New Experiences-Ice Hockey

Last weekend V, H & I went to watch the ice hockey. It was part of the university varsity against Sheffield Hallam, and for three quid, was well worth the money!

We soon realised not one of us knew ANYTHING about Ice Hockey, but we started to pick it up as it went along (apart from illegal equipment, I still have NO clue what that means).
I also found that the zoom function on my camera is infinitely better than my last one (as in it actually zooms)

 Who'd be a keeper? Your job is to stop a speeding puck with anything you can, you spend most the game on your own and if a goal goes in then you're to blame.

Apparently, Sheffield University have NEVER EVER won, so the fact they took it to penalties was rather quite good (and a moral win)

Hallam eventually won though :(

Have you ever gone to an ice hockey game? Enjoy it?

Rich Makes:A three course dinner- ie:how not to cook

For Valentines Day my girlfriend and I decided- No more silly little gifts that we'll never use. 

So instead we agreed that alternate years each of us will cook a three course dinner for us both.
This year was my year, and I decided to go with

Starter

Trio of dips with pitta bread
 

Main
Steak with grilled tomato, baby potato and a rocket salad 

Pudding

Chocolate Fondue
 

Pretty fancy, eh?

Doing this I learnt a few things
1)Read the recipe carefully when making hoummus. It asked for 450g of pre-cooked chickpeas, so cooking 500g of dried chickpeas will cause you to have TOO MANY CHICKPEAS

This many chickpeas is never needed. Ever.

2)Don't use your hand as a spatula when cooking a steak, use a spatula as a spatula, this will stop you burning your hand
3)Don't explain to your girlfriend (who is a bit squeamish with  meat) how you can tell how cooked steak is by comparing it to the way your hand feels when you clench different fingers. It will make her feel a bit ill, which is not wanted when you're cooking a big meal

4)You can't handle your wine- This may be due to the fact you've only just discovered a liking for it, but half a bottle currently gets you rather tipsy
5)You are able to have self-control, and not blow out candles, but thats less fun
6)Just because this person classed marshmellows as a fruit, its not technically one of your five a day

7)Go to butchers to get meat instead of a supermarket, they'll tell you how to cook it, will trim off some of the fatty bits, and, if you get chatting to them, may knock the price down for you

8)You're a better cook than you thought you were!

 (Ok, I know I cheated with the other two dips, but I was running out of time!)

The University job

This semester I have a scary amount of modules, especially compared to my last two
So, in the last term of the last year of my whole education (unless I do a masters), I'm going to get organised.

And I'm going to do this in a few ways:

-Actually use my diary: Instead of just having it in the bottom of my bag, I will actually put lecture times and locations in it, so I know where I'm going

-Treat university like a job: Do work 9-5, Monday-Friday. This way I might actually get my reading done and keep on top of my work as I get it 

-Read as I go along: Similar to the last point, I need to try and get the reading my lecturers give me done, so when I come to revise, I'm not starting it all and sitting under my desk, rocking back and forth at the  twelve gazillion papers I have to read

Do any of you have advice on other ways to get organised? Anything that works for you?

So many books, so little time

I love reading. I've always loved reading. I remember staying up way past my bedtime reading, I remember sneaking a read ahead of what my mum was reading to me in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and having to feign surprise at Tom Riddle being Voldemort   He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I remember getting left by my (irresponsible) parents in a book shop for 4 hours, and not even noticing. 

But then life gave me more distractions:
-Phones
-TV
-Laptops
-A University degree

And I found the amount I read getting less and less, and books taking me longer to get through.
But as an unofficial new years goal, I want to read more, and more often.
So far I've read three books, and am on my fourth. Its not as many as I used to get through, but hey, I had exams and reports to do, so cut me some slack, fictional blog-readers!

So far on the Richard Book List-
1)A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainia-Marina Lewycka A million times better than it sounds!
2)The Earth Moved- Amy Stewart It may be about worms, but as my friends would confirm, I loved it
3)Will Grayson Will Grayson- John Green I loved this book almost as much as I love John Green. It was finished in a day, and I highly recommend it!

How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book- Jane Austin

LifeScouts

So recently I heard about this thing, LifeScouts. Its like scouts, but for grown ups. Instead of getting badges for doing stuff like being able to climb or make knots or start fires (fyi, I had over 35 badges fo'shizzle (fyi fyi I can't pull off fo'shizzle)).

Here it is:

Seeing as I loved scouts so much I stayed on an extra year, I decided to see which Lifescout badges I already own, and blog about any that there is actually anything to say about.

Fishing- I have a fishing rod, but am ever so lousy at fishing its unreal. 

-I went seafishing and mainly caught other peoples lines that were on the other side of the boat.

-I went fishing with friends and managed to catch

1)A tree

2)A branch

3)A very small fish

before we were chased off by angry ducks

I'm REALLY bad at fishing

Well the temperature inside is frightful, but the snow is so delightful

In what's appearing to be an annual tradition in the house, the boiler decided to break again today, and the house soon got down to a toasty 10°C. Fun!

Because we're sensible, mature, grown ups,we build dens. Vics was a lot more aesthetically pleasing than mine:

It worked quite well, got it up to 18°C, so I think I won (until it collapsed).

We were hoping to go sledging today, but decided not to, as going back to a house that is colder than outside was not too appealing.

However, we did go sledging yesterday, and it was awesome:

(The first and last pic by me, the others by FranklyVic)

But then we realised that sledging without getting hurt was no fun, so we decided to  be idiots.

(Again, all but the last pic are from FranklyVic)

until the sledge (and me) had a horrific collision with a hidden brick, cutting short the afternoon

Photo by  FranklyVic

Photo by  FranklyVic

I love the snow.

At which point, we went home, getting a new sledge on  the way to use next time

Testing

Its exam time at the moment, meaning that my life is too full of boring stuff like revision & essay writing. This means not as much time doing fun stuff that I can write about/photograph, and thus a lot less blogging.

As V would confirm, I'm awful at sticking with something. Be it blogs, going for runs, getting a new hobby, at some point a little voice inside my head says "Just give up, no-one cares, you're awful at this, stop wasting your time trying to be something you're not". So there's a good chance that I'll give up on this blog milarky. I don't want to, but it may happen. 

So this is a test for myself.

Nothing compared to that stint Jesus did in the desert 

(btw, I once played Jesus in an adaptation of this, stole the show)

 But a test all the same

See you on the other side (hopefully)

:)