Wedding Plans

So i'm planning my wedding, on October 19th i'll no longer be Miss Gingers, but Mrs Gingers married to the lovely Mr Ward!

Wedding planning can be stressful to say the least, such a big day to plan, so when i am feeling the pressure i'm going to take 5 and look at all of the good stuff there is to think about...

Dresses, flowers, shoes etc etc etc

Ha ha! Here's a hint at my wedding style!

Wedding Plans

Vintage white dress
shopruche.com

Fancy wedding dress
etsy.com

Bettie Page white high heel pumps
heels.com

Bell'Invito Tortoise Shell Engraved Stationery ~ 5 x 7
nestdallas.com

Flower arrangement
ahalife.com

Sweet Kids Ivory Box Pleat Organza Girls Flower Girl Pageant Dress...
sophiasstyle.com

Floral Clutch Orange/Blue
$31 - nofashionway.com

Flower Friday

Hoorah, in the midst of all this wintery greyness my lovely fiancé has brought home this lovely bouquet to brighten up my day.

It's got some gorgeous roses and my favourite, brassicas which add a bit of toughness to a blowsy bouquet.

They're gorgeous and the freesia and lisianthus make them smell gorgeous too, even through my bunged up nose!

Delightful xxx

Flower Friday

Autumn is definitely drawing in, it's storm like as I write this, however there are still some gorgeous bursts of colour in the garden.

Look at these cosmos, they are standing tall and shouting out with a bright pop of pink. They're so soft looking i'm surprised how tall they get, especially with the wind blowing the way it is today.

I can't confess to growing these myself, they were grown by the lovely Liz Ward, but when I get my own garden again they will be in there! There are some orangey coloured seeds, 

Cosmos sulphureus 'Polidor', available at Thompson and Morgan, I'm adding these to my basket! 

Also when I took these photos last weekend I discovered this plant is also home for a creepy crawly or two, can you see this little spider hiding behind the petals?

I love the way a spider web looks with a hint of moisture and the sun glinting through the silk. I think there will be more spider web photo's to come, it's almost halloween after all! 

xx

Autumnal Plum Crumble

As it's getting a bit colder i'm looking forward to doing a bit more baking. It's been a while and i love baking but slaving over a hot stove in the depths of summer isn't for me, I'd much rather be out there basking in the sun I'm afraid!

Living in the countryside has brought seasonal eats to the forefront as I was presented with a bumper crop of petite plums, yum! But what to do with them? First up plum crumble, dare I say a winter warmer!

What you need for the filling;

• Plums - about 12 -15 shop size plums, but you can see the basket full of plums I used, these are about an inch and a half long.
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Caster sugar 160g

What you need for the crumble;

• Butter - 125g - cubed and cold
• Flour - 175g
• Caster Sugar - 50g
• Brown/Muscovado Sugar - 50g
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• Nuts/Oats - 100g - what ever takes your fancy

How to make it:

• Grease your dish with butter
• Slice up your plums and throw them in - no prettiness required
• Pour over your lemon juice
• Pour over your sugar

Filling sorted - easy - now for the crumble;

• Put your flour, sugars and butter in a bowl and pinch it together with your fingers until you get a texture like bread crumbs
• Add in your lemon zest
• Add in any oats or nuts you want, i used large porridge oats and ground almonds
• Pour on top of your fruit 
• Add any more nuts - I used hazelnuts for a decoration and they were delicious (Mr Ward said hte best bits)

What a masterpiece?

Now stick it in the oven for 45mins, until the topping has started to brown and your juicy plums are oozing out from the edges

Oozy Fruit Goodness

Now stick it in a bowl, smother with custard and dig in!!!

If you have too much fruit you can make lots of crumble and pop it in the freezer before you bake itm then you've got a delicious pud just an hour away. Any fruit works in a crumble too and you can mix and match.

Now what to do with the rest of the plums? Jam or chutney perhaps??

xx

Leeds Love

So last weekend me and Mr Ward moved away from Leeds to Lancashire with a plan to save some money.

I'm not missing Leeds yet because I've been there at work all week, but when I do start to feel homesick it will definitely be for these places, where we have spent many a weekend eating and drinking with friends;

First up the best place to spend a Saturday afternoon, that doesn't include shopping or football; Friends of Ham

Beer, Cheese, Ham and Scotch Eggs equals a good time in my book! The food, drink and atmosphere are all great in this small basement and it's so easy to spend the whole day (and your weekly allowance) here. What more can i say?

FOH - Well worth a visit

If you need more than craft beer, how about the best cocktail in Leeds? The Maven will serve you well; a prohibition bar serving fantastically alcoholic cocktails, I've never seen a bar as well stocked with interesting things, you're bound to taste something like never before. I would recommend you avoid the 'Thai Bride' though!
You will find the Maven at the Kirkgate end of Call Lane, don't look for a sign though, there isn't one, it's a prohibition secret!

The Maven - worth finding

The morning after the night before - after all that extravagance you might need a good breakfast. Go to Mrs Athas it's new but it doesn't look it, inside is an Aladdins Cave of aesthetically pleasing, old fashioned things, I even love the loo! Along with looking beautiful it serves up amazing cakes, teas and coffees (Mr Ward recommends a piccolo) and for breakfast scrummy sausage and bacon butties from Lishmans butchers yum.

Mrs Athas - Just what the doctor ordered 

La Bottega Milanese - Nutella Heaven

And last but not least, perfect for a mid shopping pick me up is a coffee and cake from La Bottega Milanese. For Mr Ward it's a piccolo again, for me a Nutella Espresso mmm... and the pastries, you've got to try them!

Friday Flower

Everyone's saying it's the end of Summer, well I'm not ready for that so here's my own bit of sunshine...

Sunflowers! Now these are my absolute favourites, they are sunshine on a stalk and I love them! 

Enjoy

xxx

Friday Flower

Today is the turn of the hydrangea, I love these big, beautiful blooms! I have them growing in my garden in sumptuous shades of pink with a hint of green.

Even my cheeky chap Rupert likes to smell flowers from the garden, I'm not too sure what he makes of them though?

 

When I bought the hydrangea it was blue and I wish it had stayed that way because they're so gorgeous that colour. I think it's something to do with the acidity of the soil, I need to have a play around, mine's in a pot so any tips would be useful?

I found this lovely botanical print at the thegraphicsfairy.com it would look perfect in my dining room.

 

Another thing that would look great in my dining room are these hydrangea cakes from www.glorioustreats.com, afternoon tea anyone?

I get really nervous trying to do fancy frosting but I'm definitely going to give this a try. If I can't have blue hydrangeas in my garden I'll have them with a cup of tea instead!