tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9588723410974718652024-03-13T06:10:09.620-07:00DREAMING A HOMERuskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-4426878184624870462012-09-27T06:39:00.001-07:002012-09-27T06:42:05.597-07:00The Home of John Ruskin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Perhaps it was appropriate that we visited <a href="http://www.brantwood.org.uk/">Brantwood</a> on an relentlessly gloomy day. It began hopefully as we grew closer to the house. Across the lake we could see a rainbow lighting the village of Coniston. Rainbows generally come and then fade within moments but this one remained all day, hanging in the air as if posing for a painting.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Morning in Spring, with north</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">-</span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">east Wind, at Vevey -John Ruskin</em></td></tr>
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Ruskin didn't wait for still and sunny weather in which to paint:</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It is not possible to find a landscape, which if painted precisely as it is, will not make an impressive picture. No one knows, till he has tried, what strange beauty and subtle composition is prepared to his hand by Nature. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> John Ruskin - </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Modern Painters</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> (1843-1860)</span></blockquote>
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And the mantra of all who live in the Lake District:</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">'There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.'</span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.<br />
John Ruskin - Modern Painters (1843-1860)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong, honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.<br />
John Ruskin</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To learn more from or about John Ruskin: <a href="http://ruskin.ashmolean.org/">http://ruskin.ashmolean.org/</a></td></tr>
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<br />Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-13122393967143394462012-09-20T07:05:00.001-07:002012-09-27T06:32:43.085-07:00A Walk From Grasmere to Rydal and another Utopian Idea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl3XU2UA6dQibzPES4q8_8tlzFO98xdcPk93yFL-p98iYN11ADY7ZbXoH8L8z6gHzKRYOqqKb9KQdtzVlSJP8Vys_tjmvV8KqeMq0Y5oVQjhdqNBshPTZ92gCcvM9pLJHg5dLvyrKrI6g/s1600/Youth+Hostel+sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl3XU2UA6dQibzPES4q8_8tlzFO98xdcPk93yFL-p98iYN11ADY7ZbXoH8L8z6gHzKRYOqqKb9KQdtzVlSJP8Vys_tjmvV8KqeMq0Y5oVQjhdqNBshPTZ92gCcvM9pLJHg5dLvyrKrI6g/s640/Youth+Hostel+sign.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Dotted around Britain there are large country houses converted into Youth Hostels. According to <a href="http://www.hihostels.com/web/100history.en.htm">Hostelling International</a>:</div>
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The founder of the youth hostel movement was a German teacher, Richard Schirrmann. He was a believer in learning by direct observation and often took his classes on excursions and hiking trips. The hiking trips could last several days, and Schirrmann and his pupils would find accommodation in farm buildings.<br />
On one of these excursions, on 26 August 1909, the group was caught in a thunderstorm. They finally found shelter in a school building in the Bröl Valley. The headmaster let them use a classroom and a farmer gave them some straw to sleep on and some milk for their evening meal. The storm raged the whole night. While the boys slept, Schirrmann lay awake. That was when he had an idea…</blockquote>
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Only an hour or so's drive North of Liverpool and we can stay in the midst of the 'fells' or mountains of the Lake District. Here are some of the grounds of our new home (for as long as we choose to stay).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1mKdzM4Bz4qcfHXVmDISzmKjDq3SUK8oTrsikaVnUrCVnOrg3YI_DN4R1X6ikWUn_sGlaScJOeKMbj7pf6TpBXM5cuZJa2nMJF0Y8QbmXQL_mPoi4512moIzG6aveVc4iVzuwh1gf4ld/s1600/Youth+Hostel+grounds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1mKdzM4Bz4qcfHXVmDISzmKjDq3SUK8oTrsikaVnUrCVnOrg3YI_DN4R1X6ikWUn_sGlaScJOeKMbj7pf6TpBXM5cuZJa2nMJF0Y8QbmXQL_mPoi4512moIzG6aveVc4iVzuwh1gf4ld/s640/Youth+Hostel+grounds.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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But, as beautiful as the hostel and gardens are, the greater beauty calls us. We climb from the tamed lawns of Grasmere up a steep but carefully laid stone path into the blue-topped hills above. It is still early morning and long shadows show up the hills like actors on a stage.</div>
