Update

Well hello there my friends. I have been mucho busy lately so apologies for the lack of serious updates. Right. To business. I haven't spoken about it much on here, but for the last few months I have been seriously job hunting. Since I have now finished my degree getting my adult life started would seem like a plan. Oh yeah, and there is that whole mortgage thing which needs to be paid and all. But. Drumroll please....

I have a job! A full time 'proper job'. I'm so excited its unreal! An interesting job, with lovely people in a beautiful location. Who could ask for more?

Unfortunately there is one draw back. Its only a fixed term contract so for the time being I have to keep my other, permanent, part time jobs. Thus, as of next Monday, I will be contracted for, and working seven days a week, well seven and a half really if you count the extra evening work. Yeah. It seems a little extreme to me too, but it was the best solution I could come up with.

On a major plus side James is being incredibly supportive of this next venture. So much so that last night he lit a whole bunch of vanilla scented candles in the bedroom for me, so that the room smelt nice for me when I came to bed, so that I could get a good night sleep. I practically melted at the thoughtfulness of it all.

I think what i'm trying to say is bear with me here people. I'm going to try and be more purposeful with my blog since I do love doing it, and I think that its the only way in which I going to get anything done anymore. No more slacking for me!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Tiredness!

I've had a really long weekend at work, so i'm almost too tired to come up with words! So here are some pretty pictures from a BBQ that we had for my Dad's birthday this week.






This is James being clever and taking amazing pictures of my hair!


This is my Dad, I have far to few photos of him.


Me and my sister looking chilled!


Again I can take no credit for such a gorgeous photo, all must go to James!

Happy Sunday all! xxx

Saturday Steals Vol 13.

*Due to an extremely busy week, and my extreme tiredness, I'm replaying this round of Saturday Steals again! All shall be explained next week, I promise! Until then, have a fantastic weekend! xxx*

I have a bit of a hobby. Its not one of those formal hobbies that requires evening and weekend work, or hours slaving away to achieve a particular task. No, i’m a little too disorganised for such an arduous hobby. Sometimes months if not years can pass before I turn to this hobby once again, but this has no effect on how sweet the winnings are when I do find a particular item.

If you hadn’t already guessed, I collect old books.


This might not come as much of a surprise.

Now when I say old books, I don’t mean the guilt edged (although a little shiny glint never goes amiss), you can’t touch this its so old, put it in a glass case variety of old books. Mostly these are too expensive and I have no money, what with that whole student thing and whatnot. So I collect the books that slip through other peoples notice. The ones which end up on the back shelves of charity shops. The ones which my parents so generously gave to me to start this collection. The ones which nobody else wants.


A couple of weeks ago I hit gold in this department, and it was a find which most defiantly counts as a steal!

James and I were taking a walk in the small town of Woodbridge near us, in order to buy a new kitchen knife. (Yes we went to a different town to buy a knife, its a long story, don’t ask!) Where outside a charity shop was a table covered in books, now I can never resist a second hand book table so was soon drawn towards it like a moth to a flame. This was what you might call the bargain corner of a charity shop. They weren’t even asking a fixed price on any of the books, just a small donation of above 20p per book. This is like heaven, if you are me!

So between us we manage to pick up a travel guide, a Ben Elton novel, a crime book which I have since read, and was so bad I gave up on and won’t even dignify you dear reader with the title, and this....


my favourite of them all.

It is as 1925 copy of George Elliot’s novel Romola. In the inside cover it has an inscription dated 1929 which reads, 'With love and best wishes for a very Happy Easter from .... Simon and Vera 31 May 1929'. There was only one word which I couldn't really make out.



I love this. I actually love this. I love being able to hold a book in my hands and imagine all the people who may have held it before me. Now yes, the binding is going a little bit, but to me that just adds to its charm. I’m a firm believer that books are there to be read, this books binding just demonstrates that it has been used for its original purpose many times, and that can only be a good thing.



For a find so good, James and I gave them all the change which we had on us, which amounted to a little over £2.50. I cannot believe that I paid so little for this treasure, or at least its a treasure to me!

I hope everyone has a happy and relaxing weekend.

This post is part of Saturday Steals over at Archive of Our Lives, head on over there to find some more amazing bargains.

(And yes, I did go a little crazy with the antique effect on iphoto!)

Stitchery

Now this post is a little later than promised. I originally said I was going to be back on Tuesday, but unfortunately real life intruded. My Gran came round yesterday to see the new flat and have lunch as she hadn't seen it as yet. All was going well until we got too chatty over lunch and she missed her train home. So I drove her home, which is about 35 miles away, along little back roads so it took just over an hour. All in all it was a really nice drive, and it was great to get some more time with her, but it did rather eat up my afternoon, making posting impossible.

So. Back to the scheduled order of events, this wonderful little book by Susan Higginson.


I found this in a charity shop for £1.99 this weekend, and I defiantly have to say that it was two pounds well spent. Its concise and clear with great colour photos, and a really good guide to some of the more unusual embroidery stitches. You get a photo of the stitch, followed by clear instructions and a chart, which makes it very easy to learn from.


