The Lovely Lakes

Long distance friendships can be pretty tough to maintain, especially when you live in Sunderland and seem to be so far from everyone! I'm pretty lucky that I have some very close friends from uni that all like to make plans to meet up, often in really lovely places. This weekend was one of those meetings. We'd planned a while ago to see Sam Smith in Manchester, as we all worship his buttery voice! From there we decided to drive to the Lake District, as Chloe's family own a gorgeous house there. It seemed the perfect opportunity to have some relaxation and get out in the country air!

It goes without saying that Sam Smith was amazing on Thursday night, and it was a great way to kick off the weekend. The rest of the trip was filled with long walks in the mountains, board games by the fire and lots of catching up! It was so good to be outdoors for such long periods, and I came home feeling like my lungs had been Spring cleaned! The Lake  District is so nostalgic for me, as I spent a lot of time there as a kid- being there with 2 of my best friends was so lovely. Very much looking forward to wherever our next adventure will take us...

Weird tree trunk with coins stuck in!

Hehe

Starter for Ten by David Nicholls

Well, my March ‘sugar abstinence’ lasted all of 5 days! I was visiting a friend at the weekend in her new flat near Liverpool, and she likes to indulge as much as I do- so our plans were sprinkled with chocolate and sweeties! It maybe wasn’t a good idea to attempt this challenge on one of the rare months that I have quite a few social plans! Nevertheless, I am back on that proverbial horse, but will no doubt fall off it dramatically when I have another trip away on the 19^th...

When I arrived in Liverpool on Friday, my friend and I had a little wander around the city centre. We walked past this amazing book swap, which I was very impressed with. I would have loved to be able to pop in a book in return for a different one, but as I mentioned here I am back on my kindle. I have just finished my most recent read (pretty quick for me, all thanks to long train journeys), which was Starter for Ten by David Nicholls.

I picked this novel as I read and loved Nicholls’ book One Day. Also, I’d seen the film adaptation of Starter for Ten a while ago -starring the lovely James Mcavoy- and wanted to give the book a whirl. The story is based around Brian, who is blundering his way through the first year of university. He has always been fascinated by University Challenge, so decides to sign up to compete for his team. But, as any successful plot goes, not all runs according to plan.

 I found the book hilarious from start to finish, and felt a strong compassion for Brian throughout. I attracted a few funny looks on the train when I was stifling giggles, but being part of the trials and tribulations Brian endures while trying to establish himself at his new institute made for very funny reading. What Nicholls does so well is making you feel as though you genuinely know the main characters inside out, and can imagine how they would react in any situation. After having seen both the film adaptations of One Day and Starter for Ten, I can safely say that the books are much better-which I believe is a testament to Nicholls’ writing ability- even though I’m a HUGE James Mcavoy fan.

If I had this book in paperback copy, I would have definitely left it in that book swap for someone else to enjoy. I am now a fully- fledged David Nicholls super-fan, and I am looking forward to reading more of his stuff (which may be short-lived, because as far as I know he only has 2 other novels!). I'd love to hear any book recommendations that you have, so feel free to comment below. 

Tiers of Joy

The prospect of afternoon tea is one that never fails to excite me. What could be better than tasty sandwiches and sweet treats arranged delicately on a three-tiered display?! It was my Auntie’s 60^th birthday this week, so we thought it a suitable occasion to go all out on an afternoon tea. We visited Perrywood garden centre in Tiptree, Essex (where they make the jam) and it was such a delicious treat that I had to share it here.

We started off on the bottom tier where we had four types of sarnie: cheese and plum chutney, beef and horseradish, salmon and cream cheese and ham and tomato chutney. YUM.

The middle tier was dedicated to a fruit scone accompanied by Tiptree jam (of course) and a whooole load of clotted cream and butter. Even more yum.

The top layer went above (literally) and beyond the other two layers with a baileys truffle, dainty Florentine, warm apple crumble and custard, orange Victoria sponge and a lemon mousse. And we polished off the lot (barring the leaves- nobody eats those!). I was intrigued to find out if many people do finish off the whole lot, as the waitress had presumptively handed us takeaway boxes for our ‘leftovers’. I think we may have impressed her, as she said that it’s not often customers clear the three plates. I don’t know if I was proud or embarrassed at my gastric capacity.

Seeing as I’m on the subject, here’s another two afternoon tea set-ups that I have enjoyed. The top one is from Let There be Crumbs in Roker, Sunderland, and the bottom one is from a little further along the coast at the Marriott hotel in Seaburn, Sunderland. Both delicious! I’m trying to give up sweet treats for March (not lent, just a month to see if I can actually do it!). I guess this is my way of bidding farewell to sugary goodness- let’s see how long I’ll last!