So I’ve just returned from a week at my parent’s on the Isle of Mull, just off of Scotland’s west coast. I followed it up with a couple of days in Edinburgh which I’ll be posting about later this week. The days off were very much needed. Despite a last minute break I had between jobs (when I went to Berlin), this was my first proper chunk of time off since Chicago last September (I don’t understand how that’s been a year) and with moving 4 times (soon to be 5) since then, I was starting to get burnt out. I had a lot of time to myself so the trip took in cycling, running and walks from the house, as well as a trip to the picturesque Iona plus a heap of cooking and baking (go see my biscuits here). It was rounded off by a walk along cliffs (including a clamber down a rusty ladder) to see the remains of a fossil tree. I’m simply going to let the photos speak for the rest of the trip:
Month: September 2015
Oaty Chocolate Digestives & Mountains
So since I posted about my trip to Berlin last week things have gone a bit quiet. Apologies for that. But I was busy almost every night last week, and then I had a photoshoot for a feature in Reveal Mag last Saturday, before an overnight coach (megabus gold again, my FAVE) up to Glasgow. For those follow me on instagram you’ll know that I’ve been visiting my parents in Scotland. You’ll know this because I haven’t shut up about it, and I’ve posted about a million photos. If you want proof of this, go check out my instagram here. There’s a couple from my DSLR mixed in below though if you’re too lazy. I have however, been baking while I’ve been here.
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Gardening Leave: A last minute trip to Berlin
Tube strikes. They’re the bane of many people’s lives (whether you support them or not they are disruptive) and when the last one was announced it fell across my last couple of days in my old job. This chucked up the issue of “working from home” which, let’s be honest, wouldn’t have happened. So my old job put me on gardening leave for the last couple of days and I suddenly had a whole week off between jobs. I jokingly tweeted about taking the chance to sleep on twitter and my friend Rae of Love From Berlin intervened:
@BeardedBakery … OR you could come to Berlin. *nudge nudge*
— rae tashman (@lovefromberlin) August 18, 2015
I quickly checked some flight costs and made sure she wasn’t actually joking and booked a last minute flight to Berlin to hang out with Rae her cats, eat loads of food and explore a city I’ve heard a million good things about. So that’s how I found myself on a coach at 4am on a Sunday morning on my way to Stansted airport (I can get the coach from basically outside my front door, that’s dangerous for me to know) and an adventure in Germany.
Music Monthly: August Jams
It amazes me that it’s somehow part way into September already. The temperature has already dropped and British Summer Time is coming to an end. So what you’re all eagerly anticipating (or not as I don’t think anyone reads these particular posts) is of course my Music Monthly (old posts here) post for August. With Hevy Fest at the start and a trip to Berlin it’s been a fairly playlist heavy month. But I’ll start with a band (and then a couple of playlists which I listen to fairly often).
Thrice – Back Catalogue
They are my favourite band and have been for many years. They reformed and headlined Hevy this year (the main reason I was there). They basically matured musically as my own tastes started to mature. I could go on for a while here so I’m just going to stick a playlist of all of their songs for you to educate yourselves with instead.
Top picks: Red Sky (Vheissu), In Exile (Beggars), Anthology (Major/Minor), Phoenix Ignition (Identity Crisis), Silhouette (The Artist In The Ambulance), Image Of The Invisible (Vheissu).
Cinnamon & Walnut Buns with Coffee Glaze
As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve left my old job. I started my new job (a new shiny role as a Content Marketing Manager at a different agency) this week. My previous job is the one that got me down to London and I’m thankful for that. I met some great people and it gave me more experience to add to what I already had from my time at Epiphany in Leeds. As a farewell I decided to bake them two separate things to remember me by. I opted to re-bake the Caramel Filled Choc Chip Cookies (replacing the Galaxy Caramel with Lindt Salted Caramel, my new fave) and to finally make cinnamon buns again after a long while without trying them. Most of my office is addicted to coffee so making cinnamon buns with a coffee glaze just made sense.
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