Breakfast tapas

Small plates, that way you can try all the best stuff!
😁

Nottingham

Tonight I am in Nottingham for work. We're holding a forum tomorrow at the university and it's too far to travel in the morning.

It took 4 hours to get here in the train. Then we took a taxi to our hotel. Once we were all checked in and it was past 5pm we headed to the pub for dinner and a few drinks.
We met some of the forum attendees there too so that was nice.

This is the view of the lake and sculpture behind the conference center part of the hotel when we got back:

Paddling pool

Jay came today, he arrived at 8.00am on the dot. About 6 hours after I got in from the hen party...
Even Jay's exhaust on his motorbike didn't wake me up from my drunk sleeping.

We started the day with a spoons breakfast and a mooch around town.

As usual, any activity with Jay turns into a crazy adventure. We found a handbag that looked like it had been snatched. All the things from it were all over the pavement including a load of used syringes. We called 101, put the syringes carefully into the bag and handed it into the needle exchange. We told the police where it was too.
Good deed for the day.

So, after walking around all over the place it got really warm so we headed home to inflate the paddling pool.
Yasssss

In the evening we had a BBQ more paddle pooling and watched a Sarah millican DVD as hot weather recovery.

Best. Photo. Ever.

Akua and SJ don't enjoy being the centre of attention quite as much as everyone else...

Making cocktails

Me! making cocktails!

I don't know how I manage to pull such a strange range of faces, but my hair looks awesome and it stayed up!
Hurrah for french plaits!

Roz's hen party

For Roz's"s hen do we spent the afternoon and evening in Bath Spa.

Roz didn't want to have a tacky hen party with sashes and clubbing (although, that is pretty fun!) Instead we had a really great late lunch at the firehouse then we went to Sub13 for a cocktail making masterclass.

We drank far too much alcohol but it was ace! 

After the masterclass we walked toThe dark horse bar, which requires a reservation as it's a small, underground cocktail bar. I enjoyed ending my night drinking classy gin cocktails, listening to Bob Dylan, in a room lit with Moroccan lamps and candles.

We had a very classy, but also very fun night out and it was awesome to see everyone.

The internet wins

Cycling challenge week 3- COMPLETE!

So, Today I completed my cycling challenge!
130 miles/ 210 Km.
:)
Pretty good going for someone who really isn't the biggest fan of cycling. I mean, it's fine for a mode of transport but I don't usually go out on my bike for the sake of it just to have an explore. I guess the last 3 weeks have changed my mind a little bit... I'll have to find something really epic to change my mind.

I'd been really stressing over it because my next 2 weekends are crazy so I took myself off on an epic 23K bike ride on Thursday. As you can see, it's really paid off because I have finished! whoop whoop!

I've really enjoyed this challenge. It's been a really great excuse to prioritise me time. I always find that I feel guilty when I put time aside to go to the gym or go for a run or a bike ride because there are just too many other demands on my time.
A month long challenge like this really has helped me to make time for more exercise.

I still have another 10 days in which to add to my score, and I'll probably keep up the cycling. it shaves 10 minutes off of my morning commute and the basket makes carrying all my junk around so much easier (It's obviously better for my shoulders too!) and I've lost 5lbs over the course of this challenge.
Today 2 people asked me if I'd lost weight, so I guess I've toned up a bit too!

I would do this again in a heartbeat.

I have to say though, it feels almost prophetic that it's started raining almost as soon as I finished my challenge! I did say that the amazing weather has really helped me to finish this challenge so quickly. I just love being outside when it's sunny.
This has been the best excuse to go off exploring the local area.

Only one injury too! I fell off yesterday and hurt my shoulder (So I only had one day of poorly shoulder cycling).

The Faglage table

Traff started his table finally!

When we were in America, Traff started to collect bottle tops that were unusual to make a table top with he wanted all the bottle tops to be different- no repeats.

He forgot the word for "collage" and kept telling bar tenders in America that he was making a "faglage" table.
I dread to think what faglage might actually be or could be inferred as.

However, it was hilarious so we didn't correct him.

He's been collecting bottle tops for ages as he didn't want any repeated ones and our friends have been helping too and posting the tops from all over the place. So for ages we've just had a box of bottle tops.

