tedsmum

Google Walking Post Script

2012-01-17T11:33:00.001Z

And then I found this. On the google map, a cottage located in a book, in Cornwall, built for a week of filming in Wales then taken apart and no trace of it but cached digital images. The time space thing again....

Google walk

2012-01-17T11:02:00.000Z

Can't believe it - still horizontal almost a month later! Typing slowly with two fingers of right hand, I notice I sound stilted and am avoiding capitals. No matter; in these technological times I can leave my bed and walk the earth, with the aid of google. I notice that travelling the Pembroke Coast Path and checking out the uploads revives sensations deep in my brain - it really is, for a millisecond, just like being there. I expect there is a time - space equation for that and I have just felt it. It wasn't a smell but the feeling of my feet on the path and a leaning into the picture and it only works with somewhere I have been. Amazing - try it!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T18:50:00.000Z

Long time, no blog. Lying up in bed with sciatica having watched every self help clip on youtube - do you try osteopath, physio, chiro? Keep mobile/ lie flat? Take the drugs or avoid the pain? Anyway v peed at not being able to walk/cycle/garden/ boogie - sit on a chair even to blog/cinema/eat!! All began with Ofsted and no time to walk/ swim, too many hours at computer/in meetings.

But this cheered me up! Forever England, Chariots of Fire and all that.

Awoken by cockerel crowing and kites keening it was a beautiful sunny day and is lighter this evening than since before 12th December with clear blue skies and a soft rose sunset, still twilight at 5 o'clock. The weather stays incredibly mild with roses still blooming and these incredibly profuse little daisies thinking they are somewhere in the Med! Still wanting to know their name if anyone can help? So, mustn't grumble. Happy New Year!

Source of the Thames

2011-10-30T12:33:00.001Z

On random days over the past few years we have been walking the Thames from the barrier to the source which we reached on Friday. Another perfect, golden, Autumn day; quiet water meadows, glowing Cotswold stone, placid cattle munching, our feet tramping the final eight miles from Ashton Keynes to the official source at Lyd Well and on to the Thames Head pub.

The whole length of the river has given us so many wonderful days each a jewel in itself. Favourites have been: the sweeping park and Observatory at Greenwich, the houseboats and Georgian cottages through Chelsea, the parakeets at Ham House near Richmond, the tiny Stanley Spencer gallery at Cookham, watching the Henley Regatta preliminaries, swimming at Wallingford and Crayfishing at Lechlade. Through Spring, Summer and Autumn, through fields and cities, sparkling grey, sap green and pink with Oxford clay; racing over weirs, slow and meandering until finally just puddles in an ancient Ash grove, the history is tangible. And the lady we met with her poodle in her bicycle basket, the elderly couple parked up in their wheelchairs at Henley, the Chinese grandmother catching Crayfish - unforgettable.

Last weekend of summer...

2011-10-26T21:02:00.002+01:00

On Saturday night the clocks go back and it will be dark by 6 o'clock. Every year I rail against it. For three blissful years between 1968 and 1971 we basked in double British summertime: long summer evenings with 10 o' clock curfews and winter afternoons with time to play in the snow. I remember watching field mice playing in the beech leaves at the bus stop as we waited for dawn and the bus to school. Any government that brings it back will get my vote! So we decided to make the most of it and drive to mid Wales for the weekend, from whence we ended up promenading Aberystwyth in the Autumn sunshine. The war memorial is fabulous, as you can see and there were plenty of people in the waves. Sunday found us in Ludlow by the River Teme. Just above the weir is a wide deep part that looked really inviting but someone held me back and I was just a teensy bit worried about an undercurrent. So we are planning to head for the beach on Saturday for that last swim of the summer before the dreaded clocks.

mists and mellow fruitfulness

2011-10-15T20:44:00.002+01:00

These have been the mornings: misty, dew dropped, the fresh ploughed earth like slabs of chocolate. Later the sun is warm on my back and the sky the clearest, deepest, farthest blue. The air is warm with a cool edge, faintly smelling of plums and fallen apples and in the night the stars hang low and bright. The trees are keeping their green and flowers think it is still July. Today I walked my favourite valley and ridge and revelled in the last days - is it the last this time - of our Indian summer. Scout kept me company and reminded me of what it is to be a young pup, no longer startled by the clocking of pheasants and the mewling of buzzards, he enjoyed foxy smells and the occasional rabbit bone.Soon it will be time to change my header, but for now, the rainbow over the beach, for just a little longer...

O, such a perfect day...

2011-09-29T22:18:00.001+01:00

Englishcountrywalks

2011-09-28T20:53:00.000+01:00

Just surfing and found this fabulous website - I haven't booked on one of their walks yet but just browsing through the pics I feel as if I have done one. Of course my favourites are in the Chilterns - Miss Whistle, you will love this one . The photos and the blog layout are really dramatically effective making you want to haul out the walking boots and get on out there. Today was a perfect September day - summer has at last arrived without a cloud in the sky. Sadly the swallows have flown but the still air was full of lazy wasps and flighty ladybirds and one solitary Red Kite circling high on the thermals. I must get my camera out tomorrow and capture the wonderfulness of it all.

Wild Swimming

2011-09-27T20:09:00.001+01:00

When we were kids all swimming was wild. My dad would plunge naked into icy water at the drop of a hat and expected us all to do the same - we drew the line at naked. Nowadays all the pools are indoors, the beautiful Chess valley is 'protected' by barbed wire and the rivers round here are depleted streams. However this weekend promises perfect weather perhaps for the last time this year so the urge is strong despite a heavy cold. Kill or cure in fact. Favourite rivers: the Thames - nearby, steady and very clean west of Marlow; the Wye - deep pools, flat rocks, quiet places; the Elan - cold, peaty, invigorating! Best beaches: Manorbier, Walton on the Naze. Join me!

Summer slips into Autumn

2011-09-23T21:48:00.001+01:00

Summer came early this year and so it seems has Autumn. The mornings have been misty this week and though the sun has broken through and the skies are clear and blue, there is an edge to the air. The upside is that the cloudy August days and frequent showers have kept the garden flowers blooming long after they would normally have faded. This is my newly planted shady corner - I thought I had chicken proofed it but they seem to be able to get in anyway and the plants are doing ok.

The patio rose has flowered since early May, bright and clear, smothered in blooms. I bought in a batch of ladybirds and have fed it a couple of times but it seems that water is the thing that really keeps it going - this good old English weather!

I have half a dozen similar single roses in all shades of pink ranging from a coral one climbing below my window to a wild dog rose at the gate. They seem quite happy here and don't, touch wood, suffer from all the usual pestilences.

I have watered and dead headed this beautiful little pink marguerite - tell me the name if you know different- all summer and it has been covered

in flowers like this for almost five months. They start off a bright, deep pink but look pretty as they fade and all the time more are coming on. I bought three little plants on the market and planted them in an old beer crock; they lift my spirits every day.

The lupins are on their third flowering and even the rhodadendron that my husband had a hack at has a second flush of flowers. The holly round here was white with blossom in late Spring and is now heavy with berries. Does this mean it will be a hard Winter?

it's all about me!

2011-09-17T22:29:00.000+01:00

I don't usually flaunt pics of myself, in fact I notice every lump and bump and delete anything unflattering before anyone else gets to see it. Also I'm sorry to say I am not at all a smiley person although I would very much like to be. But when I saw this I could not stop smiling at that triumphant, smiling alter ego of mine. This is how I like to be seen: fit, healthy and happy, a real Alpha female. The truth is that I am not. I have some lucky genes, boost my energy levels and mood with caffeine & sugar and always carry prescription drugs in my bag. I entered the event in a fit of high minded optimism and could not back out. How anyone can be both lazy and competetive is a mystery but I have registered for next year, sworn to better my time by at least 30, shall we say 40 minutes and if I am out training before next August it will be a miracle!

Cycletta South

2011-09-11T17:57:00.001+01:00

Shamefully, I have neglected my blog all summer, but today I have something to write about and then, with the aid of a few pics, there is a bit of catching up to do!

A few months ago I read 'Cutting for Stone' by Abraham Verghese - a haunting and evocative novel which led me to the true story behind the plot: in 1958 Catherine Hamlin and her husband moved to Addis Adaba thus beginning a lifetime's work to restore health and a livelihood to women damaged by birthing injuries. The story, of young girls often genitally mutilated, married very young, left to labour for hours without medical support or intervention is a tragic one. The child is almost invariably lost and the mother left incontinent and thus a social outcast. Over more than half a century the Hamlins have pioneered repair, treatment and care. In her eighties Catherine is still at the heart of the hospital.

I have just finished a fundraising ride - see the link - over our beautiful Chiltern Hills and hope that as well as raising my target amount I will have flagged up the charity. This is my first pic - me with the Olympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton.(I am the one with the cheesy grin and the chinstrap double chin, she is the drop dead gorgeous, totally fit one!) There were lots of cameras and a couple of profile raising opps that I did not miss out on so hope to have some more links up soon! I am now off to spend the rest of Sunday afternoon on the sofa with a good book...........

chicken tree

2011-06-21T21:53:00.001+01:00

In all the years I have kept bantams and all the years I have known my friend Janet, I had never seen the 'Chicken Tree' performed. Indeed, a week or two ago I had never even heard of it. Until this Bridget Jones moment when a local cub reporter was brave enough to broadcast live at the Boxmoor Canal Festival. I make that nine perfectly happy hens and one good sport! Janet is my old friend who manages to eke out a living sharing her animals with the unsuspecting public and apparently I had missed this party piece up until now. You never know what riches life will bring.

A lost month

2011-06-10T21:59:00.004+01:00

A bit of a tricky act, reappearing after such a long absence, but anyway, no excuses! What am I doing? Too much work, some dogsitting, walking and on the bike again, this time fundraising. Through a series of coincidences I am taking part in a 40k, gals 'breeze ride' from Whipsnade Zoo in September - join me or sponsor me online. There are so many worthy charities out there it was hard to choose - until I read 'Cutting for Stone' by Abraham Verghese. It alerted me to the existence of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital and the invaluable lifetime work of Dr Catherine Hamlin. Read the book and the facts, then tell your friends. Also enjoyed 'Let the Great World Spin' by Colum McCann.

Spent a recent weekend walking in Constable country on the River Stour and strolling the pretty beach at Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast. Nearby Snape Maltings is the setting for The Benjamin Britten festival and this perfect Barbara Hepworth piece. Maggi Hambling is represented on the shore by her piece quoting from Britten's opera Peter Grimes - not a favourite of mine I'm afraid but I love the sentiment : "I hear those voices that will not be drowned".

fairytale wedding

2011-04-29T22:00:00.000+01:00

Beautiful Grace Kelly style dress. The tiara was the Queen Mother's and the veil similar to the one she wore for her own 1930's wedding. But the fifties dress and 30's medieval inspired headdress melded perfectly!

Best bridesmaid. My husband was captivated by this view of Kate's sister but I have to say I was too! The simplicity of the dress complemented both the bride and the bridesmaid.

Best 'mum'. Whether she upset another designer or not Catherine Walker was definitely the right choice for Kate's mum...

I said it first - she should have worn a hat! No doubt terrified of echoing Cherie's grandiosity Sam Cam, style icon, looks fabulous post- latest baby, but a hat would have done it. Best politicians wife of the day though!

Joss Stone leaves Indie behind and scrubbs up as the best looking 'commoner' of the day!

Sorry, but the Bad Fairy has got the better of me - these have to be the two ugly sisters to Cinderella...
All photos courtesy of Femail - link on header. Some great inside stories too...

Butterfly World Gardens

2011-04-11T21:31:00.001+01:00

This morning, before the cold front pushed in, the sky was blue and I was wearing shorts in the garden but this afternoon we watched the clouds roll in and the rain pelt down. But before all that we went over to look at the Butterfly World project near St Albans for the first time this year. The project is to build a huge geodesic dome like the Eden project, focused on butterflies, but that is still a year away. This will be the third year and we hope they can fund their ambition. Meanwhile the butterfly and pupating sheds are interesting and the showcase designer gardens are being revamped, and this is the newest one which they were busy working on today. As you can see an Alice in Wonderlandish garden: a house full of indoor/ outdoor rooms with changing views through open windows and doors created from junk and recycleds and growing plants and driftwood and all manner of beautiful, random and tarnished tat that looks absolutely fabulous! The other highlight is the play area which recreates sand dunes so that children can play in the sand in sheltered hollows and grandmas can sunbathe while they bury themselves and each other, haul themselves up the hills on ropes and career down the bumpy slide to land in the soft pit at the bottom.

sometime last summer...

Gardening Weather!

2011-04-10T21:20:00.000+01:00

Fat buds on the Japanese Cherry look inviting, especially to bullfinches, but I can't bring myself to shoo them away. Meanwhile blue tits busily scour the tree for small pests - you win some you lose some... The tree is enveloped in a cloud of perfume and the humming of bumble bees.

The garden looks its best now with so many narcissus and daffodils whose names I have forgotten but all with a different personality. Jack Snipe, Paperwhite, Pheasant's Eye, Tete a Tete and a dozen more jostle for attention among the green shoots. This week we ate the last of the leeks - they have fed us from November to April - in leek & potato soup, and today I planted the new season's in my smart raised bed. Together with spinach, radishes, onions, shallots and parsnips, all tucked under a covering of warm soil and bubble wrap! Perfect!

