A day of eleven questions

My good friend Becca and her friend E jointly write the lovely blog Make, Do and Spend ....and they've kindly nominated me along with others for a Liebster Award ...Kerry from Kerry Cooks, Fiona from Big Hungry Gnomes, Holly from Holly Loves Cake, and Ruth from Clarendon Spark 

But this isn't one of those awards where you get a gong....no, you have to answer lots of questions!

So, the rules of the award are:

- List 11 random facts about yourself
– Answer 11 questions given to you by the nominator
– Set 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominate
– Tag your chosen bloggers and wait to read their answers- List 11 random facts about yourself
– Answer 11 questions given to you by the nominator
– Set 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominate

All clear as mud? Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll  begin.....here's 11 facts about me....

1. My glass is always half full - I'm naturally optimistic.

2. Whoops....I'm so clumsy, always have been , always will be.

3. I adore reading .

4. I love recipe books...I seem to have a collection...about seventy of them. And food....I love food

5. I need some more bookshelves.

6. I love being outdoors ..in my garden or on the allotment..

7. I haven't got a bucket list per se, but there's quite a few countries I'm desperate to visit sometime soon. I really need to see Canada for the first time, and I want to go to New Orleans, and California visiting farmers markets and vineyards there.. Oh and Scandinavia...and Mautitius....I only had a day there the last time.
     My favourite countries are ...in no particular order...are Australia, (OK I lied) , France and Italy.

8. I've got three children , and without a doubt being a Mum is wonderful, so fulfilling, so exciting,   so incredibly emotional and I physically ache if I don't see the little darlings  for a long time....

9.My darling dog is up the duff and I can't wait for puppies in five weeks time.

10. My tipples of choice - A lovely merlot in the autumn and winter, rose and a sauvignon blanc in spring and summer and prosecco or crème de Bourgogne at anytime darlings! Just open the bottles.....

11. I haven't been to enough gigs or festivals this year.


Then we have to answer these questions

1. What’s the best thing about blogging?  Having lots of people interacting with something I've written, finding a blog and instantly getting who that person is, being part of a like minded community , finding something that interests me
 

2. And the worst?  Spammers, but that's about it....
 

3. What do you like most about the area you live in?  I live in a tiny village with quirky other people, in a beautiful area which constantly inspires and refreshes  me. I literally breathe a sigh of relief as I leave the city and drive into the greenery...
 

4.  What is your favourite season and why?It has to be summer....I need to see the sunshine and feel the warmth on my bones
 

5. What’s your favourite form of transport? A ship...I worked on a cruise ship for a year before I went to university, and three years ago I cruised down the Nile... I loved the rhythm of each day, waking up in a different place to explore after a comfortable night's sleep, the camaradie on board, and on days at sea, never being bored  by watching the horizon and hearing the waves
 

6. Your top three most-loved pieces of clothing?  Does that include footwear? If so, my DuBarry boots top the list. I 've had them for 14 years and they're still going strong. Years ago, I had the most beautiful white cotton sundress which really suited me. I wore it with red leather sandals.
 

7. What was the last thing you watched at the cinema? And theatre? Cinema...Oh I haven't been for ages. It was January....and a comic caper called Last Vegas, that my Mum wanted to see on her birthday. She loves Michael Douglas, Robert de Niro and Morgan Freeman who were in it, but for me the saving grace was Kevin Cline...

Theatre? Dial M for Murder
 

8. Favourite childhood book? Only one? Ok then, A  Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett which my uncle gave me for my birthday when I was 11. I've still got it...

9. What one piece of advice would you give to someone thinking about starting/just starting a new blog? Think about why you're blogging, and who you want your audience to be?

10. Now for the important question – whippy or scooped ice-cream? Scooped of course!
 

11. Which flavour? Well it has to be Italian.....blackcurrant first, and then pistachio


Now it's my turn to nominate!

The wonderful Hazel at It's Not F***ing Rocket Science...the adorable Lucy at Little Old Goose, the lovely Rosalind at Rosalind Adam is writing in the rain,  Alex at Alex Gutteridge writes ...and my gorgeous friend from across the pond Shannon at http://www.shannonlane.com/


Your questions ladies are....

