Saturday Swap Shop!

I was so excited to join the Stationary Swap when I read about it and even more excited when I found out my swap partner was Erin. I had such fun, as I said in Monday's Much Love post, putting Erin's parcel together. Erin and I agreed to open our parcels when we were talking to each other online, which took a lot of willpower to wait until we could manage it with the seven hours time difference! I was so giddy when her parcel arrived on Tuesday and just apologise for not posting about it sooner - where do the days go, can someone please tell me?

Anyway here are my wonderful, lovely goodies:

We both had similar ideas about wrapping in flowery paper - isn't it gorgeous and Springy?

This lovely card reminds me entirely of Erin because I am always so envious of how much she fits in her days - she really is a busy bee! She wrapped up three separate parcels, each with a little theme of things I like.

I love scalloped edges, don't you?

All these pretty stickers, sticky notes, magnets and notepads.

Little bits and bobs that are just fabulous. I think I am going to use the 'ramblings' notebook to remember the things I want to post about or talk to Erin on email about. And those clips are gorgeous.

Birds and farm animals - this girl knows me so well!

This swap was so much fun, thank you Megan for organising it all. And thank you Erin for all my truly fabulous goodies, I just want to look at them all now, rather than use them!!

Hope you are all having a good Saturday.

Floral Friday

Happy Friday and our last in March - where did they all go? I have had such a short little week this week, but I am not complaining. We went to the Spring Fair yesterday (more about this soon) and then my husband had today off work so we went down to the coast for lunch.

For this week's Floral Friday I have chosen Freesias as they seem to be disappearing from the shops recently, are they just an early Spring flower? Freesias were my Grandma's favourite flower and the smell takes me back to my childhood and visiting her house. I believe they also grow on the island of Gozo, where we went on holiday last year, in the Spring and they must make the island smell heavenly.

(via Flickr)

With our last weekend in the month we plan on getting things sorted in the garden. Fingers crossed we have seen the last of the very cold weather now because we plan on clearing away all the woodburner things and making space in the shed for our summer tools. March has ran away with me and my garden really needs my attention. What are your plans for the last weekend of March, are any of you planning to spend time outside?

Hope you have all had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend.

A Day at the Fair

Today I am off to the Country Living Spring Fair! I am really looking forward to it and all the gorgeous things to see there.

If you have a spare minute today, have a look at the Fair website to see what treats I have in store. I have taken my camera so hope to have some useable photo's to show you tomorrow.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Sugared GLOB

Erin, from the fabulous Pughs' News, gave me the GLOB award and Becca from the wonderful Abstracted Pea gave me the Sugar Doll Award quite a while ago now and I apologise for not getting round to posting it sooner - thank you so much you lovely ladies. I have to agree with Erin that is rather funny that there is a blog award out there called GLOB but that it is nice to be known as a "gorgeous lady of blogging". It also reminds me of Ugly Betty's BLOB award for her blog and how excited she got at receiving one, such a shame we can't have a little ceremony of our own.

Upon receiving the GLOB I have to follow suit with Erin and take up the photo challenge: the idea is to open your first photo folder, scroll down to the tenth photo, and then post it (and the story behind it). So here it is:

Do you recognise it? Probably not I imagine, but that great big gap is now where my fireplace is! I know I have shown you that before; probably far too many times but it is one of my favourite things in the house.

I thought I would share this one with you too as it is from the same folder. This is the view that I have shown in quite a few pictures before (but not quite like this), we built our house in 2004 and before that it was a piece of land with nothing on so my garden really is a long term project!

Thank you Erin for giving me the award and just sorry it wasn't a photo of me or as funny as your one was!

After consulting with Becca, I have decided not to burden you with any more 'things you may not know about me' for the Sugar Doll award because firstly I have done so before and secondly because there won't be much left to tell you! Hee hee, but thank you so very much Becca for tagging me.

So time to send the GLOB forward to four other 'GLOB's': Becca at The Abstracted Pea, Gracie at Gracie Bella Butterfly, Catherine at Little Glowing Lights and Julia at This Daisy.

Hope this week is treating you all well.

It's back!

