Longform memory keeping of my life.
Friends holiday round 3: 28-31/SEP/25
I made a little video from footage I took whilst on this trip, it has a voice over about loving these special people.
This year, we decided to go to Blakedean up in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire. It was the most of us yet. At 25 we had one person sleeping on a matress on the floor in the Scout hostel we used. Hopefully the numbers don't keep increasing because we'll have to rent a mansion, especially because having only 2 bedrooms which were in no way separated from the downstairs and its noise.
Lots of Yorkshire tea was made and drunk / Us making night one's BBQ, I think we were asked to say BBQ based on our faces / On day two's walk, this was taken after a long chat between us 3.
On the first day we just arrived and settled in. This many Brits in one place called for a lot of tea. The evening consited of choosing our beds and room — we had a quiet/early and late/loud room which was not ideal and some people made the wrong choice (if you want to go to sleep at a reasonable time, don't be in a room with notorious 4am people lmao). I was of course in the quiet/early and was the person to go to bed first everyday... Which wasn't even that early! Then it was tea time! We did a "BBQ". As we couldn't do an actual BBQ due to it being the fire season, we did a lot of hob-cooked sausages. This is the easiest meal where people can have a lot, so it's good for the first night. People stayed up pretty late (I went to bed at like 12/1?) but not too late as the next day would be our walk day!
Me filming a rolly polly competition as we take a break on the walk / a lot of us on top of the Crags / lots of vibes during the annual general knowledge quiz.
The walk day saw some people up at 8:30 to get breakfast and get out at an ok time. We were slowed down by the sandwich making which was interrupted by T-dog taking a chunk out of his scalp. One of my friends is a med student, so she and the responsible driver (and one of the exhausted(/hungover?) friend) stayed back with him to montior whether he got a concussion. He is the perfect height to be attacked by floating shelves. The rest of us went on the walk, including watching two of the guys use a "swing" over a body of water. Unsuprisingly they both got pretty damp. Thankfully the rope or tree branch didn't snap. We got to the Hardcastle Crags to eat lunch and chill for a bit. My barefoot shoes faced pretty well over all the rocks! We scaled a particularly steep and rocky hill that gave us a view of the valley. We literally had to climb down it due to a lack of proper path. After getting back it was chill time, there was lots of friendship bracelet making and board game playing (Liar's Dice was a favourite this year). Pasta was made, somehow 3kg was not quite enough. Then by 9pm we started the quiz! The quizmaster makes them have a wide variety of rounds and randomised teams and it's all quite intense. I'm not a fan of general quizes... my knowledge is not vast, but it's nice to spend time with everyone like that!
Wild swim day! / All of us eating the thai curries. We just about fit on the kitchen's benches.
The third day started slowly. I was the first one up at 9:30am, and it was quite the trickle. The cooked breakfast was being eaten at midday and there was naps taken after our wild swim, so safe to say it was a chill day. The swim was cool! I didn't get in the water this year because my tattoo is still healing and the weather was subomtimal (it's always cold but the fact that it was raining, I didn't want to suffer the discomfort). Unlike the walk day, there was no sun and by the time most of us were leaving the waterfall it started pissing it down. It was lovely to watch everyone else though and enjoy the forest atmosphere. We came back and the cooking began for the green and red thai curries, the head chef even made a gant chart. They were so delicious! The rice was lovely (despite someone lifting the lid early in the processs and T-dog and I shouting at him for it) and the green curry was thankfully not TOO spicy when alongside lots of rice and naan. Despite it being the last night, people really enjoyed themselves. Bombs were dropped and beds were piled in to. It was tiring but lovely to be so around each other.
Henry took the infamous Henry POV this night. It's always crazy to see us all in one photo. I truly love my friends and this photo is a yearly reminder of our awesome friendships.
Henry POV 2025 (thank you Henry) / so much friendship happened / a loaf of bread was thrown at me during photo time
The final day was just packing until we were ready to leave at midday. This holiday seemed to go much quicker than the others. We all went to Tomorden just to hang a bit more before going home. It does feel like we're getting older. We kept joking about what this yearly trip will look like at 30 and 40 and so on. With a few of us going into our final year of undergrad and some already working, our aging is looming but I'm excited! Excited to afford a bigger place and to contiue to have a few days a year as resbite from the real world. See you next year besties.
Things I've enjoyed from working in London: 02/JUL/25-14/AUG/25
I'll be adding to this as I spend more time in London, then I might make an actual london recap post!
- The Underground: I'm a public transport lover and although there is so much wrong with the TFL, I've been loving getting the DLR and Undergroud everyday. It's harder whilst trying to manage children on it, but the few days I've been on my own have been wonderful. I like figuring it out, I like being around people, and I just like being on public transport.
- Greenwich Park: The fact that you can see almost all of London from the top of the park is so cool. Like I went on the London Eye so have actually seen all of London from a view, but from Greenwich it was just beautiful. The green of the park in contrast with Canary Wharf and all that glass was kinda cool.
- News & Coffee: This stand in front of Holborn station is so cool! It sells such a wide range of zines that I'd love to spend a long time browsing it all. I didn't get a chance to get a coffee but I hope that I'll be able to get one and then pick up some awesome zines.
