We do all the bowling!

Recently, my friends and I decided to go bowling as a cheap Saturday night out. It was such a good night, and it was so lovely to see everyone outside of work for a change. Admittedly I don't know who won and some weird random people turned up. It was only planned as a small group of good friends which some how escalated to fourteen!

Here's a few pictures of the night, hope you enjoy...

The girls from work

Kirtsy

Me and Cindy

This is definitely a must do if you want an enjoyable cheap weekend outing,  I spent £10 all night, Bargain! At that price you could become a bowling king or queen.

We walk all the places!

In April Anthony and I are heading to the Lake District for our anniversary and of course a week of relaxation and holidaying. This is our opportunity to be the perfect tourist couple, or in our case get lost and end up doing something completely random, which sometimes is the best way to explore. Cutting to the chase, I want to be fit to go and manage to do a long fell walk without having a heart attack, also the weight loss would be a bonus.

My goal

Admittedly I am not great on paint but you get the idea so, to start my get fit scheme last weekend I went on a five mile walk with one of my work friends and her friend. Luckily the weather was on our side and not a spot of rain landed on us as silly old me didn't think of taking any water proofs. We didn't venture far but to me it was a new land, I'm fairly new to Hereford and didn't actually realise there was great walking land so close by! I walk into the town but the walk isn't what you'd call pretty, just housing estates and big buildings, hardly anything to inspire you.

Walking pose!

I know five miles isn't really a long walk it only took us two hours and I though I would have struggled but it was actually just really nice to get outside and see some new places. I didn't get out of breath once and I thought I would, perhaps not quite as unfit as I once thought. I'm going to start swimming again, and I will go because I really want to get back into shape. I feel like a big couch potato at the moment, the sooner I start the sooner I'll be fitter and thinner and probably a little bit happier.

I'll leave you with a couple more snaps from our walk and I promise to keep you posted on the fitness scheme.

The woodland

Chillin'

We make all the pea soup!

On the weekend Anthony bought me Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Everyday cookbook. I've wanted it for ages and of course couldn't wait to start using it. The recipe I chose to do was a simple pea soup, purely because I had everything in my house. It's so easy anyone could do it and surprisingly tastes really nice, I thought it was going to be slightly bland but totally the opposite, I encourage you to give this one a try and trust me, it is good.

Yummy pea soup

What you need:

• Knob of butter
• 1 Onion - chopped
• 1 Garlic clove - chopped
• 1 Celery stalk - chopped
• A few thyme leaves (optional but highly recommended)
• 500g Fresh or frozen peas
• 750ml Chicken or vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan,  add onion, garlic, celery and thyme then cover and sweat gently for about 12 minutes or until soft.
2. Stir in the peas and the stock, bring to the boil then reduce the heat to simmer partially covered until the peas are soft.
3. Puree the soup with a hand blender and season, add more stock if its too thick for you.
4. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

Perfect money saver and tasty soup, hope you enjoy it as much as did.

We give you all the updates!

I'd like to start this post by apologising for not blogging for what feels like an age, and I am going to try my very best to do more regular posts.
So brief summary of the last two months, I moved out, started my new job, found out my friends having a baby, Christmas (of course), lots of nights out and more recently some good cooking!

My new house is awesome, I love it and my housemates are all lovely, since I've moved in three people have moved out but obviously the rooms have been filled, the ratio of girls to boys is 4:2, it's quite a change from when I moved in (4 boys and 2 girls). Unfortunately I haven't got any pictures of my house or my room so very soon I will post some pictures, my room is huge which is great as I have so much stuff! Hereford's not the most exciting city but I've got a great group of friends here, I'm no to far from home if I needed to go back and the countryside is right on my doorstep.

New job is great, much more intense than what I was doing before, definitely a good career choice.

 

Intense nursing

 Over the weekend one of my good friends told me she was having a baby, I'm so excited for her. Totally unexpected even though I really should have pieced together the signs, no drinking, not coming out as much, generally a bit quieter than usual and of course the story that she's told me a while ago, most people would have just figured it out. She's not showing yet but I'm sure soon it's going to look like it grew over night.

I'll leave a few pictures of my nights out in December and I promise to start blogging more often again.

Country dancing Christmas party

Night out with Anthony

Christmas weekend

Same dresses!
 

See ya laters...

We saw all of Billy Talent!

On Monday night me and my good friend Josh headed to Bristol to see Billy Talent, I saw them when I was 15 so the night was bringing back some good memories. I was ill over the weekend so unfortunately I didn't have quite as much energy as I would have liked but as soon as they started to play my energy came back!

