Once again I find myself writing the words “surprise news” for a blog post title, and this time I’m beginning to worry that I’ll soon run out of the adjectives needed to keep the series running. It was back in January 2016 –three years ago now– that I first posted some exciting news on my blog, back when I first discovered that I had been accepted to complete six months as an intern at Erretres, a design studio I’d admired since beginning to look for possible companies to intern with.
Since then, safe to say, it’s been quite the journey! After my internship, I returned to England to complete my final year of university, and then wound up securing myself a graduate job back at Erretres in October 2017. The story’s latest update came just a few months ago in October last year, when I made the decision to leave back for England, where I’ve been and still am.
In the blog post announcing my move back to the UK, I noted my doubt that it’d be my last time living and working in Madrid, and how I knew I was sure to miss working with the great group of people at Erretres specifically. This has been true indeed, for although I have enjoyed prepping my new portfolio and this shiny new website, I have missed the people and lifestyle in the big city quite terribly.
Imagine the shock, then, as I now reveal the news that I have come to impart today: that I’ve just accepted an offer to return to Erretres!
It has all happened rather suddenly, I’ll admit, but I am over to moon to be heading back to Madrid. In the last post before I disappeared in order to update my site, my look back over 2018 posted on New Years Eve, I mentioned that I may have some exciting news to impart, and this was indeed it. Quite the start to 2019 I’ve had!
In terms of my next steps, I’ll be moving out of my cosy home village of Worsthorne and back to the kooky streets of Madrid at the start of February – three weeks to the day as I sit here writing this post (Saturday 12th January – I often write these things a bit in advance). I’m happy as that gives me the time to get myself organised, packed, and all my goodbyes said to friends both local and over in Leeds and beyond.
I’ll be taking the chance to get the boring admin stuff wrapped up and otherwise take it nice and easy whilst I still can!
Between now and then, I can’t say that I have all too much lined up, as I’ll be taking the chance to get the boring admin stuff wrapped up and otherwise take it nice and easy whilst I still can! If anything interesting pops up to report back on, you can bet I’ll be here with an update, but I suspect that the next time you hear from me may be upon my return to Spain.
Here’s to the next unexpected twist in my life, and a happy 2019 to everyone. I hope that your 2019 is as kind as you as mine has been so far to me!
With my parents jetting off to Murcia for a few days, last week was spent home along and having to entertain myself. This gave me plenty of time to sit around and finish the coding for this new website, but I knew I couldn’t spend all of my day sat behind a screen, so one afternoon I timed a little amble with the setting sun.
Also, and during yet another little clear-out of my room, I’d found my old Praktica film camera, and noticed it was loaded with a film which had only been half-used. After not having used the camera for over a year, I took it with me during a trip to Clitheroe to finish the roll of film, and then proceeded to completely destroy the film: I’d forgotten how to use the thing on and accidentally opened the back before it had been fully wound on.
After this disaster, I decided that I was to cheer myself up by taking the camera out and allowing myself to use an entire roll of 24 snaps in one go. I did just that during the walk, and so this post is peppered with photos taken on the Praktica and from my phone. As you can see, the first couple I took on the Praktica feature some pretty cool light leakage…
Once I’d technically wandered out the the bounds of my village, Worsthorne, I was drawn over to a horse who was poking his head over a gate and into the road. I’m not usually a huge fan of horses –they kind of scare me– but this one seemed friendly and didn’t bat an eyelid when I wandered over. It did, however, start raring its head whilst I patted its mane, baring its teeth which allowed for some funny selfies when I decided to do the same.
The two of us bearing our pearly whites.
I also tried to take a couple of photos on film as I walked away, but both of them have come out slightly bizarre. The first was grossly overexposed, and the second was well-exposed but completely blue due to something beyond my control which I don’t understand. If you can explain why this might of happened, please do let me know!
I then continued my wander towards the neighbouring village of Hurstwood, taking a photo of some inquisitive sheep along the way. Once again, the mysterious blue haze descended, this time bisecting the image into a lighter and darker area. I quite like the effect it made, despite the attendant in the image processing shop warning me that “half of them haven’t come out quite right”.
Once I’d risked life and limb clambering down a wet and muddy embankment, I found myself crossing an old stone bridge over the confluence of two rivers. Here I took a few more photos, and my camera magically decided that it was going to ditch the blue tint halfway through one of the snaps.
