Happy New Year

Hey guys, welcome to the last day of the year! Its hard to believe that not only is Christmas over, but indeed the year! Our Christmas was quiet but lovely, a day spent opening presents and watching TV.....the most vegged out I've been in years.

Well, we have had a lovely week since Christmas - on the 27th  we went to see Frozen at the Red Carpet cinema. It was entertaining watching people trying to find their seats. It seemed like everyone (except us of course) was in the wrong seat. Till a grandmother came in with her grandchildren and announced LOUDLY....you're in our seats! At which point a lot of people had to get up and start moving. It was like musical chairs without the music! On my gosh, what an amazing film. We absolutely loved it, definitely going on my DVD wish list! The characters were great, as were the songs.

We popped into Derby to check out the sales, needless to say my first stop was Lush.....shock....the shop was empty, I had it all to myself, well for about 15 minutes! Oh what fun i had!! I did end up walking out with lots of lovely things including some solid perfume called Lust - it smells of jasmine....gorgeous! The main reason for the visit was to buy each others new years day presents - an Ivans family tradition. The rules are we buy them in the sales between Christmas and new year. Its fun looking for bargains, and thanks to Paperchase, I found some lovely presents for Mr Ivans. Derby was very busy,  guess everyone was out looking for bargains.

On Sunday we met up with friends we hadn't seen since July. It was great to catch up, and we ended up chatting for nearly 3 hours. We don't go to the Greyhound often, the place was packed. You wouldn't believe the queue at the carvery! One of our friends had opted for the carvery, where as the rest of us ordered from the menu. She didn't join the queue till our meals had started to come out, and I had finished mine by the time she came back!  The food was lovely, definitely somewhere we should go more often.

Yesterday we caught up with another friend for lunch and a visit to a local garden centre. We've managed to do something fun every day, and each morning I have woken up excited and looking forward to the day to come. I am a little sad that our Christmas holidays are rapidly drawing to a close, but at least we have made the most of them.

On that note my lovelies, I'd like to wish you a very happy new year. May 2014 be a wonderful year for all of us!

At last....Christmas Eve!

Well Christmas eve at last!! The last few days seem to have flown by in a blur of heavy rain and strong winds. Certainly seen some wild weather, and which has curtailed our plans to do much. So for us this was more a quiet week end rather than a heavenly week end! But its been nice to hang out at home, and its not like we haven't been out at all!

Yesterday we visited the Dobbies  Garden centre in Mancetter, always like going there to have a look around. The Christmas decorations have already been reduced! The place was very busy, especially the restaurant. Paul decided to treat us to a breakfast roll, seemed like a good idea - however they were horrible, so be warned!! Its probably the first time we actually came home without buying a thing.

Today we headed out to Barton Marina for brunch at the red Carpet Cinema, it was lovely to sit by the window and watch people come and go, By then the rain had eased up, the wind however hadn't. The food and drinks were lovely - I had eggs Benedict and a hazelnut latte. I guess we are lucky we went reasonably early cause we didn't have to wait long. In fact we had finished by 11.30am and were able to chill out and chat till it was time to head into the cinema. I know a friend commented on Facebook today about the poor and slow service at the red Carpet, and i have to say by the time we were leaving the cafe bar area it was getting pretty chaotic. The place was packed, they didn't seem to have enough staff on, and they are taking food orders and selling cinema tickets at the same counter. The staff seemed truly frazzled, and understandably so. Having said that, we had a good experience and from my point of view that is all the matters. After brunch we went to see Saving Mr Banks, which i have been wanting to see for ages. Wonderful film, really funny in places but also incredibly sad. It made me cry buckets! I don't think I will ever feel the same when I watch Mary Poppins. I did think Tom Hanks made a very good Walt Disney, though i suspect they made Disney seem way nicer than he actually is reported to have been. 

Sadly when we left the cinema it was raining again, and we got blown all the way back to the car! It was nice to get home and out of the bad weather. Its been a nice afternoon, we've watched Nemo, made Christmas decorations and just enjoyed out Christmas eve.

On that note, I would like to wish anyone who's had taken a moment at this busy time of year to come and read my blog a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you'll join me in 2014, for more Heavenly week ends x x x

christmas is coming!

Another week closer to Christmas, and the excitement is building. So far its been a lovely week end, last night we went out for Christmas dinner at the Chesterfield with our friend Rachael. This is really our only Christmas dinner this year and we'd been looking forward to it. The pub was busy and felt really christmassy, dinner was good - traditional turkey dinner followed by an untraditional chocolate and mint ice cream cake. It was nice to just kick back, pull a few crackers and enjoy the evening with a friend.

Today we headed to Lichfield, a friend had suggested it when i was looking for ideas about what to do at the weekend. We haven't been into Lichfield for quite a while, mostly put off by the extortionate  parking fees! But today it was worth it as there was so much going on. First stop was Costa's for a gingerbread latte, they make me feel so christmassy! From there we walked to the cathedral, there was a very good food and gift fair set up in the main part of the cathedral. And a lot of people wandering about. I loved looking around all the stalls and found some lovely ear rings and bracelets, as well as those we got some cheese, meringues and a few other things. There was live music inside the cathedral and outside stalls selling hot drinks, crepe's etc. Also in the cathedral there was an exhibition of nativity sets from all over the world, some were really beautiful and unusual. We also found a whole section of the cathedral was full of beautifully decorated Christmas trees. Each one was sponsored and decorated by a different business, charity or local school, the idea being to raise money for the cathedral to repair and replace the amazing stained glass windows which have had to be taken away due to the condition they were in. They are still several thousand pounds short of the amount they need to complete the restoration. We also found another craft fair at the Guildhall, and that too was well worth a visit. The great thing today was that there was free entry to everything, all we had to do was pay for parking.

