CHRISTMAS CAKE

Yesterday i decided to bake a christmas cake.
I have only made one cake before and that was about ten years ago.
TA DA here is the result .
All i have to do now is add more sherry each week then decorate it.
I am not good at icing so hope that goes well ,will post pictures of decorated cake when done.

FRIDAY THRIFTY FINDS

A few thrifty finds from my afternoon charity shop job I do on a friday.

I also got two whit muslim panel curtains for my bedroom window

A book to read and a white double sheet for the house in France ,all for the grand total of £5.75.

Beginners cushions

I am decorating my bedroom at the moment,lots to do .

I am going to shabby chic all the bedroom furniture .

Paint shelves and i have bought nice crisp white bedlinen,ignore the brown cover only put on while painting.

Soooo i have made new cushions for my bed cant believe they turned out okay.

The large white ones are bought ,i am not that good lol.

And the cows have came o visit in the field beside our house.

Woop Woop I hope they eat all the nettles at the side of our garden.

Save me going the length of the field to strim them lol

The view is from Rebeccas bedroom window

LIVERPOOL TRIP SEPTEMBER 2009

MONTE CARLO CANNES AND NICE TRIP OCTOBER 2009

GIANTS RING

THE GIANTS RING IS A HENGE MONUMENT AT BALLYNAHATTY NEAR SHAWS BRIDGE BELFAST PRESERVED BY VISCOUNT DUNGANNON .                                                               

IT CONSISTS OF CIRCULAR ENCLOSURE 200M IN DIAMETER SURROUNDED BY A4METRE HIGH EARTH BANK .

IT IS NOW A STATE CARE HISTORIC MONUMENT                                                                         

IN THE CENTRE IS A TOMB MADE UP OF FIVE UPRIGHT STONES AND A LARGE CAPSTONE,THE BARE FRAME OF WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY A CHAMBEREDGRAVE

OPENING TIMES      MARCH-OCTOBER 10AM-4PM

APRIL -SEPTEMBER  10AM-9PM

ADMISSION FREE

                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                           

A CYCLE TO WORK THE SCENIC ROUTE

I bought nyself a new bicycle and for the past week i have been out and about on it.
I know the weather and timing is all wrong for cycling but so far i am enjoying it
So i have taken a few photos of the scenic route i took to work.

Met my dad and his friend on their morning walk my dad is on the right sporting his Barcelona cap lol

Not forgetting the new bike of course

MY KITCHEN

BEAUTIFUL VENICE

Oh what a lovely time i had in Venice
I fell in love with this beautiful beautiful city within the first 5 minutes .
I think i would class it as the best city i have ever ever been in.
We walked and walked forever.
And i didn't find it all that expensive not like Rome,we stood at the bar and had our coffees like the Italians do and was so much cheaper than being served outside.
Our hotel;l was on the mainland with a 20 minute bus ride in every day ,basic and very clean and for the price was just brilliant.
The sun shone at 30degrees every day ,we went to the lido by boat for the day and another day we went by bus down to lido De Jeselo.
And then came home to Northern Ireland where of course it was raining nothing new there then.
Although even though i was away i was disappointed to miss the tall ships in Belfast apparently the turn out was amazing ,a great event by the sounds of it
Oh well maybe they will be back again soon .

FIVE DAYS IN VENICE

Roll on next week
We are off to Venice for five days
I have been flipping unwell from i came home from France,two weeks now and only just picking up.
Visited doctor yet again with same symptoms for the past 8 years finally getting somewhere could be arthritis or fibromyalgia but she is sending me to see someone about it all.
Thank goodness as two days out of last week i couldve done with a zimmer frame lol .
I could hardly get downstairs never mind walk with the pain,picking up now and although Venice was booked for purely sightseeing i am rethinking and if weather nice i am gonna relax on the beach instead .well that's the plan we shall see how it goes.
AND A big and if partner is as grumpy as he was in France i will take his passport and leave him stranded in Italy ha ha (AND I WOULD TOO HEE HEE)
Sun a few good books not to mention a few nice cold glasses of wine will go down a treat i am switching off from any moans and taking it easy
Rebecca will be in Barcelona so me is being selfish for once and looking after me for a change.
Cannot wait.

