It’s Sunday! Time for a quick Sunday Sevens (devised by Natalie at Threads and Bobbins.)
Poorly Pets:
Our new female Lady Gouldinan finch, Rize has been in the hospital cage twice in the two weeks we have had her. The first time we think she took a knock falling from her perch and today she is back in the hospital cage after spending all night on the aviary floor. She is sleeping at the moment but hopefully she will recover. Fingers crossed!
Riley Walks:
My highlight of the week has been that I was able to complete a solo walk with Riley. He is strong and pulls but with the help of a gentle leader I was able to take him to the local park. After this success Riley and I will be going on many more solo walks in future.
#walk1000miles:
My walking has picked up a little this week, my mileage being 41. Bringing my annual total to 636 miles. If you are participating in the challenge, how are you doing?
Cooking:
As you can tell from this post it’s been a quiet week. For my lunch on Friday I managed to incorporate some cooked puy lentils I had recently purchased. I made a puy lentil and quinoa curried stew. I sweated one chopped white onion, and two cloves of chopped garlic in oil before adding the packet of puy lentils and 50g of uncooked quinoa. I threw in a handful of peas and then tipped in a teaspoon of curry powder, a teaspoon of turmeric and half a teaspoon of chilli powder. Then I poured in 500ml of water with one vegetable stock cube and cooked for 15 minutes. It made for a healthy, tasty meal. Do you like cooking with lentils? If so what’s your favourite recipe?
Puy Lentil with Quinoa Curried Stew
Gardening:
At the weekend, David and I took a trip to Lady Green Garden Centre. I had an empty pot to fill and managed to purchase a polemonium and night scented phlox.
Polemonium
Night Scented Phlox with Artie
Rize and egg
A Happy Note to End With:
An update on Rize. After placing the hospital cage near a radiator (for warmth) and David had massaged her vent, this afternoon Rize laid an egg! The task was long and arduous and Rize at present is resting.
Bev from Confuzzledom informed me that the latest #photoanhour challenge was this Saturday 20th January 2018. I decided to join in on Instagram. Though my day was hectic I wouldn’t class it as exciting! Here’s my 12 hours of Day.
Photo an Hour – 20th January 2018
8am to 9am:
My Saturday began at 8am with the alarm clock blaring. I was the first up and with Artie fed, I waited for the kettle to boil for my morning coffee.
Breakfast
Getting dressed
9am to 10am:
I dawdled over breakfast. The morning was cold, grey and raining. It was difficult to motivate myself, but I knew I had to get up as a busy day awaited. I spent fifteen minutes putting on my make-up and getting dressed.
10am to 11am:
First on the agenda was the weekly shop. We spent a good hour in Asda spending lots of money on gym clothes and groceries.
Shopping selfie
David’s car radio
11am to 12pm:
Was spent unpacking groceries, travelling to garages so David could pump up his car tyres and travelling to a spice market that was sadly closed when we got there.
12pm to 1pm:
Arriving later than planned, we took a visit to David’s mum and dad.
Cup of Tea
Flowers
1pm to 2pm:
Home, I managed to arrange the cut flowers I’d bought that morning.
2pm to 3pm:
While having a late lunch, David noticed we had an egg in the aviary. It was a tiny owl finch egg.
Owl Finch egg
Clean bird feeders
3pm to 4pm:
Thankfully the rain stopped long enough for me to spend some time in the yarden. I cleaned the bird feeders of mold.
4pm to 5pm:
After doing some house work, I tried on my new gym clothes!
New gym clothes
Finches enjoying the millet
5pm to 6pm:
After cleaning the aviary, we watched as the finches enjoyed their new French Red Anjou Millet!
6pm to 7pm:
Dinner time. I was starving! We both had pizza for Saturday’s evening meal. David’s was topped with chicken, while I had half a goat’s cheese with spinach pizza. I served it with a heap of salad to make it look healthier. Of course I enjoyed a nice glass of cabernet sauvignon too :p
Dinner
Relaxing
7pm to 8pm:
For the rest of the evening I relaxed with Classic FM and Tom Hanks’ Uncommon Type. David and I also snuggled and watched a film together. It was a nice end to a hectic day.
