Sheppey bridge pile up

Drivers Disregarding Road Conditions

The crash on the Sheppey Bridge, once again showed the carnage that can be created by drivers going too fast in adverse road conditions. One of the witnesses said visibility was down to about 10 -20 yards yet many drivers were driving without lights, and no doubt they were driving too fast for the road conditions. On the motorway I am always surprised how many people (my husband included) disregard the stopping distances required for safety. People tend to think it will never happen to them, the trouble is that when it does it affects many more lives than their own. This time it was lucky no one was killed, but such luck in crashes like that is a rare occurrence.

The operation

All trussed up like a turkey

Went to get the varicose veins in my legs done, since I had my right leg done a month ago under local anaesthetic it was an in and out job. Thought this would be the same, though I knew I had more vv,s on this leg. It was nothing of the sort I was knocked out, and then had to spend most of what seemed to be the last day of summer lying in a hospital bed looking out at the beautiful sunshine, then having the weather forecaster tell me this is probably the last of this and weather warnings from tomorrow. Well  just my luck, now I am going to try and get some sleep though sleeping with compression bandages are going to take some doing

car parts melted by a scyscraper

A believe it or not story

Sounds like something from sci fi doesn't it? but it happens to be true, and it is not the first time this sort of thing has happened, reflections from  the Walkie Talkie Building in London melted plastic parts of a jaguar.

According to experts it is due to the curved windows in the building, sunlight bounces off them and converges at one point, so concentrating the light at that point.

Thing is it is not the first time such an incident has happened, so why haven't architects learned this lesson?

Russia and the anti gay stance

Yelena Isinbayeva speaks out against homosexuality

1. I was deeply saddened to hear the views of Yelena Isinbayeva on homosexuality in an interview at the world Athletics Championships. She was also critical of her fellow athletes who painted their nails in support of gays and lesbians. She is quoted as saying  "We are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves normal, standard people,"  This sort of language sounds more like Government propaganda, rather than the views of an athlete who is highly respected on the global stage. Her views might have won popularity with the powerful men at the top of Russian society, unfortunately she has alienated the majority of the people in the international world who live in the twenty first century. 

Prince George of Cambridge

William and Kate have a son

While I wish William and Katherine and the new baby all the best, I do feel the press coverage has amounted to hysteria and it is ridiculous. Yes, the birth of this baby gives Monarchists a reason to celebrate, that the line of succession is safe, and sentimentalists a reason to coo, and it gives  anti- monarchists a reason to moan, the rest of us would like to get on with our lives. While the birth of a baby is a unique event for the parents, it is not a UNIQUE event in itself. So, maybe now the baby is here we know what sex he is and we know his name and title the Television  News Channels and media might decide to do their job and let us know what is happening in the rest of the world.

An Historic Day for Britain

Wimbledon Finals

Andy Murray with cup at Wimbledon

Britain has waited 71 years for this day, and it has finally arrived Andy Murray did Britain proud. It goes to prove that our sportsmen and women are as good as any in the world. It also vindicates our sportsmen of the past who claimed that their poor performances were due to underinvestment in British sport. This also coincides with the 60th Anniversary of the Queens Coronation, at her coronation she was able to celebrate Edmund Hillary's conquest of Mount Everest, and this year she has another great British achievement to celebrate.

A Sad Day

Goodbye Yoda

Yoda our black and white cat

Yesterday we had to put Yoda our old cat to sleep, a very upsetting experience. We have had many animals and since most have been rescue animals, who were finding it hard to find new homes because of age or illness we have had to make this decision frequently. People think that if you do such a thing often enough you are used to it and it is not painful anymore. Well all I can say is they couldn't be more wrong. Each animal has been an individual with their own personality, who have brought something special to the family of which they are part. If people can't think of animals as 'Family' then they should not have animals.

Yoda was a stray who originally belonged to my son and his partner, and when they split up, he came to live with us for 8 1/2 years. He considered himself indispensible when beds were being made, and tugged at sheets and lay in the middle of the bed as soon as the sheets were on, and it didn't seem to bother him when you threw the duvet over him.  As he got older he was just happy to spend evenings curled up on the settee with the family.

A Memorable Day

An Odd Sort of Day

Today I finished my blog for my Below the Breadline challenge. I went to Joshua's school sports. We have taken Yoda to the vets, as we noticed he wasn't eating. The vet thinks she can feel something near his bladder, so she is going to do a scan, and we will know the truth tomorrow. The prognosis isn't good.

Hay on Wye

The Never Fated Visit

For many years now it has been my ambition to visit The Literary Festival at Hay on Wye, but for some reason or the other we have never been able to get there. This year I checked the dates and found that we could take a trip down today, so we decided to go. When I went on the website this morning I realised that the festival is currently in Budapest and comes back to this country next week, but we decided to go and visit the place anyway since we both love books.

