My comfort zone

 

It's not home cooked in my home but it's as delicious and tastes just like it might have been but it's not just any ordinary meal. It is fact a delicious salad lovingly prepared by none other then one of the Baker Bros. I feel privileged to live in such a beautiful area so to discover that one of the best lunch time haunts in the Corswolds is on my doorstep, is a real treat. Today I had a fabulous salad which was dressed beautifully, certainly better than yours truly, with wonderfully soft curd cheese - yum!

 

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The rising waters of Bewdley!

Wild and very wet, today we were mad enough to walk in the pouring rain to visit the swollen river Severn at Bewdley.

 

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My friends and other animals, swans in fact

I'm really fortunate to have the most amazingly, fab friends. Last weekend for example, five of us sat down for lunch. There was my adorable college friend Fi, who has me to blame for her crafting fetish. Her husband, Rob, Top Totty, who is a wizz at money-saving tips! His cousin, Karen, who I'm getting to know gradually, little by little and who brought me lovely tulips and a bottle of apricot brandy. That scores her brownie points in my book! And her partner daredevil Tom who oozes charisma and always fits in and seems to smile a lot. They're all sporty, which is enlightening for me. They all eat well, which makes me feel my efforts are worthwhile. They all get on with each other well, which means I don't have to try. Which in turn means I can have a lovely time too. Win, win, win!

Fi has the photos of my lovely friends!

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My Baker lunch!

There's a tiny piece of sanity in my world and this is it! A cup of coffee, a tasty light snack and something to read. It's not much to ask really but knowing it's not possible unless I'm at home makes it all the more special. Do you know that feeling you get when your head and heart are simultaneously happy? If you do, you'll know what sanity feels like.

My crazy work/life has taken over 14 hours + of my day, which makes treating myself immensely important. When I leave for work on a Monday, it honestly feels like I'm holding my breath. Nothing is quite the same again until I'm working from home again, which could be 3 days later. I'm up before 6am, in work just after 7am and I'm on the hamster wheel then until at least 4pm, when I'll get into my car, drive home and usually enjoy cooking a meal before I start work again. Honestly, it's no life for a girl like me! But hey, it's the life I've chosen for now so I just need to find how to shift it, twist it, just 5% is all I need to make a difference.

Happy days ;)) x

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My Honeycomb Hello!

Woo hoo, I love a challenge! Ginger Claire and myself had such a fab weekend last week playing with paper and glue that we've decided to take part in the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge every single week! It may be pouring down with rain here in the UK, but it's definitely a sunshine day for crafting. Here's my pretty honeycomb hello ;) using a PI die to reveal PI text style paperstock beneath. I've stamped using my PI natural beauties stamp set (on loan from MGC) using hibiscus pink ink and added a sweet PI hello from Trendy tree tops stamp set. All in all, a triumph of engineering, stamping and a fitting start to our PI Make it Monday challenges!

PI stamping is my most favourite stamping in the whole wide world. It's just so easy, everything works a treat and results are guaranteed, which for me is a real bonus!

I enjoy the creative process of making a card and whether it takes me an hour, a day or a whole weekend, that doesn't matter to me. I definitely subscribe to the quality over quantity scenario. I love th precision of this gorgeous diamond patterned card. Every tiny details is covered in Nichole's blog, even the colour and positioning chart so I know what to stamp where and in what colour. How fantastic is that?! It's not quite finished yet, but it's so pleasing to look at that it's made it onto my blog already! Roll on some 'me-time-craftime'...! ;) x

T

 

 

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Christmas has never felt better in the middle of January!

A friend bearing gifts is like an enormous hug. A friend bearing a huge carrier bag of gifts (all for me!) takes me back to my childhood. I'll admit it, I haven't opened so many presents all in one go for a long, long time and I loved it!

There are some things that my friends know about me and one is that I love stationery! I have never lost that addiction to newly sharpened pencils and a clean page in a brand new notebook. The crack you hear when you open a notebook that's never seen the light of day before. Paper clips and all the paraphernalia that you used to cram into your beloved pencil case when you were at school. MGC knows me very well indeed! Enough Green & Black chocolates to sweeten my Springtime, oodles of smashing stationery, a pretty case of pampering goodies, and a book & CD on my all time icon - Marilyn Monroe. And more.... ;)

 

 

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A little spark...

What makes us do what we do, when we do it? What motivates us to take that leap of faith to try something new that we've not done before? Or in my case, return to blogging. Something I think has to happen to either capture my imagination, shift my perspective or in this case, spark my interest.

I have a great bunch of gorgeous friends and each one brings something different into my life. Ginger Claire lights sparks, really she does. She energises those parts of me that are dormant and like a true friend, her love for me is totally unconditional. She's like that weetabix kid! 24 hours into her visit and I feel more creative, more 'me' and suddenly want to share my thoughts with everyone again. How does she do that?! If you had an imaginary friend, you'd want him or her to be exactly like Ginger Claire. Someone to pop up when we need them and remind us of the parts of us we'd forgotten. Who is your little spark?

The highs and lows of my November holiday!

