Fave Friday

Five favourite things I saw in London

We broke up on Wednesday, so I made myself some nice plans in London for Thursday and Friday. When it came to it, I was somewhat overwhelmed by how many nice plans I made, but in the end I found the trip invigorating rather than exhausting - so much so that I wrote this post on my phone on the coach home, after almost a month of not being able to muster the energy to update. 

The lights were, of course, beautiful. London seems to have a thing about doing big decorated doorways that I haven't noticed before and I appreciated that a lot too. I stayed near Kensington Palace and I'm pretty sure I saw the king driving past me - at least, if it wasn't him, it was somebody important enough to warrant 8 police motorcyclists blowing whistles and an accompanying 4x4. And yet these didn't even make it into my top 5, so crammed was my 30 hour stay!

1. The Medieval Women exhibition at the British Library

This one is called 'Medieval women in their own words' and focuses specifically on works that were created by or about women, on the basis that much of this is lost or ignored. It was a very interesting walk around and, even though it is not very large, I still spent the best part of two hours reading through everything. It never ceases to amaze me how long the middle ages went on for - this exhibition covered all the way up to Margaret of Anjou. I was also pleased that there seemed to have been an effort made to include women from Wales and Scotland, as well as England.

Illustrated women's herbal. There was a lot about medicine. 

2. The Mughals exhibition at the V&A

This exhibition covered the golden age of the Mughals, from around the mid-16th century until the early 18th century, which coincides nicely with what I teach at A-level, coincidentally. There were some beautiful examples of calligraphy, jewels and jewellery, glassware and textiles, such as this huge cotton drugget that would have been laid on the floors of the palaces in the summer. 

A lot of this was simply marvellous to behold and I particularly liked the many examples of flower motifs and tiny birds included in a lot of the calligraphy. However, it did make me feel liberal unease. Many of the exhibits, such as highly illustrated texts from the early 17th century, had notes on them such as, 'Donated by Miss Constance Smith, 1921' (I made that name up) or similar. How did a Miss Smith end up with such a priceless artefact, I wondered. Granted, I did not read every word of the exhibit, but there didn't seem to be any effort from the V&A to explain how any of these objects had come to be in their collection. Maybe that would be too much to expect, but it did nibble at my conscience, a bit. 

3. Burhan and Stewart Lee

I met Burhan in 1999 when we were both working the same miserable summer job for the exam board. I see him too rarely (the last time being in 2019) for somebody that I get on with so well. We went for Korean food (excellent restaurant, plus, when I told the waitress in somewhat panicked tones that my phone was about to die, she took it from me without any further questions and charged it, thus saving me from an hour's sad walk back to my hotel later in the evening) and then to see Stewart Lee at Leicester Square. Lee was extremely funny, as I had expected. I booked those tickets when the clips of him ragging on Russell Brand resurfaced over the summer, something he referenced in the show. 

4. My hairdresser

I think I must be approaching 15 years with the same hairdresser, who now occupies a chair at a salon on Park Lane. This makes me feel extra fancy, though tbf I don't really rate the salon. His cuts are second to none, though, and somehow he manages to blow dry my hair so that the grey falls evenly, as opposed to in two semi-transparent stripes. A true artiste and worth every penny. 

5. Two dog owners with their golden retriever in Hyde Park. Said golden retriever was the proudest doggo ever, having caught (or hopefully picked up already dead) a bird. He was studiously ignoring his owners' every exhortation to drop the bird. They had all the treats out, but he was staring into the middle distance with an inscrutable expression that anybody who has interacted with teenagers would recognise instantly as a clear sign that a change of tack is required to move the situation forward. I commiserated with them. 'He had a parakeet last month,' said the man, ruefully. 

I also observed a tourist (I assume) trying to get a couple of well-fed squirrels, spread eagled upside down on a tree trunk, to eat out of his palm while his girlfriend filmed him. I wanted to stick around until he got bitten, but I had to get to my hair appointment. 

