Summer's Barbecue

I had a very good weekend. I had my friends over for a barbecue on Saturday. My friend Chicoy Enerio arrived late on Friday from London. The boot of his car was laden with pinoy goodies for me. He bought me a sack of jasmine rice, various packets of sauce mixes, sukang paombong, polvoron, a huge bottle of patis, choc nut, bottles of knorr seasoning and bottles of Barrio Fiesta Bagoong! He and Peter played golf all of Saturday and returned just in time before our guests arrived at 5pm. I marinated the steaks and chops for most of the day and prepared the honey roast sausages for the barbecue. Peter is the barbecue guru and he cooked those meats perfectly. I made all the salads and dips.
We all had terrific fun drinking and eating. The weather was great as well and as you can see from our clothes we had perfect temperature as well.
Peter and Chicoy stayed up late and woke late! The following day I made pork and chicken adobo, grilled aubergine and topped this with Chicoy’s bagoong. We ate al fresco. The adobo over steaming rice was just irresistible! And eating outside next to the cornfield was sublime.
After lunch they watched the World cup in the attic—fortunately England won the match. Right after the game Chicoy headed off to London. Good thing though because it started to rain. It was such a lovely weekend spending time with good friends.

Oh what a lovely day!

Today is my 49th birthday and it is an absolute scorcher! They predicted 27 deg Celsius and it looks like they could be right. There is a gentle breeze blowing the little capiz chime I hanged on the window and it is creating such a relaxing sound that I feel like nodding off in front of this PC. Now, why am I up here when it is great outside? Simple, it is midday and it is too hot outside to do anything. Never underestimate the English sun! One of my staff suffered a heat stroke the other day—and she was from South Africa!
Yesterday turned out to be a very nice day in spite of its awful start. Very early in the day while I was driving to work my phone rang. I instantly had this sinking feeling in my stomach. I don’t know but I have very good instincts. Anyway, by the time I reversed to my allotted car space, I dreaded to listen to my voicemail. True enough it was a call from my sister informing me that our father is not well at all. I kept on telling myself to keep calm while walking to my office. I then texted my sister and she called me on my landline. She sounded tearful and under a lot of stress but she explained the situation very well. I really do not know how I kept my composure that morning.
However, half an hour later a colleague of mine came into my room and she instantly asked if I was okay. I must have looked like a zombie and then suddenly the tears fell. My boss also arrived and I told him. After talking to someone about my fears and worries, I managed to get back to work. Whenever I feel like that, I know that work always cures it. By the time I left at 4:00pm, I received several birthday cards and a huge begonia from my boss! Later on Peter and I had dinner at the Golf Club and Peter gave me my birthday present--something I really want, a Canon Powershot A640 digital camera! The day which began in disaster ended up beautifully. My colleagues at work are turning out to be good friends to me and I have a suspicion that they actually care.
Oh by the way, I share my birthday with a very famous person, none other than the Queen of England!

Splendour in our patch

Peter and I took the dog for an early evening walk yesterday in the woods. This woodland is located further up the hill from our house. The country lane that leads up to it is very narrow due to the overgrown hedges on either side. Cow parsley, hollyhocks foxgloves, brambles, geraniums, phlox and wild ferns brush lightly against the car as we drive by. We’re always on the lookout for wildlife weaving in and out of the hedgerows. The place is teeming with insects, birds and small mammals. However, we had to be on red alert for any oncoming vehicles as the road is very narrow and steep. It is a squeeze to get one car through never mind two!

Although the woodland is only a five minute drive away, it felt like we were the only ones for miles around. However, the place was far from quiet. The birds were singing to their heart’s content as it was time to roost. We had to rely on our sense of hearing as we couldn’t see any of birds. We heard the cooing of wood pigeons and flap of wings but we couldn’t see where they were. The sun was dipping against the sky casting long shadows against the trees. It was very dark in the forest and I couldn’t see much as the dappled light created a rather ethereal atmosphere. It was eerie but exciting. I was filled with anticipation but I wouldn’t want to be there at night!

After our walk we headed for the top road and parked the car in order to savour the spectacular views over the Axe valley. The sun was at its dramatic best and all we could see around us were rolling hills and trees. Yes this must be paradise, or close to it and I still cannot get over the fact that we live in the middle of all this splendour.

Talking about the weather

The weather’s finally changed and it is very hot and muggy on some days. I guess when you’re so used to cool temperatures anything above 17 degrees Celsius is considered “warm”. As per usual, I spent most of my spare time pottering around in my garden voer the weekend. It’s that time of year when plants experience a massive growth spurt—just like teenagers! Gardeners are busy keeping this in check or else they will be all over the place. Peter did a bit of tree “surgery” by cutting back the ceanothus. It is actually a bush but Peter managed to prune it back to look like a tree and it looks great. We also had to put gravel on bare soil to keep the moisture in.

