Boxing Day 2024

And then it was Boxing Day! I didn't take many photos this day actually, which probably means that I was just too busy having a good time. We played games, drank wine, ate good food. We had Christmas dinner leftovers but with different vegetables. At lunchtime we must have had just sandwiches and dips and stuff. For pudding at lunchtime I had a warmed mince pie with clotted cream, which was delicious! I also opened the bottle of Pineau that my aunt and uncle bought me. It's a bit like port, it's from Charente in France and I had it over there in October and wanted some for myself here! 

We played the game Sky Jo which Lee and I bought in France. Well I sat and did some cross stitching but I was sitting at the table while others were playing it! We had our main meal at teatime and it was just as delicious as the day before. 

I was wearing my Sprinkle of Glitter tutu skirt that I've had absolutely years but which I don't often pull out. It's cute at Christmas though. With it I wore a top that I got from Evans, again an absolute age ago. I know I had it in 2013 because I wore it on holiday in Benidorm! I actually don't know why I don't wear it more though because it's very nice and easy to wear. The back of it is grey t shirt material so nice and soft and stretchy. 

It was a good, relaxing day. 

Mince pie and Christmas - pure indulgence and pure Christmas in a dish! 

My skirt and top combo later in the evening. My stepdad had been practicing on his bass

And here's me and my lovely cousin Peter

Trip to Mallorca - Day 7

On the last proper day of our holiday we got up quite early and had breakfast in the hotel which included churros which were nice. Then we played mini golf which was just in front of the building we were in. It was still in the shade which was nice at that time! It wasn't too difficult but it was fun. Lee beat me but only by one point!

Then we walked down the huge hill again and turned right at the bottom this time, where we found a shop that was a bit like Kenji or Flying Tiger - it has all kinds of nonsense in it! I ended up buying a rose quartz face massager for just four euros! We went in a few shops and got some souvenirs for my mum and stepdad to take home. Then we went back to the bar we had had lunch in on Wednesday for the crepes we had been promising ourselves! Lee had ice cream and I had banana and Nutella. They were absolutely amazing, we both really enjoyed them and were glad we had made the effort to go back down for them! 

We walked back up the hill via Spar because I wanted to get some bags of Haribo that you can't get here to take home. I'd had some earlier in the week and really enjoyed them so spent a few euros on a few different bags. We went back to the hotel and sat round the pool from about 1pm until gone 5pm. It was nice to just relax for the end bit of our holiday and I'm glad we got some final sunshine. The little cat also visited us at one point and Lee fed her some little bits of crisp! 

We got showered and packed a lot of our stuff up before going for tea for the last time. That time there was something for dessert that was like croissants cut open with Nutella inside - I really liked them and had two! I then had a cocktail in the bar afterwards too. 

During the day I wore my Sprinkle of Glitter dress which you saw earlier in the week. In the evening I wore this cloud print dress that I got from Yours last year. I've only worn it a couple of times so far but again it's one of those dresses that are really nice to wear on holiday. Especially as I could show off my tan on my shoulders! I didn't get sunburnt at all which I'm glad about, and I even managed to get some tanning on my legs which never usually happens. 

The mini golf course - it was fun even though it was only six holes

The Kenji type shop we found, it had so many cute things in it!

Looking up one street from the seafront, isn't it pretty?

Lee waiting for his crepe

And there's me!

My gorgeous crepe! They were really reasonably priced, too

Here I am in the shade on our last afternoon in my fave sunglasses and a different headscarf this time. I was really glad I managed to not burn my head!

In the shade looking out at the pool and the main building

A very very tiny bit of cloud

The cat! She was extremely cute!

Here I am in my cloud print dress

And my last cocktail!

Trip to Mallorca - Day 4

On the Tuesday of our holiday we again slept in and missed breakfast, so we got into our swimming stuff and went to the snack bar at about 11.30am. We then sat round the top pool all day, again chasing the shade because really neither of us wanted to get burnt or get too much sun. I was listening to some music - Lee had bought me some wireless headphones the week before we went specifically for this reason. 

We had an ice cream at some point; we walked down to the shop together and I chose this caramel Magnum thingy. They're so good! I also had a beer at some point in the afternoon. We had a shower and walked down the huge hill to El Arenal sea front. 

We watched the sun set over what must have been Magaluf, and we walked on the front a little bit. We went in some souvenir shops and looked at a few restaurants. We saw one that was doing crepes and decided to go there the next day when we were down on the beach. But we eventually chose one that had a bunch of tables over on the beach side so that was nice. It didn't have many vegetarian options so I decided to have the prawn, avocado, and mango salad. It was really nice! I really enjoyed it. We also shared some bread and aioli and olives, and for dessert we each had ice cream. Mine was banana flavoured and really nice! I also had some white sangria which I've only had once before and which I really like and was glad was on the menu!

We walked back up to the hotel which took a while because it was half a mile away - but we managed it and I'm really pleased I managed to walk so far! I took some pictures of the top pool by night. I really loved lying in bed with the balcony door open and letting the warm breeze come in. I got a tacky fan, too - it was only a few euros. I love fans for when the weather is really hot and this is my fourth one - I have ones from Carcassonne, Florence, Venice, and now Mallorca! 

The window and balcony you can see behind me are our room. I got these sunglasses for our vow renewal and sometimes Lee wears them and sometimes I wear them! I like them!

Caramel magnum

And my beer later on

Wearing one of my favourite dresses to go out in in the evening, you all know how much I love this dress. It came from Simply Be's Sprinkle of Glitter collection about ten years ago, and I will be devastated when something happens to it! It's perfect when the weather is hot!

Me down on the beach with the setting sun behind me

And here's Lee with me too

The sun didn't quite set over the sea, but over the land

But it was very beautiful all the same!

