Camera Cake Bites

Today has been a baking day. In 2 days time I'm going to be involved in the Societies Fair at university as part of the photography society. Obviously, if your stand has food, you get more attention.... So I, being the genius I am, offered to bake a stupidly large number of cake bites. I started to flag when it got to 11pm and I was still messing around with melted chocolate and edible glitter spray, but I powered on and here is the result! Most of them have got tiny little icing cameras on (my housemate was a massive help with those!)! I just hope they go down well and don't all melt!

Dragon Drawings

I used to draw a lot of dragons. Basically because I can't really draw anything else... at one stage I actually got quite good and had a few commissions. That was ages ago now and a few weeks ago I thought I'd see if I could remember how to dragon; turns out I could. This is my latest creation and to be perfectly honest, I didn't think he was too shabby! I love Quentin Blake's stuff and see him as my main inspiration but I also have a lot of literary descriptions I base my doodles and drawings on :) Here's to a year full of dragons! 

The World's Greatest Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate. Before I moved into my new house, I wasn't a massive hot chocolate lover... So when my housemate offered to make me one, I said no. As soon as I saw the finished product I regretted my choice and decided that, actually, it's not that bad. Since then, hot choc has become the house speciality and there's an unspoken rivalry to outdo each other when it comes to decorating. It started off with marshmallows, then we upped the anti to include squirty cream. Then then upped again and again and now the finished products look like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is a not-so-elaborate one, but you get the idea.

Campus in Summer?

I looked like a total idiot taking this photo; I was standing somewhere I shouldn't have been standing and there were a lot of people giving me funny looks as I whacked out my iPad. The flowers on campus haven't yet realised it's not summer anymore but they're very pretty :D I've decided that I don't care if my photos are rubbish iPad quality but I want them to be as up to date as possible rather than digging back through months of higher quality photos. 

The English Muse

For the first time in ages, here's a photo from today! I'm currently sitting in The English Muse with a coffee and a piece of cake :) This coffee shop is absolutely great - as a student I find it an excellent place to work, sit in the window and people watch, or just have a nice lunch (I've also had a lengthy game of monopoly here). There's always a fantastic selection of cakes, paninis, sandwiches, snacks and a soup of the day, and to top it all off, everything is local and fresh! Every wall is covered in local art (available to buy), each table has fresh flowers and the staff are friendly and welcoming. If ever in or around Hull, pop in to The English Muse for a tea or coffee (if you have a pot of tea it comes in a hand knitted tea-cosy!)! You won't regret it!!

Projections

Suns and Spaceships

I've been in the library all day and came home to find this in my cupboard! I spent a good 10 minutes making a story out of aliens and spaceships! 

Thistles

Here, Have some thistles! 

Who is Brenda?

This is Brenda. I've just dug this out from the dark ages, when I didn't even have my own camera. All I know about Brenda is that she was a German exchange student and boarded at school for a year (it might actually have not even been a year). Why I took photos of her, I have no idea; as far as I can recall I never even had a conversation with her. An interesting photo anyway and who knows, maybe she'll be super-famous one day and I'll be able to sell my photo for millions...

Fluffy Ball of Fur

This morning I was just flicking through old photos and I found a whole load from when my cat had her kittens. It turns out I never got round to really looking at or editing them so I did a few earlier and this is the result!

Sugary Goodness

The results of yesterday's sugary cooking. How well did this turn out?! Next time mini ones are in order, this is about hand size. 

Edible Geodes?

Sugar is so cool. Heat it until it goes clear, pour it into something and leave for 12 hours and voila - an edible geode. The results of today's experiments with sugar will be shown tomorrow - hopefully it's going to look amazing! In the mean time this is a photo that pretty much sums up the weather at the moment... 

Where's the Sun Gone???

There's some kind of freak tropical storm going on outside at the moment and unfortunately I'm going to have to venture out in it soon to hand out some CVs. Turning up to potential new employers soaked to the skin probably isn't a great look, but it doesn't look like the sun's going to make an appearance any time soon. This photo was taken in the orchard near my Kent house.. I have no idea why there is a canoe in the orchard, but who cares? It looks cool and making up an imaginative story as to why it's there is probably more exciting than whatever the truth is. 

Alex's Cakepop Emporium - For All Your Cakepop Needs!

Recently, I've been making a heck of a lot of cakepops (a bitesized ball of cake on a stick). I love making them, but i only ever want to eat one or two so end up loading the rest of them off on my family who I'm sure don't want that many! As an experiment I'm starting to sell them (just to friends and family at the moment as I don't have a food hygiene certificate)... These are my latest creations, I've got rid of the sticks so now they look a bit like little chocolates :) Each one comes wrapped in cellophane tied with a ribbon.. It's going to be 80p for one or £6 for 10 (much cheaper than any I've found online, they all seem to start at £1.40 each)! I can easily take requests for colour and decoration, let's see if anyone actually wants cakepops or if I'm being totally unrealistic! 

Pink Hair!

Another miserable, rainy day up north; everywhere I look there are puddles big enough to hold a small swimming gala. Luckily for me, most of the day has been spent in a lovely warm house having my hair dyed a ridiculous colour. Please excuse the terrible selfie with red eyes. On a sillier note, here's my dog when he was a puppy wearing a cape. No biggie. 

Absolutely Nothing of Interest

The most interesting thing that's happened today is me making a stir fry, of which I made faaaaar too much and most of it ended up in the fridge for tomorrow. This photo is from Amiens Cathedral last summer, love it! 

Cats... Cats everywhere!!

