365 days project - week 14

An unusual thing has happened this week... I have 2 weeks off work, and the sun is actually shining! I can really make the most of the time off, and all the lovely spring light, and it feels like a proper holiday! So, here are this week's shots:

Day 98 - Blossom


It has been the most beautiful spring day today. The sun has been shining all day, and there are signs of spring everywhere. The blossom was catching the light beautifully, so I thought that would be perfect for today's 365 shot.

Day 97


How cute is this?

I needed a new recipe book, as I've just been filling an old notebook with scrawled notes up until now, and it's become just too hard to make head or tail of.

I saw this funky one in Paperchase and had to get it, so this evening has been spent transfering all my recipes to my pretty new book, and doing lots of cutting and pasting of all the bits I've torn out of magazines over the years.

Day 96 - Concentration


As it's the school holidays, we took my nephew to the Ashmolean museum, which has recently reopened after some dramatic renovation.

He was concentrating very hard on one of the games here - I think he was designing his own Roman coin at this point.

Loving the tweed jacket! My sister in law decided that it made him look like Mark Ronson, especially with the side parting.

Day 95 - Bank Holiday tea


A friend of mine came round for tea this afternoon. I haven't seen her for ages, so we had a lovely afternoon catching up on the gossip, drinking lots of tea and finishin off the last of the hot cross buns.

Day 94 - Happy Easter!


Happy Easter everybody!

For Camille's Appeal.

Day 93 - Hot cross buns


I've never made these before, so I was rather impressed with myself that they seem to have turned out ok. (Mind you, I haven't actually tasted them yet!)

I used this recipe from BBC food, and despite quite a lot of faffing around waiting for the dough to prove, it wasn't too tricky.

Day 92 - Spring Blues


There are lots of spring flowers starting to pop up in my garden now (hooray!) I love the colours of these gorgeous grape hyacinths.

For Camille's Appeal.

Happy Easter

It's the Easter holidays, so as I have a bit of time on my hands, I can get into the kitchen and do some baking. So, in keeping with the time of year, I thought I'd have a go at some hot cross buns, which I've never done before. I followed this BBC Food recipe, which was fairly straightforward, although there is a lot of time faffing around waiting for the dough to prove and kneading, but I guess that's to be expected when making bread.

The buns here before wrapping them up to prove:



It was a little tricky piping the crosses on, but once you get the right consistency, it's not too bad:



And, the finished product:



They didn't taste too bad either!

365 days project - week 13

Yay! The Easter holidays have started, so I have 2 weeks to get out and about and hopefully get a bit more imaginative with my shots. Having said that, the weather forecast isn't looking great, so I may end up with loads more indoor shots!

Day 91 - Easter fun


I picked these up at the weekend, just because I saw them in the florist and thought they were so cute and pretty!

Day 90 - Another mug shot. Sorry!



It's been another busy day, so I'm afraid it's another uninspired mug shot. I'm off out for our end of term meal, so no time tonight.

There is a reason for this shot, today, though. I've been mentoring a student teacher this year, who has been just fab. Sadly, it was her last day today, so she bought me a couple of pressies - this lovely Cath Kidston mug, and a gorgeous scarf. Luckily, she's going to be joining us in September when she qualifies!

Day 89 - Tug



My lodger bought a present for Chester - a tug rope. He loves it, so much and has been strutting around with it all evening. I'm not sure quite how long it'll last, but at least he's enjoying it for now.

Day 88 - Bunch of Spring



I went to the Covered Market yesterday, and the flower shops were just bursting with bunches of beautiful spring blooms.

I picked up these daffodils and paper whites, as they just seemed so fresh and spring-like, and they're now sititng on my mantelpiece.

Day 87 - Spring Colour



This week's Camille's Appeal theme is 'Spring'.

The clocks have gone forward, and it was a really lovely, spring day today, so I took a walk round town with my camera to snap all the lovely spring flowers coming into bloom.

I love this time of year, all about hope and renewal, so a perfect theme for Camille's Appeal. Camille and her family still need lots of support over the coming months, so please do visit the website and make a donation if you can to help Camille and children like her. Please also add any of your own spring photos to the group pool .

Day 86



There was a French market in town today. Lots of stinky cheese and crepes, but nothing too exciting, and all really expensive!

Day 85 - Little Imp!



I'm babysitting my nephew this evening. He's all snuggled up in his pjs and hat (not sure why the hat, but there you go), but did have to have a bit of a jump around on the sofa before snuggling down.

365 days project - week 12

It's been a busy week, but I managed to get a few shots in that I was fairly pleased with. I'm still finding it hard to find the energy and motivation to take a shot after work, but the clocks go forward on Sunday, so hopefully there'll be more light evenings to come, which should make it a little easier.

Day 84 - Crumbs

It's been a really busy day at work, followed immediately by parents' evening, so I got in really late and only had time for some toast for dinner before going to bed.

This was all I managed to snap. I painted this plate when I was on my friend's hen weekend. We went to a paint your own crockery place, and so I themed my plate around my beautiful dog!

