Priscilla's Cottage

2012 Goals. And a little art

2012-01-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
I hope your new year is going well and Friday the 13th has been good to you?

What have you started this year that is new? any new year resolutions or goals?

* One of my plans is to finish my year 2 Teaching assistant course.

*Start and finish the level 3 course.

* Take a Maths and English top up course, or redomy Maths and English GCSEs.

* Learn to Knit

Just a few of the things I have been thinking about.

I am loving working at the Primary school, over Christmas was just so lovely! I am enjoying my time there. I think when my course has finished I will stay on voluntary when I can. Over Christmas they put my artistic skills to good use in the class room and asked me to draw Santa in his sleigh with reindeer to go above the play area. The play area for Christmas was of course Santa's Grotto!

It was quite a large wall, I had a great time drawing and painting them. I love doing anything like this and it was so nice to be able to be useful to the school in this way. Here is the final piece up on the wall...

Close up of the sleigh, I drew these freehand.

It would be fantastic if I could get a permanent position in this school, there are only 67 pupils in the whole school and the staff are great!

Lets hope the new year brings that possibility!

I have just received this book from the library, I thought it sounded interesting on Amazon. It looks quite wordy but it should be a good read.

Its called 'The Believing Brain' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Believing-Brain-Michael-Shermer/dp/0805091254/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326482769&sr=8-1

Talk soon Priscilla x

Reading,Crafting and some sad news

2012-01-04T11:15:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone.
Wishing you a Happy New Year!

I have some sad news to share. My Grandma passed away over Christmas. It was quite sudden and she will be sadly missed,we are remembering her and her life and the happiness she brought us. xxx

I am looking towards 2012. As probably everyone is,thinking about what I would like in my life and how I can make changes and looking at the things I am most thankful for.

I have been writing a to do list, do you do that? Things you want to experience or create in your world? and a little about how to go about it? I love looking back over the lists I have made over the years, seeing what I have ticked off! and looking at how they came into my world! Its quite fun and I love doing it every year.

photos found on Pinterest.

One goal I have is to create a journal. I do have a small diary that I write in but I love the look of scrapbooking and I do enjoy been creative! but not scrapbooking just to hold photos,as I am not really into that. It would be more of a life journal or things that are happening that mean a lot.

I have gathered some inspiration for how I want the journal to look.

So I have been cutting up the Christmas cards! taking little phrases that can be used again,snowflakes and card toppers etc. I can't wait to put them to good use!

Another thing I am really interested in at the moment is The Law Of Attraction you have prob heard of The Secret?

I have found this wonderful channel on you tube that is very similar to it. A lady called Esther Hicks. They take the law of attraction principle a lot futher and I have watched some amazing videos by them.Well worth a look if you are interested in that sort of subject!http://www.youtube.com/user/AbrahamHicks/featured

I am currently reading
'Dreams can come true - it could happen to you...For the past two years, Evie Taylor has lived an invisible existence in London, a city she hoped would bring sparkle to her life. But all that is about to change. For winter has brought a flurry of snow and unexpected possibilities. Hidden away in the basement of Hardy's - once London's most elegant department store - Evie manages the stockroom of a shop whose glory days have long since passed. When Evie overhears that Hardy's is at risk of being sold, she secretly hatches a plan. If she can reverse the store's fortunes by December 26th - three weeks away - and transform it into a magical destination once again, she might just be able to save it. But she's going to need every ounce of talent and determination she has. In fact, she's going to need a miracle. '

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0857202901/ref=sib_dp_kd#reader-link

Its a light hearted read,perfect for this time of year.

Hope you are all well and see you again soon ;) xxx

Happy Christmas 2011 !!!

2011-12-25T03:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas everyone!!

I hope you all have a lovely day and santa brings you much peace and happiness!

I am off to see my parents and grandma later today, it was my grandmas 80th birthday on the 23rd and I made her this cake....

Enjoy the day! eat lots,laugh lots and spread the joy!!! See you all in 2012

Priscilla xxx

The Crucible Play

2011-11-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Well it is all over and what a fantastic time we all had!!! I am sad to see it end but we have some great photos from the show. We staged the play on the floor so we could be near to the audience.It simple set but most affective I think. Hope you enjoy the photos, I am Elizabeth Proctor in the brown dress, John proctor is in the cream shirt, Rev hale,Abigail and Mary Warren. If you do not know the story to the Crucible I recommend you read it or watch the movie.Such a powerful story based on real events on the Salem Witch trials of 1692.

Here I am as Elizabeth Proctor.I loved the costume!!

John Proctor,Elizabeth and Rev Hale. Hale had come to question the proctors about Witchcraft in their house. Elizabeth is accused.

John and Elizabeth arguing before Hale arrives at the door.

Elizabeth hands the poppet over to the court. The poppet is the reason Elizabeth is taken to the jail. Although it belongs Mary Warren....

Rev Hale telling us I am accused of Witchcraft. He asks us lots of questions about our beliefs.

Elizabeth telling John Abigail wants her dead so she can replace Elizabeth in their marriage!

Act 1. The afflicted girls, Betty and Rebbecca Nurse comforting the screaming child.

Rev Hale tells Tituba to confess to witchcraft and go back to god. Abigail is in the yellow dress,she had an affair with my husband!

John rips up the warrant for Elizabeth's arrest!!

In the rehearsal room. There were 20 members of cast in this play,not everyone was there for this photo. We had a fantastic time and I cant wait to do another with this group!!! Hope you enjoyed the photos. These are taken from Act 1 and 2. If I can get hold of act 3 and 4 I will post those too....

See you all again soon Priscilla xx

Reading and Crafting

2011-11-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone, I am just popping in before the madness of the Crucible begins.We are rehearsing from 12.00pm to around 5.00pm tomorrow! Then costume run on Monday and again on Tuesday, for the show to start from Wed to Sat! I will be very sad to see the end of this play. I have met some great new people in the new group and I love the play. Here's hoping I am in the next one!

Between rehearsals I have been making more Fimo creations and trying to get back into reading a good book. I love to read, but don't seem to have had as much time lately. I picked up a YA book from the library that I had on wish list in Jan! Its called Rosebush. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7778996-rosebush

Remember these little characters? Mr men and Little Miss

Mr Bump, Mr Tickle, Mr Messy, Mr Happy,Little Miss Stubborn,Little Miss Sunshine,Little Miss Naughty,Little Miss Neat,Mr Chatterbox,Mr Square

If you know anybody who would like any charms they are £1.05 each.

I hope you are all having a great weekend. I will keep you updated with the show. Bye for now Priscilla xx

Happy Halloween!! and the Crucible Play

2011-10-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I hope you are all well. Its that time of year again! Halloween. It has crept up on me this year and the weather has been so mild in the UK it hasn't felt like Autumn. What are you all up too this year? Carved any pumpkins? I am hoping to carve a pumpkin tonight and go to my local pub tomorrow with a friend, they are having a bit of a do in there and I have never been before so should be interesting.

Although I havnt been prepared for Halloween, I have been feeling very WITCHY!! back in August I joined a new Drama group and they were casting the Crucible by Arthur Miller. Well as most of my regular readers know I love all things Halloween and Witchy so I had to join.!! I am happy to say I got the part of Elizabeth Proctor and the rehearsals are going great!
Elizabeth and John Proctor
We had photos taken for the newspaper the other day I cant wait to see them, I will post photos and links when I get them. The show is on the 23-26th November. This is one of my favourite plays, and the movie with Winona Ryder is amazing if you havnt seen it I recommend it!

Doing this play has reminded me just how much I want to visit Salem Ma, I would love to go the the place where all the history happened and it looks amazing.

I will say goodbye for now! Happy Halloween !!!

Priscilla xx

Halloween!!! and craft room!

2011-09-25T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
well its nearly that time of year again! My favourite time of year Halloween. This year has flown by and although I love the Autumn this year has gone far too quickly. Lots of great things have happened though, many changes in my life. I moved house this year and my parents have just sold their house! 2011 seems a year of change. Anyhow it is not quite over yet, lol

I have been turning the spare room I showed you last time into a craft room.It is early days, but I am happy with my my little craft space. I am adding a few more drawers, I was going to get a larger table but this little one is fine for now! I can build it up over time. I mostly make my fimo creations in this space.

I love my Keep Calm and Carry on poster! I think it suits the craft room. The picture in the frame is some wrapping paper I loved, cupcakes with sparkle on ;)

I have also been making some Halloween fimo charms for bracelets etc. This collection was for one lady! I had a ball making these.... I am now thinking of Christmas!

Dracula Face! Made from fimo......

Well I will go for now I am making some more fimo items. I am at School tomorrow and they are preparing for the harvest festival. We are learning a song about 'peas from the pod'! lol The course is going well so far and I am loving my time at the school.

Bye for now Priscilla x

Craft fair! and Halloween miniatures

2011-08-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
Just letting you all know I am still here. Settling nicely into my new home,still some things to un-pack and some furniture to get,but enjoying the new home immensely!

I have been crazy busy this last few week, I am getting ready for a craft fair selling my fimo items!!!! Very exciting, and unexpected. I went into my chip shop and read a flyer for a craft fair in a local village hall on the 21st Aug. I rang the lady and she had space for me,as long as I don't sell my items as jewellery! As they already have 2 jewellery tables. So I am taking bookmarks,keyrings,phone charms and fairy doors! and anything else I can make in time ....lol

The cake has witches hats and candy corn around the sides around 2cm wide
I have also been working on a order for Halloween miniatures for a dolls house. A lady contacted me and asked if I could make her some items and I jumped at the chance! I love Halloween, the colours,such a magical night. I find a lot of inspiration for this season, now ask me to think for summer and its not as easy lol. With this in mind I came up with some ideas for her and she chose:
Halloween cake
Skull and bones
Witches Hat
Cauldron
3 Pumpkins
Pumpkin Pie
Potion bottles
Stack of old books
and 3 tombstones!

Tombstones are around 1.5 inch tall. Handmade from Fimo.Ghost,Roses,Skull details
I had a great time making these, making miniatures is something I have wanted to do for a while, dolls houses have always fascinated me. I think if I had one, it would a Halloween house! or a autumn themed house, heck why not a autumn street lol I love making food, pies cakes anything.Pumpkin Pie came to mind...

Pumpkin pie! Oh I cant wait for October lol

Witches hat Harry Potter style. I added the face like the sorting hat. I may change this to black if the lady would prefer a black hat.

Thats what I have been up too! I will have lots more posts once the craft fair is over and photos too. It is the first craft fair I have ever done so a little nervous,not knowing how much to take and trying to suit all themes! There are 19 tables in all. We are just hoping someone turns up! If all goes well there will be another one in December, so cross fingers.

Well I am going to carry on putting my Harry potter bookmarks together! A part of the collection I am taking to the fair. Talk soon
Priscilla x

Moving In to the New House!!

2011-07-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!
I thought I would update you on the house move. I have the keys and have started moving boxes into the bungalow. Oh the joys! lol. Isn't it funny how much you gain over 4 years, I have cleared out some things but have lots to sort through when I finally move in! I have a week left in my old house to finish moving.
I took some photos before I started unloading all my things. It may take me a while to find a place for everything but I have much more storage so I am looking forward to the process!

This is the living room, it is larger than my last one and brighter too, I have been looking at colour schemes and decorating ideas. I love the fact that it is a blank canvas...

Here are a few photos.. living room

Second Bedroom - Which will be used as my craft room! I have many ideas for this room too. The other side of the room will have a work table and craft storage.

Fitted wardrobes. Which is great for the craft room! I think I may put my lap-top in the space...
The doors open to the back garden which I think is a great addition to the room.

The kitchen - When I arrived at the house on Sat 23rd July I was pleasantly greeted with a welcome card and a yellow potted rose from the landlady, really made me smile and such a lovely gesture!

I cant wait to make this house a home. Today I am going to my old house to sort out more of my belongings. I have been staying at my parents while my old house is turned inside out. My current landlady has organised for an estate agent to come take photos of the house tomorrow, so she can let it out as soon as I leave, and she wants it tidy! I think this is a bit silly (putting it mildly) as I have a week left to move out and at the moment as you would expect the house is in no fit state to photograph! Boxes everywhere and the cabinets that wont fit into the car have been taken apart so are currently in my living room! Why she couldn't wait until I leave like she has done with her other tennants ( my neighbours) I will never know!
Inspiration

I adore this living room. I love the blues in the photo. I would like to incorporate these colours and ideas into my own living room. So pretty! and maybe throw in a few bright colours too.... and some crochet cushions lol

See you soon Priscilla x

New House!!

2011-07-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I just wanted to stop by and let you all know the good news! I was chosen to rent the house that I was looking at. Even though it had a rocky start to begin with, I am really happy to be moving! One of the main reasons I am moving is to have a little more privacy and a second bedroom. I cant wait to sit out in the garden and plant flowers and just relax, my last garden was very open and communal so it will be a nice change!

I will be turning the second bedroom into a craft room! So keep an eye out for lots of room makeover photos, as I hope to show how it is coming along!

I am getting the keys on the 23rd July! I will show more photos then. I have all these ideas for how I would like to decorate swirling around my head! lol

Hope you are all well and talk soon
Priscilla x

BATMAN!! Crafting a Batmobile...

2011-06-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, thank you for the support on the new home hunting! I will let you know how it all turns out...
Nanana,na,na...Batman
Why I am I talking about batman you may ask??? Well I had a request from a lady to make a Fimo Batmobile from the 1989 move! Her husband is fond of the 1989 version of the car, and she wanted me to make a cake topper as as surprise for his 40th birthday.

I love a challenge and am always interested in making new items. I began looking at photos of the car to get all the details and the overall shape. Even You-Tube provided some good clips and would you believe people are even selling replicas of the car that you can drive!?

