Here we go...

Ok. Back to normal, back to work, back to the gym and back to blogging.

Not 100% back to normal, as this is where I am now blogging from...

Hey look, there's me in the mirror! ha.
Yup, we have a desk! ok, so the walls still need repairing & painting, and there is still stuff all over the place that needs sorting out. The chair could do with covering/reupholstering too. But the fact of the matter is. we have a desk. and seeing as 2 weeks ago you could barely get in this room because of all the junk, this is huge! :)

I am currently sat at the desk, sunlight is not streaming in through the windows, someone has just pulled up outside and honked their horn, and there is a birds nest just outside the window... goodness those baby birdies are noisy!  I am editing a few photos taken at my husbands birthday celebrations at the weekend (at a Mexican restaruant. Highly enjoyable) and finally getting to update this blog of mine.

As I mentioned before I am going to try and focus and give it a bit of an overhaul here. I just want to have a few regular posts each week, so you know when to pop back and have a read.
Fridays will still be my Weigh in result/meal plan day. Its good for me to plan my food, saves money and helps keep me on track (if the last 2 weeks of not planning are anything to go by this is completely neccisary!) on Tuesdays I will start to post recipes or fill you in on places we have eaten, it'll kinda coincide with my meal plans so new recipes I try I shall share on here, and you'll get to see if they were a sucess, or a complete failure! ;)
I'll also start to share some of the things I make (now I have a room to work in hoorah!) and some of the photos I take. I have lots lots more planned too, but for now these are the first steps.

All starting tomorrow with a nice and easy Olive & Herb flatbread recipe! :)

Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone. xx

On the busses

Its been a little quiet on here for the past couple of days, so thought I would post a quick little update.

I had written a post out on Monday, but as it happens I had a killer headache at the time and it turns out I pressed save instead of publish.
And, also as it happens, it was about the spare room makeover and it would have all been irrelevant now as Darrens brother is taking the old sofa off our hands (traded for a bike for Darren. Trading stuff if so much nicer than just cash for everything. I have something you want, you have something I want. Work out a trade! hoorah)

So, whats been happening. We are still down to sharing the one car, and as my little yellow car was at the garage overnight we took the bus to work this morning.

Here we are at the bus stop. Exciting stuff eh. Its been years since I have been on a bus, and seeing as we shall likely be car sharing for a few months, and with the government encouraging people to use public transport I was kind of looking forward to it.
As it turns out, while I was impressed/pleased the bus route had some perfectly timed busses with very few stops, generally it was crap. for the two of us, one way it was almost as much as I spend in petrol for an entire week! Thats one bus journey, one way! and boy was it uncomfortable. haha

Probably sounding like such a spoiled brat, haha. But its not an experience I shall be hoping to re do any time soon.
Anyway, I called the garage and my car is fine. It might make the odd squeak when its cold (sounds like me) but its not doing any harm. Which is good to know.

The raised beds in the garden are coming along nicely now too. Darren has finished the first one, it just needs a second coat of paint, and we shall be starting the second one soon too. Then we just need to do a bit more prep work, get the slabs and we shall be well on the way to having the landscaping in the garden done.
I shall share some pictures soon of how its all coming together.

Happy Wednesday xx

The birds are singing

And its a beautiful day out there. The last couple of days we have been able to have the office windows open (needed them open, as soon as the sun hits its like a little greenhouse)

The birds have been tweetering on the branches outside, and everyone seems to be smiling.

One thing it has meant for me, is I have an incredible urge to get out in the garden, have BBQs and go camping!

(both photos from 2009!)

Unfortunately, the garden looks like a building site, and we haven't camped for a couple of years so we need to check the tent (for mould and holes) before we go (by putting it up in the garden!) plus with Darren now working Saturdays we need to plan ahead and book time off for camping weekends.

The forecast for this weekend is good, so hopefully we can get out into the garden, start clearing out the mess, digging out what is needed and get everything prepared for the hard landscaping to begin.

