Long Weekend in France - Part I

At the beginning of May my godmother got married - in France! She and her husband have lived there permanently for a few years and had a very lovely wedding with just 30 of us there. We were there for 3 nights and I could have stayed much longer! It was lovely.

This was Thursday. We had to get up at 3.30am to get to Leeds Bradford airport for our 6.15am flight. It was ridiculous! But we saw the sunrise which is definitely a rare event for me.

Our Ryanair flight was around 90 minutes long and it was fine - I don't love flying but it's never as bad as I think it's going to be. We got our hire care at Limoges airport and set off to my godmother's house for breakfast.

They were having their wedding reception at a lovely little chateau and lots of the guests stayed there. The four of us (me, Lee, my mum and stepdad) were lucky enough to stay in the cottage attached to the chateau which has only just been finished, and to a really nice standard.

On Thursday evening my godmother had a get-together for everyone in the garden of their house, which was really lovely because it gave us a chance to meet everyone before the wedding. Some of their French friends were there and they don't all speak English, so my A level French was employed so that they didn't feel left out. It was a really special evening and the champagne was flowing freely so I may have drunk nothing else - it's so delicious!

Sunrise from the plane window

Hi Limoges, bye aeroplane!

Lying in the garden at our cottage sunbathing. It was about 20 degrees and although it was quite windy it was lovely to lie and read in. 

And here's the tables all set up for the meal, didn't it look lovely? We had a delicious cold buffet of meat, fish, salads, and so on. 

Books of the Month - April

I don't feel like I had a very good month of reading in April, although I did get two audiobooks from the library because I have a long commute twice a week and listening to audiobooks is ideal. The choice in my local library isn't very big so I need to go to the main one in town.



1) The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley - I read this for the Bloggers Book Club and found it a strange book. I liked it, and was compelled to keep reading, but it was quite strange and very long. It's not my usual genre so it was nice to go out of my comfort zone, but it was an odd book!



2) Willy's Stories by Anthony Browne - this was nominated for some award or other so I got it from the library, but I didn't like it. It has the beginning of many well-known stories (like Rapunzel) but asks the child what they think happened next. The author just needs to tell the story! Pfft

3) The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness - I liked this a lot - read my review here.



4) The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen - this was the first of my audiobooks and I liked it. I like the Rizzoli and Isles novels but hadn't read this one.



5) The Summer Before by Ann M Martin - this is about the summer before Kristy and co form the Babysitters' Club and it's really cute, I enjoyed it. I loved the BSC so much! Read my review here.

6) The Woman in Black by Susan Hill - my friend Laura lent this to me and I loved it, I don't know why I didn't read it before! Read my review here.



7) The Last Ten Seconds by Simon Kernick - this was my 2nd audiobook and it passed the time enough, but it was a bit rubbish and flitted around a lot which annoyed me.

See you next month for more book reviews!

Films of the Month - April

I watched loads of films in April! Many of which I hadn't seen before, which is good.



1) The Matrix - I have of course seen this before, when I was a teenager I really liked it but we hadn't watched it in ages so decided to watch it again - I think it does stand the test of time
2) Lord of the Rings - I've never seen this so thought I would, but god it goes on al ong time. I had to watch it in chunks.
3) Star Wars: The Force Awakens - I loved this when we saw it at Christmas so we watched it again, it's still fantastic



4) Pleasantville - I love this film and have for years. It's so delicately done.
5) God Help the Girl - I'd been meaning to watch this for ages and I'm so glad I did. It's really lovely, the girls are both excellent (I loved Hannah Murray in Skins) and so is Olly Alexander
6) Josie and the Pussycats - Netflix recommended this to me and I liked it, it's so kitsch and fun. Alan Cumming is excellent in it!



7) Chocolat - I love this book and first read it years ago when I was in college, but I'd never seen the film. I liked it even though it was different to the book.
8) Obvious Child - I saw this in a list of feminist films on Netflix or something, and I loved it. It's about a woman who has a one night stand after breaking up with her boyfriend and becomes pregnant, and decides to have an abortion. It's really good, go and watch it now
9) Fast Times at Ridgemont High - I've never seen this and I enjoyed it, it's so 80s!



