As we all know unfortunately our Queen died on the 8th September 2022.
I was completely and utterly shocked – we all knew at the impressive age of 96 that it was an unfortunate inevitability… but somehow it just seemed like she would always be there, like she always has been.
It still seems unbelievable to write that even now, on the 21st September, 3 days after her state funeral.
How can someone who is such an intrinsic and integral part of Great Britain be gone?!
She was a constant throughout all the hardships and dramas (The COVID Pandemic being a particularly poignant one) as an unwavering source of comfort and support to the nation, to her people.
She served with such honour, pride and distinction, and alot of us held her with great affection, I know that I did, so it is a sad time now that she has passed away.
Grief is the price we pay for Love’ – Queen Elizabeth 2nd
I was heading down to London the weekend after The Queen had died, for a pre organised event and I was actually really pleased to be able to take the opportunity to pay my respects to her, at Buckingham Palace, the Queens London Residence.
It was a wonderful show of shared grief and respect and I’m sure she would have been deeply touched by the affection shown to her.
London really did pay tribute to her and it was lovely to see that happening around the country and the world too.
Me, My Husband and My Father in Law watched the funeral together on the Bank Holiday Monday.
It was a beautiful occasion for a thoroughly well deserving Monarch- 70 years in any job is unbelievable really.
Our longest reigning Monarch. I will remember her fondly, in particular her kind smile, her wicked sense of humour, her colourful attire, her Corgis and her care for this country.
So some of you may know, many of you will not, that I started this blog back in 2015 (what 😱) to document our wedding planning.
Well, here we are 7 years later on our 6th Wedding anniversary.
Time really does fly!
11.06.11
11.06.16
11.06.22
💗
We celebrated our anniversary at Waveny River Centre.
We stayed in a Glamping Pod for 2 nights over the weekend of our anniversary. It is lovely there, we really enjoy it and all the facilities are great. We have been a few times now, staying in various accomodations, the Pods are definitely one of my faves.
We forgot our swimming stuff this time so we couldn’t use the pool (Rookie error!!) But we did discover a Ferry and a whole new walking route with a Suffolk Wildlife Trust centre/cafe halfway round – that was great!
We did end up a little sunburnt though! Oops.
We had great weather, chilled out and had some lovely breakfasts whilst we were there.
We also stopped off at this lovely Farm Cafe ‘The Broken egg’ which we love. It does the BEST cream tea – so it was great to have that again!
Happy Platty Joobs day everyone! I hope you are having fun celebrating this special occasion in British History!
Friday3rd June 2022
(& if you aren’t – I hope you are having a great Friday anyways)
I love the Queen so I thought it would be fun to have a little afternoon party to celebrate on the Official Platinum Jubilee day.
So, I organised an Afternoon Tea Garden party at my parents house, for all our immediate fambizzle to attend.
And it was great fun!
There was lots of decorations!
There was lots of food!
I even made the Official Platinum Jubilee dessert – Lemon & Amaretto Trifle. Pretty chuffed with how it turned out to be honest!! & we had a laugh ceremoniously bringing it to the table with the National Anthem haha 🤣
And lots of fun! Hanging out, enjoying the treats, listening to music and making crafts and playing games with the kids.
It was our 31st Birthday earlier this month and I thought I would share with you some of the cool Harry Potter bits that I got given.
Let’s go!
Some of these recipes look super cool – I do love baking so fingers crossed I can do them justice. They will be fun to try nether the less.
These two items were on my list, from my husband. The Triwizard tournment top is really cool and understated and I love that you can choose your Hogwarts house (Gryffindor ofc) and get your name on the back.
The fourth HP film is one of my faves too.
I also loved this little Niffler badge, its so pretty and cool! Plus, Nifflers are adorable.
Have you seen the new Fantastic Beasts film?? It’s great!!
I also got this cool illustrated copy of the book ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard’. I love these illustrated versions, they are such a cool item to add to my collection.
The illustrations are beautiful and I find them way more interesting to read than the originals now 😂
And finally, I got a really cool Hogwarts house towel. This is ideal for when I go swimming at my local pool.