Once I’d been chased by some ducks and sent a few silly videos to some friends to demonstrate how different life back home was to the big cities I’ve become accustomed to, the sun had begun to set and I had to pick up my speed in order not to get caught walking home in the cold and dark of dusk.
The last couple of photos that I got out of my film camera are of one of the strangest views along the way. Walking down one of the roads, you are presented with a view to the left which looks completely false: a smooth, undulating field bordered along the top with a dry stone wall and punctuated by a smattering of trees.
I took two photos of this scene using two distinct combinations of settings on the camera. The first is a much more accurate representation of how the scene looked in the fading light, but I do quite like the pinkish haze created in the over-exposed second shot.
After I’d snapped these, the advance film arm on my camera went limp and I knew it was time to head home. This all happened last week, of course, but just earlier today I had chance to nip into Burnley and pick up the developed photos.
The rest of this week will now be spent with my sister who has just returned from a busy week of university exams in Sheffield. I may have some updates as the week goes on, but failing that I have some big news which I’ll be sharing later this week – stay tuned for that!
Hello to all of you that have checked back to see what’s going on, and to answer that very question: a lot has been going on!
As you can see, my blog has had a fresh lick of paint to start 2019 off with a bang. However, it’s not just the blog: my entire site has been redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up. Now, as well as pondering over the posts here on the blog, you might want to check out the work I get up to or just find out a little more about me.
If you’re a designer and/or a little bit technically inclined, you can read over the new colophon which explains how the site has been made, along with all the legal jargon that I should probably include. That said, the first time I proper tested the entire site was last night when I quietly launched it, so there’s the possibility that a few things might still not be working perfectly. If you do spot anything, please let me know.
That about concludes this quick blog post to welcome you to my new site, but be sure to drop by again soon – I’ve some very exciting updates coming very shortly. Until then, happy browsing!
So here I go with my last post of 2018, and the last post which I shall put up before my site goes down for its big revamp – an exciting time all round! As mentioned in my previous post, this is the first in what I hope will become an annual series, and something which I‘d like to call the Blooper Reel. Herein we’ll recap some of the poignant moments from this year, and take a look at some hitherto unseen photos of the many outtakes along the way. Let’s get stuck in!
January
Back to Work
A new year meant flying back to Spain from England and back to the Erretres office, and what better way to celebrate my first day back than by customising a lovely piece of headgear that I found around the office?
Braving the Cold
Being back in my Madrid flat meant washing my own clothes again, but without the luxury of a tumble dryer available, I wound up resorting to hanging everything up in the chilly 3° air. Optimism or stupidity? You decide…
Down to Murcia
I soon wound up on a train to the south of Spain, and from the 17th – 21st of January I spent a good few days in Murcia with my parents and auntie and uncle. Whilst by the sea I took the opportunity to brush up my nautical skills, setting sail from one of the beaches…
The Family
I also never featured a photo of the family when I posted my Murcia post, so here’s one I managed to dig out of the archives, taken just before we all headed out for an evening meal.
Cake Club Unite
I mentioned in my Eating in the New Year blog post that I made plenty of lemon cake, but I never posted a photo of any such events – and now you can see why: our group selfie skills definitely left a lot to be desired!
February
Back to the Office
Back in the office, I seem to have once again found myself more fabulous headgear to try on. Where does it all keep coming from?
Ollie Watches Football
I title this section as such because it’s quite a rarity for me, but I must say that I enjoyed our silly antics more than the match itself. First up, we’ve got Loredana getting frisked at the entrance, which for some reason we all found rather hilarious…
And then, during the match, we had a chance to demonstrate our horrendous selfie skills once again as I present my favourite part of the entire football experience: the hot dogs.
March
The Parents Visit
March saw the arrival of my mum and dad in Madrid, marking their first visit together. I’m sure my mum will be rather happy as I share this sneaky shot of her exploring the Museo Cerralbo…
Attack of the Water
I also mentioned in my blog post about how we would up having to move tables after a jet of water suddenly began to pour down on us from a roof above – and here’s the carnage to prove how bad it was!
