Dogging in the countryside
Hello to those of you who found this blog post because you were googling naughty things. Shame on you. Today I’ll be talking about dog walking.
This week, I’ve been looking after my mum’s dog, Dusky, whilst my mum and dad are on the Isle of Wight celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. OK, I’ve sort of been looking after their dog – I brought her up to Suffolk, but because my new house (renting, not bought, for everyone that keeps asking) requires a “pet addendum” to keep pets, I didn’t think I’d risk asking this early in the game if I can have sleepovers with my friends, the animals.
Luckily, Ben’s parents (also in Suffolk) generously allowed Dusky to stay with them. They have a dog already (Jimmy, a grumpy Jack Russell Terrier), and he wasn’t pleased to see another dog enter the premises, but Ben’s parents LOVE her. She was initially a bit nervous (she is a rescue dog, so god only knows what happened to her before my mum took her in), but has settled in beautifully.
She’s had adventures aplenty. As well as walking around Southwold common, meeting other dogs, being frightened of bikes and freaking out at the sea, my brave little girl has been for a walk, OFF THE LEAD, for the first time ever:
I was a bit worried to start with, as she has no recall to speak of, and I’m not her real mummy, so I wasn’t sure if she’d make a run for it and never come back. But I kept the faith, and we’ve bonded quite well over the last few days, so she kept quite close most of the time.
But even more exciting than this, is she had her first ever play date. And what a play date it was.
I think I’ve mentioned my friend Vin and her two enormous Newfoundlands before. Well, they’re about a year old now, and sodding enormous. Thor, the boy, is about 12 stone, whilst his sister Jester is (only! Hah!) 9 stone.
Despite their size advantage, and the fact there was two of them and one of her (and it was THEIR turf, not hers), Dusky surprisingly put them in their place and ran rings around them. Jester was actually AFRAID of this minute lurcher, retreating behind Vin’s legs every time Dusky went to say hello. Thor, on the other hand, fell deeply in love – he followed Dusky everywhere, licking her ears and generally dribbling all over her (Newfoundlands are drooly dogs).
There were only three dogs, but with their size and her speed, it felt like there were at least a dozen dogs. A fun time had by all – we must do it again some time!
Oh, final excitement: Dusky also caught her first rabbit whilst at Vin’s. It had mixamatosis, so it was probably better off dead anyway, poor thing. Luckily, Dusky broke its neck pretty swiftly, but we had to chase her around the garden for a while to get it off her. Vin had the honour of disposing of the corpse. Fun. Times.
Reach the Beach 2011
On Saturday, Ben and I had an early start. We were going to Hersham Hounds to pick up a dog for a day at the beach.
Every year, Hersham Hounds (the Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare Trust) organises a mass exodus to East Head Beach, West Wittering (near Chichester in West Sussex) – volunteers, dog owners, supporters of the trust all take greyhounds in the (quite) long journey down to the coast.
We arrived at HH’s sanctuary in Esher at about 8:30am. We were to get a big boy called Rooster.
“Is there any reason you’re only taking one dog..?”
“Um… Not really. We could take two.”
“Only his girlfriend has been crying. We didn’t think she’d want to go, but as soon as we started getting the other dogs ready to go, she was getting really upset.”
So, two dogs. Big Rooster (9 years) and his tiny, timid girlfriend, Nala (10). Rooster was really friendly, really lively, very cheeky. Nala, by contrast, quiet and just wanted to sit in the back of the car.
Rooster and Nala
Greys travel really, really well. They just sit in the back of the car, quite happy and patient. And it’s quite a trek from London to Chichester.
With on brief stop at a petrol station to get snacks, we got to the beach around 11am. There were photographers to take pictures of everyone and their dogs on the beach itself, but no sign of those yet. I’ll let you know when they’re available.
There were some activities, too. I didn’t partake, but it was fun to watch man&dog 100 yard dash (and there was an equivalent event for the ladies, too). Oh, and a Bonio&spoon race.
