cake.........

It must be because I'm trying to be good and eat sensible snacks,
that I find my mind wandering and cooing over pictures
of cake and biccies.
I wouldn't mind but I don't even have a sweet tooth
(I'm more of a bag of cheese'n'onion crisps girl).
BUT look at these lovely little confections.
Aren't they just so sweet..........?
cutest food

books books lovely books - again!

I love books; they're my friends..............
I have quite a collection of musty, old paperbacks whose colours and patterns are so beautiful and inspiring. Here's a selection of them (these aren't my photos, these are better than anything I can shoot, but I have these books which I stroke and love)
flickr - oliver thomas

sickie

According to statistics more than 375,000 people in the UK will make today, the first Monday in February, the biggest sick day of the year!
Reasons include, post-Christmas blues, having to wait too long until the next holiday, low morale in the work place and the cold weather.............. duvet day anyone?
image - google

memory-jog pencils

if, like me, you're getting a bit forgetful with age and can't
remember basic facts and historical dates, here's the answer.
I NEED!
gorgeous take the city

breast cancer in the news

This week I read that breast cancer will now affect
1 in 8 women in the UK.
That is a very scary statistic to hear. Apparently factors such as drinking, obesity and the age at which a woman has children all influence the likelihood of breast cancer developing. Mmmmmm! Does that make me a fat, alcoholic granny-mother then? I think not! Generalising like this makes me quite cross. When I was diagnosed I was a regular visitor to the gym (twice a week) and a pilates nut (bendy legs), hell yes I have a glass of wine of an evening but I'm not a lush who glugs a bottle of thunderbird with my cornflakes in the morning. And, yes, I suppose I am an 'old' mother but give me a break, I was having a nice life getting to know my husband and travelling before settling into domesticity and motherhood and at 33 I wasn't
that old to have my first child.
All I can say ladies, is, if you have any doubts about anything you're feeling or any changes you find, please get them checked out. Nobody, not even the nice GP, knows your body better than you.
And NO you're NOT wasting anyone's time xxxx
cancer research uk

daily drop cap

I have loved this site for such a long time and still enjoy looking through the fantastically designed alphabet. Daily Drop Cap is a daily project by talented designer, typographer and illustrator
Jessica Hische. She posts a daily letter for you to drop into your
blogs and make them beautiful.
Which one to choose...............?
daily drop cap

chinese new year - year of the rabbit

The Chinese New Year started yesterday.

It's the year of the Rabbit and I
couldn't resist this furry little fella!
Kung Hei Fat Choi!
flickr-rabbitier

anthology magazine

I'm a self-confessed magazine-a-holic! I hoard them and love them and never want to throw them out. I love the smell of a freshly printed mag and ALWAYS ALWAYS read them from back to front, ALWAYS!

My new treat, ANTHOLOGY, plopped through the letterbox from faraway USA the other day and I'm in love all over again.

GOOD SMELL - check
GOOD PHOTOS - check
GREAT LIFESTYLE ARTICLES - double check
FAB LAYOUT - check
ADDICTION - double, triple check with bells on!

Off for another read now.......................
anthology mag

The King's Speech

Last night five of us lovely ladies took ourselves off to Jarman Park in Hemel Hempstead to watch The King's Speech. We're all so used to the luxury that is The Rex in Berkhamsted, but you try getting a ticket for this film there this month (or for the next few months for that matter). No amount of queuing or telephoning will get your bottom on one of those plush red velvet seats. So Hemel it was then.

What a masterpiece! Rarely, when a film has been so hyped and had trophies and awards thrown at it do I fancy going to see it. However, the handsome Mr Firth is quite a draw to ladies of a certain age who remember his Mr Darcy wet shirt role. This film had us crying, laughing and cooing over it's wonderful attention to detail and witty script. Geoffrey Rush is absolutely amazing in the role of his speech therapist Lionel Logue with his saggy face and sparkling wit. In the words of HRH King George VI, f@*k, f@*k, f@*k, what a fantastic film! I think the Oscar is in the bag Colin.

so very very wrong..........

this can't be real, can it?

Found it on Lamebook.com, a site full of all the wrong things people
have said on Facebook.
Have spent a good hour chuckling away to myself.
lamebook

put the kettle on........

my dear and wonderful studio buddies over at Marks and Spencer
have come up with more beautiful packaging designs..........
such a talented team!
So stick the kettle on and pull up a chair.

made me smile

might have to order this card for Mr Cheese.......... :-)
from a fabulous selection by New Zealand designers Idear
idear
(found via new zealand design blog)

guilty pleasures - bob geldof

I was a teenager going through the many strops and thunderous tantrums when The Boomtown Rats were belting out 'I don't like Mondays'. It seems like Mr Geldof I too have mellowed with age. Gone are the angst-ridden lyrics and petulant pouts and in it's place we have the melodious 'Silly pretty thing'. I love the new single Mr G, it makes me happy. There, I've said it out loud!

farrow & ball new colours

Today farrow & ball have introduced 9 new yummy colours to their collection. Once again they've come up with fantastic colour names. Here they are; Charlotte's Locks, Mizzle, Cabbage White, Oxford Stone, Plummet, Manor House Gray, Calluna, Brassica and Dove Tale.
Charlotte's hair must have been a sight to behold, all luscious and red. And as for 'Mizzle', this is the west country term for a mist and drizzle combination, just the most wonderful name yet (beats Elephant's breath even!) Oh I might have to partake in a little Brassica on a wall somewhere.....................
farrow & ball

orla kiely citroen DS3

Oh lordy just look at these beauties designed by the queen of
pattern Orla Kiely. There are four limited edition designs in the
range and I wouldn't mind any of them parked outside my house.
The interiors are pretty fab too..........no sign of fluffy dice
or a feu orange!
citroen

lovely wristies

I received these beautifully knitted wrist warmers for my birthday from the most talented knitter (and the only one who knits consistently at our 'craft evenings', whilst some of us just sit, gossip
and eat........ :-))

Thank you Jules; they've kept me warm these last few months.
All of Jules' knitted loveliness can be bought from Number 20 (the gift shop for the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted) under the label 'Comfort & Joy', trust me, they're toasty.........
number twenty

building collapsed in Berkhamsted

Berkhamsted has many beautiful old shops along it's very long high street, including the oldest shop in England, dating from around 1280. Last night the high street suffered a big loss. Birtchnells (the old gentleman's outfitters) was a lovely old victorian, double-fronted shop with 2 floors of accommodation above. At around midnight last night it collapsed. How very sad that we've lost a lovely old building..........and very mysterious!

photo courtesy of Mrs Littler

too cute......

I nearly choked on my cheerios this morning!
dreamsandbones