Weekly Musings

2018 - Week Seventeen

'We never lose our demons... we only learn to live above them.'

(The Ancient One - Dr Strange)

Well, one word to sum up this week has to be stressful, as there have been yet more hurdles in my house buying process. The government Help to Buy scheme, whilst helping me to initially get onto the property ladder at 22 which was a godsend, has also proven to be the most frustrating and fruitless process to try and get out of/ speed up. This has not been helped by my solicitor's endless holidays and lack of communication, and an impatient vendor who has actually decided to put my little terrace back on the market on Friday to 'keep his options open' *eyerolls* - NIGHTMARE. 

Luckily I already had some fun events planned which have distracted me, and a shoutout to all my fab mates and Chris for the moral support which has stopped me acting like a raging dragon, and more of just a slightly grumpy lizard. I will get there eventually! New poetry up on Insta here, and track for this week is the coincidentally named new single from CHVRCHES, which has been my highly relatable jam.

On Tuesday I had a spontaneous afternoon off, so Jasmine and I went for a 2 for 1cocktail and brunch at The Elk in Chorlton. We both had the smashed avo and poached egg on toast, and also treated ourselves to a slice of cake to takeaway for dessert. Unfortunately the weather has taken a turn for the worst again, so we were holed up inside to shelter from the rain, but it was still good to get out of the house and make the most of some extra free time.

On Thursday it was mine and Chris's 100th date (my incessant diary symbols do come in useful sometimes!) and simultaneously our six month anniversary, which I know may be a little 'high school' to celebrate, but when you're happy who needs an excuse right? We went out for a posh tea on Friday to mark the occasion at 1847, a vegetarian restaurant I had spied online and fancied trying. It was a three course set menu that was very cryptic, but it was all incredibly tasty and looked so pretty on the plates I didn't want to tuck in.

For starters we got two dishes to share: yeasted cauliflower with red watercress, pickled grape, caperberries and mint oil, and spiced aubergine with miso butter, cashew crumb, coconut, lemon curd and curry foam. Mains were malt battered halloumi, pea hummus, tartare mousse, lemon air, black olive crumb and triple cooked chips for Chris and
crispy truffled gnocchi, ceps, girolle, tarragon, cashew, edamame bean and white truffle snow for moi. Our final course was dark chocolate, beetroot, olive oil snow, raspberry and viola (Chris) and rhubarb, cardamom, coconut, cashew, apple and rose water and pistachio dukka (me) - in layman's terms that was a chocolate brownie and a rhubarb cheesecake! Whilst hearty pub grub will always have a place in my heart, it was a cool change to sample some fancy nosh and made it feel like more of a special event; I even wore the booby dress I bought in Paris, which went down very well!

Yesterday I caught a train to London to visit my uni friend Claire as it was her birthday on Friday. We went for lunch at Crol and Co near her flat in Bermondsey, a cute little cafe where I had mushrooms and stilton on sourdough toast. In the evening some of her friends came 'round for a barbecue and beer pong - she had bought a gazebo for the balcony to combat the rain, and we decorated it with loads of fairy lights so it looked the part. I can't remember going to bed, but I did wake up this morning with a sore head and seven empty prosecco bottles on the kitchen side!

I powered through my hangover, as we had to catch a train to Oxford Parkway to meet our other old uni flatmate Laura, who drove us all to Soho Farmhouse. It is a private member's club set in gorgeous countryside that I have previously spied on Instagram, whilst following the blogging elite as they relax in the spa, take cookery classes, and cycle around on the customised bicycles. When Laura suggested a visit as her guests I was intrigued to have a nosy. We got quiche and salad with iced coffee for lunch and then went for a wander around the grounds and buildings. 

It was all beautiful, like being in a constant magazine shoot! We got some lovely pictures of us all sat outside the main barn, and worked out it is nearly a decade since we first met, crazy. We stopped again mid afternoon for a cake and cuppa before driving back to catch the train back to London, and for me to make my way back up north. Chris collected me from Stockport station and we have just demolished a Chinese, I am 100% ready for my bed now! 

