The Garden Sessions #1

When I first found out about my furlough from work I had great plans, I was going to bake loads, I was going to do a different online course every single day and get up early to do Yoga every morning.

Fast forward a few weeks and I've largely watched Netflix and emptied my buscuit supply.

I did start the Curly Girl Method on my hair so I'll give myself productivity points for that! 💪

I decided today with some encourgement from my boyfriend to hit up the garden with a deckchair.  The wifi works out the front under my bedroom window so I can listen to Disney songs through my earphones and footer about to my hearts content until my laptop loses power or I succumb to Springtime sunburn. Combining vitamind D and fresh air with a bit of creativity. 

I don't know how often I'll feel the urge but I figured it might be fun to use the garden as a bit of a Staycation.  

I can read, I can listen to a podcast, I can write. Provided the old man isn't cutting the grass or one of the neighbours we share with isn't also the garden, it can be my creative spot for the next wee while.

It's actually quite peaceful out here, although anyone in their garden who can hear me typing may disagree! 

I'll confess to very rarely taking time to pay attention to nature, so far this afternoon I've enjoyed spotting a butterfly and a robin - both of which were too fast for me to get a photo of but maybe thats not such a bad thing, I see too many things through the lense of my phone. 

Today's Garden Session

I'm listening to: A generic Dayly Spotify Playlist - lots of Disney and randomly S club 7, I'm guessing that will be the result of looking for Reach a few weeks ago! 

I'm reading:

Nothing today - just scrolling. 

Today's training:

Found a really cool video on Skillshare explaining the difference between American and British Spongecakes and how to get the technique right. 

Today I'm bingewatching:

Community, though technically I was binge watching series one yesterday

Today's Shoes:

Todays Outfit: 

Messy hair and messy background - might talk mum into helping me with a Garden photo next time haha.

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Quirky and 30: Camping

I've been camping before but only for a few days.
About 8 weeks ago I agreed to step completely out of my comfort zone and partake in a week long camping holiday. 

I'm really more of an indoors kind of girl so the idea of sleeping outside for the whole week was a little daunting. 

I'd be lying if I said the whole week was entirely up my street, I have a pollen allergy, I hate dirt and like my home comforts but I did enjoy my time camping. 

I learned a few lessons about myself on that holiday which have been useful since I came back:

1. Being a light sleeper isn't the worst thing in the world, it's annoying at home when I have work to be up for in the morning but when you are in the middle of a field and are woken by the sound of a barking dog or someone coming back from the toilet, it doesn't really matter. 

2. There is plenty to enjoy that doesn't come from a screen.  Yes I had my phone with me, was able to charge it and could keep in touch with friends and family but in all honesty, if I hadn't been able to charge it, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. There was plenty to see and do nearby. I'm trying to disengage with my phone a bit more, so I don't miss out on the beauty near home.

3. You can make whatever environment you are in one that feels like you belong there. We put lots of nice quirky touches to our tent, particularly things like lighting, throws and blankets my sister in law had loaned to us to make it look like a nice living space for the week and one that reflected a space which felt familiar and comfortable. 

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Quirky and 30: Late Night Excursions

Star Gazing

During my camping holiday this year, my boyfriend and I decided to do a bit of stargazing. 

We left our campsite when it started to get dark and drove to a nearby dark sky spot with some marshmallows and our camping chairs.  The sun took a while to set but once it did we began look up at all the stars in the sky.  I've obviously seen stars in my 30 years on the planet but never so clearly or so many at once so it was a really cool moment! 

Also marshmallows and strawberry laces by the side of the road taste amazing! 

Sunset Walk

Another evening, we left the campsite again to go for a walk and this time James picked a nice cliff top walk above a beach just as a the sun was setting. 

Looking back it was lovely, at the time I was a tiny bit freaked out by the overgrown walkway to the cliff top and the nosy cows (literal cows, I'm not being derogatory)in the field we passed by deciding to walk in our direction.

We got some lovely pictures of the sunset and then headed back to the campsite. 

Both of these were different experiences for me, normally at 10pm I'm thinking about pjs, netflix and sleep not sticking on my shoes and hoodie for an excursion! 

