... And then I Became a bit of a Gamer!

I have a confession to make to you readers of my blog ... whoever you are ... I've recently been watching the play through of Assassins Creed online.  I've never been able to find a switch off in my life; I'm always thinking and analysing life, but now I can finally relax.  When I watch it being played, I forget everything in my life and can just exist in an imaginary world where nothing in reality matters and all my troubles melt away.

In other news, I have successfully caught up with my favourite gaming series "The Guild" and would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it :) I also bought a copy of Oblivion 4; I know I'm 5 years late, but my laptop won't run Skyrim which makes me sad :( Never mind.

So yeah, that's my gaming life at the moment; I think Gavin is secretly pleased that I'm slowly learning more about it and soon he might actually have a half decent player over the holidays for COD4 ... yeah ... that could be a while to be honest ... o.O....

What else ... ah yes :) I should tell you that our 1 year anniversary went brilliant!!!!  It was such a lovely night - we started out by cooking dinner at the flat and then we went out to the top of Williamson Park and cuddled together looking over to Morecambe Bay; it was really beautiful.  Anyways, pictures!

 This is the pie once it was finished and decorated by Gavin and I - it was lovely :)

 These were the chocolate rice crispie cornflake cakes I made for pudding ...

And I'm sorry, it was too tempting ... I made a cheese ruin with the blocks of cheese Gavin cut ... I tried to make a house, but it fell apart ... so that's why it's a ruin :) x

Just on my Mind

I just wanted to post today, to say that I love my boyfriend.  It's hard when you're in competition with your parents - they want something different to what you want.  They're always telling you to start listening to your head more because your heart always lands you into pain.  But I'm following my heart again and this time it's going to work.  Because I want it too.  People tell me I take life too seriously, that I take my relationship too seriously, my mum in particular.  But if I don't take this chance, if I lose a great opportunity, I may never have it back.  I make my new year's resolution this year to be less serious and to not care as much what people think.  It's not always the end of the world.  Oh, and the relationship thing...?  There are just a few times in life where family have to be put second, even though it breaks your heart treating them as somewhat less important.  But I've got to follow my heart.  I don't know where it's going to lead me, but I want to have the courage to go there and face those daemons head on.  And whilst I'm still with him, Gavin will always come first.

Rose x

The First Blogged Noel

Christmas has been and gone and so has another year!!!  I've already finished my anniversary present for Gavin - I sewed him a bookmark and even made a tassle for it :) Althouth ... if i'm honest, I think I've been doing that in order to put off doing my uni work... o.O

Anyways, there's no way in hell that I'm ready for the new year, but to me, it's just another day.  I have finally started my essay though and despite the fact that I only have until the 4th to do it... ... ...

I've gained so much weight this Christmas!  It's not been the food - it's because my mum keeps giving me and my brother hot chocolate with sprinkles and marshmallows every night :p then again, I'm going to start training again at re-enactment next semester so I should lose it quickly :) But tonight, since my brother is around a friend's house for new year's even with a bunch of mates and Gavin's around his best mates' house, my mum and I are having a lovely night in watching Vicar of Dibley, Paul and Indiana Jones ^_^*  Ah my relaxing holiday at home; how i love it :)

Ooooooo, I must tell you about what happened at The Grand Theatre.  Since gaining the position of stage manager for the adult panto, I've been thinking a lot about my hobbies and my future.  However, on the evening of the panto, I will forever be haunted by the knowledge that I am the first person to get the tabs (red curtain) caught and ... well ... to explain in a diagram ...

This also happened when I asked Gavin to pull the curtain for me on the second and final night...

As well as that ... again, in diagram form, I will demonstrate how I also nearly set the theatre alight ... not something I'm proud of ...

I just want to establish here and now that those people have NOT been set alight!!! All was well in the end ... but ... I advise any budding stage manager to always take cues themselves where pyro's may be involved ...

Happy new year!!!

The Story of the Pig Skin

It's been a long time since my last post o.O... sorry i haven't written anything in a while - been busy with uni.  Anyways, you're probably wondering what I've been up to recently.

