Wednesday 31 May 2017

Green

mizuna

The veg patches we added to the garden are greening up like crazy.  I have to hair cut the mizuna every day.  I am adding it to everything.  Rice?  Stir it in at the end.  Pasta?  Add it to the bottom of the bowl.

The dill is coming along nicely.  I have dried oregano, ummm smells lovely.  I have taken rosemary cuttings and some pelargoniums, I hope these take as it will save money.  

How is your garden doing?

Tuesday 30 May 2017

Jane Eyre read along 2017


I have much enjoyed this book.  It went too fast really.  

Too begin a feisty girl, taunted and abused by her cousins, loathed by her guardian aunt (by marriage), sworn to keep her as her own, her dead uncle being the brother of her mother, are you still with me?  Sent away at 10 to a school for girls.  Its strict.  She befriends another girl of steel grit and strong faith.  Her faithful friend dies young, embraced by Jane whilst they sleep.  

Jane becomes a teacher at the Lowood school where she was sent.  She decides that she would like to change her lot and advertises for a governess position.  A lady replies to the advert and Jane takes the position as the governess of a young French ward of Mr Rochester.  

Mr Rochester being the man of the house and the lady, Mrs Fairfax is the house keeper who answered the advertisement.  

Jane falls in love with Mr Rochester, whilst he is entertaining friends at the house.  At this time, strangely the bedroom of Mr Rochester is set on fire, whilst he is in bed.  Jane hears what she thinks is giggling in the hall and tells Mr Rochester this when she saves him.  

One of the ladies who is staying at the house, he eludes that he would like to marry her.  Jane resigns herself to this fact, her being of a lower class than them.  She advises that if this is the case, she will move on to another house and that the ward should be sent away to school.  

After testing her to see her true feelings Mr Rochester proposes to Jane.  She writes to an Uncle in Madeira.  Small world moment, it is found that a man on the island is the brother in law of Mr Rochester and he had been married to a girl in Jamaica.  She is mentally ill and is the one who tried to burn Mr Rochester in his bed!  A representative and the BIL rush to stop the wedding and get their just in the nick of time. (that was lucky.  Phew for Jane)

After being propositioned my Rochester to be installed somewhere in France and be his mistress, Jane makes off in the night as she is a God fearing woman.  She gets on a coach, and gives the driver all of her money.  She then forgets her meagre belongings and is left destitute.  She wanders the countryside and comes to a village.  A moment of "there is no room at the inn" happens.  She sees a light in the distance and follows it to a small house.  Where a servant and 2 young ladies of the house are.  The servant goes to send her of with a flea in her ear.  The master of the house is coming home at that time and is a pastor.  He brings her in to the home as she is dead on her feet after not eating and wandering for 3 days.

He can see that she is well educated and has been given money by the local bigwig, whose daughter has designs on marry the pastor, to start a school for girls.  Jane takes the job of the teacher, giving a false name.  She writes to Mrs Fairfax to see how Mr Rochester is.

The pastor and his 3 sisters are living in the small house as they had lost all of the family money, having been the aristo's of the area for generations.  They were hoping to inherit a fortune from a relative who had made good abroad.  This relative has died and the money has been left to another.  The daughter of the relatives brother, the uncle of this family.  No one can find the daughter.  In the interim, the sisters take work as governesses.  The pastor is devout and wishes to go to India to be a missionary.

Jane having concealed her real surname, begins to enjoy her life as a school mistress.  The daughter of the big wig, calls on her and the school.  Jane drawers a portrait of this lady and her father wishes her to complete it as a painting.  The pastor visits Jane whilst she is still finishing the picture.  Jane has signed the picture with her original name.  The pastor snatches the name off if the picture and leaves.  

He then returns and confronts Jane, telling her the story of the uncle abroad being dead and leaving the money to another.  It turns out that Jane is their cousin.  dah da daaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!

Jane, overcome with the idea that she is now a monied lady, wishes to share the money 4 ways with her cousins.  Nice lady.  This happens and the sisters and Jane, give up paid work.  Whilst at home they all pursue further learning.  The pastor decides that Jane would benefit from learning Hindustani.  They carry on in this vein until the pastor is close to leaving for India,  he and jane take a walk and he, in a round about way asks her to marry him.  She asks him if he loves her and he says she will make a good missionary's wife.  Not what Jane is looking for after the powerful love she felt from Rochester.  She declines.

Whilst the pastor is away, having not heard from Mrs Fairfax as to their wellbeing, she decides to go back.  On arrival, she finds the house in ruins and burnt to the ground.  On talking to a local she finds out that he was seriously hurt when trying to save his mentally ill wife from the fire, as she throws herself off of the roof.  And he has moved to another of his houses.

She ventures to this house, that is in the deepest darkest wood and there she finds him.  Blind, having lost one eye and only being able to see light and dark in the other eye.  His hand was also amputated. He lives with 2 of his former servants.  Jane vows to never leave Rochester ever again.  They immediately get married. In time his sight partially returns in his eye.  

And they live happily ever after.

I liked it, it was a fast read and was routing for her to succeed. 

I would read it again.  8/10

I wonder why in the book she keeps saying, Dear Reader?  I am not sure I like that part.

The next read along book is Wuthering Heights.  It should be a quick read.  I hope you join in.


Tuesday 23 May 2017

Shaken not stirred. Goodbye

Goodbye to one of my {first crushes}.  Sad day.



What I did yesterday...

Firstly.






My scrawly hand writing! Scrubbed those floors on my hands and knees.  Got to look good in pictures!

