 |
| End February |
 |
| End February |
 |
| End February |
 |
| Beginning March - it's the moon! |
 |
| Beginning March |
 |
| Beginning April |
 |
| Beginning April |
 |
| Beginning April |
 |
| Beginning April |
Saturday, 9 May 2015
Afternoon walks - February, March and April
The end of February saw me resuming my afternoon walks. I think my last one was in December and by the time I got home it was pitch black - there aren't any lights along the country lanes so for safety's sake I decided to put them on hold. I'm not sure what made me decide to track the progress of the seasons but I thought it would be nice to do, so here are the first couple of months.
I plan to take photos at the beginning and end of each month. I didn't quite make it in March - but hopefully the other months will be better.
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Patio progress: Part 2
Just kidding.
After much discussion SBB and I discarded our idea to add a square and a motif as we previously planned. I've bowed entirely to SBB's expertise for the patio design. I think we're both still a bit gutted about our herringbone pattern idea we had way back in August last year. The problem that we have, now that won't be laying bricks, is that the square isn't the right size for whole patio slabs to sit neatly - we'll have to put in some cut ones. We had thought that the cobbles/motif would alleviate the problem but after much measuring SBB decided that, in fact, it would only make it worse.
We nipped down to B&Q and looked at what they had to offer and then browsed the internet to see if we could find any better, for cheaper. We couldn't so one afternoon we went back to B&Q and bought some slabs which, by a happy mistake with barcodes were cheaper than we'd thought.
Now that the patio is coming together my thoughts have started to turn towards plants and plant holders/pots.
We went to a nursery to pick out some plants - I think it's called Forest View but I call it Narnia because it just goes on and on. SBB laughed a little when I first told him about it but when we went to get the plants he said, "Ah, I completely see why you call it Narnia now"
(If you go there, let me know if you see what I mean!)
I'm thinking of four or five pots to go along the wall - an evergreen (the lavender), a colourful pot (the Forget-me-nots and something else) a herb pot, then a colourful pot and another evergreen. The problem is, I'm not sure which pots to get. SBB isn't keen on anything too stylised or modern so would prefer some nice terracotta pots but I'm worried that the area may be a little too 'orange'
It's not entirely clear in this photo but the slabs are a sort of creamy yellow, so with that in mind here are the options I've spotted so far:
 |
| Dunelm Mill |
 |
| Dunelm Mill |
 |
| B&Q |
 |
| B&Q |
 |
| B&Q |
 |
| B&Q |
 |
| B&Q |
 |
| B&Q |
 |
| B&Q |
 |
| B&Q |
So. Those are the choices. Any ideas?
Sunday, 5 April 2015
Hoppy Easter
It's Easter which, apart from the religious context, means chocolate and, more importantly, bunnies.
So, here are a couple of cute bunny photos.
Have a lovely Easter!
So, here are a couple of cute bunny photos.
Have a lovely Easter!
Friday, 3 April 2015
Recipe: Fruity curry
My Mum makes an awesome fruity curry, but the rest of my family aren't
curry lovers so her version is so mild you can barely taste the curry! I grew up
eating it so it has a special place in my heart but since getting
together with SBB he's introduced me to 'proper' curries so although it doesn't
have quite enough of a kick for me anymore I still crave the combination of fruit and curry.
The list of ingredients is fairly small and it can be whipped up in a relatively short time.
The recipe serves two and is pretty customisable. You could throw in a diced stalk of celery, or a whole apple, dried cranberries instead of sultanas or even a few nuts. When I came to make this the other night I realised I didn't have any apricots (boo!) I did, however, have some cashew nuts so I threw those in instead and it was pretty awesome!
A tip for the apple is to choose the crunchiest one you can - I made the mistake of using a 'softer' one last time I made it and the apple was a little soggy, but then I always prefer my apples crunchy - if you don't, just add whichever apples you like as it won't really effect the recipe.
I usually make this recipe with cooked chicken - sometimes I can pick up a discounted fresh chicken from Co-Op for about £1.50 so I cook it as soon as I get home, strip off the meat and portion it into bags and freeze it to later use in pasta dishes, sandwich fillings and curries.
