For the love of maps

I LOVE maps. I mean LOVE them. I love to stare at them, work out where i am, how to get to another place, remember it all and give it a go in real life. Then i like to stare at old maps and think how unbelievable it is that people were able to get it so wrong and yet so right at times with regards to where places are.

My love for maps means that I am one of those who still loves to check out the London A-Z before i need to go somewhere new. I dont really like google maps, it just feels wrong relying on a little dot to tell me im going in the right direction.

Why am i telling you this?

Well, last weekend i was in heaven pouring over my new london cycling guide maps i got in the post, check them out....amazing!You can order the free guides here. Adam had to forcefully remove them from my hands so that i would actually leave the flat and do something with my weekend but he also came up with a clever solution to indulge in my map love.

The answer? Maps Coasters.

Now, these are no new idea. In fact im sure there's a million of them floating around etsy and everywhere else but Adam has no idea of that world so we decided to do it ourselves with some trial and error.

How did we do it?
We headed to lewisham hoping that the charity shops would have some old maps. They didn't. Then i thought we should chance having a look in the pound shops, you never know what they have. Well lucky us. We got a 2012 version of the Collins British road map, along with four coasters and some book covering in the 99p store....that 1 penny means everything!

For some reason, this map includes Ireland in it.....not part of Britain but I was happy because it meant i got to include my lovely hometown as one of the coasters.

 We cut out sections of the map to size. Before we could stick the cutouts on to the coasters we peeled the thin film of plastic off the top of the coasters.
We then stuck the map cutouts on with PVA glue...lots of it. I think each coaster took 3-4 coats of the glue.
I was hoping that the glue would be enough to seal them but it wasn't so we stuck some clear book covering on top and it seems to have worked a treat.

Adam has decided though that if we make them again, or if you guys would like to try it out, sticking the book covering onto the map cutouts first and then sticking the whole map cover onto the coaster would work better. Why? As the maps were quite then paper the glue soaked right through and made them wrinkle up a little bit when drying.
Overall thought I'm pretty happy with them, for £1.98 we have four new coasters that our more our style than the originals!

Am I th only one who loves maps? Chloe x

Moments from the last 7 days

I've decided to introduce a new little segment into this blog since i seem to have failed at keeping a monthly review of my activities.

This little segment aims to give a snippet of the moments that I've loved, laughed at, and enjoyed in the last seven days. I hope you like it.

1- My first ever trip to Brighton with my bestie. I think we picked the perfect day for it as we got continuous sun the whole day. Sitting on the beach, sun warming my skin, just chatting to one of my closest friends is sheer bliss in my books

2- Morning lay ins, listening to the slight breeze blowing in and watching as the sun shines through the crack in the blind.

3- Picking blackberries in the cemetery. Slightly creepy spot to go to but the sound of silence is often necessary in this busy city. Picking and checking the berries is oddly relaxing, blocking out everything else from my mind.

4- Getting an official letter with details of my work induction date.....its draws nearer!!

5- Spending time with my second family, eating the most delicious meal in ages (even if i couldn't quite bring myself to eat the razor clams) and walking home in the pouring rain happily chatting the whole way.

6- Celebratory lunch and cocktails.

7- Listening to the tourists scream as the sky opened and the rain poured down on top of them, as Adam and I safely settled down to desert and a Baileys latte!!

How have your last seven days been? What were the littlest moments that made you happy?

Chloe x

Checking in

Flower exhibit at Royal Welsh Show

Hi there!

Once again I've managed to let a whole month go by without posting anything new on here. I've been filling my time pretty well this month and had so many opportunities to photograph and write blog posts but I haven't really felt the need to whip out my camera in the middle of a delicious picnic. I sat and ate till i could burst and talked to my friends instead! As much as i enjoy writing this blog and taking pictures of my knitting to share (cause no one in real life cares!) i like to reduce the amount of time i spend online and engrossed in social media.

Anyway, enough of a rant i think!

So what have June and July held for me?

• I started and finished my last ever placement, at the most wonderful centre demonstrating the best example of how health care professionals should be working together. I learnt so much there in 6 weeks.
• My first ever 'real job' interview, i.e. a job i actually care about getting and not just a part time post to give me some moolah!
• GETTING OFFERED MY FIRST EVER REAL JOB!!!!!
• Park picnics
• Celebrating the end of uni with a 'class' party. Getting a chance to see how everyone found placement and catching up and saying a possible last goodbye was really nice.
• Little sister came to visit last week. It was her first time to travel by herself and it was really fun to have just the two of us hang out as we never really get the chance when i head home as visits are usually pretty filled up with seeing everyone i need to see.
• A trip to see some family in Hereford. It was so nice to get into the countryside, especially when London has become a wall of heat everywhere!
• The Royal Welsh show. I'm a country girl at heart so while i was with the fam i went along to the Royal Welsh....on a beautifully sunny day it was wonderful to watch all the comings and goings. 

