Isn't it funny how a bee likes honey?

Winne the Pooh would have been very excited by goings on in our garden yesterday. We're having the outside of the house painted plus insane amounts of other work done (this is what you get for 10 years of virtually zero house maintenance) and I was having a quiet sit down between rounds of tea making and friendly conversation, when I heard a bee buzzing in my living room. The back door was open, so I wasn't surprised. That is, until I realised that it had now been joined by two more, and that in fact the air outside was now thick with honeybees. I shut the door and ran to the front to alert the painter, then went back to watch hundreds and thousands of bees form a swarm in our newly pruned hazel tree.

It's alive!

A wider shot to show the size of the swarm high in the tree. The playhouse has gone to another little girl this morning, and the tatty back fence is soon to be replaced...

I had just found a local beekeeper who wanted to come and catch the swarm and give them a new home when I realised the bees were flying off and the huge mass gradually reduced again until it had disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. It was one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen, and it turns out it's the third in our village in the last 10 days. Something to do with the sudden dry spell after weeks of rain.

I hope wherever they went they have found a lovely new home. I'm glad they came to visit, albeit briefly.

Flying the flag

Here's a peep at the latest bit of nonsense that's been filling my time - a tiny beaded Union Jack from a pattern found in the latest issue of Making Jewellery magazine. It has a limited shelf life - I doubt I'll be sporting it past the Jubilee and maybe the Olympics, but this one is destined either to be a bag tag - maybe for my dad's bag (still waiting to be posted) or a tag for my keys. It's a bit big for a mobile phone charm but I can see obvious ways to reduce it even further and then, who can say?

A haaaaandbag?

No, a manbag. For my lovely Dad, who saw the one I made for myself, thought about how he carts wallet and glasses and phone (his phone is better than mine and he is nearly 82 - I should rectify this) and decided he would like a bag of his own.

Mine is a two zip hipster (a marvellous pattern) in vibrant Amy Butler prints which will be wonderful in summer and completely doesn't go with the goretex walking coat I am currently living in.

His is thick black suiting material (gabardine?) lined with a mad Union Jack print because he is fiercely patriotic and because it makes me think of sensible waistcoats with secret hidden outrageous linings.

He hasn't seen it yet (so Dad, if you're reading, watch out for the postie) and I hope he likes it. Because I was thinking about him with every stitch I made, and as a result, for once I didn't swear at the sewing machine during the process.

Cauldrons in blankets

What do you call a vegetarian pig? I have no idea either.

In my teens and twenties I was vegetarian. I long ago fell off the wagon, I'm still not quite sure why, but I do enjoy cooking vegetarian food and try to keep the meat intake down a bit for various reasons, not least animal welfare. I've always been mildly wary of meat substitutes - Quorn is pretty much OK as long as I don't try to pretend it is anything else - and the kids wolf down Quorn bolognaise with hidden vegetables so that's a big tick in my book.

Anyway, my sister recently introduced me to Cauldron sausages (NB I am not being paid for this!) and oh my goodness, I may never eat a real sausage again. Seriously. OK, on the plate they don't look like sausages (too straight) but the flavour is gorgeous and as I discovered last night, they make fabulous pigs in blankets.

I precooked the sausages and used Nigella's recipe for the scone dough (the linked one is in cups but it's a very easy basic cheese scone dough), and they have gone in with the girls to school today. We shall see what they think ...


Thank you for all the lovely comments on my ring - I still haven't taken it off and thanks to you my hands are looking better as I have upped the water and handcream intake. Yahoo! If I haven't emailed you or answered in the comment box, I will do very soon. Trying to get back into the swing of things here!

Proper chuffed

I've had a gloriously self indulgent morning at Spoilt Rotten Beads in Haddenham, taking a workshop in art clay silver ring making. I booked it at the last minute, having intended to try and make rings myself for aaaaages - I've made sterling wirework and hammered rings, but the potential for shrinkage and thus difficulties in sizing had held me back from silver clay ones.

Our lovely tutor, Juliet, took five of us through from sizing through rolling and embellishing, drying, filing, firing and finally polishing. She was very calm, most of us were a bit twitchy but at the end of three hours, we had all produced gorgeous rings that fit and sparkled.

I had a tense moment when my band cracked, but with a goodly dollop of silver paste all was well.

I love my new ring. It fits, and thanks to the edges I spent ages bevelling, it is really, really comfortable. I'd like to make another one straight away, but I have a secret squirrel project I need to finish for tomorrow so I'd better get on with it.

Slightly horrified by my wrinkly hands - just be glad I didn't zoom in!

The end of an era

Three years ago we took on an allotment. It was a reclaimed bit of field, and we dug and planted and used gallons of suncream in whipping it into shape. The first season was fabulous - freshly picked sweetcorn, armfuls of cut flowers, endless potatoes and the most delicious beans and courgettes and butternut squash.

The second season started well - our potatoes were frosted in late May, but undaunted we carried on, cultivated the areas we had left fallow the first year and planted crops - which subsequently failed.

Last year, I determined to get to grips with the plot that was by now threatening to go back to nature. I gave in and used Roundup on the most stubborn weeds, something I had promised myself I would never do. Our little patch of paradise began to resemble a derelict building site. 

I started to lose sleep over it. I started to feel like a failure.

So, we have decided to give it up. I went up last night to say goodbye and thank you and to collect the last of our tools. I felt nostalgic on the long trudge up the path to the middle of the windy hillside, and wavered for a moment - until I saw that something had broken down our fence and there was a rabbit lolloping about in it.

I picked the last tulips, hoisted my barrow and headed back to the car. And breathed.

Decisions, decisions

We've lived in our 100 year old house for 12 years now. In that time we've had two children, overhauled the garden, started and abandoned an allotment, left a job (me), started a company (Mr DC), learned to play the piano (me) ... the one thing we haven't done is repainted our bedroom. And it shows, believe me, it shows. We've gone through all the other rooms and are now back to the point where most of them need repainting, but still, our room is a shameful secret, the one where I close the doors if anyone comes to visit and needs to go upstairs to the bathroom.

But no more! We are finally going for it! Someone is coming to remove the old wallpaper and rehang it and paint it for us. And I am very excited BUT it means we have to choose wall colours. I'm not good at this. We have made big decor mistakes in the past and had to live with them (the orange living room had to be seen to be believed) so we're going to be a bit restrained. But still, I am not ready to magnolia my life.

So, shades of cream? Tasteful Country Living style colours with fabulous names? The trouble is, they don;t look the same in the pot as on the wall, and they don't look the same in different parts of the room or at different times of day - you all know this, and the photos make it abundantly clear. As a result, our walls are patched with blocks of colour. And are we closer to a decision? Maybe ...

At the moment, the lightest shade (it's called Wildwood, but let's face it, it's beige) is winning for the "feature wall" (hark at me) with the paler cream for the remaining three walls, but nothing is set in stone.