Christmas Eve

I can't beleive it's Christmas Eve already! Time really has flown hasn't it? I suppose it's not really surprising given that Christmas is the busiest time of the year in our household what with my dad being a church worker and all three of us being musicians.

There's so much I wanted to do, make and show you and I just haven't had time! I've got exams in January, coursework due in and an empirical project to get of the ground, so time is especially short this year and I'm struggling to come to terms with it and feeling a little lacking in Christmas spirit at the moment.

Never mind, at last now that it's Christmas Eve I am allowing myself some time off and taking a break from writing the dreaded essay for a coule of days. Today will be all about getting ready so that tonight and tomorrow I can start enjoying the Christmas holiday.

It hasn't been completely devoid of making round here though, I still have my finished cross stitched star garland to show you in situ, a few photos of our Christmas decorations and a poor unfortunate iPhone case that needs sharing. There's also this little chap -

My cross stitched reindeer who is currently acting as a bookmark in my Harry Potter book.

I've decided just to let it go and go with the flow. This Christmas can be about simply taking a break from the madness that is third year and celebrating that fact that I'm still afloat! Instead of stressing myself out about things I want to do and don't have time to I shall instead make a mental note for next year and stash away ideas (thank heavens for Pinterest!) for when I shall hopefully have a job (and money!) and some propper free time, free from 'homework' for the first time in what must be about 12 years!

So, to everyone out there, I hope you have a happy and, more importantly, peaceful Christmas.

Happy Christmas Eve,

aLittleBlonde

Ps I completely forgot about my fortune cookie! Truthfully, I can't really think of anything that happened that fits the bill, but I shal have a think and let you know.

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Fortune Cookie

To commiserate my last day at work on Sunday I decided to treat myself and have Chinese takeaway for tea. Nestling in the bottom of the bag was a little fortune cookie which I broke open to reveal...

I'm all intrigued now! What is it that's so exciting that is potentially going to happen this Saturday? Am I in for a small windfall, will I meet the man of my dreams or will it just be a lovely Christmassy day, who knows? I guessing it will probably be the latter, but you never know... Right now we've got nothing planned, so lets see what happens shall we?

Happy Wednesday,

aLittleBlonde

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A month in pictures: October and November

Now, don't judge me, but I am aware that I haven't actually posted last months Instagram mosaic yet, so here we have a two in one post - both October and November's month in pictures. So what did I get up to in October? Well...

I celebrated my 21st birthday, bought bread from the Lewes farmer's market, did a bit of autumnal cooking with a mushroom risotto, had a little package through the post from my Mum, made a Monday morning much more bearable with a Cath Kidston mug and moomin spoon, got going on a new cross stitch project for someone's Christmas present, baked a chocolate and banana loaf...

...and then wrapped it up in brown paper and string (whilst loudly singing songs from the sound of music), ate said chocolate-banan loaf in the staffroom at work, did yet more cross stitch preparation and watched the stormy skies from my bedroom window.

And in November...

I went to london with Mum and had the long anticipated paella in Covent Garden, we started singing new Christmas music at choir, Mum bought me a marzipan piglet from Harrods, I had my first gingerbread latte of the year, did a bit of christmas cross stitch on the train, practically lived in this lecture theatre for a day, burnt the first christmas scented candle of he year, did more chrstmas singing at choir, had an extended weekend in Dorset to celebrate Mum's birthday and had snuggles with this dozy lump of fluff...

...made marble cupcakes for Mum's birthday (and then forgot to take photos of the finished product), had more snuggles with Hector, saw the Christmas tree go up on campus and finally treated myself to a couple of cute Christmas decorations.

Sorry for such a long, picture laden post. I had a feeling that if I didn't do it now I never would and we most certainly can't have a gap in the month in pictures series now can we?

Happy Friday,

aLittleBlonde xx

PS You can find me on instagram as @aLittleBlonde or you can see my online profile here

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Accidental Christmas purchases

Just a quick post today whilst the photos for my next post are brewing and the dinner is cooking. I popped into one of the gift shops I frequent in Lewes earlier for a quick browse (fatal I know!) and saw these two. I did, however manage to be very self-restrained and refrain from buying them to save my pennies.

