Thursday 31 October 2013

Happy Halloween!

Earlier in the month Lovely Indeed posted about ten scary things which I loved because I've been thinking about scary things a lot this year.  Happily this year I have overcome one of my fears; flying!  I would work myself into a right old lather about getting on a plane but now I can't wait until my next flight.

Here are 10 things that make me say 'eeep!'

  1. When we move into a new house for the first few weeks I get really paranoid about fires and escape routes.  I will dream about the house being on fire and will have to get out of bed to check.  This all sounds very dramatic but as soon as I have my escape routes planned out I'm fine.  When I told our friend Ian about it he thought about it for a second and declared that no he wasn't bothered about fires but would worry more about the house being haunted.  Love it!
  2. Slugs.  For someone who owns an allotment this is a bit of a weird one but they make me jump every time I see one.  I'm getting used to them but I will never like them.
  3. Never achieving an art career.  Can't keep putting that one off...
  4. Family or friends dying.  But that's a given right?
  5. Getting food poisoning.  I am so paranoid about this one because I am super vomit phobic, I can't even see it on tv.  I pick over food and rarely cook meat myself, fish has to be cooked to within an inch of its life before I will eat it.
  6. Beaches at night, they're just creepy.... at night.
  7. MozzyMr being knocked off his bike, I sneak reflectors onto his bike when he's not looking (he doesn't think it looks cool) I also try to buy him fluorescent jackets and arm bands etc.
  8. Horror films, why why why do people enjoy being scared like that???  Give me a whimsical film any time (I know how wussy that sounds).
  9. Mould.  I have put this on the list and taken it off several times because I know how rubbish it is to not like mould.  Seriously though wtf mould?  It is dirty and pointless and can make you ill and represents all things off and decaying.  Nah keep it.
  10. Mega crowds and not being able to get out of them.  I love going to London and other large cities but have a limit on crowd time, after a while I have to escape and have quiet time. Ugh.

Well that's me, how about you?  Have a Happy Halloween everyone :)




Wednesday 30 October 2013

Life lately

1 and 2. This beast is such a sweetheart, little Mewster is such an awesome little cat to live with!
3. Digging out old treasures to sell on ETSY, I am a hoarder and I didn't know :/
4, 5 and 6. I am loving watching autumn roll in.
7. Sat on Falmouth Quay eating a pasty and drinking a ginger beer with this baby seagull as my chum.
8. Actually enjoying the heavy rain we've been having, is that weird?  I just think it's pretty.
9. Preparing for tomorrows strike action, more info here


10 and 11. Attending Ruthie's hen do, with Big Lebowski  dress up, bowling and a butler in the buff.
12. Celebrating my Birthday, hazaar!  My lovely colleague decorated my desk with balloons and confetti!
13. Birthday messages from little kids = awesome!
14. Birthday prize: a new pet portrait to add to the collection, this one is actually very good.
15. Birthday celebrations... raspberry gin, delicious, many shots were consumed, surprisingly no hangover!
16. Hanging out in London with this pair, MozzyMr and my brother.
17 and 18. Opposite the studio where we saw The Drowned Man and the mask worn during the production, little did I know when I took this that I was about to be come obsessed with that play and promptly book two more visits.


Sunday 27 October 2013

The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable

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MozzyMr and I have returned from a weekend visiting my brother near London.  We drove home this afternoon through the "storms" (what you mean rain?  Rain in Autumn Shocker!), and I'm writing this because I can't get to sleep and in any case I thought I would let you know about the AWESOME play/production we went to see on Saturday night.

For the last few months my brother has been waxing lyrical about a production by theatre company Punchdrunk called The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable.  He didn't give many spoilers away and I will try not to either because hopefully all of you near (or indeed not so near) London will go and see the production because truly it is amazing.

