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

Rocky Road

I haven't put many posts up about baking prior to now, mainly because whenever I bake I eat everything really quickly and never get any time to take photos of it looking pretty. It's either that or I generally bake in the evening time when the flat is enveloped in a wonderful shade of grey!

Anywho, it's high time I share my love of baking with you so let me introduce you to what I believe to be one of the most unhealthy things I have ever baked.....actually I don't think it counts as baking but...whatevs!

I have been wanting to make rocky road with turkish delight in it for ages.
This recipe has been adapted from Jamie Oliver's Rocky Road Kill. Now don't get me wrong, I love Jamie Oliver but this recipe is just a tad excessive...even for me.

Looking pretty disgusting

Looking better

I changed it up a little by adding some turkish delight ( lemon and rose flavoured), glace cherries, chocolate digestive biscuits, weetabix, and chocolate chip cookies. I know, this recipe really did not need more chocolate in it but in for a penny, in for a pound.

I didn't really go down the whole nut road, Im not a big fan of them in chocolate.

If you do ever try to make this recipe, I would suggest adjusting the amount of chocolate you use. One of the main reasons I added in more biscuits is because the mixture was so wet and I had run out of digestives!

There are no measurements with regards to what I added in, I went with the 'throw it in and it'll be fine' approach and it worked out pretty well. I brought them into uni and they went down a hit!


What classic favourites have you personalised?
Chloe x

What i will never be

This may seem like an extremely negative title but read on and you'll find out it's not.

A few weeks ago I went along to a ceramics painting coffee shop. I had done this before and knew that what I made didn't turn out into a work of art, but I went along anyway cause it sounded like a fun thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.

Needless to say, my suspicion were right and my painting turned out.....awful.

Just look, I cant even paint leaves.......leaves for god sake, children as young as five know how to paint leaves better than I do.

That was when I realised, I will never be an artist. Sob. Not.

Because I know that there are things I am good at.

I'm good at giving things a go.

I'm good at other creative ventures, like sewing, knitting, cross stitching.....well better than I am at painting anyway!

I'm good at thinking creatively. Even though I myself am the worlds worst painter, over the years I know that I have helped people who are good at shit like that come up with ideas.

I'm good at listening.

I'm good at laughing, both with others and at myself, something that I believe is important to be good at.

I'm good at 'going with the flow'. Life has taken some detours in the past but I've become good at embracing them. You can make all the plans you want about your life, but be ready to embrace something when you haven't planned for it to happen.

And lastly, I'm good at looking on the bright side of things.

Sometimes it's important to encounter things you are not so good at to fully appreciate those that you are.

What have you realised you are good at? Is there anything you wish you could be better at?

Chloe X