Wishes: for a Fantastic Easter

Howdy All! Apologies for the absence, busy times, but that's no excuse so I'm back and wishing everyone a fantastic, choc-tastic Easter. I hope the Easter Bunny has made it round to everyone and that you're having a wonderful weekend full of family, friends and fun.
 

I'll be back shortly with my next diy. It's been a LONG time in the making, so watch this space! :)

Wishes: A word for 2013

I came across a great concept at Elise's lovely blog the other day, that of a word for the year. Something to focus the mind and the soul, to act a constant reminder throughout our busy daily lives. I decided against posting a long list of new year's resolution, but this is a perfect alternative - a single word to encapsulate my motivation for the year.

My word for 2013 is: Connect

I want to really connect with the new people I meet, old friends I see regularly or those lifers that are a life-long constant that only pass in and out occasionally. Not connecting is so much easier, it's really easy to 'visit' someone, to 'catch up' or even spend a weekend with them talking rubbish. But to really make meaningful connections is a whole different ball game! Unless I find the connection comes completely naturally I am often guilty of not trying. I found it telling when I was looking through for some inspirational photo for this post that I couldn't find many of people doing things together and creating connections. Well that is all going to change! (And maybe taking photos of people can be a new sub-wish!).

This photo I captured back on a weekend trip to Brighton really encapsulated what I want to achieve - to build up meaningful one-on-one connections with the people in my life. I love the way these deck chairs are in pairs, surveying the world outside, but by facing ever so slight towards each other, as if sharing a special moment. :) I want to be like these chairs, to share moments, create special bonds and nurture and maintain them. I am going to look people in the eye, smile and embrace them (well metaphorically speaking, not physically....I don't want to end up in an institute. Just clarifying.).

Do you have a word for the year? Never to late to come up with one!

Wishes: To Paris on a bicycle

It's that time of year again when everyone is pondering their aims and goals for 2013, and I'm no different. I love a good list. A list of things to do, to achieve, to try. I also love to look back on my lists and see them all crossed off, there is nothing more satisfying. I sometime battle against this, I am not here to be a list making and crossing machine. Surely actually doing those things must be more satisfying than seeing the resultant item crossed off??! Not always. But most of the time I find it a massive help in actually getting done the things I want/need to and for that reason I'm going to stick with it!

So on to 2013 and my list of 'wishes' to achieve. This list is LONG, so I'm not going to bore you with the full minutiae of 'make the bed each morning' etc. Rather, I think I shall drip feed the most exciting ones through this 'wishes' feature to keep the motivation running on full.

Very top of the list and something we've been hankering after for quite some time is...to cycle to Paris!

Rosé, une bière et le Tour d'Eiffel! This image will keep me going and will definitely be worth the struggle when we reach the Arc de Triomphe!! May the planning and training commence. 

Round up of Christmas Treats

What a splendid Christmas we have had. We spent lots of time celebrating and partying with family and then rushed back to work on the 27th. This weekend we've finally found some time to unwind and have some of that quiet Christmas time that feels so special. The city is incredibly quiet, the trains are empty, no queues for anything....bliss! :)

I was a super lucky lady to receive some lovely gifts over the festive season. In particular there were a few treats that we gave and received that I'd love to share with you:

'No Bears' - McKinley and Rudge

This was a little gift for our gorgeous little niece Isabella. It's a beautiful book illustrated by one clever young lady, Leila Rudge. She's absconded to a far away land with my little brother and is living the dream down under. We miss them dearly, but Ozland clearly agrees with her as she's produced the cutest illustrations for this book 'No Bears', that has absolutely no bears in it (or does it?!). If you know of any youngsters that also are adverse to bears, or if you're just a big kid yourself then you can get your very own copy here! And to see more wonderful illustrations from Miss Rudge check out her blog here.

The Monster spread! ©Leilarudge 

No bears party illustration ©Leilarudge 

We also made some delicious chocolate truffles to indulge in over the holidays. We found a fab recipe on the BBC good food website and got creative with flavours. We made one batch in a Chrismassy chilli flavour by adding a generous pinch of chilli flakes, a smaller pinch of cinnamon and some cloves in the cream (we fished the cloves out before adding to the chocolate!). Then we made a second batch with a good glug of Cointreau and the zest of a couple of clematines. This was the firm favourite, but the chilli ones left a lovely warming sensation once the truffle had melted away, perfect for cold winter days!! I fashioned up some simple cellophane bags and rustic ties and labels to complete the package.

