It’s been a bit of a “bitsa” week this week, that’s “bitsa” as in bits of this and bits of that, but nothing really worthy of note. I managed to get bit of adventuring in over the weekend with an extended cycle trip down to the coast to see “The Old Cheese”. Before anyone start’s pointing or throwing stones, in this case due to the circumstances, it is a fully legitimate and Covid compliant trip, although judging by the amount of traffic about and the number of people milling around, I’d say that any pretence that we were still in a lockdown has now gone fully out of the window. Having cycled into work on Friday morning with my overnight kit, I was away in good time Friday afternoon and back on the bike for the 60 mile leg down though the South Downs National Park towards Brighton. After the midweek gales trying to blow us off the face of the earth, Friday wasn’t too bad and what wind there was, despite still being pretty blustery, was almost blowing from behind so didn’t cause any real problems. It’s not a bad little route this, sticking mainly to quiet back roads and passing through a number of pretty little villages, whilst avoiding all the major urban areas until you get right to the coast. Despite a heavy rain shower towards the end and a general feeling of tiredness in my poor old legs after a full week of commuting into work by bike and running, it was quite a pleasant day to be out and about, and with the rolling terrain keeping things interesting and a few bigger climbs thrown in too stop me from getting complacent, the miles fairly flew by and I made my destination well before dark. Obviously having made the journey down by bike, at some point I was somehow going to have to get back home again and after a good day with “The Old Cheese” on Saturday I was up early to retrace my steps (or should that be peddle strokes) on Sunday morning. On the road before the traffic and with the sun shining, the first couple of hours of the trip back were lovely and it wasn’t long before I’d had to stop and strip off a couple of layers. Unfortunately that didn’t last long, as by the time I stopped for a brew at about 09:30 the wind had picked up considerably and was blowing, coldly and strongly, straight in my face! Not to be downhearted though there’s only one thing to do when it’s cold and the winds in your face and that’s to man up, get your head down and get on with it! Luckily, as I mentioned earlier, the terrain throughout is what you would probably call rolling (or hilly if your that way inclined) which gives the odd bit of shelter from the wind (normally when your going uphill anyway), and stops it from becoming too much of an in too wind slog, whilst helping to kept the effort levels up and stopping you getting too cold into the bargain. The gods of weather must have been looking down favorably on me though, as the rain managed to stay away until I got home, when I kid you not, it absolutely threw it down just as I was putting the kettle on having put my bike away and got in the back door! Now what are the chances of that happening? It’s normally the other way around and it stops just as you get in. Not a bad little adventure then and better too have put 140 miles into my legs than added to the traffic and pollution by doing the same journey in the van. Free training as they say, and what’s not to like about that! In other news, it was “The Emmas” birthday in the week and you can’t let a birthday go by without a birthday cake. There was however 2 small problems with my cake plans 1) The pesky Emma was at home whenever I was, so it’s wouldn’t be much of a surprise and 2) I couldn’t be doing with making a special journey to the shops just to get cake stuff. Not insurmountable problems by any stretch of the imagination and a little bit of lateral thinking and a quick bit of tinkering once “The Emma” had gone into work for a night shift had this little delight knocked up in short time. A packet of supermarket cookies, brownies and Cornflake cakes and hey presto, one comedy birthday cake. Job done! And that’s about it for this week, a quick trip up to the allotment Sunday afternoon to check that it was still there after the midweek gales gave me the chance to check on the seeds I sowed a few weeks back and I can report that everything has now germinated (That’s early Cabbage, Sweet peas and Broad beans).
The Goosberry’s and Current’s, along with the Rhubarb are just starting to show signs of new growth too and the Robin’s were busy in the hedge singing their hearts out, showing off and trying to attract a suitable mate. All further signs that spring is on its way along with better weather and the chance to get out and about a bit more. If it stays warmish and looks promising for next week I’ll look at getting a few more seeds sown in the greenhouse and start thinking about sowing Chilli’s and Peppers on a warm window sill to give them a head start soon.
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Where shall we start this week then? How about Jam? Specifically Jam that probably counts as antique. What am I on about I hear you say? Well, hunting around for some Jam to put in my porridge Saturday morning I unearthed this little jar of home made Raspberry jam from the back of the larder. Now there's nothing unusual about old jars of jam being hidden in the back of the cupboard, I get as much enjoyment out of making things as I do eating them, so there's often a glut of things that get pushed to the back of the shelves only to be unearthed some time later. What's unusual about this one though is how old it is. I'd have to guess at an actual year, but I suspect this jar of jam is at least 10 years old! Whilst there's no date on the label, I know for a fact that I stopped using those labels, as they were a bugger to get off and expensive, and moved over to plain paper with a Cat logo for everything, at some point before 2011 and I suspect before that. So the big question is, is it still edible? Well, I'm still alive, and to be honest, it's delicious. I gave the jar a quick wipe to get rid of all the dust and spiders that were calling it home, popped the lid off and lifted the wax circle off the top and it looked and tasted just like it did the day it was made. As far as I'm aware the whole point of jam is to preserve the fruit and make it storable for the long term. Modern shop bought jam has a sell by date, a use by date and often instructions to keep it in the fridge and use within a week or so of opening. Not much use as a means of preserving then! But it just goes to show that if you make it properly, jam lasts indefinitely and still tastes as good as the summer day it was made, no matter how long ago that may have been! The weather forecast for Saturday looked like the best bet for getting in a few winter bike miles, so with a thermos full of porridge and antique Raspberry jam, I was up and out early, on what looked like it was going to be a lovely morning. The sun was shining when I left home, just starting to melt the overnight frost and with no wind I thought I was going to be in for a lovely day out. Unfortunately, by the time I'd got away from home and headed down towards Andover the mist had rolled in and the temperature had dropped considerably. In fact by the time I'd got as far as Whitchurch I was covered in a thin layer of frost. Now I'm not saying it was cold (in fact last weekend felt worse) but come on. I'm not the fastest or most energetic cyclist out there, more of a plodder than a racer, but surely I'm not supposed to be covered in frost! The mist hung heavy as I transited around the outside of Andover and the temperature dropped still further as I picked up the low laying Test Valley giving my winter cycling boots and gloves a serious testing and making me question my own sanity at times. Typically though, as I got back within a couple of miles of home the sun came back out and the temperature shot back up