksgiving dinner. I'm so delighted to be here in Fitchburg and even happier that I'm spending Thanksgiving with my new, larger, extended family! Our turkey dinner was delicious with plenty of cooked turkey, greens, potato mash, butternut squash mash and gravy. Cranberry jelly was out of a can and shaped like a big sausage which we ate by the slice! It was tasty and although I missed the sprouts, I still have my UK Xmas dinner to look forward to when I get home.

Best bits of Boston...!

2011-11-24T20:34:00.001Z

Beautiful brown stone houses, a walk in the park, children skating in the park, Sam lagrasse's sandwiches (though I gave the bread a miss!) shopping malls (pronounced maul!), beautiful hotels like ours, friendly service, open spaces, cocktails on 52nd floor of Provincial Tower, Post restaurant, squash bisque, glasses of prosecco, free wifi, the museum of fine arts and Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T12:37:00.002Z

Boston is a beautiful city filled with great sights, wonderful restaurants & hotels, open spaces, friendly people and I love it!

I'm not for recycling... get me out of here!

2011-11-19T18:26:00.002Z

Today I had my first experience with the very clever, talking recycling machine at Tescos! I seem to have accumulated quite a few bottles over recent months so decided it was time to take them to a recycling bank. I spent the morning tidying the spare bedroom and trying on every item of clothing I could find. I do have quite a few clothes and it's great fun to try ones on that I haven't worn for a while and find that some of the skinnier ones fit, yeah! Anyway, back to my recycling story :) One of our local Tescos has one of these new fangled automated recycling centres. I've noticed it when I get petrol but have never used it. Oh, my goodness, it certainly amused the hell out of me! It actually talks to you as you put items into the shute and everything was going swimmingly until it asked me to remove the little bottles which I'd put inside.

Do you find you talk back to machines that talk to you? I do! There I was talking to the machine and saying "No... !!" when a guy and his son came to use the other recycling machine. They both laughed at me! I smiled and said "It's like something out of the jungle. The door keeps closing on the shute and it's telling me to put my hand in and retrieve the two little bottles!" They were clearly amused by my dilemma! Whilst I deliberated about what to do, I could see the little bottles at the bottom of the shute and every so often, the door would close. All I could think was that if I put my hand in, the door would close and trap my hand inside!! By now, other cars were rolling up and as Mary Anne (as I've decided to call her!) was still telling me to "Remove the items and try again!" I thought, get on with it so I stuck a large bottle inside to stop the door closing and quickly pulled out the two little bottles. Apparently, as I discovered, the machine only likes one item at a time. Doh, I should have listened to Mary Anne's wise words! Despite my tricky moment, I was very impressed by this enormous machine! It's like a massive washing machine and food disposal system all rolled into one and I'm definitely returning when I've emptied a few more bottles! Mmm, time for another glass :)

What were you doing 5 years ago today?

2011-11-18T22:37:00.000Z

I was writing the first post of my butterscotchartgirl blog! Congratulations, I'm 5 years old and loving the history.

So what do I love most about my blog?

The memories, of course. Life is like a massive box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Sometimes you get your favourite and if you've chosen well then most days will be filled with lovely surprises and delicious treats. Occasionally though, I end up with the equivalent of the coffee one, ha ha! I love having somewhere to record my thoughts even if they're sometimes a bit crazy and off the wall. I love taking photographs and having somewhere that I can share them with good friends and family. I love being able to have a rant occasionally too. I love looking back to anytime during the past 5 years and knowing exactly where I was, who I was with and what I was doing. Can you say that? Most of all, I just enjoy every moment I spend writing. Aren't you glad I did :) XX XX

Luscious Lisa's birthday weekend!

2011-11-15T21:22:00.001Z

Why have a one-day birthday when you can have a whole, delicious weekend of fun and laughter?! Starting with Lisa's birthday party on Friday, we began by opening a bottle of fizz at her flat and then moved onto Brasserie Blanc for dinner. It was great to see Lisa's mum and dad and sit with them for dinner. We all had loads of fun with a bar filled with inebriated Irish men so much so that we didn't leave until 2am in the morning! That's the beauty of Cheltenham, we can drink, eat, dance, drink some more and still stagger home to Lisa's in the early hours with not a care in the world :)
Saturday was a slightly later start of smoked salmon and scrambled egg before myself, Lisa and her friend Jenny walked into town to do some shopping. I couldn't pass by the Swallow Bakery without popping in for a cup of tea and a raspberry and white chocolate cupcake - yum :)
There's no better thing to do on a Saturday night than relax with my wannabesister, watch Strictly and X-factor and eat stirfry!

Sunday was the piece-de-resistance, we went to the races! It's actually rather nice to go when it's quiet. Me and Lisa had a fabulous afternoon sitting in the window with our bottle of bubbly, 2 glasses, a race card, some readies and a fish platter. It really doesn't take much to amuse us :)

I'm in love with Chloe!

2011-11-06T21:26:00.002Z

I have spent the whole week indulging myself with a few little luxuries to cheer myself up. I have a brilliant new suit for business meetings and the jacket also looks fabulous and deliciously casual with my jeans, which btw are my 2010-fit jeans, yeah! I searched for Valentino when I was in London but it wasn't until I was in Harvey Nics in Bristol that I spotted this gorgeous gift set.

You know when you go to buy something, find it then before you buy it you try a few other options, just to make sure you're buying the right one? Oh yes, that's exactly what I did and that's the reason why I have fallen in love with Chloe! When it came to choosing one or the other I did what any sensible girl should do and bought them both!

Paper roses

2011-11-06T20:27:00.000Z

Name that tune! These beautiful roses remind me of that infamous song released by Marie Osmond in the 70's. Ha ha, I was a David Cassidy fan and I had the poster to prove it! But I admit that like 99% of teenage girls my age, I was also quite partial to the gorgeously, handsome Donny.

...oh how real those roses seem to be.. but they're only imitation...? No, they're definitely real to me :)

Some things are worth waiting for...

2011-11-06T17:46:00.002Z

For someone who is very impulsive, I'm can be extremely restrained when I go out 'home' shopping. I always think "I could be living with that for a very long time" which is why just 'liking' something won't do. I need to love, in fact really love something before I buy it and bring it into my home. The same reasoning also applies to men!

So today I went shopping for lampshades yet again and hurrah, I'm over the moon because I've found exactly what I was looking and more. My amazingly beautiful shades have that extra something that I never even imagined I'd find. I got such a buzz of excitement when I saw them. Then, fell crestfallen when I realised they were for pendant lights, not table lights. The bit in the middle was at the top, not the bottom and as they have guzillions of glass droplets hanging off them, it's impossible to turn them upside down. Mmm, not one to give up I scouted round for something, perhaps a gadget and wey hey, I found a handy, young male assistant! He told me to add an extender (woo hoo!) and hey presto, my feeling of great excitement returned :) I came home with two beautiful lampshades and two extenders and don't they look fabulous - thank Sunday for JLewis!

I can be so unlike me!

