Grethic's Grethicia

I've Moved - Dashing through the snow

2010-01-07T11:52:00.001Z

I have moved my blog to WordPress - I would be delighted, thrilled and generally very happy if you would update your links and follow me there......... Thanks That link again - click here

And the winner is ………….

2010-01-06T16:10:00.003Z

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Twelve Days of Christmas Party. I promised that at the end I would draw from the names of those who had completed comments. This person will receive a party bag as a going home present. I put all the names into a spreadsheet and then used a random number generator to select the winner.

Here is the Spotify Playlist for the big announcement

And the winner is ……………………………….

Josordoni

The Twelfth Day of Christmas - Da, Da, Da, Dah; Da, Da, Da, Dah

2010-01-05T00:05:00.007Z

Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas – Those drummers have started drumming. There is only one thing I can say……………..

Thank You – I’ve had a blast – I hope you have too

Your Spotify Playlist is here

p.s. I'll be round later to do some clearing up...... honest

p.p.s I used to live in a house very like the one that blows up; whilst I was in Cardiff.
p.p.p.s. I am a huge admirer of Adjoa Andoh; she has done some great work over the years on radio as well as TV.

Ohh and p.p.p.p.s the final legs score is 930 as well as all the animals, people and milking stools you mustn't forget to include 'me', the customer.

That Duckworth – Farctum – Lewis Ruling in Full

2010-01-04T14:00:00.009Z

I have to admit that when I bumped into Duckworth and Lewis in the bar last night they were in no fit state to help with any form of adjudication. I decided instead to dig round the back of the pavilion and see if I could find some other form of support. I might have guessed as much, for there under an old net, were my good friends Saggers and Truffles who were only slightly the worse for wear having consumed quantities of scrumpy; but they have the constitution for it. Below is the transcript of the official adjudication.

Saggers: You need our help, why?

Farctum: I’ve been playing Pub Cricket with a bunch of twits and we may have a bit of a controversial outcome.

Truffles: What rules were you playing?

Farctum: Well, that may have been my first mistake. You see I thought everyone knew my local rules. Name the pub, how many legs are in the name and write a review of the ambiance and the food. All should be well.

Saggers: And it wasn’t?

Farctum: Let’s just say it soon became clear we would need to create a way of weighting and adjusting the rules to suit the conditions and the experience of the players. Plus the light was beginning to fade, there was snow on the pitch………

Truffles: It’s beginning to sound like you hadn’t warmed the players up properly before you started.

Farctum: That could be true, but we are where we are; so I need to design a full proof way of adjusting the scores to come up with a fair result.

Saggers: Let’s hear it then….

Farctum: Well first we had @jaydubblah with the Douglas Bader, not a very full review and she admitted that his leglessness could be a problem. More cake anyone.

Truffles: Thanks it is rather fine.

Farctum: Anyway I decided that the legs component should be worth 6, two for the ones he started with, two for the spares and two for @jaydubblah’s own; the reasons for this will become clear tomorrow.

Saggers: So six legs = six runs

Farctum: Well now, you see, I decided to add a multiplier of 5 for actually having been there and another 5 for the review, even though the review amounted to ‘it’s OK’.

Truffles: This cake is marvellous – could I have some more

Farctum: There you go. Anyway that gave a score of 6x5x5=150 a decent score in anyone’s eyes and I thought OK I’m on a roll and I quickly calculated up the rest.

Saggers: I hope you did some adjustments for those that did not visit the pubs etc.

Farctum: Yes I did and the final scores were:

Pub name, County, Number of legs, Been there, Review, Total

Douglas Bader, Suffolk, 6, 5, 5, 150

Mops and Brooms, Hertfordshire, 2, 5, 1, 10

Punch Bowl, Essex, 2, 5, 10, 100

Bug and Spider, Wiltshire, 16, 1, 1, 16

Twenty Church Wardens, Norfolk, 42, 1, 1, 42

Fox and Hounds, Suffolk, 242, 1, 1, 242

Crab and Lobster, Yorkshire, 22, 5, 5, 550

Truffles: Looks great. I don’t see why you needed us. Thanks for the cake though; is that a bottle of claret I see?

Farctum: Yes, help yourself. Well it was fine until……………

Saggers: What happened?

Farctum: @Martincampbell2 came up with The Beehive, near Bury St Edmunds. He is thorough and even had all the evidence for how many legs there were.

Truffles: So what’s the problem?

Farctum: Even on a bad day for England 600,000 sounds like a bit of a trouncing; plus the two I have to add for his legs, the reasons for which will become clear tomorrow.

It means his score card looks like this:

Pub name, County, Number of legs, Been there, Review, Total
The Beehive, Suffolk, 600002, 1, 1, 600002

Overall, not what you would call a balanced scorecard and after so many years of corporate jargon I can’t have that, can I?

Saggers: I have a solution

Truffles: You do?

Farctum: Great, what is it?

Saggers: Well it is the bees that have the legs, not the hive. So you could give a duck ie two legs. Or as you did with the others, for reasons that will be clear tomorrow, the two for his own legs.

Farctum: Yes, but that doesn’t seem right because it was a very clever answer.

Truffles: Life is tough sometimes babe, did I ever tell you about my experience with ballroom dancing?

Farctum: Not now Truffles, but thanks for calling me babe. Anyway some hives have legs don’t they so that would be four, plus two.

Saggers: I’ve got it…..

Truffles: Is it catching?

Saggers: Only at Silly Mid Off

Farctum: Come on I need to give them something!

Saggers: Make @MartinCampbell2 the man of the match; I don’t know award him some virtual shoes like these which are perfect for cricket.

Then give the game to the team with the next highest points.

Farctum: Perfect, so @josordoni wins the match.

The Eleventh Day of Christmas – a museum piece who needs a soldering iron

2010-01-04T06:22:00.002Z

We have pipers piping. Now when I think of pipes, I don't think of plumbing but that little game of pipes I used to play; but now I can't remember if it was on the PC or a gameboy or what. I do like games, as you may have guessed by now; not the shoot 'em up kind, but strategy games of the kind where you have to test ideas. My current predilection is a little game called launchball from the Science Museum for the iphone. What is scary is that I might not be hooked if it wasn't for some early influences. Number 1 was my parents insisting I had typing lessons when I was eleven – this is back in the day when a typewriter had inky ribbon and if you hit the keys too quickly or hard they jammed and if you didn't hit them hard enough nothing happened. Number 2 was doing 'computer' classes at school. For younger viewers, this meant punching cards that were sent to Bristol University and 10 days later came back telling you the square root of 12 (but only if you had punched the right bits of the card). If that doesn't leave me feeling like a museum piece then my visit to the Wilkins Jam Factory at Tiptree earlier in the week with its museum certainly has done. We were provided with those slide rules they have in their museum cases as standard issue, along with log books. I guess I was just born too early but lucky enough to have people equip me not to be frightened of technology and a natural addiction to games. So, whilst I get my soldering iron out to try and fix the pipes I give you this present if you have never met it before a little game called Samorost2, sadly you only get the first bit free but I found it has entertained many a visiting child and foreign exchange student as no language is required, just a willingness to keep trying.

My quest from you though is what is your favourite game on whatever platform you choose?

As to the legs quest we are now up to 726 legs delivered.

The Spotify Playlist for today's post is here and the list in words is in the first comment.

The Tenth Day of Christmas – Pub Cricket

2010-01-03T06:23:00.005Z

We have Lords a leaping. I love cricket; therefore Lords is inextricably linked to the game. I am as happy with a beach game, village cricket or a county game; sadly I've never been to a Test match but have watched hours of it on TV. I am also rather fond of a good pub, with excellent food and a great atmosphere. One of those games to try and break up the miles travelled by car is Pub Cricket; which also ties in nicely to the legs theme running through the last few days.

My quest today is a mini review of a pub, including the number of legs in the pub name, so where have you been, what's the nosh and atmos like and what score will you declare? We can then have a little County Championship. If there are enough responses I might create another map.

The playlist for today's post is here with the list in words in the first comment.

Update as at 20.36 using the DFL [Duckworth/Farctum/Lewis scoring method] - full league table and methodology will follow!

Forgot to do you an update to the legs quest yesterday but for the record we are now up to 548 legs delivered. I now have four declarations of the correct answer.

Illustration Friday - Renewal

2010-01-02T14:26:00.003Z

A brief interlude in the 12 Days of Christmas. Illustration Friday this week is Renewal. To me one of life's most perfect things is an egg, particularly a hen's egg. All that promise in cookery terms from the simple boiled, fried, poached or scrambled through glorious pavlovas, cakes, soufflés etc. There is also the potential for new life. The downside for me at this time of year is that the short days mean that my own hens stop laying for a few weeks. They also go through a moult, losing some of their feathers before they are renewed once more with shiny plumage and their combs standing up red and proud again. During this time I have to buy in eggs that come with a date stamp on the side. I also work in the library where books are stamped with their dates for renewal. This and Jack in the Beanstalk, well it is the pantomime season……….. Well you can see where the thoughts came from. I really must invest in some watercolour paper, this has come up all crinkly.

The Ninth Day of Christmas – Is Gordon Gay?

2010-01-02T08:49:00.002Z

The ladies are dancing; to accompany them today we have two Spotify playlists. The one for today's theme is here and as usual in words in the first comment. The 'Party' playlist which is an open list that people can contribute to is now up to 36 tracks, thanks to all those who have added some. I would be thrilled if people would add more tracks. What song will really make you move, even if you can't get up and walk, what will make you hum, sing, jiggle or otherwise feel the music? Are you a salsa person, did you have to 'do' the Gay Gordons or Dashing White Sergeant as a child at school (probably wearing your daps/pumps/plimsoles)? I am not known for my dancing but I have had my moments, perhaps I should add dancing to the list of things I will reprise. This day really needs to be one for exercise after the excesses of the season, time to get a wriggle on. Remember you still have time to practice your Scottish dancing for Burns' night later this month.

The Eighth Day of Christmas – There’s more to this than meets the eye…..

2010-01-01T16:47:00.004Z

Happy New Year!

On the Eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me eight maids a milking. It is also New Years Day, traditionally, represented by the head of Janus a time for reflection, making changes and resolutions. This year I certainly made some changes, after a long career in the NHS I decided to get on my bike and work more locally; all in all I've been pleased with the change. The unexpected benefit has been the chance to take things up that I had given up long ago, like trying to draw, sing, write, and do craftwork. I know I'm still at the stick man phase with my drawing, just be grateful the singing hasn't made it here yet. I've decided that my resolutions this year should not be about giving things up but taking things up again. Whatever happened to my canoeing attempts, using the sewing machine, rock climbing, always writing thank you letters, a picture a day? I might not yet be able to land like a pigeon on the deck of a ship on the Wii, but give me a chance and I'll manage it.

My Challenge today – rather than giving things up for New Year what will you try again?

As for the legs quest, the eighth day is crucial, there is more to the puzzle than meets the eye. Not only do we have the eight maids, but they each have a cow and crucially they each sit on a three legged milking stool. Today another 118 legs arrived, making a running total of 256; should be a breeze for you to get to the final solution from here. I am currently holding three correct solutions for later publication.

The Spotify playlist for toady is here

The Seventh Day of Christmas – Shall we go for a DIP?

2009-12-31T00:20:00.002Z

Seven swans a swimming. I'd love to suggest we all pop down to Walberswick for a quick dip but despite the proximity of Sizewell I think most people would find it a tad bracing.

Swimming reminds me of swim lanes, beloved of those who do process mapping. The joy of the English language is that we have a tool with which we can communicate with people across whole swathes of the globe. We then put ourselves into a work context and promptly make everything we say unintelligible to anyone outside of the 'club'. Add to that a whole lexicon of acronyms, abbreviations and jargon; the subterfuge is complete.

Today a quick quest; what is your favourite cross over acronym, abbreviation or piece of jargon; something which in one world means one thing and in another means something else altogether? Mine is o/c in my podiatry life it meant onychocryptosis (ingrowing toenail) in medicine it means oral contraceptive, two things that are best not confused. As for DIP, in podiatry that would be distalinterphalangeal (end small toe or finger joint) for other meanings go here.

Your spotify list for today is here.

Please remember there is still time to enter any of the previous day's quests (and a prize draw). Effectively they start two days before Christmas with Santa's little helper.

If you are still in the leg challenge – two people have now cracked it and I am holding their responses to publish later what you need to know is that today 46 more legs were delivered; making 138 delivered so far.

I hope you are still enjoying the 12 Days of Christmas Party #12DCP

The Sixth Day of Christmas – Wither Shall I Wander, Up Tyley’s Bottom? – I would like a Dap Map

2009-12-30T07:20:00.012Z

On the sixth day of Christmas we have six geese a laying. My thoughts went to goosy, goosy gander and wandering. One of my fascinations is anything to do with maps and walking, discovering, treasure hunting and map related puzzles. My present to you this sixth day is a collection of links to map related quests, so arm yourself with your post code, map co-ordinates or GPS info and see what you learn about your area: (Health warning, if you are easily distracted, make a cup of tea now and if you have Spotify click here for the playlist, you may be here some time)

MapZone – breaking you in gently, this is an interactive resource aimed at children from Ordnance Survey but so fabulous, map jigsaws to match county and country maps; the squirrel's nuts (takes me back to Day 1), crosswords and so much more.

Ordnance Survey select – create your own paper map with your home at its centre.

Geograph – The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland and you can be part of it. Take a photo, submit it and if they like it, your photo will become part of the database. Beware their standards can be quite exacting.

Ordnance Survey Explore – find routes, create and share routes. Here is a special present from me, a walk for anyone with strong legs and time in the Cotswolds. Called 'Up Tyley's Bottom', which is funny enough, but for some who read this might be even funnier.

Bench - Marks – now if ever a geek award was to be offered for things map related this would have to be a suitable candidate. Small brackets attached to buildings such as schools and churches, find them, log them, their condition etc. At the time of writing The database contains13,000 non-pillar flush brackets, consisting of 2,947 2GL brackets, 5,143 S-series,4,893 G-series, 16 L-series, and 1 other

Geocaching – The hiding of small boxes, marking them with GPS co-ordinates, setting clues and tracking their contents as they move around the globe. I love this stuff, really anoraky, embarrasses the children; ticks all the boxes actually.

Land Registry – Not so much a game of hide and seek, unless of course you are interested in arguing about ownership, boundaries etc. It is amazing how much information is held and publically available at little or no price.

Then of course there are a host of others for example Weather maps, Flood Maps, Public Health

For the iphone there are a huge range of map related Apps, my favourites so far are geocaching, MapMyRide GBLocate and PhotoOverlay.

Adding maps to blogs and websites – I have yet to perfect this but you can use Get-a-map and OSOpenspace – one of my New Year's Resolutions will be about mastering that lot.

By the way the most 'boring square' in the UK maps is at Ousefleet, in the 1:50 000 scale map, just below the word Ousefleet is a square with just a tiny bit of pylon line. Here it is:

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

All of this and I haven't even touched on Google Maps and mashables; if you've got the rest of your life to do nothing else, work your way through this lot….. http://mashable.com/2009/01/08/google-maps-mashups-tools/

And if you are stuck in 20 feet of snow and want a little something to read I recommend Map Addict by Mike Parker

My quest for you all, in the last 24 hours I have been much exercised by those little black or white shoes; with or without laces that were essential wear for PE at school. I would quite like to map what they are called in different parts of the country. I went to school in the South Cotswolds and called them daps. Where did you go and what were they called? I would like to create a Dap Map!

Oh and one other thing, would you like to add yourself to the visitors map on the right there? Thanks.

For those that are still following the legs quest another 32 arrived today; so far 92 have been delivered.

And....... drum roll......... here it is so far...The Dap Map at 18.44

The Fifth Day of Christmas – 5 Gold Rings, four on two planks, three legged race, two in a sack and an Inter Village Blood Bath

2009-12-29T06:46:00.003Z

This is the Fifth day of Christmas, traditionally a line in the song that allows a break while you sing out Five G –old rings, take a deep breath and then run on with the rest of the words. In the UK of course 5 Gold Rings in 2010 and beyond will be focusing on the London 2012 Olympics. Where I used to work in the North Cotswolds there was a tradition of Robert Dover's Olimpick Games, at Dover's Hill near Chipping Campden; including shin kicking and other cider fuelled activities. If you are a regular follower of the blog you will know that in the past I have been very involved in village activities and one of those is the Inter Village Games.

The Inter Village Games involve 10 North Suffolk villages, some with no sports facilities of their own, competing in a range of events. They range from traditional sports day type activities to, four on two planks, two in a sack, slow bike, wheelbarrow race (with real wheelbarrows) and egg throwing. In 2010 Dennington will be the host village, in the past the games were known by our local St John's team as the Inter Village blood bath. If you want to see the calibre of the sportsmanship look here http://www.nearthecoast.com/laxfield/index.htm at the entry for ' su 17 ju 2007 ~ Final day of the Inter Village Games at Laxfield, Suffolk'.

Your challenge today: I am always on the lookout for new sports activities or fund raising ideas for fetes etc. What is the best sport or fund raiser you have ever taken part in; not necessarily for the amount it raised but for novelty and fun?

Forgot to add earlier - 5 gold rings = no legs therefore today only another 20 legs added. We are now up to 60 legs delivered so far.

The Fourth Day of Christmas – Onion Cats and Squinzano Dogs

2009-12-28T07:31:00.008Z

Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas. In the song we meet the calling birds, or are they collie or even coaly birds? Several definitions abound. I have decided they are calling birds, calling out their tales, stories and other fine lines. I am in the process of writing up tales of the cats found at Casa Mare, Cipolla, Puglia. Cipolla means onion in Italian, hence 'The Onion Cats'. I have decided that the follow up tales are likely to be based on the dogs found in Squinzano a town in the same region of Italy. The name Squinzano sounds faintly threatening to my ears and I think the Squinzano Dogs may have a slightly 'edgy' set of personalities. Definitely gives me an excuse to keep going back for 'research' purposes.

The long winter nights are a traditional period for the telling of tales, light hearted or ghostly so……

My challenge for you today is to tell a tale in one of the following formats or styles:

Twitter

Haiku

Nonsense verse

Children's Stories or Tales of the Unexpected

The Spotify play list for this post is here

By the way today 20 new legs arrived, which means 40 legs have been delivered already

Update 11.50 my Twitter story...
Squinzano Sam saw a fight. Two dogs, paws drawn; a whirl of hair, fangs and dust. A huge Mastiff, Panettone Pete, entered; saved the day.

Update 12.38 - Haiku
Calcanium deep
Hair dust murderous intent
Summer memory

Update 14.19 - Nonsense verse
Squinzano Sam a duplicitous mutt

With paws down

Fought tooth and claw

To ruin his town

Panettone Pete, massive mastiff

Called for Leone

With bag and net

To catch the phoney

Pete shouted ‘get ze bag Leone’

Update 19:10

Squinzano Dogs – A Children’s Story for Adults

If you look at a map of Italy, the country is shaped like a boot. Way down in the heel of the boot, in a region called Puglia is the town of Squinzano. Like most parts of Italy the local people like to think they are in charge, but in reality it is the animals that have the measure of the place. In some parts of Puglia it is cats or geckos but in Squinzano it is the dogs that have the upper hand. Our tale takes place one day last summer.

Squinzano Sam was a particularly moth eared mutt who seemed to leave a trail of dirt, dust and stray hairs wherever he went. He had a nasty reputation for double crossing, dirty tricks and generally trying to control the town with acts of duplicity, daring and intimidation. Squinzano Sam hung around the town square near to the town hall which doubled up as library and ‘Pronto Socorrso’ . This was high summer; heat reflected off buildings and at mid-morning the streets were almost empty. In common with most of their compatriots the Italian locals had left their winter houses and moved like some nomadic tribe to their castles in the sun; their beach villas. During these times there was less food to be found by the Squinzano dogs; communal bins did not overflow, leaving poor pickings for the feral creatures.

A small right hand drive car pulled up outside the Pronto Socorrso and four Inglese climbed out. They peered at the signs on the walls attempting to translate.

“Definitely an emergency department; but only part time. It says someone should be in attendance from 11.00 onwards,” said a woman in shorts and a T-shirt.

As she spoke a pale girl in a flowery dress, stood looking miserable and dropped her bag to the ground.

“It’s OK I’m just hot and I hurt. If I could marry a snowman right now I’d be happy” she said.

An old Italian cycled into view, ceremoniously parked his bike against the wall and started talking to the woman in shorts. After much muttering about bleeding from the ears, temperatures and specialists he declared that the group should go immediately to the ‘Ospidale in Brindisi’. The group climbed reluctantly back into the sweltering car and left.

Squinzano Sam shifted his head, flicked first one eye and then the other open, sniffed the air and started to raise his body from the shade of the tree in the square. Then he saw movement; Mad Rex, a scrawny terrier whippet cross had seen and scented the same thing. Then as if from nowhere, dropping down from a roof, the strangest of creatures, not a plain black and white cat; but a marmalade orange cat, known locally as the Tangerine Jellicle sprang onto the pavement. All three had their eyes on the same trophy, the bag dropped by the girl with the flowery dress. It smelt of foccacia.

Tangerine Jellicle and Rex raced to the bag; attempted to rip it open and then started to scratch at each other. Sam hung back, watching, secretly he was very tired following a night out with his bitches the night before; but eventually could resist no more. Hair and dust flying in all directions, a gnashing of teeth and whimpers of pain drew more dogs and cats into the area to see what was going on. Panettone Pete a huge mastiff came around the corner and waded in to try and sort out the argument.. Then Leone a small cat, with petite features moved carefully round the edge of the group.

Tangerine Jellicle cried out, “grab ze bag Leone.”

Eventually the animals had fought for and collected bits of the prize; Panettone could be credited with having crushed the fight. Indeed Panettone had saved the day but the toll on all of the animals had been high. In the street was a mess of fur, hair and bits of flesh from each of the creatures. As the street cleaner swept up there were bits of Panettone, Tangerine Jellicle and bits of ze bag Leone had rescued.

“You are fantastic for clearing that lot up,” said the man with the bike.

“It’s nothing,” said the street cleaner, “a mere Zuppa Inglese, a triffle.”

Finito

With sincere thanks to……
Richard P-S also known as @tettig, @isemann and @josordoni for joining in the challenge, you will see I have threaded your ideas into mine.

NorfolkKitchen, The View from Cullingford , @Goodshoeday, @essexgourmet , @MartinCampbell2, @LivinginPulia and @downatheel for the various culinary and other references which I hope you will recognise

The Third Day of Christmas – Postman’s Knock and a Pioneer

2009-12-27T08:02:00.007Z

On the third day of Christmas, we have three French hens. So birds, French; somehow my mind went back 'several' years. Who can remember the game that was known as Postman's Knock, the anticipation mixed with dread, would you be chosen, did you even want to be; and as for the kissing…….French or otherwise? I don't think I would like to relive all of that angst (no disrespect to any of the individuals involved!). At this stage of the party I think we should start playing some games; how about Postman's knock? Just take a look at some of the pages in the blog. Pick a link to a topic, another blog or a tweeter and just go and pay them a virtual visit, leave a comment on their site or a reply in twitter, someone you haven't 'spoken' to before and if you are very brave sign the comment with a p.s. xx #12DCP. Come back here and leave a link in the comments so we can all see what you've been up to.

The Spotify Playlist for this blog post can be found here.

Today 12 more legs have been delivered. Some people have been working very hard on the legs question and one person has the answer right – well done to @easternsparkle – I am saving your comment to publish later to allow some others time to get to the right answer too.

The reference to Pioneer is the topic for Illustration Friday which this week is 'Pioneer' (if you have come here from Illustration Friday, you might like yesterday's post, create a Miximal). Here is a little story from me….

The Second Day of Christmas - Miximals – Two Ostortoises?

2009-12-26T08:36:00.004Z

I hope you are enjoying the party. There is some fantastic food on offer that some of the other guests brought. Tell me, did you receive any new crayons, felt tips, an etch-a-sketch, spirograph or other art making stuff? I've been thinking about those Turtle Doves, sound like crazy mixed up animals to me. I wonder what other mixed up animals we could create. I am going to work on the idea of an ostrich crossed with a tortoise a miximal called an ostortoise ….

Can you create a new animal cross and what will you call it?

Not sure how to put a link to your photo or blog page in a blog comment cut and paste this little snippet changing the http address to the location of your miximal.

<a href="http://grethic.blogspot.com/2009/11/something-completely-different-blue.html">Here</a>

Spotify playlist for today's post is here

By the way, today 6 legs arrived.

Not sure what any of this is about – go to the Christmas Eve post which covers the basics – there is a prize on offer.
Update - my Miximal an Ostortoise

The First Day of Christmas – A Squirrel in a Pear Tree?

2009-12-25T08:33:00.002Z

Welcome, thank you for coming to my party. Mwah, Mwah. Here, wellies and coat? I'll take those. Take a glass of bucks fizz and come through into the lounge. The fire is crackling, sit yourself down. How was your lunch, what did you have? I do hope you enjoyed it, or if you haven't eaten yet I hope you will enjoy whatever you are having later. I was thinking about that partridge in a pear tree, it wouldn't make much of a meal and that made me think………. I've actually eaten squirrel in a Pear Tree, it was part of a game pie and the Pear Tree in question is a pub. So, by way of an ice breaker;

what is the strangest thing you have ever eaten and where?

Spotify playlist for today's post is here If you have an 'other half' who read Jackie magazine ask who they put on their wall; this list will suit some down to the ground

By the way, today 2 legs arrived.

Not sure what any of this is about – go to the Christmas Eve post which covers the basics – there is a prize on offer.

Not a creature is stirring not even a mouse – Welcome to the Eve of the 12 Days of Christmas Party #12DCP

2009-12-24T00:00:00.002Z

Tis the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature is stirring not even a mouse. However, over the next 12 days I am expecting a bunch of deliveries to go with my 12 Days of Christmas Party. You are very welcome by the way; do have a mince pie and a small glass of chilli sherry. Over the next 12 days there will be a post a day, hopefully you will find at least one that will make you stop and think, share a memory, create something new or do something different. For each day that you have a published comment I will turn it into a prize draw entry and on the 13^th day of Christmas I will select a winner and put the answers into their rightful places. Please leave comments and links as appropriate. So by way of a warm up……………………………..

I am a 'mostly' good fairy. My true love has said that he is sending me gifts, but for historical reasons I am much affeared of not knowing how many legs I might see, (those who know me will understand why).

At the end of the 12^th day of Christmas, how many legs will there be in my house?

You may ask for one wish to be granted, I may or may not choose to answer the question; I definitely will not answer the question if the answer I would have to give is a number.

Want another puzzle? If you haven't already tried it yesterdays warm up is still available for comments.

The Spotify play list for this post is here

You are all invited to the 12 Days of Christmas Party – Be Careful What You Wish For

2009-12-23T08:41:00.002Z

A change of avatar today; I am sending out the final batch of virtual invitations. Please come to my virtual 12 days of Christmas Party #12DCP. The first post, to set things up will be on Christmas Eve and then every day for the 12 days of Christmas. Each day you have a comment published will create a draw entry and at the end of the 13^th day I will announce the winner. If you haven't already done so please let me know who your +1 will be, if you are bringing food or drink, or create a room design, invitation card, Christmas decoration; anything at all to set the party atmosphere. Oh and the party playlist on Spotify is here please feel free to contribute.

For now I am Santa's little helper …..

I will pass on messages to Father Christmas with requests for presents, but only if they pass a simple rule. What would you like to request that he brings you? Can you work out what the rule is? Put your request in a comment and I will let you know if your message can be passed on.