with it. I just bet that if I'd gone North instead of South I'd have had the sun all morning instead of 60 miles staring at a grey wall of mist. Oh well, character building stuff as they say! In other news, this little lot arrived courtesy of the postman this week. Give it another couple of weeks for the days to draw out a bit and the temperature to start creeping up and we'll be all systems grow. On that note, I'm still picking Leeks, Parsnips, Kale, Chard, Carrots (from tubs which I moved into the greenhouse before the first frosts), Sprouts, cabbage and the last of the beetroot. The freezer and store cupboards are still well stocked with allotment produce too, so we've not done too badly this year. Despite the combination of rain, snow, frost and just about everything else the God of weather's thrown on us this week I've still managed to get a few bits of Project Patio done. Once the concrete finally sets (if it ever sets) we will be able to get from the back door to the back gate without getting muddy for the first time in months which is real progress. I've also spent a few hours turning a pile of wood into a log store, which clears a bit of space to allow me to move onto finishing off the final area of garden. It's taken a while but I finally think that the end is in site now and another few good sessions will really see the back broken on this mammoth project, just in time for the better weather and a chance to enjoy my endeavours! It's not very often that I concede defeat or let the weather get the better of me but by Jove, Sunday was cold. We'd been forecast Rain and Snow overnight, so I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up to find it dry, overcast and cold. I lay in bed for a few minutes, trying to find the enthusiasm to drag myself out and start the day, listening to the wind whipping around the side of the house and whistling across the chimney pot. Despite the lack of snow it sounded cold out and leaving the safety of a warm bed took a bit longer than it does on a warm, sunny, summers morning. If I was going to get a run in before the rain arrived I needed to get on with it though, so I eventually dragged myself out of the warm bed and immediately considered getting back in. Taking a punt on the fact that the weather would be keeping most sensible people at home, I made the short trip up to Kingsclere for a few off road miles. My hunch proved correct, as the wind was blowing a hooley across the high ground, driving the already cold temperature even lower and making me think twice, let alone the normal people! I'm here now though and that's half the battle won, so hat, gloves, neck warmer, wrist warmers, leggings, thermal top, windproof jacket donned and a spare thick jacket in my bag along with first aid kit just in case, and I can't put it off any longer. It wasn't too bad with the wind on your back and in the sheltered bits, but by God, when the wind caught you head on or from the side you knew about it. I think the phrase "eye wateringly cold" was appropriate! Frozen fingers and toes and the thought of a brew and bit of lunch finally drove me home with 12 miles under my belt, so not a wasted morning by any stretch of the imagination, not the warmest of mornings either though. Back home, with thermals back on and a warm brew, I spent a while trying to summon up the courage to venture back out for a couple of hours on the allotment. Eventually running out of excuses I could put it off no longer. I'm pretty sure that it had got even colder and even in the sheltered corner of my plot it was just too much. I'm not ashamed to admit that I grabbed some carrots and parsnips for tea and beat a hasty retreat. Bravely legging it back home to sit if front of the fire warming my toes and dreaming of future adventures once the weather returns to normal service. It's pretty unusual, but on this occasion it's weather 1 – Paul 0! Before we get into the bones of this weeks exciting episode of stupidity I thought I'd just drop this photo in. I clicked this whilst out running early Tuesday morning. According to my phone it was -2 and certainly felt like it, but I think you'll agree, when you get to see the sun coming up like that it more than makes up for an early start and chilly fingers. Anyhow, gratuitous pictures aside, I thought that I'd best get this months instalment of "Marathon A Month Madness" out of the way this weekend before the Christmas festivities get into full swing and I'm too full of Christmas pudding and Mince pies to walk, let alone run. I took the van down to Alresford Friday night ready for an early start Saturday morning, although the fact I didn't wake up until nearly 07:00 sort of messed that plan up. It always takes me a good hour to get myself going before a big run, I can't be doing with running until I've had breakfast and at least 2 brews, so I didn't actually get going until half 8. However, once I did drag myself out of bed and into the great outdoors it was quite a nice morning, a touch on the damp side, but still warm for the time of year and although we've had quite a lot of rain recently the Oxdrove Way, todays chosen route, was mostly still runnable. As expected there were a few muddy areas, where vehicles have churned up the track, which took a bit of dodging around and leaping over, but in the main it was OK. I've run sections of this a few times over the last couple of years, so the routes familiar and easy to follow, without having to think too much about it, an ideal situation when your watching where your feet are going to avoid the slippery bits and puddles. And, as we've seen in previous instalments, I'm not actually very good at finding my way around, so easy and familiar is always good in my book! By mid morning the sun had put in an appearance and as the half way point came and went I was thoroughly enjoying myself. A brief pause at the 20 mile mark to snaffle a marmalade sandwich (the choice of champions, as far as I'm concerned) gave me the chance for a brief breather before the final couple of miles. A final couple of miles, which handily, when you've already done more than 20 miles, is all up hill! Up hill or not, the final few miles passed without incident and I was back at the van with another 26.2 miles completed in 3:46:10. I don't think that's bad going for a winter off road marathon with plenty of slippery muddy bit's and more than it's fair share of big potholes and divots to dodge around. That's that then, twelve 26.2 (or more) mile runs completed in 2020. I'm happy with that and think that it was a worthy challenge, more so considering I've had to do half of those runs on my own, unsupported, due to the Covid situation. I suppose that the next question is do I carry on next year and try to make it 24 in 24 months? I guess you'll just have to keep on watching this space to see what I decide! In other news, I dug this lot out of the back of the cupboard earlier in the week. There's 4 Kilner jars with various concoctions made from allotment fruit and various spirit bases there. The most surprising thing is that they date from 2016 and 17. There was a time when nothing alcoholic lasted more than about 10 seconds here. Oh. how times have changed that things can sit maturing in the back of the cupboard, untested for 4 years. I must confess, that I had a little taster as I was bottling them up and the 4 years maturation certainly hasn't done them any harm. I'll get a few labels on them this week and they can go back in the cupboard with all the other treasure for a few more years! Surprisingly (or not) it took me a while to get going Sunday morning, not helped by the weather I'll hasten to add. I'd initially planned on getting a few bike miles in, but as I've said before, riding your bikes not much fun in the rain, so once I finally got myself going, I pulled on the weatherproofs and winter boots and plodded around a few miles of local paths and bridleways.
