Lots of fun cinema trips! A Quiet Place Day One was a highlight for sure!
We celebrated my husbands 33rd birthday!
We had some birthday treats including listening to Rome Historian Mary Beard and A trip to the theatre to watch ‘Come from away’ both of which were brilliant.
We celebrated my nieces 7th birthday! 🎈🎀💜
Lots of book buying this month, which is also a highlight. My reading in general has also been great, and I managed to read 7 again this month!! (I’m sure that won’t last into the busy last part of the year 🤣)
So at the beginning of June, we spent a weekend celebrating our anniversary! (See previous post) we decided to do something a bit different this year. We usually opt for a night’s stay somewhere, but instead, we planned a ‘touristy’ day out in one of our favourite cities, London.
Here’s what we got up to!
First up – The Tower of London
Next up – A boat on the Thames
Third stop – The London Eye
Next up – Some Sightseeing
Next up – Dinner
Our final stop – A Comedy Club
We had a lovely time! It was quite fun doing lots of touristy things that we hadn’t done before! These are some of the things I’ve wanted to do for ages but never got around to seeing.
These days out in London are great if you can grab a ‘London Day Out’ train ticket too! Much more affordable (only £20 each, bargain!)
Me, my twin sister and her family, my husband, and a couple of our friends went to the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour in Watford. This place is BRILLIANT, a must for any Harry Potter fans, I love visiting there. They had the ‘Return to Azkaban’ event on celebrating 20 years of the 3rd film – it was an awesome day out, and great to see some new parts of the tour.We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on the 11th of June. Tim bought me some beautiful flowers, and we went out for a lovely meal at one of our favourite Italian restaurants. To celebrate our 8th Wedding Anniversary me and my husband spent a touristy day out together in London. We started off the day at the Tower of London, we then had a boat rode on the Thames, followed by the London Eye, sightseeing, and a comedy show in the evening. It was a brilliant and super fun day out. For Fathers Day, we went to Felixstowe for a day in the sunshine. We had a nice walk along the prom and a go on the ferris wheel with Dad.We enjoyed dinner at ours, a nice sunset walk and games with my mother in law.We celebrated my Dad’s 70th birthday with a family meal, with the cake I made for dessert… followed by a day on the Mid Norfolk railway 🛤
In August 2015, we started planning our wedding, and that is when I began ‘Roseanne’s blog’ to document our wedding planning & the big day!
So, heres a little look at our wonderful day 🥹
Some of my favourite things about our wedding day that we planned were:
•The venue – it was a converted barn that was beautiful, and we both fell in love with it the first time we visited. We just got this feeling that this was the place ♡ I loved the incorporation of all the old features of the barn in the venue, as well as the two separate rooms for the ceremony and reception. It was just perfect.
•The Colour scheme. My two favourite colours and I just love how they look together in all aspects from the flowers, centrepieces and decorations.
•The people involved in our day. It was so lovely spending the day with so many loved ones. We really enjoyed having some of our favourite people for both the bride & groom parties, that we chose together, as well as those doing the readings, photos/videos (which were family & friends) It all added to the day and made it so special.
•Our geeky touches that made the wedding ‘us’ from a Middle Earth wedding breakfast to Harry Potter wedding programs and a Honeydukes sweet shop at the Reception. I just loved adding all these little personal details to our day.
•Our Italian inspired food (Pizza & antipast!!) including our cake with authentic Italian decorations from Venice 😍
I recently celebrated my 33rd birthday! 😱 Time flies aye.
In this blog post, I thought I would show you which books I was very kindly given. I didn’t ask for any of these, and I love seeing which ones people pick out for me.
There’s a nice mixture of genres here and I can’t wait to get stuck into them.
Is there a better present than a book someone has chosen for you because they think you’ll like it!!
