Friday Favourites, volume 2

It's been so long since I've done Friday Favourites, but it just had to be done this week as I have seen so many most excellent things.  This is likely to be a bit of a sporadic series, all dependent on what wonders I see each week.

So, without further ado, here are some of the things I've loved this week...

Favourite Instagrammer Allison Sadler

© This Little Space of Mine

I am loving Allison Sadler's Instagram feed. I met Allison last year at Blogtacular and her Instagram is a perfect reflection of her personality. It's full of positive, sparkly, bright, happy and beautiful things.   There's always something to make you smile!  One day I'll make it to one of her #makeitsewcial events!

Favourite Handmade Popsicle Bunting

This amazing popsicle (ice-lolly) bunting is by Bees and Apple Trees (a name I thoroughly approve of!) via Allison Sadler's Instagram.  I made some 2D ice-cream and seaside bunting last summer and had dreadful problems with it curling up and refusing to hang nicely, despite blocking. This weightier version looks like it resolves that problem neatly and it looks fantastic to boot!  I've got my yarn, a crochet hook and a pair of sunglasses...hit it!

Favourite Food Arla Skyr

I first had Skyr in America, over five years ago.  I fell in love with the thick, creamy Icelandic yoghurt (which is actually cheese, but when it tastes this good, who cares what it technically is?) and loved that it was naturally fat-free.  Since then I've been trying (and failing) to be in London when the Scandinavian Kitchen had some of this rare beast in stock,  Imagine my surprise when I found a taster stand in my local Sainsbury's last week!  I've been gorging on it ever since; the natural flavour is perfect as a replacement for sour cream in potato salad or on fajitas, and the honey is glorious.  It's very Slimming World friendly, too.

Favourite Geekery The new Doctor Who trailer!!



Coming to our screens on the 19th of September!!  Really looking forward to it, and I'm ever so curious about Arya Stark's character in this.  Could this finally be Susan??

Favourite Tutorial Pretty Handlettering in 3 Steps

© In My Own Style

I came across this tutorial on Pinterest yesterday afternoon--loving their suggested pins--and since then I've been happily doodling away.  My regular handwriting is doctor levels of terrible these days, and I always feel a bit envious when a beautifully penned card pops through the letterbox, so being able to create some beautiful lettering easily is a wonder to me!  It really does work.  I'm quite stunned at how nice my handwriting can look, especially as I'm just using an old biro at the moment. (Must raid Lucas's pencil case!)

All I need now is an upcoming birthday, wedding or baby to show off my handiwork!

~

Have a fabulous Friday and an awesome weekend!

Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular

On Monday we journeyed through time and space at the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular in Cardiff.

As you've all noticed by now, I'm a huge Doctor Who fan--we all are actually--and we've had tickets booked for months and months. Every so often I'd catch sight of the note in the diary and get all excited before remembering that we still had ages to wait. But wait no more! It's been and gone now, or is still yet to come if you're further north...

Having never been to an event billed as a spectacular, let alone a symphonic spectacular, we weren't a hundred percent certain what to expect. I thought it might be a bit like Doctor Who at the Proms with monsters popping up every so often and I expected Peter Davison (Five!!) to tell a few jokes here and there, as he's quite fond of that.  Well, we got that and more!!

Peter Davison reunited with the TARDIS

Each piece of music, played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with the Chorus of Wales (AKA The Doctor's House Band) and conducted by Ben Foster, was accompanied by a video montage.  We romped through the Twelfth Doctor's tenure, said "Hello, Hello" to the monsters, were invaded by some Daleks who invaded the Motorpoint Arena and forced the orchestra to play "Dalek music", and visited Last Christmas with the Dream-crab monsters mingling menacingly in the stalls.

The Teller

Concert photography is hard!!

Highlights were Abigail's Song from A Christmas Carol, originally performed by Katherine Jenkins and beautifully sung by Elin Manahan Thomas and the full Pandorica Suite. Absolutely spine tingling.  The Companions Theme was magnificent and has reminded me of how much I grew to love Donna Noble as Ten's companion. I really need to re-watch that series very soon...

Bravo!

And of course the performance wouldn't be complete without Murray Gold's reworking of the iconic Doctor Who theme!



Best of all, Lucas has decided that he likes orchestra music and wants to go to another concert. Result!!

The one where I meet The General Lee (and go racing)

Ever had one of those days when you nip out for a few minutes and then crawl home hours and hours later?

(That may be a slight analogy for my blogging habits of late, too...)

We popped to The Mall to pick up Dave's repaired iPhone and after plenty of mooching around the shops--so much gorgeous copper and crystal at John Lewis just now--we remembered that the Bristol Motor Show was on, so we had to stop to take a quick look...

Lucas checked out the new Smart cars: "Too big"

I was chatting with a rally car driver sponsored by my garage when Lucas hared over and demanded my phone because he had to take pictures.  When I eventually wandered over I found the boys getting snap happy with the '89 Batmobile.

So big! Had to a panorama to get it all in!

I'm afraid that for once the Batmobile didn't hold my attention. Right next to it was The General Lee!  Please tell me you've all heard of The Dukes of Hazzard?  My brother and I used to pretend that we were jumping The General whenever we drove over a humpback bridge and had that millisecond of hang-time... I was going to marry Bo Duke when I was old enough.

The General Lee. Even better than the Batmobile.

The Wee Man was in his own world of geeky joy as he went nuts over Bumblebee from the Transformers movies.

Love the Autobot detail on the wheels!

There were loads of lovely new cars at the show, but I couldn't help but coo over these beauties, who were selling ice-cream.

Possibly the cutest ice-cream stand ever!

From vintage to hi-tech loveliness...

Lucas loved having a go on one of the Freewheelers blood transport bikes and getting to play with the blues and twos.  I hadn't realised how huge these bikes are!

I thought it was a nice little show. There was a nice mix of eco--Smart cars, the Tesla, bike-powered smoothies--along with family cars, motorbikes, and fun displays from BMX riders.

Afterwards we were in the mood for a drive so we zoomed around the countryside which was absolutely stunning in the sunshine and eventually found ourselves at Castle Coombe watching the Lotus Owners Club track day.

Trust me, they were fast!

Sun, fast cars and a great view... we had loads of fun watching the racing and predicting who was going to spin off. Dave is the Undisputed Champion in that respect...



We loved watching all the Lotuses zoom around the track. I'm not sure I'd have the guts to throw my own car around the track but it's a hell of a lot of fun watching other people do it.  The boys are off to watch Smart car racing at Castle Coombe next month--I wasn't very interested before, but this was so much fun that I might tag along.  (If I can take an armchair.)

Here's some cars that managed to stay on the track!



And purely because no post is truly complete without a shot of the Wee Man, here's Lucas doing his very best 70s impression.

Straight out of The Professionals!

The Doctor Who Experience

During the Christmas holidays we surprised Lucas with a trip to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff.  (Although, he worked out where we were going shortly after we passed the sign for Newport through a series of deductions that were Sherlock-worthy (and mildly annoying)).  Brace yourselves for epic (and yes, belated) geeky pic-spam!

The entrance hall of the Experience has a selection of props from the show, some classic and and some very, very new ones.  We were incredibly excited to see Handles on display, only a couple of weeks after the Christmas special!

If you happen to find yourself visiting on a busy day then it gives you something to ooh and aah over while you wait for the Interactive Adventure to begin.

Handles--probably the Doctor's longest-serving Companion

The Moment

"Spoilers, sweetie."

Unfortunately no photos are allowed inside the interactive adventure, but having done it twice, I can tell you that it is awesome!  I really, really don't want to spoil the fun, so you'll simply have to take a trip to Cardiff yourself.  Now, if you want to adventure through time and space with the Eleventh Doctor, you'll have to be quick.  The Experience closes on the 1st of September so that it can regenerate into an all-new adventure with Twelve.  I expect the exhibit hall will also get a swift update!

Eleven, in wax.

