Thought I’d do a post with a few of my photos from our fab couple of days in Bradford on Avon last weekend.  I was so glad when the sun came out on Sunday as I was able to get some decent outdoor pictures, as the hotel and grounds were  gorgeous.

There were lots of huge, very old trees.

A good time was had by all.

On the Saturday we walked into town, which was full of interesting old buildings and individual shops.  I was amazed to come across this little shop with almost the exact same name as Lisa’s blog, so I had to take a photo of it to show her.

Nice to see the kids immersing themselves in a board game rather than something with a screen, in a little old-fashioned pub we found for lunch which served the most amazing home-made pies (and had a great selection of games to keep the kids busy).

The boys chilling out on Sunday morning with the papers.

I’ve read all Adele Parks’ previous books, and really enjoyed them, but I’m just a little disappointed by this one – looking forward to getting to the end.

… Watching

Finished Season 7 of Grey’s Anatomy last night.  Loved every minute, including the musical episode.  This series just gets better and better.

… Charity Shopping

I haven’t done any charity shopping for a few weeks now, so I took myself off to town to wander around a few of my favourites while Will was at karate yesterday afternoon.  I was rather pleased to pick up a few bits and bobs – a brand new YSL short sleeve shirt for Ashley for £2.49; a lovely soft M&S oversized top for me for £2.99, which’ll make a perfect mix and match pyjama top; an Evans printed tunic top £2.49; and a pair of lovely red leather LK Bennett shoes for £4.95 to sell on.

… Being Very Lazy In the Kitchen

Ashley is away and so far this week, Will and I have been finishing up leftovers and eating meals out of the freezer – it’s been lovely not to have to cook.  He’s back tomorrow, though, so I guess I’ll have to start thinking about what’s for dinner for the next few days!

I’ve noticed over the last week that mornings are definitely getting lighter and evenings a little longer, so spring must be on its way, despite the fact that it was -3 degrees C when I did the school run this morning!

So while it’s still wintery and chilly enough, I thought I’d share one of my favourite winter soup recipes with you.  It’s delicious, a bit spicy, really filling, and ridiculously simple to make.

I’m sharing this post as part of Mrs M’s February recipe linky party, so if you like cooking, do pop over and have a look at all the other lovely recipes.

1.         My New Handbag

Today, my gorgeous new Mulberry Tillie tote is having its very first outing.  It’s a big departure for me to choose a handbag that’s not black, but when I saw this beauty on my recent visit to the Mulberry Factory shop, at a totally knock-down price, I knew it would be mine.

2.         Weekend Away

So looking forward to a weekend away near Bath with my parents and my brother and his family.  Am so grateful for all my lovely family and all the happy times we spend together.

3.   Books

I’ve been trying very hard to avoid new books, as I have a bookcase full already, but a few charity shop bargains and some Readitswapit swaps have made their way into my bookcase so far this year.

4.   No Alarm Calls

It’s been absolutely blissful to wake up naturally without the insistent ring of the alarm clock all this week.  I intend to make the most of the next couple of mornings, as it’s back to school on Monday.

William Morris (1834 – 1896)

I’ve been in the mood this week for decluttering, tidying and rearranging.  I started with a kitchen food cupboard in which I found, amongst other things, some dried apricots with a use by date of 2007!!  Clearly, a sort out was a bit overdue.

Ashley’s mother came to stay the night on Tuesday (no romantic Valentine meals for two in this house – Valentines Schmalentines), and commented on how ‘minimal’ the house was looking.  Bearing in mind her house is crammed with ‘stuff’ – and I mean crammed – and my mother-in-law is definitely of the more is more mindset, I didn’t feel her appraisal of my ‘minimalism’ was meant as a compliment!!

But I do love the uncluttered, tidy feel of my house – and it’s true that a lack of clutter and mess calms my mind hugely.  My sis-in-law, Amanda, once wrote on her blog that in times of crisis, the first thing she does is clean and tidy the house – and I can very much relate to the reasons behind this – control one thing, and sorting out the rest seems much more attainable.

Anyway, I digress somewhat from the point of this post, which was supposed to be about my current slight obsession with storage.

It started a few weeks ago, when I got fed up with my lounge being littered with Xbox paraphernalia – controllers, headphones, games, wires and so on.  So I bought an opened topped storage basket from Matalan, and chucked the whole lot into it.  I’ve even got the boys trained to bung the stuff back into it after they finish playing now (well, most of the time, anyway ….)

I then decided that I was fed up with all the bottles etc all over the cisterns in our ensuite bathroom, and William’s.  Both bathrooms are really small and don’t have any shelving or storage, so I decided a couple of baskets would be the answer, and they’ve made such a difference in keeping things tidy, not to mention making cleaning much easier as well.

