Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten places I’d like to visit:

1. Edinburgh

2. India (As in just anywhere in India, where I can eat lots of curry and see the gorgous clothes)

3. New Zealand – I have family there and it just looks so beautiful (plus I can see where the Lord of the Rings films were made)

4. New England at Autumn

5. Paris, France. Kind of self explainitory really.

6. Pyramids in Egypt

7. Rome, Italy

8. Singapore – It just looks so unusual and amazing9. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – call me insane but I’d really like to get a look in one of the favelas (slums)

10. I’d love to go on Safari somewhere in Africa, maybe Kenya?

Where would you really like to visit?

Earth from Above

I love looking out how people live. Well, I love people watching full stop (or is that just being plain nosy?). Its sad sometimes but often very amazing and ingenious as well. I came accross these aerial photos and the most interesting ones, at least to me, are how people live. Enjoy 🙂

Some inspiration

I’ve just spent the last hour (without realising how long it was at all) listening to this inteview of Stephanie and Christian Nielsen. Stephanie writes the blog nienie dialogues which I just came accross. It is genuinely one of the most inspiring things that I have heard in a long time. They were both in a horrendous plane crash and suffered extensive burns. Stephanie in particular, who received 80% burns, was talking about how they came together as a family (they have four young children) and coped with the tragedy from a faith perspective. But my words don’t do them any sort of justice – do please have a look at the blog – its increadibly powerful.

Cupcakes :)

Well, I am dog tired right now. I spent the day at Black Country Living History museum with my mum and youngest brother – It was great fun but boy, day trips don’t half take it out of you. And so I  will leave the museum gushing and fantabulous fish and chips to another post. Instead, I will leave you with some cupcakes as eye candy.

I made these darlings last monday? sunday? after I had spent much time perusing cake pops etc. etc. I didn’t have the right ingredients to venture into cake pops so instead I made some Lemon Cupcakes and some Psychadelic Blue Isaac Cupcakes. Yes, I did write Psychadelic Blue Isaac Cupcakes. All will be revealed 😉

The Lemon Cupcakes were made from the hummingbird bakery cookbook and turned out very nicely indeed. I had to do a bit of modifying as I didn’t have all the ingredients (used a tablesppon of lemon juice as I didn’t have enought lemon peel and I used self-raising flour instead of plain flour and baking powder – in fact can any one tell me what the real difference is between self-raising and baking powder+plain flour- does it taste different? cook differently?) but I was really pleased. I’d never made a cake with milk in it before so it was leaping out into the beyond 😛

And then for the Psychadelic Blue Isaac Cupcakes. Well…these were just me fooling around because I wanted to do some more baking. Because theres nothing better than a bit of cupcake baking right? So I decided to add some blue and green food coulouring into the mix. Four different shades to be precise. And then layer them up. Well, thats all very well Hannah you say, thats the blue bit sorted. But what about the Psychadelic and Isaac part? Well, Isaac is my brother. Who goes slightly crazy at E numbers and ice cream. These were the perfect cake to set him off – although, perhaps this is a bit unfair on him – I don’t think my mum even allowed him to have one!!! And as for the psychadelic bit – well (I’m liking that word far to much!), have a look at them and tell me they don’t look psychadelic!

A bit of funky (well trying to be funky) outside photography

A bite mark? Me? No....

See? Clearly psychadelic even when masquerading with sophisticated mickey mouse expresso (it is expresso, right?) mugs.

Bon Apetit!

On running

I went for a run yesterday.

Its a run that I’ve been trying to ignore for the past, hmm, three weeks? I did the first two sessions of week 1 of the Couch2 5k running programme the said three weeks ago and then stopped. I couldn’t be bothered to get up in the mornings. I felt embarassed. I’m definitely not sporty and overweight to boot – running? Really? So I tried to put it to the back of my mind. And then I assured myself that I would start it up again in the easter holidays. The easter holidays came. And I stayed in bed. What a surprise!

So what happenned last night? I was doing a bit of blog hopping and I came accross the blog Shrink to Fit. Its really inspiring and just made me think – heck, I don’t have any excuses or real challenges. So I went out for that run. Because I knew if I didn’t go then I would never go!

And it was embarassing. I was well aware that my ‘run’ was slower than some people walk. And that my make shift running outfit was far from professional. And that I was red in the face and sweating.

BUT

I saw trees covered in cherry blossom:

And when I was doing the walm up walk, I discovered a little patch of wilderness next to where the canal used to run (although there weren’t many pretty flowers up yet, so these will be to come):

And I discovered a new statue/bench thing:

And all in my local park. I was being alive while ouside running and I was discovering and exploring and living adventurously.

And I could never done that if I had just stayed in my room and gone on the computer or played Age of Empires with my brothers 😉 Although I probably won’t think like this tomorrow morning when I have to force myself to get up and go.

In my house of dreams…

‘I don’t know yet what it is, or where it will be in reality, but I have a little house o’ dreams all furnished in my imagination – a tiny, delightful castle in Spain.’

