snow pretty

Me n my Bro do South London

Saturday afternoon my new friend and I went down to Greenwich park. It was stunning and I had a lovely time pedalling around. When I got home I listened to some jazz and pottered around the house, cooked a nice meal for myself and H (who was working, boo). Was left feeling very chi after that. Best time of year?

what I really wanted to do was to lie down in the leaves on the ground and take a photo to show of my new, hot autumn hair colour. But the ground was wet from the rain and, frankly, I was too embarrassed. Must be getting old.
Spent some time in my corner later that afternoon, reading up on the enzyme kinetics for Monday's lecture and the renin- angiotensin mechanism. Good times...

And Brompty went back in his corner

Growing, growing, (almost) gone...

As of three years I have a passion for growing vegetables. It started in Devon where our farmer John had a poly tunnel full of veg which we helped him look after. Harland dug out his old knowledge and I was schooled. After that it was Scotland, where we had unlimited space but certain limitations with the weather. So going back to being city kids again poses a slight dilemma. We have a gravel back garden, not a lot of space and not to mention financial limitations... But one has to make the most of what is available! There were a few pots in the garden with herbs in them so with some slight rearranging there I could squeeze in a few lettuces and carrots. The cinder blocks previously filled with dirt and cigarette butts were cleared out and filled with compost and then plants donated from a generous friend. I bought a grow bag for a tomato plant and used an old (empty) sweet tin for radishes. The cucumber found his home in a wastepaper basket. Ultimately we found ourselves with one cucumber plant, four tomato plants, a few lettuces here and there, a couple of chili plants and a nice selection of herbs. The cucumber (above) has been the success story of the year, producing big, fat fruits full of flavour. It had a bit of a rough time and gave up on producing for a while but has been brought back to life by some liquid fertiliser and is now giving fruit again. And with plenty of water they will soon be ready for harvest.Lettuce and carrots in cinder blocks

Left to right:

chili, tomato, cucumber and more tomatoes (in background), herbs and lettuces in pots.

Feeling hot, hot, hot.

A purple chili fruit at the beginning of the season. At that point they tasted nutty and warm. They have now started turning orange and red and will make your tongue catch on fire just by looking at one...

midsummer madness

Although Swedes can be seen as a quite serious breed, they do know how to partay. Midsummer is one, and maybe the main, time of year when they let their hair all the way down and enjoy themselves. Letting your hair down Swedish style more often than not involves singing, dancing and drinking. For me the midsummer tradition of dancing around a flower clad pole pretending to be either frogs or musicians never struck me as being odd. But yesterday at the celebrations in Hyde park I almost felt like an outsider looking in, and I liked what I saw! At the same time there was a sense of familiarity and childhood memories.

You can take the girl out of Sweden but you can't take the swede out of the girl sma grodorna:) ko-ack-ack-ack. ko-ack-ack-ack-ackaaaaathe miniature midsummer pole

got my plopp!:)

you almost have to see it to believe it:


Love Danelles happy face in the video above. She looks like she belongs, perhaps she was Swedish in a previous life...

on the tube

london is getting ready for xmas

lovely time of year to be in Londinium! As I was leaving uni today adther a mammoth day I walked a different route, down lovely charlotte st, to get the bus. It was already dark and it was a nice walk. I stood and waited for a few minutes for a bus at oxford st before it became apparent that there were no buses running. I decided to walk up to oxford circus and check out the new 'circus' and the reson behind the lack of buses became painfully clear; there was some sort of christmas concert going on (could they have been lighting the xmas lights?) and the tubestation was closed. Bugger. So I trotted down to tottenham ct rd and I wans't the only one either. Getting on the tube was a nightmare but I got on it in the end and made my way home to revise for my in class essay tomorrow morning.