On Niddy Noddys and Hot Air Balloons!

I am currently being seriously rubbish at keeping up with my blog.... 100 lines, “I must try harder”.

Things have been pretty much ok at Mothball HQ. We are a few staff members down at work which has been a bit overwhelming at times but it has meant that I have learned some new skills (booking in groups) and had lots of opportunities to answer the phone (I’m honing that telephone voice technique!)

In real life I have been continuing the spinning. I treated myself to a new fleece – from a Dutch breed called a Zwartble. This fleece is mainly black with light tips and it has really long fibres. In essence this means it is a little easier to spin which I figured was a good thing for a learner. I have also created my first bobbin of yarn from two bobbins of thread wound together in the opposite direction than they were spun (are you still with me?). Now I need a piece of kit called a Niddy Noddy to wind the yarn into a skein. Well, I don’t actually need one, I could do it round the back of a chair but the idea of owning something called a Niddy Noddy fills me with such glee that I can’t suppress it.

The gardening is winding down. I have to admit that my half hour allotment visits have been a bit sporadic what with work and all. But the leeks are growing nicely and one pumpkin has overcome all odds and will hopefully provide some Hallowe’en centrepiece. Our plot is right on the corner of the allotments, nearest the entrance. This means it is easy to get too, not only for us but for everyone else. Unfortunately it means that all the local dog walkers seem to see it as fair game for their dogs to use.  People who have things to dump also seem to find it attractive. We’ve had bricks, rubbish, cuttings, you name it. Last week I found a lovely hanging basket, complete with flowers. I was tempted to hang it from my raspberry supports for some added colour! We have decided to make some form of fencing a priority over the Winter.

DD has passed her Fitness Instructor course – one proud Mother! She has gone on to do some extra courses so she can teach classes at her local gym. Of course, being a supportive type, I have been there at the classes. Power Pump is mostly fun. Loud ‘modern’ music and some hard work with weights. I am still struggling to move my arms for a couple of days afterwards but I am assured this will get better! The other class is enticingly called ‘Insanity’. I was swayed by the promise that there are actually only 15 minutes of exercise in this class. What they fail to tell you is that the 15 minutes are pure hell. To tell the whole truth, I was really swayed by the promise of Haribo after the class but so far this has failed to materialise.... I would like to tell you at this point that the classes have been totally worth it and I now have the physique of Linda Hamilton playing Sarah Connor in Terminator 2. That would be a lie and I suspect that the mirrors in the gym are in fact fairground mirrors because after all that pain my arse is still the size of a hot air balloon!

Oh well, back to those squats..... 

Feeling Mellow....

There have been some spectacular sunrises.

I absolutely love this time of year. The days are getting a little shorter, the mornings a little cooler and everything a little more mellow. I love the feeling of slowing down and reflection – of preparing for the coming cold days. I love the harvest and making things with what we’ve grown or gathered.

I don’t have an actual post for this week – nothing of great importance to share. Instead, here are some pictures of the things I have been enjoying!

We have been trying hard to hang onto the holiday feel by recreating some cream teas. Homemade scones, homemade jam and the chance to use my vintage china!

I have been trying to catch up with some friends - this isn't one of them... we had a great knight! (ha ha ha)

The allotment and garden have been producing some delicious things. These potatoes were not purple all the way through, much to my disappointment. We've had beans, sweetcorn, chard, more beans, potatoes, pears, apples, beans, courgettes... did I mention the beans?? I have been preparing the beehives for the Winter too - ensuring everything is ready to give them the best chance through the cold weather. I have been brave enough to go up on my own a couple of times and I can honestly say it is such a mindful activity.

This time of year sees lots of agricultural and country shows. I didn't manage to get a lot of photographs due to various technical mishaps but we have enjoyed Uffington and Wychwood amongst others. I have been inspired by the crafts and chatted to some lovely people too.

My latest experiment... we have been doing a major clear up at work and this beauty was uncovered. I decided to borrow it to clean up and fix and then learn how to use it. I have had a go at cleaning fleece, carding it, rolling it into rolags and learning to use the spinning wheel. So far, so good. I am finding it very therapeutic and enjoyable. My yarn is very lumpy still and I am coming across lots of problems but it is my goal to produce something knitted which I have made myself from raw fleece to finished product. Watch this space :)

Holidays and Hurricanes....

Porlock

Well that’s the holiday over and done with! How come it takes forever to arrive and then flies by at the speed of light?

We have had a pretty good week down in Devon. Things didn’t get off to the best start when the remains of Hurricane Bertha were due to wreak havoc on our first weekend. Typical. Weeks of tropical sunshine, we go away and BOOM – Hurricane! Luckily the worst of it passed through early morning and it didn’t cause much damage where we were. Also, looking on the bright side, our rented apartment had fantastic views directly over Ilfracombe harbour and so we would have had the best seat in the house for any spectacular weather related adventures. The rest of the week ended up being mostly sunny with a few showers but nothing to cry about.

Verity and the rainbow

This little chap was near our apartment.

