Adventures in the great outdoors

Not really. Well back at the allotment after a short hiatus.  Day Four never got posted as an event cause I was pissed off.

The first task of the day was to go to Rapid Hardware and buy a garden incinerator bin and a spade. £32 quid lighter and a £10 taxi ride away from t’allotment but hey ho all in a good cause. Day four was a gorgeous sunny day and my allotment gets the sun and no shade (note to self *create shady areas*), but we got stuck in. More long grasses and weeds were pulled up and some more areas were dug down to soil and covered with black and blue stuff to prevent weeds. It was scorching and we had new incinerator bin so,after taking careful account fo wind direction (which was in great evidence despite the sunniness) we decided to burn some of the tinder dry stuff I’d already pulled up.

Not being arsonists we discovered that getting a fire going is not necessarily as easy as one might expect. Eventually we got it going, and within about 5 mins the woman from the house behind the allotments starting yelling that we needed to “stop that bloody burning”.  Hmm.  I’m not known for keeping my gob shut, but this is a trial period with the allotment.  I get working on it all, and don’t piss anyone off and they let me stay.  It’s not a difficult equation really.  As it happens, I really don’t want to piss the neighbour off either but burning dry rubbish, in a correct fashion, on an overgrown, left to rot allotment is a necessary fact. I don’t plan to do it too often either but if I do I am well within my rights according to our nice allotment dude.  So that’s why I didn’t really bother posting about that day as I was annoyed and upset…..and I say stuff I might regret when annoyed and upset.  Woah, listen to me all done growed up!!!

In the interim the weather has confounded me often.  Three pretty bad asthma attacks also put paid to much (note to self *put prescription in for inhalers stoooopid*), as has work.  So I made an effort today and once the rain stopped I went down there.

 

My observation for the day is that nettle stings were surely worse when we were kids?  How are they just a mild irritation now compared with the absolute agony they were when I was young??  Has my pain threshold increased in a linear fashion along with my age?

Today I started my compost area.

It looks crap.  It looks like I didn’t do much.  It always seems like I’ve worked my ass off for little gain.  Oh and I moved some wood.

And everywhere is GREEN after a few days rain.

 

 

A brief foodie interlude

Last night (Saturday) I made a deliciously simple tea. In Scouse, “tea”
is what southerners or poshers call “dinner”. Dinner is something we eat at dinnertime. At school we had dinnnerladies, not lunchladies. Ergo dinner is something eaten around midday, and tea is eaten at teatime. Let’s not get any deeper into this!

So I place a bed of salad leaves and shredded beetroot on the plate. On top of that went some Parma ham, and atop that sat some olive oil drizzled grilled goats cheese and grilled figs. But of olive oil and balsamic vinegar over it and some fresh ground black pepper Nothing to it at all but really delicious.

Tonight I cooked Sicilian White Fish and Pasta. The recipe is a Gary Rhodes one that he did with monkfish on skewers, but I cook with what I have in, so it was mixed cod and haddock, marinated in olive oil (5floz), 16 sage leaves, 1clove of garlic, 1tbsp each of parsley and basil and nearly all the juice of a lemon and yhd usual salt and pepper all balanced with a teaspoon if sugar.

Cod and haddock does not skewer well so it was cooked in a frying pan with few tablespoons of water so it didn’t overcook to dryness, more of a gentle poaching. Anyway, it was no Sunday roast dinner but it was pretty damn tasty.

Yes it is. Day Three gave me some nice cool weather and a space bar that is performing badly :-/

I made a bit of a dent in the middle section today and did a bit of hard graft with a garden fork. Only lasted an hour, and as such can officially be designated a lightweight. Part of my problem is that as much as I love shoes, I HATE wearing any footwear that covers my feet. My boots are necessary at the allotment as the ground is so higgledy piggledy, and there are numerous obstacles like hidden-by-weeds bricks and logs and wires and crap. After an hour or so encased in boots my feet are crying out for fresh air. I even sleep with my feet hanging out of the bedcovers for gods sake!

Well that and the fact it’s Friday and I wanted my tea (pasta amatriciana). Sorry just got distracted by my iphone telling me it is 6:17 on Saturday. Patently not the case unless I missed a memo or fell asleep.

Where was I? Day Three pics.

You do realise that this is merely for me to show off to myself? I’m not doing this for anyone but me, it’s something that I’ve wanted for a long time and thus far it’s been me doing the work. All three days of it. Well, me and the little un, but I like her there for company She’s very entertaining.

