Wednesday 31 December 2008

Wishing you...


Wishing you all a happy and peaceful New Year.
Love, Sal ;-)

Monday 29 December 2008

The English Pier

The English pier...an icon of England and a reminder of the Victorian age.
The original idea of the pier was so that people could take the sea air, whilst promenading.
Peculiarly English, the pier has attracted people of all ages, for years...and so noone likes to see the above scene.
But that's what happened to the pier at Weston Super Mare, back in the summer.
And so the pier would never be the same again.
However, something good has arisen out of those ashes.
A competition was held and various firms submitted their proposals for the new design for the Weston pier.
Angus Meek Architects was one of those firms and after fierce competition were selected as the winner of the competition for the reconstruction of the Grand Pier Pavilion.


This was the people's choice.
The firm's aim was to provide a thoroughly contemporary building yet to continue the tradition of the English Pier Pavilion at Weston-super-Mare (which I think is so important) .

You may be wondering what this has to do with me..!


Well these lovely designs are the work of my nephew, Andrew, who just so happens to work for Angus Meek.

And through my door just before Christmas came this set of postcards.
He always maintained he did 'colouring in' for a living! Now I know !
It will be interesting to see the finished article...and then, hopefully, there will be much more promenading on the pier for many years to come.
Thanks Andrew!

Saturday 27 December 2008

Christmas 'goings ons' !


Christmas Day was not quite as we had planned....as on Christmas Eve my mum was taken to Torbay hospital. Badly dehydrated and with low salt levels, they isolated her, put her on a drip and that was my poor mum's Christmas.
(I add that she was in a most unfriendly ward,where noone bothered with her..I mean a smile costs nothing,does it..or a friendly face around the door every now and again...so I am pretty disgusted,especially as it was Christmas Day.)
She's ok now...was let out yesterday, much better but still quite weak.
I suppose you could say that none of us knew whether we were coming or going ...but the 'plus side' was that we all got to dress up in rubber garb...before we could go in and see her ;-)
So , I think presents were the last thing on our minds but I did manage to open up this little darling, a Brigitte Rive huggable gollywog, 'Stripey Jack'..which I have admired for weeks, in Magpies..so thank you to my dear DH for remembering :
A fabulous diary from the National Railway Museum..plus some coasters depicting..Exeter..from Nich...
A lovely baguette basket , some jam pot covers and a tea towel, from my sister:



On Boxing Day my lovely daughter and her lovely husband came for the day, which was... lovely..and I finally got some CK goodies!! ;-)

But all we really wanted for Christmas was for my mum to be ok and my dad to not look so sad.

Hope your Christmas was lovely.

(Oh... and I didn't get a hoover !)

Wednesday 24 December 2008

Have fun ! ;-)

A very Merry Christmas from the Snippets household to all of you!

Here's hoping that your Christmas is full of the most wonderful things !!
Lots of love, Sal ;-)

Tuesday 23 December 2008

A Carefree Christmas

Having been slightly under the weather lately, I'm hoping to bounce right back now..and what better way than to remind yourself that you can have a carefree Christmas!
I love some of these old sweet recipes and often adapt them,which simply means double the recipe and making them bigger than the bite sizes suggested!! ;-)
8oz creamy toffees
4oz Rice Crispies
2 tablespoons water
2 oz milk chocolate
Cake cases..(or mini ones)
1. Place toffees in pan with water. Heat gently, stirring until toffee has melted.Remove from heat.
2. Add Rice Crispies and stir.
3. Spoon into cake cases
4. Melt the chocolate and then pipe or swizzle on to the Crispies. Leave to set.

Or you can make them small and bag them up as gifts...lovely!

Hope your Christmas food preparations are going just tickety boo!!

Sunday 21 December 2008

Beating the rush!



To mingle with the crowds, is not a lot of fun,
I could think of better things to do... but have to get this done!
I think I'll have my coffee first and put my brain in gear,
Don't want to give them gifts, the same as last year!

