Happy New Year !!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to what the New Year has to offer.

 

                                       

    xx

Are you a Princess?

I have been having problems with my internet recently but its's now back to working order. I was quite shocked at how much i rely on my computer for entertainment. I actually got withdrawal symptoms which is a bit worrying, it did give me a chance to catch up on some of the programmes that i had recorded.

 

Last week when i was in Sainsbury's i saw this colouring book and i thought it would make a good present for my friends 5 year old daughter so decided to buy it. After i had paid for it i started thinking of when Master T was a lot younger and i used to colour with him. Most times it ended with me taking over and finishing the colouring myself. I also remembered how relaxed i felt when colouring. Can you see where this is going? After thinking about this i decided to keep the colouring book for myself. Crazy or what. When i got home Master T saw it and assumed it was his (he doesn't mind.) but i had to tell him otherwise. So i am one proud owner of a Disney Princess colouring book. It's also an opportunity for me to learn the names of all the Disney Princesses. I do know the 2 on the front cover. Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and Rapunzel and this picture is from Tangled.

 

A colouring book would not be complete without some colouring pencils so i had to go and buy some from Asda. I do love Crayola. I am keeping these for myself, Master T has a habit of borrowing my stationery and not returning it so these are staying close to me ;)

 

What do you do to relax and if you were a Princess which one would you be?

 

Hope you are enjoying whatever it is you are up to.xx

Angela at Tracing Rainbows has a post on her blog which i have decided to tag myself on to. So here goes... 

1.What was your favourite sweet as a child?
Toffee Rolls.

2.Historical novel, romantic fiction, or detective story?
Detective story i do love good crime dramas.

3.Where in the world is your heart ‘at home’?
Back home in Zimbabwe with my friends and family.

4.Nigella, Delia, Jamie, or HFW [or another?]
I do like Nigella, Jamie, HFW as well as James Martin

5.What is your favourite season of the year? Why?
Summer. I love the long days everyone seems a lot happier and calmer plus since i come from Zimbabwe the weather is warm most of the time so it reminds me of home

6.What was your first car?
Volkswagen Polo even though i never got to drive it.

7.Which aspect of housework do you find most difficult?
Keeping everything in it's right place and doing the dishes.

8.At this very minute, where are your house keys?
On the door because i am waiting for my friend.

9.What is your favourite ‘Christmas’ food?
Nothing in particular.

10.Who is your favourite cartoon character?
At the moment Phineas and Ferb on Disney. I love it more than Master T. I can't remember who my favourite character was as a child.

11.What colour is the chair you are sitting on right now?
I am sitting on a beige settee with a cream throw.

Hello!!!

Sorry i have been absent from blogging. Life is just being life i suppose and i have been trying to keep my head on top of my university work,keeping the house tidy and just life in general. Unfortunately i have nothing of interest to report. The weather up here has been warm this weekend which meant i could go in the garden. I planted plenty of these.

 

I hope they will brighten my Spring when the time comes.

 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Happy Birthday...

Master T is 10 today. We will be munching on cake and loads of other goodies. Hope you all have a wonderful day coz we both will.

2nd Year...

Today was the first day of my second year at university/placement. I also viewed my ratified results for all my modules and i am glad to say i have no resubmissions because i passed all my assignments, examsa and all my practical assessments first time. If i am honest it feels like a dream, it feels like only yesterday i started at Uni and now i am in my 2nd  and and final year. Luckily for me my course is only 2 years but it is an intense course and sometimes things can get so overwhelming due to the pressure. I managed to survived the 1st year and i am determined to survive the final year.

I struggled a bit last year with balancing homelife, being on placement and having to do all my academic work at the same time. I am also hoping that last years experiences will come in handy in organising my life so that i have some sort of balance in my life. My first lecture is tomorrow morning and i need to jot down my placement and university timetable in my trusted diary.

 Without this diary i would be lost

It is designed as a family planner and on mum's page i usually have my placement and university timetable as well as my study day or my day off. The university timetable is usually tricky because  my lectures can be in different parts of the campus in different rooms so I also write down the building and room number. I don't bother with the times because all my lectures start at the same time whatever day it is. I will only write it down if there has been a change. I also write down any other appointments that i have so that i know what i am doing. On the family side of the diary i write down all o Master T's day to day activities for example if he has been to breakfast club and how much i paid for it, the times he finishes at the child minder, appointments and any after school clubs or activities that he is taking part in.

