To Pastures New

This week has reminded me how much a hate moving house!!! Having spent 5 days packing up the flat that the boys share (my belongings were done in about 2 hours, save the kitchen items) I have since spent 4 days helping move things, sorting through boxes and bags in the new place, and cleaning the old flat (mine will be done on Saturday) I can honestly say I've never known a move to go on for so long.....and I very VERY much hope I won't have to go through another house move for a very long time!

Even though I'm not officially living with my significant other, nothing really feels like it has changed. I know that we were practically living together in the months leading up to the move anyway, but being my first time living with a partner, I wasn't sure if something would change. I mean, obviously not expecting massive drama-filled-fireworks type of thing......to be honest I don't really know how to describe it. It is amazing to have all of my belongings with me now though, instead of constantly having to pop back to my place to pick up specific items. And, moving has helped me re-discover items I'd forgotten I owned. Is like buying them all over again, but without the expenditure!!!!

I must admit I have become very house and interiors obsessed recently, as soon as we knew where we were going to be moving to. We even did a trip to Ikea, and I am very proud to say that I did not purchase everything in sight. The inspiration has been amazing, and that, along with Pinterest, is fuelling my ideas for turning the new house in to a wonderful home!

Pictures will be posted once everything is all unpacked and we've settled in and really made it ours.

Quiet Times

I know I said I would primarily use this blog for my creative passions. However, due to recent medical issues, I seem to have lost a lot of motivation. Currently I am stuck on crutches, having had a fall back in February. An MRI in March has revealed a cyst in my left knee. Whilst that would not have caused the fall, it may be causing the pain and tenderness that I still have in my knee. Since then, I have been having acupuncture to release the tension and pain in my knee, and am booked in to see the orthopaedic department at the hospital next Wednesday.

Getting out of the house has been an issue for me. I am very much one of those people who if I don't have a reason to go out, I won't. And needing to get out every day isn't necessarily a good reason for me to venture outside, especially given the bad weather in recent weeks.

One thing I have been enjoying is jewellery making. It is very much a side project, something to keep me occupied of an evening, but I've received a lot of really good feedback.

Above is currently my favourite creation. I found some old comics in a charity shop, and along with some cameo components, I made a Bananaman cameo bracelet with matching banana earrings. This is my first attempt at using the cameos and I'm incredibly pleased with how it's come out.

In the meantime, I've also had a birthday (thankfully incredibly quiet and wonderful) and a trip to Norfolk to see my Dad, step-Mum and younger brother and sister. All-in-all I'm trying to stay as positive as possible. I have a house move to look forward to, as well as starting university, and hopefully getting back to work soon.

Breaking Bread

Today I took my first journey into properly making home-made bread, ie. not using the just-add-water mixes that you can get in Tesco. G has a bread maker, and had suggested using that, but I wanted to really make it by hand and learn to get it right on my own steam.

So, I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, my sundried tomato and onion bread!

I followed a basic recipe that I found online at
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1916656/easybake-bread 
and also utilised the professional fountain of knowledge known as my head chef boyfriend.
After the initial proving, we punched the bread twice to remove the air, or bite back. I then transferred the dough to a bread tin (with some leftover to make some rolls) and left it to prove for another hour before baking. For the added flavours, I used half a white onion and 3 sundried tomatoes.

For my first attempt, I'm incredibly impressed with myself. The loaf has risen nicely, has a good crust, and tastes delicious. Is something I will definitely continue with, and when I'm a bit busier with university and such, I shall learn how to use the bread maker.

Getting My Craft On

Due to being pretty immobile at the moment (crutches really aren't as fun as I remember) I seem to have a huge amount of time on my hands at the moment. I've been helping G where I can with his LARP costume ready for the first Empire event this weekend, and one of his requests got me back in to my crafty ways. He was after a Saxon-style beaded necklace to go with the rest of his costume. Having looked at examples online for inspiration, below is what I came up with for him. 

I had a lot of the components lying around anyway, and raided The Bead Pot on Palace Street, Canterbury, for some more beads and the clasp. G loves it and it goes amazingly well with the rest of his costume. 

This has opened the floodgates, and with Pinterest for a tonne of inspiration, I've been playing around with some designs.

This is my first experimentation back in to the world of jewellery making. I love the classic Rockabilly symbols in the charms, and would look lovely with a day or evening outfit. I've also started some cupcake earrings which are still very much a work in progress. They're pretty simple at the moment, and I want to add some more detail to them.

Below are a couple of pictures of some items I've picked up from charity shops and eBay to create some more designs. I'm thinking of cutting up the classic 90's comics and using them to make comic book cameo pendants, having found the equipment at a bargain price. Have also got inspiration for a Swallow charm bracelet, but that is still very much a pipeline dream at the moment.

Some baking has occurred too, however no photos were taken before the cookies and cakes were demolished by myself and the boys. I have posted the links to the recipes I used, both of which were simple to follow and made for amazing treats!!!! 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4942/lemon-drizzle-cake

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2459643/vintage-chocolate-chip-cookies

Enjoy!!! 

First Anniversary

Yesterday was my first anniversary with my significant other. To celebrate, we decided to do a day in London. Given that I am currently on crutches, this took a lot of planning on Friday, deciding where we wanted to visit, and arranging wheelchair reservations where possible (generally all of the main tourist attractions will lend a wheelchair, they only require a call in advance)

First stop was to The Design Museum, close to Tower Bridge on the South Bank. I've wanted to go there for years and even had it on my list of things to do before I turn 30.

