~Pretty roses jewellery~

If you have a moment to pop over and have a look, I have some pretty jewellery listed on eBay
They have a real vintage feel, with resin roses and pretty bows and some with larger beads.

Many thanks for indulging my bit of self-promotion!
Back soon
Sally x

~Chocolate Cake~

My (not so) Small Boy is 11 today.  What a year for change 2013 will be...High School for J, and hopefully off to University for L.
This is his birthday cake.  The loveliest chocolate fudge cake (recipe from Carnation found by my best friend Jo). It's now become the cake of choice in this house.  The chocolate fingers were an inspired addition to ramp up the chocolatey calories!

If you're looking for the perfect chocolate cake,  the recipe for the chocolate fudge cake can be found on Carnation's website here
P.S I substitute the corn oil with sunflower oil.
Also a thrifty tip to make it cheaper - Carnation Caramel is approx £1.75 for a 397g tin.
Morrisons sell a copycat version Farmlea Caramel for £1.15 for the same size tin.

~Comfort Food~

It's already half-way through (Dry) January, with it's healthy eating and exercise attempts.  This week Kettlercise was enjoyable and not as painful post-session! Today, I was one of 5 people at work who bought the Hairy Dieters book from The Book People for £5...

I really enjoyed the series which was on TV just after Christmas, where both Si and Dave lost loads of weight.  Now I know what I should and shouldn't eat (and drink) to lose weight; but I've found these recipes really interesting with their normal meal ideas with a fair chunk of the calories knocked off. Tonight I made their Southern-style Jambalaya...

...without the prawns *bleurrrgh* and I would like to report it was delicious - real comfort food for a sub-zero evening!

~Quiet weekend~

This weekend has been a quiet one socially and I've spent as little money as possible - it's such a long month until January payday, I'm sure you'll agree.
I've been;

• Reading cosily (and lazily) in bed on a morning and at night - lovely old books I'd wanted; found on eBay and my local charity shop...
• Making a huge panful of leek and potato soup to freeze for cheap work lunches...
• Eating out - a freebie bar meal in a local pub using a gift voucher won at a Christmas raffle...
• Walking the dog at Bishop Wood this afternoon to get some much needed happy-rays of sun soaked into me...
• Knitting a little, then sewing this cushion for a birthday present.

Hope you've had a restful and cosy weekend wherever you are  x

~Keeping Fit and trying new things~

I'm glad it's Friday and the weekend is stretching out ahead, snow or not.  I'm nearly back to normal physically today as Tuesday's induction to Kettlercise left me in lactic-acid muscle agony - and I thought I was relatively fit. After 1 day I needed help to be rolled out of bed, and by day 2 I was making loud involuntary noises when moving, even sitting down on the loo was acutely painful! Despite my poor achey thighs and bum, I am returning for another dose next week!  To burn some calories I have been to work on the train this week, as I've been office-based in York and not needed my car.  A return ticket was £5.20 which was cheaper than petrol and actually quicker than by car. It's been bright and cold while I walked the 15 minutes to work, 15 minutes back to the station and another 15 minutes from the village station to my house. Apart from the fitness aspect who can argue with this as a view when you're walking to work?  I love crossing Lendal Bridge to see the Minster looming, especially on a bright day.

Image courtesy of www.yorkshirewalks.org

The only downside was sitting next to 2 men loudly and lovingly compare the intricacies of their smartphones contract and battery capacity.  I do like my peace and quiet, but it was better than driving in rush-hour traffic. I read my (real) book on the train, but it's not the norm now. As usual I am outdated; but I see that as a good thing!

~New Year 2013~

Happy New Year to one and all, sorry I've not posted for over a month but I am back to work today and back to blogging as well!
Thinking about 2013 stretching ahead, and also reflecting back on my resolutions for 2012, see here ,  I haven't done too badly - I did get a caravan, I chilled out (a bit) with my huge 'to do' lists and reduced my new clothes spending drastically.  The sticking point this year for me has been my weight, which has been creeping up. Not sure whether I'm peri-menopausal, I certainly feel like it - so tired and unmotivated, especially since September. However, on a positive note, last week I dusted off my bike and have had a bike ride, there's nothing better, though I nearly got blown off by the wind.  I've booked to attend kettlercise classes starting tomorrow (eeek!) and started healthy eating with a vengeance.  If you've noticed the button in my left sidebar I've also enrolled on 'Dry January', which supports you to not touch a drop of alcohol for the whole month. I still like a wine glass in my hand, only at the moment it's filled with sparkling water...
My new place for my lists and random scribblings is this lovely notebook from my friend Donna - I love the sentiment on the front "How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it" - lovely. It's a quote by George Elliston who was a female American journalist born at the end of the 19th century; I know this thanks to Wikipedia...

I have also started Spring cleaning and took bags of stuff to the local Sue Ryder shop (I have a gift-aid card which means they raise even more money).
 The sewing room has been tidied so that I can now see the floor (it was that bad) and I may now feel a bit creative and not so depressed by the abysmal mess.
I'm having a good wardrobe sort out and eBay marathon as well this week. Like many people, this time of year makes me want to freshen things up in my home and decorate - I think it may be genetic as my maternal great-grandma apparently was a dynamo with a brush and gave everything that did not move a coat of paint.My Mum is like this too. I've painted and distressed an old pine mirror in the hallway this week with F&B New White eggshell left over from my dresser.

Nice to be back, see you soon  X