Adventure Thursday

Today's adventure was a trip to Newcastle to visit the lovely people at Crafter's Companion. I had a lovely guided tour of the premises and a trip next door to meet Sara's lovely mum who runs a brilliant wallpaper and paint shop. Meg and Sara even managed a big smile during our 5 hour brainstorm ;)

Today's must-haves...

Some things are worth waiting for! I've been putting off buying my favourite perfume convincing myself that I should use the perfume I have instead. I know it's nice, I know it's different but it's not my favourite. I love variety and it's great to have different perfumes to wear for different reasons but I have an all time favourite and I've really missed it. Perhaps it's good sometimes to miss something? It can make you realise just how much you want it back in your life... :) Today, I found the hour that I lost last weekend so I spent it in duty free. I had a very early start. 4:30am to be precise tho I was awake at 4, which always happens when you know you have a flight to catch! My plane was leaving just after 7am and I've never been so happy to have paid the extra £3 something to get fly-thru past security. I had an inkling it would be a useful thing to do on Maundy Thursday - I must be psychic! I must say that Bristol airport is more often than not a pleasant experience. I rock up, park my car and it's a hop, skip and a jump up 3 flights of steps to the main concourse. Easy peasy...
Today I arrived to find the queue was not only extending outside the security area but all the way down the stairs and across the main concourse. "Any more passengers for Alicante?" Of course, fly-thru gave me the option to jump the entire queue, hurrah, how smug did I feel?! That of course meant that I found myself lounging around in the brilliant new bumper sized duty free area I was feeling very proud of my new purchases until I remembered that I was flying in and out the same day with only hand luggage.. doh! It dawned on me that the new liquid regs meant I wouldn't be able to bring my duty free home.. grrr! I mused, pondered and had a brainwave whilst I was at CC's. I removed all the packaging and hey presto, it all fit into my little plastic bag so I could bring it home...phew!

The rest of my Thursday adventure was reasonably uneventful. My meeting went brilliantly - 5 hours of wall to wall inspiration in a room packed with cards and crafting ideas. Sara is an absolute star! To create the entire contents of a magazine in a day is no mean feat. But we managed it and even found time to fit in a moderately sized Chinese banquet before I left to go back to the airport. The flight back was quiet and goodness only knows how I managed to sit right in the centre of the plane by one of the emergency exit doors! I guess everyone else was avoiding them and I just forgot they were there and just sat right down beside one. It was a relief to me and no doubt to all the other passengers that my services weren't required!

A Royal connection...

Frequented by Wills and Kate, The Potting Shed in the village of Crudwell is a real gem. Sunday lunch was delicious, the style is easy-cool, ever so slightly rustic potting shed-like with a very relaxed atmosphere. The mixture of random furniture, simple table decorations and the quirky gardening implement door handles and beer pulls make this a very unique place to eat and drink. We'll be back.. !

Firsts... !!

There's always a chance for 'a first' even at my age! I took Ginger to Loch Fyne in Knowle so we decided we'd have the seafood platter for two. Guess what, I had my first oyster. The big question people always ask is 'What does it taste like?" Ginger said "The Sea".. I would say "Not a lot - well, apart from the big squirt of lemon juice I'd squeezed over it!"

I dreamed a dream...

Tonight I fulfilled a long term ambition to get to see what is affectionately known as Les Mis. It's 25 years old and it shows the sad state of my social life over the past couple of decades that I have never seen this musical. It is billed as the longest running musical with an epic tale of passion and destruction. To celebrate Les Miserables 25th anniversary, this award winning musical has had a makeover. This new production, based on Victor Hugo's classic novel features Earl Carpenter, Gareth Gates as Marius and John-Owen Jones as Jean Valjean. His performance alone was extraordinary and his take on the famous song, 'Bring him home' was breathtaking.
The entire evening was so enjoyable. Nick invited me as his guest for the Champagne Gala Dinner which they sponsor and was intended to launch the theatre's new campaign to raise money for a new stage. We had drinks, dinner in the St Patrick's Centre followed by seats front row of the circle with an amazing view of the stage. This brand new performance, presented by the legendary Cameron Mackintosh, included brand new staging and spectacular effects. The pace was fast and the musicality just brilliant.

I dreamed a fish...

Not that I was a fish... I spent the day wondering what I wanted to eat and then it came to me. I was flicking through Good Food on my desk and came across a picture of a stuffed fish. Magazines are such a great source of inspiration! Immediately, I knew I wanted to cook a stuffed fish for dinner tonight. Of course, by the time I got to the supermarket after work the choice of whole fish was limited to a trout, 3 herrings and a headless mackerel. I think it was the bubble-like eyed trout staring at me that made me pick up the trout fillets! I flashed forward to the bit where there's only bones, a head and a tail left and knew I'd made the right choice!
Being a Domestic Goddess Extraordinaire means I prefer to work with just inspiration and instinct - no recipe required. As I looked up the difference between intuition and instinct this morning, I can tell you that one is experience from birth and one is learnt over centuries of other people's experiences - hence the first is governed by our emotions and the second being the higher form of knowledge, coming from intellect. Hey.. !! back to the fish ;) old trout face took a smidgen to cook, tasted delicious and although I had intended to only eat some, it was so delicious it would have been rude to leave a single flake. I am now a bonafide fish stuffing, string tying, trout-loving girly x

GC at BB....

