Long Bank Extension Epic

I started creating the long bank extension at the start of September 2008. This is what it looked like a couple of days in...

One year on...

Two years on...

Three years on...

And then I did my shoulder in. No progress at all in 2012... And this was left to do...

So after spraying with weed killer yet again in July (and missing one section in the middle of it) come August I started work. I hadn't wanted to do all of it in one go but having missed a year I just went for it.

Nine days work to do the first pass of stones and weeds removal:

Oh, and one ant's nest in the middle which I sprayed and another at the top/path which I left well alone. And the day when the flying ants erupted from that one and were crawling all over the top before flying off haphazardly in all directions.

And did I mention the slates. It was bad enough finding them buried all over the bank - put your spade in and it comes to a full stop so then trowel to determine where it is to get it out, but when I thought I was almost finished I found the mother load buried about 4 inches under the surface about a foot in from where I wanted the edge to be. That cost me an extra day's work...

They stretched from the red hot pokers for a good yard and a half, several deep and were 'flaky'. I don't know how far in they go as I stopped excavating (very carefully - the small shards are as vicious as glass) when I had gone far enough for the garden.

I also dug out three wooden posts, numerous nails especially amongst the above slates and the ubiquitous farmer's nylon rope (orange and blue).

And then I started the second pass. Dig it all over again with a spade and get the rocks in place for my stepping stones. Another five days work. Paul helped getting the very heavy rocks in, and a further four rocks were provided by Allan (in addition to four donated a couple of years ago) to let me complete it just under 5 years on from when I very first started. And Jean still thinks I'm mad...

I had a couple of days off (well, getting nettles out of the high bank) but the last week I have been weeding the rest of the LBE (still not finished) and populating my new section. Other than bulbs and one shrub (a choisya from Morrison's) everything has been transplanted or divided from plants in the rest of the LBE.

I have reclaimed the path stretching the length of the LBE - this involved a lot of digging out of pulmonarias - and to think I started with one that hitch-hiked in a pot from Sandhurst.

And near the end of the path I noticed that the hibiscus that Maureen gave me as a seedling from her hibiscus that was a seedling from my mother's hibiscus is going to flower for the first time!

Far East Adventures - Part 1 - Penang

Things did not go well in Penang... or Bangkok.

Firstly my case never made it to Bangkok. The flight was already late arriving and having to wait until the baggage carousel said that was it, no more baggage coming out, and then having to queue along with another half a dozen people to fill in the paperwork (not helped by not having the full address and they wouldn't phone Gerry to get it) left me feeling completely frazzled. I found the metered taxi rank and finally was on my way to Gerry's. I felt a lot happier when I recognised a few of the landmarks - most notably the elephant building which meant I was almost there. An hour and a half later than expected and I arrived.

Jane phoned the airport in the morning to give them the full address and baggage expected time of arrival kept coming and then going. Eventually at about 4.30 pm men arrived with a case - not mine. They then returned with another case - jackpot!

I had a few days to recover before the 5 am start on our drive to Penang to ensure we cleared Bangkok before rush hour(s). I would like to say that this was an amazing experience, but I hadn't appreciated how flat Thailand is so it was not great sightseeing! There are occasional standalone 'mountains' (too big to really be called hills) that are very dramatic in appearance with their almost sheer sides. A few have temples on top, and one had an enormous Buddha - I cannot imagine how it got there!

Anyway, back to the journey. Firstly miles and miles of salt farms. And that was replaced my hundreds of miles of coconut plantations. And it started to rain in the afternoon and kept going, other than a break of about 10 minutes. That was very unfortunate. Having been driving relatively slowly the traffic speeded up. And then came to a halt. As we slowly moved on around a corner there was a lorry upside down against the large concrete barrier protecting the road from a large drop. The cab was completely flattened... We only saw one other accident, a car overturned in the 'central reservation' (this is mainly a double tree-lined area with a drainage ditch in the middle that runs almost completely the length of the road to Malaysia except in the towns) but no-one looked hurt. However, I had given up counting the number of dead dogs at the outskirts of the towns we passed through.

