Fickle Muse

Planting today

2012-02-13T12:30:00.004Z

A couple of weeks ago I placed a pretty large order online for seeds and seedlings as well as one or two other gardening items. It's been very cold here, and I didn't expect to receive any live plants until the spring, but I wasn't too surprised when packets of seeds, potato growing bags, and a window ledge planter arrived.

Here it is, newly planted up with lettuce, basil and spinach. I'm hoping I'll be able to start picking these for salads within the next few weeks.

I wasn't even too surprised when potatoes arrived today, because they do need some time left out so that they can do their 'chitting' thing, which is to start their shoots off before they're planted in the ground.
Here they are sitting in empty egg cartons on a window ledge in the conservatory. The ones on the left are called Sarpo Mira, and they're organic and late croppers. The ones on the right are called Kifli, and they're early croppers. So I'm hoping I won't have to buy any potatoes for the whole of the summer this year.

I was really surprised to receive some perennial flowering plants that I'd ordered for my flower beds. They came with instructions to plant immediately into 5-inch pots. When I went out to get some compost to plant them in, it was completely frozen, so I had to chip lumps of compost into a bucket and bring it inside and leave it till the next day before I could plant them. They were planted a couple of days ago, and seem to like their new pots.

One of the things I ordered was a tree. I hope it doesn't arrive too soon, because the ground is still frozen.

Today I made some butter....

2012-02-07T11:16:00.002Z

Last night I watched Superscrimpers on TV. It’s up to Series 2 Episode 3, and I hadn’t come across it before, so I’m busy watching the ones I missed online.

But back to last night’s episode. Leo made some butter out of cream that was almost at its use-by date. I had some cream left from a dinner that I’d cooked for friends a week ago, and had been looking for a way to use it up. I’m not a big cream fan, so hadn’t found a use for it yet, and was reaching the point where I would have to get rid of it somehow.

I didn’t like the idea of throwing the whole pot away in my rubbish bin any more than I liked the idea of pouring it down the drain. Just as I was playing around with the thought of turning it into ice cream, I saw Leo making butter.

My home-made butter

All I needed was an empty jam jar and about 10 minutes’ worth of elbow grease and I had a pretty respectable pat of butter to put on my bread.

Best of all, I know what went into it.

An interesting way to listen to lectures

2012-02-04T11:36:00.003Z

I came across an RSA Animate video on one of the channels on my TV, and found it so interesting to watch the illustrations appearing on the page in tandem with the voice of the speaker, that I went online to find more examples.

To tell the truth, I'm not one of those people who would normally go out of her way to listen to a lecture, unless it was something that I was truly interested in. These animations, however, make a lot of subjects that I might not normally have bothered to listen to much more interesting. I also find that I take in more of what's being said because my eyes are following the illustrations and script so my mind doesn't wander.

The lectures cover a lot of different subjects and are given by a diverse selection of speakers. Here's just one example:

RSA Animate – The Internet in Society: Empowering and Censoring Citizen?

Sunday Morning

2012-01-29T09:24:00.003Z

Weather

The possibility of snow is being forecast. It seems that we're in the grip of a cold front, but that there's a rainy warm front coming in from the west which might turn into snow when it mixes with the cold front.

I guess this explains the belief that if the weather is very cold, it needs to warm up a little before it will snow?

I found this rather detailed but enlightening explanation online: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2051/does-it-ever-get-too-cold-to-snow

Saturday Morning

2012-01-28T10:28:00.007Z

It's a bright and sunny day, so far.

Last night I set off to Buckingham to catch the bus to Oxford. I was meeting a friend for some dinner followed by a visit to the theatre. The bus I wanted to catch was the 5.20 pm and I was at the stop by 5 pm. It was very cold waiting outside at the bus stop, and at 5.20 pm a bus did arrive, but it was heading in the opposite direction: to Cambridge. At 5.50 pm another bus arrived, but once again it was going to Cambridge. I finally gave up at 6.10 pm and went to reclaim my car from the car park, and drive there.

As I was walking back to the car, I realised just how cold and disheartened I felt, so I called my friend to say I was going home. A couple of hours later, I got a text from her saying I should be happy that I was at home because the play was awful. I don't know whether it improved later, I haven't heard any more.

The RSPB is asking people to do a big garden birdwatch this weekend. They're asking us to spend one hour in the garden and record every bird that we see in that time. They've supplied a little chart online that you can print off, for keeping track and identifying the birds.

It's ideal for someone like me who doesn't know one bird from another. I was looking out of the kitchen window this morning, and spotted a wren, a house sparrow, a blackbird and lots of starlings.

It's pretty cold, and I've already done one hour of freezing outside this weekend, so I think I'll be forgiven if I stay inside and watch the birds through the kitchen window, rather than out in the garden.

Bluebells

2011-04-26T09:07:00.005+01:00

I set off early on Friday morning to visit some friends in Kent. Since it was the start of the Easter Weekend I was worried about traffic on the roads, so I started at 6 am. By 8 am I was about half an hour away from my destination, and decided to stop at a picnic area and give myself and Hooli a break. As I sat at a picnic table drinking coffee from my flask, I noticed a path going into a wooded area, followed it, and got a very pleasant surprise.

A bluebell wood!

Baby Hummingbird video

2011-04-25T13:29:00.003+01:00

I can't believe that it's almost two months since I posted on this blog. Time definitely flies.

Here is a link to a lovely video about a baby hummingbird that was recued.

http://www.wimp.com/babyhummingbird/

The Brain Line

2011-02-14T12:38:00.008Z

Recently I was moaning about having to spend half an hour wiping the mud off Hooli every time we went for a walk and someone suggested we walk along the disused railway line nearby. It was an inspired suggestion, and life has been much easier (and quite interesting) since we started taking walks there.

This is what used to be Swanbourne Railway Station. It is now a private residence, but the platforms and railway line are still there, although the line is rather overgrown.

This used to be known as the Varsity Line, because it was the link between Oxford and Cambridge. And sometimes it would be called the Brain Line, (Main Line/Brain Line). It was closed in 1967 during what was called the Beeching Axe.

Here's a section of the line near the old Station.
This bridge seems to connect the two sides of a farm that must have been split when the railway was built.

Here's Hooli trying to get into a badger's sett. Luckily he's too big, and badgers are nocturnal, or he might have got his nose scratched.
A line of trees on the horizon, broken up by that strange helicopter-like tree.
It's sad to see it overgrown and disused, and in places the rails have been removed completely, but it's a really nice place to walk.

Senior Moment #1

2011-02-11T12:49:00.004Z

A day out in London

2011-02-08T21:01:00.003Z

I had a nice day out in London on Saturday, and met up with friends for lunch. On the journey home the man sitting in front of me on the train had an interesting tattoo.

I have to apologize for the fuzzy photo, the train was moving. This tattoo made me chuckle.

Free Hugs

2011-01-28T09:58:00.000Z

This one speaks for itself:

Spinach and things

2011-01-27T18:31:00.005Z

This afternoon someone was coming to do a couple of hours' digging in my vegetable patch (I'm such a fair weather gardener), so after ignoring it for the last couple of months, I went out there to see what I wanted dug up.

To my utter amazement quite a lot was still growing. The spinach was really thick and tall, the parsley was doing great, the strawberries had full circles of leaves, the leeks I planted last spring are still growing, and the rhubarb was pushing up through the ground.

I was totally impressed that the spinach and parsley had survived the cold and snow that we'd experienced, and since we've been told there's more icy weather on the way, I picked as much spinach as I could.

I've made my favourite spinach curry, which is bubbling on the cooker right now, and I'm cooking some rice to go with it. I eat it with natural yoghurt on the side. I would take a picture of it to show here, but it actually tastes much better than it looks.

My vegetable patch now looks neat and tidy again. The forecast icy weather should break up the earth that's been dug and destroy any weeds.

While I was picking the spinach I came across quite a few ladybirds that appeared to be dead. I left them alone, but when I put the spinach in the kitchen, I found a ladybird wandering around. I realised that maybe it had been asleep, so I took it back outside and put it in the spinach patch so it could carry on sleeping till spring. I've since checked online, and apparently what I should have done is put it in a glass jar and leave it in my shed to hibernate safely through the winter.

