This Week... Puffin, Paint & Chocolate Cake

This week... I had a new book in the post ready for me to review, it looks very interesting but I haven't had much time to look at it yet. I had lots of parcels in the post, which although very exciting, just means I've been buying too many things :) I now have more postcards for our wedding, but this time they are Puffin children's book covers :) I also ordered some paper and paint. So pleased to have some proper paper to draw on, there will be no more doodle olympics on that thin toilet paper stuff!
I don't know about any other couples, but when the other half is working late and I'm cooking for one, it is treat time! I made mac and cheese in a saucepan, from this recipe, it wasn't the best I've had, but quite convenient if not cooking enough pasta to fill a baking dish. Then there was chocolate cake, no I didn't make it, it's from the Co-Op, and those aren't just any choc digestives, they are caramel choc digestives. Of course it all had to be washed down with strawberry milk - I know, most people may have opted for a glass of wine, being adult and sophisticated, and I even thought about it - for a second.
So to try and get back into painting, as I haven't really done any since college, which was a good twelve years ago (eek!), I decided to start small and try my hand at ACEOs. I didn't actually realise how small they were, who paints that small? I high five any of you that paint amazing things at such a scale!

The Bear & The Fish Bowl

Day 166 of the Doodle Olympics - I'm a dog person, but when it comes to doodles, it is always cats, or bears, or rabbits, or penguins... so I'm making the effort to doodle a dog - forgive me.

Day 167 of the Doodle Olympics - Trying to doodle another dog - why are dogs so hard?

Day 168 of the Doodle Olympics - I gave up on dogs.

Day 169 of the Doodle Olympics - I have found out a box of words that I created ages ago. It contains lots of folded up bits of paper with various words on, the idea is I pull out a few pieces and whatever they say will have to be included in the doodle. It's great for days when my head is just blank. The first words were bear and fish bowl so that was simple enough.

Day 170 of the Doodle Olympics - I decided bear and fish bowl had some legs, so rolled with it for a second day - no doubt you will see more bears and fish bowls at some point.

Day 171 of the Doodle Olympics - This time I pulled out hot air balloon and cart, I guess I didn't have to try quite so hard to mix it up, the cart doesn't really work, but I quite like the idea of a horse drawn hot air balloon. Apologies for the horse, there was much better one originally, but he was almost as big as the balloon so I started again. 

Day 172 of the Doodle Olympics - I'm making up morals. The chosen words were, moral, sing, owl, and space hopper... Maybe I should have gone with a singing owl on a space hopper, although I'm not sure what the moral there would be, probably something about drinking too much red wine and eating too much cheese :)

Found - Handmade Bags Online

I've needed a bag for a while, a small one that I can wear with my cargo trousers and trainers without looking odd. I found the one below on ebay for a couple of pounds and it'll do just the trick. Now if I wasn't on such a tight budget, I would have bags coming out of my ears, I would have between one and all, of the bags above. They are all made in the UK and you can find them online by following the links below (until they sell out of course).

Linen bread bag by Rosies Armoire

Leather Satchel / Messenger / Laptop Bag - Mens - Handmade Vintage Retro Look by Lorton & Horn

Harris Tweed Grey Effie Bag by Mairead of Breagha

iPad case / iPad sleeve with shoulder strap in warm brown leather, leather wrapper bag in style of ancient talisman pouch by Mia Illuzia of Spirit Carrier
Rosaire, Olive suede leather hobo shoulder bag, handmade by Edward De LacyHandmade LARGE Leather bag, Satchel, Button detail, Darkest Brown, Marmite, GYPSY by Fairysteps 2017Yellow Panier Bag with yellow tie-dyed lining by Kathryn Sillince of Magpie Accessories UK Harris Tweed Satchel Green Herringbone by Catherine Aitken

Raw edge leather bag with beach pebble detail - teal by coteriedesign

This Week... Watering Cans, Tea Towels & Biscotti

    

