Mother's Ruin

New babies

2009-07-12T20:43:00.010+01:00

I know I shouldn't have - but I have! We now have four cats. The most recent additions are Chimp and Bea.

Chimp is the barred little puss and Bea is the black kitten. They are both adorable, from my perspective at least. Unfortunately the other two cats are not overly impressed with the new residents. I'm sure they'll all get along fine eventually.

Been there, done that

2009-07-12T20:27:00.005+01:00

Last weeknd we climbed Snowdon. It was hard work and not at all enjoyable but we did it. It was even difficult to get this photo done at the top as it was soooo busy! I was half imaging mother taking a step back to get Spud in the photo, then, aaaargh! That would have been the end off mother but luckily I was satisfied with a photo of Spud on his own and not the whole gang together at the top. It would have been impossible to manage.

The weather wasn't kind to us: driving rain, freezing conditions, mist and gusts which nearly blew us off our feet. But we made it - Nelly surprised herself that she actually did it and Spud was really please to have made it. We did the walk in aid of the YOU - Young Oncology Unit at Christies in Manchester - so anyone reading this who hasn't contributed, now is the time to do so!

As you can see we look a lot happier on the way down! I can't honestly remember being so wet on a walk. We were soaked through to our underwear! We even had to buy clothes back in Beddgelert as we had nothing dry enough or warm enough when we got back to the (damp) tent.

More camping

2009-06-18T22:16:00.008+01:00

Another great weekend at Benar Beach - loads of sun, sun, sun! We spent a very lazy 48 hours doing very little which was so nice. We read lots of papers and magazines; but I've still not finished "Love in the time of cholera" - a great book but a slow read. Actually read the Guardian from cover to cover apart from the sports section of course.

The kids visibly relaxed with the sheer nothingness of the weekend. It was fab and I'm sure collectively our blood pressure has taken a nose dive.

We were joined on Sunday by our friends and the kids all went off to swim in the sea - of course being the bad mother that I am I didn't have sun cream or swimming stuff, but hey, ho we were all chilled!! All in all we had a fab weekend and I'll certainly be going back to Benar Beach again. The guy who runs it David, is so funny; he's a star.

So after a very satisfying lunch of rollmop herrings, gold chocolate bars and 7-up we had to make a move as I had to meet a man about a dog at Corris Craft Centre.

Fab weekend. Very relaxing, nice and hot and I'm sure we'll do it again!

Planted more veg

2009-06-07T11:17:00.006+01:00

I ordered some organic veg plants from this place called Delfland Nurseries. I saw an offer in Country Living magazine which looked like a good deal - £17 for 10 sweetcorn, 5 celeriac, 3 globe artichokes, 5 courgette and squash (mixed), 3 flat parsley, 3 curly parsley, 3 coriander. The plants arrived on Friday (lucky I had the day booked off) and I got them all in. I'm really pleased with the quality of what they sent. Let's hope they all take and I get a good crop. One big difference is the celeriac - there's is about 6 inches taller than mine! Just shows what the experts can do.
I planted another pot of potatoes, total now five. My beans don't seem to be doing much. I thought they did well regardless of the soil?!?!? Well they've been planted in reasonable soil as far as I can make out but they are slow to get going. My borlottis are about 4 inches high, which I'm disappointed about. My climbing french beans haven't even got started. Oh well. My peas are going berserk BUT they are not flowering so consequently I've no peas. My leeks have decided that the effort is actually worth it - so now instead of 6 slender green stalks I've got 6 stubby little stalks.

My tomatoes are finally doing what they should, well some of them are. I've still got some under plastic to try and protect them. My tumble toms are settling in but haven't shown much signs of growing yet.
I've got a few things under plastic; peppers, tomatoes, celeriac and fennel. Hoping that they will harden off gently and survive the summer.

I've planted a few more seeds on Friday too - leeks and sunflowers. I'm still undecided as to how "economical" it is to grow your own. By the time you've bought a million bags of compost you're almost bankrupt before you start. Hopefully we will be able to cut down the weekly shopping bill by growing some bits and pieces. Thank god we're not dependent on it.

