Tea for One

There's something utterly delicious about having tea from a tea pot. Normally, I'm a dip a tea-bag in, give it a swish and a squeeze, kind of gal, but when I make the time to sit and have a proper breakfast with proper tea, the world is a better place. As my other half works, I'm often left to my own devices on Saturdays and I always try and have a proper breakfast, with proper tea, from a proper tea pot. It gives me a chance to quietly gather my thoughts and decide my plan of action for the day before I throw myself into my mental busy-ness.

I remember when I was 19 I was at work when I heard the news that a dear friend of mine had passed away. I travelled home from work, crying all the way and when I arrived home, the guy that I lived with opened the door just as I was reaching for my keys. With tears streaming down my face I stepped inside, trying to explain what was the matter. I don't think this guy, and his friend who was there, really had a clue what to do with a hysterical girl so they just said, in all its simplicity, 'D'ya want a cuppa' tea?'. And the world was a better place.

Welcome to Miami...

Last week, my husband and I had the privilege to spend five nights in Miami - courtesy of The Carphone Warehouse (I love my husband's job!). Miami is a city of contrast. Paradise nestled into a big city skyline, Little Havana across the bay from Millionaires' Mansions, shiny new buildings, next to derelict, hurricane ravaged shells, modernity opposite the Art Deco district of Ocean Drive. The juxtapositions are endless.

We stayed at the stunning Fontainebleau hotel. I haven't had the pleasure of staying in many hotels, as a child we often went camping or to a Haven holiday park! I feel so out of place in these amazing, larger than life, expensive, luxury hotels. But, I absolutely loved the Fountainebleau resort. It may be sprawling and confusing to navigate at times, but the standard of service is second to none and the luxury is all encompassing.

In our standard double room we were surprised to find an Apple Mac with complimentary internet access, as well as a 32" wall mounted television and a telephone and TV in the bathroom.

The poolside was large and uncrowded, with no problems securing ourselves a sun-soaked lounger at any time of day. The attendants provided us with fresh towels, drinks and food so realistically you could spend all day without getting up!

The back gate provides instant access to Miami Beach and the boardwalk, which runs the length of the coast down to South Beach. The coastal areas are beautiful with crystal, aquamarine oceans, white sand and majestic palms - it really looks like paradise but without overcrowding and the added advantage of city life too. At no point during our stay were we encompassed by tourists.

All of this luxury and impeccable service however comes at a cost, with an evening meal for two costing over $100, lunch approaching $50 and breakfast potentially nearing $20 - $30. The Fountainbleau is not within reasonable walking distance of any other restaurants either so if you're not willing to walk 40 minutes to Lincoln Road then you could end up spending a lot of money - although we did appreciate the Starbucks in the hotel next door! For this reason, although we did see some children, I don't think it would be the most comfortable or reasonable family holiday if you did decide to bring kids.

Miami itself is visibly a product of the American Dream. With its histroy rooted in immigrant communities and films like Scarface so much a part of its heritage, it is obvious that people have come here to build a better life. And once this wealth has been gained you can build yourself your very own fantasy home. Consequently there are Spanish villas, Arabian temples and French chateaus standing side by side on the same street. It's a little bit surreal!

I did feel like this idea of being able to come to Miami and build your fantasies resulted in a very individualistic city which lacked a little bit of soul. Despite the glamour which is possible, the clashing of individualistic tastes lacks some element of class and for all its wealth and prosperity, leaves you feeling both like you can have it all, but a little bit empty because you might never be satisfied.

I do love the beaches and surfside glamour, the hotels are impeccable, the weather amazing, but give me a city with soul any day. London plus the weather and beach would be my ideal home! Any suggestions?!

Book: The Choice, Susan Lewis

Nikki and Spence are having a baby. At 21 her parents think she's throwing her life away but at least she has the support of Spence and her house mates.

This tale of despair gets more and more intriguing and heart breaking as the story progresses, with many twists and turns along the way. However, with five or six sub plots vying for your attention at the same time, it's felt that maybe the characters and main narrative are ever explored in depth, instead remaining shallow and under developed.