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The Herdwick sheep are not quite ready for visitors.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScH2GNJZeEoWrhYVY0FyqN11r_RBxJnZg1ey7q8NYAknVpyYomzAYTaXAwz1extRzZ64VBPsgTvEwadHbyy-6b8fkZqYkhtxglhZm3jfpifWGc4U7uQjNujWADplsvoHzKwMmuMl89gao/s1600/sheep+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScH2GNJZeEoWrhYVY0FyqN11r_RBxJnZg1ey7q8NYAknVpyYomzAYTaXAwz1extRzZ64VBPsgTvEwadHbyy-6b8fkZqYkhtxglhZm3jfpifWGc4U7uQjNujWADplsvoHzKwMmuMl89gao/s640/sheep+2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQSfJpYSSCwS6PcIBnbUqIYVheF2TUflQjLAzrPWRgG1a36X0gaFn70Z4MCQ251BsBXxKA7qOBbDjnGLvS3_Ex7uSsbAANE_rDuTi_5rRSwmSrLlfyuOU276FsnoZxRSIOKU8f37Owxsf/s1600/Andrew+on+first+walk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQSfJpYSSCwS6PcIBnbUqIYVheF2TUflQjLAzrPWRgG1a36X0gaFn70Z4MCQ251BsBXxKA7qOBbDjnGLvS3_Ex7uSsbAANE_rDuTi_5rRSwmSrLlfyuOU276FsnoZxRSIOKU8f37Owxsf/s640/Andrew+on+first+walk.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I watch nervously as some of our party head for what looks like the edges of solid ground<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OMlZ1aOa0kB405hEFZrdCSUVHgQPDJRgwkpKhYg-nZwSEsilJVvIN1-K9cmi1WQ6Zigm8cebEo-hiP1NE0M5FHnH2efYymloG8v7aSTJik3wqYxZRc9-GY6yEIpUTfJGqqOc6buxam87/s1600/Andrew+on+first+walk2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OMlZ1aOa0kB405hEFZrdCSUVHgQPDJRgwkpKhYg-nZwSEsilJVvIN1-K9cmi1WQ6Zigm8cebEo-hiP1NE0M5FHnH2efYymloG8v7aSTJik3wqYxZRc9-GY6yEIpUTfJGqqOc6buxam87/s640/Andrew+on+first+walk2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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only to see that new platforms lie safely beyond.<br />
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We skim the top of the crags and look down towards <a href="https://www.wordsworth.org.uk/visit/dove-cottage.html">Dove Cottage</a>, Wordsworth's first home which was <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times new roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times new roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;">‘crammed edge full’ with his family and guests</span> and then follow across a ridge to <a href="http://www.rydalmount.co.uk/rydalmount/">Rydal Mount</a> where he spent his final years. Past Rydal Mount is a huge stately home called Rydal Hall on the grounds of which gushes a slender mill stream overlooked by a terrace cafe. We stop for a lunch of soup, paninis and cappucinos and then press on, downwards this time, to Rydal Water.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGtIQw5tSu4id3qnpwNtPcWgkAqOv7sdeYEkrF1it4z_jRaPa5_ljy_pWfG2YZGZGG_r1h-dDq8QdH_GLhlpp_c0JZ16J9eRwgGokc1s-lX_EkY_qfxJv-givqhR7V2x86yG_wGqEaNaT/s1600/Churchyard+first+walk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBGtIQw5tSu4id3qnpwNtPcWgkAqOv7sdeYEkrF1it4z_jRaPa5_ljy_pWfG2YZGZGG_r1h-dDq8QdH_GLhlpp_c0JZ16J9eRwgGokc1s-lX_EkY_qfxJv-givqhR7V2x86yG_wGqEaNaT/s640/Churchyard+first+walk.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Wordsworth helped to choose the site of chapel of St Mary in Rydal, where originally an orchard stood. </td></tr>
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There are caves mentioned on our map and we climb the other side of the valley to investigate. We didn't expect anything as dramatic as these. At first we thought we saw bats but then realised the 'Scooby-Doo' squeaks were those of swallows. This is 'Swallows and Amazons' country after all.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bHn-UXo8OI2DQO-Rosgc1AlIW5aYnlZxlsNuxicZZ0cMimXBuvaVCrtTCxFU07tkML-gFCbB7pIvVb7nYzHzFB3uKMRNVRo3uvPYlUqwCvRvXp3f0P85ZHO3oB6avJ19XZXEDtygPQhX/s1600/Imogen+and+Edmund+in+the+caves+first+walk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bHn-UXo8OI2DQO-Rosgc1AlIW5aYnlZxlsNuxicZZ0cMimXBuvaVCrtTCxFU07tkML-gFCbB7pIvVb7nYzHzFB3uKMRNVRo3uvPYlUqwCvRvXp3f0P85ZHO3oB6avJ19XZXEDtygPQhX/s640/Imogen+and+Edmund+in+the+caves+first+walk.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rydal Cave where swallows swoop</td></tr>
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Cosseted again by the homely shores of Grasmere, we visit the tiniest of shops (I am taking this photograph with my back against the farthest wall) for the gingerbread Wordsworth was said to have yearned for.<br />
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<br />Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-30895914691867015052012-09-11T07:30:00.000-07:002012-09-11T12:14:19.652-07:00Parcel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are not many books where I look forward to their release date but I always check the shelves of Waterstones to see if any new translation of Tove Jansson's has been published. She is one of my favourite written-word companions and I miss her original and homely voice between books. In my virtual book world of teachers and she is one of the most important, alongside Ruskin and Proust.<br />
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'Art in Nature' is a collection of short stories. originally titled 'Dollhouse' in Swedish. 'Art in Nature' proposes a simple idea. Why not pin a parcel to your wall instead of a painting? Then the mystery of the contents and your imagination can be the work of art.<br />
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A caretaker of a summer exhibition stubbles across a middle-aged couple who are unwittingly trespassing in the grounds of his gallery, grilling sausages by the lake. They are quarrelling over a parcel. Inside is a silk-screen they have just bought but they cannot agree whether it is abstract or not, and if it is, what the subject might be. The caretaker having spent many hours contemplating the exhibition suddenly recalls some conceptual art - picture packages also displayed in the exhibition. He suggests that neither will be disappointed with their purchase if they hang it still fully wrapped onto their wall.<br />
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'Maybe you should just imagine what's inside, and then imagine different things...You just need to make the wrapping a little prettier, use more string, you know, fishing line or shoemaker's thread...It's the mystery that's important, somehow very important.'<br />
