Happy Halloween

This morning we dug out all of our spooky films, baked meringue ghosties, ate adorable ghost and bat crispies, made halloween shaped pizzas, dressed up as bats and pigged out on popcorn whilst watching our marathon of DVDs.
Mr Bee doesn't seem to be phased by all things spooky, so he happily watched Beetlejuice and Hocus Pocus without a flinch. He has a great little sense of humour!

Now its time for the little bee to head up to bed, Papa and I can sit down to some scary films and finish the rest of our treats.

Happy Halloween! 

Calke at Halloween

Today saw a trip to Calke Abbey. Planned months in advance.
Pumpkin Party in the walled garden (or not the walled garden it seemed!).
Unbeknown to us, half term meant it was a hive of people, which meant we couldn't amble around as we usually do.
It was so beautiful to see the golden trees, and kick up leaves as we walked.
A great prelude to tomorrows Halloween activities! 

My Christmas Wishlist

1// Clinique Dramatically Different Gel

2// Joules Mary King Sweatshirt

3// Swatch Croissant Chaud Wristwatch

4// Joules Wensley Printed Scarf

5// Peter Pan by JM Barrie

6// Finsbury Filofax

7// Sixteen Candles

A few things that have made their way on to my Christmas list. 

A watch to replace my broken one. A Filofax to get organised. Another addition to our 80's movie stash. 

Road Trip #2

Today, Papa, Mr Bee and I headed off on another ebay road trip! Late last night, Dan rushed downstairs urging me to come and look at something on ebay. Lo and behold, it was a bargainous Peugeot 106, Inca!

Those of you who know me will know how devoted to my little 'Dougie' I was. My first car. I was devastated to see her go up to the scrapyard in the sky 18 or so months ago, and ever since, I have wanted to be back in the seat of a 106. Now they aren't big or fancy, but such fun little cars which both Papa and I fell in love with all those years ago.

A drive up to Norfolk, and we managed to barter the chap down a little due to some welding issues, and then we were on our way home. With a full tank and temporary insurance, we made it home safely, just about.

Dougie Jr. will need a few bits and bobs doing to her, firstly a Head Gasket change before it gets any worse. Luckily, we still have cupboards full of 106 bits in the garage. Papa could never bear part with them.

So here she is, Dougie Jr. Set to live on our drive way for a few months whilst we get her all fit and ready for the road. I can have my fun, cheap and nippy car back, and Papa is over the moon to have a toy to play with.

Once we were home, Papa didn't even make it into the house before giving her a quick wash and jacking her up to make a start. And as we all know, Dan is at his happiest underneath a 106!

I wonder how many engines this one will end up having.......

Nearly Three

1// Designs for cake toppers and stickers.
2// Woodland party bags.
3// Animal masks.
4// Moose (deer) shaped pasta.
5// Invitation.
6// Toadstool cake.

Mr Bee is growing so fast. I have been planning his third party since his second finished. This year is a woodland theme. I have been gathering inspiration all year, and now I am starting to put things together. Having lists like these help massively!

Jack-o-Lantern

Eye, Eye, Chicken Pie

Today I made a Chicken, Bacon and Leek pie for our dinner. It was the first time I have made a chicken pie, and the first time I have made a pie for quite some time! It certainly passed the taste test, it was scrumptious! I am looking forward to my leftovers lunch tomorrow.

Leftover pastry made yummy cheese straws.

Snippets

Snippets

// playing in the park

// painting with mamas watercolours

// our beautiful leafy lawn

// a sleeping bee

Threes

favourites

+ Food-stagrams
+ Late night, vintage TV
+ Christmas wish list starts here, here and here.

inspiration

+ Filofax heaven at A Paper Lovestory
+ More party ideas
+ Just WOW

photos

Upton House

Last weekend we planned a long road trip around an ebay purchase which meant having to travel down to Slough. Planning our route via the M40, we decided to finally visit Upton House. 

