Creme Brulee Cheescake

Creme Brulee = Lovely
Cheesecake = Lovely
Creme Brulee Cheescake can only be EXTRA LOVELY!

After being away at a research conference for a week or so, I've had a bit of a blog browse morning, catching up and admiring the online pretty.

I have stumbled upon this delicious delight on The Sweet Life, via A Cup of Jo. I was bought a brulee blowtorch for Christmas last year and haven't really used it as much as I could/ should. This looks yum, and will have to go on my weekend to do list!

Image Source

Today

Image Source: A Cup of Jo

Today. A cold, wet November Wednesday - perfect for walking under bare trees in raincoats and wellies. Oh if only I wasn't stuck in with a pile of work...

Happy in...Bath

I have not spent much time exploring England, often opting to holiday away from the UK. I've started to realise how much there is to see on my own doorstep and I'm trying to see as much of this beautiful country as I can. We spent one night in Bath before meeting up with friends and going to CentreParcs in Longleat. I had never been to Bath and was very excited for this taster trip. We had booked to stay in The Northey Arms in Box, just outside of Bath itself.

I was very impressed with The Northey. The bus route into Bath was directly opposite and took around 15 minutes. The room was amazing! Bright and stylish decor, a fancy little Tassimo machine and a huge 'hidden' bathroom, accessed through what appeared to be a wardrobe door. The room was quiet and the bed was super comfy, making for an excellent nights sleep! We didn't eat in the restaurant. However, breakfast was included with our stay and we set ourselves up the following day with a full English breakfast, with eggs layed fresh from their chickens. 

Royal Crescent, Bath. September 2012

Once in Bath, we decided that we would get an open top bus ticket. It was a dry day, we were short on time and we were tired from the long journey down. The ticket cost £12.50 each, including a pair of headphones for the audio commentary. The ticket allowed us to hop on or off at any of the stops and was valid for two different tour routes (City Route and Skyline Route). We jumped off the bus on the City Route to take this panoramic photo at The Royal Crescent. Hot drink in hand, it was a great way to see Bath's main sights.

 

Image source: Bath Thermea Spa

We had also booked tickets through The Northey to visit Bath's Thermea Spa. I had read about this natural thermal spa on this lovely blog, and decided that it was a must see for our visit. We had tickets for a 2 hour session in the New Royal Baths and arrived around 7pm. We hired towels and were provided with wristbands which allowed you to access a locker and 'buy' any refreshments, settling up any tab after the session. We then made our way through to the wet areas and we were pleasantly suprised to find that it was fairly quiet. There was an indoor pool, a room with four glass aroma steam rooms and experience showers, and an open air rooftop pool which looks out over Bath. We were pretty relaxed as we waited for our taxi back to The Northey!

The next day, we headed over to Longleat for a more active week at CentreParcs. I am glad we stopped off in Bath and I'd definitely visit again, with a trip to the Thermea Spa again of course!

Baby Shower Fun

A few Sunday's back I 'hosted' a baby shower for my friend (the proud owner of my craft project, Mr. Turtle). I always think baby showers are a very American concept but they seem to be increasingly popular here in the UK, too. I suppose it's a good excuse to have a girls afternoon and celebrate together. We were concerned that we didn't want to make it into an all singing all dancing affair. Mummy-to-be had difficulty bending down, let alone dancing!

We decided on an afternoon tea theme and all clubbed our fine china, cake stands and baking skills together to produce what turned out to be a major feast. It was brilliant! We had all sorts of sandwiches, cakes, scones and fruits, teas and some alcohol free fizz. The chocolate covered raspberries were one of my favourites!

We filled the walls with baby grow bunting and my talented friend made little paper shoes filled with sweets for us each to take home. You can just see the show peeking at the bottom of this photo. Check out our hidden surprise when we cut into this gluten free beauty made by same talented friend:

After presenting mummy-to-be with our hand crafted gifts and a hamper full of goodies, it was time to get down to some baby shower games: guess the baby picture (I was useless!), guess-the- baby-food-flavour, cut-a-piece-of-string-the-same-size-as-the-bump game, and timed nappy from a tea towel creation (we won, but we did have an experienced mummy on our team who knew where to put the pin to hold it all together!).

After more tea and cake, it was time for us to help mummy-to-be pack up, ready to rest until her baba makes her move! She's due in a couple of weeks and I can't wait for this little baby girl, who we've been calling by name for months, to come into this world! 

Crafting: The Completed Mr Turtle *beams with pride*

In an earlier post, I mentioned that my lovely friend is (very very) soon to become a mummy and, as part of the baby shower we had planned, each of us honorary aunties were to craft a gift for her baba. I decided to take my inspiration from Make It and Love It blog. I wanted to share my hand crafted turtle.

I was bought a sewing machine a couple of years ago and really enjoy the process of planning and making something by hand, but I don't often make time to sit and play. This was a good excuse to dust it off and spend a few hours buried in fabric baskets in Abakhan Fabrics! I wanted each bit of Mr Turtle to be different, so I went for a few brightly coloured cottons with polka dots, stripes and butterflies.

Using the pattern on Make It and Love It, I cut out all his bits. The tail was probably the most fiddly to cut (although I love the little pointy extension in the finished Mr.)! Next, it was time for my sewing machine to get some attention. It took a while and I had to constantly look back to the (very clear) instructions but I'm super pleased with how he turned out! More importantly, my friend seemed to be very happy to adopt him as her own, until her baba is born. So, here he is, my most recent crafting achievement, Mr. Turtle.