Countdown to Summer

I thought you would be pleased to know, two weeks today will be my first day of summer freedom!!

I am just under half way through land law revision now. Ideally I am hoping to finish all the 'absorbing of information' by Wednesday so I can start past exam papers and the best part of revision... making colourful posters. Furthermore, Amazon delivered the life saver today. I don't know what it is about land law but I really struggle with it, so lets hope this helps to really cement the facts in my mind.

My Little Helper

Talking about the post, I had a lovely parcel from my Granny this week. Amongst some bits and bobs for my sister, there was also a summer playsuit which she had made for me!! I was thrilled as you can imagine. I'm not the most artistic nor creative person so when someone has talent like this it amazes me. Granny also made me a beach bag, perfect for my summer in Mallorca. 

 Playsuit a la Granny

Special Delivery

Finally, I just want to send my condolences to the family and friends of the soldier brutally attacked in Woolwich yesterday. The human race is a cruel thing and it makes me feel physically sick that some people believe this is the most appropriate way to express themselves. 

Anyway, that's enough of me for now,

Take care, especially my friends and readers in and around South London,

The Learned Rose x

Bloglovin

It's me again!

So I'm trying to move my blog more into the twenty first century, which means...*DrumrollPlease*.... you can now find me on bloglovin!


Let's see if this works...

Learned Rose x

Fancy Free Weekend

So yesterday evening I arrived back in Surrey from the loveliest weekend in London. Revision was put on hold to celebrate the handing in of my last piece of LLB coursework, felt like the end of an era already!

Furthermore, Friday was Norway's constitution day, so as one of my university friends is from there we headed down to the celebrations in Southwark park. There was so many people despite the weather being a tad miserable. There was music from a Norwegian artist living in London, a procession and speeches from the cutest children from the Norwegian church and the Princess of Norway.

Princess Märtha Louise 

Saturday was much more hectic. My friend and I thought we would be 'cool' and try our hand at vintage shopping, so we headed over to Brick Lane. Before we even got to the first shop we were tempted into the cutest cafe for some delicious cake. Unfortunately the cafe had no name, but it was near the Aldgate East tube exit and had a beautiful bench out the front, we'd recommend it to anyone! The vintage shopping was not as successful, turns out we are not as indie as we like to think so headed off to Westfield's for some Topshop lovin'. 

Sadly, we couldn't stay long as we had a reservation at Sticky Fingers for 7pm. This restaurant was brilliant, full of Rolling Stones memorabilia and comfort food. The cocktails alone are worth a visit, not to mention the shots! My friend's family were visiting London from Norway so treated us to the evening out, which was very kind of them. It was lovely to meet them all at long last and I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

Harlem Shuffle Shot

We went out in Marylebone after the meal, leading us to have a quiet Sunday spring cleaning the flat. This was SO therapeutic- there's something about cleaning in your pyjamas which just cleanses the soul. Luckily I made it home in time for birthday cake, as my family celebrated the birthday of three of our woofs. It is hard to believe my springer spaniel is now 12, he still behaves like a bouncing pup! Our vocal terrier turned 4 and my princess turned 2...already?! I'm like a proud mummy who feels very old...

Cuddles with the Birthday Girl 

Today meant the return to the grindstone and land law continued...

I hope you had a lovely weekend too,

Take care,

Learned Rose x

Study Season

Like every year, the end of Easter symbolises one thing to students: The start of study season. This year is no exception, especially as yesterday marked one month until university life in London is completely over! Daunting does not even cover it.

Views from my university- on a rather gloomy day!

I am all on track though, today I completed my Law Project. It is all preened, printed and looking pretty ready for hand in tomorrow. After this, I only have one more piece of coursework and a four hour Land Law exam. On that note, if anyone has any helpful advice on remembering Land Law it will be greatly accepted!!

Although, life has not been all serious study I must admit. One of my closest friends came to stay over the weekend. We were busy bees, visiting potential flats for next year (and local pubs) in between finishing off our law project and drinking plenty of prosecco and rose.

My lovely friends from Ireland also came over for a few days to experience London life and for a talk by Lady Hale, which our university had arranged. She was FANTASTIC. After listening to her talk about her life, the House of Lords and the Supreme Court for a little over an hour, it is safe to say I have a new idol. Once questions were over we all made a speedy change and headed off to Tiger Tiger to show the Irish a standard night out in Central.

