Time Passed....

.... The last few months certainly did. It is nearly a year since my last post.
 (Sounds like confession, forgive me Father...).

A brief catch-up:

My dear friend and second mum Pilly died. I will put up a post about her soon. Enough time has elapsed that I think I can say what I need to without getting mawkish.

We finally got a new roof on our house, the bucket we had under the ceiling has now been retired.

Angela and I are both pretty healthy, considering... Some of the tablets I have been on for my heart rhythmn have managed to knock out my thyroid gland but I'm still fit enough to walk up hills...

As I mentioned in a previous post the Legal Eagle and her Beau got married, we had dinner round with her and some other friends last Sunday...

Next to Angela; Gianluca, Jo and Irina: next to me; The Legal Eagle, her Beau, and Harry

As usual, the food was excellent, especially the puddings.....

(Clockwise from top, Angela's Apricot and Marzipan Loaf, French Apple tart and Hazlenut Meringue sandwich).

I can personally vouch for the deliciousness of all of them!

To walk off the excess calories some of us took a stroll round to Waterlow Park, only a few minutes away from the Eagle's Nest.

The late afternoon sun was peeping through. I think even grumpy old Karl Mark looked a bit happier than normal.

Walking in the Chilterns today.

Is this a Llama I see before me, or an Alpaca? Time to buy an Iphone Ungulate Identification App.

In Praise of Serendipity

Yesterday was a Bank Holiday, and not only that but it was sunny too.

Taken aback by this unusual conjunction, Angela and I thought we would go for a stroll.
We both felt like a walk by the Thames, so we hopped onto a 4 bus and were soon whizzed through an empty City and decamped at the South Bank.
Apart from doing a circuit up to Tower Bridge and back, we had no great plans.
Picking up a coffee we soon bumped into what would be the first of a trio of exhibitions to investigate, all with free entry, though two of the three tempted us with stuff to buy.

The first was Everest 1953, a photographic exhibition celebrating the first conquest of Mount Everest, sixty years ago tomorrow. The photographs were breathtaking, some even in early colour processes.

After Everest, near the Globe, we came upon the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers Annual Exhibition.
I am learning a little lino-cutting at the moment, so this exhibition was a fascinating chance to see the wide variety of printmaking techniques being practised by experts.

The third exhbition was just outside the London Assembly building, sometimes unkindly referred to as "The Testicle". The display was of environmental initiatives and wildlife in the U.K. You can find the link here

In between we managed an excellent lunch at Zizzi, a restaurant chain new to us and chosen more or less at random.

At Tower Bridge we crossed to the North Bank for the return trip.

I always find Tower Bridge fascinating - I made a quick sketch to send as a postcard to my friend the Legal Eagle. After knowing her for nearly thirty years I managed to fall ill at the weekend and missed her wedding.

So Rachel, this little sketch is for you....

You Know You Are Getting Old When ...

They start selling Televisions as Antiques

In praise of old pubs

Yesterday Angela and I joined a ramble around Ware in Hertfordshire. Although muddy in parts, the walk went through some lovely countryside. 

Perhaps the best bit of the walk was the lunch stop though!

We went to The White Horse in Wareside. It was like stepping in to the past. Public and Saloon bars ( so no problems with our muddy boots), a piano, a lovely real fire, real ale and two lovely dogs asleep. In their own beds by the fire. 

Talking to the landlord, he told us the two Jack Russels earn their keep. He goes out shooting rabbits and the dogs retrieve for him. On a good night he can get 30 rabbits. No wonder rabbit pie was on the menu!

The photos above are of Henriette, the walk leader, getting to know one of the two dogs. 

Half Board

We poached a lovely fresh trout this evening. The fish was big enough to have half each and still have a little left over. 

We finally realised we have become "cat people".

We found ourselves looking at the chopping board we had divided the fish on, thinking  "what shall we do with the juices?" And coming up with this solution!

A Room With a View

I was birding in South Devon this weekend. This is the view from my hotel room. 

Neigh, Neigh and Thrice Neigh.

In the light of the recent revelations about Tesco's burgers , maybe Waitrose might go for a re-design?

Snow Joke

Following on from our wash-out coach trip, this weekend a band of intrepid MBS birders are scheduled to be in South Devon for a long weekend. 

Let's hope the snow clears in time

We will be praying to the Snow God. 

Sign of the times

The Saturday before last was spent in horizontal rain; we were allegedly birding in Hampshire.

The road sign said it all...

Luckily the Ship Inn was warm, very welcoming, and did lovely chips!

Twelfth Night (plus or minus 1)

Time to say thank you to the Nordmann Fir for 2012, and pack the fairy away for another  year. Back to work tomorrow. Normality?

Free Pee!

This sign was at Marylebone station this morning.  I am always happy to get something for nothing!

A Tail of Mice

Cats are by nature hunters, beautiful but ruthless.

Last year I kept a tally of how many rodents our cats, Tigger and Fluffy caught.