We set off at 8.30 this morning and drove down towards the Welsh Borders. Everything looked so promising, the weather, that was cloudy up here, became brighter and sunnier as we drove down, there was very little traffic on the roads, and the countryside looked lovely and green. As we were driving along the car lost all power and we had to limp along and find a little roadside pub where we phoned the insurance and got a tow back. So here I am on a Sunday afternoon sitting at the computer detailing my sad life, when I should be walking around Hay eagerly fulfilling a dream. I am fast coming to the conclusion that I am not fated to ever see Hay let alone attend the Festival. 

bi centenary of the tin can

A Canny Invention

The humble tin can celebrates its two hundredth birthday this year, it has changed the way people eat and given us a much healthier diet. These days when billions of cans are sold every year across the planet, and Andy Warhol chose the baked bean can for its 'ordinariness' for his poster; it is hard to believe that the can was once at the cutting edge of technology, and employed the thoughts of some of the cleverest scientists of the age, and that it owes its existence to warfare and Colonialism. Napoleon offered a prize of 12.000F to anyone who could solve his problem of feeding large numbers of people on the move, and Nicholas Appert came up with the idea of canning' though his method used glass jars instead of tins. But. it was in Britain that Bryan Donkin opened the first tin can factory on 3rd May 1813.

Prior to canning the main methods of preserving food was by salting or covering in fat, since food rations on ships consisted of salt meat and biscuits many sailors died from illnesses resulting from malnutrition. So it was the Navy who first adopted eating from a tin can. While the race had been on to find ways to preserve food not much thought had gone into how to get at the food out of the tins, and it was not until the 1920's that the first modern can opener arrived on the market. Before that cans were opened with rocks, hammers and chisels and Fortnum and Mason even published a pamphlet showing customers how to open a can with a knife.

The tin can still seems to be holding its own despite competition from freezers and plastic tubs and pouches. When I first got married I was sniffy about tinned food but through the years I have come to appreciate the value of the emergency cupboard. Looking through my emergency cupboard it contains baked beans, tinned tomatoes, a few cans of tinned fish, and although I usually make my own soups, there are a couple of cans of soup, a can of condensed milk and the much loved Spam. I think it would be hard to find a replacement for the aluminium can because it holds up well against its competitors on price and ecological grounds. Plastic pouches and tubs may be lighter and easier to transport, but tins are more durable and have a longer shelf life,and are recyclable. Food stored in fridges and freezers have a limited life span, after which they start to deteriorate, they also need electricity, so cost money to run, and are not that useful in a disaster or when power lines are down. So, here's to the aluminium can and long may it continue.

May Day Traditions

Celebrating the First of May

The Maypole

In many villages and rural areas in Britain May Day celebrates the coming of summer and many traditional activities still take place. Maypoles are set up on Village Greens, with brightly coloured streamers, each person holds a streamer and dances around the Maypole, intertwining the various streamers, as demonstrated in this video

The May Queen

Every May Day a young girl is chosen and crowned May Queen she is crowned with a garland of flowers and sits on a wooden throne. I am never quite sure of the purpose of a May Queen as she does not join in the revelry or dancing but just sits and oversees all the festivities,

Morris Dancing

 

The first time ever that I saw Morris Dancing was in the 70's on a comedy sketch by Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in 'The Two Ronnies'. I didn't realise that people did Morris Dancing, I just thought it was something from the fertile mind of Ronnie Barker., but I was wrong. Morris Dancing has been going for hundreds of years and although it is popularly thought to be part of British country folklore, there are groups, or troupes? all over the world.. In the time of Shakespeare Morris Dancing was associated with the festival of Whitsun, and William Kent, a contemporary of Shakespeare is recorded as having Morris danced from London to Norwich. Oliver Cromwell banned all such festivities, but they were reinstated when the monarchy restored under Charles11. In Blackpool we do not seem to celebrate any of the May Day activities, though I do remember some Morris Dancing Championships taking place in the Blackpool Tower.

Finally, here is my introduction to Morris Dancing the sketch from the Two Ronnies that I have always enjoyed

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first of May

First of May

Mayday

For a large part of my life I associated May Day with military Parades and workers marching and always thought that it was a celebration of the working man. But, then I discovered that May Day has been celebrated for over 2,000 years in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a day that is supposed to mark the first day of summer. In the rural areas of Britain there are many traditional celebrations from Morris Dancing to dancing round the Maypole. The celebrations begin very early in the morning, and end in the crowning of a May Queen. These days in urban areas in Britain  there are no special celebrations for May Day, but the first Monday in May is designated a Public Holiday.

When I think of May Day, the mental picture I have is of a beautiful warm, sunny day. But where this came from I don't know because if my memory serves me correctly, it is usually cold and windy, and more often than not people are walking around complaining about the first day of summer!

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Mayday Traditions

Last Day of the Month

Goodbye April

 

Well here we are at the end of April, and a quarter of the year is over, so far we have had nothing to boast about weather wise. We usually see some decent weather during April, but this month has lived up to its showery reputation, and even on the few sunny days the temperatures have hardly reached double figures. However the last two days have been lovely and sunny and the long evenings have begun (one of the main reasons that I love this time of year). The flowers too have started to appear, and though most trees are just begining to show shoots, the white blossom  trees are blooming. So lets hope this is a promise of a summer to come.

"April showers
bring forth May flowers"

                                    

False economy?

More Money Saving Tips?

