Weightloss Wed/swaps/Easter

(Again...sorry about the poor photo quality.....these pics are taken from my mobile)

Its only the beginning of the Easter Holidays and already i am wanting to take time out! lol!!

Don't get me wrong....i love my boys dearly and i love spending time with them, but sometimes it gets too much!!

Yesterday i had to wait in all day for carpet....i was so excited, except we ended up being the last fitting grrr!! Isn't it so annoying when that happens? The things i could have done in that time if only i knew that they weren't going to turn up till 5pm!!!!!! Instead i had two boys going crazy, actually one...the eldest was fine, but the littlest (terrible twos) decided to wreck the house again and again and moan all day!!!!

(A card given to me by my hubby.....don't worry i'm not an alcoholic..honest)

Here is the room (Spare/work room) with the carpet and bits of furniture i moved back in:

I spent a little of yesterday setting out a plan of what i need to do/buy:

I want some floaty white curtains, lots of white shelves, new bedding,  a throw and cushions to put on the sofa, a cushion for my desk seat. I have lots of pictures to go up and i'd like to get a lovely spring plant for the windowsill. 

I'm heading to Ikea this weekend and plan to spend most of the weekend making my new room pretty!!

The after the Easter hols i can get making!! And start my little buisness!!

....So, this week wasn't probably the best week to start back on Weightloss Wednesday!!!

We had family over for tea on Good Friday, so i made some yummy cakes.

I forgot to take a pic of these, but they were really yummy and pretty.

This one was rather nice too:

I don't eat eggs, so i use a replacer instead (just as yummy though)

I recommend both recipes and will certainly make them again.

I forgot to take pictures of the finished table/egg hunt/ and decs but they looked pretty much like last years.

How cute is my hubby? He said he got the above card as it reminded him of the colours of my blog at the moment!! Just when i think he is a typical man, not listening/thinking, he always manages to surprise me!

I said to my hubby i didn't want an egg this year (we get so much anyway) He said that he had to get me something. So i said that he could get me something when we went to Windsor for the day on Saturday: My in laws had got me and the hubby a trip to Windsor Castle and afternoon tea for our wedding Anniversary gift at the start of the year. (Lovely hotel that we had tea in by the way)

We had a look round the shops, including Cath Kidston....such a pretty one....i loved the changing room!!

He totally spoilt me...with:

He surprised me with the little badges/mirror and choc on Easter Monday too!! I am a lucky girl!!

I also bought some pretty books in a charity shop.

When i look at the pretty pics in books like this, i dream that my life is like that too......look at the pretty afternoon tea pic...hmmmmmm  :)

 Going back to weightloss Wednesday....i haven't eaten that well....well how can i with so much chocolate around? And yummy Easter teas and dinners?

 I have been trying a bit of portion control though and i've done a bit of exercise too. No weight loss to report this week though.

I wanted to share a yummy family dish with you, that we all enjoyed, even my fussy eldest boy!!

The recipe comes from this delightful book. (Lovely family recipes, great pics, and a heart touching story behind the book too)

It is really easy.

Just roll out some puff pastry, cover with a small amount of dijon mustard, cheese of choice (we used cheddar), tomatoes, and pepper and cook!!

...I took part in Dolly Dollops colour swap. I chose pink.

Look at these lovely gifts i recieved from Ticking stripes:

A pretty teatowel, a Ck flannel, a pin cushion with a William Morris print, a lovely collection of note cards, some vintage button hair clips, tags and stickers, a pretty brooch and card and some button magnets and a lovely cloth that can already be seen in my workroom. Thank you Wendy i am delighted.

Here is what i sent:

A selection of buttons and craft paper, a candle, some Tiptree jams, soap, Ck tissues, chocolates, a handmade bookmark and button pin badge, a card, a really pretty cup and saucer that i was very tempted to keep for myself :) and a lovely hanging heart that i had bought for Wendy from my Red heart day.

I stole away the Sunday Express magazine from my In Laws this weekend, as i spotted a piece on Grace Kelly in it. Me and my Mum will be heading to this exhibition at V&A Museum in June after our chocolate workshop!! So excited.

Now i will leave you with this pretty Easter picture from my Prima calendar:

Have a good week all!!

xx

Notebook Monday

-20 Romantic Cottages

-101 Things to buy before you die

Sounds such an interesting book doesn't it? I'd love to see what they come up with.

-DearEmma

A handmade design site. Lovely notebooks, keyrings, tablemats, doorstops etc.

-Lifeisbeautifulplacetobe

A pretty blog i've recently discovered.

-A pretty rhyme:

"It is the season now to go about the country high and low, Among the lilacs hand in hand, And two by two in fairy land." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

-Words to live by:

One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself. what if i had never seen this before? what if i knew i would never see it again? - rachel carson

 -Shop

Selling Yankee Candles and other gifts.

xx

(Pictures from Weheartit)

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to you all!!

The winner of my giveaway is Charlotte at Cottontailsbaby!!

Well done.

xx

Lots of reasons to be happy!!

Following on from my 101 Small daily pleasures, i have been writing out lists of things that make me happy.

So here are the first 100 things!!