Let’s take a look…
‘There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison: 1) Treat all prisoners with respect. 2) Never reveal any personal information. 3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart–the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke’s testimony was what put him there. But Shane knows. And he will never forget.’‘Lexie Dunbar is a book lover. And her favourite place in the world is her local bookstore, Book Ends. So when she hears that it’s going to be sold, Lexie decides she needs to do something to help. Lexie’s plan to save the ailing shop is fully underway until gorgeous-but-grouchy artist Tobias Black arrives on the scene determined to turn the bookstore into an art gallery. Lexie is horrified, the last thing the quaint town of Bracken Way needs is a pretentious artist, even if he does seem to charm everyone but her. Tensions continue to rise until Tobias discovers a shocking secret that shows they might have more in common than they realise. As sparks fly, can Lexie and Tobias work together, or will opposing ideas get in the way of them finding their very own happy ever after…’‘Lynda Blackthorn is still reeling from the tragic car crash that killed her family more than a year ago. Throwing herself into her volunteer charity work, she is trying to piece her life back together. When she’s asked to be the face of the charity’s annual fundraiser, an appeal for volunteers on the local news brings old friend Sarah to her door – and the events of fourteen years ago crashing down around her. As the two women reconnect, Lynda invites Sarah to stay in her guest bedroom. But soon strange things start happening and Lynda learns it might have been better to keep the door to the past firmly closed . . .’‘It is 1942 and, with the country still at war, the girls who work for Joe Lyons are praying for their loved ones to return home safely. Happily married Rose is busy with staffing problems at the teashop, many women having taken on war work. Rose dreams of her husband’s return while trying to keep everyone happy. Lily has her own worries when the father of her daughter appears back in her life – with no explanation. Katie longs for a family of her own, just as a handsome airman arrives on the scene. At Sea View Guest House, Flora – wary of a relationship and marriage – is fearful of letting her feelings for John Bentley develop further. Especially as she has her guests to be mindful of . . . Anya is torn, having given birth to a beautiful baby boy who is the spitting image of his father, who has been taken as a prisoner of war. Presented with a chance to save him, Anya confides in her friends, leaving her son in their care. With the uncertainty of the future, can the Teashop girls overcome their personal battles?’
I was also very lucky to get some other ‘bookish’ birthday gifts in the form of some book vouchers! (YAY! New books) as well as this lovely book themed throw from my mother in law (already tucked up safely in my reading corner) and this cute personalised tote bag from my friend at work (perfect for fitting in lots of books during my next shopping spree!!)
A few weeks ago it was mine and my twin sisters’ 33rd birthday – woohoo! It actually fell on a Sunday which was the day we were actually born.
Here is how we spent our birthday weekend…
Saturday
We started off the Saturday with a delicious lunch at Revs. The sun was shining big time.
Me & Sarah (along with my husband Tim) met our friend Dan there.
Me & Sarah shared some delicious picky bits. The tater tots with garlic & chilli butter were INSANE. I was really impressed with all of the food and I’d love to go back.
We also had a bit of fun taking some photos in the photobooth ✌🏼
Once Tim and Dan had gone home me and Sarah went to Boom Battle Bar. We had a round of Mini Golf and did a spot of basketball on the machines. We each had a frozen cocktail each to round off the afternoon.
We picked up some smaller picky bits on our way home from town and ate those before having a nap (because, sun ☀️) and then went to the cinema. We watched ‘Fall Guy’ (with Tim too!) It was really good.
Sunday
Sunday was our actual birthday, so we decided to meet up for a nice brunch and do our usual present exchange together. We went to this lovely brunch spot along the waterfront – again, the sun was shining beautifully (we got very lucky with the weather!!)
Delicious!
Once we had eaten, our respective families got together at our Mum and Dad’s to open our presents from them.
Me & Sarah also got a little spontaneous birthday present for ourselves (pic below) 🙃
In the evening we enjoyed a nice family meal together with our older Sister, Mum, Dad, Brother in laws, Nephews, and Niece.
Here’s to year 34! Let’s see what it will bring 🎈⭐️
An absolutely unbelievable weekend, one we’ll never forget.
