Share...;-) mine... ;-) share...;-{ mine... ;-))

Do you like someone enough to share your Green & Blacks chocolate with them? I do... and I have 3 bars. One for me, one to share... and guess who the other one's for...? x



100% Pure Sweet Nothings... simply wonderful...Green & Blacks... purveyors of fine bliss... Tis true.."You make life so sweet"... 'You are a truffle in a chocolate bar world'



Officially fantastic...

How eggciting... x

Look what's hatched? Last week this little chick was just an egg sunning itself in an incubator in Greg & Rachael's kitchen. This week, it's a fluffy little ball of chickness... how eggstraordinary!

How cool is this!

adopt your own virtual pet!

Just when things are getting a bit repetitive, along comes a novelty! Not that I'm going to get scribbler to write my blog when I'm otherwise engaged, I think not! He could get me into all kinds of trouble and I'm quite capable of doing that all by myself thank you... have fun x ps Ginger, it's all your fault...!

Girly scrappin fun all weekend...

It's ME and Ging!

Ginger is here! She made me breakfast and then ate my Green & Blacks butterscotch chocolate. Shocking behaviour! But as she said, she felt dutifully bound to help me out and after all, that's what friends are for. We haven't noticed the miserable weather outside because we've made cards, dolls, mini books, albums and had a lot of fun just chatting. We've listened to our favourite radio stations along with my varied and eclectic collection of CD's. As always, it's been a brilliant weekend. The time has gone by so quickly and we were crafting until 3am Saturday morning! Chocolate has been the flavour of the weekend. We've indulged in just 1 bar of G&B's butterscotch dark chocolate, at the same time as making chocolate embossed embellishments. I bought the Gel-a-tin chocolate mini stamps back from CHA last year and they are fantastic. The best bit was of course the chocolate and cappuccino flavoured embossing power that smells yummy!

An important lunch date!

Today the "Crazy' team went out to celebrate their 100th issue! It's been 8 years since I launched this magazine. We had a great lunch at the Picture House on White Ladies road. Quite appropriate venue considering that I used to trot up White Ladies road after work to visit Cath and her new baby Matty all those years ago trying to persuade her to come and work for Origin. Little did she realise what she was letting herself in for! ps As you can see Anne's had too much to drink already!

Boys will be boys...

And, they just couldn't resist... having said that, neither could me or mum! We were innocently watching squirrels at play in the rain at Williamson Park, near the Ashton Memorial Folly in Lancaster. Funny hey...



Time for a dip in the river! Is it Pop or is it Pud...?



What a fantastic name, Crook O' Lune which is near Caton. We had a lovely short walk along the Lune valley which gave me the opportunity to take this great photo of Penny Bridge.

Like father, like son...

This bank holibob was a visit to my little bruv Greg's exhibition in Lancaster http://gsp2.co.uk and a chance to meet his 'other family' and friends. From the bathtaps of The Bay Horse Inn to The Sun for evening meal, it was a great weekend. I'm really proud of Greg for following his heart and I know he's happy... and so glad that mum & dad know that too.

How cool is this sign?!

No guesses where I've been today?! Okay, I was bored! He he.... ! x

Notting Hill in Cheltenham...

Cheltenham is full of little delights and today I found another one! Just along the Bath road, "Jack in a Box" deli where I sat in the window with my sundried tomato and goats cheese quiche and a cappuccino. A great place to have lunch and watch the world go by. "Nicholas", a brand new French wine merchant, opens its doors tomorrow and I was their very 1st customer - TODAY! The power of a smile, hey. I bought 3 bottles of fab French wine as a gift for my little bruv, Greg & his lovely Rachael. "The Bookshop" was a treat, two classical CD's and a couple of James Patterson for £2.50, what a bargain. This place is a little gem and makes Cheltenham even more of a special place to me... x

Jumping jazz and jeezecake!

Some days don't you just look back and think you must be dreaming... ?

