An empty hand I wave goodbye, I feel a tickle in my eye.

You know when you hear a song and instantly love it, then listen to it over and over again? That's what happened when I heard this song on a video on Charlotte's blog. Now I can spread the love and let you listen to it while you read this blog post. It's rare for me to find music that I like so I shall be following Liz Lawrence with great interest.

Talking of spreading the love, since I vowed to comment on every blog post I read in November (it's time consuming but I'm still going with it!) I've noticed that I'm receiving more comments which is really, really nice. I also have a few newbies here too so "hello!"

I suppose these Instagram collages sums up what I've been up to recently quite nicely:
 

1) A little bit of shopping and browsing for Christmas gifts (I'd love to buy that mens tee for Jonathan but I don't think he would wear it... maybe round the house?!)

2) I ordered a kit from Cross Stitcher magazine of the latest Belle & Boo design which I think is so beautiful. I won't have it stitched up for a while as I'm mainly making Christmas presents and decorations at the moment but I'll definitely show you it when it's done.

3) 4) Marzipan Fruits, self explanatory. Searched high and low for them last year. Jonathan went on a mission round multiple shops to find some. They were like hen's teeth! Morrisons have come up trumps this year and I've already worked my way through one box so I'll have to go back for more at some point. They're SO good. I have also been eating far too much chocolate recently (and I don't even like it that much!)

5) 6) Lily and Lola aren't really into playing with balls and toys. They just want to eat and sleep. That's it. But I was determined to find something they would play with. Enter a teeny little football. They ignore it 99% of the time but then every now and again they go mad with it for a few minutes, followed shortly by Lily sitting with it while Lola stares longingly. They are funny little things.
 

1) As well as eating marzipan and chocolate I'm also consuming far too much cake. Must work on that!

2) 3) A quick snap of my favourite things in our hallway. Buy your own "emergency" box here!

4) 5) Wine o clock on Saturday evening. It's not often I have a glass of wine, unless I'm out for dinner or on a night out, but there was a mini bottle of rose calling my name at the weekend. I had a glass or two and cuddled up to my favourites.

6) We went for a walk on Sunday and this is one of the photos I took. More to follow soon. It was a bit spooky, very cold but visually very nice indeed.

7) Okay, this is where I realise my photos are out of order but it's too late to do anything about it. These are the tea bags I picked up this afternoon as I thought they sounded incredibly tasty and my poorly throat is crying out for hot drinks of the tasty variety.

8) 9) I had to go to Manchester for work yesterday but only for a few hours in the morning, so when my Manager and I had finished we went to Jamie's Italian for some lunch and lucky us, they had just changed the menu so we had a whole heap of new things to choose from since the last time we went. I had the pumpkin and squash gnudi and it was very, very good. Of course the main reason we went was to have another brownie which we did (one each) and I can quite easily say I could eat one every day for the rest of my life. Delish!

Hope you're all having a good week so far. The weekend is in sight - hope you've got some lovely things planned.

P.S. I just want to use my space of the Internet to say RIP to my lovely Nanny who passed away this week. I wish we could have seen more of each other like we did when I was little. Lots of love to everybody on my Dad's side of the family, especially my wonderful Dad Keith. Love you xxx

You have read this article diary with the title . You can bookmark this page URL https://oscarthemaori.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-empty-hand-i-wave-goodbye-i-feel.html. Thanks!

Whoopie pies and waterproof coats.

It is so.bloody.cold outside now! We went for a short stroll yesterday sans gloves and I couldn't grip the steering wheel properly on the way back. Lesson learned. Gloves are now required at all times when leaving the house.

Any fellow Pug owners will know they're not so good in extreme temperatures so I kind of dread this time of year a) because I'm not a fan of the cold/snow/sludge/rain myself and b) because it makes my little ones shivery and cold. I've started to dig out their jumpers and waterproofs ready for the cold months ahead.

Lily volunteered to model one of Lola's waterproof jackets yesterday which is a bit too long for her. Damn Pugs and their awkward body shapes! :)

After our morning out on Saturday and a play in the garden with L&L we had a cup of tea and half a whoopie pie each before relaxing indoors for the afternoon. In the evening we made an incredible tea inspired by a recipe I had seen on this blog earlier in the day. We had fresh pasta with roasted veg (butternut squash, peppers, onion, etc) with creme fraiche and all sorts of other things (I say this in a vague manner as Jonathan made it, not me). It was so tasty but our portions were HUGE so it was a case of death by pasta, made worse by the garlic bread we had with it ;)

The cupcake we bought for after tea was a distant memory as we were too full to move but it was polished off yesterday instead. Anything with copious amounts of peanut butter on top and inside can only ever be a good thing...