My Dad gave us an old garden table to use a few months ago and today, finally Traff brought a glue gun and started his project. Only 4 years in the making!

And then it rained.. so progress has been halted for today. I will post a picture when it's finished.

Hand embroidery update

So, In the evenings when it's too hot to move still I've been practicing my embroidery.

I had planned to make some samplers for people but I'm not sure what to make yet so I'm just playing.
I'm taking my inspiration from subversive cross-stitch.
I actually think I might need bigger hoop.

Anyways,  This video has all the stitches that we learnt in the session and a few more, so I'll be enhancing my making skills following these too :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKnBUa4l2k4

I think I still lack the patience for cross stitch but this might be OK...

Kitten update

I have named the kittens Babs and Bernard.
Not that they're my kittens to name. But I have anyway.

Every morning I take them some snacks. This morning I put the snacks on the fence and they climbed up for Breakfast and fuss.

Babs is the one with the orange eyes, Bernard has green ones. 

My first ever successful french plaits

I've been trying to learn to do this since Ray's graduation last year!

I finally have slightly messy but very much french plaited hair.
We shall see how it survives the bike ride to work....

I'm so proud of myself!!

Please excuse my face. It's 6am and this was the best selfie I could manage.

New nails

So, as well as finally getting my life in order and doing my blog updates etc, I've also finally had time to do my nails!

I had planned to do my nails a summertime colour. Bright pink or red. But after my cycling I am so sunburned I didn't think that would be a very good look. Matchy matchy.

So, blue and opal dust it is!

Cycling to Wroughton

Today Traff and I are both at home, so I was able to go on another long bike ride without feeling guilty that Marley was waiting at home, stuck in the house, desperate to play outside.

Traff was on kitty duty (he had a nap) and I took a leisurely 2 and a half hours to do 22k.

It's so hot today.

I didn't realize how insanely hot it is until I started cycling.

So I suspect that I am very sun burnt, but I did have peanut butter ice cream from Ray's ice cream parlour to help me stay hydrated... It was essential.

MOUTHWATERING VANILLA CARAMEL PIE (AKA THE MOMOFUKU CRACK PIE) from Make &Mess

https://www.makeandmess.com/2018/06/27/mouthwatering-vanilla-caramel-pie/

4

There are some things in life that make you curious. Like when a pastry chef says that her caramel pie is so good that it makes people addictive. She called it Crack Pie, and I thought ‘What an interesting name for a pie’, but mostly I was soooo curious if it was as good as everyone said. Actually, I experience this a lot when watching food TV (my favourite kind of TV)! And when I see Jamie Oliver throwing some ingredients onto a wooden board and doing his magic, I’m totally hooked because I want to know what it tastes like. Do you know this kind of curiosity? Let’s call it food curiosity, and that’s the reason why I baked this caramel pie.

Actually, baking has never been my strength as I’m often too lazy to follow the recipe in an exact manner. I just like to improvise, which is a good thing with cooking but a bad idea with baking. However, since I was able to afford my KitchenAid, I am practically forced to bake more, as you might have noticed in my recipes. So when I watched one of my favourite food shows, ‘Chef’s Table’ I came across Christina Tosi and, I just had to try her caramel pie. Ahem, Crack Pie.

The Recipe

You need:

For the cookie:

• 85 g soft butter
• 50 g brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 large egg
• 80 g oatmeal
• 65 g flour
• 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt

For the cookie crust:

• 45 g soft butter
• 20 g brown sugar

For the filling:

• 150 g sugar
• 110 g brown sugar
• 1 tsp. dry milk powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 120 g melted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 200 g cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• Powdered sugar to dredge

First things first! Preheat the oven to 175°C. Then prepare a baking pan with some parchment paper and grease the sides. At that make sure that the parchment paper overlaps the pan, so you can easily remove the cookie.

Time to make the crust of your caramel pie! First, mix the butter with the white and brown sugar in a large bowl and beat until creamy. Now add the egg and beat at high intensity until everything is light and fluffy. Next, add the oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt and beat for about a minute. Then fill the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it down. Bake for 16-18 minutes until golden brown, then let it cool completely.

