Rattling On...

Blackbird diaries...

Or... Narcissus takes the plunge.

He starts off by staring for ages into the water from the stones at the side of the pond. Then he sits in up to his tummy, sort of floating. The tail gets a genteel rinse... then he goes for it hell for leather. At which point you'd be forgiven for thinking he was drowning, which I did the first time, but he just loves the water this one. Then its a quick scratch and fluff and out onto the stones to dry off a little.

This is a juvenile male, one of last year's babies, which you can tell because he'sn ot quite fully black yet and his beak hasn't turned yellow. He's a bit of a ladies' man, though, and gets into quite a few spats with some other males in the garden. There were seven blackbirds in the back the other day. Three go around together and I think they may be the three from last year's nest, a couple are what I presume to be their parents (none of them fight) and a few invaders intent on turf wars.

There's quite a lot of this in the undergrowth...

... where the coy ladies play hard to get. But frankly if it came to callow youth or this boy...

... there'd be no competition.

Cooking the classics...

 




Shepherd's pie. I hadn't made this in I don't know how long but was looking for something amazing to do with the mince I'd bought. And decided this would be it...

Onion, celery, stock, carrot and a hefty blob of tomato puree, seasoned and topped with a creamy mash. In the oven for twenty or so and onto the plate. Served with... sprouts for me, far too many as it turned out and I gave up on the last few.

I never choose to eat this if I'm out as it always seems to be bland and runny. Yeuch. My Mother makes the best version just because she can be bothered to mince the leftovers of the Sunday joint and that is really excellent. I have an old fashioned mincer that I could press into service I suppose, I'll give it a whirl next time.

I have all kinds of kitchen equipment that has lain idle since I started to work full time again, even some pans don't make it out of the cupboard any longer. I use the same things over and over. Which leads me to wonder why I hang onto all the rest.

Accordingly, in the next half term holiday, I am ridding the kitchen cupboards and the cellar of all redundant stock. This may require a small van to get to the charity shop, but it needs to be done. Maybe then I'll find my waffle iron and the ravioli mould.... and the vintage madeleine tin I've already bought a replacement for.

There will be snow on the hills...

I did get out and about yesterday, I went to Leek. I didn't listen to the local radio or read any weather news on line. I mean, obviously there had been a bit of snow overnight, and the car did need quite a bit of elbow grease to shift the ice. But I hadn't realised some roads were closed and others dangerous in places. Like the one I went on, where there were a couple of cars in the ditch where they'd gone off the road on the ice and were on their sides...

I carried on regardless, knowing that the further away you get from here, the better the weather becomes, and the pictures will show you...

It looks like two different countries never mind two counties. The sun was out in Leek, there was no snow or ice but the pavements had been gritted (ahh, the irony) and people were rugged up and complaining they were cold. Good job they don't live here.

The flea market was in full swing and I bought a couple of bits, including a fab 70s cake platter. That the cat jumped onto and is now in bits in the bin...

Back home and I bought the new vacuum cleaner. Much cheaper than the last effort and supposedly a 'pet' machine, as in it picks up pet hair. Frankly as long as it picks up anything at all it will be an improvement, and I'll report back after test driving it.

Sucking hell...

It started to snow quite heavily last night but fortunately a lot of it has disappeared. What is left is now frozen solid and Coco keeps barking every time a car goes down the road (which isn't very often) as it's so loud and she thinks we're being invaded!

It's cold and we have a bit of blue sky and it should last a whole day... the sky, the cold is forecast for the next week. I should say it's colder, as it hasn't been very warm here for what seems like forever. But this kind of day is lovely and I plan on getting out later.

I need to buy a new vacuum cleaner. Oh, the excitement. The one I have hasn't been very great since the day it came into the house and this week the brushes stopped turning. I got out the hose thing and put the nozzle on the end, which I always do for cleaning the stairs. Well, I think the thing was designed for very dinky people as I had to bend over to be able to reach the floor, it was backbreaking.

