Catch Up.

Hello, since we last spoke, I've passed my driving test, eaten at lots of fancy places, cooked fun things and had a quite a few visitors - but I've also been sleep, really sleepy, and lazy, so pardon my absence but here are a few snapshots to show how my February has been.
It's really been far to cold for me to enjoy myself or find the motivation to take lots of photos as normal, I'm really looking forward to spring and sunny walks with flowers – and driving places, I'm sure I'll eventually find that fun too.


An inkling that spring is just around the corner.

We stumbled upon a nice record shop called 'Sound Knowledge' when wandering around Marlborough a few weeks ago, I love how many posters it has and the whole layout. Sadly HMV here in Newbz is the latest tragedy of the recession and is set to close soon, maybe Sound Knowledge will have to be our next point of call for physical music, not an unlikely possibility considering how much Mr Moon loves CDs.

Valentine's Day was lovely, we spent it at a cute little place that Moon spotted when we were coming back from Marlborough called The Pelican Inn. We were the youngest dining there by around 30 years, but the food was delicious and affordable. I was basically happy to have an obvious excuse to give my Topshop heart dress its second outing - I think I will wear it more when it's warmer though, it makes me feel so cute ♥

Starter: Beef fillet salad
Main: Free Range Chicken, Leek & Bacon
Dessert: Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundae - one of the nicest puddings I've ever had, the brownie was so mushy, nom!


Ladies...

I was pretty pleased to get a little lot of cards congratulating me on passing my driving test, a bit weird but after the amount of time and effort (and money) I've spent on it, it was nice that people were willing to acknowledge my achievement. I particularly enjoyed the card that work did for me, a hilarious card filled with equally hilarious messages. I was so happy on the day I passed I could have kissed the examiner, it's just a shame is was probably the most unexciting man on the planet.

My sister's visit saw a lovely lunch out at Bill's - still a blogger favourite right, or I am I bit out of touch, I don't care if so as it's still one of my favourites all the same, we got such a great seat this time too.

My favourite recent purchase, I'm looking forward to finding the time to sit down and do it.

Bringing you (almost) bang up to date, Moon's mum paid us a visit yesterday so we took her over to Hare Hatch Sheeplands, where the showroom is for the company I work for, but there's so much more there too - there's even a petting zoo in the warmer months! There was a small, but cute craft fair and so many nice homewares I found hard to resist snapping up. I did go a bit mad in the farm shop though and came away with steak, pork pies and lots of other goodies, great for a last minute rummage for Moon's upcoming birthday.

The café at Sheeplands had lovely food, and will be great for spring, luckily Mrs Moon was able to get a coffee so she could be a bit less frozen even for the short time we were having lunch.

Very special handmade wooden boxes, perfect for jewellery.


Such a huge part of me wanted this piggy tote, or this fabric somewhere in my life.

Next time I pop over I'll have to pick myself up some kind of animal garden ornament, they come in all shapes and sizes but this tiny pig was one of my favourites.

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I've still got a few more things to share with you and February isn't quite over yet, but March is promising exciting things, like a new sofa, my own car and some lovely gatherings with friends - the latter has been distinctly lacking recently. Have you had a good February, I hope you've been a lot less frozen than I have, with snow trying to fall looks like there's not much sign of me wrapping up any less any time soon!

A Little Bit of Love.

Just over a week until Valentine's Day! I actually really like it, I agree with those that say it's commercial but I still think it's fun and I kind of enjoy going out and people watching all the couples who genuinely are out for the sake of it rather than because they actually like each other.

Moon and I don't really do much for Valentine's Day other than get each other cards and pop out for a nice meal so I find it a little odd that there are so many Valentine's-themed gifts floating around at the moment. That being said, I'm a sucker for love hearts, commercialised love day or not. So here are my favourite picks of Val Day treats from Etsy, it's been a while since I've done one of these really but what better excuse than when I can make it adhere to a theme?

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[Whipped Bakeshop]
How cute is this anatomically correct heart sugar cookie?
Decorative icing is something I wish I was good at, I'm also a huge fan of their pug Valentine's cookies.


[Ladybird Likes]
I've had my eye on a set of Ladybird Likes collar clips for a little while and these heart ones are too cute.
I also love their moon ones but they're not quite lovey dovey enough.


[Shop Miss Ella]
I love big statement acrylic necklaces but have been too covered up in scarves and coats to show any of my collection off.
I love this Peter Pan collar necklace, the stitching detail kills me!


[Back Bay Pottery]
Such adorable little bowls, I could definitely find room in my little flat for these and I love that they're not too obvious too!


[Doux Craft]
I'm hoping that my nails will be long enough by next week to do some cute nail art as it's been quite a while since I last painted my nails. I'm not very trusting of nail stickers, mainly because my nails are kind of small, but these was are almost irresistible I love the colour combination.


[Twin Crafts Knit]
I'm a sucker for silly plushes and this kitty would make a great addition to my slightly embarrassingly large collection.


[MF Jewels]
I've seen a few versions of similar sweaters on the high street and I don't think this something I would actually pick to wear on a Valentine's date, but I do think the heart patch details are cute and easy to get away with every day.


I do love a good pun and I'm finding all these love-based puns a bit much.
[My Zoetrope]
I'm actually secretly a little more excited for Pancake Day, but Valentine's Day is one of my favourites too, even if it's not a holiday at all and my Valentine isn't so secret - speaking of which, I've still not managed to pick up my card for him, oops!

Peach & Raspberry Cobbler

Here's a peek at last weekend's nomz, I must admit I didn't actually bake anything this weekend because recently I've ended up making far too much for just the two of us - plus Granny Johnston was down for a visit. This stood up pretty well though and was still moist after a fews days but all the juices went into the cake and was a bit mushy so we had to get rid of it in the end.


I used a recipe I found on Fat Mum Slim, she actually calls it a tart but Moon and I decided it was more of a cobbler than a tart or a cake. I was actually pretty chuffed because she mentioned that when she makes it, it always sinks and mine didn't!
I definitely think I'd like to try this again, just either on a smaller scale or when we have more people around to eat it. I've altered the recipe slightly to suit me (see below) just mainly to fit with what I had more than anything else but her recipe is super easy to follow too.


I got these frozen raspberries from Sainbury's where it's 2 bags for £4. I usually find raspberries are very expensive so these are a winner for me, I used the ones leftover from this recipe to put in ReadyBrek for the rest of the week, yum!


Lovely Lidl provided the peaches, a huge tin for a purse-friendly 80p and they're really nice on their own. I whipped up a tasty fruit salad later in the week and used the syrup, it was really good.
Ingredients:

• 125g softened butter
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1½ cups of self-raising flour
• 4 peaches - cut into segments, but this was because the tinned peaches I had were whole but quite small
• 150g frozen raspberries - honestly I didn't measure these and just used what I had left though, which was about a third of a bag.

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 160° and grease a cake tin (mine is around 18cm).
• Combine butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until light and creamy.
• Add in the eggs and beat after each addition.
• Fold in flour until combined.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and sprinkle the top with fruit.
• Place in the oven and cook for one hour.

It was a little weird baking a cake for a whole hour but it had the nicest crunchy top and it all went so well together. I'd definitely recommend it with custard for a tasty winter pudding.