Rock 'n' Roll....Part 2

 Following on from my previous post, here are some more shots of the preparations for the party.

The door to the garage and window were painted Duckegg , more blue than the previous colour.

My very tatty fence had to be painted, which was quite tricky considering the weather we have been having.

Ta da! A lovely fresh Duckegg Blue.

At the side of our house, we had some gates made to section off the driveway, we added a fence and a pedestrian gate. I had already painted the fence black and had asked for  the gate to be painted the  same, needless to say it came  'Tango Orange'!!! I didn't get time to paint it properly, so you can still see the dlightful colour showing through. (These things are sent to TRY us!) Arrgh!

I managed to get the Wisteria for the side wall, so let's hope it survives the winter.

The side of the house is South facing and so now we have an area where we can enjoy the sun all day, as opposed to the back, where the sun goes in at about 4.30p.m.. I was able to use Wendy from 15Coast Road's lovely vintage bunting on the fence.

This is the door through to the little yard at the back, (where the Ice-cream Parlour is.)









Inside the garage I decorated with some paper records I made and some great images and words I found on the Internet.

I found some great free printables on the Internet.

Martha Stewart's Peanutbutter Ice-cream and Brownie sandwiches.

Stars and stripes.

Vintage posies.

Roses in ice-cream colours.

We had plenty of music from the 50's to get us in the mood, so there was a little bit of singing and dancing, much to the children's embarrassment! Everyone went to the trouble to dress up, which I really appreciated as it really helped  create the atmosphere.



I had a bit of a drama with my outfit. I had ordered an original 1950's dress from the Internet. It didn,t quite fit, but I couldn't bear to send it back, I so loved the colour and the feel of it. I ended up making it into a skirt, then it was....eeek now what do I wear with it. I took my daughter for a rather frantic shopping trip and ended up with a little black top from Next, but it sort of looked right and I added a belt and a pink corsage. Sorry I have no pics of me wearing it, my sis took some so I will get one for you.



I loved the shoes, even though they killed me!





Lois wore a cute little dress that she got when she was 6, but it still fits!

I made her a petticoat so that the dress sat out. She loved it!

Paul was a little reluctant to dress up, but I found him this Hawaaian shirt and he was happy!

I loved the little planes saying Santa Barbara! Apologies for the crumpled clothes, these were taken the day after the party!

My (heavily pregnant) sister Tracey, with her partner James and 2 children, Lily and Nancy, all ready to party!

My kitchen. I have wanted to paint the wooden floor with this chequered pattern for some time now. I managed to get it done for the party and it really fitted well into the 50's theme.

I hope that I haven't bored you all with too many photos? It was a fun party and I am glad you persuaded me to have it! Have a great week. My daughter is back to school tomorrow,so I hope that I will have more time for blogging! Much love Linda x



'I know it's only Rock 'n' Roll......but I like it!

So sorry, it's been so long since I posted! Saturday night was my 50th birthday party, and it was great fun!

After the last party I had at home I didn't know if I wanted to have another. I asked your advice and you kindkly encouraged me to have one but to take the strain off with the catering side of things. I decided as it was going to be a 1950's themed party, that I would make burgers, part cook them and then let my husband finish them off on the barbie. Good plan! It went a little wrong though. I found I didn't have the time to pre-cook them and my hubbie didn't get the barbie hot enough, soon enough, so I ended up in the kitchen anyway! Hey ho, I decided whatever happened I wasn't going to stress, and I am proud to say I didn't. I had found a Jamie Oliver recipe for 'Elvis Burgers', they contained chilli, mustard, tarragon, onion, and parmesan cheese, and I must say they were very good. I laid out all the different toppings, relishes etc., and people helped themselves and then held the burger together with a little american flag. I enlisted help from my two lovely sisters with the making of salads, and a friend brought a lovely vegetarian roulade. I got some salmon with a dressing on from M&S, for my brother, who doesn't eat meat, and that was wrapped in foil and popped in the oven for 10 minutes! There were sausage rolls, cocktail sausages and chicken for the children, so everyone was happy.

For dessert I made Peanut Butter Ice-cream and Brownie sandwiches in advance and they were just kept in the freezer until needed. These were a Martha Stewart recipe, and went down very well. There were little fairy cakes for the children also. So it wasn't fancy, but I think everyone enjoyed it.

As usual I forgot to take photos at the party, but here are some I took before and after to give you an idea of how it turned out.

You might remember, the garage was turned into the Lion's Head Pub, for our last party.

This time stripes were added to make it into 'The Ice-cream Parlour'.

View from the kitchen.

Images from Pinterest

I am having some difficulty uploading my photos, so I will love you and leave you for now and let you have some more photos later. I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend? Love Linda x

A jolly good laugh!



All images from Pinterest.



Isn't this the funniest picture? Image from here.

This is a very quick post , just to cheer up your weekend. I hope to do a proper post on Monday. I am having my 50th party next Saturday, so it's a little crazy around here! Have a great weekend everyone, Love Linda x





A pet hate of my sister's...(Starbuck speak!)



Powerscourt County Wicklow

As promised, the rest of our holiday snapshots. We were very lucky with the weather and were able to spend a large part of the day in these wonderful gardens. Those Landscape Gardener's from days of yore had such vision didn't they? They knew how to put a scheme together! These gardens are really lovely and the scenery around is so lush and green and mountainous, truly spectacular. I especially loved the walled garden, with its wonderfully full borders, lilly ponds and gorgeous gates. We took several photos of the gates but my husband spoilt them all with silly poses, so sorry I am not including them.

Lois looks like a little Leprechaun in this! She took the 2 pics above which I think are rather good.

Afterwards we went to 'Johnny Foxes Pub', supposed to be the highest pub in Ireland. It really is geared for the American tourist and was a little O.T.T. in it's Irishness, we were tempted to run away before ordering but had been told on good authority that it was renowned for it's Seafood, so we stayed and it really was very good.

I adore my honeysuckle just outside the kitchen door, it smells so sweet and the standard rose is scented too and there is lavender underneath.

Now I am no Capability Brown and neither is ny husband, we aren't really gardeners at all, but we are triers, and we enjoy trying! I kind of view the garden as another room and so colour plays an important role, and I like the cottage garden style. Thats about as far as the knowledge extends, it's a case of the blind leading the blind, but it's fun, and we do get enormous stisfaction out of seeing things grow.

The Passion flower is new and so I don't expect it will do a lot this year, but hopefully next, if it doesn't get blown to bits!

Crabapples are early this year, I think it's jelly making time!

The first raspberry...yum!

A little cottage garden posy.

Hope you all are having a lovely summer. I hate to tell you this, but Autumn is coming, whilst out walking today I saw Hawthorn and Blackberries. I love Autumn, though, not at the start when the weather is still warmish and you don't know what to wear, but when there is that nip in the air and you have to get your tweed and woollies out of the closet,and you can wear boots . I love the freshness in the air, and I always get the feeling that I can acomplish great things, there is an energy about Autumn. All the seasons are wonderful in their own way and I would miss them if I went to live in a milder climate. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, love Linda x