Hello Stranger...

Hello lovelies, 

I bet you thought I'd fallen off the face of the Earth hey? No such luck!

I know, I've been completely and utterly rubbish at updating my blog over the last few months but hope to be checking in a bit more often again from now on.

Since I last posted I've become an aunty for the first time!

She has been taking up a LOT of my time. I wouldn't change it for the world. 

Sadly it's not all good news. In June we had to say goodbye to Jasper after 11 years of love.

We miss him like crazy. When you've been used to having a dog sometimes all you want is a warm, furry hug to cheer you up. 

On a lighter note...

I've been enjoying summer and what a summer we've had in the UK. I don't remember so many days in a row where you could wake up and not have to wonder what the weather will turn out like. Normally if you want to wear sandals and a dress without drowning/having a gust of wind expose your knickers you have to be psychic. I've been told by several oldies of the infamous (to them) hot summer of '76. Hopefully we won't have to wait 37 years until the next! While I'm on the subject it wouldn't be very British of me not to moan about the weather too, because let's face it, whatever it does is never right for us...

and this year I wouldn't have minded a little more rain as I finally got an allotment after being on the waiting list for ages...

I was starting to think that you had to wait for one of the plot holders to be pushing up daisies before you got anywhere on the list. Turns out I wasn't far off but in this instance the council decided to rent half of another field to cope with demand for plots. Phew, no need to bump off an OAP!

Lauren X

I'm Back! Sunday Summary 7th April 2013

Hello Lovelies, 

I know, I know, long time no see but I'm back to blogging after a month-ish long break. I just felt like I'd hit a wall and then decided to leave it for a while and come back. I've still been reading all my favourite blogs though, so I think I'm up to date with what you ladies have been getting up to ;) 

While I was gone all this furore happened surrounding the end of Google Reader. Unless you've been under a rock I'm sure you'll have heard about it's demise on the 1st of July, so if you want to keep following me here are my links: 

Bloglovin

Twitter

Pinterest

It's such a pain that Google Reader's going because that's how I've always followed blogs until now. In the next couple days I'm going to make sure I follow everyone on Bloglovin so that I don't miss anything when the change happens!

Apart from that everything's pretty fine. Since I last posted: I've had four driving lessons and am absolutely loving it! Jasper's had us worried sick so we've had frequent trips to the vets but he seems to be picking up now thank goodness. My friend has had a beautiful little boy called Marcus and is moving to a village just down the road from me. 

Later in the month my niece is due to arrive, my mum turns sixty and I start an employment skills course. So it's fair to say that there's a lot going on. I like being busy :)

Well done if you've got to the end of this. I bought a few bits and pieces in Primark today so have a haul post of that coming up in the next couple of days, but for now I'll say goodnight because it's not actually sunday anymore but I'm still counting this as a Sunday Summary so shhhhh!

Lauren x

Sunday Summary - 17th Feb 2013 - Driving.

Hello lovelies, 

Just a quick one. It's been a while since my last SS but things are much the same, I hope that you're all well too! 

I've applied for my provisional license this week which means I now need to find a good instructor. I'm not really sure how to go about learning to drive. We've had a quote for how much it will cost to put me on my mum's insurance so I can practice with her, but obviously I'll need proper lessons too. I was thinking I would have a few until I get comfortable with the basics then just practice practice practice as much as poss with family and then pick the lessons back up to do a mix of both. I don't know really because I think it's one of those things you might have to just do to find out how it's going to go. I'd love to hear how you went about it? Comment me below! I'd love to be driving by the summer but maybe that's a bit ambitious?!

Lauren x

What's Occuring? A Catch Up.

Hello lovelies, 

So as I haven't blogged for a week I thought I'd do a post with some random bits and bobs in it about my week and what I've been doing recently. Time seems to be flying, I can't believe it's already the 8th of December and I haven't got my decorations up or done my shoppoing yet - I wish I could say I'm an early bird but I'm not. I'd like to get it done by the 13th which is my birthday :) Hopefully I'll get that sorted in the next couple days. 