As greys have a penchant for running very fast (and taking a negative interest in things that move, but are not greys), it was leashes and muzzles all round. These docile lovelies don’t look like they’d hurt a fly, but things can go wrong, so we prepared for the worst: it would be terrible to damage the reputation of greyhounds.
Nala and I were happy to take a very gentle walk along the beach. Rooster wanted to run, so Ben was in charge of that. Luckily, Ben brought a change of clothes – he ended up in the sea. Brrr.
And finally, the obligatory picnic. Nala was not interested – she hopped right back into the car, and sat there for the remainder. Rooster was VERY interested indeed in our sausage rolls. He had his own punnet of cocktail sausages, but still got jealous of our food. Incorrigible.
And then, at around 2pm, it started to get a bit chilly – we’d been lucky, as the weather had held until that point. So back in the car with the dogs, and back to Esher. Nala went straight to bed, unsurprisingly. What lovely doggies.
If you fancy, you can always ask to borrow a grey for a day, to help with dog walking. HH are always grateful for volunteer dog walkers and the like. And they have LOVELY dogs. Go on – give a dog a walk. Get in touch with Hersham Hounds to find out more.
Crafty: Patchwork Dreams
Right. That’s it. I’m going to make a patchwork quilt.
You may have seen my recent post about the glory of quilts, and how I said I’ve always wanted to make my on quilt.
Well, I intend to start. Soon. I’ve been picking up various bits of fabric as I’ve seen ones I’ve liked – I’m only going to use bits that really grab me, so this may be a long process.
But after visiting the Patchwork Dog and Basket in Lewes recently, I’m getting closer and closer to actually starting.
And here are the fabrics I have so far:
I’m going for autumnal colours (one of my favourite palettes) – so reds, browns, oranges. The brown-with-mushrooms and the red-with-paws-and-bones are both fat quarters from the fabulous Threadneedles in East Grinstead, whilst the red-with-red-stars (hard to make out in the photo) and the small bundle of four different sand coloured fabrics are both from PD&B in Lewes.
Still lots more to collect before I can really get started, but I’ll keep you posted!
Lewes
Yesterday, I was at my mum’s in Sussex. Given the miserable weather, we decided a day-trip for shopping was in order. So we pootled off to Lewes, for a wander about.
The best place to park in Lewes is, of course, always packed. But we managed to get a spot outside the old Needlemakers indoor market. There is a limit to 2 hours max parking here, but we thought that would be enough time to browse the shops (without frittering away our entire day).
Lewes is a wonderful little old market town, and has evolved into a quite up-market, quaint tourist town (and a fabulous, if on the pricey side, place to shop for the more unusual bits and bobs).
Most of our stay involved looking about in the shops inside the Needlemakers – my favourites being Wickle (where they sold, amongst other things, real beetles set in resin, and postcard booklets entitled “Beautiful Sheep”, “Beautiful Pigs” and “Beautiful Cows”), Skylark (selling a selection of fairtrade craft goods and a variety of unusual books and music) and, of course, not forgetting: The Patchwork Dog and Basket. More on this at a later date – needless to say, they sell goods for patchwork and quilting.
Lewes itself is a lovely place for a general explore – it’s got a lot of hilly bits, which makes for a more interesting walk then a flat town. Oh, and did I mention, it has really unusual shops? Like ones that sell MASSIVE jars of chilli jam?
And in the words of Jackie Chan’s uncle – One more thing! St Michael:
The Personal Touch
The workplace can be an impersonal place. I find it makes work easier if you make you work station a bit more fun, a bit more “you”. I think it’s really important to personalise your surroundings, especially those where you spend the majority of your waking hours. For me, that would be my desk at home, and for Ben, that’s his desk at work.
As a result, my desk is overflowing with stickers and brightly coloured things (including some pheasant feathers in my pen pot). But you can’t go too over-the-top in the office – it has to be small and subtle.