Our week passed in a whirl of walking (lots of it), eating (also lots of it) and doing touristy things. We made a list on the first day and by the end of the week we had crossed most things off. Eaten lobster on the beach? Yep! Coastal walks, ice cream, beaches, collecting shells and seaglass, corn mill visit, Lynton and Lynmouth, cream teas and cycling. In fact the only thing I got voted against was the trip to Watermouth Castle. We have been before and yet no one else seemed excited by a return visit to GnomeLand and the dodgy mannequins in the castle itself. I consoled myself with a visit to Ilfracombe Museum – a really odd little place with all manner of weird things (two headed kitten anyone?). The children had fun pointing out all the things we already had at home. It made me happy!

Collecting stuff from the beach

The cycling was actually a highlight of the trip. We hired bikes and cycled the Tarka Trail from Barnstaple to Torrington (approx 14.5 miles) AND BACK! DH learned a valuable lesson before we started the ride. Namely I am rubbish at directions and they had all left me to take directions from the bike hire bloke on how to get onto the trail. In fairness it involved more than one instruction and I kind of lost concentration after this one. I tried my best but we did set off in the wrong direction and spent the first 15 mins cycling up a huge hill that proved unnecessary! 

As close as we got to Torrington

Instow signal box - pretty obvious really!

Forgiveness eventually followed and we set off in the correct direction. The T Trail is along a disused railway and so is pretty flat and easy going. You get fabulous views over the Taw estuary and all the wildlife on the mud flats and salt marshes. Along with that you get to see some pretty places and some remains of railway stuff too.

Overlooking the Taw Estuary

Torrington was the scene for a battle in the Civil War in 1646. I won’t pretend to sound knowledgeable about this period of history but basically the Parliamentarians under General Fairfax whooped the arse of the Royalists under Lord Hopton. The battle came to a climax when 70 barrels of gunpowder got blown up in the church killing lots of people.  Sadly I didn’t discover any of this stuff until afterwards and so we didn’t venture into Torrington itself, staying at the old railway station for tiffin and much needed tea!

The week ended with that old tradition, fish and chips on the harbour. Dodging seagulls and coats firmly buttoned against the wind we battled the wooden forks and flapping paper. Next day we packed up and headed home – the fun of the M5 gently thrusting us back into real life once more!

Still – only 11 weeks til I’m off to Egypt with DD. Bet I still won’t get to see any Gnomes there either :(

Pretty bubbles in the air

Mr Boss Man had been on holiday and seen some magical bubble street artists. So this week at work in between all the stuff that needed doing we tried our best to recreate these wonders! Apparently they weren't quite so spectacular but they did make for some good photo opportunities :) 

On being all spontaneous and creative...

Creative inspiration at work.

 

Each morning I try to spend a few minutes with my journal and I also pick an oracle card from one of my packs to give me something to think about during the day.

Last week I got ‘Creative Project’ which I thought was quite apt as I have been trying to fit something creative into my life each week (and usually failing miserably as more important household chores take over)

But this card coincided with the call to the new AugustBreak project – a photo prompt a day for the whole month of August – and 30 Days of Writing, a new project for me which you can find out more about here.

 

It looks a bit like a Panda.

I had also ordered a new camera which duly arrived at the end of the week. Some of you may recall that I had been trying my hand at Polaroid photography with mixed results. Polaroid stopped making their iconic film some years ago and a company called The Impossible Project decided to bring out their version of instant film instead. It’s been a huge hit but as it’s still experimental there are mixed results. I have been using the film and loving it but the main issue is just the sheer cost of it.

I was delighted, then, to discover that Fuji make an Instax camera which creates credit card sized instant prints with Fuji film that seems to not be as temperamental as the IP stuff (it’s also a lot cheaper!) Cue lots of excuses to take pictures over the weekend.

 

Some of the better test shots

Some were ok, had a few under/over exposure practice shots too!

To round off a wonderful weekend, we decided to have an impromptu family BBQ. A good excuse for bunting and picnic mats! During the evening we were musing upon the artistic qualities of the ‘selfie’ and my brother wondered if anyone had ever taken a circle selfie where the background would show other people all taking selfies at the same time! We decided it was worth a try although the circle was more of a square with only four of us doing it! It took a few goes to ensure everyone clicked at the same moment but created some interesting results! Here are the best set of four.

DS#1 plays it cool.

My turn to look my best after a few glasses of bubbly....

Little bro chose a groovy effect on his picture.

DD and her BBQ hat.

 

 

Creativity and spontaneity – and Fun!!

Le Tour in London.

Apparently there was an 'Event' happening in London!

It’s been almost a week since we attended the greatest cycling show on Earth. Between then and now there have been thrills and spills, big names are out, places are being fought out and last Monday seems a bit like a distant dream!

So, Le Tour was always part of my childhood Summer family viewing – the only sporting event that we ever followed. I kind of lost touch a bit in the early 1990’s but regained the passion and have been faithfully following it each year from the armchair! Every year we would say ‘we MUST go and actually see it in real life!’

Free yellow caps? Check!

