Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Princess Diana



It was on this day in 1997 that Princess Diana died, leaving behind her sons Prince William, heir to the throne and Prince Harry his brother. She died in a crash in Paris on the alma underground route. She was only 36 years old. I remember turning the radio on at about 6 o clock and hearing she had been in a crash but was said to be fine, an hour later i was up with the bbc news on, she had died,. Alongside her was dodi al fayed who died along with her.
She left behind her a lasting legacy in the forms of her lovely sons, one of whom will be our King, ( william) i bet she would have loved and been proud to see her boys grow up into two fine men.
This is one of the turning points of history, when someone asks , where were you, do ypou remember it, what were you doing, i remember it well, it was almost unbelievable. I was working then and we bought flowers and i laid them on the steps of the shire hall in stafford on behalf of The Grove, one of our friends there kathy, made us all a black ribbon pin to wear, i still have mine. So yes i remember r i p princess diana.

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

August craft page of the month



Suzi Bear
 I did some work on a Noahs ark Blanket, that took ages to do, but was well worth it, and has turned out to be one of the nicest i have done, i love making blankets. These are two of the photos, i made up the little animals and fishes myself. .The backround pattern is a neat ripple stitch, which i enjoy doing. I did this project with a friend on rav called alison, who is also making one.
The photo below that is suzi bear, that i made from a pattern on ravelry, the group to which i belong, the pattern link was from a suzi who lives in malaysia and makes these little arimugami teddies for sale.

NGS Garden open Bank Holiday weekend

Bank Holiday monday and a visit out to yet another NGS Garden, just past Eccleshall. The garden was extensive with lovely countryside views. Lots of Island beds, Bamboo and grasses, a fish pond, an Alpine house, lots of sitting areas.
Hooty Owl

This ruby red grass caught my eye

Gary by the old apple tree

Pretty island bed

Extensive views over the surrrounding countryside

The front of the house

Everything was very well maintained

Bamboo and grasses
We enjoyed a nice cup of tea and a slice of chocolate cake sitting in the garden. Another one to tick off in the ngs garden yellow book.

Bramble Jelly Jam

We went over the chase on a blustery showery day, and picked blackberries. When it really started to rain we had to give up, however we had enough blackberries to make our first pots of jam.
                                     
       RECIPE
FOR EACH 100GRAMS OF BRAMBLEBERRIES(BLACKBERRIES)USE 100GRAMS OF JAM SUGAR WITH PECTIN
300G BLACKBERRIES
300G JAM SUGAR
Rrinse and take off any stalks and twiggy bits off the blackberries.
Put the jam sugar over the top, into an ovenproof dish
Cover with tin foil
Put into a preheated oven of 200degrees
Cook for 40 minutes
...
Take out of the oven, take off the tin foil, return to the oven for a further 20 minutes uncovered
...
Remove from the oven, leave aside for 10 minutes then stir together with the jam sugar, taking it all up into a mushy consistency. Strain through a sieve into a jar, pushing through as much of the berry as possible.
 

Pour the mixture into hot sterilized jars, leave to cool, then cover with cling film and jar lid.
Add pretty cover and label.
Ready to eat same day and it is delicious, it does keep, as there is preservative in the sugar. Enjoy

Sunday, 21 August 2011

Stratford upon Avon Birthday/Anniversay Breakaway



A lovely warm evening by the river avon where we sat and listened to some live music by lamplighter the group, at coxs yard. It was full of people all having fun, enjoying the outdoors on a warm summers night, we will look back on this on a dark december evening and enjoy it all over again on our video clip and photos.

Anne Hathaways Cottage, which we saw on my Birthday


The photos below are all taken by the river Avon, from wild water paddling! three of us anyway. Rowing on the river, well one of us was good at rowing(guess who) A ferry ride across the river Avon which is a chain ferry, a handle is turned and the boat glides across as if by magic on the chain beneath it.Martin and laura went across first, then we went on it , someones little dog stood on the prow of the boat, a wire haired terrier he was lovley.



We paddled our tootsies in the river Avon, so cooling and refreshing.Lots of messing about by the river

Martin and Laura take the chain fery across the river Avon, while we slope off for a pint in the Dirty Duck!

