Zip Wire Teddies (link with Tower Tours)
So, that’s told me. Should be fun!!
0 Comments
After all the recent hot weather and then a downpouring of rain there has been a spurt of new growth. Photos taken on 24th June 2022.
“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.” Al Bernstein - (b 1950 - American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, and speaker. I took these photos fairly early yesterday morning (11th June). It may be boring for some, but I find it endlessly fascinating how it has developed over the past month. I 'survey the grounds' at least twice a day and I think the neighbours - if they can hear me - must think I have the saddest life ever when I wax lyrical about what my lupins are up to, or how the rose petals are blooming!
A number of people have warned me that an extraction can be really painful, and it was also a bit alarming for the dentist to ask whether I would have to go into work – as ‘it’s best not to raise one’s blood pressure…” after the anaesthetic and painkillers. Oh?! So, I’ve warned this particular Friday employer (a school) that I might have to swap my day and go in on Monday instead!
Hey ho. On the upside, I’ve been making a few plans of “things to look forward to”. One of which is through one of those ‘internet deal’ links (like Hotdeals / Groupon / Wowcher) I've booked a dinner, B&B at Marco Pierre White's hotel (near Bath) for the autumn. Have a look at Hotels in Corsham - Marco Pierre White's Rudloe Arms. Our friend Frank (who trained with the Roux brothers at Le Gavroche, and who did our wedding supper – now sadly deceased) always raved about M-P White and when we have seen him on TV he seems like a cool guy - if a bit scary too!. Anyway, I have “saved” at least £200 on the deal, and we are booked for a weekend in October. It is only an hour or so to drive there so should be a decent short break away. The hotel is set in “14 acres of stunning landscape [which] makes the grounds at the Rudloe the ideal place to unwind and enjoy nature”. As I say, it is something to look forward to as we've decided not to go on a beach holiday this year (boo!). There are far too many idiot people, airlines are being ridiculous, and prices are all over the place! Therefore, I'm currently in touch with our go-to place in Kefalonia to get in early for next May or June. I am also looking at highly recommended places in Portugal – one as a Lisbon city break, and another on an island near to Madeira. With regard to summer 2022 – and as Paul never knows from one week to the next what work he will be doing - we thought we'd go to places in the UK that we talk about but have never visited. Well, that's the plan (and we’re good at those). Any further recommendations would be gladly received! An enjoyable family lunch - diminished numbers because of relocating the venue due to the weather. The plan is to have another picnic at No.6 later in the summer when the forecast is decent.
Of course, there was plenty of food and noise - as usual!
Believe it or not, there are lots of poems about artichokes! Here is one that seems relevant to my experience:
Artichoke - by Richard Foerster (From The Burning of Troy by Richard Foerster. Copyright © 2006) For all the bother, it's the peeling away we savoured, the slow striptease toward a tender heart-- how each petal dipped in the buttery sauce was raked across our lower teeth, its residue less redolent of desire than sweet restraint, a mere foretaste of passion, but the scaly plates piled up like potsherds in a kitchen midden, a history in what's now useless, discarded-- so we strained after less and less as the barbs perhaps drew a little blood and we cut our way into the core to rid us of the fibre that would stifle every ut- terance between us. In our quest for that morsel, how we risked silence, risked even love.
Even this Jubilee weekend has proven to be problematic because of the vagaries of the British weather and the fact that Paul is currently engaged on a four-week contract which (as is the case in theatre) doesn’t take into consideration public holidays. He has one day off over the weekend, and we had hoped to host a garden-based Big Jubilee Lunch for flag-waving family and friends.
Unfortunately, we have had to postpone it because the weather forecast is TERRIBLE for Winchcombe and, as you know, the house is too small for everyone to fit in comfortably - and to be able to eat as well! Therefore, the family is de-camping to my sister’s house – a 50-minute drive from No.6, north of Worcester. The family is keen to meet up not only for the Jubilee excuse for party food, but also to mark my and Paul’s wedding anniversary (17 years on 3rd June), to welcome Violet back from Dubai (again) and to celebrate Clementine’s offer of a new job! Yippee!!!