In the meantime, prepare a springform pan or pie pan with some parchment paper. When the cookie is cooled down, crumble it into a large bowl and mix it with the butter and sugar. Grind it with your fingers until it becomes slightly sticky. Then fill it into the pan and press to the bottom and the sides to form the crust.

Now for the filling! First, preheat the oven to 175°C again. Then mix white and brown sugar, dry milk powder and salt in a large bowl. Add melted butter and vanilla extract and mix well. Then add the cream and egg yolks and keep on stirring until you have a homogenous mixture. Now fill the filling onto your prepared crust.

Bake the caramel pie for 30 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 160°C and keep on baking for another 20 minutes. Now the filling should be beautifully brown and set around the edges. Take it out of the oven and let the caramel pie cool for at least 2 hours. Then put it in your fridge overnight and decorate it with powdered sugar the next day. Enjoy!

Maaaaan, what a pie! What a rich, sweet and flavourful pie experience, and sooo heavy I could not eat more than one piece. Well, I knew that Americans like it sweet, but I was seriously not prepared for this. Everyone just loved it, and I think I might have made my boyfriend’s colleagues addicted to this….no wonder they called it Crack Pie at Momofuku! Now I definitely want to taste the original to see if I came any close. Time to go to New York!

Cycling Challenge update- week 2

I originally signed up for 100k (60 miles) but in the previous 14 days I've managed to completed 136k (84 miles).

So, I've upped my distance to 209k (130 miles) as that is the next available challenge distance. I think this actually might really be quite a challenge as with an injured foot and the weather being a bit less predictable (it has been gloriously sunny but is forecast to be pretty rainy as son as the schools break up at the end of next week).

To be honest my entire success is down to the good weather and working my compressed hours. Because when I have a day off in the week, I want to soak up some sunshine but don't want poor Marley to be stuck in, so I tend to do an epic cycle ride in the morning and hen mooch in the afternoons.
I've also been cycling to work, which is so much faster- it's halved my comment (but I'm still late most mornings because the cat is too cute and I can never find my keys). I've also been cycling to my violin lessons and to the gym!

Ray and I cycled to old tow for cake on Friday evening. I rode my old vintage bike and ended up with two flat tyres so I really did work for that dessert!

Today I cycled out to Purton Woods and around Shaw Forest. It's just such a great way to explore!

Injury!

I got glass in my foot!
:(

I have to keep it dry until next Thursday and all bandaged up then we will see what the damage is.

This has not helped my running!

Kittens

OK, to clarify, we don't have kittens technically.

Our neighbour has a really sweet tabby that isn't 'done' so it has kittens pretty much all the time. We hadn't seen the cat for a while and the kids told us it was because she'd got babies.

On monday we saw her outside in our next-door neighbours garden with her two babies.

Now, you may recall that Marley had a boyfriend.. black, fluffy, orange eyes? well, for the more Jeremy Kyle among us it looks like Marley's boyfriend was cheating on a wife and kids. he's been around to help out a bit but really he's not taking any responsibility. Maryely hasn't seen him lately either.

The kittens are really cheeky and they've dug a hole under our fence to get access to our garden. which is fine when Marley is in the house (she doesn't have a cat flap so she's allowed out when we're home but not otherwise. We experimented with leaving a window open but we just ended up with a house full of cats). but she she's out it doesn't work out well.

So, one of the kittens evidently thinks that Marley's garden is his territory so he fluffs himself up and approaches her. She made some sad, anguished noises as he approached but when he hissed at her she lost if and smacked the kitten in the face twice before I could grab her.
Then the Muma tabby turned up- but she knows she can't fight Marley and win so she just started yowling, so Marley made her whole range of weird noises and the kitten escaped.

We've been seeing the kittens bumbling about quite a bit, but we're worried now because they seem to be living in a bush in our next-door neighbours garden. The children who own the cat told us that Muma cat won't go home because whilst she was pregnant they got a puppy. The puppy is very barmy and frightens the cat.

So, this cute furry family have been living in a bush for a week now. Today I rang the RSPCA for advice and got none. Actually, they couldn't have been more unhelpful.
So we don't really know what to do...

Felt cacti instructions

My mother thinks my cats destructive plant eating habits are so amusing that she's sent me this from a magazine.

I'll probably have a go at them next time it rains...

Melon farming

It's so hot outside that I've been growing my watermelon in the back garden and they're doing so well!