Student Yoga Teacher - it's official!

2009-06-02T20:21:00.002+01:00

On Sunday I passed my interim yoga assessment so I am now officially a student teacher of Dru yoga and can, if and when the urge takes me, set up my own class. Amazing.

Heaton Park Run

2009-06-02T20:10:00.006+01:00

More info on the run we all did....... on May 10th I completed my first ever 5 mile run! Amazing for a person who couldn't run to the end of the garden 12 months ago. I was the only brave soul in our family and extended family who did the 5 miles, the other wimps (ex-hubbie and his partner) chickened out and the kids (mine and other grandkids etc) plus the oldies (sisters, in-laws) did the one mile "fun" run. All in aid of Children's Cancer Research.

Many thanks to everyone who sponsored us all - it's appreciated and we know that it all goes to the charity.

First camping trip

2009-05-28T18:48:00.007+01:00

We got back from our first camping trip of the season yesterday. It went well, without any major catastrophes. However when we unpacked the tent it was damp, wet and didn't smell particularly good. I've tried to remember the last time I used it and think it was either August 2007 or July 2008 (I can't for the life of me remember camping in July 2008 but there's a note in my diary which indicates that I had planned to camp somewhere - God only knows.) Anyway the tent ponged a fair bit so we had to air it out for a couple of hours when we arrived. We stayed at a really good site in Dyffryn Ardudwy called Benar Beach - shower block, toilet block, couple of cold water taps and not much else. The views were spectacular and we were a five minute walk from the beach. Definitely coming here again.

We were quite close to Barmouth but found it impossible to park there so we parked in Fairbourne, got the train then the ferry across to Barmouth harbour and spent an afternoon catching crabs. The kids loved it!

The weather on Sunday was glorious and we all managed to get a bit of colour. But then on Monday it was cooler and started to get windy around tea time. We had spent the day at the Centre for Alternative Technology which was a good choice, as expected. It was good looking round the organic gardens and the polytunnel; makes me realise the potential in my garden if only I had more time. By about 10pm it was raining quite hard and it was time for an early night.

Tuesday morning we packed up to come home. The rain had come in over the night and we had puddles down the sides of the bedrooms. Nelly reckoned her stuff had got wet through the inner bedroom. My bag was soaked as I had left it out in the main tent due to the lack of space in my bedroom - sharing with Spud! Oh well the fact that we had put it away damp previously hadn't helped; probably the seams have gone. I'll have to see if I can get a spray of some sort to re-seal the seams; cheaper than a new tent.....but not as satisfying!

C'est fini!

2009-05-16T19:47:00.012+01:00

It's so long since I've posted anything on here and so much has happened! I am so thoroughly pleased with my garden an I'm already going out every morning and night for a potter - it's fab, a dream come true!

My garden now looks so much bigger; we could even have a tent up if the weather's good enough. It's great. Well it's rained heavily over the last few days and it was well over due. Hard to believe that it's only May and we're wishing for rain. My veg beds have gone a little crazy as a result and "things" are happening. I'm actually getting fed up of pulling up potato plants from everywhere in the beds. I remember once reading somewhere that you should never put potato peelings in the compost and now I know why!

I'm also really pleased with the amount of flower bed I've got. It doesn't look much at the moment but once things get established it should do the trick. A lot of the plants are from a friends garden so I hope they take.

And finally a week since we did the Greggs Children Cancer Research Run at Heaton Park and I still can't believe I ran 5 miles! Unbelievable! To think I couldn't even run to the end of the drive 12 months ago. That's progress for you. So my first 5 mile run weeks before my 45th birthday in an hour and 8 minutes - not bad eh??

More pics to follow......

Phase 3

2009-04-28T22:04:00.006+01:00

The next and final stage of my garden makeover began today. The garage has been demolished and removed and hopefully the men will come back tomorrow to cut up the concrete base, re-turf the lawn and install some decking; hopefully in time for the bank holiday weekend - what excellent timing! I can't believe the amount of crap deposited over everything - I'm hoping at best it's just concrete dust but who knows it could be asbestos?!?!