The lyrics 'What a difference a day makes' are as true today as when they were written in 1934. My yesterday was indeed blue :( nothing felt right and I had nothing to do. Today, I have such a lot to do and yesterday, is thankfully, is history.

Here is my holiday A-Z...

A is for apple tv, airplay & Angelina Jolie, who is stunningly beautiful in 'The Tourist'
B is for feeling blue, brilliant Blue Planet series( yeah!) and buying my first purchase on my tv.. drum roll, a big moment!
C is for going to Cribbs, coffee, feeling crazy, chilling out & climbing mountains...
D is for missing dad on what would have been his 88th birthday :(
E is for my expectations, which need resetting & enjoying time with my wonderful mum
F is for feeling the fear, tasty fillet steak & the tiny field mouse I rescued from scary, horrid cat - HA!
G is for giving & getting the balance back...
H is for being horizontal :)
I is for indulging myself with half a box of orange matchmakers..
J is for jumping for joy when I got out of bed this morning and realised yesterday was history!
K is for... just being Komplicated
L is for wonderful lickle sister's birthday, Lisa's birthday meal at Brasserie Blanc and lemon drizzle cake
M is for MRI scan, which ranks in the top 3 worst things to happen to me this year & I never wish to have one again, EVER!
N is for no regrets & 'Not Another Bill' (fab idea!)
O is for OH x 3!
P is for Pudsey bear, photographs, of trees, trees and me :)
Q is for skipping the Q in B&Q...
R is for remembering to breathe, my Radley board & buying twinkling reindeer lights for my tree to cheer me up
S is for stuffin' things, sherry, speaking to my lickle bruv, scary dreaming & Skyfall; one of the best Bond films ever!
T is for tears, tidying up my airing cupboard (GOD, do I really have so little to do?!)
U is for underwear :()
V is for vacancy, vin & VIN!
W is for a lovely walk at Westonbirt
X is for bloody X-ray!!
Y is for surprisingly yummy broccoli soup, which I found in my freezer
Z is for ZIPPO!

Trees, trees, trees & me...

Blue sky is good for the soul, particularly my soul!

Plenty of autumn colours still makes this the best walk for me.

Dazzling sunshine piercing the haze it a welcome change from the drippy, dull, mist that was Friday's walk.

I love these massive trunks which stretch up into the blue sky. I am left imagining what kind of life they've seen over the years of growing to be this tall.

Ha ha, I was so busy taking pics of me that of course, I didn't spot the guy cycling up the hill behind me. Imagine my surprise as I spun around just in time to see him wizz straight past me! 'Ooops sorry' seemed to amuse him as he wobbled slightly, straightened up and kept on riding by.. :) I know I'm a muppet!!

I never imagined when I bought my San Fran sweatshirt from California a few years ago, that it would be such a great walking companion. I need my hood up to keep my ears warm and stop those drippy trees chilling me out! I'm currently listening to a new audio book, 'The Sentinel' by Mark Oldfield. It's 21 hours long and is the first of a Trilogy, 'Vengeance of Memory', so there's plenty more walking hours to enjoy with this crime author - hurrah!

Westonbirt walking & bean, green soup!

Me & Mum had a lovely few hours walking at Westonbirt. It wasn't what you might call sunny but it was dry & reasonably warm so we were quite happy. Many of the trees had already shed their autumn coats but we did find a few gems left in Westonbirt woods.

It's always great to go and have a walk in the countryside, particularly when there's a coffee bar, come restaurant close by. Westonbirt treated us to hot, homemade soup. Mum's choice, 'pea broad bean and mint' was a particularly dark shade of green. Mine was 'curried parsnip', which was very tasty too! The taste was enhanced by a delicious scone, which is the first for over 2 months!

Autumn DAM BUSTING & Wonder Walks!

Autumn is a glorious season. I am really enjoying my new walking regime (as instructed by my PT!). The leafy lanes are easy to walk, the trees are putting on their best show and I'm listening to one of my audio books, what could be better?! The leaves have changed colour within the last couple of weeks from summer apple green to a stunning display of amber and gold.

Here's my walk two weeks ago...

I love this moss covered wall and it certainly must have a wonderful and unique story to tell. Just imagine, years of passers by, snatches of conversation, people on horseback, bikes, cars, woodland animals, insects in the undergrowth, fairies.. !! Layer upon layer of amazing little stories to fill chapters in the book of this wonderwall..

And here it is now..  I think it's the best time of the year to walk because the air is crisp and my ears are  warm and toasty :)

Today I talked myself to walk into Minch and back, which took me just under an hour. I've wanted to walk this route for such a long time but never got up the enthusiasm to actually do it. I thought of all my inspirational friends who are walkers and I listened to 'Sins of the Father', an eagerly awaited sequel to 'Only Time Will Tell' by Jeffrey Archer. I felt such a great sense of achievement when I stepped back through my front door. A feeling which was much needed, having spent most of the weekend doing very little, apart from tiding and feeling out of sorts with the world and his wife.

