The Internet...

...can be really lovely sometimes.

My Parents Were Awesome is full of photos that readers have submitted, showing their parents when they were younger, looking cooler than cool:

Definitely one of the sweetest things on the internet.

I always forget that way before my parents started a family, my mum had the most amazing beehive, and my dad took part in protest marches - I should dig out photos - my parents were, and still are, awesome.

Speaking of lovely things on the internet, Paulina is hosting the internet's sweetest giveaway. Pop on over and enter, why don't you! You can enter here.

xx

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway - I wish I could give a prize to you all! In the end there could only be one winner, so drumroll please for the giveaway winner announcement:

* In case you need a translation from Scottish to English: the winner is Yeh, Molly!

Congratulations Yeh, Molly - you've won the Belle & Boo postcards! Please can you e-mail me your address?

xx

Warming Our Cockles...

...last night was cold, wet and windy, and all boyfriend and I wanted to do was close the curtains, fire up the heating, and huddle up on the sofa.

We found it wasn't quite enough to keep warm, so we made fiery hot chocolate:

{Image from WeHeartIt - we drank ours too quick to get photos...!}

You Need:

200ml milk
15g orange peel
15g powdered hot chocolate
2g chilli flakes

Peeling the rind off an orange and place it in a saucepan with 200ml milk and a pinch of chilli flakes.
Bring to the boil, then remove the pan from the heat.
Allow the flavours to infuse for at least 5 minutes, then whisk in 3 teaspoons of powdered hot chocolate.
Return to the hob to warm through and pour through a sieve to serve.
Garnish with orange slices.

It really warmed our cockles, but be warned - go easy on the chilli! Even a little gives quite a kick!

xx

ps: don't forget to enter the giveaway!
pps: for US readers - hot chocolate translates as cocoa.

Celebratory Giveaway!

Yesterday was my 100th blogger post!

And there are 50 of you out there that follow my little blog!

To let you know that I think you're all super, and to reward you for sticking by me while I find my blogging feet, I'm having a bit of a giveaway!

The winner will receive a set of four Belle & Boo postcards:


And a couple of other special little things...

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment below, by 10am (GMT) on Wednesday 28th October.

You don't need to be a follower to enter, or jump through hoops, or do anything else - just leave a comment! :)

GOOD LUCK!

xx

ps: there might be another special little giveaway coming up soon....

Making Me Smile Today #2

I've never been really sure how I feel about pugs (Cute? Repugnant? [pun intended!]), but then I found these photos on Flickr today...

{Photos here}

And perhaps I fell a little bit in love. And partly I wished I could borrow someone's pug for Halloween.

Lily (our parrot) would totally boss a pug around though. She already winds up boyfriend's parent's rotweiller cross by taunting it with words, so who knows what she'd do to a little dog! Especially a little dog dressed as a flower!

xx

ps: I've just realised - this is my 100th post - thanks for sticking with me!
pps: I might do something special in honour of this - watch this space.

Super Excited...

...The Guardian has put up excerpts from Devendra Banhart's new album.

This pleases me very much. I do have a soft spot for Devendra:

Sufjan is still my first love though...

You can hear the excerpts from Devendra's album here. I've been listening to it all day - I seriously cannot wait til it is released next week!

xx

ps: I'm sorry - I don't know if the player will work outside of the UK :(

So I Found A Cable...

...that connects my phone to my computer, and for the first time ever I've been able to transfer all my phone photos over!

So here goes a year in (poor quality camera phone) photos, by me:My Wii kindly informing me that I am not ageing well.

Last year's haircut. I quite like this, I might go for this again when the terrible fringe grows out.

The light up bluetits I brought home one day. I love them. Boyfriend was not impressed.

The bulletin board at my old work. I couldn't think of a challenging part-time job to make use of a Brazillian lady's skills, so I didn't reply I'm afraid.

The strange shop I used to pass every day in Southampton. I never bought anything there. Dayglo green isn't quite my colour.

I could never work as a receptionist for this association - I'd stumble over my words and say the wrongest thing in the world.

Getting ready for Halloween

What it looks like when you find a new place to live.

Proof that parrots blog too.

The Wendy method of cleaning the bathroom: a dress, welly boots, and rubber gloves. Patent pending.

How we celebrate friends birthdays via long distance.

Kitler

Sometimes we do face masks

I think that's enough photos now. Are you bored yet?!

xx

I'd Very Much Like It...

...if the beautiful Sufjan Stevens turned up on my doorstep...

...and sang his beautiful songs to me...



I'd be the happiest girl in the whole world.

(ps: Dale, I still love you more than Sufjan. Especially when you bring chocolate home for me.)

xx

Lazy Days...

...Boyfriend had the day off work today so we've had a lazy day together:

Long lies
Cuddles
Cooking a vat of hearty chilli
Battening down the hatches in preparation for colder times
Planning trips away
Planning for our future

Today's been a good day - anticipation is in the air!

xx

(Photo had nothing to do with this post - I just liked it. Found here)

Engrossed...

...boyfriend and I went to see Nick Cave last night.

It's been the third time in 18 months that we have seen Nick Cave. Last night was one of my favourite shows.

He read from his new book, chatted with the audience, and performed songs. We sat utterly transfixed in the fourth row. I didn't want the night to end.

I love Nick, such an enigmatic man:

ps: there's a little bit of swearing in this

xx

I Surprised Myself Yesterday...

...boyfriend and I worked at a sponsered abseil event to raise money for heart disease and stroke victims.

