{Love The Little Things}

I've been meaning to join in with Morgana over at But Why Mummy Why? Love the Little Things linky for a while, so here goes...

Read

I've just finished reading Apple Tree Yard. It was really good and I read it in just a few days. Next on my list is Gone Girl.

Watch the vlog above to see the mysterious flying cat!! (His name is Pickle!)

Watched

I've just started watching Homeland on Netflix and I've been totally sucked in. It's brilliant! I totally recommend you watch this if you haven't seen it already. (I realise I'm slow on the uptake and I bet most of you will have already seen Homeland, but heh ho!)

{image source}

Wore

I've been loving my new polka dot jumper that I picked up at TK Maxx recently, and my necklace was a gift from R for our anniversary. Aww! :-) 

Heard

As part of Culture 2014 the kids and I went to see Yellow Valley at the Glasgow Tramway. It was a musical tale based on a book, and we all enjoyed the experience.

My favourite song at the moment is Jubel by Klingande, and it's playing in the background of my vlog above.

Made

We've not really made all that much this week other than a mess!

Anyway, we have still been enjoying salads using the home grown lettuce in the garden. Although we've had a security breach...

And Lastly...

A few photos from our summer holiday in Aberdeen.

{My Garden: Herbs in Containers}

I have a number of containers of plants in my garden. The main reason for this was that in my old house I bought some colourful plants to liven the space up a bit, and instead of planting them in the ground I put them in pots so that I could take them with me when I moved! (Although not many of them have survived as I'm still a learner gardener!!)

So with the warmer weather approaching, I thought it was a good time to purchase a few more herbs to replace the ones that had dried up and died!

In a bid to keep my newly potted rosemary and mint alive, I've been doing a spot of reading on how to look after herbs in containers.

Here's what I've discovered:

1. Mint and rosemary should be able to survive outside all year once they're established but apparently mint isn't the happiest in a pot. I've got a large trough of it, so hopefully this is better than a small pot. But the advice is to replant into fresh compost when it starts to look straggly. Note duly taken!

2. The other tip is to pick your herbs regularly from the tips of the plants. This will encourage new growth. (Next stop will be google to search recipes that use rosemary... I've been enjoying Fresh Mint Tea with all the mint!)

Fresh Mint Tea :-)

3. Final advice is to water regularly and add a liquid feed once a week during growing season.

Do come back here to see how we get on!

Also, did you see the beautiful herb garden that I bought from Dobbies as a house warming gift for a friend - it was lovely and well received :-)

I'm linking up with Mammasaurus' How Does Your Garden Grow this week for the first time. Not sure if there are any rules or suchlike, so someone please keep me right!

{My Kitchen}

I'm linking up with Catherine from Making It As Mum for her weekly 'Making It Home' linky. This week Catherine has shared some ideas for planning a small family friendly kitchen, and I thought I would share some of the updates I've made to my kitchen to freshen it up!

My kitchen had a fitted seating area which was really inflexible and took up a lot of space. So, I decided to remove it!! My dad's wife Jo and I were out with the power drill one evening and demolished it!

During

After

There were a couple of really large screws that we were unable to remove ourselves, and there were also a few holes in the wall as a result of removing the benches, so I decided to get a joiner to come and panel the area, which is in keeping with the hallway and living room of the house.

Finished panelling and a temporary table from Ikea that was previously in another room

The other side of the kitchen

And again from a different angle

I couldn't resist trying out the paint!

Painting in progress...

My new kitchen table from Vertigo Interiors and 

my 3D frame for displaying the kiddie's artwork from Cox and Cox.

The new chairs I have ordered from made.com

Unorganised shelving!

The curtain I made to hide the recycling. Material from Remnant King Curtain Warehouse.

A bit untidy, but you get the idea! I still need to get trunking for the cables for the TV.

A lick of paint on my blackboard to tie it in with the fabric, and the red clock is from Sainsburys.

Brown faux leather bar stools from eBay. 

They have a back so are more suitable for the toddler to sit on (under supervision of course!)

The open shelving.

So there you have it... a lick of paint, a new table and chairs and some new accessories and my kitchen is looking great (if I do say so myself). If I can be bothered, then I might attempt to paint the units and change the handles, but I'm not sure it needs it now. 

