text:
Everything’s proper in Lancashire; the people, the pubs and most importantly, the food.unspecified

In the face of artisan and nouvelle cuisine, the heart of the North continues to let their first-class produce speak for itself- giving fuss and frills the old “No ta duck”.

This glorious cook book boasts the best of our county including chapters from our Made in Lancashire members and us! Retailing at £14.95, let this book be your comprehensive guide to Lancashire’s burgeoning food scene; featuring bespoke regional staples such as Brown’s Butchers, Proctor’s Cheese and the historic Inn at Whitewell. It’s a love affair peppered with innovative approaches to modern dining. The truth is Lancashire folk love to keep it local, so it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in.

Interested in a copy, email for more information or call 01995 642255 to place your order (please have your payment card ready).

Perfect for the aspiring chef, food lover or a gift for friends or family.

Welcome our newest member of Made in Lancashire…

Brendan Anderton Butchers Ltd

Their Story

They started young…

1960’s Brendan left school at 15 to become an apprentice butcher at Westwells Butchers Shop Ewood, Blackburn. He then started night school and gained a Meat Traders A-Level in 1965 through the Institute of Meat studying Meat Commodity. He continued his studies and in 1969 gained the Institute of Meat, Meat Traders Final Certificate. This was a rigorous course covering Meat Commodity, Meat Hygiene and Inspection, Accounts and Business Organisation. He then went on to work for the Co-Op butchers in Longridge before starting up the business during the deep freeze boom of the late 60’s early 70’s. Initially Brendan worked from Stydd Lee Farm House, Ribchester (Brendan’s family home) putting together weekly ‘deep freeze’ meat orders. Orders were delivered by Brendan and Petrina to customers in local villages in the evening and at weekends in their matching mini vans.

1970’s As a newly married couple, Brendan and Petrina’s drive and ambition to succeed led them to buy the butchers shop on Derby Road Longridge. Brendan, supported by Petrina who manages the accounts, built the business on traditional butchery skills, quality local produce and first class service: Quality, Service & Civility.

Moving forward…

1980’s Brendan has a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and experience that he has passed down to his two sons Austin & Roger who have worked by his side since they were the age of 15. All three are graduate members of the Institute of Meat and have an array of meat and food industry qualifications.

Award winning quality…

1990’s Austin & Roger trained and worked in large food manufacturers gaining knowledge and experience.

Austin has nearly 25 years experience and a BA in Food Manufacturing Management, a HND in Food Development and Production, a Diploma in Health and Food Nutrition and has an Associateship with the Institute of Meat. He also has Advanced Food Hygiene & NEBOSH Health and Safety qualifications.

Roger has 20 years experience a BTEC High National Diploma in Food Development and Production and NEBOSH Health and Safety.

He has numerous CIEH qualification that include Advance Food Hygiene and Health and Safety; Principles of COSH, Manual Handling and Risk Assessment; Professional Trainer and Supervising. He was also lucky to be awarded a place on the bespoke French Butchery course in Calais. More recently he has qualified as a ‘Master Butcher’: this is a prestigious award with only 17 Butchers in the country gaining this title with the Institute of Meat.

Ready for growth…

In Autumn 2007 the catering side of the business ‘Anderton’s Ribble Butchers’ moved to a purpose built EC Licensed Cutting Premises (UK 4834). Together Austin and Roger have developed the catering business gaining BRC, EBLEX and Red Tractor Meat Processor accreditations allowing them to supply to a greater range of customer: schools, nurseries & colleges; nursing homes & hospitals, factories & supermarkets, restaurants & pubs; wholesale & retail shops; contract caterers & food service providers. The catering business is operational 20 hours a day with a team of dedicated bespoke butchers, order pickers and a driving fleet of 10 refrigerated vans delivering though out the North West.CS

In Autumn 2012 an additional butchers shop and Deli was opened in Clitheroe. This is managed by the ‘then’ Longridge manager Mark. It is through his and the fantastic Clitheroe teams endeavours that this shop has gone from strength to strength over the last three years providing a greater range of products and a cooked to order breakfast/dinner menu and an emerging buffet service.

Keeping with tradition…

For the residents of Longridge and beyond, Brendan’s or ‘Andertons’ for which it is know, continues to be a house hold name renowned for quality produce and value for money. The Longridge and Clitheroe teams work diligently to ensure that they continue to deliver first class service and ensure the confidence that loyal clientele have in the food they buy and the service provided.

2015 & The Future: The business is very much a family affair with all 5 members of the family involved and it looks like this is set to continue with the next generation.

We take pride in producing quality to ensure you receive the best…

Here at Anderton’s we are proud to offer a wide selection of products; all cuts of British beef, lamb, pork and chicken are available. We also take pride in our service and reputation within the Ribble Valley, our secret being knowledgeable, approachable and friendly butchers who all serve with a good dose of Northern charm.

All our meat is processed by us so we know it’s of the highest standard. Don’t just take our word for it, you’ll find our products across the whole of Lancashire in many highly regarded restaurants.

We are constantly striving to develop our offering, with over ten different flavours of sausages, various types of burgers, kebabs, marinated steaks and chicken, ‘fancies’ and oven ready products. You will often see our products on sale in other retail outlets, these are purchased pre-packed and priced ready for sale. So even if you’re not a frequent visitor, or can’t get into the Longridge or Clitheroe shop, you can still enjoy our products through these alternatives.

Our long-standing ethos is: “To deliver ‘quality service and civility’ to every customer.”

The Lancashire Cook Book!

The eagerly awaited Lancashire Cook Book will be released on June 23rd, brimming with recipes and stories from local heroes all sharing a passion for upholding Lancashire’s reputation for proper food.

This book will be number 12 in the series of regional ‘Get Stuck In’ guides by Meze Publishing, who were recently crowned Best Newcomer at the Independent Publishing Awards.

Award-winning Celebrity chef Andrew Nutter has written the foreword and his ethos sets the tone for Lancashire’s passion for first-rate local produce:

“There’s never a dull moment in the life of a restauranteur but what excites me on a daily basis is the delivery of all the fabulous regional Lancashire produce – utterly inspirational – so check out the recipes.

“I’m very proud to be part of the Lancashire Cook Book, firstly showcasing my flagship restaurant Nutters but secondly being able to share with you the birth of The Bird at Birtle my new gastro pub venture,” he says.

With his brill and wild garlic pesto recipe, Nutter shows how Lancashire is mixing up innovation with tradition in the most delicious way, and Preston City BID manager Mark Whittle shares his enthusiasm:

“Preston city centre has a vibrant and evolving restaurant scene; we are delighted that it has been recognised and showcased in this fantastic publication.”

BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden contributes his Jacob’s ladder recipe and Chadderton’s very own Simon Wood also features fresh from his 2015 MasterChef win and the release of his first book At Home with Simon Wood.

Lancashire’s independent food scene leaps off the page with entries from traditional pubs and fine dining restaurants including 2015 Good Hotel Guide’s ‘Editor’s Choice Award’ winner The Inn at Whitwell and the folks at The Cartford Inn who landed themselves ‘Tourism Pub of the Year’ 2015.

Not to mention a plethora of local retailers throughout Saddleworth, Chorley, Bury and Clitheroe, such as Huntley’s Country Store whose very own Tom Wood won 2015 ‘Butcher of the Year’, the award winning Butlers Cheese and many more including Browns Butchers whose owner Chris Brown had this to say:

“At Browns we can’t wait for The Lancashire Cook Book to be released. We feel this is a wonderful stepping stone to the heart of Lancashire and what it truly offers. Being involved is a fabulous experience.”unspecified

Ian O’Reily at Gazegill Organic Farm feels just as passionate about the book’s release:

“We have always been passionate about local and sustainable food and to have this great cook book reinforces our love of local whilst highlighting the oasis that Lancashire is for food outlets and destinations, there can be few counties that can produce just about every ingredient you could wish for and at unbeatable quality.”

From Bashall Barn Farm Shop’s braised blade of beef to twice-cooked confit of duck with rabenda jus at Samlesbury Hall; Lancaster lemon tart at Barton Grange Garden Centre to blood orange cheesecake at The Yellow Tree Inn; The Lancashire Cook Book promises to deliver something for every palate.

The Lancashire Cook Book retails at just £14.95 and will be available soon in all of the businesses featured in the book as well as select local gift shops, book shops including Waterstones and online at

About Meze Publishing:

Meze Publishing is the brainchild of specialist cook book designer, Paul Cocker and experienced publisher Phil Turner. The firm specialises in publishing cook books and has already published books for MasterChef finalist and Scottish Chef of the Year Adam Handling, Great British Menu’s Colin McGurran and current MasterChef champion Simon Wood as well as creating a series of regional cook books throughout the UK. They are also winners of Best Newcomer at the IPG Independent Publishing Awards 2016.

Record cheese export to Australia for Chipping firm

A Chipping firm is celebrating its largest export success to date, down under.image

Owner of Procter’s Cheeses, Tim Procter says he is “absolutely delighted” seven tonnes of two of his iconic Kick-Ass brands of cheese are currently making their way by sea to Australia.

The 1,750 cases of vintage Cheddar and a version flavoured with sriracha (chili pepper) with 10 pieces in each, left last Wednesday and are making their way by sea to supply the shelves of more than 900 Woolworths stores the length and breadth of Australia.

And, he says, it doesn’t end there for the family run cheese company’s business down under, for it is hoped to supply Costco in Australia too.

He said: “The Kick-Ass brand was developed to put something in front of consumers that has big flavours but lacked the pretension of many cheeses where the story is better than the cheese.

“We sell the cheese in the United Kingdom primarily to farm shops, local shows and food festivals and everyone comments on how good it is…

“Well, now the good folks of Australia will have their chance to try some proper cheese, full of flavour.”

There are five flavours of the Cheddar, also including smoked; pickled onion and chive and Rioja and caramelised onion, and Tim says they also supply about 30 tonnes of Kick-Ass cheddar per year to Sweden and Spain.

The cheese is made and packed by Longridge firm Singleton’s Dairy.

