I want this book!!!

I HAVE to have this book! I've been looking for a book on how to create a witch's garden for years! So, daddy, if you're reading this! It's my birthday soon.....

I love my allotment

It's turning out to be a gorgeous late winter. It's been sunny nearly everyday for ages. Well, it seems that way anyway.
I skivved off work today, lured by the birds singing and the blue sky, and made my way up to the allotment. Oh boy have I got some digging to do! I managed to dig a good 5 or 6 square metres today, and planted a row of shallots. The battery on my camera was about to die, so I've just got a couple of naff piccies, but you can JUST FEEL the sun and blue sky. You can see what's left of my dinky savoy cabbages, Jon's are at least six times the size. Also, you can see my lovely kale in the background. You could almost describe it as busy up there today, with Peter and Dougie both doing stuff on their plots. Pete is an inspiration. He can hardly see a thing, yet his plot is immaculate. He rides a motor powered bicycle from Kettering to Thorpe, (slightly worrying!) and he must be atleast two-hundred and eighty. Actually, he's one of the more youthful of the gang, I guess he must be around seventy years old.
Due to the storms we had recently, there are LOADS of fallen branches. I went around and gathered as many as I could. I'll either make a pretty fence, or some wigwams to grow baby pumpkins up. I also managed to get loads of pea sticks from the copse at the back of the alllotments.
My plastic sheeting that was keeping the weeds down was ripped to shreds by the storm. I'm going to re-use the bits that are left to make ponds. Not for show, but to gather as much water as possible for the summer.
Yesterday, on my way back from a crap afternoon in Kettering, I stopped by the allotment. It was just dusk, and the whole sky had the most incredibly beautiful rosy glow. Just as I was stood there, an enormous flock of rooks flew over, no doubt making their way back to their rookery by the hall to snuggle up for the evening. I LOVE rooks, ravens and crows. If I ever have a daughter, I would be tempted to call her Raven.
I'm in the process of trying to twist Nick's arm into helping me up there tomorrow. I've been on at him all week. The general response I get is a face that looks like all the muscles have been taken out of it, resulting in every feature on it drooping downwards...seriously, you have to see this face to believe it. The "face" is usually accompanied by a kind of "nooooo-ho-ho-ho-ho-hoooooo", followed by him clinging to me and burying his face in my neck. The very same response can be generated by the phrases..."will you take me to Hobbycraft please" or "can we go for a cup of tea at the garden centre". It's worth saying these things just to witness the performance, regardless of whether you want to go or not...ha!
Anyway, I better go have a bath as I smell like a pirate. (due to the digging, I don't usually smell like a pirate).

Six strange things about me....

Well, I been tagged to tell 6 strange things about me....

1) I have a Daniel O'Donnell calender on my office wall. I bought it as a joke for my friend for Christmas, but it made me laugh soooo much, I kept it!


2) I am utterly and completey obsessed with "Nick & Jessica, Newlyweds". I have no idea why! I consider myself a fairly deep, thoughtful and even intelligent person at a stretch...but I LOVE watching it. I have watched the same episodes again and again, and am gutted they are now divorced. Weird!


3) I have a stationery fetish and will buy post it notes, notebooks and pens in an uncontrollable frenzy.

4) I have a series of beauty spots in the shape of the eiffle tower on my left fore arm.

5) I can't stop re-arranging furniture. I spend hours moving the sofa, the sideboard etc, then spend the same amount of time putting it all back exactly where it was. When my husband gets home, he has no idea what adventures the pieces of furniture have had while he was at work.

6) I dislike chocolate and ice-cream. Chocolate hurts my teeth and ice-cream...well, why would anyone want to put themselves through the displeasure of eating something soooo horribly cold!

So there you go.
Six weird things about me!

Error - Bad Request!

I can't visit anyone's blog on my links list!!
So if I haven't paid you a visit for a while, it's not because I don't love you anymore!!!!!
I don't know what to do...
any ideas out there in cyber space?

Eeek,

xxx

Candles, open fire and a Chinese take-away

Yesterday we got hit by the MOST amazing storm. Apparently there were gusts of up to 100 miles an hour. So, as you would expect, the power went after lunch yesterday. So I lit the fire, I lit a gazillion candles and put some batteries in the radio, settling down on the floor infront of the fire and gazed at the trees blowing outside the window. I must have sat there for hours, just doing nothing but staring out the window...
Then it got dark, then I thought, sod it, I'm having a glass of wine, so I did just that.
Husband got home and as the cooker wouldn't work, we HAD to get a Chinese takaway, Oh! the trauma! We spent the rest of the evening playing cards and getting slowly sloshed. It was the best night I've had for a long time. Sometimes I think of hiding the tv altogether, so we can do that all the time.