I have just read this article on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22263706, and while I agree that the food is interesting the experiment itself is not so good. As has been pointed out it is only for five days, and such a diet would be very restricting for a longer period. What has not been taken into account is the fact that most of these foods cannot be bought loose, so in order to get a 1/2 can of kidney beans one must purchase a large can, or if one buys a small can then you  are paying more, and in order to  pay 8.7p for an egg you must purchase 30 eggs. So while it is perfectly possible to live on £1 a day you must first have enough money to bulk buy. Or eat the same things until they are used up which would become even more repetitive. Another point made was that the calorie intake wasn't high enough for a persons daily needs. Jack Monroe's blog here http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/life-food/ though, gives some very good and cheap recipes

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare's Birthday

The birth of William Shakespeare is celebrated today, and although no one knows for certain that he was born today, I think it fitting that one of the Greatest Englishmen to live shares his birthday with St. George. William Shakespeare was believed to have been born on the 23rd April 1564 at a house on Henley Street in Stratford on Avon. There is no recorded evidence of his birth, but his baptism is recorded. on the 26th April 1564, since it was a common practice to baptise children two to four days after their birth and there are three little crosses on the certificate it is assumed that he was born on the 23rd.

William Shakespeare's parents were John, who was a glove maker, and an important civic dignitary in Stratford on Avon. He had risen to become the Mayor by the time Shakespeare had reached the age of four. Unfortunately John was also involved in illegal activities and eventually lost his civic position. Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, was the youngest of eight daughters of Robert Arden, a landowner and John Shakespeare's landlord.

William attended King EdwardVI school, which was the local Grammar school. He left at fourteen due to the change in the family's circumstances. He married Anne Hathaway when he was eighteen and she was twenty six. Anne was pregnant so the marriage was necessary. According to the Baptism Records Shakespeare and Anne had a family of three children, though their son Hamlet died aged eleven. The couple spent the first five years of their married life at William's father's house in Henley Street.

Shakespeare's Houses

William Shakespeare left Stratford on Avon for London between 1585 and 1592 where he worked as an actor, playwright and was a share holder in the Globe Theatre. He eventually purchased a property (The New Place) in Stratford on Avon and died there on on his birthday and was buried on the 25th April. In his will he left the house in Henley Street that he had inherited from his father to his daughter Susannah and he left Anne Hathaway his second best bed.

Through the years I have studied quite a few of his plays, the only tragedy I studied was Hamlet, and found it heavy going, but I did enjoy studying his historical plays, even if he did take liberties with the facts, I suppose one could call it artistic licence. There was also a matter of timing, Richard 111 was written during the reign of Elizabeth 1, whose grandfather Henry V11 defeated Richard; and Macbeth was written during the reign of James 1 who was alleged to be descended from Banquo. I have been to see many of his comedies without any prior knowledge of them and found them easy to understand, and some of the ideas, though probably shocking in Elizabethan times, to be perfectly relevant in this day.

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 http://kalas2.blogspot.com/2013/04/23rd-april-st-georges-day-date.html

23rd April- St Georges Day date

St Georges Day

Today is St. George's Day in the U.K. and St. George is the Patron Saint of England. His flag which is seen at many sporting events is a red cross on a white background, St. Georges cross appears in the Union Flag. In Blackpool as in the rest of the country there are very few St. Georges Day celebrations. The Scouting Association mark the occasion with a St. Georges Day Parade, which takes place on the Sunday nearest to the 23rd April. The Scouts assemble at the Cenotaph on The Promenade, and march to one of the churches in the town centre where there is a short service they then march past the Town Hall, where the Mayor or some town dignitary takes the salute.
But what was St. George's story? I have never quite known how or why he is the Patron Saint of England. I have just done a bit of research found out that St. George was a Roman soldier, who protested against the persecution of Christians and was put to death by the Romans.

His flag was adopted by Richard The Lionheart and his followers on the Crusades.The Normans also had a vision of him the night before they won a battle, and adopted him as a Patron Saint. A very different story from the legend of St. George and the St. George kids story that has him charging around killing dragons

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Willimm Shakespeare's Birthday

money management strategies, and money saving tips

Money Management Strategies

Many years ago I remember a lady called Shirley Goode who used to appear regularly on T.V. giving advice on money saving tips for everyday life , and how to make the most out of your food budget, then as with everything she seemed to vanish from the scene. I had tried googling her a couple of times, but I couldn't find anything about her, then a couple of weeks ago I found an old notebook with a reference to her, and found out that I had been spelling her name incorrectly. So I googled her up a few days ago and found that she still works for the BBC, so I presume she must work on the radio. I have also found that she has her blog at-   http://shirleygoode.blogspot.co.uk/

She not only shows you how to feed your family for less, her money management strategies also show you how to get the best out of the money that you have saved. I shall certainly be following her useful blog from now on.

Another excellent site for money management tips is the Martin Lewis website, this website is full of money saving tips for everyone, with all the latest bargains. There is also a weekly e-mail which gives you information on all the latest deals and freebies. I have only recently discovered this website and my friends and I have saved quite a lot of money already. The website is at this address-http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ and if anyone is serious about saving money I would highly recommend they visit this site.

