Brighthelmstone

Brighthelmstone

I foud these a while ago in the Bellis gallery in Brighton. They are by Harriet Butler. 

I loved all of them and couldn't choose which one to bring home...

Birdcage Jazz

The Royal Pavillion of Brighton

Innovative Croissants

Open the packaging, slightly twist the paper tin and the dough expands!

"Jus-Rol" into your favourite croissant shapes...

13mins and Voilà...Très Bon!

(I couldn't resist having a bite before remembering to take a photo of my quick and easy breakfast :p)

Backstage at the Theatre Royal Brighton

It's been a busy week/month for Brighton and what a big party weeked. The 2011 Food & Drinks festival with live food shows, wine, champagne & tea tastings, cheese bowling, chilli eating and our very own Oktober fest is on-going until 4 October. It was also the Heritage Open Days this weekend with historical architectures opening to the public, providing free tours and walks around these heritage buildings in locations nationwide. 

The Theatre Royal in Brighton reveals its secrets to the public as part of the Heritage Open Days. I was lucky enough to not have to work that day and got a ticket to this free tour. Jade who works at the theatre  gave us a very informative tour packed with interesting history of Brighton, the theatre and stories of its owners, workers (fishermen), actors & actresses and the audiences...I don't think this is a running tour, hopefully after seeing Friday's big demand they will do this more regularly - should increase ticket sales for the shows too.

Home maker's plan

Ever since I started at boarding school I have been planning my dream home, having to pack my belongings and put them in storage every three months and staying with a new guardian family every half term is not much fun after 7 years...and then things improved at University, I only had to pack and move every year. So it's quite surprising that I have lived at my current flat for almost 4 years! I think it's down to bad feng shui, as it's on the 4th floor, we have to climb a healthy load of stairs to get home every day. (For my landlady of course, she's enjoying a healthy load of cash flow every month...)

As a result, I now have a big collection of interior design photos, room colour schemes, ikea clippings...etc. I thought I'd do a "mood blog" post to show you a few of my favourite ones. (The trouble was remembering which websites each of these came from...please email for credits!)

I wished it was practical to arrange my books like this!

This one's for the city balconies...

Just saw that the Ikea 2012 catalogue is out!

I like the little wooden table, 
I like the pictures of the heads, 
and  I like the huge picture on the wall.

Got to be the wicker swivel chair (and the number of drawers..)

There's just something about the colour scheme that feels very homely too.

Art (and music) would shape my decorating theme, a home can't be sweet without these. So at the moment, I am drooling over these two pieces:

Aww...he is just too cute - by Shazia

My mum took a photo of me on a bike with a "cool" face too, 
just didn't have a cool shadow behind me to go with it
- by Craig Davidson

Second hand chest of drawers (Upholstery Friday)

This weekend's furniture revamp project is to turn this second hand chest of drawers into a lovable piece again - we picked it up on the curb outside of our flat a few months ago. The kids who used to own it must have grown up! It doesn't show on the photos but on the side it was full of stickers.

 These were taken after we have sanded down the thing,
it used to be the same colour as the feet.

Other than painting a school playhouse for charity, I have never painted any furniture before. After a bit of research, I wrote a shopping list and went to Wickes to stock up on the essentials (Post on Oscar's day trip to the hardware store):

• Fine sand paper - a mask is also recommended for sanding
• Good quality paint brushes - I bought a 75mm (3") and a 18mm (3/4") for the fiddly areas
• Masking tape (to cover the areas you don't want to paint)
• Wood/Multi purpose/Universal primer in white - Anti-corrosive and water based (dries quicker and easier to clean the brushes afterwards)
• Paint for wood - the colour I chose was Eggshell Pistachio (this is a solvent based paint so needed some white spirit to wash the brushes afterwards) 
• Beeswax for wood - Natural colour
• Lint free cloth - for applying the Beeswax and pollishing the surface

We completed the project in a weekend, removing the bl**dy stickers, sanding the paint off and applying the primer on the first day, it only took about 2 hours for the water based primer to dry. The hardest parts were the handles, as they have been stuck to the drawers instead of screwed on we couldn't take them off. We primed and painted them carefully but still needed to sand bits around the handles to clean them afterwards.

On the second day, it was a really hot and sunny day, so probably didn't help the solvent based paint dry, after 6hrs it was still a little bit sticky. Initially I wanted to stick mirror sheets on the drawers, but because of the difficulties with the handles, I have decided to keep them bare as the wood grain doesn't look as worn off on the drawers. I just used beeswax along the grain to give it a polish the wood.
 

Sticky paint drying in the hot sunny day

 

Scratched

My first SLR was a Pentax P30 (35mm film), it was "lended" to me by a very generous colleague two years ago and it's still sitting proudly in my cupboard. I have since bought a digital SLR but I still prefer shotting in film - you never know what you'll get until the films are developed. When I took this photo, it was my second roll of film, aperture, exposure, shutter speeds...blah blah meant nothing to me, after I pressed the shutter and attempted to wind up the film, it was a bit jammed so I thought the whole roll was ruined but all the photos turned out fine. Of course what I did was half winded the film up and then scratched it....

