Meeting Blog Friends

This past Sunday, a group of bloggers - some I knew and some I didn't - met up in London for lunch and to meet Deb and Carrie who are over from Arizona. 

As there was engineering work on the line out of East Grinstead, I drove to Haywards Heath and caught the train from there to Victoria Station.  At Victoria I met Jacky and we travelled by tube to High Street, Kensington.

The meal was held at Maggie Jones and when we got there Deb, Carrie, Alison were quick to greet us and it felt like the most natural thing to be there with them. Deb and Carrie are just as I thought they would be - warm and welcoming and wonderful :)  Alison's accent was a surprise as I knew she now lives in Spain but I didn't expect the Scottish accent!

Carrie and Deb

It wasn't too long before the others started arriving and there were 11 ladies in all. What a wonderful afternoon spent chatting and meeting in person.

Alison, Carrie, Deb and Ruth

Alison and Ruth

It was so good to finally get to meet Ruth too. Seems so silly that we live only an hour or so apart and haven't met before. We hope to rectify that by meeting up again soon for a coffee or lunch.

After a good three hours at the table, we finally made our way outside for a few photos before some went on to coffee and others made their way home (myself included).

Ruth, Deb, Alison, Carrie, Jacky, Becky, Denise, Karen, Mel and Helena

What a wonderful place the blog world is that brings together people with similar interests.  I think the thing that got me most is that there were no awkward moments, it was just like meeting old friends (but this time in person).  Thank you to all the ladies for a most enjoyable afternoon :)

Deb and Carrie, looking forward to seeing you both on Friday :) 

xx

52:365(+1)

It was great to get a chance to chat to Deb on Skype yesterday afternoon and I had meant to take a photo for my photo a day - but we were so busy chatting I forgot all about it. 

However, as it was Shrove Tuesday, we made pancakes for dinner last night and I remembered to take a photo of them.  I like my pancakes with lemon juice and cinnamon sugar - what do you like with yours?
xx

Project Life : Week 3

Another week completed and I'm really starting to enjoy Project Life.  I didn't know if I'd keep it up but if I continue as I have been so far (and I know it's early days) it would be wonderful to have a full years worth of photos to look back on.  I'm sure seeing the pages of other people on the internet is also helping to keep me motivated and give me ideas of other ways I could set out my pages.  So glad I've finally got on board with this and that it's starting to click for me :o)
xx

Happy Mail & 13:365(+1)

I was delighted when I received some happy mail from Ruth this week and excited to see that I was one of the people chosen to receive one of the World Book Night 2011 books.  I did have to chuckle at the book I'd received though because my Mum, Norma and my nephew, Kyle all read Lee Child and it has been suggested before that I try his books but I never have.  I've had a quick look at Killing Floor and will certainly give it a go and see how I get on :o)  Only problem is, if I enjoy it I'll have Mum, Norma and Kyle saying "I told you!" ;o) 

Thank you Ruth for wonderful happy mail.

xx

Thanks Carrie ;o)

 On Tuesday, Carrie posted about her 10 recommendations on Netflix and asked if we had Netflix.  Well, I'm the first to admit that I'm not up to date with all the latest things so I went and asked Hugh if he knew.  Turns out Netflix has recently become available in the UK and Hugh had just signed up and thought it was great.

Yesterday Hugh signed me up to Netflix. He signed up through his Xbox so he can watch the films/programmes on his TV and he signed us up through the Wii so we can watch on our TV. It can also be watched on iPad, iPhone, I would imagine iPod Touch and your computer. Am I impressed? Very!! You have a great selection to choose from and the streaming is fantastic, no delays!  At the moment we've signed up for a month's free trial but if we decide to stay with Netflix it's a really reasonable monthly fee.  Have a look and see for yourself.

I really enjoy a feel good movie and last night I watched "A lot like love", I didn't know what to expect but I really enjoyed it. It made me laugh in a couple of places and at the end of the movie I was in a happy place ;o)  

Thanks for telling us about Netflix, Carrie. Anyone else going to try Netflix?

xx

Cranberry Sauce

A couple of years ago Ruth did a post about a cranberry sauce she made using Nigella Lawson's recipe.  I tried it that year and have made it each year since. So, when I saw Sainsbury's had fresh cranberries in this week, I bought a couple of bags and decided to make some this week. One portion is not enough so this year I made one and a half times the recipe but should maybe have done double quantities instead.  However, I'll be looking forward to having this with Christmas lunch again this year. Thanks for sharing, Ruth :)

Redder than Red Cranberry Sauce
From Nigella Lawson's "Nigella's Christmas Kitchen 2007"

12oz/340g Fresh Cranberries
7oz/200g Caster Sugar
3 Tbsp/45ml Cherry Brandy
4 fl.oz/75ml Water
Lemon juice, optional

Place all the ingredients in a pan and cook until the liquids have reduced to a thick Cranberry Sauce.

The pectin-rich nature of the fruit means that it solidifies briskly as it cools, so take the pan off the heat to stop it from cooking and reducing when you still think there's too much liquid. Once the berries have burst, which should be after about 10 minutes, it should be ready.

Taste to test whether the sauce needs more sugar (if you find it too sweet just add some lemon juice).

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

And finally, my photo for the recipe book :)

xx