2011-11-04T19:28:00.002Z

I'm so used to being me and don't get me wrong, I quite like 'me'; but at the moment, I've noticed that I'm doing things that are 'unlike me!' and you know what, I love it! The glasses are still sitting on the side from Wednesday night's book club - what's all that about?! I'm doing some improptu swearing when certain calendar invites appear on my phone. Grrr, numpty! And I'm enjoying having the opportunity to set myself some new goals. I deserve the best and being second, third or just somewhere on the list isn't good enough for me. I think last night's black pudding has given me a shot of iron - ha ha ha ha - that's just hit my backbone!

:)))

Today I've been having great fun at Cake International. Talk about 'Bake to Impress' these beauties take that phrase to a brand new level!

Just look at these amazing baby shoes made from sugarpaste - WOW!

These delicious cakes are wrapped in chocolate which has been decorated with transfer sheets. They look and most likely taste truly scrumptious :)

These 25 amazingly, beautiful cupcakes have been decorated with lace transfer sheets, though I think they're topped with sugarpaste rather than chocolate. The flowers and butterflies are so delicate and they really do look too good to eat. Sugarcrafting like this isn't cheap - but it's pretty, darned impressive!!

Argh, what can I say... this cheerful nativity scene is made entirely from sugarpaste!!! I felt I wanted to burst into song "Away in a Manger" when I saw it :)

A spooky start to the weekend.. !

2011-11-04T09:30:00.000Z

Not usually a shy wallflower I was seated right in the middle of the dining room this morning for breakfast - table for one! I sat eating my fruit salad feeling a little uncomfortable, then very uneasy and at first I couldn't put my finger on what the problem was. Then I realised that I was sitting in the bottom of a swimming pool! Well, that's how it started to feel. Either that or some other subterranean structure like a vault, no less! The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became until I couldn't stand it any longer! It really did start to feel spooky so I got my cooked breakfast and promptly moved tables to sit on the ringside and I very soon felt calmer again. Don't ask me why... it just happened and it was very, very odd. I consider myself to be very intuitive and can sense things around me. I can tell when someone in the room is tuned in, or tuned out. So this feeling was very odd - but now it's gone and I'm off to eat cupcakes :)
Also btw, I've just come to log on to blogger and my entire account is now in german!! What is happening today and before you ask, it's not a full moon tonight, I've already checked! I'm dashing off to Cake International - woo hoo! Love to everyone who loves me XX XX

Just sat sitting...

2011-11-03T23:39:00.001Z

Before I had to dash up to the NEC for a couple of days. I'm now installed in the Belfry hotel, having been out to the Cock Inn at Wishaw for dinner, yummy. I dined on scallops with belly pork, black pudding, rocket and balsamic glaze and that was only for starters! The meal was delicious and definitely worth going back for more. Highlight of the day has to be my little book, given to me with little homemade tags inside to remind me that I have lovely friends :) lowlight has to be my broken toe - ouch! I banged it into the footstool and four of my toes went one way round the footstool leaving my little toe behind. Though it's not my little toe that's broken it's the one next to it. And how can I tell that it's broken? It hurts like hell and is black and blue! As with all things broken, you just have to wait for them to mend themselves then they won't hurt any more... xx

Forgot the cupcakes... dippy bird!

2011-11-01T23:03:00.000Z

Mmm... mmm... mmm... mmm...

A handbaked cupcake... a glass of prosecco...

2011-11-01T22:02:00.002Z

Madeleine Peyroux with her careless love (track 11) and little me :) I've been baking cupcakes this evening ready for book club tomorrow. I've bought bottles of wine which are gleefully chilling in the fridge the only thing I haven't done is read the book!! I have tried but I just can't seem to concentrate for long enough to get stuck into the story. I know I'm shirking but I'll just read the notes online and I'm sure my lemon cupcakes with dreamy cheesecake topping will shmooze them enough to forgive me. After all, I've had a dilemma dropped on top of me from a high tree and I'm just trying to put the pieces of my broken heart back together - ha ha.. you thought I was for real. Anger does funny things to people who aren't usually angry. I'm not broken, just bruised. I'm doing a Marilyn and saying 'What the hell!'. I'm growing a slightly wonky coathanger backbone so I'm not pining, just dusting myself off and looking on the bright side - there is always one if you look hard enough.

Tonight I'm resigned to staying in with Madeleine for company and you know what... that's perfectly fine :) xx xx

Sometimes it lasts in love... sometimes it hurts instead...

2011-10-31T23:42:00.001Z

I'm gonna love 'My Week with Marilyn'

2011-10-31T23:12:00.002Z

For so many reasons, not least because I love Marilyn Monroe. I can't wait to see the film but in the meantime, here are some of her brilliant, poignant and timely quotes...

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
― Marilyn Monroe

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
― Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words

“I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love.”
― Marilyn Monroe

“Ever notice how 'What the hell' is always the right answer?”
― Marilyn Monroe

“What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course”
― Marilyn Monroe

“This life is what you make it. Not matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And babe, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up becuase if you give up, you'll never find your soul mate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”
― Marilyn Monroe

“Dogs never bite me. Just humans.”
― Marilyn Monroe

Day 2 at Ashburton Cookery School

2011-10-30T20:42:00.000Z

Something fishy...

2011-10-29T19:07:00.002+01:00

It's been a fabulous day and I've done things I never expected to do! It's great to have the opportunity to learn new skills, cook new recipes, prepare food that I wouldn't usually and do this with a great bunch of friends. I've gutted and filleted mackerel, plaice and red mullet and turned them into great dishes expertly led by our chef, Phil. It's been such a tiring day because we've hardly had a moment to spare between courses but as the saying goes - no pain, no gain!

We created an excellent, quick dish using our fillets of plaice. We made a beautiful, easy parcel of rolled plaice fillets on a bed of oil, thinly sliced fennel, fresh mussels topped with a prawn and dill butter. We wrapped our greaseproof paper and foil parcel adding some white wine before baking in the top of the oven for just 10 minutes. And what a triumph!

Me and my work station buddy, Chloe from Oz. She's currently working as a chef on a yacht and has been here for almost a week. She's delightful and we're having loads of fun. We all went out for Tapas last night and you can guess who ended up in the local pub whilst everyone else went to bed!! She's the best station buddy I could ask for and our dishes are definitely the BEST :)

'Stripe' - my friendly mackerel

"OUCH".. sorry Stripe.. I'm learning some useful knife skills.. !!

"Nice plaice"

~Palma wrapped red mullet fillet on a bed of pakchoi with balsamic glaze roasted cherry tomatoes - YUM!

John Dory fillets on a bed of pan fried courgettes with a red pepper coulis - my favourite dish of the day!

Our fabulous chef, Phil, scaling the red mullet before we had to do it ourselves. I've never scaled a fish before so this was another brilliant challenge for me.

The proof of the squiddling is in the eating and it couldn't have been more delicious if we'd tried. Take one fabulous hand-dived scallop in it's shell (opened and prepared by yours truly!) with different rings, strips and scored squid wings on a bed of apple, chilli, garlic and shallot salsa!!

