primroses

Only when we recently went to foreign parts (well Somerset) did I realise that the primroses so abundant here are not all over.

Here, in South Devon, they are amazing right now. Every lane, verge, hedge and hill is with primrose. We have them popping up in the lawn (I carefully move them before they get beheaded by son with his push mower), and our green lane is lined with them

The verges of the A38 are smothered in their yellowness and are a joy to look at, making any journey an uplifting one.

I don’t know why primroses like this area so much, but I am glad.

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may bank holiday barbeque

I’m feeling quite unnerved…. it is a bank holiday.. and it was hot and sunny… that can’t be right can it?

We even had a barbecue.The blankie came out.. the lounger went under the pergola in the shade – and both were used in between bouts of activity – we are barn building at the mo – and have chicks hatching, and lots and lots of seed sowing. The cats, who like to take on a supervisory role including lying on newly sown seeds or climbing on newly erected barns, got a bit too hot and lay about in languid heaps.

So cheering to have good weather. It would be nice if it could rain at night though, and the grass could grow and the plants self water…

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that London

We’ve spent a day in that London, over the weekend.

We went to the museum of London, ate dim sums for lunch, walked around St Pauls and across the millennium bridge.
We had cocktails in the Oxo tower bar (son had been practising drinking with his little finger stuck out for some time now..), had a quick look around Covent Garden, walked to China town, and bought some nice bowls, then walked to Trafalgar Square, and popped into the National Gallery to make sure my Renoir is still ok.

Then bought a picnic to have on the train home.

Safe to say, we did too much – I nearly broke my son, and himself and I found we had set into a fixed shape by the end of the train journey. Perhaps we need to learn how to have time off without filling it with something else exhausting..

But it was good. And we agreed we would do it all again.

Maybe after a rest.

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dragon slaying, again

We celebrated St George’s day in the traditional (for us) way – by slaying the dragon, that is having the ‘dragon’ menu at a local Thai restaurant, along with my family.

It started as a coincidence, and is now tradition. And we have been doing this for enough years that they recognise us and the fact we celebrate this way.

Which leads to a strange conversation with the lovely Thai restaurant owner.. with us trying our best to answer her questions; yes we celebrate him for England,  but he was Lebanese, and he killed  the dragon to rescue a maiden but no that story isn’t actually true, with my son chirping in commenting over which part of the dragon we must be eating at each course… (dragon wings taste a bit like duck, it turns out)

It was a good meal and a good evening

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glastonbury tor

Nice weather at last, and conveniently placed on a day we were all free, we had a jolly and went to Glastonbury to walk up the tor.

Driving from Devon , we get to see the tor for miles before we actually get there, and we have passed it often, by moonlight, early morning sun, or rising out of mist, but today we chose cool but sunny weather. It is only half an hour of uphill, and that is if you choose the long way,  but you really don’t want to be doing that in the rain, and a clear day is needed for that view. Lovely.

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Branscombe

Yesterday, the first guaranteed day of sunshine in forever, we planned a family day out.. and went to Branscombe.

Beautiful place, with a long shingle beach, which we walked all the way along to the headland, which was tiring, but broken up by the need to search for stones with holes in, typical of flint beaches (lots) and fossils (a few bivalves)

Then back along the cliff top – completely different kind of tiring – replacing ankle turning knee busting shingle for cardio workout hills (- and I had told himself I was well enough for a ‘bit of an amble..’)

Then home fresh faced with the happy glow of having got some exercise, felt the sun on our skin (if just faces) and good family time.  And obviously seized up and achy.. but it was worth it.

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eastermas

This year’s Easter cakes are brought to you via this Sainsbury’s recipe - chosen for ease – it is essentially a carrot cake, and therefore difficult to get wrong.  My brain is still lurgified and not needing anything complex.

This afternoon, sat around a roaring wood burning stove, feeling over full, over chocolated and contemplating another turkey sarnie (we had cooked a turkey crown on Friday to give us lots of sarnie meat through the bank holiday weekend), getting over the lurgy, having been  out and met with family and home again, the sleet and cold weather driving us in to spin and knit by the fire in front of drivelous TV… I suddenly had an urge to have a slice of Christmas pudding!

Yup it really did feel like thingymas – in fact I think it was warmer outside at Christmas.

A nice feeling – I think Easter is one of my favourite festivals.  But yes, could spring be sprung now please?

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eggs of many sorts

We have been waiting some time for the frog love in, and Saturday it finally arrived, the pond was a-chirping, it was actually warm  and frogpawn appeared.

And then, of course, once again, winter  snapped back – we had a blizzard Sunday night, the world was white on Monday, and the pond became a huge frogspawn ice lolly.

This spring has been hard like that – every time spring sprung, the cold came back even harder.  The chickens have been slow to get going with their egg laying – we have lots of eggs, but nothing like as many per bird at this time last year (I know because the book-keeper in me can’t help myself keeping records…), mind you I swear they picked up their laying in the last couple of days  - there was a sudden increase in eggs at the exact same time as the blizzard turned up – they probably thought time in a nice cosy nest box was a good choice….

The ducks, poor things, have had several false starts.  We had a warm spell back in January, and they both laid a clutch – then the freezing temperatures came in, and we were sure the eggs would not make it as the ducks were not sitting, so we collected them up – and duck eggs appeared on the menu for a while.  This happened again, and then we cracked and decided it was time to improve the duck housing.

They have a big shelter – but they prefer to perch all night instead  ; muscovy ducks are pretty tough, but as we found in the poor weather last year, ducklings are not so hardy, and eggs are susceptible to cold and wet too – so we made duck nest paradise.. OK I admit, it doesn’t look much – but this is what any self respecting mother  duck wants; somewhere dark, and enclosed, to settle a nest in.  We cut a hole in the back of the old boar pen, made it cat proof and offered a box and straw.  Two days later a duck was laying there – last count she had eighteen eggs.  And the other duck has started laying in the outside box too.  All in time for this current cold snap – we have -4 C over night – but both ducks were keeping their eggs warm over night – and the indoor ones stand a greater chance – so fingers crossed.

Meanwhile things don’t look so good for the frogspawn – but good news, perhaps for the later comers to the frog party – hopefully there are some – as it will be their offspring that might make it.

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