Bath and Breakfast

2011-01-26T12:49:00.004Z

Good Grief! We've all heard of people reading in the bath, having a snooze, or unwinding with a nice glass of wine surrounded by the flickering light of scented candles. But eating breakfast in the bath? Perhaps it's a timesaving trick for people who have to rush in the mornings? Someone trying to save on washing up?

It's none of the above. These are soaps that one of my daughters gave me a couple of years ago.

They were so cute and quirky that I kept them on display in the bathroom still wrapped in their see-through wrapping. Today I decided that it's time to put them to their proper use.

When I'm given a present like this I find it really hard to let go. Using a soap ultimately destroys it, and so I tend to hang on to something like this bacon, eggs and waffle soap as long as possible.

I decided that if I can't keep the soap forever, at least I can record it for posterity in a post. So here it is.

And as I delay our daily walk, because it's raining and I hope it will let up, Hooli says: "Let Me Out!"

Old Tyme Music Hall

2011-01-21T22:21:00.002Z

We're doing an Old Tyme Music Hall in our village in March. We had the first rehearsal a couple of days ago, and I discovered that I didn't know any of the songs. One or two sounded familiar, but I didn't know any of the words, so today I decided to look online for them. I had a great time watching different performances on You Tube, while flicking over to a web page with the words. I only need to learn the Choruses because I won't be singing any solos.

Some of the songs are really quite funny. I can't decide which is my favourite. There's "Oh! Oh! Antonio", Burlington Bertie, or "My old man said follow the van" a version of which I've added below:

Hooli Gets Scrubbed Up......

2011-01-18T16:47:00.006Z

.... and he smells so nice.

Hooli got a visit from the lady in the Mobile Dog Grooming van today.

As you can see from this first picture, he was a muddy mess by the end of our walk earlier on this morning. He'd been smelling pretty ripe for a while, and no matter how much I wiped him down and brushed his coat, he was still dropping hair all over the house and there were underlying matted areas in his coat that I just couldn't cope with.

So that was Hooli before his Grooming Session.

He disappeared into the van for about an hour, and then came out looking like this:
I reckon he scrubbed up quite well.

A rat outside Number 10

2011-01-17T17:13:00.003Z

Last night I was watching the BBC News, and a reporter was standing outside the Prime Minister's residence and talking about the NHS, when I noticed there was a rat running across the front of the doorstep behind him. I didn't know how to save the clip, but it seems others do, and today I found this on YouTube. So here is what I saw:

A New Spring

2011-01-16T09:02:00.006Z

A new spring has sprung up just a few yards below the bottom of our road. I'm told it's been checked by the water company to make sure it's not a broken pipe, and they've confirmed it's a spring. There used to be one about fifty yards higher up on the same road, and one on our road, a couple of years ago. The roads have been resurfaced since then, and I suppose they must have been pushed underground.

This spring is quite fast, although this doesn't show in the picture, and it's formed it's own little well on the side of the road. This looks like a puddle in the picture but there's actually water bubbling out of it. The water is clear and clean, and Hooli enjoys drinking it.

First all the snow melted, and since then there's been so much rain that there is water sitting on the surface in patches on the fields, and even a few new little ponds dotted about here and there. Hooli enjoys splashing through them and having a drink when he's thirsty. He does get very muddy, though.

11 months

2011-01-15T09:25:00.005Z

I can't believe that it's almost a year since I last posted on this blog. Quite a lot has happened.

Natalie and Nick are still in South Korea, and still loving it. We've all been to visit them at one time or another, and can recommend it as a great travel destination!

Christina has moved to Sydney in Australia in October, where she's landed a job doing pretty much what she was doing in London. I've got her Australian Shepherd dog Hooli staying here until she sends for him.

Dan finished university, and has a job working in London as a web developer.

I went on my first ever cruise, which was truly enjoyable. Such a nice way to see the world. It was a seven day cruise around the Med.

I also visited Malta and South Korea.

Now I've had to put all travelling on hold while I have Hooli here, but it's giving me a chance to catch up on stuff I've neglected while I've been travelling.

I've also taken a couple of courses in jewellery making - silver clay jewellery, and also basic silversmithing - and I love working with silver.

A somewhat belated Happy New Year to you all!

Nat and Nick have moved ......

2010-02-18T13:09:00.004Z

.... to South Korea. They're going to be teaching English there for the next year, and they've just arrived and were given such a warm and friendly welcome. The apartment that's been provided for them was furnished and supplied with a great deal of thought and consideration for their comfort, and they were shown around the school and taken out to dinner as soon as they arrived.

Speaking as a mother, the knowledge that my daughter has been given such a warm welcome comforts me a lot. When your children are far away, no matter what age they are, you want to know that they're in a safe and friendly place, and also that they're happy.

After spending the last 8 months travelling around the middle and far East as well as Australia, they'll now be spending a year in one place. So far, they love it.

The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun

2010-02-14T13:03:00.002Z

The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun

My daughter stumbled across this website and sent me a link. I really liked it, so thought I'd share.

Happy Valentines Day.

Great Show

2010-02-11T15:57:00.005Z

Last night I went to see Traces at Milton Keynes Theatre, and it was brilliant! I didn't know what to expect when I went, but after feeling a bit perplexed at the start, I very quickly settled into enjoying the whole show.

Traces is a group of five acrobats/dancers/singers/all-rounders, four men and one woman, who put on an energetic, varied and witty performance.

Two parts of the show stood out for me. One was when one of the men spun inside a metal hoop, and the second was a dance on skateboards. That doesn't mean that I'm saying the rest of the show wasn't outstanding, it's just that for me those two bits of it were the best.

If they're ever in your neck of the woods, I'd highly recommend this show for a great night out. If you're interested, their website can be found at http://traces.7doigts.com/

Misty breath

2010-02-09T10:11:00.003Z

Every time I step outside my breath moves ahead of me in a misty cloud. It's strange to be able to see my breath after a respite down under in their topsy turvy summertime.

Having spent the last two months going out and about and spending a lot of time outdoors, I'm looking out of the window at the wintry scenes and thinking "No, I don't think I want to go out in that!"

I've been hibernating a little bit. In fact more than a little bit, because every time I stop moving I fall asleep. I think my body clock is just slightly mixed up at the moment.

I'm back

2010-02-04T09:13:00.004Z

I've spent the last two months travelling around 'Down Under'. While I was away I kept a separate blog about the places I went to on www.itchyfeet23.blogspot.com - a blog which is currently running about 21 days behind schedule - so I'm back to writing this blog on my day to day life alongside the travel blog which I will update until it's complete.

I had a really great time. I left on December 6 and spent a couple of days in Singapore before flying to Perth in Australia. I stayed there for 11 days and then flew to Sydney in time for Christmas, where my kids joined me and we spent the Christmas and New Year with my brother and his family. After the kids went back to their various jobs/studies/travels, I flew to Christchurch in New Zealand, and spent the next three weeks travelling by coach and train and ferry through the South and North Islands, ending up in Auckland where I spent a couple of lovely days with some good friends. Back to Sydney, and a few more (less hectic than at Christmastime) days with my brother and family, before setting off back home via Bangkok (2 days).

I had a brilliant time, and found out that I have a lot more stamina than I gave myself credit for. Two months living out of a suitcase with no responsibilities is a great way to reduce stress levels to absolute zero. And yes, I was moving around so much that I didn't unpack, which made sure that I didn't accidentally leave anything anywhere. Though I must admit I spent one whole day as I travelled from one place to another thinking that I'd forgotten my phone charger at the last motel, because I couldn't remember putting it back in the suitcase after using it. However, when I checked in to that night's motel or hotel and opened my suitcase I found that it was safely there, much to my relief.

I met a lot of really nice people. Once or twice I would meet the same people again in another place a few days further along, and that was always a real treat, and we'd greet each other like long lost friends! But the best ice-breakers were winery tours where you'd start the day with a group of total strangers and end the day with everyone chatting and laughing and on the best of terms.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T19:02:00.000Z

It's a windsday

2009-11-24T22:09:00.004Z

The forecast is for winds of up to 70 mph here tonight, and it certainly feels like it. It's howling down the chimney and whistling through any gaps it can find.