30 Things Total: 8

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Quirky and 30: Kayaking

It's no secret that I'm fairly inactive, I'm not very outdoorsy or sporty but when I went camping last week I decided to indulge my boyfriend in his request to do something active.  We opted for kayaking and despite being apprehensive I ended up loving it!

I struggled for the first 5 minutes or so, crashed into James' kayak quite a few times and couldn't quite get the hang of how I was supposed to hold the oar, after a quick lesson from James (despite the centre we went to already giving me instructions) I began to get the hang of it!

We probably did about an hour and a half and for someone who does very little voluntary exercise besides walking I coped pretty well, I could feel it in my arms and my butt but other than that I wasn't completely dying!

I may even explore the possibility of doing it again closer to home.

If you've never tried kayaking I'd thoroughly recommend it. 

Rachie's Tips for a Fellow Novice

Wear clothes and shoes you don't mind getting wet
Bring a change of clothes for after

If it's a sunny day - wear sunscreen.
I got a bit of sunburn because I'm an idiot and forgot!

Take your time, enjoy, and don't worry if it takes a bit of getting used to!

30 Things Total: 6

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Quirky and 30: Vintage Makeover

Although I'm into all things quirky, when it comes to my hair and I'm fairy low maintenance. 

I do get my hair dyed in quirky colours from time to time but for the most part I let it grow out until I can be bothered getting my roots done.  I'm not great at styling so I straighten it now and again for a treat. 

For my 30th birthday a few months ago, my friend Nicole decided to take me to a Vintage salon she'd visited as part of a Hen Day as she thought I'd love it. 

She was right, we arrived at the beautiful Pin Ups Salon in Glasgow on a Saturday afternoon and I was transformed into a different area as the stylist began taking me from Rachel to Marilyn. 

I'd chosen a 50s style as it aligns quite well with my shape and my taste in clothes. 

I'm not really into make up do I didn't bother with that but I was so happy with my hair and received loads of compliments. 

I'd thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone else. I'm so grateful my friend suggested it as it's not something I would have chosen to do for myself but something I really enjoyed. 

We made a day of it by going for unicorn lattes and then dinner post makeover! 

30 Things Total: 5

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Quirky and 30: Paris, Disney & Rollercoasters

In one of my previous blog posts, I mentioned that I'm turning 30 this year. I also mentioned that a few years ago I made a list of 28 things I wanted to do by the time I was 28 and tried to achieve them all in about 8 weeks. 

This year I decided that I wanted to revisit that idea but spread out 30 new achievements, new adventures and new skills across the year rather than try to squash them all in....solid logic considering my birthday is just over two weeks away! 

I'm crap at uploading blogs regularly so since the last time, I've added a few things to the list. It's a work in progress list rather than a tick off list, although the ones below were pre-planned.

Disneyland Paris

A few weeks ago, James and I went to Disneyland Paris. It was pretty amazing. I went to Disney in Florida once when I was a kid and loved it but there was something about going as an adult that made me soak in every second just that little bit more. 

I loved seeing everything from the Castle, to Mickey Mouse, to the rides. Even though my knee eventually started complaining about how much walking I was doing, there wasn't one moment I didn't enjoy.
I even managed to find a quirky skirt!

On the last night before we headed for our train to the airport, we stayed to watch the illuminations and I cried. Yep, nearly 30 and cried at the animations projected on the castle/music. You're never too old for Disney to hit you right in the feels!

Paris

We took one day out from the Park(well early morning to late afternoon) to head into Paris and did some sightseeing.
We had a lovely breakfast in a cafe that I'm annoyed I've forgotten the name of! 

It was raining pretty heavy so we paid for one of the tour busses and got a ticket where we were able to just hop on and off at the sights we wanted/had time to see. We started with Notre Dame which is an exquisite building to walk around - I did resist the urge to bring out my best Esmerelda wander around singing God Help The Outcasts, as much as I'd have loved it, it may have been a little invasive to everyone else's morning.

The Eiffel Tower was bigger than I even imagined and a little surreal to see up close.  The Arc De Triomphe is in the middle of a super busy road so we just stood across the road and took some pictures! 