Missing Homely Food
At some point I also took it upon myself to try to make a scotch egg at home, after having so sorely missed them up until this point. As you can see, however, it’s quite a messy affair…
Battling Rain in El Escorial
During my first trip up to El Escorial, what you didn’t see was that as I arrived I was battling threatening skies which blighted my ascent with the occasional downpour. I wasn’t best pleased…
April
Little April Shower
The start of the new month took me up to see Kevin in Asturias, where he took me to the gorgeous coastal village of Cudillero. Missing from the blog post, however, was this photo of me avoiding the rain as I ventured into a spooky looking drainage tunnel cut through the mountains.
The four of us who made up Cake Club also spent many an evening messing around over in Loredana and Heidi’s flat, making the most of their roof terrace for the odd (see: frequent) tipple.
Marathon Preparations
During me and Heidi’s secret preparations creating custom t-shirts to cheer Loredana on during her marathon, things seem to have gotten a little giggly and out of hand…
Doña Croqueta
Back in the office, now, where I was told I was the spitting image of Doña Croqueta, a comedy character from old Spanish TV. Do you see the resemblance?
Champagne Party
Heading home one day, I snapped this photo of a guy with six bottles of champagne just relaxing in the park. I’m not sure what he was up to, but I felt that if I knew him then we would probably get along.
May
Moon Head
May began with a whirlwind trip across England, as I returned for a few days for some birthday celebrations. Whilst in Liverpool, Ellie presented me with my card, beautifully adorned with her artwork depicting my “massive head.” Cheers…
Drinks in London
Whilst down in London, and just before I headed off to the airport to fly back to Madrid, a good portion of the designer gang were reunited over drinks.
Ollie’s Getting Old
Once back in Madrid, Luis presented me at work with a little birthday gift, featuring the lovely message “la Ollie se hace vieja” — Ollie’s getting old!
More Office Headgear
It would seem as though 2018 was basically a year for finding fun things to put on my head, putting them on my head, and then taking photos of them being on my head. Here’s me and Luis’ contribution for May.
Ollie Watches Yet More Football
This time I wasn’t at the Atlético de Madrid stadium, however, but rather supporting Loredana as she played one of the other teams in her league. As you can see, though, I still wasn’t overly keen on the whole affair…
Bun Fail
As I’d invited everyone around to my flat to watch the royal wedding, I decided to whip up some butterfly buns to mark the occasion – the only problem being that I didn’t have a moulded tray to bake them in. No worries, I though two myself, I can just emulate one using tin foil!
This did not end well.
Let Me Just Take a Photo of This Façade…
It may be said that sometimes my friends got a little fed up of me taking photos of old signage and pretty façades, and I think they made their case in this photo, posing in front of it such as to ruin my shot taken whilst we wandered the streets together.
Hyper Times
One time we all gathered in Heidi and Loredana’s flat for a cheeky tipple, and without even getting drunk we all ended up rather hyper and taking photos on my camera with a full flash. Here’s a couple of the less silly ones…
June
Time to Shape Up
June saw the departure of many a good friend from Madrid, and so I decided to pull up my bootstraps and get myself into shape, seeing as there was now no excuse left as there were less people nagging me to head out for tapas. Don’t I look happy to be heading out for my daily jog?
Fiesta Asturiana
One weekend I headed up to Asturias once again for fiesta time, and I just rediscovered this gem of a selfie of me and Kevin as we try to look sober during the carnage of the street parties.
Speaking Yorkshire
Back to the office now, where I had to explain how my Yorkshire roots mean that I have alternative words for “everything” and “nothing”…
July
God Save the Cured Ham
I particularly enjoyed this bit of street art which combines the most British of sayings with Spain’s one true love.
Wait, More Headgear?
Oh look who it is with stupid stuff on his head once again. This time I’m modelling a lovely headband which Luis had gifted me for the pride celebrations which were coming up.
Pride
I didn’t really mention what we got up to at the pride celebrations in any length on my blog post, and that’s because I didn’t doo all that much and I didn’t take all that many photos. I did head out one night with some friends, though, and at the time I was a bit too embarrassed to share this horrific selfie – enjoy.
Luisa and Woody Visit
And one of the first selfies we took during their visit somehow managed to capture the worst angle of every single one of us. Amazing!
A Spanish German Beer Festival?