This story should have had me in tears with it's heart-wrenching tragedy, but regrettable I remained detached and distracted by too many inconsequential red herrings, reminiscent of a bad crime novel and out of place in a modern drama. Had Lewis concentrated on one or two sub plots, than mish-mashing together a host of anomolies, maybe my review would have been different. But as it is I was left feeling like it lacked realism and was exasperated by yet more unneccessary twists designed to throw you off track. A page-turner all the same, I did enjoy it as a good pool-side read.

Score: 3/5

Writers' Workshop: A Step Back in Time

If you could witness any event in history, what would it be, and why?

I have always had a curiosity when it comes to World War II and Nazi Germany. My Grandad Heinz grew up in Münsterberg, Germany which is now a part of Poland, I would love to travel back through time and view the world through his perspective.

As an English girl, with a German last name, my history teachers would always ask what my Grandad had done during the war, they wanted to add some real-life pizzazz to their otherwise shallow lesson plans. In all honesty, at the time, I had no idea. They didn't understand that as a German who found himself in post-war England, my Grandad was hardly likely to say much about that part of his life. I believe that he preferred to keep a low profile when it came to his Nazi experiences. When I told my classmates that my dear Grandad had grown up in the Nazi Youth, they would jokingly brand me a Nazi too. They didn't seem to understand, that for my Grandad, there wasn't much choice. All young boys were enlisted into the organisation - it was like the scouts. It didn't make him tantermount to Adolf Hitler!

I always wondered what his true views were, as growing up under the regime was bound to have an effect on his beliefs and values. But he would never have voiced his opinions in Modern England, whatever they were.

At 17 my Grandad joined the Navy. He became a POW and was sent to America and later he came to England where he was released and told he could stay. He was a printer, which, as a journalist, I feel a strange kind of affinity to, although I don't know exactly what he printed.

I would like to follow his story. To know who his family were, and to fill in the gaps. I would like to know what he went through as a POW. What's it like to lose your family and think them dead, until 50 years passes and you find out they're still alive?

Germany is always portrayed as the 'villain' in the WWII narrative - and I do not hesitate in saying that Hitler's regime was pure evil and inhumane. But what was the perspective of the every day German? The naval officer? How did they cope? How were the 'heros', Britain and her allies, portrayed to them? What's it like to be on enemy soil and experience the prejudices of that country day after day.

I only knew my Grandad for his last 25 years, he was a kind, loving man who held his family dear to him. He liked to joke and laugh and enjoyed ciggarettes, a beer, and a good Sunday pub lunch. He took us on day trips around Poole when we were younger, and when we went to his house we played random board games that were about criminals hidden in Chinese Dragons. He may have fought in the war for the Germans, but to us, he was just our Grandad.

If I could step back in time, I would like to walk in my Grandad's shoes.

Recipe: On-the-go Breakfast Bars

Want to keep hunger locked up 'til lunch but don't have time to rustle up the most important meal of the day? Believe me, I know exactly where you're coming from! I leave the house at 7am and embark on a two hour commute so a healthy breakfast is always something of a quandry! This recipe, though, has made it onto my must-do things for Sunday afternoons, so that I have a batch ready to last me for the week. I first found it on BBC Good Food, but have adapted it to include all the yummy things I like!

Makes about 14 pieces

Ingredients

50g butter

2 x small ripe bananas

3tbsp golden syrup

85g demerera sugar

140g porridge oats

Half tsp ground cinamon

50g dessicated coconut

2tbsp linseeds, slightly crushed

1tbsp sesame seeds

100g chopped hazelnuts

1. Melt the butter, syrup and sugar in a pan.

2. Add the bananas, mashed.

3. Add everything else, stirring in well.

4. Place the mixture in a greased tin and spread out into the corners.

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 160C / gas mark 3.

Of course, this is something that you could throw just about anything into. I'm keen to experiment with some dried fruit at some point so I'll let you know how it goes!

The Tea Cup Dance

I went on a mission yesterday around the charity shops and I have to say it was a bit of a success! I havn't been round Romford that much before but there are charity shops a-plenty round there and I found exactly what I was looking for.

