Pretty Landscape Photo Day

Hello dear splodgies!

Firstly, lots of thanks to those who responded to my FB status about finding out if the 00:15 bus exists. It does, I got it home. However, it only exists on a Friday and a Saturday. Whateverrrr.

I don't have much to say right now as I am extremely tired having got up very early this morning after having got in late last night too. However, I do have some more lovely photos to share with you. It seems that if you're in Keswick (or if I'm in Keswick as the case seems) you have alternate few days of really horrible rainy, sleety, snowy, haily weather, and then very cold, very bright days. Strange right? Anyway, today was a beautiful day, so take a look! 

This was on my way to the theatre after work: 

The sun began setting. It was rather dramatic: 

...literally #nofilter. 

Things were a little less dramatic in this picture, but nevertheless very pretty: 

This picture was taken in almost exactly the same spot as a picture I posted last Thursday that attracted a lot of attention on Facebook: 

This picture is from the same spot, but pointing in a different direction:

...I did use a filter for this one.

And today, this is me:

Shame you can't quite see the mountains against the sky- everything is white! 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

p.s. Happy February! 

I am a tired human

Hello Splodgies! 

I'm late in, and have to get up early so I have only a few things to say tonight:

1. I finished the birds and posted them!

2. This is why I missed the bus.

3. It's probably not a good idea to ask the person ahead of you in the post office queue to post things for you, because they get very shifty about it, even though the sender's name and address, yours, is on the back and you've told them what's inside.

4. I like kitkats.

Today, this is me feeling supremely cool when I left the house this morning:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Stolen Cake (recipe)

Hello Splodgies! 

A number of odd things happened to me today.

Firstly, I was stood in the bus station minding my own business when a police car pulls up and the policewoman inside asks me if my name is Beverly. It's not, and I tell them this. They drive off without explanation.  

Secondly, when I was getting my bus back from Keswick I bought a discount muffin and a hot chocolate from the cafe in Booths whilst waiting for my bus. I got on the bus, not having started my muffin yet. But as I was sat on the bus eating it, something floated back into my memory. I knew this taste. I had had it before. Even though I have never bought any kind of muffin at booths. It was the same as a muffin recipe I had invented several years ago during the summer I had in the middle of 6th form. There was only one difference, flavour-wise. The muffin I bought at Booths was a raspberry, almond and white chocolate chip muffin. My muffin recipe was for raspberry, almond and lemon.  And at the time of creating this recipe, I had considered using white chocolate chips, but had experimented and decided that the white chocolate chips didn't make it into the final cut of the recipe. Why? Because lemon is better. White chocolate chips made it a bit too sweet. And having flavours happening in one muffin seemed a little excessive. Better to emphasise the lemon, with the subtlety of the almond and the zing of the raspberry then to clumsily add white chocolate chips willy-nilly! 

To paraphrase the recent words of Troy "there is yet to be a dish discovered that is not improved by lemon" And I'm certain he's right. 

It might have been the windy roads and the treacherous driving conditions, but I'm willing to blame my nausea on the way home on the muffin in question. Here's a picture of the muffin made with a stolen, early version of my recipe: 

Though it wasn't a bad muffin, I just begrudge whoever stole my recipe. And in all honesty, it's not absolutely inconceivable and out of the question that the recipe for the muffin I bought today had it's origins with me, for when I had perfected my own recipe, I did donate it to an independent cupcake company in Lancaster. And also my Grandmother on my father's side. But who's more likely to sell me out? ...I'll leave that for you to decide. 

Today, this is me enjoying my coffee before facing a blizzard on the way to work:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Goldfinger

Hello Splodgies! 

For the past couple of nights in a row I've had golden fingers. Or at least, golden fingertips. And very dry hands. 

"Why's that?!" I hear you cry?

...well it's because I've been intensively making origami cranes to send for a friend's wedding. My hands are dry because the paper is literally absorbing the moisture from my skin, and I don't want to use any moisturiser on my hands for fear of getting the fancy paper greasy. I'm feeling the time pressure very slightly as I was only able to get the paper on Tuesday, and the wedding is next weekend. At this moment in time, I have made 45. I need to make 70. I'm hoping that if I make at least 15 more tomorrow I can do the rest on Friday morning and send them off before I go to work. 