My garlic has taken a fair old blast of dust as has the cabbage/cauliflower which I planted out at the weekend. So much for healthy veg growing at home. Another problem which I hadn't really anticipated is the mish -mash of fence panels behind what was the garage. I'll have to do some serious fence painting or just screen them off with some bamboo.

Over on the other side of the garlic there's all sorts happening! A lot of shallots are appearing, my peas are making a break for it and there's lots of other "things" which I'll never know what they are.

My indoor seed trays are doing well. The peppers are ready to pot on, as are the basil, more tomatoes and possibly the leek and fennel (although these last two look very leggy but I suppose that's what they do.)

Now I've got to get my thinking cap on as to what I'm cooking on Sunday - as the whole family are round for a meal! What fun.

It's a miracle!

2009-04-20T19:52:00.011+01:00

My spring cabbage has turned into lettuce - it's a miracle - or maybe my labeling wasn't as accurate as I'd hoped. I always promise that the next time I'll be more organised - doh! So the weather has been fabulous and I've been out in the garden "pottering".

Much as I try to keep it all under control I reckon I'll still end up with a garden full of "stuff" that I have to pick to see what it is. One day. Maybe.

My seedlings are coming on too. The best of the bunch are the tomato seeds and the basil seeds. The tomatoes have gone a bit leggy but they don't look strong enough to put into pots yet. I planted some more spuds out in sacks too but I've now used up all my compost so it's yet another trip to the garden centre tomorrow!

I also planted some herbs yesterday. These were bought at Coughton Court over the weekend and are from the gardens of the Throckmortons. I bought two differnt rosemary plants, two different sage plants plus a hyssop plant. I've no idea what I'll do with the hyssop but I'll find something.

The weekend turned out to be a good one. Friday night was a curry in Alcester and after spending until mid afternoon on Saturday at Coughton Court, we headed into Stratford on Avon. We managed a race down the river in motor boats and I think we won!! Then spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around by the river drinking tea. The kids had a lazy time too making daisy chains. We didn't really manage much else. Tea was at Carluccio's. The menu was good and the food was tasty but it did play havoc with my insides. Still, it was good to get together with the old gang from Uni; something we don't do often enough and should. Next get together will be a hike up Snowdon (Spud's request to raise money for the Y.O.U.)

Piccies from the weekend:

A successful Walk

2009-04-15T08:19:00.007+01:00

Monday's walk was much better than the one we did on Friday. I chose a route around Millers Dale in the White Peak. I think the weather helped - it was glorious and we could have quite easily gone out in shorts it was so warm. The kids enjoyed the map reading and there was so much more too see.

The drive wasn't too bad either. I sometimes worry on Bank Holidays that you'll get all and sundry on the roads but apparently not this Easter Monday. There were plenty of police out though.

My garden is coming along slowly but surely. The new shed (number one) has been painted with wood preserver/paint/thingummy - is it creosote? - and it looks much better and I'm sure it will stand the test of time. I've also planted out some radish and lettuce - directly into a grow bag, two sacks of early potatoes and another seed germinator with fennel, more tomato and leek. My first seed germinator is showing signs of life - tomatoes and basil are sprouting. Also bought a patio pear tree but have now realised (doh!) that I'll need another to ensure pollination happens.

The cats are enjoying the warm weather too and getting the most out of youth, vitality and life in general!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T12:10:00.008+01:00

It's a lovely sunny Easter Sunday and it really feels like spring is here at last. The sun is shining, the cats are sleeping and the conservatory is heating up! We went for a walk on Friday; me, Nelly and Spud. It wasn't very successful to say the least as there was only one willing participant - me. But I'm not one to give up so we're off again tomorrow.

The other news is that Spud had a good report from the physio at Pendlebury. One year on from his operation and he is doing really well. His posture has improved as has his flexibility but it will be an ongoing program to ensure that he does the best for his back. Yoga has helped him - a daily dose of the cat, the cobra, the sphinx, the tiger, forward bends (standing and sitting) plus various other ad hoc and adapted asanas all seem to be helping him.