1. What was the first band you ever saw perform live?
2. What was the worst meal you ever cooked?
3. You can only afford two courses so do you have a starter and main, or main and pudding?
4. What's your favourite word in the English language?
5. You have one colour to paint the inside of your house...which do you choose?
6. Your favourite holiday destination?
7. What are your three favourite blogs?
8. Looks or personality...which do you go for most?
9/What book are you reading at the moment?
10. What music track makes you cry and why?
11. You have only three plants to put in your garden...what would you choose?

Let the fun begin!
 

An apple a day.....

 

 

This year has been a very good year for fruit at the allotments. Pounds of blackcurrants, gooseberries and some lovely raspberries, especially the autumn variety which have a lovely flavour.

 

But this year, the apple trees and plum trees are the starts of the show....they are absolutely laden with fruit. There's two of each, and the first apples to pick have been these - I think they're discovery apples.

  

 

The fruit trees are on the outermost edge of the allotment site about ten feet away from the road. There's lot of nettles around, so even though it wasn't cold exactly, I had a thick pair of trousers on, boots, and a long sleeved jumper and gloves on as I picked the fruit.

Oh and sunglasses, even if the sun wasn't shining.....I'm so accident prone, I tend to get caught in the eye by a rogue, sadistic branch or two.

Luckily I escaped unscathed and came home with these....

 



 

 

These are  tasty desert apples, so what am I going to do with them, plus the rest on the tree that Laura ,my friend and co conspirator at the lottie doesn't want?

 

I've already made a rather nice tarte tatin, a big waldorf salad, and have been taking some into work to eat with lunch. Well, you know what they say..."an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

 

And apparently this proverb from Victorian times is right. Well, so researchers at Oxford University said last Christmas time. Apparently, they calculated that if all adults aged 50 and over here in the UK were prescribed an apple a day , there would be 8,500 fewer deaths from heart attacks and strokes each year.

 

That's good enough for me! But I need some more recipes using dessert apples instead of cooking apples. I've been looking in my two "must go to "books on fruit by the wonderful Nigel Slater and the late, great Jane Grigson, plus the Riverford Farm Book has some good apple recipes in too...but I fancy something new!

 

 

 

 

 

 What's your favourite way of using dessert apples?


As we're in the last days of August, I thought today's music track should be this - set in the last days of summer...Choices. It's performed in a garden by To Kill a King (love), Bastille (love too) and some of their friends. The song builds up from two voices and acoustic guitar to violins, cello, brass section and Uncle Tom Cobley and all. Delightful....

 

The day of the flower show

It's been feeling slightly autumnal this week...a chill in the evening air, some rain, and leaves on some trees are beginning to change colour.

But last weekend, it still felt like high summer down in North Somerset as I went to see Mama for the weekend. On Saturday afternoon we went off to the annual flower  show in her village, which was like a trip back in a time.

The Tickenham Flower Show has been held since 1947....and the basic principles of the show haven't changed -it's all very low key. It's not a large or flashy show with fair rides, burger vans or any of that malarkey, but the showing classes are taken  seriously, and it's a chance for everyone to meet up, have tea, and bask in the success of winning prizes.

Mama headed straight for the village hall to do her stint serving teas with her friend Gwen and all the others in the kitchen

It's in the marquee that you see how creative villagers are...and green fingered...

They may be just raspberries on leaves, but I think they are utterly beautiful....

And this winner certainly knows how to style his vegetables.....

And look at the beautiful simplicity of these tiny chillies...

One class of flower exhibits were travel themed -I loved this interpretation of a Singapore sling....

 

A country tea...

I also liked the simplicity and sheer cheerfulness of the children's efforts....

There was also an art and craft exhibition....

Out on the field, everyone had cream teas or ice creams

while the  band played a selection of tunes from the hits of the 1940's to television theme tunes.

Young children played on the grass in fancy dress, babies sat on their mother's knees in the shade, and some of the men enjoyed  a pint in the cider in the sunshine.

And I won a coconut, which is the first time in my life that's ever happened!

Then there was the serious business of the presentation of prizes, before everyone drifted off  in a wave of  "See you next year"after a happy few hours on a summer's afternoon. A few hours away from the news, violence and crises around the world, a few hours of the simple traditional pleasures of a country village.



