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1 year on – New Kitchen Floor!!

Jan14

Poor blog I have neglected you for far too long! I can’t believe I have had this lovely little flat for a whole year now! In honour of this anniversary I finally have a new kitchen floor!

Here is the old floor:


Not a bad floor, but ever since I moved in I really wanted to brighten up the kitchen as the wood effect floor made it all look a little bit too dark. So my dad is rather gifted in the art of DIY and dedicated a weekend to transforming the kitchen floor.

Of course the kitchen was exactly like the rest of the flat:


Multiple floors under the existing floor! Every room in this flat seemed to have three others underneath it.


Ta-Da!!! So much brighter! A very much appreciated first flat anniversary present! Thanks Dad 🙂

The Duck House – Brighton

May30

Hello!

I do apologise for how long I have neglected my blog for 😦 I know I promised this post to a few people so I’m sorry for the delay!

Me and the mother went on our annual trip to Brighton about 5 weeks ago now and I stumbled across the most amazing little shop in The Lanes. We were walking back from The Seven Stars (on an unrelated note – you should go here! They infuse their gin and vodka with all different flavours and oh my god it is amazing!) but we must have taken a wrong turning somewhere because we ended up walking past this:

So this is a shop. A Rubber Duck Shop! But sadly it was closed! Poor mother then had to listen to my raspberry and vanilla infused waffling about how urgently we had to return to this shop in the morning.

Look at all these ducks! I think I’m in the wrong job. This is where I should be working. There is a duck for every occasion! I particularly liked the wedding ducks which were available in “Mrs & Mrs”, “Mr & Mrs” and “Mr & Mr” which was a nice touch. I definitely spent far too much time in this shop but I’d never seen a rubber duck shop before! Eventually though I came out with the following:

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Einstein Duck, Brighton Duck, Queens Guard (I think that’s what they are called correct me if I’m wrong) and SPYRO DUCK!! My poor long suffering flat mate lives with me and all these crazy creatures that seem to waddle their way into our flat but even she loved Spyro Duck! I was gifted the little death keyring duck from the nice man in the shop. I think he thought I was Quackers. He’d be correct.

So if you are ever in Brighton please go pay this charming little duck shop a visit! Trust me there will definitely be the right duck in there for you! They even have their own bags!

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After the Duck shop we went to Choccy Woccy Doo Dah. Choccy Woccy Doo Dah is to Chocolate what the duck house is to Ducks. And look what I found!

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Chocolate Duck! I would never eat it though so reluctantly had to put it back :(. I still have my chocolate wand from the Harry Potter Studio Tour which has now gone way past edible so chocolate novelties are a bit wasted on me. Big bag of Revels or peanut M&Ms though and I’m sold!

As if I had not encounted enough ducks today then I found even more on Brighton Pier! Managed to win these in the arcade:

We even had enough tickets left over to get mum a cuddly Donkey from Shrek 🙂

Apologies again for the delay for this post, and all of you who were submitting guesses for what Ducks I got in Brighton now have your answer!

And if you wanted to go to any of the places mentioned in this post I promise you will not be disappointed!

Sam

Veggie Spaghetti Bolognese

Mar8

People always ask me “so if you can bake completely from scratch you must be able to cook?” I never know how to answer as I can cook, but I have never really attempted much cooking completely from scratch so thought I would give it a go. Normally I use sauces out of a jar to make most things as it is quick and easy but it often works out a lot more unhealthy this way. First attempt of cooking 100% from scratch was a success and I finally got to try out the long awaited spiralizer. After many accidental sliced fingers with a manual spiralizer I have invested in the Morphy Richard’s Spiralizer Express. I discovered vegetable spaghetti (or veggetti) about a year ago as a great low fat and healthy version of spaghetti. It is also a great way to cram in some of those 5 portions of fruit and veg we are apparently supposed to eat each day.

I have never made a spaghetti bolognese completely from scratch before but it seemed like quite an easy place to start. I took inspiration from my Mum’s cooking and tried to cram it with as much vegetables as possible.

