Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

Well ... we finally made it to the campsite!!

After my in-laws fixed the problem with the caravan they towed us up to a lovely, quiet camp site in Hunmanby, East Yorkshire ....

Here is our little home for the week ....

We had day trips to our favourite coastal places: Bridlington, Filey and Scarborough ... the weather was beautiful - perfect for coastal walks.

Of course, a trip to Scarborough means a trip to the wonderful Harbour Bar ... and Knickerbocker Glories!! Mmm mmmm!!

We also spent time snoozing, knitting, drinking tea and eating yummy tea loaf from Betty's Cafe in York!

Here we are on the beach in Filey! I'm the short dumpy one! Ha Ha Ha

What a shame that we had to come back to London and go back to work!

Thank you for all your lovely comments while I have been away ... don't forget that there is still time to enter my 200th post giveaway!

I have been catching up with all your wonderful blogs, and have even been given a blog award by Deborah at Fondant Kiss!! I will blog about that later in the week!

Victoria Plum is ...

... still stuck in Hull. We should hopefully find out later on if the problem with the tow bar on my inlaws car can be rectified ... if not we will be heading back to Plum House tomorrow and to work on Wednesday .... boo!

Today we are heading to York for a trip to my favourite place, Betty's Cafe, for lovely tea and cakes.

Rather than moping around today - I will be counting my blessings that we were not hoping to fly anywhere ....

Don't Forget ...

One final post while my inlaws are sorting out a slight hitch* with the caravan they are going to be towing to the seaside for us!!

Don't forget to enter my 200th post giveaway!!

See you in a week!!

* slight hitch means that we are still at my inlaws two hours later ... waiting for the RAC van and the prospect of spending our weeks holiday in the caravan in their garden and not on the lovely East Yorkshire coast ... but, I suppose it could be worse and we could have been one of the poor holidaymakers waiting for the ash cloud to disperse ... a week in Hull is not so bad.

15% off at Cath!

15% off at Cath Kidston ... just for today!!

Baby Plum's First Concert!

On Sunday night me and Mr Plum, met up with my brother and his girlfriend and a dear family friend for dinner. Our friend is called Diane Ponzio and she is an amazing singer/songwriter ... before heading off for pizza, we had a personal rendition of her lovely song "Be My Lighthouse" ... it was Baby Plum's first experience of live music ... and she loved it! You can download "Be My Lighthouse" (via Amazon for 79p) by clicking here

Spoilt Rotten and giveaway winner!

One of my oldest friends came round for lunch yesterday ... we used to regularly meet up for cheese and wine after work but I had to cancel our last trip as I was suffering from morning sickness ... and hadn't reached the 12 week point ... and couldn't think of a viable excuse to get out of eating lots of (now, sadly banned for a while!) un-pasteurized cheese!

It was this friend who began my addiction to Philosophy's "Amazing Grace" range ... and she turned up with some lovely 'mum to be" pampering goodies from the Little Me Organics range ... mmmmm As soon as she had left to begin her trip back up to North London, I jumped in the bath and had a lovely relaxing soak. I am spoilt by my lovely friends.

And after a rather dreary day at work, I headed to the pool for a refreshing swim and to sort my muddled head out and got home to find that I had won my first ever giveaway!! Woohooo! You have NO IDEA how much this has cheered me up! The giveaway was over at Fondant Kiss ... have a look at her blog - it's lovely and perfect for a miserable Monday!

Fabric Addict Swap, My 200th Post Giveaway and other sunny weekend stuff ...

I have just signed up to Crafty Helen's First Swap! It's a Fabric Addict swap ... perfect!

Wasn't it a glorious day yesterday? I had to work in the morning, but that was okay because I could see the beautiful blue sky out of the window and by 1pm I was on my way to Covent Garden to meet Mr Plum at the London Transport Museum for the Suburbia exhibition. Mr Plum was, typically, 30 minutes late and incommunicado for that period ... so I managed to find myself a free curb in the Piazza and sat reading my new book The Resourceful Mum's Handbook (full of thrifty tips for not getting sucked into all the maternity and baby "must haves"), and listening to the nearby buskers!

The exhibition itself was okay. We had already spent a day at the museum itself, so didn't bother looking at the main exhibits again, and am glad that we had a 2 for 1 voucher. We found that we had already seen many of the Suburbia exhibits before, mainly because we have read about them, watched programmes about it, and attended a couple of lectures at the museum earlier this year. I am glad that we went though! If you haven't been to the Transport Museum and find yourself in London - I would definitely recommend it.

