Christmas on Instagram

Here are just a few pics from my instagram account! I'm still rather a little obsessed with Instagram and find myself taking pictures too often with it. My profile is 'BETH2852' if you're curious :)

 I was making cranberry sauce in the first two pictures, fruity curry in the bottom right and stuffing for christmas day, bottom left.

 Scott and I went to the christmas market in Manchester again this year. The mosaic floor is in the town hall, and Scotts in front of the market and town hall. Below is Alfred my cat and Seabear my lazy doggy!

Scott and I over Christmas, and below a Christmas wreath from Manchester, and to the right the most incredible english breakfast we made a couple of days after christmas.

Instagram leicester

A few snaps from my first few weeks at uni!

Scott has visited me two weekends already which has made me very happy. We've been to Yo Sushi twice as 02 are currently giving 1/3 off your bill which is obviously brilliant for us foodies that are a Little strapped for cash :) so thank you 02!

I like the Pumpkin Karroke (fried pumpkin) and the chicken terriaki, YUM!

We also went to Tinseltown which is an American Style diner where they do THE best milkshakes (apart from the sugarplum obviously;)) We had Reece's peanut butter cups and kinder beuno milkshakes. So yummy, but very filling!

 Another weekend my parents visited, and mum and I went to one of my favourite restaurant's, Carluccios. They have this wonderful cloudy cherry drink which is too die for and i would highly recommend you try some !!!

I had braised venison tortellini, which is by far the best pasta I've ever had. And I've eaten some pasta in my time!!! It's creamy, buttery and smooth which delicious meat parcelled away inside, delicious.

 Their meringues look so pretty too! But we were both too full to sample them after our pasta, salads and too many cloudy cherry drinks...

 I've been doing some window shopping as I can't actually afford clothes that aren't either charity shopped or eBay based any more :P But we can all dream.. I love this topshop dress, anything sequined I have a embarrassing love for ;) 

This week we've been making casts of our feet in foam blocks and filling them with plaster of Paris. Pretty cool really :) 

 I thought the threads were pretty in the machine room so took a quick snap.... Were going on a trip to Northampton this week to see a factory where they make shoes and to a footwear museum which should be interesting:)

 I've been going to the market for my vegetables and visiting Asian supermarkets to see lots of variety of foods. It's been so exciting for me to see all kinds of produce and food that I can't get where I'm from.

I have also been learning how to make bread, this was my second attempt whilst in Uni, and it actually rose! (this is good progress for me, the most terrible person with bread, EVER) but i am learning... slowly at least and aim to be a pro before I finish.

 Lastly I've joined the women's rugby team which I love so so much! I took this picture to show mum and Scott how caked in mud I was after training :)

Sun, Sand Sea and a shed load of cats

I've just got back from a wonderful weeks holiday with the lovely Scotty! Sorry for not blogging recently, but I've been spending time with my family (three days in London with my mum, more to come blog wise about this) and with my grandparents and Scott etc. But  I'm back on track this week and preparing/packing for university, as I leave for Leicester on the 23rd!!!

Here are a few of our holiday pictures I want to share with you from Crete. We stayed in Malia, which as i'm sure most of you re aware has a bit of a reputaion for being, well a bit skanky to be honest! (The inbetweeners movie was shot there) but we stayed in the lovely old town, full of beautiful pink flowers, white washed stone walls where a number of elderly Greek's like to sit on plastic chairs on the cobbled streets and watch the world go by. There is of course 'The Strip' full of touristy shops, clubs, bars etc, that is in full swing of the evening, but it was brilliant for the two of us as we had the opportunity to experience both sides Our apartment was nestled in the old town, and ran by two lovely Greek men, George and Nicolas who were father and son. They greeted us with a shot of Raki (kind of like a warmer nicer Vodka) and showed us to our simple but very clean room. I always like self catering as I like to pick what and when I eat etc, and enjoy cooking with the fresh local ingredients more than eating in a hotel, so we had lots of meals on the tiny little stove in our kitchen!  

 This was the view from out apartment, and where ewe sat for our breakfast and occasional evening meal. The pink flowers growing alongside the apartments were kept in beautiful condition by George. I'm not usually a flower kind of girl, I much prefer to grow fruit and vegetables but I have to say the flowers and vines that grow around Crete are so beautiful to look at.

  

I was loving the markets and fresh produce! The fish were so fresh and shiny, and the fruit was all so juicy and delicious. I particularly like the nectarines as they are giant but still full of flavour, unlike the hard unripe kind we get back home..

 

We ate in this quirky little restaurant in Heraklion, the food was great and the decor was just to my taste, and wouldn't have looked out of place in a trendy London street, but instead was tucked away down a Greek alleyway.

 We hired a quad bike, which was SUCH a good idea as it meant we could travel more freely and independently so that we could find quieter beaches and more tavernas! We can't hire a car until we are 21, so being 19 this was a bit of a pain! But the quad was so much fun and Scott had a great time whizzing along the roads with the crazy Greek drivers :P

 They freshly squeeze the oranges that they grow in and around Crete to make the yummiest orange juice ever! Tropicana eat your heart out..

 We had Ethel's tomatoes for breakfast (stewed tomatoes that my great grandma used to make, then my gradnma, mum and me etc make), ornage juice and tea. We took our own teabags with us because you can't beat a good British cuppa!!

 Greek Salad. Need I say more? We had a ridiculous amount of Greek Salad, both in restaurants and some that we made ourselves at the apartment. Here we made our own version which saved a little money but was equally as yummy!

Our other favourite breakfast was chocolate croissants. Oh My Word, they were awesome. I personally cannot stand the chocolate in pan au chocolat as it goes dark and burnt and never tastes the way I think it should, but these croissants we full of delicious soft Nutella which I assume had been injected after they were cooked to retain it's flavour and texture. We had them with chopped nectarines and more fresh orange juice :)

Below are these pretty cool Greek slippers which I really regret not buying now. They were 10 euros, and I was being stingy, bad call!

  

 There are tons and tons of cats in Crete it's insane. I was a bit obsessive with the cats, and was constantly feeding them tip bits at the table at the restaurants, much to the annoyance of Scotty! Some were really scrawny so I felt obliged to do so ;) 

  

We played several rounds of mini golf, something my family have always done on holiday. And I can proudly say I am reigning champion, beating Scott 6/7 times ;)

 When in Malia... We tried the infamous 'fish bowl' at one of the bars down the strip one night which we felt just had to be done!

 Here I am trying the de-shell the grilled king prawns for lunch, yum!

 They serve a shot of Raki, usually on the house at the end of every meal, here we had a small bottle given to us. Raki is a very tradtional Greek drink that they make up in the Crete mountains so they sell it all over the island!

 More yummy Greek salad.

 Scotty enjoying the pool.

 And Lastly our favourite bay in Sisi, a lovely traditional yet still a little touristy town  East of Malia which we went to a c couple of times on the Quad. They bay was beautiful with crystal clear waters and little fishes, and was our favourite swimming spot!
Thank you for letting me share our pictures with you ! And I can highly recommend Crete, even Malia as a wonderful holiday destination!!!