Month: Aug 2016

beauty, fun stuff, tag posts

Summer Lovin’ Tag

ramblingmads

The lovely Sal of Ummbaby fame did this tag post, so I swiped it. 

💄Favourite Perfume – this summer I’ve been turning to my beloved Chloe perfumes, today I’m wearing See by Chloe. 

💄Favourite Lip Colour – Revlon’s Ultra HD Matte in Devotion, real like it. 

💄Favourite Drink – I have been raiding Lidl for a gorgeous Cornish Elderflower Pressè – it’s a bit sweet for me so I dilute it with some water. Refreshing. 

💄Favourite Blush – recently I’ve been layering MUA in Cupcake with Benefit’s Highbeam – so I have softly glowing cheeks. 

💄Favourite Clothing Item- the maxi skirts are out in force at the moment but I found a gorgeous jacket in my wardrobe that I don’t remember buying (shopping amnesia anyone?) that looks great over a tee and skirt/leggings/maxidress/whatever!

💄Favourite Movie – I tend to watch more movies in the winter but I did watch 101 Dalmatians the other day. 

💄Favourite TV Show – we’re rocking the sci fi at the moment, with Dark Matter season 2 and The Killjoys due back on our screens in August. 

💄Favourite Food – squeaky cheese Aka Halloumi! On and in everything. Salads, sandwiches, paired with watermelon or cherries, drizzled with my favourite chilli sauce, just give me it! 

food, fun stuff, tag posts

25 Food Tag 

ramblingmads

​Spotted on Sarah’s blog – food and tag posts, yes please. 

1. What’s your favourite breakfast?

🍇Probably because I rarely have it, toast with butter and strawberry jam. 

2. How do you drink your coffee?

🍏Coffee is yuk. No ta. 

3. What’s on your favourite sandwich?

🧀Bacon, halloumi, lettuce and tomato with mayo. 

4. Soup or Salad?

🍜Soup and a sandwich or salad and sushi. Depends on the mood. 

5. What’s your favourite cookbook?

🎂I read cookbooks like novels but rarely consult them for actual cooking. 

6. No more sweets or no more hearty foods?

🍭Having actually given up sweets in the past, I could live without them quite easily. 

7. What’s your favourite Cuisine?

🍳Mediterranean food every time, from Turkey and Greece to Italy and France.

8. What’s your favourite food movie?

🍿There was a 90s Sarah Michelle Geller movie called Simply Irresistable that I was quite fond of. Films about food make me hungry. My favourite book about food is Chocolat by Joanne Harris. 

9. What’s your most guilty pleasure?

🍟I don’t believe in guilty pleasures- food should be enjoyed not treated as though there’s something ‘naughty’ about it. 

10. What’s your greatest inspiration source?

🍞The contents of my fridge/cupboards – necessity is the mother of invention. 

11. Cooking at home or going out for dinner?

🍍Both, depends on the circumstance. 

12. High end or low profile?

🍒Am I feeling fancy? Then fancy it is. 😉

13. What’s your favourite restaurant?

🌽The Turkish place in town is my go-to as it’s local, has excellent service, reasonable prices and delicious food.

14. I do my grocery shopping at:

🍑Lidl has saved me a fortune, but I go to Sainsbury’s as well.

15. The tastiest food I’ve ever eaten was:

🍦There is a place called Chilli Charlie’s by Santa Monica beach in California that does amazing chilli burgers. They remain in my brain and taste memories. 

17. Coffee with George Clooney or Heston Blumenthal?

🍢Coffee with Clooney and my mum as she loves him. 

18. What should not be missing in your kitchen?

🍉Sea salt, good black pepper, quality olive oil and chilli in various guises. 

19. What is your favourite snack?

🍅Popcorn or sunflower seeds roasted in their shells with salt. 

20. What’s on your pizza?

🍤Chicken, chilli oil, those little peppers, tomatoes, cheese. 

21. What food do you really dislike?

🍌Mushrooms eurgh

22. What’s your favourite food blog?

🍐Does Nigella’s instagram count? 

23. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

🌶Snails – I really don’t get the hype 

24. What’s on your food bucket list?

🍱The perfect creme brulee 

25. I couldn’t live without:

🍬Diet coke – fuelled by it. Also cheese. 

BONUS question:

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

🍸Cheese – it improves any dish. 

If you want to do this tag, go for it, and let me know. 

#paperhaul, art, fun stuff, giveaway, lifestyle boxes, reviews, stationery

#paperhaul from Crafty Creatives & Giveaway 

ramblingmads

As a stationery nerd this is one of my fave letterbox subscription boxes.

Each month’s is decorated by a different illustrator, allowing you to support artists and charity as 20p from each box goes to Post Pals,  which sends letters to children in hospital. 

