A couple of outfits

We've had rain - it's exciting - it never rains here - but today it has been cloudy and overcast all day - the mountains are covered in thick dark cloud - it won't last - it never does, but whilst it's here it's so lovely to sit inside and knit and watch Murder She Said with Margaret Rutherford - don't you just love Margaret Rutherford - she is so English and so adventurous at her age - she is the perfect Miss Marple for me - feisty and cheeky, and just a bit of a busy body ! I never really liked the Agatha Cristie books - not sure why - maybe I should give them another go, but the TV adaptations of anything Cristie have always been firm favourites with me - I wasn't too sure about Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple but I thought Julia McKenzie in the recent ones was fabulous. I can't wait to see more. Perfect knitting viewing I think you'll agree





I have a couple of outfits to share with you - I wish I had more to share but I didn't get around to taking photos of a couple of them - the one I wish I had taken a photo of was on Wednesday evening - I went round to a friend's house with a group of ladies that I don't know that well, for a Mojito night - I've never had a Mojito before and wow they were gorgeous and I had a lovely evening as well - bonus - anyway I wore a blue jersey dress that I bought for a wedding last year with a brown belt, grey short sleeved cardigan, red tights and my brown boots - it was a pretty cool outfit I think and I'll definitely try to wear it again before the weather warms us again - I'll make sure I get a photo this time.

Anyway here are the photos I have for you



This was a "I've woken up really late and just need to chuck some clothes on" outfit. The vest top is from New Look, the long sleeve top is from a shop in Bali called Mist, the jeans are from Anthro and the pumps are Sanuk - these pumps are developing a hole in them - I don't know what I am going to do when these shoes are gone - I love them so much - problem is they are fabric and my toes turn up in a funny way and make their way through most materials at some point or another - oh well - I've got a new pair of shoes that I ordered after Christmas coming tomorrow, so I will just have to wear those instead - not if it's raining though, they are sandals !



This was a going to the beach after school outfit - well I wore it all day but I chose it because we were going to the beach. The t-shirt is from Gap and to be honest I usually wear it in bed ! The trousers are from Fat Face and this is the first time that I have worn them and felt comfortable in them. The shoes are Crocs and the cardigan is an old one from Gap - it's a bit faded in places but I was kind of going for a hobo chic look, so I thought it didn't matter !!! I actually got told I looked very preppy, so it was obviously a good outfit !!!

I'm linking up with Lyndsey at the Pleated Poppy for her What I Wore Wednesday feature - really good fun - give it a go if you can.

What's it all About ?

Am I getting old or is this just ridiculous ?



I have stumbled across the One Piece website and for a mere $187 you can have the above number. OK - to wear something like that in the comfort of your own home - turn the heating down and snuggle on the sofa, as long as your other half doesn't mind, that is your business, but really, honestly I have heard that people are actually going out in these things. This article is really quite amusing and worrying at the same time ! I mean really - who wants to go out looking like a baby !

I haven't had time to take a photo of my outfit today, but if you have a look at my Boxing Day outfit - that it is, with the addition of a stripey scarf !! We have been on the Logos Hope today. It's basically a rather large floating book shop - the boys loved it, book shops here are really really expensive and have limited selection, so it was a great opportunity to get some really reasonably priced books for them. It's always great to do something different and doing something like that really gives you the opportunity to rub shoulders with the locals - whether it is battling to get past the queue bargers to get on the bus to go to the boat - or trying to avoid the children getting pushed off the gangplank by over enthusiastic locals, or doing our best to get to the book shelves past the hoards of other people without being shoved out the way or prevent people with "only one item" pushing in front of you in the queue to pay - yes indeed it was an interesting day !!!! Still we came away with a nice haul of books and none of us ended up in the drink - so it was worth it !

Ooooh - The Colour is Back

I have been a little light on colour recently - usually it's my thing - I love colour, hardly ever wear black always wear something nice and bright but with it being winter that has slipped a little bit and I have found myself wearing much more in the neutral palette than normal - not today - no sireebob !!!!

Here we go !


The vest top is from Jigsaw, the boxy jumper is from Totem and it is made by Chris and Carol - it's lovely but it shrank - that is a whole other story - I think it looks OK with this skirt - what do you think ? does it look too short ? The skirt is from Etsy and it is so comfortable - it has a roll down jersey top - it's not maternity specifically but easily could be used as such - it's fab. The boots are my Christmas boots, of course and the scarf is one that I knitted called a Clapotis. If you are a knitter you will have heard of the Clapotis - every knitter all over the world has knitted at least one of these - I have knitted three but this is the only one that I have kept - actually I quite fancy another one, they are so versatile, but use up a LOT of yarn and are therefore quite expensive to make - anyway this one is knitted in 100% silk and it's fabulous - I love the colour.

