Things I have bought (Spendthrift that I am!)

So.....

Like I say, I've been busy 'acquiring things' - this spending has to stop! I've bought three lovely new summer frocks, meaning that the heat wave in the north east has come to an end! Yep it's my fault. I will take some photos as soon as its warm enough to wear them.

Monsieur P bought me a lovely new bicycle - it's a Kingston Hampton if you are interested, and although it took yonks to arrive, it's here now and it's lovely! Perfect for cycling to the beach! To that end, I bought a nice dutch wicker dog basket from Basil to attach to the back so that I can tootle to the beach with Rocky, my canine shadow. We both love this bike!

And finally, today, I got my lovely new dressing table. I feel so glam even taking my make up off now! The mirror folds away neatly and it makes my bedroom feel like a swanky hotel! I love it so much I had to buy a new lamp to go with it - particularly when I saw that the lamp was called 'Gatsby' - very glam.

That's all for now. I will try to write more, spend less (not going to happen!) and will try my best to be interesting!

Xx

Hello! It's been a while!

So.... I would love to tell you I've been a busy bee. But I haven't. I've just been terribly lazy. However, I have been shopping and bought some nice new things. More about them later!

Firstly, here is the review of the Mac Ruby Woo lipstick that I promised you.

I'll keep it brief. I love this lipstick! Its first outing was for a date night with Monsieur P. 

The lipstick outlived a pizza, popcorn, ice cream, a huge Pepsi, and a bit of smooching! Not too much smooching though - we are married!

See still in place!

Since then, it's had outings on a number of nights out and has lasted well. This might be love!

Sneaky shopping No.1...

So...I was bored and had a horrible day at work....sometimes when you feel like that the only thing you can do is finish work early and go shopping. I only had time to buy a couple of things today, plus I've spent a fair old bit on the www recently, so I thought I would treat myself to the iconic Ruby Woo lipstick from MAC...

......and this super cute chocolate tin from Marks and Spencer's....

....which really cheered me up. It only cost £2 and had 6 little cheerfully wrapped chocolates inside. Which I've eaten (its been a bad day!!). I bought it for the tin really, not sure what I'll keep in it because its pretty small, but I might use it as a little keepsake box for photo booth pictures.....

Anyway, I am excited to try my new lipstick tonight - Monsieur P (yep there he is on the photo) is whisking me off out for a meal and a film - so I shall put the lippy through a thorough durability test on some popcorn.

Toodle pip x

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

I'm not generally one for warm weather...it plays havoc with my hair-dying regime and I find it easier to 'cut a dash' in the clothing stakes in colder weather, however, I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of a beach and when the weather is as lovely as it has been recently its a crime not to take advantage of it.

On Sunday Monsieur P, our Jack Russell Rocky and I took a trip down the coast to Whitley Bay, which was once a very popular resort. Even in my childhood I remember visiting the now closed Spanish City fun fair with my Nan (I must tell you more about my Nan some time she was a fab lady). Sadly 'The Bay' is now fairly down-at-heel, having been neglected by tourists for years. Until recently it was mainly the scene for stag and hen parties and bank holiday drinking sessions (all of which have a time and a place but really don't do the place justice). However, the beach and seafront has seen some regeneration and its a lovely long sweeping walk from one end of the bay to the other.

Looking north up the beach (on the raised concrete area you can just make out where there used to be revolving chalets)

About half way down the promenade there is the famous Rendezvous Cafe, virtually unchanged since the resort's heyday.

They sell a darn fine sandwich and do lovely ice creams but we didn't go in this time because we had the bow wow with us.

We then walked to the end of the bay and had a look at the redevelopment of the dome that is all that remains of Spanish City (I believe it was called that because all the buildings were white??). Hopefully it can be restored to its former glory, it's a local icon. 

Whitley Bay is really worth a visit the beach is a proper 'bucket and spade' beach and there are some good independent shops in the town.