However, when I had to walk past the shop again this afternoon after my second trip to the supermarket to pick up the stuff I forgot the first time my self-restraint wavered a little bit and look what I accidentally bought....

Oops! I was a very good girl and managed to underspend on my weekly shop so thought I'd treat myself. Plus I've been meaning to make gingerbread for ages and had no suitable tin to store and transport it to work in so the tin was kind of an essential... kind of. And who wouldn't love the little wooden snowman calendar, hey?

Happy Wednesday,

aLittleBlonde xx

PS The tin appears to be made by dotcomgiftshop and you can find it here. I love that shop!

The Christmas ban is lifted!

I've been such a good girl and managed to hold off from mentioning the c-word for so long now, but now that's it's November I can finally say it. Yes, Christmas is coming! Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! As you may have guessed, I am quite excited that it is now only 29 sleeps away!

Despite having kept quiet about all things chrimbo on here it has gradually been seeping into my life over the past few weeks. What with various blogs I read starting to talk about making things for Christmas or writing about how they refuse to talk about Christmas yet, the general invasion of Christmas features in the various magazines I read and, probably most influentially, the fact that I've been surrounded by and selling Christmas items at work since the beginning of September. Personally I think I've been quite restrained until now! And yes, you heard it right, they did indeed have me sticking a display of Christmas items (mostly sweeties!!!) on the first of September. September, I ask you! Even for me that's a bit early!

Anyway, I have gradually started making a few Christmassy items and as well as planning and purchasing gifts. Want to have a peak at what I've been making? Well, I've started 3 different new projects for Christmas to date - two decorative and one present. I don't want to overload you with too much Christmas in one go, so I'll disperse my new projects over the next few days.

If you've been reading my blog recently you'll already have seen the beginnings of this little guy I've been stitching on the train, who's nearly finished already. I imagine he will be finished in the next couple of days, if not on the train journey to Sussex later.

If you follow my instagram you will also see that I've begun getting into the Christmas mood lately as well - I really am a sucker for a gingerbread latte!

Happy Monday,

aLittleBlonde xx

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Busy, busy, busy!

I apologize again for it being so long since I last dropped by. Whichever part of me thought it would be easy to balance the final year of a Psychology degree, a weekend job, write a blog and have some free time for craft was obviously just a little deranged! So what have I been up to since we last spoke? Well...

Mum came to visit a and I was a bit rubbish with remembering to take photos, we had a quick shopping trip to Brighton, including an expensive trip to Cath Kidston (thank heavens for student discount!), we paid a visit to the land of the blue and yellow flags, spent too much money yet again, ate meatballs, went on an adventure to London, had paella in Covent Garden, went to Harrods, was overwhelmed by how the other half live - they even sell puppies. Puppies I tell you! And, the main reason for Mum's visit - we went to the Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It was a great exhibition and I thoroughly recommend a visit, regardless of what era film you're into. Particular highlights for me where the LBD from Breakfast at Tiffany's, Eliza Dolittle's flower seller outfit from My Fair Lady, Elle Woods' pink outfit complete with pillbox hat and bag for Bruiser from Legally Blonde and of course the classics - the blue gingham dress and red sparkly shoes from the Wizard of Oz and Marilyn Monroe's white dress - you know the one!

Image source: V&A Museum Website

It was a truly brilliant exhibition, if a little crowded, despite entry being ticketed within specific time slots. I also completely understand why strictly no photography was allowed, however I think they missed a real trick in not selling a programme with a few photographs and some information about the exhibition and some of the costumes. They sold a book with lots of photos and a guide through the exhibition, but with a £25 price tag it was a bit out of my range! The Hollywood inspired gifts and pieces of costume jewellery available in the shop were a nice touch though.

