Music Mondays: Just, take me home.

 

Feel soothed with this week’s song.

Sunday Photo Mishmash: a new dress, food, books, and a cute iPhone case.

I made veggie burgers for a Sunday lunch last week. They were delicious.

You know what was more delicious though? A huge meal at my Asian friends’ flat – they made tonnes of amazingly flavourful food.

One of my Chinese friends’ iPhone case.

You can slide up the bunny and use a mirror!

This Chinese friend was lovely enough to make individual crème caramel portions for everyone. So much crunchy sugar and deliciousness.

Yesterday, I popped into town with my lovely Singaporean friend, and we visited one of our favourite haunts (a little cafeteria called Flat White). I had a strawberry frappé, and some lemon and poppy seed cake.

This week was a tough one – I had to prepare a presentation for Friday, and lots of my evenings looked like this:

One of the shelves in my room:

My Spanish housemate gave me SUCH a lovely gift this week: a baby cactus, with a little pink flower. I have succeeded in not killing it (yet)!

What one of my breakfasts this week looked like (berries, sugar, evaporated milk):

A sneak peek at one of the items I bought from a vintage fair yesterday:

Things I Love Thursday

• Crumpets – nice and hot and heavily buttered
• Pancakes – with lemon curd
• Panettone
• My house mate giving me a random surprise gift (a baby cactus with a pink flower growing off the top! SO CUTE.)
• Productivity
• Help and encouragement
• Getting slightly better at the whole cycling thing
• Successfully purchasing Mumford and Sons tickets
• A college formal at St John’s College – lovely company and a very amusing evening
• Getting a taxi for £4.50 and not having to walk up a long hill with painful footwear – I was very pleased to spend £2.25 on that
• Cycling over bridges in the sun
• Cold tap water
• A Game of Thrones (the book)
• Game of Thrones (the TV series)
• Getting stuff done and out of the way – so refreshing
• Chats with my wonderful boyfriend
• Community – even though it’s lame, but there are stellar moments
• A mid-afternoon frothy hot chocolate with a big fat heart-shaped marshmallow floating on the top
• A massive Asian meal (with a Western dessert) at my dearest Asian friends’ flat – it was such a fun evening
• Survival. Sheer survival.
• Amusing stories
• Laughs
• Aero orange chocolate – the bubbles are ORANGE and it’s so LIGHT and YUMMY

Medley of Miscellany

This kitty seems to have a clear direction in life. Yes.

Winston had a couple of excellent thoughts, it seems:

(I’m trying to keep my enthusiasm level as high as possible. YEAH!)

This lemon body scrub seems divine. I really want to make a batch one day.

A bit of an old post, but these are 10 places to move abroad and extend your life – there are some lovely ideas (even just for trips and travels).

Durham University is the place for everything about Sudan, and this researcher’s blog is incredibly captivating.

Some of my favourite sweeties.

Expansive learning is your friend.

Mini-Review: Baldry’s (a tearoom in the heart of the Lake District)

Last February, when my parents visited, we went on a Grand Day Trip to the Lake District. Lovely place. Very picturesque. One of my most favourite regions in the world.

We stopped over for a stroll in a beautiful village called Grasmere (GO THERE.) and we were in need of a little late afternoon snack and beverage. We popped into this place called Baldry’s, a delightful little tearoom. (Actually, it wasn’t that little at all. It was lovely and spacious, yet not too large – I hate overly large restaurants/cafeterias – like Slug and Lettuce in Durham – that’s ridiculously huge.)

Anyway, on to the good stuff. And it’s mostly all good. The only bad thing I can think of about this place is that it was a little expensive, but such good value. You might be spending £3-4 on a beverage, but it’s going to be AMAZING. (And when your parents are paying, it’s even better…) =)

This is what I had:

A hot drink – it was some spiced apple concoction: really delicious. And a scone. With jam and butter. And look at that saucer! And the little containers! All so stylish. The scone was one of the best I’d ever tasted. I mean, look at it:

In the blurred background you can make out my boyfriend’s choice of snack: a flapjack – also on a flowery saucer, also delicious.

