Summer 2014: My To Do List

In my experience, the longer the holiday stretches, the easier it is to fritter it away.  So, when faced with 5 1/2 weeks this summer, I thought I'd best draw up a list of things I would like to have achieved by the end of them.  Maybe I should have added 'publish list on blog' as it's taken me over a week to do so.  But here it is:

(NB  Having decided that I was going to devote the first few days to recovering from the end of term, I based my list on 5 weeks - 7x5=35)

1. Cycle to Bath along the railway path
2. Hold 5 dinner parties (ie have 5 friends/sets of friends round for a meal!)
3. Day trip to Oxford
4. Bake 5 pies from my new Pieminister Pie book
5. Visit Tyntesfield
6. Make tomato ketchup
7. Visit the M Shed
8. Go to Bristol Balloon Fiesta Night Glow
9. Make falafels
10. Walk: Snuff Mills
11. Read 5 books
12. Create a sourdough starter
13. Get up early to watch Bristol Balloon Fiesta Dawn Ascent
14. Shop for clothes for work
15. Bake 5 new breads
16. Swim in Street outdoor pool
17. Make icecream
18. Picnic at Bristol Zoo
19. Visit the Jeremy Deller exhibition
20. Walk: Blaise Castle
21. Crack Prashad's dhokla recipe
22. Visit St Werburgh's City Farm, eat meatballs @ Ikea and shop at Bristol Sweet Mart
23. Make rhubarb & ginger jam
24. Take advantage of podiatrist appointment to window shop in Cotham/Clifton
25. Preserve lemons
26. Swim and lunch at th Lido
27. Make a start on a recipe folder
28. Make pizza
29. Walk: Leigh Woods
30. Make lemonade
31. Picnic on Brandon Hill
32. Have a BBQ
33. Finish crocheting my daughter's quilt
34. Walk: Bristol Old City
35. Bristol Packet ferry boat trip to Beese's Tea Gardens

It's an eclectic mix of cooking, eating, walking, culture and fun.

I'm under no illusion that I'll get through it all and am therefore not going to beat myself up over it if I don't, but it should stop me waking up in the morning wondering what to do with the day!    

24/365

Hat

In 2012 ...

I knitted and crocheted

I cooked and baked

 I sang and listened to others sing

I involved myself in politics and campaigns

I supported local independent traders

 I went out and about in Bristol ...

... and in London

I went on holiday to St Ives

I started running and went on a diet and ...!

I survived the Jubilee but entered into the Olympic spirit.

I made holiday lists and managed to cross most items off them!

I met Fatmumslim's Photo a Day Challenge but didn't quite meet my own challenges to photograph A Month of Dinners or my Advent countdown.

All in all it's been a good year and I've certainly had fun trawling through my posts and reminding myself of its highlights.

Here's to 2013!

PS  I've thoroughly enjoyed reading other bloggers' reviews and greatly admire those whose photos are better displayed than mine.  Any tips on how to create mosaics on blogger would be much appreciated.

On the Third Day of December

Today I should have dared to stop and be still and ask myself what truly brings me joy and comfort.  Well, what with a long stressful day at work, a dental appointment  and tea to cook there hasn't been much time for pause or silence.

Maybe that's the answer to the question I never got round to asking.

Summer Holiday To Do List

I love holidays.  One of the joys of working in a school is the long summer break - a full 6 weeks this year.  Yeah!  I am, however, prone to frittering away these precious hours so, in order to make the most of every last minute I have devised a list of things I would like to do:

1. Eat a bacon butty at Brunel's Buttery
2. Have a drink at The Grain Barge
3. Have a curry at The Old Bookshop
4. Visit Bristol Zoo
5. Take a day trip to Bath to visit the Holborne Museum
6. Take a day trip to London to view the Grayson Perry tapestries at the Victoria Miro gallery
7. Walk the Bristol to Bath cycle path
8. Visit M Shed
9. Take a picnic to the Balloon Fiesta Nightglow
10. Visit the Harbour Festival
11. Visit Tyntesfield
12. Visit Ikea to kit my daughter out for her next year and eat meatballs
13. Bake scones for a cream tea
14. Visit the American Museum
15. Fill my South West Reading Passport with one book from each of the continents.
16. Make a pizza
17. Paint my toenails
18. Picnic on Brandon Hill
19. Visit the Arnos Vale Cemetery
20. Bake a foccacia 
21. Have a barbecue
22. Make homemade lemonade
23. Release a book!
24. Start another sourdough mixture
25. Catch a live performance in the Colston Hall foyer or at No 1 Harbourside.