We had many short breaks for food, a quick ciggie for me, and the necessary. I will just say that the service areas do not have Western lavatories...

Getting across the border was relatively pain free. I was a little wary when Gerry told me he didn't have a license to drive in Malaysia just before we reached the border and I had visions of us being turned back! I was dropped off at my hotel a couple of hours later. In total 1150 km that took us about 15 and a half hours.

The next day was free to recover.

I will skip over the scrabble itself. Suffice it to say that a year off from serious studying combined with some pretty dreadful tiles at times is not a formula for success. But I did have a good time. The Aussies were on the executive floor of the hotel and I got invited to join them for free drinks and nibbles at happy hour on several occasions :)

We set off for home after the prize-giving.

A scary moment as we neared the border. There was a road block across half the road. We slowed but there was no sign of anyone - until after we went through. Suddenly there was a police or army guy waving and blowing a whistle at us. Gerry reversed back, and now there were three of them. The one in charge was shouting at us - didn't we know we had to stop. Well, um, no. We had gone through really fast. Well, um, no. They checked our passports and made Gerry get out and open the boot. We were praying they didn't ask for a driving license... After a few minutes they let us go. Very relieved when we got over the border...

We stopped overnight (well just before midnight by the time Gerry found the hotel he had decided upon). I zapped my way up and down the TV channels trying to find the Wimbledon final - Jane had said she thought it would be on a terrestrial channel - but to no avail. I gave up and tried to sleep - replaced rock (pillow) with a towel and got a few hours. Got up about 7 am and went to breakfast. This was an experience. There appeared to be four coachloads of people staying there, all colour coded. Purples, Blues, Pinks and Yellows. It was a buffet breakfast, fully lined by 'uniformed' tourists. I had been a little concerned on the food front but needn't have worried - I spotted fried eggs, bread and toaster, marmalade, hot water urn and jars of coffee powder. I could have got a job - I appeared to be the only person who knew how to use a toaster! People were putting bread in it, and then removing it again 30 seconds later without pressing the handles down. No sign of Gerry though. I went back for seconds. Still no sign of Gerry, so I went back to my room to collect my bag and checkout. It was getting close to the time Gerry had said he wanted to leave by so I got the desk to phone his room - he was ready to go. And I got given the news of Murray's victory as we got in the car :)

No more incidents on the way back to Bangkok, and we managed to avoid rain most of the way. The last game of the final was being repeated on the TV as we stepped in the door.

Is This Really June?

I think we are a month behind. But we are catching up quickly. It feels as if we have had more nice days so far this month than we had in the whole of last summer!

I contemplated calling this post White Is The Colour...

Not only is the may just coming in to its full glory but the crab apple over the road is dripping with blossom...

And there is the smell of wild garlic in the air...

And when I haven't been playing scrabble I have been busy in the garden.

Veggie seeds sown. So far the only signs of this are two cabbage seedlings.

The high bank has been attacked. I was trying to work out how long it had been neglected. As I normally only venture up there in the spring and autumn and last year I never made it due to weather and my frozen shoulder it was at least 21 months, and possibly nearer 26... And it showed...

The nettles weren't quite as bad as when first we moved up here, but were still about 4 foot high. Two days to pull most of them out and another couple of hours digging out roots. I took the opportunity to then do some planting. Autumn crocuses dug out, split and replanted - still have a couple of dozen left over. Two rhododendrons and a Japanese maple that had survived in their original pots for several years waiting for a home. I also dug up and divided some primroses from the LBE, three dark geraniums self-seeded in the drive and half a dozen geranium Johnson's blue also from the LBE. If they don't survive the trauma I will try again in the autumn.

Today I started with spraying the end of the LBE that is still waiting to be done. Maybe this is the year... Luckily the mice had chewed through the Clinic Ace plastic container half an inch up the side so I still had some left! I also made up a small batch in a jam jar and went out with a paint brush to attack some of the large deep rooted weeds that are impossible to dig out of the long bank. This will be an ongoing campaign.

And then on to the long bank in earnest. Paul had started clearing buttercups but soon got bored after a couple of barrow loads. I got him to make a start on the brambles while I followed up where Paul had started, going deeper into the bank and under the shrubs. I got another three sack loads out (mainly buttercups but also nettles and other weeds) before calling it a day.

