All About Abbie...

My Home - Before and After... The Big Transformation!

2012-01-29T12:07:00.000-08:00

There is nothing quite as exciting as moving house and making the new place your very own. In September we moved into a new place and, while it was very exciting, it needed an immense amount of hard work! We have finally got more or less everything sorted now in our cosy little flat - apart from the flooring in the bathroom. So I thought I'd share the before and after pictures with you all!

The entrance to our main living area...

The wonders of pretty wallpaper and a lick of paint!

Still awaiting flooring and the new sink to be fitter, but a darn sight better than it was!

The study, complete with messy desks!

The "lobby" area...

Our front room

Our little kitchen... Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake!

The Lobby - with Danny!

Audrey

One of several musical instruments littering the flat... Couldn't quite manage to get the double bass mounted on the wall however ;)

Polka dot cupcake planter

Some of my many books... I'm no longer allowed to buy any more as we're rapidly running out of bookshelf space!

Aerial photo of Leeds

My anqtique book collection

Pretty boxes :)

Tatty Devine - Geek Chic Jewellery

2012-01-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

Envelope necklace - £24

After my recent visit to my opticians, and upon discovering that my prescription, and eyesight, has gotten worse... again! I decided to fully embrace my geekiness (which is usually embraced quite a lot anyway!) and buy myself some black plastic specs. They team quite nicely with my "geek" scrabble necklace - which has been almost permanently attached to my neck recently! For the geekiness factor, I really love Tatty Devine jewellery and here are my favourites!

Glasses Necklace - £24

Jarv Specs Necklace - £42

Full Stop and Comma Earrings - £27

Quote Earrings - £27

Bookworm Necklace - £27

Happy New Year!

2012-01-08T05:36:00.000-08:00

Outer Space Kids Satchel - £30 - Cath Kidston

Well folks! Long time no blog! How are you all? I trust you all enjoyed the Christmas and New Year festivities as much as I did? I recieved many a wonderful gift for Christmas, and the gorgeous new Cath Kidston bag above is just one of them... My new space themed bag (which is actually a kids bag!) is the perfect size for my mini laptop and was a present from my lovely sister.

How did you spend Christmas? My Christmas was filled with scrummy food, board games (Trivial Pursuits, card games, scrabble, and LOTS of bananagrams!) and family gatherings! We had 9 round for Christmas dinner, a boxing day buffet with Danny's family and a big New Years house party for family and friends.

I've had a fabulous year, starting my first year of teaching, and I'm incredibly excited about what 2012 will bring... I've kick started the New Year with some new spectacles - above! I've also booked mine and Danny's first proper holiday, we're off to Athens in the half term for a spot of relaxing and sight-seeing together. I cannot wait!

What are you looking forward to most in 2012?
Have you made any exciting plans?

Polka Dot Dresses For The Party Season!

2011-11-19T10:50:00.002-08:00

Vero Moda Polka Dot Empire Dress
ASOS - £28

Christmas is only round the corner, so it's time to get some brand new polka dots! Although, if I'm honest, I don't need an excuse to increase my polka dottage - but of course that's not going to prevent me from being tempted to buy a couple of new dresses. It certainly didn't take long for my class to realise my polka dots obsession... a matter of minutes I think! Here are a few lovely dresses that I have found to get you started on your party season dress search!

Lace collared polka dot dress

Dorothy Perkins - £25

Polka dot lace dress
Alice By Temperly - £425

Tulip polka dot dress
ASOS - £45

Black and white polka dot dress
Paul Costelloe £59

A Break in the Blogging Silence - Polka Dot Dresses!

2011-11-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have noticed a distinct lack of posts from my blog of late... I've started my NQT year, we've had a visitation from Ofsted, I've moved house and renovated and decorated it, so it has been slightly action-packed in the All About Abbie household! As a bit of a treat to myself for getting through the past few weeks in one piece (just about!) I decided I would treat myself to something a) pretty, and - most imporantly - b) polka dot! So I have been scouring the web for some delightful dotty dresses to share with you all! Enjoy!

Polka Dot Sailor Dress - H! By Henry Holland at Debenhams
£30.40

I think this is my favourite of the dresses I have discovered... and it's in the sale too! Bonus!

Polka Dot Sweetheart Mesh Dress - Dorothy Perkins
£30

Polka Dot Mesh Prom Dress - Peacocks
£20

Polka Dot Navy Sleeveless Dress - Emily and Fin
£65

I promise to blog again at some point in the next few weeks. Hope everyone is good and is continuing to inject polka dots into their lives! What is the best polka dotty item you've bought recently? Send me a tweet or email and I'll feature it in my next post!

