Blowing in the wind

Some days feel like real change is happening.  Today was one of those.

Today my thoughts of change ended up focusing on Pepper.  A little bit tired after my day, a little bit frustrated by the elements of change I have no control over, a little bit lonely as I came home and certainly fed up of the rain that plagued Norwich this afternoon.  All I wanted to do was dig out the biggest glass I could find, fill it with wine and lose myself on the sofa for the night.  Except now, I had a little ball of fur dancing and squeaking at me as I opened the door.  Forcing me back out of the house, where I realised that the sun was shining, the humid air had cleared and it's a really beautiful evening, Pepper made me smile as she pranced along and took me for my evening walk.  


I'm still tired and looking forward to my glass of wine, but it is with happy thoughts of the changes I've had in the past twelve months.  I am extremely excited about getting married to Gav next year, his rally (sponsor him here!) reminds me that the biggest change in our lives is coming here faster than we expect.  I love coming home to Pepper and will never want to change back to the nights where we don't get to wander along the river.  I'm ridiculously proud of Gav for changing his path and returning to school.  I cannot wait until I have completed my own 'learning' and have my evenings back to myself...and find out exactly where that will take me.  I'm even looking forward to the change of bedclothes that I've organised for myself tonight.

Other life changes, out of my control, well they can only mean good things in the long run.  

Just like the storm that cleared the air, it's all change here.
 

Hearty Rally

 
Some of you may know that, in May 2009, Gavin had a heart attack.  He woke up in the middle of the night with chest pains, breathlessness and was so incredibly uncomfortable.  Neither of us knew what to do, he was 29 and the last thing that either of us expected was a heart attack.

We were actually very fortunate.  The Norwich and Norfolk Hospital has one of the best cardiology departments in the country so I know that he was well taken care of.  The ambulance was equipped with an ECG which meant that right from the very start Gav was given the best treatment.  Not every patient in the UK would receive this outstanding level of care so immediately.


Gav spent four days in hospital and I started to learn about what it was that could have caused the heart attack (doctors still are uncertain) and figure out what we could do to keep him healthy.  The British Heart Foundation were amazing - their website is full of information and they have the resource to send out information on healthy eating, heart disease and recipe books with some excellent curries in.  There is an online community where patients and family members can exchange ideas and support for each other as they go through the different stages of accepting what has happened.  



As I said, we are very lucky.  Gav doesn't seem to have suffered long term effects and, like everything that happens, we have chosen to see his heart attack as a reason to make a few changes for the better.  Not everyone is so lucky.  This is why he is really keen to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.  

The boys are going to Prague and back with the Urban Allstar Rally.  They have purchased (for under £200 each, amaze!) three old Civics that they have painted black and pimped out to the max (of their budget!!).  The cars look awesome and the boys are going to have a wicked time. If you are able to support them along their way then please go to their Just Giving page or follow the link on the top right of this screen.  It'll really make the difference to their journey!  And help save lives, cause that's what this is all about.


Good luck to the Hearty Boys!

1996

I knew when I was 16, nothing could actually top that year.

This weekend's Glastonbury coverage reaffirmed the belief.  I got to listen to Pulp (ah, the broken-hearted memories!), Eels (soooooo cool to have loved them when I did), Placebo, Suede, so many more, and I knew for a fact that 1996 was the year that the party really did start and it was freaking cool.
I went to see my first gig in April 1996, taking a little road trip with Rosie, Anna, Cat and Rosie's dad to Southampton to see Ash supported by the 60ft Dolls and Bis ("sugar, sugar, candy POP!" - sometimes good music is nothing to do with talent, but with your friends making it so fun).  I remember we all stood outside waiting with the cool kids commenting snidely on our teeny bopper ways, Top Shop wraparound skirts combined with our shiny DMs, and realising just how far we had to go to actually look cool with these indie kid regulars.  But the gig itself, that was amazing.  I had been in love with Ash since Girl From Mars had truly hit the airways and was sickeningly jealous that these boys were just a couple of years older and living the dream.  The album had come out just two days before, we had all purchased the special edition with the secret tracks (rewind from track 1 to find them, sneaky). We had all listened to every song a thousand times and by the time we arrived even Rosie's dad knew all the words.  We got to the very front, discovered moshing, wondered if it would be worth a crowd surf, decided against it and sang our little hearts out.