Here are some photos of the car, it is around 14cm in length. Made completely from fimo and handmade by me.

I tried to get the detail,it is hard to see in the photos but there are markings where the guns are etc lol

and one more photo of the back of the batmobile...

Here is a You tube video of the car and movie, I used this as inspiration!!! I havnt watched the movie, but I now love this car!

Here is a plastic model of the car, this one is gray,but the car is black and I wanted it to be true to the movie.

POW!!Kapow!!!

Hope you enjoyed this little trip down Batman memory lane....

See you again soon Priscilla xx

House hunting....More changes!

2011-06-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

House Hunting!!!
Hi everyone,
I thought I would stop by and mention even more changes that are happening at Priscilla's Cottage. As some of you know I moved into this house around the time I started blogging 4 year ago! It was my first home and I have enjoyed living there. I have been thinking about moving for lots of reasons mainly just outgrowing where I am,but this week some things happened with neighbours, totally out of the blue, which have upset me and I am now eager and ready to move. I wont go into it,but it has made me finally be sure I would like to move and try somewhere new!

Is there something in the air? This week is a strange one.
So I am house hunting! I am still looking in my local area and I am quite excited. I have been to see a house I like and there is a little story I would like to share I will warn you now it is quite unbelievable and I am thinking there must be something in the air at the moment. Is there a planetary strangeness going on that I don't know about? any way here we go.....

I went to see a house I like, the estate agent I met couldn't tell me if it was long lease or not. I told him I wanted the house,he said he would ring to let me know about lease in the morning. As I was leaving another couple were coming to see the house. I rang the estate agent next morning, as he didn't ring me..... Just to be told the other couple wanted it too and have put an application in that morning and he is just waiting to hear if the landlady has accepted them!!!! I was not told about any forms and couldn't do anything until he rang me. I have been cheated out of my perfect house! I have put forward a application anyway but don't have much hope as he has totally jumped over me, I am thinking he knew the couple....

I think something must be in the air this week as all sorts of strangeness has happened lol.... Do you ever get weeks like that?

But I am staying positive and looking forward to moving and all the changes that are on the cards at the moment. Who knows what 2011-2012 will bring!

To stay hopeful I am looking at inspiring photos like this. Just beautiful.
A garden is one of the reasons I cant wait to move, to create a cottage garden is a dream of mine and to decorate like something in this photo below... ;)

I can dream....lol until next time I will say goodbye for now

Priscilla x

New Beginnings! Teaching Assistant ;)

2011-06-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

New start for me...

I have just begun a new part of my life. I have started a course to train as a teaching assistant at a local school and I am loving it! I applied for the course in Feb, and got a placement straight away but it has taken until May for the college to get things sorted and me in the school! So I started last week, three days a week Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9.00am to 3.20pm.
This is a change in direction for me as most of you know I make and decorate cakes. I have done a lot of voluntary work over the last few years in museums and libraries, taking craft sessions and other groups where I really enjoyed helping children learn.

What finally made me look into a course was my back. I have a bad back and cake decorating was isincreasingly more a strain physically,although I will still do them part time and the school full time if I am lucky enough to get a job soon!

The course will take around 6 months and I can't wait to see what is in store for me! Yesterday we were practicing for 'sports day', Egg and spoon race,sack race and many others which I remember from my childhood. I am also making the fimo creations which are keeping me busy! So that is why I have been a bit absent lately.
I will still blog though and thank you to all my readers who have followed me this far and here's to more years and new beginnings!

Talk soon everyone
Priscilla xx

Liquorice Allsorts keyring

2011-05-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I tried to post a blog entry the other day and for some reason blogger would not publish! So here is another one! As you know I am having a lot of fun experimenting with fimo, I thought I would share one of my recent Creations. A friend of mine asked If I could make liquorice allsorts and turn them into a keyring for her brother!

These were great to make! I chose the more male colours of the allsorts... The others I made as beads/charms for bracelets.

Hope her brother likes them!

Just a quick post to say I am still around and see you all soon :)

priscilla xx

Royal Wedding! Cake and celebration x

2011-04-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

What a lovely day it was yesterday! Prince William got married! I watched the event on tv from around 9.30 am, then I had to deliver a cake to a friend who was having a 'Wedding Party'

I arrived at 11.00 am, just as kate was stepping out of the car to show the world her wedding dress. I was quickly ushered into the living room to catch the first glimpse! lol

I delivered the cake and came home to watch the rest..... Every other house I passed had bunting in the windows and flags flying. Since everyone had the day of work the air was filled with a wonderful atmosphere....
I loved making this cake, my friend said use your imagination and go wild! So I thought what better to have on a Royal cake but the queens Corgi dog celebrating the wedding with a cupcake!
I also added horseshoes,bells,roses and hand painted flags on the corgi's hat and cupcake topper!

And I wanted to share this.... How funny!! the best moment of the whole day. At around 3.00pm after the prince and his new wife had been inside for a while they emerged in this!

They chatted to each other laughing and waving, such a fun sight to see! Balloons were trailing behind with the words Just Wed. .... the crowds cheered and laughed.

A fantastic day..... hope you have enjoyed the photos
Priscilla xx

Mothers Day..

2011-04-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. Last Sunday was mothers day here in the uk and we had a nice relaxing weekend. I had been working on a little gift for my mum for a few week, mum likes to wear a keyring on her handbag so I made her this Bunny in a watering can.

The photo above is of mum and me in Egypt Luxor around 3 year ago.Mum loves Egypt we sometimes say she must of lived in Egypt in a previous life! lol... Dad took the photo! My mum and me are very close and spend time doing things together,gardening,going to the cinema, sharing stories etc. So this year I thought I would do a mothers day post .... Mum and me many years ago! lol.... I was 19 in this photo I am 32 now... I remember this day. I used to have really long hair and I had it cut into a bob,mum had her hair done too by the mobile hairdresser we both used! Oh how time flies by ;)

Here is another photo of the bag charm...... and the back of the charm...

If you celebrated Mothers day on Sunday hope you all had a lovely day xx Bye for now Priscilla xxx

October Theatre plays? Love your ideas!

2011-03-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

The photo above is from a play called 'A tomb with a view', October 2010. I am in the middle in white ;)

Hi everyone!

I have just returned from my local theatre company reading of our next play for June. It has been cast and although I am not in the play this time, there is talk to the next play we produce in October. Usually we have a company rule....... which is none one can direct a play unless you have directed a small 'One Act Play' that gave you experience. This rule has been changed this year due to the usual people not wanting to direct. Sooooo it is open to anyone! Of course we will have help from those who have directed!

I am writing this Blog post to ask for your Ideas and help and to have a little fun too! The play is in October and I would LOVE to direct my first play in the month of Halloween, and choose a play that suits the month!!

I was wondering if any of you had been to see, or know of any atmospheric plays that you think would suit the spooky month of Halloween? Can be ghost inspired,or murder mysteries, I would love to hear of any adaptions of great books you may have heard of!

Directing a play is something I would love to do. and it would be great to put forward a play to my group! SO I though why not ask my great blogging friends and see what books/plays etc you may know of or have seen...........

I know the 'Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of death' is also a script.how fantastic would that be, a cozy play!!!

Thank you for any help. look forward to hearing your favourite plays or movies as sometimes they are scripts too!

Talk soon Priscilla xxx

Cupcake Charm! And Etsy Treasury..

2011-02-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all having a great start to the week. As you know I set myself up an Etsy shop, called 'Priscillas Cottage' Lisa's Creations for my Fimo Charms and Pendants.

I am having a fun old time figuring out listing items and learning about SEO! I have added a new item that I loved making.... a Cupcake Charm! I made one for a lady who asked for a cupcake with a rose on top and this was the result. It reminds me of the shabby chic decorations!
There are so many great shops on Etsy I wonder how anybody sells anything! Its fun though and a good way to promote my work. No sales through Etsy yet but I remain optimistic.

I am also on Facebook where the lady that asked for this charm found me.

Here is my latest creation...I think I will make one for myself too! I am making more charms with various themes. I am working on Easter charms at the moment...

I have also been featured in a Treasury. My cake pendant at the bottom left!

Howl At The Moon

If you would like to see my shop visit me here 'Priscillas Cottage'

I hope you have enjoyed viewing my creations, Let me know what you think

Bye for now xx Priscilla

Keep Calm and Carry on decor...

2011-02-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I think everyone has seen these 'Keep calm' posters by now, Keep calm and Bake, Keep calm and eat a cupcake........ Well I found this original 'Keep Calm and Carry On' canvas in a local shop! I love it. I thought I would share where it now lives. In my living room above the fireplace. I have to admit in the time I have lived in this house I have never had a picture above the fireplace, I didn't really miss one not been there, I thought about it, but nothing ever said it needed to live there....but this new picture does,I think it looks perfectly at home,what do you think?

Can you see the other picture frame? This is a project I have had in mind for a while. As you know I love cakes, anything cake related, well I found some beautiful cake wrapping paper it is yellow with cakes on it, with sparkle glitter on the frosting, It is hard to see in the photos but it really sparkles in the light. I decided to frame the paper..... very simple and affective. I am quite happy with my little decorating project...... lol
My house is quite cottage in design, but I wanted to add a little retro colour into the mix, to brighten things up a bit... I am also working on some colourful cushions for the chair in this room, I will share those in another post. Hope you enjoyed the mini tour of my living room...

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Fimo Cake Charms...Feeling Creative.

2011-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I cant believe we are nearly at the end of January,where does the time go! Thank you for your great comments on the 2010 reads, I love hearing what you are all reading!

Between reading I have been doing a bit of crafting, I always feel more creative at the beginning of a new year, it feels like the year holds opportunity to create a whole new world! Anything is possible.... So I tend to begin more crafts!

I wanted to share a pendant I made for lady who ordered a charm from me. She loves cakes and asked if I could make her a two tier cake with pink roses. This is what I came up with, I sent it off to America and I am happy to say she is very happy with the charm. ;)

I am in the process of making a few more charms, I will share them another time. My grandma is still wearing the Chocolate log I made her for Christmas, so I promised I would make her a spring themed one!

I went to the library this week and came home with a few more books! Here is the book I am reading at the moment ...

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/604518.Fit_to_Die

I have only just started reading, but its very funny so far, a lot of talk about diet and resisting food..................... and there had been a murder...ooooh. lol. Hope its a good read. I'll let you know ...

Bye for now

Priscilla x

Book Reads of 2010! Add yours...

2011-01-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

Priscilla's 2010-reads book montage

Hello Everyone and happy New Year 2011!!

My first post for the new year is book themed one.....I wanted to share all the books I read in 2010, some I loved and others not so much. I rate and review the books I read on a great site called http://www.goodreads.com/. I always enjoy starting the year with a new book or lists I plan on reading.

At the moment I am reading http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6734456-murder-takes-the-stage

As you can see by my list I enjoy cozy books but also historical fiction and some YA books too! I hope you enjoy viewing the list. Are there any on the list you have read, what did you think of them? If you make your own 2010 list I would love to see it. Let everyone know by leaving a message and a link to your blog if you are also going to post your reads!

Priscilla's favorite books » My favourite read of 2010 was

Happy reading in 2011 everyone!

Priscilla x

Winter Wonderland Cake

2010-12-22T08:44:00.001-08:00

Happy Christmas everyone!

December has seen me decorating quite a few cakes. This cake was for auction at a black tie Christmas party event in aid of a local children's charity. The event was on the 14th Dec.What a great night, lots of music and comedy acts and items been donated to raffle and auction including my cake. The event was held at Blackpool Pleasure Beach!

I thought I would share a few photos of the Winter Wonderland Cake..

The reindeer is made by hand from sugarpaste and hand painted. This cake was a joy to make! I themed the decorations on old vintage Christmas cards. The sleigh was made piece by piece and painted too. Everything is edible and hand made. It took many weeks to make the decorations but I had fun and it went to a fantastic cause!

The snowflakes are made from royal icing.... the cake is a sponge cake with jam and butter cream and on the night 'Donnas Dream House ' charity went home with the cake! So I was very happy it went to the cause I was auctioning it for.

This cake let me go wild with advancing and trying new cake decorating skills. I painted this edible Santa plaque using food colours. His beard sparkled in the light as I used sparkle dust!!

A letter to Santa.....

The letter to Santa address reads:

Santa Claus

Candy Cane Lane

North Pole.....

A wonderful night was had by all and we raised 3,000 !!! I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos of the cake.

Wishing you all a magical Christmas and a Happy New Year 2011!!

Priscilla x

Another Year Older! Feeling Festive..

2010-12-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

It was my Birthday yesterday! 32 where did the time go??? lol. I had a lovely day and celebrated a few days before with a Christmas meal with the drama group. A good time was had by all... I am the one in the festive red top! I am also wearing one of the Christmas pudding pendants from the previous post!

On the 27 th November we had the Christmas church fayre. I always make a cake to raise funds for the church and all the drama group helps out. this year we raised £26, so we were happy! Joan and I sat taking the guesses for the 'Guess The Weight Of The Cake' at the fayre.

I put the decorations up early this year. Usually they go up the 8th so they are up for my birthday on the 10th,but this year I felt extra festive and put the tree up on the 1st!!

Hope you are all ready for Christmas See you again soon

xx Priscilla

Christmas Pudding Pendant

2010-11-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone. Well here I am again, I have been busy creating more charms from Fimo clay. I love working with Fimo and since Christmas is on its way I made myself this....I have also added The Christmas Pudding to my Etsy shop! I hope you like it...

I have also just completed my first orders for these Pendants and Charms!!!

A Bakewell tart

Christmas Pudding

A Carrot Cake Cupcake

http://www.etsy.com/people/PriscillasCottage

Please feel free to check out my Etsy Shop !!

So thats what I have been up too as well as decorating a cake for the Christmas fayre this year, for 'guess the weight of the cake' I am going with a Gingerbread theme this year! I will Post photos soon....