I shall strike them through as I do them, so that you can see how I'm progressing.

Here Comes the Sun!

It's been a while since I last posted.  Circumstances have conspired to bring me low.  But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am determined to fix my eyes on it and take one step at a time.

One of the areas I have neglected over the past few months has been the garden.  Those of you who live in the UK will know that our weather has not been conducive to spending much time outdoors tending, let alone enjoying, our plants.  There has been growth but it's been random and disordered.  In short it's a jungle out there.

However today, when the sun came out to celebrate the first day of the summer holidays it spotlighted the flowers that have successfully blossomed despite all the odds.  I have taken it as a good omen.

I leave you with some of my flowers.

Noye's Fludde

This afternoon I sang in the chorus of Benjamin Britten's setting of the 15th century mystery play 'Noye's Fludde'.

The opera was directed by Keith Cheeetham and conducted by Benjamin Ellin who, although I'd never heard of either of them, are both award winners in  their respective fields.  The rest, on the other hand were, as far as I could make out, all local residents.  Rehearsals began on Monday and, after only 27 or so hours of preparation, the performance took place on Saturday afternoon.

The chorus' role was minimal, a few kyries and alleluias and three hymns, but the orchestra and cast faced a far greater challenge and rose to it with enthusiasm and enjoyment.  They say you should never work with children and animals but these children/animals were delightful.

I find myself singing more and more often - Sing for Water last summer, Gasworks Winter Concert in December and two scratch Messiahs before and after Christmas.  Next week I'm singing with Classical Gas at St James Priory, in June I'll be taking part in the Festival of the Voice at Stourhead and in July in I'll be part of the Gasworks/Gert Lush extravaganza at the Colston Hall.  I wouldn't describe myself as a good singer but I love music and enjoy the camaraderie of a choir.  It's said to be good for one's state of mind and, when I think about it, I have been feeling more relaxed and happy recently.

My Top Ten Cookery Books

Today I bought a new cookery book.  Heaven knows I don't need one but that's never stopped me before and it didn't this time when our Book People rep came calling with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's latest offering.  Besides, it provided me with the perfect opportunity to publish a post I've been mulling over for some time now.

So here it is, my definitive(?) Top Ten Cookery Books

1. Good Housekeeping -  This was one of the first cookery books I bought and its the one I turn to most often to find out how long to roast a joint, the ratio of flour to butter to milk in a white sauce or the correct way to sterilise jam jars.  It cost me 50p in an introductory offer to a book club in my final year at university and has been with me ever since.  It has lost both back and front covers and its pages are scuffed and stained, but I wouldn't trade it in for any other book.
2. Real Food (Nigel Slater) - It's not just the recipes but Nigel Slater's attitude to food that appeals to me.  This is solid everyday cookery, the sort of food you would be happy to eat time and time again.  And we do!
3. How to Eat (Nigella Lawson) - Nigella Lawson is another of my food heroes.  This is a chunky book and it took me a while to justify the expense.  But it's one I've never regretted.  It's the kind of cookery book I can sit and read just for the pleasure of the prose.  And as I read it I can hear her voice in my head.  Gosh, I must have been watching too much TV!
4. The New Covent Garden soup Company's Book of Soups - We Scots are brought up on soup.  It practically runs in our veins.  I love it.  It's warm and nourishing and easy to prepare and is the perfect way to use up odd bits and pieces lying around the kitchen.  But sometimes it's good to start from scratch and boil up something special and this book has plenty to chose from.
5. The Good Cook (Simon Hopkinson) - I've come late to Simon Hopkinson, through his recent TV series.  He came across as a gentle man and his recipes are a reflection of his manner.
6. Indian Cookery (Savitra Chowdhary) - I inherited this book from my mother, although I have a feeling that it was my Dad who made more use of it.  I don't use many of its recipes but it's where I turn for a basic dhal and gajar halwa, my all time favourite Indian sweetmeat.
7. Mediterranean Cookery (Claudia Roden) - I love the aromatic flavours of Middle Eastern food and Claudia Roden's book is a veritable feast for the senses.
8. Delia Smith's Christmas (Delia Smith) - No list would be complete without a Delia Smith and this is my favourite.  In  years when I've opted for a traditional turkey dinner I've followed her countdown to Christmas dinner almost to the second.  And it's her mincemeat recipe every time!
9. How to be a Domestic Goddess (Nigella Lawson)  Nigella's second appearance but as this is the book I turn to first when I get the urge to bake she deserves it.
10. The Book of Children's Party Cakes (Ann Nicol) - From when they were old enough my daughters have been presented with this book a couple of weeks before their birthdays and asked to choose their cake.  Even the most complicated cakes are simple when you follow the instructions step by step.

