Life Lately #3

A little catch up on my life lately…

Bonfire night

I’d been waiting for an excuse to wear the ridiculously furry hat that I’d picked up at the Pembrokeshire County Show, and bonfire night was the perfect occasion. We jumped on the tram to Chorlton and grabbed ourselves a spot on the green which had been surrounded by a cheery bunch of little food and drink stalls for the night. We’d already had dinner before we came out but Darren couldn’t resist a cheeky hot dog!Children happily whizzing sparklers around, the nip of the air on your nose, the excitement and the anticipation of waiting for that first rocket to go off…I love bonfire night.   Although this wasn’t the biggest of displays, it was still beautiful, and it was good fun to spend the evening out in the cool fresh air with our friends, craning our necks to the sky to marvel at the show. I find that I enjoy experiences so much more when I have other people to share them with.

We’d taken with us a flask full of a hot toddy to keep away the chills – a blend of whiskey, ginger wine and honey. I don’t normally like whiskey at all, but this was gorgeous. I’d highly recommend it – just warm about 3 or 4 shots of whiskey with about half a pint of green ginger wine and then add a good dollop of honey to sweeten it up. Mmmm.

Misty mornings

As ever, rowing training has continued in earnest. However all training came to a halt recently when the whole city was covered in a blanket of mist. We can’t go out on the river when it’s too misty as there would be a real risk of us crashing into something or each other, so we had to hope that the mist would clear eventually.  I think there’s just something a little bit magical about the mist, so I couldn’t resist sharing these photos.

We (the three coxes) sent the boys off on an 8 km run, hoping that the mist would have gone by the time they got back. As the day warmed up the mist gradually lifted, and the boys arrived back from their run as sweaty messes. Inevitably their run had turned very competitive with them all sprinting back trying to out do each other. Muppets.

Non-stop cheese eating

Following the amazing Cheese & Wine Evening we went to a couple of weeks ago, we’ve been continuing our love affair with cheese, cracking it out at every possible occasion. Most people would bring beer or wine to a house party…and whilst we did bring a keg when we went to our friend Martin’s house for his birthday celebrations recently, we also brought plentiful supplies of cheese. As soon as we brought out the cheeseboard, people were all over it. Birthday cheese is definitely the way to go! Who can resist?

Finding my inner artist

I always hated art at school. I just never felt that I could get my work to look perfect and that always left me with a great feeling of dissatisfaction. My whole family felt my grumpiness when I had art homework to do! I love looking at other people’s art but just hated trying to do it myself.

So when my friend Lorna suggested going to the late night opening of the Manchester Art Gallery and wanted to get involved in an art workshop, I wasn’t overly keen. However I went along, and actually really enjoyed it. The theme of the evening was tranquility and de-stressing and this really did completely relax me. A far cry from the art homework of old.The atrium was filled with comfy cushions, art materials and lots of little bits and bobs such as shells, leaves, feathers and pine cones as inspiration for us to start drawing. Lorna got down to work on her more abstract piece, whilst I used a shell as my starting point. Before we left, I couldn’t help myself from taking a wander round a few of the halls in the gallery. I’ve been here lots of times before, but I could look at these beautiful pictures time and time again.

Geeky reads

As a biology student, The Selfish Gene was pretty much compulsory reading and I’ve continued to make my way through several of Richard Dawkins’ books over the years, enjoying his very readable style. In a bid to learn a bit more about the man behind them all, I’m currently reading An Appetite For Wonder – Dawkins’ memoirs.My cosy nights in recently have involved my big snuggly pink dressing gown, a scented candle gently burning, The XX’s relaxing melodies on loop and this big hardback book. Perfect down time.

I think I might go and snuggle up on the sofa with it now. Please let me know if you have any good book recommendations. I’m always looking for more things to read!

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