Archive for November 2015

A Wintery Day Out

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Earlier this year me and my boyfriend Adam had a conversation about the fact that we hardly ever doing anything at the weekends. The only time we would actually go out was if we were going for a meal (which happens A LOT, we love our food) or if we were going shopping. Whilst having a mooch round a shopping centre can be fun, it is not something that can be done all the time. Who has the funds for that? I ashamed to say we failed in making our weekends more fun for the most part. Most of the time we would stay curled up in bed watching TV and just do nothing. Now, I admit sometimes that is heaven after a hard week at work but I couldn't help feeling that we were wasting our precious free time wasting away the hours watching copious amounts of TV. So, after Adam asked me if I wanted to do something different this weekend, that is exactly what we did. Better late than never right?

We decided to go the Christmas market at Kedleston Hall. The hall dates back to the 18th Century and sits in sprawling, beautiful grounds. It is always nice to have a walk round a Christmas market because you are sure to find at least one present to tick off your list. I managed to pick up a gift pack of beers for my Dad from Derventio Brewery, a local brewery based in Derby. That's another thing I like about Christmas markets, they support small, local companies. I am sure my Dad is going to love his gift! Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any pictures of the stalls that were there, there were just too many people! We did, however, have a walk around Kedleston Hall and I managed to snap the lovely photo above. I love how grand old mansions are!


It was a blustery and quite rainy day and Adam did not have suitable shoes on for walking on the muddy grounds so we didn't have as much of a walk around as we could have. I, however was armed with my trusty winter coat, my favourite boots, two pairs of socks and my gloves so I was quite happy to walk around. We did have a little wander, looking at the Church and the gift shop. Kedleston Hall does have a second hand bookshop but unfortunately it wasn't open (I think Adam let out a little sigh of relief). By this time our stomachs were beginning to grumble so we decided to find a pub for some food.


After driving round looking at mahoosive houses (a girl can dream right?) we decided to eat at the Markeaton Hotel, it was very festive inside and I was extremely appreciative of the fact we managed to snag a table next to a lovely cosy fire. Eating out is a speciality of mine and Adams, a habit which does border on the ridiculous sometimes (this was my FOURTH meal out of the week) but what can I say, we loves our food.


I was feeling some proper comfort food so decided to go with the streak and doombar pie. Ohmylord look at the pastry goodness on that! The pie itself was very heavy on the doombar but it was OK. It came with cabbage, green beans and mashed potato which is my FAVOURITE combination of veg and potatoes so my tummy was very happy. Adam had the sausage and mash and left all his greens (tut, tut). We sat in the warmth for quite a while chatting, mainly about how to rob a bank so we could afford one of the mansions we had drooled over earlier.


I finished off the day by making Adam drive me to Costa so I could get myself the mother of all hot chocolates. Seriously Costa's Black Forest hot chocolate is the tastiest hot drink I have ever had in my life. The fact that it is only part of their festive menu means that I drink a rather unhealthy amount of it throughout December. Isn't my little penguin cup adorable? Also, this scarf, I love it! New Look have a beautiful selection of scarves at the moment, I want them all!

After our very festive and food filled day we spent the evening at my house, watching football snuggled up on the sofa. I will admit that a Pizza Hut delivery did happen, but eh it was the weekend after all!

Did you do anything nice over the weekend? Do you have anything festive planned? Let me know!

The Wednesday Wishlist #2

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If, like me, you spent a HUGE chunk of your formative years playing the Sims then you also might have thought yourself an AMAZING interior designer. You would spend ages building houses, downloaded a ton of custom content and decorating them to your hearts content.

I spent soooooo many hours creating and decorating dream houses, they were all colour coordinated and perfectly suited to the families I decided to move in.

Unfortunately adult life now gets in the way of my Sims marathons and I haven't been able to unleash my inner interior designer for a while.

This blog post is not about the Sims. I promise.

What is exciting though is that there is possibility I will get to decorate MY VERY OWN HOUSE next year. Yep. If all goes well me and my boyfriend will be purchasing our first house together at some point next year,

My inner interior designer is ridiculously excited about this.

As you can imagine I have been pintresting my little heart out, creating boards for all my interior dreams.

So for this weeks wishlist I thought I would focus on the items I would love to have in my living room (as that is my favourite room to design in my head). Here's praying they are still available next year!






Gift ideas for the bookworm in your life

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As I write this we are only six weeks away from Christmas (where has this year gone?!) and it's around now that most of us will start thinking about starting our Christmas shopping. We'll all be getting our notebooks out and writing down the list of people we need to buy for and then grabbing our laptops and perusing the interweb in order to find that perfect gift. 

For some people on that list it will be easy. Two clicks and their present will be on its way to you. But there is always at least one person on that list who makes you come a cropper, either because they are so bloody hard to buy for or because you are so dead set on getting them the ultimate perfect present that your search fails you. 

If that pesky person is a book lover then have no fear. I have curated (by which I mean drooled over) a list of gifts that I think are fail safe when it comes to the page turner life. 

