A Grand Day Out

In my book, Sundays (when not spent lying round being a sloth) are for going places. Yesterday's destination was Sizergh Castle - partly to meet up for coffee and cakes with some ladies from a forum I post on and partly just for a wander around. The forecast was either for sun or sleet: nobody could ever accuse the Lake District weather of being predictable! I decided to err on the side of caution in the end and went for sensible clothes. As it turned out, there was no sleet but it wasn't exactly warm so I think I made the right choice.

Jacket - George
Vest & jeans - Primark

Boots - M&S

Bag - H&M, via a car boot sale

I feel like such a div when I smile in photos! The photographer for the day (aka Mum) wouldn't take the photos unless I was grinning like a fool though, so what else could I do?

It's a funny house - part ancient castle, some Tudor panelled rooms, some very grand Georgian drawing rooms and some family rooms with tatty sofas overloaded with homemade and embroidered cushions. I've actually met the lady who lives there when I was there on a training course a year or two ago - she's the poshest person I've ever met but terribly nice (and rejoices in the truly splendid name of Mrs Hornyold-Strickland). She still uses some of the show rooms as guest bedrooms which I personally find rather fab. One of the lovely volunteers even gave us a sneaky peek into one of the ensuite bathrooms which was like something out of I Capture The Castle - built into the castle wall, accessed up a cute little staircase and with ancient faded chintz wallpaper and floral fittings. I was probably more pleased by being allowed to see it than is strictly normal.

As is common with most National Trust properties, sadly no interior photography allowed but here are a random selection of outdoor shots:

Front entrance

I just love all the different styles of windows on this wall

Spring has definitely sprung!

Gloomy, gloomy sky

It's well worth a visit so if you're ever up in that part of the world and/or you share my love for old buildings, go and have a look round.

A Saturday in the life of an undomestic goddess

Today was all about the housework. Usually cause for much grumbling by self but I started the day off in a good mood (had a lovely lie in and then woke up to glorious sunshine outside) and it continued, so I didn't mind doing the chores today.

I braved Asda to get the food shopping done - the world and his wife were in there which usually causes me to get extreme trolley rage but no, today was all very chilled out. Shopping done, I headed home, did some laundry and then ventured into the garden. I don't have green fingers. Basically, if it's sprouting and doesn't look as if it's going to grow into a daffodil, rose or hydrangea, I'm likely to think it's a weed. Therefore I need to be under close supervision and am only trusted to edge the lawn and prune stuff (I don't do mowing). Hey, I'm an ace edger and pruner though so I say I'm just playing to my strengths. So nice being outside in the fresh air with sunshine pouring down on me and the birds singing merrily.

Then back indoors to the kitchen to try out a new recipe or two. It was one of my New Year's resolutions to try a new main course recipe every month. It's easy with baking - I can just whack open a recipe book and try my hand at pretty much anything but I'm much more reticent when it comes to "proper" cooking. Not sure why, but I'm aiming to improve. My March effort was a little bit of a cop out really in that although I was following a proper recipe, I've made the basic dish about a million times. But I doubt I'd have tried this particular combo of ingredients without the recipe, so I'm counting it.

Spring onion, new potato, baby courgette, pea, mint and goat's cheese frittata

As I was in the mood for a bit of culinary creativity, I attempted a dairy free version of this rather fabulous recipe, as featured on this week's Delicious Miss Dahl. I didn't have high hopes, mainly because soya cream is, quite frankly, gack. However it turned out rather well, although I think I'd add a little sweetness to the melting chocolate next time as not using proper cream meant it was a little more bitter than it should be.

And just to prove that you don't always need the exact ingredients (well you try finding fresh cherries in March!), I used dried cherries and simmered them with a bit more water for a bit longer. Oh and I used cherry vodka as our drinks cabinet is unaccountably lacking cherry brandy. Hitting the cherries and the little bit of syrup at the bottom of the pot is utterly delicious!

And the rest of the day? Various chores, a spot of room tidying and putting my new clothes away in the wardrobe. I ordered a couple of bits from Tesco during their clothing sale - the skirts are both the same style (ie the same as the floral one in my last post) but I love the grey and black floral pattern and the sheer exuberance of the colour of the red one. And who can resist a cute pair of pj's?

And a mini Primark haul... I was spend neutral on this as I returned a cardi that made me look deformed in the shoulders (cost £11) and picked up all this lovely lot (total cost, £11). Rather pleased with myself as there are some seriously nice dresses in store at the moment and I was strong willed enough not to buy them. The curse of the rails struck again though - rows and rows of cardigans in the exact colours I wanted and ALL in a size 8! Grrrrr!!!

As it was Earth Hour tonight, I took the traditional approach to an evening spent in candlelight and played some games - dominoes, spillikins and lots of card games. I should turn the lights out more often as it was really rather good fun.

Gosh, I'm on chatty form tonight. Congratulations if you've got this far and I do apologise if you've been bored by the trivialities of my day. Here's a final pic of some beautiful flowers that someone bought me to cheer me up. Cream, lilac and white stocks, just so utterly lovely.

Off I go to put the clocks forward...

Two outfits

Just a brief update today as I'm still feeling a bit glum. Nowt serious and I'm sure it'll pass but it doesn't leave me feeling massively inclined to write jolly blog entries.

It was a return to the landing for photos as it's done nothing but rain for the past two days. Come on weather, sort yourself out. I'm sick of having wet feet!

