Photo shoot

Hi there!
Recently I had the pleasure of being involved in a photo shoot by a very talented photographer Jo Emmerson. The shoot was held at my friend Dotty's new store in Blackpool. Full of handmade and vintage wares.

Eclectic, Dotty's Delightful Emporium & Handmade Heaven

277 Church Street, FY1 3PB Blackpool

Here are a few pics of me from the shoot...oh how I wish I looked as nice in real life :)

All photos are copyright of Jo Emmerson 2013

Allotment

My hubby and I are so excited to find out that we have been offered an allotment near our home! We want so much to grow our own food and have done for many years but never had the garden that was suitable for it. Our allotment is overgrown and in need of a lot of work, all of which my hubby is happy to sort out. We are just so grateful! When we went to visit the plot we found some blackcurrant bushes growing there, which is pretty awesome! I'm thinking how wonderful they will be in fruit smoothie this year. We got talking to the lady in the next plot...her plot was incredible. She had everything you could imagine and is a wealth of knowledge...she said she would help us figure it all out and said that others will help us too...which is so heartwarming. I have dreamt of an allotment for 5 years!

My hubby and I have so much to learn but are excited about turning this plot of land into an organic food growing Eden!    If you want an allotment you have to contact your local council, or if you have a garden big enough to have a food patch, then you can find out a fair bit online..this website if very helpful : allotment tips website   I cannot wait to grow lavender, herbs, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce..taters and more!    

Tribute to Gramps.

Lovely Gramps passed away on may 25th..3 months to the day Nana passed away.
They were two peas in a pod and despite Gramps having terrible Alzheimers, I think he knew she was gone and gave up.
This photo is the last I have with him..so glad I took it. It is the last one I will ever have with him. It was taken the day Nana died and I felt it important to take it.

He was a sweet and gentle man and a decent one too.

It is far too hard to write any more right now without ending up a puddle on the floor but I just wanted a tribute to him on my blog.

Losing them both in a short time isn't easy. They were my soft place to fall and very much like parents to me.

I didn't have a father, so Gramps was like my Dad in many ways.

Very grateful for all they did for me.

Love you Gramps, hope you are dancing with Nana again.

I won some yums.

Lucky little thing that I am, I won a giveaway on facebook. I won a bottle of British Empathy hand wash and a bottle of hand lotion! I love it, the smell is out of this world! Thank you crystalspring

Great start to summer!

Summer is here?

Morning!  Well here in my neck of the woods it has been divine.
Gorgeous weather... My husband put our little summerhouse up at the end of the garden and we have all been enjoying it. It needs sanding and painting (teal and cream) and floor covering..but it is wonderful. A welcome retreat from the sun, a place for me to craft, be with the fur babies and chat to a friend that pops over, bliss! I am going to make some nice Cath Kidston Curtains and cushion covers, how twee!

A few snaps of how it is now...

Oreo sleeping on the chair.

Levi.

My strawberry plants seem to be doing pretty well, so far so good!

Captain.

Cuba.

Oreo again.
There is so much to be done in the garden...decking the patio and the area outside the summerhouse, new turf /lawn putting down, painting..but hope to be done by June, then we can lord it up in our sweet garden. I am dying to plant some food too.
Loving it all!

Vegan, creamy hot chocolate!

Oh my!
I shared this on facebook but thought only neighbourly to share over here too. Vegan and healthy-ish Hot chocolate drink!

So good. Take your cup and fill with as much milk as you want to drink...(my Cath Kidston cup is huge so I 3/4 filled it) then pour milk into a pan and gently heat to desired temperature, add your raw cacao or your carob or cocoa...whatever you want to use... add sugar or other healthy sweetener (I used unbleached/unrefined sugar) and stir well, then add to your cup and drink and have foodgasms at that taste, heavenly!   This milk is the best and made the most creamy, delicious hot choccie! 

My Nana.

Last month, on January 25th, My Nana died.
Nana was a huge part of my life. Nana along with Grandad raised me until I was 14, until I then moved to my Mothers. Even then she was still a soft place to fall when I needed it.
For the last few years of her life she had bad dementia and lost most of her grasp on reality, so I had to grieve for the person she had been...but  I don't think that made it any easier when she did actually leave.
I have a lot of good memories and I have a lot of things I am very grateful for from Nana.
Nana taught me how to read, taught me my manners and what was "ladylike" she taught me how to clean, iron, bake, cook. She taught me so, so very much.
She loved to thrift! I have a huge love of thrifting from her. Nana loved a bargain and a sale at the good stores too.