Image source: V&A Museum Website

Since then I've generally spent my time catching up on work, completing coursework and beginning the long and laborious process of seeking ethics approval for my planned project that will hopefully become my dissertation. I've also been back for a whirlwind trip to Dorset (all 49 hours of it!) to watch WOW Youth Musical Theatre's production of Oliver on Wednesday and then help out backstage on Thursday. In fact, I was in Dorset when I started this post, but I dare say I'll be back in East Sussex by the time I've finished!

However, despite all the rushing about I have had the chance to do a little bit of stitching, mostly on the train I have to admit. When I first started stitching on the train when travelling between East Sussex and Dorset over the summer I noticed the odd funny look from people on the train. However this week I was a girl on a mission. No amount of funny looks or snatched overheard conversation was going to put me off! Needless to say this little guy is nearing completion already

I am also aware I haven't managed to post October's month in pictures yet. What can I say? I'm sorry, it's a work in progress. I've also written 4 more posts that will be published automatically over the next couple of days, seeming as according to my rules I am now officially allowed to start using the C-word!

So, so long fare thee well, pip pip cheerio, we'll be back soon! (spot the naff reference to Oliver)

Happy Saturday, 

aLittleBlonde

Nana nana nana nana, batman!!!

Do you remember me saying I had a bunch of bananas languishing in the fruit bowl that needed something doing with them? Well, this is what I came up with - banana bread! As far as I can remember I've not made it before, so I had a quick search through my cookbooks and found this recipe for chocolate banana bread from the Great British Bake Off cookbook, published last year (I've been given the new one as well, but haven't used it yet).
 

 
Armed with my ingredients and a new loaf tin courtesy of Mr Tescos, I came home from work on Saturday night, got straight into my pyjamas, shoved my dinner in the oven and got baking!
 

 
It was a nice and quick and most importantly easy recipe to make - always a good thing when you're baking after work on a Saturday night and are pretty much brain dead.
 

 
I was fairly impressed with the outcome too, although I found it quite hard to judge when it was done, so it could possibly have done with another 5 minutes in the oven. Why do fan ovens always have to complicate things so? Do you turn down the temperature and bake for the same time? Or do you set it at the temperature stated in the recipe and take it out sooner? I soon discovered that the good old skewer test wasn't going to work - no matter how many times you stab the poor thing with a stick, the little lumps of chocolate and banana mean that it will never 'come out clean'!
 

 
I also made a slight schoolgirl error in putting it into a Tupperware box all wrapped up when it was still a bit warm, but luckily I realised before too much condensation built up!
 

 
I was rather proud of it actually and it seemed to go down very well with everyone at work. This is definately one I'll be making again!
 

Happy Holloween,

aLittleBlonde

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Twitter - to split or not to split?

In writing this post this afternoon and then finding this post on UK Craft Blog I've decided to leave things as they are on twitter, with the exception of changing my Twitter name to aLittleBlonde and planing to make more use of lists and direct messages to organise things a bit better. So... this is me!

Follow @aLittleBlonde1

But, if you're interested in what I had to say earlier, then read on...

This is something I've been wondering about for a while now and The Pampered Sparrow's post the other day got me wondering about it again - how much do I want to share? At the moment I only have one twitter account that serves both me and aLittleBlonde. Although that makes things easier to manage, it does mean that my tweets, people I follow and interactions with others are somewhat mixed between me talking with friends, choir stuff, the things I get up to every day and things going on with aLittleBlonde.

On the internet I like to keep things fairly anonymous as aLittleBlonde. I'm not hiding my 'real-life' name/face, but I'm not particularly publicising it either - to be honest I can't decide quite how much I want to share. How much do I want aLittleBlonde to be directly traceable to me? (especially when you take potential future employers into account!). Hopefully you won't find many direct references to the 'real' me, not that she's really any different to aLittleBlonde, although I do hint every now and then and talk about where I live rather a lot - just have a look at my tags to see what I mean!