So talking of colour - have you seen these ?




These are by DKNY from the upcoming season and all I can say is OH MY GOD - I want them all so badly - the colours are just fabulous, so bright and vibrant, just my bag. Those Banana trousers and magenta shirt are amazing and if I had the money I'd get them right now - well that and if I was two stone lighter - but that's a whole other issue.

My sister is getting married later this year (September to be exact) and I would dearly love to have lost two stone by then and be able to wear an outfit like this - trouble is, as I sit here with a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit I just can't seem to find the omph to make me do it. I hate dieting so much - I hate denying myself food, then I want it even more - I like exercising and don't have a problem with that and I am trying to eat sensibly, not eat sweets and exercise - I am just not sure that is going to give me a body good enough to wear DKNY by September. I don't want to do any faddy diets, that's not my thing - but if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can get some weight shifted I'd be very grateful indeed. I feel like no matter what I do it just doesn't come off - when I try I get depressed, so I am refusing to weigh myself - as Oprah says, it's just a number - I am trying to make it more about health and how I feel about myself than what the scales say - I'll see how long it lasts 'cause honestly I need to see some results - bikini season is fast approaching - I think I may need to invest in the corset version !!!!

I Cannot Believe It !

I'm back - again - I really am ! I know it's a shock isn't it !

My outfit today was this little number


The top is from Primark - very cheap, the jeans are from Mexx and I really like them although after Christmas they are a little on the ahem - tight side ! the shoes are from Crocs and I love the look of these but they make my feet quite hot 'cause they don't have any air holes and they rub a bit at the back - I'm sure I just need to wear them in a bit more, they are so cute.

As you may or may not know - the boys got a very special Christmas present for Christmas 2009 - a gorgeous Chocolate Brown Labrador called Biscuit - she is wonderful, so great with the boys and a joy to have around, most of the time.



However, there is one basic problem with Biscuit - she is a Labrador and man oh man does she like to chew. For Christmas Santa brought her a stocking full of lovely new toys to play with - by the end of Christmas day she had pulled apart and ripped the stuffing out of this little guy.



By the next day she had chewed in half her Kong Tug Toy



Both these products are by Kong, which I thought were supposed to be pretty tough, however, every toy she seems to get she eats through in no time at all - it's OK if it's a rawhide or bone or the like, but toys that are supposed to be designed for dogs are seen off the premises in mere moments. So, do any of you dog owners out there have any suggestions for good sturdy dog toys that will stand up to the teeth of a Labrador ?!!!

A couple of lovely photos of our beautiful biscuit - we love her so much

Start as you mean to go on !

Well here I am - day one of trying to post my outfits more regularly - here is todays

You have seen most of this before so I won't bore you with too much of a description - the jeans are from Anthro, the shoes are Sanuk, the vest top is from New Look, the top is from Nick and Friends and the necklace is a new one from Monsoon, I bought it in the sale the other day and it's gorgeous, oh and I'm wearing my Lisa Leonard Family Tree necklace too - I love this one and I get lots and lots of comments on it.

I watched the new series of Upstairs Downstairs yesterday - all of it in one go, it was wonderful - I love a period drama, it was perfect sitting in my living room, with a cup of tea and my knitting watching Upstairs Downstairs, it doesn't get much better than that. Anywho, whilst watching this delight I fell in love - not with a character, or an actor although that Spargo gentleman was rather easy on the eyes I won't deny ! No, no, no, nothing so shallow - I fell in love with every single piece of clothing worn by the indomitable Lady Maud Holland - played by Eileen Atkins.



I wish I could find a shop that sold clothes just like the ones that she wore in the series. They were full of texture and colour and just the kind of style that I love.



The jacket that she wore in the final scene of the series was just fabulous - I can't find a picture of it anywhere, but it was fabulous - red with gold embroidery, a beautiful swing shape and just fabulous - I want that jacket and what is more she wore it with peacock blue tights - wonderful. If anyone knows where I can find clothes as gorgeous as this, please do let me know - I feel a development of personal style coming on ! I need to watch the series again just to see her clothes - fabulous - and I have heard it rumoured that they are going to make further episodes of Upstairs Downstairs this year - I can't wait, what with that a further episodes of Downton Abbey, it could be a very period year ! Bring it on I say !

