Yesterday was the annual summer event at our local nature reserve. Mr C and I were helping to organise the pond dipping. A couple of years ago the whole mere at the site dried out. Since it re-filled with water we have seen evidence of several different bits of wildlife and thought that the summer event would be the ideal opportunity for us to see what was living under the surface and to teach some of the local children about what they can find living in the water. Armed with some fishing nets we started to explore under the surface and we were quite amazed with what we found! Not only did ... read more
Hugh’s Chicken Out fight against Tesco
I'm quite disappointed to hear on the lunchtime news just now that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has failed in his attempted to get his special resolution passed at the Tesco AGM for them to improve their chicken welfare standards. I understand that Hugh managed to get 10% of the vote. Unfortunately Tesco had stated that he needed a whopping 75% for the resolution to be passed. Since Hugh launched the Chicken Out campaign I've been following his progress with interest. His television programme showing the conditions in which many chickens are forced to live certainly made me think again about ... read more
Regular or Irregular?
When I first learnt to knit (not all that long ago) one of the things that I found I enjoyed most about it was the regularity of the stitches. When doing practice squares (and trust me I did a LOT of practice squares) I enjoyed letting my mind wander somewhat and then being able to run my fingers along my finished work and feel the regular pattern that I'd created. I decided a few months ago to try to push the limits of my knitting ability. Apart from the socks I also started on a small lacy cardigan from a Rowan pattern that I obtained from Rowan International. I'm currently working on the ... read more
The Kite Runner
I'm currently off work with a chest infection, so on my way home from the Doctors yesterday I decided to call into my local branch of Blockbuster to pick up a DVD to watch. I'm not a big fan of daytime TV (a government ploy to keep unemployment levels down, I'm sure of it) or Wimbledon (which is all the BBC seem to be showing) so thought a film might be an alternative to reading (which I'm also doing a huge amount of at the moment). Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner is a book that has been on my reading list for a fair while. I had heard that a film version had been made, but was pleasantly ... read more
Three men in a boat: to say nothing of the dog
Ever since watching the BBC version of Three Men in a Boat, featuring Griff Rhys Jones, Dara Ó Briain, and Rory McGrath, I have been meaning to pick up a copy to read. I was therefore delighted to find a copy in the local charity shop last week for just 80p. In this book Jerome K. Jermone tells the story of a boat trip along the river Thames with his two friends George and Harris and Montmorency, the dog. It's a delightful old fashioned tale of the time, which in numerous parts diverts off into some other event that JKJ has been reminded of. The style of writing pulls you very much into the ... read more
The Penultimate Chance Saloon – a TOG story!
A couple of weeks ago I read an article in the Guardian which told of a book group chaired by Edwina Curry and held at Nightingale House, a care home in South London. As someone that has never attended a book group the article intrigued me, especially when reading about the views of some elderly women (all the ones in the article seem to be 90+!) on contemporary fiction. In the featured book group meeting the author Simon Brett was present to hear the group discussing his novel The Penultimate Chance Saloon. The article finished with a list of books that the group had recently discussed and ... read more
Somewhere to keep my knitting needles
Since learning to knit about a year ago I have been after something to keep my growing collection of needles in. I had a look in a few shops, but didn't quite find anything that fitted the bill either through style or the material used to make it. One of the books that I used when I was learning to knit was Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch and in the patterns section in the back of the book I found a fantastic sounding pattern for a "roll-your-own needle case" by Echo Devore. I used some material that I'd had in my stash for a while (originally from the John Lewis bargain bin) and I'm really ... read more
An Australian Tale
This book was passed to me by my Mum, and I have to admit to not really knowing what to expect from it. Andrew McGahan's The White Earth is a complex story, told by two of the book's main characters, John McIvor and his nephew William. Following the death of William's father, he and his mother go and live with his Uncle at Kuran Station, a once grand typical Australian station in the plains. Here the history of Kuran Station and of the areas previous Aboriginal residents comes to light. The book certainly taught me a fair amount about what happened in Australia to the Aborigines, something ... read more
A summer afternoon…
After a haircut and some book scavenging in the local charity shops (more news of the outcomes later) I decided to make the most of the good weather before the surrounding dark clouds took effect. Mr C and I arranged to meet in the local pub beer garden for a nice drink in the sunshine. A perfect way to spend a summer afternoon. ... read more
Lemon, lime and bitters
When traveling round New Zealand earlier this year Mr C and I discovered a fantastic soft drink there that provided a level of refreshment that couldn't be matched by anything else and became very much the drink of our trip (despite all the fantastic local wine). Bundaberg's Lemon, Lime and Bitters provided a fantastically refreshing drink that was much needed after a day of driving around in our campervan. An Australian drink, we knew that we'd have to find some way of recreating it for the British summer. Upon returning to the UK we did find that our local Waitrose did stock bottles, but ... read more