Fave Friday

Five favourite moments of half term

1. Level 42 concert

I booked these tickets for Mother Hand last Christmas. It took place in the King's Theatre, a place I've seen pantos and Rocky Horror, and where I danced on stage with the dance school I attended as a child. I was unfortunately late due to a closure on the M4, meaning my journey took five hours (eugh) but luckily arrived while The Christians were still palying.

It was an odd place to see a gig. It was Mark King's 65th birthday. Someone with a walking stick was dancing at the front. But, it was really very enjoyable. Just nice to see people that have worked together for ages, getting up there and having loads of fun and doing what they love.

I'm not really one for taking pictures at things like this, they never look any good, but here's one for the memory.

I think this was my favourite song of the night. 'Southsea, there's something about you!'

2. Bikram

There's a studio in Southsea that still runs a Bikram-style hot yoga class so I went on Sunday morning. I was gratified that I didn't feel overheated, though I did have to take a drink partway through and the sequence was a little jumbled from what I remembered. I also realised I was quite physically broken, either from the long term or from, yknow, being middle-aged and fairly sedentary. I ached for three days. 

I really must get back to doing it more regularly.

On the way home I went into Bread Addiction, clearly one of Portsmouth's best bakeries as there are always people queuing outside. I felt no guilt in buying one each of their danishes, which I ate joyfully over the following 24 hours, still feeling virtuous from the yoga. 

3. Niece/nephew time

On Wednesday, I drove to London to stay with the fam before flying to Stockholm on Thursday. My niece continues to be extremely funny and good company; my nephew continues to grow. We went to the park and played on the swings. 

4. Stockholm

Zoe and I flew to Stockholm for three nights to go to see Madonna in concert. It was cold but what a lovely place! Full of beautiful trees, nice people, cardamom buns, watery places, interesting museums and general relaxation. We went to the hotel spa; I bought some new boots (noteworthy because I have been trying to find boots I like for a year); we went to the Abba museum which included an audition booth experience and a silent disco; we went to the Vasa museum - that is one enormous boat, I would happily go back and stare at it all day, strong Mary Rose vibe; we went to Halloween at a theme park; we ate meatballs and fish sandwiches and slept in and walked around. A very enjoyable break.

5. Madonna concert

Obvs Madge had to have her own spot. The second 65-year-old artist I saw in concert in half term. Just, wow. I hope I am that energetic and fabulous when I reach the age of the free bus pass. 

The theme was her life, so there were lots of dancers dressed as Madonna from bygone eras that she performed with. I liked the bit where a dancer was pretending to be Madonna pretending to masturbate on a bed, as a throwback to the Blonde Ambition tour, but then Madonna went over to sit on the bed and the two of them spooned. A nice touch. 

My first stadium gig! A good one to choose. 

Fave Friday

It is unseasonably hot. On Wednesday I wore the dress I wear when it is the hottest day - what a mistake that was. Yesterday I was akin to a swamp (and never been happier to have a quarry swim ticket for the evening, it was bliss). Today I had a lesson in a room with aircon and it was a definite high point. 

Naturally, now term has started everything else has stopped but I have been reflecting on times in my life I've been hotter than now so...

Five blazing hot moments

1. Death Valley. Probably the hottest place I've ever been, but reassuringly dry so it didn't feel too awful.

Probably already sunburned, just in the time it took to take the picture. 

2. Camping somewhere in Nevada. It was some kind of resort ghost town. I paid money to call and reserve a spot while we were on the road - ultimately, it was only us and one RV. Those campers knew something we didn't. It remains the only time we haven't put the flysheet over the tent and, when the sun rose and hit the tent netting at 6am, we were up and out. Never again. 

3. Hanoi. Everywhere in Vietnam was hot but this was next level. The sort of raging heat from the desert but backed up with humidity: sort of like leaning over a boiling pan but everywhere, all the time. We thought it was cute that everyone in Hanoi seemed to get up at 6am to work out in the park together, until we realised that was really the only comfortable time to be outside. I quickly made my peace with constant, running sweat. 

No picture can do it justice but I never wore these clothes for anything other than the gym; it was too hot for basically everything I took to wear, except the swimwear.