Rollercoasters

I'm pretty militant at never going anything that scares the crap out of me just a little bit but I figured I couldn't really spend the week looking in shops and hoping to bump into characters so I'm put on brave face and got in line for the rollercoasters! I'd say my favourite was Indiana Jones Temple of Doom, it was outdoors and I could see all of the twists and turns coming. The other ones I went on were indoors and while I was perfectly safe, I didn't like being in the dark. I made a point of trying not to say no to any of the rides, so I was pretty proud of myself for feeling the fear and doing it anyway. 

30 Things Total: 4

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Quirky and 30: Sparkle Sunday

If you've read my blog before you might remember that a few years ago I decided about 7 weeks before my 28th birthday I wanted to do a list of 28 things. It was fun and I got through everything on the list to varying degrees but it was a silly timescale! 

This year, I'm turning 30. I don't like this fact, but I accept it.
I'm 30 in 11 weeks time, so I'm not going to try and cram 30 things into a list to do before then.

I'm going to aim to do 30 things this year.

Not necessarily before my birthday, just throughout this year.
A mix of things I've never done, places I've never been and developing new I've never had.

Today I started small, but kept it quirky.
I went shopping with my sister in law for things that sparkle.

I came home with a very comfy and pretty throw blanket...because I'm eternally freezing. 

A day dedicated to shopping for sparkley things (at a bargain) was a great way to kick off my adventures. I've never really had a structured shopping trip, I tend to just soak things in and see what calls out to me.  It was interesting to go in with a goal and seeing where it took me. 

I saw this and I thought it summed up my approach to life quite nicely - sparkle in your own way and leave a little of that sparkle everywhere you go. 

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Quirkmas? Let's try it.

So, a few years ago on my old blog I decided to attempt blogmas and I totally sucked. If you can be bothered going back far enough in my archive I think I still have the posts live and you can see for yourself just how terrible they were. I was in a creative rut and trying to make myself do something creative every day by putting up a post. I was also trying too hard to do the same types of posts I was reading and the vlogmas videos I was watching.
  That was counterproductive as forcing creativity conditioned my brain to be unimaginative and my post were all crap! 

This year I'm going to attempt my own little Quirkmas. I doubt it will be every day and it certainly won't be groundbreaking but it will hopefully be fun or interesting to read. My December has some quirky elements to it, as does my Christmas Day so I should be able to come up with something to write about!

I quite often end up chasing my tail at this time of year, as do most people I guess, so it is quite nice to be starting off the month of December on a day where I've mostly been sat in my room listening to music and brainstorming ideas for blog posts/baking. 

I think I've mentioned in other posts that I play a brass instrument so I'll be doing that throughout the month. Normally I would tire of the repetition very quickly but when it comes to the festive season I actually find it therapeutic to play and read the same music. The sound that comes out of my instrument may not always be exact or consistent, but the process is and I find it comforting. 

I'm waffling now, which is what I tend to do when I'm  veering off plan and just typing thoughts.

Back on plan, I started the gift buying process yesterday, I'd temporarily forgotten it was St Andrews Day when I filled it with Christmas activity but I did spend the day in the city centre taking in all its beauty - admittedly when I wasn't hiding from the rain.

I got a few quirky things for myself, a primark Christmas Tree dress - I'll use that in another post and these little festive flamingo earrings which were from Boots.

Next post, if I remember to do another one before the end of the month 😂, will probably be baking related. 

Until then, Happy Quirkmas to all and to all a good....Saturday.

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A Mile A Day....Or Close Enough

Hello! I've been pretty silent on my blog for a while.
My batteries have been charging.

I forget sometimes when I'm charging my devices throughout the day that my brain is the most frequently used device I own and needs the same care an attention to work at full capacity.

I'm keen to get a bit fitter than I currently am, not in an I must be skinny, I will now document my trip to the gym every day, but I do spent alot of my day sitting and I'd like to be a bit more active, and climb a few flights of stairs or a hill without needing a good 5-10 minutes to recover.

I'm going to combine my shoe diary with my attempts to get out and do some exploring on foot.   

According to the internet - and who am I to argue with the internet? - there are 2000 steps in a mile, I initially set my target at 3000 but found that I was exceeding it so I moved it to 4500.  A few days ago I managed over 18,000 but I did an uncharacterisitic amount of walking that day so I won't get too cocky!

