An Ode to Fish and Chips – kind of

I’ve been craving fish and chips for weeks now. I’m serious. That’s not an exaggeration in the slightest.

At first, I virtuously resisted it. I thought about the health benefits of not eating out so much. I’ve been paying increasingly more attention to what goes in my food recently. It’s not really got anything to do with the horse meat scandal, because I have always been an advocate of cooking at home. But it has been helpful that the rest of the UK seems to have been talking about it too. I had also eaten out or bought takeaway more often than I was accustomed to around the time when the cravings started. Perhaps all this is addictive like they say and it was simply a junk food rollercoaster (although, I hasten to say that fish and chips is NOT junk food).

Slowly though, it became about not eating it because I never eat fish and chips alone. I must have someone to enjoy it together with. That is a rule that cannot be broken. But every time I thought about it, I either had enough in the fridge for a good wholesome dinner that could not wait or it would go to waste, or I suggested fish and chips to someone who had had it for lunch. I mean, what are the odds?

In the last couple of days though, it has become a matter of well-being for me, that I get to eat some fish and chips soon. I’m not half thinking about it all the time like some people might be thinking about other things… Argh! I think it’s this winter business. It’s so cold. And the sky is always a dull white – not even grey. This really infuriating, hazy, bright, intense, overcast… white. It tires me out and makes me want to eat fish and chips. And when I’m shivering in the cold, I think of fish and chips.

But I can’t have it tonight. Because I have some salmon that needs to be consumed or else it will be binned. So, just for tonight, I’m going to have some cheesy potato rösti with said salmon. If a girl can’t have fish and chips, at least let her have melted cheese over grated potatoes. And if a girl can’t have sunshine, she’s thankful that fancy buttercups are growing in Egypt because they go really nicely with the daffs that are currently in season in the UK. Even though it isn’t really spring. Yes, there was snow outside when I took these photos on Sunday. The flowers have been helping me smile in spite of everything, I hope they cheer you up too!

Thank you for reading

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• a nicely written post that Zemanta suggested. I don’t normally do this, but I enjoyed the read : Fish and Chips (crazymzungu.wordpress.com)

#waitingforspring

twitpic.com/cdovq7 Brrrr. Hey Mr Snow please check your calendar, it's almost April.. #waitingforspring—
this is lemonade (@ThisIsLemonade) March 23, 2013

Today I woke up around 7. I remember hearing a car pass by and thinking, sounds like the tyres are on a wet road but it’s not rain, sounds sludgy. Yes, that is how I wake myself up early on a Saturday morning.

When I peeked out of the window, sure enough, a winter scene greeted my bleary eyes. It was snowy, in fact there was a mild blizzard blowing.

I’m following the #waitingforspring hash tag today after clicking on it and finding some humorous and positive takes on this unyielding wintry weather.

Spring has sprung – the daffodils have been out for over a week now – but it is really struggling to kick winter out! What’s the weather like where you are?

I wish you a safe, sheltered and warm weekend indoors unless you actually like trudging around in the cold…

New Year Firsts (i): Woolly Wednesdays

So blogging is a journey, and on a journey you might just take a straight path, but I’m not one of those people. My paths generally are all windy and crooked. They often loop back on themselves and sometimes they lead to a dead end. More often than not, I probably don’t know where the path is and go wandering off. So that’s me. Nuts and confused. Early last year when I tried give each day a theme to help schedule my blog posts, some of them inspired more than others. I’m not going to ditch any of the old ideas, because they are working for me, I’m just adding new ones. So here’s introducing Woolly Wednesdays!

If you have been reading my meanderings for a while, you may have noticed that I love the woolly stuff. And that I have been playing about with it a bit. I got a bit of shoulder trouble at the end of 2012, and although it seems not to have recovered 100%, I can’t stay away from the sheepies and am carefully knitting again trying not to get carried away for hours on end.