It's a rare thing for me not to have plans but with shoulder and neck aches, lack of sleep and a general feeling of, what would I call it, novemberness.. I wasn't great company for me this weekend. The blocks of my life just weren't falling into place, I was overwhelmed by decision making which drives me bonkers at times, and being cranky has never really suited me. Don't you find that it's so much harder to be distracted from the negative things when there's just you in your head? Let's face it, we all have days when we just can't make up our minds what to do and mope about like a wet weekend. Those are few and far between for me but when they happen (I can even see them coming!) there's only me to give me a good talking to.

Fortunes can turn on a sixpence and that dam of 'Pollyanna gladness', built over years of positive thinking, can threaten to burst on a day when there are one too many cracks creeping in. Thankfully, there are ways to turn the sixpence and in the absence of family, friends make the best glue and one phone call can make me feel better. I guess I'm used to making others smile and when I need someone to do that for me, I'm not going to admit it. Feeling what people call 'under the weather' is such a distraction for me and has thrown me off course this weekend. I have been so focussed on being fitter, being smarter about my choices, slimming and doing well which has been brilliant roller coaster to be on. But when I'm out of sorts, not even the things I enjoy can put a smile on my face. It's like trying too hard, I know it won't really work so I have to wait.. wait for the 10% flip. The only thing I know for certain is that the feeling will pass and everything will easily, as if this never happened, get back to normal again.

I've never really got much joy out of tidying, sorting and hoovering, (it's a family trait!) so being out walking, even though it was a tad murky and very quiet, was quite thought provoking and least of all, enabled me to work up an appetite for my lovely home cooking - yet again!

And I'm fine now :) just like an ill wind that turns direction, today the sun is shining and all is good in my world again.. HU-blooming-RAH! X

Every day is another new challenge and I love it. Today was the hill walk challenge so we wrapped up warm and headed out up the hill. Now, I've always said that I don't do hills because I'm not a mountain goat! But times are changing and with my new attitude to getting fitter, I romped up the hill and more.. !

The sun shone, the sky was a deliriously, wonderful shade of blue, there was a lovely chill in the air following the first frost of the autumn and we were having fun.. !

Think of caramel, honey and cappuccino and what do you get..? These gorgeous calves!

They were very inquisitive, that is for a little while until they got bored with us and decided they'd seen enough...

 and wandered off... x

The Best Literary Festival so far.. !

The 2012 Cheltenham Literary Festival has definitely been the best so far! I've had lunch with my mate Kevin and Barry Cryer at the Daffodil, laughed with my sister and Pam Ayres in the town hall, travelled to Brazil with Michael Palin at the racecourse, rode to victory with Fi and Rob in the company of Claire Balding and Frankie Dettori, discovered how to grow all kinds of exotic delicacies with my mother and the highly active James Wong, debated the colourful world of street art with Terry in the absence of the infamous Banksy, swooned as a family over the gorgeous Ben Fogul, hooted with laughter with Paul O'Grady and dined like a king with my lovely mum, lickle sib and the Baker Bros in the Speigaltent!

I have attended so many events this year and invited some of my wonderful family and friends to join me. We've had a BLAST!

My last experience at the Daffodil was okay but I wasn't rushing back. So I was secretly not expecting Sunday lunch to be anything special. In fact it was a triumph! The starter of frothy mushroom soup served in a tiny china teacup, the deliciously tender beef roast followed by the 'piece de resistance', a tantalising mixture of caramel popcorn, peanut brittle, chocolate truffle squares, caramel sauce and panna cotta, mmm... made this an outstanding meal which was a great start to my literary week.

Michael Palin is always a pleasure to watch and his hour long talk about his new series and book, Brazil, didn't disappoint. He was entertaining, engaging and he has a voice that would melt butter.. mmm, and me...

The whole pleasure of coming to the festival is to experience the good, the bad and the Top Totty.. ! Ben Fogul is as good looking as he sounds. His talk was enlightening, wonderfully honest and he has enviable diction which is very endearing and isn't afraid to reveal his weaknesses. His talk was thoroughly entertaining and in my book, he is a 21st century 007! Loved the blue trousers too.. !

Wouldn't you just love to know as much about the equine world as Claire Balding and Frankie Dettori?! This was without doubt, a great evening of fun and laughter. They talked equally and frankly about their lives in the sports arena and captivated the audience with their wit and knowledge. I'm sure Frankie's life appears charmed but his description of how he achieves what he does as a jockey had the entire room in awe of him. Claire is a proficient host, commentator and sports personality who performed her duties as a interviewer with the right balance of ebb and flow of questions and interjections. All in all, a thoroughly fabulous evening. Fi and Rob also enjoyed the evening and we finished it off with a beautiful meal at Flynns.. 

What can I say, here is the wonderful Pam Ayres photographed in the Waterstones tent with my lickle sib Marie, who is our family version of this talented poet. Pam Ayres can certainly hold her own for a whole hour with her ditties, her stories and her infectious wit. The audience, not surprisingly, loved her and delighted in every bit of humour she conjured up during her short hour at the festival. Look at that smile! It's the face behind so many smiles around the country and I'm so glad we were there to meet her.