Springtime...snow

Well I can honestly say I wasn't expecting this:


That was the view on the University of Nottingham campus earlier this afternoon. We are under quite an unexpected amount of snow at the moment! Strange to think that this time last year, I was sitting in the garden in 25 degrees on my week off, with the magnolia in full blossom, drinking dandelion and burdock tea and watching the bees start to come out. I really hope the weather gets a bit nicer for next week and the Easter long weekend, as we are hoping to take a trip to Bristol. Then in two weeks time we are off to Paris!

Anyway, we did have two nice snowdays this weekend. I managed to persuade Mark to drive me to the library on Saturday afternoon (yes I know it's only round the corner but the pavement was iiiccceey!), I needed to return The Blue Flower and I managed to get my hands on two books I have been after for ages! Underground Time by Delphine de Vigan and Monkey Grip by Helen Garner.

I was actually planning to buy Underground Time (or rather, Les Heures souterraines) while we are in Paris but once I saw it I thought, nah, I'll read it now! I'll get another of her books in Paris.

Saturday evening was time to try out a new tart recipe, which was SO GOOD.


Lay puff pastry into the tart tin and crumble in some big chunks of stilton. Cover with some chopped walnuts. Layer with thinly sliced pear and bake the tarts for 30 minutes or thereabouts, on 180 degrees or thereabouts. The added bonus of this recipe is that the making process involves one of the GREATEST SINGLE PLEASURES OF HUMAN EXISTANCE: crumbling blue cheese with your hands and then licking your fingers. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald

When I was about 17 I went a bit in love with Novalis during German A Level. How could you not be? HOW!

The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this by chance, while randomly searching through books in my local library, and was excited to see it was a historical fiction about 18th Century German romantic poet and philosopher Novalis (Georg Phillip Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg to his parents). Really, who doesn't love Novalis?

The novel is primarily concerned with Novalis/Hardenberg's relationship with Sophie von Kühn, whom he met when he was 22 and with whom he fell obsessively in love.

Sophie was 12. Awkward.

Fitzgerald tells the story through a series of short, snap-shot-like chapters in roughly chronological order. It begins with Hardenberg as a student, visiting his family for the summer, and ends in the midst of Sophie's illness, from which she would ultimately die a few months later, aged 15. The novel flows wonderfully and the prose is almost rich in its poise and simplicity.

I guess my enjoyment of the novel was enhanced by my interest in the real life story and historical figures. Fitzgerald does not pass judgment on the appropriateness (or otherwise) of Hardenberg's relationship with Sophie, but rather explores the influence it had on his life, beliefs and writing. I can understand why some may therefore be disappointed by the lack of drama in the novel, but even still, I can't see how this delicate retelling of a real life story of doomed love would fail to inspire at least some emotion.

This is also the first time I have read Penelope Fitzgerald and I will certainly look out for her other work now.

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Coincidentally, if you have a Kindle, Novalis's unfinished novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen (containing the symbolic Blue Flower) is available as a free ebook in both German and English translation!

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A super-speedy sort-of pizza

An ABSURDLY busy week at work this week, but on the whole not a bad one. I can't wait for the weekend to relax and breathe though. Only one day left.

When I'm busy and late home from work, dinner is usually just whatever can be thrown together in the quickest time. So thank the powers of food-production for that ready-rolled puff pastry you can buy in the supermarket. I love to just chuck stuff on it, shove it in the oven, and devour the resulting feast.

Just shove it on a tray and score round with a knife about in inch in from the edge. Brush some milk over it and bake for 15 mins or so, so it puffs a bit. While this is happening, chop up whatever you want on top. Get the pastry out and squash down the middle (within the lines you have scored) with a fork. Chuck toppings on. Bake again for 20-30 mins (depending on what you've put on top, some things need a bit longer). Favourite toppings include courgette, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, feta cheese, halloumi, spinach, mushrooms...pretty much anything goes!

Winnie ille Pu

One of my favourite surprises I got for Christmas was this copy of Winnie the Pooh in Latin, from Mark's mum.


My 2 years of secondary school latin have not really equipped me to understand very much of it, but I can't stop reading it for its endless joyfulness! The joy of Winnie the Pooh is enhanced by the Latin language, I'm sure. Such as in this scene, where Piglet (Porcellus) dreams of the Heffalump (Heffalumpus...of course):


Some parts, however, do not need translating...

A little brown stew and some healthy living

Happy New Year!

It seems ages ago now, but New Year's Eve passed in a cheerful and relaxing way in our house. We cooked up a lovely stew from mushroom and pearl barley (thanks to Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries vol.2!), eaten with a little crusty roll I baked in a hurry (and therefore wasn't perfect, but hey!), and a bottle of the perennial favourite wine of our household, Chateauneuf-du-Pape.


I baked a quick apple cake, which went from nought to oven in less than 15 minutes thanks to the wonders of the Magimix, and Mark delved into the Nigellissima book and came out with 'Tiramisini' - a sort of rudimentary tiramisu and utterly delicious.

We watched On Her Majesty's Secret Service and then Jools Holland, and danced along to perennial favourite band of our household, Dexy's Midnight Runners.

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Back at work, I was scoffing my leftover mushroom stew with some colleagues, who had salads from our little office cafe. One commented that it had been some time since she had seen a salad and I had to agree. And all of a sudden I was craving fresh, simple food.