  • Onion (1)
  • Garlic (2 crushed cloves)
  • Celery (2 Sticks)
  • Mushrooms (a few)
  • Carrots (4/5)
  • Courgette (When describing this to one of my colleagues at work I could not remember the name and ended up referring to it as a “vegetable cucumber” even though I am pretty sure a cucumber is also a vegetable. (2)
  •  Tomato Puree (1 table spoon)
  • Chopped Tomatoes (small tin)
  • Vegetable Stock with 200ml of boiling water
  • Red Wine (Or double up on the stock if you do not want to use wine)
  • Quorn mince
  • A sprinkle of mixed herbs.

Chop the onion, garlic, celery and carrot and gently fry in a pan with olive oil for 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and fry for 2 more minutes. Add the stock, red wine, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, mixed herbs. Stir, put a lid on and let it simmer away for 5 minutes then add the Quorn Mince. Let it all simmer for another 5 minutes. It really was as simple as chucking everything into the pan and letting it do the rest itself. I think I could get used to this cooking stuff.

While the bolognese was cooking I finally got to try the spirilizer! It simply clips together and the blade spins round slicing the vegetables into lovely little spirally shapes which collects in the bottom. In my opinion it’s worth every penny and has just become my favourite kitchen gadget.

I cooked the spaghetti in a pan with a tiny little bit of oil as I find when it is boiled you have to take it out at precisely the right moment or it overcooks and you are left with nothing. It only needs 2 minutes in the pan and you are done!

Ta-Da! So much healthier than out of a jar and I actually enjoyed cooking it too. 100% vegetarian, crammed full of vegetables and without the cheese it’s vegan too. Vegetable spaghetti is such a good alternative to actual spaghetti and a great gluten free option too. I may not be Gordon Ramsey just yet but you never know, give me a few more months and I might be!

The Last Binge

Mar7

So for anyone who is not aware me and my lovely friend Jenna have undertaken a year long challenge for Children In Need. If you are interested you can visit our fundraising website at www.CINChallenge.com. Unfortunately this means it is time to get fit. Even more unfortunately this means saying goodbye to most of the stuff that I actually enjoy eating. Therefore I thought it was acceptable to partake in one last unhealthy night with a friend of mine. This unhealthy binge consisted of a bottle of wine and a rather interesting snack which I had stumbled upon at the local shop across the road. Up until then I had no idea that pizza could actually come in a dessert form. So with no further ado I present to you the Goodfella’s Sweet Fella’s Delicious Dessert Pizza. In fact there is a little bit of ado as I have now had to partake in a rather lengthy conversation with my flat mate about the difference between “ado” and “adieu”. Turns out “ado” is a lovely little English word meaning without fuss or unnecessary hustle and bustle (think Shakesphere, Much Ado About Nothing”. “Adieu” is a dramatic French farewell, think of it as a last goodbye. So here I am with now a little bit of ado but that is okay because it is not a French goodbye. Easy mistake to make, don’t judge me too harshly and trust me I am a lot more intelligent in Spanish than French! Muchas Gracias.

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So this was my choice of a final unhealthy snack. I have to say that I disagree with their slogan that “the best things in life are worth sharing” because that pizza was amazing and I would happily not share. But I am a sharing caring individual and shared. After looking at the calorie content I am very happy that I did.

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Outside of the box it looked a little bit like a pizza which had gone mouldy. I fought the urge to cover it in magic stars and maltesers and put it in the oven for 14 minutes.

14 minutes later and this calorific and chocorific (if that is not a word it is now) specimen emerged from the oven. Was it an acceptable last binge? Definitely so! Could I have eaten it on my own? 100% definitely not! Goodfella’s I am sorry and I agree with your slogan. Now I know that these are hanging out in the freezer at the Tesco across the road I don’t know how I am going to be able to leave them alone. However I think that the fear of not actually being able to complete this Children In Need challenge slightly outweighs the unhealthy pizza chilling in the freezer! Can’t even remember the last time I ran!

Why do IKEA not sell Coasters?

