Last of my Lazy Days

School officially starts back September 1st. That is my first deadline for my final project so it's time for me to set aside the gaming and get serious about writing again. I didn't take many pictures this week but I stayed busy this week running around.

I went horseback riding again and took this picture of some sheep because I know you guys haven't seen enough sheep pictures yet!

I made myself breaded fried okra. So yummy. Okra is right up there with my constant southern food cravings, along with burritos and etouffee. I should become an expert at cooking some of these.

 

I have a roommate (or flatmate, which would be the British term) now and she has decided that she wants to learn cake decorating. I've posted a picture or two of my kitchen before. It's very small. If we do undertake this I think we will need to put a sheet out on my living room floor and work on my dining table as well as the kitchen. I think it could be really fun to try, but logistically...oh boy. We'll see if we go through with this or not :)

 

I started volunteering this week! So far so good. Hopefully it stays as fun and relaxed as my first day. For now I'm working one day, volunteering for 4 hours.

 

I don't think I have any other news to share. I'm making a call for any burrito and etouffee recipes you guys have made and enjoyed. My etouffee I make is alright, but not on the level of Yats. My burritos are just boxed sets right now and that is just not impressive. Send me recipes to try :)

Horseback Riding

I got to go horseback riding this week!

I was very excited at the beginning of the week. The equestrian centre I went to had a taster session, so I emailed them about it. I wanted to make sure I wasn't required to wear some particular English riding gear, but they assured me that I should just show up. I did and loved it.

The farm. It takes me over an hour to get here by bus, but it is well worth the trip.

Some of the horses. I attended the taster session and used it as an assessment with the instructor to see what classes the recommended I take next. They suggested I take a few private lessons to retrain me to English riding then I can join group classes in jumping if I want, or continue with private lessons. I signed up immediately and they booked me to start the next day!

 

I have to say, private lessons are a lot more intense than the group lessons I took when I was little. It was great to be back on a horse but some of the changes with English riding kinda threw me. Rather than using your knees you use your lower legs which will take some getting used to. I also have to keep a much shorter rein than I'm use to. My grandparent's horse I rode last was great with neck reining but I've gotta break that habit now.

Besides horses they also have sheep at the farm. I still take pictures whenever I see British sheep. They are too cute.

Haven't done too much other than the horse riding this week. While waiting for one of my buses in Salford I took a picture of this building. Reminds me of a mural in Indy I would pass everyday when I was at my aunt and uncle's one summer.

I don't have any big plans for this upcoming week yet, but I'm sure I will find something fun to do! I'll be continuing the horseback riding so it's already guaranteed to be a fantastic week.

Gallery of Costume

This week I went with a group to see the Whitworth Art Gallery and the Gallery of Costume. I had been to the art gallery before so I took my sketchbook with me to play with, but I had never been to the Gallery of Costume before. It was really neat.

I had a nice lunch at Whitworth after looking around the gallery. They only sold coke in glass bottles so I splurged and got one :) The roses on the tables were really pretty. If I were going to attempt some kind of gardening, I'd want to have unique roses like that.

The special exhibit at the Gallery of Costume featured Christian Dior.

My favorite outfit is that brown coat. I would happily wear that one! <3 Family members who can sew, you are welcome to make me a jacket like that :P

Some fancy Christian Dior dresses

This was from the Victorian era I believe. This dress caught my eye. My favorite of the older styles I think.

There were some hats on display too. The lip one is entertaining.

 

This afternoon I went to see Wadjda with a friend from church. Different from the mainstream stuff I normally go see so I wasn't sure what to expect when we went, but I really enjoyed it. Was an interesting viewpoint on the lives of women in Saudi Arabia. Certainly had a message it was pushing but carried a clear story as well and the little love story between her and the neighbor boy is adorable. If it happens to be in a theater near you I recommend it.

Just a short update this week. Mostly just letting everyone know that, yes, I'm still alive!

A Lazy Week

Had a lazy week this week. I had no responsibilities for once so I...played video games. Hours of video games :D After a whole week of video games though I feel like it is time to be productive again.

It had been a rainy week so I spent my time finding new ways to use the leftover ingredients in my cupboards. My friends gave me a bunch of muesli so I bought myself some yogurt and have had parfait breakfasts :)

 

 

Inspired by the rainy weather, and armed with my mixing palette my sister brought, I did this mixed medium drawing and added it to the wall of art. I think this one turned out really well.

