Christmas Gifts

So one of the pressies I bought my niece is a gorgeous mitten and hat set with strawberries on!



How gorgeous is she?!

I finally got a little cup cake stand -



This made its first appearance on Boxing day as a mince pie stand (home made of course)!

My father and sister-in-law were both ill over Christmas which was really sad :-( but they both put a brave face on and tried to make the most of seeing family etc.

Sookie went swimming tonight, this was just before the incident -



My silly little girl!

One of my favourite house plants is about to flower, looks kinda alien right now -




That's all for now guys!

Catch y'all soon! :-)

V x
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Present from our Kitty

So today our wee cat Sookie thought we deserve a late Christmas present! I think it's far to say she enjoyed it more than we did!



Oh yes not a starling, robin or little mouse but some how she caught and killed a pigeon!

And left a trail of destruction all over the garden!


Her nickname of Sookie Monster is ever so true!

V x

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Merry Christmas!

Just a little note to wish everyone Joy, Happiness, Peace and Love this Christmas.




Have a wonderful day and show those you care about just how much they mean to you!

V xx

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My Weekend Antics

So my weekend whizzed by yet again!

Saturday was spent getting our home ready for an inspection this week so we were weeding, cleaning and repairing the damaged caused by out cat -


I had a few more gifts to wrap and finish, here's the finished Vanilla Extract locking gorgeous and festive -


Saturday evening we hit the town with a group of friends, some people would say was pure indulgence and I would normally agree. I somehow managed to stay out until gone 1am. A new dress made its debut appearance, it's a 40's style tea dress, nips in at the waist then flares out and finishes mid thigh -


Today Sunday was my sister-in-law's birthday and as a surprise we all went shopping and outdoor ice skating in Cribs Causeway, Bristol. But after last night my hubby was feeling rather sorry for himself. Im so proud that i didn't fall over once! So I hit the ice and worked up a sweat, such good fun. It was also such a great way to get into the festive mood. Here we are having fun -


So a busy tiring weekend, it's 9:10 and I'm already in bed desperate for some sleep! Oh and I'm sorry to say I'm I'll yet again! Horrible head cold type thing!

I hope you all enjoyed the last weekend before Christmas!

V xx

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Little Taster of Next Year

So here's a little hint of what one of my challenges will be next year . . . . . . .



Some new kitchen supplies! :-)

I'll keep you on your toes for now!

V x


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Saturday's Anitics

So Saturday we were due to visit my gran up in Crawley, we left at 9am and it was -2 degrees celsius! I couldn't resist taking this picture of my favourite plant in my front garden the patterns in the leaves were gorgeous -


So five of us piled into one car, my brother, his misses, my hubby, baby Jazmine and me - it was a squeeze! After seeing my gran, which was nice dispute the fact she was too frail looking and in pain we met my dad for lunch. During which Jazmine looked so gorgeous! We was laughing, smiling and dribbling!





After all this I had to go to a Zumba party! As soon as I upload them I'll share some photos with you!

V x

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My Weekend Continued ......

So today we popped out to get some Christmas decorations and our lounge so far looks like this -


I'll get some better pictures when it's daylight -


I hope everyone's feeling Christmasy and merry! :-)

V x

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My Weekend .....

So my BlogPress app is still being rubbish and crashing every five minuets so this time I'm doing mini blogs so I don't lose what I've already done!

So a while back Sookie my cat fell in the bath, and she still hasn't learnt her lesson. Every time I have a bath she does this ......








She puts her front paws in the water and then licks them, when the waters high enough she balances on her back legs and drinks straight from the bath! Crazy kitty!

V x

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Poor ill me

Today I've been somewhat unwell, I'll spare you all the details! So I did some light house work, watch some trash tv and chilled out. To finish an ill day I need a good nights sleep, so what better way than I nice warm bath full of bubbles and dried lavender to finish it to induce sleep!


Sleep well fellow bloggers. Fingers crossed for a better tomorrow!

V xx

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American Weekend

So this weekend ended up with a very American feel. We found in our travels in Bristol a store that sold an array of imported American food and we went a little crazy. Our snacks for the day looked a little like this-


Twinkie's and root beer, now the root beer tasted and smelt like Germoline not too great! The Twinkie was just odd, the sponge was dry and sickly, the cream filling was just odd. Overall not great! Lol not to mention because these were imported they cost a fortune, £1.80 a Twinkie and £1.50 for the can of root beer! Ouch!

But we stocked up on Marshmallow Fluff and Lucky Charms! :-)

V x


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My Thoughts Right Now

So this morning I though it finally feels like winters here. Our alarm went off and the last thing I wanted to do was crawl out of bed as our room was so cold. I sluggishly got ready for work and as soon as I opened the front door I had a lovely little surprise . . . . two beautiful just opened red rose buds. It's nearly December, I have a rose bush in flower and my fuchsias are still flowering strong what's going on!


Everyone knows I'm not good with the cold weather. I love the frosts and freshly fallen snow but I hate the cold. I have a condition called Raynaud's phenomenon, have a look on Wikipedia. My hubby and I used to call it the finger before I was diagnosed, as when it's mild one finger on each hand will turn white where these just no blood flow. A couple of years back it got so bad that I had chillblains in my hands and feet for months. It was so painful but as my feet and hands warmed up after being outside it felt like being stabbed with millions of needles. It's strange to think that my own body's defence mechanism could give me frost bite! The slightest drop in temperature can cause my blood vessels in my toes and fingers to shut down.