With that in mind, I’ve gifted Ben with various bits and pieces for his work desk – a little blue wolf from IKEA (I liked his funny grin), a tin of Stewie mints from Cyber Candy (he LOVES Family Guy) and…. a diplodocus.
I’ll explain the diplodocus. He’s the newest addition, having joined Ben’s desk-gang only yesterday. Ben was having a tough day at work on Tuesday, and sent me a message telling me so. Then he sent me a message saying “if you loved me, you’d buy me a dinosaur!”
Naturally, I asked him to specify what kind.
And one afternoon detour via the Natural History Museum left me with old dippy.
I hope the wolf isn’t mean to him. He’s a big softie.
What about you? What little trinkets or personal touches have you brought to your workplace?
WordPress, we have a problem
Ok, like an idiot, I spilt orange squash on my keyboard. So while I wait for it to dry out, I’m posting from my phone (isn’t tech amazing?)
As a result, a long post is out of the question, so you’ll have to make do with a piccy if my mum’s adorable & dorky dog. Again.
Films: Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas
I love DreamWorks films. Big time. The Road to El Dorado is one of my favourite films of all time. But Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is one I haven’t seen quite so many times. In fact, before today, I had only seen it once, in 2003, when it came out in the cinema.
So I was overjoyed when I had the opportunity to watch it at my leisure in my own home. DreamWorks films have a dry sense of humour that sets them above Disney in my eyes. Plus, they have adopted a particular, angular drawing style which I get on quite well.
I have no idea how true this incarnation is to the original Sinbad tale. Probably not at all. But you know what? I don’t really care. It is an exciting, cartoon romp, which is good fun for kids and adults alike. There are sexy sirens, an exciting chase scene with the Roc (not the wrestler), an unlikely and begrudging love interest, a moral tale, a charming crew on the ship, a delightfully comic dog, and of course, a token “strong but gentle” muscley, shirtless black guy. Oh, yes.
Nothing earth-shattering, and I still prefer Road to El Dorado, but still a welcome, enjoyable distraction.
The Christmas haul, part 2
Time to indulge me a bit more whilst I gleefully show off a few more gifts I received for Christmas! Again, everyone has been disgustingly generous this year (or should that be last year? Who cares – I love you all 
), but before I share some more pictures of presents, here’s a lovely photo of Ben, all tuckered out, asleep with his mum’s doggy Jimmy:
Awww
Now, where was I? Ah yes! First up, Ben’s sister gave me these intensely cool boxes, in all different sizes and patterns. You all know I’m a habitual hoarder and organiser, so being able to stash things in pretty boxes = Joy! Not put anything in them yet, but time will tell. Also, the boxes had in them a dozen gorgeous oriental silk pouches, and six tiny enamelled spoons (a picture of them will turn up at a later date).
Next up, Ben’s nephew and niece bombarded me with presents! Not actually FOR me… For the rats. Lucky little gits! I swear, the rats got more presents than me! The ratties are on holiday at the moment, but when they get home, they have a rubber finger groomer, a bag of yoghurt drops, a packet of rat “donuts” and a seed star to enjoy. And Angharad got the rats a gift too!! A mineral gnawing block! The lucky little blighters 
Next up, a parcel from Ben’s sister and her partner Paul, with a gifttag that said “To Astrid – pimp your pussy!” Hmmm…. I was a little concerned, I won’t lie. But, on opening, I was presented with a “decorate your own bobble headed kitten” kit! Brilliant. I have enjoyed making them as camp as possible 
I’ve decorated the pink and the blue kittens already, and still have a purple one to do. In the background of this photo, you can also see the gorgeous art noveau Absinthe tin that Rebecca gave me. THAT was full of chocolate – nom!! (Long gone)
And last up for today, not one of my gifts, but something I gave to Ben: a KidRobot Futurama doll. I’m new to the world of KidRobot, but from what I understand, you buy the figures boxed, without knowing what will be inside. I was hoping this would turn out the be Bender (as Ben’s full name is Ben Bender Bending Rodriguez Coxon), but Leela is damn cool, too!
