Rocky Road and a Little Green Bowl

So ok, you were right, it's rocky road. I will share my recipe with you, only because you are all soooooo lovely - oh and cause this is MY version of rocky road and I can share it, without taking someone else's idea.

Using my Mum's little green bowl with white spots. Did I tell you how much I love that little bowl?? lol.

Ok if you like dark choccie, then this one is for you.

400g dark choccie

200g milk choccie

approx 4 handfulls of marshmallows cut in half using kitchen scissors

approx 2 handfull of lollies, (snakes, raspberries etc) cut using kitchen scissors.

Melt the chocolate, add the marshmallows and lollies, stir to completely coat mallows and lollies in the chocolate. Add more if you need it.

Pour into slice tin and put in fridge to set.

To cut, I just take the tin out of the fridge for about 10mins to soften, then upend on cutting board and like the picture above with a big knife cut strips, then cut into smaller bite-size pieces.

*Variations*

- Add about 2 handfulls of unsalted peanuts.

- Not a huge fan of dark chocolate? Just use 200g dark chocolate and 400g of the milk chocolate.

- Desiccated coconut can also be added.

- Kids party? 200g of dark chocolate and 400g milk chocolate, put mixture into the minature patty cases (usually used for little choccies), and sprinkle with 100's and 1000's then into fridge to set.

Let me know if you make it and what you added to yours, I would love to know. Oh and if you like it too of course.

What is Green with White spots - My Mum's Bowl, of course.

Waiting - it was a race between the oven timer and the washing machine to beep a finished load. The oven won that round. lol. Oh and that is anzac slice in the oven.

It was a lovely cool day here today, so I made the most of it, turned the oven on and made double batches. To the back and left is my date anzac slice. To the front is a very wonky batch of my peanut butter biscuits with cranberries. No, don't screw up your nose, they are very delish, and my 3 boys can't get enough of them.

Hmmmm, tricky!! Can you tell me what I am making here?? Huh, go on, have a guess. It's currently in the fridge and I will share it with you tomorrow.

Bummer that you can't see the bowl with the chopped lollies in it. That bowl belonged to my Mum, she gave it to me a few years ago now as she doesn't use it anymore. I love it, pale green with white spots on it. Might have to show it off tomorrow. I use it all the time, and each time it comes out of the cupboard I think of my Mum, and all the wonderful cooking she did for us kids - there are 6 of us you know, so she did LOTS of cooking. I remember she had some really pretty aprons too. Hmmmm, I wonder if she still uses them on her big cooking days.

I never used an apron until a few years ago, I found some pretty fabric that just HAD to be made into an apron, got myself a pattern and ended up making a few.

What do you like to cook in your kitchen, and do you wear an apron?

Allsorts of Sugary Goodness

How delish! It's a sugar hit in a bowl.

Hmmmm, what a lovely quilt these colours would make.

I hope your day has little bits of joy in it.

It's a Travelling Stationery Wrap

How funny is that, a travelling stationery wrap. Lol, sounds funny when you say it out loud, *giggle* you did just say it out loud, I heard you. That's ok, I said it out loud too, and then giggled.

Ok, yes, it really is a travelling stationery wrap. I love saying it can't you tell!! *giggle*. It's made from a fat quarter and lined. Please excuse my white thread on the pink lining, I know a total sewing No, No, but hey, I am in a hurry and it was just a draft wrap that I am going to trial over the next few weeks.

Basically all it is - 2 x fat quarters sewn together right sides together, then leave an opening to turn it in the right way. Hand stitch the opening closed. I then enveloped or folded in on its lining the 4 corners and hand stitched to the lining. I measured the top and bottom to turn in to comfortably fit my C5 and C6 envelopes, diary, writing paper, notebook, pen and stamps, so that when the wrap was closed, I still had 4 straight corners on the outside.

