A gentle smirr of rain has been hanging in the air all day today so I have been gifted a cast iron excuse to keep out of the garden (where I have been labouring in stakhanovite fashion the last few days). As always, initial excitement at the boundless horizon of possible indoor activities caused aContinue reading “The kindly smirr”
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A dryish white season
As we waved off the last visitor of the festive season the members of Team Ruthven all felt a rest from Bacchanalian practices might be in order. Approaches differed. Keith declared the commencement of “Dryish January” and then promptly took Lachlan to the pub for a last hurrah. Mum and I took the moral highContinue reading “A dryish white season”
Fire and Flood
The boys have gone to play snooker, the steak and kidney pudding has an hour and a bit still to steam, everything else is ready bar a few last minute blasts in the oven and I am finally sitting down with a glass of wine, gently throbbing feet and a slightly dazed sensation. I’m notContinue reading “Fire and Flood”
Another year, another project
Just a quick garden update for those who like that sort of thing! Work on the new shade bed is trucking along steadily. I have now rehomed all of Raymond Next Door’s unwanted hostas and potted up the broken bits to act as possible fillers elsewhere next year. I think there’s space in the nutteryContinue reading “Another year, another project”
Yorkshire and back via Coventry
It has been a hectic few weeks recently and somehow there has always been something much more pressing than penning an update. However, I have carved out a couple of hours before dinner (which Keith is cooking) to catch up with emails and here I am at last in the sweet slot between (i) theContinue reading “Yorkshire and back via Coventry”
Kindling
It’s getting just a touch cooler. On Monday I lit the log burner in the evening for the first time in ages and today the chimney sweep is coming so we can finally get the living room fire going. Of logs, post Storm Arwen, there is a superabundance but I do rather miss the FinancialContinue reading “Kindling”
Summer’s survivors
I’ve had a few days out and about on wildlife patrol with Lyra, now freed from the post op “no scratchy” T shirt, recently (ably assisted by Keith and Mum, respectively, as side kicks) so thought I’d submit my late summer report. The heat of the last few days has turned the wheat to gold,Continue reading “Summer’s survivors”
It’s all gone Pete Tong
Where to begin….. We set off for the Isle of Wight primped and prepped. Our little party was staying at the Grand, where an ongoing ambience of being in the middle of a Hercule Poirot adventure coexisted slightly uneasily, but in a good way, with the breakfast mix tape of 70s funk classics. The weddingContinue reading “It’s all gone Pete Tong”
Open season is closed (for a bit)
Finally, or at least for a month, we have the garden to ourselves and license to ignore it or appreciate it from a sedentary position, as the mood takes us. The annual garden open day took place last Sunday, on the coldest and windiest (but thankfully not rainiest) day for ages. The cohort of stalwartContinue reading “Open season is closed (for a bit)”
What remains
Today Lachlan took Lyra and me to the Ford Moss nature reserve, just over the border in Northumberland. We saw an old friend on the approach. The Cheviot sits smack bang in the middle of the view from the front of our house and it was slightly strange seeing him from a different angle asContinue reading “What remains”