Breakfasts & Brunches

A Breakfast Fit for a Sailor!

Breakfast is 100% my favourite meal of the day, its the time where its acceptable to give into your sweet tooth opting for a stack of pancakes drizzled with maple syrup or feed the meat eater in you with a hearty fry up; literally anything goes! With working during the week I normally have a quick bowl of natural yogurt topped with fruit, honey and granola so on the weekends I like to treat myself with a Full English, especially when brunching out. 

Charlotte and I are both morning people and love to get out and about early so a breakfast date is perfect for us. We've decided to visit different Sheffield cafes each time we meet, starting up a collaborative breakfast series. Our first port of call is a little cafe called The Rude Shipyard down on Abbeydale Road.

Well its safe to say we found some buried treasure! This cafe is just perfect, so homely and relaxing I honestly felt completely at ease there. The vintage choice of decor and music just fits so well and there where three very eye catching paintings of a fisherman, I was visualising where these would hang in my imaginary future home!

We chose a table by the window and didn't realise until afterwards it was actually an old foot powered singer sewing machine base! The breakfast was fantastic, good quality free range produce and all freshly made to order, I particularly enjoyed the potato cakes which were a nice change from hash browns.

 Everything from the wooden floors to the rustic nic naks just felt warm and welcoming, like you were at an old friend's house, you could just hang out there all day chatting over cups of tea. Charlotte and I caught up on a few things, we hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks so there was plenty to chat about, we also discussed our next stop (watch this space).

So all hands on deck! Get yourselves down to The Rude Shipyard for a hearty breakfast and a first mate's welcome!

The Rude Shipyard

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Head over to Charlotte on Salt Deep to check out her side of the story!

xx

Embroidered Valentines Card

I've had the past two days off work, so I had chance to get out the sewing machine and get creative. I love free hand machine embroidery and needed to make a Valentines card for Neil, this idea had been in my head for a while. At Christmas I made a few stags head cards for friends and family and using the same design I've added a romantic twist. 

The card turned out exactly as I'd imagined it and I love the facial expression of the stag he doesn't look too please about being decorated; I can't wait to give it to Neil later. I'm a typical girl when it comes to Valentines Day, I love flowers and romantic gestures however teddy bears holding love hearts are definitely off limits. 

I hope you all have a loved filled day, whatever you're up to and whoever you're spending it with! 

Happy Valentines Day!

xx

Snow is Falling

Hope everyone’s had a lovely few days, it always seems to go too fast doesn't it? I've spent my Christmas eating plenty of cheese, drinking way too early in the day and lounging around with the dogs. I've had an assortment of gifts from socks and books to a new camera and even a wand (my brother recently visited the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour) but how gorgeous are these lovely pine cone earrings my parents got me from Hush.

It’s felt rather Christmassy today after a blanket of snow hit us last night, causing a major power cut so our Boxing Day evening was spent playing scrabble by candle light; it ruined my plans of watching the Christmas Downton Abbey Episode I've got recorded, but having no electricity did transport me back to that era I suppose.

Snow in the countryside is always prettier than the city

Not a footprint in sight

I love being out in the snow but after a while it does get rather cold so I spent the afternoon inside on my sewing machine. I got the ‘Gertie Sews Vintage Casual’ book for Christmas so have tested out the simple pencil skirt pattern. It’s a quick and easy sew, which suits me as I often get impatience when sewing garments; I like good results fast! 

I am really pleased with the finished skirt, and with the help of my mum I’m planning to make a matching jacket - finished pictures to follow as I am currently in my new pajamas snuggled up on the sofa.

My parents chose a very handsome tree this year

Merry Christmas to all of you, have you got your New Years Eve party plans sorted? I must confess mine looks like it’s going to be a quiet one, unless I make some quick last minute arrangements.

xx 

Welcome!

Hello and welcome everyone, I’m Alex! For my first post I thought I had better introduce myself, and what better way to do that than sharing with you a list of some of my most favourite things in life. I hope you share some of my interests and enjoy finding out a little bit about me.

• Crisp mornings – The ones that take your breath away, as the grass crunches beneath your boots.
• Downton Abbey – The clothes.. the elegance.. the countryside. It’s everything I love with added drama and suspense.
• Bunting- Come on everyone there is simply just not enough bunting in the world! Sadly the boys I live with won’t allow it out of my room.
• British Animals – I have always loved animals but just recently I noticed that I comment on anything with a British animal on; a bag featuring a rather quirky looking hare, an owl on a tea towel, a fox on some socks or a stag stood proudly on a cushion.
• Sheffield – The place I chose to spend three years of my life whilst studying for my degree. I couldn’t bear to say goodbye to this wonderful city and have continued living here with four friends.
• Sewing – Creating something with stitch is so satisfying, there’s nothing better than spending a day making.
• Tweed – So typically British everything about tweed fabric screams heritage and tradition.

These are just a few of the things I love, and on this blog I plan to share with you the little details in my life which make me happiest. I hope you enjoy what’s to come.