Mar4

I have really been procrastinating and avoiding making decisions. That is why I think Dad decided to take matters into his own hands one evening and drag me off to Reading to buy some bathroom storage and a mirror. I had been putting this off because I am a genuinely indecisive human being when it comes to purchasing things. Pretty stupid excuse as I am putting off purchasing things to go inside the biggest purchase I have ever made to date. I bought a flat with less indecision than I am currently having around purchasing somewhere to store my shampoo. Dad collected me in the van after work and he had also accosted Nan on his way to get me which was nice. I had quite a random list of stuff still to get. I needed bathroom storage for both bathrooms. Lots of people have told me that you do not need storage in a bathroom but I have always had a lot of bathroom storage. This has its downsides because it has allowed me to acquire a rather large collection of different shampoos, shower gels and other bath & shower related things which now require a home.

So this is what I ended up with. There are so many options with IKEA’s Kallax and it looks really smart. I love how you can take the basic shape and then add doors, drawers and storage containers as you see fit. You can also leave cubes empty which looks really nice if using in a living room or bedroom as you can put photos, candles or ornaments in them. However as I was using these in a bathroom it was important to protect things from condensation. I now just have to decide what to put on top of them. Thinking along the line of candles or a bowl of that nice smelling stuff (I believe it is called Potpourri but do not quote me on that). I did initially buy this lovely little specimen to do that job:

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Introducing Dobby the House Plant. Dobby was supposed to brighten up the bathroom but unfortunately when I got him home it just seemed a shame to leave him in the bathroom. So now I have another living room plant and a continuation to my Harry Potter references. At least if I ever burn myself I’m never more than 1 flight of stairs away from a nice dose of aloe vera. I have always wondered if the Aloe Vera plant is able to regrow back the bit that we break off. May need to do some aloe vera research.

The strangest thing I have found about IKEA is that they do not really sell coasters. I am now left to wonder if the Swede’s use coasters. Maybe I was bought up strangely but a drink always went on a coaster. Not only would that stop that really horrible ring that you get left behind when a glass is wet or a drink is knocked it protects the surface underneath. In that massive store there was the grand total of 1 coaster. This coaster was round and made of cork which I’m sure would have done the job but it just was not the coaster I’m looking for so it got left behind. I did however pick up some multicoloured place mats for the table and one of these is currently doubling as a rather large coaster on the coffee table.

I also went to pick up the mirror which had been looking at the past two times I had been to IKEA. I was very lucky as I managed to get the last one of these mirrors from IKEA Reading. So overal this was a very successful shopping trip. I even managed to treat my Nan to dinner in the restaurant!

However the next day when we went to put the mirror up there was the horrible realisation that it was broken. I went online hoping that maybe I had not been looking correctly when I thought I had bought the last one. Sadly for once my eyes were not paying tricks on me and the only way I was going to get this mirror was going to be by driving down to IKEA Southampton. Not ideal but it did allow for an evening of family bonding as my brother lives halfway between me and Southampton so he came along too and it became a bit of a family trip. I took back my broken mirror with no problems and went hunting for a shiny new one. I could not find it and was starting to panic. I got to where all the mirrors were and there was not my mirror anywhere. By now it was 20:30, we had been there over an hour and I only had half an hour left so I had to ask someone to help me track down this mirror. There was no way I was leaving without it after driving all that way. Luckily for me they had some somewhere in the warehouse although they did not know where. This must have been why they were the only IKEA in this half of the country to have it! I was “that customer” who was hovering in IKEA collections half  an hour after closing refusing to budge without the mirror while they tried to find it. Anyone who works in retail or who has ever worked in retail will know what I mean by “that customer”. So Apologies to the people of IKEA Southampton for making you late home. At least I was not tapping my contactless card on your non-contactless card machine despite you warning me it was not contactless. It could have been worse.

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However I am now a very happy customer with a lovely abstract mirror hanging on the wall in the hallway. Not too sure why it has been discontinued but I love it!

Anyway I still do not have an answer to my question which was why do IKEA not sell coasters. After visiting two in the space of five days I have not managed to find an answer so if anyone knows the answer to this question please let me know. If you were by any chance looking for cork round coasters to put your drinks on then IKEA is your place. You’re Welcome.