Bonus weird picture I found from my GoPro while I was looking through these holiday pictures. What a weirdo.

4. Malaysia. This was my first near-equator experience and, again, the humidity was almost unbearable. On the second school trip I took there, the staff were lodged in student flats, rather than the palatial, air-conditioned bungalow of the initial visit; it was a 5-minute walk from the main school and I required a shower before and after every one of those walks. Tough when it's a work thing and you have to look work-presentable. 

5. Corfu. This is a gappy memory for me; we went in the summer of my 10th birthday. Loving the water then as much as I do now, I spent the whole first day in the sea. I even went back in the sea after dinner. I didn't get sun burn, but I did get heatstroke. The only thing I remember about it, other than being very sick, was coming out of sleep with Mother Hand staring desperately into my face, shaking me and shouting, 'What is it? What is it?' in my face. Evidently I had been asleep with my eyes open and calling for her. This sounds terrifying even as a non-parent. 

Most of the ensuing holiday pictures from the trip feature me with a Corfu cap on. Mother Hand got bitten by a snake and we both got horribly travel sick during a trip to the mainland. I tried water-skiing and failed spectacularly to stand up. But other than that it was a fun trip. 

Fave Friday

Five favourite back-to-school memories

In honour of the new term...

1. Buying the new school bag. Nanny Hand took me round many shops looking for the perfect item, some time towards the end of August, before I went into (I think) Year 9. I have a dim memory of some kind of half-covered precinct that was probably near where they lived in Redditch, and being my usual unbelievably picky teen self. In the end I picked some hideous canvas shoulder bag that was beige and had camels or some kind of Aztec print on it. Heavy 90s vibe. Mother Hand was suitably disappointed that I got something that was (a) so easily dirtied and (b) relatively impractical for carrying large amounts of school-related items with me. 

2. The smell of WHSmith. It is common for everybody to bang on about the stench of a Lush shop but I think all shops have their own scent and WHSmith is a particularly evocative one for me. What is it? Books, pens, cards, magazines. The smell of choosing a new pencil case, and wheedling for wholly impractical rubbers shaped like ice cream cones and wholly unnecessary highlighter pens. Towers of colourful lever arch files that I never needed because there were always second-hand ones available from Mother Hand's work and, anyway, who needs more than one lever arch folder when you're at school. Doing pocket money maths so you could sneak a CD single in and still afford everything you needed. 

3. On my first day of my first teaching job, I went to the toilets and put my heavily-loaded handbag on top of the cistern. As I turned away from it, it promptly upended directly into the toilet. The main casualties were my camera (I don't know why I felt this was an essential item for an inset day) which happily survived, and a whole tube of new gold and black striped pencils. I still have one of those pencils (naturally I washed it off) to remind me of this humbling experience. My main takeaway, on that nervous day, was that it couldn't get much worse. I was right. 

4. More bags (so many bags) - I fondly remember the time when I got the school bag right by buying a denim backpack from River Island. It was the best bag ever. It was a drawstring, flap over backpack but it had a full length zip down the side so you didn't have to faff. In my memory, it saw me all the way through sixth form, being toted around on one shoulder while I carried my lever arch file ostentatiously, on account of how I was so learned now, all my learning couldn't even fit in a bag. 

5. The weighing and measuring. A funny favourite memory this but it sticks with me and serves as a constant reminder that throwaway comments are not throwaway comments to teenagers. At the start of every new year, everyone in the class was weighed and measured in the first PE lesson. I cannot fathom what the school did with this information and, come to reflect on it, I wonder if they just did it for something to do in the first lesson of the year. Anyway, as a fat teenager this was mortifying for me and I had a horror about anybody seeing how much I weighed. The one I remember the most was going forward to the scale and (what has formed in my mind but is undoubtedly an exaggeration of the actual event) the entire popular clique craning forwards as I gingerly hovered, unwilling to step on. 

'Don't worry Sally,' chirped my ever-cheerful games teacher, 'the scales are probably wrong.'

