The render

Ian has been in France this week and it has happened to coincide with the man coming to render the outside. Ian has just sent me a photo using Skype. It looks a bit yellow at the moment as it is not dry.

He has been doing various jobs in the house and trying yet again to solve the problem of the leaking cellar.

As a protest for taking him down the vet Mandi sat on the keyboard earlier and seems to have changed all the setting so that everything on the screen is extra large! I wish I knew what he did so that I can change it back!

Dilemmas of pet ownership

I have had a dilemma playing on my mind for the past week. I was always quite sure that I would take Mandi cat with me to France but thought that probably Norma wouldn't make it, as with her advancing age and frailty, nature would eventually take its course. I then realised that to take any cat out of the country I would need to get them pet passported, which basically means a microchip and a couple of rabies jabs and saying goodbye to the best part of £150! It also needs to be done a little in advance (moreso if you want them to come back ever) and so the time was approaching to head for the vets.

But, what should I do about Norma? The idea of the journey seems cruel in itself and something she may not survive. After agonising about this I finally took them both down the vets to ask advice. I must admit I was quite nervous and I don't really know why. Maybe it was the thought that this was the start of the end for Norma.

Mandi went first. He had his rabies shot and chip and seemed quite happy with things. He goes back in three weeks for a booster and then a blood test. Next up was Norma. She was agitated and not happy. She struggled to get away (not like her) and generally looked stressed. The vet examined her and then decided that she almost certainly has hypothyroidism, and when I read about the symptoms it seems very likely. Blood tests were done, (Norma fought and struggled and I think the vet thought that she might pass out!) She was given some ACE inhibitors until the results of the blood tests come in and I am £202  poorer! Ouch! Still, it may be that with all this Norma will be well enough to at least travel to France and if not then I am hoping that someone will take her on a palliative basis for the last few months of her life. It seems to me to be a lot to ask of anyone but I have been quite suprised that there are in fact a few people that may consider it. People can be great sometimes.

(Of course I will be gutted about having to leave Norma behind but then I keep reminding myself that it is not about me and my feelings)

Signs of an election approaching

I am by myself this weekend as Ian is still in France. I have spent the day trying to catch up with things in the house, inluding 2 hours of ironing! Progress is slow and my boredom threshold is low so although I have made progress there is still more to do!

We had a leaflet posted through the door last week about a 'street meeting' at 4.00pm today, with our local community support officers. I can't say that I was terribly interested in attending but at 4.00 a very 'Women's Institute' type knocked loudly on the door and asked me if I was coming. She identified herself as a local councillor. I guess my naughty schoolgirl guilt got the better of me so I hurredly put on my shoes and went out into the cold. One other neighbour was there. I know the rest were in as I could see their cars but they had sensibly stayed away from the front door!

The community support officers are known as the teletubbies around here as they are round and yellow. The two who turned up were not particularly round but one had the air of someone who wanted to be a proper policeman and the other would probably have been more suited in a job in public relations. They certainly didn't seem to have anything interesting to say. In fact they didn't say much at all.

The councillor could obviously smell an election and had already steroetyped everyone around here as rather stupid. I did not make any attempt to disillusion her and thought it was quite interesting that she seemed totally incapable of making eye contact with anyone. After 10 minutes they decided that they were wasting their time and we all went back indoors.

Hampered by cold and no Internet

Ian has gone to France for a few days by himself. He chose to arrive just as a cold spell hit the South and although there has been no snow down by the land, it is not far off. Temperatures are colder than they were when we were there over Christmas which makes it very difficult to work in the house with your hands. However, the most annoying problem is that we have no phone or Internet connection meaning that we either have to speak on the mobiles (very expensive) or Ian has to walk over to the neighbours and use their wireless network to get Skype. Phone calls are limited by the cold! It is an indication of how dependent we are on this means of communication that next week, he will try to get us a phone and Internet connection. This is before we have a proper electricity supply, heating or flushing toilet!

The other bad news is that the water is still coming in the cellar, although only in one corner. Ian is very dissapointed and has come up with yet another theory as to why, although what it all boils down to is that the builder didn't put in any drains. It is still an unsolved problem and the builder does not seem interested in sorting it out!

On another note, I went to Brighton today to do some teaching and was a bit taken aback to see that several University buildings have gone and in their place is a large part of the stand for the new Brighton football stadium! It is a lot closer than I thought!

As I walked across the campus to the railway station the wind was icy cold and went straight through my down jacket. It reminded me of the long winters in Nova Scotia. It is sunny but still bitterly cold for mid March. Coming over on the train I thought the countryside of the South Downs looked pale and faded. Spring can't come a moment too soon!

Ebay addiction

Oh dear. My blogging has been limited of late by my obsession with selling off all my unwanted things on Ebay. It really has become quite addictive. Definately, the money I get for the items is the least interesting thing, although I do get a bit exited when things fetch more than I thought. I have started selling off some old clothes that my sister gave to me a few years ago and I never bothered to do anything with. What I enjoy most is creating witty little adverts, and describing the clothes in detail ("this dress really does not make your bum look big... this 80s dress looks best with really big hair"). Then, there is the careful packing required and the regular trips to the post office. Fortunately there is one near work so I can go at lunch. I am even getting on first name terms with the counter staff! My latest item to attract interest is my mothers old pressure cooker. I tried to give it away on Freecycle but no one wanted it and then I discovered that they can fetch up to £15! I am now eyeing up anything I see around the house to see if it has any potential value. Anyone want two brass candle sticks!?

Then there are the people who buy the items. There was a collector of Edinburgh Crystal, someone into vintage clothing and a man called Ken who bought my old black evening dress for 99p. When I emailed him I did not like to say 'thank you for buying my little black dress' in case his wife sees his emails and it is not a present for her!

Adjustment

I am still at work and Ian has now escaped. I am really jealous and realise that staying at work for much longer is going to be a great struggle. I was cross  today and the temptation to hand my notice in there and then was quite overwhelming; so much so that I came home to avoid any more confrontations. I think this is not going to get any easier! However Ian has not found the first few days of being unemployed that easy either, as his friends and family seem to think that now he is at home he can spend all the time helping them. Adjustment is going to be hard work!

A collection of hoarders!

Spring is slowly appearing. The crocuses are beginning to poke up, the days are longer and after school the kids are kicking their football around using my car as the goal post! However, this morning there is a heavy frost even in our seaside town, reminding us that we have not quite seen the back of winter.
Our clear out continues. Over the weekend we cleared out most of Ian's kitchen and removed the units. We then took some of the old cabinets to Ian's mother's house for her to use as craft cupboards in her shed. Ian has a tendancy to collect things and has bits and pieces everywhere. Mostly this means that when he needs something he can't remember where it is and so has to go and buy more! Ian's mother is the same and by all accounts his father was even worse so I fear that Ian has inherited a double dose of the hoarding gene! Ian started to help his mother sort out her cupboards. One box was full of old half empty paint cans of various speciality finishes. There were three tins of Lambretta paint which made me smile as the Lambretta was sold in 1976!

I am now attempting to sell off some of my old clothes on Ebay! One thing I found in the back of my wardrobe was an old evening dress, worn once! The date on the label was 1986 and so now should be desirable as a retro item!