I GOT CRAFTY

I had bought my partner a sewing machine for his birthday present as he likes to sew and so far I have only let him thread it as i have commandeered it lol.
I bought material in the charity shop that i work in for 75pence and made four of these tea towels and four napkins to match.
I was really pleased with the way they turned out ,i know my stitching is not perfectly straight but not bad for a first practice.
They are washed and pressed and in my suitcase already for going to the house in France in July.
I cant wait lol

LAGAN VALLEY TOWPATH PART ONE

A LITTLE BOAT MOORED UP BY CUTTERS WHARF PUB
After i had finished work we decided to go for a walk along part of the lagan valley towpath.
The towpath starts at stranmillis lockview road carpark and goes through to lisburn ,a total of 11 miles ,we only walked to the gate keepers cottage and cafe at shaws bridge which is there and back a total of 4 miles.
We will then next time we go start off at shaws bridge carpark and see how far we get then rejoin it another day until we get to lisburn

HAVE A DRINK BY THE LAGAN IN CUTTERS WHARF PUB /RESTAURANT

AFTER WE HAD WALKED THE MASSIVE 4 MILES TO LOCK KEEPERS COTTAGE AND BACK LOL

THROUGH THE FOREST

OVER THE BRIDGE

THE FIRST LOCK

The first lock is now the site of Belfast Boat Club

SOME ART WORK ALONG THE WAY

DUCK DERBY DUE TO TAKE PLACE

To celebrate 300 years anniversary of Shaw's bridge

The present Shaw's Bridge was built 300 years ago from the ruins of Castle Carn once situated at the site of Malone House.

CAFE BESIDE THE LOCK KEEPERS COTTAGE
We had lovely cake and coffee here and there was live music also two girls singing they were very good.


SIGN POST

SWAN AND DUCKS ON THE CANAL






THE START OF THE TOWPATH AT STRANMILLIS 11 MILES WALK TO LISBURN

THE LOCK KEEPERS COTTAGE AT LOCK THREE

The Lock keepers cottage was originally built in the late 18Th early 19Th century ,it has recently been restored by Lagan Valley Regional Park and Castlereagh Council under the Heritage Lottery's Funds Landscape Partnering Scheme.

It is open at certain times of the week.

http://www.laganvalley.co.uk/

KIRSTY ALLSOPS SKIP SALVAGING

I have been watching kirsty Alssop doing up her holiday home .
What a lovely home it has become and today i was walking to the shop with my friend and seen a house that was being renovated and there was all this furniture in the garden,so we plucked up the courage to knock the door and ask if they were dumping it could we have some of it.
After getting up the nerve to ask there was no one in but my friend only lives round the corner from the house so she is going to go back and ask when the lady is at home.
I hope she says yes as there is a few pieces a would really love to paint and have in the garden for the summer (that's if we ever get a summer).so i will keep you posted if i am lucky, i hope i am .
I found some nice material in the charity shop and i would love to get the rocking chair the lady has out ,it has big thick cushions so i would be able to recover them .

CHARITY SHOP WORKING

I have recently started helping out at one of our local charity shops and i am loving it so much.

I just help out in the back sorting out the donations pricing and hanging them up in the shop.

I am also lucky to get things half price if i see anything i like .

Although it is hard work as most people think its easy work it def is not but so worthwhile to help out for a good cause.

I work for 3.5 hours a week for them and i enjoy it so much I'm always surprised when its closing time.

You get such a laugh so i am now going to call my posts Friday finds and post my piccies of thrifty finds as the Americans say

Last week i met a lovely American couple in the shop buying dishes for her home in Boston and they were telling me they had such a lovely time in Northern Ireland on their holiday.

Is int it funny to hear how other people describe their furniture we would call a dresser where the Americans call it their hutch cute eh

I hope they got their dishes back in one piece as she was very worried about them breaking.

Its lovely to hear comments from travellers that have really enjoyed visiting your home country.

Although i made a mistake on Friday and put a size 12 on a size 18 coat and a lady was not very pleased as she thought she had found herself a lovely coat oops silly me (must have been talking to much instead of concentrating).

Poor lady was so disappointed and it was a lovely coat too if it was me i would have felt exactly the same way.

I did apologise of course ,but anyway moving on here is my thrifty finds

A double bed grey quilt cover for 75pence i will be taking this to France as I'm doing the bedroom grey and white.