Finally, I have booked my one way flight to Mallorca for the summer! I cannot wait, despite being a little bit scared about studying a module, not just in another country, but another language also. However, to make the experience all the more memorable my best friend is going out there with me for the first week. It will be AMAZING. As a matter of fact I'm going to visit said friend in Essex on Friday, we are going to be very mature and sensible by having a study weekend.

Mallorca is my Homeland- la Seu, Palma

This next month will be all about focus focus focus. Revision breaks will include a lot of coffee and walking the woofs to get some fresh air. On that note, how gorgeous has the weather been this Bank Holiday weekend? I'll leave you with a picture of my gorgeous puppy who is growing up to be an adorable country squire.

Ramos enjoying his walk at the Common

Take Care,

Learned Rose x

Who’s to the Rescue?

The fire in Walworth on the 25^th of March highlights how crucial it is to have a fully active fire service. Where the fire happened is home to The Cuming Museum, a library and several council offices. It is also about half a mile away from my University, London South Bank.  The London Fire Services are effected by a 14% cut in funding over two years equating to roughly £45 million, subsequently leading to planned station closures. In Southwark Borough there are four stations. It is proposed that Southwark station itself is closed, alongside a reduction of resources at Peckham Station and temporary closure while new stations are being built at Dockhead and Old Kent road. This means all four stations will be effected.

Holding the much-coveted position of Mayor of London, you may ask what is Boris Johnson to do about these cuts? Well, instead of finding additional resources to fund the fire brigade, he is favouring cutting Londoners council tax by 1p a day.  Which would you prefer, a substantial fire brigade or money off your council tax bill? Considering the economic difficulties faced by many across the capital at the moment, it is likely some may be tempted by this offer to save the pennies. After all, it won’t happen to me, will it?

Understandably, in times of austerity cut backs need to be made however cuts affecting public services tend to generate much public outcry. At the last check Southwark Firestation (@savesouthwark) had 1,036 followers. This could be because, as my five-year-old cousin said, “doctors, firemen, police and vets are superheroes”. Maybe she has a point.

In 2011/2012 the London Fire Brigade (LFB) attended 5,584 incidents in Southwark alone. Not just keeping the residents of the Borough safe, but all of those who commute in daily, such as myself, my father and many other people I know. For example, a few weeks ago I was at university desperately trying to submit a group essay when the fire alarm sounded in the Perry Library. Everyone was evacuated in the usual ‘fire-bell-frenzy’ and within minutes a fire engine arrived. Luckily it was a false alarm; nevertheless you can’t help but question what would be the case if it was a critical incident and the proposed cuts went ahead?

The fire in Wansey Street this week also proves how the Boroughs are not always able to work independently. According to the LFB’s website 120 firefighters and officers attended the blaze, accompanied by 20 fire engines from other under-threat-stations such as Kingsland, Peckham, Whitechapel and New Cross.  Thankfully, as far as I am aware there have been no reported injuries but again you can’t help wondering, ‘what if?’

The thought of cuts to the fire service is frightening. As are cuts to any public service.  It is claimed 4 in 10 children in London are living in poverty, yet the government behaves as if it has no money to fund services to assist them.  An inquest was concluded this week surrounding the tragedy of the Lakanal House fire in 2009, where amongst others, three children died. Surely this is a warning more money needs to be pumped into emergency services, not less? Yet, maybe there really is no money in the public pot. So are already vulnerable children being put at more risk by cutting the emergency services?  Furthermore, fire brigades across the country invest a lot of time in assisting vulnerable adults and children with learning disabilities with fire safety in the home, as well as in the community. If the cuts are made, would the time for this sort of assistance dwindle through no fault or choice of each of the stations? This may be likely, but what else can be done to prevent such cuts? It’s hard to make many viable suggestions; every plan appears to have a pitfall.

There is currently a consultation conducted by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority on the draft fifth London Safety Plan. The Southwark Public meeting will be held on the 14 May at City Hall. For the other public meetings, a full list is available here.

However to end on a positive note, the rescue teams which attended the Walworth blaze this week managed to recover 500 artifacts from the museum. Perhaps all is not lost after all…

Time Thus Far

Hey there,

So since I last blogged I have handed in over 10,000 words and been on a university trip to Pecs, Hungary leaving me with barely any time to breath or sleep for that matter...

