The safest place for swans to sleep

I woke this morning to find mom & dad swans kipping on our side of the lake. Mom was awake first with her brood of three cygnets popping up from between her feathers into the bracing wind of a blustery Saturday morning. It's such a pleasure to see a family of swans on the lake again. Up until last week, I was convinced we'd missed our chance this year. The nest must be out of sight on the other side of the lake and now the youngsters are old enough, mom & dad must feel it's safe enough to venture out with their new family in tow.
Dad decided he wasn't quite sure what the chunk of metal was but he'd give it a good pecking anyway. No doubt trying to scrape the squashed insects off the back of Jeremy's porche. Mom got tired of waiting around. Her brood of 3 always follow her so off they went on a route-march back to the top of the bank.
There was no hanging about waiting for dad to arrive. It was straight into the water for a morning dip and a swim back over to the other side of the lake.

Just like Julie and Julia before her...

I'm on a mission to find the best muffin recipe. I found myself measuring and weighing last night, when I made these little beauties, and wondering how Julie would have made them. The fact that I had used olive oil instead of sunflower oil, a medium egg instead of a large egg, caster sugar instead of soft brown sugar was not a great start. And, 'Quelle dilemma!'... how small should I cut the rhubarb if it says 'finely diced?' I reckoned on smallish, 5mm chunks so they'd mix in well and there would be enough choice bits of rhubarb flavour in each muffin.

It's the first time I've ever used buttermilk. It's an odd consistency, similar to yoghurt really and not a bit like milk. It's supposed to make them lighter and fortunately, I had remembered to buy some earlier when I was shopping.
This recipe came from a recipe book Nick bought me, Rachel Allen Home Cooking, which is a lovely book to browse on a rainy Saturday morning! It's packed with practical recipes that use good basic ingredients with none of the weird stuff that you often find in recipe books. I'm not a daytime tv guru so hadn't heard of Rachel until I received this book as a present for my birthday. She's an Irish cook, tv presenter, author, newspaper columnist and does something I love. She always writes a quirky standfirst to describe the recipe and what it can do for me. How it will make me feel or what time of the year the recipe is best for. It's a great way to make me feel included in the book and is more likely to make me try something I've not attempted before.
Anyway, back to my 12 little rhubarb muffins which have now become 10. They have turned out well and although not like those I can buy, they are still worth a six and a half out of ten :)

ps it's Saturday morning and the score has just gone up to an 8! True - day old rhubarb muffins are better than fresh ones straight from the oven !!

Did you know..?

That peanuts are members of the pea family, they grow underground and are a richer source of protein than meat? If you thought that the USA was the largest producer of peanuts in the world, you'd be wrong. They are in 3rd place with around 6.8% capacity, India comes in 2nd place with 18% and China leads the way with a staggering 33% of the overall world production of peanuts. The happy peanut is good for you (in moderation as my mother would say!) and has lots of healthy characteristics that mean it's a useful friend to have in your diet armory. That's as long as you're not allergic to them, in which case "Walk away from the NUTS!"

Do peanuts taste better one at a time?

Do whole ones taste better than halves? The question of the day is.. how do you eat your nuts?! Do you rip off the corner & eat a few at a time? Are you a whole nut lover, leaving the halves & broken nuts till last? Maybe you never even look, preferring to tip them straight down your throat from the packet!
I have to admit I fall into the 'whole nut first' then shovel them in group! I'm a little more refined in that I will tip them into my hand but once I've eaten all the whole ones, it's every half for itself when it comes to eating the rest of the bag! Such is my dilemma whillst sitting on a train back from London :) I've come to the conclusion that more nuts mean more flavour. Whole ones are the most satisfying but in the absence of any more whole ones, quantity is the next best thing for taste & flavour. Next time you're bored on a train, try it!