Done:

To do:

Win Some, Lose Some, Win Some More

Time to catch up on my scrabble exploits.

February was Vienna. Nigel was there... I came second...
April was Marbella. Nigel was there... I came nowhere...
May was Malta. Nigel wasn't there... I won both the European Open and the Malta Open... Woohoo :)

June and back to domestic scrabble.

The Scottish NSC heat was on the 1st, and I abandoned Paul, visitors and guests to the annual Jim Clark Rally barbecue. I was under pressure to qualify. And after Melanie got a nine-timer against me in game 1 (MOp(H)EADS)  and followed it with 2 more bonuses I was lying last after the first round. Another loss in round 5 against Ross and the pressure was really on. And then I had to play Lukeman who was also struggling. A tense game that I scraped home by 2 points. 4-2, but my spread was poor so I needed to win the last game against Allan, who was undefeated. Luckily it flowed for me, and despite Allan having both the blanks I won by 170 to secure my qualification for the semis.

And then on the 5th I played my BEST 2nd round match against Allan. (I had a bye in the first round). It could have been so different. I lost the first game which was close - notable by the fact that the last 5 tiles I picked (3 and then 2) were all Es! In game 2 Allan played the phony DOILEYS on move 2. I challenged it off and then ensured the correct spelling was unplayable with a strategic AZO. A bonus of CIG(A)RETS and I was off and running. Allan got AUDILES down after dumping YO but I romped home. And continued to romp in the next 3 games. Allan conceded the fifth game after playing another phony when 150 points behind.

Next weekend is the Scottish Open, and then on the 18th I play my 3rd round BEST match against Ross. And I fly out to Bangkok on the 26th for more foreign adventures in Penang and the King's Cup.

Cardigardening

I realised that despite all my knitting over the last year and a half I had a distinct lack of cardigans. Jumpers overflowing, but very few cardies.

Well, that's not too hard to rectify...

February...

April...

And I also got around to buying and sewing in the zip for my hoodie jacket - I bought the yarn for this from a spinner/dyer on Lewis many many years ago (I guess the 1990s) when visiting my cousin Margaret and her husband Donald. Knitted the jacket last year. Zip only waited 9 months...

And possibly late April, more likely May:

Just finished blocking the body, first sleeve on the needles. I have no idea how this will turn out. I had 4.25 skeins left of this gorgeous Jaeger 4-ply silk that I got as an absolute bargain in 2011 and couldn't find a pattern I liked to use it. So I am making up my own...

I have also been busy in the garden. I finished weeding the LBE a couple of days ago - see April photo. And yesterday I started on the veggie patch. After my first abortive attempt when the weather gods sent down an onslaught of hail the moment my hands were covered in dirt I got back out an hour later and got in a good session.

This gives a good indication of the state it was in after a year of neglect due to last year's weather and my frozen shoulder. I actually got the next bed cleared as well by end of play yesterday evening.

Oh, and I have also bought some more yarn. 700g of organic merino aran. That was my allowed reward for knitting an extra mile over my 12 mile target of last year...

Same Old Same Old

So I haven't blogged in a while. Time moves on but nothing really new happens.

I am still playing scrabble. After doing very little study last year I had my most successful run of results ever. Winning the King's Cup and the Romanian Open, third place in Prague and second in Vienna. My scrabble budget is looking very healthy. Off to Marbella in a week's time with a couple of spare days for R&R. And I've started revising again. Hmm... maybe I should stick to a winning formula, but I guess my luck will run out at some point.

I have managed one short stint in the garden to do a bit of a tidy up. We have been promised that temperatures will pick up just about the time I go away...

But I have been knitting.... and knitting...

I reached my goal of a mile a month last year, and a mile+ more:

That's most but not all of my year's labour.

So far this year I have completed another pair of glittens, two lace-weight scarfs, one mohair wrap, two pairs of socks, one cardigan, two cushion covers to finish off some old chenille and one replacement right-hand glove for the one I lost in Vienna. Another 2.2 miles of yarn. And I am well on my on another cardigan - body done and about a third of the first sleeve.