On Tuesday the weather got a bit cooler—thank goodness for that! However, it still feels quite muggy and it is not raining, just cloudy.

Work is really hectic. There is always someone in my office who needs something from me, paperwork that needs seeing to and proposals to be written. Then I have to check that everything’s ticking over in all the areas that I manage, etc. I have to be organised in my current job. I am very good in multitasking—a skill I learned with my former jobs. Of course I sometimes miss the buzz of my journalism days—the travelling and meeting interesting people but my current employment isn’t bad at all. I am learning something new almost everyday like how to work with committees, how to get around bureaucracy, how to be more efficient in spite of it! I cannot survive in a job that doesn’t fire my imagination. They give me new projects here regularly to keep me occupied and I like that. For me work is not just a 9-5 activity, it needs to interest me or else life will be intolerable.

In a couple of weeks term ends and we start our summer vacation until October. That means in a couple of weeks I shall be heading off to the Isles of Scilly for much needed R&R. What a treat that will be! Not having to wake up by 6:00am and dragging myself out of bed to be out on the road by 6:45am. I am looking forward to lazy days by the beach staring out to sea instead of staring at my monitor. I can empty my mind of worries, enjoy the wildlife and just eat a lot of sea food.
Last night Peter and I went up the garden and we noticed that everything’s either in full bloom or about to burst into bloom. Oh what joy to see nature unfolding before me! We have a BBC programme called Springwatch that goes on for three weeks and I watch it religiously. I am learning a lot from that show. I love watching birds nesting and feeding their chicks and then see these baby birds fledge. Fantastic!
I’ve always loved nature ever since I was a nipper and I was always drawn to secluded places. I like my own company and I never get bored. There is always something to do.

Mercury rising

...and that includes my temperature! Can you ever believe my luck? I called in sick today because I felt absolutely terrible when I got up this morning. I coughed and spluttered, and my head was pounding. I thought to myself, why am I valiantly trying to go to work at this state? Surely they wouldn't miss me for a day? The problem is I hardly take sick days so when I am not at work it gets noticed immediately! Anyway, I left voicemails at work telling them to survive without me for a day and went back to bed.

I must have gone back to sleep because I woke with a start when I heard the phone ringing. It was our window cleaner and he was asking whether it was okay for him to clean the windows today. What luck that I was home! I wanted the windows cleaned for a long time. Anyway I dragged myself out of bed and soon enough they arrived with ladders and cleaning equipment. I then decided to do some housechores. That was fine for a while and even considered going to Tesco--our local supermarket but in the finish I started feeling rough again so I went back to bed only to be woken up by guess what? ...another phone call! It was Peter asking me how I was and volunteered to go food shopping instead. What a relief!

Now I do not know whether or not I'll go back to work tomorrow. Depends how I feel in the morning. It is hot outside--mid 20s celsius. The garden looks fab but I just do not have the energy to potter about. The thought alone makes my head ache.

Sizzling time

We finally had the warmest and brilliant weekend of the year! It was positively sizzling—well almost! Nary a cloud in the sky and it was hot, hot, hot! But what do I do? I caught a nasty cold didn’t I? I didn’t want to lie in bed so I spent the weekend pottering about in my garden—pruning, clipping, watering and repotting. The heat didn’t help and by the end of each day I felt quite rough. Now I am not just bunged up but coughing as well…and the weather continues to improve.

This morning I woke up and as I drew my curtains I only saw this thick fog across the valley. It was thick enough for me to drive with full lights on but by the time I reach the A35 it somewhat dissipated. My office faces the morning sun and it can get pretty hot during the summer. Here in the UK, we hardly have any air-conditioning—just heaters so you can imagine how stuffy it could be. However, I have a really good electric fan and I am able to open a small window to let in the cool air. I also have my blinds down to keep the glare out of my monitor. There is hardly any humidity so I do not perspire as much as I would in the Philippines. The downside is my little Peugeot doesn’t have air-con so it feels like an oven when I drive home in the afternoon. Yesterday I had my sunroof open!

On Friday, my colleague and I went to the launch of a new restaurant in town called Wagamama—a fusion of Asian cuisine (Japanese and Chinese). It was absolutely fab and I do not remember having such a brilliant lunch for a long time! That night Peter barbecued some steaks and sausages for dinner. My in laws loved them and so did I but towards the night I felt like crashing. By that time my cold was taking hold.