Fun Fact: My Hogwarts House on Pottermore, last time I did the quiz, was Ravenclaw.
Valentines – Pancake day – First Covid Vaccine – Video calls.
March
Lots of walks – Springtime – Covid styley Mothers Day Afternoon tea – Darren releases new music/merch etc.
April
More walks – Meet ups – Fambizzle Easter Chinese Covid styley – Naya tribute – AC Anniversary – Covid Vaccine no 2.
May
May bank Hol – New Series of LOD – Me & Sarah turned 30 – First tattoo – F.R.I.E.N.D.S reunion – Suprise 30th party in the park.
June
Meet ups – Suprise birthday drinks with work friends – Bought my first car – 5 Year Wedding anniversay/10 years together – Euros – Uni Reunion, finally – Dr Who Experience – Pizza – Drove to work for the first time – More pizza!
July
Passed my theory test – Tim turns 30 – Tims suprise pizza party – Naya 🖤 – Evie turns 4 – Euros heartbreak – Tim & Ducks party in the park – Days out – Boys round to ours, first time since Covid – More sunny walks – Summer Reading Challenge Volunteering is back – First sleepover with the boys post Covid.
August
A busy Summer ☀️
Meeting up – Eating out – More special birthdays – Roxy’s Hen Do – Our Holiday Camping – Youth Club ending – Summer Reading Challenge completed – Casey’s 5 – Tim’s Meerkat Experience – Parties.
September
Roxy’s wedding, being a bridesmaid – Noah’s 7 – Mcfly – HP Photo exhibition –
October
ITFC Show – Out & about – Afternoon tea – 20 years of HP at the cinema – Jasmine’s Hen do in Brighton – Halloween fun at the farm & a partyy –
November
Wedding fun – New Ear piercing – Trip to Dorset – Covid finally got us
December
Christmas prep – Christmas Tik Toks – HP concert – Jasmine’s wedding & CHRISTMAS (&NYE)
Anyway, here is our Christmas eve fun/day of madness 🤣
Christmas Eve Boxes 🎅🏻 & Presents with my Niece & Nephews
Christmas Craft – after the present opening they did some colouring, and then later on in the afternoon me and the boys made our own Snowmen and watched ‘Elf’
My favourite tradition of all is going for a drive to look at the Christmas lights around town.
And then we of course headed home for some yummy food, games and of course ‘The Grinch’
And now my stocking is out and ready for the big man, Santa C to come 😁
I love a bit of festive baking – and its super fun when you get the kiddies involved. Me and my Nephews made some festive chocolate chip cookies – heres how it went.
What do you need:
Cadbury cookie pack
Oil
Milk
Baking tray
Baking parchment
Mixing bowl
Spoon
Festive sprinkles
Icing sugar
What do you need to do:
Follow the box instructions – pre heat the oven accordingly.
Empty the packet mix into a bowl and combine with the oil and milk.
Roll out into 10 equal balls and place evenly on the tray.
Press down a little.
Bake.
Add Sprinkles on top with a little icing so that they stick (or you could bake them with the sprinkles on top but they do melt a little)
I love putting together a Christmas eve box for my Nephews and Niece. I have been doing it each year since my Nephew Noah was born. It is one of my favourite traditions as I love to treat them.
You can get some great (various sized boxes) for this purpose from places like Card Factory, B&M, Home Bargins, and most Card or Pop up Christmas Shops.
It’s fun and festive finding little bits and bobs to go in them.
Here are some things that I usually go for:
Chocolate Coins
Box of Festive Cookie Mix/Cupcakes
Chocolate Santa
Festive Sweets
Christmas activity pack
Christmas arts & craft sets
Christmas Pjs
Christmas Socks
Christmas decoration
Novelty Christmas headware/hats/hairbands
Reindeer food
Hot chocolate sachet
Mini Christmas games eg Christmas Snap
Christmas hair bands
Hopefully that gives you a little bit of inspiration!
Roseanne Byford 