Ness...

"Beacon to Fashionistas"
"Edgy, sexy and now"
"Chic and ageless"

"Individual and fun"

Ladies, ladies, ladies, what more can I say?..... You'll find my new all time favourite store online at http://www.nessbypost.com/ or in Scotland at one of the four stand alone stores. You may also have seen Ness clothing and accessories in one of the 500 stockists across the rest of the UK and if you're one of the lucky few, you may have a store somewhere near you soon. I certainly am keeping my fingers crossed that they'll open a store in Bath.

Founders Adrienne and Gordon MacAuley started the business in 1996 in a bid to; "Steer tartan away from the highlands" and they sure as hell have managed to steer it into my wardrobe, although saying that it probably wouldn't be too difficult seeing as I love to shop!!

This weekend I was bitterly disappointed to have to take back my much coveted purple tartan wellingtons. I'd been eagerly awaiting the delivery of a brand spanking new pair of size 5's in a local shop in Devon. They'd sold out online within a very short space of time and in the style of; 'Rosie' the Cath Kidston sweater (which by the way has rarely left my back since its purchase), I just HAD to have them.

When I arrived at the cottage on Friday the fact that it was pouring with rain didn't deter me from hot footing it down the hill to see if they were in the shop window. I of course used the dogs as an excuse (dog walks are a great way of getting a little window shopping in), even if I did have to drag them kicking and whimpering down the road...Mabel, a little like myself, doesn't really 'do' rain and certainly doesn't appreciate the rain making her hair go frizzy...

Anyway, back to the Wellingtons......there they were in all their glory....a beautiful specimen of a wellington...oh and Purple.....my favourite colour of the moment..... How on earth was I going to manage to wait until Saturday morning to hand over my pennies and walk away with my purple tartan wellies?

I did...manage it I mean.....my shopping addiction hasn't quite reached the realms of; 'Smash and Grab' just yet! I was easily swayed with the promise of a glass of white wine and a take away. Such a cheap date, my husband thought when he met me.....obviously thinking that I'd also make a cheap wife (cheap in the sense; I won't spend money, may I add)...blimey was he wrong with a capitol 'W'........... Especially since I've discovered Ness!

Well, you know me, by 10am the next morning there they were on my feet strolling around the cottage.......until...........I can hardly bring myself to say it.......I realised they DIDN'T FIT....Obviously I had tried them on in the shop but short of admiring these stunners, I must confess to not really doing a great deal of walking in them, well you don't do you? Now my feet are tiny (size 4 in shoes, 5 in wellingtons), but one thing they certainly aren't is dainty! Years of dancing when younger has given me an instep not dissimilar to Mount Kilimanjaro and I think that living in flip flops and Ugg boots have splaying my feet for England, meaning that trying to squeeze my feet into anything restricting is nigh on impossible.

I'd love to show you the purple wellies but I forgot my camera this weekend so you'll have to make do with a website picture of them in black....Not my choice of colour but obvioulsy that of style queen in Ugly Betty; Ashley Jensen.

The pink Wellingtons are lovely as well, look how pretty they look with the matching bag;

I can't just leave it at that though, I really must share all the pretties, so I'll show you some of the website shots just to tempt you all a little on your way for a little virtual window shopping!
(http://www.nessbypost.com/)...

Isn't this a lovely coat? and can you spot the Cath Kidston style 'Stanley' dog in the window made out of my favourite wellingtons?

Now this lovely wallet is down on my Christmas list...with the matching bag of course in the style on the right in the above shop window.

Loving this jacket and hat together...I'll take it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A girl can never have enough fabric corsages to brighten up an outfit, especially at £4.95. Lovely little Christmas presents.

Bag anyone? There are so many styles to chose from, go take a peek........... Loving the skirt as well. Shame I haven't the legs to carry it off.

I shall finish tempting you all with this little fellow in my favourite purple tartan.....Isn't he cute? Of course I haven't shown him to give any of you 'crafty' bloggers any ideas ;-)

Happy Shopping....................................

Bigbury on Sea....

What is it about beaches in the Autumn/Winter? There is something so magical about dressing up in hats and scarves and blowing the cobwebs away. Of course the fact that I prefer beaches in the Winter has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I can hide beneath layer upon layer and not have to expose an inch of flesh ..........

