Two Treats!

Since I missed yesterday you're due two treats today for the advent calendar!

No.11
A link to the website the musical production of The Secret Garden which I went to see tonight. It was incredible!

No.12

Click. The fab M&S Christmas Ad. It makes me giggle!

Family

I *love* this picture from my Christmas at home last year. And tomorrow I'm going home for a Christmas weekend there. Before heading out to Oz next weekend for Christmas out there. So this picture is no.10 in the advent calender!

Miracle on 34th Street

Day no. 9! (it's getting so close to Christmas!) I love this film - full of Christmas magic!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Click here for day no.8's fabulous entry in the advent calender! It's a gorgeous blog, with lots of fabulous and quirky Christmas present ideas, that I discovered day as a result of another lovely blog. Enjoy!

No. 7

We all *LOVE* sprouts here in my uni family. How about you?

Advent Calander!

One of my friend's has been doing an online advent calender and I thought that was a fab idea! However I'm a little bit behind the times what with today being the 6th of December already (my how this year has flown!). So as a special treat there are going to be six things today! And I'll hopefully be able to keep it up until Christmas day (or at least until I go to Aus!)

No.1



No.2

No. 3

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace."

Micah 5 v2-5

No. 4

A vintage fairy to top our tree!

No. 5

Parlour games. Perfect for Christmas!

No. 6

A perfectly lovely blog.

Check back for no. 7 tomorrow!

So good!

I love Jamie Cullum and I think you should probably be listening to him right now. He's awesome.

Also discovered a hilarious article whilst drinking a Cinnamon gingerbread latte in Gloria Jeans Coffees on Saturday.

Bubble and Squeak!

I was just about to make my tea (or dinner as southerners like to call it!) when my grandma rang. And when my Grandma rings a short conversation is under an hour! And as cutting up a swede or a turnip (i get them confused as up north we call them things the other way round!), I had to stop because they're pretty difficult to chop without trying to hold a phone under your chin, and I didn't fancy risking my fingers!

Anywho I'm off the phone now and my swede/turnip is boiling away. With it I'm going to make bubble and squeak which means to me mashed potato and mashed turnip/swede fried in butter. Then eaten with Daddy's sauce and bread and butter. Yum! Though i've disocvered that everyone as their very own version of bubble and squeak (though of course mine is best!)

It's been a while

I think I go through blogging phases. I update a lot and then nothing and then another burst. I have great respect for people who can blog continually! I don't have that much perseverance.

So here I am. I was going to blog more this uni year but then we had to wait 7 weeks for internet so I lost momentum and by that time I had lots of work to do so I didn't. But I'm here for now.

I've had a really good day. I've done a lot. And I'm greatly anticipating this week but I can't tell you why because it's a secret (shhhhh!)

Right I should probably head to bed. The plan is to get lots of uni work done tomorrow and so feel really good and less panicky about the amount of work I have (which is a lot!)

lol!

" I don't like pate isn't that some kind of poo from a duck or something"
Anna

Continually making me laugh since 1992!

End of Summer

My summer is officially over. Well it's not quite back to Uni but all my summer plans have now happened. I've been all over the UK and it's been great! Here it is in pictures!


Visiting Chloe in Bristol in June. It seems like such a long time ago now!


Then it was up to Scotland to visit my family - the weather was gorgeous as are my cousins!


Then it was a week in Paris. I love that city. So much culture sunshine.


My first week of Beach Team at Whitby. The team was small but the blessings were great.


The second week of Beach Team at Whitby. A slightly bigger team and no less blessings.


Another week of Beach Team only this time in the south of England in Looe.

Then Forum (UCCF CU leaders conference). There were great encouragements, lots of challenges and masses of mud!

