Wise ladies....step this way and Avidly share your most fabulous fashion finds .....

[notyummy]

Hello all!

Cake - come back we neeeeeed you to tell us about your holiday....

oh lucky you - I know how much you cherish time with your beloved MIL .

I will not accept declarations that you are not a baking goddess!

Today I am looking every second of my 39 years. Tired, haggered, grey and old. Entirely self inflicted but no less painful because of that. I need another coffee.

I have a traditional 'fat free' bara brith recipe rufus. I'll post it later. Didn't realise it was known outside Wales?

I do, however, make an exceptional salad

I am impressed with all the baking.

LTEC, happy birthday to your DS. That salad sounds delish and outfit sounds lovely.

Hells, I prescribe a double espresso. ;)

Didn't buy anything in Russell & Bromley but thinking of buying these leather Uggs for the winter. I had a look in Mulberry, love this bag.

Have a good weekend, all.

hello again...well, 5 children ate all spag bol...and were v v sweet...only slightly madtastic at the end...so that's good...!

Yes, I was 3 stone heavier this time last year...amazingly bloated...baby was due today and arrived on 2 Oct, so was a happy little soul too! I cried miserably with the HV, wanting to be induced but heartless woman was having none of it !

Right, Bunny, you have to get the post maternity Agent Provocateur big knickers...You just have to....You can wear them over your normal knickers but the 'corsetry' pulls your inevitably flared rib cage back in, to normal proportions...I wore them on top of my nicks most days for a couple of months after birth...it really helps. I have been meaning to tell you this for ages, and of course, keep forgetting! This was a rec by Gowri Motha btw!

Ooh, house hunting Helles...hope you like the place you are seeing tom. A dressing room sounds fab. Everything is well over the top price wise at the moment though imo...and little coming on to the market in this area...and I have heard that surveyors are down valuing properties by as much as 25%, so a big downpayment is imperative...What's it like in London?

Oh yes...loving the sound of your lentil salad Cake...my kinda food!

dolcee - that does sound about right for here too. Plus in the area we want there are very few houses that meet the spec we want so it's painfully slow finding anything.

Carcifio - I keep trying to stay away from Uggs but their comfort levels are fab (though I'm also banned by my osteopath from wearing them...he told me they are terrible for my back as they offer no support to the foot?!). The bag is lovely!

LTEC - didn't you find some good uggs last year?

have a lovely weekend carciofi am I right in thinking you are off out tomorrow night? Is it a special occasion, sorry can't cast mind back through thread

I got leather LFA boots (basically Uggs) last winter, amazingly warm and somehow, to my Aussie sensibilities, slightly more sartorially acceptable than the suedey soggy looking ones.

these boots

Bara Brith

Soak 6oz currants, 6oz sultanas, 8oz light muscovado sugar in 10oz strong tea overnight.
Add to it one beaten egg and 10oz SR flour and mix well. Place in greased 2lb tin and bake at 150C for 1 1/2-1 3/4 hrs.

Slice thinly. Spread with thick butter. (Okay, so not fat free!!)

Feeling terribly Autumn-y today, been cooking up a big batch of chutney, with a recipe from Easy Living. It smells amazing, will wait for it to cool and report back.

Am thinking of ordering a couple of these to use as proper thermals, underneath my regular clothes. Can't face the chill in the playground without them!

A huge La Redoute order arrived this morning. Almost all going back-nearly all too big/small/ugly. Keeping some plain LS tees for layering, a dress for DD and a cardi for baby DS. The packing up and sending back hardly makes it worth bothering-I'd have been far better off just going to Gap!

Blog is going well, thanks so much for all your feedback. Am really enjoying doing it, and hope it will serve as a calling card when I am looking for freelance jobs.

Have lost my phone today, it's switched off, and somewhere in the house (I think!). Is driving me INSANE looking for it!

Thanks a mill Bloss that looks nice and simple, I absolutely adore fruit cakes/loaves etc. (you are talking to someone who makes at least 6 Christmas cakes every year. I only ice one though!) Was very pleased, as my dfriend who is getting we'd next week, asked me for the recipe for cake, to make as her wedding cake!

plum am really enjoying your blog. Have never been interested in beauty products but reckon you (and my advancing age ) might be the one to change my mind

LTEC, it is a friend's 40th. I love the LFA boots, I bookmarked them last year when you bought them. No sevens left though. :(

I have just thrown my old suede fake Uggs in the bin, they are disgustingly dirty and smell awful, despite being washed several times.

Plum, I like the camisoles.

Hello All.

Busy day here - well for me anyway

School meeting first thing, National Trust property in the morning and then home for lunch, baking bread etc.

DH doing a 100km race tomorrow which he's very excited about. He did 90km last weekend - mad boy that he is.

House-hunting - well I just find it depressing really. Spoke to an agent this morning who said that so many sales were falling through due to finance. DH also suggesting lovely houses but which are too far from Bath for my liking. Ho hum.

Bloss - have a lovely party and happy birthdat to ds.

LTEC happy birthday to baby L. Is it really a year ago we were debating pink knitwear (toast dress if I remember correclty) whilst you were in labour

I am so fed up renting.

I need to have a clear-out ... I should get rid of anything I haven't worn in two years, right?

Bloss - Happy Birthday to ds!

LTEC - Happy birthday to L!

Plum I have a couple of the long sleeved Brora Vests - they are lovely. There's a 20% off code floating around on this thread.

Wow, all this baking - I am so impressed. Says she who has finished early today and went via M&S to stock up on 'food'

House hunting is very scary at the moment. It's the checks the mortgage companies go into - gone are the days when you said you had 'x deposit'. They now want so much proof.

It is freezing today. But it's the weekend!

NY Let me know how the Clinique laser stuff is. I am tempted - great reviews.

hells was it the sheepskined lined KG biker boots you ordered?

LTEC love those boots, wish I could afford these

I need to do that too Carciofi.

I pulled out a SR dress the other day and it had been demolished by moths!

The little buggers.

We need a new title...anyone?

Plus my ability to make wardrobe replacements is hampered by some slow-paying Germans. (I mean I love Germans they fund my lifestyle, karma an' all that). But I am in a grump as it's taking ages.

libras - no it was the vernon ones on the website. For some reason my cut and paste won't work - otherwise I'd link - sorry!

Tracey - you must be exhausted!

LTEC - I am so tempted by those boots. Are they pretty much waterproof?

LTEC like the LFA's.

Notyummy have heard good things about Clinique Repairwear too,am considering getting some.

oh it's Friday, so that means a curry (what's new!!), and tonight a cheeky little glass of Nuits St Georges...mm mmm...not with the curry, I hasten to add! Yuk!

I need the clinique repairwear I think! Does it do what it says on the tin?

dh has been a real sweetie (he'd hate that description btw), and is anxious that I am happy with the financial arrangements...so that's good!

This house hunting malarkey is a real nightmare...we thought we'd have it in the bag by now (Georgian, lovely village, room for chickens...), sadly not! Prices seem to have risen fantastically since the halcyon days of 2007, and we are hanging on to our hard earned cash for fear of being ripped off...To cut a long story, I reckon most houses seem a good 30% overpriced at the moment...they are not selling either...just the owners taking a punt! C'est la vie!

On another note....Aren't kids fanatastic for making you forget all that crap...such a leveller!

new thread here