The Spotify Playlist for today's post is Be Careful What You Wish For

Shortest Day and Longest Night

2009-12-21T08:11:00.006Z

A change of avatar and a last downbeat reflection before the fun and mayhem of the Christmas Holiday proper.

Last night the buyers of music 'rose up and fought back against the X factor phenomenon' by buying Killing in the Name by Rage against the Machine. I wonder did they all look at the lyrics, what did they interpret by them? I'm not saying the x-factor track would be preferable, but sometimes I wish we could go back to tracks with jingle bells, snowflakes and reindeer that we can share with the average 6 year old.

In the meantime, ever since hearing the name of the band and the title of the song, the words revolving in my head have been from Henry Reed's poem, 'Naming of Parts' – I think this is one of the most powerful war poems, follow this link and you will see the words in full and at the bottom of the page an audio of the poem. Today we have reflection, yesterday we had snow and to-morrow morning we shall go Christmas shopping. I am grateful that my life is simple and I am thinking of those who are separated from loved ones, for whatever reasons in the darkest days of winter.

The Spotify playlist to accompany this post is here. I’d love to know what you think of this collection, in particular the Mathieu Ruhlmann. Here is what his website says about it “In 1853 while in exile Victor Hugo began conducting séances, as a way to communicate with his daughter who had drowned in the Seine. During these séances he claimed to have spoken to the Ocean, the Moon, Plato, Galileo, and Jesus.
During one of these meetings he received a message 'from the otherside' that described the afterlife as a return to the Earth in four states depending on how you conducted your life. If you lived a terrible life you would come back as a stone/pebble and then next step plant then animal/insect and if you lived a good life you would come back as a human again. What interested me in this idea was that life would be involved in everything that rocks, plants, stones hold this history of life in them and by working with these objects you can extract this history sonically.”

Something Completely Different – Butterfly tags

2009-12-18T22:42:00.002Z

No time to write other than to say this is the SCD challenge post for this week. Tags and butterfly.

Illustration Friday - Undone

2009-12-18T22:30:00.002Z

A quick drawing for Illustration Friday with the theme of 'Undone' – not sure if I was thinking 'Undone', as in the crab's situation, the pot lid or not cooked; probably covers all three. As a child we used to go to a village called Beer in Devon, where crabs were regularly caught in pots and brought back to be cooked by the fishermen's wives; with many tales of them escaping from the pan. How many of the tales were true and how many to alarm small children I don't know.

The Spotify playlist is one I created earlier in the year when we had been crabbing at Walberswick.

The North Wind Doth Blow – The World in the Middle of December – White Wine in the Sun anyone?

2009-12-17T16:49:00.004Z

When I started my blog back in Mid May, I wasn't sure if I would a) keep it up and b) find a voice. In the meantime I have wittered on about all sorts of things, quite a lot of food, but all sorts of other stuff too, see the index of sorts on the right. The common theme tends to be the passing of the seasons. This time of year always finds me reflective, probably writing the Christmas letter has something to do with it. Certainly when I wrote the 2008 letter I did not expect to decide on a complete job change; a lot has happened this year. One of the pleasing sides of blogging is seeing that people choose to view the blog from around the globe. The map above is the analytics for the blog since it started. Not surprisingly mostly from English speaking countries and parts of Europe where I already have friends or family; but plenty of other places too. The one thing I haven't written much about is my love of all things map related, so one of my 12 days of Christmas blogs will redress that. In the meantime if you are keen on maps, mapping and cycling this is your official invite to join the 12 Days of Christmas Party #12DCP.

The wind is whistling around our house at the moment driving icy blasts from the North and we have had intermittent slow flurries today and yesterday with a severe weather warning for tonight and tomorrow. The complete opposite to the Tim Minchin White Wine in the Sun Christmas, he is attempting to challenge the x factor et al songs for the top spot – see what you think.

Spotify link for the post (doesn't include the Minchin) here - list in words in first comment.

Serendipity is a Sparkling Cranberry

2009-12-15T19:27:00.003Z

Not the name of my next novel, movie or album just one of those moments that made me smile. In the world of Twitter, posts arrive and like some strange manga book you tend to read them from the bottom up. Today the tweets above arrived next to each other I read the bottom one first and just had to giggle at the thought of the frosted cranberries lit up by torch light. I'm not one for starting Christmas early, preferring to emphasise the 12 days that start at Christmas day, but this was a little seasonal canapé for the season to follow. Thanks @williamcooks and @JoWaddell, you are definitely invited to my #12DCP 12 Days of Christmas Party. What nibbles will you bring and what tracks will you add to the Party music for the night; something to get you on the dance floor.

The spotify play list for this post is more abstract than usual click here to listen; as usual the track list will be in the first comment.

Don’t tell the children – fontcapture– invite to writers to join the #12DCP

2009-12-14T17:51:00.004Z

I was looking for a way to add the people on my 'writerly' list to the twelve days of Christmas Party and struggling with what picture to use, in the past I've used wordles and was tempted to do the same again but then came information about fontcapture. This clever little website lets you scan your handwriting via a grid system and then provides you with a downloadable file to add to your windows fonts. Ironically to add it to my blog I've now had to paste the font back into a picture to include in this post.

So, don't tell the children; if this had been available 'n' years ago I could have avoided hours on Boxing Day handwriting my thank-you notes for the hankies, bath cubes and bubbles.

To all those on my 'writerly' list in twitter you are cordially invited to join my 12 days of Christmas party. Starting on Christmas day there will be a post a day, hopefully with something to amuse, distract or entertain; I wonder what stories you will tell.

For now please could you add to the playlist for the party which can be found on spotify; something to make you jiggle. Also, some opening lines, starters for ten to get the conversation flowing or if closing pieces are more up your strada how about the perfect line for leaving a twelve day long party.

The playlist for this post can be found on spotify here the list in words can be found in the first comment that follows.

Illustration Friday – Hatched – #12DCP invite to the dfaolbilts

2009-12-12T18:58:00.005Z

You ARE beautiful in my eyes Marmite

The topic for illustration Friday this week is 'hatched'. You will see from some of my other posts that I am also touting for votes so that I can win one of a limited number of special edition jars of marmite, if you are willing please vote for me here; I have not entered this picture separately so the item in the marmite gallery is my adapted avatar.

I am also adding to my list of invitees to my virtual #12DCP; 12 days of Christmas party; the latest addition is my twitter list called dfaolbilts – it stands for 'don't fit any other lists but I like their style'. By definition these are bound to be some peoples marmites, love 'em or hate 'em; a mix of comedians, potty mouths, 'Indians' (some of who do live in India) people who send fab links or quotes, some bots like the Big Ben clock; basically all sorts of everything. The only thing they have in common is that I rate them highly.

So dear dfaolbilts, if by chance you come here visiting, what will you bring to the party and what song should I add to the playlist to get you up and dancing?

The playlist for this post is here and for those without Spotify the complete listing as it is so far will be in the first comment.

To any illustrators, designers, artists etc I would still love some designs for perfect party rooms.

Something Completely Different – Party Girl tags

2009-12-12T18:22:00.006Z

The theme for this week's something completely different is 'Party Girl' in the form of tags. Strange how things come together sometimes; first, I've let myself get sidetracked by a campaign marmite are running with the lure of one of their limited edition marmites as a reward. I haven't entered this tag as a separate entry but you can vote for me here. Years ago in Norwich there used to be a clothes shop called 'Your Granny Wouldn't Like It'; I quite like the idea of a party where the invite is that your 'ma might not like it'; everyone knows that you either love or hate marmite. Actually stop there; people may come here who haven't come across the stuff before. When someone asked me what it was I described it as black goo that you spread on toast. They sent me this link for marmite and road kill sarnies, which made me laugh, as people often assume my foraging includes road kill.

Secondly, I need to invite some more of my twitter lists to my imaginary 12 days of Christmas party [#12DCP]. This time I have added all those on my A-Z list. They are all in the public eye to some extent, but many of them are also on my other lists because the write, cycle, love food or whatever. Most of them are also great twitterers, which makes following them amusing. But how to get the tag to the A-Z listers, now there is a problem. I happened to have been listening to @markglennmurphy on Radio Suffolk when he read out a message from a listener who shared a cat with her neighbour. The cat had arrived at the listeners house today with a tag around its neck saying happy birthday. I also spent part of today at the hairdressers reading that auspicious academic journal 'OK' in which Victoria Beckham had two small pigs in her handbag; apparently the latest designer accessory (I won't comment on the virtue of small pigs as pets other than to say the bacon rashers would be very small and don't ask me to clean her handbag).

Here is the plan; I will hire a small team of fluffy kittens, little dogs and handbag sized pigs; attach the tags to their collars and put them through my A-Z listers cat flaps. I wonder if anyone of them will come. If you are an A-Z lister (or someone masquerading as one), what would you have me add to the playlist for the #12DCP, a track that will make you get up and boogie; also what little treasure will you bring along to amuse the guests?

Any crafters who are up for a challenge, I would still love some party invitation designs for a virtual 12 Days of Christmas Party.

Your Spotify playlist for this post is here and for non Spotify users I will put the details, as the list currently stands in the first comment to this post.

Can I join the Marmarati ?- Please

2009-12-10T12:25:00.004Z

My credentials?

I've changed my whole image. Regular followers will know I change my avatar and Spotify play list to fit what is going on around me. So, my avatar has had a marmite make-over. The Spotify playlist to go with explains my love of marmite. Oh and I've taken a name change just for the Marmarati – there I am known as Globus.

So that should be everything for a secret society – plastic surgery, name change and complete change of aural environment.

Not sure what this is all about? Go to http://marmarati.org./galleria/view/425

Com Post – How Green are we at Christmas – Invite to the #12DCP & Harlequin invaders

2009-12-09T16:15:00.003Z

Been at home today - always a mistake; too much time for reflection as the pile of tissues mounts at my side. Bit of a personal challenge this one, self audit looking at how green we are in the lead up to Christmas, as I've asked myself the questions I will be avoiding the difficult ones.

Reduce
Miles	Bit of a mix	I cycle lots but with family all over the country car and train essential
Waste	Trying	Try to buy loose rather than pre-packed so only buy what need Do freeze and use leftovers
Fuel consumption	Trying very hard	Bought an Owl which has been interesting. However one of the towel rails is firmly back on as better than mouldy towels and using the tumble dryer [and I avoid ironing] Buy a green tariff and awaiting quote for solar water heating
Chemicals	Gone very eco	Tend to use ecover/simple/method and co-op 'eco' ranges. Also use borax, bicarb and non chlorine bleaches and washable dusters and cloths
Water	Butts	3 water butts on the go but still not enough
ReUse
Waste	Compost crazy	Shred receipts and use as chicken bedding Bokashi bin for non meat kitchen waste Homemade Wormery – which you can hear working! Wet and dry compost bins Council compost (takes ages to fill)
Cards	Christmas cards	Recycle into the next years cards see my SCD posts
Recycle
Waste	Council bins and village hall bins	Glass, paper, tins – sad that we have to drive to get rid of tetra packs

Clearly I should start with fabric hankies and a copper to boil them in after use!

OK it's not perfect; it is a fairly solid start though. To everyone on my Green & Gardens Twitter list you are invited to the #12DCP and of course anyone else who would like to join in – Twelve days of Christmas party, a virtual party, open to everyone. Call back during the 12 days for all sorts of nonsense. If you are coming, what 'green' thing will you bring? Also choose some music for the #12DCP playlist on Spotify – I will see if I can also blip the tracks for non-spotify users.

Spotify playlist for this post is on a different note. – Audit of harlequin ladybirds on a window frame – Thanks to @flashmaggie who made me aware of this in her post.

SCD – Marilyn Monroe – tags & invitations

2009-12-06T19:56:00.003Z

The challenge for Something Completely Different this week is Marilyn Monroe and tags. My entry is above, anything but seasonal but then I'm always inclined to take the 'different' part of the challenge seriously.

For those who like details, the original colour picture was manipulated through my PC and then overlayed with text, finally I applied my reddest lipstick and kissed an acetate (and I liked it) and then rescanned the image. I chose the black and white image of roses because I was making the tag all I could think of was the 'Goodbye English (or is it England's) Rose' version of candle in the wind.

In return though a challenge for the happy crafters who come here from SCD. If you look at some of my other posts with the #12DCP tag you will see I am planning a party for the 12 days of Christmas. Would you like to come up with an invite and leave a link in the comments section below?

Spotify playlist to accompany this post here.

Illustration Friday – Crunchy – Plus an invite if you would like to come to the #12DCP Party

2009-12-05T21:47:00.005Z

Over on Illustration Friday the topic this week is 'crunchy'. I have been travelling so a hastily drawn cartoon contains my idea.

I am planning a 'virtual' party and need your help, if you are an illustrator, designer or otherwise creative see below:

Yesterday I launched the idea for my Twelve Days of Christmas Party and started by inviting my foodie list on twitter to come up with ideas ie what dish they would bring, who their +1 is and suggest some tracks. As well of those that posted comments below some ideas came via twitter; including:

@goodshoeday a selection of homemade flavoured voddy's and gins and some sourdough bread
@Adnams Alcoholic custard http://bit.ly/5nl64f& Broadside http://bit.ly/8QiUsX our +1 @sarahEgroves play http://bit.ly/Rzlgi
@welovelocalfood a selection of @purelypesto hummus dips and beer from @grainbrewery & Spectrum Brewery
@essexgourmet the V best of 'virtual' well Hung Game, a case of Margaux & a Karaoke machine
@ brockhallfarm I'm bringing lots of dinky Brockette goats cheeses to your party; semi-hard, mold ripened and not too goaty. And a larger truckle too . Also bringing some champers, to get the party off on the right, sparkling note.

