Postcards from Middle Age

So MozzyMr and I were rained off the allotment and decided to make use of the National Trust cards MoMa and MoPa bought us for Christmas.  We went to Castle Drogo, the last castle built in England.  Such an amazing building, the kitchen area was my favourite bit of the house; the plate racks above the wooden sinks, the jelly moulds and circular work island all looked so impressive.  Here are a few snapshots from our visit.  (Obligatory tea and cake were consumed.)

Allotment Geekery

Ahhhh this is probably the best part of the allotment year in my opinion.  We're still harvesting loads of veg but we're also clearing down the bind weed and other nasties and drying them out ready for the bonfire season which starts in October.  We've cleared down a far amount, this is some of what we have left:

Now, the following compost bin might not look much to you, but it's been a long time in the making on our plot.  We've had one of those plastic council dalek do-dah compost bins since we started but they're rubbish and MozzyMr has been talking about building one out of palettes for AGES, and now we have one!  Shame it's almost full already...

The polytunnel is teeming at the moment, our little plot is full to the brim with tomatoes and a couple of other bits, including a baby melon!  How exciting, can't wait for it to be big enough to eat.

The following bits of veg aren't ours but I had to take some photos to show you how others are using their polytunnel plots.  We do have some chilli's and peppers growing but frankly we grew too many tomatoes and they haven't got as much light as they needed, next year we won't bother with so many tomatoes, they're nice but I am OVER tomato soup.

A Return to the Studio

The great British summer is doing what it does best over a bank holiday weekend, raining.  I booked the Friday and Tuesday off work because originally a friend was going to come down and visit but of course I caught the lurgy that was doing the rounds in our open plan office and had to cancel.  

Friday was such a waste, I spent the day in bed sleeping, reading and drinking cups of tea.  Oh no, that's an ace day off lurgy aside.

Not having the energy to do anything too strenuous I've had the perfect excuse to get back to the studio and get painting.  It's taking time to get my old skills back but I'm enjoying the process.  Watch this space hopefully I will keep up the momentum.

More Than We Bargained For?

Mewster is lovely, really lovely but when our friend Andy suggested to us she might be pregnant we just dismissed the idea, of course not she had a scar on her side that MUST have been a neuter scar.  Then she went to the vet for her final vaccinations and the vet kept checking her stomach, which alerted Moz and I to the fact she MIGHT be pregnant.  The vet wasn't sure, she had put on weight in the two weeks we had her (honestly we were just feeding her the amount the vet suggested!), her kitty nipples are, well, pert and it might explain why she was abandoned.  Alas times are hard at the moment so we can't afford to pay for an ultrasound to check, but paying out to know won't change the situation.  So at Chez Moz we settle in and we wait to find out if she's going to have some lovely kittens, I'll keep you informed...

5 Year Journal

This journal is quite literally the best thing.  I originally saw it on The Dainty Squid blog, I was having a bad day at work so thought I would treat myself, this was back in May.  As soon as it arrived I showed MozzyMr and we agreed MozzyMa would probably like it as a birthday present, her birthday isn't until August so I've had to wait until now to share it with you!

The journal lasts for five years and has a simple question per day for you to answer, you work your way through the year and start over again answering the questions when you get to where you started.  The idea is you document how your answers and life changes over the fives years, I haven't missed a single day so far which is rare for me because I'm very faddy.

Here are some of the questions and my answers:

If you could hire any artist (living or dead) to paint your portrait, who would you pick?

Grayson Perry

What are the ingredients for a perfect day?

Shepherd's hut, swimming in the sea, husband, cat, toad-in-the-hole with onion gravy, funky looking dress.

If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be?

I wouldn't have bothered spending all that time straightening my hair when I was younger I could have been getting on with much more interesting things!

How would you respond to these questions??

Allotment Geekery

Not doing too badly with the old veg at the moment, of course Mewster makes a thorough inspection of anything that we bring home.  As it turns out if you leave shredded beetroot unattended, she'll eat it, in fact she'll eat pretty much anything and in the morning when she's ready for her breakfast she'll just keep hurdling over your head until you get up and feed her.  Who knew?