As the vacuum came from a Very Well Known Company I decided to e-mail them and inform them that I wouldn't be getting another model of theirs. A woman rang back three days later and asked if I'd dismantled the machine and replaced the belt recently. No. I told her it didn't matter why it had stopped working, I hated it anyway. It doesn't pick up cat hair from carpets, cat litter from hard floors, bits off the new carpet... it blows dust back out of a hidden orifice and it scratches painted floors. I've only stuck with the damned thing because it cost so much in the first place. I just wanted them to know is all.

So, I'm going to get a bog-standard model and have been reading reviews. My Dad offered advice (he does a lot of vacuuming at their gaff and my Mother likes a tidy place) and basically it comes down to getting a big motor for suction. I want a bagless contraption with a large dust well. I want it to suck up whatever is in its path. I want to be able to float around the house vacuuming with contetment. Ha!

n+1=5

The last time I posted a finished version of this scarf pattern on Ravelry I named it 'nth scarf' as I was embarrassed to admit just how many versions of it I've made. Well this one is n+1 for the same reason.

I adore this pattern, it's a good stress buster for me. Partly because it's so familiar by now and partly because... and here comes the =5 part, also slightly embarrassing...the stitches are in groups of five.

I like multiples of five. There, I've admitted it. I don't think it even approaches an OCD thing, but my baseline for counting activities is five. I sort things in my head in relation to fives. Unless you do this yourself you probably won't have a clue what I'm going on about, but there are other people who do this kind of thing. I know because I've met them.

Numbers, for me, come in multiples of five with leftovers. I'm not sure if I even know when it started or if I've always done it, I certainly can't remember not doing it. It isn't an invasive thing, I don't lie awake whittling over things and counting to five or have to do things in fives or anything like that.

Oh, and I've never counted on my fingers so it's not that. I count in my head, just as I've always read to myself and never had to read out loud. Five is also not my 'favourite' or lucky number, I don't have either of those.

It's certainly a nice symmetrical number, not when written as the numeral but when expressed as dots-like on a domino. And I love symmetry to distraction. I find the re-emergence of the asymmetrical hairdo most perturbing, on many levels. 

I remember years ago, when I had a fringe (bangs) and went to have a trim. At the end, when the stylist wafts the mirror around like they have just performed a magic trick and are preparing to take a bow, I said to him 'but it isn't quite level' and he replied 'Oh, you are fussy.'

I wouldn't say I was fussy. I would say it's my hair, I'm paying you and ths will drive me insane until you sort it out. I would say that now... but at the time I felt like I'd stepped over some invisible line of salon etiquette and went home to get out the nail scissors and have a go myself.

Yesterday...

I try to nip home every lunch time to let the dogs out for a quick break. As I don't work too far away (and I have a car) it's usually manageable in the fifty minutes we get.

As I parked up on my return yesterday I could see a group of 6th form girls in the road, obviously distressed about something, waving cars away.

There was a squirrel lying on the road, unmarked, and they were worried it would get run over. I went over to them and carefully moved the squirrel, I am always cautious as they can give a nasty bite. It was dead. I picked it up, it was still very warm, and took it into the school grounds, where I put it in the middle of some dense bushes and covered it with leaves.

In an overhead tree another squirrel, maybe the partner, was making the most distressing sound. It was like a howl and a chatter all at once, and I found it very upsetting if I'm honest. It's this sort of thing that makes me avoid watching nature programmes these days. Knowing that lives of all sorts are going on everywhere, that icebergs are melting and rain forests are disappearing. 

-:-:-:-

The cake went down a storm and, as it was enormous, was enjoyed by many. It was so big, in fact, that it only just fit in my biggest cake tin- with a bit of encouragement. I used almond essence in the buttercream filling and everyone said it was like a chocolate battenburg! The birthday boy was very happy with it, and his little box of chocolates, and gave me a thumbs up as he left.

 

Who wants a piece of effing cake?

I got home from work yesterday to find that the cat had chundered up a hairball on my bed. With attendant matter of an unidentified nature. On the bed that had just had clean sheets, and more precisely on my favourite green wool blanket.

