Sun & Salad

I LOVE THE SUN!

What have you been doing with your sunny days?

I just can't get enough of it...

Doing work/sunbathing in the Botanic gardens, surrounded by the smell of lovely flowers...

Breakfast at Starbucks in the sun!

Having a milkshake in the park

Now that I can soak in the warmth from outside and am feeling generally more upbeat about everything (high on Vitamin D) I feel ready to embrace The Salad once again! Out with the winter soup and comfort food.

Here are some nice recipes I (/Pinterest) tracked down...

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

Broccoli Salad

Fruit Salad Cones!

Hoping this weather sticks around for a while!

The Good Life

Think a little deeper when you next go shopping. Food comes from somewhere. And agriculture is big business. Let's support the right ones. 

Personally I'm a yeo fan amongst others. No greenwash there.

Kony Baloney?

So I've had blogger's block again, but I've been productive in the meantime - look at my shiny new background! Many thanks to my best bud from Made You Look for the lovely header she made me which inspired this whole new look. Trees 4ever.

I've been thinking about writing something about the whole Kony uproar for a while, and I'm starting to think I've missed the boat cos it's almost seems to be out of fashion already. I'm going to assume you know what I mean when I say Kony 2012, if you don't, call up your friend Google. 

Now I'm not knowledgeable enough or have enough time to preach on this subject. All I know is the issue is a whole lot less simple than the video makes out. And the campaign is based on helping put the Ugandan army into action, who have been known in the past to be partial to looting and raping. Not ideal. 

I hope you get this reference...

At the same time, yes it's great that so many people are now aware of these issues and want to help. I've talked this over with quite a few people, some of them my hippy do-gooder peers (as a tree-hugger you tend to attract those types ;)). The reaction from some has seemed to be almost indignation that this issue is now so 'mainstream' and cared about by 'common' people, as if they want everyone to know "I cared about child soldiers before it was cool!!". Give me a break. I'm not trying to have a go at anyone who's got on board with this. Just be careful. Read around the subject a bit, you could start here.

In the meantime, I've stumbled across a few new charity ventures which have got me excited recently. The first one has got to be Sevenly. This site sells t-shirts for charity, in fact a new charity and new t-shirt designs every week! And the best thing is they're not the kind of t-shirts that you're like "well.. maybe it would be ok as a pyjama top, or to wear when I'm dying my hair so I don't ruin a nice one...". They're actually nice! Well.. I think so!

Another bandwagon I've been meaning to jump on is the Tearfund Rice and Beans Challenge. I had organised to do this with my friend Hannah, then realised I had an exam that week and was too scared to jeopardise it! Basically you eat only rice and beans (and some porridge) for 5 days, and give the money you would normally spend on food to charity. It also would really help you begin to understand the extent of hardship so many people have to go through. Well, Hannah went ahead with this and wrote some really great blogs about her experience, go check it out!

That's it for now.

Over and Out!

Hummingbirds for tea.

I came home for a sneaky week just now and am doing a little March Tour 2012 of England. I've been seeing friends in Wantage, London and (tonight) Southampton. Yesterday I was in the capital visiting one of my favourites, the face behind Made You Look (go there NOW). Haven't seen Ranky in a long time but it was great to catch up. We went to play at the Science Museum and also at Westfield shopping centre at the MASSIVE boots. Also had a treat in the form of a stop at the Hummingbird Bakery. Finally met up with two other great people, Hannah and Kasim, and had some dinner. 

Londons newest build The Shard looking mysterious in the mist

Hummingbird Carrot Cupcake

What a charming day!

Fair Enough

So what's so special about the next two weeks? 

Wellllll it's FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT! 

Hope you're excited?!

Some of you may not know much about fairtrade beyond perhaps bananas and coffee at the supermarket. Maybe you've even been lucky enough to experience the truly Divine chocolate

Seriously good Choc.

But let me open your eyes to a whole new world. Check out all these goodies available at the online Traidcraft shop

Elephant Bedspread £120

Basket £20

Hammock £30

Kaisa Grass & Recycled Sari Baskets £15

Tribal Bookmarks £8 for 10

BBQ £7.99 for a 3 pack

Honey Pot £3.50

Jute Shopper £5

Chicken Egg Holder £28

Tape Measure £6 for 2

Wall Hanging £38

Elephant Storage Basket £38

Rabbit Phone Holder £6

Rustic Wooden Drawers £14

And there are an increasing number of highstreet shops stocking up on a fair deal. Boots has a range of goodies, I particularly like the brazil nut body wash/scrub/butter. Smells good enough to eat!

Yum!

Fairtrade is important because so many farmers and workers in developing countries get a raw deal for their work from supermarkets and companies who want to offer their customers rock bottom prices. Wouldn't it be better for us to forgo an extra pound or two so that these farmers get a decent wage instead of being exploited? How about you commit to take just one step towards this?

Spring in your Step

Well, hi there!