Fave Friday

Five favourite things about June

June is a funny month in my profession. On the one hand, the pressure at school has abated; the exam classes are gone so the timetable is lighter; planning can start for next year. On the other hand, as an examiner it's always rammed with too many tasks and not enough time to really enjoy the long days and the nice weather. I think that, if I ever retire from all of my jobs, June will be the month that feels most different - rivalled maybe by September, I guess. 

Here we are, almost to June payday and I feel I haven't appreciated it at all. It hasn't helped that it has been hot for almost the entire month (UK hot is like UK cold - it's not comparable with the temperatures experienced in other parts of the world but, like the cold is that special damp kind that gets in your bones, the heat is an oppressive, sticky blanket that isn't particularly enjoyable in long bursts...for me, anyway). 

So here's some appreciation.

1. The light. I fully admit to being one of the people that likes it when the clocks change in October and it's darker in the evenings but that's mostly down to just liking a change, I think. The longer daylight hours give me so much energy; I sleep less but I don't really notice it. 

2. The green. Nature is in full swing in June: it's past that slightly fetid new bloom phase of May and not yet onto that slightly scorched later summer look. The leaves look at their best to me in June. I wish we had no-mow June. There's a man who walks his Husky up the 'wood every morning around the time I drive to work: that husky flipping loved no-mow May. It was having a whale of a time bouncing around the small patch of grass near the bus stop, as though it was making world-changing discoveries with every sniff. When I saw it yesterday it looked considerably more subdued.

3. The anticipation. The school year is coming to a close. The tests are done, the data is in. The holidays are on the horizon. 

4. The barbecues. Even if you're not having one yourself, someone else will be, so you get to enjoy the smell without having to risk food poisoning or sit near a blazing heat source in person.

5. The petrichor. I suppose this happens year round, but rain on hot ground smells better in June than any other month, imo. 

Fave Friday

Five Favourite Lines from Ithaca by Claire North

It has been a pleasure previously remarked upon to get back into fiction reading over the past few years and I am now into the habit of picking up books from the library and, in the case of this one, actually reading it before it is due back (as a kid I used to take out 6 books and read them all before they were due back...woe is me). This has broadened the variety of books I'm reading and reminded me of the pleasure of picking up a book because of what's written on the back cover, rather than just because someone recommended it on Twitter/it's historical fiction/it's 99p on Kindle. 

Most recently, I finished Ithaca by Claire North. It's an imagining of what Penelope might have done with herself while she was waiting for Odysseus to return from Troy, as the suitors ate her out of house and home. I have enjoyed a few of these Greek-myths-from-women's-perspectives over the past couple of years but this one was particularly good, mainly because of the cracking bits of prose that create a very believable representation of how women operate within tightly-bounded gender roles - namely, that they largely get on and run things and nobody really notices. There's some quite interesting undertone of DV and coercive control that undercuts the humour and shifts the perspective of quite a lot of bits of Greek mythology. To top it off, the book is narrated by Hera, so you sort of know what you're getting from the start. 

Here are my favourites:

1. ...who feels the ageing process accelerating with every moment he spends in the chamber (this is sometimes a solid mood of mine in the classroom)

2. Penelope says, 'Help me, I grow faint.' Autonoe at once kneels by Penelope's side, holding her left hand in hers, and though this is a profoundly pious scene of feminine weakness, it is also now a huddle of curved back and womanly distress that hides what Eos does next from all onlookers.

3. 'Ah,' mutters Penelope. 'I see. Medon, forgive me. I find myself overcome with womanly weakness and must retire.' 

4. 'We shall now run away and hide in a ditch.'...Donning his tatty, faded grey cloak, he nods once and, with the dignity of the centaur, proudly runs away.'

5. 'How do you hide an army? What a foolish question. You hide them in precisely the same way you hide your success as a merchant, your skill with agriculture, your wisdom at politic and your innate cunning wit. You hide them as women.'

