Castleton | Derbyshire | Bit of a Freak

Gooood morning!

Today I am here to preach to you about the absolute beauty that is my home county, ye grand olde Derbyshire! I love to explore, and Derbyshire is the perfect place because it is gigantic and delightful and just a hunk of joy. Yes.

Martin Creed: What's the point of it? | Review | Bit of a Freak

Last Wednesday saw the return of one of my best friends for a few days of r&r from her volunteering in Iraq. I jumped on the coach and hot-footed it to London for a day of catching-up, food and fun, and fun was exactly what we had.

Birthday Presents and Celebrations| Instagram | Bit of a Freak

In an effort to fall back in love with Instagram, I figured I would show my birthday with the aid of Instagram posts! Genius, huh?

This year's celebrations were a lot more low-key than usual, I didn't want a big fuss, and I didn't actually really plan anything! However, it was definitely equally, if not a little more, enjoyable than the others.

The big 25!

Naturally, it kicked off with a pamper session. Hair coloured, cut and styled and eyebrows whipped off and shaped, all a birthday treat from my beautiful mummy, consummated with the obligatory pose-y photos.

And then it was time to get down to some serious shopping. Here's beautiful Phoebe trying on some new sunnies.

 

The conclusion of shopping meant home time to cook multiple meals for my big, fussy family, sink some wine, dress in the fruits of my shopping labour (LOVE this blouse, Primark, around £10) and off we went to a comedy night.

Sunday introduced a beautiful day where we all sat in the garden soaking up the sunshine until it was time to dress in more fruits of the previous day's shopping labour...

and trot off to a seafood restaurant for the official family birthday meal.

And camera wars with my uncle...

...Much to his amusement!

Monday was my actual birthday. I awoke to presents (some of which I will show below), cards, the realisation that my mum had the day off.. 

...and a very painful eye infection! SOD'S LAW. I could barely open my eye!

Another birthday present from my mum and step-dad was this double leather Pandora bracelet. I had a Pandora charm bracelet in the past which my grandma had contributed to. When I got rid of that charm bracelet I kept the charm from my grandma and wanted somewhere to wear it, without getting another. This is very simple and understated and will work perfectly. I love it.

I received more of the most beautiful flowers from my particularly spectacular boyfriend. Deliciously big roses and lillies. My absolute faves.

Sorry about the overkill, I am in love, flowers are so beautiful.

I also was given a personalised love letter necklace which made me a bit gooey.

Tucked inside is a little wooden letter which is inscribed with three words of your choice.

(front) My boyfriend chose live, laugh, and love. When I questioned why, he told me that he found it quite difficult to choose the three words, but thought of it like a triangle. He said our love was the pinnacle, which wasn't possible without the other two, you have to live in order to laugh, and you have to laugh in order to love. I love his brain. It must be so organised in there.

(back)

He also bought me a bottle of pink bubbles...

...and a box of the most delicious swiss chocolates in the world. My cousin bought me Lush products, which you can see peeping in the background. I LOVE Lush.

My friend Becky came round in the afternoon laden with scones, jam, cream, cards from her and Phoebe, and a beautiful plaque which is difficult to photograph. It says "A friend is one of the nicest things to have, and one of the loveliest things you can be." and she bought it for when I move later in the year. Beautiful. Later on I went back to Becky's house to spend the evening with her, Phoebe and Ben (Becky's boyfriend). She provided me with a candle-lit bath, it was tremendous. We are the chocolates, ordered a takeaway, and drank champagne. Well, I did anyway. Ooops.

This golden egg was my bath accompaniment of choice, although it was a bit of a disappointment. Thanks, Lush, I thought you were my mate??

All in all, it was a lovely, low-key, enjoyable weekend, surrounded by (almost) everyone I love.

Thankful.

Cheers!

Handmade Mother's Day Gift Ideas | Crafts | Bit of a Freak

If you are not already aware, Mother's day is coming up fast! For some reason 2014 is disappearing at the speed of light and although we were only shouting "Happy new year!!" five minutes ago, it is nearly March. Mother's day is on March 30th this year and I have been thinking for a little while what cheap and cheerful handmade Mother's day gifts I could make for mine.

My mum is my bestest friend, and whilst I am not going to blab on about her, she is pretty incredible. For christmas I made her a handmade gift, which I may blog about, that made her cry. She said it was her most favourite present and it had cost me £0, being totally made with things I had lying around. Basically, she appeciates hand-made (don't we all?) which is just as well because I am well into scrapbooking and crafts at the moment, and I am skint!

So here I present the fruits of my Pinterest labour and the inspiration for what I will be making my mum:

1. Handmade paper/material flowers.

First of all, I am going to make something similar to the middle image, with nice, simple glasswear and handmade flowers. I hope it to be a combination of all the flowers pictured. Flowers are THE go-to gift for ladies I feel, beautiful and simple. These will be just as pretty, cost less, and last longer. WIN!

2. DIY recipe book.

I am also going to make a her a DIY cook book that will look a little like this. I am moving away in September, into my bofriend's house in Winchester (which is a looooong way away from where I live now). I do most of the cooking in my house, and whilst my mum is a mean cook at tradition "mum meals" like roast dinners and rice pudding, she struggles when it comes to cooking the things I cook. I figured I could write her down all of my recipes so she can use them when I am away.

