London

I had a really good day in London. The weather was kind to us and I managed to get to all the shops I wanted to go to and even buy some Christmas presents! It all looked very Christmassy with the lights and decorations everywhere. Here are a few photos from my day.
Big Ben! It was just going dark when I took this picture so its a bit blurry!Trafalgar Square.

Cath Kidston. I've never been to a CK shop before as there are none near me so it was a real treat to finally see all her stuff in reality! The shop is stuffed to the rafters with things I liked! I bought some presents here for my family...which I can't show you yet as they'll look at my blog and see them!

Another corner of CK shop.

Which bag would you choose?

I love her kitchen stuff.

There was even a bowl of washing up in the vintage section!

This is me in Selfridges with just a few shopping bags.

I thought I'd show this couch. Its not really my taste but I thought is was interesting. Its for sale in the Conran shop and is only £4,975!!!

I thought these sugar mice candles were quite cute.

Andy eyeing up a Ferrari but unfortunately a little on the small side for him!!

This 'tree' stands outside the Royal Academy of Arts on Piccadilly and although I love traditional trees I thought this contemporary one was really impressive.

Fortnum and Mason had lovely Christmas displays in their windows.

Cartier on Bond Street. Unfortunately, I was window shopping only here but when I win the lottery I might venture inside!!

More my price range...Debenhams on Oxford Street looked very pretty! That's all for now. Have a good week everyone and hope we have no more rain!

London Shopping

I have a day off work tomorrow...can't wait. I’m off to London for the day, catching an early train so that I have plenty of time to shop! First stop will be Marylebone Village. It is one of my favourite shopping areas of London and has lots of gorgeous shops like Cath Kidston,

Cotton and Cologne, The White Company, Whistles, Neal’s Yard, Agnés b all in one area so it is a nice easy place to shop in that isn’t too busy!

There's also this interesting shop called WW Rouleaux. It is the largest retailer and wholesaler of ribbons and trimmings in Europe. If you cant find the ribbon or trim you want here then it doesnt exist!!

Then I will head over to Piccadilly for lunch at the 5th View Bar which has good views over London and then to Fortnum and Mason to buy some nice foodie Christmas goodies!

Fortnum's food halls.

That's the plan anyway! I always try and have a set plan of where I want to shop when I go to London but usually end up getting diverted by other interesting things along the way. I will report back at the weekend with photos and buys!

Hope you all have a stress free and happy weekend.

Susie

Christmas Tablecloth

This Christmas I have been hankering after one of Cath Kidston's retro style tableclothes but just cant bring myself to pay all that money for something that I am only going to use once a year. Then I had an idea! I could make my own... even though I'm a hopeless sewer I can just about manage to put a hem on something! But finding that retro style fabric has been difficult until...I stumbled across this on the internet. It is by Michael Miller who produces some absolutely wonderful kitsch and retro prints. This one is called Yule Critters and will be my new tablecloth!! It is a US company but in the UK Michael Miller fabric is available at Fabulousfabric.

Here's a few more of their wonderful fabrics.

Blast off!

Gnome-some Traveler

Christmas Greetings

Cool Treats

Handy Gnomes

Holiday Hostess

Trailer Travel

I'm off the Chester at the weekend to try and do some Christmas shopping! Wish me luck.

Hoping you all have a lovely weekend.

Susie

Wednesday is Rednesday!

Today I am joining Sue over at It's A Very Cherry World who is hosting Rednesday. This is my first Rednesday post. I didnt think I had much red stuff around the house but when I actually looked, I had quite a lot!

I bought this little red chair off Ebay. It is need of a bit of tlc and when I get around to it I am going to sand it down and re-paint it...probably red again.

I always buy some candles for the table at Christmas and this year I have gone for some spotty red Cath Kidston candles.

I have finally brought all my geraniums in to protect them from the cold. This one sits in the kitchen window and is still looking quite good.

I bought these two cake tins from Tesco last week. They were £6.00 for the two which I thought was a good deal.

This little red bird is from a craft shop in Ellesmere, a small market town near me. It is filled with lavender so smells as nice as it looks .

This red gingham cushion sits on my bed and is from Laura Ashley.

Well okay I know this isnt exactly red but it is red themed! This is my favourite home magazine and this is the December issue, out now and full of lots of lovely festive things. I do love Christmas magazines!

Halloween Party!

Last night's Halloween party was a big success with much drinking, eating and merriment!! I'll be checking out all your blogs tomorrow when I have a bit more energy but for now here are some photos from the party!

Some gruesome guests!

Rufus as a mini skeleton!

Some of the puddings.

A baby witch!

Me and a moment when my nephew Rufus wasnt in a party mood!