This week... Saw me receiving the Victoria Eggs tea towel that was a prize from Will and Glory, I love it, it's in my favourite colour! Hurrah! I have a new watering can... also in my favourite colour, I've needed one upstairs for the windowsill plants for ages, now I've no excuse for letting them wither. Mug Cake, it isn't big and it isn't clever, it isn't great cake, you can't keep it for another day, but if you have no cake in the house, have no time to make one, and have no access to any sweet treats, this is the answer to a  - in desperate need of cakey - emergency. I made biscotti for the first time, hurrah! It was alright. Guilty looking cat - you know how you sometimes have a sort out of old clothes and you put them in a pile on the floor, and then you turn your back for five seconds and there is a fluffy cat all over it - yeah that :)

A Whale That Likes Opera...

Day 159 of The Doodle Olympics - I had a picture in my head of a whale standing up in a hat... sometimes that is just how it works. 

Day 160 of the Doodle Olympics - Even odd little bunnies make wishes - they would like to be a real bunny! 

Day 161 of the Doodle Olympics  - It isn't just little boys that would like to be astronauts. 

Day 162 of the Doodle Olympics - I'm still not too sure how to put my fabric and paper flowers together, so I've been looking at bouquets.

Day 163 of the Doodle Olympics - All this rain we've had has made me think about things beginning to grow, like sunflowers!

Day 164 of the Doodle Olympics - A penguin in a boat always brings a smile to my face when it is all grey and horrid outside. 

 Day 165 of the Doodle Olympics - Silly Humpty!

What else has been going on... Well the flower making has come to a bit of a standstill this week. I have finally written a review for A Bag For All Reasons and have started making notes on Adventures in Chocolate. I have started to think (roughly) about table plans for the wedding, it's early days but I'm just trying to get a rough idea of how our maximum number of guests might work. I've been buying wedding things from ebay, including sweet scoops and sweet bags. I've been taking photos and editing photos for the book reviews. 

Found - Everything Is A Bit Grey Today

What is with this awful weather? Well, as I'm sure you can appreciate, I wasn't about to walk into town in all that rain yesterday, so again there are no charity shop finds, but there are online finds! Yeay!! So to prove that not everything that is grey is bad and that some grey things are truly wonderful, here are a selection of items from artisans based in the UK. As usual click on the links below to be taken to the product page! 

Handmade Glass Beads in Etched Shades of Light Grey by Galloway Beads

Grey Striped Ceramic Pot - Sawdust Fired by Vanessa Bullick

SALE Bubblegum slate grey hand printed coin purse 20% off by Sarah Waterhouse - Sarah is currently raising money for equipment via crowdfunding, you can find out more here

Needlefelted Bird Grey Owl Baby Miniature Grey Owl by Felt Me Up Designs

Bracelet Bangle , La Rambla Porcelain Bangle With Delicate Flower Decoration, White and Gray by MaaP Studio

Coin purse wallet:Grey tonal fabric finished with ruffle by Curious Miss Clay

Grey Fish, limited edition giclee print by Eloise Renouf

This Week... Wine, Cake, & Baby Birds

This week... We oooh'd and arrh'd at the wonder that was our first baby courgette. We put up some bunting in honour of the Queen...and because we like bunting. We indulged in some red wine that I was lucky enough to win from Tesco Wines via Twitter. That there is Rob winking and then giving a serious nod of approval, I realise he may look a bit grumpy or like he is missing a pipe, but it's actually approval. I also made more almond and raspberry cupcakes as part of our celebrations, I can't get enough of them and I'm on the hunt for another excuse to make more - Mmm cake, jam and buttercream! :) The pigeon tickled me, not literally, but he looked like he was going to snap that branch at any moment - fat pigeon. To make up for the wine and cake we went out for some nice long walks, we saw swans with cygnets - the male swan got a bit antsy at having his photo taken, and then we saw moorhen chicks, which are the smallest fluffiest things in the world! Mother moorhen also started complaining about our presence, but we ignored her because she wasn't quite as intimidating as the swan.