Lunchtime

Eating Outside Day was a walk in the park, or should that actually be a walk to the park.
I am extremely lucky to have a very pretty park around the corner from my place of work.
Every day I'm at the office this is where I go to to eat my lunch, that is as long as it's not pouring with rain or bitterly cold.
Instead of one of the benches today I headed for one of the picnic tables, ate my lunch, read a magazine and then back calmer and fuller and ready for the afternoon ahead.

Gimme S'Mores

We weren't going to have just any old toasted marshmallow for toasted marshmallow day.

No siree!

Mainly because sitting round a campfire with toasting forks just wasn't an option.

Switching on the oven and making it an indoor based activity was certainly the way to go with this one.

So this is what S and I did.

We heated the oven to 180c.

We lined a baking tray with foil.

We placed 12 digestive biscuits on the tray and placed two chunks of Dairy Milk chocolate on top of each one.

We then popped a marshmallow on top of the chocolate.

Are you following these steps, quite complicated this isn't it?!

                      We then placed the tray in the oven for 4 minutes and
 sat and watched as the marshmallows rose and expanded and the chocolate    melted.

We then removed the tray from the oven and topped each one off with another biscuit before choosing which one (or maybe it was two) we wanted to eat, wiping the gooey chocolate and oozy marshmallow off our chins.

Perfection.

Cherries and Daisies

Mary Poppins went on general release in the USA on 29th August 1964.

A supercalifragilisticexpialidocious movie full of great songs and some wonderful costumes too. 
It's Mary Poppin's hat which I chose for my outfit inspiration today.

I was lucky enough to find this incredible cherry skirt in a charity shop recently for £1.50. 
Teamed with a plain black t-shirt on top and finished off with a daisy brooch.
Loved wearing this.

Bats and Bows

27th August 2008 was the day my wonderful dad passed away.

For the past couple of years on this date (and also in February on dad's birthday) my sisters and I have met up for breakfast.

This is exactly what we did yesterday morning before going to the church with some flowers.

I had planned to sit down in the evening and cut out some bats in a super duper effort to be organised for Halloween as it was bat night but as the day went on I began feeling more and more melancholic and it just didn't happen.

Never mind, still plenty of time to get organised.

Today I have raided my daughter's jewellery collection for the perfect accessory to wear for bow tie day.

Very happy to wear this today because as any self respecting Dr Who fan knows Bow Ties Are Cool.

Waffles, Wallington and We've got whiskey, gin, vodka, whatever you like

There wasn't a post on Thursday as I chose to save Waffle Day until Saturday morning.

That way we could have them as a breakfast treat without having to rush.

We wanted to go out and about today.

G is working tomorrow and Monday will probably be spent doing stuff at home so for Saturday we wanted to go out but it needed not to be too far from home.

G used to work in Fareham and isn't so keen on revisiting but I suggested it as a possibility as I had found details of a walk we could try.

First up we had to walk along the high street where we did a little window shopping, spotting this great Unhappy Birthday card in a vintage shop and huge wooden pink button in a haberdashery shop, before making our way to Wallington village hall.

The start of the walk is an industrial estate but nature was very close at hand, quite literally. This butterfly was sat on the road and would have been squished by a passing car but G picked it up to try and put it somewhere a little safer.

Once past the industrial estate and over a motorway bridge we were surrounded by farm land and some wonderful countryside views.

There was time for a little posing as we made our way towards

 a pub for some much needed liquid refreshment.

It was at this point we decided to end the walk.

We had arrived at a row of picturesque cottages in Wallington and there was still a lot more of the self guided walk to do but we had to keep an eye on the time.

We were at a point from where we could easily pick the walk up again another time and so headed back.

It had been lovely being out for a short sunny walk. 

Whilst out today I saw a dress on a vintage rail in a charity shop which would be the perfect outfit for someone to wear to a 70s party

or drinks evening like the one in Abigail's Party.

The female lead in this play is Alison Steadman and it's her birthday today.

This evening G and I have put our feet up and are enjoying some nuts, nibbles and cheese and pineapple a la Beverley Moss

Movie Time

It's time for another movie.
I'm not a huge fan of the Bond movies and could probably count the number I have seen on one hand.
If asked I would answer that Sean Connery was my favourite Bond but only because I think he is a very handsome man.
Today is Sean Connery's birthday.
As I blogged on Tuesday, this week also saw the birthday of Honor Blackman.
For these two reasons we shall be settling down later this evening to watch
Goldfinger.

