Blogmas day 5 - Mottisfont Abbey

Day 5 of Blogmas and I decided to get out and about. The plan was just to tackle the local supermarket (on a Saturday before Christmas? Madness). But eventually decided to go via Mottisfont Abbey and have a little walk around the grounds.

Mottisfont is only about 30-40 mins away and situated in a beautiful part of Hampshire right next to the River Test. With some of the weather we've had lately, the river was looking pretty high but nothing was flooded (yet) so it was an uneventful trip there.

It's that time of year where the Santa hat and gloves come out.

A horse made of chicken wire - so lifelike I had to look twice

The obligatory silly pose...

Mottisfont is a beautiful place to spend a winter or summer day. It's owned by the National Trust so unfortunately isn't the cheapest place to visit. But if you can, there's plenty to look at and see. They're doing a lot of work over winter building a new restaurant so we may do a repeat visit in the summer.

As for the Sephora Advent Calendar for day 5 - this was a little booklet on how to do your make-up. Not that impressed tbh. Especially as it was so small I needed my glasses to read it! Hopefully the following days will be better. But I guess that's the risks you take with a calendar like this.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

Blogmas day 4 - Secret Santa and confusing tape

Hello there,

Day 4 and my Secret Santa arrived! The lovely Katt from A Curvy Cupcake arranged for some of us plus size bloggers to take part in a Secret Santa.

Now for someone who works from home, this sort of thing is one of the (very few) things I miss about working in an office, so I was very excited to take part. The maximum spend was £10, not including p&p, to be posted out in the first week of December. I had a lot of fun shopping for my recipient. It wasn't anybody I'd met before, but I loved reading her blog, so I hoped I had a pretty good idea of what she'd like. Here's what I was lucky enough to receive

This was such a good idea. I sent a Christmas card with my package but didn't say who I was - I wish I had now! 

Lots of lovely pressies. I was very lucky and love everything I got. My Secret Santa did a really good job of sussing out what I liked. Thank you so much! xxx

And finally, the Sephora Advent calendar. Day 4 was pretty straightforward, a 4-way nail file/buffer which is always useful. But day 3 was tape. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with this. Can someone tell me - is it really just a roll of tape? I thought it might have been nail art tape to start with, but it's not (it reminds of electrical tape). Even the back of the calendar doesn't give me any clues. Arghh!!

(festive hair scrunchy all my own)

Thanks for reading and I hope if you're taking part in a Secret Santa this year you're as fortunate as I was.

Cathy
xx

Blogmas day 3 - flying Santa and donuts

Hello there,

Day 3 of Blogmas has seen a flying Santa over Southampton!

Now Southampton is a pretty big city, but over the last few years, the Christmas lights in the city centre have been pretty miserable. So when the council announced a new German Market, new lights and a daily flying Santa show - we had to go and investigate.

We got there early while the market was still quiet and we could look round without getting squashed.

One of the nicest things about markets like this is all the food and treats you can buy. While we waited for Santa to arrive we tried some German donuts.

Oh my goodness - these were the best donuts ever! Nothing like the normal donuts you get at funfairs. These were more like little sponge cakes and were so light. We opted for the Nutella version (of course!) and one bag was plenty for 2 people. I'm actually temped to go back to the market just for another serving of these.

Then at 5, Santa arrived. It was magical to see so many little children excited and waving to him. This sort of show is the only one in the UK and lasts around 10 to 15 minutes. If you're in the area, I would really recommend going to see it. I have to admit that it was a lot better than I was expecting.

As he flew towards the Bargate (the castle like building in the distance) the sleigh had fireworks. It does look like he's on fire here, but trust me, it looked good in real life.

I tried to get some video, but sadly failed. However there are some excellent clips on YouTube like this one here:

Day 3 of the Sephora Advent Calendar was an odd one - so odd I didn't know what it was! I'll show you all what it is when I do day 4 tomorrow.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

Blogmas day 2 - Christmas wrapping and painting Rudolph

Hello there,

Bit of a laid back day for day 2 of Blogmas. I finally managed to make a start on wrapping pressies. But I have a feeling there are some hiding somewhere in the house I haven't found yet...

I also bought some giant bells from Primark - but quite what I'm doing with them, I'm not sure yet. Hopefully inspiration will strike soon. My friend has plans for one of the silver bells and I may just hang the rest on the tree.

I have this little guy which I plan to paint and give to my mother. I started painting him this evening which went well until I realised I'd ran out of brown and red paint - but at least I've made a start.

And finally, day 2 of the Sephora Advent Calendar. Today was a Rose Sleeping Mask. I'm really interested to see how this will work. I can't imagine sleeping with a mask on as I tend to face plant the pillow - I can't see it all ending well!! Plus rose scent - I do like rose as long as it's not too strong. But to be on the safe this will probably be saved for a night away when I'm on my own.

Tomorrow the plan is to visit the German Market in the city centre and watch Santa fly. I will try to photograph him if he stays still for long enough!

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx