Starting and Finishing

Thank you so much for all your gardening advice and identification. So then, Crocosmia/Monbretia and possibly Hemerocallis/Day Lillies - I can't wait to see how they look when they flower.  Your knowledge  - and especially the generosity with which you share it - is appreciated. I hadn't thought to net the fruit bushes. Part of me thinks I can't be bothered, but then the thought of making ice cream or curd with the fruit....that does rather change things. I don't know why I didn't think of ice cream as a way to use up the fruit - in fact John was given an ice cream maker for his birthday last year and we only used it a couple of times. Imagine making blackcurrant and liquorice ice cream! Oh yes. There has to be a recipe out there somewhere for that. I'd leaf through my cookery books right now if I could reach them.

Half term has meandered along in a pleasant enough fashion here. The weather has been a bit cool and wet but hasn't really stopped us doing anything. I did have a moment on Tuesday when I thought that I might actually murder everyone in the house if we didn't all just get out and get some fresh air. You know, bickering kids, restless adults, endless requests to go on the ipad/xbox, that feeling of there being loads to do but none of it appealing so you just go and make another cup of tea. We went out and it rained constantly but we all felt a lot better. Well, I certainly did, and no-one was harmed. We've had some nice trips out to HMS Warrior and The D-Day Museum, and lots of treats like lunches out or coffee and cake, but we need to reign it in a bit for the rest of the month, for the sake of our bank balance and my waist line. On Wednesday night John and I went out for dinner to celebrate his birthday, to a quiet country pub, and the meal was really good but my dessert - orange sorbet - was one of the nicest things I've ever eaten. You see, another reason to get out the ice cream maker.

We've been cooking. The kitchen is almost, almost finished. Yesterday the gas hob was connected and we had the luxury of cooking on gas. We made a stir fry and it was so good to smell the garlic, ginger and chilli frying in the oil, and see all the vegetables and spices lined up ready to be cooked. It's still awkward as nothing is to hand and you have to hunt down a saucepan, then open another box to hunt down a wooden spoon, but it's better than before. I don't think I can even bare to look at the microwave oven again, actually, and it may stay in the garage for the time being. The kitchen floor is being laid today which is the last big, messy job. Tomorrow I can clean out the kitchen (it's still all quite dusty) and start putting things back in the cupboards. Everything - the whole house - needs such a good clean. I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

My crafting mojo has returned and I've been spending the evenings working away on various things. I have begun two crocheted projects - a black and white chevron bag for myself, and a longer term project which will be a blanket for Angus, in granny stripes. I really, really want to make myself a bag to carry my yoga mat. I haven't found a pattern I like yet so I might have to do my usual thing of meshing two or three together and trying to make up my own. I also spent a good few hours this morning sorting out all my embroidery threads for a new sampler. Now that tedious job is done I like knowing that the threads and linen are all there, ready and waiting, and I can start the stitching any time.

A Proper Weekend

Thank you for indulging my weekend related whingeing last week. I was determined that this one would be as weekend-y as possible, as relaxing and enjoyable as it could be, and it was a beauty. If only all Saturdays and Sundays could be this way. 

Friday night started with games of Uno in front of the fire when the kids were in their pyjamas. We like Uno. Bella is mercilessly competitive and takes such delight in beating people, it is a little unnerving to be honest. 

Then a tv dinner (spicy pork and broccoli with noodles) and a glass of wine once the kids were in bed.

On Saturday I had arranged long ago to meet up with a dear friend from Leeds in London for the day. It was really lovely. We didn't rush around but just kind of wandered and went where our feet took us. I carried my big camera around in my handbag all day but forgot to use it, taking photos on my phone instead. 

Top from left to right: St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, The British Library exterior and interior.
Bottom from left to right: The Brunswick Centre, "Tokens" on a pavement in Bloomsbury*, A Routemaster.

After meeting for food in Kings Cross we hopped over the road to the British Library and spent a while looking at the exhibitions inside, then strolled around Bloomsbury, calling into shops and cafes as the mood took us. We chatted a lot and spent a really long time lingering in bookshops, both the one at The British Library and the big Waterstones on Gower Street. I think that may have been the highlight of my day, actually, the bookshop lingering. I don't spend nearly as much time in them as I used to and it was so enjoyable just browsing, picking books up, reading the back, putting them down, admiring the displays, flitting from one shelf to the next, stroking the book jackets, gathering up a small pile in my arms.  Not going anywhere near the childrens' section. Heaven. 

This morning we went out for breakfast. I had planned it this way - even booking a table for 9am! - otherwise I knew it just would not happen. I love going out for breakfast, I really do, something about it just tickles me so much. Maybe because it's not really a very British thing to do, or it wasn't when I was growing up. We went to a popular, friendly cafe in Southsea called The Tenth Hole.

