Edinburgh Fringe

Love it or loath it, it's Fringe time again in Edinburgh. I can completely understand how festival time can be a bit of a struggle for those of us living in Edinburgh. It can easily make commutes to work double the length as the streets are suddenly filled with tourists and of course all those millions of people promoting their shows, not to mention the price of drinks dramatically rising during the month of August. However, I feel pretty lucky that all of this is happening on my doorstep. So many people descend on Edinburgh from far and wide at this time of year, and for us Edinburgh residents we have the privilege of living here, and being able to enjoy it all without having to pay extortionate amounts for somewhere to stay.

I never manage to see as many Fringe shows as I'd like to, and to be honest that's probably a good thing as August in Edinburgh is already bankrupting me!  I have however manged to see three shows already and have a few things lined up for this weekend. So here's a little overview of what I've been up to. I'm not going to attempt to write reviews on these shows (they've all been brilliant!), just a little comment on what I've seen so far.

Last Friday night I went to see a couple of comedy shows with my boyfriend and his dad. Both shows had been picked by his dad and, considering how hit and miss The Fringe can be, he did well! The first was NewsRevue which I have been raving about to everyone! It's extremely clever comedy sketches and songs based on the news from the past year and it was hilarious, I was in stitches pretty much the whole show! I'd definitely recommend it! 

The second show that I saw last week was comedian Jamie MacDonald. He's blind, and his show was very much about growing up with the disability and the problems that he's encountered along the way. Stories of school dances, blind football and art gallery tours made this another absolutely hilarious show. It sounds like such a cliche but I actually felt like my face was hurting during the show from laughing so much.

Today my Dad and I went to see The Sorries, for about the 5th year in a row! These guys are good friends of my Dad's and have a great act (tribute to The Corries) playing traditional Scottish songs, with some great banter between songs. They have had new material every year that I've seen them and I especially look forward to their comedy version of 'Johnny Lad' with their made up verses about current news events! I'd definitely recommend them if you like any kind of Scottish songs or folk music. They'd also be a great show to go to if you are a tourist to Scotland!

I've not actually been to see this show yet, but I went last year and I'm hoping to go on Saturday night. If last year was anything to go by then this show definitely lives up to its name of being a great value comedy show. Last year we got tickets at the half price hut making it only £5 for four different comedians. Hopefully it'll be just a great this year.

Another show that I'm hopefully going to on Saturday night is the band Gecko 3 at The Jazz Bar. I've seen Gecko 3 a few times in the past, like The Sorries they're friends of my Dad's, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them again at the weekend. Their music is a bit of a mix of funk, jazz, hip hop and reggae, and is great for having a wee dance to! 

I'd love some more recommendations if anyone has seen any shows that are worth a watch. Tweet me any recommendations @Fiona_Hun !

Dream House: Bathtubs

The third post in my 'Dream House' series is dedicated to my deep desire to own a free standing bath. I've always liked a bath as a form of relaxation, and I love the look of these type of bath tubs. I recently stayed at Crieff Hydro hotel where our room had the nicest big bath, where you could lie in the bath and watch TV, and that got me thinking about (and pinning) my dream bathrooms. I know quite a few people that aren't really bath fans but I do really enjoy a nice relaxing bubble bath every now and again (with a glass of wine and Netflix on my iPad!) and so it's important that, one day, I will have a cute vintage looking bathroom...with a huge free standing bathtub! 

All images can be found on my Pinterest board.

The Scottish Tag

I saw this tag on Hayley's blog and thought it would be great to give it a go. I like to do these tag type posts occasionally as it gives me a little writing prompt. I think it started off as a YouTube tag but has made it's way onto the Scottish blogisphere. I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but feel free to link me to your blog if you do it as I'd love to read some others, and please have a look at Hayley's answers over on her blog Water Painted Dreams. 

Whereabouts in Scotland are you from?

