And the winner is....

Cee Cee! Who got a fabulous 7 out of 8 right. I am sending you a big slice of imaginary cake! The answers were:

1. The Jolly Postman - Janet and Alan Ahlberg
2. The Faraway Tree - Enid Blyton
3. Mrs Tiggywinkle - Beatrix Potter
4. My Naughty Little Sister -Dorothy Edwards
5. Topsy and Tim - Jean and Gareth Adamson
6. Babar - Jean de Brunhoff
7. The Famous Five - Enid Blyton
8. Heidi - Johanna Spyri

I love them all.

Friday Fun...(nostalgia)

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of that bastion of fantastic children's literature ... The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle ... here is the little fella:

You've got to love the way he munched through a red apple, two green pears, three purple plums, four red strawberries, five whole oranges on days 1-5 of his existence and then on day six: chocolate cake, ice-cream, pickle, Swiss cheese, salami, lollipop, cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake and a whole watermelon. Come to think of it, the very hungry caterpillar's diet is a little like mine over the last couple of weeks: his days 1-5 were my ever so virtuous preparation for holiday eating and day six, well day six was like the holiday itself. (I should take note then that on day seven the caterpillar eats only a leaf before becoming a beautiful butterfly! Hmph salad for lunch then!)

Some of my favourite characters from my favourite children's books include:

A. B. C.
D. E. F.

G. H.

Ten points and a big slice of imaginary cake for anyone who can guess which books they are all from.... (I was always read D as an example of me!!)

I'm Back!!

Yes we touched down into Heathrow from sunny LA on Wednesday evening. Three hours later I arrived back in Wales feeling a little dazed and sleepy. Thank you to the nice man who carried my case down the steep platform steps in Cardiff - it weighed an absolute tonne and I'd never have managed it. The holiday was fabulous!! Truly lovely! San Francisco was a whirlwind of fun, Big Sur freezing but stunning, Paso Robles beautiful with its rolling hills and vineyards and the Wedding in Orange County was just glorious! Now I have unpacked and sorted out my washing (yawn!) I am going to turn my attention to my photos (I took so many I had to buy a new memory card!) and get ready to share...

The Friday Picture (s)

This week I am featuring some beautiful beautiful photographs by Shelby Nycole Clark. You really have to feast your eyes on her stunning blog! The photographs are sumptuously gorgeous. Amazing mood is created through use of light and colour, pulling you into the photographs. I truly love her style. Gorgeous.

I am v. excited as I found out last week that I am to be the lucky recipient of two of Shelby's beautiful photographs which she was giving away to mark a year of blogging. I can't wait to receive them. But don't be too jealous - you can purchase some of these lovely lovely photographs at Shelby's etsy shop.

Weekend with my ladies

I am so looking forward to this weekend.  I am trolling my way to the big smoke tonight - N is going to pick me up from the station then tomorrow morning after a spot of breakfast I am going to make my way across London to spend the day/night with two of my favourite ladies: Dr G and Dr D.  These two ladies were my close friends from the first day at university when we met on the corridor of our hall of residence.  We lived together in a flat, along with three men friends - Mike, Mike and Michael (confusing eh?) in our second year and in our third and final year we stayed together in the flat, although we replaced one of the Mikes (as he had graduated) with my N ... but that's another story.  

Although we have gone on to do very different things in very different parts of the country the three of us try to get together as often as possible and once a year ditch our menfolk (who incidentally are close too) for a girls only get together.  This weekend is going to be even more exciting as Dr D is expecting a baby in August (the first of my friends to be expecting)!  So no glass of wine but instead cake, baby scan pictures and general baby excitement.  Yay!  I feel a spot of knitting coming on.  How delish are these:

   

*Elijah the Elephant: Ysolda*Fruit rattles: Bla Bla*

Spring has sprung

Hooray! No coats needed today thank you very much! I am feeling all sunshiney and spring-like and inspired to pack away my black clothes and splash out on a little bit of colour. Here are some lovely things I have my eye on:

*Freya Dress by Bellaju *Debo by Toast* Sequin Mule by Toast*