Indian Summer

Quote from the lunch time news -

'Sun worshippers are basking in more record-breaking weather - as Britain feels its hottest September 30 in more than 100 years.
The previous record for the last day of September was set in 1908 - 27.8C in Maidenhead.
The mercury could rise beyond 29C this afternoon trumping the Costa del Sol, Turkey, Cuba and Mexico.
There were reports that many Britons had taken "sickies" off work to peel off in parks, gardens and on the beach.
Many others were preparing to head for the coast this weekend, sparking a huge increase in hotel bookings.
Yesterday saw temperatures as high as 28.8C, making it the hottest September 29 since 1895, when the mercury peaked in York at 27.5C.
Records will be broken again today if temperatures exceed the 27.8C set in Maidenhead in 1901.
Meanwhile, Saturday could become the warmest day ever for October if it peaks at above the 29.4C reached on October 1, 1985, in Cambridgeshire.' 

I can tell you it is bloody hot here in Luton too!!

* Britain has experienced the highest October temperature on record with RAF Finningley in Yorkshire feeling the heat at 30C at 3pm.
The previous record of 29.4C was set in Cambridge in 1985.
It is the second day of record breaking weather.

More gardening

Did some more gardening today as we are having a lovely Indian Summer. Planted some daffodil bulbs and had a general tidy up of the front garden ready for the winter. I cut the lawn - hopefully for the last time this year but if this weather continues it will probably grow again. I would like to get some winter pansies to plant out for a bit of colour so will look for some next time I go into town.
We are having a picket fence and gate erected next Wednesday, which will help make the garden more private and keep out those people who think it is ok to walk across our garden as a short cut.
Just the back garden to tidy next week then all set for winter!

Trip to the seaside

Sam and I had a nice day out today in Southend - we had planned to go to Brighton but it means a long tube journey at the moment as there is work going on on the main line.
We arrived and had seafood followed fish n chips for lunch, sat looking out over the sea. It was a beautiful Indian summer day with hardly a breeze. We played in the Amusement Arcade and Sam 'won' me a little love heart cushion on the grabber crane game.
 Southend is a real old fashioned seaside town - although it has had some recent refurbishment which lakes it very family and wheelchair friendly.
Later we had a trip on the train along Southend Pier - newly reopened and the longest one in the world. It is 1.33 miles long! Sadly there was not a lot to see and do at the other end, other than the RNLI shop where we bought a little kite, so we quickly caught the train back.
Sam flew the kite on the beach - with me as her trusty helper. The kite was a very erratic flyer and kept twirling down to crash on the sand - but it was good fun trying.
We finished the day by eating supper on the sea wall and having a drink in a nice sea front pub, before Sam drove us home. we were so tired and full of ozone we went more or less straight to bed - despite it only being 9.00. Pictures to follow

Visit To Claire

I went to see Claire and Stu today. Jeannie and Bruce came along later too as they had been into Milton Keynes. It was a lovely afternoon and great to catch up with everyone's news.
Retirement suits Jeannie & Bruce - they both looked great. They have moved to their new flat in Goring and are settling in.
Claire had had her third chemo session on Wednesday and was tired but feeling ok. She is half way through the chemo now, then has to have two weeks of radiotherapy - driving from Bletchley to Northampton hospital every day for treatment that takes ten minutes.
Stu was hopeless with Yarl's Wood gossip - typical man! Bailey and Dexter were adorable - so friendly and laid back - great distraction for Claire. I managed to leave my jacket behind - but I am sure I will go to visit again soon!
*Mum rang in the evening about Dad - he has to go to Mount Vernon next week for another scan.

Difficult Week

Some weeks are harder than others - this one has been tough. News about Dad, although not confirmed, doesn't seem good. He came home yesterday having been told he has a lesion although the Dr's letter says 'a tumour' - he has to go back on Friday to discuss his options. We are all keeping positive until we know more details.

Charlotte is upset too as her little rabbit Bruno died on Monday - she will miss him very much.

Dad holding little Bruno at Charlotte's bbq last year

Dad is Poorly

Mum rang this morning to say Dad went into hospital last night and they kept him in to do some tests. He has been coughing up blood for some time now but it was more than usual last night, so he was taken into hospital in an ambulance. He has had a chest x-ray and an a camera up nose and down throat - which showed nothing. He was due to have a  bronchoscopy under general anaesthetic in a couple of weeks time anyway - so this has brought things forward.
I hope he is ok - will ring Mum later for an update.
* Update - went to visit dad with Mum this evening. He was eating his tea and was quite perky. he is having the bronchoscopy tomorrow and a scan on Friday, so hopefully we will have some answers then.

Visitor

Maggie came for tea with Sam and I this evening as she missed our house-warming and so hadn't seen our new house. She was surprised at how roomy it is - as most people are!
We spent a good few hours chatting and putting the world to rights - lots of laughter and wine! It was good to see her as she is a very interesting person to chat to - as she has lived a very colourful life!

Sunday Roast Dinner

Pip and Liam came for Sunday dinner today - it was great to see them. Pip had requested some vegan yorkshire puddings so Sam found me a recipe and i gave it a go. They were quite sucessful and we all had a couple and enjoyed them very much.

This is the recipe - 

Vegan Yorkshire puddings

4oz  plain (all-purpose) flour

salt to taste

1 heaped teaspoon gram flour (chickpea flour, besan)

half a pint of soya milk

vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 230C (450F). Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil in the holes of a Yorkshire pudding or muffin tin and place in oven. The oven needs to be hot and the oil needs to be hot.

