F I V E

So this is a fairly big one (anniversary that is)... Today marks five years since I started blogging.

Say whaaaaaat?

I've managed to keep writing and posting regularly (ish) for five whole years.

Yup.

If you'd have told me, back when I was but a young thing of 24, that I'd still be doing this five years later I'd have laughed you out of town. I know that blogs aren't really diaries but they are an ongoing record, a log if you will, of what I'm doing and how I'm feeling, so that's what I'll compare it to. When Mitch and I packed up all our worldly possessions to move to Peckham I came across about 5 years worth of diaries (1998 being the earliest) and do you know what they all had in common (except for terrible handwriting and rather cringey but hilarious outbursts on young teenage feeling)? I never wrote anything in them past April. I'm all eager and dedicated in the those first few months then something happens around the second week of April, enthusiasm wanes and I apparently can't be arsed anymore. Calendars, for the most part, suffer the same fate. Why I do this I have no idea. And if you go by my track record this blog should've come to an ubrupt end back in the middle of April 2011 but, it didn't :)

I know it's been a bit quiet around here the last few months, posts have been sporadic at best, what can I say, I've been busy; the kind of busy that's not really worth blogging about to be brutally honest. That's life, I guess. I've been busy doing life.

Every anniversary this blog (and me to an extent) go through a mini transformation and this year is no different. On account of me living life and generally just getting on with things, I predict that the posts on here will continue to be few and far between but then that's just one of the reasons why blogging is great. I don't feel the pressure to update it all the time but I know it's my little plot on the internet to return to and cultivate whenever I choose to do so.

In case you find tumbleweeds blowing across this thing or you simply must know what I'm doing, I'll most probably be here, snapping away like the instagram addict I am, or here (I'd somewhat fallen out of love with Twitter but I think there's something to be salvaged). Do come and find me :) All that remains to say is: thank you. Thank you for reading and commenting on my adventures over the years, the community aspect of blogging really is the best thing about it and you, my friends, are ace.

Brighton highlights

Last weekend I went to Brighton, mostly to support some friends running the half marathon but also to mooch about the sea front and eat fish & chips. Having been to Brighton not that long ago, I had a pretty good idea about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do (namely wander around the laines, go to the beach and find some nice pubs - all of which, I can happily report, were achieved). Here are my highlights:

Our Airbnb - Aesthetically it ticked my stay-in-a-cute-terraced-house box and location-wise we couldn't have asked for a better spot, right in the middle of the North laines (a 20 second wander from 2 pubs, a cute cafe and vintage furniture market). To top it off the place had a little roof terrace, piano and the complete first season of Baywatch (which we may have watched... it's so terrible but in a great way).

Kensington Gardens - there's a lot a fantastic little lanes in Brighton but this particular street contains some gems: Snoopers Paradise, Ditto Fabrics and Family Store which is brand new and sells a selection of stuff from tees and socks to posters and patches. I made all my purchases on Kensington Gardens :)

Food - we were looking for somewhere to eat on Sunday and it was hella busy everywhere. (Advice for anyone going to Brighton on marathon day: book somewhere in advance!) We stumbled upon Silo and luckily they squeezed us in. The food was delicious and also kind of bizarro (the waitress had to explain most things on the menu) but don't be put off! Their big thing is sustainability and cutting down on waste: locally sourced ingredients, using as much of an animal as possible, brewing their own drinks, even the furniture is up-cycled. Also, the wait-staff were lovely. The second eatery I want to mention is PizzaFace. Go there or get a takeaway, their pizza is guuuud.

Pubs - there are some great pubs in Brighton, we spent time in four on this visit but my favourite was The Heart & Hand (just a hop, skip and jump from Silo actually). A proper old boozer complete with jukebox and resident cat :) plus, because the pub doesn't serve food, I think they let you order in takeaways...

The half marathon itself - a few of us settled in to cheer on our other friends at mile 7 and then 12 and a half. I've been on cheering duty for events with work and I love it. You get such a buzz when you see people smile or give a thumbs and you know your support is helping in a small way. My friends finished around the two hour mark (one even did it in 1 hr 50!) but we stayed on to cheer people until about midday. I'm so impressed with anyone who can run for that long and for so many good causes too. You can't really beat that kind of atmosphere, miles of people cheering and spurring the runners on, I can't wait to cheer at the London marathon in April. Fingers crossed the weather is as good as it was in Brighton!

February in numbers

29th: I turned 29 in a year when there were 29 days in February. Which is nice :)

8mm (approx): Bee space, which is essentially the amount of space a bee needs to move about between the frames in a hive. (Sometimes that's the amount of room you get on London's public transport at rush hour.) The bee-keeping course we started last month continues, it's still incredibly fascinating but I was slightly put off by last week's lesson on disease, there are some really nasty things out there which are devastating to bees :(

2: pancakes eaten on pancake Tuesday (so good).