Yummy chocolate truffles!

Pretty labels made with card, ribbon and festive washi tape

These are the simplest things in the world to make - there's literally only three ingredients. We made an incredible mess whilst rolling them out, but all part of the fun, and by the end they looked almost good enough to eat!!

Wishes: Merry Christmas for All!

Hope you're all having fun and frolics in this festive season. Here's to spending quality time with family and friends, eating and drinking too much. Here's to over-excited kiddies and sleepy kiddies. Here's to finding some quiet time for doing the things you love and doing them with the people you love. Here's to escaping reality and jetting off to the sunshine, far far from the madding crowd. Here's to finding some inner space from where to contemplate that world outside and our place within it. Here's to thinking of hundreds of new resolutions ready to break within the first week of the new year!

However you're spending the festive season this year, sit down, relax....and reach for another mince pie!

Wishes: For snow!

It's been a tad chilly round these parts of late and it's got me thinking...what's the use of the cold it if doesn't come with a dusting of beautiful white snow?! Grey drizzle is no good.

Plans are afoot for a little ski trip early in the new year and I must admit it's climbing higher up the to do list every day! There is nothing better at getting rid of the winter blues than a mid-winter break in the mountains. Sun, snow, and a sneaky apres-ski indulgence (or two) sure do blow away the cobwebs! So here we go, lets try and fit in a ski break this winter:

Fresh pow pow.  Zell am See, Austria, Winter '11

Wishes: for a life full of sparkle!

Oooooh, I have a new diy obsession: sparkles! I am feverishly covering everything with these fantastic Swarovski crystals. Aren't they beautiful? The colours are so deep and intense and they all are so shiny and shimmery and pretty! Surely there is no way that life could seem dreary or drab when decked out in a wardrobe of encrusted sparkly diys? So here's to a life full of sparkle!

Wishes: to eat more greens

Figs, picked fresh from the tree!

Oh it's easy to make these brash resolutions on here, and it's even easier when the villa has five huge fig trees in the garden literally weighed down by the plum juicy figs on it's branches! I couldn't get through enough of these little green fellas in Ibiza, but luckily the rest of the garden wildlife was doing a good job of helping. 

So now we're home it'll take a little more effort (who am I kidding) to keep up the good work. Especially as we descend into the wild, wet and windy winter and figs become a fig-ment of my imagination (ta-dah!). But at least there will be plenty of turnips, swedes and other root vegetables in the supermarkets....sob sob. 

Oooh and the legendary sprouts of Brussel might make it on to the dinning table for their once annual outing, on that holiest of holy days. Aha, there's something to look forward to! 

Wishes: Throw some shapes

4. I shall endeavour to throw more shapes. In the shower...in the kitchen...or on the tiles!

I simply cannot resist a great beat. Any excuse for a shimmy! But occasionally if I don't put on the radio or just leave my iPod at the bottom of my bag it's easy to forget to lighten your step and put in a quick spin as you trot down the street.

Wishes: beach time!

3. Wishing for a few days at the beach.

Not likely to catch many rays in this lovely beach on Hayling Island, where we had the coldest picnic ever! But it would certainly blow away a cobweb or two.

Gearing up for a summer hol any time soon? Just starting to plan ours - and it's only 3 weeks away, super exciting!

Wishes: sunshine

2. Wishing for a few rays of sunshine

Like these late evening ones gracing the common. Sorely lacking in old Blighty right now. 

Wouldn't it be marvellous if you could capture a few of these rays in a little jar and release one or two to brighten things when you're having a flat day. 

Wishes Series: Posting

1. I wish to post once a week.

Modest baby steps until I get the hang of this bloggin' malarkey. Not calling this a resolution, 'cause those things are made for breaking baby! But a wish I reckon won't make me run a mile in the other direction.

Full to bursting with ideas to share, just need to turn these grand but whimsical notions into hard fast actions and posts. That's the whole point of all this!