One goodbye will lead to another

Ian's work colleagues gave him a toy tractor, a book on llama breeding, some sheep shears and some money so that we can buy some trees for the land. The land has been heavily farmed and has no hedgerows or trees. We plan a small fruit orchard and would like to plant as many trees as we can to help us to subdivide what is at the moment an enormous field. He has two more days to go.

I also spoke to my managers at work about leaving and I think for the first time they actually believed that I am definately going. Hurrah!  As the time passes I feel more and more that it is the right decision and my days of doubt get less. The don't go completely but then I think if there was no doubt it wouldnn't be so exciting!

Moving forward

I met the new owner of my old bike at the station and handed it over. He was a young chap who had bought the bike for his girlfriend. I handed him the original receipt from 1985, which of course was written before he was born. That made me smile! I walked back, bikeless. The sun felt warm for the first time in weeks and as I walked back past a large tree a bird was singing so loudly that spring felt just round the corner.

This afternoon we listened to Joan Baez and I commented that we are so retro we are now trendy! Ian is advertising all his old racing bike bits on Ebay. His old, dented racing frame fetched £41. It feels quite nice to get rid of things that have been hanging around doing nothing. I am also sitting looking at virtually a room full of beer and wine as Ian has his leaving do at work next week and he is expecting about 100 people. It is a strange time for both of us. Sort of the beginning of the actual physical transition between here and our new life.

We also bought a bed, washing machine and a really fancy oven from ebay. It worked out well as Ian's friend is over visiting his parents in Derbyshire, which is just down the road from the showroom. He has also just purchased a new van and so was able to collect everything this weekend.

The cats arse

This morning was a bit of a rush. I rushed to put the bins out (too lazy to do it last night). I rushed around hanging up my wet washing, assembling my lunch and eating my breakfast. I grabbed the things I needed for my sports bag and then my handbag. That's when I had a panic as I couldn't find my purse. My last memory of it was from the evening before when I paid for some things in Sainsbury's in the self checkout and put the purse back in my coat pocket. I unloaded the car when I got back and rather than make two trips I carried everything in one go and then threw it all on the floor when I got in. So, my purse could be anywhere! I searched the usual places, the unusual ones and absolutely everywhere else I could think of. I had thoughts of it lying in the wet car park and of the money racking up on my credit cards! I phoned Sainsbury's but nothing had been found so reluctantly I got on the phone and cancelled my entire life. I spoke to call centres all over the world. I heard the strangest Irish Indian accent I had ever heard. I waited in queues, I gave out my mothers maiden name more times than I have ever used it in a day, and eventually, after an hour, found  myself cashless, cardless,  and identity less!

Wearily I walked downstairs and contemplated who I could borrow £20 from to last me to the weekend. I decided I needed a coffee and walked towards the kitchen. The cat saw the opportunity for food as got up to follow me and there underneath his big, fat, furry arse was my purse! I didn't think to look there!

Sunday evening feeling

I am really happy as my old touring bike sold for over £100. I am not bothered about the money. I am just delighted that someone is going to have it who may get some pleasure from it and will appreciate the craftmanship and the simplicity in the design. The bike has taken me over the Alps and the Pyrenees and on various day rides. The person who has bought it is coming down to visit his grandma and will pick it up on the way. I also sold some old mountain bike forks for not too much to someone who is delighted as now he can finish his bike. Ian and I have both been in that position when we were younger when we had no money but desperately wanted bikes and other such things that were good. Tonight I feel the universe is in balance! ( I have also just drunk two large glasses of a very nice red wine so the world is wonderful!)

Lazy Sunday

The anticipation of waiting for the auction to finish on my Ebay items is just too much. So much so I am still in bed! Ian joined in this weekend and put his old racing bike frame up for sale. It has great sentimental meaning as he bought it in 1978 (when he was a mere teenager) and raced with it for several years until he discovered girls and university! We then went through and thought about other things that we could sell that we will not need in France, although personally I find the exitement too much to manage too many items at a time!

We had yet more snow last night, although thankfully just enough to dust the cars and grass. I can remember going mountain biking in Wales on the 18th February about 7 years ago and the temperature was 18 degrees whereas this year it has hovered close to zero for most of the month!

I had my usual 6 month follow up and the hospital last week. One thing that the robot on the telephone forgot to explain was that it was with a different consultant. When I arrived they explained that they had put me in to see someone else as my usual consultant was too busy. Now I don't really mind but I think it would have polite to explain that to me on the phone before I arrived! As it turned out the new consultant was actually very nice and quite easy to communicate with. She agreed that I may need to have some treatment for the terrible heart burn I've been having, wasn't too upset that I had taken it on myself to try out some self medication with some old tablets that I was prescribed a couple of years ago, was happy to prescribe another month of medication but did not agree with me that it didn't need investigating! I think she probably worked me out! I also told her about the plans for France as I will need to sort out specialist care there and she was quite helpful.

Anyway, enough blogging. It is Valentine's day and I have promised Ian some bacon sandwiches!

Even more snow

My bed was very warm and comfortable this morning; so much so that I went back to sleep and let my tea (produced by my teasmade) get cold. I eventually woke up and on the way to the toilet I peeped out from behind the curtain to get a glimpse of the morning. That woke me up pretty quickly as there was 6 inches of snow over everything! I had to go to Brighton today so I got up and walked to the station, picking up a colleague on the way. It was snowing hard as the train headed out of Eastbourne but by Alfriston there was nothing. We arrived in Brighton and stepped out into the sun. The streets were not even wet and we felt a bit daft wearing our walking boots and ski clothes!

I have now become an Ebay adict and check it several times a day to check how many people are watching my item and if I have any more bids!

Some of the snow has gone but there is still a good coating and as the temperature has dropped has frozen into ice.

Clearing out the shed

We have had a really quiet weekend; the quietest for a long time. Ian was tired as he is coming to the end of his job and all that entails and I have been trying to cope with a cold and chest infection for the past week. The only real thing I did this week was to put my old touring bike for sale on Ebay. I bought it in 1985 and because I am like that, I still have the receipt! It was my first decent bike and I used it for numerous one day charity rides and holidays such as the Bordeaux to Barcelona bike ride and the Prague to Venice trip. For the past 10 years it has been largely unridden, although after my illness I put it on rollers in the loft and used it to help me get fit again. I never sold it before as I never thought I would get enough money for it to make up for the sentimental attachment! However, it isn't going to France and I can't take it to the tip so I am hoping that someone will give me a few pounds for it and use it to build themselves a fixed wheel bike for riding in London (the latest thing for cycle couriers)! Time to move on!!

Talk to the robot

I have had a cold now for 3 weeks which has been rather depressing. I have noticed that my body does seem to deal with infections and colds but takes twice as long as it should. This week rather than getting better I seemed to be getting worse, so a quick call to my GP yesterday and I got a course of antibiotics  for the chest infection (although chances are it is viral and they will make no difference). I also gave up trying to struggle into work dosed up with paracetemol and spent the day watching TV, from the Dog Whisperer to Judge Judy! My GP surgery has an automated switch board, which means that you can book an appointment 24 hours a day. The female voice on the recorded message is about as irritating as they come!