Lil sis at Greenwich

King's Troop at Royal Welsh

Now I've got myself some time off until i start work in September so I'm planning so day trips, two weeks holiday at home, a family wedding and just relaxing in general!
How have your June and July been? How nice is it to be warm all the time?
Chloe x

Little Nan's Cocktail Club

As people really start to take notice of things happening South of the river, more and more interest in new places to eat and drink develops.

Little Nan's Cocktail Club is a summer pop up in Brockley.

I've followed their Facebook page since they

hinted that they would be arriving to Brockley. What with exams and all of the other stuff life puts in it's taken me a few weeks to get there. It was worth waiting for.

Situated upstairs at the Talbot pub, Little Nan's really feels like your nana's house. The staff are super friendly and immediately welcomed us when we were looking a bit daunted by the more unusual layout they offer. People are seated either at large dining tables or a pretty damn fine couch....made especially for that space.

That couch....

With walls lined with either tea cups of pretty vintage pictures, the space really feels welcoming and relaxing. There's a lot of pubs around at the moment that are trying for the 'welcome to our house, it's quirky' look that aren't quite getting there. Little Nan's definitely is on top of the 'quirky, not your average drinking establishment' list.

The menu is pretty extensive on the cocktail front, ranging from £12 to £19 depending on what type of cocktails you go for. There's also an option to put beer in your teapot from the pub downstairs but that just seems silly when you've come for some delicious cocktails.

We picked the Paddy Ashdowne- a whiskey and lime based cocktail. Served in a teapot and with extra ice in a sugar bowl, quaint and quirky are key words to describe it. The Cocktail itself was delicious....sometimes there's too much alcohol and other times just not enough. They have the balance just right at Little Nan's so you are able to walk back up the hill home.

It's definitely worth a visit. They are staying throughout July so get on over there if you can.

Chloe x

Self-tour walks

I don't know about you but I love just walking around. Discovering nooks and crannies that i didn't know were there. Finding out how two places connect. Watching how the demographics change from one place to another.

Walking is the shit!

This Saturday, I downloaded a Riots and Radicals tour guide from Timeout. I had planned a day of fun to celebrate Adam's birthday and as I'm still a student I couldn't afford to spend money all day long.

This tour was really enjoyable for a do it yourself. I played the role of tour guide brilliantly....even if my customer knew more of the facts than I did!
Plus I think I picked the perfect day to do it on. Gorgeous weather meant that we could fully enjoy spending up to two hours walking and, arriving at Whitehall while a protest march was happening was of course entirely planned! (Of course).

I had a little bit of bother getting to the right part of Kennington park but the rest of the 'ramble' is well described and interesting without overloading you with too much information.

I especially liked the Royal Doulton Pottery factory...such an impressive building.

Have you done any self guided tours of London? What parts are your favourite to have a stroll around?

(Excuse the more awful than usual pictures.....silly ol' me forgot to bring the camera out so thank a Nokia Lumia for these!)

Chloe x

Where's the past two months gone?

I've been quiet.

I've been really busy.

In the past two months, Uni finished up, 5 exams were completed and now my final placement has started. Throw in a trip home, my birthday, a weekend in Hastings to celebrate my birthday, Adam's birthday, and the stresses of having to constantly revise, i haven't managed to find time to post here.

I have been busy reading my favourite blogs and following everyone's excitement as it starts to get into summer and the sun shows us what he's made of. Of course, there's also loads of other stuff to read but seeing everyone indulge in the summeryness is nice.

Since it's been so long, here's a selection of pictures from our Hastings trip...it's safe to say that I LOVED my trip to Hastings.

We headed down to Hastings for the May bank holiday, and it was definitely the weekend to go. The whole town was lively and full with all the May celebrations happening and I got my first dose of Morris dancers. It was fun.

Adam had organised a fantastic flat for the weekend, right on the seafront and the perfect distance from the town centre to easily walk in and out as we wanted.


Hopefully now that life has calmed down a little bit I'll have much more to talk about on here!
Chloe x

Soho Flea Market

A few weekends ago, during the THIRD bank holiday when i was stuck revising, i took the Sunday off and Adam and I headed into town for a bit of a wander about.

After having looked around the V&A we headed to Soho for the Soho Flea Market.
It wasn't quite what i expected....flea market sounds more second hand in my mind, but it was lovely to look around all the stands of independent crafters.

Here are a couple of my favourites from the day.

Blank Inside

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Eightbear

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Adam and I used to come up with 'products' that rhymed and cats in hats was one of them.....so tempted to get this print when I have some spare pocket money floating around!

Eleanor Stuart
There were so many beautiful things to look at, but i especially love the Tiny Collection of mugs....so cute!

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Jimbobart
Once again....so many cool things, the linguist in me particularly likes this plate!

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I love to check out indepent shops and makers and now that there are so many summer fairs happening around london it's the perfect time to check them out in person!

Chloe x