Leaving all supplies in the wrap set out to how I wanted them placed, I then pinned all the sewing lines for the pockets making sure everything had enough room to be put in and taken out easily. Sew these pockets in and wa-la my wrap is done.

In the last photo you can see where I have secured the ribbon from the extra sewing line down the middle of the wrap. Originally I had plans to put 2 buttons on the overlapping flap at the front, however, depending on what is in the wrap at any time, this could be too loose or too tight. This is why I have gone for the ribbon as it's totally adjustable for any thickness inside the wrap. If you collect old stuff, remember those leather buckle straps that were used around books? I think that would look wonderful too.

There is a little pocket next to the black pen, this is for my stamps when I purchase them. Also the C6 envelope pocket above the pen and stamps pocket is the perfect size for postcards and greeting cards. I also have a little address book that will fit in there as well.

If it is successful, I think I have some wonderful gift ideas for teachers at the end of this year. Filled with a pretty pen, cards, writing papers, stamps and envelopes.

How wonderful, we can go down to the park/beach, I can sit under a tree and take my wrap and know it's all in there. I can just leave it at home and know exactly where to pen that note to the teacher.

Oh yes, and I have gotten some cleaning done today too, but won't post photos of that, it's way too boring!!

It's a wrap, lol, I will let you know how the trial goes over the next few weeks.

Casting on - I love new beginnings.

There is a cooling in the air, the evenings are mild, I am wool gathering again. It's time to crochet.

Isn't it strange how the weather moves us, I like that feeling, I like the smell in the air, I like the cooler mornings, but still with the long summer days. Such a beautiful time of year, the smell of the sun still warm on my skin, yet the anticipation of the cooler weather and snuggly shorter days to come.

The first photo is of some wool that I bought yesterday, it's an 'Eco-Cotton' and was in the sale bin lovely and cheap, so of course, I bought the last 19 balls of it and have started a circle rug for me for that exact round purple cosy lounge chair on which the sample sits. I have been wanting to make a circle rug for myself for many years now, but haven't found the 'right' yarn to make it. The plan is to make pale cream crochet flowers to randomly decorate it with, but not sure I want a circle rug now at all. Maybe the old granny squares would look better, joined with a pale cream. What do you think?

I know I said I was going to use up my stash before buying more, however, with my boys donating their crochet rugs, I needed to buy more wool and wanted to make a start on theirs so that when the time comes, they will be ready to keep little toes warm, and found the above on sale, knowing I will never get it again at that price. This girl just loves a bargain!

As for my boys, the second photo is the start of my little ones crochet rug, he has told me he wants me to start this one with red and not the blue, but to keep the same pattern throughout. I love these bright colours, they suit my little man just perfectly.

So ok, off to get some cleaning done now.

Are you making anything at your place today? Or are you cleaning? Or - are you like me, and going to squeeze in a bit of both?

Old Top - New Top

Old Top

New Top

It's an old top with a new hem. I quite like it, I do.

This top is so very old, its faded, it's far from current fashion, but Ohhhh, how it's soft, and how it's cool. Since I wear my shorts on the hip these days, I needed to lengthen the top just a little to cover my middle. This is all it needed.

Yes, yes, I know, high wasted is all the rage again now, but I am far from the height of fashion, and quite like it that way.

I had some tiny blue seed beads to also put in the middle of each little flower, but have decided against this. The fabric stripes and lace in the top all run from the shoulder down, so putting the blue beads along the bottom in the flowers will probably just look a bit 'try hard' and 'ick'.

So now I have a 'new' top back in my wardrobe. It's been hanging there for so long now, not being worn and it ended up in the spare wardrobe at one stage as I thought it would make a very pretty little dilly bag (those very cute round draw-string bags that I love so much, and still have on my list to make one day).

Have you revamped an old fav lately? Would love to see.

leukaemia Foundation - Shave for a Cure Update - Oh it's a nude one.