Despite the constant drizzle it was good to be out, stretching yesterdays tired legs. I suppose the weather helped, but it was surprisingly quiet out and I think I only saw two or three other people in the whole time I was out (and they were runners!). By the time I got home, wet, hungry, but happy, there wasn't much time for anything else, bar a few hours off pottering around in the workshop and a quiet evening sat in front of the fire. That's not a bad way to wrap up a winters weekend though is it? There's something magical about sitting in front of the fire with the wind and the rain lashing against the windows, knowing that your snug and safe! I don't know how, but it would seem that no matter how much time I have, I'm able to fill every second of it and still have things I want to be doing but haven't had time for. How does that work? I can vaguely remember, back when I was younger and more foolish, spending the afternoons sitting around watching films. Maybe I didn't have anything else to do (or more likely I was too hungover to do much else). Now I've not even got the time to sit down for lunch, let alone waste the afternoon watching TV. Oh, to be able to get some of that time back now! So what have I been up to this week that's keeping me so busy? Well, amongst other things I've made some good progress on project Patio. The weather put pay to a couple of days in the week but we're starting to get somewhere now. The first of the raised beds are complete, which has allowed me to move all the accumulated soil and empty out the old patio tubs, making space for the next steps. As I've said previously, I'm certainly not going to be getting a job as a brickie, but I'm fairly happy with my efforts so far. Hopefully we'll have a few more days of fair weather next week and I can get a bit more done before the weather really turns. Saturday I was up early, on what was a damp, foggy, yet surprisingly warm morning, for a few running miles. Nothing too strenuous by my standards, just a 20 mile jaunt up to Hannington and back, making use of the local footpaths and Bridleways. It's a nice little route this one, I would think that 16 of the 20 miles is off road. Which, when you consider it starts and finishes at my back door, isn't bad going for someone that lives in suburbia and not in the back of beyond. It just goes to show how much countryside is actually out there (and how local it can be) if you go and look for it. Saturday's, main event however was Christmas cake making! Having made the Christmas puddings a couple of weeks ago, there was a load of dates and a few other odds and ends leftover that needed using up. Handily, "The Old Cheese" has got a lovely fruit cake recipe that needs dates and this seemed like the ideal opportunity to get rid of them! Except when I got the recipe out I discovered that it also needed loads of dried mixed fruit, Apricot jam and Sherry. None of which were in the cupboard! This lead to a bit of a dilemma. Do I buy the things we haven't got and then end up trying to find recipes to use them up, leading to a never ending circle of trying to use things up, or should I just do something else? Well, I'm not normally one to follow a recipe, so why should this be any different. We did have; Marmalade, 1/2 a bag of Currents from 2016, lots of Sultanas and the dregs out of the bottom of a Martini bottle plus a splash of Port. As such, this years Christmas cake will be sort of like the recipe "The Old Cheese" lovingly copied me. Oh, alright, it's nothing like the recipe, but it smelled lovely and as it's about 90% fruit and has been liberally doused in Blackberry Liqueur (we've not got any Brandy either) it's bound to taste alright. Well, we'll find out in 4 weeks time won't we! Sunday, was another foggy, grey and miserable day that somehow managed to get colder as the morning progressed. In my never ending quest to squeeze as much into every day as possible, I was out on my bike just as it started to get light. Granted, it was early on a Sunday morning but the roads were absolutely deserted and I had a great couple of hours rolling through the still sleeping countryside before the sensible people stated to get up. Again, nothing too strenuous, heading out from home towards Odiham before turning South for some hilly fun on the edge of the South Downs National Park. I've got this route listed as 55 hilly miles on my Garmin and it certainly lives up to its name. There's nothing too silly or steep, but it's pretty relentlessly up and down. I suspect that Saturdays running efforts didn't help, but my legs certainly knew that they had been out by the time I got back home again! Having seen the weather forecast for the back end of next week, it seemed prudent to get the top net rolled back on the allotment before we have any snow. I know. It never snows in December, except for 2011 (?) when we had loads of snow in the weeks before Christmas! I've been thinking about how to put this away for a while. Most people seem to either fold it up, or push it all back to one side, neither of which seem that easy on your own. After a little bit of thought, I've gone with rolling it around a length of drainpipe. It was a bit of a fiddle due to the cage not being square and having to add more pipe as I worked my way down. But it's rolled up nicely and was easy enough to do on my own. Hopefully it should be easy enough to unroll again come the spring too. While we're talking about the allotment, we might as well have a bit of an update. All the winter veg is looking good, except the Leeks which seem to be rotting off. Leeks normally do really well, happily standing through the worst of the weather and easily seeing us into the Spring. That's not the case this year though. I'm not sure if I've grown a different variety (if only I wrote things down), or if it's just down to the weather, but I'm working hard to get them eaten up before they go to waste and we'll just have to have something else for tea in February instead of Leeks. On the positive side, the Parsnips are doing really well, as is the Kale and Chard, so we're not going to starve. I'm still picking the odd handful of Autumn fruiting Raspberries too which is surprising this late on in the season! And that's about it, another week summerised in a couple of hundred words. It doesn't look like much when you write it down, but I suppose when you add in the boring weekday running, cooking, cleaning, workshop tinkering time (I've got a few secret mini projects on the go, which I'll reveal later) and other pottering around it soon adds up and probably explains why I sleep like a dead man and feel like a 90 year old for the first 1/2 hour of every day until my stiff and aching old muscles warm up!
