I'm from Scotland, and I'm pretty clumsy. Go figure!
A book that was published in the decade I was born. A good few selections here being that I was born in 2000.
I’ve decided to go with The Hunger Games.
Now I’ve only read the first if the trilogy but I adored it. The next two are definitely still on my list but so are about a thousand books!
I think Catching Fire is just so well written and really draws the reader in and just has a fantastic story line!
A childhood favourite book.
There was so many that I had to pick from here but I decided to go with the Fairy Magic books. I believe there were around a hundred books in the collection but they’re so well done for a kids collection and I just love how magical and happy they were. I could read them now again too!
I had the petal fairies collection and I read them every single night when I was probably around seven or eight, pretending to be asleep whenever my mum or dad popped their head in.
A book with a colour in the title. My pick for this is also a book I first read in High School that really caught my attention.
It’s called Small Blue Thing, written by S. C. Ransom. It’s the first in a trilogy of three books and again I believe it’s aimed at teenagers but I found it really drew me in. It really painted a picture that you could see throughout.
A girl in London finding a gorgeous blue bangle in the Thames that would literally change her life. It takes twists and turns and I’ve read the books so many times over.
I’ll definitely be on the hunt for my book when I visit my parents house again so I can have another read. I only own the first but I think I’ll have to buy the other two to reminisce a little bit about my reads from High School.
So Day two of the book challenge is a book that I’ve read multiple times – The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks.
Now this is a book I first read in High School. I’m not sure why, but there’s something I love about this book I love. It’s a pretty dark storyline and probably written for teenagers but I think there’s little things in the book that just really grab your attention.
I also think there’s a bit of a dealing with depression within the storyline and how people from different walks of life deal with it within the same circumstance. But also it was my first realisation of being watched by ‘big brother.’
It’s not a hard or long read but I’d definitely recommend a wee read.
I’d rate 7/10
Ive decided to get back into the grove of posting and try doing this December book challenge!
So a book by my favourite author, and hear me out here – Jeremy Clarkson.
Yes he is a bit of an oaf but I do get a proper laugh reading his articles and books, like cry laughter. I have some respect for Jeremy with his farming venture, and I’ve watched him from his Top Gear days since I was little.
He writes articles for the times on a weekly basis, and his books are generally compilations of these.
I genuinely think he has a way with words and I can just hear everything he writes in his voice and I’ll happily finish a book in an evening!
Hello, sorry I’ve been quiet recently. I have ideas for posts but honestly just sometimes don’t know where to start.
The other thing Im struggling with is photos to go along with content and being on Instagram now is making me feel a bit useless when it comes to content in general.
I’ll get back to it, just taking some time to find my feet a little.
But I thought I’d do a little catch up here. I’m feeling quite content with life just now. Nothing major but the little things make me happy.
Little things like seeing a double rainbow at work the other day. The weather has been so cold but it’s been pretty dry so it’s been lovely to throw on another layer and crack on.
The RNLI part of my life is a wee bit quiet just now but come January that’s going to get pretty busy with the arrival on a brand new Shannon Class ALB to replace our trusty old Trent Class which will be turning 30 next year. It’s been nice doing odds and end around the station too and we even had some local school kids come and paint a mural at our local harbour to commemorate the boats and the local landscapes and it’s just brightened the place up so much!
I’ll do a post sometime about lifeboating too.
Work is crazy just now and means I never really know what day it is!
I passed my final exam last month which I kept quiet, but I’m over the moon to be able to say I’m now a qualified Electrician! I’m thinking about continuing with University but I’ll see where I’m at next year and see if I can handle the extra workload!
I haven’t done anything else in the garden since my last post. My plan is to still to grab some pallets and make a few raised beds so I can expand my little growing area. Once the frost has passed I’m going to try a little picking flower area beside the drive way too!
I’m trying to make sure I’m picking up on all the smalls things in life too. Like the fact I can take my doggy for a lovely wintery walk, watching all the little flowers still popping up or making the most of the weather.
I’ll start by saying that word took me four attempts to spell.
But this is something I want to do more of. Say yes more.
I’m very much an introvert. I really struggle with socialising, especially small talk. I don’t really drink anymore, I don’t enjoy going out.
But I want to see places, meet people, explore new places. That’s what Im going to start saying yes to.
The first spontaneous trip I think i went on was to Scone Palace in Perth, Scotland. I was already away for a few days with my friend and we had a day to ourselves so I did some Google mapping about what was in the area. We thought it might be boring as its not something either of us would normally chose to do but Im so glad we did it!
We just drove up and I parked. We went into the shop to find a little map and we just walked! First we came across the maze which we ended up running round with some kids! When you came out you were met by such an elegant fountain before heading down the path towards an old cemetery.
There’s something a little humbling about looking round old headstones.
We followed this by a walk around the walled gardens. There’s a little cottage in the middle where I believe the gardener stays and this was a beautiful area!
Following on we came across the kids play area and we just had to a have a wee go! This is just beside Perth racecourse.
We eventually found our way back to the palace and sat with a little coffee and cake.
The day wasn’t anything exciting but it felt lovely to just have a wander, have a laugh and explore somewhere I didn’t know existed (which i definitely should have, having spent a lot of time in Perthshire growing up).
This trip was a realisation that if I find somewhere that looks cool, just go. Even it’s just a quick trip. There’s absolutely no harm in trying new things and exploring new places.
I can’t wait to see what I’ll come across!