New Home - Red Polka Dots!

2011-09-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Vintage Rose Kingsize Duvet Cover Set - £24.99

Apologies for the distinct lack of blogging of late... I've just started my teaching post and I'm loving it, but it does leave me with less time for blogging! But not only is my new career reducing my amount of blogging... but I'm also in the process of moving house! It's rather exciting as it's the first time we've been able to decorate our home exactly as we'd like! So naturally there are polka dots galore...

Giant Red Polka Dot Teacup Planter - £24.99
Our new place has some lovely big window sills and I've earmarked one of the big ones for a lovely giant teacup planter... all I need now is a pretty plant!

Red Polka Dot Lamp Shade - £28
The bedroom has a red polka dot theme, and this little lampshade would set it all off a treat!

Polka Dot Bird and Heart Hooks - £7.50
How cute are these little hooks, I'm thinking a little trip to Brighton is in order to pop into Velvet in the lanes to purchase them.

Polka Dot Bird Book Ends - £12
Our study is going to have a wall of bookcases and these delightful pair would look lovely propping up my hundreds of beloved books! (p.s. down with Kindles!)

Cupcake Ferris Wheel!

2011-08-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

How much do I want a cupcake ferris wheel??... the answer is... a lot! I'm not sure how many times my cupcake ferris wheel would actually make it out of the cupboard, but that is entirely besides the point... on second thoughts, I'd probably have it permanently positioned on the kitchen worktop so I could have a constant supply cupcakey treats!

Cupcake Ferris Wheel - $299
From Knob Creek Metal Arts

A cupcake ferris wheel would be lovely for parties: it's so colourful and fun. It would be a good reason to bake cupcakes that's for sure! Plus, the company that makes these delights can make them in different colours and can be completely customised - I'd obviously go for a polka dot version! What colours/pattern would you decorate yours with?

Strawberry Fool - Homeware and Lovliness!

2011-08-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to get a little bit excited about moving house, mainly because the place, is a MAJOR project... the place had been neglected for a decade and has been empty for over a year. So I've spent the past week solidly, gardening, taking down shelving, polyfilling, sanding woodwork, drilling, painting, painting, and more painting! I've been a busy little bee! I just want the place to be ready for furnishing now, I'm getting a little bored of decorating! So here are a few lovely things from Strawberry Fool that I have my eye on for beautifying the flat...

Giant Red Polka Dot Tea Cup Planter - £24.99
My mum bought me one of these gorgeous planters a little while ago and I thought it'd look lovely in the new place... I just need a plant to put in it now!

Bird Design Door Mat - £19.99

Ollie Owl Bookends - £16.99
These cute little fellas would look great propping up some of my (thousands of) books

Marmite Coasters - £6.99
I'm a massive lover of Marmite, so these would be perfect, however, the other half absolutely detests the stuff, so I'm not so sure how much he'd approve of these!

Cupcake Daily Diary Chalkboard - £19.99
My mum also bought me this cute chalkboard, she knows me oh so well!

Colourful Photo Frame Clock - £31.99
I've got a free space of wall that is crying out for a lovely clock... I came across this design a while ago and loved it!

Tea Cup Silicone Cake Case - £14.99
I've been lusting after these for aaaages now, They're just such a wonderful idea!

We're Going To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo, How About You, You, You

2011-08-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took a little trip to Port Lympne Zoo with some lovely people.. the weather was shockingly bad, mostly torrential rain (gotta love British unexpected downpours), but desipte the adverse weather conditions, we had a lovely day and saw most of the animals... all except the gorillas, a little disappointed about that but I can't blame the gorillas for wanting to hide away from the elements in their cosy beds!

This was my favourite little fella, he sat posing for photos whilst enjoying a crunchy carrot and leaves...

Me and the Lovely Joanne by the hedge maze

The giraffes were out in the safari enclosure. It's great, the animals have so much space to roam alongside other animals that would naturally share their habitat.

One of the white rhinos came to say hello

We took bets to see if I was taller than the giraffe or not....... I wasn't!

Deluxe hot chocolate break! After all the rain (whoever said summer was supposed to be sunny anyway!) we needed a warming beverage!

Tiger sitting in the rain...

It's such a shame that the mansion isn't open to the public anymore... only for weddings and events. It was always a great part of the zoo visit!

