Everything AND the kitchen sink!

I'm having a new kitchen fitted at the moment and the process has been both exciting and stressful. I have a wonderful team of people to help me though. My Mum and Dad, Mother and Father-in-Law, and Husband.

They've all worked really hard to fit the kitchen despite plenty of setbacks from the fact that the company we used were flaky at best with their deliveries and the fact that we have such an old house that not all the walls were straight!

My Mother-in-Law also started work on our garden and in addition to everything they've already done for us (including funding the kitchen in the first place!) my fantastic parents had me and Noodles at their house for the week and looked after us so well.

In the beginning there was a humble but slightly manky kitchen:

Once everything was ripped out the hard worked started:

We had all our plumbing and Gas work done by a fab friend but very capable and experienced Plumber Kat Jackson.

This is the result on Day 5 and as you can see there's a long way to go but it will look fab when it's done and we'll all go out for dinner to celebrate it's completion!:

Then I can get my house on the market and move our little family closer to our big family! :-)

xx

Mish Mash

I don't really have a subject for this one, as it's more a mish mash of stuff from the last few days.

I have a photo that I can hardly look at from the bottom of Jon's parents Front Door frame.

I hate Spiders - It's not a strong word in this case - I really do hate them. I mean I know they're good for certain things and they create pretty webs but that's great.....somewhere else.

Lots of people have a phobia of them and mine manifests itself in the form of a cold sweat accompanied by holding my breath until I nearly pass out!

Here are the babies of the evil things........

They were all looking at me I swear! :-(

Change of subject........Emmy drew a portrait of me and I must say it's an uncanny resembance......

I do look rather like a potato

Last night poor Noodles was up all night being sick but as she was staying at my Mum and Dads house so Jon and I could go out for the evening I wasn't aware until the next morning. She's very tired (as I'm sure my Mum must be too!) but a lot better now.

Right....Just waiting for Jon to get home from work so we can go and have a look at kitchens. How exciting!

Have a good weekend all!!!

x

Me, myself and I

Today I had the day to myself. Jon took Emmy out with his parents and I went for Sunday lunch by myself.

It was lovely - I took a day out of being a Mum, a wife and a worker and spent it being me.

I went to my fave coffee shop of all time The Snug and had a little table for 2....for 1!

Settling down with a girly book about romance and all that stuff!

Brussels pate to start

Rib-eye beef with home-made yorkshire pud!

The only downside was that the carrot was a little more al dente than I would have liked but that was really down to personal preference. Also the mashed suede wasn't what I was used to but then my Mum used to mash hers with carrot and butter so there was never going to be a comparison!! The beef was lovely though! Wafer thin and not too much! Yummmmm! I'd definitely go again. Perhaps even on my own if I get another day like today!

Then I went out with the girls to watch 'Something Borrowed'. I was a bit worried that I might feel like a boyfriend who'd been dragged along to a chick flick but I really enjoyed it!

So all in all I've had a 'me' day. I wouldn't like to do it too often, but keep it as a treat.

Hope you've had a good weekend.......keep happy! :-)

Food Glorious Food

My cousin 'Up North' has a fantastic blog called Hungry Boyfriend reviewing recipes and restaurants that are gluten-free.

I don't profess to be very good at reviewing food but on Wednesday night we took my parents out for a meal at a stunning little Italian restaurant called Gemellis, (which incidentally also does a gluten-free menu) and by little I really do mean little. It's a on a small corner plot and is intimate without being crowded, well decorated and the staff are very attentive.

The food could almost be described as art but the taste is something else!
Here are some pictures of our starters and mains........

Tris di Funghi - A selection of Mushrooms

Soup of the Day - Creamy Veg

Cozze Ripiene - Ligurian Stuffed Mussels

Pollo Bologne - Beautiful chicken covered in melted Mozzerella and parmesan

Pollo al Vino Marsala Chicken stuffed with cheeses in a Marsala wine sauce

Pollo Paganini Chicken, Saffron, Red wine, Pancetta and Gorgonzola in a creamy garlic sauce!

As you can see the choices were delicious! Mind you we were so full that we practically rolled to the car afterwards and the suspension barely carried us all home! Needless to say we weren't able to manage a dessert but boy would we have loved one! Next time!!

Tonight I thought I'd turn my hand to something nice from the oven and as we had such a lovely meal at a friends house from a Slimming World recipe I thought I'd give it a go.

Chicken thighs and Roasted Veg

With Chunky red onions, new potatoes, chilli's and Butternut squash covered in garlic pepper, fresh parsley and Lemon thyme it was so lovely!! I've never cooked Butternut Squash in my life but I know I like the taste! It's a nightmare to prepare but Emmy helped me put it all in the roasting dish so that made things easier! :-)

A change is as good as a rest

I haven't had my hair cut since last May! That's nearly a year! It was long but the ends were so dry and lifeless!

So I took the plunge, closed my eyes tight and said to the Hairdresser "Do what you have to do!".......

I usually straighten my hair as I don't like my kinks but I kind of feel that it's about time that I went a bit more natural and see what it's like after all these years! I'm quite pleased with the result although I do feel a bit 'wayward'!

Here's the finished 'thang'.....