After our walk, we popped further down the coast to Tynemouth Market. Held in the victorian station, its one of my favourite places to visit on a weekend - there is something for everyone - bric-a-brac, crafts, clothes, food. A special mention has to go to Benny's Toon Macaroons and the very enthusiastic Benny! We feasted on lovely fresh hot chocolate chip macaroons and took more home for later! We also bought some nice fresh bread and cheese (which I have finished while Monsieur P is at work tonight...I will be in the bad books!!) 

Unfortunately my phone had run out of charge so I will have to visit again soon to take pictures (damn!)

Before leaving we bought a nice reproduction 70's phone (My attempts to by an original 50's one were vetoed!), and my dear husband treated me to a teacup and saucer and a handmade apron (is he hoping I will cook for him?!)

New phone! (My dress is also new from Oasis - one of my Prague outfits that didn't see the light of day!) I didn't realise how windswept I looked until I reviewed the photos!

 My new tea cup - full of my favourite blackberry and rhubarb tea - it's amazing! Try it!

9 went to Prague...

Well I've been slightly busy over the last few weeks so this is the first of my posts for a while....

So a few of my lovely lady friends and I went to Prague for a long weekend.

What a beautiful city! I've been once before but I was only 12 and grumpy and embarrassed by my parents as 12 year olds often are.

We had three nights there, staying in the Mamaison Riverside - lovely hotel although the interior designers seem to have been very keen on red paint! If you haven't been to Prague it's fairly small for a capital city and most of the major attractions are within walking distance. Every morning we had a lovely walk along the river to the old town for a quick snack and to devise a plan of action, mainly revolving around eating, shopping, drinking mulled wine (Prague is beautiful, the weather was not!) and planning our evening-time shenanigans...

I would love to show you some pictures of the fabulous outfits I took to wear on the weekend but it was so cold and wet I stuck to jeans and a t-shirt most days. Never mind - I will just have to go away again so I can wear them. 

The main highlights of the weekend for me were the slightly terrifying Segway tour (I NEED a Segway - I could wear high heels all the time if I could power around on a Segway!) where I suddenly zoomed down a very steep hill and couldn't stop (I have a bad track record with these sort of things - ask me about quad bikes!), I also enjoyed the Ice Bar, in a 'so cold it destroys your hangover' kind of way, and I fell in love with a lovely cafe we found near the Kafka museum which sold the most amazing cakes and pancakes.

Enjoying the Ice Bar

Segway terror in the rain (I am the one crying with laughter!)

At the John Lennon Wall

Enjoying a local snack (it was like a croissant but wrapped around a stick and toasted over the fire)

   And finally, another hat for my growing hat collection.

Hello world! Have a scone!

Well...hello....

After being informed by someone far more in the know than me that "everyone who is everyone has a blog", I thought, crumbs! I had better get involved!

So, hello world...that is if this works, and if anyone can find my wee blog.

So, yesterday, I threw an impromptu afternoon tea party. It was lovely! I made scones and tiffin and drank rhubarb tea and a splendid time was had by all. However, my scones went down a little too well, and the greedy blighters took the left overs home with them! So, obviously, I had to make more today, to celebrate having a blog and whatnot....

Here are my lovely little scones ready to be baked....(I quite like the taste of the raw mix....yes I know that is wrong!)

And here they are piping hot......yum

Clearly, I had to check that this batch was as good as the last, so I sat down to a nice pot of blackberry and rhubarb tea and gobbled up two nice warm scones (I had to have two, just to ensure they were of uniform quality). They were most tasty indeed. I should probably take the rest into work to save my waistline....

For those with an interest in such things, this is my recipe:

225g self raising flour
40g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Mix....
Add 75g butter
Rub (with icy cold hands)
Add
80g raisins and the odd cherry
Then add nearly all of 1 beaten egg and enough milk to bind. Roll out, thicker than you would think, cut into scones, dab the tops with the rest of the egg to glaze and a sprinkle of sugar. Cook at 200c until they look done!

I also did a wee bit of sketching today, but it has been far too long since I picked up my sketch pad so I won't share just yet.

Anyway, this isn't a cooking blog, its a blog about all sorts of whimsical things that I like to group into "nana skills" - I like to try to live more elegantly and slowly. I try anyway, so this is what I will write about. Anyway, we'll see how it pans out. Let me know what you think.

Toodle pip for now!