Rattling On...

Saturday saunter...

Yesterday evening Coco and I went for a stroll. Well, it set off as being a stroll- to a local landmark. It's reasonably steady going but very steep in places.

It was one of those overcast and humid days which, combined with being under dense tree cover a lot of the way, made it a bit less pleasant than it has been in the past!

We've already climbed a fair way at this point, with quite a way to go. Can you see where we're off to between the trees?

You can see how dull it was on this side, the low clouds were making it very muggy. Coco was loving rolling around in fox poo; and eating it.

We're at Solomon's Temple, want to see some views?

The light gets a bit better on our way down.

It was quite quiet up there, some tourists, a few teenagers. The folly is a go-to at bonfire night and midsummer, there are parties and all-nighters. I prefer it in winter as it's pretty much deserted, the biting winds keep all but the hardiest away.

We started off last night with the intention of walking to the top and straight back down, but found we had more energy. The paths in the woods zig-zag and double back so in the end we walked up hill and down for two hours. Bit more than a quick walk, but a good kick-start to my power walking.

Earlier in the day I did manage to get to the Emma Bridgewater sale. And I bought stuff, but you knew I would, right?

Nibbled...

So far I haven't managed to catch sight of whatever is snacking on the honeysuckle. They haven't ruined it and it's only the leaves close to the ground, to maybe two or three feet (the whole thing is maybe ten feet high).

Maybe the dozens of little birds that are usually squabbling in its depths have something to do with that. Snacking on the invaders, karma. I have to say I think it adds an extra dimension to the leaves, they look more jaunty.

It's not raining right now, but the garden looks like a bomb has gone off. The high winds have basically flattened most of it. If you wandered in from outer space you'd think it was autumn.

I am toying at this very moment with going to the Emma Bridgewater factory sale. Many bargains. Is it too early for Christmas shopping?

Deprivations...

Sometimes the garden visitors are harder to spot. This goldfinch was very noisy, and hard to spot until he flew to a more open space:

It's incredibly dreary here, and not very warm. there are lots of outside jobs that I want to do and some that I need to do, it's just not really fit. It's doing that wet thing again.

The school camping trip to the Lake District starts today, they haven't had it very good for a few years now. Fingers crossed for this year. Camp has a double effect on my department.

My colleague M runs the trip and will be away for a fortnight and, possibly even worse, he takes the departmental fridge-freezer and one of the toasters away with him. Oh how we miss the fridge.

Granny's bonnets...

It's a bit of a picture heavy post today, but I do love these jolly little flowers. Aquilegias, or granny's bonnets. This year's display is particularly good, with plenty of variety and the bees love them as well.

They're funny plants, they prefer growing in rubbish soil or in the gravel path- I just let them alone to grow where they like it best. Sometimes I collect the seeds but generally I allow the wind to do the job of spreaading them about.

Years ago we bought a house that was virtually derelict and did it all up, including the garden. I had lots of aquilegias then and an old man used to walk past and stare into the garden almost daily. I thought he was crackers, but one day he knocked on the door.

Certain ones of my little bonnets were apparently very rare and he was desperate for some seeds!

Ironically the garden is now back to a ruin as the people who bought the house just let it (and the house) go, never doing anything to it at all. The hedges I tamed and kept so precise and beautiful were like something from Sleeping Beauty until a developer bought the house, gave it a cheapo tarting up and cut the hedges down. Such a shame.

The wind has ravaged the plants again this year, the paeonies have taken a real battering but still look beautiful even when tattered. I'm afraid it's a bit grim up north again so far. Whenever there's a little window of sunshine I try to go out and soak a bit of it in, I feel like one of the cats chasing the warm spots round the house!

Charm school...

I can't repeat most of what the kids at school say. It may shock you, even those of you who have teenagers. Possibly not those who also work in school, depending on the type of student you work with. I'll just tell you that I work in the behavioural department, of the challenging type. This, among other things, means no two days are alike.

Today's tale is not of particularly poor behaviour in the traditional sense of the term, more of a post-modern version.

Science, a table of four: three boys, one girl. Good mates, good fun, unable to concentrate/follow instructions/complete work/keep quiet... need I go on?

Anyway, one of the lads is missing; the one who actually sometimes does some work. I enquire of R where J is? 'Off sick, Miss' he replied and M and O snigger. I express my hope that he will be well soon. Much merriment. I had to ask...

Breaktime, R steals M's phone (the girl in the tale) and texts J to the effect that she's been secretly in love with him for some time and just can't keep it inside any longer.

J replies thank goodness you feel the same; and a whole load more.

R and O then use a social networking site and some screenshots to come clean on the whole ruse. M is not bothered, thinks it's a jolly jape. J has four days off suffering from complete and chronic humiliation. He returns and is unable to look anyone in the eye and does not comply with the lesson seating plan. I let him stay where he was.

