Last night, I sat down to put together a post on my Japan trip…
and realised I have approximately 3000 photos.

Um…

So I started trying to sort them out
and hours later, still no post
but a whole lot of reminiscing.
(Is it too early to reminisce yet?)

So in place of that post, I thought I’d treat
you all to a ‘gratuituous cat post’.
(Don’t say I’m not good to you!)

*******

So… cats. I have two.
Though sometimes two feels like three.

We got them a few years apart.
It was not exactly love at first sight.
But they seem to have reached some sort
of spacial agreement on how they hang out…

They’re both shelter cats. Which means along
with having their very own distinct personalities,
they also have their own distinct issues!

Our grey cat came first.
She’s half-pedigree, half-feral.
(The pedigree part is Russian Blue.
The feral is Berwick-upon-Tweed tabby.)

She was 6 weeks old when we got her and
so tiny you could pick her up with one hand.
(That blue bed lasted all of a day before
she puked and pooped on it. Lovely.)

She likes: fake chocolate ice cream sweets,
scratching our neighbours’ doormats,
her faithful friend (and toy) Mr Mouse,
snuggling, cuddling and Quorn ham.

She loathes: other people, being picked
up unexpectedly, the hairdryer,
and when the fox-owl-cat steals
her stuff (see depression expression).

******

The fow-owl-cat we got a few years later…

She was found in a barn as a kitten,
duly rounded up and put in a box…
(We always imagine this to be like the start
of ET when he’s being chased through the woods.)

As a result, she has a pathological fear of boxes,
loud noises, strangers, people she’s met but
has forgotten she’s met and me wearing hats.
(Honestly, the fear in her eyes when she sees
something on my head is unreal!)

She likes: her food, watching TV
(polar bears are her favourite),
being brushed, the grey cat’s stuff,
snoozing, and hunting spiders.

(The fox-owl-cat watching TV!)

She loathes: boxes (a lot),
the doorbell, loud sneezes,
sudden movements,
and being cold (she likes to sit
on the radiators when it’s cold).

For more cat-ness, feel free to follow me
on instagram (I’m convo_pieces).
Yes, I do post other pics there
but a whole lot of them are cat-related
just like the one above!

And if you’re ever debating getting a shelter cat,
I’d highly recommend it… yes, our cats are
a little (ok, a lot) weird but that’s
what makes them great.

Plus you get amazing cat cuddles
if you ever go away to Japan
for a couple of weeks!

Yeah, you remember how I was super, super excited about going?
Well, now I’m home and gosh I’m missing being there like crazy.

This is by far the worst post holiday blues I’ve had so far.

Getting me through it… are my sparkly trainers…

…and cat cuddles and airplane socks…

and recreating the Mojito Beers we had in Tokyo.

Now normally I’m not really a beer drinker,
but damn these were good… maybe too good!

If you fancy a blues banishing beer too,
here’s how to make them…

For each mojito beer:

1/2 x bottle of good beer
1 shot of lime cordial
handful of ice-cubes
handful of fresh mint
30 ml sugar syrup

Put the mint into a glass (or jar!)
Add the lime cordial and sugar syrup
Then mush it up a bit…
Add the ice and top up with beer.
Stir a little with a straw.

And enjoy…

Any other cure suggestions for
the post holiday blues most welcome.

(Though booking another holiday
or anything that costs money is out…
I may have spent too much in Japan!)

With daffies, my bunny vase, a ‘Hello Flower’
postcard from Lou and of course an Easter chick (or two)…

My postcard from Lizzy Stewart seemed very appropriate
considering I had melted a chocolate egg already.
(By leaving it too near to a window!)

And feeling Springy… I dug out these vintage napkins
I got in Norway. Hooray indeed!

And got out our charity shop find table cloth…
even if it does make the kitchen super super girlie!

Most importantly, I found our box of Easter chicks…
though I wasn’t the only one who found them!

Then we were all set for some Easter fun…

First up, some Easter giggles with my Papa.
See that super happy, super dapper groom?
That’s my Papa. One of the coolest people I know.
We chatted about flat caps, the latest movies
and where to get the best chips in town.

Then… some Easter fun with my gorgeous little sis
who was back in Scotland for a wee break
before she starts rehearsals for her new play.

This meant mini eggs and heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast…

Blowing Easter bubbles… and discovering that cats
(well the grey one) really like attacking said bubbles!

All culminating in some Easter silliness…
involving a chick, the army men who live in our plants
and a rescue mission called Operation Letter Box!

************

There was also lots of gin and rose lemonade,
the best veggie hot dogs ever, homemade pizza,
old movies, a spot of DIY, an epic hangover…
yip Easter is the new Christmas!

************

So, what about you all… are you feeling Springy?
Think I feel more like Spring being inside than outside!

Not so long ago, I found some vintage
cake forks… and when you find cake forks
then you have to make cake right?

Last week, I decided I was going to make
my favourite sweet treat… mint aero traybake.

It’s chocolate-y, biscuit-y,
mint fondant-y, and
mint aero-y.

Two places in Edinburgh make it
but I struggled to find a recipe
so I’ve tried to backwards process it.