Ingredients:
Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute until translucent - about 6 minutes. If you're using pre-cooked chicken, add it to the pan now and stir in the curry powder. You may need to add a little water to stop the powder sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add apple, apricots, sultanas (or whatever fruit/nuts you've chosen) and stock. Season with salt if you wish. Simmer for 10 minutes of until the sauce thickens.
I usually serve with 70g (dried weight) of brown rice or over a baked potato.
Do you have a fruity curry recipe? What fruit do you use?
The list of ingredients is fairly small and it can be whipped up in a relatively short time.
The recipe serves two and is pretty customisable. You could throw in a diced stalk of celery, or a whole apple, dried cranberries instead of sultanas or even a few nuts. When I came to make this the other night I realised I didn't have any apricots (boo!) I did, however, have some cashew nuts so I threw those in instead and it was pretty awesome!
A tip for the apple is to choose the crunchiest one you can - I made the mistake of using a 'softer' one last time I made it and the apple was a little soggy, but then I always prefer my apples crunchy - if you don't, just add whichever apples you like as it won't really effect the recipe.
I usually make this recipe with cooked chicken - sometimes I can pick up a discounted fresh chicken from Co-Op for about £1.50 so I cook it as soon as I get home, strip off the meat and portion it into bags and freeze it to later use in pasta dishes, sandwich fillings and curries.
Ingredients:
- 20g of butter (or a couple of sprays of light oil if you're calorie counting)
- 2 fresh chicken breasts, diced (or 200g cooked chicken, shredded)
- 1 onion, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 tbsp curry powder
- 1/2 apple, diced
- Small handful of apricots, diced
- 70g sultanas
- 500ml chicken stock
- Salt to taste
Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute until translucent - about 6 minutes. If you're using pre-cooked chicken, add it to the pan now and stir in the curry powder. You may need to add a little water to stop the powder sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add apple, apricots, sultanas (or whatever fruit/nuts you've chosen) and stock. Season with salt if you wish. Simmer for 10 minutes of until the sauce thickens.
I usually serve with 70g (dried weight) of brown rice or over a baked potato.
Do you have a fruity curry recipe? What fruit do you use?
Thursday, 19 March 2015
Patio progress (and oh, WHAT progress)
Remember when I was dreaming of patios? Well SBB has made quite a bit of progress. In fact, he was a little shocked when I showed him the original post from August of last year - not for how it looked but because he thought he'd started work on it much earlier and in fact spent a couple of minutes telling me how my post was wrong. Erm...
Anyway, we've made quite a bit of progress (I say 'we' I mean 'he'). First up was to lay a concrete base. SBB did this at the end of August and destroyed a pair of trainers in the process of laying the first half (luckily he wore wellies the second time)
Next was to build the wall to hide the ugly concrete path. It took us a couple of back-breaking weekends to source the stones and we added the ones we bought to the small stock that we had left over from the old rockery.
Isn't it so pretty?
SBB found a heart-shaped stone and set it in the centre. He's such a romantic :)
This was such a good find. It's an old fragment of gravestone that we found under an overgrown hedge. For a while we weren't sure what to do with it but as soon as we decided we were going to build a stone wall there was only one option.
So that was it for last year. The winter set in and building work ceased, waiting until for better weather. Now that's it's spring of course, SBB has a patio-shaped-bee in his bonnet however, there was a problem. We hadn't bought enough bricks to lay the entire patio and they had been discontinued. No herringbone for us, then.
We threw some ideas around and eventually decided upon a slab/cobble/motif combo.
SBB set out the brick border and then filled the cavity behind the wall with rubble before topping it with muck and smoothing it over.
We then grabbed a couple of bags of gravel (the wood's there to keep it from spilling onto the path).
We didn't use as much gravel as we thought so the rest will be going down in this awkward little corner - along with something else that I'm going to keep as a surprise!
So that's all so far. We managed to source some broken bricks so SBB will be laying those and then we'll have to shop for some slabs to go down!
I confess that this progress is starting to make me think of BBQs....