...And that is why my fingers are gold. I did try super hard to get a picture of the gold on my hands, but no matter what I did, however I edited the photos, whatever filters I used on my iPhone, I simply couldn't get it to show up on the picture. They were really small particles of golden dust, so much much smaller than standard glitter. 

A few people have asked me if there are anymore spooky happenings that I have noticed in my house today. Apart from being eerily quiet, there have been no spooky happenings to report. Sorry to disappoint. 

Today, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Further Spooky Happenings In My House

Hello Splodgies! 

Those of you who read yesterday's blog will have read about the odd stuff happening in my house over the past couple of days. 

Today I was a little flustered when I came in because shortly before I arrived home I received a phone call from the Sainsbury's delivery driver asking if he had the right house because nobody was answering the door. I told him I'd be 2 minutes as I was only one street away.

Once all the business of getting the shopping put away was all done, I came upstairs and saw FURTHER SIGNS OF CREEPINESS. 

Firstly, the door to the suspected occupied room was wedged open. This was strange, because last night it had been locked. It wasn't wedged open with a door wedge or a bin or anything normal- no. In the gap between the door and the door frame was... an iron. Not only that, but the net curtain on the window on the landing right outside my own door was tied in a knot. In addition to this, in my bathroom (I say "my" because I'm the only one who uses it at the moment. Though we're all allowed to use all the bathrooms, it makes sense that we primarily use the ones that are on the same floors as our bedrooms) my conditioner, had been moved from the shelf in the shower that it normally sits on, to the floor of the shower. This shouldn't ever need doing, even if someone is cleaning the shower. Furthermore, a mysterious bottle of mint and tea tree shower gel has appeared on the corner of the bath. 

....any ideas what these things are indicative of? 

The landlord texted me again and told me categorically that there shouldn't be anybody living in the room on the middle floor across from mine and asked me to check out what was going on. I took the keys from the previous tenant that had been on the kitchen table since he moved out and went and looked- I was slightly terrified, being the only person in the house at that point and having forgotten to take anything with me should I potentially need to defend myself. When I opened the door and turned on the light, there was nobody to be seen. But the wardrobe was taunting me with it's closed doors and there was a pretty big space behind the bed where someone could've hidden. Thankfully, nobody was hiding in either of those places. I searched through the drawers too, to see if someone had been there recently and left anything behind. All I found there were two biros and a key. 

The biros were uninteresting and I won't mention them again. The key however seemed to match the one for the front door. Which I found very fishy. I explained what had happened and he told me to lock the room and keep hold of the keys. Also to find out who had been ironing in there, although I don't think anyone had been ironing in there because I never iron my clothes, and the other two who live here have their own irons, neither of which were the one being used to prop open the door. 

One possible explanation is that the person who cleans the house sometimes had been there that day, but usually when this happens there is a strong smell of bleach when I get home. There was no such smell today, nor was there any sign of any cleaning having been done. I suggested this to the landlord and he didn't indicate that the cleaner was supposed to be coming today. 

A second explanation is that it could be one of my housemates- but this is unlikely, as one of them never comes upstairs because all his things are downstairs and he has no reason to come upstairs. The other housemate is away. 

...it's all a mystery!! Has anyone got any suggestions as to what they think it might be?? Or better still, know some quick to learn ninja techniques?

I'm now going to lock my door and go to sleep. 

Today, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Music and Radio (And the mystery of the light)

Hello Splodgies! 

Recently I've been trying to broaden my musical horizons beyond the sorts of things I normally listen to. I've been asking some friends for recommendations and so on. Ideally the way to do this would be via radio- because you can tune into the sorts of shows you like and hone your tastes that way.

The trouble is that I loathe the charts, and general BBC Radio 1 stuff, and I'm totally out of the demographic for BBC Radio 2. BBC Radio 3 is classical music mostly and not my thing. And BBC Radio 4, whilst I love it, is not a music station. Anything beyond radio 4 for BBC radio requires a DAB Digital radio. Something I don't currently own. However, I went around sainsbury's today whilst looking for some superior quality paneer and have a look at their digital radios so that I could tune into BBC Radio 6 music- because I've given it a try a few times and I quite liked their output. I was glad that I didn't but the £58.99 radios because I bought this refurbished one on eBay for £12:

My top three times for listening to the radio are:

1. Whilst having a lie in
2. Whilst having a shower
3. Whilst cooking. 

Because these are all things where I like to be doing something and not being disturbed until I am ready to get along with the rest of my day.

