Winter Walk

 A few pictures of my walk today, which had to be cut short as it was so cold and I discovered that Vans are no good in snow... We didn't get hardly any snow where I live, this walk is about 10 miles from my town where there was a lot more of the white stuff! On my walk I spotted a really cool carved stone on a little island in the river, plus some interesting shapes in an icy puddle. The rest of my day is going to consist of drinking hot tea/chocolate, and making a list of entomology books to read. There was ice inside my car today, so a set of new door seals are required, poor little mini.

 In other news, I went to my first ever Zumba class on Friday, it was much more fun than I expected and I'm looking forward to this Friday's class. On Saturday I am hopefully meeting Adam in Lyme Regis for lunch and antique hunting! I will be on the lookout for some more original Penguin books to add to my stash along with a fur coat. I need one in this weather!

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My Return!

After a pretty long absence I have returned to blogging! My internet refused to work for nearly two months and only last week were we sent a new wireless box. Now it's up and running and I've got round to checking about 15 pages of emails I decided it was about time I paid my little space on the web some attention.

 So Christmas and New Year got bypassed, I had an indulgent and wonderfully relaxing time and now it's back to work (sob). My brother returned from a month in Australia (see picture above, lucky!) and we gained a cat! Chunky lives up to his name (massive and very fluffy) and it's lovely to have a pet again, despite his love of eating and chasing a toy mouse around at night!

 I celebrated our four year anniversary with Adam and tried an oyster for the first (and definitely last) time, and next Saturday I am finally going to visit my friend Lucy in Oxford for some much needed vintage shopping, tea and gossiping! 

 That's kind of my update done, I also stopped going to slimming world after losing two stone. It felt like the right choice, and although since leaving I may have gained a little weight (only 4lbs which I am quite pleased with) I feel confident that I can keep it off long term! Christmas calories may have caught up with me, but you have to live a little yes?!

 I am sure I will be back very soon, vintage hunting will hopefully turn up something blog worthy! I would love to share my York holiday film photos but I no longer have a scanner :(

Back soon!

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Thrifty Finds & Recent Buys

 I've been a bit MIA recently, just been very busy and not really felt like documenting my life! However, I have a day off and I thought I'd indulge in one of my favourite past times, charity shop trawling! I managed to find a vintage camel blazer in Oxfam and two lovely little bags recently, both under £3. I also seem to have become hair accessory obsessed...I found the polka dot hair bands in Peacocks and New Look, and the cute little bird one in the Topshop sale for £1.50. The other items are from my recent trip to Southampton shopping center a few weeks ago, plus a sneaky trip to Urban Outfitters last Saturday... oops! I couldn't resist the grey flannel shirt though, it's really thick and warm, perfect for the colder weather we seem to be getting. I got the dress on the right from Topshop, my first size 12, and the print is adorable! The checked shirt-dress is from the Chelsea Girl consession in River Island, it fits well and has long sleeves, I am a bit obsessed with checks/plaid etc, so finding this was perfect! It also comes with a brown belt which is useful, as I seem to lose belts.

 I'm only working for 3 days this week, as Goodwood Revival is on Friday!! It seems to have come around so quickly! I have an original 1960s dress, plus a fur stole to wear, I will be doing a huge post on the festival and I hear there are loads of vintage stalls, so I'm expecting to come home with some goodies! Expect LOTS of pictures too :)

 In other news: my hair is nearly the desirable platinum shade, it went a little wrong at the hair dressers last week, so I have been offered a free toning treatment on Wednesday. It was one of the most stressful trips I have ever had to a salon, and it wasn't really what I expected. Basically the bleach wasn't washed out properly and my hair didn't lift as expected, so hopefully this free treatment will sort it out! Anyway, I'm going to have some tea now and try and extract the film from my Pentax, cannot wait to get it developed!

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currently: clothes & tea cup prints

Morrocan candle holder- Homebase.

Burt's Bees lip balm in Mango, Flora by Gucci EDT.

Zara skull tank, Topshop knit, AA Disco Pants, AX Paris skull shirt.

M&S undies!

How amazing is the print?! Tea cups!

