Weekend Wonders

I always look forward to the weekend, it is the time I get to lie in, relax and do whatever I want! Well mostly anyway - the past few weeks have been really busy and I am very much looking forward to laying in bed all morning tomorrow.

The weekend is also a time to indulge, whether it be in food or purchases, it is a good time to do whatever you want.

I have chosen 5 things from around the web that are particularly wonderful to enjoy this weekend. I am pretty hungry so the main theme is food!

These gorgeous little things are a massage bar from Lush that smells divine and leaves you skin oh so soft when rubbed in. It really does leave you smelling good enough to eat - while buying this in the store, the shop assistant advised that as well as smelling good enough to eat, you really can eat the chocolate within! I am not sure I would want to, but if I got desperate enough, who knows!This brilliant orange sunset is over the Solent from the Isle of Wight. This amazing photograph was taken by my sister who is lives on the Isle of Wight and photographs in her spare time. This such sunset can usually be seen over the summer and is a typical view of the beauty on the Isle of Wight.

I have the perfect recipe for a chocolate cake that I would like to share with you - unfortunately you will have to wait as I don't have it with me to write up now. This pictyure will have to keep you going until you can make your own.
But, please note, this cake was not made by using the recipe I will give you - it is just a picture from Google!!

Although not food, this lovely shrug would be an indulgence. Having an occasion to wear something like this would be an indulgence!

I found this while browsing on Etsy and have discovered this seller - Angelina Design her work is very individual and I await the day I have an excuse to buy this shrug.

My last indulgence for today is a picture of my favourite crumble... ever! Using up the last of our fruit, I created a Cherry and Apple Crumble. Although I am sure this is something many people have eaten and made themselves, it was new to me! Now I make it whenever I can.

Enjoy the weekend, and let me know what you enjoyed doing.

Summer Wedding

Last weekend saw the first family wedding since my own and it was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly and we all looked stunning in our posh frocks. My sister and I (shown below) kept getting called each other's names! We don't look that much alike!

The bride and groom looked very happy and we all enjoyed catching up after so long. The wedding was in a small church in Wilford, Nottingham with the reception at a local golf club. The weekend went by very quickly and in no time at all I was back at work on Monday.

On Tuesday, I found myself accompanying my friend to spend a day in the secondary school observing Year 7 classes. It served to confirm why I want to teach at the primary level!

After an already tiring week, we have some friends visiting this weekend so we will be catching up with them and hopefully enjoying the sun. Have a good weekend everyone.

I made a purse!

Just a quick update on what is going on with me.... not much really! Well not much relating to jewellery anyhow.
We visited family in Kent a few weeks ago which was very nice to see everyone and catch up on what they are all doing. We then went to Wales for a friend's birthday for the weekend. That was really fun, our friend had hired out a Youth Hostel for two nights and with 30 of us you can imagine what the party was like!
Then last week we took a trip to the newly opened Ikea in Southampton which suffice to say is very big... and busy! We did get what we wanted though and after our new chest of drawers being delivered on Sunday we just need to put them together and I can have a tidy bedroom for once (or for 5 minutes anyway).
This coming weekend we are having some friends over for dinner but I am out of inspiration with what to cook. Where we have been away for a few weekends and had busy weeks in between we have not really cooked proper meals, just cooked to eat rather than cooking a delicious supper. So I am out of practice in the kitchen.
Back to this purse - this year I am trying to think of different ideas to give people as birthday gifts. I am trying to steer away from buying things that people don't want or won't use. So far I have made a variety of sweets/chocolates that have gone down very well and this time I thought I would try my hand at making a purse. I found a tutorial on this great website that is full of crafty ideas posted by others who seem to be just as into crafts as I am. The tutorial itself is http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=101026.0 but I would recommend checking out the whole site as there are many good ideas on here. The tutorial was easy to follow and I made my purse within an hour (that's an over-estimate on time) and I did make two in case something bad happened to one!
Unfortunately I am in the library so cannot post any pictures of the purse, but will do over the next few days when I have finished the second one. I may keep this one for myself!

Fun Packed Week

The past week has been very busy. Last week, having got an Orange Wednesday cinema ticket and a 2 for 1 voucher for Pizza Express, we headed to Gunwharf Quays to see The Dark Night and have a meal out. The film was brilliant, very dark and gripping. It was a long movie, but there were no periods of boredom, I didn't fall asleep once! The meal at Pizza Express was nice, we had regular pizzas and then desserts of Banoffee Pie and Caffe Reale (cup of coffee with figs and cream on the side!). All was much enjoyed.
Then on Friday we had a visitor to stay for the weekend; my brother in law. We enjoyed a quiet night in on Friday evening and then on Saturday we went along to The Tenth Hole tea rooms in Eastney for chocolate cake. It was a lovely afternoon, perhaps a bit too hot for my chocolate cake, but pleasant and sunny. We then went to the Natural History Museum where we enjoyed a very hot butterfly room. On our way home we walked along Albert Road, browsing in a few shops on the way. At home, we ate a dinner of homemade pizzas and watched the movie (bought earlier on Albert Road) 28 Weeks Later. After being scared, we were joined by another guest who stayed over until Sunday evening. Sunday was a day I had been looking forward to, there was a Chinese Festival on Castle Fields, which boasted Lion dances, sports acrobat, Tai Chi, Chinese dance, Chinese folk songs, Library van, sports taster martial arts, smoothie bike, Chinese crafts and foods. None of that happened..... when we drove down to Castle Fields there was no-one around. On investigation the event had been cancelled due to the weather conditions! There was a light drizzle. We were all very disappointed and ended up in Gunwharf Quays. We then came home and cooked our own Chinese feast followed by cherry and apple crumble.
After a very busy and enjoyable weekend it was back to work yesterday and now the countdown begins to next weekend!