Here you can see the end of the bit of bay that we were staying in 

And now the sun has gone

So beautiful!

This was close to where we ate - I loved the palm trees

White sangria! It was delicious

Bread and aioli and olives - I ate a lot of olives!

My lovely salad

Ice creams at the end!

Walking back along the sea front on our way back

Look at the beautiful sea and sky!

This hostel was just down from our hotel and was really cute and pretty. I could see it lt up from our balcony 

This was one of the other pools - we had tried this one and it was really nice

This was the bottom pool by night

And finally my tacky fan - can't wait to use it next summer!

Bead Making Workshop in Sheffield

As I said, my aunt was staying with us in the middle of June because she and I were doing a workshop together in Sheffield. She had bought me a voucher for my birthday to do a glass bead making workshop, with the bargain that I would take her with me as the other person. It sounded like fun so we booked it for mid June. We had some brunch with Lee before setting off to Sheffield. The workshop was in Julia's own workshop in the Artspace near the Showroom cinema so she let us in. She did a demo of how to melt the glass and then shape it into a bead, and then she basically let us do it! 

It was slightly terrifying with the big flame, but I soon got into it and didn't even think about that. I did touch the tiniest bit of hot glass but that was the worst injury either of us had. I'm trying hard to not be a perfectionist about craft - or anything, really - because you can't be brilliant at everything straight away, so I tried to not worry that some of my beads weren't round or perfectly shaped. Julia showed us how to use gold flakes and gold lustre to add to beads, and also how to add dots and make swirls. We both agreed it was quite meditative and we got into the zone of it. The workshop was for three hours and Julia said we had made loads of beads between us. We had to leave them there as they need firing in a kiln, so I hope they arrive all safe and sound soon!

After the workshop we headed to London Road. I had won a giveaway that someone I know had organised and she lives in Sheffield so we went to the pub for a drink and for her to hand over my winnings. It's a bootleg Libertines vinyl and it's pretty cool to own! It was nice to see Sarah and chat with her for a bit. Then Caroline and I walked up to Saigon 68 to have some tea.

I went for salt and pepper bean curd and then veggie chicken in satay sauce with rice. Caroline was keen to try it as we've talked about it a lot. She had veggie spring rolls and beef noodle soup. It was lovely! However by the time we came out it was absolutely bouncing it down and we got really wet walking back to the car. Sodden! I was freezing when we got home so I got into my pyjamas. Lee had gone to a gig that some friends of his were playing, so Caroline and I watched some TV until he got home. 

I was wearing this Sprinkle of Glitter dress that I absolutely love, I am always so glad when the weather is nice enough to wear it. I love the colours of it. I was wearing my short leggings underneath. 

Brunch before we went out

Poppy taking up half of the living room floor

My Sprinkle of Glitter dress - I will be so sad if I ever have to get rid of this dress!

All the colours of glass that you could imagine!

This is the burner you use

Julia teaching Caroline how to do something

These are Caroline's beads - she did way better on getting the beads round than I did, and I like how she kept to a colour palette too

These are mine - they're really not that round! I did get a few a really nice tear drop shape though. I will probably make them into some jewellery for myself

Salt and pepper bean curd

Veggie "chicken" satay - it was so nice and not too spicy

And finally in the car absolutely soaked!

Birthday Trip Day 2

On Friday the 20th of January my mum and stepdad were in Helmsley with us, so we got up and had some breakfast and then set out into Helmsley at maybe 11am. There's lots of nice little shops so we went into loads of them. One of my favourite places is the deli right on the square, where I spent some of my Christmas money on some delicious treats from the plethora of amazing things they have upstairs. 

We went in to the charity shop which was kind of parallel to the cottage where we were staying, and I managed to find a planter shelf which I had been wanting for ages, so I was pleased with that. We then ended up at Barker's for lunch; I like Cafe Crema but was willing to try somewhere new, especially as the sign outside said it had a large vegan menu. They weren't kidding, there was plenty of vegetarian and vegan choices. I went for chickpeas with mayo and red onion and I also had a lovely hot chocolate too. 

By the time we had finished lunch Sarah and Robyn had arrived in Helmsley. We helped Sarah unload the car and then got Robyn all set up with snacks. She was a little bit shy with everyone but basically fine. My mum and stepdad left for home not long after that. Lee went for a lie down as he was very tired, so Sarah and I had a good chat and walked over to La Trattoria in the square to order some pizzas for tea. Robyn had her tea and then a bath and then Tom arrived about 7pm, just as the pizzas were ready. Lee picked them up and they were so delicious. 

We just relaxed for the rest of the night as Sarah was putting Robyn to bed. 

I was wearing my Sprinkle of Glitter outfit, all from quite a few years ago now. The dress is lovely but maybe a tiny bit short on me, but I've decided to not worry about it. Under that I was wearing the striped pink and white top from the range too, I love this top and often wear it with other stuff. Finally I was wearing the wrap cardigan from the range - it has a full wrap that goes round and makes the cardigan really comfortable and warm to wear. I will have to wear this dress more I think! I was also wearing purple Snag Tights

View of the frosty rooftops out of our bedroom window first thing in the morning

This was our cottage from the front

This is the deli that I love, it has a whole floor upstairs full of lovely things. Opposite this, behind me at this time, is a really good bookshop too - I didn't buy anything this time though!

Gorgeous Belgian chocolate hot chocolate

Chickpea, vegan mayo, and red onion sandwich in Barker's

Sarah brought me a unicorn cake! It was so good

Here's Robyn watching TV at this point I think

Sarah also bought me this ridiculous thing which will live on the bed I think

My outfit with the cardigan on - the cottage was quite cold so I was glad to have the cardigan on too

And here's the outfit without the cardigan, showing the striped top!