Whirlwind

Apologies for the complete lack of posts recently, its been a bit of a crazy week! I ended up having to jump on a train to London on Thursday night. It was brilliant to see my brother for a flying visit but unfortunately I had to dash back up north for college on Saturday.

The weather in London was fantastic and I enjoyed a lovely walk along the Thames after my interview on Friday afternoon. I really enjoyed catching up with Jas and we ended up going to a fantastic Italian bakery, Princi which I highly recommend. It has an amazing long counter where you can pick out lots of lovely delights from freshly cooked pizza to delicious cakes to try, as well as, of course, a fantastic selection of breads.

Unfortunately I was so busy enjoying the food I didn't take any pictures but here are a few of the things I have taken pictures of recently.

Pretty blossom in York. It always seems to be glorious weather when I have to spend the weekend in college. I took these about two weeks ago when I'd finished my workshops on the Sunday afternoon. It was a perfect cool but sunny spring day and I was so tired I could have easily fallen asleep watching the blossom in the breeze but luckily Neil turned up to give me a lift home.

Speltotto - Neil and I have recently discovered that spelt makes an amazing alternative to rice. We are slightly obsessed with the River Cottage Veg Book at the moment and this is one of the fabulous recipes we have discovered - leek and kale make it nice and green, with a little bit of indulgence in the form of hard goats cheese (Drunken Goat is amazing!).

[Excuse our rather terrible cooker - it came with the house!]

Yarg cheese - the greatest cheese in the world. I was so happy when I saw my favourite Cornish cheese for sale in our local Morrisons I had to buy some.

Last week ended in a mad dash trip to London - the weather was so fantastic on Friday afternoon I walked along the river from London Bridge to Embankment and spotted this cormorant sunbathing.

A little bit of stargazing - the moon, Venus and Jupiter last night.

Finally, my gorgeous new Shape Up Sketchers. I was admiring Jess' pair the other day so when I spotted some yesterday I thought I would indulge - it was payday afterall. They are supposed to unbalance you as you walk so that you have to use your muscles more. I've held off buying shaping/toning shoes in the past as most styles look like orthopaedic shoes but these ones are actually pretty sleek. I have to say the thing I really love about these shoes is that they make my feet look small. I have size 8 feet which makes it hard to find anything nice in my size. These are a size 7 yet fit perfectly and look reasonably dainty (as far as trainers can).

I have no idea if they actually work but I figured I'd give them a go. I don't know whether it was down to last night's run but my legs were certainly aching today walking around Leeds during my lunch hour. I'm going to the Isle of Man this weekend which will probably involve a lot of walking so hopefully they will be comfortable for that, any toning up will be an added bonus.

So on Thursday I am off to the Isle of Man for archery fun. It's not the most glamorous location but the trip is alway a lot of fun. We go every year with a big group of ex-university archers to compete against the students in the student festival of sport. I'm sure I will be posting some pictures upon my return!