Inky but certainly not DINKY±! These squids were enormous and it was quite a different kettle of fish to remove the guts, de-ink them and prepare them ready to cook. From inky mess to white squid flesh in less than 10 minutes. I was very proud of myself :)

Oh what a monster!! But this was just another challenge on a day of great adventures in my culinary life.

Deepest, darkest Devon adventures

2011-10-29T00:06:00.001+01:00

I'm here in deepest, darkest Devon and it's blooming chilly! I've come down for a fish course and to learn how to handle fish. I think, after the week I've had, I need a lesson in sharks, rather than just fish! I'm 'reeling' ha ha from my London adventures yesterday with the lovely Lisa. We had a fab time at the theatre. It was just the tonic I needed. We ate in a Persian restaurant, went to an extremely camp performance and between us, chatted about anything and everything until the world was back the right way up again.
We got back to Paddington in the evening in time to have a coffee before our train. I remember remarking on the fact that trains from Paddington are never delayed. That was my first mistake! Within five minutes, the status of our train had changed to delayed and it went downhill from then on. We finally caught our train and during the course of the journey it lost over 35 minutes. I also remember remarking on the fact that once... I had had to even catch a bus because the train wasn't running - yuk! So you can imagine my horror when pulling into Swindon and the guard remarked that there would be a bus journey for anyone who needed to travel to Kemble, Chelts or Glouc. At this point, myself and Lisa were in hysterics though Lisa had now warned me to keep quiet about any future incidents I might mention.
We stood on Swindon station for a while before, being the resourceful girls that we are, we went outside to the taxi rank and asked the taxi driver how much it would be to our destination. £40 or 5 x £8... which sounded a heck of a lot better than waiting for the mystery bus! Lisa persuaded the guy on the platform to announce that we were prepared to share our taxi and it wasn't long before we were on our way with our merry band of 3 other, on our way to Kemble station.
So we arrived back at mine and I ended up sleeping on the sofa whilst my guests all slept in my beds! I wouldn't have had it any other way :)
Today I've had a lazy day, spending the morning with Fi & Rob and driving down to Devon mid afternoon.

Why does everyone want to drive in the outside lane on a Friday afternoon?!!!

It's so frustrating but hey ho, sit there I do. And eventually... here I am, ready to chop, fillet and skin some poor defenceless little fishy and turn him into delicious culinary masterpieces. In less than 48 hours I will know my sole from my pollock and will have had a brilliant weekend - I'm going to make sure of that! Love to everyone who loves me xx xx

Our day out in the countryside

2011-10-26T22:16:00.000+01:00

Thank goodness for girls

2011-10-24T16:57:00.000+01:00

If you've ever been to visit me then you'll know exactly where this was taken. And no, we hadn't been into the pub for some refreshment on the way up the hill! We have been to Hobbs for a lovely light lunch which is exactly what the Dr. ordered. We've had a wander around the shops and we're on our way back to my place to scrap! Playing with paper and glue can fix most things - I really hope that's true XX

to me x

2011-10-23T20:48:00.003+01:00

Sweet onions with lentil stew

2011-10-23T20:26:00.002+01:00

I took a photo but it looks a bit like mud, which really doesn't do this supper dish justice at all. I watched Nigel Slater make this dish this week and was so impressed that I decided to give it a go. I'm not a fan of lentils. It's not that I don't like them. I just don't use them to make dishes because I don't generally cook with beans and pulses. However, it's a great week to say 'A change is as good as a rest' so here I am describing this tasty dish.
I am a big fan of Nigel Slater. I like his straightforward approach to cooking and every recipes of his that I've tried has always turned out well and most importantly, tastes absolutely delicious. This dish is very wholesome and includes pancetta, onions, carrots, mild paprika, lentils, stock cooked with spices that have the most delicious aroma, cinnamon and nutmeg. I bought a box of whole nutmegs so I could grate one into the bubbling mixture. Mmm, delicious and very comforting. I can't wait for the spices to seep into the dish overnight. I'll be serving this dish to my guests, along with some moussaka tomorrow, topping it off with 'mouth-watering, sweet caramelised onions and a dollop of creme fraiche! And I'm pretty hopeful that it will look, and definitely taste, more appetising than a bowl of mud!

My latest new baby

2011-10-22T17:01:00.002+01:00

It's big, it's packed with stuff and it's gonna be great! I'm talking about my new Love Baking pack. It started life as a little gem of an idea about doing a cupcake special and a few short months later, it's a brilliant newstand pack which goes on sale next week. It's pretty unique in a market that's stuffed with titles so I'm hoping it will do what I need it to do - stand out from the crowd! Who wants to blend in.. huh!
Issue 1 includes my fave brownie recipe which I'd have to admit is a chocoholics treat, mmm :) xx xx

Molecule mix-up

2011-10-22T11:33:00.000+01:00

Couldn't sleep because my molecules were all jumbled up. And, I am sure you have no idea what I'm taking about. We'd all like to be the main event in our lives though I sometimes get the feeling that I'm just not on top of mine. I'm featuring somewhere close to the bottom in my own production. It's easy to put others and the craziness of work, that is life's biggest challenge, to the forefront, particularly at this time of year when I leave and arrive home in the dark. The hours of daylight get shorter and I'm a daylight girl. I like light shining on my life and the loneliest place will always be in the dark in the middle of the night no matter who you are.
Do you ever feel your brain is so crammed full of stuff, the important things get pushed to the back? Today the light is on in my brain and I'm going to put myself first. I've beaten my flu bug and there's only one thing I should be doing and that is enjoying this moment. It won't happen again because no one can stop the clock ticking. There you go, another second has flown by!
My weekend has started with a well deserved treat - smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with the lovely Lisa. And I'm about to chuck out some of my past and spring clean my scrapping room. Then I'm going to start spring cleaning my life. I have a week of treats planned, not least spending time with my lovely college buddy Fi and her top totty, Rob. I'm going to plan my eats for the week :) I was watching Nigel Slater last night and have got my eye on his heartwarming recipe "Sweet onions and lentil stew". That should blow the cobwebs away so beware all you stupid spiddys!
I heard someone say on the radio a while ago 'Be the best you can be'. I manage to achieve that at work and am very proud of my achievements and the level of success I have. I'm less confident about my ability to be the best in my own production. I have plenty of wishes and dreams and I'm going to stop dreaming about them and plan tomorrow's great adventure. I'm looking forward to a cracking foodie fish course at the weekend. I can't wait! XX

Highlights and lowlights of my week.. so far!!

