Sunshine in Suburbia

It's been a whole week since we officially left Brixton and thanks to the (mostly) sunny weather and warm temperatures, we've got off to a rather good start in our attic residence.

I've discovered a number of up-sides to living in Suburbia - most notably the abundance of magnolia and cherry blossom trees. It's also been quite fun re-discovering my local parks, the majority of which I haven't been to for 12 years or so. Time has treated them all rather well. Yes, they're not as great as Brockwell Park, but there are 3 to choose from and all are about 15 minute walk away. Also nice, is the quiet. Don't get me wrong, I love the bustle of Brixton but, even with the odd plane going overhead and the distant rumble of the trains, I can actually hear bird song now. Something I don't think I ever heard over the sirens, buses, traffic, our neighbours' music and people just generally shouting at each other in Brixton. Who would have thought that being able to have your window open and not go deaf would be such revelation! And, talking of revelations, because my parents have a house, they also have a substantially sized (and well-taken care of) garden! Where I can hang my washing out to dry! Seriously, it may read like sarcasm but drying my laundry in the fresh air is SUCH a luxury. I even re-construted our shoe-rack in the garden because it really is the nicest place to be. Of course, there's more than a couple of down-sides to suburbia: everything shuts early and practically nothing is open at all on sunday, we now live far away from most of my friends, travelling after the last train is seriously long - to name a few. But hey, I don't want to be too much of a negative nancy on here so let's just say I'm attempting to adapt to all the new challenges suburb living presents. On a positive note, you'll be happy to hear that Moriarty has settled in well and is the recipient of not two, but five people's attention and affection, not to mention all the extra play-time and food he's getting :)

What with being ill on Monday and Tuesday and dinner dates + late nights on Wednesday and Thursday, I feel like this week has gone unbelievably quickly but I'm not complaining. Happy gloriously sunny Friday to you!

thank you Brixton and good night!

So that's it, the cupboards have all been cleaned, the floors have been mopped and all the tiles well and truly scrubbed. Today I handed over the keys and we are officially south west londoners.

The last week has been a bit of a blur and I'm absolutely shattered. Our last couple of days in Brixton went something like this:

Tuesday evening: we made a start on the cleaning, then went for jerk chicken (plus plantains, rice and peas, salt fish fritters, coleslaw etc) at Negril's sister restaurant (I think it's called Orange Bay) - and I can happily report that the food there is exactly the same: absolutely delicious :) the only slight difference is that Orange Bay has a bar - then we went back to cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Wed: work, cleaning (mitch had the day off so he cleaned all day), dinner (at the joint), cleaning, cinema (went to see The Grand Budapest Hotel - it's good), sleeeeep. Thursday: cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, a hilarious trip back to west london with a cumbersome assortment of stuff including a Henry hoover (we really need to learn to drive). We dumped all the stuff at the house and went straight out (the weather was amazing). I took Mitch for a stroll around the neighbourhood and we ate ice creams. On the way home we met the softest, friendliest puppy called nigel, it was a like a dulux dog, only a puppy - yes, exactly, v.cute.

The cleaning has now switched to sorting - there are many boxes to rifle through and bits + bobs to organise and put away in our new room. Really hoping that this sunny weather is sticking around for the weekend so I have an excuse not to spend the whole time figuring out what a flat's worth of stuff will fit in one room...

Anyhoo, happy Friday!

moving

After hours of packing (late into the night on Friday - we are most definitely the worse kind of 'last-mintute' people), we awoke on Saturday morning ready to load all our worldly goods into Mitch's step-dad's van. Thankfully, Mitch's brother was there to help with all the heavy stuff and my dad was there to take the more delicate items (computers, TV, Moriarty) in his car. After countless trips up and down four flights of stairs, the flat was finally empty, the van completely stuffed and us all feeling like we needed a shower (certainly didn't feel guilty about not going for a run since monday). Having unloaded the van at my parents' house (their hallway and dinning room were a sea of boxes for most of the weekend) we began, v.slowly, to unpack. Mitch reconstructed our glorious bed and we've put up some pictures and fairy lights so it's looking a lot more like home now.

We took a break from stuff sorting on Sunday and I decided to show Mitch some of the local sights. As it was a rugby day I thought it best to avoid Twickenham town and instead opted for a walk around our nearest park and long the River Crane. And, as everyone else has already pointed out, the weather was glorious - I don't think we could've picked a better weekend to move.