I had the same type of diary in my 1st year and it proved to be very useful. The only difference was that it had a pink cover. I some of  my previous posts i have mentioned how disorganised i am and sometimes this causes me a lot of stress but this academic year i choose to enjoy my life, my son and all my work. Everyday i am working on strategies that will hopefully improve and make my life easily manageable.

How do you balance your career, home and everything else?

Hope you all have a good week. xx

Birthday Treasures...

Today is my birthday, shh don't tell anyone ;) I am 21 31 today, how did that happen. I have always been curious, at what age do you start lying or avoiding the age topic. We had a lovely girls night in with 6 of my friends catered and hosted by yours truly with. Since i started university my social life has been non existant so i thought my birthday would be a great excuse to have the gang round. It was wonderful catching up with everyone, there was plenty of laughter, gossip, screaming, eating and drinking. Everyone left just before 4am this morning and we were all sad to go our separate ways.

After a few hours sleep i woke up tired, had a headache and a sore throat from all the screaming, shouting and chatting. It was very tempting to stay in bed but i decided against it so i got up showered and nearly had birthday cake for breakfast. Master T wanted to go to the carboot so we went but it was freezing cold. I managed to find some birthday presents for myself.

Spray way waterproof coat. Just in time for Tuesday's team building outdoor activities. Bomebody said it's going to rain

  

2 DVD Solomon Kane and Eat Pray Love, Soap and Glory bag , spray moisturiser and scrub. Boots moisturiser 

 

Next peacock design purse, Phillips Kindle cover, Elle Macpherson gift set, strawberry necklace and topshop pocket mirror.

 

Two pairs of shoes for Master T and some Olympic key chains. Master T is collecting all the Olympic memorabilia he can get his hands on.

 

 These 2 are my favourite birthday presents even though i bought them for my self.

 

This will be my last carboot for this season. I think i have all i need and the weather is not exactly friend so i would rather curl up on my sofa.

 

Hope you've all had a good day. I am going to have cake and it will be bed. I will need plenty of rest if i am going to pretend that i am younger than i really am. Linking up with Liz at me and my shadow

 

 

My Treasures...

I had no intention of going to the carboot sale yesterday due to the weather forecast. I just hate getting wet even for a bargain so my plan was to stay indoors and catch up on some house work. I hadn't even put the plan into motion when my friend phoned asking if we wanted to go with her. At that moment all plans of staying in or getting wet were completely forgotten and i quickly said yes so off we went to the carboot. I knew there wouldn't be many sellers but i kept my fingers crossed that i would find something that i liked.

This is what i bought

 Master T bought himself the lego pieces and he built the models especially to put on the blog. The lego pieces cost him £1. The scary toy in the middle is Megatron and he cost him 50pence. He is so proud of his bargain as he calls it. I am forever tripping on lego and transformers, i don't know why i keep letting him buy them.

BBQ season is well and truly over but there is no harm in thinking ahead to next summer. The charcoal was a pound and the 2 fish grills 20pence each. The best buy of the whole year is the scrabble game. I have searched high and low in charity shops and carbootsale with no luck whatsover. I even tried ebay but i was always outbid. I put it down to people buying them for craft projects and all i wanted was one to play. I have never played scrabbles but i'm fascinated by it.  At one point i was even tempted to buy a brand new one from WHSmith until i saw the price. Anyway i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw this and i quickly asked for the price. When she said £3 i didn't even hesitate parting with my money. I has all the pieces including instruction. Now all i have to do is learn to play.

 

Here we have a white purse and black case for glasse 20pence each. The lamp shade was 50pence and will be going in the hallway when i finish this post. The A-Z bookends are very pretty, i love the colour and they are already gracing my bookshelf. The books were 10pence each and i bought 8 of them. These will go to my niece and some to my friends daughter. I think this weeks buys are more practical and will be definitely be used. What do you think?

 

Linking with Liz at me and my shadow

Handmade With Love...