I'm from a little village in The Scottish Borders, just outside of a town called Kelso. We moved there when I was about 3 years old from Gullane on the East coast, and I lived there until I was 21, so that village will always be 'home'! For anyone who doesn't know, The Scottish Borders is an area in the South East of Scotland on the border with England, about an hour South of Edinburgh.

Where is your favourite place that you've been to in Scotland?

Now that I come to think about it, I'm actually quite poorly travelled within Scotland. I've visited most of the cities for gigs, uni open days and to stay with friends, and we did holiday a few times in Scotland when I was younger but I think there's still so much of my own country that I haven't seen. Can I say Edinburgh? I live here now, but I think wherever I live or travel it will definitely remain my favourite place in Scotland. 

Where would you like to visit in Scotland?

I'm not even sure of exact place names and locations, I just know that there are some beautiful places up North that I'd love to see. I've not really been too far North at all so that's definitely somewhere that I'd like to spend more time. Some of the islands off the North West coast would be nice to visit, I've heard great things about Tiree and it looks so beautiful. 

What is your favourite Scottish film?

I think it might have to be 'Sunshine on Leith'. I'm a sucker for a cheesy romantic musical (probably my favourite kind of films all rolled into one!), especially one that's full of Proclaimer's songs and set in my hometown! And I have to admit I actually haven't seen A LOT of popular films including Scottish classics like 'Braveheart' or 'Trainspotting'. I definitely need to change that very soon. But I do recommend 'Sunshine on Leith' if you haven't seen it.

What is your favourite Scottish food?

The obvious answer is haggis I suppose! I do love it though, proper haggis from a restaurant...or battered haggis from the chippy! I am yet, in my 25 years in Scotland, to try a battered Mars bar but I do love haggis or black pudding and chips! Why are none of the traditional Scottish foods very healthy?!

Do you follow any Scottish traditions?

The same as Hayley, I've just had to Google 'Scottish Traditions'! I suppose something that's traditionally Scottish, and something that I absolutely love, are ceilidhs. Growing up in Scotland, we were taught the popular Scottish dances from primary school onwards, and always had a school dance with a ceilidh band at Christmas. For me, growing up in a small village also meant that there were regular ceilidh dances in the local village hall as celebrations or fundraisers. Let's just say I was never short of a chance to 'strip the willow'!!  

What is your favourite Scottish word?

I think it would probably have to be 'wee' (meaning small!). I definitely use that as part of my day to day vocabulary without even realising I'm doing it. I remember having a discussion with someone about whether you should use slang words like that in a formal situation like a job interview, and to be completely honest I'm not sure I'd be able to switch it off.

What is your favourite Scottish song?

That's a tricky one to narrow down, so I might need to pick a few. I do actually spend a lot of time listening to traditional Scottish songs from the likes of Capercaillie, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart, Emily Smith and Breabach. Folk music is definitely one of my favourite genres and, as I may not even understand the lyrics, I love a lot of Gaelic songs. 

I like the familiarity of songs that mention places that I know of, so a few of my favourites are 'Salter's Road' by Karine Polwart and 'Both Sides the Tweed' by Dick Gaughin (as I feel I kind of grew up on both sides of the river Tweed!). I will also always have a soft spot for 'Coisich a Ruin' by Capercaillie. I've liked this song since I was wee, when I remember my mum and dad listening to it in the house. 

Can you recommend any Scottish bloggers?

Oh yes! Hundreds! A few of my favourites would be; Water Painted Dreams, The Likely Lady, Elevator Musik, Frankly Ms Shankly, Love from Lou Lou, The Little Things, Indigo Buttons, Ruby Ruby Slippers, A Little Bit Young, Inferior Design, What Abby Loves, Allsorts and Anecdotes, Wardrobe Conversations, Brass Buttons and Confidence...and many many more!