Fave Friday

Five Favourite Salads

It's definitely salad weather. I've realised that the way I consume recipes has changed over the past couple of years so a lot of them are now screenshotted from Instagram and also from Mob Kitchen, because I follow their Insta and they have successfully sucked me in. So this list looks a bit weird but here we go.

1. Mexican Chicken salad

From Mob Kitchen. I make this with less cucumber, less peppers, more coriander. Mr Z cooked up the chicken and placed it on top for dinner tonight which was also delicious. 

2. Watermelon Feta salad

Also from Mob Kitchen - I told you, suckered right in - though I did see this doing the rounds last summer in a couple of other places. I've only made this once as Mr Z does not approve much of fruity salads; I also did not have any basil or enough tomatoes but it worked OK. The crispy onions go very well with the watermelon. Can recommend. 

3. Asian cabbagey salad thing

...to give it its proper name. I don't follow That Vegan Babe but her recipe came up in my feed anyway and the dressing is banging. I have made this with a variety of grains, as I worked through the seemingly neverending stash in the cupboard last year; I think I liked bulgur wheat the best. You'll have to guess the method, sorry, but it's not particularly complex. Or I guess you could just go and look the reel up.

4. Greek salad

Very simple - cucumbers, tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, black olives, oregano, a bit of olive oil and some feta. I've been going to the good cheese shop on North Street when we have knitting group in that part of town and their feta is superb; one block will usually do us three salads, which we eat with lamb chops because we can't have meals without meat in. By we I don't mean me. 

5. Mediterranean Feel Good Salad

Aka salad from a jar. I follow Shred Happens on the gram and he has many good salad recipes, although being partial to a carb, I tend to ignore the cauliflower rice and other carb substitutes in favour of that neverending stash of grains....though that has actually run out now so I should maybe think about doing a restock of my faves. If memory serves, I made this with amaranth (I went through a whole Gillian McKeith phase back in the day; grains ancient in both genetics and shelflife) - it was good flavours but needed a better grain. 

The salad is grain (or processed cauliflower, you do you), diced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, lots of fresh parsley and some chives, a jar of grilled artichoke hearts chopped up and some jarred green olives. Then the dressing is the juice of two lemons, a third of a cup of olive oil (the tomatoes are quite oily already so less is probably more), 3 cloves of garlic, some fresh basil, a third of a cup of sun dried tomatoes and the same amount of walnuts, blitzed in a food processor. 

So that's five and I didn't even get to my favourite potato salad from my childhood, Salad Oliviyeh. I will have to save that for another post. 

Fave Friday

Five swims from May

1. Turkish Baths, Harrogate

I was in Harrogate for a conference this month and extended my stay by a night so I could visit the baths and do some other northern things on the Sunday. The Turkish bath was not so much a swim spot as a series of increasingly warm rooms, a steam room that was so hot I couldn't manage more than a minute or two, a welcome cold plunge pool and a warm room for resting in. I love a spa. I wish there was a place like this locally.

Pictures not allowed of course. I found this one online. Probably. Look how gorgeous! Definitely go and visit if you're in the area. 

2. Janet's Foss

This was one of the northern things on my list to do from Harrogate (the other being Hardwick Hall) and I executed my plan perfectly. There's something deeply satisfying about pulling off a full sequence of adulting: an early night, an early start, a short walk in the sun, a splash in a fairy pool and back on the road by 11am with an ice cream and a coffee. The women who sharked my parking space were astonished I was leaving so early but I'd arrived before 9am. 

Janet's Foss is a short (20ish minutes) walk from the Malham car park, across flat ground. It is much beloved of a wild swimming Facebook group I joined a couple of years ago and I couldn't pass up the opportunity upon realising it was only an hour's drive from Harrogate. 

It looks like I had it to myself; when I arrived there were only a few hikers around and I was quite nervous about getting in, but then a family arrived and were most encouraging, followed by a dozen women who began changing, so I got in quick so I could have it to myself. Cold, but magical. Sadly no sign of the fairy queen.

Swimsuit by Batoko. I couldn't decide on a design and then they released the otters and it was a done deal.