Here are a few pics from my week, I've just discovered pixlr.com, it's fab!

1. Giant fake tree at a local shop, so tall I couldn't get the top in the pic. 

2. I can't get enough of these M&S biscuits, they're so moreish!

3. Every year our village has a wreath making morning at the hall and this is the one we made this morning.

4. What I'm reading at the moment.

The best bit of my week was on Thursday when I went with my sister to her 20 week baby scan. I haven't stepped foot in a hospital for nearly 10 years because they really set off my anxiety and I get very panicky, I normally avoid them at all costs but this was something  I was adament I was going to do. I'm so so glad that I went with her because it was amazing. This is the one where they check to see if everything's formed properly and the sonographer spent a long time looking at different organs from all sorts of angles and explaining to us what she was looking for and what we were looking at. We got to see the heart (which they check for holes), kidneys, brain, etc. We even saw the lips because they check for signs of clefting. 

Towards the end of the session my sister was asked if she wanted to find out the sex. She's been back and forth on whether she wanted to know but finally decided that she would find out...

It's a girl!

I'm so excited for her arrival in April because it will be the first time I'm an aunty and we don't have any kids in our family yet :) 

On a completely unrelated note, I also wanted to share this that I came across on Pinterest because it's popped up in my head a lot since I saw it and it's really good advice to bear in mind if you're a bit of a worrier like me.

Hope you enjoy the weekend whatever you're up to and speak to you soon :)

Lauren x 

Sunday Summary 28th October 2012

Hello my lovelies, I'm back!

I've got some proper posts lined up but for now you'll have to make do with a sweeping SS. I've not blogged for a week or so, and also not read as many as I usually do so I need to get my fix.  Don't get me wrong, I love the WWW but every now and then I get a bit guilty about spending so much time with my beloved plastic machine. With this in mind I've had a bit of a computer break and have managed to get so much more stuff done. Last week I did a car boot with my mum (I don't have a car) and pocketed £30 but also got rid of lots, it feels so good to get rid of things! I met up with a friend who I've not seen for 3 years! I went shopping (of course). I did a bit extra than my normal volunteering at the charity shop. I did some more shopping. I helped take up a carpet. I helped lay a new floor. I shopped again. I stayed with my sister (we watched 'Friends with Benefits' last night, worth a watch if you enjoy rom-coms). I caught up with family from up north.
Now I'm curled up inning (and pining for some of the clothes) my heart out.

You know my no picture post policy, here are some of my re-pins...

Lauren X

Sunday Summary 7/10/2012

Hello lovelies, 

Hope you've all been having a good week. Mine was so so. Not much to shout home about really. I've found myself wondering this evening why I even do a 'Sunday Summary' when I don't particularly have a lot to report about my week. I've concluded that the minute I stop doing SS's I'm bound to have something amazing to say and therefore I'll ramble on.  

So, this week? Well it involved most of the things I usually get up to; going on various dog walks, volunteering at the charity shop, doing my nan's cleaning. It's not ground breaking stuff to be honest! I finally saw the last ever Harry Potter film last night (yes I spent my saturday night watching HP), and have lazed around today watching last night's X Factor and am now about to watch tonight's, followed by Downton, followed by Friday Night Dinner.  By the way, if you haven't seen FND before, tonight is the start of the second series and I really recommend giving it a watch if you like comedy. 

