Showing posts with label This Week.... Show all posts
Showing posts with label This Week.... Show all posts
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
This Week...
Sunday, February 15, 2015
This Week...
When it’s cold outside it’s nice to be holed up on evenings and weekend with a cup of tea and a warm snack. One of my favourite things is toasted teacakes. Now I don’t know about you, but for me the teeny excuse for a teacake that they sell in the supermarkets these days just don’t cut it. So every now and then I treat myself to what I call ‘proper size’ teacakes from the farm shop near work. And they are delicious, lightly toasted and served up hot with melting Flora Light (my spread of choice). Yum.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
This Week…
It has been cold this week, we’ve had snow and high winds and as a result, I have been living in polo neck sweaters. Sure, I love me a good scarf and they really help to keep your neck warm, but there’s nothing quite like a polo neck (or turtleneck, if you’re in the US) for stopping the chill. I have quite the collection, not quite one in every colour but I’m getting there. I have thin ones for layering, thicker ones for wearing as top layers, and they all have super long sleeves as they’re from either Long Tall Sally or another tall range. They’re a classic look and are never likely to go out of style, purely because of their practicality.
Do you wear polo necks/turtlenecks when it gets cold?
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Sunday, January 04, 2015
This Week…
Although it’s the middle of the winter, Christmas week was cold and very sunny. My Aviator sunglasses have been on my list of things to write about for a ‘This Week…’ post for ages now and they were put to good use whilst I was out and about over the holidays. I got them for free from Amazon back in April with a gift voucher I won at work (they were only £1.69 anyway) and I love them. I’d never had Aviator style sunglasses before, preferring the huge oversized variety, so a gift voucher seemed like a good opportunity to try them out. I wore them all summer and they are fab.
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Sunday, December 14, 2014
This Week…
I got myself a new mouse at work last Friday. It’s a posh wireless one as my old, wired, one was catching on my monitor cable and driving me mad as it kept getting stuck. My new one is silver (score 1) and shiny (score 2) but it’s the additional side buttons that I’m most excited about. My old mouse had these extra buttons but for some reason the drivers wouldn’t install properly on my new laptop, meaning I had to have the buttons doing what they were defaulted to do, not what I wanted them to do.
The new mouse’s drivers have installed no problem and so I can have the left hand side button set to minimise windows as I used to be able to do on my old laptop. It’s a small thing I know, but this is making me extremely happy. Sometimes it’s the little things, you know?
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Sunday, December 07, 2014
This Week…
Have you tried Warburton’s Sandwich Thins? Or Tesco’s own version for that matter? (Other brands are also available, but I haven’t tried them.) The brown ones are free on Filling and Healthy (Weight Watchers for those just joining us) and I really like them as an alternative to a bread roll. I use them for my lunchtime sandwiches sometimes, and they’re great when I’m making bacon sandwiches. I feel like I’m eating a bread roll (sort of) but I’m getting way less bread. Win win.
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Sunday, November 30, 2014
This Week…
I have a teasmade. I know, I’m about 80 years old but I just love it. It was a gift from the young man’s aunt the winter before last and it’s just fabulous. You fill it with water before bed, put a tea bag in the pot and either set the alarm or flick it on when you wake up and less than five minutes later you have a pot of tea (according the instruction leaflet it makes that new-fangled coffee stuff or hot chocolate too). My cups aren’t as fancy as the ones pictured, but they do have shoes on them.
My grandparents had a teasmade when I was little and I always thought it was such a sensible idea. I can remember them drinking tea in bed on Christmas morning (we stayed at their house every Christmas when I was a child) whilst my sister and I got excited about whatever Santa had brought us (matching Sindy dolls is the one thing that stands out, mine with dark hair hers with blonde). And neither of them had had to go down to the cold kitchen to fetch the tea. When I say my grandparents’ house was cold, I mean it was COLD. It was a 1920s (I think) build and didn’t have any central heating. The main source of heat was the open fire in the front room which was fabulous, but leaving that room for the bitter cold of the hallway was something else. There were electric blankets on all the beds and you needed them.
But enough rambling about how cold my grandparents' house was. All of this is to say that this week (and the past couple of weeks, it only gets used on a weekend) I have been enjoying using the teasmade and enjoying tea before I get out of bed.