So what's my point? Well, there are many different strands to what makes me me - there's the third year psychology student, the daughter of two incredibly musical parents, the friend, the choir girl  the school friend  the employee of a big high street store I'm not allowed to mention, the potential future teacher and graduate, the crafter and of course aLittleBlonde. Most of that gets summed up anonymously (unless you know me personally and make the connection) in aLittleBlonde and there isn't a defining line where one begins and the other ends. At the moment my twitter page is both me and aLittleBlonde and I'm not overly sure whether to leave it that way or split things up a bit. Apart from anything else, my twitter feed must seem rather random to my followers sometimes!

So is it time to make the split - one twitter account for me and one for aLittleBlonde? There's just a couple of things holding me back - for a start how on earth do I split myself in two? Do I need to? What if there's something I want to say through both my personal twitter account and aLittleBlonde - do I copy and paste, retweet myself...? What about those who follow both?

Well done if you've managed to make it to the end of this rather wordy post! Please do let me know if you've got any thoughts. What do you think - to split or not to split?

Happy Tuesday, 

aLittleBlonde

That Friday Feeling

Apologies, yet again this failed to post when it should have. What gives blogger? Anyway...

Yep, you've got it, today I've got that Friday feeling. Just where exactly has this week gone? I remember selected highlights from my day off on Monday and my high-speed shopping trip on Wednesday, but aside from that its all just blurred into one. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out this week was actually only 3 days long! My dad has a theory about extending and condensing time, maybe I'll tell you about it some time. After all he is one of life's great pontificators!

It's scary to think that next week will be week 7 for Sussex students. That's half way through the autumn term of my final year! Although scary, I'm reaching the point now where I just want to get on with it and speeding through this year is absolutely fine by me! Bring. It. On.

I have so many little snatches of things to tell you and no time to do so before I find more to talk about over the next two weeks (there are exciting things afoot!). So, it appears we are heading for a bit of a Friday mashup - are you ready?

The C word.
I am desperately trying to be a good girl and not mention the C word until at least after bonfire (it's a big deal where I live - just do a google image search for Lewes bonfire), but trust me I am finding it really, really hard. I've got craftiness and new projects a plenty to be telling you about, but I'm being very strict with myself and holding off until November, at which point I shall probably explode like a veritable festive glitter ball. Although to be fair, there'll be so much going on here between now and the beginning of November that I doubt I'd have time to show you an awful lot of what I've been up to c-word wise anyway!

Although I will give you a couple of sneaky peaks of preparations...

Aren't the evenings beginning to get really dark now? I've been trying really hard recently to plan out stuff I need to get done and work efficiently through the day so I can get a bit of time off in the evenings. That's all well and good, but that often means that by the time I eventually get round to blogging its too dark to take decent photos and when it's light enough I'm inevitably busy! I fear more organisation is in order. Either that or a non-energy saving lightbulb.

As I've already alluded to, the next 2 weeks are going to be busy. I've got my dissertation project to finishing planning, an ethics form to submit, bonfire and my mother is coming to stay. There are also several over-ripe bananas languishing in the fruit bowl that need making into something. It's either going to be very quiet around here or you won't be able to get rid of be because I've got so much to say!

I had thought I'd tell you about my little speed-shopping trip on Wednesday  but I think I've kind of said enough for one day. Instead I shall write that up and schedule it to post automatically over the weekend. Ooh get me. Let's see how that one turns out!

Happy Friday, 

aLittleBlonde

Songs of Praise Big Sing

Just a quick post today to say that I was on TV at the weekend. Yes, you heard it right! I'm a member of the Brighton Festival Chorus, who for the last couple of years have been invited by BBC Songs of Praise to take part in the Big Sing as one of their 3 stage choirs for the event.

It's always a great experience and really interesting to see how the programmes are made and what Aled Jones and the guests for that episode are like when the cameras aren't rolling. And yes, I can confirm that Aled was his usual bouncy self and Jaz Ellington (from the BBC's The Voice) seemed like a genuinely lovely person from where we were sat. As for Alfie Boe? Well, BFC have worked with Alfie before, which I'll tell you about when I get a spare moment, and he too was as lovely and ever so slightly mischievous as normal.

