Sun Day by the river OOTD

Well hello

Yesterday we spent a few hours down by the river in our village :) It's such a lovely way to spend some time, great fun playing in the water, and some parts next the river are nice and shaded. We popped to the supermarket this morning to get some picnic supplies, then we packed up some chairs and the food, and the dog. and headed down :) We only live a 5 minute walk from the river, so we just wandered down. It's gets really busy down there, and parking is limited, so it's not worth trying to find a space. We started off by having some food :)

The ducks enjoyed the bread the kids kept throwing at them - I think the ducks ate more of the bread than the kids did! Then it was time for a splash around in the water.

It was soooo cold to start with! But you get used to it after a while and it is nice and refreshing. There are fields on the other side of the river, so you have a lovely view.

The doggy had a good time too, even though she hates water. She always stays away from the waters edge!

And to finish the trip off, it is obligatory to get one of these bad boys....

We had a lovely time :) I hope you are enjoying your sunny weekend too.

toodle pip!

Beka x

Saturday in the Sun OOTD

Well hello

Yesterday, we decided to go out with the kids for lunch and to do some visiting and shopping around Chatham. I decided to wear a new top I bought last week :)

Top - George @ Asda

Vest top - George @ Asda

Cardigan - Swanley market

Skinny Jeans - New Look

Espadrilles - Primark

I picked this top up in my local Asda last week. I loved the large daisy print, and especially loved the really pretty peter pan collar :)

It is crotchet with little beading around the edges. I was wearing a plain black vest top underneath as it is sheer, but it was so comfortable and everyone liked it :)

I had painted my nails Friday night with a George @ Asda nail polish called No Excuses and it is a very light pink.

And I was wearing a ring that I had made which I love! It's a bit random, but that is why i like it :)

We had a busy day..... We popped in to Mike's parents in the morning so Mike could get his dad to help with something on his car, then for lunch at our favourite Chinese restaurant in Chatham, then to my parents to pick up something, then to Leanne's to give her something, then to the local shopping centre to get a few little bits, then lastly, a nice drive home through the lanes :) Which is really nice in our convertible in this weather!

How was your weekend?

toodle pip!

Beka x

Five Question Friday - Kaye

Well hello

 

This week on Five Question Friday, I got to ask some questions to the lovely Kaye @ Polished Curves. 

1. What 5 essential items would you pack for a holiday?

1. Sun cream in high factor 25 or 30, even though I'm dark haired I am pale skinned and I burn if I don't take care in the sun. 

2. Palmers Anti Aging Smoothing Lotion, I use this lotion instead of aftersun. It contains Alpha and Beta Hydroxy acids that encourges removal of dead skin cells as well as being moisturising. I've found it helps take the sting out of any sun burn I do get. I have used this for years and it even helps to prevent ingrown hairs after shaving or epilation

3. Body scrub, I like The Sanctury Sugar scrub, or Soap and Glory Scrub Of Your Life. I use body scrub to help to keep my tan looking fresh. People tend think using scrub would remove a tan but that's not the case it keeps your tan looking glowy, but remember to moisturise afterwards too.

4. Sunglasses, my eyes are blue and they can be very sensitive to the light, even on dull days. The sensitivity is getting worse as I get older too!

5. A good book. I've heard of people reading 3-4 books in a week on holiday. That's not me. I read while on holiday and I can get through maybe 2 books a week. Going on holiday is probably the only time that I make an effort to read a book. And I always take books not I don't own an e-reader or kindle. I'm old fashioned and still love the feel of a book in my hands!

2. What is your favourite accessory?

Oh, this is a tough one for me. I love accessories. I think it depends what time of year it is, in winter I love scarves and summer I wear jewellery like big necklaces. I've just started to wear dangly earrings again, I've worried for years that they make my ears stick out!

3. Flats of heels?

I wish I could say heels, I really do. I have loads of heels tucked away in boxes but I can't wear them because they hurt my feet. When I was younger I would have just worn them and gone out but now I can't stand the pain, and I plan my outfits around flats if I'm going out. So it's flats all the way for me. Unless I know I can sit down at regular intervals! 

4. What is your favourite clothing shop?

Lately I think it's New Look. I'm very fortunate that I can shop between New Look's straight size range and their Plus Size range Inspire. It's not very often that I go into New Look and come out empty handed! I love their accessories too, they're reasonably priced, and it's a great way to add your personality to an outfit.

5. What would be your ideal way to spend a girly night in with a friend?

Would you be shocked if I said I've never done this? 

I don't have a lot of friends, and the ones I do have are as busy with family and kids as I am. Any free time I have I tend to spent it with my Hubby! But if I did do a girly night in, I think it would involve wine, food and a good gossip! 

 

A massive thank you to Kaye for answering my questions :) And I'll come round for an evening! I love wine, food and a good gossip! If you haven't checked out Kaye's blog, please do as I love her posts, especially her OOTD's and nail posts :) Find her at Polished Curves.

toodle pip!

