Time for a catch up…

So, I’m back, after a ridiculously busy end-of-term: 4 nativities, 3 school plays, 2 office moves and a mildly fun staff par-ty (sing to the tune of ’12 days of Christmas’). All I want to do right now is sleep til the New Year!

I’ve also realised, writing a post everyday is a little unrealistic, so I’ll reduce & combine them, and stop inundating you with mundane ramblings (like this one!). Another reason being: my lovely little computer is still having hissy-fits, so it is taking ages to write a single post, may as well combine them all into weekly posts.

Back to something that may be of interest: I’ve finished two of those chairs I was updating and I love them! The third is still waiting & will go with my dressing table (another bargain buy). I’ll have to put better photos up soon.

I got a brilliant steal in a local charity shop the other week: a huge mirror for over my fireplace for £20 – bargain!! A friend came round today to secure it to the wall – I don’t want to know how many years bad luck I’d have if that thing fell

I’ve also painted some charity shop frames & mirrors for my ‘NOLA eclectic’ hallway, so that’s coming along, too. I’m going to put a gallery update up on those sometime after Christmas (hopefully)

Not much too say on the recipe front. I’ve not been 100% the last few weeks, so my appetite has been zero and I haven’t been able to taste much anyway – rubbish! Not exactly incentive to get in the kitchen 😦 I have just baked some biscuits for tree decorations though. I’m icing & hanging them (on the tree, not as some sort of punishment – they’re not that bad!) tomorrow, so I’ll add them to the gallery update & put the gingerbread recipe up soon.

I’ve also got a jambalaya recipe and a red beans & rice recipe to go up. I can’t taste much at the moment, but turns out Cajun-Creole food has just enough spice to get through my thick skull 🙂

If I can’t get back online tomorrow…

Happy Holidays xxx

 

 

Step 1.5…

I mentioned last week that I need to come up with an ‘interim’ business option, while the coffee shop plan is still a work-in- progress.

So, I’ve been looking at options that will allow me to make an income away from the usual 9-5.

I’ve also been reading a bunch of books  & blogs on alternative income streams. Eric Michael  and Pat Flynn seem to have lots of good info on passive income.

Song for the Week: Sir Tom Jones – Delilah

After the rugby win at the weekend (go Cymru!) I’m feeling especially patriotic, and what’s more Welsh than Sir Tom?!

Then I go & search on youtube and what do I find but Sir Tom… at the Queens Jubilee… singing the best welsh rugby song ever (click here to see it at the Stadium) –  and the footage cuts to William, Harry & Kate singing along.

Triple word score, collect £200 when you pass go… and every other cliché you can think of 😀

And if you’re anything like me (I feel so sorry for you if you are!), you struggle to sing the right words to this song all because of the brilliant advert below…

Why, why, why… Delilah…. he,he,he 😉

Enjoy x

Project: various…

I’ve been a little A.D.D. this week & ended up with 3, no… 4, half-finished projects

My spare room currently looks as though a decorating store has thrown up in it!

Although, by the time I finish this post, the paint on that mirror may have dried enough to sand & hang it. We’ll see…

Movie Night: Divergent

It’s been one of those weeks – therefore: action flick.

Fighting, sarky one-liners, training montages and a cute British lad, with tattoos, doing an American accent.

Not to mention, a whole new book series/movie franchise. This should keep me going for a while!

Ladies & gentlemen, the joys of Divergent:

All is once again right with the (dystopian) world 🙂

Enjoy x

 

Recipe: Banana Cinnamon Pancakes

The perfect lazy morning breakfast…

I love these pancakes – they always turn out perfect.

You can use the base mix (omit the cinnamon & banana) for plain pancakes or add any flavour combo you want. My other favourite is crispy pancetta, nom nom nom 🙂

Cyprus – Aphrodite’s Island

We’ve had a few family holidays to Cyprus in the last few years. One of our favourite spots being Paphos out on the South-West coast, in the Greek part of Cyprus.

The town is split into Neo Paphos (the old town) further in-land and Kato Paphos on the coast. Kato Paphos is what most people know as Paphos – lots of beach-front hotels, Euro-English restaurants on the strip & the lux harbour.

The first stumble on the road to success

So… I may have added an extra step on my way to opening the café-bar.

While doing some more ‘market research’ (read: lunch out) in town last week, I tried out a new little café that opened at the beginning of the year.

And (*sigh*)…it was amazing 😦 It was almost exactly what I want to do – without the Cajun-Creole twist. I kinda hate them, but their hot chocolate is so awesome I think it may be true love. Which begs the question: is this town big enough for the both of us?

I was a little cheeky and got the proprietor chatting. Asked him how they got started, what their process was & how long it took. Such an interesting conversation, but it was also a shot of reality when he said it took almost exactly a year from making the decision to opening the store. Part of me had expected that, but I still didn’t want to hear it – especially from someone who’s gone through the process.

The problem I now have is I really can’t see myself staying in my current job for a year while I put this plan into action – besides the fact that I’ll never get any of the planning done with the extra evening & weekend shifts I work. So, I’m not giving up on the café – a year from now I plan to be inviting you all to the opening, or at least posting the photos of it – but I am having to come up with, lets say, step 0.5. My stepping stone to my café.

So, I think we’re now almost at the stage where I have to leave the ‘comfort’ (hah!) of a stable income and leap into the unknown, without a parachute, or net, or protective gear, or…this could go horrifically wrong couldn’t it?!

But if the choice is to remain in a job you don’t enjoy, which makes you dread waking up every morning, or to step out of your safe zone and follow your passion, then… step aside people – I’m gonna jump!

Wish me luck x

 

P.S. I will almost certainly become a regular of that little café – those guys have done what I want to do and I plan to learn (by osmosis if necessary!). Also, the hot chocolate is just that good 🙂

P.P.S. Scott Dinsmore & the Live your Legend crew have an awful lot to answer for with regards to this new-found bravery/craziness. Check out this video.

Project: Dining Table Part 2

Before…

So… last week I told you about the drop-leaf table I re-homed when I saw it on it’s way to the skip.

I mentioned that I like the ‘country farmhouse style’, with cream/white bases & varnished tops – so that’s where I was headed.

I didn’t want it to look too ‘clean’ though – I didn’t want people to think I’d just gone to Next & bought it. Safe to say, thanks to my epically bad painting skills, there’s no fear of that 😉

Well… a little bit of sanding, and a whole lot of varnish stripper, later and I have a gorgeous new table for my living room…

Lamanche St Community Farm

Just a few blocks walk from the bayou, this was the first site that I was assigned to during my 3 month stint with lowernine.org.

There are still very few grocery stores in the Lower Ninth Ward, so community gardens & farmers markets are a  great way of providing the neighbourhood with fresh vegetables for low cost. And with so many vacant lots still in the Lower Ninth – space is not an issue.

I did wondered what I’d done to deserve ‘hard- labour’ in 30+ degree heat (Celsius, not Fahrenheit), but the other two volunteers I was teamed with made it worthwhile.