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Sunday 30 September 2012

Stitches preview

hello people! How are you all?
its been a busy weekend so far and as well as recovering from meds that left me drained and tired, as well as going back to work only for a few hours a week (amazing how those few hours left me drained and wiped out!) I managed to pop along to the Stitches expo which was brilliant and so much to share with you!
 I wore my new sparkly jumper from Monsoon, bought in a sale. this top really cheers me up, so sparkly and the colours that shiine in it is amazing! I love bright and cheery colours but wearing them is another story and don't suit me sadly....but this top allows me to wear all the colours of the rainbow and look good! sparkle-sparkle!

Road trip - as you can see by the mountains on the horizon, we were close to the moors


 The arena was absolutely jammed packed! There was so much to see and do! So many artists and craftsters under one roof!
Beautiful paintings...
 ...as well as hoards of people knitting chains...
 A ultra-new singer sewing machine that is based on the vintage old manual design! How cool is it?!
 We got a chance to see crafters working and demonstrating their wares which was brilliant to see!
People worked together on amazing projects such as this sugar-crafted sea-side landscape!
 We enjoyed a lovely lunch of hot, fresh donuts!

and we got to see amazing one-of-a-kind things like this world's longest embroidery!

I hope to be back later with more pictures and reports! It really was an amazing thing to see!


Birdie love
xxx


Saturday 29 September 2012

in the last few days...


 I fell in love with a Topshop dress, pale green with silvery gold details....so beautiful
 ...as well as this rather funky black and gold brocade dress!
 lusting after these studded slip on pumps! If i was to kick your butt wearing these - you'd know about it! :P
 Pug and batman pants! I love those batman pants! I just bought myself a great batman t-shirt in a lovely design different from your typical batman logo *strokes t-shirt lovingly* i wanted one for a while but wanted something different. these pants might be the perfect thing to wear with these! And as for those puggy pants...they make me miss Wiggles!
 Enjoyed a huge custard cream that was actually very nice to gnaw on!
 Fell in love with this little handbag....Oh I so want this baby!
 Loving these french bulldogs mugs and teapots and that red mug in the corners has an awesome saying on it "Stand for something or step aside" How true!
Gave my dad a present for no reason other than he's a great dad. Steak! I think I'm an awesome daughter!


How your day going?

Birdie Love
xxx

dying days of summer

So autumn is finally here, making its annoucement with its cold wind and chilled air, golden leaves falling like a papery rain onto over grown, overspent plants.

 Its a time to recollect the brights days gone by and prepare for the darker months ahead. Time to enjoy what little great weather we have and to colect the bounty of those days in form of nourishment and food.

 The shadows lengthen and the evenings get darker and our days are filled with rolling dark clouds that bring rain and wintery weather





Lets just pause and reflect on our all too brief summers in England and enjoy our days go by


birdie love
xxx


Penguins

These birds are really quite something under the water. It's amazing to watch them swim so fast...in fact they hardly so much as swam but simply sliced through the water as such speed that getting these pictures was quite a feat!


 This one is my favourite. Although off focus, I love the clarity of the water, the sense of depth and light in the image as well as presenting a view of this bird in a way not seen before! I like staring at this picture as it reminds me of a dreamy like state.

 Just look as how they seem to fly!

 "Hello!"

"What you doing?"

 Penguin beach with little hideouts and nests for them, this breed mostly burrow and find shelter to sleep and rest
 This little dude is hand reared from a chick and so is very use to people. I was sitting on one of these steps watching the feeding when this little guy came wandering up to me without me realising it and pretty much rested his head on my shoulder...i can't be told off if animals come up to me of their own free will without me knowing right? ha!
 Peguins can only consume fish by throwing their heads back and gulping, they can also only eat fish of a certain size so if its too big, it gets spat out. the whole process continues until they find and can swallow the right sized fish!
 Quite a feeding session here! What is brilliant is you can get close to these birds and they don't mind.

Cute put-his-head-on-my-shoulder penguin posing with a penguin crossing sign in the background!
I love how these little guys walk, like their trousers are falling down, limiting their gait and to climb down a step, they have to pratically thrown themselves off the edge like a little drunkard! such characters!

Heh and I had to show you this sign!

Please , if you are in Torquay, pay a visit to Living Coast! It's a nice way to wile away a few hours!


birdie love
xxx

Living coast

I came across some more pictures of my visit recently to Living coast and some of them are so amazing that I wanted to share!
 here is a birdie with four legs...count them! Not a result of mutation, but simply a sleepy mumakeeping her rather leggy chick warm! He later came out and was a bundle of grey fluff!

 the Dali bird...as i call it! Looking fine with his white magnificent mustache!

 A rather shy seal....
 These fish in the wild are often mistaken for having four eyes...they don't. Its simply how the water makes them look as if they do, they swim with half their eyes under the water and half looking above!

 A stingray mid-camoflaging itself under the sand.
 A strange little beauties called upside down jellyfish! They are so wonderfully weird!

Penguins! Cute as pluck! I got a seperate posting about these babies as under water they look so amazing!


Birdie Love
xxx

scallops recipe share

Every once in a while I like to try out a new recipe and make sure  my diet is varied and tasty! This time called for scallops! I have to be very careful about seafood as with any Oily or "strong" fish, I can have a severe allergic reaction but I recognise that i need to have seafood in my diet to help control my allergies as you be suprise what contains fish oil! Also there's so many advantages to eat seafood that it seems silly to avoid it completely!
I love scallops as its such a delicate meaty taste and makes for a lovely dish if teamed with the right ingrediants that doesn't overwhelm its subtle flavours and not overcooked!
I like to work with produce where I know its fresh or where it comes from if possible. I sat watching bad TV (most haunted!) shelling peas into a bowl, something i use to do as a child!

The scallops were bought from the local fish market cleaned up and patted dry. As you can see, they all came with their little orange corals/roe...depending on what you fancy calling it! These scallops are hand dredged in the cornish coast where they carefully monitor fishing levels and strive to minimise damage to sea and its environment.

To make this dish you need -

  • a bunch of spring onions cut at an angle
  • a good handful of fresh/frozen peas
  • around 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 8-12 scallops
  • salt/pepper for flavouring
  • lemon juice
  • garlic clove finely grated-if preferred
  • little bit of butter

1 - Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the spring onions and let them sweat gently for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add the peas and toss for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the pan and set aside.

2 - Wipe the pan with kitchen paper. Add another tablespoon of oil and turn the heat up high. Season the scallops and add when the pan is very hot– they should sizzle when they hit the pan. Leave them for about 1 minute, then carefully turn one over: if golden brown, flip all the scallops over and cook until caramelised on the other side.

3 - Reduce the heat to medium-low and return the peas and spring onions to the pan, along with the butter and garlic.

4 - Toss, take off the heat, add a squeeze of lemon, then transfer to warm plates and serve.


I served this with a slice of locally hand-made rosemary loaf to mop up the flavours and it was lovely!
You can add chorizo or bacon pieces to this dish if you want to add alittle more meat!

Give this recipe a whirl and let me know what you think!

Birdie Love
xxx