I made this cowl a while back but can't find the link to where i got it from so i can not link.

 I think i got carried away knitting because it's longer than i wanted it so you can't really see the twist.

I also used a heavier wool than recommended in the pattern because that's all i had. I do love it and will be wearing it come winter.

My Treasures...

I know, i know i have been AWOL for more than a month, its just that i have been taking life easy over the summer holiday. To ease myself back into blogging i thought i would show you some of my summer treasures.

Dorothy Perkins dress from carboot sale and it was a pound

Cath Kidston bag 3 pounds from the same carboot. And it is an original.

And here i am wearing the dress yesterday at one of Master T's friends party. Everything that i wore yesterday was all thrifted at the same carboot sale on different occassions. You cant really see the bangle, necklace and the sandles i am wearing.

Linking up with Liz at me and my shadow

I hope everyone enjoyed the summer holiday. Will have to catch up on all the blogs that i follow.

xx 

Garden Dreams...

When i first moved into this house 3years ago the garden was overgrown with brambles. When i mean overgrown i do mean overgrown, there was nothing else but brambles everywhere. The brambles are gone and so far i have managed to grow lawn from seed on one side of the garden and also created a boarder at the end of the lawn. The other side of the garden is still work in progress and i have an idea of what i want my idea to look like when all the work is done.

                                                
                                                                           via

   A smaller version of this will be lovely and i know where i want it to be.

via

I have a couple of raised beds already made but not as good as these.

via

Simple sitting area where i can sit and enjoy the view.

via

Wildflower meadow

or a rockery

I already have 3 apple trees; 1 cooking, 1 eating and 1 ornamental as well as some fruit bushes.

via

A proper greenhouse would be nice.

via

and a potting bench to go with the greenhouse.

What do you think. Am i being over ambitious. What would you most love to have in your garden.

Hope you are enjoying whatever you are doing.

xx

Decluttering...

Every now and then i feel the urge to declutter and i'm sure i am not the only one. My plan for this summer holiday is to be ruthless with my clutter. I have spent most of today clearing the sitting and dining room and shredding a lot of paper work. Everything is in it's right place now. I hope i can keep these rooms clean and clutter free. The next room to declutter is my bedroom, i always find it a real battle because of lack of storage space. I have tried so many ways to tackle this problem with no success. My only option is to be a minimalist and i am working on it. My room also needs decorating and for this to happen i need good weather. You might be wondering what good weather has to do with decorating my room. The thing is my painting brushes are in the shed and guess what the shed is a mess so it needs sorting out as i cannot reach the brushes. The kitchen and Master T's bedroom do not need a lot of work done so i don't have worry about them. I seem to have my work cut out for me.

How do you keep your homes clutter free. Please share.

Enoy whatever you are doing.

xx

Leisure...

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

                                     William Henry Davies

My mum had this poem hanging on our living room wall when i was a child. Every now and again i think of it and recite it to myself. There are times when i feel as if life is passing me by, times when i feel that i am not making the most of my life or enjoying it.

At the moment i feel like a proper Wednesday's child, full of woe and all.

Here's to hoping for better weather so i can stand and stare.

xx

Touching Base

 Last month we went to the BBC GoodFood Show Summer in Birmingham. If i am honest i was very dissappointed, i am not sure whether my expectations were too high or what. The GoodFood Show came with free entrance to The BBC Gardeners' World Live.

I had no expectations whatsoever to what i should expect at Gardeners World but it was the highlight of my day. There were so many beautiful well displayed flower stalls and some beautiful gardens. I really enjoyed having a look at the stalls tempting as they were.

I didn't take many photos but here are just a few

What do you think of this Mini Cooper...

 ...and the driver

 Cello

 Whoever said diamonds are forever...

 ...I for one will be more than happy with this flower covered ring.

I am not a fan of high heels but this would definitely have a place in my shoe collection.

Some people are very talented and creative.

xxx

Being AWOL

Apologies for my absence. So many things have happened since i last blogged both good and bad but as usual the bad things always overshadow everything else. You know when you just don't feel yourself and you can't pin point what it is and you try to shake it off but whatever it is doesn't want to budge. Thats how i have been feeling. I am a lot better now and am back to being me so i will be catching up on everyones blog and seeing what you've been up to in my absence.

xx

My Treasures...