This beautiful set was just £6.00. In the shop, the tag said there were six cups, five saucers and five plates, but when I got them home and unpacked them, there was actually six of everything! A full set - bargain!

This set of four cups and saucers was £2.50.

A set of four chinese tea cups for just £1.49!

This saucer was 50p and the cup was 50p, they don't match, but are cute all the same.

Six of these clover print sherry(?) glasses for £2.40.

Grand Total: £13.39!

Why all the tea cups, you ask? I have great crafty plans for them, which will be revealed in due course :o)

Love

Last weekend we had the pleasure of welcoming a new Mrs D to the family. My brother-in-law, Andy, finally married his gorgeous fiance, Kayleigh. Here's a pic of the happy couple.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, filled with an overwhelming sense of happiness and family time. We made new friends, spent time with lovely relatives and danced the night away before collapsing into bed in our hotel at about 2am (we didn't strictly need to stay in a hotel as the wedding was in our home town, but it was a nice treat anyway!)

My gorgeous husband was a groomsman (he scrubbed up well!)

And here's a pic of us together (ahhhhh).

Stitching Success

My old makeup bag had a hole in it. Ok, so it was more like a whole side-seam which had come undone, so it was rendered useless. So I decided to make a new one. I've never made a lined purse before so this was a foray into the unknown, but I'm really pleased with the results.

The fabric is from one of my favourite designers, Tanya Whelan, and can be found here. I absolutely love the Dolce range

I even learnt how to line it! The zip is slightly bunched up at the end, but it works and is pretty, which is what's important. I'm going to practice making these some more.

I had a look at a number of online tutorials to make these, but the two which stood out were here and here.

Recipe: Brownie Heaven

I could quite possibly be in heaven. These are, quite frankly, the best brownies ever! I've been having a bit of fun baking lately and have ended up making no less than four batches of these. I sent my husband off to work with a batch and have been asked to make more already! Someone even suggested I go into business! Now, I'm not sure about going into business off the back of one winning recipe, but I can definitely tell you, that these will have you coming back for more.

This isn't my own recipe, I did find it somewhere on the internet, however I can't remember where so apologies for the lack of linkage. But I'll share it with you, just because something so good shouldn't be kept to oneself.

Ingredients

185g unsalted butter

185g best dark chocolate

85g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

50g white chocolate

50g milk chocolate

3 large eggs

275g golden caster sugar

1. Cut the butter into small pieces and tip into a bowl. Break the dark chocolate up and add to this. Fill a small saucepan with water and put on a low heat, placing the bowl on top so it's not touching the water. Stir occasionally to mix the butter and chocolate together as it melts. Remove the bowl and leave the melted chocolate to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas mark 4. Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

3. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a medium sized bowl. Chop the white and milk chocolate up into small chunks and put aside.

4. Break the eggs into a large bowl and tip in the sugar. Using an electric mixer, whisk together until it is thick and creamy and leaves impressions on the surface when you dribble some across it. (This can take a few minutes).

5. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse and gently fold together with a spatula. Do this until the mixtures are one and it's a dark, mottled brown.

6. Hold the sieve over the large bowl and resift the cocoa and flour over the eggy mixture. Gently fold this in. It will end up looking nice and fudgy :0) Finally, stir in the chocolate chunks.

7. Pour the mixture into the tin and put in the oven for 25minutes. When it's done, take it out and jiggle the pan slightly. If the brownies jiggle too, it needs another few minutes. One of my batches I didn't quite cook for long enough and it didn't bind together properly. Still tastes lovely, but falls apart when you try to cut it into squares!

8. Leave to cool before cutting into squares.

These are best eaten warmed up for 20secs in the microwave, and if you're feeling indulgent, a scoop of vanilla ice cream to boot! Enjoy!

Seasonal Musings

August has been a funny old month, one that has stretched out into a vast expanse of nothingness, one that has resulted in a general feeling of nothing having been achieved, and yet various things having been lost in the process. It's been a bit quiet on this blog as a result.