Even just clearing the garden out will mean we can have the odd BBQ without having to perch our plates on a pile of bashed up slabs/hardcore :)
I can see a few trips to the tip/recycling centre on the horizon.

Hopefully though once we have started everything will go smoothly, and in no time at all we shall have a lovely new patio, brick raised beds (have I mentioned our evil clay soil? evil to try and grow anything in!) and a lovely new shed.
The fences and furniture need a lick of paint, and the shed we are planning on painting a nice sky blue & cream. Kinda like this but not as cute or cozy, it'll be a normal functioning shed for storage. I'd love a little summer house retreat like that but in our garden... not gonna happen. (you can see how small it is above) also... how amazing is this? Dear god I would love that shed!

Add some flowers (and veggies, I have plans for a designated veggy growing section) and some gingham cushions for the chairs and I will be one happy little gardener.

xx

So you remember how yesterday I said that the clocks changing was fine because it was still light in the mornings.
It seems my mind was playing tricks on me and it was lies!
Because today when my alarm went off it was decidedly dark in our bedroom. No glints of sunlight through the curtains to entice me out of bed. Just dull and dark, (alright, I'll concede it was because it was cloudy and overcast, minus the clouds it would have been brighter) and it took more than double the effort it did yesterday to get myself out of bed, dressed and to the gym for it opening.

But up and dressed I got, and made it to the gym for it opening. I didn't overly enjoy this mornings workout (Darren is on early starts this week which means he cant come in the mornings. Even though we dont work out together when we are there, I still like his company on the car ride there and home and the odd smile at each other across the gym) I changed it up a little today, and instead of doing Treadmill/Bike. I did Treadmill/XTrainer. Boy did that sucker nearly kill me! but its good. I feel good for changing things around, and I used to l.o.v.e the Xtrainer, so its about time I rediscovered my love for it.

Tonight, straight after work I am going to a Body Balance class. We normally go on a Wednesday, but its later so means I am not home until 9ish and its so late to be eating dinner (I'm not home in time to eat and let it settle before going to the class) So today I have my kit with me so I can get changed at work and go straight there. Hopefully I'll make it in time and it will be a nice class.


When I got home last night Darren asked if I would like to see what he had done... uh-oh, what do you mean?
What he meant was that he had got home from work and spent the afternoon sorting out our spare room! Wow! ok its still got a lot of stuff in it that needs going through. and it has our old sofa upturned on its side awaiting being sold. but even so. There is space for a desk!! a desk!

ooh happy days.

and this is the desk we have chosen.

I cant wait to get it and start painting/creating again! :)
Happy Tuesday! xx

Monday ... already!

Phew. Were did the weekend go? I dont know about any of you but the weekends just seem to fly by at the moment.
Saturday I was non stop. did my nails when I woke up (a few years ago I did a nail technician course, I used to do a few friends nails, but now I just tend to do my own as and when I fancy it! I am a terrible nail biter!!) took delivery of the groceries, cleaned the kitchen, tidied the living room and bedroom, hoovered the stairs and cleaned the bathroom (its exhausting just writing it all!) I stopped for half hour and grabbed a pasta mugshot for lunch then set about dying my hair.
Darren came home as I had finished drying it and we went into town to pick up Tickets for us to see Jenny Eclair that evening (Me and Leanne, not Darren!) Popped to another couple of shops. Home to get changed and ready, grabbed a couple of chicken kickers and a slice of Pizza from Darren (yep, the meal plan went out the window!) Watched Jenny Eclair (rather funny, though we both said we would have found it funnier if we were 20years older and a bit more middle class!) home and finally to bed.

Phew!

Sunday was the laziest morning imaginable. Darren cooked breakfast in bed, and we did not get up 'properly' until well gone midday! Lovely after such a busy Saturday,

Then when we fiiiinally made it out of our cosy bed. We started to rip the garden to pieces. It had gotten in such a mess over the past 2 years with me being unwell and then the wedding last year that it really does need a full on overhaul.
After chatting about it over breakfast in bed we came to the conclusion that the bedroom has very little to be done to it. Where as the garden... thats going to be one BIG job.

