Big ol’ update
A: It’s been a long time since we’ve done any sort of blog, so I’m not going to even attempt to fill you in on everything we’ve been up to. Crucially, winter has been hard, and so has starting my uni placements, and actually juggling being students has been tough for both of us, so yeah, I don’t think either of us have felt like we had the space to do anything beyond uni. That being said, there have been some really nice times that have poked out from the darkness. And placement in general was really good and really interesting and a huge confidence boost/didn’t make me feel like I’d made a mistake choosing nursing. So that’s good.
L: Yeah I think neither of us anticipated how much Abi’s placement was going to affect our joint capacity for stuff - even just posting a blog or whatever. We really were at our limits and all spare time was spent, well, doing laundry….
A: We havent had a lot of chances to get out and adventure, mostly cause we’ve both felt so bad. But I really enjoyed the times I cycled to work (even though was at quarter to 6 in the morning and even though the dark steep hill on the way home wasn’t lit and I almost crashed several times). We did go for a wee walk around the falkland estate and then took a trip to pillars, which felt like the perfect spring activity.
L: The commutes were really nice, actually, even though they were also very cold and dark. It helped that they were on cycle path the whole way (and that my brakes are better than abis haha!) We walk not infrequently along the coastal path, together, alone and with pals, and that’s actually the topic of our next patreon zine ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Fife’ which will be risoprinted and in hands in April! We’re no nan shepherds, but we’ve both felt the value of coming to know a place well through the seasons.
A: We also got to do a bit of non ebike cycling round cambridge, which was so so lovely and very reminiscent of being in the early years of our relationship. Cambridge in general was great- we went for Lea’s birthday and stayed in an incredible hotel room and had a date at the tipsy vegan which had some great vegan tapas (although cambridge food prices are just ridiculous). I’ll let Lea talk more about their bday tho…
L: I don’t want to! No seriously, this was my first birthday out of lockdown since covid started so I really enjoyed being able to sit outside and go to a little art show (the textile exhibition at New Hall) and have a nice meal. I also found a zine about fenland drainage at the cambridge museum of technology, which I was freaking delighted about.
A: We did our first in-person event for the zine library since covid began and it was soo nice and so tiring! I had completey forgotten how to talk to crowds and we all forgot basic things like checking if people were ok with photos. But it was a such a great evening of zine readings and the zine library looked great at it’s pop-up location in Blunt Knife. We’ve also been helping out with the planning of the first Edinburgh Zine fest, so please come along (more info here) if you wanna meet loads of cool zinesters, buy zines and generally hang out. You can also support the zine fest by buying a set of badges here. The money is to help support zinesters who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend with travel, accommodation and any other costs.
A: We went to our favourite glamping site in Crail in the east neuk of Fife and omg it was a delight as usual. Plus we were with pals so it was just super special spending time outdoors and in the wood burning hot tub and cooking like grumpy dads on the BBQ in the freezing cold.
A: Boba is doing well. He had to wear a collar for a lot of January because he’s getting into fights with a big bully cat in the neighbourhood and got badly bitten. But he is now just loving the sun and being outside and is the most affectionate cat I’ve ever met.
L: If i’d been in charge of this blog post it would have just been pictures of boba.
Great food we ate
A: Oppa in St Andrews- really great korean place with loads of vegan options and epic tofu bowls and bao buns. 10/10 would recommend.
Crosstown donuts in Cambridge- just really good donuts. We’ve ordered from them before but now they have a little cafe in town and it was cute but the weather was also good so we ate one each on Jesus green in the sun which also maybe has meant I’ve been even more favourable in my review.
L: Wee vegan bakery in Dunfermline - this place just opened, but the folks behind it had been doing home deliveries and the like all through lockdown. really good sweet treats, pastries and sausage rolls - and just down the road from the hospital in dunfermline so great if abi has a shift.
Tipsy Vegan in Cambridge - I enjoyed the meal here, but it didn’t like… wow me… Abi disagrees (I think). It was nice tho, and I suspect I maybe hold all vegan places to higher standards.
Vegan Vice in Cambridge - freaking PREMIUM vegan junk food, truly their seitan buffalo strips destroy my bowels but it is so worth it.
A: The Tiffin Truck in Kirkcaldy- OMG best vegan indian food we’ve had? Maybe? Probably? We’ve been meaning to go to their stand at the kirkcaldy market forever and finally managed to be together in kirkcaldy on a friday and it really was spectacular. Everything tasted super good, it was spicy and the portions were really generous. They’re also opening a restaurant soon and I cannot wait to go!
All Plants ready meals- less of a great food we ate, but deserves a mention because we decided to get through placement without spending way too much on takeaways we’d get a load of ready meals in. And we decided to go for a fancy option because we wanted the meals to feel like a treat. It was expensive and like, most of the meals needed bulking up because they were not two portions worth for us. But they were all really nice and there were good gluten free options so we will get something like them again next placement.
