Snowy Tuesday, and I have proof!

HoTD today is the WHOLE WORLD...or at least the greater part of Yorkshire. It's been snowing since 3am (I know this, as I was up till 4am working on my papers), and it's not just little snow either — it's serious, big flakes. This was my view out my flat window when I woke up this morning: 

And it's not supposed to let up for DAYS. It just fills my little Oregonian heart with joy. Though I didn't really have time, I took the long-term view of life (who will care about these papers in 2 years? NO ONE) and went for a walk in Weston Park. I took some pictures, because it was so pretty.

Firth Court in the background. 

Pretty bridge with Western Bank Library in the background, where I was headed. I told you it's kind of dilapidated. 

So cold the water's almost frozen! 

I went to the library after my walk, and discovered this hilarious book in a random display case:

It's dated from 1613, and is entitled "Declaration of Such Greivous Accidents as Commonly Follow the Biting of Mad Dogges, Together with the Cure Thereof." Super random, and I'm pretty sure there wasn't a cure for rabies back in Elizabethan England. They probably bled you and then pumped you full of mercury or lead, or some other poisonous metal. I'm sure it turned out well.  

The book was in this case, which has three other books dating to the 1600's. Pretty awesome. OSU certainly doesn't have stuff like this laying around! 

After studying at the library for way longer than I wanted to, I decided to reward myself by trying out a new cafe called "Vittles." Turns out it's the perfect kind of cafe for me: not crowded, friendly employees, soup that's not salty, warm inside, and just down the street from where I live. On my way home I decided to take a little video for you all, so you could see how pretty it is here and how much it's snowed. Also you get to see part of the way I walk home everyday. Here it is:

I sound like I've just run a marathon because it's so cold, I guess. That, and my camera awkwardly picked up on my breathing, for some reason. Just fyi. :)

I hope you all have good days!

Monday's HToD

Here it is: 

(Click on image for larger version)

Spotify! It's like iTunes mixed with Pandora. You can listen to almost anything, for free, and skip through as many songs as you like. There's annoying commercials every so often, but that's fine. It's like having the biggest iTunes library ever. But, at the moment it's only available in the UK and Europe. So sorry people in America, you'll have to make do with Pandora! :D 

The right socks can improve your life

HToD for Sunday is...... Christmas socks!

The snow hasn't melted here yet, as it hasn't gotten above freezing in the last couple of days, and today I needed to go to the library — couldn't stay holed up in my flat — so I decided to wear 3 pairs of socks to keep my toes from freezing. One of the pairs was these, and they made me happy.


I had a really fun time traipsing through the snow and then skidding downhill across the ice to get to the library (for serious). I really wanted to go to the park and walk around, but alas, I had no time. My time at the library was nice, though. I located most of the books I needed and found a quiet corner to look through them. Sheffield has 3 (or maybe more) libraries, and each department has most of their books in just one. (No one tells you this when you arrive, however — you just have to figure it out. My discovery of this is another story for another time.) The archaeology dept. uses Western Bank library, which is kind of old and decrepit, but I prefer it to the Information Commons — a huge, sterile, metal, overcrowded complex that's the main library. I stayed at Wester Bank until dark, and then walked carefully back up the hill. I managed to not fall on my face on the way home, which was nice. I went the The Edge for hot chocolate, and now I'm home. I think there's Finnish cheese sampling going on in the kitchen right now, so I'll end this here.

I still need to tell you all about Bath and Stonehenge, but I'm not sure when that's going to happen, since I'm so busy. Maybe on the 8th of December I'll write about it. All my essays are due the 6th, then I have a day-long field trip for my prehistoric Britain class on the 7th. So the 8th will be my first "free" day. Looking forward to it!!!

Bye!

Post-cheese update: Here's pictures from cheese tasting.

Ginger cookies, "bread" cheese, cloudberry jam. The cheese tastes kind of
like mozzarella.You eat it with the jam.   

Waffle cookie things. 

Super tasty German Christmas cookies

holt den schlitten raus! es hat geschneit! ("Get the sleds out! It snowed!") )

First of all, it snowed here today:

                                      

Not really enough to get excited about, but still, kind of fun. Also, last night I made my Thanksgiving dinner that I had planned for thursday but never got the chance to make. I had a presentation due on friday that I ended up staying up till 4am to finish, so I had exactly zero time to be concocting feasts. I still had the stuff for it though, so I figured better late than never. I made stuffing from a mix I found at the Eurospar and added some Yorkshire sausage. It turned out pretty well. Not nearly as good as home, but it worked, especially since I had no recipe and had only watched mom make it before. I also made mashed potatoes with peas and gravy. Instead of turkey I had a chicken breast roasted in the oven with onions. I didn't feel like bothering with recipes, so I just sort of guessed how to make stuff. But it all turned out well in the end! For dessert I had mince pie and apple cider. Here's how it looked: 

Clockwise from the peas: peas (soon to be added to mashed potatoes), mince pie, chicken 'n' gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes 'n' gravy

mmmm mulled cider

To make this I heated Strongbow's (cider of choice here), butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and apples together in a saucepan

I was fuuullll after that, but that's kind of what happens on Thanksgiving. It was fun to make, too. Hope you're all having a nice day, or I guess sleeping soundly. 

