Philippa Gardens

Moving Day

2011-02-07T09:57:00.000Z

That is it.

Blogger has burnt it's final bridge with me.

I have packed up the archives and taken the pictures down off the walls.

Philippa Gardens has moved to http://http://philippagardens.wordpress.com

Do come and say hello - I'd love to see you there.

Also - sorry for messing up your blogrolls or RSS feeds.

Philippa xxx

Which cake are you?

2011-01-14T12:46:00.001Z

This Saturday afternoon is our inaugural WI Mixer. We are hosting a little get together with our fellow WIs in our area for a little bit of cake and crafting and getting to know each other.

As part of the merriment there is a cake baking competition! We have been tasked with baking a cake that represents your WI. After a little bit of head scratching I have come up with a plan for a Rose & Cardamon Chocolate Cake. :
As I have mentioned before our WI is not the usual church hall group, and we go by the name of Buns and Roses.

I thought of rose buns, or decorating buns with roses which seemed a bit kitch and far too obvious, not to mention also a tad fiddly. I finally settled on a chocolate combination as who doesn't like chocolate?

My other half is off to his very belated Christmas party tonight with work, so I will have the kitchen all to myself. So the plan is to whip up this baby whilst humming along to so Michael Bublé.

I shall report back.

Never meddle

2011-01-09T23:41:00.001Z

I should have learnt my lesson by now with Blogger. If you are happy with something don't change, it will only become so so much worse.

Just before Christmas in a rare moment of quiet I fiddled slightly with the layout of philippa gardens and disaster struck. Bits fell off, I lost pictures and now matter what twiddles and fiddles I did, I just couldn't get it back.

Then the cooker broke, just days before Christmas, which resulted in tiles coming off the wall and the extractor hood being replaced, which has resulted in a surveyor coming on Wednesday to quote for new windows and door in the garage, which will eventually become the utility room / pantry. Then it was Christmas, and then new Year, and then back to work and what do you know, it is the 9th January and I STILL haven't fixed blogger.

So my aim this week is to sit down with a cup of tea, some Christmas chocolates and fix this little blog, and normality will be restored.

Pictures of snow, and the kitchen will be posted and all will be well.

Toast Christmas Podcast

2010-12-02T12:39:00.000Z

The wonderful Toast have just posted a brilliant podcast of a wintery Russian Tale just perfect for listening to on a snowy afternoon whilst wrapped up warm in front of the fire.

It looks to be the first of a number of readings which will be available to download in the days leading up to Christmas.

Hope you are indoors warm and dry.

christmas shopping

2010-11-25T22:33:00.000Z

i'm having a christmas shopping fail. a total and utter disaster.

i found a brilliant website recently which sold hand made slippers ( i know, i know, unoriginal christmas gift...) but these were beautiful. handmade in south east london by a clever lady who uses rescued pieces of scrap leather.

the only problem is that i can't remember the web address! it is so frustrating.

i have googled, and searched through resent blogs i have read. i know i found the page in mid october, but i can't remember how.

does this ever happen to you? and if it sounds familiar, please can you point me in the right direction!

cycling chic

2010-11-16T16:10:00.002Z

Since leaving London my bicycle has yet to turn a peddle along Yorkshire roads.

When we lived in the flat there simply wasn't enough room to keep my bike so it vacationed the summer away in the coal shed at my parents. As soon as we moved into the house Dad dutifully brought it back down again, where it has leant forlornly against the garage wall ever since.

Back in London I cycled a great deal, to and from work when I my office was in the docklands, and out and about at weekends when my office moved back into the City. Oddly even though the roads were far busier I felt much safer regularly cycling the city roads. Though the car drivers hated cyclists they were at least aware of them.

Here in Yorkshire cycling seems to be much harder, not simply due to the varying gradient of the roads but due to drivers attitudes. The concept of giving room seems to be a rather unfamiliar one with them.

Still I do want to get back into the saddle. I have toyed with the concept of cycling to work. I'm not adverse to the idea of cycling 12 miles into Leeds, but I don't fancy the rush hour cycle blind traffic.

The other option is cycling to the train and hoping my bike and I on to the train. Unfortunately the train can only take one bike at a time, and that is on a very first come first served basis. I guess I could leave my bike at the station, but would it be there when I got off the train?

So much to think about.