At the recording day back in September we filmed two episodes - this one aired on Sunday and one scheduled for some time between Christmas and new year, making a change from the usual one episode for the Big Sing and one episode for Christmas. Although I'm personally a really big fan of anything Christmas, it was nice to have a break from singing Carols in September this year, although the switch over in the break between recordings is always funny as Christmas trees and festive jumpers appear whist the stage choirs are urged to don a bit of sparkle to get in the festive mood.

Some students have festival wristbands,
I have a songs of praise one.

So if you watched it at the weekend or fancy stalking me on the iplayer before it disappears, I'm in the stage choir so dressed in black concert dress, early twenties (ouch it hurts to say that!), long blond hair... or you could just fast forward to 22:26 if you're that desperate.

It always makes me laugh that if you mention songs of praise at BFC one of the first things anyone will say is something along the lines of "and they give you lunch, nice sandwich, crisps, a bit of fruit, bottle of water and a kitkat. And tea and biscuits in the break". it's true musicians do love their food...

Apologies, this post was somewhat longer than intended and pretty much picture-less, but I had a feeling the BBC wouldn't be too pleased if I started print-screening directly from iPlayer and then posting it on here!

Happy Wednesday,

aLittleBlonde

If you want to know more about Brighton Festival Chorus then take a look at our website or you can follow us on twitter

Ta Dah! Mini mystery stitch #1

Here we have one of the many posts I wrote over the summer that for one reason or another never quite made it to publishing. Instead it has been sat languishing in the notes app on my ipad, written but picture-less for several weeks months. So if you can, forget the rain beating on the window outside and cast your mind back to the summer...

At last, a little ta dah - my mini mystery stitch that I've been working on whilst travelling between Dorset and Sussex every week (I last wrote about it in this post here) No one guessed what it was, so I am proud to reveal that it was this little guy... Mr Bumble.

I'm not a massive fan of backstitching on such small designs as the spider's web of lines on the chart can often be quite hard to translate into real stitches. But, despite a few little corners (copied from the chart I swear!) I was actually pretty pleased with my backstitching efforts - especially the stripes. Three stitches on each side of each stripe. Of course it was a happy accident entirely intentional on my part and planned in advance (ahem).

It's also the first time I've attempted french knots. I'd heard so much dislike for them that I was a little apprehensive, having always opted for the seed bead option instead. But, after two failed and unravelled attempts I got the hang of it. They came out a little bigger than intended, but I think it gives him a rather cute boggle-eyed look which adds to his character.

He's from the free stitch kit that came with issue 252 of Cross Stitcher magazine and belongs in the same set as my poor incomplete strawberry...

...except the poor incomplete strawberry is incomplete no more!

I couldn't face unpicking the whole thing to start again with a different red and didn't want to throw my work away, so I decided to buy a skein of anchor in the shade specified in the key. I was resigned to the fact that it would be blatantly obvious I had switched threads, but as the birthday I had intended to make it for had already passed in the meantime I decided to go with it and just keep it for myself.

As you can see it wasn't actually that bad a match though! If you look closely and you know what you're looking for then you can see it - the anchor is slightly brighter, has a bit more of a sheen and is much nicer to work with, but apart from that its similar enough. I'd never give it away to anyone because I'm a perfectionist, but I'm sure I can find some use for it somewhere. At the moment it's acting as bookmark in my philosophy of psychology textbook!

Happy Wednesday,

aLittleBlonde xx

 

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Instagram - A month in pictures

I am now on Instragram! You can follow me at @alittleblonde1 to see what I'm up to, click here or on the button in the sidebar to find out more. (By the way, isn't that followgram thing cool? I have a QR code!!)

Since joining instagram I've found myself taking a lot more photos which is a nice little bonus in my book. If only my poor old iphone didn't struggle so much to open the camera app every time I want to take a photo. It really is a little frustrating to have to wait about 90 seconods every time you want to take a photo, especially when the subject in question is poised to run away and moves at the last minute...