These photos were from 5 years ago when both my Nana and Grandad were well.

Me, hubby, Grandad and Nana

Nana had a good long life. She had a good long marriage. She was even in the home with Grandad in the same room. No money worries and no serious health issues. Grandad has Alzheimers and is unaware of her passing. Grandad will be at the funeral with two nurses to care for him and my Mum said that we will all make a big fuss of him.

The Funeral is next week. It will be good to say "night night, God bless" to her...which is something she would say at bedtime.

She is being buried in the place she was most happy, in Poynton, Cheshire. It will be along side one of her Great grandchildren with room for Grandad to join her on his passing.

I really do hope there is an afterlife. I hope she is having a good natter with her Mother now and enjoying whatever is next. I hope I will see her again, in my dreams and hopefully in the next life.

I never lost a family member before. This is my first serious loss. It is all new to me. Despite the lack of tragedy surrounding the death, in that she was old and died peacefully, it is still a loss and I am still grieving.

I don't know if I will ever be OK with knowing she is no longer here.

I am hoping I get to see her, one last time to give her a kiss and say, Night, night, God Bless, see you in my dreams, I love you.

For your Jar of good things!!

 I made my Jar all pretty and already have three pieces of card with good things that have happened this year so far!

I got the label from free pretty things for you and added the text, just copy and print if you want it <3 p="p">
Peach xx

Jar of Good things!

I saw this on facebook and thought I HAVE to do this and I am :)

I cannot wait to go over all the amazing things that happen this year, on NYE.

I really hope you do it too.

Peach x

New year thoughts...

Just a mere two days left of 2012! The world didn't end, big shock huh?
This is the time of year I start both reflecting and looking forward. I start making lots of plans and filling my head with ideas and goals for the year ahead.
This is the time of year I start thinking about how healthy I will eat next year and the weight I will lose that I gained over the festive season.
I  think about all the new experiences, the friends I made, the fun I have had. The time laughing and crying..the bad, bad days where you feel there's just not point and the amazing days where my face is aching from smiling!
The confidence I gained. The personal acheivements. The desires for how next year will be. The hopes and dreams of what will be.

It's such a beautiful time of year, just after Christmas and just before new year.

Whatever I do next year and whatever it brings....

I wish you all a very happy new year. I hope you are happy and healthy. I hope you find the courage, if you haven't already, to be you. I hope you have the courage to go for whatever your heart dreams of.

Peach xx

Here is to 2013!!!

Betty White, I love you so very much!!

 I adore Betty White. I almost..no not almost, I do..get emotional when I think of her.

Betty White is the Nana I never had. The kind of person that if I had had them in my life I wouldn't have felt so weird and alone in my family.
She loves animals, like I do, she's kind and sweet and funny and cute as heck!

Betty White, you didn't know this but you've been in my life since I was a young teen. I watched "The Golden Girls" and that show helped give me warmth and laughter through a dark time.
I used to imagine what it would be like if Rose had been my Mother or Nana and how lovely that would have been.
I love that you're  a vegetarian like me and I love your attitude about animals. I love the way you hold yourself, your grace, class and dignity and your fab sense of humour.
I'm grateful for all the wonderful work you do with animals!

Betty White, I love you....I want to be just like you! You're just amazing.

No matter how bad I feel, I can watch "The Golden Girls" and feel safe and warm in that sweet, magical world.

Crafty Vintage fair

I went to this fabulous craft fair at the beautiful Brockholes nature reserve this weekend. What a day it was!

I had to pinch a few photos from my friend Ruthie as my camera died. This Cravan is called Polly and the lovely lady we met that owns Polly, called Nicki, hires Polly out for photoshoots, tea parties and all sorts of awesomeness! the prices are very reasonable too! I am so wanting a birthday tea party in there now. It is so cute inside, please take a look at the website for more info! Polly's website

Inside the caravan you could write Christmas wishes, ring a bell and sprinkle fairy dust :)

I love my lil sista Ruthie!!

We met so many amazing crafty women, had such great chats. Really got us excited to do our own craft table one day next year! Please visit the Crafty Vintage website to find out when and where the fairs are!

I just realised I haven't added one single Christmas related post as yet on my blog! So here is a snap of my living room tree that I took when we put it up this year, full of deers, cupcakes and candy! I have been so very busy making goodies and have loads of photos to take of my makes. The Christmas gifts are pilling up under the tree and it is approaching so fast this year. Shopping with hubby tomorrow for prezzies for eachother :)

Dollymixture clothing review!

I just adore my dress from dollymixtureclothing.co.uk I used it in my photo shoot to show it off! I want to say that the dress is great quality and perfect for a swing dance/retro event and anyone can wear this style as it is so flattering to any woman. 50's style dresses suit all women, don't they? Big bust or small, curvy or not. They flatter all of us and you cannot help but feel a knock out in this style. I also want to tell you that the lady that owns the store is fantastic. Great Customer service and bends over backwards to make you happy. I love buying from Independent sellers. They give so much more of a personal service..you just cannot beat that. I will be back to her store for sure! Please visit the fab shop here

You can buy clothing, footwear, tasty looking fake food jewellery too!!   This is what the lady herself says about her store:
After looking around for that something different but unable to find it, we began making our own pieces. Having been a keen follower of the 50s era since we could remember we had plenty of inspiration.
After years of making our own kitsch jewellery pieces we found ourselves being approached by fascinated rockabilly’s and lovers of the 50s when we attended Hot Rod car shows or rockabilly weekenders, there first question was “where did you get that from?”
We began by making individual pieces for our friends and family and word spread, before we knew it people were approaching us left right and centre to create pieces they had been recommend by friends.
Before embarking on our website we attend many local craft shows and had stalls at plenty of tattoo conventions, car shows, rockabilly weekenders etc to see if there were many more like minded lovers of kitsch rockabilly alternative clothing and accessories. Well they sold like hot cakes (excuse the pun) as our name got out there at the shows we were getting requests UK wide. So we decided to go for it and in May 2010 we created Dolly Mixture Clothing.
Since then we have not looked back, being fully independent allows us to create some super kitsch pieces and also we create bespoke pieces to provide the customer with something that has never been seen before. It has been a crazy few years but we are so lucky to have a job that we love and grow even more passionate about.
You will still find us attending many of the craft fayres, tattoo conventions , hot rod shows and lots more on the lookout for further inspiration to grow our ever expanding ranges.
We pride ourselves on providing great customer service and welcome all customer feedback and comments. We hope you enjoy your experience with Dolly Mixture Clothing as much as we do.
Best Wishes
Dolly Mixture Clothing        

WW2 festival weekend In Lytham, Lancashire

Me and Hubs went to a local festival this weekend, so of course I snapped a few snaps!

Ths family looked so authentic!!

I loved this family picnic scene!

So many fabulously dressed people. Must admit that I didn't like seeing dead foxes/fur on people but I realise it is authentic to the time period.

Two wonderful singers. The second lady was at the Pride ball that I went to. Her name is Beverly Alexander and she is wonderful! I love how she always gives a big smile to me when I take her photo :)

I wouldn't mess with her!!

The festival day was FULL of delish pooches, which made me full of happy. I loved these two!

Back home! I got Dave to take a snap of me in my new frock!

happy customers and other shizz!

Had to share ma new shooze!!I love them to bits. They make me feel like a barbie doll...kinda :P

Not in the least bit practical but hella cute! I love a bit of cute nail art!I went to Sallys just to get a bit of OPI topcoat and some pink nail varnish..("You Moust You Moust") just fell into my basket, so I felt rude not to buy it..

Went thrifting and picked up this little gem...

It's been flipping lovely here in the North and me, hubs and the fur babies have been LOVING the garden time.We have three indoor kitties and two dogs, so hubs cat-proofed the garden so now all the furries can enjoy the garden...it's amazing to see them all chilling outside after being in a flat for 3 YEARS!

Two TOTALLY PShopped pics of me..I'm still fabulous, OK? ;DOK..on to three awesome friends that do not need an ounce of photoshop as they are bloody perfect...

My gal pal Carrina !

My future wifey..Louisa!

Gorgeous and talented..pfft, makes me sick.LOL..It's Rowan!All rocking my Orchid hair clips I sold for charity, woop woop!! The awesome designer that designed my blog is doing a blog makeover for me..so excited!!!! I also have some fun giveaways coming up too!