In my Wonder Wool post, I shared a hat that I was knitting for a friend. She lives in the land of the recent horrendous bush fires, hence it was not previously appropriate to send it to her. I mean, it was the height of summer during our freezing winter! I had wanted to enclose a surprise in the eventual package, and have made a decision to finish it in time to send it for her birthday next month. The surprise is a first for me and I’m really, really excited. I’m sticking with knitting and not moving onto crochet, because there are different steps I want to practice. Here’s a little peek of what I’ve done so far… what do you think I’m knitting?

And why not ask another question to get to know you better? Are you a focused, clear-headed traveller through life or more a hopeless, woolly wanderer?

Happy Monday!

Craving new brekkie fav @dorsetcereals #honeygranola in Greek yoghurt with pops of blueberry yum! twitpic.com/bz0yd8—
this is lemonade (@ThisIsLemonade) January 28, 2013

It’s dull, gloomy, grey, rainy, windy, overcast, cold… did I mention grey..? I’d love to restart the day, eat breakfast again and have another go at it. Aaahh well, not an option… how’s your last Monday of January 2013 been so far?

Here’s to a good evening! Do you have any sparkly plans? I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to try and make mine sparkly and hope the sparkles last into tomorrow!

Scribbling on the wall

Feeling a bit lost for words. Not taking to the blogging very easily right now. I have a load of posts in the queue that I want to write, but the words are getting stuck somewhere and I’m feeling a bit down in the dumps in spite of the beautiful snow.

In an attempt not to get stuck in the black hole of despair, I decided to do something different. A digital doodle using a surprise Christmas present I received. I’ve been holding back and telling myself I’d use it as a reward for having organised things. But organisation is hitting a wall today, and I feel like I accidentally got crumpled up and smashed against the wall with it.

By contrast, you are all being so very impressive. We’re in the last third of January and all the resolutions are going so well! Roxy has not just been sharing a photo a day, she’s been making me envious of the amount of sunshine in the stories attached. Although the snow photo is my absolute favourite so far, followed very closely by the yellow butterfly. Ziggy has already written TWENTY letters with elves on them, and they have been flying all over the world. Ginna even went and ran a marathon on Saturday (woah, yes, I know! I’m in awe of anyone who runs further than the bus stop.)

I feel like a lazy bum, so here is the result of gingerly peeling myself off the wall and trying to do something positive, albeit so quick and unpolished:

How is 2013 treating you so far? Have you set yourself any challenges and how are they going?

Winter: brrrrrr!

Happy new week everyone. The BBC has officially reported that it is winter in the UK (see video link below). I was wearing ear muffs, cosy socks and a scarf indoors – it’s like the equivalent of a duvet day – well, I bought into that one anyway. Hope you are all wrapping up warm and staying safe. Don’t go crazy with those sledges people!

Still from BBC video – click through for article.

OK, I’m off to wrap my hands around a mug of hot soup now… hope the week has flurried away to a good start for you

FF: Fashion {04 Cosy Charcoals}

A fun fashion post is long overdue as is a clothes shopping trip! We had our first snow of winter 2012 this week in London and I’ve been craving greys again in the cold weather.

I love warming greys in winter. Black is a little too austere, but greys are soft and snuggly. Charcoal knits simply cocoon you in cosiness when the pavements are frosty and the sharp winds chafe at your cheeks.

It’s not that cold yet, so a pair of courts/pumps are still perfectly appropriate (although I’d prefer flats in this style), but I am in the market for a good pair of boots and I’m thinking of replacing my tatty boot cut jeans with a new skinny pair. I haven’t braved that style transition yet. Yes, I know I’m a few years late, but I am notoriously lazy when it comes to actually buying new clothes.

I like to browse seasonal trends, window shop, walk around feeling all the fabrics, oohing at all the colours and textures… I just keep my purse tightly closed. Ha! No, I have not been spending my share to get us out of the recession, that’s quite clear from the chancellor’s Autumn Statement this week. My bad.