There are seasons in life that we travel through aimlessly, hoping to merely survive rather than actually grow or become anything greater than what we already are. Not much desire to improve or progress, but just to get there, to the end of the season and into the new one, which promises much more positivity and a sense of hope.

In fact, 2010 has consisted muchly of this type of season for me but I'm starting to see that there might be an end to it, and maybe, just maybe, Spetember will be something of a more hopeful month.

I've always loved September for its sense of new beginnings. It's like an extra New Year celebration, probably due to our school calendar ingraining this into us since childhood. I always make new year resolutions in September. Just little resolves of things I might do or achieve. In fact, this 'Winter Term' is normally my most productive season of the year because I have a little panic over what I will write in my annual newsletter come Christmas, and so feel I must achieve something of interest so I might appear to lead a life that people might want to read about.

 I guess when you have kids you write about all their exam results and extra curricular activities, but when it's just us, we have to have something new to say rather than "This year, I carried on with the daily grind, and I survived. Merry Christmas". What a depressing thought, that that might be our annual newsletter!

I have some plans brewing, I can feel my creative mojo creeping back, and I'm hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep this weekend, so maybe I'll be back to my normal self soon. And maybe, as we change into autumn (although right now it feels like winter!), I might experience some sort of transition also.

London, the place to be

A while ago, tired of commuting and the high cost of living, we were thinking of moving to Colchester, where I work. However, we recently visited the Museum of London and it made me realise that I truly love this city and would never want to leave. As long as it's humanly possible, I will be a London girl.

The Museum of London was so interesting, but what I loved the most was around the walls there were quotes from famous people, poems and literature about the spirit of London, and how over history, it has always been this addictive place where everyone wants to be. I loved that even two or three hundred years ago, there were still people who swarmed to this great city and made it home.

I was also thrilled to read that even in 1734 there was a significant amount of coffee shops. I'm sitting in Starbucks as I write this and the coffee shop culture is something that I really love about London. I remember in my History of Journalism module at Uni, that it was the coffee shops and pubs that made Fleet Street the hub of British Journalism as newspapers were formed in the 1800s.
And so I'll be remaining in London Town for a little longer, as this wise man, Dr. Johnson, said in 1777 "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." Next time I think I am tired of living my London life, I'll come back to this and remind myself how blessed I am to live in this gorgeous, exciting, bustling city.

3 years ago...

Three years ago today, I married my best friend, Mr Jon Davies. And what a good decision that was! Three years on, marriage is great. In fact, for all the single people out there, I'd recommend it!

When we got married, we were told by lots of well-meaning friends that "The first year is the hardest" - I guess because you're still getting used to each other. It wasn't. We sailed through, not without silly arguments, but it definitely wasn't hard.

After our second anniversary there was a distinct increase in the amount of people who asked "Well, when are you having children then?" The answer? Obviously not yet, and obviously I won't tell you if I am!

After the third anniversary, things seem to have calmed down a bit. People tend to just accept your marriage the way it is, and are just thrilled that you're enjoying the journey. Us? We're just happy getting on with things in our own way, as we always have. Together. As a team. And who could wish for a better team mate?

As for me, I tend to over-analyse things. And after each mile stone I turn to Jon with a panicked look on my face and say "But Jon, we're XX years in, and what have we achieved??? Where are we going???" And Jon always says with a smile on his face, "Just enjoy the journey." I love that I have someone who keeps me grounded and keeps me in the present. Not analysing the past, and not worrying about the future. Whereas I'm definitely the person in our little team who drives things forward and pushes us to the next level. It's good to complement each other!

Anyway, Happy Anniversary, Mr Davies.

Life in a Folder

I've been wanting to get a Filofax for ages. I cleared out my bottomless handbag the other day, and in amongst the knitting, magazines, make-up and old receipts I dug out a grand total of six notebooks. Six! All with different purposes!! Time to get organised and have everything filed in one place I think! So at the weekend I treated myself to a Domino Filofax. A very reasonable price and my favourite colour! Perfect!