It’s really funny because at the moment I could hear a bird singing right outside my office window. That’s quite regular thought because my building is surrounded by mature trees. I love this campus, the gardens are absolutely beautiful. It’s a pity I do not get to walk around it more often but I know I am lucky to work in a place like this. Speaking of work, I am pretty happy where I am and what I am doing. I have free rein to do what I think best for my team and my ideas hardly get knocked back. I also feel a lot settled although there are days when things do not seem go my way. What I do is to try to get my balance back and reassess the situation. I also noticed that I usually get what I want in the end. That’s why I have more “patience” now. The other thing I like is job satisfaction and the appreciation I get from my colleagues. My initial career path in communications has ended but I am using a lot of the skills I learned as a journalist/comms manager to cope with the intricacies of administration. I know I am good at setting up systems and procedures and I am ace as far as organisation is concerned. I like project management and multitasking. I like schedules and deadlines. What I hate is uncertainty and ad-hoc, knee-jerk reactions.

I had a chat with my boss yesterday and he said I will take over another unit in the organisation. They were impressed with the work I’ve been doing with my team and would like me to develop this underperforming part of the group. I like a challenge like this. I am also in charge of communications- electronic and otherwise- and I get to design a lot of information paraphernalia.

Recently I have been involved in organising the University’s Graduation Ball at Powderham Castle. It took a lot of organisation, talking to suppliers, making payments, insurance, liaising with caterers, marquee builders and entertainment, etc. We’re expecting 2000 people all told and it is an evening sit down dinner with fairground rides, bands, security etc. I am going to the ball this year as part of the organising team. Peter bought me a sleeveless gorgeous black chiffon gown embellished with a dark red rose in the middle of my bosoms and a delicately beaded dark red shawl to go with it. I feel good in it and I don’t look too bad either! At the rate I keep having to attend these events, I need to restock my glad rags.

I know I shouldn’t be counting but in three weeks’ time I will be off to the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall for a two week holiday. I shall miss my garden though…not to mention Sam who’s going to the kennels for the duration.

Long weekend

We just had a long weekend—Bank Holiday weekend. I spent a lot of time in my garden (so what new eh?). The thing is we’ve been having such dreadful weather recently and I had to take advantage of every ray of sunshine to work on my garden. I never realised that nurturing a garden takes a lot of hard work. There’s the matter of controlling the perennial weeds, pruning dead wood/flowers, watering, fertilising, staking, “de-bugging” and tidying. This year our spring was more than a month late compared to last year. One thing about gardening, you’re more in tuned with nature. Growing up in the city, I was never this close to it. Also, now that I live next door to a field I am more appreciative of the food cycle. The local farmer tilled and sowed his land a month ago and now the little seedlings are starting to show. It is quite exciting. We try to buy local produce as well—eggs, meat, jams, vegetables, etc. Over here in the UK we’re getting more and more concerned where our food is coming from. There is a big push of buying locally. The reason for that is it is not just fresher and healthier, buying locally means you’re saving the environment as well (my big thing). Supermarkets, in their quest of providing all year round fruit and veggies, fly in produce from all over the world and to my mind that is such a waste! Why have lamb from New Zealand when Welsh lamb is better? I actually look at the packets now to determine whether or not it comes from Britain. I also buy seasonal vegetables. However, I feel guilty sometimes when I buy papaya for my tinola dish. But I must admit it is difficult to buy all locally because of the cost and variety.
Let me tell you about the road I take to work. I’ve always wanted to describe the road to you because the scenery is quite stunning. I have written a lot about the A30—the main link to Exeter from East Devon. However I haven’t told you about the A38—the link from Musbury to the A30.The A38 is a long and winding road. Unlike the A30, this road is only a two way traffic and because it is long and winding, your can only overtake in two places. There are several dangerous spots where you’re driving next to a cliff edge and making a very tight turns. Challenging in bad weather and low light. Anyway, in spite of the dangers, the A38 is picturesque. I have many favourite areas on this road but one there is one place where I deliberately slow down just to savour the moment. The area is right after a very dodgy turning. For the next 100 yards or so, I go through a verdant canopy of beech trees. I love the dappled light it creates and the feeling of entering another world. I am so taken with it that I would like to see the treetops two seconds before I die.
I know that is not possible at all but in my mind that place is magical! The other place is quite near my house (just before I turn for Musbury). This road is open and wider. There are fields on either side.
By now I know the two roads quite well. I know when to slow down for the speed camera. I know when to accelerate to feel a bit of freedom in an open road. The A38 is not an easy road but it is very interesting. The A30 is a very fast road and there are areas that challenge your machine (a steep upward climb) and fast merging traffic.
The A358 –the road leading to Musbury off the A38—is a narrow country road with tall hedgerows on both sides. It is also one winding road and overtaking is not really a good idea. I had problems with this road late last year when I attempted to go to work in the middle of a blizzard. When I was about to turn off for the A38 my car spun around so I decided to go back home. However, by this time the road was covered in snow—basically everything was covered in snow. I didn’t know whether I had to turn or what. I lost all my landmarks! It also happened to be a very dark winter’s morning. We didn’t have sunlight until 9.30am! That was one time when I was positively scared.
Before I reach my house I use another little country lane. This time the road only allows one car at a time so when there are two cars facing each other one must be prepared to either reverse or go up a muddy patch of field to let the other pass. You cannot see anything on either side because the hedgerows are taller and at the moment filled with wild flowers like cow parsley, bluebells and primroses. I have spotted a barn owl on this road and a fox as well.
So yes I am surrounded by nature and loving every minute of it! Just in case you're wondering, I took the photo above yesterday from my bedroom window. I watch the sunset almost every night. It never ceases to amaze me.

