Monthly Archives: December 2018

2018 Highlights

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As 2018 draws to a close, it’s natural to reflect back on the year. I hope that you all have had a significant and positive one. 2018 for me has had some highs, such as having a new niece join our family, starting a new job, as well as experiencing fun, new things such as taking a candy making course. I’ve also been able to visit new places and had a break away with my family. My lows have been feeling unmotivated and uninspired at times to post on my blog, and wondering if it’s still relevant. I have also felt like the world is passing me by and that I have so much I still want to do.

I leave you with some of my favourite photos of the 2018 and I wish you all happy New Year and with the hope that 2019 is one of fullfillment, happiness and adventure for all of us.

Frieze Sculpture 2018

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I visited London’s Regent’s Park earlier this year to look at the sculptures that had been placed there by Frieze. I visited last year and really liked some of the interesting sculptures displayed so was keen to see what new ones would be on show this year.

There were 25 sculptures by various artists on show, some were quite strange, others fun and a few quite eerie.

One of my favourites was the big yellow house, I thought it looked surreal amongst the green grass

I also liked the cute by creepy Dancing Clog Girls, and the giant Emperor penguin.

My other favourite piece was the gold leaf with colours on the inside, I loved how the colours emerged from the gold frame as you walked past the sculpture. I found the headless sculptures quite haunting, these depicting the ghosts of those slain in the Marikana Massacre.

A few others stood out too for met too; the huge anvil with the hare perched on top and the lampposts that had been tangled together was interesting. The girl resting on her side was based on Alice in Wonderland and looked quite serene to me.

I thought the sculptures this year were quite interesting, each emoting quite different feelings from the viewer, especially the ones that were reminders of darker times. I really enjoyed my visit and look forward to seeing what the Frieze presents to us next year.

London Lights 2018

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I’ve been to London a few times these last couple of months, and as the Festive season has approached I’ve seen lots of interesting, pretty, bright decorations and trees being put up. I thought I’d share some of the ones that I just had to stop and snap.

Some looked better in the day time or in bright light. I really liked the neon trees that have a simple shape and design and really caught my eye, and I loved the huge, moving robot on the tree at St Pancras station – something very different.

Then there were others that sparkled in the night when the sun went down, the presents atop the car in Covent Garden was a fun display, but I think I really enjoyed looking at the tree at King’s Cross alongside the mini fountains, and the light bouncing off the water.

It’s always fun walking around London, finding things that you least expect, and it’s been even more interesting in the darker, colder months when coming across the unexpected, brings a smile to your face.

I hope you all have a great festive season and have a lovely time with family and friends.

Bournemouth Family Trip

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At the end of Summer I went to Bournemouth for a few days with my family, it was initially meant to be a several days away for a few of us, but in the end it was 15 of us in our cars heading to the coast.

On the day we got to Bournemouth and once we were settled into our hotel rooms, we decided to make the most of the rest of the day and headed to the beachfront. Although it was late summer it was still pretty warm, especially as we have had an incredibly hot summer this year in the UK.

We all spent time splashing around in the sea, relaxing on the beach and then when it became too cold we started our way back to our room to freshen up and then go to dinner. I found it incredibly refreshing to be by the sea and away from the city landscape.

The next day we split up into smaller groups, with my group first going to the aquarium. I didn’t really take many photos here as the lighting wasn’t great, and with the thick glass it was difficult, so I just enjoyed my young nieces’ excitement at the various fish and sea creatures they saw and tried to guess the names of, and walked steadily through the exhibits taking in the sights, sounds and smells.

After the aquarium we decided to go to the gardens that were nearby. There are Lower, Central and Upper Gardens, which seem to stretch on for miles, with changing flora and fauna to create various textures as you walk through.

After lunch we had planned to do some more activities but it rained for the rest of the day. It didn’t stop me though; I asked my sister, her husband and her daughter to pick me up and we made our way to another beach close by called Boscome. It was still raining steadily and it was quite windy too on the seafront, but I thought it felt refreshing and a change from the sun. I was also really pleased to find some colourful beach huts, which I have been on the look out for whenever I go to the coast.

We didn’t stay too long, as it was getting cold and quiet late. After my sister dropped me back at my hotel I rested before getting ready for dinner and then to watch the fireworks on the pier.

