Well, last week certainly flew past in a blur of cake and plants. Where does the time go?

Last weekend I was staring out into my ‘yarden’ and decided I needed another plant, and an afternoon at the garden centre was the order of the day. Of course, an afternoon at the garden centre never results in just one plant, does it? Several plants, an obelisk and some tea and cake later I was home with my wellies on, digging a hole for some honeysuckle.

Whilst squelching in the mud, it dawned on me that I’ve tried to grow grass in my garden 3 years in a row. It always lasts the summer, but I have to start again every spring. I decided that perhaps my north facing, waterlogged little yard isn’t suitable for grass, and so maybe I should try gravel and some decorative paving stones. The next day I was back at the garden centre, emptying my purse again.

Sunday night, tired from all the gardening of the weekend, I decided to dye my hair, since the colour had been fading somewhat as reds do. It had left me feeling a bit meh! So it was nice to get the colour back in.

Indulging in a night of self care, I then thought I’d try out some new nail wraps I’d bought from Holy Grail Nail. I gave up nail biting in my late teenage years, I’ve grown quite strong nails ever since. I wrecked them last year though, using gel polishes to the point that they were horribly brittle. The final insult came at the end of last year when I decided I wanted false nails, but not acrylics. I followed a detailed YouTube tutorial to apply nails that would last at least 2 weeks. When I banged my little finger nail, cleaning, and totally ripped my entire nail out right down to the bed, I vowed there and then to stop with gels/acrylics/stick on nails! I’ve been looking after my nails ever since, and they are back to their strong self, so I treated myself to these nail wraps. Basically, they are like nail art that you stick on.

I’m sold! Aside from the fact these are really easy to put on, they’ve lasted well over a week and they still look good. So much easier than nail varnish. Granted, I’ve not removed them yet, so I don’t know if they’ll damage my nails. I’ll report back next week!

Tuesday, the chap came over to lay all of the gravel and slabs I’d bought for the garden, and I made us a slow cooked sausage casserole for dinner. Where would I be without my beloved slow cooker?

He spent the afternoon digging down, lugging bags of gravel, placing decorative stones and by the end of it I had a beautiful little yarden space. It looks so much brighter. I like cluttered and a little unruly gardens, so there’s going to be lots more to add to the space, including more plants, more solar lights and maybe even a fairy garden for little miss. I’m so pleased with how it’s turned out though, and now I don’t have to keep furrowing my brow and wondering why my grass won’t grow.

Wednesday I was down in York, as I often am. It’s nice now the lighter brighter days are here, kind of, to head down to York. I met the chap for dinner after work, and not having been to a Nandos in at least 11 years, I have really been wanting a visit. So, that’s where we had dinner. It was ok! That desire has been sated now, quite happy to leave it for another 11 years. I mean, the food was tasty enough, but like so many chains, there’s just no atmosphere. I also hate places where you have to order from a QR code, it’s so impersonal.

Friday, I’d taken the day off work to bake little Miss a birthday cake. As I sat in disbelief that 5 years had passed since this beautiful, vibrant, funny and adventurous little person entered my life, I was also filled with trepidation about the cake. She was having a little gathering at a local pot painting studio with some friends from school. I know I can bake a good cake. Decorating is a whole other matter though, and that’s why I took the day off work to do it.

I didn’t want to find myself panicking on Saturday morning trying to buy a supermarket cake because the one I’d iced had turned out so bad. I needn’t have worried though, my vanilla sponge with sprinkles, pink buttercream icing and all the unicorns, rainbows and mermaids turned out more perfect than I could have hoped.

It went down an absolute storm at her little party and she had the most wonderful time with her friends. Last year, I threw a big party for her whole class. It was both expensive and stressful, and I vowed that I wouldn’t do that again. This year was so much more enjoyable, and she still had an amazing time.

We finished the day meeting up with Mr and Mrs R (little Miss’ god-parents) for dinner and a long awaited catch up, which was a fabulous end to a lovely day.

Then, before I knew it, the weekend was over and I was sat back at my desk again, but what a fun time was had!