My brother, Andy and a scary Monica!

The grim reaper, the devil and a mad scientist!

The Adam's family!

A brilliant Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and...I can't remember the character's name but she was played by Helena Bonham Carter in the film!

A happier Rufus with Granny.

A frightful foursome!

Witches watching the fireworks.

Dracula and his neighbour!

And plenty of clearing up and washing up at the end of the night!

Party Prep!

Today I have been busy getting things ready for our Halloween party tomorrow night! There's about 60 people coming so we have quite a bit of food and drink to prepare!

Eyeballs anyone? I bought these floating candles from the supermarket and thought they'd look good in red water!

My mum grew a lot of pumpkins this year so we had a plentiful supply to make into decorations.

I bought these party favours to decorate the puddings.

This is the first layer of my slime green jelly complete with spiders!

I'll be posting more pictures of the party itself at the weekend. Happy Halloween everyone!

An Appeal to Green Gate!

If there was ever a shop that I wished I could buy online from, it is this one. They have some really lovely stuff but for some inexplicable reason they have no online shop. All you can do is infuriatingly browse their gorgeous catalogue. Being a Danish company they do have shops all over Scandinavia but here in the uk...nothing!! I know that there are a some retail outlets for their stuff here but they really are few and far between.

So come on Greengate, open a shop here or at least make your stuff available to buy online!

Autumn Garden and Shopping!

I've been a bit neglectful of blogging lately. Work is so busy at this time of year and I have had a cold for two weeks. Its getting better now and I'm starting to feel like I have more energy, so here I am and I thought I'd show you some of the garden. The holly tree is covered in berries at the moment.


The birds love the berries and when they are ready, quickly devour them so that unfortunately, when the holly is brought in at Christmas for decorating, there's hardly a berry left!

Because we've had such mild weather, the leaves have lasted on the trees, giving spectacular displays of colour.

A flowering currant turning pink.

These little toadstools sprout up all over the lawn at this time of year.

I've been shopping today and bought some party things including...

some fireworks for Guy Fawkes night...

some baubles for the Christmas tree...

and Halloween costumes for a party we are going to on 31 October. This is Andy's costume and...

this is mine, although it is doubtful whether I'll look as sexy as the witch on the packet, but I will do my best!!!

A Mish Mash

I seem to have got a bit behind with my posting just lately so this post is a mixture of things I've done and seen locally over the last couple of weeks.

These red sunflowers are out in the garden.

A concert in the park....

...with a picnic.

This balloon came in to land in a field near the house so I ran upstairs to take some photos through the bedroom window!

The logs have been delivered for the winter.

The corn is as high as an elephant's eye...well nearly!

Blackberry picking.

Walking in the fields.

View across the fields.

This is a first for me, photographing the inside of a garden shed! It is my brother's new shed and he's very proud of it so we were all invited to look at it before he fills it up with rubbish!

Today we dined in the library!! Well actually its the pub and a little celebration meal for my brother's birthday.

Shrewsbury School rowers on the river Severn.

Walking by the river Severn.

And finally...this is my parent's dog, Barnie who died today. He gave us lots of love, fun and laughs for the last 14 years. RIP Barnie. I will miss you lots and lots and lots.

Award Time

I have received an ‘Attitude of Gratitude’ award from Carol over at Old Glory Cottage . Have a look at her blog, it is amazing. Carol is a collector extraordinaire! The award celebrates the ability to "see the blessings where they're not obvious, and making lemonade instead of complaining about sour lemons"! I am now supposed to share what I am grateful for, and then pass the award on. Here are just a few things I am grateful for:

Lingen Davies Cancer Centre. This is where I received all my treatment last year for breast cancer, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy and will for ever be grateful to all the wonderful staff there who helped me and to the people who have raised funds to keep the unit going.

My Mini Cooper. I don’t know what I’d do without my mini. I travel 70 miles to work in it every day and it never complains and is always reliable. I would never buy another car now, I love it.

My garden. This is where I can chill out after a crap day at work by just simply walking around it and looking at the plants and flowers.

The Aztecs and Mayans: For inventing chocolate! I’m sure I’d be addicted to some other form of stimulant if chocolate didn’t exist so thank goodness for the coco bean. Green and Blacks is my favourite.

It goes without saying that I am very grateful to all the wonderful friends I have met in Blog land and appreciate all the lovely comments I receive. Here are the people I would like to pass the award on to. Please don't feel that you have to abide by the rules of this award.

Tracey at Tracey's Crafty Scraps
Amy at Bubbles blog
Mami at Mami's photo diary
Michela at Little Secrets from My Garden
Duchess at Rose Tea Cottage
Maria Cecilia at Casa dulce hogar