This Week

I have been...

• Amused by this Christmas decoration in Home Sense. It is indeed "exactly what you weren't looking for". 
• Won a book! Apparently wins come in twos :) I've won Kathryn of Yesilikethat's DIY Fashionista giveaway - the book is by the lady who writes A Pair & A Spare, which I've had in my Google Reader quite a while. It's a blog with a refreshing attitude - see something you like & make it. It's a fashion blog that's not about "buying into" looks. Hurrah for that, I say.
• Spending a lot of time nursing cups of tea and coffee while battling with Java and the Android API. Sometimes I can find the answer I'm looking for instantly, sometimes it takes an hour of re-formulating the question and repeated Googling.

•  Drinking tea! I've decided that I *do* like tea, but it's best hot and accompanied by cake of some sort. Having a pot and a small cup means it doesn't have time to get cold in the cup. The other afternoon my sister gave me a fondant fancy too :)
• Missing the Boy. All this work and freezing cold weather doesn't make me feel the best, on top of being far away. It'll be over soon and I've made a big list of little steps to get me there.
• Being visited. Yesterday I was in town while my sister was working; Boy was at a loose end and made the spontaneous decision to hop on a train down and join me. It was a nice afternoon of coffees and sofas and doing not much. Definitely made me feel better.

• Crocheting: I was wondering what to make for a friend (won't say who in case she's reading) and found this pattern for crochet cats in my "Making Things" bookmarks folder. I pulled out some soft green yarn from my stash & made this little chap. His nose is a shank button and his eyes and whiskers are leftover wool from another project. He doesn't stand up very well because his body is stuffed with old popcorn - I think it's ok though, he's just a lazy cat :) He was really very easy to make, I recommend the pattern. It's written in UK notation and requires nothing more complicated than dc2tog.
• Cooking: I made lemony chicken tagliatelle one night and a curry of assorted vegetables another, both of which I've done many times before. To go with the curry I made my first attempt at naans using this recipe but with dried coriander and black onion seeds (nigella) which I added to the dough, instead of  the chilli and fresh coriander. They turned out considerably flatter and more tortilla-y than the recipe photos but they did rest for too long and I may have under-done the baking powder.

Right, back to work! I hope everyone's staying warm & has most of their Christmas shopping out of the way :)

Another Week In Photos

Last weekend I came up to Bristol for the last round of house-hunting with S - we found somewhere!
After a week of forms and referencing we were able to get our keys on Friday. The flat is furnitureless and neither of us were able to bring anything straight away but it's exciting nonetheless.

Photos courtesy of Boy, who I took to inspect my new abode yesterday

If Boy sees a cat he must try to befriend it. He's been bitten twice this week but his enthusiasm is undimmed. I got a phonecall this week that consisted of eight minutes of conversation and ten minutes of him talking to cats. I am nothing if not patient.

I made another successful cheaty tarte tatin. It seems that cutting the slices of apple pretty thin is important. My Mum made a less successful one that looked more like a heap of crumpled apple.

I've been enjoying said tarte with coffee as relief from coding - which is itself getting less arduous as I approach the end. Cat has visited multiple times and come in at least once.

Photo borrowed from Modern Vintage Cupcakes

Yesterday morning I woke up to an e-mail from Kat saying I'd won her giveaway for the first round of the Wellington Pattern Pyramid! This lot will be on their way to me soon and I'll be holding my own giveaway in a week or two :)

This weekend I'm up in Bristol again (to get my keys). Yesterday I split my time between this new café/laundrette in Stokes Croft and Café Kino. Café @thewell has lovely decorations and decently priced food and drinks - I had a little pot of Clipper Earl Grey, and a brie, bacon and cranberry panini.
Last night I went for a curry with Boy and some of his friends, I had my first visit to the new Brew Dog bar which was good, if busy. The one cider they had was tasty and there were even a few beers I might consider drinking myself - if they weren't over £4 for a half!
Today I'm working in cafés again but over on Whiteladies Road. I'm feeling a little stuffy-headed and appreciating not having to move! Give me Wi-Fi and warmth and you'll never get rid of me.

This Week I Have...

... been amused by this sign in the local indoor market

 

... been very glad to see this beast after he worried us by staying away for a few days

 

... received postcards from my parents, and prepared for their impending return. Lots of gardening.

... baked American style apple scones

... cosied up with my crochet, a cup of coffee and Grand Designs

... nearly burnt my face off trying kimchi-fried rice

... enjoyed brief moments of sunshine amongst the torrential rain showers Somerset has experienced

... cooked up a LOT of veg curry - this has homegrown garlic, swiss chard, courgette and pak choi

... had some peaceful sewing time with Simplicity 2451 - it's getting there

... and started on the leftover curry mountain.

This Week

I thought I'd do a little picture-based round-up of what I've been doing recently using snaps from my phone. My One V really does take much nicer photos than any other phone I've had although I think the camera isn't as good as other models or Samsung or iPhone offerings. Anyway, here they are!

Left: Prior Park Landscape Garden in Bath. I visited with the boy and two other photo-loving friends. After making the mistake of not getting a bus up the hill we revived ourselves with lunch and spent a happy (and cold!) afternoon wandering around the valley. We took photos of autumnal trees and the fancy Palladian bridge and I even spotted a couple of herons nesting in a tree. After that we descended back into Bath and warmed up at Boston Tea Party.
Right: This is Catty, he would dearly love to come inside but isn't allowed as he doesn't belong to us. We've never fed him or (intentionally) let him in but he still sits on our doorstep meowling sadly at all hours. Poor silly cat.

Left: The nice old waiting room on platform 15 at Temple Meads, an unexpected plus side to walking all the way to the other side of the station.
Right: Trees outside my window looking decidedly winterish.

That cat, trying to come to Coventry with me.

My sister & I dropped by Cribbs Causeway Mall for some sushi on the way back from Coventry. Christmas is in full swing there with this very gaudy outdoor skating rink and copious amounts of lights which were switched on by no lesser celebrities than JLS

Stopping for a cup of tea and a brownie at the Folk House Café after a long & nerve-wracking day of flat-hunting with S. She & I are trying to move back to Bristol but thus far have been thwarted by competition and unhelpful lettings agencies.
The Folk House Café is a lovely place to go - it's in an adult education centre tucked away up a passage off Park Street. They do many sorts of tea (in lovely old mismatched china of course), lunchy-type food (with vegetarian/gluten-free/lactose-free options) and very good cake. The cafe isn't trying to be a vintage tearoom, it's a bit more straightforward than that but in a nice sort of a way.
It was wonderful to sit in the warm with tea & cake, looking out over miserable grey weather, with a gentle background hum of french radio. They also have free Wi-Fi :)

My sister & I got around to checking how the car is - it tells us the oil is ok on the dashboard but we've forgotten where on this stick it's meant to come to! We guessed that being in the crossed zone meant it's alright?

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day so we went down to Kilve beach to get some fresh air. We found a couple of ammonites and had a nice time wandering about & trying not to slip into rock pools. I might do a separate photo post as I took so many!

This morning I went outside to check on the greenhouse and was "assisted" by this beast. He wasn't quite so intent on getting in as usual, instead he rolled around in the sunshine and scratched at fence posts :)

Now I feel like I should have done one of these posts before! It makes a nice record of what I've been up to. Mostly these types of pictures get shared in person or via Facebook. I haven't joined Instagram because I don't need yet another social network to join & I'm not much of a Twittererer usually (@dichohecho if you care for it). Perhaps I'll make this a regular thing, any thoughts?