We arrived all together, walked the Woodland Walk, admiring all of the tables and chairs ready for woodland tea parties. The 1930's themed gardens were absolutely stunning. What beautiful views through the morning mist. 

After our morning stroll through the beautiful, beautiful gardens, we had a cup of tea with Papa before he continued his journey down to Slough. Mr Bee and I stayed at the property, exploring the house and more of the gardens.
We spent most of our time in the wonderful house. Each of the rooms had a treasure box with items relating to the room. In the library we played with postal scales and 'old' wooden jigsaws. In the dining room, we played with a very primitive toaster and silver spoons and in the kitchen we dressed up as cooks and maids and made dinner for the other guests! As usual, Mr Bee made lots of lady friends, chatting away to the room guides. As usual again, he charmed them with his wit and knowledge.

Mr Bee had so many people commenting on his outfit. He loves his bowtie and braces top almost as much as his actual bowtie and braces!

We had such an amazing day at Upton. Waiting around for Papa was a blessing as we got to explore without having to worry about coming home to make dinner or miss the traffic. We can't wait to come again and will probably be planning another visit soon.
Waiting for Papa to come home, we found a gathering of 1930's Ford Model A's. Like his father, our little bee was in his element admiring the beautiful old cars. The smell of them was just amazing!

A little later Papa arrived with his shiny new toy, a top box to go with the bottom box he was given a few weeks ago. What an awesome ebay bargain!

We did have to hurry home as Burnley were playing Blackpool on the TV. We bought some sweeties for Papa from the little sweetie shop to enjoy whilst he watched the football.

Meanwhile, outside the sky was turning from blue to pink, to purple, to blue again! It was beautiful, but it changed so fast.

Clinique - Review

So all my blogging friends rave about Clinique, I thought I may as well jump on the band wagon and see if it is any good.

Around this time last year, I started using the Liz Earle range of skincare, suggested to me by Michelle over at Fluffy Mummy. I fell in love instantly, I loved the way it made my skin feel. It did a little to improve my hormonal spot problem, but not enough for me to never go elsewhere.

Most of the responses I got from the blog post I did about using the Liz Earle range tended to go along the lines of 'I use Clinique and it is amazing'! So finally, almost a year later, I decided to take the plunge, visiting a Clinique counter and having a chat with a lovely lady who set me on my way with an expensive bag full of goodies!

So it has been around a month and a half since I started using the three step Clinique method. The mild liquid facial soap, clarifying lotion and the dramatically different gel moisturiser, alongside the other bits and pieces I got in the 'Bonus Time' package.

I was a little dubious of the clarifying lotion at first, as it did seem to sting a little more than I anticipated, but it doesn't seem to as much any more. It really seems to do the trick. My skin feels more alive and perky after using the lotion. Followed by the dramatically different gel, my skin just feels like pure silk.

It certainly is different from the previous Liz Earle regime that I was using. The lovely feeling seems to last longer and happily, the spot situation has improved dramatically! Hurrah!
Even though the advisor assured me that the standard three step would be enough to see an improvement, I didn't quite believe her, knowing what my skin was like, but golly she was right.

I have been using the repair cream underneath my eyes to perk up my tired eyes (from nearly 3 years without a proper nights sleep). Applying it once a day for around two weeks, I have already noticed the skin under my eyes perk up a little. I can see perseverance being a wonder with this cream!

So now I can see why it is so popular. A miracle solution for beautiful skin.
I'm on the bandwagon and I am not falling off!

How do you find your current skincare regime? Do you love Clinique too? I would love to know :)

My Boy -

Today, Mr Bee insisted that he wore his brand new christmas trousers, tweed with braces. Twinned with his waffle grandad teeshirt and tweed jacket, he looked like a child of the Victorian era!
He looked incredibly cute indeed, and he loved his new look.

We visited Anna and Isaac today and they took us to a local park that they have found, hidden away near their house. After a good long play, Mr Bee was covered in mud (boys!). We couldn't decide whether he looked like a farm hand (child labour?!) or a young Dicken from the 90s adaptation of Black Beauty.