Birthday celebrations on the Island

This year we decided to go to the Island to visit friends and family for my birthday. We had a jolly jolly good time! We went for walks, ate lots of food, went surfing and spent time with some of our favourite people...I didn't want to leave!

1. Mother aka Piglet in her garden 2. Piglets new and awesome mirror 3. Throness bay 4. Selfies at Thorness bay 5. Wild Orchid 6. Gurnard at its finest 7.Breakfast on the balcony 8. Birthday cake from my sister in law, so so good! 9. My favourite girl in the world, being totally adorable!

How does your garden grow?

We got a chance to go to the Brighton and Hove Open Gardens on Sunday, I can honestly say that it was one of the best days out I've had in such a long time. We met the sweetest most genuine people and saw the most beautiful secret gardens in the middle of the city that you could never imagine to be where they are. I can't wait to have a big garden! It's made me want to live the 'good life' even more, but also made it even more real that it is actually a possibility in the near future.

Pallets for compost heap.

Strawberry tree? it had beautiful peeling bark.

Snail shells on top of canes in the ground.

We had cake in every garden...well, it would have been rude not too.

Such a sweet idea for when your children have grown out of their wellies! Must remember this one.

I have a mild obsession with chickens at the moment too, these girls were lovely.

A sweet old lady playing wonderful melodies in a stunning garden full of strawberries and flowers.

weddingy things

I went to a wedding fair on Sunday, and it was actually pretty good! I never thought I'd say that, but now I can check that box and carry on with my life. The main thing that attracted me to this wedding fair in particular was the venue - Battsea Arts Center - and it didn't disappoint, beautiful mosaic floors, domed ceiling windows and stained glass, it was pretty beautiful to say the least.

 

The fair was called the Miss Vintage Wedding Affair and it was full of beautiful vintage lace, bespoke handmade stockings, tea cups that doubled up as wine glasses and lots of lovely vintage treasures and treats in between. My dear Rose travelled up from the Isle of Wight to play with me and to make it an extra special day out we had our hair and make up done by the wonderful Lucy at Hair That Turns Heads. We then spent the rest of our time there playing in the photo booth that WeNotMe set up, needless to say we were happy bunnies and left with a smile on our faces.

 

I was too busy having fun to take many photos, but here are a couple the Rose and I managed to capture.

 

 

 

 

I-think-I'm-actually-going-to-die-a-chocolaty-Death By Chocolate Cupcakes

My friend Gemma is a bit poorly and really needed some help today, so I took some time out of my hectic bank holiday schedule to aide her in some serious chocolate cupcake making.

It was essential in order for her to start on the long road to recovery.

I bought a couple home for Him and Mother (she's visiting tomorrow)...but alas, they were too good...I cant move I am so full. But it's Easter, and gorging ones self on copious amounts of chocolate is that right thing to do. Right?

Can you look at these and not want chocolate?!

Gemma got the recipe from here. (we used twirl bites instead of dark chocolate chunks)

I hope you all had a lovely Easter and indulged in some chocolaty goodness.



Carrot Cake Recipe.

The other day I went out for coffee and tried carrot cake for the first time!

I loved it.

So with the help of a few recipes this was my creation, plenty of spice and a nice orange and lemon cream topping.

You will need:

For the sponge

225g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 ground nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

pinch of salt

200g light brown soft sugar

zest of 1/2 lemon

75g walnuts, chopped up

4 medium eggs

150ml sunflower oil

350g carrots, grated

For the topping

200g full fat cream

50g unsalted butter, softened

150g icing sugar

zest of 1/2 orange

juice of 1/2 lemon

25g walnuts

a greased cake tin, with the base lined with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Sift the flour, spices, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon mix in the sugar, lemon zest and walnuts. Beat the eggs and sunflower oil together then add to the bowl along with the grated carrots and mix thoroughly.

Pop the mix into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Once out of the oven leave it to firm up for about 5 minutes before turning it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the topping beat all the ingredients together either with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until creamy. You may need to chill this slightly before putting it on the cake. Scatter the walnuts over the top of the icing to finish.

Happy Baking!