- Sundown over the docks: Staying in a place that looks over London City Airport and the River Thames and Canary Wharf at night is such a blessing. The sky being splattered with clouds and blues and purples with the moon glowing amid the red dots of the sky scrapers in Canary Wharf keeps me at peace. The buildings being all so far away, feeling separate from the chaos yet knowing how easy it is to access the business of the largest city in the UK is wonderful. I really need to take more evening walks!
Cataloguing my bedroom: 06/JUN/25
This bedroom has changed and evolved since I moved into it and painted it blue and pink in 2013. The room will be being stripped and redecorated this autumn and so will be cleaned out. I've always added to this room and changed it around and it wholy my space. I'm nervous about this immense change and wanted to memorialise my room. Check out the full tour on my yt!
I love this side of my room so much currently. I've added a lot of cards and art that I've acquired during university and the reading nook in the corner is where I spend most of my time when I'm in this room. On it you may be able to see some clowns! I love collecting them and to see them in detail check out my collections page on it. The centrepiece is clearly the Charlie Shiels painting. It used to live in the front room of my Mum's parent's house, and as I grew up I went from finding it creepy to adoring it. We have another one of Shiels' paintings in the house and it inspires me to have more framed art in my room after it's redecorated. The rest of the wall has some “originals” on it (as in since I got them and put them up they have never come down), and some of the oldest things on the wall include a Warner Bros. studio tour ticket from 2015, and birthday cards from my early secondary school.
The desk of my room clearly has the most stuff on it. Although it looks hectic, it is very curated (because I simply have too much stuff to not be selective). On the right side is my CD collection which is newly added. Physical media is very important to me which is why my room is full of it. The bookshelf above is so crammed and I'm excited to have more shelves to show them off properly. The left side of the desk has all my favourites. The best Doctor Who annuals I have (1982, 2007-2013); the early 2000s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon; the first of the gen 3 Frankie dolls (rip gen 1, ily). I love having many knick-knacks but am trying to get rid of unsentimental and/or unpretty decor as I want to be intentional, not necessarily minimal, about what I have.
I wanted to include this little snippet as it's my current favourite part of my room. Having things up on my wall not only means I get to see the things I love, but it's a reminder of who I am. Physical reminders of all that has made me and all the things that have/do mean something too me is incredibly grounding. I don't know if it's because of my neurodivergence, but it's like I forget who I am if I don't see myself around me. I panic when I take things down... Ironically it means that I can't have photos of my friends in my room because it's like I can feel them. They are a part of me but seeing them at a very specific point in time makes me uncomfortable. BUT having their letters and art on my walls is very cool. The subtle reminder of love is wonderful. I also have a print of my favourite painting here (Leigh Bowery painted by Lucian Freud), and I just generally love this whole area next to my bed and the painting. It's comforting, and busy, and ME.
I appreciate the great freedom I have had with this room. Perhaps when it's redone and I've figured out how I want it to be organised, I'll show you that!
Home and Cardiff during reading week: 6-9/NOV/24
I took a little holiday at the end of my first half term of 2nd year to go home for a while and then to Cardiff! I needed to go home for some medical things and I got to hop over to Liverpool for a birthday before spending a few days in the south of Wales. The first night I was home, I was blessed by the presence of my cat Boy. He slept on my bed as I did. I went to the orthodontists and I have the date for when my braces are coming off!! And on Sunday the 3rd I got a train with a friend and the birthday girl to her university gaff.
my beloved / the birthday girl and her friends at Bundobust / my beloved again, on my knee
I've not been to Liverpool in my concious life so it was so lovely to experience the city with my friends, even if it was only for a few hours. The two of us got into the 'pool at 16:30ish and met up with another of our home friends before heading straight to Lidl for some food shopping. Then to my friend's beautiful flat! It felt so homely, all the decor was very her and her cool friends (one of which I went to primary school with). We went to a restaurant called Bundobust which served Indian street food. The 8 of us at my end of the table ordered the whole menu to share, it was fun to try so many cool foods in a sharing platter way. It was annoying not knowing what any of the goodness was! But all was mostly lovely (even if some was a little to spicy).
It was nice to sit across from some of my friends from home. I feel greatful that most of my friends are able to travel to events like this. University semesters feel so long and these people mean so much to me. It's crazy we're becoming 20! I hope the birthday girl had a wonderful birthday. We headed back to hers then some of us got the 21:15 train back to Manchester.
I just had to add this wonderful photo of the birthday girl. I think one of my friends was talking about his Lancastrian tribulations
It's ironic that I'd be seeing two of these lot in less than a week in their university city Cardiff! It was good to sort out last minute logistics on the train. So on Wednesday I hoped on the 9am train to the 'Diff. I was a sweat drenched dog by the time we got to their house, so I showered (a disaster story too long to tell here) before I got to meet their infamous housemate. It's kinda funny that my two friends from home live together with only one other housemate. It was so cool to meet her, she's a very needed decisive voice in their house /lh. That evening was chill, my friend was out seeing Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. But Thurdsay was my tour of the town!
