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just the day for ducks ...

Today is the last day of the RHS Flower Show at Hampton Court Palace.

I went up on Thursday, which is traditionally the opening day for the general public ...

and for ducks!



An Alice in Wonderland theme was running through the Floral Marquee.

Not that you could get to see the exhibits, with the world and his wife plodding through taking shelter from the rain.



Only ducks and Mad Hatters would have been happy to frolic in such a deluge ...



and geese!



This curvy looking bench caught my eye ...



as did these stained-glass panels.



How about this wonderful creeping Thyme paving ...

and this highly desirable residence for bugs!

With an idea for a three-tiered garden ...



and what to do with an abandoned shopping trolley!



The show is filled with so many wonderful ideas, and like what to buy?

I went with a modest shopping list, with the intention of buying varieties of Lavender and Mint.

No garlic!

I've learned the lesson from previous years not to buy anything too big or heavy, as pretty much impossible to cart back on a busy London Train.

... so what did I end up buying?

Two sun-loving varieties of Lavender (Kew Red and Whero Ito), and two shade-loving varieties of Mint (Ginger and Chocolate).

I'd say that was a day well spent, wouldn't you?

o

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motoGP Silverstone 2011 ...

Please humour me everyone, I love motoGP!

Here's some facts from the weekend.




We had three day roving grandstand tickets, and this year we added on an extra day for Day of Champions, a charity event with mega proceeds going to Riders for Health.

Total sum raised through DOC ticket sales and auction was £194,577.00.



We also had tickets for pit and paddock access.

It was really interesting to see inside the riders' garages, although frustrating for me Hayden's mechanics kept the door to his tightly shut.

Alvaro Bautista, Loris Capirossi, Cal Crutchlow, and Hiroshi Aoyama obliged to sign my programme, along with Scott Redding from moto2.

Stoner was outside his motor-home signing autographs, but there being such a stampede, he made a hasty retreat back inside.

We got to meet vintage rider Randy Mamola, who was cruising around the paddock on his bike.

Hey Vee from The Bearister Bookcase, I know you like motoGP too.

Are you looking through my pics!



We watched free practice periods from the New International Pits Straight, sitting opposite the Repsol and Grisini Honda team garages.

I was highly suspicious of J sitting away as far as we could from Hayden's garage?

Little did he know I'd spied a hole through the fence, and could see him through the binoculars!



Lone Brit rookie Cal Crutchlow broke his collarbone in free practice, ending his race weekend.

He thinks he coming back for Assen?



The weather over the first three days stayed mainly dry, but on race-day the heavens opened, and stayed open for the duration!

We had the best vantage point from Becketts on race-day, but were very, very cold and wet.



It was an exciting wet race!

With three riders not finishing (Spies, Lorenzo and Simoncelli) Casey Stoner from factory Repsol Honda finished on top, with Andrea Dovizioso and Colin Edwards second and third respectively.

My man Hayden just missed the podium by coming in fourth.



There was a fence between me and #69 on the only occasion I spotted him in the paddock.

I'm finding this fact a bit hard to swallow!


o

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... where is everyone?

o

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bakin' ...

Not only have I been bakin' in the sun today, I've been bakin' cakes too.

Not unusual cakes, just common ones which you can make without a recipe - like this coffee/walnut cake, using equal ingredients for a 7oz sponge.

I also added a good handful of walnuts to the mix - I think the nuts I cracked had been in the bowl since Christmas, but they tasted fine!

I've made these choc/cranberry muffins before - you can knock up the batter in no time, and so healthy too.

Hmm!

o

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seed swap ...

A month or so back I posted off some Sweet Pea seeds to my good blog friend Simone at Linden Grove, and in return she kindly forwarded on some seeds to me.

The seeds are a rare variety of climbing French Bean, from North America

... Cherokee Trail of Tears.

Each sown in individual cells, I waited - and with patience rewarded, they are now romping away very nicely.

I'm going to use twiggy Hazel poles as supports.

Thanks Simone
o

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photo scavenger hunt ...

How on earth has another month passed me by?

I never quite made it with April's Photo Scavenger Hunt, infact you could say I failed miserably.

I did have something to do with Shakespeare (a 1st class stamp celebrating 50 years of the RSC), and an idea for an interesting shopname lined up.

A local sandwich shop called Big Baps!



