These are now displayed in my office corner where I spend most of my day – Lots of lovely art and photography to look up at and brighten the day as I deal with the stresses and annoyances of the day job! (Beats looking at the gray English weather too!!)

On April 1st we got keys to our new home. I had to wait 2 weeks to get the phoneline/broadband sorted out so we have been moving house slowly 1 box at a time. (I need internet for work and didn’t want to “commute” back to Dannys Mums house for the internet each day plus there’s no wifi signal hence the wait in moving in properly.) This weekend with internet up and running we did the “final move” consisting of my desk, wardrobe and bed.

Photos to show you around my new abode…

My office corner

Possibly the World’s Biggest Bedroom!

Danny’s Library Area

Living Room

One Side of the Kitchen (Huge Kitchen/Diner too!)

Back of the kitchen with Dining Table, and door leading to shower room

We’re extremely pleased with ourselves for getting this little gem. It has felt like home since the very first day

Reading wise it’s actually a very small list compared to what I usually get through but that’s because of the first book on the list – It was a long, slow going read that needed perseverance!
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale – This is the book that slowed me down! It is good, it makes you think, it’s just really rather slow. Set in the 1800′s this book follows the story of an aborigine boy and his “tribe” as they encounter white man. On Amazon it’s described as “A big, ambitious novel with a rich historical sweep and a host of narrative voices.” – Couldn’t have put it better myself

Jeffrey Archer A Prison Diary 2 – Purgatory – Loving this diary series, so easy to read and really insightful to what goes on in prison. I need to get hold of the final one in the series now as we don’t have it!

John Grisham Ford County Stories – I picked this up off the bookcase because I wasn’t sure if I would have time to complete a whole book before I left Crete to come back to England – Didn’t want to bring a book back with me nor wanted to leave it half-read for 8months! So these short stories did the trick, though not as good as a full-length novel of this author.

My evening/weekend entertainment consisted of a lot of series…

Happy Go Lucky – This film was a bit too happy go lucky for my taste! A chick-lit film that grated on the nerves a little due to the chirpy’ness of the main character!

Game Of Thrones season 2 – Very happy to know there will be a season 3 Need I say more?! Ok perhaps I should – This strange yet highly addictive and enjoyable series is set in a medieval fantasy land… Hmm it’s very hard to explain! If you do start to watch be aware of the many naked bodies and sex scenes – A little OTT in my honest opinion.

Mrs Browns Boys season 2 & 3 – As hilarious as ever! I need series 4 to be made!

The Frankincense Trail – A very interesting documentary for those who love history and travel! When the presenter saw Camel Jumping (like what’s shown in this youtube video) I just sat there gobsmacked! Who woulda thought that was possible?!

Water for Elephants – I’ve seen this film before but have to say 2nd time around it’s not quite as good as I originally thought. About a boy who joins the circus with a love story thrown in. For those who love The Notebook I imagine you’ll enjoy this film too though it doesn’t quite have the same heart-wrenching love story will they / won’t they get together story.

I’m now back in England, I arrived back Easter Sunday to some pretty cold weather – 4c upon landing, 6c throughout the next days… The morning I left Crete I had a quick sit in the garden with my strappy tshirt on because I knew what would be awaiting me – Scarf and glove weather!

I left behind this…

and I arrived to this… It basically looks the same as it did in Dec apart from the clusters of daffodils. As of yet we’re still on Winter leaves (absolutely no blossom) which I do find a little worrying… Crete had blossom in February

It’s a little bit depressing but there have been some bright days, with very little rain… It’s the cold that has been the problem. Brrrrr – I actually do say this aloud!

We’re now, as they say on the radio, having “highs of 12 degrees”. This does make me laugh. Highs?! Dad has weather averaging 20c if not warmer. At “home” I was in shorts the last few days trying to soak up some sun to get me through here, because as soon as that plane landed I was in many layers of clothes with boots, scarf and sometimes gloves – and this is indoors!!

I really don’t think I’m going to make it through living in the UK all year… It’s just too bleugh for 8 months of the year!

Anyway, other than my change of destination and being reunited with Danny (we soon fall back into a routine so that my time in Crete feels like “did that really happen”) I’ve just been working away like a slightly mad thing. Saturday morning work has been occurring so that I stay on track, as well as a bit in the evenings. It’s all good though

Well, he’s not new – He’s been “in the area” for over a year. We’re pretty sure it was this stray boy (who I named Takis) that got Mona pregnant. He is/was a bit of a bully, always picking fights with Lloyd so we didn’t encourage him, in fact the opposite, so he would only pass through the garden on his way elsewhere.

But all of a sudden this week he has decided he might quite like to live here. He lays in the garden sprawled out as if he owns the place. He lays next to the other cats (including Lloyd) without so much as a growl. So we took pity on him and started to feed him the leftovers that out don’t want and of course now we can’t get rid of him and he has started turning up for breakfast as well as lunch! (He must have dinner at some other house!)

I’m only here with my Dad and the cat gang for another 2 weeks… By the time I’m back home for Christmas/NewYear I quite expect Takis to be a house boy, staying in at night and laying on beds!