Let's see - a few weeks ago, I was in town looking to see if any butchers sold rabbit skins.  None of them did sadly, but one butcher said "we don't have rabbit skins, but we do have pig skins".  Ok, fair enough I thought and came back the next day to buy loads off him for a pound!  Feeling rather chuffed and impressed with myself, I took the raw skin to Gavin's house.  It was all fine, up until the point 4 days later when the smell got so bad that his mum ended up putting it in another 3rd bag and a plastic container!

So we ditched that skin and on our return from his house back to Lancaster, we bought some more since, after a few giggles with the head of our re-enactment society Dan, we decided to accept the challenge and make authentic raw hide with the skin.

First, we tried using powdered garden lime mixed with warm water which ... turned the piece of skin into bleached skin, putrid water and cement... rest assured, we quickly threw the entire experiment out... the bucket also.

The second plan that evening was to attempt to bake it dry.  After many pointless questions from my flatmates as to what we were doing (several often repeated questions), we started baking it on a low temperature pre-warning my flatmates that the only "downside" would be that the room would smell of bacon ... not really much of a downside if i'm honest, but we thought we'd tell them.  So Gavin and I sat in the kitchen waiting for it to dry out and they randomly wander in about an hour into the process demanding to know why i used one of their fancy knives.  Gavin and I had been really hygenic about the whole pig skin thing I'd like to point out here and now and had done all our washing up already.  I pointed to one of the knives draining on the side - "this one?" I asked.  "Yeah!" they moaned.  "It's not her knife and I can prove it" I said.  Realising how foolish they'd been they stated "I mean we're not accusing you or anything" (Which they just did)  Too late - I'd already pulled the knife apart - handle from blade and simply replied "It's not her knife".  Not wanting to accept defeat, they moaned and questioned us on how long it was going to take again complaining about how it made them "feel sick" - a phrase I've heard far too often about EVERYTHING with those two.  It makes no difference anymore.  I did the universal "wanna go for a walk after this?" to Gavin after they'd left the room who understood completly that this meant "I'm really angry, annoyed and frustrated right now - wanna go out so I can vent some anger with you in private?"  The two of us went on a VERY long walk!

Rest assured, recently, they went home for study week and on the weekend, Gavin and I finally managed to finish the raw hide properly without being rushed - it was finally a success!! ^_^*

A Lovely Change

I've had a really sore throat these last few days, but I've been doing the lemon tea treatment Gavin suggested and it seems to be working - I'm feeling a lot better than I was yesterday :)

Well, I think I want to scream at the moment.  We have to do these online forums for poetry studies by way of assessment and I still have no idea what I'm doing/saying/ or anything for that matter.  I'm just going online, trying to find some sort of evidence that can link to the poem and then posting it.  Fortunatly, I'm hoping that I can do really well in the essays this year and see if that will get my mark up to a 2-1 by the end of this second year.  I only have to make one more post on this week's forum to guarantee at least just passing it.

My bedroom is looking much better since I started tidying it and I have been far more positive around my flatmates today since ... the event.  I think it'll just be a case of them getting used to me and visa versa.  I'm not really one to socialise - I like being on my laptop in my bedroom, where as they like to socialise with each other and chat in the front room - I just tend to potter about the place and that's what makes me who I am.  my door is always open, so if they don't want to come in for a chat, then that's fine by me.  Anyways, I think it's all calming down now - after this weekend when they go home, I think it'll get better - we're all having to knuckle down and do work now anyways.

Laurence is supposed to be coming over tonight with a friend's tunic that I have to repair - somehow, after repairing it once, he's managed to get a spear in the chest and cause yet ANOTHER hole!  I might just say that this is the last time I'll repair it :p

Anyways, on another note, Gray and I went out to get a cup of coffee each at break today and on the way, we saw the most awesome bird ever!  Somehow, it had managed to climb up the side of the wall and was perched on one of the bricks, but on closer inspection, he and I noticed that there was no way that bird could have stayed on!  To honour the bird, he and I decided to call him "spider bird", like spider pig from The Simpsons :p

Endings, Beginnings and Future Plans......