So this is my list.  What about you?  Would any of these books feature on yours?  Have you any personal favourites to recommend?

The Soundtrack of my Youth

This afternoon, as part of my spring cleaning exercise, I cleared out the shelf under our old sound system and bagged a pile of cassettes ready for the bin men on Wednesday.

But first I made a list of all the albums in case we ever want to replace them with CDs.  This proved to be a right trip down memory lane.  Some of the music has already been replaced in one form or another but there were other singers/bands I'd forgotten about - Joan Armatrading, Pyewackett and Fairground Attraction.  Happy days!

Easter Holiday Plans

Tomorrow is the first day of my Easter holidays.  Weekends don't count in my book.
Now although one of the purposes of holidays is to relax, take it easy and recharge the batteries,  I know, from experience, that I am rather inclined to take this too seriously and reach the end of my break from work without having achieved very much, if anything at all.

So this time I've  decided to set myself some challenges, namely

1. Spring clean the house
2. Read Colm Toibin's Story of the Night (in addition to Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife which I must finish in time for our next Reading Group meeting a week on Friday.
3. Draw up a four week menu plan
4. Create a sourdough starter and start making my own bread
5. Knit 5 granny squares a day for my younger daughter's blanket

To achieve these goals I will need to be organised and cut down on the time I spent watching the television and surfing the net, which is a good thing in itself.  I will, of course, continue to blog and post regular reports on my progress.

Day 27 - Your Name

It's in there somewhere ... and I've just spotted a spelling mistake!

Day 7 - Something I Wore

These are my high street version of the overpriced designer boots.  And because I have small feet I was able to buy them from the children's department, which made them even cheaper.  If only I could do this with the rest of my wardrobe!

They are warm and cosy but not very comfortable over long distances when they make my legs ache.  I've had them a couple of years now but the heels are beginning to wear through so I guess this is their last season.

I become very attached to my footwear which I persist in wearing until they eventually fall apart.  I have fond memories of a pair of handmade red shoes and my blue Dr Marten's boots.

'Giving up' v 'Taking up' for Lent

It is the custom, and not just in religious circles, to 'give up' something for Lent. Based on Jesus' 40 day fast in the wilderness there is undoubtedly something to be said for foregoing the physical in pursuit of the spiritual. However it can be frustrating and often leaves you feeling smug, if you've managed, or disheartened, if you haven't.

The CSMV nuns who ran St Mary's School in Pune encouraged us to 'take up' something for Lent instead. I remember sewing a romper suit for a child in their orphanage. It required time and effort on my part and made a material difference to someone's life. Besides which, positive actions are always more satisfying than negative ones.

In previous years I have followed, albeit sporadically, the Love Life Live Lent booklets produced by the Church of England, which encouraged readers to engage in a variety of random acts of kindness etc. I couldn't find any sign of these booklets this year so I turned to Christian Aid, who have an excellent project entitled Count Your Blessings. Every day you are given a statistic relating to world poverty followed by an appropriate action to take. For example, today I have learned that wasted food costs the average family £420 a year. I have then been asked to give 42p for each type of food I bin this week. By the time I reach Easter Sunday I shall not only be more aware of the plight of those less fortunate than myself, but I shall also have a jarful of coins to put towards making our world a better place for everyone.

Old habits die hard though, and I have also pledged to give up biscuits and cakes between meals.

Good Hair Day!

