What I did today: Cocktail Party

My new stair carpet was finally fitted today. I am still at work so can’t wait to see it when I get home. The dining room is all done now and looks lovely. I am having a cocktail party this weekend to celebrate. the plan is to serve Mojitos and Margaritas.

I bought a book on making homemade sweets from a company called The Book People. I do like baking and making sweets but sometimes the list of ingredients is so complicated it puts me off. Some of the recipes in the book are very retro; coconut ice, peanut brittle, pear drops and seafoam candy. I don’t know which to try first!!

What I did today: Cocktail Cabinet

I finally got everything back in my cocktail cabinet today. I feel relieved because I have some very fragile old glasses I keep in there and I was scared they would get broken while they were packed away. Anyway everything survived intact. I am still on the lookout for a strainer though.

I finished “The Daylight Gate”. It is a fascinating take on the Pendle Witches story but so disturbing in places that it has given me nightmares. I think I will go back to Somerset Maugham!

20120819-175558.jpg

20120819-175605.jpg

What I did today The Demeter

I am starting to put the finishing touches to my dining room. I have just hung a picture that we bought in Whitby. The picture is by a local artist, John Freeman. “The Wreck of the Dimitry of Narva” is a depiction of a real life wreck which was reported in The Whitby Gazette in 1887. Apparently the report inspired Bram Stoker as he was writing “Dracula” and he renamed the ship “The Demeter of Varna” as the vessel that brought Dracula to Whitby. I really like the colours of the picture and it looks great in the room.

20120814-212031.jpg

20120814-212042.jpg