One of the first things we saw when we walked into the exhibit hall was a replica of the First Doctor's TARDIS console, used in the filming of the excellent An Adventure in Time and Space drama last year.

The First Doctor's TARDIS

I pored over the display of sonic screwdrivers and TARDIS keys for a while.  I love that while all the signs are in Welsh as well as English, sonic screwdriver is the same in both languages!

I love the display of the Doctor's costumes, all laid out in order.  There are also plenty of companion costumes, although mainly from the new series, which is fair enough as those costumes probably weren't preserved!

The Second Doctor also felt that bowties were cool, although not quite in those words.

K-9 was looking most dapper

There was a spot of bother with one of the TARDIS consoles.  Luckily Lucas and Dave were on-hand with sonics to sort it all out!

There are so many wonderful prop displays in the exhibit hall; I could post a hundred photos and still not scratch the surface.  So I'm going to cherry-pick my favourites to finish with.

The Doctor's cradle, just beautiful design,

Special Weapons Dalek

"Don't blink."

We had a great time at the Doctor Who Experience, especially Lucas who bounced excitedly between exhibits, operated a Dalek, and hid behind me to escape from the Weeping Angels!  (Thank goodness they didn't have any children in gas masks otherwise I'd have tried to hide behind him!)  We'll definitely be back for the Capaldi adventure and to see all the lovely new props that keep being added.

If you love Doctor Who and haven't gone yet, then you absolutely must go!!  In fact...run!

"I'm the Doctor, nice to meet you.  Now...run!"

Summer Fruits Frozen Yoghurt

Sometimes you just have to treat yourself, don't you?

Yesterday I treated myself to a very sexy ice cream maker; it's sleek, shiny and best of all...self-freezing!  I've been lusting after one of these beauties for at least ten years, waiting patiently (and then not-so patiently) for the somewhat astronomical price to fall so that I could feast upon ice-cream.

My luck changed on Saturday when I visited the Nisbets stand at the Foodies Festival in town.  (I had absolutely no idea that Nisbets was open to the public--I'd always thought it was trade-only--so that was a nice surprise.)  I flicked through their catalogue and spotted the Buffalo ice cream maker at a rather nice price, and the folks running the stand mentioned that it was actually on special offer at the moment.  Well.  My heart went pitter-patter.  I got even more excited when I discovered a 10% off voucher tucked into my catalogue!

One quick trip to the Nisbets shop in Avonmouth and my dreams finally came true.  I wonder how many people can say that their dreams have come true in Avonmouth of all places?

I was delighted to discover that the Buffalo had an incredibly simple design.  Just put the bowl and paddle in the machine--there isn't a wrong way to do this, bonus!--pour in well-chilled ingredients and put the lid on.  Then all you have to do is set the timer and watch the temperature plummet.  The Buffalo went from 24C to -24C in less than five minutes and was pretty quiet when churning, too.

I put it to the test with a 'kitchen sink' sort of frozen yoghurt.  There were some blackcurrants leftover from a trip to a PYO farm last week, half a punnet of blueberries and some cherries in the freezer.  My eyes lit on a tub of Greek yoghurt  at the back of the fridge and that was that...Summer Fruits frozen yoghurt was born.

The first thing Lucas said to me when I picked him up from school was, "Did you make ice cream, Mummy?"  He was thrilled when I told him that I did!  Unfortunately I tested his patience while I fussed over my photo set-up and took a million photos before finally fixing him a cone.

He was happy.  My poor deprived child...fancy having to wait a whole five minutes for frozen yoghurt?!

So far I'm really pleased with my shiny new ice cream machine.  The texture of the frozen yoghurt was silky smooth and the yoghurt was firm enough to scoop when I took it out of the machine, so if you had some sort of ice cream emergency you could have a bowl of freshly-churned ice cream ready in just over half an hour.  How awesome is that?

Next up is salted caramel ice cream (followed by some vigorous exercise).  I can't wait!!