So, The bedroom makeover is on hold until Easter time when I have some time off and can get painting etc. and Darren is concentrating on the garden. At the moment its pretty much ripping stuff out, levelling the ground and doing some hard landscaping. None of which I would be very helpful with, so I shall take on the role of coffee maker and biscuit provider. While pointing out what should go where.

I'll share some of our garden plans later this week. But just as a quick share, these are the slabs we are planning on.

Have a good Monday everyone x

Home Makeover - Living Room Inspiration

We are really close now to having our living room makeover complete. So I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of the pictures that helped inspire our makeover of this room.

Rooms that are light and spacious always catch my eye and draw me in, and thats what we want to create in our home. Its a small house, and the rooms are not overly generous in size. But its just right for the two of us, and seeing that with the current housing climate we shall not be moving anytime soon we wanted to turn our home into just that. Our Home.

We already had a large picture in the room that was of green bamboo, and with the room backing onto the garden, (eventually we have plans for a little conservatory, but thats a little way off yet)
we really wanted to create the feeling of 'bringing the outside in' so concentrated on off whites, vibrant greens, leafy prints, textures and light oak furniture/flooring

These are just a few of the pictures that I came across when trawling the internet for ideas (the wallpaper sample shown is actually what we now have on one wall in the room. love it)

We needed it to be practical (with storage and a tv/games console area) but relaxing. A space to come home after work and instantly feel happy.

I shall share before photos soon & the final finished room soon too. x

Valentines & more.

Good afternoon.
As you may have noticed if you check back here regularly, I've been absent for a couple of days. As I mentioned previously I had a couple of days booked off work, and the couple of days off work, evolved into a couple of days off everything really. So just unplugging from the world pretty much completely and spending some quality time with my Husband.

You know what. I feel fabulous for it.

Monday Darren had his rota'd day off. which was just pure luck, so we got to spend Valentines together and doing whatever we wanted. We got up late, took our time getting ready, popped into town (where among other things I brought a new dress... more on that at a later date) Then we went for lunch at our local Harvester.
I ate Cajun Prawns, salad and stuffed mushrooms, Darren ate garlic mushrooms, salad and a cheese and bacon burger. The Cajun prawns are just wonderful. I'm not going to bother with a main meal next time. I'll be happy with the prawns and a bit of salad. I'll have room for dessert then too! ;)
After lunch we popped back out shopping so Darren could get Mafia2 for the PS3, then finally we made our way to the Cinema to watch Tangled (such grown ups! haha)

We got the timings wrong for the local Odeon, so changed tack and popped over to Cineworld instead. Where instead of gorging on fizzy jelly sweeties like we normally do. Darren had minstrels and I treated myself to some Ben & Jerrys. Cherry Garcia ice cream (yum) and Jamaican me crazy sorbet (which is my new favourite thing EVER!)

I don't think the day did wonders for my diet, but i enjoyed every moment of it. :)

No photos, I apologise. I haven't yet got used to taking photos of my day to day life to help me blog! I do promise I shall make more of an effort and take more photos from now on!

Yesterday I spent the day sorting out the bedroom, visiting friends and then doing a bit of DIY. ok, in all honesty Darren did the DIY, I supervised and passed drill bits and screws etc.
We didn't do much, put up a new curtain pole and curtains, moved the mirror and put up some frames in the bedroom basically.
We still have lots to do in the bedroom to get it how we want it, but even these small changes have made such a massive difference. It was so light and bright waking up this morning. It certainly made getting out of bed easier.
And having the mirror hung in portrait and in a better position for me to see into it (having over a foot in height difference between me and my Husband means mirror placement is always a fun task!) means I can get ready in the mornings without having to scoot into different rooms to check my outfit etc.