Thanks to Janey and Louisa for setting up the challenge.
Well week three has been a much more enjoyable week. I think the sunshine and 25°+ temperatures have helped raise the mood.
With a bit of forward thinking I was also able to plan my posts and managed to gather enough photographs and subjects to hopefully make the post more informative. Let me know your thoughts.
Day Fifteen: Thursday.
Last year I didn’t have much luck with growing my own vegetables. I tried growing peppers, green beans, spring onions and tomatoes. All perished. The only success of the summer was the maris bard potatoes, and I got two harvests from them!
So this spring I decided to get the same variety in the hope of getting a bumper harvest of gorgeous new-potato-type earlies. However, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry’. I planted the chits in March/April and waited for the plants to grow and the flowers to appear. This year nothing happened, save the plants in the grow bag yellowed and some died. I watered them during the dry spell and decided on Thursday to rummage in the soil to see if there were any potatoes grown. There were, but they all looked like this!
I was so upset! What had happened to my lovely potatoes? After doing some reading online I found there could be a number of reasons my potatoes looked like they had acne.
The spots could be a nematode, or microscopic worm.
There was a lack of moisture in the soil during hot weather.
The spots could be early blight, a fungus spread by rain and hot temperatures.
I suppose you only learn as a gardener if you make an attempt at growing. Perhaps last years harvest was a fluke? I have centurion onions growing in a bag too. I wonder what they will look like come harvesting?
Have you had a diseased riddled harvest? Let me know your stories.
Day sixteen: Friday.
All week, our female blue-faced parrot finch (Forrest) has been laying tiny white eggs. This got me thinking, how is an egg actually made? So I did a little research.
5 eggs
The egg as we know it is assembled inside out! The yolk comes first and is released via the oviaries. Fertilisation (if applicable) occurs once the yolk is released. The yolk then passes along the oviduct where the albumen and membranes are created. Calcification occurs at the shell gland and this produces the egg shell. Shell production can take up to 20 hours and the whole process lasts around 24 hours!
If you are interested to know more, then follow this link here, and here, and here.
Day Seventeen: Saturday.
Two of random acts of wildness are: 1. grow borage for bees and 2. take a picture of something blue.
Since 2015, when I began participating in 30 Days Wild, I have grown borage for bees. This year has been no different. I harvested the seeds from last years plants and sowed them this spring. Right on cue for June the new plants have begun flowering. The bees love them and they are also my something blue for 2017!
Day Eighteen: Sunday.
Having never picked our own fruit before I was very excited to try! I found a local farm, Claremont, on the Wirral, who have a pick your own season. So David and I visited this weekend. On arrival we opted for two small punnets and headed towards the field where hundreds of strawberry plants were growing. The farm was very busy with families. We chose our row and began foraging among the strawberry plants. We found big juicy fruit, the smell was delicious!
Strawberry picking
Strawberry picking
Strawberry picking
Strawberry picking
Having filled our punnets to the brim we took them to the farmer who weighed the harvest and the cost was £6 for the two punnets. I thought it was reasonable, with the guarantee that the fruit is fresh having picked them straight from the plant. We will definitely visit again.
Have you picked your own? What fruit do you prefer?
Day Nineteen: Monday.
Nicky at Too Lazy to Weed wrote a wonderful blog about plant pots for pollinators an initiative by Butterfly Conservation. They offer a planting guide for beginners and ask for participants to log their pots on a map and state what plants you have for pollinators. I have numerous pots and plants for pollinators so it wasn’t difficult to participate in.
Here are a few pictures of some of the plants I have in the yarden for pollinators.
Bumblebee on Dahlia
Honey Bee and Passion Flower
scabiosa
Some pollinator friendly plants are:
Hellebore
Chives
Lavender
Honeysuckle
Sunflower
Michaelmas Daisies
Perhaps you can plant a pot for pollinators and help out our hungry insects?
Day Twenty: Tuesday.