Blimey, look at me here with the shrimps on Sunday, I'm almost in disguise! Apart from one nose, two hands and a few double chins the rest of me was firmly hidden away so not to scare anyone out for their Sunday morning stroll!!!, ! Just how I like it, In fact if it wasn't for the fact that salt water plays havoc with my hair (sweetie), then I'd be more than happy to let the shrimps pile me high with seaweed and fade quietly into the background of rock pools.

The location for our walk along the beach last weekend was Bigbury-on-Sea. The Island is home to the magnificent Burgh Island art deco hotel built in 1929 and extended in the 1930's. The hotel is truly stunning with beautifully decorated rooms such as these....

Isn't it beautiful? No wonder Agatha Christie used Burgh Island and its hotel as an inspirational setting for; And then there were none, as well as the Hercule Poirot mystery; Evil under the sun.

If you haven't been here before you must visit if you get the chance...when the tide is out you are able to walk across to Burgh Island and explore. When it's in, you can take this wonderful sea tractor; a monster isn't it?

The Pilchard Inn is a sweet little Inn dating back to 1336. In the summer it's one of those places that you have to get across to by about 10.30 in the morning to get an outside table for lunch!!! Once you secure your table next to the sea, you don't dare move from it as before you have so much have lifted one buttock from the bench you are sat on, you will have a family of 4 almost sat on your lap and ordering off the menu...this of course the same family that have been hovering around your table since 10.32am when you were just settling down to order a morning coffee. The other way of securing yourself a table, is to visit in October, like ourselves, when rain is forecast and the idea of sitting out in the open air isn't quite as appealing!

Obviously since I'd dressed our family up in clothes not unfamiliar to those worn during an Arctic expedition, I felt quite happy that we could enjoy the beach without moaning little girls wanting to go back to the car as they were too cold!

I think I may have slightly overdone the whole 'Big Shrimp has just had swine flu lets make sure they're both warm and covered' thing when they started to drip with sweat in front of my very eyes and light up the beach with there Rosy glows....

I love snapping away at the girls as they play on the beach (you may have noticed!!!)...Come on big shrimp, give us your best Pamela Anderson Baywatch pose......

Of course we're the Williams sisters.......

Proud mummy moment as little shrimp writes her name for the first time; so inconsiderate writing it on sand...how on earth am I meant to put that in the scrapbook?.......

Time to leave, peel of the numerous layers of clothes that of course became soaked through by the end of our walk and head back for lunch and a nice warm bath before heading home with our heads full of weekend memories, that is until we go about creating new ones all over again tomorrow.

What life's about......

Sometimes we just need a little reminding......

Loving Rosie.......

Now sometimes being the semi-professional shopper that I am, I see something and just HAVE to have it, so when I fell in love with the over sized sweater that the model was wearing on the front of the latest Cath Kidston magazine, I just had to track one down.....There was no way that I was going to let this little beauty sell out before I could snuggle up in it on a cold autumnal day.

First stop the website....Imagine my heart palpitations when I saw those words next to the stock levels....... S-M being NO followed by M-L; NO.................... How could this be? they've only just come in?! This followed a call where I was told that there was a waiting list for this beauty and they had all been sent out to those on the waiting list leaving a grand total of NIL in stock!!!! Now I was really struggling with keeping my breathing under control...doesn't Cath realise that I HAVE to have one........................NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With Mr Shrimp working from home today and able to watch the patient, I was relieved for a few hours of my nursemaid routine to hot foot it into our nearest CK store. I arrived 5 minutes before opening but not wanting to look like too much of a desperado, I casually looked around a nearby shop at least long enough to let the staff turn the lights on and get there coats off.....just....

OK, OK, Act casually, start by looking at the bags near the door...now the dresses...now for the sweater.......WHERE THE HELL IS IT????? There must be some mistake, they've got to have it!!!!.................Phew, there's one hanging up behind the till.....As my breath quickens, I try not to break into a sprint in a bid to get to it when..oh god...I spot the dreaded note; "On hold for Mrs X until Thursday lunchtime"...... For a split second I 'almost' considered breezing up to the nearest assistant and announcing that I was Mrs X coming to collect the sweater I'd put by....Could I do it? Could I live with myself? No I couldn't, as much as I really wanted (did I say wanted? I meant needed), this divine Rosy little number I was born with the 'honesty gene' that meant that If I would have done I'd have had to return to the store minutes later to confess to all that I am indeed Mrs Shrimp, and the said sweater could only ever possibly belong to Mrs X!