Good news everybody, having thoroughly tested them I can confirm that my new waterproof trousers are indeed waterproof. With there being no sign of the monsoon abating on Saturday, eventually I had to bite the bullet and make the effort to go and get wet. I've said before that walking in the rains not so bad, at least you can dress up and stay dry, so a few miles around Watership Down seemed like a good idea. I say seemed like a good idea, as it's pretty exposed in parts and at times the rain being thrown horizontally at me was almost deafening as it bounced off my hood. Never one to shy away from a challenge, the more it rained the more of an adventure it became and I managed a good 12 miles round the local countryside before I saw sense and headed for home. There's something incredibly satisfying about being out and about when the weathers bad, and it doesn't get much worse than that. Sunday morning didn't seem much better weather wise, but after an early start (more of which later) it looked like there might be a gap in the bands of rain lashing the house as long as I got out and got on with it early. So that's what I did, a quick bit of breakfast and out the house as it got light. How wrong could I be. Weather gap my arse! The wind was viciously strong and the rain continued to try it's best to drown all the fun out of it. I'm not being beaten by a bit of rain though, so carry on and keep smiling. Despite the weathers best efforts I managed 13 fairly pleasant miles around the local roads, dodging the puddles and trying to stay upright. However you look at it that's better than nothing and beats sitting on the sofa staring at the idiot box scoffing biscuits! So why was I up early then? Well, Christmas is slowly creeping up on us and the best part of Christmas is Christmas pudding. The only problem with Christmas pudding is the length of time it needs cooking for, and with my plan being to make 2 small ones instead of 1 big one, there's the small problem of only being able to get one in the slow cooker at a time. With two, 7 hour simmers in the slow cooker to squeeze in, the first one needed to be in early if I was going to be getting to bed at a sensible time. The first one was in and simmering away by 06:30, leaving plenty of time for running, and if the smells anything to go by then were in for a real treat come Christmas. And if not, there's still a couple of last years shop bought offerings in the back of the cupboard! Whilst I was making a mess it seemed a shame not to knock up a quick cake, and if I'm making a cake, then the ovens on, so we might as well have home made pizzas for tea. Yummy! And that's about it for another weekend. Although for the next few weeks it's going to be one long weekend. I'm going to be between jobs for few weeks. Well I say between jobs, except it's more a case of I've left one job, and at the moment haven't got another one to go too. I've got plenty to be getting on with though, including project patio, if it ever stops raining, and I'm sure something will turn up sooner or later. It's all another big adventure and I can't wait to see where this one ends up! Late edit: Apparently Stir it up Sunday , the traditional day for making Christmas pudding is next Sunday and I'm supposed to have stirred from East to West, not just mush it around with a wooden spoon until it got bored. Which incidentally didn't take very long. So that's probably all my good luck used up for the next 12 months then.
Best I keep the waterproofs out, make sure I've got plenty of puncture patches on the bike and avoid ladders and black cats (which is difficult when there's one sat on the sofa with you) for a while! It's a shame my rubbish phone camera won't take a picture in the dark as Friday night was a real treat. I'd taken the van down to Alresford after tea, ready for a bit of early morning running on Saturday. The day had been dull and overcast with a few rain showers, but just as I set off the sky's had started to clear, and by the time I was safely ensconced in my little hideaway the moon was up and shining brightly. My quiet little haven for the night was sufficiently far away from the major towns that there's a lot less light pollution and the stars were out in force. So, with an extra jacket and wooly hat on, and with brew in hand, I sat out in the dark for half an hour or so, contemplating life and admiring the millions of tiny lights above my head. With the stars shining, an owl calling in the distance and the sounds of the little critters going about their business in the undergrowth, it was a magical 1/2 hour. I'll happily confess that I'm as bad as the rest of us for hiding myself away behind closed curtains, staring at the idiot box night after night. But, it's amazing what's hidden behind those closed curtains. There's a whole new world that wakes up when the sun goes down. A world that we are missing out on with our hectic lifestyles and requirement to be constantly entertained. In my opinion, there's a lot to be said for occasionally turning off the trappings of modern life and taking the time to just stop, listen and stare. After my early night, I was up early Saturday morning, ready and raring to go by the time it got light just after 07:00. My ever faithful weather forecaster ("The Emma"), informed me that the weather was going to get worse as the day progressed, so it made sense to make hay whilst the sun shone. Well, I say the sun shone, it was more of a dark, dank, overcast, autumnal morning than wall to wall sunshine. Never mind though, at least it's not raining (yet). Pushing out from my overnight spot my plan was to pick up the Oxdrove Way, for what would hopefully be a few pleasant hours out. Within the first 30 minutes I'd passed 2 groups of Deer, quietly minding their own business, numerous rabbits, pheasants and similar game birds and paused for a few seconds to watch a Red Kite scanning the ground below for it's breakfast. The trees are still carrying a lot of leaves for the time of year and the autumn colors are still quite spectacular, so there was no shortage of scenery to distract me from the task in hand. Surprisingly, considering the amount of rain we've had over the past few weeks, the going was still quite good, with the paths continuing to hold up against the ongoing deluge. How much longer that will be the case is anyone's guess. I suspect that the ground in this area doesn't drain too well