Singin' In The Rain

Well those stormy looking clouds certainly chased us from the place.
The place being the cut way behind our home where we had planned to get busy with the chalk again.
With the clouds so dark up above we didn't want to run the risk of our art work disappearing as fast as we were drawing so we chose to use our indoor chalk board.
All done to mark the birthday of actor and song and dance man extraordinaire Gene Kelly.

Goldfinger(s)

One of the quickest and easiest so far.
Today the actress Honor Blackman is 92 years old.
One of her most famous roles was in Goldfinger.

100 metres

'I find there's nothing better than starting your day off with a good run' is a sentence I have never uttered in my life before.
Nor is it one I am likely to be saying.

I'm not sure why I thought choosing Usain Bolt's birthday for today was the way to go but it certainly gave me and G a laugh this morning and having a bit of fun is what my year is all about.
G helped me mark out 100 metres in the long cutway behind our home, timed me running that distance and then acted as photographer as I did the Bolt pose.

I would also like to thank the neighbour who had thoughtfully painted their garden fence green so I was able to include the black, green and gold of Jamaica into the scene.

'Now for a sit down and a cup of tea' that's a sentence which is much more like my kind of thing.

Batch of Bunnies and a Beef Stew

I have deviated from my original plan for today.

We were going to watch the Amy Adams movie Leap Year, chosen not only because it's perfect for a Sunday afternoon but also because Matthew Goode is her co-star.  

Instead I have chosen 2 other things.

The first is in relation to tennis.

Bunny Austin is a name you hear mentioned each year when Wimbledon rolls around.

He was a British tennis player during the 1920s and 1930's.

His real name was Henry Wilfred Austin and he was born on 20th August 1906 and died on his 94th birthday on 20th August 2000.

Today I am wearing one of the bunny brooches I made back at Easter time pinned to (as Wimbledon rules decree) a white cardigan.

It's also given me the perfect excuse to show the gifts one of my sister's gave me for my birthday a month ago now, they are all bunny themed.
The mug and tea bag holder have been in almost daily use since she gave them to me. I love the bunny shaped dish, not only for it's pale blue colour but also for it's polka dot decoration.

The second choice relates to food for G and S's evening meal.

In about half an hour I shall be dishing up Hungarian Goulash as 20th August is a national holiday for Hungarians.

Bees and Honey

I reckon every day should be celebrated by eating cake and my waist line probably shows that I am partial to a slice....... or two.

If there is on day which cake should definitely be consumed then it's World Honey Bee Day.

Are you all honey lovers out? 

I don't eat it very often and when I do it's normally only at breakfast time on a weekend when I fancy a bowl of Greek yogurt with honey and fruit.

It wasn't breakfast time when we had today's honey treat though.

Sat listening to the football this afternoon G and I each had a honey cake in a mug.

Whisked up in a few minutes from this recipe and cooked for 90 seconds it really was super speedy to prepare.

In fact, so frighteningly quick and easy, you could indulge in cake every day.

 

No-one Puts Baby in the Corner

Absolutely no doubt what so ever.

The 18th August is Patrick Swayze's birthday.

There can only be one choice for our viewing this evening.

Tonight we shall we watching Dirty Dancing.

What would your choice be?
Maybe you'd favour the tear jerking romance of Ghost or perhaps the action of Road House would be more your thing. 
If it's a bit of comedy you fancy then the silly Keeping Mum may be just the thing to round off your week.

Cards and Cardigans

I don't think anyone who has been reading Jumble and Jelly over the years could be in any doubt about my love for charity shops and the bountiful bargains they have bestowed up on us.
So when I saw today was Thrift Shop Day I was thought a little outing to one was in order.

I know I mentioned not so long ago about how I try and buy most of my greeting cards from Barnardos. 
They always have a fantastic selection for both male and female birthdays and, even better, every so often they change the range and have a sale on the old stock. I managed to pick up a total of 14 for 49p each.

Another love of mine is the good old cardigan. Last September I had a sort out and tidy up and counted 50 of them. Since then a few have gone and a few have arrived. There are now another 2 new ones to add to the collection.
Couldn't resist the mustardy yellow one for £1.99 and the orangey one also had to come home with me as it was just 99p! Both of these colours will be perfect as we go into autumn. Well that's my excuse anyway.