Since i've had so much time on my hands recently I've really been trying to be productive and embroidery is one of the things i've been focussing on to do. Months and months ago I brought a 100 skeins of thread off of the internet in a variety of colours for about £10, so i've been having a lot of fun trying out some of the new stitches.


I think my favourite one so far would have to be this one, its called the 'Norwich'. I like it because it produces a lovely dense effect. I also lived in Norwich for a couple of years whilst doing my degree so I was immediately drawn to the name anyway!


I find that having to concentrate on a small and precise craft really relaxing, whilst being productive. A good combination is you ask me. If your interesting in improving your embroidery and you see a copy of this book, I would really recommend getting it as a guide to give you a little pointer in the right direction.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend wasn't shaping up to be any good to tell you the truth. I was stressed about my inability to find a job, and we had many errands to run on Saturday, plus I had to go to work in the evening. But then things started to change. Whilst out and about in town, running the aforementioned errands, I found this wonderful little book in the Oxfam bookshop.




(More on this tomorrow)

Then on Sunday, oh on Sunday James took me on my surprise trip. Being the best boyfriend in the known world he was trying to cheer me up after a difficult week. I didn't get a job which I went for that I really wanted, and all in all I was struggling with being unemployed, and generally the job market as a whole. Damn recession and all that! So to cheer me up James organised to surprise me with a little trip on Sunday.

You will never guess where he took me!... The Centerparcs Spa for the day! Nine hours of relaxation, doing nothing, swimming, and generally being pampered. We turned up, and they immediately furnished us with robes and towels etc... then we went in to their stylish little cafe and we got given a delicious breakfast. I had a fresh croissant filled with ham and cheese, with a refreshing fruit smoothie. Then it was in to the spa, where you could relax in a variety of different steam rooms or saunas or simply luxuriate in the jacuzzi pool. A girl couldn't ask for a better gift where relaxation is concerned!

After nine hours relaxing in the spa (which involved a little sleeping on waterbeds!) we went to have a delicious Italian meal at Bella Italia before going in to the main pool at the village to have a swim before going home. The Subtropical Swimming Paradise was the perfect way to round off our amazing day.

So really this is a mostly a thank you to James for looking after me so well, and an explanation of my weekend!

Hope to see you back here tomorrow for a little more stitchery!

Sunday Morning...

No Saturday Steals this weekend I'm afraid as I just haven't had time. Which is unfortunate as I had a steal planned for this post. Yesterday was super busy, and today J is taking me somewhere as a surprise trip! Hence why I am posting so early in the morning! Which is so exciting!

I shall check back in on Monday and let you know where I went!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! xxx

Canadian Booty

About two months ago or so, I suggested to a fellow blogger, the amazing Camille over at Archive of Our Lives, that we should have a swap. In return for sending her some cool British stuff she would send me some awesome Canadian stuff. She has written about what I sent her here.

So, guess what arrived in the post this week....

(My Mum received the parcel for me, and ripped off the customs tag so I could have a surprise!)

I was so excited when I finally got it J commented that my face looked as thought it was about to invert from smiling so much!

I think it would be fair to say that I am mildly obsessed with Canada and all things Canadian. I would love to go there one day, in fact I made J promise me that we could! So the fact I have some real live Canadian goodies sent to me from a real live Canadian has made me one very happy lady indeed! I’m still racking my brains to come up with a way to thank Camille sufficiently for all the awesome things that she sent me, so for the time being this post will have to do. Thank you Camille!

So without further ado, here are the groovy goodies that traveled their way across the Atlantic Ocean approximately 3000 miles to make there way to me.

I received these cool patriotic Canadian things, the keyring of which is already on my keys!


Some snazzy Canadian foodstuff. By the by those rice crackers are ‘No Name’ crackers, which just cracks (excuse the pun) me up! They also taste delicious, I have almost eaten the entire lot, and i’ve only had them a day! If you live in England, I guess the closest comparison would be cheese Snack-a- Jacks, but these are crispy-er.


Canadian lip stuff. Suffice to say the Burt’s Bees one is amazing and is now a permanent fixture in my handbag.


An amazingly generous amount of Canadian chocolate. Sorry about the blurry photo, I had already tucked in by the time I realised that this was out of focus! How I lived my life without Coffee Crisp bars before is a puzzle I will never know the answer to. As it stands, I think I may need therapy to get over the fact I will not be able to get another!


Possibly my favourite thing- mittens! How Camille knew that I am both obsessed with warm outerwear and watched these previous Olympics religiously I will never know! This women knows it all! Her mind telepathy can even stretch across the water. (Ha ha, just kidding.... I think!) So I reckon it is safe to say that I am smitten with my mittens. A shout out here to Camille’s Mother- in- law who had the sense to buy a spare pair on the off chance that there would be some crazy English lady who would be dying for cool Canadian things and would convince her daughter-in-law to send her some. Poor Kyle’s Mum- you rock!