Merrrryyy Christmas!!!!

Here's my happy thing of the day (henceforth known as HTOD). It's more of a thing that I think is cool about being here, and is not exactly a happy thing, per se: Beautiful churches on about every other block. This church is actually owned by the University and has been converted into a lecture theatre and flats for students. Yes, students live here:

Broken-up grave

See? I'm telling the truth. "Lecture theatre" "Flats 1&2"

Someone escaped.... 

Haunted much?

Also currently improving my life is this amazing contraption: 

Classy zebra-print hot water bottle

I got this yesterday at Primark (one step up from the dollar store) for £4. I was worried it would spring a leak at night, but it didn't and instead kept me the perfect temperature ALL night long! (or at least from 4am till 8am, which is all the sleep I got thanks to AWESOME group projects.) BTW, it was zebra print or hot pink, so I went with this. It would not have been my first choice. I don't care though. It's soft and warm and awesome.

Tonight I'm going to try to make a mini Thanksgiving dinner, as I didn't have time yesterday. So I may post pics of that if I get around to it. 

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to everyone!! Here's a crackling fireplace to warm you up:

Happy thing #2

I found something today, first-thing, to appreciate. Here it is:

Sheffield sunrise

Though I wasn't happy to be awake enough to see the sun rise, I was happy to see the sunrise. It looks like this most clear mornings, and on overcast mornings it's just as beautiful, filtering through the mist on the moors. Our flat is on the third floor, and the kitchen's huge windows face the east, so sunlight fills it in the morning. It's nice. 

And now that I've been positive, I'll tell you my annoyed story. So, most the university buildings here require that students swipe their card to get in. The archaeology building, West Court, where I have 2 of my 3 classes, is one of these high-security structures (haha). Yesterday I forgot my card, and had to knock on the glass and ring the bell for the receptionist to push the release to let me in. When I walked in, I looked up to thank her, and she slid her little window open in an annoyed manner and demanded whether or not I have an ID card. Previously, I would like to add, she was just sitting at her desk, literally doing nothing — staring off into space — so it wasn't like I was interrupting her. Unless she was drafting sonnets in her head. Then my apologies. Anyway, I said, yes, sorry, I do have one — left it at home by accident. She replied to this in parental tones that, "Well could you please bring it with you in the future??" I assured her that I will bring my card next time. EXCEPT for the fact that it's not like I intended to leave it at home that day. Do people leave their ID cards —which they need for access to 90% of uni buildings— at home for kicks? Is this really a problem? Did she think I enjoyed rapping on the glass of every building I needed to get into all day? Annoying... 

But whatever, I have my card securely in my wallet now, so everyone's happy. 

PS: I hope you all like my new layout. Enough owls for you??

Happy thing(s) number one

As this is the inaugural I-will-be-more-positive-if-it's-the-last-thing-I-do post, I'm going to give you TWO good things. The first one is.......mince pie with butter-rum frosting! Seen here:

I tried to channel Liz's incredible food photography skills. Not sure how that worked out. 

This little pie (about the size of your palm. Well, maybe not your palm, Dad. Like half of yours.) is from a bakery just down the street from my flat. Three jovial, rotund women work there and call me "love" as I purchase my pastries and baguettes. The pie was so rich and spicy that this was the perfect size. Any bigger, and it would've been too much; any smaller, and I would have been sad it was gone. 

The SECOND happy thing is...... my new creepy monkey microwaveable heat pack! Here we are, in all our creepy glory: 

so waaaarrrmmm

It's super soft, didn't cost a fortune, holds heat for an insanely long time, and smells like lavender. And it's a nonhuman primate, which makes the Jane Goodall side of my nerdiness smile. It's also about the size and softness of Angel, my special little diva-cat, and so, at 3am after reading for hours on end, I can trick my brain into thinking I've got a cat on my lap. 

So there you go. I know I feel happier about life, don't you?? PS: unless I find something tomorrow, this counts for Wednesday. What? It's past midnight here. Stop silently judging.... It counts, okay???