as previous experience has shown that this can be a really muddy run in the winter, today though, things were still fine and dandy. As the morning progressed I got caught in a couple of showers and the wind steadily increased, making for some quite hard sections at times. It's surprising how much harder things become in a head wind, and even more so when it's coupled with the rain in your face! You wouldn't think that the wind could make such a difference and require so much effort to overcome. A steady plod eventually saw me back at the van well before the worst of the forecast weather hit, with an easy 22 miles under my belt. Not bad for a gentle Saturday morning jaunt and more than enough to build up a bit of an appetite ready for lunch. "The Emma" was spot on about the weather and by the time I'd got home and had a shower it had really deteriorated. The wind had picked up significantly and was tearing the dying leaves from the trees, before giving them a good soaking with lashings of rain. With bad weather putting a stop to project patio, I filled the afternoon with some productive pottering's. I was going to make a Orange and Sultana tray bake for a bit of a treat. That was until I realised we didn't have any orange juice. Not to worry, if nothing else I'm inventive, so Tea cake it will have to be, and very nice it is too. Half an hour or so peeling the little onions from the allotment yielded enough to make a couple of jars of Pickled Onions. And I finally got around to crushing up the bonkers hot chilies which have been hanging in the airing cupboard drying for the last 2 years. It's taken this long to get round to it as if the truth be told, I'm scared of them! They are without a doubt the hottest thing I've ever come across. Just handling them is a risky business, one false move or wipe of your face and it's game over! I've got no idea what to do with them, so for the time being they've moved from their long term airing cupboard hideaway to a jar, whilst I consider my next move! Sunday morning still didn't look too promising when I got up at an even stupider time than normal. Nice one clock changing stupidity. Why we have to mess around with the time is beyond me, why can't we just leave it as BST all year round and enjoy the lighter evenings? I really didn't feel like getting cold and wet out on the bike so went for a wander round the local hills for a couple of hours instead. Granted I still got thoroughly soaked in the process but it never seems quite as bad when your on foot as it does on the bike. I guess there's no wind chill to worry about and somehow you seem to stay dryer walking than you do on the bike. It was an enjoyable morning out though, despite the rain and the sun even managed to make a brief appearance a couple of times. With there still being no chance of getting any proper productive work done on the patio I pottered around on the allotment in the drizzle for an hour or so Sunday afternoon, before retreating into the workshop where it was a touch drier.
There's always something to be busying yourself with and I've got a couple of little back burner projects on the go, ready for just such an occasion. That's the joy of having an endless supply of hobbies and interests. Whilst there's never enough time to be doing everything you want to do, there's always something to occupy yourself with! Before we get into this weeks excitement, or lack there of, I just need to share this picture with you. I had a bit of a late start at work on Friday, so thought that I'd make good use of the extra hour by getting out for an early run. I was out of the house a few minutes before 7, just as it was starting to get light. As far as I'm concerned this is the best bit of the day, the roads are still quite, most people are just getting up and the worlds still peaceful. Anyhow, I'd plodded along for an hour or so and was just heading back for home with the sun slowly coming up behind me, making my way back down from Cliddesden towards the M3 and home. There's always a good view to the East from here, but today, with the sun just creeping over the hill and the low lying mist it was an absolute treat. I couldn't help but stop and stare for a few minutes, and a couple of minutes is all the time I had. Between my stopping and getting the camera out it can't have been more than 2 or 3 minutes before the sun came over the hill and totally changed the view. Those couple of minutes more than made up for the early start, the cold fingers and the days work ahead though. I'll let the picture below do the rest of the talking! Sometimes I wonder why I'm so tired. I often get to the end of the day and think, this isn't right, I've not done much today, surely I shouldn't be this worn out? Today (Saturday) was one of those days. I'm sat here now and can feel my eye lids drooping. So lets have a look at what I've been up to and see if we can figure it out; 06:30 – Woken up by the heating coming on, (yes I know, it's only October). I'm surprised I'm still in bed to be honest, I'm normally up by 06:00. Still, I obviously needed that extra half hour. 06:35 – As Homer Simpson once said, "I'm up, I'm on my way". Well I'm downstairs, waiting for the kettle to boil, at least that's a start. 07:45 – 2 brews and breakfast done, time to go and play bikes. It's a bit grey and chilly out, but there's no wind and it's not raining. Nothing an extra pair of gloves and a jumper wont keep at bay. 11:55 – Back home with another 60 miles in the bag. It's been a good morning out. The trees have got some lovely Autumn colours on them, the fields have been replanted ready for spring and the fallen leaves are crisp under my tyres. Another few weeks and they will be a slippery mess, fallen leaves churned up by the cars and rain, but at the moment it's still got that lovely Autumn smell to the air and the light is beautiful. 12:00 – The lovely Emma's made me a brew as I came in, just time for a bit of a stretch before lunch. 12:30 – Lunch. Home made Corgette and Tomato soup (from the freezer) with a bit of bread that needs eating up. Lovely, and just what the doctor ordered after the mornings exertions. 13:00 – Wander up the allotment for a couple of hours pottering around. I've set out the edges for a new path down the middle of the fruit cage to save stomping on the mud. Done a bit of gentle digging, sown the overwintering Broad beans and 150 onion sets, picked chili's and veg for next week before wandering back home. 15:20 – Spend 30 minutes adding more anti pigeon spikes to the satellite dish. The Emma's got a lot to answer for with her pesky pigeons! 