Locked Inside the Ferris Wheel

 Some quotes from books I have been reading lately:

 This is from Haruki Murakami's 'Sputnik Sweetheart'.

 Truman Capote's short story 'Miriam' and is about an old woman being menaced by a little girl. It is truely brillient in its sly sense of horror.

And this is a short story that explores the dialogue of a family explaining extra punctuation marks from Jonathan Safran Foer's 'The Unabridged Pocketbook of Lightning'.

Om Nom Nom

Some of the wonderful food I have eaten this year (or at least in this half of this year) I can't wait until I can do full year reviews!

You know it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine

 Brunch on the balcony; toast with avocado, salami, poached eggs mushrooms and yogurt with strawberries for desert.

 Ready and about to get on my bike.

 We biked out to the bowling place on the edge of the city.

 Chris won the first game by a smidgen and the second by a whole smudge.

 The bowling place was pretty great with disco balls on the ceiling. There was one old guy with a good three inches of sock showing who would crouch down really low to watch his ball and point in glee if he got a good shot and turn away making a nineteen fifties gesture of annoyance (the fist swing) if it was poor. He was amazing.

 When I got home Mesha and I had a bit of a Nana nap.

 Keith came round and as he has an obsession with iced tea I made him a jug, we drank it out on the balcony.

 I made iskender for dinner, yum!

 We had a quiet drink out at The Darkroom.

 :)

 We played cards until the game felt pointless and then trundled home.

A peek at some of my wonderful birthday presents!

 I was going to put these up nearly a week ago but Keith accidentally took my camera cord, so I have been out of camera comminication! This is the sewing machine Chris got me, I love it, it was made in the mid to late 50s.

 He also got me the Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde record, I have been listening to it non-stop. I love Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat.

And some of the other super nice things from Mum and Dad, Hannah, Liz and Keith.

Honey I Want You

(click image for source)

Here is a short play list of some of the music I am going to be listening to this summer:

1. Noah and the Whale - 2 Atoms in a Molecule
2. Bob Dylan - I Want You
3. Nouvelle Vague - Dancing With Myself
4. Belle and Sebastian - The Boy with the Arab Strap
5. Elvis Perkins in Dearland - I Heard Your Voice in Dresden
6. Coeur de Pirate - Printemps
7. Lacrosse - You Can't Say No Forever
8. Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance
9. Simon and Garfunkel - The 59th Street Bridge Song
10. The XX - VCR

22

 Treasure hunt in the morning.

 Brunch down the road at a cafe, bubble and squeak. mm

 Hannah and Gina came for dinner on the balcony.

 <3

 :)

 What a couple of cuties!

 This was desert; fruit salad, meringues and ice cream.

Keith came too. A good birthday.

:)!

Birthday lollies!!! :)

She Sells

Yesterday Chris and I went to the beach to get out of town. We wandered the shops, had some fish and chips and went for a walk along the beach.

Hi.

 The guy who flies kites was there.

As was this scary looking chap.

Lavender Cordial and Strawberries

 In the back of one of Chris's beer brewing books I found a recipe for lavender cordial. Underneath which it suggested a teaspoon and a half in champagne for a lavender champagne cocktail. How could I resist?! To make it you need 50 lavender flowers, 300ml of water and half a cup of sugar.

 Firstly, you slowly heat up the sugar and water until the sugar is completely dissolved, add the lavender and bring to the boil. Take it off the heat and let it infuse for about 45 minutes.

 This is the perfect opportunity to have some strawberries while waiting.

And to make a label to stick on after sterilising the bottle. You do that by first washing it and then pouring boiling water in and out so it touches every part of the inside of the bottle, let it dry naturally.

  Once 45 minutes have passed the mixture must be strained through cloth (ideally muslin), put back on the heat and brought to the boil whilst being stirred constantly. Once it has reduced to a syrupy consistency cool. Bottle when entirely cold.

To be enjoyed with water, sparkling water or champagne :) Will keep in the fridge for one month.

My Birthday Soon!

Hi! Sorry we haven't talked in a while, I have been busy studying and socialising and basically getting myself foolishly tired. I thought today I would share some pictures of my childhood birthdays, my more recent ones have been stunningly under-documented (that is all about to change with my new photograhy obsession). Above is my fifth birthday.

 This one looks to be around my sixth or seventh. I like that it is under a tree that has balloons attached, I remember that tree distinctly; good for climbing and swinging on.

This is my tenth  birthday and a pretty good picture of the inside of the house I grew up in. It was sold when I was 17 and now the nice big property around it is being subdivided; it makes me sad that the people who moved in when we left arn't very nice.

  It is less than a week until I am 22! I have a feeling it is going to be a good year.

P.S. Happy Birthday Thomas! I hope you have had a good day :)