A selection now available as stock photos through Shutterstock.

The Observations by Jane Harris – About a servant in 1800′s Scotland who is asked to keep a diary, but it’s not your average servant diary as strange things start to happen… I think this has to be one of the best books I  read this year!

 
Prison Diary 1 by Jeffrey Archer – The first in a series of 4 that covers Jeffrey Archer’s diaries that he wrote when in prison. We ended up with this because we’ve read his novels – I wasn’t sure how interested I would be with his life in prison but gave it a go nevertheless since it was on our bookcase! Glad I did pick it up, had read it in a couple of days as I was hooked – Looking forward to reading the others.

 
The Summer Witch by Louise Cooper – A book I picked up years ago for 20cents but never got around to reading… I bought it purely because it was cheap off of the charity stall at the local carboot sale and didn’t  notice that it was classified as “Epic Fantasy” – Something I’ve never read before. It was a good read though, about a young woman who befriends a scarecrow who then comes to life!

 
Hornet Flight by Ken Follett – An author I return to whenever I find a book of his that I haven’t read/got. Hornet Flight was as gripping as his other books, didn’t really want it to end! Set during WW2 in Denmark/England this is a tale of espianage.

 
The Little House by Phillipa Gregory. I like reading this authors historical novels so wasn’t sure what her other novels would be like… but I was hooked! This story is about  the struggle a woman faces when her husband and in-laws try to take her baby away from her.

Films / Programs I Watched:

Some of them… That I’ve remembered to write down so that I can add them to this blog list!

The Bucket List – Starring Jack Nicholson. About 2 guys who share a hospital room and end up doing a bucket list together before they die. An ok movie, I didn’t think it was anything special though and wouldn’t watch again.

 
The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas – Sooo good, this could well be one of the best films I watch all year! It’s about a German boy  who befriends a Jewish boy in a concentration camp during WW2. Of course it’s hard to watch at times knowing what happened to the Jews but all the same a gripping movie.

 
Twilight Breaking Dawn part 1 – Very Good. I was disappointed with the previous movie in the series so wasn’t too sure what Breaking Dawn would be like but seems as if they’re back on track! Can’t wait for part 2 to come out

 
The Lucky One – I’d seen this movie advertized on FB close to Valentines along with The Notebook so thought it would be one to watch… I wouldn’t say I was disappointed it just wasn’t the Love Story that Is The Notebook! Pretty ordinary in comparison… But an ok chick-flick to pass an hour or two.

Onto documentaries/series… Seem’s like I’ve actually gone through a fair few! I like to watch these for an hour or two at night after I’ve finished work Where as films are normally a Sunday evening thing!

 
Documentaries – Wild China – I just choose this at random as I wanted to watch something to do with travel and just happened upon Wild China. Something for the wanderlust!

 
Mrs Brown’s Boys Season 1 – I only discovered this hilarious show half-way through series 3 when it was shown on BBC last year, so went back and started from the beginning If you need a laugh you have to watch this!

 
Greys Anatomy season 8 – What can I say… I like a bit of Grey’s! The closing episode was a bit of a shocker even though I knew what was going to happen with Lexie – But still, it came out of nowhere in relation to the rest of the series. Looking forward to season 9

Other Things…

I seem to have come to a halt with the crochet but I do now have more wool so perhaps it will start growing again! So instead of crochet’ing on the weekends I’ve mostly been doing a jigsaw puzzle of a field of tulips… Will have to take a picture – Whether I get it finished before I head back to the UK is anyone’s guess!!

Sadly I don’t have photos to entice you with… Perhaps a good thing, though it does make this post a little bare – One day I would like to get into food photography but so far I don’t have the patience/time – When I’m baking I’m baking and when I’m photo’ing… Just two different things I haven’t managed to combine yet! One day though,… Perhaps when I have a kitchen of my very very own

On to the goodies I’ve made recently…

Blondies – A recipe I discovered a few years back. These are basically a white brownie. Hint on the baking time – Don’t over do them as they dry out!

Indian Spiced Buns – I’ve only made these once and let’s just say they didn’t turn out like swirls exactly… But we didn’t mind, they tasted good! Hopefully on attempt 2 I will get them in a swirlier shape!

Gingerbread Loaf – Another favorite recipe I turn back to when I don’t know what else to make. I usually add more ginger than the recipe calls for and leave out the cloves – Because I keep forgetting to buy them!

Carrot Cake – I only discovered carrot cake a year or so ago – I always thought carrots in a cake was just wrong but no, it’s delicious! This year I wanted to make my own so grabbing two recipes I used the one linked for the cake and then a different recipe for the frosting which is just cream cheese, butter and confectioners sugar – Nothing  fancy or complicated!

Not sure what’s on the agenda for the next Sunday afternoon  baking session

The pic below has to be the best photo I have of Jay (the Ginger one) all grown up. He’s normally a bit camera shy and hides his face/runs away/ gets too close to the camera!! An added bonus that ‘Uncle’ Lloyd is in the background I’m sure the hosepipe can be photoshop’ed out at a later stage lol

and then there was this one of Mo and I just had to laugh out loud. The perfect example of Shutterspeed, a fluke of course!