I finally took the leap and bought something off Ebay.

 A Kenwood mixer. The man who was selling it thinks its over 45 years old and it belonged to his mother. I guess it qualifies as vintage but that is not the reason i bought it. I have always, always wanted my own Kenwood mixer but if you know anything about mixers you will know that they cost an arm and a leg.

 It came with 3 attachments- a whisk, dough hook and a K beater.

 Its a beautiful turquoise blue colour.

I am so in love.

It also came with the original dust cover.

Because this item was a want more than a need i am a bit embarrassed to say how much i paid for it. So ladies if you wanted this mixer, how much money would you be willing to part with to own. Let's see if you think it's worth more or less than i paid.

Linking up with Liz at me and my shadow

Day Out...

While my computer was having a break we went on a journey not so faraway...

 ...to Barnard Castle.

 These are the castle ruins

What do you think...

 The best views of the River Tees i have ever seen

 It flows just behind the Castle.

 We found a little hidden gate you could go through. It takes you to the riverside.

Here we could smell wild garlic. We were tempted to throw caution to the wind and walk on the rocks to the other side. Common sense preveiled and we decided not to. 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

xx

Grrr

Last week the on/off button on my laptop came off/broke off so i couldn't use it. I have had this laptop for over 7years and lately it's just been giving me problems. It takes forever to do anything i want it too which means i waste a lot of time sitting around waiting for things to happen. I have known for a long time now that i need to invest in a new laptop but just never got round to saving for it. Yesterday i took it to the computer repair shop to see if they could fix it for me.

They told me that the problem can't be fixed but they were so kind to show me how i could still switch the laptop on without using the button. It's a nightmare trying to press whatever it is i am supposed to press because it's hidden under the cover and i just randomly press things until it comes on. If i am honest i don't even know what it is i am pressing, i just wait for it to come on. I am not sure how long this trick is going to work for so i have started looking at buying a new computer.

I have looked on the internet and i just can't believe the prices. The cheapest laptop i found was costing just under 300pounds and the price is way way outside what i can afford or should i say what i want to spend. To be honest i was shocked. I am sure those are the prices but because i have never needed to buy one i just never paid attention to the prices.

One of my friends suggested that i should buy a refurbished laptop/netbook. The cheapest was just over 150pounds which is something i can afford. The problem is i am not sure how reliable it will be and i have never used a netbook before. I do not use my laptop for anything fancy, just general stuff. Surfing the net, research for assignments and using word to write assignments. I do not know what to do at the moment, the only thing i am sure of is that i need to start putting money aside because come September i should have a brand new computer or a refurbished one.

If you know of any codes/ vouchers going round for shops that sell laptops feel free to let me know. 

Your opinion will be greatly appreciated. New or Preloved

A Long Weekend...

 This is what i have been up to this weekend

In the green house. In the tan pots are tomatoes as you can see and Master T's peas. He got the seeds free from school. In the middle tray are hollyhock's and the other tray has rudbekia.

 I started working on my raised beds, they are begining to take shape.

Barbecue...

I had two barbecues this weekend.

 A barbecue always goes down well with a cold glass of white wine

Free range eggs, wish i had my own chooks. My friend works with someone who lives on a farm and they keep hens and these eggs are from those hens. He was so kind to bring these this afternoon.

I also worked on my flower bed, i even extended it to make room for more flowers.

I am hoping to train the Forsythia in the background. The wheel barrow does help moving things from one place to another.

Just to prove that i did actually do some work, i broke my garden fork. Now i need a new one.

After all the gardening but before the bbq i obviously had to have a shower. The sunshine was a good excuse to expose my legs. 

I have enjoyed my long weekend which started on Thursday evening, the previous post has some of the photos i took on Thursday before we went for something to eat. I was off Friday and today.

Most of Saturday was spent at the park and Sunday at the carboot sale.

If it did not involve being outdoors it did not happen this weekend and that includes any house work.

It is getting chilly outside and tomorrow i am back on placement so i best go get some rest.

Enjoy your week.

xx