There will be more, oh so much more! Watch this space
ARGH snow! Stop EVERYTHING
Woops. It snowed. Quite a bit.
A bit of a pain – it was set to be a Sussex weekend for my family, with my mum’s big birthday meal on Saturday, and a “Christie-mas” celebration on Sunday. I got there mainly in one piece, with minimal delays (I took public transport, believe it if you will). However, Ben had to work in east London in the morning, and ended up getting to the restaurant just as we were finishing our meal.
Nothing compared to my eldest brother and his wife – based in the West Midlands, they left home at around 2pm. They phoned at around 8pm, saying they were still on the M40 and were heading back home. They got back home at 4am. Heroic, and I’m very sad they were thwarted in their efforts.
That said, the four of us (me, mum, dad and aunty) had a lovely meal (I’ll blog about that another day – knackered at the mo and not up for a foodie review) on Saturday.
On Sunday, we congregated in the living room around 9-10am, for tiny mince pieces, tea and present unwrapping. Yay! I’ll have a proper “haul” round up after “real” Christmas.
My family lay out a fantastic spread, so between then and lunch, we had bubbly and nibbles (sweet chilli prawns, tandoori chicken pieces, hard boiled quails eggs and bruschetta with dinky Belgian shrimp). Then, whilst the adults were cooking the roast, Ben and I headed outside to pester the dog.
Oops! Fell over.
I don’t think I need to explain that the Sunday roast was fantastic – beef, croquettes, parsnips, sprouts, carrots, stuffing and lashings of gravy. Followed by a flaming pudding and brandy custard (trust me, it’s champion).
I think I’m still full.
Music: Gloria in Excelsis
On Saturday, I went down to Lancing in West Sussex to play my double bass again. This time, I was playing for the Worthing Choral Society, under the direction of the wonderful Aedan Kearney. I have played for Aedan before, several times whilst he was still teaching at Boundstone College, but now he has been retired for two years, he has been pulling me in for other groups. I don’t think I’ve played for WCS before, but I very much enjoyed it.
However, the venue was familiar to me: St Michael & All Angels is a cute little church, with a public car park across the road: a nightmare to get the car in, because the entrance is dangerously narrow (many streaks of car paint on either wall, but my mum has amazing spatial awareness). What we also remembered from our last visit to St Michael’s is the fantastic pizza shop within spitting distance of the church, so dinner was sorted (I had a kebab, but that’s not the point).
The bass parts were a bit more challenging than last week: I find this with classical music from the Classical period (you’ll have to look that up if you’re not musicky), because composers tend to just lump the bass with the ‘cello, not realising that the two instruments simply do not function in the same way. Last week’s Baroque programme had more suitable parts for the bass, but that’s the luck of the draw. I made a few boo-boos, but nothing terribly noticeable, especially as the choir made a couple of boo-boos themselves. That sounds cruel, and don’t get me wrong: WSC are a great choir, but not the most professional I’ve ever played for. Notably, the sopranos were not quite reaching their top notes, their was a gradual flattening of pitch through quite a few passages, and there was the “heads in copies” phenomenon, which meant that the tempo of the choir didn’t always match the tempo of the conductor.
Non-music related gripes: one choir member fumble with a packet of tissues during the soprano soloist’s incredibly quiet Laudete Dominum. Also, all the ladies in the choir brought their handbags on stage with them, which looked really messy. And finally, during the rehearsal, when my bass was lying on the floor and I was sitting down nearby, one lady thought it’d be ok to step over the bass’ neck, rather than going around it: any bass player will tell you this is a CARDINAL SIN. She would be crying all the way to the bank if she’d kicked it over, because she would be paying for the repairs. And the worst thing was that she ignored me when I asked her NOT to do it. Hmm.
