A hiatus

I know that I'm a very bad blogger. I could make excuses and tell you that I'm back working 13 hour shifts in the hospital and spend my free time snuggling the bunny, the bird and the boy (true); that my head and feet are so sore on my days off I can't make myself do anything crafty/interesting (also true) or that I study the bnf late into the night for my impending drug tests (I wish this were true). Really, though, I'm just lazy.

I promised myself that this would be the week I got my shit together and posted some of the awesome stuff I've made; I even started drafting some posts. Then I got a phonecall. The kind of phonecall that makes the world spin around you in a deafening blur. My dad was attacked in Poland and is in neuro itu over there with a bad head injury. Please understand if I don't update for a wee while.


Photo from flickr.

A time ago the teacher took me to an eco house very far up north. He lived with the hippies who built it when he first came to Scotland and it was there that he fell in love with Scotland and decided to come back and make it his home.

We hadn't been together more than 6 months at this point and I'd been having the sort of thoughts people tend to have when they are in a new relationship. Thoughts about Big Things like compatibility and commitment and the future. Thoughts about and Big Things make me very anxious and so the knot in my stomach wasn't just nerves at meeting the people my boyfriend regarded as second parents.

One day the teacher announced that he was taking me somewhere special and drove me even further north through the tiny windy rural roads. We arrived here*

We stood here in silent awe for a few minutes then I ran like an excited puppy right into the sea. Fully clothed. It was cold. Very cold. Kill a man dead in 15 minutes kind of cold. Then the teacher took off his clothes and came in too. We played in the sea for approximately 3 minutes until my circulation started to shut down; the walk back up to the car was painful and difficult so it wasn't until we were back in the car eating biscuits that I realised the knot in my stomach was gone. This boy knew me well and loved me too; things were going to be ok.

When we got back to the hippie house we remembered that it was Valentine's day. Neither of us had a card to give but we had shared so much more. We still don't acknowledge Valentine's day because that day my legs went yellow gave us so much more than any tacky, commercial hearts and flowers ever could have.

Happy V day petals. Hope you love yourselves today, tomorrow and next Tuesday.

*I know my crappy phone pics don't really do it justice but use your imagination.

No Poo

The teacher and I are both quite keen on being green and even though we're limited with what we can do to our rented flat, there are a lots of little changes we've made around the house. That mostly comprises using as few petroleum based, non-natural chemicals as we can, so my decision last year to stop using shampoo was twofold: it's better for the environment and better for my hair. Maybe threefold actually, since it makes my crazy hair a lot more manageable; perfect for a lazy girl.

You can read about how to go "no poo" here. It takes a wee while for your hair to get used to not having harch chemicals on it all the time and I did felt like a total minger for about 2 weeks but after that everything settled down. I use a baking soda solution since I always have lots of it for cleaning and baking.

Even though I hardly ever wash it (lazy), style it properly (lazy) or get it cut (lazy and nervous), I think it looks pretty ok!

A frog and his jim jams

Once upon a time there was a frog.*

He moved from a land far away to a country where he met a girl, fell in love and decided to stay.

 One day she gave him a kiss and guess what happened....

He turned into a prince!

Ok that was a crap story. And I hate photos of people kissing. Sorry. Let's start again, hm? I spent the last few days making these pyjamas for the teacher and I'm quite chuffed with them. My mum is an expert at anything crafty or household and can produce a pair of mittens before you even notice the needles clicking. So no matter how much my skills improve she'll always be something of a magician in my eyes. The teacher couldn't believe it when I sewed a button for him last week so when he tried on the pyjamas his face made all the times I stabbed myself in the fingers worth it. It's nice to be someone's magician. I do slightly regret letting the him choose the fabric himself, though...



*anybody have any idea why English people call the French frogs? I could google it but, eh, I'm lazy.

Sorry I've not been posting much (bad blogger); lots of not very nice things are happening to me at once and I've been either very grumpy or very sad for the past few weeks. Anyway,  I've always been one of those annoying irrepressible optimists so  here are one or two happies in case someone else needs cheering up.

Number one: on Sunday I didn't want to get out of bed so the teacher dragged me to our local park to look at trees and feed the geese. Two of my very favourite things. Very clever, that boy. Bonus happiness points came from watching the teacher, an anxious only child, trying desperately to feed them without any beak bits touching his hand.

Number two: this face, which the bunny makes whenever the teacher cuddles him like a baby or does his hair. (He loves it really)

Number three: I'll be having loads of free time for the next few weeks. Loads of free time to bake and sew*. First up is a cushion cover I'm going to copy from a big department store. If you don't hear from me in the next few days it's because I'm still in the fabric shop perving over buttons.

Quelques choses je voyais quand j'allais au Mans*

(Some things I saw when I went to Le Mans)

The house my boy grew up in

Apples left forgotten for the birds (partridges, blue tits, and robins)

Deliciously clean air.

 Caves where the villagers hide their wine (the teacher has been to parties in these- how cool is that?!)

Next door's kitten keen to play (of course I obliged)

That's pretty much it unless you count all the fields. So, so many fields.

*I'm actually very surprised I managed to conjugate that by myself i.e. don't expect much more.

Hiya 2011

Happy new year lovelies! 

I brought in the bells with the teacher and my very best friend on a rooftop in the capital. None of us had a reliable source of time so we watched bemused and confused as fireworks sporadically began to light up different areas of the city. We all fell silent as suddenly a huge golden shower lit up the castle in front of us. 2011 had arrived.

It was stunning. I can't believe how lucky we were that the boys next door were at the party and had access to such a perfect spot to see the spectacles with the ones you love. (Not 80 000 other people like me and my girl did last year. Fighting off horny teenage Italians get old very quickly.)

Photos are by me with my best girl's camera.