By December, we were really cool though.  Another road trip, this time to the Cardiff Indoor Arena to see the Manic Street Preachers on their comeback gig following Richie Edwards' disappearance.  The band started with Australia and ended with You Love Us.  I shouted the words to every song in between and didn't want it to ever end.  I still think You Love Us being played to an incredibly over excited crowd is one of my favourite memories.  

Ash and the Manics are far from my favourites now, which is a little sad, and they didn't play Glastonbury either.  Which is okay because I felt grown up enough as it was listening to bands that I could sing to in my sleep and feeling a little smug as the young hip things are discovering the coolest thing since Leonard Coen (seriously I'll never get it) on their own.  But as the sun sets on another weekend in the sun, we can all raise our glass to the Cider Bus in the Sky and toast the year that made us who we are.

What is your favourite year?     

It never rains...

...at least, not in Norwich these days.

That's a bit of a lie.  There was definite misting this afternoon as we were planning on leaving the office, but by the time I had returned home the streets were dry and I got to go on the evening walk with Gav and Pepper.  Which was lovely. 

But not lovely for the allotment.

Yes, at long last we've managed to do a bit more work in the allotment!  Not alone, I hasten to add, it would have been impossible without the kind assistance of Papa B and under the watchful eyes of Zoe, Pepper and Rodney, but we finally have a Vegetable Plot.


The Vegetable Plot lives at the front of our allotment, possibly as far from the Shed (at the back) as you can get.  By the Shed we have got Tomato Corner.  More on Tomato Corner later.  The Vegetable Plot is positioned by the entrance because, just before the tree with bird seed feeders hanging from it, there is a water source.  This water source is kind of like a giant sink with a tap that comes from it, rather than a tap that pours into it.  Does that make sense?  I hope so...


Firstly, an allotmenteer must clear carpet from their patch.  We have done that.  Rolled it up into nice piles.  Ready for the winter when we want to lay it again?  Not quite sure what we'll do with it, but we are a family of hoarders.  Having cleared the carpet, it is time to get the shed built (done, but not blogged about - maybe another time) and the plot rotovated.  This is where the boys come in.

 Apparently, rotovating isn't as hard as all that.  Not that I was too interested.  I was completely distracted by the goodies.

I know it's not 100% how you should do it, but we've been contending with a lot, both procrastinating about our studies, I've worked away, Pepper dog takes up a lot of time, Norwich have been promoted, we've got a wedding to plan (dresses to try on) and none of our horses won the Grand National.  Which was pants.  But the plants were good.  

See what I did there?!  I'm a freaking comedienne.

In there we had a whole bunch of:
- Lettuce
- Leaf beets
- Beetroot
- pretty flowers, that I've already forgotten the names of
- 1 x cucumber
- 2 x chilis
- 3 x cherry tomatoes
- 2 x courgettes
- 2 x pepperes
- Kale that my parents started off
- 3 x tomato plants we picked up outside a house near my parents'
- Potatoes!!!!  Lots of

Plus, we also planted seeds for:
- Carrots
- Broccoli

- Artichoke.

I'm most excited about the artichoke.

Doesn't it look good?  We're going to put some scarecrows and netting out to protect our little plants this weekend.  Tomato corner lives by the shed, as it is a bit more sheltered for my precious plants.  The previous allotmenteers had kindly left us with many, many bottle 'green houses' that we are utilising to make sure the plants grow big and strong.  Not sure if we're meant to make them grow that big, but I'm excited.

 
So I've been spending my lunch breaks watering the seeds and talking to the plants.  It's really quite nice.

And probably the first time I've wanted a downpour in quite some time.

As I said, it never rains...

All work and no play

I love to complain.  What Anne cannot complain about probably isn't even worth mentioning.  Having said that, working away isn't always so bad and I really do enjoy my job on the sly.  Last week I got to stay in a hotel in Sheffield that made the best burgers I've ever had (and I've had some burgers in my time).  While the hotel seemed to be situated on a dual carriageway, it was within a two minute walk to a local pub that had a claw crane by the front door with perhaps the ugliest toys I've ever seen.  But, even better than that, I was introduced to the best pub quiz game I've played ever.  The pub quiz game is actually available nation wide I would imagine, but my kind colleagues introduced it to me here.  I was cheated out of a £2 prize.  Gutted.  Here's to the next time.

I also got to stay in a hotel that shall remain nameless because it really isn't worth mentioning - slightly Fawlty Towers-esque with 70s carpets.  Best pillows of the week, for sure though.  What I really liked about this hotel was the fact that it was situated in the Yorkshire countryside, just outside of Bradford, with a field of cows right beside us and it didn't rain.

