Busy.

I had planned a restful morning nursing my cold in bed but it was not to be. Instead a phone call at 7.20 had me flying out of bed and rushing off to work. The poor children had to put up with me coughing and croaking all day long. At lunchtime I popped out to the local garage to stock up on various throat pastilles which I then had to explain to the children were to help my poor throat (sweets are not allowed in school). The children were pretty well behaved and it was not until towards the end of the afternoon that I needed to be a bit firmer and had to resort to using some bells to get their attention. Generally I simply have to say 'Children' in a firm tone to get their attention.

On my way home I was looking out across the fields and enjoying the beautiful views when I turned a corner to find the road and verge crowded with horse boxes, 4WD vehicles and quad bikes. Aargh! We're back in the hunting season and all these happy people were out getting pleasure from killing an animal. I fixed a smile on my face and thought unkind thoughts as I drove past. 

But once home there was just enough sun for me to sit out for half an hour with a cup of tea and watch the bees and butterflies feasting on the sedum flowers. Behind me I could hear a tapping on an old willow tree, not a woodpecker but the much smaller nuthatch, a small grey and orange bird which runs up and down tree trunks searching for insects. It was so peaceful out there and a great way to unwind from a busy day.

Bright And Breezy.

It was one of those mornings when my busy schedule fell to pieces. My first task was to package up some more of Linas' belongings to post off. They were slightly too big for the box so I had to make a few adjustments. Finally after using up a mile or so of packing tape I wrote the address, stood back to admire my work and realised I had left out all the monitor cables . No time to repack as I was due at the hospital so I got out the appointment letter from the file and found that although when I spoke on the phone the appointment was for 10.20 on the letter it was for 10.00, something I hadn't noticed when I got the letter. I sped off down the road and then muttered darkly when I got stuck in a convoy behind a slow moving coach. Parking a few streets away from the hospital (because on principle I won't pay their exorbitant car park charges) I semi-jogged to the hospital arriving only 5 minutes late but very hot and puffed out. I was seen 5 minutes later so I was still all flustered and trying hard not to cough. A few days ago I had got the usual back-to-work sore throat and yesterday it had developed into a full blown cold. Today I have been croaking like a frog but when the nurse filling in my pre-op form asked if I had a sore throat I smiled sweetly and said no. I've got 2 and half weeks to get over this cold so I should be OK. Blood pressure and ECG were fine and they didn't do an MRSA check because it is only day surgery. (What happens if they have to convert to open surgery? ).

As I didn't have Linas' parcel ready to post I went back home for an hour, re-did the parcel and had a breather looking at the planning for the afternoon before heading back to work. My voice was pretty croaky for the afternoon which is not the best thing when you are teaching but I asked the children to be extra quiet and listen carefully which they made a good effort at. And that included a PE lesson. After work I drove into town and lugged the 9 and a half kilo parcel up to the Post Office and it is now on its way to Belfast.

I stopped on the way home to take some photos of the sea shining in the sun. The wind was noticeably cooler and we are due a sharp drop in temperature tonight. Time to be getting out the fluffy pyjamas soon.

Overcast Again.

There were just a few breaks in the unremitting grey clouds today. The first was as I looked out of the window at the dawn where the tiniest of gaps in the dark grey clouds showed a blue sky streaked with gold and pink. And there were more blue streaks on the homeward journey.

I had been called in to teach all day in a class of younger children that I didn't really know so it was a lively and interesting day. Especially in the afternoon when the plans called for all the children to experiment and work with clay. Luckily I had a teaching assistant for the whole day and we got everything done. I was then expecting to attend a first aid course that was being run after school, 3 hours tonight and 3 hours tomorrow. While it would be good to renew my first aid skills the thought of over 11 hours in school did not fill me with great enthusiasm. So I wasn't unhappy when I got a message in the afternoon that I didn't need to attend. I felt worn out enough when I did get home.

Windy.

Although it wasn't sunny the weather was still good enough for us to go for a Sunday walk along the coast at Morte Point. When we parked in the village, looking at all the holiday makers in shorts and t-shirts I thought I might be a bit over dressed but once out on the Point the strong winds made me glad that I had on trousers and a jacket.

It was quite busy out on the path and as we walked along everyone kept telling us that there were seals down on the rocks. I guess if you live in a city it is really special to see seals but we have become a little blasé about the seals. That isn't to say that I don't still stop and check them out through my binoculars. There were 3 on this rock and another 7 on the rock facing them. (On the other side of the headland there was a dead seal washed up on the rocks.)

It was too windy to sit comfortably at our usual spot so we climbed down to sit in the shelter of this rock formation which I call 'The Castle'. (That's a path running in front of it.) We had our coffee and some of my spiced fruit bread there.

Back home I decided not to do any gardening as I had rather overdone things yesterday. Instead I gave the small spice cupboard a thorough clean.