Unfortunately half of the museum was closed, due to an exhibition change. However, the collection that was available to visit was excellent. It was amazing to see original architectural plans for everyday items, such as telephone boxes. The exhibition was incredibly varied, showing classic items through the ages, including chairs, lighting, and electronic items. The museum is moving in a couple of months, and I'd be happy to visit again at the new location.

After a trip across Tower Bridge (no photos I'm afraid,  due to the pouring rain) we went to The Wellcome Collection. I had never heard of this before, and was pleasantly surprised.

The Wellcome Collection houses the medical curiosities and inventions collected in the 1800's by Sir Henry Wellcome. There is such an astounding variety of objects housed there, showing both part of the original collection, as well as more modern medical items and medical art. It is definitely somewhere to visit, whether interested in medical curiosities or not.

Finally we went to The British Museum. I hadn't been here for nearly 10 years, and had forgotten how vast the collection and building actually is. Unfortunately we were unable to view the entire museum, but we managed to visit key collections.
One key feature for me was to see the main hall. It was designed and built by Sir Norman Foster, one of my favourite architects. Under a geometric domed glass and steel ceiling, the large spiral staircase houses the gift shop as well as part of the main cafe. The hall is huge, and a fantastic focal point for such an eclectic collection of exhibits.

Despite many aches and pains today, yesterday was absolutely amazing. It was fantastic to finally see The Design Museum, and experience new and old places. I love being close enough to London to be able to visit relatively regularly, but far enough to still get the tourist-y day trip experience.

*for more pictures, see my Facebook page

CREAte Open Lecture

At the end of last week, I received a reminder of a CREAte Open Lecture up at the Kent School of Architecture at the University of Kent. They tend to hold a lecture each month, on varying topics, hosted by a variety of guest speakers.

This past Monday, off I went up the hill to see Sir Terry Farrell talk about the Thames Estuary/Gateway project. Sir Farrell is a leading modern architect, having designed and built buildings around the world, including the MI6 building and Charing Cross station in London. He was appointed head of the Thames Estuary project in 2008, and has since turned the project on it's head.

Above: The MI6 Building, London.

Normally I am incredibly apprehensive of lectures on topics I don't have a lot of background knowledge on (as my boyfriend constantly tells me, I can, at times, have an incredibly short attention span). However, I was pleasantly surprised. Despite is being quite a short lecture, only 45 minutes including questions at the end, the subject matter was interesting, and I found it relevant to my life and the area that I live in. 

The main aim of Sir Farrell's vision is to get back to nature. The Thames Estuary area is 40% nature, including water, and holds the largest group of nature reserves in the country. Whilst the government brief was essentially to extend London out in to Essex and Kent, he felt that the natural benefit of the area needed to be respected. 

Above: Sir Terry Farrell's initial design vision for the Thames Gateway and Estuary

Unfortunately an overall scheme has not yet been completed. Compiling the information from local authorities in the Thames Gateway area is a huge task. Each local authority has an idea of what they want to do to benefit their residents with their land. However, several main ideas were addressed during the talk -

- Turning the Medway towns in to one large city. The five main Medway towns - Chatham, Rochester, Strood, Gillingham and Rainham, are all centred around the dockyards, which are unfortunately no longer in use. Developing this area in to something of a city centre would transform the identity Medway, giving it a previously unknown solidarity

- On the Greenwich Peninsula, using the Millenium/O2 Dome as a seed to grow local and national business in the area to make it an economic hub.

- Develop the Isle of Dogs to become a proud place, full of activity, including using the water as parkland for water based activities.

Each of these ideas would have a huge knock-on effect in Kent and Essex. Whether or not they are positive ideas, or if they will even be put in to practice, is something only time will tell.

Big is Beautiful

Last night I noticed a new documentary on BBC iplayer called Britain’s Biggest Beauty Queens.  Intrigued, I felt compelled to watch it. The documentary follows four of the finalists in the year leading up to the 2012 finalists, what they do to prepare for the three rounds - daywear, swimsuits, and eveningwear.  All of the contestants are plus-sized, therefore size 18 and upwards. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00yp2rz/Britains_Biggest_Beauty_Queens/

On the one hand, it was refreshing to see such a different approach to a beauty queen competition. Celebrating curves, encouraging normal women to have confidence in their body. The swimsuit round especially forced the women to confront their body insecurities and show off their figures to a room full of people. Given how society seems to promote a Size Zero culture, it was fantastic to see the other side of the spectrum.

One of the issues discussed was the perception of people around them as they grew up. One of the contestant talked at great length about how she had to move out of the area due to violent bullying. She even says that it became routine to be violently beaten by the bullies. This really struck a chord with me. Being a plus-size myself (I wear a size 16-18) I’ve found that I’ve been incredibly lucky to not receive this sort of treatment. I’ve always been on the larger size compared to friends, and am generally quite comfortable (people loving my rack is a great confidence boost) I’ve never received the negativity that these girls have. I think having a fantastic group of friends growing up was a huge help. I also think that how you carry yourself is also a big thing to do with it. I try to be confident, dress for my size, and make the most of my assets. A lot of women tend to cover up as soon as negative comments are thrown. Women (and men) need to realise that they are all beautiful, and need that confidence to be themselves and live their life.

However, another part of me couldn’t help but think that, to a certain extent, the whole process seemed to promote obesity. Every scene of the women eating showed them consuming junk food, drinking wine, and generally being quite unhealthy. Whilst I understand that due to some medical issues, women find it difficult to lose weight, but this seemed to promote bigger is better, but in an unhealthy way.  

Personally, I believe any size is beautiful, as long as the person is happy with their image and not putting their health at risk. Everyone is beautiful, we just all need the confidence in ourselves to believe this!