So I finally went to the doctors as I felt it was seriously affecting the quality of my life, he told me it was the worse case he has personally seen. He put me on some medication for the winter to open out my blood vessels and to start with they worked a treat but then with the mildest of exercise I started dripping with sweat! This year I've chosen not to take the medication and I'm trying a different approach. I've bought lots of thermal layers - who would have thought thermals could be attractive? Thanks M&S! Also if I know in going into the cold for long I'll take a thermos, I read that if your cold it's best to warm from the inside out, if your core is warm you body will push more blood to you limbs etc.

So far winter has been quite mild and I've only lost the feeling in my fingers and toes a couple of times. I'll keep you updated if I find a good treatment or cure for it!


I'm off to Bristol this weekend for hopefully our last bit of Christmas shopping. It'll also be a nice day out for the two of us. I wonder if Hubby remembers his promise to me that the next time were in Bristol we're eating at Yo Sushi? :-)

Also some cute news my 6 month old niece Jazmine has got her first tooth! I'll get you a photo as soon as I can.

I think that's the end of my random rambling for now!

Say warm

V xx

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So......

This weeks crafty challenge if off limits as its Christmas cards for people who read this!

However one thing I can show you is my spice rack which I've had for over a year and never used :-S But it looks so good now!




Well worth wait!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

V x

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House Plant Rescue!

This morning I decided I really had to give my plants a little TLC! I've neglected them for months if I'm honest.

This was the first lot before -


And after a good watering and trim -


This is the second lot before -


And after -


What a serious improvement! :-) they look so glossy and healthy now!

V x

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Random Walk

So at lunch today I really wanted to go for a walk, so I kinda blackmailed my Hubby to come with me. Nothing too bad, I just said I'm going for a walk at lunch, I'll meet you in the car later if you don't want to come. I feel kinda bad but it got us both out for a refreshing walk (which we're going to be doing tomorrow as well).

On this walk I saw the most gorgeous mushroom I have ever seen growing on the edge of a tree stump. It had a white rim around the edges that made it look almost frost bitten. Here see for yourself -



Catch you later in the week!

V xx

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Weekly Craft Challenge 13 & 14

So my blogger app is being stupid! So here's my week in photos as I've now typed it all twice and it crashed!
























I just hope this time it posts!!

V xx


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Happy Sunday

So my morning started with an amazing shower and a bit of a pamper. I painted my nails with some new nail varnish from Avon and this is my favourite colour ever!


We then had a wonderful peaceful walk to the supermarket, we took the scenic route. Here's a couple of gorgeous things we saw on the way, first was this sweet little steam.




This has to be my favourite photo of the year so far, a stinging nettle covered in frost but there was no frost at all in the grass around it -




After a bit of food shopping it was time to stroll home for some breakfast and it was so good! A fresh coffee from my Senceo coffee machine and a cereal bar. This was my first try of Dorset Cereal Bars and it won't be my last!



My morning was all about baking, I've been desperate to try some of my new cake cases -





I also had to shake the vanilla extract that I made last week, check out the colour already!



On the cooking theme today I made some lovely roast pumpkin soup to go with some sour dough bread we bought this morning. I admit that it doesn't look to good but it was nice! -



Craft wise, all week I have been sewing a cross stitch card for my Mums Birthday. I'll show you when it's all done.

Time to get ready for another week at work :-(

V x

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Sad Gecko Update - Bye Bye Demi

I had to take little Demi back to the lady I bought her from because I noticed she had very slight MBD. I did so much research about it and come to the decision that I shouldn't breed from her incase she has internal damage to her pelvis. From the outside it only looked like a slight twist in her arm. I have stress this wasn't Ella's fault but the fault of her so called friend who looked after most of the hatchlings (glad to say they're not anymore!).

So I took her back and came back with this little lovely named Talulah. There's nothing wrong with her except she has 6 toes on one finger which is really cute! The chances of her passing this on if I breed her are apparently minimal.



She's a normal Leopard Gecko so she's still different to all my others and I hope she's going to be really spotty!

I'll be back later with a crafty, foodie update!

V x


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Weekly Craft Challenge Week 12

So this weekend has been very Christmas themed! Saturday morning was all about
Christmas shopping, trying to get super organised and I'm really impressed with what we've managed to get done.

Saturday afternoon was time to make some presents. I've started the process of making bourbon vanilla extract. We all a bunch of cake lovers and when I found out how easy this was to make I knew I had to make some. I had some lovely glass bottles in the cupboard that would look lovely. You literally cut the vanilla pods in half and pop into the bottle and pour over some good quality vodka, leave for around 3 months, shaking once a week. The smell from these pods was amazing!






They're going to look so lovely with festive ribbon and instruction tags. :-)

Today was hands on again making cross stitch Christmas cards -






Two down and around 10 to go!

I also made another little card for my dear Gran.




That's all for now :-)

V xx


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New Season New Look

What a difference a couple of hours in a salon makes! Boring me to a funky me. This isn't 'me' -



Now this is so me!




The colour of my hair is amazing red, purple, brown all in one. The effect light has is great! You can't see but the back is really short (it feels lush)!



I'll get a photo in the daylight tomorrow to show the contrast! :-)
I feel my sassy quirky self again rather than drab and dreary!

Enjoy fireworks night! We just had a few with little Jazmine and she loved them!

V x

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