Number Twelve - We Are Fa-mi-ly!

Evening :) :) 

So it's update time again - and this time it's all about my family... wait, it's always about them? Oh! Well, that's because they are fabulous!! heeheehee.

This weekend I finally got to meet my sister, her mum, two nephews and sister in law. It was awesome - I loved every single second of it, and it was all well worth the travelling up to Manchester to make it happen.

I started off Saturday morning on the 280 mile journey, loving every second of getting closer and closer to where my sister Carol lives. I eventually got off the motorway and traveled to her little village - it was absolutely beautiful, all the houses were red brick and white wash, lots of trees, fields and I even had to stop for sheep to cross! Not what I expected at all.  Her house was absolutely beautiful, and we sat in a little half sitting room off her dining room with a gorgeous log burner keeping us warm, and her lovely mum was with us too.

I took a big pack of photos up with me and we spent a good hour going through them and talking all about our childhoods, and then generally about all sorts of stuff. We got on like a house on fire and made each other laugh lots. I met my nephew Andrew - gorgeous looking lad, who like Mathew is less into sorts and more into music, and then got to see lots of photos of when all three of them were small - Daniel the youngest and my Mathew are so similar! Alas I didn't get to meet Dan or Matt as they were at the Manchester City match with their dad - not that I minded, and their team won, so a bonus! Her mum took piccies of us, and I've had no end of comments from people saying about the resemblance - same chin, eye position, nose - I just wish I had her figure!! :D I had planned to stay for an hour but we were enjoying so much I ended up staying for two and a half!

We have said we will keep in contact and intend to meet again soon - I am already so looking forward it is unbelievable  I loved every second with her, and however surreal the whole situation is, I 'm so grateful to have her, and my extended family in my life now.

Off to Denton after the fun of meeting Carol and time to meet my nephew Lee and his lovely mum Donna. Lee and Donna made me feel so welcome, they fed me, showed me lots of pictures of my brother, and of Lee when he was little (sooooo cute). We chatted for around five hours the first evening, and it felt as if we had always been family. They are such lovely people. I took Lee up his Christmas presents early (he is an avid scooterer) so he could get some use from them now, and the lovely happy look and hug I got for it was well worth taking it up early.

Almost midnight and I decided to off to the hotel (long day) and get some beauty sleep, but before that picture time again, and crikey Lee and I are so alike! If I was a boy I think I would look just like Lee! lol - did I mention I traveled by myself? Meaning I had a double bed, that was ridiculously comfy, all to myself, the TV all to myself and a McDonalds and Tesco right next door - perfection!

Breakfast came at 10:30 (heehee LIE IN!) at Lee and Donna's - Donna made me an absolutely awesome fry-up, so lush in fact that I was full until 5:30pm! An absolutely unexpected treat. Monopoly time next - Lee and I had arranged that we were going to play together as we both love it, and that I would beat him as I am the best... two hours later and lee completely demolished me, took all my property, my money and ended up owning almost all of the board! Needless to say next time I need to be more careful on my investments, and not let him get Park Lane and Mayfair at the beginning!!

Poor Donna felt poorly that afternoon so instead of dragging her into Stockport with us, I asked if I could take my nephew by myself, so she could have a break and put her feet up for a little bit. She agreed and off we went! Shopping was fab, Lee got bought another part for his scooter , a cute beanie hat and a dinosaur onesie - his choice :) - and I managed to get three onsies for my boys, all matching - so cute, and crikey so cheap!! Who knew??

By four I was starting to feel shattered so decided to take lee back (not before buying flowers for Donna for looking after me so well), for hugs and kisses all round and make my way home to see my awesome little family.

I'm so unbelievably grateful to Donna for being such a lovely host, and feeding me up! She is a wonderful mum to Lee and I look forward to when we get to meet again, hopefully very soon! Lee is such a sweet thirteen year old, full of smiles and chats, lots of love and hugs too. As I was leaving he shouted 'Love You' which really made my weekend complete.

I have a family everyone - a wonderful, large,kind, generous and happy family. Amaze-balls!

I couldn't be happier, and look forward to the future with so much more gusto now - thanks to all of you for supporting me too, it has been a tough old road finding out all this info, and making contact for the first time with new family, but finally it is all falling into place.

I'll update again soon - promise - but for now, be kind to one another, hug your loved ones, and keep in touch no matter how busy you are!

