Some Nature Photography

I took these myself  over the past year or two.

The Environment

If I could, I would run off into the woods and live there forever.
Of course, that would only be if winter didn’t exist, I already had built myself a cozy log cabin, and I didn’t have to hunt to get nutrition. (I am a pescetarian)
And also being 13 might hinder me a little.
But, provided all this was already cared for, (yes, I know, no winter is a little too much to ask for) I would happily leave everything behind.
Apart from my family and friends.
But all this fancy technology, all the unnecessary consumption, greed, anger, all this useless stuff that we feel we need to live a good life, all of this rubbish and personal belongings, everything that we are destroying this earth with.
I would throw it out my window and never look at it again.
I just want to live mindfully, with nature, and not to scar the earth any more than she has already been hurt. Because everyone, everything, every little tiny thing, everything that we say will not make a difference, it will. Every little thing we do is cutting the world, cutting it so deep that the wounds will never heal.
And I don’t want to be part of that. I want to help the earth heal her wounds.
But the big problem is, is that everyone does. Everyone wants to save the world, every single person on its surface. But as we are such selfish creatures, we simply won’t make the effort to nurture nature and create a sustainable environment.
If we do not make an effort now, it’s not in a few hundred years that our mistakes will take effect.
For most adults, they will never have to face the true impact of our ridiculous consumption.
But I probably will.
My children probably will.
And their children will definitely feel the impact of this bomb that we have set in orbit.
They may die because of it, if we do not take action.

Untitled post.

I don’t really know what to say.
I got a new printer, at least. One bit of unnecessary information you never needed to know.
So, why am I writing a post?
I never know these things, much.

In other little bits of my mind-

I cannot get Nude by Radiohead out of my head.

I have mostly taught myself the ukulele succesfully, and just stood up in front of half of my school and played and sang in front of them at the speech competition

I am still, still, still completely in love with the beautiful music of Warpaint. Will I ever grow sick of them?

My ear piercing infection is better! The lady said it wouldn’t heal but all I needed was some tea-tree cream and some other cream and I was fine!

I finished Jane Eyre.

I made the most bloody incredible fudge ever in the word ever. I will post photos soon.

I want the summer. Now. And leafy trees. And I really want to eat beech leaves. Did I ever mention my random cravings to eat beech leaves, primroses, and elderflowers? A little unusual, but they are the most wonderful foods.

And I wish I didn’t have to wear so many layers of clothes in this weather. I hate the cold with a fervent passion that makes me irritable and grumpy. how I long to simply  run through the trees wearing a light dress and sit in the sunny, shady forest, and breathe the fresh, warm air of the mountainside.

There is a lot more going through my mind, but you know, I won’t say all of it.

Lace earrings

Another set, but these were easier. I cut the shapes from a piece of lace then I dipped it in Mod Podge. Quite easy?

Delicious Mince Pies

These are amazing.
I hate raisins. But I love mince pies. My sister hates raisins, and mince pies, but she loved these mince pies.
They are also vegan. Just saying.
Ingredients:
makes 2 jars, 1 jar has enough for about 12 pies.
160g Raisins
80g Sultanas
60g Butter
110g Brown sugar (or white, whatever works)
1 tsp of cinnamon (or more if you wish)
2 tsp of powdered ginger
Zest and juice of a reasonably large lemon
100ml of apple juice (or orange)

First, measure out the dried fruit, butter, sugar, cinnamon and ginger. put these in a saucepan. (just makes it easier to clean up.)
Zest the lemon before squeezing it. if you only have small lemons, use 2. They give the pies a really delicious flavour
Put the zest in and squeeze the lemon into the saucepan, avoiding letting the pips in. Fishing lemon pips out of sugar is not a nice experience.
Heat the pan gently at first just to melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, and everything is mixed together, pour in the apple juice. It will seem watery at first, but gradually increase the heat. Once it is bubbling, turn off the heat and pour into sterilized jars. when it cools it will solidify a little more.
To make pies, simply spoon the mix into pastry shells and cook for about 8 minutes

Life… And Excuses.

So where have I been, you may ask?
I am sorry, life has just been busy.
I have been crafting, and baking. Honestly.
But I have an excuse for my sorry deficiency of posting. For one thing, the light is so bad when I get home from school that I cannot photograph anything. The other (and this is for the baking) is that my family has stopped buying sugar. I live off baking. I don’t need sugar much, I’m not addicted to sugar, I don’t even really love sweet things. But I love baking so much, I have not been able to bake for a good while.
I am planning to build a lightbox, which will help, for the photography part. But the whole baking thing will have to be solved by me buying myself a few bags of sugar.

I have my grade 5 piano exam tomorrow. I am taking a day off school to meet some old friends and practice my butt off.
It’s quite odd, that when I think of taking a Tuesday off, I am happy about it (triple Irish… Aughgghaugh), but when I think of taking a day off school, I don’t want to. I got into school at the right time, with the right class. I am so lucky to have got the class I got. I don’t think I would be enjoying school as much as I am if they weren’t there. (if there are any of you guys reading, I have entrusted you with the site details and I am probably an idiot. Sorry.)
My transition from home to school is running surprisingly smoothly. I suppose my school is more of an in between space, as there is a ridiculously small amount of students for a city centre school.
But enough of that.
I promise to have some more posts lined up in the future!