3. Bristol Harbour

There's no legal swimming in Bristol harbour and, let's face it, it's not the cleanest place you'll ever go, but when I heard there was a swim pilot I booked myself in. It was an epic place for a dip and, as soon as I got out, I booked in for the following Saturday. The water was very clear, if a little brown. 

4. Cromhall Quarry

There were four Cromhall swims in May, bringing my total to six for the year so far. I feel a bit guilty only listing this as one favourite swim for this month as it is always a nice spot, but it was a crowded swim month. The last of the month was sunny and, while the water isn't quite yet something I'd leap into without fear of a heart attack, it was quite pleasant in just a swimsuit, particularly with the good company of my friend Rachael and with a hearty breakfast afterwards.

5. River Avon

Busted - this wasn't a swim. It was more of a wade, followed by a long paddle. This was my first trip out in the kayak of 2023. 

Definitely not the last!

Fave Friday

This week, a simple fave of a drink after work turning into several hours of fun chatter in good company. I've made it out with my work friends two Fridays in a row. Definitely winning. This morning I slept through my alarms and woke up 18 minutes after I needed to leave the house for my usual bus, but I held my nerve and caught a later one (the same time as the one I caught when I was almost late for interview for my current job, a journey that probably shaved 2 years off my life) so I could still have a drink and not have to slope off early because I was nearly asleep. 

I am very pleased to be working in Bristol now and have such lovely colleagues. I mean, I always had lovely colleges, but it is much easier to sit here on a bus home than the palaver of going out after work in Wiltshire and having to make plans around my car. 

Fave Friday

I was going to implement a new Friday blog theme this week, called 'Food picture Friday', because I very often take pictures of meals I eat out but I never post them anywhere. The ones I've got would keep me going for a good few months.

However, I do have a new fave in my life at the moment.

SOMEhow, Marks and Spencer managed to get some targeted ads in my Facebook feed and they started pushing this on me some time in September. I went as far as trying to order one, but for some reason the website would refuse to let my order go through, saying it was out of stock when I could see clearly that it wasn't. In the end, I just gave up. I decided it was probably just regular jersey and would be a little stiff and not as comfortable as it looked, and forgot all about it.

Then, a few weeks ago, I went and did my marking in M&S cafe (I was hounded out of my usual Nero spot by a harassed mother but that's a story for another time) and I spotted these on the rack on my way out, and although my size was not available, the size up was. And it's not just regular jersey. Oh no. This is...well I don't have to go into it, do I. Basically, it stretches in all directions, is incredibly soft and very warm (I wore it camping on DofE) and even Mr Z wants to steal it. I am considering going to buy another just so I have one to wear while the original is in the wash, but it seems a little overkill. The matching PJ trousers, on the other hand...

Comfy lounge wear is an absolute must for the winter and this is very highly recommended. Just have a little look.

Fave Friday

This frozen yogurt you can buy from machines and then add your own sprinkles to is a lovely treat for me. There used to be one on Bristol centre, called Pinkberry I think, but it sadly folded, and in any case, it is one of those things that America just does better. Not that better is actually better - as Mr Z pointed out, there may be 6 flavours available but it's all just coming out of one vat of frozen yogurt with flavoured corn syrup being doused over it on the way. Probably. However, the point of this is that it's patently extremely bad for you, whereas the UK version had this sense of virtuousness that didn't suit it. 

It always reminds me of my first visit to Jimmy Beans in Reno in 2009. There was the yarn store, a teacher supplies store and a frozen yogurt store, all on the same lot. They offered yellow cake flavour frozen yogurt and had special sprinkles in - fresh blueberries. I had yellow cake with blueberries and walnuts, two days in a row. I bought some blank dice that I have never used (though I am just now thinking of a good use for them, now that I remember they exist....can I find them, is the next question). The staff at Jimmy's let me rummage through their second storefront, which was all their mail order stock. It was a very happy time. 

We ate this, above, today at Bally's after playing mini golf. Yellow cake flavour again, but no fresh berries or walnuts this time. I'll keep hanging out for that perfect combination. 