My afternoon TV was interupted by the phone. When I picked it up it was a recorded message that I assumed was advertising so I hung up; however, when I checked the number it was the appointment departement at the local hospital. This really annoyed me. I have no idea what they wanted to tell me. I have an appointment next Wednesday so maybe it was related to that. I left a message on their answerphone:

"Hello, I received an automated message from you but as I assumed it was someone selling me something I hung up so I have no idea whether the message was important. My name is Lovely and I have an appointment with Dr Rock next week. If you need to tell me anything important about that appointment can you please call me back with a real person and not some bl**dy robot!"

I really resent public money being spent on these daft machines!

Relaxing with a good cooking programme

After a very unfruitful day I came home feeling stressed and spent the evening watching TV in a largely vegetative state. One of the programmes I watched was The Hairy Bikers: Mum Knows Best. In this programme the two unlikey looking cooks went around the country looking for family recipes handed down across the generations. It got me thinking about a very old cook book sitting on my shelves with a dusty hard cover and a yellowed brittle pages. I rescued it from my mother's house when she moved. I think it was probably my grandmothers as my mother wasn't much of a cook. The book was published in 1952 and probably written when rationing was still in force. It is called Practical Cooking by Elizabeth Craig and describes itself as
"a book of simple, econmical recipes and cookery processes that will help the modern housewife to provide nourishing meals for the family"
The recipes use simple ingredients, (no fancy spices or flavours), cheap cuts of meat, little cream or cheese and the occassional limited use of a little butter. There are sections on preserving food, making stock from old bones and tips for using left overs and bulking out meals. The recipes are simple but hearty and I reckon if our diet was based on this there would be little obesity and our carbon footprint would be reduced! It includes delights such as rabbit brawn, giblet stuffing, ragout of tripe, poor mans goose and apple tapioca. I may try out some of the gentler ones and review the results, but in the meantime I thought I would share Elizabeth Craig's forthright foreward!
The longer I live, the more I appreciate simple food. It doesn't matter how cheap it is so long as it it well cooked. To me, a perfectly cooked Irish stew is more appetising than chaudfroid of mutton cutlets. I'd rather have baked apple than ice-cream coated with whipped cream and decorated spun sugar.
It's no good telling me that you can't afford to be a good cook. You can't afford not to be one. The less money you have to spend, the more you should know about cooking. If I had my way I'd teach every girl to make the most of every scrap of food. It's a nonsense to say a good cook is born, not made.

Norma keeps going

I wrote about a year ago that my cat Norma was getting older and more frail and that there would come a time soon when I would need to consider having her put to sleep. Despite my concerns at the time she has kept going, although now each week I notice that she is that little bit thinner and that she doesn't always seem to know where she is. I have been having thoughts of taking her to the vet more frequently but knowing when the time is right is hard. However, I think I have found a good indicator. Tonight I cooked her some white fish as a treat. It has always been her favourite and when it was steaming in the microwave in her younger days she would climb on top to get at it. Well, that is a bit beyond her but as soon as the smell wafted out she was up, pacing the floor and miaowing (rather loudly as she is deaf). As soon as it was down on the floor she pounced and ate the whole piece in 5 minutes. I will keep this as my indicator of her quality of life. When she is no longer interested in coley fillets then I will know that the quality of her life is no longer good.

Happy Burns night

This weekend we put down the laminate floor in Ian's living room. The actual floor took about 4 hours to do, but clearing out the room, removing the carpet, taking it to the tip, levelling out the floor etc, took three times as long. At the tip, we were getting rid of our old carpet and another couple were throwing away their laminate floor. As I have said earlier, we are now thinking of our homes in terms of their rental potential as opposed to personal preference.

As the potential date for moving to France moves nearer and nearer and the plans become more and more real people keep asking me 'what are you going to do over there?' The honest answer is that in the short term I don't know. We have plans for the llama farm and bed and breakfast but they will take a year at least to get off the ground. I have also made some tentative contacts with regard to some possible teaching work that may or may not materialise. Ideally I think I would like to find a part time job locally in a clinical capacity as I think that would be the best way to integrate with the French community and would improve my French greatly. I am qualified but I have no idea what work is available and whether anyone would be interested in emplying me. There have only been two other times in my life when I have not had a job to go to. One was when I started work and the other was when I returned from travelling. In both cases I found jobs pretty quickly. When I was travelling I really enjoyed the uncertainty of not knowing where I was going to go the next day and what I wanted to do. The whole world was ahead of me and didn't scare me a bit. When I returned to the England I got more senior jobs, got a mortgage and although I didn't have children to tie me to one spot I did what most other people do; stayed put and settled down. My big move was when I moved to the coast from London 8 years ago although  the move was dictated by the job and not for any desire for a seaside retirement.

So now at the age of 51, I am off on another adeventure; the like of which I have not had since my 20s. I am a little anxious but really exited by the idea of the freedom . (I may not find the reality so great but watch this space!)

Tonight is Burn's night and I am off for a Burn's night celebration and to eat my first ever haggis!

(Overheard in Tesco: Couple buying lottery ticket. Her to him "if we win the lottery today maybe we can find somewhere nice to send your mother!")

The mad hatter's tea party

The discussion in today's meeting went something like this

"I would like us to think about how we coped in the recent snow..Well we realise that we could improve communication a bit. And we've found out about a really good way that we can do it.. Apparently there's a way that we can send SMS messages to everyone who signs up to the service to tell them when we are cancelling classes.. really..yes.. is it expensive? Well we get 2000 inclusive messages and then we might have to consider whether we can afford to send any more.. but we might not need to tell everyone in the school. well apparently you can work it out so that you just send the message to specifc groups. really, that's amazing.. yes, apparently other universities have been doing it for years..my child's primary school does it..I suppose we should look into it..."

I sat there wondering whether I had somehow entered a parallel universe and decided that if I even attempted to say anything that I considered sensible I would sound like the madest mad person from the planet mad. Instead I sat quietly and thought of llamas.

Words

Ian says that men have 2000 words a day to use up and women have 8000, which is why he thinks that I am going on too much about things and I think he is disinterested sometimes. Today I spent most of the day in my office working alone and my 2 hour French class was not enough to use up my 8000. Ian had a stressful day at work so he had already used up his 2000 words before I spoke with him on the phone so was not up for more conversation!

The snow has gone (although there is a possibility of a little more tomorrow). Pretty much everyone was fed up with it as most people were unable to get out and get on with their normal jobs. Staying indoors was warmer and safer but everyone seemed to have a bit if cabin fever after a few days. Things are slowly returning to normal and we are getting back into the normal routine.

More snow (hopefully the last for a while)

I can feel my shoulders and upper arms stiffening up as I sit here. My lower back is also feeling a bit tired and  I'm longing to lie in bed and feel that intense almost painful feeling that you get as your muscles start to relax. The cause of my fatigue is the weather. The predicted 'light sleet' or 'scattered snow showers' turned into 10cm of snow over the road, car, street and everything that Ian cleared on Saturday. The snow was rather soggy and on top of the icy slush made the roads even worse than they have been in the past few days. Coupled with this, most people did not stay home today so there was gridlocked chaos across the South East. I accepted defeat and did as much work as I could from my home computer. I then decided to try to clear the snow. I find the activity quite therapeutic and probably did it for longer than is wise for my age and body! Still, the road is now clear!