Good Sunday Morning to you all. Just thought I would share with you the wonderful, wonderful news. So ok, I made a comment that I was speechless, well that was 2 minutes ago - I am back to ME now. lol.

Firstly, this is my first nudey post - woo woo - 'you can leave your hat on'. lol. It's nudey, cause I don't have a photo with this post. lol, and you were thinking, that little me was sitting here at the computer in my birthday suit. lol, not a chance.

Ok, now onto the reason for the post. As you know, I am doing the Shave for a Cure on the 14th May 2010. The last few days, I have been handed some dares, the first few were from hubbies workmates saying they will double their donations for me to go back to skin. One of them told me 'there is a greenback in it for you.' The other didn't say what his donation would be. I was tempted, trust me, really really freaked out at having a totally nude nut, but very tempted knowing where that much needed cash would be going.

Then at dinner that night, the shave come into conversation, and I was told (by hubbies family) that their donation would double for me to get a short styled cut, and yes, they named their very generous donation.

Hmmmm, all I could see was the money, the money going to these families to hopefully bring them some comfort, respite, nursing care, or even one day (hopefully in my lifetime) a cure for Leukaemia - yes, I am greedy, 'Show me the money!!'. So then I wondered if I would still get the cash from both sides, if half my head was shaved back to skin and the other half was a short styled cut. Yeah, I know, nuts, but like I said 'Show me the money!!'.

So ok, I was talking to some friends yesterday afternoon, they then write a cheque out then and there, yes my dear friends, grabbed a pen, and started writing a cheque to the Leukaemia Foundation - Shave for a Cure for $500.00. No, that is not a mis-type, the cheque has in black ink written on it $500.00 for me to shave my head a #2 or lower.

Decision made. I have now reached my original goal of $1,000.00 for the #4 shave, so with this new challenge today I have upped my Shave page to reach $2,000.00 for the Leukaemia Foundation to go a #2.

If you would like to help me reach my goal of $2,000.00 for the shave, please click on the link I have at the right of my blog.

I am the luckiest girl in the world, and yes, I will stop talking now.

Leukaemia Foundation - Shave for a Cure

I have finally set the date for my shave. This is Dan, my hairdresser, who will be relieving me of my hair on the 14th May 2010. I am donating it for wig making to the Children's Alopecia Society.

I am excited to have a date set now, however, am a little nervous about doing the shave. I am lucky, I have a choice, some people don't have that choice.

Today I was offered by 2 people they would double their donation if I went right back to my skull, as in clean razor shave back to the skin. I am not sure I can be that brave, however, this evening have been thinking of how beneficial that money would be to a family with a sick child.

It's very tempting, but their donation would have to be very worth while me doing so. Currently, I am going back to a number 4 clipper. So a total razor shave would be nothing on that really, would it?

Crochet Rugs

My boys chose these colours to have me crochet them a rug each for winter 2009. I finished the rainbow rug towards the end of winter, the cammo rug was more like well. . . . I finished it this week.

These rugs are now on their way to Ethiopia, to an orphanage for children that desperately need blankets and clothing to get them through the cold nights.

My boys made this decision after talking to a friend who is going over there. We come home, and my eldest was asking me questions about the kids over there and just how cold it got. I explained to him what an orphanage was and that our friends were taking some extra suitcases of clothing and warm items to donate.

Both my boys didn't like the idea of other children feeling the cold and not having enough to keep warm, and so, they wanted to send their rugs over.

I told them I would make them another rug each, exactly the same. My eldest likes the idea that every night he goes to bed and uses his rug, there will be another boy just like him with the same rug in another country and he will be warm too.

God's Promise

This photo was taken yesterday evening, from our back yard. The clouds come over and we got a bit of a storm and some lovely cooling rain after a very humid day. It didn't last very long, but this is what it left behind. So beautiful.

This was taken about 3 minutes later from the front of our house, looking west. Again, so beautiful. I stood there out the front, just watching the sky move and change as the sun set on another day, the breeze picked up and sighed through my hair, bringing some cool to my skin.