My first job was to take down and wash all the china and my rabbit collection. I think it's time to wean myself off the rabbits so I packed away most of the small ones. Then maybe in 6 months or a year I will be happy to sell them or even give them away to a charity shop. So many of the things on this cupboard brought back memories; we bought the tiny pink glass elephant (bottom right) from a glass blower at horse show we went to before we were married and the blue rabbit which is a container with a lid, was one I bought to celebrate our move into our first home. Unfortunately it wasn't properly packed and was seriously crushed and needed careful glueing together. The pot of birthday candles brought back so many memories of birthday cakes carefully constructed to reflect my boys' changing interests and yes they do still recall many of them. Some of the spices brought back Christmas memories and I can still remember buying the star anise at an amazing spice stall in Palma market 30 years ago with my mother. (The anise smells and looks fine.) Looking at all the whole seeds and pods as well as ground spices my kitchen looked like an ancient herbalist's workshop. By the time I had collated the various packets and jars there were still 3 unknown spices which took us a while to identify by smelling and comparing them to the labelled jars. If we were to have some sort of global event I would still be able to prepare tasty meals with whatever basics I could find.

This is one of the cupboards I tidied the other day with the overflow spices that don't fit in the small cupboard. I think it is quite fitting that the chilli powder is kept in an old laboratory jar.

Overcast.

It has been a grey but dry and fairly warm day today. A good day for getting on with some gardening. I spent my time sitting on the hillside continuing on with digging out the grass roots and the London Pride. 

I left it a bit late before wandering around the garden with my camera looking for something different to photograph.

These shield bugs were the only ones I could see on this cornus, it looked like they were having a little conference. They didn't quite resemble the green shield bugs in my wildlife book but a look at a site which showed the many different British shield bugs identified these as the nymphs of the green sheild bug, nothing more exciting. They suck the leaf sap but I don't think they count as serious pests.

Tidying up my herbs and spices yesterday got me thinking about the days when I cooked nearly everything from scratch. A jar of bolognaise or curry sauce was a bit of a luxury then and I never bought anything ready made. Have we become lazier or is it just the increased availability that has led to a greater use of ready made sauces and whole dishes? At the moment on this fat free diet I can't be too bothered and I do like cous-cous or boiled potatoes with tinned herrings (I can eat fish for some reason, maybe fish oils are different.) However I did have a go at making a spiced fruit loaf in the bread maker leaving out the butter and most of the oil. It came out all right (so I'll stick to those ingredients), but it would taste even better with some butter spread on it.

Talking about going back to old fashioned values - I followed this link 

-handmade-gifts-   to a site which shows you how to make 25 gifts for under $5. There are some brilliant ideas and I may well try some of them.

Tidy Cupboards.

As it was wet and windy first thing this morning I awarded myself a lie in, it felt so good to be sitting there with a cup of coffee watching the tv. I did have lie-ins during the summer but they were literally that as I could only lie with my head propped up. Not ideal. The day then progressed to sunny and windy with only the threat of showers which never materialised.  I decided it was a good day to give some of the kitchen cupboards a good turn out. Everything got a good clean (how do shelves get dirty on the underneath?), and a sort out. I hate to throw out food and don't take too much notice of sell by dates but the anchovies that were 8 years out of date ended up in the bin along with some half used jars of sauces etc. Peter and the boys are experimental chefs and we seem to have everything from nam pla to jerk sauce in our cupboards. By the time stuff had been binned, collated or put into more suitable containers my cupboards looked a whole lot better. I must have gone through a phase of buying in bulk because we have enough herbs and spices to last a lifetime. 

Next door's horses had a rest today because part of the road down the hill was being resurfaced. I walked up the hill and asked the boss guy if he would come down and give us a quote for our drive or even just the bit at the top where the cattle grid used to be but he never appeared. He did mention that even the very short section he was doing was costing £4,000 as the asphalt now costs £1,000 per load. And that was only to stick it on top of the exiting road. To do our drive would need preparation work as well as it is only dirt and gravel. Either the guy couldn't be bothered or he got to the edge of the garden and thought 'No way.'

I ended my busy day catching the last of the sun with a cup of tea.

There were mostly bees on the sedum flowers but I did see the only Painted Lady I have seen all summer. There were a couple of dragonflies who came and basked on the hot paving before Speedy decided to try and jump on them. Speedy was in a playful mood and made me laugh as he sat on the chair trying to catch his tail and slipping backwards off the chair though the gap.

Clean Floors.

The weather has been quite convenient today. The morning was crisp and sunny, perfect for boosting my energy levels. Later it became overcast but still dry which was fine for work and my drive home and now it looks as if we may have some overnight rain. 

This morning I was finally able to give the kitchen floor a good wash. My men never got past a quick sweep with a broom and then only when the floor became 'crunchy' with all the mess they cleaned off the work tops. My revelation that there was a time when I mopped the kitchen floor every day was met with incomprehension and the thought that I am some sort of cleanliness freak which is far from the truth. I only try to keep things clean and often my place is grubby and messy though I am happier when I do succeed in having the place fairly tidy. Perhaps it is the legacy of my student days when I worked as a hospital cleaner.

The garden is still full of colour but in some places the carefully chosen palettes of pinks to purples and oranges to red have merged creating a colour clash.

 But in other areas the colours do compliment each other.