Bank Holiday Weekend

We have spent the weekend based at our "Country Retreat" and have had a blissful time.

Needless to say I have been shopping in the village for pretty things to adorn my display cabinets.

I bought a really sweet (pardon the pun) strawberry jam pot which originated at Fortnum and Mason. Sorry my photo is a bit rubbish but its been thundering and the lightning is so scary, I am just trying to take my mind off the scariness by updating my blog!

I have also bought a lovely honey pot in the shape of an old hive with honey bees on it!

My sister and her husband came to visit yesterday and stayed the night, it was really nice to see them. We drove to Kelso today which is just over the border in Scotland and took in some of the sights. We saw the remains of an old church and the workmanship is fantastic. It is humbling to look at such works to think that when it was constructed they didn't have access to the machinery available to builders today.

Next stop down to the river to see the swans and cygnets.

I am now sitting listening to the pouring rain and watching lighting which I find very scary. Hey did I mention I now have gone all high tech with my mobile broadband. It doesn't work at high speed due to our location but I still have access to my emails and the blogs I am following. Thank goodness for technology eh!

Have a good evening. TTMx

Designer Memory Jogger

My memory is not what it used to be so I have decided to carry a small note book around with me in my handbag, using it for to do lists. The only one I could lay my hands on today was a boring school note book.

Not to be deterred I decided to give it a cheapo designer treatment!

I printed off a colour copy of a fabric swatch (KC) which I enlarged on the photo copier and then I covered my notebook, the way I used to do when I was at school many years ago. I have also laminated it using a method suggested to me by my good friend BH, (Iron the laminated sheet onto the book as obviously it will not feed through the laminator, making sure to place a cloth between the iron and the lamination sheet). It now looks lovely. All I need now is to remember to use it.

Have a good evening.

A wonderful weekend in the country

We have just returned from a lovely weekend in our "Country Retreat". Nothing to hear but the sounds of the birds singing. Ah it was bliss. The sun was shining on Friday evening when we arrived, so after unpacking the car, we sat outside with a drink and enjoyed the evening air and the sounds of silence. Saturday was another fabulous day, sun shining brightly. Unfortunately when the sun shines my hubby takes to doing his DIY, so no peace for me! We drove to the nearest town for some supplies to allow him to finish his project. I took some photos of the view on the way to the store. In the distance is the sea honest!

We bought the bits and pieces and stopped off at M&S Food to pick up something nice for supper. The roads were so quiet it was like a piece of heaven in the countryside.

When we got back we sat out in the sunshine, again with a drink and some olives while our evening meal was cooking. We ate our meal outside too as it remained quite warm. Then inside to catch the first episode of X-Factor. Needles to say there was no DIY done at all on Saturday, ah well there is always next weekend!

Today started off well but by 9:30 the torrential rain started and didn't stop! We headed back home and stopped of to visit my Dad, where we stayed for tea. He always cooks something nice for our tea and today was no exception. Thanks Dad. X

My day

Its been a strange day, weather wise today. I thought I would take the day off as the weather forecaster said it was going to be the last day of summer, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing. Anyway my conscience got the better of me and I went into the office. On the way in it got darker and darker but the temperature kept on rising.

Everything I have touched today seems to have gone wrong, tasks that should have taken minutes took hours. I was late for my dental appointment but my bad day changed when she said no treatment needed and you really don't need to see the hygienist either. Well the tooth fairy must have been looking down on me!
I cant wait for the weekend when I can return to our retreat. My very good friend BH bought me the sweetest present; a ceramic chicken which I love. She has pride of place on my dining room window in the retreat.

How cute is she?

Enjoy the view

Thanks for your kind comments. I was so touched that you took the time to drop by and read my entries that I am now hooked on blogging!

I thought you may like to share the view from my "weekend retreat" where you can also see my breakfast companions! If you look closely at the picture above you can actually see the armarda of ducklings coming to feast on my bread! They are really cute arent they?