Baby!

The Tower of London and a Day as a London Tourist!

2011-08-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I embarked on a little journey to London to visit my lovely sister along with the parentals. Our first point of call was the Tower of London. I'd never actually been there before in all my London outings! It was brilliant, a little pricey, but that is to be expected in the city and it was well worth it: there was so much to see!

Traitors Gate

Lion Gargoyle

Off to see the crown jewels! There was so much sparkle! But alas, photography was not allowed in the vaults... It was rather busy so we had to view the really sparkly pieces on a travelator to keep the crowds moving.

The ravens were so used to the tourists that they all posed for the many cameras...

The changing of the guard...

We made a pit stop at The Dickens Inn...

... then the weather made a turn for the worst! We hopped on a Thames Clipper to travel down the river towards Greenwich and the Maritime Museum.

Me and Jenny outside the Tower of London. I think Jenny may have coordinated her dress to match the medieval tent in the background ;)

Dear photograph...

2011-08-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this amazing website, Dear Photograph, whilst reading a fellow blogger's lovely blog and I instantly fell in love with the concept and poured over the hundreds of photos. The blog hosts photos that people have uploaded providing a little window into their past. They take a photo of a photograph in the location that it was taken in, and it's such a wonderful way of documenting memories, the passage of time and the human connections between the two. The above photograph came with theis note attached - "Dear Photograph, those were the days, when mom would put us in matching clothes. Fabio"

"Dear Photograph, I still hope that one day, this little dog will come back to pull my skirt again, Mathilde."

"Dear Photograph, we may have left Middletown, but our heart and sole will always be that of a shoemaker, Sam and Jaques"

"Dear Photograph, Remember when we decided to see if shrink wrap would hold my brother Joe to a tree? This made us laugh so much! Annie Enderle."

"Dear Photograph, Je t'aime Paris, but I love my mother more. After 15 years she finally brought me along, Leah Romm"

"Dear Photograph, Now he only breaks hearts, Chris Peters."

"Dear Photograph, I wonder what was over there, Casey Macauley"

"Dear Photograph, Where did all my super powers go? Emily Yaung"

Dear Photograph, Oh to be young again, Wizemark"

Style Icon - Romola Garai - Queen of The Period Drama

2011-08-19T03:42:00.000-07:00

I, like many others, have been avidly watching The Hour on BBC2 over the past few weeks. It's fantastic! Set in the mid-50's with the Suez War backdrop, the programme centers around two journalists and their topical current affairs show. It's more or less got everything a good programme should have, intrigue, drama, suspense, a brilliant cast, some gorgeous 50's costumes, and the ever-wonderful Romola Garai!

Romola Garai is fast becoming the queen of the period drama having starred in a number of BBC period drama productions and various films, including: Emma, Crimson Petal and The White, Atonement, Vanity Fair, and (one of my favourites!) Glorious 39...

Glorious 39 is any vintage lovers dream! Romola wears some absolutely amazing dresses and outfits throughout the film, and I LOVE the red beret look below.

Who is your style icon?

10 Things That Make Me Smile :)

2011-08-19T02:43:00.000-07:00

1. Old Books
I love old books. The feel of the thumbed pages, the illustrations, the crumbling covers and the way they look all lined up on a shelf. I have quite a few childrens books ranging from the late 1800's to the 1960's and I find it fascinating how the way that literature speaks to a child has evolved and changed over the years from strong didactic tales of morality to books that are solely for entertainment, adventuring and amusement.

2. Trips to the zoo
I took this snap at Edinburgh Zoo of a sea eagle who seemed to be posing ready for my photo. I love a trip to the zoo, you could go to the same zoo and every time you'd see different things.

3. Vintage Inspired Kitchens
The perfect backdrop for an afternoon of baking is a vintage inspired kitchen!

4. Doodling
I love doodling, there's something really theraputic about it, especially when you can totally switch your brain off and let the pencil do the drawing.

5. Vintage Roller Skates
I adore my vintage rollerskates from Rokit Vintage. Luckily I have a skating buddy and we frequent the promenades and seafronts from Hastings to Eastbourne!

6. Brighton Lanes
There's nothing that makes the summer more summery than a lovely trip to Brighton Lanes for a spot of shopping in the weird and wonderful shops. On my recent trip I discovered the brilliant Dollydagger boutique.

