A round-up

I regulary read ’round up’ posts on other blogs (I particularly like Abigail’s) and until now thought my life was too boring uneventful to fill an entire post with our goings-on Chez Sherlock.

Well, after having a quick flick through my photos (turns out I’m pretty snap-happy since getting my new iPhone) it looks like our actually-quite-busy-after-all life is enough to fill a post. So, according to my phone, here was our week…

Got me some new specs (I can seeee!)

I met with a very lovely friend last week for her birthday and we shared an amazing (and very posh) afternoon tea at Harvey Nichols. It’s rare that I get the chance to go out without the kids and be, you know, me again so as her birthday coincided with a work day I decided it’d be rude not to accompany her whilst the kids were in nursery. We had a selection of mini-rolls, fresh (and warm) scones with clotted cream and jam and various treat-sized cakes. If I was rich, I’d do this every week.

Friday was a snow-day. So, the amount of the white stuff was pretty pathetic here but we used it as an excuse to have a duvet day. For the first time EVER, we stayed in our jammies til lunchtime and crawled back into bed after breakfast armed with blankets and DVDs. The kiddos were both feverish so we snoozed and lazed the morning away. So cosy.

Saturday night was a homemade-pizza-and-wine kinda evening. Since attempting a homemade pizza a few years back I can never enjoy a shop-bought one again. It’s so easy to make and I literally just chuck whatever I have to hand on top of it. This night it was chorizo, mushrooms, olives and peppers. Amaze.

Sunday, I got my running Mojo back. Since running the Bath Half Marathon last year I’ve completely lost all enthusiasm for running and have been trying (and failing) to get back into it since the summer. I hit the treadmill, just to test the waters, expecting to do 15-20 minutes but found myself carrying on for 4 miles. 4 MILES! It took 41 minutes and I was chuffed to bits since I’d not run for 3 months or so. I could barely walk for 2 days afterwards but that’s besides the point, right?

The lovey Kimberlee invited us to celebrate her gorgeous son Henry’s first birthday over the weekend. It was at a soft play centre and was manic to say the least with crazed kids, eyes glazed over shooting around the place but the boys loved it. Little Henry seemed to enjoy himself too with a huge pile of prezzies to work his way through at the end.

There are a few people I regularly talk to on Twitter and Kimberlee is one of them. Abigail and Jo were there too and it’s lovely to put faces to Tweeters. I’m still quite new to Twitter but love how it’s bringing me together with such great people and starting you give me (and the boys) a busier social life. Oh, and I can’t mention the party without giving credit to the cake. Kimberlee runs a baking business and that lady has serious talent. Henry celebrated with an amazing chocolatey triple-decker creation and thanks to the run I enjoyed it guilt-free. The best way.

 

 

More Bristol adventures

It’s been a funny old week. I’ve been totally exhausted and we needed a bit of time out so we treated ourselves to an afternoon away. We’ve recently been trying to visit areas of Bristol new to us to we took ourselves off to Portishead (I know, right? We goes to all the best places).

Actually, it was a lovely afternoon. We had a delicious lunch (and HUGE glass of wine) at Jacks Brasserie followed by a stroll around the marina. It was great just mooching around, admiring the interesting looking houses and enjoying each other’s company. Although I have no idea why my Son decided to eat his fish & chips with a tiger on his head.

A Friday Adventure

Ok, so calling it an adventure makes it sound much more grand than it actually was. Although I’ve lived in Bristol my whole life (bar a 3 year jaunt across the other side of the world) I live out-of-town and rarely venture into the heart of the city. Only for work (and that doesn’t count).

Today I had to collect my Mum from a garage in Bristol and we had a few hours to kill before her car would be ready. Although I see her every Friday when she’s off work, we rarely actually do anything of any note.

So we decided today to have a little meander through Clifton. She (mis?) spent her youth there and always enjoys visiting her old stomping ground. Plus, she knows the are way better than me so I’m (not entirely) less likely to get lost, as I so often do.

A school friend of mine, Jess, regularly tweets about her cakey adventures with her gorgeous daughter in the village so our first stop was the Mall Deli. We decided to stop for a coffee and couldn’t resist one of their delicious cakes. The lady took the boys to the front of the cafe to choose a cupcake each and Mum and I shared a slice of coffee & walnut cake.

The staff were wonderful and the cakes absolutely delicious. Since the Lionheart launch I’ve had The Homemade Mama’s cupcakes on my mind and wondered if these would satisfy my cravings. Although not quite up to Kimberlee’s fine creations, they were a close second, absolutely delish. We’ll certainly be visiting again soon. Oh, and they do children’s hot chocolate too. Made them feel very grown-up.

As we passed Lisa Elliott, the florist herself came out bearing armfuls of hydrangeas. I had some of these in the house last year and can’t resist their perfume filling the room (and, er, masking the doggy-baby smell). She immediately struck up a conversation with Finn, asking if he knew what colours the flowers were and telling him the names of the blooms. He was enthralled, and we were sold. 2 Pots were put aside for us to collect on our way back.

A quick browse around the antiques shop (man, I could spend some serious money in those places if, like, I had some), a stop at the butchers and we were on our way back. We collected our flowers and my boys received their first rose each from the florist. Well, who’d have thought a single red rose could please 2 children so much? (did I ever tell you how easily pleased my kids are?).

So, clutching their newly acquired stems in one hand and the other paw clinging to the grown-ups we made our way back (via Waitrose, of course) to the garage and ended our City adventure.

I’ve just received an email from my Mum listing all the things which made her smile today. The list was massive and it just proves that pleasure can be gained from the simplest things in life. Even if one of those things is my eldest son falling down the toilet 🙂