A little white hat for Rebecca 50 pence

A black magic tin for 50 pence I'm keeping my nail varnish in this in the spare room

And off the 50p rail this skirt it is way too big for me but i liked the material and am going to cut it all down and make a skirt for myself out of it.I am only a learner sewer so i shall try my best i hope it will turn out .

Out of another charity shop i seen these for five pounds ,i just had to have them a box set of videos of Audrey Hepburn for five pounds.I hope everybody has had a nice May day and congratulations to all those who took part and finished in the Belfast marathon .

EBAY

I love EBay you will find me on it most days you can get some amazing stuff.
All in all i have had a good experience until recently.
I bidded on a mannequin for the bedroom so i could dress it up with my charity shop/eBay/jumble sale finds,bit eccentric i know but there you go that's me always looking for something to do.
I paid £98.99 including postage and he item came with a Free wig,it was brand new and retailed at £225 so i thought bargain.
Not so the next day the seller became no longer registered and i never received the item.
So i put a claim in with Pay Pal and they have now got my money back for me , i am so glad.
Hurrah for Pay Pal coming up trumps and the whole claim only took 14 days.

HAPPY EASTER

I hope everyone enjoys the Easter break off work.
I have got all tidied up in the house and we are off to Dublin bright and early tomorrow morning for the day.
Rebecca is home from uni and her boyfriend goes back to his uni in wales tonight so i thought a wee day out in Dublin would cheer her up.
I'm looking forward to it myself i love Dublin

IRELAND SIX NATIONS WINNER AND THE GRAND SLAM

Wow what a match i was so nervous when Wales were winning with three minutes fifteen seconds to go, then good old Ireland scored.
It was a fantastic result.
Well done to the Ireland team.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY

Well it is saint Patrick's day here in Northern Ireland.

I am off work today Woop Woop although i am not doing anything special, I'm enjoying a morning in bed reading blogs,how lazy am i .

Belfast does have a carnival parade on this afternoon.

My daughter Rebecca is going to a party tonight dressed as a leprechaun she is only 4foot 11 so i think she will make a good leprechaun lol .

So happy saint Patrick's day to all the Irish blogger out there ,Hope you all have a nice day x

GOING TO CLEAN THE FIREPLACE

After all the wind and rain we have had over the past few weeks our front room ceiling has leaked.

I think we need to get up and check the lead flashing.

I have quite a few old bits and pieces on my heart ,a little black old fashioned iron and a shoe last so of course the have rusted a bit with the water as we didn't notice the leak for a day or two,thank goodness it wasn't a bad leak.

So ow for the dirty job of washing the items and getting out the black lead to shine it all up,i hate doing that job but so worthwhile when ts done.

So id better get on with it as the front grate all needs done as well,at least a few hours work here.

OLDER BROTHER

I do have an older brother and i have just sent him the link for this blog to read.
I thought i had better mention him as i dont want him to feel left out lol
When he was younger he had long hair and wore a three piece suit so i am going to dads tonight to scrounge a photo to upload .
He is four years older than me married with one son Lee who is at Coleraine University studing Sport and Buisness management ,it is his first year and seems to be enjoying it.
Photo to come.

THRIFTY FINDS

I needed a little chair for to sit at the computer and found this one in a charity shop.
It was £6.00 but the man gave me it for £5.00 ,I don't like the colour of the seat but the chair itself is really nice so i will change the cover in the wintertime when i am not able to go out gardening.
I really need new curtains for the front room to as these ones where originally my partners choice ,another job for the winter.

I hate to waste the good weather when it comes so i store up little jobs for later on when the dark nights set in early.

LITTLE CHEST OF DRAWERS

I have been out round the charity shops over the past few weeks and have found some lovely bits and pieces,for£4.00 i got this little chest it has been painted but i will repaint it ideal for my little pieces of costume jewellery.

A little drawer for each earrings,bracelets rings etc and it just fits nicely in the spare bedroom.

ILove to find things quite cheap and then redo them sometimes its much nicer than buying new and also a good form of recycling.

CATCHING UP PART ONE

Well as you know i had no lap top for a while and passed my addiction on to spring cleaning the house,now that i have caught up with all the spring cleaning its back to my favourite pastime of blogging.
I have quite a bit of catching up to do so this is part one.
My birthday was on the twelfth of February and i am a twin,i have a twin brother so i found some old pictures of us in my dads house and have decided to post them here.
Here i am dressed up as a nurse.