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Sunday, November 23, 2014
This Week…
It’s not quite time to break out the Christmas tunes just yet, but around this time every year I like to pull out Enya’s And Winter Came album and play it in the house and in my car. I say this every year, but it’s wintery without being overly Christmassy (OK, a few of the tracks are Christmassy – O Come O Come Emmanuel for example, but that’s mostly in Latin so I can totally forgive it). Think snow, candles and firelight rather than Santa, sleigh bells and reindeer and you’ll be on the right lines. Plus, you know, Enya. She’s relaxing at the best of times.
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Sunday, November 16, 2014
This Week…
To the north side of Leeds lies Yeadon Tarn. It is a body of water, like a lake. I just Googled the difference between a tarn and a lake and, according to Wikipedia, a tarn is a lake formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. I’m not sure that is true of Yeadon, but it’s a nice place to visit anyway. I go there predominantly to walk around it – three laps is almost 2.5 miles which is good exercise. My niece likes it up there because she can feed the resident ducks and play on the play area swings and slides. (She will also have a good go at climbing up the climbing frames etc. that are still far too big for her.) The tarn is right next to the airport so avid aircraft enthusiasts can enjoy the views of aeroplanes taking off and landing. It’s just a nice spot though, particularly right before sunset as I captured it the other afternoon.
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Sunday, November 09, 2014
This Week…
So that’s it, it’s officially cold and this week the EMU boots came out. I’ve had a pair of ugg-style boots in my wardrobe since 2009 and I just love them. Some people think they are ugly and I grant you, they are not the most attractive items of footwear in the world. But they are warm and some days I just want to be cosy and have warm feet dammit! All the pairs of boots I’ve had in this style are from EMU Australia and they are great quality and are certainly cosy. I made my pair even cosier the past couple of years by adding some faux fur boots toppers that were in my Christmas stocking two years ago (thanks Mom!).
What’s your opinion on this style of boot?
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Sunday, November 02, 2014
This Week...
I wrote a few weeks ago about how I’ve been enjoying the Friday night Music Goes Round programme on Radio 2. Another weekend offering on the same station is Saturday afternoon’s Pick of the Pops. This is essentially just a chart run down from that week in two years past, and can vary from the 1950s to the 1990s.
Back when I was at high school the local commercial station, Aire FM (Radio Aire as it’s now known) used to play the Retro Chart each weekday morning, hosted by Bruno Brookes (for younger or overseas readers saying, who? – just know that he was a big deal on Radio 1 back in the day). I loved listening to it and Pick of the Pops reminds me of that show. Obviously my preference is for countdowns from the late 80s or early 90s, the time I was first listening to the radio regularly. But any year will do as long as the music is good, and it usually is.
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Back when I was at high school the local commercial station, Aire FM (Radio Aire as it’s now known) used to play the Retro Chart each weekday morning, hosted by Bruno Brookes (for younger or overseas readers saying, who? – just know that he was a big deal on Radio 1 back in the day). I loved listening to it and Pick of the Pops reminds me of that show. Obviously my preference is for countdowns from the late 80s or early 90s, the time I was first listening to the radio regularly. But any year will do as long as the music is good, and it usually is.
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Sunday, October 26, 2014
This Week...
I am a big fan of Radio 2. I started listening to it when I was about 19 and fed up of the rubbish they played on Radio 1 (yes I am aware I sound like my dad now...) and the adverts on the commercial stations. It’s pretty much the only station I listen to now (other than BBC Radio Leeds when it snows. Radio Leeds in the snow is awesome – they get a bit silly. One time they played a game called How Deep Is Your Snow, where listeners were encouraged to measure the depth of the snow in their garden with whatever they had to hand - a string of frozen sausages, a fork, a small child - and phone in with the result). I generally listen to it during the day: in the car on my commute and in the kitchen whilst cooking tea and at weekends. However, the one evening show I will make the effort to listen to (on iPlayer if necessary) is The Music Goes Round on a Friday night. Each week there is a theme and all the music played is based around this theme. This leads to some absolute gems being played, songs you wouldn’t usually hear on the radio these days. For example, the last episode I listened to had the theme of water and the music included Carly Simon’s Let The River Run, Andy Williams’s Moon River and a version of The Water Is Wide. Truly eclectic and truly brilliant.
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Sunday, October 19, 2014
This Week...
I don’t follow many group pages on Facebook, other than those belonging to fellow bloggers. One page I do follow though is Leeds Back in the Day and it has become one of my favourites. Members of the group can post old photos of Leeds, well, back in the day, and it’s fascinating. There are loads of black and white photos, but my favourite ones are those from the 1980s or early 1990s, times that I can remember but showing buildings and shops that I have forgotten about. It’s also a useful place to learn a little history of Leeds. If you are from the Yorkshire area, or have spent any time here in the past, check it out.