What I've Been Wearing

Once again - life got in the way and I haven't posted what I've been wearing recently - December really was a mad month, we had all the Christmas stuff going on of course and I also booked a table to sell my wares at the school Christmas Fair. It was hard work I have to say, I made loads of jars of chutneys, also beanbags, and Christmas decorations - it was great fun, but I don't think I would do it again, mainly because it meant that I didn't get to go around the Fair with my boys, the went to see Santa with their Dad and had a fab time but I missed it all and I was sad about that - so if I do do another Fair this year, it won't be the school one - I'm still deciding if I want to do this again, I'll see. Whilst on the subject of visiting Santa I just have to tell you that someone we know was playing Santa and he told me afterwards that he thought that our children were the most lovely that he saw on the night - apparently, Jacob told Santa that all he wanted for Christmas was to be with his family and Oscar wanted all his families to be robots !!! Gotta love those gorgeous kids !

Without further ado then, here is what I have been wearing recently.



This was for an evening out at the house of some friends just before Christmas - I really liked this outfit, it felt dressy but very comfortable and that's important you can't deny it ! The top is from a department store here called Centrepoint - I actually bought this and a sparkly jacket and when I got to the till the guy told me that all items from that section of the store were buy one get one free so I got to go and choose two more items for free !!! So, I got this top in black and purple, the sparkly jacket and a black stretchy bandage style skirt - bargain !!! The jeans are from H & M and are quite wide legged with a fab button detail down the front. The shoes are from Totem and are not as comfortable as they look but are gorgeous nonetheless. The earrings are quite old ones from Monsoon - here is a close up of them - I love them, the really smarten up an outfit.





This was my Boxing Day outfit. We went to the house of some other friends of ours for an afternoon of games - it was great fun - racing toy camels, penalty shoot out, chopstick eating races, animal charades and Christmas Scattegories - we had a great time and really appreciated all the effort that was put in by our good buddies - thank you guys.

This outfit features most of my Christmas presents in one go ! I got some fabulous cowboy style boots that you can just see sticking out of my jeans - you'll see a lot more of those I can promise you, I plan to wear them until I can stand the sweat no more and have to go back to flip flops again ! I also got the lovely blue top that I'm wearing for Christmas as well as the Lisa Leonard Necklace and the beaded necklace - they are all gorgeous and I was so happy with them all - thanks everyone.

Here - have a closer look at those lovely necklaces !!



Here we have my lovely boots again - see I told you you'd see a lot of them !



The jeans are my skinny jeans from Zara, the vest top is from New Look and the jumper from Totem - the scarf is from H & M and the necklaces are one from Lisa Leonard and the key one was a Christmas present from my lovely Sister in Law that a friend of hers made - isn't it gorgeous - want to get a better view ? oh OK then !!



Pretty cool hey ?!

Next we have a little going to the pool outfit. We have, over Christmas and the New Year had visitors to stay with us - my Husband's parents and his Sister and her two children came to stay with us. We actually went camping to a lovely place called Bar Al Hickman for New Year, which was wonderful, we have been to the same place for the last three New Year Eve's and we have a fabulous time every time - it's so relaxing there. Anyway get to the point ! This all meant that we spend much more time than normal for this time of year going to the pool and the beach. It is cold here for us at the moment - not compared to other parts of the world I know, but for us - going to the pool when it's 20 degrees C is barmy - but the visitors wanted to get a tan so off to the pool we went and this is one of the outfits I wore to go up to the pool.


The skirt is from Promod, the t-shirt is a really old one from H & M, the flip flops are Havianas my lovely new red ones yum ! the bikini is one that I bought for next to nothing from Centrepoint.



This was a really comfy outfit, a lovely new dress that I got in the sale from Gap - the jeans are from Zara, my lovely Christmas boots again, of course ! The lovely cardy is from Gap many years ago - it has a huge hood on the back and is really cosy.




Here we have today's outfit - Christmas boots of course, Zara jeans (these jeans seem to be featuring a lot it would seem !) The vest top is from Jigsaw and the jumper is from Totem, the wrap is a Hanne Falkenberg one that I knitted, it took me ages, but I love it. This is the first time I have actually worn it and I got loads of compliments on it. Lots of people asked me if I might like to knit one for them, but I had to explain that when something takes over a year to knit there isn't a lot of money to be made from it !

So those are my outfits for now - I have been thinking about maybe trying to post my outfits on a daily basis for a while rather than a weekly basis just to see how it goes. I seem to miss Wednesday with alarming regularity and I hate having to post a mish mash of photos all at one time. I also find that I have been wanting to blog more recently but I haven't made the effort to do it, if I have to come on here to post my outfits hopefully I'll get back into the habit of posting more. I have found that since my knitting has taken a back seat I have hardly been blogging at all. I have been struggling to find an identity for my blog - it used to be all about knitting but now, there is very little knitting going on what am I blogging about ? I think I'll just get posting and find out, it's all that I can do really ?

So, I have a question - do you dust your Christmas decorations whilst they are up ? I took mine down the other day and boy oh boy were they dusty ! They have clearly not been dusted the whole time they were up - what do you do ?