All behind like a cows bottom….

A favourite saying of my Mums and so applicable to me this week! I had every good intention of blogging on Wednesday & then time & an intermittent internet connection got the better of me!! So here I am now with a round up of the week so far!!

The Postie was a good friend this week, bringing goodies to my door from far flung places!!

The first was from the lovely Tammy, a fellow DT member over at Dixie Pieces & all the way from Texas!! In the forum she had mentioned Taffy & I’d asked was that the same as our toffee? So, very generously she sent a beautiful box of ‘Fralingers Salt Water Taffy’ for me to try! Well…it isn’t at all like toffee, but it is pretty delish!!

It compares more with our chewy candy…fruit salads, black-jacks & the like! I was interested to read the history of Taffy on the side of the box & how it became a famous seaside souvenir in an oyster box, back in the late 1800’s!

Once the Taffy has been demolished…& believe me it has a pretty big dent in it already!…the box will be put to good use as decorative storage…it is so pretty!

She also included a bar something called ‘Goo Goo Supreme’ which was unbelievably good! Chocolate coated mallow, caramel & pecans!!  Mmmmm!! But waaay too many calories to be a regular treat!!! :(

To reciprocate I set off into town on a mission! We are lucky to have a Victorian Arcade in Bedford, which has a good mix of traditional & trendy shops. One of my favourites is ‘Arcadia’…a very traditional sweet shop!

 

 

It takes me back to my childhood with it’s rows of jars that hold sweets to be bought by the quarter (or the 100g for those younger shoppers!) 

I knew I wanted toffee, but I wanted something typically English to send to Tammy.  So the lady behind the counter suggested the Walkers Original tray, complete with hammer!!  My Dad always used to buy this & we had quite a collection of toffee hammers in our cutlery drawer at home, when I was growing up! I selected a twin pack with both plain cream & brazil nut toffee, which is winging it’s way to Texas even as I type!!!  “THANK YOU” Tammy for giving me a taste of ‘The South’ with the Taffy & I hope you enjoy the very English Toffee!!

Then, Postie arrived with another package, this time all the way from Australia & the lovely Shazza at ‘From Screen 2 Scrap’. It was a lovely surprise that my January challenge LO had been voted for by my fellow DT members, & my prize was a pack of American Craft ‘mini-marks’ rub on alpha’s & a pack of white paper blooms! “THANKS” Shazza!!

On the subject of ‘From Screen 2 Scrap’ I’m a bit late posting this but the March challenge comes in the shape of the poster for the Alfred Hitchcock movie Vertigo!

Shazza has set the added criteria for extra points as…

1. An orange background

2. A silhouette of a person

3. A Spirograph shape or swirl

So with that in mind I came up with this…

 
The orange just screamed ‘Tigger’ at me, so I dug out this old (1993) photo of me, taken at Disneyland Paris, just as Tigger sneaked up behind me on Main Street & pounced (or bounced, as that’s what Tiggers do!!) I had my eyes closed but I thought I’d use it anyway…it was a good memory to document after all these years!! I machine stitched a spiral from the photo outwards & incorporated a silhouette figure into the cluster of embellies around the journaling block! So all three criteria ticked off!

N.B. I’d like to dedicate this LO to Mel, who has earned herself the new nickname of ‘Tigger’ after being so energetically (& understandably) excited about her recent workshop with Tim Holtz!! 

Why not join in with this month’s challenge…you have until 29th March to upload & there are some fab prizes on offer too! I’ll look out for you!!

Speaking of challenges…my first challenge for Dixie Pieces ‘Green’ themed March challenges is up & is to ‘Sing Green’ using the title of one of three Al Green songs as your inspiration…either ‘Let’s Stay Together’…’You’ve Got A Friend’ or ‘Smile A Little Bit More’…I used the colour green in my example LO but you don’t have to…

 
All challenges need to be completed by 11:59pm on March 31st and uploaded to the gallery at Dixie Pieces & then linked to the forum. If you also post them to our facebook page, you will get 2 entries! The prize for the March Challenges is a class kit from Jenni Bowlin Studios!!! So why not play along here too?!!

Thursday evening was the ‘It’s Crafting Time’ crop at Shepreth & although neither Karen or Hilary were able to make it this time, Ann & I turned up like two bad pennies!

We missed you girls & I hope it’s not too long before we can all get together again soon!
 
The lovely Nina gave us a tour of all the gorgeous new arrivals in the shop & both Ann & I discovered that there were just so many things we hadn’t realised we needed!! We did pick up a few things, within budget of course!! Well, we do have the ‘3 Jolly Scrappers’ crop to think of this coming Friday!!

Saturday was Lee’s birthday & we had all sorts of plans for a full day out…but then he had a business call to make at 2pm, so that changed things a bit!!  He had coffee in bed with a pile of cards & gifts to open & the boys also received new games in the morning post…just released & hot off the press & they were keen to put them to use, so Lee & I decided we’d leave them behind & grab a little ‘us’ time!!

First stop was for Lee’s appointment in St Neots, so he dropped me off somewhere I’d been trying to locate for ages!!  We turned off the A1M & looked for a sign!! This sign…

Which led us through a small industrial park, we’d looked here before but missed a turning, so I was so pleased when we turned the corner & saw this…

 

 

 

Yay!! The Cath Kidston factory!! I knew it was there somewhere, but it was the lovely Dawn who gave me more precise directions!

So, I set off through these doors & thought I’d died & gone to heaven!! Where to start?!!  Well, I completely forgot to take any interior photographs, I’m sorry!  So caught up in bargain hunting was I…so many bargains, so little time, with Lee due back in half an hour!!!

I did manage to score three fabby items at equally fabby prices…

The bag was one I umm’d & aaah’d about last summer & it’s now a design that’s discontinued, so I was very happy to get that! The little spotty purse is to store my laptop mouse in & matches my laptop cover. The sewing tin is so pretty & I have been looking for new sewing storage!

I suppose I should remember who’s birthday it was really!!  Back to the celebrations!

After we got back from St Neots we had a late lunch with the boys & then left them playing their games while we headed off to the afternoon showing of ‘Paul’ starring Simon Pegg & Nick Frost…Just brilliant!!!  If you are even the tiniest bit of a closet Sci-Fi geek I would recommend this…& if not at all then just go for the laughs anyway!  Some very clever homage's to Close Encounters & ET to name but two & it really is Simon & Nick at their best!! Oh & Paul the alien is just adorable…in a rough around the edges edges kind of way!! I am looking forward to it on DVD so that the boys can see it, it being a ‘15’ rating!!

After the cinema we headed off to a local Beefeater restaurant for an early evening special deal!!  You can’t deny a man steak & chips on his birthday!!

 

 

 

Then we returned home to the boys (who had managed to cook themselves pizza without burning the house down) for birthday cake & candles!!

So that’s it for today! If you’ve made it through this far you deserve a medal!!

I’m just glad to be up to date at last!  I’m hoping to keep it that way, internet service permitting & you shouldn’t have to plough through such a saga on your next visit!!

Thank you so much for stopping by & Have a great week y’all!!  See the Taffy is having an effect!!!  ; )