For seven days and seven nights, I'm all alone. No, I'm not sobbing (well, maybe a little bit), but I am bringing out all the meat from the freezer and having a carnivorous feast.
First stop - Spaghetti Bolognese, with seconds for tomorrow night. Nom nom ...
I can now throw out the holey Sainsbury's carrier bag now that my Mum has somehow found the time to make me two peg bags. One was made out of an old tea towel; the other from an old duvet.
I would love to have a bit of my Mum's creativity, and if I could, at least one green finger (she also grew some pepper/chile plants for us). Alas, I don't think I've got either in me!
From Dorset to Somerset and a BBQ at my brother's house, with two hungry dogs. Burgers, beers and banter, the perfect way to spend a Bank Holiday Sunday knowing you haven't got to go to work the next day. Bliss!
Back in Dorset for a day and a night and got to have a walk by the sea - there's nothing quite as good at clearing out the system than a walk on a sunny day with a bit of a biting breeze.
Followed up by a three-course stuffing :-)
Friday night after a long, long week and it was Tapas for us.
I had to take a photo of this guy who was playing the guitar balancing on this makeshift 'stage', which had an ominous sag when he got up there.
Not sure how long it'll last but lucky for us he didn't fall while we were there. Not that we would have noticed, we were too drunk ourselves.
Like I said, it was a long week!
Another night on the sofa (that's three in a row - unheard of!) and what should be on the box (again)? Pretty Woman!
It's great when you've been in the stuck up world of London all day to come home to some true-life stories like this!
I know I may induce a tut and a firm shake of the head, but I'm actually not really that keen on festivals.
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Recovered?
I'm actually not that keen on music either ... cue another tut, no doubt.
It wasn't until Florence and the Machine came on that I sat up (literally) and listened. She's just wonderful. It was like watching a ballerina, Alice in Wonderland and a mad pup all on stage at the same time!
She's also a little bit mad. Towards the end she said: "Ooh look, I can see the moon." Cue everyone turning round to have a look at the cloud-covered light.
After her next song, and some audience participation (that is, all of us just jumping up and down), she gasped: "The moon's come out - we did it!" As the cloud disappeared to reveal the full moon.
It all felt a bit supernatural; in fact, I think she may actually be a witch.
She certainly put a spell on me.
Kings of Leon who?
At last - we've got a L-shape sofa for our top 'play' room! I'm not sure what it is about these sofas, but I've always wanted one - they just smack of pure lazy indulgence - being able to stretch your legs out on the horizontal bit - lovely!
I've already claimed that part of the sofa as mine, all mine.
Nails painted 11.30pm, in bed by 11.35pm - woke up the next morning with duvet prints all across them. Pah!
Considering breakfast on the train? Don't do it, it's foul.
Thanks for a good night, Diane!
I actually baked today! My friend lent me the Green & Blacks cookbook so when chocolate's involved, I'll try anything!
Here are my 'Celebration' brownies (I actually used Heroes instead as I prefer them to Celebrations - you can just make out part of a Twirl in the picture here).
Yum!
Well there's something you don't expect to find in a curry house ...
I knew on the train home that tonight's training was going to be a real struggle. I took a photo of the pool as seen just before I dive in.
This is one of those 'pictures' (if indeed you can all it that), that I will know it's significance, but no one else will. But that's ok, at least you get to know the Oxford Street area a bit better as a result ...
I don't really watch that much TV, the exception has always been Spooks, Mistresses, The X Factor (my secret favourite!) and maybe Top Gear if I remember.
I LOVE this time of year when all the Autumn/Winter fashion magazines come out. I end up spending a fortune getting most of them, but I never regret it.This season's trends are some of the best in years - minimalist chic is the new sexy, which is just as well as we haven't got that much money to spend at the moment!
I've recently moved desks at work and now sit opposite ... a wall.
So i've been hunting around for something 'small' to hang on said wall.
And I came across this poster of Edward Cullen *swoon*.