Biutiful

2011-04-03T22:02:00.000+01:00

Films - Biutiful - Javier Bardem is compulsive viewing in this gritty story of life in the less than glamorous suburbs of Barcelona. The soundtrack is fabulous.

True Grit - Hailee Seinfeld steals the show with her assuredness and wonderful enunciation of a beautifully crafted script. And again, the soundtrack is haunting.

Books - When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin. A moving portrait of loss - of a country, a family, a life. Some politically correct reviewers have trashed this book but it gets rave reviews from ordinary people. Like me.

Re: Puppy love

2011-03-31T21:29:00.001+01:00

I've always fancied Dog Agility but could not find anything nearby when Friday was small. Now I have taken the plunge with grandog Scout and this is our first excursion! Hope it won't be our last.................. For tips on what it really should look like, see scout's friend molliecarter clearing the hurdles.

White Pond Farm

2011-03-30T21:11:00.002+01:00

I got really fed up trying to upload my pics in an orderly manner the other night - I know I should update my software but IT is not my strongpoint. Anyway, here are a few more from Sunday...

This is the view of John Stracey's land from the memorial bench.

Violets underfoot....

The old cruck barn at White Pond Farm

Looking in the other direction, west, over chalky fields.

Home is where my hens are - waiting on the doorstep!

And this is John, from the family website at White pond Farm. One of many beautiful old black and white photos that make me ache with nostalgia - I also love the one of his wife, Betty, haymaking!

Sunday British Summertime!

2011-03-27T21:57:00.002+01:00

Last night the clocks went forward an hour and today it was not dark until 8pm - bliss! We made the most of the continuing good weather to do a circular walk around Stonor House deep in the Chilterns, impulsively stopping at this unpretentious village pub on the way for a pint of Brakspear and a bite to eat. When I was a child I hated flintwork as I was always getting jostled up against the flint walls of my primary school, but what I love most now is knowing that the brick clay and flints are dug in the local area and reassembled so beautifully. And I love finding these old carriage doors and the small entry doors cut in them. At the back of the pub were long, uneven roofs of patterned clay tiles, red and grey, orchards and sheep.The sun was warm, the beer was cool and we saw two Peacock butterflies and a Brimstone. Stonor is in the heart of the Chiltern Hills, set in a bowl of ancient parkland, surrounded by beechwood, high chalk ridges and mixed farmland. The woods are now carpeted with celandines and wood anenomes, the hedges are black with thorn and white with blosson and the wild cherries are alive with bees. At one point there were over a dozen Red Kites swooping and tumbling above us, their kee ning like whalesong in the spring air. On the hill we sat and admired the farmland tilled by John Stracey for over half a century, sitting on his memorial bench - am I alone in my fascination with these plaques? - violets scattered underfoot. On our way downhill we disturbed a nesting skylark that rose, soaring noisily into the air, passed a stand of humming beehives and back down the valley by White Pond Farm. Then into Henley for a walk by the river where we found the brewery our lunchtime pint originated from!

British summertime

2011-03-24T21:20:00.000Z

Yesterday I spotted the first Brimstone of the year bright in the spring sunshine and today, I think, a Red Admiral. I startled it and only caught the orange rimmed wings but the guide tells me this was the most likely. High pressure all week, temperature 18c in the sun yesterday afternoon and bumble bees the size of field mice bumping into each other in their hurry to get to the cherry blossom. And the Hellebores too, which are looking fab, six varieties now I think and all very happily naturalised in my garden. And me aching from walking now the seratonin has started to kick in again and the clocks go back on Saturday, yey!

Puppy Love

2011-03-17T19:26:00.000Z

We have been dogless for the past eighteen months and after 30 dog full years it is a pretty sorry state to be in, I can tell you! But after much persuasion and deliberation I am now the proud grandma to a new pup. And what a gorgeous boy he is, as you can see. Intelligent, loving, feisty and athletic, he is just the right size to sit between the boys in the back of the car or on the passenger seat where I can rest my hand reassuringly on his rough coated back between gear changes. A Border terrier/ poodle cross, we are hoping he won't moult too much, he is good when left alone and is a star at puppy training. Next week I am taking him to an Agility Club open morning just to see if he is interested. And then I can give him back - the joys of being a grandma!

The Sheep Field

2011-03-14T20:30:00.002Z

Spent a relaxing Sunday over at Perry Green on the other side of Herts, at Henry Moore's home and workshops. Actually the workshops are closed for the winter, reopening on 1st April when you must visit! There is a footpath that circles the boundary and after a lovely walk through soon to be bluebell woods, a sunken valley and the maternity unit of a sheep farm, it cuts across Hoglands, where Moore lived and worked for over 40 years. His wife bought and landscaped neighbouring land to showcase Henry's work and the field pictured is, on his instruction, to remain 'The Sheep Field' in perpetuity. Last summer we visited the house which is just as he left it and has the same eclectic feel as my parents house: bowls of pine cones and pebbles, prints and sketches, fifties fabrics. The main difference being that the Moore's art collection is all originals and the fabrics he designed himself. The Hoops is also part of the estate so we were surrounded by more fabrics, photos and prints as we enjoyed Sunday lunch.

Ancient lanes

2011-03-06T22:42:00.001Z

Today the sun enticed us to try a new walk along the Chess valley and up over Pednor, an ancient packhorse route through the Chilterns. High above Red Kites played on the thermals mewing and mating in the spring sunshine, five or six together. On the steep verges white and purple violets are now in flower and catkins shiver in the wind. Though we were on the lanes more than footpaths only a couple of cars passed us, and though the walkers and cyclists were out in force, it was so quiet. The beech trees still bare cresting the parallel ridges, the farmsteads nestling in the long valleys, sheep the colour of the bleached winter grass, newly ploughed fields the colour of rich chocolate: beautiful!

Bury Pond where the submerged watercourse feeds into the Chess.

Looking across Rose Acre to Friars Hills

Little Pednor Farm - amazing Arts & Crafts manor house, and the lane cuts right through the courtyard!

The farm at Pednor Bottom

The ridge that becomes Chartridge.

Early Spring?

2011-02-16T20:48:00.001Z

The snowy header has finally been put away but expect to see it again next year because it is one of my favourites, describing perfectly the place where I live. As do the hills and woods and fields and flowers...I should set up a gallery page to keep the pics I have used. This winter has brought real snow, hoary frosts and recently three long days of howling wind but in the main it has been mild and wet and it now feels like spring. The blossom is appearing earlier than ever on my English Cherry but further snow would not be a great surprise especially now that I have a new Spring header! I really should spend more time in the garden:snowdrops and crocuses are in flower, the daffodils are half way there and hellebores drip limpid green in the soft rain. Unfortunately the bantams are very attracted to both crocus and to iris shoots which are already looking henpecked. Every day now I am checking the coop anticipating a new laying season and feeling a little guilty that I don't get up earlier to give them a full quota of daylight. We have had leeks all winter but I was late putting in the parsnips and a third lot of beetroot and I am keen to see what is going on beneath the surface - the winter leaves are not giving a lot away! And soon it will be time to plant the bed again, and then, and then and then.....

Am I famous?

2011-02-13T16:13:00.001Z

I was collared for an interview in our local paper recently and thought I would recycle it, using my edits rather than theirs, and the odd correction too! I'd love to hear some of your answers..... Ignore what you’re doing now - if you could do any job in the world, what would it be and why?

I would love to be a successful writer or a painter. To know that your works on Earth will outlive you must be awesome!

Of all the places you’ve been in your life, which would you recommend to a stranger?

I’m not a great traveller and don’t stray too far from home but there are so many beautiful places in the UK . One of my favourite places is on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in Wales – Manorbier Castle, the location for Cair Paravel in the recent film of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We too have experienced some magical times there and I have been going back for over thirty years.

If you could pass one new law tomorrow, what would it be and why?

Controversially, I believe everyone’s DNA should be on a data base. Every time an innocent person is murdered or a child is abducted, time is wasted and further lives are endangered. It is a small price to pay. (Just read 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' which does raise a whole lot of other issues and I recommend if you are interested in science and not sick!)
You can invite three people - living or dead, from any period - round for dinner.

Well first I would invite them separately and get their undivided attention!

Winston Churchill I would like to meet in his garden at Chartwell. We could potter about looking at plants, visit his studio and see his latest paintings, then take a dip in his lake before tea.

David Cameron – I have quite a lot to say to him!

Dustin Hoffman – I love cinema but don’t think I couldn’t trust Marlon Brando or Jack Nicholson. I am sure that Dustin would be a charming dinner companion and I suspect he has hidden depths.......!

If you were stuck on Death Row, what would you pick for your final meal?

I really don’t think I could eat a thing! (This was a weird one wasn't it?)

And if you could write your own epitaph or come up with famous last words in advance, what would you pick?

It has been a beautiful struggle.

If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?

I would like to be able to travel timelessly to any destination at will. I am a useless traveller and it would be cool to pop over to Boston for an afternoon to catch up with friends and be home again in time for tea! (friends in Boston please note!)

How do you relax?

Walking. After a couple of miles all the adrenalin is dissipated and everything settles into place.
What’s your greatest fear?

Almost too great to name is every mother’s fear that their child die before them. I have the utmost respect for people who can carry on living after tragedy strikes.

What was the last little treat you bought for yourself, or someone else?

I love snow and frost but hate being cold so bought myself a duvet coat – warm as toast. (see my xmas blog)

If you had to give up something tomorrow, what would you find it hardest to live without?

As above – I’d hate to have to turn the heating down, despite worries about Global Warming.

What’s the most important lesson that life has taught you so far?

Samuel Johnson wrote of a friend after his death 'How much soever I valued him, I now wish that I had valued him more.' Sad but so true.

If you could leap forward to the year 2050, what would you expect, or hope, to find there?

My grandchildren alive and well and happy in a brave new world.

Favourite films of all time and why?U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005) – Carmen, my favourite opera, set in a South African township – you never saw a sassier Carmen!

DIVA (1981) French cult thriller. American opera singer Wilhelmenia Fernandez makes this a cult movie worth seeking out.

Empire of the Sun ( 1983) Speilberg masterpiece, again with a beautiful soundtrack. Iconic coming of age story, set against the backdrop of war in the Far East. Triumph over adversity, wonderful cinematography. (can't wait to watch this with my grandson)

Favourite books of all time and why?

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Set in India between 1947 -1977. Heart warming and heartbreaking. If you read just one book this has to be it, all human life is here.

The Constant Gardener (the book is much better than the film). John LeCarre gets better and better. Third World poverty and corporate greed challenged by the most unlikely and most English of heroes. Leaves an aftertaste. (someone else I'd love to have dinner with!)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1854, the original anti slavery tract influenced millions, fuelled abolition of slavery in US and the American Civil War. I read it when I was about 11 and it influenced me hugely. The book is now considered to be somewhat politically incorrect but it has to be read as a product of its time. The b's didn't print my film or book recommendations!)

Favourite albums/songs of all time and why?

Would have to include the Stones – Brown Sugar to remind me of Saturday nights dancing way back when. Definitely Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks - I rocked my babies to sleep to it. And Fleetwood Mac, Thunder Only Happens When it’s Raining, for the best of times and the worst of times and everything that might have been...

Websites you use/value the most.

Jasperfforde.com is the completely ape website of the author – I am a huge fan of his Thursday Next series.

http://www.herorat.org/ is the website of an amazing charity which proves that rats can save the world.

http://www.petes-walks.co.uk/index.html Pete is a pretty uncool guy but his website is great if you like long walks, lots of them local to me.
Favourite local restaurants

Woody’s at Apsley Lock – simple, yummy, veggie run by a great bunch of people.

Gatsby – I’ve never had a less than great meal there with really good service, a glamorous eaterie. Under The Rex, our favourite cinema.

Have you got a favourite shop?

Our local Pet Shop – they never complain when my grandsons spend half an hour browsing the pets and we only buy a dog chew!

You’re taking friends or family out for the day. What’s your local recommendation?

Walk the Gade valley from Two Waters to the source, the location of which changes with the seasons so there is always a surprise. Wear your wellies and paddle in our own clear chalk stream as you explore.

What’s your best kept entertainment or social life secret, or guilty pleasure?

Keeping Pekin bantams. It’s getting quite trendy but we’ve had them for over 30 years now and when we started it was an old man’s game. They have the run of the garden, look pretty and keep us in eggs for most of the year.

Which person in the public eye would you most like to meet and why?

Nelson Mandela. I think you could be disappointed by many famous people in the flesh but he strikes me as a real gentleman who would open up, talk and entertain. And I am totally in awe of him. Dinner would be nice.............(Gosh, I hadn't realised there are so many men I want to eat out with and probably never will......)

What do you go out of your way to avoid? Axolotls – I have to turn away and speed past them in the Reptile house at the zoo while my grandsons linger, fascinated. Really spooky, they freak me out! Like Gollum. (Also not included, why ever not?)

Always leave them laughing - so please tell us a joke.

What do snowmen eat for breakfast? Snowflakes! (From my grandson as I can never remember jokes, but sadly not published.)

More daylight!

