London and Home Again

We have been to London. Not such a big deal except that for reasons I won't go into we had to drive. It is a long way BUT our young people are now well trained in the act of car jouneys and didn't complain too much. This was helped by stops at Ikea on both legs of the trip as it is much nicer than the services and cheaper too. We had a bit of a look about and actually left without buying anything except for a plant as a gift.

In London as the boys attended to the bussiness end of the trip k and I hit the shops. Well mostly Harrods but a couple of other places as well. We really went for the atmosphere and not to buy anything (we were really very good) but we did succumb to morning coffee at one of the many eating places. I have to admit that it really really was fantastic although as you can imagine very pricey. I think this must be THE most expensive stawberry tart in the whole of the UK if not the world.
Then it was off to wander round the shop. I actually like the foodhalls the best and could spend hours there looking at all of the displays. K however was much more taken by this gentleman here. Luckily there was not enough room in the car.....

The two of us were absolutely enthralled at the Harvey Nics window display. So much so that we took the boys back on the Sunday so that they could see them too.

Aren't they just amazing. Even D thought that they were good and that is really saying something.
We got back yesterday just in time to ice the birthday cake that I had been asked to make for a friend's little boy. They haven't seen it yet so I hope it is ok, but I thought that I would give you a sneek preview........

A Mini Walk and Summer Treats.

Last week Maxi (my mini), demanded a service. i knew this was coming up as the little light had flashed orange for a couple of weeks but when it turned red it was time to do something about it. Anyway all went well and as it was a lovely day, dry for once I decided to walk the mile and a half or so to the garage. Much to D's disgust I decided to take along both the camera and him. Honestly it was enough to turn me into a raging old person. This is what i found........

Does no-one put their rubbish in the bin anymore? I think that my parents may have cut off my hands if we had done this. The pathway that we walked along has only been tarred over in the last 3 weeks and they had rolled cans into the verge and had tossed cones under the hedge adding to all of the mess.

Back to better things....Summer means one thing on the food front:.. berries to be used in all sorts of ways but especially like this....

Hope you are all enjoying the summer holidays.

Holidays and Trips

Well the school holidays have started. It's easy to know about this even if you don't have school age children. The rain has been tipping it down ever since my last blog which seems like ages ago. I think that most of yesteday was dry but it's back to wet again today.
The young ones arrived back from their trips, mostly exhausted but full of what they had done and seen.
K spent quite alot of time discussing the pros and cons of her accomidation and the standard of the food, (which was probably pretty good considering that she was in Tuscany). As usual D was much quieter and little information has been gleaned about where he was, who was there or anything else for that matter.
There has been quite alot of excitement since though. We learned that K is to take part in a trip to Taiwan next year as part of a "Connecting Schools" venture. it all sound very exciting and I will let you know more as we find out the details.


In the meantime, each student has been asked to raise at least £200 towards the costs of the trip. (Guess who pays the rest?) Soooo....... we have been busy with the baking and jelly making. At times we have reached almost factory proportions and this is just the start. One thing leads to another and the next thing you know, special requests have been made, new recipes have been tried and sold to a very willing bunch of people, mostly at my work but you never know we could go global.
D has been keeping the accounts. (He is very good at this). I didn't want to end up buying all of the ingredients and then all the money being taken for the trip, I've been had this way before. Actually I'm sure most of you will have been in the same position with school fundraising. You make lots of goodies and then buy them back at the school fete. Well not this time, oh no... they are too old for all of that. A much more business like approach was needed with proper working out and accounts and stuff.
I feel that this may go on for a while but so far so good.
Thought you might like the picture in the middle. D brought back the Sombrero for K as requested, but it seemed to fit Ducati better although I don't think she is too impressed!

White Horse and Cherry Jam

Well what a weekend it has been! First swimming in the lakes very early on Saturday. Then, yesterday, going to see a Classical Riding demonstration near Preston. It was absolutely fantastic although some of it was definitely beyond me. It was enough to sit and watch these fabulous horses being put through their paces. The riders were given instruction on how to improve the way they sat, although if I could manage to be like even the poorest of them it would be a miracle.

On Saturday evening Y and I went out to dinner. (No children remember). On the way back, I remembered that I had seen some cherry trees in a layby very, very near to us. Sure enough they were there and laden with fruit. Y was dispatched at once for tubs and containers. (This was after 10pm, I think he was humouring me!!!).
Today I spent ages pitting the cherries, hence the hands. AND NOW we have cherry jam with Kirtch which I happened to find in the pantry. Just the thing for an added something. Have to admit though that I was quite surprised when it actually set as it is supposed to be devilishly difficult.  To finish off I used some of my new labels, given to me by K as a birthday present.

A Day in the Lakes

Thought you might like a look at the pictures that I took this morning. As both of the young people are away we decided to make the most of it and head down to the lakes. It was a very wet morning as you can see, but we had planned an early morning swim at Rydal Water. Well when swimming you can't get any wetter. We made it there for just after 7am and had a fantastic swim in the water. (Not a lake this one!) We only saw 2 other people who were out walking their dogs. It wasn't even as chilly as you might have expected as it's been so warm and the water is quite shallow at the moment.
After the swim we meandered to Ambleside and had hot chocolate in the only cafe that seemed to be open before going to Lakeland to stock up on bits and bobs.
As the tourists started to appear we set off back home in time for lunch and blogging.

Bread and Verges.

