... apparently bad at this blogging regularly thing!

These guys didn't kidnap me, It's ok!

I have just realised the last time I blogged was two weeks ago. I've had time to blog, but I've been busy and tired, and taking the time to turn a jumble of thoughts and experiences into a coherent post about them has seemed beyond me! I seem to have been on Twitter alot though, I think only having 160 characters is quite comforting when you can't form coherent thoughs!

Work has been really challenging for the last couple of weeks. I'm always relatively tired when I get home because looking after toddlers is by nature quite physically intensive. The last couple of weeks , however have been mentally draining as well. Both children are generally well behaved and fun as ever, but there are moments when the fact that there's a new wee person in the family, taking up alot of attention gets to them, and dealing with the fall out is quite intensive! The emotional demand on me is a bit stronger as well.

Added to that, last week my wee sister was in hospital(as those of you on twitter know!). She was having surgery for a muscular palsy in the right side of her face, which she has had since birth. Because of our situation growing up, I often swing between feeling like a very close sister and being a parental figure for Hazel, and when things like this are in progress, it's the nervy parental part that wins out. Hazel, who should be the poster-person for full of awesome, was in surgery for nine hours and I am pleased to say that she returned to her own flat with her lovely fiancee yesterday. She is healing well, and the surgeon is pleased with how the op went. I am so relieved that I can't actually express it in words. :)

The travelling to work, and down to visit Hazel (which was obviously so very worth it) had alot to do with my being tired as well(there are only so many bus journeys you can have in a week before you begin to feel you spend your whole life on the bus), and now that I've had a couple of days that have been travel free, I feel quite normal now!

I've also just realised that I haven't blogged about my birthday. Dave got me a very old Praktica MTL5 with lots of bits, and I had hoped that all of my ' my birthday was awesome' photos would be from it, but my first ans second films weren't very good, so maybe their will be some pictures in the next couple of weeks!

Filters, macro lens, other zoom lense, Praktica, Flash

The box the camera was wrapped in.

It's our Netbook box, the wee note made me laugh!

Anyway, I had a good fun, low key birthday - the kids gave me a party at work, and I received lovely cards and presents from them and their parents.

I spent the daytime part of my birthday reading, and in the evening we had a family dinner (with pudding plus cake, they know me so well) and much to my delight, Dave's parents actually got me a novel as a present.

People tend not to buy me books as I have so many, so I was extra happy with the effort!

Dave and I met freinds at Mother India Cafe in the West End for Indian tapas(Indian food, but served tapas style, which is how Indian people actually eat their meals) on Saturday- it's the best Indian food I've ever had from a restaurant, if you can go, you should!

It feels good to have written this (admittedly a bit tangenty) post. Is it just me, or does everyone else get the fear when they haven't posted for a while?

The pirates at the top of the post are egg cups, and were a gift from My sister and brother-in law. It made me laugh, because I'd commented the previous day that you realise you are a grown up when you get crockery as presents, and then I was given eggcups shaped like pirates!

...being interviewed, cooking, getting older, loving autumn.

This post is going to be a bit of a mish-mash of stuff, a buffet if you will.

First of all, Julie of Moments of Perfect Clarity has interviewed me, about which I am utterly delighted! Her's is one of the first blogs I started reading, and she combines beautiful photos with stories of her life and her thoughts. She also has a food blog, which of course I love, as well as being part or a whole host of other brilliant projects. She is firmly in the category of 'the kind of person to aspire to be'. Do feel free to go have a look!

Next topic is... dun dun duuun... my approaching birthday. On Friday I will be 28. Is it just me, or is that scarily close to 30? When did I turn into an adult?! It really, really doesn't feel like my last birthday was very long ago. Time seems to be passing at a fairly drastic rate at the moment! The last year of my life has been fairly eventful, what with moving cross-(admittedly small) country, and starting a new job. I have very much enjoyed this year of my life though!