Ballet Rambert extraordinaire

I love the experience of going to the theatre no matter what I'm going to see. Sadler's Wells is the home of Ballet Rambert & as such, myself & Liz has high expectations of the performance. We weren't disappointed!
We were treated to three very different ballets, the second being the most experimental. Of course, Liz is pretty aufait with all things Rambert, having studied them at Thomas T. I am like the new girl at school, having seen them a few times now & I admit that sometimes I love them & other times, I'm completely lost & baffled. I liken the feeling to going into a modern art gallery. Sometimes I'm in awe & loving the experience. Other times I just don't get it! Ballet Rambert can be like that for me.
My favourite of the three was the third & final ballet. Sadler's Wells has two series of Ballet Rambert ever year, the first being in May, the second in November. It's very cutting edge contemporary dance which is always thought provoking, always fresh and always executed to perfection. Like anything truly modern and unique, there are moments of sheer brilliance coupled with moments when you're not quite sure whether you love it or hate it. It's a form of English ballet that challenges your mind every second and gives you the chance to question what you truly enjoy about dance and ballet.

Rambert typically leaves the show-stopping performance until the end. The final dance, Itzik Galili's A Linha Curva was jaw-droppingly good with dramatic energy, beating drums, voices, touches of humour & involved more dancers than we'd seen all evening. It was the highlight of my night. It's samba-inspired music, great lighting, heavy-duty percussion leaves you wanting to see more from the 28 athletic style dancers who pump limbs on the stage with breath-taking energy. It was definitely my favourite of the might.

Not surprisingly, Liz enjoyed the second dance and the most challenging performance of the evening. I love pretty & elegant, she loves interesting & unusual. No surprises there really. In complete contrast to "A Linha Curve", Mark Cunningham's "Rainforest" uses an electronic score with very large reflective silver pillows by Andy Warhol floating around on stage. I admit, I spent more time watching the silver pillows and wondering how they managed to stay up, than watching the dancers, (though, I didn't admit that to Liz!) When one floated off the stage and up towards the roof, I'm pretty sure my head wasn't the only one slowly tilting backwards to look skywards! I'm happy because it was Liz's favourite, what more can I say.

The 3rd dance, performed first, was Olivier Award-winning "The Art of Touch". It was light and airy with fast footwork played out to witty little sonatas making it easy to watch and very enjoyable.

More Hobnobbing..

Take 1 HDV + 2 cricketers + 1 wine expert, in the shape of an oh so slightly inebriated Geoff Merrill, and you have a brilliant evening of entertainment ahead.
Tonight's celebrity guests were none other than Sir Ian Botham and Bob Willis, two of the greatest cricketing ledgends of our time. As sporting hero's go, you don't get much better than these two. I reckon we were on the best table. We'd never met before yet we got on like the proverbial house on fire. BM&W is the Botham, Meryill & Willis wine label. Challenged by Bavarian Motor Works, (can't imagine why!) Botham suggested that he'd promise not to make cars if they would promise not to make wine. That seemed to settle the argument :)
Dinner was delicious, the company was entertaining and it was a TOP evening. Nick was in awe of his hero and I was voted the best girlfriend in the whole wide world. (I made that bit up!)

I'm a woodland walker.. honest!

Ginger... You'd be so proud of me! Not a single Dorothy shoe in sight, we set off on a walk in the Quantocks! It's been a beautiful day so we took advantage of the lovely sunny weather to do a short walk along one of the woodland trails. It wasn't too long, nor too short. As Baby Bear would say "It was just right". It's the prelude to a brilliant evening we're going to have with none other than Sir Ian Botham & Bob Willis.. woo hoo! Back with more on that tomorrow.. :) x

The Castle of Comfort... !

Just another one of life's little adventures :) It was an impromptu decision - where shall we go? Let's look on laterooms. Shall we spend a night at the Castle of Comfort? Well, who could resist such an offer?!
Turns out Mr N played an Ace yet again. It was a great deal, the place was lovely, the family who own it couldn't have been more welcoming so it was all in all, a great decision. I do love my little adventures.. :)

The man himself... Rolf Harris

At 80 years young, Rolf Harris is remARTable. He is touring with his new book so we saw him last night at the Whitewalls headquarters in Lichfield. There was a massive exhibition of his art with originals, prints and canvases for sale. Plus of course, his new book for £55! I'm not a massive fan of his art though there are a few gems. I am however, a big fan of him. He's a sparky character at 80 and his 'Rolf on Art' series was one of the most popular on tv. His portrait of the Queen was voted in the top 3 most favourite paintings of her. I didn't get to speak to him because the queue was as massive as the exhibition. But I was there.. honest!