Have a good week everyone xx Priscilla

Polymer Clay Cake Pendants!

2010-11-16T05:13:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I have been away so long, I have been keeping busy crafting with Polymer clay and completing cake orders! Last week I made some Christmas Cupcakes....... These were a trial run for me and my family. Strawberry Frosting and Filling with Fondant decorations. I think they look like some of the Shabby Chic decorations! So I named them 'Retro Christmas' lol

I have also been making these! Polymer Clay cake pendants. I made these for myself a few month ago and I am adding more to Etsy which I have recently set up also selling cake decorations! I will be adding Christmas Pudding Pendants for Christmas let me know what you think.....this is a new project for me. I hope to be making more designs in the coming month.

Bakewell Tarts and Danish Pastry Pendants Each pendant is made by hand, no molds are used. The danish is glazed to look sticky and yum! I have enjoyed wearing these and I just love them......

If you would like to see what I am up too over on Etsy visit me here:
http://www.etsy.com/people/PriscillasCottage

I am feeling very Christmassy I know it's only November but I am playing the Christmas songs and Making Christmas cake decorations so christmas has come early to my home........ How is everybody set for christmas have you got your decorations up yet. I have a friend who has!

See you all again soon

Priscilla x

Happy Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Just popping in to wish you all a happy halloween....... I am still visiting your blogs, just not had a chance to post myself. Have agreat Halloween whatever you are up too!!

This is a Pumpkin I carved way back in 2005!!

Happy Halloween

Priscilla xx

Snow White Cake

2010-09-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

'Grumpy 'Sugar figure

Hi Everyone...

Here I am again with another cake decorating post. I have been very fortunate to have the same friend order 5 cakes in the last few month so she has been keeping me busy! And has ordered another for November....Yippeee. I am trying to get the business off the ground so it can become full time, so as many orders as I can get is a good thing....I hope she has many friends..lol

She told me about her daughters 4th Birthday party back in July and told me the date. Over the last few month I had a lot on my mind with my dads health I was sure the cake was needed for late Sept so was not too worried. I contacted my friend to see if she still wanted the cake and she said yes for next week!!!! I only had a week to decorate a two tier sponge cake and make all the decorations OMG PANIC!!!!

'Snow White' hand painted plaque

Snow White was the theme. I knew the little girl loves Grumpy and Dopey and we agreed to have two 3d figures and I would paint snow white in food colour. The figures are all edible, and based on the movie. She even lent me a book of her daughters for inspiration! luckily I managed to complete the cake in time but boy... I missed my usual prep time!!
' Dopey' sugar figure

Here is Dopey.. made from sugar paste. He is edible. Although he is supported with a cocktail stick. Which has to be removed first..

I took the cake to to my friend on the 4th Sept. She had hired a cute little chalet on our local peach promenade, it was small yet contained a kitchen, sink and a small table. I set up the cake and made use of the kitchen to add a few details on the cake. It was a beautiful hot day... I am pleased after such a shaky start the cake all worked out eventually!

Before all the details were added

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my recent cake decorating adventures! lol..

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Reading..

2010-08-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone.

I am sorry for my absence. I have had a very,very upsetting couple of week regarding my dads health I don't want to go in it it too much but I am happy to say he is feeling a lot better.
I would like to talk about the books I have been reading recently. As you know I bake and decorate cakes and what is better than reading a book that contains a tv cake competition! That is the theme of the book I have just finished reading.. called Death Takes The Cake ...

Synopsis from GoodReads: "To help boot ratings on her show Della Carmichael agrees to enter a televised cake competition sponsored by Reggi-Mixx, even though the company's owner, Regina Davis is an old college nemesis. When she finds someone drowned in a mixing bowl of batter, Della realizes solving this murder will be no cakewalk."

I enjoyed reading this book, the connection to baking is why I enjoyed reading. I would of liked a bit more in regards to the mystery itself. The theme reminded me a lot of the 'Food Network Cake Challenge' , that is on the Food Network channel. Not so many twists and not a lot in action or suspense but an enjoyable cozy all the same.

I also read and really enjoyed "Mama Does Time"

This is one of the better cozies I have read recently, great characters! and I also really loved 'Heaven Preserve us'
This author writes in a style that does not annoy you as you read. Some amateur sleuth's find themselves in silly situations with no regard for their safety and with no real reason for pushing their nose in... BUT this author deals with that problem with style, the plot is believable and she treats the characters and reader with respect...

I have read quite a few cozies and I am still waiting to read one that has it all, great character and a good plot and twists. When I find a great one I'll let you know!

Currently Reading. I can feel Autumn on its way here in the uk, it has been windy and raining and I have been in the mood for a autumn feel read. I enjoy reading fiction set at the time of the Witch Trials and I found this book at the library. Although not set in Salem it is so far a very gripping emotional read...set in Germany 1507.

Back of Book " When a visiting friar suggests that witchcraft is to blame for their failing crops, irmeltrud sees and opportunity to get rid of her burdensome mother-in-law, Gude. Frustrated with having to feed the old woman who brings nothing to the table,she is quick to point the dreaded finger of suspicion. Gude has three days to clear her name, or be led to the stake"....

I hope you are all well and I will be visiting your blogs and catching up... Bye for now

Priscilla x

Reading, Nature and the moon!

2010-07-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone.

I have once again been taking photos with the new camera and thought I would share some of the pics. I have never taken a photo of the moon before and it was such a beautiful night so very clear. I am now on the hunt for tripod!

I love the details the camera managed to pick up! 12 x optical zoom... I would love to take a shot with a tripod when dark.

Remember those Ducks In one of my last posts? Look who came to visit again and brought little fuzzy fur balls with her!

These little guys hung around my place for a long time, in the back garden, then they moved to the front and had a little drink. there were 9 chicks!

Aww so cute!

After a day of playing with the camera and my new friends, I settled down with a good book, my trip to the library had me spoilt for choice! Here's what I picked up..

Books on making miniature food ( a new project for me).Photography, Some YA fiction. And cozy mystery books.

I finished Heaven Preserve Us by Cricket McRae . I enjoyed this cozy.

I am currently reading Burning Issy a YA book with a tale set around the Pendle Witches in Lancashire uk.. Good so far.

I will say bye for now see you all soon

Prisiclla x

Cake Decorating - And A New Venture!!

2010-06-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

This week I have been decorating a cake for a friend I havn't seen since school. We met on a social network site and she asked me to make a cake for her partners birthday. He likes to play the guitar and his favourite artist is Neil Young. She said it is a surprise from her and her daughters! I delivered the cake today... It was nice to see her after all this time.

Here is what I came up with..
The cake is a sponge cake with butter-cream and strawberry jam... 8 inch round

I do enjoy getting the opportunity to try new cake toppers in sugar. The guitar was a fun challenge. How to do the strings??? He plays an eight string guitar... I new I wasn't fitting eight strings on, but not to worry they got there in one piece! Something I was worried about with such fine icing..Phew !! ha,ha
My friend told me one of Neil Young's well known songs is 'Harvest Moon'.. I thought music sheets with the album logo and music notes would be a good idea. The logo and music is hand painted (with a new fine paintbrush which is now my favourite thing!)
I finished the cake off with a few quirky music notes on the side.... I was working at 11.00pm at night doing the last touches... so its a good thing I had planned quirky twisty music than straight lines! ;)

NEWSFLASH... Coming Soon

I do enjoy making cake toppers in sugar, where people can keep them for a while which many people do... Although I always thought it a shame they eventually have to be eaten... and a lot of people have mentioned they would like the topper to keep forever.

SO I have been working with a new media POLYMER CLAY . Now I can create Cake Toppers for people to keep. At the moment this is in the early stages but this is something I am hoping to develop and offer for sale here on the blog or Etsy.

Where I can create Cake Toppers for sale and provide requests. This is an exciting new venture for me and I will keep you updated!

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Random..and books

2010-06-10T09:27:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Reading and books... I love books! I just thought I would share this small but rather fun piece of info with you... I have always enjoyed reading but books seem to have become a large part of my life this year. Last year I volunteered at Cancer Research where I organise and sort through large amounts of all types of books, which I love! All those old dusty books, and often brand new ones!.. I also work at the library on Thursdays with a computer class but when quiet I browse the shelves for hours!

Oh and am I the only one who is addicted to amazon??? I have also found a great site called GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/ where you can share your love of books with others, more find books to read, and list the ones you have read... Its a great site.

So yeah, books are where I am at right now lol....

I thought I would share some of the ones I have read recently, I read all sorts as you can see

Godmother The Secret Cinderella Story . This was beautifully written, made me want to read. The story was unusual and took a few twists on the Cinderella tale, but I enjoyed it. Found at the library waiting for computer beginners!

The Book Of Tomorrow - Really enjoyed this one! Magical read... Found at the Charity shop, brand new hard back..gorgeous book.

A cozy.. Pretty Is As Pretty Dies- Found this a bit slow..I cant remember much about it actually! A old lady sleuth..

A Young Adult Book - The Secret Circle Not a bad read. Magic among young adults. I have just got the second and final part to read.

I am also going to read my first Nancy Drew ! Yes I have heard many good things here in blog land I know I am no longer a child but I do enjoy reading the Ya and children's are just wonderful too.

I am starting Jinx - Meg Cabot a YA book

of books ready to enjoy but will show them another time..

And here is a little birdy that I just adore! My parents gained him when my grandma went into a care home, he's called Beauty and is the most talkative little thing. He tells us he is beautiful, a good boy, come on beauty,asks us what we are doing, and even Wolf whistles every now and then!

Until next time Bye for now

Ps. Can someone tell me how to copy and paste now in blogger? It dosnt have the option any more. I wanted to put a synopsis of Jinx from Amazon..any help would be great xx Thanks

Priscilla x

Our Play: 'Spark In Judea'

2010-05-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I hope you are enjoying great weather? It has been so hot here today! Lets hope it keeps it up! I thought I would share a few photos of a production my theatre company put on for Easter! I know time has gone by since then, but there has been so much happening time just disappeared! My parents are wanting to sell their house so we have been on a huge clear out, we are still working on it!
This play followed Pontius Pilate and his wife and many others...(I played his wife) before and during the crucifixion of Jesus. The play was a success and we enjoyed taking part in it. It was a rather eventful play though, we were not sure everyone would remember their lines as it was a three act play, with some challenging long speeches! but we pulled it off within the last few rehearsals... Here are some photos of the night...we preformed one night in the church itself which was a great experience
Backstage.. The best thing about been in this play was getting to preform along side my good friends.. We are a small company but don't always get to work alongside our friends.. The lady with the long hair is called Helen , she played Mary Magdalene.

Here are my other good friends. Joan to the right of me (I am the one in the middle) ;) and Hazel behind. The costumes were amazing on this show! The costume lady spent a few month looking at costumes on the web, and the male costumes have layers of cotton!

I love the set too ! The fabric was just so rich and we had candles onstage... This is Claudia Procula and Aurelian the architect chatting over old times..

Pontius Pilate and Claudia Procula ( Dave and me) Dave and I enjoyed been in this play, it is the largest role I have played yet..!

Real fruit !

We are now looking at scripts for plays in October, .. If I am not cast in that play, we will all take part in the Pantomime in Feb next year

I hope you enjoyed looking at our photos from 'Spark In Judea' I have to return my costume yet, you can become quite attached to them ha,ha ...

have a great weekend everyone, Take care

Priscilla x

Sunny Days..New Camera

2010-04-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all enjoying lovely weather wherever you are. It has been really nice recently where I live.. I So I have been taking the opportunity to practice using a new Camera I have just bought from Cancer Research where I work.. It is a Sony Cybershot DSC H2. 12x Zoom . 6mp... Now I am not a professional photographer in any way but I do enjoy taking photos, so when I spotted the 12x zoom I thought that wasn't bad ! I brought it home to check all works and once I added rechargeable batteries it kept the charge.. So I am really pleased ! It even came with the bag,charger and extra lenses!

The camera has inspired my inner photographer... and I will use this camera to try out all the features and light etc... I have even ordered books from the library..ha,ha

I thought you might like to see some of the pics I took on a glorious weekend at my house

This little ducky wandered onto my back garden with his Mrs..and he really wanted his photo taken! I love the way the camera has picked up the colours on his feathers..

This is the view from my front door.. Early morn the sun was shining, birds singing..

Another willing subject ! This in my next door neighbour.. through the garden fence.. He just sat there looking at me whilst I told him I was taking his pic...I am sure he is even smiling ..;)

Back garden in the spring, next door has the goats..;) and chickens and horses...

From the front door.. Just watching the birds before I catch the bus to work.. Oh whats that I see ???

Look who was playing in the trees.. There are two squirrels that play on the phone line across from my house,I see them regularly, here he is on the neighbours tree .. Using the new zoom!

Mr and Mrs Sunbathing...

I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos I took with the new camera, I think I may be taking quite a few more ... Especially if I learn a few new tricks with exposure and other features that I know nothing about ! ha,ha

Have a good week, see you soon

Priscilla x

Yankee Candles..Happy Easter

2010-03-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

Just popping in to say hi !!I have been away so long! Such a lot has been happening at the moment, but one thing that always remains constant is my love for Yankee Candles! No matter what changes around me..these stay to brighten up my days..
I wanted to share with you this amazing find! I found this Yankee Tart burner at the Charity shop where I work! I got it for an amazing price, It still had the Yankee label on the bottom it should of been $19.99,
On the same day I also found this beautiful Cake Plate! I have wanted one for a long time I have seen them in shops !

So I set both items aside and also picked up a CD ROM ..