Still, I saw a flyer for Sustrans Bike Belles programme today which has started me mulling over the whole idea again.

I thought that this photo and concept was great...

... can you imagine turning up at the Grosvsnor House Hotel for a posh do in your cycling shorts and vest top evening dress packed neatly in your panniers?

Have to say it is a bit of a stretch for me.

sunday night reading

2010-11-14T20:49:00.002Z

I love magazines. Too much actually. Each month I tell myself that I really shouldn't buy any more, but somehow they manage to sneak in to my shopping basket. Particularly if I am travelling somewhere by train. Any long train journey can be made so very much better with a good cup of coffee and a copy of Living etc

One way to still get my magazine fix but keep my pennies safe is through the medium of virtual magazines.
Sweet Paul is now on his third edition, and they are getting better and better with each one. I have had a quick scan through and I'm looking forward to tucking up in bed tonight with a cuppa to read through the section on Christmas Wrapping.

Lonny is another great on line mag which I have talked about before. I love the immediacy of these magazines. You see something you like, you hit the link, you are whizzed to the website and click click ping. You have bought it.

So I guess my argument that these virtual magazines help you save the pennies are perhaps not as true as I first thought!

Brew yourself a cup of tea and curl up with your laptop of a good half hour for a little bit of me time.

Not so burnt offerings

2010-11-11T12:26:00.001Z

One of the great things about our new house was the fact that the previous owners had left behind all of the white goods, lampshades and curtains. They simply moved out their belongings as they were downsizing to a very fancy pants retirement village and their new apartment would have the works. Brand new.

We were buzzed as our last house in London had a lovely built in kitchen, but that did mean we had left behind almost everything we needed to make sure we could eat and stay sparklingly clean.

I soon realised that the cooker in the kitchen wasn't very well. It's little fan simply wouldn't turn, it warmed up nicely, I just had to remember to turn baking trays regularly to ensure that they were evenly cooked. We even found ourselves to be the owners of a very grand (presumably first generation) combination microwave oven. Ian's initial reaction we could only cook in it if we wore a lead lined pinny.

As I haven't owned a microwave since I was at university I shunned the microwave in favour of the traditional oven.

But my hand was forced recently when the little oven finally gave up and simple refused to even heat up any more. Frustratingly we had just done a big shop of lovely foods to cook in the oven. I simply had to get a grip with the combination oven and fast.

I read the instruction booklet, and read it again. I made a cup of tea and contemplated how to do roast vegetables (I had them chopped and in the roasting pan before I realised that the oven had died). I re read the book to be super sure that I can actually put a metal tray in the microwave.

I took a deep breath and set it all off to cook. I felt pleased with myself as no sparks or smoke were emerging from the microwave. And then I leaped out of my skin as the car alarm went off.

I hunted around for my shoes and the car keys and the garage key, and the umbrella as it was bucketing down. I beeped off the alarm, shut the garage and headed back inside. I had just about made it to the kitchen before the alarm went off again. I repeated the whole process about 4 more times before the penny dropped.

Some how, and in some way the microwave combination thingy was pulsing on the same frequency as the car alarm.

I told Ian when he got home, who simply didn't believe me. After a short demonstration which left us both amazed an bemused we realised that other than the camping stove in the attic we now have no sensible way of cooking. Unless we park our car quiet a long way down the road, and frankly if it is doing that to the car, what is it doing to our insides?!

Saturday is now looking like a full and fun day at Comet and Currys.

Craft Fair: Leeds Film Festival: Handmade Nation + Indie Crafts Leeds

2010-11-10T17:20:00.003Z

I'm doing my first craft fair this weekend!

I'm breaking myself in slowly, by not actually selling any of my own work, but I have to start somewhere.

My WI group has been invited to come along and do a demonstration of patchwork quilting and sell a few pre made items as part of the Leeds Film Festival showing of Handmade Nation.

I'm extremely excited as I have read a great deal about this film and I'm very interested to get an opportunity to see it, especially when it is a free event.

This will be a warm up to my bigger event of the month at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate, where I will be demo-ing on the Yorkshire Federation of the WI stand on the Friday.

So if you are in Leeds this weekend with time on your hands, you may want to pop over too...