The temperature has now gone up a little and by the end of the afternoon there was the start of a thaw. In town there was little snow left, but up here there is still a good covering.

I put some fat balls out for the birds and the jackdaws found them and were happily tucking in. They are a little large to hang off the tree to feed but that didn't stop them trying! I rather like them. They feed in a gang, with one keeping watch while the rest feed.

Pictures of the white stuff.

Ian and I have just returned from a walk up on the Downs. The footpaths were well trodden down and there were more people there than there were in town or on the roads, mostly enjoying the chance to have fun. I saw several grown men and women screaming down the hill on sleds made of tea trays, skateboards minus and the wheels and sheets of plastic. In fact the slope was so well compacted down it would have rivaled many of the groomed pistes in the Alps.

At the top of the Downs the snow was pretty deep in places as you can see from how close it came to the top of Ian's wellies. The sky was quite grey and but everywhere you looked was white. It was almost like a whiteout conditions that you get skiing.

As it was 2 degrees above freezing today and some of the snow was beginning to melt I think we all thought we should just get out and look and it while it is still there as it is so rare for this part of the world!

Friends in important places

......or neighbours actually. Ian was out with the snow shovel clearing the 10cm of snow that fell last night and joined in with two neighbours who were clearing the snow off the steep slope up to The Close. One of them works for the highways department which is why the grit box has been filled and the road was gritted the other day as he couldn't get out to go to work!

New layout

As with previous years, I have changed around the layout of the blog for 2010. The new picture on the header was taken from the house when we were last there. I must admit I have played around with the colours a bit but it was still and impressive sunset!

Snow and sea

It has been snowing on and off all day. Ian drove down from London last night and said the roads were very bad, black ice on all the roundabouts making it impossbile to stop. I drove to work yesterday. The roads around work were icy but I managed to find a convoluted route that got there by mostly gritted roads. It is unusual that the snow gets as far as the sea front but I took these pictures yesterday.

Artic chill

It has been cold and snowy as predicted. This means that the virtually no one got to work yesterday and a fair few stayed at home today amid recommendations not to travel unless it is essential. (Quite what constitutes essential is not clear, although for most of my work it is not essentail for me to sit in my office and do it and no self-respecting student would consider it essential that they turn up for a lecture! We have had some watery sunshine today but the temperature was too low for it to melt the ice.

Yesterday I spent some time shovelling snow, which was better than going to the gym and reminded me of my days in Nova Scotia when I used to shovel out the whole drive and the snow drifts came to the top of the windows! Today I wandered out to put some food out for the birds and made some spicey parsnip soup (good to keep you warm!)

Despite what has been reported in the press our street was gritted and our bucket of grit filled so that we can keep the Close clear (not that many of my neighbours seem to see that as their job). In Canada you were expected to clear snow from your drive unless you were disabled.

Coming home

Home now and back to work tomorrow! We had an interesting drive back, breaking the journey on the way up by staying at a bed and breakfast near Limoges. We have stayed there before and I can recommend it; especially the three course meal in the evening, which is exceptional value and very good. As we got to the Limousin the weather got worse and the snow started falling. However, we made it there quite safely and fortunately there wasn't much more snow overnight. Even if there had been there wouldn't have been a problem as the local farmer attached the snowplough to his tractor and cleared all the roads in the commune, making it easy to get up to the main road. The temperature did not go above -2 degrees centigrade all the way home but the journey was fine.

As we left the land we drove past the former mayor and his hunting mates butchering a deer that they had shot that morning. He called us over exitedly and told Ian that they had shot the animal on our land and amongst other things, that we could have a quarter of it! Ian nodded and we drove off. "We will have a quarter of that deer for our freezer when we are next here" he said matter of factly! "But we don't have a freezer or an oven?" I said. I felt a bit strange about it all as we love seeing the deer running across the land and although this one may have been older and in need of culling I don't feel that great about it. However, the creature is dead now and we should eat it.. Ian is planning to stop the hunters coming on the land when we are living there. It won't be a popular move but their presence with all their dogs is not good for the llamas or horses.

Snow is expected here for the next week. It is the coldest spell for 20 years. I remember the one in 1981. I was living in London and the cold spell  lasted 2-3 weeks  with the roads remaining  icy and snowy for most of the time. It was turned into a disaster by the media then and the same is happening now. It is just snow! We will survive.

Ian sent me this picture and said it was very sweet. I said it was unless you were a French hunter when you just see two meals with one shot!

A good cheese is worth its weight in gold.

Well not exactly but we did find out how valuable and appreciated little gifts can be. We bought some Stilton cheese in little china jars to give as Christmas presents here. We also got a few baseball caps printed with the name of the farm on. These were not big presents and quite fun to organise. Yesterday evening we went round to see the farmer and his wife with the gifts and they were genuinely pleased to see us and delighted with the presents but concerned that they hadn’t got us anything. We weren’t expecting anything as the farmer has been really helpful and lets Ian leave his old tractor there. Never-the-less they invited us to stay to dinner. It was very impromptu but suddenly their duck casserole became a four course meal with pate, cheese and desert. All this was washed down with copious amounts of local wine. (Apparently last year was a bumper harvest and 2009 will be a good year for wine from the south of France; especially for the sweet whites famous around Monbazillac. ) As the wine flowed my French at first improved and then deteriorated! We came back and collapsed into bed, passing out into sleep and then waking again a 4.00a.m. We vowed not to drink tonight but then remembered that it is New Years Eve!


This meal was simple, unplanned but plentiful and better than many we have eaten in restaurants here. They didn’t need the likes of Gordon Ramsay to tell them how to cook!

Although this may be posted after the event, may your 2010 be all the things you want it to be.

Camping in the house

We arrived at the house to find it was still there along with the damp cellar, the dead woodlice and in addition a liberal sprinkling of mouse droppings, which I didn’t notice in the dark and thought were bits of old rice! Yesterday was spent cleaning out the cellar and the kitchen. Ian also installed a sink in the bathroom so now we have hot and cold water out of a tap and don’t have to go down to the cellar to get water! We bought a butane gas heater on the way down and have been really quite cosy and warm, although the temperature is very mild (according to Ian’s thermometer it is 22.4 degrees outside although I don’t believe that!)

Gordon Ramsay does French

Continuing from where I left off on the last post, it was amusing to see that the French seemed to be as obsessed with cooking programmes, and Gordon Ramsay in particular, as we are in the UK. Channel 9 was showing an evening of the Gordon Ramsay programmes where he visits failing restaurants to tell them where they are going wrong. The programme follows a set format. Gordon visits, tastes the food and spits it out making sick noises, looks in the kitchen and finds rotten food and filth and then within two weeks turns them round to become modern and hopefully profitable. All this is interspersed liberally with Gordon swearing at the chef and the owners and anyone else that comes his way. It makes for what some people might see as an entertaining programme but you can’t help thinking that what he actually does isn’t exactly rocket science. I was amused to see how they handled Gordon’s prolific use of swear words in French. Mostly where he uses them as an adjective (‘the f*cking sauce, the f*cking plates’) they just ignored them. Where he uttered ‘f*ck me’ under his breath, this was sometimes translated as ‘merde’ ( or sh*t) and when he called someone a d*ck head this was translated correctly as ‘connard’. On one occasion he told someone to ‘go f*ck yourself’ and this was correctly translated as ‘ va te faire foutre’.