It was a dark and stormy night

I don't know about the dark, but it was certainly stormy and windy! It has been a week of wild weather—rain and gale force winds pummelled my garden all week! Not too good as far as delicate buds are concerned. Even the temperature has taken a nosedive and I am back wearing track suit bottoms and jumpers indoors. The plants are taking a beating we even had to stake the new maples. I can only think positively on this. At least our water butts are full to the brim and the plants do not need watering. However, the plants are growing real quick and I bet that just one sunny day and they’ll romp away.

It is that sort of day when I am stuck indoors. I have already done my ironing before lunch! I have no music on as I like listening to the wind and rain. I could hear the clock ticking downstairs. I sometimes think I am turning out to be some sort of recluse. I like being alone—well with hubby and Sam. Unlike most women I know I am not afraid to spend time on my own. I like my privacy and independence. Some people may think I am selfish or anti-social but I’d rather be out there pottering about in my garden with my dog than talking to people. Such irony! I trust very few people and one of them is my hubby. A lot of people let you down so I have developed this “wall”. I long ago stopped getting involved in other people’s lives. I thought that as long as I get my act together then that’s as good as it gets as far as life is concerned. I’ve stuck to that idea. Many people tell me their problems and I am okay to give moral support but that’s as far as I go. Trying to help other people solve their financial troubles is out of my league. Giving them advice is a no-no because experience taught me that people do what they want to do anyway.
Some good news though. Hubby and I are going to Rome in September. I’ve always wanted to the “Eternal City” ever since I knew it. I would love to see the classic architecture, paintings and that very secretive place called the Vatican. I am a history buff and I am sure my imagination will go wild just seeing all the things I read in school. That’s one good thing living here in England. You could just simply hop on a plane and rediscover history. Can’t wait!

Good weekend

It was a very nice weekend. It’s the usual stuff…shopping, gardening and finished off with a barbecue. As I was about to tuck into my steak I thought of all the vegetarians in the world and what they’re missing. Having this kind of meat once in a while is great. We even barbecued Sam’s fillet steak and he ate it with gusto. Lovely.
I always hurt on a Sunday because most of the hard graft is done on Saturdays. Yesterday Hubby and I finished off the front lawn by weeding and giving it a new edge. It looks okay now but it will look better after we reseed it now that the weeds are almost gone. Good news too about the clematis. One by one the flowers are coming out. It is a very exciting time of the year. I can’t wait to see them all blooming. That’s one picture I would love to take.
This morning we had breakfast alfresco. For the first time we used the deck in the back garden. We moved the table around and it looks heaps better now. We still need to buy a new table. Maybe next month. It was such a nice morning, the sun was shining and the temperature even allowed us to wear (wait for this) shorts! However, later in the day it misted up and the temperature dropped. Oh well at least we managed to take some really good photos.