What a windy night!

2009-04-08T14:32:00.005+01:00

I bought some more rhubarb on Monday (actually it was my sister who did) and it's been sat in it's pot waiting to be dug in, but alas I hadn't got round to it. Last night it was so windy that my demolished green house lean to thingummy blew all over the place and broke the one decent stalk off the rhubarb plant! Serves me right but I'm not giving up yet, I read in Sarah Raven's book that they love being ignored so that's what I'll do with it now. I've hidden it under a pot (brick on top to keep it secure) and I'm going to ignore it.

There's life appearing in the beds., mainly caggabe, red and green, which is unfortunate as no one really likes cabbage in this house - yet.

I'll be back later, got to pick Spud up from school, must dash!

It's been a while

2009-04-06T21:16:00.006+01:00

I feel like I've been away for ages. The truth is I haven't been anywhere except for at the end of my tether with technology. My old, now deceased, laptop developed some form of dementia and kept forgetting it was switched on and in the middle of something and just wanted to sleep instead (I'm sure I'll get like that one day...) so after a couple of weeks of intensive care followed by life support I decided the kindest thing was to say goodbye. And now, not being at all fickle, I am the proud owner of an Acer Aspire One, complete with Linux OS. It's great so far and easy to get around.

Anyway back to the garden. It's coming along according to plan, if a little slower than expected. But hey, ho; that's life!

The old decking has all gone and I'm awaiting delivery of shed number two and contemplating whether I can manage the flagging single handedly or if I need a man

Garlic is doing very well indeed, in fact so well that I planted another load

Rhubarb is enjoying being hidden under a bucket
Raspberries are in
Planted some shallot sets (now I'm on 24 hour bird patrol)
Planted some peas but now worried that they'll all be washed away by morning (it's chucking it down outside!)
Planted out some red cabbages which had been over-wintering in the greenhouse-thingummy-lean-to
Demolished the greenhouse-thingummy-lean-to
I'm just hoping that whilst I'm off now (until Monday 20th April - bliss) the weather will be bright enough to allow me to do things rather than just muse about what I could be doing if only.....

Physio appointment tomorrow for Spud. Let's see if his take on yoga has done wonders for his back.

Good news for Spud!

2009-03-23T18:54:00.004Z

We were at Christies today to get the results of Spud's most recent MRI scan and it was good news!! Thank God. For the record Spud has an inter medullary pilocytic astrocytoma at T3, 4 and 5.

He has had one operation (just over 12 months ago) followed by 6 weeks of radio therapy and so far so good. In addition he gets homeopathic remedies, milled flaxseed and flax oil when I can manage to sneak it into something edible (stew, cottage pie, pancakes etc, etc,....), plus some yoga and relaxation, occaisional reiki and countless prayers and good wishes from everyone we know. Not bad for an elen year old.

Too windy for any gardening tonight. Think I'll have a bath and read some more of my book - "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai.

It's taking shape

2009-03-17T18:32:00.007Z

The garden is taking shape.

Three beds are in, but not quite ready. I've run out of top soil or any other soil for that matter. I didn't realise how much I needed to fill the beds! The middle bed is done and I've already planted my jerusalem artichokes (fartichokes I believe they are fondly referred to!). The other two aren't ready yet as they need topping up. However I'v emanaged to find enough compost and soil for a corner to plant my rhubarb! (£1.99 for a crowm from my local garden centre) You can just see the upside-down bucket - which I've read somewhere is what you cover a new rhubarb crown with. (Who knows - maybe the jokes on me)

The shed is up and full (unfortunately as the garage isn't empty yet).

The old decking has been started on but there's still some more wood to remove. Thank heavens for brother-in-laws! The current plan is to leave the wooden back-drop where it is because the fence behind it isn't brilliant; plus it'll give me a ready made frame for beans, peas and anything else that needs to grow up a support. Once it's all gone I plan to have a bike/tool store put in the corner and the rest will be turfed.