"Do you have any Rose sweaters in stock that aren't out on display"? I ask hopefully. Well, it was as if I'd asked if everything in the store was 70% off today! They all looked at each other laughing before replying "We wish..... until they get anymore stock in we have been told that we're not allowed to buy any for ourselves and it's causing us much distress as you can imagine, we all want one".................Bugger, now I knew I was in trouble....

Then as I thanked her anyway and began to walk away she added as an aside; "We do have a delivery coming in soon though that should all be unpacked by midday, you're welcome to pop back if you'd like to.................If I'd like to?..............crikey she obviously didn't understand how getting my mitts on said sweater had now become a matter of life or death for me...I wasn't going to sleep at night until I had one. Either that or she was planning to casually lose it amonst the piles of stock until she was allowed to buy it for herself.

I really couldn't be bothered to hang around all morning just to buy a boring old grey sweater, so I went home! Ha, had you going there didn't I? Can you imagine anything less from me, I forced myself to look around all the shops, admiring all the beautiful Christmas decorations that had started arriving in all the stores and at 11.59 and 55 seconds hotfooted it back to the shop full of anticipation that I would indeed be leaving the proud owner of 'Rosie'.

"We've had around 30 boxes in and haven't unpacked them yet but I'll check the list of stock that's arrived if you'd like me to". What a lovely lady, must be because I told her how lovely she looked in the dress she was wearing! (she did). As I stood there waiting I tried my absolute hardest not to purchase;

.....one Bucket bag - £40,

.....two scarves - £90

........and a new dog bed - £40, therefore convincing myself that if the sweater did for some miracle appear in her hands as she descended the stairs then it would be an absolute bargain as I'd have actually made a saving of £95.00 on what I was 'just about' to buy!

My heart sank as she came down the stairs empty handed shaking her head telling me that they hadn't been sent anymore unfortunately....watching the customer stood in front of her just about to collapse in a weeping heap on the floor drowning in disappointment , her face broke into a broad smile as she casually added..."But I have just found a medium/large in the stock room"............................................................ Well, I could have kissed her there and then...obviously she has now become my all time favourite CK shop assistant replacing the lovely American lady that always looks totally gorgeous in all the clothes and as a sideline busks by Bath Abbey with a voice like an angel (absolutely amazing singer....if she was on x-factor she'd win hands down)....... I feel a little bad with my lack of loyalty but needs must where Rosie sweaters are concerned.

Now I was after a Small/Medium but to be honest I'd have taken elephant size by this stage and just admired it in a drawer. Due to it's over sized/slouchy nature it wasn't a problem anyway, it looked even better on than I'd imagined (hardly looking a smidgen like the model on the magazine cover). I almost refused to take it off and asked her to scan in whilst on me, just in case someone grabbed it from my hands on the way to the till from the changing room.

Determination you see ladies, is the key,..........there was no way on god's earth that I wasn't getting that sweater! Now the hard bit, explaining yet another purchase to Mr Shrimp..I mean he'd hardly not notice it with those beautiful roses staring him in the face.........

Lessons on how to break the news of having just spent £75 on a sweater.

1. Check he's in a good mood (Why what have you bought? will be the reply but don't let that put you off your stride).

2. Think of something quite expensive, i.e a new dining table. (What on earth for? will be his next reaction), don't worry though, it works honestly, I've tried it!!!

3. No, just joking, ONLY a sweater, just thought I'd mention it.

You see, that way he'll be so relieved that you haven't spent hundreds on a dining table he'll be thrilled that you only bought a sweater.

So there you are, one happy lady sat typing away here with the most comfortable, pretty sweater she could ever have dreamed of hanging in her room. Not to everyones' taste I'm sure, but to this lady a dream!

NB. No fellow Cath Kidston shoppers were harmed or trampled on in my quest for 'Rosie'

This little Piggy......

................has been extremely busy since Wednesday night trying his absolute hardest along with myself and Daddy trying to give 'Big Shrimp' as much love and as many cuddles as we can to get her through the Swine Flu that she has somehow caught.