Not sure I have it quite right yet but
oh my, it still tastes pretty amazing!

If you fancy trying it, you need:

250g butter
200g milk chocolate
200g white chocolate
250g of crushed digestive biscuits
200g of mint Aero chocolate
3 tablespoons of Golden Syrup
300g icing sugar
Green food colouring (8 drops or to colour)
Peppermint extract (12 drops or to taste)

And here’s the how to:

To make the base, melt the milk chocolate,
100g butter and Golden Syrup together.
Crush the digestives then add to the melted choc mix.
Pour into a tray, put it in the fridge and let it set.

Then make up the peppermint layer…
‘cream’ together 150g butter and 300g icing sugar.
Then add the peppermint essence and colouring.
Smooth onto your set base with a spoon.

Then melt your white chocolate…
and pour on top of your peppermint layer.

Break up your mint Aero bar and
stick the pieces into the white chocolate.
Leave to set. (And feel free to lick any spoons!)

Cut into pieces and enjoy with a cuppa.
(And yes, you may need help to finish a bit!)

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If you try it, let me know.
Or if you have any suggestions
for how to make the peppermint layer
more ‘solid’ than soft, do tell.

P.S. Been trying some new things with layouts
recently, hope you like them. Attempting to
get to grips with photoshop finally!

A couple of weeks ago, I found this old school map
at a Sunday morning car boot sale.

I’ve been looking for an old school map for longer
than I’ve been writing this blog. And still…
I wasn’t sure. I looked at it, put it back down,
and walked on. Three minutes later, I had a mild
panic that someone else would buy ‘my map’
and rushed back to buy it.

I paid £7 for it. I’ve seen similar (and worse)
condition maps going for £180.

Looking at it now, I can’t believe I almost
didn’t buy it – but it sums up my first tip
of car boot sale or charity shop thrifting…

1. You’ve got to be in it to win it.

This might sound silly but if you’re not in the mood
to rummage, give people some chat, barter, or yes
even get elbowed by some woman trying to knock
£2 off a £2.50 shirt… (ah the glamour)
then wait until you are. Or have a serious
amount of caffeine and cake before you go.

Tip 2 I think is summed up
by the little Meakin set above…

2. Know what you’re looking for
(but be flexible about it)

I can this the ‘new car theory’.
If you decide you want a certain make of car,
suddenly you’ll start seeing that car everywhere.
Same is true (sort of!) of vintage things…
once you have what you want in mind,
then you’ll start seeing it.

Until I found my first Meakin set last summer,
I would have sworn that I’d never seen any before…
which seems unlikely now I think about it!

(As a complete aside, I now have a tea set that matches
my fav typewriter… how cool is that? Also the tiny
milk jug from this set… might be my favourite ever!)

My third tip can definitely worked for these cameras…

3. Go super early or go at the end

Car boot sales start early. Very early.
And usually on Sundays.

I’ve written before on here that I’m not
a morning person. But the allure of
thrifty finds does drag me out of bed.
(Sometimes.)

However, the vintage cameras above
(my Super Colour Swinger Polaroid Land Camera
and a very old Kodak Brownie camera)
where bought in the last 30 mins of the sale.

Basically we slept in, but thought we’d
pop in anyway on the way elsewhere.
The guy who sold us these had been up
since 6am. He sold them us for super cheap
just because it was two less things to take home.

I can’t remember why I picked up this book
of song sheets. I can’t play any musical instruments.
But I really rather love it… I’m half tempted to do
some crafty projects with it, half tempted just to
keep it as it is. But anyway, it’s my 4th tip…

4. Expect the unexpected.

One of my favourite things about thrifting
is that you can’t know what you’ll find.

Just keep your eyes open. Look for colours,
shapes and styles of things you like…

I once did the wardrobe for a 1940s short film.
There were about 100 extras and at one point
my entire living room was filled with rails
of hired, borrowed and found vintage coats,
hats, dresses, shoes, bags and delicate gloves.

Yup, I don’t mention it often but
I have a vintage clothing obsession too.

I got this blouse and skirt recently…
they need adjusted so if anyone has
seen any great skirt tutorials, I need one.
Which brings me to tip 5…

5. Don’t be afraid to customise.

If you’ve found something you like
but it’s not quite right, can you change it?
Especially if you’re getting something for
a bargain, it’s usually worth having a go.

I was really rather excited when I found
the above book… good friends of ours
got engaged next to a volcano so
it made a prefect little present for them.

On the same day, we nearly bought some Christmas
china, which I’m slightly regretting not buying. So…

6. Think off-season.

It’s summery outside now. So it might
be a great time to find a vintage winter coat.
Or get a present for a friend’s birthday…

And don’t try and find a vintage picnic hamper
when it’s sunny, people want to charge you so
much for it! (Lesson I learned last summer!)

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Want more tips? I did a wee feature on
how to get the best from car boots here.

*******

Does anyone have any other tips they would add?
Or if you know of any easy skirt diys, do let me know!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend my dears.
(And thank you SO much for all your Japan tips!
You guys are honestly the best-est!)

