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.