And I haven't bought any yarn for over 15 months!!!

And this is what I have left...

Main stash:

Partials/Scraps:

Twelfth Sweater of the Year

I finished my twelfth pair of socks of the year a week ago - another of my own design to use up leftovers with a simple colourwork design:

And now I am working on my twelfth sweater of the year... Okay, I am including a sleeveless top in the category but even so...

I am making use of my new knitting books that I got for my birthday. MIL asked me what I wanted and then said to get them and she would pay for them. So three bargain second hand Harmony Guides including Aran stitches. And then from myself, to make up for Paul's complete fail on my birthday front, I sent off for Ann Budd's new handy book of top-down sweaters and a second hand copy of Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Stitches from the USA, which seemed to be most people's choice when the topic came up in Ravelry discussions.

So I decided the time had come to make my own design cabled jumper. I sat down with my stitch dictionaries and chose which cable patterns I would like.

And then I made another spreadsheet... I have to say I have found that a colour chart for the cables is soooo much easier to read than all the standard chart abbreviations for C4B, C5F, RT, LT etc! I have laid it out so that the colour key is aligned with the use of it in the chart and I just have to glance at it to know what I am supposed to be doing.

Although I decided to make this in the round, bottom up I have also been making use of the sweater book for reverse engineering as far as possible my neck and for the sleeve cap shaping. My head has been spinning on the subject of sleeve caps as I decided I wanted saddle shoulders and my chosen cable panel for the saddle was wider than the examples. So the sleeves are being done top down. I am halfway down the first one, and having tried it on this morning I think my adjustments are okay...

Two Twit Twoo

I was very kindly gifted the knitting pattern by a fellow ravelry member to make the popular Owls sweater by Kate Davies a couple of month back. I was originally planning to knit it using Debbie Bliss Merino chunky that I bought on ebay last year, but the pattern said it suited more rustic yarns.

So I broke into a knitting kit of Alafoss Lopi that I bought in Iceland in 1996 - there were 700g of a nice charcoal black which should be more than enough. As it was, being short in arm and body, I completed the sweater in four and a half days using just 550 grammes!

I have ordered buttons from Ebay - cheaper to buy 600 buttons from China than the 38 required for the Owl's eyes in the UK. They should arrive in a couple of weeks time...

And then I decided to go straight ahead and make another one...

I have a cunning plan.

Janet gave me some Icelandic Soft Spun yarn earlier this year - not enough to make a sweater on its own but it is an almost perfect match for the remaining Alafoss Lopi from the kit. It should be enough to make the body and sleeves up to the owls. And then I will finish off the black for the owls which should mean that any slight variation in colour on the top of the yoke/neck will not be noticeable.

Using Up The Scraps

I finished knitting  my Interlock Socks and am really happy with them.

And posted them on Ravelry.

And someone sent me a message saying they would love to test knit them. So I wrote up the pattern and posted it in the Free Pattern Testers forum. I now have half a dozen people testing my pattern and so far the feedback has been good :)

I went straight on to playing with my next idea. Colourwork socks with no stranding to use up those gorgeous scraps of sock yarn. I had great fun making up colour charts and decided to start with a relatively simple one as a test run to prove whether the technique works. And it does!

I wrote up the pattern after sock 1 and proof read/tested it on sock 2, incorporating the comments from my testers above where relevant.

I used Wollmeise Sockenwolle 80/20 Twin as my main colour for these, which is a relatively thick sock yarn and gave me a woman's M width (8") sock with the chosen test chart and needle size.

I am having another test run using thinner sock yarn and a different colourwork design to make a narrower sock.

I have just turned the heel on sock 1. I think I should have gone down a needle size too as I am a slightly loose knitter! These are coming out at about 7.5" width, which is fine for me but half an inch over size small. Once I have finished I will be able to work out the formula for the contrast colours yarn requirements fairly accurately and slot these in to my patterns.

My only problem now is that I am being tempted to break in to full skeins to get 'oddments' for the contrast colours :)

Must...Keep...Knitting...

