Happy Halloween !!!

What do you have planned??? I'm going on a ghost & witches tour of Exeter. Never anything to do here so I'm afraid to say that I do this nearly every year. Think I should take it myself as I now know all the stories!! It's a bit of fun & I always take my pumpkin torch which my friends are never happy about. It getting harder to find people to come with me so I guess one year I will be doing it alone.

Have you seen the news about Ottery St Mary??? How strange, it looks like something from a disaster film. I didn't even hear the thunder, which I'm glad about as I don't like it. My parents live in Ottery but didn't get flooded as they live on a hill....wise move! They were trapped & didn't have any power until 4pm. I feels so sorry for those poor people who have lost everything.

Enjoy your Halloween what ever you're doing.......

Anyone got snow????

I'm loving the winter weather although not happy about having to put the heating on in October. I did wait until the last minute & the heating did kick in at 5, maybe my house is really cold!!

I've been off today, so enjoying the lovely sunshine this morning. I was in the garden sorting out my lavender for the bags I plan to make for Christmas. Hope I haven't taken on too much. I've just got my Christmas rota, why do I have to work in retail?? It's not good, only 1 more Saturday off before Christmas! Every year I say this will be may last as I would like to have a life & see friends etc over the festive period. This is the first year we are opening boxing day..... hate it, why can't people stay at home! I'm working late on Christmas eve & off boxing day but they're hinting for 1 manager to do both days. Bet it'll have to me because I'm having 2 days off the week before to see the Pogues.


One of the ladies I work with has just opened an Etsy shop selling children's clothes. She also makes Pippa dolls clothes & sells on eBay. Remember Pippa? I'd forgotten how small she was. Check out the shop & see how clever Penny is...


http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6266325

I brought this lovely t-light holder from LA a few weeks ago but keep forgetting to share it with you. It was really cheap so I thought he would be very small but I was wrong! I love getting cozy with the lights off & just candles but I can't see to knit!!

Hope you're all having a good week & not too cold.

Jamie's pass it on

Hello everyone,

I've just seen this & had to act straight away!!!

http://justoriginal.blogspot.com/

So here it is...... I'm passing it on!!

Smoked Mackerel Pate

4 Smoked Mackerel Fillets taken off the skin and mashed
4 Finely chopped Spring Onions
1/2 the rind of a Lemon
1/2 the juice of a Lemon
1 small container of Philidelphia
2 tablespoons of Horseradish
Black Pepper

Basically just mush it all up together and serve on warm ciabatta or crusty bread.


As you all know I made this last week (see last blog for photo) & it was lovely, so I had it again on Sunday, and I've already passed it on to 2 people at work. Aren't I a good girl????

What Josie-Mary did on her holiday....

Well another very quick week's holiday is over and yes I was right last week, I'm not feeling so smug today!

So did I do all my jobs??? Did I heck as like!!! I managed to do some but I also had some lazy days, why do we always feel guilty of that?? Yes I did lay in bed one afternoon & watched a film...is that soooo wrong?? But I do feel bad now because I still have a long list of things that didn't get done and my next holiday won't be until February or March. Can I make it??

So what did I do.....

I put up my Whirligig.

















I do love these but they're getting harder to find. I've been looking for a wood chopper for years without any luck. Mum & dad found this on their travels & gave it to me for my birthday at the end of August. Yes it really has taken me that long to put it up!!

I made 10 jars of pickled onions, all for Christmas gifts, now I can focus on making my own. I hate pealing the onions but you can't beat home made so I have to do it.

I made a bag.


















I mentioned this a while ago, didn't come out as well as I hoped but hey it cost me under £5 and it's my first attempt. As I was making it I thought how lucky I was to have a mum who showed me how to make things. I've met so many people who wouldn't even know where to start. So even if it's not the best bag in the world at least I made it!!

I made a lovely pie & pasties. Ohh the joy of having the time to do this kind of things. I have some left ready to take to work. I also made the mackerel pate from just original's blog. Very yummy & easy to make.

















I've started to make my friends little girl a toy, not sure what it'll be. It was a doll but I'm now thinking I could change it to a cat! What do you think??


The box is going to be the bed & I've made some granny squares to make the blanket.

I've also dusted my kitchen shelves.....



I won't tell you how long ago this was done but as you can see it's a bit of a task!!! My motto is.... the more you have on a shelf the less room there is for dust! You may have noticed that I collect everything... I love Cornish blue, these are just the pieces we don't use. Also I can never resist a Fred at the bootie. And yes of course there's lots of red & white things.
















I went to Morrison's shopping & had to buy this lovely shower cap........will I use it??? Not sure but it was a bargain & will look good in the bath room!!