So we have some food, but there is always space for more. We'll leave the foodies for now, sourcing ingredients, exploring recipes and comparing notes and trust them to come up with still more ideas. To help I have been in the West Country testing cider and although I tried Stowford, Bristol Port and Ashton, all good West Country Ciders – I think I like good old Aspall best.

The idea is that for the 12 days of Christmas ie Christmas day to the January 5^th there will be a virtual party running here under the guise of #12DCP ie 12 Days of Christmas Party. A mid-winter excuse for fun, games, confessions and wotnot.

Now the invite to all artists, designers, illustrators and other creatives: This virtual party is taking place in a very large house with lots of rooms, but at the moment they are but blank canvases, could you please come up with some ideas for room designs, great party spaces to create atmosphere. Please leave a comment with a link to your design, also let me know who your +1 will be and any music you would like added to the play list.

The Spotify playlist for the party is growing and can be found here Party

p.s. I was asked about the dress code – please don't come as you are, but come as you would be; illustrations, links to costumes and outfits always welcome.

Party Planning – Please help

2009-12-04T12:30:00.004Z

December seems like a great time for planning a party, I have set myself a little challenge, to have a virtual Party/Meme on the go for the 12 days of Christmas – of which more later. However, as usual the choices of guests, food, music and entertainment will take a little planning. So, let's start in the kitchen. It has been a good year on the food front, plenty of preserves and liquors have been prepared. The guest list will certainly include all those on my foodies twitter list. If you are on the list please let me know what you will bring to the virtual party, some food item, ideally some drink, which track should I add to the playlist to get you up and dancing and who your +1 will be?

Avatar – World AIDS Day

2009-12-01T18:24:00.003Z

From time to time I adapt my avatar; sometimes in whimsy, sometimes to highlight something more serious. Currently the avatar is red in recognition of World AIDS Day. The word cloud above is the abstract of a research article titled "Comparative analysis of cell culture and prediction algorithms for phenotyping of genetically diverse HIV-1 strains from Cameroon".

Spotify Link to go with this post here

Red, Green and Snowmen – Something Completely Different

2009-11-29T13:03:00.002Z

Over on something completely different – the challenge this week is red, green and snowmen. This really was a challenge, only one snowman card left unmade and it was 'political'. I decided the only thing to do was take things down a slightly surreal direction. The background, a collage inspired by the works of John Brunsdon yet with a sun that looks like it has crept out of the Telly Tubbies and the snowman from the original card from a friend. I give people back part of the card they gave me the year before and donate to charity; this year's charity is wateraid.

Click here for a Spotify playlist to go with this climate warming theme.

Illustration Friday - Entangled

2009-11-28T08:51:00.002Z

Only time for a very quick post; this N is wrapped in a Taranaki gate of wool. In an old comedy farming book from NZ there was a whole chapter on Taranaki gates and their propensity to wrap themselves around you when taking them down or putting them up. I wish I still had that book.

You too could look like Cheryl Cole – don a bobble hat

2009-11-27T09:13:00.003Z

There are days when things just come together, a glorious juxtaposition that serendipitously creates a new idea. No sooner had I decided that my little avatar should take on a more wintery appearance, with a bobble hat; than a link from make it and mend it led me to believe that I could look like Cheryl Cole by donning a bobble hat. Time to get the knitting needles out; how do I look?

Spotify playlist for this post (you can always skip the Cheryl Cole bits, what comes later is an interesting mix)

Bzz Agent

2009-11-25T18:10:00.002Z

For those with Spotify – Here is a link to accompany this blog post.

It feels like a very long time ago that I signed up to be a Bzz Agent. The basic idea; you get free samples, vouchers etc for products. As you try the products you talk to people about them (good or bad) and then log the fact that you had a conversation on the Bzz Agent site ~ you always make people aware that you are a Bzz Agent. The more reports you complete, to their expected standard, the higher a level you attain and the better and earlier the campaigns you are offered. Months after I first registered I had some dried fruits, later a razor and then there has been nothing for months until today. Today I received information about Shell 'V'. I don't have a performance car so not the sort of thing I would normally think about. I live 11 miles from the nearest Shell station so it is not likely to be my first choice under normal circumstances. I tend to ride my bike more often than I drive, but when I do drive it is long distances. Today I happened to be near a Shell station and so I fuelled up. Watch this space I'll let you know if my life has been revolutionised.

The whole Bzz Agent thing always reminds me of a book I read called 'Soft' – If you like thrillers, where the interface between marketing and science can go bad, this could be the book for you; I still have a warped sense of the power of orange as a colour and an aversion to orange fizzy drinks as a result of reading Rupert Thomson's book.

For those who have not met it before, the shell in the picture above is 'Scallop' by Maggi Hambling, it has a Marmite effect, people either love it or hate it.

Something Completely Different – Blue, White and Snowflakes

2009-11-25T08:27:00.002Z

Over on something completely different – the challenge this week is Blue, White and Snowflakes. As I have mentioned before I give people back part of the card they gave me the year before and donate to charity. This year's charity is wateraid. Thank you to my brother and his family, because their's was the only card with white and snowflakes on it, I used a baby blue card back, not something I would normally think of for Christmas and some wool from my Ispeak Melsh giveaway prize - thanks Mel.

Music – Illustration Friday

2009-11-21T10:21:00.003Z

The topic for this week's Illustration Friday is music; currently my head is a jumble of music. I have been trying to learn the cornet, you should be very grateful at this point that I live in a field a long way from anyone. I have not played any instrument since recorders at primary school, so although I can read the basic notes that is my limit. Also I rediscovered the karaoke machine and we only have a couple of discs to go in it; not sure that Atomic Kitten or the cast of Les Misérables and Chicago would be flattered by my attempts; perhaps this would be more appropriate. I have also become a huge fan of Spotify I love running word searches based on a theme and seeing what tracks come together. Here is a link based on children and need for Children in Need, be aware though, not all tracks are radio edits and there may be some strong language.

Spiced Pickled Pears, or what to do with those fiddly little pears that are hard and never ripen

2009-11-17T18:45:00.002Z

After my latest tweeted cooking session I had lots of requests for the recipe, so here it is. Basically the recipe is a slight adaptation of the one in Pam Corbin's excellent book Preserves in the River Cottage handbook series – this is a fabulous collection of books and handily fit into a Christmas stocking [hint, hint]. In our garden we planted two espalier pear trees to divide the garden. They both produce pretty flowers but one produces zero fruit, the other produces small, hard pears that never ripen. I have used them when cooking pheasant and then when they all blew off the trees in the gales I decided it was time to do some pickling. So my adapted version goes:

300ml of Sarson's pickling vinegar

150ml Aspall cyder vinegar

600g Billingtons caster sugar

About half a bottle of sushi ginger

1 hefty pinch of chilli flakes

A cinnamon stick

Handful of juniper berries

3 bay leaves

1.5kg small, hard, fiddly little pears

First put everything apart from the pears into a big pan and bring to a gentle heat that allows the sugar to dissolve and the flavours to infuse. Whilst that is happening peel, core and quarter the pears then pop them into the pan. Bring the pan back up to heat and then keep at just below simmering point, leave as long as it takes for the pears to become tender but definitely not mushy, you want them to keep their shape. Once they are cooked transfer to pre sterilised jars. Bring the liquid up to the boil and reduce down slightly ie about 5 minutes boiling; it should have a slightly syrupy quality. Then simply pour the liquid over the pears and seal. Ideally they should be kept for a month or so before eating with cheeses or meats.

The Big Squat - Pink Christmas Trees – Something Completely Different

2009-11-14T21:50:00.002Z

Over on something completely different – the challenge this week is pink with a Christmas tree. As I mentioned before I give people back part of the card they gave me the year before and donate to charity. This year's charity is water aid and they are currently promoting World Toilet Day; part of which is the Big Squat. Only one card had a Pink Christmas Tree on it, so I added a few more using my 1960's cookie cutter set Christmas tree as a template. The pink sparkly tree is from the original card; so Sue if you are reading this you'll know what's coming to you.

Unbalanced – Illustration Friday

2009-11-14T21:05:00.004Z

The topic for this week's Illustration Friday is unbalanced, so here we have an ewe 'U' and a hen 'N' perfectly balanced (but they wouldn't be).

Lemon Squash

2009-11-12T16:55:00.003Z

A little recipe invented the other evening. First take one butternut squash, wash the exterior, cut into wedges and cut out the seeds but do not peel. Heat a roasting pan to moderately high approx 180c in my oven. Once hot, pour in some olive oil – I used lemon olive oil, toss the squash wedges well to ensure well coated add some ground black pepper. Rinse some preserved ie salted lemon in fresh water and cut into pieces, add to the dish and put into the oven to cook until the squash is nice and soft to the touch and slightly caramelised. If your lemon starts to catch or scorch add some water to the bottom of the dish for the remainder of the cooking time. Eat as an accompaniment to meats or as a main course vegetarian dish, any leftovers are great added to couscous for salad the next day with a little more oil if required.

Speaking Melsh or Something Completely Different - The History of the World according to Twitter

2009-11-11T17:35:00.003Z

In a previous post called "What has Twitter ever done for you?" I had an opportunity for some thank-yous. Now it is time for some more. Many thanks to @MsClara who by way of a Twitter tipoff said that it was possible to win a copy of a book written by her other half @Mitch Benn and @Jon Holmes. Guess what – I won one; a signed copy of the book The History of the World through Twitter. You can safely add this to your Christmas stocking filler list if you like a quick read where you won't necessarily learn anything new but where you will occasionally laugh out loud. I am very grateful to @carltonbooks for sending the book so swiftly; by the way they currently have U2 books on give away if their follower numbers increase; tell them I sent you.

The second big prize recently was a fantastic collection of crafting stuff from the lovely Mel at I Speak Melsh, follow the link; I really did receive all of that and a bar of chocolate. I should add a thank-you to the hamster at this point. I am not quite sure how it happened but I seem to have crept into the world of arts, crafts and scrap booking. For the last few years I have been recycling Christmas cards by sending people back part of the card they sent me the year before and donating the difference in cost to a charity. This year my charity of choice is Water Aid. Above is the first of the cards, using some of the items in the giveaway. It is also my entry for Something Completely Different. This week they have moved away from inchies and on to Christmas Cards, with the colours Red, Green and Gold and the theme Holly and the Ivy. The little mouse has on his holly pjs. In the background is an attempt to print from an Ivy leaf, it didn't work that well. – Ohh well plenty more to tax me whilst I try to improve my skills.

Remembrance – Illustration Friday - Blur

2009-11-08T20:35:00.004Z

The subject for this week's Illustration Friday is 'Blur' and here in the UK today is Remembrance Sunday, you can find out more about this at the Royal British Legion website. This small illustration is me taking a few minutes to remember all of those impacted by war, whether in the act of conflict or in the preparation and training or in the aftermath, the people themselves and their families and friends. Created in Brushes on iphone

Hallow’een

2009-10-31T13:10:00.003Z

Over on something completely different the theme is Hallow'een. I set my self a challenge, could I carve a pumpkin from a pumpkin and take a print from it? Bearing in mind they are still on inchies (1 inch squares); this was the result.

All Shapes and Sizes - Skinny – Illustration Friday

2009-10-30T15:07:00.004Z

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is skinny and has the rider "never trust a skinny chef". I've never claimed I can draw so all I can do is put down the image in my head. The skinny chef, probably starting out at the local chef course; just like when children have their first school uniform fitted. To all my food blogging friends, I think we know the little chef will grow into the hat if he loves food as much as we do. Created using brushes and powerpoint.

To Wit, To Woo, Owl Power & Faces

2009-10-27T20:03:00.004Z

The topic for this week's something completely different was inchies (ie one inch squares) with the theme faces. I've been away so my found object this week was the Sunday magazine and I decided to continue with the bird idea from the previous two weeks. Again, I have produced a one inch mini collage, this time of an owlet. Look closely though; all of the elements are made up from faces in the magazine. The wings are ears, the face and body are the shine on a face and the feet are Barry Gibbs' teeth. In the end the whole thing spooked me slightly, but as we are getting near to Halloween I guess that is to be expected.

On the theme of Owls we have just installed an Owl to monitor our electricity usage – scary. To be honest the oven was on when this photo was taken but the heated towel rails are now only to be used during limited time periods!

Fast – Illustration Friday

2009-10-26T18:18:00.004Z

The topic for Illustration Friday was 'fast'. I've been away and so I am cheating, using wordle and playing with words to illustrate the fact that fast has so many meanings and synonyms, is this just a product of our ever accelerating lives I wonder? The speed with which we progress through life, telling ourselves we must tarry not, use less haste and more speed, whilst hastily flying around trying to complete nineteen tasks to the dozen. We gabble our words and gobble our food trying to fit one more act into time that goes by in a flash. If we are not quick we miss out on opportunities; but moving swiftly on, I feel my pulse becoming more rapid as tachycardia takes effect. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog and I try to express the hurried, spur-of-the-moment action required to rush to the rescue. As we thrash like speeding bullets, turbo torpedoes, down the motorway or information super highway, we expect everything to rocket along even dating is expected to be carried out at speed; a clear run, supersonic, rapido. Continuing to gallop along at such a pace may make us fast, but also furious.

Of course if we slow things down, it is possible to remember that fast also means the complete opposite. A dye which is fast does not run. Something which is fast can be stuck, held firmly like a limpet, never a speedy creature at the best of times. 'To fast' can also be the opposite of gobbling our food, resisting food altogether; strange thing the English language.

So the illustration at the top is all the fast words and the second one is what happens when you focus on the slow words. Which do you prefer?

Black and White

2009-10-18T21:02:00.006+01:00

The theme for this week's something completely different is black and white. People were kind enough to comment positively on the mini collage last week so I have created another this weekend. The 'found objects' for this inchie [one inch square] were a bit trickier as we have been on the move. Therefore; backing is security envelope, giving the chicken wire effect in the bottom corner. The ice floe is from an honesty pod also known as silver shillings. The penguin is from a picture of mud flats cut up from a copy of the weekend's East Anglian Daily times and the snowflakes are daisy petals. The sky is part of a feather collected in Gloucestershire.