No delays for us

We arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal bright and early, a little in advance for our crossing, only to see a sign that there were delays due to an earlier cancellation. We were resigning ourselves to a long wait when the woman in the check-in asked us if we had any animals or children with us. "No", We said." Well, in that case we are asking anyone with a van if they mind being transferred to the freight service today as we have some delays". We didn’t mind one bit! We got an earlier crossing, breezed through customs and security (they were not up yet!) and ended up in the little carriage that all the lorry drivers sit in, complete with a hot drink machine and working toilets!


The drive to Tours was trouble free and we had a brief stop near Rouen to eat our turkey sandwiches. We had booked a hotel that sounded quite nice, with a particularly impressive sounding restaurant. However, the restaurant was closed as there are only three other people staying here so we ended up walking to the local shopping mall where we had a steak and chips! On the way we passed MacDonalds, which was packed. Don’t believe it when they tell you that all French people are gourmets!

12 days of Christmas (rolled into 3)

Christmas is over for another year. It wasn't white but it did involve approximately six and a half hours on the M25 ,adding to our carbon footprint! My mother is now back in her apartment, my sister and brother-in-law are by now asleep in front of the TV at their place, my brother and family are hopefully in Italy skiing by now, Ian's mum has cleared up her house after having us all round yesterday and is now relaxing in front of the TV and Ian's sister finally made it out to Milan a day late after the snow disrupted everyone's travel plans. Ian's man-flu is getting better and we are all packed up ready to go to France tomorrow morning. All is well.. and if I don't get a chance to blog before then, happy new year.

A white Christmas?

Well it is looking more likely every day!

A whole week has gone by since I last wrote. Christmas is always a busy time of year and this year it seems worse than ever, although that is probably my imagination. To add to the chaos the weather has suddenly turned from wet and very mild to bone dry, snowy and ice cold, making the everyday tasks of shopping, getting to work and organising the Christmas round of relative visiting much more difficult!

We had the first snow of the year on Friday. There wasn't a great deal down here and by mid-day the roads were clear. However, the snow over the North Downs and Ashdown forest was much thicker and they lay between Ian's house and mine. Friday night for the first time in years I didn't go to Ian's and it felt very strange to be sitting in our separate houses at the start of the weekend. I packed up and left the following morning, not sure of what to expect. Ten miles out of Eastbourne the snow at the sides of the roads was thicker and although the main roads were clear the side roads were thick with ice. As I got further and further into the Ashdown Forest the snow and ice encroached onto the road more and more and by Crowborough my tyres were gliding over the icy tracks left from the previous nights attempt and clearing the road. This continued to Tunbridge Wells and that, and the number of people going Christmas shopping made it a slow and tortuous journey. I also had to stop twice to pee, which meant leaving the beaten track and driving over the ice covered service station forecourts! Driving required a lot of concentration, which was a shame as the snow and the Christmas lights made everywhere look like a fairy tale Christmas except that I couldn't really stop to look. Driving was also made more hazardous by the abandoned cars at the side of the road and drivers generally not used to driving in snow!

Coming back today the snow and ice was still bad across the North Downs but by the time I got back here a fine rain had washed away most of the snow and ice (although it is looking like it might return tonight).

Looks like the iced theme of this years Christmas cake is very appropriate!

History under the floorboards

This weekend we tackled the wiring in my house. Of course, the regulations mean that we are not allowed to actually do anything since Ian doesn't have the required Part P electrical qualifications. However, he does have a degree in electronic engineering and worked on the Channel Tunnel so he was able to look and explore the wiring and give his opinion of what needed to be done (which of course we didn't do). The problem came to light after I had my new central heating boiler installed. We discovered that the gas meter was not earthed and at the same time the RCD kept tripping out. Both problems required investigating. This required lifting all the floorboards to see what was underneath (and a nice little array of old pipes, rubbish and wires we found!). What we did find was a corner of a page from The Daily Sketch dated 1930 (when the house was built), an old tea card (from the 1960s) and an empty packet of Lambert and Butlers (from about 15 years ago). The timber structures in the house are in really good quality pine or deal and even now, 80 years later, they still have a strong pine smell. The tripping RCD was caused by dampness in the sockets behind the sink and has now stopped.

What is worse, the illness or the cure?

Things down here on the coast are always a little behind the rest of the UK so we have only just got our first batch of swine flu vaccine. This pleased me a little as by the time my letter arrived inviting me for my jab enough people had been given it to satisfy me that there were not likely to be any serious reactions to it! I debated whether to have it and decided that although I don't believe swine flu would be that harmful to me I could do without being ill for two weeks. So, Saturday morning I got my jab and by Saturday night my arm ached and I felt as sick as a dog! Sunday was a bit better but by evening I had a fever again and today I just feel a bit worse for wear! The annoying thing is I have to go through it all again in January as according to those that know I need two jabs to get enough immunity!

Guidance for risk assessment : the singing of 'Festive Songs'

Someone sent me this at work and I thought it was worth sharing.
The Rocking Song
Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, do not stir;
We will lend a coat of fur,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you:

Fur is no longer appropriate wear for small infants, both due to risk of allergy to animal fur, and for ethical reasons. Therefore a cellular blanket or perhaps micro-fleece material should be considered a suitable alternative.

Please note, only persons who have been subject to a Criminal Records Bureau check and have enhanced clearance will be permitted to rock baby Jesus. Persons must carry their CRB disclosure with them at all times and be prepared to provide three forms of identification before rocking commences. And be aware that over-zealous rocking could put you at risk of being prosecuted for harming a child .


Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way

A risk assessment must be submitted before an open sleigh is considered safe for members of the public to travel on. The risk assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly if passengers are of larger proportions.
Please note, permission must be gained from landowners before entering their fields.
To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.


While Shepherds Watched
While shepherds watched
Their flocks by night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around

The union of Shepherds has complained that it breaches health and safety regulations to insist that shepherds watch their flocks without appropriate seating arrangements being provided, therefore benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available.
Shepherds have also requested that due to the inclement weather conditions at this time of year that they should watch their flocks via cctv cameras from centrally heated shepherd observation huts.

Please note, the angel of the lord is reminded that before shining his / her glory all around she / he must ascertain that all shepherds have been issued with glasses capable of filtering out the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and Glory.


Little Donkey
Little donkey, little donkey on the dusty road
Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load

The RSPCA have issued strict guidelines with regard to how heavy a load that a donkey of small stature is permitted to carry, also included in the guidelines is guidance regarding how often to feed the donkey and how many rest breaks are required over a four hour plodding period.
Please note that due to the increased risk of pollution from the dusty road, Mary and Joseph are required to wear face masks to prevent inhalation of any airborne particles.
The donkey has expressed his discomfort at being labelled 'little' and would prefer just to be simply referred to as Mr. Donkey. To comment upon his height or lack thereof may be considered an infringement of his equine rights.