So as I may or may not have mentioned previously I have been trying to knit a mile a month - I did get rather carried away with restocking my yarn mountain last year. Probably why the blog is looking sad and neglected. Not every month has been successful, but my average is slightly over the target.

I have also got quite in to designing more patterns for myself and am really enjoying letting my more artistic side out. Although I still prefer ordered, geometric artistic rather than chaotic, random, abstract artistic, when it comes to making a knitting pattern. I may no longer design computer programs but I still need to apply rules and symmetry - it is in my nature. Colours, however, can range free within the limitations of the yarns I possess...

And it does have a purpose - to use up those pesky oddments, partial and single skeins. Yeah, I could keep knitting scarfs but there really is a limit. Unlike socks and sweaters...

2000 Triangles Jacket

Patchwork Fields Sweater

Interlock Socks

These are my current project. I have just reached the heel on sock number 2.

The thing with socks is that they are knitted in the round. To use colours you need to either knit it all the way round or carry it along the inside until it is needed again. And that can be a pain in the a**e. Especially when switching from one needle to the next - too loose and you get ladders, too tight and you may not be able to get the sock on over your heel.

This pattern is actually very simple. On the rounds with two colours I am only ever knitting two consecutive stitches in the same colour so I don't have long floats and no need to catch the alternating colour down - switching needles is not a problem. And each round slips the colours across by one stitch so no need to twist the yarns. And I am carrying the pattern all the way around the foot and leg.


But for patterns where colour work is only wanted on the front/top of foot... I have been contemplating this for quite a while now... And think I may have come up with something that could be quite interesting and fun... well, if you are a sock knitter.

King's Cup 2012 Part 2

What can I say? I am shocked and so happy!

I went in to day 4 lying in 6th place, with Thacha almost assured a place barring meltdown on 19 wins, Goutham on 17, Taewan and Pakorn on 16, and Alastair on 15 and slightly better spread than me. And another 4 players also on 15 with worse spread...
I knew that I probably needed to win 5 out of 6 and for Thacha to keep winning to stand a chance of making the final in second place, but didn't really think I stood a hope. Four would probably guarantee I was in the prizes. Okay, just take it a game at a time.

Taewan first, one win ahead of me but inferior spread. A good win, helped by a couple of attempts at a non-existent bingo early in the game by Taewan, but I am still in 6th but have made up some ground, being now only one win behind second place. Pakorn had beaten Thacha - bad for me, Gautham lost to Alastair - good for me, Jakkrit had a large win and thus overtook me on spread.

Pakorn next - MUST WIN game. Pakorn opened with GALAX for 42, but I had YODLING sitting on my rack. And I came through, suddenly finding myself in second place when Thacha beat Alastair and Gautham and Jakkrit also both lost. And suddenly Vannitha had leapt up to third place. Five of us now on 17 wins and Thacha out in front on 20.

I had Goutham next, and after having lost to him twice already in the tourney I at last got to show him that I can play. A big win - spread was very likely to decide the second place and another 211 points did me no harm whatsoever.

A very short lunch break - I had time for a ciggie, pee, and grab a coffee - as we had started slightly late (a knock-on affect from playing Pakorn the round before) and had run our clocks right down. Luckily I still had a small muffin and bananas in my bag.

Thacha next. Hmm. He started with WIREMAN for 82. I had ELOOOOT... Not quite what I had wanted but I dumped (M)OOLOO for 9. He bingoed with CLAWERS for another 87. I would like to say I performed a miracle, but did manage to get the losing spread down to double figures. Back to third place, Pakorn now a win ahead again.

Thacha was now Gibsonised so pairings were king-of-the-hill from second place, so Pakorn again. I started with a bonus and never looked back.


Game 29. The winner between myself and Jakkrit would make the final. Pakorn needed to win and us to draw...


Jakkrit started with HOG. I dumped DANIO below it, holding another AN. This apparently blocked Jakkrit's bonus so he started a farmyard theme, playing off PIG. I bingoed on move 4 to take a healthy lead on a semi blocked board, and maintained control. With a 60+ lead and holding a blank I declined playing a face-value bonus in the only bonus line, that opened a 9-x, but dumped off DE for a mere 13, keeping EIST?. Jakkrit played onto a triple, giving me a floater for a safe bingo of lAMITE(R)S. A pick of AEINSZ? meant I was home and dry.