 

Money Saving Tips

Leftovers

I have been thinking about all the money savings tips I have picked up through the years, and since food is the main household expenditure item, one of the best ways to save money is to look at how to control the food budget. I think wasting food in a starving world is criminal and I am Proud to say very little gets wasted in this house.
As well as that now food prices seem to go up on a weekly basis, and I am always looking around for money saving tips and ideas. Last week I had a few Hot Cross Buns left over from the Easter period, which had gone stale and hard. So I decided to make a simple bread and butter pudding and replace the bread in the recipe with the Hot Cross buns, and even though I say it myself the results were delicious and well worth the effort.(you can also use stale brioche instead). Here are some more money saving tips for everyday life in this house.

Leftover Chicken

A good money saving idea for famlies is to buy whole chickens, rather than chicken pieces. I manage to get three meals out of one chicken, plus the bones make a tasty stock. I find the best way is to bone the chicken and then divide the meat for the three meals, then casserole, curry or make it into pie fillings, by adding vegetables you bulk it up, and it can serve 3 or four people depending on appetites.

The bones can be placed in a slow cooker,  with onion, the green part of a leek, carrot celery and any other scraps of vegetable you have hanging about, add a few peppercorns, a bouquet garni and a bay leaf; I pour on boiling water and turn the slow cooker on before I go up to bed, when I wake up in the morning I have a flavoursome stock ready for use. (this can also be done in a pan and cooked on a very low heat for about 2 1/2 hours.

 Ham 

 In this house there is no question of what to do with leftover ham, since my grandson loves pizza, and ham and pineapple happens to be his favourite, it normally ends up in a pizza. If we have a lot of ham leftover I make a white sauce and add some cooked chicken and ham into it then turn it into a chicken and ham pie.

Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potato can be used as toppings for pies, it can also be turned into croquettes by shaping, then dipping in flour, egg and breadcrumbs. It can also be used to make fishcakes. But the favourite in this house is potato scones. For every 8 ozs. of mashed potato I add 2 ozs. of self raising flour and a little salt, grated onion and herbs can also be added, but I like to add grated cheese to the mixture and mix it all together. Divide and roll into little round circles and cook on a griddle or dry frying pan. My ambition is to make enough to freeze some for another day, but no matter how many of these scones that I make they all get eaten within a couple of minutes of being cooked, so it still remains an unfulfilled ambition.

Vegetables

Any cooked, or uncooked vegetables that I have left at the end of the week, including baked beans usually gets thrown into a pot of soup, made with home made stock, if I have any, or else just with a stock cube. If I have any scraps of meat left in the fridge, which is very unusual I throw them in as well. If I am making it as a complete meal I usually add some sort of grain or pulse to it e.g. lentils, rice barley etc.

Fruit

Any fruit left in the house at the end of the week is usually put into a fresh fruit salad. I make a syrup with about four ozs. of sugar and a half pint of water and finely grated orange or lemon rind, when it reaches the syrup stage I add a few a few tablespoons of orange juice and some lemon juice. When it is cooled I pour it over the diced fruit. If I have any rum in the house I had 1-2 tablespoons to the syrup before adding the fruit, though not if the grandchildren are going to be eating it.

Any bananas that have become overripe I use to make a date and banana loaf. here is the recipe
Ingredients 
115 g. (4 ozs.) butter 
115g. (4 ozs.) light soft brown sugar 
115g. (4 ozs.) honey 
2 eggs beaten 
225g. (8 ozs.) self raising flour 
½ teasp. nutmeg 
55g. (2 ozs.) chopped dates 
2 large bananas 
Squeeze of lemon juice 
Preheat oven 180˚C/350˚/Gas Mark 4 and lightly grease and line a 2lb loaf tin 
Beat the butter, sugar and honey together until light and fluffy 
Sift the flour and nutmeg together and fold it into the mixture with a metal spoon 
Meanwhile mash the bananas and mix with the chopped dates, 
Fold this into the loaf mixture, then spoon it into the prepared tin, and bake for 1-1½ hours until golden and firm to the touch. 
Leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire tray to cool 
*When I am watching my weight I usually replace the butter with the same quantity of Lurpak lightest, and the sugar with the same amount of Slender

Mrs. Thatcher's Funeral

A Lavish Funeral Funded by the Taxpayer

While it is very sad to hear about the death of any person, even one as old as Margaret Thatcher, as a taxpayer I object to picking up the bill for her funeral with full military honours. While Winston Churchill also had a very public funeral in St. Paul's Cathederal he was a Prime Minister who was responsible for uniting the country during WW2. Margaret Thatcher on the other hand has been the most divisive Prime Minister of all time, and while it is true that she has many supporters, she has an equal number of detractors, people who hate her and what she stood for.

The policies of her Government ruined many lives and changed the face of Britain forever, in the end she had to resign, because even her own party felt she had become a liability. I have never before heard of people coming out in the streets to celebrate the death of an ex P.M! Many of the people whose lives were adversely affected by her are taxpayers, and it seems like a slap in the face to all these hardworking people that their hard earned cash is being used to fund her expensive funeral.