Soup season is upon us. I was on the hunt for something filling and also nutritious! So I made a roasted vegetable soup!
We ate it so quickly i didn’t even get any photos of the end result but I have to share the recipe!
You can also change this however you want and and use what you have if you’ve got some veggies that need to be used but here’s my run down!
Chop up your vegetables up and place them on a baking tray. Make sure they’re not sat on top of one another!
Chop off the head of your garlic bulb and place in the middle of your tray of vegetables.
Sprinkle over some olive oil and your paprika. You can also add some salt and pepper to taste here too but that’s personal choice!
Pop them in the oven at 180°C for fan assisted ovens for about 40 minutes.
Once the oven is done, pull them and let them cool a little.
Into a blender, add your vegetable, add 500ml of vegetable stock and squeeze out your soft garlic cloves and blend until smooth!
From here you can either pop it into a pan with a dash of cream to heat or wait until it’s totally cooled and pop it in the freezer for up to three months!
Let me know how you get on and what you might add/change!
I also made a good old sandwich style loaf of bread to dip into my soup!
I go through phases of reading where I’ll read daily for a few weeks and then drop off and barely read for weeks!
I’m definitely going through a reading phase at the moment though.
I joined the app Goodreads so I can log books I’ve read and also have a list of books I want to read! You can also follow friends and see what everyone else is reading!
I’m also going through a buying books phase…
I keep buying books that I want to read so my book shelf is growing and I’m not reading fast enough!
However I do have books there that I’m desperate to read so it’s an incentive to finish the books I’ve started!
I’ve previously done a post about my reading but my favourite books are biographies and non-fiction.
And all of my recent reads have been autobiographies.
I’m going to start with Heath Ledger: His beautiful life and mysterious death.
I genuinely found this book quite gripping. I always thought that his death was around his role of The Joker but it actually wasn’t. I’m not going to give any spoilers but his own battles were so prominent but no one noticed. He adored his family and loved his work and I think he was a magnificent actor. I would reread this book several times.
Obviously this book wasn’t written by the actor but is words from those around him over his life.
He was so charismatic and always looked at life with a smile.
My second book is Ferne Brady: A strong female character.
A Scottish comedian, brought up in Bathgate and now living in London.
This book had me in tears laughing. An honest review of life and an insight into autism, particularly females. I would absolutely recommend this book a million times over!
A third book was a bit of a stop gap Ive had on the shelf a while.
Jeremy Clarkson Diddly Squat: Until the cows come home.
Again this book had me in tears laughing. This book is his newspaper articles in one. I know he’s not a well liked person, I adore the light he’s been able to shine on farming in the UK and all the ups and downs that go with it.
And lastly is my current read, Surviving the Storm.
This book is a collection of stories from volunteers within the RNLI who share some heroic stories from their time on the seas.
Im not sure if there’s another book but Im definitely on the look out. Being part of our local crew myself, I already know the perils about going out at times but this book really shines a light on the true life stories that people don’t hear about.
I’ve kind of neglected the garden for a few weeks! The weather has turned rotten so other than grass cutting and doing some weeding, I haven’t got much done!
I have got a few new aditions planted though. I dug up the spinach and lettuce I destroyed over the summer (although I think some have decided to try and grow through still) and popped in some garlic. Doing some reading up these need to over winter so they’ve sprouted now so i think they just need a period of cold weather to go dormant and they’ll (hopefully) flourish come spring time.
A few weeks ago I raided my local garden centre, and although there wasn’t much left other than some trees, heathers and other hardy natives, I managed to grab a lovely blackberry shrub (this was in an older post) and a couple of discounted potted goodies.
The first was another strawberry plant. I have a fair few already but my plan is to get a big planter for these because they do like to expand themselves into new plants and also they’re so easy to grow.
At first I threw it under my net thinking I’ll get it into a bigger planter towards the end of the winter but shes decided to flourish in september and even has flowers! I don’t think these will fruit but I do need tto get her a bigger pot anyway so she’s happier and can keep growing!
The second was a sempervivum which I’ve been looking at for a while. I think they’re funky little guys and my plan is to get her into a tub maybe next to the front door? I do currently have a baby ivy there but I think he’ll have to get moved before he sticks to the wall and takes over.
The third, truthfully I can’t remember and she blew down the garden and I can’t find the pot with the name of it anymore but she hopefully going to give me some lovely pink flowers along the drive way next summer!
My plan is to get loads of different flowers in along the drive that will flower at different times and attract and feed loads of little bugs and wildlife! That’s the plan but whether I make it that far is a different story!
Lastly inside I have some birds eye chilli seeds growing away nicely. These have tried to blind me, not once, not twice but three times! But I’m still very happy with them!
I do think I’ve planted these at the wrong time of year but they’re indoors so I’ll see how they do. I have more seeds anyway if I need to try again coming into warmer weather.
If all of these babies decide to keeo growing, I think I’ll be gifting some at Christmas though because I think there’s at least thirty growing and I read somewhere that someone was inundated with chilli’s with just two plants. I really don’t like spicy food that much to keep them all!
Over the winter I’m hoping to grab some pallettes and see if I can make some biggish planters for myself and get a proper little veggie/fruit garden going but although I’m good at trying new things, this might be a step too far! That also means A LOT of compost and some actual planning about mixing up some veggies in planters to give them a better chance with nutrients, but that’s why I’m doing this to learn and try!
Confessions of a Clumsy Scot 