What I'd really, really like to tell you is what O said to me when I asked him why he was wearing his sports' shorts and not his school uniform trousers. But there are limits.

Petty thievery...

A very welcome by-product of the madeleines. I was left with three egg yolks and I hate waste so made some lemon curd.

The internet is an amazing tool. On searching for '3 yolk lemon curd' I lighted upon Martha's uber easy recipe, and as I hadn't a clue what a tablespoon of butter was in Olde Worlde measurements I found this page.

Ten minutes later it was cooling in the jar. And for the record I used the lemon juice that comes in a bottle. Oh, and I didn't have unsalted butter, I only had Welsh as I like a bit of salt myself. This gave it an unusual but not unpleasant taste. Maybe not for everyone.

As well as the madeleines I had been going to make friands, but someone had eaten the raspberries. Then I thought okay, chocolate brownies, but someone had eaten the chocolate. This sort of going-on makes me very cross and I have to admit I shouted a bit, even though no-one seemed in the least bit bothered. So we had a cocolate sponge to offer our guests, which seemed to do the trick.

Bun fight...

In anticipation of afternoon visitors yesterday I decided it was time to whip out the madeleine tin once more. Regular readers will remember I've dabbled with these little cakes previously, using Nigella's recipe.

Well, this time I thought I'd give Jane Brocket's version a spin, remembering the trials NL put me through. Namely being forced to eat shed loads of experimental efforts. I even followed the whole recipe, method and all. All the cooling in the fridge bits as well. You should be proud of me.

And the verdict? Not bad at all, a bit chewier than NL's and the mixture went a long way. 19 madeleines from a recipe that promised 10-12. These were in a 12 hole tin with the bigger size holes, rather than the eyeful style preferred by the average Frenchman with more self restraint.

If I had to make a complaint it would be the index in the book. The madeleines are listed as French Madeleines, under f; as opposed to English madeleines, under e. Now call me a pedant if you must but to me and my highly regimented cerebral filing system a better listing would read thus:

Madeleines, English p.155,157

                French p.154,156

Obviously, if you're just paging through they're next to each other. But, and it's a big but, if you're looking in the index you expect them under m. Or is that just me?

In conclusion, they're both very nice.

No more food of the gods...

He really is only taking a bath, despite it looking like he's drowning!

I was in the kitchen yesterday evening and could hear the unmistakable sound of baby blackbirds in the back garden. There was one on the fence and one in the undergrowth with the parents feeding them. Both can fly so I'm not so worried about them.

I'm very lucky that the blackbirds are used to me and I'm able to get good views (and photos) of them, but I try to stay away from the babies; mainly to avoid drawing attenton to them as there are so many jackdaws and crows around this year. Possibly including Front Garden Crow.

The garden is also heaving with sparrows, who eat like there's no tomorrow! I'm buying almost as much bird food as in the winter, but it's worth it.

Hard to believe that this is mid-summer. It feels, again, like summer hasn't really even started. There have been spells of absolutely beautiful weather, unfortunately they're punctuated by extreme damp. Which is a polite way of saying it keeps peeing it down.

I want it to be fine as I'm starting on a new fitness venture. Power walking. Or at least eventually there'll be power involved. I have been practising all over school and, by jove, you can really get a lick on. Today I'll be looking for some suitable footwear and then I'll be pounding the pavements.

It's free, which is a big advantage. It's portable, you just take the shoes with you. And... it's supposed to have visible benefits on the nether regions. I reckon I should be able to fit in a fair few sessions a week.

At the start of Easter I gave up chocolate, wrong way round I know- it's when you normally get back on the wagon. This was as I had a sneaking suspicion choccy wasn't agreeing with me. I have to say I feel immensely better for it. Most of my joint pains have gone and I have more energy, it's like a new lease of life and I don't really miss the brown stuff to be honest.

When I read on-line about chocolate (or cocoa solids to be precise) allergy it said the symptoms can mimic rhuematiod arthritis. Bingo. My joints were so painful I can look at products now and just imagining how I felt is enough to put me off. Of course it may all be a coincidence. In which case I'll be very disappointed, but would at least be able to console myself with a binge. Anyone else have this problem?

Tiny homes...

This little thing has been catching my eye out of the window at work for a couple of weeks. I think it's a wasp's nest, though we never saw anything making it. Sneaky.

It's only about an inch and a half in diameter and bobbles about in all weathers. The bees are back in one of the bird boxes as well, they seem to love it there. All the other boxes have had blue tits nesting, even the brand new ones only put up earlier this year.

Do you like the way I blurred the edges of the picture there? It's for a bit of vintage vibe to go with the shabby chic of the paintwork! The outside of our classroom is tatty. We've said we'll paint it ourselves but it's not allowed these days. Health and safety again. You can't even drill a hole or change a lightbulb, you have to go on a list with the local authority and they send workmen (fully covered) to do every little thing. Very frustrating.