This little guy (there is a squirrel in that bin  promise you!) was so cute and patiently sat still for so long whilst I waited for my camera to boot up. You can't really blame him for getting a little camera shy and diving for cover at the last minute really, can you? I don't know what it is, but there seem to be even more squirrels than usual on campus at the moment. Anyway, I digress...

I would like to announce a new feature to aLittleBlonde - monthly instagram mosaics! So here we have it- this is what I've been up to in the days since joining instagram...

Running from the top left: a Bakewell tart complete with heart shaped cherry l peppers harvested from the garden l my version of burger and chips l my new parsley plant on the kitchen windowsill l rainbow seen from y bedroom window l portobello mushroom burger with pesto & mozzarella l a little photo shoot with a very squishy doggy l they make Percy Pig Juice! l my house mate made enchiladas for dinner l Gloria chilling again l a little shopping trip into Brighton by train l this dog could sleep for England

I apologise that it's taken me until the 11th to post these up, as opposed to doing so at the beginning of the month. However, as you may have seen I was a little preoccupied with all the loveliness!

Are you on instagram too? If so feel free to comment with your username or a link and I'll give you a little follow back.

Happy Thursday, 

aLittleBlonde xx

Twenty-One

This week I've celebrated a bit of a mile-stone birthday - the big two-one. Well, when I say celebrated, I mean more attempted to ignore it. 21 really was not a birthday I was looking forward to, in fact I have been dreading it for the last couple of weeks. However, 1 week in and I can confirm that the world did not indeed end as I thought it would. Indeed, being 21 and 1 week is not actually that much different from being 20 - who's have thought it? I would even go as far as saying I like the idea of being 21 (just as long as I don't get any older!) it's got a little grown-up sparkle to it that I quite like.

Anyway, I had a lovely time at the weekend with the 'surprise' party my Mum and Auntie Flute threw for me. 'Surprise' because I accidentally let myself in on the secret several weeks beforehand, but that's another story.

There was much bunting, cake and an abundance of embarrassing photographs and lovely people there to share it which made me a very happy girl. I have also commandeered the decorations and photographs for safe keeping, just in case.

The beautiful rose from the top of my cake which I'm saving

Whilst I'm telling you about it I would like to take the opportunity to say a big, well earned thank you to my Mum and Auntie Flute (and of course my Dad!) for arranging such a lovely surprise. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank everyone, especially my Mum and Dad for giving me such lovely presents - I feel absolutely spoilt rotten!!! This year was definitely the year of the craft/cook book which will keep me amused and well fed for years to come. I really cannot wait to share some of the amazing books I received this week with you, but for now I shall just leave you with a couple of photographs unearthed from this weekend...

See, I was a cutie once...I wonder what happened!

Happy Tuesday,

aLittleBlonde xx

Edit: I just worked it out, turns out I'm only really 18 plus VAT :)

It's the final countdown...

So this week marks the beginning of my final year. Excited? Mmm... A little bit very terrified? Umm, yeah...

It's hard to believe it, but this is the year when not only do I get to chose all my modules (bar the one compulsory one), but they also let me loose on real people. Yes that's right, aLittleBlonde is being released into the world (with some academic supervision I may add!) to conduct her own experiment! Right now I'm still very much at the rabbit in the headlights, 'oh my gosh what am I going to do' stage, but I'm hoping that feeling will begin to subside over the next couple of weeks as I talk with my supervisor and attempt to get my ideas in line and on track. As of today I do have a little bit of an idea, although I seriously doubt my little idea will actually even remotely resemble the finished project that will hopefully be just a somewhat distant and hopefully painless memory come this time next year.

So it's the start of a new academic year, one in which I have convinced myself that organisation will be the key. This is going to be THE year, in which I am going to get EVERYTHING done, whilst experiencing manageable levels of stress and still finding time to cook myself proper meals and indulge in the occasional baking session to boot. It would also be good to squeeze a little bit of crafty time in there too, but I think we can both see where this is going...

Despite the excitement and stresses a new academic year can bring, I think we can agree that there is one thing that everyone looks forward too - new stationary!