That brings me to autumn - which for me always starts after my birthday, though it's begun to sneak in a few days earlier this year. Nights are beginning to draw in, and there's a chill in the evening that hasn't been there for a long time. I noticed on Monday that the trees have begun to change colour. I think it might be time for lots of jumpers and boots again soon(hurrah!). What it will definitely be time for is hearty food, and our dinner on Tuesday (the day after I noticed the cold) was just that.

Baked pork chops with canellini bean and leek 'stew'

(cobbled together from a couple of recipes from 'Homemade' by Tana Ramsay, my own head and various things on the internet!)

for pork chops

2 pork chops

2tbsp olive oil

1tsp white wine vinegar

1 heaped tbsp mustard

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1tsp pepper corns, roughly ground

for stew

2tbsp olive oil

large carrot, diced finely

1 clove garlic, squished

1/2tsp cumin

1/2tsp thyme

1/2tsp rosemary

1 large leek, diced

1 tin(400g) canellini beans, drained

1tbsp flour

300ml stock(I used beef).

• a few hours before cooking, place chops in a food bag, add other 'for chops' ingredients, tie bag and shake well.
• chill for at least 2 hours
• pre-heat oven to 140c
• add pork chops to dish, and bake covered for 45 mins, turning halfway through
• bake for further 15 mins uncovered, to crisp up top of chop.
• meanwhile, heat oil in a pan, add carrots and leeks, and cook till they begin to soften.
• stir in beans, cook for 1 min
• stir in flour to coat
• add, cumin, thyme and stock, stirring briskly, and simmer till stock reduces.
• serve and eat(It looks pretty in the bowl, but a plate will be needed for the pork chop, else it will end up on the floor, and no-one wants that!)!

Can I just say yum?

...glad to have some alone time!

Since my last post, I have been busy busy busy. I feel quite like I haven't sat down for days! this is what my week has been...

Wednesday

First of all, I had work. It was Anna's birthday, and the day I would meet the new baby. At one point, there were 7 adults and 9 kids in the house, which is very confusing and busy. We had a party for Anna, which was lovely, and I got to meet baby Harry, and am pleased to say we made friends! He is utterly perfect! After work, I survived two very late buses, and went to meet my freinds (May and Jackie) for a drink, as I hadn't seem them for about a month. The was lots of fun and banter, and I had a very large glass of wine. We eventually got home just before midnight, which seemed ok till I considered what the next day involved...

Under Milk Wood flyer

Thursday

I woke up to the realisation that I had lost my phone. AgainI had work again, which was much more calm, just me and wee Anna most of the time. It was Tom's last day with his childminder though (he goes one day a week), and Katherine wanted to pick him up and walk back with him(his child minder lives round the corner, so she'd be there in seconds in an emergency). This meant that I was left in charge of a four day old baby for 30 mins. It was both lovely and terrifying. I am pleased to say his mum returned to a happy sleeping baby though.

The Forth Bridge on an utterly glorious Scottish day

After work, I got on the bus to Edinburgh to meet my friend Katie. I was very, very lucky to win tickets to see Split Milk's production of Dylan Thomas' 'Under Milk Wood' at the Fringe. I was extra excited because we sort of have a family link to Dylan Thomas - Dave's step grandpa went to school with him, and was taught by his dad!

I met Katie at 8, and we picked up our tickets and had some food, and then went to take our seats. The play was exceptionally good. Most of the cast cant have been much older than twenty, but they played the roles of all ages (and personalities!) of village people beautifully and acurately (at least to my perception of them). The comic moments were very funny and well timed, and most of the music and sound effects were made by the cast themselves. They were also brave enough to put a bit of a twist on the story, setting it during the Blitz, and it worked very well, and remained true still to Thomas' original radio play.

After the play, Katie and I got the bus to Glasgow at midnight, and eventually got to my flat at 3am, via a detour for biscuits and milk (for tea!).