Now I written all this down I feel I've done quite a lot so now I won't feel bad about sitting down all afternoon!! Don't forget I've had to do general house work all week as well.....yeah I feel good now!

I'm going to make a list on my blog of all the things I need to do before Christmas. I always think one more list won't hurt!


Back to work tomorrow, not looking forward to it as I feel really rough with a cold. I've fought it all week with loads of drugs but it's finally come out. This always happens to me at this time of year. Last year I had the same week off & was really ill so had to take the following week off sick. Hope I feel better as I'd hate to have to call in sick again, I think they're just getting over the fact I had to take 5 days of when my cat died in September. Maybe my friend was right, I shouldn't have wasted that time off (yes she did say that!!)


The next thing to look forward to is going to see The Pogues in Bristol on the 16th December. Didn't make it last year but we normally go to London every year to see them, it's our Christmas present to each other. The tickets cost a bomb but it's a fantastic night...I think....can't always remember it!! But it's lovely when they sing fairytale of new york at the end at snow starts falling & the very drunk fans sing along!

Hope everyone plans to watch 'Little Dorrit', I'm hoping it will be as good as 'Bleak house'. Have a good week.

Jamie's pass it on....

Hello everyone, hope you all had a lovely weekend....I've been working & I'm now enjoying the fact I can put my feet up for a whole week.....sorry to all you poor people who have to go back to work tomorrow (I won't be feeling so smug next Sunday!!!)

I had an idea about pass it on...... not sure if you've been watching Jamie's new show but I'm shocked by how little people know when it comes to cooking. I guess they've chosen the worst people otherwise it wouldn't make good TV. Anyway here's the plan... I thought we could all post 1 recipe that is quick & very easy to make. I'm a really rubbish cook but I'm trying to get better, 2 years ago I was the M&S ready meal queen but since moving to a new house with a large kitchen I'm starting to enjoy it.

Vanessa at just original has posted a recipe from Jamie's book which looks lovely....plan to treat myself to that. Take a look........

http://justoriginal.blogspot.com/

This is my recipe....not very fancy but good for when I'm working late.

Pasta, feta cheese, olives, garlic, oil, chopped tomatoes.

It's very quick, just 11 min's for the pasta then just throw everything else in, I serve it with a salad. I've had lots of friend around to eat who are really good cooks but this always goes down well. I think because it's so simple you don't think of making it. Hope you give it ago & enjoy.

Now can you all post one simple (just for me!!) recipe & who know what ideas we'll get.

I thought I'd share this photo with you....

It's my first home made toad-in-the hole!! I use to buy the frozen ones but with my mum's help I made this. Told you I was rubbish in the kitchen!!

Have a good evening....

Yet another day off

Hello everyone, yet another busy day off ...... I went to my local fabric shop this morning to buy everything to make my Christmas presents etc. What a lovely shop, filled to the brim of fabrics & bits & bobs. You could spend hours in there, it's very small but they have loads & loads of stock...my kind of shop!!!

This is what I brought.........The black fabric, buttons & edging are for a bag I'm going to try & make myself. I saw a lovely bag in monsoon yesterday at a mere £25!! I thought I would give it ago to make my own....I'll show you the results if it works. The edging is called 60's edging, isn't it lovely??? It comes in lots of colours but of course I choose red.

The red strip is for the backing of my nieces quilt that I'm making for her birthday......decided against a pattern from the 'Make' book...not bitter, I've got over that now!! The front of the quilt will be the red retro print......

How sweet is this??? I'm sure she'd rather have Brats or something equally awful!!

Now all I need to do is get my sewing box out & get working....

Do you think I have a problem with all my red spotty things??? Yes I do like the red spot Beret in the 'Make' book...I do have a red Beret but I don't want to ruin it!!

By the time I'd finished shopping the day had nearly gone, just enough time to clean the oven....why oh why do I always leave it so long...... I've been meaning to do it for days but I always find something else to do...

After all that hard work I thought I deserved a break so I settled down to look at my book & had a pot of tea....... you may notice the cream cake...how naughty??? I haven't had one of these in years, my mum treated me when we were shopping.

Time to get on with my knitting, I'm making myself a cardigan, I'm having real problems with it at the moment....... 392 stitches!!! I keep having to rip it back because I can't get the lace pattern right....it won't beat me!!! My only worry is I'll have to stop soon to make gifts then it won't be ready until the summer.... oh well there's always next winter!!!

Hope you all have a good weekend... I'm working all weekend so if you're in Exeter shopping pop into Habitat to say 'hello' ..brighten up my day.

