25 Random things about me
1. My son is convinced that I am Nigella Lawson! No complaints about that misconception here - whenever he sees a picture of her in one of my cookbooks he goes “oh look there’s Mummy!” 2. I like to knit but am incredibly slow at it. I have several WIPS (works in progress) all on the go at once. I’ve finally finished a pair of baby booties I started over two years ago….
3. I shaved my head when I was 21. I got quite a lot of female attention because of it!
4. I also had a labret piercing and a nose piercing. I LOVED my labret until the skin started to grow over it from the inside ewwww.
5. I spent six months in Tonga during my gap year working in an International primary school.
6. Most of the travelling I’ve done was before I was six years old. My folks too k me to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania when I was four. We spent six weeks in Australia trying to get visas for Vanuatu when I was nearly five and then six months in Vanuatu before they sent us home again. 7. Because of spending so much time in flip flops while in Africa & the Pacific when I was so little my feet spread and are consequently very wide.
8. I was shot at in Uganda and had to hide under the bed while the shots rained past the windows! Being only 4 at the time I didn’t think much of it.
9. I’ve had a whole troupe of red ants walk all the way up my front, over my shoulder and down my back. Luckily I didn’t get bitten.
10. My first job was in a fish and chip shop.
11. I’ve also worked as an artists assistant. That was probably the best (paid) job I’ve ever had - cups of tea, radio 4 and two dogs at my feet while tracing drawings for children’s books.
12. I used to go gay clubbing regularly when I lived in London.
13. I am fascinated by drag queens.
14. I went to an all boys school just as they were going co-ed. Initially I was one of only five girls in the whole school!
15. I used to be scared of computers - then I go and marry a computer geek!
16. I love baking and if I’m having a bad day it really cheers me up.
17. I used to be slightly obsessed with Michael Stipe.
18. I also used to be similarly obsessed with Eddie Vedder. My best friend snogged his doppelganger when we were out one night - I’m still not convinced that it wasn’t really him.
19. I would love to be a wedding organiser/planner but am scared of bridezillas!
20. I’m still amazed that my bridesmaid Anne and I made all the flowers for my wedding for less than £80. I think they looked pretty awesome.
21. My son was born at home in a birth pool in the living room after a pretty darned quick drug free labour. It’s definitely the thing that I’m most proud of.
22. I have double jointed thumbs and would freak people out at school by getting them to pop them in and out.
23. I also have fairly odd looking feet with a very high instep. Apparently they would be great for ballet as I can stand on demi-point for ages.
24. I’ve lived in five different flats in five different areas of Edinburgh in the last five years.
25. I’m amazed that I managed to get to 25 things! oh and I love the smell of fresh laundry and washing powder. Maybe I’ve missed my calling and a job in a launderette would be my ideal vocation??
Really?
Is going paperless in the kitchen *really* a paradigm shift?? This strikes me as seriously over thinking the problem. Stop buying kitchen roll. Use cloth instead. Was that so hard?
BABIES - Trailer (via rmwinge) Stunning trailer. Can’t wait to see this! Josh loves the cheeky goat at the end.
Empathy v Sympathy
JB tried to explain the difference to me but I don’t think I really got it until I read this. No offence JB! I think I get it now and yeah I *really* need to work on that one!
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. Rumi
Dairy free for me
I’ve recently been reading about veganism, raw food and the rather unpleasant health problems that may be associated with consuming dairy products. So to spur me on a little I’m going to try and blog a bit about trying to eat less dairy and more raw fruit & veg. As an omnivorous and enthusiastic cook I don’t expect this to be easy, but I’m determined to give it a go. So today - day 1 - I consumed the following:
Breakfast - two marmite rice cakes with tahini & green tea
Lunch - Hummus & grated carrot sandwiches & black coffee
Mid afternoon snack - (not dairy free) Chocolate brownie & tea with milk
Dinner - Bean casserole with brown rice sprinkled with vegan parmesan (!)
Soya yoghurt with blueberries
I’m lucky enough to have a corner shop that I now find stocks several kinds of soya milk, yoghurts, vegan cheese & other meat/dairy free alternatives. I can report that the Provamel blueberry soya yoghurt was delicious - very creamy and tasted much naughtier than a conventional yoghurt- yum!
Not too shabby for a first attempt although I may have to try a lot harder when it comes to finding something to replace my beloved Green & Blacks milk chocolate.
Cars - Tractor Tipping (via RAWRxITSBRITT)
Tractor Tipping on Vimeo (via Vimeo)
Winter Manifesto or how we deal with cold days
One of my favorite blogs www.Soulemama.com has a winter manifesto posted at the moment - I thought I’d follow in a similar vein and jot down a few things that have been getting us through these cold and snowy days:
- Hot chocolate with squirty cream after a good ole romp in the snow.
- Baking and lots of it. Namely the divine jam shortbread from Tessa Kiros’s ’Apples for Jam’ and currently the very kitsch but cute “Love Buns” from Nigella’s ‘Feast’.
- Snuggling up inside Josh’s igloo tent in the living room with piles and piles of books and blankets.
- Watching endless episodes of Postman Pat and Something Special.
- Colouring,drawing, sticking and glueing - we made a ‘Frosty’ the snowman picture yesterday. It’s Awesome and I am so proud that Josh made something so accomplished!
- Trips down to the park to check out the icy snowy patches of ground (good for pretend ice skating) and looking with amazement at the frozen canal as the birds skate precariously over its surface.
- Lots and lots of playing trains and cars.
- Using the Mariocart Wii steering wheels to ‘drive’ round the flat at “great neck speed Mummy”.
- Playing with the sand in the kitchen. Trying to keep it on the tarp but failing miserably and then finding a sheer film of sand over pretty much everything even after hoovering.
- The Museum. Oh where would we be without it! A trip out of the house pretty much guaranteed to make Josh a very happy boy. He can whoosh around happily and gets to press lots of buttons and play with trains. What more could a small speedy boy want?? Oh and it’s free and warm and indoors. Bonus!
So that’s what we’ve been up to - keeping warm and hibernating mostly. So what have other people been up to I wonder? How do you beat the Winter blues?