Frozen – Illustration Friday

2009-10-18T20:38:00.003+01:00

I've been on the move most of the weekend so I have to admit this week's Illustration Friday was created whilst driving. It wasn't me doing the driving you understand but I was busy with brushes on the iphone whilst in transit. I also wanted to play with the layers in brushes so this is a four layered piece of the poor little snow man in the distance whilst some of the snowflakes have a bokeh like effect.

Badingham Fireworks - My annual therapy

2009-10-13T18:25:00.000+01:00

Badingham Community Council Fireworks 2009 - Saturday 31st October

Massive display of fireworks

Bonfire lit at 6.30 pm with fireworks at 7.15 pm

Pay on the gate Adults £3 Children £1

Free sparklers for children
Bring a guy for the bonfire 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes

Beer, wine, teas, bbq Lite ropes and grand draw Signposted from the A1120

Squeezing hips for a place on the fourth plinth

2009-10-12T22:44:00.002+01:00

I have received an award; specifically a Kreativ blogger award. It comes with some 'rules' and I will attempt to follow them.

Thank the person who gave the award to you – Thank you to….@easternsparkle aka Random Ramblings. I am faltered, sorry make that flattered
Copy the logo and post it on your blog. Done, above, quite a pretty little thing; though I'm not sure about the spelling.
Link the person who nominated you – see 1 above.
Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know
1. I like squeezing hips. Not ball and socket femur joints, but rosehips once they have reached a perfect point of ripeness. If you are lucky a rich fruity paste emerges like squeezing toothpaste from a tube. The trick is to stop before any of the itching hairs or seeds come out; it is a luscious little hedgeside treat.
2. I have far too many Spike Milligan books and a head full of his rhymes.
3. I love bonfires but am no good at all with fireworks.
4. I can say Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
5. I have a fascination with and would love to visit, Japan.
6. I taught myself the Greek alphabet and it is no help to me apart from in pub quizzes.
7. I had only heard of blog awards, blog candy and such like in the last few days. I normally refuse to take part in pyramids, chains and other such activities but flattery can get you everywhere as they say. I will have to trust my instinct in passing the award on, that those I pass it to will either wish to participate or will decline gracefully or come up with another crafty plan. See below.
Nominate 7 bloggers for the award, post links to their blogs and leave a comment to tell them they have been nominated. I am assuming you cannot nominate someone who has already received one but from there on in I have a problem. Most of the blogs I follow are the 'what I grow, gather, cook, paint, cycle, write' type of blogs and not the 'This is me, telling you about me' type of blogs. So I have decided that from here the Kreativ Blog will be represented by a fourth plinth. There are 7 places available, if you would like to put yourself forward please submit a comment and I will put you forward to the Plinth committee.

Wordle – words as art

2009-10-10T18:35:00.002+01:00

Very grateful to @Easternsparkle for finding another way to distract me. I have decided I love word clouds so here is what follows as a cloud.

Birds, not custard but something completely different

2009-10-10T18:09:00.003+01:00

Each year I send people their Christmas cards back. Basically I cut bits out of the one they sent me the previous year, remount it and send back part of the card they sent me. Some friends are becoming canny and trying to fox me. I am always up for new crafting challenges. One of the Blogs I follow is jaydubblah and through her I have discovered Something Completely Different . Now I am new to this so may not fully understand the rules so I hope no one will take offence at my take on the challenge. Described as an 'inchie' and using the theme birds. I have spent most of this weekend hacking back the hedge to our garden and so I have created a mini collage from things found in the garden. The frame is ivy leaf, the sky is pigeon feather, the tree line is cherry leaf and the ploughed fields are ginko leaf. The sun is a gall from the back of an oak leaf the telegraph posts are fennel stems and the birds are individual blackberry pips. If you get your recorder out the notes should play 'Cuckoo, Cuckoo' from The Cuckoo Madrigal from my mother's 'The New National Song Book'.

Flying – Illustration Friday

2009-10-09T16:08:00.006+01:00

The image above was created using Brushes on the iphone. Brushes is a bit like finger painting without the fun of the mess. In my head there is a little cartoon that goes with this of the pilot's face as he creates the loop the loops as quickly as possible before the skywriting smoke dissipates. Then as he cuts the smoke to make the gallant climb to form the dot, cuts the smoke again and gives a little smile of triumph. Only to swear when he realises he has switched the smoke back on again.

When I master brushes properly I might re do this and try to capture the sky blue pink shot with a carrot contrails of a polluted summer sunset. Contrails are a topic of concern for cloud spotters; for more information look at the Cloud Appreciation Society.

This week has been one of discussions on handwriting and learning the skills of 'joined-up' and spelling, especially 'ing words so the topic seems even more apt. Who remembers copperplate or the initial teaching alphabet, spelling tests that taught you to spell but not necessarily how to spell and there is a difference?

The Twitter Louse – How am I driving?

2009-10-08T20:55:00.008+01:00

Today is National Poetry Day. I knitted a square which I hope is now part of the Poetry Society knitted poem. It transpired the poem was Dylan Thomas', In My Craft and Sullen Art. However, as Twitter is currently having a bit of an odd day (about 2 hours behind in messages) it was Rabbie Burns who occupied my mind as I sat at the PC. I thought "Oh what great power has twitter gi us to see ourselves as others see us?" OK, maybe not twitter but those who write mashables and algorithms encouraging us to see ourselves as others see us. Here are just a few (puts heart on sleeve):

Twitter Grader – currently 94/100
Twanalyst - Personality: popular inquisitive cautious Style: garrulous coherent NETWORKER
Tweeteffect – People come, people go
HappyTweets – I'm pretty happy
TwitterCounter – A graph that grows as your count does
Twitalyzer – apparently I have an astonishingly high signal to noise ratio and am rated low in all other areas.
TweetStats – interesting stuff that shows hourly tweet density
TwitterFriends – a whole host of stats you never knew you needed including your follow cost
Twittersheep – Gives a cloud based on the Bios of your followers (see above)
Twitteranalyzer - A graph junkies heaven
TwitterFriendsnetworkbrowser – Wow – I find this strangely addictive; creates visual networks as you click on each picture that person's network is revealed.

Just to mix my human parasites and poets a little remember: Big Fleas have lesser fleas upon their backs to bite em, and lesser fleas have smaller fleas and so ad infinitum.

Please do add comments after the Poem to a Louse

To A Louse

On Seeing One On A Lady's Bonnet, At Church
1786

Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
Owre gauze and lace;
Tho', faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.

Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn'd by saunt an' sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her-
Sae fine a lady?
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
On some poor body.

Swith! in some beggar's haffet squattle;
There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle,
Wi' ither kindred, jumping cattle,
In shoals and nations;
Whaur horn nor bane ne'er daur unsettle
Your thick plantations.

Now haud you there, ye're out o' sight,
Below the fatt'rels, snug and tight;
Na, faith ye yet! ye'll no be right,
Till ye've got on it-
The verra tapmost, tow'rin height
O' Miss' bonnet.

My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump an' grey as ony groset:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet,
Or fell, red smeddum,
I'd gie you sic a hearty dose o't,
Wad dress your droddum.

I wad na been surpris'd to spy
You on an auld wife's flainen toy;
Or aiblins some bit dubbie boy,
On's wyliecoat;
But Miss' fine Lunardi! fye!
How daur ye do't?

O Jeany, dinna toss your head,
An' set your beauties a' abread!
Ye little ken what cursed speed
The blastie's makin:
Thae winks an' finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice takin.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

Germs, gems, and chicken salad

2009-10-04T10:35:00.006+01:00

This Friday as part of the Aldeburgh Food Festival Fringe I went to Maple Farm Organic Farm in Kelsale to take part in their farm walk. I have written previously about the industrial scale of farming immediately around our house, the farm at Kelsale is quite a different story. We went around the poly tunnels where salads are grown for sale in local shops and farmers markets, met Kylie and co the very tame and contented pigs, the outdoor, free range, organic chickens, the Limosin cattle and the flour mill, which is pictured above. Having been raised on a farm and living in Bow and Arrow country I am always intrigued by the different ways that people choose to farm. Maple Farm are clear, they are an arable farm that need to add value by, for example, turning their grain into eggs or flour to sell to bakers to make the sums work. The result is a delight, small fields, friendly animals and increased wildlife. The Kendal family and farm manager Simon were interesting and informative and even sent us home with a goody bag of eggs. Part of the party trundled off to the Bell at Saxmundham for an excellent meal afterwards.

One of the concerns for the owners in running a tour was the recent publicity about E Coli infections following visits to farms by children. They had hand sprays available for the children who seemed quite content to play with the chickens and then go off and eat their sandwiches. It amused me because I am a firm believer in the 'peck of dirt' approach to children and dirt; it reminded me that my own children thought chicken salad was a mix of worms and grass that they collected to feed to our hens when they were younger. Also this weeks Illustration Friday topic is germs, so another brushes on iphone concoction.

The gem, was the latest must have kitchen essential; a table top milling machine, so tempted to get one, I could extend my gleaning to wheat field edges…….

Were You Dragged Through a Hedge Backwards? – How to make hedgerow jelly

2009-10-02T09:41:00.002+01:00

One thing my ativar doesn't tell you; I have very curly hair, which refuses to be tamed. My mother seemed to say to me most mornings "were you dragged through a hedge backwards? Go back upstairs and brush it."

In the lane near my house I can pick sloes, bullace, hawthorns, rosehips, crab apples and blackberries; all within half a mile of the front door. If I can arrange for some people to help a couple of hours can produce quite a haul of fruit. These are taken home cleaned and picked over and weighed to create the right proportions, the actual recipe will be different each year depending on what is available but broadly it goes:

3lb crab apples (slit them)

2lb of reds (Rosehips, hawthorns)

2lb drupes & blacks (bullace, sloes and blackberries)

Juice of one lemon

Sugar

The fruit without the lemon is cooked up in a pan along with water deep enough to cover all of the fruit until things are soft and the colours are flowing. Then comes the dripping, transfer everything to jelly bags; this is why cup hooks were invented. Don't be tempted to squeeze the bags as you do not want any pulp to go through, just the juice. Ideally leave over night and the next day you will have a beautiful fruity broth.

Measure the broth and weigh an equal weight of sugar; i.e. in kilos one litre of juice needs one kilo of sugar and in pounds one pint of juice needs one pound of sugar. Bring the juice to the boil and put the sugar in a 100c oven. Also put your jam jars in the oven to sterilise. Once the juice is boiling, add the lemon juice and hot sugar, turn the oven off to let the jars cool to a bit. As the scum starts to form on the surface of your jelly skim with a spoon to remove and continue to boil until the setting point is reached. My preferred testing method is putting plates into the freezer and dropping a small amount of the jelly onto the plate, leave it for two minutes and check that the surface wrinkles when pushed with a finger. Pot and seal.

The resultant jelly is clear and has a fantastically jewel like quality. It is great with meat, as a basis for gravy like sauces and on toast.

Pontack Sauce or what to do with elderberries

2009-09-29T20:20:00.004+01:00

This year I have tried a new brew called Pontack Sauce, somewhere between witchcraft and magic; this a glorious concoction made primarily from elderberries, vinegar and spices. I read several recipes and having not managed to pick many berries this was my final version.

Strip elderberries from their stems and put into a pyrex casserole dish with a good depth of vinegar. Place in a 50^oC oven overnight. The next day some magic will have happened, the house will be cloaked in a vinegary smell and the mix will have changed into a deep port colour. Then fry off some red onion and strain the mix into the pan squishing well to make sure all the goodness but not the skins has passed through. Add mace blades, whole cloves and juniper berries. Bubble in a pan until satisfyingly brewed. Strain and bottle.

Wait seven years.

Seriously – this is what the recipes seem consistent about; it improves with age and is at its best in seven years time. I doubt I'll wait that long so will take small samples periodically to test.

Illustration Friday - on not drawing

2009-09-25T15:50:00.004+01:00

I really wish I could draw. I admire the work of so many artists and now I am working in a school I love the idea of learning techniques as they are taught in schools these days; fantastic. One of the nicest things about twitter and the web is that people who create work can quickly send links to all sorts of art. I appreciate this is not the same as seeing things in the flesh. Looking closely at art from different perspectives and handling pieces can make such a difference; as can talking to the artists, so Open Studios can be greatly illuminating. The web though offers one little gem - Illustration Friday, a theme is posted each week and artists submit their work. This week's theme is 'Pattern', so I thought I would add this petite creation, generated using brushes on the i-phone.

She’s got the drupes – or what to do with a glut of plums, damsons, sloes et al

2009-09-23T20:02:00.008+01:00

It's OK, I haven't got "flop bot" like Tricki Woo.* What we have had is a fantastic season for the fleshy stone fruit, known as drupes; including the whole of the plum collection. The first to really cause me fun and games were the green plums which I wrote about previously. Next have been the damsons from Saxtead Mill House pub. When Ruth first showed me the tree I promised to come back; but I don't think she believed me. The next thing I knew was a bucket full of plums arrived. These I felt would be too small and fiddly to stone so I just rinsed them and brought them up to the boil to make jelly. I had hoped the stones would separate from the pulp enough so that I could remove the stones and call it jam, but this was not the case. Jelly it was. Having strung my jelly bag up from the cup hooks overnight I could not stand to leave so much pulp going to waste. Having made the jelly I decided to spend the evening forcing the pulp through a sieve to make damson cheese.

If you have not made a fruit cheese before here is a quick how to:

Use the pulp from making a fruit jelly, transfer the pulp to a sieve and force through using the back of a spoon to create a fine, smooth paste. Weigh the pulp and add an equal weight of sugar. Cook in a heavy bottomed pan, stirring frequently until you get the "Red Sea" effect, ie when you drag a wooden spoon through it there is a distinct parting which takes a second or two to fill. Put the mix into sterile warmed pots or moulds, I use little ramekins. Ideally store for a couple of months and then turn out and slice. This is great with dairy cheese or on its own with Suffolk rusks or scones.