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Part of the mystery must be that someone else has done the wrapping I feel. Here I have left three items still in their wrappers. Perhaps I will be brave enough to resist opening wrapped art if it comes my way and hang it as it is on our walls.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-v_FFi4S4Cqff56P-LOOkPkVWoyDJCpziWFBOpjIOTqDlkJk6-MSh8GU1i-_l81i_8dEQ99gLoQR4H9SGSW_3Nfp3DVXPRI37KPIBWwIZclscw44bRT677gxKs2Q4q7YBPo6PuBRAMUS/s1600/DSC02346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq-v_FFi4S4Cqff56P-LOOkPkVWoyDJCpziWFBOpjIOTqDlkJk6-MSh8GU1i-_l81i_8dEQ99gLoQR4H9SGSW_3Nfp3DVXPRI37KPIBWwIZclscw44bRT677gxKs2Q4q7YBPo6PuBRAMUS/s640/DSC02346.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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<br />Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-26557882854250146482012-08-24T07:21:00.000-07:002012-09-11T12:10:34.906-07:00White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprhxl8pPo8uUcwElr9LIixfVHIRg2hP9-i15e5himPb78NFe-TVVDHKhrnGyCzWsZXudcP7GnMHhAQKO7lbNN4lDab3pEQmSq-s7Ij4pLRAzk1DvMDF1ydBv3sb4J02dDVHUa6lNjSPu_/s1600/Roasting+garlic.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprhxl8pPo8uUcwElr9LIixfVHIRg2hP9-i15e5himPb78NFe-TVVDHKhrnGyCzWsZXudcP7GnMHhAQKO7lbNN4lDab3pEQmSq-s7Ij4pLRAzk1DvMDF1ydBv3sb4J02dDVHUa6lNjSPu_/s640/Roasting+garlic.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is such an easy soup that truly is more than the sum of its parts. It has the sort of flavour I had only experienced before in Paris. Read for yourself how simple it is and then taste how richly caramel and deeply complex the flavours are. No one will guess how effortless your preparation was!<br />
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<b>White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup</b><br />
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2 tablespoons olive oil<br />
1 onion, chopped<br />
1 teaspoon salt<br />
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed<br />
1 litre of your best stock<br />
2 cans of cooked cannellini beans (about 800g in total)<br />
1 teaspoon dried sage<br />
2 large heads of garlic<br />
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1. Preheat the oven to 180<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">°C</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">2. Remove any excess papery skin from the garlic and place on a baking tray to roast for 30 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">3. Meanwhile sauté the onions in the olive oil for five minutes.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">4. Add the salt and fennel seeds and sauté for a further minute.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">5. Add the stock, beans, and sage and simmer for five minutes.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">6. When the garlic is cool enough to touch, gently squeeze out the soft white contents into your soup. Discard the skins.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">7. Blend as smoothly as you wish or leave it as it is. I prefer silky smooth.</span></span></span><br />
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<br />Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-75578048611171302702012-08-20T14:22:00.002-07:002012-09-27T06:40:56.183-07:00A Shape-Shifting Place<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnP2ocZIsYxBsA43UyMrLPSWLwif3Hqoe4dkKt5L8iJusN4kq1tq-bNhP-isyYfyxTmu555AxgWs_EbdD8d8Iy28JLpCFuHhvw6w0chiwI_357DFIuBOoMyIYfFfA1NetkdcBTkuW280b/s1600/Formby+woodland.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLnP2ocZIsYxBsA43UyMrLPSWLwif3Hqoe4dkKt5L8iJusN4kq1tq-bNhP-isyYfyxTmu555AxgWs_EbdD8d8Iy28JLpCFuHhvw6w0chiwI_357DFIuBOoMyIYfFfA1NetkdcBTkuW280b/s640/Formby+woodland.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A walk to a beach through pinewoods - the untroubled home of red squirrel,</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF26Sk50iHqBlwA7_59uqjRambxowP0VhQTnEooJWUPfHWwldCemeH8gAQhX0SU2DNk2lzsM0U-A_s8ffNv-xQqOlrwshY09RP6WsbTW6mOdIsJ5S16pAvWrisowBm6koRd97ALEenmMMy/s1600/Formby+woodland2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF26Sk50iHqBlwA7_59uqjRambxowP0VhQTnEooJWUPfHWwldCemeH8gAQhX0SU2DNk2lzsM0U-A_s8ffNv-xQqOlrwshY09RP6WsbTW6mOdIsJ5S16pAvWrisowBm6koRd97ALEenmMMy/s640/Formby+woodland2.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZOj_3xZb9M4hGEIK81Hp9nkelpNuPd0Jbku2bpUmNddueY9xe-iR4PH9bRSZIqGhZRNV950ci-s5YOrrooIuwvwb_YDOo0aNhRbdDSUEPyHpr3bmzuotBSDmBiY1p56xyHbXPhKI_yey/s1600/On+Crosby+Beach.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZOj_3xZb9M4hGEIK81Hp9nkelpNuPd0Jbku2bpUmNddueY9xe-iR4PH9bRSZIqGhZRNV950ci-s5YOrrooIuwvwb_YDOo0aNhRbdDSUEPyHpr3bmzuotBSDmBiY1p56xyHbXPhKI_yey/s640/On+Crosby+Beach.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Across the inconstant sand-dunes - like trying to walk during an anxious dream,</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jumping the waves and then taking off into the sea-coloured skies.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The huge fish skeleton washed ashore is not quite as she seems.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpIvydy00GD-9eqR8gc963WQ1ILU0ufZWzCqQDaSsat3ijCNVexEE3NlX476SioHS-zow9VErviXuKiZLHUlUV-hvBSRrjH5DGM6VTeSfK2ZAtC5bDxo8VoqtmsqimOfv1Y5YLCSVyVJv/s1600/DSC02302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpIvydy00GD-9eqR8gc963WQ1ILU0ufZWzCqQDaSsat3ijCNVexEE3NlX476SioHS-zow9VErviXuKiZLHUlUV-hvBSRrjH5DGM6VTeSfK2ZAtC5bDxo8VoqtmsqimOfv1Y5YLCSVyVJv/s640/DSC02302.