Visiting Canterbury.

I can't wait until I am able to drive so I can visit my sister in Canterbury more. It's such a pretty city and I'd love more time to have a walk around and browse it's famous(ish) charity shops. Here are some photos from when I visited her with my Gran for her birthday on Sunday, she's the grand old age of 19 now, that's quite weird.

My Gran baked my sister a cake and it was the first time she's baked one in years, it was quite nice, even though the icing wasn't made in any way I've ever seen before. Lucy actually ended up with four cakes as my Gran baked one, my Mum bought one and she was gifted two from her flat mates, which was pretty nice of them. At least she doesn't need to go grocery shopping for a while. Oh student life.

The packaging for the cake my mum bought was lovely.

The main present I got for my sister was a Quail guinea piggy bank to match the one I have. Plus, students love loose change, right?

We didn't go into Canterbury cathedral but it sure looks pretty from the outside.

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We went to a nice Belgian restaurant called La Trappiste for lunch, it was really tasty.






Lucy was silly and didn't order a large Coca-Cola and instead got this tiny excuse for a drink.







Such pretty houses. ♥

These apples were just growing in the car park, not something I get to see everyday.

This is the cake my Mum bought my sister. One of my favourite kinds of cake, I maybe shouldn't have been greedy and brought it home with me given the three hour train journey as it ended up a little bit squished.

The view from the hill outside Lucy's halls, a little envious as the view from my room in halls was of a car park.

It was great to have some nice weather, especially as it's been so grim this week. I'm sure I won't feel so moany about it once I have appropriate shoes.

Must Dash!

Here are some neat things I bought from my current favourite shop in Dorking when I was back there last weekend. Feather & Fern had been enticing me with their new stock through their Facebook and Twitter all week and due to needing to pick up wrapping paper and a card for my sister's birthday, I knew it would be hard not to get some things for myself too.

I guess I'm kind of sorry about the poor lighting but it's tough to squeeze things in with a full time job now the hours of daylight are decreasing. I don't think these are too orange, and I think there's been far to much chat about 'the importance of using daylight' moving around lately, it's not as important as it's being made out to be...

This gentlemanly mug was a must. It's quite thin too so perfect for the mornings when I want to drink my tea/coffee quickly. I mainly got it because I couldn't resist the pun, or the price - it was only £5.99!

I've kept coming back to this bunting and finally shelled out for it. I think it will come in handy for sprucing up our bedroom but also might be good for the (kind of) party we're planning for November. The polka dots are so cute!

This Denbies postcard is so neat. I actually had my eye on their limited edition Boxhill print they had for the Olympic cycling, but I think it would be a little too much. Although I love Dorking and it will always make me think of 'home' and my family, I think this tiny postcard when placed in a frame will pay homage enough - I do kind of wish it was a Boxhill one though.

This is the birthday card I got my sister, I put cat puns in it, see anyone familiar? :3


I may have saved a strip of this for myself after wrapping Lucy's present.

Feather & Fern is such a lovely shop and definitely worth a visit if you're in the Dorking area, great for gifts and homewares. Plus they stock Rob Ryan things so were always going to be a winner.

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Here are some photos that don't really fit in anywhere but are from last weekend. I was surrounded by super-affectionate animals and it was great. Saying that makes me feel a little guilty though as Doll has been quite nice to be the last couple of days.
My Gran had my Uncle's chocolate labrador, Molly, to stay. She is the loveliest dog and was a great spooning partner on Saturday night, even if she snores and dreams about eating. ♥


Friday night's Newbury sunset.


My favourite old lady was a bit of grump about having a dog staying over, but still up for cuddles and scratches behind the ear.




Sums up their general mood towards each other, although Molly doesn't really care, there was a bit of yowling on Suzie's part.

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I've been listening to this a crazy amount lately, it's really good, I'm a big fan of a good mash up.

I still have some photographs from when I went to visit my sister at her University for her birthday last Sunday to share with you. I'm really looking forward to doing nothing except shopping for my A/W12 wardrobe this weekend.
Key items on my list are; new boots, a winter coat and pretty coat hangers.

Babel, baby.

I was thinking about Tuesday Tabs but I haven't got a lot to show you in that sense and it seems like a bit of a cop-out considering I haven't posted in a little while. I guess I have a fair bit to talk to you about this week, or certainly a lot of photos to show you anyway. I thought I'd start off by giving the album that saw me through work most of last week a mention, and on it's week and a day anniversary, that album is 'Babel' by Mumford & Sons, and it's wonderful.



Having heard a lot of Mumford & Sons' new material over the last three years since 'Sigh No More' from seeing them at Glastonbury, I wasn't in much doubt that the new album would be good, but it's so much more than that.

On the surface of things, it seems as though the South London quartet have provided us with more of the same, but in reality they've demonstrated a whole heap of growth. Perhaps this isn't as obvious musically, although they've done a good job of tricking us into thinking that they're more 'upbeat' now. This change is most noticeable in terms of lyrical content, they're much tighter, and concise. 'Sigh No More' has been an album I've consistently listened to since it's release so I don't think it would be honest of me to criticise it but anything that demonstrated less experience on their previous album has been blown out of the water by three years work with 'Babel'.



My stand-out tracks are 'Lover of the Light' and 'Ghosts That We Knew', but I enjoy the whole album thoroughly. They've cemented themselves more firmly than before as one of my favourite bands and it will be great to see them in a gig-setting again in November. The leap they've made is fantastic, from the tiny weepy band I saw supporting The Maccabees back in 2009 to world famous musicians playing arenas and cracking the USA, it's incredible and I feel weirdly proud of them.

It's no wonder that they cracked the number one album spot last week, or that it was one of the biggest selling debut albums ever. Not bad for four guys from Wimbledon.

The physical album is so pretty, filled with whimsical images and 'on the road' snapshots. I pre-ordered the deluxe version and received a limited edition 'Babel' print - I got 340/1500! - and will go great alongside Moon's Frightened Rabbit 'State Hospital' print in our bedroom, as that's the next part of the flat we're planning on putting our stamp on. I was worried that they might have copped out on this but the quality is lovely and has one of my favourite animals on it so I can't wait to pop it in a frame.


Have you had a listen of Mumford & Sons new album? Will you be seeing them on tour in November, I definitely think it's been well worth the wait!

Moon wrote a review on the site that he writes for, and it's a little better than mine, I recommend that you check it out! ♥