Grrrr...brum... and rolf, rolf..!

The challenges continue and I feel intrigued. Why now... why all together and WHY ME?! In my Pollyanna existence there's always something to feel glad about. I've just had to work harder to find them. I know that I have created a relatively stress-free life with little opportunity for the usual hassle that fills other people's lives on a daily basis. Of course, I've worked hard to make my life that way. I recognise what causes me the most stress and those are the things I have put into my '100% well-managed' folder.
When something goes wrong in my life I need help, we all do. But not the kind of help I've got this week. Naming names then Auto Windscreens have managed to create more hassle & more stress during the past few weeks than any company in the last 3 years. They have been added to my quite short but 'never-touch-again' black list, the other 2 being Currys and BT, which actually stands for 'Blooming Terrible!' Poor service is inexcusable. Their inability for departments to speak to each other is a symptom of bad communication which for a company like BT is ironic. Everyone I've spoken to has tried to solve my problem, they've all been polite but have failed. The 'sum of the people' achieved nothing apart from winding me up, costing me time & phone calls. The stupid part is that it's cost them time and phone calls too and I know exactly whose bill that will end up on when I come to renew my car insurance.
Anyway, I'm not ranting because I know that the only person that will affect is me. I live in hope that sometime soon my chip will become a new windscreen though I won't be holding my breath..!!

Blimey.....

It's another week on and I feel... challenged!! Why do things that never normally happen.. happen all on the same day! In the past week I've experienced some very strange and unusual feelings.. such as feeling unwell, being poked and prodded in hospital, losing half an hour, being let down, being hit by a roe deer, having a cup of tea with the truckers, getting that feeling that something is conspiring against what i've planned for the day, being messed about and just left wondering what is going on in my world... ?!

If you've ever tried to get your windscreen replaced you'll begin to have some sympathy with me from this moment onwards. It's been a total nightmare. Call after call, promises that are broken, a no-show, excuses and at that moment when the man arrives with my new windscreen, that feeling of bIg disappointment when it's the wrong size windscreen. After over three weeks of trying to get this sorted, I think the glass is starting to clear. A solution has been found, hu-blooming-rah!

Sunday was a lovely day. Lisa had been looking after me following my tussle with some very weird camera angles. She brought me home and we did what we do best.. chatted and put the world to rights. Well, that's what I thought at least. In the evening, Nick drove us to a country pub for something to eat. I was starving... again! On the way home, he unfortunately had a tussle with a roe deer. £3000 worth of damage later, his car has been towed away, mine still has a chipped windscreen so to say we're both having car issues, would be the undeerstatement of the year!

Today, I thought my life might be calmer. I headed for the office where I would leave my little car for the day. I was going to be driven to a meeting at Highcliffe, Dorset. You know that sinking feeling you get when you hear a traffic report on the radio and realise you're heading for a long wait in a long queue on a very boring motorway! You listen intently to hear which junction is affected, then your heart sinks. Not only was the motorway closed but every other perishing road for miles was chocka block with traffic. But help and sanity were close at hand. I stopped to make a phone call and realised that I was opposite the 'Snack Box' cafe

I usually wizz on by but not today. I skirted across the road in my office attire much to the amusement of the truckers who'd just pulled up. I shyly (ok, perhaps not so shyly!) suggested I was a bit overdressed but I was told, I was always welcome.. oh, what a surprise! Did you know they serve tea in mugs, (yes none of that tea in a paper cup rubbish) for the grand total of 70p! After all, how much does 1 teabag and a splash of milk cost. I sat in the sunshine waiting for my call. A bit delayed because my lift had thrown hot chocolate down her office attire so had had to go and buy a new top before setting off to meet me! I did get up to leave but was offered another cuppa so I sat a while longer offering directions to poor, lost van drivers. I have been instructed to call in tomorrow morning for a cuppa. After all, he'll be there at 6am.. mmm, I'm pretty sure it's not for my 70p!

Lunch was a yummy seafood and cheese pancake at Pebble Beach restaurant overlooking the beach. It reminded me to put things into perspective. Whilst the little things in my life appear to be going haywire right now, they are after all.. little things. I can still think of lots of great reasons to feel 'GLAD'.. ;)

Time to celebrate...