 Dahlia’s Farm Shop had recently entered the Foodex National Meat Production Competition 2016. After hundreds of applicants entered from all over the UK it was Dahlia’s Farm Shop who came away winning the silver award for the Pork Sausage and the Chocolate & Chilli Sausage entries! Scoring 93/100 for the Pork Sausage and 92/100 for the Chocolate & Chilli Sausage! Well done to Dahlia’s Farm Shop butcher Robert Sykes and the rest of the team.

These award winning sausages are available at Dahlia’s Farm Shop, Cropper Road, Blackpool or available for FREE local delivery on orders of £25+ at

Upon winning the silver award Shaun Pickup (owner of Dahlia’s) has stated “We were very confident going into the competition at the Birmingham NEC despite all the competition because the feedback from customers in the past has been very positive”. He goes on to say “I would like to thank all the staff in the farm shop for their hard work with getting Dahlia’s Farm Shop recognised at national award level!”

Press Information:

For further information please contact:

Adam Connaughton

M: 01253 761499  E:

Apprentices are the Bee’s Knees at Honeywells

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2016 members of the Employer Services Team paid a visit to some of the incredible Apprentices the college supports. Myerscough College is one of the largest providers of specialist land based Apprenticeships in the country, and supports approximately 1500 learners across more than 1000 different workplaces in a wide variety of sectors.

These range from small businesses through to global brands particularly within the Sportsturf and Amenity Horticulture sectors where Myerscough is renowned across the globe for the quality of its provision. Many ex-Apprentices and other Myerscough learners have gone on to secure some of the top jobs within industry, a great testament to the quality of training the College provides.

We visited Honeywells in Woodplumpton to catch up with Apprentices new and old who have completed Apprenticeships in Food Industry Skills with Myerscough College. Daniel Standing and Jonathan Turner have both completed Level 3 Food Manu acting Operations, and Ross Hammel and Adam Shaw the Level 2 programme in Food Industry Skills.

The latest to sign up to the programme is William Colclough is now undertaking his Level 2 programme in Food Industry Skills. William shares his reasons for choosing the scheme, saying; “It’s great to be able to learn new skills at work, apply them to my job and to get a qualification all at the same time. I am looking forward to completing my qualification with Myerscough College and to hopefully progress in my role at Honeywells. I would definitely recommend Apprenticeships to other young people looking at starting a career in the industry, and to employers looking to train their staff.

Employer Services Manager Lee Price explains the visit and the range of services the college provides employers,
saying; “We support so many employers with their Apprenticeship recruitment and training needs. It is fantastic to be able to take time to go into a local workplace, meet learners and employers and have a go at some new skills in the process. It is always a great feeling to see the fruits of our labour and to see how Apprentices are developing in their roles. National Apprenticeship Week is a great time to highlight the great work of Apprentices and the significant benefits they provide to employers. It was fantastic to meet the team at Honeywells and to see first-hand the benefits that Apprenticeships can provide. They are a great example to other employers of the benefits to embedding Apprenticeships into the business training and development plans.”

For more information on the range of Apprenticeships and other programmes at Myerscough College please contact the Employer Services Team on 01995 642255 or email

Search begins for 2016 North West Young Chef

NWYCEntries are now open for North West Young Chef 2016 – our search for the region’s finest young cooks, aged 23 or under.

The contest invites hungry young chefs from across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, Cumbria and, newly-added-for-2016, Shropshire, to do battle in a series of local cook-offs, producing a restaurant quality, three-course meal for two with an emphasis on the very best of local and seasonal produce.

Regional heats are set to take place in March and April, and only the six finest candidates will go through to a grand final scheduled for 10th May.

Entrants can find more information here.

As well as being crowned the North West Young Chef of the Year, the eventual winner will receive £500, a set of Robert Welch professional knives and a semi-final seed into the coveted Craft Guild of Chef’s Young National Chef of the Year Competition.

 Details of the regional heats for the 2016 competition are as follows:

  • Lancashire – 9th March 2016 – Preston College (closing date for entries 10th February)
  • Cumbria – 5th April 2016 – Kendal College (closing date for entries 8th March)
  • Cheshire – 7th April 2016 – South Cheshire College (closing date for entries 10th March)
  • Shropshire – 13th April 2016 – Shrewsbury College (closing date for entries 16th March)
  • Greater Manchester – 14th April 2016 – Manchester College, Wythenshawe Campus (closing date for entries 17th March)
  • Merseyside – 19th April 2016 – Wirral Met College (closing date for entries 22nd March)
  • Final -10th May 2016, Manchester College, Fielden Campus

judgesPrior to the final, regional heat winners will also get to attend a masterclass with an acclaimed chef. Last year six finalists were treated to a session with Mark Birchall, who splits his time as head chef between Manchester’s The French and the world-renowned L’Enclume, both owned by the mercurial Simon Rogan.

Essential Cuisine Managing Director and North West Young Chef judge, Nigel Crane, comments: “Nothing trumps the sheer thrill of competitive cookery and in North West Young Chef we have a competition like no other – a showcase to uncover and reward some of the area’s brightest young talent.

“In 2016 we welcome Shropshire into the mix – the judges are excited to see what lies in store from there – their inclusion should make for an even stronger competitive set. I urge any young chefs keen to sharpen their skills in the heat of the North West Young Chef spotlight to enter today, as this is where it could all begin for you.”

The Hunt for Britain’s Best Producer Begins

The hunt for Britain’s best producers begins! We’re looking for Britain’s local food heroes, the people who put their heart and soul into growing and creating the things we so enjoy eating – and we need your help to find them.
January 2016 sees the launch of our inaugural delicious. Produce Awards, in association with home appliance company Fisher & Paykel.

The Awards are a celebration of Britain’s greatest goods and the people who produce them. They’re a chance for YOU to give your favourite eats the recognition they deserve.

Local food heroes
Sustainable ingredients, skilled craftsmanship and incredible food are at the heart of delicious. magazine. We think these things are worth shouting about.
From the tip of Scotland to the Scilly Isles, it’s this country’s farmers, fishermen, butchers and artisan food producers who supply our markets and fill our cupboards with quality ingredients – and it’s these that inspire us to cook the best food we can.

Here’s where you come in…
By recognising the talent of today, we can hope to inspire the talent of tomorrow – and for that we need your help, and your taste buds.

Readers: Do you know a particularly good baker or cheesemaker? Or do you have a butcher whose own-recipe bangers are a must-have breakfast staple? Read about our criteria for entry, decide which category best suits, then send us your nominations. Nominating a producer is free of charge – and you may help put their name in lights! And, if you nominate a producer for the Awards, you’ll be in with a chance to win a fantastic prize.

Producers: If you grow, rear, make or craft a British-grown product that you’re proud of, and sustainability and quality are your hallmarks, we want to hear from you! Read about our criteria for entry, decide which category best suits, then complete the entry form. There is a fee of £75 per item entered.

The judges: Judging of the eight categories will be carried out by expert panels of chefs, food writers and food professionals. Judging will take place in two rounds: preliminary regional judging in March 2016, with shortlisted producers announced in late March; and final judging, which will take place in July 2016.

Nominations are now open

The winners will be announced in October 2016

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Lancashire Leader Funding

Lancashire LEADER funding is now open for small and micro enterprises and farming.

These grants will support a wide range of farm investments. They are particularly for businesses that want to invest in innovative business practices and new technologies to help them become more sustainable and productive.

Find out more about funding for Farming including what types of projects can be funded.

The Enterprise fund provides support for micro and small businesses (less than 49 full-time equivalent employees and non-agricultural) and farm diversification.  The grants are for both new and existing businesses and all types of businesses, including social enterprises can apply.

Find out more about funding for Enterprises including what types of projects can be funded.

Fund website

Food & Drink Attractions to be added to Haigh Menu

Haigh Food Court 11

A butcher, baker and ice cream maker are expected to be the first businesses to sign up as tenants within Haigh Woodland Park’s new food and drink attraction.

The Kitchen Courtyard will celebrate regional food and drink, housing a number of artisan producers, suppliers and retailers.

As well as home-made and locally supplied meats, breads, savouries and ice cream, the Courtyard is also looking to dish up a Belgian chocolatier, new country kitchen café and tea room as well as a micro brewer and tap room bar.

Wigan Council and Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles, who will be managing the Kitchen Courtyard, are negotiating lease terms with the food and drink tenants including Holden’s Ice Cream.

Cllr Paul Kenny, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: “We’re creating a high quality food and drink offer at the Kitchen Courtyard as part of the wider development of the park, and it’s really exciting to see it starting to take shape.

“The Kitchen Courtyard provides a great opportunity for local and regional food and drink producers, suppliers and retailers and we are confident that it will grow to be a major attraction.”

Richard Cort, owner of Holden’s Ice Cream, said: “There is a real appetite for food and drink attractions. This is a wonderful opportunity for some of the of the region’s top food and drink small businesses to come together to showcase their wares and talents, as well as feeding and watering the many visitors expected to the park.”

Haigh Woodland Park is to benefit from £12m investment over the next three years, creating a leisure destination of regional significance.

This includes a £6m restoration of the Grade II listed hall into a four-star boutique Contessa hotel and the development of on-site leisure attractions such as high ropes, an adventure golf course and a children’s play area.

Wigan Council are investing around £4m into the project, developing the attractions and improving visitor infrastructure. The deal will reduce the maintenance burden for Wigan Borough taxpayers by £8million over the next decade.

On completion, Haigh Woodland Park is expected to provide a boost of £30m to the local economy, attracting over 500,000 visitors annually.

The Kitchen Courtyard is scheduled to open early Spring 2016.

For further details please view

The following companies are currently negotiating lease terms with Wigan Council with the expectation to occupy units within Haigh Kitchen Courtyard:

Holden’s Ice Cream            Ice cream parlour

Luisco Chocolates               Belgian and handmade chocolates

Cook and Forage                 Artisan butchers and organic fruit and vegetables.

Allgates Brewery                  Micro Brewery and tap room bar

All You Knead                      Artisan bakery and patisserie

Courtyard Café                     Country kitchen bistro café

Courtyard Tea Room           Country kitchen tea room

AM Flowers will continue to trade within the Courtyard.

The existing art and craft unit occupied by Philip Morris is to be relocated to a unit upstairs in the Stables Courtyard.

Inspiring Healthy Lifestyles is Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust’s new consumer brand.