PS the iphone is no longer distracting me.  Panic over.

Day Two

Oh look, I can see the pond now.  The pond I have to fill in cause it’s in the naffest place possible.  :-/

I found a frog under the white cabinet that has been dumped there. Froggy hopped away leaving me worried about where to stand in case I stepped on him.  Didn’t fancy squished frog on my Tims.

 

Clearing a path to the compost “area”. Again this is something that needs to be moved, and all that corrugated metal and scaffolding removed.  Such fun.

 

Bit more space revealed.

Allotment Day One

For years I’ve wanted an allotment, but the time was never right for me…returning to studies as a mature student at 27 with two small children kinda meant that time for those three years was a luxury I really couldn’t afford.  Right out of uni I got a fill time job and within a year had started my PhD as a part-time student. I loved my studies and the subject (Psychology) and when I had my first abstract accepted for a conference I was thrilled.  By chance I was sitting next to one of the conference organising team at the AGM and somehow (by somehow I mean my hand was forced into the air) I ended up on a postgradute Psychology committee for four years…..as you can see I don’t find it difficult to fill my days. After I stepped down from my post I found other things to fill my spare time and also had a couple of long periods where I had pretty severe health problems but life is back on track, PhD is nearing completion and I need some exercise.

 

So…… A while back I applied to have an allotment thinking the wait would be horrendous and that my PhD would be over by the time I got one, but I was lucky enough to take the keys and complete the paperwork last Saturday.

It’s a bit of a jungle, no?

So that was Day Zero really….and Day One’s progress

I’m quite happy with the progress for Day One.

Living it large in The Lakes

Well it has been a while. I’m not going to waffle about my little trip to the Lakes as such as I am sure that you really aren’t all THAT bothered about when I did this summer…….butI will waffle more so about the food eaten and give a quick nod to our B & B hosts too.

B & B

The B&B is a good place to start. Normally we’d choose self-catering but as this was just a short-break we opted for a B&B.  http://www.broadlandsbedandbreakfast.co.uk/ is reasonably priced,  spotlessly clean, room well appointed, small but perfectly functional bathroom, lovely hosts, and best of all a BLOODY DECENT BREKKIE!!! The sausages were really delicious, good touch of pepper and herbs running through nice meaty snogs.  Nothing was too much trouble and I would definitely recommend Broadlands as an excellent place to stay for a few days break.

The Restaurant

We spotted a newish looking fish restaurant near to Broadlands and had a nosey at the menu.  The restuarant was small but perfectly formed http://www.hookedwindermere.co.uk/ and the menu looked simple.  The hope is of course that the food lives up to the decor and the blurb!

The vino

Hooked has been in situ since November 2010 apparently and it’s ever so slightly off the beaten track…..one could be forgiven for missing Hooked as the location is just past Windermere centre heading towards the Lake. The owner was a cheerful bloke who one could immediately warm to and he set about recomending the wine of the month. Given that we were going to be eating seafood we opted for the recommendation which was a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  The Cut was clean and crisp, all grapefruity with the ever-so-slight spritz on the tongue that I love.  You can buy The Cut from http://www.greatgrog.co.uk/wineonline/index.php and I would suggest if you like Sauvignon Blanc to give it a go (n.b. the mark up in the restaurant is typical, so don’t expect the same kind of price as the online store).

The starter

In the meantime the aromas coming from the other diners’ plates and the kitchen were mouthwatering, so expectations were running pretty high.  To begin with I had Tiger Prawns cooked in a lemony, parsley, buttery lovely light offering.  The prawns were cooked to perfection. The Mr had Cod Cheeks in a tomatoey, spicy thickish broth. Both dishes were really really good and did what a good starter should do….set you up nicely for the main course.

 

The main

Usually we’d choose different dishes so that we can do the swap and taste thing, but we really both wanted the same main…Grey Mullet with a fennel & roasted garlic risotto. OH MY WORD!! The risotto had that nice slight nutty bite with the flavours of the fennel and roast garlic subtly running throughthe dish but not overpowering it.  The grey mullet was beautifully crispy on the skin and the flesh was melt in the mouth perfect. Absolutely could not fault the main.

The afters

Following this, we opted for the cheese board to share, neither of us being particularly sweet toothed individuals. Three  (fairly) local cheeses  and an English Brie accompanied by some oatcakes, water biscuits and  a Spanish red.  Sadly I can’t remember the name of the red but it was a lovely soft, juicy but rounded effort which went very well with the cheese.