(Maybe I should think like Starbucks and make a donation to the Government in compensation for my tightfistedness! Their latest “extraordinary” move is rather mind boggling. Nevermind, Costa and even Pret have sofas these days and serve rather more decent coffee. Starbucks’ tax affairs have no bearing on why I haven’t visited in a long long time, so their limping U-turn is not about to drag me back. Still, I’d love to find a favourite independent caffeine haunt in which to wrap my frozen hands around a liquid hand warmer.)

Cobra & Bellemy Sterling Silver Turquoise Earrings ¦ The North Circular Slate Wool Snood ¦ Paige Denim Ultra Skinny Jeans ¦ Souffle Bow Sweater ¦ Target Mossimo Emerald Pumps

So, what are your clothes shopping habits? Does it get very cold where you are? What are your favourite colours to wear in winter? Do tell all

Sunny Fried Toasties

I’m back in a frosty but beautifully sunny London! This is my perfect, favourite kind of weather – clear, crisp and bright. You know that you can put your big coat on, wrap a scarf around right up to your nose and pull on some cosy gloves. Wispy clouds adorn the sky but there is not a whiff of rain! A good friend of mine calls it feeling alive weather, and that’s exactly what it is! Everyone walks around with rosy cheeks from the invigorating breeze.

I’ve been staying much closer to the equator for the past couple of weeks, where Kraft Singles is most people’s idea of normal, affordable cheese, and tea most certainly is not drunk with milk unless it is a sweet evaporated or condensed milk. The weather this time of year there is supposed to be cool and balmy, and mosquitoes are most definitely supposed to be scarce. However, the weather around the world has been crazy this year and I suffered at the mouths of some very lively specimens of these pesky creatures. I came away averaging one bite a day. Two weeks is not that long a time to be away from home, but I started to feel seriously homesick after my third itchy bite.

Towards the end of my stay, I was craving melted cheese, fish and chips, any cheese, give me cheese, please! – as though I had been away for years. Then I almost did not make it onto the plane in time because I got stomach flu a couple of days prior to my flight. Thankfully I was OK to fly and on the way back, they served vegetarian lentil moussaka with melted CHEESE on top. I was not confident that it would taste nice so I opted for chicken rock in rosemary jus ketchup soup, but my kindly Fellow Traveller did out of pity for me and gave me some.  (I wouldn’t recommend it – it was like a dense lentil brick with a tasteless mass of white goo on top, very unsatisfying!)

So… now I’m back, I’m in the mood for celebrating! Phew! How about this for a fun, tasty treat?

I’m not sure where I first saw this idea, but I immediately liked it – can you resist a fun way to eat a delicious fried egg? I love eggs, they are like a miracle food and I tried another similar idea using avocados but decided I prefer my avocado raw.

My toastie method is so easy and tasty, go on… have a go!

1. Cut a circle out of a piece of bread using a glass, and then butter the bread pieces on both sides. I reckon next time, I’ll butter first so that it’s not so fiddly.
2. Toast one side of the piece of holey bread in a hot pan until it has browned and then flip it over.
3. Crack an egg into a ramekin/small bowl to make it easier to pour it neatly into the circle.
4. Add a drop of vegetable oil in the hole before adding the egg to the pan. Turn the heat down to low and cook uncovered until the egg whites become opaque. I find that this takes about 10 minutes. (If you want to take less time, cover the pan, however this yields a less glossy egg yolk!)
5. (Optional step of which I am very proud!) Cut some Red Leicester cheese into short strips. About 5 minutes in, toast one side of the cut out bread until browned. Flip over and then lay the cheese strips on top and watch them melt!
6. Grind some black pepper over the top of the egg and cheese and ENJOY!

Do you like winter? What is your favourite kind of weather? I hope that you have a go at this fun snack. There’s nothing like a bit of brilliant amber to brighten up the longer evenings!

Wotta lotta spam… or yarn?

