St Leonard's

Dating from the 12th Century, St Leonard's Church in the Bedfordshire village of Old Warden, is noteworthy for its black oak carved pews...

Food, Glorious Food!

It was a wonderfully warm, sunny, summery weekend... just perfect for dining Al fresco. And there was a lot of eating for me this weekend... pub garden lunches, Aikido BBQ and entertaining outdoors at home too.

Note to self.... 2 kg of potato salad and 1 kg of curry rice is probably just a tad excessive... even for 30 guests at a BBQ!

To make potato salad, boil "baby" or salad potatoes till just going soft, drain and cool. Then mix with Lite salad cream and chopped chives, salt and pepper to taste

To make curry rice salad: prepare some yellow rice by boiling rice with tumeric; rinse and strain and allow to cool. Mix with raisins, sweet bell peppers, celery, Lite salad cream, curry powder, cumin, mango chutney and salt and pepper to taste

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Strawberry!

So... how were your weekends?

I'm Not A Fire Starter!



The invitation for our Aikido club BBQ this weekend proclaims:

"Bring your own drinks! Meat and fire provided!"

Well, that's a relief then... I'm not really into carrying my own fire around with me, how about you?

Cosy tales by the fire - photo taken by Nat at Anahim Lake (read more here)

Indeed, the only time it's really appropriate to run around with fire in your hands is..well.. probably if you're taking part in the Olympic Torch Relay. With the London 2012 Games set to start in just under a year's time, this week's newspapers have been full of stories about the upcoming events.

2012 Olympic Medals Unveiled This Week - photo from here



The Olympic Flame will arrive from Greece on 18 May 2012, and the torch relay will kick off in Land’s End, Cornwall, and continue for 70 days...travelling as far as the outer Hebrides... on an 8,000-mile journey that will culminate at the opening ceremony of the Games on July 27.

The 2012 Olympic Torch - photo from here

The public have been asked to nominate “inspirational members of the community” to be the 8,000 torchbearers in the relay. One such nominee is 82-year old Gordon Roberts, a friendly tramp from Bournemouth, who is well known for always knowing the correct time, despite never wearing a watch. At least he can be relied on to be on time if he is chosen....

Always on time Gordan - photo from here

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Travel News Tuesday

So, I mentioned last week that some exciting travel plans are afoot. Well they most certainly are! I was waiting to confirm flights and tour date bookings, but now we're all set.

I have been hankering after a trip to South -East Asia for ages, and have finally booked to go to.....

drum roll and fanfare!

.......Vietnam and Cambodia in April 2012!

Here's where we'll be going, starting in Hanoi, Vietnam and ending our tour in Siem Riep, Cambodia...

Highlights of the trip include...

A 2-day cruise on a converted junk in Halong Bay (pic from here)

Exploring ancient Hoi An (pic from here)

Negotiating rush hour traffic in bustling Saigon (pic from here)

Relaxing in Mui Ne beach resort (pic from here)

Sunset over the Mui Ne sand dunes (pic from here)

The Mekong Delta (pic from here)



The ancient temple complexes at Angkor, including Angkor Wat - Cambodia (pic from here)

Anyone else out there planning some travels? Do share...

Always Remember To Look Up

The painted ceilings of Bolsover Castle that I wrote about here are worth a post all of their own.

The ceiling showing Christ's ascension into heaven surrounded by angels. It was painted in 1619 and adorns the Heaven Room (one of two small closets opening off the master bedchamber). 

The Pagan Room

The Star Chamber

A Dark Day For The Land Of The Midnight Sun

Henrik Ibsen, a major Norwegian playwright of the late 19th century, once wrote…

“A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed”.

Sadly, his words ring painfully true for the horrific events that unfolded in his country yesterday: a gunman dressed as a police officer killed at least 85 people at a summer camp on an island outside Oslo after blowing up a further seven in the capital.

A thousand words cannot describe the terror that this man’s deed has inflicted on his victims and their families.

My thoughts lie with the people of the beautiful country of Norway.

Picture from here

Bolsover Castle

A few weekends back, I spent a couple of very pleasant hours at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, exploring the castle and its grounds...

Bolsover Castle  began life in the 12th century as a fortification belonging to the Perevel family, and became Crown property in 1155 when the third William Peverel fled into exile. The castle changed hands a number of times until its materials were stripped and sold during the 14th century. It remained in a sorry state until it was sold to Sir Charles Cavendish, son of Bess of Hardwick in 1608. Sir Charles set about re-building the castle, a process which was continued by his son William Cavendish, later 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Copper Beech

Old Stables

During the Civil War Bolsover Castle was taken by the Parliamentarians who slighted it and it again fell into a ruinous state. However William Cavendish added a new hall and staterooms to the Terrace Range and, by the time of his death in 1676, the castle had been restored to good order. It passed through the female line into the Bentinck family, and ultimately became one of the seats of the Dukes of Portland. After 1883 the castle was uninhabited and eventually given to the nation by the 7th Duke of Portland in 1945. The castle is now in the care of English Heritage.

Castle Garden

Fireplace in the Pillar Parlour