During my road trip with Kevin, we accidentally wound up having a big night out (pretty standard for the two of us), drinking beer in a German-style beer festival which I talked about in one of the blog posts. What I didn’t include was this selfies, taken a couple of pints in and a little worse for wear…
The Great Blackpool Disappointment
During my summer holidays back in England, I visited Blackpool Pleasure Beach with Ellie and Johann. I didn’t include any photos of the three of us, however, so here’s a photo of Ellie looking upset that the Valhallah ride wasn’t open.
The Great English Summer
Whilst back home in Burnley, everyone had taken to sunbathing in the “heat”, whilst I still found myself quite chilly. Here I am “soaking up the rays” and looking rather happy with all of the shenanigans.
August
Street Party Time
Something I never really touched on was the many street parties which took place across Madrid in August, so here’s a photo of me and Bogar as we took to the streets and bopped along to Los Chunguitos…
Politeness First
I have no idea what was going on here, but I found a post-it on the floor at work that just said ‘please’. Please what? Was someone begging for mercy? We will never know.
Beach Party
During yet another Asturias trip, Kevin and I spent a long afternoon relaxing on a beach in Lastres. Here’s a selfie I omitted due to some horrific angles and lighting – call me vain if you want – but which I now find funny as you can see Kevin in the background as he panics whilst realising he has no idea where to catch the bus back to Oviedo.
Asturias, Patria Querida
This shot was originally from a video, but I am still too embarrassed to share the full shouting-singing horror with you all. Here we’re in Lugones, singing along to the anthem of Asturias at 5am after polishing off quite a few bottles of cider. This has to be one of the highlights of my entire year!
September
Ellie and Johann Visit, Are Tired
September kicked off with a visit from Ellie and Johann, who were quite tired upon their arrival, and who weren’t shy on sharing said tiredness with the rest of the city.
Ollie Versus the Spanish Healthcare System
After catching some kind of infection, I had to present myself at the medical centre for a checkup, but a confusing paperwork situation meant that I was in for a bumpy ride as I tried to see a doctor. I eventually managed to sort everything out, though, and here I am “enjoying” some time alone as a victor in the waiting room.
Typography is My Passion
Back in the office, I had made myself a sarcastic new desktop background (set in Times New Roman, no less). Here it is featuring Elena in the background, displaying what I can only assume is the face she uses when trying to attract men. Takes all sorts, I guess.
Those Northerners
Just a day later I was back up in Asturias, where Kevin had once again dragged me out for some drinks and partying in the streets. Here he is in the northern Spaniard’s natural environment: surrounded by big plastic cups full of cheap beer.
October
A Rocky Arrival in Norway
One of my favourite trips this year was to Oslo to visit Heidi, but I found that the weather’s frosty welcome nearly killed me as I wandered the streets wrapped in only a hoodie! Here’s a photo of the moment when I decided on the bright yellow coat that I haven’t really taken off since!
Our Seagull Friend
Whilst atop the Opera House in Oslo, me and Heidi made a friend called Dave, a seagull who featured in a selfie I posted. What I didn’t share, though, was this photo of Heidi getting even more up-close-and-personal that I ever dared…
Outtakes on the Ski Throne
In my Oslo blog post I did actually post a photo of Heidi sat on this so-called “ski throne”, but I found this outtake photo which I much prefer and so I have to share.
Apple Pie Heaven
Whilst up on the ski slopes, we ate at a lovely traditional restaurant, but for some reason I never shared this photo of myself with the best part of the meal – a towering slice of apple pie!
Leaving My Flat
One of the biggest moments in 2018 for me was the decision to leave Erretres and return to the UK, and a week or so before my last day in the office, I moved into a new flat temporarily. Here’s proof that I live with very little – my entire world packed into a suitcase and a little backpack.
Leaving Erretres
Late October sadly marked my last day working in the Erretres office, and this photo must be the most somber of the ones I’ve posted – my desk all cleaned away at the end of an era.
November
Chips and Curry
November saw me back in the UK, and what better way to kick things off than with this big tray of chips and curry sauce that my mum bought to make a sandwich for herself. British cuisine at its absolute finest!
December
Stuffing Myself with Pancakes
This photo comes courtesy of Luisa, who caught this snap as I shovelled Nutella-covered mini pancakes whilst at the Manchester Christmas Markets. Well, it’s not Christmas until you’ve had a tray of the sickly sweet treat.