This sums up my weekend:

Lauren x 

Sunday Summary 30/09/2012

Hello lovelies,

*Another week has flown by and we're creeping closer to Christmas. I like this time of year because although the days are getting shorter, there always seems to be a little something or other to look forward to what with Halloween, Bonfire night, and a couple family birthdays in between. This week I caught up with a friend who's having a baby and she's finding out the sex in two weeks, so that's also something exciting to look forward to :) 

Of course I also found some time for much needed shopping and got myself some bits and pieces from Primark once again. I'll do a haul post really soon of what I got. I think that'll be the last time I go shopping for a while now as I got a pretty hefty vets bill (I don't think there's such a thing as getting off lightly at the vets?). On the plus side Jasper is now set up for 3 months worth of arthritis tablets, so hopefully when it gets damper he won't feel it as much. He normally has a lumpy elbow and the anti-inflammatories have already bought it down, so that's money well spent.

I've had a bit of luck this week with my comping and received an awesome prize which I will share with you in the next few days. Aside from that I've got a few other posts in mind and obviously the haul I mentioned. I'm missing doing nail posts at the moment but I'm trying to leave them alone because I got a couple caught on a door and they're all split and horrible.  If you have any ideas of a specific post you would like to see then do let me know!

And as I never do a post without at least one pic, here's something I saw on Pinterest.

I normally hate pictures of babies I don't know (sorry,I just don't find them cute!), but this is a a rare exception. 

Lauren x


*Excuse my random ramblings

Sunday Summary 23/09/2012

Hola Amigos!

This week has gone really quickly for me and been rather good. I'm now having a lazy, PJ day. I spent most of yesterday standing in a field,  doing a car boot sale and I think that all the fresh air tired me out. Luckily the weather stayed good and we didn't leave it til today, because it's all cold and rainy here now.

What else? In addition to the Primark haul I showed you earlier in the week, I also finally bought myself some decent make up brushes. All I've seen is good praise for these, so hopefully they'll live up to expectations...I'll let you know. I didn't know brushes could be so exciting, but I was so pleased when they arrived!

In the spirit of my SS's being random (and because there's not  much else to say), here's a picture of one of the sunflowers I've grown this year....I'll be sad to see them go once winter properly arrives.

Lauren x

Sunday Summary 16/09/2012

Hello lovelies, 

So as I said last Sunday, I'm going to do a weekly type summary with any bits and bobs I have to say about my week...

Again, it's been fairly average (when you're not a student and you don't work life can be very boring!) but I did start volunteering at a charity shop this week. You won't know this, but it's kind of a big deal for me as I used to be pretty much agoraphobic and still get very anxious when doing new things. The people there are very nice and it's quite interesting to see what will come out of the bags of donations!

Fast forward to the weekend and I popped into town and bought a quilted jacket, I've been lusting after one for ages so will be sharing that with you this week. I've also got another blogger challenge coming up, I've found I quite like doing them :) I'm going to try and post more often because I do love blogging, I just don't always feel like I have anything interesting to say, we'll see anyway.

So it's a short but sweet Sunday Summary this week and because I hate posts without pictures here's something pretty from Pinterest. I'd love to have something like this in my garden one day.

Lauren x

Sunday Summary 09/09/2012

Hello lovely readers, 

So far I haven't really done any personal posts, as in all honesty my life isn't really very exciting, but I've decided to start doing a 'Sunday Summary' every week. It's where I'll post all the random bits and pieces that don't deserve a whole post of their own, but which I wanted to mention.

First up is a big thank you to every single one of you who read my blog regularly and have chosen to follow my ramblings. This week I have hit the fifty follower mark and I'm chuffed to bits that so many of you are listening :)

Secondly, I went on a very unsuccessful shopping trip on saturday, which is just as well as I have quite a few expenses coming up soon *yawn*. I did however pick up a few essentials. 

The brushes were another Ebay bargain which I'll do a post about in the week. I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of these. I picked up the nail varnish as I've been after a Union Jack blue for a while. This one's called 'Boom' and it goes really well with the owl top I blogged about here. 

Apart from this, I had a pretty uneventful week doing the usual stuff I do like walking Jasper and taking my nan food shopping. See, I told you my life was exciting! 

If that's not enough about me (which I'm sure it is!) you can follow me on Twitter @pink4flamingos. 

Lauren x