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good…

Feb26

I wrote a while ago about some canvases that I was going to put on the Living Room wall. They arrived last week but due to life being so busy I forgot to upload them! I am a massive Harry Potter fan, in fact it is some sort of miracle that the flat is not decorated from top to bottom to resemble Hogwarts. However I could not resist putting a little bit of Harry Potter magic into the living room via the words of the amazing Albus Dumbledore.

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I bought the photos off of Etsy and then had them made into canvases by Photobox. I think they turned out really well and I’m so happy with them! A little bit of Dumbledore wisdom can Always be helpful in many circumstances whether you’re a Harry Potter fan or not.

Mischief Managed.

 

February’s Challege

Feb13

It is nearly time for February’s Challenge! On the 16th of February me and Jenna will be climbing over the O2 Arena in London. Check out our blog and youtube and if you can spare anything to help us hit our £5000 charity for Children In Need we will be so grateful!

Hello! We are very please to be able to say that February’s challenge is now booked! You can watch our lovely little video below to find out what it is! We had had a rather heavy night the night before so were feeling a little worse for wear here so be kind! The video appears […]

via #2 – February – O2 Climb — Pinky & Perky’s CIN Challenge

Day 24 -Rehoming Many Ducks

Feb13

Been a very busy 3 days but I have finished unpacking! This includes the 2 boxes of ducks which were very difficult to place. In my old flat I had a lovely cabinet which became a lovely little home to the many ducks I have acquired throughout the years.

However there is no big cabinet in my new flat so I had to get a little bit creative with the duck placement. I actually only started with 1 duck which was a gift from America and then it just kind of grew from there. However they now have a new home.

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I can’t believe how quickly the flat has become so homely. I finally made use of my kitchen the other night and cooked the first proper dinner since I moved in. I have never had a gas cooker before but turns out they are a lot easier to use than I first thought and I think I may even prefer it to the electric one! I was having to unplug the reed lights in the corner before I went to bed as they do not have a switch. However I came home yesterday to find that my parents had bought me a remote control and now all my lights are controlled by remote! I feel a little bit like Albus Dumbledore now. Now I’ve unpacked I can finally settle and enjoy living here. In fact I decided that the last 3 weeks had more than earnt a lovely glass of wine.

Only a few more things to find homes for and life can resume normally 🙂
The saddest part of the last few days was Bobby and Brunch finally being separated. After living together for the past 6 weeks they had struck up quite a lovely friendship as seen in this post here. At least Bobby can come visit as much as he likes.

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Day 20 – We’re Moving!

Feb9

Something very strange happened last night. After a fun filled night of unpacking my life from cardboard boxes everyone went home and left me there. I lived in a rented flat before buying this one so it was not like I have never lived away from home before but it was a bit peculiar. Suddenly I was left in this flat which I’ve spent every waking minute of my life working on for the past 20 days and it’s actually nearly done! The indecisive person has made a decision and I was currently stood in my biggest decision to date. After spending an evening sorting out all of the boring bits including Council Tax, Contents Insurance, TV Licence, Gas and Electric it appears I may actually cope!

Bobby made it into the flat without being wrestled into a pair of doggy boots which he seemed very happy about. Sadly Bobby won’t be able to come live with me as he would be at home on his own all day while I was at work and it really wouldn’t be fair. Luckily for me though he can come visit all the time now I don’t have a “no pet” rule! I have at least one seal of approval on the carpet though as he took to laying on the carpet rather than his blanket! Brunch however did move in last night and seems to have settled in very well by the TV. He was definitely not very happy on the drive over or the trip up the stairs though, hopefully he has recovered from that trauma now 🙂

I’m so glad I waited for the living room and bedroom to be more or less finished before I moved in. Hopefully in a week or so I will have unpacked everything and it really will start to feel like home. I dashed to Argos after work and got those reed lights to go in the corner of the room as it looked really strange with nothing there and I think they’ve fitted in beautifully!

I woke up this morning and found myself making my bed with extreme precision and ever so carefully lining my shampoo and conditioners up in the shower. Not too sure what has happened to me but I think I may have turned into my mother.

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This lovely little creature had no trouble making himself feel at home though!