We've been living in our home for 2 and a half years now. When we moved in it hadn't been well cared for and it was dirty, so, so dirty - the thought of it still makes me shudder - but it's a good size, is light and has some lovely views. We're off the beaten track so it's very quiet and I often feel very fortunate to be living here.

We have done a lot of work to it, but there is still loads more to do. Before we moved in we spent a few weeks cleaning and tidying up (scrubbing and bleaching EVERYTHING), and painting the lounge, dining room, kitchen, pantry and main bedroom just to make them habitable and to help the place feel a little more like home.

The day I brought the cats here is when it really started to feel like home, after that it only took a few days for me to feel like we'd always been here and more time goes on the more I love it.

The first major bit of work we had done was the downstairs loo and the upstairs bathroom. The upstairs bathroom was particularly disgusting. I'm glad to say that Andy took it upon himself to clean it, the photos don't capture the dust, grime and general nastiness of it and I'll always be grateful to him for sparing me from that particular task.


I found a chap on one of those rate-a-workman type websites to do the work. We met with him and he was friendly and said all the right things but within a few days he were having doubts and by the end of the week we'd decided enough was enough. We paid him for the work he'd done and asked him not to come back. Luckily, the chap that we had originally wanted to do it had a cancellation and was able to come to our rescue. He did a fantastic job and just in time for our first Christmas in our new home too!


As I've mentioned before, a bath is one of my favourite things, so I found living with that bathroom for five months really hard. I didn't have a bath in all that time as I didn't want to sit in it, instead I had showers and even then I didn't feel 100% clean when I got out. Now I really like this room and soak away to my heart's content. Of course my dream bathroom would be three times to size of this one but this will do nicely (for now ;-)).

The only thing that needs to be changed in here now is the window but that's a way off yet. I think it's missing this and some of these though...


The most recent DIY project is my office, it is still a work in progress but all the most important bits are done, once finished I'll turn my attention to the hallway and landing. Then the kitchen gets it!

If I can give you one piece of advice about decorating your home it's to do one room at a time from start to finish. I know it may seem insane to spend time and money choosing a lampshade when you have an entire house to do, but if you don't you'll end up with a long list of odds jobs for each room you've meaning to do for ages... which just seems to grow longer as time passes.

What room are you happiest with?


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

The #BEDN topic is all about Christmas today. From the age of 17 I used to dread Christmas but since 2009 I've learned to love it again - you can read why here. My favourite aspect of Christmas is the time I get to spend with Andy. He works ridiculous hours, 7 days a week and Christmas Day is the only day that I know for absolute certain he won't be working, Boxing Day I'm only 99% sure.

But he is about more in the run up to Christmas, working shorter hours than normal and this is when he makes scotch eggs, sausage rolls and cheese straws and is in charge of ordering and collecting the ham and beef from the local butcher. He also buys the shortbread biscuits that we eat with our first cup of tea on Christmas morning. His Grandma always had shortbread at Christmas.

So far, we've always woken up on Christmas morning at home, we've eaten breakfast together - smoked salmon and scrambled eggs - and then exchanged gifts, before setting about the day. I was adamant that we didn't fall in to the trap of doing the same thing every year. My parents are divorced, and while they are friendly, we don't tend to see them at the same time over Christmas. So I wanted to keep where we go, who we see and when, as flexible as possible.

We do have traditions though, we buy a new tree decoration every year. We already have the 2013 decoration - a globe bauble purchased in the V&A during a recent trip to London. It'll go nicely with the London bus, Grandma's memory bauble and Christmas Pig.

We'll be going out to get our tree soon. Since moving we have a real tree and it's normally huge! We have lots of different decorations and I arrange them on the tree after Andy has untangled the lights. We'll have the fire lit and this is when my Christmas excitement really kicks in. If I can be drinking mulled wine whilst doing this - all the better. I might even check the listings to see if I can find a cheesy classic Christmas film to watch at the same time this year.

Thanks to this #BEDN post, I'm going to find a local carol service to go to and see if I can find a Caring Christmas Tree or similar in this area. 

What I look forward to most of all is having time to properly catch up with family and friends and have some fun. Everyone is in good spirits at Christmas!

What are your favourite traditions?


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

I'm linking up with Inspiration Monday for the first time in ages! This week the inspiration comes from Sienna Miller in a fabulous animal print dress and fluffy jacket. I had very little in my wardrobe that suited this so when I saw this 'dress' in a charity shop at the weekend I purchased it to wear today. Whilst it's not animal print it does have animals printed on it - deers and stags, very festive!

It was in the dress section but looking at the length I think it's a shirt. Just as well I'm home alone today, I don't think I could wear a 'dress' this length in public!


