july bakes

I did a bit of baking last week.

And these were probably my favourite thing I have baked so far.

Apple Streusel Muffins.

I kind of had a sneaky suspicion that the recipe would work, having seen my mum bake them for so many years, but I'd never quite achieved them myself. Until now.

I only need to bake another three things to finish my goal.*

*I really, really need to work on a few more of those things.

june bakes

This afternoon I had a little gathering with friends--and such a gathering pretty much demands a few baked goods, right?

Raspberry Cupcakes w/ a White Chocolate Centre and Raspberry Buttercream Frosting.

And tomorrow I start on a healthy body. No, really. I do.

i'd like to, please

Hope #5.

Ride a bike.

You know, I haven't ridden a bike in a very long time. Over ten years, in fact. Probably a little more than that. And the thing is, well, I'm a little worried I've forgotten how. (It was a change in bike that did it---stopped me riding, I mean. I was a little too small for the very big bike my parents bought me, new, from the shop in the village---and to this day I feel bad about it).

This year I want to do it again---I want to make sure I can do it, still. And if I can't? Well, I want to learn.

(Post inspired by this blog and the picture---the very beautiful picture---is from here).

new cities

Today Arnold and I went for a child-like stroll through a new city.

And we learned that Ely---apart from it's cathedral, which really is colossal, and architecturally, quite a beauty---doesn't have that much to show for itself.

And maybe I ate a little badly---alright, alright, quite a lot badly---and squinted too much in the sun.

But it was such a wonderful day. It was the company that mattered---and from that, I really felt myself again.

Blue skies all over again, too. I am already falling in love with April.

april bakes

I* spent a few hours of Saturday afternoon in the kitchen, baking.

Pistachio and Lime Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting. (And a little bit of a spring green tint).

I am right on track with the baking part of my list and I am falling more and more in love with it every day.

*Arnold helped, too! Those pistachios were hard to grind down!

i'd like to, please

Hope. #4.

I'd like to fill a journal---actually, I'd like to fill many, collecting up my life and straying it across its paper leaves. I'd stick things in and annotate and document---I'd photograph and doodle and adorn.

(Posts are inspired by this wonderful blog. And the picture comes from this equally wonderful blog: Her Library Adventures is by a woman after my own heart).

february's bakes

The bake sale a couple of weeks ago was deemed a success, thankfully. As a result, we had another little one today.

Red Velvet Cupcakes are pretty much all the rage right now---although I confess to preferring Cookies'n'Cream when I had one from Harrods---so I thought I'd try making some.

They're kind of seasonal, too, which is a bonus.

Another recipe down.

january bakes

Yesterday I baked a few of these.

Cheesecake Chocolate Brownies.

They were sold at a bake sale at university today in aid of The Alzheimer's Society.

I like trying new recipes. I like baking to a purpose (although in my eyes, baking at all always has purpose in itself---to learn).

And I guess it sort of fulfils number twenty on my list---do something charitable---and the first new recipe of the (minimum of twelve) I want to try.

my birthday list

A couple of weeks ago I made a list of twenty things I am glad I did whilst I was twenty, and, inspired by Elsie's birthday lists, here is the list of things I want to do during my twenty-first year.

1. Visit four new cities

2. Move out

3. Watch Mad Men

4. Make a dress

5. Make a journal for my love

6. Complete a Sketchbook Project (if they run it for 2012---my 2011 attempt remains incomplete)

7. Finish a story

8. Get fit, get healthy*

9. Host a Murder Mystery party

10. Try out - and photograph - twelve new baking recipes

11. Learn calligraphy

12. Learn to knit

13. Three reads: The Golden Notebook, The Hobbit and Lady Chatterley’s Lover

14. Write five reviews for Penguin

15. Write an article - and have it published - in the university paper

16. Go for a bike ride

17. Decorate my doll’s house

18. Have a driving lesson

19. Stop worrying

20. Do something charitable

21. Have an old-fashioned picnic

Of course there are more--- things that will probably come and go, filter in, then out, of my life, but these---these are the ones I have wanted to do for a while. Some are little things; some are much bigger, much wider, much more consuming of my time and of effort.

I hope that during my twenty-first year, you will be here---if you'd like to be, of course. But more than that---more than anything, really---I hope that he is.

*This is something only I will know---in body and in mind. And maybe in the hill I couldn't quite climb in one go during my holiday---maybe that will show my progress, too.