It's my 4th blog birthday!

It seems I'm not very good at birthdays, or blog birthdays in any case. I did remember last weekend that my blog birthday was approaching, and then in the busyness of life I forgot all about it until about 6:30pm this evening, as I sat on the sofa unwinding from the week.

Image: Unsplash

In previous years I've celebrated with cake - three of them for my third blog birthday no less - but while I have bought cake for the weekend, a couple of slices of my favourite Forest cake for MOH and I (if he's lucky) its purpose was as a weekend treat rather than anything else.  See that blog birthday was well and truly forgotten.

So what to do to mark my blog birthday?

We are going out for dinner tonight, but that's to save cooking rather than celebrating.

Well, as luck would have it things have been taken out of my control. I didn't know it but today is Random Acts of Kindness day.  I know it now because of this tweet Johanne from Jo's Writing Space sent me.

@LifeAt139a Thank you for cycling through life! #RandomActsOfKindnessDay

— Johanne Winwood (@supavillain999) February 17, 2017

It definitely put a smile on my face, thanks Johanne.

And as I was scrolling through my Twitter notifications, I spotted this from Peachy of Diary of a Little Peach.

@LifeAt139a @naptimenatter @lucy_at_home

Here's my #BlogCrush. Love Stephanie's work and her photos are lovely.https://t.co/ljkKpufOPq

— Peachy (@peachy_diary) February 17, 2017

So two lovely tweets in one day, and another smile on my face, although this time with a small blush to go with it.  Thanks Peachy.

Looking into the #BlogCrush hashtag I discovered a brand new linky hosted by Lucy from Lucy at Home and Wendy from Naptime Natter which is a linky with a difference - as well as linking their own posts, bloggers can nominate a Blog Crush, which is where Peachy came in.

So with the two tweets, the new linky and the last minute offer of some tickets to the London Bike Show tomorrow, it looks like I'm all set to celebrate my 4th blogging birthday in style. Thanks ladies!

...Oh and maybe a glass of red, or two (four may be pushing it) with dinner as well, now that I've remembered I'm celebrating!

Happy Valentines - and beyond - from HomeSense

When HomeSense got in touch recently and shared details of their faux flowers, I knew that I could hold out no longer. I've seen an increase of Spring blooms in the shops, including some in a snowy Munich and as they say, resistance was futile. So after work on Monday, I headed off to the Homesense in Tunbridge Wells on a mission.

I didn't realise though quite how much of a challenge I'd set myself. I mean, just look at what I was confronted with.

Price-wise the stems ranged from £2.99 to £7.99 and while there was obviously no scent, that was the only difference to real blooms I could see. That and the fact that I'd unlikely to find such a wide array of blooms in a flower shop at this time of year. I was very tempted by the hydrangeas, their colour was good and realistic but they weren't quite what I was looking for.

And then I saw the pink peonies. Immediately I was transported back to our wedding day in 2017, where my surprise bouquet was, yes you've guessed it, pink peonies. I say surprise bouquet as I'd left the choice of my bouquet to our wedding planners (I guess that's a story for another day). They knew I wanted a modern style, I didn't want roses and that my dress wasn't conventional (it was bronze) and I trusted them to come up trumps, which they did. I hadn't realised until then, how much I liked peonies. 

So once I spotted the peonies it was more about how many and what colour, and what else would go alongside them to make the bouquet less wedding-y and less pink. It's not that I don't like pink, I do, but having a solely pink bouquet in the house full time could, I think, get a little wearing and a bit twee. 

But I'd made my choices and I quickly went to pay before I added another armful of these stems to the bouquet, they really are that good.

Back home I piled the armful of flowers onto the table and realised again how realistic they looked. And how unlikely it would be for me to have a bunch of fresh flowers quite this large. And on Valentine's day too. Not that MOH wouldn't buy me flowers, but I disagree with how the prices are inflated at this time of year, so I always say to him another time of year will be fine. It's a bit like going out for a meal around this time of year, set menus come out and that annoys me too.

But back to the flowers and celebrating Valentines. I decided to arrange them in a handheld bouquet, which gives the modern style I like, but also is quite hard to do - or at least I find it hard to do - as I find I need at least three pairs of hands to do it well and tie the ribbon around the stems without them rearranging themselves. 

But I'm pleased with the result.

It's such a large bouquet that as you can see I struggled to get the bouquet and myself into the same shot.

You might have already realised I'm impressed with these blooms, and while they're slightly unseasonal - peonies are usually out in June - it's nice to see such blooms right now. And to know they'll last too, so I'll be enjoying them for many months to come.

What do you think, will you be tempted by faux flowers this year?

*This is a collaborative post with HomeSense, however all views and opinions are my own.

My vintage Boden: Classics that keep on being useful

When I learnt I could take two bags into the cabin on my recent trip to Kufstein and Munich, my heart did a little dance.  Not only because of the extra space, but also because I knew just which bag I'd take.  My new stylish Freitag bag was already earmarked for clothes, and I'd recently re-found this leather satchel bag, a purchase from Boden many years ago. I'm not sure how many years ago, but it's a good few. At the time I think I used it occasionally but it never became a regular go to handbag.

I liked it's classic styling and neutral olive green and brown colouring, and I knew it was a great bag, but it's taken its time for me to really appreciate its usefulness. I rediscovered it - not that it was actually lost - as I tried to locate my big woolly lime green scarf, also by Boden. The scarf was a regular go to item, along with the matching beret-style hat, being a regular addition to my velvet coat, also Boden, and also still hanging in the wardrobe in the spare room. I tell you, their stuff lasts.

I was looking out the scarf as with the forecast negative temperatures I knew I'd welcome something warmer than my now more usual fabric scarves. Unless it's very cold, these do me, mostly thanks to my overactive thyroid I guess, where internal body heat is never far away as I rarely feel the cold, even with medication to control my thyroid.

 With both found, I was struck by how good they looked together as they waited for the off, sitting patiently on the futon.

The scarf is well worn, but still soft and it's classic design means it'll have plenty more years in my wardrobe. At the time lime green was a bit of a departure for me colour-wise, but I still love it.

And the scarf came into its own in Munich where it was reportedly minus ten. I was wearing it, with my new bobble hat as I explored the Hofgarten in the snow, where I think my face tells you just how cold it was!

TRYING NOT TO LOOK TOO COLD, AND FAILING

So there you go, some savvy shopping in the past is paying rewards now. MOH is very much of the view that if you don't use something then you should chuck it out, whereas I've a different view where if I think I'll use it again, it's worth keeping. You'll know I aimed to throw out 2016 items last year, and didn't quite make it, but just imagine how disappointed I'd have been if I gave in and got rid of these.  And how chilly I'd have been in Munich too!

Do you hang onto things you'll use again, or have you got rid of things you now regret?  Or do you have things, like me, that you put away for a while only to enjoy them again when you pull them out of storage?