For many years my husband and I have visited Olu Deniz in Turkey and this place holds many special memories for me. When we have holidayed there I have always relaxed brilliantly and so this place symbolises so much for me. I can definitely say that we have a favourite bar/restaurant that we have gone back to many, many times and that is Buzz Beach Bar. For many years they have had webcams in the bar and restaurant and over time they have moved and changed positions but one always remains firmly pointed at the gorgeous view. I have loved the webcam because it is a lovely reminder of the peace and relaxation I feel when I visit and has become part of my daily routine on line.

However, for those of you who may not be familiar with the area; it is very much a seasonal resort and becomes a ghost town in the winter months, so nearly all the hotels and restaurants close down and in turn so do the webcams. Last year however the webcam came on earlier than usual and it popped up on 18th April. But I have been checking everyday recently just in case... And today there it is! Back online!

Olu Deniz is one of the most photographed areas in Turkey and is famous for its lagoon that I am sure many of you will have seen if you have seen photo's of the country. The view that this webcam captures is simply stunning and I cannot wait for a summer filled with a daily dose. For now I will share I few of my own photo's taken from the bar and beach and a few from last years webcam, to give you a flavour too.

It is days like today when I am pleased I have my blog to indulge in the things I like and hopefully to give you all a little daydream along with me too... Thank you!

Twosday

Apologies for the terrible post title - I just couldn't help myself when I thought of it! Anyway, it's Tuesday again and time for the weekly regular recipe of feet and home! We are going feet first today (oh dear, I am getting worse)

I love this little pot of Narcissi I bought and put just outside our front door. They were the first to flower so every time I come into the drive I see this little sunny pot greeting me!

I love my chalkboard in my kitchen; it is so very useful for writing my shopping list on as I think of things, especially as my memory is not what it used to be!

Erin recommended I read this fabulous book and I am really enjoying it. As it is written in letter form it is perfect to dip in and out of too.

If you join in with 'Twosday' please link back to Kassi at Bacwoodsfern (Two things) and Nicole at My Teacups in Peony (Feet).

Much Love Monday

Last Monday I saw the idea for 'Much Love Monday' on Rhianne's fantastic blog but I had already posted so I scheduled it for this week instead. The idea comes from the very pretty 'Much Love' by Anna and she explains what it involves:

"All you need to do is:

1. take a photo of anything with a heart shape
2. write down one thing you love

3. put it in a blog post

4. leave a link of your blog post on Much Love"

Well if you have seen any of my house photos before you will know I am not in short supply of heart shapes around here, so the difficulty was in the choosing! Here's what I went with:

One thing I love this week is:

The stationary swap I recently joined, hosted by Megan. I was fortunate enough to get my good friend Erin as my partner and I have had such fun choosing the things to send to her. I could have added to the parcel all year long I think, but it was getting rather heavy by the end! Now our parcels are in the air somewhere I just cannot wait to get my parcel from her and we hope to open them at the same time whilst we chat online. Really cannot wait now, I wish I wasn't so impatient...

Please join in with Much Love Monday and let me know if you do, as I love any excuse for a heart picture!

Friday Revisited

Friday night was our theatre trip night and it was absolutely fantastic. I have never seen Les Miserables on the stage before, I had only be able to see a DVD of the play when it was performed in London so I was really spoilt at Norwich.

I was incredibly impressed by the set design, which moved, changed and fitted together so easily and was absolutely stunning.

(all images via Facebook Group)

All the actors were amazing but I thought Rosalind James who played the part of Eponine was just superb. I had a real 'goosebumps' moment when she beautifully sang 'On My Own'.

Oh I could talk all day about what I loved...

Evening dreaming...

Santorini has totally stolen my heart, please join me in my dream!

We're going on a blog hunt!