 

Pimp my sofa

This is the lovely sofabed that has served us and our guests well for the last 4 years. That's why eventhough the duck down back cushions are not holding shape anymore, we're not going to give it up just yet (and that would be so wasteful!). It's getting a bit annoying though, the feathers in the custhions shift all the time so I have to puff and reposition them everytime I want to sit down. Luckily, I trawled through the web and found this upholstery method called "Mock Tufting". (Initially I wanted a button tufted look but soon realised that it's not easy to achieve without paying someone to professionally upholster them - qouted at £30 per cushion in case anyone fancy getting theirs done).

Voilà! It took me about 2 hours to mock tuft the cushions and they look much neater now, don't they? I am quite pleased with the finishing products, especially when it means I don't have to fiddle with the cushions everytime I want to sit down now!

You will need some upholstery needles and thick thread - I used an 8 inches long needle with threads we used to make friendship bracelets with. Also measure and mark the cushions where you want to sew in the "tuft". For this task, lazyniss doesn't pay well as I learn the long way (thought after measuring and doing my first cushion I can "feel" my way around the second one. But the tufts didn't align and had to take them out and re-start the damn thing) :p

Next, the futon inside the sofabed needs changing, it's sagging a bit and you can feel the mesh underneath holding it all together. But a cheap double futon on ebay is at least £100, I wonder if there's another trick that I can find to sort out the old one instead...?

Are you dog friendly?

We have been looking after Oscar (the family dog, a tiny Jack Russell) on and off for the last couple of years. Normally we leave him at home when we need to do some shopping, as it's sad to have him tied up all alone outside windging. So when I took him to Wickes yesterday it felt like a mission. There wasn't any signs outside saying dogs aren't allowed (do "dogs are allowed" signs exist anyway?), but still I was whispering to him when we were in. I think he got the idea and was on his best behaviour. Even the cashier guy seemed to be impress with my ability to get Oscar to sit and wait while rummaging through my purse. The Chinese foods shop and my local pharmaist however weren't so fond of Oscar, but that's another post.

Other than shops, another big problem is of course finding dog friendly pubs and restaurants. We have yet to find a restuarant but here are the pubs we tried and liked:
1. The Lion and Lobster (near the seafront) with two beer gardens, three (or is it four? five?) floors of bars and mixed sunday roast (must add them to my list of best sunday roasts in Brighton).
2. The shakespeares head  (7 dials) and their self claimed best bloody mary in Brighton.
3. Park View (Preston Park) with a big terrace seating area
4. The Farm (Tavern) (Hove) they even have a log fire in the winter
5. The windmill with its cool art work and I just realised that they have a facebook page.
6. The Hampton (Arms) with a beer garden and sunday roast (photos)

(Of course most venues on the seafront let you sit outside with doggies but you'll have to brave either the wind or the tourists).

Just saw that the latest Edible (issue 4) magazine has a page on dog friendly pubs & restaurants. We should be able to venture out to just the above then, the search for Oscar's favourite venue continues, watch this space.

Moist lemon chiffon cake (Baking Fridays)

Found some sorry looking shrinking lemons in the fridge, what's better than turning them into a yummy dessert. I have tried this receipe twice and it seems to be consistently delicious, would think it works with limes as well, so enjoy!

Ingredients:
Lemon cake:
125g/4oz butter cubes (softened in room temperature)
175g/6oz caster sugar
175g/6oz self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking powder)
2 large eggs
1-2 lemons
65ml milk
Lemon sauce:
3 tbsp caster sugar
Juice from lemons 

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven 180 degrees - mine is a fan oven.
2. Grease (with a butter wrapper) and line a loaf tin with grease proof paper.
3. Sift the self raising flour - love my new Habitat sift for lazy people.

4. Combine butter cubes and caster sugar in a large bowl - as you can tell I don't like getting my fingers greasy, so I used a whisk for this but carefull not to get it everywhere.
4. Add the other cake ingredients to the butter sugar mix and whisk until smooth - it'll be quite runny.
5. Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. You can tell that the cake is cooked by poking it with a mental/wooden stick, it should come out clean without any dough stuck to it.
6. Make the lemon sauce by dissolving the lemon juice with the caster sugar.
7. When the cake is cooked, don't remove the tin. Slice the top and pour on the lemon sauce to add flavour. 