* Foot note: so much nicer than hyperlinks don't you think….

Do you remember the James Herriot vet books? Mrs Pumphrey had a spoilt little dog called Tricki Woo; it, James and Tristan suffered from Tricki's flop bot

Onion Cats – the final instalment of the Puglia Holiday

2009-09-21T20:29:00.003+01:00

Our holiday in Puglia was long and relaxing. The villa is home to many cats and watching their escapades I started to think of their stories and how they perceived us humans. As we played and chatted; just what did they make of us? So brewing at the moment is a bunch of stories and ideas about the Onion Cats, hand scribbled on every scrap of paper I could find; I am transferring them on to the PC and cogitating as to their merit. Am I brave enough to put them forward for publishing? Only time will tell, watch this space.

The value of the EHIC card and relationship to Shakespeare

2009-09-15T23:52:00.005+01:00

Or what I did on holiday in Puglia, Part 3

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Is any holiday ever completely glitch free? I've previously commented on the UK trains but we did manage one other problem. 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your ears,' we should have read the small print; one of our party ended up with an exquisite ear infection. After 2-3 days of saying, it'll get better, take pain killers, we eventually had a tearful night and bloody pus.
It was a Saturday morning when we realised that we would need help. The fantastic Debbie agreed to come too, and we started our tour. First trip the Pharmacia in Torchiarolo, there they said we should go to the Pronto Socorro and the centre. We pitched up at about 10.00 and found a sign saying that this was the time the staff would be in attendance. Five minutes later a rounded chap on a bicycle turned up; after a bit of chat about the symptoms he took a deep breath and in rich Puglian, Italian suggested that we should go to the Pronto Socorro in San Pietro Vernotico some 4 kilometres away.
When we arrived there we were told that with blood from the ear we would have to go to the Hospidale in Brindisi. So a quick hop back in the car and a drive up to Brindisi to the A&E. They requested the EHIC European Health Insurance Card and checked the passport. Thank goodness we had checked the dates and had new EHICs issued before we left. We were then sent to the ear, nose and throat specialists' clinic.
A very lovely Italian doctor with enough English to converse and reassure asked the necessary questions and then with great care explained his diagnosis and prescriptions of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and drops. It is interesting to ponder what would have happened in the UK, but we are not lending any ears to test the system.

Puglia by train, on knitting and how it went with the NEXA strike

2009-09-12T20:07:00.007+01:00

Trains not planes to Brindisi – This is part two of "what

I did in the holidays"

The original plan had been to do the whole journey i.e. Wickham Market to Brindisi; by train as we did last year. However, NEXA staff and management were having a bust up and a series of strikes had been declared. The strike was finally called off the evening before we were due to travel; this left it too late to order a taxi to take us to Wickham Market and we didn't want to risk the branch line train not running. So we went from (and by default would have to return for the car to) Ipswich. I guess I should be able to claim something back from NEXA for the wasted ticket portion. The overall journey was:

Ipswich to Liverpool Street – underground to St Pancras – Euro Tunnel to Paris – Metro to Bercy – Bercy (train over an hour late arriving) to Bologna in an overnight couchette – Bologna to Brindisi (in first class) and the reverse by return. The single most useful website in all of this is The Man in Seat 61, this amazing site tells you everything you need to know and is our bible for planning the journey, all tickets have to be booked separately and at different times. The travel for four of us cost about the same as the accommodation, so this is in no way the cheap option. The big difference is that you know you are travelling, if it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive then this is why. You can talk to people, experience coffee and citron presse in Paris, eat in on the sleeper train (although frankly the meal is bellow par these days) and watch the mile after mile of beaches from Rimini down to Brindisi. We then taxi up to the airport and collect a car for use during our two weeks at Casa Mare

During the journey I was knitting a square for a project called "Knit a poem", my responsibility one 12" by 12" blank square. Having declared myself a non expert I was not to be trusted with a letter, just as well, I created a flaw by knitting plain when it should have been purl. The lovely wool was supplied by Sarah, an ex workmate and Facebook friend who responded to my plea when I discovered you could not get wool, wool in Framlingham. Thank-you Sarah.

The journey back as far as London was trouble free. True we were slightly late arriving at Bologna but there was plenty of slippage in the timetable. I ended up in a different couchette than the rest of the family so plenty of opportunity to practice my Italian and French with my cohabitees. The problems only emerged when coming overground at Liverpool Street, we discovered we would have to go back underground to Shenfield. There depending on if you spoke to platform staff or listened to announcements we should go to Gidea Park or Newbury Park.

Having doubled back on ourselves twice hauling luggage from one platform to another we had to go back where we started, catch the train to Newbury Park and then the bus to Ipswich. What a pity that in all these hundreds of miles the bits that let us down were the local ones. In our own country and our own language we did not know which platform we should be on, when we would leave and when we would arrive.

Will we do it all by train again? Having changed jobs this year the income may not be there and sadly the cheaper option of the plane may be the only answer but give me a book, knitting and the train any day for preference.

I blame Shakespeare – or what I did on holiday in Puglia

2009-09-04T11:20:00.009+01:00

Several people have asked how the holiday went; I am sorry for not sending more postcards, but I'll come to why later. I think four short blogs should cover it :

Why Puglia?
Why train and how did it go with the NEXEA strike?
The value of an EHIC card and its relationship to Shakespeare
Why did you come back with a case full of paper covered in scribbles and a bunch of photographs of cats?

Why Puglia?

The predominant sound in any paved area is the scraping of shoes along the ground. My mother would have said 'Pick your feet up when you walk' but that takes effort, here you never flip your flop. Slow walking is a Puglian art, never hurry, especially during the passeggiata, the stroll in the early evening. Here, older people take their chairs into the road outside the house, or into the square and sit to chat. Young couples walk or sit hand in hand; groups meet where they have met for years. Some cycle, grandparents with toddlers on handlebar seats; the grownups slowly peddle, knees akimbo. All to work up an appetite for a meal that if you are eating out, will not happen before 9.00pm.

Food is important; markets are burgeoning with truck loads of melons, peppers, tomatoes and lumache snails. We mostly cooked for ourselves; breakfast on the terrace of strong coffee, sharp pecorino cheese, bread, prosciutto crudo, boiled egg and fresh peaches; lunch of focaccia, tomatoes and melon and evening meals mostly of pasta and salads. The care taken by suppliers such as the local butcher, who asks how you are going to cook your sausages and when he learns you will barbecue them, carefully slices each one lengthways part through and spreads them so they will cook evenly, means eating-in is effortless.

The siesta, when everyone scurries home or to the beach for a few hours rest. A road packed at 11.30am will be empty at 1.00pm with shutters firmly down and no sign of life returning until 4.30 or 5.00 or 5.30, well whenever seems right for the temperature, time of year and the mood. You just have to adjust to a different timescale when you migrate from the UK.

On the beach, any shape, age, colour is acceptable but preferably really brown, the kind of brown you only acquire through 7 months sunshine a year. So if you are 78, overweight and grey haired; don't let that stop you wearing a paisley bikini and standing at the water's edge, up to your knees, chatting. If standing is too strenuous you may prefer a short legged deckchair to sit on, at the water's edge, chatting. Perhaps a swim; well stand-in-the water, chatting. The particular area we have become attached to is the coastal strand between Bindisi and Lecce, here there is beach after beach, with shallow waters and yellow sand. Typically there is a Torre, a ruined tower and a simple beach bar; which may also sell nets of mussels. Some beaches are even more basic or rocky and others may be packed with pay as you go deckchairs and umbrellas. The beach will fill with families and groups, or people attached to mobile phones, who will stand and talk. Out in the water you may also see the fluorescent green of snorkel tops like fireflies against the darker blue sea indicating rocks beneath, where shoals of fish swim, ready to nip bits of dead skin off your legs as you swim past. On windy days you may see wind and kite surfers, generally though you don't find many people playing in the waves, so on windy days the beaches can be deserted.

This is mostly an area for Italians on holiday. They pack up their houses and move to the coast for the summer, many of the areas reduce to about 10% of the summer population during the winter months, even though the move may only be a few kilometres. English is not spoken much, so it is worth grappling with Italian and being brave, you will be rewarded. As I was leaving the market one day, an old boy stopped me and asked me if I would like some figs. His ancient Ape truck appeared empty but he proudly swung back a cloth revealing one last tray of succulent figs, which he wanted to sell me for five euro. I did my best to explain that as I was on holiday I couldn't use them all but would take one euro's worth, which I did. Then ensued a conversation about where I was from, was I married etc…. What more could I want, a man with his own business, transport and teeth; I resisted the temptation but the figs were grand!

Eating Out

We ate out at Bahia Negra in Casalabate, good for pizzas and selection of antipasti and pasta main courses. Also Gio Stefs, in Corso Umberto, Torchiarolo for home cooking, a massive array of antipasti and great main course pasta dishes. In Otranto we ate at a restaurant on the old city wall – the picture above is from the inside of the menu. Here you can be introduced to your lobster before you eat it. You are paying extra for the view of the clear aquamarine sea of the stunning harbours, and you may have a roving musician play to you but it is very atmospheric. Otranto is one of the main tourist areas, my personal tradition there is to find a spot where you can climb over the city walls, near the harbour and walk around to an old fig tree growing out from the side of the city, the figs are ripe, luscious and slightly salty, worth the trip.

Where we stayed

Casa Mare, Contrada Cipolla, a lovely villa with three large bedrooms that can be arranged with large doubles or single beds, terrace, large kitchen and living rooms. This was our first stay at Casa Mare but our third with Debbie and Bob. We arrived with high expectations for the welcome basket and facilities and we knew that the descriptions would be accurate or if anything slightly understated; all of which was true. Casa Mare is a fantastic location, 24 seconds walk from the sea, great for sea swimmers and a huge pool and hot tub for those that like their water tamed. The kitchen is well equipped and with a seemingly endless supply of tomatoes and peppers from the garden we ate out much less this year than in previous years. This is a quiet area, during the day you only hear the gentle clunk of the wind chime or the pulsating sound of sprinklers, plus voices from the beach or the couple walking their dog down the lane. In the evening there can be a bit more noise from the nightclub on the main road, but it is far enough away not to disturb you.

The reading list this holiday:

The Olive Harvest – Carol Drinkwater.
The Villa in Italy – Elizabeth Edmunson.
Come Thou Tortoise – Jessica Grant
None of this ever really happened – Peter Ferry : In my view the best read of the lot
The Bad Tuesdays Strange Energy – Benjamin J Meyers

Who is Friday anyway?

2009-08-10T22:48:00.003+01:00

I was going to post a comment on Angela Montague's, (another blogger) post about Follow Friday, when I realised my comment would ramble on, beyond a polite length for a comment. For non Twitter readers, Follow Friday is a Twitter 'thing'; on Fridays you post a message containing other users' names, indicating that you have enjoyed their posts and encouraging others to follow them. Then the more I thought about it, the way you do when you repeat a word over and over, the more it took on other potential meanings.

So the classic Follow Friday – might be follow as in 'travel behind', but that seems a little passive, riding in the slip stream, rather than taking an active interest. Of perhaps, 'go after'; but is that too active? Most twitterers dislike the association with a form of stalking. So how about, 'come after'; that just seems like the person who turned up late for the party.

Then there's 'post date, or be later in time'; like Follow Friday isn't as good as first out of the blocks Thursday, but is perhaps better than – sorry I'm late I'll be there in a minute Saturday.

'Adopt: choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans' – oouch potential evangelism or cult leadership, or brutal dictatorship; a world of chanting, posters and blind sycophancy.

'Succeed: be the successor (of)'; so you put someone's name up and suggest someone else takes their place with immediate effect; it won't win you many friends.

In the finish there is Robinson Crusoe's friend to consider, we may all end up doing several laps around that island if we choose to follow Friday.

There are more definitions for follow than I can shake a stick at; if you like a different source for definitions try this http://www.visualthesaurus.com

I may keep my Follow Fridays short and sweet in future, this could blow my mind.

Harvest, season of mists, ironing and witches mirrors

2009-08-09T19:42:00.004+01:00

The full industry of harvest arrived today. Most of the time in our little lane it is all peace and quiet; not a lot happens, so when something does it is worthy of comment. This morning, the lawn was covered in witches' mirrors; dew covered spiders' webs, a sure sign that harvest is upon us. When I was a child we used to collect the webs on pieces of looped grass, straw or thin twigs from the hedge to make witches' hand mirrors. Of course we were all witches; you couldn't see our reflections.

Just a few hours later, when the dew had dried off, the field behind the house became a hive of activity. A combine, trailer, baler, lorry, and bale lifter all arrived and a great speed the field was harvested, baled and cleared. The gap between the first and last picture is only 4 hours, during this time I ironed and thought back to harvest in my youth. It makes me feel about a hundred years old but things really have changed. My father went from dairy to arable/beef farming in the mid 60's, in the Cotswolds an area much better known for its dairy than arable farming. The lanes around there are narrow and banked hedges rather than open verges mean that the size of equipment used here in East Anglia would still not be viable. Also, back then as children we could be employed as child labour blistering our hands on baler twine, and ripping our knees when stacking bales and because health and safety hadn't been invented we were able to ride on top of the bales on the trailer back to the farm. The bales today are cleared within minutes; whereas we used to stack them

one day and if not finished, the children from the 'other' end of the village would destroy some of the stacks by making dens that evening, we would then have to restack before carting back home the next morning. Where now the farmer is hooked up to his Bluetooth and satellite my mum used to communicate with the field by hanging a bath towel out of the window of the farm (which sat on the hill above the fields) to indicate that lunch was on its way. I wonder if we can still describe rural England as bucolic.

What to do with Green Plums?

