Mysterious findings

Took the camera out with us when we went out with the dog today as it was such a beautiful day we thought we would get some nice pictures of the village and countryside.

Found this lovely rose bush at the edge of the buttercup field

These striking blooms are at the edge of a garden which seems to have been neglected for some time, it must have had some great plants in at one time, as every now and then through the undergrowth emerges a little beauty.

A little burst of colour at the side of the lane.

Then we found the biggest dandylion clock ever! Even with Hubby's hand (for scale purposes!) it still doesn't look as big in the picture as it did in real life!

And then it seems that this tree has been taken over by some other beings which appear to live in little red towers on the leaves! No idea what these were, did start to get a little creepy in the woods with alien beings inhabiting the flora!

Could this be the reason why? Found nestling in the hedge in a little clearing which was obviously made during the emergency landing was this time travelling alien ship. I'm off to contact the Doctor now, hope to be back with you tomorrow, that is tomorrow our time, here on Earth!

Take care all, til tomorrow

Sarahx

Mints and Buns

Had to go into Hitchin yesterday, don't very often go for a wander around as I am usually rushing about doing 1001 jobs. I had the time to wander through the market (antiques and collectables on a Friday) and the town whilst enjoying a freshly made lemon and sugar crepe from the market and even took the time to be a tourist and take a pic or two!

Just found out that the FA Cup final is on today! It wasn't supposed to be! We were going to have an FA Cup afternoon as we did a couple of years ago (didn't have a TV last year so it wouldn't have worked!) The plan was going to include Everton Mints and Chealsea Buns! Not to mention the regulation gingerbread men for each team - whoever eats the goal winner gets the FA Cup, well the gingerbread version! Hubby is working today so he probably wont get to see or hear any of it. Think I shall devise something for the Wimbledon final instead!

Right now I am busy measuring and planning the outhouse building works. We need to fit in a bathroom and utility into a relatively large space, but one which keeps producing corners which become unusable! I think I may have just cracked it though and I am sure my IQ level has risen whilst arranging the pieces of the puzzle on my scale model. Just so long as I got my workings out right with the scale model in the first place..........

The garden building out the back of ours is coming along well. Gone are all the brambles and a lot of the trees and the ground is levelled and ready for the landscaping. It does look rather bleak at present and it was quite awful watching the diggers uproot the trees in one manouevre but there will be more trees going back in and it will be beautiful once it is done.

Kind of feel that I could do with borrowing one of the diggers myself for our garden. We have such horrid soil and so many weeds right now I just don't know where to start! Felt very satisfied with the bit of weeding I did the other day only to find that the chickens have also jumped in to help and have now shifted all the soil onto the path! I must keep reminding myself that I can get onto the planting and pretty stuff once we have done the big digging and moving and building things! Patience doesn't appear to be one of my virtues!

Have a lovely weekend everyone, take care

Sarah x

Healthy living

Recently I have noticed whilst reading other folks blogs that there is an air of healthy living decsending over us here in blogland. For our own part here in Land Cuckoo we have been gently increasing the fruit and veg intake, swimming and planning meals so as to avoid the last minute trip to the takeaway.

I have to agree that I do feel better when we are focused on meals and excercise, it really does work! Plus we are still following the budget for each months groceries, well apart from last month where it got a little lost along the way. This means that the larder is being refreshed more as we make sure we eat up anything that is edible before going off to the market to fetch more!

Over the weekend, I met a lady who has a health routine which I am seriously considering adopting - everyday at 5.30pm she stops what she is doing and has a glass of red wine and some olives! Now I have no idea how old she was but she certainly looked very healthy to me!

Do not adjust your screen, the glass on the left is truely that size! It is designed to prevent accidents, because if you have a glass this size there is less danger of you falling over on the way to fetch a top up as you have no need to - it all fits in the first glassful!

So as I sit here with my 5.15pm mug of tea and a gingerbread man (home-made by me with no artificial things in and available from my stall at Biggleswade Farmers Market, or direct by post if you like (nothing wrong with a little self promotion is there)) I am writing the shopping list for market on Saturday:

Red wine - lots of

Olives - green ones.........

Take care and keep up with the healthy lifestyles folks

Sarah x

An Award

I have been nominated for this award by Karon at Dream Acres, thank you very very much!

Now these are the instructions that came with it - I shall pass it on to three more of you lovely folk out there for you to display on your blog (click on the picture to save it and paste onto your pages, well that is how I did it!), tell people where it came from, then you nominate three blogs from your pages and we keep passing it on. It does seem like a nice way to pass on a good read!