'Boo Yah' it's a word you know!!

Apparently it means 'yee-haa', or 'woo hoo'. It's not like 'awesome' though, because 'awesome is different, it's just awesome'. All this information from Minnie of his day at school.

Wow !!

Oh and also, apparently (yes, I have used that word twice now), 'Batman is gay'. This comment from Eggz. I asked what did he mean by that, and he told me that 'it's not good Mum, like when we play throw ball and someone does it soft like, well that is gay.'

I told him that when I was a kid, 'gay' meant happy, or brightly coloured. Yes, you guessed it, I got the screwed up face look.

So we looked it up. (My First Macquarie Dictionary - Gay = bright or cheerful.)

I thought that 'sick' was bad enough last year. You probably already know that 'sick' means 'fantastic', 'cool', 'great', etc etc. *sigh*

So is it true that cleaning bathrooms and ironing is 'gay'? And is a cherry ripe, crisp and cold straight from the fridge when the kids are in bed now 'sick'? Oh, along with a lovely chilled glass of wine? And is it 'boo yah' when you take that sale item to the checkout and realise that it's been marked down by 1/2 again?

Knit Me, Knit Me!

In an attempt to use what I have here and now, before purchasing more 'stash' that I just 'have to have' whether it be scrapping, knitting, beading, cross stitch, fabric, felt, or some other 'can't live without this bargain item a single minute more', I have pulled out this beautiful yarn from www.alleco.com.au. (They are currently updating their website and it should be up and running by the end of the week.)

My plan is scarf, as i think this knitted up on chunky needles to give it a lacy look to show off the uneven whispy loveliness would look very pretty. I just know I have some little black beads that I am thinking would just set it off nicely to sew on throughout the scarf once finished. (I am certainly going to need some warm stuff on my head and around my neck this winter.)

My recent granny square achievement hasn't been forgotten, I have plans for making me a lovely rug for winter, however, do need to uphold my 2010 resolution of using what I have before moving onto the next project, so far so good, seeing as it's only February. lol.

How are YOUR new year resolutions going?

Old Dog - New Tricks etc - It's a Granny Square!!

*Dance of joy, la, la, la, la*, dancing, dancing, dancing for my very FIRST EVER non-lopsided-I-am-so-excited-granny-square. Woot-woot, and it even LOOKS like a square. *giggle* Oh it really doesn't take much to make this Joycie happy. I can do it, I really can do it.

Yes, yes, I know it's just gone Saturday morning here, but I don't care, I can crochet a real granny square. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Pip and her wonderful tutorial at 'Meet Me at Mike's'. http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/ go there and you to can make pretty granny squares. (Please make sure you thank Pip for her tip-top tutorial.)

Ok, this chic is outa here.

Show me your granny squares, we can rug up together. Next stop will be little flowers. (*giggle* I really can do it).

Back in the Scrapping Seat.

I so badly need to get a move on with my scrapping. I am currently up to March 2007. YIKES!! However, in saying that, I am totally loving the journey. Sitting on the floor of my studio, surrounded by photos of my family, places we visited, moments we shared.

These photos I fluffed around with for a while before settling on just going simple, as simple as can be. Sometimes it's nice to just let the photos tell the story.

What did you make today?

Gardening Therapy Goodness

We have never had a single pumpkin, despite heaps of flowers, but we don't mind so much, especially when these little critters come to live in our garden. I am going to plant more pumpkin seeds for them, so they can live with us, and bring their friends.

Before the trim.

After the trim.

