it was around this time last year that i planted my garden and i must say that it is looking good. i have orange poppies going crazy, pink and white flowers who's name i do not know and all sorts of other in the way to flower. i have never in my life kept plants alive for so long!
here is my first rose bloom this year! this rose bush was light pink last year, what happened?
i've put a batch of new photos on flickr. if you're interesting in what i've been doing while not blogging, i suggest going over there and taking a look.
i will tell you about the amazing sites i have seen that i was unable to photograph though. alex and i were on our way to glastonbury for the beltane festivities one evening last week and the sun was starting to fall in the sky, there were rain clouds passing through and low and behold as we approached the red, glowing, sunset reflecting tor, a large and perfect rainbow appeared and swept it's way over the hill and chapel. what a welcome to the most magical place on earth.
imagine this photo with a huge and perfectly vivid rainbow reaching from one side to the other.
happy beltane.eeeep! i went out for lunch and when i returned to the school car park this happened....
believe it or not, today was a day of luck.
i was so lucky my key didn't break off in my car door.
i was even more lucky that my key didn't break off in my engine.
i was terribly lucky to find a key cutter willing to cut me a new key using 2 bits. his exact words were *put on your best cockney accent* "alright then love, i'll give it a bash".
the best piece of luck is having a great school caretaker who went out to get me the key cut because the shop closed at half 3 and i wouldn't get there in time after school.
1. make this apple puff pastry tart. everyday can be valentines with this treat! this recipe makes 4 tarts.
2. if you live in london go and see la clique, a melange of cabaret, new burlesque, and circus sideshow. for your pleasure are the talented..Captain Frodo, Norway’s outrageously bendy man, hula hoop’s finest exponent Yulia Pikhtina, the PVC-clad Miss Behave who has a penchant for swallowing pointy objects.not mentioned was my favourite guy, mario queen of the circus. a leather clad, juggling, queen fanatic. and miss behave didn't swallow anything for our show, but she did reveal some lovely crystals she had been hiding upon her person at the end of the act. she was naked save 3 small strategically placed hearts, a treat for the valentine's show. there's also the wet rope dancer as pictured above. yum.
3. if you live in bath go to jamie's italian, jamie oliver's new restaurant. i cannot gush enough about how much i enjoyed this restaurant. it was a tough decision on what to eat as the whole menu made our mouths water. there are a few locations, if you live near one you must go! if you're visiting england factor this restaurant into your plans. check out my flickr for the meal play-by-play.
i find that from about october to december, i'm in total craft mode. i can churn out the christmas gifts without thought but i rarely keep what i make.
that's going to change. let the personal crafty time begin!
my new tea towelsi hate kids. they are carriers of disease.
i am never more than 3 meters away from someone infected with something; ringworm, lice, chicken pox, cold, flu, throwing up, pink eye...
i have ringworm. again. i get to twice daily, slather jock itch cream on a red ring the size of a 20p on my arm.
it was only a matter of time, there are at least 6 children at any one time in my class who are festered with it and i would guess that only 2/6 are actually being treated properly for it. and of course i get it, i cannot get away from the little buggers. 21 four year olds are constantly around me - under me, beside me, climbing me, clinging to me, dancing near me, walking into me, sitting on me, coughing and/or sneezing in my mouth/face. that last one happens more than you'd think.
i count myself lucky i've never had nits, that would be the worst. but ring worm is a close second in the scale of horrible gross-ness.
i have a little tree. i love it! it cost 5 pounds and it's the best fiver i have ever spent. it came with decorations and lights and cinnamon sticks to give it an authentic smell.
i wandered around my neighbourhood last night and i can count how many christmas trees i saw in windows on one hand. i miss the overdone light show that is a north american christmas.
look what we made!
this is the craft to end all crafts. it took us a full 4 days where we did nothing but this and played with lego...but every one of my 21 kids has their very own snowman sweet jar.
2 balloons, 1 layer of paper mache, 1 layer of plaster cast, 1 super thick layer of pva glue and white paint.
what did you do at work this week? i bet i win!
alex is in peru for 3 months...in case you didn't know and he sent me some pictures. he helped turtles hatch out of their eggs and will help to release them into the rivers in a few weeks (amongst other jungle adventures).
i'm so proud of him.erin, i can't understand how you managed to keep us all updated during your european vacation. maybe it helps to be in places that have such a thing as internet. scotland is severely lacking.
my parents came over at the beginning of august and we all went to scotland after some furious tourism of the south west of england.
i have some photos but my camera is still packed.
my parents left yesterday. alex left for his research trip to peru yesterday (he's not back until christmas). i went back to work yesterday. i'm a little sad and lonely.
there will be pictures and more posts to come...
i love my garden. my turf has taken really well and is growing with gusto. i have some deep blue, hot pink and yellow flowers in bloom. my tomatoes and courgettes have definite buds that are looking suspiciously like flowers...which mean food will be growing soon! my strawberries are flourishing and i have my first pea shoots!
look at my first pea shoot!