OK, let’s put that aside for the time being, and turn to the programme: Mozart’s “Vesperae solennes de confessore” and Haydn’s “Nelson Mass”. Neither works I’ve played before, but both challenged me and I enjoyed them. There was a particular passage in the Haydn that the viola, ‘cello and bass get to play in unison, which is very twee but good fun, and I could see Russ (the viola player, who I keep bumping in to all over Sussex) grinning at this musical joke.
The concert itself was very enjoyable – not moving like the concert last week, but a fun romp through some strong tunes. It is always a pleasure to play under Aedan, and the assembled orchestra were fantastic, so it was an honour to play with them. I hope to be down in Lancing again, because there is a lovely sense of community amongst this group. There was a great audience turn out, and they all seemed to enjoy the performance. So my thanks and congratulations to Aedan and the WCS!
N.B. my mum’s doggy really enjoyed her walk on the beach. Bonus.
She lives in a house, a very big house in the country
It’s been an odd sort of weekend. I only managed to update the blog yesterday by scheduling a post – isn’t technology magical?
And why did I need to schedule? Because I was away! I have been staying with the lovely Vin, in her enormous (no exaggeration) house in the East Anglian countryside. It’s her birthday tomorrow and so she invited me to come up and go to the theatre with a few other uni mates.
I had prebooked train tickets – if you are going any distance I would always recommend this. I managed to get them at £6.60 each way. Bargain. Getting up at 7am, I packed a bag, picked a nice dress and hopped on the bus. Of course, I got to Liverpool Street far too early, so killed time in the shops. Chocolate and New Scientist saw me through until my connecting train.
Eventually, I got up to East Anglia. I waited at the station for Vin, but she and the boys were late in coming – we had intended to take the train to Norwich, but ended up having to drive. We only got to the Theatre Royal 5mins late, so didn’t miss too much.
We were in to see Sheridan’s “The Rivals“, starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, and directed by the very talented Peter Hall (of the RSC). It’s a bit of a farce, with plenty of dramatic irony and lots of confusion and hilarity. Vin originally described it to me as a “Victorian romcom” (well, it’s set in 1775 so a bit older than Victorian, but you get the idea), and yes: it ends up with everyone getting happily married, but it’s a very complicated journey to get to that point.
The costumes were beautiful, the comic timing was spot on – Lydia Languish did slow the pace a bit, but it looks a very tricky part to time well. Jack Absolute was GORGEOUS, as was the servant girl Lucy. We saw it on its final day in Norwich, but if it does come to the West End (which I hope it does) do try to catch it, because it is a very light hearted and enjoyable watch. Oh, and malapropisms are wonderful things. I will forever try to be the pineapple of politeness.
After the play, we headed back towards Vin’s going via a curry house. As I mentioned in a previous post, Vin is on a bizarre diet which means she isn’t eating like a normal person. Her mum is on the same diet. So is our old uni mate Ben (who lives with them). So that left me, uni mate Luke and family friend Kumba to stuff ourselves with curry. Ace. I picked a wimpish but delicious chicken passanda, sided with saag aloo and poppadoms.
I didn’t know what to expect with Vin’s house. I have never been before. I have not even seen photos.
Well, it is huge. It is GORGEOUS. She has a library, for christsakes. And yes, it has a SECRET DOOR BEHIND A BOOKCASE.
It also has two resident Newfoundland puppies, Thor and Jester. At only 16 weeks old and already the size of small bears, they are a bit of a handful (and are still going through the nippy bitey stage, which would be cute if they weren’t so HUGE) but they are adorable and dopey.
Anyhow, after curry, we retreated to the living room to sit in front of the fire and play Articulate. Not even fuelled by booze, we got incredibly competitive. I teamed with Ben and Luke, whilst Vin was with her mum and Kumba. I would like to state (for the record) that our team won, because THAT IS HOW WE ROLL.
Phew.