You will notice the absence of photographs in this post because for once I was actually enjoying the moment rather than photographing it.  The production is set in an old Royal Mail sorting office across four floors and you are free to roam the sets whilst the acting takes place around you.  You are given a white mask to wear throughout which signposts you as a member of the audience but also helps to create anonymity, eliminating that awkward feeling of being up close to the action.  If you want you can follow one or more of the actors or alternatively you can have a poke around the sets to discover clues to the storyline.  As part of the experience you are told to ditch your companions and explore on your own, I wasn't massively keen to do this myself and wanted MozzyMr to come with me.  I was let out of the lift on the basement floor with my brother whilst Moz was held back in the lift and taken to the third floor. My brother quickly disappeared (he has seen the production several times before and had a plan of action to follow so scuttled off to pursue it) leaving me in the dark, on my own and pretty pissed off.  I roamed about for ages not coming across anyone just creepy sets and dark corridors, moving up a floor proved a good plan as I found my first cluster of action, from that point onwards I went with the flow and fully immersed myself in the production.  The production is three hours long, as we were part of the first group to be let into the building we had the place to ourselves for what felt like the first half an hour or so.  I explored the sets until I found a pocket of acting taking place and started following one of the actors from one set to another, with 600 audience members roaming the floors it was surprising that I came across MozzyMr and my brother a couple of times throughout, but I left them to it and went off to explore elsewhere.  At one point one of the actors took me by the hand and led me to a side room which he locked behind him, for a couple of minutes the story continued just for me, which was weird, but amazing.  The attention to detail throughout the production is stunning and this little aside was unexpected but totally made the evening.

I appreciate that I haven't gone into much detail about the actual comings and goings of the production (I wonder if my brother will frown about me telling you about the aside??), for one thing I don't want to spoil it for those of you who might go, but secondly because of the freedom to roam and explore the experience is so unique to the individual, I came away with an entirely different view of the production from those of my brother and MozzyMr.

Go, seriously just book the tickets and go, I am planning at least one if not more trips back before the production run finishes.

Friday 25 October 2013

Happy Friday

Ooooh third Friday in a row, check me out!  It has been a long week and I am off to the big smoke for a weekend with my brother, lots of museums and theatre, lurverly.

We all feel this right?  Especially when that alarm goes off and it's only Wednesday.  Not to worry folks it's Friday woop!

Another representation of 'alarm has just gone off face'.

Me!  This is me at work!  I don't mean to be sarcastic but when you tell people that A+B = C and they look at you funny and then ask... so if I add A to B yeah?  Will it equal C? Yes, yes it will............

Argh when will the third series be on????
Whatever you're up to, have a good weekend folks! x

Friday 18 October 2013

Happy Friday

I'm not going to lie to you... this Happy Friday has a lot of cat gifs.  I hope you like cat gifs, if not Happy Friday anyway x

Lots of bad animal instagrams to be found here!

Please, please click this link for 13 problems you often encounter at Waitrose

Just a hamster enjoying some broccoli... as you were.

First of the cat gifs folks, brace yourself!


Boop!


Well I'm off to a hen do this weekend which I am very much looking forward to, whatever you're up to I hope you have a goodun!

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Halloween love

Ok so we're a little way off Halloween but it is always good to be prepared, here are my favourite ETSY Halloween finds for your delectation...

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9


Sunday 13 October 2013

Allotment geekery

It has been a good year on the allotment and we're pleased with what we have managed to grow. There is definitely room for improvement, next year we are going for volume especially with broad beans, carrots and parsnips, but that is next year.  In the past month or so MozzyMr and I have been working hard to preserve as much as possible because last year too many tomatoes and beetroots went to waste.

Preserving beetroots is easy if a little time consuming.  MozzyMr and I aren't mega fans of pickled beetroot so we went down the boil and freeze route.  Boil the beetroots in slightly salted water for two hours (!) once done dunk in iced water and rub the skins off (love this bit, huh huh huh huh so satisfying).  Once properly cooled dice or slice, bag up and freeze.