When my kids were little they used to watch the Winnie the Pooh cartoon, and I remember Pooh declaring that it was a Windsday while poor little Piglet got blown off his feet.

That's how it feels here tonight. It's pure coincidence that at midnight it will be Wednesday.

Racing Sheep

2009-09-01T09:16:00.012+01:00

It's Tuesday morning, and the end of the August Bank Holiday, with everyone returning to their normal daily occupations.

On Sunday afternoon, our village held its second annual Sheep Race in a field behind the pub. I missed the race last year, and so this year I put my anti-gambling scruples on the back burner, filled my pocket with coins, grabbed my camera and set off for the race.

Here's the lineup of the jockies.

And here's the line up of the races. If you click on the picture you should be able to read it. In the first race I bet on No. 1 Shearger, ridden by Willy Sawsome (in navy blue on the far left of the picture above). The race was won by No. 5 Little Lamb (in fact a lamb half the size of the other runners) ridden by Barbara Ram (the one in pink). So I lost my £1 stake.

In the second race, I felt that it was impossible to guess which sheep would win, or even which sheep was which. So I decided that it must all rest on the rider, and I bet on Race 1's winning rider - Barbara Ram, riding No 5, Rambo.

During the commentary the commentator was interviewing someone with racing credentials (but of the motoring type, I think) and the conversation went something like this:

"Who do you think will win?"

"A sheep."

"Ah! But which sheep will win?"

"A white one." (all the sheep were white)

Here's the second sheep race (The Cottesloe Cup)....

Yes! Barbara Ram did it again, and I won £2.50 which deducting my two £1 stakes, left me with a profit of 50p.

I'm afraid I missed the third race, because I was in the pub drinking a cup of coffee and trying to get warm.

Remember Leo? Well between each race, they had a dog handler and dog fun race, and Leo was entered into the second one (between the 2nd and 3rd Sheep Race). Here's a picture with Leo circled in red. As you can see, his handler picked him up and carried him, so they were both disqualified!

It was really good fun. If anyone has any concerns, I would like to stress that no dogs or sheep were hurt during these races, although there were one or two human injuries, and one of the sheep escaped.

Cut Short

2009-08-26T13:25:00.010+01:00

I've finished writing a book review for Leigh Russell's book "Cut Short".

It's the first book review I've written, so I was a bit nervous about starting, but I enjoyed the book so much that it wasn't difficult to find things to say about it.

The contents of the parcel...

2009-08-24T12:20:00.008+01:00

We opened the handsewn 'sew cute' parcel from my daughter Natalie, who is in India. Inside there was a really big (98 inches x 48 inches!) printed cotton wrap with really pretty beaded tasselling. I can wear it as a sarong, a wrap or a scarf, or even use it as a table runner. It's so versatile, and I love it.

Here's a close-up...

My son got a hippie style shirt, otherwise known as a kurta or tunic. It's white with a grandad collar and vertical pintucking. Here he is modelling it.

Also in the parcel was a copy of the Times of India for August 16th, 2009. Nat and Nick went with a local artist to help decorate a long wall in Mumbai. I've outlined the paragraph that refers to them in red, and also outlined Nat and Nick in the picture. It sounds like it must have been a lot of fun. Click on the picture to enlarge.

By the way, Banksy is said to be from Bristol, not London as it says in the article. Nat and Nick both know this since they've both lived in Bristol for the past few years, so it's probably a typo. If you're wondering who Banksy is, so are most of the rest of the world because his identity is a big secret. There's a large section about him in Wikipedia - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy if you're interested.

While checking him out online, I found this http://www.banksy.co.uk/index2.html which I think might be worth a visit to Bristol, though there isn't much time left before the exhibition closes.

It was like Christmas or my birthday all over again around here yesterday. Apart from opening the parcel, my son brought me some chocolates (actually, quite a lot of chocolate) from Belgium, and my neighbour gave me a jar of her really delicious home-made marmalade to thank me for looking after Leo.

Leo, a walk, and a parcel

2009-08-22T19:24:00.006+01:00

This is Leo.

Leo is my neighbour's daughter's dog. My neighbour is looking after Leo while her daughter and family are on holiday, but yesterday she had to go into London, so I got to look after Leo. In the late morning, I suddenly realised that if we were going to go out while it was dry we'd better get moving. As you can see, Leo had the same idea. I think the eyes say it all.

Yesterday started and ended as a really lovely day. When we set off, the sun was shining and it was nice and warm outside. At this time of year the hedgerows are just dripping with fruits ripe for the picking, and they're just there on the side of the road for anyone to pick. These particular plums are quite delicious, but I don't think they taste much like plums. To me they taste like rhubarb and custard.

The bramble bushes are ripening and some of the blackberries are ready to be picked. I fancy making some sloe gin this year, and I've found a recipe on the internet which had me chuckling, because it starts with "get a bottle of gin and drink half of it...." Apparently you should wait till after the first frost before you pick the sloes. They look like blueberries in the picture.

I tried to get Leo to pose for a picture with this footpath in the background, but he was very uncooperative.

To the side of the path is a field, and it was empty except for this mother piggie and her little piglets. They all seem to be little minimees of their mother.

Next to the ivy leaves, you can see how small Leo really is. He is such an adorable little thing, and probably won't get any bigger. I would have expected him to have a yappy bark, but no! I discovered that Leo has a big-dog bark which is about 10 times as big as he is when a horse and rider had the temerity to cross his path. I think Leo doesn't like horses. He got so cross that I had to pick him up and hold him so that he wouldn't attack the horse. Sometimes big hearts come in small packages.

And talking of packages........

My daughter Natalie (see the link in the margin for Nick and Nats seeing the world) sent me and my son a present from India. This is what it looked like when it arrived (I've blocked out names and addresses for security). It took them absolutely hours to mail their parcels because they had to be wrapped in paper and string, and then in (what looks to me like) muslin and all sewn up. Apparently there are people in the street outside the post office who will provide a sewing up of parcels service for a small consideration.

I thought you might like to see a closeup of the stitching....

I haven't opened it yet. My son, whose name is also on the parcel, is in Belgium at a pop festival and won't be home until tomorrow afternoon. I just couldn't rob him of the pleasure of picking up this wonderful parcel and feeling it and shaking it, and trying to guess what's inside. So I'm waiting. And to be honest, I can hardly bear to wait, because I'm so curious about what's inside the parcel, but I also love the packaging so much I can't bear the thought of cutting through those stitches.

p.s. I almost forgot. On the way home from the walk with Leo I stopped at the Post Office to post a letter, and while I was in there the heavens suddenly opened and the celestial power shower got turned on. Leo and I were both thoroughly soaked! But after we'd been home a while, it all stopped, the sun came out, and it was all lovely after that.

Leighton Buzzard Canal Festival

2009-08-18T11:39:00.007+01:00

A few weekends ago, I went to the Leighton Buzzard Canal Festival. I'd never been to this festival before so I tucked my camera and some spending money into my bag, and set off after lunch. The festival had been going on since the morning, and by the time I got there I think it was probably less crowded than it would have been earlier. That didn't mean that there was less to see.

The entire length of the towpath side of the canal as far as the eye could see was lined with narrowboats, and traffic up and down the canal was relatively busy. The festival was being held in a park, and was bordered by a lake and the canal, and a good part of it was set within a wooded area.

One of the first things I saw was this old fire engine. It was beautifully cared for and in good working order. It was quite a warm day, and I got to see the engine in action when the firemen in charge sprayed water in a great arc into the air, which fell as droplets and cooled everyone nearby.

This was my favourite stall, selling canal artwork. There were several stalls selling this kind of artwork, but this one was my favourite and i bought the watering can which is just behind the barrel. I'm hoping that I've outwitted Hooli, (my daughter's dog), who has managed to chew all my previous plastic watering cans to a useless mangled mess. This is made of metal, so should shrug off Hooli's dental attacks.