Very foggy here this morning, not the sort of weather we want for summer. Especially after a lot of heavy rain in the last couple of days- with more forecast for the next week. Temperatures have been ok but I've not had one night without a hot water bottle since maybe last September. I don't know what's up with me!

Subject X...

Exam invigilation. A boy today was looking particularly upset while staring at his paper. I gave him the thumbs up sign with raised eyebrows, a sort of 'Are you ok?' without speaking.

His eyes welled up so I went in closer. 'I can't do this question, Miss' he said. 'Why not, Sonny?' I asked. I will say at this point he isn't really called Sonny, but I bet you'd guessed that. Anyway, back to the story.

'It's the name, Miss.' And with this he pointed to the question in question, one of the hypothetical kind that gives you a little scenario, in this case Jane and the energy output of her hairdryer.

'You will have to elucidate' I was going to say but it came out as an exasperated 'What?'

'Well, my dad had a friend called Jane who passed away a while ago. I can't look at that name now.'

'Ahh' I replied, and left him to his musings. We are not allowed to help students, but in any case I just wouldn't have known where to start with that one.

There is much debate over the exam system; linear versus modular for starters. Do we allow reader/scribes; should there be extraction groups for this, that and the other? But it is on days like today that the realisation dawns that there will always, always be something you haven't taken into consideration.

Alchemy. Or...How I made my own coal.

I am not very well aquainted with the workings of microwaves. But last night I fancied a baked potato, fast. So I looked on line for cooking times, and came across something roughly appropriate.

Into the little white box in the cellar (it's not used very often) went the spud, for ten minutes. Off I went to do a few little jobs.

This is what the final product looked like. Not too bad for a first attempt? Oh, so very wrong.

The average cremated potato (Osprey, from Scotland for you purists) can emit an unbelievably disproportionate amount of thick, viscous smog.

All systems go...

The blackbirds are busy. I know of a couple of nests knocking about, but there's nothing like last year's number. I think the terrible weather has delayed them a bit; and the new cat to the area, which seems to have claimed my garden.

I'm tired this morning due to being woken several times in the night by a helicopter. It could be police or search and rescue, I'm going for the second- probably looking for someone on a midnight hike or something equally as daft.

I say daft, but I've done it myself on the hills nearby. It's great fun going up, but coming down in the dark is a bit of a challenge. When you forget a torch, that is. The dog thought it was great, but I couldn't see her either, I could just hear her crashing around in the undergrowth. Anyway, I only did it the once then decided there was plenty of daylight in the summer to accommodate the average rambler.

The local woodland association does dawn chorus walks in the woods, where you do a bit of bird watching and such then go back to the visitor centre (which is about 200 yards from my house) for a full English. Sounds like a good morning for those willing to crawl out at four-ish! To be honest I think I could offer something similar in my garden most mornings. It isn't exactly peaceful at this time of year.

Brought to you by the colour green...

I drove out towards Matlock today and I was struck, as I often am, by just how beautiful it is where I live. Especially when the sun shines!

Every other vehicle was a tractor, bringing back this and that from the fields, or towing mowers. They are slow, it doesn't bother me at all; farmers are just doing a job and they keep our countryside looking as good as it does. Some people get very impatient on our winding roads, especially the motorbikes that are everywhere whenever the weather is dry.

You can hear them from early in the morning, roaring and screaming on the roads out of town. Them, or the ambulances that spend as much time scraping them up from the same roads. You'll see from this list that we have three of the top ten dangerous roads leading right to us. And I was travelling on number two in the list earlier today.

In other news: I cleaned the windows. This is an event so rare and unusual it really demands an entire post of its own. It's a bit like getting a new prescription at the opticians.

Mad fer it...

You have to say the post title in a Manchester accent, like they have on Shameless. Not that I have ever watched it, erm...

I was in the car park last night when I noticed the pigeons were indeed mad for whatever those little plants are. They were literally standing on each other to get to them, crowding round each one- the crack cocaine of the Columbidae world, and they weren't to be distracted by anyone.

In our family the shorthand for saying somewhere was packed with people is to say "they were standing on each others' heads". My Mother coined it in relation to a stationery shop in town many years ago when some or other promotion was taking place. It stuck, and always makes us giggle a bit as well, imagining somewhere that really was that busy.

We have lots of little sayings, catch phrases and gags and sometimes we just sit and repeat as many as possible, it makes us laugh. A lot. In fact just typing this is making me smile as I think of some of them. Any you'd like to share?

ASBO served on magpie...

The poor crow was minding his business in a tree, where the magpie kept swooping at him and basically just annoying him.

In the end the crow decided to give up and flew off to do a Garbo on a telegraph pole.