Selection:

There was a wide array of treats and drinks, with even full-on meals being offered, and there were lots of specials on chalkboards – you’ll definitely find the perfect thing to nibble on.

Location:

In Grasmere, right in the middle of the Lake District. Such a gorgeous village.

The service:

Thoroughly amusing. The man who served us was very loud, very friendly, and quite a joker. These were all very good things, though! He was absolutely lovely, and his attention to detail and comments about our choices made us feel incredibly welcome, and as though we were regulars.

Decor:

I was cooing at everything. It was all very sophisticated yet homely. Lots of tables, lots of pretty crockery – a job well done.

The quality of the food:

Outstanding.

All in all, we were very impressed by the whole experience. Definitely popping back if I’m ever in Grasmere again. And even if I’m ever remotely in that area, I am making a deliberate detour to visit this beautiful tearoom once again. I hear their lemon meringue is good too.

I wish they’d open a branch in Durham. Please?

Music Mondays: I’ll drown when I see you

 

 

Icelanders always hit the spot for me. A haunting, groovy song for your Mondays.

Also: I want her glasses. And her sweater! Oh, that sweater.

Sunday Photo Mishmash: bumper edition! (Ridiculous amounts of food and happiness, and the sea!)

A bumper edition today! Two weeks’ worth. The above was a delicious (and cheap!) slice of Red Velvet cake from Jalie’s in Attard, with some dear friends.

Below: the endless sea and sky at Dingli Cliffs.

My favourite crêpes ever.

Lunch by the seaside with my best friend.

Beer, cider and conversation.

An afternoon snack (cheese and chutney toastie, cloudy lemonade) at M&S in Sliema. Very windy. But the view was gorgeous.

A better shot of the view:

Fancy dinner with my parents (lots of seafood, and white wine) at Lo Squero.

Games, strawberry lemonade, and nibbles at an indoor picnic.

I went for lunch at my boyfriend’s house, and his lovely mum made a lemon meringue in my honour.

I am amused when numbers match in my car.

A really good fancy sausage roll at Lulu’s Cafe.

Rainbow cake slices! (At Lulu’s.)

A really enjoyable meet-up at a wine bar. (Fra Giuseppe.)

A quick lunch in Valletta.

I was so pleased to be able to join my best friend on her birthday (so much sushi!).

Filfla in the distance, on an afternoon by the sea. (Windy, yet beautiful.)

Decadence at Palazzo Parisio. (The creamiest hot chocolate ever, and a crème brûlée of deliciousness with raspberry ice cream.)

Wagamama, earlier.

Packing my tiny suitcase for my trip back to Durham.

A deserted Newcastle Airport.

My boyfriend greeted me with freshly baked chocolate muffins (with lemon curd centres!) – he’s the best.

The castle in Bishop Auckland – awfully rainy, awfully closed.

Cider, cheese, and oatcakes.

Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat!

I should be working on lots of important MA stuff today, but instead I’m gushing about this morning’s achievements.

Or initial lack thereof, actually.

Mumford and Sons (one of my favourite-favourite bands – who I’ve been dying to see properly – since I had only seen them for about a song and a half at Glastonbury last summer) are playing a small gig in Gateshead this June. Gateshead is a few miles away from where I live, which is AMAZING, and I’ve woken up early twice this week, trying-trying-trying to purchase tickets (pre-sale and general sale). I failed both times – mainly because they seemed to have sold out in mere seconds/minutes, and there seemed to have been quite a few ticket touts… In fact, when I checked out Ebay, there were already loads of tickets for sale – marked up about 5 times the original price. Disgusting.

So after a woeful couple of days, my boyfriend and I decided to just spend a little bit (a lot) more money and head over to Huddersfield in June, for their larger, “mini-festival”-type concert. The tickets are in my inbox and I am so excited. I love Mumford and Sons so much – and they’re the one band that I definitely wanted to see/hear/enjoy live while living in England. AND IT’S HAPPENING.

