Ginmas — Week 3. Have you got a best gin yet?

Ginmas 2017 and we are already at week 3 ! December is whizzing by and it will soon be the end of the year.  How does that happen? Life has been so frantic this year I have really appreicated my evening sit down with a glass of gin and reading a little more about each distillery, so here is a roundup of the seven from this week. 6 O Clock

Read More

Ginmas — Week 2. What’s your favourite gin?

What is your favourite gin? Week 2 of my Ginmas posts and these are the gins I am enjoying this week Another week, another seven gins!   This is a little snapshot of the seven gins I shared on week two of Ginmas.   How can it now be half way through the month?!  For every item I cross off the “to do” list it seems two more get added.  But at

Read More

Be Happy. Do Good

Those of you that know me will know I am not particularly religious.  I was at one point.  Vaguely.  My parents decided it should be my decision as to whether I wanted to be christened, not theirs (it was the late sixties so yay for hippies).   I decided at about 13 that I did want to be christened so took myself off to Sunday school, got christened and then the

Read More

Books to read this Christmas

  Books make great Christmas presents and I am firm believer in adopting that Icleandic tradition of Jolabokaflod “The Christmas book flood”.     The joy of an annual in a Christmas stocking on Christmas morning is one of my strongest Christmas memories, and I so I love to give books as gifts.    Here is a little selection of some of my favourite books of the moment which might be

Read More

Ginmas — Week 1. A gin a day in December

I decided to try a gin a day in December and called it Ginmas.  Come back every week this month to see what I am drinking and sharing.   How can a whole week of December have passed already?!  I have loved doing Ginmas again this year and have tried to include gins that I didn’t feature last year so I learn a bit more about the huge, and ever

Read More

Window Wednesday — Hillier Gardens

Window Wednesday this week is from Hillier Gardens The weather hasn’t really been conducive to photographing buildings and that small matter of Christmas has also begun to get in the way.   Today though was different.  And although the trip was brief it was great to get out with a camera and to meet up with Annie for breakfast. Hillier Gardens is only down the road, in a part of Hampshire

Read More

How to make your own gin filled Christmas crackers

Ever thought about how to make your own gin filled Christmas crackers?   It is surprisingly simple When I talked about doing crackers with gin in, Mr B said “ooh I like that idea, especially the spicier ones as that would work really well with cheese”. No, you muppet, not actual crackers, I am talking about Christmas crackers.   Gone are the days when we have a plastic thimble that wouldn’t

Read More

Changes to the driving test

Yep, apparently there are changes to the driving test in the UK coming into force today and examiners “are up in arms”. I can see why. First of all I agree with the ditching of “reversing round corners” because that always struck me as being  a ridiculous thing to do.   Why on earth are we reversing around a corner, ie off a main road onto a side road, in the

Read More

Dinner parties with La Belle Assiette

I am not a great cook.  But then nor do I pretend to be, you won’t find me bragging about something I have just created whilst all my guests look at me with a face that says “is she looking at a different plate of food?”.    I have various gadgets that help me create edible food but if you come to our house for dinner you are coming to

Read More

Winchester Christmas Market

Despite living less than an hour away I have never been to Winchester’s Christmas market before and every year people seem to be raving about it more and more.   So with a spare morning this week I grabbed my camera and headed down there to meet up with Annie.   It is clearly sign posted off the motorway as you approach Winchester, with a suggestion that you use the Park and

Read More

Gin of the Month — December — Blogger Gin

The gin of the month for December is really rather special.  It is Blogger Gin.  Made by bloggers, for bloggers.  And when I say made by bloggers, I actually mean me!    Not on my own of course, with the help with a great bunch of people who I have affectionately named the A Team (which makes me Mrs T by the way) and whom I want to thank. First

Read More

The Gin Gift Guide

You can’t move this year for gin related gift ideas.  So here is another gin gift guide to add to the pile.   From gin and tonic tea bags (yes they do exist, Fortnums do them), to gin t-shirts to actual gin in a multitude of flavours and containers the gift market now is awash with gin inspired ideas.    I have seen so many different ideas for the gin

Read More