"You think it a faithful portrait undoubtedly"

I have been a bit silent of late, and I do apologise,the week "off" over Easter was greatly appreciated, though I could have done with two weeks. I am no where near where I want to be with my thesis work. Tutorials are going well however, and the feedback I have gotten from the students has been overwhelmingly positive, which is great.

Taking advantage of a lovely autumnal day we went to the Art Gallery to see the Archibalds. It was heaving with people, we had to wait in line for 10 minutes just to get tickets! The exhibition was good, though not overly profound. The highlight of the morning was seeing Bonita from Playschool in the crowd. That being said there were some very good portraits, particularly one of the little kid from Australia, that was stunning.

We then went to The Lord Nelson Pub for a pint (of real ale!!!) and lunch. We have been meaning to go here for about 5 years, and it didn't disappoint! I went for Fish and Chips and an Admiral's Ale, which was delicious, I am very much looking forward to going back there when I don't have to drive home and having several pints. It is a lovely pub though, and I am curious about the accommodation too. I am scheming for when Mr. A comes out to visit, it might be a nice place to stay for a weekend.

On the baking front, it has been also been a bit silent, or at least not worthy of photography. I did make some more choc-chip cookies, like the ones I made previously, but they turned out so different as I left out about 90 g of flour for oats. They were much crunchier, though equally delicious. I will make another batch tonight I think. I made ANZAC's too, but they weren't quite right. I think they needed more golden syrup. I will try again.

My Annual review paper is due in about 3 weeks. I haven't done it and I don't want to think about it. The panel is pretty nasty, and it isn't a stretch to say I am very nervous and anxious about the whole thing. Fingers crossed they don't hate me. Perhaps baking to soften them up might be the way to go!?

Ah well, better go and do some of the work that I have been putting off.

HH

"The very next day however produced some proof of inspiration"

I have been hideously unproductive this weekend, and whilst part of me is raging, for the most part I don't care and I have enjoyed watching the rest of season 2 of Buffy (oh the angst, it is so unfair!). I have now moved on to an episode of Hornblower...research purposes of course. I shall of course, get down to work tomorrow, or later today...no tomorrow.

After working at my non-history job on Saturday, and comforting an elderly woman for forgetting her wallet, I turned around and did the same thing myself in the evening. It made paying for dinner a difficult experience, thankfully my friend helped me out, but also driving home during double demerits rather disconcerting. I back streeted it, and arrived home unscathed.

After speaking to Mr A this morning, I had a nice day. I cooked roast lamb for lunch and then pear, walnut and ginger crumble for dessert. Foodycat's friands got me thinking about the pears and walnuts I had in the house, and with limited eggs, my thoughts turned to crumble. Using the pie lady's recipe for the crumble, I stewed the pears and two granny smith apples with a little sugar, water and a cinnamon stick, and then stirred in a good teaspoon of ground ginger once it was cooked. I used walnuts instead of pecans, and it worked very well. The topping was great, just what I want in a crumble, crunchy, chewy, crumbly. Served with custard (Birds not real, again due to limited eggs) it was a nice end to a nice lunch.




HH

"I have sometimes thought of going to London again after Easter"

The last few weeks have been somewhat crazy. Tutoring and marking have somewhat consumed my life, and my PhD has gone by the wayside. Tutoring itself is going really well, marking I hate and am now anxiously awaiting the avalanche of complaints. Mr A is good, though still in England, and it is a bit of a downer being apart, especially for the long weekend when we are both doing nothing in particular. I am secretly wondering if I need another research trip, I am sure I could pitch it legitimately to the uni and my supervisor...maybe....

I hope over the coming week to get back to my own work and have some down time, which I seriously need. Today I made a good start on that, by watching several more episodes of Buffy! (Phwoar, urst, angst!) I also made some hot cross buns, from Nigella Feast. I am tempted to make them again and let them rise in the fridge overnight as she suggests as they could be more tender. Though infusing the milk with spices before adding it to the dry ingredients and ground spices, awesome. I didn't pay much attention to presentation so they are a little ugly, but really, it is what is on the inside that counts. (Sorry that there are two missing from the picture, they smelt so good we couldn't wait!)



I hope everyone has a good Easter, or long weekend, which ever takes your fancy.

HH