After the cathedral we visited Erasmas Darwin's house, he is the grandfather of Charles Darwin, and a famous man in his own right. We looked around the house, had tea in their pop up tea room and had a go in their lucky dip (they were also raising money). There were all sorts of interactive exhibits there which were very entertaining. I got to draw Paul's silhouette, that was different!

whilst walking back to the car park we passed a family with a little girl wearing wellies, she jumped in a very shallow puddle and boy you should have seen the look of disappointment on her face when she didn't cause a tidal wave. I think she may well be scarred for life.....bless her!

Lichfield was very busy, never seen so many people about. But there was a great atmosphere, and we both enjoyed the day so much. Its made me feel very christmassy!! Over the course of the afternoon the wind really picked up and we almost gone blown all the way back to the car park. Strange weather we are having this year. But it was mild, and it never rained......so I am not complaining. So, truly the week end has been heavenly so far!

Donington Food and Drink Festival

Well, it really has been a heavenly week-end. On Saturday we were up bright and early to head off to the Donington Food and Drink Festival. We decided to do this instead of the Good Food show at the NEC. I am SO glad we did, the tickets were much cheaper, the parking was free and it was so much easier to get too. We were there before 10am so had to queue outside for a short while before they opened the doors. Once inside the crowds dispersed and we were able to amble about looking at the various stalls. It wasn’t as big as the Good Food Show, but I liked the atmosphere better. There were plenty of stalls to look around, so we got to sample all kinds of beer, wine, vodka and whiskey – as well as champagne with real gold flecks in it!! How posh is that! Of course there was food, the usual cheeses, cakes, sausages etc. We really didn’t need to eat lunch, it was a lovely way to spend the day! There were also a few stalls selling gifts….but shucks….no free samples at these.

One of the highlights of the day was the cookery demo’s, we saw 4 over the course of the day, 2 by Rachel Green who was very entertaining, one by someone who’s name I can’t remember and one with Paul Hollywood….woo hoo, he’s adorable. He’s obviously a very popular guy as there were real crowds for his demo’s!!! I’ve never actually watched The Great British Bake off but I think I may well do so next year. We stayed till about 4pm before deciding to head home. We drove home thru the most beautiful sunset, the perfect end to the day.  When we got home and I spoke to my mother on the phone, she was quick to fill me in on all the scandals involving Paul Hollywood – bless her!!

The next food festival is at Hardwick Hall in June, and I am looking forward to it already. I see the beginnings of the perfect birthday week end forming! And for sure we’ll be back at Donington next year.

christmas comes to derbyshire

After a long and rather stressful week, the much anticipated week end had arrived. For us the week end started on Friday evening when our friend Rachael came over for the evening. Its a tradition to decorate our Christmas tree together. So after something to eat, we got the tree done. It was so lovely to unpack all our pretty angels and fairies, like meeting up with old friends again.The tree looks so pretty! The rest of the evening was spent playing charades, eating trifle and chatting. Doesn't get better than that does it?

On Saturday we headed off to Derby, as usual our first stop was Lush! People may tease that i have become an addict.....and i guess i have. But i love the whole experience, the theatre, the amazing scents and mostly the wonderful Michelle. She brings everything to life with fabulous descriptions of everything, and the opportunity to dive in try the products. I came away with a Cinders bath bomb and a Godiva shampoo bar which smells of jasmine and is so gorgeous! The freebies are always an added bonus too!! I finally dragged myself away, and we had a wonder around Westfield, the place was busy.....guess its to be expected at this time of year. Next stop was the Babington Arms for lunch, it was nice to tuck ourselves away in a corner with a Christmas panini and a drink! After lunch it was off to the Christmas market, it actually wasn't very big. But still nice to have a walk around. There were several stalls selling jewellery, but it was all out of my price range, I'll just save myself for Claires! 

After leaving Derby we headed to Markeaton Garden Centre, a tweeny little place tucked away near the park. A colleague at work had recommended it, so we went to check out the Christmas decorations. Of course once we saw them, we had to buy a couple, and we really don't need any more!! But they were lovely.   Next door to the garden centre is a farm with a cute tea room. We stopped for a cup of tea, it was a lovely place and would have been an  oasis of tranquility had it not been for an appalling behaved child who cried sulked and pulled her sisters hair, while her father seemed oblivious?? I am sure we will go there again, but i may peek in the window first to make sure the demon seed isn't inside!!

The rest of the week end has flown by in a blur, as always! We called into town to do the grocery shopping, i was tired of feeling like Old Mother Hubbard!! We decided to treat ourselves to a latte at Costa's - considering how expensive it is, the place is always packed! But i felt in need of a little treat.....a gingerbread latte....ooh, it was so nice. 

And now its much later and we're watching Love Actually - AGAIN!! Oh how i love this film! I never get tired of watching it, and it always manages to make me laugh, cry and ask.....WHY?? With it only being Dec 1st, i am sure we ill watch it again! Its been such a lovely week end, filled with happiness and anticipation of a wonderful Christmas

to come.