It's the new pens, the pads of clean blank paper, the folders waiting to be filled with notes...

...and look, my first roll of washi tape!

I really am a bit of a sticker addict too.

And do you know what one of my favourite parts is? The ceremonious filling in of the academic diary/wall planner. I have to say I did have a bit of a moment when it came to writing this rather grand word on my wall planner though.

Come July, barring flood, fire and disaster I will hopefully have three little letters after my name. Wow. That really is pretty cool, you've got to admit it.

Happy Monday,

aLittleBlonde

I'm back!

That's right, after two weeks in sunny and then very rainy Cornwall and a week working/recovering I am back and ready to get back into my bloggy mojo!

I did attempt some blogging whilst I was away and have a fair few photos and pretty things to show you, not leat to mention the now finished mystery project, but without enough reliable wifi to get my phone and ipad to communicate with my blogger dashboard it was beginning to feel a bit too much like hard work. I do however have several posts drafted out and ready for assembly just as soon as I hit upon the winning combination of a real computer, reliable internet and some spare time.

So what have I been up to since I last spoke to you? Well...
I've shared the back seat of a car with 2 basset hounds, received far too many sloppy kissess from said bassett hounds, had breakfast on the beach, explored many a seaside town, visited the town where Doc Martin is set, painted my toes blue, cut myself on a Krispy Kreme wrapper, become a member of the national trust, eaten many many pasties, read a really good book, finished my mystery stitch, started learning to drive, been to not one, but 3 craft fairs, made gingerbread men in August, finally watched Dirty dancing for the 1st time, played the ukelele a bit... I think that will do for now!

I shall link up as I post about these things, although rest assured there won't be a dedicated post for each of the above - I'm pretty sure the incident with the Krispy Kreme wrapper won't quite stretch to a full post, or at least a very interesting one anyway!

So, I'm off to sort out a few of those posts, download my photos and just generally come back to the real world (we'll ignore the fact that I've been back for the best part of a week, shall we?) Apart from anything else I still have a lot of posts from other blogs to read through. On logging in to bloglovin' when I got back I discovered in excess of 240 unread posts. Impressive, huh? Even now I've still got over 100 still waiting to be read. It doesn't help that I also keep finding new ones to follow, but I'll be damned if I'm going to just press the 'mark as read' button on any of them. What if I miss something good?

Happy Tuesday,

aLittleBlonde xx

We're off on holiday!

aLittleBlonde is off on holiday for the next 2 weeks, so please excuse the relative bloggy silence there may be around here!

That said, I am taking my camera and plenty of projects to keep me occupied, so if there's wifi about you may hear the odd thing from me, or failing that the odd tweet. As always, keep an eye out on my facebook page for the latest.

aLittleBlonde x

Hoist up the bunting

You may not have heard, but you know there's this little event coming up very soon in the UK. As in starting in the next few days. Anyone heard of it? I mean there's been so little hype about it, seeming as how everything is running completely as planned, under budget and ahead of schedule.

Anyway, apparently there's going to be a little bit of sailing going on down the road at Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy, which despite the inevitable swamp of people that will descend on our part of the country soon will hopefully be a nice boost for the area. Already the seafront has been smartened up with a lick of paint, the pavements have been relayed and widened and little cafes and mini attractions have started popping up all over the place.

Weymouth already seemed to have it's fair share of bunting following the Diamond Jubilee, but when we went down to do a bit of shopping in the town centre on Thursday we also spotted this new Olympic bunting that's sprung up adorning some of the boats in the Harbour.

I wonder whether it's just those particular boat owners who decided to deck out their boats (sorry for the painful pun) in olympic bunting or whether it was a requirement to match the sail type flags that have appeared lining the main roads and roundabouts. Either way it's a nice touch and I hope more boats put some up as we get closer to the start of the sailing.

You have to admit, it's a pretty good view for a car park, isn't it? Just a pity the weather is looking a bit moody really, but fingers crossed that should be changing soon.

Happy Friday, aLittleBlonde x