Wombles of Oakbank

Well today was yet nother totally neat Sunday as Mr B and I helped out with other local residents tackling the litter which had accumulated in our hedgerows and road sides over the winter months. Sadly no Wombles attended, though it is a long journey from Wimbledon to Oakbank on a Sunday.

Our local parish councillor organises the pick twice yearly (Autumn and Spring), though this was the first we'd taken part in. Only the other day I'd commented to Mr B on the number of crisp packets and food cartons drivers had thoughtlessly cast from their car windows en route home so it was perfect timing for lending a hand.

Here's Mr B donning some high vis for the pick as it was a misty morning and some cars take the bends far too fast. I bet people driving past thought we were on community service sporting these beauties!

Other Oakbank residents looked on in intrigue with their young. The litter pick really benefits the animals too as litter which blows into the fields could end up eaten by them.

It was very tiring work, lots of bending and crouching over a substantial stretch of road. I had to come home early as it was a bit too much for my bump to manage but I did a good hour and a half and Mr B was even longer. He reported that 15 bags of rubbish were collected as well as some old signage and car parts. What a good total for two hours work. Makes you think about how much litter is actually out there doesn't it?

It felt really good to be doing something that made an instant impact on our environment. As we drive past tomorrow instead of tutting at the mess others have made we can admire the litter free hedges and know that we played a part in shaping our surroundings for the better.

In a spin!

I must tell you about the fantastic present Mr B got me for Mothers (to be) Day. It was a handy bit of kitchen equipment I'd been after for ages, since I was a child in fact. A salad spinner.

Such a simple thing can bring so much pleasure. I first encountered this marvelous machine when I was 9 and was playing at Mrs Bonds house (a neighbour of my Grannys) with her grandaughter. Mrs Bond was preparing a 'summer tea' for us girls to eat on trays in the garden, which consisted of salad, new potatos and chicken. Oh how she span that salad! I was amazed, even at such an early age I knew it was the machine for me.

These days, more than ever, it's so important to wash fresh foods before we eat them to get rid of those nasty pesticides, even more important during pregnacy. But sometimes certain things just aren't nice eaten wet, salad and herbs especially. Who wants a soggy sandwich or a wet plate? So there lies the temptation not to wash. That's why I am such a  big fan of this machine, not least it's 1960's 'housewifes dream' appeal.

So here it is the Oxo little salad and herb spinner in all it's labour saving glory. Wash your greens pop em in, on with the lid and then away you go with just two presses on the pump top. No electricity, no batteries just good old kinetic design.

All this water came off just one bunch of basil, imagine that in your salad!

...and hey presto lovely spray free basil dry and ready to chop without sticking to the knife.

Once washed the greens can be stored in the dried out spinner in the fridge for extra crispness. Thank you Mr B for a lovely day and a lovely present x

Totally neat.

Spring is in the air at Oakbank. Whilst out walking with Mr B and Myrtle we spotted the following neat and tidy things...

Growing beds raiked and ready for planting.

Possibly the neatest stack of wood ever!

Bee Keeping clobber washed and drying on the line. I was very tempted to try it on.

A smart new gate to the Bee Keeping area, made from locally sourced wood, I like the way it's a bit wiggly.

A fantastic repair to a wall in the field opposite, unfortunately I don't have a picture of when it was down but it was a real mess as the tree had made it belly over the years and then it all gave way a few months back. You'd never guess to look at it now. What skill!

 

Right we'd better get cracking on our own list of spring tidying and cleaning then!

Her mum taught her to sew.

A week or so ago my friend Karen gave me this very interesting little origami parcel as a late Christmas present....

 

...inside was a lovely little lady....

 

...and inside her was a little lady baby! I pointed to it as a scale reference.

 

Karen is one of the neatest sewers I know and it's great that her little creations are now on sale in her etsy shop.

What a mess!

Now that the sickly stage of pregnancy has passed I'm really into my food again, which is great. There's nothing worse than being off even your favourite ever foods. I decided to celebrate this change by making two of my all time favourites this weekend.

Sunday night I made my mums delicious pie. It's just known as 'the pie' and it's really quite a fitting title. You make it by layering up thin slices of potato (King Edwards make it best) with thin slices of red onion, wilted spinach and sprinkles of a goats cheese/cheddar cheese mix. Placing layer upon layer (in a deep lidded dish) with small knobs of butter in between, and a teensy bit of salt and pepper, it creates a massive stack of thin slices which all cook in the butter and moisture from the taties in the oven for 90 mins. Heaven.

