Quirky dresses

I've been selling things I no longer wear on Ebay recently.  I would like to clear out all my old things and own  only what I really love.  I have accumulated too much over the years!  I think clutter is bad for your soul in some ways.  It make me scared to move on because you always worry about what you're going to do with all your stuff.  I think there's a free spirit in me that's being suffocated by possessions.

One of the dresses I was planning to get rid of though has been growing on me as I photographed it ready for selling.  It's a cute H&M dress which I got a few years ago but it is actually pretty quirky and unusual.  My favourite items of clothing in general are cute and quirky dresses.  So maybe this one will have to stay.  I might make it a bit shorter though to change it up a bit.

It's such an unusual colour, and what a cute heart print.  I'm looking forward to wearing it in the summer now!

Travel

One thing that makes me happier than anything else is having the opportunity to travel.  I came across this quote on tumblr the other day 'it is better to see the world and own little of it, than to own the world and see little of it.'  I think this is so true.  My short holidays with my boyfriend are the free-est and happiest I have ever felt.  I have been to Lake Garda in Italy with it's stunning mountain scenery and Kefalonia in Greece for one week holidays that were absolutely wonderful.  Our next destination is going to be Halkidiki in Greece.  I'm really excited.  I think that to travel will be a life long ambition of mine.

Kefalonia

Sitting on the beach with the surf between your toes is almost enough of a reason to be alive.  If there's anything worth saving up for to me going somewhere for a holiday is the ultimate goal right now.

New Camera for blogging?

Ever since I've been trying to get myself blogging more frequently I've wanted to get myself a new decent camera to take pictures with.  I did a little research yesterday and really liked the sound of the Sony RX100, which sounds like a fantastic top range compact digital camera.  However it's still retailing for around 450 quid so I imagine I'm going to have to be on the lookout for something less pricey!

In the meantime I've been rediscovering my now quite old digital Kodak Easyshare C663.  I'm surprised to fined that despite only taking pictures of 6.1 Megapixels the results aren't that bad.  I never really took the time to find out how to use it properly and now I think with a bit of experimenting I might be able to take some acceptable quality pictures whilst I search out something newer.

I've been experimenting taking pictures of one of my favourite pastimes.... coffee!

When editing the pictures I generally find I have to warm up the colour temperature and up the brightness a bit and hey presto!  Not too bad for an oldie.

Cute winter accessories

It's still winter weather where I am and wrapping up warm and staying chic is always tricky.  I fell in love with these Mango Leather Gloves with bows on them but at the time they weren't in the sale and I couldn't justify spending the money on them.

Click here buy these Mango gloves

Luckily I managed to find a cheaper alternative in another store which still looked cute even if they don't have such a gorgeous bow on them as the Mango ones.

I lost my hat in the shops and managed to fine this cute white one with a bow on it in the sale.  I think it has a 20's feel to it.  Bow overload!

I think they go really well together with my dark green Topshop Military inspired coat.    The mango gloves are in the sale now if you want to get them.

Covered Notebook

I really wanted to a pretty notebook to write all my thoughts and ideas in.  I love the ones you can buy in the shops but didn't want to spend the money so decided to cover one I already owned in some pretty paper I had lying around the house.

I just glued it to the inside of the cover and I am really pleased with the results.  It's pink, my favourite colour and glittery.  Yay!

It goes well with this really cute pink lamp I bought a few years ago.

Herdy Mug

I got this cute Herdy mug for Christmas.  I love anything pink and the sheep print is just so cute!

It also has a matching coaster and key ring.  You can check out their other products here http://www.herdy.co.uk/.  Their tag line is 'made to make your smile',  which is always nice!.

The company donates a percentage of their products to The Herdy Fund which supports sustainable rural communities, upland fell farming and the Herdwick Sheep!

Sweet Potato and Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Tonight I made this!  It's absolutely delicious.  I found the recipe here on BBC Good Food website.

My cooking in process!

I've made it before in the vegetarian version that the website has it up as.  I'm not a vegetarian although I don't like to eat a lot of meat so tonight I made it with 200 g pork and 250 g lentils.  It was really delicious both with and without meet.  I would read the comments though as some people found the filling too runny.  I don't have a lid for my wok dish though so boiling it uncovered the whole time seemed to thicken up the filling just fine!

My sister doesn't like this as she found it too sweet.  My boyfriend and I love it though so if you like sweet potato you should give it a go!

BBC Good Food Website

My finished version!