Life is full of surprises and I just found another reason to smile. The final evening Cheltenham race meeting was brilliant. Not that I saw too much of the racing from the champagne bar! Me & Shep could be found celebrating everything good about the day with a bottle and half of bubbly! Don't you wish you could spot a winner just by looking? Horses are like men. Full of mystery and hidden depths...





The jazz to finish was just so cool. The infamous Ray Gelato, who opened for Robbie at London's Royal Albert Hall, was a top performer. We could have sat there all night.. well, until 10pm anyway. Best highlight were the two choices of sweet at the Kandinsky Hotel restaurant - a delicious cheesecake and a plate of bread! Cheesecake to share (mmm...) and bread for me to catch the fishbone that had lodged in my throat! It's the seabasses fault... I'm certain I saw it wink at me when the waitress brought it to the table... though I'd have to say it was really yummy so guess who had the last laugh.. ME!



Quote of the day has to be "The best things come to those who wait!" and you don't have to be the first past the post to be a winner... x

sainsburyseniormoments.com the next dating phenomenon... !

I'm not sure whether to be flattered or insulted! There I was in a world of my own in Sainsburys deciding which lovely juicy melons to buy, when I sensed a guy staring at me. Obviously, also looking for melons! Having first apologised for staring, he wanted to tell me what a beautiful woman I was. "Not many beautiful women around, you look so summery. Do you come here often?" I should have guessed what was coming next. He may have needed a zimmer frame (you might well laugh!) but he was a sharp as they come. "I notice you don't wear a wedding ring" he grinned "Would you like to come out for a drink?!" Needless to say I smiled sweetly just like the melon I was holding and replied "I'm seeing someone, sorry!" It's good to know that age doesn't dampen men's enthusiasm and whilt (ooops!) I mean while he was a bit ancient for me, he was very charming and genuinely taken aback by my dazzling smile and personality. And, I can say that because it's my story and my blog!

Lambs, crabs, legs and Burford Babes...!

It's official, I'm a Burford Babe.... from Burfordbabes.com! The culinary tour of this pretty Cotswold Village continues with me trecking half way across the countryside to sample the delights on offer. Mmm, lots of those... though Calamari... dam little suckers, bleah! Everything this week has had legs in abundance. The count so far stands at...
Legs - a lot more than 10 and either shell-like or covered in suckers...
Inns - 4 including the Lamb (v nice), Inn for all Seasons, The Old Bull and my favourite so far, The Kings Head Inn at Bledington.



The lovely, lucious Bridge is here this weekend. A little Helen Bonham Carter and a lot of wild spirit, me & Liz love Bridge sooooooo much x

Happy St. George's Day

Today I'm celebrating the Englishness of me. Just 50%, and proud of it! The other Hungarian 50% makes for a creative, bright and sassy personality!



My Englishness comes from my grandparents, Marie and Hubert Whittingham. Here they are on their wedding day and out for a stroll by the sea. I love these photographs, don't you...

Cards to celebrate

Make a card just to say 'keep in touch'.. and sent it to someone to remind you that you're thinking of them...



Sisters... special... sincere... sociable... a celebration



A card... 'just for you... '

Visit to Antwerp and the tulip fields

A great visit to the Keukenhof bulbfields in Holland. What a stunningly beautiful dandelion fountain!



More tulips than you can photograph in an entire year!



Bruges is somewhere to return to... x

The Langton

Just been to the Langton for tea with Rich. I love that place! One day I'll invite my favourite people to dinner at this beautiful table. Ginger will come, she's in the US at the moment. Greg's Rachel will come along too. If you could choose 5 friends, who would you invite?




Here's one of my favourite pubs of the moment! The Old Mill... Shipton on Stour... a fabulous menu, great company and the service is second to none. Fi & Rob, Jen and Les... and little single me.. 5 is just an uneven number, never odd, just uneven.

A mini adventure...

Dorset village floods... I turned back on the way home to take these photos. I also found myself following a TANK of all things, that's a first! My mini has the best fun... x

Pick a moment...

congratulations

chic friend

shopaholic

sorry...

And send a card. My card for today would say 'Keep smiling'... after waking in a daze and stupidly setting off the alarm (DOH!) I had to smile nicely at David to get it all fixed! Here are a few of my beautiful cards... in the shops soon... x

Postcard to...