Yes, no need to worry. I haven't abandoned all blogging loyalties. I know it's been a while. There's not much I can blame besides my lack of inspiration sadly - what a boring excuse. Then again, my camera's broken. Maybe I could blame that instead.

So what has dragged me out of blogger's block? 

SPRINGTIME!

 It hasn't arrived very convincingly yet but if you have beady eyes you can catch a few glimmers of sunshine here, and the odd bud or blossom there. Normally I can't say I'd get that excited - Spring kind of just feels like a watered-down, disappointing B-celebrity supporting act preclude for Summer. Like, OK the sun finally makes an appearance and you get keen with your lovely summer flip flops... then you step outside and realise that behind the attractive outlook it's just cold and wet and windy. It's a fake, it's a wannabee. Your hopes are dashed and your feet are missing their socks.

However, to be honest I'm happy just with some sunshine right now. Winter has dragged on and on, drab day after drabber week. Sure, for you mainland folk the snow has helped to keep things interesting - clogging up all my facebook feed with those mocking snowman images and gleeful snow day statuses. While we've been sat here with not so much as an icy puddle to make the walk to Uni more interesting. Drab drab drab. Like a TV sitcom that starts off good and then they do too many series and ruin the whole thing. Outstayed its welcome. Go home.

Well I'm glad to get that season rant off my chest. Now to talk all things spring! Some cheeky pinterest pins to set the scene...

If I had a nice house/garden I would hold a spring party.
It would look a little like this.
But with more scones.

My heart's been set on a VW Fox for quite some time.
So this photo made me reconsider a lot.
PLEASE take me for a spring picnic in this.

I love flowers in jars, tins, etc.
These are perfect.

This is like Spring in room form.
I was really depressed when I caught myself thinking
"lovely ceiling deco, but dusting would be a nightmare"

I'm not a big follower of high class fashion collections or runway style, but there are some collections I do like to check out - nail polish! Especially right now when I have only pennies to spend on new clothes - it's just fun to get a feeling for the colours of the season and to freshen up your hands even if you can't manage a new wardrobe! Chanel and Essie would be the brands I hone in on. So let's have a gander. This way...

Chanel's April, May and June.

I haven't quite warmed to these yet.
June is very orange from seeing other pictures.
April would be my current fave.

Essie's collection - mix of pastels and brights

'tour de finance', 'orange, it's obvious' and 'olé caliente' 

'to buy or not to buy', 'a crewed interest' and 'navigate her'.
I'm liking those last two (beige and green) the best of all.

What gets you happy about spring?

I do enjoy the feeling of fresh starts and rebirth. Easter being the ultimate example for me as a Christian of a new life and clean slate - definitely something to celebrate!

And I'm looking forward to getting outside, even if it's still a tad chilly. I miss nature and sunshine when I'm shut away with the long winter nights. Spring is all about the countryside with lambs and green green grass and your own little cottage surrounded by wildflowers and filled with fairycakes and well-used wellingtons... (Sigh, one day).

Love this artist - Katie Daisy.

Speak soon adoring fans! 

(I jest).

X 

Sherlock FEVER!

So from a regular scan of my facebook newsfeed it's clear to see that I am not the only one to be diagnosed with Sherlock FEVER! And I'm talking about the double dose - BBC and Hollywood versions! Both wonderful in their own special ways. I like the film version because of the whole style of production - makes London seem so exciting and mysterious! But can't beat the Cumberbatch-Freeman duo also.

So who's got a good theory about how (BBC) Sherlock cheats death? I've been doing some research and the main lines of thought seem to be...

1) Lots of theories involving S jumping into a rubbish (or similar squishy material) truck

2) Significance of W's distraction re: bike - and possible use of the misleading drug used in the Hounds of the Baskerville episode. May not have seen what he thought he saw - or mistook body for Sherlock when it wasn't..

3) Body may have been Moriaty OR dummy used to simulate hanging at beginning of episode

4) Involvement of Molly (fake postmortem/place a fake corpse)

5) Was Watson looking at Sherlock - he could have been looking at a different building???

So many questions! Any other thoughts?

Sherlock Tools

So anyway, I've put together a few items just incase you - like me - aspire to be a little more Sherlock.

Perfect book for studying other people and their wiley ways

Visit this site and memorise every map ever in the world. It might be useful.

Get yourself a trademark hat. This is a nice modern take on the classic deerstalker.

Spend free time completing SceneIt? challenges to help improve observance-y. You must learn to see EVERYTHING.

Keep hydrated for optimum brain functioning. Get a bit funky with this "Barnyard Fun" flask (fun AND will distract people from your secret sleuth powers)

Find a compliant bachelor to accompany you on missions. Here's a list of Britain's top 50 most eligible. Prince Harry is number one - I would also recommend him in this role due to his useful connections, and wealth (your detective business may take some time to get going, so it's always good to have some extra income).

Elementary.