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So long since I last saw you,</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCp2i3wnFDXSoUfAh6fMBRBodqsetKXg48hEIxT4JtDvCRbhrzpUD40QLkZV63_O5QYeegLpII5YV5hNTYHpOFAeJeEyaVeZ5RWTl4Fz9wpniVGD0CACmvRFmDZ3yTntWKBg2EcPW_r4m4/s1600/DSC02306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCp2i3wnFDXSoUfAh6fMBRBodqsetKXg48hEIxT4JtDvCRbhrzpUD40QLkZV63_O5QYeegLpII5YV5hNTYHpOFAeJeEyaVeZ5RWTl4Fz9wpniVGD0CACmvRFmDZ3yTntWKBg2EcPW_r4m4/s640/DSC02306.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I glimpse your shimmering peaks and troughs from under an umbrella.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back through the dampened forest,</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One last look.</td></tr>
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It is wonderful to read a book so vivid and beautiful that you feel you have actually left the armchair and then reappeared only once the final sentence is read. Then you look around yourself and wonder what is next. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strands-A-Year-Discoveries-Beach/dp/0224087452">'Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach' by the poet Jean Sprackland</a> was just such a book for me. After four years too far from the emptiness of a coastline, hemmed in by London suburb after suburb, this book took me far away and walked with me hand-in-hand along the Sefton Coast. I was a beachcomber again, finding curious alien creatures washed ashore; ship-wrecks hundreds of years old that rise up from their sandy graves only to disappear for another hundred years and five thousand year old footprints of humans and their ancient forest-dwelling prey - glimpsed for the very first time and then covered again for eternity by the shifting black pre-historic muds.<br />
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Today a train, not a book, took us to the very same coastline and I walked through the pages with sandy feet.Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-63229686848899583432012-08-16T06:58:00.000-07:002012-09-27T06:33:14.148-07:00Wildflowers<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cpKUyeLtAZ4WtWyp-z7czHCi00T2UEf6_YiG6NJVxY7X36w3TAG4p0GgpqpZ81tkXEHsGueIbQ2PPrj-AZ13eBuECq1g_KpXw9P6pD9FW9ZDG8ny77QSKWBKTeKT9z-eDf5BsNS-f0bo/s1600/wildflower+pond.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cpKUyeLtAZ4WtWyp-z7czHCi00T2UEf6_YiG6NJVxY7X36w3TAG4p0GgpqpZ81tkXEHsGueIbQ2PPrj-AZ13eBuECq1g_KpXw9P6pD9FW9ZDG8ny77QSKWBKTeKT9z-eDf5BsNS-f0bo/s640/wildflower+pond.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrW8pkoE3V9xLIkUB5Cr9mwx-th7k5jFFwkWQ7qlqf1B5vn17yfMx3TTc0mgGDjVkEsE4MoWqh2ifDfWRRXuKvsmdgpibuVtHCPNf8mHdOFBfj4BlBhDyI2SjaeVvb8lPoBPCcR4Fkb4M3/s1600/Garden.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrW8pkoE3V9xLIkUB5Cr9mwx-th7k5jFFwkWQ7qlqf1B5vn17yfMx3TTc0mgGDjVkEsE4MoWqh2ifDfWRRXuKvsmdgpibuVtHCPNf8mHdOFBfj4BlBhDyI2SjaeVvb8lPoBPCcR4Fkb4M3/s640/Garden.JPG" width="546" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our little sun-filled garden</td></tr>
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When we bought our house the garden was dwarfed by a tall, spindly sycamore tree. At the very top was a snug, young family with chicks. We couldn't begin our time here by evicting the previous occupants and so we waited for the young ones to fledge before removing the tree. Now we have a sun-filled garden and can see through our windows.<br />
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Although the tree had been gone for a couple of months, when we moved in, worryingly, there were almost no weeds growing. I mean, if a dandelion wont grow then what hope do we have. On closer inspection we saw the tidy soil was covered in a thick layer of sawdust from the woodcutting, and under that, years of unwanted stuff - including shoes, jewellery, and many, many broken silver-glass Christmas baubles. Once we had cleared this layer we attempted to dig planting holes only to find that just beneath the soil is a complex labyrinth of tree roots. With stubborn determination we found some soil and squeezed in a rose, veronica, clematis, rosemary, chives, parsley, foxgloves and ten tiny little lavender plants (each a different species). </div>
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Last weekend we visited <a href="http://www.liverpoolfestivalgardens.com/">these tranquil gardens</a> and almost completely changed what we want the garden to look like. The gardens are set against the backdrop of the River Mersey which changes colour and mood as quickly as a turning kaleidoscope. It was a very still warm day and the pools had become such a haven for dragonflies and damselflies. At one point we saw at least twenty darting across the Japanese pond. I took many many photos, trying to capture one couple of the larger dragonflies. One was red and the other blue. From our point of view they looked exactly like miniature helicopters, although with some advanced manoeuvres we are not yet capable of! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN0nIF4o_OKjSrgnVuyfs-kCkVNuq5RQLi9u4SDp-_SMFxA5-WDsndBW130JehTxxlK93jW_WiRz7YL6_DWV0k9Cwerny6EbBKPFBaRID0y54FR6c7vMa4-RLolc_FaO-OMvZ1BmFFpUu/s1600/butterfly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN0nIF4o_OKjSrgnVuyfs-kCkVNuq5RQLi9u4SDp-_SMFxA5-WDsndBW130JehTxxlK93jW_WiRz7YL6_DWV0k9Cwerny6EbBKPFBaRID0y54FR6c7vMa4-RLolc_FaO-OMvZ1BmFFpUu/s640/butterfly.