Lots of love

xxx

Number Ten - Birthday Dreams

Hi everyone, 

First off a big thanks for reading - I have crossed 4600 mark now and am super chuffed that you've found me interesting enough to read and follow! Your either starved for entertainment or I'm getting the hang of this writing lark!

I want to talk to you today about my birthday... 

Now being that it's not a big milestone or anything, a party isn't necessary (call of the party planners) and a big gesture isn't needed (that Tiffany necklace can be sent back) but I still want to do something, but not be pretentious about it.

Is it weird to want to throw my own little tea party? Make lots of gorgeous foods, drinks and decorate everywhere really prettily? Yes I think maybe it is - so instead I'll pretend and tell you exactly what I would do if I could...
So I'm pretty sure this has all come about due to my favourite website having such amazing ideas - Pinterest - it is like a haven of awesomeness that once I log into I can sit for hours and hours (days even) looking at all the pretty pictures or foods, beautiful people, clothing, designs, photographs, thoughts and feelings. 

I've recently been pinning a lot (insane amount) of food piccies and recipes and thought I would share with you some of my favourites - these are all perfect for a party and definitely something I would love to eat at one... mine :) 

Savouries:

Sandwich Kebabs - 
Kebab sticks with thin folds of ham/turkey/chicken/prosciutto/chorizo interspersed with cherry tomatoes,  goats cheese/cheddar cheese cubes, wafer thin slices of cucumber, little olives, triangles of pepper and wholemeal/white bread. 

Sliders - 
Miniature burgers, either beef or chicken - ketchup, mayo, cheese, pepper, cooked onions and salad. All held together with a skewer.

Dippers - 
Shot glasses with a teaspoon of ketchup in the bottom and a handful of chips stood up in them. Also done with mayo and peppers, sour cream and skinny chicken goujons.

Stuffed - 
Hallowed out sweet potato and Desiree potatoes stuffed with fresh salsa and goats cheese or cheddar, bacon and spring onions. Mushroom cups stuffed with cheese onion garlic and crispy bacon. Mini pepper tops/bottoms stuffed with beef chili con carne and topped with cheese then grilled. Sausage balls stuffed with peppers and mozzarella  Giant pasta shells stuffed with pepperoni, cheese, and tomato sauce.

Pull Apart - 
Garlic and herb flat bread smothered in melted butter, roughly cut so a pull is needed - extremely satisfying  A bloomer loaf sliced down but not through the bottom to leave cm towers of bread, cover with sour cream, cheddar, crispy bacon, cooked onions and then grilled for ten minutes and served hot.

You can view my Scrumptious Savoury Pin Board by clicking on the words, but be warned once you start pinning and looking you'll be hooked!

Sweet Treats:

Cookie Love - 
Strawberry Meringue cookies dipped in thick dark chocolate. Royal Icing decorated cookies in varying degrees of cuteness. Chocolate chip cookies stuffed with Mars bar and Milky-way pieces in the centre.

Cake Madness - 
Chocolate blackout cake; three layers of super moist chocolate mud cake, sandwiched with chocolate butter-cream, and covered with the same, then chocolate vermicelli all over the outer butter-cream. Banana bread and cinnamon heart shaped waffles; basic banana bread recipe but add a teaspoon of cinnamon too then spoon into your waffle maker and voila! bite sized strawberry cheesecake squares. Strawberry and lemon petit fours covered in poured fondant and decorated with little fondant hearts and colourful fondant gerbera.

Miniatures - 
Mini donuts half dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. Mini cupcakes in various fresh flavors with miniature butter-cream swirls and fondant decorations. Miniature chocolate whoopee pies filled with chocolate cream and Miniature macaroons in pastel colours. And if at all possible Miniature candyfloss on sticks - in pale pink, blue, green and yellow.

The more I write this the more I want to go and live in my kitchen for the next three days making all these fabulous sounding things - You can check out some of the ideas on my Cakes and Cake-Pops and Treats... Oh My! board and my All Things Cookie board by clicking on the words - they are all on my Pinterest page, but again I warn you - especially getting into sweet things - it's impossible to draw yourself away!

