shopping list

Well it's been a while.... what a busy year it has been! I have now officially finished my first year as a student midwife and am an extremely proud Aunty to my beautiful niece Florence Elizabeth.... I haven't written a shopping feature for a long time, so here is what I am loving in the shops this month! 

How Liberty-esque are these initial mugs from Marks & Spencer, just wish my name began with an "E" as this is my favourite combination of colours and patterns...M&S Letter mug £9.50 each

I am loving Boden at the moment for classic pieces with a twist, I am especially in love with the leather Chancery Clutch £62.10, and it's in the sale!!

As i mentioned earlier, my sister had a baby earlier this month, the gorgeous little Florence Elizabeth and I am now constantly on the look out for girly baby bits.... I will definitely be buying this little pink polka dot set Button Spot Baby Dress & Brief Set £20 Cath Kidston

I bought this new Revlon lipstick, colour - Smoked Peach £7.49 Boots, last month after seeing it on Pinterest as a Mac hack for their colour "Ravishing"... Absolutely love it and a few people have commented on how nice the colour is.... if you love a nude lip with a hint of coral, give it a try...

My Nan & Granddad came down for the day to visit me when i was staying down at Margate Hospital and we went for a wander round Dreamland, the gift shop was packed full of nostalgic gifts. i especially loved this enamel "You are my sunshine" plate.... as i can remember my granddad singing this song to me as a little girl £19.50 each Pedlars

Finally i am loving this A-Line denim pleated skirt from M&S £39.50, last summer buy i think...

oh i do like to be beside the seaside

as many of you already know I have moved down to the lovely Margate for my summer midwifery placement at QEQM hospital... and i have been exploring...
its actually not the Margate I remembered in the rainy summer holidays in the arcades and the sickly sweet smell of fresh doughnuts at BenBom's.... Margate is on the up and the old town seems particularly trendy! I have already found some lovely places to eat and drink and of course there is the Turner Gallery if you are feeling particularly cultured....

First up, GB Pizza, scrubbed wooden floors, trendy lighting and a very interesting loo.. pizza is delicious, very thin base and around £8-10 each, love the fact you pour your own wine from a barrell.... You should definitely try it out...

The Lifeboat is a tiny little pub nestled in Margate's old town and great for a speciality ale... apparently they have an open mic night every Tuesday, definitely going along to that at some point!

Gelato at Melt is a gorgeous ice-cream parlour and part of the very glamorous Sands Hotel, I had the salted caramel and biscotti flavours, AMAZING!!! and it was nearly as big as my head!! The first Thursday of every month the sands hotel hosts a jazz & dinner night, 3 courses and live entertainment for £35, Im thinking of taking my dad for fathers day! I am slightly obsessed with the Sands Hotel and also took my friends for Afternoon tea on Thursday, it was delicious....

Last week i also visited the Turner Contemporary Gallery for the first time and had a wander around the Grayson Perry exhibition.... what an eye opener!!!

Last up a photo of the gorgeous beach.... would think I was in LA... Next month i am planning on visiting the infamous shell grotto, The Greedy Cow for some lunch, The Glass Jar for a sneaky cocktail and their amazing looking fish & chips... and of course a trip to the newly opened revamped Dreamland!

knitting maniac: baby cardigans

with the very imminent arrival of my future niece/nephew I have been knitting away..... I have only just managed to master the art of knitting, so I am sticking to this one pattern and just changing the colour of the wool, blue - done, pink - done, now onto green...... I will include the pattern at the end...

use 3.25mm needles - up to 3 months in age

Main part

begin at lower edge of back. Cast on 56 stitches and work in garter stitch (plain knit) until work measures 14cm.

Sleeve shaping

Cast on 30 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows. Continue on these 116 stitches until work measures 20cm.

Neck Shaping

First row, knit 55 and leave these on a spare needle, cast off next 6 stitches, knit to the end, and then knit back to the neck edge. **Cast off 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row and the next alternate row and 1 stitch on the next 3 alternate rows. Continue on remaining 48 stitches until work measures 23cm, ending at side edge. You are now at the shoulder edge, knit 5 rows, ending at neck edge and then cast on 21 stitches at the beginning of the next row. Continue on the 69 stitches till the work measures 32cm, ending at side edge. Cast off 30 stitches at the beginning of the next row, then continue on the remaining 39 stitches for a further 14cm. Cast off.

rejoin yarn to stitches on needel and complete the other side starting from **.

Neckband

With right sides of work facing, using a circular needle, pick up and knit 20 stitches across the left back, 28 round the front and 20 along the right back. Begin with a knit row, then work 4 rows in rev st & then cast off loosely. 

