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

My 10 day week... !

Does anyone else feel that weeks have different lengths? Some of them seem to pass by very quickly because everything runs smoothly. Others seem to last for about 10 days and you breath a sigh of welcome relief as it comes to an end. I've just had one of those and a very strange one indeed. I do actually feel like I've been tossed about on the back of a bus with little or no control over where I'm going or what I'm doing. I haven't done what I'd planned, been where I thought I was going to so all in all I feel I've lost my compass this week.

I feel like I've been preparing for this year's annual trade show for weeks. In fact, it's not been that long but it's been a very long, drawn out affair this year. It's never great when lots of you are doing lots of little bits. Some bits get missed and I know I'm guilty of carrying other people's bits around in my head - as my father would say, "Just in case!" I can't help it but it does drain me. If i had time to fit all of this into my already busy schedule, I would seriously be sitting twiddling my fingers most of the day. But such are the challenges of a busy working girl that I can no longer say no to the challenges. Not that I would have done before but I know when I'm on overload and secretly, I've been on massive, ubba overload for a little while now. It pays to be a great juggler and I'm so glad I can prioritise. But things like trade shows always come to bite you in the end and as those extra jobs bubble to the surface they feel like snapping demons demanding attention even in your sleep.

When Sunday, the first day of the show arrived, it felt as if I had just stepped onto a moving walkway and I waved goodbye to my me-time. Picture me on the biggest moving escalator which sometimes goes slowly and at other times speeds so fast it makes my head spin. There is no end and my feet are stuck to the floor so I can't move. There are doors along the way and behind them are opportunities, new faces, old familiar ones and the odd face from the closet that I'd rather pass on by! I can't say there are other people on here, I think they have their own agendas and their own big escalators. Though it's clear that some are very short so they can just hop on and hop off without leaving much of a trace. That's something I do really well btw... leave a trace - that makes me sound like a giant snail! But no one ever meets me and forgets me.. I'm the 1 in 10,000 rare four-leaf clover of the crafting world!

There were the awards on Sunday evening which are stressful and enjoyable all at the same time. There is always lots to see and lots of talking, organising, planning, meeting and silly air kissing! Trade shows are always a challenge and this one was a mightly beast. I'm looking forward to the little acorns of interest that may, with a little bit of love, grow into big opportunities.

There were some great highlights at the show which always make you forget all the hard work. I met up with some of my lovely friends, Ginger, Sara, Deeps, Stu, Vorray, Tony, Cara, Marie, Lucy, Pat.. too many to mention. I love being with my friends and I'm really lucky to have some very special people in my life right now. The long days were punctuated by lovely dinners and short nights with my new bf though I fear I was talking drivvel most of the time as my brain regurgitated the day's events.

The day after the show, Wednesday brought on a different challenge - another trip to the dentist. I should have been starting back at work but my teeth decided it wasn't to be. I saw sparks fly for the first time which was a bit disconcerting... "Diamond on porcelain" was all part of the running commentary. This was turning out to be just another day in my extraordinary week. Driving home was tiring but all I could think of was getting home. I'm really great at focussing, which I'm really glad about on this particular day. I'm never ill, never sick and it takes one hell of a bug to flatten me. I know there's something not quite right when I do that channel hopping thing with my car radio! I'm the most patient girl on the planet and I never get grumpy or impatient. I remember feeling irritated by the noise my windscreen wipers were making and a little bit sick. I put that down the the sugar rush combo of a picnic, followed by a dime bar. Well, in my defense, I hadn't eaten much that day and garages don't really sell anything else that's not stuck between two slices of stale bread! I started to bring in the zillions of bags I'd managed to pick up over the next few days and began to get that woozy head feeling that means something's up. One trip up my stairs and I was dizzy and suddenly feeling as if an alien had taken over my body. Of soon realised that I had been hit by the mighty BUG. Horrid, nasty little thing that takes over your body, sucks the life out of you and makes you sleepy - though only in 15 minute intervals! I couldn't read, eat or think. I feel like I've been in a different place for 36 hours as I wait for the hands of the clock to turn so I can feel better. Of course, you can imagine how pleased I was yesterday when I woke up and my headache had gone. On a grand scale of 1-10, I felt 11 times better than before. Not completely 100% because I hadn't eaten for 2 days and still can't cope with food so the good news is that I may drop a dress size. Woo hoo, there is a shining light at the end of this week's Ground Hog Day tunnel!

