view from nappy mountain

In other news...

2009-07-13T21:25:00.001Z

I'm over at Enjoy the Ride for the next two weeks, with a series of tips on kids and gardens.

In which Captain Jack dons a multicoloured cape...

2009-07-13T21:20:00.004Z

and channels his inner Rick Wakeman.

Druridge Bay

2009-07-11T21:29:00.004Z

It all looks rather Mediterranean, doesn't it? It being Northumberland and July, I still kept my fleece and long trousers on. Cast na'er a clout and all that. Oh.

We finally got the flexifoil out today - it's been in storage rather a long time (flying an 8ft powerkite isn't really recommended while pregnant, and we've been rather occupied with bucket and spade work ever since). I'd forgotten how much fun it is - today was a nice light breeze, but you could still make the kite travel pretty fast and pull a few stunts (and make your arms ache like billy-o).

We didn't abandon the bucket and spade though:

196 recipes and counting...

2009-07-07T21:14:00.002Z

It's almost a year since I started Recipes for Millie, and I'm nearly up to 200 recipes. That's not bad, considering there's some things I make quite often, we eat out occasionally, and we've been on holiday for a couple of weeks too.

It's fascinating looking at my virtual shopping list - I've tagged each recipe with the main ingredients, to make everything more searchable. Here's my top 5, and the numbers of recipes they're mentioned in:

chicken (18)
lemon (17)
tomato (14)
courgette (12)
apple/cheese/leeks/onion (10)

It'll be interesting to see how the produce from the allotment skews the recipe collection - will I have 95 recipes involving potatoes, or will it be rather like the gooseberry glut (where all I've done is make jam)?

Hello, world

2009-06-25T22:30:00.003Z

Just a quick hello *waves* to anyone visiting from Enjoy the Ride, where I've been interviewed about blogging, cake and all sorts of other stuff. My first interview - I'm dead chuffed! Nice to meet you all, anyway. Do make yourselves at home, peruse the endless gardening/cake photos, and generally have fun.

A day out (not in the rain for once)

2009-06-25T21:54:00.004Z

It's come to a pretty pass when your three-year-old takes better pictures than you do (although she's rather more fascinated by things on the floor than I am). Here's a selection of her recent work at Souter Lighthouse. It's a fantastic place to visit - a great pirate ship and train outside to clamber all over, fancy dress pirate/princess costumes, and a tower with more steps than you can shake a stick at.

For once, it wasn't freezing cold and raining, so we had a picnic. It's amazing how nice cream cheese and pickle sandwiches taste in the open air, even when you are surrounded by two bus-worths of small schoolchildren who also happen to be visiting on a day trip.

Allotment mosaic

2009-06-15T21:45:00.004Z

The tomatoes get a new home

2009-06-15T21:30:00.001Z

It remains to be seen how long their plastic fortress lasts, given the force 9 gales that seem to sweep through on a regular basis...

Car parking, 1960s style

2009-06-13T21:23:00.004Z

More photos from the Manors car park - I love the little jaunty man icon!

So much to post about, so little time - visiting the new Great North Museum, two camping trips in the Rapido, and lots of interesting design exhibitions. I'll get there in the end - in the meantime you'll probably find more up-to-date ramblings on twitter.

Spot the difference

2009-05-26T19:15:00.003Z

March 2009

May 2009

Mint and potato frenzy

2009-05-18T22:06:00.007Z

This has rather turned into the allotment blog at the moment - blame the fact that (a) as ever work has taken over my life, and it's nice to post pretty pictures of vegetables (b) I'm avoiding the knitting as it's lurching from one crisis to another with rows having to be painfully unravelled and (c) it's allegedly summer. Normal service may resume around December...

It was fantastic though, coming back to the allotment after a week in France - everything's grown, especially the mint and potatoes (which will hopefully taste fabulous together).

In fact, I'm feeling rather pleased with myself gardening-wise, as yesterday we managed to use lettuce, parsley, mint and bay leaves from the back yard and front garden, and planted some dwarf broad beans and nasturtiums. Let's hope the evil slugs leave this lot alone - our tactics so far at the allotment seem to be working:

Days out

2009-05-07T19:59:00.001Z

The woods near Durham Botanic Gardens were carpeted with bluebells.

Manors car park

2009-05-07T09:39:00.003Z

It's a timewarp in Manors car park in Newcastle - and the 1960s signage is wonderful (unlike the photo, which is pretty terrible. I promise to return with a proper camera soon).

Inspirational stuff

2009-05-04T19:58:00.002Z

A couple of links for you, on a grey and chilly Bank Holiday:

Andrea Scher, on being good enough
Matthew Childs' 9 life lessons from rock climbing

(Thanks to Brian for the last one.)

It's fruit-tastic

2009-05-03T20:48:00.003Z

Lots of nice things happening on the allotment today - currants (above - not sure if they're black or red) are starting to form, the gooseberries are inflating by the day, and the strawberries are flowering.

On the down side, my spinach is being nibbled by the evil slugs. I've covered it with those plastic cartons your tomatoes etc come in at the supermarket (I don't have enough plastic bottles), so we'll see if that helps.

The rest of the weekend has been spent in the depths of North Yorkshire, which was equally sunny. We trooped off to Filey on Saturday, to marvel at the 1970s-ness of it all (actually, a lot of it probably hasn't changed since the 1950s). There were shops selling sticks of Filey rock, endless tea shops full to the brim with elderly ladies, more buckets and spades than you could shake a stick at, and a rather natty giant lobster in the middle of the crazy golf. M had a donkey ride on the beach and came back with a grin a mile wide. It were good, like.