On the third day we packed our bags and checked out, ready to leave Bournemouth, but before we did we made a detour to Durdle Door, which is along the Jurassic Coast, and is a World Heritage Site. I’ve been go Durdle Door a few years ago and loved it, so I definitely wanted to visit again. There’s a really steep rocky path that leads from the car park to the coast edge, and then a steep set of stairs that lead to the beach. On my last visit you had to walk strategically on rocks to get down and then back up again, thankfully since then they’ve carved out steps that make it much easier.

The view from the top was amazing, and we were lucky to have some fantastic, sunny weather too, making the blues of the sea and sky really striking.

Once on the beach we soaked in the sun and the sea breeze while walking along the pebbly beach.

We didn’t stay too long, before making our climb back up to the car and heading towards another place nearby called Lulworth Cove. This is also along the Jurassic Coast and seemed to have a lot of boats sitting in the arc made naturally by the sea.

After sitting on the white pebbled beach and relaxing for a while, we made our way back to the car, visiting the gift shop along the way and started our very long journey home.

The trip to Bournemouth was great, I really liked that there was a lot to see and do, and most of it didn’t cost very much or was completely free. We had some really good weather and I loved walking along the various seafronts, and exploring the seemingly endless gardens. I would go back again some day as I’m sure there’s much more to do than what we covered in the few days that we were there.

Rainbow lollipop class

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My sister and I recently went to a candy making class, something that we both have wanted to do. We arrived for the class and excitedly looked around the shop at the wonderful sweets as we waited for the candy to be heated to the correct temperature. Once this was done we made our way to the workshop with our instructor. It was only a small class with another woman, my sister and me and the instructor who was going to lead the class. Today we were making rainbow lollipops.

The mixture of glucose, water and sugar was really hot, and so it was only safe for the instructor to use. The instructor poured the mixture onto a specially made table that was heated to enable him to keep working with it. The flavour of the mixture was tutti frutti and it smelled great. Once the mixture was on the table our instructor started to add colour, made with natural flavourings and were vegan, vegetarian and halal which was great to know.

First the primary colours were made, and then our instructor used these to make the secondary colours. The white was stretched to add air which would then bring out the colour. All the colours were then laid out in rainbow order and wrapped around the white candy to create a long, colourful tube. We were now able to start making our rainbow lollipops.

Our instructor stretched the candy tube to make it thinner and then gave us a piece each to create our shapes. Working on heated tables and with gloves on we made a simple shape first, the swirl, and adding a wooden stick our lollipop was complete. We then made a few more shapes; starts, hearts, flowers and butterflies. I think my favourite was the duck which came out quite well. We had to work quickly with each piece of candy as it would become difficult to mold as it cooled, hardened and turned glass-like.

The class was about 1 hour long, but the time went quickly, as it always does when you’re having fun. Our instructor was friendly, and very knowledgeable, and the candy making process was almost scientific when it came to understanding the way the ingredients interacted with each other. And the best bit; we all got to take our tasty creations home with us, which was a lot more than I expected. I would definitely recommend doing a class like this, as it’s not every day that you get to have a hands on experience that involves such tasty treats.

Surprise Baby Shower

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My younger sister recently had her second baby, a daughter, but before she did we threw my sister a surprise baby shower. There were lots of secret plans, conspiring and her poor husband getting in trouble for being difficult but the surprise baby shower went off perfectly and my sister had no idea what we had planned for her.

We decided on a rainbow pastel theme to make it gender neutral but to also make the room look colourful. On the day we asked my sister’s husband to delay my sister on her trip to our house so we could set up.

When my sister finally arrived and walked through the doors, we all shouted surpise giving her a huge shock!

We had a colourful sweet table with balloons, lots of treats and presents. My sister in law made some really cool bottle and baby grow shaped biscuits. I also thought the baby carriage favour boxes were a really cute.

We ordered a lovely two tiered button cake to fit in with the theme, and the icing inside was both pink and blue which I thought was a really creative.

As the weather was nice we decided to have everyone outside for games and socialising so we hung lots of colourful scarves and decorations to make it all look really pretty. One of the games we played was guessing the melted chcolate in the baby nappy (which looked a bit disgusting).

Everyone had a great time at the baby shower, and most importantly my sister did. She left with a hoard of presents, a big smile and hopefully lots of memories. I’m glad the baby shower went to plan and that we all gave the new addition to the family a great welcome.