Anjie over at pom pom emporium has very kindly presented my with this rather fabulous blog award.Now I have to admit that I don't normally go in for these blog award things, but I particularly liked this one for two, very shallow reasons: I get to tell you about five things that I'm "addicted" to and that woman in the picture above just looks kinda stylish in a way that I really like at the momet.So, here are my five, and surprise, surprise they're all things that I blog about! Baking - I do have to admit to having rather a sweet tooth and these ... read more
The Welsh Girl – Peter Ho Davies
Peter Ho Davies' The Welsh Girl was a book that I picked up on a three for two offer when buying something else. I read the cover and wasn't too sure about it at first, and to be honest that was a feeling that continued through much of the book and I only felt like I'd really got into it in the last 100 pages or so.There are two threads that seem to run through much of the book. They come together, just, but it was one of the threads that I enjoyed much more than the other one. Firstly we meet Captain Rotheram, a Jewish refugee working for British Intelligence during ... read more
A cross-stitch garden reminder
After such a fantastic day at Heligan to celebrate our wedding anniversary I really wanted to have a physical souvenir from our day to sit along side all my wonderful memories. Between us we too plenty of photographs on the day, but an amble around the gift shop found a little something extra.Like many visitor attractions that attract female visitors of a certain age demographic, Heligan has a small selection of cross-stitch kits available. These ones all seemed to be produced by Sybilla Davis Designs, a local company specialising in Cornish designs. I wasn't so keen on some of ... read more
Moroccan chicken
Looking back it's been a while since I posted about some of the food that we've been eating - possibly because we've been so busy that after work known favourites have been cooked for simplicity rather than trying something new.This Moroccan chicken recipe is certainly one that we've done several times before, but it's so simple and tasty that we keep coming back to it. The mix of all the various spices gives it a great depth of flavour - that possibly doesn't come over in that slightly grey looking photo! The recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken things, but we ... read more
Cooking with herbs and spices
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