I spent some time today trimming the above tibouchina hedge. We put this in 9 years ago, they were 4 very small tibouchina plants. They have been culled right back to almost nothing twice now and just look at them, lush, green and those purple flowers. oh just love them. They actually got to be just over our guttering which you can just see a teeny peak on the top left of the first photo, yes, believe it or not, they were over that guttering and when I cut them back, to waste high, we had to hire a trailer to remove the greenwaste. The neighbours were so shocked at what I had done. It was pretty scary at first, it looked so naked there and each day I was inspecting each plant just waiting for those tiny little green nobs of life. Sure enough out they come thick and fast. Oh joy!! My beautiful tibouchina hedge.

We don't have a big garden, but we get so much joy from it. It's our own little slice of heaven. Ahhhhh, love that smell. It's just the perfect size for me to manage and love every moment of it.

What are your favourite flowers/plants in your garden, I would love to see them.

With Gratitude

'When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,

and you shall see that in truth

you are weeping for that which has been your delight.'

- unknown -

Oh this was written for all the Mumma's. I come across this in one of my little quote books and just had to share this with you all. Oh, so very, very true.

Thank you to the most wonderful friends a girl could have. It's so comforting to know we are all feeling a little the same at times, and to be able to freely share our feelings when and as we need to.

Woo Hoo - tomorrow is Friday, and this Mumma, is one very happy little Mumma.

Enjoy your valentines weekend and hug to you dearly, 'that which has been (and continues to be) your delight.'

p.s. That is a very pretty little gerbera from my garden.

Melancholy Mumma

I just may have the answer, well at least I think I do, I don't know where to begin, I don't know how I got to this point, I am not quite sure how to get out of it either, I just know I am here, right now, letting the waves of 'flatness' swoop over me, feeling a tad unable to do much about it at all.

It didn't really become obvious to me til this morning, when a friend asked 'Are you ok?' and put her hand on my arm? I think I said something like 'yes, I am ok, I think it's hit me.' And until that moment, til the words were actually out of my mouth, IT certainly DID hit me. Then flashes of my friends went through my head, all the wonderful women in my life who have sent their 'babies' to school this year, all these wonderful women, my friends, my support network, whether they are in full time work, casual, part time, studying, looking for work, volunteering, CEO of family (some people call this home duties), whatever they spend the main part of their day doing, it seems we are all feeling the same way.

Some of us have earaches, some have come down quite sick, some are walking through the house during the early hours of the mornings unable to sleep, we are all feeling lost in some way.

What did I do with myself before I had my babies, how did I live my days before my beautiful children were born. Seriously, a hot cup of tea!! Who would have thought!! Oh yeah, that's all B.C. (before children) stuff. Well phooey to the hot cuppa, I don't want a hot cuppa, so there.

I have no reason to feel this way, so of course, I then berate myself, you know, inside my head I say 'Get over it girl, what's your problem, you are being so silly, there is much to celebrate in your life.' It's all true, I have so much to celebrate in my life, I have NO reason to be in this state that I find myself in. Sure I have worked, sacrificed, planned hard to be here, but don't we all! My children have all that they need and a little of what they want. lol. I am living my dream - married, built our home, live near the beach out of the city, had our little family. Tick, tick, tick, tick, all correct, all boxes marked.

There is another tick, tick, tick, tick, it's my clock in the kitchen. I miss them, I miss their noise, I miss their faces, my heart feels it's been ripped from my chest through the day. Ugg!! I look at the clock on the wall, oh yes, the second hand IS still moving, time hasn't actually stopped at all.

It's not that I have nothing to do, actually quite the opposite, I am quite busy and my little diary is bursting at the seams with appointments, committees, dr's, phone calls, orders to be made up, research to be done, 'things' that need organising. I am out of the house more than I am home. My 'to do' list seems to be growing more than its shrinking.

It's just that I am alone now. For 5.5 hours x 5 days of the week this Mumma is alone.

To all the Melancholy Mumma's out there, I hear you, I feel what you are feeling, I have the earache, dull head and am laying wide awake at night, and then walking the house, wishing I could have a decent sleep. I think if I was to hug someone, I would burst into tears, I know, sounds silly, and I am pouring my heart on on this very here page, but it's just how I feel, right here, right now.