A Nation of Shopkeepers

Sunday 14, 2010 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm — Leeds Film Festival: Handmade Nation + Indie Crafts Leeds

Film 7pm – 8.30pm / Event 5pm – 11pm / Free entry

Welcome to the Handmade Nation, the new wave of art, craft and design. Artist and filmmaker, Faythe Levine takes us on a journey around the USA documenting the new wave of ‘Indie Crafts’. Take an exclusive peek into this community of creative people, independent boutiques, galleries and craft fairs where historical techniques and traditional handiwork meet punk culture and the DIY ethos. An event jam-packed full of art & craft fun and frolics followed by your chance to see the film.

Glad to be in the Provinces.

2010-11-10T16:36:00.000Z

Boy am I happy that I'm now working in Leeds.

Today my old office building was invaded by thousands of angry students.

I really can't blame them. I think the proposed changes to tuition fees are just shocking. I am still paying off my Student Loans, tens years after I graduated from University, and my loans were relatively small compared to the proposed amounts future students are facing.

But violence is simply not the answer. Well reasoned debate and lobbying are by far the best way to go. Invading a building in such a violent manor is just awful. Milbank Tower is a very large building, with a separate base wing at the bottom. The Conservative Party have their HQ in this bottom wing. Not the Tower.

The Tower contains a large range of offices everything from the Ombudsman to the Judicial Studies Board and the National Anti Vivisection group. People which have nothing to do with Student Fees!

And we're in!

2010-09-28T14:43:00.003+01:00

Four weeks and four days from making our offer to unlocking the door and calling he place our own.

We have just about cleared a path to the settee, I know where the kettle is and I have found my knitting needles, brilliant progress! Just have to find my work clothes, my other shoes, the tin opener and my wool and then all will be well.

Man from Sky comes on Friday to turn on the TV (whoop!) and then the man form BT comes the week after to plug in our telephone, then hopefully normal service will resume 14 days later when the broadband pipe is unblocked and we can wire ourselves up again. We have electricity and gas, and though water runs from the tap I have no idea where the stop cock or water meter is. Meer details.

So a little sneak preview if you like.

The house...

...and more importantly, the garden....

... and the woodland beyond (sadly not ours).

The girl with flour on her hands

2010-09-15T10:16:00.003+01:00

I missed the episode Great British Bake Off last night, so I don't know who was eliminated. Don't tell me as I plan to watch it on the iPlayer tonight.

But I I jolly well hope it is Ruth.Her comment last week that being a Mum is very competitive really set my teeth on edge!

Have you been following the programme? It has become addictive viewing in our house. The very first week Ian was very scornful of a competitive baking programme, but by the end of the programme he was on the very edge of his seat. For the last few weeks we have pulled up boxes or over turned crates clutching our mugs of tea to watch eagerly the fantastic baking dramas.

It seems that we aren't the only people to find the programme gripping or controversial Anne Harrison of the W.I. wrote a good piece in the Guradian noting her disagreement with Paul Hollywood. From which I have taken the following:

"The judges on The Great British Bake Off have very different styles. Mary Berry is someone even I would be nervous to cook for. The other judge, Paul Hollywood, has obviously spent his life in commercial baking. I don't always agree with him. To test a scone, the WI teaches that you don't need to cut it with a knife – you should be able to pull it apart along its natural split. Hollywood said that was wrong – but if you cut a scone with a knife, it compacts the texture as you press down. It's the same with gingerbread."

I was always taught to split a scone by twisting it along the natural split line by my Grandma. I didn't realise that cutting with a knife compacted the texture. It is just something that I have always done because my Grandma told me too.

Mary Berry on the other hand is such titan of baking that I would wilt under her gaze, and I have been so impressed with her. Her comments and criticisms have been both fair and encouraging. She has explained the faults and suggested remedies. You can guarantee that non of those bakers will make any of those mistakes again!

All in all I have thoroughly enjoyed the programme. It hasn't driven me to dig out my whisk and mixing bowl as they are almost permanently on the kitchen work top. I'm a baker through and through, and I doubt very little will change that.

Autumn Walks - A girl needs a new wardrobe right?