Square head rocking out

I liked the set list as it mixed up all four albums, I'm not so familiar with the newer material but the old stuff never gets boring! The gig generally had a good atmosphere with both young and older fans in the crowd, I didn't manage to brave the mosh pit due to the fact that it was full of testosterone filled boys (I think they would have pushed me straight to the floor!).

Bad quality photo -
Lead singer

I would recommend anyone to go see this band if you like rock/emo/punk/screamo music they newer material may sound more mainstream but it's pretty catchy. The band put on a good show, getting the crowd involved which I find is always a good way to keep and entertain the fans, telling jokes a little bit of Billy Talent trivia. I'll leave you with the set list and a joke told by Billy Talent on the night.

Josher and I

 

 Set list:

1. Lonely Road to Absolution
2. Viking Death March
3. Devil in a Midnight Mass
4. This Suffering
5. Line & Sinker
6. Love Was Still Around
7. Rusted From the Rain
8. Saint Veronika
9. Surrender
10. Runnin' Across the Tracks
11. Diamond on a Landmine
12. Man Alive!
13. Cure for the Enemy
14. This Is How It Goes
15. Try Honesty
16. Devil on My Shoulder

Encore:

17. Fallen Leaves
18. Surprise Surprise
19. Red Flag

Billy Talent Joke:

There was once a bear and a rabbit in the woods and the bear was taking a shit. The bear turns to the rabbit and says do you mind when you get shit on your fur? The rabbit replies, no, so the bear picked up the rabbit and wiped his ass with him.

 

Probably the best picture of the night

 
Hope you've enjoyed my blog, here's a little bit of music to give you a taste of Billy Talent.

Fallen Leaves 2007

 

We make all the pumpkin soup!

Soups always a lovely meal when it's cold outside and the evenings are dark and long. Tonight I had a go at pumpkin soup and it was really yummy, so I thought I'd share my recipe with you all.
I hope you have a go and enjoy this tasty winter warmer, it's so easy to make a monkey could make it, a one pot wonder.

Pumpkin soup

Yummy warming soup

1 Small pumpkin (if you're unable to get a pumpkin, butternut squash will do just as well)
1 Large onion
1 Large potato
2 Garlic cloves
3 Carrots
Chicken stock, enough to cover your vegetable (vegetable stock is also fine)
Pinch of chilli flakes
1 Teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon of paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for frying

1. Chop up all of your vegetables.
2. Lightly fry your onion, garlic and carrots in the oil.
3. Put the pumpkin, potato, and chicken stock into the pan and stir.
4. Add your spices and seasonings, bring to the boil and the allow to simmer until vegetables are soft, so that you can mash them.
5. Blend your soup into a smooth mixture; if you feel your soup is too thick add some water to thin it out. Taste, and amend seasonings to suit your taste.
6. Serve with fresh bread and enjoy.

I know this recipe sounds slightly laid back but that's the way soup should be. If you wanted to add other vegetables into your pot then go head, alternatively you can put a sweet potato in instead of a white potato. There are no rules with this recipe, if you want more spice add a chilli or add cream for a more subtle taste, I'll leave it up to you guys but my soup was just right.

Halloween!

On Halloween weekend Anthony, my friend Kirsty and I headed to Bristol to dress up and dance the night away. I was a little bit late organising my costume so a make shift zombie number did me well. I made mine and Anthony's t-shirts last minute so we had something spooky to wear on the night with fake blood and red and black hair spray. In the end I think they looked pretty good if I do say so myself.
I love Halloween in my opinion I think it's one of the best nights of the year to go out in town. It's cold, gloomy and everyone has an excuse to dress up without looking silly.
Here are a few of my favourite pictures from the night...

Scary Anthony

Nom nom nom, human flesh

 

Super woman!

Super woman can't fight off all evil :P

 

Zombified

I hope you've enjoyed my pictures as much as I enjoyed my Halloween night, but for now I'll leave the zombie wear until next Halloween.

The house hunt is over!

After over a year of living back at home with my parents I have finally found the most perfect house to move into! Admittedly it's a house share but this way I can continue to save money and perhaps by the time I'm thirty have my own place but that's a long way away and I don't want to plan quite that far ahead yet.

It's a lovely house, three storey, a lovely bathroom and shared living room and kitchen. When I walked in the door I had a feeling that it was somewhere I could call home. People who I spoke to about moving out said when I found somewhere I would know it was where I wanted to live. I always wondered how you knew, but I just did and I'm glad I made the decision to put the deposit down and I just can't wait to move in. My rooms amazing, I've got my own little sitting room and for the first time in my entire life a double bed!