We went ot bed with the power still off, and woke up in the morning with the power still off. Thank GOD it came on at about 9ish, the thought of going through the day with no coffee or bacon sandwiches was terrifying.

What a mess!

I can never wait to get sowing, so every January I get peas, broad beans and sweet peas underway. I've got some basil sown as well. Never had much success with basil. I always dream of rows and rows of lush bushes, and presenting my friends and family with home made goblin market pesto. Never happens.

My peas are looking a tad leggy, I never know why that is. Are they too warm maybe? Well, I've bunged them out to harden off now, along with the beans. I'm planning a trip to Wickes to see how much drain pipe is....I've always wanted to try the drain pipe pea sowing thing.

I've tried soaking my sweetpea seeds in warm water over night, lets see if it makes any difference eh?!

Oh Aunty Em!

There's no place like home,
there's no place like home,
there's no place like home...

Right?

Well if this is home...I'm not sure I'd want to leave munchkin land, (not that I'm claiming I ever have left munchkin land!).

I like my house, it's so cute, but the location...there is nothing here for me.

I feel no connection to it at all.

The situation here and the way we live literally on top of our neighbours stresses me out.

You may well be reading this and thinking...tsk! Ungrateful cow, look at what you've got! More than a lot of people! But trust me...it's time to move away. It's time for Nick and I to LIVE our lives together, have an adventure...

I'm scared!

Erica
xx

Uh-oh!

Splurge on interior items for the bedroom, including two doilies?
Baking fairy cakes for my husbands pack lunch?
I'm actually thinking of making a pack lunch?

It's finally happened,

I've turned into my mother....!!!!

Spring? Hello?

I love sowing seeds.

I sow as early as I can, probably too early!

Here's the first little glimmer of what's to come from my allotment this year, peas and broad beans.

Tomorrow, if the weather's fine, I'll go and dig.
It hasn't stopped raining for what seems like forever, and my allotment is just a mud bath.
My garlic is poking through the earth at last, I still get excited, I'm such a saddo.
Nick says he can get me some pallets from work, this means I can build my first ever compost bin! I might make some leaf mulch aswell this year.

Water was a serious problem last year, so now is the time to collect it. I need more butts, trip to the tip soon I think!
I did see a bright pink bath that was dumped outside someone's house in town, now a huge pink bath would look wonderful...alas it will not fit in my car.

revel in the seasons

I love weather. I like it baking hot, freezing cold, thunder, as long as it's doing something...

My favourite season is Autumn, but days like today make me wonder.

The sheer darkness of it. I love it. I HAD to go out and be in it. I was hoping to find some rooks but there are none in the village, there are some in the next village, where my allotment is...I'll take some pictures next time I'm there.

My only complaint about today's weather is that it could have been a bit colder...

I am having trouble uploading my photos...will try again in a while.

Time for an early spring clean...very early.

I'm desperate to clear out the lounge, it's so cluttered. Maybe I'll change the colour?
Maybe a nice warm green?
I like the red though...any suggestions?

Fairy Swap

Well, who's a lucky girl?
Look what I got in the post!
It's from Ocean Dreamer (LIsa), my Secret Society of Faeries swap partner. She lives all the way over in California which I just think is amazing in it's self! My God! Imagine living in California! Well, despite Lisa going through the most awful time lately she took the time to gather all these lovely, wonderful faery gifts and send them over the sea to me! Thank you sooo much Lisa, it means so much more knowing what you've been through recently. I hope my parcel reaches you safe and sound soon and brings you a little joy at this difficult time.

What a day!

Well what a day yesterday was! Well, the whole week really.

I had a dentist appointment in the morning, plus a massive deadline for two, yes two projects!!

But as the day went on, good news arrived via a text on my mobile phone...I shall share more later.

Then...OMG...my SSOF parcel arrived. I nearly peed myself!

Thank you soooo much Ocean Dreamer!

I took some photos and will upload them asap!

meanwhile...

latest work...

Pumpkin Soup

Big wedge of pumpkin

chop into bits and bake in oven until sqidgy

scrape flesh away

chop up a bit

sweat some red onion

chuck in pumpkin

pour in boiling water

crumble in 3 veggie stock cubes

stir

whizz with whizzer until consistency you like

season to taste

How to win Monopoly

Here's one of our games of Monopoly we played on holiday...as you can see I have a hotel on Park Lane.
I soooo whooped Nicked arse!

Here's me looking like a very happy bunny.
It is impossible to be unhappy in south west France...

the £1.50 bottles of wine maaaaaay have helped slightly!!!