Never has a tomato salad looked so good! Smoked salmon, rocket, parmesan and tomatoes make such great bed fellows. Given a sprinkling of balsamic, olive oil and a rub down with a crushed garlic clove and you have heaven on a plate ;)

A new dawn.. david.. and sam..

Finally, we have it.. a new government and a new Prime Minister. Out with the brown, blancmange phase and in with something completely different, more colourful and no doubt enormously challenging. I love change. Change is positive and requires imagination, innovation and determination. I also love our simple British ways. Brown leaves number 10, goes to visit the Queen, tells her he's fed up and wants to leave. Meanwhile, his successor, David Cameron, is already on the road on his way to see the Queen. She invites him in, offers him a cuppa and tells him her news. He snaps up the job, goes back to number 10 which has miraculously been vacated by the red team so he steps inside and there you have it.

A happy ending..? We'll have to wait and see. The other good news is that blue + yellow = green :)

Chickens..

Are red with feathers; they make a noise that rhymes with duck; ducks live on water and fish swim around them.. which is the perfect link to what I had for dinner tonight! Well, there was an abundance of wonderfully meaty-looking sea bass eyeing me up on the Sainsbury's fish counter this evening. It took me less than a second to decide that the biggest one was coming home with me. Sainsbury's does bug me because everything is priced 3 for 2, buy one get one half price and all that malarky. What use is that to me?! So I hesitated for one milli-second at spending £4:50, which is a little more pricey than Morrisons but decided to buy one, even though they were promoting two for £7.. why would I need two sea bass? Freezing on defeats the purpose of me buying fresh fish and eating sea bass two nights in a row is a bit excessive, even for me. So back to my gorgeous fish.. which I lightly baked in the oven and served with a delicate veggie mash. I boiled chunks of potato, butternut squash and celeriac, drained and mashed them adding some shaved parmesan on the top. A teaspoon of tasty tartare sauce, some light seasoning and hey presto, a delicious, healthy supper.

Better not talk about the three amazingly, yummy Thorntons millionares shortbread chunks that I've munched for pud ;)) with coffee

Look what I've got...

Every now and then I see something I 'need' and have to buy it. Today was one of those days. I always think you know when you 'need' to buy something when you forgot the first time around and when you went back to the shop, it's the first thing you remember. I just love this mini mouse. It's fun, quirky and it's so practical, I just had to have it. The little mini swoshes around in the liquid when I use it and yes, I know it's frivolous but hey.. if I can't be frivolous I'd be terribly dull and none of my family and friends would like me then :)

Tuesday is fish night.. !

And tonight, the lucky fish happened to be a lovely piece of salmon. I really wanted to buy a whole fish, it just seems healthier that way, but they looked less meaty so I plumped for the salmon - fillet! I looked for a long time at the whole sea bream, mackeral and sardines but I'm not a fishy guru, though I wish I was. I need to spend more time looking for recipes so I can delve into the fishy, scaly world of unknown varieties. So my recipe for tonight consisted of a piece of salmon, some red pesto, white wine and the most gigantic prawns I could find. The beauty of buying ready cooked prawns is that you can nibble on them whilst you're waiting for everything else to cook :) As it looks more like a disaster than a triumph, I've just given you a flavour of what I experienced.. believe me, it tasted better than it looks.. honest! Though, I think I'm a white fish meat lover. Pink meat is just so last year :)

A Fishy Frampton evening..