Here is Colin dressed in his Californian highway patrol uniform.


I was told by said brother to get the title of his uniform right before i posted as i thought it was just an ordinary policeman's uniform ,not sure what age we were there.
My brother was the quiet one i was the complete opposite very rowdy and i believe i used to hit him all the time ,although i cant remember doing that.
Apparently he always said to me Andrea what are you going to do to me now.
Sounds like i wasn't a very nice sister lol.
Well he was no gentleman as he arrived half an hour before me so i was probably just getting my own back for him being born first.

FINALLY GOT MY LAP TOP BACK

Oh am i so happy,i have finally got my lap top back after it being sick for ten days.
I had severe withdrawal symptoms.
It fell off the bed while i was watching TV on it.
Then when it came back the lead was broken so spent all weekend spring cleaning my house ,the house has never looked so clean,even cleaned out all the drawers in the place and organised everything.
Its amazing what you get done when not blogging, i had to order a new lead so my friend has very kindly lent me her lead until i get mine.
Woop Woop for good friends i say.
So i am going to try and not go on the computer so much and limit myself to about two hours a day instead of all day.
Yes all day thats usually how long im on it with breaks to make dinner etc.
So i wonder will i have the willpower to stay away from it ,i hope i do cos i kinda like being organised in the house.
Hopefully the better days are now coming in because then i get addicted to gardening and theres lots to be done outside.
So i will go now and get my sleep im off work tomorrow its great to switch off the alarm clock and have a lie in

IRELAND VERSUS FRANCE RUGBY MATCH

Here I am watching the rugby match and have been told many times today I'm a traitor.
Why because I want France to win.
At the minute the score is Ireland 20 France 10 France will pick up I'm sure of it.
Every so often I wave my little French flag to support them.
My partner thinks Ive lost the plot,me thinks sometimes he is right.
Ill be back with an update.
Nooooo they lost.

BLOG AWARDS 2009

http://2009.bloggies.com/

I came across this link from a blog I read Holly Is Stopping Shopping and she had written about the blog awards of 2009.
Worth a visit if anyone is looking maybe for a new blog to read ,there is quite a few categories in there.
If anyone interested in Holly's blog Ive included link below.
.http://hollyisstoppingshopping.blogspot.com/
Holly has been on the news and has been in the local papers in Aberdeen Scotland.
It was one of the first blogs I ever came across and there is only three months to go on her stopping shopping for a year challenge,she has stuck to her guns and doe extremely well.
I love it.

CAN A CUDDLY TOY TRAVEL THE BLOG WORLD LETS SEE

I have a little idea of buying a small cuddly toy of some description and if i posted him to one blogger would that blogger post him on to another with a note to say where he came from etc.
Each time someone receives him /her they take a picture of it do a post on their blog and so on so forth.
And lets see where he shows up in the world.
I think it would be quite interesting to see .
If anyone interested in getting the ball rolling please leave a comment with your name and I shall do a draw pull a name out and that will be the first address he/she shall visit.
I shall then introduce you to the traveller in question , keep in mind i haven't bought him /her yet i want to see if there is any interest first.
So bloggers lets see how it will go .
I look forward to receiving your comments
Thank you Andrea
PS I will be buyig a small item to keep postage costs as low as possible and i will set up a list of his travels on a seperate post then when he/she arrives at his lodgings of the blogger host they can comment on their blog and here also to let everyone know his where abouts.
I think it would be something the children could join in on and have a bit of fun with, it they could maybe take the picture or something or just enjoy placing it in front of a landmark in their local town for photo shoot lol.

