Long Overdue Update....

Hello!

Long time no blog....

Well, #1 on my list hasn't gone so well! My attempts at keeping a blog have been pretty poor. I think I've learnt that writing and blogging is not one of my interests/talents!

With less than 3 weeks to go until the last day of my twenties, I've had lots of people asking how the list is going. This is the first in a series of posts just with a quick update on some of the items...

#1 Write a blog

Well, I've sort of done this one! I think I can consider this one ticked off.

#2 Learn to drive

I'm not going to lie, I've had a bit of a panic over the past few weeks and have been craming in some of the thing on this list! And this is one of them. 

I had my first lesson this weekend. It's one of the most difficult things I've had to do in quite a while and I'm convinced driving will never come naturally! So far I've learnt how to pull out, go into 2nd gear, indicate and stop (sort of - I always panic when it comes to stopping!). Booked in another lesson for next week and I will be amazed if I remember how to do anything. People of London (especially Pollards Hill where I'm learning), be afraid...

#3 Visit the Southern Hemisphere

Done.

#4 Do a performance NOT in a choir or orchestra

Sort of completed - if you count singing Bohemian Rhapsody in karaoke in one of Tooting's dodgier pubs (which I might well do come the 20th December!)

#5 Run a 10k

Done! 

As mentioned in a previous blog, I had booked in a 10k for 17th August. However the training did not happen and neither did the run. So I set out to find the last 10k of the year and I found one that took place on the 30th November. The event was the Mo Running 10k in Greenwich Park. A hillier area of London you could not find... it was exhausting! Because of the hills (yup, I'm getting my excuses in), I walked a bit more than I would have liked which meant my predicted time of 1 hr 10 turned into 1 hr 18. 

Not a stunning time, however I didn't come last; I was 1495th out of 1536! And I was the first Kat to cross the finish line (out of two...hehe). Still it's the taking part that counts and I can only improve from here!

#6 Go to the dogs

Done.

#7 Climb a Mountain

Done. I didn't want to climb just any mountain, oh no, I had to choose the highest mountain in the UK!

On 9th August I packed my hiking boots and headed up the West Coast to Fort William to conquer the mighty Ben Nevis. The trip didn't get off to the best start as I missed my 5.30am train and had to buy a £160 single to Glasgow (ouch!!), so I arrived in Fort William more than 12 hours later in a less than jubilant mood! Though it did mean an unexpected stop off in Glasgow to see the family (always find a silver lining). 

Anyway, I digress. My brother, my friend Antonia and I took about 5 hours to get up (I may have slowed the group down somewhat) and three hours to get back down. Unfortunately we lost the view half way up, making the last couple of hours really quite difficult. I was also really surprised that the mountain was...well...mountainous! I had been fully expecting there to be greenery all the way up but it was mainly very pebbley and rocky and grey after a while. Another thing that was really surprising was the volume of people climbing up. There were hundreds of us clambering up. I made friends with anther lady that had to stop every couple hundred of metres, so even when Toni and Gerard marched on ahead, I wasn't completely alone! 

It was a really enjoyable day, even though I found it really quite difficult and despite the fact I couldn't walk for three days after (not made better by sitting on a night train back to London), I vowed to myself that I would do more hill climbing in future!

#8 Make a cable knit scarf

Done. Photos to follow.

#9 Go a month without drinking any alcohol

Done.

#10 Go to one gig per month

I think I've managed this, though will have to scour my diary to make sure. I've certainly been doing loads of stuff anyway! If not, I'm going to have to get to some gigs over the next few weeks!

Right, I think I will leave this update here, otherwise it will be the longest blog EVER! Update of next 10 on the list to follow soon (and I mean it this time!!)

Dining with the Stars

#21 Go to a Michelin Star Restaurant

OK, so I haven't met my celebrity (yet), but I have ticked off #21 from my list!

On the 13th July 2013 it was my parents' 40th (yes, FORTIETH) wedding anniversary. If this isn't a good reason to get some fine dining on the go, I don't know what is!

The Happy Couple: Forty years of wedded bliss....

We (my parents, Michael, Gerard and I)  booked into Chez Bruce next to Wandsworth Common for an early dinner, on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. Luckily the air con there was excellent!

The menu was lovely, a good variety of dishes, but not so much choice that it was difficult to choose. The wine menu is VAST, so we went for a carafe of house wine, of course!

