Day Thirty-one: Today’s photo prompt and the last of the month is a toast!
Where has December gone? This month has simply flown by! In the spirit of the season I make a toast to all my lovely readers.
I wish you a joyous and love filled 2019.
All the best and thanks for your support!
Christine x
With being unable to participate in July’s #photoanhour on Instagram, I made certain I would for Augusts’. Though, I didn’t have anything exciting planned, the day didn’t turn out too bad. Thanks to Louise at Ramblings of a Roachling, for informing me of the dates. Much appreciated! So here’s what I got up to during my 12 hours of day!
Photo an Hour – 18h August 2018
8am to 9am:
Just after 8am my alarm sounded. Time to get up! I started the day as usual with black coffee and granola. This time I added some blueberries and raspberries to the mix. It was a tasty and filling breakfast.
9am to 10am:
While David went out to get his hair cut. I made a start on the housework. I vacuumed all the floors and cleaned the bathroom before David came back.
10am to 11am:
Turning my hand at cleaning the dining room, I heard a raucous noise from the yarden. The bird feeders were inundated by starlings, sparrows and goldfinches! What a racket they all made!
11am to 12pm:
I had the idea that a blueberry bush would be a welcome addition to the yarden. I could grow my own fruit come next year. Growing vegetables has been a bit hit and miss, so maybe trying my hand at soft fruits would be better? (I’ll let you know next year). So with this plan in mind. David and I headed to Rivendell. Unfortunately they didn’t have any blueberry plants, but I ended up buying a raspberry and bramble.
12pm to 1pm:
A bit disappointed at not getting a blueberry plant, we headed to Lady Green Garden Centre. Here, there was a choice of blueberry plants, some at £17 and others for £25. My eyes widened at seeing the full berries on a £25 plant. The other plants were all fruitless. It was evident which plant I would come home with, even if it was a bit pricey! I also purchased a penstemon and verbena for the hungry pollinators.
1pm to 2pm:
We came home laden with plants to a happy Artie. I don’t think he likes being left alone.
2pm to 3pm:
After lunch I embarked on potting the newcomers to the yarden.
3pm to 4pm:
I was still in the yarden, admiring my new purchases and enjoying the warm sunshine. I plucked the ripe berries off the blueberry plant and ended up with a bowl full!
4pm to 5pm:
Housework and gardening can be hard work. So I took a break with a cup of tea and a read of the newly arrived copy of the September edition of Country Walking Magazine.
5pm to 6pm:
While dinner cooked I took time to admire the sunflowers in a vase of cut flowers.
6pm to 7pm:
With dinner I enjoyed this glass of bubbly cava.
7pm to 8pm:
For pudding I mixed strawberry ice cream with a sprinkling of more blueberries (Violet Beauregarde from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes to mind) and raspberries.
8pm to 9pm:
A bonus hour, as it seems I can’t count! I joined David in the study/guest bedroom and planned a forthcoming trip to Scotland. I am so excited!
8pm to 9pm – planning a trip to Scotland
Thanks to Janey and Louisa for setting up the challenge.
How did you spend your Saturday?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
How did you spend your Saturday?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
Sadly, it’s the end of June and the finale of The Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild! Though it has been a challenge this year, I have enjoyed stretching myself to experience nature through different activities.
Initiatives like this makes you more appreciative of nature. Whether listening to birdsong, smelling a fragrance or IDing a tree or plant. It gives colour to our lives.
Day Twenty-nine: Thursday.
As I’m writing this my skin feels so itchy. It’s psychological. I decided today to have a look at the washing-up bucket pond we set up last year. In the space of a year, the rockery plants have grown, and we had to change the oxygenating plant as the mare’s tails died. I’ve never pond dipped before so I didn’t know what to expect. The pond is not very big so I just used a glass to scoop up some of the water. I beheld hundreds of strange floating, twisting insects. In hindsight I should have took a video but a blurry picture will have to suffice.
After some research I was shocked to find that the little critters are all mosquito larvae. Images of malaria breeding insects came to mind. I read that there are approx. 30 species of mosquito in the UK. Only females drink blood as they need the protein in blood to create their eggs. In warmer climes they are the biggest killer of humans. Makes you thankful the UK is often cool!
They are often the first to colonize a new pond and other pond life and birds eat these insects. So I’m wondering, is it a good thing for these insects to be a part of my wildlife yarden? What do you think? Perhaps I need to get another oxygenating plant to help clean the water some more? Some advice would be most appreciated.
Day Thirty: Friday.
For the final day of 30 Days Wild I decided to open a bottle of the elderflower champagne and toast to the wild!