2011-01-31T18:09:00.000Z

Today I watched the sun set over Wendover woods at 4.45pm and after a clear blue day dusk did not fall until 5.30 - the lightest evening since the clocks went back and we lost an hour of precious daylight last October 31st. The mornings are lighter too with sunrise at 7.42, the earliest since the last of November. My bantams tell me that dawn is an hour or two before that even but as I am not a morning person my head is still down then. Something to celebrate then as I did by getting away from work early enough for a walk on the hills. The sap is rising!

One Day

2011-01-30T22:37:00.001Z

I thought that if I kept the snowy header long enough the weather would catch up, but so far not. We have had warm (ish) and wet and windy and freezing but no more snow. Now that February is on the doorstep and the spring bulbs are peeking through talk of spring is in the air, but don't you believe it - I am betting on more of the white stuff.

Just spent an emotional weekend reading One Day by David Nicholls and the critics are right - enthralling. 'Big, absorbing, smart' says Nick Hornby and as a sometime Nick Hornby fan I have to say bigger, more absorbing and smarter. The essence of life, my life, the lost love and the missed trains and the unwritten letters in this clever, funny, bittersweet book. Not so young for an author (but ten years younger than me, little written, one poem published, in a pamphlet, ten years ago), I realise I am leaving 'concentrating on my writing' a little late. A bit of research reveals genius. His Bafta nominated Much Ado About Nothing is a gem in my tiny dvd collection and his 2007 film adaptation of And When Did You Last See Your Father left me quietly moved when we finally got to watch it at our favourite cinema last month. Also rather late in the day (having listened to the critics) I watched Baz Luhrmann's Australia and wished I had caught it on the big screen. Camera work to die for as always, this antipodean Gone With The Wind swept me away. So feeling rather wrung out really.......

White Christmas

2010-12-27T19:58:00.003Z

A wonderful white Christmas! I caught a virus Christmas shopping and was offline for over a week. What with the snow, camp fever set in and by the 23rd I was painting skirting boards and door frames!

Having voraciously read The Other Queen by Phillippa Gregory - I was swept away by the enigma that was Mary Queen of Scots - and The Help by Kathryn Stockett - paradoxical relationships in 1960s southern states - I am now catching up with Jackson Brodie in Kate Atkinson's 4th genre bending crime novel. The snow has become a regular feature of the landscape now and I will be sad if it melts away tomorrow as predicted. Lots of long, gluteus enhancing walks and today sledging in the Golden Valley. Yesterday I glanced up from my book to check the clock at 4 ish and I swear it is getting noticeably lighter in the evenings. A bit of internet research tells me that this close to the winter solstice it is only by seconds a day but that the rate speeds up as we near the spring equinox due to Earth's elliptical orbit of the sun. However it has been good to emerge from the grey fog, have some bright days and, I still swear, lighter afternoons. We have had some beautiful Blakeian light with pink skies and snows, see my pics, and though not captured on camera I was rewarded on my way to midnight mass on Christmas eve by the sight of a beautiful fox rolling in the snow on the roadside as I drove past totally unfazed by the headlights as I slowed down for a better look!

Christmas Hoo Ha and New Year resolutions

2010-12-16T20:34:00.000Z

I know already what my New Years resolutions will be - at least two of them anyway. I must chill out more by making more quiet time and doing more active stuff. I hate being cold and sometimes confuse that with being out in the cold which of course does really warm you up. And I hate aching muscles and joints so sometimes forget how much I enjoy the swimming, sailing, cycling, walking that can make me achey and I forget that sitting at the keyboard just makes different bits of me stiff and sore. One thing I haven't done enough of this year is riding out on the bike and the one thing that causes me to pause before a long ride is, well, it's a sensitive subject really. So the product on the right, the aptly named Hoo Ha Ride Glide from my friends at minx-girl.com caught my interest, is on my Christmas list to myself and will hopefully encourage the start of an active New Year! Top of my published list is this fab Iceguard coat from Jack Wolfskin which I happen to know I will get even though it is out of stock everywhere - I can't wait to check it out in the snow! Talking of which it is falling again in big soft clumps so I am hoping for a freeze overnight and a winter wonderland in the morning for the last day of school. Looking forward to relaxing next week, most cards are sent, though I missed the last U.S. posting date again, the presents that have arrived are wrapped and I hope the rest are in the post, and I am looking forward to cooking, watching movies and playing with grandsons.That's as active and chilled as it gets until after holidays. Happy Christmas everyone!

Winter on the Ridgeway

2010-12-07T22:36:00.000Z

The respite from the cold lasted barely two days, since when the frost has been bitter and beautiful. I was determined to walk in the daylight and managed to be on the Ridgeway west of Aldbury to capture these pictures as the light faded. As the sun set the utter beauty of the empty landscape shining under the hoar was total. Lights winked on in the distance as I headed home.

lemon curd

2010-12-05T21:23:00.000Z

I waited all week for a daylight walk in the snow but last night the rains came and it was all but washed away. Today being warmer we did a tidy up in the garden instead and even put in a few last minute bulbs - lots of narcissus to look forward to from February and alliums for later on - I can't wait! The bulbs I planted in October are already peeping through so I'm hoping that a week of minus temperatures has put them on hold rather than finished them off completely.

Putting up 'the lights' was as traumatic as every year and now they are on hold for a few days too. Then I had the good idea of putting an extra layer of insulation in the loft which mysteriously led to a damaged pipe, fused lights and a damp patch on the landing ceiling, so no money saved there. Serves me right for not doing it myself........

So, some cooking for the soul. Lemon curd - smelling of summer at Christmas, glossy after an hour of stirring, infusing the house (and my hair) with citrus, the shining jars cooling on the kitchen window sill. As I stirred I listened to the fabulous 'I Claudius' on Radio 4.

my lemon curd recipe

put 8oz butter in a preserving pan and melt gently.

add 24 oz caster sugar (I keep a vanilla pod in the jar)

and the zest and juice of 9 lemons.

Stir for ages until the sugar is completely dissolved, then cool until you can leave your finger in it comfortably.

Meanwhile whisk 8 eggs in a bowl and when the mixture is comfortable whisk them in.

Then stir constantly as you raise the temperature. It should still never get too hot for your finger.

As you gradually raise the heat the curd will thicken like custard and when it coats the back of a spoon quite stickily it is ready to ladle into warmed jars.

Pop a wax disc on top and tighten the lid. Store in a cool place and try not to eat all at once!

I always feel a little queasy after lemon curd making as it is hard not to taste it often. Some people strain it but I like to nibble on the zest. This made 4 jars and a little one and it is Yummy!

Snow lambs

2010-11-28T19:56:00.010Z

First Sight

Lambs that learn to walk in snow

When their bleating clouds the air

Meet a vast unwelcome, know

Nothing but a sunless glare.

Newly stumbling to and fro

All they find, outside the fold,

Is a wretched width of cold.

As they wait beside the ewe,

Her fleeces wetly caked, there lies

Hidden round them, waiting too,

Earth's immeasureable surprise.

They could not grasp it if they knew,

What so soon will wake and grow

Utterly unlike the snow.

Philip Larkin

Actually not quite as the header suggests - these were the heavy snows we had last early spring, but we've had a sprinkling and trekked up to the Marches again this weekend to enjoy the real thing. Heard this lovely poem on Radio 4 as we drove home, read beautifully by David Walliams - I had to admit surprise. Arrived back in time for Advent carols in our village church, above. So Christmas is early this year! P.S. The snow fell for real on Monday and has stayed crisp and even just a couple of inches deep all week thanks to max temperatures of 0c.

Night out!

2010-11-17T22:35:00.000Z

Just got in from a good night out at the Rex, our local, beautifully restored cinema. I went for the first time around 1970 and it is much improved now with luxurious seats and lots of gilding. And a bar. Tamara Drewe is the new Bridget Jones and just as funny and endearing. I used to read the Guardian in my mum's kitchen on Saturday mornings and have always followed Posy Simmons so well done her! Actually it was the second time this week. Couldn't face anything heavy and also really enjoyed Made in Dagenham. Quite nostalgic - of course not many of the women looked like that, I have seen the newsreels, but a great little British film. My legs were restless as always but the g&t helped and it was easy to slide back in my seat and relax on a wet mid week evening. We don't go much in the summer but now that the dark evenings have arrived I will be a regular again. So lucky to have a great screen so nearby!

streets of London

2010-11-13T23:12:00.001Z

Spent the day around Regents Park and Little Venice. In all the years I had never walked west from Regents Park and after a gloomy stretch of canal found the picturesque village around the basin where film stars mingle with boat dwellers. Ate fabulous baked orange cheesecake in a tiny cafe right over the water, followed only hours later by Lebanese supper and is was ok because we walked, walked, walked from noon until after dark. Beautiful Georgian townhouses and in the back streets behind Marylebone every sort of business and building including one amazing fascade supported by scaffolding as the entire rest of the building is rebuilt. I did a bit of research into this incredible piece of engineering/architecture and found that it is part of the old Middlesex Hospital, part of the ill fated Noho Square development with a fascinating story behind it. The Lost Hospitals of London website tells the story... incredibly, even the drainpipes are left in place as the site awaits development.

It was good to be in the noisy, busy city again but even better to come home to the peace and quiet of the country. I 've realised lately that I've been struggling to turn off and learn to be quiet again. Once upon a time I could meditate but now my mind jangles day and night. I am looking for a retreat....

Obama mama

2010-11-11T18:50:00.001Z

Someone sent me this link and being a fan of the President I didn't know that I would appreciate it.............but I did and I would like to think that he would too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54FRMedT_s

I particularly liked the choruses! I did a bit of a Google and am now a Ronnie Butler Jnr fan too. What a talented guy!

last of the British summertime

2010-10-30T18:25:00.000+01:00

Today the sun shone and on the last day before we lose an hour of afternoon daylight we did one of my favourite walks. Through the beautiful south facing valley from Aldbury to Duncombe Farm where the last blackberries are still good on the north of the lane ...

beeches all along Duncombe Terrace on the Ashridge boundary are just beginning to turn now, the oaks are still green, the cherries flame....

past Barley End,looking toward the Ridgeway across newly ploughed fields so good you could eat them...

towards Clipperdown ....

and up the steeep chalk path eating one of the very last Coxes scrumped on our way through...

afternoon sunlight filtering through the beech trees as we meet the boundary path

looking toward Wiggington sheep graze beneath a still green oak.

We cut back down through Duncombe Terrace where we were thoroughly investigated by the herd of young black bullocks - Dexters I think and very pretty whatever they are! This is where we watched a fox drinking from the water trough earlier in the year.

best place in the world

2010-10-28T21:08:00.001+01:00

Of course I haven't been to very many places but it is nice to think that there is no place like home. Today I found this website of lovely walks in the Chilterns, all beautifully photographed with cunning links to flora and fauna. I am too mean to share my favourite walks in the dread that they become overun with sightseers but I know most of these wonderful walks. It is rare for me to walk 12 miles these days but Pete has helpfully supplied maps and most of the walks can be shortened. As his photographs show the vistas are just perfect. This week Autumn has taken hold and the leaves, having held on longer than usual due to mild temperatures and excessive rainfall, have just begun to turn and fall. I must take my camera out tomorrow.

waterside

2010-10-26T19:16:00.000+01:00

Visited the new Waterside theatre in Aylesbury last week. Despite the architect descibing his inspiration as the Chiltern landscape in this video clip, http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/lifestyle/entertainments/theatre/exclusive_waterside_theatre_video_tour_1_1489449 it looks very retro, the outside strongly 1930's (my grandson immediately recognised it as 'Titanic') the inside very festival of Britain, in the nicest possible way. Gorgeous, rich orange paint and seating, '50's meets Goldsworthy' blockwood walls, extravagent pendant lighting and green flecked carpets make it an epilectic's nightmare, so plenty to excite my ADH tendencies. Performance of Evita was wonderful and enhanced by the lighting and stage design which gave the whole thing a cinematic feel. We had a fabulous view from the first circle, but annoyingly little leg room! Going back soon for a grandma's treat to see Joseph.

best beaches

2010-10-13T21:23:00.000+01:00

This header is a not very good shot of Hayling Island from West Wittering beach. When we visited a week ago the rain only stopped for a few hours and visibility was rubbish but inclement weather notwithstanding it would never make it into my top ten. A quick google had brought it up and it looked within good striking distance. The salt lagoon on the leeward side of the headland is a bonus but the beach is pretty ordinary. For the same distance I would make for Highcliffe or Hengistbury Head and for a bit more effort and a weekend away, Manorbier and Barafundle Bay are among the best these isles have to offer. We spent an idyllic weekend at Hurst House near Laugharne in the summer and I am pining to return. Just a niggling worry that without the balmy summer weather and the swallows dipping in under the eaves it would be reduced and I do hate to be disappointed.......

ISIS

2010-10-12T22:30:00.001+01:00

Another picture from the banks of the Thames, now Isis, at Lechlade. The swans were everywhere, grazing in the fields, preening in the shallows, like the children of Lir, one of my favourite stories:

Long ago in ancient Ireland lived a great chieftain Lir and his four children: Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn. His wife, Eva had died in childbirth but the children lived happily with their father in his castle in the middle of a forest. Near to the castle was a lake where the children swam daily. They were great swimmers as Lir was also king over the ocean and they were possessed of gills. After some years Lir married Eva's sister Aoife who became insanely jealous of the children and plotted to kill them. One perfect summer's day Aoife appeared on the lakeside and from her cloak drew a magic wand. A fireball hit the water and the children were transformed into beautiful swans, their feathers as white as snow, the only remnant of their past to remain was their beautiful singing voices. For nine hundred years the children were destined to haunt Lough Derravaragh, the Sea of Moyle and the waters of Inish Glora until the spell was broken by the toll of a church bell.

