The Boxing Day Walk

After the cooping up Christmas Day induced there was a real longing from all of us to go out and get some air and feel some space. We went to the beach, normally it's so special and huge and calming, but on Boxing Day it was just missing something. There were too many people. Far too many, nothing felt private or intimate any more, it's just impossible to convene with nature when brawling laughter meets you. I don't know why they bothered me when everyone was so happy. It was a beach full of love but I guess I was just craving peace. Even the beauty of the environment was lost in the grey of the sky reflected in the grey of the water. It could have felt like an incredible wilderness but with so many people, other than the beautiful clear air, there was nothing to stop it from feeling like another grey city centre full of rushing last minute shoppers. I did get some nice pictures though but in future if I want peace I think I'll head for the hills.

Christmas Baking

To me that raw gingersnaps dough is the taste of Christmas.

How to Make A Christmas Wreath

1. Go for a wintry walk in some frosty woods:

 2. Snip a small amount of whatever evergreen foliage takes your fancy but try to get plenty of variety and definitely some conifer branches, holly and ivy. Also grab any berries or little fruits that you can and any small pine cones, nuts or similar.

 3. Don't get stuck in a prickly bush whilst trying to access some particularly good ivy.

  4. Arrange you gatherings by species on the table. Beer and wine - optional. Find wreath ring, these are metal wire rings with green felt in them, you can get them from garden centres or florists.

5. Start by filling the backing of the ring with the conifer, they provide a solid green backing but are too boring to be put at the front.

6. Add some silver sparkle to your pine cones or any other little decorations that you feel would benefit from some sparkle. I used silver nail varnish but alternatively you could use regular paint or glue and glitter. Also feel free to adapt it, maybe add some red glitter to your berries, go wild with some spray paint or go for a festive colour scheme, either way - don't mark the kitchen table!!

 6. Keep adding layers to your wreath. Make sure you keep the foliage all pointing in the same direction, I favour clockwise. Work on adding the bulkier, plainer stuff as a backing, we did the bay leaves next, then the ivy intermingled with the holly and then the pine.

 7. Finally make sure you now exactly what way up it'll be handing and then add the berries, pine cones, ribbons etc accordingly. Ta da! A finished wreath, hang it up in pride of place and beam with pride!

Today

Sarah 1: Lab report 0.

Ha!

Goodbye

She was a pre-loved hamster, only meant to make it to 18 months but managed 25. I'd taken her to the vets with a tumour, she was only meant to last a few more days but went on 6 weeks. I know she couldn't have had a better life more enriched life, and I also know that it was right for her to go before she was in pain but it didn't make it any easier to say goodbye. She's kept me company when I was all alone, comforted me from homesickness with her delicate snuffles in the nightime and kept me so entertained with her merry japes and crazy cage acrobatics. She'll be a pet whose sorely missed.

The X Factor

Things have been pretty crazy for us this year. Ever since we won the competition back in July, doors have been opened for us that we never would have imagine possible. Friday evening, whilst preparing for the first of our 2 charity Christmas concerts a phone call came through asking if we could sing backing for the X Factor on the semi-final on Sunday and the final results in a weeks time in Wembley Arena. Being the president of the choir meant that it was a bit of a nightmare in terms of logistics. To randomly select that many people, get them security cleared and ready for wardrobe whilst still organising the other charity concert meant some very late nights but what an opportunity!

So for those of you who saw the X Factor on Sunday, that was us, bobbing along in the background dressed in black. If not, have a butchers:

It was an amazing day but I was just so surprised at how well we were treated. I expected it to be the kind of show where we were very much bottom of the food chain but instead we were treated like artists, and received the utmost respect and every conceivable amenity throughout the day.  I think it's a memory that so many of our members will treasure forever:

Monopoly

Has there ever been a game of Monopoly that hasn't ended in arguements? The dice ended up being thrown across the table at the alleged cheater. I now remember why we haven't played this for so long . . .

Bed Time

All of a sudden my little baby has become a little boy, running before he can walk, full of smiles and laughs and a personality completely his own. I never realised until I saw him in pyjamas. He just wandered into my room toothbrush in hand, froth around his mouth, dressed in his dinosaur pyjamas and poof the crawling baby in a onesie was gone!

Is this a transition that makes me sad, no. It shocked my yes but having him walk in chatting for 'Arah' (Auntie and Sarah seem to have merged) wanting his bed time cuddle it's completely irresistible!

Lemon Tart

I have always failed at bind baking. I've got the beads, I've got the paper, I've got the books but still I had bumps. That is until now:

Rachel Allen you wonderful woman! Your recipe has changed everything!

Zesty Lemon Tart, works like a charm every time!

On Your Skates!

I absolutely adore roller blading. The krrrr of the wheels on tarmac, the thrill of whizzing down a hill and thinking you're going to fall and die, even the raw ankle bones. I love it all. Alas, until recently, I've had to be a closet blader. There seems to be an unfortunately large amount of stigmatism for carrying on such joys in ones twenties and I'm not brave enough to go on my own, when if I fall over and can't get up? However, now I have an ally and the thrill is back! We spent our nippy November Saturday avoiding the essays by whizzing round Virginia Water. Was great fun, especially with the added sport of avoiding friendly dogs on leads, children on scooters and patches of wet leaves.

Pride

Pride of the baking variety.

Homemade sausage rolls were a great success!

A Beach House Weekend

It was really nice this weekend to escape from the smog and the grey and the M25 and go and stay on the beach with some simple pleasures:

two bonkers dogs,

a very comfortable sofa,

a home cooked meal,

plenty of naps,

and probably the most magical bit for me,

the sound of waves wherever you went

Lying in bed hearing them crash and then the screech of the shingle

is just fantastic.

All in all, I'm defintely up to dog sit again!

Shoe Boxes

Do you remember doing this at school? Filling shoe boxes with toys, woollies and cleaning products is much more satisfying than I remembered. 

I Ain't Got Nothing But the Blues

Well, that's a lie. But I am finding things especially tough this year. My research project is just eating through my time like nothing else. I start most days at 8, and other than nipping to lectures, finish at 6. It is getting frustrating as I'm aware of so many people who haven't even started yet, or who share my lab and just seem to have a day a week. Combine this with the reading required for the new completely skeletal style of lectures (not a criticism, that's just 3rd year), trying to run a club, foolishly signing up for several other clubs and trying to have a social life and I'm left with the feeling that I'm treading water, and that soon I'm about to sink. Naturally the first thing to go is my housekeeping. My laundry pile is as big as this and, I must confess, has led me to attend Uni in my pyjamas under the premise of 'Oh it's they're just my yoga kit' until my supervisor commented on just how much yoga I was doing recently:

 And my fridge is woefully devoid of anything other than long life fats:

It's time for me to seize control and the trip home really helped me me get my mojo for it back. Mr Sainsbury's has come and thankfully morphed my fridge shelf into this delight:

 And 8 loads of laundry later have magicked that monstrosity into a wardrobe full of clothes.

Well it's funny how much of a difference a fridge full of preplanned meals, a wardrobe full of fresh clothes and a tidy bedroom can make to your outlook. Now I just need to find a way of permenantly incorporating them into my juggling act and it'll be fine.

I fear that I may drop a few metaphorical balls along the way.