And there were craft stalls with demonstrations:

Basketwork

The stall next to these llamas was selling their wool, some knitting kits, and hand knitted items. Loved the llamas - just look at that cute little white one.

And then there was the Town Crier who was going around ringing his bell and calling out his message which he'd put into a poem. I caught up with him and asked if he was the genuine Town Crier for Leighton Buzzard, and sure enough he was. He said that the job is a voluntary one, and that he can't devote as much time to it as he'd like to at the moment. He is, however, the official Town Crier, and his uniform is supplied by the Town Council. It was a really splendid uniform, and he was a very nice man who was happy to stop and chat to everyone.

I came across a wood turner next, giving a demonstration of how you only need pedal power and some fresh air to produce a thing of beauty. It was quite amazing to watch him at work.

The broom-maker.....

and the walking stick maker.

And corn dollies - with demonstrations and lessons in how to make them.

And last but not least......

The Morris Dancers

(click to play the video)

It really was a great afternoon out, and it didn't rain at all!

Rain

2009-07-03T09:37:00.003+01:00

After always complaining about rain, here I am saying: "What a relief, it's rained!" It actually feels a bit cooler, and I can face sitting at the computer and writing a post.

The forecast for today is 23 celcius, which if they're right should make it possible to do something more than hang around in front of the fan.

I spent a week in Turkey last week. It was lovely. Pictures will follow in future posts.

Sweltering weather

2009-07-02T01:17:00.003+01:00

It's too hot to sit at the computer and type. It's a good day for relaxing in front of the fan.

Voting Today

2009-06-04T20:07:00.004+01:00

I went and voted in the European Union elections today. When I got to the polling station (in our village hall) and handed over the poll card I'd been sent in the post, I was given two ballot papers. Up until then I'd thought I was just voting for Euro MP's, or MEP's as they're called. But discovered that I was also voting in the County Council Elections.

The green ballot paper was for the County Council elections, and that was easy to deal with, because it was just a short slip of paper and there were only three candidates to choose from. Easy... choose, put your cross in the right square, fold and put in the correct ballot box.

The European Union election ballot paper was a different story altogether. The paper was yellow, and it was as long as my arm. And I had to choose between 15 parties, half of whom I'd never heard of before, and most of whom I knew very little about. It took a few folds to get it small enough to slip into the EU ballot box.

So that's it. I've exercised my right to vote, and it'll be interesting to hear who wins what.

Hooli's back

2009-05-30T22:52:00.003+01:00

He's such a clever dog, but just a bit camera shy.

Racing Dolphins

2009-05-29T00:35:00.004+01:00

I only just got around to copying video from my Flip Video to my computer. This was filmed when we were on a boat trip in La Gomera in the Canary Islands. We saw loads of dolphins, and it's almost as if they were racing the boat we were on.

Burnt Offerings

2009-05-26T16:58:00.003+01:00

I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies. I didn't use chocolate chips because I have some nice organic dark chocolate bars. So I chopped one of those up and used them in my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Then I was too lazy to measure out spoonfuls of dough, and decided to make chocolate chip cookie bars instead. Since the recipe said not to grease the pan, I didn't. I then stuck the pan in the oven, and went out to do some gardening while it cooked.

The wind was blowing, and making a racket as it ruffled all the leaves in the trees, so I didn't hear the oven timer when it went off. By the time I remembered and went to look, the cookie was burnt all around the edges.

I decided this wasn't too much of a problem because I could cut the edges off when I cut it up into bars.

Easier said than done: since I didn't grease the pan the whole thing was stuck like glue. I did manage to cut out and scrape out about 20 cookie bars, and the rest was burn edges and crumbs which I have put into a plastic tub, and which I will nibble on while I have a cup of tea (just so I don't waste any).

It may not look very pretty, but it tastes quite good, if slightly burnt and crumbly.

You have to feel sorry for me.

Hooli again and a walk in the woods

2009-05-25T15:23:00.008+01:00

Following on from yesterday's post about Hooli finding the rubber squeeky santa turkey, he was so pleased with himself that he slept with it by his side all night, and picked it up again first thing in the morning. So the house was filled with thumps interspersed with squeeks from the turkey as Hooli charged around with it in his mouth.

When I was getting ready to take him for a walk, everything went silent. Next time I checked, the turkey was gone. It's nowhere to be found. When I ask him where it is, he looks at me as if to say: "Turkey? What turkey?". I think he may have buried it again.

We went for a walk in the woods....

A field full of buttercups.

A rather elegant bug.

A molehill?

The path in the wood was almost overrun by wildflowers.

Like a low cloud.

And leaving the woods, I couldn't see the path out.

Till Hooli came back and showed me the way.

When we first came into the wood, there were three muntjac deer on the path ahead.

Two ran away before I could get my camera out.

If you click on the picture above you should be able to see the remaining deer a bit more clearly.

As we walked up the path we could hear loud barking sounds, which seemed to echo through the woods.

It was a little eerie.

When I got home I looked up the deer online.

They're the smallest deer in the UK and are known as the barking deer.

Click on this link to hear what it sounded like.

Gorgeous Day

2009-05-24T17:42:00.003+01:00

It's been a gorgeous day here with wall to wall sunshine. In between washing and hanging out laundry, I read for a bit in the garden, and then I started to do some gardening.

Last year was a bit of a disaster in my vegetable patch, because even though I'd covered my vegetables with fleece or netting, I woke up one morning to find that all my salad plants had been decimated overnight by marauding slugs and snails.

I read recently that coffee grounds left around the salad patch are a good barrier for slugs, so I've been saving them up, and today I planted some lettuce seeds in a square area and surrounded it with coffee grounds. Unfortunately I ran out before the square was closed, but I think I have enough time, before the seedlings come up, to drink enough coffee to complete the square.

I've outlined the shape of the square, you can just barely see the coffee grounds, and the green line shows where I started and the red arrow shows where I ran out.

I hope this works, because I got very annoyed last year when I lost my whole crop.

I'm looking after Hooli this weekend and I got quite cross with him because he was digging near the boundary fence. I told him to stop, he'd pause, then start digging again, and just when I was ready to really yell at him, he pulled out a squeeky rubber turkey dressed in a santa costume.

He was so pleased with himself, he kept making it squeek.

I once read that squirrels bury nuts all through the summer and autumn, for use in the winter, and then can't remember where they buried them. Well I reckon Hooli must have buried that turkey at Christmas time, and remembered it all these months later. Does that make him smarter than a squirrel?

I do get some funny emails 1

2009-05-22T21:13:00.005+01:00

The first celebrity to die of swine flu......

.....and we all know who gave it to him.

Christmas Steps

2009-05-15T22:04:00.004+01:00

I was in Bristol recently and took a walk down St. Michael's Hill. Having driven up and down the hill several times before, I hadn't realised quite how steep it was until I walked it.

After reaching the bottom of the hill, I saw this across the road...

Naturally I was intrigued and had to see more, so on the way back, I had a closer look.

These two pictures were taken looking up, and then down, from the bottom of the first flight of steps.

Of course I had to Google it, and there's a nice article on the BBC Bristol website. According to the plaque on the right hand side of the street above "This streete was steppered done and finished 1669". You can see some close-ups and the full wording here .

Incidentally, I didn't walk back up St. Michael's Hill - I took a taxi. It just looked too much like hard work.

More weeds...

2009-05-14T22:52:00.003+01:00

I have too many dandelions in my garden, and they're not easy to pull out. They have such long twisty roots, which invariably break and regenerate. But according to various books and websites it seems that every part of this plant is edible and very nutritious.

The leaves and roots can be made into a gentle diuretic tea. The leaves can also be used in salad, fried, boiled or even wrapped around cheese. The roots can be eaten raw or cooked, or can be roasted and ground and used as a coffee substitute. The flowers can be added to salad, fried in batter, or made into wine. Even the seeds can be sprouted and eaten.

So why do we pull them up and mutter and curse about them? I guess it's because we can't control where they grow.

I took pictures of the seed head just for the fun of it. Here is a sample of three photos....

I hope it's given the impression of the seeds with their parachutes blowing away from the main plant.