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday afternoon. My old university friend called me from America. He sounds so American now but I know he’s still the same guy I knew back in school. I am very fortunate with my friends. I kept in touch with most of them and we’re now scattered all over the world. Then while my friend and I were talking on the phone he informed me that another friend suddenly went online so I ran up to the attic and went online myself. The other friend was in Japan! There we were—one in Japan, another in America and me here in the UK all chatting to each other! Just like old times. It was like we were back in university—all silly, stupid, naughty and having a ball!
I only start feeling my age like tonight when my shoulder muscles are hurting. Speaking of pain, I have been having these violent headaches recently. In fact I had to go home early from work one day last week. These headaches are not like my usual once-in-a-blue-moon migraines where I throw up. These headaches feel as if my head would burst—positively pounding! Anyway, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Weekend gardener

My weekends just fly by so quickly. I mean one moment it’s Friday night eating takeaway food with my in laws and before I know it it’s Sunday night and I’m preparing dinner!
Most of my activities during my days off are mainly on the house and garden. The first thing I do in the morning is to prepare myself as good cup of coffee—I only drink coffee when I am not working. Then Sam and I go up in the garden to check the progress of my plants. I am an obsessive gardener. I check for new growth or for any snails, slugs or bugs. I hate the last three things with a vengeance! I carefully make sure that the new tendrils from the clematis are entwined with the wire I made for them. There are so many buds around and the plants responded so well with the fertilising and watering! Next week I will take more photos.
This morning I went to the garden centre with my in laws as Hubby’s working in Plymouth. I bought some flowering plants which I planted right away as soon as I got home. Gardening gives me so much joy (a deep sense of satisfaction) that is hard to describe. I have a challenging garden because the soil is heavy clay and it is quite steep but this does not bother me a bit. I am very much my mother’s daughter that way. My mother loves gardening too and she’s happiest when she’s in her garden. For me tending the garden is not hard work but more like relaxation. I can spend a lot of time outside, clipping, digging, pruning, dead-heading, weeding (not too pleasant!) and planting. I can watch Gardener’s World all day or A Year at Kew when I’m not outside in my overalls. I still have the front borders to clear up. I need to do that one of these days but my focus is on the garden. It is taking shape slowly. I would hate to leave it during my holidays. At least a friend of mine promised to water the plants!
I do not like Sundays nights because it usually means one thing—next day is Monday and I’m off to work again!

Out in the woods

We have this wonderful woodland near our house. Well if I was fit enough (and I mean fit) I could probably hike it up there but to save time and energy Hubby, Sam and I took a five minute drive up there. These woods are magical and we love it there. Once inside the woods, sunshine hardly gets through because the trees are so close to each other. Ferns are abundant though and it looks like one of these days there will be a mass of gorgeous bluebells underneath the canopy of trees.
I love these walks. I do not even notice time go by. We’ve been trampling around for almost an hour but I hardly felt it. That’s the sort of physical activity I like.
Yesterday I recovered from the frantic pace of Saturday. My right arm and shoulder were aching and my legs too from running up and down that hill to get to the garage. I took a strong pain killer last night and this morning I felt heaps better. I feel okay now in spite of this morning’s activity.
After our walk in the woods we went to my in laws to do some chores. Well mainly Hubby did the chores as his parents aren’t up to it anymore. They’re in their mid 80s! I was so hungry by lunchtime (around 2.00pm). After lunch we did a spot of gardening—I fertilised the plants while Hubby mowed the lawn. It looks great now. No more dandelions! It’s been a good three days. Back to work tomorrow (sigh!) Never mind, there’s another long weekend by the end of this month. Can’t wait! I bet the plants would look great by then.

Manic Saturday

I am on a three day weekend and started it with a very hectic morning. I was expecting guests for lunch today. That was okay but I also had to take my car to the garage in the village for service (I needed new brake discs and pads). I was fine about it, even took Sam with me for a bit of a walk on the way back home (and that was all uphill by the way)! When we got home I noticed an abundance of dandelions on the front lawn. I just couldn’t let my guests see that! No way! I went in the garage and retrieved my hand weeder. I then proceeded to extract the dandelions (roots and all) from the ground. It was not an easy job. In fact it was very hard because the ground was almost concrete! We hadn’t had rain for quite sometime. I must have been mad to do it. I tied Sam outside the front door so he could watch me dig out the weeds. Come to think of it I may be able to teach him to do something as useful as weeding. Perhaps not! Sam was quite perplexed at all the activity around him.
Anyway that took me over half an hour and I still had to make the potato salad from scratch. Then there was the window cleaning, put the roast chicken in the oven, then the quiche… and then prepare the green leaf salad as well. I was told that my car would be ready in an hour but it was almost 12 noon when I received a call from the garage…my car was ready and could I please pick it up? I was expecting my guests to arrive soon. I decided to make a dash for it. I left a post it note outside the front door just in case my friend arrived and no-one was home. Besides I could probably intercept them on the road. There's only one major road to the top of the village. I half walked, half ran to the garage. I paid the bill—and I tried to be so patient as the man in front of me at the till took his time paying. In no time I was back in the house…only just! Five minutes later my guests were at the front door. What a manic morning.
After they left I decided to take some photos of the garden and my favourite spot…the swing/hammock. I am still reeling from the exercise and activity from this morning. I feel absolutely knackered but I did it! I couldn’t believe that I cleared the front lawn of dandelions. I was meaning to do that for the longest time. I guess I am quite good at deadlines. Whew what a day. Now I must now join Sam and do some serious unwinding. Sam's completely wiped out. He hasn't had his morning snooze and he's looking quite fed up.

English landscapes

This must be one of my favourite photo in my collection. I took this over 10 years ago using my old SLR. I thought it was a photo I had to take because it exemplified England to me. I visited England in 1995 for the first time and in my eyes it was the most magical place that I have ever seen and it remained so until this very day. I love the way the weather challenges your instinct to survive. It is so like life--not every day that the sun shines. I learned a lot living here. I never get depressed about the weather. I grew up in a land where the sun shines most of the time but in exchange for its brilliance came the stifling heat. I do not like heat! Anyway, more about this photo...I love the "stillness" and the muted colours. I never got to meet the fisherman though. Also in the same visit I was fascinated by the green pastures and the "contented cows" so there I was just like a tourist taking photos of the cows! I loved every moment of it that I vowed to live here!
The next photo was taken in 1999. I was in Salisbury covering a story. I had lunch in this pub overlooking the river with the cathedral for a backdrop. I thought it was quintessential English as well. I thought of posting these photos one by one because scanning them take a long time!
Now I am busy taking photos of my backyard, house and garden. I just wish we had digital cameras when I was growing up because there were a lot of photo opportunities that are now just locked in my memory. I envy these young people now because they can commit their collective memories into electronic diaries like this blog for instance. Anyway, at least I can record moments of my life.
It's really quite amusing that some people make fun of bloggers like me. I mean who really cares what I think right? Who cares what happens to my life? It is not exciting as I am not a jetsetter and certainly it is not dramatic like some soap opera BUT I think there is something to be said about life quite ordinary. I think so anyway.

Chocolate and garden

I finally managed to bake my chocolate and orange marmalade cake today. I meant to bake one for a long time now but never had any time. I mean between the gardening and spring cleaning I just didn't have enough time to do any baking.
Yesterday Hubby, Sam and I went to Bridport to check out the markets (they were excellent by the way) and then headed for West Bay. I have to say that West Bay has improved 100% since we were last there. They have added to the promenade and there are new developments too--some high end apartments facing the seafront. It was a glorious day! We had some fish and chips by the pier (yummy). The downside was we didn't have the camera with us so no photos! Ughs!

We also tried to finish most of the replanting in the back garden. The hanging baskets are out as well. I took a photo of the back garden...spring is definitely in the air because the plants are growing fast!The field behind us has been turned over and soon the farmer will plant something, what I don't know but it'll be nice to see some green soon.
Tomorrow will be the start of the summer term. Another 10 weeks of hard slog and then summer time is here!!!! I really shouldn't wish my life away like this but I just want to enjoy my house and garden.

Tractors and bird calls

Our hard work in the garden is paying dividends. Yesterday afternoon I managed to enjoy half an hour outside with Sam on the swing just listening to bird calls and watching a farmer in a tractor efficiently till the field right outside our back fence. I am slowly getting familiar about country ways and village life. The other day we needed some eggs but the shops were closed. I noticed a wooden box outside one of the farms and I told Hubby it could be a “store box” where you just leave money in a carton. Well it was more than that. The box contained very large fresh farm eggs, home made cakes and jams! Half a dozen eggs cost 70p. We bought a dozen. We have village fetes and flower festivals. One thing I like about living out here in the sticks is I really experience English life.
Sam and I like watching the farmer toil his land. I haven’t had the opportunity to ask him what he was going to plant. Last year it was corn and I was told the other year he planted flowers. I’d like that. Spring is late this year—I reckon a whole month late. My annual plants are just beginning to flower. However I will have a better garden this year because it has matured a bit. I am obsessive about plants. I check them everyday. Hubby says I am like a sergeant major inspecting the troops. I am rather worried about two plants I transplanted. One is an expensive clematis that is looking a bit sorry for itself and I cannot understand why and the other is a wallflower that is looking quite “stressed”. It is not the watering or the fertilising because both are in pots. I am keeping my fingers crossed! Maybe they just didn’t like being repotted. My orchids are doing especially well. One of them has been in bloom since November and because I have been feeding it with orchid fertiliser it started to bud again and the same with the others. I am so pleased. I told Hubby he should get me more since I have been successful with them. But I think they like the position (on my kitchen window facing east—morning sun). It’ll be nice to have an assortment of them in my kitchen though.