Under 16s are FREE and adults should make use of the National Rail 2 for 1 offer!

After that (and a piece of cake and cup of tea) we headed up to my FAVOURITE department store ... JOHN LEWIS!!! I was planning to get some wool so that I could start crocheting a blanket - but was overwhelmed by the choice of colours couldn't remember what I had in my yarn stash at home. So came away empty handed!

We popped to the Nursery Department and had another look at prams. Living in London and not being able to drive has had to influence our choice as I need to be able to get the pram off and on buses etc easily. Some friends had offered us their old pram for free - but unfortunately it was like a mini-tank and was not really practical for our needs. So we have chosen this one:

We had decided on this one even before we found it in purple!! Baby Plum in a Plum pram! It's nice and nippy and perfect for getting out and about!

This is my 200th post!!! And to celebrate I will be having a giveaway - and like last time, the gift will be a a surprise! If you would like to enter you can do any of the following:

Leave a comment on this post

Become a follower of my blog

Add the button to your blog (make sure you let me know!)

The more things you do ... the more entries you get!! The winning entry will be drawn from a cake tin on 1st May. GOOD LUCK!

Blogland is going giveaway crazy ...

The lovely RosieP turns 50 on Monday and is having a baking themed giveaway to celebrate ... have a look at her lovely blog here

I've got that Friday feeling! And another giveaway ...

Phew ... Friday at last! Why is it that the short weeks always feel the longest? And I have stupidly agreed to work tomorrow to earn some extra pennies for nappies! Ha Ha! Thankfully only working tomorrow morning and then Mr Plum and I will be heading to the Suburbia exhibition at the London Transport Museum. You have to pay to get into the Transport Museum (unlike many of the other large London museums and galleries), but we will be using a National Rail 2 for 1 voucher - these are fab and make a day out in the capital slightly more affordable (otherwise the Transport Museum is £10 each!!) Have you been?

So here I am, feet up at home (I had planned to go for a swim - but am too tired and think that maybe I will try for a Sunday morning swim instead...) catching up with lovely blogs, cats have come home (today they spent the whole day out in the sunshine and came in as soon as I got home!), and a new blog is discovered! Hurrah!

Check out Fondant Kiss who is doing a "New Beginnings" giveaway where the lucky commenter will get this beautiful necklace ... I love to enter giveaways - but never with any success! Oh well .... Not long until my 200th post giveaway!

As Chris Evans would say .... "Happy Fridays Everyone!"

Everyone's Doing Giveaways!

Have a look at Helen's blog ... she is having her first ever giveaway!

The Edible Gardener

Did you watch Alys Fowler's new programme on BBC2 tonight? It was called "The Edible Gardener" and I'm sure you will be able to catch it on i-player if you missed it. The programme accompanies Alys' new book: 'The Edible Gardener - How To Have Your Garden And Eat It'.

It was inspirational - I really must get out into the garden and sow some veg! The Peatini's looked fab! I must remember those when Baby Plum has arrived!!

New Duvet!

The lovely Mr Plum treated me to this fab new duvet set from Tesco instead of an Easter Egg! Very similar to my BHS duvet ... but with more stripes!!

This is a picture from Tesco Direct - not my bed! And it was a bargain at £13.50 for a Kingsize!!

Only 5 posts to go until my 200th post giveaway! Keep reading ...

Crochet, wool plea and a Baby Plum update

I quite often suffer from "hooky envy" ... do you? Especially when reading the fabulous Attic24 or Do You Mind If I Knit? blogs!

I LOVE to knit - but sometimes find it a tad frustrating that it takes so long for the finished product to 'materialise'.

Ever since I went to the Make Lounge, I have wanted to learn how to crochet the lovely granny squares that I often see on other blogs, and found a brilliant little tutorial via the Attic24 blog ... here is what I have done so far! A bit 'rustic' around the edges ... but if I wanted something perfect, I would go and buy it from an overpriced shop! ha ha I think that if I do 35 of these squares it will be the perfect size to keep Baby Plum cosy in her push chair.

I have encountered a smallish problem though! I bought a few balls of Rowan Cashsoft Chunky from a cheapo wool website earlier this year ... and I stupidly only bought one ball of each colour ... and now I have discovered to my horror that Rowan have discontinued their Cashsoft Chunky range (nooooooooo!) Anyway, I have found a few websites that still have some of the grey and light purple ... but the dark purple is nowhere to be found.

This is where I make a cheeky plea!

