Lochs and Life Updates

It's been a while since I've written anything about anything other than food, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of today's day out and share a little life update.

On Tuesday this week I handed in my last big piece of work of the semester and, excitingly, of my masters! (other than the small issue of a 12,000 word dissertation, but that is next weeks problem). I have a big list of things I want to do - reply to emails, do some editing, read some blogs, bring the Easter baking ideas I've been dreaming of into the real world, clear out the mess that is my wardrobe... some of these things are more exciting than others!

But on Wednesday morning when the sunshine was tempting me out of the front door I decided that the to do list could wait until Thursday and Friday, and five of use headed for the hills and went for a wander around Loch Leven. It's only half an hour North of Edinburgh and it's absolutely beautiful. Sadly it was very late in the day before we arrived, so we didn't manage the whole 21km lap of the lake, but we'll definitely be back another day to complete the walk. The small part of the path we explored was peppered with hidden doors and secret pools so I can only try and imagine the rest of it.

I will be honest though, there was more tempting me out into the great outdoors than just the sunshine. For almost five years I've been living a very luxurious lifestyle, it has to be said. Yes there's been countless hours spent in the library, more bowls of lentils than I care to remember and that one time I sat on the floor of the lab and cried because there was seawater pouring everywhere and I didn't know how to stop it, but overall the student lifestyle is undeniably wonderful. Even as a science student your time is relatively flexible, and when the sun shines you can drop your plans and run to the nearest loch to explore.

However, I am very pleased to be able to say I have been offered a full time, "grown up" job. And whilst it's more than I ever could have hoped for, before graduation and within an organisation whose work combines so many of my passions I can't believe my luck, it does mean I'll have to wait until the weekends to head for the hills in the future.

So I'm trying to make the most of my last couple of weeks. Last weekend explored some more of Newcastle, I'm off to Amsterdam with Ben later this week, and then I'm going to spend a bit more time in the nooks and crannies of Edinburgh. It's been a long time since I visited Amsterdam so if you have any recommendations about what to do and where to eat I'd love to hear them.

And now I'm going to end this excessive amount of text now and leave you with some more pictures of a lovely day out. I hope the sun is showing its face where you are and that you're enjoying it too.

Edinburgh Christmas Market

I'm jumping on the bandwagon here. But that's okay, it's a beautiful Christmassy bandwagon with twinkling lights and tasty treats. It's a post about my trip to a Christmas Market - the Edinburgh Market. I've read so many posts with such jealousy, and we'd had this trip planned for such a long time. I've gone for a photo edit - sometimes pictures say so much more than words.

 

  
 

I Capture the Castle

One of the wonderful things about living where I do is the abundance of beautiful castles right on the doorstep. This is one of my favourites, Crathes Castle. It's a 16th century castle and inside has unique  Jacobean rooms, with painted ceilings and their very own ghosts...

There's no cameras allowed inside, except to take photos of the spectacular views, but outside is a different story. The castle has 530 acres of grounds, and the absolute best bit of all is the walled garden, which itself is nearly 4 acres! I've visited a few times, most recently Ben and I went with my parents when they were up here on holiday. I think the Autumn colours may see the gardens at their most beautiful of all.

There's a brilliant story about the hedge you can see in the background of this picture. In the 80s, a gardener was giving it a trim, and found a wine bottle in the hedge. A 200+ years old wine bottle! They think it had been dumped in the hedge during a particularly alcohol fuelled party. I think this creates a wonderful link between the past and the present, it makes the past a bit more real don't you think?

There's a little information board about the Lady that designed the gardens, which I wish I'd taken a photo of. She was lovely, her picture is beautiful, and the gardens were a wonderful gift to leave for future generations.

This is my favourite place to visit near where I live - where's yours?

You've been a long time coming but you're here now...

Last week I had to get up at 7am on my day off. Not cool. But it did mean that Ben and I got to pick up Anna and Dom from the train station and move into our lovely new flat, and celebrate Anna's birthday! So I suppose I can get over it. Because they arrived so obscenely early on the sleeper train we had plenty of time to catch up over breakfast in my favourite restaurant, The Sand Dollar. A café during the day and a bistro some nights of the week, the food is to die for and the staff are wonderful. We had a long day ahead, so we decided to fuel up good and proper...

The boys are very serious about their breakfast, but Anna looked a little happier to see hers.

After thoroughly stuffing ourselves we went back to the flat I'd been staying at temporarily for presents!

We're a very domesticated flat, and Anna got an incredible Dualit Coffee Machine off Dom and a glass bowl for her KitchenAid, commonly known as Baby, from Ben and I. Sadly both of these presents came in very big boxes, which didn't make our move any easier. But the boxes were nothing compared to the sofa...

Like I said. We're very domesticated.

   The boys did manly things for a while, and Anna and I had a bit of fun in the kitchen.



Finally, we finished the day how we started it. Piles and piles of food.

 Our eyes were a little bigger than our bellies though, so we had plenty of leftovers to get us through the next day of unpacking!

I'm so happy to finally be in this flat, it's been a long time coming. Now that I've been here a week or so, I'm starting to feel properly at home, but Ben and I are rattling a little. We definitely need it to be the end of the summer so that Anna and Dom come home from Bristol for good, and we're all back together again.

Anna has her own lovely blog - you should pop by, she's currently documenting her and Dom's summer down in Bristol.