I can’t wait for the football season to start up again!
Our Birthday!
We had a fun birthday weekend celebrating together. We grabbed lunch and spent the day hanging out together on Saturday. Delicious picky bits at Revs in the sunshine, mini golf, cocktails, and the cinema.
On our birthday, on the Sunday we had a delicious brunch together, exchanged our presents, spent time with family and had a birthday meal with cake to round off the weekend.
Oh… and we may have got a matching tattoo on our birthday as well 👀
We enjoyed a bottomless brunch in the sunshine 🌞 followed by some fun and games at a local bar, including interactive darts & karaoke.
A lovely family holiday to Norfolk.
We stayed in a lovely air bnb cottage in Norfolk. We went along with my mother in law, brother in law, my husbands Auntie, Cousin, and Grandad. We had a lovely time chilling out, cooking together, exploring nearby towns and Norwich City, walks (weather permitting), and we even hired a boat, which was a highlight!
& I saw some bats, which was epic.
Going to see Take That live!
I will always love seeing Take That live! No one does it better. I can’t believe that this was the 7th time I’ve seen them love!!
Another fun month! And we are almost halfway through the year!!! Madness.
I took my nephew to the cinema a couple of times in March. They are my little cinema buddies after all. We watched Migration & Kung Fu Panda 4.I went to the football a few times this month. We go with my Dad and I share a season ticket with my sister. The bottom photo is from the women’s match, this was the first time they had played at the stadium, and it was a great game 5-0We celebrated ‘World Book Day’ at work – I dressed up as Harry Potter ⚡️We celebrated ‘Mothers Day’ with our traditional homemade afternoon tea. I made a Victoria Sponge, topped with buttercream and a Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake! Me & Mum also went out for a nice lunch at a nearby cafe/garden centre.We celebrated my Uni friends’ baby shower this month, too!! It was lovely to celebrate and catch up.WE FINALLY HAVE NEW FLOORING AND WERE ABLE TO MOVE BACK INTO OUR HOME !!We enjoyed a fun (& delicious) Easter Sunday! With our traditional Chinese for dinner.
& finally,
We watched Mark Watson, the comedian in our hometown. I bought these tickets for my husband, for Christmas! He has seen Mark Watson a few times and really enjoys his comedy. I myself hadn’t seen him live before but he was very funny and I would definitely watch him live again. We got to meet him afterwards, too, and get a signed copy of his book.
I’ve always enjoyed doing a few ‘baking’ recipes on here, every now and then, particularly at Easter time.
All that delicious Easter chocolate in the shops or that you may receive can be put to good use by yourself or your small people – it’s super easy and great fun too!
So what is Easter Bark you say?
Well it’s shards of decorated chocolate.
And here’s how it’s done (by us anyway)
Ingredients
X2 large bars of Milk Chocolate
X2 large bars of white chocolate
Sprinkles
A selection of your favourite Easter chocolates to adorn
Recipe
Prep a baking tray with a lining of baking parchment, make sure it covers the sides of your baking tray a little too, not just the bottom.
Melt your different chocolates (we went for milk and white for the kids – dark would also be delicious) in separate bowls over water (or in the microwave)
When the chocolate that you wish to have as your base is ready (ours was milk), pour that into the baking sheet and spread out so it covers the bottom in an even layer. Don’t spread it too thin.
Drizzle over the other chocolate/s that you’ve melted (our white chocolate) either yourself or the children need a cocktail skewer to swirl the chocolate carefully to create the marbled effect.
Adorn with your sprinkles and chosen Easter Chocolate, trying to evenly distribute it throughout.
Pop into the fridge (or freezer if you are impatient like us!! 😂)
Once it is fully solidified, break it up into shards and ENJOY!
Super easy, fun & delicious! Perfect for occupying the kids this Easter hols – my nephews and niece loved it (especially the eating part!)
Roseanne Byford 