Life is a wonderful journey and postcards are such fantastic reminders of people and places. They seem 'old hat' now with emails and texts, yet in years to come it will be the postcard that lives on. That faintly dated handwritten postcard will be one of our most treasured possessions. I wish I had more handwritten memorabilia. Every one of us has different handwriting fonts. A font to sign, a font to write a note to a loved one, a work font for notes, a scribbled font for a post-it note for the fridge, we have so many, we hardly notice they are all different and unique. Postcards are snapshots of time, a mini adventure from just around the corner or half way around the globe. Remember, you don't need a reason to send a postcard, a letter or a card. But if you do, you're certain to make someone smile... x

Very Good friends...

There is nothing more important that the special people in your life. I love my friends! Deeps from Paper Cellar and Nix, who are both lovelies! Unconditional love is more important to me than anything else. This love has no bounderies, no timescale and no expectations. It exists for what it is, true and pure love. I know I am loved and that's what makes me smile every single day xxx

random...

Yes, I know this is a bit random.. but random days call for random thoughts! I'm having a pre-birthday moment. It's the prelude to 24 hours of 'me time'. Click on Charlie to make him squawk!

adopt your own virtual pet!

Little Miss Arty Pants!

It's time to replace my old poster pics with new hat pics. My-hat-Graham is a cool dude (dam sexy too!) oops, did I really say that. I think the old saying goes 'If the hat fits...' well, here's one diva who isn't going to hide under a brim and feathers! It's been a 'fire & brimstone' week so far. What is the matter with everyone? 'I definately don't have a wedding to go to, but who needs an occasion when there's scrapping to be done!

Who is in the driving seat?

How many times have you thought that the road you were travelling was clear ahead... only to find you're suddenly veering off in another direction?! And let me just clarify, I'm not talking about cars at this point! I'm smiling just because it feels as if i'm on a journey and there is no doubt... I'm definately the passenger. Time to take control and leave the triangle! Thank goodness for special moments. Hat moments, my favourite people moments... x

Prelude to love...

It's 13th february and you know what that means! EXPECTATIONS! Why is that? LOVE is such a great feeling... doh, when the one you love is in the right place to love you back. Yeah, as if that's gonna happen! Thank goodness for my great mates who I love dearly. My bestest scrapping buddy, Ginger Claire; my bestest college friend, Fi; my super going away (prissy-missy) Miss Nixie-trix and dear sweet A, who is just FAB! MEN, who needs them? My wise words for the day... "Chase two rabbits and lose both!"

looking forward...

Time's a strange phenomenon. You can't turn back the clock, nor can you stop time from ticking by. In a way I find it comforting to think that no matter how difficult a day might be, the minutes continue to tick by. You can be certain that tomorrow whatever it was that was bugging you will always seem better.

It's a month to step up so it's out with the old and in with the new. I have a new phone, new camera, new nails, new hair, new little black dress, a new scarf (doh, I set fire to the old one!) and a new outlook on life... so I've been told...

So much has happened over the past few weeks, not least my lack of writing on here! I've been to LA, we've had snow and this weekend my best scrapping buddy Ginger is here. Last night was a late one, 3am. What do they say about the time that passes when you're having fun. Too right.... !!

Here's my lovely sister with my guardian angel. Two Marie's together with their hands in the sink!

Do you fanci lunch?

It's been one of those weeks... this card seems highly appropriate under the circumstances. Another one of my card creations which I'm quite fond of. I enjoy making cards for no particular occasion, other than to say 'oooops' or 'fancy lunch?'...

Poser!

What can I say? Do you think I've changed very much? I would have been around 10 years of age when this was taken. Lounging on the rocks at Borth, I had that diva quality even then!
Welcome to 2007. My New Year's resolution is always the same... 'Surprise yourself and others' I need to make a conscious effort to remember this, lest I forget and become a butterscotch blancmange version of myself. That's food for thought when I'm next on the running machine and my legs feel like jelly...