The dogs got a bit tetchy after a while, so we put them to bed and hung out in Ben’s room for a while (well, Ben and Luke mostly sat on each other. Vin poured water on them, but I think that was unwise. I sat in the vibrating LazyBoy instead). Around midnight, enough was enough for me – I retreated to my room (one of SIX bedrooms), read a bit and went to sleep.
The following morning, at about 6am, I needed a quick trip to the littlest room (except in Vin’s house, they too are huge and there are four of them). I got a bit lost and walked into Luke’s room by mistake. I tried another door: more success this time.
The house was pretty much awake by 10am, so we had a bit of breakfast (those of us who eat, anyhow), and then Vin and I went to take the doggies for a walk. The hilarious thing is, despite them being the size of small ponies, they refuse to get into the car boot by themselves, so Vin had to lift them in bodily. And take them out on the other side.
When we got back, there was enough time for some bread and cheese, and then I had to catch my coach to Colchester and connecting train back to London. And now I’m here! Phew.
I’ll be back there soon. If just to sneak in to the secret library.
Food: Zucchini fun
Who has ever grown their own vegetables? It’s very satisfying. Unfortunately, in our current flat, there is simply no space to grow anything (I don’t care what Jamie Oliver says – I am not growing tomatoes on my window sill). But my mum’s situation is a different story – she lives in gorgeous Sussex, and whilst she had a “town house”, she has an enormous garden. It’s full of fruit trees, berry crops and a large vegetable patch. I’m fairly sure that she could quite happily live without ever buying any fruit and veg. As my dad works abroad and my brothers and I have all moved out, she produces more fruit and veg than she could ever eat by herself.
(OK, not a photo of my mum’s garden – just another gratuitous photo of her gorgeous lurcher puppy, Dusky.)
Fruit is fine – my mum’s basement is crammed with jars of homemade jams. Veg is a little more tricky – certain veg freezes or pickles really well, but for things like courgettes (or zucchinis as they’re sometimes known) this isn’t really the best option. Another issue with courgettes, as many veg gardeners will know, is that you don’t just get one or two: you end up with dozens on each plant.
So, about this time of year, every time I visit my mum, she has a massive pot of courgette soup on the go, has courgettes for me to take home with me, and then cooks me something with courgettes as the headline act for supper.
My mum has been kind enough to share her recipe for courgette gratin with me, and I in turn am passing it on to you! This can be used as a side dish (yesterday, I got it with tuna steak and chips) or can quite happily stand alone as a main meal.
COURGETTE AND TOMATOES AU GRATIN
- Courgettes (sliced) – I imagine 2 or 3 should be fine
- Olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- Grated cheese (Mozarella or Cheddar)
- 4 large tomatoes (sliced)
- Grated Parmesan
- 2 eggs
- Salt and pepper if required
Pick a good quality cheese as this definitely changes the whole flavour of the dish. I’m sure you can use some different cheeses if you like: get creative. Brie tempts me, always. Or maybe Bavarian smoked cheese.
As for quantities: use your initiative when decided how much cheese to use in the dish. You need enough for layers in between your veg
Make it:
- Preheat oven to 190C.
- Arrange layers of sliced courgette, tomatoes and grated cheese in an ovenproof dish (layer it up a bit like a lasagne – courgette, tomato, cheese, courgette, tomato, cheese… until your dish is full!)
- Sprinkle top with Parmesan and ground black pepper. I think the cheese in this dish makes added salt unnecessary – I rarely ever add salt to my cooking. However, pepper is good in pretty much everything!
- Bake in oven for 30 mins.
- Beat the eggs and pour over the top of the courgette and tomato – it should distribute nicely throughout the dish, but don’t worry if it pools a bit. You might want to give it a gentle shake to encourage it down through the different layers.
- Put it back in oven for another 10-15 mins. And you’re done! Be aware that your dish will be VOLCANICALLY hot. Cheese has a habit of holding heat that is only matched by potato. So, you have been warn. Dish up, but mind your tongue!