The legend was used by writers, artists and poets over generations as an allegory for the state of the nation under British rule. There are many beautiful representations inspired by the legend which belongs to a fascinating genre of 'shape shifting stories' found across the globe.

clear blue Sunday

2010-09-27T21:31:00.000+01:00

We headed west again this weekend and missed the dreary weather back home. Sunday found us climbing The Whimble, a steep hill topped with an ancient round barrow, in the heart of the Radnor Forest. Surprisingly not very wooded, quite steep and 360 degree views deep into mid Wales. The sun shone almost fiercely, the sky was blue and those two specks in the pic are buzzards circling. We met no one until we were well on our way back down and the only sounds were of those buzzards, grouse and crows - a cathartic day's walking, with quite a bit of eating to follow. In the evening met up with friends from way back and time stood still. Recommended.

windfalls

2010-09-18T22:17:00.000+01:00

Walked from Aldbury through Clipperdown and on the Ridgeway across Pitstone Hill last night and tasted the best apples since I was a kid - windfalls: huge, red, juicy and sweet-sour. I thought I was just getting old and jaded but now I am convinced that the world around me has changed. Before biting into them the scent hit me and I was back in the orchards of my youth. The blackberries were good too. It was blowing a gale on Pitstone Hill earlier in the week but last night was sunny and calm with the first hint of Autumn in the air. Today, back to the Thames with only 28 miles to go and made it to Kelmscott in time for a cream tea. We are filling in a gap we left in the route before the last stretch beyond Lechlade and aim to finish before the nights draw in. The milky river meanders on between water meadows filled with grazing swans (and cows), and our magic moment was when we almost stepped upon a hare, which then shot off across the field, one ear still bent from sleep, leaving a flattened crescent in the grass warm to touch.

kelmscott

2010-09-15T22:31:00.001+01:00

How ever many years it took us to walk the Ridgeway, so with the Thames path - every year we say we will finish it, but still it wends on. When the days begin to lengthen at the start of the summer we make our resolutions, in September as the evenings draw in we renew them with vigour - too late!

Kelmscott, the Thameside home of William Morris was our Autumn treat. With limited summer open days I had been intending to visit for the past thirty years and never had. The internet is a great tool! We have walked almost to Lechlade and with only two open days before the house closes for the winter we made it. The sun shone on the pretty gardens still laid out as the great man decreed. Apples hung heavy on the trees and we ate outside the great barn as lazy wasps sucked on windfalls and we sucked on local ale. Extremely pleasant. Inside all was much as when the great man was there - his daughter May lived there until the 1930's and allowed no changes to be made before leaving it in her will to Oxford University. Her hand embroidered hangings still decorate her father's bed and his own weaving hangs in the hall near the unfaded preparatory drawings. All is very peaceful, a rural idyll. We will go again.....

lost for words

2010-09-06T22:00:00.000+01:00

Where has tedsmum been all summer? after a year of psychotherapy she found herself lost for words........

my favourite image from a summer of ups and downs is this one of me - crying with laughter. a very good day, we walked barefoot across the sands of Rhossili to Llangennith and back along the grassy footpath at the foot of the beacon. soft earth between my toes, the glittering bay, a warm wind in my hair: whatever were we laughing at? it escapes me now ....

Time for a new header - near Lechlade in the far reaches of the Thames, milky green and lazy , trailing through water meadows of fat cows, framed by an abundance of gorgeous, pink friars balsam. The last days of summer.

back on track

2010-06-10T21:39:00.000+01:00

Almost a year after completing the Ridgeway and a few weeks before midsummer we were back. Last time we were tired from the final push and didn't have long enough to explore so with visiting friends to entertain over the bank holiday which should have been Whitsun, the time was right. (Am I the only one irritated by the fact that Mayday is not on Mayday anymore and that Whit weekend is postponed almost into June?) Anyway May blossom and cow parsley lay thickly on the field margins and the air, the beech leaves were at their greenest and the chalk paths beckoned. We arrived early and Colette got some great shots of the stones before we followed the 5,000 year old avenue towards Silbury hill, at an awesome 130 feet the tallest prehistoric constructed mound in Europe. We spent the rest of the day walking to the long barrow at West Kennet, the Sanctuary and on the Ridgeway circling back down to Avebury - amazing views and vibes.

Inspired to be back on track our next outing was on the Thames Path from Eynsham to Moreton. We have now walked / cycled from the Thames barrier to this area north of Oxford and decided to take the bikes again. Maybe a mistake... It was quite hard going through wet water meadows and along narrow, nettled paths in the occasional heavy downpour but a couple of very pretty pubs helped raise our spirits. On the path we passed only a couple of people all afternoon and the fields were pastorally full of buttercups and fat lambs. The Thames is still wide but shallower and slower and looking very swimmable. Dark, snaking reflections, glittering leaves and lush greenery: salves to the soul.

Finally I got myself back on the lake! I haven't taken out a boat since last November, cowed by the memories of bruised shins, grazed knees and chilled bones but as the high pressure came in and school was out I finally made it. The breeze was light so I took out a laser with a full sail and skimmed lazily back and forth among hundreds of electric blue damsel flies with paper white terns dipping in alongside. Magic, even with the achey legs next day.

The Eye of the Beholder

2010-05-09T19:55:00.014+01:00

Some things just look right. The formulae for perfection can be explained by mathematical geniuses like Fibonacci and DaVinci but that doesn't quite explain why the eye finds one arrangement more pleasing than another. Familiarity and culture play their part but is it the chicken or the egg? William Morris's willow bough pattern is one of the most popular designs of the 20th century but when I lie under a great crack willow watching the pattern of leaf against sky is it my knowledge of the print that makes it so especially perfect or vice versa? Held in a pocket of my mind is that other accumulated knowledge, of the ancient medicine, and that perfect sound of wood on willow. On my friend's table: a Spanish plate, seven green pears, William Morris's willow bough print: perfect.

Danced last night to big band sounds under the spetacular roof of Chatham dockyard's number 3 slip. One of Britain’s architectural gems, when built in 1838 this immense covered slip was Europe’s largest wide span timber structure. Reminiscent of an Escher or Leonardo drawing, distressed over a century of labour, as awe inspiring as any cathedral nave it puts Kings Cross in the shade. Visit this summer to see the newly restored Shipbuilding on the Clyde series of paintings by Stanley Spencer. Too big for regular display at the Imperial War Museum this will be a rare outing and an incomparable setting. Chatham Dockyard is an industrial monument on a huge scale not to be missed and this exhibition will be the icing on the cake!

Golden Bells

2010-05-07T22:01:00.004+01:00

Long, long ago when I was optimistic and full of love I lounged on a battered old sofa with my feet in the lap of the man I loved. In the evenings while children slept, we turned up the fire and read poetry to one another and dreamed of long lives entwined and shores we would walk together. One peaceful night in my daughter's first year I found this poem and reading it to my fifty year old love, welled up. The following year he was gone. Years had passed when walking by the Thames a pot of these beautiful little daffodils caught my eye - Narcissus Golden Bells - and I remembered the poem. Now they flower in early May in an old salt glaze pot by my gate.

Golden Bells

When I was almost forty

I had a daughter whose name was Golden Bells.

Now it is just a year since she was born;

She is learning to sit and cannot yet talk.

Ashamed—to find that I have not a sage’s heart:

I cannot resist vulgar thoughts and feelings.

Henceforward I am tied to things outside myself:

My only reward—the pleasure I am getting now.

If I am spared the grief of her dying young,
Then I shall have the trouble of getting her married.
My plan for retiring and going back to the hills

Must now be postponed for fifteen years!

The poem is as moving twelve hundred years after it was written. A few weeks later I found a second poem and the tears streamed down my face.

Remembering Golden Bells

Ruined and ill—a man of two score;

Pretty and guileless—a girl of three.

Not a boy—but still better than nothing:

To soothe one’s feeling—from time to time a kiss!

There came a day—they suddenly took her from me;

Her soul’s shadow wandered I know not where.

And when I remember how just at the time she died

She lisped strange sounds, beginning to learn to talk,

Then I know that the ties of flesh and blood

Only bind us to a load of grief and sorrow.
At last, by thinking of the time before she was born,

By thought and reason I drove the pain away.

Since my heart forgot her, many days have passed

And three times winter has changed to spring.

This morning, for a little, the old grief came back,
Because, in the road, I met her foster-nurse.

Po Chu i, translated by Arthur Waley

Little foxes

2010-04-25T22:02:00.000+01:00

Lots of foxy activity these light summer evenings. Walking through the particularly beautiful valley below Clipperdown and Duncombe terrace last week a dapper young dog fox unconcernedly crossed our path and proceeded down to drink at the cattle trough in our full view but rather too distant for a good photo. A little further on a couple of horses were kicking off in the meadow and lo and behold it was another fox that had spooked them. A few summers past I watched the rendezvous of a menage a trois reynards over the field for several weeks before the vixen retired, reappearing several weeks later with three small cubs. This morning they were back in the same spot, though possibly not the same foxes. I have had the great pleasure of watching one laid back vixen sitting in the bracken watching her cubs play in the afternoon sunshine and, late one night, of stopping the car as three cubs rolled off the verge into the lane where they continued to play in the full glare of the headlights until their mother sharply called them home. In my garden are buried both a fox and a badger cub, I was too tender hearted to leave them dead on the roadside: how anyone can kill these beautiful creatures is beyond me.

Peace and Quiet

2010-04-20T21:01:00.000+01:00

I know this may offend and you can call me crass. We live under the flight path for Luton airport but that has never bothered me, by the time they pass over us the planes are usually high enough to ignore. I like watching them trek across the summer blue sky leaving chalky vapour trails or seeing headlights piercing thunder dark clouds on a rainy night. Occasionally one will drown out the radio in the garden or the tv as it lulls me to sleep and sometimes early on summer evenings when they stack up to land at Heathrow or pile out of Luton at five minute intervals I am mildly irritated, but just as often I am mesmerised by the steady stream of lights rising from the horizon and many is the time I have calmed a fractious grandson watching them from the gate. So it has been quite a surprise to find that without them our small world is a much more peaceful place. Almost eerily quiet without the background noise it now feels as if we really live in the country. There is less of the associated road traffic too and we began to ponder on if this went on long enough would it change people's attitudes to easy air travel?Then I found this neat graphic from the Information is Beautiful website and it's pretty powerful. I really am sorry if you are stuck somewhere instead of at a funeral or in surgery but otherwise sit back, chill out and listen to the quiet. Shhhh...

Castles in the Air

2010-04-18T22:20:00.001+01:00

Great weather, especially for Wales. Too often we see castle views through light drizzle with the wind whipping at our hair but the past few days have been idyllic. Up on the Welsh Marches again it is easy to imagine the battles and skirmishes that took place here. First to Croft Castle, now just a Gothic manor house though the Crofts owned the original medieval castle near this site and fought at nearby Wigmore during the War of the Roses and in the English Civil War at Mortimer's Cross. All was peaceful in the walled garden as the first swallows swooped into the old barns and house martins clung to the stones of the main house sunbathing beneath their mud nests. I have not seen them yet at home but here the first lone swallow arrived in March.

On to Clun and my favourite little castle set on a bend of the river overlooking tranquil water meadows. Unfortunately the scaffolding has been up for well over a year now but still a perfect picnic spot. Locals told us that otters have become regular night time visitors so must go next after dark!

Lastly we visited Montgomery Castle which for thirty years I have managed to miss, but what a treat! I have used it for my header. Built into the rock high above the pretty little market town, it was an impregnable fortress occupied by Celts, Romans and Normans and finally demolished by Parliamentarians during the Civil War. The impressive ruin offers dramatic panoramic views and still awesome remains. Below the small town with its town hall, hardware store, little museum and teashops is quietly purposeful and not dissimilar to the high streets of neighbouring Presteigne or Bishops Castle. Saturday afternoon in Mid Wales is so.... comfortingly familiar. I can't wait to return.

Easter treats

2010-04-12T21:18:00.001+01:00

Just back from a few days on the south coast near Lymington. Exhausted ourselves on the first day riding from New Milton through Keyhaven to Lymington on a fabulous cycle path across the marshes.

(Should have worn the minx-girl padded knickers - yes, I'm afraid they really are called that!) Anyway, apart from the bumps it is a terrific ride with the Solent glittering under a wide sky on one side and the salt marsh all sparse grass and peaty pools on the other.

I failed to capture on camera the red brown water reflecting the cobalt sky or the exotic Little Egret (now breeding happily in these parts despite the cold winter) but can still smell the first gorse flowers of the year mingled with the salt sea air. Sadly the header was my best pic but also spotted Redshank and curlew and the first sprouts of samphire piercing the saltwater ponds once used in salt production hereabouts. Back home today I used the really helpful RSPB bird identifier to check out those waders, then spotted my first Peacock butterfly of the year in the garden. Hope it doesn't get eaten!