What with unpacking and the lovely weather, I've not really had much time to be sad about not being in Brixton. Now that the flat is empty we've got the next couple of days to clean it which, unsurprisingly, I'm not really looking forward to. Serves me right I suppose for never cleaning the oven - I am a bad, bad person. On the plus side, I'm hoping we can get out to the village one night and maybe to the ritzy to see the grand budapest hotel. I'm certain we're going to need some sort of reward by the time that place is clean!

the times they are a-changing

A few months ago Mitch and I made a tough decision: to leave Brixton.

We're leaving Brixton to, temporarily, move in with my parents. Yup, I'm moving back into my old bedroom from when I was 18. I'm not going to lie, it's taken me quite awhile to come to terms with it and I have, just about.

The reason why is pretty simple: we'd like to start putting our money towards a home that's ours.

Over the last 6 months or so we've been talking about our future together (I think the proposal had a big part to play in this) - what we want to do, what we want to see and of course where we want to live. We don't really have a definitive answer for that last one but I know, pouring our money into a hole - a leaking, mouldy hole with broken windows (we've had some amazing times in our flat but it certainly hasn't blossomed in the last 2 and a half years) - isn't going to help. I'd like to put my hard-earned cash towards something that's ours, that we have a say in, that we can make into a home. Perhaps I am looking at this through rose-tinted glasses. I know, from experience, that there are many benefits to renting, but for us, the time is right to try something new.

So why move back to my parents'? I love Brixton and I love living in South London, but a combination of my average salary and eyebrow-raising rent prices means that, if we continued to rent our flat until we had a big enough deposit to buy somewhere, it would take approximately a 1000 years. My parents saw our predicament and offered to take us in until we have saved a deposit-sized amount. I have no idea what kind of state I'd be in without them and I'm so unbelievably lucky that they are letting us stay. That said, it's going to be a bit of a test, for all of us. I moved out four years ago and my parents' probably thought they'd seen the last of me - sorry ma and pa. We've all got certain ways of doing things (I'm quite messy - much to my mum's amusement and my sister's horror) and Mitch will be entirely new to all of them (apart from own habits of course). Similarly, my parents and my sister will have to get used to Mitch and his laid-back-ness (they don't believe me when I say he's messier than me - they're in for a shock). Oh, and Moriarty is coming too (obvs), so although my parents have had him to stay, will it be different when he's living there full time? Who knows. Truthfully, I'm quite excited to see how this year will pan out for us - that sense of heading into the relative unknown is disconcerting but rather exhilarating at the same time.

I can honestly say, with hand on heart, that Mitch and I got a hell of a lot out of Brixton - we soaked it all up, tried lots of new things and met new people. Yes, we're sad to leave but thankfully, with a fair wind (read: trains running smoothly) it takes 35 mins to get from my parents' house to Brixton. Plus, a huge number of my friends are all Brixton-based now so I've got plenty of excuses to visit (not that I'd need an excuse) and, potentially, a choice of couches to crash on after large nights out.

Ordinarily, I'm not a fan of change but I'm feeling a lot more positive about this move compared to a few months ago (living in a flat that is literally crumbling to pieces around you really puts things into perspective). You'll have to forgive me the odd "au-reviour brixton" post over the next month. They won't be mushy, more along the lines of my favourite places and some of the things I want to do before we leave. So stick with me, we've got six and a half weeks left and I fully intend to make the most of it :)

tree alternatives

This year Mitch suggested that we shouldn't get a tree. Outraged, I forcefully suggested we did. To cut a long story short,  I eventually (and grudgingly) acknowledged that Mitch's reasons for a tree-less Christmas made sense, namely that we'd be spending Christmas, boxing day and a few days either side at my parents' house. So, rather than condemn our little flat to a grinch-y/bah humbug type state, I set about putting up some festive alternatives... Fairy lights, a long piece of string from which to hang our christmas decorations as well as xmas cards and lastly, a paper tree (complete with paper decorations) which I stuck to the wall in the living room. To jazz it up I put a vase of fairy lights and all our wrapped presents underneath it. You can't beat a real tree but it's a pretty good and completely free alternative :)

In other news, today is my last day at work until 2014 - crazy, I know. I've not been given this much time off for christmas since I was in school! Obviously, I'm not complaining especially as it may very well turn into a half day depending on whether we come back after our christmas lunch at the pub...