With regards to the second part of the title of this post, when I arrived back from Lancaster this evening and walked along the hallway to my room, there was a light coming from under the door of the other bedroom on this floor- which had been vacated since the middle of December. I went downstairs to put my paneer in the fridge [I have literally just remembered that I didn't pick up that jar of marmalade that my mum left for me after we made some at the weekend. Sorry Ruthie! xx] and I asked them if we had a new housemate. They said they hadn't realised so we all went upstairs to introduce ourselves- we knocked on the door but nobody answered. We assumed that whoever was in there was asleep or had headphones on, so we went back downstairs and carried on with whatever it was we were doing before. The next time I went past the door the light was gone. I sent the landlord a text message to ask if we had a new housemate- but he said we hadn't, and seemed as perplexed as the rest of us. I wasn't the only person who had seen the light coming under the door, so who was in there? And if there really wasn't anybody in the room, then where had the light come from? This could be added to the list of strange things that have happened in the house recently- two of my bowls and one of my knives have gone missing recently. I asked my housemates and one of the bowls is now accounted for but the rest is a mystery...

 -insert X Files theme tune here-

What do you think? Is someone stowing away in one of the spare rooms at my house? Is there particular radio station you'd recommend for someone looking to get into new types of music? Let me know in the comments! 

Today, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

80% Food.

Hello Splodgies! 

Today has been not particularly eventful. I've seen my friends Florence and Gertrude. Now might be a good point to mention that most of the names I mention on this blog that aren't my own are pseudonyms. But usually the person I'm talking about has chosen the pseudonym. Anyway we had a good catch up, and then when we were thrown out of our favourite hipster coffee place we came back to my house where neither of my parents could remember Florence's name. Shame on you, Mother. Shame on you, Father. 

Also I made saag paneer again. But this time I think it was the best I've ever made! 

...Also I'm slightly worried that over 80% of the pictures I put on my Instagram feed are of food. But that's what Instagram is for right? Right?! To be honest, the only reason I downloaded Instagram was from the snowballing peer pressure of having excellent looking photos of this that and the other. I hadn't really known what it was or how to use it, so I felt kind of cheated when I downloaded it and found that it was basically, choose a filter for your photo. But dammit they do look good. 

I'm not sure if I'm the only person who has this problem with Instagram or not, but Instagram-ing food that I have made is a majorly guilty pleasure of mine. I can't be the only one, surely? Let me know in the comments. 

Today, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Lancaster Again

Hello Splodgies! 

Today, I got up at a time that I had forgotten exists- known to lots of people as 5.30am. Having got in much later than usual from work (I got the last bus home from Keswick) I had only a few hours sleep. "But Rosa, why would you choose to get up at 5.30am on a Saturday?! Moreover, on a Saturday that you weren't working on?"I hear you cry. And the answer is because I wanted to get a train that would allow me to meet Bernadette and Persephone and Lauren at 11.30! The next train would've been too late because of stupidity on behalf of the people who schedule trains. The train I did catch got me in for just after 9, so I was able to go home for a little sleep and then some breakfast before meeting my friends:

While I was oot and aboot I went to try on lots of different pairs of glasses because at some point in the future, I'm supposed to have an eye operation, and when that's all done with I wanted to get some new glasses. I was thrilled to find gruffalo glasses, but the optician dispensing assistant wasn't thrilled to be asked if the gruffalo specs came in adult sizes..

This evening me and a bunch of folk went to see Birdman. I thought it was really good, but the general consensus amongst our group was that it was too much thinking required and some pretention in there. I thought it was great though! I would definitely recommend people go and see it :) 

Tonight, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

I walked through a cloud.

Hello Splodgies! 

Those of you who were jealous of yesterday's landscape photos may be pleased to know that today I got my comeuppance by having to walk through lots of rain. Still don't feel better about it? Me neither. I got rained on! Thankfully it wasn't windy though. I've come to the conclusion that its the wind that bothers me the most. Rain? Fine with it. Wind? KILL IT WITH FIRE! 

Anyway, this is a super super quick post as its almost midnight and I need to get a train at 6:24am back to Lancaster to spend some time with my super duper budz! Just got time for a cup of tea before I pack my bag ready for the morning. I can't do it in the morning because I'll be stumbling around bumping into things when I wake up at 5.30ish. 

Today, this is me: 

its another one of those "I didn't realise that this picture made it really obvious that I have a lazy eye until I put it on the computer to edit the blogpost" moments. Ah well. No point pretending it doesn't exist! 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

It's ridiculous how beautiful it is where I work

Hello Splodgies! 

