Great finds....

During my week off I found these super little fellows along the way.
The guy on the left was £3 from Barmouth Antique Centre (where my engagement ring is also from!). He is a very handy scissor holder with a cheeky little tape measure hidden in his bottom.
The guy on the right was 75p from St Luke's Hospice shop and is a wooden pen holder (he has a box at the back) and still has his "made in Germany" sticker on the back.
Great little pals who are useful to boot!

From pumpkin to pie.

I've been having a smashing week off and it's getting to the end of the week when I think "I don't want to go back to work" :( But Alas! back I must go so I should suck it up and get on with my week.
Today I carved my pumpkin ready for Hallowe'en weekend! I've gone for a traditional Jack-o-lantern face with a cheeky lil' wink. And with the poor guys inners I made chilli roasted seeds which are yummy and potato and pumpkin pie. It's tastiest EVER!
I roasted the pumpkin with whole cloves of garlic and salt and pepper. Then I mixed it into tasty mashed potato and sealed in shortcrust pastry.... Oh yes... and of course I poked little chunks of cheddar into the mixture to create gooey pools of cheese. I had a slice for my lunch and was very pleased with the results!
Other fun stuff I have done this week includes my brother, sister-in-law and three brilliant nephews coming over to play. It was a rainy day outside so we couldn't play at the park so we had lunch and played with toys with the little 'uns and the eldest played Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmares for hours!
I also went to see Despicable Me with a group of friends. It is a very good kids film... I am a fan of kids film because I have never grown up and hope I never will.
I had lunch at Heeley City Farm (again!) with my lovely fiance (we love that place!) and saw all the lovely animals (I really really want some Guinea Pigs).
Last night I went for tea at my oldest buddies. We watched Snow Dogs (has all the things to make a great film... Cuba Gooding Junior... Huskies... Sisqo.... but was very odd!) and talked weddings and babies (not my baby! A friend is pregnant!) then went out for wine and dancing. It was supposed to be 70s/80s/90s at the hideous Leadmill (worst club ever) but when we got there they were playing Cheryl Cole and Justin Beiber! Yick! We had a dance when some older stuff came on then were home for 2 am.
Today has been a pyjama day with pumpkin making and nice long snooze as tomorrow is the "quality over quantity" Hallowe'en party with lots of horror film and snacks!
Hip hip hooray!

Happy Hallowe'en!

It's that time of year again! HALLOWE'EN! Yaaaaay!
I love Hallowe'en and always have. As a child I was painfully shy. I didn't like strangers. I didn't like people to look at me. I didn't like to leave my Mum and Dad's sides.......Except on Hallowe'en! I loved, for some reason, dressing up all scary. I loved bobbing for apples. I loved carving pumpkins. And I still do!
I looked forward to it with the same level of excitement s I did Christmas.... and you don't even get presents at Hallowe'en! My Dad would take me and my brother and all our neighbours out Trick or Treating. We'd all dress up and have those horrid stinky masks and a pumpkin. He'd call us the blackhand gang and take us to people we knew in the neighbourhood (I think trick or treating strangers is a bit weird!) who would give us 50p or little sweets.
After this we'd go back home and my Mum would have made food and we'd have a little Hallowe'en party! It was the most fun!
So this year, the same as last year, I have booked the whole week off work to fully appreciate the Autumnal goodness. I will carve my pumpkin early and make some tasty food with it! I will wear my new Hallwe'en brooch all week! I will watch lots of horror films!
A pre-cursor to Hallowe'en that I feel I should mention (and linking directly to my picture above) I went to a horror film festival at the weekend that was excellent and highly recommended.
http://www.celluloidscreams.co.uk/ Go here for details about the festival (which sadly you'll have missed but you can go next year!) and other events that are on throughout the year which I promise to make more of an effort to attend! (The films are always on late on a Friday and I have to get up early on Saturday. Plus, I'm a big baby that needs its sleep!)
Coming to the picture..... This is a still from City of the Living Dead staring Catriona MacColl. the film was shown on Saturday night at the festival and was followed by a Q&A with the star! It was amazing to see this film on the big screen surrounded by the audience and was a totally different experience to watching it at home! Catriona MacColl was very gracious and insightful with lots to say about the film, the genre and the era.
Most of those that attended the festival were really lovely friendly people and it was nice to go somewhere where you have a shared interest and can just have a chat to a total stranger.
What a good start to my Hallowe'en week!

Festive progress.

I feel quite proud of myself this year as I am storming ahead with my Christmas shopping and think it will be mostly done by the end of November so I can spend December drinking Baileys and eating cheese boards!
However.... I REALLY WANT THIS BARBIE! Its Super Style Barbie and I got her when I was a wee 'un and loved her so. NOw she is gone from my life I must find her again. This could hinder my Christmas fund and time spent looking for presents.

10.10.10

It's been 8 years today and it doesn't get any easier. I still miss my Dad so much and would like to see my family today but the best I've managed so far is text messaging.

What a wild week!

By this cutie pie little picture I'm sure you guessed why the week's been so wild!
On Tuesday, whilst wrestling around in big boxes of wellies at work, my boyfriend phoned me and asked if I wanted to go out for tea.... I said yes thinking he meant the pub or something.
I carried on wrestling shoes and such when he called back and said he'd booked us a table at BBs ( a lovely Italian in Sheffield ). I was so disgusting from my battles with shoes I said I couldn't go as I needed to have a shower and change out of my hideous gardenning/ housework garb that I'd worn for the purpose of shoe wrestling. He seemed so disappointed and I felt so guilty! I also felt bad tht he had to cancel the table and take trade away from BBs! But I said if he booked in at Bella Napoli ( another fine Italian restaurant but nearer to our house) for a little bit later I could shower and stuff and then we could have a nice tea.... so that is what he did.
I met my friend Rachel for a quick iced tea and said I had to dash as we were going out for tea and Joe was being slightly odd (bearing in mind we have NEVER booked a table for just the two of us in our three years together!).
So I went home, had a shower, spruced up a little and we went and had a cheeky drink in the local pub on the way to Bella Napoli. We had a lovely meal and Joe was insistent that I had dessert but I was so stuffed I said I didn't think I could! He kept saying I should so I ordered Tirimisu ( if anyone gets chance to go here you should have this dessert because it ROCKS!!! I've had it a few times and it gets better every time!).... back to the story!
The Tirimisu arrived and I began eating the mountain of whipped cream on top and as I did Joe slid out of his seat and got on his knees! The whole room went fuzzy and I didn't know if he was messing about so was just laughing quite alot throughout his proposal! But I did say yes and the waitress ran over with some little cups of Amaretto and the restaurant owner came over to see us and congratulate us!
He had bought me a ring from the antique centre near our house and it was a perfect fit and beautiful too! So it was a wonderful surprise and even more so when we got in he had a bottle of champagne hidden in the fridge! Even though we were stuffed with food and wine we toasted with champagne and phoned our families!
Joe's Mum thought something terrible had happened because he never phones her, my Mum thought I was pregnant and my brother just laughed hysterically! Pfft!
Now we have to begin the planning... the saving.... the hard bit! I'm useless at organising anything so this will prove to be an interesting process!
Thanks for reading!