Once it's completely finished (and tidy!) I'll take some more photographs and post them for you to see.

{What I Wore Wednesday}

Taking part again this week with Transatlantic Blonde for her What I Wore Wednesday bog hop thing. Join in if you fancy - all you need to do is share an outfit from the previous week and then join in with the linky on her blog.

So, here's my outfit from Thursday last week when I went into work for a 'Keeping in Touch' day:

Glasses by Dior

Black Dress by Gok Wan at Sainsbury's

Tights from M&S 100 denier wool

Boots from M&S

If you haven't already noticed, I love Marks and Spencers! I don't know if that is a good thing for a 29 year old, but I do. I've got so many great items of clothing from M&S, in particular from The Limited Collection and Autograph (not a fan of Per Una I have to say). I do find that their trousers aren't long enough for me (I'm just under 6 foot tall) and their knitwear doesn't tend to wash well (I always end up with things shrinking in the wash despite following the care instructions). On the other hand I love their shoes, accessories, dresses (have a fab leopard print number from The Limited Collection) and underwear. I hope that you don't think less of me now that I've admitted that! My friends think it's hilarious as they're always asking me where I got things, and more often than not my reply is M&S!

{Getting Your Groove Back Tuesday}

Kate on Thin Ice has started a new Blog Hop/Linky/Meme called "Getting Your Groove Back"...

I've been working on getting my groove back for about 3 months now. I decided enough was enough and it was time to make some changes. Out with the slummy mummy (no energy, lack of confidence, negative thinking...) and in with the yummy mummy (or at least somewhere in-between)!

Two questions have been set this week...

1. What song would be best to play a lot whilst attempting to get your groove back?

Kate's song choice is Revival by Annie Lennox. Funnily enough, my song choice is also Annie Lennox! I've got a jogging playlist on my phone and the one song that gets me to up the pace a bit is Annie Lennox 'Little Bird'. Think the image of Demi Moore's amazing body in Striptease when she dances about to this song must give me a boost of motivation!!

2. What can you do to make your body feel better this week?

Here's what I've been doing to get my groove back...

Diet & Exercise...

I have hired a personal trainer and lost a considerable amount of the post-baby flab. I was 13 stone 10lbs after my daughter was born 5 months ago, and I now weigh a trim 11 stone 1lb. My trainer Maria would like me to get to the 11 stone mark, so I have 2lbs left to lose. We've also been keeping track of my body fat % which has dropped dramatically from 39% to 29% (target is 25%). I feel great, have a lot more energy and it hasn't felt like hard work. My advice - ditch the diet, eat regularly, choose the healthy option, drink plenty of water and do a bit of exercise. It's been an expensive way for me to get in shape but I'm very glad I did it as Maria has given me the motivation that I so badly needed. The key now is to get a bit more toned. I'll get some better before and after photos soon (Maria wants to feature me on her website) but here are a quick few:

3rd July 2011

23 Aug 2011

My Wardrobe (or lack of!)...

I've booked myself in for a session with a Personal Shopper for November. It's a complimentary service at House of Fraser and I'm very much looking forward to it. At the moment I have one pair of jeans that fit me well and I also bought an amazing dress from M&S (in a size 10... a first for me!), which I am yet to have an occasion to wear it to, but I couldn't resist it!! The majority of my wardrobe is ill-fitting, shabby & worn out. One item that I am very happy with is my new glasses which I purchased fairly recently - I love them.

On Saturday I did a 1 hour power shop in my local shopping centre and bought some new boots, a new belt (size small!!), a new little black dress, a grey tunic/dress and some new underwear... What a difference it's made having some clothes that actually fit properly.

Socialising & Me-Time...

Last week I had my hair coloured & cut all ready for the weekend as I had a big Saturday night out planned with my girlies! My first in a long, long time! We had a lovely dinner out (I chose the healthy options for started and main, but did indulge in some sticky toffee pudding - yum!). I also had a lovely Sunday morning with the girls at Blysthwood Square Hotel for a cupcake masterclass with Naked Bakes.

This evening I have booked myself in for a lovely relaxing facial... heaven! I've also got a night out on Friday planned with hubby... a chance to wear one of my new dresses!

Good luck to the other mummies that are also working on getting their groove back...