Now I've made a good job of lowering the tone, I shall leave you with the list for May:
o
a butterfly
a bicycle
a red door
a cartoon character
an emergency vehicle
think vintage!
something blue
a street light
texture
a sign of the zodiac
an interesting local building
a portrait in black and white

I must try harder this month!
o

Willliam and Kate ...

29.04.11

It's important to me that we protect our heritage for future generations.

oo

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Simnel Cake ...

Using my trusty Mary Berry recipe.

Whisk up soft margarine together with soft brown sugar, eggs and self-raising flour.

Adding flame raisins, glace cherries, peel and mixed spice, left to steep for a hour or so (or overnight) in a small amount of water.

Prepare the tin.

Oh dear, lining cake tins has never been my forte!

A bit of a botch up job, but will do the trick?

Add half the mixture.

Now for a layer of marzipan, and a good tip is to not use the shop bought stuff.

Make up a batch of almond paste - it's really easy, and a good idea is to prepare earlier, wrap in clingfilm and leave to firm in the fridge.

Use a third, and then top with the remainder of the cake mixture.

Bake, and leave to cool.

The next day ...

Brush the cake with apricot jam before topping, and place eleven apostles on the top, and not ten!

Like I forgot!

Happy Easter weekend everyone!

o

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lamb chops 'n mint sauce ...

Amazing weather again, and it's still only April?

It's been a a productive day mostly spent outside, interuppted midday by an impromptu trip into Shoreham-by-Sea for fish 'n chips.

Late afternoon I picked the first rhubarb from the garden, and mixed with strawberries from Morrisons, made a crumble.

Before supper, early evening we go visit lambs, for the third time this year!

These three little 'uns were having fun, hop, skipping and a jumping in their very own lamb gang!

See how cute they look in detail by clicking on the photos to enlarge.

Lambs at Play by Christina Rossetti

On the grassy banks, lambkins at their pranks;
Woolly sisters, woolly brothers, jumping off their feet;
While their woolly mothers, watch by them and bleat.

These size small woolly jumpers are on fields at Botolphs, east of the River Adur.

The nearby farm at Coombes is open to the public for a month or so every year for lambing time.

There's only a week to go!

Hundreds of teasels line the pathway.



The area looking especially beautiful as the light fades.



Aah look at the sweet chops, and sticky-out ears on that little lamb below!

It looks lost, but will soon be back with mum as it's getting late.



As for lamb chops 'n mint sauce - they're definitely off the menu for the time being, if not for good?

o

my photos

flowers for Mum ...

We took flowers for Mum up to the crematorium yesterday - a lovely small Spring bouquet with narcissi, tulips, iris and gerbera.

I usually like to take a pot of bulbs as they last longer, but nothing suitable to pick up Saturday after work.

As we were walking up the hill to her plot, we expected this pheasant to fly away.

But instead it started to walk towards us, and started pecking around right in front of our feet!

It was so funny to watch, and so tame?

Maybe someone is feeding him up for Christmas!

Then thinking I wonder if the resident cat's around, looking to my left there it is walking over towards us.

It's a lovely black 'n white cat, who I get to see on most visits.

I know he's being (well) fed, as I've seen a cat loving couple giving him cat crunchies!

We always come up early, to take photos and have a little look around.

At this time of year there are thousands of daffodils in bloom, and many trees in blossom.

The weather was misty first thing with sunshine eventually breaking through.

The cat was liking the sunshine too, and lots of attention!

o

MotoGP mention ...

Nicky Hayden - Third on podium for Ducati today at Jerez.

Let it rain!
O

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Photo Scavenger Hunt ...

Here are my entries for March - all twelve of them!

a lion

Lucky for me this one lives in my garden!

a rainbow

No real rainbow to be seen this month.

something green

Living lettuce!

an empty chair

Splash Point in Worthing.

something sentimental

One of my late Mum's gollys.

peeling paint

A fisherman's box along the beach at Worthing.

a collection

A small selection of my vintage Yellow Cornishware.

a ring

My maternal great-grandmother's wedding ring.

a fancy gate

I've always rather loved the gate in this old family photo.

a shadow

On TK Maxx in Worthing.

something as old as you

A card heralding my arrival!

a lamb

Taken in a field at Botolphs, West Sussex.

Please let me know if you are joining in, so I can list your blog on my sidebar.

I really don't want to miss anyone!

Here's the list for April:

April showers
breakfast
your camera
a set of keys
an interesting shopname
a cross
a church
eggs
something yellow
a sculpture
something to do with Shakespeare
something to mark St Georges Day

o