Today I wish I was...

...able to get a good picture of the sunrise. The only benefit of a frost so thick it didn't thaw all day/being at work before the sun comes up/having to climb up endless stairs to get to my office has got to be the gorgeous clear skies and beautiful colours. I spent some time with my arm wedged out of the classroom window 4 storeys up, trying to get a picture of the colours, but to no avail.

In other news, I may need to cave and start wearing tights. This bare-legged lark is all very well when I'm walking to my car and back, but the bus was late this morning and that was not fun. If you thought it was cold when you got up, you only have my sympathy if you were also up and out of the house by 6.20. In my humble opinion, 6.20 cold is considerably colder.

Plum chia seed pudding

(I know, three posts in one day: I told you I was on top of my workload this week).

Much as I was enjoying the apple chia seed pudding, I thought I had better mix it up a bit, so I brought home some plums at the weekend and had a go with them. It's a new favourite.

5-6 plums, quartered and destoned
1 star anise
Vanilla caster sugar, to taste. Normal sugar probably OK too, especially if you use vanilla yogurt. Or you could put a bit of vanilla pod in with the plums
2 cups almond milk
200g Greek yogurt (I ended up using honey yogurt, because Asda delivered it to me by accident and I was already stirring it in by the time I realised it wasn't ginger)
Half cup chia seeds
2 tbsp flaxseed (this is a usual inclusion, only left out of the previous recipe because I had run out)

Stew the plums with a little bit of water and the star anise until they have disintegrated. Fish the star anise out and add a bit of sugar if the plums are a bit sour. Wait until they are cold, then mix everything together in an ice cream tub and put in the fridge overnight.

I am not a huge fan of aniseed in its most common forms (balls, Pernod) but this is an absolute winner of a combination. The flavour is quite subtle and - I can't put it better than this - cold, but not overwhelming.

I might try again this weekend if I remember to buy a cinnamon stick - I think that would be a great further addition.

The Bikram Diaries: 9

You might be forgiven for thinking I'd jacked in the sweaty yoga, since I haven't blogged about it since last December. Well, we're all on a journey, aren't we? My journey has not involved masses of visits to the bikram studio this year, but there have still been some. Nineteen, to be precise, so I will aim to get to 25 by year's end. I am managing once a week now that I have figured out Monday is always a better day to go than Tuesday, on account of Tuesday being a lighter work day every week. I did go on Tuesday this week, though. Managing my workload slightly better this week.

As I commented to the very keen lady who recently completed a 30 day challenge tonight, the only problem with only coming once a week is that progress seems to be non-existent. I grope for my foot in standing head to knee and standing bow, and it never feels like it is getting any closer. I lean back in camel, but my back bend is no deeper. I tilt my pelvis and think fondly of gravity, trying to lower my bum actually onto my heels, in half tortoise, but there is still at least a finger's width of air between them.

I had a very busy day today (my Fitbit congratulated me on reaching my best-ever score of 50 floors climbed today, which explains why I am so tired) and as soon as I got into class my mind just exploded, like I had been ignoring it all day. So I wasn't fully in there. But having said that, a little progress tonight: I did manage to catch my left foot very briefly in standing bow, but only briefly, and then I hurt my shoulder and had to be a bit careful for the rest of class.

Laura came over to help me with the lying down bow pose too, and even though she retreated the first time (probably in horror at the enormous crack my hip made as she attempted to lift my foot for me), when she came back in the savasana and tried again, I was successful. It was a joyful moment that has not occurred for going on 18 months and I wanted to remain in that pose for the rest of class.

I also have to take my wins elsewhere. I can now get through an entire class without drinking and without wiping my face. Small steps. My self-control is improving, even if my muscles are not.

Another little positive: I have lost 10lbs since starting the new job, purely through the additional walking (it must be, because I still eat too much cake). I only know this because the number on the scale has changed: I don't notice the difference in the mirror. But I did tonight, as I gurned through another set of Awkward pose, posed like a duck and sucking in my stomach. It looked flabby and hideous, as usual, but there was a ghost of something underneath it all that I hadn't seen in a while.

So yes, bikram. Still happening. Still hard. Still magic afterwards. Even better in this freezing weather.

Tuesday Ten: The Avarice Edition

10 things I'd like for Christmas

1. A new cord coat, exactly like my old cord coat but not faded and with no loose buttons. Said cord coat is now 8 years old and has been through the washing machine several times, but there's no denying it looks its age. I have been hanging out for Boden to release it again, but not happened yet.
Really I should be asking Santa for a sensible long waterproof coat with a hood, but I haven't seen one I like.

2. Some L'Occitane Cherry Blossom shower gel. I got a mini one in my beauty box subscription one month this year and I love the scent, AND it hangs around for a while.

3. The perfect navy blue gel eyeliner. It doesn't exist. Shu Uemura did a great one which I am still mourning. All the others seem to have some sparkle or are the wrong colour blue.

4. That Marc Jacobs scarf I mentioned a few weeks ago. I might end up making this a present to myself.

5. A digital radio walkman, ideally one that is also an MP3 player. I haven't found one that does both yet. I think I must be searching for the wrong thing. I really miss Radio 4 on my journey home from work.