Today is Saturday and it's the start of yet another year of birthday celebrations and I can't wait!

My tussle with a mussel...

I wonder, are mussels like olives? Never liked them much because they just seemed rubbery, salty and uninteresting - a bit like my first experience of eating olives. I now love olives and have learned that there are so many different varieties, it's like choosing wine - some bottles are fantastic and others are just like vinegar! My new bf hadn't remembered that I wasn't a fan of mussels so when he rocked up from Sainsbury's with stuff for dinner with the words.. 'I've got a surprise'... a great big boil-in-the-bag box of mussels in white wine sauce with 'erbs'.. I too was surprised! I like people who are passionate about great food because I am too. Their enthusiasm is infectious and food that I may have tried once and dismissed, is given a second chance. I'm constantly surprised at how many different varieties of olives there are and have to say, my mussel experience was similar. These were soft, a bit like having salmon in a shell, and the sauce was delicious. So much so that I was offered more, I liked them so much. I am now a mussel convert after my tussel with a mussel, or two!

:))))))

How saintly did I feel?! On a scale of one to ten... 153! Eating food and feeling fat is about scale. I don't have a guilt complex about it really but there's something satisfying about being the one with the smaller portion!

Etretat adventures...

I've broken a rule... 'no boys on the blog'... just because I've had such a great time in Etretat with Nick. We drove to Folkestone, took the tunnel which is so easy, and 170 miles later we arrived in Etretat on the north French coast. We took over an hour to find Jon's house, which turned out to be a hidden gem amongst the many hotels in this small town. I was a bit nervous going through a small gate into what is Jon's garden. We found the back door open and no one around and you could tell by the look on my face that I wasn't quite sure where we had come to... but... and there's always a but.. I needn't have worried. We were shown into our apartment, which was a lovely sitting room, very warm modern bathroom with an enormous shower and a decent sized bedroom - fantastic! Jardin Gorbeau is a true hidden gem. Jon, the host, made us feel so welcome and being there for such a short time, it was great to have his recommendations for dinner. Breakfast was one of those wonderful lazy French occasions that began after 9 and finished close to 11am - nothing like the UK! There were homemade yoghurts, a fabulous selection of breads, fresh coffee and I was spoilt for choice when it came to tea. No horrible Liptons here.. ! We walked up to the cliffs, though I had to stand well back because I don't do cliffs - but that's the nice part of being with someone who doesn't know... they accept and expect you to do things that you might not usually do. And, in some ways, it's good to question yourself and shed your old habits! I could take the credit for that phrase but brainy Nick has just chipped in with that one.. !

Reasons to visit..

Etretat is like being in a Swiss village, yes there was snow there too! It's where the Parisians come during the summer - a bit like Brighton I guess for a number of reasons ;) It has lots of hotels and restaurants and although very touristy and busy in the summer, it was relatively quiet whilst we were there. We dined in style, a 2 michelin star restaurant whose name escapes me right now, which was in the town and La Taverne des Deux Augustins, which definitely wasn't recommended by Jon but did fulfil my desire for pancakes, pre-pancake day, or crepes as the French call them. And although the food is a lot more touristy, it was cosy inside and relatively cheap too! V-Day was lunch at Auberge de La Rouge. a charming place near Fecamp, where the food was actually so much nicer than the 2** in town. Monet must have spent some time there and painted, 'The Cliffs at Etretat' in 1885.

No more...