1.Big stripy coloured beach balls

2.Certificates

3.A hole in one on miniture golf

4.Sunday papers

5.Butterscotch

6.Ducklings on a pond

7.Museum shops

8.Finding loose change in pockets/bags

9.Picking strawberries

10.Homemade cards

11.Walt Disney World

12.A babys first tooth

13.Supermarket coupons

14.Spring blossom

15.Rosy cheeks

16.Bread rolls at restaurants

17.Window shopping

18.Hotel Stationary

19.Over body bags

20.Barbar (The elephant)


21.Dreamless nights
22.Ripe Melons
23.A vase of anemones
24.Face creams
25.Trampolines
26.Fortune cookies

27.Buttering very hot toast so that it melts in
28.2 Minute rice
29.White Christmas - film
30.Warm french bread


31.Soaps and sachets in drawers and cupboards
32.Sprinklers
33.Hairdryers in hotel rooms when you have forgotten to pack one
34.Cherry tomatoes
35.Miniture jars of jam
36.Blowing out candles

37.Coffee tables
38.When you drop a cup and it doesn't break
39.Baby Boom - The film
40.Books you have highlighted favourite bits of


41.Old red British post boxes
42.White shutters
43.Curious George
44.Park benches

45.Skating rinks
46.Stockings hung by a fireplace
47.Returning a smile
48.Crayons and paper for children at restaurants
49.Airing your quilt
50.Your favourite cozy chair and a good book


51.Unbitten fingernails
52.A tin of yummy biscuits, preferbly chocolate
53.Marker pens, especially pink and yellow ones
54.Mittens

55.Pincushions

56.Childhood friendships

57.Oven mitts
58.Purple heather on hillsides
59.Crumpets with butter
60.Singing your favourite songs in the car


61.Cartwheels

62.The click of a closing purse or bag
63.English breakfasts
64.Venice
65.Undisturbed sleep
66.Comfy chairs in bookshops
67.Elegant teacups and saucers
68.Cake stands
69.Church bells
70.Baked beans


71.Window seats
72.Antique maps
73.Throwing coins into a fountain
74.Tree lined streets
75.Booths in restaurants
76.Pop up books

77.Tissue paper
78.Rubber stamps
79.Tinkerbell
80.Churros covered in sugar and cinnamon with warm chocolate sauce to dip


81.New babies
82.Biscuit cutters
83.The sound of horses hooves clip clopping
84.Post it notes
85.Tulips

86.Pretty doormats
87.Travel games
88.A moist slice of carrot cake with plenty of butter frosting
89.Four leaf clovers
90.Tea in a teapot

91.Jam tarts
92.Pizza cutters
93.Tree houses
94.The smell of a delicate rose
95.Receiving a post card

96.Picnic baskets

97.The smell of a cake baking
98.Long swishy skirts

99.Clear nail polish
100.Believing in yourself

 Have a happy Easter....i'll be back on Easter Sunday to announce the winner of my giveaway.
xx

(ALL PICTURES FROM WEHEARTIT)

The delicious Miss Dahl

I have become completely obsessed with Sophie Dahl.

I have to admit i was never a fan of her, only seeing her in pictures pouting away, i found her rather irritatingly beautiful and couldn't work out if i would like her or not.

But since seeing her cooking programme i am completely in love with her. She is adorable.

I now want to make her recipes and buy her book.

I hope she'll make another series and bring out a new book.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway on the previous post

xx

(Pictures found using google image search)

A little giveaway and weightloss Wednesday

Ok, so i said i'd have a giveaway when i reached 150 followers.

As i've passed 140 i thought i'd have a small one before the main one.

If you'd like to enter please leave a comment. (you don't have to be a follower to enter this mini giveaway)
And to make it a bit more interesting i'd like to know one of your daily pleasures (carrying on from my 101 daily pleasures post)

Your prize will be a copy of  Mays Period Living Magazine and something else too i'm sure.
I'll pick a random winner on  Easter Sunday.

Weightloss Wednesday:

I haven't taken part for a while as i've been eating like a pig not eating very well and been sitting on my arse watching tele far to0 busy to excersice.

This week, i'll be starting again....so catch up with me next week and slap my wrist please be nice to me if i don't do well.

xx

Notebook Monday

Todays Notebook Monday is a dedication to Elspeth Thompson who sadly died on 25th March.

Today i take my 'likes, wants, things to do' from her wonderful weekend book.

-Take up photography:

Take one picture of yourself - or your child, or partner - every day, week or month for a year.....

-Compile a recipe book/box:

'One of the objects i'd rescue from our house if it caught fire is the recipe book i've kept since my teenage years'.....

-Visit Kettles Yard Cambridge: One of the most inspiring and beautiful places in the world....

-Hear the dawn chorus:

Around the end of April set the alarm early - around 4.30am. if you can bear it, wrap up warm and head for your local woods. Sit - or lie - down and listen; it's a simple as that....

-Visit a garden - or open your own....

-Catch Rainbows:

Make the most of the summer sunshine by hanging crystals on fishing wire at the windows to catch the light and send it dancing in rainbows round the room....

I can really recommend this lovely book...it is one of my favourites....so much so it was one of the few i selected to put on the new shelves in the lounge as i read it so much. It has notes in the margins and turned down pages....i love it.

My thoughts go out to her family

xx

(Words from Elspeth Thompson: The wonderful weekend book and LissyLou)

(Pictures from Weheartit and Amazon)