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Sunday, October 12, 2014
This Week...
It has been October for a couple of weeks now and that means it’s officially fall. Last year around this time I discovered the Spiced Orange scented Yankee Candle. It’s the perfect candle to burn in the autumn as it smells fruity and orangey but with a hint of spices. I love the ambiance you get from a scented candle, especially as the nights draw in and it’s darker earlier. Last autumn/winter we burned this scent from October right through until about March. As soon as September hit I busted it out again.
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Sunday, October 05, 2014
This Week...
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Sunday, September 28, 2014
This Week...
My favourite variety of apples is the Worcester. This is a shame as Worcester apples only have a really short season in September. And for the very short time that they are in season, the only place you seem to be able to buy them is Sainsbury’s. Consequently I don’t eat them a lot (I have to go out of my way to get to a Sainsbury’s store) but I usually manage to get hold of a bag or two whilst I can and this year was no different. I’ve been enjoying Worcester apples for the past couple of weeks.
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Sunday, September 21, 2014
This Week..
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This week I’ve been listening to the Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack. Today is what I always deem Little Shop of Horrors day. It’s 21st September and if you know the play (not the film, the film says 23rd) you know it starts ‘On the 21st day in the month of September...’. If you don’t know the play (or the film), watch the film. Steve Martin as a psychopathic dentist, a singing plant and awesome music - what’s not to love?
Little Shop was the school play when I was in the third form and my friends and I were obsessed with it for the rest of our high school careers. We would quote it at every opportunity and the chorus group that was formed for the show became a spin off choir in its own right, called The Horrors. We rehearsed on a Friday dinner time and sang all kinds of music from West End show tunes to Christmas carols. Even now when I hear the words 'feed me' my instinct is to reply 'does it have to be human? Does it have to be mine? Where am I s'posed to get it?'. And I'm sure all of my high school friends and would say the same.
Happy Little Shop Day!
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This week I’ve been listening to the Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack. Today is what I always deem Little Shop of Horrors day. It’s 21st September and if you know the play (not the film, the film says 23rd) you know it starts ‘On the 21st day in the month of September...’. If you don’t know the play (or the film), watch the film. Steve Martin as a psychopathic dentist, a singing plant and awesome music - what’s not to love?
Little Shop was the school play when I was in the third form and my friends and I were obsessed with it for the rest of our high school careers. We would quote it at every opportunity and the chorus group that was formed for the show became a spin off choir in its own right, called The Horrors. We rehearsed on a Friday dinner time and sang all kinds of music from West End show tunes to Christmas carols. Even now when I hear the words 'feed me' my instinct is to reply 'does it have to be human? Does it have to be mine? Where am I s'posed to get it?'. And I'm sure all of my high school friends and would say the same.
Happy Little Shop Day!
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Sunday, September 14, 2014
This Week...
Watching the Great British Bake off has its downside in that it inspires you to bake. Biscuit Week in particular caught my attention when one of the bakers made custard biscuits. These weren’t something I’d come across before, but they sounded good – adding custard to anything makes it better, right?
I searched for a recipe and found this one for custard cookies. The first time I made them I added white chocolate chips (pictured above) because some of the other recipes I saw had them in. They’re fewer WW points without the chocolate though, so subsequent batches have omitted them. I found they were better baked for 15 minutes rather than 20 too. Give them a try, they’re delicious!
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Sunday, September 07, 2014
This Week...
Who else is hooked on the Great British Bake Off then? Half the country are by the sound of the viewing figures and it’s my pick of the week this week for something I’ve been enjoying.
For those of you not in the UK the Great British Bake Off is a TV show where the contestants have to bake each week and are judged by famous bakers Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. Each week is themed – biscuits, pies, cakes etc and everyone has to bake three items each time as specified be the judges. At the end of each show someone is eliminated so there will be a final winner at the end of the series. It’s not a nail biting competition, it’s just entertaining to watch and I’m learning stuff about baking (and being inspired to bake biscuits).
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Sunday, August 31, 2014
This Week...
My new favourite band are Ward Thomas. They are a British country act (yes, I know, I didn’t know that was a thing either) and they’re fabulous. They are twins Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas (hence the name) and Radio 2 are all over their current single Push For The Stride, which is how I heard of them. Born in 1994 (when I was doing my GCSEs – yes, I’m old) they are just 20 years old and are massive fans of the Dixie Chicks (as am I, which is what made me find out more about them when I heard them say that on Radio 2 last week). Here’s why I am fast becoming a fan of Ward Thomas:
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