Well I am off to finish eating my lunch now.
Happy Wednesday.x

Fruit bowl

Last night Darren went on some cleaning blitz in the kitchen. everything cleaned and tidied away. its fabulous.
I was reading my book and completely lost myself in it so I didnt even realise what he was doing.

In order to get the Kitchen how we'd ultimately want it, it'd need a full on overhaul. But right now. Just getting a fruit bowl would be great!
Have you ever looked for a fruit bowl though? I am obvioulsy too fussy, but now we promised ourselves we'd only buy things we love for the house its turning into one hell of a task.

I love, love, love this fruit bowl.

Of course, its by a Mexican designer, it won design awards back in 2008, and I cant find anything like it anywhere.

Of course, if I could find something like it, it'd probably cost waaaay too much and I would then have to sulk for days, weeks possibly even months or years!

If anyone happens to know somewhere that does a lovely bowl like it. in Red or White. Please let me know.

That'd be great. Thanks. :D

Happy Tuesday xx

Goals and Resolutions for 2011

I dont normally make resolutions. Bu this year after I was thinking back at what happened in 2010. It started me thinking about the changes we want to make in 2011, and the things we want to acheive.

So here are my 5 main goals and resolutions for 2011.

#1 :    Take care of myself more
The obvious one of lose weight falls into this catergory. This year I am going to give Slimming World a go. I have tried following Weight Watcters on and off for a few years now, and the weight comes off a bit. then goes back on, then comes off, and I just think a change will do me good.
Keeping up with the gym. setting myself a goal of a  minimum of 3 times a week with this one. as soon as I am there I love it. its just getting my backside there that I can struggle with, but Darren is great at motivating me.
Then generally just treating myself a bit more. The odd massage and facial. generally just treat myself better.

#2 :    Get house decorated
Speaks for itself really. Since the changes in the housing market, and now knowing we shall be staying here for the forseeable future, we have started making our house a home. We did it up a bit when we first moved in but because originally it wasnt a long term plan to stay here we didnt really make it ours.
We have made a start, but in 2011 we'd really love to get the majority of it finished.
I'll share before, during and after pics on there throughout the whole process.

#3 :    Change our lifestyle
This is a hope... and at the moment I dont feel ready to share the details on this one. The first part of it is to have paid back money that we have borrowed (not including mortgage! unless anyone has a get rich quick scheme they would like to share with us!) But after thatI'm keeping my cards close to my chest. Hopefully we'll have the wheels in motion within the first half of the year at the latest. Sorry I cant share more right now, but I need to have some secrets right! ;)

#4 :    Improve my blog and start up an online shop
This has been a dream of mine for a while. I love art, photography, creating. and the time has come to make it an actual goal. I plan on signing up for this blog course online, learn more about how to make the most out of my blog, and more about the blogging community.
I want to get out and take more photos, and creating things people love is just the greatest feeling. I need to gain more confidence in myself and my work. But I want to do something I love and that makes me happy. And 2011 is the year that I am going to make it happen.

#5 :    Get a dog
Haha. random perhaps, but we both really really want fur-babies! and its an important part of the lives that we want to be living. At some point in the next year we want to have at least one addition to the Mann family/household.


They are resolutions/goals that consist of small things and big changes. But they are most importantly all achievable.I have my list saved on my phone for the days I start to wonder what I am doing, and why I am bothering.
Sure there will be ups and downs, if things were easy all the time you'd lose interest and get bored. The work makes the end product all the more worthwhile.

xx   Happy New Year   xx

What are your resolutions, goals and hopes for 2011?

I don't normally drink a lot of coffee

But when I do, I like good coffee. I can't drink strong coffee it sends me slightly loopy, but a nice latte or cappucino is always a welcome treat.

Hubby however loves coffee, and drinks it daily. We often pop to our local coffee shop after going to the gym at the weekends, so we decided that we would ask if his family would all pitch together and buy us a nice coffee machine for Xmas this year.

