A lifestyle blog
invite to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party. Traditionally of course posh invitations land with a thud on the door mat. At Barrow Towers though we don’t do things the traditional way. Which is why on Friday morning as I was making doner kebabs (I know, I have no idea why either but it seemed like a good idea at the time and actually they were quite tasty, anyway I
I am sick of the Election already. And that’s why it is Ranty Friday this week. Actually it isn’t the election I am sick of, it is other people insisting their view on politics is the only acceptable one and ramming it down my throat. The last time I looked we lived in a democracy. In a country with more than one political party. Where we are free to choose
Volendam is a tiny town on the map and one you might not notice or pay much attention to. Yes it’s on the coast, but so much of Holland is. And if you want towns buzzing with life, well there is Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and smaller towns too. Nothing much would make Vollendam stand out from the crowd. Which is a shame really because it is beautiful.
. For The Gallery this week Tara is joining in with #OpTeddyBear which is the brain child of a very poorly little boy called Fin. In Tara’s own words: Finlay Church was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour last year. An aggressive tumour that’s rare in children. But Fin wants to say thank you to those who have been helping him through his condition by raising funds and breaking world records.
. As soon as we decided to come to Holland in April I also decided we had to see some of the iconic flower fields you hear so much about. And see in stunning photos and postcards. You know the ones, row upon row of flowers, banked by colour, for as far as the eye can see stretching out before you. I was hoping we would get to see tulips
. By lunchtime on Easter Saturday we had driven through four countries. Well the first one, England, probably shouldn’t count, but France, Belgium and Holland definitely do. And it struck me that driving through European to a destination shouldn’t be the sole purpose of the journey. It was mine when I first saw that our destination of Wassenaar was 240 miles from Calais. In my head that translated as
.Hot Cross Buns Recipe You know this thing where I can’t really cook? Well I can’t. Not really. I don’t really follow recipes properly and I often change things which means my kids do that arched eyebrow thing when they try something for the first time. This week that has happened with the above hot cross buns. They look like normal hot cross buns don’t they? Well they
. On Wednesday of this week I went online to order my mum some mother’s day flowers. It might be a tad late for some but my mum has been abroad for a few weeks so I decided to get them delivered when she was back in the country. Went to complete the order, and feeling lazy decided to use Paypal because I can’t remember my debit card details.
. This week a number of things have happened that have brought it home to me just how old I am now. Properly middle aged. I am pretty sure I won’t see 90 so 45 really is the hump in the middle of my life. And not in a maudlin way but this week I have been thinking about the signs I am getting old. The first sign being that
. They say that Africa gets under your skin. I don’t know who “they” actually are but “they are right. I have been lucky enough to go to Africa three times now with Comic Relief, although flying visits to Tanzania, Ghana and Kenya it has left me with a real taste for the continent. And I want to see more of it. I want a holiday in Africa because
. Sounds like an agenda for a cracking weekend, doesn’t it? Well in addition to that it is also the title of a book out tomorrow from Choccywoccydoodah, one of my all time favourite shops in the world. Though there are in fact two of them: the flagship store in Brighton and the Mothership in London. It goes beyond that though, Choccywoccy is not just a shop, it is
Dutch Speculaas Recipe. This time next week we will be heading home after spending Easter with Canvas Holidays in Dunirell. We are thrilled to be working with Canvas Holidays this year as they celebrate their 50th birthday, along with Mr B. It will be the first time I have been away with Canvas Holidays since I was about 12 so it is going to be great to see just how much