Now decoration wise I have seen some amazing ideas; 

• Getting a hula hoop and 8 different single coloured plastic table cloths (preferably pastel shades), cutting then into foot two foot wide strips, attaching them to the hula hoop on one end, hanging it up in the centre of the room and then affixing the other ends of the cloths to the ceiling/wall to make a funk coloured tent feeling to the room - and to hide the hoop; hang balloons from the centre of the room in matching colours. 
• Grab as many little tumblers/shot glasses as you have, and an equal amount of balloons in the same colour as your party decor. Take your balloon and cut the top off about an inch down the neck of the balloon. Slide the balloon over the tumbler so that the cut off bit is where the glass opening is. Press the cut off into the glass and voila - a cute matching vase, half fill the glass and add one flower to the makeshift vase - mine would be gerbera.
• Fairy lights on a long string would be my next, fastened onto the wall in a joined up writing style word - Birthday, or Samantha, of Happiness - whatever takes your fancy really.

I have about a million more of these ideas - but rather than bore you, you can check out all my inspirations and ideas I've found here on my Have A Go - Tutorials, Make and Do Creations and Design Delights For My Home boards on my Pinterest page. 

I would have loads of lovely drinks o including special peach fizz, champers, bucks fizz, and homemade warm cider. There would be music - soft stuff like Michael Buble, Katie Melua, George Benson, Coldplay, Adele  Lionel Ritchie and some other of my favourite easy listening artists. We would eat, drink, chat, and maybe even watch some of my favourite movies on lots of soft plush cushions.

Ok so I have dreamt long enough about this - but would love to know what you all think and what our party ideas would be - leave me a comment if you like :) 

Take care lovelies and I'll be back soon - promise!
xxx

Number Two - New Moon Rising

Happy Sunday everyone!

I have had a lovely weekend filled with frivolity and laughter - on Saturday my awesome sister in law had my three boys for a sleepover so robs and i were left to our own devices for twenty four hours ;) 
To make sure I made the most of it my first port of call was a nap - hehehe yes clearly I am getting old, but then after watching the rugby (Scarlet's won their first game of the season - YES!!!) and having supper we decided to go to the beach for a late night walk. 

It was so beautiful and peaceful down at South Beach, Tenby. The weather was good and not too cold, the moon was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds, and when it appeared was so bright it cast our shadows over the sand, it was amazing. There were a couple of fishermen at the closest end of the beach but we decided to walk the entire length of it (it's about a mile-ish I think).

We had a lovely time walking and talking, and were discussing our buckets lists. Here are some of mine:

Swim in a cage with a great white shark
Visit Stone Henge
Spend a week in every state in America
Go on an African Safari
Complete a skydive
Be debt free
Throw a three darts at a map of the world and travel to wherever they take me 
Become a published writer
Skinny Dip
Visit Beijing water park with my boys
Go on a husky sled ride through the snow
See the Aurora Borealis
Ride an elephant in India
Overcome my depression
Hold up the leaning tower of Pisa
Camp out on a beach and watch the sunrise
Set foot on all seven continents
Spend a new years eve in Times Square watching the ball drop
Kiss my husband under the Eiffel Tower
Watch baby sea turtles hatch in Tortuguero 
Watch a a drive in movie in convertible car.
Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef
Have my own cake business 
Pull/break a fire alarm
Have a wedding anniversary party in Las Vegas hosted by Elvis
Visit Abby Road Studios and recreate the Beatles cover
Run a marathon
Ride in a hot air balloon
Walk over the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Get a tattoo
Volunteer for three months with the red cross in Africa
Own every Disney movie on DVD
Go to a movie premier and watch the stars walk down the red carpet
Live in London for at least six months
Learn to do a cartwheel
Celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary
Send a present to a serving soldier
Spend the night in the ice hotel
Attach a padlock to the lovers bridge in Paris
Add a piece of chewing gum to the wall in Seattle
Create graffiti art in the London Graffiti Tunnel
Learn to swing dance 
Go to a music festival
Do the lift scene from dirty dancing in a lake
Go to comic-con
Own a first edition of a book I love
Swim in a roof top swimming pool

Now that is just a snippet of some of the things I will be doing before I 'Kick the Bucket', and I can honestly say I can't wait to take some more off it, I've already completed a couple (the highlighted ones), one of which was last night... can you guess which one? Let's just say that there were three full moons on the beach last night.

Right I'm off again now, watching the paralympics and loving every single minute - Michael is desperate to be a paralympian, bless him, after watching the other super humans competing in their races. 2016/2020 watch out!! 

Take care lovelies
xxx

Number 22

I am coming to you today from a rather sleepy place, but never the less a VERY happy one.

To Start off - an apology for not writing about the Avengers movie yet, it is on my to do list and I will get around to doing it soon - promise, but for now I want to share with you the amazing weekend I had, away in Cardiff - or The 'Diff ans I am affectionately calling it.

