Day 356

Two shops had no bananas and one had only solid green ones. Since when does one have to go to FOUR shops to find an edible banana? more...

Day 293

Hey, some days ya gotta do what ya gotta do. more...

Day 281

Courage. more...

Day 258

Crystal structure was one of my worst subjects as an undergrad, and I had to teach it today. Ugh. more...

Day 219

We managed to wrest my new bag from the clutches of ParcelForce today. Yay! more...

Day 199

In a fit of insanity, I decided it would be fun to go get our Christmas tree at Duncombe Park in the North York Moors. Unfortunately, a fire in a village that closed the road, our propensity for getting lost, crazy drivers (including a bus that rear-ended us), and the narrow, steep, winding roads in the moors made it rather more "fun" than we'd bargained for. My nerves may not recover for a week.

But the tree is lovely. more...

Day 44

Due to a miscommunication with my aunt, I had to change the day on my train tickets. In order to do this, the website insisted that I had to first pick up the original tickets from the train station. Then the only option for delivery they gave me was next-day post, at £5 per ticket. So I called them and was told that I should book a new ticket, call them back with the reference number, and they would issue a refund. This would allow me to pick up my tickets at the station rather than paying for delivery by post.

All of this was Monday night. Saturday afternoon I got an email from them, saying that my original tickets had apparently been picked up at the station, so I would need to post the tickets back before they could give me a refund. Of course, I had already thrown them away!

Fortunately, my wonderful husband managed to dredge them up again, rather worse for wear. more...

Day 29

Who would have thought baking cupcakes would be such an ordeal? First we couldn't find buttermilk (ok, that's an easy substitution) or paper liners in the right size. Then I wasn't sure how to substitute UK plain flour for US cake flour, so I made it up. Close enough. Finally the tin was greased and floured and the batter scooped into it. But when I tried to put it in the oven, it didn't fit. Grrrrr!

I ended up baking the other batch, which was in silicone muffin cups. The batter from the tin was scooped back into the bowl and shoved in the fridge because it was getting late. We had a dreadful time getting the cupcakes out of the cups - so much for the nonstickiness of silicone - and they had serious structural issues.

Finally I got the cream cheese icing (rather lumpy) and the berries on them and managed to take a picture before midnight. And then we devoured them - and they were very yummy!

Happy 4th of July!!! more...