2011-10-22T02:55:00.001+01:00

The roads open again, yeah!
I've had the big switch on.. my heating!
Poorly father :(
Baked delicious filling for my jacket potatoes :)
Jive class, yeah!
Love Baking new launch is another stonking success!! I love it when a plan comes together :)
Lost more weight.. can now fit into my old skinny jeans - triumphant!
Hobbs soup is amazing which is the reason I've had it twice this week :) the fact that they also have yeast-free bread is brilliant!
News that a friend had a baby, nice :)
Gained some brownie points for tidying up my craft room :)
Lost a bf :(
Thank goodness for my great friends and lovely family :)

A creative project from Maxines Melange

2011-10-15T23:17:00.001+01:00

Here's our class kit for our afternoon delight - and half the night too though we didn't realise at this stage! It's a small bag of treasure with a big sprinkling of magic all sealed in tiny plastic bags and ready to assemble... :)

Take a bag of bits, 5 hours of painting and glueing and hey presto, I've made one of Maxine's Creative Christmas albums. If ever there was a reason to enjoy the creative journey, it was right now! These kits are beautifully put together and include chipboard shapes, German scraps of lace, decorative papers, die-cut shapes and all you need are basic tools and a lot of patience to put one of these projects together.

Here's the front of the box complete with lace covered window shutters. It's surprising what skills come in useful when I'm crafting! I used my extensive bathroon tiling skills to good use to put spacers between the chipboard box sides so the gap is the correct width.

I love these German scraps. All the need is some careful handling, a little bit of paint and distressing with gold rub-on paste or inking to turn a plain Christmas window box into an aged, Vintage masterpiece!

Here's the result of 3 hours faffing with paper and glue! Every little piece has been cut, painted, stuck, painted, sanded and layered to make a box frame with a window effect.

Voila! It's assembled with front, spine and back as well as decorative wooden holly leaves, crown and German scraps.

I love the idea of having a Paris Christmas scene in the window. This tiny pack of chipboard tree, stars and snowflakes is deceptively small at around 5cm square. Each delicately die-cut piece needs pushing out, covering and sticking to the Paris scene background.

Wet glue is great for sticking the chipboard and paper elements together. Polymer glue is best for attaching the cocktail stick tree and all these tiny elements to the Paris background. A bit of stickles glitter glue and it's ready to stick to the back of the front of the box.

The final touches are the Paris scene with glittering stars and xmas tree which sits at the back of the window and the final flourish of highlights added in gold and bronze rub-on paste.

I like making three dimensional projects because they're a real challenge and something quite different from making just a card. I can feel another Maxine's Melange coming on :) x

A weekend of peaceful scrapping...

2011-10-14T19:10:00.000+01:00

I'm here, I've had dinner and I'm ready to scrap! It's been a long week after Liz's wedding weekend and I'm ready to spend a lovely relaxing weekend scrapping with friends. Great Hucklow is a lovely place although I usually find the journey a bit of a pain. Today, I broke up the journey dropping into see the parents then instead of picking up the queue on the M6, I took a chance and tried a different route. Oh yes... I'm now a fan of the M6 Toll! As my mother says, you get what you pay for, so although it's cost me £5:50, 30p extra because I didn't have the right change and it was unmanned, it was well worth it. The only tricky queue was near Derby, the remainder of the journey has been a breeze and I made it all the way here in just 2 hours. I've got my 3 feet of table, a glass of white to hand and a scrapping kit, woo hoo! And Ginger's here.. what more can a girl want :) x

I love Cheltenham Literary Festival

2011-10-12T23:11:00.000+01:00

Each year, the festival seems to get better and better. Today I've had a literary fest managing to catch four lectures or 'chats with' which is a record for me. Firstly, Atkins and Warner then Nancy Mitford then Penelope Keith and finally, the grand old master himself, Sir Terry Wogan, no less!
I've not come across Suzy Atkins before but coupled with Valentine Warner, who was cooking as he spoke, the pair were easy listening and the smells coming from Valentine's cooking were making my tummy rumble. It was all very light hearted and of course, intended to tempt us to go and buy their book, and a pleasant way to spend 60 minutes on a Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I'm not a great reader of novels, which is possibly the reason why Nancy Mitford's 'The Pursuit of Love' has passed me by. Nevertheless, the panel of speakers this afternoon were entertaining in their descriptions of her life and I came away knowing more about her than when I woke up this morning!
Penelope Keith is exactly as I thought she would be. She's not too old that I can't imagine her just as she was in 'The Good Life' or 'To the Manor Born'. She has such a lovely voice and was humorous, entertaining and a thoroughly good egg throughout her little chat.
Terry is just Terry and whilst I thought I might miss him being on radio 2's morning radio show, I now think that the lovely Chris Evans does an even better job than Terry did. However, Terry is an institution and a brilliant one at that. His charm and wit is second to none and his morning programmes have often kept me sane on the journey into work. Although he's been all over the tv as a chat show host, I never noticed how big his ears are until today! He did make a joke about them though so I'm not the only one that's noticed. With the help of Pudsey, Sir Terry has helped raise over 600 million pounds for Children in Need since it first launched in 1980. That's such a massive achievement and I'm pretty certain that wouldn't have happened if not for Terry himself. He's a big advocate of the Beeb and his passion and enthusiasm for it as a British institution, likening the Beeb to being as important to Britain as the Royal family, is impressive. He is one of the truly great hosts, radio presenters and best known voices of the 20th century and was well worth the £13.50 I paid to see him!

Liz & Jeremy's beautiful wedding :)

2011-10-09T20:21:00.001+01:00

My lovely, lovely little girl is married and for one awful moment, I thought I was losing her. You know when they say "You're not losing a daughter, you're gaining a son-in-law" well, it's absolutely true. I should have felt happy but I felt sad. I should have had company but I was alone. The Liz called me and the world flipped just like a coin and I knew everything was going to be fine. In fact, more than just fine. We now have the lovely Jeremy in our family and I can't think of anyone better to love and cherish my Lizbeth xx

I really did feel like the mother of the bride and it was a fantastic feeling! I was even proud of the father of the bride and it was the perfect day for L&J.

Inspired by Art London in Chelsea

2011-10-07T19:46:00.028+01:00

I love visiting art fairs and meeting up with old friends from the galleries so I got very excited when I discovered that the London Art Fair was on at the same time as Liz & J's wedding - woo hoo! I've seen some of the art before but there were one or two special gems in the show. Not least, one or two tiny Lowry sketches that I'd have liked to own, but were well beyond my budget. My most favourite painting in the entire exhibition was this one by Beatrice Ridley, called Red Orchard. The striking red pompom trees stopped me in my tracks and it's the only painting that I can't stop thinking about and have wished for since I was there. It reminds me of a mammoth pointillism exercise I undertook when I was at school/college. I had decided to paint a 3ft square canvas using this technique and not surprisingly, it took me the whole of the summer to finish. For some reason that I can't recall, I chose to reproduce a piece of oriental carpet. I was very proud of it and although it wasn't the most inspirational piece I'd ever done, it taught me a lot - mainly patience, ha ha!

Meeting Bradford artist, Darren Baker...