We got it early! hehe.
Mum and Brother popped round yesterday with it. Unfortunately, when we went to try it out yesterday there was something wrong with the machine and it tripped our electrics and blew the fuse in the plug. Which we changed, and it blew another fuse and tripped the electric again.
Darren went with his Mum and changed the machine today, and we have used it this evening when I was home from work to try it out.

Its lush. So lush in fact we had 2 capucinos each. and because I am not used to drinking coffee I have made myself feel rather ill.
We do need some new cups though. we used the spotty ones hubby brought me for my birthday last year (along with a matching teapot, milk jug and toast rack... I do love having a nice breakfast) but they do not fit under the machine properly. I am hoping the large teacup and saucers they do in the same range will be perfect. But for the meantime we shall just make espresso in the mini milk jug and pour it into our normal mugs!

Now we just need a new kitchen to go with our lovely red coffee machine! :D

Happy Monday
Jules x

Pizza pizza!! (And a new sofa!)

Tonight I came home to a ball of pizza dough that Darren had made this afternoon.
It was going to be yesterdays dinner, but I wasn't feeling too well so we decided to have a 'new sofa celebration with pizza' night! Haha.
It was L.O.V.E.L.Y! Sooo good. This may become a weekly Saturday night meal (Darrens cooking night)

I topped mine with 3 cheeses (cheddar, mozzarella & mascarpone) green peppers and chorizo. oh my word it really was wonderful, Darren was laughing at me because mine was kinda egg shaped. Who cares? it gave it character and it tasted just as good as his 'round' version! :)

We ate it on the floor because no food is allowed on the new sofa. Obvioulsy. I am so pleased with how it looks...

I was worried that the colour we chose wouldnt actually go with the paint and wallpaper we then chose. we did not take samples to check them against the sofa colour. in hindsight, doing this would have saved a lot of stress heading on my behalf.
As it is, I (*we* I guess, though I am taking full credit for the beauty of the living room!) chose exceptionally well and we have a wonderful tonal match with the wallpaper/paint/sofa.
Now we have pictures and a curtain pole to put up. a new rug, cushions and curains on order, oh yes, and we do still need to paint one wall, and the skirting, and finish the floor edging. BUT, we are best part of the way to being finished.
This makes me very happy. I cant wait to come downstairs in the morning and see out lovely, almost finished, living room!

Happy Monday
JM

Rich tea biscuits & a bottle of lucozade

Along with a cup of tea, a dodgy laptop and Xfactor on the TV.

Thats my Saturday night. Darren is out at a wedding reception we'd been invited to, unfortunately I have felt awful all day. Hot and cold sweats, tight chest, coughing, sneezing, aching. Generally the works. Yuck.

I dont want this to be a moany post though, so on the plus side, we have started the decorating. 2 walls painted (one of them may need another coat) Dad is coming tomorrow to paper the feature wall in the living room. Next weekend we shall be painting the landing ceiling, the big wall that goes up the stairs, and the rest of the landing. AND at some point we need to do the gloss painting too!

Oh and paint the hallway, get the furniture, and put all the finishing touches together (I'd like to finish decorating the downtails WC too, but Darren told me to stop adding things to the 'to do list')

Just keep repeating to self 'it will be worth it in the long run, it will be worth it in the long run!'

And seeing as tomorrow all we'll be doing is decorating, I will not be taking bets on what the Sunday Snapshot will be about! :)

Happy Saturday x

Sunday Snapshot & Weekend Update

Sunday Snapshot, which is late, again, on a Monday this time, so is combined with the weekend update.

In my defence, we had a very busy weekend. It was filled with more paint samples, shopping for wool (for my crochet extravaganza) baking bread, batch cooking pasta sauces, gym visits, boxing matches (lame, waste of £15) wine, painting & decorating and cooking roast dinner. I am knackered! Aren't weekends supposed to be relaxing?

On the plus side, I have a freezer full of pasta sauces for quick after gym dinners. and tonnes of roast beef left to make some pies and a hotpot with. I have started my scarf... which may be the longest scarf in existence! oops. And we have painted the ceiling in the living room.

sloooowly, but surely, the decorating is getting done. hoorah.

