Summertime in Richmond Park.

Recently it seems like I can't go a weekend without encountering some cute, photogenic critters and last weekend was no exception.



Taking a trip to Richmond Park is an absolute must when visiting my Ma for the weekend and despite the horrible horsefly bite and getting trapped on Friday evening, I quite enjoy Richmond Park in summer.

As a matter of fact, I don't think I can really recall going there in the summertime when going there for walks before, maybe one evening stroll last July, but that's it. After finally finding the Isabella Plantation again, I have to say a few more visits this summer might be needed, it's full to the brim of beautiful blossoms and flowers, I bet it looked a treat with bluebells earlier in the year.


This is really just a little love letter to Richmond Park, I can't get enough of the deer and the vastness and the fact that it's such a nice pocket of London.




Look at these dorks(!) Might be my favourite deer picture yet... ♥ and there are a lot to choose from.





This group of ladies were really looking out for each other.






I'm a little sad that we missed the red deer on this visit as we drove past a whole heap of them on the way out, the changes of Richmond Park are kind of what I like about it most though, although I know I've not been there all that much, no visit has ever really been the exact same.

Family Highlights.

It's a week to go until my birthday and I must admit to feeling a slight pang on loneliness as it's the first birthday I'll be spending almost entirely on my own. I think there are plans to do something lovely with Moon in the evening but there'll be no family or friends around me as usual, which is odd, but I suppose that's how most grown ups do it. With an actual grown up job on the horizon, I start officially after Reading, I guess I'll just have to get used to it. It's quite the life-perk having a summer birthday though, hopefully the sun will at least stick around for me.

Anyway, enough chatter, here are some snaps I took when I was at home on Saturday that I've yet to share with you. I'm glad I'll now have time to pop back at weekends if I want to and I'm looking forward to the weekend after my birthday where I'll be spending spending quality time with my family, twenty-three is a horrible birthday anyway, I'll probably need some time to wallow.

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I never thought about it before but we nearly always had goldfish until we moved to New Malden, and then even in our current family home we only had a fishpond in the garden. These guys are a new addition since I've moved, I like them, but I've never seen goldfish as much more than moving decoration, despite my mum's fondness for them. I'm looking forward to the impending arrival of a little cat down to how much my sister and mum both miss Doll.


We went out to a Korean restaurant in New Malden called KJ, I would have liked it a lot more if I hadn't realised how much I actually don't really like sushi/sashimi. I think that's thanks to eating so much of it a few years ago in Hong Kong, now it just makes me want to vom a little.


I definitely sometimes think I look quite a lot like my mum, she's gone pretty wild since she's retired, she's got a perm and everything. I say she's gone wild, that's probably the most drastic thing she's done...




I must admit that it all looked amazing and delicious, and the tempura was perfect. I just must remember to pass up on sashimi at every given opportunity.

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Actually, this massage chair is a pretty big change. Here's Moon having a go on it once he got back from work, I enjoy his facial expression. It's the weirdest machine yet, yes, there have been more than one, but it's also the best.


I ate well on Saturday, my Mum's cooking is the best.

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We went out for a walk when we got home and spotted this little chap. I love hedgehogs, it was actually one of my first 'proper' words. Also the moon was beautiful, I may have found a downside to our garden in that the trees in the field behind hide the moon from us.


Coffee and donuts is always a winning combination to end a good day, particularly if they're Krispy Kreme donuts ♥

Half a result?

So for some reason we're not getting our marks for our dissertation back until the 3rd of March, but they generously decided to hand out our 'provisional' Set Brief marks today. This annoyed me on a few levels but the main one being that on the sheet of paper with my results on it says that they assessed my work on 29th January, which is quite a while ago really. I really let myself down a bit in the end.
I did get a solid 2:1 though, which seems to be the story of my University life. Don't get me wrong, a 2:1 is great but it isn't a 1st. I know it's a fair mark but I also know that I could have done better. I'm really willing for my dissertation to at least match it now though because otherwise, what is the point of this year? I would have no friends to fall back on if I had to retake anyway.
So I could have actually pushed for a first in this project but the final presentation let me down and I only got a 2:2 in it, which paired up with the 2 1sts and 2:1 brought it down to middle ground. I hate that they show you where you went wrong, I only want praise, I still got a good mark.

So this week has been one huge slack in terms of the fact that I should at least be doing research even if my idea isn't particularly solid. I'm going home tonight to sort my head out, plus I'm seeing Russell Howard at the O2 on Saturday. I think being in London doing things will allow me to come back to my work as a fresh on Monday. I hope so anyway...

Snow Joke.

I braved the snow to get home yesterday, it was all melty and slushy in Portsmouth but made the 10 minute walk to the station around 20 minutes. I blame the amount of books I had to take home, not to mention the heavy presents, at least my arms are feeling super toned right now.
Surprisingly, it only took a little bit longer to get back than it would have on a non-whitemare day, so good job South West trains. Woking is a weird train station.

© Ruth Johnston 2010.

All my Christmas shopping is out of the way and I've sat through my second viewing of A Muppets Christmas Carol. I feel so Christmas, but I have to spend the next few days working on my horrid dissertation.