My aim is to have more adventures an hopefully, in turn become more adventurous!

Today's Shoes 

These super comfortable beauts are Beach Athletics, I think I bought them from the Saltrock website.
If there is a day for stripey and colourful shoes - why not Tuesday?


Steps:7,152

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Friday Firsts: Here We Clubbing Go

*Clubbercise is not suitable for those with photosensitive epilepsy *

When I was a kid I used to love dancing, around the house, in the garden, in the playground, anywhere really.

I took classes in Disco, Tap, Ballet and Modern, I have a few certificates under my bed from my dance exams and even have a few medals, although I pretty sure they were for participating! 

When biology took over my body in my early teens I sort of gave up dancing, with the exception of the occasional shimmy  at a friend's birthday, a night out or a wedding....or in my car. 

It's probably been about 14 years since I've been anywhere near a dance class, so naturally when my sister in law suggested I join her at clubbercise I was a little reluctant but after she'd been and told me how fun it was I decided to give it a go. 

If you've never been to or heard of clubbercise it's easy to follow dance moves to 90s club classics with glow sticks and disco lights! 

At first I felt really out of place, like a giraffe in a boardroom meeting out of place, but I quickly realised that loads of other people probably felt the same way. Once the lights went out and the music got going, I forgot all about how out of place I felt and just got into the spirit of the class.

What I really enjoyed about it was that it really suits everyone, you could be brilliant or you could be completely lacking in rhythm and it doesn't matter in the slightest, you can still take part and enjoy it. 

Everyone cheers each other on and there is lots of 'Here we clubbing go' 

You can take it at your own pace, grab your water when you need it and get back in the groove when you've got your breath back.

Tonight pushed me out of my comfort zone in a few ways

•    My sister in law couldn't make it and I nearly chickened out of going but I knew that I would be mad at myself and there would be a few other people I knew when I got there so I shut out the voice of doubt in my head and went along anyway. 
• As I mentioned above, I haven't been near anything resembling a dance class in years and I thought I would really struggle but I actually managed to attempt most of it, dialling down the effort a little when I was feeling a struggle coming on. 

As someone who really doesn't love exercise, I came away having really enjoyed it and would totally go again. 

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Friday Firsts: Introductions and Avocados.

I’m a big fan of alliteration, you may have gathered this about me already if you’ve read some of my other blog posts.

So I decided that on Friday’s I’m going to start posting about activities or things I’m experiencing for the first time - Friday Firsts I think I shall call it.

Anytime I try or go somewhere new I can channel it into something creative to share with others.

I’d like to be optimistic and say I’ll do one every week but I’ll play it by ear! 

This weeks Friday First involves cooking - I know, shock horror.  It also involves avocados. Just because avocados! 

I'm becoming a bit obsessed with avocados, I have socks, a lunch box, earrings.....I digress.  

Behold - avocado potato salad! 

I can’t take credit for the recipe, I found it on Pinterest and comes from a site called Beckys Best Bites. I'd strongly recommend having a look, there are some great recipes on there.

Ingredients:I didn't stick rigidly to the recipe as I had no Dill or Cilantro but the premise is simple, 2lbs of potatoes, 1 avocado, 1 lime (juice and zest) and seasoning of your choice.

Method:Boil your potatoes then freeze them for 30 minutes, mix together the avocado, lime and seasoning and when your potatoes have cooled down sufficiently mix them together! 

It serves six so it would be a great side dish at a meal or a light bite lunch!

I've mentioned on my blog before that I have a dairy intolerance and its annoying when food in shops that look like it should be totally friendly for me actually have milk somewhere in the ingredients list.

When I spotted this recipe, I was so excited that it was something I could eat and prepare with minimal effort - as lets face it, my skills in the kitchen leave a lot to be desired!
I may document some of my kitchen disasters on here as I attempt to navigate the seemingly grown up skill of feeding myself.
Highlights include evaporated soup and exploding porridge.  

I've previously spoken about wanting to push myself outside of my comfort zone and trying new foods although it doesn't seem like much can be a big thing for me. 

Next Weeks First  - Clubersise! 

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A (Sort Of) Introduction.

I did say in my last blog post that there would be no 

'New Year, New Me' but I have given my blog a new name so I didn't really stick to that...