Beka x

Getting dressed up

Well hello

I forgot that I hadn't already posted about this! I have said a few times during my 31 Days Of May challenge about how I was organising my parent's 30th Wedding Anniversary party on 1st June. I was so excited! Mainly for them to have a good night, but because I had a great outfit to wear :) Please excuse the state of me, this was taken at about 11pm, I had been on the go from 10am decorating and getting everyone sorted, and I was so hot from dancing!!

 

Dress - Lovedrobe

Tights - Marisota

Shoes - Curvissa

I really enjoyed wearing this dress :) It was so comfortable and lots of people complimented me on it. I don't wear dresses often, but I really liked it.  Everyone had a great night, and here are a few pictures from the evening :)

Leanne knows how to photo bomb!

Mum and Dad dancing to the song they did their first dance to at their wedding....Awww!

Cutting the cake my sister made. It had a picture on of them cutting their cake on their wedding day. And the little flower arrangement on top was from their wedding cake :)

My youngest niece decided that she didn't like fruit cake, so made a chocolate cake by herself. It was completely amazing!

Mmmmm so yummy!

My friend Guy and his gorgeous girlfriend Layla.

My sister Emma, Mum's friend Sarah and my lovely Mum dancing to New York New York at the end of the night.

It was a great night, and I wish we could do it every year! Mum and dad had a lovely time, I invited some of the children that they had looked after that had been adopted. It was a surprise and they had no idea! I invited 4 families, and they all came :) I knew when they got there, as mum made this scream and shouted 'What are you doing here!?' Haha. So much fun :)

toodle pip!

Beka x

Aztec NOTD

Well hello

A few months ago, I was browsing in Asda Living in Dartford when I noticed these funky nail wraps, and at £1, I couldn't resist!

I am out with friends at a personal shopping evening tonight, so I thought I'd give them a go. I had planned what I wanted to wear tonight, but these don't really go...so I had to change my outfit! But they are kool.

There are 12 wraps in this pack, giving a good range of sizes, and all of them are patterned differently, so it gives you a different look for each nail. It takes a little while to apply them, but not much more than it would to paint them with nail polish. 

I really like how they have turned out :) And for £1, you can't go wrong! These are the second nail wraps I have used, and I really like the look they give. 

Have you or would you try them?

toodle pip!

Beka x

Cleaning my skin

Well hello

About a month ago, I was doing some shopping in Sainsburys and they and they had an offer in their skincare department. I needed a new facial wash/scrub, and my eye was drawn to the Clearasil display, which had an offer of 2 for £6. So I had a little peruse, and decided on these two lovelies....

Firstly is the Daily Clear Blackhead Clearing Scrub. I often get black heads on my nose and thought I could give this a go. This is natural sea salt to help to gently exfoliate the skin. I had found this really good, smells nice and loves the way it makes my skin feel! The little bits of sea salt (blue in the picture below) really help to clear blackheads, I have noticed a difference. It leaves my skin lovely and soft, but not dried out. It advises you to use this morning and evening, but I tend to use this one in the shower of an evening.

Then, I also bought the Daily Clear Skin Perfecting Wash for Sensitive Skin. This one caught my eye as it contains moisturiser, and I am slightly bad at moisturising my skin! This also contains microbeads that help to gently exfoliate your skin, washes away dirt and moisturises. I really like this as it smells lovely :) I tend to use this one in the morning as it not as harsh on my skin, and keeps my skin moisturised nicely. 

I really like these, and will definitely be re-purchasing when they are empty. 

Have you tried either of these?

toodle pip!

Beka x 

I have faith.....

Well hello,

I am a Christian.

A year ago, I couldn't have said that out loud, let alone share it with you lovely people. Now, people don't always have a positive attitude to someone if they say they are a Christian. I have had the following reactions to me saying I'm a Christian:

Really?

Why?

You don't look like it

Are your parent's Christian?

Or I get an 'OK' and the topic of conversation is changed. I used to feel a bit uncomfortable when this would happen, maybe even slightly embarrassed, but now, I know they are like that because they do not understand. Everyone has different reasons for being a Christian, going to church or owning a bible. For me, I have had a bible since I was Christened as a baby. I keep it in my bedside table and it was a gift from my Nanna Flo, who is sadly no longer with us. I had always seen it as a lovely gift from a lovely lady and a pretty thing to keep on a shelf, but after thinking about it, if my house was on fire, that would be one of the things I would have to try and save. Not only due to the sentimental nature of it, but because the Christian in me wants to keep it safe. I don't read it everyday, or even every month, but I like to know it is there. I have always found a comfort in being in a church, praying and just in general being able to think about my faith.

**This post is in no way saying 'Become a Christian', I just want to share my story with you**

A little bit of history..... To my recollection, I didn't really attend church much as a child, but at Grammar school, we used to go to Rochester Cathedral once or twice a year for a special service. I was christened when I was a baby and I have Godparents, who I am still close to. When Mike and I got engaged on Christmas Day 2010, our first thought was where we wanted to get married. We were both sure that getting married in a church was what we both wanted to do. To us, it seemed natural to get married in a church, in front of God, as we were making eternal vows to each other, and wanted God to bless our marriage. So, we had just moved to our first home in the October, and starting to look at what church we wanted to get married in, and there was a lovely church in the next village. After having a little drive-by one evening after work, we loved how pretty the church was from the outside. So, ,that Sunday, we decided to go to the church service. It was so lovely! There was a more traditional service at 9am, then a more relaxed, child-friendly service from 10:30, and there was tea, coffee and biscuits at the cross over so everyone could have a chat. Then the service would last 60-90 mins, with the children going off to a side room for Sunday School during the main part of the service. They would learn something relevant to the service we were having, usually making something they could take home. Anyway, after about 2 Sunday services, we knew that we wanted to get married there. And we did. It was such a lovely place to get married.