Today, before lunch, but after our morning session, Jenn and I went for a trundle outside because it was such a nice say. It would've been a shame to waste the weather! And here's what we saw: 

It was a very still, very cold, very crisp day. Except that when you're standing in the sunshine, it's not THAT cold. That last picture was taken with my sunglasses over the lens of the camera on my phone, because it was waaaaay too bright to take any pictures. I was surprised how well it worked, and then lent my shades to a man who was doing the same thing as me- taking pictures with a smartphone. All in all, I've had a super great day! I hope the weather stays as still as this tomorrow as I'm going back to Keswick tomorrow too! 

Today, this is me: 

flippin' heck I look pale! it's a trick of the light :P 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Cake Mission

Hello Splodgies! 

This afternoon, I'd finished all my jobs in the office and about an hour or so to go before youth theatre began- so I proceeded to swing around on my chair and snapchat my goings on. Most of my snapchats were about cake. And then they included cake. And then I ate cake.

Because I'd not been at work in the morning, my whole timings for eating had gotten messed up! So it was approaching 4pm, and I wouldn't be going home for my tea until about 10pm. I really need to find a way to be eating at sensible times when I'm working evenings instead of mornings.

Anyway, I'm super sleepy, so I gotta catch some Zs before I get up for work in the morning! 

Hope you are all well! If you've got any tips for me, let me know in the comments! I'm aware that on days like today, my blog does suffer in terms of content and quality, but in a way, that's not the end of the world. When I started writing this blog, I was unemployed and had hours and hours and hours of free time just being wasted so I decided to use it writing a blog. Now that I have a job that I really love doing, but for various data protection reasons can't/won't talk about it in detail on my blog I have a lot less to put on here. So don't worry, it's not that I have nothing to say, its that I have lots that I want to say but can't. Because data protection/child protection is important! 

Today, this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Grateful for a stranger's honesty

Hello splodgy chums! 

Today as I was wondering aimlessly around home bargains in the hope that I would remember what it was that I had forgotten I needed to get in town before I went home today, a teenage boy came up to me and started to say something. I was wearing my headphones so I hadn't heard what he'd said. In the end he managed to tell me that my backpack was wide open and "your purse and keys and everything are one show" so I muttered a thank you, zipped up my bag and walked away. 

But I was thinking... they (he and his friend) could've just pinched my stuff and I would've assumed that I'd dropped it or it had fallen out of my bag. So... I guess I'm just grateful that it didn't fall out between the office and being at home bargains, and that someone decided to actually inform me that there was a problem. Frequently I see this sort of thing happen and nobody intervenes- often I will try to intervene if it doesn't look like I will be making the problem worse, but in my case I was very clearly dawdling around absent mindedly. So thank you, child! Whoever you are! 

Today, this is me:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Train Mis-haps and Appreciations.

Hello my dear chums! 

Today I went for lunch with my mum and my brother at the Whale Tail; long time hippy hang out for the vegetarian and vegan population of Lancaster. It is now an extremely trendy place to be- note the differences between hippies and hipsters. Both are now congregating in the Whale Tail frequently. You could say that both groups are frequenting it. The Whale Tail has been a key location for many events of my childhood. And I love it. I hope it stays there forever! 

When I'd done a few jobs in town, gone to see my pals at Oxfam who I'd not seen in a while and gone back home to get my things, Linden (lil bro) came to the train station with me to catch my train. Because we were quite early and I was feeling kind, I got us both a coffee and we went over to the platform. No sooner had I got to the bottom of the stairs, I said to Linden "Oh shit... I've left my headphones behind!" and he (also very kindly) said he'd run back and get them, as I had a lot of stuff and we don't live that far from the train station. 

No sooner had he headed off though, I realised that I'd also left my laptop charger plugged in next to my bed. If Linden had had a working phone, then I would've just called him as he was on his way back to ask him to get the laptop charger too. Unfortunately for us both he did not have a working phone. My best chance was to call the house phone repeatedly and hope that he picked up whilst he was in the house. 

I rang no fewer tan 23 times, but sadly he had deemed the call not important enough to pick up given that he was in a hurry to get back to the station before my train arrived. He arrived in time for me to get the train I was originally going to catch, looking very pleased and carrying my headphones. I handed him back his coffee and said "thank you!....but I'm not getting this train..." before explaining what had happened to him. Because he was being kind, he went back to get the charger too in time for me to get the next train. 

