Bucket List

So I’ve finally finished my bucket list, 100 things I want to do before I die…

1. Adopt a dog from a shelter
2. Ride a push-bike again
3. Build a blanket den
4. Go guerilla gardening at midnight
5. Host a dinner party, with more than 3 courses
6. Host a tea party
7. Go camping in New Forest
8. Visit the Isle of White
9. Make a wish on a shooting star
10. Go to Thailand
11. Swim in the sea at night
12. See Beluga whales
13. Bake 100 different cakes
14. Drink 100 varieties of tea
15. Make 100 flavors of ice cream
16. Go to Japan
17. Have a place of my own
18. Have a beautiful garden
19. Grow my own fruit and veg
20. Host a BBQ party
21. Have a garden party with 100 candles
22. Win a pumpkin competition
23. Carve a Jack O’ Lantern
24. Have my very own Christmas
25. Make a proper hot chocolate
26. Ride on a jet ski
27. Ride a dune buggy
28. Do an army assault course
29. Wax a man
30. Paint a man’s nails whilst they are sleeping
31. Have pet chickens
32. Do some D.I.Y. on a house
33. Create my own cookbook
34. Go to Japan
35. Eat sushi in Japan
36. Learn to make perfect sushi
37. Visit the Churaumi aquarium in Okinawa
38. Host a Chinese banquet
39. Travel the World
40. See the 7 wonders of the World
41. Have a GIANT World map
42. See the Northern Lights
43. Have a shower in a waterfall
44. See a panda
45. See a red panda
46. Drink from a fresh coconut
47. Build a tree house
48. Spend a night in a tree house
49. See a bald eagle in the wild
50. Forage for food
51. Make others happy
52. Make a positive difference to someone else’s life
53. Send my parents on an all expenses paid holiday
54. Get married
55. Have a loving family of my own
56. Learn to walk in high heels
57. Take a holiday in a VW campervan
58. Have a pen pal
59. Illustrate the whole alphabet
60. Go on a detox for a week
61. Make my own alcohol
62. Try 100 different cocktails
63. Learn how to make the perfect mocha frappuccino
64. Make a crème brûlée
65. Go to Edinburgh
66. Visit all 4 Tate Galleries
67. Have a stall at a crafts fair
68. Have my own website
69. Get 100 followers on my website/blog
70. Press flowers
71. Throw a pot
72. Mosaic something
73. Blow glass
74. Learn sugar craft
75. Learn to upholster
76. Crochet a blanket or table cloth
77. Conquer my fear of sewing machines
78. Do a job I love
79. Sell my own baked goods
80. Sell some of my own work
81. Write and illustrate a children’s book
82. Make a living off my own skills
83. Get featured in a magazine or on a website
84. Get my work in a gallery
85. Win a competition
86. Be part of a World record
87. Overcome my fear of failure
88. Learn to say no and not feel bad about it
89. Be Satisfied with my life
90. Go to a murder mystery party
91. Host a vintage/retro fancy dress party
92. Make and print my own zine
93. Go to a proper Christmas Market
94. Indulge in a weekend at spa hotel
95. Dine at a michelin star restaurant
96. Go sea fishing
97. Get my partner to like fish
98. Canoe in the ocean
99. Make my student loan disappear
100. Save someone else’s life when I’m dead

Yet Another Cake…

So its my boyfriend’s birthday and I’ve made him a chocolate fudge cake, rocky road, flapjacks and finally a victoria sandwich (I know, he’s spoilt!). This is one of his and my favorite cakes, if your interested in trying it out for yourself here s the recipe…

Ingredients

180g butter, at room temperature

180g caster sugar

3 eggs

180g self-raising flour

3-4 tablespoons good-quality strawberry jam

140g strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered, depending on size.

120ml whipping cream

icing sugar, to dust

two 20cm sandwich tins, greased and base-lined with greaseproof paper

Serves 8 

Preheat oven to 180c (350f/gas 4)

Beat together the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs on at a time. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in until thoroughly combined.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tins and spread out evenly using the back of a spoon. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and the sponge springs back when pressed gently with the tips of your fingers. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack, gently peel off the lining paper and leave to cool completely.

To serve, spread the strawberry jam on top of one of the cakes and top with the strawberries. Whip the cream until it stands in soft peaks, then spread on top of the strawberries. Top with the second cake, press down gently and dust with icing sugar.

 

I’ve Joined the Dark Side

Thats right after ranting on for years when android phones first came out, saying “I want a phone for a phone, not a gadget!” I finally gave in a got myself an iphone 3GS. But the main reason I bought it, is because I got it on a cracking deal of a contract (thank you Tmobile).  So I’ll wave away my previous snobbery to 21st century technology and say “well hello iphone!”

Is Twitter a Good Idea?

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking about joining Twitter, for a number of reasons. One, quite a few of my friends are on there. Two, a lot of things I’m interested in are on Twitter e.g. people, graphic design companies, illustrators etc… And three it seems quite a good and formal way to keep up with the world and what is happening in it.