Haigh Food Court 1 Haigh Food Court 6 Haigh Food Court 7  Haigh Food Court 10 Haigh Food Court 14 Haigh Food Court 15 Haigh Food Court 9

For further information contact Alison Klabacher on 01942 828 204 or on

Lakeside Cafe Opens 1st November

lakeside cafe

WHEN Colne mum, Tracey Bolton, went for a summer picnic to Ball Grove Country Park last year, all did not go smoothly.  “My daughter wanted to go to the loo and then we discovered they were shut.  This got me thinking: Wouldn’t it be fabulous if Ball Grove had a café (with loos)?”, she said.

Most people would have left it there, as an idle thought, but Tracey is made of sterner stuff.  She contacted the Council to find out about the loos and whether the building they used to be housed in could become a café.  She explained: “I contacted my local councillors for support and took my cupcakes to Colne Area Committee to help share my vision.  Cllr. Sarah Cockburn-Price and her husband, who is an accountant, helped me write my business plan and budget.  This got the ball rolling and Pendle Council’s Mike Williams and Kieron Roberts helped me to turn my ideas into reality.”

Pendle Council awarded Tracey a modest Tourism Grant and the Friends of Ball Grove got behind this determined mum, who used to work at Farmhouse Biscuits and has won prizes for her stunning cake creations.

Partner, Darren Williams, is a roofer who, with Tracey acting as labourer and general dogsbody, set to transforming half of former the Barn by the lake at Ball Grove into a destination café.  Now, ten months later, on 1st November, Tracey’s dream is about to come to fruition.

Lakeside will be formally opened by MP Andrew Stephenson at 1 p.m., but the rest of the afternoon is deliberately informal, with a barbecue, gift and cake stalls, children’s entertainment and face painters.

The best news for many is that Lakeside Café will see the loos at Ball Grove re-opened and they are much nicer than they were before too.  The opening hours of the Café are 9.30 a.m.-4.30 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the weekends.  These hours are likely to be extended in the Summer months.

“I hope to attract walkers, families and anglers as my core clientele”, said Tracey, “but I am also hoping to lure those who just fancy tasty lunches and teas in beautiful surroundings.  I’ll be sourcing my ingredients locally and my seasonal menu will be big on home-made soups and a changing array of stupendous cakes.  We have outside tables right by the shore of the lake, which is a haven to wildlife and also full length windows looking out over one of the most lovely views in Lancashire.”

Press enquiries, call Tracey on: 07837 522146

Choc Amor @ The Chocolate Rooms, Tarleton, have scooped an International Chocolate Award 2015 (World) Finals

991025_choc amor

Choc Amor was successful in gaining a Bronze Medal for their fist ever entry into the world
Finals with Salt Liquorice in their own house dark chocolate.
The International Chocolate Awards were announced live at The Chocolate Show on Saturday
17th October at London’s Olympia to a packed main stage. The Winners of the 2015 World
Finals were judged during Chocolate Week, 12 – 16 October 2015.The judging panel was
made up of members of the Grand Jury and international judges who traveled to London,
joined by local chefs, journalists, bloggers and chocolate specialists. More than 400 different
chocolates were entered into this years world final.
The Awards were founded in 2012 and are run by a group of independent international
partners based in the UK, Italy and the USA, with years of experience tasting and evaluating
chocolate and running fine chocolate related events. The rules and judging are overseen by
our permanent Grand Jury members, Country Partners and independent experts, who set the
rules of the Awards based on ongoing consultation with our entrants.
Competitions are held in a growing number of countries and regions around the world,
including Italy, the UK, USA, Germany, Scandinavia, Belgium and other locations, with more
competitions added each year. Winners of the regional competitions are judged together at the
World Final, which celebrates the best entries of the year. Entry to the awards is limited to the
winners of the regional International categories.
By making consumers more aware of the hard work and craft that goes into the best fine
chocolate products, the International Chocolate Awards helps the fine chocolate industry to
grow and develop in established regions as well as new markets. By helping to identify the
best chocolate made with the best cacao, we hope to help chocolate makers, chocolatiers and
cacao farmers continue to succeed at producing the world’s best fine cacao and fine chocolate.
Paul Williams, Director and Umpa Lumpa Rustler at Choc Amor says…..
“Following on from our success in the British leg of the competition where we won several
awards, we were amazed to win another medal for our Salt Liquorice in the World Finals. To
have this recognition as a relative newcomer to the industry is an affirmation of what can be
achieved with hard work, dedication and a great team behind you.
This World Award is the pinnacle of what has already been a successful year with 3 further
Great Taste awards, 4 British International Awards & now a Bronze at the Worlds. This brings
our tally to a dozen overall.
Our aim has always been to offer good quality chocolate with unique and defined flavours &
this confirms that we have done exactly that & gives credibility to what a strong brand we have
built in three and a half years. We take great pride in how far we’ve come & now have faith in
how far we can go.”
Choc Amor, a multi award winning chocolatiers producing handmade, small batch, Belgian
couverture chocolate. Our chocolate is made on site at our tea rooms in Tarleton, where you
can not only buy our chocolate but sample specialist teas & coffees, hot chocolate, light
lunches (12-2.30pm) and a wide selection of homemade cakes all baked on the premises. All
ingredients and flavourings are natural, fresh & locally sourced wherever possible. You can
also purchase it from our Chocolate Shop in the foodhall at Botany Bay, local farmers markets,
a number of delis in the North West & now online.

Date: 20/10/15
For more information: Paul Williams, Choc Amor 01772 811281

Kitchen Courtyard starts to take shape

PLANS are taking shape to create a hub for regional food and drink in Wigan as part of the £12m Haigh Woodland Park development.

The Kitchen Courtyard will celebrate all things culinary, housing up to 10 artisan food and drink producers, suppliers and retailers.

Set within the existing Stables building, the Kitchen Courtyard aims to welcome more than 150,000 food tourists each year, with the main attractions targeted to be a baker, deli, butcher, cheese maker, chocolatier, ice cream parlour and new restaurant and tea room. They will be set around an upgraded courtyard with a micro-brewery and cask beer bar as an anchor tenant.

Developers are now formally introducing the opportunity to prospective tenants.

Cllr Paul Kenny, Cabinet member for leisure, said: “This is an exciting venture set to offer a high quality mix of food and drink for people visiting the park. As well as working with established local producers, suppliers and retailers, we would also like to support start-up businesses who may be interested in taking units. I’d encourage anyone who thinks they may be a good fit for the site to get in touch.”

In readiness for the Kitchen Courtyard, work is underway to relocate the current art-based tenants into a new Craft Loft upstairs within the Stables Courtyard.

The first units of the Kitchen Courtyard are due to be open for business by Easter 2016.

For further information and a prospectus, interested tenants should contact Keith Bergman on 01942 828271 or via email on

The new Haigh Woodland Park will include a £6m restoration of the Grade II listed hall into a four-star boutique Contessa hotel, set to boost the local economy by £30m and increase visitor numbers to 500,000 per year.

Wigan Council will also invest around £4m in infrastructure improvements and new attractions within the 250 acres of woodland surrounding the hall. The deal will reduce the maintenance burden for Wigan Borough taxpayers by £8million over the next decade.

Other highlights of the master plan include a high ropes area and an innovative adventure golf course.

For further details please view

Dahlia’s Farm Shop, the only farm shop in Blackpool, is hosting a free barbecue event for the launch of the new expansion which now includes a butchers, fishmongers and deli counter with all new suppliers.

Dahlia’s Farm Shop is the sister company to the popular Dahlia’s Kitchen Restaurant & Cafe, the two are connected so you can view the farm shop after having lunch in the cafe. These are located on Cropper Road in Blackpool amongst others including The Garden Place.

Dahlia’s Farm Shop has been active for over 12 months and supplies high quality, fresh fruit and vegetables amongst many other locally sourced produce such as cakes and eggs. Buying from local suppliers has been the main focus behind the farm shop from the first day and remains to this day.

Pasture Farm Foods are the new suppliers to the butcher, fishmonger and deli counter in the farm shop. This means there will be dedicated staff from Pasture Farm on these counters at all times.

The BBQ event will take place at Dahlia’s Kitchen on the 14th August and is a free event, it will include entertainment from award-winning illusionist Matt Grindley and demonstrations and taste tests for products in the farm shop.

Shaun Pickup, owner of Dahlia’s Kitchen, comments, “We have had a great deal of success since the start of the farm shop, due to this we identified that we needed to expand further to meet the needs of our customers and I am delighted that it has all come together so we can celebrate this fantastic time with our customers!”.

Invitations can be collected on your next visit to Dahlia’s Kitchen or by visiting the events page on the website to book your FREE tickets.

Full information on Dahlia’s Kitchen, and Dahlia’s Farm Shop, can be found on the website –

Press Information:

For further information please contact:

Adam Connaughton

M: 01253 761499  E:

Lancashire butcher among the best in Britain

Honeywell Meats, from Woodplumpton, near Preston in Lancashire, has been handed an exclusive and prestigious honour – membership of the national Butchers Q Guild.

The Eaves Lane shop is now recognised as one of the highest quality butchers in the UK. The Q Guild brand is a seal of excellence – it has just 110 members, award-winning butchers from the Scottish Highlands to the south coast.

Honeywell’s was established in 1970 by the Gornall family as a small enterprise, selling their own hand-reared pork from a stall in their garage – and has gone from strength to strength.

However, it has maintained its family traditions, with over 10 members still very much involved in all aspects of the business.

As it grew in popularity, Honeywell’s moved from the garage to the barn, setting up one of the original Farm Shops and starting to sell meat from neighbouring farms, which is still the same today.

In November, 2003, they outgrew the barn and moved into a purpose-built farm shop, selling a huge range of mouth-watering locally produced meats from the butchery, a selection of cooked meats, salami, fresh pies and pastries, and local and continental cheeses from the delicatessen.

Anthony and John Gornall, co-owners of Honeywell’s, say the Q Guild represents a national and international brand of quality that customers can trust.

Anthony said: “We’re a traditional butchers, we source a lot of our meat directly from local farms, as well as being farmers ourselves, producing our own beef. We’re very keen on traceability from farm to fork and we’re very keen on locally sourced produce.”