10) Miss Potter - this was on iPlayer so I put it on, not really knowing much about Beatrix Potter's life even though I love her stories. I liked it, Renee Zellweger was great and so was Ewan McGregor. Worth a watch
11) Wallace & Gromit and the Wrong Trousers - this was also on iPlayer and I hadn't seen it in years so I watched it, it's cute!
12) A is for Acid - this was on ITV.com and I never saw it when it was first made. It's pretty gruesome but Martin Clunes was excellent, I enjoyed it



13) The Wedding Planner - this was on TV so I idly watched it. It was pretty terrible!
14) Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey - this is my favourite of the Bill & Ted films because I love Death so much. "They Melvined me!"
15) Kingpin - we watched this after Sheffield Zine Fest, it's ridiculous! I liked Woody Harrelson though.

And that was April!

Sheffield Zine Fest 2016

30th April was the 4th annual Sheffield Zine Fest and it was a fantastic day as in previous years. Lee and I took our distro and had a great position next to Lou from Our Victory Line. We've got loads of lovely zines now, they looked fabulous all set out. I have two new ones - #8 of my perzine Opinionated Nobody and one that I've just finished which is about my life as a Manic Street Preachers fan. Contact me if you'd like either of these!

I ran a mail art workshop where we made envelopes from scrapbooking paper and also decorated blank postcards. My friends Kerrie and Sarah-Beth came, my penpal Rosie did too, and also fellow zinester Jacq! I hope they all enjoyed it.

After the fest had finished, eight of us went to Saigon 68 for food, which is one of my favourite places in Sheffield. The portions are huge and the prices are low, and it's really yummy food. I had a really lovely day and can't wait to do it all again next year!

My stall, plus Lou next to us!

Close up of those lovely lovely zines

And the other side

And finally these are all the goodies I brought home!

What I Wore 29th April

Lee was off work on the 29th of April and my friend Tukru was arriving into Sheffield ready for zine fest the next day, so we went to Sheffield for lunch and to do a bit of shopping. This is what I was wearing.

I bought this top when I went shopping in Manchester with Steph and Kelly. It's a gorgeous vibrant tomato red, almost verging on orange. I liked the cold shoulder because it shows off my new tattoo which isn't often seen.

What I Wore 24th April

My grandma was 90 in April, and on the 24th we had a bit of a party for her. It was really lovely and I think she had a nice time. I thought I'd share some photos from the lunch.

The cake! It was from M&S and we bought the primroses to add because my grandma loves them. I stuck them on the cake, we had a flat 90 too but unfortunately I dropped it and it smashed, so we had to improvise with candles!

My cousin Gary, my grandma, and Gary's partner Ali. They live in Oxfordshire so we don't get to see them often but it's always nice when we do!

All the cousins and my grandma. My cousin Rob, his fiancee Beth, Lee, me, my step-cousin N, Peter, and my other step-cousin N - protecting their names for privacy!

With my mum and stepdad and aunt and uncle added too.

My mum, her sister Caroline and my grandma. My mum had the tunic made when she was in India recently, isn't it gorgeous?

And here's what I wore. I bought the skirt from Interrobang Art after Lolly recommended them, I love the pattern. The white top is from Yours clothing. 

What I Wore 23rd April

Debz linked to this dress on Facebook, saying that she'd just bought it on everything5pounds. I've bought from there before but not for a while. Their plus size stuff tends to be a bit haphazard, it's not always actually plus size and the quality can sometimes be really ropey. But I've had a few nice things from there and this dress is definitely one of them!

It has a slight stretch to it and the chiffon sash is really nice too. I think the length is just perfect on me, and the stripes are really nice.

I was wearing a lacy shrug from New Look that you've seen before, leggings from George at Asda, and shoes from New Look 

My face didn't have a lot of make up, but I love this Rimmel lipstick.