I had 27/58 blanks, but much more importantly only a few games where a had prolonged runs of unbalanced racks.

My nicest bonuses were J(I)HADEEN and B(A)RnEYI(N)G, both against Nigel in a game I lost.

For those of you who are interested details of the whole event, including the final, can be found here.

Bangkok 2012 - Part 1

I have been neglecting my blog. Probably because after the early good start in the garden things have gone pear shaped - other than the pears.
Most of my veggies that I planted out became slug food. We seem to have had a lot more than normal - probably due to the constant rain from April onwards.
The only decent weather we have had since March seems to coincide with when I am off on my travels.
A really nice week+, ending a day or two after I got back from Malta.
Now I am in Bangkok, and I hear from Paul that yesterday was lovely.

My scrabble has been so-so. Fourth in both the tourneys in Malta, fourth in the Scottish Open and an improvement to third in the NSC regional. BEST has been better though. I am through to the group final having had a bye in the first round and then two matches where I actually got a higher match rating than my actual rating. This was a novelty - up until this year I had amazingly never achieved that despite progressing quite well several times.

An interesting situation on the LHR-Doha leg of my flight yesterday. It was not full and I managed to move seat to one with extra leg room at the front. A young boy of about 5 or 6 I am guessing was moved by his mother into seat next to me. She then deserted him after stewardess denied her request to allow him to move into business class to be with her!

A couple of quiet days here before scrabble battle commences on Thursday. I am settled in on Gerry's sofa with fans on full blast. And I have been told that it is much cooler now that the rains have started!!!

Growing My Own 2012

It hasn't really been gardening weather for most of April but I have been busy sowing more veggie seeds in pots - the sunroom is an ideal greenhouse substitute.

Yesterday I did a third sowing of peas and mangetout, a month after the first lot which are now having to take their chances in the veggie plot. The second batch are just about ready to go out, but frosts are forecast for the weekend so I am holding off.

I have leeks in the small container on the right.

 And lettuces growing away on the utility room windowsill.

Beans (runner, dwarf purple and French climbing) were also sown yesterday


The tomatoes and cucumbers have been potted on. So far only partial success with the cabbages, 5 out of 9. The seeds I collected from an unknown variety seem to be doing best!

In the garden itself the rhubarb is really taking off. It is doing so well that I picked some and had it stewed with some yoghurt for lunch today!

The fruit garden appears to be thriving.

I was a little concerned at how advanced the gooseberry bushes were when I eventually got around to pruning them last month, but they look very healthy at the moment, with a large number of flowers. I am inspecting them regularly as last year they were really badly infected with powdery mildew and I didn't bother to try to pick any fruit. The blackcurrants were already flowering so I decided against pruning them.

The new apple and pear trees are in blossom. I think I am supposed to remove the apple blossom this year but I can't quite bring myself to do it. I will just remove the majority of fruits if they get successfully pollinated to relieve the stress on the young trees.




On the ornamental side of the garden I am now reaping the benefits of all the work I got done in February/March of this year on the long bank extension. It is now a joy to walk past it every day with the dogs. And I have spotted a lot of other people taking a good look too :)

New Toys

The Jim Clark Rally will be coming past our house again this year. And again we are planning to hold a barbecue.

Paul decided it was about time to upgrade our old one to a new superduper larger gas one - last year there were 15+ of us and it is likely to be similar again this year. He was very happy when I suggested getting this one:

as it was more than he thought I would let him spend :)

It arrived while Paul was still in the States - delivery man not overly happy at having to get it from the drive to our front door - literally. I had to drag it a couple of feet to the side to get free access again. So when Paul asked why hadn't I brought it in I let him know! It kept him busy for an hour or so assembling it. On Thursday gas was purchased (twice - first attempt got the wrong fitting) and yesterday Paul did a leak test and fired it up. All should be well come June - just need the weather to be as good as it has been in March!