Shopping for new things will be exciting I've got my eye on a few things already these are just a few...

Pretty cushions fro next that would fit in great on sofa or even my bed I haven't decided yet all I know is I'm going to own then soon.

Handy storage pyrex dishes

Along with having my own space, I'll have a shorter commute to work and be closer to my friends, the distance between Anthony and I, has been cut by ten minutes less in the car. I know this isn't a brilliant improvement but I mean we've done nearly two years of long distance so a little bit longer won't hurt.

I just can't wait to move in, my move in date is the 20th November so I'll keep you posted, I'll also keep you updated with any more cute buys for the big move.

Salmon fishing in the Yemen

One of the best films I have seen in ages! I really enjoyed it, a proper British delight, not surprising as it was produced by Channel 4 who very rarely creates a bad film.

I expected to be watching a film that was going to make me sob all night and use up a whole box of tissues; a proper romantic drama, not what I got at all. Don't get me wrong there is an element of romance throughout this film but it's subtle and doesn't necessary create the main story line. The characters are likable but slightly predictable but the subjects touched on are very much current and easy to relate to real life. The recession is mentioned throughout the film along with the war in Afghanistan, the treat of terrorists and religion.

This film has something for everyone, comedy, charm, romance, politics, drama, violence and a good story line and screen play. This really is a feel good film, another hit for Channel 4.

I'm going to cut this post short just purely because I'm not well but watching Salmon fishing in the Yemen definitely cheered me up.

We travel all around England!

I've just got back from a lovely week away in Somerset. I can assure you that it was a much needed break and I left just in time to come home as now the weather has turned sour. Rain storms and blustery winds, which I don't really mind because, I'm all cooped up in my room trying to forget I have to go back to work tomorrow after a blissful ten days off.

My last week at work was horrendously stressful and I think the only thing that got me through it was this holiday! I had end of year presentations to do, signing off of competency work books and of course handing in my notice for my new job! I get so nervous even at the thought of presenting my own work in front of a group of what seemed like judges but hey ho, it's done now, and after all it wasn't as bad as what I thought it would be. Overall good feedback and one less thing I have to worry about and I was off on holiday.

Somerset really is a beautiful part of the country, and made even better with your own private hot tub. On the day of arrival, the first thing Anthony and I did was jump in the hot tub. It really was a lovely treat, this then followed by a tasty pub meal and then back in to the hot tub before retiring to bed.

Many nights during our holiday spent relaxing in this beaut!

I'll just highlight a few of my favourite memories from our week away as I'm sure, you don't want to read me waffle on about every single detail of our holiday.

On our first trip out, we had planned to go to a little seaside town with a cliff railway, this plan was then ruined by police shutting the main road there and myself being far too lazy to get the road map out and find another way. We did go there eventually but not on this occasion. Instead we ended up at a farm, complete with cafe, shop and you guessed it all sorts of animals to look at and walk around the fields with. The best part about this day out was the fact there was a herd of alpacas. I think they're amazing, also it was free and you could enjoy the views of both the countryside and the sea. Wonderful day out and great start to the holiday.

Beautiful alpacas

Had to be done

My all time favourite moment of the holiday was of course, visiting the River Cottage Canteen, Anthony took me out for lunch and it was awesome!

My new favourite place ever!

I absolutely loved it. I loved the food, the layout, the fact everything was local, that it's also a deli and a cafe as well as a restaurant. I decided to go for a dish of Exmouth Mussels cooked in cider, a local cider called Sheppy's which we had earlier in the week visited the farm and museum. It was probably one of the best things I'd eaten all week, it also had raw leek in, which I'd never had before but really added a subtle taste to the dish. To accompany this I had chips and fresh bread, the chips really were the best I've ever tasted. They were crispy, but not greasy and really fluffy. Hugh Fearnley-Whittinstall beware, I will be returning to the River Cottage Canteen. Best day out ever, the Canteen was then followed by the seaside which I also loved. All in all a very lovely day out and one I will not be forgetting a in hurry.

I'll leave you with a few of my favourite pictures from our wonderful week in Somerset.

The Cliff Railway

Anthony in the Exmoor Hills

Sheppy's Cider apples

Lyme Regis and the Jurassic coast

The windy seaside of Sidmouth

Pretty historic Dunster

That concludes my blog of my well deserved, wonderful week's holiday in Somerset. I don't live far from Somerset so I will most definitely be planning a few day trips to enjoy some more of this beautiful county.

We went to all the pubs!

Last weekend Anthony and I visited Manchester and whilst we were there we thought we'd give a boutique pub a shot, to say the least it very over the top with the decor. It had chandeliers, tall leopard print and zebra print chairs, and bling everywhere!