2011-10-02T09:16:00.000+01:00

Who is such an unassuming 35 year old young man, has to be one of the highlights of my weekend. He's not only recently painted a portrait of the Queen (see in the background) he's also the official 2012 Olympic artist. I asked him how he got to paint the Queen and he said that he was just in the right place at the right time. The Royal Portrait was commissioned by the Royal British Legion to celebrate the Queen's 85th birthday. He apparently had just two one-hour long sittings with the Queen that resulted in 400 hours of painting to produce the finished Royal Portrait. He said he took some early sketches in to show the Queen and she loved one so much, she now has it hanging in her sitting room. In my humble opinion, Darren Baker's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is brilliant. For me, it is made all the more beautiful by his down to earth, boy next door attitude to life. He's a Northern lad, I should have guessed! So the gallery in Chelts got to display one of the copies of this great painting. The Queen is painted sitting in a window in Buckingham Palace with 5 poppies pinned to her lapel and very cleverly, her watch is set to just 11am as a mark of remembrance and to remind her about the minute's silence! The portrait is exceptionally detailed in true Darren Baker style. The detail is breathtakingly accurate and I'm sure our Queen must love it!

I asked him what he's up to at the moment. He said he's currently working at the Olympic site painting and sketching the athletes in the lead up to next year's 2012 Olympics. For a young man of just 35, Darren Baker has achieved a extraordinary level of fame and success. He's an exceptionally talented young guy.

Royal Portrait

2011-10-02T08:21:00.000+01:00

September views from my window...

2011-09-18T21:17:00.001+01:00

This week's A to Z

2011-09-17T18:35:00.001+01:00

A is for "I'm renaming it 'Antisocial networking!"
B is for giving blood, buttock clenching (yes, that's the exercise recommended whilst you're giving blood!), my lovely, comfy bed and dreaming of brownies; the yummy, chocolate, sticky, melty kind
C is for confusion, counting the days till Lisa's back from her hols and chicken dinner :)
D is for dead cygnet :( and the anticipation of Downton Abbey :)
E is for EVITA; brilliant performance at the hippo, even though I did lose the plot at times!
F is for fragile
G is for getting my mojo back
H is for happy, happy, happy home
I is for impossible
J is for just wishing the days away, which I never do, jive dancing and the delicious calm of a Japanese restaurant, Soushi
K is for K xx xx and keeping my cool!
L is for losing my balance, losing weight and unconditional love x
M is for missing the people I love, moments you'll never share and creamy, white mozzarella, yum
N is for narky, nuisances
O is for just get OVER yourself!
P is for plum wine on ice - delicious japanese wine, plasters and piggy people
Q is for the thought of silky peace and delicious quiet
R is for relentlessnessnessnessnessssss
S is for surprises, not always nice ones, Saturday shopping to buy new scarves and sushi
T is for Tim, Tim the property man :) ten roses (2 hit by the recession!) and new baking tins :)
U is for whoever lovely is reading this - YOU
V is for lovely, gorgeous china V&A mug which I bought to cheer me up
W is for working nocturnal hours
X, Y and Z are just my impossible letters
Phew, I feel better already, thank you! X

Strictly Jive...

2011-09-11T23:24:00.001+01:00

Best bit about this weekend was the start of Strictly! It was more like a preamble to the start, which will begin in 3 weeks time, but it was still worth watching, twice! Strictly always makes me think of the lovely MGC, and our marvellous evenings watching the dancing inbetween playing with paper and glue. So today I played with paper and glue too, which made me feel a whole load better. Ginger would be proud of me, though she doesn't know it yet. I have been talking and thinking of going to dance classes for a long time. More than a century in fact. And I planned to go last week after work. I thought of loads of excuses as the hour got closer and even tried staying late at work to avoid having to turn up. I drove home convinced that I'd be too late but I wasn't. In fact, I drove onto the car park with about 5 minutes to spare. I had thought about sitting on the car park to see who might be going too but after giving myself a good talking to, I went inside. Not one that's usually shy of meeting new people, I soon got into the swing of things and I'm now enrolled on the jive class - and they're expecting me again next week, woo hoo! I'm hoping that as the weeks go by I'll become more accomplished at jive and then I'll be able to pick up some tips from the professionals on Saturday night - ha ha!

Neighbours... !!

2011-08-31T23:05:00.000+01:00

Do you have funny neighbours? By that I mean, funny, hilarious neighbours? I certainly do! They're great, really they are and after the first meeting of our newly formed, in fact perfectly formed book club, I think we're going to get on like a house on fire! I came home from work expecting to have a leisurely hour at home before our first meeting. Oh no.. I arrive home to find a note through my door to say, the venue for the first meeting has changed and 'bring nibbles!'.. what??? Mmm, I could feel a neighbours Nigella challenge coming on... !! so I put my oven on, baked walnut and chocolate brownies, ha ha (in paper cases - don't try that at home!) and was ready to go.
I arrived at my neighbours house with my kindle (hidden inside my bag just in case it wasn't the PC thing to bring to a first book club meeting) and my box of 9 yummy brownies. Sadly, but not surprisingly, my lovely brownies had completely sunk in the paper cases - you'd need a spoon to get the gooey bits from the bottom. But hey, I knew they tasted amazing because I'd devoured two (i had to test them!) before I left the flat.
All I can say is that it was fun! Talk ranged from how to set up our new club to who was the oldest in the group. Of course it's not me!!
Neighbours are such a great source of good gossip. I learnt who was who, who wasn't with who any more and we all agreed that a book club was a great idea! Whether we'll get to talk about books much is another thing but at least we'll get a chance to catch up on neighbourly gossip and talk about 'stuff!'.
My neighbours have so far recommended the following books... 'How to be a woman' by Katlin Moran - this book will apparently change my life! And books by Louise Bagshaw, though I've looked these books up on my kindle and the titles range from 'Desire' to 'A Kept Woman' so it doesn't take a genius to guess the theme?!
Being the saintly, overly neighbourly, competitive book lover that I am.. I have already ordered a sample of our very first book 'Behind the scenes at the museum' by Kate Atkinson. That's the beauty of Kindle.. it's instant! I'm ever so slightly disappointed that, as everyone is away in October, I won't get to talk about it for two months so I won't be reading it just yet. But as I'll be the 'hostess with the mostess' for our next meeting number 2, I need to plan buying my wine, bake a more than delicious cake and then get reading.. !!

Florence

2011-08-29T21:18:00.000+01:00

Siena

2011-08-29T21:14:00.000+01:00

Pisa

2011-08-29T21:12:00.000+01:00

Mono memories

2011-08-20T22:56:00.003+01:00

What's the best thing about being on holiday?

2011-08-20T15:23:00.000+01:00

Nothing... ! Today is DAY ONE of my holiday and I'm euphoric. I'm going to enjoy every single minute and make sure that I spend some time actually doing nothing at all! Just being able to enjoy living where I do and being at home is a pleasure that I rarely get time to fully appreciate. It's the little things that count the most. Like starting the day in Hobbs with toast. Two slices of bread made without yeast, which tasted amazing. I can count the number of times I've had toast in the past 4 years on one hand. Topped with gooseberry conserve, it tasted like food from the Gods! What more can a girl ask for on a Saturday morning.