Artichokes (Cynara cardunculus) are perennial thistles and members of the sunflower family. The Globe artichoke is not to be confused with the Jerusalem artichoke which is a knobbly tuber, and the Chinese artichoke, which is a perennial herb of the mint family, grown for its edible tuberous underground stems. The Globe artichoke is a plant native to the Mediterranean area and has many nutritional benefits such as fibre, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, calcium, iron, and potassium. The leaf, stem, and root are also used to make extracts, which are used as medicine – reducing nausea and vomiting, spasms and gas. It is also used for indigestion, lowering cholesterol, high blood pressure, hepatitis C and IBS…. although that all depends on credible scientific evidence! So, whilst artichokes can be quite demanding (as you will see) the rewards for my diligence have been positive so far, even though I do have a tendency to ‘go off piste’ when it comes to guidance on planting-out distances and suchlike:
Each head should be removed using secateurs, leaving a few inches of stem attached for the best possible flavour. Globe artichokes are best cut one hour before cooking. The artichoke is actually the bud of a thistle—a flower. The leaves (called "bracts") cover a fuzzy centre called the "choke", which sits on top of a meaty core, called the "heart". The heart is completely edible and the “best bit”. The fuzzy choke is too fibrous to eat in regular artichokes, but edible in baby artichokes. All but the innermost leaves are tough and can be fiddly to eat – scraping them with your teeth to eat the tender parts. I have only eaten fresh artichokes on a few occasions, and usually buy them when feeling a bit flush and doing some “lifestyle shopping” at the deli! Therefore, I have had to look up ‘how to cook artichokes’ on various websites and will have to report back when I have successfully applied my new skills and knowledge….?*! "Artichoke: That vegetable of which one has more at the finish than at the start of dinner." Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield 1694—1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time.
I also like to people-watch as many of the die-hard fans are now in their sixties and still sporting the black t-shirts (stretched over beer-bellies now) and dodgy haircuts. No doubt people will say the same about me (although my belly is just belly and nothing to do with beer!) when I rock-up at the Duran Duran concert in Hyde Park in July!
And, last weekend, we were enjoying a short break in Bonn! This trip had been postponed three times and originally it was to coincide with tickets to another concert - but this time for Kraftwerk. As it is, as soon as we re-booked flights the concert was moved again to August 2022 but we were bored of having to keep changing travel details and also keen to get away and see our friends. So, we enjoyed a fabulous weekend - catching-up on the events of the past two years, accompanied by a great deal of wine, beer and good food. And ice-cream.... vanilla ice-cream piped onto the dish to look like spaghetti , topped with strawberry coulis for the tomato-sauce and sprinkled with coconut to represent parmesan cheese. It was very indulgent and enjoyed by all!
Anyway, we enjoy a funny relationship with our regular avian friends, so much so that the family of blackbirds have taken to standing at the top of the steps from the yard (directly outside the house) encouraging us to give them the bread crusts. These cheeky ones even precede us as we tramp up the path to the garden-proper (the path is a good 50 yards along from house to garden – it’s an odd set-up and not for everyone). Anyway, Paul is always very good at naming our random animal encounters (and human ones too, it has to be said); he also does a good impression of Animal Magic’s Johnny Morris… do you remember him?). Therefore, I am quoting lyrics from Scenes from an Italian Restaurant because one set of blackbirds have been named Breda and Eddie, the other pair are Jack and Diane (from John Cougar Mellencamp’s song of the same) and the {stupid] pigeons are Johnny and Mary (courtesy of Robert Plant). It is not surprising that the neighbours must think we are nuts (and that’s just for the birds…!?*!).
Mainly, all I want to do is to be at home, lie on the bed, read my book and possibly take a nap! However, that doesn’t happen too often. There have been pockets of activity – usually when the sun has been shining or when ‘big’ things have been in the diary.
I spent a weekend in Manchester visiting my niece and starting the next lot of accommodation moves! She will be moving closer to the family mid-April – so moving to Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire or thereabouts. Paul and I have joked that we could set up our own removals service as we have done so much of this over the past few years! My niece and I also managed to catch-up with some of my friends – who coincidentally had also just moved house and that had encompassed over 200 boxes apparently (gulp) - so that was good. It’s great that after two-and-a-half years, because of lockdown and restrictions, that we were able to slip into ‘normal’ chit-chat as though we had seen each other just a few weeks ago. My neighbour and I enjoyed something a bit different one evening – taking part in a cookery class and “Pan Asian 'small plates", making dim sum, summer rolls, bao buns and other Asian small bites. Different influences from Vietnam, Korea, Japan and a nod to China too. The course we attended was a mid-week evening between 7pm – 9.30pm, but they also run day courses, and corporate events. Check out: https://www.foodworkscookeryschool.co.uk/ I have made a few changes recently in a bid to balance my time better: Without going into details (boring as) I have handed in my notice for one of the Clerk positions that I hold. Basically, for this particular site, there’s too much work expected for too few contracted hours and the possibility of additional work and travel with no option to even claim for those additional hours