One BIG Gold Cup Party.. !

Cheltenham Gold Cup...

Cake dilemmas...

Shoes... chocolate... and cake ;0

This is true and it makes me very glad x

Peas and oranges...

Not both at the same time! Homemade soup.. what more can I say..? Mom made pea soup for my tea tonight, it was just like home from home. Then myself, Mom and Marie went off to my old high school - not the buggie Bilston one but the nice friendly Codsall one - so we could be entertained by Nell Gwynn, Mistress to King Charles II of England. Lesley Smith, Curator of Tutbury Castle and Elizabethan Historian, was absolutely amazing as the alluring, cheeky Nell. She outwitted us with her cheeky humour, dazzled us with her sparkly eyes and engaged us with stories of Nell's relationship with the King of England. I bought mom a lovely basket of small grape hyacinths, now she's back from her weekend away, that me & Nick bought from the Highgrove store in Tetbury on Sunday afternoon. Nothing like their grown-up family members, these delicate blooms don't give you a headache with their pungent aroma, they are far more gentle and sweet.

How to write for the web...

That's my learning experience for today. What's yours? I love learning something new. Preferably something I want to learn too. I have an ongoing fascination with the web so today's workshop will hopefully feed my appetite for better blog writing. I don't have the dilemma that our company sites have because I'm not necessarily interested in generating thousands of new visitors. I'm not a blog diva! However, finding how pages get listed on the first page by googlebot robot is interesting. Having a web page is like playing a virtual game with the biggest & most advanced piece of 21st century technology ever! Algarhythms is how the big google computer lists & stores web pages. The listings aren't manmade, they are very cleverly compiled using googles secret source of Californian Algarythms. It's a wonder! Buzz words aren't always what we might expect because rules for print don't always apply to online writing. Google relies on relevance. Optimizing any site is the key to getting a higher listing & appearing on the first page. One coffee & a kitkat later & my head is buzzing :)

Madness Monday

Oh what a day! It started very well. A sunny & somewhat easy drive to work & it went downhill from there on in! I went to have a key cut & the guy asked "How are you", "Im a bit stressed" as I handed over the key which he cut & I paid my £5. I imagine he expected me to leave at this point but I just stood saying nothing. He asked "Is it okay?" "I said I was stressed... I've given you the wrong key to cut!" Lisa will be happy because she now has another spare key for her apartment! I now have a £10 key... Muppet!

Ouch...!

Big tooth out this week & no sign of the tooth fairy yet :) Thursday was a painful day but so far, so good.. it all seems to be baling very nicely. Lovely Nick cooked soft dinner of salmon & mash for my supper. I'm treating it gently until I know it's healing properly & I'm not going to cause any damage. Bed hopping again this week :)) Im at Fi & Robs now & going to the ballet this evening. I can't wait! I love going to the theatre & ballet is one of my favourites. The sun is shining & we're just having an early cup of tea - nice.

A little birdie tells me it's my birthday...

This little birdie was a lovely surprise from the lovely Ginger Pie! She made it on her scrapping weekend and as she put it.. she saw the kit and knew she had to make it especially for me! I'll just have to wait for her to return from her crazy birthday skiing trip so she can let me into the secret of how it's made ;)

Love in every little stitch..

Look what my Mommy made me.. ! I love canvas embroidery but just don't have the time to do it myself right now. My mother is so crafty and has lovingly stitched every one of these tiny stitch patterns. I bought mom another wonderful kit from West End Embroideries when I went to Alex Palace in the Autumn. They can't create the patterns fast enough for my Mom! They're so generous with their threads that Mom was able to stitch not one, but two of 'Hot Stuff' and I love it.. Thank you Mom ;))
Ps how trendy is my mom... her bunting is pretty smashing too!

Beading heaven...

I am such a lucky girl! I've had this beautiful gift from the lovely Kati in Hungary. She's the best and most accomplished beading and jewellery expert that I know. Mind you, she's an expert at anything she turns her hand to. I love my wonderful bracelet. It has a magnetic catch so I don't have to spend hours fiddling trying to secure it around my wrist - it's just gorgeous. Thanks Kati! x

Have you ever thought about...

What you might have in common with a storybook character..? Are you a Superman hero? Do you have Domestic Goddess tendencies or perhaps you're like Elizabeth from Pride & Prejudice? I am a reincarnation of Pollyanna, the girl who was taught to play the "glad game" by her father who taught her to appreciate what she has - rather than pine and be sad about what she hasn't got. It's an essential part of a single girl's life! It's been a constant thought this week whilst I've been off work ill.. ;) I love surprises. I admit, not the noro virus kind of surprises for my birthday but surprise parcels. My sister knows me so well.. ;) the nice postman smiled as he handed over this lovely brown paper parcel all tied up with string. I smiled even more when I opened it to find my heroine inside. More reflections of the person I am happy to be. That would be the smiley, well one - not the icky, sick one! Thank you lickle sib - you have made me very glad indeed ;))))))))))

"A miraculous story about the power of optimism"

It's birthday week...

Where did the last 25 years go..?! Happy birthday Rich - you never really did that birthday cake thing even when you were two! Candles are much more fun stuck in half a crumpet or in your pannini on your 25th birthday! I forgot to take photographs of the lovely mini book I made for you but here's one of my fav photos.. ;) you were a great kid! Here's to the next 25... ! LuvUloads, Mom xxx