Happy Friday!

happy birthday little fella

Today, Moriarty turns 1! 

(Ok, so I've never had a pet before which means acknowledging the hamster's birthday is happening.) 

The urge to knit moriarty a little xmas jumper is quite overwhelming but I just know that he'd hate it so instead, we opted to make him some new cage accessories. Hopefully, he'll like them.

That little video is actually from the summer but seeing as Moriarty tends to sleep all day and only wants be to sociable in the evenings (which in the winter means it's dark) this is probably the clearest footage of him. He's not changed much since June so I promise you're not missing anything - no radical hairstyles or neon dye jobs. 

When he came into our lives I was v.opposed to having a hamster. But now, I couldn't imagine being without him :) happy birthday little fella. 

going veggie at home

A while back, Mitch and I decided to stop cooking meat at the flat - apart from fish as I love fish a lot (perhaps the title of this post should've been going 'semi-veggie at home'...). I just thought I'd share some of the recipes we've discovered and adapted over the last couple of months, you'll have to forgive me for my extremely poor attempts at food photography, it really is a skill that I clearly do not possess.

★ Shrimp Pad Thai - It is actually heaven in a bowl (this image does not do it justice). I've made it about 5 times since stumbling across it and every time it's bloody amazing. I don't use brussell sprouts as I detest them but I've found that greens or regular cabbage works swell.

★ Veggie Burgers - I love a good meaty burger so was a little skeptical about a veggie one but this recipe is delish. I ommitted the egg and just used more salsa to combine the mixture which worked a treat. I also added waaaay more chilli powder (and some other spices) than the recipe suggested to give it a bit of a kick. Further proof of their tastiness: I fed these to a v.ardent meat eater and he loved them!

★ Tofu - I'd never cooked it before and for some reason it didn't come out that well for me. It took FOREVER to fry and although it made a perfectly acceptable veggie alternative to the king prawns in the pad thai above, I prefer the prawns. However, I've not given up just yet. I'm going to try again with tofu and this recipe seems like a good candidate.

★ Mushroom and Leek pie - adapted from the chicken and mushroom pie recipe I made back in feb. It's a winner both ways but I prefer it with the leeks. Chicken does seem to be the meat I miss the least as it's fairly easy to substitute. (Although, Mitch's jerk chicken is absolutely fabulous and I do miss that. A hell of a lot. If you have a veggie alternative to jerk chicken I'd love to have it! Can you have jerk fish?)

★ Lemon and caper pasta salad - this is a perfect summer recipe. Unbelievably quick to make, very few ingredients (most of which you probably already have in the cupboard) AND it's so easy a child could make it. Blindfolded*.

*blindfold not recommended as there are sharp knives and hotwater involved.

★ Fajitas - Following on from the 'not missing chicken' thing, veggie fajitas are the bomb. Kidney beans, peppers, onions, spices, guacamole, tomatoes, salsa, nachos - why on earth did I ever need to add chicken to it? I don't have an actual recipe for this as it pretty much consists of me cooking onions and peppers with paprika, chilli fakes, pepper and a cajun mix, heating up the beans and then bunging them both in a wrap with all the other aforementioned ingredients. Idiot proof and YUM.

I'll share some more of our veggie (and fishy) favourites soon - hopefully with some half decent pictures. In the meantime you can peruse more fabulous recipes on my food based pinterest board.

Moriarty

This is Moriarty.

Two weeks ago, whilst at work, I called Mitch on my lunch break. Almost the first thing he said was: "Guess what I've just bought! A hamster!" Apparently he'd been thinking about it for a while but had of course failed to mention it to me, because "you'd have said no!" Which is true. I'm not going to lie, I  was pretty annoyed that I hadn't been consulted. However, as soon as I got home and met our new resident I was smitten. I've never had a pet before, my sister is allergic to animal fur so pets were a no-no when I was little and at uni I was, for most of the three years, unable to look after myself let alone another living creature no matter how small. A lot of my friends had hamsters when they were younger so it sort of feels like I'm a bit late to the party. But, as the old saying goes, better late than never.

He's not your typical brown and white hamster (as you can see), his fur is more grey in colour. V.shy when when he first arrived but I think he's used to us by now - letting us feed and handle him. We got him a ball to run around the flat in - which he seems to love.