Now the amazing part - I got all this for £3.00 !!! Isn't that amazing, they were been extremely generous! I do love working there..and was so happy for this xx

Do you like the ceramic cupcakes! I love them they were a Christmas gift 2 year ago they are Hanna's scented Soy candles Mint, Apple, Vanilla
I also have two more. I had no pretty way to display them until I found this cake plate. So here they all sit on my kitchen table..

I just adore Yankee candles. My mum and I are always treating ourselves...here is my current collection, that I am trying to organise!

Sampler Candles.. Mulled Wine, Pomegranate Cider, Moonlight Harvest,Silver Bells,Pumpkin Spice,Mackintosh, Gingerbread, Good Morning, Lemon Lavender, Christmas Pudding, Baby Powder, Christmas Eve, Freesia, Country Linen, Sweet Honeysuckle, Spring Bouquet,Meadow Blossom, Blueberry Scone, Fruit Smoothie, Shortbread Cookie, Pineapple Paradise, Fresh Mint

My favourites are Mackintosh and Pumpkin !

Hope you enjoyed a little look at my candles, do you love Yankee Candles too, what are your faves?

Happy Easter Everyone, see you all again soon

Priscilla x

Cake..and more Cake..

2010-02-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone..
It feels like spring is on its way in my part of the world. The sun is shining..Which is lovely to see!! So nice from the drab gray sky,although it is still very cold.

As most of you know I am a member of a local Theatre company, well last week a friend who is directing our next play asked me to make his Birthday Cake... and theme it around Theatre/Drama.

Comedy and Tragedy Masks

...is what everyone thinks of when thinking of theatre, I made these in paste and dusted with edible silver glitter dust...

'Admit One' Theatre ticket... Hand painted, with Bernard's Birthday 7.2. and this years date 10....The roses were also hand made.

' Spark In Judea' is the next play I will be in. Which Bernard is directing.

Some of you who visit my blog regularly may remember I also made a cake for Bernard's Birthday at Drama last Year!

Harry Potter Wizard Cake

Here is the link...
http://priscillascottage.blogspot.com/2008/02/harry-potter-wizard-cake.html

I hope you all enjoyed the pics... Its something I love to do

See you soon

Priscilla xx

Feeding the birds..

2010-01-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

Before the Snow........ At the beginning of January I thought our feathered friends might enjoy a few home made seed treats. Luckily I had made these before the uk turned into a snow and Ice zone! Most unusual for us.. Anyway here's what I was making..

Seed Treats...

I have seen some great seed treat recipes on the web, some with Peanut butter, Cranberries etc. which I cant wait to try out...but for these I used what I had in the cupboard

Seed, White Veg Fat, Bread.... I melted the white fat in a pan and added the shards of bread...then the seed..
Melting...

Once all melted and combined I used a tart tray that I haven't actually used yet and I have had for a few year! So it came in perfect for the moulds for the seed treats!

I added a bit of string and left in the fridge overnight...I removed them by holding the tray over steam from the kettle for a few seconds.. I also used cling film in the moulds on my second try, both worked well.

Out of the moulds.. ready for the Birdies!

Robins seem to love them! I am happy with the way they turned out, I am going to try put the mix in a container next time or a 'orange' bag, as they eventually fall to the floor once they eat around the string! ha,ha.... Hope you enjoyed the pics...

Next time I do the weekly food shop I think Ill make a birdy food list too... Including Peanut butter?! How unusual! ...

Well I will go for now, See you again soon

Priscilla x

Happy New Year.. Ideas,Ideas!!

2010-01-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

My house Christmas 2009

Happy New year!!!! Welcome 2010.... Although Christmas is over and I am looking forward and making plans for the new year... I am still enjoying the Christmas mood while I can, mainly the tree lights! I never want to take them down...I just love sitting and reading or stitching in the cozy glow... ahh well.... soon it will be time to say goodbye... so I will enjoy them a little longer!

I have decided 2010 is the year I make my bedroom look and feel more warm and cozy... I have struggled for a while with what type of look I want in there... at the moment it is quite plain, when I first moved into my house I concentrated on the living room and kitchen. Now its the bedroom's turn.

I debated over bright colours...knitted items, along the lines of Cath Kidston? Or a more Prim style.... warm colours with a old worldly feel?

So I have made a decision.... PRIM it is... it suits my house more, my carpet is deep green, I have white walls, pine doors and ceiling beams! (looking at it this way it should have been a easy decision! lol)

I found this photo on the web...this is my dream bedroom!!!!
of course..... eventually I will probably add things that do not match this theme! but for now my plan is to start somewhere...

First on my PRIM list...1. Stacked Boxes

From what I can see from the other amazing PRIM style homes here in blog land...to create the look correctly I need to get myself some boxes similar to these.. I may buy plain ones and have a go at painting them myself.... another project on the to do list! ha,ha

2. I would also like to find some curtain material like this... but maybe blue check instead of brown.

Go check this website out for the most beautiful styled homes http://aprimitiveplaceblog.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

3. I also noticed a lot of hand made pictures suit this type of decor ...embroidery and cross stitching are used a lot!!!!! (Perfect, keep me busy in the new year) using tea/coffee stained muslin...I have been browsing and found some cute free embroidery patterns...

This is my plan for the beginning of the New Year, I will let you know how I go in finding my items, if anyone has any ideas or tips or links...I would love to hear them!

See you again soon and Happy New Year!

Priscilla x

Christmas 2009..

2009-12-30T06:43:00.001-08:00

Christmas is over again for another year ! Did you all have a great time... did you go anywhere over Christmas or stay at home? I stayed at my parents house, we had a lovely Christmas day... opening gifts, enjoying Christmas dinner and watching old movies...
Mum and dad went to get grandma at 2.00 pm... I snapped a quick pic of Mum whilst she was on her way to the car... (in the Snow!!!)
Here we are Grandma and myself... oh and Beauty the Budgie! Since Dec 24th we have had grandmas budgie at my parents house.... he is living with us now..

I was a lucky girl and received some lovely gifts... here's a little look..
Cute!! We always treat each other to nice T-Towels as a bit of fun...but look how cute they are...Cakes! Perfect for me!. and can you see the kirks Folly Jewellery box? I will come back to that .. the little gingerbread man came with some very tasty Ginger cookies! lol
A close up of this beautiful candle... its shaped like an old milk bottle... it comes from a company called Milkhouse Candle Creamery and mum bought it me as a surprise off QVC Uk!! It smells divine,its called 'Welcome Home'... it smells of spices,honey,woody,baking, ginger, I cant wait to burn it, it's a soya candle... yum!
Mum also bought me and herself these wickless candles! They give off the most subtle scent when placed above the fireplace....
Cozy time.... So I have the cozy scents...now the cozy nightwear! A long fleece night shirt...it is sooooo soft...
Yankee Candle...Still a family favourite range.... I received one of my fav scents..Macintoch

And here's what was in the Kirks Folly box.... Do you all know of Kirks Folly Jewellery? A Fairy fantasy range sold on QVC, I love her pieces.... and I love this necklace! It is made from turquoise chips and a beautiful sea view moon face that just catches the light and looks amazing.....

And my Charlie Bear... another range sold on QVC...can you tell we get a lot of QVC! Just so sweet, his head moves slightly..I also received a charlie bear last year... I love them. This bear is called ......JOY...... what a great name to begin the New Year!

Surprise in the Post.... I received these two parcels from my lovely blogging friend Linda from over at 'Somewhere In Time'... Look at he cute packaging

Thank you Linda for the Lovely gifts. I love the scarf and gloves and look.... a Pearl letter P......for my name Priscilla, how thoughtful! cute socks which will be great to cozy up in at night with the choc drink....Aaahhh I am ready already! Thank you for been such a thoughtful friend....

Dosn't the Letter look cute on the tree.....

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year! See you in 2010 !!!!

Priscilla xxx

Nearly Christmas....I am still here xx

2009-12-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone, Sorry its been so long..... My life has been seeing some changes...some good and others a little sad. My Grandma became poorly and has had to move into a care home and we have been helping her get settled in....she is doing a lot better now, and is coming to our family on Christmas Day !! As normal.... I have been a bad blogger so thought I'd share what I have been up too the latter end of this year 2009!

The Christmas Fair.....As usual my friend and I did the guess the weight of the cake back in Nov, and I decorated it... We took £30 for the church so we were happy! Here are few photos of the cake...

Some New Experiences...

I have recently started Volunteering at my local CANCER RESEARCH shop, so in the new year we will be having a good sort out and will be taking items to the shop.

It's a great working environment, great people..... I applied there as the advertisement read.... *Person Needed for Book Department*...... that suits me wonderfully, I love books and that is what I am doing, sorting books by author, Subject matter, pricing and (choosing the ones I want to read) ha,ha......... and general shop tasks... I do two days a week in the afternoon and I am enjoying it.

On 9th Dec, the day before my Birthday, I went out with some of the people from the shop to a Christmas show and meal... to celebrate the shop's 20th Birthday! It was a good night... (if you are new to my blog I am the one in white to the right! )

I hope you are all ready for Christmas and I wish you all the very Best for the New Year!!

Now things are calming down around here I should be around more often! I'll leave you with the last book I just read and enjoyed....

Santa Cruise - Carol Higgins Clark, Mary Higgins Clark. I enjoyed this book, it is a very light read, like a Disney Movie! The ratings on Amazon don't rate highly...but if you just want a fun, christmassy read. Its a good one....

* I tried to copy and paste a synopsis of the book or even a link to amazon but for some reason the option to paste on Blogger is no longer there?? What do we do now?

Happy Christmas Everyone and see you soon xxxx

Priscilla x

All I want for Christmas...

2009-11-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

Untitled by Jelena M S featuring American Eagle Outfitters bags

All I want 'Before' Christmas is....this outfit !!!

Isn't this combination of colours just so cute and wintery? I am going to try and re create this look for winter.
All we need is some snow to finish the look off perfectly!

I have never really been one for buying clothes... really I am not, I like them but never see the full potential of every item....and end up wandering around the shops looking a bit overwhelmed!

This website has come to my rescue!!! its called Polyvore. This site has so many amazing combinations of clothes, as many colours and styles you can imagine.... created by people with a fashion vision!! ha,ha

COMFORTABLE by Renascer featuring Matthew Williamson

And this one??? So beautiful...... I am now on the hunt for items similar to these........I am in love with this site!

...... and I want that little bird cage necklace!

I have a renewed love of Fashion

Hope you like to outfits too... check out the website for some beautiful inspiration...

Priscilla x

Halloween 2009..Decor and Waxworks!

2009-11-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween 2009!!! I thought I would share with you how I spent my favourite night of the year.... and show you a few pics of my house at Halloween.

Kitchen Witch... Halloweeny magnets, I got two of these when I visited Pendle last year. I keep them on the fridge all year! I just love them.. and the other two cute designs were gifts from my dear blogging friend Linda.. Oh, and do you like the Pumpkin on the Microwave? Its a soup tureen... from T.K Maxx!

Halloween at Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks...
Now I was planning a quiet Halloween at home until a friend asked me to take part in an Halloween event at Louis Tussuad's in Blackpool... to scare people when they realise I am not wax! I already had my panto costume so I borrowed a wig and had my face painted to become..... Dracula's Bride! there were many of us taking part. some walking around, some still like myself... It was a fantastic night, we had Aunt Sally next to Worzel Gummidge, A Witch, The Exorcist.. I was in the Chamber of Horrors which was a little spooky for someone like me who doesn't watch scary movies ha,ha

Here are a few pics, the night started at 5 till 9 pm !

Me and Bram Stoker's Dracula.... Most of the visitors to the chamber of Horrors had been to Halloween party at the waxworks upstairs so were dressed in costume as they walked past me.... it did sound funny to hear a witch say she was scared... and push a tall male vampire in front to go first!! lol
A close up of the make up girls work.... Spooky! lol It was a great night, great fun, I have been asked to help out again next year, so a good excuse for a new costume!

Relaxing Eve...

I got home at around 10.00pm and enjoyed the rest of All Hallows Eve by watching the movie Bewitched, which just makes me feel good and smile a lot!

whilst wearing.... these were a cute gift from Linda at 'Somewhere In Time'

and eating....

I just love Fancies...and Halloween ones...ooohhh i'am in love! ha,ha

Halloween is over ... please excuse me I may cry...but not long to wait until Christmas! Hope you all had a great Halloween

See you soon

Priscilla xx

More Halloween Movies - The Good Witch

2009-10-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone... Here is another movie on my Halloween list to watch

The Good Witch

I havnt seen this movie yet,but other blogs have been saying how good it is. What a perfect time to see it!

Here is a brief synopsis...

'When the mysterious Cassandra Nightingale moves into a supposedly haunted house in the suburban town of Middleton, she causes a stir among the locals - especially widower Jake Russell and his two children. After a series of bizarre occurrences, opinions towards the newcomer are divided, with some believing her to be a nuisance but others suspecting her of being something else entirely'

and the trailer

Look at all those bottles.... I wonder what concoctions they contain?

This movie can been seen on Movies24
30 October 21:00
31 October 17:000
1 November 17:00

and also on the Hallmark Channel after Halloween
04 November 09:35
04 November 16:45

I cant wait to watch this one, it looks great.... I have already watched Hocus Pocus, The Addams Family Values...so I am truly in the Halloweeny mood........and I still have others to watch

Which movies are you watching?

See you Soon

Priscilla x

Halloween Movie Countdown...

2009-10-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hocus Pocus...

First on the list,

I love this movie, I watch it every year. I first watched it when I was a teenager, but it scared me! ha,ha But I still loved it then too! around the week before Halloween I begin watching all those movies that tell me Halloween is nearly here... and if truth be told, it wouldn't feel like Halloween without them!

I will be counting down until Halloween the movies to look out for, when they are on...or what to buy or rent....