Angus worked his way through a plate of cinnamon French Toast which was enough for two adults and so gooey and light it was like eating a doughnut.

Then out into the cold for bike rides, a visit to the park and a walk along the seafront. 

We saw blossom and birds and smiling families out and about with their bikes or scooters and the tiniest bit of yarn bombing on a tree branch - just things that make a person happy. 

(Ok, look, I wont lie - on the way home we did have to stop off at the supermarket to do the weekly shop. Sorry to shatter the illusion. But it didn't take long and the kids were good and I was still floating after my morning out so it didn't feel so bad.)

This afternoon we pottered around the house. I sat down with a book, a cup of tea and one of the macarons I bought yesterday in London and I ate it on my own, not offering the box to anyone else. The rest of the afternoon involved family and food, ending in a big Sunday night roast beef dinner and lemon surprise pudding. I haven't done the ironing and I haven't supervised homework and the world hasn't ended yet. 

I feel I should mention my diet here. It's been going tremendously well, right up until 6 pm on Friday night. I'll be back on it tomorrow. Weekends like this are for cake and wine. 




* The small metal fish, pictured above, is part of a series of metal "tokens" embedded into the pavement of Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury by artist John Aldus. They are replicas of small items (coins, trinkets etc) that mothers would leave with their babies at the Foundling Hospital in Bloomsbury, in the hope that when they were (rarely) reunited with their child in better times, the token would enable mother to identify child. You can view the original tokens at the nearby Foundling Museum. If you ever find yourself in the area do take a moment to look down at the pavement and notice the tokens, they are beautiful in their simplicity and incredibly moving. 

Small Houses, Tall Towers and Old Friends

After any kind of break or holiday I relish that point when I sit down on a Sunday night and go through all my photos. Inevitably I take too many and - lucky for you - delete about 95% of them, but I like to reflect on all that has happened, all that we did and saw and experienced. 

We had such a wonderful half term break! We really did. The main part of the week was spent at home pottering, doing chores, getting stuff done, but in a relaxed way. After two months in our house (is it really only that long?) a large part of our free time is still spent doing house and garden related tasks. The garden is really starting to take shape now and I'll show you more soon. On Friday morning, our friends from Yorkshire came to stay with us for the weekend. We were pretty excited (GUESTS! Guests in our HOUSE!) as these are old, old friends - from university - and there is always a lot of laughter and reminiscing when we get together. They have two boys similar in age to Bella and Angus which makes planning what to do easier.

Once they'd arrived, after bacon sandwiches and as soon as the rain stopped, we visited Bosham, a nearby village on the Sussex coast. 

It's a very quaint and charming little village, and picturesque too. 

There's a gentle, meandering walk you can take around the harbour and I like to amuse myself by admiring the houses and having "if we won the lottery" type conversations.

It was breezy, but the sun shone and all the wildflowers were out. 

The other past time I like to indulge in here is Garden Admiring. Many of the cottages have large front gardens, some walled, and all beautifully planted. Look at this border!

Plus it's the kind of place where kids can eat ice creams and find crabs and you can finish the day in a pub beer garden, so it's something for everyone really.

Saturday - mercifully - was warm and sunny which was just as well as I was intent on showing off our local area. So much has changed since I grew up here and it's fun to rediscover it. We headed down to Southsea, a quirky, touristy neighbourhood on the south coast of Portsmouth. I dragged everyone into the Model Village which hasn't change one bit since I went there as a child - read into that what you will - but was thoroughly enjoyed by each small person present.

We had a nice time wandering around Southsea and looking in the vintage shops.

There is only so much of this wandering/browsing you can do with four children though, so we moved on to our next destination: Spinnaker Tower. (You might just be able to make out some figures abseiling down the tower in the photo below.)

Should you ever find yourself in Portsmouth on a clear day, do go up because the views over the Solent from the top are just fantastic. 

You can see the boats come in and out and it's really like looking down on another kind of model village.

A section of the tower floor is made from glass and you can walk on it. I'm afraid I just couldn't do it. Even though I know that it's as safe as the floor I was standing on, and I don't think I am especially afraid of heights, I just couldn't walk on that glass floor.

Bella could though. I was surprised by my reaction too - every part of me wanted to take her arm and lead her off that glass. The rational part of my brain knew that she was probably safer there than walking along a main road, but the mother part of my brain wanted her safe and next to me.  

Do you think you could have walked on the glass floor? 

So, a good weekend all in all, and I am now gearing myself up for the week ahead. It's going to be a busy one.