It's arrived

I got home tonight to find a very large box waiting for me, it was my books from the book people. I waited until everything was sorted before opening it.

Of course you always save the best til last so imagine how disappointed I was to discover that my book did not come with the craft kit...yes that's right NO bag!!!!

I could have cried & I've sulked for the last hour!!! I sent an email to the book people to complain but I wanted to warn everything not to buy this. I was thinking I was getting a bargain but it's wasn't the case.

Oh well life goes on & I really didn't need yet another bag!!!

With all this talk of CK I thought I would share my claim to fame .......I've met Stanley!!! I went to the head office for an interview a few years ago & met the head of HR & the buyers. It was really hard to create a good impression as I was too busy talking to Stanley. Anyway I didn't get the job as someone already had it!!! All a bit odd & the pay was shocking......£16k for the store manager of the Covent garden store.....50% discount which was great but doesn't pay the bills!!!

I'm back........

Not sure for how long!!! We've had problems with our talk-talk connection so now plan to leave them to go back to BT but in the mean time I'm using a 3G connection......it's very slow at times but it should see me through.

Didn't realise how much I used the internet......it's been a nightmare for the last week. Couldn't even do my knitting because the pattern is American & I have to check the abbreviations on the net!!!!

Look what I got......thank you Mel!!! I do have something for you but need to go to the post office, don't have one near but I promise I will go soon.

I have now ordered the 'Make' book from the book people it was only £4.99!!!! - I've had it on pre order from amazon for weeks at £7.49, my WH smiths don't stock it so I'd nearly given up hope. The internet came back on on Friday for 1/2 hour so I quickly placed the order!! It's £3.50 postage but I also brought another book about WW1 so I got 2 books that I really wanted. Can't wait for the postie now!!!

I'm planning on making a quilt for the new pram my niece is getting for her birthday. I thought the cowboy would be nice as she's a bit of a tom boy!!!

Well that's yet another week over.......

Hello Everbody,

My broadband service is down, and it may be several weeks before I get a chance to update my blog.

Thanks for the pillowcase Mel, I love it.....planning to go to the post office tomorrow.

Another week over

Hello everyone....yet another week is over & at least I'm not having to work today. I've had a busy day, house work all morning & making a lovely apple cake, the apples came from a friends allotment. I now plan to settle down for a lazy afternoon watching TV, so glad I don't have kids!!!

My friend has lent me a DVD.... 'armchair thriller'.....does anyone remember this from the 70's??? The opening credits use to really scare me as a child so I'm going to watch that this afternoon to see just how bad it is....don't want to watch it before bedtime just in case!!!!

I changed my bed today to my lovely Cath boat duvet cover, I covered it up with a bedspread so the cats couldn't sleep on it. My cats are very lazy & sleep on the bed all day. I went to take a photo to show you all how good it looked & look what I found when I pulled back the bedspread....

Naughty Nanny, at least he has good taste!!!

I'm really looking forward to going to bed tonight but I know that means my day off will be over & I have another 5 days to go before my next.

I have decided I don't want to work anymore as it really interferes with my life.......I told my manager yesterday that I couldn't work anymore because I had too many onions to pickle & too much knitting to do & what did he say....'saddo'!!!

I've taken some photo's of the other bargains I brought at TK Maxx.... I never go there but they do have some really nice things if you can be bothered to look.

I brought this wax & shine box for all my shoe cleaning things...well it is red!! It was only £5.99. At the moment I'm using it to store my pickled onions & chutneys as they always take up so much space in the cupboards. Still need to make loads more if I'm going to make my hampers again for Christmas.

Also brought this nice napkin holder for the kitchen table, shame it's not red but it was only £2.99.......anyone for hot dogs???

I got one........

Yippee.... I phoned the shop a few times & spoke to a boy who kept saying he would call back but never did, did he not know how important this is. In the end I spoke to a girl who knew all about it but said they never had the boat one in the Exeter store, I even sent my sister down in between school runs. She said she couldn't find it but not one to give up I asked her to drive me to the store after I finished work. On entering the the bedlinen department I saw it laying on the floor I grabbed it so fast that my sister thought I had fallen over!!!!! It's a super king & I only need a king size but what the heck!!!!!!! The best thing is I still had some birthday money left so it didn't cost me a penny!! Just need to find a sheet & pillowcases to match..... Can't wait until Sunday when I can change my bed, hope the cats don't ruin it!!! I got some other goodies which I'll show you all on Sunday. xxxx

Just to remind you all about the 20% off voucher that I can email you.......it's valid from today until Sunday 5th October. Happy shopping!!!