Brighton Photo Diary

Last Thursday my mum and I drove down to Brighton to spend a long weekend with my sister, who is studying at the uni there for a month. I wasn't very sure what to expect of Brighton at all, I knew it was a seaside town, and I'd heard of Brighton Pier, but I didn't really know much more. Due to that, I was majorly impressed! Yes, it's a typical seaside town but it's also so so much more, and definitely my kind of place. I used to think Edinburgh was great for little independent shops, cafes and bars, and I feel a bit like I'm cheating on Edinburgh by saying this, but Brighton is amazing for that. Maybe the weather contributed to the atmosphere a bit. The first few days were so sunny and hot; the streets were completely filled with outdoor seating from bars and cafes and lined with market stalls. There was a very music festival atmosphere going on...and I loved it! Brighton is probably one of the quirkiest places I've visited in Britain.

We spent most of the weekend just walking around and discovering the city. We ate out a lot in some lovely places, deliberately avoiding any chain restaurants as to try lots of the independent ones around. My sister had read a Buzzfeed article about the best places to eat in Brighton so we ticked a few of the recommended places off the list. We walked along the seafront and drank Pimms at a bar on the beach, we played the 2p machines at the arcades on the pier, we walked around the Brighton Pavilion, we shopped around all the little boutique shops and when the weather turned a bit rainy, we took shelter in plenty of coffee shops and then went to see the Amy Winehouse film at the cinema. All in all, it was such a great weekend away.

I would definitely recommend Brighton as a place to visit if you're looking for somewhere to go, and I'm sure I'll end up back there one day. But for just now, here's some of the photos I took last weekend to give you a little taste of the place!

Thanks to the lovely Lauren at Belle Du Brighton for the recommendations of things to do in Brighton! :)

Life

Sometimes life just gets in the way! That's the only thing I can really say right now about my accidental break from blogging. I knew that I had neglected my little space on the web for a while but I never realised that it has been since April!! I know that I will probably always be a bit of an occasional blogger and I'll never be able to keep up with regular posts. I understand that it's a bit annoying for anyone who is following, and I'd like to thank all you readers who do come back again and again, after all my little breaks between posts.

So what have I been up to? The main thing that's happened since I last posted is that I've moved flats. It was all decided and arranged pretty quickly and so the process of packing up my room (I own so so much stuff!) and cleaning our old flat, in amongst some pretty busy times at work, was a bit stressful. After an exhausting day of taking all my stuff down three flights of stairs in Leith and then up another two flights here, with the help of my mum and dad, I was finally moved in to my new flat in Stockbridge. I had always dreamt of living in this area of town and so I was very lucky to find a room in a lovely flatshare, and even luckier to be picked to take the room over quite a few others! My Timehop from 1 year ago the other day showed a tweet where I'd said I wished I lived here...and now I do! I've not had too much time to explore the area since I've lived here, there are still so many cafés and bars that I'm planning to try and I need to take a walk down to the Stockbridge market the next time I have a Sunday off work.

Image from StockbridgeEdinburgh.com

Since moving my life seems to have stayed pretty hectic, not that I'm complaining at all. I went to my boyfriends graduation ball (you know what an effort finding the right outfit is right?), I've been on holiday to Malaga with my best girlfriends, work has been keeping me very very busy and then a few weeks ago I had a little spa break at Crieff Hydro which was much needed to say the least.

My boyfriend is now away on the holiday of a lifetime, travelling across America for a month...jealous much?! He asked me what I thought he should do in New York and all I could think of was to go and see Carrie Bradshaw's apartment!! Well...I know what I'd want to see! His trip is actually one of the reasons that I'm back to blogging. I've got in quite a routine of spending a lot of my spare time with him, which is amazing especially as I tend to have quite long work days, but subconsciously I've not really made much time for myself to do things like blogging or baking or crafting! So my plan whilst he is away to immerse myself in all the stuff that I love doing. 

Hopefully my blog posts will become a bit more regular. I have quite a few ideas in the pipeline, including another post in my 'Pinterest house' feature, a post looking at some of my favourite cafés and bars in Edinburgh and maybe a look back at my holiday in Malaga. Watch this space! I promise I won't keep you waiting as long as last time!