On Saturday, Edinburgh was seriously foggy.
And cold. And damp. And very not picnic-y.

Sunday’s sunshine caught me by surprise.
(Plus I slept in as I wasn’t feeling well. Yup, fail!)

So today I’m dreaming about being outside
in the sunshine, stretched out
on a picnic blanket.

Ideally on this gorgeous diy chevron one
(by Kathleen from Twig & Thistle).

Sipping a Strawberry Limeade…
maybe with a little gin in it?

Oh yes and I may have invited some
friends with these free printable invites…

******

In reality, my picnics look nothing like this.
I usually have an Ikea fleece, stolen back from a cat
so it’s got extra fluff on it. And a carrier bag
of stuff from our local food place.

But a gal can dream right?
(Especially when she’s stuck at her desk
on a lovely bright sunshiney day!)

So who’s joining me for this
imaginary picnic?

November 2008.
I’m standing in Tokyo
as a huge parade comes up
a street in Asakusa.

I can barely breathe with excitement.
(I am in Japan! I am in Japan!)

I stand at the back of a crowd and try to peer
over people’s heads to see the parade…

Someone glances round, smiles at me,
says something I don’t understand,
then gestures for me to move forward,
then another person does the same,
and another, and another…

Until I’m right at the front,
with people smiling at me,
nodding, being so lovely
that it almost distracts me
from taking pictures.

******

It’s now 2012. And I can barely breathe with
excitement… because we’re going back to
the land that invented washi tape!
And I can’t wait! Here’s why:

If you’ve ever seen Lost in Translation,
you’ll have an idea just how magical,
mysterious, zany, crazy and cute Tokyo is.
Except in real life, it’s even better.
It’s overwhelming but in a brilliant way.

There’s just so much colour everywhere in Japan…
from old shrine gates in Kyoto to paper
cranes in Hiroshima to this little girl in Tokyo.

Even the signs are cute…
yes, those are helpful raccoons
telling you not to get your hand stuck!

And the randomness… a calendar based on brushing your teeth?
Well, of course! Diet tights? Yup, you can get those too.
And an arcade game based on zombies… and eh typing?

As well as Tokyo, we spent time into Kyoto…
with its cute trains, Golden Pavilion, and the Geishas.
Wherever we went in Kyoto, I seemed to attract lots
of school children who wanted to take my picture…
We suspected this was because of my 2008
inclination to dress like a children’s TV presenter!
I have never been so excited to go back somewhere…
Honestly I’ve been causing myself near heart failure
while trying to plan this next trip.

My number 1 tip for Japan is to wear slip on shoes,
not Converses. I swear I spent 1/3 of our last trip,
lacing and unlacing my trainers.

Oh and this time, if I can, I’m drawing a fox wishing plaque
at Fushimi Inari (possibly the most magical place ever)
and buying a giga pudding. (It has the craziest video ever
and was everywhere we went in 2008!)

*******

Maybe once I’m back from the trip
I might do a proper guide?
If anyone has any recommendations
of places to go, I’d love them!
Or if you share my love of Japan,
do let me know! *Super excited!*

*******

{P.S.} Ok, not so much of a P.S.
as an extra bit of this blog post…

I have so many weird and wonderful
stories from my last trip but I wanted
to share this one… it’s pretty much
my most embarrassing story EVER!

Here goes:

If you’ve heard of a traditional Japanese onsen,
you might have an idea where I’m going with this…

It’s a Japanese bath, that you bathe in naked.
With strangers. Naked. So far, so unBritish.

As the onsens are segregated,
I’m going in on my own. Naked.
(Did I mention the naked thing already?)

I’m determined to be cool about it.
In fact, I’m doing quite well at being cool
until a 90 year old little woman decides that
she will instruct me on the ways of the onsen.

Cue much pointing from her, lots of directions in Japanese…
which seem to mean that I’m using the wrong kind of soap
and not scrubbing vigorously enough apparently!

It’s hot, I’m scarlet and naked.
Did I mention she was naked too?
I have never felt so British. Ever.

So this time, I think we’ll do a modern onsen!
Or I’ll learn the phrase, “Thank you for your help
but I can manage on my own!”

P.P.S. If anyone has any embarrassing travel stories,
do feel free to share… so I’m not alone here!

When Mollie Makes asked if I’d like to do
a feature for them, I was like ‘hells’ and ‘yeah’…

Well, I actually said something way more polite
but that’s what I thinking in my head.

So it was set – I was doing a tour of my Edinburgh,
my favourite places and must go-tos.

Now some of you may already know that
I work as writer (a copywriter and freelance writer)
but this one was a biggie… as I love Mollie Makes
AND I’d be taking the pictures for it too.

Eeeek. (But in a good way.)

So me and my trusty SLR hit the streets,
invaded some shops and tried very hard
not to just buy things while I was at it!

(This is not actually me in Edinburgh.
This is me in New York, snapping in the Met
but it’s the only Zoë as photographer shot I have.
So imagine this but colder and with less hat!)

Check it out if you can, let me know
what you think… or if you ever need
any Edinburgh tips, well, I’m your gal!

*off to do a happy little dance now*