At this point I should probably go into great detail about what we all ordered, how devine the food tasted, the flavours, the smells, the presentation...but I have to admit I am not a foodie and have a feeling that my comments on the above would be neither accurate, nor particularly insightful!

However, what I can say was that:

1. The food was really very tasty and filling. To begin I had fois gras with brioche, followed by sea bream served with pomme dauphine and..erm...other vegetables... and then for dessert I went for the rose marshmallow with mango sorbet. Yum, yum, yum....

2. The service was incredibly efficient. Not once was our water glass empty and any time one of us went to the loo, a member of staff would was over like a flash to neatly fold the napkin left strewn across the table/chair/wherever it's uncouth owner dropped it. We weren't entirely sure if this was a special service for us shabby lot, but I have since been comforted to hear that my friends also received this treatment when they visited recently!

3. The company really was very lovely and despite the fact that my brother Michael turned up half cut and decided that he was George Michael when wearing my dad's sunglasses, we all had really nice time.

"George" Michael at Chez Bruce

Upon asking our parents about that fateful day 40 years ago, it threw some light onto the wedding mindset back in the 70s. On the morning of the wedding my mum "prepared"  by scrubbing the kitchen floor in her parents' house (there would be guests round later - a dirty floor would be a disgrace!) whilst my Dad could be found underneath the car making sure it was ready to go for the honeymoon...one week camping in the highlands! Loved this practical way of approaching things - no Bridezilla moments here!!

After we finished dinner, it was still nice and light so we went for an evening stroll on the common, with many jokes about "George" being on the prowl. 

All in all, a lovely evening!

The family on Wandsworth Common (l-r: Dad, Mum, Gerard & Michael)

What did the cheese say when it looked in the mirror?

Halloumi!(*ba-dum-tsch!*)

#14 Make Cheese

"Why the hell would you want to make cheese?!", I hear you cry incredulously. Well....

• I visited a National Trust property a while back and it had a dairy. At this point I asked my friend Freddie if he knew how any of our dairy products are made. We quickly came to the conclusion that we had not a clue. I thought that this was wrong and that I should, at the grand old age of 30, at least have an idea of what I'm putting into my body.
• I like to know how stuff works and how things are made.
• I thought it could be a fun project.

So a couple of weekends ago Ben (my new beau) and I embarked on a cheese churning challenge; no churning was actually involved, but I like the alliteration.

Having done some speedy internet research i.e. Googling "homemade cheese"  (note: Googling "cheese recipe" only brings up lots of recipes with cheese as an ingredient!) it was soon decided that my cheeses of choice would be halloumi and ricotta, since soft cheeses looked far easier, and much quicker to produce.

Hanging Cheese - Draining the whey. Whey-hey!

A quick visit to Wimbledon's Lakeland and I had all the required accessories (rennet and cheesecloth) to begin.

I realise now, that I should have taken lots of photos to document the production, but...well... I didn't. Sorry.

The process went something like this...

Ricotta - heat milk to 37 degrees, add rennet, let the mixture separate, strain through cheese cloth, leave to hang for a few hours, break up and mix in flavourings (lemon and chilli in this case), put into cheese mould.

Halloumi - heat milk to around 37 degrees, add rennet, let mixture separate,"cut" curd into "squares", heat in whey at around 35 degrees for another 30 mins, scoop out cubes of cheese into cheese cloth, cover with other cheese cloth, put heavy object on top to compress cheese. When done, pat sides with salt.

Et voila! Here are the results!

Halloumi! Need to get a photo editor on my new computer...

Ricotta - looks impressive...tastes like cardboard!
Could not figure out how to turn this photo round. 

The ricotta looked really pretty, but frankly tasted awful. When looking at other recipes, it turns out that authentic ricotta should be made from the whey (not the curd as I had done) and I also think that I overheated it resulting in an...interesting...consistency.

The halloumi was OK. I overheated it at the second stage (the perils of not using a digital thermometer) and the consistency wasn't quite right - but there was actually a bit of a squeak when eating it! It also required more salt, but tasted good with Ben's homemade olive bread; It was a very industrious Saturday!

Ben's MASSIVE olive bread.

Heating up the halloumi!

So there you are - a quick guide on how to (kind of) make cheese. I think I will definitely try it again, but next time perhaps instead of plucking recipes at random from the net I will purchase a book with tried and tested recipes. Lesson learnt!

Well Hello There.....

Long Time, No Write....

Hello! I'm back! 

Well, it's been a while since I last posted here and I thought that it's about time I got back on the blogging!