And then we have my mug! I was ridiculously happy with this as I have a collection of motley, random mugs which I have built up over the years which I love. Since I spend an inordinate amount of my time drinking tea and coffee, I spend a lot of time with my mug, and now I can be reminded of both Canada and my friends generosity every time I do!


So here we have it. Thank you, Camille, from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful gifts which you sent me! You are truly the coolest Canadian which I know, Poor Kyle should count himself a lucky man! (Don’t feel shortchanged by being the only Canadian which I know. This in no way detracts from your uber coolness!)


Thank you again, people feel free to go check out Camille’s also uber cool blog over at Archive of Our Lives.

Happy Thursday all xxx

Tea and Cake

Its a very grey day outside, with almost 100% cloud cover. The perfect kind of day to have green tea and homemade lemon cake. I'm also aiming to finish an embroidery project which I started months ago. Wish me luck!

Happy Wednesday xxx

Saturday Steals

Guitar borrowed from J's Dad..... Free


Plectrum that I found in one of my draws..... Feels free


Garageband that came pre- installed on my computer to teach me how to play..... Free


Having something to do..... Priceless!


If this doesn't count as a steal I don't know what will! Hope everyone has a happy and sunny weekend. xxx

This post is in conjunction with Saturday Steals over at Archive of Our Lives, check it out!

Unemployment

Image from here

Just in case you were wondering, unemployment sucks. This might not seem like a revelation to the rest of the world, but it certainly is to me.

Sorry, I think this post needs some back story. I have a 12 hour a week contract as a junior manager at a local supermarket. This was perfect whilst I was university. It gave me a nice balance between having the time to do my university work and having a job to do, something to distract me from my degree (in a good way). Now when I finished my degree, I had assumed that I would either have another job to go to (more fool me), or that I could get some overtime at my current work place in order to keep me occupied.

Neither has happen. There is a complete overtime ban at work at the moment which I don’t see being lifted anytime soon. Hence why I feel unemployed. My 12 hours is spread over 2 evenings at weekend. So all day everyday I sit at home on a weekday and watch people go out and be productive members of society. This has become harder now that J has gone back to work. For the first few weeks of living in the flat, he had booked it off on holiday so we were both at home, and it felt like a nice relaxing holiday, albeit one with a multitude of boxes to lift in. You have no idea how guilty I feel siting in our beautiful new flat without a full time job, and without much to do.

I have naively thought that I would be okay with sitting at home and relaxing. It was the one thought that kept me battling through my degree- the idea that when it was all over the stress would end, and I could relax a little. Well i’ve relaxed enough now, and I need something to do! I don’t react well to having nothing to do. It makes me lethargic and un-motivated, a vicious cycle of doing not much.

So I have come up with a few ways of combatting this whilst I look for a job. And believe me I am looking for a job like I have never looked for anything before, but there are only so many times a day I can fill in forms telling people that I am fantastic.

One of the things I am doing is NaNoWriMo, I wanted to get back in to writing and this seemed like the perfect structure that I needed to keep me on track. I’m writing complete balls, but just the practice of writing something is good for me I think. J’s Dad has also lent me one of his old guitars, so i’m learning, badly I may add, to play a few chords on that to give me something to occupy myself.

For some reason its hit me particularly hard having nothing to do. My normal response to boredom would be to go and do some volunteering, but whilst looking for a job I can’t give a long enough commitment to make it worth a charities while to train me. Its all rather depressing.

No one tells you this when your doing a degree. Perhaps i’m the aberration. Perhaps the rest of the world is good at doing nothing. But I certainly am not.

So this is why, ladies and gentlemen, unemployment sucks. I completely fail to understand how people can do this long term. (I don’t mean unemployed in the sense that your staying at home with children or something, but just staying at home and doing nothing.)

So okay. Rant over. Now I have to go find something else to do. Damn.

Happy Tuesday!

Today has indeed been a good day! Full of Doctor Who, crocheting and writing. But today was defiantly made great because J and I brought a piano! It was so much fun, we went in to this little piano shop and got to try out all the different models. Eventually we settled on the model that we went in thinking that we wanted in the first place! We are now the proud owners of a Roland F110 in white! (Or we will be when it gets here, hopefully by the end of the month.)




I feel quite decadent buying a piano, but hopefully we will get good use out of it. Both J and I played the piano as kids and its something that we both really want to go back to. Fun Ros fact alert. When I was 6 I won a poetry competition and got £50. When your 6 that seems like riches untold! My parents wanted me to buy something that I could keep for a long time so I brought my first keyboard. Lessons through my school cost 50p for half an hour and I was taught to bang out all the old favourites- When the Saints go Marching in was a particular favourite of my teacher I seem to recall. Then finally I graduated to playing with both hands, and the first song I learnt to play? Let it be by the Beatles. I remember that it was on the last page of the music book that we were playing through and I felt to proud that I had got there. So I love this song. Its one of my go to tunes. No matter what sort of mood I'm in I can listen to this song and feel better. So the first thing I'm teaching myself to play again? Definitely Let it Be!

Have a musical Tuesday and check this out!