Day 83 - Sunshine

This is from my garden.

Spring has finally sprung!

Day 82 - Unwind

Day 81 - Pimp my Havs

My sister in law has just got back from Brazil (where she is originally from). Havaiana flipflops are about £2 over there (compared with around £20 here), so she brought me these back from her trip.

There is a local lady who customises flipflops, so my plain old pink ones have been pimped up! I think I like them, but I'm not sure whether they might just be a bit too much!

Opinions!

Day 80 - Celebrate: Camille's Appeal

This week's theme for Camille's Appeal is 'Celebrate!'

It seems appropriate this week as Camille's family have had some good news. They have been told that as a result of her chemotherapy, her tumour was weakened and has partially moved away from the brain stem, meaning that it is now operable and that Camille stands a much better chance of fighting this.

The family still needs all the support possible, so please do continue to visit the website and contribute your own photos to the group pool- donate and support in any way you can!

Oh, and another reason to celebrate - look at that beautiful, blue sky today!!

Day 79 - Old Skool Sweeties

I've seen lots of pictures of this proper retro sweet shop in the Oxford group pool, and when I walked past this afternoon, I could see why everyone had been so drawn to the place. The colours are amazing and the place was just buzzing with retro charm!

Day 78 - Happy Birthday Mum

365 days project - week 11

Wahoo! 10 weeks down. At times it does feel like a bit of a slog keeping going with the project, but I'm still getting lots out of it, so hopefully I will be able to persevere for another 42 weeks!


Day 77 - Peanut butter on toast


Day 76 - Trash!

I'm teaching Language and Gender to one of my classes this term, and tomorrow we're looking at gender representations in romantic fiction, so this afternoon I went into the charity shop and bought out their selection of the trashiest novels I could find for us to analyse!

Clearly, they must have thought I was some sad, deluded, singleton, (which is probably accurate).

Although I've never read any Mills and Boon before, I must confess that I am rather partial to a bit of Jilly Cooper - she's my guilty pleasure!

Day 75 - Nearly here!

It's been a beautiful, sunny day today, and the evening light was just beautiful in my garden.
They're not quite there yet, but the daffodils are almost ready to start flowering. Then spring will really be here and that means it won't be long until the long, light evenings.

Day 74 - Mmmmm


Day 73 - For mum

I've been to see my mum today, as it's Mothering Sunday. I took these flowers and the coolest card with me - the card is one that you customize with lots of stickers (wish I'd taken a picture of that now!)

For Camille's Appeal theme of the week - Mothering Sunday.

Day 72 - Crumbs

I seem to have eaten nothing but biscuits today! You can't beat a good digestive!

Day 71 - Fence Friday

A rather miserable, rainy day today, but as I'm starting to run out of inspiration, I thought I'd find a fence, to join in with Fence Friday.

365 days project - week 10

Still going, although I am starting to run a bit low on ideas. I'll have to start getting a bit more creative if I'm going to keep this going.

Day 70
Sorry for the uninspired and OOF shot, but I've just got in from circuits and I'm too tired to try anything else.

Day 69
I took a school trip to the Black Country Museum today, and despite the cold, it was really good fun.

It's a 'living museum' so full of working shops, workshops, houses, all authentically Victorian. There's even a chance to go down the coal mine and have the experience of an authentic Victorian school.
This canal boat was one of the first diesel engined boats to be made, apparently. I just loved the bright, vintage colours.
Day 68 - Hey Sweetie!

Day 67 - Kong

Sorry - really boring picture tonight. I've had a very busy Monday, and this is all I can manage for today's picture.

It's my dog's favourite toy in the world. We got it for him on the first day he came to our house, and it's the only thing that's lasted that long. They claim that Kongs are the indestructable dog toy, and I think that may be true.
Day 66 - Petals
For Camille's" Appeal theme of the week - Flowers.
In June 2009, a stunning little 2 year old, Camille, was diagnosed with a brain tumuor. We hope to raise awareness for the charity, Camilles Appeal, to raise funds for Camille and other young children living in East Anglia who have been diagnosed with a Brain Tumour.
All money raised will be used in conjunction with the work being done by the NHS and other relevant organisations. The treatment of childhood cancers is improving every year. However, there is still a lot that can be done to help children like Camille.
Please visit the URL below to find out more and to donate. We simply cannot thank you enough for your support.
http://www.camillesappeal.co.uk/

Day 65 - Softie

Day 64

365 days project - week 9

Day 63/365

Day 62/365 - Mix it!

Day 61/365

Day 60/365 - Happy St David's Day

I did daffodils yesterday, so my alternative St David's Day themed photo was either Welsh Cakes or a leek (imaginative, aren't I?). I'm trying to be healthy at the moment, so I thought I'd lay off the cakes.

Day 59/365 - Spring Joy

Yay! The daffodils are out! They really sum up the joy of spring, even though it is still dull and raining, it's so joyful to have a bright splash of colour.
For this week's Camille's Appeal theme of 'Joy'.
Day 58/365 - Afternoon Light

Day 57/365 - Speckled Eggs

Yum yum yum!