Thursday 31 May 2012

Tweety tweet tweet

After at least 18 months of twitter, I think I've finally got the hang of it! I still don't have time to keep up during the working day, but it's starting to be enjoyable and useful. Even better, I'm actually communicating with other people...


Sunday 27 May 2012

A spot of greenery

I wasn't going to grow any plants this year - having moved from a house with a garden that I was pretty rubbish at maintaining, I thought I'd have some time off.  Most of my pot plants have gone on long-term holiday to friends' houses. Until this afternoon, the only outdoor plant I had was my purple-leaved Japanese maple tree:


But this beautiful weather is obviously getting to me as I've started to daydream about other plants. It's too late to really grow anything from seed, so I wasn't going to indulge myself... until I went to the DIY/garden centre this afternoon on an errand. I couldn't resist:

My hoard: three different chilli plants and three different tomato plants.
Unfortunately, I was in a bit of a rush and discovered when I got home that one of the tomato plants was a BIG variety. This may not go well because (a) they're going in a window box so tumbling plants would be better, and (b) because I don't really like big tomatoes! I guess I'll have to use them in my cooking instead of salads.

Ten minutes after arriving home, the plants were re-potted and in their new home...



I blame Nome at NomeGrown and Lucy at Attic24 for too many inspirational plant posts :)

Friday 25 May 2012

Wonderful food

Do you take pictures of your food?

I don't know if it's the improvement in technology (my mobile phone is automatically a pretty decent camera), or a change in my way of thinking now that I'm blogging and attached to other social networks, but I seem to be doing it all the time...

post-cycling beef wellington this weekend

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Viewing the world on two wheels

Not quite my normal eight wheels of choice...


The London bike scheme, more commonly known as "Boris Bikes" after the mayor of London who (I'm presuming) was integral in setting it up.

Now, I'm not really a cyclist, however, I've been saying for a while that I wanted to have a go on one of the Boris Bikes, and now I can say I did it. I might even do it again, within the "safe" environment of a park at least...


Thursday 17 May 2012

How to live well?

After allowing myself to get stressed over several things recently, a friend pointed me in the direction of Zen Habits.

The guy running it seems to have a clear, sensible philosophy:

"Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness."
Taken from the Zen Habits blog

I'm feeling inspired!

I'm going to take one item from his "how to live well" list to focus on for a short while (maybe a week, maybe three) in an attempt to become a little more relaxed and generally happier!

First focus: You need very little to be happy. Finding the small joys in life - clean laundry, a pretty notebook, a text from a friend, etc. I will be looking for these things and appreciating them :)

Wednesday 16 May 2012

How hard is it to dress?!

You'd have thought I was quite an easy shape to dress: almost six foot tall and kind-of skinny (not in a model-skinny way, but relatively slim). However, that couldn't be further from the truth!

In a month or so I've got a fun evening out with the girls planned; it's a bit of a posh event so we decided it'd be fun to buy a new dress. Not being one of those girls who loves shopping and feels comfortable spending hours in a shopping mall or department store, I was a bit apprehensive. As it turns out, it was quite a laugh, and included a well-timed cream tea break to recharge our batteries!

Monday 14 May 2012

Sightseeing the fun way

If you're ever visiting London (and you like skating) I seriously recommend joining the lfns (London Friday Night Skaters) on one of their jaunts around the city. Contrary to their name, they actually run up to three organised and marshalled skates a week, with varied routes. I've been about four times now and have skated over to the new Olympic Stadium, past the corner of Leicester Square and all sorts of other exciting places.

This Sunday was brilliant - it's the first time I've been in a while and the sun was shining for the first time in about a month!

Sunday 13 May 2012

Sunny days

Will be out on these later. It's been aaaaaages since the weather was this good :)

Friday 11 May 2012

Pretty window shopping

It didn't take long for me to "break" - after three ballet lessons wearing leggings and a top I was heard to be uttering the words: "Maybe I should buy a leotard..."

Of course, this threw up more questions than it answered - can I really face wearing a leotard and pink tights at my age?! Where can I buy one? Will I feel stupid trying them on?

And then I started an absent-minded internet browse. I didn't realise how many different designs there are - it's a far leap from wearing a regulation (and not exactly stylish) dusty-pink leotard for grade lessons as a teenager! So I got carried away (as usual)...

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Lazy day bank holidays

Sometimes we make a really effort to make the most of three-day weekends: maybe a drive to Wales or the Peak District to go hiking, planned visits to friends (especially those with babies - there seems to be more of them all the time!), making sure we have some quality time.

Sometimes, however, the luxury of three days off work kind of evaporates before you eyes - driving here and there for different errands and social engagements can leave me feeling drained rather than refreshed.

I hate that feeling when, rather than flowing into each other, plans seem disjointed. I've loved catching up with my old school friends, trekking round Ikea looking at pretty house stuff and running the sound in church, but I'm left wondering where the time went!

And I didn't even do any exercise (unless you include trying to lift a sofa into a car...).

Friday 4 May 2012

Good intentions


That's right - I laid out my running gear, ready to head out either this morning before work (yeah, I know that was pretty unlikely!) or when I got home. It didn't happen. Ho hum.

On a brighter note, I've managed all of my planned fitness sessions this week: ballet, body conditioning, swimming and karate (the first time I've been hitting people in while). Hurrah!

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Dressing up

Some people don't seem to ever attend fancy dress parties. I quite enjoy a spot of fancy dress, and I take it quite seriously. Not with a serious attitude, but I like to make a real effort!

(I've got to say, whilst trawling for pictures of me in fancy dress, I was shocked at the sheer number there were! And those are just taken in the last four or so years...)