Our New Life in the Country

Margaret's Ramblings

Cathy's Capers

I'm off to finish packing up from the weekend, got to put everything back in it's rightful place or I shall never know what I have and don't have!

Take care all

Sarah x

Going down?

Here you go - you can't get any more up to date than this for news!

Look what just flew over our house.

I was engrossed in my work when I heard the roar of the burners followed by various neighbours noisily pointing ( I know pointing is usually a quiet process but when coupled with much ooooo's and aaaahhh's it becomes less so).

Just managed to grab camera and got a couple of pictures.

Now by my reckoning they will be landing in the cow field at the top of the lane - good luck to them then - those cows still didn't look friendly last time I went past!

Off to finish up working now and hope I am ready for this weekend, surely I must have enough stock by now!

Take care all

Sarah x

Cats sleep anywhere

Cats sleep anywhere,

any table,

any chair.

Top of piano,

window-ledge,

in the middle,

on the edge.

Open draw,

empty shoe,

anybody's lap will do.

Fitted in a cardboard box,

in the cupboard with your frocks.

Anywhere!

They don't care!

Cats sleep anywhere.

Eleanor Farjeon (1881 - 1965)

And in the basket of clean and pressed fabric which is within striking distance from her own bed but clearly much more comfortable.

Love her! Take care all, til tomorrow x

Mountains of lost plots

Now I had a plot here somewhere, but it appears to have been lost, well I can't find it. I guess it is probably with those marbles and quite possibly I would find some loose screws in the same place.

Cuckoo? I think so!

Yep, now singing and doing the actions to Reach for the Stars (S Club 7), things have been lost beyond my control now.

Lovely Hubby is cooking tea, he is good and his food t'aint bad either! It does look remarkably like George is reading out the recipe though doesn't it!

If I don't get got by the paperwork mountain.....

It will be the mug mat mountain that gets me!

Take care all, hope to be with you tomorrow

Sarah x

Findings

Well I would like to say I have been carried through the weekend on a gentle breeze but that would be lying! More like I have been drop kicked by the gusts of wind into the beginning of this week and I am not ready for it! How we all managed to leave intact from Saturdays market in Welwyn Garden I shall never know! It didn't half blow through the town and on more than one occasion we were chasing down blown away items and hanging onto stock for dear life! But, it didn't rain!

After weeks of meaning to, I eventually got to the local car boot sale yesterday. Not to sell anything, had enough of dodging the weather for one weekend! I was there purely in a shopping capacity and it was great.

Found this shortbread press, not something I have used before but was reading about them a few weeks ago so thought I would give it a try next time I bake.

Missy had to inspect the goods! Got some cotton shirts for a project I have in mind, which I wont embellish on as it will probably change by the time I get around to doing it!

Found these bottles too, don't know why I am liking things that have seemingly been dug up from someones garden at the moment but I do so I indulged myself! Not that I believed any of the story the chap selling them was telling me about how he had dug them up himself, I could be doing him a dis-service I know but, it doesn't matter does it? I still like them.

The ginger beer bottle just fits in with my other finds that are collecting on the windowsill. Note that they are collecting a protective layer of dust on purpose, it adds to their charm! I do have the scales that go with the weights but after 2 house moves they seem to have found their way into a hidden corner of the loft and have yet to be re-found, much to my annoyance! The old spoon in the picture was one I found of the beach obviously having been out at sea for a while and rather battered but I like to think of it having travelled across the oceans from its original start on a ship sailing to new lands many many years ago. Not even going to entertain the idea that it possibly has a much less romantic story like being left over from a picnic on the very same beach!

Off to work lots now, big show at the end of the week at Burghley House in Lincolnsire, first one of these I have done so I have no idea how it will go, better just get everything possible ready!

Take care all

Sarah x

Buddys Friday - Swap and Shop

Back in January we had a Swap and Shop afternoon, we chose this time as it would be good for folk clearing out to make space for all thier new goodies but anytime of year would work.

The basic idea is to bring items you no longer want or need and have a look at what everyone else has brought to see if there is anything you would like. If you find something then it is yours to take away! We had an honesty box too so that if anyone wanted to make a donation for their items they could and the money went to the village charity.

This is hubby in the midst of all the donated items - we had loads! I am glad that we collected things during the week before so that they could be displayed nicely for people to see more easily. We had clothes, household items, pictures, shoes, books, jewellery and quite a few smelly gift sets! Even the clothes rails were lent to us by a very kind freecycler (if you have not yet discovered Freecycle, then do have a look).

