Harry/ Ben Potter

I just had to share this photo with you:

This is Ben this morning dressed up for his school street party to celebrate the Jubilee. The hair dye was wash out but it was bizarre seeing what Ben would look like with dark hair. xxx

Sunday Summary

What a lovely weekend, helped out by a large dose of the most GORGEOUS weather! A few highlights of the weekend were:


Wine tasting and dinner at Hotel du Vin:

I had a lovely evening on Saturday with my friend Kirsten. We found out all about different wines but my favourite part was the tasting! There wasn't a chance on this earth I was going to spit it out afterwards.

Crazy Golf:

This was a hilarious way to spend a Saturday afternoon and the weather was so gorgeous it felt as though we were somewhere far more exotic than Newcastle! We didn't bother with score cards but it would be fair to say Kirsten and I were worse than Ben and Eve and that there was a fair amount of cheating went on!

Sunday picnic in the park:

Steve was nursing a hangover after being out at our friend Karl's stag do but still made out of bed to enjoy the glorious sunshine with a picnic in Saltwell Park. 

There were other lovely parts of the weekend such as: spending Friday night with my lovely friend Gemma, grabbing a cheeky drink at The Cluny in the sun, a visit from my parents, we visited Ben's great grandma and (phew) I did a little project in the garden! It's amazing how much you can fit in when the sunshine provides you with glorious long days. Long may it last-although sadly the weather forecast is predicting clouds for tomorrow.

Hope you all had a chilled weekend and managed to enjoy some sunshine.xxx

Sunday Summary

Well, last weekend seemed to whizz by at a ridiculous speed and so, imagine my dismay when Saturday seemed to do exactly the same!


It started off well when Steve picked me up from work with 'for no reason' flowers (and they happened to be my favourite type which translates as 'any that look like they've been freshly picked from a woodland or meadow'). We went home and ate, relaxed and snuggled up for an evening watching 'The Wire'. So far, so good.


But then Saturday came whizzing past (blink and you'd have missed it), and even though it too was lovely, I felt like I barely stopped to soak in how lovely it was.


I started the day doing a body pump session at the gym followed by a super quick dry trim at the hairdressers (as a money saving thing I only go to my more expensive salon one out of every three cuts for a thorough reshape and colour). Then it was off round the charity shops with my mum where I picked up a skirt and top for a fiver- bargain. After that we went to see my lovely cousin Jenny, her husband Adrian, their gorgeous son Irwin and their (as yet unnamed) beautiful new addition:

Can you believe my incredible cousin managed to produce this wonderful little boy at home, with a two hour labour and no drugs? Amazing.

After we got home and had tea, we decided to try and stretch out the remains of the day with a lovely walk with Gizzy where we managed to see rabbits, horses and even a stag! I love that we're starting to get hints of summer, this photo was taken at around 7 pm which is just lovely after months of grey, cold and dark drizzly evenings. An that was that, Saturday skipped by in a heartbeat!

Sunday (thankfully)was a little slower. I sweated my backside off at Urban Bounce at the gym then came back and spent an hour in the garden, mowing the lawn and tidying the beds. I was joined by Ben and we planted some spinach and peas and I have to say, that time with the sun on our necks, messing round in the dirt- just felt like heaven! 

         

{Benjy has made a crafty appearance in this photo too}

Then (and the highlight of my day), we went to the Blagdon Estate for a charity open day. It is just one of the most beautiful places but even though it's very local, it is a private estate and so it was the first time we'd been inside. It's like a fairy tale:

{Ben and I at the lake- how amazing would it be to go wild swimming here?}

{Just one photo of the amazing plant life}

{Poor quality photo but you can just about make out the old stone bridge in the back ground}

{My boys}

After Steve and I went on a cheeky 'date': afternoon tea at The Fisherman's Lodge. Although it was lovely, it did feel a bit strange being in a dimly lit room when the weather was so glorious outside.

{The dopey grin you see here is the way my facial muscles naturally respond to scones}

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend folks!xxx

It's been FOREVER...

Well, okay, it's only been just over a week since I last blogged (and even then it was a lame effort) but it seems like yonkys of donkeys ago.


I've started to really got for it at the gym in order to shift those last few pounds for summer and have decided my fav classes are: body pump, core stability and urban bounce. I'm off again tonight for another session, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger (or in this case, makes you walk like John Wayne for a few days and cry if anybody touches you- seriously- sitting on the toilet is uncomfortable as my bum muscle ache so much)!


When not at the gym, I've been:

Bathing with these pretty bath bombs to sooth my sore and weary limbs (they do make your mop very greasy though)

Avoiding tempting food like this cascade of Florentines I mean, come on! Someone was seriously trying to test me at the bakery on Saturday.

Walking with my boys 

Well, have to dash because I'm off to sweat, squat and generally gurn in agony at the gym- hope you all have something far more enjoyable planned for the evening.xxx

Sunday Summary

I was going through my iphone photos and realised (hangs head in shame) that there are numerous things I wanted to blog about recently but forgot too. Yet sadly, today is not the day I'm going to blog about them! I could tell you all about: our new car, a friend's Hen Party, my aunt and uncle's Ruby Wedding Anniversary, my friend Laura's birthday... the list goes on. But I'm afraid it's a bank holiday weekend and sometimes life is for living not documenting so instead here's some photos of our lovely chilled walk in Jesmond Dene from today:

And you can check out the River Cottage website here-link! I adore Hugh (I think Steve is worrired) and am currently delving into the River Cottage Veg book (though I also love his family recipe book). I made this tasty beetroot tart from River Cottage Veg tonight for dinner- yum. The strange yellow blobs are the mustard dressing, also yum!

You should check out his River Cottage series on YouTube if you haven't come across him before and enjoy Hugh (seriously, enjoy him, he's gorgeous) while I'm going to spend some time with Steve watching The Wire.

Hope you're enjoying a lovely bank holiday, if you're lucky enough to have one, no work tomorrow!xxx

Tynemouth Market

I would defy anyone to go to Tynemouth Market and not find something they love (and fall in love with the place too). It's held every Saturday and Sunday morning in the beautiful old train station (still in use for the metro) and takes up both platforms. I don't think I've ever went and not come away with something lovely. We went a couple of weeks ago so I made a point of grabbing some snaps:

{The gorgeous architecture of the station}

{Kitchen goodies on a stall}

{Fresh bread- it's a shame you can't add smell-a-vision to this photo}

{Sunnies and gloves}

{Olives- enough said}

{Ben and his cousin enjoying a greasy burger}

{I bought this beautiful light for £12, it's going to hang in our entrance}

Hope you're all enjoying some sunshine where you are (we're certainly not), at least we're over the hump day tomorrow.xxx