Make up

Join side and underarm seams.

project upcycling

for my parents christmas present i offered my time instead of buying them a  present (being a student, this was very handy) i offered to paint their 3 chest of drawers and update them...They wanted a more contemporary feel so i decided to go with a dark grey paint - DULUX Timeless Classics - Bowler Hat £29.99 for 2.5 litres. and white ceramic drop pulls from Pushka knobs, £3.95 each. I think they look brilliant, what a change, here are the before and after photos.

christmas cake, ginger & mandarin trifles & christmas eve canapes

sorry i've only just got round to blogging about all my christmas cooking, first up was my amazing christmas cake, we bought the Waitrose Christmas Cake Kit, as it had been recommended by a few friends, it gives you all the dry ingredients, including the booze soaked fruits, the cake was quite light and delicious, way too many slices have already been eaten... Decided on a fairly simple decoration of a few small pine trees and my trusty little reindeer and some red ribbon, I love it, think it looks really vintage! I would highly recommend buying this kit, took all the hassle of making the cake, happy days!

next up, i was in charge of desserts for christmas day, I wanted to make a traditional trifle with a twist, so decided on vintage tea cup ginger & mandarin trifles... they were delicious.
First off start by slicing a Mcvities Jamaica Ginger cake and spreading each slice with M&S ginger curd and place in the bottom of each tea cup. I then used 2 cans of mandarins in orange juice and heated them up very gently with a splash of Grand Marnier, a stick of cinnamon and 1 star anise, once cooled I then added the fruit and some juice to the tea cup. Next up I made some homemade custard and then topped with whipped cream (I added 2 dessert spoons of mandarin and Grand Marnier Tesco cream), give it a go, they were a fun twist on a classic dessert...

Finally, our family spent christmas eve at my sister and brother-in-laws as they recently moved into their beautiful new house! Katy and I made lots of scrummy canapes, including fig, proscuitto, mozarella and mint forks, salmon, cream cheese, beetroot and chive spoons, pastrami, sun-dried tomato, & horseradish croutons, chorizo & lemongrass puff swirls and pork and apple sausage rolls, all washed down with some tasty pomegranate Prosseco cocktails...

flowerpot seeded bread

my lovely friend Carly bought me a flowerpot seeded bread kit for my birthday this year, this gift is totally up my street and I couldn't wait to give it a go, it was really simple. Just add the flour/seed mix to a bowl with the packet of yeast, 160ml of warm water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then knead for about 10 minutes, leave to prove in the greaseproof lined flowerpots for up to an hour (or once they have doubled in size) then bake in the oven (fan assisted) at 190 for 20 minutes, they were so delicious!! I want to host a dinner party now just so that I can serve them up for starters with soup... too cute!

handmade christmas wreaths

mum and i decided to attempt some christmas wreath making today, here are the results!!! all greenery foraged for locally so they were absolutely free!! Merry Christmas!

what do you need?

1 x wire coat hanger

1 x roll of florists green tape

green florists wire

ivy, holly, any greenery you can pick locally

berries

christmas robin plates

a few months ago I spotted these gorgeous Royal Worcester gold trim side plates in my local second hand shop and knew I would be able to up-cycle them at some point.....

Now the temperature has dropped and it is feeling a lot more festive, I decided to go with these very cute little robins, how cute?....

ps sorry for the lack of posts, busy being a student midwife, start my placement on Monday, wish me luck....

Coconut & Banana loaf

i haven't baked in a while now, so on Sunday I was in the mood to give something new a go, I saw this recipe a while ago in a newspaper, forgive me I can't remember which one.... Without the frosting you could even serve it as a breakfast loaf, very light and interesting combination of flavours, I would highly recommend giving it a try...

ingredients

3 mashed ripe bananas

200g coconut milk

2 eggs

120ml vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g granulated sugar

350g self raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

120g desiccated coconut

1/2 tsp if salt

frosting

150g icing sugar

300g cream cheese

125ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract (seeds of 1 vanilla pod)

topping

50g toasted dessicated coconut

method

1 - Heat oven to 170C, grease 2 litre loaf tin

2 - blend bananas and coconut milk together

3 - beat oil and sugar together, gradually add the 2 eggs, stir in the vanilla and banana & coconut milk mix

4 - whisk together the flour, bicarb and salt in a mixing bowl, then fold wet ingredients into the dry & add desiccated coconut.

5 - pour into the loaf tin and bake for 60 minutes

6 - to make the frosting, whip the cream and vanilla, then add to the cream cheese and icing sugar

7 - spread the frosting on top of the cake once cool, toast the 50g desiccated coconut and sprinkle over the top!!

DIY Floral Letter

i was recently browsing Pinterest and came across this little craft project on The Mrs & Momma blog that I really want to give a go... I have a few old picture frames which I want to use for something so thought this would be the perfect answer.... will let you know how i get on!