Mrs. B Challenge 40 - 36 Cake Decorating

So here is Challenge 22

36 - learning how to decorate a cake

In lockdown my mum bought me a beautiful bouquet of cupcakes for my birthday from The Bouquet Bakery and I loved them, they are so clever and look so amazing - and taste great too!

Since lockdown this wonderful small business has just gone from strength to strength and now they offer classes so you can learn how to pipe your own bouquet.  The classes are seasonal and each bouquet is different.

My friend Kat and I booked on to one of the Christmas sessions and we had the best evening.  We learnt how to pipe roses, poinsettia’s, pine cones, drop flowers and leaves!  I never thought I would be able to do it, but I’m very proud of my creation.  We also learnt how to present them, wrap them and we had the opportunity to buy the complete kit to give it a go at home too.

Roz was welcoming, friendly and the class was paced just right.  We were given the cupcakes ready baked to decorate, all the equipment was provided and away we went!

I’d totally recommend this class and can’t wait to go on the next one!  I also recommend purchasing the cupcakes from The Bouquet Bakery for all your cake needs.

 TTFN, Sammy xx

Mrs. B Challenge 40 - 20 Flower Arranging

Here is challenge 21!

20 - Flower Arranging.

We attended a brilliant workshop with 

Claire’s Floristry where we made a beautiful arrangement inside a pumpkin!  I was invited along by my friend and we had the best time.  The venue was perfect, held at the Groundlings theatre in Portsmouth, lots of space and a brilliant bunch of people.  

We were given our pumpkins and set to work, we did the carving and clearing too.  Next up was the biodegradable oasis for the centre of the pumpkin and then the most important bit - the flowers and foliage!

Claire is so knowledgable and passionate about her business and flowers and it really shows.  I will also say she had the patience of a saint with all my questions and not understanding directions hehe!  We had two designs to choose from and Claire talked us through step by step and I’m so so proud of my creation!

Claire is holding other workshops, so do go and find her on social media and have the best time!

TTFN, Sammy xx

Mrs. B Challenge 40 - 28 Make a piece of jewellery

Challenge 19.

28 - Make a piece of jewellery 

So this one was inspired by my boss, after Christmas she went off to a days workshop and created a beautiful spinner ring.  I’m so pleased she did, as I had no idea where to start with this challenge! Jo introduced me to 

Hampshire School of Jewellery and I’d been watching their website for a while and waiting for a workshop to come up.

Kat and I saw a spinner ring workshop and decided that was for us and away we went!

The school is based in Basingstoke in a beautiful workshop space, with more tools and teaching than you could shake a stick at! We were directed for each part of the process and supported all the way through and I loved it!

We both chose to have two ‘inner’ spinners, but they were shaped differently. We learned some amazing skills and had the best day. Tea, coffee and snacks were provided, the knowledge of the tutor was excellent and I absolutely love my new ring.

Thank you Hampshire School of Jewellery we really had a fun day!

On to the next challenge….

TTFN, I’ll keep you posted! 

Sammy xx

Mrs. B Challenge 40 - 18 Take a Belly Dancing Class

Challenge 20.

18 - Belly Dancing

I LOVED this one! Totally pushed me out of my comfort zone and it was fabulous.

Rather than traditional belly dancing, we went along to an Awaked Belly Dancing taster session with Fiona Penfold and it was great.

The taster session was really that, Fi talked us through what it is and how and why and the history and then we went ahead and did an hour of dancing. It was intense, it was enlightening and I guess very awakening!

When Fi posted she was doing a 3 hour session on lionsgate, I knew we had to go along! This time a few of my moon sisters and my step daughter came along too. It was a much bigger session, and it was just fabulous!  Fi leads intuitively, it is not choreographed and we totally went with it.

I would recommend to anyone who is interested!

On to the next adventure…

TTFN, I’ll keep you posted!

Sammy xx

Mrs. B Challenge 40 - 4 Cold Water/Wild Swimming

Challenge 18. 

4 - Wild Water / Cold Water Swimming 

We started this last year, around June I think, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never really found the time or the inclination! Have always wanted to join the cold water dip on Christmas or New Year’s Day but never quite got there!