I have also treated myself to a new bathroom scale. I am convinced that my old ones underweigh by about 3 lbs, and while some may like to delude themselves I would rather know the truth. So when they arrived I tried them out. Disaster - on our carpeted bathroom floor they were giving ridiculous readings. So I tried them on the tiled floor in the lobby - much better. When they say a hard flat surface they mean it! So I have improvised a hard flat surface with the use of a solid wood chopping board that I rarely use. On testing I got the same result as downstairs...

Unfortunately I cannot currently test the old ones under the same conditions as Sod's Law kicked in with the battery giving up the ghost.

Good with Food, Bad for Wallet!

Paul has been gone over a week now and I have been very successful in sticking to my diet.

So much so that I ran out of yoghurt and eggs yesterday.

Needing so little it was not worth the cost in petrol to go to Berwick. I was going to nip to the co-op in Chirnside but I received a cheque in the morning so ended up going in to Duns instead. And I would get a free cup of coffee chez Lady Penelope's.

Now time for rant.

The yoghurt cost twice as much as at Morrisons. Not organic, not free roaming yoghurt bacteria, not Greek-style fancy yoghurt. Just plain low fat yoghurt...

But that is as nothing compared to the eggs. Here I had no choice but free-range and/or organic. Okay, they were twice the price I normally pay but I would expect to pay more so didn't mind too much. However, they are actually over THREE times the price in reality as when I looked they were only 60% the size of what I normally buy! I would need to use 5 eggs to make the equivalent 3 egg omelette! You may think that is fair for giving these hens a better quality of life. But studies have shown that free-range hens are actually almost if not equally stressed as battery hens. Just different stresses. Every time a bird flies overhead they think it is a predator. And if they are so happy why are they producing runt eggs?

I also needed milk, and to be fair they did have 4-pint containers on offer so that was about the same price as Aldi's.

I don't mind supporting local shops but I don't like being fleeced!

Back in the Groove

Paul left for Memphis on Friday for his annual "bridge holiday".

I am now settling into a new routine.

I have been trying to lose weight (again) and succeeded to some extent - about 6 lbs down from my post-Christmas peak. I suffered a slight setback before Paul went, when after two slices of Jean's home made ginger cake (very good it was too), Paul still wanted Aunt Bessies Spotted Dick and custard for pudding in the evening - and unbeknownst to me, until I saw the packaging, gave us double portions. I was not happy. But now, three days down and a week to go without temptation, I am determined to drop another couple of pounds. Luckily I am content eating the approximate same things day in day out when dieting - saves thinking...

Lunch = 1/3 large pot of low fat plain yoghurt with my own added flavor* and a couple of plain digestive biscuits crumbled and mixed in.
* any of stewed rhubarb, a heaped teaspoonful of homemade blackcurrant/strawberry/raspberry jam and today I have got some redcurrants out of the freezer. It tastes a lot better than commercial flavored yoghurt and is a fraction of the cost!
Dinner = soup/sandwich or omelette with a couple of slices of bread

Target is to have lost another 7 pounds by the time I leave for Malta in about 7 weeks time.

Talking of which, I have at last got back in to some sort of word studying after a layoff of about 4 months - I have a title to defend! Mornings are spent on revision, afternoons are gardening if weather permits and evenings are knitting, with dog duties interspersed.

Down on the Farms

No, I'm not starting a Farming Weekly post.

But I had wanted to go over to Jean's to see the new lambs. So when Penny said we had been invited to go over on Monday I was ready with my camera.

When we got down to the shed we found an escapee mother and child - in the corridor. A bit of shooing from Jean with Penny blocking it's exit and they were re-penned.

Then we went down the far end to see the pet lambs. So cute - they suck on your fingers but unfortunately milk does not come out :)

Some of the lambs have personalities. I was especially taken with Number 35. A feisty character, twice the size of his? pen mates and the loudest baa in the place...

Didn't put me off having lamb chops for dinner last night...

Not to be outdone Margaret said we must go round to see her newest editions - twins. Apparently the first was already suckling by the time the second was born. They were too busy feeding again for me to get a photo of them both

but one came away from mum briefly to pose for the camera...