2010-09-12T08:45:00.003+01:00

autumn is really rolling in now and I am thrilled. i don't do heat very well, which frankly is a good thing when living in england. i really am made for autumn. summer i wilt. my hair frizzes, i never ever seem to wear the right clothes, i'm either too hot or feel too exposed. i do enjoy the brightness of the sun but not the heat at all.

in winter i get cold very easily, but i can cope with the cold. i layer up, wear my boots and pull on a hat and generally i'm a happy girl.

autumn for me though is the perfect time of the year. still sunny, but with an underlying coolness, so once wrapped in a good jumper, boots and perhaps even a pair of gloves i'm ready for anything.

i'm excited to be moving as finally we will have all our possessions in one house, and i am so thankful that we are moving now before it does drop cooler. i'm relishing bursting out my autumn clothes which have been carefully stored for the last six months. all in all i'm realising bursting out all our belongings which are in storage. i truly think it is going to be like christmas!

so to celebrate i do fancy treating myself to a few new additions. i spent a very happy hour playing on Polyvore and think i may have found my perfect new autumn outfit.

all i have to do now is decide on whether i need new clothes or new carpets.

decisions, decisions!

advice please.

2010-09-11T10:15:00.001+01:00

i'm beginning to fall out with blogger. my virtual stationary.

we have been friends for nearly four years, but we are beginning to want to do different things, and to be honest I'm not sure that our relationship is working.

i have to confess that my eye has begun to wander. i'm wondering what else is out there? am i missing out?

i looked at typepad and i must say i was a little alarmed by what i saw. it looked jolly complicated.

is it? doesn't any one use typepad?

most importantly if you do, do you pay for it?

i must say when i saw the price it did bring out the puritan in me. perhaps i should preserve with blogger and have an over haul and a good ol'MOT {and now I mention it, why do we insist on saying Ministry of Transport Test when we pop for a health check? It is a question that is really bothering me at the moment and no one i have so far asked can come up with a good reason}.

are there any other blogging platforms out there that i could explore? i'd really appreciate your thoughts, tips and anicdotes please!

News round up

2010-09-10T22:42:00.001+01:00

Riiiiight... well there went every good intention to get back into the blogging saddle. It has been a busy five weeks.

It seems like we have beaten our personal house buying record. All things going well we will exchange on Monday, complete on Thursday and move in on Friday, a full five weeks after we offered on the property.

We bought our house in London in just six weeks from offer to moving in, and that included Christmas too. Last time we offered on Christmas eve and were moving in on the first weekend of February.

I think that really we have both missed our vocation in life and really we should be giving Kirsty and Phil a run for their money.

I just don't understand when people say that it took them over four months to buy a house. Just what are they doing?!

In fairness on this occasion the house we are buying is empty (last time in London we pretty much kicked the vendors out, but that is another story...) and the vendors are just as keen as we are to move quickly.

My consumption of design magazines has shot up exponentially. The flat is littered with well thumbed copies of Living ect. Ideal Homes, and Living North, who have AT LAST brought out a Yorkshire edition to compliment their wonderful North East version.

I have plans, many, many plans. But we have to pack our little flat first. Then relocate all our boxed up belongings out of my Parent - in - Law's house into the new house. Then un-pack, whilst still going to work and staying on top of every day things like, well you know, eating, and doing the laundry, occasionally sleeping.

So forgive me if I vanish again for a while!

photo via www.leylandsociety.co.uk

Ta Da! (ish)

2010-08-20T15:30:00.002+01:00

Ok ok I know I have been rubbish recently but I assure you that it has all been for your benefit. Suffice to say that I have found house hunting all very stressful and I have been a terrible grump about the whole process. How on earth Ian has put up with my I really don't know.

I hesitate to say that it may all be drawing to a conclusion now. Our offer has been accepted on a property and the solicitors are all doing their thing. I actually feel rather sorry for them, it must be terribly difficult to work when you have some one metaphorically peering over your shoulder the whole time telling you that they would have done it in a different way, or providing the information that they require before they have requested it. We haven't yet confessed to my other half's profession, but if they haven't clocked that he is a fairly senior legal professional then they aren't worth the considerable fee that we are paying them.

The house is right at the top end of our budget, but is wonderful! A four bed detached with garage (very important for boy stuff) and a huge garden.

With Apple Trees.

Fingers, toes and other body parts crossed that all goes to plan.

Birthday festivities

2010-07-27T09:55:00.000+01:00

I do love late July early August, it is a lovely time of year for our family. My Mum's birthday is in late July. My parents Wedding Anniversary is early August, followed two days later by my birthday. I must point out here that I was born four years after my parents were married!