Monday's viewing

An Evening of Watching the Box

There didn't seem to be much on the television tonight apart from Pointless, The Chase and Paul Hollywood's bread baking lesson. The man himself is a charmer, and his enthusiasm for baking is catching and hopefully he is inspiring a whole new  generation of artisan bakers. When I first got married I always baked my own bread, and I remember a week in 1976 when bakers were on strike, most of our street turned to me to supply them with their daily bread. I think that the baking bread aroma gives a house a homely feel. When we moved into this house however, the kitchen was quite cold and all my bread recipes insisted that the bread must be kept in warm place to rise, Since the yeast mixture didn't seem to do much in the hour to hour and a half that it was supposed to double in, I assumed I could no longer make bread and so started buying it from the supermarket instead. 
But Paul Hollywood has changed all that he does not use warm water or keep his mixture in a warm cupboard, he just covers it up and keeps it out of the draught, and leaves it for however long it takes to double in size. I started baking morning rolls and everyone enjoyed them, my son even informed me they tasted like the special artisan rolls that Tesco had just started selling. I stopped making bread however when my main oven broke last month, but after baking some Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday, in the smaller top oven, where they turned out very well I have decided to return to the practice of making my own bread.

A lot of people that I have met have complained that home made bread goes stale very quickly, so it can be very wasteful. I always manage to use up any stale bread in various other dishes, so none gets thrown away. It can be used for toast in the morning, or be incorporated into a pudding with the main meal. Last night Paul made a summer pudding with different berries, that had me drooling. It is a very easy pudding that doesn't require any cooking.
In this house, I normally make a bread and butter pudding (my favourite) if I have a lot of leftover bread. 

Breadcrumbs

Another thing I do with leftover fresh bread is to blitz it in a processor and freeze it to use in sauces and stuffing. If it is starting to go stale I either break it up and put it at the bottom of the oven to crisp up and when it becomes a nice golden colour I blitz in a processor and use the golden breadcrumbs for coating fish etc. I always place hem at the bottom of the oven while I the oven is on for dinner, so saving fuel as well. The other way I use the stale bread is that if I am making soup I simply chop the bread into small cubes, place in a bowl and add olive oil, toss to coat them, then place them on a baking tray and bake them at 375 degrees until crisp and golden (about15-20 minutes).

 

Sunday

 Re-Connected

Back on the Internet after three days without any connection. What did we do for pleasure before the Internet? The same thing happened last month, the engineer came and capped something and told us that was the problem, but the engineer this week came and undid all that, so I shall make the most of the Internet while I have it, because something tells me this is not the end of the problem. I wouldn't mind, but whenever they come they always make you feel as though you are responsible!

Easter Egg Nests

Yesterday evening my granddaughter and I finally made the Easter Egg Nests (pictured above), a week late but still fun. Up at 4.50 this morning for more fun and games, but made the most of playing with her as we know from experience this doesn't last for long. 

April Fools Day

April 1

April 1st is also known as April Fools day because on this day it is a tradition for people  in many countries  to play tricks on each other. These April fool jokes vary from country to country, with places like France and Italy where people tie paper fish to peoples backs for a joke. In many countries newspapers play pranks on their readers and print  hoax stories on their front page.  In Britain, even  serious Current Affairs programmes like 'Panaroma' get in on the act with reports showing spaghetti being harvested from trees.. among Google's April fools jokes this year have been  Google Nose which allows users to search for more than 15 million smells. There was also the You Tube prank saying You Tube was going to close down for 10 years read it on  http://www.youtube.com/youtube?feature=etp-gs-jke

Well so far there have been no April Fools pranks been played in this house. Listening to the news it is going to mean that from today we are going to be a lot poorer with Airport tax going up, the water rates have gone up and if people are on benefits the new benefit changes start today. Now wouldn't it be great if that news was an April 1st prank!

British Summer Time

The Start of Summer

Squirrel enjoying Summer

 

Great the first day of summer? Many parts of the country are still covered in snow, but it means we will have an extra hour of daylight. Hopefully the weather will improve and this year we might actually have something that resembles summer.

how to make a cup of tea

               How to Make the Perfect Cup of Tea

I love my cups of tea, and I suppose it stems from my childhood and the lovely cups of tea my grandmother used to make, she seemed to get it perfect every time, with me it is a hit and miss affair. She always insisted that only Indian teas made the best tea, though her favourite was Orange Pekoe, which I think comes from Sri Lanka. if we didn't have Orange Pekoe she would use Darjeeling or Assam depending on what was available. It also had to be  made with tea leaves and not tea bags, she didn't approve of the new fangled tea bags that were just becoming popular before she died, she claimed they restricted the tea from moving about and developing the flavour, and her recipe for the perfect cup of tea was-

•  Fill the teapot half full of boiling water and leave for a few minutes to warm the pot, then empty the pot.
• Put 3 heaped teaspoons of loose tea into the teapot and pour the boiling water on, the water should always be on a rolling boil when poured into the teapot.
• Stir then place the lid on the teapot and leave it brew for 5 minutes, at this point she always placed it under a tea cosy.
• After five minutes stir the tea in the pot again and then pour into the cups.
• Add just enough milk so that the tea is a rich golden colour
• Enjoy.

She always insisted that the correct way was for the tea to be poured into the cup before the milk because it made it easier to control the strength.

I have tried it both ways, but still find it hard to gauge the 'right' amount of milk. One day I might learn the secret of how to make a good cup of tea.