Seeing as it’s Friday… I wanted to share what I was chuckling over at the end of last week before I stumbled across this Freshly Pressed post on the subject of spam, which demonstrated that there is more than just the Internet that connects us all. Yes, I shared the exact same spammer with Nathan Badley of not-so-fleeting Freshly Pressedom fame (it appears that he’s been efFPeed more than twice). We received the same fascinating message which left us similarly flummoxed over a reference to ”brussels”.

Aaaanyway, I digress. I had read that message in my spam folder briefly, sniggered and then moved on. Because there was a more intriguing and amusing message that caught my eye. Its brevity and the tone of unmistakeable incredulity drew my attention and held it there: apparently I have a devoted fan that I have been so remiss as to have overlooked a number of times, to my detriment. I really must check my spam more often…

I Google’d SCK and found no conclusive evidence as to the identity of this elusive person. But after some soul-searching and remorse I realised that the random combination of letters and numbers supplied by my mysterious visitor in the place of a name, was designed to put me off the scent. And in view of my recent obsessions that could only mean one thing: my blog had been graced by the presence of the  SUPER COOL KNITTER.

SCK I am truly¹ sorry, please come back and share your wisdom with all of us. It is my fault alone, please don’t hold my negligence against my readers also. Winter is approaching (or has already approached, crept up by the door and started huffing and puffing through every little tiny unprotected sliver *shiver*). Those of us whose hair Winter has already ruffled and whose cheeks she has already chafed, would really love to wrap up warm in hand knitted scarves, jumpers and throws. It would be truly cool but not cold, if we could share knitting tips… you must have quite a treasure trove of them if you have made over four million attempts at catching my attention.

Ho Ho Ho (oops, sorry, too early… and fictional) hahaha. There. What a silly lot of ramblings. But these random things entered my mind when I saw that silly piece of spam.

I wish you a light-hearted weekend, perhaps accompanied by a bubbly glass of (cue drumroll) freshly pressed lemonade. For many, it may be a slightly tart and sharp glass of the stuff… but still refreshing in some way, I hope.

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¹ OK, perhaps my final paragraph would suggest that I am not nearly as sincere in my sentiments towards SCK as I am trying to suggest here. But I am cheered by the ingenious spam message. Direct and to the point

Wonder Wool

OK…so I’m a tiny bit late to the party. National Wool Week was last week. But then, I was ill. Aaah. But, I’m still in the recovery position this week. The near-solid slime, glueing together my ENT passages is showing no intention of shifting. Sorry, tmi. At least my sexy voice has left me. Unfortunately, that means the only external clue to my being under the weather has dissipated, and I appear to be well enough to do all things.

Well. I haven’t been blogging so much. But the thing is, as I hinted here, I have been getting cosy with this:

I love wool. I picked up knitting and crocheting again last winter. It didn’t seem to make much sense, seeing as wool is expensive in the UK. And Primark is cheap. And let’s not beat about the bush, I am also expensive when it comes to hiring myself to knit. I recently bought some four jumpers at £6 each. Whereas, the total amount of money spent on that is not enough even to buy me the wool required to knit myself a jumper.

But in short, I will knit because I want a good quality garment. Even though synthetic yarns are cheaper, I will only bother with good quality stuff, because otherwise I can buy it for cheaper in the shops. Even if it is not Primark. I will buy synthesised yarns, but only when the synthetics add to the texture of the yarn. I will only do this, if it is good quality and it does not make up the majority of the fibre.

So. When a friend of mine requested a warm woolly hat, I took the chance to knit this. My head is massive (I have big empty braincells). So sorry, I am not modelling it. But I hope you’ll agree, that pompom is like candyfloss. Beautiful, wonderful, super soft merino wool. It’s also my first foray into thick and thin. And with the same yarn, I am knitting myself a scarf. It’s getting chilly, and I’m almost done. I will soon be the envy of you all

I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves the good old sheepies. I LOVE WOOL And to prove it, as well as the abovementioned scarf, I have two others on the go:

I’m also researching baby blankets, I have a plan to deliver a hat with a surprise gift inside! Any pattern ideas? I’m thinking I might crochet it. I’m so excited