Anne from Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M.Montgomery

I don’t know if I have solid notion of what my dream house would be but I definitely have enough airy fairy images and little bits and bobs to fill up a dream:

A cottage in the country, with honeysuckle growing up the walls and a garden which stays stylishly disheveled without me doing any work:

And in that cottage I want books. Lots and lots and lots of books. I dream of a library with a bed in it, just in case I get carried away into a dream world or find out a spell which means I could fly around on a bed like in bedknobs and broomsticks:

And then, a little book nook under the stairs:

And also a window seat. Such a multi purpose spot, somewhere to read, somewhere to crochet, somewhere to just sit and people watch…a necessity in my dream house:

A Bedroom with the patchwork quilt my nanny made me (not the one pictured) :

A dress form in the corner for me to dangle with jewelry and dress up in vintage chic outfits:

A wall with photos of my friends and family, theatre tickets, holiday shots, slightly dodgy yet vaguely amusing postcards…a life in pictures wall:

Lots of candles and lanterns:

A whole craft room devoted to wool and yarn and fabric and paper and beads and embellishments and ribbons and stickers and crafty books is a necessity. And would you believe that I pressed publish without putting it in? I’m remedying that now though:

I would like a rocking chair in the living room for its nostalgic value as well as its fun:

And a wood fire to keep me warm on cold country nights:

And finally, beofre I completely exhaust my dream house fairy, I would like a light open kitchen with a wooden table and lots and lots of pretty glass jars filled with spices and sugar and such.

Oh and just before I go, fresh flowers everywhere:

 

Phew….that was long post wasn’t it! I seriously need to give that fairy some extra mooney for all that over time work. Maybe I should just stick to a wood and a little stream like Anne of Green Gables!

What about you? Anyone else still working away on their dream house? Or anyone got their dream house?

The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun

Watch. Just watch. Honestly – its worth it!

Found on this blog. Go check it out 🙂

Before I Die…

Before I Die & Candy Chang – StumbleUpon.

I found this article on my *ahem* daily (not obsessive, never obsessive ~ honestly!) trawl of the internet. I’ve just found out about StumbleUpon and I’m very close to getting addicted to it. Yet another way to increase my hours on the computer…le sigh…

Anyway, whatever the state of my computer addictedness, I was glad I can accross this article. Its an arty project that was set up by Cindy Chang. She basically took an abandoned building and made a chalk board of the whole wall, with ‘Before I die I want to…’ and all the residents in the area could just come and chalk on what they fancied.

Don’t the boards look fantastic (all images courtesy of the article by the way – DO check it out!)? I just love how human it is. How fantastically, amzingly human it is. (I sound like Doctor Who don’t I?) You have the odd joker – Be tried for piracy – wouldn’t we all just love to have that happen to us? In that we are being tried for piracy and then we are saved by the pirates, one of whom just happens to be a Jack Sparrow look alike who falls in love with you. Yeah, I wish 😉 And then theres the ‘Go to Rome’ – me too, my brother went in October and it looks gorgeous.

And then there are the ones that really should be mottos for life…

• Save my soul – but then how perfect that someone has written above it – soul saved…we CAN do amazing things, we just need to put our minds to it
• Love and Be Loved
• Write a Book (well its not really a motto for life but something I really want to do at some point.)
• Change a life
• Have Fun – With a cute little smiley faced U!

And then, I just wanted to share with you the one right at the bottom –

‘Apologize. Forgive. Be Free.’

It struck me, as I was typing that out – none of the messages are about hate or revenge – they are all about love and life and LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY – which, I think, says something about us all 🙂

mmmmmmmm….breakfast!!!

I’m sorry. I really am. I know you popped in here, maybe to find out what I’m about, maybe by an unfortunate accident or coincidence or maybe, in my two posts so far because you already love this blog (probably the most unlikely I concede). You were then, admit it, going to carry on with your lives. And there I go thrusting warm, freshly -home!!! -made, crispy, sugared and cinnamoned doughnuts right in your face.

I know. I know. You are probably now craving doughnuts by the seaside, cinnamon toast, candy floss and all manner of delightful things. I know I am and I’ve already eaten at least half a dozen doughnuts! For a late breakfast. But you are better now that I’ve shared aren’t you? You couldn’t really have gone through your life without the delectable sight of my breakfast could?

Thank you little brother for being a talented cook who always wants to try out new things. Thank you for creating these suculent morsels of doughnut….

Okay, I’m being cruel now so I’ll stop. But seriously, find yourself a doughnut recipe and make it – you won’t regret it! If you want this particular recipe get yourdelf a copy of Really Revolting Recipes which is the Roald Dhal cook book thing. Some other good fun recipes in there as well, although I’m not sure how much I’d like to eat many of them!

Also, just to let you know it wasn’t always hunky dorey when making these I had a bit of a panic at our first attempt. They came out burnt on the outside yet doughy and uncooked in the middle; as I had read this story yesterday you can understand my panicked assumption that they were all going to be like that – but they weren’t so I was very happy – just make sure that the oil is hot but not too hot!

Anyway, I will leave you all with the taste of cinnamon and sugar and crispy, soft doughnuts melting in the mouth and a few pictures of the chaos of it all:

Frying 'em up

The chef and mum & the trusty thermometer - thanks aunty Helen!

Just to tempt you again...

And finally....the destruction!

A bit of shameless promo