Of course all of us will have different budgets in mind so below you will find a selection of presents that will suit a modest budget as well as presents that will have you splashing the cash!


A little treat - gifts for £5+


As a book lover myself I am quite partial to a bookish print. Anything with a quote about reading on it I absolutely adore. I am also a stickler for anything on Not On the Highstreet and the Old English Company create beautiful products that are sure to please anyone. I particularly love the quote on this print as I think it is true of most bookworms! 


Tote bags are always a good gift whether it be for a book lover or anyone else. However they do come in particularly useful for someone who likes to carry around lots of books. This could be a great gift for an English Literature student as I know from experience that a good, sturdy tote bag is invaluable! The Literary Gift Company have an array of tote bags to choose from but this quote is one of my all time faves so I thought I'd share it!


If you are looking for something a little bit different but don't want to spend over the odds then this little bottle could be your answer. Whilst £15 may seem a little steep for a 30ml bottle you can almost guarantee no-one else will have thought of it! The Library of Fragrance offer a plethora of fragrances (even play-doh!) and what could be better for any book lover than the chance to revel in the smell of books whenever they want?!


What one thing do book lovers love to do as well as read books? Talk about them of course. This journal allows bibliophiles to record their favourite books in a series of lists. With topics such as 'favourite author', 'favourite genre' and 'favourite reading spot' it is sure to keep them occupied and they are bound to love it! 


Something special - gifts for £20+


This gorgeous print is a map loosely based on an old map of London. The streets, places and everything in between are made up from over 600 titles from the history of literature, Fifty Shades of Grey is even on there! It features instantly recognisable titles such as Harry Potter, Wuthering Heights, The Lord of the Rings and Where the Wild Things Are. It makes a lovely centre piece for any wall and provides entertainment as you try and spot all the different titles! 


Another beautiful find on Not On the Highstreet. The Letter Room's products are all about typography and they have some lovely things to offer. One of my personal faves is this print. It encompasses the whole of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on one page! With the signature glasses and owl carrying a Hogwarts letter it is the perfect present for any Potterhead in your life. They also have several other 'book on one page' prints including Casino Royal. Peter Pan and Wuthering Heights. 


What could be better than a gift that keeps on giving after Christmas? Bookishly, another store on Not On the Highstreet offer this lovely subscription service which can be purchased for three, four, five or six months depending on your budget. The starting price is £39 for three months with six months costing £78. Each month whilst the subscription lasts the recipient will get a surprise vintage book, luxury teabags and stationery from the Bookishly store. The books will be from a variety of genres and the tea is handpicked by the people at Bookishly. 


Splashing the cash - gifts for £50+


If you are looking for a subscription service with a little more gravitas then look no further than A Year in Books offered by Heywood Hill a bookshop steeped in history. This sumptuous subscription lasts for 12 months and includes an optional reading consultation so that each book can be carefully chosen to fit the recipients taste. Heywood Hill is one of the most revered bookshops in London, so to receive a tailored gift from them each month for a year would be a dream! 


This is a gift like no other I have come across. Mr B's Emporium is a bookshop based in the lovely city of Bath. Buying the book lover in your life the Reading Spa entails them visiting the shop and enjoying a few hours of wonderful bibliotherapy. From an hour long chat about books, to tailored suggestions, tea and cake, a bag of reading treats and then finally money to spend of books in the shop what more could a book worm want?!

Tickets to Hay Festival - £5 - £19 for event tickets

Maybe you are looking to treat the book lover in your life to a weekend away? What could be better than taking them to a book festival? The Hay Festival is an internationally renowned festival that sees the creme de la creme of the bookish world gather in one place for a few days to celebrate all things reading. There are events for every taste and niche with tickets generally costing between £5 and £19. Of course the accommodation and travel are what makes this an extra special treat but what a treat it would be! 



There we have it! So now go forth and spoil the bookworm in your life! 


The Wednesday Wishlist #1

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Anyone who knows me really well will know that New Look is my go to shop for ANYTHING. Seriously, ask me on any day of the week where I got my outfit from and I guarantee that at least two of the things I am wearing are from New Look.

I adore the shop because it offers great quality, good looking clothing for a very reasonable price. You can walk into their high street stores and know that you are going to find something you'll love.

I have been known to walk in and spend £90 in ten minutes (oh student loan how I miss you so) and one thing I L.O.V.E doing is browsing their website whenever a new season comes in as I just know I will be dribbling over all new clothes.

This is exactly what I did when their AW15 collection appeared in all it's glory.

Autumn/Winter is my favourite time of year for one main reason.

JUMPERS.

I admit that I am a little obsessed with all things knitwear. Anything that looks remotely cosy and it is immediately on my wishlist. Knitwear along with coats, boots and scarves are enough to get me weak at the knees when it comes to fashion.

So.

I thought I would share with you my little Winter Wishlist that I created whilst mentally spending all my money on the New Look website the other night.





Let me know if you see anything that takes your fancy!!