16:00 – Finish off digging the foundations for Project Patio that I started last week (it's not got any easier) followed by an hour of smashing up and levelling hardcore ready for concreting tomorrow. 17:50 – For F***s sake it's nearly 6 O'clock. 18:00 – Wash and put away the veg that I bought home earlier before heading up for a shower whilst the lovely Emma makes tea (Bacon Sarnies with fresh bread, Oh baby!) 18:30 – Wash up. 18:50 – 20 Minutes stretching and rolling my tired legs! 19:20 – It's a nice night and I want to get a decent run in tomorrow, so grab some clothes and head out to the van. 20:00 – It's only a short drive up to one of my favorite overnight spots and I've stopped at the supermarket for some milk and a beer on the way. 20:15 – Now I'm all set for the night and it's lovely and quiet, I might as well have a beer and an hour working on this spiel! 21:15 – Enough, I can't keep my eyes open any longer! H'mmmmm, maybe that explains it? Having sung the praises of early mornings and sunrises at the start of this weeks installment, I got lucky again Sunday morning. After my lay in Saturday morning, I was up bright and early Sunday after a cosy night in the van, ready and raring to go. With the forecast looking good I'd elected to head up to Kingsclere for a few miles along the Wayfarers way, it can be pretty grim along the high spots if the winds blowing hard so this ones a route to save for a reasonable day. Leaving the van just as it started to get light I'd plodded up the long climb to the high point and just dropped down the other side as the sun started creeping over the hills. I'm not sure if there's much more I can add. So I'll let you make up your own minds if getting up early was worthwhile. I certainly got the best bit of the day too, as within 30 minutes the clouds had thickened and the temperature dropped by a good couple of degrees. In this case the early bird definitely caught the worm. Not to be outdone by "The Emma's" cakes last week, I've been in on the game too. Granted I've squeezed my efforts in between concreting, planting out Foxgloves, Hollyhocks and Lupins grown from seed in the front garden and the plethora of other little jobs I did Sunday afternoon. But at least I've tried.
I've got to admit though that Emma does a better job. I suspect my inability to measure anything properly and propensity to change the recipes by throwing in whatever takes my fancy doesn't help! I'm having a right old struggle for motivation at the moment. After a week at work I get to Friday and I'm cream crackered. Handily that's all set to change, but for the moment it's business as usual and another few weeks of falling asleep on the sofa on a Friday night. On a more lighthearted note, I had a couple of hours on the allotment Saturday afternoon clearing the runner beans, Tomato plants, Courgettes and generally pottering around amusing myself. Whilst standing around between tasks a little robin was hopping around on the freshly dug ground in front of me looking for his tea. Now there's nothing unusual about that, except both the Robin and I were in the fruit cage! As I stood watching my little friend go about his business I wondered how I was going to get him out. Guessing that he'd followed me in through the open door, I couldn't just leave him in there all on his own, could I? Whilst pondering my next move, I wandered round to the compost bin with some pruning's and there was my little Robin mate waiting for me. Result, he's obviously managed to get back out of the cage, I'll shut the door and not have to worry about that problem, thinks I. Back to the digging with the cage door shut and, hello, Mr Robins back inside with me. Well now I'm confused, maybe there's two? although being quite territorial you don't normally see a pair of Robins. It was quite a while later that it finally dawned on me that it was the same little Robin, somehow getting through the cage mesh. A bit of investigation around the Raspberry canes and under the Strawberry planter finally revealed a small hole in the mesh that my little friend was using as a door to a free lunch. I've not got the heart to seal it up and I think that if Mr Robins been clever enough to find the hole and remember where it is then as far as I'm concerned he's entitled to free run of the place for the time being! After a morning out on the bike enjoying the Autumn sunshine I thought I'd better knuckle down Sunday afternoon and get a few hours in on project "Back Garden". I've heard this week that we had the highest one day rainfall ever recorded at the start of October and the state of the ground pays testament to that. The grounds sodden and fully compacted after god knows how many years buried under patio slabs, so it's hard going. A few hours with the big hammer, mattock, crow bar and stomping boots saw a bit of progress though. I've always said this was going to be a long term, slow going project and there's a limit to how much I can get done in a day before the daylight fails or my tired old muscle's start protesting. I suppose I could just work on the garden instead of running and cycling, but that's not going to happen, so slow going it's going to have to be. Well, doesn't time fly when your having fun. Here we are, 52 weeks since I started this little adventure into blogging and I'm still going strong. When I started all those weeks ago I never really intended this to be a weekly blog, more of an occasional glimpse into my life and the things I get up too. As with many things though, it's evolved as the weeks have passed and become more of a journal, or diary, of my weekly gallivanting and pottering than anything else. Whilst there's been plenty of dull, often mundane stuff, with most of my weekends taking on a predictable, running, cycling, allotment, format, there's been the odd bit of excitement thrown in. No where near as much excitement as I'd like mind, and adventures have been somewhat curtailed this year by the old Coronavirus palaver and that never to be mentioned word (work) constantly getting in the way! Looking back there's been some highlights over the past year, a few that spring to mind are the Downslink Ultra Marathon. Running in the early morning heat in Singapore. The absolute peace