And so we begin with 'Hocus Pocus'
Here is a synopsis from the web..
'A teenager living in Salem breaks into a spooky house on Halloween, and accidentally resurrects three witches who were executed 300 years ago. The trio are soon causing chaos while seeking a suitable sacrifice for a ritual to give them everlasting youth. However, an old foe, a boy they turned into a cat, is on hand to help stop their mischief. Supernatural Disney comedy, starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy'

'Come Sisters'.... I do love the costumes the witches wear!

Winnie....... 'We Fly'..... 'On What' ??

' It's Just a bunch of Hocus Pocus'.... says Max Dennison before he lights the Black Flame candle .... that brings the Witches back to life!
The Sanderson House... now who would want to stumble across this on Halloween Night??....

I hope if you see this movie you enjoy it as much as I do, one day I hope to visit Salem, Its always been somewhere I wished to go. I know some of this movie was filmed there too.The old style buildings are beautiful...

I will leave you now as I am going to get some cocoa and snuggle down to watch the movie.....

Happy Halloween Movie watching everyone!

If you live in the uk you can buy this DVD at Morrison's and Asda... and Amazon.uk

See you soon

Priscilla x

Halloween Stitching...

2009-10-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I hope you are having a good week.... I have been feeling rather crafty lately and have a few projects on the go and in the pipeline. I have been turning the tv off and stitching and crafting away into the wee early hours.....This is what I am working on at the moment

Bountiful Kitties - Mill Hill Kit

I am stitching the design on 16 count Aida rather than the perforated paper that came in the kit, I may stitch on that another time. I think I will frame the finished piece and add it to my Fall/Halloween decor...

I just love the designs that Mill Hill do, they have some cute Halloween and Christmas kits, I may just treat myself to a Christmas design 'before' Christmas...he,he

I bought mine from a website called 'Sew and So'..... here is the link http://www.sewandso.co.uk/ran1596-0.html

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Books...Autumn Reading and Reviews

2009-10-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

I have once again been collecting books from the library, some I ordered in advance the others I picked up of the shelves...

No Clue at The Inn - Kate Kingsbury I look forward to trying this new author, a lucky Library find

The Osiris Ritual - George Mann A library find.

The Solstice Of Stonewylde - Kitt Berry I have read the first in this series 'Magus Of Stonewylde', nearly finished the second, this is the third.

and

A Catered Halloween - Isis Crawford

I have been waiting to get my hands on A catered Halloween for about a year! I ordered it from the library as soon as it came in....... Then my mum surprised me with a gift! Mum had also bought me the book as she knew I had it on my Wish List on Amazon! ha,ha So now both mum and I have a copy to enjoy! I am keeping my gift and mums reading the library copy....

Here is the Synopsis from Fantastic Fiction

'With the promise of a hefty commission and some valuable word-of-mouth for their catering business, A Little Taste of Heaven, sisters Bernadette and Libby Simmons agree to cater the charity haunted house being staged at the old Peabody School. But when wealthy socialite Amethyst Applegate is found dead in the haunted house, Bernie and Libby wonder if a murderer might also be lurking about Peabody's gloomy halls...While almost everyone Amethyst ever met might have a motive for killing her, not everyone had access to the Peabody School. All Bernie and Libby know is if they don't solve this mystery soon, they might become the next stars in a real-life horror flick'...

Reading Update - reviews

I finished reading Frill Kill I mentioned in my last post. -

I enjoyed the book set in New Orleans around the Halloween season. Great descriptions, and interesting characters. Although I would of liked a bit more to the story, at times the pacing was slow...and the conclusion to the murder and 'who done it' was over very quickly! A nice light read, if like me you enjoy reading books set at Halloween.... but rather weak in other areas.

I also began reading Ghouls Just want to have fun...Unfortunately I read half of the book and gave up, this book moved far far to slow for my liking and the characters were becoming extremely annoying, they were fun and cute for a while, the main character reminding me of 'Buffy' the vampire slayer, sassy, witty.... but no storyline was developing and I became tired of the nonsense dribble of conversation between the two main characters... I wanted to like this more than I did, but I don't feel bad I gave up reading as there are more books to read and enjoy!

I am off now to finish reading 'Moondance of Stonewylde' the second book in the Stonewylde series. I have enjoyed the first two and will be reading the third soon...

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Autumn Reading..Volunteering

2009-09-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Goodness is it really September, where did the time go? I am still here and getting into my normal routine for Autumn, searching outs books to read as the days and nights get colder!

I have also been doing some volunteer work for the last few month at a local Maritime Museum, helping with childrens craft activities and watching the museum floor. Its been a really great couple of months, I am there on Tuesdays now as the children have gone back to school and I am to start in the little gift/coffee shop soon. I will share some more photos of the shop and museum in another post..

Autumn Reading..

Here are the autumn theme books I have just brought back from the library...

Frill Kill - Laura Childs I have just begun reading this book, so far I am enjoying it. I also read The Jasmine Moon Murder by the same author.

I always like to read books set around halloween at this time of year.. here is the synopsis from FantasticFiction.com

'This Halloween, the bestselling mystery author makes New Orleans even spookier than usual. Carmela's friend Ava is having a Halloween bash at her scrapbooking store, and she hires a sexy Tarot reader named Giovanni to work the crowd. What he doesn't foretell is that on her way home Carmela will find the body of a beautiful model behind a Dumpster, and be attacked herself. But he's the one who appears to save her-or was he already there? '

And this one that I dont know a lot about but the cover looks enticing..ha,ha Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun - Kathleen Bacus

'After being stalked by a psycho dunk-tank clown, Tressa Jayne Turner takes a break from reporting until a reclusive and rather strange best-selling writer arrives in town.'

What books are you reading at the moment? Or do you have a Autumn/Halloween favourite...

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Strawberries and Garden...

2009-07-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I am sorry its been so long since I last posted. I am having trouble viewing blogs, the pc pauses then crashes, I don't understand it, I work from a lap top and my parents just got a new pc and it does it on theirs too..... must be vista? So I just havnt been on as often as usual, ......... but I wanted to let you all know I am still here and share some pretty photos! ha,ha

I have been growing Strawberries.... which I have never grown before..... I had them outside to begin with until something ate 3 of the berries! So brought them inside my parents porch.

I have tasted about 5 but ooohh they do have a bitter bite to them! Still fun though....ha,ha

Parents Garden....

I wanted to show you this beautiful tree my parents have growing in their garden, I have no idea what its called......... When I was at school I had a boyfriend called David, his dad gave my mum a cutting of the tree......... and ever since we named the bush 'Davids Dads Tree'....... we still call it that now, it kinda stuck!

Close up of the flowers...... Do you have any idea what the tree could be?

Neighbours Flowers..........over the garden gate

These beautiful Peony blooms are not mine or my parents, they are my parents neighbours! This is the dividing fence, so we get to enjoy them too.......

I hope you have enjoyed the little garden tours....... Have a wonderful week

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Witchie Cross Stitch progress...

2009-06-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of this week making progress on Witchie Renabest. I have posted over on my Spooky Stitchers Sal too, but just in case you missed me there I am posting here also. I am loving working with the colours in this cross stitch, maybe because they are such bright halloweeny colours!

I finished working on the back stitch and have started on the French knots, which I have not done many of before and finding quite fun to do!

French Knots are on Witchie's eyes, shoes and bubbling over the cauldron...... I have just started the brewing bubbles

I love stitching Autumn/Halloween pieces...What are your favourite themes to stitch?

Hope you are all having a lovely week,

see you soon

Priscilla x

Books and Halloween Stitching...

2009-06-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, The weather has been quite hot here in the uk for the last couple of weeks, and I have been out in the garden and doing a lot of reading and working on some long ago started cross stitch. You may remember the pile of books I had planned to read? well I took my time and have just finished the last on the list Hubble Bubble -Christina Jones

A very light, feel good book, with magical recipes (but do not get this book expecting to re-create the recipes, some of the ingredients are poisonous!) great characters and romance. I must admit I am not always a huge fan of romance themed books, but with the magical twist it was more enjoyable. This author creates a wonderful cozy village and a set of unusual kooky characters! I do think her second book Seeing Stars is a better read though and a much better story, but I say give them a try if you see them......
Hubble Bubble
Seeing Stars

Like I say I have also been doing some stitching on a project I started a while ago, Witchie Renabest by twisted threads.I am currently working on the back stitching, and hope to make it into a pillow for halloween. To share my love of Halloween and stitching Autumn themed pieces I joined a Halloween SAL, its great to see others work, and meet other people with a love for Halloween stitching, take a look here at Spooky Stitchers Sal

What I am reading now....

I have just started reading The Heretic's daughter - Kathleen kent. I have always been interested in the history of the Salem Witch trials, and this book is fiction set around that time. Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendant of Martha Carrier, a character within the book. So I hope it will be a good read!

Check out more info and video clip at Barnes and Noble...The Heretic's Daughter

Well I will leave you all for now, in a couple of hour I am off to our church hall to help my drama company in the first night of their play. I am not in this one, but will be taking part in a one night 'Murder Mystery Evening' Next Saturday!

Talk again soon

Priscilla x

Back from Luxor Egypt!!

2009-05-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all well! I missed you all!! We had a wonderful two week away, in the first week the weather reached 38 c, which is hotter than Ive ever known it!!!

This is the front of our Hotel , luxor street have lights everywhere! Enlarge any images for a closer look, below is the view from our balcony to the Nile and the Valley of the Kings.....

Balloon rides....4.30 am the balloons take off, we were up early most mornings to beat he heat, the temp reached 30 C by 9.00am !! This is the hottest year we have known....

Here are a few more photos , we have been to the same hotel for 6 year and in that time made quite a few Egyptian friends, our horse and carriage driver is called Salah, he always invites us for a meal and to meet his family, hope you enjoy the photos! Below is a photo of Bartta, Mum, me and their son Shazlaey.

Here is the meal Bartta made, Chicken, mint salad, home made bread, rice, true Egyptian food....

Salah and his sons and my Dad....

Dendera Temple Ceiling - We took a trip to the temple, the engravings were amazing, a lot of the blue paint still remains..... I love this photo my mum took!

Luxor street....... this is the scene around most of luxor, old buildings, people, donkeys and daily life, it is a relaxing place to visit and hasn't changed over time, we love it there, I hope you have enjoyed viewing a snapshot of our holiday, there is so much to show and tell I could make this post very long!!! ha,ha I may add some more photos in another post,

See you all again soon

Priscilla x

Knitting !!! learning a new craft...

2009-04-05T04:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I have been such a bad blogger of late. Its so long since my last post.....I just wanted to drop in and let you know I am still around before I go away for two weeks on the 15th April to Luxor Egypt!!! I cant wait.... we have been before but it never gets old!

Does anyone remember me saying I wanted to learn to knit? Last year I got a few books and tried to learn myself but it didn't happen, this year I am doing a lot better! lol

I have a friend who loves to knit and she offered to teach me and another lady, so we have met up for tea, nibbles lots of chatter and some knitting! Joan gave me some needles as she has many spare and a small ball of wool and we began with the knit stitch. I have done basic knitting as a child with my grandma, but its a long time ago.

Another thing which I didn't have last year was YOU TUBE. It has many beginner videos of knitting, how to cast on, knit, purl, and many more http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=knitting&aq=f go check out the links if you fancy learning too!

So armed with my new found skill and a want to create anything! lol I went to my local wool shop and came home with these gorgeous wools........ oh and some more needles!

Enjoy the knitting basics video...

If you already knit or want some amazing FREE PATTERNS visit this web site!http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory.php

I am going to begin with this dishcloth pattern to practice the stitches, Knit and Purl. I have noticed dish cloths seem to be the simpler projects! Although I think

I am going to practice the stitches some more before I start the cloth.

Here is the patternhttp://www.blackrayne.com/pages/batty.html

and a link to many, many more dish cloths! http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/dishcloths.php

And here is my knitting! With my fav teddy 'Toffee'. All knit stitches, I said it would have to be a coaster, but I may try make it into a mobile phone pouch.

Hope you all have a wonderful week, see you again soon!

Priscilla x

Spring from my Window...

2009-03-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Spring in my Kitchen... I am just loving the scent from these hyacinths, I am amazed how scented they are, the scent fills the kitchen and drifts into my living room! Please do not think for a moment that I am crazy for keeping the pumpkin out, it is my little nod towards fairy tales and love for Theatre........ the little frog and pumpkin remind me of ..........Cinderella.

And of course my long time blogging friends might remember I did play the 'frog prince' last year!!! ha,ha and the frog was a sweet gift from my mum.

Crocus - 'a touch of colour among the grey' I love to see these little flowers pop up in spring, the signs of things to come, these are just outside my front door.

'Chicken Run' - well almost! this is the view from my kitchen window,my neighbours to the right own horses, chickens, goats, a cat, and a cockerel ! and they are forever escaping their fences over the garden into my garden..... and so I grabbed the camera and took a photo!

Last week I looked out of the window to see the horse that should of been down on the bottom field right behind my fence! shame I didn't have time to get the camera, I didn't want it to get onto the road and dashed out to call the owner, no one was home but fortunately a neighbour to the left who visits the horse and family led it back to the field! Still I do think a photo would of been good, It was just looking at me through the window! h,ha

The Cat......
I hope you are all having a good start to the week, I am spending more time cross stitching. I hope to make my 'Spring Fairy' into a pillow soon, and my mum has almost finished the Thomas Kinkade stitch, I will share some photos soon.....

Bye for now

Priscilla x

Books...Reading pile

2009-02-27T07:31:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you but I always have a book to read, usually I pick up two or three from the library and finish them before I get more. last week the library had books that I have wanted to read for a while and the order for titles that I placed around a month ago all came in at the library at once! So now I have this rather large pile of books to enjoy! I usually read cozy murder mysteries, but recently have started to read a few more chic lit type books, and I always enjoy a book with a bit of a magical theme . I am looking forward to reading this collection as they all fit that description....

