Cake

Without the calories darlings !!
Good morning, a bright and glorious day and no ” thick head”. Cripes! Rare for a Sunday so one will make the very most of it and get out and about and enjoy every second.

It was Granny’s birthday yesterday so it was blog less . A new tiara and a flower filled day for the birthday girl. A hard taskmaster , there was to be no cake with that fondant icing ( muck( her words ). Far too sickly and not the best for ones figure. With a permanent mouthful of toffee Granny would have been hard pressed to find room.

A birthday is not a birthday without cake!!! One must blow out ones candles and make a wish.

A cake made of flowers darlings!!
Perfect for a girl of any age. A super sweet centrepiece for a birthday table and terribly easy to make. Well, if I can put it together in 20 minutes then anyone can. Adorable non??

Spooning.

Darlings sorry for the delay. Do you have that Friday feeling?? Yours truly had a rotten day yesterday so had that Thursday feeling instead.
Everything improved greatly after a splendid lunch of lobster risotto. Even mon husband wished he’d ordered the same and proceded to sample, often.

Do you spoon?? Cripes! Not pour moi darlings, one is like a furnace in bed and Mr.Lee is positively reptilian. You’d have thought that would cool one down somewhat but in fact it’s quite the oposite. He wraps himself up like a little old lady whilst I have a window open ,am stark naked and hang out of the bed as much that is decent.

Whenever we come across silver spoons we find them hard to resist. Apparently cooled in the fridge and placed on ones eyes they reduce morning puffyness. Haven’t we all tried popping a teaspoon in ones mouth whilst chopping onions? It does make a difference, non? Obviously the crack users get first pick but there are plenty to go around.

Table runner from Rockett St.George.
Perfect on a long scrubbed pine kitchen table.

Vintage spoons to hold candles, so sweet. Also from Rockett.St.George.

For ones cookery book, not ones peepers. From Anthropologie.

For future reference darlings. Don’t believe a word Mary Poppins tells you. A spoonful of sugar will not help the medicine go down in the most delightful way or any other.
But pop a spoon of peanut butter and a spoon of chocolate spread into ones mouth and you will be in Reece’s butter cup heaven.

Do you Cougar?

Darlings, do you???

Not in the Demi/Ashton way, look where that got her. Dreadful expression to boot. We’re talking T.V not toy boy.

One has come to the marvel that is Cougar Town a little late in the day. Loved the first series then lost it to the plethora of channels we call Sky .Yes, it would be easier to series link it. Maybe one will.
This is a vamped ,cranked , and botoxed brilliantly written gem. There was a space in ones heart after Friends that had to be filled.
Monica was never as funny as this. Courtney Cox plays Jules Cobb brilliantly and just to remind us of her previous gig brings a few ” friends” in to the mix.

This is funnier and boozier. A perfect combination.
We all love a little drinky poo and this crew love it even more than moi!!
One shall get into training immediately.

Purple tooth crew rock !!! The reason white strips were invented surely?
A F.F ( fabulous friend) and I of course are proud owners of Big Carl and Big Joe. What better way to ” pound grape”?

Set in Sarasota Florida the fashion ( apart from the cool gold necklaces worn by Jules) leave me cold. They wouldn’t work as well with a cardigan darlings. However the interior decor I LOVE!!! Très beachy colourful and a little floral, quite hard to pull off in grey old Blighty.
A couple of C.T touches that would be cute;

Spell anything you like darlings. Naturally from my one stop shop notonthehighstreet .

Maybe DRINK would have been more apt?

Having always loved shells and every trip to the beach involves pockets full of new found treasures one adores finding a new place to put them. They look darling with sand and a candle in a storm lantern.

Fill your boots/pockets/bags darlings.
Found( thankfully) in Next of all places. Memories lamp.

It’s time to eat the sword.

Top of the crops

Good morning my darlings. This morning instead of sunshine it was a Tom cat yowling to come in. If only one could have found a slipper to throw at the noise an extra half an hour would have been nice.

Have you been checking out fashion week? Sam Cam of course is there with bells on embracing all that is British.
Unusually she has got it right ( ish) in the fashion stakes. She does seem to have ” a look”. Albeit mumsy.
Either she needs a stylist or must be braver with her choices. Yes , if she wants to pin her flag to fashion then the ante must be upped.
Remember, a front row seat does not a fashionista make! The whole country still hasn’t forgiven her for not wearing a hat to The Royal Wedding. Including moi!

God awful blouse. You may play with the fash pack but you are not the fash pack. Look and learn.

How to do it with aplomb and wear it with panache look no further than George Clooney’s current squeeze Stacy Keibler. Doesn’t look a bit like Hulk Hogan.

Love a crop!!!! Only to be worn with a slim ankle. Cankles need not apply.
This one is très chic and from Jigsaw.

Image from Reiss
Add a heel, a coat and a purposeful walk and you are in business darlings.

The bike and a headscarf you can keep!
You can do it darlings. No croppy horrors please.

