Birthday Goodness

Another year has passed, and always one to enjoy celebrating a birthday, last weekend was a real treat. I started the festivities slightly early this year, as my dear sister treated me to an incredibly posh afternoon tea at Sketch where we tucked into delicious cakes in heavenly surroundings! After tea we took our time wandering along Regent Street, popping into some of my favourite shops along the way.

The actual birthday morning started well, with breakfast in bed followed by presents! My main gift was the laptop I'm typing on a laptop, which is replacing my poor old babymac, as it has pretty much reached the end of its useful life. I was lucky enough to receive a subscription to Spotify to go with my new laptop, so I’ve been enjoying some new music; Manmade by Teenage Fanclub, Bang Goes the Knighthood by The Divine Comedy and Infinite Arms by Band of Horses. It’s amazing that you can listen to whatever you like whenever you like, and I will definitely be broadening my musical horizons. The rest of the day was spent picnicking, admiring the roses at Mottisfont and a lovely dinner at our local Italian, Alpinos. Marvellous.

Sunday saw us take a trip to Frome to check out the delights of St Catherine’s Artisan Market. It wasn’t exactly D’s cup of tea, but I loved it and will definitely return for a more leisurely visit. As it was, we certainly got stuck into a fabulous brunch at the Garden Café with Shona and Iain.

While we were in Frome I popped into Marmalade Yarns to stock up on Cashmerino Aran. D and I stayed with his brother and sister-in-law last night, so I had to knit like a crazy-girl this week to start (and finish) a baby jumper for his new niece Tess! It took quite a while just to decide which pattern to knit, and I thought that I'd settled on Debbie Bliss's Raglan Jumper, until I realised that it was far too warm for the summer and that in order for it to be useful I would need to make a size that I wouldn't quite have enough wool for! Luckily Ravelry, and a mercy dash to John Lewis on Tuesday lunchtime, came to the rescue and I made her a supercute Debbie Bliss Shrug over three train journeys and a knitting club! Also on the needles, I have cast on a navy swing cardigan and I've blocked out my owls sweater. (Will add photos when I've bought and attached the button eyes...)

One last treat, was a trip to my favourite museum the V&A to see their Quilts exhibition. It was really wonderful and incredibly inspirational. It's on until the 4th of July so if you do get a chance to visit - take it!

(Almost) The Perfect Weekend

Wow! What a wonderful weekend. After a slightly shaky, not to mention queasy, start I hopped on the train to Bath to join my sister for a spot of pampering. She'd spent a pretty hardcore week walking over 100 miles along the Cotswold Way (crazy girl, eh?!) and a bit of TLC was most definitely in order! First off was a trip to my favourite vegetarian restaurant Demuth's where, along with Amanda's friends Claire and Jo, we polished off a whole table full of treats, including chickpea bites, labna, a deli dip platter and some delicious lemon and herb arancini.

After lunch Amanda and I hit the shops for a spot of retail therapy. Shop of the day was probably Bloomsbury, where I found an amazing ring - a sterling silver band with a single silver button on it. Perfect! We were also very keen on All Saints, where we tried on pretty much every dress in the store and had our very own personal shopper! I even managed to buy a pair of skinny fit jeans that actually fit.

After all that shopping it was time for the pampering to begin. Amanda was treating us both to a full spa session and a treatment each, so we headed off to the Thermae Bath Spa. We started off in the open-air rooftop pool and soaked ourselves in the warm, bubbling spa water in glorious sunshine, while admiring the beautiful city skyline. Feeling pretty relaxed, we went down to the main pool for a bit of a swim, then into the scented saunas and foot baths. After two luxurious hours we parted company for our treatments. I was booked into a Balinese Dry Flotation session, which was simply heaven. I think I've got the world's best sister - thanks Amanda!

Sunday, saw me collected from the station by David and whisked off for a picnic and a stroll at Mottisfont. It was so beautiful and the flowers in the walled garden were just stunning. I can't wait to go back in a few weeks to see all of the roses in bloom. To round off the weekend we stopped off for a deliciously cold pint of cloudy cider in the beer garden of The Mill Arms in Dunbridge. I'm a bit sad that D is away now for the week, but aside from that it really was a perfect weekend!

Enjoying a Week by the Sea

The last week has been a real tonic, taking it easy on the south coast, enjoying long, lazy lie-ins, lovely days out and about on the seashore, and late-night lounging with a glorious glass of wine. Finishing work on Friday night was a great start to the week and a real treat, as my friend Claire and I popped along to South Kensington to visit the Grace Kelly, Style Icon exhibition at the V&A. It was achingly beautiful and oh so glamorous. (But did leave me feel ever so slightly scruffy!)


Saturday morning, I drove down to enjoy the peace and tranquility of Lyme Regis, one of my favourite places to be in the world. D and I rented an apartment in the beautiful Coram Tower for a little bit of the quiet life. It was great to be right in the middle of town and to be able to just pop down to the beach, or the Cobb, anytime we wanted for a stroll and simply to be by the water.

I picked up the needles and have nearly finished my Owls sweater. I even treated myself to four pairs of stunning vintage knitting needles from my favourite Lyme shop, Susie Cole.