It's so good and was eaten so fast that I don't have any pictures to show you except this one of my tummy, rather full after eating the left overs today, Mr B didn't even get a look in!

For pudding I made Eton Mess, which along with Mr B's trifle and a really well thought out fruit salad, is one of the best puds on earth.

I make this in a similar way to how Nigella Lawson does, though at this time of year the strawberries aren't worth bothering with so they were out the picture replaced with raspberries. Dead simple pud made by whipping up a pot of double cream with some caster sugar, adding the seeds from two pomegranates (I just love the rich colour from these strange, complex fruits. Considered throughout history to be a symbol of fertility)

...a punnet of raspberries and then, just before serving, a load of crunched up meringue, as much as you can mix in. As you can see by the photo, no matter how nicely presented, it is as described, a mess, a very very yummy one!

Hear all about it!

I've recently been circulating posters and flyers for the knitting and stitching club I started up in July last year.

It's taken me ages to come up with a design I liked as I'm not into doing stuff on the computer but also seem to have issue with every drawing I've ever done! Collage and the trusty photocopier helped me out in the end and I am pleased with the result.

The pub landlord kindly agreed to display one in the window and we have had three new attendees from just that one.

I like the idea of finding out about things via posters, flyers and pamphlets, it's nice in the digital age to have a more traditional approach, makes it feel like you found something secret and special.

Fly away home

I had the window open this morning while I was drying my hair and lo and behold almost straight away in came the first lady bird of the year!
It's a title no doubt given to many lady birds but she is definitely my first. I wonder if that causes a lot of friction on the lady bird scene? 'I was first in 2009 I tell you' 'No I was, a farmer told me so' 'Well I was the first this year' 'No Ethel was, Miss P said so on her blog'......

...anyway, here's a picture of her. A happy accident as the camera focused on the view beyond the glass so she looks like a really big bird sat on the telephone lines.

Happy L Day.

I thought I'd share a bit of Cumbrian folklore with you for the day of love tomorrow.

This heart shaped wood grows along side the motorway near Tebay and it always makes me smile and think about love whenever I see it.

There are lots of tales about it's origins, some say it was planted as a memorial to a young soldier who was killed in the first world war, others say it was a farmers way of expressing his love for his wife.
A lot of people think that it stems from 'star crossed lovers' from rival farming families who committed suicide. Some people also think that it represents the middle of mainland Britain.

The woman who now owns the land claims, rather crushingly, that the heart shaped wood isn't actually heart shaped at all, and that is was originally a forest plantation set up in the mid 1800's, and that is all that is left of the original plantation.
Whether it be man made or accidentally created by nature, I still like to think of it is as a grand romantic gesture created by someone or something.

Postal surprises!

I just had to tell you about the fantastic surprise I got in the post today from Lisa and Dan. Love the way she addressed it to Mummy Vanessa-that's me!

Lisa and Dan became a Mummy and Daddy in December to beautiful baby Margot. Inside the box was a lovely picture of them before Margot's arrival (Lisa's bump looks so neat) and lots of baby clothes, mitts and some heart burn sachets (Lisa swears by them for the third trimester)

What a stash of goodies, just this morning I had been thinking about all the new born sized things we needed to get in ready for July and hey presto it all arrived via a very kind friend (well and a curly haired postman). The coloured grows were dyed by Lisa herself.


I'll leave you with a recent picture of Margot sporting a hand appliqued grow in homage to Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic. Thank you Lisa, Dan and Margot for the parcel x

two pink lines change everything

I am pleased to write that I am 15 weeks pregnant today, I'm feeling very excited/scared/fat. I think Mr B feels all of these too, well not the fat bit. Life will never be the same again.

I haven't written a blog in ages as I've felt pretty rough up until now, whoever decided to call it 'morning' sickness needs hunting down and impregnating. Anyway I'm feeling a bit more like my old self now so can start to think about writing again.

We had a scan done and saw what look like a broad bean wriggling about, trying to get comfy and then sucking it's thumb. Was an amazing experience. I haven't felt any movement yet, it should start to any time now!

I'm looking forward to blogging about motherhood :)