3. My inspiration for the card I am going to make:

I love the simpleness of the card in the middle, the naturalness, and I love the quotes to the side, particularly the one to right. It reads "If I didn't have you as a mum I would choose you as a best friend".

What are you planning to do for your mum for Mother's day?

What I got for Valentine's day | Bit of a Freak

This valentines day was made to be very special by my boyfriend, against all the odds. The boy did good and I thought it would be lovely to share with you what I got for valentine's day including the presents and reasons why it was so special.

Me and Tom in London ❤

14th February 2014 marked the day my boyfriend, Tom, was flying to Kuala Lumpur in order to join a ship for the next three months. Tom is an officer in the merchant navy and is away quite a bit, so far him being away hasn't gotten much easier. I wasn't looking forward to the day I had to say goodbye to him again, especially as it was also valentine's day and I was acutely aware that all of my senses would be bombarded with people showing their love for one another through special plans, romantic meals, kind words and presents. We had agreed not to do anything for valentine's as we were both pretty strapped for cash and were unable to see each other anyway, however, I love the hand written nature of a card and how they are personally selected for another to express love and wishes of happiness, so I secretly hoped I'd still get a card through the post but honestly wasn't sure I would!

Despite not knowing whether I'd receive a card, I decided to make him one myself. I have recently become seriously into scrapbooking and making pretty pages and handmade presents and love it, so this was going to be something I'd enjoy, and I think it turned out pretty well! Tom actually said it was the best card he had ever received!

The card that I made for him.

The day before valentine's I received a package with his address in the return to sender box but I was under strict instructions not to open it until the next day. I took the parcel to bed with me that night so I could open it as soon as I woke up the next morning. I was already so grateful as I hadn't expected anything, and certainly not any presents! Valentine's came and Tom woke me up with phone call. He opened his card first and loved it and promised me he was not at all sad about having not received any presents (I felt very guilty), then I opened my parcel. Here's what I got (a box of chocolates didn't last long enough for me to picture them!..):

Burgers are my favourite food in the world!

I was then instructed to stay in and listen for the door... I was excited! I suspected flowers as he knows I love them, but I didn't not expect this!:

Soooo beautiful!

My day was full of love, time, appreciation and gratitude for each other. He made sure I had the best valentine's despite not seeing each other. What a guy!

Were you treated to anything lovely?

P.s. I was rescued by my best friend at night so I wasn't sad when he was about to fly. love her too!

A Tribute to my Beautiful Grandma, Norah.

When I lost my grandma I lost my best friend and the person who I loved the most in the world. My grandma was the person who I always called first with good or bad news, if I needed help, or just someone to have a natter with. She was the person who always knew the right thing to say in any given situation, the person who has pushed me to achieve more than was expected, the person who offered me the most support, the person who told me how proud of me she was at any given opportunity, the person who I worked so hard for, and the person who has been the most consistent figure throughout my whole life.

My grandma was a huge advocate for living, really living, pushing yourself to be the best, and constantly bettering yourself. She was great fun, and was also the hardest worker I knew. Losing her was the hardest thing I have experienced and has made me so much stronger in a number of ways. I no longer fear death and I am aware of my strength. I owe so much to my grandma. She has left such a legacy which means that I don't really NEED to ring her or talk to her in person as she was always so consistent in her morals and beliefs that I know exactly what she would say in any situation. I think that is such a massive achievement, and it makes me so proud to be able to say that. It lessens the impact of loss if it feels like the person is still right there with you and it demonstrates what a colossal impact she had on my life to be able to think that way now. She will forever be my motivation. 

It's so strange, almost 3 months have passed and I am still in the habit of wanting to call her in certain situations; like when I was on the coach on my way home from London and I found out I had been accepted onto my postgraduate course. It's almost instinctual. My first thought was to call and let mammar know. Again, I know what she would have said. There would have been a lot of "Oooooh!!! Oooooh Kathryn!!"s and probably tears and a lot of her making sure I knew how proud she was of me, and how proud grandad would have been, and that is very comforting.

The loss is especially potent right now as it is my graduation in a week and mammar always spoke about how proud it was going to make her to see me in my cap and gown. Whenever she helped me out she always said the payment for doing so was to see me in my cap and gown. And when she found out she was dying, my graduation was her strongest motivation to live. She was very strong. If her stomach hadn't ruptured I have no doubt in my mind that she would still be alive. It will be a bitter sweet day, but she would want no less than for me to enjoy it, which is exactly what I am going to do. For her.

I am so privileged to have had her in my life for 24 years, I could not have asked for anymore from my grandma. I hope she still exists somewhere, I hope somehow she watched me speak at her funeral and liked what I had to say, I hope she still feels my love and still knows that I am so proud of her and miss her so much. I hope she is back with my grandad. I will continue to try my very best for her, and for my mum, and I will continue to love and miss her and speak of her for the rest of my life.

My grandma. 3/10/32 - 11/10/2013.