St. Patricks Day

St. Patricks Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all Irish, wherever you are.. For those who don't know St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland.  He was born in Britain near the end of the Fourth Century. He was kidnapped by Irish Pirates when he was about 16 and taken to Ireland.. He managed to escape about 6 years later, but returned, to convert Ireland to Christianity. Legend also has it that he rid Ireland of snakes.

So, have a lovely St Patrick's Day, and I hope it turns out to be a great day for all the Irish.

Ides of March

                         Ides Of March

Today is the “Ides of March” one idea to celebrate it is with a cocktail, the most appropriately named cocktail I found was a ‘Bloody Ceasar’ and here is the recipe

                          Bloody Ceasar

1/2 oz. Vodka

Clamato juice

1 stick Celery

A dash of Celery salt

A dash of black pepper

A wedge of lime

½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

½ teaspoon Worcester Sauce

Prepare a tall glass by rubbing the lime around the rim and rolling it in the celery salt

Fill ⅓ of the glass with ice

Add a stalk of celery, and wedge with lime

Meanwhile, and using two glasses, place the vodka, celery salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce and Worcester sauce in one of the glasses, top up with clamato, and pour into the other glass, keep pouring between the two glasses to get a good mix. Then pour into the prepared glass and serve.

Though it is hard to find in local shops, Clamato, can be purchased online, but it is a bit pricey.

Hmm... not bad tasting, but for me it has a long way to go before it can replace my favourite drink- a cup of tea!

So what is the Ides of March?  Basically, In the Roman calendar the Ides occurred on the 13^th of most months, but on the 15^th of March, May, July and October. Today the Ides of March are remembered as the day Julius Ceasar was assassinated.

Mothers Day celebrations

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday, or Mother’s Day as it is now more commonly known in the U.K. is a Christian Festival that occurs on the third Sunday before Easter Sunday. During the Sixteenth and Seventeenth century workers were allowed to return home so they and their families could visit their ‘Mothering Church’ on this day. During Victorian times servants in the Great Houses were given the day off to visit their mothers. Young girls would bake a Simnel cake and take it home as a gift for their mothers. In the early Victorian period the cake was decorated with preserved fruits and flowers, but later on the custom was to decorate it with 11 marzipan balls (to represent the 11 disciples minus Judas Iscariot). Nowadays, though, the Simnel Cake is associated with Easter Sunday and eaten on that day. 

 Simnel Cake Recipe

Preparation time:
30 minutes, plus soaking and cooling

Cooking time:
135 minutes to 150 minutes

 Serves 16

Ingredients

• 175g caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle
• 500g bag Waitrose Mixed Dried Fruits
• 150 g sultanas
• 5 tbsp orange-flavoured liqueur
• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 4 pieces stem ginger from a jar, coarsely grated, plus 1 tbsp of the syrup
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 225 g plain flour
• 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground mixed spice
• 500g Cook's Ingredients White Marzipan
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1. Mix all the dried fruits in a bowl with the liqueur and leave to stand for 1 hour. Grease and line an 18cm cake tin with non-stick baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 150°C, gas mark 2.
2. Put the butter, sugar and grated ginger in a large bowl and beat well until pale and creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Stir in the flour and spices, then the dried fruit with any juices left in the bowl. Mix well.
3. Using about a quarter of the marzipan, make 11 oval balls, about the size of a mini egg, and set aside. Shape half of the remaining marzipan into a ball and roll out onto a surface dusted with icing sugar to an 18cm circle. Spoon half the cake mixture into the tin and spread in an even layer. Lay the paste over the cake mixture, pressing it down gently. Spoon the remaining cake mixture on top and spread with the back of a spoon.
4. Bake for about 2 and a quarter to 2 and a half hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.
5. Transfer the cooled cake to a baking sheet and brush the top with the ginger syrup. Roll out the remaining marzipan as above and press down onto the top of the cake. Pinch decoratively around the edges. Arrange the marzipan balls on top, sticking them with a little extra syrup from the jar. Heat the surface of the cake under a moderate grill for 1-2 minutes, watching closely, until the marzipan starts to toast. If one area turns too dark, cover it with foil.
6. Transfer to a plate or cake board and dust lightly with extra caster sugar. Or to wrap, cut a large circle of clear Cellophane. Position the cake plate over the centre and bring the sides of the Cellophane up over the cake. Squeeze the edges together and secure with ribbon. Alternatively, put the cake, on its board or plate, in a small cake box (available from cake decorating shops), or in a gift box.

(copied from the website  http://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes.html)

This morning I received a bouquet of flowers and a card, so the tradition of giving of gifts to commemorate Mothers Day  continues in this house. But the nicest thing of all was my two and a half year old granddaughter who wanted to help me put the flowers in the vase, so I gave her a stem with a few leaves. She decided one of the leaves looked like a paintbrush and spent the next 45 minutes or so painting various imaginary pictures and making up stories. Just goes to prove sometimes children can find pleasure in the simplest of things.

 My Bouquet of flowers for Mothers Day

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Mad as a March Hare

The March Hare Myth

The  March Hare is a character from 'The Mad Hatters Tea Party' in Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures  in Wonderland' The term "Mad as a March Hare" is a myth, but was in common use in Lewis Carroll's day and refers to the female hare's behaviour during the breeding season. During this time unresponsive females use their back legs to drive off overenthusiastic males, but the breeding season is a long one lasting from February to September. So my question is- "why is it as mad as a March Hare?"

