Pillows of Joy

Dinner club: my turn. Wasn't as prepared as I could/should have been but not a bad job considering. To start I wanted to stuff the chillies my bro gave me from his plants at the weekend so I went a-searchin' on the net and found this baby. Sometimes you find good recipes in the most unlikely places, like tucked away on someone's blog. But... I forgot to take a picture of them. They looked like the pic on the recipe only jalapeno shaped/coloured.

I went out on a curiosity-fuelled limb for the main and made gnocchi. It#s true what they say-it's tricky. They were a bit misshapen but they were fluffy and creamy at the same time and I was pretty chuffed. I boiled them then tossed them with sauteed red onions, chestnut mushrooms, wilted spinach, gorgonzola and a smidge of creme fraiche, with grated nutmeg. Bang tidy:

Then served it up with a simple baby plum tomato, rocket and avocado salad.

While I was home at the weekend I also managed to blag a few Cox's from the garden and I thought these would go down a treat stewed with some pears from my garden and a bit of rosewater, all wrapped up in shortcrust with a dollop of that creme fraiche on the side. Turns out I was right.

End Of The Road

I'm off to this festival today! It's only a little 'un, but the line up is great and as I couldn't afford a ticket, I'm stewarding! I've never done this before so it will be an experience, I'm guessing a tiring one. Wish me luck!

Long time no blog

It's been a long time since I last posted and a lot has changed. I have moved into a new flat with my friend Hayley and her boyfriend, I have a new pair of skates, a new laptop and a new job!

Times haven't been the easiest lately but it's been "character building", as they say. This basically means"shit", but the kind that makes you stronger for doing it rather than just a waste of your life, like watching Friends for 2 hours.I won't go into detail, but focus on the good things to come out of it- my new flat is rockin' and I'm much happier there than in my previous house (shabby chic without the chic). Maybe I'll post some pics of my favourite bits sometime. I start my new job on 20th September, and although it's not doing something I'm massively passionate about it is in a university so the perks are great, it's close to where I live and a bit better paid, so I can't wait to start!

Derby is going so well, I'm now on the committee and it occupies a vast proportion of my thought space, and as such I'm going to start a new blog about it, thusly: Derby Diary. It's not up to much yet but I think this will end up being where most of my blogging gets done. I'll carry on updating this one with photos and recipes and other hobbies and musings, if I have time for any!

Squirmy

Roller derby is taking over my life- I've never found a sport I genuinely enjoyed this much before. My confidence on 8 wheels is growing session by session and there are three a week. I'm getting loads of exercise out of it too, which is a welcome byproduct. I find myself wishing away the days between training and daydreaming about the super shiny, super fast floor of our Sunday training hall. I got taken out by a girl on Friday and landed on her wheel. I can't help but feel a certain sense of pride every time I look at the huge bruise on my backside, and almost look forward to checking its colourful progress every morning.

I spotted an ad for a second hand pair of  Riedell entry level skates on facebook yesterday and have enquired about them as I can't afford a new pair at the moment. I'm checking for a reply nearly every five minutes. This is sickening!

But I love it...

Photos from the weekend

Spring again

Scratch that- I have taken a couple of pics, they just weren't on my own camera. Here's some cherry blossom at Hidcote Manor in Gloucestershire.

Spring

It's definitely spring now, the last week or so has been beautiful. I've been out on my bike loads which is even better since I got my Dad to fix it- now I can use all the gears and don't have to stick to the top three! Hills were hard for a while...

I went to a session with another roller derby team last weekend and they were much more organised and seemed more like my kind of people. I've got a skate practice tonight at the outdoor velodrome, yipes! I'm not sure I'm ready for it but hell, I've got all sorts of pads and a helmet, what's the worst that can happen?

Haven't taken any pics for a while, maybe after I've checked out the velodrome situation I'll take some next week. I'm off to a wedding this weeknd at this beautiful house so I imagine some photo opportunities will pop up.

In the meantime I will be purchasing two vintage storage trunks to help hide all my mess tidy up all my stuff, and waiting for decor inspiration: