Friday 8 December 2017

Skipping through beech woods








Regular readers would be forgiven for thinking that I spend my entire life blithely skipping through beech woods in pursuit of the little brown dog. The little brown dog no doubt wishes it were so; woods are absolutely his favourite thing. The sticks for running around with! The rustly leaves for running through at top speed! The smells, oh the smells! Someone said to me the other day they'd like to have their dog's nose for a day and see (well, smell) exactly what it is that they can smell. A single spot can warrant a full two-minutes' sniffing. So much information to glean.

In the woods above Stroud we found a whole load of dogs exactly like the little brown dog only in different colours. Cream ones are pretty, but oh how they show the mud. Bertie can be top to tail mud and we can just ignore it.

Inside the house there has been a tiny bit of knitting, an even tinier bit of reading and the odd bit of baking.




I made Delia's banana and chocolate chip slices with some leftover bananas. They were a triumph. Well, the biggest boy loved them, which pretty much equates to the same thing inasmuch as it means they will all be eaten really quickly. I was happy to find a good recipe that uses up leftover bananas, quite often I'm not keen on banana things, but these were delicious. And probably the foundation of Norwich City's rise to greatness. (For those from faraway lands to whom the words Delia and Norwich City mean nothing: Delia is Delia Smith, one of the original tv chefs who pretty much taught the nation to cook and Norwich City is her football team.)

No more inside photos I'm afraid. There are no exquisite little magazine quality corners to photograph around here, it's mostly boots set out to dry and damp washing. I was going to post a picture of my dying desert rose plant and ask for suggestions, but as the rest of blogworld is all glitzy and pretty it just seemed too tragic to show. I've tried everything, but it's not happy. Any suggestions gratefully received. It might have started when I repotted it. Or when I took over ownership of it... Maybe it just misses the desert. The southwest UK is a long way from sub-Sarahan Africa. Anyway, I shan't give up until the fat lady sings.

I spent yesterday evening repairing a big rippy hole in the biggest boy's favourite coat. He made the mistake of carrying his skateboard up against it and the grip tape (sandpaper-type skateboard top) ate straight through it. The repair necessitated finding a ruler, of which there must be about fifteen in the house, I know because I KEEP BUYING THEM, but do you think I could find one? Where do they go???

Talking to the biggest boy while I mended, I discovered that some bloke I spent a day with last year on an eco thing we were doing is actually a sort of tv celebrity. I had no idea, thought he was just a normal person. But he was an actual real life celebrity! How did nobody tell me? I could have been all sorts of embarrassing if I'd known.

Off now to get to grips with the weekend. Because in December I find that's the best I can hope for. It will be a fast madness of end of term appointments and shindigs and football and of course dog walks. Maybe they are all that's keeping me sane.

18 comments:

  1. I am spotting a very pretty quilt under under your pile of books and knitting project, lovely colours. The little dog blends in very well in the beech woods. I wouldn't recognise a celebrity if he/she were wearing a badge.... my daughter went to ballet with the daughter of an amazing wildlife camera man, I spotted him on a documentary about tigers in the Himalayas. I guess many celebrities are normal at heart. I think all your rulers have migrated to Glasgow, we have them in every corner of the house and I started to worry that they might be reproducing. Glad they are just on holiday. Have a lovely weekend, hope it is not too mad. I am going to the pub tomorrow. Old as we are, we are doing an early shift, 5:30 pm to probably about 8 pm. We do all need a seat and going early is the only way :-) xx

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  2. Those Beech woods are so dark and kind of spooky.... but I was amazed at how the color of the leaves match your noble canine! I only have pockets of decorated house.. I crop out the messy parts. :-) I hope your weekend is full of rest and relaxation. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  3. A most enjoyable post and good pictures.
    Happy reading, and have a good weekend. xx

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  4. Your woods are lovely, CJ, its sort of hard to see your pup, he has a great color and blends right in. Milo is white, but he has that sort of short, soft fur, and everything brushes off easily. He tends to his paws very regularly, too. Layla is black, but she rolls in everything that has a funky smell, so she gets thrown in the bath a lot!

    I was so proud to finish reading a book recently. I am embarrassed for myself. And now is definitely not the time to indulge, I'm up to my ears with holiday decorating, shopping, and getting the house ready for company. I barely have time to write or look at blogs. Things slow down tremendously in January so I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Maybe then I can have Better Homes and Gardens over for a photo shoot!

    The banana bars look so good...I'll have to look up Delia. How fun to meet a celebrity, probs better all in all, who needs the stress of being distracted from the job!! lol!

    I hope you have some rest this weekend, I'm not looking forward to having people around and seeing how slow I am right now. :-)

    Jane x

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  5. Baking and knitting looking good, Mrs. It’s black biros that disappear here... maybe they are on holiday with Christina too? Lovely shots of the woods. Bertie has disappeared in them. I’m not great at celebrity spotting either, apart from one, and that’s only because she’s a friend and I know her as her, not her tv version, so she doesn’t really count! Xx

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  6. The banana slice does look good. I think we have a mischievous spirit in our house who keeps hiding things. Often they turn up again exactly where we have searched several times.
    I'm useless at recognising celebs too. I once had lunch in a TV company's canteen and was told the celebs had lunch there but I didn't notice any that I recognised. Maybe the guy who asked me to pass him a spoon was really famous. I'm intrigued now as to who your celeb was.

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  7. Woods and sticks and boys and dogs. Perfect. And a Delia cake for tea. I like the colour of your knitting, and the stitch too. Also the quilt. I don't know CJ, it's looking pretty good round yours to me. The desert rose could be damp or cold. They like sunlight and warmth so maybe gently release from its pot and check the roots and make sure it's not on a cold windowsill overnight. When I repot and propogate my succulents I do it on a warm day and use a gritty cactus compost. I'm growing amarylis for the first time in years. The one I planted up three weeks ago is now three feet tall, supported by apple tree prunings, and about to burst into flower so this week I've planted another one for January cheer. The bare bulbs are three pounds from my local nursery where they are also selling bunches of eucalyptus for the same amount. I resisted this and twined ivy round my Advent winter jasmine wreath instead - free and completely compostable. Have a lovely weekend with your boys and Bertie.

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    1. Thanks for the tips Sarah. The more horrible the desert rose has looked, the worst spot I have put it in, so I think you're probably right, it's certainly too cold where it is now. I shall rescue it and put it somewhere warmer and lighter. Love that you've used apple tree prunings to stake your amaryllis. CJ xx

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  8. Cheers! Canaries rule (sometimes) Keeping my fingers crossed for this afternoon. Blessings

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  9. I would love to see a whole group of dogs like yours together! How cute. My grandma had six toy poodles when I was growing up. They would swarm her feet. It's how I imagine the Queen and her corgies. I think it looks and sounds very cozy at your house, I'm sure it will only get better. I hope you're having a good weekend!

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    1. Oh Jennifer, my Grandma always had black toy poodles, but only one at a time. I remember the two called Nicky and Susie (Nicholas and Susan when they were being naughty!) when I was growing up. I cannot believe we have yet another parallel experience!

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  10. A whole group of dogs like Bertie? How fun! I love the littlest boy running wild and Bertie right there with him. I have a dying little Christmas cactus I could show you. IT was my parents and it was growing like crazy until it started to rot, I am not happy.

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  11. I love the idea of you blithely skipping through beech woods in pursuit of the little brown dog, that conjures up such a lovely scene. Glad that knitting found a place in your days, that's such a lovely colour and that you've managed a little reading time too. The banana and chocolate slice sounds and looks delicious and seeing as Toby loves banana loaf cake I might try this out on him, if he doesn't like it I know I will! Hope your weekend was good and that you didn't get too much snow where you are. Thanks so much for your message about my father in law, I really appreciate your kind words xxx

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  12. What glorious woods. I wouldn't mind skipping through them. Would I need a dog though? I don't suppose a little black and white cat would do. Hoping your end of term goes as smoothly as can be expected! x

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  13. Those are wonderful beech woods, weren't you skipping through them too? Having a dog does make you get out more although I didn't enjoy it so much this morning when it was so cold. We definitely have the wrong colour dog! Sarah x

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  14. I like to imagine you all traipsing through the woods on a daily basis, or maybe that hillside climb where you look down into a valley or over a fortressy looking thing. Your walking photos always take me away, and I love it.

    Ah yes, I know Delia. Banana is a hardsell in my household, but I might have to give it a go for my own curiosity. I know the Norwich team and her. I think your family is vegetarian but I hers was the first sausage roll recipe I did from scratch. Fantastic. :)

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  15. Life with dogs and boys always equates to walks and muddy boots... much the same around here and I'm thinking it really is time I had a bit of a clear up before I attempt any Christmas decorations. Good to know you are finding time to knit and read (me too!). I would love to offer you plant advice but I manage to kill off every plant that comes into the house!

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