John said: “We aim to offer high quality at good value – it’s become more and more apparent that people are looking for great value, but they don’t want to compromise on the quality. We can offer our produce at prices people are happy to pay, but they’re also getting fantastic quality and helping the local farming community.”

Gordon Newlands, manager of the Q Guild, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Honeywell’s to the Guild. They are fine, traditional butchers with a long history behind them and we know that their quality, dedication and innovation will sit very nicely with our long-held industry-leading values.”


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Leaving the Hall Light On is a top 12 book!

Nancy Mills, founder of the Spirited Woman, put out this post this morning. I’m so proud to have Leaving the Hall Light On on the Spirited Woman top 12 book list.
THE HOLIDAYS are such a glorious time to gift a book or to buy one as a gift for yourself. On our Holiday Top 12 Book Pick list, we’ve included an array of gifted authors to help inspire and uplift you. We urge you to support these spirited talents! Save this list all year round! A great book resource for you.

WRITING SPIRIT – by New York Times bestselling author Lynn Andrews, invites readers into her world. Lynn explains how being true to your Spirit is the key to fulfillment in your work.  She leads you on a journey into yourself finding the truth within you, your creative soul and teaches you what it truly means to be a writer. www.lynnandrews.com.
EXUBERANT WOMEN DON’T AGE – NO TIME TO WASTE – by author Elizabeth Upton is an empowering guide for women of all ages and all walks of life. While many self-development books have advice on personal improvement this book harnesses the intense power of the individual to achieve inner peace and boundless happiness and life success easily. Amazonwww.elizabethaupton.com.

THE BLOOMING OF THE LOTUS – is a ground-breaking poetic memoir of grace. In a deeply personal journey of healing, through art, writing, nature, and the spirit world, Robin Lynn Brooks travels from the darkness of brutal childhood incest, violence and torture out into a brilliant light. This is a very deep healing, transformational book, especially for women. www.bloomingofthelotus.comAmazon.

THE SHAMAN AND THE MAFIA – Marietta Collins becomes enmeshed in a brutal murder. As head of a youth drug rehab center, she is dedicated to ridding the community of the growing criminal element. This action-packed mystery/love story examines conflicted emotions of the characters as they try to make sense of their lives through the web of crime, darkness, and light. Amazonwww.elizabethaupton.com.
HEALING WISDOM FOR A WOUNDED WORLD – An Iraqi-born author, Weam Namou shares in this memoir her magical journey through Lynn Andrews’ four-year shamanic school. Namou signs up to the school to find her literary voice but ends up discovering a mystical and healing community of shamans, power animals, and guardian angels that she thought only existed in fairy tales. Amazonwww.weamnamou.com.

THE EMPOWERMENT MANUAL – Are you searching for a quick “pick me up” for yourself, material to share with a client, or perhaps some inspiration for an upcoming presentation? This book features 36 of today’s leading spiritual teachers who share diverse empowerment strategies that can be practiced by individuals, workshop facilitators and professional presenters. Amazon.
TREE SPIRITED WOMAN – a multi-award-winning book – is an intensely beautiful story of a guiding friendship between a young woman and a wise and mystical woman. The story delivers a universal message about trusting in love, valuing personal relationships, letting go, and living life to its fullest. Tree Spirited Woman is The Perfect Holiday Gift!  Order your copies today! www.treespiritedwoman.com.
A STORY OF BECOMING – a literary classic for all ages, has won eleven awards this year. The tale is of a seed that grows into an apple tree. We are reminded that although life can challenge us, we can learn, grow and become a true miracle. Ayn Cates Sullivan’s poetic words are accompanied by Belle CrowduCray’s exquisite illustrations:

LEAVING THE HALL LIGHT ON – a memoir in prose and poetry by Madeline Sharples, is the harrowing but ultimately uplifting tale about her son Paul’s bipolar disorder diagnosis, through his suicide at her home, to the present. It details how Madeline, her husband, and younger son weathered every family’s worst nightmare. Print or Kindle at Amazon and Dream of Things.
SECRETS OF A NUN: MY OWN STORY – is an uncompromisingly moving look into one woman’s soul. At age 15, Elizabeth, a talented athlete gives up her dreams of competing in the Olympics to become a nun. She struggles with conflicting emotions, until a forbidden love affair forces her to face her needs as a woman and leave the convent. Amazon.  www.elizabethaupton.com.
WEALTH MASTERY FOR WOMEN, 12 LAWS TO CREATE WEALTH STARTING TODAY – by The Four Dames and Paula Fellingham. Amazon International #1 Best Seller is a collection of universal principles to accelerate results. Make an immediate impact by welcoming more abundance into all areas of your life. Written by professional women, financial executives and consultants in the personal development industry. Amazon.
A SHORT PATH TO CHANGE: 30 WAYS TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE – is being praised as an essential read if you want to manifest real lasting change in your life. Jenny Mannion uses her own experience of healing herself of years of several chronic dis-eases and her work as an intuitive healer helping clients do the same over the last 7 years. www.jennymannion.com.
spirited woman bookWould you like your book to be “showcased” in our Top 12 Book Pick List? Next book pick list is coming out to start the New Year off with a lot of self-growth. We now offer you a logo with the list to get more recognition for your book. This list is by invitation only. Call Nancy to insure a spot at 805-698-3555 or via e-mail: NancyMills@TheSpiritedWoman.com.

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Speak Your Mind

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Book Hippo

Monday, July 15, 2013

I think something has happened to parenting. I'm talking about all the therapy little girls seem to need to feel beautiful. According to a commercial, all sorts of girls stop doing something they like because they don't like their body.

Now, if I had said to my Mom. "I'm not going to the beach because I hate my body." She would have said "Don't be silly. You look fine. Would you rather be like Miss Skinny Minny who can't even keep their bones warm."

What I'm saying is, when did parents let childish insecurities get in the way of their children's progress. The idea in the old days was to get the kid out having fun and they would forget their anguish. Well, I'm not saying that you shouldn't help your children through their fears, but why coddle them so much that they're afraid to live?

Besides, there's a lot of other things to build self-esteem on. Like learning the piano. And speaking of that, when did the blame for all this fall on show biz. Or fashion.

I have an opinion which I don't let out too much because I don't think many young women would appreciate it. Now, I have three nephews who have girlfriends and all three are raising children.

They are the most polite, the nicest kids. Their self-esteem is very high. Why? I'll give my opinion, in all three families, the parents can't wait to get up in the morning to be with their kids. They rush home from work to play with them. In two families, the women have chosen to stay home with their 'babies'.

To move on a bit. How many times do you see shows telling parents to get away from the kids for a romantic weekend. It makes me think that the difference and problem with self-esteem comes from the parents.

Your mother loves you the most, right? Well, suppose the person who loves you the most, doesn't want to be with you? How does that rate in a child's mind. "I'm not good enough, even my Mom doesn't want to be with me.' Maybe?

So in my opinion, I think you shouldn't have kids until you know that you want to spend so much time with them. All your time. Give them all sorts of attention. Do things with them, don't stick them in front of the TV. One of my nephews doesn't even have a television and no video games, they're always out hiking or mountain climbing.

So throw sticks at me if you want. Show biz is not to blame. Adults are.

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Book Hippo

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Sorry for not posting for awhile. I have been very busy. Just to let you know what I've been doing. I was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Awards and got a certificate. I was very happy with that. And I have been to the SCBWI conference here in Ottawa, ON. The conference was great, there was an agent, an illustrator and three publishers. Each gave a talk and were very entertaining. Oh, did I mention that there were two authors, yes, Ruth Ohi and another lady gave quite enthusiastic talks. I was so ramped up during the conference that I wanted to grab the publishers and yell, "Listen to my ideas!" But I didn't. The first morning was a Saturday. There was a steampunk party on Friday but I didn't go. I was up at three in the morning because I was so excited. I was there early, about seven o'clock. It began at eight-thirty but we needed to be there at eight. So I was early and watched the television in the lobby of the hotel, Albert at Bay. By the way, everyone reported that their rooms, about $130.00 per night were superb. So if you're thinking of coming to Ottawa, ON you might want to take a look at that hotel. Anyway, I watched Dr. Seuss cartoons with the Cat In The Hat. Before that day, I had not known there were such cartoons. The front desk clerk then turned on the news. We all got our nametags and folders and coffee. Then we went in and listened to the speakers until noon. Then a catered lunch. Not bad. Fortunately our big room could be partitioned so we each, Picture Book, Novel and Illustrators had their own space. I did not hear the novel and illustrator talks, just the picture books. It was money worth spent. I had a one on one critique with Ruth Ohi, who totally put her finger on what was wrong with it. I have re-written it completely. On the second day it was warmer. But still, I wore a sweatshirt because it had been so cold the first day. It was a lot warmer and I felt so out of place with everyone else in nice clothes. If I could have hid, I would have. Anyway, I was there at seven o'clock again, only to find that on Sunday the conference didn't start until nine. Oh my. Around eight a couple of other people walked out to get breakfast. I decided to get some toast so I went out the back door to the same restaurant where they asked me to join them. They were from North Bay, ON and were so nice. I bought a book from Heather Stemp called Amelia and Me, about her grandfather's sister who met Amelia Earhart. Great book. If you're looking for YA or Tween, try it. They were so nice that Mr. Stemp paid for my toast and coffee. Inside, when we got back, the room was full. We listened again, the whole room, to an agent, then we had pitch crits, where authors had sent in pitches for stories and the panel, all the publishers and the agent, gave us clues on how to improve our sales pitch and stories. I forgot to mention that Karen Krossing got a Crystal Kite Award for Bog, her YA/Tween novel about trolls. At noon, lunch. The food was not that good but it was adequate. After, I listened to the closing remarks, then because I was not signed up for a critique group, I went home. Great weekend. Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me for not posting there were other things going on, too and maybe next time I post, I'll tell you about them. Cheers

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Pink Snake

Liophidium Pattoni
Liophidium Pattoni

The eight previously known species of  Liophidium are brown to black in colour, making the brilliant red, blue and yellow markings of Liophidium pattoni really stand out. Discovered in Madagascar in 2010, the 416mm-long snake does not appear to be aggressive or poisonous. One theory about its crazy colouring is that it may mimic distasteful millipedes.

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Monday, 7 April 2008

Getting a Life

Thanks for comments. katelnorth - in our family we seem to adopt the child's silly names and forget the original. I now find it impossible to say pyjamas - they are always jabamas.