Time to confess: I cheated and placed the seed head on a glass table top, and then knocked a few seeds off and spread them around to look as if they'd blown away. Did my trick work?

By the way, Dandelion is from the french dent de lion which means lion's tooth, because the leaves have a ragged tooth shape.

Vicious Stinging Nettles

2009-05-13T08:45:00.004+01:00

It's that time of year when I do battle with stinging nettles. They creep into my garden, hiding among the flowers and fruit, and seem to suddenly appear out of nowhere, fully grown, and towering over everything else.

The other day I set to work pulling up a couple of clumps that had grown out of their hiding place in two quince bushes that grow against a fence in my garden. Being an old hand at dealing with this perrenial weed, I wore long thick gardening gloves and started pulling. As well as the danger of being stung, the quince bushes are quite thorny, so I was very careful.

You can see above that they've just popped up through the quince, but by the time I see them they're pretty big and very vicious.

Here is a closeup of one of the leaves. Those fine hairs on the leaves and on the stems are what cause all the pain.

Despite taking very good care, I still got an extremely nasty sting on my arm just above the edge of the gardening gloves. I pulled too hard, too fast and too low down the stem, and the top of the plant whiplashed onto my bare arm. Ouch!

I may have been wounded, but look where the nettles ended up. Score so far: 1-1

Apparently they make a good and nourishing soup, but it would take a huge leap of faith for me to even try it.

Scented breeze

2009-05-05T10:10:00.005+01:00

The village smells lovely today. I can't exactly identify the scents, but I would guess at blossoms and wildflowers and green growing things. Every now and then there's a change in the wind and it carries a hint of woodsmoke. It isn't a sunny day, but it's light and it's breezy. Really nice if you're out walking.

La Gomera again

2009-04-27T17:15:00.006+01:00

I've just spent another week in La Gomera. I enjoyed it so much in November, that I took my kids with me this time. None of us were disappointed. It's such a lovely island. I've uploaded some pictures, and they're not quite in the right order, but if I move them about I'm afraid that they'll lose the ability to be enlarged by clicking on them.

The picture below was taken near the pool where we were staying. We went to a barbeque and there was a Gomeran band and dancers that came along to entertain us. If you go to the bottom of this post, you'll find a video of the band playing. I took this on my camera so it's quite short.

This picture was taken from the footpath that took when we walked down to the village of Playa Santiago. It was a very steep path, and took us about 20 minutes downhill. My kids nearly always insisted on walking back up, which they did, but I always took a taxi. We found an amazing tapas place right on the beach close to where the road seems to curve around to the left in the picture, so we ate lunch there on our last two days. It was wonderful. They do these delicious sauces called mojo. There's a red (hot) mojo, and a green (not so hot) mojo. Most restaurants give you bowls of mojo to dip bread into while you're waiting for your meal to arrive.

At last the video has been uploaded, and now I can publish this post. I will write another post with pictures of our dolphin watching day later.

A treat for Hooli

2009-04-16T22:56:00.003+01:00

Here's a picture of Hooli getting ready to catch and swallow a treat. You can just see the treat in the top right hand corner of the picture. It looks like a little brown nut flying towards his waiting mouth.

He's so easy to please.

This little lamb was lost and crying for its mother.

Easter Wishes

2009-04-08T20:42:00.005+01:00

A friend sent me this in an e-mail, so I simply had to pass it along.....

A lady opened her refrigerator and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves.

"What are you doing in there?"

She asked.

The rabbit replied:

"This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?", To which the lady replied

"Yes."

"Well," the rabbit said,
"I'm westing."

Sorry.... I couldn't stop myself.
Have a Wonderful Easter...

Very funny slightly naughty joke No. 2

2009-03-30T18:08:00.004+01:00

A friend sent me this joke in an e-mail today. It's a little naughty, and so I've coloured it blue.

Testicle Therapy

Two women were playing golf. One teed off and watched in horror as her ball headed directly toward a foursome of men playing the next hole. The ball hit one of the men. He immediately clasped his hands together at his groin, fell to the ground and proceeded to roll around in agony.The woman rushed down to the man, and immediately began to apologize. 'Please allow me to help. I'm a Physical Therapist and I know I could relieve your pain if you'd allow me,' she told him. 'Oh, no, I'll be all right. I'll be fine in a few minutes,' the man replied. He was in obvious agony, lying in the fetal position, still clasping his hands there at his groin. At her persistence, however, he finally allowed her to help. She gently took his hands away and laid them to the side, loosened his pants and put her hands inside. She administered tender and artful massage for several long moments and asked, 'How does that feel'? He replied: 'It feels great, but I still think my thumb's broken!'

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-27T11:27:00.004Z

Tomorrow, at 8 pm local time (wherever you are in the world), is Earth Hour. It's estimated that last year 50 million people worldwide turned off their lights for an hour. The idea is to turn off your lights for one hour and spotlight global warming. Anyone can participate, singly or in groups. For more information check out the Earth Hour 2009 Website .

Mothers Day Walk and Twittering

2009-03-23T10:47:00.006Z

My daughters + 1 boyfriend came to visit for the Mothers Day Weekend.

Hooli came too......

And we all went for a walk before Sunday lunch.

The sheep were in the fields...

And although there wasn't hint of rain, some cows were lying down anyway.

I've joined Twitter. I'm still not quite sure how it works, but learning something new is always interesting.

Monday Morning

2009-03-16T12:29:00.002Z

Check this out. It made me laugh.

Chuckles Ballet

2009-03-06T10:41:00.007Z

I went to see Les Ballets Trockaderos de Monte Carlo on Wednesday night, and laughed my way through most of the performance. This troup is 100% male, and they take the parts of both sexes without even bothering to hide chest and armpit hair, and one of the 'ballerinas' was even sporting a pair of glasses in the finale.

Their dancing skills are impressive, and even more so when you take into account the blunders and accidents that are dotted throughout the performance. At one stage a whole line of posing ballerinas came toppling down as a result of a clumsy dancer knocking the first one over. But what was really funny was the way that they picked themselves up and carried on as if nothing had happened.

The Dying Swan is one version I'll never forget, and I can't help wondering if they managed to pick up all of the feathers.

I'm not very keen on ballet, but I really enjoyed this. If you want more information, you can check out their website .

True Friends

2009-03-06T10:38:00.001Z

This arrived in a email from one of my cousins today. I thought it was so funny.

Guard Dog

2009-02-26T15:02:00.002Z

A friend sent me this picture in an email today:

And the caption read:
Dog for Sale Free to a good home. Excellent guard dog. Owner cannot afford to feed him anymore, as there are no more drug pushers, thieves, murderers or molesters left in the neighbourhood for him to eat. Most of them knew him as ‘Holy Shit’.

Contrasts

2009-02-24T11:42:00.004Z

What a difference a couple of weeks have made to our surroundings here. The picture below was taken a week ago. Someone had given me some white tulips and I thought the contrast between the tulips inside and the snow still lying on the grass in the garden was quite interesting.

Then yesterday I took a walk in a nearby village and found a hedge of holly....

Above some clumps of snowdrops. The contrast here are the associations that I make with these two images. Holly makes me think of Winter, and snowdrops make me think of Spring.

Yet more snow....

2009-02-05T17:48:00.003Z

Enough for my neighbours to build not just one....

.....but TWO snowmen!

The village looked lovely in its white coating. Cars were few and far between, and moving at a snail's pace.

School was closed, but look at what I spotted just inside the fence.

There's more snow being forecast. Hooray!

My Footprints ---------->

The Birds

2009-02-03T11:36:00.008Z

Yesterday we had about two inches of snow fall by the end of the day. It snowed pretty well all day, and had also snowed the night before. Why the snow wasn't deeper is probably because the flakes were mostly small and powdery, although towards the end of the morning they did get bigger. I reckon it took all of the evening and night before for the first inch to fall, and the second inch fell during the afternoon.

These pictures were taken in the morning, before the first inch finished falling. That poor pigeon looked like a pom pom. I often wonder why their feet don't freeze.