Plump Tuesday

Never fat darlings, perish the thought.

Good morning, isn’t it glorious??? To open ones eyes and be greeted with sunshine. Spring has finally sprung. Easter is a rabbit hop, skip and a cashmere jumper away.
But first we have pancakes!!!!!!

Where is daughter no.3 when one needs her? Oh yes, she’s joined the Navy like the rest of them. (Only le husband to go . )Daughter no.3 makes the BEST pancakes. While others were managing a bowl of cereal with a great deal of mess, she was rustling up a batch of pancakes ( with a great deal of mess)
Mr.Lee is in quarantine with a horrid bug so today it will be pancakes for one. If one was a London gal Abel and Cole would deliver all that is required.

Don’t they have it easy ?

Lemon and sugar all the way darlings. None of that other muck will do pour moi. Tomorrow one can think about being virtuous for Lent. I said think.

Facial expressions de rigueur .

Chief taster

Enjoy xxxx

You snooze …

You lose darlings.

Good morning, how was le weekend?
Ours was filled with love love love . Seeing the girls and fish and chips. A very proud mummy. How one misses them.( fish and chips)

Another thing Mrs.Lee has missed darlings is Versace for H&M. Oh kick me now. Having never shopped in said store and presumed as one does that all cheap high st. designer collaborations will be made of a lesser fabric and unskilled labour to keep the cost down . One has missed the boat!!!
Everything one reads firmly puts one in ones place with a kick up ones derrière to boot. A success !! Yes well of course. Sold out in minutes.
Typical. I shall be bemoaning my loss for a while longer and checking out eBay to pay 10 times the actual cost .

Cripes!!! We could be sisters . It has been said. Obviously I look like a 50 something lizard tanned with a Roman nose too.

At a party it was also said that one looks like Vanessa Feltz

Oh dear.
Long gone are the days when someone would yell ” Annelise” across the bar. I must have been over plucked and pouty of mouth too.
Back to Donatella. Who has the ugliest feet I might add. Not long ago she was losing money hand over fist and now back in credit putting her back on top and where she belongs.
Subtle she is not. Garish? Bold? O.T.T.? Of course. And don’t you just love her for it?

Harking back to the 80s non?
Didn’t we already have the black dress and her trademark print skirt. The palm print is too J.Lo even pour moi. But on holiday?? Darlings the sweet skirt is made of silk. Sickening isn’t it. It would bridge the seasonal gap perfectly with opaques and a cotton polo.
I will find one if it kills me, and costs me( my husband )

The studded trench !!!!!!! Boo hoo boo hoo. Love it!!! A signature piece, leather not pleather and magnificent. Even that rotten Kardashian creature bought one.
Grrrrr….

Don’t you just love her.

Versace lives and breathes . Even the very rich can look very cheap .

Bring it on.

Hello sailor

Darlings ,”All the nice girls love a sailor, all the nice love a tar”
As you know daughter no.1 started off the Naval life ( and married a fellow sailor) daughter no.2 decided on the same career ( and is yet to marry a sailor)
As of yesterday daughter no.3 found her calling to the sea and passed out into the Royal Navy.

Of course one bawled like a loon( you would have thought one was used to it by now) but was so proud. They all wear little diamond anchors as passing out prizes so mummy can pick them out in a crowd.

If only my husband would agree to us living by the sea. Maybe one day.
Until then nautical fashion will be mon petit crutch. As soon as there is a clear bright day white jeans and a Breton top teamed with a blazer are my uniform.
Maybe I should join the Navy too.
Well maybe just a navy dress.
We don’t have to look like that horrid Agutter woman who was so annoying in The railway children. Didn’t stop her from getting her kit off later on. Still can’t stand her.

I know darlings, thank God precocious children now get shot! Tarring them is too good.
The Admiral mentioned that as I had offered 3 children up to the Navy it made me eligible for some kind of remuneration in some old sea law. Maybe by today’s reckoning one might be given a case of rum.

Of course if Kelly Brook was the poster girl recruitment would be simple.

We of course all fantasise about Richard Gere swooping us off our feet in his Naval whites. Do you think if we took to wearing hair nets and working in a factory it would improve our chances ?

Maybe if one looked super cute in a sweet little dress.

From ASOS

A little short pour mon taste darlings, maybe with some navy opaque hose or white jeans.

Now, how about pushing the boat out for these little beauties?

YSL from netaporter
Be ship shape and Bristol fashion for Spring

From notonthehighstreet

The perfect card for a daughter in the R.N

Mrs.Lee loves

A good cookbook or even a bad cookbook. Good morning my darlings, today is going to be a wonderful day ( I can feel it in my water ). Spring like and uplifting. Oh how one simply adores the seasons. It would be such a bore to be saddled with just the one .
Where would the diversity of wardrobe be in that ? Already one is on the look out for a gay frock and a piped blazer.
In fact good old Boden have of course got pieces to refresh.