I'm at home now, sitting looking out of my window. It's raining, which makes me feel glad I didn't stay too long in town. I walked back up the hill in the sunshine, wey hey. I'm now watching the sand martins dart across the surface of the lake. There must be between 40 and 60 of them out catching the summer bugs and they look like little white arrows. Their bellies are very white and they have relatively small wings and tiny pointed tails. Fun to watch though. The cygnets in comparison aren't quick at all. They move in a very clumbsy way and just like in the fairy story, are quite ugly and look more like prehistoric birds than the graceful swan they're going to grow up to be. They're so large now that they're allowed out without mummy and daddy, who are most likely resting somewhere within range of their youngsters.
It's lovely to be at home and on holiday :) xx xx

A snapshot of Bristol's See No Evil in the making...

2011-08-19T22:22:00.044+01:00

A mural by Ian Boyd Walker, IBW-art. His facebook page says 'Have paints, will travel!'

Here's one by spanish artist, Aryz, originally from California but now based in Barcelona. He paints huge characters and is considered to be one of the creme de la creme of urban artists in Europe. He uses just spraycans and big roller brushes to create these massive murals and we now have one in this permanent street art street exhibition in Bristol, yeah!

Tats Cru is a group of Bronx-based graffiti artists turned professional muralists. From New York, this group of guys are famous for producing ads for large corporations such as Coca Cola and Sony. They also produce memorial murals - hence the RIP in the bottom right hand corner.

Europe's biggest street art festival

2011-08-19T18:23:00.045+01:00

In need of something to eat and some fresh air, I left the office yesterday lunchtime and didn't realise that his amazing festival was taking shape within a few streets of our offices. Nelson Street in Bristol was buzzing with people taking photographs, artists on scaffolding creating street art and graffiti which looked absolutely amazing. I had to find out what was going on so spoke to a couple of guys who were wielding paint cans in a flourish in the same way as chefs wield knives! One guy said he was from Germany and had been invited as part of the 'See No Evil' big street art festival due to start this weekend. Hurrah for Bristol council, that's what I say!! I'm delighted but very surprised that they have the foresight to see just what a coup this is for Bristol. Nelson street has for as long as I've been working in Bristol, which is over 10 years, been one of the most boring streets imaginable. Lots of concrete walls, no character, in fact I had nothing nice to say about it at all. Until now, that is...

This is the biggest and best thing to happen to Nelson street and I applaud Bristol council for letting it happen. It's been organised by Bristol street artist and Banksy collaborator Inkie and has attracted more than 20 of the world's biggest street artists to come to take part. They will paint almost every building, some 10 stories high, in a bid to turn the boring buildings of Nelson Street into Bristol's next major tourist attraction. It is being promoted as one of the largest outdoor art exhibitions in the world. The official three-day celebration begins on Thursday and by then, I'm certain that every inch of that boring concrete facade will have been brought to life with the most amazing street graffiti you'll see anywhere in the world. Organisers are hoping this will be the biggest local art event since Banksy took over the Museum of Bristol which was over two years ago now. I missed that event because the queues were just so long. I feel privileged to be able to wander along the street today taking photographs and experiencing history being made in Bristol.

What waits for you at the end of the day...?

2011-08-15T20:29:00.001+01:00

A nice hug? A hot bath? Or a slobbering pouch? After 10 long hours in the office I was in no mood to cook or skip a meal. The beauty of having a reasonably long drive home is that I can spend the time deliberating and tonight my ponderings focussed on what to have for supper. I thought about pasta but wasn't moved by the idea. I thought about smoked haddock but I had that last week. I thought about salad but it's a chilly evening so that idea went down like a limp lettuce leaf. Then quite out of the blue the thought of a tasty, spiced Indian chicken korma popped into my head. Mmm, great idea. As soon as I got into town, I parked and went into my friendly Indian to buy myself a take-away. It is indeed one of the best take-aways I've ever tasted. I'm not sure cashew nuts are a traditional ingredient in a chicken korma but they were very welcome. I know it's unhealthy but if food is the fuel of the soul, then my sweet soul is satisfied and I'm very happy fish tonight :) xx xx

My Top 10 best feelings in the world

2011-08-14T08:52:00.001+01:00

Inspired by reading Chris Evans autobiography 'Memories of a Fruitcake' I've decided to compile my own top 10. He starts every chapter of his life with a top 10 list on all manner of subjects from 'Celebrity Encounters' to 'Reasons why I love California'. My first top 10 is a biggie.. 'My Top 10 best feelings in the world', and here is number 1...
1. Knowing I'm loved
2. Raising the bar and tasting success
3. Relief on hearing both my parents are well
4. Hearing my kids voices
5. Being with my lovely friends
6. The sound of snap, crackle and pop
7. Being home
8. Knowing I'm not the oldest
9. Having a hug
10. Being smiled at
Life really is too short to waste on negative thoughts :)

International Quilt Show 2011

2011-08-13T15:21:00.001+01:00

There's only one word to describe talent such as this... INCREDIBLE! This is a quilt...!!

I loved these small piece of quilted art. They're right up my street!

I love symmetry which is possibly why these appealed to me so much. I can't begin to imagine the amount of work involved in creating such stunning quilts. The time isn't counted in hours but in months and years!

This was one of my fav experimental pieces. They're not supposed to be actual quilts but pieces of art. It reminded me of Venice. I've only been once and would love to go again, particularly for the Venice Biennale :)

It could only happen to me...

2011-08-13T15:13:00.000+01:00

40 cars in the street in Chelts and guess what... mine is the only one that looks like a clown!! I had stayed at the lovely Lisa's overnight. We'd been out with her neighbours and had a lovely meal at Flynns. I remember hearing voices during the night which is unusual on such a quiet street. I wasn't conscious enough to wake up and look through the window & why would I? What is quite strange is that whilst we were in Flynn's we were discussing the fact that the some residents were trying to make the street parking for permit holders only. I have no idea where the cone came from because I certainly didn't see on when I parked there. I think I'd have remembered if I'd run over it!! I prefer to think it was a numpty having a laugh than a resident having a spat! Thankfully, my car isn't damaged in any way and I did actually find it very funny :)

Btw....

2011-08-13T14:48:00.000+01:00

"I STILL WANT ONE!!" ha ha...

Gatcombe horse trials

2011-08-07T15:31:00.000+01:00

I love a good day out so yesterday's visit to Gatcombe horse trials was right up my street! Lots of lovely fresh air, a walk in beautiful surroundings, sit in the sun with a coffee and just a thoroughly good reason to chill out. I thought I'd been there before but once I was there I didn't recognise any of the layout and I now know that I hadn't! I'd been to Badminton horse trials with Tash in May of 2008 and somehow got confused. Oh well, not the end of the world and as I'm the only one that realises my mistake, I'm keeping that little bit of info a secret :) xx xx

Rock on Fanny Haddock :)

2011-08-04T21:12:00.003+01:00

There are great days and there are days when all I want to do is come home and cook! I wished for uncoloured smoked haddock, asparagus, garlic and lemon mayonnaise and a poached egg, which is exactly what I made for my supper - yum... :)

Pond dipping... !!!