7. Period Dramas
I've been making a lot of resources for school and to make the endless cutting, sticking and laminating less tedious, I've been watching a lot of period dramas... I watched Downton Abbey again in preparation for the upcoming second series. I absolutely love Maggie Smith's character and the interaction between the "upstairs" and "downstairs" characters.

8. Creativity and Cakes
I love that there is so much creativity and baking inspiration out there. Being a blogger I find myself constantly in awe of my fellow bloggers and tweeters and their baking skills!

9. Positivity
I think a positive mental attitude can do wonders for any situation. Some of my friends may be going through times of uncertainty in the post-uni job hunt, others may be feeling the pre-september nerves before starting their first teaching post, but keeping positive is the way through it all, that, and drinking a lot of coffee ;)

10. Churros and Chocolate!
When I lived and taught in Spain for a month I became dangerously addicted to these crispy doughnutty delights dunked in gorgeously thick hot chocolate.... YUM! Here's an amazing little churros recipe from the lovely Thomasina Miers.

Delectable Jewellery! Teacups, Biscuits, Typewriters and Bunting!

2011-08-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

I've just spent the past hour enjoying the new series of The Great British Bake Off - possibly the best thing on TV! and lusting after some beautiful jewellery over at Hannah Zakari... It's a dangerous website as it brings together some delectable jewellery from a range of designers... They also do homeware, accessories, bags, art and stationary and I want it all! So you can expect another blog feature very soon! Which is your favourite?

Custard Cream Pearl Necklace - £12.50
By Biscuit Boutique

Tea And Biscuits Necklace - £12.50
By Layla Amber

Stainless Steel Typewriter Necklace - £39
By Polli

Hello stitched necklace - £13
By Emma Ferguson

British Bunting Necklace - £15
By Layla Amber

Delicate Pursuits Necklace - £15.50
By Eclectic Eccentricity

Rose Teacup Earrings - £5
By Layla Amber

Epic Adventures Through The Country Park!

2011-08-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Despite the weatherman predicting rain at midday (completely unfounded, the weather was gorgeous!) me, my sister and Rufus - my parent's black labrador - embarked on a little adventure in the beautiful country park right on our doorstep. It's incredibly hilly as it the country park covers the valleys and cliffs from Hastings to Fairlight and beyond, but it is totally worth it if only for the views alone...

Walking up the initial hill with the Old Town in the background...

There were some wonderful flowers around and about including some blackberries and wild blueberries that we stumbled across.

*FETCH!!*

Quite a few steps! The only thing about going down them all to the see the sea, is knowing that we'd have to go back up them all again!

So pretty!

We found a picturesque little pond for Rufus to have fun in... he LOVED it!

Swwwwiiiiim!

Splish, splash, splosh!

After an epic walking adventure... all that remains is to enjoy a well deserved ice cream!

Baking Sunday - Oaty Raisin Biscuits, Sausage Rolls, Cheese Straws and Tiffin!

2011-08-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's been such a long time since my last baking session, far too long in my opinion! What with all my travelling, uni work, graduation, moving back home and preparing my classroom for September, there's hardly been a spare moment for cupcakes and cookies! (a travesty I hear you say!) Well, fear not, I've had a free Sunday afternoon and evening to bake with my mum and sister (shame Jenny, my older sister, wasn't here too though!)

First we trawled my (epic amounts of) cookery books for inspiration, we decided on some oaty biscuits, found three recipes and went for the Oaty Raisin variety :)

They were crunchy, chewy and delicious!

Sausage Rolls are always a staple favourite in my house, but we have different tastes in pastry... some prefer puff pastry and others shortcrust pastry (I fall on the puff pastry side)

The trick of getting delicious sausage rolls is the addition of finely diced onion to the sausagemeat as it really sweetens as it cooks... yum!

(Not the best photo, I'll admit) Tiffin! With raisins, cherries and coconut, topped with a generous layer of chocolate!

Tiffin served up on a Goofy plate.. highly appropriate and classy :D

Cheese straws before...

Cheese straws after... think we may have overdone the cheese ever-so-slightly! But they taste divine even if we did have to chisel them apart somewhat!

The Prettiest Vintage Polka Dots Around...

2011-08-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

As you are all well aware, I am a self-confessed polka dot addict, and thus I am always looking for my next fix. Vintage shops are always a good source of this retro pattern and whenever I trawl a vintage shop I always fall in love with at least a handful of beautiful polka dotty clothes... so I thought I'd share some little gems I have found on my recent trawling of online vintage shops with you... Enjoy!