I’ve decided to showcase two bees who have been seen visiting the yarden. 1. the leaf-cutter bee and 2. the honey bee.
The hive is structured with a queen, worker bees (females) and drones (males).
Prefer simple, open flowers.
Carry their pollen in baskets on their hind legs.
Day Twenty-one: Wednesday.
The Summer Solstice. Last year I got up at 4 am and listened to the dawn chorus. This year since having a long day at work, (and I mean a loooong day at work). I decided to look for alternative ways of celebrating the solstice.
Solstice is the Latin for ‘sun seems to stand still.’ Some see the solstice as the beginning of summer, whereas others see it as midsummer. The sun is at its most northerly position (and at winter it’s the most southerly). The solstice occurs due to the tilt of the Earth at 23.5°. In summer the Earth is tilting towards the sun and for the UK the summer solstice means approx. 16 hours of sunlight, the longest day. During the winter solstice the opposite occurs (approx. 8 hours of sunlight), meaning the shortest day.
Thought.co have some good ideas on how to celebrate the summer solstice.
I can’t remember where I saw it now, but I read that making a herbal brew was also a way of celebrating the solstice, so I decided on attempting a rosemary tea.
Rosemary Tea
Rosemary is full of antioxidants (supports the immune system), has vitamins A and C and is helpful in boosting memory. Shakespeare in Hamlet, (act four, scene five,) has Ophelia saying (in her maddened state), ‘there’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.’ It can also aid relaxation, ease anxiety and help digestion. So I thought I would give it a try.
Ingredients (makes one small mug):
I used two tablespoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (cut fresh from the yarden).
One cup of boiled water or 250ml.
Leave to steep for 5 to 10 minutes.
Strain and drink.
My thoughts:
I decided to drink the infusion whilst listening to Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, based of the William Shakespeare play. I listened as a muggy day turned to a cooler evening.
The infusion created a green tea. Rosemary is a very aromatic herb and the tea was very florally. I think I preferred the music to the drink.
What is your favorite herbal drink?
Summary:
What a diverse week, week three has been! From failed potato harvests to gorgeous strawberries! I have tried to share new experiences and facts I’ve learned.
What random acts of wildness have you enjoyed doing this week?
This was a Saturday meal a few weekends back. I’m not much of an egg lover, but it was surprisingly filling! The recipe made four decent sized servings, but we shared it between three! Sadly it’s not vegan.
Photo by David Evans
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
4 Quorn Sausages, or any other vegetarian sausage
1-2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced. (I used a large white onion.)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 pepper sliced
1 medium potato, peeled, boiled and roughly diced into 1cm cubes (optional)
50g button mushrooms, halved. (I left these out as don’t like mushrooms.)
4 plum or cherry tomatoes, halved. (I used about 10 cherry tomatoes halved and roasted before hand.)
1. I oven cooked the sausages for 20 – 25 minutes, at the same time I oven roasted the halved cherry tomatoes for the same time.
2. While the sausages were in the oven I boiled the diced potato on a medium hob for 20 minutes.
3. In a large non-stick frying pan (approx. 26 cm diameter). I fried the onion, garlic and pepper on a medium to low heat, until softened. Then add the cooked sausages which were sliced into chunks.
2. I then added the tomatoes and potato and slowly cooked for a minute. This is where you can add the mushrooms if using.
3. Lightly whisk the eggs, water, paprika and seasoning together in a bowl. Stir in the parsley (optional).
4. Pour the egg mixture into the frying pan and lightly shake the pan to distribute the mixture. Reduce the heat a little and cook the bottom of the frittata for 2-3 minutes until lightly set. We had to cook a little longer due to the amount of eggs we used.
5. Place the pan under a hot grill and finish off the cooking for about 2-3 minutes until the egg mixture is just set.
6. Leave to stand for 1-2 minutes before serving. If liked, dust the top with a little extra paprika.
7. I served with a wilted watercress salad (100g of watercress), with sliced garlic (6 cloves of garlic).
I found the frittata recipe from the Quorn website. I adapted it a little for our preference and so can you!