We walked all the way to the Bay where I got to see the Torchwood entrance and Ianto's shrine. As a Doctor Who fan it was very cool to be in Cardiff and recognise so many places (many which are supposed to be London). Next time I gotta take a trip to Wolf Studio Wales. I love the shrine's unabashed expression of fandom. It is a wonderful and very specific time and genre capsule. We had a wonderful Spoons lunch, then got the bus in to the city centre. We bumped into about 6 of my friend's friends whilst they took my round. It was cool to see how much community there is in Cardiff. All the independent businesses were so cute! We went to a record shop, a vintage hall, and the market! Should've bought some Welsh cakes. That evening we got a classic uni take away, and watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer together. I love that my friends make time to watch shows together.
At the Torchwood entrance with the water on / I got so excited when I saw the Millenium Centre / Ianto's infamous shrine.
On Friday, after finishing Season 2 of Buffy the previous evening, both of my friends were a little busy so I was walked to a local cafe so I could do some work. I had an essay due the following Tuesday so needed some time to lock in. After his appointment, one of my friends joined me and we did some work alongside each other before going to Lidl. We acquired the ingredients needed for the chilli and rice, a powerful meal before a night of clubbing. We got back, the three of us chilled out, then got on with the meal! I was definately a bit forceful in running the operation... But I needed to be, as these silly geese had never made rice before! Their housemate is equally horrofied by this. The rice was perfect might I add. The chilli was sub par, but a good base for some drinks. I took a more successful shower, and we all got ready to head to the Alternate Music Societies' main house.
It was super cool to meet the AMS friends - who I had heard a lot about - as they were all as awesome as one would imagine. After pres we walked into town to Clwb Ifor Bach, which was playing post-punk. Compared to Hull, the clubbing was pretty tame, but it was nice to head "out" with people I love. One of my friends took some cool pics on his camera I'd love to share at some point. We headed home about 1:30-2ish, heading to a classic uni takeaway to get some cheesy chips on the journey, I explained chip spice to them.
As a Buffy fan since being 8 years old, it was cool to watch it with the besties / free lotus biscuit! / in da clurb.
On Saturday, I was up after only 4hrs of sleep to get myself ready to go. One of my friends wasn't feeling great after the club's jager bombs so the other walked my back to the station via Greggs. The Christmas baguette was so(!) good. Despite the train disaters back to Hull (it took me 7hrs from getting on my first train), I feel really fortunate to have been welcomed into my friends uni sphere. I miss all my friends dearly, so it's been great to spend time with a couple of them in their element. Maybe they'll take the dreaded trip to Hull one day.
Annual friends holiday at Slaidburn: 27-30/AUG/24
This is my first blog post and it's to commemorate the amazing trip I had with my awesome friends. It's the third annual trip that I've been to of with this swag group and the second where we've been in a building - I definitely prefer it to camping! There was 25 of us this year in the tiny village of Slaidburn (there was probably as many buildings as us) which although the YHA was great it was a little to sleepy for us. This is of the first evening:
The first of us to arrive, in the kitchen / the bake off goodies / Me with my DSI and my friend with his 2DS.
We got settled in and chose the rooms, which were mostly 4 beds, and I as someone who normally goes to bed at 21:30/22 I may have made a mistake as leaving the light on until 4:30 was not ideal but I'm glad people had a good time. A walk to the church occured before getting on with tea! We had Costco pizza (my "cooking" was too stressful) followed by numerous baked goods made by those in the bake off. I could make a whole post on them, it was all so(!) good and so different. Had leftovers the next morning for breakfast.
The first full day we went for a hike. Those up early enough had breakfast and second breakfast (an almost full english) before leaving at 13~ and doing a 10.5km walk! Henry took many "money shots" of us all and it was nice to take our time on our first full group activity.
Me with a mug of tea, my friend with a mug of cereal / Henry cooking the breakfast sausages / all of us eating our sandwiches / Two of my friends with their don't be jealous merch.
The were all very exhausted but three of the lads made us a wonderful Curry then our friend who works at a bar hosted a cocktail night! My friends without benefits was superb I'm glad I didn't have any alcohol (or grog) as some had some interesting hangovers the next day. One friend cured his by vomming after being in the boot of of one of the cars... That evening we played the best card game ever, Mao!!!
I got up in good time as I was determined to wild swim which we did after a slow morning. I spent the trip reading The Year Of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion and it was always lovely to sit in the living room and read alongside the other readers - some smut was about - and gamers. It was very healing to be frozen by the Ribble River but the water quality was not good ;_;
The full group Henry POV post swim / Two of the guys invested in the quiz / Three person renissance tower / With our tirimasu post pasta.
The weather was finally lovely and so wild swimming wasn't too bad. There was a big dead tree that was climbed and used to make a three person tower. We wrapped up and got back for showers and pasta. Both the veggie bolognese and pesto was to die for. One friend had made us a pub quiz which was really fun and wide enough that I think most people were happy! (apart from the special rounds which were very divisive lol) Needing to be out by 10 the next day didn't mean an earlier night and I'm glad for it. The trip went by quickly but it was wonderful. I'm looking forward to next year!