We Three Kings
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

Whilst the gift of gold is still considered acceptable - as it may be redeemed at a later date through such organisations as 'cash for gold' etc, gifts of frankincense and myrrh are not appropriate due to the potential risk of oils and fragrances causing allergic reactions. A suggested gift alternative would be to make a donation to a worthy cause in the recipients name or perhaps give a gift voucher.

We would not advise that the traversing kings rely on navigation by stars in order to reach their destinations and suggest the use of AA routefinder or satellite navigation, which will provide the quickest route and advice regarding fuel consumption.
Please note as per the guidelines from the RSPCA for Mr Donkey, the camels carrying the three kings of Orient will require regular food and rest breaks. Facemasks for the three kings are also advisable due to the likelihood of dust from the camels hooves.


Rudolph the red nosed reindeer
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.

You are advised that under the Equal Opportunities for All policy, it is inappropriate for persons to make comment with regard to the ruddiness of any part of Mr. R. Reindeer.
Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from the Reindeer Games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence.
A full investigation will be implemented and sanctions - including suspension on full pay - will be considered whilst this investigation takes place.

Lovely's Christmas message 2009

As Christmas approaches its time to look back on the last year and summarise what has happened. I'm quite suprised that I have managed to keep with blogging all this time. When I started off nearly three years ago I thought I would soon get fed up with it, in the way that most people give up with writing a diary after a few months, but I find it quite enjoyable and therapeutic at times. It is true that when I am busy I find it hard to find the energy and sometimes the entries are not as frequent as I would like but never the less I have mostly found time to write things on a regular basis. For those of you finding this page for the first time, in the archive of previous posts you will find all sorts of details of the mundane day to day events of my life, so to avoid the need for you to trawl through them I have produced a brief summary here. They are divided into the following sub-headings: The house in France, Moving to France, Holidays and Family News, although the first three are very much linked!

The House in France

If you have read these letters before you will know that we have been building a house in the Dordogne, in between working and living in two different places in the UK. This year has seen significant progress with the house. At the beginning of the year the walls were finished and the roof was put in place, making it at last look like a proper building. The windows were fitted in March and the house was finally 'closed and covered'. Once this happened we could start thinking about the interiors and in March and April several journeys too and from France were made with van loads of plaster board and insulation (as the decrease in the value of the pound has meant that most things are now cheaper in the UK). Interior walls and ceilings were commenced and temporary plumbing and electric installed. Our hours spent planning the previous winter were not wasted as we knew where most things were going to go although to be certain we had not made a mistake we spent the first visit marking out the position of the baths, toilets and kitchen cabinets on the floor in chalk! We stayed in the house for the first tiime in May while more work was done to the inside. Over the summer we engaged a man with a digger who did some ground work and started work on the septic tank. This project has taken longer than we thought and is still half finsihed. We started some plumbing, varnished the windows and finished off some of the walls and in autumn we continued. Our next trip back is after Christmas, when I think our main aim is to galvanize the buidlers and the septic tank man into the next stage. The buidlers have been finishing off the outside in readiness for renderring and we have been waiting for the septic tank man to reappear. It has been a case of two steps forward and one step back but compared to this time last year it has progressed quite well.

Moving to France

We made a big step towards this goal this year in that in September we finally made up our mind and set a date. It won't be possible for us both to go out at the same time but the plan is that Ian (sic) will give up his job at the end of February and make a start on preparing for the move and I will go out when possible. It is hard to be more definate as there are still a lot of ends to tie up but we thought that if we left it much longer then it would just get move difficult to move and will end up taking until we both retire. So, now is the time to jump and I can't wait! Hopefully this time next year I will be writing this from France. I will give up my job as soon as we have a more concrete plan and I must admit I am looking forward to it. I may do some part time work with the Occupational Therapy School in Bordeaux  or I may just focus on running our bed and breakfast and llama farm!

Holidays

As you may have gathered we didn't really have time for any holidays as such as we were busy spending them working on the house. The work was quite tiring physically but mentally was a great relief from our regular jobs and so felt like a break. It also enabled us to get to know the area down by the land better. The only break we did manage was last Christmas when we joined by brother and sister-in-law skiing in France. We also had a long weekend to Northern France to go to a wedding of one of Ian's friends. Next year we may get a weekend in Germany to buy our central heating boiler as they are half the price when bought direct.

Family News

The biggest family event was my sister's wedding in July. She got maarried in Windsor Guildhall, where Charles and Camilla and Elton John had their wedding. She was very happy and the whole day went well..

My sister and mother outside the guildhall

Bride and groom

Brother and mother of the bride

My brother and sister-in-law are still continuing with their 'grand design' project in an old recording studio in Holland park and are hoping to complete the work next year. My elderly cat Norma is still alive despite her increasing age!

All that remains is to wish you a very happy Christmas for 2009 and to hope that 2010 brings you all you wish fop.

The T Shirt that got away

Finally the grey clouds lifted today and the sun came out. This meant it was much colder but a sacrifice worth paying to get away from the greyness. It also seemed to cheer everyone up and the atmosphere at work was much better. People have been saying that I look quite well at the moment and now I have recovered from the cold I have had I do feel quite good. This is probably due to the fact that my medication was increased three months ago! I saw an advert for a great T shirt on the Random Acts Blog. Unfortunately I missed the last chance to order one as I think it is great and sums up all I feel about my illness. I never suspected for a moment that my aches and pains and tiredness would ever become anything more serious but when it did I was bl**dy glad to be living in a country with a good health service!

Dark weekends in November

The weather has continued to be exceptionally wet and windy for the past three weeks with only the occasional short lived respite when the sun has poked through for a matter of minutes. The rain is heavy; bordering on the torrential and the winds here blow it against the side of the house. Now to make it worse it is getting cold! This time of year has got to be the most depressing, with the days getting shorter and shorter up until Christmas. At least once January arrives, although it is often cold, you get a sense of spring coming as the days get slowly longer. Ian cycles 11 miles to work every day and after a week of battling the wind and rain he was tired and I am still recovering from the inevitable winter cold so we had another quiet weekend.


I am now the proud owner of a very nice camcorder! Ian bought it for me for birthday/Christmas and so I spent a while playing with it. Watch this space for my first attempts at movie making! I am also now working on a new computer made from the left- overs of Ian’s computers and a few new parts! We are now planning our IT system for France and as we both may need computer access for any work we do we decided that we need one each! It is a bit of an extravagance but then these things will be more difficult to justify when we don’t have a regular salary!

News from France is that despite our array of drains the cellar has flooded again. We are not sure why but it seems that the pump had become disconnected. A spare pump and generator seem to be essential. There have been a few sunny days by the land and the builders finally returned to finish moving the downpipes. The next stage (hopefully) will be the rendering although that will require a few dry and mild days. Unfortunately Warren has not reappeared to finish the septic tank!