 Just some things I have accumulated recently over the past few weeks. I have managed to spend most of my money and have very little to live on until payday. Sigh, stupid car tax and mots! I caved and got the disco pants though, I'm not quite sure how I feel about them at the moment, they make my bum look better however haha! I got the 50ml of Gucci for...£9. I kid you not. It was half price where I work and with my staff discount it was under a tenner! It lasts a surprisingly long time for an EDT, worth the money for sure.

 Today I am putting lots of stuff on ebay, and trying to have a syn free day on slimming world after scoffing my way through Wimbledon yesterday- what a match!?! Actually I also had a ridiculous amount of cake at work this past week, not sure those 2lbs I put on last week have gone anywhere...oopsy.

 How nice is that bra?? I love it! It's a special Jubilee celebration range M&S are doing and it's instore now if like me, you are a tea addict. I love M&S underwear, it fits properly and lasts ages.

 I also got my hair done the other day (hmm now I know where my money went), it's being bleached and toned a platinum silvery shade next month, using a brand new Loreal toner so I'm really looking forward to that. Love having freshly dyed hair :)

 Off to watch some tv now and wallow in my day off, look up some haunted hotels in York to stay in with Adam in October, drink more tea and maybe have a sneaky nap. But the Avon catalouge arrived this morning, it'd be rude not to have a peek!

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Weekend post: in the garden

This weekend I went to visit Adam in Dorset. We had some sunshine so decided to go and visit a garden which is in Poole, called Compton Acres, where my dad used to work when he was my age. It was beautiful, broken up into themed gardens such as the Italian garden and the Japanese garden, there was even a wedding going on. I took lots of pictures for my parents to have a look at, so here are a few...

carving inside the grotto

 We also went to Pamp Hill near Wimbourne and stopped at the farm shop where we bumped into my relatives who help run the antique shop there, I bought an antique poison ring which I love- it's very gothic-Victorian era. We also went to visit the beautiful little church there too:

 I might have had a little shopping trip this weekend, I bought a few clothes and beauty bits which I'll show on here later in the week, I'm hoping my bank balance will be ok until next Tuesday, payday seems to have come around quick for once! I'm also on the hunt for another camera (yes, another!), at the moment I like the look of a Nikon D3100, but I have seen a Pentax Q which looks great. I also want to get a polarizing lens to make the light and colour balance better.

 I'm afraid I missed Father's Day, but I left a huge bar of chocolate for him to find, that counts right? Hope everyone had a nice weekend, I'm off to have a large mug of tea and an early night, working nine hours tomorrow is not sounding appealing right now!

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life via instagram

New bedding/mirror portrait/essie colours/summer has arrived/bare leg weather/wagamama antics/glossybox/new pink shirt/denim/essie purchase/swallow playsuit/dinosaurs & gold teeth.

birdsong

 I've been a bit slack on posting, sorry little blog, have some pictures of some new additions to my room :) My bf got me some jewellery hangers for Christmas/bday that I badly needed, plus a lovely tea themed picture! I've been picking up some more bits and bobs and it's all coming on nicely- just got to get on with my film picture collage and it will be nearly finished.

Not much new stuff to report, as usual I've been working away and saving. My mini will be up for sale soon, so that will give me some more cash, plus I need to clear out my clothing stash and put that on ebay to make some more pennies. I am saving for another mini, a cooper. I need around 4k saved so it won't be for a while, but it'll be so nice to own and pay for my own car (and on one of these I can actually afford tax & insurance)- bit of an achievement for someone like me who is appalling at saving... roll on six months.

I think the highlight of my week has been buying a filofax (yes my life is that dull) for £3 instead of £13.99- the idiotic shop assistant couldn't read the price tag so I didn't argue... it's a very nice pocket sized red one, I have never owned a hand bag-sized diary so this seems like a good investment. I haven't bought any clothes for ages- my last purchase was before Christmas- a very expensive Topshop coat which I am now thinking of putting on ebay as I only wear the fur stole off of it, and the shape of the coat doesn't suit me- I'll be cheekily keeping the fur though!

We are currently cat sitting again, he really thinks he's a dog as he lives with one normally, and is addicted to catnip and sleeping on my bed- it's so nice to have a cat again, if only for a short while.  Hopefully when we move we can have a permanent one again :)

Going to my friend's house on Thursday evening for wine and chatting- cannot wait to see some much missed faces!

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My post title is referring to a new program coming to bbc1 this year, based on a book by Sebastian Faulks. It looks amazing and I need to read it before I see it!