My garlic is doing ok and has started to "sprout". So far then - garlic, fartichokes and rhubarb. The potatoes are chitting and the rest of my crop needs planting out in seed trays. I do have some "things" from last autumn which have been under cover and are still alive. God only knows what they are.?.?.?

The news

2009-03-08T18:00:00.011Z

The Big Dig:

...............during.......................

...................after......................

.................the beds.................

Well the latest news is the first phase of digging is done! The spikey plants have gone to good homes - all but one anyway. Two of them went to my friend, the palm type was bagged by the gardener and my ex-husband is having the yucca type. I managed to put together two of my vegetable raised beds this morning and have since been trying to knock them in place. It's harder than you think actually. Anyway, I gave up as it was sooooo cold and I had to get myself organised for meeting a friend at Gordon Rigg's in Todmorden.

So following some retail therapy I am now armed with a lump hammer to (hopefully) finish the job when the weather is a bit brighter! I don't think it will be in the next couple of days as we are forecast heavy rain and sleet showers until Wednesday. I've also bought some shallot sets - I realised I had no other oniony things to plant apart from the garlic and a house is not a home without an onion! (That's what my dad used to say).

My next dilemma is where to put my seed trays. I can't use the conservatory window sills as I now have blinds up and they don't sit flush on the windows; they are sort of suspended at about half the depth of the sill. Problems, problems....

Roll on next weekend.

The excitement mounts!

2009-03-07T09:02:00.003Z

The Big Dig has started! It's so exciting - can't wait to get out there and do my stuff. I will be posting some before and after photos so you can see what all the fuss is about.

We has quite a frost in the week and of course I lay there at 5 in the morning worrying about the garlic - I needn't have bothered - when I checked this morning it looks like the cats had got to it first. I can just imagine them - "anyone know where there's a toilet round here?" - "Oh yeah, there's some here. They smell a bit garlicy but they're nice and clean otherwise"...........

Talking of cats Pepper was in "hospital" over last weekend. She has made a full recovery, thankfully. (My bank balance hasn't though). I think her friends on the street are glad to have her back - we had four of them on the drive ths morning when I let her out. Oh to be the most popular cat on the street!

The big dig!

2009-03-03T19:14:00.004Z

The big dig starts this Saturday. I'm having my garden overhauled from a low maintenance mediterranean style garden with lots of spikey palm things and grey slate chippings to a (higher maintenance) veg garden. I've already planted out my garlic in containers but once this first phase of the big dig is done then I can plant out my jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, cabbage, raddish and spinach. I'm still worried that it's too early but hey, ho it's got to be spring time soon! I'll add some before, during and after photos when I get a chance.

I'm actually taking an easy option and getting someone in to do the digging because:

the ground is solid clay covered in slate chippings

I will probably break my back

the plants are far too big and deep rooted for little ol' 5 foot 2 me!

Watch this space......

The never ending Pennine Way

2009-02-19T19:41:00.009Z

I've just recovered from a three day walk along another "bit" of the Pennine Way. This time we did:

Hebden Bridge to Ponden where we stayed at Ponden House which is a fantasic, chilled-out place to stay

Ponden to Lothersdale where we had a well earned meal and a few beverages at the Hare and Hounds then caught a taxi to our overnight B&B at Barnoldswick

Lothersdale to Gargrave which was nowhere near our final stop over but we managed to get the bus to The Royal Oak in Settle

We had intended getting as far as Malham over the three days but the weather wasn't fantastic so we cut short day 2 in the end. Our first day was made interesting by the three foot snow drifts we had to wade through! Day two wasn't much better only this time it was poor visibility - thank God for compasses! Day three was another tiring day, not from the amount of walking so much as the concentration required and the effort involved with every step.

I only ended up in the ditch on one occaision and even managed to retain all my toe nails by the end (the first "bit" we did resulted in five black toe nails!)

As this is only our second "bit" I think it will take us a long, long time to finish. At least it will keep us busy in our dotage.....and that will come sooner for my walking buddy than it will for me - ha!