Talking of my birthday, I made myself a birthday cake as I really can’t expect Ian to make me one! This was a dark chocolate cake with a dark chocolate ganache topping. It took me two goes to get the topping right and even then I wasn’t that pleased with it. Note to self for next time; it needs very good quality chocolate and careful handling and tastes much better if paired with cherries of some sort!

Allowing myself to see the end

There are some days when the thought of giving up my secure job and going to live in France with no guaranteed income fills me with fear. To a risk adverse person such as me this is a big step. There are also some days when I think I will miss the intellectual stimulation that my working life has to offer. However, today was not one of those days and I am writing about it now so that I can look back and remind myself (on the good days) as to why I think it is time to go!

Arriving this morning another colleague was off sick. Not their fault but that left me and one other staff member out of the five tutors who had originally been assigned to teach this module. First thing was spent running around trying to see who was available to cover teaching and looking for misplaced teaching files. The rest of the morning was spent teaching between two groups; half an hour with one and then switching to the next one and then back and so on. After that it was straight into a meeting for an hour and a half (grabbing my sandwich on the way but no time to get a drink or go to the toilet). From there I left the meeting before the end to cover another teaching session for the sick colleague. The session was fun and the students were good to be with (I know that they are not the reason that I am keen to go) but it finished with just time to quickly check my emails and go home. The other urgent jobs that I had to do today were pushed on to some day in the future.


The other thing that brightened my day was the email from my manager announcing that she would be away at a conference/holiday from next week. Now I have no problems with this as we all need holidays and she has other important demands on her time. What I do have a problem with is not being informed about it until 48 hours before it happens at a time when her agreed deputy is off sick and as far as I can tell nothing has been organised in the way of deputising. As my job as module leader is to deal with all the sh*t that happens in relation to the day to day running of the module you can guess who will be left with the can! It would have at least been polite for me to have been given some warning, rather than an email sent from Europe!

Still..the end is in sight and when I allow myself to picture it, along with the sense of terror, I feel the beginning of a huge weight being lifted from my shoulders!

Depressingly un-sexy

Every morning I set my radio alarm to wake me up with the Radio 4 Today Programme. I know I have become like all those bitter and twisted 50 somethings I remember working with, who are counting off the days until retirement, but the news today was depressing. A survey by the Alzheimer's disease society found that people with dementia get a poor deal when they are admitted to medical wards. They often spend longer in hospital than people with similar conditions without dementia and when they are finally discharged their dementia is often worse. This "news" was met with instant condmenation from all political parties (rightly so, but then there is an election approaching) and plans for action.

 I say "news" because to me this is sadly not news. Fifteen years ago when I was last working as a clinician this was the situation and in fact it was the topic of my colleague's PhD thesis. The reasons cited at the time were the same as the reasons now; lack of training and skills from staff in knowing how to manage people with dementia, unsuitable environments, lack of resources. There were outcries, plans, policies (I can remember going to a few meetings and consultations in various organisations) and, as I'm sure there was an election then, there were statements that this would change and a lot of guidelines produced. Obviously they were effective!

As I see it, there are several problems:
Training is rationed in the NHS and expensive. Over the last years training budgets have been cut. Training for unqualified staff is carried out on the job (a good thing)  by senior staff who also have little basic knowledge about care (not a good thing).
There is a high staff turnover on these wards due to the unrelenting pressure of the job (and poor pay and conditions, especially for the lowest paid who have the most patient contact). Even if staff have training they usually leave before they can put anything into practice.
Medical wards are usually under-staffed.
Dementia is still not 'sexy'. The majority of people with dementia are frail and elderly and Terry Hatchet, Ronald Regan and Iris Murdoch are the exceptions (and can or could afford proper care).
Solving these problems is not difficult but does require money and as there are an awful lot of people with Alzheimers it requires an awful lot of money.

So instead, governments prefer to spend money on cheaper but higher profile things that seem more trendy. Also on my local news this morning was the story that our local NHS  Trust is opening an walk-in health centre at the railway station where people can "see a GP or nurse from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week".
 A statement from the chairman of the local trust said

" the centre will also be able to look after anyone else who needs to see a GP or nurse, whether they live locally or are simply visiting Eastbourne or working in the town. It is all about making it easier for people to get the care they need at a time and place convenient to them."

I can't help wondering why we need such a place. Do you get off the train in Eastbourne and say "Ahh. on my way to the seafront I'll just pop in and ask this nice doctor (who knows nothing about me and my medical history) about the stomach ache I've got this morning" 

Given the population profile of Eastbourne the money would have been better spent on the former problem but a GP and a nurse in an office at the train station is cheaper than the cost of ensuring that your basic services are up to scratch and a lot more trendy (just like on Street Doctor).

Moving forward

I have been having a new central heating boiler and a few new radiators installed today. My old one was still working in between services but becoming less reliable all the time. Now we have decided that we will definitely go to France next year it's amazing how your heart changes. Even last year I was still thinking of the house as something that I would live in and enjoy and then rent later, whereas now it is a short term abode and I am beginning to loose any sentimental attachments that I may have towards it. Decisions are becoming practical rather than ideal. So, I have gone for a reliable boiler with a 5 year guarantee. I will put in a new kitchen but it will be clean and functional and not 5 star; I will finish the decorating in a neutral tone and I will put down laminate floors upstairs (horror) to avoid having to buy new carpets with each new tenant!

Hygge-weekend

The weekend lived up to expectations in that it poured with rain and blew a gale from Friday evening until this morning. I made my Christmas Cake as promised. Christmas cakes always take twice as long as you think to make, partly because there is just so much mixture. The batter is really there just to hold together the fruit, which filled my smallish plastic mixing bowl. Stirring the mixture was hard work and I just about managed to get it all mixed and in the oven!

Norma's escape from the weather involved sleep and she spent all weekend like this!

We lit a fire and some candles to distract from the dark and grey of the outside! In Demark they have a special word for it called Hygge (pronounced whoo-guh). It sort of means cosiness or snug but is a bit more than that. I can understand why they have it as when the cold and dark seems to take up most of the day you need to make yourself feel better somehow and what better than a hygge!

Hygge ['hoo-ga']: a deep sense of place & well-being; a feeling of friendship, warmth, contentment and peace with your immediate surroundings.

What to do on a wet and windy weekend in November

I'm making a Christmas cake this weekend. Last year I followed the Waitrose recipe for Christmas cake soaked in Drambuie and I have to say it was very good. I think mostly it is the fact that it is full of soft fruits like apricots and prunes and that the Waitrose vine fruit mix is good quality. I repeat the recipe below in case you want to try it.

Christmas Cake with Drambuie-Soaked Vine Fruits

Ingredients


750g Waitrose Wholesome Vine Fruit Mix

250g soft apricots, quartered

200g tub cut mixed peel

200g tub glacé cherries, halved

100g pitted soft prunes, quartered

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange

100ml Drambuie

250g unsalted butter, softened

200g dark muscovado sugar

5 medium eggs, beaten

300g plain flour, sieved

200g walnut pieces





Method

Place all the dried fruit in a large bowl then stir in the grated orange zest and juice, and the Drambuie. Cover and leave to soak overnight.