Calais for tea

As I was working in Dover last week, I thought it would be an adventure to get the ferry across to Calais for tea on Wednesday. I have never driven onto a Ferry before or anywhere in France for that matter! I booked my ticket on the Internet and turned up at the port as instructed an hour before departure. I still had on my business suit so looked really out of place amongst the rest of the holiday makers making their way to Europe. Any way off I went following the instructions till I was pulled over by the security guys to have my vehicle searched. Honestly they let all the suspicious folk drive past and stopped me. I had nothing more than a briefcase in my boot! I then drove through passport control not even having my passport examined and drove onto the ferry. I was so proud of my achievement. The crossing was really calm and then it was time to drive off into France. This again I managed to do without any problems. I drove down the motorway and followed my instructions to the Wine Warehouses. Well - I have never seen anything like it, most were closed (it was after 8pm when I got there) and those that were open were dirty and dusty warehouses and their prices were more or less the same as at home. I then decided it was time to eat so followed the signs to the Plage (beach) and there were several restaurants advertising mussels (one of my favourite foods).



Well they were all closing for the evening so I ended up buying frites & mayonnaise, but I did order them in French having previously been coached in the art of shopping by my good friend BH! It was then time to head back to the ferry for the journey home. There was a 45 minute delay then back on board. I got back to my hotel just after 1 am. Straight to bed for me, but what an adventure. Its days like this that make me love my job.

Girly weekend July (London)

My beautiful daughter is a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz, so I thought it would be lovely, as I don't see much of her, if we met up in London and I took her to see a show. Wicked is the prequal to the Wizard of Oz and is currently playing in the west end. I booked dinner and a show tickets on lastminute.com which cost £60.00 each.

I also booked a nice hotel in Kensington so we could have a good old girly weekend. Our trains arrived in London within half an hour of each other so we met up in Kings Cross and travelled by tube to our hotel. We checked in and were given our room key. The room was very nice but only had a double bed in it and I had booked a twin room. I rang down to reception and they were full of apologies but said they had no twin rooms left and shock horror all they could offer me was an Executive Room which had a massive king size bed! Well not wishing to be rude I felt compelled to accept! The room was absolutely fantastic with posh toiletries, complimentary chocs, water, tea, coffee and an umbrella. After that surprise we got changed and headed off for our pre theatre meal. The restaurant was amazing and the three courses were delicious as was the complimentary glass of wine. Then we walked across the road and into the theatre, again we were thrilled with the seats which had excellent views of the stage. The show was excellent too! Back to the hotel for a drink and bed. The next day we ate breakfast in the hotel and then went across the road for our hair cut. Once we were transformed we headed off to Madame Tussuad's where we took loads of photos with the celebs.

Back to the hotel for a shower and out for more food.
Next day we were up bright and early for breakfast before heading off to the National History Museum. I was again surprised and had a lovely time looking at the dinosaurs. After a couple of hours we then headed off to Harrods to rub shoulders with the rich folk and the rest of the tourists! I bought a couple of shopping bags, one for me and one for my good friend BH, then we headed off for some lunch in their sushi bar. My daughter loved every mouthful, but I have to confess I wasn't impressed at all! Back to the hotel for our bags and then we caught the tube to our main line stations. We then sadly said our goodbyes and travelled to our respective homes. I had a lovely weekend and cant wait for the next one.

Glasgow for the Eagles Concert (July)

I travelled to Glasgow in July with my hubby and we stayed in a lovely hotel overlooking the SE CC on one side and the BBC Scotland building on the other. The weather that weekend was fabulous so we decided to go for a walk into the city centre on the Saturday morning. Well imagine our surprise when we couldn't get across the road for hundreds of marching bands. We timed it badly as we had to stand for ages watching the bands and their followers. It was the Orange march. We eventually got to the shops and I have to say I was well impressed. We shopped for hours stopping only for lunch. I am quite lucky in that we both enjoy shopping (well I think he does too). We then went back to our hotel for a quick shower and change and off to Hamden Park for the Eagles concert. The concert was opened by Paul Carrick who was absolutely amazing and then on came the Eagles. To say they were impressive would be an understatement. It was hard to believe they were live as they were absolutely pitch perfect. The only disappointment was they finished dead on 10:30 with no encore.

We then went back to the hotel for something to eat and a few drinks.

Next day (Sunday) we had a late breakfast and took our cases to the station, (daylight robbery for the left luggage service) and off to the shops again. This time we bought a saxophone which my hubby had always wanted. Another piece of musical equipment to gather dust in the bedroom no doubt, but hey life is short! We caught the train back in the evening after a lovely weekend.