2. Mix plain flour, salt and gram flour together with a whisk. Gradually pour in the soya milk taking in the flour slowly until all the milk is added and the flour is incorporated. Whisk with all your might until you can see bubbles. (I used the whisk attachment of my stick blender.) Note: the batter will be very thin, much thinner than pancake batter. It’s supposed to be that way.

3. Carefully remove tin from oven and fill the holes. If using a muffin tin, fill half way up; if using a Yorkshire pudding tin, fill all the way up. Put back in oven and cook for about 20 minutes. Don’t open the oven door to check them, as the oven needs to stay really hot. If your oven cooks hotter at the back than the front (like mine), you can rotate the tin halfway through, but do it quickly.

The only thing i did differently was to whisk the milk in our coffee machine to get lots of air into it. We bought the gram flour in Tesco - the smallest bag they had was 2kg - at a teaspoon a time i am going to have to make a lot of vegan yorkshires to use it up!! Better get researching some other recipes that use gram flour!

Ten Years On

It is ten years today since the September 11th attacks - where did that decade go? I was working at the hospital then and can clearly remember that sense of shock and disbelief that this could happen in New York.
 

This attack has changed the world forever - especially airport security and travel. It left behind a feeling of mistrust and suspicion that hasn't really gone away since.


The site left behind, known as Ground Zero now has a  9/11 Memorial and Museum on it. 

The memorial is to be dedicated at a ceremony on the 10th anniversary itself, and then it will open to the public for the first time on September 12. The memorial is  called Reflecting Absence.
At its centre are two pools that stand in the footprint of the towers. Water constantly runs down the 30ft black granite walls into a second, smaller void in the middle of each square.
The plaza around the pools is planted with around 200 white oak trees. Eventually there will be around 400, chosen in part because they turn a golden colour during autumn, in time for each anniversary.
The names of the 2,983 people who died are inscribed in bronze on the edges of each fountain. It took a year to arrange them next to friends, relatives and colleagues, according to the requests of family members. 

New Dress

I have a new Monsoon dress - a lovely knitted one in Autumn colours. it looks very retro - in fact I had a similar one in about 1979!

I will post a picture of me wearing it later!
 
Here I am in the dress and sitting on my newly revamped chair!

Office Chair Revamp

I was given an old office chair on freecycle. It was in need of some TLC so I have spent time today recovering it so that I can use it as a sewing chair. I bought a remnant of upholstery fabric in Dunelm for £1.50. A quick bit of research on the net gave me idea how to dismantle the chair. Four screws held the base in place. The back was a bit trickier - it needed popping off with a hammer then underneath were some more screws that needed to come out.
Once dismantled I removed the old fabric and staples then stapled in place the new fabric. I gave the base a good clean, tightened everything up and gave it a spray of WD40. Then it was just a matter of fixing it all back together.
I am really please with the end result! Took three hours from start to finish.

Chair in need of a revamp!

The seat was very worn

I gave the frame a good clean up

The back was tricky to pop off - a hammer helped!

        

I worked out where I wanted the pattern placed on the seat and back

                                                           

Staples hold the fabric in place

Four screws hold the seat back on

The screws hold the back in place

The back popped back on

The finished chair

New Tops

I bought myself three new tops from Keech Charity Shop. The three cost me £3.50 - one is a monsoon sun top, one a John Rocha evening top and the other a Coast pure silk daytime top. They all fit me despite one being a size 8, one a size 10 and the other a 12. There are still bargains to be found!

Lunch With Claire

I went to have lunch with Claire today - she was looking very well despite having lost her hair. She has a wig to wear when going out but doesn't bother at home. I thought she looked like Sinead O'Connor but she felt it was more GI Jane!
We had a great time catching up on Yarl's Wood gossip and life in general. Going to see her again very soon when we meet up with Jeannie in a couple of weeks time!

Where are Vickie & Jerry?

Vickie and jerry have disappeared, where can they be? We have looked on Skype but they haven't been on line. We have sent a message - no reply. There are no comments from Vickie on my blog and no posts on hers or on Facebook! It is very strange an especially worrying with man eating shark stories in WA on the news!!
   
                                                                                LOST

If you see these people please let me know!
The woman might have her eyes open!

 

Winner again

I have just had an email to say I have won a prize in another competition. This one is a bundle of fabric - which will be great for my making. That is the third Facebook competition I have won a prize in. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket!

Robin has a blog too

Robin has started a blog  - find it here Rob's Blog

Family Lunch

Sam and I had a family lunch today at The Raven in Hexton with Debbie, Jim and the children. the weather was really rainy so we sat inside - which was a shame as they had a nice outdoor area. The meal was mediocre but it was nice to see them all and relax and chat together and catch up on everyone's news.

Windows Live Writer

Sam says I should try using this program to post on my blog – so I am giving it a go.
It was easy enough to add a photo -

but  I can’t see how to add a caption though.
Have put this tag in – but not sure what that will do once published.

Technorati Tags: Life

* the tag takes you to a link about the word - not what I thought it would do at all - but could be useful now I do understand what it is for!

Anniversary Gift

Sam and I treated ourselves to an anniversary gift in John Lewis today - a coffee maker . It takes little pods that are easy to use and have no messy coffee grounds to get rid off. It makes delicious coffee and froths the milk in a separate container really well. You can make hot chocolate in it too. We are loving it!

Evening Out

I had an evening out with my colleagues from work to celebrate a Birthday and a Hen Night. We went to  Pizza Express in Luton and had a fun evening together. It was nice to go out socially and chat to people to get to know them better.
Sam had an evening home alone with a film and some beers - which she doesn't get to do often and also enjoyed very much!