Swine Flu is something that we've all heard about and many of you have experienced and I must say that until I came into direct contact with it, I had no idea just how horrible it is. As a mother, there is nothing worse than seeing your child so ill. I'd do anything to be able to take her temperature of 40 degrees +, her shivers, her aches and pain away. I felt so completely inadequate as a mother when for the first 3/4 days she'd cry out in pain that her headache just wouldn't go away and she couldn't open her eyes or even listen to a little tv........

Then there's the 'Tamiflu'....Of course before giving your child a medicine that is still fairly new you want to make sure that you're doing the right thing. When she became violently sick when taking it (one of the side effects) I started to do some research...I was even more confused...was I making her better or worse by opening those capsules, mixing with Jam and telling her firmly that it would make her feel better soon?!

As I type, she's missing a birthday party that all her little school friends have gone to, a fancy dress party she was so looking forward to and had her costume all ready for and the present bought and wrapped. She's tried SO hard to get better in time, but it's just not happening!! Poor thing misses so many parties with us being away most weekends.

Talking of school, how terrible do I feel that as she was the first confirmed case of Swine Flu within her school. A letter has gone out to all the parents warning them to watch out for symptoms (A standard county council letter)! Blimey shrimp, you've only been there a month and you're causing trouble already! ;-)

So little lady, Mummy demands that you make a full recovery soon......Oh and don't pass it on to your sister.......I need to sleep!!

The wheels on the bus............

A few weeks ago during our weekend spent at the cottage, we decided to re-wind time a little and participate in the Kingsbridge Vintage Bus Day.

It was fabulous to hop on board these beautiful old buses dating back to the early 30's and motor around the picturesque coastal villages making up the South Hams. An added bonus was that the whole event was totally free and no pre-booking was required.

2009 marks the centenary of the Great Western Railway's first bus service in the area which first ran on the 1st July 1909 between Kingsbridge and Salcombe. The network grew across the South Hams reaching many small communities along narrow Devon lanes. We all thoroughly enjoyed visualising what it would have been like all those years ago with the buses being the only method of transport to access such remote villages.

There were many open mouths and looks of admiration as we tootled along the lanes in these fine buses! There were also a few close shaves when meeting other buses along the way bringing the traffic to a total stand still whilst some expert reversing skills were put into practise.

We loved motoring along the coast in our old bus looking out to sea....although these old buses without ventilation made for a rather warm journey...look at big shrimp's Rosy cheeks here!!

We stopped off along the way to pick up passengers and for short breaks, which gave us time to have a good look at the bus we were travelling on....

You can just imagine turning back time to 1934 when this bus was built as it arrived at the bus stop to take you on your way...........

These buses were beautiful, I loved all the curves...not like the angular things we have today...these truly were a work of art............

We had some great memories of the day and big shrimp took some pictures of her day to take to 'Show and Tell' the following week!

Before the crowds decend.......

For me, I love nothing more early on a Sunday morning than walking the dogs with my family at our local beach at Thurlestone. This Sunday was no exception and I think it was the prettiest I'd seen Thurleston look for a while. The water was calm, the sun was shining; all this at the end of September!!!

Now that big shrimp is a fully fledged school girl (and yes, I'm still finding it hard to come to terms with), our weekends are even more important. With the pressures of everyday life and a down turn in the economy, it's so easy for the family unit to start to break down a little, with more parents having no choice but to work longer hours in an attempt to pay the bills and we are no exception. Weekends for us before we bought our little cottage often consisted of me 'escaping' for a few hours for a bit of 'me' time usually mooching away in Bath, having spent every waking hour (usually starting around the 5am hour) with the little shrimps. I just needed to see other adults!!! oh and of course the SHOPS!!!We'd then juggle the jobs and the childcare for the remainder of the weekend.

Before I had children of my own, I was delusional in thinking that I'd still be able to get all the cleaning/gardening/shopping done with them around....I laugh at that now, how on earth did I think I'd do that with two very demanding children in tow?! The reality was that shopping would have to be done either at the weekend or at 8pm in the evening, housework at the weekends and gardening...well, whenever I had a spare minute in the evening or at the weekend. The level of tiredness that having two tiny people brought and the fact that for nearly two years between the two of them Mr Shrimp and I only got a maximum of 5 hours a sleep a night, just added to that feeling that the years were passing by in a bit of a blurr. Whoever thinks that when you have children, life is all about watching daytime TV is way off the mark, this has been the hardest (but most rewarding) job I have ever done.