Looking slightly tired

 If I'm honest I think my expectations were a little high, we sat down and ordered some food, pretty bog standard menu, similar to a chain restaurant, average price, tables were tatty and I got the impression this pub was trying to be something more than what it was. It cost us over £10 for two drinks and being in the city I expected drinks to be a little more expensive than normal, but being cooped up in the forest for so long I think I've forgotten city prices.

Looney!

We ordered some food and to my surprise they had gotten my order wrong and I got a mezze plate with hummus, olives and pitas. I didn't mind as I'd originally asked for just a few olives to nibble on. If I was going on a night out in Manchester I wouldn't mind starting at this joint, I imagine it to be pretty cool at night; you'd just have to remember to take plenty of cash!

All in all our day out in Manchester was lovely, I actually didn't want to get the train back to Anthony's I wanted to stay out and dance the night away. We did a little shopping and then just chilled out for the rest with coffee and a few drinks. When we've got a bit more spare time I'd like to spend it in Manchester, just for a change of scenery, and explore the city a bit more. Next week though we have all the time we want to explore Somerset and the West Country and we all know what that means! Real cider! Which up north is shocking for, I mean seriously, Strongbow and Bulmers is not proper cider, I'm going to show Anthony a proper pint as soon as we get to the West Country, he'll never want to drink Strongbow ever again hehe.

We make all the Moomin pies!

Tonight I thought I'd have another go at making Moomin onion pie, I made it during the winter and loved it! It's so simple to make, at first I thought it would just taste 'alright' I was so wrong. It's proper winter comfort food, really homely and warming. The pie has a really unusual pastry case using grated carrots, this makes it even better. It gives it more texture and adds flavour to the pastry but it's not over powering, plus the filling is amazing. They work really well together and if this is what they eat on a day to day basis in Finland, I'm there! You must give this a go, it's definitely in my 10 ten favourite meals. It's great for freezing and you can have it hot or cold to suit your mood, or even have for lunch the day after.

Well here it is so you can give it a try...

Moomin mouth-watering onion pie

Nommy!

What you'll need:
50g Butter or margarine
1-2 Carrots (finely grated)
50g Plain flour (I used wholemeal because I think it tastes better)
50g Rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
For the filling:
3 Large onions (cut into strips)
1 tbsp oil
100ml Cream
1 Egg (beaten)
120g Grated cheese (I used cheddar)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 225 °C
2. Mix the butter and the grated carrot; this is better when the butter has been left at room temperature to go soft. Add the flour, rolled oats, baking powder and the salt and mix this to a smooth paste.
3. Roll the pasty out, and with your hands press into a quiche dish so it covers the bottom and the edges.
4. Pre-cook the pastry case for 5-10minutes until it's firm.
5. Meanwhile lightly fry the onions in the oil until the onions are soft and translucent and not brown.
6. In a bowl mix together the cream, the egg, the cheese and seasonings then add the onions.
7. Pour the onion mixture into the pastry case and bake in the oven for 10-15minutes or until the surface has browned at 200°C.
8. ENJOY!

Really hope you give this a go, you won't regret it and once you do it once I can assure you'll be making it again!

We have all the wedding parties!

Last weekend Anthony and I, along with our friends went to celebrate the marriage of Eddy and Jessica. They got married in America (as Jess is American) earlier in the summer and finally Jess' visa was issued and she has now moved to the UK. As we couldn't be there on the day so, they organised a garden party to celebrate with Eddy's family and friends.

The theme of the night was red, white and blue for both nationalities flag (UK and USA). I think most people it was more of a coincidence with the colours they wore, but everyone looked lovely.

It was lovely evening, and it was great to see everyone for the first time in ages! Ed and Jess had a fantastic evening which is the main thing; Jess makes a fabulous cake too! Everyone ate, drank and was merry. Myself probably a little bit to merry, I apologised to Ed who said it just added to the entertainment of the night. Really do need some more nights like this, something about a wedding that puts everyone in such a good mood. I'll leave this one short and sweet, unfortunately because I'm terrible with a camera I got photos of everyone except the happy couple. I'll leave you with a few photos I did get; I'll try harder next time.

Me and Anthony

Josh and his new boyfriend

We give all the things to charity!

I have had one huge sort out of all my clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery and random stuff I own ready to take into the charity shop. I've been taking small bags of unwanted/unneeded things in to the local charity shop all year and it got to the stage where I just needed to be brutal and just get rid of things I have no room for. I had clothes that hadn't been worn for years, bags that had never been used and just things that were just not useful and taking up unneccessary space I don't have.