Most watermelon.. or melon actually.. are sterile, so you can't grown plants from the seeds. So last year when I first tried this I had no luck for ages and then suddenly, loads of luck.
This year I started- my first water melon on the season- was a giant moroccan one and they seem to work.
I planted all the seeds from the melon and ended up with 10 viable plants.

I also planted the middle from a honeydew and ended up with one viable plant.

I posted last week that my honeydew plant- which is a monster now and as tall as the breakfast bar, had loads of flowers on it. Now the watermelon plants have flowers too. I was a bit weirdly disappointed that all melon flowers are yellow. and daisy sized. I think I was expecting them to be more epic, like a courgette maybe.

 I really don't know how I'll keep them alive through winter, but if i do manage I might have fruit!

Suggestions for over wintering are very welcome. we don't have a greenhouse and whilst our house is really lovely it can be draughty in winter because of the chimney. add to that a cat with a need to sit in any container and our plants don't stand much of a chance. She even ate one of my cacti.

Cycling for Mind

I'm pretty sure I wrote on here that I'd started this challenge, and during the second week I received a parcel.

I had a lovely letter of encouragement and a tube-style scarf to wear to keep bugs out of my mouth (tbh, I think I've consumed more protein during this challenge than ever before. I have swallowed so. many. insects.)

I think I might try wearing the scarf for roller derby, as my helmet keeps meaning my forehead all spotty as the fabric is super lightweight, but at the moment it's just sat on the coffee table as I feel it's first use should really be on my bike.. but it's too hot for any additional fabric!

I will wear it before the end of the challenge!
I am determined!

I realised after receiving this letter that I've never actually taken part in a formally organised sporting event before. So this is all new.
I'm so pleased and excited about a scarf... imagine what I'll be like with a medal...

SUP

sorry, I've been a bit hopeless at updating this lately. To be honest I've been so bust that I always think "yeah, I'll do that tomorrow" and then never quite get there- So, this afternoon is dedicated to updates!

Last weekend Traff and I went paddle boarding at Brogborough Lake. I love paddle boarding and it makes me sad that there aren't any really good places around here to go. So every now and then I force Traff to accompany me to the other side of the UK.

We were so lucky, the weather was perfect, the water was warm... It was so relaxing.

After paddle boarding I wanted to try an opportunity that I saw advertised on the way to the lake- One of the fancy hotels in Middleton Stoney (The exit off the A34 before the M40, directly after BP)
This hotel:
https://www.themanorweston.com

Has an offer to "dine and dip" so for the cost of a £10 bar snack you can swim in their pool all afternoon (that's pretty good as most lidos are £5 or more each to get in). I was totally psyched for swimming because it was so hot, even thought it meant putting my wet swimming things back on. but when we got there there was a wedding and the pool is right by the wedding lawn. So we chickened out and just ended up going to the chequers for food. We ended up there once before, I cannot remember why but their food is incredible.
So, if you do "dine and dip" dine on something small so that you can gorge yourself senseless at the chequers just down the road.

We both ended up hideously sunburnt, but it was definitely worth it!

Thomas's 1st birthday

Bbq

Bike adventures week 1

I'm taking part in the 'challenge the norm' cycling challenge set by Mind.
No sponsorship required, you just pay £20 to enter and it's done.

I was going to sign up to do 120 miles but ended up chickening out and only signing up for 60. Which is pretty much 100k.

This week I've managed 25 k between Monday and Thursday afternoon. So I'm 1/4 of the way to my target.

In the end I'm a bit grateful I'm only doing 100k. The weather is so hot it makes me feel like I'm melting!

If I can do 200k as an unofficial target then I will and I'll know for next year to up my game.

Making the most of the heatwave

I've moved my melon plants outside as they're quickly getting far too big for the kitchen window sill.

So I've potted them all up with some garden canes to grow up and left them outside to soak up some sunshine.

It was all too much for the honeydew. It's gone all wilty but the watermelon are loving it!

New basket

I was going to reattach this to my bike, but it looks like Marley has different plans for it.

Hand embroidery course at the Makery

A polite recreation of a subversive cross stitch!

I enjoyed making this much more than I had expected!
It wasn't easy but I learned lots of handy tricks.