When he's awake (mornings and evenings) he darts about with impressive speed for someone so tiny - hence all the blurry pics, it's very difficult to catch him standing still. Even when he eats he sort of quivers. I am amazed at how much he can carry in his pouches, plus he looks super cute when his cheeks are full (once they were so full he couldn't fit into his little house)! It's only been two weeks but I love this little guy.

And yes, we are big fans of sherlock holmes although there's nothing evil about this Moriarty :)

nice things in the post

I love getting stuff in the mail, clearly not junk mail (leaflets, soooo many leaflets) or boring mail (I'm looking at you Orange) or potentially serious looking mail in brown envelopes (*cough* revenue and customs) or bills (leave me alone student loan people, I have nothing for you!). I'm talking about the good stuff - unexpected letters, postcards and things I've ordered off the glorious internet. Recently I've had a bout of good mail which I thought I'd share with you.

Chelsea boots - eBay
Fabric and dress pattern - The Village Haberdashery
V.cute, unexpected card from my sister.

Have you had any goodies arrive in the mail lately?

bits & pieces

Just a couple of things I've been up to lately. Inspired by this from Jesse's blog I decided to put up a changeable photo line using string and mini pegs. As we're renting our flat and the landlady wouldn't be too chuffed with us making lots of holes in the walls, I find that this works perfectly. Last week I doodled on an otherwise rather plain tote bag using a fabric pen. I've also been rummaging through my fabric scraps box to find stuff for a new project.

Quite a few of the blogs I follow are written by great bloggers who freelance or work for themselves, something which I most definitely aspire to. I hugely admire them but I also wonder how, how do they do it? I should think myself lucky as my job does allow me to be creative and has introduced me to many awesome things. On the downside I can't stand being in an office 5 days a week, it suits some but not me, and it's hard to come back from an 8 hour day and feel motivated every evening to get on with my own projects. Some nights are more productive than others but then I guess that's how it is for everyone. Ultimately I would love to make stuff for a living, and maybe one day I will but for now I'm not quite good enough or financially stable enough or, if I'm honest, disciplined enough. So heres to you all you DIY-ers, making your own path – you are cool.

cheat's bunting

If truth be told I'm still recovering from a v.busy weekend: On saturday Mitch and I journeyed to Essex to visit his parents, on the way home from the trip we spontaneously decided to drop by Hyde Park to watch some of the games on the big screens (which was actually really fun and I wished we'd done it earlier) and saw team GB's Campbell beat his Irish opponent to win the gold medal in boxing! On sunday we held our first ever BBQ in our little Brixton garden. I say 'we' but Mitch did all the food - jerk chicken (fast becoming his signature dish), goat curry, potato salad (with a german twist), red cabbage coleslaw and a beetroot salad. I helped out where I could - chopping vegetables, setting up the chairs and tables in the garden - but Mitch pretty much had the situation under control. So, with an hour or so before the guests began to arrive I thought the occasion could do with some bunting (every occasion deserves bunting)! I didn't have time to make the double sided kind so here's what I call cheat's bunting - perfect if you're a little strapped for time!

1. Make a template out of card to the size you'd like the flags to be. Pin the template to the fabric and cut around it using pinking shears.

2. Fold over the short edge of the flag to the wrong side of the fabric (if it has one). This is where the string will pass through so be sure to make a big enough fold (3-4cm should be fine). Stitch the fold in place around 5mm from the raw edge.

3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 to create lots of flags for the bunting.

4. Next you need to thread all the flags onto the string and make sure they're facing the right way (with the fold on the back). I secured a pin to one end of the string and fed it through the casing on each flag. Once all the flags are on make two loops at each end of the string and hey presto, you've got yourself some cheat's bunting! Simple as :)

The BBQ was a great success thanks to Mitch's expert cooking as well as a couple of our friends who also supplied some tasty eats and a bottle of fizz! To top it all off, some people stayed to watch the Olympics closing ceremony - I can't believe how quickly the last two weeks have gone - I've enjoyed every minute of it...roll on the Paralympics I say!

tai chi ponies and fancy beach huts

It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't left London for more than one night since Berlin last Sept - yup that's right - 11 months (and for Mitch it's been even longer)! Don't get me wrong, I love my city especially with all the olympics stuff going on at the moment, but it's important to get away every once in a while. So, holiday-starved & mini-break deprived, Mitch and I packed a small suitcase and headed south for a couple of days to the New Forest.