However my main issue is I don’t know whether I can commit to writing at least one update everyday on it. I just don’t want it to get lost in the background and end up been something I do once a month, which isn’t the point of Twitter. Hmm… we’ll see what happens.

Coffee and Walnut Cake

Got a sudden urge to bake a cake last night and this traditional classic coffee and walnut cake never fails. Its always delicious and always gets good comments. So I thought I’d share my never fail coffee and walnut cake recipe with you. This recipe is so easy that anyone can make it!

Recipe

180g butter, at room temperature

180g caster sugar

3 eggs

180g self-rasing flour

60g walnut pieces

2 teaspoons instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water

icing

2 tablespoons single cream

2 teaspoons instant coffee

90g butter, at room temperature

180g icing sugar

8 walnut halves, to decorate

two 20cm sandwich tins, greased and base-lined with greaseproof paper

Serves 8

Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4)

Beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs on at a time. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and fold in, then fold in the nuts and dissolved coffee. Divide among the prepared sandwich tins and spread out evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and the sponge springs back when pressed gently with the tips of your fingers. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack, carefully peel off the lining paper and leave to cool completely.

To make the icing, warm the cream and coffee in a small saucepan, stirring until the coffee has dissolved. Pour into a bowl, add the butter and sift the icing sugar into the mixture. Beat together until smooth and creamy.

To serve, on the top of one of the cakes spread with slightly less than half of the icing, then place the second cake on top. Spread the remaining icing on top and decorate with walnut halves.

p.s. I took a photo of the cake at 8pm under artificial lighting and didn’t give it much of a set up, reason been that it was about to get eaten and I didn’t want to keep hungry people waiting.

Why Do I Find Skeletons Interesting?

Without trying to sound morbid or anything, I’ve always been interested skeletons. I know it sounds weird, I don’t deny that, but I think its more that fact that I find them truly fascinating!

Other people must feel the same as me or why would they be such a hit at museums. Skeletons in an odd way are a thing of beauty and interest. In the 1950’s (and onwards) people used to have cabinets of curiosity or curiosity rooms containing items which they had collected including botanical specimens, zoological items such as skeletons and other rarities.

These such items are still for sale today and whether its the exoskeleton of a beautiful insect or a Tribal monkey skull in a Victorian dome people will buy it. At the Pelicans & Parrots in London these beautiful yet strange items are for sale along with “contemporary furniture and objects sit alongside one off vintage pieces, many of which are inspired by a fascination with curiosities from the 17th century.”

Pelicans & Parrots

I Got My First “Like”

So I’ve been on wordpress for all of 3 days and I got my first “Like” on the post “<3 Liberty Fabrics” and like a little geek my mind instantly went “oOooo I’ve got interest” (or I might of said it out loud, who knows). I know its nothing much, but my first “Like” is a little step to the bigger picture. Followers and people who are genuinely interested in what I have to say… Result!

<3 Liberty Fabrics

               

Liberty is a long-established department store in Regent Steet in Central London, the store is one of the most fashionable places to shop in the city. Liberty is well known for their luxurious range of fabrics and they certainly do not disappoint.

“The Liberty Book of Home Sewing” published in October of last year has been created to showcase the beautiful range of Liberty fabrics available. The book has a range of wonderful projects from simple projects for beginners to the more advanced. A personal favorite of mine is the stunning peacock which cleverly uses the pattern in Libery Hera/Caesar or Isis fabric.

Needless to say that when I visit London this February I’m going to be making a few purchases!

Liberty Fabrics

Bad Habits

My boyfriend and myself both have bad habits. He bites and chews at his nails like a starved coyote desperate for a bone and I pick and pull at my lips, often till they bleed, attractive… NOT!

So we thought we’d try and kick these bad habits in the butt for our new year’s solution. For every time we give in to our bad habits we have agreed to put a pound into a money box.

It’s Friday 20th January and £25 is already in the box and the months not even bloody up yet! Yes, as you can gather from my distressed tone (well, exclamation mark) that most of that £25 is my money! Even with this rather large sum of money saved up I can actually say hand on heart that I am getting better, honest. I’m not half as bad as I used to be, its probably because I have to fork out £1 for every time I slip up.

So my advice for people trying to give something up, is to sacrifice either a small sum money or something else every time you commit the habit. Think about it as punishment like a kid been told to go and sit on the naughty step for doing something bad.

Also on the plus side you’ll have a small amount of money stashed away. With this money you could do a good deed and give it to charity, save it for a rainy day or like me and my boyfriend put it towards holiday expenses (we’re going to London for valentines day, how amazing).

Here It Goes…

So I’ve never really done this sort of thing before, you know blogging. Posting things that are on my mind, stuff of interest and so on and so forth… It seems interesting doesn’t it?

Well I don’t know if the thoughts going on in my mind would be a good read, be interesting or even entertaining but I’m gonna give it a go!

I hope for your sake (you, the reader) I’m not dull or a drag. I mean for all I know this talk about me been dull, is probably causing your eyes to glaze over as we speak! So if thats that case, I’m terribly sorry.

And on a final (lighter) note, hope you enjoy and…

Happy Blogging!