I'm currently having fish supper moments. Tonight's was at the Crown at Frampton Mansell. It was lovely and light so we managed to catch a quick drink outside before our meal and as you can see, it was very peaceful. Aswell as being a locals pub, the Crown also has guests which makes for a nice buzzy atmosphere for a Monday night. The goats cheese and beetroot salad was lovely to start. My brill was very meaty and delicious though they obviously don't season their veg, which I think is a mistake. Given that I'd had little or no lunch today, I decided to go for the hat trick and ordered the berry crumble with ice-cream. All I can add is.. yum.. yum.. yUm ;)

Over the rainbow.. ;)

Today has been another fun packed day with a delicious lunch at the Village Inn in Barnsley. The service wasn't too hot but the food was lovely. Ginger had scallops with lentils and I had chicken livers, chickory, leaves, small sautéed potatoes and the tastiest black pudding I've ever had in my life. The pub was busy with lots of fascinators vying for space, it was like a peacocks parade at one stage at the bar. There was obviously a wedding in the village!
The closest and prettiest place near Barnsley is Bibury. Very touristy but reasonable quiet today apart from a coach load of Japanese and a few special people who must come every Sunday afternoon to sit and eat ice-creams in their cars whilst they watch the locals - us - take silly photos! No trip with Ginger is complete without a few daft pics, a mile hike to who knows where and all in my 'Dorothy' shoes! Today's route march consisted of a climb up the hill through the woods, through a field as we ended up at the back of Bibury Court Hotel. No Ginger, you don't live there.. !


No photograph is complete without it being "Hamerized!" Who is this person who keeps popping up in my pics...?!

"Look Mom" my red patent "Dorothy" shoes have come out on yet another Ginger adventure!

"There's nothing nicer than being close to nature" - he he.. I don't think anyone would ever mistake me for a tree-hugger.. but, somehow it felt right at the time. The world is a wonderful, crazy place with Ginger in it!

Lovely lentil and fennel bake with a side salad of beetroot, cooked but cold broccoli, chopped cucumber and long stemmed leaves which looked like sprouting - much more interesting and wholesome than boring lettuce leaves ;) me and Ginger had a fab time.. see here for more of what we've been up to.. !

Adventures with Ginger.. !!

Today we've been scrapping, card making and visiting Ruskin Mill to talk to the animals ;) Lunch was yummy - lentil and fennel bake for me and tomato and feta cheese and onion pizza for Ginger. You know when you're eating additive-free food because it gives you that wholesome feeling in your tummy. Following lunch we went on a route march up the valley until we ended up in a field. At this point we decided it might be wise to turn around and walk back, so we did. We've been home since 3pm, cooked trout for supper, watched Britain's Got Talent and I've completed my commission to make 5 cards for the cardmaking mag. It's now after 1am and we're listening to Shania Twain, eating minty chocolate sticks and Ginger is cutting out Bambi!

Swan song

The question is... is this a single, solitary swan? Is it the same swan or two different swans?

My unofficial birthday party...

If the queen can have one then so can I! My real birthday celebrations were cancelled when I got the noro virus, so on Sunday 18th April I held my unofficial birthday lunch and it was fab! Lots of friends and family, lots of chat and laughter and lots of washing up too!
We are family ;) Just a few of us who decided to have a little walk by the lake after lunch.
Lunch was even tastier than it looks. Homemade steak and ale pie and chicken in white wine casserole, new potatoes, peas and carrots... yum ;)
As my father would say... why does everyone always congregate in the kitchen?! No matter whose party it is, everyone always seems to end up in the kitchen.. :)
"Caught in the act?" whose got their hands on the strawberry pavlova then..?

Ginger's here...

And, we have so much catching up to do! We're sitting listening to Paloma Faith.. fab album. Ginger is playing with stamps and I am doing what you might call.. phaffing!! I'm not in the creative groove yet so I'm surfing, thinking, listening, reading and warming up. Talking about warming up, it's hot up here. It must have been the hottest day yet this year. I drove back from Lisa's with the top down and it was like a beautiful Summer's Day. We've had frittata, no less, for supper along with the usual dose of fizz and prawns. Ginger has done her 2,500 steps, I'd done some hoola hoopin and all is right with the world ;) back with more very soon.. x

Rocking Riverdance...

Girlfriends Matter.. that's the stamp Ginger is using right now but it's also my thoughts about last night. Lisa bought her mum and me tickets for Riverdance for our Christmas box. Last night we drove to Oxford to see the performance. I remember seeing something similar quite a few years ago in Birmingham. It was mesmerizing. Tonight there were moments of magic and a few moments of lack lustre. Riverdance is on it's farewell tour, whatever that means, and has moments when it's looking tired. At other times it's truly brilliant. The russian dancers were spectacular. The Riverdance Tappers in their tap-off with the Irish men were incredible. Both leads, Maria Buffini and Alan Kenefick were outstanding, particularly Kenefick. He has moves to die for! The Riverdance Tappers were the most entertaining of all the dancers. I could have spent an entire evening watching their seemingly impromptu tap-off and American funky rhythmic moves. They added a contemporary dance twist to the old Riverdance format which the audience absolutely loved. I'd certainly go and see anything with them in again.