Packing

I've been packing this evening as in the morning I'm going on Beach Missions for two weeks in Whitby. Packing, I find, is a very stressful activity. It means making lots of tiny insignificant decisions. It's like deciding what to wear every morning only x14 and also x by the unpredictability of English weather. It's trying to decide how many clothes you actually need rather than how many you want. Basically this all adds up to unnecessary stress in my world! Oh well it'll all be alright when I arrive. (Unless I've forgotten something really essential!)

rain rain go away...

I'm still holding out for some sun this summer. But the English weather just seems to want to rain.

Scotland and Paris

Two completely different holidays. Yet both thoroughly enjoyed!

The north coast of Scotland. Very remote. Untouched and beautiful. Visiting with family. Hours of hide and seek. Making 'pies' in the garden. Getting to know my two beautiful cousins. Tom, 7 and Thea, 4.



Paris. A busy bustling city. Stunning architecture. Enthralling art. Time with my best friend. Miles walked. So much culture to absorb.

The land of the Scots!

I'm currently in the land of the Scots visiting family! It's so much fun playing with my 4 and 7 year old cousins all day. It's like being a child again!

Lol!

Me: I think I'm going to enter the London 2012 Olympics
Anna: What the disabled ones? You still wouldn't win!

My lovely sister making me laugh as usual!

In another news I passed everything! Woop!

Today's the day

I'm waiting for my results. I get them at 11.30am. I feel like a husband pacing in the waiting room whilst his wife gives birth. Though my results are not quite as important are exciting as a new baby. So i'm just going to keep waiting because there's not much else I can do.

Summer so Far

So far I've had a whole month of my four month summer holiday. It really has flown. So far this summer I've
-been on 4 trains
-enjoyed the sunshine
-not been surprised by the rain
-read 5 books
-spent time with friends
-tried to not to buy anymore pretty dresses
-sewed a dress

And I still have to look forward to
-a week in Scotland (including a 12 hour train journey each way)
-a week in Paris
-3 weeks of UBM (Whitby and Looe)
-Forum
-Lots more reading
-Sewing
-Postcard writing
- and so much more!

I've also set myself the challenge of reading War and Peace. So much to do and I look forward to every minute of it!

So Lovely

Painting by day, Sewing by night

Two days of painting my grandma's lounge. The best part was wearing my mum's old 80's t-shirt with shoulder pads!

I like how the denim looks splashed with paint. I am not a tidy decorator!

Raspberry pink thread. Good enough to eat.

My machine threaded with lilac and green.

But what is it that I'm a sewing?

Well that's a secret for now!

Domesticity

Hanging out washing in the sunshine.
Planning meals.
Supermarket shopping.
Making Jelly.

Pleasure in the simple.
Pleasure in the everyday.

Going to Bristol!

I'm going to Bristol today! I'm going to visit one of my best friends from Uni! I can't wait. Back soon.

Prettyness

Coffee tastes so much better when drunk from my pretty Cath Kidston mug. It tastes good out of doors and under the sun too.

Home

Home for the summer. And nothing says home like my cat Tigger!

Remembering the Sun

Not long ago the sun shone.

We basked in it.

We played in it.

We visited places in it.

We saw beauty in it

We adventured in it.

We took lots of pictures in it.

We enjoyed it while it lasted. We knew it wouldn't last long.

Snatches of Kedleston

Such a beautiful building and gardens, on a very typical English rainy June day. I can only imagine the house filled with ladies in beautiful dresses.

On another note I've been keeping this blog for a year today! So much has happened.

My Shield

"But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head high."
Psalm 3:3

Chocolate Biscuit and Marshmallow Icecream!

Yum! My uni friends and I decided we wanted to do something fun and what's more fun than making ice cream and then eating it!? The recipe is simple and the outcome is delicious. Add silver balls for extra sparkles!

In other news it's my birthday on Sunday and I'm *so* excited!

Revision and Prayer

"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done."
Philippians 4:6

My Quilt

Whilst I was at home for Easter I took great pleasure in continuing with my first quilt.

I spent many late nights piecing it together.

And I'm so proud of how it's turning it out.

Just the binding to do the next time I'm at home!