There will also be Michael Kiwanuka as a support act, which is awesome because I had heard a couple of his songs a few months ago (and even featured one of them in one of my Medleys). Plus I’m just super-excited to get to visit Huddersfield. Maybe I’ll actually make use of my wellies!

So much excitement!

Maybe it’s time to do some work now.

Medley of Miscellany

Wouldn’t you want to be greeted by this kitty in the morning?

I know that I would love to have a little nook of this sort (fairy lights, massive cushions, and kitty included please) when I have a proper place of my own.

OK, now this guy is just ridiculous. (Ridiculously cute!) (I often feel like this, actually.)

Know your wool.

When I become a “proper” adult (with, like, a house/apartment of my own, and adult friends to visit), I’m totally making these handmade party favours every time I go to a dinner or party. Adorable and actually useful.

This cake is an overdose of some of my favourite things: Nutella, and cake. Oh, and cream. YUM.

Another thing for when I am a Proper Adult: a breakfast nook. Because when I’m a Proper Adult I’m totally going to have Proper Breakfasts. Oh yes.

Things I Love Thursday

• The second half of my Maltese Surprise Visit Trip of Awesome
• Productive research
• Getting through stuff
• My car passing its yearly test/service with flying colours
• A laser printer
• Hot water bottles
• Fuzzy sheets
• Crashing waves
• A Maltese chapel with beautiful gardens
• Playing Rumikub with my aunt and uncle
• Shandy
• Watching Sherlock Holmes with my two loveliest friends for 3 euro
• Meeting a dear old friend and her being super lovely and kind
• Meeting this dear old friend’s cat (who is the brother of my cat)
• My best friend rescuing me in a time of need
• Wi-fi access
• A fancy meal with my parents
• Strolling around Sliema (i.e. Sliema shops) with my best friend – and stopping at the new M&S cafeteria for cloudy lemonade and a cheese and chutney toastie
• An “indoor picnic” including a game of Imaginiff
• Meeting a group of my friends and giggling lots
• The hilarious realisation that I’m, in fact, not as cool as I think I might be
• Nibbles
• Watching YouTube videos with my best friend late at night (mostly Nicki Minaj and Sean Paul, obviously)
• The new Paul McCartney videos (have you seen the Johnny Depp one?? MELTING.)
• A lunch “in my honour”
• Popping over to the 10th edition of the Patches market (and buying tasty treats, a felt hair clip, and a massive strawberry key chain)
• A late afternoon snack with my parents at Portomaso on Sunday
• Brunch and cake with four ridiculously silly and sweet friends
• Rainbow cake!
• Instagram
• Writing cards and preparing birthday packages
• My best friend’s birthday on Tuesday – sushi and other yummy stuff at Wagamama, general jubilation, cake and hot drinks at Palazzo Parisio <3
• My best friend being so pleased with her pressies =)
• Spending an afternoon by the sea
• Sweet messages
• Watching a Maltese film (Dear Dom) with two lovely friends – thoroughly enjoyed it
• My Maltese home’s massive computer monitor
• People randomly speaking to me about my blog =)
• The hilarious Maltese couple that sat next to me on the plane who thought I was English so proceeded to have a very heated fight in Maltese (many insults were hurled)
• Returning to the UK in one piece and being greeted by my wonderful boyfriend who (he’s going to kill me for saying this) ran towards me at the airport when he saw me
• And he greeted me with freshly baked muffins (with a lemon curd centre). SO MUCH BEAUTY AND DELICIOUSNESS.
• Driving around (even though it was such bleak weather yesterday)
• A little shopping trip at Tesco Extra (that place makes me dizzy)
• Cuddles
• Buying 12 pints of cider (it was on offer! I had to!)
• Watching The Iron Lady (very enjoyable)
• Delicious chicken made by my boyfriend. His cooking skills are something else.