This isn't even all of it!

In the end I had two stereos and two huge bags of things to take in, not a bad spring clean if I do say so myself and there's still more to go! We have household items that have been here for years, we have so much junk around this house it's actually unreal. At least good things have come out of this spring clean and sort out, I have more space and my donations have gone to charity; our local hospice. It's probably my favourite charity in my local area, I've visited the hospice and it's a lovely place, the service they provide is amazing and it makes such a difference to the service user's and their families who use it. Some people may imagine a hospice to be a depressing place, but I assure you it's the complete opposite and it relies on mostly on public funding, to keep them providing this amazing service. This includes donations and the money from the charity shop as government funding id scarce so I hope the items which I have taken in today will make a small difference to improve and maintain the hospice, I also spend a lot of money in there so hopefully my funds have been spent wisely.

That's my good deed for the day so now I afford to be a little bit naughty tomorrow at Eddy and Jessica's wedding party hehe.

We enjoyed all weekend!

This weekend has been lovely, one of the best I've had for ages. It was only a quiet one, just Anthony and I and a few visits to various places around the Forest of Dean and Herefordshire, relaxing in the evening and of course watching some of the live sets from Reading and Leeds festival.

We had an extra long weekend due to the bank holiday and work kindly giving me Friday off this week which was lovely, Anthony also managed to rack some flexi-time so he to could have Friday off. It's quite rare we get to spend this much time together so when we can, we really try and make the best and most out of it.

I recently was offered a new job, which is great news as it's better hours, more challenging and something I feel I am much more interested in; Theatre recovery practitioner, sounds posh doesn't it.

Can't wait to wear scrubs again!

To celebrate my new job, Anthony took me out for a fabulous meal at a kind of local pub, The Cross Keys, Ii really was the best food I'd tasted for a long time. I had guinea foul for the first time ever which was really tasty, although I thought it tasted very similar to chicken but the sauce was delicious. We got all dressed up nice to go, and had a lovely time when we got there. Now getting there was a totally different ball game. It was a nightmare, we were late due to be lost in winding country lanes, I mean literally driving around a tiny village for about 20minutes to half an hour. When we arrived the food and the atmosphere in the pub was definitely worth the wait and I'm sure we'll go back again.

Our pretty little country pub

Surprisingly on Saturday the sun was shining so we got up bright and early-ish, had some bacon and sausage butty’s and headed out to Hereford. Admittedly I felt like I was on my way to work, but when we got there I felt a bit differently. We explored the city, found a wonderful lane full of independent retailers and cafes, it was quite refreshing to walk past all the lovely shops and not see a huge commercial building. The best thing of all, it had a cheese shop! A whole shop dedicated to cheese! I love cheese.

Say cheese Anthony!

 

Best moment of my life

All in all was a really nice day out, I bought myself a new outfit which made it even better. Next time we head to Hereford we'll try and find some other hidden gems to explore.

Saturday night I taught Anthony how to cook spaghetti bolognaise. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, not because he was rubbish at it, just because I wanted to do everything and help him out a bit. In the end I sat down with a glass of wine and dictated what to do and even though he was a little slow to say the least, we got there in the end after nearly two hours of cooking and it tasted lovely. He was a proud man, and I was proud of him, he'll be sorted for life now.

Hopefully we'll have some more weekends when we head out and do something a little bit different, September will most probably be quiet, due to our holiday at the end of the month. We do have a wedding party to go to in a couple of weeks which will keep us entertained for now. Next time I won't leave it so long before I blog again. Until then see ya laters!

We have all the Moomin mushroom ragout!

This is a recipe that I've used a few times now, and I have to say it's a lovely accompaniment to a meal. I got the recipe from my Moomin cookbook and is one the few recipes within it not to involve cream! It's really easy, effortless and also healthy. It goes well with most meats, I've also had it on toast and the cookbook suggests having the ragout with rice or potatoes so it's up to you to decide.  

It’s not like your usual ragout but is still homely and delicious perfect for a quick dish. So here's how to do it.

Ingredients:

Everything you need!

1. 300g mushrooms (choose a mixture if possible)
2. 2 onions (I used 3 as they were really small)
3. 1 courgette
4. 2 tomatoes
5. 1tbsp oil or butter
6. 1tsp salt
7. Pinch of pepper
8. 1tbs dried marjoram
9. 1 or 2 cloves of garlic

Method

1. Chop the mushrooms and onions then dice the courgette and your tomatoes.
2. Heat oil or butter in a frying pan and brown the onions.
3. Add courgette, garlic, tomatoes and seasonings and cook for around 15minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Your finished product