Food shopping - love it or hate it?

....I hate it with a vengeance. It's one of those jobs that has to be done with a means to an end. After all if it didn't get done then we'd all starve - well probably not but you get my drift.

Apart from driving to the store, going round endless busy aisles choosing what I want, queueing at the busy checkout, pushing the loaded trolley to the car,  filling the boot then emptying it again when I get home I just find this burdensome chore one that I could well do without. Then you have to unpack and put away!

Anyway today was no exception until I reached the magazine racks. Well I couldn't resist this new Cake Decorating magazine. Not that I want to buy it regularly as I think it's a bit of a con to get you to buy it as it goes up next time to £2.99 but it was giving away some useful items - a pretty cardboard cake stand, two butterfly cutters, some edible glitter plus of course the magazine itself, all for 99p which I thought was a bargain. (My husband always says I'm an advertiser's dream - and he's probably right but hey ho)

And then I came across this Crafts Beautiful magazine which I've not seen before and to be honest not something I would normally buy- preferring Mollie Makes and Homemaker magazine etc.

Anyway they were giving away some useful items - two reels of coloured twisted twine, toppers for card making (which I don't do but will come in handy)

and also a book of beautiful printed papers, which I definitely will use.

Isn't it silly how a couple of magazines - totalling today at £5.99 can lift the spirits? I came home a lot happier than I went out - and now it's time to put the kettle on methinks. What cheers your day up?

Welcome to my new followers Mary and Clicky Needles - lovely to have you on board and look forward to seeing you again.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Can't believe where February went to and now it's Scavenger Hunt time again. Thanks to Greenthumb at Made with Love for organising this monthly bit of fun.

RED

This is a vanilla panacotta I made with a luscious raspberry coulis

14

Couldn't think of anything for this but resorted to my daughter's house number

KISS

Not easy but then I remembered this tin of mini Love Hearts 

that I'd bought for my grandchildren

SOMETHING HEART SHAPED

my daughter poured this Guinness for her partner and couldn't 

believe what appeared in the head

SOMETHING FOUND NOWHERE ELSE

 these pianos were put in random places in London (where else?) so the public could have some fun with them - well I couldn't resist could I?

FROZEN

I'd been wanting to capture something like this for ages and couldn't believe my eyes a few months ago when we woke up to a hoarfrost

PARK BENCH

in a favourite little square in Southend

GLASS

you can't have one without the other!

SHOPPING TROLLEY

found this mini one in my grandchildren's playroom

A SHADOW

You could be fooled into thinking this was summer but it was taken

in January in a local park

BREAKFAST

this cheeky squirrel always buries his nuts in this pot and comes back regularly for his breakfast (poor photo as taken through the window in our sitting room)

 

A BUS

found in the same playroom - four year old grandson S has a fascination for buses and has numerous ones in many shapes and sizes

I hope you enjoyed my selection this month. 

Before I go, I'd like to thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post and the words of encouragement for my final few months of studying - it meant a lot.

Finally, welcome to my two new followers Gilly and Tammy - it's nice to have you on board.

A good read to be had ...

I can now see the light at the end of a very long tunnel - only another three months and I'll have finished my degree - fingers crossed, but for the moment I'm going to have to get my head down and do some serious reading and there's a lot of it. So - why then do I find myself popping out every so often to trawl around the charity and secondhand shops in the hope of finding some good bargains?

At Uni they call it "assignment avoidance" - you'd do anything rather than settling down to work. I've been known to start clearing out cupboards and drawers, cleaning the cooker, sorting the freezer - anything rather than starting to write an essay. I guess its a kind of writer's block. You know what you want to say but its actually getting started that's the problem.

So, what did I find?  BOOKS! 

You'd think I'd have had enough of reading wouldn't you. The one thought that keeps me going is that when its all over I can start some of the craft projects I've been wanting to attempt - crocheting, quilting and journalling. I long to get out there with my camera and start on some serious photography projects. To take myself off for a day with a friend without having to worry about what I should really be doing.  So - this is the result of my study avoidance. It's taken several weeks but I've had such fun searching out these particular authors and the excitement is overwhelming at the thought of reading some "normal" books again and I just can't wait!

Bye for now - back again soon

A day at the docks

We had a lovely day out on Sunday when we travelled over to Kent to visit The Historic Chatham Dockyard, a stunning 80 acre site with historic buildings, museums, galleries and historic warships. 

Chatham, located on the River Medway was established as a Royal Dockyard by Elizabeth 1 in 1567 and was the forefront of shipbuilding, providing over 500 ships for the Royal Navy. From the Spanish Armada to the Falklands Crisis, ships have been built, repaired and manned from Chatham which included Nelson's famous flagship The Victory in 1765.

