Fossil hunting in Lyme Regis

Some friends, L & L came to visit us from London.  It was great to see them, they had been to a party the night before so took their time getting here, L nursing a hangover so L had to drive, hmm, this could get complicated...

So we drove to the seaside, Lyme Regis, famous for its fossils.  It's a quaint, small and expensive seaside town.  We considered having lunch there but it was extortionate. Jam really wanted a pasty and with hindsight we should have let him have one, for the pasty call didn't end there and I ended up making him pasties galore - actually, I started making them and he had to finish them, which made them taste so much nicer!

We stopped instead at a pub for a carvery, although they had run out of carvery so chose from the menu.  It was good.  There was a bit of confusion about the desserts but we got through it and came out smiling and feeling very full.  What a lovely day it was too, the weather was blusty but, did I just make that word up? Blusty, like gusty and blustering, hmm, just looked it up and blusty means 'A portmanteau describing a woman who has large, though quite clearly plastic, tits.'  Well, we didn't see any of them, but we did scramble along the beach to look for fossils. 

I found a few old pieces of broken crockery that were appealing to the eye and a flat piece of rock, almost slate like.  I took my treasure home and showed Jam the flat rock saying I'd like to engrave it for a friend as a new office gift, when he had a closer look and said ' honey, nice idea, but it's asbestos!'

Gutted, but when I told my friend the story he laughed saying that one of his first jobs was helping an Uncle with his roofing company and so dealt with asbestos all the time, no problem!

Listography - Perfect Day

Ooh, how exciting, I've not done this before, I feel like a schoolgirl in the school disco about to have her first snog...

The brilliant Kate from Kate Takes 5 does this listography each week and asks others to join in, so here I am.  My Perfect Day -

First off, I'd like a good night's sleep, on a really comfy bed, without any interruptions (not even from the wonderful hubbie, although that could happen happily on the second night, after a good night's sleep!)

Secondly, I'd love breakfast in bed, actually what am I talking about>  If this can be anything in my wildest dreams then surely I'd prefer breakfast on the balcony in a house on an exotic beach, with amazing views.

Thirdly, I'd love to have a swim in the sea followed by a massage and a bit of me time to read a book or daydream or draw or play guitar or knit.

Fourthly, I'd like to stroll along the beach with Jam and Rowan, meet up with some friends and watch a super cool funny impromptu puppet show.

Finally, I'd like Rowan to fall asleep peacefully and stay asleep, whilst Jam and I enjoyed the evening doing whatever, together, watching the sun go down and up again...

Monster Price For Gold Competition

This is random.  I received an email about this competition where you have to write a post about something you are passionate about and thought, why not?  A chance to win £250 should never be sniffed at should it?  Please click here to go to their site and vote for me to win!  Pretty please, it depends on me persuading YOU to vote, so go on, lots of times, every day please, you know you want to, the winner is the person with the most number of votes by Monday, so get clicking!

One of my life passions is writing poetry.  As a child I remember being told off for talking in class and having to write a poem about Autumn.  It was about 30 verses long and went on and on.  I'm not sure why I wrote so many verses, perhaps it was to annoy the teacher, but it sparked a passion that would be a life-long friend.

I've had some of my work published.  The first time that happened I was so excited.  Something about seeing your name in print is so satisfying.  When things go wrong it can be the best way to get your emotions in order and sort your head out.  No room in the house is without paper and pen.

I've turned some of my poetry into music, working with an old school buddy to create an album called 'Hidden'. When I lived in London I would always have a notebook with me and write poems about anything and everything.  That was how I wrote the songs for Hidden, using extracts from all my random ramblings in various journals.  Now I sing to my son, making up silly verses to make him giggle. 

So please, dear reader,
Do what you can
To vote for me now
Then I'll tell you my plan
To set up a course
Where people can write
Expressing their feelings
However they'd like :)

Poetry is a gift, it's a lift up into the sunshine on a rainy day, it's a hug when you're feeling lonely.  It can bring so much joy and you don't need a degree to write it.  I'd like to set up a poetry group for people to come together and find a voice with which to express their emotions and share their experiences. 

Click here...
please.