Easter fun

My old friend Chicoy and his family arrived at Musbury on Wednesday. It was a fraught time for me before their arrival because I was busy planting, cleaning the house and cooking in preparation for their visit.
Nothing could be more fraught than that morning before their arrival. We've been having problems with the sink in the kitchen. It wasn't draining very well and inspite of using a liquid de-clogger water wasn't draining as efficiently as possible. Anyway, we bought this industrial strength drain de-clogger on Tuesday but hubby forgot to do it overnight. When I woke up the following morning I found that the dishwasher hasn't drained properly as well. Disaster I thought! No amount of using the rubber plunger seem to shift the blockage! It was awful. Anyway, after half an our of absolute panic I went outside to check the drain and lo and behold it was overflowing! Aaaarrrggghhhsss! I donned my rubber gloves and braved the stink and goo from the drain. I had to physically remove dead leaves and some organic matter from the drain but I knew we had to pour the industrial strength de-clogger directly on to the drain! But that was no job for a woman. I draw the line on that! I checked the dishwasher but it was still filled with water. I thought that if the drain was cleared, I could turn on the machine and it would automatically drain itself. I asked hubby to do the man thing and pour the sulphuric acid down the drain. Suffice to say it worked like a charm! All that time the problem was outside and not inside the pipes. The dishwasher was fine after that.
A few minutes later I noticed a farmer in a tractor spreading liquid fertiliser on the field outside our backyard. Of all days! Then the dog decided to play with some of the muck I was clearing and I couldn't help thinking I still had to cook three main dishes tonight. Good thing hubby offered to go to the supermarket to get the food supplies while I get the house ready.

Finally, our guests arrived I was sooooo excited to see them. It was great to hear the familiar sound of the Manilena accent and pinoy jokes. For once we had a full house. Tata and Nana shared the king size water bed in the third room, Chicoy and Tere were in the Blue Room and Pepe slept in the single bed in the attic. Sam was ecstatic because the kids fussed and played with him.
I served adobo, pinakbet and embutido on our first night. It was such fun!!!!! The following day we all went to Dartmoor (famous Dartmoor Prison) then had a barbecue for dinner--steaks and sausages with potato salad, coleslaw and green leaf salad. Hubby, Chicoy and Pepe of course drank beer, then shared a bottle of red wine and graduating to whisky at midnight while watching DVDs of the Eagles, Bee Gees and Pink Floyd!


Yesterday we went for a walk to our local woodlands at the top of the hill. Then we had brunch of eggs and bacon, leftover adobo, pinakbet, embutido and rice. This was also accompanied with a lot of oatmeal bread and jam. Yummy!
What fun we all had!

Easter holidays

I am now on holidays for a week and two days. I didn’t waste any time lounging around. Yesterday I fertilised the back garden. That’s back breaking work because the chicken manure was on the clay-dough side if you know what I mean. It stuck on my gardening gloves, on the bucket and on the trowel. If it was dry as it should be then I could have easily spread it around but no, I had to do it the hard way. Anyway I am glad I did it. I also pruned dead bits off the now growing shrubs and did more weeding. Then when I went indoors I started on my spring cleaning. I was working non stop until I felt my shoulder muscles ache and only then I stopped.

Today I fertilised and weeded the front lawn. I was using a liquid lawn fertiliser/weeder. The downside is I had to apply it using the watering can. I just couldn’t avoid lifting weights but the chore had to be done. After that I watered the back garden. It has been very sunny lately and the soil looked very dry after the winter. The potted plants needed watering after fertilising. Sam and I sat down on the swing for about half an hour just relishing the views and tranquillity. Back indoors I did more spring cleaning.

I have guests coming next week. My good friend Chicoy is coming over with this family for to spend a couple of days with us. We plan to go to Bath on Thursday and then they will head to Cornwall after that. It will be a nice change for hubby and me. Tomorrow hubby and I will go to the garden centre to buy some plants (climbers and bedding plants) for the garden. I really want a more whimsical and lush garden. It is too Spartan for me at the moment although the honeysuckle looks like it will do well this year.

As I said there is no rest for me. There’s so much to do at home. It makes me wonder how other people cope! The sun is shinning outside, Sam is curled up like a ball on the chair and I feel really sleepy. I just had a pasta lunch and I just want to get some 40 winks! Zzzzzzz.