I'm going to be dying it red tomorrow too. I don't think it'll look like it does above again as it's a 'hairdresser' look that mere mortals like me can never recreate!

Spent the day with my Mum, Dad and Deakon today and we went for coffee in my 2nd fave coffee shop Coffee #1 and a Thorntons ice-cream! Yum!

My super Neph Deaky!

My Fabulous Parents!

My beautiful Daughter!

Tomorrow sees the 'Right Royal Wedding'. Personally I'm not that interested but I'm grateful for the day off and I hope it all goes 'spiffingly' for them!

More 'out and about!'

Where I work there is a committee of hard-working people who are there to raise our profile in the community, get our work colleagues doing something exciting, and raise money for our Charity of the Year which is Save the Children.

On Easter Monday they organised a 'Family Fun Day' in the grounds of our buildings and it was great! Emmy had a great time and did well in the Easter Egg hunt!

Dragging Grandpa off

Having the bouncy castle all to herself!

Emmy adopted this face before Kay had even started!

Surprisingly still....for now!

She didn't want any more but still looking very pretty.

Dancing in the bubbles

Today Aunty Mel (Not really an Aunty but in Wales that's what you call Mummys best mate!) came to see us and we decided on a whim to take a trip to Cefy Mably Farm Park which is currently being refurbished to make way for some huge changes!!

There was still plenty to do and after lunch we fed the animals with no nibbled fingers this time!

We also saw a rather randy peacock 'shakin' his thang' at the lady Pea'!

How you doin'?!?

He took a shine to Emmy!

I think that mouthful was all she ate!

Mel however did well!

Then we popped to the Cefyn Mably Arms round the corner and had a coke in the beer garden while Emmy collected Daisys and pointed out every bug going!

This has been a great Easter break so far, and it's not over yet!! Tommorrow will be a boring DIY day for me while Emmy goes to see her Nanna and Grandpa but Thursday will see us popping to the Cardiff Natural History museum, and who knows we might even track down some dinosaurs! Grrr!

:-)

Easter Sunday BBQ!

Today was a good day!

Being with my family is always a wonderful thing and being outside and in the sunshine makes it pretty perfect!

Today we went to Cwmcarn Forest Drive, of which the entrance to it is only about 10 minutes walk from my house, and dispite having llived here for about 6 years we've never been up any further than the lakes!

It was great! We had a BBQ at the 'Land of the Tylwyth Teg' with views as far as the eye could see...

Panoramic view of our BBQ

Everyone was soaking up the sun

Jon looking natural

My Sister

The kids - Emmy insisted on one pink and one blue Croc!

Emmy sat in the Wizard Chair

Mind you as the Sun took hold Emmy preferred to be safe than sorry...

Is it E.T.?

No...It's Sister Emmy soaking up the rays!

 After a fab BBQ by my Dad and a few hours exploring the area and the playgrounds and the sculptures we took the trail back down via 'Windy Ridge'

That's pretty much a sheer drop down there!

A view of Cwmcarn. My house is just round the corner from the base of the hill.

After that we continued down to Madocs Place which celebrates the Welsh prince Madoc who "Sailed to America in 1170, over 300 years before Christopher Columbus in 1492. This area has Welsh Indian inspired sculptures"

A quick stop at Golygfa Y Mor next (although by then we were pretty hot and tired)...

Back to ours for coffee and then a hard earned rest for the rest of the evening with a nice cold beer!

That's for sticking with me.......I hope you get a feel for how fab our day was. We certainly felt it! xx

Easter Holidays

I was originally due to work over the Easter holidays but as there was no-one in there didn't seem much point sitting in the office like Billy-no-mates while I could be enjoying the break, the weather and time with my Daughter.

Unfortunately my Husband hasn't got the time off but there are enough Bank Holidays over the next week to have enough time as a family!

On Good Friday we went to Caerphilly Castle with my Sister and Nephew for a picnic. The weather was great and Emmy was excited at going to a real Castle!

Can you spot us?

My Nephew Deakon

Cheeese!

What's up there??

Daddy pinching Emmy's lunch!

We have a BBQ up Cwmcarn Forest Drive planned for tomorrow, a 'Fun Day' at the place where I work on Monday and then the worlds our oyster from Monday to Thursday!

I can't wait to spend such precious time with my girl!

Days out

I love it when the weather turns nice as it means we can leave the confines of our poky house and get out into the fresh air without moaning that it's cold or wet or windy!

I took Emmy to Symonds Yat Butterfly Zoo and hedge maze yesterday and it was great fun!
Emmy loved the butterflies although did get a bit wary when they flew too close!

Here are some of the pretty ones:

 Then after the Hedge maze we went to have a cuppa and an ice-cream:

 Then today as the weather was even nicer we went to Caerleon Car boot and while my Hubby was having a look around (they're not really my 'thing'), Emmy and I had.........an ice-cream (can you see a pattern forming here? :-)):

We also popped into The Snug in Caerleon which we go to every Sunday for a cuppa and a cake (highly recommended!!!).



Emmy sat in a lovely hand carved chair.....well she 'lounged' in it!

"Help me! I can't get up!"

Lets hope this lovely weather continues as I fancy taking Emmy to see some castles!!!

Ta Ta for now! :-)