'Crying icicles instead of tears'

Yes, if you'd ever admit to knowing it, that is a classic Meat Loaf lyric, the full sentence - 'You've been cold, to me so long, I'm crying icicles instead of tears'...  something has got to give hasn't it, my son is laughing his head off at me singing to him whilst trying to get him to eat, it seemed the only way to make him eat today.  Why the Meat Loaf album was in the CD player I do not know, well, actually it was in there when I was cleaning up the other day, 'Like a Bat out of Hell'... Hell, if this makes you think I'm strange I'd just take a step back and blame the parents!

I remember as a child, our parents used to love that album and we would come home from school to hear it being played full volume and come in to see them freaking out, or was it dancing?!  Mum would be twirling her arms in the arm and kicking her legs, so that must be where I get my amazing dance moves from. My sister and I used to listen to one of the tracks in particular, it has a commentary part and we loved it when it got to the part that said 'holy cow I think he's gonna make it....' we'd always come in too soon and laugh our heads off, then the female voice would belt out 'Stop right there! I wanna know right now, do you love me? Will you love me forever?  Do you need me? Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life, will you take me away and will you make me your wife, I've gotta know right now, do you love me' and so on, oh how it just rolls off the tongue and the memories of singing it with hairbrushes and actions fill me with joy and a teeny weeny bit of horror!

Years later I was helping out in an office, and somehow an inpromptu Meat Loaf appreciation session came upon us, we were loud and had all the words. I knew then that I was not alone in being slightly weird.

Jerusalem Artichoke and Lemon Soup

I was given this cookbook for Christmas, Sophie Conran's Soups & Stews   I don't normally do cookbooks but I don't have the luxury of so much time to experiment these days so I enjoy having cookbooks to be inspired by.  Saying that, I tend to adapt recipes all the time anyway because I don't have a particular ingredient, indeed for this one I didn't have a lemon, not a fresh one anyway, just one that had gone hard in the fruit bowl.

My brilliant neighbour Cagney gave me a bag of jerusalem artichokes that she had just dug up from the garden.  How brilliantly country is that.  She's a great neighbour and I'm enjoying getting to know her and her daughter Lacey, you can tell these names are made up can't you?  And I think I've got them the wrong way round and I'm not really sure why I chose them so I hope I'm not offending you dear! I loved that programme when I was a kid... anyway I digress, yet again... brevity Flora, practise brevity!!

So I chopped up all the vegetables, threw them in a pot and cooked it. 

Pureed it, then ate it, forgetting to take a picture beforehand, luckily there was some left over and we presented that to take a picture. 

It's now in the freezer waiting for my sister to arrive and sample it. Oh, I also made some with tomatoes which were a little overpowering and is now in the freezer too.  It might be nice cold when the weather's warmer, like a gazpacho.  I remember making that with a friend from college I was staying with one summer, it was great fun and really tasty. Enough now, back to whatever else I was meant to be doing...

How to thank your husband for giving you a break

Yes indeed, this is my quandry.  I want to thank Jam for being such a gorgeous husband and giving me a break.  He's taken the little munchkin off to a music group, so I've had a luxurious soak, washed my hair and instead of running around frantically cleaning... (I did that yesterday, they went to visit great grandad - hmmm, so I have to doubly thank him!) I'm determined to catch up on some essential reading and writing.

The one thing that springs to mind is some serious loving!  I'm not going to go into details here, but that does seem to fall by the wayside when you've got a small one stuck to your boob all day.  Finding the time when you're both in the mood is not as easy as it seems, especially when you don't have a slurry of servants around to do all your tasks for you when you do have a spare minute.  My sister is paying a visit tomorrow morning and she said she would help me with the cleaning, but now that the cottage is clean, I think she would much rather take the little one for a walk!  It is HIM she's coming to visit really after all!  Ah, I love it when a plan comes together!

So I'm trying to clear my mind of all things baby-like.  It's hard but I'm determined.  I am a temple to love.  I am open to my heart.  I am open to my sex chakra.  I am open to suggestions!   I am suddenly very excited ~ so this must be a good thing!

I shall also thank him with an omelette for lunch...
What more does a man need?