However, Pecs was brilliant. By far the best trip I have ever been on. The town itself was not what I was expecting at all, it is a lot larger and the centre is far more beautiful than I ever imagined. The university was beautiful too, to get to the canteen you had to go down some steps under a stunning ceramic tiled dome with a skylight at the apex. Quite unusual, but a lovely environment to learn in.

Central Pecs, Hungary

The course was also fantastic. We had long days but the lectures were worth it, covering topics such as asylum, trafficking, state surveillance, organised crime and terrorism to name but a few. You'll be pleased to hear I passed the course and received a certificate (yes I still get excited at the grand old age of 21 about receiving a certificate).

Views from the University

I met some WONDERFUL people whilst out in Hungary.  As you already know I love cultures and languages and thanks to the course I have worked along side and made some fabulous friends from places such as Northern Ireland, The Netherlands, Croatia and Hungary.

On the other hand, home is certainly where the heart is and it's great to be back with my family, including the woofs. On Tuesday my mum and I took my sister to Euston so she could go to Manchester to visit my Granny and Aunty, which lead to in impromptu visit to Westminster Cathedral where mass was being held. It is by far a hidden London treasure, the Cathedral is so beautiful and for £5 (or £2.50 concessions) you can go up the bell tower which has STUNNING views across London. Much cheaper than the shard, and the money goes to a more deserving cause in my opinion. On this note, what are your thoughts on the new Pope Francis? He seems quite unique, so far anyhow.

Bell Tower, Westminster Cathedral, London

Take care,

The Learned Rose x

Life in the Fast Lane

Work and play has left Learned Rose exhausted this week!

I have a lot of university deadlines coming up, so I've been trying to study as hard as possible in what feels like a short space of time. I have two essays due in for Citizenship and Combating Crime in the EU and my project proposal is due this coming week so fingers crossed it gets approval because I am so desperate to start writing it up. I am planning to do it on the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, hence why I am trying to refrain from writing too much on here about Breed Specific Legislation until it's done. Despite all the provoking articles in the news at the moment, such as this one: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/378170/Mastiffs-and-other-devil-dogs-must-be-banned-say-MPs (Notice how the article doesn't mention exactly which MP's believe this? Why does the government still believe that stereotyping a dog by it's looks will reduce dog attacks?) Anyway, enough on this matter as I could go on for hours and I'm a tad short on time.

In order to motivate ourselves, my friend and I decided to experience a bit of the high life this week. Firstly, a trip to London Fashion Week on Monday, which was pretty amazing. It was quite an experience, even the clothes people wore just to go there where rather 'cutting edge'. We felt a little out of place in our LBD's! Then, seeing as the Primrose bakery is so close to Somerset House it would have been rude not to pay a visit. I could not resist the red velvet cupcake, it was so delicious. After this we strolled across to Chelsea for a quick lunch at the Bluebird before dashing back for our Land Law lecture.

The week was mainly work based, with a fleeting visit to Weybridge and taking my little cousins to see the butterfly's at Wisely Gardens. It is so beautiful there and it's lovely to see the little one's faces when they are trying to match each butterfly they see to the ones pictured on their information sheet.

Friday was where the real fun was had. After a long day of hard work behind a computer, a friend and I put on our glad rags and headed to Mayfair. Mahiki was the desired destination and we were pleased to be allowed in on such a busy night when so many in front got turned away. The cocktails there are exquisite, if you get the chance try the 'Wiki Tiki' it is deliciously fruity. The bar staff are fantastic too, very friendly and certainly know their cocktails!

Unfortunately for me it's back to the grindstone now, but not before I've gone to my friend's house for a dinner date! We've known each other 17 years now and we still haven't run out of conversation. I'm taking the puppy too so he can play with his sister while we have a girly gossip... perfect Sunday? I think so (minus this morning's migraine but that's another story).


I hope to catch up more this week but this time about some (non dog related) issues I've read in the press. The Pryce case has taken my notice, what are your thoughts on Juries in the UK? It's been interesting to compare the jury system over here with the Pistorius Case in South Africa...

Anyway I really HAVE to go now,

Take care,

The Learned Rose x