I have been making a little bit of progress with my 30 things so, without further ado, I guess I'll crack on with the update!

#3 Visit the Southern Hemisphere

I am happy to report that this has been well and truly ticked off the list! At the end of March I boarded a Malaysian Air flight and 28 hours later I landed in Auckland! I had a fantastic trip and I will have to dedicate a whole separate blog to the trip and photographs; first of all I need to buy a laptop I can actually download the photos onto....but here's a wee taster for you....

Maori Carvings

Clare, Rob & Jess at Cathedral Cove

Milford Sound

Sunrise on Hot Water Beach

#5 Run a 10k

I haven't run my 10k yet, HOWEVER since arriving back from NZ I have booked myself on a 10k run in August in Geenwich Park and have embarked upon the c210k training app. I've not been too consistent with the training so far, but now things have quietened down a bit I'm getting back on it. Just about to move onto week 5 of the 14 week training programme. 

I'm a few weeks behind (whoops!!) and won't finish the programme before the race but I can always do a 5k at Greenwich(there seems to be a choice on the day) and then book in a 10k in September or October.

#6 Go to the Dogs

Not completed this yet, but it's in the diary for this Friday (5th July) - let me know if you fancy joining us!

#7 Climb a Mountain

Again not completed, but have taken steps to go up Ben Nevis. I will be arriving into the beautiful highlands on 9th August and climbing Ben Nevis on the 10th - anyone out there fancy a trip up to the amazing Scottish Highlands and climbing to the top of Britain??

Ben Nevis: Hopefully there will be a lot less snow in August!

I have loads more updates on other things in the list and I will catch up on all of these in the next couple of weeks (hopefully).

Ta-ra for now!

Gardening (and other stuff)

#28 Create a Vegetable Plot

After spending a glorious week with friends in the beautiful Scottish Highlands (Newtonmore in the Cairngorms to be precise - if you need to book a house for 10-18 people, I highly recommend the property Badenoch - absolutely excellent!) I arrived back to a dreich, dull, grey London feeling thoroughly depressed. Luckily I had an extra days holiday booked to help ease me back into London living and I decided to spend some of it in the garden in a bid to "get back to nature". 

Now, whilst my garden is not a complete wilderness or anything like that and there (surprisingly) seem to be some flowers sprouting already, it has been totally neglected since I have moved into my house. The amount of  overgrown ivy, plastic bags, discarded fireworks, general debris and that pesky vine-like weed that grows over everything has definitely been on the increase in the past 5 months.  So I thought that Monday was the perfect opportunity to make a start on tidying up. 

The garden - I'm actually getting
excited about doing it up just looking
at the photograph!!

I forgot to take a "before" photo, but given the lack of impact two hours hard graft seems to have made, I think this photo  sums up the state of the garden (just add in some more ivy, moss, weeds and a few plastic bags and you get the 'before' picture).

So this is what I have to work with and in one of the corners I intend to start creating my veg plot. Over the next 4 weeks my aim is to clear and weed the garden properly and to have an initial design for the whole garden so that I will know exactly where my veg will be going. 

So far I reckon i would like to plant the following (whether or not this is possible remains to be investigated):

• Courgettes
• Beetroot
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Some sort of pea...

All other suggestions welcome ( especially for hardy veg that requires little/no looking after!)

So I had better get cracking and start propagating some seeds!

And in other news....

#8 make a cable knit scarf

Damn it! Can't get the picture to
rotate - you get the point!

Knowing that I would have loads of spare time to knit in the Highlands, I went to John Lewis to buy some wool to begin my cable knit scarf project. I have made a start - although at one point I seemed to be doing more ripping out of rows than knitting! I am glad to report that progress is being made and the scarf is beginning to look scarf-like and and cable-y. Here's a snap of my beautiful wool - my Mum hates the colour of it, but i think it's just lovely (and feels soft and amazing).

#9 go a month without drinking alcohol

Didn't really want to make a big announcement about this one (in case I fail!!!), however the dry month has begun! I started at 11pm Friday 22nd February and intend to finish at 11pm(ish) on Sunday 24th March when I'll be at the beginning of a 28 hour flight to New Zealand. So if I begin drinking a few hours earlier, I think that is acceptable!!

Graphical representation of booze free
progress a.k.a Dry Pie

Thus far, it hasn't been difficult at all - but let's see what happens if there's a big night out...

#17 go star gazing

Whilst up in Newtonmore, we all decided to go out stargazing. So we drove up a hill, far away from any lights, excited to see what the sky had to offer us.