Naked chef, naked windows or naked anything! Today I'm the proud owner of a set of curtains. Don't you think it's the little things that make the biggest difference to your life? Little things like bits of fabric hung on a pole in front of a window? My new curtains are going to mean a warmer home, a reduced heating bill and a happier me. They make me happy just by the way they look ;) I love the fact that they're all the same shade and that they're all beautifully pleated at the top. We've all had tug-of-wars with the cords on gathered curtains trying to make them fit a rail, grrr. The cords either tangle up in a knot or dangle down so you can see them which is just plain annoying. No more tangles, no more naked dashes around the bedroom and no more goosebumps!

Momentous occasion...

Tonight is the last night of 'no curtains' because tomorrow the blind man is coming! He'll bring with him 7 sets of curtains, 5 poles, 2 rails and a shiny silver aluminum blind for my kitchen window. I can't wait! Today I bought some new shirts to take away with me this weekend - I got so excited because I found one to match my cool, lilac nail polish.. how crazy am I?!

The BIG sleep

Sometimes, there's no rhyme nor reason as to why we can or can't sleep. Yesterday morning I was awake and kicking my heels at 5:30am because I couldn't sleep any longer. This morning I was woken up by a text at 8:30am after the biggest night's sleep for simply ages. I've always envied people, usually men, who say their head just hits the pillow and they sleep soundly until the morning. I'm not a cat napper nor a power napper, I'm just a regular, cappuccino kinda night owl. My nights are very much like my days. Sometimes frantic, fast and free-falling and other times, more measured, calm and controlled. Every other part of me is resting when i sleep apart, I guess, from my brain. Otherwise, what's the point of sleep? The only reason to sleep is to recharge our batteries. So why don't I sleep better, when I'm more frantic? Often when I'm at work I'm 'busy' but not as 'active' as I might be during at weekend, or when I'm on holiday. My mind is crazy busy at work and although I do use that old fashioned form of communication called speaking, rather than emailing my colleagues, I'd have to admit that it's much more active than the rest of me! I don't have 'body challenging' job like a fisherman or a traffic warden. Most days it's my brain that gets the workout! If I imagined each day as a race between my body and mind, I know which one would win! The image of my brain being the 'hare' and my body the 'tortoise' isn't a pleasant one and on that note, I'm off for a run... into the shower!

Shock of the day.. !

The petrol gauge registering over £50 just to fill up my little min ;( I was shocked! So I told the shop assistant who smiled and told me that the prices had come down! What a swizz.. 2nd shock of the day has been a very young looking Alec Baldwin on the tv tonight in his role in The Shadow. Blimey, the years haven't been half as kind to him as I'd imagined. Too many honeys and not enough sleep!

BP and a mercy dash...

Phew.. me & Ginger have just returned from a mercy mission - we've taken her phone out for a drive! Everything needs charging up these days and our lunchtime trip to the Weighbridge just wasn't enough to bring it back to life so off we went on an adventure. I've wanted to know where the short cut goes and now I know - down a very steep, narrow lane where I won't be going again - ever! Indiana Ging is fearless and as her car is also bigger than mine, she's not afraid to lose it down one of the massive potholes that litter the lanes round here. We have taken her car to places it never expected to see just to charge her phone ;)

Imagine if you could charge your phone just by walking? You can charge a watch by the rocking movement of your wrist so surely someone could invent a similar device for phones. Pop it in your pocket and if you're a marathon runner, you may even generate enough to sell back to the National Grid! If we could generate our own electricity by how much we walked and exercised we'd all be a lot slimmer, fitter and better off. Imagine all those footballers with devices chipped into their ankles. Skiers could have them fixed on the bottom of their skis. If my car can recharge its battery every time I go out, surely the wanna be keep fit brigade could do the same. Saturday sport fixtures would take on a whole new meaning and the 2012 Olympics would generate enough power to keep us cosy until the end of the Century!

How about a solar panel fitted into the top of your hat? Or the top of my car? Imagine the things I could power just by the electricity I create by myself. BP.. butterscotch power ;) oh wishful thinking.. just off to put my cardi on x