A big project

Yesterday I was overcome with an urge. An urge to get started on my garden! Our garden needs a lot of work doing to it before it can be as lovely as I imagine it, and yesterday was the day I got to work. I hired a skip and began getting rid of all the old flags and bricks that were cluttering it up. It felt so good to get my teeth into a project, and I've already cleared quite a lot!

I dug up one of the beds which had become overrun by weeds, and imagine my delight when I dug up about a dozen of these little beauties:



Pasnips! Rather suprising too, as I haven't planted any parsnips since we first bought the house - three years ago!

I think my project to turn my garden into something beautiful is going to be hard, but it will be so worth it in the end. Mind you, it probably wouldn't be quite so hard if I didn't try to rescue every last ladybird that I saw!

Looking forward

The weather here for the past couple of days has been so light and mild; it's really making me look forward to Spring. So much so in fact that I dragged Adam to the garden centre today for a look around on the promise that I would buy him a hot chocolate and a cream scone! I'm so excited to get growing again, this year I'm actually most excited to grow flowers, which I've never really done before. I work on a community garden with children aged 8-18, and we grew some flowers on there (basically, we put some seeds in. And the flowers went wild!). It looked so pretty and made me excited to do the same in my garden this year, too.



We've acquired a load of wooden pallets from somewhere which I'm planning to take apart and build some raised beds with, so I'll be sure to post about that. I also want to grow blueberries, herbs, jalapenos, peas, potatoes, sunflowers, squash and salad. Do you enjoy spending time in the garden? Have you ever grown your own food?

Our Newest Family Member...

Meet the latest addition to our family:



Bert!

Bert is a one year old Boston Terrier who we adopted from someone my husband works with. We brought him home for a couple of days to see how he would get along with Izzy. Izzy is still a bit unsure about him - they get along, haven't fought but she is keeping her distance a little - but we absolutely love him. He's so sweet and affectionate and loves to cuddle up to me!

I've been quite busy with photography related stuff lately which is great! Last weekend I shot a civil ceremony, I had a baby shoot and I'm meeting a prospective client today too. It's exciting!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I've got a naked Christmas tree in the corner of my living room, a steak and mushroom pie innards in the slow cooker, I managed to make it into town for some bits before it started pouring with rain and now I'm cuddled up on the sofa with my puppy. A perfect cozy day!

I can't wait for Adam to get home from work so we can get our tree decorated! This Christmas feels really special to me, not least because we're getting married two days after Christmas day. We're properly settled in our house - last year, we'd only moved in a month before and money was a bit tight after two years of renovations. I feel like I'm in a really happy place this year, and it really does feel wonderful.

I've got quite a few little projects and recipes (including a series of party food ideas!) to post throughout December so please check back often! Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day. This year is especially poignant as someone that I used to be friends with was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday. It's upsetting enough when you hear about the boys who lose their lives fighting for their countries, but when it's someone you know it's heartbreaking. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with his family today.

A cosy kind of weekend

Hello! How was your weekend?

Mine was lovely – quiet and relaxing! I went to the market to do a little bit of shopping.



I’m starting a new job tonight, and the hours are 5:30-10:30pm, so I wanted to get some things in to make some meals in advance which I could freeze to make it easier for Adam and I. Adam was at work on Saturday so when I got home I spent some time with this cute little face:





I spent the rest of the day cooking up a storm (got a recipe or two to post out of it too!) and when Adam came home he surprised me with these gorgeous flowers:



We took Izzy out for a walk:



Then came home and had a delicious dinner together, ate some ice cream and then cuddled up watching a film! Sunday was spent working, then out for a curry with my parents and sisters.

Hope you had a good weekend too, let me know what you got up to! Also, do you have any tips for meals that are easily made in bulk and can be frozen? So far, my freezer is full of chilli, lasagne and soup!

Have your cake and eat it!

Hello! How was your weekend?

Mine was kind of low key, but fun nontheless! Spent most of it hanging out with Adam and Izzy! It's nice to be able to get some time with Adam, he's been working crazy hours lately as has recently started a new business!

On Sunday, my parents invited us round for dinner. It was delicious! I didn't snap any photos but we started with a turnip soup my sister had made which was SO NICE! I'm going to attempt to make it at home myself sometime soon. We had a roast dinner made by my Mum (also delicious! Is it just me or does anyone else think you just can't beat your Mum's cooking?!) and then for dessert I brought these:



They were so good! I love to make desserts but myself, my parents and my sisters are all on health kicks. I was going to bake a cake at first, but I know how hard it is to control your portion size when presented with a gorgeous looking dessert. Then I remembered my Auntie had given me a square cupcake pan for Christmas, so I decided to make individual cakes. I just used a regular sponge mix, sliced them in half, added some sliced strawberries and a little whipped cream, then dusted them with icing sugar. They were really nice, and it was so easy to just have one! (Well, my Dad had two, and Adam had about four!) We all felt like we'd had a treat, without derailing our diets.



I hope you all had good weekends too - what's on your agenda for the upcoming week?