50's Polka Dot Circle Skirt - Vintage Child UK £20

60's Blue Polka Dot Sailor Dress - Vintage Child UK £26

80's Navy Polka Dot Dress - Rokit Vintage £40

80's Polka Dot and Floral Midi Skirt - Rokit Vintage £25

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

2011-08-13T03:02:00.001-07:00

Colour Coordinated Pencils

There's nothing like a bit of colour coordination, and I for one, love rainbow coloured things... so I trawled the wonder of Tumblr to share with you some gorgeous rainbow coloured delights! I would love to have a rainbow coloured house, it would make me smile every time I walked through the front door...

Rainbow House

Rainbow Melted Wax Crayons

Rainbow Painted Bricks

Coca Cola Rainbow Sweets

Colour Coordinated Shoes

Rainbow Flavoured Ice Cream

Rainbow Layer Cake

Rainbow Skittles

Vintage Rainbow Materials

Coloured eyeshadow

Colour Coordinated Bookshelf

The Lomo Wall

Polka Dot Toaster and Kettle Sets

2011-08-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Polka Dot Kettle and Toaster from Next - £50 for the set

I'm moving house soon and I'm in need of a new kettle and toaster... so I've been hunting a lovely polka dotty set. AnneCupcake led me to the set above and I love them! Here are a few more sets I've got my eye on...

Polka Dot Kettle and Toaster Set from John Lewis - £46 for the set

Red Polka Dot Kettle and Toaster Set from JD Williams - £72 for the set

Pink Polka Dot Kettle and Toaster Set from Argos £55.98 for the set

Dollydagger - Brighton Boutique and Bettie Page Dresses

2011-08-11T03:03:00.000-07:00

Since Dollydagger opened their boutique shop in Brighton, I'd been eagerly awaiting my next trip home from uni (in Leeds) so I could visit it and see all the gorgeous dresses in the flesh. Last weekend I jumped on the train and headed along to Brighton for a day of fun with friends and so I tracked down their shop in the lanes and made a bee-line for the boutique! It was lovely to see some of the dresses I lust about on their website and it made me want them all the more! I think when I get my first proper wage in September I will have to treat myself to one! But in the meantime I will have to lust after the dresses on their website... including some of these lovely newbies in the "Bettie Page" collection... enjoy!

Green Alika Circle Dress by Bettie Page - £89.99

Black Jazmine Flare Dress by Bettie Page - £100

Black Alika Circle Dress by Bettie Page - £89.99

Navy Blue Captain Pencil Dress by Bettie Page - £89.99

Red Captain Pencil Dress by Bettie Page - £89.99

Black Angle Skirt by Bettie Page - £69.99

Black China Doll Dress by Bettie Page - £79.99

Brighton! Oh I Do Love To Be Beside The Seaside!

2011-08-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

I love summer, and Brighton is the perfect accompaniment to a summer day out! Admittedly it did rain a little throughout the day, but it didn't stop us enjoying the lovely little lanes shops and the sea life centre. I got myself a couple of bargains, including an owl doorstop, a wooden polka dot heart and a floral detailed straw sun hat (for £2!)... but more of that later! Here are some of the creatures that I met in the Sea Life Centre...

A happy little mudskipper

Spot the seahorse...

The ocean tank... this photo reminds me of The Little Mermaid

Japanese spider crab - still only a baby (and still perdy big!) these fellas can reach 12ft!

Camouflage...

Spider crab

Lobby-lobster

Little Lego diver in the entrance

A Sneak Preview of My Classroom!

2011-08-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

I'm incredibly excited about teaching in September and I've been a busy little bee sorting out my blank canvas of a classroom te get it all ready! I want my classroom to be vibrant, engaging and exciting and a place to celebrate the children's successes so I've got my creative side out and tried to inject some colour and fun into the displays...

The literacy display features a tree and an owl. It's an interactive display and the "wow" words that children come up with can be written onto speech bubbles and added to the display as a word bank for their writing.

The "wow" words owl is yet to be named - any ideas are welcomed!

This is my class behaviour management reward chart...

Each day children can earn a cupcake to put onto the cake stand...

And when they reach the top they are treated to a whole class reward! :D

I've set up a "Superstars" wall where the exceptional work that the children do can be displayed and their successed celebrated for the week.

The first science topic will be light and shadow... and I've planned in for the children to create shadow puppets.

We're going to be looking at the book "Gorilla" by Anthony Browne, which will lead onto our topic on endangered animals.