Our overall bill was less than £85 and I can assure you that this meal was worth every single penny of that. If you are going to the Lake District any time soon I’d recommend this place, but maybe leave it till your last evening there as you really will be spoilt for going to any other restaurant as I doubt anything will come close!

I could tell you about the pub dinner we had, or the other restaurant we visited, but realistically, as nice as they were they just didn’t come close to Hooked, so I feel I’d be doing them an injustice.

The PS

PS We made a 3 mile walk to (and from obv!)  http://www.blackwell.org.uk/ and whilst the Arts and Crafts house is very pretty, it really was not worth the £7.70 (including Gift Aid) that was being charged.  I am all for supporting  UK heritage enterprises,  but I’d have liked to see a few more examples of A & C furniture and sundries, and far less of the contemporary artists items.  In all honesty the house is a bit bereft of furnishings and it’s no Speke Hall although the scenery from the terrace is beautiful.

 

Links:

http://www.hookedwindermere.co.uk/

http://www.broadlandsbedandbreakfast.co.uk/

 

 

#musicdiaryproject day 7

This morning brought a bit of Amy Winehouse and now in a pub in Chester we’ve got some jazz. Nice. No not really. Not a jazz fan. Sorry.

I’m signing off from the project now. It’s been an enlightening experience as I’ve learned a few things. Primarily that there’s never enough time to actively listen to music. Devoting time to sitting and listening is virtually unheard of for me. My life has music as a secondary influence. It’s background. I’ve not travelled this week but travelling is probably the main time I actively listen.

I love music and I feel it’s part of my make up, my soul but modern life is rubbish and not conducive to actively participating.

I’m not sure I’ll make changes to my listening habits just yet. Family, work, home, PhD, and other hobbies kind of interfere with it. That said it’s been fun. Thanks sickmouthy for giving me this opportunity to consider the influence of music in my life.

PS yank croony stuff now in pub.
PPS hate nextdoornobheads music.
PPPS loud is not always good.

#musicdiaryproject day 5 plus 30day song challenge

My PhD supervisor, friend and colleague Cath has been taking part in the Facebook 30day song challenge and I said I’d do mine. I’m not however going to do it on Facebook as I am far too lazy to commit to thinking about this for 30 days.  I’d forget.  It’s difficult enough participating in the #musicdiaryproject and this is only for a week.  However as the two ideas dovetail completing the 30day song challenge has given me the opportuntity to dig out a few old favourites and turn them into today’s #musicdiaryproject listening.

day 01 – your favorite song

There was always going to be a Manics song in this. Me & the Manics go way back. First time I got to see them live though was 1997 and then saw them about 13 times subsequently.

I give you Archives of Pain filmed @ the last gig I ever went to at Liverpool Royal Court.  It was an absolutely amazing send off to one of the better venues I have been to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzVe-n9DhwQ

 

day 02 – your least favorite song

This was a toss-up between two.  I detest Brown Eyed Girl equally, but years ago when my friend’s band played this I used to have to leave the room. So the dubious honour of least favourite song goes to

Thin Lizzy- Whiskey in the Jar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TehFZ38kt6o

 
day 03 – a song that makes you happy

This never fails.  If your heart doesn’t sing then you are dead inside I tell you.

Elbow – One Day Like This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0wDYWyYRQo

One of the best gigs I ever went to was Elbow at Delamere Forest. I can be put right back there when I hear this track. Love Guy Garvey’s voice so much.

 
day 04 – a song that makes you sad

Embrace – Dry Kids

I have a recollection of being at the front at a Manchester Apollo gig and just crying my eyes out. Fucking love Embrace I do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wer8BWMQvc

 

day 05 – a song that reminds you of someone

My daughter and I spent many a happy time belting this out and dancing round the kitchen. Fyfe is funny as fuck in the video.

The Guillemots – Trains to Brazil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjrOVc8hYqU

 
day 06 – a song that reminds you of somewhere

Paris trip…the channels on the TV in the hotel room were really limited and the music channel was the only watchable one.  The Ting Tings were pretty much on each time we turned the tellybox on plus the dancing on the video amuses me. You gotta love the BPM.