This is why I know the words to Fox on the Run, Hippopip. The long term memory is fine - it's where I put the car keys this morning that lets me down. Talking of oldies, I do love my ipod and the new(ish) car has a socket for it, so we don't need to take hundreds of CDs with us on long trips. Needless to say we keep forgetting the ipod.

I'm sorry not to have posted for ages but I am in danger of developing a social life. I don't suppose it will last long. We've had lots of meals out with friends, visits from a cousin from America and, on Saturday, Clive Grey BA had his graduation ceremony in Brighton. He looked very smart in his robes - hired for the occasion, of course. It was a lovely ceremony which ran like clockwork and managed to be serious and great fun at the same time. Well done the OU.

One very interesting aspect was the award of a special Honours degree to Wilfred Cass who has done so much for the arts in this country - sculpture in particular. He told us a little of his life story (he was an entrepreneur who specialised in turning around ailing companies). He talked about his failures, some of which were quite spectacular, which I thought very courageous. A lesson to us all to pick ourselves up and plough on, especially in these difficult times.

I have been doing a little stitching. Here is the back of the Wiretex bag, which is now a vessel.

Now I am joining it to the front and will carry on the bands of yellow couching so that it all links together.

There has also been a lot of work done on Workshop on the Web and Quiltwow. They are both coming on very well. Ken Smith has written an amazing article on machine embroidery techniques. I plan to try some of them tomorrow at my Beyond Stitch group.

On Friday I took Lauren (14) to the exhibition. Somehow this outing ended with me buying her a new pair of jeans. How did that happen? As we were setting off from her house I managed to drive over their recycling box, which now needs to be recycled. We pushed it out of the way and drove off quickly, giggling like mad. I did confess in the end though.

jude said...

I have always thought of Clive as a man of many talents. The photo confirms this - he can do rental as well.

(Would he like to pop up and program our new recordable DVD? 160 pages of manual would be fine if it was sewing machine software, but I've lost the will to continue at Initial Set Up!)

fiona d said...

Congratulations to Clive - he looks very distinguished in academic dress. We also stopped using proper phrases and adopted the children's versions permanently, especially when they were funny - 'Close the door there's a giraffe coming in' is one of my favourites when it's draughty!

MargaretR said...

I agree, Clive is a man of many talents and looks very distinguished in his gown and you look so proud Maggie. Well done Clive. I think you both deserve some exciting social life, but don't stop blogging will you Maggie? You've spoilt us now. That vessel is lush!

Susan D said...

Please give my Congratulations to Clive on as achievement.

Doreen G said...

Congratulations to Clive and like every one else has said he looks very distinguished in his garb.

Aussie Jo said...

What a special moment, it's great to see all that hard work acknowledged Clive, well done. Love that vividly bright vessel.

Aussie Jo said...

Have to tell you our funniest children's saying, son 2 always said dottom for bottom. Funniest part was he had a birthmark on his bottom so he really did have a dottom!!!!

Helen Suzanne said...

Hi Maggie, you both look great :D
Of course that vessel is just wonderful and adds to the reason why I'm passing on to you the "Art pico award" as inspirational to the blogging world. as always with these things there are a couple of requirements to passing this on (on my blog). really hope you don't mind them.

artisbliss said...

Congrats to Clive. He looks very distinguished in his finery, albeit hired.

Your bag is gorgeous.

Julie said...

Congratulations Clive! You look very distinguished :)
I still refer to "key cars" and "par carks" oh and jypamas! from when my stepdaughter was small.
I was beginning to worry about your absence Mggie. Glad to hear you were having fun :)

Marjorie Dawson said...

A belated congratulations to Clive - you clever man you and well done. I would love to do something like that (being convinced I can't add up:-))

A recent carft fair did not go hugely well so cathing up on my blog subs has been a real pleasure. You are stiff competition for the Mason Dixon quinea pig scroll down beyond the knittied dishcloth on needles for an even better shot!

Enjoy the social life you are only young once or twice!!


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Cyber Defense Team

We have been involved in cyber defense competitions since 2009 when we first sent a team to the NECCDC which was then held at RIT. Only the top three finishers are recognized in each competition. UMaine finished 2nd in 2010 and 3rd in 2012.  We hosted the competition in 2010 and 2013 at the University of Maine.

For more details on the NECCDC go to For photos and videos of the competition go to our Flickr collection and look at the NECCDC albums. Also, we have been working with the Cybersecurity Competition Federation from its inception and is excited about the possibilities that this will bring to the world of Cybersecurity Competitions. For more details go to

In Fall of 2014 we first participated in the National Cyber League Cyber Challenge competition with encouraging results. We will be posting details on this page soon.

On a happy note, the UMaine Cyber Defense Team qualified to compete in the 2015 NECCDC to be held at Syracuse University. More details will be posted to this website soon.


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Haere mai! Welcome to Mairtown Kindergarten's blog.

Nau Mai Haere mai. Welcome to Mairtown Kindergarten's blog.

21 Princes Street, Kensington, Whangarei, New Zealand

Phone: 09 437 2742

Email: mairtown@nka.org.nz

Follow our blog by email

Sunday, 23 February 2014

Fostering Scientific Thinking

A couple of weeks ago, one of our children, Thomas, brought in a live centipede (in a jar) that he had found in his garden over the weekend.  Since then bugs have become a huge source of interest for many of our children, and interestingly sparked some further bug hunting.  We now have quite a collection consisting of a cricket, lots of cicada shells, three cockroaches, 2 dead cicadas, a dried centipede, a scarab beetle, a dragon fly and a weta.

Examining and discussing the have bugs proved to totally capture the children’s interest; as more children become involved and share their thoughts, ideas and theories about these creatures, this in turn sparks more interest amongst our other children.

Collaborative learning in small groups aids the exchange of ideas, increases interest among the participants and also promotes critical thinking (Gokhale, 1995).

As I talked to the children and encouraged their dialogue, they asked many interesting and thoughtful questions. Is it dead? Will it come back to life again? Does it have eyes? How long does it live? What does it eat? Is it going to bite me?

The more they talked, questioned, hypothesised, compared and reasoned it became clear this was going to be a wonderful opportunity to work with the children in extending their scientific thinking.

Many people misinterpret what science is in an early childhood context.  As Wilson states “Knowing the right answer…is not one of the primary objectives of science in the early childhood curriculum. Knowing the right answer, requires no decisions, carries no risks, and makes no demands. It is automatic. It is thoughtless. A far more important objective is to help children realize that answers about the world can be discovered through their own investigations”.

So how do we do this? Clearly we all now know how naturally curious children are, their questions and theories flow freely. Childhood is a special time when we aren’t as afraid as adults to make mistakes; children's questions and ideas should be nurtured, encouraged and valued. As their teacher I can certainly assist in fostering our children’s scientific thinking by asking questions of my own. Known as productive questions, these help bridge the gap between what children already know and what they experience, it takes children forward in their thinking.

Lead by the question, what does it eat? Here is one of our cockroaches
 eating some biscuit...

Some examples of the productive questions I have been asking these past few weeks are; What is it doing? How does it feel? How are they different/alike? What if…..? How could we…? What do you think? Can you explain that?

In completing our research and to help with our discoveries we have used the internet, books, our microscope (a favourite with the children and a wonderful tool for further extending children’s thinking and engagement with our bugs) and of course magnifying lenses and sheets.

Many children have also chosen to answer some of their questions through completing observational drawing. Observational drawing is a tool we use frequently at Mairtown and assists children in looking at the finer elements of specific objects in more detail often leading to joyous discoveries.

Look at this wonderful dialogue from Marcus as he drew a centipede. You can almost see the different stages of his thinking as he questions, reasons and works through his ideas.

“I always knew centipedes had a long body, but now I know they have lines on the body. Oh and at the head they don’t have lines, the legs are long and look like a circle.  Where are the eyes? I can’t see the eyes. I think they have eyes as eyes make things see.” We move onto talking about what they eat. “Can they eat elephants? I don’t know. Elephants are super big so they couldn’t probably eat elephants. These pincey ones (antennas) are for killing food I think. Do they have mouths, oh yeah; they must do because they eat it. (Looking carefully) oh yes I can see some teeth so they do have mouths. These are for banging people away (talking about the antennae) so when they bang into things, so they don’t have eyes, so they just know where they are going, so when they bang into things they just eat them. I haven’t actually seen centipedes before. I don’t know where they live, maybe bushes; there are no bushes at my place so there are no centipedes at my place.”
Marcus's centipede
Emma's scarab beetle
Mia's centipede

“Children are naturally curious about the world and want to find out as much as they can. They want to know what makes the wind blow, how trees grow, why fish have fins, and where turtles go in the winter. But they don’t want adults to give them the answers. They want to be the discoverers, the experimenters, and the theory builders. They don’t want science to be something that is imparted to them; they want it to be something that they do. They want to be scientists; not just consumers of science. They want to ask their own questions, collect their own data, and arrive at new and wonderful ideas. These “wants” should shape the foundation of an early childhood science curriculum.” Wilson

I am looking forward to seeing where our investigations will take us this coming week…..