Next time I think I'll add jeans. Pop over to Megan and Nora's blog, Two Birds Boutique, to see how others interpreted the look.

Hope you're having a fun Monday.

Love

I have lost count of the number of times I have said 'you need to relax' to people recently. I don't know why we all seem to feel that we have to be doing something at all times, that relaxing is a waste of time. Why can't we just give ourselves a break? Taking the time to relax properly is just as important as anything else on a to-do list.

I have to admit that I am the worst at taking my own advice - do as I say, not as I do - and goodness knows I should have learned my lesson by now. But, heck, life can get busy at times!

Since I started working for myself back in February, I find that I do more than ever. I think this is down to being happier (my old job had become toxic, sapping any enthusiasm I had for anything), I can happily work start work at 7am and work well into the evenings, I think nothing of working at weekends and when I'm not working I'm doing all the houseworky stuff, on top of that there's DIY, hobbies, running, family time, this here blog and other commitments etc... the list seems never ending.

It's no wonder that some days my body feels tense and stiff, my mind overloaded. How do I relax? I love a good bubble bath - you should see my collection of bath paraphernalia! - its one of my favourite things to do when I need to unwind. I leave my phone on the other side of the bathroom door and never take anything other than a massive glass of red the occasional cup of tea into my bath. For me bath time is when I switch off completely.


I was sent the Deep Heat Muscle Rescue range to review for The Modern Girl's Guide in the summer. I was so taken with both items that I have since purchased them for myself.

The Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Neck and Shoulder Cream is great for easing tired 'desk shoulders' - although you do only need to use a little as it really heats up! It really helps to loosen the stiffness that I tend to get across my shoulders and down my back and leaves a subtle scent of vanilla.

The Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Bath Soak is my favourite of the two, scented with rosemary, patchouli and orange it smells delicious and I find it wonderfully relaxing and soothing for tired limbs. Both items are under £6 so they're a great way to de-stress inexpensively.

After a restorative bath I tend to snuggle down in bed with my iPad for some blog reading, or pinning with a cup of peppermint tea, before getting an early night. Bliss.


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

I set myself four little goals earlier this month with the intention of doing something towards each one by the end of 2013. The first on the list was to find a local hairdresser. I asked around and received a recommendation from a friend, and not only have I had a much needed cut, I've also booked my next appointment.

I had to have about 3 inches cut off the length to get rid of dry ends and I now have a proper fringe again instead of some hair at the front that is slightly short than the rest. I'm not a huge fan of the length but if I grow it with regular trims it'll be stronger and healthier.


I generally dislike having my hair cut. I have fine hair and not all hairdressers know how to deal with it. I've had some shocking cuts in my time, it's almost as if when I spoke about what I wanted all the stylist heard was 'lah, lah, lah, hair, lah, lah, cut, lah, lah'. But my new stylist understood what I was after, also helped by the fact that her fringe was exactly what I wanted. She is never allowed to move. Or retire.

Have you managed to find the holy grail of hair - a good stylist?


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

And part of Four Simply Goals by Elsie and Emma over at A Beautiful Mess.

Love

I covered my dream travel destination in May's Blog Everyday challenge. While that is a once in a lifetime holiday, I'd love to get away from it all right now, for a few days... maybe a week. I'm thinking warm climate, pool, beach, turquoise water, great food, interesting things to go and gaze at, a little shopping and a spa. I'm not so fussy that I wouldn't settle for just a few of those things. The thought of sitting in the sun, reading a book and not having to worry about cooking, work or anything other than getting up in time for breakfast would be amazing!

I love working for myself, my days are flexible and my stress levels are the lowest they have been for years but it's still nice to get away entirely from everyday life once in a while.

Where do you like to get away from it all?


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

To be honest with you, I can't believe that there is even such a thing as World TV Day. I'm not a huge watcher of television. I don't follow soaps particularly and can go days without switching on the gogglebox (although I am aware of a programme of the same name... watching people watch TV, I hear it's hilarious but I'm not compelled to find out for myself.)

I catch Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor if I'm not off doing something less boring instead (anyone remember Why Don't You?). I enjoy Big Bang Theory and have recently started to watch Dexter on LoveFilm Instants. I watched all but the first and last of this season of Downton Abbey on ITV Player. And now that I'm thinking about it, I realise that most of my viewing is done 'on demand' (including my guilty pleasure of Made in Chelsea).

When I was a kid I begged for a little TV to go my bedroom, fast forward 30 years and I sit in bed with not just on demand TV but with access to the internet too, I can play games, and make notes and waste hours browsing eBay, Instagram, and Pinterest, not to mention connect with others via Twitter... had I have known this all those years ago it would have blown my mind! Now? Now I pretty much take it for granted (and it's no wonder I don't find the time to watch TV when I have all these other iPad activities taking up my time).