I ended up telling the truth to my flatmates in the end - well, my boyfriend sat us down (don't tell anyone, but I was really nervous and so had a vodka and lemonade to calm my nerves) and we talked things through.  In the end, we all shook hands on starting a fresh, but things have still been a little awkward these past few days.  I'm trying to socialise with them, but ... I just find it really hard.  I'm trying, bit by bit every day though, even if it's only making a cup of tea and saying hello.

I started playing "Mystery Case Files" the other day and it's really fun!  I know, it's realy sad of me, but my boyfriend's parents were playing it one evening and we - me, my boyfriend, his sister, and their parents - were sat together playing it.  I managed to get 3 of the games for £7!  I have this feeling that in between lectures, it's all I'll be doing now :p

On another note, I'm very excited about this weekend - it's my boyfriend's birthday next monday, and so we decided that since he wouldn't be in Lancaster that particular evening, we would give him a belated celebration.  Of course, celebrating it with no catch would be too easy - instead, I have devised a master plan...I'm hoping he's not reading my blog either this week, otherwise it will give it all away...

Ok, where to start?  My boyfriend's best mate Fran (and possibly his girlfriend) will arrive at the train station for before 5 on friday - I'll then pick him (and maybe her) up from the station and we'll drop his/their stuff off at mine under the bed - then at 5.30, those attending the evening will slip off down to the pub with me and Fran and will wait from 6 onwards at the pub for my lovely Gavin's arrival.

Meanwhile, at 5.30, my good mate Laurence will be left at my flat with my room keys awaiting Gavin - Gavin normally arrives around 6/6.10pm when we will be at the pub.  Laurence will let Gavin into the flat and (since my flatmates are away for the weekend) Gavin will drop his stuff off in my room on the floor (not under the bed for obvious reasons) and will lock up the flat. 

The two of them will then go outside where Laurence will hand him a note and the keys (for handing back to me later) which tells Gavin where to go.  Laurence will then escort him with my message to the pub where, on his arrival, Anu (our mate who works at the pub) will come straight over with a double vodka and coke and if all goes to plan, Gavin will also be greeted with a hug from fran :) Unfortunatly, like most things, it's all reliant on timing - I just hope I don't screw it up...

No Dragons

We had a lecture today on Ruskin - great guy, shame he has a major tendency to waffle a lot.  Having said that, he's still a major figure who revolutionised the way in which we think today.  Whilst reading his passage on Venetian Architecture, my friend Kirsty, sitting next to me, announced "there's no dragons in it - I'm bored!"  To be fair, Ruskin does have an amazing ability to send people to sleep; especially students it seems.

With the flatmate situation - I did a stupid thing a few days back that I'm really regretting now.  There's this girl who lives downstairs and after my boyfriend left, I was feeling really homesick and was nervous about my new flatmates returning.  So I talked to the girl and asked her advice and asked how to get on with them.  There was a lot of crying involved whilst I basically had a breakdown of confused emotions.  Next day, my flatmate and I are walking to uni and we bumped into the girl from the other day.  I told my flatmate I'd catch her up whilst I talked privatley with the girl.  I told her that I'd confronted my flatmates in the end and we'd all screamed at each other and I didn't know what to do. So she told me I didn't have a choice - I'd have to find a way to get on with them.  She and I agreed to come up with some lie in order to avoid having to ever say anything to my flatmates about having asked for their advice and so I ran off to catch my flatmate up. 

Instead of keeping my mouth shut, I told my flatmate her friend had an accident and had broken her leg or something and I was making sure she was alright.  I thought that'd be the end of it, but the other night, they were downstairs talking to the girl and I don't know what was said - I spent most of my time in my room.  My other flatmate this evening asked me how the "lasses leg was" - I didn't know what to say.  So I followed on the lie with a vague "dunno, haven't spoken to her since, it's probably on the mend" and she asked "how did it happen?  So again, keeping up with the lie, I said "I dunno" and sighed.  I told the girl downstairs that I'd sorted everything with my flatmates but the lie seems to have gotten out too late... I really hope they aren't onto me - they'll be so mad.  Why did I just not call up one of my close friends?  Why her?  I knew my flatmates would end up chatting with her.  I feel really scared right now.  I don't know what to do ...