I was making myself a sandwich and it got me thinking about bread. In particular, the bread Grandma baked when we visited recently- a country style fluffy white loaf. And thinking about that made me think about grandparents, and how special they are. I’m lucky to have such amazing grandparents. There are countless memories since I was young…
So its almost 2018. I’m not sure about you but I feel like it was just New Years. 2017 needs a speeding ticket. I didn’t do a post to mark the occasion last year but since my site turned a year old this month I thought I’d do a roundup of some of the highlights that have featured here, from the last two years. Naturally, many of them are places visited. If you were part of them, laugh, cry or both. If not, I hope they remind you of some of your own.
It snowed. And snowed and snowed some more. I hadn’t seen so much since skiing three years ago. I woke up one Thursday morning a week ago to a world of white. The kids in school watched it fall all day, wishing they could be outside throwing snowballs at each other, stuck inside making snowmen out of socks and rice instead. Personally, I was happy where I was, watching the fat flakes fall as the winter skies darkened and the street lights reflected their amber glow into the classroom. Later, ‘Sleigh-bells ring, are you listening?’ rang out as I hurried past the High Street’s shops on the way home, bundled up in two scarves. Never had that line been more accurate.
Breakfast. Such a luxury these days when I grab an egg and box of something as I’m rushing out of the door to catch a bus. By the time its Saturday, I’m ready for real breakfast. I’m ready for pancakes. I make the world’s easiest pancakes since I’m such a bad cook, but they taste like pancakes should.
Life can feel like an action movie sometimes, but suppose it was more like a fairytale, one with an ending that is still unwritten. This part of Scotland would certainly make the cut scenery-wise and I really did feel like some kind of new-age princess as I followed the area’s Castle Trail (albeit a princess wearing a large A&F fleece and Nike AF1s).
So I managed to lock myself out of my apartment this morning. Smooth, I know. It was bound to happen; self-locking doors and my forgetfulness are a bad combination. Long story short, I was let in a while later but it kind of wasn’t how I had hoped to start my weekend. I was feeling gloomy over breakfast then gave myself a metaphorical head-slap and got in the car.
A cold spray stung my face as I scanned the waves, searching the grey expanse for those famous fins. Suddenly I spotted them (before anyone else on the boat, even the captain, might I add). Bottlenose dolphins swimming fast, we could barely keep pace. They were toying with us, willing us to wait for them to come back up for air. Saturday morning. In Aberdeen. I guess dolphin spotting isn’t the first thing you think of as a way to spend your weekend around here.
Recently I’ve been working on a collection of sketches of Prune and Suzi, and I thought it would be interesting to collate them all here. I’ve been putting off drawing those two for some time; they’re such individuals and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to capture their personalities on paper. I finally decided to have a go anyway and ended up doing 14 sketches of the monkeys.
Have you ever tried moving something you do inside all the time outside? You should try it, its fun shaking things up a bit. In my case, I thought I’d make the most of a beautiful July morning and brought my yoga routine to the great outdoors. Perhaps you’re feeling sore from the extra gardening you’ve been doing, or the heat has sapped your energy. Whatever the reason, there are no excuses for not trying these simple, relaxing poses, inside or outside.