A few (cough cough) years ago we had a brilliant fortnight of celebration. My Mum's 50th birthday, my parents 25th wedding anniversary and my 21st birthday all within two weeks. As you can imagine we had a few cucumber sandwiches to celebrate.

This year is another big one for my parents, I shan't say what, but I'm sure you can do the maths if I tell you that I will be 31 next week.

To celebrate we had a family outing to the RHS flower show at Tatton Park. In the past we have been to the Chelsea Flower show but this was a first for us.

We did have a lovely time, but I think were a little disappointed with some aspects of the show. I think we had all anticipated that the 'show gardens' would be similar to those at Chelsea. We were wrong. Though they were pretty they weren't amazing. The Floral Pavilion however was wonderful. It was like an oversized flower arranging and vegetable display tent at a local agricultural show.

The weather was very kind to us with only a few spots of rain, and certainly not enough to hamper our picnic. All in all a lovely day out, lots of fresh air and great company. Like a small child I was so sleepy at the end of the day I went to bed at 9 o'clock and slept right through till 9.30 in the morning!

Where I vanish for well over six weeks.

2010-07-19T12:04:00.000+01:00

So what happened? Well things became rather stressful, then very disappointing, then hugely busy again.

In short, we pulled out of the purchase of the new build house. There were a number of issues which couldn't be resolved so after long, long consideration we took the horrid decision of withdrawing from the purchase.

My dream of a future without Estate Agents really isn't to be. House hunting commenced with a vengeance and we found an area which we have completely fallen in love with. It is nowhere near where we were originally house hunting, in fact it is officially regarded as Bradford. The little village of Saltiare, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, where nearly every house is Grade II listed. It has a vibrant and active community and a lovely 'feel' which is just what we have been searching for. All we have to do now is wait, and hope that a house (which we can afford, and has a garden) becomes available.

Can't quiet believe that the past six weeks can be summed up in one paragraph but there you go. Just trust me when I say that there have been tears and tantrums!

In other news, I have joined the grooviest branch of WI no Jam and Jerusalem here thanks. This is not your Granny's WI but a gathering of 30 something crafty ladies with a fondness for cakes! I made a new summer top for myself (photos to follow) and have almost finished a new baby quilt for Ian's cousin who is due to give birth any day now.

I'm still hear and still kicking, real life just got in the way.

Whirl Wind Weekend - part two

2010-05-27T15:53:00.001+01:00

We found ourselves suddenly free on Sunday as our friends had to head home early. With the sun beating down on us, we dropped the soft top of our new car (!) and zoomed over the M62 to Cressington in Merseyside to poke and prod the show home of the type we want to buy.

We spent nearly a full hour in the house, much to the annoyance of the Show Home Seller. Sitting on all the chairs. Standing inside the wardrobe in the main bedroom. Standing in the shower cubical. Looking in the loft. Sitting on the stairs.

I'm so thankful that we went. The house is lovely, and we are definitely going to buy it, but we now have a list of many many many things to ask the developers. Mainly all about the finish of the build. What will the lights in the hall/landing/dinning area be? Can we move the TV point to the other side of the sitting room/or have two TV points? Little niggly thing, but things to resolve non the less.

I took well over a hundred photographs, and I will pop some up here, but in all this excitement (or possibly the house move) I have lost the cable for the camera. I'm so frustrated as I have pictures of the house, the new car, our trip to see Antony Gormley's 'Another Place' in Formby all to share.

Tonight I have to iron my way through a small Munroe of ironing and then perhaps I'll have a great hunt for the cable.

Whirl Wind Weekend - part one

2010-05-26T12:32:00.000+01:00

Well With it being Wednesday I thought I should update you about the Weekend...

We had one of those wonderful weekends which seems to last forever. Certainly help by the blistering sun that shone for the whole two days. We had friends to visit Friday evening and Saturday day, so after a brilliant Friday night curry at the fantastic Cafe Guru (both stunning interior design and fantastic food), followed by a relatively early start on Saturday with a hearty breakfast at the little cafe in our Development before heading over the River to the Royal Armouries. It really was just too hot to spend the day inside the museum, so was wondered around inside very briefly, just enough to make it look like we were really interested before we headed off outside to the Tilt Yard to watch a falconry display. I have always held a fascination for falcons, which I know stems from a book I read as a child, The Queen Elizabeth Story by Rosemary Sutcliffe. I still adore this book, and half an hour curled up with it under a blanket and I am 10 again dancing with fairies and waiting to meet Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh.