Anyway, we've made quite a bit of progress (I say 'we' I mean 'he'). First up was to lay a concrete base. SBB did this at the end of August and destroyed a pair of trainers in the process of laying the first half (luckily he wore wellies the second time)
 |
| First steps on the patio! |
Next was to build the wall to hide the ugly concrete path. It took us a couple of back-breaking weekends to source the stones and we added the ones we bought to the small stock that we had left over from the old rockery.
So that was it for last year. The winter set in and building work ceased, waiting until for better weather. Now that's it's spring of course, SBB has a patio-shaped-bee in his bonnet however, there was a problem. We hadn't bought enough bricks to lay the entire patio and they had been discontinued. No herringbone for us, then.
We threw some ideas around and eventually decided upon a slab/cobble/motif combo.
SBB set out the brick border and then filled the cavity behind the wall with rubble before topping it with muck and smoothing it over.
We then grabbed a couple of bags of gravel (the wood's there to keep it from spilling onto the path).
We didn't use as much gravel as we thought so the rest will be going down in this awkward little corner - along with something else that I'm going to keep as a surprise!
So that's all so far. We managed to source some broken bricks so SBB will be laying those and then we'll have to shop for some slabs to go down!
I confess that this progress is starting to make me think of BBQs....
Monday, 16 March 2015
Suffolk and See - Part 2
Now for part two...
Sunday was spent with SBB's brother - we hit up two castles and a National Heritage site. It was a whole lotta history but that's what we love! We went to Framlingham Castle - which has a very interesting history - Orford Castle and Sutton Hoo. I don't have any pictures to show you for Sutton Hoo because it started raining just as SBB and I were heading out to the burial mounds and we had to do the 'Sharpe's rifles quick march' to get there before we got drenched. We managed to snap one picture of us in front of said burial mounds in which we both look disheveled and a little wild.
Framlingham Castle (the one that can be seen today) was built by Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and completed about 1213 and was captured by King John in 1216. By the end of the 13th century the castle was a luxurious home with extensive land for hunting. During the 15th and 16th centuries Framlingham was at the heart of the estates of the powerful Mowbray and Howard families (relations of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) - and it was during this time that the fashionable brick work was added. Later Mary (aka Bloody Mary) seized power in 1553 - she collected her forces at Framlingham Castle before successfully marching on London. In the years that followed the castle was also used as a poor house, a public house, an isolation ward during the plague and as an equipment store during the Napoleonic Wars.
There's an odd but interesting animated video next to the reception/shop which gives visitors a quick run through of the history. None of us were English Heritage members so we had to pay but while we were in the shop SBB and I noticed a reproduction sword for sale for the bargain price of £85. I wasn't willing to commit to buying it until I'd seen the blade so we decided to ask to look at it after a walk around the walls. However, by the time we got back down - it had been sold! We were a little bit sad but then it probably just wasn't meant to be.
SBB was particularly enamored with the brick chimneys - as you'd expect - and I must have taken over 100 photos of the place. It was definitely worth the admission fee but SO COLD up on the battlements. It was windy and the wind was bitter. I'd left my gloves back at the hotel so by the time I'd finished taking all the photos my hands were painfully numb from the cold.
Next up was Orford Castle - it was built between 1165 and 1173 by Henry II and was heavily garrisoned during the conflict between 1173-1174. The political importance of Orford diminished after Henry's death although the port of Orford grew in importance as it handled more trade. The castle was captured in 1216 by Prince Louis. After 1336 it was no longer a royal castle and passed through various families whilst the surrounding economy of Orford went into decline. The estuary of the River Ore increased and gradually the harbour became more difficult to access and trade dried up. The castle and the land changed hands again in 1754 and by the late-18th century only the north wall of the bailey survived and the roof and upper floors of the keep had badly decayed. In 1805 a proposal was made to destroy it but this was declined and in 1831 restorations began. In 1930 the castle was given to Orford Town Trust. During the Second World War it was used as a radar emplacement.
Inside there were some cabinets with the various archeological finds from the site and the cabinet that caught my attention held information about the Wild Man of Orford. According to the story, a naked wild man, covered in hair, was caught in the nets of local fishermen around 1167. The man was brought back to the castle where he was held for six months, being questioned and tortured but he said nothing. The man was feral although eventually they decided he wasn't a threat and let him roam the castle but he was disdained by all. Eventually they took him out to the water and he swam away, popping up in the water every now and again 'in a mocking manner'. Obviously there were a few theories at the time ranging from demons to mermen. Modern suggestions seem to be that it was a seal but if the account is to be believed the wild man had the body of a man, slept in a bed and walked around... which doesn't sound very seal-like to me.