So, what I'm trying to say is, well, I don't watch TV all that much.


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

You know that saying 'Jack of all trade, master of none'? Well, that's me when it comes to hobbies. I like to tinker with different things but I can't say I'm really good at anything in particular.

I've shared some of my knitting projects already, I can use a sewing machine, do all sorts of crafty bits and pieces. I can grown things without much fear of killing them, arrange flowers so they don't look like they've just been dumped in the vase and I can take a decent photograph. And I kinda like that I can dip in and out of different things as the mood strikes.


Recently I've been making things to sell at a Christmas Bazaar - key fobs, lanyards, pincushion rings and cards. They're all reasonably straight forward things to make but look pretty cute don't you think?


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

Time is conspiring against me once again and I've failed to plan or write up any of the #BEDN posts for a few days, so instead I'm going to share this with you. I defy you not to put your head to one side and say 'Awww'...


Was I right?

Happy Monday everyone!

Love

I've decided that I'd like to keep a record of the lovely things that happen over the course of a week, that make me smile. I've always considered the little things to be every bit as important as the big things.

Soft, kitty, warm kitty...

Eating the first roast dinner of the season with Andy. My roasties were the best yet and I cooked extra so that Andy could have some cold for breakfast #excellentgirlfriend :)

Talking to my Dad about Christmas and chuckling about Andy stealing all my tools, even my pink and purple tape measure that I selected hoping that the colour would dissuade him and his light fingers. Clearly it didn't.

Finding the perfect nest of coffee tables for our lounge. I've been looking for ages.

Lots of sleepy cat time in front of the fire.

Completing a job for a notoriously tricky customer with minimal stress. In other words I nailed it!

Losing a few hours looking at photos, I haven't done this in a while and it left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling which was, strangely, rather festive.

Thanks to Jenny, I found out that there is such a thing as Violet syrup for flavouring gin! OK, so not just gin but cocktails, sodas, juices, teas and flavoured milks too. But I'd use it for gin.

Discovering the possibility of a trip to the Harry Potter Studios! Eeeep!
What has made you smile this week?

Love

Today's topic is workspace but as I shared mine not long ago, I'm covering yesterday's #BEDN topic - Kindness - today.

I racked my brain for what to say and wondered 'when was the last time I did something kind' and do you know what, I couldn't think of a single thing, my mind just went completely blank. I can't say that this (lack of) thought made me feel good. And so I began to think about what kindness means. The dictionary definition is - the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

I think I'd thought of kindness as a big gesture, when in actual fact kindness can be shown in the smallest of ways. Simple acts like holding a door open for someone, smiling and being polite. Noticing that someone is having a rough day and making them a cuppa. Giving someone a hug. Simply saying something nice. These things are things that we all do every single day without even thinking about it. Imagine what we could do if we all made a conscious effort to 'be kind'?

So, when I thought again about any acts of kindness I'd shown recently I remembered Rupert, the dog that turned up on our doorstep in the early hours, lost, muddy and in need of a bed for the night. When my Sister-in-law lost her Father recently, I knew she wouldn't ask for help (although she is always the first to offer help when needed), so I told her that I would design and print the order of service for the funeral - it was something practical that I could do easily and one less thing for her to worry about. Now, I'm not listing these things to say 'look at me, I'm so kind', but to illustrate that we all probably share a lot of kindness without even realising it (as I said, I didn't remember any of these things when I first thought about it). I think it's in our nature to help one another and show kindness to those who need it.

I was so touched to read that over 200 strangers attended the funeral of RAF war veteran Harold Percival earlier this week, after his story went viral. This is an amazing example of the kindness of strangers. It's so sad that most of what we hear, see and read on a daily basis is doom and gloom so it is so nice to hear of something positive. There are some amazing, kind and generous people in the world. Just take a moment to think about your last act of kindness, I bet you don't have to think too far back.


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

Now I'm really behind with #BEDN, thanks to a few days of tight deadlines. Never-the-less I'm not going to be put off, I intend to cover all topics but not necessarily in any order or even within November.

This post isn't one of the topics but it was the closest post I had to being finished and with time running out today I decided to go with it.


The idea came from a few people mentioning how they wished they could knit in the comments of my 'I made this' post. I taught myself back in 2009, with the help of this book - The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Knitting. I found it so helpful. It has loads of patterns for beginners and lots of helpful hints and tips, with step-by-step instructions, and easy to follow diagrams.


