Monday 17 October 2011

My Guilty Pleasure!!

downton abbey wallpaper Can you guess what that might be? Well, it’s the second series of Downton Abbey, currently screening on Sunday nights! As I’m not home in time to watch it (& I suspect because it means he doesn’t have to!!) Lee records it for me & it’s become my Monday morning ritual to return from the school run & settle down with my breakfast & immerse myself in the plotlines! I love history, especially social history & this story, set during the First World War is so absorbing! There’s not been one episode in this series were I have not been reduced to tears…this morning was no exception!!! I love watching something that can hold my attention so totally & don’t want it to come to an end!! Is anyone else a fan?

On the subject of viewing pleasure, I realise that I haven’t reported any of my recent cinema trips!!! I had a few weeks break during the summer, but have been catching up recently…

friends with benefits1[2]I-Dont-Know-How-She-Does-It-Movie-Poster

the-change-up-poster

inbetweeners-movieMidnight-in-Paris-2011-movie-poster

thumbnailCAVRR9NF
…I was surprised at how convincing an actor Justin Timberlake is… ‘Change up’ was an amusing take on the old body-swap storyline with some wonderfully cringe worthy moments for any parent!…‘I don’t know how she does it’ was OK…but it just sort of bumbled along!! ‘Midnight In Paris’ was my sort of story & it had a fantastic cast headed up by Owen Wilson & Kathy Bates…Rowan Atkinson was as good as ever in his return as ‘Johnny English’ the bungling MI5 Spy!! This one had some bad reviews but it had some truly laugh-out-loud moments!! Finally, last night ,we saw ‘the inbetweeners movie’…this was Amanda’s choice as I’ve never seen the TV series! It took me (waaay) back to Club 18-30 holidays in Ibiza & all that that entailed!! Very enjoyable & totally non-PC!…& it’s always good to see the geek get his girl!!

DP SketchSo…to a bit of scrapping!….& this time a sketch challenge over at ‘Dixie Pieces’

…I do like a good sketch to work with & headed off for a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the ‘3 Jolly Scrappers’ crop in Brampton. I spent most of my time catching up with Dawn & getting to know a new lady, Joanne, but I did get a LO done for the challenge!!


HUG! 
This is a photo of Alex at 4 months old, enjoying a cuddle with his Grandad, who is sadly no longer with us, so it was lovely to document the moment. I also managed to use up some odds & ends of stash that have been lingering a while…always a good thing!!


Ginger Cake Mix
Creativity of a different kind now…a bit of baking & a recommendation!

If you shop at Aldi look out for these cake mixes that they have at the moment…priced at about £1.39 & in a choice of Ginger, Chocolate Fudge, Carrot or Madiera. Such great value & just need oil & water added for a delicious cake!
 

Ginger Choc Loaf 


This one was the Ginger mix & I topped it with chocolate spread & sprinkled it with crushed Ginger Nut biscuits…it went down very well with everyone!!

 

Walnuts 
A friend at work left me a parcel of goodies this week too…half a dozen eggs from her own hens (all double yolks & so yummy!) & a bag of walnuts, fresh from a tree in her garden!



The boys have had a great time cracking (& eating) them, although I did manage to rescue some to bake into some date & walnut cookies, which in turn lasted all of five minutes!!  Alex particularly set himself the challenge of shelling as many whole as he could & did very well!! The cat thinks the shells are the best toys ever…so all in all a great gift!!!  She had left me another bag of walnuts yesterday so I’m going to try out a recipe that Karen shared with me for savoury cheese & walnut thins…watch this space!!


10th October Sunset!
I’ll leave you today with a photo I took out of Nathans bedroom window last Monday!  It was such a gorgeous sunset, I stood there for the twenty minutes it took for the sun to disappear completely!!

 

Thanks for stopping by & I wish you all a great week, whatever you may have planned! :)

8 comments:

scrappyjacky said...

An amazing sunset,Sandi.
I really enjoy sketches as well....you've made a lovely LO from that one.

debs14 said...

Ashamed to say I've never watched Downton Abbey, but I know it's really popular with the teachers at school because I hear them discussing it on a Monday morning when they come in the office to collect their registers!
Lovely layout, I'm always fascinated to see what people make out of a sketch design.
And how busy you have been in the kitchen. I feel quite lazy in comparison!

Ladkyis said...

Downton Abbey is ACE! The writing is totally believeable, the dialog is pretty accurate for the time the costumes are to die for the acting is superb and it has Maggie Smith.
Oh and was filmed on location at one of my all time favourite houses
Highclere.
Am I a fan? Well, it's alright I suppose...........

Beverly said...

What a sweet, tender photo. The savoury cheese & walnut thins sound delish :)

Sian said...

I hope you have a good week too :)

TSO is doing First World War in history at the moment, so we have been watching together. Reminded me that when I was about her age there was a great series about Vera Britten on, about nursing in the war. remember that one?

humel said...

YES, I love Downton Abbey :) Oh my word, wasn't the latest episode good? What's going to happen now with Mary and Matthew? How's Bates going to get away from his wife? How's Ethel's situation going to turn out? And so on and so on!!

PS Love the layout - and yum, cake!

Unknown said...

Gorgeous layout!! Awesome colours and the design is fabulous!
I love JT as an actor too - was pleasantly surprised ;0)
Hugs
xoxo

M.L. @ The House of Whimsy said...

WHAT???!!! They've finally picked back up where they left off with Downton Abbey? I almost died when they just left us hanging last year. I MUST run to my television guide to check.
I loooooove Mr. Bates. :-D
M.L.