Cooking

Well, two minutes in our very own kitchens and we discovered we loved cooking didn’t we Marie. So cool cos we like making similar things and testing (sometimes improving?) each other’s recipes.

Highlights:

Red carmague rice and feta salad. Garlic heaven. So good.

D’you remember we met up in St James Park once (think I may not have been working) and you brought me some pasta salad and I’d eaten it within 7 minutes and then you told me it was supposed to be my lunch the next day..!!

The goddam marrow. Remember that. Tasteless massive thing. I know it’s not fair on you but you’re the only person I could have ‘inflicted’ that on. Ah, you live and learn…

Muffins, muffins and muffins

In fact do you remember leaving me muffins on the cottage doorstep. Chocolate ones as I recall…

All those crackers at Christmas!!

And where would we have been without Nige and all her domestic guidance and lovliness. We can all aspire eh…

Let’s start a list of all our favourite recipes. Start it in the comments box below. Either ones that are your favourite to make, or your favourite to have made – and who by!

xLuce

Brad Pitt

Autumn 1994??

No, this is not a gratuitous perv post! Catherine do you remember that we went out once and bought each other Brad posters?? I think this is one of the ones that we got (or not ??) I cannot remember why we bought them but I can remember what I was wearing that day. How strange.

xLuce

Snail Mail Jun 09

Catherine to Luce
‘just because’

University visits

In the years that we were all at university there were a number of trips around the country visiting each other (although Marie I don’t think we ever did..?) and visiting everyone else around the country too. Obviously, obviously, I can remember very little about these. And as with other posts of this ‘nature’ I think we should keep this as clean and friendly as possible yeah

Some bits that I do remember:

• Arriving in Leeds (?) wearing the same clothes I’d been out in the night before and Catherine’s brother being so ashamed to hang around with me (no doubt Catherine and Aine were too, but hid it a bit better!)
• The Hawaiin party at Hugh’s house in Nottingham. Or was it Roz’s?
• Coming up for your birthday Catherine, arriving completely hungover and ‘coming to life’ at about 1am when everyone else was wasted
• Coming up to your first apartment Catherine and getting really ill, d’you remember that?? Really odd
• Being in Liverpool (?) and quite literally having to carry Aine and Catherine home, one on each arm. I think this was a night that started with communal punch in the kitchen..?

OK, I’ve been kind, no need to go on and on about all the embarassing things that I’ve done!

(Photo courtesy of Catherine. Thank you!)

(Photo courtesy of Monique. Thank you!)

xLuce

GCSEs

I don’t really have too much to say about this. I guess we all felt a bit of pressure doing our first ‘big’ exams, although as I recall GCSEs were predominantly a memory test… I do recall that study leave was pretty cool.

And the time off after the exams were over was good; Catherine and I went to Switzerland, Marie what did you do..??

I recall that results day you and I walked to school together Marie, and when we got to Colesmead the gate was locked so we climbed over and I made you look the other way cos I was wearing a skirt!!! Results night we went out with Monique and Andi to Pizza Piazza – clearly hadn’t committed our alleigance to Pizza Express quite yet!

xLuce

Athletics

The two of you used to go to athletics ‘meetings’ in the summer. I remember this mostly because Catherine used to write me letters when you were there, telling me what was going on. (Seriously, HOW bad was I at athletics not to be included, oh, nevermind…) So, basically, the two of you will have far more to say here… Surely I could’ve done shot-put or something???

xLuce

Merstham First

As we’ve seen from previous posts I clearly struggle with remembering stuff, so that chances of 1984-1988 (?correct?) being accurate are minimal yeah. This is a starter for ten and very much open to amendment….