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butterfly</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6buC1dC6zHvBdPjbFmjlUi829Mr8UBBi1pzOBv97fTgP76yPJJPCGLkEin84Cat6qYQjlv8g1MlUrQJB6WYZGsma2yWqvk1EfKxrdxHNhEfEX-NxESh16l8Dxkcsgvf8AZMB-wJJA8AC/s1600/cornflowers+and+the+Mersey.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6buC1dC6zHvBdPjbFmjlUi829Mr8UBBi1pzOBv97fTgP76yPJJPCGLkEin84Cat6qYQjlv8g1MlUrQJB6WYZGsma2yWqvk1EfKxrdxHNhEfEX-NxESh16l8Dxkcsgvf8AZMB-wJJA8AC/s640/cornflowers+and+the+Mersey.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornflowers and the River Mersey</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLwDRWBZ_HeDv0UeVVxojckUzmM6XK_4XWuNRB_dKJPzJiJnw5wkA2dvJo9cbgcvWU-yzvUntD-GLdmTpPIee7WAdlt5IuER6yOSckuqeUzVb91GBCp4MWdy88xryHf9jtMS7tc4_tdOZ/s1600/dragonfly+flying.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLwDRWBZ_HeDv0UeVVxojckUzmM6XK_4XWuNRB_dKJPzJiJnw5wkA2dvJo9cbgcvWU-yzvUntD-GLdmTpPIee7WAdlt5IuER6yOSckuqeUzVb91GBCp4MWdy88xryHf9jtMS7tc4_tdOZ/s640/dragonfly+flying.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A dragonfly in flight</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94QfKtwgGKTcUEzKwLNTO2Oz83WyS5RMlyIuyaj9x25scTgM30Fk5Utjft-SvUZ_priQnRpSyVDDRASGqY9muc165P_oeFkwoCXTB_kp_00-rmU0LapsT3-5H545mI8nYNAACDJ2yvAkk/s1600/dragonfly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94QfKtwgGKTcUEzKwLNTO2Oz83WyS5RMlyIuyaj9x25scTgM30Fk5Utjft-SvUZ_priQnRpSyVDDRASGqY9muc165P_oeFkwoCXTB_kp_00-rmU0LapsT3-5H545mI8nYNAACDJ2yvAkk/s640/dragonfly.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dragonfly</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teasels and a hoverfly</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #211922; font-family: 'helvetica neue', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14.850000381469727px; text-align: start;">Lythrum salicaria (Purple loosestrife)</span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgETEkwME2kHCtlCfjwqKtSqeHMdB8bGN_pQT7Sraqe5Fich0K6-WhstEVM0NGGXng4bQ7src7aHReENcO1ONON_nDOSks5cOW8S-j2njyjILJEe3MT-_-rDg4K70D0huzXwLNgh8d2UH/s1600/thistledown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgETEkwME2kHCtlCfjwqKtSqeHMdB8bGN_pQT7Sraqe5Fich0K6-WhstEVM0NGGXng4bQ7src7aHReENcO1ONON_nDOSks5cOW8S-j2njyjILJEe3MT-_-rDg4K70D0huzXwLNgh8d2UH/s640/thistledown.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thistledown</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppies and cornflowers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpal4u2KxG-c_6rLgmW6QV9qzwc6S3KJF_JAPnW-ZepKg9j_zK04yJwZp22aGhJiB0MQXBpDFEeh3aL5zKaGszkQR2_J-AyKgA4OtGKIts3Z4TMVjAivvQoxi_1mfS0LbPpLhcvkVDAGuN/s1600/wildflower+meadow2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpal4u2KxG-c_6rLgmW6QV9qzwc6S3KJF_JAPnW-ZepKg9j_zK04yJwZp22aGhJiB0MQXBpDFEeh3aL5zKaGszkQR2_J-AyKgA4OtGKIts3Z4TMVjAivvQoxi_1mfS0LbPpLhcvkVDAGuN/s640/wildflower+meadow2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: start;">Corn Chamomile, Corn flowers and bees!</span></td></tr>
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All the flowers and plants are native and as such are a haven for the local wildlife and in turn a haven for the local people. Such sympathetic planting is so refreshing and good for the soul! Come spring I know what <a href="http://www.wildflower.org.uk/signature-seed-mix.html">we will be sowing</a>.Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-41210987406960811802012-08-12T08:45:00.000-07:002012-08-12T08:45:15.115-07:00The Explorer's Daughter<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpE-BmRGdaxU-2S2qZo5aqnYMAJ5-nzPzGDNgSnEvyD40uK_t1cvZZpJROEasNaqG0J8r_D0bAQnGg68X2ryrNvoAilU2dJM3wVVONceUFHgT8S8pNtcDiL6bKYiu3wk6-zgzPs4IC1vs/s1600/the+explorer's+daughter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpE-BmRGdaxU-2S2qZo5aqnYMAJ5-nzPzGDNgSnEvyD40uK_t1cvZZpJROEasNaqG0J8r_D0bAQnGg68X2ryrNvoAilU2dJM3wVVONceUFHgT8S8pNtcDiL6bKYiu3wk6-zgzPs4IC1vs/s640/the+explorer's+daughter.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> 'my parents had spent our first few months in Greenland wondering why my hair never seemed to grow, until finally they discovered that the Eskimos had been cutting off and keeping my curls as protective amulets.'</span>
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A couple of years ago we were staying with friends who live just about as far North as you can go whilst remaining on the British Mainland. Beyond their small village is a long stretch of empty coast dotted with rocks and lighthouses and then seemingly endless sea and sky. Cosily cosseted from the noisy winds that commonly batter the little settlement, seated by the log fire that provides water and heating for the whole house, my friend pressed a dated-looking book into my hands. It was called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Snow-People-Marie-Herbert/dp/0399112146">'The Snow People'</a> and written by Marie Herbert, the wife of Arctic explorer Wally Herbert over thirty years ago.<br />
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Ostensibly it is an anthropological study, although not in an academic sense, of the Inughuit people of a small island, called coincidentally <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qeqertarsuaq_(Herbert_Island)">Herbert Island</a>, in North Greenland. But in reality it is a far more fascinating story of a mother suddenly finding herself and her ten-month-old baby daughter in a completely alien culture to her own and living in the harshest environment imaginable. Wally's adventures travelling across dangerous and unexplored stretches of Arctic Ice seem straightforward when you read the challenges Marie faces. Their family home for two years is a simple hut measuring in total 14 feet by 11 feet usually intended only for visiting hunters. Kari remembers:<br />