I'm so pleased that I have a kind brother. And also that the train I was going to get in the first place was not the last train I could get, but the penultimate one. And I'm also pleased that my hand is healing and it is no longer uncomfortable to play ukulele with all my usual enthusiasm. And I am glad that I am slowly but surely improving my posture. And I am glad that I like my job and my work. And I am glad that I will be going back to Lancaster next weekend and that there are actual legit plans for that weekend. Feeling like a sentimental lentil, to borrow a phrase from Troy.

What sorts of things have made you glad today? Let me know in the comments, spread your love and appreciation for the good things in your life! 

Today, this is me:

Mug Cuts

Hello Splodgies!! 

Today, my parents and I did the whole thing with the mugs that my mum has wanted to do for a long time. We've had the same 15 or so mugs in circulation for as long as I can remember, and my mum has had this dream that one day she will own a cupboard full of cups that she actually likes. So at first we had "weekend mugs" mugs that we would buy whenever we went away on holiday, usually bought in pairs. These live in their own little special space on some shelves near where we usually keep plates and glasses on the other side of the room. 

Regular use mugs, have recently receive an upgrade however! Take a look at these beauts! 

You can't really tell in this picture but at the base of the handles they all have an animal. I think we have three cows, a sheep, and a pig in this collection. 

Bonus photo of my dad pouring milk from one bottle into another, because one bottle is better than the other and more "authentic". 

...just kidding. It was because some of the milk was frozen. And some of it was not. Hence, two receptacles needed. 

Anyway, these were all the mugs that needed sorting: 

Anyone who's ever had a cup of tea at my house will recognise the vast majority of these. We sorted through and divided into 

"Mugs we want to keep in the cupboard"

"Mugs that are too chipped and cracked to use except as pen pots" and

"Mugs that we will only pull out for emergencies" 

...I don't really know what these emergencies might be, but something was mentioned about having a large number of people and if they were all outside and all needed a cup of tea at exactly the same time. Probably the same occasion at which they would actually use that giant metal teapot they have on the kitchen windowsill that is significantly bigger than my entire head. 

We cleaned out the whole cupboard in the end and found some real shockers. Like this box of green tea that went out of date the last time my uncle came to visit us, in February 2005.

Or this pair of jolly zoological egg cups- they were in a pair for me and Amber. I can't quite remember who gave us them, but they were a birthday present, probably before we were 13. Mine was the crocodile and Amber's was the cow. 

And this golden gem of a tacky collector's item, an R2D2 egg cup:

At the end, my dear mother Ruthie pie wanted me to take a picture of the finished cupboard all clean and organised with everything back where it's supposed to go: 

....so there you have it. A new mug era has begun in the Cooper-Davies household! ...Shame I'm rarely here! 

Today, this is me and Ruthie Pie after having watched Call The Midwife:

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Spontaneous Lancaster Trip (Also known as the grumpy man on the train)

Hello splodgies! 

Before I get properly started, take a look at this hideous apostrophe misuse that I came across on a photo album in Wilko's:

I had apostrophe rage. I mean, really- who said it was ok for this to go to production? Wilko, your photo album is bad and you should feel bad. 

Anyway, back to the proper post.

When I got out of work a little earlier than I had expected, my friend/colleague Jenn said to me "what are you going to do with the rest of your weekend then?" and I replied something along the lines of "I don't really know... clean my room perhaps? I'm not back in [the office] until Tuesday" and she said "why don't you go home?" and I checked the time... And yes! I would be able to go all the way back to Lancaster in that time and arrive in time to have dinner with my family. Jolly good! 

When I got on my connecting train at Barrow, it was empty because it had been a previous service terminating there. But it was cold and windy on the platform, so the staff said we could get on the train, so I sat at one of the tables near the door because there was a plug and I needed to charge my phone. 

Much time passed...

...When the train pulled into Carnforth, the stop before Lancaster, I was the only person sitting in the carriage. But a few people got on and sat down. An old man (he looked to be in his late 60s/early 70s and dressed quite poshly, but not sombrely), pointed at a spot above my head, and crouched down to glare at me. I was just sitting there with my headphones on listening to music, playing mahjong and minding my own business, but he was clearly extremely pissed off about something. The conversation went something like this: 

Me: ...can I help you?