I am currently reading The Witching Time - Jean Stubbs. Its good so far.......cozy village, a mix of characters, Crafting ladies who own their own hat and stitching shops, town gossips. And a group who are putting on a pantomime for a local festival! Obviously there is a lot more to the story than that but these are just some of the themes...
I think I may read Hubble Bubble- Christina Jones next, a few year ago I read Seeing Stars by the same author and loved it, again a small village, an amusing cast of characters, and a bit of magic, here is a synopsis from amazon...

'Mitzi is determined not to dwindle quietly into serene old age and sets about organising and revitalising Hazy Hassocks, the small rural community she has lived in all her life. However, with the discovery of her grandmother's cookery book in the attic,life for Mitzi and her friends and family starts to get very interesting. Full of old-fashioned recipes with enchanting names like Wishes Come True Pie, Mischief Night Cake, and Powers of Persuasion Pudding - Granny's dishes provide a nourishing meal, but they also seem to have some very surprising side effects indeed. '

My to read pile consists of ;

The Witching time -Jean Stubbs

Hubble Bubble - Christina Jones

The Chocolate Lovers Club - Carole Matthews

Death of a Witch - M.C Beaton

The Merrybegot - Julie Hearn (a young adult book)

Under my spell - Deborah Wright

What types of books do you all enjoy reading, I'd love to hear about them....... Thank you all for the best wishes with the Panto, it went well and lots of fun was had by all, we had two full houses one night! We all took lots of photos which I will share in a future post.....

Have a wonderful relaxing weekend, Bye for now

Priscilla x

Faux Cake, Panto and Thinking thin!!!

2009-02-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Panto Time again... I am in Panto from the 18th to the 21st Feb playing Princess Alice in Puss In Boots! We have been rehearsing for months and now the show is starting to come together, everyone is trying on costumes, having photos taken and finding props.

There is a scene in the Panto that calls for a 'Pie in the face' moment ! Or more precise a gateau..... They were going to use paper plate, with foam, but I thought hopefully I could put my cake skills to good use and create a fun looking Faux cake.........although I have to admit I have never made a faux cake before!!

So this last week I dug out some tile adhesive from my garage.....and got to work. It was quite an experience, it drys fast and I only had one spare piping nozzle, one piping bag and a whole lot of mess!!! ha,ha

I had a lot of fun! and I am quite pleased with the final outcome...so now at least we have a cake! I would love to do it again, here's hoping they need more cake theme props ha,ha
The shaving foam will be added to the top so the 'evil Sir Rodger' can squish his face good and proper!

Hopefully I can capture some photos of the cake in action! and share them soon.......

**************************************************

Now on to Think Thin Thursday

I am starting to feel as though I am making progress, I know this post is late, but I still want to check in and let you know how I am doing.

Exercise is feeling more natural to me now. I walk more and if I can spare 15 or 20 Min's, or while I wait for the kettle to boil I dance or stretch or just shake my body!! lol I am noticing I am not getting out of breath as quickly, and need to do more to feel the heart beat faster,

At the start I weighed roughly 11 st which was around 158 lbs. Which for my height at just over 5'1 was not what I wanted......... I can now happily say I am slowly weighing less........ at 152.6

I know its not major weight loss, but its coming down and I am really, really happy!

Our task for this week is to list a low calorie dessert, I found some biscuits called 'Nice' from Morrison's, they are plain fingers with coconut. and are so much less in sugar and fat than some others, so I have been snacking on those this week.

1. My goals for this week is to keep doing what I am doing regarding exercise

2. Try the new chicken recipe

3. Stick to eating healthy evening meal options such as fish or chicken, no quick packaged meals!

****I also want to say such a warm thank you for your comments on the cake, It is lovely to hear all your comments and I am pleased you enjoy viewing them as much as I do making them!*****

See you again soon Have a great week xxx

Priscilla x

Cake Decorating and Think Thin Thurs

2009-01-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

I spent my time this week making and decorating a cake for a friend at my Theatre group. It was his mums 70th Birthday and he asked if I could make her a cake. I asked him what his mum was interested in hobbies etc, so I could get an idea for the design. He said she loves cats! I asked him if his mum liked gardening......she did so I had the beginning of an idea!

I wanted something cute! Kittens playing, flowers, plant pots that type of thing, I browsed the web for inspiration and found this cute image, I painted him on the side of the cake using food colours. Butterfly's and flowers were the theme and repeated around the cake...
Run-Out Work The design on the cake top is a run out, this is icing piped around the design shape, then filled in with a runny consistency royal icing. The design is left around a week to set then I painted the design with food colours. I enjoy this technique, any design can be re-created this way!

The other side of the cake - Kitten with a butterfly on his nose!

I really loved painting the design on this cake, the day was sunny, I was in no rush, I put some good music in the cd player and I just enjoyed the time........ The painting was the last to be done on the cake as there is an order to decorating it goes like this...

1. Make the run-outs/decorations around a week in advance
2. Make the cake - To keep this fresh usually only two days before cake is due

3. Roughly two days before the due date, Butter cream and cover the cake in Fondant/Icing It need a whole day to set before any painting can be done (we don't want knuckle or finger marks)

4.Paint run-outs.let dry... Paint any designs on the cake...

5. Remove run outs and place on cake - Do any final piping !

6. Finished in good time,usually the evening before . Place in box and finished!

Depending of the decorations and design a cake takes around a week to complete, as so many things need to set, dry etc. It can take a lot longer if making figures they are more complex!

'In an English Country Garden' that is the song I thought of whilst painting the cake, around the back of the cake I painted, Hollyhocks, lavender and other flowers...
***********************************************************************************
Think Thin Thurs

I am updating early, late wed night. I am happy with this week I still managed to walk and do the exercise vid, but not walk as much with the cake taking most of my time! I walked twice at 20 mins each. But I did a lot more dancing around the house and stretches etc

I am sure I am losing weight as my pants feel a bit more loose! The snacking has not been so bad either, I took more notice of the clock and managed to eat the last thing before 9.00pm, but not always....

So my goals for next week are

1. To get back to walking 4 times a week

2. and No eating after 9.00pm !!!

Yes they are the same goals as last week, but this week was a bit out of whack! ha,ha

See you all again soon

Priscilla x

Think Thin Thursday Week 1 results...

2009-01-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

Think Thin Thursday a day late! I have been having blogger issues, has anyone else? I wanted to check in anyway and let you all know how I got on with this weeks goals....I am happy to say I stuck to my exercise plan! to walk 4 times this week around 20 mins, and I did I walked 5 times!! and worked out to some music, and my exercise vid once.

I haven't lost any weight, but that's ok, I tried some new bread and yogurts this week.......but didn't eat the rest. I read the labels to find........with shock....the brown seed bread had 4g of fat a slice!! That's a lot for one slice! and a well known brand low fat yogurt has 10g Sugar!! So no wonder I didn't lose weight, I couldn't walk off a few slices of bread and 4 yoghurt's in a week, So I have taken them out of the diet (I only added them thinking they would be good for me).

It really shows you have to check the labels, so many foods are advertised as low fat /low sugar and they are NOT. So I am sticking to fresh snacks.... and checking everything! ha,ha

My goal for next week is very similar to this one..

1. Walk...4 0r 5 times a week, work out to music, move my body as much as I can
2. No eating after 9.00pm! I don't sleep till late so this tends to catch me out, So I hope to stick to it

See you all again soon!

Priscilla x

Think Thin Thurs... Week 1 !

2009-01-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, Here I am with my goals for week one of Think Thin Thurs.

Before I add the weeks goals I d like to talk about my overall goals....and here the list begins!

I would like to lose 2 st at the end of this journey, or near to that

To Exercise more! This is where I lack.... I hope to walk more or even dance around the house!and dust off all those old exercise vids!

Shake up my diet...... try new foods recipes etc,Eat more veg on a regular basis

To live a more healthy, Active lifestyle

So my goals for this week are manly exercise related...

1. To walk at least 4 times a week, around 20mins each

2. To work out to my Dance Exercise (Anita Harris) vid at least two times this week

I am Keeping it simple to begin with, then concentrate on the weight loss.

Have you noticed when you truly decide to do something, everything that you need to do it more efficiently tends to find you? here is my little story.....

I have no grill pan, when I moved house it was missing, which didn't really bother me until recently I started eating more bacon etc. I was thinking of buying one of the huge ones, but when there is only me what a waste! At the beginning of this week in a booklet I saw a ......George Foreman Grill, I thought what a good idea, no need for the huge oven. I visited my Grandma Yesterday, and what should she be considering getting rid off........A George Foreman Grill she bought years ago that she doesn't use!!!

So now I am the proud owner of this Ever so Cute Pink Grill !

I will be postng the healthy recipes I try with it!

I am pleased to say I have already cooked bacon in it, and its wonderful, I visited this website http://www.georgeforemangrills.co.uk/recipes.php and they have some great recipes for the grill . Bridgette's task for this week is to give a website or blog that helps you on your weight loss Journey, I hope you enjoy the George Foreman Recipe Link.

Good Luck to everyone who is following a healthy lifestyle and see you all next Thurs......

Priscilla x

I am taking part in Think Thin Thursdays!!

2009-01-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

Changes, Changes!!! That is the plan... I just wanted to pop in tell you all how excited I am. I recently found this..... 'Think Thin Thursdays' over at 'The Not So-blog-Blog' It is a way for all bloggers who wish to lose a few lbs, or get fit, eat healthy etc, its been called weight watchers without the Fee! We are each others support and accountability. And I am joining them.

I need to lose weight and get healthier, I have gained 2 St over the last 3 year and really want to lose it again, I find I do really well for around a month, then stop exercising and the l bs pile back on! So I am hoping with support from you my fellow blogging friends I will be able to stick to a routine, and not fall off the wagon...ha,ha

Every Thursday I will be adding my goals for the week...walk more, or drink more, etc and I'll return the following Thurs with how I did! and I am going to weigh myself, which I can now do as I got new batteries for the scale today, and hopefully over time we can watch the scale go down! If you fancy joining in head over to http://www.thenotsoblog.blogspot.com/

I also received some wonderful awards recently.... This Fabulous Award from my dear friend Linda at 'Somewhere In Time', who I can say has a fabulous blog also! Thank you Linda x

Here is what you have to do ,I think I have to list five of my addictions so here goes:
Chocolate (hhmm) could be a problem see above!
Yankee Candles, Cake decorating, Watching Movies, Reading
I pass this blog along to a lovely lady called Marie at Dreaming of Wild roses, Who lives in Canada, and with all that snow makes me wish I did!
I also received this award from Marie Called friends here is the description of the award...

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers. When you pass the award along please include these guidelines. I am to choose eight friends to share this with.
I am sending this blog onto 4 of my blogging friends who have been with me from the start...
Victoria at Vintage Tea
Linda at Somewhere in Time
Robin at Bittersweet Pumpkin
and Alison at Vintage Amethyst
I hope you are all having a wonderful week, See you on Think Thin Thurs!
Priscilla x

Twilight!

2009-01-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Last Year I began reading a 'little' book I found on Amazon called Twilight, I quickly came to realise just how popular this book was becoming! I have just finished New Moon the second in the saga and must say I have enjoyed them. Just before Christmas the movie came out and I debated whether to go see it, thinking it could ruin the images I had created in my head of the characters.......if anyone has also read the book you will understand this even more regarding Edward! ha,ha How could a movie do justice to the book?

Well I had my doubts, but I wanted to enjoy the whole phenomena that is Twilight, I watched a few Trailers on you tube and the Movie looked quite good!

I went to see it and was pleasantly surprised, although slightly different to the images I had created, it still did the story justice and all the actors suited the mood of the Movie, edgy and moody. And I guess in keeping with the style of the film Robbert Pattison who plays Edward was good too! I thought I recognised the actor from Harry Potter, and I was right he played Cedric Diggory In Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire!

Bella and Edward

So I am now a fan of the movie..... and look forward to seeing New Moon on screen

The Cullens.

Here is the trailer to the movie....

Have you see the film? read the books let me know what you think....

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Christmas Morning and Gifts...

2008-12-29T09:39:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas....

Before we bring in the new year I thought I would share some of the lovely presents I received this year... The tree in the photo above is at my parents house where I spent christmas day. Christmas Pudding was enjoyed, memories shared and......lots of fun was had by all!
Yankee candles - These candles are enjoyed by all in our family, my mum loves them, knows I love them and we even buy my Grandma and my Dad them!! So naturally this year we all got a collection! The candles above are my collection... containing White Chocolate Mint, Silver bells, Egg Nog,Mulled Wine,Red Apple Wreath and Vanilla Cupcake! I also got a large Christmas cookie Jar candle!! Yum, Yum scents.... Do you love Yankee Candles, what are your favourites?
I also received some Yankee Candle - Cranberry Peppermint Potpourri !! It smells so sweet yet fresh, I havnt used it yet, but I will! I have never had the potpourri before...

Moving away from Scents to....Chocolates!! Thorntons chocolates at that....Grandma bought my parents and myself a box of these (double layer) gorgeous christmas edition chocolates, we are still enjoying these!
Now just how cute are these two?! I love squirrels, I can see them playing from the windows where I live, isn't this the cutest t-light holder? From my loving parents...

*** Birthday Gifts... ** I promised I would share the gifts I received for my birthday on the 10th...***

Gingerbread!! I love to bake, and cake decorate and how appropriate is this candle screen, its from a company called Hanna's Candles, which I have never had before, also a gingerbread candle, isn't the detail amazing?! too,too cute! from my parents also........

Snowman Pendant..... I love this and have been wearing it all christmas! It was my 30th Birthday on the 10th and I will remember it fondly, this was my special gift from my parents, isn't he just the cutest??