Participants had to abseil free-fall style (nothing to walk down on) off the Forth Rail Bridge in Edinburgh - 165ft high - with trains thundering overhead:

(I had fun taking photos in my break)

I stole these ones off the internet for you to see what it looks like once you're up on the bridge:


We worked for 12 solid hours, as did everyone else involved, and raised over £100,000.

I had good fun helping out all the abseilers (some even in their 80's) get ready to abseil. Some were more nervous than others about jumping, and others got dressed in fancy dress to abseil (Batman and Robin). One couple even abseiled with a minister, a bridesmaid and a best man and got married half way down!

After a whole day of helping over 500 people abseil, everyone helping out was asked if they wanted to abseil...

...I said yes!

Having never done an abseil before, or any adrenalin sports (apart from white water rafting once in the Alps), I jumped 165ft off a bridge! I don't have any photos - you can't take cameras up - but someone took my photo on the bridge so I'm trying to track it down to prove that I actually did do it!

The abseil was the fun bit - it wasn't frightening at all, with stunning views over the Firth of Forth - the hardest bit was climbing over the fence on the bridge, and edging out on to the girder, before letting go. I have little legs, so it took me many attempts to get over the fence, and one point I didn't think I would make it.

But I did!

I can't wait to do it again.

xx

I've Been Baking...

...good old chocolate freckles.

Except they are less freckled as I found some cute stars in Sainsbury's:

I even experimented with the polaroid camera:

Needless to say the cakes haven't lasted very long.

I need to start baking new things, I always stick to my tried and tested favourites. The Red Deer makes some fantastic new cakes every week: I keep telling myself that one day I will make one of her delicious looking recipes, so I'm going to set myself a Red Deer challenge, and make a batch this coming week!

Results to follow!

xx

ps: thanks all for the much needed hair advice! It sounds like there a lot of rogue stylists out there. For now I'm sticking to hats, hairbands and pins, and will get it fixed as soon as it's a bit longer.

Hair Scare

Disaster has fallen upon me. My fringe had got to that annoying length, where it dangled in my eyes, so I went to what I thought was a good salonrim for a fringe t, and asked for, indeed, my exact words were "just a tiny bit off so it's not in my eyes". I also asked the hairdresser to keep it blunt and straight. Instead the scissor wielding bitch cut it really short in the middle and long and the sides. I look like this guy from the seventies:

{Dave Hill, from Slade}

In fact this is almost my exact hairstyle, except mine's a bit shorter in the middle :(

It's too short to even sweep to the side, so I've had to resort to the old head band trick:

Does anyone have any other ideas what to do with it until it grows a bit?

And more importantly, does anyone know any good stylists in Edinburgh?!

xx

Perpetual Daydreamer...

...I should have added to my honesty list that I am a perpetual daydreamer:

You can find the list of things that I daydream about on Emily's blog.

So much fun taking part: thanks Emily!

xx

Honesty Is The Best Policy...

Yay, Rhianne awarded me the Honest Scrap Award! I love awards!

I have to share ten honest things about myself, so here goes:

1. I love travelling. I have visited 21 countries, and have lived in Slovenia, New Zealand and Germany (as well as the UK). In the UK I've lived in 4 cities in both Scotland and England.

2. I don't want to move again - I want to settle down in Edinburgh.

3. I have two degrees - a BSc in Geography and a MSc in Sustainability. I thought I liked school until I tried to do a PhD - big mistake - I hated it so much I ended up running off to New Zealand without telling my school :/ Oops!

4. Boyfriend is a graphic and web designer - a very good one - and as a disclaimer may I add, he did not design this page or my header.

5. When I was little I thought the words to the song "Hungry Eyes" was "Humphrey's Eyes", and used to sing it constantly. It didn't help that I had a toy camel called Humphrey, which meant that as well as getting the words wrong, I thought the song was about a camel.

6. I am constantly asked for ID. The other week I was buying a bread knife, and was asked for ID before I could buy it. You have to be 18 to buy a bread knife. I am 28.

7. I can cause a mess in an empty room. Within thirty seconds of walking into a room there will be mess. It drives boyfriend crazy. Luckily for me he is a clean freak, and cleans up after me. He also does all the cooking. I am very lucky.

8. I dream of owning a home with boyfriend, with it's own little garden, and having pigs and chickens.

9. I can't hum or whistle.

10. I love cuddles with boyfriend more than anything.

Phew, that was difficult! I have to give this to 7 bloggers who inspire, but you all do, so I tag you!

xx

It's A Photo Swap

I do like digital photography, but for pure excitement you simply cannot beat the anticipation of developing rolls of film. I get so giddy with excitement when my photos are ready to be collected from the lab that I am literally skipping down the street on route to collect them! And once I've got my photos, I never can wait to get home to look at my photos: I have to find the nearest bench to look at them there and then!

This is why I've sgned up to Rhianne's It's A Photo Swap!

Basically, you sign up to take part and everyone either takes a roll of film - or buys a disposable camera - and they take photos just for their swap partner, then send the cameras/films to each other and develop the other persons photos, and the best part, posts the photos on their blogs for everyone to see!

Sounds so much fun!

Go sign up now!

xx

Too Cute For Words...

I know we have a talking parrot, which really is enough for any household, but I've completely fallen in love with Kune Kune pigs. They're the most adorable little things: boyfriend and I had so much fun with them when we went to the petting zoo:

Of course, Miss Clumsy here accidentally dropped some of their foot in my shoe, so the Kune Kune's made a beeline for my foot:

Oops!

Apparently you can keep them as house pets, train them and walk them as you would a dog! Seeing as they're so good with shoes, I'd train one to fetch my slippers!

xx