Fave Friday

I do like getting my nails done for Christmas, in a Christmassy style. My local salon excelled itself this year - I wanted the usual red with gold tips but I also wanted glitter, and she managed to achieve this through some very careful smoothing of glitter after the gold tip had gone on, so as to ensure a smooth finish. Impressive. I want them to last forever.

Fave Friday

The new curtains arrived and we put them up last weekend.

I am so pleased. I have been browsing the John Lewis fabric department off and on for years but had never come across this, and then it jumped out at me in half term and I knew right away it was the fabric for me. The robins! So many robins. It's Lorna Syson fabric and really the bullfinches would have gone better with our wallpaper, but I do love a robin.

I don't think you can beat a John Lewis curtain, either. They are pricey but last and last and last. Our bedroom curtains are still looking good, 14 years later, although the lining has started to disintegrate a bit - probably time to take them in for some mending. The robins are thermal lined and I'm already feeling the benefits in the living room.

I can now basically declare the living room finished. We could do with a piece of furniture to go in the corner, and maybe a new table and chairs, but that's just garnish.

My next project is the hallway and stairs flooring, built in cupboards under the stairs and bookcases upstairs. After that, who knows? Maybe we will begin again with our bedroom.

Fave Friday

(Posted on Saturday, because gin).

On Friday we went to Hampton Court Palace on a school trip. I do love it very much. A great building with loads of interesting things to look at, plus gorgeous grounds full of swans and geese and deer and mistletoe, and this year a special food festival for Christmas, handing out free samples to the students all day long. Marvellous.

It poured with rain all the way there (causing a big leak on the coach, hence a lot of screaming and creative use of sanitary pads) but by lunchtime the sky was blue and the sun was shining, so we had a long walk around the grounds, too. Idyllic.

It's expensive, but if you think you could get to the other Historic Royal Palaces within a year then getting a membership is a great way of saving some money. I've used my membership four times so it has saved me over £50.

Fave Friday

The new sofas are finally here!

Mother Hand bought me a gorgeous Habitat sofa bed for my birthday at some point in my mid-teens. It was dusky red, gorgeously soft and ultra squishy. I couldn't take it with me when I moved out and it sadly ended up rotting in an alley near a place Sib was renting.

Other than that tragic story, I've never had a brand new sofa that I've chosen before, and now we've got two! We bought our house from a slightly tragic man who had just split with his partner of 20 years, and he sold us essentially all the furniture for £1k. The old three piece suite came along with that. It was nearly new but that was 17 years ago and it was cream so, yeah. It was time that it went, though I did feel a big twinge of sadness when I came home last night to a big empty space.

These are very lovely though. I was a bit worried that the generic beige we'd gone for wouldn't turn out to be very nice, since they only had a small sample square, but it works really well with the rest of the room. They've got electric footrests and they recline. The only problem is working out how to get them next to each other without the recliners clashing. Nicer problems to have.

It also means I've been able to finally break out the little stash of cushion covers I've been collecting on various holidays. The florals are from Singapore Botanic Garden. The Bayeux Tapestry is from....well, Bayeux, right? Or it might have been Mont St Michel - somewhere in that vicinity. The weird bird in Tudor dress (Gondran, apparently) is from Carcassone. Those last two are both by the same French designer, Jules Pansu, and I considered them to be over-priced when I bought them (but I was on holiday so, meh) but now I see the Conrad Shop sells them for more than double what I paid, which makes me feel better.

Now, just, HURRY UP CURTAINS. 

Fave Friday

It's time for the sheds.

You may remember from previous years that it has become a tradition to hit the famous Bath Christmas Markets on opening night. My old workplace still has a training day on the following day so I met up with friend Caroline and Vikki for the usual shed-browsing, mulled-wine drinking experience. 

Certain traditions must be observed. 

1. Cheese must be purchased from the Welsh cheesemakers who sell their cheese in small truckles covered in different colours of wax. This year I bought two pickled onion, one chilli and one fig and honey. 

