in pursuit of organised-ness

With my new found reading list I'm planning to review the books I read. Partly for me, for friends and to practice my writing. So, here's my review of ' When God Was a Rabbit ' by Sarah Winman. Started: 25th June 2011, Finished: 29th June 2011 Rated: 3/5 Read while in Padstow for our 3 year wedding anniversary get away. 'When God was a Rabbit' is the debut novel by Sarah Winman about a girl, Elly, and her brother, Joe, and their journey growing up together. The synopsis says that 'it's a book about love in all it's forms.' I did struggle to get into this book as I found the writing quite stilted & different to what I usually read. The author kept dropping hints as to what was to come & left a lot to be assumed, which left me wondering if I'd got the right end of the stick. I did persevere with it & I did enjoy, but it's not one I would read again. I don't feel I connected with the main characters and couldn...

I've been in a bit of a reading rut the last few months, tending to pick up books with a vampire theme or trying to read some that hubby has read. The vampire ones all get a bit 'samey' after a while (and while I am enjoying Charlaine Harris' True Bood series, I want something a little different) and I just do not have the same taste in books as hubby. So I went in search of a list of books to read, something to focus on. Maybe a '100 books to read before you die' type list but found that they were full of classics and while I have nothing against the classics (and I have read a few of them) it's not what I want right now. I found the Richard & Judy Book Club and as well as a list of summer reading they also have a list of 100 books of the decade . Which is a bit more up to date and has books listed that I actually want to read. I don't plan on reading them by a particular time but, as you know, I like my lists and this seems to suit. If an...

Or at least that's what I'm coming to learn! With my writing for Brew Drinking Thinkings I have been trying to take some magazine worthy photos of my food to accompany the recipes. Especially when our new vegan writer Aine came along with her beautiful photos that really do put mine to shame. Some of my favourite examples of Aine's photos on BDT are here , here and here . Or check out her blog for some more lovely photos (and recipes!). So I started looking around the internet for some ideas and tips (other than spending some more time with my camera) on how to improve my photos. I found some beautiful food blogs as well as some handy blog posts. This post on Food Photography & Styling by @recipegirl left me the most to think about and action. And sent me on my shopping spree. Here are a few of the items I have bought recently to accompany my recipes in their photos. This is my new model, a bit naked at the moment, but soon to be adorned with tea cosies.   ...

While emptying out the room that will become our nursery, I uncovered a few forgotten cross stitch kits. Mainly ones that came free with magazines. So, looking for something a bit different to do in the evenings, I have been working my way through them. The first thing I did was finish the one that had been started, probably back in June 2009 when I bought the magazine. Its quite pretty, I just need to get a frame for it & decide where it's going to go.   The second one I did ties in really nicely with what I want to do in our new bathroom.   Yes, I am going nautical. We had a really lovely, modern bathroom full of black slate and chrome, but the tiling job was a bit rubbish and we've had to start again, so I fancy something a bit brighter and more traditional. I'm going to take this cross stitch as my inspiration and look for sand coloured tiles for the floor, and an aqua colour for one of the walls. I can't wait to see it all finished...just hope it doesn...

I am great at making plans & lists and getting organised. I am not so great at staying on top of things. Don't get me wrong, everything that needs to gets done, but usually last minute. I am also great at procrastinating. And making statements like 'I will blog once a week'. But then I get annoyed that I haven't done it or haven't started or got distracted and instead of just getting on with it I put it off again or write another list or make a different statement. This then results in a longer list and no idea where to start. We have lots to sort out before baby joins us. At home the bathroom needs decorating, nursery needs doing, office needs sorting. At work I'm trying to get processes in place for when I'm off. I want to sort out what I'm going to do with my cake business. I also want to spend some time for me being crafty (which ties in with the house decorating and sorting), writing for BDT, trying new cake stuff, blogging, seeing friends, ...

Today I am 25 weeks pregnant. I have 15 weeks left to go. :) Here's me & my bump at 22 weeks. I don't think it's grown much in the last 3 weeks. I am so far enjoying my pregnancy. Yes, I have the occasional moan because I'm uncomfortable or I can't sleep or my clothes don't fit. But generally it's great. And I know how lucky I am. I have quite a few friends who are pregnant at the moment and they are all experiencing it differently. Some hate it, some are having health problems, some are so excited because it took them so long to get there. So I know I'm lucky and intend to enjoy this as much as I can. I guess it's the last time I get to be a little bit selfish before everything becomes about the little one. And I can't wait!! :D