I came home that night and tossed quinoa, spinach, beetroot and grated carrot in a bowl with a bit of lemon juice, honey, olive oil and grated manchego. We ate it with great big tuna steaks, just slightly seared so they were deep red and rich in the middle. A healthier start to 2013.

Auld Lang Syne

Beauty from Ashes...

Mark and I spent Friday in one of my favourite places to be - Stokes Croft in Bristol - drinking coffee and red wine and eating cake at Boston Tea Party and the Canteen.


I popped into the Amnesty Bookshop on the way down and picked up some Cees Nooteboom for 75p, so spent the afternoon flitting between that and The Fire Gospel by Michel Faber. When I finished The Fire Gospel I drank some more wine, contemplated what was in 2012, and what may be in 2013.

Auld Lang Syne

2012 was an odd year of ups and downs. I passed my Legal Practice Course with a mega-Distinction, despite spending most of January thinking I'd failed the interviewing module. Mark finished writing his book, despite it nearly giving him a nervous breakdown (it is now under review pending publication). We redecorated our living room, did a lot of gardening, and both developed a deep love for Benedict Cumberbatch (Parade's End...Parade's End! Oh my!).

The major flaw in the year was my 3 months of unemployment. It was a truly demoralising, soul-crushing experience, not to mention financially a bit horrifying as having not been resident in the UK for long enough in the last few years, I was not entitled to the pittance that is jobseekers' allowance. Gutted. I spent the whole time avoiding meeting people I already knew, in case they asked how the jobseeking was going. I also spent the whole time avoiding meeting any new people, in case they asked me what I did and I would have to admit to having no job, at which point I am pretty sure any last remaining threads of optimism and self-esteem would have snivelled out through my ear and promptly left the country.

Of course, being offered my job was a highlight of the year - not only was it the perfect job for me but in my dream law firm as well! Life definitely got a lot better, and the last few months have been fun, with trips to Cambridge, Oxford, London and even a day at the Thermae Spa in Bath for my mummy's 60th birthday a few weeks ago! I'm looking forward to more of this in 2013!

Hogmanay

I don't really do anything on New Year's Eve anymore. After 3 fun-filled NYEs in Sydney, out and about in the balmy night air with fireworks and friends and full-service public transport running all night, I don't really want to spend a night being overcharged for everything in an otherwise regular venue, before waiting for hours in the freezing cold to pay £6758688676 for a taxi home. I'll be at home in Nottingham, with a nice bottle of wine and, hopefully, some good food. I'll probably be in bed at five past midnight. So...Happy New Year and I'll see you on the other side!

Spoiled

Our Christmas Tree in Bristol

Christmas continues...

After spending Christmas Day with Mark's family on the farm, we have come over to my family in Bristol for a few days, which means a second Christmas!

My parents bought me a new camera, which is pretty much the best present ever! It's a Canon Powershot A4000 IS and it's so tiny! My previous Canon Powershot I have had since early 2007, and while it was a great camera, it's no longer much use as the autofocus broke about a year ago. As a result, whenever you want to take a photo you have to spend ages zooming in and out to try and get it to focus! I still have my Canon EOS 30D DSLR, but that is a big serious camera and isn't really practical for carrying round all the time. So a new little point-and-shoot was definitely in order.

So I've been testing out this new camera photographing my presents! I am so lucky to have been given so many lovely things! My camera was really a delayed birthday present - I was meant to get it back in June (!) but it all got a bit mixed up, so I got a few more Christmas things from the parentals too, as well as from Mark, my sister Becca, and Mark's family.


I got two owls! The larger one is a cushion from my mummy, the smaller is a doorstop from Mark's parents.


I already have an Ampelmann tea mug (see here). But now I have an AMPELMANN CAPPUCCINO MUG TOO! From the Ampelmann Ostalgia shop in Berlin, via parents.


Smellies! Soap & Glory Smoothie Star from Mark, Body Shop ginger sparkle bath crystals and hand cream from Bec, Sanctuary Spa set and Body Shop soaps from parents.


Tea towel from the Natural History Museum via Bec, 2013 diary from Bec, and cute purse from my aunt and uncle who also put a bit of cash in it :D


Books and DVDs - I bought The Crimson Petal & The White for Mark and I, Parade's End DVD and Twenty Thousand Streets book and DVD were from my parents to both of us, and Winnie the Pooh in Latin and the letters of Arthur Conan Doyle from Mark's parents.


And the culinary gifts! Mark's gift to me was a MAGIMIX!!!!! It has grater, slicer, blender, dough hook, ahhh! He also bought the super knife, for both of us. My parents bought us the two books - Nigel Slater and Nigellissima - the pestle and mortar, and measuring spoons (fulfilling a request as on my current measuring spoons, the measurements have rubbed off so you can't tell what they are!). The funky veg kit is from Mark's brother and his family - it's a growing kit with seeds for purple carrots, purple sprouts, multi-coloured chard, yellow courgettes and tiger tomatoes. I can't wait til the spring to get planting them!

Not pictured here are a lovely jacket and the perfume 'Chance' by Chanel, both from Mark, some chocolatey bits, a little recipe book and a lovely address/anniversaries book from Mark's grandma, and an awesome sparkly collar/necklace from Bec.

Moving on...

Tomorrow we are loading up the car and journeying back home to Nottingham, the Christmas break is over and normality will soon return. I have to go to work on New Year's Eve, but I don't mind that. And then we will be into 2013, but more on that another time! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.