"Spring is the Time of Plans and Projects" -Tolstoy

Spring is in full swing now. It is lovely to get to experience real seasonal changes- Santa Barbara is in a chaparral (Mediterranean) climate, so really only has two seasons. There are flowers sprouting up around town, especially snowdrops, a much admired symbol of spring and a species you never see in Southern California. In some places in the United Kingdom, especially in snowdrop gardens, there are so many that the ground looks white! They have recently begun a snowdrop festival in Scotland- definitely on my to-do list for next year!
Both my favorite poets mention the flowers in their works:

From: The Progress of Spring
by Lord Alfred Tennyson

The groundflame of the crocus breaks the mould,
Fair Spring slides hither o'er the Southern sea,

Wavers on her thin stem the snowdrop cold
That trembles not to kisses of the bee

From: Introduction- Childhood and School-Time

by William Wordsworth

I began

My story early, feeling as I fear,

The weakness of a human love, for days

Disown'd by memory, ere the birth of spring

Planting my snowdrops among winter snows.

•This March I did a lot more Women's Month/Day activities than usual. I don't think they were really supposed to be related to Women's Month, it is just kind of coincidental. For one of my classes, I wrote an essay on Mary Wollstonecraft (feminist pioneer). I also went to several "girl time" events:

• I went kayaking on the "Girl's Trip" to the River Tay (same river as on the Fresher's

  

  Not the best picture of me, but shows my favorite
  purple Perception kayak

  Trip). It was good practice- I got to go down the Grandtully rapids twice. My first time went really smoothly, but the second was significantly less elegant. I don't know exactly what happened, but somehow I got turned around by a rock and was going down backwards (also someone said at one point they saw the bottom of my boat- I think I was sideways!). Anyway, I managed to correct myself, so I was pretty happy! Afterwards we went to the Hermitage to see the waterfall, which I saw at the beginning of the year on my mini-trip to Dunkeld. It was spectacular to see again! In the evening we went to someone's house to cook a pasta dinner and talk about the day.
• I also went to the first ever KnitSoc pub crawl. We walked to about seven different pubs, and ended at Dervish, a snack food place open late at night. It was definitely a lot less crazy then the canoe socials I have been to, and it was nice to relax with my KnitSoc friends.
• In addition, I went out for brunch with the Design Team girls at a cute cafe called Gorgeous. We held our bi-weekly meeting, mostly discussing our venue for design work during the On the Rocks student art festival.
• Lastly, I worked at a comedy show featuring the girls from Blind Mirth and St. Andrews Revue and supporting ovarian cancer research.

I thought they dissapeared in the 90s,
but apparently they still tour

•I've done Ents crew on several occasions now, and am happy to be back into stage crew again! Since I last wrote I've helped set up and run sound/lights for a small charities fundraiser, get a stage ready for a band concert, set up for a comedy group (see above), prepare the venue for the 90's band "Vengaboys", and run sound and rig lights and smoke/snow machines for a play called "6 Characters in Search of an Author" during On the Rocks.

•Student elections were in March, so there was a lot of campaigning commotion for a while. My academic dad was trying to be re-elected as president of the Mermaids theater group, so my academic sisters and I helped pass out flyers at the library. My dad was on stilts, so we got some funny looks, but it proved to be a good eye-catcher. Unfortunately, he was not re-elected, but it was a fun experience anyway. Within the clubs themselves we were also elections. I went to the Canoe Club AGM, and was nominated for a position several times, but I didn't end up running for anything. I tried for publicity officer in KnitSoc, and got the position! I'm planning on running for something in Design Team as well!


•I came across the cat Hamish McHamish for the first time in March as well! He was walking along Market Street at a fast pace, peeking into several shops on his way. He seemed very preoccupied, so I thought it best not to bother him- I snapped some quick cell phone shots though! You can read Hamish's backstory here: http://www.heraldscotland.com/books-poetry/interviews/on-the-trail-of-hamish-mchamish.19050116

•I finished my mittens at last! I'm very excited because they are the first pair of mittens I've ever knitted, as well as the first time I've knitted using the Fair Isle multi-color technique. The pattern is called "Peerie Flooers" and is by Kate Davies, a Scottish knitwear designer (and definitely my favorite pattern maker!)- check out her site here: http://katedaviesdesigns.com/


•We were supposed to have a world record "strip the willow" dancing attempt right before break, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to slippery surfaces from snow, and I've heard no news about a reschedule. I will keep you all posted!

•A couple days before my birthday (March 14) I went around town and did a snow photo shoot. The results were quite ethereal!

•During Spring Break I went home so I could attend my cousin's wedding. The wedding was lovely, held at the Muir Woods Clubhouse on a spectacularly clear day. Over the break we also got a puppy, which was unexpected, but nonetheless exciting! I was happy to get to see my family and friends (I visited my high school) for a short while before I had to head back to Scotland!

             

Bridget and the beautiful wedding venue view

Our new puppy!

KnitSoc Competition

•A couple of weeks ago, the annual KnitSoc competition took place. The theme was food, so I entered in a knitted bowl of pasta and a fork. I invented the pattern for everything but the bowl, so was happy that it actually turned out. I ended up getting second place- the prize I chose was a bag of 10 balls of white yarn, which I plan to make a sweater with (or jumper as they say here)!

•During On the Rocks, several of my posters were featured at a new cafe called "Our Story", it was nice to have them shown again!

Beginner's Training Group

•Last weekend I went on a really informative and fun "Beginner's Training" kayaking trip. We stayed in a hostel in Aviemore, and had two days with an awesome coach. The first day we did a section of the Findhorn, and the second day we went down the Tummel. It was nicely paced throughout both days, and got progressively more difficult. I really enjoyed learning to "read" or scout out the river and going down rapids like "The Wall of Death" and a technically complicated S-Bend. On the way home, we stopped at the Hermitage again, so I got to see the magnificent falls for a third time! This time, because of recent rain, they looked much more fearsome than my previous viewings. (See here for full account: http://staucc.blogspot.co.uk/)

My view while kayaking

•Earlier today I turned in my last bit of coursework for the year, so am very relieved! These past couple of weeks have been a bit chaotic work-wise, with a philosophy essay, a sustainable development project and paper, and assessed logic exercises due, along with normal readings and tutorial homework. I'm happy with how my project for SD came out, especially my efforts to eat locally. Here's an excerpt from the essay to explain how I switched to a "locavore" diet:

"In the first couple of weeks, I became a member of “The Fife Diet” and made a pledge to eat locally and responsibly, signed up to get a weekly “veg box” from Bellfield Organics (a farm within Fife), and created a Google Form to track my purchases. In the following weeks, I made a conscious effort to read labels and packaging for origins and production locations for everything I bought at stores, went to the farmer’s market as much as possible, and cut down on pre-packaged and processed foods. The choice to become a “locavore” helped me to achieve a greater sense of balance between the environment and myself. I felt good about eating more healthfully,[1] trying new foods, and making more meals from scratch, while experiencing less guilt about inadvertently causing harm to the Earth through my food choices by supporting monopolistic agribusiness corporations. I ended up “buying local” more often than I had planned, since it was easier than I imagined."

A meal I made with part of one of my
veg boxes

Food and Item Purchase Data

Thanks for being so patient!

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