Die happy

2010-04-04T21:33:00.001+01:00

Easter Sunday. Sang in church and shared peace with friends and neighbours. Walked and talked and ate and drank with dear old friends and got tipsy in the afternoon on gin and painkillers and reminisced and got teary and hugged and laughed out loud and walked and walked. Light evenings: thankyou thankyou God. And sold some stuff I am too fat for on ebay and bought a raised garden bed online and will now dream of beetroot and chard and however will I keep the chickens off it? And listened to my gorgeous grandson's fiveyear old voice describing a bike ride along the seafront and if I die tonight I will be very happy and I haven't said that for a long, long time.......

Only in America?

2010-04-03T09:32:00.001+01:00

Most reviews for I Love You Philip Morris were good ones; I thought The Guardian was closest to the mark. PM made me laugh and it was undoubtedly a feelgood movie but it left a bad taste behind and I am sure that it meant to. The story is unbelievable but true. The protagonist Steven Jay Russell is a likeable fantasist who is now serving 144 yrs for fraud in a Texas jail. Partly because dollars are sacred and then because he egged the faces of judges, financiers and the FBI to name but a few. You have to admire the guy: when you read the story an award would have been more appropriate, but then the yanks really don't share our sense of humour which is why distribution was a problem in the US. Reminded me of the Truman Show, Jim Cary's now next best film!

Seraphine

2010-03-28T21:47:00.000+01:00

Film of the week, at least until I go to see I Love You Phillip Morris tomorrow, is Seraphine de Senlis. The beautifully drawn out portrait of the naive artist has won a stack of awards, well deserved.This article in the Guardian draws the obvious modern parallel. I was certain I have seen her work before, but have I? and where? Maybe it just fits with the current retro revival. Anyway I would love a poster! And a funny thing happened. In Michael Morpurgo's book War Horse he describes a pair of Haflingers but I am not sure I have ever seen one. In Seraphine there is a scene with two little horses and I straight away recalled the two little Haflingers in the book as if I had seen them in the flesh.That is what a writer can do. Just finished 'The Girls' by Lori Lansens, recommended. Walked today and celebrated the Spring, determined to soak up every moment.

First butterfly

2010-03-26T21:34:00.000Z

Spring really sprung last weekend when I saw the first butterflies of the year, Brimstones, on the wing. It is impossible to photograph them in flight, like fluorescent leaves tossed by the breeze. These March butterflies are adults that have overwintered and are now in search of a mate. I wondered that they can find nectar at this time of year but found this picture of one on an early orchid and we have lots of hellebores so maybe that is what attracted them. Later in the week, a warm wind brought rain and spring smells. There are tiny buds on the beech, daffodils in full bloom and tulips just in bud. On Sunday we finally gain that extra hour of daylight: best day of the year!

Spring

2010-03-17T19:33:00.000Z

Wish I had taken my camera out tonight! A calm, hazily sunlit evening, still light at 6.30 pm. The grass is bleached but in the woods the first bluebell leaves are showing and on the hawthorn a faint green veil is just visible. As dusk fell the slightest rim of crescent moon appeared, laid on her back and smiling.

The woods were full of birdsong: blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, woodpeckers, robins. Fat lambs stared from the fields and there was a faint whiff of woodsmoke on the air. It must have been the warmest day of the year so far but as soon as the sun disappeared a pleasant slight chill struck the air. Amazing grace to be in England in springtime; only 10 days until British Summertime and the long, light evenings again.

Chiltern Hills

2010-03-11T21:11:00.005Z

Great Missenden at the head of the Misbourne valley is an attractive small town, with a long curving High Street of half timbered and Georgian shops, a graciously proportioned Baptist Church and a number of traditional pubs. Within a short stroll of the station is the award winning Roald Dahl museum which was established in 2001 with the aim of setting up a centre to tell Roald Dahl’s life story, to care for his archive and to promote a love of creative writing in everyone.This great little family-friendly museum features two fun and fact-packed biographical galleries, and a fantastic interactive Story Centre. While half of the museum tells the fascinating story of Roald Dahl’s life, the other half focuses on the process of creative writing.Departure station: London Marylebone.

Back blogging and about time too. What to do when the days are grey and every other blog seems more interesting than your own? Well ANGER has finally stirred me. Lord Adonis (you can already tell he is a complete 'banker' with a moniker like that) is promoting a high speed rail link through the heart of the Chiltern Hills. I already know what a rum lot they are in the Department for Transport re my road tax application last year. It took almost 6 months to process, I was threatened with legal action, spent hours online and on the phone and received no apology when they finally conceded that my car tax had been applied for. Letters to the Lord were ignored. I know I went a bit over the top but doesn't bureaucracy drive you crazy?
Anyway, today he announced that our beautiful Chiltern hills will be trashed for a high speed rail link to Birmingham. Lovely little market towns like Wendover, pretty medieval high streets like Amersham and - oh travesty - the peaceful churchyard resting place of Roald Dahl our best loved storyteller, will be sacrificed for a 45 minute journey to Brum. This is the pretty picture and blurb that British rail uses to promote days out in Great Missenden - guess they just want to cart the people in faster.......will the trains have time to stop?
I have to say I have thought of visiting B once or twice mostly because the city gallery houses a fine collection of Preraphaelites but I always thought better of it and waited for a showing at the Tate or RA. I certainly won't be using the link. There is a perfectly good line that could be improved running through Berkhamsted and MK. And for the first time in my life I won't be voting Labour because they don't give a monkeys about anywhere south of Brum anyway and seem to have a pathological hatred of anything remotely rural. I hear the beautiful house at Chequers is hardly used anymore as Gordon prefers to spend his w/ends further north. Stay there mate!

If only he were.......!

2010-02-14T19:22:00.001Z

Mixed reviews, some rather bitchy. Tom Ford directs like a fashion shoot and the result is.......absolutely fabulous! The photography is to die for. Shigeru Umebayashi / Abel Korzeniowski soundtrack gels perfectly. Colin Firth does restraint to perfection and is an inspired casting. Julieanne is not a favourite of mine but I could not fault her. Isherwood's novel lives on screen, I believe as he intended, as he lived it. Blatant sex scenes have been sacrificed for a wider audience appeal? I don't think so. This is heartwreck exemplified. Why whinge because Ford has come up with an entrancing cinematic debut? Sour grapes I reckon. Don't miss!

Books: Strange but it rings true - The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw, vivid and poetic.
Incendiary by Chris Cleave - each page had me on the brink of tears but it is unputdownable.
Two books that demonstrate the freshness of a first novel teamed with the competence that makes you hope for even greater things to come.

Swan Lake

2010-02-05T21:32:00.000Z

A real treat on Tuesday night - Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake is on tour, first stop Milton Keynes. It was enthralling. Often at the theatre I have to satisfy myself with the costumes, the set or even the orchestra but it was the dance that held me rapt for over two hours. The choreography, and it has to be said the costumes, were perfect. A packed audience, mostly of women, aged nine to ninety agreed. If you get the chance it is not to be missed. Click on the title for a brief taste. Or read this in The Guardian.

tangerine trees and marmalade skies

2010-02-05T21:13:00.001Z

When the weather is gloomy and camp fever is beginning to take hold I turn in desperation to jam making. I had not tried marmalade before but we seem to be eating increasing quantities so with seville oranges glowing on the supermarket shelves I resolved to change all that. And my reward was unexpected...
First I did my research on the net. Well actually first I impulsively bought the oranges and then I looked at them for a week until the quality threatened to deteriorate when I was spurred into action. There are recipes that involve slicing, simmering whole and everything in between. I chose in between and quartered them - a bag of sevilles, a lemon and a lime. I peeled some peel off about half of them and sliced it into ribbonsbecause I wanted it fine and added to a big pan and 2 litres of water. Then I brought it to the boil before gently simmering for about 3 hours with a lid on. After an hour or two the smell was glorious, aromatic and spicy. I turned off the heat and went to bed. The next day I was busy so I just brought it to the boil again and turned it off. By this time the whole house was deeply, gorgeously scented. Maybe it was the following day that I squeezed the juice and flesh out of the fruits in my hand, threw away the rinds and strained through muslin. I retrieved peel and added to the liquid and warmed it up while warming a kilo and a half of sugar in the oven. Stirred it in, brought to the boil for ten minutes and hoopla! marmalade ready to pot. So now I have six jars of marmalade and wonderfully scented cook's memories. Will I enter it in the village show next Saturday?

Lost for Words

2010-01-28T22:06:00.125Z

Haiti needs help now but will the aid keep flowing long enough to build a new country. Can the press suspend their cynicism and the politicians their battle for votes long enough to sustain the huge effort needed to instate an enhanced working infrastructure. Would the people of the first world nations put third world aid before their own healthcare, education and high living standards? If there is a moment for Obama to show the world that US foreign policy has changed for the 21st century, that moment is now. Supporting Haitians to rebuild their country might be a fine line to tread politically but if anyone can lead from the front he can. Individuals and agencies from across the globe have already demonstrated great bravery and compassion, now their countries' leaders should commit to follow up for the long term. A disaster but an opportunity for change not to be missed.

Having been lost for words watching the news unfold I finally decided to use the best words and pictures I could find on the web - from The Los Angeles Times. (report) and The Times Online (photographs)

MITCHELL LANDSBERG,PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

" The first e-mail went out within hours of the Jan. 12 earthquake, calling together some of Haiti's most prominent architects, engineers and urban planners. The next day, 50 people showed up at a house in the hillside suburb of Petionville and went to work. They have been meeting every day since, gathering around a table in a courtyard under the shade of a spreading almond tree. Their goal is simple. It is also audacious. They want to plan a new Haiti......" read the rest of the story via this link .

Thunder only happens when it's raining.....

2010-01-26T22:57:00.002Z

Most days I forget where I started, like tracks in the sand. It only takes a name to catch my attention; sometimes a name won't leave me be - it follows me around from one blog to another until I just have to check it out.
Today I started at What Would Katherine Hepburn Do? It was the second time I had visited (she has some nice road trip pics up at the mo) and after a short browse I moved on to her recommend That's Not My Age.
If I like the look of a blog I save it to my favourites list for later, which I did because I could feel a journey coming on, but I will go back sometime soon.
I was straightaway sucked in by her Nat Finkelstein photos and link with heavy references to Velvet Underground. Now I was a big fan when I was fifteen or so but I really didn't know a lot about what I was listening to sat up all night in my friend's brother's bedroom. Now I can check out Wikipedia and allmusic and find out a bit more about who I was listening to. As with the McGarrigles on my previous post I really had no idea how well known these artists are. I honestly thought it was just me and a few friends who listened to this stuff, it was not at all mainstream out west of Watford in the 70s.
For me books, films, music all have a time and a place in my personal history. I don't often revisit. Jack Kerouac belongs to the hitchhiking years of my late teens, Sylvia Plath too painfully close to post natal depression, and Fleetwood Mac to a few crazy years in my mid twenties when I truly loved and lost. So tonight's journey was one of poignant nostalgia and illumination ending in Dreams.....

Stormy Weather

2010-01-22T22:49:00.003Z

Sometimes sadness brings a fullness to life. An old friend mailed me to say that Kate McGarrigle died recently and to thank me for tickets to a concert the sisters played at more than twenty years ago. I had forgotten......

On the radio today, http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pxvr3/Last_Word_22_01_2010/ her sister, daughter and friends reminisced and I heard some songs I had not listened to in a long while. There is a lovely recording of her final concert on You tube and many moving obituaries on the web: an overwhelming feeling of a life well lived. My heart went out to her daughter who was separated from Kate over the past months nursing her premature baby in London, http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article6969513.ece .

We have had snow, Spring weather, more snow and more snow since my last post. I couldn't bear to get rid of my winter seaside banner altogether so I edited it in here and have replaced with this beautiful view from my window, the last snow margins defining the field edges. Today the snow is all melted but for the odd, solitary heap and the rain has not stopped.

Latest recommend: Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne. Fatalistic and irridescent.

Small Island

2009-12-28T20:06:00.000Z

Amazing island home. The snow is still inches thick on the north facing slopes but today I was fed up with it and we drove to the coast at Littlehampton where it was a positively balmy 8c. We are about as far as anywhere from the coast so it took a good couple of hours to do the eighty odd miles but was worth it. Low tide, wide skies, everyone taking the air: kids on Christmas bikes, oldies on scooters and zimmers, skaters, walkers, runners and lots of dogs. Especially retired greyhounds. Ate at the East Beach Cafe which was, deservedly, packed and walked along the beach and around the harbour to Climping.

Swans prettily on the River Arun which runs down from Arundel where we stopped and looked at the castle, now closed for the winter, and the Wetlands Centre. We will go again.

Snow birds

2009-12-23T21:18:00.002Z

This is the crab apple tree outside my bedroom window. Today, the sixth day of snow, it was covered in birds - except when I tried to photograph them! There was a whole flock of Redwings, blue and coal tits, chaffinches, a robin, a blackbird and a huge pigeon all snacking on the overripe crab apples. Yesterday, in the bitter cold soon after dawn, a little wren picked its way along my kitchen windowsill searching for insects. As the window cracks are usually full of hibernating ladybirds and lacewings I hope it found some breakfast.
Today was grey and foggy, warmer with snow plopping off the trees by late afternoon and this evening the rain blew in with several claps of thunder to finish the job off. I was fed up with it. De-icing the chickens and burning the clutch on icy roads and slushy pavements and not getting to the pool. I am such a wuss!