We'd eaten the bread (olive flat bread, and parmesan and red onion flat bread) before I thought to take a snapshot of them. They were by far the best ones I have baked so far. Hence them not sticking around very long before they were eaten!

And since we no longer have a warm airing cupboard to prove them in, I decided they would sit in the dishwasher after its cycle to raise. It was lovely and warm in there still and it worked a treat! Drinking wine while baking obviously leads to some wonderful ideas ;)

A couple of snapshots then, of the living room. The paint samples and doodles. and our 'decorators corner' of the living room. The paint pod is brilliant!! No cleaning, and super quick to paint as no stooping down and back up to refill your roller. So glad we brought it when we have the whole house to paint/decorate.

Happy Monday

Jules x

colour samples

We may end up spending a fortune on colour samples to get one that matches this wallpaper that we have chosen for the living room...

I absolutely love it!! It gives of a 70s vibe I think, and its still lovely and neutral and pale but with a striking pattern. Thankfully Darren loved it too when I showed him it! (I have to admit I love this one all the more with its gorgeous dark colours, but it just wouldn't work in our living room! but oh how beautiful it is)

However, finding a paint that matches the background colour of this wallpaper is turning into a mission in itself. Colour swatches just do not properly match the finished colour when its on the wall.

I am sure we shall get one sorted soon. Darren is off work today (being a self employed builder when the weather is so bad is not great) and is going to get a few more samples, and will be taking down the curtains, pole, pictures etc etc, and polyfilling any holes, all ready for the paint-a-thon this weekend.

oooh.... and just before I sign off. have you noticed this is not a 'argh, I ache so much' post!! I did almost keel over at the gym last night from all the extra work I had to do, but I am surprisingly un-achey today! hoorah.

Happy Thursday

Jules x

It has started...

The house makeover that is.

I'll be honest, I have been a little apprehensive about the whole thing. its a lot of money we are planning on spending, and we are not exactly rolling in cash.

Especially this plumbing malarky. Good gravy, its a lot of money. a bloody lot of money (for us) and on Monday when I arrived home, and we had more pipes in the kitchen than we had started with and the under stairs cupboard smelt like a sewer I was seriously questioning our decision.

I am rather good at over reacting and worrying when really I should just wait and see what happens. Chill Julia, Chilllllllll, it'll all be arlight.

and it was.

better than alright actually, its fanbloodytastic! We have a dishwasher (this in itself is more than enough reason to rejoice, I hate doing dishes, and so it seems does my husband, if the piles of unwashed dishes are anything to go by) and a new washing machine, and a new boiler, which is so quiet compared to our old one. not to mention 2 fully working and quick filling toilets, and space!!! so much space!

My husband can actually climb into the airing cupboard and stand up in it. He's 6foot 4in. That means I could stand in it and jump up and down if I wanted to.

I don't want to, I might break the plinth and crash into all the pipes hidden below. Besides which, what would I actually gain from jumping in an airing cupboard? other than the confirmation that, yes, it is possible.

So we are going to add shelving and rails and use it as a storage cupboard come wardrobe. Now I have not mentioned this to him indoors, but this does fill me with excitements somewhat.... Just imagine how many more clothes I can have! and shoes! I am certain I can fit some extra shoe storage in there too.

I am sure on some level he knows that this is what will happen, and he is either hoping he is wrong, and a shoe shopping frenzy is not on the horizon. Or his subconscious is blanking the thought so we dont have to discuss how many shoes I have... again.

(for future reference, the topic of how many shoes I have is always an interesting one. apparently, I have way too many, and when I buy a new pair, I should get rid of an 'old' pair. I heartily disagree, of course. he likes football. I like shoes. They are not hurting anyone, so where is the problem? also, just for the record, I do not have 'way too many' at all, more than some people yes, but not as many as others.)

Anyway. I don't think he needs to worry just yet. with all the work we have planned on the house, I wont have the time, or the money to go shopping anytime soon!

x Jules x