We then emerged from the Tilt Yard and as one decided that they day was just TOO amazing to spend it in doors or in fact in town. We bundled into our friends car (our new car being selfishly only a 2 seater!) and went in search of Lotherton Hall.

What a fantastic find. For the princely sum of £3.60 we parked the car and discovered that it was free to visit the parkland and gardens and the Bird Garden! Unfortunately I didn't take my camera with me as I had no idea quiet how brilliant a place this would be. We ARE going back and I WILL take the camera. The birds were simply out of this world (well actually were mainly from Africa and Australasia, but that isn't the point). We saw everything from Cranes to Kookaburras to Hornbills to Emus and Reas. You can actually walk inside the Africa enclosure which felt like being in a wild life documentary. It was only when we emerged from it that I realised there had been guide notes for you to take in with you which identified the birds. I had no idea what we were looking at but they were magical. I think next time we will try to go mid week and term time so there will be fewer children. I don't mind children, but I would prefer to spend to peaceful time in the garden with out having to dance around drippy ice cream cones being waved with gay abandon at knee height.

Six weeks down and still going strong

2010-05-20T13:30:00.000+01:00

Its is official, we have been here six weeks now, and to be honest, our flat is so organised and neat and tidy it looks like we have been here forever. Or it would if we were normally this tidy.

Beside my frantic tidying and organising, we have been rather busy. I have interviewed for a few jobs. One of which I knew immediately wasn't right for me, thankfully they very kindly said that I was far too over qualified for the post and that they didn't want to offer it to me as they knew I would want to leave it within the month, but I was an extremely impressive candidate and they had enjoyed interviewing me immensely! I was so please, that they had said that as I was in fear of being offered the post but having to turn it down.

In the end though my old employer came through and a post was advertised that was so perfect it was as if it had been specifically written for me. I interviewed on the Wednesday and started on the Monday, so all in all I only had two days of unpaid leave between my annual leave from my post in London and starting my new post in Leeds.

Leaving my London job did have one draw back in that my company car which went with the post had to go back. I felt sadder seeing it being driven away, than I did driving away from our old house. Shows how much of a car lover I am!

We went a week with out an official car, though my Dad who owns a very prestigious car restoration company lent us one of his courtesy cars to see us through. We then went and did something very spontaneous and bought ourselves a silly little red sports car. Well if we can't do it now when can we?!

So that was two things in one week. New job and new car. They do say that these things come in threes, so I was wondering what else could happen.

Last Saturday we had booked several house viewings with an estate agent in the village of Sherburn in Elmet in North Yorkshire. The houses we saw were all interesting, but all needed a lot of work to bring them up to standard (one didn't even have a door to the loo!) or to our taste. A few weekends ago we have been to see some show homes at a development on the edge of Sherburn so we went back. And loved them. One quick call to my parents asking them to come down on the Sunday to view them again with us to make sure we weren't being blinded by the loveliness and another viewing and we reserved one!

Can you believe it?!

We have one month to exchange contracts, and then a five month wait for it to be built, which ties in perfectly with out rental period in the flat. The only little spanner in the works is that we haven't actually seen a show home of the one that we have reserved. That is a more modest three bed house and the show homes available are all four beds. But the finish and general layout is the same.

I have tossed and turned a little bit this week over whether we are doing the right thing. So this Sunday we are having a road trip to Merseyside where the developers are building another development, but where they do have a show home of our little house. We are going to have a good prod. Bounce on the settee, sitting at the dining table and really get a feel for the place and decide if it is somewhere that we could see ourselves living.

If not we still have a chance to pull out and all we will have lost is £200 reservation fee and some legal costs.

So there you go, how much can change in just a few weeks.

Turorials listing # 2

2010-05-09T16:04:00.000+01:00

I did a little housekeeping post back in 2009, tutorials and patterns I had found in Blogsville that I'd like to have a go at.

Seems that I have gathered rather a few more and have them scattered across three different computers. So here we go with my 2010 update which I will continue to edit over the next few days (broadband allowing).

Wonderful Wavey Quilt from Elizabeth at the fantastic Oh Fransson!

I said it wouldn't be a quick thing

2010-05-07T10:43:00.001+01:00

Votes are still being counted.

But we are in for a Hung Parliament.