And the little birds were all over the tree with the red berries. I called these pictures "The Ice Cream Bar" but I think "The Sorbet Bar" would have been more appropriate.

Today the sun is shining and some of the snow is melting, although my car and driveway still have at least an inch on them, so it should be fun driving, or should I say sliding out a bit later.

Checking to see if it was going to snow this afternoon, I found the MetCheck website which gives a two-hourly forecast. They have this handy code that you can put on your website to show the week's weather forecast in your area, so I've put it at the bottom of the page.

If you look at the forecast for here, we're expecting more snow on Thursday. Hooray!

Rickshaw Run

2009-01-24T10:45:00.003Z

Natalie (my daughter) and Nick (her boyfriend) are going to race across India in a rickshaw, all in aid of Frank Water Projects, a charity that funds sustainable clean and safe drinking water projects in India. To find out more, click on the new link I've put on the left.

Nick is a keen photographer, and Natalie is an artist, so I'm quite looking forward to seeing what pictures, artwork and ideas they come back with.

Their "The Team" page on the Rickshaw Run is quite funny, and since it's the only page they've uploaded anything onto, I thought I'd include a link to it here.

Very funny slightly naughty joke

2009-01-16T17:13:00.001Z

A friend sent me this joke in an email - I thought it was so funny I'd put it in a post and share it.

EAR HAIR

My neighbour found out her dog could hardly hear so she took it to the veterinarian. He found that the problem was hair in its ears. He cleaned both ears and the dog could hear fine.

The vet then proceeded to tell the lady that if she wanted to keep this from recurring she should go to the store and get some "Nair" hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month.

The lady goes to the drug store and gets some "Nair" hair remover. At the register the druggist tells her, "If you're going to use this under your arms don't use deodorant for a few days."

The lady says: "I'm not using it under my arms."

The Chemist says: "If you're using it on your legs don't shave for a couple of days."
The lady says: "I'm not using it on my legs either; if you must know, I'm using it on my schnauzer."
The Chemist says: "Stay off your bicycle for a week."

Greetings from the big freezer

2009-01-10T23:05:00.005Z

Going outside is like stepping into a big freezer. It is so so cold here.

The hospipe in the garden has grown icicles....

The birds' beaks are bouncing off the frozen berries on the tree....

And the world is white with frost and mist. It's quite spectacular. I must go now and sit by the radiator....

So cute

2009-01-07T17:17:00.002Z

I just read this online, and I thought it was so cute. If you haven't read the article about the two little German kids who tried to elope, click on the link above. It really made me smile, and even chuckle a little.

It's snowing!

2009-01-05T09:59:00.002Z

As you can see from the picture, it's snowing here. I woke up and got a lovely surprise when I pulled back the curtains. The world was covered in a bright white blanket of snow, and then it started to snow again, so I tried to be creative with my camera.

Of course, it's freezing outside, and just in time for this cold cold weather, a set of cable knit hat, gloves and scarf arrived from Donna of Made In Heaven . Thanks Donna, they're so soft and warm - just perfect for the chilly air outside.Yes, that's me taking my own picture in the mirror!

I hope 2009 is a wonderful year for everyone.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2009-01-01T21:05:00.001Z

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2009!

A Useful Christmas Tip

2008-12-20T15:17:00.003Z

I have been so lazy about writing this blog recently. Actually I was sick with bronchitis for about 2 weeks! But I'm happy to say I'm better now.

I was moaning to someone about how boring wrapping presents is. If I do the wrapping at the dining table, I'm comfortable, but I get bored.

If I wrap presents in front of the TV, I don't get bored, but I get uncomfortable sitting on the floor, and tend to get into a mess losing stuff etc.

She suggested wrapping presents in front of the TV using the ironing board as a table. I've tried it, and it's a brilliant tip. If I want to stand, I raise the ironing board. If I want to sit down, I lower it to whichever height is most comfortable for me. And the board is long enough that I can keep all the bits and pieces like scissors and tape handy and still have room to cut up paper and wrap.

Now why did I never think of that by myself?

La Gomera 2

2008-11-18T21:53:00.003Z

One day we took a boat trip to watch whales and dolphins, and were surrounded by both most of the time we were out there. After a while the captain turned the boat back towards shore and we made our way to a bay with an abandoned tuna factory. Here we could swim while the crew barbequed fresh tuna steaks for our lunch.

La Gomera

2008-11-18T21:45:00.004Z

I've been away for a week. I went to La Gomera in the Canary Islands. To reach La Gomera you need to fly to Tenerife, and take a ferry to San Sebastian. From there I went by coach to Playa Santiago, a journey that takes about 45 minutes through some spectacular scenery.

There is a small airport on La Gomera, with a short runway that appears to be balanced on the edge of a cliff. A nearly completed path runs between Playa Santiago and the airport, and I spotted this very delicate looking plant that had been planted in beds alongside the path.

November musings

2008-11-06T16:18:00.003Z

The days are decidedly shorter and the nights much much longer. Halloween's been and gone, Guy Fawkes night went up in a sparkle of fireworks last night, and Christmas seems to be just around the corner.

November is the month that I think I should start and finish writing my Christmas cards, although inevitably it comes and goes and the Christmas cards barely get done in time, if at all. I've been known to send them out as New Years' greetings.

We've had some frost, we've had one snowfall, and everywhere is damp and chilly. Some leaves are still clinging to the branches of trees, but they're displaying colours from gold to brown with every shade of red between.

To me, November feels like a lull, before the busy December festivities get going. A time to prepare and gather up energy. A time to take a deep breath and relax a little.

Computer Crash

2008-11-03T08:53:00.002Z

A friend sent me the following in an e-mail yesterday

...........................

I can't respond to any emails today,

something has crashed

on my computer.....

... and the mouse is missing!

...........

Just had to share...

Hooli the Draught Excluder

2008-11-02T13:19:00.002Z

My daughter's been visiting this weekend, and Hooli came along too. Last night I found Hooli fast asleep across the front door. How thoughtful of him to act as a draught excluder on such a chilly night.

Fun

2008-10-30T11:10:00.005Z

I came across this great video called the Eight Principles of Fun. I really enjoyed it, and so thought you all might too.

It snowed last night

2008-10-29T10:55:00.002Z

.... and here's the proof. It isn't very much, but it's definitely snow. As you can see in the background the sun is shining and melting the snow wherever it touches, but my car is still in the shade, for now.

Despite the sunshine, it's still pretty cold outside.

Frost/Rain/Snow

2008-10-28T11:25:00.002Z

This morning there was a touch of frost on everything. Not a thick coat, just a frosty sheen like you'd get on a beer glass that's been chilled in the freezer.

The weather forecast is for a very cold week, and today's forecast is for rain .... and possibly snow (!) in some areas including the Chilterns. That's where I am, right on the edge of the Chilterns - well pretty close anyway.

I'm watching the sky: the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the frost has melted. It looks like it's going to be a lovely day.

I gained an hour today

2008-10-26T15:02:00.002Z

I woke up this morning, bright and early at 7.30, and discovered that the clocks had been moved back and it was 6.30. I gained an hour today, hooray!

But that also means it's now officially winter, and the weather has responded by dropping temperatures and grey skies.

It's supposed to get really cold next week. Looking on the bright side, though: If we have a really cold winter maybe it'll snow.

Read the book

2008-10-21T11:06:00.004+01:00

Well, I managed to finish reading the book in time for the meeting.
The Book: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
My Opinion: Tedious
Consensus of Opinion at the meeting: two-thirds liked it, at least two thought it was brilliant.

I spent the whole weekend reading 450 pages of preparation for the last 50 pages of action and revelation, and by the time I'd reached those last 50 pages I'd pretty well guessed what was going to happen. The only character with any flesh on his bones was the really skinny one in the story. His name was Fermin and he had a huge appetite and was responsible for any lighthearted bits in the book. All the rest were like people that you're introduced to but never really get to know.

If you read the blurb on the jacket cover, it sounds so intriguing. For me, reading the book was a big disappointment.

Now I'm going to read something I chose..... until the next book club choice.