It already felt like Friday on a Tuesday, and not in a good way. In the past week and a half I have been sworn at more times than possibly the rest of my life altogether. It goes with the job to a certain extent, but is very wearing after a while.

Thank goodness then that today a rather lovely student is having his 13th birthday and I promised a surprise. He likes cake, so I made him a special one last night.

He is one of those people that enters a room with a smile and is always ready to help. He also has red hair and gets bullied for it. I happen to like red hair, but that's by the by.

He started coming in to us last year at break times to avoid the general melee and he just never stopped coming in for his tea and toast. As a joke I made him a pigeon hole of his own in with ours. It's full every day; of homework, Lego, letters and books. 

You should never underestimate the small kindnesses. They outweigh grand gestures ten to one. Just as one smile can wipe out a week of foul language.

Blackbird diaries...

 I heard a blackbird singing in the trees outside work just as it was going dark yesterday. I have missed them.

The female in the pictures is one of the garden regulars, she pip-pips at me for food and will come very close. Unfortunately one of the males has been killed by a cat that moved in two doors away... 

The pond is always busy with all manner of birds drinking and bathing and I waste many a minute just watching them from the kitchen window, which has the best view and has been cleaned so I get better pictures. (Remember the veil of filth... no longer with us after the discovery of a lovely window cleaner who doesn't use ladders, but has one of those extending brush contraptions.)

The pond has also developed a nasty case of blanket weed, most annoying and as I never had it before the re-lining was done I don't know where it came from. None of the plants are new or anything like that. I've heard that barley straw can get rid of it but I don't know if that's an urban myth. Any suggestions?

Torta in un vaso per piante...

Does that sound more exotic than Cake in a Flowerpot? I think it probably does. Just as panettone, tart tatin and eclair all have a bit of allure to them. As opposed to fruit loaf, upside down cake and er whatever an eclair would be if we had an equivalent...

Just because Johnny Foreigner can bang a good name on something doesn't make it taste any better though. 

This is half a madeira with crunchy lemon topping. Half as in I halved the recipe quantities and then thought a flowerpot would make as good a container as anything. In fact it was an excellent choice.

I just lined it with an enormous version of a home made muffin case made from baking parchment.

I went to the DIY shop on Saturday to get some plant pots but for starters the garden section was closed due to the winds (and the trolleys had been moved to inside as well, as they had at the supermarket) and they didn't have any terracotta pots in stock 'yet' anyway.

So into the greenhouse and out with the Cif and a scourer and good as new. Probably cleaner than new actually.

I have had a couple of interesting ideas following on from making this and if they turn out I will share them. I will also be seeing how many other household, or garden shed, items can be used in this way.

St Vincent's Day...

Remember on St Vincent's Day

If that the sun his beams display,

Be sure to mark his transient beam

Which through the window sheds a gleam;

For 'tis a token bright and clear,

Of prosperous weather all the year.

or...

Le jour de St Vincent, si le soleil lui comme un chapeau, on aura du vin a pleins tonneaux.

 

Yes, today is St Vincent's Day, or Sunbeam Day is it was known in days of yore (apparently).  Although the pond is roughed up by the wind and the rain is making lovely ringlets around the drops there has been a little blue sky and.... a hint of sun.

I'm taking it that this is, therefore, an auspicious omen of excellent weather to come. Starting tomorrow...

(As you can see, it's not just the English who have these little weather foibles.)

Again...

The daffodils were bought to remind me that spring should be on the way somewhere. Actually I'm expecting it this afternoon or tomorrow at the latest.

Because it will be blowing in. With the 90mph winds we are having again, and which kept me up half the night. Again. As I write the next door neighbour is hammering away at the fence, nailing bits back on. Again. The poor man has just paid to replace several lengths lost a couple of weeks ago. I did think it was rash replacing them at the time, the gaps weren't important except aesthetically. Fingers crossed he won't be on to the builders' merchant again in a few days.