Friday/Saturday

5 hours of sleep later, it was time for Katie to get up and go to the cinema with her boyfriend. Breakfast and some cleaning later, I went into town to meet her. We went to GoMA, where they had lots of new exhibits I hadn't seen before, and which I very much enjoyed. We had some tea and cake, did some vintage shop browsing, and at 7, I went to the bus station to meet Dave off the bus from Dundee.

(I cant work out how to remove this picture thing, so I'm leaving it there!)

At this point, I was ready to go home, but Dave felt the need for an after work drink, so we met some friends. Fast forward 12 hours, and I'd drank alot in the pub, been to a club, and was back at my freind Sharon's house, still at a party. We got home about 8.30am, slept till 1, and got up again, as in the evening, we were going out for tea with Dave's family (which was lovely).

We got home at 11, and slept till 9 on Sunday morning.

Yesterday involved breakfast at a cafe, a long bus journey to Dundee (during which I happily read the Observer), a walk up the hill, and then not very much. I did stand up at one point and realise that my (permanently weakened) ankle was sore and swollen - I don't even know why.

What I do know is this - I really can't handle 3 very long days in a row anymore. I am a very tired Lisa! I intend to fully take advantage of being on my own today by reading alot and drinking tea. That is the extent of my plans!

It was good fun though! How was everyone else's week?

...crafty!(a swap, and some gifts!)

I haven't done a 'stuff I've made' post for a wee while, and having made a few things over the past wee or so, now seems a good time!

So, first, I signed up for Apryl's Bookish Swap, and as a partner, I got the lovely Nic. As part of the swap, I was to send a book related craft, a used book, and a couple of treats.

So I sent Nic these...

...and some other treats, and she sent me these!

A polkadot bag, a Christmas novel, A cupcake pincushion and chocolate? You spoil me Nic, thank you!

As well as that, my boss had a healthy baby boy on Sunday(eeeeeeehhh, excitement!), and it's Anna's birthday tomorrow, so I had a new baby present, and an Anna's birthday present to make.

I made a mobile for the baby this afternoon

And some bunting for Anna yesterday - her grandparents are getting her a Wendy house, so this will 'Anna' it up a bit! It looks so nice in my window, I might have to make some for myself!

I'm definitely going to make more of this bunting, perhaps with a bit more green for Christmastime. I know it seems a bit early to be thinking about it, but I'm willing to bet that some of you are!

...full to the brim (our anniversary in pictures)

This is what happened on our anniversary weekend...

Saturday

2am... (Dave had a bad case of the night terrors, so we decided to swap presents then)

... anniversary cards

...new nightie with Celtic lace for me - the 2nd anniversary gift is cotton or china

(Dave's presents appear later in the picture highlights)

When it was actual morning time, there was breakfast in bed, followed by a walk down our main street in which we bought pesticides* and a new microphone for Dave to go with his new toy.

There was also a visit to the yearly fair in our local park, with is 5 minutes from our house. I forgot to take my camera, which I am a bit gutted about!

In the evening...

...ready to go out for tea

... two years married! (self-portraits are hard to take)

...we went to Ketchup for tea

...there were cold beverages

(we shared a lemon cheesecake milkshake too)

...eaten starters - they were baby back ribs and

battered mozarella ball. Note to self though -

don't have a starter ...

...when this is your main! I almost couldn't finish mine,

and the milkshake was shared because I ordered it, then couldn't finish it!

...my burger came with pepper-jack cheese,

and peppercorn sauce(not to mention bacon).

the chips were awesome too.

...Dave had never been to Ketchup. He approves!

After a very slow walk home...

...we watched In Bruges, which is brilliantly

twisted and funny, dark and heart wrenching at the same time.

...and has some wine

...and there was whisky for Dave (this was part 2 of his present)

Sunday

Lunchtime...

... there was a bed picnic

...Dave has done some recording, and worn his new PJs

(part 1 of his present) all day, and I've caught up

on reading and the blogworld!

