Towards the End of the Morning was another charity shop find, picked up as I recognised Michael Frayn as the author of Spies his novel which won the Whitbread Award (now called the Costa Book Award). I'd thoroughly enjoyed that book so was interested to see what else he had written. This book was originally published back in 1967 and tells of life in a small department in a Fleet Street based national newspaper. There are a couple of central characters in the book in the form of two journalists (or maybe newspaper employees would be a more accurate term) John Dyson and Bob, Bob's neighbour Mrs ... read more
A birthday cook book
My parents have always been under the impression that I have no cooking skills what so ever. Whilst my skills in the kitchen may be limited I certainly don't think that Mr C and I are going to starve. Over the last few years I have been trying to extend my cooking repertoire and I have certainly been more adventurous in what I choose to try from cook books, as well as having more confidence when I try new things. For my birthday last month my gifts from my family seemed to focus around the kitchen. My sister H bought me a copy of Tessa Kiros' Apples for Jam: Recipes for Life which I have been ... read more
Rowan Denim Bag
Just in case you haven't picked it up from some of my previous posts I'm a big fan of Rowan yarns and get so excited when I get my hands on their latest magazine. Last month my subscription to Rowan International was up for renewal and I didn't hesitate at all before putting my credit card details into their website. The free gift this year didn't initially excite me as much as the last one, but that all changed over the weekend. I've written before on this blog about how I missed the regularity of knitting in some projects I've started recently yet this back is the complete opposite and gave ... read more
Sunflowers
After being away with work it was great to get home on Monday night and even better to be welcomed by the sight of these wonderful sunflowers (and the smell of a Waitrose curry in the oven!) Here we are in the middle of quite a miserable summer (when I looked out of the window yesterday evening it looked more like November than August) and yet the fantastic warm yellow colour just looks so cheerful and bright. They've certainly made me smile - thank you Mr C! ... read more
Gardens of Delight – Erica James
Gardens Of Delight is the second Erica James book that I have read after picking up Act of Faith on a previous charity shop trip. The book tells the story of several residents of the Cheshire village of Swanmere who, despite the spread of ages, are brought together by their passion of gardening and the local gardening club. Like in Act of Faith the theme of the different types of love runs through the book, but I have to say that I found myself enjoying this read more than the previous book. I was entranced by the different stories in it of how different people had engaged with gardening and ... read more
More life…
Once again those things on life that need doing are replacing those things in life that I want to do. Work and other things are still preventing me from finding the time to do those quality things that I want to spend time doing. Mr C and I spent the weekend up north visiting my mum and dad and whilst there I was able to take advantage of their garden and start my latest Rowan knitting project whilst sat in the sunshine. I've started work on the bag project that came as this year's free gift with Rowan International membership. I particularly am enjoying the regularity of row after row of ... read more
Life…
At times "things" just really seem to take over in life. This last week has been somewhat manic: work, trying to sell our flat, trying to buy the house of our dreams, and all this in unbelievably hot weather! This weekend Mr C and I are off to visit my parents "oop North". I'm looking forwards to getting away for a couple of days. Unfortunately the weather forecast isn't looking good, but if we pack our waterproofs we might still be able outdoors and into the fresh air. I'm just hoping that things will be a bit calmer next week! ... read more
Swimming for free
It's been such a hot day in London today that by the time I got the train home after work I desperately wanted to go somewhere cool and refreshing. Luckily Mr C and I have been collecting the vouchers from Kelloggs' Start as part of their Swim Challenge. There is one voucher free on every box of cereal and one voucher entitles one person to a free swim at a variety of places around the UK. The nearest place to where we live is the Cannons Gym in St Albans. Mr C and I used to be members of this gym and only left as the membership fees were becoming so large. It's therefore nice to be able to ... read more
Working Party Sunday
Another working party Sunday at the WWA this morning. Quite a lot of work to do as the whole site seems to be springing up in front of our eyes. My efforts today concentrated on removing nettles and brambles that were starting to overhang the paths in the Orchard. Others worked on clearing more of the butterfly garden and removing overgrowing plants and weeds from the channel between the River Ver and the Mere on the reserve. The summer heat made working conditions very different from the May working party but equally difficult in their own way. The refreshments (cold apple juice and homemade ... read more
Bruce Bogtrotter’s Heroic Chocolate Cake
Last night Mr C and I were attending a local nature reserve committee meeting. The meeting was originally supposed to be last week, the night before my birthday, and hence I had planned to take along some birthday cake. The meeting was re-arranged though, but I still thought cake was in order. As it was supposed to be a birthday cake I thought that chocolate cake had to be in order. I searched all my cookbooks and decided upon a recipe for "Bruce Bogtrtter's Heroic Chocolate Cake" from Jane Brocket's Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer: A Golden Treasury of Classic Treats. Until I read Jane's book I ... read more