My First Gif *Smiley Face*

I've seen gifs used on other blogs and thought I would give it a try, I found a tutorial on makeuseof.com and had a little play.  Be warned until the novelty wears off you might see a few of these, hee hee hee.

Walk Home # 2

I've been on holiday for the past 10 days.  Whilst I don't hate my job I'm still not looking forward to going back I'm just too good at being on holiday, truly it is something I should have on my CV.

One of the good things about returning to work is my two mile walk to work passing rivers, railways, valleys and some fairly epic hills.  Here are a few photos of the things I see along the way...

Biscuit Love

Consider this a biscuit tin of ETSY goodness for you to enjoy:

What Nikki Made: Malted Milk Cushion

Morticia's: Jammy Dodger Keyring

What Nikki Made: Tea Cake Owl print

Becka Griffin: Alphabet Biscuits Greeting Card

Hole in my pocket: Caramel Wafer print

The Talented Cookie: Lego Cookies

Life via the Medium of Rainbow

Bees

It's a certain MozzyMa's birthday soon, I won't spoil the surprise by telling you what we have got her but I did want to show you the wrapping paper we made before we have to post it off.  Using the bee rubber stamp set I purchased from TC Witchcraft Factory we customised it to the max!

A Month of Reading

A slightly better month of reading this time, helped along by two absolute page turners...

1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

A historical fiction novel about the Tudors which focuses on the life of Thomas Cromwell?  Highly recommended?  Yes please!  This book had everything going for it, except, I found it a bit meh.  The writing style jarred, the timescale jumped around without adding to the story and Mantel just doesn't get on with the story. I made it through a third of this book and seriously considered giving up, I got to half way and just skipped to the end because I couldn't stand wading my way through this treacle of a story any longer.  It felt like Mantel wrote this for other writers not for the reader.  I'm disappointed I didn't like it especially when two people whose reading choices I completely trust thought it was amazing.

2. Wonder by R.J. Palacio

In contrast I thoroughly enjoyed Wonder.  I started reading it one Saturday evening and had to stay up until three in the morning because I just had to finish it.  A story about a boy with a significant facial disfigurement, home schooled his whole life he faces the prospect of starting middle school and dealing with the hurdles and triumphs of being different.  Written from a number of different perspectives you get a completely whole view of family life, the frustrations of being different, of being the one who has to sit on the sideline and young adults learning to make their own minds up and not follow the crowd.  I would really recommend this book, it's so well written.  Whilst I admit parts of this book are a touch syrupy there is also a brutal honesty that shines through, I just loved it.

3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

About two and a half years ago I read The Hunger Games and really enjoyed it.  It was really well written but the subject matter was just so bleak at times, it was this bleakness that stopped me reading the following books in the trilogy.  However during the lovely weather we had at the end of July my friend Sue and I were sat lounging in the sun one lunch time discussing books and Catching Fire was one she was reading at the time, her enthusiasm for it was immense and she offered to lend me the two remaining books of the trilogy.  How could I possibly say no?  Like The Hunger Games this isn't a lovely Disney representation of life, it's violent and grey and tense, but equally the lead female character is a fighter and a rebel, you back her the whole way despite her faults.  I'm about half way through the final book Mockingjay and can't get to the end of the story quickly enough it's an absolute page turner.

Olympic B Sides

I'm a regular reader of The Nearsighted Owl blog and absolutely love her B Sides posts, they just make so much sense I have 100's of photos that just didn't quite fit into the posts I have written but still tell a good story.  Here are my Olympic B Sides:

Dreaming of a Devon Eurovette

I love a road trip, especially now MozzyMr can drive, I get to be the passenger which gives me the opportunity to take photos.  We seem to always be pegging it up and down the M5 whether it's to visit friends or family oop North or heading East for London.  We pass the Somerset levels along the way where you usually see some pretty amazing clouds, they roll off the Atlantic and drift across the levels uninhibited by hills and moors (depending on wind direction of course).

All of these clouds are very lovely and all that, but bloody hell!  We saw a Devon Eurovette!  I want one!