Badger Cull

The killing of Badgers to stop Bovine T.B.

I just can't believe that the Government intend to go ahead with the badger cull. There is no scientific evidence to support their claim that this will help control Bovine T.B. It could disperse the sett and affected badgers may escape to other non affected areas and spread the disease there

first day of the month

A New Month Begins 

Last month we had to get the car repaired, the oven on our cooker stopped working, then yesterday our fridge broke and we had to purchase another fridge. I was hoping that March would be an improvement, but the way the new fridge sounds, it doesn't look like my wish will be granted. Then again it might just be that the new fridge is settling.

St. David's Day

 The 1st of March

A happy St. David's Day (Dewi Sant) to all Welsh people everywhere. St. David or Dewi, who is the Patron Saint of Wales, was a 6th century monk who became Abbot of St. Davids. He died on March 1st 589 A.D. and is buried in St. David's Cathederal in Pembrokeshire.

Wednesday

                  The Last day of the Visit

Wednesday didn't go quite so well, we left quite early to return home when we went to check out we found that  along with our parking charges we were being charged for 3 days use of an Internet package, since we hadn't been anywhere near a computer since our arrival we queried the charge, and found out that some of the T.V. channels that Joshua had been watching was part of that deal. It will teach us to read hotel literature more carefully in future. On our way out of London we stopped at a supermarket to buy some goodies for the journey, when we got to the checkout to pay I found my purse was missing, we immediately jumped to the conclusion that it had been stolen, and were about to get all my cards stopped when Eric decided to go and check the car for the second time. He returned with the purse, which had fallen right under the car seat. The rest of the journey took place without incident. when we arrived home Yoda was sitting in the window staring out at space and since he didn't react to us we thought we were in for the cold shoulder treatment. but we were wrong. As soon as he saw us getting out of the car he vanished and as we entered we were greeted with non stop meowing which lasted for about half an hour.

The Free London Museums Experience

            Free London Museums

Tuesday was supposed to be our leisurely day on our London visit where we took things easy and just did the free museums in London and a bit of shopping. The original idea was to visit The Science Museum and see the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum. When we arrived at South Kensington Station I couldn't believe the crowds and assumed that there had been some trouble on the line, further down and passengers had been diverted to this station. But when we actually got out of the station we found a queue running past the station entrance was actually the queue to enter the Science Museum, so we decided to start with the Natural History Museum next door, but the queue there was equally as long. We decided to go and get something to eat and return to the Science Museum. When we returned we found that the queue had gone down, but inside the museum it was very busy. This was a new experience to me, in previous years when I had visited these museums they had been fairly empty and easy to get around. It was nice to see so many young children in there. The last time I visited there was still a charge to enter, but with free entry the numbers had more than quadrupled. I overheard a young mum talking on her phone saying that the kids had been wanting to go out, but she couldn't afford to take them anywhere, so she had brought them to the Science Museum, and they were enjoying themselves, if free entry brings in such numbers then it can only be a good thing. But more important than that I think it is teaching kids that Science can be fun and inspiring a new generation of Scientists.

The Science Museum has got to be one of the best of the free London Museums.It is such a huge place with so much to do that  previously we always did one floor with each visit. this time it was no exception, we explored the Ground Floor with transport and space. we went to the Imax cinema to see a 3D film on sea monsters, this film turned out to be a longer affair then I had thought. Both Joshua and I wanted to go on the simulation flight with the Red Arrows. This was a 4D experience and was very popular, so we queued up for 40 minutes. The 4D experience meant that along with the 3D glasses we had seats that moved and so created the motion of flying in the plane, and a more realistic experience. Although Joshua had been impatient at queuing we both agreed it was well worth it.

Since it was late afternoon and we had some shopping to do we left for Regent Street and Hamley's where Joshua happily spent all his holiday money. After that we returned to the hotel for a meal  relaxing evening in the lounge.

London Visit

                          Trip to London

This week being Half Term we decided to take Joshua, my grandson, on his first trip to London.We were hoping to leave on the Sunday morning and return on the Wednesday which would give us two full days for sight seeing. It all hinged on the weather, as February is pretty unpredictable. Since Sunday dawned sunny we set off on our trip to London, leaving Yoda, our cat, in the care of my son but I knew he wouldn't be pleased as he is getting old and hates any form of change in his life. Since Eric didn't want to drive in London we stayed in The Holiday Inn at Brent Cross, which is located just off the M1 Motorway.

We managed to get all the way down the motorway without any incident until we got to London. Brent Cross seems to be a maze of roundabouts and One Way systems, and finding the entrance to the hotel became a challenge. We could see the hotel, but as we drove around it there were so many different roundabouts and roads shooting in all directions, and we always managed to take the wrong turning. The first wrong turn took us back onto the motorway and the second took us to Cricklewood. We finally found the entrance by accident.

The hotel itself was very nice and the staff were very friendly and helpful, it also offered a shuttle service to Brent Cross station which is on the Northern Line, so that proved extremely useful, as that took us straight to Leicester Square and the West End of London.