Now - on with my garden plans!

Lemon Chick Pea Cake

2009-02-02T21:16:00.003Z

I've just baked a fabulous cake. Got the recipe here from a blog I've followed for a while now. If it carries on snowing at least we won't go hungry!

Spring is on the way

2009-01-29T15:43:00.004Z

It's definately going to happen - I'm sure of it. I've just ordered my seeds (from Chase Organics) and other bits and bobs and all I need to do now is finish getting the garden ready. My main work is going to be digging out two huge big things - evergreen, grow in clumps from the ground, long spikey leaves. One of them is about 5 foot in height and around the circumference so I thought it best to remove them and grow veg instead. The only problem is I'll probably break my back doing it.

Once that's done I'll have to clear all the blue/grey chipped slate and dig in some compost. I reckon potatoes will go well there this year to help settle and establish the ground.

I'm hoping my crops do better this year than last. Last year I ended up with potatoes, a few carrots of dubious shape, few spring onions strawberries, chilies, a few peas, tomatoes, garlic and a few lettuce. Oh I nearly forgot - basil - loads of it, it went in every home made sauce, every salad, soups, roast veg etc. I never quite got round to making pesto as we got broken into and 4 or 5 of my best plants ended up on the floor trampled!

2009-01-20T19:45:00.007Z

Tempus fugit.......

How time flies, it's already mid January, well at least it would be if January had 40 days..ho, hum. Barack Obama is officially "in" and good luck to him in achieving some remarkable changes. I can only hope that he is true to his word and really makes a difference for the ordinary folk.

Boxing Day

2008-12-26T11:52:00.006Z

Well I survived the night on the couch at my sisters, luckily Megan - the highly strung, hormonal cross-Schnauzer - decided not to keep me company but to sleep upstairs with the rest of the family. We all had a really relaxing day yesterday apart from the competitive Scrabble match inbetween courses which I won of course. Lunch was smoked salmon and cream cheese on rye bread with a side salad to start, followed and hour or so later by the full Christmas dinner. The roast parsnips were burnt so god knows how many carcinogens I consumed! Pudding didn't happen just lots of chocs and nibbles.

I'm just wondering whether to go back to my sisters for lunch or to stay home. I'm not as worried now about Spud - he's had a troubled night with lots of back and shoulder pain. I was half expecting that Jim might take him to A&E but I don't suppose that would shed much light on the matter. He sees his neuro surgeon in a couple of weeks so hopefully he may have an answer for us then. The kids are at their Dads at the moment which makes it more difficult as they are not just around the corner. They come home tomorrow so it'll be more pressies and gifts being opened from under the tree. Roll on....

Party time

2008-12-21T18:29:00.003Z

It's been a busy weekend with one party after another! We all went to a party on Saturday at the house of a work colleague - it was very enjoyable and interesting. The kids enjoyed the evening too even though it was very late for Spud and later than expected for Nelly after her all day party in Manchester.

Today was a party at the in-laws which was quite disappointing as not many people were there - a combination of mortality and Chritsmas shopping most probably.

Now it's back home to do all the ironing for next week. Work tomorrow - no rest for the wicked!

Get a move on

2008-12-18T22:32:00.005Z

I find it hard to do these blog things but I must get out of my comfort zone and write.

This picture is from our trip to Lapland this month. We went with "When you wish upon a star". It was a fab, busy day!!

Today was a tiring day - nearly the end of term thank goodness. Tomorrow wil be a pain to get the kids up as they are not long in bed - what a terrible mother I am. I've spent the evening at my friend's house drinking coffee and chatting whilst her hubby was wrapped in a duvet on the couch and the kids were having a scrap upstairs.

We also have the grandparents with us tonight and they stayed for tea whic was nice for us all to see them. Spud was in a play at school today and they had come over to see him - making me feel less guilty as I couldn't get out of work......

Roll on the hols!

2008-09-04T14:15:00.000+01:00

It's hard to know what to write on these things......but I suppose I'll have to start creating something soon....