I still have several pages bookmarked for the stitches that just won't stick in my mind. Last week I consulted it for my Mum, who is an absolute knitting aficionado (she can knit without looking, whilst talking and everything). I don't knit as much as I would like to, I can rarely find the time, so I enjoy smaller projects and have knitted all sorts of toys for friend's babies, and, of course the obligatory scarf and bobble hat that every beginner has to make.


These are just a few bits I've made. The little aliens (middle, right) are a pattern I found on Ravelry (an excellent resource for knitters). I knitted one for each of my nephews for Christmas a few years ago. The youngest took his alien to a New Years Eve party and lost it. I got a text message from his Mum just before midnight asking if I could make him another, so there I was at 8:30am on January 1st, knitting a replacement. Although he was knitted using exactly the same wool my nephew knew it wasn't his alien... especially a few days later when he found the original in the pocket of his jeans!

I was then asked by my sister-in-law to knit some more for her to use in one of her classes (teacher), in the end I brought in reinforcements in the shape of my Mum and between us we knitted about 50 of the things!

I'm itching to pick up my sticks again now...


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

I love that my blog can be whatever I want it to be and I dislike the notion that blogging has to be a certain way.

I've read many posts on what blogging should be, some I agreed with, others I skimmed over, choosing not to get involved in the 'that's not blogging' debate.  In my twitter timeline and in the blogs I follow there was recently a spate of comments / posts such as these.

As someone who used to get annoyed at the most random and pointless things I understand how easy it is to be irritated by something, and when you see it over and over again it can be infuriating but I realised I had to stop worrying about things I can't change, especially when they don't actually impact on my life in any fundamental way.

If I'm not enjoying a blog post, I stop reading it. If I'm following a blog or someone on twitter and their posts begin to irritate me, get boring, or just don't have any relevance to me I hit 'unfollow'. I decided that simply removing any irritation, which is very easy to do when you are behind a screen, is by far the easiest thing to do and makes for a quieter life. It's often better than getting involved in online titt for tatt, which at the end of the day is of no benefit to anyone.

A blog is a place for you to share and say whatever you like. Treat your blog how ever you want to, there are no rules (although a general 'be kind to each other' rule would be great). It's your space, just know that not everyone will love it in the way that you do, but that's OK, you're never going to be able to keep everyone happy and if that's what you're trying to do, then, I'm afraid, you're in for a huge disappointment.

What I love about blogging is the community, the support I've seen between bloggers far outweighs any posts or comments that have me rolling my eyes. Blogging has introduced me to knew things, pushed me out of my comfort zone on occasion and changed the way I think and feel about certain things. I love blogging because it gives me an escape, a place to reflect, and the opportunity to engage with others, because, let's face it, if you weren't reading this I'd be talking to myself!


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

It wasn't an average day but almost everyday starts the same - feed the cats before they kill me and feast on my head. Make and drink tea before making sense can commence. Morning ablutions. Select an outfit.


A trip to London. Train snacks. Marvelling at the fact that if I wanted to take a photo of a train as it whizzed by at speed I wouldn't be able to in eleventeen million years. Sights on the way.


A rare lunch with Andy. Lunch. Tube travel. Rain.


The V&A. Some cool huge stuff. Paintings. Refreshments.


Check in. Snoop around the room. Ice skating at The Natual History Museum. Feeling festive in Knightsbridge.


Supper. Grilled scallops with spicy chorizo sausage in honey mustard glaze. Pan seared sea bass fillet, slow cooked fennel in white wine and saffron served with chive butter sauce. And so excited about eating my almond and plum frangipane tart with Cornish clotted cream that I forgot to take a photo.

It was all delicious and we had a great day. Hoping to fit in two sneaky posts one day soon to get me back up to speed with #BEDN


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love

Thanks to the absence of wifi yesterday I'm now a day behind on #BEDN...

I bent the rules on #BEDN yesterday, instead of listing 10 things I'm linking up with Four Simple Goals over on A Beautiful Mess. Although I have to admit I found this via Zoe and have kinda copied her first goal!

Find a local hairdresser
Something I have been meaning to do for ages. I'm in desperate need of a haircut and as with everything if I give myself a deadline I'm more likely to get it done!

Eat more fruit and veg
I'm seeking out different recipes for the vegetables I like, I love kale but it can get a little boring so I tired it like this. Delicious. More along these lines would be great.

Take more exercise
My running is going OK but I could exercise more frequently and I'd like to mix it up a little.

Make time for home improvements
There are a lot of little jobs that need doing around the house that are constantly pushed to the bottom of the pile, it would be nice to tick some of them off the list by the end of the year.


Part of #BEDN hosted by Elizabeth.

Love