i cannot wait to eat you.you didn't cross your fingers and hope for the best did you? the strawberry plants i saved have all died but one so i went in search of living plants that will give me fruit. i ventured out to my school's local garden centre and found the plant perfection i was seeking! i even found a bat box, ladybird house, bee house and a variety of bird feeders...i'll pick up some of those next month.
not only did i get 2 huge and healthy strawberry plants - with flowers and fruit already, far yellow tub - i procured purple sage and moroccan mint to accompany my basil, coriander and garden mint already in my herb tub - far orange tub. i purchased a plum tomato and cherry tomato plant - close yellow tub - along with 2 courgette plants - close orange tub. i also picked up some pea and broad bean seeds - small black tubs - guaranteed to sprout in 7-10 days.
so my garden is now complete. except maybe some mulch or bark for around the flowers to help smother the weeds. i love every aspect of the garden up-keep but i can't say i enjoy weeding.
i cannot wait to eat some of my own fruit and vegetables! i'm so impressed with myself.
a few weeks ago i decided it was time to attack the over-grown wilderness that was my back garden. i was high on the sunshine at the time.
imagine, if you will as i didn't take any 'before' shots, this mash of tangled weedland covering my entire back garden up to your knees. it was a forest. and old forest. the roots grew deep.
i enlisted some help of alex and his mother as there was no way i could tackle this wilderness on my own but 3 cheers for alex who basically cleared the whole thing by himself! as you can see he and i both gave up towards the back of the patch and laid some paving tiles down to separate the wasteland from the garden. that back patch may be a job for another day.
once everything was cleared we ventured to the local garden centre to pick up some plants. the theme is 'cottage garden'. unfortunately nothing has really bloomed yet so the theme is not obvious. but i have poppies, lupins, lavenders, periwinkle, heathers, clematis, and others i cannot remember. i also picked up some turf so i can have a little patch of grass to lay my head. this weekend i found some dreadful strawberry plants that i saved from the indoor horrors of tesco grocery store and planted in a large tub on my patio along with another tub for herbs *cross your fingers that the strawberries survive*. next weekend i think i'll get another tub or two and plant some vegetables. beans? tomatoes? courgettes? yes i think so. can you grow courgettes in a tub?
i have bumble bees visiting my garden regularly as well as squirrels and a variety of birds. that makes me happy. now i want to get a bat box, a ladybird house and possibly a bird feeder. i could really go crazy. check out flickr for more picture goodness.
but i sure do enjoy a safari park. who knew lions and zebras and giraffes lived in england? alex and i ventured to longleat safari park on the way back from glastonbury a few weeks ago and i just realised that i didn't tell you all about it.
you basically drive around this HUGE estate for a couple hours and see all the animals. you can walk around a small bit but for the majority you have to drive which is slightly unfortunate. you can have your windows down for everything but the monkeys and big cats. the monkeys climb all over your car *and in your car if the windows are open* and the lions could eat you if your windows are open.
it's really alot of good fun. i'm not sure about the ethical issues behind keeping animals in a colder climate than they are used to but they really have vast areas to wander in and that makes me feel better about it. it's something i suggest you see if you're in england. check out flickr for some more animal photos.
although most of my creative energies do seem to go into making yummy food, when i get a little time off (like the 2 week holiday i had recently) i like to make other things of the non-edible sort.
i had a large blank wall in my livingroom. blank it is no more as i filled it with a triptitch.
i also stitched me a new tea towel. i'm quite proud if it even though it's simple and didn't take me too long. i haven't kept any of my other embroidered tea towels, so this one is novel.
on the weekend, alex and i went to a garden centre so i could spruce up my flat with some plants. i purchased a lovely trio of foliage.
that would be me. damn british doors that lock behind you.
7:10am i left the house without my keys.
7:14am i call a co-worker for advice as i was all stunned and sleepy.
7:16am i call my headteacher and inform her of my stupidity.
8:27am i finally get through to my letting agent who informs me he has no spare keys to my flat. he tells me to call the landlord. i do not have the landlord's number. he calls the landlord for me. he calls me back to inform that he cannot get through to the landlord, upon giving me the number, he tells me to keep trying.
8:38am i start looking though the yellow pages i luckily left outside for locksmiths. minimum charge averaged 100 pounds. i put the yellow pages back on the front step.
8:54am i call the letting agent to ask for a different number as the one i have does not seem to be getting anywhere.
9:03am letting agent calls me back, he has spoken to the 16 year old son of my landlord. his father has gone to work, his mother has gone shopping, his older sister has gone to university. apparently there is no hope. 'can the boy not look for the keys?' i ask. 'i hadn't thought of that' the letting agent replies.
9:07am after convincing the boy to look for the keys, letting agent informs me the boy will call me when he finds them.
9:12am boy calls me and says his mother has come home, he now has the keys but cannot come unlock the door as he has to have breakfast.
9:13am i throw a temper tantrum in my driveway. i stamp my feet and scream and shake my fist to the sky.
9:14am i call letting agent and rant.
9:28am boy arrives and let me back into my flat.
10:00am i arrive at school, 1 hour 'officially' late but 2 hours later than i like to be.
10:04am my class attacks me with hugs and all is right with the world again.
12:20pm i get a second set of house keys cut and leave them with my headteacher who lives reasonably near me.
