Life lately: January 2016

Blue sky
Skyline

January is done and dusted and I already feel like I need a holiday. Tell me I'm not the only one?

Watching

  • Deutschland 83: loving this new series on Channel 4. It's a tense spy drama set in 1983 about an East German soldier who goes undercover in the West Germany.
  • Everest: a film about the survival attempts of two expedition groups on Everest. It's based on a true story so I did a bit of Googling whilst watching it and discovered there are 200 frozen bodies on the mountain! Bit of a grim thought and not exactly comforting for those attempting to reach the summit.
  • About Schmidt
  • The birds for the RSPB's Big Garden Watch. Runs from 30th - 31st January so there's still time if you want to take part.

Reading

Christmas bought lots of good books my way. First on the reading list was A Year of Living Danishly. I'm a bit of a culture vulture when it comes to anything Nordic; I couldn't put this book down. Poor Scott has had to put up with my spouting lengthy facts about Denmark every day. He bought me Ernest Journal number 3 for my birthday; a beautiful piece of print work packed with stunning photos. I don't think I'll be reading it on the bus, it's too nice to shove in a bag with my lunch.

Eating

Knekkebrod stack
Homemade knekkebrød

Lots of homemade knekkebrød (Norwegian crisp breads). They are nice for breakfast with mashed banana and a drizzle of honey on top.

Almond cookies with jam
Italian almond cookies

On Sundays I've been making a big batch of Italian almond cookies with jam to eat as our sweet treats throughout the week. They are dairy free, gluten free and made from a handful of ingredients. In my mind, if there's no butter you don't have to feel too guilty about eating them.

Making

I've had a good run on knitting projects over the last month. Purl Soho's Seafaring Scarf was my Christmas project and this week I cast off a Goats of Inversnaid hat and gauntlet set. I'mso pleased with them!

Knitting on needles
Goats of Inversnaid gauntlet in progress

Feeling

Not my age; I turned 31 a couple of weeks ago! The photo below is me on my birthday. I don't like posting pictures of myself that much but in my old age I thought I might look back on this seemingly sporty photo and reminisce about my youth. If I've gone crackers by then I might even remember this as the day we cycled to France!

Me on bike
Me - 31st birthday!

We hadn't been out on our bikes for a while so this ride was a hard slog but really good fun. And there was a pub lunch waiting for us at the other end :)

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