Lazy Days

2008-10-18T15:55:00.003+01:00

There's a new book club in our village and the first meeting is this Monday. Since I was away for a couple of weeks at the end of last month, I missed out on getting a library copy of the book of the month, so I ordered it online last Friday. I waited all week and it finally arrived yesterday evening, leaving me only two days in which to read it.

So that's my task for today and tomorrow, to read a 500 page book. Can anyone think of a better excuse for a lazy weekend?

Now I'll just go back and get comfortable in my armchair....

Inchmahome Priory

2008-10-15T20:28:00.002+01:00

Inchmahome Priory is on an island in the middle of Lake Menteith. It was founded in 1238 by the then Earl of Menteith, Walter Comyn. I was quite impressed that so much of it was still standing.

The Chapter House, which actually had a roof, contained some interesting features, as well as an impressive ceiling and windows.
The couple featured in the notice are shown at the bottom of the picture, and you can see that the curved ceiling is being held up by the shape of the stones within it.
Items 4 and 5 on the notice. I found these quite fascinating.
The island wasn't very big, you could walk the perimeter in under half an hour even with stops and starts to take pictures etc. The only way to reach it was by boat, and no running water or electricity on the island, so no cups of tea for sale in the little tourist shop. What would happen if someone missed the last boat of the day, and found themselves alone on the island overnight? Scary thought!

Loch Katrine - (A week in the Trossachs part 4)

2008-10-13T22:46:00.004+01:00

I took a boat ride on Loch Katrine one day. This was about one-and-a-half miles from Tigh Mor, and so we walked there. It was a nice calm day, and the surface of the water was smooth most of the time, and reflected the surrounding land and sky like a mirror.

Of course the boat we were on did a bit of churning.
This was the steamboat that we thought we would be going on, but it was out of action for repairs.
Two hours later, boat trip over, we set off to walk back to Tigh Mor, and came across a small herd of deer in the woods. They were very watchable...
We watched them, and then they watched us.
They were so beautiful.

Birds of Prey (A week in the Trossachs - Part 3)

2008-10-09T23:44:00.006+01:00

One day I visited Aberfoyle, and noticed a shelter with a sign outside saying there were birds of prey, some of which people could be photographed holding. There was no-one around, and no signs saying which bird was which, so I couldn't identify them.

I've tried identifying them online, but haven't had a 100% success rate, so if anyone knows which bird is which, and if I've made any mistakes, I'd love to know.

I think this first one is a kestrel.

And this is a peregrine falcon.
Another type of Falcon?
I'm not sure what this bird is. I thought it was an eagle, but apparently it isn't. Owl No. 1

Owl No. 2
Owl No. 3
These birds were quite beautiful to look at, and it seemed to be their siesta time. I waited around a bit hoping to see someone in charge who might be able to tell me a bit about the birds, but nobody appeared.

The Falkirk Wheel (A week in the Trossachs Part 2)

2008-10-05T21:33:00.003+01:00

I fulfilled a long-time ambition and took a 'turn' on the Falkirk Wheel. I first heard about the wheel when it was featured as a TV news item when it was opened, and thought it would be great to go on it (without having much idea about how or when). When I arrived in the Trossachs I realised that it was only an hour's drive from where I was staying, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The picture below explains how the wheel works. Just click on it to enlarge.....

It's absolutely enormous! You can just see a boat coming into the top gondola.
And then the wheel turned, and it headed down to the bottom. Of course I had to have a ride. I joined the Archimedes, which was one of two boats taking tourists that day, and rode the wheel up to the top. Then you go across and through the Roughcastle Tunnel to a pool where there are two locks to take you up even further. Since we were on a tour boat, we turned here and came back. Here's the view from The Archimedes as we came back toward the wheel through the Roughcastle Tunnel.
After getting off the Archimedes, I climbed up to the top and actually watched as it came up again, did its little turn, and then went back down the wheel again. Here it is, all ready to start turning.

One third of the way down...
Two thirds of the way down....
And here's it's sister boat, the Antonine, come to the top.
And it all happened using the same amount of energy that it takes to boil 8 kettles!

A week in the Trossachs - part 1

2008-10-03T19:34:00.004+01:00

After leaving Aberdeen, I went to the Trossachs for a week. I stayed just by Loch Achray, which is between Callander and Aberfoyle. In case you're wondering where the Trossachs are, here's a link that explains what and where they are.

The early morning view from the house looked like this.

On my first morning there I took a walk down to the shore of the loch. The footpath from the house followed a stream that fed into the loch. It was so quiet and secluded.
There were some rowboats available for a small rental fee, but I have to admit I never got around to using them.
As for the accommodation - well see for yourself. It reminded me a bit of the fairy castles one finds in picture books.
It was absolutely gorgeous, and you'd no sooner finished looking at one breathtaking view, but you'd turn a corner and find another just as amazing as the last.

The downside to all these hills, though, is that I had absolutely no reception on my mobile phone. Luckily there was internet access within the house, and a direct phone inside each apartment, so I wasn't completely cut off. I was out almost all day every day, though, so wasn't reachable most of the time.

I'm back

2008-10-02T11:27:00.007+01:00

I got home last night after spending the last couple of weeks in Scotland and stopping in the Lake District on my way home.

I spent the first two days in Cove Bay, which is close to Aberdeen. This picture shows the view from my sister-in-law's sitting room in Cove Bay. Amazing!

I went to the Aberdeen area for a family wedding, which was held in a country house hotel nearby. The location of the hotel was pretty impressive too, with gardens that ran down into a river and a Templar cemetary on the doorstep.

Lots of kilts in evidence, complete with sometimes hairy, and sometimes dimpled knees on display (depending on the age of the wearer). We were all piped in as we arrived.

Just what you'd expect at a Scottish wedding. It was fun, and of course it's always great to get together with family.

I stayed in Cove Bay for two days, and then moved on to the Trossachs - but more on that tomorrow. I had a great time, but it's good to be home.

11 days to my first blogging anniversary

2008-09-19T08:10:00.002+01:00

I've just noticed that my first proper post was on September 30 last year. If everything goes to schedule, I should wake up to a view of Ullswater in the Lake District on September 30 this year. I've never been to the Lake District before, so that should be a nice way to celebrate one year of blogging. Of course I'll post photos once I have them!

A Photo for Sarah

2008-09-04T07:44:00.003+01:00

Sarah, of Brit' Gal Sarah, commented in my last post that she had worked for 9 years in one of the buildings on the pedestrian bridge between Eton and Windsor, and that the photos I'd posted had taken her down memory lane. I did happen to take a picture of the bridge ( I think). Here it is, I hope it's the right one.

Windsor and Eton

2008-09-03T22:38:00.006+01:00

I went to a reunion near Windsor two weekends ago. Some friends and I went into Windsor on the Saturday morning and decided to do a trip on the tourist bus. It was a beautifully sunny and warm day, and we were very comfortable sitting in the open air on the top deck of the bus.

The tourist bus. It was very colourful, and there was a commentary throughout the whole journey.
Windsor Castle, as seen at the start of the trip.
Windsor castle at the end of the long straight drive.......
......and again across some fields, on our way to....
Eton.

An interesting roof garden somewhere in Eton.
The famous playing fields.
A tilled field with feasting birds (think of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds")
Our view of Windsor Castle at the end of the trip. It really was an interesting tour, and we all enjoyed ourselves. After that, well, does shopping and lunch sound familiar?

Joke time again

2008-08-12T18:59:00.003+01:00

I have a friend who is sending me very good jokes at the moment. Here's today's input...

With all the new technology regarding fertility recently, a 65-year-old friend of mine was able to give birth. When she was discharged from the hospital and went home, I went to visit. ‘May I see the new baby?' I asked ‘Not yet,' she said 'I'll make coffee and we can visit for a while first.' Thirty minutes had passed, and I asked, 'May I see the new baby now?' 'No, not yet,' She said. After another few minutes had elapsed, I asked again, 'May I see the baby now?' 'No, not yet,' replied my friend. Growing very impatient, I asked, 'Well, when can I see the baby?' 'When he cries!' She told me. 'When he cries?' I demanded. 'Why do I have to wait until he cries?' 'Because I forgot where I put him, O.K.?!!'