Maths vocabulary display.

Of course I had to get some polka dot bunting in there somewhere too! So I've draped my whiteboard with it :D

Hastings Old Town Carnival Week - Part Three!

2011-08-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

I love the Old Town Street Party, There are some stalls and live music, performances and fun for the whole family! This year saw in some rather grim weather throughout the day so the evening event wasn't quite as busy as previous years, but it was still good fun.

There were fresh locally grown vegetables for sale...

delicious fudge and sweets...

Tush and Pat were cooking their famous "fishermans rolls"

and entertainers juggling fire...

Aaaargh! What a motley crew! My family get quite enthusiastic each year about the Hastings Pirate Day... and this year was no different! Last year Hastings held (if a little briefly, damn you Penzance... I'm not bitter!) the world record for the most pirates in one place. We didn't go for another record breaking attempt this year however, we did a worlds first instead! We were part of the worlds first human skull and crossbones!

We pirates all mustered on the beach where the shape had been mapped out for us to fill... then the helicopter flew over and took aerial photographs...

My cousin's husband was the official photographer for the events and was at the top of the cherry-picker to capture the moment! Unfortunately I couldnt track down a copy of the aerial photograph, but it looked brilliant!

The rest of the day was filled with piratey fun - here's Will Turner sword fighting as Captain Jack Sparrow looks on...

There was a brilliant band playing the stage in the afternoon, called the Sex Pirates... They were great fun, and you couldn't help but dance along to their shanty-based tunes with a twist!

Hastings Old Town Carnival Week - Part Two!

2011-08-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

Every year on the Tuesday of Old Town Carnival Week, is the Crown Lane Bike Race. The premise of the race is that you must ride the "Butcher's" bicycle up the incredibly steep hill, from the bottom to the top, without lifting your bum off of the seat. To make sure those behinds are firmly on the seat the whole way, you have to sit on a 10 bob note and if it isn't there at the top then you are disqualified.

One of the best events of Old Town Week... in my opinion... is the pram race. The pubs enter a team into the pram race and they have to go around each of the 22 pubs in the route having a drink in each pub, answering questions and doing forfeits... all whilst dressed up and pushing around their themed "prams".

Bugsy Malone...

Alice in Wonderland...

Greek Gods...

Banana Splits...

Rubber Ducks...

Lego...

It gets a bit of a squeeze down George Street where easily thousands of people congregate to watch the procession of prams in the narrow Old Town streets...

Hastings Old Town Carnival Week - Part One!

2011-08-07T11:55:00.001-07:00

This past week has been an incredibly busy one for me! It's been the Old Town Carnival Week in Hastings and therefore lots of fun has been had by all! It's such a brilliant week, everyone gets involved to make the various events a success and it's a great excuse to get together with friends, old and new, and meet up with family too. Plus every event raises money for local charities so it's a win, win, win situation!

Towards the beginning of the week was the Tug-of-War, where lots of the pubs in the Old Town get their burliest teams together in a contest where the strongest team wins! The Filo won for the men's team, well done to you, and to everyone who competed!

Here's my new favourite dress! It's one of those lovely dresses that has a nice full skirt that floats when I twirl and It's from Peacocks - I grabbed in the sale for a bargainous £10!

I explored some of the hidden and beautiful passages in the Old Town with my mum as we had a nosey in some of the open gardens. There are some lovely little secret treasures stowed away in some of the little passages and back streets in that part of town.

Then there was the beach concert. It goes on for a few days and showcases some local favourite bands - luckily the weather was brilliant!

The view of the fishing fleet from the harbour arm.

Down by the sea... my cheeks are already looking a little rosey here, silly fool that I am, forgot to put sun cream on!

patiently waiting for his owner to come out of the antique shop...

I love the little Courthouse Street fun day...

Where else is there a piano in the street that passersby can randomly play! A couple came along, and the lady played "Happy Birthday" tune to her partner as it was his birthday, twas a lovely moment! Then this guy came along and played some amazing ditties.

The Courthouse Street fun day is concluded with the Seaboot Race, where people have to race the length of the street in fishermen's waders!

One of the regular entrants, and a local fisherman, reaching the finish line.

After the seaboot race has finished there is the Old Town Auction... Local businesses and shops all donate items which are then auctioned off to raise money for charities. I got myself a beautiful gold-framed oval mirror for £15! I also got a (very, very, very early) Christmas present for my dad - a trip out in a beautiful commercial fishing boat with a fisherman guide :)