Preheat the oven to 150°C, gas mark 2. Grease and line the base and sides of a 23cm-round or 20cm-square cake tin with baking parchment so it stands 5cm above the top. Use string to tie a double thickness of baking parchment around the outside of the tin. This will help prevent the cake drying out during cooking.

In a large bowl, use a hand-held electric whisk to beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg, a little at a time. If the mixture begins to curdle, add a spoonful of flour with the last few additions of egg.

Add the soaked fruit and walnuts, with any remaining liquid, then mix well. Fold in the rest of the flour. Spoon into the cake tin, then use a round-bladed knife to level the top of the mixture. Stand the tin on a tray and bake for 3-4 hours until cooked through, covering the top of the cake with foil if it starts to over-brown. To check that the cake is cooked, insert a skewer into its centre – if the skewer comes out clean the cake is cooked. Leave to cool completely in the tin.

Remove the cake from the tin and store in its lining paper, wrapped tightly in foil. Keep in a cool place. Feed the cake every few weeks by unwrapping it, making small holes in its top, then drizzling with a couple of tablespoons of Drambuie. This will help to keep the cake moist and add extra flavour. If the cake has domed in the centre during baking, neatly slice off the top before covering with marzipan. To ensure a completely flat surface for decorating, turn the cake upside down before covering with marzipan and icing.

About time

I now live 100 metres away from the boundaries of the new South Downs National Park. When I moved down here 6 years ago it was the subject of a public enquiry and now it has finally happened. Hurrah!

Blot on the landscape?

Yesterday I was teaching at the Falmer site. Next to the campus they are building the new stadium for Brighton football club. The building was controversial since it is in the middle of the South Downs. However after ministerial intervention permission was granted and work started last year with roads being widened and ground being cleared and moved around. This year they have started erecting the stadium itself and the campus is overshadowed by an enormous crane. I overheard the lady who works in the coffee bar saying that the crane has its own Facebook site and sure enough, it does!

Facts about the crane are:
The crane is 200 tons (The same weight as a Blue Whale)
It can lift 600 tons.
There are only 4 cranes in the whole of England that weight.

It's amazing what you can find on the Internet!

Over exageration?

Overheard in the gym yesterday and nearly made me wet myself with laughter!

Mother, with two children, one about six and the other about two, puts the brakes on the pram and takes the six year old to one side. Loudly and sternly (and with a very well spoken accent) she says the following:

" Now Harry, I want you to stop what you keep doing to Marcus because it is very naughty. You know, when you keep grabbing him by the chest and bouncing up and down on him. .. Because he's just a baby and you're a big boy..and it's very dangerous..and you could break his ribs.. and rupture his windpipe or puncture his lungs, or damage his heart, or make him stop breathing.. you musn't do it ever again! Now, I know he says he likes it ..but just because he likes it darling it doesn't mean it is safe.. and you are a big boy and should know better..okay?"

I don't really know why I found it so amusing since it is a serious topic, but I just thought the graphic detail was probably too much information and I found myself thinking that if I was Harry with all those ambivalent feelings towards my baby brother I might just be tempted to try a bit harder!

Writers block

Where has the week gone! Work has been busy and by the time I have got home, done the chores, cooked and eaten supper and prepared for the following morning, I have been too tired to blog. All of my creative energy has been used up during the day! At various moments during the day I have had the odd idea and thought 'I must write about that on my blog tonight', but by  the time the evening arrives it has been absorbed into the mush and fuzz of my brain.

Cornerstones

The builders seem to have found a new lease of life and suddenly things have progressed at the house (probably because he wants to finish and be paid and get us out of his hair)! Ian has been receiving daily updates with pictures of the work and requests for money!

They have finishing off the outside and putting some cornerstones on the building prior to it being rendered. These are made of reconstituted stone as the real things would be far too expensive. They are a bit 'mockney-chav' but hopefully will look okay once the building is rendered.

We also have mock lintels across the tops of the windows (Ian changed his mind about the arched windows) and a keystone in the middle of front door lintel.

Wildlife

Apart from the woodlice infestation we have also noticed that there are a vast array of other insects, bigger and bolder than any we have seen before. Here are two of them.

This one is a little stick insect that seemed to like our wall. It didn't seem to do much other than look like a stick with legs.

This one is rather large beetle that Ian found in the cellar. He seems to be waving!

Over the rainbow

The day the builders arrived it was showery.
"It always rains when we are here" said one of them rather grumpily! Fortunately it did not last long enough to stop them in their work. At the end of the day a sudden shower appeared followed almost immediately by the sun. I looked out to see if there was a rainbow and sure enough, there was the most amazing double rainbow that seemed to end in the corner of our field. Living most of my life in the city I don't think I have ever seen such a complete rainbow before. We have not yet found the pot of gold but we are hopeful!

That evening Ian went from our bedroom area into the lounge and found that we have a little bat living with us. I rather like the French word for a bat, la chauve-souris or 'bald mouse'! It is supposed to be lucky to have a bat living in the house.

Return of the builder

After several cold sunny days, the weather changed and the clouds appeared bringing the rain. Along with it came the illusive builder. We returned after eight weeks to find that nothing had been done on the house and Ian was fast beginning to lose faith. However, as if by magic we had a message last night to say that the builders would be over today to render the cellar. Ian and Warren’s array of drains and pipes seems to have worked and the cellar was bone dry; enough for the builders to apply a coat of waterproof render to the inside. The down side of this is that we have to be up and dressed by 8.00 a.m. and as it is damp there is claggy mud all through the house. A small price to pay however, for another step towards the finished product!

We have been less successful re-engaging the services of Warren, who is supposed to be finishing off the fosse septic. We have heard tales of broken diggers, borrowed diggers not turning up, lost drivers, wet weather and submitting the plans to the wrong SPANC and we have seen Warren for 5 minutes yesterday. Tomorrow is our last day so we will see if he returns!

Merde!

18.10.09


Well the weather has been sunny and clear during the day but the promise of warmer temperatures has not materialised! Another cold night prompted Ian to insulate the space above our temporary living area and make a temporary door so that any heat we have does not immediately disappear into the unfinished lounge. He has also been fitting the soffits in an attempt to seal off potential woodlice routes. The cold seems to have slowed their progress but the odd one or two are still finding their way in and this does not bode well for next year. Before laying the insulation Ian vacuumed up a bucketful of woodlice corpses and behind every item there are piles more!

This morning we were woken up by a loud bang. Sunday is the day of le chasse here and at dawn two huntsmen were out looking for partridge or pheasant in our fields. They weren’t very successful and in their wanderings came across our temporary sewerage pipe, which must have been very pleasant for them! Not to be deterred they returned at dusk but were no more successful. My guess is that most of the wildlife keeps a low profile on a Sunday as I saw the partridge happily pecking in our field yesterday. Let’s hope he lived to see another week!

Joys of getting older

Now I am menopausal I note with joy that I now no longer need to carry round a bag with tampons and towels in various sizes and thickness, spare knickers and painkillers. However the contents of my wash bag now includes a range of alternative products that I never needed in the past. These include haemorrhoid cream, indigestion tablets, tweezers (for the stray facial hairs) and special dental tape to clean under my bridge!