6. Some fancy headphones to go with my new radio MP3 device. Bose ones would be nice. I don't want to have to listen to people on the bus.

7. A Tiffany mini smile necklace in rose gold. I perused these in Singapore and they are lovely and understated. The chain was a smidge too short, though. I wonder if they do extensions. They are eye-wateringly expensive so I would hope they could be accommodating.

8. A fruit bowl for my office at work. I'm tired of keeping my fruit in a drawer.

9. Swarovski bracelet. This one, ideally. One of my A-level students works for them and is always rocking plenty of crystals - I love these bracelets. When they're not being worn they're like fascinating sparkly snakes.

10. A Bunnies and Zen yoga towel. I really, really do not need one of these - I already have two yoga towels which is excessive - but they are exceptionally cute. Even the twee ones.


Mr Z said he would get the decorations down very soon. I can't wait to get my robins back up. Robins are more a winter decoration than specifically Christmas, aren't they?

Blue Monday

June 2015 turned out to be my last ever Murder Mystery weekend with my old school. It was my 11th, and made all the better by the fact it was taking place in June rather than March. It was knocked on the head this year because apparently enrichment for the more able is no longer desirable. Totes not bitter about this, as you can tell.

Part of what I loved about MM, other than the aforementioned enrichment, was the opportunity to hang out with colleagues and spend time talking to them about Stuff They Know. In school, outside of the department, people rarely talked about Stuff They Knew, preferring the more mundane entertainment of, how many times in a row can you get the ball in the cup, or how much is too much to spend on Lego? and the like. During the school day, when you're in the zone, isn't the best time to try and inspire colleagues with your knowledge.

MM, however, it the perfect time. Everyone is slightly giddy from lack of sleep and trying to make enough fake evidence to throw the kids off the scent of the murderer. Hence, we found ourselves (staff and students) crowded onto the lower field on Saturday night while Mr F the physics teacher told us all about what was happening in the sky.

It was a glorious sky, too. 10.30pm and there was still some dusk left in it.

There was a very bright star. Or was it a star? Mr F explained that this was actually two planets - Jupiter and Venus - converging in the sky so that they shone doubly bright.  This is a very rare occurrence.

Of course, this sort of thing is very tricky to catch with a phone camera but I did my best. Very blue. One of those perfect midsummer evenings.

Weekend WIP

I have finished the sleeves and picked up for the button band: very nearly there. No picture because the whole thing is all bunched up on the needle for the neckband now, but it is a lovely fit and feels very warm.

The purple made it through to the final stripe but with absolutely nothing to spare. I actually had to cut the remainder in half and knot it onto the end for one sleeve (I know, KNOT....ugh) and was still left with an end that I am going to struggle to weave in. But I made it.

As for the rest, I have used almost the entire second skein of pink and have only a few metres of the fawn colour left, and quite a lot of lilac - about a third of a skein. I will probably use that to neaten up the sleeves where the colour changes have left them looking wonky. Will see what it looks like after blocking.

Upon hauling out the buttons I realised that the identical set I thought I had were actually very miniature versions, so I had no qualms about using the original set. I toyed with the idea of using these blue shell buttons instead, as they are so lovely -

But I think the silver ones will work best, and the Ravelry consensus agreed with me. I have made the cuffs double length with a thumb hole, so I can button them back onto the little silver ones. Love it.

I am really hopeful about finishing this during the week this week. I know I had good intentions last week but it really was a marathon of work weeks and I didn't have any knitting time. This week should be different, hopefully.

November traditions

It seems that I have a few traditions, not all the usual type, in my kitchen during November.

Firstly, the Christmas cake. I followed Delia's Creole Christmas cake recipe once again, but adjusted it this year as I had a surfeit of cherry brandy. I decided I would make it a cherry cake instead. Here were my subs:
* The soaking booze consisted of 9 tbsps cherry brandy and 3 tbsps amaretto
* I replaced the currant with dried cherries
* I left out the molasses sugar and reduced the amount of sugar in the cake by 50g: it is virtually impossible, I have found to buy unsweetened dried cherries and even though these were only spiked with apple juice I don't want it to be too sweet
* I replaced the mixed nuts with flaked almonds

Once again, it smelled a bit clovey to me so I have made a note in the book this year to reduce the amount I add next year.

Secondly, mango chutney.

There comes a point every autumn when the local green grocer sells off cheap mangoes, hard as bullets. That point arrived two weeks ago (2 for a pound) and this weekend they were soft enough for chutney. The whole house is currently steeped in the smell of vinegar and coriander. Loving it.

Finally, gin. I have been patiently waiting for Sainsbury's to do their usual price lowering trick with Bombay Sapphire, and had actually given up hope, but this weekend the litre bottle was finally down to £18 so it came home with me and more citrus gin has been made. As good as my word from last year, this year's vintage will be two lemons, two limes and 200g caster sugar.

The first bottle is still living it up in the boot of Mr Z's car. He insists it must be ready by now but I think it needs to go for at least another year.