Essentially, we spent our anniversary the way we spend all of our other weekends - together, and doing things that make us happy. Also, I find it funny that we bought bedclothes independently of eachother.

*Due to the fact that we live in a very old tenement, with lots of spaces between the skirtings and blocked up fireplaces for dead thing to accumulate in, we had a bit of an infestation of carpet beetles, and has to spend a bit of our anniversary day spraying and powdering round the skirtings and doors in the flat(having already tried the hoovering alot method for a week). Not romantic or fun, but I suppose it shows that you have to do the not so fun stuff together too! There was an upside though. Dave's desk, which you couldn't see before, covered as it was with bits of paper and fliers are random computer and music bits, now looks like this...

...it's very tidy, no? I'd call that a silver lining!

How was everyone's weekend?

... a wife of two years

Today is our second wedding anniversary :)

I've been thinking alot about marriage as today has approached. My post last year still holds true, but I realise now that I didn't say anything about what makes our marriage work for us, and I think it's important.

So what makes it work for us? Well, to begin with, and quite importantly, there's love, and laughter, and fun. I think I'm fortunate, because Dave and I have these things in truckloads. There's respect - for me, that's respecting who Dave is as a person, and as my partner(which is easy because he is the best person ever), but also considering and consulting him when I do things or arrange things.

There's trust - Dave goes on tour, or away for work about once a month. He goes for nights out with friends. I go out with my friends too, and some people think this is strange. I think that we trust each other, else what's the point of being married, and it's good for us individually, and as a couple to have things that are for just us.

There's compromise - however alike our life plans and general thinking is, there are times when we don't agree on things. How we deal with the small things - like what to watch on TV or do on a Saturday - is just as important as the big things, like deciding where to go on holiday or where to move.

Sometimes, being married takes work, but you realise very quickly that it's worth it, because what you get in return - someone who gives you all that love, respect and consideration back, and is always ready to fight your corner or give you a hug when you need it, bring you chocolate when you are having a bad day, look after you when you are ill, and loves you for who you are - that's priceless.

Dave - thanks for a brilliant year, I love you! :)

...trying to have good blogging morals

My last post was about receiving a Beautiful Blogger award, and as part of it, I had to pass the award on to 10 people I felt worthy of it. I read some exceptionally good blogs, so choosing ten is really difficult, and it's made more so by the fact that my husband, my sister and a few of my very close friends blog too.

Dave and I yesterday - he has a new app for his

fancy phone that's like the iPhone Hipstamatic -

I'm holding my neck because I've pulled a muscle!

I had to decide whether I felt it was ok to nominate people who I know very well personally on the strength that I do really enjoy their blogs, and obviously think they are good people - I wouldn't be close to them otherwise. I decided, on balance, that whilst I'm sure my regular readers, most of whom I email to and who know more about me than I put on here, would probably see it as my being honest, but that it could very easily be seen as nepotism by anyone who didn't know me well.

Hazel, my rather lovely sister, and I just before Crimble

In the end, I decided not to nominate 'family' members. All of the girls I've chosen are more than deserving of the award, as theirs are the non-family blogs I check first on my reader, or that I check when I only have a wee bit of time. I'v chosen them as I found them to be wonderful people and bloggers independently of having known them - I am fortunate now to know them a bit better and to call most of them friends!

Sharon and I at a gig. It was COLD!

I would like to mention the family and friend bloggers I didn't nominate though, because I adore all of their blogs too. There's my husband, my sister, and my friends (and regular readers); Sharon - who has been one of Dave's best friends for a long time, and has become one of mine, and Steph - who is wife of Dave's drummer, Woody, and is fast becoming a very close friend! I am hoping that saying 'these are people I love, feel free to have a wee look' is seen as morally good!

Me, Ali, Katie, Jud and Steph! Otherwise known as the Folk-Punk

Band wives and Jud (who's one of the singers).

So, I am wondering what other people think about this? I know a few of you have close friends and family who blog - would you nominate them or not?