In 10 minutes time I will be in one of their beds, with both of them, we are reading Enid Blyton at the moment. The Famous Five series. Starting at the first one, Five on a Treasure Hunt. I just LOVE that time with them, despite the heat, their legs are crossed over my legs, one may have their head in my lap, or a head on my shoulder, then my little one might sidle around until his head is down next to my feet and his legs are up my end and I rub his leg while reading. See I DO have much to celebrate, my two very darling, little boys.

What do YOU do at night with your little ones, how do YOU recoup those missed hours of them at school, and you at work, whether paid, volunteer or CEO. How are your Mumma alone hours, and how are YOU coping?

Hugs to the Mumma's.

Little Beaded Lovelies.

I made these little seed bead bracelets for my sister. These summer colours suit her so well and the mix and match options ensure that they are able to be worn with most of anything really. On my wrist here for testing are the blue, green and pink bracelets. The red and blue together look great with jeans, the pink and green are very summery and feminine together. They all look great, even if I do say so myself. Now, I just have to make myself a set.

Go On Make Me - Continued.

The following are cards that I have made from the remaining 'scraps' of patterned papers from an earlier post. There are 9 in total.

Sometimes we know exactly what we want to say, however, just cant get the words out right. We can all relate to famous quotes and movie quotes, so a little quote help from those that have a 'gift' for making words sing to our hearts and souls can be all we need to make that special someone's day. I love this Heidi Grace paper (above) and I didn't want to overcrowd the pretty stemmed hearts too much. This lovely border stamp, given to me by a dear wonderful friend (she has impeccable taste) is perfect to frame the beautiful Moulin Rouge quote. I managed to make two of this one above, one is already sold.

Loving this bright, cheery paper teamed with orange and black. Hopefully will put a smile on the face of the receiver. This can be sent for any reason at all.

This would be my favourite of all the cards I made. The orange felt heart I cut from my boys felt stash. lol. Well they weren't using it!! The little safety pin come from a clothing tag (yes, I collect the tags as well as the pins) The little green beads come from my bead stash which I cleaned out on the weekend, but couldn't part with any of it, so basically just rearranged my beads and have pulled some out to use in my scrapping and cards.

I love this card also, can you tell I was getting to the bottom of the patterned paper pile (ohh, now just try and say those 3 words fast. lol. you just did, didn't you - *giggle* it's ok, cause I did too.) Can you see the little bits of bling? Bling is King!! Love it, totally transforms the card.

I am wishing now I had made the middle of the flower the same as the earlier one, but this looks ok still. I have added some sequins and bling to the flowers as well.

Now this was certainly the last card I made. Lol, but I just didn't want to waste such pretty scraps, nor did I want to put them back into my stash, because we all know that they will doubtfully ever come out again. The 'happy birthday' is printed from my computer using 'trubble' font, then, when cut to size I outlined with a fine black felt tip pen.

Thanks so much for checking out my little cards. I love making them and love even more to send them.

Rain Gauge Lovin'

Oh don't you just love the look of this!! I know I certainly do. That reading above says 86mls. 86mls of sweet smelling, soaking deep into the earth luscious, precious goodness between 7am yesterday morning and 7am this morning.

I love the rain, I love the smell of the rain, I love the taste of the rain, I love the sight of the rain, falling like a huge curtain, to nourish our parched ground, to cool the air, to wash away the heat.

You know what else I love so much about the rain, probably mainly because we are such an 'outdoors' kinda family, that when it rains, out come the board games, jigsaw puzzles, indoor cubby houses, those wonderful 'cosy' family entertainment 'things' that we only do on wet weekends.

When the rain does stop and the sun comes out again, especially after rain like this, the garden just seems to double in size, so I then spend alot of time out in the garden, trimming, weeding, and watching all those little buds come out ready to burst into colour to bring the lady beetles, the bees and all the other little creatures that call our gardens home.