As I have never tasted elderflowers I didn’t know what to expect. The bottle kindly didn’t pop, and what was decanted into champagne flutes was a fizzy, light coloured liquid that had a hint of zest and a floral bouquet. It reminded me of grapefruit. David said the drink was refreshing but my mum said it was an acquired taste. I enjoyed it, but don’t think I could drink a lot of it.
Have you made elderflower champagne? What was your experience?
Summary:
My third year of participating in 30 Days Wild has been a memorable one. From blissfully hot summer days to endless days of rainfall. My favourite highlights included, making elderflower champagne, beach combing on Crosby Beach, strawberry picking on the Wirral and visiting Lunt Meadows Nature Reserve.
What random acts of wildness have you enjoyed doing over the course of the month?
Looking ahead: there are still many activities to keep wild well into the summer months and into autumn and winter too. Taking part in the annual Big Butterfly Count, which begins 14th July to the RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch come January. There is no excuse for us to not stay wild!
What future activities are you looking forward to participating in?
A Look Back:
2015: Moths and butterflies
2016: Dancing in the rain and IDing weeds.
Thanks for dropping by,
Christine x
Sharon from Sunshine and Celandines messaged me on Friday informing me that this Saturday was another Photo an Hour. Though I had nothing planned, I thought it would be good for you to see into an ordinary day of mine. So here goes! 🙂
Photo and Hour – 22nd April 2017
8am to 10am:
Most of my Saturday’s start at 8am. Today was no different. I crawled out of bed sleepy eyed and had breakfast with Artie sitting at the bottom of the bed, with wonderful spring sunshine streaming through the bedroom window.
After breakfast I got dressed and put my ‘face’ on for the day ahead.
10am to 11am:
Saturday is shopping day, so David, mum and I headed towards Asda, or in Liverpool it’s ‘the’ Asda! :p The alarm for the hour sounded when we were heading into the frozen section of the supermarket, so we turned and smiled for the camera! Cheese!!
11am to 1pm:
Since the sun was shining, (though it was cold), David and I decided to take Riley to another local park, Sefton Park. We walked around the boating lake and played fetch on a field full of daisies and dandelions. 🙂
1pm to 2pm:
We arrived home for lunch at 1pm. I sat down with a Tassimo Costa coffee, the last of the hot cross buns and the final chapters of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.
2pm to 3pm:
While I took to doing some housework, David started preparing the ingredients for his curry base. He’s cooking Sunday’s dinner, so I left him to it! 😀
3pm to 5pm:
While dinner cooked I pottered about the yarden. I enjoyed listening to the buzz of two bees visiting the lithodora and red campion. Both were hairy-footed flower bee’s, the cream one is a male and the black is a female.
5pm to 7pm:
Saturday’s dinner was a Quorn Sausage and Lentil Cassoulet. I adapted the recipe from Donal Skehan. I used red lentils instead of puy lentils, perhaps I should have used green? Halfway through the meal I gasped, ‘I’ve forgotten to take a photo.’ So I apologise for the half eaten picture of the meal.
6pm’s photo comes courtesy of David. I was upstairs doing something or other. When I came down, David said, ‘there’s a new picture taken for the hour.’ I scrolled through the gallery and there was a picture of Artie, David had taken. Though Artie doesn’t look that enamoured :p
7pm to 8pm:
My last photo of the day. With the sun setting, I pour myself a glass of pinot, David switches his PS4 on. An evening of Classic FM and reading is ahead.
Evening’s entertainment
Thanks to Janey and Louisa for setting up the challenge.
How did you spend today’s photo an hour?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
Thanks to Sharon from Sunshine and Celandines who inspired me to try to answer these 24 questions. She in turn was inspired by Bev‘s blog, who ‘stole’ Kerri’s post, who borrowed the list from Llino, who cited using the tag from Sarah! Now I see how easy it is for ideas to travel via the internet!
There were supposed to be 25 questions, but after counting and recounting I found out that number 16 on four of the blogs was missing, so 24 questions it is! If anyone knows what happened to question 16 do let us know!
I even asked David these questions and below are both our replies
1. What’s your favourite breakfast?
Christine: Oaty granola and coffee.
David: Wheetabix.
2. How do you drink your coffee?
Christine: Strong and black or a nice Costa.
David: Milky and weak.
3. What’s on your favourite sandwich?
Christine: Three cheese and mayonnaise.
David: Gregg’s Tuna Crunch.
4. Soup or salad?
Christine: Depends, probably a nice spicy soup.
David: Salad.
5. What’s your favourite cookbook?
Christine: BBC Good Food or Google.
David: YouTube.
6. No more sweets or no more hearty foods?
Christine: No more sweets, I’m more of a savoury girl.
David: No more hearty foods.
7. Your favourite cuisine?
Christine and David: Indian!