Him: its the only bloody seat that's reserved in the carriage!

Me: What? 

-pause- I turn around and see a reservation sticking out of the top of my seat for Carnforth to Lancaster. 

Me: Oh, sorry- That reservation wasn't there when I got on the train.

Him: It's been there the whole time! 

Me: I got on at Barrow

Him: It's the only seat reserved in the carriage! You had to sit in that one! 

Me: The reservation WASN'T there when I was sat down!

-He splutters. There are literally about a hundred other seats in the carriage he could've chosen-

Me: Would you like me to move.

Him: No. It's fine. I don't care. 

So I put my headphones back on. He sits opposite me on the table across the aisle, crosses his arms and pointedly looks away. When I go back to my game of mahjong, he continues glaring at me and quickly looks away whenever I happen to glance up. 

For those who are familiar with the Barrow-In-Furness train service, you will know that there is approximately 12 minutes between Carnforth and Lancaster. And this sad old man had deemed it necessary to book a seat for that. And the thing is, I wouldn't have minded giving him my seat if there hadn't been THE REST OF THE CARRIAGE for him to choose from. Even if he didn't believe me about the reservation having been put on there after I sat down...! There were lots of table seats available, and multiple sockets for phones and laptops. I mean... He made such a fuss! I could understand if he had been left standing up with a whole lot of heavy stuff to carry. But he didn't even have anything to carry with him! I was most disgruntled by his antisocial attitude. When the train pulled into Lancaster, I was pleasantly surprised to see my father waiting for me on the platform. As soon as the grumpy man (who also got off the train) was out of earshot, I told him all about it "this is going on the blog, this is!" 

...And it did. 

What do you think? Was I being unreasonable? Or was I right to judge this man as petty and rude? Let me know in the comments!

Today this is me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Well blow me down!

Hello Splodgies! 

I've had an interesting evening. I walked home in the wind though! It was super windy!! 

Sadly tonight I don't really have time to write more as I have to be up in six hours to go to work again. 

Proper posting tomorrow! 

Today, this is me getting windswept! 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Weather ninja

Hello Splodgies! 

Those of you who live in the UK will have noticed how incredibly windy it's been. Where I am there have been wind speeds of up to 103mph recorded!! That's why recently whenever I've wanted to go outside, I've had to go out dressed like this: 

Which I feel looks rather alarming. But I have to cover the vast majority of my face because recently my skin has been feeling very much damaged by all the wind. However covering my face and using the hood to keep it there has the following unfortunate consequences:

1. I look like I'm off to rob a bank.
2. I can't wear my glasses without them steaming up. 
3. I felt very silly because nobody else was wrapping their face up. 

However, in reference to point 1, if I was going to rob a bank, I wouldn't wear such a distinctive outfit of clothes (aside from the red storm coat, I was also wearing my bright blue jeans and my beautiful red, white and navy DM shoes). And also it makes me look a little bit like a ninja. As in I am so fast I can dodge all the raindrops. Even though I am thoroughly soaked in this picture. 

In reference to point 2, I think I was almost hit by a car twice today. I figured though that having my glasses on and then having them steam up so I could see a lot less would've been much more unsafe than having some vision loss. Basically some vision is better than none at all!! 

Continuing onto point 3, I often feel silly. But sometimes its quite fun :) So it doesn't matter. 

Today, this is me swinging on my office chair: 

If I didn't know it was me in both of these pictures on today's post, I might have assumed the top one was someone else. I look so weird without my glasses...

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

Down with the kids

Hello splodgies! 

Some of you might know that from time to time, I work with young people. Which often makes me feel like I must seem like this to them: 

And obviously, I'm not as old as this dude, who's name currently escapes me. But to those young people I work with, I seem like a genuine, proper, legit adult.  Which obviously I'm not. For examples of my childishness, see yesterdays blog, of have a conversation with me about the word "spelk". 

But at the same time, I couldn't help but be impressed by the vast majority of these kids, simply for the amount they retain in their brains! 

To cut a long waffle short, kids are really smart. Like, super massive smart. Don't underestimate them. 

I was planning to write about this properly but I just saw the time and I really have to go to bed so that I've had enough sleep before I have to get up for work in the morning. 

Today, this is me having been extremely rained on and windswept despite having a lift home. This is what the weather between the car and my front door did to me: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

"Fashionable Ukulele"

Hello Splodgies! 