Check out the date

2008-08-08T22:50:00.003+01:00

I just had to post something with today's date on it: 08/08/08

Still on the Grand Union Canal within the area of the Ouzel Valley Park. Notice the heron on the left hand bank?
I thought it was a sculpture, until it moved!

A little light relief

2008-08-07T17:48:00.003+01:00

Having been obsessed with all things aquatic recently, it seems appropriate that today a friend emailed me a very funny joke with the title 'Ducks'.

Of course I have to share.......

Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven. When they get there, St. Peter says, 'We only have one rule here in heaven: don't step on the ducks!' So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one. Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw. St. Peter chains them together and says, 'Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!' The next day, the second woman accidentally steps on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman. The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps. She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on ... very tall, long eyelashes, muscular, and thin. St. Peter chains them together without saying a word. The happy woman says, 'I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?' The guy says, 'I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!'

More Water - Furzton Lake in MK

2008-08-02T21:18:00.003+01:00

I seem to be taking walks near water at the moment. This is Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes, approximately 2.2 km all the way around, and the Milton Keynes Parks Trust has this to say about it:

Constructed in the mid eighties as one of a series of "balancing lakes" - designed to hold floodwater during heavy rain, Furzton lake is now a valuable environment for wildlife, home to a large population of geese and waterfowl.
The walk around the lake is quite picturesque, and at one or two points there are houses overlooking the lake with balconies on the first floor. They would definitely qualify as 'des res' in my book.
Look at the foreground on the right. There were people with tents and many fishing poles dotted around the lake. They looked as if they were there for the duration of the weekend.
Well, here are some of the waterfowl. Those ducks stood out against the geese, especially that white one.

I think we're so lucky to have such a large selection of parks and waterways in Milton Keynes, and I intend to explore as many of them as I can.

Life on the Water

2008-07-31T23:42:00.002+01:00

A couple of days ago I thought I'd have a walk by the Grand Union Canal in the middle of Milton Keynes, and so turned off the road into a quiet residential area, but got totally lost looking for the canal. I finally ended up on an allotment, where I saw these amazing artichokes growing, but I couldn't get to the canal from there.

After much to-ing and fro-ing I parked in a layby next to Tinkers Bridge, and found a stairway down to the canal. As I came under the bridge, this is what I saw:

Breathtaking! I carried on and found that this was quite a popular spot, since there was a pub and a whole line of narrowboats tied up and enjoying a relaxing evening.

Three Locks

2008-07-29T10:52:00.002+01:00

On Sunday we went to the Three Locks Pub in Stoke Hammond. The food was very run of the mill, but it was the location we were there for. It's a series of three locks which take the canal traffic up or down hill, depending on the direction they're going. The water level inside the locks is raised or lowered to the same level as the section of canal being exited, the gates are opened, the boat moves into the lock, and the gates are closed again. Then the water level is then raised or lowered to the same level as the section of canal being entered, gates are opened, boat moves out of lock etc. etc. etc.

This picture was taken from the middle of the gate of the first lock, looking downhill to the other two locks.

This is the second lock.
Looking at the third and lowest lock, from within the area of the second lock.
This last picture was taken from the open area outside the pub which is alongside the third lock. You can see wild flowers growing at the top of the gate, and some canal boats pulled up at the bank, with people sitting and eating lunch on the towpath.

This is a gorgeous area, and life on and around the canal is slow and relatively calm. I wouldn't like to fall in the water, though. It looks a bit murky.

Missed the photo challenge

2008-07-13T00:11:00.004+01:00

Things have been a bit hectic around here, and although I had every intention of joining in with the latest photo challenge yesterday, I somehow didn't quite manage it. Instead I thought I'd post some pictures of flowers which I took a couple of weeks ago.

I discovered that my hanging basket which I bought ready-planted, had some strawberries growing among the flowers.

A rose in my front yard just after I watered it.

A pink flower in a bouquet that my son gave me.

I hope to be able to start posting regularly again very soon. I'll try and visit a few of the posts for the Brenda Photo Challenge before going to bed tonight.

Brenda Photo Challenge - Orange

2008-06-28T08:01:00.000+01:00

Here's my entry for this week's Brenda Photo Challenge, which is Orange.

An orange flame....

Orange hair on the toy clown's head.......

and a random selection of orange objects around the house.

This week's challenge is being hosted by Just Joni at Morning Coffee . If you'd like to join in, just go to her blog and let her know that you've posted your pictures.

My new toy

2008-06-26T20:26:00.000+01:00

My kids gave me a new toy. It's a Flip digital video camera and it's tiny, as you can see from these pictures. It's called Flip because when you want to download the video you just flip out a usb key which goes directly into your computer.

The software is stored inside the camera and when you connect it to your computer you get this screen.
It's so small it's the same size as my mouse!
and the best thing of all is that it's idiot proof. There are only five buttons, and one of those is the flip button. The other four are:
On/off
Record
Play
Trash

What more does a person need?

Oh, and it's ready to go in less than two seconds. Using precise and accurate timings, I switched it on and counted "One, one thousand, two one thous...." and it was ready.

Come on in the water's lovely

2008-06-25T19:52:00.001+01:00

Fruit feast

2008-06-24T17:41:00.000+01:00

I've spent a good part of today working on the vegetable patch. I'm happy to say that the strawberries have started to ripen.

I picked my first batch yesterday, and they were absolutely delicious.

The raspberries are just thinking about turning red, and I don't have a net over them, something I need to do in the next day or so, or the birds will get to feast on the fruit before I do.
Just a bit ahead of the raspberries, but not quite ready yet, the blackcurrents are starting to darken. This particular bunch should be ready to eat in a few days.
It's so exciting going out there each morning, to see what's ready and what's developing. It's so rewarding.

Topical Quiz

2008-06-21T09:03:00.000+01:00

Since it's Midsummer's Day, there's a quiz on MSN about Stonehenge. I scored 6, which wasn't bad since most of my answers were guesswork. If you need to polish up your knowledge, they've supplied some informative articles here .

By the way, it's raining here today, so I don't know how much sun was visible at sunrise.

I'm sharing

2008-06-19T21:32:00.000+01:00

A friend emailed me this link and it was too funny to keep to myself.

Then I thought I'd Google the animator, Walt Handelsman and see what else he's done, and I found this.

I hope you enjoy both of these as much as I did.

Campbell Park in Milton Keynes

2008-06-17T00:52:00.000+01:00

I took a walk in Campbell Park in Milton Keynes a few days ago. This is a big park with some really nice features. I think my favourite is this sundial which is set in the middle of a labyrinth.

Sundial

The Labyrinth

There's a circle at a high point called Belvedere. Belvedere is at the start of a path which leads in a straight line to a bridge that joins up with Midsummer Boulevard. Midsummer Boulevard then runs in a straight line (except for a shopping precinct in the middle of its path) right down to the train station. Apparently it's supposed to be lined up so that the sun rises behind Belvedere point on June 21, and follows Midsummer Boulevard until it reflects in an explosion of light off the glass front of the railway station.

I stood on Belvedere point and did a 360 degree photo rotation. Here's the result. It's a bit patchy, but it gives you an idea of what the view is like. The line of trees at the end of the path is just about where the bridge meets the beginning of Midsummer Boulevard. The station is quite a long way from there.

360 degree view from Belvedere

When Grandma goes to court

2008-06-13T17:05:00.001+01:00

A friend sent this to me in an email. I don't know if it's a real newspaper cutting or if it's a made up on, but I laughed so hard I thought it was worth sharing.

Click on the article to enlarge it:

Going up - the cost of filling up the car

2008-06-10T00:43:00.000+01:00

I took this picture to show how much it cost to fill up my car yesterday. I used an online currency converter to calculate the $ equivalent - and the result was $105 exactly. I don't drive a huge car, it's a Ford Focus.

Wall to wall sunshine, hooray!

2008-06-09T17:56:00.000+01:00

Since I had a moan about the rain, thought I'd better have a cheer about the sunshine which is just pouring down on us, and the forecast is the same for the next couple of days, hooray!