and tranquility of being out on the bike during the early days of lockdown, when all the idiots in their penis extensions were off the roads. The odd night bivvying out, and sitting in the van with a cold beer, watching the sun go down after a good day out to name but a few. There's been some hard days too. Being out in the cold and rain in the winters often not much fun. There was a day back in January where I really thought I was doomed. My hands were so cold that when I got back home after a long run I couldn't get my key in the door. After a few minutes of trying and getting more and more frustrated with my inability to complete such a simple task, I really started wondering what I was going to do. Surely there's got to be a better end than hypothermia on your own doorstep? There's been lots of days where it's been hard to find the motivation to get out there too. Coronavirus has stopped all the organised fun, there's no running or Audax events to look forward to, or give you something to aim towards. My "Marathon a Month" efforts have helped to a degree, but even keeping that going has been hard work sometimes. 26 miles is a long way when your on your own, as is 200Km on the bike with no cafe stops to look forward too, or fellow idiots to talk too. We're getting there though, and now the summers pretty much over there's my favorite season to look forward too. Autumn always holds a special place in my heart. I don't know why, the springs brilliant, with all the new life and the world waking up after the long winter. The summer's always a bit of a wash out and a let down and by now everything looks a bit strangely and brown. The winters just cold and wet with nothing much to look forward too except sitting by the fire and getting out in the mud for a bit of cross country. But the autumn's got all those beautiful colours on the trees, there's still plenty of days when the sun shines, but they all start with a heavy dew and the mist hanging heavy on the fields and rivers. There's the promise of the first frosts, the allotment will still be going strong with the end of the summer veg and the start of the winter greens. There's Sloes to pick for Sloe Gin, there's conkers to prize lovingly from their shells to feel their shiny smoothness and there's mushrooms poking their heads through the dew soaked grass on the verges. Yep, the Autumn's the one for me! More importantly, what have I been up to this weekend? Well, being a bank holiday, obviously the weathers not been much to write home about and after a week of howling wind and torrential rain storms, Saturday didn't look too promising either. My initial plan for the weekend had been to get away on the bike, but that idea didn't look so appealing considering the weather, so Saturday started with a cheeky little 13 mile jaunt around the roads at home and then progressed onto a bit of shed door painting, followed by a couple of hours on the allotment. I thought that I'd better get the potatoes out of the ground on the allotment before it gets too wet, and to be honest I wish I hadn't bothered. I'm guessing that it's just been too wet, then far too dry, as we would have been better off just keeping the seed potatoes and eating them. What few tubers I have harvested are small and if we were relying on these to see us through the winter we would be in trouble. Luckily for me (although not for "The Emma") the Parsnips look like they are doing a lot better, so I'll be fine and the fussy one will just have to go hungry! Sunday, things were looking a lot better, although with the wind blowing strongly from the North the temperature had taken a decided turn for the worse. Nothing an extra layer and pair of gloves can't cope with though (long gloves and 3 layers in August, what's that all about?). Although nothing, worth writing about, it's another 75 miles to go towards the years total and it was nice to be out, as it always is, the sun even managed to break through the clouds towards the end. As I mentioned earlier the Autumn is definitely just around the corner and the Horse Chestnut trees have already turned brown and started loosing their leaves, the majority of the cereal crops have been harvested, and not wanting to hang around most of the fields have been harrowed and resown ready for the next crop. It's lovely to watch the changing of the seasons from the saddle of your bike as you pass through and there's always so much to look at and admire if you take the time to look around. It certainly doesn't seem like 12 months have passed since we were at this stage last year. I guess that's part of getting old. The time goes too quickly and there's not enough of it, what was it Confucius said "You've only got 2 lives and the second doesn't start until the first finishes"? A night in the van Sunday night set things up nicely for a bit of early morning running on Bank Holiday Monday. Nothing too serious, just a gentle planned 18 miles from Alresford up towards home and then back to pick up the van again. I say a planned 18 miles as I ended up doing a bit more due to being clever and thinking I knew where I was going. All I've got to do is follow the line on the GPS. How hard can it be? Very it would seem, when you think you know where your going and aren't paying attention. Not to worry though, my little diversion only added another 2 uphill miles. Free Phys as they say! One last thing before I wrap up for this week. Last year we had a bumper Plum harvest from the front garden orchard (or "Pauls apple sticks" as "The Emma" insists on calling it). Interestingly, this year they were no where near as prolific and the Plum harvest finished last week with the wind destroying the last of the crops. Last year though there were far to many to eat, and if we look back though the mists of time, we'll find my first ever blog post centered on turning the excess harvest into Plum Gin. Well, it's been sat in the back of the cupboard for a year now, slowly doing it's stuff and this seems like as good an opportunity as any to get it out again and give it a try. Filtered through some muslin and decanted into a couple of bottles, we're left with some amazingly tasty, gin soaked Plums, they'll not go to waste, either being snaffled whenever I think about them or added to cakes and puddings over the winter. But, the main event? We'll you'll just have to make some yourself and find out, because your not having any of mine!