Nga mihi,

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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Fabulous Find: Vintage Green Bench

The past two weeks have been a bit of a summer blur. I am enjoying my summer this year like I can't remember when!  Leaving the confines of retail has been so rewarding.  So much is going on with regular life and other creative pursuits for me. A few weeks ago we visited my parents on Martha'sVineyard for almost a week, and have had a few day trips here and there. That with finishing the numbers for our taxes to drop off to our tax guy have left little time for updating the blog.  Lots of fun and lots of work with a clear plan on getting our house a bit more organized has me energized for the month of August!  So with the revitalization of our family summer down time, I am ready!
Yesterday my sister Ellen said to me, "you haven't blogged in a long time you know".....
so here we are.  I am blogging about this great wooden bench that must have lived its previous life in someones workshop or summer cottage.  At one point it got a fresh coat of green paint, without benefit of primer, which led to this lovely peeled off finish. I will put a coat of Annie Sloan wax on it to preserve the finish and to give it a soft luster.  You may recall that I recently bought a long bench from HomeGoods and put it in front of the sofa instead of our coffee table and it functioned so well!
The narrow size and wooden top held lots of books and magazines along with a coffee cup or glass of wine, leaving plenty of space to maneuver around the narrow room.  Last weekend I visited the old mill in Norwood, MA  that is now an antique cooperative, called Winsmith Mill. What a fabulous place!  I bought more than a few things, my favorite was this old wooden bench.  The green color was right up my color palette, sending the HomeGoods bench back to the front hallway where I first placed it.  Benches are just so versatile in home decorating.
I am just head over heels about this finish.
And a shout out to my Dad, a budding stylist....he placed these two
HomeGoods pillows side by side on the center of the sofa~they looked
so great!  I tend to arrange my sofa pillows from end corners to the middle.
Loving these pillow colors with the bench too, very summery.
Blues and greens against the white and gray is very refreshing.
 I also found another old blue bottle for my collection at the Winsmith Mill,
along with an alabaster lamp, old wicker baskets and small vintage alarm clocks.
 The bench came from the Vintage Peacock, a place that has 29 vendors just
 in that one area.  I never made it to the rest of the Mill, but I plan to return soon.
Here are the remains of last night's impromptu dinner party as my dad had come off the island for his annual physical.  Since he was in town for the night I invited Justin and bride Madison over and they brought along little sister Taylor and of course Sylvia, (my most favorite little schnoodle in the world)~two delightful extras! Taylor is looking and feeling great as she waits for her heart. I know many of my readers are following her story, and when there is an update I will let you know.  For now its living life and being in the moment, always a good place to be, don't you agree?
 My growing collection of old silver baby cups were filled with snippets of the flowering mint from our garden and placed in front of each place setting.  What a great time we all had around the dinner table.  We took a group selfie with Colin's fancy iPhone with remote setting.  We were being a bit goofy, but it made for natural smiles.  And right behind me is the window that will be gone soon, as the French Door is in the works!!
Our fun and funny family selfie at the end of the evening.
On the menu were gigantic steaks that I cooked on the grill, roasted red potatoes
with vidalia onions and garlic, steamed broccoli, a garden fresh salad with my own tomatoes, and grilled fresh pineapple slices, which I had never done and were outstanding!
Organic lemonade, red and white wine and a few growlers rounded out the
drinks for this hot summer fete.
Tonight I have sister Ellen and Mike coming for dinner to discuss the nuts and bolts
of installing the French Door. Mike is a contractor and is going to put it in
 with Mr. Maison Decor and Colin.
Let the table setting begin again!
Tonight it will be pork tenderloin....have to think about the sides.
And last but not least in the goings on around here is this resurrected home office space.
 It will be a studio/workshop where I can have all my supplies in one space.
The Marie Antoinette Linen Press will be coming up here (its still outside under a tarp in the yard), along with a big metal table and a room size seagrass rug.  Sometimes it seems all we do is move furniture around here. We wonder what the neighbors say as they see us pulling more furniture out of hubby's truck.  Colin and I lifted that monster china cabinet up the stairs and down the hall and put it in my new space.  I was shocked I still had the strength to do such heavy lifting, which just goes to show that its mind over matter when you want to get something accomplished.  The big black dresser is leaving, as is a pair of matching night stands.
For sale: Thomasville dresser and nightstands.
The first hundred bucks takes it.  (Pick up only of course!)
Any local takers? if so, shoot me an email at amymaisondecor@gmail.com
 photo signature_zpsxi5q1w6r.png
Note: This post is sponsored in part by HomeGoods as part of my participation in their Pinterest Designer Board, Happy by Design.  Stop by and like some of my posts! I would love to see you there!

  1. I can just imagine the freedom that you're feeling this summer, Amy - and am thrilled for you! You sound so happy and content shopping, spending more time at home, relaxing with family...that's what makes each day extra special. :) Love that new chippy bench you found. {You all have the best antique shops over there!} It reminds me of a vintage green chippy blanket chest I brought home from a vacation spent in Maine years ago. Still one of my most fav pieces here.

    Enjoy and be blessed! xoxo laurie

  2. So happy that you are taking the time to enjoy life and back to the passion of your home and family. So love the green chippy bench. I have jotted down the shops that you mentioned and hope that I can make it there soon...Love reading about the family, the heart of your home!

  3. Love your new bench!! As you say, great color and versatility!! Enjoy! xo Leslie

  4. I can see why you love that green bench. It is fantastic! And, it looks like you all had a great time. Please come share with us for Pink Saturday.♥

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Off-shore Instrument Technicians 4 Things You Should Know

Off-shore oil rigs are huge and as such need many people to keep things running efficiently. Among these, instrument technicians are some of the most in demand. Because the rig is in the middle of the sea, the salt in the water and air will damage the electrical, pneumatic and mechanical systems. This is where off-shore instrument technicians come in as without them oil rigs would not be able to function.

Job description

*As an instrument technician, you would have to install new machinery and equipment, maintain and monitor them and make sure they are in working order. For this, daily inspection has to be done to make sure there are no glitches.

*Off-shore jobs are very challenging and so remuneration is very good. Everyone on the rig – from the roustabouts to the technicians and supervisors – follows the same routine of 12-hour shifts, 7 to 14 days in a stretch and the same number of days off. On an average, instrument technicians get about $61,000 a year but this amount can differ from company to company. Job location and your experience level will also be factors.

*While working on an off-shore oil rig, you will have to brave extreme weather and face the potential dangers of hurricanes and storms, and the fact that accidents, sometimes fatal ones, are more than a possibility. As an instrument technician, there is the added danger that you could get injured by the machinery or chemicals you have to handle.

*Instrument technicians must have a high school diploma and a degree in instrumentation or process technology, or an equivalent certificate/diploma from a recognized organization. If you don’t have the relevant qualifications, it would be a good idea to attend a two-year instrumentation technical course before applying. You will need to be a team player as most instrument technicians work in groups. You also must be able to troubleshoot and breakdown a problem logically so that you can solve it.

Though off-shore instrument technician jobs are in demand, they are difficult to get as they need a lot of technical skill and qualifications. At the end of the day, living on a rig can wear you down mentally and physically but if you feel you can handle the harsh environment, then go for it. But remember, that once you get the job, it doesn’t stop there: you have to keep learning, reading and updating yourself on new technologies.

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Amazing Makeup Tricks Inspired by Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie MakeUpMost women love Angelina Jolie’s beauty and want to emulate her makeup style. She manages to court the line between an natural and glamorous no matter what the occasion. Those big, expressive eyes and the voluptuous lips contribute to her overall good looks. She inspires all makeup artist with her natural look and highlighted outlines of her face.

  • Play up your eyes, the best gift that has Angelina Jolie

Angelina’s face is dominated by her expressive, beautiful eyes. She keeps the focus on them with her makeup, not on her lips, which are naturally full.

  1. Make sure that you choose eye shadow colors that closely match your skin tone and aren’t too dark. Angelina prefers eye makeup that looks natural. Put the eye shadow on your eyelids from the lashes to your brow. Put a slightly darker shade in your crease, extending it out to the edge of the eye.
  2. Try eye shadow in taupe or light gray. You could also use peach, nude, or light brown colors.
  3. For an awards show, Angelina might vamp it up with a smoky eye look. She has used Terracotta Loose Kohl Powder in Deep Charcoal Black.
  • Wear mascara and liquid eyeliner

Mascara and liquid eyeliner are too things she is almost never without. These are key parts of her signature look.

  1.  Angelina has long eyelashes. It’s probably best to apply two coats of lengthening mascara to get the Angelina’s look, which is almost all about the eyes. You could use false eyelashes, but don’t overdo it.
  2. Try using black liquid eyeliner, only on the top lash line. Start where the lashes start to grow and extend slightly past the end of the eye in cat eye fashion.
  3. You won’t find her using pencil eyeliner much or putting it on the inside of her eyes or underneath the bottom lashes. If she does, it’s done lightly.
  • Wear softer makeup overall

Gone are her goth days. Since she became a mother, Angelina’s makeup is more likely to be softer and more natural looking.

  1. Use a brown eyebrow pencil to better define your brows. Angelina’s eyebrows are not too thin and are very well defined. Simply draw the pencil over your natural brow shape. Get them waxed at a salon to create the right shape.
  2. One makeup artist says Angelina never wears blush on her cheeks. Instead, she smooths hydrating moisturizer on her face and then a light layer of medium coverage oil-free foundation, such as Laura Mercier Foundation in Honey Beige. She also uses Stila Cover up Stick in Shade B under her eyes to hide dark circles. She dusts Mineral Veil Powder on her face. But she uses makeup lightly.
  3. The goal is to enhance natural beauty, not to be able to see the makeup or pancake it on.
  • Wear neutral lipstick

Angelina’s makeup artist has said she rarely puts bright or dark lipstick on Angelina’s mouth, preferring taupe or neutral colors. That’s largely because her lips are already so beautiful and large.

  1. MAC’s Blankety shade, Clinique’s Long Last Soft Shine Lipstick in Glow Bronze and Mac Kinda Sexy are shades that Angelina would wear. She’s also said she likes Urban Apothecary’s Charm and Chantecaille Brilliante Glosses in Love and Charm.
  2. Every now and then she goes bold, wearing bright red lipstick, for awards shows or film premieres, like she did at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Inglourious Basterds. But it’s the exception, and you almost never see her wearing dark or bright lipstick in casual wear.
  • Plump your lips

Angelia’s lips are naturally plush. If yours aren’t, you won’t look like her. There are certain tricks you can use to look like you have thicker lips, though.

  1. Use taupe or nude lip liner to draw your lips slightly larger than they really are. This will make your lips look bigger. Then cover the lips with natural colored lip gloss or lipstick. You can use concealer to apply highlights to the middle bottom portion of your mouth to look more like her.
  2. She wears Blistex lip balm.
  3. Some Angelina fans turn to lip augmentation to get plumper lips through injections, but Angelina’s look is all natural so it’s a better idea to try to plump up your lips with makeup tricks.
  • Use contouring and blending

Angelina is known for her dewy, pale, healthy skin. You won’t find her with the faked tan look.