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'The walls were dark blue and stained with old blood and grime, the windows were cracked, there was no toilet and an all-pervading smell of seal and walrus and general squalor hung in the air. 'We had to paint it immediately,' Dad told me laughing, 'to seal in the smell.''<br />
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None of the Eskimos speak English and so in order to communicate with her new community Kari's mother must first learn Danish and then use the Danish books to learn Greenlandic. The community, of necessity, is close-knit both physically and emotionally. Visitors walk in without warning and the village children are a constant presence, curious and enjoying the interesting supplies of English chocolate. Marie must learn to take care of herself and her young baby without being a burden to the community using traditional methods of survival.<br />
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Their closest neighbours, Avatak and Maria have seven children and a well-worn path between the houses becomes testament to the familial warmth between the families. Kari calls their children her brothers and sisters and Avatak 'Ataata' - which is Greenlandic for 'Dad'. One of the saddest scenes in the book is when Marie, Wally and Kari must go home to England. Maria's outlook on life is so clearly broadened by her friendship with Marie; it is hard to witness the world suddenly become so small and claustrophobic for her again.<br />
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Thirty years later Kari revisited her Arctic family and wrote 'The Explorer's Daughter' about her experiences, and best of all it is a story as engaging as her mother's.<br />
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Kari speaks only Greenlandic on her return from her Arctic home to England at the age of two. Thirty years later she speaks pretty much only English. Alongside the joyful reunions of those who recognise little Kari as the charming little child they had adopted as their own, are many sad revelations as we see the consequences on the Inughuit people of the cultural invasion of the rest of the world. Alcoholism and global warming, which were already making an impact in the 1970s have had a devastating affect. Few families hadn't experienced a least one suicide amongst their younger generation and many of the local traditional hunting grounds are now unreachable due to melted ice. Shockingly we hear that Maria shot and killed her husband Avatak not long after the Herberts' return to England.<br />
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Kari returns to Herbert Island, which has now been abandoned by the population for the larger settlement of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaanaaq">Qaanaaq (Thule)</a>. Her hut is almost unrecognisable as her one-time home, save for the shelves lovingly put in by her father:<br />
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'the house was littered with belongings: furs, jackets, boots and provisions. In the main room a tin ashtray was filled with nicotine-yellow butts and rings of coffee stained the plastic tablecloths.'<br />
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The hut has returned to being a temporary shelter for visiting hunters. But her adoptive grandfather's hut is just as he left it:<br />
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'Aata's faded armchair sat in the corner with his imprint still on the worn cushions. Naduk squeezed past me a plumped herself down in it happily chewing on a thumbnail. I took a sharp intake of breath in surprise, and realized that she had never known her grandfather. Naduk smiled, oblivious to my thoughts.'<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg8gw3xXth0mGKP-uKkTB4O4B2KWha9pJhzAjwDCc1bqQcK65VuprgHMh-wV_KgLs8Wn-D9TohQ5Jp-uTYne7qgdA_VkbLwmmL03ynURXShNE73ROoJrQhpoJ0gs1asbPMg9fJkkHQ2sy/s1600/the+explorer's+daughter2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg8gw3xXth0mGKP-uKkTB4O4B2KWha9pJhzAjwDCc1bqQcK65VuprgHMh-wV_KgLs8Wn-D9TohQ5Jp-uTYne7qgdA_VkbLwmmL03ynURXShNE73ROoJrQhpoJ0gs1asbPMg9fJkkHQ2sy/s640/the+explorer's+daughter2.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most important part - the photographs!</td></tr>
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Kari's identity is so complex. She is neither English girl nor Inughuit, she never quite feels at home in Greenland and yet so many of the community consider her one of their long-lost children. She is able to see her community through the fresh eyes of an outsider yet know each member as personally as a family member might. The moment I closed the pages of 'The Snow People' and 'The Explorer's Daughter' I missed the people of Thule.Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-53853978225877292852012-08-08T05:40:00.003-07:002012-08-08T11:39:14.988-07:00The New HavenI am so looking forward to a time when we can just exist in our home. Since we have moved in we have been surrounded by men, plumbers, electricians, joiners, plasterers, and today three chimney sweeps (that has got to be lucky!). They are omnipresent, not one room has been sacred. Until today. We have a lock! A lock, to be more precise, on our shower room door.<br />
