Birthdays!!

Hello my lovelies!!

This past week or so has been a week of celebration as H turned 15 on the 17th June:

It amazes me that my baby has gotten so big - time really does fly.

You may notice from the above pictures that the cake is something of a disaster. It was actually one of the worst cakes I've ever made despite it being a Mary Berry recipe and it rising beautifully.

The trouble started when I tried to stack the three layers - the cake was so crumbly it just fell apart and then great hunks got stuck to the palette knife as I tried to ice it. I decided it wouldn't matter as it was bound to taste nice, but in actual fact, after proving impossible to cut (you ended up with a plate of crumbs) it was very dry.

It did become edible when warmed in the microwave and served with ice-cream though, so all was not lost.

Yesterday is was W's thirteenth birthday. So we now have two teenagers in the house, eeeek!!

W had a laptop for his present:

Yesterday afternoon we all went to the cinema to see Man Of Steel - I really enjoyed it not least because of the delectable Mr Cavill - I hadn't been keen to see the movie until I saw a clip on TV from the beginning:

I do like a man with a hairy chest. And a beard.

But I wouldn't say no to the more clean cut version either!!

I've been doing a bit more sketching, this time nudes:

First attempt at hands as you can see!!

I'd like to find an art class to do as I've found that I am really enjoying drawing.

It's not all been fun this week as the 22nd marked the fourth anniversary of my Dad's death :0(

1948-2009

Before I love you and leave you let me give you a heads up on a fab giveaway being hosted by Forties Knitter

- she's giving away tickets to a 1940's Society Night including one nights B&B at The Red Lion at Whittlesford Bridge, Cambridge. Well worth an entry!!

Hugs,

S x

 

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Live, Laugh, Love....

I am delighted to have been asked to review a product for the lovely company Live, Laugh, Love - they are a company specialising in the most beautiful shabby chic, vintage and French style gifts, home accessories and furniture:

I had a look at the lovely website and could have easily spent a fortune as it has the most wonderful mix of goodies, many of which I had not seen before. The owner picked out something she thought I would like and I was thrilled to receive the sweetest glass bottle with a cute bird stopper:

Birds and roses, two of my favourite things....

The bottle would make a lovely gift for a special person as it is something that can be kept forever. It looks really lovely on my shelves among my mismatched china.

Other items I particularly liked were the Chintz Pottery Jugs:

The Barn Star - a trio of these would look fab on a little boys bedroom wall:

This pretty Teacup Box Frame would grace any kitchen wall:

And I couldn't resist showing you this sweet little Bird Trinket Pot - this one is going on my birthday list!!:

All in all Live Laugh Love have a wonderful selection of covetable products at reasonable prices and as well as that you can feel good by buying from a small, independent business.

I urge you to pop along and see Live, Laugh, Love in all it's gorgeousness....

Hugs,

S x

Although this a sponsored post, all opinions expressed are my own.

 

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Happy Birthday Harry!!

Our first born is 15 years old today:

H has had money for his gift and as such is richer than us (which isn't hard!!) In the box is a selection of junky sweetie treats as otherwise he wouldn't have had anything to open.

This afternoon H and Daddy (love that we're still Mummy & Daddy!!) went to spend a bit of his money on a new hard drive for H's PC and H got a KFC for his lunch. Next week we're going to The Warner Brothers Studios to tour the Harry Potter sets so that's the proper treat.

This afternoon I baked Mary Berry's chocolate obsession cake:

I will regretfully not be showing the finished article as although delicious the cakes have proven unmanageably crumbly and I have had to polyfilla them together with chocolate buttercream. Pretty they ain't!!

Crafty-wise I have been drawing more sketches and after our neighbour gave me a large canvas she was about to take to the tip W requested I do a picture Ezio from Assassins Creed!!:

Despite being a bit out of proportion W was chuffed with it!!

A dear friend got married last Friday (will do a separate post about that) so I have been crocheting a little garter for her:

Whipping up one of my home embroidery portraits as a wedding gift:

I added the address as finishing touch to this one but have blocked it out for privacy hence the grey blob!!

And making both a red petticoat (photo of that to come in next post) and a red anemone fascinator:

We have more celebrations to come next week as our youngest W becomes a teenager on Sunday!!

Hope you're all well, thanks for reading....

Hugs,

S x

 

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The Stuff Of Life....

Hello my lovelies!!

Yet again I've let things slide and it's been ages since I blogged, it'd probably be more organised to group things into a couple of posts, but I'm going to just dive right in and tell you what we have been up to lately.

For the first time in her seven years I was "allowed" to have my niece Little E for the day (BIL is very protective of his little girl). We went to Staunton Country Park (somewhere I hadn't been since the boys were little) and had a lovely day despite a little drizzle late on:

With my oldest friends little boy (who is such a sweetie he makes me terribly broody!!).....

Safe to say I think we wore Little E out:

There has also been rather a lot of cake - Mr G always asks me to bake at the weekend, but usually by the time we've done the chores/sorted out the horses I can't be bothered. Last Saturday however, Mr G went out for the morning on his motorbike and I was at a loose end and so he came home to this:

We had an impromtu cake picnic in the garden (I also made coffee & walnut cupcakes):

That evening my Sis and her family came for a BBQ and there was more cake!!:

Sunday "breakfast":

I've really been enjoying seeing to the horses in this lovely weather, everything at the stables has spring into life and am currently only feeding my old boy Crofter (he's 32). He's part sheep I'm sure as he has the thickest winter coat - by the time it's all shed it'll be about time for him to start growing it again!!:

TC was looking particularly gorgeous this week, despite having a sore foot (he's had an abscess):

I've taken up the pencil in an attempt to learn to draw better and have been doodling a bit - I always loved to draw as a child but have never been any good at it (I got an F for my Art GCSE!!):

I've been out shopping a couple of times with my oldest friend D and got a lovely new phone case from Paperchase:

And I also found some lovely old treasures:

I have a collection of the Art Deco mirrors going up the wall on the stairs - this little one is my eleventh!! Mr G currently has five to hang as I've been lucky finding them recently (helped by D as she picked up two for me in a charity shop!!)

Yesterday's boot sale is at a lovely spot on the seafront on Hayling Island (where Mr G and I met and grew up)

It's every Wednesday throughout the year and I thoroughly recommend it.

So, that's what we have been up to really, along with the more mundane stuff of life.

Hopes you're all very well....

Hugs,

Sarah x

 

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