More February Things

1) Gorgeous scenery along Aberdeen-Dundee coast road.

2) Seeing a heron!

3) Picking up a lot of my old artworks etc and feeling inspired!

Three Things February Again

Not many more three things February to go! March features, two trips away (Edinburgh and Northern Ireland) and my Birthday, however, so should hopefully be a good month.

1) Warm and sunny, went for lunch with friends and fellow bloggers Sarah and Lola (and Steve, Alistair and Graham). The Cafe 52 sharing platter of cheese, salami and dips is highly recommended.) I like nibbly food.

2) Another Mary Berry traybake in progress: orange and sultana cake.

3) Sunny days encourage/force me to do dusting and hoovering. I like using my Dyson 'cos I can see all the horrible dirt that has been successfully removed from my environment.

Men at Work

Many people are apparently driven nuts by work going on outside their house. As a lifelong urbanite, I find 'quiet' disturbing...'where is everyone? I could die here and no-one would know' etc.

So, I don't mind low level noise during the day, and I enjoy seeing the colourful parade of diggers, dumper trucks, road rollers etc outside my window.

I think they are building a new pavement (sidewalk for US readers) for us. There are old cobbles on the historic Hardgate road under the tarmac, they took some away in a lorry.

(Sorry for the slight campness of the workmen here, I was looking at a photo of the Village People in a magazine earlier and I think it stayed with me.)

Buffing wood floors with my vintage 1950s floor buffer (burgundy, with headlight!)

Bidding on an awesome 1950s aqua coat with leopard trim on ebay (glamtastic)

An Avengers episode I had not seen, featuring KGB, fencing school and umbrella assassinations.

Three Things February 22nd

Going into Boots for cough medicine and coming out with a new blusher and a set of Burts Bees travel toiletries (and cough medicine).

Success of the Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe.

Finishing 'Bryant and May and the Memory of Blood' by Christopher Fowler.

Three Things February

1) Pretty snow (but not enough to be a pain)

2) Skype from my Brother

3) Leading to me working out how to use Google Calendar.

New Art Feature!

An exciting first for my blog!

This week's watercolour is a 'guest picture' courtesy of my Mum's partner.

Many thanks for this lovely illustration of a fennel bulb.

Three Things February Wherever We Got To

Gnome. Recovery. Morse.

Regency Home

Thanks to my Mum sending me some photos of my recent London trip, I can now provide the long awaited (well, by me anyway) picture of the dream house. This regency town house is situated on Kew Green, bang outside the gates of Kew Gardens, looking over the Green. It is flanked by more gorgeous homes, the Herbarium and a lovely pub and backs onto the river. Surely this is one of the nicest houses in London.

TTF 12

Feeling my flu is abating (touch wood)

Being stuck in bed enables you to catch up with reading

Champneys Mediterranean Spa bubble bath smells really nice and comes in a lovely turquoise bottle.

TTF 11

This week's Sarah Rooftops challenge was to try a new craft activity. This is my most successful paper marbling, as featured in lovely old book endpapers. I enjoyed the randomness of the results. (Kit from Hobbycraft).

Alistair saying it was typical of me when I bought an ethically produced crochet octopus from Bangladesh from among the racks of other pastel baby gifts.

Movie Night: tonight featuring Iron Man 2. Lately, it's really been more Superhero Blockbuster Night really. I quite enjoy an exciting yet mentally unchallenging film though.

TTF 10

Staff Xmas Dinner at The Hunter's Moon, Auchleven. Creepy name, great pub.

Planting basil seeds in a pot on my windowsill for Spring.

Opi I'm Not Really a Waitress nail polish.

TTF 9

Being at the gorgeous Haddo House. It has the most amazing Library (with a secret door!)

Hammer Horror style fog all the way home.

Heston's weird food on TV; mash with lime jelly...potato doughnuts...

3x3 TNF (As I was on holiday)

3.1 My Mum meeting me at Heathrow
3.2 Walk to see North Korean Embassy in Ealing
3.3 and Sid James' house (just up the road from the embassy)

3.4 New Medieval Galleries at V&A ( with dress-up copes)
3.5 Old Cinema Antiques Shop
3.6 Second hand brown corduroy coat acquired

3.7 Lovely houses around Kew Green
3.8 Upside-down hanging flower pots in the Kew Shop
3.9 Nice bus driver at airport sympathising with my cold and advising me to enjoy a glass of wine when I got home.

Three Things February 5

Getting a fitness age of 24 on my Wii Fit (I'm 37).

Loving my sourdough baking , despite my lovely doughnut shaped loaf filling in the central hole when it rose in the oven.

Finally arranging to go to my Dad's and uplift or chuck all my old stuff (I've only been moved out for about 13 years...)

Three Things February 4

With picture!

Giant inflatable heart outside the florists which looked more like a giant inflatable Something Else...

Hanging up the Ladies Of Hammer Horror calendar.

Looking forward to watching Thor this evening as our weekly Film Night.

Three Things February 3

Lunch at Cafe Montmartre. It felt like really being in France and I had this delicious spinach stuffed gratineed pancake. I'll be back for dinner soon.

Finding an awesome book 'Architectural Digest Homes of Hollywood' in a charity shop. Especially Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace.

Still addicted to the blackly hilarious Desperate Housewives. Like the love child of Dynasty and Twin Peaks but funnier than either.

Three Things February 2

Planning a quick but re-charging mini break in Edinburgh, which is one of my favourite cities. We like to stay in Leith which is by the sea and has lots of lovely restaurants.

New copy of Harper's Bazaar. I have a secret weakness for glossy magazines. It contained a pair of lilac coloured jeans from Gap I quite fancied somehow, but possibly a bit 80s.

Gardeners at my work having a lovely bonfire among the frosty trees.

Three Things February 1

It’s the 1st of February which means it's time for... Three Things February!
In TTF for each day of February, I’ll blog about three things fun things for that day. It’s the idea of my friend and fellow blogger Sarah as a way of fighting the winter blues. Sadly, I won't be able to do a painting every day but I will try to do some...

Finished the deep cleaning at my work where we crawl around the historic rooms on hands and knees or totter around on stepladders, dusting, wiping, hoovering and brushing everything.
While doing this I found a Councillor's Legal Book from 1920 containing an amusing reference to Habitual Inebriates (by which I think they mean winos).
I also have my Spring Bulb pot of hyacinths to remind me there is life in the winter. The picture on the pot is of pink hyacinths but we shall see...