Oh don't you just love that book - but today we are substituting 'bear' for 'blog', thanks to the fantastic Marta.

link a blogger who...

makes me smile: dolcevita and myteacupsinpeony
makes me go ooh la la: littlebrownpen and twoellie
posts charming photos: itspretty good and fotheeasilydistracted
features pure eye candy: torie jayne and lovely clusters
i adore: martawrites
has incredible taste: designdelights and secretsofabutterfly
posts fun finds: youaremyfave
is a new-to-me blog: erineverafter and katscradle
discusses deliciousness: lakejane
is downright darling: graciebellabutterfly
blogs life beautifully: livingtheswelllife and rinse.repeat
is completely creative: giverslog
is a daily must: pughs’news
has a new baby: lovelybym
lives far away: alittlebirdtoldme…
has an online shop: theardentsparrow
takes fantastic photographs: narratinglife
is an artist: freshpickedwhimsy
blogs 'bout brides: theweddingchicks
is oh so unique: acreativemint
is a new favorite: brabournefarm
is an old favorite: teaforjoy and theabstractedpea
writes about life: snapshotsofagoodlife
features fabulous finds: hooray and designdelights
posts prettiness: sarah-janedownthelane
makes me laugh: pughs’news
recently subscribed to: ohhappyday
inspires me: ritzybee
features sweet downloads: creaturecomforts
is awesomely artistic: ohhellofriend

I could go on all day with these but it might drive you 'clicking' crazy! Hope you are having a great weekend.

Fill it up Friday

I missed 'Fill the Blanks Friday' last week and thought I couldn't post it late again, so I decided this week to just do both. Double the fun, don't you think!

Last weeks first:

1. The best day ever was the day I married my husband, of course!
2. My favorite meal of the day is elevenses because there is nothing better than a biscuit or a slice of cake!
3. This weekend will start on a high because of the wonderful Les Miserables we are seeing tonight - can you tell I am excited yet?
4. Never in my life have I been to Scotland. It is so close and one of those places I would love to visit - I really, really must soon.
5. The only thing better than hydrangeas are daisies! (Shock horror!)
6. I could really do with some super cleaning powers today. Boy did that dog shed some fur while he visited!
7. The most recent thing I bought myself was a new bird feeder to add to my vast collection.

This weeks:

1. Today I am wearing a black polo shirt, jeans and my sunglasses on my head (yeah)!

2. My favorite childhood food was my Mum's homemade pizza and pasta and my favorite food now is anything with goats cheese.

3. A day that I am too busy to go outside is a day that I am too busy.
4. The last movie I saw was The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. (Santorini here I come!)

5. My favorite smell is bacon because what isn't there to love about bacon?
6. A weird little quirk I have is that I have to compulsively check all the downstairs doors are locked before I go to bed. I cannot settle if I haven't checked, even if I am told they are locked I have to do it for myself.

7. When I take personality quizzes they always say I hate being the centre of attention - so very true indeed.

I love filling in little things like this and even more so I love reading my favourite bloggers ones too. You can get to know I person so much better from just a few 'blanks' can't you? So if you do join in then drop me a comment so I can read yours too and don't forget to link back to the fabulous Lauren at The Little Things We Do where this all began.

Happy Friday evening everyone!

Floral Friday

We have awoken today to our most Spring-like day so far, so perhaps Spring really is here afterall. It is one of those 'throw open the window' days with a glorious blue sky and just wonderful!

Please accept my apologies for my little blogging absence mid-week; what with our doggy visitor, work and life in general I just never seemed to find the time to write the posts I had scheduled. Some of you may have spotted that on Wednesday if you read my blog via a reader! With Max now returned home and a little less work I hope to be back on form next week.

So here we are with this weeks 'Floral Friday' which wouldn't be complete without talking about weekend plans. What are you up to, is it just me or does this Spring weather make you want to get super busy too? I have a just such a weekend in mind - I am off, once I finish this, to run a few errands and stock up on bird feed (they are very hungry at the minute), then tonight (well we leave at 4pm actually) we are going to see Les Miserables, I am so excited. Then the rest of the weekend will be filled with house things, maybe some time in the garden and hopefully a chance to see our nieces and nephews on Sunday when they are staying with Grandma and Grandad!

For this weeks flowers I took a peek inside my gorgeous white tulips which are yet to open. I love focussing close on flowers, as you may now have guessed and I love the beauty and delicacy which lies within them. So this week we are up close for our floral shots!

(via Escapade)

I hope the sun is shining for you this Friday and you have wonderful things planned for the days ahead, please do let me know what they are.