Unfortunately most of the castle has been demolished so only the tower is left. Apparently it's quite well-known for its unusual design and I can see why - each level had curling tunnels and rooms around the outside of each main room - a bit like a starfish if it bent all its legs round in a spiral. Most of the rooms were too dark to get any decent pictures but they were certainly entertaining. We found a couple of 'waterclosets' which had the wooden seats reconstructed so there were a couple of joking references to a certain scene from Game of Thrones.
I know it's technically still graffiti but I still think it's a little awesome...
Sutton Hoo is home to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time - they discovered the ship burial of an Anglo-Saxon king and his treasured possessions; including the famous Saxon helmet - have a look at the National Heritage website and you'll recognise it. We only arrived at site ten minutes before it was about to close so we rushed around the museum and had a quick (damp) peek at the burial mounds.
Sunday evening we went out to dinner with SBB's brother and his small family in Bury St Edmunds. We popped into a Wetherspoons - I think it was called the Corn Exchange? - and SBB and I were pretty impressed with the interior.
I perused the menu but my brother-in-law insisted that 'with all the great places to eat in Bury it would be a crime to eat at a Wetherspoons'
....Okay then....
Instead we ended up eating at Chimichangas which didn't seem to me to be a particularly special place (but hey, what do I know...). There were a couple of mix ups with our order - my sister-in-law isn't eating dairy at the moment as the baby has an allergy and somehow that translated to the staff that she wouldn't be eating rice as her vege chilli came out with - I kid you not - a dessert spoonful of rice. We had to ask for more. As for my order I asked for the cajun chicken quesadilla and ended up with just cajun chicken and the soggiest corn on the cob I've ever had in my life.
The funeral was in a little village called Clare and was to be held in Clare Priory. That's extent of the directions that we were given and, determined not to get lost as we had at the other funerals, decided to scout out the place to find out EXACTLY where we were going. SBB's mum had implied that the Priory was easy to find. After an hour of driving around in the dark we finally found the place so we were both glad we hadn't left it til the morning of the funeral.
In Clare we did spot this amusingly named pub and, indulging my immature side, I took a quick snap.
The next day we drove through some lovely old villages and towns and there some places that we'd have definitely liked to stop to take photos but it felt a little inappropriate given the occasion. I think, given the chance, we'd definitely go back to Suffolk and see more of what the area has to offer.
Have you been to Suffolk (or live there?) do you have any recommendations for places to visit?
Sunday was spent with SBB's brother - we hit up two castles and a National Heritage site. It was a whole lotta history but that's what we love! We went to Framlingham Castle - which has a very interesting history - Orford Castle and Sutton Hoo. I don't have any pictures to show you for Sutton Hoo because it started raining just as SBB and I were heading out to the burial mounds and we had to do the 'Sharpe's rifles quick march' to get there before we got drenched. We managed to snap one picture of us in front of said burial mounds in which we both look disheveled and a little wild.
Framlingham Castle (the one that can be seen today) was built by Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and completed about 1213 and was captured by King John in 1216. By the end of the 13th century the castle was a luxurious home with extensive land for hunting. During the 15th and 16th centuries Framlingham was at the heart of the estates of the powerful Mowbray and Howard families (relations of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) - and it was during this time that the fashionable brick work was added. Later Mary (aka Bloody Mary) seized power in 1553 - she collected her forces at Framlingham Castle before successfully marching on London. In the years that followed the castle was also used as a poor house, a public house, an isolation ward during the plague and as an equipment store during the Napoleonic Wars.
 |
| The old poorhouse - such a beautiful building |
 |
| The old poor house |
 |
| Love this door |
There's an odd but interesting animated video next to the reception/shop which gives visitors a quick run through of the history. None of us were English Heritage members so we had to pay but while we were in the shop SBB and I noticed a reproduction sword for sale for the bargain price of £85. I wasn't willing to commit to buying it until I'd seen the blade so we decided to ask to look at it after a walk around the walls. However, by the time we got back down - it had been sold! We were a little bit sad but then it probably just wasn't meant to be.