This month’s box contains quirky illustrations from Louise at Gaze of Dolls Designs based on Alice in Wonderland, and this month I have a box to giveaway too (see the bottom of the post).

There’s some fab stickers 

This card is brilliant 

Postcards I can’t wait to send

These little cards and notepad are my favourite and there’s washi tape for wrapping presents too. 

If you like the designs and want a box for yourself you can subscribe here. 

And you can win your own box of Louise’s fabulous designs right here.

adventures, art, fun stuff

MAD Museum, Stratford on Avon 

ramblingmads

​You may well have read my post about my recent trip to Stratford – if not, why not? 

One of the places we visited was the MAD Museum – situated above some of the shops down the road from Shakespeare’s Birth Place. 

MAD stands for Mechanical Art and Design. 

I wasn’t convinced I’d be interested, but it was actually incredibly fascinating. 

Almost all of the exhibits were interactive, you pushed a button (or put your foot on the pedal, or clapped!) and it came to life. 

From clever wooden models that moved by a crank, to marble runs that far exceeded the one I had as a kid, the original Meccano ferris wheel, and so much more. 

I took a lot of photos, you were encouraged to, and recorded some videos of the brilliant creations moving. 

If you’re in that part of the world and looking for something a bit different to explore, I highly recommend it. 

Gold Clock – Gordon Bradt
Gremlins Vandalise Shakespeare – Victorian Model Workshop

Row Fish – John Morgan

I foolishly didn’t take down the names of all the exhibits I photographed, so if you are the artist, I’m sorry. 

adventures, fun stuff, relationships, travel

Stratford on Avon 

ramblingmads

So a little back story for you. My secondary school did one school trip a year (seriously) and in year 8 we were supposed to go to Stratford on Avon (home of the Bard) but because of what my head master called ‘a lunatic fringe’ our trip was cancelled. 

I have two degrees in English Literature and am a massive word nerd/lit geek. 

Seven years ago I met the Mr – his last name is Shakespeare. He’s very loosely related to William Shakespeare. 

Anyway onto this weekend. 

Last night I was told to pack an overnight bag and hop in the car. I had no idea where we were going. I only found out this morning because of his clever plan. We spent the night in a Premier Inn near Birmingham. Yep, the most famous playwright was a Midlands boy. 

Parking the car next to Stratford Hospital we set off on foot to explore Tudor houses, beautiful gardens, a high street full of puns and navigate around several huge tour groups. 

At the top end of the street is a statue of The Fool, welcoming you to Shakespeare’s town. 

A little further down is the centre run by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which includes the preserved buildings that belonged to Shakespeare’s parents, Anne and John. It has been turned into a museum, complete with interactive areas in the glovers’ workshop (John Shakespeare was a tanner and glover as well as an Alderman, Council member and general person of note in the community). 

It would have been nicer without the very shouty lady in Tudor costume upstairs by the master bedroom. 

The grounds were stunning, a lovely garden that is clearly well tended, and certainly enjoyable in the summer sunshine. There’s a gift shop, obviously, where you can buy all sorts of related merchandise. 

We also wandered down to Shakespeare’s daughter’s house, where she lived with her husband. Again, it is beautifully presented and contains a cafe and actors performing scenes in the garden. 

Lunch was a huge Ploughman’s in a rather excellent cafe just down from the Birth Place. 

We didn’t go to Anne Hathaway’s cottage but did drive past, or Mary Arden’s farm as it was a bit out of the way but did enjoy strolling around the lovely market town and admiring all the preserved Tudor half-timbered houses and pretty church. 

We also visited the MAD Museum (which I decided to review seperately). 

I wanted to see New Place, recently excavated, which Shakespeare bought after becoming successful, but unfortunately the opening has been delayed due to heavy rainfall flooding the site. 

Anne Hathaway’s Cottage

Hall’s Croft
Statue in the garden at Hall’s Croft
Shakespeare’s school house
I am so glad I have a modern kitchen!
New Place Museum
The local brew
One tiny part of the stunning garden
One bust of W.S
Where would you rather eat?
Yes that is indeed a Shakespeare action figure in the middle
He gets everywhere!
The Shakespeare family crest
The Fool
The birth place aka Mr & Mrs Shakespeare’s house

We had a bit of fun spotting various references to Shakespeare and his works all over Stratford, some in the strangest of places (see photos) and the town also hosts a year round Christmas shop, a Beatrix Potter shop, a magic shop, teddy bear factory, and lots of cafes. 

Oh, and one other thing happened. 

With a little help from Shakesbear here, the Mr asked me to marry him. We’ve been driving each other crackers for 7 years now and in the beautiful garden at Shakespeare’s childhood home, his distant relation (there are no direct descendants) asked me to be his. 

He’s not very romantic or soppy (thank goodness) so this was rather special. We’ll be celebrating with family and friends soon but I will need all your advice please as I plan a wedding.