Another Outfit and Some Shopping

They'll be having a good old knees up in Liechtenstein today celebrating their National Day with food, drink and a fun fair.

The flag was my inspiration for another outfit, nice and easy on what was supposed to be a work day.

As it turns out there was no work for me today, I needed to be at home as part of the school hols.
Up bright and early S and I took ourselves into town. We started by stopping for breakfast and then it was on to the annual task of school uniform shopping. It was completed in double quick time as just one new skirt and two new shirts were needed.

Seeing as I'm in shopping mode today I thought I'd post some photos taken on our break and mostly in Amsterdam of all things retail which caught my eye.

As sign on the outside of a shop.

A cute little saying in the window of a shop selling very smart raincoats.

I liked the splash of red.

A sign which made us smile.

This is a toy shop in Haarlem. One entrance for adults and one for children.

C&A has long since disappeared from our high street but is still to be seen in it's home country.

S wanted a break from all the walking when she spotted a Primark and I was very taken with the pretty interior decoration.

A stylish motif on the window of a vintage store.

Barbie sat inside a clog in the window of a shoe repair shop.

A huge wooden pair of glasses hanging in the window of an opticians.

We spent hardly any time going into shops as there was so much to see but there was one which I couldn't resist. Called Dille & Kamille (which translates as Dill & Chamomile) they are a homewares and gift shop. Stach are a chain of food shops and they sell the biggest and most scrumptious looking meringues. 
Having Stach meringues on display with Dill & Kamille goods made a very attractive sight.

Fruity Rainbow

On 14th August 1979 a rainbow shone for 3 hours in North Wales.
Rainbows can be so fleeting, to think one was visible for such a length of time is staggering.

Now there may be a bit of listening to Rainbow going on here later as they are one of G's fave rock groups and we may do a bit of reminiscing over that classic children's tv series with Bungle, Zippy, George and Geoffery whilst snacking on a packet of multi-coloured Rainbow Drops.

All will be good ways to mark the day along with my outfit today which marks the colours of a rainbow in a more subtle and lightly fruity way.

Here I have three of the colours represented in apple form, red in the apples on the dress, orange in the apple necklace and yellow apple earrings.
Green appears on the leaf of the necklace and also on the cherry stalks.
The final three colours of blue, indigo and violet are clustered on my bracelet.

To finish of this post I am including more photos from our trip last week. Sunday was the final day of Pride Week in Amsterdam and the LBGT rainbow flag was everywhere.

Spellbound

Our viewing this evening will be the Alfred Hitchcock movie Spellbound.

There are two reasons for this choice.

 Today, 13th August, is the birthday of Mr Hitchcock.

Secondly, one of the co-stars of this movie is Rhonda Fleming and it was her 94th birthday on 10th August.

I hope she celebrated in style. 
We were busy ourselves on Thursday as we were making the most of our final day in Amsterdam.
I was so excited to visit this city and it certainly didn't disappoint. More photos to follow.

Got it Covered

G's record collection came in very handy for vinyl record day.

Also his leather jacket and guitar.

Something a little different.........

Go here to see other photos which helped to inspire our attempts.

Birthday Picnic

If there's one thing I have in common with Enid Blyton then that's the love for a good picnic.

She was very good at writing about them and I'm very good at eating them.

To make the most of the fact it was gloriously warm I decided to deviate from my original plan for today.

With ham sandwiches, cake (alas not provided by the industrious Aunt Fanny but the wonderful local Co-op) and our glasses full of lemonade we toasted Enid.
She provided T and G with many hours of happiness as the Famous Five were a popular choice when it came to reading together at bedtime. 
T was also a Noddy fan when he was very little, he enjoyed watching the animated version on Channel 5 and the theme tune became one of those G and would recognise as soon as we heard the first note!
The books were passed along to S but she never really took them and they eventually made their way to the charity shop.

Another Pudding

It certainly doesn't look too appetising but I am assured it did taste good.
I don't recall ever making rice pudding before and so for Rice Pudding day I wanted to try something a bit different.
This recipe comes from a Co-op food magazine.

Coconut Rice Pud 
150g pudding rice
400ml coconut milk
200ml semi skimmed milk.

Put these 3 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add
2tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp light soft brown sugar
and mix well.

Serve and enjoy.