SBB was particularly enamored with the brick chimneys - as you'd expect - and I must have taken over 100 photos of the place. It was definitely worth the admission fee but SO COLD up on the battlements. It was windy and the wind was bitter. I'd left my gloves back at the hotel so by the time I'd finished taking all the photos my hands were painfully numb from the cold.
Next up was Orford Castle - it was built between 1165 and 1173 by Henry II and was heavily garrisoned during the conflict between 1173-1174. The political importance of Orford diminished after Henry's death although the port of Orford grew in importance as it handled more trade. The castle was captured in 1216 by Prince Louis. After 1336 it was no longer a royal castle and passed through various families whilst the surrounding economy of Orford went into decline. The estuary of the River Ore increased and gradually the harbour became more difficult to access and trade dried up. The castle and the land changed hands again in 1754 and by the late-18th century only the north wall of the bailey survived and the roof and upper floors of the keep had badly decayed. In 1805 a proposal was made to destroy it but this was declined and in 1831 restorations began. In 1930 the castle was given to Orford Town Trust. During the Second World War it was used as a radar emplacement.
Inside there were some cabinets with the various archeological finds from the site and the cabinet that caught my attention held information about the Wild Man of Orford. According to the story, a naked wild man, covered in hair, was caught in the nets of local fishermen around 1167. The man was brought back to the castle where he was held for six months, being questioned and tortured but he said nothing. The man was feral although eventually they decided he wasn't a threat and let him roam the castle but he was disdained by all. Eventually they took him out to the water and he swam away, popping up in the water every now and again 'in a mocking manner'. Obviously there were a few theories at the time ranging from demons to mermen. Modern suggestions seem to be that it was a seal but if the account is to be believed the wild man had the body of a man, slept in a bed and walked around... which doesn't sound very seal-like to me.
Unfortunately most of the castle has been demolished so only the tower is left. Apparently it's quite well-known for its unusual design and I can see why - each level had curling tunnels and rooms around the outside of each main room - a bit like a starfish if it bent all its legs round in a spiral. Most of the rooms were too dark to get any decent pictures but they were certainly entertaining. We found a couple of 'waterclosets' which had the wooden seats reconstructed so there were a couple of joking references to a certain scene from Game of Thrones.
Sutton Hoo is home to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time - they discovered the ship burial of an Anglo-Saxon king and his treasured possessions; including the famous Saxon helmet - have a look at the National Heritage website and you'll recognise it. We only arrived at site ten minutes before it was about to close so we rushed around the museum and had a quick (damp) peek at the burial mounds.
Sunday evening we went out to dinner with SBB's brother and his small family in Bury St Edmunds. We popped into a Wetherspoons - I think it was called the Corn Exchange? - and SBB and I were pretty impressed with the interior.
....Okay then....
Instead we ended up eating at Chimichangas which didn't seem to me to be a particularly special place (but hey, what do I know...). There were a couple of mix ups with our order - my sister-in-law isn't eating dairy at the moment as the baby has an allergy and somehow that translated to the staff that she wouldn't be eating rice as her vege chilli came out with - I kid you not - a dessert spoonful of rice. We had to ask for more. As for my order I asked for the cajun chicken quesadilla and ended up with just cajun chicken and the soggiest corn on the cob I've ever had in my life.
The funeral was in a little village called Clare and was to be held in Clare Priory. That's extent of the directions that we were given and, determined not to get lost as we had at the other funerals, decided to scout out the place to find out EXACTLY where we were going. SBB's mum had implied that the Priory was easy to find. After an hour of driving around in the dark we finally found the place so we were both glad we hadn't left it til the morning of the funeral.
In Clare we did spot this amusingly named pub and, indulging my immature side, I took a quick snap.
The next day we drove through some lovely old villages and towns and there some places that we'd have definitely liked to stop to take photos but it felt a little inappropriate given the occasion. I think, given the chance, we'd definitely go back to Suffolk and see more of what the area has to offer.
Have you been to Suffolk (or live there?) do you have any recommendations for places to visit?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)