I was given a nudge in the right direction by my lovely step daughter who also wanted to try and my friend who dips regularly.  Kat runs a breath work, meditation and cold water dip session once a month, you can find Kat 

here and she goes all manner of other wonderous things! 

Lauren and I went along to Kat’s class and it was fabulous and we’ve been hooked ever since.  

We dip once a week usually and attend Kat’s class whenever we can (including uh the pouring rain at times!) 

We have dipped all through the year, including January! We did have most of Feb and March off due to sickness and holiday, but we got back on it in earnest in April.

May this year, we invited more family and friends to join us and founded our own small group, the ‘Frozen Fannies’! We have still been meeting most weeks and I just love a dip in the sea.  I will also drag anyone in that I can with me and my best friend and niece have joined me too!

Currently the water is around 18 degrees, so it’s not classed as cold water swimming, but rest assured we have definitely endured the temperatures below 15 degrees which make it a cold water swim!

This is definitely a challenge I will keep up and funnily enough, I’m actually craving the cold water at the moment, the warm is nice - but I like the shock!

TTFN, I’ll keep you posted!

Sammy xx

Mrs. B Challenge 40 -16 Visit Stonehenge

So challenge 17.

16. Visit Stonehenge

So if you’re going to visit Stonehenge, when better to go than with 6,000 other fabulous people and watch the sunrise on the Summer Solstice!

My soul sister, Jeannie at Sole Care Healing suggested this visit at the beginning of the year, I knew I was fully in!  Jeannie is a very special friend, with some very encouraging ways 😉 but no encouragement needed for this!  We were also joined by our moon sister Abbey for the ride.

We left at 1am ish, no real sleep, although I did go to bed for an hour! We had some closed motorways to deal with, but we were finally on the way!

We arrived about 3.15am and I was so impressed how organised it was - I wasn’t expecting it at all. But portaloos, coffee vans, all sorts! We parked in the car park and walked down to the stones. It was dark and eerie, as it was foggy, but the feeling something special was going to happen was there too.

We got to the stones as it was still dark and the moon was high in the sky. The feeling and the energy was unreal. We were able to go right up to the stones and go within the inner circle and it was magical!

We met up with two of Jeannie’s friends, who were also visiting and settled in to watch the sky, the sun and soak in the atmosphere.

It was a tad foggy, but the sun did put in an appearance and the party atmosphere continued! We went for a wonder around the stones, touched them, felt the energy (boy did we feel the energy!) and really soaked it all in.

Yes we did have our capes and crowns on! A girl’s gotta keep warm somehow! 

All too soon it was time to make the way back to the car, ready to grab breakfast on the way home. It was such a wonderful morning, such an experience and I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to go back…. In a few weeks 😉

TTFN, Sammy xx

Mrs. B Challenge 40 - 3 Phantom of the Opera

Challenge 16.

3. See Phantom of the Opera on the stage. 

We’re well in the swing of things by now and if I hadn’t said before, my two best friends have lists of their own now!  So we all have differing lists, but we do have a few shared adventures/challenges and this was one of them.

We booked this back in January, and we tried to do it on a budget as much as we can, because London shows are not cheap! We booked seats in the balcony, but the best/most expensive ones for that section and were  right up the front (restricted leg room, but not an issue for us with short legs!) and we managed to book the train well in advance for a super cheap return too.

We packed a picnic for the train and started the day as we meant to go on!

We had a fabulous trip around Harrods, looking at AAALLLLL the shoes and jewellery and those luxury things. We of course had a fab time in the loos!

As I’m considering this the start of birthday celebrations (Katy reaches 40 this year in October, before Kat and I follow suit in May) I booked us a surprise - afternoon tea at Brummus, the Haymarket Hotel, opposite the theatre. Thanks to Mr. B who found this spot! 

We again found some fantastic loos!

Then it was on to the show!

Our seats were fab, the show was epic and none of us managed a dry eye! It was such as amazing performance, such a production and I’d recommend it to anyone!

We meandered back through the hustle and bustle of busy London, dressed for the Jubilee, and made it back to the train station.

And drank our water for the journey home, we are nearly 40 after all 😉 


TTFN, Sammy xx