If anyone has the odd ball of Rowan Cashsoft Chunky in Eggplant (colour 716) hidden away in their yarn stashes, or knows of a haberdashery which still stocks this lovely lovely chunky wool - I will happily pay good money for it!

In the meantime I am going to have a go at crocheting a pretty stripy blanket for Baby Plum ... I have seen a lovely one in Mamas and Papas - but think that £32 is a bit excessive (as long as I can source some lovely, but cheap yarn!)

Me and Mr Plum went for our 20 week anomaly scan on Thursday ... everything was fine (which was a relief, as I tend to worry ...) we also found out that there is a 95% that we are having a little girl! I really didn't mind what sex our baby was, as long as he/she was healthy ... but didn't want to turn down the chance to find out!

Giveaway at Kelly's Blog!

Have a look at Kelly's blog for another wonderful monthly giveaway!

Good Enough To Eat!

I haven't done a swap for a while ... and couldn't resist this one which I spotted on Victoria's blog ....

Spring Greetings

Happy Easter!!

Don't eat too much choc ...

Victoria and Albert In Love

A couple of Sundays ago I watched a very interesting programme on BBC 1 about a new exhibition opening at the Queen's Gallery ... I don't know whether you saw it too?

Well, today I went to the Victoria and Albert: Art In Love exhibition with Mr Plum and my parents. Unfortunately, HRH was at home, so the State Rooms at Buck House were closed ... but we'll be going back (for my third visit!)

The exhibition was brilliant ... beautiful artwork and jewels given to each other, Victoria's drawings of her children and music specially arranged so that Victoria and Albert could duet together ....

I would definitely recommend this exhibition if you find yourself in London over the next couple of months. You can book tickets here

Another lovely Spring day in London

What a lovely day!

I took a days leave and met three friends to spend the morning at the Country Living Spring Fair ... so many lovely things to buy!! I was very restrained and got a lovely Babar picture, some edible glitter and some fab fairy cake cases!

After we were all shopped out - we headed to The Berkeley for their wonderful Pret A Portea ... they were still serving their Autumn/Winter 2009 collection - I will have to go back when they release the Spring/Summer 2010 collections!

Look at these lovely cakes ... with "congratulations" written in chocolate - what a lovely brother I have!

Don't these cakes look fab? And Sarah Ferguson was sitting a couple of tables away from us with one of her daughters! How exciting!!

Oh, what a shame I have to go back to work tomorrow ...

I'm a Pampered Chef - parts 2 & 3

Way back in December, my parents gave me some Pampered Chef goodies. Well - just before Christmas I tried out the cookie press, but then lost my baking mojo (thanks to Baby Plum, I think!) so I hadn't got around to trying out this ...

.... or these ....

until yesterday!!!

I need a bit more practice I think ... but good for a first go!

I'm back!

Hello!

I haven't been anywhere ... just too lethargic to think about blogging, or to do anything worth blogging about! I have just felt sooooooo tired the last few months and haven't done an awful lot except sleep (staying in bed until the afternoon at weekends - and for those who know me, will know how unusual this is!) or sit in front of the tv (watching Glee, Desperate Housewives and the Vampire Diaries ... and far too many soaps ... I even cried when Bradley died in Eastenders ... GET A GRIP MRS PLUM!!)

Don't worry - I have been keeping up with all your wonderful and interesting blogs ... and leaving the odd comment here and there ... and I am glad to say that for the first time in a long while - I feel like me again .... Victoria Plum has returned!!

So, with the return of the sunshine this lovely March weekend, me and Mr Plum have been getting up bright and early ... have taken delivery of a tumble drier (not particularly environmentally friendly, I know ... but I now have three weeks of dirty washing cleaned and dry ... and our little flat doesn't smell of a dirty laundry for once!

We headed out to have another look at prams ... we have narrowed it down to two favourites and will make our final decision when we head to the Baby Show in May.

Last night I even baked!!! I have not done a bit of baking since before Christmas and the constant nausea started ... I have a batch of cupcakes in the kitchen ready to ice ... more of that later!

We let the kitties out into the garden for the first time yesterday ... Pansy was the braver of the two and has been out and exploring ... poor little Twister - he has found the whole experience extremely traumatic and I'm not really sure what to do about it. He is very nervous and clinging to me all the time ... hopefully he will get a bit braver.

The picture at the top of the post is of my lovely tidy greenhouse! I haven't put any seeds in yet - and will leave that until next weekend. I spent this morning tidying what I should have tidied last October ... but never got around to it ... and then it got too cold/wet/snowy ... and I had no desire to be out there!

So here I am ... on a lovely sunny Sunday, enjoying catching up with things which have been ignored for so long!