All work and no play

Today provided some sort of relief for me. After agonising over my Excel spreadsheet with all the cross-referencing malarkey I managed to make the figures tally. It wasn’t easy at all because I had to forecast 3% increase from this year’s budget. It was so involved and somewhat complicated because I was using several documents as reference and I had to use the proper formulas. And I am not a finance person to begin with anyway! Excel is not the programme I use everyday but in the end I put together an excellent report if I say so myself.

What made my agonising even harder was we’ve been having brilliant sunshine recently…and I mean brilliant--clear blue skies and beautiful temperature. Absolutely smashing. And I am here at work toiling it out. Can you blame me for feeling a bit envious of the people on their holidays at the moment? I’d like to go out in my garden and do some planting. It is great to feel the sunshine against my skin. I am even wearing my sunnies again. I should start wearing my spring/summer clothes. A few more days and I’ll be on my Easter break. Wahey!!! No waking up at the crack of dawn. Spend time on my garden. I have new plans that I’d like to do in the garden like planting more climbers and hanging various potted annuals on the back fence. I can just see it now, the hanging gardens at Musbury!

So that is it as far as my work is concerned…I’ve finished my budget forecast, my business plan and the insurance budget for the whole organisation. I am finding it hard to concentrate now. I just want to go home.

Weed and reap it

I had a rather active weekend. I spent a lot of time in my garden weeding, clearing and pruning. Well I couldn’t help it because the temperature has gone milder and glory be, there was a ray of sunshine! Sam ran around the top garden while I was on my hands and knees weeding and pruning. Next week I have to feed the plants. It is the start of full on gardening season. We need to sort out the garage—a good job for our spring cleaning, go the Garden Centre to buy climbing plants for the back fence. I am looking for jasmine, clematis and honeysuckle. However, I think morning glory would look great as well. The back garden needs “softening” up with whimsical plants like climbers. It looks a bit “hard” at the moment. Hubby plans to install a water feature/fountain as well. It promises to be a sanctuary of sorts. I’ve always wanted a garden that I could enjoy in solitude. I am happiest when I am sitting outside on my swing with the sun shining and only the sound of nature to keep me company—and perhaps Sam and hubby. The birds are getting noisier by the day. I guess they’re busy nesting. I watch the sunset from our sitting room and I have such a hard time imagining that there are places in this world full of hate, evil and human misery. I count myself lucky and privileged to live this life. In its simplicity and routine it gives me a sense of stability and reassurance. Is that wrong? I have no idea but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I owe I owe so off to work I go

The older I get the harder it is for me to fathom the mind of men in general. Take for instance the other day, Hubby and I had “lively” disagreement sparked by a comment about food. I was carefully preparing stuffed sea bass (coriander, plum tomatoes, garlic, shallots and parsley) for dinner. I accompanied the dish with boiled baby potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli. As I was about to serve the dish he came into the kitchen and looked at my lunch box. Earlier I cooked tortellini in Napolitano sauce for my lunch next day and I was cooling the pasta before I put it in the fridge overnight. He casually remarked if I cooked enough for him as well ignoring the expensive and posh meal he was about to have. Of course this set me off and it ruined a perfectly good dinner(which we ate the following day with gusto!).
He did apologise for upsetting me later so that was okay. I guess men do not really want to see women in tears or upset. They are hardwired to avoid high emotions. Instead they just declare out and out war! Ha ha!
This week was not that all pleasant. I am preparing my budget next year and it is giving me such a headache! I vented my frustrations to one of my sympathetic male colleagues. I shed a few tears--I often do that when I am either very annoyed or angry and I was both in this instance--and he basically told me to hold fire for the time being and be a bit laid back. I knew he felt really sorry for me because he made efforts to cheer me up by helping me achieve one of my IT plans and avoided making sarcastic comments which he was known for. The one good thing about my present job is I have a handful of good colleagues that I can turn to for support. And I sure need it!
I got sent this little "poem" just now and it says it all...

Worker's Lament
IF YOU WORK AND DO YOUR BEST
YOU’LL GET THE SACK LIKE ALL THE REST,
BUT IF YOU LAZE AND BUGGER ABOUT
YOU’LL LIVE TO SEE THE JOB RIGHT OUT
THE WORK IS HARD THE PAY IS SMALL
SO TAKE YOUR TIME AND SOD ’EM ALL
CAUSE WHEN YOUR DEAD YOU’LL BE FORGOT
SO DON’T TRY AND DO THE BLOODY LOT,
OR ON YOUR TOMBSTONE NEATLY LACQUERED
THESE THREE WORDS “JUST BLEEDING KNACKERED!”