As the last few posts on my blog have been so dull I've published them, but not shared them anywhere on social media, I thought now might be a good time to blow myself out of the water with my own weirdry. 

I present to you, the one time only 

UKULELE FASHION BLOG!! 

ok, so when you google "Fashionable ukulele" what comes up are mainly pictures like this: 

And to me, that says "well you can't even see the ukulele at all!" and look at that person with the ukulele- what a poser! This is no good! 

Ukuleles seem to be on the ever rising trend! So I decided I'd create my very own brand of ukulele fashion. It seems like everyone is creating a fashion blog of their own these days anyway. What's In (thats in with a capital I) this season, in uke fashion? I'm glad you asked...

Teen Uke Fashion

The shades. The shirt. The shoes. It says it all. This is the height of teen uke fashion. We asked our model, Teenor (Tenor + Teen, get it??) a few questions:

R: Thanks for being here today

T: Whatever, maaaan.

R: Have you enjoyed being here at the Daily Splodge photoshoot? 

T: its alright...

R: Why are you wearing sunglasses indoors?

T: Its IRONIC.

R: What are your hopes for the future?

T: Can you shut up a minute? I'm trying to play candy crush. 

...there you have it, folks! 

Teenor insisted on having a black and white photo of itself staring into the mid distance away to the left of the photographer. The photographer who was very patient. #NoFilter.

Young Hipster Trends

[For the purposes of the following interview, Bari's voice should be read in the voice of the Gap-Yah guy from that video a few years back]

Our model Bari was more keen to have a chat with us after the photo shoot.

R: Hi Bari. It's been really great working with you today

B: Yah, yah, its been, like totally fantastic to meet you all. Great people. Great people. 

R: What did you think of the clothes? 

B: Oh yeah, I mean, totally on trend, you know? That scarf, its actually made from Himalayan mohair, but its so finely woven you can hardly tell.

R: The hat and the shoes seem to work really flatteringly for your body type

B: Oh, yeah yeah. Totes vintage. I try to dress to suit my figure- that's the key to it. And of course you never want to over accessorise. 

R: Of course not.

B: No, never. 

R: What are some of your favourite accessories not in the photoshoot today then? 

B: Oh yeah yeah... well that's, like totally an impossible question, I really can't choose. I might have to say my cassette player- I think it sounds, y'know, more authentic to how the original artists intended it? Music is a very, like, important influence in my life. 

R: Really? What kind of music are you listening to at the moment?

B: Yeah, well you've probably, like, totes never heard of them. There's actually, like, two bands that 

I'm really into right now- Broken String and Splintered Fret Board- they always play together and they have four of the same members. Totes shaking up the status quo of the genre.

R: What genre is that then?

B: Oh you know, bit of folk, bit of jazz, bit of casual death metal- that sort of thing.

R:. ....right. So will we be seeing you again for another Uke Fashion photoshoot? 

B: Oh yeah, for sure for sure. So long as I've finished my screen play.

R: You're writing a screen play?

B: Yeah, totes. I'm actually going to starbucks strait after this to see if I can get a little bit more of the structural narrative planned out. Gonna go grab myself a venti skinny latte with two shots of hazelnut syrup and find myself a corner where I'm visible from the outside and visible from the inside, but nobody but me can see the screen of my macbook pro- just so everyone can see the apple glowing on the outside.

R: Goodluck with that...

Kid Uke Fashion

Most kids this age are considered clever if they can stand up by themselves, and this is why our fashion designer (that is to say, I) have decided to keep things really simple and minimal with this next design for the under 2s. 

A simple, knitted hat. Keeping the tuning pegs and the upper fretboard nice and cosy, so as not to slip out of tune so quickly. Shiny black eyes to emphasise cuteness and those ever adorable ears. 

This is what the album cover would look like if the three ukes formed their own band: 

And this would be the inside cover art work with the track listings on the next page: 

Are you on the inside track on Ukulele fashion? if you weren't before, you are now! If you think you know what's hot and what's not, what's in and what's out, who is and who so is not in the world of ukulele fashion, leave me a comment and let me know what you think! 

N.B, currently on the Out list are:

Poor quality strings

Electroukes without resonators

Felt plectrums. 

....and that's all that we know of. 

Today, this is me, hanging out with Teenor just before the photo shoot: 

See you tomorrow!

-Rosa

x

...I'm really not sure how much more bizarre I can make this. What am I doing....??