Christmas Afternoon Tea!

I'm off for my (almost annual!) Christmas afternoon tea tomorrow after I have finished work ... I am VERY excited!

Evita and a Charidee Dinner!

I mentioned in my previous post that we had gone to my parents for the weekend. It was quite exciting as we took half days and headed West (on different trains ... but that's a whole different story!)

Me and mum got dressed up and headed to the college where my Dad works for a Charity Dinner in aid of Help For Heroes and the Fifteen Foundation. It was a brilliant evening - a team of chefs from Claridges go to the college and work with the students to produce an amazing six course dinner! Very nice!! I also got to briefly meet An American Girl In England, a family friend, who is writing a book with my Dad!

On Saturday we went to see "Evita" in Birmingham. It was wonderful! You can't beat a good show!

Whilst at home, Mum helped me out with my first big knitting project! I am still an incredibly slow knitter - and as this project is going to be a Christmas present for someone, I needed a bit of a hand! Does anyone know where to buy cheap Rowan Kidsilk Aura yarn? Or know of a cheap alternative?

Hampton Court Flower Show and the Further Summer Adventures of Victoria Plum - Part One

I went to my first RHS Flower Show last Friday!!! It was great ... I was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds, but it was worth it to see all the lovely gardens and we did manage to escape the hoards by heading to the champagne bar! I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a Country Living tent! With a Joules stall (yes, this is truly an obsession!).

I spent my pennies on seeds from Rebekah's Vegetable Seeds (peas - Feltham First, turnip - Manchester Market, tomato - Roma, squash - Waltham Butternut, onion - White Lisbon, Chinese Chives) and Growing Old who specialise in Heritage and Heirloom seeds (tomato - Yellow Grape, pepper - Long Red Marconi, basil - petra red for my Dad as he loves purple basil, sweet pea - Everlasting and Grandiflora Mixed Collection and some mixed lettuce). I also got a lovely flower for the garden ... but I can't remember what it is called!

What a lovely day ... and the rain held off! What a lovely start to my slightly longer than usual weekend!

On Saturday we popped to Wimbledon village to have a look at the Joules sale (!) I got a lovely dress and skirt - both were half price!

I also ended up in the Cath Kidston sale .... and got a new mac ... so ended up spending a bit more than planned, but I have sold some old stuff on ebay this week - so that has made me feel slightly better (such a once for impulse purchases when egged on by Mr Plum! No more shopping for Victoria Plum this summer :)

After a lovely breakfast in the local Giraffe we headed off to B&Q to pick up a few house bits and of course ended up in Ikea ....

Saturday night was spent watching Prisoner of Azkhaban and Goblet of Fire whilst knitting something for the Sleepover Swap I am doing. I can't wait to see Half Blood Prince!!!!!

Sunday was much lazier ... housework and gardening before heading into town to join my brother for drinks to celebrate the 10th anniversary of him moving down to London to start his job at Claridges! He doesn't work there anymore, but had some drinks there - which was very luxurious and completely excessive - but a rather nice treat for a Sunday evening!

All in all, a lovely weekend! The good news is that I have booked this Friday and the following Monday off work - woohoo! We were going to go camping, but have decided that as the weather is a tad unpredictable, we will stay at home and do a few bits at home. I hope that you are all having lovely weeks!

I'm nearing my first blogging birthday - time for another giveaway methinks! Keep reading!

Plum's On Tour - Paris

We recently went to Paris with my wonderful family for the weekend, to celebrate Mummy Plum's birthday...it was lovely! The weekend was taken up with sight-seeing and eating - what more could you want?

One of the highlights was a trip to Mariage Freres a beautiful tea shop just off the Rue du Rivoli. Mariage Freres are the creators of the delicious Marco Polo jelly - served in Claridges with their afternoon tea.  We could have spent hours in the shop looking at the teas, jellies, chocolates .... it was lovely and old worldy!  We were very restrained and got some Marco Polo jelly and tea and some special Christmas tea and jelly ... which will be saved until Christmas of course!  

Have a look at the Mariage Freres website ... it has a very interesting "history of tea" and apparently the French drink on average, 100 cups a year ... I get through that amount a week!!

Don't think we can wait to taste the Marco Polo jelly, I'm off to bake some scones!!!