And finally I would also like to share my favourite bath scent, Philosophy Pure Grace, Have you tried it? Such a clean scent, not an annoying fragrance....just clean, beautiful

I am so lucky and thankful for the gifts i received, I know this was getting a long post, I just could not miss anything out!!

What did you all get for christmas?

Have a happy New Year Everyone, See you all in 2009 !!

Priscilla x

Merry Christmas to all...

2008-12-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

'The stockings were by hung the chimney with care'.....

Christmas Eve 2008!..... The veg is in the kitchen all ready, the chicken is cooking, Last minute gifts are been wrapped and christmas songs are playing!

Do you like the gift wrapping above? It is my way of adding a bit of 'olde world' to christmas morning! I do like the vintage look of the brown paper and berry sprigs, the tags were made on the computer using a christmas font! Just shows how something simple can be effective. I did the same last year, and thought I'd do the same this year.....

I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas Eve , I always spend this evening with family, we watch old movies and and relax, whilst finishing the odd things left to be done. On Christmas day my grandma comes round and we all open the presents and eat the christmas dinner. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas however you spend your time....

Priscilla x

Childhood Christmas Books...

2008-12-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas books of times past...

Do you remember the books you read as a child? The ones you couldn't wait to read aloud or maybe ones your parents read to you? Beautiful illustrations that you sat for hours looking at....The ones you never forget, that to this day still have the same affect they did all those years ago.......

I also have those such books, which I have been enjoying recently.For many a year I have had these books put away in storage, in bed drawers, in boxes....... then last year they moved to my new home . This year they sit amongst my Christmas decor, where they belong, to be enjoyed once more!

Merry Christmas Ernest and Celestine.

A sweet story about a little girl mouse and her best friend. Ernest helps Celestine prepare for a Christmas party, that she would love so much, Ernest becomes Santa to please is little friend, and together they make the most wonderful Christmas story book...

I love the illustrations in all these books...So much detail. My mum used to read aloud Ernest and Celestine, and it brings back many good memories! Enlarge the images for a better look, I hope you enjoy them!

Notice Ernest making the Santa costume in secret ... Here they are getting ready for the party,

Another book I love is called Tilly's Rescue.

The illustrations in this book are my favourite.

Tilly is a wooden doll and her friend is a teddy bear named Edward, Tilly cant find her friend and looks all over for him, the images portray just how small she is in our big world. I always used to think how realistic our world is depicted in the images! So, so much detail!

Tilly carefully escaping human feet!
Looking or Edward. Just look at the Green Grocer's shop, it looks like one in my local village ha,ha
First page of the book, Tilly decorating her home for Christmas with bits and bobs she has found,all she needs is a Christmas tree which Edward says he will help her find....

I have some other books I would love to share with you, I will talk about them in another post as this one is getting long! Can you tell how much I adore these books... I hope you have enjoyed them also, I wish I could copy each page and every image to share with you!

I leave you know with best wishes for Christmas, I hope you are all ready for the big day! Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday! I had a great time and received some lovely pressies (which I hope to Blog soon!)See you all again soon

Priscilla x

My 30th Birthday Today!

2008-12-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

Today the 10th December is my 30th Birthday! My, My how time flys by! I will be spending today seeing friends and family....and my mum is doing some baking instead of me, ha,ha and making a trifle.... as we have always enjoyed over the years,

Thank you dear friends for the Birthday wishes in the post below...... See you all soon

Priscilla xx

Christmas Fair...'Guess the weight of the cake'

2008-12-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again....The Christmas fair at my local church. Two year ago I joined the church drama/theatre group, and last year was my first visit to the fair and helping them raise funds. Since I decorate cakes I made a cake for the 'Guess The Weight Of The Cake' , I enjoyed it so much I offered to help this year too. A friend always likes to bake the fruitcake, and I choose to do the decorating, she couldn't make it to the fair this year, but still made the cake....

The fair was on the 30 Nov and I spent the previous week doing the decorations.... I thought I would share with you how it turned out.

I also helped set up the day before, and what a day! Lots of goodies there to buy, I did treat myself to a book and bought my mum a cross stitch frame! And my dad got some D.I.Y books! ha,ha
Cookies for Santa..

A visit from Santa.. was my idea behind the cake. When as a child, you leave cookies or mince with pies a glass of milk and maybe a carrot for Rudolph. Santa hop's down the chimney reads your letter takes a bite and back up the chimney into the night.....

Straight away I had cookies in mind, and thought about using regular size cookie cutters.The thing is when I think of cake I always imagine the cake to be huge like 12inch! But of course the cake was a lot smaller 8 inch so my cookie cutters had to shrink!!

I managed to find tiny cutters and that is what I used. The decorations were cut out, iced with royal icing jut like regular cookies.(With a sprinkle of edible glitter on the snowflake) I decided to put them on a sugar plate and make a letter to Santa...it reads

Dear Santa..

Enjoy the cookies!

Happy Christmas xxx

I added some sugar holly, and painted holly on the plate, I took the idea from last years Christmas cake and the porcelain saucer....here is last years cake post .. http://priscillascottage.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-cakechurch-fair.html

The Weight... I was so pleased with how well the cake did for the fair, there was just two of us and we were not pushy! ha,ha I asked a £1 a guess, and there was a choice of weights starting from 1 lb 1 oz to 9 lb 3 oz.

and we made....drum roll.... £ 43.00 !!! This is a good amount and we were so happy!! Last year at 50 p a guess we made around £25!!

The cake went to a lady who guessed just above the actual weight... 6 lb 4 oz

So that's it for this year, I look forward to making a cake again next year, but I am thinking we need to change the cake size or shape, as I am sure friends remember the weight of an 8 inch!

I hope you are all having a good week,

See you again soon

Priscilla x

Book Trail...Author meet

2008-11-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone well christmas is on its way! but before this blog takes on a fluffy warm glow of the season I just wanted to tell you about my meeting with a famous Author! It was quite a surprise and not really planned...a friend of mine had stumbled upon a book at our local library, and reserved one for me back in September. She loved the book, it is a young adult book which I usually enjoy and although there were parts in this I did not like I enjoyed it all the same.....It turns out the book was been encouraged to read in libraries all over Lancashire!

The Spooks Apprentice - My friend read the first 3 before I had finished the first....and told me all about the tale, and that the characters in the book reside in Lancashire...where I live. Although in the book they had used the old traditional place names...We decided to visit one of the places on the trail, and spent the day at Beacon Fell. The above photo is me..taken in the woods at beacon fell, it is a place many people visit, and spend the day enjoying nature...This was back in September... Since then we heard news from our local library that the Author of the Spook Series was going to visit us in October on Halloween! Well we were rather excited ha,ha never had we had anyone of such importance in our little country village!!

It just so happens he was arriving the day of my friends halloween party 31st, and I was helping preparing the decorations,food and such...since she lives just over the road from the library it was easy to pop across to meet the author!! Of course my friend went in her costume....and her boyfriend came with us, when we arrived I realised it was the book clubs Monthly read!

THE AUTHOR...Joseph Delaney. As we arrived he came to sit in the circle with the book club, and we three joined them! My friends had brought all their copies of the book for him to sign......which I hoped to use a postcard! Postcards all gone I grabbed a book mark! He stayed for a good 2 hour, taking questions hearing peoples thoughts, taking photographs, It was fantastic! Although I did not totally enjoy the book I did enjoy all the experience, and i got my book mark signed!!.... A great Halloween! He was a really nice guy....and since he still lives in the village next to me, very grounded.

and since there are witches in the story...he thought nothing of my friend dressed as a witch!

I know it is VERY VERy late for Halloween photos, but I wanted to show you the witchy costumes, since they are in keeping with this post! I am to the left, my friend jen who loves the book to the right

I hope you all enjoyed coming along the trail with me, and hearing about my surprise meeting!

Priscilla x

Halloween Decor....

2008-11-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.... I hope you all had a great halloween. I am a little behind in my blogging but wanted to show you some of the decor around my house this month. This year has been unusually busy for me, especially October, there have been new people, new places, parties, and extra reasons to decorate!! On the 28th I had a few friends over for a Halloween Party......This is how my house looked...enlarge the photo for a better look.

This is the view to my living room front door......down the stairs, glowing jack o lanterns light your way!

Spooky candy, ready for the party.....solid chocolate shapes, and making use of an empty coffee jar!

I also bought table confetti, isn't it cute? Little pumpkins, ghosts, spiders, I used this on the table for the party, which ill share in another post,

This sweet fairy is new this year, I just love it. They also had them in white, but the gold shows up better against the white walls....... I call her my Autumn FairyI don't know about you but I don't want to take down the Halloween/autumn decor! I might leave some of the autumn items around for the next few days and then start to add touches of christmas...

I also carved a pumpkin, and went to a friends party on the 31st! Ill be back soon with more from this eventful month of October! I hope you all are having a great Halloween.......

Priscilla x

Post Spooky....Halloween Gifts,movies and decor!

2008-10-24T03:07:00.000-07:00

Looky, Looky what I received!!! A Halloween surprise from my good Friend Linda over at somewhere in Time. I just love getting surprises in the mail............and what a amazing gift this was, take a look......

All wrapped up with tissue and bows! And there is that tasty yummy candy corn that we in the uk can not get!!!!!! Linda knows we dont have Halloween quite the same in the uk.....so I am really grateful to her for sharing with me such amazing goodies!!

Linda knitted the scarf! What a great piece of work....there is also a halloween magnet, witchy- T-towel, a cute orange halloween cocoa sachet, Witches hat T light holder and I am not done yet.......A pumpkin shaped jar and thread Heaven! I have opened the candy corn and enjoying it tremendously! ha,ha

A big thank you to Linda, you are so very kind, and I love it all! xxx

Now that i am all set and fully in a halloweeny mood, I have begun to gather old movies that I used to watch this time of year
I just found this old movie on Amazon uk.....It was on many many years ago when I was around 10!! Worst Witch the movie, took me straight back to those halloween's as a child, it was on tv one year and my mum taped it, I still know the words and songs today,ha,ha. If you get a chance to buy it I recommend it. I watched it last night after adding the final decorations to the house.

Here are a few of the decorations i'll show more later.....

The cat that lives here all year round, that I bought in Luxor Egypt.....He now wears a autunmy bow, and shares the space with a autumn fairy......Hope you like him!

Halloween Memories......Halloween 2004

This is my Parents house, and how I used to decorate their house when I still lived there, no one else on our street decorated at all.....so you can imagine the looks I got! The children liked it though

. I made the wood painted figures in the garden and the silhouettes at the windows, and carved the pumpkins! What a good year this was......I hope you like the little trip down memory lane...

See you again in a few days with more posting spooky!

Priscilla x

Posting Spooky....Halloween Spirit

2008-10-09T03:42:00.000-07:00

I am finally posting my first 'Post Spooky'! Leume over at Beach Treasure is hosting this blog Event.....Posting spooky through October.

It is the perfect time for me to post as I have spent the last three weeks deeply involved in thoughts of Halloween..... a friend is having a party on the 31st and of course needed another girl friend around to help her choose all the party essentials, candy, table decor and the 'Black wig' or the 'white one'? And I myself have been dancing in the halloween spirit.......I spent this week indulging in old movies, adding my halloween decorations, searching out pumpkins......and buying candy for a mini party I am having on the 28th!

To set the scene I thought id share this photo with you, this is the 20 min walk to my parents house...which I walk often to visit them both........When the air is crisp and the leaves have fallen I know its time to think Halloween.....

Does anyone remember this?.......I started this stitching last year and never got around to finishing it, so here it is after I completed it! I am so happy I can now add it to the halloween decorations, and I quite like how it looks on the painted tv cabinet (Which I painted when I first moved in last year!) Its made from some cream cotton pillow case fabric and tea stained! I enjoyed making it and it was really simple to do....that I think I might make other sayings...Like 'The Witch is in' or 'Witches Kitchen'
Now that's part of the decorations covered, how about movies? I always enjoy a good film to get me into the spirit of the season........Last weekend was a blustery, chilly day, and so the perfect time to watch the Crucible.....I could hear the birds outside calling and the leaves rustle as I snuggled up with my Galaxy choc drink and watched....... After that, I knew there was no looking back.....Halloween is fast approaching!

Halloween Food? .....I know not particularly 'spooky' but their purpose is, this was my first attempt at home made sausage rolls! I am practising for a get-together I am having on the 28th.... I made the pastry myself, in the book its called 'Ruff-Puff' a lot like Puff Pastry without the hard work! and the sausage are skinless ones I actually like! (i am fussy with sausage!) ha,ha I was happy with the way they turned out, and my dad especially liked them! I made larger ones just for him....

I hope you all enjoyed coming along the spooky trail.......ill be posting more often this month! There should be food and decor, recipes, and maybe a spooky poem or two! I also have a friends party to help plan and my own.........so it is a busy month for me and great for 'Posting Spooky'! If you'd like to join hop on over to Beach Treasure...

I'd aslo like to say thank you for all the lovely comments on the halloween Cake!

Bye for now
Priscilla x

Halloweeny theme cake. Meal and awards

2008-09-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone, another month has flown by and I am catching at the wind to keep up! Earlier this year I met up with an old friend from high school who I have not seen in about 12 year! We met again on the web and have become good friends, it was her birthday recently and I decided to make her a cake........

She loves halloween, same as I do and also loves this time of year Autumn, I decided on a humours magical/halloweeny theme for her cake and I thought I would share it with you...... A witchy washing line complete with hat, dress, bloomers and her actual black cat who I call 'Kitty' as her name is way to long! ha,ha

'Bippity Boppity Boo' is of course from Cinderellas fairy godmother,

The back of the cake- Jenny is growing a few herbs at her new house and lavender is a favourite so here is her black cat sitting in the flowers.... I really loved making this cake and all the decorations as a big fan of halloween I just loved getting creative with the colours and ideas for this cake!

