Week Off

Last week I took a week off work, with the best intentions of getting some wedding to do boxes ticked, and other general household bit's and pieces done.

Well I did some stuff but I'll have to admit I wasn't overly productive.

I made these...

Home made lemon curd, Italian meringue and waffles, from the Meringue Girls cookbook, seriously scrummy.

Played with fire (BBQ at a friends house), had a couple of sessions with my personal trainer, and went to the cinema to see X-Men Days of Future Past, which I loved. Did some wedding crafts,

more on those later.

Knitting,

yoga mat bag that I may have ruined with bad wool, damn me trying to be thrifty with left overs...

And enjoyed a happy hour with my fella.

So I guess I did do stuff, just not the stuff I wanted to do, oh well no point fretting, I had fun at the time.

Surely I'm not the only one that unintentionally wastes time on things not on my lists? Am I?

Sugar Roses

I don't know if I've mentioned but I am planning to make my own wedding cake. They just seem so expensive and putting the word wedding in front of anything seems to bump up the price ten fold, so I though I would give it a bash. 

We had decided on a traditional fruit cake as this is on of our favourites, it can also be baked months in advance so that would take some of the pressure off. But I still wanted it to look a bit fancy so on Saturday I attended a cake decorating class with my mum and aunt to learn how to make sugar roses.

We started with a tear drop of icing and just started adding petals.

They shape up quite quick,

It can be fiddly and you have to remember to do things in the right order,

I was super pleased with how they came out, a little direction goes a long way.

Also had a quick bash at buttercream roses, they are crazy easy when you know how and have the right tools.

What do you think? Not bad for a first attempt.

We took the class at Dee's Creative Cakes she does do scheduled classed, but you can also book in for a private class if there is something specific you want to do, like we did.

Mr. Fox Stole my heart

Check out this little cutie, I knitted him up over my Christmas break using a pattern from Tiny Owl Knits Woodland Knits.

I think I am in love. He is so soft, and such a joy to knit, quite quick too because it's chunky wool on big needles. I had to improvise a bit with the ears because I didn't have size 7 double points, but I am so happy with how he came out. Still might put a little hook on his chin so I can sucure him a bit easier. I also need to keep him away from Molly, (cat) she thought he was a new playmate and started playing rough. Thankfully Adam saved him before she took and eye out.

I can't wait to do a few more patterns from this book they are all so cute. I have promised to finish the jumper I am knitting my fella first though so it may be a while. I've only just started the second side and I still have the sleves to do...

I've made the pictures small because they are not great quality, thinking I should start using my fancy pants camera a bit more instead of relying on my phone. It's just me being lazy so I really must try harder, maybe another goal for 2014?

What do you think of my fox?

2014 Already?

I can't believe we are1 week into 2014 already! Time is just whizzing by.

I've got my new diary, and as always I am going to attempt to be more organised this year. I always have the best of intentions. I don't tend to make resolutions just little deals with myself and targets. This year I am more determined than ever when it come to fitness goals. I do not want to be a fat bride, and I am getting married this year!!

Last year I gave up smoking, I stopped in February and haven't touched one since, which is pretty cool I don't usually have that much resolve so I'm quite proud of myself. Especially as my other half is was a smoker. (He is attempting to give up)

This year I would like to give up take aways. We have been quite bad in the past and anytime we can't be bothered to cook we turn to Just Eat, which shamefully wasn't all that rare. So we have made a pact to resit and for each month we manage it we will treat ourselves to a fancy dinner out. 

I also need to focus on my fitness, start taking my half marathon training seriously and keep signing up to organised runs so I can stay focused. Hopefully combined with eating better this will have the desired results when it comes to slimming down.

I would like to set small yoga targets too like nailing a specific pose, working my way up to a headstand by the end of the year. I know that doesn't sound particularly spectacular but I am no where near at the moment so it would be quite an achievement for me.

Sewing is also on my list, it's something I've had an interest in for a couple of years but never really done anything about, so inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee I am going to give it a go this year, first project to be some pyjama bottoms for Adam. I'll let you know how I get on.

Do you make targets and fresh starts at the start of a new year?

Christmas Catch Up

I pretty much gave the computer a wide birth over Christmas, it wasn't intentional just got caught up in other things I guess. So here is a quick round up of what I got up to.

Christmas Pudding Dash, a 5 mile run around an estate in Battle. 5 miles is the furthest I've run to date so I was a bit nervous. It didn't help that there was constant rain, mud and winds but I did it. I was so proud of myself, i may have been slow and steady, but I finished and that's the main thing surely. My time was 1 hour and 1 min, and I got a Christmas pud, medal and soaked to the bone for my trouble, half marathon next...

I revamped an old cookbook stand that I bought at a boot sale for 50p about 5 years ago. 3 coats of enamel paint later, I'm really chuffed with how it's come out, can't believe I didn't do it sooner.

Freestyled some legwarmers, well I only did one in the end. I loved how the pattern panned out though. I may well do the other one soon, but I got distracted by Mr. Fox (more on him another time).

Finally managed to chalkboard paint my larder unit. Not as easy as you may think with a curious white cat trying to stick her nose into everything so it did take a few days, thankfully we are pleased with it, just need some chalk now!

Other than that my break was filled with food, films and friends. What more could you ask for?

Hope you had a great Christmas, even though it seems an age ago already.