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Wednesday, July 31

make do and mend!

Like half the nation we replaced our internal doors with bog standard colonial doors.
However the original door furniture was not in the correct place for the knob.



So we are re-positioning them all, together with the door furniture and giving all the doors a good white gloss treatment.


Watch this space!

Tuesday, July 30

Cruising, Chilling and Chickens.


Last Sunday we made the most of the good weather and had a tootle over to Matlock Bath on the latest addition to the Nesbitt motorbike collection, the Moto Guzzi California. On Saturday we had travelled to Leeds and bought some proper panniers, so when we pulled alongside two more cruisers we felt we had captured the correct image of how the bike should look.


This weekend however the weather forecast was not so reliable so we headed out on the CB1300 and had a day over Bridlington way, stopping for a cuppa at a farm shop.



We came home via Whitby, stopping at the Whistlestop Café.


Today it would seem the chickens are chilling in the sunshine....



Bev, the perpetual broody hen is trying to sit on the eggs. We have a good routine now, she knows I am going to encourage her to leave the eggs and have a run round the garden, giving me time to remove the eggs and for her to grab some breakfast.


Ella loves to lie in the sun by the old goose pond.
Not sure if it will be the cruiser or the CB1300 at the weekend - we will just have to see.

Tuesday, July 23

B is for a Bike Adventure - from the very start!

As a woman and a blonde at that I can change my mind - as hubby will confirm, I do it often. I WAS going to use our garden as my theme for Round 13 of ABC Wednesday, but it was causing me concerns - the garden is something we are dealing with and it WILL take time. When the weather is good whilst others spend time in the garden - we like to get the motorbike out and tootle off on an adventure.


As a bikers wife of some 25 years I am aware that a biker is always on the look out for "the next bike!" We have had a few bikes in our time together, in fact they were the names of our tables at our recent silver wedding celebration. I am also aware of the various phases that bikers pass through. We have done the sportsbike phase a few years ago in fact we toured France on a 2002 Honda Fireblade...
 
 (2005 Returning from France)
 
On our return Jon decided a change of bike was in order as the Fireblade was not the most comfortable bike to tour on.......we then bought our current main bike, another Honda a CB1300.
To date, the best motorbike we've had...so far!
 
 
 
 
 



(2012 Isle of Man - Parliament Square, Ramsey
 
A couple of months ago Jon mentioned his interest in a cruiser type of motorbike - so after a tootle about and some research he decided to go for an Italian bike, a Moto Guzzi. Here is our latest addition.


We are just on the crest of a wave of a whole set of adventures on our latest purchase - so what better theme than that! We are still keeping the CB1300 but this will be for a whole different phase/image  f our motorbiking fun!
Hope you enjoy the ride!

For more ABC Adventures follow the link in my sidebar.

Friday, July 19

Bing's playmates.

We go to the beach most days. Often we come across 2 brothers with their dogs. One is an older Labrador, the other a young whippet. Bing loves to play with them and races with the whippet - no wonder he sleeps when we get home. I haven't been taking him whilst the weather has been so hot, but today we had sea-fret which results in a cooling fog, so Bing had another good run.











Wednesday, July 17

Argggggggh!

ABC Round 13 is here and this time I am using our garden as the theme. We have a very large garden which to be honest leaves me feeling rather helpless as there is always a job which needs to be done. Jon's passion are the lawns and we do want to turf a few more areas so the task of mowing is easier.


This is our back garden - the shrubbery recently weeded and awaiting turf.



We have an ASSORTMENT of trees - scattered around the various areas which are as follows:-
 Front Ornamental Cherry Tree Hawthorne hedge Holly Tree
Shrub area Ornamental Grass Lady's Mantle * Aquilegia *
Hedge/Shielding at side of house
 Small boxptype shrub, very overgrown Elder tree x 2 Horsechestnut Tree Sycamore Tree Lilac
In back garden
3 pine Trees Various conifers...dwarf??? 2 established older apple trees 1 younger apple tree (Discovery) Laburnum Tree
Perimeter
Hawthorne May Blossom? About 20 damson/plum trees
Shrubbery
#Euphorbias Escallonia.Crimson Spire? * Hydrangea -  * Yellow Rose - not sure of name * Lady's Mantle * Flowering Currant Periwinkle Sedums
Patio/Kitchen area
Tomatoes  Strawberries  Geranium  Varigated Ivy  Lavender  Rosemary  Chives *Primulus - many of * Violas * Pansies * Basil * Peppers * Rhubarb * Mint Thyme *
 Dry Stone Wall at side of Drive
Various succulents
 
 



 






 
One of my favourite plants is  Lady's Mantle [Alchemilla mollis]




........ A frothy haze of tiny, chartreuse yellow flowers appearing from June to September above softly hairy, rounded, pale green leaves, which catch water droplets like pearls. No garden should be without this charming perennial! Ideal for groundcover or edging paths, it tolerates a range of adverse conditions including heavy clay and, once established, is drought tolerant. Position: full sun or partial shade Soil: moist, humus-rich soil Rate of Growth: fast-growing Flowering period: June to September Flowers: greenish-yellow Other features: excellent cut flowers Hardiness: fully hardy Garden care: Cut back the faded flower heads and foliage in August and the plant will often produce a second flush of flowers. Alchemilla has a tendency to self-seed freely, so to minimise the spread of the plant remove the seedheads carefully after flowering.

I used our garden flowers including the Lady's Mantle for our silver wedding anniversary table centre pieces.





We hade adopted a "make do and mend" approach to the garden - so I will break down the various tasks to make them manageable and affordable......watch this space!

Friday, July 12

Food glorious food.

Some of the wonderful food we have been enjoying this past week. Salads - summer living eh?




This was a new recipe - Slimming World - as often the case sounds bizarre but heavenly - good for vegetarian diet.
Batchelors savoury rice (cooked) pressed down on the bottom if the dish. Peas pudding spread thickly on top then the cottage cheese & eggs mix. ( 1 tub 3 eggs)  Turn it into an extra easy one with superfree such as tomatoes & onions




Another Slimming World idea - scrape out the middle of a breadbun - ham and favourite salad - laughing cow cheese triangle instead of butter! LUSH!!!!!!


Our own eggs - (well the hen's) lol salad wrap - ham and lots of salad rolled in a large lettuce leaf...


Salad with a barbeque.


Picnic by Lake Ulswater
 
 


 
Salad wraps
 



Scotch eggs - capers added to the sausagemeat - unbelieveably wonderful!
 
 



More salads.