8. What’s your favourite food movie?
Christine: Lord of the Rings, not really to do with food but I love the Hobbits’ mealtimes: breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper!
David: Ratatouille, can’t think of any other film!
9. Your most guilty pleasure?
Christine: I love a nice glass of wine, or clotted cream with jam and scones, though don’t have it that often, (too fattening!!)
David: Strawberry gateau.
10. Your greatest inspirational source?
Christine: Music.
David: Life.
11. Cooking at home or going out for dinner?
Christine: Depends, sometimes it’s nice to cook a healthy meal at home, but then sometimes it’s good to be waited on.
David: Home.
12. High end or low profile?
Christine: High – I love dressing up and feeling special.
David: Low.
13. Your favourite restaurant?
Christine and David: Saffron.
Christine. I would like to go out more often!
14. I do my grocery shopping at…
Christine and David: Adsa!
Christine: Sometimes visit Aldi for salmon at Christmas and Easter.
15. The tastiest food I’ve ever eaten was…
Christine: I enjoyed a nice aubergine moussaka from a restaurant a few years ago.
David: Chicken Shahi curry
16. Coffee with George Clooney or Heston Blumenthal?
Christine: Neither, but at a push Heston
David: Not much of an option… George
17. What should not be missing in your kitchen?
Christine: A hob
David: Spices
18. What’s your favourite snack?
Christine: Mixups, I love crisps!
David: Dried roasted nuts.
19. What’s on your pizza?
Christine: Lots of vegetables.
David: Chicken.
20. Food you really dislike?
Christine: Baby artichokes, horrible slimy things once cooked!
David: Sweetcorn and cooked spinach.
21. Your favourite food blog?
Christine: Chungah at Damn Delicious.
David: None.
22. What’s the weirdest thing you have eaten?
Christine: Quail or pheasant, no wonder I turned vegi!
David: Lobster.
23. What’s on your food bucket list?
Christine: Black rice.
David: Black Jerra seeds
24. I couldn’t live without…
Christine: Lentils or beans!!
David: Chocolate.
And on that note I’ll finish! Reading back on the answers given, it seems David and I have quite opposite tastes.
Maybe you can add your own answers to the above questions and continue the tag?
Happy eating!
Christine x
Normal Service now resumes… after my foray into The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild.
Though 30 Days Wild may have ended, nature still plays a big role in my daily life. From noticing the birds visiting the feeders, to the plants we have growing in the yarden, there is always something to record. This week my ‘bonus’ plant, the borage has flowered. I call it my ‘bonus’ plant as I did not sow the seeds this year, however their appearance has been most welcome.
I took another walk up the ‘jungle’ that is the alleyway between our houses. I noticed lots of thistles growing, and snapped one happy mason bee enjoying his lunch.
I’d just like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Louise who very kindly sent me a ‘I love wild’ badge from the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, along with some stickers from the 30 Days Wild campaign that I never received due to not ordering a mail pack, (I will next year!) As an aside, there has been so much friendly camaraderie during this years 30 Days Wild, I have come across so many lovely people with insightful blogs. It’s been nice participating.
Let me tell you a story. A few weeks back I was having lunch when I heard a racket at the front door. Someone was trying to push something through the letterbox. I went to open the door and found a red jacketed Royal Mail postman trying to push a thin letter through the door. ‘Having trouble?’ I asked. He then informed me by brandishing his injured thumb, that Artie had sliced him as he delivered the post on a previous occasion. I had hoped it was just a one off event, but then last week, the same happened to another postman! Seeing a pattern develop I hurriedly found a cage protector for the letterbox. I could imagine being put on the Royal Mail’s list of houses to avoid! I do have such a naughty cat!
This week I finished the Mark Edward’s psychological thriller, Follow you Home. I had not read his work before. I only acquired the download due to an email from Amazon saying as I was been on their mailing list, I was entitled to a free download out of a possible three. Two looked like romance, chick-lit novels so I opted for the gritty thriller! Do you know, for a freebie it wasn’t half bad. The antagonist had superhuman strength for a 70 year old and the protagonist seemed a bit of a wimp, not to mention the stereotypical Hungarians, and feeble women, but I enjoyed it none the less.
David has been preoccupied with the house. We have an issue with damp. So Saturday, he took up one of the floorboards to see what was under the house. Lots of rubble was what we found! I shook my head thinking ‘bloody builders!’ David has hatched a plan on creating ventilation under the front door. I hope it solves the problem!
This time last week I was racked with aching limbs and a fever. I haven’t a clue what brought it on! Thankfully, I have recovered. I am more like my self again. I am writing this post with Classic FM playing. I have been enjoying David Mellor’s Light Music Masters show. I am feeling warm and cosy, have a full tummy and a nice glass of Soave to hand (I thought I would try something different)!