2009-08-06T19:53:00.008+01:00

There was the phone call; 'a branch of our plum tree has come down can you use green plums?' Then a bit of research on t'internet which led to some interesting sites covering India, Persia and Japan in their influences:

First and most amusing was http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/pickles_from_green_plums two recipes using green plums to make mango/lime chutney like pickles.

The first hot and sour the second sweet and sour. I have tried to interpret the recipes. I may have some problems; the hot and sour one keeps developing a surface mould. The sweet one; once the sugar was added, became very liquid and appears to be 'working', creating slight fizzing activity. I suspect both would have been enhanced by Indian sunshine rather than English humidity. I'll let you know if a) I am poisoned b) they explode c) I recommend repeating the process.

Second was http://persiankitchen.wordpress.com/2009/05/22/khoresht-gojeh-sabz-unripe-plums-stew/ - wow the result was SOUR. I can see how it might work,

certainly add sugar or honey but overall perhaps our English plums were just too unripe or bitter.

Third, http://www.deliciouscoma.com/archives/2009/05/diy_umeshu_plum_wine.html well; I'll have
to wait and see the liquid is currently off brown,

but clear and I did put in plenty of sugar, so give it a few more weeks and it might be worth a try.

Post script added 20th September 2009 - Just tasted the Umeshu and decanted it into a bottle. It is now clear, the colour of weak tea and tastes fantastic!

We caught crabs in Walberswick

2009-08-05T16:16:00.006+01:00

Today I realised there was something urgent that I needed to do. D2's boy friend was staying and we discovered that he hadn't caught crabs. You cannot come to East Suffolk to stay and miss this experience, no matter how old you are.

When the children were younger this was the best value day out you could have. Back then, poking your head round the butcher's door, [Ray Kent's in Framlingham] and saying 'crabbin' would elicit free bacon scraps. The only equipment required is a bit of wood, a couple of heavy nuts and a length of line, a big bucket and if you are really posh a net. A short drive later and you can be parked up near the beach where the creek runs out into the sea.

The bridges are full of families learning the craft of crabbing. Team work, sharing, water safety, patience, all essential skills; as the crabs are caught, deposited into the bucket kept a while and then poured back down on the shore to start the whole cycle over again. These days you pay to park at the beach car park £3.00 for the day, but take a picnic and if like me you enjoy a swim it is a great beach for a really good salt water workout.

You can keep your amusement arcades, piers and theme parks. Walberswick, a pack of cheap bacon and picnic of salad bits from the garden and a few fresh rolls and you have bliss. Sunday 9^th August is the British Open Crabbing Championship, so there is still time to get some practice in; 'Tight Lines'.

Food Auctions– The country market

2009-08-02T21:25:00.002+01:00

One of my indulgencies when I have time off is attending the local market at Campsea Ashe near Woodbridge, in Suffolk. When I first started attending this was a 'proper' auction market with cattle, pigs etc being brought in for sale. However, in recent years with the various diseases and changes in rules and regulations the majority of the livestock element has ceased. Now there is some dead stock (turkey, duck, chicken and gammon) a small amount of live poultry, some market stalls, a house clearance auction and my favourite the fruit and veg, sold by auction. Here a hardy tribe of Suffolk boys and gals, well above pensionable age auction items for a few pence to a few pounds.

There is witty banter, "who'll give me 80p for a bunch of carrots – an' they're good 'uns "

"Yuh goota be kidin Basil I ken get they in Tesco for 40p"

Of course we all know – a) you can't b) these were pulled out of someone's garden this morning or last night c) it's all in the thrill of the chase. The challenge is also in snatching the definitive bargain, so people will refuse to raise the bidding above 40p if they think five minutes later they can get something for 30p. There is also the art of being the 'under bidder'. This is the person

who helped raising the bids but stopped at the last minute. Where several lots of the same item are on sale and the winning bidder doesn't take them all, the under bidder gets the second option. As the bids are called, small amounts of cash move from hand to hand across the hall; bags of tomatoes and bunches of carrots, gladioli and marrows weave their way from one part of the old pig stalls to another. Not all the items come from local gardens, some are the 'run off' from market traders who had stock left on a Sunday and don't do a market on Monday so sack loads of over-ripe bananas can be had for a few pence too.

I made pints of tomato (40p a pound) sauce for the freezer, the carrots, cabbage, sweetcorn, cauliflower, were all used 'as is' during the week, the Sharron fruit (woppers 30p each) and avocadoes, kiwis were the basis for lunches and the peppers were turned into jars of roast pepper antipasti for sale, presents and home. The beetroot became part of a chocolate and beetroot cake.

Is it a bargain? - add in the travel, the cooking, the two or more hours out of your day…….. Of course it is; nothing in life is just about the money. I've been going here for over 20 years, some of the same faces are still there, buying and selling, ranting and bantering, I just wish I was free on a Monday more often.

Pub Quiz – Round 10 – Kings and Queens…. In which

2009-07-28T19:37:00.001+01:00

…We have a round of questions about Kings and Queens but not necessarily royalty

1	Where was Freddie Mercury Born?
2	Who won the Men's singles at Queens in 2009
3	Name the two other Boroughs of New York after Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn
4	Where is the village of Indian Queens?
5	In chess, what does queening refer to?
6	Which book is the King and I based on?
7	In a standard deck of playing cards, which King does not have a moustache?
8	What was the name of the progressive rock group formed by Robert Fripp and Michael Giles?
9	Which band has released Youth & Young Manhood', 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' & 'Because Of The Times'
10	Which Future Queen took refuge in Framlingham Castle?

Pub Quiz – Round 9 – The Play wot I wrote, in which……

2009-07-26T09:51:00.001+01:00

… you'll see there is a theme

1	How was Ernest Wiseman better known?
2	She is a Birkenhead girl, formerly an actress and now a member of Parliament; what is her name?
3	She started work on the Western Morning News and famously exposed 'those legs'
4	Born in British India, Harry Webb is better known as who?
5	Born with the first names Andreas Ludwig to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany, he grew up in Los Angeles; how is he better known
6	She was expected to sing the Windmills of your mind with a wind machine blowing; she also appeared in Upstiars Downstairs and my wife next door
7	He reached number 14 with his song Dik-a-dum-dum
8	She played Margot Leadbetter in The Good Life
9	What was the full name of the harmonica player who came on at the end?
10	What was the name of the lady who came on at the end and said "I'd like to thank all of you for watching me and my little show here tonight. If you've enjoyed it, then it's all been worthwhile. So, until we meet again, good night, and I love you all!"

Pub Quiz - Round 8 – Many hands make light work. In which……

2009-07-24T08:49:00.002+01:00

… we have a round of questions related to light

1	How long does it take in minutes (rounded to nearest whole number) for light to travel to Earth from the Sun?
2	Who is attributed with the invention of the first practical light bulb (integrated system)?
3	The Electric Light Orchestra was created by which two rock stars?
4	The lightest metal is what?
5	Cigarette lighters contain which liquid hydro-carbon?
6	Which poem starts Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward,
7	Where would you expect to pay £150 for an electric company, illustrated by a light bulb?
8	Which team wears Light Blue in the Varsity Boat Race?
9	In 1895 which famous studios produced individually designed and constructed stained glass lamps?
10	What was the police based film that Jack Warner stared in before Dixon of Dock Green?

Round 7 – Pub quiz – Cloak and Dagger in which……

2009-07-23T08:43:00.002+01:00

All of the answers are to do with cloaks, capes, daggers and other such ephemera

Oh to those who have asked – this is one of my rounds, general consensus is that O/H's rounds are easier. So a score above 7 of this and you are doing very well.

1	What is the name of the cloak that Harry Potter is given by Dumbeldore
2	What are the three swords used in modern fencing?
3	Where would you expect to find a dagger board?
4	What is the name of the traditional religious dress dagger worn by Sikhs?
5	What is the name of the traditional Scottish dress dagger?
6	Who wrote the lyrics in Joseph and the amazing technicoloured dreamcoat?
7	Who says "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee."
8	A traditional fairy tale throughout the world, what title do we tend to give to the Italian's Cappuchetto Rosso and the German Rottkapchen
9	What are the murder weapons in traditional Cluedo?
10	Who was known as the caped crusader, who appeared in DC comics?

Pub Quiz Round 6 – The names Bond, In which……

2009-07-21T17:00:00.001+01:00

The questions are all about James Bond Films, books or associated information

1	What is the real name of the actor who played Jaws?
2	Who was the leading lady in On Her Majesty's Secret Service alongside Goerge Lazenby
3	In which Bond Film did Donald Pleasance play Ernst Stavro Blofeldt
4	What year did Ian Fleming die
5	What was the title of the first James Bond Novel
6	Mr Witt and Mr Kidd appeared in which James Bond Film
7	Pierce Brosnan drove what make of car in The World is not Enough
8	Who performed the title soundtrack for Live and Let Die?
9	What is believed to be Miss Moneypenny's first name?
10	Ian Fleming was the author of a famous children's novel called what?

Pub Quiz – Round 5 – First and last, in which……….

2009-07-20T08:29:00.001+01:00

We have a round of beginnings and endings of one form or another, obviously only half a point if you only get half the answer!

1	What are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet?
2	Who were the first and last wives of Henry the Eighth (first and last names)?
3	Who were the first and the last American presidents to be assassinated?
4	Where are the first and last F1 grand prix locations for the 2009 season?
5	What where the start and finish in the film Genevieve?
6	What was the start and finish for the 2009 Dakar rally?
7	Cycle Route 1 which goes through Framlingham starts and finishes where?
8	What decade did Edward 1^st & Edward 8th come to the throne?
9	What are the first and last books of the new testament?
10	What were the first and last manned moon landing missions called?

Pub Quiz – Round 4 - Keeping up with the Jones, in which……

2009-07-19T09:16:00.003+01:00

The questions all have something Jones related as before if you post your answers in the comments section I will let you know how you are doing

1	What rank was Jack Jones in Dad's Army?
2	Alias Smith and Jones starred who?
3	Tom Jones was born where?
4	John Paul Jones was a founder member of which legendary band?
5	Norah Jones has a famous father – who?
6	Terry Jones came to fame with Monty Pythons Flying Circus – when did this first appear on our screens?
7	Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones died in 1969 – how did he die?
8	There have been a number of Indiana Jones Films since 1981 – what is the name of the last film made about the adventurer?
9	The origin of the phrase "keeping up with the Jones's" was first popularised in what way?
10	Who was the author of a History of Tom Jones (a Foundling 1749)?

Pub Quiz – Round 3, Seek and Ye Shall Find, in which……

2009-07-18T12:12:00.002+01:00

..the questions are based on maps, mapping and directions. Remember this quiz was set for Saxtead Old Mill House, a pub in Suffolk. For the last three questions people were given a printed picture, I will try to set up links to the original sites; which will make your job very easy!

1	What do the letters GPS stand for?
2	An international treasure seeking game where participants track down hidden 'treasures' based on their GPS co-ordinates is known by what name taken from the words for earth and a hidden storage space
3	What is the name for the medieval map kept in Hereford Cathedral?
4	Harry Beck designed a simplified topographical map of where?
5	Dava Sobel wrote a book with the sub title The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time; what was it called?
6	This hobby is reputed to have begun in South West England in 1854 when a Victorian gentleman named James Perrott hid his calling card in a jar in a remote area by Cranmere Pool on the moors of Dartmoor
7	There are nearly 13,000 flush brackets around the country all logged on the ordnance survey database. What is the term used for them, which is also used for any standard by which something can be measured or judged?
8	The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland, and you can be part of it. Where are these stocks and whipping post?
9	Where are these roof tops?
10	Where is this iconic image?

Round 2 – Pub Quiz Matters Medical in which……..

2009-07-17T15:28:00.003+01:00

All of the questions relate to Doctors of various kinds. As before if you post your answers as a comment I will let you know how you are getting on.

p.s. For those who follow me via twitter we have power back, sorry for the enforced delay – country living don't you know.

1	The Doctor in the House Books were written by?
2	Doctor Who was first shown on the television screens in which year?
3	Doctor David Owen was a former Labour MP and founder member of the SDP was an MP in for which parliamentary seat?
4	Doctor Finlay's Casebook was set in Tannochbrae, what was the name of the doctor whose opinions he regularly challenged?
5	Doc Martens footwear has been associated with which football club?
6	Which Doctor performed the first successful human heart transplant?
7	Dr Strangelove was played by whom?
8	Who was the High Court Judge appointed to oversee the Shipman Inquiry?
9	Who was the author of Dr Doolittle?
10	Dr Crippen was arrested in which country after fleeing England

Round 1 of the Pub Quiz – IT in which………….

2009-07-15T19:08:00.002+01:00

I did say the round titles might not help. Round 1 is IT in which all of the answers contain the letters IT in that order. Please put your answers as a comment; I will let you know how many you have right full answers will be posted after the second round.

1	An 1842 book by Edgar Alan Poe, in 1961 it became a film with Vincent Price and features a giant pendulum
2	A technique used in macramé, pigtails, braiding, corn dolly making and stringing onions or garlic
3	a style of printing type patterned on a Renaissance script with the letters slanting to the right
4	Yes Minister and Only Fools and Horses are examples of this type of comedy
5	This gland is at the base of the brain, about the size of a pea and weighs approximately 0.5g
6	The soft spongy substance in the centre of the stems of many plants and trees
7	a brand of smokeless fuel invented by Thomas Parker in 1904
8	a form of iron oxide that is usually a silver grey or black/steel colour. Its metallic appearance is brought bout when the material is polished, if it were to be ground or cut up it would look red or red brown. If heated it can become mildly magnetic
9	The government recommend that you have five of these a day
10	a process for calculating a desired result by means of a repeated cycle of operations

Good luck, remember post your answers as a comment and I will publish as a group. Deadline for completed answers is tomorrow evening at 10.30pm

Pub Quiz

2009-07-15T07:49:00.002+01:00

It always seems a pity to put in a lot of work creating pub quiz questions and then they are not used again. So just for fun I thought I would run the quiz here for a few days. There are ten rounds of ten questions; no prizes, just your own personal glory, after all I cannot tell if you phoned a friend or used a wiki. So first choose your joker round, if you have ever taken part in the quizzes O/H and I set you will know that the headings for the rounds may or may not be useful. If you put your answers in the comments section I will publish them all together after 24-48 hours. It may or may not help you to know that the questions were set for the Old Mill House, pub in Saxtead, Suffolk.