Allotment frenzy (4)

2009-04-26T20:24:00.005Z

Spent a happy afternoon down the allotment today - the perfect way to recover after my stint yesterday as the back legs of a pantomime horse (don't ask).

The latest additions - sugar snap peas and broad beans that have been quietly growing on the window sill and in the cold frame. Let's hope the slugs (and the pigeons) leave them alone.

I also planted some coriander and speedy salad leaves, and started off some runner beans in the cold frame. Now all I need to do is remember what I've planted where...

Beach art

2009-04-23T19:38:00.001Z

Rolf Harris, eat your heart out.

The folding beast in action

2009-04-21T22:33:00.003Z

Down:

Up:

Despite forgetting to take the instructions with us on the inaugural trip with the Rapido Confortmatic, we didn't do too badly...

Allotment frenzy (3)

2009-04-20T22:38:00.000Z

Gill found this round the back of the shed during a clear out. I think it's been there a while.

As opposed to these, which M and her Dad made last week, in an attempt to keep the pigeons off. Sadly, they appear to have no effect on slugs (I daren't tell M that all her precious radish leaves have been munched).

Stardom beckons...

2009-04-03T21:23:00.004Z

Courtesy of www.internetsubtitling.com

Allotment frenzy (2)

2009-03-31T18:54:00.003Z

Here's what we have to work with. It's slightly less weedy now, as I spent a couple of happy hours in the sunshine with the girl this afternoon, pulling up the dandelions hiding in the strawberry patch.

Every allotment needs a shed, preferably one held together with string and sticky-backed plastic.

Point Hotel, Edinburgh

2009-03-28T22:04:00.003Z

Fluorescent lights at the Point Hotel, where I stayed this week (I was blogging at the JISC Conference 2009). The place is looking a little shabby these days, but the lighting is still fun.

Allotment frenzy

2009-03-27T23:04:00.005Z

Yes, it's finally happened. I now have shares in an allotment, courtesy of my friend Gill who was wise enough to put herself on the council waiting list when she moved here around three years ago. It's a lovely plot, which has been really well looked after by an old couple - so there shouldn't be too much of the horrendous digging to start off with.

So, it's time for a little light website reading - I thought I'd start with Jane Perrone, and move on to Alan Titchmarsh (if the pink shirt, Estate Agent Capitals and apostrophe misuse on his site don't drive me mad in the meantime). Has anyone got any other suggestions?

Update: The RHS Grow your own veg site has an excellent calendar of what to plant each month. Might be time to get the onions in, I think.

Why three-year-olds are rather lovely

2009-03-22T22:13:00.002Z

Ghosts of Paris past

2009-03-15T22:05:00.005Z

Lurking on my dining room bookshelf is a Paris guidebook. In fact I've got several, as Paris is my favourite city, but this one's always intrigued me.

It's called Muirhead's Paris and its environs, and it was published in 1921, as part of the Blue Guides series. I picked it up in the Oxfam bookshop in Newcastle a few years ago for £1.99, mainly because I loved the maps inside. They're not in the most amazing nick (one or two have obviously seen some heavy use), but the sheer detail (and wonderful design of them) more than make up for it.

The text is also fascinating, particularly because it was written such a short time after the first world war.

"Paris, with the added prestige of the late ordeal of war heroically borne, is, more than ever, one of the most interesting cities in the world and has already practically resumed her normal state. But though the traces of the War are not conspicuous, its effects still linger in the uncertainty attending many points of practical detail. The tourist will be principally affected by the disorganisation of prices, which prevents any but the most general hints being given on this important topic."

As well as the usual 'how to get there' niceties (including regular air services from London's Croydon Aerodrome), there's a wonderful section of general hints.

"The traveller who knows no language but English can get along quite comfortably in Paris, though he may have to pay in cash for his ignorance. Even a slight knowledge of French makes the visit not only cheaper, but also much more interesting and more intellectually profitable."

No change there then.

I also love the section on politeness and the wearing of hats:

"Forms of politeness are more ceremonious in France than in Great Britain or America. Men doff their hats in restaurants and cafes, and frequently also in shops, picture-galleries, and the like, though in the theatre they keep them on until the curtain rises. They greet each other by raising their hats. Gentlemen are expected to uncover to a lady before she bows to them, and , in speaking to her, to remain uncovered until requested to resume their hats. The hat is raised also to any lady passed on the stair of a flat and when a funeral is passed in the streets."

But the other thing that's fascinating about the book, is the letter that's taped inside the back cover, which was written by Findlay Muirhead (the editor of the book and managing director of Muirhead Guide-Books Limited) on 9 June 1922.

Dear Mr Haigh,

Will you and Mrs Haigh accept the accompanying 'Blue Guide to Paris' as a small wedding gift, with my most cordial wishes for your prosperity and happiness, not only in Paris but all down the long road of life?

If you notice any inaccuracy, however small, in the book, I should be most grateful for a post-card pointing it out; and I am always open to receive hints as to new ideas fo the these guides.

Litellus seems to have had a fine time in Glasgow; he arrived this morning full of his experiences.

I am very truly yours

Findlay Muirhead

From the address at the bottom I can work out it's a Mr Philip Haigh, who seems to have been staying at the Grosvenor Hotel at the time. Litellus is Litellus Russell Muirhead, Findlay's son. (I love the non-sequitur paragraph about him!) But I'd love to know more - were the Haighs resident in Paris, or simply visiting on honeymoon? How did they know Findlay Muirhead? How on earth did this book end up in a Newcastle Oxfam shop?

Sadly, I suspect it'll have to remain a mystery.