Hmmmm, that smell, there isn't much that beats that smell, oh, so ok, fresh mown lawns is certainly up there, along with the smell of the backs of my boys necks fresh after a shower when we have a snuggle. Of course the smell of my frangipani, gardenia, lavender, home cooked slices, the sun on my freshly washed and dried towels and bed linen have to have a mention as well. lol.

Tell me, what are YOUR favourite smells?

Love a bit of lime

Here are 2 cards I made last night. Took photos this morning as I thought it would be brighter, however, woke to gloriously, dripping, wet, soaking, beautiful, drenching rain. So sorry for the bad lighting, but you get the idea.

I still have plenty of scraps over, and will share the rest when done. The first card I have used orange sparkly felt for the heart and a bit of black felt. Just love the lime ric rac to really brighten the card. I have also used sequences if you have a closer look, as a girl loves a little sparkle. Card number 2 the black border just brings it all together perfectly and again, a little lime flower with a sequence in the middle for a dash of 'look at me'.

Just want to say H-e-l-l-o, to a lovely friend that stopped by on my last post. In so many ways, you have put a huge smile on my face today. Thank you :)

May your Saturday bring a smile to your face, even in just a small way, it's often the little things that are so important.

Go On Make Me!!

Yeah, make me, just you make me. lol, so ok, the paper is talking to me now. Well so they should, just how pretty are these bits of scraps that I had laying in a pile on the floor of my studio this afternoon. They are now on my desk front and centre and I added in the black cardstock. Sure, cute bits of paper, I'll make you . . . . hmmmm, into a card me thinks.

I know, I know, 2 posts in the one day, bit scary for you, well sorry to the 3 people out there that are reading this. lol, If you stop by, please say hello, yup, that's all you have to do, just type h-e-l-l-o, nothing else. lol. Go on, I dare you.

Ok, the paper is calling me, back to the studio, I promise to share what I make.

Not Just on Valentines Day. . . . .

Whether you believe in the day or not, you cannot escape it really. Restaurants full to the brim of lovers celebrating their relationship, florists, bursting to the seems with imported roses of all colours, ready to be couriered out to offices, and homes all over the country, bottles of champagne on the chill ready to 'clink' in toast to the hours/years spent together. Umm-ing and pen chewing over what to write on the card that says just how we feel, but without sounding too soppy/daggy/desperate. Scented candles purchased for a romantic evening.

I have just done some research on how exactly Valentines Day come about, I am not going to post any of it here, because there are SOOOOO many different ideas. The most popular seemed to be that 'he' is St. Valentine who was executed on the 14th February, 269 AD for saying no to being asked to fight. Another website claims that St. Valentine was in love with the gaolers daughter and wrote poetry to her before he was executed, and so in his honour the 'love day' come about.

Well I do remember when I was a young-er thing, lol, of Valentines Day and all us girls in the office would almost hang off the couriers as they started to make their rounds to all the office buildings. Never to be disappointed, we were laden down on the train ride home, with all the other girls in the city and their bunches of roses, boxes of choccies and huge, big eyed teddy bears. Once we were home with our 'gifts' and mysterious handwritten/typed cards, it was quickly to dress and powder the nose (oh a can of hairspray in the 80's - and lots of black eyeliner for the 90's), ready for dinner at a very romantic location.

These days, for me, Valentine's Day is keeping close to my heart my family and friends, I much prefer choccies and flowers for any other day of the year than the 14th February. I don't like the fact that we have to be reminded to tell those closest to us that we love them by purchasing way over-priced items trussed up in red cellophane. (However, champagne and choccies will never be turned away here - lol.)

So I know it's still a whole week away yet, but I wish you all a lovely St. Valentines Day next Sunday, and that you be surrounded by all the 'loves' of your lives, with perhaps a little choccie and champagne. lol.