2011-08-04T21:11:00.003+01:00

And I took these photos so I must have been there!

How to outsmart a cat.. !

2011-08-04T21:10:00.002+01:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a big cat lover. I blame it on the fact that I used to have a recurring dream of a cat sitting at the top of the stairs at Brookfield rd where I lived as a child. It could have been the shadowy shape of the plastic daffs which my mum got free with soap powder, well that's what she told me. Whatever the reason, I never had a reason to want one as a pet. Now I'm allergic to them so I don't go out of my way to stroke them for obvious reasons. Tonight I left the house to find not one, but two cats on my front doorstep. I ignored them as I usually do but as I got into my car I noticed this black beauty (I'm being sarcastic!) right on front step playing with something. I went to look and sure enough, he was hassling a poor little dormouse and chasing him round the drainpipe with his paw. Now I was annoyed... ! I shooed blackie away and although she wasn't harmed, I could see she was frightened and very confused. Wouldn't we be too?! When you consider the size of a cat compared to a humble little dormouse, it's like me being pawed by a juggernaut!
I knew that I couldn't leave my frightened little dormouse on the step so I went to my car, took out an empty plastic water bottle and managed to persuad little mousie to climb inside. Don't worry, it was a smoothie bottle with a big neck and plenty of room inside! I gently screwed on the lid so she wouldn't drop out and hastily popped her onto the passenger seat and drove away. Aware that my little dormouse wouldn't survive with the lid on for long, I drove down the hill to the car park beside the garden centre. My plan so far was working a treat :) I unscrewed the top and my little dormouse slid out onto the grass.
She did seem pretty pleased with her new surroundings and although she may have been thinking "Blimey, am I on holiday?!" I decided she had a much better chance of survival here that on my front doorstep. I went to the supermarket, bought food for supper, drove home and guess what.. stupid black cat was still sitting staring over the wall at my front door. So who said cats were clever, hey?!

London life...

2011-08-04T21:09:00.002+01:00

Coffee cake kisses

2011-07-26T19:18:00.001+01:00

There's something very yummy about a home baked coffee cake. As you can see, I tried Nigel Slater's recipe and loved it though I didn't eat it all, honest! I got his recipe just by typing "Nigel Slater coffee and walnut cake" into beloved google and it's a sponge that actually improved and became more moist on the second day after it was baked. I rarely follow a recipe exactly so I substituted the cream filling for a coffee buttercream and added a coffee, icing sugar and water glaze over the top and sprinkled chopped walnuts over the top. I have to say that Nigel Slater never disappoints me and I love the way his recipes speak just as he does in a very laid back, wholesome way :) I wrapped my lovely creation in greaseproof paper and stored it in an airtight tin though the nuts kept falling off which ended up as a real bonus for anyone who was going to finish off the last couple of slices. I'm lucky enough to have one with glass in the lid so I can see how much I have left! ps there's none left now, not even a coffee crumb!

Goodbye paper, hello kindle :)

2011-07-25T22:53:00.002+01:00

I think I'm in love... KiNdle is my NBF XX XX. It weighs next to nothing, is easy to read in direct sunlight, fit, quick, responsive, in fact it's simply perfect for that 21st century reading experience. I've always been a paper stroker! I never imagined I'd be tempted away from a paper book but hey, in one short week I've become very attached to my digi device. I'm a mac girl so I have a natural love of all i-things. I'd love an ipad2 but it's wildly, more expensive, heavier, the digi versions of books are dearer and let's fact it, the screen makes it impossible to read outside in the sun. Hence where my kindle storms in and steals the show. It's kept me company during my 'kid's party holiday' as well as being a constant companion whilst I've had the flu. On the sofa, on the side, in the bed, I could buy all my friends a kindle with the money I'd need to shell out for a new ipad2! Yesterday for example, I downloaded a 99p digi version of The Times on Sunday which I read at the cricket, no less. Pimms in one hand, kindle in the other, wey hey, happy girl :-}

"A classic English summer scene... "

2011-07-25T21:35:00.001+01:00

Well, that's what Mark Cummings of BBC Gloucestershire thought of my photo :)

No wonder Anna loves cricket!

Blog to blog... doesn't he look a little like hampster-face Richard whatsisname, you know the short one off Top Gear who is also a Cheltenham local - but MC is much cuter :) ha ha! My lovely friend Ginger Claire's response to hearing that I'd taken a photo of a streaker at the cricket was also memorable - "Only You!" She's right, of course, it could only happen to me. I wish to thank the rather fit guy who, obviously for a bet, decided to bare all and give us all some eye-popping entertainment. Mmm, I want to know, what's his number and which cricket team does he support?!

Why I love cricket... :)

2011-07-24T22:48:00.001+01:00

Ha ha ha... my first cricket match couldn't have been any more entertaining! I went to see Gloucestershire play Nottinghamshire and got a lot more than I bargained for! The funniest thing was that everyone just smiled and watched the streaker run all the way across the grounds, touch the board at the other side and as he wasn't being chased, he turned and ran all the way back the other way. And, he looked pretty fit from where I was standing!!

So... I've decided I'm missing out and I really, really want to go to cricket more often!

I'd have to say that you look a little overdressed!

Out with the girls...

2011-07-20T23:16:00.011+01:00

Wednesday was my night out with the girls. I drove Becca to Didsbury to meet Tash and we all had a lovely meal at Zizzi's.

Chatsworth House is A-mazing!

2011-07-19T20:21:00.002+01:00

Oh what a week.. ... 5 nights away with 4 children under 8 and 5 adults in Derbyshire! I feel like I've been to the longest 'kids party' ever! I've been bike riding, walking in the rain, drawing little children, making cards and even managed to get a trip out to Chatsworth on my onio! I have to say that after the hectic few months I've had at work then 4 children were going to be a breeze, even for me! I was last up in the morning in order to avoid the 6am wake up calls. And although there were a few fights, a few tears and tantrums, I just did what any girl would do and just covered my ears and pretended to be asleep :)

My day at Chatsworth was brilliant and it was the perfect antidote to my manic, crazy life. Armed with my audio tour, I wandered around the house soaking up the atmosphere and simply enjoying every little moment of this wonderful property.

This digital image was the highlight of my day at Chatsworth. Changing colours every few seconds, it would be such a fabulous piece to live with.

"I WANT ONE!"

I loved wandering around the gardens though I did miss having someone to wander with me. I know Ginger would have enjoyed it because she's great at hiding behind trees and making me laugh.

Who turned the taps on?!

2011-07-11T23:15:00.001+01:00

My lovely swans could be forgiven for thinking that someone 'up there' had turned on the taps this weekend! One minute it was sunshine and the next, it was pouring down. All this talk about the weather brings out the cynic in me and I'm never or rarely cynical about anything. But weather-talk does seem to hit a nerve and I know exactly why - and forgive me for not explaining. You'd have to have known me a long time to understand why that is! I am constantly amused by other people's obsession with weather. Whenever I have the misfortune to tune into a weather report they almost always predict a bit of everything - "It's going to be sunny spells wherever you live in the morning with light rain during the afternoon"... you don't say?!