We passed many tranquil hours reading some great books, including Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (set in Lyme, and featuring one of her most famous inhabitants, Mary Anning) and Tree Surgery for Beginners by Patrick Gale. I also enjoyed a couple of movies, Gideon's Daughter and Coco Before Chanel. D and I visited the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth. They do amazing work at the sanctuary and have up to 400 donkeys at any given time. My personal favourite was a very cute fellow named Mr Walter Baker! I tried to invite him home to stay with us, but I think we might have been a bit tight for space in the Volvo!

Highlight of the week has to be dinner on Friday night - chips on the beach with a glass of something cold and fizzy! What more could you want from life...?

And here is my nearly finished Owls sweater.

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Congratulations Mr & Mrs!

Conratulations to Shona and Iain! The big day finally arrived and what a day it was! The bride was beautiful, the sun shone, the brother of the bride speech reduced everyone to tears, and D even managed to make me look like I knew what I was doing at the ceilidh! (Although the waltzing did make me a little bit dizzy!) It was such a happy day and it was wonderful to see my dear friends so deeply full of joy.

The ceremony was held at St Giles Church in Stanton St Quintin, Wiltshire, officiated by a rather charmingly eccentric vicar, with the reception held at Stanton Manor, where we celebrated with Pimms on the lawn, a hog roast and dancing into the small hours. Sorry for the distinct lack of photos, but I was either busy carrying out my bridesmaidly duties or plain having fun! The button bouquets and bracelets were loved by the flower girls and the wedding favours seemed to go down really well too. (Fingers crossed for a lottery millionaire...)

The happy couple are now off to start married life with their honeymoon in Thailand and Cambodia. Hope that they have a wonderul time.

Enjoying the Weekend Sunshine

Yesterday saw the first visit of the year to our second-closest National Trust property, Mottisfont, near Romsey in Hampshire. The sun was shining brilliantly and the flowers in the gardens were just beautiful. The magnolia trees were out in an amazing display and there were some stunning bright yellow tulips in the walled garden which in early June (just in time for my birthday) will become one of the most fragrant and charming rose gardens you could ever want to visit.

We rounded off the visit with a locally made ice creams (or in my case an elderflower sorbet) and a trip to the gift shop to buy a very gentle bag of National Trust wholemeal flour, ground at neighbouring property, Winchester City Mill. I've since turned a pound of it into a lovely little loaf for this week's sandwiches. Gentle!

This afternoon was spent delightfully in the Cathedral Close, relaxing in the sunshine on a blanket reading (with a chocolate ice cream!). Beads, Boys and Bangles by Sohpia Bennett is the sequel/second in a series, following on from Threads, a very stylish YA novel, which won last year's Times/Chicken House prize for an unpublished author.

Knitting-wise, there's not a great deal going on on the needles, as I'm still finishing up favours for the wedding next weekend. Luckily they're pretty much all done now (just a few more names to come in) and I'm looking forward to a wonderful day!

I did have a little bit of time to spend on Folksy, where I came across the most fabulous Lego stitch-markers from The Bothered Owl. I couldn't resist and ended up buying a set each of flowers and owls! Check out the whole range that Alex and Sarah have created, it's just brilliant!

Keeping Busy

It's been a tough couple of weeks, and while I've been home alone I've really been trying to keep busy to stop getting sad. This weekend, I've been supercrafty and made nearly half of the wedding favours and finished off the button bouquets for the flower girls. I've also learned the 'magic loop' technique for the sleeves of Owls (thank you Knit Picks on Videojug), which I am loving, especially as sewing together is not my favourite thing!

I've also enjoyed a couple of movies 500 Days of Summer, Bright Star and Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. And I've nearly finished Notes From an Exhibition which is both moving and beautiful and every bit as good as The Whole Day Through. Click here to check out his website, which features his newest title Gentlemen's Relish. (Which I'm sure I'll be adding to my reading list shortly.)

Today I've been out walking with my Mum and Dad around the city of Salisbury and up to Old Sarum for a picnic. It was lovely to see them both, and we were blessed with seeing the first ducklings of spring in a 14-strong brood! Here's hoping that after a week of pretty miserable rain, spring is finally on its way!

Only nice things!

Owls is now on the needles and I am loving it! David is away for three weeks, so I've had lots of time to spend on it, including two knitting clubs at work and with the Poultry Cross knitters this fine afternoon. It feels pretty quick to knit up and as I'm still on the waist shaping it's nice and easy too! I had to wait patiently to get started because of the mixed dye lots, but the lovely folks at Laughing Hens came up trumps and sent out replacements for four of the balls before I'd even sent the first batch back. Hoorah for a great service - thanks Hens!

The living room is finally finished, with the arrival of the last frame this week. I put the pictures up last night and have been loving the new sophoisticated (not to mention tidy) vibe! There is nothing like being blissfully happy in your own home. I just wish that D was here to see it. (Although he'd probably need to straighten all of the pictures as my idea of straight definitely isn't as straight as his!)

I've also been working on the button bouquets for the flower girls at Shona's wedding and have made the prototype placemarker/favours too. The wedding is only four weeks away now and it's going to be such a beautiful day that I can barely wait! The hen weekend, which Sarah arranged perfectly, was last weekend in Cornwall and it was an absolute blast! Everyone had a great time, although I think I may have completed the journey home with considerably fewer brain cells...

Having a bit more time on my hands, means that I've had more time to read, and in the last fortnight I've read two really very good books; We Are All Made of Glue by Marina Lewycka and One Day by David Nicholls. Both of them were funny and sad and wryly observed and I would heartily recommend either of them. I'm just about to start on Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale, which I hope will live up to expectations.