Saturday dawned brightly. The past week had been rather dreary, energy sapping really! However, the warm, late summer weather arrived just in time for Paul and Gemma’s wedding!
The wedding was to be held at Wainstones Hotel, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire at 2pm. We headed across country dressed in our finery with David’s cousin Keith.
The journey from Liverpool would usually take about 2.5 hours, though it took a bit longer due to road works on the M60 and congestion for the Leeds festival!
We stopped off at Wetherby Service Station to refresh, but due to the sheer volume of traffic and the inability of the car parking staff to guide drivers to free parking berths, we were a lot longer at this stopping station than usual. This hold up meant that we would arrive at our destination with just minutes to spare. Thankfully the bride, Gemma was fashionably late and we managed to arrive in time, find our table and be composed for the ceremony!
The ceremony itself was emotional, and I found it hard to control my tears. I don’t know what it is about wedding ceremonies but they always make me blub… A candle was lit for those family members not able to attend the celebrations, something if I ever marry, I may adopt.
Once rings and kisses were exchanged the bride and groom headed out to the garden for photographs.
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Before the Wedding Breakfast, came the speech from Gemma’s Father, which was also very emotive! A blend of Elderflower and Prosecco was served for the toast. It was very light and something I could try in the future! Then came the home made meal, something my poor grumbling stomach had hoped for. It had not seen food since 8.30am that morning! I had already banished a migraine with a tablet, thankfully!
The food was served hot and the starter of tomato soup was tasty, I even had David’s bread roll! The main event that I had hoped for, for so long (as usual), sadly fell short of expectations.
I was the only vegetarian at the breakfast and weeks before the wedding I was given a menu of meals to chose from and I (eventually) decided on the Goats Cheese and Sun Blushed Tomato Risotto. I thank the bride Gemma and the wedding team for being so patient with me!
I love goat’s cheese but not in excess. I don’t want to sound like I am complaining. However the meal, was not as I had imagined. I had imagined a risotto with a sun blushed tomato sauce with the goat’s cheese sprinkled on top. The reality was that the goat’s cheese was mixed in with the sauce. It would have been ok, if it was not for the amount of goat’s cheese… a little too much, and it became rather sharp and sour on the tongue!
The pudding also was not as imagined, though if we were a little more aware of restaurant food maybe we would not have been surprised! The profiteroles with white chocolate creme patisserie, was a little too eggy than hoped for! Though we were thoroughly stuffed for it to matter! Other people on our table had roast beef and for pudding creme brulee and they didn’t complain!
After the Wedding Breakfast we ventured outside to enjoy the warm sun, listen to bees busy around a Buddleia and Swifts swoop across the sky!
Christine smelling the flowers
Once we ventured back inside, the function room had been rearranged for the evening festivities. We sat at a table that was adjacent to a photo screen and a photographer (Phantom Imaging) with lots of props! They came over to us with a calk board and asked us to write something for Paul and Gemma and to try on their costumes as a test! Our child selves, didn’t have to be asked a second time!
David and Christine
We have a history of dressing up! David dressed up as William Wallace on our Scotland holiday, and I, when we visited Old Sarum, Salisbury also in 2007 had to try on the props! (It seems such a long time ago!)
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Here’s a few picture of us and Keith dressing up with Gemma the bride!
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We also posed for a group shot of David, Keith and myself!
It was a lot of fun and helped us to enjoy the evening even more! I wouldn’t be the first person on the dance floor but I would to a costume box! 🙂
David got footage of Paul and Gemma cutting the cake and of their first dance together!
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After ten o’ clock we said our farewells and left the gaiety as we headed back home. My poor Artie was missing us!
We had a fun time together and enjoyed being a part of Paul and Gemma’s celebrations!
Come Sunday we were tired and worn, after not getting home ’til after 1am! Then after a broken sleep the household chores beckoned! Poor Artie who doesn’t like Henry the Vaccum cleaner hid under the bed covers!
Artie in bed!
I spent lunch with the finches and bold Romeo even sat on my head trying to harvest my hairs for a nest!
Romeo on my head!