  1. To get this look, apply foundation on your face. Then take foundation a few shades darker and apply it to the cheekbones and sides of the face. Remember to blend in all makeup at the jaw line. Put a base on your face, such as Urban Decay Primer Potion.
  2. Use a brush to apply highlighting foundation on the nose and under the eyes, on the chin and on the forehead in a T formation. Set it with translucent powder.
  3. One technique involves applying light gray and then peach eye shadow on the cheekbones to accentuate them. Or you can use light brown eye shadow to define the nose. You can use a makeup brush to soften the contouring.
  4. Angelina has well defined cheekbones. You can also use gray eye shadow to better define the lips and the nose. Then warm up the gray areas with powder. Then, apply primer/concealer to the inside of the eyes and by the eyebrows

Text source: http://www.wikihow.com

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Opt-in/Opt-out Micro-voting

Toronto - Submitted by BriannaSmrke on Feb 2 2014

Instead of voting once every few years, citizens can subscribe to "vote lists" on specific issues or areas (environmental policy, policing etc). They'll be sent briefing material and a link to vote. After passing a basic competency test on the issue, they can register their vote. Elected officials are responsible for encouraging high voting levels on the different issues.

NOW it's your turn...

What forces keep this Future from coming true? Click here to answer questions and resolve those obstacles so that the idea can move onto the MAKE stage!
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Feb 3 2014
6:13 PM
I love the idea of having a basic competency test before voting. It might be tricky though to set this up so as to not be perceived as discriminatory. Maybe offer services for people who don't pass right away.


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Part 2 No makeup makeup Looks

Friday, July 15, 2011 -- Posted in , | | 0 Comments »

This is the second part of the no makeup makeup looks collection, if you want to learn more about this topic click here: Part 1 No Makeup Makeup Looks. Click images to zoom in:

nautral makeup fresh makeup looks pretty makeup looks no makeup makeup looks

no makeup makeup look fresh no makeup fresh no makeup look no makeup makeup looks

No Makeup Makeup Looks Collection

-- Posted in , | | 0 Comments »

What does no makeup makeup mean? Well women can look amazing with just a hint of makeup that is hardly noticeable, with everything well blended. By using the right shades and right textures of makeup one can achieve a beautiful and natural look, the face will look fresh and perfected. The no makeup makeup look is the most simple one to achieve, you will need a concealer to hide imperfections (make sure that it is well blended, you can try using the warmth of your fingers to do that), a tinted moisturizer that will give the most natural feel to the skin, a peachy or pinky blush (it will bring more life to your face) and a shimmery illuminator on the highest points of your face for the fresh appearance. On the eyes all you need is a shimmery light shade, it can either be a champagne color, a beige or taupe, pink or peach (it’s up to you), and if you want your lashes to look fuller try using a brown eye pencil or a black one, really close to your lashes (make sure to blend it so it’s hardly noticeable), then use mascara and of course a pinky or peachy lipgloss. If you want to see different no makeup makeup looks then you can check out bellow the no makeup makeup looks collection. The people who created the looks are well known over the internet, here are their websites if you want to check them out:,,,,,, Click images to zoom in:
no makeup makeup natural makeup no makeup makeup looks no makeup look

natural makeup looks no makeup makeup look fresh makeup fresh makeup looks

For more no makeup makeup looks click here: Part 2 No Makeup Makeup Looks.


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Sunday, August 19, 2007

Sega Club CvS2 3on3 Tournament Videos

That's right baby, more footage just days prior to Evolution! This tournament was held at Sega Club arcade which actually doesn't allow recording, so yeah that's why the footage isn't as sweet as it can be. This tourney was double elimination for some reason too... Perhaps someone(bas) is preparing for evo... Thanks to Gunter for the footage.

Gunter vs Kurusu
Gunter vs Komemaru
AO vs Komemaru
AO vs Gao
Gunter vs Yamatei
Gunter vs Pinokio
AO vs Pinokio
BAS(IN CAPS) vs Pinokio
BAS vs Yoshio

Winners Finals
Gunter vs Nuki
Gunter vs INO(also always in CAPS)
AO vs Tokido

Losers Finals
Yamatei vs Nuki
Pinokio vs Nuki
Pinokio vs Tokido
Yoshio vs Tokido

Grand Finals
Nuki vs Gunter
Tokido vs Gunter
INO vs Gunter

1st Gunter, AO, BAS
2nd Nuki, Tokido, INO
3rd Yamatei, Pinokio, Yoshio

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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Mikado 8/11/07 CvS2 Singles Vids

Finals between AO and Iyo.

The rest and other vids are on Gunter's youtube account.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

EvoWest Part 3 DAMMIT

Ok ok, stop being lazy kim. So I played COMBOFIEND(always in CAPS) twice in this tournament. Playing vs him is always challenging, cause he's always fiending for wins. Whenever we play vs each other after how ever many casual games, we always do some first to 5 shit. And the score usually is 4-5 him. I'll always have this wild ass lead, then K cammy fucks everyone up. Fuck K groove. ahem...

Anyway, It's a good thing I only had to beat him 4 games. Cause if it was a race to 5, somehow I would have lost 4-5. I haven't won a singles tournament since like 2003 I think. Side story: I prefer team tournaments to single tournaments. Teams are just way more fun to me, and less stressful. Most CvS2 players I talk to lately, know that this years EVO in Vegas is probably my last. I'm pretty sure a lot of people actually say that. But for the most part I mean it. If next years EVO is a team tournament though, I would consider that. Singles every year is just blah imo, it's the same rinse and repeat stuff. Hmmm.. while I'm on the subject of big national tournaments...

I watched the majority of SBO from the niceness of my own home this past weekend. And yeah that shit is dope. I've been to every SBO except for this year, so it was kind of cool I was able to watch it live. Anyway, the whole reason I bring SBO up is cause I was just thinking of the US's performance in it. I'm not going to bag on any players. IMO I think one of the weaknesses of top american players is we aren't use to tournaments where every single person is on your level. Each round is scary. You think first round single game elimination is scary at evo? Go to fucking SBO and play against someone of a higher level. The best players going out first round is pretty common at SBO. I'm sure it's a humbling experience. When CvS2 was in SBO, I'm telling you...that was the most exciting time if you were a CvS2 player.

Ok so where was I? Ok so I won EvoWest right, but its odd cause I don't remember what happened after I landed the final uppercut to kill cammy. I just remember a bunch of handshakes. Someone I know told me that she doesn't even remember her wedding. Because it was such a fantasticular time and all these emotions and shit were going on. So yeah, maybe that's what happened to me? No, not random marriages, but me just being overwhelmed with happiness, shock, and other really amazing adjectives. Like the brain isn't ready to take in all that emotion, so it doesn't get processed into long term memory(or something). In my mind I imagine me slamming the buttons after I landed the uppercut. And jumping up and doing some wild ass pose. But yeah, I honestly don't know what happened. Hmm yeah.. that reason makes sense. I'm not like the other top players. I don't like american joysticks, therefore I don't go to the very few arcade tournaments left in the US. When I was getting good at games, It was really hard for me to win tournaments, cause my crowd involved Choi, Cole, Nelson, Ricky, Campbell, and the Ultimate Warrior. So yeah, it feels great to know that I could do it, I just had to have patience. It also feels good to hear things like "this win was long over due" and "you really deserved this win" from friends and people you respect. Have I covered enough dammit! Evo Vegas is in one week and I need to get motivated and hype. I know myself pretty well, and I know that theres a part of me that just wants to coast on this win. Somehow I'll get lazy and barely practice for vegas. So yeah, from this point on, I gotta do things the Kim way, watch vids of me getting rocked, learn from my mistakes, practice execution, and use a lot of commas in one sentence. And as a closing note, I get alot of messages about EvoWest Vids. James Chen has the final footage and plans on putting up the vids when he has time. (James is basically a one man production crew for SRK). If I happen to get vids from top 8 from someone else though, then I'll upload those as soon as I can. PEACE AND SEE YOU IN VEGAS. one.

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Thursday, August 9, 2007

Evo West Part 2

It's been almost like two weeks so my already bad memory ain't so nice right now. On Sunday, I finally found out I had to play Buktooth in winners and Combofiend had to play vs Ricky. Even though we haven't really played each other since Buktooth and I lived in Norcal, it's always annoying to have to play each other in tournaments. Considering, we use to play vs each other all the time back in the day. Anyhow..

Remembering the thrashing I took at Evo Vegas last year, I decided to make Rolento ratio 2 this time around. Oh that's something to talk about. In retrospect, in regards to my team order..my thinking has been pretty ignorant. At Evo 2004, I always chose the order C-Sagat/Rolento/Blanka. Evo 2005 was C-Blanka/Sagat/Rolento. Evo 2006 was C-Blanka/Rolento/Sagat. My logic was to figure out the best order for my team and never "need" to switch it up. So like, I mentioned earlier, that way of thinking is imo ignorant. If I have an advantage with a certain order and I'm comfortable with that counter order, I should at least consider it. It's kind of cool if you think about it, since I have so much experience with all those orders, I can now feel when a certain order would have more of an advantage.

N-Iori vs C-Sagat is even in my book. I've always thought that Iori had a hard time catching rolento. So yeah, Rolento did his damn thing and it worked. The next match he decided to change up his ratio 2 from Iori to Hibiki, but ALSO put his ratio 2 Hibiki first. I think, Buk kinda stacked the odds less in his favor by doing that, cause even though his last character(morrigan) destroys rolento, having her as a ratio 1 is a little bit too risky EVEN FOR BUK. I won 2-0. I'll always consider the fact that Buk lives in Dallas and has -2 people to play against a factor in how I won, so now that he's in Japan for SBO, I'm sure when I play him at Evo Vegas, he'll be back with a Vietnamese Vengence.

And yeah...I'm tired. Part 3 later. But watch this!

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Monday, August 6, 2007

Evo West 2007 Part 1

Last weekend in San Diego was dope on so many levels. What definitely wasn't dope however, was the fucking garbage hotel I reserved. Somehow my reservation at "America's best value inn" was really one at "Padre's Village Inn". Hard ass beds ain't worth the 209.99 a day price, that's for sure. But on to the good stuff!

Last Friday was the qualifiers day for CvS2 and I started off not feeling that good. Right before a tournament, I usually feel a strong mix of nervousness, determination, anxiety, and excitement. Finally was I able to learn last weekend what fellow homie Jason Cole has been telling me all along. "The nervousness never leaves you."
Taking that into account, I agree that the nervousness never leaves you in tournaments, rather its how you are able to deal with the nervousness that brings out your potential to do well in tournaments.

