Awning number 2After all the palaver this morning with the awning I'm pleased to report that the Wassail was a huge success. Everything was set up in time, the weather stayed nice and bright and over a hundred local people came along. The Wicket Brood danced and entertained alongside the main Wassailing ceremony. The guests all seemed to enjoyed the spread of food that we put on and donated generously in return. An amazing spread of food Home-made jam all made from fruit collected at the reserve Toffee apples kindly donated by a visitorThe Wicket BroodThe committee are now ... read more
Awning update
Well, we lost our awing during the night. It looks like one big gust caused several of the poles in the top ridge to snap and for the metal bracing to become bent. The tarpaulin itself became ripped as well. Not that surprising when I think back to all the noise last night of the wind blowing heavy rain into our bedroom window. Our chairman even has one of those electronic weather station things in his (rather sheltered) back garden. It's previous highest reading was 15 mph. Last night it recorded 75 mph! I'm not sure we totally believe it though.Luckily one of our ... read more
Preparing for a Wassail
It feels like I've been neglecting this blog a bit over the last couple of week. Sorry, but life just seems to have been getting in the way of all the things I want to do. I need to try and maximise my evenings a bit more now that I've gone back to work. I seem to be struggling with this at the moment, but fingers crossed that I can create a better work - life balance over the next week.This weekend is a busy one down at the WWA as tomorrow we are holding our annual Wassail. We have an orchard area at the WWA and every January we always invite local people to go wassailing, ... read more
Gods Behaving Badly – Marie Phillips
It was Mr C that originally picked up a copy of Marie Phillips' Gods Behaving Badly. He really enjoyed it and added it to my to be read pile when he'd finished.It's a completely original book, set in modern day north London. The slight oddity is that living in north London are the central characters of the book - a family consisting of the Greek Gods! They don't particularly like modern day living, especially as they're stuck in a dilapidated house that's too small, dirty and doesn't have enough hot water. Life becomes a bit more interesting though ... read more
Gifts for myself
I'm guilty of a little bit of indulgence this last weekend. I had some money on a internet based credit card that I'd got as a result of a repayment following some fraudulent use of my card. I don't have the pin number for this card, but wanted to use up the money before closing the account. A trip to amazon was therefore in order and I bought some of the books that have been sat on my wish list for a while now.There's a definite yarn related thing going on with my book choices and I'm really looking forward to going through these over the next few weeks and adding more ... read more
Blue Shoes and Happiness – Alexander McCall Smith
It felt like a while since I'd read any of the Alexander McCall Smith books on my shelf, so I decided to pick up the next in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series in the new year.Blue Shoes and Happiness follows the similar formula of the others in the series, but after a bit of a break it felt great to catch up with Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. Mma Makutsi found herself a fiancé in the previous book and this one sees her getting used to being a woman who is going to be married. When Mr Phuti Radiphuti asks her if his wife to be is a feminist ... read more
Italian-style beef stew
Last night's dinner was a perfect meal for a cold winter evening - with a slight Mediterranean edge.Italian-style beef stew is a recipe that we've used a few times before from another book that we have in the 101 range: 101 Meals for Two. As I really don't like them I leave out the olives, but the mix of beef, yellow pepper and rosemary combined with the feta that we sprinkle on top makes it irresistible. I served it last night with some simple mashed potato (sadly not made as expertly as 21st Century Housewife makes hers) but tasty all the same.Sunday ... read more
Chaos
Ae we really only ten days into 2009? Last weekend I remember feeling so organised for going into the new year; now I'm not too sure. So much seems to have happened in these last ten days that I'm not even sure where to start. Sorry there are no photos to accompany my words - I've just not had time to take my camera out of my handbag all week.I went back to work on Monday and was expecting a quiet week before starting all the regular meetings etc next week. Someone else obviously thought differently. I feel like I've been on a treadmill that's been getting faster and faster ... read more
The Outcast – Sadie Jones
My first finished read of 2009 was Sadie Jones' The Outcast. I picked up a copy of this before Christmas based on a recommendation from my friend P. She was blown away by it. I wasn't.Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it, but just not as much as I was expecting to. The book is set in the 1950s in the South of England and centres around Lewis Aldridge. We visit Lewis at various different times in his life and gain a painful insight into the hurt and confusion that he suffers due to events around him. The book looks at how suffering like this was covered up in ... read more
Pretty storage
Looking round the shops before Christmas there seemed to be quite a few nice storage containers out there - all of which I could instantly think of a use for. This is the one that I was lucky enough to receive as a gift though, from my wonderful sister H.From the fantastic Cath Kidston, this contained a wide selection of cotton sewing threads, but the sizing is perfect for skeins of embroidery thread. I have many in my collection and I'm already picturing a lovely evening sorting them and storing them away neatly. At the moment though it's just sat on my desk so that I can look ... read more