Next, I bought a couple of seagrass storage boxes for my bedroom – not sure what they’re going to house yet, as I’m still in the middle of a major reorganization in that room, but I don’t doubt they’ll come in very handy for something that needs a home very soon.

My office is full of storage boxes – this is just two of them: the bottom one has currently listed eBay bits and bobs in, and the top one is full of my diaries and notebooks.

I love this multi-drawer box, made from an offcut of a famous local tree, which Ashley bought me several years ago for Christmas – at the moment it houses various jewellery.  The basket next to it is (some of!) my make-up – the stuff I use on a daily basis.

And I’ve just spent a happy half hour googling for storage boxes – I’m now hankering after a set of miniature suitcase boxes like these – aren’t they fab?

As well as Jane, Paul will leave behind a 12 year old son, his parents, his sister and her young family, his stepdaughter and countless other friends and loved ones.  Paul and Jane are both in their mid-40s.

Although I don’t know Paul well, I’ve known Jane for about 16 years and in that time, she has had more than her fair share of troubles.  In her early 20s she decided to search for her birth mother, who had given her up for adoption when she was born, and when she found her, discovered she was a long-term alcoholic, and her birth sister was a heroin addict.  She forged some sort of relationship with both of them, though as addicts often are, they were extremely selfish and needy.  The birth mother died of liver disease around five years ago, and Jane went to be with her for her last days (there was nobody else, as the sister was in prison on drugs-related offences).

Jane has also suffered two ectopic pregnancies (the second of which was horribly mis-managed by the NHS and resulted in the loss of her second tube and with it the chance of a much longed-for second child), and underwent quite extensive fertility treatment in between the ectopics to have her daughter.

Her first marriage was emotionally abusive and the subsequent divorce traumatic – getting back on her feet took her a while.

Last summer, only weeks after Paul’s brain tumour was discovered, Jane’s adoptive mother was diagnosed with cancer, and Jane nursed her until her death in November, all the while having to deal with Paul’s incurable disease as well.

And now this.

Sometimes, there just aren’t any words.

Life can be so cruel.

Life is so very short.

Every day, every hour, every moment of happiness with our loved ones is truly a gift.

Sometimes we don’t remember that enough, sometimes we are not thankful enough just for normality.

I pray that Paul is able to find some peace, and I pray that those he leaves behind can find the strength to rebuild their lives and, in time, find their new normal.

Here are today’s purchases:

Shoes – brand new Faith leather heels £1, Clarks pink boots £1.50, Clarks Doodles 50p

A white top for me – £1

A whole bunch of vintage knitting patterns – this is just a small selection.  Loving the 70s vibe!  £1 the lot.  William was singularly unimpressed when I threatened to knit him a tank top like the one the little boy is wearing on the right hand pic!

Soap & Glory giftset £1.50 and Jean Paul Gaultier Shower Gel £1 – both brand new.

Huge 500 ml L’Occitane shea butter Body Lotion – only £1.  Just checked their website and a 250 ml one is £18!

And last but not least, thought I’d also show you this fab navy and white Per Una jacket which I picked up in Barnardo’s charity shop during the week for only £2.99.  Barnardo’s are currently in my bad books as they’ve started charging for carrier bags (not so much the money, more the fact that they aren’t recycling the ones that come in full of donations – disgraceful), but I couldn’t resist this bargain – particularly the lovely spotty lining.

Anyway, happy Sunday, whatever you may be doing.  I have a hot date with a pile of ironing while catching up with the last few episodes of Pan Am.  Our plans for this weekend have been somewhat scuppered as Will has a cold/flu thing and has been laid low since Friday.  He seems to be on the mend this morning, though, which is good.

** Linking up this week with Second Hand Buys at Me The Man & The Baby **

First up, Beyonce was out and about earlier this week looking really far better than it’s humanly reasonable to look only one month after giving birth …

… I can only assume that Ms Knowles has an army of staff on hand to help her look like this, and doesn’t even know the meaning of the expression ‘night feed’.  I remember a month after giving birth, thinking it was a result if I managed to make it out of my pyjamas before 4 pm!

The Duchess of Cambridge carried out her first solo Royal Engagement last night, attending an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.

I thought she looked absolutely lovely in this coat dress – and as glowing as ever.

My favourite evening dress over the last couple of weeks has to be this one worn by Vanessa Hudgens at the premiere of her new movie, Journey 2.

I’m very fond of yellow and I thought this dress was lovely – apart from the really ugly flesh-coloured panel at the side …

WHY?  To me, it spoils the whole look of the dress.

Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud (who used to be a redhead – when did that change?), was pictured out and about wearing this rather nice cape …

I’m rather partial to capes, particularly in this horrible cold weather.  Note to self: dig out camel cape and wear it before winter is gone.

Moving on, it was nice to see a member of the ubiquitous cast of TOWIE wearing something vaguely tasteful for a change …

Well done, Sam Faiers – she’s even toned down the usual trowelled-on make-up!  Pictured on the red carpet at the National Television Awards.

Helen Mirren once again did the older woman proud in this gold ensemble at the Directors’ Guild Awards …

And talking of older women, Linda Gray who played Sue-Ellen in Dallas is certainly looking good for 71 years of age …

… although I do think a little shrug or bolero might have been a good addition, more flattering than the expanse of skin on a woman of a certain age, I feel.

Back to the National TV Awards again, and Hilary Devey of Dragon’s Den looked just like Morticia Addams in this frocky horror …

Surely, surely that hair must be a wig???!

Drew Barrymore attended the premier of new movie Big Miracle last week …

I usually quite like Drew’s dresses, but this dress was screaming ‘frumpy’ so loudly, I expected to see Sam Cam in it, to be honest.

Jade Jagger’s daughter Amba Jackson was pictured recently, apparently wearing a pair of too small Primark pyjamas …

Most odd.  Although as she’s only 16, perhaps she’s still learning.

And I’m afraid I haven’t got anything good to say about Louise Redknapp, either, in this Victoria Beckham design …

Horrid, horrid, horrid.

I’ve saved a good one for last, though, you’ll be pleased to hear, and it’s Tulisa …

It’s weird – a) because Tulisa has NEVER worn anything I’ve liked before, and b) because I feel as though I shouldn’t like it.  But I absolutely love this dress, and I secretly would quite like to wear it myself (yeah, I know, I’m 20 years too old!).

So,what did you make of this week’s bevy of beauties?  Do let me know.

Just finished the one on the left, which isn’t as light as the cover might have you believe, and covered some quite gritty stuff about modern day relationships and our expectations.  About to start Brick Lane by Monica Ali (loved the film, which I saw a couple of years ago), and am also dipping in and out of Clarissa Dickson Wright’s autobiography (one half of the TV chefs, the Two Fat Ladies).

… Watching

There seems to be quite a lot of good stuff on the TV at the moment – I’m constantly play catch-up with the Sky Plus, anyway!  Really enjoying Call the Midwife on a Sunday night and One Born Every Minute, now in its third series and just as watchable as ever.  Have also been watching Junior Doctors, a fascinating (and sometimes a bit scary! docu-reality show following 8 newly qualified doctors in their first year of work on BBC3.

I recorded the two-part dramatisation of the Sebastian Faulks novel, Birdsong, which was on recently, and was well received generally, but I haven’t yet got around to watching it.   Guilty pleasures include The Biggest Loser and Toddlers & Tiaras – gotta love those pageant moms!

… Hibernating

The recent very cold snap has rendered me about as keen on getting up as William’s tortoise of a morning, and I’ve spent a lot of time parked on the sofa with a hot cup of tea and my book, avoiding leaving the house whenever possible.  Roll on Spring.

… Looking Forward To The Weekend …

What was looking like a very empty weekend only a couple of days ago is now full of good stuff – friends and their kids over for dinner on Friday night (have decided to cook Greek mezze type of food with slow cooked lamb as the centre piece; out for drinks and a curry with my brother and Amanda on Saturday night; and William has been invited to a friend’s for a sleepover on Saturday, too, so no babysitter required!

… And Beyond

Half term next week – goodness, that’s come around quickly – and we are really looking forward to a whole week of not having to get up while it’s dark outside.  Yay!

And I think Mother In Law is coming over for dinner one evening, but I’m not sure which yet, so anyway …

Here is the rough plan for the week’s meals.  Very subject to change.  Very.

Monday – Moroccan chick pea casserole

Haven’t cooked this for ages, but am hoping that the flavours will transport me to warmer climes.

Tuesday – Lentil and chilli soup with garlic bread.

Wednesday – Prawn, broad bean and tomato stew with herbed couscous

Thursday – Vegetable biriyani

(Three new recipes in a row, there – maybe a little over-ambitious.  We’ll see.)

Friday – friends coming over for dinner, not entirely sure yet.   Am thinking a Thai Green chicken curry maybe.  And party food for the children – requested specially by William – pizza, chicken nuggets, chips etc.

Saturday – no idea – Ashley’s turn to cook!

Sunday – roast something, I imagine.

Linking up with the lovely Mrs M as usual, and looking forward to seeing what everybody else is cooking this week.