When we got married, we were living about 40 minutes from there, and we did have time to change churches to the one in the village where we are now, but we really wanted to stick with that one. So, back to the story in hand..... In about September last year, I noticed a sign outside the church in our village about an 'Alpha Course'. I went home and did a bit of research about what that was, and liked the idea of it. Basically, you go to the rectory one evening a week for 10 weeks, have dinner with a group of people, including the Rev. and have a chat, then watch a DVD about a certain part of Christianity, then chat about what you have watched. Now, for me, I felt this was a chance for me to explore my faith a bit more, and even learn more about Christianity. I told Mike about how it was something I wanted to do and if he minded watching the children whilst I went there, and he said it was something he liked to sound of too. So we signed up!

It was great! We started around the beginning of September 2012 and were really enjoying it. Unfortunately, we ended up missing a couple. We were getting ready one evening to go, and just before we left, we had a call saying that Mike's grandfather had collapsed, so we all rushed over to there house, but he had sadly passed away. I informed Rev Gary of what was going on and he was so lovely and said that he would pray for us, which gave me such a good feeling of support from our friends at Alpha. Then, we couldn't attend the week before our wedding as we had a rehearsal at our old church. Then, Mike got diagnosed with a tumour, and we had so many hospital appointments to go to, and he wasn't feeling well, so we decided it was best to stop going to Alpha.

This was so the right decision at the time, but I did miss going. So when I went to the church with Maria one Sunday for a choir concert, I noticed a flyer on the pew advertising the Alpha Course 2013! I was so excited and filled in the form there and then!

So, the main reason for this post was to share with you my experience of this course. I know I have gone on a bit about it, but I wanted you to know everything!

I have really enjoyed every week of Alpha, we talk about things like the bible, praying, how to have faith and who Jesus was. I find the DVD talks really informative, and we get to have a good chat afterwards, and I enjoy hearing other people's opinions/questions from what we have just watched. We also had an 'away day' in the middle of the course. We spent a Saturday all together, and watched 3 of the DVD talks in one day, as they were all focused around one topic. We shared lunch together and had a great day of chatting about our faith and did some praying. I really had a good day. Now, we don't go to church as often as I would like, and I know that I could go if I really wanted to, but Sunday's are usually our only rest day/day together with Mike and the children, so we are normally out and about. But for me, I don't feel I need to go to church every week to be a good Christian, I can pray at home, in the car, when I'm walking the dog. I really enjoy having faith in something, and that gives me a warm feeling inside, especially when I'm having a bad day, I just sit quietly, even for 2 minutes.

St Martin's Church, Eynsford

I was also really touched that my cousin and her fiancee asked me to read a poem at their beautiful daughter's christening yesterday. After going through the Alpha Course and accepting my beliefs, I sat in the church during the service, and I felt so, I don't know what the word is. Alive  maybe, knowing that God was there and I know he was shining down on the gorgeous Florence.

Sorry this has been quite a heavy worded post, but it is something that I wanted to share with you. If you are thinking about learning more about Christianity, visit your local church and ask about their next Alpha Course. We have had a great 10 weeks, and made some new friends, who are so lovely! And a bonus is not having to cook on a Wednesday! Each week, a member of the church volunteers to make dinner for us, which is always lovely. When I am eating it, I feel so grateful that someone has taken their time to cook us a meal, and they don't even know us! I'm going to be gutted when this is over to have to think about what to do for dinner! Haha :) I am going to volunteer to cook a few times for the next course :)

If you have got to this point of the post, well done! And thank you for reading :)

toodle pip!

Beka x

POOTD

Well hello

Today I just wanted to share with you my new phone case :) Sad I know, but I love the colour!I previously had the same case but in purple, which I did really like, but I have dropped it a few times now and it has got some damage around the edges. 

I love the style of it so much though as it acts as a purse as well as a phone case! It is a flip fronted cover, secured with a magnet. When you open it up, the left hand side has two credit card slots and a large pocket behind them. It is so handy if I am popping out to the supermarket, I have my debit card, driving licence, nectar card, costa card and a savings card, so I'm covered! I put any notes I have in the larger pocket at the back. 

So, here is the new colour I chose....

Orange!! I love it! It is so bright :)

I have dropped my phone a few times whilst it was in my purple case, and it has protected it so well! As I said before, the case got a few scuffs on it, but my phone is fine. I ordered this from a shop on Ebay, and you get with it a stylus, screen protector and polishing cloth.

 And all for £1.99!! I can't recommend these cases enough. Here is the link for the one I got for my Samsung S3, but you can for sure get ones like this for other phones.

Have a great day!

toodle pip!

Beka x