After the event we gave any suitable items left to the village charity for their auction later in the year and then took the rest to the charity shop so that everything was sent on it's way to provide for someone else. Yes it was quite a lot of work but it was worth it to know that these things were not going to waste, and we did end up with less than we started with so it was a good turnover of items.

Right now I am off to recycle some of my chaos into saleable products for the market this weekend!

Take care all

Sarah x

Home sweet home

This is the house that Sarah built! My first attempt at a gingerbread house and I am most amazed at how well it stuck together! I didn't have to use any scaffolding, which I was all prepared for and so far the mortar (icing) seems to have held up very well! I have some very grand designs in my head for what I would like to do next, after I have managed to make a house which does not require a sprinking of 'snow' to cover up the joins! Whether these actually present themselves in real life as well as they are looking in my head is another thing!

I wanted to show you these pictures from a fellow Etsian, Boo's Jewellery. Yesterday there was a conversation about photographs which is something that is rather important when you are showing your products online. Boo uses some fantastic props for her pictures which show off her work brilliantly (I am not going to tell you what they are!).

If you click on the pictures you will be taken to Boo's Etsy page which will give you all the information about the products.

All Boo's Jewellery is individually handmade with her main tools , in her own words, being eyes, fingers and pliers! So not only is she a very acomplished photographer, she makes lovely jewellery too.

More work awaits so I shall be off, til tomorrow

Sarah x

All things bright and beautiful

Oh how I wish I had a camera this morning! George managed to lose another ball in the stream when he dived in for a drink. He has not learnt that a heavy ball will sink once he lets go and then he gets confused, tramples all the silt and mud at the bottom of the water and hey presto - no ball! Fortunately, today it was in such a place that with a little dexterity (oh yes, like a mountain goat me!) I managed to clamber down the bank and using the flingy stick as a probe the ball was recovered! George, however emerged from the stream with no white fur showing at all, even his usual white nose and chin had been turned grey/brown from the silt at the bottom of the stream. Do I think he is going to remember the hassle of dropping the ball in the water? I doubt it, I am sure we will be doing the very same thing again before the year is out!

The rapeseed is just starting to lose it's colour now, the golden is glowing a little less as the blossoms begin to fall. I have no idea at what point they harvest this as I have never been this close before.

It is still amazing though, to walk along the track with all the blossoms at head height, the scent is very strong early in the morning too. I think these other blossoms are from a hawthorn bush, they are so pretty up close.

Here is a blog for you which is guaranteed to brighten your day! Garden Divas, who I have mentioned before have been blogging to show off all their new products. If you want some bright girly gardening goodies then this is the place to go!

Righto I am off to bake today, not for personal consumption but for an order which I am very excited about, maybe more about that another time....

Take care all, til tomorrow x

Sarah x

Down at the mill

It was back to Stotfold Mill yesterday for the second day of their Steam and Country Fair. I went a bit earlier so that I had a chance to have a wander around myself, after all there is no point in going to work somewhere so interesting if you don't get a chance to have a look at it!

These are a few of the steam rollers and road engines (I am sorry but I really don't know what they are called but that is what they look like - definately recognised the steam rollers). It seems that steam engines are popular with all ages, - the engine at the front of the picture is a miniature version complete with miniature people (children) in their blackened boiler suits with dirty rags polishing the shiney bits!

This is what I followed down the lane on Saturday, one of two which were making their way, slowly, somewhere! I think, but I could be wrong that this along with one or two other engines are used to power the fairground rides.

One of the fairground rides, the steam gondalas, took the photo into the sun - hence it is so dark!

Then on the other side of the road in the meadow where the craft marquee was we had the tractors, vintage cars and bikes, archery, shooting, bouncy castles, not to mention the huge decorative organ which played its large reportoire from classical to the Beatles only to be interrupted frequently by the police car siren which was set off to the delight of the children but after 2 days has rendered me immune to the sound so much so that I am slightly concerned that I may not recognise that I have to get out of the way if I hear sirens out and about in the next week or so!

The afore mentioned organ

The vintage cars were all so beautifully polished and gleaming, puts my car cleaning efforts to shame - I don't think a taste of bubbles, rinsed off with the watering can and a quick chamois on the windows is what these cars get!

So which do I prefer? The brilliant red Triumph or this real smiling proper looking car with eyes? The Jaguar was pretty cool too but I decided to narrow my choice down to those with soft tops, or no tops at all!