SNOW!

2009-12-20T19:28:00.002Z

It snowed on Thursday night, almost two months later than last year's exceptionally early fall when the leaves were still on the trees. It had been threatening for a few days and was bone cold when the blizzard blew in. On Friday it was enough to clear a patch of grass in front of the hen house and retreat indoors. I spent the day cleaning and washing which was a good thing as I had not given it a good go since half term in October, v slutty.
Saturday was still icy but the sun shone so we walked and I managed to get the car out which was another good thing as we had eighteen for lunch today and I had to shop. I concocted a gorgeously festive coleslaw but as my camera is snowed in at work there is no photo. This is the recipe!
Gorgeous Pink Coleslaw
A red onion, half a smallish red cabbage, a couple of smallish beetroot and a Granny Smith's apple allfinely sliced and shredded. A good tablespoon of wine vinegar and a handful of lemon thyme leaves. Give it all a really good mix so that everything is coated in the wine vinegar and won't discolour. At this point it looks really beautiful. Then mix in a few tablespoons of mayonnaise to your taste and a light sprinkling of black pepper. It looks a bit pinker now but still quite glamourous. Best left in the fridge overnight fro the veggies to soften very slightly and the flavours to permeate. Serves 10 as a side. Everyone said it tasted yummy!
When my coffee grinder and liquidiser both broke earlier this year I bought a Kenwood food processor but there are so many bits it rather puts me off using it. And it fills a whole cupboard. And then it is so quick that you almost feel it is a waste of time getting it out. It does chop more finely and evenly than I do but I rather feel I need to start a catering business to justify it!

I love beetroot but had never thought of using it in stew before and as it turns out I wish I had thought of it sooner. It gives a lovely rich colour as well as a sweet, earthy taste.

Lamb and Beetroot Hotpot

Chop and gently fry a couple of shallotts and a couple of leeks. Chop and put into a large casserole dish: a couple of carrots, a couple of turnips, a small swede and a few beetroot - anything in that line you fancy really. Chuck in the fried leeks and shallotts and in the pan brown two neck fillets of lamb cut into cubes. When brown add to pot and pour a few glasses of wine, beer or fruit juice into the pan along with a vegetable stock cube. Stir in all the caramelised veggie bits and after a couple of minutes add to the pot with a large tablespoonful of black treacle and stir well. Season with a little salt and pepper. Slice a couple of potatoes and layer on the top dotted with crushed garlic and butter. Press down into the liquid and put on the lid. Put into a hot - 200 degrees c oven and turn down to about 160 after half an hour. Continue to cook for at least another two hours but three is even better. Check after a couple of hours to make sure there is still enough liquid. Even better cooked the night before and warmed up for half an hour when you get in from a hard days work! Serves 4 or 2 and freeze the rest for next week.. You can also leave off the potato top and serve with mashed parsnips and potatoes - that way your partner doesn't realise he is getting the same thing two weeks running - mine didn't anyway!

Robins

2009-12-16T21:23:00.007Z

I had a mind to write tonight but first I had a little comment moderation to do and I am so glad I did that. Thank you gals, I am so happy to know I am not just spouting off into the ether or indulging in a bit of therapy - which of course I am...

Miss Whistle is blue. I hadn't heard of 'the blahs' before but I know just how she feels. I call it ennui but there are many different translations of this so for the sake of clarity mine is a feeling of tetchy listlessness: I can't be bothered to get up and go and I even annoy myself. Not today you understand, but too often, especially at this time of year. Today was that nasty grey, wettish cold that is no good for anything but frizzing up your hair, but today I had a mission so all was well. When I feel ennui I don't write my blog or walk or cook and I am perfectly horrible but usually I keep that to myself - thank you Miss Whistle for sharing.

I actually ordered one of those SAD lamps which I feel is pretty sad in itself but having acknowledged my order there has been a long silence from 'the healing store', though funnily enough I feel much better!

Miss Whistle likes my header and I am over the moon about that because I don't think I've had a comment on my header (which I change very often) for ages. Her guess was very close.This valley runs almost parallel to the Golden Valley, from Nettleden to Little Gaddesden and if you took a footpath past that tree on the right and up the hill you would reach Amaravati, the buddhist monastery I have mentioned before. This view changes daily with the seasons and the weather and the most amazing pic I have of it was taken in the summer of '08 when the farmer had a bit of an Andy Goldworthy moment. If you haven't seen it do take a look - I save it in my 'best pics' folder which has only three pictures in it as I am a perfectionist at heart.

This is the robin I stole from Miss Whistle's post because.....outside my office window a robin has been singing at dawn and even after dusk all week . It has really cheered me up and I kept meaning to do a quick bit of internet research on it. You can follow the link (I do love links) or read it here: I am sure that this is the Spring song. Yes, from mid December the Spring song can be heard: 'powerful, confident and upbeat'. Apparently robins are well adapted to low light conditions and are often the first bird to begin the dawn chorus. This one is definitely looking for a mate. I always think they look a bit brash on Christmas cards, but I am so glad I was prompted to find out a bit more. Thank you Robin!

minx

2009-12-15T21:21:00.004Z

If you have a bike in the shed, like me, and maybe that bike should be got out of your shed more often, like mine, log on to the Minx website and feast your eyes on all the fab fashion for gals on bikes. As well as the gear there is a blog (a bit scary but some awesome females out there) and really good advice. Yep, those minx girls will tell you if your bum looks big in that and they will give you the confidence to not give a damn. They really will talk you through what you need and what will fit and they will take it back too if you are not happy with it. I love those minxes......but I wish they did sailing stuff too. My best tip: three quarter length, capris, whatever are sooo much more flattering than shorts, and they need only be a couple of inches longer. Just over your knees girls and you will look great summer or winter. If you don't get the bike thing just look at this jacket - no argument really is there? You know you want it!

SHADES of GREY

2009-12-14T21:51:00.006Z

If you haven't heard me raving about Jasper FForde before, listen up now. I first heard of him when I read The Eyre Affair about eight years ago and the heroine, Thursday Next, really rivals Jane in my book - or his...

The Thursday series, of which there are five with another on the way, are a fabulously idiosyncratic read on the very edge of sci-fi. Cunningly wrought plots and clever but never clever - clever references to the classics, with which our literary heroine is highly familiar in her role as Spec Ops detective for Jurisfiction, make compelling reading. I have read them all and listened to several which the library have on CD (support your local library!) and could easily read them all again.

Don't be put off by the deliberately trashy covers or the cult website, just take my advice and get to know Thursday, my twentieth century heroine. Except when she is my nineteenth century heroine.... oh just read it and find out!

I did not like the Nursery Rhyme series, but reading the excerpt from Shades of Grey I feel myself being sucked in to Jasper's world once more..... click on the title for the link.

On Wanting 'Stuff'

2009-12-06T18:44:00.010Z

It has been so mild I can hardly believe that Christmas is just around the corner. Unusually for me I am really well prepared - cards sent, presents wrapped, parties arranged and as of today tree and lights up. Some years I have shopped on Christmas Eve, done Meals on Wheels on Christmas Day and last year not even bothered to put the tree up - my kids were horrified! I really wouldn't mind forgetting all about X and going for a long walk along the beach with coffee and sandwiches but it seems that would worry them, so if I must be conventional I will try (this year a bit harder) to do it right.

One problem is being torn between a desire to live simply and give away all that stuff I don't need or use, and the strong pull of consumerism. The thing is I love stuff.

I love, shiny,beautiful, comfortable, cosy, colourful things. I love sofas and throws and duvets and bath stuff, and earrings and perfume and chocolate and roses and my bantams and all sorts of stuff I could do perfectly well without. And though I dream of a one room stone cottage in the middle of nowhere all sorts of details creep in at the edges of my picture of uncluttered and solitary bliss - the big comfy sofa covered in pillows and throws, the old cream Aga with cast iron casseroles and copper bottomed pans, the deep, white bath and pile of towels, the tall, crammed bookcase, the potter's wheel, the kiln in the back yard, oh, and my sewing machine.

Chickens are a must, a pig inevitable, a couple of sheep and a dog if I'm not working.... getting a bit manic now! But who can live without sheepskin slippers and warm boots and at least a couple of pairs of decent jeans and a whole drawer full of socks and hand knitted jumpers. And there would have to be spare beds too because I can't imagine not having my grandsons stay over. It's just not going to happen but the dream lives on......

So here I am again, Christmas is coming, I am completely out of control and half of it will have to go to the charity shop in the New Year. But to assuage some of these deep cravings for warmth and comfort and satisfaction I am just going to indulge myself here with a few pics of some of the stuff I don't want to do without, even if I could if I really, really tried......

I love coffee, black or white but always with sugar and especially with turkish delight.

Every day I wear this gorgeous perfume by Estee Lauder - it is called Delights and it smells of sugar and vanilla and candyfloss and is perfectly juvenile and delicious. I love the packaging too - it is sooo stripy and the exact right shade for the scent.

As I write I am wearing these incredibly comfy and cosy sheepskin slipper socks - my daughter makes fun of them but I know that if she put them on I would never get them back.

I have just finished reading this book - it is as good as the cover. I love books with good covers! and I love Charlie and Lola, and Rupert Bear and Quentin Blake.

And this little tamworth is the one I would have curled up next to the Aga and if the yard stretched to an acre or so it would be Giant Buff Cochins scratching in it and laying my eggs for tea!
Hmm. I feel a whole lot better for this!

Places we saw last summer

2009-11-29T17:53:00.020Z

We did another section of the Thames Path (see September) and mean to finish it but right now long sections are under water. This is just south of Oxford, we now only have the section north of the city to do.

Today on Radio 4 I heard about The Harrow Way which, set on high chalkland like the Ridgeway, and with views to the south coast, sounds awesome. But....after an extensive google I have come to a bit of a blank. 150 miles of 7000 year old track but not sure if all of it is mapped or signposted. Something to research for next year....

In September our friends took us on a walk along Offa's Dyke from the crooked little church at Cwmyoy where we found this intriguing headstone, and overlooking the ruin of Llanthony Priory . Eric Gill the sculptor and calligrapher lived near here in the 1920's and two headstones he designed are in the churchyard at nearby Capel y Ffin. We wonder if this beautiful grave marker is associated with the artist's family? Spookily, when I got home I found a book waiting on the shelf all about the area we had just walked, including the priory , the artists commune and the church. 'Resistance' by Owen Sheers got very mixed reviews, but if you know the area his poetic descriptions conjure up each scene perfectly. Also in Wales for the August Bank holiday, down near Dolgellau at Penmaenpool we crossed this beautiful old toll bridge on the Mawddach estuary. There is a walk (really good for bikes, buggies and wheelchairs) all the way to Barmouth with breathtaking views, salt marsh flora and birdwatching opportunities. And in the town of Dolgellau, below Cader Idris we took refuge from the torrential rain in this amazing cafe, once an ironmongers and now a purveyor of very fine cakes. Board games are provided for those long, wet afternoons Snowdonia is so famous for... follow the Dolgellau link and click on town trail for more history, including that of this cafe.

Last pic of the summer, we were back in Dorset on Hengistbury Head (see march 09).

And now it is pouring again so I am off to read A Concise Chinese - English Dictionary For Lovers by Xiaolou Guo - easy and unput down able.

Tupping time

2009-11-18T21:47:00.003Z

Well autumn has definitely begun now. The rain has woken me a few times in the night and even around here there are flooded fields and, for once, full streams. The leaves have not all fallen though, which I think must be a record, and so far most days have been very mild.
I stopped to photograph these ladies in their rain washed coats, bright in the morning sun and ready for tupping. My friend tells me that hers all went to the ram in October and that they will be expecting very early lambs this year - around the end of February, so I hope the winter is kind by then. I love their oversized, wrinkled skins. Rubbing them you can feel their ribs under their wooly jumpers like toddlers squirming under the towel at bathtime. One day, when work ends I would love to raise one in my kitchen. That day when I have a pig in the garden too......

Bring on the girls!

2009-11-12T20:58:00.006Z

FISHTANK - weird name for a film and I never quite worked that bit out .......I wasn't going to get seats for this film but the girl at the ticket kiosk said "Jane has just seen it and says it is the best film she has seen this year, so I did. On the night I did a quick google (don't, save that for later) and I would have been put off; I didn't feel I could face 'gritty' on a cold, wet November night, but I had made a date with a girl friend so we went. I confessed on the way so we had a drink first.

We loved the film. There were a few shocks and brilliantly built up suspense and a no holds barred view of Essex life and an absolutely compelling lead. Writer and director Andrea Arnold discovered her real life heroine at a train station "on one platform with her boyfriend on another platform, giving him grief." She says Katie Jarvis is for real. She dominates the camera and drives the narrative; the effect is mesmerising. Whether she is 'acting' or not she won the Edinburgh Festival Film award for Best British Performance this year and Fishtank won the Cannes Jury prize. Just see it!

New favourite website - Saltwater - yummy clothes only a tad too expensive, check it out.

Still Sailing

2009-11-07T22:46:00.002Z

This was the lake as I left today. Calm.

What I am getting good at: using the sail to steer.

What I have to do now: hike out. Any tips?