Needless to say, it was absolutely bliss, from the coach trip down there (only 20 quid return on national express *amazing*), to the kind hospitality of my auntie and uncle (who not only let us stay, but fed us AND took us to their awesome gym, with I might add, had an awesome outdoor swimming pool) not to mention all  the fresh country air and beautiful scenery. I didn't take that many pictures as I was, quite frankly, enjoying myself too much and being thoroughly relaxed.

New Forest ponies in the zone. 

We saw loads of them, mostly in groups and standing very still, like this, and thought they might be performing some sort of pony tai chi...perhaps not.

Aside from deer watching, forest exploring and cream-tea scoffing we also went to the beach - hengistbury head to be precise - which was absolutely glorious. The fact that I can't actually remember the last time I went to the coast and paddled in the sea is a crime but a day on the Dorset coast soon sorted that out. The sun was shinning, the sea was cold, the beach huts were cute and I ate a magnum - not much more a girl could ask for really.

One last thing to mention about the trip - another thing I haven't done in aaaaaages is go swimming in a pool (we're talking years here) mostly because the idea of putting on a swim-suit gives me that horrible sinking/sicky feeling. Whilst away I went swimming in an outside pool (as well as making use of the steam room and jacuzzi) twice! (kinda a big deal for me) How come? Well, that horrible feeling I've come to associate with  swimming get-up shall be experienced no longer because I have the perfect swim-suit. I know, I didn't think it existed either: decent looking AND it keeps the breasts secure and under control....Behold! The wondrous suit! 

This crap picture I took really doesn't do it justice so here it is on ASOS :)

I actually said to Mitch it's like having a super-hero costume - I put it on and I feel awesome - and that doesn't happen v.often with regular clothes so you know this swim-suit is pretty special.

Waiting for us on our return was Brixton Splash - a super fun street town party with music, stalls and of course delicious food all in aid of celebrating Jamaica's independence (50 years!). Sadly I only took one pic - this time because I was too busy stuffing my face with seriously good jerk chicken and goat curry *lush*. We also found that our garden is well on it's way to delivering us some more eats! Three courgettes no less :D 

Domestic Bliss Weekend

May Day bank holiday weekend. Weather forecast: cloudy, cold & rainy. (In actuality it wasn't as grim in London as the weather man said buuuut...) Solution: drink copious amounts of tea - Orange Pekoe is the current tea of choice, catch-up on Mad Men, Game of Thrones and The Killing (it's back!), get on with my new sewing projects and attend to the garden.

April's craft project crept into May but here it is. I made a lavender bag in the shape of a robin (with Mitch in mind) and then made a few others to keep around the flat. They were fun to make as the applique wings etc meant I got to do some hand stitching. My sewing machine has been getting a lot of attention lately so it was nice to sew on the sofa for a change.

The reason why my sewing machine has been in demand is because I've started making a second quilt! That's right folks, only this one is for my parents and it's going to be nearly twice the size of my first! 16 blocks done, 47 to go! I hope to have it finished in time for Christmas...famous last words...

Aside from catching up on various tv programs I've also been avidly watching the World Snooker Championships (yes, I love snooker, no I'm not an old man - hI find it incredibly soothing watching waistcoated men achieve century breaks, perform trick shots, fluke shots and of course pot balls - such skill is involved). And it was all that much more satisfying seeing Ronnie O'Sullivan clean up and win his 4th world title. Gotta love The Rocket.

On Saturday Mitch and I did a bit of gardening (as you can see here, it's a very small garden but even small gardens need some love). What with all the crap weather we've had recently our little veg patch is looking lush. The potatoes are itching to be dug-up (one was trying to make an escape from the soil) but Mitch said they needed a little longer in the earth so we covered them again. The rocket salad is coming along nicely too. I got on with some weeding while Mitch planted a few more things - carrots, parsley and (fingers crossed) a pumpkin! I am ridiculously excited and cannot wait to start harvesting the herbs and veg from the garden! (Mitch should really take all the credit for the garden as he recognised it's potential and, back in March, worked hard to clear our little patch and prepare the soil for growing , my contribution up until the weekend was to water the fledgling shoots but now I'm totally up for getting my hands dirty!)

Incase you're concerned that I was a complete hermit all weekend I can assure you I wasn't. Sunday night I ventured out to Shoreditch for a v.fun evening at The White Horse for some socialising and dancing. We also found this little gem which amused us greatly.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend too!