A Fabulous End to the Year
My last photo comes from our Boxing Day walk just a few days back, and is an outtake from a session where I tried to get my sister to take a serious photo of me in front of the reservoir. She randomly shouted some random obscenity at me from behind the camera, catching what turned out to be a lovely off-guard pic.
And thus I conclude my overview of some of the highs and lows and mishaps of 2018. It’s been a year of big changes, from having good friends move to the USA to my return to the UK, but I’ve had a great time, met some wonderful people, and definitely had my best year yet.
So now, as I sit here in the short days of Burnley and count down the hours until the New Year’s Eve celebrations begin, I look forward to what 2019 might bring. Looking to the short term, I’m hoping to launch my new website over the coming weeks, and as far as long term changes are concerned, I may just have some exciting big news to share with you all very soon!
Until then, I’m now signing off my blog until the new site launches! Do be sure to read anything you’d like on here pretty soon, as I anticipate that the whole site may be down for quite a while whilst I undertake a complete overhaul of the backend – during this period you can check out my Facebook page for updates.
That just leaves me to wish you all a Happy New Year, and I hope to be back with plenty of updates and news before too long!
Unlike last Christmas, when I’d to rush through everything during a quick visit back to the UK from Spain, I had the chance to take things easier this year as the festivities began!
Things kicked off with a visit back over the county line to Yorkshire (see the end of my last blog post for my soliloquy on the county). Heading back to Leeds, this time I had to haul with me my DMX lighting desk as I headed to Izzy’s studio Atypical. I’d brought the controller along as they had a plan to utilise some DMX-enabled studio lighting to film some videos for a client, and so I was drafted in to help with the lighting side.
Drawing on my experience using lighting in strange ways, we soon wrapped the shoot up for the day and I bid Izzy farewell – but this wasn’t to be for too long, as a couple of days later we were reunited once more, but this time in Manchester!
One Saturday we, along with Rhea, Luisa and Declan, had arranged to meet up in Manchester for a quick snoop around the Christmas markets and a proper catch up coffee in the Northern Quarter. Braving the cold, we spent a good while enjoying a coffee and then a cheeky glühwein tipple on the market, before reverting back to our days as design students and winding up ordering chips in a pub. I guess some things never change…
Safe to say that my coat bought in Oslo came in pretty useful.
Once I’d caught the X43 bus back to Burnley (and enjoyed fond memories of my high school and college days doing the same), I spent a few days relaxing and attending the odd festive party. With Ellie’s return back from Sheffield for Christmas, the two of us have been making the most of our surroundings and going on the odd wander when she can allow herself a couple of hours away from revision.
Sooner or later, however, I found myself being invited back over to Leeds in order to have a pre-Christmas send-off meal at home with Em and Lincoln. After a lovely pasta dish and an evening chatting away in their cosy house in Horsforth, I made good use of being in Leeds to scoot around a few of my favourite spots and pick up a few last-minute presents.
The ceiling of the Cotton Exchange in Leeds really is gorgeous.
Once back in Burnley, it was finally time to begin settling down, as Christmas was just a few days away! My mum had been feeling under the weather for a spell, and as Christmas day approached she only seemed to be getting worse, so we all prepared ourselves for a relaxed day.
Being the strong (and very prepared) woman that she is, though, my mum wasn’t for giving in to illness! We had a lovely morning unwrapping our presents, and after we’d all had a little mid-afternoon nap to sleep off our delicious cauliflower soup lunch, she beat the odds and pulled off yet another delicious Christmas dinner with all the trimmings…
Once stuffed with stuffing, we all collapsed into the settee for an evening together playing Heads Up and other festive novelties. After a relatively early night, Boxing Day had come around, and three of us set out for a walk through the wintery chill.
I guess that the Christmas period is now winding to a close, but whilst there’s pines on our tree and leftover Christmas food in the fridge, I’m determined to carry on enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. I’ve also got an end-of-year special post coming soon which will look over a crazy fun year full of frivolities, so keep an eye out for that!
Right now I find myself sat in my room as I push ahead with the coding for my new site, a design which I hope to have launched in the coming weeks, so watch out for that too! For now, however, I’m going to head downstairs and gorge on some of those leftovers — well, we don’t want any soggy breadsticks, do we?