These buildings date back to 1780 and were constructed from reused warship timbers

The Dockyard was a community town of its own having a doctor's surgery, church, shops and living accommodation for its huge workforce of shipwrights and carpenters through to flag and rope makers

The Admirals office was built around 1808 as were these Officers' quarters

Rope has been made on the site since 1681 and the hemp to make it is stored in these Hemp Houses which date back to 1729

 Incidentally,  two TV series - Call the Midwife and Mr Selfridge were both 

filmed at this location recently using these streets as backdrops.

The Ropery still contains many of its original fittings. It is a quarter of a mile long to accommodate the length of ropes needed to anchor a ship during the Age of Sail. Note the bicycle needed to travel from one end of the Ropery to the other!

This was the Royal Dockyard Church built in the early 1800s for the dockyard's own workforce. A wedding scene from Call the Midwife was also filmed here.

Samuel Pepys visited often on Admiralty business for Charles ll and Sir Francis Drake and Lord Nelson both learned their skills here.

All in all a lovely day out and a definite return journey is planned for the summer. Take a look here for more information.

I'd like to say welcome to my new followers Gilly and RoxieandClemYeah.

See you again soon

Love and friendship

First of all I'd like to welcome my new follower Irene. We met up again at the recent event commemorating the flood victims that I told you about. We had attended the same Secondary School where we graduated 50 years ago and not seen each other since. Lovely to have you on board Irene and hope you enjoy my ramblings.

Just a quiet night in for the two of us tonight with a home cooked meal of Mediterranean Chicken (recipe to follow) and a nice bottle of wine with some relaxing music in the  background. John bought me these lovely tulips - I say John but actually it was me who spotted them in Aldi's on Monday and as I love tulips suggested that if he were to buy me some flowers (cheeky I know) he bought them there as opposed to getting me some  on the day and paying a small fortune for them. He happily put them in the trolley and off we went. Romantic or what? I already knew though what he had planned giving me as a present so the flowers were a bonus.

I've had a very hectic couple of weeks for one reason or another and am only just getting around to catching up with all your posts - I am getting there but please bear with me.

I must just show you some lovely parcels I've received recently. Firstly I was delighted to win these lovely magazines in a giveaway organised by Suzy a few weeks ago which is going to spur me on to start a crochet project that I have in mind.Take a look at her lovely website here rusticvintagecountry.blogspot.co.uk Thank you so much Suzy they're great.

Then I received this parcel from Val a dear blogging friend at Val's alentejo all the way from Portugal.

Val knows that I am collecting doilies and tray cloths and sent me these - they are lovely

and a gorgeous tea towel from Portugal embellished with an olive tree - Val 

has her own olive farm and this is a lovely memento 

and last but not least these lovely Coffee napkins and flavoured tea bags

Such a kind gesture from someone I've never met - thank you so much Val. Pop along to her lovely website and catch up with her life in Portugal.

Oh I do love blogging - it's such a great way of sharing common interests with like-minded friends.

Have a great Valentine's evening and see you soon

A host of....

 

 

 

...Golden daffodils - don't you just love them?

 

 

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

 

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay;

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

 

William Wordsworth, 1770-1850

 

 

My daughter E gave these to me when I returned from hospital on Monday and they really did brighten my day. I just want to say a huge thankyou to all my dear blogging friends for all your kind thoughts and wishes for my recent eye surgery. All was well - I had my tear ducts syringed - and have a couple of black eyes to prove it!

 

Have a great weekend and be back soon

 

 





Photo Scavenger Hunt

First of all welcome to my new follower Trish - we go back to infant school days and have just 'found each other' again after over fifty years and have lots of catching up to do..

I have just joined the new Photo Scavenger Hunt organised by Greenthumb and here are January's photos. I normally post recently taken photos but due to illness and the snowy weather, I'm afraid some are older this time.

Cold

After a long climb up to school one morning grandson L and I were freezing

as we walked through the churchyard



Warm

 you can't beat a good old fashioned hot water bottle on cold, wintry nights



Sign
on a nature trail in Danbury Common last year

Food

This is Auntie Rosa's Chicken crunch which I showed you last summer here

Twelve

self explanatory

Produce

French markets always have an abundance of wonderfully fresh produce





Blue

taken at Heybridge Basin near Maldon last summer

Mailbox

A view

from the ramparts of the medieval castle at Carcassonne last year

Reflection

taken on Thundersley Common the day before our snow arrived in January



  

Statue

our local town of Hadleigh hosted the 2013 Olympic mountain biking event and this was put up

to celebrate the occasion

Door

at one of the cottages at Windsor Castle where we went for lunch in the dungeons last year

Many thanks to Greenthumb for organising this and can't wait to get stuck into February's list.

I'm going in to have some minor eye surgery tomorrow on both eyes but  hopefully this will be the conclusion of my last two years of eye problems and hope to be functioning again very soon.

See you soon