Yet again naughty Mrs.Lee has added to her vast collection of cookery crack.
This time darlings it thankfully was small enough to be smuggled in. As you know, it is mon bedtime reading of choice. Sweet dreams of sweeter puddings may encourage drooling but one can’t be frightened of a meringue.

The crack.

Ahhh Ms.Dahl. Let’s get one thing straight. This beautiful girl can probably just about manage to cook as well as moi! She could make a real chef or even an accomplished cook weep into her badly chopped onions. If you fall in to either category AVOID AVOID AVOID.
I like her, it can’t be helped. She writes frothy zabaglione insights and glimpses from her altogether charmed life.
A childlike storybook princess. Doe eyed and dreamy.

The recipes are messy and it looks as if we have read the same crack books along the way. All too familiar. Even the story telling is now also used by many in their own publications. The style du jour.
This time round Ms.Dahl/Mrs.Cullam has appeared to stretch herself with the addition of a few unusual ingredients. That in fact has worked against her.

A lot of the recipes are decidedly foreign and would require a cast iron constitution. This English rose may well have found inspiration from her travels but some of it would have been best left in her suitcase and lost ( don’t get me started) by B.A.
One would like to think that her next book may be simple and classic and perhaps as she seems devoted to her husband a cookery love story dedicated to him.
Of course even If it’s rubbish and filled with foreign muck yours truly will buy it anyway . It is an addiction. One needs help darlings.

A sweet recipe from the book.

Ruby Frais strawberry semifreddo

This recipe is so titled for a young girl named for a future of all things sweet, a Miss Ruby Frais. Her dad calls her ‘Pudding’ and she, like me, is partial to berries and vanilla ice cream. This then, quite literally, has her name all over it.
SERVES 4
450g/1lb strawberries, hulled and halved, plus extra for serving
100g icing sugar
Juice of ½ a small lemon
300ml double cream
30g meringues, bashed up
Put the strawberries in a bowl. Tip the sugar on top and leave to macerate for 1 hour. When they’re a lovely, sticky mess, pour into a blender with the lemon juice and puree.
In a large bowl, whip the cream until thick but malleable enough to fall from the spoon. Pour the fruit into the cream and fold through thoroughly.
Put into an old ice-cream container or a loaf tin. Freeze for about 1 hour until crystals form around the edges, then take out and run through the blender. Freeze for 2 hours; blend again, then freeze for around 4 hours.
Take out 20 minutes before serving, slice and scatter over the meringues and some extra strawberries.

War paint

Darlings, this morning has already been somewhat traumatic . Mr.Lee deals with Steve the postman to save blushes relating to various states of undress. However the unlucky chap got moi SANS maquillage Cripes! He may never be the same again.
Yes of course one can’t be always complete with slap but think of the neighbours, they may not have had breakfast.

Don’t give me that ” natural beauty” nonsense. Being born a blonde leaves ones face devoid of definition. Pale wispy brows and lashes need darkening and impact. Those amongst us lucky enough to wake without the need of a magic wand ( mascara wand)
are a rare breed. There is usually a price to pay somewhere.

In the real world darlings we are not beautifully lit and have the option of airbrushing. Nor do we have a team of makeup artists making us look ” just so” if we had it would be a different story.

Ms.Moss every editors dream needs a little help too. If I hear one more woman say ” oh I’ve never worn makeup a day in my life” I may wretch.
This is not something to brag about. Unless you actually set out to look like a shiny faced forgettable farmers wife. This I do not!
Help where help’s needed is not a crime or something to be ashamed of.
It could be a gentle touch simply to enhance. I throw mine on from the door.

After years of enjoying the benefits it takes very little time to apply and even less product than first assumed. You would weep my darlings if you were to see mon poor excuse for kit. 6 items??? That reminds me, must buy an eyeshadow brush as it is currently being daubed on with a finger.

Next stop spray paint.

Isn’t that what they use in Liverpool ???

I love you

Good morning my darlings, those 3 little words that mean so much. Regardless of St.Valentine we should say them to those we love while we can. Yes, one would hope that it is already known but SAY IT. From the heart.
My husband is a cold fish, rarely he tells me. Very rarely. He shows me in many different ways.( Minds out of the gutter darlings) sometimes he’ll cook or rub my shoulders when I’m tired. Be super concerned if I’m ill and be the greatest support of all to my daughters.
Acts of kindness are one thing but telling me occasionally would be nice too . Yes he’s British so can be forgiven for suppressing his emotions with his stuff upper lip, however he shows no difficulty in telling our King Charles all day everyday how much he loves her!!

Oh to be a Spaniel.
Today will be the same as any other. We buy flowers, we cook dinner , we light a few candles. We will definitely NOT be going for a poor quality set meal for two . Having someone to love is a great gift and to be loved in return is something else.
So this philosophical post may have raised a few eyebrows ( for those of us that can.) my usual superficial self will be back in play tomorrow. One shall pop a red bow and a flashing heart on Boobie ( Lulu Spaniel) and write a card to my valentine.
After all…..

From notonthehighstreet