Fireworks were good. All anticipation had gone though I have been excited every year for the last almost 50. But it was good; I articulated aloud. And there were magical fire balloon lanterns. So all was well.

Reading The Places In Between by Rory Stewart. Trust me on this one, and if you are single and under 40, follow the link...

Yummmm!

2009-11-01T18:21:00.010Z

Sailed yesterday and walked in the woods this afternoon, bulgy little camera (blc) in pocket. I am quite happy with this shot, probably the most photographed spot in Ashridge but especially for Miss Whistle. Earlier we had forayed for sweet chestnuts, now roasted and eaten. Wild food always tastes good; on Friday it was overripe-to-perfect damsons and the blackberries are only just over after an epic season as autumn went on and on. Found some pretty pink mushrooms which look to be Russula Nitida as described and 'most commonly found in birch woods'. They looked quite tasty but my book is a bit ambiguous 'The best way to decide whether or not Russula is edible is to taste a small piece of the uncooked flesh. Only those with a mild or bland taste should be used.' Or not!

My other taste of autumn is Russet apples. I have loved them since I was a child and most especially since I read Little Women, aged 10. You might remember that Jo used to munch them in her writing den in the attic, which gave them huge kudos for me. My other favourite apples were both grown in our garden at home - Beauty of Bath and Coxes Orange Pippins - so first loves really. On stories, my sister reminded me of my great love for pomegranites which I had a real fad for as a teenager, completely based on the story of Persephone in the underworld. So this was my tea today - the Marmite rice cakes are very tasty and very good for you and virtually no calories at all!

2009-10-30T19:46:00.012Z

A funny thing happened today... I googled Ivinghoe Tearooms to see if they were open (highly recommended) and found myself in Miss Whistle's blogspot . It turns out that Miss Whistle is an occasionally homesick Chilterns Girl now living in L.A. who has recently been visiting her old stomping ground. I loved reading her stuff and can't wait to visit her recommend The Sir Charles Napier. I only wish I had found this foodie haven a couple of days ago and joined a Fungi Foray in the beechwoods. Like her I am reading Alan Bennett's Untold Stories - a bit unwieldy in bed- and until she reminded me I had forgotten that Tender Is The Night is one of my all time greatest reads. I was happy to see that she writes poetry on her blog and that it looks good, not wet.
Looking at last week's header I was disappointed at the pixellation. Even my little camera bulges my pockets so this was another pic taken on the mobile phone. So I looked for an alternative and found stacks of lovely local pics as well as many more exotic ones on Jason Gallier's website. I am sure I saw him taking the one of haybales at the foot of the beacons.... and there are some great shots of my other favourite place, Pembrokeshire, too. The one I've used is of the Reservoirs because the other thing I didn't like about my autumnal header was that the colours were not quite as glowing as the real thing, and Jason's weren't either (sorry). A bit like bluebells....

This is where we walked today, from Aldbury to Ivinghoe, below the ridge along the beautiful vale that stretches from Clipper Down to Wiggington; it surely has a name. It was cooler today and hazier and the leaves are falling now and a little breeze got up so we fell to talking about sailing, which is what I shall be doing tomorrow if it doesn't rain. And I should take my bulgy little camera, but not on the lake.......

Soooo hard....

2009-10-26T17:30:00.012Z

...to keep blogging! but the Indian Summer continues, thankyou God!

August was sooo wet and DULL, I didn't think I could bear the Autumn coming but this is the eighth week of still, mostly warm, mostly sunny weather and even now that the clocks have gone back - dark at 5.30 p.m. - today was lovely. Went to the reservoirs with the boys and it was like being on the beach, the water was the lowest I've ever seen it. Found a dead pike, v scary and smelly.

I was there the other evening and there was a great commotion among the ash trees to the west of Startops. Having seen flocks of naturalised Ringnecked Parakeets as close by as Bury Lake, and Cassiobury Park, I thought at first thatparakeets had reached Tring, but on checking http://birdingtringreservoirs.blogspot.com/ it seems much more likely that they were jackdaws roosting! Follow the link to a really dedicated twitcher who seems to know all there is to know about birds in Herts, Beds & bucks. I hear that the parakeets - which I love for their beautiful colour, streamlined shape, excited clamouring cries and overall exoticism - are a threat to owls, woodpeckers and other natives by inhabiting sought after holes in trees. A real shame but I can't help hoping they are here to stay.

Recently seen: Hurt Locker ***, Broken Embraces ***, Dorian Gray hmmmm **, and The Time Travellers Wife - I loved the book but sadly *. But 500 Days of Summer - I loved it and have just bought the soundtrack, catch it if you can.

The books haven't been so great recently, the last good one being 'Home' by Marilynne Robinson, as good as her Housekeeping, but really, don't bother with her much trumpeted Gilead unless you are desperately ecclesiastical. And although I really rated Patrick Gale's Notes From An Exhibition as probably my best read last year, his The Whole Day Through was disappointing even though I couldn't put it down.

So now the dark nights are back how long until my next post? And any tips for keeping warm sailing on cooler (bloody cold) days? In this very still weather I have graduated to a Laser with no recent capsizes. I find the combination of mesmerising ripples, sudden gusts and long afternoons outdoors to be just what the doctor ordered but am not sure I can keep it up over the winter.....

While on dark nights, I slowed down on the way home tonight to allow a very dapper young badger to cross the road which was so much nicer than the several knocked over ones seen in the past few weeks. Apparently the lack of rain would encourage them to forage further afield and therefore cross more roads, so please watch out and give way to badgers.

Walking into the sunset

2009-09-20T20:53:00.006+01:00

This is our end of the Ridgeway. At last we have our Indian Summer and the past few weeks I have been getting in as much daylight as possible. Completely exhausted fro sailing, cycling and walking, walking, walking in a last ditch attempt to flood my brain with seratonin and endorphins. It is definitely working but I am covered in bruises and too tired to blog. Just a little walk the other eve took me to Inchcombe Hole and the last daylight for miles around. I burst out of the woods and blinked at the 300 degrees of sky and the path stretched out along the line of hills ahead.

Having completed the Ridgeway we are now back to the Thames Path north of Oxford. Last Sunday we shared twenty minutes with a fabulous elderly lady well into her 70's, out walking her poodle in her cycle basket. We got a little peek into her life and she made it onto my list of top ten lifestyle icons. Not for me the pop queens and screen idols - make me an eccentric Englishwoman any day. Hopefully I am well on the way.

The past two weekends we have had perfect weather and I have got to grips with sailing a little Topper single handed with only one, successfully righted, capsize. So now I have some quite neat sailing gear and a good reason to be on my own, in a beautiful place, busily challenging myself and sleeping soundly apart from the odd non orgasmic groan as I settle my bruised limbs.

Swallows, Amazons and buzzards...

2009-08-26T21:02:00.005+01:00

So far I've spent six days learning to sail and dreaming of Swallows and Amazons & The Famous Five. I am a slow learner and not hugely brave or confident - Peggy or Anne depending on the series. Covered in scrapes and bruises but feeling good. Quite good at rigging, crewing & balancing the boat; getting a feel for the wind, hopeless steering has improved slightly. Dozens of kids swarming over the smallest craft like water rats, showing no fear whatsoever and learning about five times faster than me. Have developed a keen interest in wetsuits, rash vests and buoyancy aids and spent the w/end in Christchurch yacht watching in addition to the usual people watching. Found a v interesting link to Arthur Ransome. Was he or was he not a communist double agent? Not sure whether to reread the Swallows books next or Ransome's biography 'The Last Englishman' by Roland Chambers.

Currently reading 'March' by Geraldine Brooks। Loosely written around the father of 'Little Women', the first book I ever bought. Nostalgia.The promise is ably delivered by a writer worth reading.

Where have all the swallows gone? And the swifts and the martins? They seem to have left early this year। For two weeks now there have been only a couple in the skies where earlier in the month there were a dozen or so circling and swooping। I have heard this has happened in other localities and that it could be the erratic weather affecting the insect population, the hatching or the broods. It has been wonderful to have buzzards nesting close by for the first time I can remember, waking us each morning with their shrill calls and the babies still crying for food at dusk, but could they have seen off the swallows? We also seem to have a growing magpie population: they eat the chicken feed and set the bantams squawking with a vengeance. Nature should be more peaceful!

Soon I will need to change the header but I love this picture. At first the crop was a mystery, then an Andy Goldsworthy, changing by the hour, the weather and the day. Linseed or flax, I should ask the farmer to plant it again next year.

End of the Path

2009-08-19T20:18:00.005+01:00

We finally finished the Ridgeway. It took us so long we have forgotten when we started, but several years ago now. We began walking on weekends and evenings and have now walked from home to the start of the path and then the whole length of 87 miles. Lots of looking back over our shoulders at the distances we have covered and driving out to a new starting point or home again on a parallel road; the Ridge is the most recognisable feature of the Chiltern hills. We went east to west and there was no walk when we didn't stop several times to marvel at the view, often enhanced by the sunset we were walking into. Apparently many walkers prefer walking with the wind at their back but I like my hair swept off my face. The ground, being high and chalky was almost always good for walking and supports the prettiest flora. Earlier in the year we saw cowlips then orchids and now harebells scattering the slopes. All along the way Red Kites, buzzards, sparrow hawks and kestrels flew alongside, above and sometimes below us and this month we walked through clouds of butterflies: whites of all sizes, brimstones, blues, tortoiseshells, skippers and gatekeepers. Thank goodness the sun has come out at last!

where did july go?

2009-08-01T19:34:00.003+01:00

Hard month, stressy end of term and grey skies - trying to sort my head out. Can't believe I had another panic attack yesterday - seems as though it happened to a different person now. Trying to be a different person. Sat out reading until it got dark last night to get some rays jacking up my pineal gland and stubbed my toe while storing up blue skies last week. Can't say I'm not trying, hopeless case...

So what's good?

Books:

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. 4 Amazon stars. I read Year of Wonders a few years back and this is a testament to Brooks' growth as an author. I have ordered her Pulitzer prize winning March from the library (use it or lose it!)

Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. Won the Costa prize but has a half less star - probably because it encapsulates in its heroine the tradgedy of Ireland. But wait! she rises like a phoenix. A degree of misery is essential, I could take it, so can you.

About to start Home (faith, love, doubt, fear..) Marilynne Robinson. Loved her 1980 Housekeeping, she's won the Pulitzer since then for Gilead, maybe next on my list...

Films:

Looking for Eric (Cantona) and yes, he is in it. The nearest Ken Loach will ever get to a feelgood movie, a little gem from a national treasure.

Sunshine Cleaning. Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, all gorgeous. Believable, human, compassionate. A pinch of the essence of life here, black humour, wry smiles. Emily continues to convince and amaze - this is Young Victoria's antithesis.

Looking forward to 35 Rhums, father, daughter, read the interview, see the trailer; Frozen River, low budget Thelma & Louise on Alaskan border.

Exhibitions:

Waterhouse at the R.A. Don't read the reviews, just go. Makes me wish I'd done Classics.

Places: Walking in Edale, between Kinder Scout and Mam Tor on Lose Ridge. We did the sunny afternoon walk. Women and children did it every day of the year to start work at 5 am in the cotton mill we stayed in. And over to Castleton for funerals. Trail of tears.

But maybe weddings too, and christenings, and guys. Not all bad.

We are finishing off the Ridgeway, finally, next week and Snowdonia is lined up for the Bank Holiday, after a couple of days sailing (what has possessed me?) and a weekend in Christchurch. As you can see I really am trying.

Sooooooo....

2009-06-19T21:30:00.009+01:00

Soooo, I went on a surf and this is what I found: the Alexander Henry website, cutting edge of fabric design in beautiful, downtown Burbank, California. Turns out that that fab fabric really is called Tattoo and here is a bigger pic in a choice of colourways. Strangely it is in the 'fashion for home' section along with some very tasteful skull motif curtain fabric. I also love 'Inky Wings' in B&W, I am trying it out as a header. OOops, that didn't work. I still can't do the techy bits for headers, I need advice! Not sure yet how or where else I want them but, I definitely do want them!

How Cutie Is This?

2009-06-19T20:54:00.004+01:00

Ok, my shallowness knows no bounds, but how cute is this? The header is linked to the Get Cutie website and my favourite frock. I wanted to show a swatch of another totally fab fabric too, but the pixels were too big. Suffice to say it is called 'Hello Sailor' and is covered in mermaids, sharks and tattoo type hearts and daggers....I want it now! Pleeease check it out.

Back to the frock....would it offend, isn't it gorgeous? Must be my catholic upbringing but I just adore icons, but would I dare wear one?

I have spent at least ten years of my life wearing black and it took a serious effort to get out of the habit. I shop with great dedication as I just can't wear stuff I am not comfortable in. But this, this is totally me........

2009-06-11T21:52:00.003+01:00

I picked these on a beautiful piece of common where I walk most days, all within a yard or so. I found the grasses hard to identify, but in looking found a nice little website. I think we have: red sorrel, white clover,?, strawberry clover, cocksfoot grass, vetch, ?, sweet vernal grass, ribwort plantain,?, ?, buttercup, rye grass and common bent grass. Hmmm, too many gaps.....

I love meadows and picking these reminded me to look out a poem I wrote ages ago.

One blade of grass.

From off the shelf

i drew a book

and from its pages

there was shook

one blade of grass.