FINALLY GOT RID OF THE MUSIC

Well I had pictures of my bathroom and my kitchen on this blog and was really quite pleased with myself that I had managed something that required a tiny bit of computer skills.
I had put music on the slide show and un beknown to me it was jumping and played all the flipping time.
I only realised that when I turned on my volume so I had to end up deleting all my photos so I'm going to have to do it all again.
Hopefully quicker than my last attempt which took the whole night.
So please accept my apologies to any visitors that had to put up with it.
Andrea

CHANGING BLOG LAYOUT

Hello I will be changing my blog layout i cant seem to get the nice background for this one as everybody seems to have ,so i will be gradually adding it over to new blog.
So if you see two Come Here Till ITell Ye titles that is what is happening.
Iam hoping to use my memory stick to just save and copy ,if that does not work it will take a few hours to transfer by hand as i am not very good on the computer.
But i think it will look nicer.
I Love France x

MORE THRIFTY FINDS

YESTERDAY I WAS ONLY WORKING FOR TWO HOURS THEN I MET MY DAD AT THE LIBRARY.
I'M TRYING TO LEARN HIM HOW TO USE THE COMPUTER,LAST WEEK WE SET HIM UP AN EMAIL ADDRESS SO IT WAS JUST GOING WITH HIM TO SEE WHAT HE REMEMBERED THEN WE WILL GO FROM THERE.
SO IT TOOK HIM HALF AN HOUR TO GO THROUGH WHAT I HAD LEARNT HIM THEN HE SENT AN EMAIL TO MY DAUGHTER SO ALL IN ALL I THINK HE DONE QUITE WELL.
I THEN WENT ROUND THE CHARITY SHOPS ,I DONE QUITE WELL I GOT A LOVELY BLOUSE AND A REALLY NICE TANK TOP TO GO WITH IT AND A PAIR OF JEANS ,SO ONE NICE OUTFIT IN ONE GO ,I WAS REALLY PLEASED AS I DON'T HAVE TOO MANY CLOTHES, ALL MY MONEY SEEMS TO GO ON MY DAUGHTERS UNIVERSITY ACCOMMODATION ,NOT CHEAP AT £330 POUNDS A MONTH SO I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
CANT GO QUICK ENOUGH FOR ME AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT FLIGHTS HOME TO BELFAST FROM ABERDEEN AND UTILITY BILLS FOR HER .
SHE HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR A PART TIME JOB OVER THERE BUT THERE IS NOTHING AT THE MOMENT .
THE CREDIT CRUNCH REALLY HITTING EVERYWHERE AT THE MOMENT I HOPE IT ALL GETS BETTER SOON.
HAVE ANICE WEEKEND EVERYONE IVE JUST SENT MY PARTNER TO THE SHOP WITH A LIST OF ABOUT THREE DIFFERENT BARS OF CHOCOLATE FOR ME AND TO HIRE OUT
A DVD HOPEFULLY THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS ,SO IM GOING TO HAVE A LAZY NIGHT.

THRIFTY FINDS

A purple scarf for 75pence Ibought this to match my daughters purple bag that I was going to borrow from her, but its away to Aberdeen with her awh .
A little pin cushion thingy which will go in my little blogger shop when it opens,its nicer than the picture shows .
A brown hat for £1.50 still with tags on ,this will match my brown jacket i got in the sales.
And last but not least a tablecloth for my table at christmas for £1.50.
I was very pleased with my finds.

I WANT ONE OF THESE

I took this photo while in Rome and oh my I so want one ,really really want one.
My partner and daughter think I'm mad theysay I'm too old for one of these ,blooming cheek I say lol.
I couldn't afford the Vespa but I have seen a blue moped on the Internet soooo watch this space.
Never mind watch this space I think it would be watch out with me on one of these on the road,ive never been on one.
Ah well theres a first time for everything.

A WEE RANT AND CHARITY SHOP FINDS

Well my daughter Rebecca went back to Aberdeen university yesterday.she calls it Aberming don't know why as I like Aberdeen.
Soo I was very sad when I got up this morning she was home for 5 weeks and I loved every minute 0f having her, I'm so going to miss her.
I suppose some mothers would say its Empty Nest Syndrome but for the past 18months I have found It so hard with her being away, so I went to docs and am now on Antidepressants.
They are starting to kick in now so I feel can cope with It all better.
Went to the charity shops today and got a massive cushion for my rocking chair in the kitchen which Iam slowly but surely painting white.
I was very pleased as it was only 99pence cover and all,I also got a lovely suede hat brand new, tags still on it for 1.50 Ill be wearing that tomorrow.
I think it was an unwanted Christmas pressie,going to Newtownards to the charity shops after work tomorrow for a wee plunder round,hope I get something.
Ill post piccies tomorrow , also daughter has most of Rome photos on her camera which I forgot to get,so hopefully next week i can post more on that.
Andrea

OH HOW WE LOVED ROME

Well Rome was brilliant we all really enjoyed it.