Now, what for dear DH ... some wine in a casket?
My daughter's into Wicca ... maybe a laundry basket? ;-)
My son, he has the travel bug... so how about a map
Of Exeter? No, been there done that... he'll only think that's ****! ;-)



My mum loves 'Homes and Antiques'... so that's her sorted out.
My dad says she is an antique... so he'll just get a clout.
My Great Aunt Prue is 98 and wants some thermal knickers
To go with those, I'll get her chocs ... she likes the sort called Snickers.


Uncle Brian supports the Saints, so something red and white.
Or a guide to a lower division?...as relegation is their plight (LOL)
My sis, the CK fan ... her present's on the shelf...
In Orange Tree, ( I'll buy the two..I need one for myself!) (Naturally!)


Oh my! Is that the time? And I'm not even dressed.
I blame this bl**dy blog...I'm not ready for this fest
So much to do, so little time and all I do is chat
Christmas, flippin Christmas..better get 'me hat'!


And 'me coat' ... and off I go, happily to town,
To mingle with the crowds...won't let it get me down!
I'll meet you back here, later, for a cuppa and a bun,
We'll swap notes about our day... I'm sure yours will be fun. ;-)


I do hope you've all had successful shopping outings this weekend! ;-)

Saturday 20 December 2008

Thank you so much darling, it's just what I wanted!




'It beats as it sweeps as it cleans' ;-)




I've been reading a book which I bought for 1p (and the usual £2.75 postage)
'The Good Housekeeping Christmas Book: The Best of "Good Housekeeping" at Christmas, 1922-62'

This advert jumped out at me!! So much so, I have to share it.

Oh yes, that's me, obviously! ;-)

Same here!

I'm non stop when it comes to the housework! ;-)

Well.. I used to be a busy mum! And my time is still well spent with youngsters.

Oh most definitely... I do seem to be becoming a little weary nowadays. Ouch! My back's playing up... again ;-)

Oh yes, never complaining and so, naturally, that has to be me.. and yes I do so want to cut time off the housework (in order to blog more...snigger!)

I'm sure you are all these things too?!

So here's what we all deserve, girls...your best Christmas present...

Did you catch that?

Here it is again...



Having thought long and hard, for about a nano second..

You know where I think he should stick that hoover?

And as for the lead...do you know what I'd do with that?

Answers in the comments section, please ;-)

(With utmost apologies to anyone who has requested a new hoover for Christmas..!)

Wednesday 17 December 2008

Christmas at its best! Totnes!!

How I ever battled through the crowds last night, I will never know!!
I don't often get an evening off and I don't often get a stinking cold either..the two decided to coincide..but as my mum often says, 'Bite the bullet!!'

Thankfully, we made it up the hill, to Amanda's lovely stall!

It's the one for which I always make a beeline !

Always a pleasure! I bought three super duper, pink, vintage baubles...as, if didn't you know, it's the year of the vintage bauble!! ;-)

Amanda always has the time to spare, to chat and catch up with the news..she reads many of our blogs!

Talking of pleasures... 'This 'n That'...

The streets of Totnes were lined with stalls and if you love the Christmas markets, either here or abroad, then Totnes is up there with them..it was wonderful! But packed!

And then there was the entertainment...what entertainment it was too!!

We found ourselves standing for what seemed forever, watching this band as they burst into song. Aptly positioned outside 'Animals in Distress, they burst into song with such lyrics which made us roar with laughter...they sang about 'Worms' and 'Christmas Turkeys', amongst other things and had their own unique style to entertain!

Brilliant!

There's nothing like good, live street music ...(there's so much talent out there compared to the rubbish in the charts eh?!! Terry and Aled excepted of course!)

I wish you could have savoured the flavour of these musicians!

Meanwhile, at the other end of the town..these musicians 'blew me away' completely!!

What an evening! ;-)

(Maybe those responsible for the so called 'Victorian Evening' in Newton Abbot, this year, ought to visit Totnes for a few ideas.. and to see how something is done well!!)