I have been trying for quite a while now to get a sourdough starter going. It has failed miserably..... until now! First I gave up too early then I think I killed it off although I'm not sure how. BUT now we have one, a living breathing thing. AND on Tuesday we had our very first sourdough loaf. It is really very good, cetainly worth the wait. This is how it came along..........         

 First the Sponge. This smelt a bit like beer and was very sticky.

Then came the Dough, proper bread looking stuff. I quite surprised myself with this one.

  Then came the Loaf. How good is that?

Today, well stocked up on bread I have been have a bit of a poke around at some of the verges around about and here is what I've found.......

I know what some of them are but not all. There seems to be a bit of a pink theme going on. Must be the time of year. Hope to see you all again soon, sorry this one has taken so long.

It's Showtime!

We had a day out today at Skelton Show. We've never been before, even although we have lived in the area for more than 12 years. It really was a fantastic day out.

As this is a one day show there was plenty of time to look at everything.

We saw enormous vegetables, pretty flowers and plant displays as well as all of the live stock.

Most of the animals didn't seem to mind their pictures being taken and being peered at by hundreds of people but this cow doesn't look quite so sure.

Enough cabbage for an army of coleslaw makers.

A rest in the sun.

As perfect as it gets

Friends

As it is such a wet day, I thought that you might like to meet some of my other friends. At the moment we meet every Friday, but only for an hour or so. Actually I'm not too sure that the aristocratic one on the left is actually my friend. (He's a bit haughty). It is all really good fun, but a certain amount of dressing properly is required. I'm slowly learning to be more confident again having not ridden for a very long time. BUT a daughter who is very keen has given me a bit of a push. Well that and the thought that she mght be getting to do something that I really enjoyed and I wasn't. Are you supposed to be jealous of your children? Probably not. Anyway it was time I did something for me so here it is. Along with the baking and hooky of course. Don't get too wet

Strawberry Fields

Just had to show you what we've been up to today. BUT this was not all. Oh no...... grass has been cut (I finally managed to get the verge done). Shopping for the week's food....complete, yippee, it's really not my favourite thing, the supermarket shop. It was a fantabulous time to go though as the football was on and hardly anyone was around which made much more satisfying. Why am I drivelling on? Just look at this.......

We had THE most fantastic afternoon. SITTING in the sun. EATING loads of strawberries. PLANNING what we would make. It turns out that jam and icecream are top of the list.

Cakes and Cordial

The summer seems to be here to stay, at least for the moment. The Elderflower did their thing this week, way behind those down the country and late for here too. We picked them on Monday and by Friday the mixture was bottled and ready to drink, although it seems to get better if kept for a while.

                             I thought you might like a peek into my box of cake decorations.

I pick up bits and pieces as I see them so sometimes end up with quite a stock of glitter and sprinkles.             BUT.... they are just the thing when it's time for cupcakes.

                   After all the bottling and baking it was definitely time for some hooky in the sun.

It is just too hot for much else although some of the grass did get cut. i have to confess that i gave up before we were finished. There's always tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Blogging and Random Thoughts

Just felt the need for a quick blog today. Isn't it amazing how you get hooked. I keep looking just to see if I've had any visitors, in fact I think most of the hits may be me looking to see if anyone else is dropping by. Is that sad, or needy or what?








Also been to a meeting about K going off to Italy on a school trip. how exciting is that. Not the meeting. The trip sounds fab, wish it was me that  was going. Mind you, someone who needs to snooze like this..........

May find it hard to sleep overnight on a bus full of very excited teenagers.
Have been having a peek at lots of other blogs over the last few days. how on earth do you all manage to do these fatastic blocks of photos? Any hints and tips would be really appreciated.





Saw this bike advertising a local cafe and thought you might like to seeit. Summer in a bike if you can have such a thing!

Picnic Time

What more could you want on a sunny Father's Day than a picnic in the Scottish Borders. Yesterday we made the plans but as ever in this country it all depends on the weather. We struck lucky and went for it. We found a spot that we had kind of remembered from a trip years ago on the way back from Hawick. We were joined by some friends although unfortunately someone had to work. Medicine doesn't always fit in with sunny days.

The girls spent quite a while paddling in the river. Even older boys were drawn to the water but for a spot of dam building.

Later we all sat in the sun and compared the size of toes. The two small girls are also facinated by bugs and spent lots of time searching for them and making sure that I was suitably interested. This is quite hard, I really am not a bug kind of person, but some of them were very pretty.

Altogether a very good time was had by all. Sitting, eating, a bit of drinking pink wine mmmm......

The weather stayed kind as we spotted motorbikes by engine sound only. Y and B very good at this. I of course am hopeless.

Hopefully there will be lots more days like this...

Friday Flowers.

Yesterday was our Wedding Anniversary. 17 years, where did all the time go? Some beautiful flowers arrived during the day and were waiting for me when I got home. A  good surprise at the end of the day.

I have them on the hearth along with the flowers I treated myself to when I got the shopping last week. Not quite in the same league but nice all the same.

Today I was taken out to lunch but arrived in town just a little bit early after a well timed escape from work. Just enough time for a mooch around the local gift shop. And look what I found. Only looked though, no buying. Not that I wasn't tempted but looking was enough for today.

After lunch we decided to go to a new cafe / bar place for a coffee and spotted a new vintage store. possibly it's a second hand store but really well laid out and has lots of vintage clothes, shoes and house things.

Speak to you all sometime over he weekend. Hope it stays sunny where you are.