I am genuinely saddened by how hard Labour have hung on. I really did hope and believe that this could have been the LibDems time. I have been angry at the many many people who have voted Labour becasue their long dead Grandparents did, 'n voting Labour is what we do.

However anger and frustration won't get us anywhere. So I'm putting it behind me.

Big cheer for the lovely Caroline Lucas, who has finally pushed over the parapet and won the Brighton Pavilion seat. Three cheers for her!

There will be lots of head scratching and as Quentin Letts puts it 'there could be a lot of pencil sucking at the palace'. Perhaps a coalition government is ahead of us, or perhaps the Torys will push ahead with a minority government. Either way, I still think that the LibDems and Nick Clegg have a huge and important role to play.

So I am not giving up hope.

Strange Times

2010-05-06T14:02:00.000+01:00

I have loved almost every moment of the last four weeks of the election process. It has been quiet a ride.
Now I must confess that I am predisposed to politics having worked in public affairs for the last four years, most of which has involved me working in or around Westminster. I have always voted as as I feel it is so very important.

But I have never felt excited about an election.

Perhaps this is what people felt like in 1997. I wasn't quiet old enough to vote in that election, and to be honest I think most of it past me by then. It was only at University that I became interested in politics, and I really only became actively informed when I started work. But even then I had to seek out information.

This really feels to me to be the first election ever where both the politics and the politician have been readily accessible to everyone. I thought that the televised debates were a brilliant exercise, they certainly prompted great debates in our house hold.

So I have been and voted, which was an experience in itself. We have been in Leeds for nearly three weeks now and I still need my A-Z (which is about one fifth of the size / weight of my old London one, my handbag is thankful) to get about, for some reason the street layout is just not sinking in to my brain.

I will be sitting up tonight to watch the results, and to cheer on Sunderland council who are aiming to be the first to turn in results again for the fifth election in a row. Only a small percentage of seats will actually be counted tonight, so we may not actually know who will have won until tomorrow, and if some seats need a recount, it really could be very late tomorrow that we know.

Perhaps history could be made? I really do hope so. And I'd like to think that in my own little way I have helped with that change.

This post is brought to you today by Starbucks.

2010-05-06T09:02:00.001+01:00

I hate BT. I really really do.

I bought my first house in December 2003 in a little village called Gainford, in County Durham. It was a beautiful teeny tiny two bedroom place. Over 200 years old, built using cobbles from the river, which meant the walls were about 2 foot thick and almost bombproof. It had an open fire and exposed beams in the sitting room, a deep window seat and huge window in the main bedroom. It was darling.

Amazingly for a house that old, it had never been connected to the telephone network. Something which BT could not understand. So when the chap finally arrived to connect the house, he had all the wrong tools as he had been told it was a new connection to a new house (as it was impossible that a 200 year old house had never been connected). To cut a very long and painful story short, the poor BT engineer caused so much damage to my sitting room wall, that BT eventually had to pay to have my wall re-plastered and the room redecorated (using Farrow and Ball paint colours of course darling). Whilst this was all on going BT's legal department told me not to pay the instillation charges until the repair work had been carried out. Unfortunately the legal department clearly does not talk to the billing department, who for the next six months cut me off on a regular basis, as I had not paid the instillation charges.

It took nearly a year to resolve, but finally all was fixed and the telephone worked. But not with out a great deal of stress.

I had hoped that having a phone connected to our new rented flat would be less painful, but clearly not. Even though all the wiring is in, it seems like we still need yet another engineer to call to make it all work.

So the mobile bills are getting bigger and broadband looks like a very distant dream at the moment.

In the mean time my coffee intake is going up and up and the barristas at Starbucks are beginning to recognise me.

We are settling in in Leeds, and have begun house hunting in and around the city.

My company car was sent back yesterday, and strangely I felt more sad seeing it being driven off than I did driving away from our house in London. We are going to see a very silly little sports car on Saturday with a view to buying that (thank goodness we have done all of our trips to IKEA already), so hopefully we can resume the house hunt shortly.

And excitingly, someone is interested in selling my quilts! A little eclectic shop has opened in Barnard Castle called My Generation which looks to stock a real mix of vintage, re-purposed and independently designed products from homewear to clothes and accessories. I need to run up a couple of samples, which I can do easily from my stock of fabrics, and do some costings. I'm very excited as I really need something like this to give me a kick to get sewing again.