Enjoy the rest of your Monday!

You have read this article diary / lily and lola with the title . You can bookmark this page URL https://oscarthemaori.blogspot.com/2012/11/whoopie-pies-and-waterproof-coats.html. Thanks!

Sharrowvale Road, Sheffield.

We had a free day yesterday so I suggested a trip to Sharrowvale Road in Sheffield to get a cupcake (or two) and to have a look in some of the shops for potential Christmas present ideas.

There are some great independent shops selling things for the home and framed prints, not to mention the shops that I'd love to receive something from like the vintage shop which sells everything you can imagine from the 20s - 50s. Amongst the treasures I spotted and loved were some 50s aprons, beautiful tablecloths and some old photos/postcards which would look great in a frame.

Jonathan tried on some of the vintage blazers and looked rather dashing, and I spotted the most FABULOUS pink quilted dressing gown amongst an array of vintage dresses and jackets. The prices were really reasonable for such treasures and I could have easily filled my car up to the brim with them.

One of the gift shops came up trumps as Jonathan found something great for his Dad as a Christmas gift. Christmas shopping aside we were also keeping our eyes peeled for things to buy us!

We picked up a framed print by an artist we haven't heard of before, Jim Connolly. We picked a print from his range based on Sheffield which are all brilliant. It took us a while to choose but the one we decided on is very funny. I'll share it on here very soon once it's up on the wall.

They also stocked prints by Jonathan Wilkinson who is one of our favourites (we have one of his pieces hanging up in our kitchen).

As it was lunchtime we were keeping our eyes peeled for somewhere to grab some lunch. We walked past Thelma's Cafe and had a peek through the window only to be enticed by an array of sandwiches and cakes. This was to be our lunch pit stop on our way back to the car.

I had enough stuck in my teeth for another meal!

We got a couple of sandwiches to take away; a New York Deli for Jonathan and a pesto/roasted veg for me (toasted). It was SO good. I could eat it again right now, twice. We will definitely go back next time we're in the area, maybe to eat in and have a cheeky slice of cake too.

Gilbert & Sons is a great place for furniture and pieces for the home. I always walk round with my "shabby chic" head on thinking of what I could do the dressing tables and dining tables. We're on the hunt for a coffee table for our living room but couldn't see anything suitable on this trip.

They had a couple of fabulous typewriters which I stopped to stroke and cabinets stuffed full of everything you could imagine.

After winding our way round the showroom which is situated on a few different floors we stopped off at Fancie to get a cupcake and a whoopie pie to take home, and off home we went feeling a little colder but much fuller than we had done an hour or two earlier.

You have read this article adventures / diary with the title . You can bookmark this page URL https://oscarthemaori.blogspot.com/2012/11/sharrowvale-road-sheffield.html. Thanks!

DOGGIE TRICK OR TREAT

Dressed Xi Shi in her pirate costume and met up with our neighbor doggies for a walk down our street.

Xi Shi Quan - Queen of the Pirates

Maya, Xi Shi, and Prince

Xi is waiting for a doggie treat from Evelyn while Prince and Maya look on.

Our street is small and is not a through street so no worries about traffic.  I've lived here 25 years and never had any children come by to Trick or Treat so never buy any candy.  However, there are now 9 doggies living on our street and maybe next year we can get them all together to go Trick or Treating. 

I think they had lots of fun.

You have read this article with the title . You can bookmark this page URL https://oscarthemaori.blogspot.com/2012/11/doggie-trick-or-treat.html. Thanks!

November goals.

- comment on every blog post I read

- pick up my knitting needles again

- finish Christmas shopping for at least one person

- finish making my Christmas cards

- come up with an idea for my Christmas wrapping

- get to grips with a fishtail braid

- bake something new

-  find a dog toy that Lily and Lola will actually play with

- organise my financial documents, bills, things to do with my car, etc so that I can actually find things when I need them (!) *having a car tax issue as we speak

Feel free to share your own goals!

via weheartit or google images

You have read this article diary with the title . You can bookmark this page URL https://oscarthemaori.blogspot.com/2012/11/november-goals.html. Thanks!