Not being someone who lays very much importance on my appearance, I don't have my hair cut very often. The last time I visited the salon (on my account, because I have accompanied the girls on a couple of occasions) was way back on the 7th of April last year, when I blogged on my dread of hairdressers.

So today was a pleasant surprise. After I'd given her an outline of what I wanted, my hairdresser took over and did the rest. And, to my relief, she didn't even ask me what I was doing at the weekend! I shall ask for her next time I make an appointment which, on previous form, should be sometime in October!

The self photo does not afford you an appreciation of the graduated cut on the back of my head, but I have been assured that it looks lovely!

Actually, it doesn't look very different from the last time I had it done. Oh well, plus ca change ...

I've been Tagged!

Strawberry Jam Anne has tagged me. Apparently this means that I have to tell you six interesting things about myself and then tag six other bloggers. So here goes:
Six Interesting Things about Me

1. 1. I am a woman with a man's name. My parents named me after one of King Arthur's knights of the round table. This has led to some amusing misunderstandings but has also enabled me to pass every foreign language aural I have ever sat, on the basis that I knew the first question the examiner would ask me!


2. I was born in Pune (formerly Poona) in western India and spent the first eighteen years of my life there.


3. I used to rub drains, which is the same as rubbing brasses in churches except that you do it on pavements/streets at night to avoid pedestrians. This led to some very interesting conversations with drunks on their way home from the pub!


4. I once won the mothers' potato and spoon race at my daughters' school's sports day. I was up against a few serious runners who ran too fast and dropped their potatoes. A textbook illustration of the old adage '(very) slow and steady wins the race'.


5. I have ridden through the jungle on the back of an elephant - a truly unforgettable experience, including the time the elephant broke wind!


6. I have sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and through the Suez Canal - not personally, as in a yacht, but as a passenger on a liner. I have also, obviously, crossed the equator when Neptune rose from the sea and decreed that I be given an egg shampoo and thrown into the swimming pool.

Six Tags

1. Steve Broadway at bigdaddystevieB
2. Blue Hands at Stuff and Nonsense
3. Alice at Crumbs...
4. Maisie at Our Greener Year
5. Almost Mrs Average at The Rubbish Diet
6. Mrs Green at My Zero Waste

Just a bit of fun. I won't be at all offended if you'd rather not.

Me

I spent all of yesterday in retreat with a dozen or so women in a boathouse on the Floating Harbour. In the afternoon we spent an hour or so in creative activity. I chose to flick through a couple of magazines, cut out images that apealed to me and create a collage to illustrate who I am. This is the finished result.

I brought it home and showed it to my elder daughter, who giggled and remarked on the number of images of food!

Happiness for Life

Tonight was the last session of my 10 week Happiness for Life course and it was with sadness that I bade farewell to Bruce Stanley and my fellow 'pupils'. I have come to look forward to Wednesday evenings and the opportunity they offered me to stand back from my daily routine and examine myself in relation to the world around me. At the end of this week's session there was the inevitable course evaluation form to complete, on which I guess many of us listed making butter as one of the highlights. What's that got to do with happiness'?' I hear you ask. Well, you'll just have to sign up for the next course to find out. The more important question is whether I end the course any happier than when I started. The simple answer is 'yes, a little', but more importantly I have come away with a deeper understanding of myself and how I function and equipped with a set of tools to help me find my own personal happiness in the days, weeks and years to come.

New Look

I've had my hair cut. I also had it washed and blow dried and when we got home I asked my younger daughter to take a photo of me, as I know I shall not look this good again until I next visit the hairdressers, or get my daughter to style it. With me it's a good day if I manage to run a brush through my unruly locks before I walk out the front door in the morning.

I don't know if I am alone in this respect but, despite the fact that I am usually much older than most of the hairdressers who have cut my hair, I invariably feel quite threatened by them. I don't believe I have ever emerged from a salon having achieved the look I wanted. Perhaps that's not really surprising as I'm never altogether sure of what I want to begin with. So I just go along with whatever it is they suggest, the result of which is that it is rarely me at the end, just someone who looks like me, only a bit more stylish (well, the hair at any rate!)

Anyway after I've slept on it and the serum(!) has worn off, it will be back to normal tomorrow.