THE FAMOUS BRITISH CARNABY STREET SHOPPING PARTY...

 

 

On Thursday 2 May, 5-9pm, Carnaby is the place to be. The Carnaby Shopping Party in association with Grazia magazine, features over 100 shops and restaurants including independent boutiques and  stores exclusive to Carnaby, all offering 20% discount. You can also enjoy loads of free activities including live music, trend talks and free drinks. Grab a bite to eat after at one of the 20 restaurants and cafés taking part including Cha Cha Moon, Fornata and Carnaby Burger Co. Register for your FREE ticket here.

 

 There will be live music, DJs, an instagram photo shoot with Benefit makeovers, spot prize goodie bags and a free drink at The White Horse Kopparberg bar in Kingly Court. Legendary shoe designer Terry De Havilland will be signing shoes at his new Carnaby boutique and Grazia's Fashion News Editor Katherine Ormerod will be hosting trends talks in Kingly Court, plus lots more. Register for your free ticket at carnaby.co.uk and follow @CarnabyLondon for updates and competitions.

LOVE BEING BRITISH.....

 

How wonderful is this - it's made by 'Love Being British' on http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/lovebeingbritish/product/grow-old-along-with-me-framed-british-print

 

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright alive during the 1900s. This romantic Great British quote comes from Browning's poem Rabbi Ben Ezra.

                                                                   The quote reads:
Grow Old Along With Me. The best is yet to be
All of our framed products can either be hung or stood on a surface.
This Love Being British product comes in two different sizes (small or large) with two variations on the union jack background (soft or strong) and two frame colours (black or white) so you can tailor this framed quote exactly how you would like it.

 

 

 

THE BRILLIANT 'GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE'...

THE FINALE OF 'THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE'...

 

 

The last episode of the 'Great British Sewing Bee', presented by Claudia Winkleman was as entertaining as the previous three, and although I have put this post on my Vintage Blog I just had to share it with you here.

Patrick Grant and Mary Martin, I'm sure will now have some great fans, especially Patrick, if only for his love of a straight hem and dropped shoulders.

Making a man's shirt seemed to ruffle all the contestants feathers except for Ann of course.

Ann was crowned the winner after her 75 years of sewing experience. I guess with that amount of experience she could only be the winner, but everyone was a winner in my eyes.

It was a great program which I hope will be back on our screens again sometime.

With all the excitement and high viewing figures for this programme it was no surprise to find the Daily Mail have jumped on the bandwagon and produced a FREE 'Start Sewing' booklet in today's Daily Mail.

It has a brilliant step-by-step beginners guide to sewing and throughout next week Monday – Thursday they have four other projects for you to try. Of course there is also a book out to go with the programme which has all of their projects and 23 more to try, 'The Great British Sewing Bee', by Tessa Evelegh.

 

 

THE QUESTION IS – HOW BRITISH ARE YOU ?...

If your not sure, then why not take the test, 'How British Are You ?' - it's in a book of questions for the British Citizenship Test.

You might think you know everything about being British, but could you pass the test?

It's a test for a rite of passage for anyone wanting to live in the UK and is taken by over 100,000 people every year.

You can also take the test online at http://www.howbritishareyou.com/quiz – Have a go, I think you might be surprised at some of the questions.

LOVE OR FRIENDSHIP - WHICH DATING SITE WOULD YOU PREFER...

 

With so many dating sites online it's nice to see that some are 'just for friendship'.  And apparently the British prefer online 'friendships' as opposed to 'dates'.

One such site is www.4friendshiponly.co.uk - This site has a strictly no dating format for couples who want to make new friends. 4  Friendship Only helps you to find genuine friends with similar interests in your area. It could be a dinner party, a trip to the pub, or just a chat on the phone. Whatever you would like it helps you to make new friends.

 

Another site is www.4m8sonly.co.uk - is another genuine 'friendship only' website. They say that when you have added your profile and image this will then be checked by their team before being made available to existing members. They are confident that you will be greeted by lots of genuine people seeking friendship only and with 75% of women and 63% of men using social networking sites on a daily basis, it won't take long to find a friend.

 

Another one called http://rentafriend.com/index  has Friends from around the world available for hire. Rent a Friend to attend a social event, wedding, or party with you. Hire someone to introduce you to new people, or someone to go to a movie or a restaurant with. Hire a Friend to show you around a new town, teach you a new skill/hobby, or just someone for companionship.

I'm not so sure about this one but useful at times I'm sure.

 

With women being the ones that use the social networking sites most of all, it's no surprise that there is one just for women, http://womens-friendship-group.meetup.com/cities/gb/17/london/

most of these are based in and around London. Take a look at the list of others they have available and maybe start one yourself. The formats look easy to follow and if your area doesn't have one then maybe there is an opening to start one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

US BRITS SURE KNOW HOW TO CAMP PROPERLY...

Does camping in the Great British outdoors appeal to you, waking up to nature, camp fires and beautiful walks in the country? Trouble is of course the reality is often very different with damp sleeping bags, cold tents and rain, rain and probably more rain...