I had to restrain myself in buying all the different inserts! But I did purchase an extra set of notepaper, because I tend to make an awful lot of lists and take a lot of notes! Unfortunately the diary doesn't start until the beginning of July, so I have to wait to insert all my plans, but I did immediately set to work in making lots of lists and separating them into categories! (Oh the geekiness!). Here's my things to do....
... and my spending record - please ignore the two (2?!) entries for Starbucks, I have no idea how that happened! Anyway, on the whole am feeling a lot more organised, and my handbag is feeling a lot lighter!

Stitchy Stitchy

Remember last week I showed you the appliqued lion t-shirt which was on its way to my new baby niece? Well, in my stitching experimenting this is another one that I came up with. I love this pink fabric. It's from Saffron Craig's Fields range, I believe I got it from Fabric Rehab, although they no longer have it in stock, but it's well worth asking them if you like it.

Beautiful Books

How cool are these book covers? I only bought two unfortunately, but there are a whole series of classics with covers designed by an illustrator called Coralie Bickford-Smith.
She's done two sets, and I've got Wuthering Heights and Alice in Wonderland so far, but I'd love to collect them all. They would look amazing just lined up on the bookshelf in the alcoves in our living room. At £12.99 each it might have to be a gradual progression though, so if anyone's in the business for buying me present.... *hint hint* ;0)

Squares

At the moment I'm knitting squares. Eventually they'll be turned into baby blankets for still born babies, but for now I'm content to just be knitting squares. How cute are these colours together? I'm thinking I might be able to get two or three checked blankets out of these two balls of yarn. The blankets don't need to be big, as the babies are normally so tiny. It's so the mothers can take something home as a precious memory - apparently they often want to take home the hospital sheets, but the hospital needs to keep those, so they'll be given a knitted blanket instead.

I love how the stitches look so neat all together. If I'm just knitting on the train on my own, I like to pray for the mother and family who might end up with the blankets. I hope that through having something carefully handmade they might know that there's people out there who care, and who are praying for them. Who knows how God might use a baby blanket. When they're all sewn up I'll try and show you pictures.

When I have chunky yarn, myself and some girls from church are knitting scarves for rescued girls who have been sex trafficked. The A21 Campaign is doing an amazing job in helping to abolish sex slavery Greece and Eastern Europe so the scarves go to them. It's nice to think that through making something for someone, and praying for them, that God might use it to let them know that they're loved and valued. It's just a small thing, but a precious thought.

Park Life

Yards from my house, there's a huge park which is used by the whole community. If there's one good thing about London parks is they're really well looked after. In built up areas like mine, it's really important to preserve the open spaces and make them areas where the whole community can come and exercise, spend time together and appreciate nature. I love our park!Seeing as summer seems to have come to visit, I took the opportunity to head out there today to have a play with my camera. Now, I'm no photographer, but it was nice to take a walk and look at all the tiny details of the gardens through a lens. I spent most of my time in the Ornamental Gardens, which are absolutely beautiful, and you could think you were in one of the Royal Parks if you didn't know. There's so many different sections, with different types of flowers and trees, landscaped rock gardens and rose gardens.

We even have palm trees!

... And a totem pole for some reason!

When I look at all the flowers, the detail and the intricacies of nature, it makes me wonder how anyone can doubt the existence of a divine creator. How could this wonderous beauty come into existence without some sort of outside force guiding the way? And this beauty is just to be found in a man-made park, imagine the wonder of creation which is out there in the wild, in the places that we don't see, those hidden places!

Those hidden places, in the depths of the sea, the deepest darkest jungles, where there's no one to admire the beauty, they were still created by an awesome God, so that they would bring glory to Him. So that one day, as the human race continues to discover the unknown, as creation unfolds to our finite minds, we might come across all these hidden beauties and wonder how they got there. How? By a divine, awesome God who took care in carving out this wondrous beauty and binding it all together on a planet where we might slowly discover it. How awesome is that!

"Take a look at God's work. Who could simply and reduce Creation's curves and angles to a plain straight line?" ~ Ecclesiastes 7:13

"Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them."

~ Psalm 69:34