We booked cheap ryanair flights from Dublin and we booked a bed and breakfast through hostel world.
I was a bit unsure what the bed and breakfast would be like but it was lovely ,the guy that was running it was so helpful he just couldn't do enough for us.
It was very cheap as we could not afford the hotel prices ,it was by the train station i wouldn't recommend staying there if you were a girl on your own as with all train stations in big cities there are the homeless sleeping on streets etc .
When we arrived and armed with my directions to b and b it was pouring with rain ,and of course i was looking for a big sign for the b and b but after walking up and down and with the help of a restaurant owner who phoned for us we found it.
It only had a tiny name plate you would have found it eventually but it needs a bigger sign.
We felt with the help of the restaurant owner it would be nice to return the favour and give him our business so we went for our tea there, nice spaghetti carbonara all round.
So fed and watered it was quite late so we took a walk through Termini train station its massive, all the shops were opened so we just browsed around and then went for a nightcap ,we all enjoyed the evening.

BATHROOM

I decided to try and get my bathroom a bit more glamorous for us girls.
Billy is outvoted as its two girls to him,he doesn't mind really he just lets me get on with it.
I got a nice silver basket from t k Max for my loo roll.
A glittery toilet seat to go beside it.
A nice french soap holder I had been wanting for ages from a little shop in Poitier on my last visit.
A candle holder from charity shop for 50 pence bargain.
A Marilyn Monroe and a Audrey Hepburn print .
I quite like it I have also bought new curtains but haven't ironed them yet Ill put them on soon.
I will have to get new flooring for the bathroom as the wooden floor has one too many gaps in it for my liking but for the meantime its brightened up quite a bit.
Oh and i nearly forgot my new mirror.

OFF TO ROME

Well we are going to Rome for three days on Monday i cant wait.
This is what my partner and I do each year for our Christmas present to each other,then on Christmas day we just buy each other something small to open.
Its going to be even better as my daughter has a reading week from uni and she is coming to WOOP WOOP.
She is supposed to be revising for exams but PROMISES ME she will do it next week mm lets hope.
The exam results will tell if she has or not, and if she doesn't do well Nice mummy will turn into an ogre lol.
So roll on Monday I hope to have some nice pictures for this blog.

BELFAST CASTLE

We were at a wedding here recently ,Belfast castle sits on Cave Hill beside the Belfast zoo
It is beautiful up here with lovely views across Belfast lough
The inside of the castle is beautiful and the staff on duty that day of the wedding were very helpful and friendly.
Well worth a visit especially on a nice summers day to take in the views and go for a walk around cavehill.
The walk through the woodland and parkland is 2.4 miles.
Access by the carpark signposted from the Antrim Road.
By bus Metro services 1a-1h (mon to sat) 1c-1e or 1h (sun)
Belfast Castle was built in 1870 it is the former home of the Donegal and Shaftesbury families.
It was given to the city in 1934 and is now managed by Belfast City Council.
You can visit the Cave Hill Visitor Centre on the 2nd floor.
The main gates have the Donegal family crest on the top of each post.
There is also a story of the castle cat can't remember how the story goes but there is a plaque telling you about it.

BLOG TITLE

There is a lot of sayings in the Northern Ireland language and my blog title is one of them.
Translated as Its a way of starting a conversation or introducing something interesting into the conversation.
Now I'm not saying my blog will be interesting but i will try my best not to bore anyone.
If anyone is intersted in the meanings of the sayings its all on the lovely lanquage of Northern Ireland website.
I am of to France tomorrow for a week so i will be back blogging soon .

BELFAST CITY HALL AND THE BELFAST AYE

This is our capital city Belfast the wheel is called the Belfast Eye but more commonly known as Belfast Aye.
Aye is slang for yes here in Northern Ireland.
The wheel arrived last year and is really quite impressive with the city hall in the background.
I went up on it last year it was lovely to see the town all lit up at night .
The Christmas markets are back again this year in the grounds of the city hall, it really is very festive, Belfast has bought new Christmas lights this year and it looks beautiful .
We also have the lovely Victoria centre which has gone all out with the most beautiful Christmas lighting ,my camera was broke so I couldn't take any photos of it ,but I'm going back to take some when i get my new camera.