Traveller's Tales...

Sibford Ferris, Stow & Stratford

On Thursday I drove down  visit my friend Timna who lives in Sibford Ferris in Oxford. I was so tired driving it was pretty arduous, but I eventually arrived at 2.30pm and was greeted with a lovely cuppa.

That evening we went to Bicester Village, which is an outlet mall similar to Cheshire Oaks. I had little money to buy anything, but came away with a nice triangle shaped titanium ring, and some nipple tassles from Agent Provocateur! I mainly bought them as they look really cool on display in my room - don't judge! We ate tea at Pret a Manger and then drove back to Timna's. 

Later on at 11pm we went round to our other friend Laura's house in Kingham, as she had 'exciting news' to tell us. We had basically guessed it was that she had got engaged, so we picked some flowers from the garden for her, and luckily we were right! We spent until the early hours getting very giddy, drinking prosecco and discussing wedding plans - all very grown up!

The following day we had a lie in and ate pancakes for breakfast before driving to Stow to meet Laura again (this time without her fiancé). We went to Huffkins bakery for afternoon tea, and ordered one for three people which was huge! It had little finger sandwiches with gorgeous fillings like salmon and avocado, chicken and bacon, ploughmans and tuna and sweetcorn; scones with jam and clotted cream, and a selection of cakes including flapjack, brownies and hazelnut meringues. We ate as much as we could, and then got a doggy bag to take home, they had made a mistake with some of our sandwiches so we got a seperate plate for free - we had loads left!

We said our goodbyes to Laura and made our way back to Sibford to collect Timna's mum to go to Stratford (she was picking a new car up). Timna and I wandered around the shops and along the river while her mum got the car, and then we parted ways and I drove home to Manchester. It took me 2 1/2 hours even with traffic which I was impressed with, and meant I had time to go out when I got back. I had a lovely couple of days and it was really nice to see Laura and Dickon to celebrate their engagement. It is a shame that so many of my uni friends live down South!

Traveller's Tales...

Oxford

On the second day of our trip down south we decided to explore Oxford, which was a forty minute drive from Kingham where we were staying. When we arrived it was quite busy, but then it is very popular with tourists, especially with it being the school summer holidays. We had a wander around some of the shops on the high street, and went into the indoor market, which had everything from hand knitted scarves to decorated wedding cakes and a fishmongers, a quaint change from another Topshop and Primark.

At this point it was around lunchtime and we were feeling a little peckish, so we stopped at a nice little sandwich shop and bought some food. I had a bacon, brie and cranberry panini which was lovely, but they also had some more unusual combinations, such as chicken and mango chutney, and butternut squash and sweet chilli sauce. We walked through a park that was nearby, enjoying the good weather, and then headed to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The museum had some awesome felled trees outside that had come from all over the world, so after we had taken some photographs we went inside. It was free to enter, and had some amazing displays, including huge dinosaur skeletons, stuffed animals (some that you could touch), fossils that were millions of years old, intricate model boats and clothes from different cultures that were interesting to look at. We didn't get chance to look at everything as we were on quite a tight time schedule, but it was great to have a browse and feel like you were learning something!

When we got back outside it had started to drizzle, so we decided to go for coffee and cake in the Ashmolean dining room, a rooftop restaurant in the Museum of Art and Archaeology that specialises in afternoon tea. I had a cup of tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake that was delicious, and my friend who had recommended the place had a cream tea that looked gorgeous. It was a luxurious establishment (I especially loved the light fixtures made entirely of feathers!) it was just a shame that the rain meant we had to sit inside, instead of enjoying the view from the roof.

As my boyfriend and I had to travel back to Cheshire that evening unfortunately we didn't have enough time to look around the attached museum, but the bits we saw of Oxford were very nice, and some of the architecture along the main streets is beautiful. If you do go though, be careful with parking, as we got stung for £11.50 for 4 hours in the area we were in! It didn't spoil our day though, and we headed back to Altrincham after a nice restful couple of days thanks to our lovely hosts.