Twinkle twinkle….

So I am wearing another pair of festive sparklers!!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!! I hope you have all been good and Santa brings you lovely presents and you have an amazing day whatever you plan to do!

I look forward to all the Christmas posts on the other side!!

xoxo

Do you want to make a monster??

OK, so I am not the best seamstress and I am feeling lazy so I will leave all the instructions to the wonderful people at the links below;

http://theloveofit.co.uk/features/make/how-to-make-a-monster/

http://www.pogglers.com/acatalog/How_to_Make_a_Monster.html

http://www.squidoo.com/monster-sewing-patterns

But by having a little read through the above  I decided to make a little monster for my friend as a Christmas present; What do you get for the man who has everything ?- nothing - you make him a monster!!

This was soooo much fun and a great way of using up leftover fabric, buttons etc.

This fellow has been a great hit with those I have shown him too so it looks like a few more little monsters will be emerging from my sewing box!!

Thoroughly recommended activity - easy fun and great results! :) I bet it would be great to do with children on rainy days!

Poor little monster looks a little flat as I  give him a face...

Ah that's better! He has bandages as he is a clumsy monster for my clumsy friend. He also has a bow tie as he is a little bit retro too! :)

I also provided a box of monster food (aka maltesers!!)

Roooaaarrrrr!!!!

xoxo

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas....

I had a very busy weekend turning my grinchy attitude around. I bought a lot of presents and the decs are up!! I have also busted out my Xmas brooch and sparkly shoe collection.

Apologies for the poor pictures they are off of my phone... I will take a whole set of 'sparkly things' pictures with my camera over the weekend to show you! :)

I did have a little help....

xoxo

Something a bit more festive... Tasty Turkey Broth

I'm still not feeling particularly full of seasonal cheer (to all those people that keep telling me you have bought and wrapped all your presents, sent all your cards and pretty much prepared the dinner - I may murder you!!  - so many smug people on Facebook!!)  but one thing I love about Christmas is that there is plenty of turkey about. I love turkey; its an underrated bird, its tasty. versatile and good for you - whats not to love?!


After a roast turkey dinner on Monday I had some leftover Cabbage and Turkey and after a little read of some cookery books I combined a few ideas and it turned out very well.


So I thought I would share it with you as it might be just what you need after too many mince pies and to use up the left overs. Its healthy, hearty and comforting! Perfect for a cold day!


You will need:


Tbsp olive oil
2 medium sized potatoes - cubed with skin left on
1/2 onion - finely sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
1/2 cabbage - sliced
1 tin of borlotti beans or similar beans
enough stock to cover it all - approx 800ml I used vegetable stock.
Left over turkey - shredded.


Heat the oil in a large pan and add the potatoes. cook for 4-5 minutes until they are lightly browned. Add the onions and garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add the beans and cabbage and cover in stock - just enough to cover it all. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes and then add the turkey,  keep simmering until the cabbage and potatoes are as soft as you like them. Add salt and pepper to taste.


I made this from scratch in approx 30 minutes so pretty quick and easy. 


Get a very big bowl, fill it, and enjoy!!

ttfn x

Feeling a bit grizzly....

Like a bear that is.


All I want to do at the moment is hibernate...


I have no interest in Christmas parties, or glitzy dresses this year. I am totally hooked on May the Best House Win, old movies and lots and lots of Darjeeling!!


I need to get more festive!!

The call of the Double Bass...

I love Rockabilly - I was raised on Elvis.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see Imelda May - she was INCREDIBLE!! The voice, the band, the clothes *swoon* and boy can that girl rock. I could not stand still... there were a lot of people who did and stayed sitting down!!! I was stunned ... one strum of a double bass and my feet are tapping! Sod going to the gym, I was knackered after all my dancing!

I was also very disappointed that there were only a couple of others in their rockabilly finery :(

so it's nearly Friday, so to get in the mood...

here's a little modern rockabilly...

and here's a great oldie...

And here's one of my favourite songs....EVER!

Enjoy!! :)

Fabulous Forties Night....

My Mum took my Nan and I to a 'Fabulous Forties' event as an early Christmas present.

We had a ration book and visited the NAAFI for a wartime inspired meal; Corned beef Pie and Apple and Blackberry Crumble with custard, and then enjoyed music and dancing to a fabulous swing band.

I had a wonderful evening - thank you mum xxx

Feeling a little forties....

Last weekend I headed out to do a little shopping and visited the lovely market town of Wallingford...

I find in summer I lean more towards 50s clothing; bright colours and big skirts and in winter I prefer a more 40s style with more muted colours.

Hat- Charity shop - courtesy of my amazing mum!!
Vintage Jacket - charity shop - again courtesy of my amazing mum! She always finds me bargains.
Vintage skirt - Jumble sale - 20p bargain! :)
Vintage bag and gloves - both charity shop.
You can't really see them but I am wearing brown high heeled brogues from new look. Probably my comfiest heels ever!
Brooch - ebay

Yeah I am a little dog obsessed! :)

ttfn x

So what becomes of the broken hearted...???