Spotted this round the corner in the mill! Looks like someone had a good night! In actual fact it was part of the raffle - win a barrow of booze and the bottles were all full although I suspect that may not be the case by now if the winner has collected their prize!

Off to bake today after unloading and putting everything away from the weekend.

Take care, til tomorrow

Sarah x

On the beaches

I just found out that someone (you know who you are) is going to be sitting on a beach in Majorca as I am writing. Now whilst that is not really unusual, as I would expect that at any given point in time at which I am writing there will be someone somewhere sitting on a beach, it just made me think how much I would like to be sitting on a beach somewhere too! Well to be honest I would probably prefer to be sat next to a pool, preferably with a nice bar, very comfortable lounger and a good book (good looking waiters too much to ask for d'you think?). Although I could be tempted by a lovely beach I found in Goa................. be back in a mo, just reminiscing.........

But then it occurs to me that I should really jump back on the reality waggon - I am very lucky in so much as I have just been to the beach. More than one in fact and they were all very very nice. I may not have been able to sit and read a book without some part of me succuming to wind burn or a chill but but all the same it was dry for the most part and sunny and that, my friends, is enough!

I am back to the mill tomorrow, will try and remember the camera - just another thing I forgot to take this morning! Had a very leisurely drive back down the lane when I left this evening as I was following 2 steam engines! They got up quite a speed once they got going, a very sedate and lovely way to travel so long as the wind is blowing in the right direction!

Take care, I'm off to find food, fudge does not count as one of my five a day does it?

Sarah x

Those machines keep on coming

The goal was, to blog before finishing my cup of tea - not happened! Tea has gone and blog has not!

The machines have moved closer to us. Yesterday they were just the other side of our fence and as we only have a low fence it seemed like they were in our garden!

Now you are not to notice any of the foreground, that would be our garden, just focus on the big yellow digger! Our garden is in need of a large dose of TLC but as we are still in the stages of moving things around, like log piles, sheds, log cabins and veggie patches there seems little point in getting into landscaping yet!

And the fires burned all day and all night........... This is a mahussive fire which has been going now for 3 days! Even more amazing is that the wind has been blowing the smoke away from all the houses, and there are houses on three sides! In acutal fact now that they have cleared so much of the brambles and undergrowth we can see how close the other houses are - we never realised they were that close!

All the cow parsely has shot up since we have been away.

I couldn't even see the little white pony in the next door paddock as the cow parsely was taller than the pony would be!

The rapeseed is really blossoming now, I have so many pictures as it may be a few years before the crop rotation gets round to it again!

Now I am off to walk the dog and get ready for the weekend at Stotfold Mill Country and Steam Fair.

Take care, til tomorrow x

To blog or not to blog, that isn't actually the question.

More like when to blog? You see if I get up and crack on with things in the morning it is far too tempting to get lost in blogland once I have finished with my little effort. But then if I leave it until the end of the day, like today, I don't feel like I am giving you my full attention because I am very hungry, bent up from being wrapped around the sewing machine for a few hours and wanting to get downstairs and sit with Hubby and dog for a while before we all fall asleep!

So what to do? I don't know.

Think I shall just go and make the dinner (late meal time again), put the chooks to bed and put tomorrows work in nice little piles so I know what I am going to do first in the morning!

Til tomorrow, take care all
Sarah x

Buttercups and body parts

The buttercups are out in the Buttercup Field now which means that everytime George has been out for a walk he returns with yellow legs!

In comparison to the rapseed fields the buttercup field now looks quite tame, but last year when we were not surrounded by golden fields this was the most colour we had seen after the winter!

The lilac trees are out in all their glory too, must consider one for our garden somwhere, they smell so lovely too.

Just for a complete contrast, yesterday we went and had a look at bodies! Not for the squeamish, so look away now......................

The Bodyworlds exhibitions are pretty well known now after the TV series with the live autopsy performed by Gunther von Hagens. It is amazing to see all the insides of your body out there infront of you, so much so that you forget that these exhibits were once real people!

When we arrived for the exhibition at the O2 we were rather surprised to see such a long queue at the doors. In the hope that it was for something else we asked a member of staff who told us that they were all waiting for the X Factor auditions! Well, we asked ourselves what could we do? The 6 of us, surely we had some talent between us? Erm........ no, most definately not. We proceeded to the door, past all the hopefulls, were ferried accross the tide of expectant eagerness (ie they stopped the X Factor queue to let us cross!) and we just went and looked at bodies instead! Thus saving the nation from at least one rendition of some vaguely recognisable pop song by a group of smiling, unco-ordinated folk off the street!

Take care all, til tomorrow x