You'll have gathered if you've read my blog that I like to embrace the quirky things in life, the musings and content will still come from the mind of Rachie, my name just won't be in big letters at the top. 

I mentioned in my last post I'd like to use my blog to embrace all things quirky in my life whether that's sharing my musings, talking about my adventures or sharing things I've found.
I've never really had a theme for any of my personal blogs before and I'm not certain that quirky is really a theme, but it will be the thread that stitches everything together... I hope. 

It's a Rachie Thing was an outlet that helped me to process my thoughts, continue to develop content when I had no other outlet for my creativity and develop my own voice.
I've brought over all of my existing content, even the posts I think are a bit rubbish because they are part of me.

Now that the reintroduction is out of the way, I'll make sure the next thing I post is far more interesting. 

Today's Shoes

Technically, this is not a picture of shoes.
It's my flamingo slippers from Asos!
I also took this picture two days ago but I'm wearing them again at the moment so it totally counts!
Life is far too short to not own fluffy flamingo slippers, right?

Also

Thank you to Aloha Lola Cards for designing my header image, she took a thought in my head and turned it into a reality.

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Hector and Roland's London Adventure

Roland here, we've already been formally introduced....but for those of you who don't know who I am, I'm Rachie's right foot - Roland. 

My buddy Hector (her left foot) and I are Rachie's feet, we're the guys who take her places and we usually let her do the talking, but we recently came back from London and thought about letting Rachie blog about it, but to be honest...this was our trip...we did all the walking! 

Here is just a snippet of our London Adventure with Rachie. 

Day One

                     
                         

Hector and I got up early to make sure Rachie got the 7.30am train from Glasgow to London , we broke our no peeing on a train rule because Rachie just had to have an Irn Bru and a water and finally around lunch time, we arrived in London, had lunch and made our way to the hotel.  Later on we took Rachie to Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square before making our way over to Victoria to see Wicked.  We really enjoyed Wicked because it was such a comfortable theatre and we got a nice long rest from walking, Rachie loved the performance, so a worthwhile activity for all of us!

Day Two

                         

                             
                     

On day two, we were excited to start walking around London and see some local tourist spots, we weren't quite as giddy as Rachie about it but we were still pretty excitable.

We began our day at Big Ben, Rachie was fascinated, she stepped out of the tube station and there it was....right in front of her. We walked over to the bridge to look at London Eye (we didn't go on it, Rachie's Mum doesn't love heights, and if we're truly honest, we don't love them either.)
From there, we walked to the Parliament Buildings, then Westminster Abbey then on to Buckingham Palace where Rachie got to watch the changing of the guard! We then walked to Covent Garden and then went to visit Hamley's.  After a long day with lots of walking, Rachie was knackered and we were knackered, but what a day. 

Day Three

On day three, we took Rachie to St Paul's Cathedral so she could feed the birds, tuppence a bag. We went a wander over the millennium bridge, walked past Shakespeare's Globe, walked by London Bridge,  Walked over Tower Bridge, its gorgeous! We took a rest while Rachie went on a boat tour, finishing at Greenwich and we went to Piccadilly Circus to see A Comedy About A Bank Robbery, which was pretty funny. Rachie loved it, she was absolutely knackered though, so she'd love to see it again sometime. 

Day Four

Day four was our last day, Rachie started the day grumpy because there wasn't really anything in the hotel breakfast this morning that harmonised well with her dietary requirements so we went a bonus trip back to the room where Rachie ate mint oreos.

When we did eventually venture outdoors we visited Hyde Park Corner, forgetting it was the Queen's birthday, we were surprised when the artillery came walking by for the 21 gun salute. We the walked along Regent Street and Oxford Street where Rachel bought us more shoes to keep us stylish, we took a quick walk along to the Marble Arch for Rachie's Dad and then we jumped on the Tube to visit Harrods before it was time for Rachie to head home.  Our last stop of the adventure was to Kings Cross Station to see Platform 9 and 3/4. The queue was massive and Hector and I didn't have it in us to wait in it so Rachie just took a picture and we set off on our journey home.

Hector and I might let Rachie tell you about our next adventure or we might just do it ourselves.  We haven't decided yet. 

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