The Ting Tings – Great DJ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH6wpO66J4k

 

day 07 – a song that reminds you of a certain event

Music is intrinsically linked with gig experiences. I’m struggling to separate the two. I can’t, so here I present Mew. It was a gig. Manchester academy, here was me in my late 30s with Colin, Mat, Rizwan and Luke all very young men. I can’t even remember if Mew played this track, but it was a good gig and afterwards all the boys were going to a bar…..while my parents came and picked me. I felt like a 12yr old.

Mew – Comforting Sounds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uniMcprmVhk

 

 
day 08 – a song that you know all the words to

Too many songs, but since I’ve already picked some Manics, Embrace and Elbow I am opting for a track that features Thom Yorke who is a member of my fourth favourite band.

Drugstore feat. Thom Yorke – El President

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Qyz3VnrZI

 

 

day 09 – a song that you can dance to

The Killers – Mr Brightside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE

When I say dance, I of course mean wobble about to…..this is a great song to dance to when slightly inebriated and inhibitions are lower.

 

day 10 – a song that makes you fall asleep

Pretty.

Brian Eno – Music for Airports

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9kPIp4MtX0

 

day 11 – a song from your favorite band

Yowch…how can I choose one song by my favourite band when I have four?

Right.  This is fresh in my mind because it’s new and they played it on Comic Relief and it was stunning.

Elbow – Open Arms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z093Q3r5zIQ

 

day 12 – a song from a band you hate

Sugababes – Freak Like Me

Sugababes aren’t really a band are they?  Sugababes is a concept.  I mean the line up changes more often than most people change their underwear. However the Numan aspect here wins out making for a class pop song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGSajAGg9h4

 

day 13 – a song that is a guilty pleasure

King – Love & Pride nearly made it as the “reminds me of somewhere” song.  While it really reminds me of the Ice Rink in Kensington when it actually existed and kids were allowed to have fun exercise that wasn’t competitive sport, it is also a very guilty pleasure as it’s so damn cheesetastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlXtrnh-Ejo

 

day 14 – a song that no one would expect you to love

I wouldn’t call myself a Zep fan by any stretch of anyone’s imagination and I don’t think many of my friends would associate this song with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73dvrir5kig

 

day 15 – a song that describes you

Echobelly – Great Things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aplgV-0tlbQ

Never wanted many things,
except the chance to learn from my mistakes.
Funny how you never learn,
but know them when they come around again

 

day 16 – a song that you used to love but now hate
I’m struggling with this one.  I am going to revisit this maybe in comments when I think of one.

 

 

day 17 – a song that you hear often on the radio

I rarely listen to the radio but every time I get a taxi, if Talk Sport is not the journey soundtrack then I seem to hear ….

Katy Perry – Firework

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw

 

day 18 – a song that you wish you heard on the radio

Embrace – Feels Like Glue

This was going to be a “song by your favourite band”, but as it is a B Side and I was struggling with this choice I swapped it about.

Sadly I don’t think there’s a good YouTube of this song as it’s a B side rarely performed live, but it’s up there as one of my favourite songs ever.  I saw Embrace play this live in Bristol Colston Hall I do believe it was.  Me and Debs were at the front as per usual, we got lost on the way back to Debbie’s….or rather the smartnav couldn’t find us near the biggest landmark in Bristol……

(what I was going to say about it for fave band was this…. I’ve four favourite bands. The reason I’ve chosen Embrace as my favourite in this instance is that this band have given me so many brilliant friends along with some amazing gigs in the mix too.)

 

day 19 – a song from your favorite album

Manic Street Preachers – Faster from The Holy Bible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z75uaReMIQ

 

day 20 – a song that you listen to when you’re angry

I used to listen to the whole of The Holy Bible –Manic Street Preachers and I’d spend some time getting more & more worked up, and then somehow work out being angry with more anger.  Or something.  These days I am much more likely to put on something to put a stop to me being angry, as being angry isn’t a nice feeling.  It causes knots in the stomach and tension headaches…..so instead we will go with something that will make me move about and get some endorphins going in a good way.

Hadouken – Turn The Lights Out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRhuaTFNBUQ

 

day 21 – a song that you listen to when you’re happy

Polyphonic Spree – Light and Day

I’mnot  actually sure I need to say anything about this but I am going to. The second time I saw the Spree was in Liverpool Academy and I was alone, no other bugger wanted to go with me so I rocked up on my tod and was on the barrier. It was the single most energetic performance I have ever seen and I was elated to the nth degree for about ten days after.  I believe that the Spree is better than Prozac and having experienced both I can be confident in my opinion  Check them out doing Nirvana’s Lithium also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAcjW2O9F88

 

day 22 – a song that you listen to when you’re sad

Lately this has been my stop-me-being-sad-song

The Phenomenal Handclap Band – You’ll disappear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU09pf2Re3s

 

day 23 – a song that you want to play at your wedding

Jeez, not a clue.  I’m 40 and a bit, can’t see marriage being in my future, and it certainly hasn’t been in my past.