End of the week I ventured out of the house in order to do some house hunting for a friend. While out on my viewing excursions I stopped at the Didsbury library for the first time. I meant to just look around, but I couldn't resist and I checked out a large stack of books to keep me company.

 

Saturday I participated in the church walk for the first time. When they say walk, what they generally mean is hike. This week they were doing an easy walk so I decided to give it a try and see if I would survive hiking in the British countryside. Not only did I survive but I had a great time. I will have to be even more adventurous and try the harder "walks" next time.

We were walking in Delamere Forest. Lots of beautiful views and wildlife. Saw some cows and sheep!

View of one of the lakes.

We saw a variety of butterflies. This one was the only one still enough to get a picture of ;)

Our main goal of the day was to make it to this pond where the dragonflies were. We stopped and had our lunch here and it was very peaceful and picturesque.

I have many attempted pictures of the dragonflies. Most didn't turn out but this one was pretty good.

We also walked to this lake. As we were walking away a bunch of people walked up with their dogs. One excited pup had jumped into the bog and was elbow deep in mud. They encouraged all the dogs to take a swim but the muddy one was the only one not interested in jumping in and getting cleaned off. The joys of owning a dog! 

Afterward we stopped at the café for ice cream. I saw this fridge full of Coke that was just screaming at me to take a picture. I may have a slight addiction :P

 

So that is the update for last week. I am over my lazy video game obsession (well, mostly) and this week I have a list of productive, useful things to do. May mean less pictures to show, we'll see :)

Manchester

Now to sum up the trip with pictures we took in between our traveling.

When she first arrived I amazed my sister with my cooking skills. When I say amazed, its not that she was impressed. She was amazed that my kitchen was so small and that I was using tools other than a microwave. I made us some quesadillas and took her to Platt Fields.

 

Where I showed her the baby swans that are so cute!

 

And the amazing greenery that you just don't get in NM.

I also took her down to Media City because we had things to print. I took her all over the place on the day she arrived. Had to keep her moving so she'd get over jet lag as quickly as possible.

 

Then after all the fiasco in Germany, we came home and I took her to the Bar Burrito in Picadilly Gardens. I was need of some good comfort food. I really like this restaurant, it is similar to Chipolte in ABQ, but actually Bar Burrito's food is better.

 

I had bought this coke just to share with my sister :) We must have been loopy on caffeine because we took a lot of silly pictures with Coke on our trip O.o

 

Then we get back from London and Bristol and took pictures with a newspaper to remember where we were when all this happened. 

My sister wasn't sure she wanted to, but I convinced her to go to yet another art gallery. This time we went to the gallery at the University of Salford. There was a temporary exhibit up which featured all these canine sculptures. It was so cute! You could even buy one of the dogs, but they were way out of our price range.

They were adorable though! You can see more about it at Olivia Brown's webpage, just click here.

There is also a VERY cool exhibit downstairs. They have a recreation of a street from Victorian times.  Lots of cool details. We loved it. Really dark though so our pictures are not the greatest. 

They also had sound effects that went with the street so if you were standing by the blacksmith's shop you heard the sound of someone working with an anvil or stoking the fire. It is just a really well done exhibit.

Our souvenirs from Germany.

London maps and tickets to the Tower of London.

 

Baker Street souvenirs!

 

GROMIT TRAIL!

I bought a mug and tea towel. My sister got the cute Gromit that doubles as a screen cleaner.

 

We went to the mall and saw this cellphone and passport holder. It's true. Without your passport, you are nothing. D:

Then it was time to say goodbye :'(

 

I am on my own again. Time to get serious about writing. I don't have a copy of my work visa so I cannot be distracted by making a steady income now. Just gives me more time to do what I'm actually getting a degree for...this is a good thing, right? I'll be back to updating on Sundays again now. I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures!

Bristol

In our amazing plans we made for this trip we allotted one day for Bristol just to see the Gromit Trail. My sister and I are fans of Wallace and Gromit and I have been following the Gromit Unleashed Facebook page for months as they prepped for the trail.

You can go to their web page here -> Gromit Unleashed

The Gromit Trail is a collection of 80 statues scattered around Bristol and in September they will be taken down again and auctioned off for charity. We were told by someone we met along the way that they have done this kind of thing for the last two years in Bristol. Last time it was gorilla sculptures.