They sit on draft blog posts that’s what.


So here's for my complicated tale of woe...


I got a lovely gift from Joy of alex drake vintage...

I got a lovely gift from my fella....

I started drafting a post about the two.


THEN, disaster struck and I became a little heart broken; then rather despondent and quickly sunk into a pit of despair... Soooo that post never got published. I couldn't bear to look at it again so I have deleted it and started again.


So firstly.... it was not Joy who broke my heart. She cheered me up immensely with her lovely gifts sent from over the sea as part of the ‘charity shop swap’ courtesy of Lakota of Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping.

Joy sent me this beautiful handmade cushion (which will eventually join my fellas gift!!)

This beautiful jumper which is so christmassy! I wasn't wearing it with the skirt, I just like to put it on when I get home for snuggling up on the sofa!

And this lovely ring. Its very unusual and has a stretch strap which is so handy as I can put it on over the rings that I wear all the time. The photo doesn't do the colour justice!

So thank you so much Joy.... sorry it took so long. And Thank you Lakota for arranging such fun!! :)

                                              
SO, who, I hear you cry, broke my heart???


Well, this little lady did!!

This is Bluebell, my 1965 Hillman Superminx. She was purchased by her first owner on 13th July 1965.


My fab fella bought her for me for my birthday - the 13th July... its fate, it’s meant to be!


Well poor old Bluebell died as my fella was driving her home and she has been dead ever since and is currently wrapped up in a car cover on the drive.


Turns out the ebay seller is a complete **%$%*!!!! He blagged us rather a bit, but that’s not what got her. Sadly time caught up with her and she now has a hole in the engine where a hole should definitely not be. We are trying to find another engine to fix her but so far we have not found the right one within our budget.


So sadly she sits and waits; I am yet to drive her.

We will fix her though as I want to use her for the wedding next year!

Get well soon Bluebell!

After a long hard day there is nothing better than escaping to blog land....

When feeling a bit stressed or frazzled I love nothing more than logging on and reading your wonderful blogs; full of beautiful dresses and baking, sewing and hair tips, good humour and refreshing honesty.

This world is far too full of fake celebrities, ridiculous pressures to be 'perfect' and down right bad news; depression unemployment etc.

Here in blogland, we laugh, we smile, we see the pleasure in the smallest things like bootsale booty, and we show ourselves as we really are; All shapes and sizes; good hair days and bad hair days; and those really brave ladies who show their faces without make up!! (I salute you!!).

So this is a GREAT, BIG, HUGE, JUMBO, GIGANTIC thank you fellow bloggers for making me laugh, making me smile and for your honesty and sharing, and for being a friend to someone you have never even met!!


And here is me in my finery from a party on Saturday... just to decorate all that text! :)

Vintage Wedding Planning.... where to begin???

Well I decided to start with a very appropriate book to put all the 'to do's' in....

Hehe...

A lovely warm leopard.... print coat!

Firstly I am so sorry for the poor quality pictures, I took this in a hurry on my phone and the light was bad. I was too eager to share my new coat.... 

I bought this gorgeous new faux leopard fur coat today - it was an absoloute steal! Its a lovely swing shape and is so warm and fluffy!!

 Here's the dress I am wearing underneath... having a 60s day with a moderate beehive.

Back of the beehive... I roll the bottom half into a french pleat then pin curl the ends of the top half of hair so it looks prettier! There is a little rat in here to add height so I don't have to do much back combing! Trying to take care of my poor hair, it does get tugged about and coated in gunk alot!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

xx

Aretha and I....

A glass of red wine and this song on repeat is my guilty pleasure.... enjoyed when my fella is off with his rugby mates!!

Aretha you are AMAZING!!

Beehives and bangs...

I go through phases of favourite do's...


At the moment I am regularly sporting a front rolled fringe, met with victory rolls and a roll at the back. This gets lots of compliments but is very easy... you just need dirty hair! :)

My other favourite do at the moment is a beehive, I have been getting it very big a la Amy Winehouse... pic to follow....

My how time flies....

Wow where has the last month gone??!!


I have been neglecting the blog, but have been busy enjoying the summer... I have done so many things that I have meant to blog about so I will try to catch up...


So for anyone Oxfordhsire way in the UK go check out Nelsons diner http://www.nelsonsdiner.co.uk/


Its a lovely 50s style diner, great for a bit of nostalgic fun!

Speaking of nostalgia... here I am dancing with my Grandad. I lost him this year. He was a great man and a great dancer!! :)

 One thing I did manage to do this summer was make a dress out of the nautical fabric I showed you earlier. Sorry for terible picture its off my phone and light was bad.
Nautical but nice.... this was from a Buttericks 52 pattern. I'm going to knock it up in black next, as sadly I have now unpacked my winter wardrobe, all the pretty florals are safely tucked away till next year! :(

xx

Fresh flowers...

Beautiful fresh flowers from my nan's garden - heavenly...

 Hope you are having a wonderful summer - despite the rain here in the UK!! :)

A lazy sunday...

Its been a busy week....