Absolutely nothing to report today other than the fact that I saw about 100 cats between my house and the end of the road. I knew there were a lot of cats in Hull, but this is taking things to a new level... this one was sitting right outside my window for several hours but ran off as soon as I got close!

World's Most Terrifying Shoes

Day 2 in the new house; more unpacking and a grocery shop (I thought after I resorted to eating soup for breakfast I should get some real food). I went to uni first to go and get some work to do but was then faced with the world's most difficult decision. As you can see by exhibit A, both supermarkets are roughly the same distance away from uni and both cost the same to get to on a bus. The choice was between ASDA and Tesco and obviously, both have their perks. I always think of ASDA as being the cheaper option but it's a rubbish walk from the ASDA bus stop to the shop... Tesco has the advantage of having a starbucks almost next door which very nearly sold it to me but in the end I went for the ASDA option. When I arrived there, I noticed an M&S just next door. So ended up doing all my shopping there (this is why my loan will run out so fast). On my way home there was a tiny little boy on the bus with his dad. Every time he looked at his shoes he looked absolutely terrified and started screaming and kicking until his shoes (very nice tiny plimsole things) flew off. Once the shoes were off, everything was right with the world again and he stopped screaming. When the shoes were then replaced, the screaming ensued. Needless to say after 20 mins of this, I was quite glad to get off the bus. Evidently there has been a severe lack of things to photograph today so we're back to really old photos again. This one is YEARS old but I still quite like it! 

Fish go Blub

I've arrived safe and sound to my new house complete with internet and all!!! I feel I need to share this video. I was introduced to it yesterday and have been humming it ever since! 

Stupidly Long Train Journey...

I'm just going to put a very quick note up now as I've got a stupidly long train journey back to university today so might not have time to put anything up later. When I get up there, I'm slightly concerned that I'm not going to know what to take photos of... There's a lot less wildlife where I'm living and a lot more buildings... But as I've proved previously, my architectural photography isn't great (putting it mildly!). We shall see! Here's the last Kent based photo for a while.. 

Sunny days in times gone by

It's been cold, wet and miserable today and I've spent most of the day inside packing for university. Found this photo from ages ago to brighten the day! 

Burning Scarecrow

Just very quickly, here's a few more photos from the other day's allotment session. Just to clarify, burning this poor scarecrow wasn't just an evil act of pyromania; it was falling to pieces and needed to be replaced!

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

I've been meaning to go for ages, but today I finally got round to visiting Rossetti's grave. As one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, I was surprised to find such a prominent person in Western art buried just around the corner from me in Birchington. Rossetti moved here to kick his laudanum habit (as you do), and stayed until he died. During his time here he designed a stained glass window in Birchington's All Saints church which unfortunately I couldn't see from the inside, as the church was closed. His grave stone was designed by his lifelong friend Madox Brown and is very pretty and clearly Pre-Raph! 

Jazzy Potatoes

Today's been another allotment day; mum and I went over to plant some potatoes (that should be ready for Christmas), and as we got there a jazz band started up in a local pub and we could hear them PERFECTLY. I ended up taking down all of the old runner beans and opening all of the old pods as I went, which I got super excited about (again). They really look like magic beans. 

Camden Town Culinary Awesomeness

Today has been spent in London. Great day. I've never been to Camden before today, and I was absolutely blown away, especially with the food!!! I don't need to say anything else about it, just go and see for yourself. Here's my favourite photos from the day :)

Twit Twoo

I've just realised that I took a whole load of birdie photos at the beginning of summer and never shared them! I went on a hawking experience day (http://www.thehawkingcentre.co.uk/) for my birthday, took my camera, and came back with some amazing photos! Unfortunately every single time I tried to get an in-flight shot, I failed miserably. More practice needed I think! Obviously I didn't take photo number 2 myself because I'm in it, but thought I'd throw it in for good measure :)

Mystery Orbs

I've just come across this photo that I took the other day in the Faversham farm shop. I had to look at it a few times before I remembered what it is. Olives! 

Magic Beans

Not much to report, I've just been lending a hand on mum's allotment today. Built a fruit cage and found some magic beans! 

Marinated Octopus vs Snail Farming

My plans for today were cancelled last minute, so I was left wandering what to do with my time. After much deliberation it was decided that the local snail farm was the place to go. Yes, snail farm. I didn't know it even existed until today when a quick internet search revealed it. Apparently the snails are 'happy to be handled' and you can learn all about the history of farming small, slimy, molluscs! Alas, as it turned out the farm was closed today so I ended up at Faversham farm shop instead. There I found marinated octopus, which was nearly as fulfilling an experience as visiting a snail farm. If anyone is interested in visiting, then here is their website; http://www.snailfarm.org.uk/index.html

Death in Paradise

Yesterday I finished watching 'Death in Paradise'. Possibly the best thing I've seen in a while; it's a very tongue in cheek murder series where an incredibly grumpy british police officer (played by Ben Miller) is stationed in the Caribbean, where despite the heat, he insists on wearing a suit 24/7 and drinking nothing but tea. The whole series reminded me a bit of Jonathan Creek - a whole series of slightly silly murders investigated by a character part. Series one is only a fiver off amazon and you get 8 episodes, so pretty good value for money!

Today's photo is another from Whitstable. If you wander along the harbour, there are certain things you see everywhere; seagulls, oyster shells piled up in their thousands, boats, and nets! So here are some nets!

Pretty Beaches

Just another pic from earlier this week. This is St Margaret's bay, isn't it great?!