• I remember a Christmas Play where I played the xylophone and wore sparkly black tights. This may have nothing to do with anyone else…
• The swimming pool was excellent. And the swimming exams to get our different ribbons – not excellent, but memorable in terms of achievement!
• The playgrounds felt huge. Clearly they weren’t.
• School dinners
• Milk. Breaktime milk.
• I have no idea what it was to do with, but I know I was a worm in a school play. I mean, how to give a child a complex…
• Story time. The only story I remember being read is the BFG. I think this is selective memory (for excellence) on my part!

xLuce

Playing

What I was really thinking of here was the times when you and I, quite literally, played Marie. In the summer holidays, at the weekends etc. Out on the street, in our gardens, in the park etc. Not that we did so much of this but a bit…

I particularly remember:

• A hot summer when we lay in your garden putting our faces in buckets of water, jumping through the sprinkler and eating cucumber
• Coming round to yours on rollerskates
• Things may (may) have changed, but I remember where the spare key is for your front door!

xLuce

Reigate Priory

This was when Marie and I met Catherine. We were all in the same class together for the four years and of course there are thousands of things that we did and hundreds of things that I can remember and just a few that I’m going to write here…
Choose your best bits and add them as well. This is what came to me…

First of all a role call of our teachers, and with each of our year teachers I can picture the classroom exactly! Mrs Cox, Mr Lellman (the stable!), Mrs Pankhurst, Miss Hilkene (the room above the stable!), Mrs Connety (sp?)

Highlights:

• Well I know I’m a nerd but I liked the projects we did each term – the big books of stuff. They were a lot of fun. Also I remember having to make a cardboard box house in the first term we were at the Priory and my dad wired mine so the lights switched on and off!
• Marbles! D’you remember the marble pitch?? Did you ever play.? I did… Oh well…
• D’you remember how the whole big crowd of girls (bout ten of us no??) would act out Grease in our lunch breaks. We knew absolutely all the words… And I believe Grease 2 was actually a favourite over the original.
• We did school musicals, first off Smuggle Me A Secret then Rats. Although wasn’t there Joseph as well?? Were we too young for that??
• Actually I think it was as part of those projects each term that we all started doing cross stitch and sewing..? You two were way more dedicated to this stuff than me…
• Did you both go on a year skiing trip to France? I couldn’t ski so that was that. You’ll have to add the detail here…
• For my part, I went to North Wales camping. Climbed a big hill. Saw some cute towns. Made friends with kids from the other school. Discovered I was allergic to chilli.
• I keep remembering the assemblies that we went to. Isn’t ‘assembly’ such a funny concept. Oh, and harvest festivals, I am remembering some of those too.
• I think I was on some sort of school council. Anyone? Any ideas here..?
• Did you both do the River Mole project? That was Priory wasn’t it? Again, you’ll have to fill the gaps my lovelies.
• We all started to play netball. Some of us better than others….

xLuce

Guide Camps

Catherine couldn’t we just fill a whole blog with stories about Guide camps!!! I’m sure we quite frequently fill whole afternoons talking about them (and given the speed at which we talk this is impressive…) It seems that between a tent, some outdoor activities, a few boy scouts and a few sneaked beverages (oh we know how to live!) so much happens.

Some highlights:

• Our first ever trip together to Brownsea Island. You were much more friends with Jo than me at this time but we had a lot of fun. This was, all in, a legendary trip.
• The nudist beach that we went to on the Brownsea Island trip. Were you there? Do you remember that bit?
• Kayaking with the scout group that we met. I recall some slightly mental kayak ‘tricks’ – sticking the kayaks end up in the water, running over kayaks in a circle, etc.
• Night time treasure hunts / orienteering
• What was the trip where we had to come home together on the train? The one that we have our favourite photo from???

• The one where we were out late at night and all those military dudes were crawling around the place doing a recky and I got questioned about what had happened (why me??)
• Of course then we break out into the camps where we were ‘leaders’, errrrm…
  • First thing I have to say here is Bacardi Breezer, because we seemed to just drink a lot of them!
  • I remember going rock climbing one time and Michaela broke her leg, yikes
  • I think there were a few times that you could only do a coupla days because you were going France / sailing with your family at the same time…

So, as usual, sketchy details from me, but this is only meant to be a starting point…

xLuce