I don't normally get drawn in by the various TV adverts that we are bombarded by during most TV programmes, but tonight I did see one that made me go to the internet to look up more.I'm very keen that we teach children more about healthy eating and where food comes from and hence I really like the sound of Morrisons' Let's Grow campaign. It works in a very similar way to the way the other big supermarket chains have their vouchers for schools campaign, but in this one schools can exchange the vouchers they are given for gardening equipment that the children can ... read more
Lots and lots of garlic
I went along to the St Albans' Farmers' Market a couple of weeks ago for my usual Sunday morning amble around looking at all the wonderful food produce available and choosing a few items to take home and use in that week's meals. When I was there last the semi-regular Continental Market was also still on with their stalls at the end of where the regular Farmers' Market ones are.I'm not such a big fan of the continental market, mainly due to some rubbish cheese that I've had from one stall in the past, but this time one particular stall really caught ... read more
Place of Execution
I don't watch that much on television, but do tend to find myself drawn to either comedy, factual documentaries or murder mystery type programmes. One programme that falls into the latter category and that I'd been looking forwards to after seeing the trailers was the ITV dramatisation of Val McDermid's A Place of Execution that started on Monday night.Although I haven't read any recently I read most of McDermid's books a few years ago (mainly via my local library at the time which was excellent at ordering things in for me) and this was one book that ... read more
Parmesan Bread
I've not been that adventurous yet in my bread making, but I've certainly always wanted to be more so, especially after the tomato bread that I got to eat at a friend's house and so I got out one of my bread making books with the aim of making some sun-dried tomato bread.The lack of sun-dried tomatoes in the store cupboard meant that my plans had to be modified someone and instead I ended up making parmesan bread. I started off with the sun-dried tomato bread recipe from Jennie Shapter's Bread Machine book and followed the instructions for the medium ... read more
Swans on the Mere
As I've mentioned before Mr C and I don't have a garden ourselves and so we make as much use as possible of our local nature reserve. We went down there this morning and were treated to a huge amount of nature.When we were down earlier in the week we found one swan swimming on the Mere, but today we found that the one had been joined by four mature cygnets. The Mere was a busy place this morning though as alongside the normal array of coots and morehens there was also a heron keeping an eye on things and we caught sight of the resident kingfisher going about his business. Mr ... read more
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson
I first heard of Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day via yarnstorm and finally got round to buying a copy when I was looking for something on amazon to bring my order of work related books up to the level required for free postage and packing.I completely loved this book for so many reasons. Miss Pettigrew is the most delightful character that grows with the book in quite a remarkable way. She is a middle-aged governess who is sent by an employment agency to Miss LaFosse (a nightclub singer!) and Miss P thinks that she is going there to look ... read more
Learning to crochet
I've been wanting to learn how to crochet for ages, so today I took a day off work and did just that.I'd booked myself a place on a Rowan beginner's crochet course that was held in the Brent Cross John Lewis and had a fantastic time. There were only six of us on the course (they limit the number of places to eight so that enough one-on-one tuition and help can be given) and I found that I was able to learn so much. I'd tries teaching my self from a book a couple of times, but after the basic chain I just found myself getting so confused about what to do ... read more
All he ever wanted – Anita Shreve
All He Ever Wanted seemed very different from all the other Anita Shreve books that I have read. Firstly nearly the whole story as told second hand. The character Nicholas Van Tassel recounts the story of him and his wife Etna Bliss and the ups and downs of their married life. The fact that Nicholas is recounting the story doesn't actually add anything to the book though and I was left wondering what the point was. The story that he was telling was easily strong enough to stand up on its own and yet it is instead interrupted every so often by current day Van Tassel ... read more
Hairy Bakers
After seeing it advertised quite a few times I was thrilled this evening to actually catch an episode of the Hairy Bakers on BBC 2.I've been a fan of the duo Dave and Si that make up the Hairy Bikers for a while now and the idea of them doing a whole series on baking seemed like a fantastic idea. There are so many cookery programmes on TV, yet I don't recall a single one that is devoted to baking alone.In the episode I caught tonight (number 2 I believe) the aim was for them to prepare tea at the Henley Regatta and so first they went on a trip to try out various different ... read more
An evening at the seaside
After a day at the River Cottage Festival Mr C and I headed south to the coast and Lyme Regis. Dark clouds were beginning to surround us, but luckily it remained dry for long enough for us to explore the sea front. It was lovely to see a couple of young lads enjoying a hobby that many would associate with people much older. As we explored this part of the beach we found a large number of rock pools to explore. A couple of small fish were spotted, but sadly not much more. This beautiful piece of what I guess is seaweed on a rock really caught my eye. The shades of purple were fantastically ... read more