The more I look at the word 'again' the more I wonder why it was chosen to represent a repeat of something. If you deconstruct it to 'a gain' you would imagine it to be a positive word. Not at the moment. Nor for the next few days if the forecast is to be believed.

Which it is not, as none of this was forecast, unless you count 'windy' as covering 90mph gusts. Snow is now being mentioned, for those on hills. Which pretty much sums us up. Let's hope the wind drops before the snow comes or I may need to keep the snow shovel inside of the front door...

Cooking the classics...

Or, as Peter Sellers said to Sophia Loren... Give us a bash of the bangers and mash!

Sausages have to be well done, so go back in on the lid of the roaster while the gravy is made. The gravy has to be thick, thin gravy is a travesty. Mash... I'm not a massive fan of squashed up potatoes, but if they have a bit of butter (and garlic if I can get it past No2) and are really well pummelled I can manage it.

And sprouts. At this time of year I have them with everything, including lasagne the other night. I adore sprouts, always have done. No-one else eats them so they have broccoli and carrots and whatever. But for me, sprouts...

If you want to sing along, or (heavens above) have never heard the Sellers/Loren masterpiece then you can listen here.

Sans bobble titfer...

The pattern book suggested this type of hat was known as a New Yorker. Since when? It's a woolly hat, not quite a bobble hat as it's missing the pom pom. And thank goodness it isn't one of those things The Youth wear, you know the baggy things that hang down at the back and look like they've been badly washed and stretched. Awful things, and you can quote me on that.

A member of staff (male, goes without saying) turned up at the Christmas do wearing some such abomination. Obviously he was trying to stay in touch with his youth and getting down wiv the kids, but he looked a complete twerp. Though that's not quite the word I thought on the night.

I wouldn't be seen dead in a hat like this. Most unflattering on me. Scarily so. I do like hats, though, and have a few proper ones... made of felt and with a brim and all. In my own youth I was a big hat wearer, and later as well. Now they just come out in absolute extreme cold weather or for weddings (not the same sort obviously) and Christenings. And even for those they aren't popular any more. Shame really, most people look very tidy in a good hat.

This one was a good stash buster and only took two evenings of desultory ribbing. It will go towards the Gift Pile. I am determined, once again, to try to make a lot of gifts. As it snows in February and March on a regular basis here I'm sure I'll be able to find a good home for it.

Who needs a disco ball?

...when they have a chandelier?

It was a late night Ebay purchase from Germany. As soon as the button was hit I had a panic attack, convinced it would never arrive and my debit card would be cloned and used to buy ten years' worth of Viagra. Or whatever.

But no. It arrived in a zillion bits, wrapped in newspaper and packed with egg boxes. Only one tiny drop was broken and superglue sorted that out. It did take days and days, however, to clean and re-assemble. I did it in the cellar and had to put a meat hook in the ceiling to take the weight.

It hangs in the dining room and, with the addition of a dimmer switch, adds a little je ne sais crois to the woodchip...

Is that you, Clarice?

I know not everyone is fond of these cheeky birds, but I think they're great, and we don't see many round here. Except for the ones still living in the eaves outside my bedroom. They moved in and just never went away.

They have been very discreet over the winter but I think they're gearing up for spring now as they are much more vocal (see picture above).

Yesterday was another cold one, which means the birds are getting through a lot of food. The squirrel is helping them. I keep forgetting to factor in car-scraping time in the mornings and end up in a rush, I don't like leaving the car running on the drive. It'd be just my luck for someone to half-inch it and the insurance company refuse to pay.

A woman I know was surprised to learn she was the only person (in an impromptu survey) who left her keys in the car while paying at the petrol station. 


Mind you, she broke into her own house recently and smashed a side window to do so. She was worried her husband wasn't answering his mobile or the home phone (he was at home sick).

So, she rushed home from work (leaving her house key in her desk...) and smashed the window. A Victorian stained glass window. Not the modern stuff in the kitchen. No husband. He was at the shop buying a paper and had left his mobile at home...