Ups and downs

Well, on the whole this week really has been rather great... on Tuesday  I finally felt better after a virus that started in November and then a chest infection as a New Year treat! Also, this week I received a lovely parcel from Helen at Moonstruck Creations. She did a giveaway recently and while I didn't win, she generously gave away little gifts to a couple of us lucky bloggers... look what I got!

Such a pretty crocheted flower, a darling card and a scrummy Malteaster Bunny

The flower is in the perfect shade, as my 'signature' winter colours are blue & grey - it'll look fab on my favourite jumper

Yesterday my mum and I had a little wander around TK Maxx and since my birthday is coming up soon (well, ok, not until March, but I can never wait!!) we saw a blender and some pretty storage boxes - so that was me sorted! The boxes are perfect and already full of assorted fabric

The square ones on the left are the ones mum bought and the one on top  I treated myself to

Sadly the blender was a complete disaster. I completely lost the plot and threw huge tantrums, stamped my feet and generally behaved like a total spoilt brat... good job I live on my own! Luckily my super mum came to the rescue and we whizzed the blender back, got a refund and then went where we should have gone on the first place... The Divine John Lewis!

A similar blender at a similar price was available, but then mum saw a Kenwood food processor... ooh.... temptation! You guessed, we succumbed and I am now the proud owner of a whizzy gadget that has a blender as well as the food processor bit that also grates, slices, beats, whips, does pastry, dough and more than likely if I find the right attachment makes my tea too!

I had to do a bit of a reshuffle in my tiny kitchen but I fitted it in...

It even came with a Kenwood spatula, the best spatulas in the world

The processor unit and attachments fit in my Tupperware drawer

It is fantastic and makes great smoothies... of course I forgot to take a photo of said smoothie, but it did inspire me to get a little cooking done and I indulged in roasting a load of vegetables

I need to learn not to be quite so over enthusiastic... there is enough there for another 2 days... good job I like them cold in salad boxes, although by Tuesday I'll probably be sick of the sight of them!

Hope you're all keeping warm in this chilly weather and that the snow is fun for you and not a hazard... we've been lucky here; hardly a flake and what there was hasn't settled