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, as they say in Star Wars. Or more accurately in this case, way back in 2007 or 8, when “The Emma” and I were first living together, I expanded my home brewed beer empire with a few forays into the uncharted realms of wine making. At the time we were working with another amateur wine maker, which provided the opportunity for a bit of shared knowledge and wine swapping, some of which was OK, some of which was great and some of which was down right terrible. Now, the problem with wine making, unlike Beer, is that you need to let it mature for the flavours to fully develop, which is great if you’ve got a chateaux with a massive wine cellar, but not so helpful when you live in a small flat and your thirsty now, not in 10 years time! This small problem, and a general lack of impatience on our part, meant that most of my creations were drunk far too young, (straight from the Demijohn on many occasions), and whilst they tended to do the job and result in much falling over, had a tendency to be a bit rough! Moving on 13 years and we've moved house 3 times, I’ve taken up running and cycling, got 13 years older (although not wiser) and pretty much come to the conclusion that getting smashed isn’t for me any more. The result of which, is my now much larger collection of home brew has been sat in the much enlarged wine cellar (A.K.A the old coal shed) slowly doing it’s thing and maturing away (bar the odd explosion) for quite some time. What’s all this got to do with now though I hear you ask? Well, whilst I was out in the wine cellar the other day looking for some jam jars, my eye’s fell upon this little bottle. Ahhh, Ancient Orange Mead, a fine recipe using, honey, oranges and if I remember correctly cloves. Allegedly a fast maturing mead, ready to drink in months, no need to wait years for it to mature, ready to go from the off. Dusting the little bottle off I was instantly transported back to 2008 and sitting in the flat on a snowy winters morning having just struggled to get home in the snow after a night shift, cracking a bottle as a pre bed daycap with the love of my life. I'll hasten to add that at the time we were both working shifts and had managed to wangle our way onto the same shift, so don't fear “The Emma” wasn't having “beers for breakfast”, although it wouldn't have been the first time if she was! The abiding memory, apart from still being up well after we should have been in bed and watching the snow gently falling through the lounge window, was the taste of TCP and having to get back up a couple of hours later to go to work again with a banging head (happy days). Fast maturing my arse, it was as rough as a badgers backside! I gently carried my new found creation back into the house to show the now grey haired Emma my dusty find. “Remember this” I inquired, watching as she too was transported back to that snowy morning (I could tell from the shudder and grimace as she recalled the TCP taste). “I’ve spent 12 years trying to forget came the reply”. “Shall we” I inquired? Cork gently removed and using the well known giving it a sniff method, check out the nose. H’mmm doesn’t smell like I remember. Carefully decant it into a top of the range wine decanter saved specially for the job to avoid disturbing 12 years of sediment (Pyrex measuring jug) and let’s see what we’ve got. Well it looks OK and smells OK, but dare we taste it? In for a penny, in for a pound, using the chemical unmasking drill, I’ll go first whilst you watch my eyeballs to make sure I’m not going to die. Quick taste, “Right watch my eyeballs, if they fall out and I die, remember that I want to be stuffed, not buried or cremated”. “Stone the crows, that’s all right that is”! Gone is the TCP taste, all that remains is the gentle hint of cloves and oranges with an underlying honey flavour. It just goes to show that good thing’s do come to those that wait. Although even I must admit that 12 years is a bit extreme. There's at least another dozen bottles of the stuff out there, so maybe the idea of a Chateaux with a fine, well matured wine cellar's not so far fetched after all. Although it's going to require some hard core drinking before I can convince anyone that our 2 bed end of terrace in Basingstoke is a Chateaux, wine cellar or not. You will be pleased to know that I've also unearthed some home made Strawberry Jam from 2013 and some Chutney from around the same time. I'm just plucking up the courage to give those a try, so if I'm not around next week you know why! There's not a great deal else to report this week, I spent most of Saturday stripping loose paint off the workshop doors and repairing the weather beaten and rotten bits ready for repainting before the winter returns. In my haste to get on with the job I forgot to get any photos, so you will just have to take my word that the end results will be an improvement. I did manage a night in the van Saturday night, followed by an easy 13 miles along the South Downs Way Sunday morning. I was going down that way anyway for lunch with the “Old Cheese” and the girls, so it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity of an early morning run. Starting from my overnight spot in Steyning it's a steep climb up towards Chanctonbury Ring to pick up the South Downs Way, followed by an equally steep descent down to cross the A24 and then back up the other side again, before turning around to do it all again the other way. Not the most exciting of running and the normally excellent views from the tops were somewhat obscured by mist and haze. Due to the steepness of the climbs and descents it's a decent workout though, and with the temperature up above the 20 degree mark at 08:00 and some stupid levels of humidity it was certainly hard going at times. A little over 2 hours for 13.5 miles is pretty slow going, even for off road on hilly terrain. But in my defence, I think I should probably have had a few more recovery days after last weeks efforts as my legs are still feeling a bit tender and I'm a bit down on the energy front. Well, when I say a few more recovery days, any would have been a good idea, as I was back running again Monday evening and managed 21 Miles during the week in the heat and humidity. I'm not going to learn though, so there's no point saying it, and if nothing else I worked up a decent appetite ready for lunch with the folks! Maybe of interest I spotted these when I was out running on Sunday. They are the target holders on what was the old Rifle Range at Steyning. The sign says that the range as it stands dates from the second world war era. The bit that caught my eye though, was that the target holders are identical to the ones still in use today, which I guess just goes to prove the old saying that they made them to last! More importantly, the little info plaque on the range (See below) gave me something to think about whilst I was plodding along. It's not the best picture, so the writings a bit hard to read, but the bit that got me thinking was; "Without warning a shell from the nearby artillery range whistled over the hill ..... Gilbert recalls how the men who had lived through world war one instinctively dived to ground but Lt Greenwood, despite fighting through the same war oddly remained standing ..... Lt Greenwood took the force of the blast sustaining serious injuries but in doing so protected the 17 year old Gilbert"
Lt Greenwood was without doubt a fine man, willing to risk his own life in service of his county. Not only serving through the horrors of the first world war, but instantly volunteering to do so again at the start of the second, in defence of his home land. Why did he remain standing on that fateful day though? Was it to protect the young Gilbert, or was it that he was so traunatised by the horrors of the first world war that the sound of the incoming shell fire caused him to freeze on the spot whilst those around him dived for cover. It's a sound that your never going to forget, and having been involved in the First World War he would have been well versed in the sound of incoming fire and would have known full well what was coming next. I know where my thoughts lay and I'll let you make up your own minds on that one. What I can say for certain though, is that whatever the result of that fateful day, he was without doubt a fine specimen of humanity, one willing to put service to his county and fellow man before self. Willing to volunteer to return to the horrors that he had narrowly escaped just over 20 years previously, despite knowing first hand what that would entail. Maybe something to think about next time the media are hoisting some overpaid footballer or celebrity nobody up as a hero. Lt Greenwood, wouldn't have seen himself as a hero, just someone doing his duty, but I'm sure that he and the rest of his generation that made the ultimate sacrifice, going about their lives quietly and without fanfare, were far more worthy of that epitaph than the majority of today's so called heroes! |
Paul PerrattOld enough to know better, young enough to still feel invincible, stupid enough to keep on trying the same thing again and again. Cyclist, Gardener, Runner, Hiker, Cook, Woodworker, Engineer, Jack of all trades and master of none, Anti social old git and all round miserable bugger. Archives
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