The party is over...

Well it's taken me about 4 days to get around to posting after the wedding. I sometimes find it really hard to talk about big events. As if by committing the memories to words, the memories themselves are somehow lost.

Despite the slight hitch with the flower girl dresses, things went relatively smoothly before the wedding. The Canadians didn't starve as a result of my hospitality. I managed to make some small alterations to my sister's second wedding dress without a hitch. I cooked her a nice simple dinner on Friday night (and was even organised enough to make the salad and herb butter in advance!).

My sister looked beautiful. Just totally lovely. She just kept grinning and snogging her new hubby. He seemed pretty chuffed with the whole thing too. Her speech was lovely (particularly the bit where she said that I was her best friend as well as her sister).

The thing is I really miss her now. She's away on honeymoon having a lovely time with her very nice husband and I selfishly want her back to talk about make up and clothes. I was amazed when they started out handing out thank you presents at the reception and I got 3! She'd already given a very pretty bracelet of green flowers to wear with my bridesmaid dress. There was a bridesmaid mug, a pair of rather fab knickers (from http://www.damato-bridal.co.uk/home.htm - there isn't pic on the site but let me say that they don't have much of a back but have a big ribbon tie instead, and a elegant gold bracelet from CK. But the cards that went with them made me cry and they continue to do so everytime I dare peek at them.

I was thrilled when she sent me a text just before leaving for her honeymoon (I didn't want to send her one in case I intruded on the time her and her hubby deserve to enjoy together)

Who would imagine that my sister would find a husband and I'd find a new friend?

Enjoy your honeymoon, Sis, and come and drink wine and do non-wedding shopping with me soon.

Just when you think you're ahead...

Yesterday evening I dived in and cleaned out the pantry. It looks so good now. Everything is in place. I can see what I have so I won't be purchasing duplicates (not for a few weeks anyway when everything will be in chaos again).

Rather annoyingly I'm having a few problems with my pretty little parcels website. The paypal link is just refusing to work and take people's money and details. I spent ages working on it, did the buttons again and still no joy. I've put a post on the community board and I hope that someone can help me.

Today is my last day at work before the wedding. I'm tyeing up loose ends and have a small job list to work through this evening.

And now - disaster! Apparently the flower girl dresses that I've spend most of my recent days off working on don't fit! The bride to be seems calm so we just need to put a solution in place. I'm mystified - if anything I though they'd be too big!

And just to keep you busy while I'm away check out www.realsimple.com I picked up the magazine in Smiths (I'm a sucker for anything featuring capsule wardrobes) and there's lots of nice content. Enjoy!

Just like Prince Charming...

Yesterday I decided to tackle a rather over grown area on my allotment. The grass had grown long and worse, there was an enormous blackberry bush with lots of branches coming off it (and hiding in the grass). Feeling rather like I was off to rescue Sleeping Beauty, I took some shears to the allotment. With my shears I began to snip and was thrilled to discover the dug boundary of the plot.

I was doing really well as I approached the bush itself. I noticed that there were a lot of bees around. However, I reasoned that this is quite normal. Bees buzz around flowers, don't they? Well they do if there are actually any flowers to buzz around... I then realised that the low humming that I thought was a strimmer was actually the sounds of bees - lots of them!

I retreated back to hack my way through another area (and boy do I ache today). When I got home, I looked up bees in a wildlife book. They do indeed make nests in long grass. I guess that the prickly brambles are good at keeping predators at bay.

Hmm, I suppose my plan to cut the bush right back will have to be changed, at least for the present. Probably just as well as all my muscles are stiffening up today as a result of all that hard manual labour yesterday.

Regular readers will be aware that I enjoy the wit and glamour of Jilly Cooper novels. Last week I needed something fun and a little bit trashy so I decided to read Octavia. I was amazed by the similarities with Louise Bagshawe's Venus Envy (still one of my favourites). Then I read Louise Bagshawe's Sparkles over the weekend. One of the characters actually talks about reading Octavia! What's going on? Will Louise turn out to be Jilly's great-niece or something?

More when my fingers stop aching too much to type...

Traffic, lists and vegan firefighters

Yesterday I wrote a job list to carry out when I got home. I love writing lists and them doing the things on them. It always makes me feel energised. As I've been trying to get to work for 8 a.m. (I get so much more done first thing), I decided that I would leave at 4 p.m. so that I could get home for 6 p.m. and do the tasks on my list.

However traffic was horrible and it took two hours for a part of the journey that normally takes an hour or so. Consequently I still arrived home at my usual time. This seems to be a bit of theme this week. Monday was the birthday of Dearly beloved. I wanted to make him a birthday cake so I got home for 5 p.m. to do so. Alas I didn't have my keys, so I had to sit in the garden and wait. I've been complaining that I wanted some time to sit in the garden and do nothing. It just goes to show - be careful what you wish for....

I did manage to make a bit of a dent in my job list but just didn't have time to do all of it. I got lots of reading done on the bus, but I so wanted to make a start on tidying the pantry. It's great to find an ingredient that needs using up and then think of a creative way of doing this.

On this note do have a look at this marvellous site featuring vegan firefighters! I found the link through another blog (but I didn't note which one it was - I'll try and find it again). The recipes are quite good. Hopefully they'll prove inspiration when I go to the supermarket tonight to shop for next week and the arrival of my relatives.

A whirl of activity

I can't believe nearly a month has gone by since my last post. The wedding is now less then 10 days away and it seems as if I am coming to the end of some of the tasks I needed to undertake for it.

So, the hen night is out of the way (it was a lovely day/evening - I'll try and remember to post about it soon). The flower girls dresses (and darling little capes) are complete (I just hope they fit OK).

However, I still need to:
Buy a wedding present
Make the tiniest of alterations to one flower girls dress
Dye my hair
Finish writing my chief bridesmaid speech

Additionally I have some of my favourite relatives from Canada staying with me for the three days prior to the wedding. I haven't seen them for some years and am a little nervous about my hostess abilities. Food is proving to be the thing that worries me most. I live in a small charming town so there's lots of historic atmosphere and rolling countryside for them to enjoy.

But what to feed them? Dearly beloved and I are eating an increasingly health diet. I make a lot of food from scratch and the closest we come to eating a ready meal is using pre-made pasta sauce. I had a look around my pantry and it's got lots of dry ingredients, seasoning and a few cans but not very much else.

I'm not even sure what to buy. I refuse to rush out and buy meat and cheese. Perhaps some tubs of dip in the fridge and lots of toast will fill the gap?

I'm also in a bit of quandary about where to take them for a lunch. We had planned on a dinner the Thursday before the wedding with me, dearly beloved, my sister and her intended and my parents.

But the intended needs one last night drinking with his mates (and is pleasingly sensible enough not to want to do it the night before the wedding). So the Thursday lunch time has been selected as I am taking them shopping in the nearest large town. But where to take them? Would they be happy to visit a Wetherspoons or Edwards (the sort of place that I normally have lunch with friends and family, even thought the Wetherspoons certainly isn't the most salubrious of joints)? Or to a genuine old pub? Friends have suggested 2 and I visited one on Tuesday. The food was excellent (as was the company).

I've even emailed my Dad who is still on his diet and asked which would fit in best with his diet (thankfully most place have an online menu these days). No reply as of yet...

So dear readers, forgive my absence and give me your suggestions regarding the important issue of food.