Well Friday night was filled with excitement and nerves about leaving so not much sleep occurred, however I woke fresh as a daisy and finished packing. As I left the house my four gorgeous boys stood at the step and waved me off, blowing kisses and shouting messages of love and telling me to behave. Cute. 

We stopped off initially for a McDonald's breakfast - a road trip staple - it was my first one in months so was   happy to be eating it! The traffic was good and we arrived at about 11:00am to the Dexby Townhouse (which is owned by Marie and James Church, Charlotte Churches parents). We were greeted by Brain the manager and shown to our room - it was beautiful. It was stylishly decked out with flat screen TV, gorgeous bathroom suite, beautiful bedding, patio and plenty or storage. Brian was funny and I'm pretty sure though we were more than friends (Elin and I) which was so amusing, and so we cleared it up asap! We unpacked and had a cup of tea and our complimentary penguin, heehee, then off to the centre for shopping.

We walked through a beautiful park next to the castle, which is on the route of the Cardiff marathon too. The weather held up, except the wind, so no overcoats needed.
I am by no means a fitness guru, I don't work out, run, gym, Pilate's or zumba, but I have been known to enjoy it when I take part - Elin on the other hand loves to run. We went to Run and Become - now I had no idea that there were different running styles or techniques, well Elin needed new running shoes so they measured then got her to run up and down outside so they could assess her style (this was much to my amusement - I even took pictures!). They found the perfect ones and off we went. Next door was an authentic comic book shop - just like off The Big Bang Theory - I noticed it on the way to the other shop then completely forgot about it on the way out - so I will have to go back to go there for sure!
Elin took me then to the shopping centre where all the best shops are. It was like combining Swansea, Carmarthen, Tenby and Haverfordwest all into one area, shop wise. I went in so many and yet there was a weeks worth there I didn't even notice! I managed to get a gorgeous dress in the Debenhams sale for a wedding I have in a couple of weeks - YEY, I also managed to pop into the Disney shop and buy the boys some pressies. 

         

After spending 5 hours shopping and eating (cookies, smoothies) we went back to the hotel in a taxi to primp and prepare for the night ahead.
I had bought before I went up there a jumpsuit - yes I know risky - and I have to say I haven't felt that comfortable or pretty in a very long time. It was a deep purple and a got a 3/4 denim jacket to wear with it - I accessorised with peacock feather earrings and a bangle of the same colouring. Those and my heels and I felt a million dollars - not self conscious or fretful someone would think I looked horrid. I was bang on trend and feeling great.

Off we went to Red Hot Buffet for 7:00pm. Well I can honestly say that I have never been to a restaurant like this one. After being seated you get to go around multiple food stations where you can pick up as much food as you like. There are also stations where you can have dishes made especially for you - noodles, risotto, pasta, Mexican, Indian. It was completely insane, and then once you have finished your plate, the waiters come and remove it and off you go again, as many times as you like. AMAZING! Needless to say I took full advantage - here are some of the things I tried:


Mango cheese tart
Caribbean mango and spinach salad
Crab and cheese stuffed mushroom
Mushroom and chili pasta (made especially for me)
 Crispy duck
Mexican chicken sausage and burger
Stone-baked pizza
Baby potato's marinated in mustard and chives
Brushetta with avocado and sour cream
Slow roast pork with fennel
Lamb kebab
Onion bhaji's
Vegetable samosa
Spring roll
Popadoms




I know this sounds like lots, but almost everything was available as bite sized pieces (although I did have several helpings of certain things). Desserts was a place of absolute heaven. I had a plate with bite sized morsels of 4 different cheesecakes, chocolate and mango mousses, orange sponge cake (the best I have ever tasted) and i can't remember what else. Unbelievable - and all of this is only a fraction of what was available. In total there were well over 150 different dishes. Needless to say I think everyone should go as often a possible - and for £15 you can't go wrong - please go and check out the menu here.



The Old Library was on our hit list next - for a sit down and some drinks - was lovely in there and much bigger than I thought it was going to be! Cheap too.

Tiger Tiger club was our final stop (unfortunately no hunky welsh rugby men to stare at - heehee) - now the dancing and music was brilliant, but the drinks prices wee outrageous - £16 for two. needless to say we had one each. We spent most of our time upstairs in the 60's and 70's disco, grooving along to some classic tunes.

I had such a wonderful time - and Elin is fabulous for coming with me and showing me such a wonderful time. We even called in to McArthur Glen Outlet Shopping Centre on the way back for a spot of extra shopping and munching - did you know there is a Cadbury shop? I was in heaven and bought a handbag full, heehee. 