Rightyho ... I'm off to put the kettle on and get my seed potatoes ready to chit!

Lovely surprises on a Monday morning in the office ...

I had that Monday morning feeling this morning .... the alarm went off at 7am and at 7.30am I finally managed to drag myself out of bed and into the shower....got a later than normal train and finally made it into work at 9.30am - oh well, only 30 minutes later than planned!

But I was greeted by a lovely surprise waiting for me on my desk ... my team had bought me a set of Cath Kidston knitting needles as a little pressie. It was so sweet of them, and nearly bought a tear to my eye (but not sure the chaps in the room could have coped with that much emotion first thing on a Monday!).

Thank you to all those who have left such lovely messages on my previous post!

A little bit of news ...

Me and Mr Plum are having a baby! This is the 12 week scan I had on Wednesday ... the day when it all became ... real.

Until Wednesday I felt sick and tired ... and overwhelmed and a little bit shocked (I don't know why! I just found it so hard to get my head around ...) and then I saw the little Baby Plum and everything changed!

So ... baby is due at the beginning of August - and I can't wait!

Shall we go to Metro-land?

Last night I went to a very interesting lecture at the London Transport Museum. The theme of the talk was Betjemen and Suburbia ... the main part of the talk was given by a museum curator - with poetry read by an old chap from the Betjemen Society.

I love the old transport posters - and it was great to have some of them put into the context of the expansion of the Metropolitan railway and the building of suburbia. There are a series of talks and I have got tickets booked for another one in February:

Home Comforts

The style of the new suburban interiors and the changing role of the housewife in the 1920s and 1930s. This talk focuses on the wives and mothers who found themselves in charge of their new homes, in Metroland - far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city centre. Emmanuelle will explore how homes changed dramatically after the First World War, through the boom in technology and labour saving devices, and in their decorative schemes. She will compare the sleek ideal 'moderne' interiors that featured in magazines and promotional material, with the ubiquitous reality of mock Jacobean sideboards and floral wallpapers. Drawing on women's magazines of the time she will also discuss the woman's role in the house, where she shopped and what she bought.

You can purchase tickets here

London is so much more bearable when I remember to do lovely things!

I will be visiting the Suburbia exhibition soon!

Hey Presto!

This morning Mr Plum headed off for his first lesson in magic! He will be heading to a strange, dark shop hidden away in the maze that is Charing Cross underpass (it is like something out of Harry Potter!) for three hours tuition in the art of magic tricks! The course will last for three Saturdays - he was very excited this morning!

I am enjoying a nice lie in with a cup of tea (Yorkshire) and a pile of toast and marmite! I haven't got anything planned for this morning, so will probably do a bit of housework before heading into town to meet up with Mr P and some friends for dinner.

I'm still feeling the "Christmas Bloat" and now that the snow has melted, I no longer have the excuse that it is too cold to go swimming, eat healthily etc! I have managed to bribe Mr P into going for an early morning swim tomorrow with the promise of a Wetherspoons brekkie ... we will also be plugging in the wii fit to burn off some Christmas calories!

What are you up to this weekend?

Essential Hats for Snowy Days

Here I am ... at home enjoying my first snow day ... watching tv shows and films which Mr Plum can't abide (Glee, Cranford Christmas Specials, An American In Paris) and finishing off a bit of knitting!

Here's my hat!

Isn't she lovely? (Apologies about the rubbish self portraits!!)

The pattern has a pom pom in a contrasting yarn - but I don't think I will bother with that ... maybe I will add a knitted flower instead? I'm not sure ...

This hat can be found in the lovely book by Kim Hargreaves "Thrown Together" and it suitable for a knitter with a little experience. The pattern was pretty simple and easy to follow ... I have managed to drop the odd stitch - but I don't think that it is too noticeable.

My next knitting project is going to be .... a (deep breath) cardigan! It will take me years, but I want to give it a go! I have chosen another pattern from Thrown Together ... have a look here and have my wool ready thanks to a work colleague who's girlfriend works in John Lewis and is happy to use her discount to fund my yarn habit!! It is such a pretty colour (Melody 173) ... just need to get practising my double moss stitch!!

Happy New Year!

Hello!

Happy New Year!

I hope that you have all enjoyed the festive season ... we had a very busy holiday split between Christmas with my in laws in the very snowy Lake District and a fab New Year with my parents!

We came back to London yesterday and have cleared away the Christmas decorations and are now getting ready to head back to work tomorrow .... but I thought I would quickly post and let you see some of the lovely books I got for Christmas this year!

