Only a couple of years or so ago I think the only thing on my spice "shelf" was a little jar of mixed herbs. It's grown quite a bit since then. It's strange, but to me the sight of a well stocked herb and spices shelf is the sign of a good cook, yet I"m not sure that I fit into that category yet.Mr C is the one that has to take most of the credit for helping to expand my taste horizons and consequently my cooking abilities. When we met he was a curry lover, yet I struggled to handle a korma. Chilli was something that I used to back away from frightened.Over time though I ... read more
Pond digging
This morning was one of the monthly working parties down at the WWA and today we started work on the new nature pond that we are creating.Previous attempts had been made at digging the pond out by hand, but we soon realised that doing so would be a little bit more difficult than we first imagined. Instead we hired a mini digger for this working party so that we could make a real difference in starting the pond, rather than just the shallow attempt we had before. Mr C looked like a small child at Christmas when he got to use the digger and I'm pleased to say that he ... read more
The train triangle
It's been a busy couple of days this week. Work has taken me up to Scotland for a series of meetings and I had some wonderful train adventures in the process.It didn't start off so well though yesterday morning. As usual, I left plenty of time to get into London to go to Kings Cross where I was due to catch my first long distance train north to Edinburgh. I started to get worried as my little train from St Albans suddenly slammed on the brakes less than half way to London. I got even more worried when the driver came on the tannoy and apologised for the sudden stop and said that he was ... read more
Tintagel
As I walked home from the train station tonight I found it hard to believe that just a week ago Mr C and I were down in Cornwall with amazingly warm weather - we were even able to wander round in a t-shirt and jeans at one point! Tonight that it felt bitterly cold - as if spring has gone totally.On our first full day in Cornwall we decided to explore the nearby village of Tintagel and the surrounding cliffs. We started off at the Old Post Office that is now owned by the National Trust (another good excuse to get our membership cards out). It is a delightful old ... read more
An anniversary at Heligan
Mr C and I decided to spend our wedding anniversary itself at The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Both of us had read about the gardens and seen them featured on various television programmes and as soon as we planned our trip to Cornwall it was obvious that we'd have to visit. For those of you that aren't aware of the history of the gardens here is a very brief summary. The gardens were originally part of the Heligan estate owned by the Tremayne family. A team of gardeners were employed there, but many of them were called away to serve in the First World War. As a result of the ... read more
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive – Alexander McCall Smith
A return to Botswana to catch up with Mma Romotswe and the rest of the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency cast in The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. Once again it felt like being back with old friends from the first page of this book. Mma Makutsi starts thinking about whether or not a woman engaged to Mr Phuti Radiphuti should be a career woman in her own right. A rash decision may well put an end to Mma Makutsi's career, but would this be the right decision for her?Mr J. L. B. Matekoni is also considering his career. Should he remain a mechanic? Or should be too consider ... read more
Port Isaac
The centre of our stay in Cornwall was the delightful fishing village of Port Isaac. Here we rented a little cottage from the National Trust for our stay. The Birdcage - centre of picture The Birdcage was really like no other cottage that I've been in before. It is split over three floors and the main body of the house is though to be over 200 years old. On the ground floor you open the door straight in to the kitchen. Off to the side is an extension containing the bathroom. A very steep set of stairs takes you from the kitchen up into the lounge and a further set of steep stairs goes from ... read more
The Big Green Bus
I'm thrilled to see that the work of one of my favourite charities, The Big Green Idea, has made it on to YouTube. If you've not heard of the charity of the Big Green Bus before then please take a look at these videos. ... read more
Silence is golden…
Apologies for the blogging silence. As Liz has pointed out in the comments I left on a bit of a cliff hanger sitting in the dark following a power cut one evening. That threw all my plans to pot and hence I wasn't able to tell you about our planned long weekend away.Mr C and I have just returned from a wonderful break in Port Isaac, Cornwall, where we've been celebrating our first wedding anniversary. It was a truly perfect trip with the most amazing weather for March. There is so much to tell you about, including cliff top walks, National Trust properties ... read more
Sitting in the dark
I was planning a nice long blog post tonight, complete with photos. The powers that be are working against me though as Mr C and I are currently sat here in a candle lit room listening to a battery powered radio. When we arrived back home after meeting up with my parents we found a substantial part of St Albans in darkness due to a power cut. Talking to a local friend, who still has power, it seems that there was a strange blip to their supply just over an hour ago (8.15pm) and we guess that is related to this. The electricity company reckons we should be back on by 11.30pm but that ruins my ... read more