We went for a meal for her birthday and a few drinks after, here are a few photos..

We went to a lovely Chinese restaurant, notice how i blend in with the table cloth! ha,ha
Quite a few people...

drinks after..... It was a good night and nice to be with old friends......

Hi Everyone, I am going to begin this post with a very overdue thank you to all my wonderful blogging friends who awarded me this thoughtful award whilst I was on a blogging break.....

I was lucky enough to be awarded this sparkly award by three friends, thank you again for sharing this with me.......if you get a chance do pay a visit to these wonderful ladies..

http://reflectionsintheafternoon.blogspot.com/
http://dreamingofwildroses.blogspot.com/
http://somewhereintyme.blogspot.com/

I really do not know who to pass this on too, as in my time most of the blogs I visit already own one!

I also want to say thank you to Linda over at 'Somewhere in Time for awarding me this....Super Commenter! Its really quite fun as i used to play the frog character on the amiga 600, hes called 'Super Frog'! ha,ha I think this award is a lovely one to receive....its always nice to receive comments, just a little note to let you know someone has found something you have written of interest, I also enjoy leaving comments.........so thank you again Linda!

I award these blogs with this award:http://www.bittersweetpunkin.blogspot.com/
http://ohiofarmgirl.blogspot.com/

http://vintagetea.blogspot.com/

I hope you all have a good week, see you again very soon!

Priscilla x

Its been a while.....Nice to be back!

2008-09-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, Goodness time has flown by and what a bad blogger I have been! I really didn't intend staying away this long! I hope you are all well......... This whole year has flown actually and now we are approaching my favourite time of year again, autumn. We didn't see much summer here in the uk, but I did manage to enjoy the garden......

I had some nice results from some seeds I planted a while back, forget-me-nots, Stocks and Indian pinks..... The others planted were blown all over the garden in a gale, so I lost most of them! There were not really enough salvaged to make a huge display, these are the ones that survived....This is at my parents house, where I potted them, they began to look nice among mums lillies and Egyptian figure! so I decided to keep there there.

Its hard to tell from the photo but these Lillies are Huge! We bought them from QVC uk and they were scented beautifully, as you stepped outside you were hit with the fragrance, thats my hand trying to compare size, ha,ha

Its good to be back, I will be visiting you all very soon! I've really missed blogging and visiting......

Take care see you soon

Priscilla x

Pendle Lancashire.....

2008-08-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the 30th July I visited Pendle in Lancashire England, I have wanted to visit for many a year and we finally took the 1 hour car trip up there whilst my dad had a week off work..... Pendle is well know for its 'Pendle Witches', the accused were walked a 45 mile to Lancaster Prison to await death, the others were hung on pendle hill!

It is a lovely part of the country, so many small villages, churches, and natural beauty....... It is quite a tourist attraction for travellers, you can follow the route by group tour, or just go by car.

I found a shop on the web called 'Witches Galore' so that's where we headed for, its in a really small village called Newchurch, we took some very narrow roads to get here! It is the only shop dedicated to pendle memorabilia....
This is the view of the shop as we parked the car behind the white one and I stepped out, I really like the black witch sign above the door!
What an entrance.... I only noticed what the sign read when I came home and looked at the photos........... 'Drop In For A Spell' ha,ha
Brooms......... I saw these first as I entered the shop and grabbed one straight away, there were only three! If you click on the photo you can read the sign it says 'Flight Tested: Full M.O.T' ha,ha
Me blending in with the locals.......... That broom is huge! It is a full broom, human size, perfect for flying!

A sneak peek inside the shop..... Lots of interesting things, I preferred the Pendle memorabilia such as the mugs (to add to my collection) lapel pins magnets etc, I also got a tea towel.They also sold flying witches, books on Pendle, incense and Celtic designs.and sweets!

As we were leaving the shop someone said 'Right Priscilla you can fly your way home'........

If you were feeling adventurous you could follow this footpath up Pendle hill, I decided to take the photo instead!
Follow the Witches.....

As we were heading out through the village we spotted Pendle Hill in the distance....... We stopped for a picnic not far from here, we are still laughing about the Very narrow roads we travelled to the shop, we realised after there was another route...... but it added to our experience!

As you can see we got a good stash of goodies between us! A bag, tea towel, mugs, pens, pins, rock, postcards and even a Pendle visitor guide, as we hope to return and visit the other quaint villages that are part of Pendle history............ I hope you enjoyed your visit to 'Pendle Witch Country'

It is a fascinating tale and a town full of history, I wonder what its like at Halloween..........

See you all again soon, I will be back with the second part of my 'Mug Collection' and also some lovely blogging awards........ until then bye for now

Tea.....'How do you drink yours'? Part 1

2008-07-16T02:10:00.000-07:00

Tea, Coffee, cocoa........... We all enjoy our favourite drinks but how do you enjoy them? Do you have a favourite cup or use the same every day? Do you keep special ones for guests........
Or are you like me and collect them?

I was tagged recently by Linda over at Somewhere In Time to talk about the cup/mugs I use, I am so pleased to be tagged with this! I have been collecting cups since I was a child, I adore them, so I am doing this post in two parts, the first are the more recent bought and used cups, I also own some quite old and musical ones so i'll show them next time.........

A lot of my cup collection started from Easter Eggs as a child........ Every year I choose a egg with a mug

I bought this last year it came with an Easter egg and is the mug I am currently using the most, just the right size! Wallace and Gromit are great and this is their new movie 'Wallace and Gromit and the Curse Of The Were-Rabbit' which is a funny film, the scenes on protecting prize winning pumpkins from pesky rabbits is just a taste of the story line.......

Another film inspired set..........Harry Potter, I bought the straight sided cup when the first film came out, BHs had a sale and I couldn't believe my luck! Then a few year later I found the second movie mug, I have looked for ones on the new movies but cant find any, I am still looking.....
Over the years my family have bought me mugs, they know I collect them and I have some very special old ones from Christmases past, which Ill show on another post..... Mum and Dad bought me this design 3 year ago............... A Thomas Kinkade painting. It came as a three mug box set, so I chose one design my mum another and my grandma the other design.From QVCuk! I don't use this mug that often, mainly when I want a special treat..... Another Easter egg mug........ Now this one is kinda odd. Do you see the small gap in the bottom of the mug? Well apparently that is to place your small two finger kit kat in the slot?! To melt so its nice to eat, the thing is the image showed you an unwrapped kit kat! I just imagine a rather melted mess, so I have to say I havnt tried it out! ha,ha Maybe ill it try with the wrapper on..... Colour change mug......... I love the colour change mugs, you can just see the smarties, It becomes very colourful when a warm drink is added, although I don't use it a lot, I have quite a few colour change mugs, and I am always worried it will stop working, so use them rarely.......
And finally another Smarties mug, this is my most recent mug and the one I am using at the moment, I think it came from Morrison's.........a very happy mug, ha,ha. So colourful!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my cup collection, I will be back soon with my older ones...... a musical Tetley Tea mug, The Pink Panther' Alka Seltzer' mug and others.......... If you would like to join in you are very welcome to, I will tag a few people on my final post, but let me know if you do join Id love to see your collection!

Thanks again for your ideas and inspiration on the stitching projects, I have started the Mill Hill Kitties and think I might make a block with that and frame the Acorn Hill.......... I am really enjoy stitching so thank you again.

Have a great week everyone see you soon

Feeling Creative....and thoughts of Autumn

2008-07-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am in a cross stitching mood....... The last few week I made a return to something I enjoy doing, which I havnt done in a while.

I have been stitching a sweet little design called 'Cottage Garden' from Country Cottage Needleworks ,the photo above is how it looked about a week ago..........

Here is the progress so far...... Its been lovely enjoying the wonderful weather and lazy evenings cross stitching. I am loving this sweet gift from my friend Linda over at Somewhere in Tyme.......I think when its finished Ill make it into a hanging pillow? any other ideas I'd love to hear from you all?

Thinking ahead to Autumn......
Shopping for cross stitch is the best kind of shopping there is in my opinion!
Since I have the stitching bug really good at the mo, I have treated myself to a little something. I love Autumn, Crisp leaves, Orange Pumpkins, Halloween, I look forward to it all year, really I do! So I thought I'd start early with these two cross stitch designs, in the hopes to finish around late September (click the pics to enlarge)

The first is from Little House Needleworks - 'Acorn Hill' I just Love, love it!

The second is a Button and Bead Kit from Mill Hill - Bountiful Kitties I cant wait to start this one also! Just look what came in the kit! All those beads, and a cute Pumpkin Button, those beads made me dizzy! An amazing little bag of goodies!

Sharing the fun........

Sharing in the cross stitch love is my mum who also stitches, she picked up her projects again too, so we have been having a good old chit chat over tea and stitches! Mum is stitching a design by Thomas Kinkade - Christmas Cottage, it will be a gift for my grandma when she finishes it! Mum is hoping this Christmas, so she is busy is stitching away.......It is a beautiful design, quite large, I look forward to seeing it completed

Thinking.........

I have been thinking of what to make the finished cross stitch pieces into, I seem to get stuck on pillows! ha,ha can you tell I am not a pro at finished items? I am sure there is more to do with cross stitches than pillows so I would really love to hear your thoughts and ideas, for future projects........what do you do with yours?

See you again soon and thank you for your lovely comments on the Midsummer post, I hope you all enjoyed the magic too......... Have a good week

Priscilla x

Midsummer.......June 21st Join me in a bit of magic

2008-06-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

Midsummer............... the longest day of the year.

I have been spending much more time outdoors recently pottering about in the garden and keeping an eye on my 'planting calender' that goes by the phases of the moon, which I have to say I noticed great results! I became aware that the 21st of June is Midsummer, the longest day of the year..........

I don't know about you but this particular night/day feels just magical! Over the years there have been many films and stories set around this time......... I suddenly felt like I wanted to join in, find a bit of magic, sprinkle fairy dust, or spot those friendly little people at the bottom of the garden!

So today through to the 24 th I am pulling out all the magic and fantasy I can find and indulging in it! Why not join me? What films or fairy stories do you love? I am going to start with a true classic favourite.......

A Midsummer Night's Dream - by William Shakespeare

This is the movie version starring Michelle Pfeiffer and I just love it. It is visually beautiful!

Here's a little fairy tale of my own......... Fairies live at the bottom of my garden, honest they do! Or they did when I was a child and still lived in my parents home, every summer down at the bottom of the garden hanging on a small branch under our apple trees, was a small, envelope sprinkled in blue glitter addressed to me! My dad told me the fairies had left me a message and so I carefully opened it to find a delicate piece of tissue paper with a hand written note from the little people.......... How special I felt to believe the fairies had written to me, I am thankful fairies were made a precious part of my childhood!

A fairy (also fay, fey, fae, faerie; collectively, wee folk, good folk, people of peace
I don't actually collect fairies but have been given a few as a gift, this is one my grandma got me for Christmas, the wings are glittered, it looks very pretty by candle light...... Its one of my favourite figures
Peter Pan......Here is another film in my collection I Will be watching over the next few days, this film made me a fan of the story. The soundtrack is also amazing, It made me watch another peter pan inspired film 'Finding Neverland', which I also recommend. If you are interested in fairies, here is a link you may like. http://www.cottingley.net/cfconten.shtml
Cottingley Fairies..........The story of two children from Yorkshire England who were believed to have photographed fairies. I recommend the film 'Fairy Tale a true story' if you would like to learn more about them. Visit the link above to see more of their fairy photos!And the final film on my magical list is Ever After, a re telling of the Cinderella tale, and another fav of mine, I hope you join me in the magic, id love to hear how you dipped your toes in fairy dust!

Puck.
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I'm an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call:
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

See you all again soon and have a magical time

Priscilla x

'The Good Old Days' Shortbread......

2008-06-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

' The Good Old Days'......... An Edwardian Music Hall. That is the name of the production I have just taken part in, a lively show full of old songs such as Daisy Daisy, Beside the seaside, Alice Blue Gown, and many many more!
Before a production everyone gets asked to contribute to the raffle prizes, since a lot of the money raised really adds up when there are 'good' prizes (wine,chocolate) I try to come up with some different ideas, I have been trying out some recipes for Shortbread, and found one I really like, I decided to make some 'Home made shortbread from the Good old Days' and that is what I printed on the tag!
The first batch I tried the week before the production....... well I had to make sure they were just right! My family decided they were and 'hadn't I better make another batch to make sure'? They were all gone before the evening was out!

This recipe makes the most delicate not too sweet, addictive shortbread! Here is the recipe

Shortbread
250g (9oz) Plain Flour
75g (3oz) Sugar
175g (6oz) Butter

Heat oven to 160 C - 325 F Gas 3, Line a baking tray
1. Beat sugar and butter until fluffy
2. Sift small amount of flour into the butter/sugar and mix slowly by mixer or by hand until incorporated (don't over beat).
3. Keep adding flour in sections and mixing on slow until all flour is incorporated and Dough is formed
4. Knead lightly onto a floured surface.

5. Roll out and cut using cutters or shape into squares, or just take small round of dough and flatten with hands! This dough is easy to shape and looks attractive many ways!

6. Bake for around 20 Min's or until light golden around the edges
Note: Do not use margarine for this recipe, it does not turn out at all like shortbread!

If you try it let me know, I do love the taste and texture of these biscuits........

The Music Hall was a joy to take part in,I have some photos which I'll post another time, and more about the show. I even got to sing again! Alice Blue Gown....... oh yes and a young girl got my biscuits I heard, so I hope she enjoyed them.

What a week, all that baking has me searching for more recipes, all the old baking books are out again and I just love reading them before bed, does anyone else read cook books like a novel? The only trouble is I want to eat something afterwards! ha,ha
See you again soon

Priscilla x