After we settled we decided to visit my nephew Chris and his family who live between Cricklewood and Kilburn (about a 15 minute bus ride from the hotel). We hadn't seen them since their wedding, and it was really nice to see them and their new arrival Little Ted a truly gorgeous and happy little boy. After we left them we headed for the bright lights? of the City. I was very disappointed because the bright city lights seemed to be a lot more muted, and although the crowds were as vibrant as always it still seemed to lack the atmosphere of the old days. On the plus side though it's a far Greener option.

On the Monday morning we picked up our tickets from the London Pass office on Charing Cross Road. Before purchasing it we did ask "Is the London Pass worth it?" I am glad to say this pass turned out to be an excellent investment for sightseeing in London, as it allows free entry into some of the top visitor attractions in London and has the added bonus of bypassing queues at some of the busiest attractions. We had also added travel to our pass which meant a whole days free traveling on the London Underground without having to pay. Since we were going to do the free London museums on the second day we only purchased a one day ticket, but there are several options that can save more money. After a trip to McDonalds we made our way to Westminster Bridge for one of the river Thames boat trips.

A Thames River Cruise

The boat.went down the river from Westminster Bridge to Greenwich,  but we only went as far as The Tower of London (a similar journey to this one recorded on You Tube).

Boat trip down the Thames (You Tube)

The boat had two decks an open one at the top and an enclosed one at the bottom. Although it was sunny it was rather chilly and Eric and I would have liked to have traveled on the enclosed deck, Joshua however opted for the open top deck and Joshua won.

The Tower Of London

When we arrived there was a female yeoman warder at the tower  of London conducting a party around and we joined the party, but we were so far back we couldn't hear much. Since I had visited the Tower many times before we decided to wander around on our own. I had also forgotten about all the spiral staircases that you needed to climb, all my visits to the Tower had taken place in my pre- arthritic days, and climbing all those stairs went largely unnoticed or was viewed as fun, but now it proved hard work and a challenge. It also gave me a new perspective on what life in the Tower must have been like. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be fleeing for your life down those narrow spiral staircases ( and I'm sure there were many who had to do just that) dressed in a full suit of armour; or perhaps a lady in Elizabethan times trying to negotiate them in a farthingale. Joshua isn't very interested in History or Architecture, but he thoroughly enjoyed a visit to the Armoury, some of the items that we saw can be viewed at-

http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerofLondon/stories/palacehighlights/FitforaKing and He seemed to know quite a bit about some of the weapons due to his love of computer games. The trip to the Armoury also proved a point. No matter what your interest the Tower has something for everyone.

A Yeoman Warder at the Tower Of London



Tower Bridge

From the Tower we took the walkway running along the river to Tower Bridge. We entered on to the bridge through a subway that ran under the room where bodies recovered from the Thames used to be kept. The bodies found in the river are now taken to Wapping Police Station. Once on the bridge we were taken to the walkways up at the very top of the bridge. These walkways were originally used by pedestrians wishing to cross over to the South Bank, when the bridge was raised. I had walked across the bridge on a daily basis for many years and didn't even know they existed, as they weren't open to the public in those days.Though the bridge is still raised ocassionally the walkways are now a tourist attraction housing an exhibition.

When we reached the top there were various rooms with presentaions showing how the bridge was built. We were then directed on to the West walkway, due to maintainance the East Walkway was closed. the West Walkway housed an exhibition of pictures of various bridges around the world. From here you have a wonderful view up the river, though I think Prince Charles has a point about 'ugly carbuncles' and I would say the London skyline is more ugly than impressive

                

View from the Walkway at Tower Bridge

From the walkway we went down to the Engine room where we saw some of the machinery and equipment that has been used in raising the bridge. Since it wasn't something Joshua was interested in we just passed through it.

The Shard

The exit from the exhibition was on the South Bank, so we had a ten minute walk to London Bridge and the London Bridge and tombs Experience. I had read that this attraction had received several awards in the 'scariest' field I thought Joshua might like it. It seemed to have got mixed reviews from visitors, but I still thought we would give it a try. Walking along Tooley Street we seemed to get our best view of the Shard , the tallest building in Western Europe with 95 floors.Though I don't expect it will be the tallest for long.

The Shard (the Tallest Building in Europe

The London Bridge Experience

'The Experience' is in two parts the first consists of visitors being taken to various rooms where actors enacted various gory historical events, though I couldn't see the connection between some of these events and London Bridge. The second and more enjoyable part was 'The Tombs Experience' For this the visitors lined up and put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you and then followed through dark rooms of ghosts, ghouls and hatchet men and other shocks. People were warned that it was not for anyone with a weak heart, or for children under the age of 11. Joshua couldn't  reach the shoulders of the lady in front of him, so she very kindly held his hand,  and I saw her turn quite frequently and check that he was O.K. At the end of the experience I could honestly say that we thoroughly enjoyed it, and Joshua has voted it his favourite event of his London trip. I do not understand why people were disappointed with this attraction, but I guess its a case of one man's meat being another man's poison.

We caught a train to Catford from London Bridge Station and went to visit Eric's niece whom we hadn't seen for many years. On our return journey we were able to see the shard towering up and somewhat dimly lit. Looking up at it in the dark with just a few lights on I thought it looked eerie and intimidating, but once it is fully occupied and better lit it might look and feel totally different.

The Shard at night