Well, you can hardly have failed to notice that this year the Grand Depart was in the UK, starting in Yorkshire and finishing Day Three in London. No excuse not to join in this time then! DS#1, DD and I decided we would do it.... cue lots of studying of the route, checking out tips and hints. Should we find a less busy place to view en route? Should we brave the very centre of London itself? Fan Park (with giant screen and added entertainment but not seeing the actual action itself) or roadside viewpoint in the capital (lots of waiting for 30 seconds of action)? In the end we decided to go with the flow – make our way to London on the morning and scope out the possibilities.

We left Oxford at a most unsociable hour but it meant we beat most of the rush hour traffic into the capital and managed to have time for a cooked breakfast to set us up for the day. We followed the route until we reached The Mall where the finish line was to be. I have never been so excited! All the lorries and TV equipment was there in place, the gantry over the finish line which they were busy painting onto the road (the actual TdF finish line!!) and the podium was set up.... people were beginning to bag spots and so we had decisions to make. The podium had TV screens which were to show the day’s action and it was placed just along from the finish line. We figured from this point we would see everything... so we settled in for the day. Hiring a couple of deckchairs from the Park Keeper was the best decision ever. Comfort and a way to keep the crowds from squishing us. There were even portaloos and stalls close by.

 

Yes, the actual finish line!

Any worries that 6 hours would drag by were soon dispelled. There was plenty to keep us entertained. Greg Lemond and Chris Boardman wandering past, freebies from the sponsors, cheers for the different vehicles and people going past. At last the famed Publicity Caravan rolled through. This is a colourful parade of floats and decorated cars from the sponsors. To be fair most of them looked pretty tired by this point but they gamely waved and grimaced at our excited cheers!

Not sure if the Skoda creature has a name - we cheered anyway.

Miffy! On a car! My favourite of the Caravan.

You can't quite see them - but the cyclists are coming!

Then – the TV announced there was 10km to go – the whole atmosphere changed. The deckchairs had to go and it all got a little bit close and squished. The excitement was building, the riders were getting closer, the squishing got more....squishy. Cameras were out, no one could see what they were photographing but it was all very thrilling.... the riders rounded the last corner and into the straight for the chase to the line..... it couldn’t have been more squished or exhilarating... who would win? It was all so fast I didn’t even hear! Then they flashed past us, close enough to touch, 30 seconds and it was over!

Being where we were meant we got to see everything after that flash too. Marcel Kittel (the stage winner) walked back past, as did the other jersey winners. Vincenzo Nibali in yellow, Peter Sagan in green got huge cheers, not least for his Wolverine hair. We stayed to see the jersey presentations, cheered the winners and watched in amazement as the stage was literally dismantled while the cyclists were just leaving it.

 

Then they zoomed through....

I was this close to Marcel Kittel :)

Vincenzo Nibali gets yellow

Peter Sagan in green. Hair hidden in cap!

We gently headed back to the bus stop, while all around us the barriers and roadblocks came down and the capital returned to normal life. The excitement was over....... Maybe next time we'll go and do it again but in France.... now that WOULD be a road trip!

And it's all over.....

It's all about The Good Life (and raspberries)

Gooseberry and Mint Jam.

Well, so far so good with my ‘half hour allotmenting’ plan! I have been up there every night – I have even managed to drag a variety of family members up with the promise of “It’ll only be half an hour-tops”.

My useful book divides the half hour up into a list of jobs in descending order of importance. Picking, planting, weeding, watering then digging. In fairness I have struggled to get much beyond ‘picking’ as the raspberries and gooseberries have gone mad. Now, I like a raspberry or two but this is getting blooming ridiculous. I have made raspberry jam galore, raspberry jelly (that didn’t turn out so well), raspberry ice cream and raspberry crumble. Not to mention raspberry muffins and raspberry eton  mess. I am now scouring books for other interesting raspberry recipes to ring the changes a bit!

My raspberry collection device - proving most handy!

I tackled the gooseberries today. They aren’t my favourite fruit either to eat or to harvest (my poor arms) but I figured that as we had inherited a few bushes on the plot it was the least I could do to try and put some to good use. I have made a batch of gooseberry and mint jam and the rest we are turning into alcohol J I’m assured that gooseberry wine is very lovely indeed.....

DH wields the uncapping fork!

With all the picking and making it does all seem a little ‘Good Life’ round here but I am loving it! We managed to extract about 15lbs of honey from one of our hives which was an added bonus as we didn’t expect any. Fingers crossed there might even be a little more before the end of the season.  The garden is also producing well – broad beans are coming in and the ruby chard looks almost too beautiful to eat! Some things are struggling though – all the squashes are very behind and I don’t think we will see much from them this year. The courgettes are tiny (which isn’t a bad thing!) and the runner beans are only just making their way up the poles. I have even picked some sweet peas to enjoy in the house after I read somewhere that they produce far more flowers if you pick them regularly.

Well, off to create more exciting things with a raspberry – I’ve just seen something called a ‘miniature raspberry and basil financier’......I’m assuming it is for eating and not offering sound financial advice but I will let you know!