Perfect.

  
After our first day I went for a little wander into the village and saw the pretty cotton-puff clouds in the sky.  There's something pretty lovely about a blue sky with the green grass beneath it.  I found a village green where the locals were playing cricket.  I sat and watched for a minute before remembering I didn't have the faintest idea about what they were doing and really didn't care.  Plus I was missing a drink and knew it was almost time for my next three course meal courtesy of the company.  So I headed back through the fields, past a cute church complete with stocks (still in use? Who knows what happened to the losing cricketers) and the best cared for churchyard I've seen in a while, with pretty little benches and hundreds of wild flowers.
 

 
The best part of it all though was when I got to pet the cows.  They (the cows) didn't let me near the little calves, but it was like a petting zoo with potentially really wild animals.  Don't tell the people left in the office just how much fun it really is working away, they'll all want to go too!

Wedding Fever

Leaving the palace in style

After yesterday I cannot imagine that many people aren't feeling a little bit of the warm and fuzzies when thinking about the royal couple starting their lives together.  There is a definite chance we're all suffering complete media overkill but, as a bride to be myself, I know I could not get enough of watching the crowds, the flowers, the dress and of course the looks that the couple shared during and after the ceremony.  I loved the nerves before the wedding, the smiles during, the excitement when it was all over - and of course the surprised look as Kate and William walked out onto the balcony for that kiss and realised just how loved they were.  Not to mention the fact that afterwards, I got to sit in a sunny (although slightly chilly...) garden with friends, drinking champagne to toast William and Kate for the day off work and discuss the minute details with my like minded girlfriends.

I would never suggest that my wedding will be anything like the royal wedding yesterday.  Goodness knows that there will not be street parties across the land, although having a member of the world's media present to assist with skypeing the ceremony so my grandparents can watch in Colorado would be a nice touch.  Having said that, while planning is still in the early stages I hope that I don't get lost in the details and remember, like I think William and Kate did, that despite all the hoo-ha all that really matters is the commitment you are making.  It's not about the diamond tiaras, or horse drawn carriages, or expensive (really beautiful) dresses.  It is about having fun with the day, enjoying each other and the family and friends who are there to share it with you.  Plus the hats, I am really expecting some good hats in the crowd...

I know that I'll be Gav's princess, not just for the day.  I can't wait! 

Catching up

It's been a while since I sat down and wrote out a little something to say.  I think it's because the sun has started to shine and the world seems a lot more exciting than in the depths of January.  Well, maybe not more exciting, but there is definitely more opportunity and willing here to 'do' the fun stuff than 'not'.

So, what have we been up to?


Not as much on the allotment as we'd like, unfortunately.  Gav's been busy with projects and work of his own and I'm not certain how to use the rotovator, which is our next big task.  However, we did have a busy weekend just after my last post, where I got to borrow a Very Big Van from work and drive it around the city, to collect a shed that we bought on ebay.  For the bargain price of £20 we got to dismantle the shed, put it in the van and then put it back together again at a later date.  I was extremely helpful in the dismantling and carrying and Gav's done a fine job of rebuilding and making the shed nice now.  

He's also rearranged our 'poo store' and put it next to the shed.  It's nice to be able to have a proper home at the allotment, we've put some chairs there and bought a wheelbarrow that can live in the shed.  It's probably bigger than some New York apartments so all in all, a good deal.

The plan now is to rotovate the plot and create some proper beds for me to start work at planting and growing.  I've already pot planted some raspberries, blueberries and strawberries so should hopefully have a pretty mean fruit salad waiting for us later this year.  Given our current time scale I think we'll have to aim for some late season bits and pieces, not quite sure what yet as Gav is the primary reader of the gardening books, but any suggestions are welcome.  I'm mildly shocked that it's already late April but think that even if we don't get huge crops from our work this year, we'll have laid out the groundwork for some pretty good years to come.  Especially with all the poo that Gav's purchased.


Some photos coming soon for you (woops, lost my camera!).......  

After today I am going to be enjoying the best 11 day break from work since Christmas, so it is entirely possible I will get some time to play on the allotment.  Or do some studying of my own!!  I hope that everyone out there is looking forward to a nice long weekend, followed by another nice long weekend, possibly with a nice short work week or (if you're super lazy like me!) three extra days off in the sunny sunshine that we're currently enjoying.

Don't eat too many eggs!!