That friday, after about 40 minutes of practice time, I was warmed up for the tournament. From what I remembered, I played hella matches in my pool. Like atleast four or something it seems, before I finally reach Mr. end boss John Choi. The roughest pool I think was the pool with Buktooth, Laugh, Hail and Kill, and Pigadoken. Obviously, all talented players who got that PASSION SON. On a side note, I have to comment that Laugh improved so much. It's unfortunate that he wasn't able to qualify, but he's definitely deserving of that spot. Him and Hail and Kill imo, are two players that can beat anyone.

So anyway, where was I? I finally reached end boss Choi in the winners bracket of my pool. He actually plays C sakura now instead of his usual C Guile. His order is usually C-Sakura/Ken/Sagat and he usually rocks everyone with it. I eventually win 2-1. But it was my toughest match of the weekend. Considering the first game vs him, he beat me with only a 5% sagat vs my 100% sagat. No joke. It's kinda funny, cause I'm sure its noticable, but I hella do deep breathing to calm myself down, and yeah I'm sure I probably look hella crazy sometimes while I'm doing it in tournaments. After a loss like that, I just kinda had to accept that um "it's one of those magical choi wins" and move on. I'm not sure if my sagat came in the other matches, but if he did, I was probably hella scared.

The usual suspects all qualified, with the exception of Viscant. But I don't mean that as an insult, cause I know he put the time into the game, and I'm happy his effort paid off.

I'll continue writing this in the near future, but in the meanwhile.....

<3 Kim

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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Ozeri Electric Wine Bottle Opener Review

I personally do not like the taste of alcohol nor do I drink it; not even the perfect wine paired with a delicious meal. What can I say? I just don’t have the palate for it I guess. But when Ozeri asked me to review their Electric Wine Opener I was intrigued so I agreed. I have many friends and family members who enjoy the occasional glass of wine and I have heard stories of how frustrating removing a wine bottle cork can be.

Corks can dry rot and crumble. Corks can become firmly wedged in place and be virtually impossible to remove with a corkscrew; then the knife comes out when you have to dig the obstinate cork out of the bottle. You can you end up with a butchered cork that is below the opening of the bottle, thus rendered useless and potentially forever stuck. If you are hoping to relax and/or enjoy a meal with said wine you are just out of luck if these things happen to you.

There has to be a better way, right? Luckily there is. The Ozeri Electric Wine BottleOpener provides an easy, fuss free open every time. No more straining, stress or potential cuts from trying to wrangle open a stubborn cork. The smart folks at Ozeri even include a foil cutter and aerating pourer in the box. One of the nice things about the Ozeri Electric Wine Bottle Opener is that it uses an AC adapter, not batteries, to charge. Oh, and they claim that you can open up to 80 bottles of wine on a single charge, so you won’t have the annoyance oh having to charge it every single use. I was also impressed with the design of this opener. It is sleek and coated with a velvet-y like slip resistant coating and has chrome like accents.

Overall I think this is a great product to have at home for everyday use or for the occasional dinner party. Its pleasant and streamlined design makes for a perfect home addition that won’t stick out like a sore thumb. Or, like me, you could give this great item as a gift. Who wouldn’t love to receive something that will make their life easier? You can check out this Ozeri Electric Wine BottleOpener as well as their other fine products at their website or at Amazon.

If you like what you just read please click to send a quick vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs- The best mommy blog directory featuring top mom bloggers

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Sunday, March 11, 2012

It is a celebration! Spring is just around the corner and so is our 500TH fan! Wow!

I cannot believe how fast time has gone for me this year already! So many wonderful things have happened to me and my business. I want to celebrate the renewal that is Spring and all of the wonderful people who have been with me on my journey. So, we will have a really cool giveaway to get you started on the right track for the warmer weather.

There are a few things that you will need to do, but they are easy and will help me get to know all of you better. Some of the items you can do everyday for even more chances to win.

Thank you for your support and Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  1. Shannon (Nonnahs)March 11, 2012 at 3:01 PM

    Love the INspiration tote...the colors are beautiful!

  2. I really like your bags... I would like to have a large tote that can handle my laptop.

  3. I love the Kindle Reader covers--especially one in black and white!

  4. Love my ensamble for work: Tote, lunchbag, wristlet(s) etc. MaryK Carroll

  5. Mama, I love your work, but even more I just love your approach and style and willingness to help your peers and express your thoughts!!
    You are fun and down to earth and yourself! That really goes very far for me!!
    You just really work hard and well!
    I think you are talented and terrific!
    Best of luck!!

  6. Stopping by from the party. I enjoyed being here. Have a wonderful week.


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Tag Archives: alexandra ferguson

alexandra ferguson makes one sassy pillow

alexandra ferguson is the owner and creator of this “sassy little pillow company” and sassy it is. sometimes a girl needs a little inspiration printed boldly on her home accessories. at least i do anyway. and hey, a gun that shoots hearts never hurt nobody either.

pssss…all items are handmade right here in the good ol’ us of a.

shop alexandra ferguson

and find alexandra here:


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PERF-INJECT(1)                   perf Manual                  PERF-INJECT(1)

NAME         top

       perf-inject - Filter to augment the events stream with additional

SYNOPSIS         top

       perf inject <options>

DESCRIPTION         top

       perf-inject reads a perf-record event stream and repipes it to
       stdout. At any point the processing code can inject other events into
       the event stream - in this case build-ids (-b option) are read and
       injected as needed into the event stream.

       Build-ids are just the first user of perf-inject - potentially
       anything that needs userspace processing to augment the events stream
       with additional information could make use of this facility.

OPTIONS         top

       -b, --build-ids=
           Inject build-ids into the output stream

       -v, --verbose
           Be more verbose.

       -i, --input=
           Input file name. (default: stdin)

       -o, --output=
           Output file name. (default: stdout)

       -s, --sched-stat
           Merge sched_stat and sched_switch for getting events where and
           how long tasks slept. sched_switch contains a callchain where a
           task slept and sched_stat contains a timeslice how long a task

           kallsyms pathname

           Decode Instruction Tracing data, replacing it with synthesized
           events. Options are:

               i       synthesize instructions events
               b       synthesize branches events
               c       synthesize branches events (calls only)
               r       synthesize branches events (returns only)
               x       synthesize transactions events
               w       synthesize ptwrite events
               p       synthesize power events
               e       synthesize error events
               d       create a debug log
               g       synthesize a call chain (use with i or x)
               l       synthesize last branch entries (use with i or x)
               s       skip initial number of events

               The default is all events i.e. the same as --itrace=ibxwpe

               In addition, the period (default 100000) for instructions events
               can be specified in units of:

               i       instructions
               t       ticks
               ms      milliseconds
               us      microseconds
               ns      nanoseconds (default)

               Also the call chain size (default 16, max. 1024) for instructions or
               transactions events can be specified.

               Also the number of last branch entries (default 64, max. 1024) for
               instructions or transactions events can be specified.

               It is also possible to skip events generated (instructions, branches, transactions,
               ptwrite, power) at the beginning. This is useful to ignore initialization code.

               skips the first million instructions.

           Use with --itrace to strip out non-synthesized events.

       -j, --jit
           Process jitdump files by injecting the mmap records corresponding
           to jitted functions. This option also generates the ELF images
           for each jitted function found in the jitdumps files captured in
           the input file. Use this option if you are monitoring
           environment using JIT runtimes, such as Java, DART or V8.

SEE ALSO         top

       perf-record(1), perf-report(1), perf-archive(1)

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the perf (Performance analysis tools for Linux
       (in Linux source tree)) project.  Information about the project can
       be found at ⟨⟩.  If
       you have a bug report for this manual page, send it to  This page was obtained from the
       project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨⟩ on
       2017-09-15.  If you discover any rendering problems in this HTML ver‐
       sion of the page, or you believe there is a better or more up-to-date
       source for the page, or you have corrections or improvements to the
       information in this COLOPHON (which is not part of the original man‐
       ual page), send a mail to

perf                             09/14/2017                   PERF-INJECT(1)


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Sunday, November 23, 2008

Sympathy Card

I seen this card on Mel's Blog which she cased from Beate Johns. I needed a Sympathy card and I thought it would make a nice one. The colours are Always Artichoke, Chocolate chip and River Rock. I made a mask and sponged around it in River Rock and used my markers to colour the tree. I used faux stitching around the mask line. The stamp sets used are Close as a Memory and Lovely as a tree.

1 comment:

Mel Hanlon said...

Great job, Mandy! The card looks really lovely.


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Berserk Chapter 150 Page 1

You are reading Berserk Chapter 150 Page 1 on MangaLife. To see more information about this Manga, please visit the Chapter List. Berserk is a Manga that was published in 1988by MIURA Kentaro. Berserk Manga is Ongoing. Its scanslation status is Ongoing. Berserk Chapter 150 was added on . Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Mature, Seinen, Supernatural, Tragedy

2016 MangaLife Copyrights and trademarks for the manga, and other promotional materials are held by their respective owners and their use is allowed under the fair use clause of the Copyright Law. Privacy Policy


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open stage hosted by paul taylor

This event happens on May 2, 2017.

Back to the calendar

Manhattans’ Open Stage hosted by Paul Taylor @ 6-10pm

Anyone can play from an individual to a band. Covers or originals. If a musician or vocalist wishes to have piano accompaniment, bring a chart and Paul will play it!
Sign in and Paul with announce you! Sing/Play as many songs/tunes as you wish, limited only by time constraints.

Performers have access to and can enjoy:
- a proper stage with lighting
- a good PA; complete with microphones, cabling and monitoring
- a Steinway baby grand piano
- the friendly, casual environment that Manhattans is so well known for

With techniques acquired more in welding school and fab shops than during the completion of his degrees and diplomas, publishing and record contracts, film scores and jingles, residency gigs, festivals, tours, workshops, radio, television, club and sidewalk appearances, Paul Taylor has been known to literally break in pianos. He broke three strings on the old piano at Manhattans and put his finger right through a keyboard – “I like being a welder/fitter, it gives me better tone.”

Back to the calendar