My lovely lake was transformed into a swirling whirlpool inbetween of course, those sunny spells. If I had a magic wand, I'd wave it at the weather people and wish for... mmm, I don't know because weather shouldn't be predictable. I'm just glad I'm not a weather person because there can't be much job satisfaction in telling everyone the sun is going to shine when it pours down with rain all day - ha ha!

"Queuing for dinner and there's no point standing up when sitting down is more comfortable"

Congratulations to Mummy Sz! She quite rightly spotted that this photo was taken "pre-foxy-supper" because there are 7, not 6 cygnets in this pic. I wonder which one.. nah, it's best not to think about it. Today I can see Mummy swan swimming across the lake with her 6 little ones. Soon dad will be rocking up to teach them to fly.. that's always a fun few weeks!

Queen tribute at Eastnor Castle

2011-07-11T23:05:00.000+01:00

A chilling cucumber...

2011-07-08T13:08:00.000+01:00

Today I am required to take on the persona of a chilling cucumber! Life, and by that I mean work, has been exceptionally busy for me - I need to look for a bigger word than that! There are so many analogies from climbing vast mountains to fighting battles but I don't need a big stick or a set of crampons, just a little moment or two to myself.
I know my limits. I'm like a big sponge at times that completely absorbs the stress and nonsense that's thrown at me. No one knows, no one sees but me. It won't affect my mood so you won't know and I'm extremely good at managing and juggling my workload. Truly, I could win an award for spinning plates!
Some of my biggest challenges are goals that I set for myself. I want to do more, I have a strong desire to succeed and be the best. And, I need to do all that with a smile on my face. Today, I'm like a phone that's lost its charge. I need someone to leave me in a corner plugged into the wall so that I can slowly come back to life. A little bit of tlc and some chocolate can go a long way :)
Nothing is quite that simple but the good bit is that I know myself well enough to understand when I need a recharge.
p.s. If only I had some Pimms to go with my cucumber persona!

Can swans count?

2011-06-24T15:04:00.001+01:00

From one mummy to another, I am wondering if she's realised that she's lost yet another one of her little cygnets. I'd like to think that perhaps nature is being kind to her and she can only count to three so hasn't realised that one of her treasured little ones has gone awol. I never did like that film, Fantastic Mr Fox! I know some people who think it's a wonderful film but I don't! They are boys though :)) ha ha...

I can think of much better films, such as The King's Speech, which I saw for the first time this week. What a brilliant film! I enjoyed it all the more because it's a true story about King George VI and how he overcame his stammer and became King. It's one of those films that is enthralling to watch, filled with little pockets of humour and makes 'one' feel lucky to not be in either position!

Colin Firth is one of those trustworthy actors who is very convincing as the stammering prince. It must have taken enormous skill, patience and a lot of practice to be able to perform so believably. It's reported that Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush, wrote notebooks and the screenwriter, Seidler was offered these by Logue's son, Dr Valentine Logue (what a great name!) if the Queen Mum would give her permission. She asked him not to do so in her lifetime. So, Seidler halted the project. In 2002 when the Queen mum died, Seidler was suffering from cancer but during a bout of creativity and began work again on the project.

Reported to be a little inaccurate in places, the film is still a pretty accurate portrail of a reluctant king. Albert or Bertie to his friends and family, George VI to us (yes, I know it's confusing!) was a very unassuming character who overcame the stammer that could have blighted his entire life and although would never have imagined he'd be King of England, because he'd lived in the shadow of his infamous, older brother Edward, he did a half decent job of it!

And the answer is... prosecco :)))

2011-06-23T19:32:00.000+01:00

Always and forever! Whatever the question is, the answer is definitely... PROSECCO! My little tipple from wonderful Waitrose is described on the Guardian website as having good texture and grip, whatever that's supposed to mean! I just like it :) in fact, I love it almost as much as the lovely people in my life... it's my favourite drink, apart from a great champagne because it's sweet and sparkly enough to make the end of any day feel better. I think that any drink with bubbles as clear and sweet as these will make me feel very happy. If I were a drink I'd be a glass of Prosecco because then I'd be loved and appreciated for making others, just like me, extremely happy... whatever.. ! XX XX

7 swans a swimming...

2011-06-14T23:07:00.001+01:00

How cute are these? It's like having Spring Watch on my doorstep every single day.

Tales of the unexpected... puncture...!

2011-06-13T21:33:00.000+01:00

I'm used to little dilemmas but car dramas really freak me out. I'd driven all the way from Derbyshire at the weekend without a hiccup so when I heard an alarm 'dong' on Monday driving to work, it got my heart racing. The alarm was followed by of those weird warning lights on the dash, so I knew that "Lady Ga Ga" (new name!) was in trouble. Dilemma... do I stop on the hard shoulder or keep going into work? To be honest, the car wasn't performing any differently. I know what a puncture feels like and the handling hadn't changed so I decided to keep my eye on the performance and get into the office. It didn't take long and as soon as I was parked up, I could see the tyre was deflated. The guy from BMW, who came to my rescue, poked the piece of blade, something similar to a stanley knife, out of the tyre. There was no point trying to fix it and I don't like mending punctured tyres. It was time to buy a new one. I was reminded more than once that I had a pressure can to mend punctures in my car - and?! Can you see me trying to mend a puncture on the side of the road? No! I have mini rescue and that's all I need. Lady Ga Ga now has a new Pirelli, mmm :) that was £98 I hadn't expected to spend today, humph!

Mint Polo in the Park

2011-06-06T22:18:00.000+01:00

I love...

2011-06-02T22:26:00.000+01:00

the number 8... cygnets :) and Amanda Holden's necklace :) I love Indian take-aways when I've had no lunch but I'm not sure about the spinach and cashews in my chicken korma, urgh :( who did that?! I'm not in love with SOAP - tv is so rubbish and soap is so predictable. I'm not in love with Britain's Got Talent.. doh, has it...? Not from where I'm sitting!! I'm in love with the 'mute' button.. yeah! I'm also loving ducks, the weekend, my view, prosecco, the Pierces, lovely people, little chips, my dishwasher, space hoppers, red wine, sock monsters, whales, the colour blue, green leaves, pineapple and sunny smiles! I really don't like having to agree with Simon, Michael Macintyre is worth so much more... ! I love my new car but I don't like it when the council chucks stones on the road and call it a new surface :( I love my kids, I don't love not seeing them. I love work, I really don't like having no balance. I love chicken for tea and I also love not having to cook it when I've had a few manic days! I love going out and I always want to when I can't! I love having Olympic tickets :) and being able to ignore dumb people. I love having a delete button! and having a choice :)

My nine beats your eight.. !

2011-05-30T21:17:00.000+01:00

The riverbank is bristling with wild ducks and their young. I caught these wonderful young Mallards on camera late this afternoon as they followed their mum back up the bank. Mum and dad swans also appeared with their complete clutch of eight cygnets.