Curiously Charis

It was one of those mornings she loved. Though the mist clung close to the coast, it was probably sunny half a mile inland. The mornings weren’t yet cold enough for frost, but the chill still prevailed and she’d had to break out her winter coat. Thankfully it still fit. She breathed in the autumn air - taking in the smells she’d come to recognise as home - salt, seaweed, chips; fumes from the buses. It was almost 11am - she knew he’d be late again. She also knew he’d want to go Smith’s cafe, even though it was the greasiest of the greasy spoons in town, all plastic chairs and vinyl tablecloths, couples who looked about 100 years old tucking into black pudding and baked beans. She sat back on the bench and wondered how she’d come to view these years later on. Probably a wasted time, she’d thought, cynically, before softening. They’d had some fun together, she supposed. “Why am I thinking as though he’s gone? As though it's over already?” She asked herself, still melancholy, desp...

I've seen loads of these stunning drip cakes all over Pinterest  and I've been dying to give one a try! I decided to run a chocolate hazelnut one as a competition to raise some money for my Great North Run , but I both needed to practise first... and have one to show people who might like to enter the raffle that I could come up with the goods! I gathered some ideas on Pinterest and researched some recipes and tips before getting going. I have a basic chocolate cake recipe of my own I like to use, so I decided to times that by two and make the sponges. I am entirely unscientific... I would normally do six eggs for four layers of sponge, but the mixture looked good with five so I left it at that haha! But the basic premise is: 9oz self raising flour 3oz cocoa powder 1 tbs baking powder 12oz butter 12oz caster sugar 6 medium free range eggs 50ml milk With a hand mixer (stand mixer is definitely recommended though!) I blitzed the sugar and butter together unt...

I don't mind having a boyfriend six years younger than me, though it does raise eyebrows in some quarters! Generally we've found having an age gap has made little difference to our relationship. But there is one thing I do worry about, which is appearing a lot older than him. I know it's stupid to worry about, especially since my mum is nine years older than my dad so it's something that's been normal for me growing up, but it seems like society in general is much happier with the older guy/younger woman situation. I think this coupled with turning 30 has made me think a lot more about my face ageing and worrying about appearing more mature than my years! This summer when the sun came out it seemed to bring out some wrinkles on my forehead too and I am somewhat panicking. I was gonna get wrinkles eventually, even if people still think I look younger than I am! A wrinkly subject! Staring at these new lines in the mirror I tried to smooth th...

At the start of each new year I write a list of 30 things I’d like to do that year. They are a mixture of big, medium, small and sometimes absolutely miniscule things that I’d like to achieve, and to be honest this is my third year and I’ve yet to achieve all 30! I write these lists to basically make sure I don’t just spend the whole year on Facebook/Netflix/Instagram and actually do some stuff! But half the time I end up being a bit too scared to set out to do what I hoped I would. I was probably a bit optimistic with my 'green wave' expected time...    This year I’m trying hard to battle the urge to just do nothing with my time. I think the biggest challenge I have set myself is to run the Great North Run. It’s really not gone smoothly so far though! It’s been one set back after another. I’ve been injured since four weeks into training in May time. Now add a knee injury to the long list!  Before I set out training I had such grand plan...