I'm not particularly into star gazing, and I added it to my list as it's something that I feel I should have done. I also think that I should have some interest in what exists outside my own little bubble. 

Admittedly, I also had a somewhat romantic view of it taking place: on a warm, balmy night, lying on a rug (...maybe with a nice boy?!), drink in hand just chillaxing with the stars and galaxies would be visible by the naked eye, and, of course, there would be a plethora of shooting stars putting on a display just for me.

Ha!

That was the dream. This was the reality:

• It was cold
• I was standing the whole time and I had cold hands.
• There was no rug. 
• There was no drink.
• There was no boy (well there were a couple, but not in the romantic sense)
• There was a very bright moon, giving great views of the snow capped mountains, but not ideal for the viewing of stars.
• The realisation dawned on me that I know nothing of astronomy
• There were lots of (dim) stars though, on the bright side, no clouds.

Needless to say  I do not consider this task accomplished. But at least I know have a notion of what needs to be done when I go to do it "properly". Next time I go I am determined to have more (or any) knowledge of the constellations I am looking at (i.e. I have more to say than "oooh look at the twinkly lights - aren't they pretty?!"), ensure that I am able to look at some stars through a telescope, wait 'til the weather is warmer and to take a rug with me (and maybe the boy too). 

Stars and snow capped mountains in the moonlight
A prize* for telling me any constellations/stars of note that
appear in the photo (as I don't have a clue!)
 Photo courtesy of Andy Laing 

*there is no prize

#3 visit the southern hemisphere

just wanted to say....I GO TO NEW ZEALAND IN JUST OVER THREE WEEKS!!!!! 

Get in.

A Mixed Bag....

Over the past couple of weeks I've tried to make some progress on a couple of items on the list, with varying success! 

Failures

#24 Striking up conversations I wouldn't under normal circumsances

In my last blog I had high hopes for a productive evening of speed dating at the Science Museum. On the Wednesday, after work, evening I tubed it over to South Kensington to meet Kitty and Nicky in their quest to meet "the one". 

Who knows ladies - maybe this
guy was "the one"!!

When we got there we were a bit surprised by the length of the queue, and our hopes even getting into the museum were dashed. Of course the museum is absolutely massive and we were, in fact, some of the first people in there. Unfortunately it seems that all the eager beavers (no pun intended) at the front of the queue were also desperate singletons in search of their dream geek, and speed dating was already sold out by the time we went to queue for a ticket. I suppose on the one hand it shows we aren't that desperate but I reckon next time we'll be camping out at the front of the queue with a picnic and bottle of wine!

Despite ample opportunity - I did not speak to ANYONE apart from Kitty and Nicky, and the lady that served me my wine at the bar...poor show and massive failure on the thirty things front. Not all was lost though and we ended up having a wee dance at the silent disco! 

Woo - Silent Disco! (pic stolen from Kitty's facebook)

#5 Run a 10k

I have had some success in working toward this goal...but not enough! Two Saturdays ago (i.e. 10 days ago) I fired up the c210k app on my phone. This is an app that builds up your stamina over 14 weeks and gets you from the couch to running 10k! 

I tried the c25k app last year and by the end  could comfortably run 3k. After a disastrous race for life on Clapham Common I gave up (I got freaked out by the number of people at it and the fact that people were lining the route ACTUALLY WATCHING me and ran about 2k before lack of rhythm and trapped wind resulted in  me walking the rest of the way...). So this is partly the reason I added this to my list; to achieve something that I failed at before and to try get more exercise in my life. I'm also secretly hoping there's a skinny runner inside of me. Ha!

Proof!

So yeah, I made a start on the programme. Got one run done and have failed to do anything since! So, I'm pleased on the one hand that that I got started and actually put on my running trainers for the first time in months - but disappointed that I haven't followed it up with any more runs. Hopefully when i post next, I will have better news!

Success!!

#5 Run a 10k

See above - I count the fact that I went out on one run a tiny bit of success. :)

#10 Go to One Gig per Month

This one was a bit of a spontaneous success story. 

A couple of friends(Maddy & Will), who both sing in the choir I go, are members of a band called Dad of the Long Tooth. Last Tuesday evening, after choir, they played a gig in the O2 Academy Islington and Duncan and I (me and Duncan? Can someone please explain which one it should be, and why?!)decided to go along and show some support. I'm not actually too sure what genre of music they play - this is because when it comes to music, for me, it tends to fall into one of two categories: music I like, and music I don't like. So maybe if one of them is reading they can enlighten me!