I think I’d be perverse and choose something like …

The Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen in Love (with someone you shouldn’t have)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bif2q_Zo3-4

 

day 24 – a song that you want to play at your funeral

There’s an instrumental remix of the Stealth Sonic Orchestra doing A Design For Life.  Everything about it is right.  It has to be LOUD as well.  Libraries gave us power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znhXDksnrjU

 

day 25 – a song that makes you laugh

You dress yourself up to the top of your knickers…. it’s not a funny song but I enjoy Kathryn Williams phrasing throughout the track.

Kathryn Williams – No-one takes you home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGtlSvcpHv8

 

day 26 – a song that you can play on an instrument

This one is easy.  I can’t play any instruments.  At a push I can do the chorus of this on the recorder.  My repertoire consists of two songs…this and London’s Burning.  I’m really talented.

Tight Fit – The Lion Sleeps Tonight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cD9cBEaNBc

 

day 27 – a song that you wish you could play

Being able to play music doesn’t occur to me, I like listening to, hearing and singing along terribly to music, but am not inclined to want to play it.  So I am going to choose a song I love to sing LOUD and wish I had some kind of singing ability so as I didn’t sound like a cat being murdered.

McAlmont and Butler – Yes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJSaRw1vjxM

 

 

day 28 – a song that makes you feel guilty

I can’t think of anything. I’d be sad if I associated a song with guilt.

 

day 29 – a song from your childhood

You know you are not obliged to click these links don’t you? 1976.

Brotherhood of Man – Save All Your Kisses For Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szavq0lrFtg

 
day 30 – your favorite song at this time last year

I think it was around a year ago that Shazpot linked to this on Facebook and I really liked it a lot.  I bought some of their stuff off iTunes.  Quirky, and amusing.

Pomplamoose – If You Think You Need Some Lovin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9KMgg7T_sg

musicdiaryproject Day4

This half sunny day I shall be tweeting my musical listenings as I am too lazy to write loads.

http://twitter.com/#!/bewildergirl

 

#musicdiaryproject day 3

Ok so I couldn’t be arsed to type up yesterday’s listening on the actual day.  Combination of work, nipping into town but buying nothing, making a cushion, washing the dishes and cooking the dinner all conspired to make me pretty laethargic by the time I actually sat down.

Day 3 brought me a kind of default playlist.  Like most people I have several iPod playlists some are very lazy….merely all songs by a particular band, others are bits of music to try out, and others are a bit more thought about.  The default playlist in this instance is a mixture of “things to try” and the odd old fave. It’s called Whatever Trevor and in terms of trying I’d say this playlist is now tried and tested.  Here we go.

Edith – The Hot Melts

Turn The Lights Out – Hadouken

Yes! -  Colourmusic

Dangling Threads – Howard Elliot Payne

Them That Do Nothing  – Field Music

Cheerleader – Grizzly Bear

Moneybox – Eliza Doolittle

Some Misunderstanding – Soulsavers

Since I left You – Avalanches

Go Jetsettter – The Postmarks

Alterstate – Delphic

The Consequence – You Me At Six

This Charming Man – The Smiths

I Know What I am – Band of Skulls

Ambling ALp – Yeasayer

Beautiful Amnesia – Visqueen

Dominos – The Big Pink

Hand in Glove – The Smiths

I Don’t Know – Pomplamousse

Other Too Endless – Polly Scattergood

Walking on a Dream – Empire of The Sun

Barcelona – Plasticines

Boat Song – The Miserable Rich

Maybe – Ingrid Michaelson

You’ll Disappear – The Phenomenal Handclap Band

March of the Dawn – The Mummers

Nightcall – Kavinsky

In Sleep – Lissie

Rising Tide – Chew Lips

 

In terms of how I listened to music this day, the above was blasting out whilst I was cleaning the kitchen.  On the crappy iPod dock that needs replacing pretty damn soon. I wanted fairly upbeat music as it motivates me to move and kitchen cleaning is not my favourite activity by any stretch of the imagination so it kick started me to get on with the task.

Day 4 to follow…………