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And in our new haven is a shelf. And on that shelf there is a book. </div>
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And in<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collected-Poems-Sylvia-Plath/dp/0571118380"> the book</a> there are many smaller worlds to escape into.<br />
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Balloons</h1>
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Since Christmas they have lived with us,<br />Guileless and clear,<br />Oval soul-animals,<br />Taking up half the space,<br />Moving and rubbing on the silk<br /><br />Invisible air drifts,<br />Giving a shriek and pop<br />When attacked, then scooting to rest, barely trembling.<br />Yellow cathead, blue fish--------<br />Such queer moons we live with<br /><br />Instead of dead furniture!<br />Straw mats, white walls<br />And these traveling<br />Globes of thin air, red, green,<br />Delighting<br /><br />The heart like wishes or free<br />Peacocks blessing<br />Old ground with a feather<br />Beaten in starry metals.<br />Your small<br /><br />Brother is making<br />His balloon squeak like a cat.<br />Seeming to see<br />A funny pink world he might eat on the other side of it,<br />He bites,<br /><br />Then sits<br />Back, fat jug<br />Contemplating a world clear as water.<br />A red<br />Shred in his little fist.<br /><i>5 February 1963</i></div>
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Sylvia Plath</div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-68167482445808095222012-07-31T09:20:00.000-07:002012-07-31T09:20:24.393-07:00Clean<div>
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We are finally living in our new home. Although it isn't truly functioning like a home quite yet. Every time we need to shower we take a taxi to the other side of town to the home of a relative. The driver invariably asks, 'So what have you planned for tonight then?'. <div>
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My mother wonders why she can't phone us on the land-line yet. Here is the socket, in a sealed room, waiting for a paint-sprayer to be fixed. </div>
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Under the sheets are boxes that contain my clothes - those that weren't packed some months ago for what we thought was going to be an eight day camping trip; some food, which I imagine will now be inedible; our calendar with all birthdays noted; a large modular bookcase and many small boxes of paperbacks. Every so often something is missed and we hopelessly note that it must be somewhere within the labyrinth.</div>
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Slowly our shower room is taking shape. We spent so much time visualising how we wanted it to be. We shared so many pictures of bathrooms we loved down to the tiniest details such as the way the curtains had been hung; it seems like an old friend even before it has been completed. The room originally was a kitchen and in a truly horrifying state.</div>
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Be glad you cannot smell this picture! One of the labourers who came in to help clear away the old kitchen units had to be excused, the room made him feel so ill. It isn't just the dirt, it is the sadness of the room that it needs to purified of. With clean walls, ceiling and floor, the two large windows will let the sunshine do the rest we hope.</div>
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<br /></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-50856300709173001682012-07-23T07:43:00.000-07:002012-08-12T08:52:40.569-07:00Utopia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;">I have been reading about inclusive Utopias, ones that are open to all and provide a welcome to those damaged by or lost in modern society, in 'Utopian Dreams' by Tobias Jones; an account of his journey to discover another, better way, of living. Simultaneously, we found ourselves beaten by the wind and rain in the </span><span style="background-color: white;">unprecedented storm clouds that have hit the UK of late and camping was no longer a solution. So we choose to spend some time in Centre Parcs in Cumbria.</span><br />
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This Utopia costs money and perhaps even causes more social ills than it solves, but it was a solution to our personal immediate needs. But I found a lot to admire here and learned a little about how our lives could look if only things were organised a little differently.<br />
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When we arrived at Whinfell we thought we would certainly want to escape the village and had planned trips to Penrith and the beautiful surrounding countryside; however in reality we drove up to the wooden house, unpacked our bags, parked the hire car back at the edge of the park and didn't see it again for five days.<br />
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We marvelled, of course, at the clean and organised kitchen and the en-suite bathrooms after having only a share of showers and an outdoor sink for the past weeks. We then visited the huge glass dome with a swimming pool, flumes, slides and river rapids set within a tropical garden. The place was buzzing with people: children, couples and groups of all ages and many with disabilities. There was so much to do and see. In this paradise alone our son spent nearly five hours a day. He was determined to make the most of every moment.<br />