Summer Fruits Frozen Yoghurt

400g mixed summer fruit (I used about 200g blackcurrants and roughly equal amounts of blueberries and cherries)
60g caster sugar

400g full-fat Greek yoghurt
125g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
pinch of salt

Place the fruit in a large saucepan and add the caster sugar.  Place on a medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes until the fruit softens and collapses.  Don't put a lid on--it will boil over and then you'll have to scrub and scrub and scrub. Ask me how I know.)  Allow to cool before rubbing through a fine-mesh sieve.  Make sure to press through all the liquid--you should be left with a small spoonful of skin and seeds once you're done.  Put the fruit puree in the fridge and allow to chill completely.

When you're ready to make the frozen yoghurt, mix the caster sugar and salt with the Greek yoghurt.  Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes (to allow the sugar to dissolve) then mix again.

Beat in the vanilla bean paste and approximately half of the fruit puree.  Taste and add more purée if needed--you want a strong flavour that is just too sweet.

Churn in an ice cream maker, following manufacturers instructions.  Once churned, spoon into a freezer-proof container, alternating the frozen yoghurt with drizzles of the remaining puree. Gently swirl the mixture together to create a ripple.  Freeze for at least four hours to finish hardening.

The Godzilla Household

Half-term has been a noisy affair in our household.  Dave and Lucas went to see the new Godzilla film and since then, all I can hear is Godzilla-esque "Skreeonk!" noises and epic kaiju (monster) battles.

Lucas's fascination with Godzilla started a few years ago after watching an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars with the capture of the Zillo Beast.  Dave mentioned off-handedly that it was based on Godzilla, Lucas wanted to know what that was, and ever since I've found myself immersed in Godzilla and kaiju.

Now, he's not just got a passing interest in it....he's a proper fan.  He can tell you when a movie was filmed and why they used certain monsters and not others, and all sorts of arcane bits of information.  Friends in America feed his habit by sending across occasional issues of the G-Fan magazine which he treasures.  (I love how obsessed kids can get with things.  My brother was the same when he was a kid--obsessed with tartans (of all things) and could tell you all about any sort of tartan you could think of, along with the history of the clan it belonged to.)

On our last holiday in America, we had to drive to four different Toys R Us stores to find him a Godzilla and then a Mecha-Godzilla toy!  Godzilla needed someone to battle, after all!  He spent all of his holiday money on Godzilla toys and has loved them ever since.

All this Godzilla love has culminated in Lucas and Dave's first Godzilla film! Complete with CGI (cardboard-generated imagery).  Feast your eyes on 8 seconds of awesome!



(Dave used iMotion HD to film on his iPhone. Lucas made the flames and atomic breath with some cardboard and colouring pens. Toy extras courtesy of Lucas's extensive [sigh] collection.)

The boys are already planning their next film and Lucas is busy writing and drawing his own Godzilla comic.  I'm wondering if I'm looking at a future Hollywood wunderkind...hopefully he'll remember his dear old Mum when he's walking the red carpet at his first film premier!!

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#BEDM 4: May the force be with you

Rebel forces with Lucas & T

Happy Star Wars Day!

This year I joined Lucas and Dave at Legoland to celebrate May the Fourth along with some friends of ours.  There's nothing better than sharing some geeky love with friends!  Even NASA is celebrating it!

The Imperial Navy and Stormtroopers mingled with the crowds at the entrance to the park.

While in Miniland, Stormtroopers were drilled on the flight pads at NASA, with various Darth Vaders lurking around the models, trying to put nefarious schemes into action.  Miniland is absolutely my favourite place in Legoland...building all those models is probably the best job ever!

Miniland

After everyone dragged me away from Miniland, we explored the rest of the park.  There were loads of Star Wars activities, but there were so many visitors that we couldn't get near them.  Instead, we whipped out our lightsabres and the boys had many, many running battles as we walked between rides (and while we queued for rides).

We bumped into a few baddies along the way... These guys looked more confused than intimidating, though!

On the other hand, Asajj Ventress was truly terrifying!  She was such a great character in the Clone Wars.

A fantastic day out!  Happy Star Wars Day, everyone. May the force be with you, always.

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