Now that five years later I am coming out other side, with big shrimp at school full time and little shrimp at Pre-school several days a week, I now have the luxury of TIME...Time to do the chores whilst they are away from me and time to do the cleaning and shopping during the hours they're at school, which all these years later, means we have our weekends back....and boy do we appreciate them and make the most of every single second.

Being able to re-group as a family every weekend, somewhere away from our usual home (where as you know, there is always something to do) has been a godsend, a luxury that I am more than aware we are very lucky to have. Board games on a Friday evening (yes we now have a TV there but that doesn't mean it has to go on), have become a tradition, a new favourite being Domino's which is great for big shrimp's introduction into the world of Maths (not a favourite subject of mine).

Most of all we love our walks along the beaches, the dogs are also more than happy with their new life running along the beaches with the girls, dipping their little paws in the ocean before realising they're much to 'precious' to consider getting their coats wet!!!

Big shrimp loves to practice her school words in the sand with her special pen (a stick)! then watch the waves wash them away. What a lovely way to learn to write...writing in the sand with the sound of waves all around her; sure beats a pen and paper accompanied by the sound of Cbeebies in the background! Little shrimp just loves walking along in everyone elses' footprints....

Only a child could venture into the sea at 8am before it has been warmed by the sun! I can see the attraction though, look how clear the water is...

Of course mummy is expected to be on hand immediately with a complete change of clothes x 2, towels and hot chocolate to warm them as soon as a wave catches them unawares and soaks them from the top of their heads to the tips of their toes! How can I stop this though?...sisters....best of friends...sharing these wonderful experiences together.

So for now we will continue to walk along the beach every Sunday, enjoying the sunshine for as long as it lasts, replacing it with bracing walks through the winter months dressed in scarves, hats and wellingtons...........oh lord, I've just remembered how my daughters have the inability to comprehend that if they stand in the sea in their wellington boots that there is a strong possibility that the waves will lap over the top...leaving mummy to deal with wet boots, socks and VERY cold red swollen toes.......Oh the joys of motherhood!!................I wouldn't change it for the world!

Sailing to Salcombe....

Nothing beats a sunny Saturday's sailing to Salcombe...

Salcombe is a lovely little town and there is nothing better that arriving in this busy little town by water instead of by car. Don't get me wrong, I love the little walk from the car park, past the boat sheds and little shops, but arriving by water is wonderful, especially on such a gorgeous sunny day, in mid September.

I love sailing past everyone, out 'playing' on the water.....

....and admiring such wonderful yachts like this. The shrimps nicknamed this particular yacht; 'The Killer Whale'. I can certainly see why. Isn't it beautiful? It reminds me of a wonderful period of my life spent at the Hong Kong Yacht club out on the Gold Coast aboard a 100 ft yacht. On Sunday mornings we would get a whole group of friends together and sail from the Gold Coast to Repulse Bay.....happy days! Believe me if ever you feel the desire to live in Hong Kong as I did in my young, free and single days, the Yacht Club is the place to be....sunshine, beautiful boats but most of all SPACE and the feeling that you can actually breathe; something I struggled with on Hong Kong Island amongst the skyscrapers, noise and fumes!

Look at this Lifeboat from the 1950's, I wonder how many lives it has saved over the years? The stories it could tell.....

I've always loved boats and being near the water I guess that comes of being a Pisces! Hopefully over the next few years we'll get a boat of our own and be able to do this every weekend. The shrimps will learn to sail at Salcombe on a Saturday morning when they are a little older and hopefully we have many happy days ahead of us spend poottling about on the Estuary.....

Sailing in towards the town you are greeted by this ....

Oh my, behind these buildings, I can spend many an hour mooching in Joules, Crew Clothing, Fat Face, White Stuff, Musto, Henry Lloyd, Jack Wills, Sea Salt to name but a few, and all on one tiny road, Fore Street....also all the lovely unique gift shops tempting me to open my purse and BUY!!!

We settled for a Salcombe Ice Cream, oh..now they're good! and then relaxed here at The Ferry Inn watching everyone sail backwards and forwards to the beach across the Estuary at East Portlemouth on the little ferry.

Big Shrimp enjoyed herself no end watching everyone passing us by as we enjoyed coffee and juice..

...but couldn't wait to get back for a little face painting at the quay.............

Now I just want to do it all over again this Saturday!