I'm looking forward to making some delicious sweeties from the Hope and Greenwood recipe book (mmm mmmm), having a go at something vintage from the "A Stitch in Time" and making more Cath Kidston goodies!!

I found these lovely gift tags in a shop in Ambleside ... I just hope that I don't forget the I have them next Christmas!

Christmas Afternoon Tea!

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

Secret Santa Swap!

Thank you Kelly and Victoria for organising their Secret Santa Swap!

Today Mr Plum went down to the local depot and collected my parcel from Lisa (thank you so much Lisa ... you didn't include the address of your blog, otherwise I would have thanked you personally!).

There is nothing better than brown paper parcels tied up with string .....

Look at these lovely goodies!!!

A lovely cake stand (perfect for showing off my cupcakes!), some yummy chocolate sprinkles to decorate my cupcakes, a kitty photo holder, cosy slippers, a make your own Christmas decoration kit, some satin cats for crafty things and some lovely notelets ....

I'm definitely a Pampered Chef ...

My parents came to visit at the weekend and brought me an early Christmas present (or three) which my Mum had got from a Pampered Chef party...

These fabby cookies were made using the Cookie Press ... it was a bit fiddly to begin with, but once I got going - there was no stopping me!!!

Handmade Christmas GIfts ...

I didn't think that I would be able to post about this until after Christmas ... but, on Saturday night we exchanged Christmas gifts with my family ... and my brother's girlfriend opened up her pressies while we were there. When she opened up my gift she immediately put it on ... and loved it! The funny thing was ... she didn't realised that I had knitted it myself!! I am really pleased at how it turned out ... and it looked absolutely fabulous on her! This was my first full size piece of knitting .... am going to have a go at a cardigan for myself next. You can find a link to this pattern (and a whole host of lovely vintage inspired knits) here

Christmas Pudding

Mr Plum treated me to a copy of Delia's "Happy Christmas" ... so this weekend I made a Christmas pudding. I have never made a pudding before, and to be honest am not a huge fan of Christmas pud as I find it so rich...but felt that I needed to add one to my repertoire!!

This weekend my parents came to visit for our traditional Christmas night out (we are spending Christmas with my inlaws this year) so saw my parents to exchange gifts and go out for a lovely dinner and drinks in London town! I also was given some fab baking goodies by my mum and dad (I will be blogging about those soon!). My Dad gave me one of his Christmas Puds to take up to The Lakes for Christmas .... so I will probably be saving my pud until next year!

How to make truffles which are better than Kirstie Allsop's!

A couple of days ago I posted about my truffles ... I then watched Kirstie Allsop making truffles and am proud to say that mine were so much better than hers!! Ha Ha ....

Anyway, I have been making truffles for the past couple of years ... and although I find it quite fiddly - it is getting easier. Trouble is - I eat too many of them!!

Here is my Dad's Truffle Recipe .... enjoy! The amounts are huge (chef quantities!) so you will need to scale down!

1 kg couverture

(chocolate ... in the past I have used good quality choc (Green & Blacks, Sainsburys own, proper Belgian couveture)

200g unsalted butter

1 pint double cream (350ml if using white choc)

50ml liqueur

Melt the couveture and butter over a bowl of hot water

Bring the cream to the boil and whisk onto the couveture and butter mixture

Add the liqueur and pour into a container to set. I put it in the freezer until I am ready to use.

Using a melon scooper, scoop out balls of chocolate, cover in melted chocolate (make sure that it is body temperature and not too hot) or roll in cocoa powder. The chocs will keep for a couple of weeks (in theory!!) if kept in the fridge.

Truffles!

I have made truffles for the past couple of Christmases ... they always make nice little pressies, I think. This year I have made white chocolate and chambourd and milk chocolate and amaretto. Delicious!

Are you watching .....

..... Kirstie's Homemade Christmas?

Snowmen!

When I was younger (and even now!) one of my favourite Christmas cartoons was Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman". I love it ... even if it does have a sad ending (and just thinking about it now brings a tear to my eye....)

So this evening, when I decided to ice my Christmas cakes, I decided to make ....

Snowmen!!!

A little bit rough 'n' ready ....

But rather fab looking I think ... and I hope that the people who will be getting them as little pressies will like them too!

The cakes were made using Delia's wonderful classic Christmas cake recipe (fed with plenty of home made sloe gin) and divided between six tin cans and cooked for about 3.5-4 hours! Mmmmm I love Christmas!!

Last year's Christmas Cake can been viewed here

How are your Christmas preparations going??