It was a great gig though (it's always better to watch people you actually know on stage)and I hear they are back there soon, next time in the bigger venue! Unfortunately I was so wrapped up in the performance I did not take a photo, however I did get a pic of one of the other bands that was playing as kind of proof that I was there.

NOT Dad of the Long Tooth on stage
at O2 Islington 

#24 Redecorate my Bedroom

No - I haven't cracked out the paint brushes or anything like that, but I am one step closer to solving the storage and space issues in my bedroom. I bought myself a chest of drawers. Not delivered yet, but looking forward to getting things more organised! Ahhhh...hello there middle age (and domestic bliss)!!

I think that's everything for the moment. Next time I write I hope to bring news of the beginnings of a cable knit scarf (#8), a positive update regarding the running situation,  AND I will be very close to starting my month of tee-totalness (#9). For the next week I'll be in a house in the Highlands with some friends, pulverising my liver in the full knowledge that it will have a whole month to recover afterwards! Joy!

May the force be with you.

Burns Night

Och Aye the Noo!

Wee, Sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie...

Well, this part of the post isn't so much about my 30 things, but more something that should have been on my list!

Last Friday (25th January) was Robert Burns Day and I decided some time ago that I should host a Burns Supper. I did the usual optimistic inviting of folk on Facebook thinking that, if I was lucky, I might get 6 people agreeing to be fed animal entrails whilst I  attempt to recite poetry in Scots tongue at them. 

Well, it was a little more popular than that, and in the end I had to cram 19 people into my not-so-large flat. Surprisingly it was actually quite comfortable! 

Party Time!

There was plenty to eat (oatcakes, shortbread, cheese, scottish salmon, tunnocks, cranachan, and of course haggis, neeps and tatties) and plenty to drink (irn bru, whisky, ale, mcewans) and there were some fine recitals of Burns' works (Rob doing the address to the haggis was fantastic) and some less so (sorry Ciaran, whilst your recital was *hilarious*, the Scottish accent needs a bit of work!!). 

All in all a fantastic evening, at least it looked like it through my ever-so-slightly red-wine-tinted glasses!

Dave, Laura, Suze & Alan
preparing to fry!

But the HIGHLIGHT of the evening came when... *drumroll*... we cracked out the homemade deep fried mars bars (the deep fried Tunnocks teacakes weren't so bad either!). 

When my brother told me he was planning to bring the ingredients to make these bad boys, I thought there was no way in a million years he would actually do it - sorry Michael, but you have to admit that you don't always follow through with your plans. 

But he did.

And they were excellent. 

My first deep fried mars bar - should definitely have been on the list!

Deep Fried Goodness - this photo includes mars
bar, tunnocks tea cakes and cranachan!

Cheese Problems

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?
Nacho Cheese!

(Not what you're thinking...you filthy so and so!)

I have realised I have no idea how to go about making cheese - any ideas?! Anyone want to join me for this? Leave your ideas in the comments boxes!

Talking to Strangers

OK, so I am starting to really regret one of my list choices: 

#24 - Strike up 30 conversations with people I wouldn't have otherwise spoken to.

I think that most people might be wondering why the hell I put this in here. The reason  is because, when it comes to people I don't know, or being in an environment that I'm not so comfortable in or having no reason to talk to someone, I am fairly shy and just a bit crap.  

For example, people in work, not on my team, and who I don't know - I would never strike up a conversation or be the first to talk. When I see them in the street I don't even say hi - not because I don't want to or because I want to be rude. It's just because I'm shy or I assume they don't recognise me and I don't want to look like a kn*b. But then afterwards I get annoyed at myself and wish I'd been better and after all it is just nice to be nice.

So, I included the above in the list as a means of self improvement and trying to push myself out of my comfort zone. 

BUT this is proving to be much much much more difficult than I thought...what do you say to someone? How do you even go about striking up a random conversation?

Aaaaarrrrghhh!  

It's not all bad news though, there may be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. The other night I texted a friend (about something totally unrelated) and she asked me if I would like to go speed dating at the Science Museum. I have said yes, not in the hope of finding love (get the feeling I'm not going to meet my 'type' at an event where you have to pay a tenner to chat to some girls)but because I'm hoping to strike at least 10 of the 30 off my list! 

Ingenious, right? It's a start and I probably shouldn't be paying to do this... there must be other ways - give me some suggestions people!

Time to be off! Hope you're all having a happy Wednesday!