Fluffy managed a haul of nine mice.

Tigger caught, killed and ate twenty.

Plus a wood pigeon, a rat (brought in to the house alive, oh joy!), a blackbird and a magpie.

Tonight Angela and I were eating our supper when I heard a sound I recognised; Fluffy calling to let us know he had a mouse.

Various noises off occurred, and when we next looked in the hall, this is what was left...

Hampstead Heath New Year!

Happy New Year. 

The champagne isn't mine by the way. 

It is something of a tradition among birders to kick the year list off with a New Year's Day  birding trip. 

Today 7 of our birding group met for our regular Tuesday stroll which coincided with the first day of the New year. 

23 species were seen, with superb views of Green Woodpecker  and brief glimpses of Kingfisher as the highlights. 

A lovely morning, sunny and bitterly cold.

Perfect birding weather. 

Back Again!

Angela and I have missed this blog. It used to be like an online memory bank and scrapbook.

Without the blog so many things we have done or seen are just memories, already fading as we age and life moves on ....

So; without further ado,

This Blog Is Back!

Spring on Hampstead Heath

Most Tuesdays I join the Marylebone Birdwatching Society for their birding walk over the Heath.

The weather forecast was good, so I arrived early on Hampstead Heath this morning. The mist was burning off in the heat from the sun. I only had my phone to take these pictures, but they came out pretty well I think.

There's something apocalyptic about the images.





.

Domestic Goddess

This post is a paen of praise for my wife Angela.

On Saturday I was with the Marylebone Birdwatching Society here...



There were 31 of us enjoying some beautiful weather and some beautiful birds, including Kingfishers and Peregrine Falcon.




The sun was dappling off the River Hamble near to Southampton Water...




I didn't get home until nearly 8p.m. By then Angela had got TWO machine-fulls of washing done and line dried, baked these...



Delicious shortbread biscuits, produced this....




Sponge Tray-bake, to be finished off with Raspberrry Jam and Desiccated Coconut.

And last but not least...



Beef Chilli!

I must go birding more often....

.

Going The Whole Hog

Angela and I were in the Welsh Marches this weekend. Specifically we were in Chirk.

We were in North Wales for a wedding with a difference. Our dear Nephew Stuart was marrying Ellen. The venue was a large field in Ellen's home village. A number of Yurts had been built especially for the occasion. Mobile loos had been hired, car parking arranged, and lighting had been laid on. Dozens of wedding guests would be camping in the field.

Bands had been hired, fire jugglers were on hand and workshops were taking place in drumming and willow weaving. This was no ordinary wedding - this was "Wedfest".

The trees were decorated...



Mountains of vegetarian food had been prepared; even better, as Stuart is a confirmed carnivore, there was a Hog Roast. A Hog Roast is a simple affair. You just get a couple of gullible friends to dig you a pit four feet long, four feet wide and two feet deep. Then you fill it with wood, allow the wood to burn to embers, then suspend an entire pig on a spit above it. Cover with corrugated iron to keep in the heat. Top up charcoal as it burns down. A fully grown pig will take about ten hours to cook... Oh, you will need to find someone to turn the spit continuously to guarantee even cooking and crackling which is simply cosmic.



The Hog roast shortly after cooking.

To make sure there would be enough food a couple of sheep had been keeping the pig company, stuffed with garlands of Rosemary and whole cloves of garlic. Awesome!

Dotted around the field were various sculptures by members of Ellen's family, such as this reclining bather...



The day went brilliantly, the couple were obviously madly in love, and facing the future together...



The wedding cake had been made by Jane, a family friend who now produces sculptures rather than cakes for a living.



The cake deserves a close-up of it's own - the happy couple...



The cider flagon is not just for decoration; Stuart had pressed three barrels of cider the previous Autumn in readiness for the day.

A few hours later this was all that was left of the hog roast and the two roast lambs..



The happy couple were spending their first night as man and wife in the Nuptial Yurt, set discretely apart at the far end of the field. The view was stunning as the sun fell behind it...



We wish Ellen and Stuart all the best for the future. We had a wonderful time, and we know they did too.

I will end this post with just a tiny peek into the nuptial yurt.

So Romantic...



.P.S. If you want to see all the photos I took at Wedfest, just click here to go to my Flickr account.

.

This one is for you Amalee!

Too many moons ago I set a competition. The prize (!) was a blog post of the winner's choice. Amalee won, and asked for photos of my fridge.....

I know.

I haven't a clue why either.

However, as Amalee is my most loyal follower I have felt twinges of guilt over the ensuing months (two and a half years actually)as my food chilling equipment has remained un-photographed.

The wait is now over.

The reduced photos are below. Click on the links marked [Expand this photo] below to be taken to my Flickr pages, where annotated boxes will explain the contents of my fridge....

The fridge door (outside view)



[Expand this photo]

The main compartment



[Expand this photo]

The door (inside view)



[Expand this photo]

Have Fun!!

.