#CKG16 - Five Children on the Western Front

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This is an epic, heart-wrenching follow-on from E. Nesbit's Five Children and It stories. The five children have grown up and World War I has begun in earnest. Cyril is off to fight, Anthea is at art college, Robert is a Cambridge scholar and Jane is at high school. The Lamb is the grown up age of 11, and he has a little sister, Edith, in tow. The sand fairy has become a creature of stories ...until, for the first time in 10 years, he suddenly reappears. The siblings are pleased to have something to take their minds off the war, but this time the Psammead is here for a reason, and his magic might have a more serious purpose. Before this last adventure ends, all will be changed, and the two younger children will have seen the Great War from every possible viewpoint - factory-workers, soldiers, nurses and ambulance drivers, and the people left at home, and the war's impact will be felt right at the heart of their family.
(synopsis from Waterstones.com)


Firstly I have to admit that I haven't read E. Nesbit's Five Children and It stories. I was however a HUGE fan of both BBC TV series that were first shown in the early 90s when I was little. Five Children on the Western Front has been shortlisted for numerous awards since its publication and won 2014s Costa children's book award. My best friend bought be the beautiful hardback edition for Christmas last year and, as always happens, it has sat languishing on my shelves ever since. When I saw that it was on the list of nominations for 2016s CILIP Carnegie Medal I saw my chance to finally get around to reading it. 

So, warmed with nostalgic feelings from my childhood, that is what I did. 

As it states in the Waterstones synopsis above Five Children on the Western Front is set in England during World War One. Having commemorated the wars centenary last year at the school where I work, I learnt a lot about World War One and I was interested to see how Saunders had weaved such a horrific event into a children's book. 

She did poignantly. 

What I loved about Five Children on the Western Front is that it did not shy away from the horrors of World War One but because it is a story mainly based around Lamb and Edie's perspective it still retained an innocence that made it a heart warming, as well as a heart wrenching read. It was a stroke of brilliance to use the letters and the wishes to show us how life was for the people who were part of the war. Through this narrative devices the reader is shown glimpses of what the war was like for soldiers fighting on the front, nurses tending the injured and those at home who longed for news of their loved ones. That the children were aware of the danger Cyril, Robert and Ernie were in made the story all the more touching as they had to try and carry on with life as normal whilst they were off risking their lives. The way Saunders portrayed how the adults in the story reacted to the war through the eyes of the children was also a good narrative decision as it allows an older reader to sit back and acknowledge just how much children are aware of what goes on around them. 

The five children were characterised very distinctly, a reflection of the story being aimed at children. Each had their own personality and none of them ever acted out of character. Saunders did very well to create an immediate closeness within their little group which amplified the emotional significance of later events in the story. I also enjoyed the fact that the girls were very sure of themselves. Unfortunately female characters, especially children, can still be portrayed as rather weak so it was refreshing to have Jane and Anthea turn into ambitious, headstrong young women. The interaction between the children in the book will remind any reader of what it is like to be young and have such a close bond with other children; whether that be siblings, other relatives or friends. They have their little inside jokes and also their little arguments all of which create an authenticity in their relationships that give the events of the story an extra layer. 

The Sand Fairy and his reappearance bought a magic touch to the narrative that wasn't too overplayed,although I I do think that Ernie's reaction to seeing the Sand Fairy for the first time was a little understated. The Sand Fairy, whilst bringing magic to the story, also bought something more serious in Saunders' continuation of Nesbit's story. In Five Children on the Western Front the Sand Fairy has lost his ability to grant wishes; his magic has disappeared. What follows his reappearance is something of a moral tale about repentance and the Sand Fairy's journey into his past links to the events happening in the present. Having only seen the TV series I do not know if Saunders' characterisation of the Sand Fairy aligns itself with Nesbits but for me his grumblings and affinity to praise was exactly how I remember him from the watching him as a young girl. He serves as a welcome distraction from the war but also facilitates their curiosity, allowing them to see how Cyril is doing and giving them an insight into the war they would not have had otherwise.

What really got me with Five Children on the Western Front was how Saunders plays on our emotions. Reading it as an adult who knows a lot about the impact World War One had on every aspect of life during the four years it was being fought added an extra weight to the story. Presenting us with a fantastical children's story set to a back drop of such a horrific event is heart wrenching. Although the children are not portrayed as naive to what is going on around them, there is still a sense of innocence that surrounds them and seeing how they deal with two very difficult situations when the war impacts their family directly was enough to bring a tear to my eye. Saunders makes the reader realise that the war impacted everyone and that there really was no escape from the pain it caused. 

It is the ending that really got me. The Sand Fairy has finally repented for all that he did in his past and he provides one last chance of communication for the children as they say goodbye to a loved one. I found that scene particularly poignant as not only did it mark the end of the children's adventures with the Sand Fairy but it also seemed to mark the start of a change for the children and the whole country who were now going to have to deal with the aftermath of the war. 

Five Children on the Western Front is a touching, magical and heart wrenching story and I urge anyone to give it a read. 


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