Only problem is that it's about 1mx1m and I think it'll get ripped down if I dare to put it up.
So, I'm now on the hunt for something else for "The Wall" and now in search of a wall for the Edward Poster. Gah!
Bad day - hit my car, Mark lost his credit card, I couldn't find a decent bowl when we went bowling ... but we did watch Knight and Day, which was better than I thought it would be.
So can't complain really ... but I will.
Sometimes a pub on a Friday night is the only place to have a pint, and to read Star Wars.
And I thought I was dull.
A bit earlier than usual, I have managed to find my 'Winter Coat'. It is the item of clothing that is always the trickiest every year: it's the one item that you end up wearing every day, and it's got to last!
Given that camel is such a key colour this season, as too is the cape, I gave an inward squeal when I found this camel cape coat from Zara.
Is it bad to wish the summer away just so I can put my arms through those wonderful sleeves?
While I did take this picture today, I actually bought these flowers in Dubrovnik and had quite a battle to get them home, so wanted to feature them somewhere, somehow, on the blog.
So here they are, and I love them.
Honestly, this isn't a caseof not having anything to put on the blog today and just going for ANOTHER picture of Edward and the Cullens ... I did in fact go to the cinema to watch it again.
And no, I'm not some obsessed saddo, I promised to watch it with a friend before I went on holiday, but ended up watching it the day it came out and didn't tell her!
So, I kept quiet and went to watch it with her, pretending that I hadn't seen it before. Not that I minded of course, you can never have too much of Edward Cullen ...
Not so much a 'Cocktail party' as a BBQ with (lethal) cocktails. Should have known if you go to Dave Warren's house, one shot equals one pint glass!
Switched on the TV just as this film was starting. Considering we had both been falling asleep on the sofa and were heading to bed, this film managed to wake us up. Doesn't sound like a good one, but can recommend it - good twist at the end.
This is what you get when I cook! But at least both the potatoes and beans are organic, courtesy of Mum and Dad's vegetable patch!
Having both relieved ourselves, we were just about to set off when some absolute dickhead caught the back end of his car on the back of my car when trying to drive into the space next to me. Idiot.
So I have now spent this week trying to sort it all out, despite it not being my fault, and today the garage assessed the damage (hence today's picture!). Lucikly there's not too much damage, but because it's a strange ebony/dark purple colour, they will have to blend some paint. So the chances of it being the same colour are slim.
And the moral is ... don't have a pee in a service station, trying and do it out the window when you're driving along. Or get a nappy.
My picture-perfect cafe latte from Eat. Still not sure how he actually managed it, amazing!
When work really is a drag after a holiday and nothing else seems to be going well, you really do need to resort to stupid games. So there we were, after swimming, playing the 'Whose line is it anyway?' game where you've got an object and you've got to think of as many stupid uses for it as possible.
Needless to say, I was shit at it, Mark was great. It's easy when you use 'humour' such as that shown in the picture. Hmmm.
Had a drive round Somerset and went to the Mulberry Factory shop in Shepton Mallet. Despite all the gorgeous items in the shop, by far the nicest thing there was an old leather A4 folder with press cuttings. Typical, the one thing I love isn't even for sale!
Hanging around playing with the dogs while waiting for Paul to have his operation. After getting to the hospital for 7.30am, he has his operation several hours later at 4.30pm!
After our holiday is was straight back down to Somerset to see my brother before his operation tomorrow. Was also a chance to see the progress of his steam lorry. Not as far forward as he'd hoped due to his sickness, but it looks absolutely stunning and is not too far off from being complete now.
Not bad for someone who lives with what he has to every day.
It wouldn't have been right to not include a picture of this GORGEOUS fillet steak that I had twice in a restaurant in the Old Town. Lovely waiter too who couldn't escape a Japanese lesson from Mark, poor man.
Before we headed back to Dubrovnik, we took one last walk around Mostar Bridge, and were lucky enough to see someone jump from the top of the bridge, a popular pastime.