2. Puddings must be purchased from Georgie Porgie's. They're the best Christmas puddings ever. I was overjoyed when Mr Z discovered one in a plastic bag behind the fridge in the summer. Christmas pudding in the summer is a win. The stall always have lots of free samples, too. I bought a couple of chocolate, orange and Bailey's and an apple and cider. 

3. Gin must be sampled, and sometimes wine and other spirits too. Last night I sampled the new Bath Gin orange sloe. It was very good, so I bought a medium bottle. While I was there, a girl came over to ask for a sample. She definitely seemed underage to me but the chap handing out samples gave her one of the rhubarb and started explaining about the brand. She necked it, nearly choked, looked horrified and literally ran off in the middle of his spiel to her mirth-filled friends waiting on the corner. Ahh, her first neat gin: I was glad I could be there to witness it. I could have told her that drinking it neat gets easier with practice.

4. Mulled wine must be purchased from the place where they ring the bell outside and provide a free mince pie. This year they'd upped their game by offering a shot of brandy for an extra £2. 

5. Something with a robin on it must be purchased. 

My obsession with robins remains healthy. Last year I bought a smaller version of this, which is by Robyn Coetzee Glass. She does some amazing other birds, too. I want to buy them all but they are ...well, I'd say they are fairly priced for the effort that has gone into them. Luckily, when I was looking up the name of the stall for this blog, I discovered that she mainly sells her stuff from a shop that is approximately 10 minutes' walk from school. I foresee a lot of glass birds in our future. 

Christmas can begin now. I'm feeling festive. I was so demob happy at school today that I found myself thinking, oh I can't fit that in with y13 because it's basically the end of term. Still nearly four weeks to go, though. 

Fave Friday

I love a good history T-shirt. Here are two that have come my way this year.

Fave Friday

No picture, because I'm not taking a picture of my bed, but this week my favourite thing is the new duvet cover I splurged on last month. It is brushed cotton. The sales assistant comment on how flipping heavy it was putting it into the bag, but I can confirm that it is the warmest and snuggest thing I've ever bought for the bed. The worst thing is that, we're so warm and comfy, that oversleeping becomes a real possibility and it's even tougher to get out of it in the mornings.

I got mine here. My main worry now is, what will I do with it when it's not winter? I might have to build a shelf in the airing cupboard. I don't think it will fit in the blanket box.

Fave Friday

This year, the stars aligned and I was able to put together a massive batch of mango chutney. The mangoes turned up cheap at the green grocer as half term loomed, so I was able to buy them and then get the chutney going last weekend.

Because there were a lot of available mangoes, I made a double batch, so hopefully this should last us a good long while. 

Even though it makes the whole house smell of vinegar and spices for a couple of days, and my hand aches from pounding garlic in the pestle and mortar and grating endless ginger, it is a very satisfying job and quintessentially autumnal. I think I missed it last year because I was too busy to get the mangoes in at the right time. Hence, putting up with shop-bought mango chutney all year, which is nice but not in the same league. 

This reminds me that it must be almost time to start off a new bottle of lemon gin, which means it's almost time to open the very first bottle of lemon gin. We may have sampled it a bit at my birthday party. It was exceptional; when combined with orange tonic, it tasted of Lilt. Winner. 

Fave Friday

I'm nearly at the end of the fabulous advent calendar now. I have very much enjoyed the treats and it has been fun to try out new products.

I think my favourite so far has been the Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch.

There's a lot of white space at the top of that picture that I am too lazy to edit out. 

I'm not that into primers; I don't wear masses of face make up, except for some blusher sometimes. However, I thought I'd whack this on before the work Christmas party and see what happened. It was like somebody had done a soft focus on my face in real life. Pores that I'd never really considered were suddenly gone. My skin looked like a fresh peach. My make up glided on. It was a revelation. 

I have used it once more since, just on its own, no base make up. My blusher lasted longer and I looked like it wasn't the end of the Christmas term. I don't know what more I could ask for. 

This is quite pricy for what sounds like a very small jar (15ml?), but I may have to purchase some.