 

Well, the latest trend is camping, not your traditional camping or festival camping but a lot posher than that.

 

 

Campers can stay in yurts, pods and igloos with designer furniture, luxury bathrooms and high tech equipment.

Or the more traditional, but luxury camping in a North Yorkshire camp site where guests can either stay in tent lodges of 75m2 with wooden floors, rugs, wood burning stoves, hot water and toilets. There's also cosy bell tents (shared facilities) with their own veranda canopy (ideal for families).

Jollydays, Village Farm, in Scrayingham, North Yorkshire is open all year round and won a 'New Business of the Year' award in 2009 www.jollydaysluxurycamping.co.uk

Some other great sites are Sawday's website is a must www.canopyandstars.co.uk for UK holidays in beautiful outdoor locations – from luxury treehouses to traditional style gypsy caravans.

Lincoln Park Farm just west of Oxford www.lincolnfarmpark.co.uk includes the positively luxurious loos, AA Best Campsite of the Year 2010.

Cotswold Yurts are raised domes which have decking to gaze down the Golden Valley near Stroud. www.cotswoldyurts.co.uk

Snowdonia campsite also has yurts www.graigwen.co.uk and finally for wigwam fans in Berwick in the North East the Pot-A-Doodle-Do holiday village has 20 wigwams (each sleeping five), as well as three yurts www.northumbrianwigwams.com

Right, well I'm off now to book my igloo for the summer :):)

THE GREAT BRITISH FOOD FESTIVALS 2013...

 

Britain has become synonymous for it's food festivals and one such festival 'The Great British Food Festival, www.greatbritishfoodfestival.com is opening it's doors to the first one of the year, next May Bank Holiday weekend, 26/27^th May.

The Great British Food Festival was formulated in June 2012 by two brothers who had a great love for food.

The team, now, are also foody people who love local produce and strive to gain awareness to the fantastic foods we have on offer in the North West, many you wouldn't even know about!

It has over 100 producer stalls, chefs demo's, cake-off and Men vs Food eating competitions.

There's live music from local bands and a recipe booklet to take home with you.

It's being held at Walton Hall and Gardens in Warrington, Cheshire. The only thing that could disrupt this great event is the great 'British Weather'. Fingers crossed for a dry weekend.

 

 

The other dates for 2013 are June 29/30^th at Shugborough Hall, Stafford, - July 13/14^th at Capesthorne Hall, Siddlington, August Bank Holiday Weekend 24/25/26^th at Stonyhurst College in Clitheroe, Lancashire and also on September 21^st and 22^nd at the Cheshire Food Festival at Arley Hall, Warrington, Cheshire. For more details head to their website 'The Great British Food Festival'.

THE BRITISH WEATHER...

 

What is it about us Brits that we are so obsessed with the weather.

Every time we go into a shop we comment on the weather, we chat about it on the phone, while out walking a dog, over dinner in a Restaurant. In fact we just don't stop talking about it. A survey has shown that we spend nearly six months just 'talking' about the weather.

Apparently the British in particular are obsessed with the English weather.

Its one of the most common ways to start a conversation, and I feel sorry for the check-out staff at supermarkets which must listen to people talking about the weather all day long.

We spend almost five times a day talking about it and spend longer discussing it, than on sport or work!

Women talk about it more than chatting about their men, love lives and gossip.

Even Twitter gets 500,000 'tweets' about it, and as for older people, well we have three times as many conversations about it and still believe in old wives tales, such as, cows sitting down (rain comes) something I 'always' say and the family make fun of me and of course, red sky at night is legendary.

These findings prove that we are a nation who is totally obsessed with the weather and with our unusually cold winter, millions of conversations at the moment are about the weather.

So, while I'm on the subject of the weather, where has the so called glorious sunshine gone to today, its more like cloudy skies to me...

 

 

 

MARGARET THATCHER'S GRANDDAUGHTER DID HER PROUD...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsslZNodDoM

          

Lady Thatcher's 19-year-old granddaughter Amanda Thatcher gave a reading at her Grandma's funeral at St Paul's Cathedral yesterday.

The young Thatcher looked composed as she read a lesson from the Bible to the congregation, watched by millions on television.

Her reading called for the righteous to put 'on the whole armour of God" and that her grandmother may be able to stand against the 'wiles of the devil'. Report by Sophie Foster.

 

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT IS BACK, WOO HOO...

 

Brtains Got Talent is back on our screens on Saturday, in my eyes, it's one of the best shows on TV.

Most of it's talented winners have gone a long way which hasn't happened with most of the other talent shows, with winners Ashleigh and Pusdy and Susan Boyles to name a few.

The judges are brilliant, especially now that David Walliams is amongst them.

 

BABY NAME FOR KATE MIDDLETON, THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE ...

According to the Huffington Post - Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, will name her baby Philip if it's a boy, source says.

Well, I guess we shall just have to wait and see...

HOLIDAY IN THE CARIBBEAN...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA...

This is the biggest port in the world for cruise ships, and can hold a massive '90' ships at one time.