So yesterday's outfit was:

Jumper, vest & headband - Dorothy Perkins
Skirt - Tesco
Tights - Ethel Austin
Pumps & bracelet - Primark

The tights are zig zag patterned and rather wonderful but I don't think it's quite come out on the photo. Never mind, I promise to take a closeup next time I wear them. The skirt is a bit bold and I didn't want to stand out too much at work, so tried to scruff down with the rest of the outfit. Quite like the way it turned out in the end.

As for today:

Dress & tights - Primark
Shrug -Evans
Brooch - gift
Various bangles

Ergh, my hair is looking vile in this photo. I'm sure it doesn't actually look that bad!

Underwear as outerwear...

Don't worry, I haven't decided to attempt the Superman look. It was more a case of discovering a pretty but rarely worn green vest with teal lace trim when turning out my underwear drawer and deciding to try and work it into an outfit somehow. It's a bit too cleavage revealing for wear by itself so I've whacked a black vest underneath it and a black cardi over it:

Jeans & cardi - Primark

Black vest - DP

Green vest - Monsoon clearance store

Scarf - gift

Boots - Evans

Do you like the new photo location? I ventured into the gardens at work on my lunchbreak - fortunately just before it started raining. I'm so envious of those of you who have a tame photographer. It's so hard to take photos of yourself outdoors without looking like a complete oddball! I had to try and avoid people (easier said than done as there are workmen everywhere at the moment) and as I'd forgotten the tripod, I had to balance the camera between a gate and a stone wall. Awkward!

Wonderful Shops - Part One

Welcome to a new (and I hope occasional) feature about shops and websites that are in my good books. No bribery involved, I just fancied spreading the word about some of my favourite places to spend money.

First to feature is Beautiful Notebooks .

How did I discover this fab little website? Well I keep a diary but I have two particular requirements when it comes to the notebooks I use - they must be A5(ish) size and they must have plain pages. You might think that it's fairly easy to find something that fits the bill? You'd be wrong. Paperchase's supply of plain paged notebooks is growing increasingly limited and boring and Amazon were no help - I'm not going to order something if you won't tell me what type of paper it is!

Then I remembered Paper Blanks, the trusty supplier of my actual diaries (appointment style ones). They make gorgeous, luxurious products that take in traditional methods and use sustainable materials and they're just so beautiful. I've usually bought them from Waterstones before but the range is never as big as I'd like it to be.

A quick google search later and I turned up http://www.beautifulnotebooks.co.uk/ . Immediately sucked in by the name, I had a delicious half hour or so of looking through all the various options before plumping for the foiled old leather version. I do wish that a couple more of the styles came with plain pages but we can't have everything we want, and their range is far superior to most places. And best of all, given my lack of patience, the site offers free UK p&p and the notebook was with me within 48 hours. That's what I call service! It turns out that the website is run by the people who own The Curious Otter Bookshop. What a cracking name for a shop. If I'm ever down in Devon, I'm heading straight there!

The notebooks are a little more expensive than the bog standard Paperchase version but frankly I'm bored of plain black notebooks. I want something beautiful to write my thoughts into. Also, I'm all for supporting the small retailers rather than big chains. So I'll definitely be heading back in a few months when I've filled this one up with my nightly wafflings.

Sunday evening...

and I'm feeling somewhat blah. Today's outfit was chucked together at the last minute (and is consquently not very interesting) as I was in a rush to get out of the house to watch the football. Kinda wish I hadn't bothered as it was a very dull game and we lost. Grrr!

Jacket - George (it usually looks better fitted than in this pic)
Top, cardi & jeans - Primark
Pumps & earrings - Accessorize
Bangle - Shared Earth

I haven't been in a good mood for the rest of the day. The power of sport eh? I attempted to jolly myself up by doing some baking . We had many manky bananas that needed to be used or binned so I attempted the following for the first time.

A gently steaming banana and sultana cake for tea break at work tomorrow. I really need to invest in some new bakeware as I don't have a small deep cake tin. I had to use a 9inch one for this which was really too big and spread the mixture too thinly, so it's not as high as I would like it to be.

This recipe was actually for banana bread but the loaf tin was too big for the amount of mixture I had so I popped it into muffin cases instead. Cooked quicker and tastes just as delicious!

And just to end with, two things that are definitely helping cheer me up this evening. A slightly mental looking cat, and some rather sculpturally droopy tulips which were a present from a lovely friend:

Project Wardrobe

I have been meaning to do something about the monstrosity that is my wardrobe for so long. As I'm a truly fantastic procrastinator, it's only taken me a year to get round to it! Here is the problem (well, half of it anyway):

Very ugly! I really don't like fitted wardrobes anyway but who in their right mind would install something that takes up almost an entire wall of a bedroom and make it so BEIGE?! This is only the wardrobe half - the one on the other side of the chimney breast houses the boiler and a few shelves so has my bags and jewellery and assorted rubbish stashed in it. Ach, this is the problem with living in a rented house, it's all someone else's bizarre taste. So today's task was to make them look pretty. And what did I need to do this? Well, an extra pair of hands (I roped my Mum in to help) and the following:

One roll of expensive wallpaper, double sided sellotape, scissors and a chair to stand on as we're both midgets.

It took much longer than I expected. Things to lay the blame on - my inability to cut in a straight line, the wallpaper being weirdly fluffy once cut into, blunt scissors, weirdly unstraight sellotape, my bad temper, the wardrobe doors for a) not being straight and b) constantly sliding sideways... the list goes on. But it's done and it looks gorgeous, even if I do say so myself! I can't do anything about the uber-beigeness of the rest of the room but this is a good start and it's making me smile every time I walk into the room and look at it.

And just to further prove the dreadful choice it was to install said wardrobes, this is how much space there actually is inside it. The space behind the right hand sliding door is just a wall, it's so annoying!!