Telephonophobia

I really really hate to admit that among my fears and uneasinesses there is a fear of making phone calls. It's ridiculously stupid, but I can't get rid of it no matter how hard I try. Every time I have to call someone I fall into this weird nervous state when my voice changes, my heart begins to jump to my throat, and I generally feel sick. I'm fine with calling my family or close friends, but every time I need to call a stranger, IT happens. I forget everything I had to say, also my accent becomes really heavy if I speak English. Don't know what to do. This stupid phobia ruins a lot of opportunities, especially job-related ones, because I can't make myself call recruiters or potential employers. I have no problem with talking to the same people when meeting them face to face, but sometimes I just can't force myself to take a phone and dial a number. That's totally frustrating...

Lancaster

It was my Birthday on last Saturday, so I was taken to Lancaster for a weekend. And I must say I loved that short trip. Hiking, sailing, sightseeing - I had everything. In addition to Lancaster itself we visited Lake District, which was absolutely amazing. Also the weather was fantastic, so we could see the sea from the high hills.

Lancaster itself doesn't offer much (besides being a nice quiet small town), but it's a good place to stop on your way to the lakes. Oh, and it has some nice restaurants and cafes.

Why oh why did Current TV stop to produce "Target Women"? It was such an amusing series. I think that their "Modern Lady" is not as good, and I think that Sarah Haskins is a better presenter than Erin Gibson. Erin is fine, but sometimes she plays too much while Sarah's jokes sounded more natural. Anyway, both are worth watching.

Russian pancakes with curd filling

Yesterday we made really nice pancakes. So I decided to write down the recipe.

Batter:
1 egg
1 mug (250 ml) of skimmed milk
14 tsp self-raising flour (sounds weird, but I like adding flour little by little)
2 tsp of sweetener
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of vanilla powder
2 tsp of corn oil

Filling:
1 pack (250 g) of fat free Lithuanian curd
2 tbsp of fat free natural yoghurt
1 tbsp of dried fruit (sultana mostly)
Some lemon zest (to your taste)
2 tsp of sweetener

Making:

1. Beat the egg with sugar.
2. Add milk and beat again.
3. Add dry components and mix well.
4. Add oil and mix again. The batter will be liquid, but it won't stick to the bowl.
5. Heat a big pan, spray it with some olive oil and start making pancakes. They should be large and thin. Think of crepes. Don't over-fry them, they should be yellow. Let them stay for 10 minutes to cool down.

6. For the filling, just mix all the ingredients together.
7. Put two table spoons of the filling on each pancake and roll them in summer rolls style. You may have some pancakes left, eat them with a filling of your choice, both sweet and sour would work perfectly.
8. Back to our pancakes. Put the ones you're going to eat on a pre-heated pan sprayed with oil and fry for one minute on each side.
9. Eat whem while they're hot.

You can keep the leftovers in the fridge or even freeze them, the taste will remain great.

Also you can replace fat free products with full fat ones and sweetener with sugar, but I personally think it's great as it is.

There are two fashion disasters I see all the time - uggs and flip-flops. Seriously, most of the time they look out of place/time/whatever, and simply look awful. They become horribly misshapen in few days of wearing because they are not fixed on a foot, and it always makes me sad when I see a young girl in a nice dress and something that ugly on her feet.

When I was younger, flip-flops were considered to be a footwear for a beach or a swimming pool. Now they are everywhere. Why don't people believe in sandals any more? What's next? Furry slippers? Sparkling flippers?

I may sound like an old bore now, but I really don't understand this "fashion" trend. Where did all these girls get the idea that these types of footwear are beautiful? Last time I checked fashion magazines (yesterday) there nothing even close to that.

/rant

From Wimbledon to Richmond

We did this part of the Capital Ring Walk on Saturday, and it was really good. Despite being the longest single piece of the route, it was not as long as our previous walk, so I was not as tired at the end. The views were amazing. I especially liked the fern valley, really really beautiful place.

The Fern Valley

Richmond itself is quite a unique place in comparison with other parts of London. It was my first time there, and I couldn't get rid of a feeling that I'm not in London, but in some Mediterranean seaside resort. Or, at least, in Brighton. There are a riverside promenade, many somewhat-expensive restaurants, dozens of shops packed into few narrow streets, and generally it looks like most of the people there are on holidays.

Initially we wanted to reward ourselves for finishing the walk by buying something from William Curley shop, but their chocolates were way too expensive. If there would have been only two of us, we'd buy some desserts (which looked delicious) or ice cream. But we were there with a couple of friends who are not such fans of sweets (and expensive sweets in particular) as we are. So we had to go to the train station instead.

Anyway, it was a good day.