What My Mum Wore

I haven't done one of these posts in ages! But I took this photo of my Mum in December so I thought I'd post it. As a reminder, my mum is mid 50s and a size 18/20.

I also decided that she was cosplaying as Han Solo in this outfit, haha

Bow jumper - Tu at Sainsburys

Leggings - Yours

Boots - Evans - she got them for half price, they were £100 and she paid £49.50, and they're real leather!

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was a bit different for Lee and I this year as we went out! We met up in Doncaster with my best friends Sam and Jacqui, for a meal. We went to El Toro, the food was lovely but the service was shocking - and it wasn't that busy. It took them ages to clear our plates and had they done it sooner we'd have probably had dessert or more drinks. But the tapas we had was good anyway

Here's a few photos I took

Sam and Jacqui, Jac does have her eyes closed, oh no!

Lee and I, he never smiles in photos

And here's my eye make up which matched my dress. I actually hate this photo, I don't look like me at all, but I'm posting it all the same!

Flooding in Wakefield

So you probably saw on the news that a lot of Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumbria got flooding in December, especially on Boxing Day. Where I live in Barnsley we're not at risk of flooding at all. Wakefield had terrible floods in 2007 when Sheffield did. On Boxing Day Lee drove my grandma home (he was the only sober one) and we went down to the river Calder near her house. It was incredibly high. There had been a barge stuck under the footbridge which leads across to the Hepworth museum, so there was a policewoman guarding it to stop anyone crossing it. They had also shut the newer Chantry Bridge to traffic. 

This is the Hepworth gallery (named after sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born in Wakefield). The orange line of buoys you can vaguely see should be strung along the weir to the right of the photo, but they came loose and were right over the other side of the river.

This is Chantry Bridge, the new one. It was closed because there was no gap between the water and the bridge so the weight of the water was really strong. 

That life preserver is usually on dry ground, hanging from the wooden stake.

The water was only about six inches below the bottom of the railing, it may well have come over on to the path later. 

This is the old Chantry Bridge, with the Chantry Chapel on it. It's been closed to cars for my whole life, but you can still walk on it. Can you see how high the water is against the arches? My mum said she'd never seen it so high. 

I thought I'd take a picture of the very beautiful Chantry Chapel. 

And a bit more information on what one of those is! 

A few Christmas presents

I took all these photos on Christmas Day of three of my favourite presents. I got lots of lovely things, I was very lucky.

Lee bought me this Pusheen cover for my phone, I love it

He also bought me this, isn't it funny?

This was one of the Secret Santas I did, I really like it. 

This was another Secret Santa, I especially love the straws

These are all the books I got. The Robert Galbraith ones were from my aunt and family. The one about afternoon tea was from my grandma. The Ann Cleeves one was from my friend Laura, the one for bookworms was from my friend Sarah. The others were Secret Santas - None of the Above, Only Ever Yours, and The Manifesto on How to be Interesting were from one Santa, and Boy Meets Boy and Playing with Matches were from another. I'm excited to read ALLLLL these books!

I think this was a crafty Secret Santa. The crochet hook says "I'm a happy hooker" on it, lol

And this one I do know the identity of the sender - it was a crafty swap from Louisa! I can't wait to make the chocolate brownies. 

If you're the sender of one of my swaps, please let me know so I can thank you properly!

A new tattoo

At the beginning of December my darling friend Lucinda came to visit me and we decided to finally get the matching tattoos we've been talking about for ages, as she's about to move to Canada to study and I'm going to really miss her!

The tattoo says "Just chasing these words across the page", which is a line from the Libertines song You're My Waterloo. It reminds us of each other and also that we're both writers. Lucinda has a quill on her right foot so it looks like the words come from that. I decided to get mine in the same place. It was THE most painful thing ever - I whimpered throughout the whole thing, and swore a lot too.

I love it now, though, it's just gorgeous. The rainbow watercolour dots were an impromptu addition to match Lucinda's.

What I Wore 23rd December and a trip to Manchester

My friends from college and I always have lunch together to swap presents and catch up before Christmas, and it's always lovely. We alternate where we go - last year it was Ilkley and this year we decided to go to Manchester where Amy and Michelle live. Sadly Ailsa couldn't make it this year. Gillian and I car-shared from Yorkshire so it was lovely to get extra chat time with her!

We went to Greens in Didsbury which is a vegetarian restaurant as Amy is vegan. It was delicious! I had hummus to start with, then a bean burger with chips, and then a chocolate and orange pot with a red wine syrup shot.

Hipster burger in an enamel dish, tsh

And dessert in a kilner jar for goodness sake!

Here's what I wore - a dress from Joe Browns that I bought last year, and my cardigan from George. I feel like it's a festive pattern!

And here's my beautiful presents from my friends! I can't wait to open them (but I will)

What I Wore 22nd December

I went to see my friend Stacey's new house on the 22nd, she's a school teacher so I only see her in the holidays. Then I went to counselling - I've had around 8 sessions now and I'm finding it useful although difficult.

Here's what I wore, anyway. My top was from New Look last year I think, and the cardigan was from George at Asda, I love the pattern on it. My earrings were made by my talented aunt a few years ago!

Isn't it cute? I love the penguin

And these are just so sweet!