8. Cool the cake in the tin to keep the moisture in.

This is your life (typographic)

Holstee Manifesto Poster by Holstee - found on HOLSTEE

Gajamay - For Good

As teenages we idolised uniqueness, everything has to be cool and wicked. Growing up in a boarding school meant we had to learn quickly, master interpersonal skills early and treasure each other's company. We made up secret languages, turned some insignificant streets into regular hang outs, made up code names and abbreviations. One day, someone said that "gajamay" is a word used in Africa for "we are friends", of course we adopted it straightaway, only close friends had the honour to be greeted with gajamay. I never found out the truth about the word but ten years on, when these close friends are now all scattered around the world. Keeping gajamay helps to remind me of this closeness we once had.

Wicked - For Good

I'm limited

Just look at me - I'm limited

And just look at you

You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda

So now it's up to you

For both of us - now it's up to you...

I've heard it said

That people come into our lives for a reason

Bringing something we must learn

And we are led

To those who help us most to grow

If we let them

And we help them in return

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today

Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

I have been changed for good

It well may be

That we will never meet again

In this lifetime

So let me say before we part

So much of me

Is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me

Like a handprint on my heart

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring

By a wind off the sea

Like a seed dropped by a skybird

In a distant wood

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

But because I knew you

Because I knew you

I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air

I ask forgiveness

For the things I've done you blame me for

But then, I guess we know

There's blame to share

And none of it seems to matter anymore

Like a comet pulled from orbit (Like a ship blown from its mooring)

As it passes a sun (By a wind off the sea)

Like a stream that meets a boulder (Like a seed dropped by a skybird)

Halfway through the wood (In a distant wood)

Who can say if I've been

Changed for the better?

I do believe I have been

Changed for the better

And because I knew you...

Because I knew you...

Because I knew you...

I have been changed for good...

When we were orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro

An extract from the last page of the book was what drew me into taking it out at the library:

...My feeling is that she is thinking of herself as much as of me when she talks of a sense of mission, and the futility of attempting to evade it. Perhaps there are those who are able to go about their lives unfettered by such concerns. But for those like us, our fate is to face the world as orphans, chasing through long years the shadows of vanished parents. There is nothing for it but to try and see through our missions to the end, as best we can, for until we do so, we will be permitted no calm...

...drifting through my days here in London, I believe I can indeed own up to a certain contentment. I enjoy my walks in the parks, I visit the galleries...This city, in other words, has come to be my home, and I should not mind if I had to live out the rest of my days here. Nevertheless, there are those times when a sort of emptiness fills my hours.... 

Plum & hazelnut upsidedown cake recipe

This was featured in this week's "Waitrose Weekend" guide. I was impressed that even for someone who's rubbish at baking or following recipes properly, it turned out perfectly moist and spongy. So I decided to share it here. I couldn't find the recipe on the www.waitrose.com/recipe website, so even typed up the whole thing here, happy baking!

Prepare 20minutes
Cook 45minutes
Serves 8 (or a greedy couple over the weekend :-p)

Ingredients
125g butter
50g light muscovado sugar (I accidentally used brown granulated sugar, but seems to work)
50g roasted chopped hazelnuts (couldn't find them so used flaked almonds instead)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
6 Plums, stoned and quartered (make sure they are ripen, some of mine were a bit sour...)
75g golden caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 large free range egg, beaten
150g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100ml Soured Cream

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, gas mark 4. Butter and base line a 20cm round deep cake tin. Melt 50g of the butter and mix with the muscovado sugar, hazelnuts and cinnamon. Scatter over the base of the cake tin and press the quartered plums into the base.

2. Beat the remaining butter with the caster sugar and orange zest until pale and creamy (is it me or should this specifically say melt the butter first?), then beat in the egg a little at a time (again, shouldn't it say beat the egg first, THEN add a bit at a time?). Sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and fold into the creamed mixture with the soured cream to give a soft consistency. Spoon on top of the plums and level the surface.

3. Bake for 45-50 minutes until well-risen, golden and firm to touch. Cool in the tin for 15minutes, then turn onto a wire rack. Serve warm with cream or cold. Store in an airtight container.

Nutrition: 245kcals / 4.3g protein / 35.7g carbohydrate / 21.3g sugars / 20.6g fat / 10.3g saturated fat / 1.7g fibre / 0.7g salt per serving

See what I mean by not being able to follow recipes, now?

"The barefoot investor"

I picked up a copy of The Barefoot Investor from a local library.

If you are looking for in depth investment strategies, this is not your book. But it is a really good book for finance 101 in layman's language. It covers the fundamentals like, financial goals, inflation, debts, compound interest, asset classes...etc. In my opinion, all schools should include financial education. I always think it's ironic that schools are suppose to prepare you for life - University, getting a job, ultimately becoming "rich"...but they don't think to educate kids about money and what to do with it. The book might not have taught me anything new about money but it raises a few good questions, time for a reality check!

- My financial goal is to earn as much as possible. But why?
- Does a big pay check means that you are wealthy?
- Are millionaires the happiest people on earth?
...etc.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very very pissed off."

- Tyler Durden from Flight Club (played by Brad Pitt)