I missed the boys so much, but felt renewed and so happy when I got home - straight back into mum mode with ease and did the washing up. 


We are planning to go back soon but with our other halves so they can enjoy it too.


So there you have it, probably a bit too much information, but I could of gone on and on, trust me. I'll be back soon and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too.


Hugs
xxx

Number 20

It feels like so long since I have spoken to you! Ha! I know it's only been 7 days but still... did you miss me?

 

 

We are almost at the end of the boys Easter Holidays from school, and I have been found it really difficult to do things with them - my depression has been lurking more in the forefront of my mind this last week, which is just horrid, but After doing my finances the other day it has started to rescind back into the vast depths of my odd little brain. This past weekend (a four day weekend, woohoo) I have enjoyed having Robs home from work and we have managed to do some cracking  things with the kiddies.

 

 

Friday was spent watching movies, playing games and generally having a lazy day. We all very much needed it and have unwound sufficiently so be able to put our best feet forward in this new term that is upon us.

 

 

Saturday was spent working in the garden first thing and then off to visit my bestie and Robs sister Elin and her gorgeous boys for the afternoon/evening. This in itself is relaxing (Five kids all together I hear you cry - why yes!), as the five of them get on so well we barely hear from them at all. It is so lovely that they are so close and love spending time together, then home to trashy telly and cuddles on the sofa. Oh, also as a side note when we came home, we checked on our menagerie of animals and discovered that Stanley the slow worm had escaped from his vivarium and was no where to be seen (and trust me we searched everywhere), so an uneasy sleep followed.

 

 

On Easter Sunday, the lovely Easter bunny paid us a visit and gifted lots of treats to the boys (none to me, he knew I was being extra good) including Easter mugs, eggs, chocolate bars, lolly's, pencils, rubbers and the DVD of Hop - if you haven't seen this you must, I would have to give it 4stars, and it is a classic to watch at Easter. As we all sat down to out lunch Stanley appeared in the middle of the hallway slithering along the carpet, Stanley was quickly picked up hugged tightly with relief from the boys, and my tummy ache disappeared. I then dashed off to our local town to purchase a better vivarium than my home-made one to ensure he doesn't escape again. He is now happily re-homed with as many worms as he can eat, a plant for climbing, a log to bask on and hide under and a little pool for water. Needless to say he is a spoilt little slow worm! I bumped into Robs aunt, Nan and Datcu (welsh for grandad) while I was out so promised to round up the troops and descend on them for a long overdue visit that afternoon. Not before though, going to visit my mum and the boys having even more chocolate. Visiting robs family was wonderful - Olwena (his aunt) lives in the Cayman Islands so seeing her is a little geographically challenged, but she happened to be over for a visit - excellent timing - and we spent about 2 hours catching up and looking through old photographs. The boys fell in love her, and my little Mo became best friends with his great granddad, they were all spoilt too with as much ginger beer, milk, chocolate biscuits and welsh cakes as they could stomach. We left late after taking about 50 new photos to mark the occasion and the boys are desperate to go over again soon.

Monday was spent as a family day. We decided to take the children out - it was again raining and they are fed up of being in doors - to the cinema - Theatr Mwldan in Cardigan. We saw The Muppets and all of us loved it, we left singing the Mahna Mahna song and wanting to buy it as soon as it comes out on DVD - we saw first hand why Jason Segal got an Academy Award nomination for the music! We then went out for dinner to the Toby Carvery, which we all love, and were even given complimentary ice-cream sundae's! Home then for some r&r. 

 

 

Tuesday Robs was back at work (sob), so Mum and I took the boys to the Dinosaur Park in Tenby - and it was wonderful. All the rides are free with the entry fee (this was not the case 2 years ago, and cost a fortune) so they were able to go on so many things over and over. We did a long dinosaur walk and every time the boys found a Dino they would act out scenes for my to take with the camera - very very funny! It was so warm too which was lovely, I even got burnt! hehe.

The rest of the week has been spent just doing housework, playing and keeping the boys busy until Tuesday next week when they go back to school I have planned so much for the future over this 2 weeks to I can't wait to share it with you, so will get right on to it as soon as I have five minutes, or ten... maybe 30.

I hope you have had a nice break and enjoyed reading what appears to be more of a diary entry than a blog, sorry about that, and I will be back asap with another, more bloggish - promise!

TTFN xxx