The memories it holds,

left there between the folds.

I thought it had been sent

that early summer

when love was green.

Now faded,

I've not seen you since,

and love evaded us

once summer came.

One blade of grass,

all that remains;

One blade of grass.

Gran Torino

2009-06-10T22:20:00.003+01:00

First click on the header for trailer and amazing title song by Jamie Cullen. Then enlarge poster and look at that for a while - not bad for a guy of 79. As far as I am concerned his best film full stop. He directs, produces, stars and worked on the score with son Kyle. Eastwood's requiem; homage to his alter ego. The man is a genius. Nuff said.

2009-06-06T15:52:00.001+01:00

Perfect!

UGLYDOLLS

2009-06-05T22:36:00.007+01:00

I kept just spotting these logos out of the corner of my eye and thanks to pioneer woman have finally caught up with them just in time for two new baby presents and a couple of birthdays. Hope they are suitable for newborns (start as you mean to go on....) and if my grandsons don't like them i will have them back! Can't decide which i like best but definitely want one on my pillow....this little guy on the left is a bit sad with no eyes but i guess that is why i like him. The bashed up monster is also tugging at my heartstrings and that keen expression on the little goofy kiddo is sooo cute ..... looks like I'll be going for the t shirt too!

YUMMY STRAWBERRY TRIFLE

2009-06-04T21:05:00.010+01:00

I love trifles and make them quite opportunistically with whatever comes to hand. The liqueurs are usually gifts or souvenirs that have lain in the cupboard for a while. I always make a Christmas trifle which is especially good for Boxing day breakfast but this is a nice summer one. I've made it twice recently - it is easy peasy and it's been a big hit!

I don't usually weigh stuff when I'm cooking, and in this recipe you can put in more of your favourite ingredients or adapt it to suit your store cupboard and your taste.

Slice some nice ripe strawbs into the bottom of a bowl - glass looks nice on the table. Cover with a layer of Amaretti biscotti - those crunchy little Italian biscuits that taste of almonds but are actually made with apricot kernels. Over the top pour a generous amount of Disarrono. This is a liqueur also made from apricot kernels; if you like almonds you will love this! Mix strawberry jelly - you can use any sort , low cal or veggie, and as much or little as you like. Pour over and put in the fridge to set - a few hours. When it is set cover with bought or made custard then a layer of thick double cream. Toast a handful of almonds under the grill - watch out though, they only take a minute to toast, and sprinkle over the top. Finis! Parfait!

My variations include a heavier xmas mix using stoned black cherries, granary bread and kirsch with cherry jelly and a lighter raspberry one using finger sponges, Chambord raspberry liqueur and of course raspberry jelly. My other favourite topping is real Angelica which I can never find these days, so I am growing some in the garden and looking for a recipe!

One good turn deserves another

2009-05-27T21:29:00.010+01:00

Just finished 'one good turn deserves another' by kate atkinson...and realised that i should have read 'case histories' first! will be looking in the oxfam shop tomorrow. I don't usually read detective stories but read her first book 'behind the scenes at the museum' (whitbread winner) a few years ago and didn't know what i was getting into with this one. I have already earmarked an agatha christie reading friend to convert. kate's latest continues the jackson brodie saga and is already winning awards.

Reminds me of the Thursday Next series by jasper fforde. I've never met anyone else who's read any of these but they are soooo good. I didn't like his nursery crime series but have an affinity with Thursday who is a sort of swashbuckling bridget jones..but better. Jasper's website is amazingly extensive with back and forth links that parallel his written worlds and is constantly evolving - a book in itself.

Spookiest thing is, that having read several of his books over the past few years and been an occasional website visitor i only just realised that he lives on the marches where we so often visit - his knighton sheep pics look just like mine. This is a one off though...

I Love My Bantams!

2009-05-27T11:19:00.007+01:00

On the bank holiday we were up on the Welsh border again visiting one of my favourite places - Onibury, home to a wonderful collection of Bantams. Set on a hill looking toward Wenlock Edge to the north east and distant Snowdonia to the north west are pen upon pen of beautiful poultry.

Their website isn't great but the place is magical. A few years ago it was for sale and if i didn't have gorgeous grandsons very close to my hertfordshire home it would be a perfect place to be me.

Thirty years ago, almost in another life, I found Stagsden bird gardens in Bedfordshire and have been hooked on bantams ever since. It closed over ten years ago, a real shame as there was an extensive collection of owls and many other birds too; we were frequent visitors for all of my children's childhoods. The day I first stumbled across it Ted was only at the start of his second year and we both needed some tlc. The bird garden was a retreat from the real world and i often fantasised about living and working there. There is something very calming about watching the little bantams preening, foraging and sunbathing, against a background of their contented sounds. The huge range of colours just among Pekins, my bantam of choice, now runs to over 30 but there are so many other beautiful breeds that it is hard not to stop there. Google images to see gorgeous sebrights, hamburgs, cochin giants and pretty little dutch bantams. I want them all! The only thing preventing me is that to breed pure you must keep your stock in pens and more than half the joy is in letting them range free in the garden. This is a good reason for choosing pekins - their feathered feet make them less damaging to plants and they are not great flyers so easy to contain. Over the past thirty years we have had blue, white, black and buff birds. Right now i have inherited a black hen and cockerel having lost a perfect little black hen under rather mysterious circumstances. The one we are left with is not pure (i was sold a 'pup') so we won't breed from her, but we get half a dozen eggs a week feb - november so can't complain. I prefer buffs and am deciding whether to get eggs when she goes broody, introduce another hen or wait until they peg out before starting afresh, decisions.....

Weirdly, though the weather was perfect, i was very down the next day, despite it having everything going for it. I just don't get it. But - the following day was my birthday when i am always up and there are always good friends who rally round - thankyou friends! I spent the day cooking (why cook unless to feed friends?) then eating, drinking, entertaining and being entertained. Got the perfect mix of prescription drugs and alcohol - no pain, no after effects and the laughter was real; memo to self: do it more often.

BLUEBELLS

2009-05-09T19:17:00.003+01:00

This header is linked to the Woodland Trust site 'Find a wood near you....' The banner pic was taken a couple of weeks ago when the bluebells were just coming out; already they are almost over. They look most amazing in beech woods where the lime green leaves emerge a few days after the bells, filtering the light, dappling the shade, fluttering in the breeze and making for a magical picture that can't quite be captured either by a camera or in a painting, though every year I see many trying.

The birdsong is still penetrating from just after 5 a.m. and again now at 7.30 p.m. there seem to be allsorts competing for the clearest song and the best composition. Like a Mozart rondeau there are increasingly complex repetitions; the robins are good and look really perky but the blackbirds are winning!
Enjoying the extra daylight hours, resulting new laid eggs and wishing my back was better at gardening ........

ABOUT TIME.............

2009-05-02T21:56:00.004+01:00

Where have I been? What's with the not blog?
I've been consumed with a job application that in the end I didn't get and didn't want, but it was a good thing. It really made me think about what I do and what I want and not getting it was a huge relief. Another bonus: four days (so far) of euphoria, and that doesn't come often - see March, Anaesthesia.
Birdsong: It seems louder this year. Much, much louder and ever present. Is it because my eyesight is getting worse? Is it an age thing? Wherever I go, even in town, the blackbirds and robins and great tits are singing for all they are worth. I had to check out the great tit and so can you by clicking on the link. A few years ago I read a story about Cecil Rhodes exporting British songbirds to South Africa because he wanted to hear their familiar chorus, but they would not sing there; it was so sad.

I got this one from Alpha Mummy, don't know why I find them compulsive, but I do.........
Replace one question. Add one question. Tag other bloggers.
So here goes:
1. What are your current obsessions? Birdsong, almond croissants,
2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often? Jeans, trainers
3. What was your favourite childhood meal? Sausage & chips
4. Last thing you bought? Vet supplies for the poor old dog
5. What are you listening to? Silence
6. If you were a god/goddess who would you be? Boadicea - I know she isn't, but she should be,
and it did used to be spelled like this when Peking and Bombay were.....
7. Favourite holiday spots? Wales, Walton on the Naze
8. Reading right now? Pat Barker, Life Class. Regeneration is unbeatable but this is good.
9. Four words to describe yourself. On a quest. Lost.
10. Guilty pleasure? daytime reading in bed
11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak? My friend Sigrid, she's the only one who can
12. Favourite spring thing to do? Walk, stay out til dark
13. Planning to travel to next? the sea
14. Best thing you ate or drank lately? Almond croissant & huge cappuccino
15. When did you last get tipsy? Years ago
16. Favourite ever film? Gone with the Wind
17. Care to share some wisdom? It probably won't happen
18. Song you can't get out of your head? Soundtrack from u Carmen e khaylitsha check it out!
19. One thing you'd really like to do this year? Lie in the garden in the sun for 6 weeks
So, who to send this to next?

Behaviour of Moths

2009-04-16T23:44:00.003+01:00

Long, hard hols - weep for me! Two weeks off and I am shattered, what have I been up to?

Well, I wrenched my back and spent the first three days trying to be 'gently mobile' with the aid of v strong prescription drugs (absolutely the best kind - those clever pharmacists who manufacture chemical compounds with the exact right dose, the exact right effect and only a few side effects are my heros!)

Then three days with my grandsons was lovely but exhausting, followed by three days filling in a job application ( president of U.S.A., obviously), a spring garden makeover, three skirt alterations, a very badly needed haircut for the geriatric hound and finally got around to marking and grading those sixty science books that have been bugging me the whole fortnight. Now it is nearly midnight and I have three days left: a day with those same patently gifted and talented boys and a weekend in Wales and I will be ready to stagger back into work on Monday. One glance at next week's diary is enough to push me over the edge......

BUT, I am ok, because I have been slipping between the sheets every night for a really good...read!

First I polished off Pat Barkers Double Vision which was good, but now I am nearly through Poppy Adams 'The Behaviour of Moths' and I am loving it! It conjures up images of Brideshead with the added element an introduction to Lepidoptery. I haven't done any research on the author yet or checked out any of the info, but I think it is her first and it is a great read.The paperback isn't out until July but the cover looks a bit naff in comparison to the hardback which is wonderful and it's only £9 on Amazon, though mine's a library copy and libraries need our support! So, can't wait any longer, I'm off to bed!

Must see....'The International'

2009-04-11T22:11:00.006+01:00

Just seen 'The International' - go for it! The plot was great; made Bond look like Enid Blyton (and I loved her books until I was ten.) This was way more sophisticated (than JB). Apparently some discussion about if he was up for the JB role - well, watch this and know the answer.

I know I'm getting a bit old for this sort of thing, but Clive was seriously gorgeous! Last loved him in 'Children of Men', also great in 'Closer'. Some have panned his style of acting but for me it is real.

The second best thing about International is the camera work which is amazing - fab locations from all angles and the best shoot out since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Some great lines too, and I loved the ironic, hmmmm, maybe sardonic, ending. Click on the header for a link....

Wonderful Wales

2009-04-05T13:57:00.004+01:00

Soon we will be there, staying with old friends; the best way to relax over a long weekend. From the hillside near Caerwent you can see both the bridges stretched across the estuary and the Quantock Hills in distant Somerset, the striations of light playing on the water and the clouds racing up the sound.

When my children were small I would set off after tea so they fell asleep round about the bridge. The endorphin enducing sound of their breathing, the muted strains of Fleetwood Mac, the safe womb like warmth.
Driving past the spectacular industrial landscape of Port Talbot at dusk and on to the sleepy west Wales towns and Dylan Thomas country. Brackened hills, tumbling streams, silvered bays, dark secret pubs; friends and lovers and kids and dogs and even the flimsiest memory reminds us that we knew the meaning of life....

WALES

2009-04-02T21:51:00.012+01:00

There's something magical about driving west towards the mountains and the sea. Amazingly there are at least two good things to be said for the M4 - that it gets you there quicker and that the vistas it opened up are just the best. That whole sweep of Wiltshire where the beech hangers top rolling hills of chalky furrowed farmland, makes my heart lurch every time.
For more Wiltshire pics go to digifrog which links some awesome pics to mood music inc Younger Brother.

And then there are the two Severn bridges - both beautiful, so that makes four good things....and then you get to Wales, five. The link is to a lovely little walk around the Severn Beach shoreline: fresh and tangy and dated and right on the brink of this powerful river and ancient kingdom.
And Wales is always magical, more about that tomorrow....

Ridgeway

2009-03-29T20:28:00.003+01:00

Yes! Daylight at 8p.m. Walked to the start of the Ridgeway and looked out over miles of vale and escarpment to the Thames valley in the far distance, and further away still the Cotswolds. Every year as the days grow longer into May a little madness takes hold of me...
The downland was scattered with violets and the sky was blue until the last. Makes you want to walk and keep on walking...........if you don't know about it follow the link - it's a good one.

Me and my friends

2009-03-28T20:25:00.003Z

I know its a bit shallow, but I had such a great time with my three friends today at a boden party and lunch by the grand union (canal). The pic is this summer's best seller which is flying off the shelves. I really want to be a serious, greenly political grown up but the enormous pleasure I get from people watching and shopping regularly leads me astray. It was sooo good to see my friends and lots of other ladies looking ab fab, and heartwarming to hear the sisterly chat in the ad hoc changing rooms - rather like the Bennetts before the Ball I thought..........!