So Proud!

Well done to my brother (in the blue top) for completing today's Floral London Marathon in 4 hours 19 minutes

Thank You

Thank you so much for all your well wishes for my nan's funeral today

I am pleased to say it went well and was a lovely service and I'm proud of the comments my eulogy received and the smile it brought to everyone's faces

Goodbye Nan

Today I share the sad news with you that 2 weeks ago I lost my nan

Today we will attend her funeral and I will honour her memory by giving the eulogy

I'm pleased to say she leaves behind many happy memory like our family holidays

(Photo taken in 2007 with 4 of her 8 grandchildren)

I will miss her dearly and remember her always

One Word

WICKED

Today my sister in law and I went to see Wicked in London

I was blown away. Everyone had told me what an amazing show it was and they weren't wrong.

I was blown away by Karen Ellis who played Elphaba

Have you been lucky enough to see this show? What did you think?

Inspired by Alison’s emails from the Vintage Housekeepers Circle regarding the Big Spring Clean Monday I went home and tackled the long overdue job of sorting and organising my dressing table and within that my jewellery and toiletries

One lesson learnt is that if I do not switch my laptop on when I get in from work I don’t get caught up in the WWW and actually managed to progress with the To Do list!

Tuesday was another trip to the library where I picked up Becoming Jane which I immediately took home and put on the DVD player (and loved every second of). Then I rolled up my sleeves and began the job of moving my wardrobe to a position that whilst not aesthetically pleasing does give me a more organised space for storing the boxes filled with my treasures.

And last night was a day off and I went to the cinema to see Confessions of a Shopaholic

I have to say like many I was disappointed. I LOVED the books and I think everyone could relate to Becky Bloomwood, smiling to themselves as they read and thinking “I’ve done that”.

It’s especially poignant to me as about 5 years ago when confronted with my large debts I took to selling many of my possessions on eBay to clear them as Becky does in the book.

Have you seen the film? You must tell me what you thought of it.

And tonight was spent preparing for the weekend… listing ingredients needed for baking I shall be doing on Saturday, loading the car with books to return to the library and DVDs to loan a friend who I’m having dinner with tomorrow.

I’ve also started reading The Forgotten Garden. For those of you that commented you have the book but haven’t had an opportunity to read it yet I urge you to read the first couple of pages and if you aren’t compiled to continue reading I’ll be surprised!!

Weekend Fun

Mansfield Park is just starting so I've kicked back with my laptop to tell you about a lovely weekend I've had

Saturday was spent having lunch with my friends mum to plan her Bridal Shower followed by a trip to the library

I've finally caught on to ordering books into my library online so I can now read those I want to rather than buying! Yes it's the time to be thrifty if I'm going to get that deposit together!!

Hmmm but saying that how could I refuse this cute hen in TK Maxx at only £4.99!!!

And yes they are Cath Kidston pillowcases you can see.... £3.99 is just a crazy price for them and I have to thank my mum for buying them for me. I'm so pleased to have finally picked up some CK goodies from TK Maxx... I know some of you ladies have been lucky in the stores but I know myself it isn't an urban legend!

Next stop was the cinema with my mum to see The Young Victoria

A great film, whilst slow in parts I was completely caught up with what was on screen and mum commented she felt it finished and she wasn't ready for it to end!

Today was spent with friends over lunch and Disney Trivia Pursuit... and tomorrow, well that's back to work of course!

Help For Heroes

My brother will be running the London Marathon on 26th April 2009 in aid of Help for Hero's

(my brother is second from the right)

Help for Heroes assists our servicemen and women that have been injured whilst serving our country

My brother is a former Rifleman in the Royal Green Jackets. He joined at 16 and served in Kosivo and Bosnia in his 5 years

He is now a Fireman not fully giving up his hero status and more than able to run the marathon as he is also a qualified fitness instructor

I am extremely proud of my brother and shall be supporting him on the day which I will of course share with you

If you would like to make a donation you can do so here

Simply Madonna

This evening my friend and I visited the Simply Madonna Exhibition in London

I've been a fan of Madonna for years now so it was interesting to see some of the costumes she's worn over the years as well as the other memorabilia

Grease Is The Word

Friday evening my friend and I had tickets for Grease so we both took the afternoon off work for a wander round Covent Garden

We started with a "little" lunch here

Isn't that burger HUGE!!! Too much even for me!

A trip to Cath Kidston of course where I brought a few things

Unfortunately as you can see in the photo the tape measure I brought is broke and does not wind back so will have to be returned

We paid a visit to Cyber Candy

A great shop selling various sweets and chocolates from around the world - I brought myself a twinkie!

Saturday morning my giveaway parcel from Mary Poppins arrived

She certainly spoiled me, look at all these wonderful things!

THANK YOU MARY!!!!!

I'm VERY behind with my blog visiting so I'm sitting in bed with my laptop watching Wallis & Edward about to visit you all!

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend

Not So Much Walked

But slipped, skidded and skated to the station this morning

I cannot tell you how icy the pavements were this morning but I made it into work and was oh so grateful for my snow day yesterday I shouldn't complain to much (esp when mum greeted me with bangers and mash this evening when I got home)

Do you want to see what I got up to on my Snow Day?

I needed to "pretty" these smaller sized recipes from magazine clippings and remembered some index cards hiding in the draw. Scissors, glue and some colourful papers and this is what I came up with

I'm quite pleased with them and speaking of recipes; I can't believe I have the cheek to still buy cookbooks after sorting through and filing this pile of recipe clippings from magazines yesterday

Hmmm so maybe I shouldn't mention the book I brought on Saturday?

What can I say?

It's an addiction and it had to be with it's pals Cakes and Cookies Galore that live with me!

I haven't shared with you that I went to see Sound of Music last Thursday

What a great show and should you have an opportunity do get tickets. My mum and I were singing to ourselves all the way home (accompanied by a singing goat we brought at the gift shop!)

I hope you're all keeping warm

Welcoming

Brody Eales

Born 26th November 2008, 11.50am

Weight 7lb 7oz

Auntie and her new nephew!

And what better gift to welcome Master Eales than a custom tile made by Scrappy Jessi

Brody was such a cutie and not so much as a whimper passed his lips as he was passed between aunts, uncles and grandparents whilst visiting.

Can't Wait For Tomorrow

Cos this little fella will be joining us

And I'll be an official auntie!!!

My sister-in-law is having a C-section tomorrow morning and I'll be off to visit later that evening!

I can't wait to share some photos with you!

Having a Ball

A couple of weekends ago I attended a Ball my friend hosts each year in aid of St Claires Hospice

I have a table with family and friends and its always a lovely evening and this year I'm pleased to report that £5000 was raised despite having less people attend than last year

It's a sad fact that many people in my town have had a friend of family member who have been cared for at the hospice at one time or another over the years so it's nice to have an occasion to show our support

There was a photographer taking photos so of course my friends and I indulged

We started with the sensible poses....

...and then the photographer suggested we have some fun

My friend made a "life size" copy of one of the photos which they have displayed proudly in their front room!!

I'm just about caught up with blogging so hopefully I can stay on top of things now!