giddy

So, that festive spirit I was talking about? Well, it's well and truly hit. Seriously, thinking about Christmas-related joys has had me scrunching my toes with glee for days.

So, we decorated our (somewhat bijoux) Christmas tree the other day - in a much similar vein to last year, but with the promise of additions - and we've got a house Secret Santa on the go. Tonight is the English Department Christmas Party, and one of my tutors said she'd be bringing mince pies to our seminar next week (softening the potential blow of getting our marked essays back...). I am literally so excited!

I had my first mince pie of the year on Sunday night at my church's first carol service of the season - there was a brass quintet! I have truly regressed back to the mentality of a child; all thought of social etiquette went hurtling out of the window at the sound of "Hark The Herald" and I whooped and clapped at their instrumental encores as we were munching mince pies. And there's more.

The snow. Oh, the snow.

We've had pretty much continual snow for over a week - I'm talking icicles over a metre long, snow drifts up to my thighs, -17 degrees C, the whole caboodle. It's bloomin mint! Even in my little studenty house where I can see my breath in my bedroom, I'm loving the snow. And that in turn has made me fall in love with the North East even more. When the snow hits London, virtually everything stops. When the snow hits the North East, they send men out with shovels in front of the buses to keep them running. Well, almost.

I just love the hardiness of the North Easterners - and I think it's catching. I find myself going out without a coat, going barefoot in the snow to take the bins out, and climbing over next door's wall to get out of my house because my gate is blocked with snow. There's a spirit of "let's just get on with it", and man it's refreshing.

So, here I am in our little winter wonderland - with numb toes but aching for Christmas.

briefly

I've got about 10 minutes before my next lecture, and I've darted into the nearest computer cluster to write a quick post about something I find exciting.

Autumn is here! Somewhere between my last post and now, the world has decided that summer is officially over. The temperature has dropped a good few degrees and the trees are shivering off the first layer of their leaves. As I'm walking home I regress to young childhood as I march determinedly, crunching all in my wake.

I've dug out my collection of scarves (which, at the moment, totals a disappointing 2) from the bottom of my pyjama drawer and the other night I had to sleep in a jumper, not for the last time this year I reckon.

So, we're battening down the hatches in our little student house, bracing ourselves for the frosty freezing weather that is soon to come and stocking up on thick socks and hot chocolate.

I love this time of year :)

hay fever

As aforementioned, summer is finally here! Weather is still beautiful and everywhere looks lovely. For some of us, however, it does come with minor drawbacks. So, here's my latest video - bemoaning hay fever and all its loathsome appendages...

summer

is well and truly here - huzzah! The past week or so has been an endless stream of beautiful blue skies, and warm breezes. Yum.

Now, normally I'm a definite autumn-gal, but I think I've been thoroughly seduced by summer this year. After a good few months of drizzly grey this good weather is much appreciated. You don't realise what a huge difference the weather makes to your mood until it's gorgeous - it's mint! Wandering round in flip flops, flowy (is that a word?) skirts and cropped leggings does wonders for the ol' grin. 

We did a special summery teepee thing for the kids at church on Sunday and it went down a treat. Here is a record of our efforts :)