or petrol! It is just not worth the hassle; let alone the very limited income it brings in! Subsequently I have spoken with the other schools about what is expected / contracted and – happily – slowly but surely - the hours are being increased, as well as the rates of pay. Outside of official [paid] work, I have told the powers-that-be within the local church community that I am unable to run the Winchcombe Open Gardens event this year....as I am in effect a "committee of one" and there is too much to do and I can't do it by myself! I am also not in the right frame of mind to 'chivvy' people along to get them to either open their gardens and get involved or bake cakes for teas and coffees on the day (in June) or provide plants for sale (on the day). I am fed-up of trying to be bright and cheery and a nice person and doing the 'right thing'. I am admitting that there is too much on my plate but, moreover, the past two years have caught up with me. And I am giving in.... or giving up! I have spent as much time in the garden as possible – and there have been some absolutely beautiful days – but February and the beginning of March have been a mixture of grey and dull. There are plenty of seedlings bravely doing their thing but now I am begiing to run out room So, yesterday, Paul and I have managed to create some space in GH2 by moving a lot of inherited (as it were) belongings into the storage unit we now rent in a local village. It is a marvellous set-up - although it is another farm having to diversify in order to keep going. Isn't it shocking that the people who ultimately feed us cannot make a decent standard of living as farmers for all their knowledge, skills, hard work and time that is involved without having to also operate as B&Bs, party or glamping / camping venues and suchlike. What'll happen when the price of food rockets even more or we don't have the farming ability to provide it...? Hmmm. Worrying. Anyway, I am doing my very small bit and the veg patch is looking good (for this time of year) and there are plenty more packets of seeds to be sown. I am champing-at-the-bit to get on with it but reluctantly am mindful of the advice from Gotherinton Nurseries (our local go-to) to be patient as it is not warm enough yet and neither is there enough light for decent growth. It is not easy as I'm not particularly patient. Still, just a couple more weeks and then it'll be a case of not seeing me for dust - or John Innes No1 Potting Compost!?*
Without boring everyone senseless and realising that we have all been dealing with the fall-out from Covid, Omicron and all the variations and differing impact therein, suffice to say some situations have been more complicated or bureaucratic as a consequence. For example, a lot of our time has been focused upon ensuring that my mother-in-law has been / is looked after and comfortable. Over the past year or so she has been unwell and it was agreed that it would be best for her to move from Hampshire to Gloucestershire (Cheltenham). Naturally there has been a great deal of work involved – selling her house, finding another residence and all the palaver of dealing with medical people, solicitors, estate agents. Subsequently Paul and I know all the various routes up and down the country back-to-front and inside-out as we have had to travel so much to organise boxing-up and clearing the house. Invariably there were a great many trips to charity shops and hopefully the ‘new’ stock swelled the Christmas coffers for them. We also had a number of bookings with charities who collect furniture or white goods, such as Emmaus and The Heart Foundation, but that was increasingly frustrating because of the rules and regulations around what they are allowed to accept or – more commonly – cannot. It was such a shame as we were keen that the good quality furniture might be of benefit to others but invariably we were thwarted at the attempt. It got me very down to realise that as much as we want to do “the right thing” it was nigh on impossible – especially trying to work logistics from a distance. Good grief, it was bad enough dealing with the official people who were being paid to do a job, Really, you couldn’t make it up – Paul contacted the estate agent about three weeks ago just to check up on how the house sale was progressing with the buyers only to be informed that they were moving in the next day!? Seriously! Apparently (pinch of salt to be taken here) one of the solicitors’ offices had neglected to keep the vendor (Paul) in the loop! Isn’t that shocking? What is more shocking (in my opinion) is that once the not-inconsiderable amount of money was transferred to the holding account (or whatever it is called) there was no mention of some kind of ‘discount’ on fees for their slipshod work. Oh no – they just take their fee, pay the estate agent and wander off into the sunset rubbing hands in glee…. call me a cynic but we did more of the paperwork and bureaucratic toing and froing than those particular offices. Personally, not impressed. However, by that stage, it has just been a relief to draw a line under that busyness.
So, the above might explain some lack of engagement on my part, but I also have to admit that Christmas, New Year and January was also somewhat onerous with the various isolation periods and changing of plans and the differing effects of these on different people. As I said previously, I didn’t actually feel necessarily ‘put out’ by enforced isolation at the time but, over the past month, I am not sure if I am feeling a bit depressed? It is very weird. I don’t feel unhappy as such, but I do feel very tired and weary. That is both physically and mentally, and probably emotionally too. Oh yes – let’s embrace the whole gamut!! I have also felt stressed with some aspects of the various job roles that keep me increasingly occupied but think it is probably sensible to review everything at Easter – when at least we should be out of an English winter which can bring even the chirpiest optimistic a bit down in the middle of February! What do you think? |
Archives
July 2021
|
RSS Feed