Bolton Abbey

Nature often has a surprise up it's sleeve. Catching a first glimpse of Bolton Abbey really does take your breath away, it's a most beautiful place. It's a place for contemplation. I guess I was doing just that. There's nothing more lonely than being with someone, yet feeling alone. Nothing I could put my finger on, other than the fact that my instincts are exactly that.. mine.. and they're not usually wrong. As family would say 'Don't worry,, it will all come out in the wash"... ;)

Yorkshire Dilly Dallying!

If you've never been to Haworth, pronounced Howath, you really should. It's a typical, Yorkshire small town with bags of charm & perfect for a long weekend. Were staying at the Old Registry, a wholesome place with around 8 to 10 very comfortable rooms & breakfasts better than most 5* hotels. Everything is cooked fresh with local Yorkshire ingredients. There's enough choice so you can try something different every day depending on what you might have eaten the night before.

Yesterday we took the bus into Keighley, met Becka & the kids & went on the old Keighley steam railway. It's definitely the sunniest & warmest weekend of the year so far. The train journey was great fun. We stopped for an hour at the end of the line & found the local pub! Lilia tried eating the ash tray - she is just 7 months & cute as a button - whilst Noah, 2 & 1/4, amused himself with his new book.

They got their train around 4:30 giving us enough time to chill out for a couple of hours in Leeds before meeting up with Laura & Foz. Little Tokyo was a completely new experience for all of us! I'm not familiar with a Japanese menu so we needed a bit of help to decipher the different courses. I think the boys chose more wisely because the sushi, tempura veg & duck with mango was infinitely better than my soup! Notable moments were the delicious sushi, the weird radios in the toilets & Laura setting her hair alight on the candle!! There was a distinct smell of burning hair as we left the restaurant to get our trains. I'm sure other diners would be left wondering who was onfire!

Cheese, ham and olive loaf

There's something satisfying about choosing a new recipe and finding out that it turns out just perfect. I've always been a fan of Good Food so it's not surprising that I found this extremely tasty savoury loaf recipe in one of my favourite magazines.

Cheese, Ham and Olive Loaf
150ml/1/4pt dry white wine
4 eggs
150ml/1/4pt olive oil
250g/9oz self-raising flour
140g/5oz Gruyere, grated
200g/8oz thick sliced ham, cubed
140g/5oz pitted green olives
140g/5oz pitted black olives

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Butter a 900g/2lb loaf tin and line with baking parchment. If you're pan is non-stick you won't need the baking parchment.
2. Beat or use a whisk to mix the white wine and eggs lightly until mixed and slightly frothy. Add the oil and sift in the flour, mixing or whisking until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients to combine, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour the mix into the prepared loaf tin, smoothing the surface with the back of the spoon. Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack before cutting into slices, and serving with onion chutney or a bowl of soup.

You can keep, store or freeze this wonderful loaf - if you aren't tempted to eat it all up!

Motto for the day...

"Don't eat when you're surfing!"

How many times have you made a meal, sat down and the next time you looked, the plate was empty? It's a common problem in a world where we're so used to multi-tasking we do it when we eat. My mind is whirring ten to the dozen, my body is trying to catch up after my early start and flights yesterday and my stomach is telling me to eat. I have so much I want to do this weekend. I want to catch up with friends and family, do some crafting, do some sewing, shopping, eat chocolate and blog of course!

I am having a lazy morning and I am sure I cut enough fruit to have half today and half tomorrow. Somewhere between picking up the bowl and surfing the net, the entire contents of the bowl has disappeared! Unless I wish to be the size of a small island by the end of the Easter weekend, I need to heed my own warning :) particularly when it comes to chocolate. Perhaps the motto should be...

"Enjoy one thing at a time" :))))))))