Come the evening I watched at Sparrows and Goldfinches visited the sunflower heart feeders and bumblebees/leaf cutter bees enjoyed visiting the Borage.
Bumblebee on Borage
I also caught a striking sunset! Red sky at night…. hopefully tomorrow’s weather will bode well?
The week commencing 20th April was taken as annual leave, and the sun smiled happily as I embarked on my week off work.
Monday:
I did some weeding in the garden and watched Artie sniff and hunt for flies. I then replanted (in bigger pots) seedlings I had growing of poppy and other seedlings which I later found out were coriander. (Looks like I didn’t need to buy the one from Lady Green!)
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After working in the garden I then sat and relaxed with my Kindle and soaked up some sun while it lasted.
For dinner I made a vegetarian sausage casserole with lots of vegetables. It tasted very herby!
Vegi sausage casserole
Tuesday:
First thing this morning I booked ‘our’ place on the Chester Zoo member’s event, of seeing ‘Islands‘ before it officially opens to the public. (Well I hope the booking has gone through!) There are some perks to being a member after all! 🙂
Mum and I had intended on taking a trip to the Maritime Museum but I felt a little unwell, so we decided on visiting my brother Stephen and to see my nephew Aaron.
Back home, in the afternoon I spent a little more time sunbathing in the garden and enjoyed a strawberry and Bliss desert, swilled down with a small measure of whisky. It didn’t seem as hot in the sun as yesterday and I grew cold quickly as well as feeling tired.
Bliss and Strawberries
For dinner, I had bought some Jersey Royals (potatoes) so had them with smoked salmon and salad… gorgeous!
Wednesday:
A lazy day today. I sat in the garden and watched Artie chase flies. I noticed that a Blue Tit was happily gathering moss from nearby gardens and flying to a bush in another. I thought that Blue Tits only nested in boxes or crevices but after doing some research I found that their nests are cup sized and can be anywhere! I also found out that the females are the only ones that make the nests, so it was a Mrs Blue Tit who I saw!
For dinner I made a spaghetti bolognese with Quorn Swedish style meatballs. I even used freshly cut oregano from the garden! It is always a very satisfying dinner.
spaghetti bolognese and Quorn Swedish style meatballs
Thursday:
While it was St George’s Day, William Shakespeare’s birthday and World Book Day, I did very little indeed. I did the usual sweated for 20 minutes on the treadmill, had a coffee and chat with mum before having lunch.
In the afternoon Artie and I spent a few hours sunning ourselves and listened to the visiting Goldfinches and Blue Tits in the nearby trees while Classic FM played on the radio. I discovered that the seedlings I transplanted on Monday, the poppies had withered but the coriander was still looking strong!
For dinner while David had a pizza, I made do with Quorn bacon, beans, egg and chips.
Quorn bacon, eggs, beans and chips
In the evening as the setting sun washed everything golden, I sat listening to my favourite performance of Mahler’s 6th Symphony, the andante.
Friday:
Was the last of the ‘good’ weather of the week. It has been simply splendid to have such lovely summery weather for the week off work!
David had taken a day off work and so we headed the 1.5 hours towards Wakefield to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We arrived after 10.30 am and paid the £8 for all day car-parking. We then spent the next five hours walking the fields that were filled with sculptures of bronze, stone, wood, all kinds of materials. We walked literally miles, my poor feet ached!
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The sculpture park is amongst the grounds of Bretton Hall Country Park which has nature trails as well as art instillations. We took a leisurely walk around the Upper Lake and spent some time amongst a Bluebell wood and old Victorian ruins.
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With gloomy looking clouds encroaching, David and I headed back to Liverpool, tired but having thoroughly enjoyed our day out in Yorkshire!
I am already planning the next day out!
The weekend came and went too quickly and it was time for me to head back to work. It has been slow for me to get back into the old routine but a long Bank Holiday weekend is near which sustains me!
It’s Sunday! Time for a quick Sunday Sevens (devised by Natalie at Threads and Bobbins.)
Well week three has been a much more enjoyable week. I think the sunshine and 25°+ temperatures have helped raise the mood.
Christine Lucas 