 Today's track is one of the theme tunes the Portishead Band played last Saturday. Imagine the sunshine, the ambience ...and this blasting out....Love this!

 

A day of melancholy

 As  I look out from my kitchen window out over my garden, my little piece of earth , my home, I realise how lucky I am.

Yes lucky, and although the sun may be shining too, I'm also feeling rather melancholic this morning.
This week has marked the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War 1, a world I've been immersed in for quite a while. I've made lots of features about how the war affected people and places in Leicestershire and Rutland in those dark days and how millions of people worldwide  had to cope with loss and of their loved ones .

This week, I've also organised a series of outside broadcasts from around our patch to reflect what went on, and how the anniversary has been marked.

On Monday we were out in Loughborough at the Carillon, the monument to nearly 500 people from the town who were killed during the First world War.



A service of remembrance was held in front of rows and rows of personally inscribed crosses

On Wednesday we were at the War Memorial in Leicester's Victoria Park. Unlike most others, this beautiful monument, designed by Lutyens , has no names engraved on it, but there were about 12,000 men who died from Leicester .

And as you stand with your back to the memorial, you look down Peace Walk which goes down towards the city. All along the walk are other memorials, some very small, very simple,  to the Women of both World Wars, to the Indian men who fought , to those from other parts of the Commonwealth who fought, and there at the top of the walk is the Hiroshima Tree.  A tree to commemorate the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And yesterday we were out at the small museum  in Hinckley  where a quarter of the town's menfolk went off to fight.

And as we've marked the start of what was called "the war to end all wars" and reflected on the senseless slaughter, we've been bombarded with the news from the Middle East where thousands are  being killed now. Men, women and children are dying because of what religion they follow, or simply because where they live, by those who don't care about human life or the consequences of their actions, today or in the future.

I abhor the violence in Gaza, in Syria and in Iraq and as I write this there are tears in my eyes as I think of what's going on those countries. I'm frightened for those ordinary people at risk there trying to live normal lives, or just survive, whether they be Palestinians, Jews, Christians , Kurds or Muslims. I'm horrified about what murderous acts are carried out in the name of religion or otherwise, by terrorists, governments or organisations , and wonder how peace can ever  prevail.

Not for the first time, I 'm thankful that I live in such a tolerant society here in England. There are many of us from different  faiths and cultures all over the world living here in Leicestershire -from war torn Europe, the Caribbean, and more recently, from Somalia, Ruanda, Zimbabwe, from India, Pakistan, from Afghanistan.

The thought that any of us could be targeted, punished or killed for who we are, or who we choose to worship here is incomprehensible, yet for thousands of people elsewhere  it's a harsh, evil reality.

And so as we've all be marking with sorrow those events of a hundred years ago, and understand the terrible consequences of that war, I shall pray to my God for peace today in 2014.

It 's difficult to see what can be done or how it will be achieved. It seems hopeless. I feel helpless  but I shall hope with all my heart  that humanity, moderation and sense will eventually come in Iraq, in Gaza ,in Syria, in Afghanistan.

In the meantime, the killing of innocent, ordinary people continues, so perhaps you'll forgive a not so normally cheerful blog today.













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The day Boo met Bow

So, today was the day.

A very handsome chap called Bow travelled down from Derbyshire to meet Boo for a date.

As his owners Natalie and Joe brought him into the courtyard, I liked him immediately. He has such a lovely nature, is very friendly, and as soon as he clapped eyes on Boo, it was obvious he wanted to be more than friends.

Boo liked him too.....

 



 

 

 

Bow felt very pleased with himself afterwards.....

And then both were relaxed enough to pose for a photo...and were remarkably affectionate with each other.

 

 But all too soon it was time for Bow to go to back to Derbyshire, so there was a quick goodbye at the gate.

 

Since he's been gone, Boo has been a little unsettled. She's on her favourite wicker chair though, asleep on her blanket, no doubt dreaming of Bow and a rather surprising Saturday morning...

 

 

Nine weeks to go...so you'd better watch this space......

 

Today's track is from John Newman...."Love me again"