8 weeks & 1 day: the amount of time between ordering and having Bridget delivered. (Bridget is our new sofa and she was worth the wait.)

13 miles: the distance my friends ran at the Brighton half marathon on Sunday. So very proud of them!

100,000: the approximate number of Pangolins that are captured and killed every year. They are one of my favourite animals and Feb 20th was world pangolin day. It was an opportunity to raise awareness about the world's most trafficked mammal. They live across parts of Africa and Asia but sadly all 8 species are endangered thanks to illegal trade. Pangolins are hunted and sold for their meat and scales, the former is seen as a delicacy in China and the latter is used in "medicine" (although there's no evidence to prove that they cure anything). Thankfully there are charities and conservationists out there rescuing, rehabilitating and re-releasing pangolins back into the wild (you can read more here) but, as illegal trade continues, so much more can be done. I'll leave you with this little film about an orphan pangolin (spoiler: he's SUCH a cutie!)...

snapshot

★ Reading: The Circle by Dave Eggers. Work's book club choice. 130 pages in and I'm liking it. Alas, my new commute means I hardly get any reading time so I think it's going to take me a while.

★ Watching: Daredevil (bloody as hell but excellent); BoJack the Horseman (I can no longer imagine Will Arnett as anything other than an anthropomorphic horse - it's both funny and surprisingly poignant); the Night Manager (so there's only been one episode but oooooh I'm hooked); Fresh Meat (again there's only been one episode but this is the last series, I have good feelings).

★ Wearing: new boots (bought with birthday money) from asos - they're v.comfy and I like that I branched out and now own boots in ox blood red.

★ Drinking: Mead! A (very) local mead brewery had its first open day last Saturday. Made with only two ingredients - honey and water - I'm a bit of a convert and reckon it'll make a nice alternative to beer every now and again.

★ Making: Mitch got me a load of liberty print off cuts for my birthday and they're the perfect size for hexagons so I thought I'd try my hand at paper piecing. There's something very satisfying about hand sewing and, much like knitting, it's not nearly as antisocial (or loud) as using the sewing machine. And speaking of knitting, I've started another jumper! The plan is to finish it by mid April so I can wear it in Helsinki :)

★ Looking forward to: the weekend, especially as we're off to Brighton. Some of my amazing friends are running the half marathon and we're going to cheer them on.

★  Feeling: more settled in the flat but I'm anxious to get all our stuff sorted and in their rightful place (not to mention putting art on the walls)! Patience has never been a strong suit of mine. I'm also feeling rather great - it's funny how a long awaited haircut can give that little bit of confidence you never knew you were missing.

green

Green is one of my favourite colours - eye colour, clothing, generally 'being' in (ie: forests, countryside etc) and, as it seems, household bits and bobs.

Over the last few weeks we've slowly accumilated hitherto missing kitchen items and soft furnishings to make the flat a more functioning home, including a toaster and frying pan. Green seemed like a reoccurring theme so I did what any blogger would do, I collected together a selection of our old and new green-coloured things and took a picture and, I have to admit, this was a pretty satisfying thing to do (I'm a big fan of Things Organised Neatly)!

Some of my new favourites include the nessie ladle (a house warming gift from my sis) and the Wild and Wolf phone. I realised after I'd put everything back that I actually have more green notebooks (I have many many notebooks) and books for that matter but meh, this was only meant to give an idea the amount of green going on. FYI, it's a fair amount.

Do you find yourself gravitating to certain colours in your home?

banana bread

Since moving into the new flat, weekends have been pretty busy - we've not really got very far with unpacking and now that we're much closer to friends and the centre of London, I mostly want to go out and do stuff. However, last weekend was, what I would call, a rather domesticated one - we did some tidying around the flat (unpacked a few more boxes), Mitch watched the football and I baked a cake and did some sewing. And it was perfect. I'll share my sewing (hexagon paper piecing in case you were wondering) at some point but for now, here's the Banana Bread recipe...

10 oz/ 285 g flour

tsp bakingg soda

a pinch of salt

8 oz / 225g sugar

4 oz / 110g butter

4 ripe bananas (mashed)

2 eggs

3 fl oz / 85ml buttermilk (or semi-skimmed milk mixed with a tsp and a half of lemon juice)

Preheat your oven at 180 degrees. Grease a 20 x 12.5cm / 5 x 8 inch loaf tin and line with baking parchment.

Measure out the flour, baking soda and salt. Combine and set aside.

Cream together the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the bananas, eggs, vanilla essence and buttermilk/milk and lemon mix.

Gradually fold in the flour mix until nicely combined. Pour into the tin and bake at 180 degrees for an hour. (First bakes in new ovens are always a bit trial and error and an hour didn't turn out to be enough for mine. I turned the heat down to 150 after an hour and 10 mins. The cake ended up taking about an hour and a half!)

Once baked remove from the oven and set aside to cool (but actually, it's best eaten a little bit warm). Perfect with a cup of tea on a Sunday evening :)