Laura and i were taking some evening photos by the Avon, these are all named after women characters in the plays that were written by william shakespeare, who was born in Stratford upon avon .

Row row row the boat gently down the stream. Gary best rower award!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drifting down the river, nearly hit the chain boat, nearly hit a canal boat, but a good finish by young Mr &Mrs Stanyer

A view of St Mary the virgin Church taken from the rowing boat, shakespeare is buried here and also his family.
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A good couple of evenings around the local hostelries were good fun. Some we visited were in no particular order.
The Olde Thatch....The Garrick....The windmill....Thedirty duck/Black Swan....Ye olde Rose and Crown....
Coxs Yard where we watched live music in the evening.
We played Just a minute, its from a radio programme on radio4, . The rules are one minute is given to talk about a subject, there is to be no repetition, no deviation, no hesitation, if so another member takes over and gets the remaining seconds to talk until they win, unless they um and err, in which case someone elses go. Great fun, harder to do than you know till you have tried it.. Laura and I won two rounds. Thererwas a lot of erming and umming going on , oh and a good deal of laughter. We really had some good evenings together.







Outside the Windmill. good times Dad and son


Inside the Dirty Duck


Outside the Windmill , same night as before


Out for dinner at The Garrick, Halumi night


Taken at dusk The Dirty Duck
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We visited the Butterfly farm which was brilliant, lots of the biggest butterflies flitting about, every colour, it was hot and humid inside, there was a pond and waterfall, with huge koi carp. A reptile and insect centre, . The pictures below show the butterflies, well worth a visit.

Loved these two frogs






waterfall


Morning glories


Baby coot chicks

Finally a picture of some baby Coot chicks which we watched being fed  and leaving the nest to take a tentative swim in the river, we watched from clopton bridge along with others, who also found it interesting.
A little moment among the business to enjoy a little bit of nature, I can say it was a lovely time away.













Thursday, 11 August 2011

Amerton farm day out, Three things that made me happy


A quiche ready made for tea

My grandson playing at Amerton farm like in this younger photo of him at Amerton farm, we went here today with my daughter Jenny, Owens mummy

Two hearts that i purchased from the craft shop for presents
















Wednesday, 10 August 2011

Time Symphony by Martin Stanyer



http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150337413755586




This lovely Symphony called 'Time was composed and written by my son Martin paul Stanyer. It is a lovely piece of music. You will find it by clicking onto the link above.
Well worth a listen, and a look at the calming photographs the music is set too.

THE GOOD NEWS/ CLEANING UP AFTER THE RIOTS

What has been done to this Country by the feral underclass who have rioted and looted shops is atrocious and condemnable in every way.
People looking on all over the World must think all our young society is like this, But they are not,!!!!! the social networking sites  that were used to gather the louts, who then rioted  and looted their way through London and our other major cities are not wholly to blame. All internet and mobile access can be used for good or bad. We should see the other side of social networking sites that produce a good response from the people of BRITAIN.
So it was that a call from a social networking site, produced GOOD RESULTS, young people bought brooms to help sweep up our streets of glass and carnage, it bought people together with no more than brushes and pans, showing that their are also good decent young people ready to help and come together as a community. I applaud them for they have done something positive to reclaim the streets, from the yobs.
Here they are in the pictures below a few of the honest and decent people, Good to know they care.

Roger Hargreaves and the Mister Men Books


All the Mister men
 Forty years ago today the Mister Men books were produced,with their lovely artwork and easy to read stories it is no wonder that this event is noted on Radio 4s Today programme this morning.
When i heard the Mister men Books mentioned it took me back to when my two children were little and we used to sit and read them together.
Martin was both Mr Bump and Mr Messy.
Jenny was Little Miss Sunshine.
Today my grandson Owen has his own mister men books.
Good books stay with us forever , they are our comfort reads, our inspiration, our fantasy, our Spirituality. So in praise of all good books i have read over the years, i say
                                              KEEP CALM AND KEEP READING

Who were you in the Mister Men books, ? what never read one,  make yourself smile today with a Mister Man Book by Roger Hargreaves.