Sunday 21 May 2017

Tuesday 16 May 2017

April - May 2017 read along


How are you all today?  I am good thank you, now that the weather has broken slightly and I no longer have a migraine/headache as it has now rained and thunder.  I'm like a human barometer.

I fell behind on my reading due to this, I try and keep to a schedule to make sure I finish.  Up until then, this was a really fast read and I would enjoy reading it again straight away if I could.  I dont think I will have time.

How are you doing with it?  

Monday 15 May 2017

Diddunum - ohhh ahhhh

Alright, me hansome?

Ha Ha. I was reading Lovelygrey's blog and {this post} really made me smile.  It was a proper job!

When I am tired or upset or when I shout, I am pure Devon.  I have a bit of Somerset mixed in with some sayings from my paternal side of the family.  'That be nice bennet'.  Which I never knew for years and years, meant, that is nice, is it not?  Sounds all rather Yoda-ish.

I will leave you with some you tubes...  lmao  

In this first one, the two men in the shed sound very Radstock/Bath to me.  The guy with the gypsy caravan is not West Country at all, he is just rambling absolute nonsense...  I have no idea why he is in the video, with his blankets and duvets?  What? lol  Enjoy number 1


Number 2, sisters who sound like me and my friends from school when we get going.  

'It comes out the lace holes!'  Ha ha


These two crack me up.  50 yoars!



And this one, is a little over the top, but there are people who talk like this especially the older people.



As we are hoping to live in Cornwall, the accent will be different again.  I heard from a friend who I went to school with, who  has lived in Cornwall for 20 years, she said, that her kids have been having Cornish lessons at school, (I think she pays for the lessons).  All I get from the below you tube is Cornish radio.  Kernow radio, she says.  Thats it!!!  lol  I have a long way to go right?!?!




This one popped up.  I could listen to this Scottish lady all day.  So sing song.  Imagine her reading childrens bed time stories. 



Have a great day!

Thursday 11 May 2017

Its Raining Its Pouring!

Hooray!  My lawn is yellow and the earth cracked and as I dont water any plants that arent food, the garden really needs it.  Dry as a bone it was.

Friday 5 May 2017

Paris Grey


To dress the house up, I have had to be a bit inventive.  I didnt think an orange pine bed frame was going to cut it.  

As you can see from the picture above, I painted it paris grey by Annie Sloan in chalk paint. 

Dont look too close is all I can say.  It will look good in pictures for the internet.  I think a lot of people fall in love with a house from the pictures from the internet and then after a viewing pour over the pictures again and again.  Or is that just me?

Hope you are all well.  I am going to take a little blogging break, I will be back next week.  

I have finished Jane Eyre.  I am bursting with it, I have even bought the DVD with Michael Fassbender in it.  (got to have some eye candy!)

Happy weekend!!!

Tuesday 2 May 2017

How you doin?

How you doin?, yeah go on say it in a {Joey Tribianni} voice!

Gosh the days are flying by arent they.  I went to work yesterday morning.  Got there at 5.30am.  Yep, it was a bank holiday and no one else was there, even the big boss man had gone to London, (his Wife lives in London during the week and comes down some weekends, he stays at the house perm').

I got so much done.  No one coming and asking me anything. Everything is in good shape.  I emailed the last few bits from the day to boss man 2 (son) and to the accountant.  Both pinged back emails with in about 5 mins, expressing gratitude that we are well below forecast and well below budget.

Delivery company came, with 4 beds for the holiday cottages, whilst I was at work.  Lovely couple they were.  They had come all the way from Wales.  They unfortunately had to take one bed back as the divan box was badly torn and marked, inside the packaging.  Seriously industrious people.  Moved from Hull, to a house with land, started a home storage unit business and have just branched out into delivery driving!  Fab!  What spirit!, to change you life completely.  They had been teachers!  It kind of reminds me of a {blog post} I read earlier today.  Go check it out.  I read so many blogs where people are pushing for as self suffcient as they can get and I love reading about it.  Instead of moaning about things, and just constantly dreaming they are working hard to have their own patch of Eden.  I know you have to dream to get there, but these people are making it a reality.  I loved {this post} by Kev.  You can see he really is going for it and not only being a stay at home dad he is homesteading with livestock.  I take my hat of to families who, work, raise families and homestead.  Its hard work, but you can see from his posts that he is loving it. Kev and his wife are doing great things.

The sun is shining here, there is a gentle breeze that is constant.  It is perfect sailing weather.  If only we lived by the sea! 😀  The weather reminds me of holidays in Greece.  The dogs are sunning themselves right now.  Panting like mad, they come in every so often for a drink and then go back out and collapse on the grass.  Marta ever so often chews some grass and moves from her spot.  Eric having the {best spot} it would seem.

Marta had her second check up with the vets. all healing well.  I was a little worried as she had a long soft lump/ridge the length of the incision.  And at the top a big knotty feeling thing behind where her belly button was.  Nothing to worry about.  The lump is a bit of fluid where the body is trying to attack the stitches and they are dissolving and the knot really is knotting.  Its where all the stitches end and come together and where the belly button was it is naturally loose skin, so they have to gather it a bit.  Next up in the doggy world is Eric's booster injection.  Can you believe next month he has lived with us for a whole year.  Wowsers has our life changed.  *eyes a fur dust bunny, hiding behind the leg of the side board.  Makes mental note to get that today*

Thats about it.  I am about half the way through Jane Eyre, I am not sure I will have time to read it a second time this month before the 21st...  Aperas for dinner!  Yum, with refried beans and black turtle beans in chilli sauce.  yum yum yumyum yum  (I put cheese in the dough for the Mr)

Have a fab day!!!!