I think this was one of my favorite days of our vacation. London was fun but really crowded. In Bristol we knew exactly what we wanted to do and we weren't packed in a subway or crowded in the plazas. Coming to Bristol I wasn't sure about the scale of the trail and how much we would be able to see so we took a bus from London and decided to just stay the day then take the bus back to Manchester that night rather than staying the night. We were in Bristol from 11:00 AM, to 6 PM and we saw 42 out of 80 gromits in that time. We had a blast. I'm just going to share some of my favorites of the ones we saw, not all 42 that we got pictures of :)

"Bumble Boogie"

The first gromit we saw! Just across the street from where the bus dropped us off.

"A Close Shave"

We went to the tourist info center to get our passports and map. This one is a cute idea, and of course refers to the Wallace and Gromit movie which just makes it cooler :D

"Salty Sea Dog"

This one had a lot of cool details that made us smile, like the tattoos!

"Hero"

Super Gromit is fantastic! Plus the Wallace and Gromit mural behind him is very cool.

"Blazing Saddles"

Isn't he cute?

He's cute from behind too :P

"Watch Out Gromit"

Oh we were so upset. We walked to this one at the M Shed to get our passports stamped and they are closed on Mondays. We could see a guy sitting at a desk inside but he wouldn't let us in to stamp our passports, or see the other Gromit that is somewhere in the building. If they want to be closed, that's fine but then why not keep the Gromits outside so we can see them? :(

"Gromberry"

Another gromit with a cute booty O.o

"Patches"

Walking to this one nearly killed my sister. Since we didn't have a room for the night my sister was carrying our backpack of stuff which was pretty heavy. To see this one looked like a simple walk on the map, but actually there was a really steep road that we had to walk up. I was tired and all I was carrying was my purse. But we did it! We saw Patches!

We saw this gorilla and took a picture and it was only later that we met the person who told us that the gorillas had been part of last year's exhibit. I'm guessing this was one of them :)

We stopped at a Costa for smoothies. It was warm and we had been walking a lot. They were the best drinks I had ever had. My look says "Focus, sis. We have strategizing to do." We only had a limited amount of time and so many Gromits to see!

"Vincent Van Gromit"

I thought this one was really neat. The ear bandage is a great touch!

"TutanGromit"

We found out later this one was painted by a friend of a friend from church. Small world! This was one of the more creative ones in that the artist went beyond just painting and really changed up the sculpture which was cool.

"Newshound"

This one is neat because Wallace is there, but the Gromit is so cute by himself too!

All the paper "pasted" on him had cute little headlines on them. Very cleverly done.

"Gromit Lightyear"

We were so excited to see this one! His foot has John Lassiter's signature and everything. So cool.

"Doodles"

My sister wanted to be sure we got to see this one because she follows the comic - Simon's Cat. I chose a close-up picture of this one so you can see some the doodles ;)

"What a Wind Up!"

We only saw this one from across the river, but we are counting it anyways. We were running out of time at this point so we couldn't walk on the other side of river. There were more to see on our side.

"The King"

He was never in a building.

"Where's Wallace"

SO Adorable!

"Jack"

This one was on our list of Gromits we couldn't miss! You can order mini figurines of this one, A Close Shave, and more from the website. We were going to buy some while we were there but Jack was out of stock. We'll just have to pay for shipping, but they are worth it.

"Gromit-o-Matic"

Blueprint for your own Gromit. Lots of funny text on this one too. Did you know his ears are mufflers/nonsense filters?

As we walked around there were a few places that had passport stamp stations. We collected three of them. M Shed was closed and the mall was too far away to walk to :(

 

So these are some of my favorites from Bristol! After a day of walking we took a bus back to London to catch a bus to Manchester because it was cheaper to do that than if we took a bus straight back to Manchester. Go figure.

We had a bit of time to kill waiting for our connecting bus in London so we went to a bar to just hang out and chill. That was where we heard the news about the new royal baby. The people in our bar were calm but the interviews of the people standing in front of the palace and hospital were entertaining.

We were excited though :)

But it had been a long day. Excitement could only keep me awake for so long. I was a grumpy traveling companion on this bus ride. My sister let me sleep :P

That was our fun filled adventure to Bristol! One more blog post, a collection of pictures of what we saw in Manchester at the beginning, middle, and end.