Choose your Joker rounds from:


	Round Name
1	IT
2	Matters Medical
3	Seek and Ye Shall Find
4	Keeping up with the Jones's
5	First and Last
6	The Name's Bond
7	Cloak and Dagger
8	Many hands make light work
9	The Play what I wrote
10	Kings and Queens

Pea Gleaning

2009-07-12T14:09:00.002+01:00

One of the joys of living in the country is the opportunity for ridiculous levels of frugality. One of my favourite activities is pea gleaning. Pea harvesting around here is done at industrial strength; visitors are surprised when at 3.00am the viners, lorries, drivers etc pitch up with their lights on and start trundling up and down the fields, because the moment is right. The peas are carted off to be processed all within minutes of picking.

So where does gleaning come in and is it worth it? Birdseye and others could argue that the peas they sell in the shops are at optimum condition and they are probably right; but the whole something for nothing, picking, shelling, blanching and freezing for yourself makes it worthwhile. After the pea team have left the field it is left looking brown and forlorn, with little sign of life. However, adjusting the eye to see the areas where peas might have been left untouched, it is possible to see tracks where plants have fallen into the grooves where tractors passed earlier in the season, or edges of the field where the harvesters can not quite reach. It is backbreaking and best done in the early morning or evening on hot days and certainly within 12 hours of the pea team leaving. The resultant haul was one large canvas bag full, four hours shelling resulted in about four and a half pounds of peas, which are now blanched and in the freezer. The pods went to the hens, they enjoy picking at them, nothing is wasted. Is it worth it; of course it is, all part of life, a bit of fun and a few cheap eats even if it is quite a lot of effort.

Blackcurrants, jam, cassis and frogspawn

2009-07-09T22:25:00.006+01:00

This time of year the soft fruits are coming in thick and fast. I love to take handfuls for breakfast and lunch; this is an ideal use for small quantities as they reach ripeness and fascinates the children who think I eat frogspawn when in fact it is white currants. I used to be fearful of jam making thinking that it was a large quantity affair with jars sitting on shelves going hard or mouldy depending on the sugar levels. However, I have changed my tack and with soft fruit and now adapt a preserve method, which works well for small quantities. The trick is to heat an oven to 110^oc and put in two separate containers an equal weight of sugar and soft fruit. Leave in the oven for 20 minutes until the fruit starts to 'bleed'.

Remove from the oven and stir the sugar into the fruit until fully dissolved. Do not underestimate the heat, the two will cook together and the resulting preserve can be put into jars at this point; this version is likely to be a soft set and only keep for four weeks in the fridge, but ideal with raspberries for scones or yogurt.

A further trick is to continue heating either in the microwave or on the hob to a more traditional setting point. The whole process is quicker than

traditional jam making and results in a fresher fruit jam. I used this technique for blackcurrant jam and a mixed summer fruit jam of gooseberries, red currants, strawberries and raspberries.

Also in production from the blackcurrants is the cassis. Based on Larousse I have used currants, a few of the leaves, a small piece of cinnamon and a clove. The pictures show progress so far, the currants are rising like the little oil bubbles in a Galileo thermometer, I anticipate straining and rebottling when they sink back down to the bottom, the colour is improving but it looks a little thin so I may add a thicker sugar syrup later.

Elderflower Fritters and the Expo

2009-07-01T21:16:00.006+01:00

Against all the rules a two for the price of one blog; broken down into two sections, the Elderflower Fritters for the wild foodies and the Expo for those interested in the life of an English Village.

Elderflower fritters

There are only six houses in our lane so when all of the neighbours are invited, it only amounts to fourteen people. We may be creating a small tradition here of a barbecue followed by the frying of elderflower fritters to eat with ice cream and then a tour round the garden to compare notes on the progress of the runner beans, strawberries, compost etc. After the main eating was done three men were allocated the task of heating the oil on the barbecue (don't try this at home; we've never had a problem but it is for trained pyrotechnicians only).

The little girls mixed up the tempura style batter and then the girls and a few adults went to pick fresh sprigs of elderflower. The engineers in the crew worked out just how long to drain the dipped flower heads for and then plunged into the oil to fluff up like cauliflowers; they were eaten as fast as the oil drained off them.

Only after the conspicuous consumption did we discover how well a variety of spider can camouflage itself to look like elderflower, goodness knows how many we ate.

Dennington Expo 2009

The Expo day arrived and despite a brief shower in the early afternoon things brightened up and all went well. We will have banked £1,500 towards sports club funds and hope to start raising serious money and grants for the much needed tennis court replacement soon.

The Children's art wall was lovely, with the children having taken the theme of TIME and provided their own interpretation based on slides they had been shown in class; so we had everything from watch designs to timelines and seasonal changes.

It never ceases to amaze me the talent we have in a village of some 200 houses for creating art works. At the end of this posting are links to some of our artists, we also have very talented artists who rarely sell their work, yet it is stunning and thought provoking and others whose work sells regularly at local art shows and events. This year there were also taster sessions for rag rug making and modelling with paper.

Outside we had all the fun of a regular village fete, with the TIME theme woven through so we had ancient and modern tractors, displays by the local flower arrangers, the Tickled Pink drama group, face painting, and all the usual fete type stalls, some run by clubs and others by local businesses

Yes I did spend the day dressed up as a white rabbit, in keeping with the TIME theme and I wasn't the only one in fancy dress. All in all it was a fantastic day, amazing teamwork from everyone invovled; as is so often the case in a small village the same few people are involved in many events locally rasing funds and giving up hours of free time to keep things ticking along.

Some of our artists

http://www.loretteroberts.com/

http://www.maberly-art.com/

Some of our other Stall holders

Tickled Pink on youtube

http://www.trulockandharris.com/

http://www.bone-dry.co.uk

Flower club

Dennington Expo 20th June 2009 - QUIZ!

2009-06-18T21:28:00.004+01:00

The White Rabbit's Picture Quiz

I have created a quiz for the Expo on Saturday. I hope you would like to join in, uploading has proved tricky so you may need to do some zooming, or click on the pictures to open in new window. To really take part you will need to come to Dennington on Saturday to find the two hidden clues. Good luck, feel free to post answers in the comments but I will only publish after the event. It will help you to know that the theme for this year's expo is 'Time' If you tweet me I will let you know how many you have right, but not which ones.

White Rabbit’s Quiz – Answer sheet - inidcates number of words and relative but not exact length of words

1 _________ ___________ ______________

2 _______ ____________

3 _______ ____ _____ _____________

4 _______ ____ _______________

5 ________ ____ _____ ____ _____________________

6 ________ __________ _____

7 ________ _______ _________

8 ________ ______ _________

9 ________ __________

10 Fan __________________________________

Gloves ______________________________________

Wild Food Safari

2009-06-07T10:45:00.002+01:00

I had been looking forward to yesterday since Polly Robinson first invited me to join their Wild Food Safari at Henham a few weeks ago. Despite a pessimistic forecast the worst we had was a strong breeze and the day bowled along to go with the weather. The Henham Estate in Suffolk is a beautiful location, wide open parkland just off the A12 near Southwold in Suffolk, setting of the 'friendly' festival known as Latitude which happens in

mid July. Yesterday though the parkland was empty, miles of open track to drive down to the meeting point under a tree, where coffee, scrumptious flapjack and juice were being served. A small contingent of us had 'met' on twitter but not face-to-face so "Oh you must be @goodshoeday and @essexgourmet" was not as bizarre a conversation as it might seem anywhere else. The organisers of the day were Polly and Tim Robinson of Food Safari UK they were charming, as was Hektor Rous who is back on this side of the world managing the estate. For those into local history, or even just interested in the way that these large estates and their families have their stories to tell, the section of the Henham web site on history is well worth a read; several of us present on the day live in Dennington so the estate history has added frisson.

Our wild food expert was Jacky Sutton-Adam, to twitterers @wildfoodie1. Jacky has a marvellous way with imagery that means that she provides a full sensory description of the plants that you are investigating. This involves not just the look, taste and smell of the plants but what they feel like and the sound they make when they are snapped in just the right place. Her website is rich with additional detail and well worth a review if you are interested in eating from the wild. Jacky was also full of good advice on distinguishing one plant from another and very sensible about the warnings; only pick what you know and only pick what you need. A wide

range of salad plants were found only a few feet from the car park, with the full knowledge that you had the permission of the owners and that the risk of contamination at the site was minimal. We were introduced to nettle, cleavers aka Sticky Willy, burdock, ground elder, ground ivy and elderflower. The great thing was that even for someone who has tried these before, another person's take on the topic or the way they use the plants adds breadth to your own knowledge; Jacky even won me round on the topic of ground elder!

After the initial foray we moved on down to the edge of the Blyth estuary, where wild samphire and sea purslane were found and eaten. There is something very special about this area, combining the drama of tidal changes and the history of Black Shuck, having seen the musical last year in the park in Halesworth you could expect to see singing scarecrows and man eating black dogs at every turn. I exaggerate as usual; in the company of 20 very affable people it was a lovely stroll by the river and the succulent little pieces of samphire just thrusting up through the sandy water's edge were a delight.

The whole party then moved on to the Anchor at Walberswick, where our hosts Mark and Sophie Dorber and their fantastic team had created a meal based on the wild food we had been examining. Before we ate there was a quick tour round their allotment to be introduced to other common weeds that were edible, including poppy and chick weed.

Lunch started with an elderflower beer, fresh asparagus and samphire with gram flour pancakes; these were an absolute revelation, beautiful little light finger foods, we also had hop shoot tempura. This first phase of the meal was taken outside but we then transferred into a converted outbuilding, with one long table set for everyone to eat together. After the second sample beer I found myself deciding a taxi or lift would have been a good idea and will go back to collect the car later, it would have been a pity not to take advantage of Mark's skills in selecting beers to go with each part of the meal and to appreciate his knowledge of the whole brewing process. The main course was three cousins salad, carrot, coriander seed and fat hen leaves; chicken in the woods risotto (always going to be a winner with me), stir fried sea cabbage and nettle and feta flat bread. There was also a glorious leg of lamb, sausages and crab. The flavours were marvellous and the team had worked well to balance strong flavours and enhance or compliment other more subtle flavours to produce a remarkable meal. At no point did you feel cheated on quality or quantity, these 'weeds' had

been given full starring roles. Jacky spoke more about the plants at stages throughout the meal and Mark expounded on the beers. Desert was a sublime elderflower panacotta made by @mikewallfish with gooseberries; this was followed by a wealth of cheeses both local to Walbersick and from Jacky's deli, from mild fresh cheeses to seriously strong extra-matured examples. The whole polished off with coffee. We stayed way beyond the time allocated, so huge thanks to all for their patience and conviviality; I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday.

WildFood Safari are arranging more days that explore the journey of food from the sea, field, vineyard or brew house to the table and it is possible to purchase vouchers, which would make a great present for any foodie friends.

Favourite Friday

2009-06-06T10:15:00.002+01:00

This has been a fun week; started the new job, the garden is beginning to reach good level of production, Twitter freebies arrived, chat at the local school went well and some friends started to tweet, a little more of each below.

I will not be blogging much relating to my new jobs as there are some aspects of confidentiality etc that would make it inappropriate, but from the point of view of a sea change in career it feels good so far. The bike ride of 25 minutes to and from work is basically on the flat with a small stretch of rough track that joins two made-up farm tracks. At most I have seen three vehicles in any one journey; also hares, woodpeckers and squirrels; plus I can review the hedgerows for their current and future potential – urgent need to deal with some elderflowers (cordial, fritters, ice cream, champagne)

The garden is producing plenty of white onions and salad, although too much is bolting in the dry weather. I have resorted to the hose again as the water butts are dry. Rain is promised for the weekend. The strawberry hanging baskets are nearly over and the first of the alpine strawberries are colouring up. Pleased with the site of baby Kohl Rabi which I am tempted to eat small. The beans are climbing the stalks. Took a salad to friend's this weekend which included large quantities of chive flowers, some sorrel and other leaves; seemed to go down well.

Twitter freebies this week have included @paddyandscotts coffee and @ethicalsoap foot scrubby and hand cream. Really pleased with these and will give feedback to the people concerned. The coffee was taken to the friend's house and shared with girl friends, really good coffee their website explains more about how they started in the garage and moved on to processing various different coffees. The foot scrubbie is a slice of loofa impregnated with lemony smelling soap, tried it out in the shower this morning, it tickles! Allyson's website describes her journey into business using excess goat's milk from her smallholding.

This week also saw the 'chat' to the children at the local school. They will be working on posters to form an art wall at the village hall for the Expo on 20^th June. The theme is 'time' and I included pictures of a watch, egg timer, ball bearing clock and the houses of parliament. We then went on a wander through Salvador Dali's melting clock, Monet's wheat stacks, Lowry, Breughel, Hopper and finishing with pictures from The Time Machine and of course the TARDIS. Huge thanks to @nettlecake who through a twitter conversation, helped me develop the ideas. I also explained the background to the logo above, designed by @flashmaggie, which includes the Sciapod, a figure that also appears on their school sweatshirts. It will be interesting to see the results.

Welcome to @cletrac and @LivingInPuglia if you look at my favourites you will find some interesting characters or just things that make me smile

Oh and if this all looks different to previous blogs, my first attempted to write in Word2007 blog template and load direct – wait for the crash when I hit 'Publish'

Please comment – I like to know what you think