I hope you have a good week ahead,
Christine x
Sunday Sevens was devised by Natalie at Threads and bobbins.
The Daily Post, Daily Prompt – Glass!
…although it is a Monday.
I have little excuse. I could have written this post on Saturday night instead of curling up with the last chapters of Kate Riordan’s The Shadow Hour. The novel is one of those that flips between different periods and has two main characters, this time grandmother and granddaughter. The narrative was slow to get going and I felt the protagonists were a little one dimensional but the story soon picked up and was rounded up successfully. I now have a short story to re-read for a Faceboook reading group. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, a tale of a woman’s slide into madness! I read it for an Open University course years ago so have fond memories of it.
The past week was plagued with spells of sunshine and showers.
Thursday turned out to be the best day of the week for me. In the morning my lovely mum dragged me out of the house for a coffee and a tea cake at Costa! Thanks Mum. Then in the afternoon I sat in the yarden for two hours and soaked up the warm spring sunshine. Artie stretched his legs and rolled about the cat mint. The magnolia tree is starting to come back to life. David came home early and surprised me with a big bottle of Philosophy’s Purity cleanser. It was only £5 in the company shop!
For Saturday’s evening meal I made a gorgeous Pearl Barley Risotto with Tomatoes and Spinach. I kept true to the recipe other than using a white onion instead of a red and goats cheese instead of feta. I also used 400ml of passata as it would have been too soggy with the 500ml it stated. I loved it, though David wasn’t so keen. The evening was topped off by drinking a nice glass of shiraz while watching gossamer cirrus clouds grace the sky at sunset.
How did you spend your weekend?
Christine x
Sunday Sevens was devised by Threads and bobbins.
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.
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!)
Here’s a few picture of us and Keith dressing up with Gemma the bride!
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!
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?
Red sky at night…
Goodnight x
It’s the last day of 30 Days Wild organised by The Wildlife Trust. I cannot believe that a month has passed so quickly! In the past 30 days I have tried to be more vigilant to the nature that is all around!
Monday:
Not much wildness happened today. However, I noticed that my wild poppy’s had flowered while I was at work and come the evening they had already dropped their leaves. 😦
I also took a snap of this moth resting on our dining room window, though I couldn’t identify it.
Moth
Tuesday:
Phew! What a scorcher of a day! The hottest day of the year so far and tomorrow promises to be equally as hot though with some thunder storms thrown in to keep us on our toes!
I rushed home from work to enjoy the outside space that is my little urban garden. I watched the visiting House Sparrows as they sat on TV aerials. There were not as many bees visiting the Cat Mint. I think its flowers are starting to die, so I need to set pruning it so it grows a second time this summer.
While slowly turning pink I noticed the quiet fluttering of a butterfly as it made its way from garden to garden. It was a Red Admiral, though it did not stop long enough for me to take a picture, so one from a couple of years ago will have to do!
Red Admiral
Yesterday, my mum and I replanted some of the Borage seedlings that had grown madly since planting them the first week of June. However today I noticed that most hadn’t taken to their new pots and looked sadly limp. Oh well I still have lots so hopefully some will flower? Only time will tell!
I now sit writing this post in the garden. The humidity still lingers as the sun begins to set behind the row of houses to my right. A chilled glass of wine is close to hand while Classic FM is on in the background. Artie tries, (but thankfully fails) to stalk Cinnabar Moths while the Cat Mint is now a buzz with bees.
I thought I would utilise the warmth of the ‘heatwave’ and enjoy the last few hours of my 30 days wild! Sitting here quietly I have already seen five squeaking Swallows as they soared high into the blue sky. I think their young have fledged. I only hope that I manage to get some footage of them before they head back on their long journey south.
The evening air is filled with the chattering sound of Goldfinches as they come for their late evening snack before roost and now I have the cackling presence of a Magpie. One is never alone with nature, and living in a city, it is rarely quietly still. The voices of people’s lives going on around me punctuates the nature that I welcome into my garden.
30 days wild has been a challenge in a way for me as I have tried to look beyond the nature that visits my garden. I am still useless when it comes to Bee identification and thank the Facebook page: UK Bees, wasps and Ants for helping ID most of the bees that have frequented my garden. I would have liked to have seen more butterflies and moths but I am happy with the number of birds that have visited the feeders. It may only be small but I do my little bit for the nature in my area. If that is to plant a bee friendly plant or more feeders for the birds then I will do it!
What is certain is that I will continue to enjoy the nature that is in my area, and hopefully learn more about the creatures that call it their home.
With a lone Bumblebee feeding and the sweet song of a Blackbird on the breeze, I finish this post with one final picture. This is the view of the sky as I write.
Have a happy summer!
Christine x © 2015
Christine Lucas 