As you know we have been making a lot of tomato sauce, which is lovely but can be a bit samey. This time we roasted our tomatoes with garlic (home-grown of course), a bag of the frozen beetroot and dried oregano.  Once wazzed up the sauce was a beautiful raspberry red, and once sieved it was super smooth I can't wait to use it as a pizza sauce.

Friday 11 October 2013

Happy Friday

Gosh another Happy Friday, I'm enjoying this!  This Happy Friday is dedicated to that Friday feeling...

Leaving the office and all the associated nonsense behind.... You do not exist to me.

I can't deny this is how I look when I take that first sip of gin on a Friday night... aw yeah.

Friday... the gateway to the weekend and catching up with Breaking Bad.  I am late to the party on this one but I am love love loving it!  If you don't like Breaking Bad well just enjoy a picture of Aaron Paul in a pink jumper holding a puppy.
Dang this dog can rave.
Before I head off, I want to say a big THANK YOU to all my real life and online friends for all your lovely comments and support over the last few weeks.  You're all awesome, don't go changing.

Enjoy the weekend you lovely people xx

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Pesky rib

As I am sure you are well aware by now 'the cold' has been dragging on for some time now (8 weeks) I had reached the coughing and hacking stage (my fave) when *pop* the rib that was already causing me loads of trouble felt like it shifted mid cough.  Now I'm not even sure that can physically happen but that is how it felt, immediately afterwards I couldn't move for pain down my side.  Hobbling around hunched over and looking like an old lady is so where I am at right now. 

To say I am fed up with this state of affairs is understating things somewhat, especially as I find myself in bed, immobile and bored once again.  This is a whinge with no real purpose, I just have to suck it up, rest and wait for things to improve, but seriously, gah.

Saturday 5 October 2013

Allotment geekery

Well a full week back at work following two weeks off has been a shocker.  I am now on week 8 of the cold, I was fine for the first half of the week but then things really stirred up again and I have developed a delightful, chewy cough.  We went to the allotment for some fresh air, resting up did help but it hasn't helped enough to rid me of this damn virus entirely (I am SO frustrated with this damn cold now) it was absolutely knackering working on the plot but totally worth it.  I hadn't been to the allotment for at least four weeks and the weeds were taking over but I managed to clear about half of them today, here are some of the highlights from the plot...

Baby carrots!  I thinned these bad boys out so the ones left in the ground have more room to grow ready for later in the season.  MozzyMr cooked these up this evening and they were just so tasty, if you grow just one thing grow your own carrots they are lush!

The polytunnel is still nice and warm so we have lots of tomatoes coming along, there is no doubt growth has slowed down considerably but we are still bringing home bags and bags of toms.  In fact we are quickly running out of room in the freezer for all the tomato sauce and soup.

Before this little patch was weedtastic (you can see some of the evidence in the wheelbarrow to the left) but now the leeks and parsnips have the space to spread out and grow.  The leeks won't be ready until there have been a couple of good frosts on them but I should be able to pull up some parsnips soon.  I'm hoping some of them will keep in the ground until Christmas.

The last of the runner beans, once they die off we will cut them back to ground level but keep the roots in as they are beneficial to the soil.  Today was the first burning of the season, unfortunately all of the lovely dry material we had been saving for months got soaked in the epic downpours we've had over the last couple of days.

Dried mustard seed pods.  I kept these in the ground as it has been so warm and sunny, the plants have died back and dried enough for us to take them home and remove the little black seeds.  Chuck a teaspoon of mustards seeds into warming oil, when they start popping add your onion to fry or other veg and the little seeds will add a lovely flavour to your meal :)

I love the little curly stem on this little squash!

Only one of my pumpkins survived this year but happily we have a medium sized pumpkin ripening in time for Halloween.  The raised beds on the back quarter of the plot that we took over in December have struggled with a lot of weeds, it needs to be thoroughly dug over which is a job for the autumn and winter.

Friday 4 October 2013

Happy Friday

I haven't done a happy Friday post for a while, I know it has been a bit of a shitter week for a number of my friends so this post is for all of you who have had a crappy week.  I hope it cheers you up!



LOL!


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