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After all the noise and chaos of the 'village' we retreated to the truly impressive stillness of our temporary home. Centre Parcs has been established long enough for the woodland to dominate again. There are hares bounding past and red squirrels knocking pine cones from the great height of the cosseting green canopy above. Families of ducks play in the most unpromising little puddles. We were situated in a closely built cul-de-sac but it was actually tricky to make out any neighbours from the windows. Cars must be parked away from the houses except on moving day and even the bikes cycle only on the main thoroughfares.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"> In the silence and stillness of the house, with the aid of a giant blackboard we planned all our activities.</span><br />
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There was so much to try. We choose zip-lining (plummeting down a line between trees), ceramic painting, badminton, windsurfing, perhaps the most wonderful was the horse-riding. The stables are set overlooking the surrounding fells.<br />
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As with the most sci-fi of Utopias however, even the tress were not quite as they seemed!<br />
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My souvenirs will be fresh ideas: the possibility that a community can hold many people and offer much to occupy them in a small area, yet offer them stillness and a retreat from noise. My other will be <span style="background-color: white;">this - a huge canvas printed with a large photograph of a tranquil forest. Huge enough to lose oneself in.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAyU4VW8dv_aBbhIZHXKJXns-XdnwnNjIooFljRjLgUNAbiwgYjkgfl9Md3tSKGJeBdp_LIrKZffma0jFnVa5mDi5-DBUcrt2kCPi5LgLejaEBhQDfildwyP6Kg7rPrvGwLE52c0L_rOQ/s1600/DSC01885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAyU4VW8dv_aBbhIZHXKJXns-XdnwnNjIooFljRjLgUNAbiwgYjkgfl9Md3tSKGJeBdp_LIrKZffma0jFnVa5mDi5-DBUcrt2kCPi5LgLejaEBhQDfildwyP6Kg7rPrvGwLE52c0L_rOQ/s640/DSC01885.JPG" width="640" /></a>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-88650181376598355892012-07-17T08:12:00.000-07:002012-07-17T08:12:23.321-07:00Moving DaySo, our new home isn't quite ready (well, at all) but our landlord decided he needed his house back, so we have packed our bags and moved to the countryside.<br />
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Many places can be called home. If they are warm and dry and are near cooking washing facilities, life can go on.<br />
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Unfortunately for us, there is a huge gloomy black cloud over the UK right now. It is midsummer but the nights are cold, windy and very wet. Home is now our beautiful twenty-year-old bell tent.<br />
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Even in a gale our tent barely flaps. The torrential rain sounds like a Samba band at night but we are dry. One night a rodent chewed its way right through the zip of our suitcase. We wonder what the attraction could be, there is no food in there. Luckily they must have been disappointed because they didn't return.<br />
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Our beloved tent is a simple haven giving us the freedom to be wherever we need or wish to be.Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-7574705918381061052012-06-13T08:42:00.004-07:002012-06-13T09:56:42.991-07:00Oxford<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;"></span><span style="text-align: left;">Part of the reason I started writing this blog is that I love to read them. One of my very favourites is by an artist / post-grad student in </span><span style="text-align: left;">archaeology</span><span style="text-align: left;"> / knitter / author. For a year she was an exchange student in Oxford, and</span><a href="http://francescollier.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/i-miss-you.html" style="text-align: left;"> her list of memories</a><span style="text-align: left;"> inspired us to see some of the places mentioned. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span> We arrived early for an appointment and so we sheltered from the rain in <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Green's Cafe, 'with its uneven old floors, sagging couches, and selection of thirty-year-old books'. It was just as I had imagined it. There were doorways in unexplained places; posters for obscure lectures that only four or five people would understand the title of and good large cups of strong tea. As we were sitting there, a light-fitting came half off the ceiling over our heads. Nobody minded us waiting quietly nursing our cold hands round our cups until we needed to brave the damp streets again.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"> After the appointment we searched out the second most memorable destination on Madeline's list, '</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">The Natural History Museum and the fact that you could touch anything'.</span><br />
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Oh the riches of serendipity! This isn't a museum filled with gold, or Impressionist investment pieces. It is a collection of collections: souvenirs, curiosities, stories from the past about how people lived and still do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUbcws5BJtpibADGDZp52iLSHrZY5On8vqB-oqAyJiP2HYKsofNQ-Iabjyfgpyq10Y_i7Y73k4ivQpLJxdxLsEisKK5hmfT2bIsgmVlDvs3toCCNp9DhzgFpAdWGupoklde0fmhBMFIAp/s1600/Blog+cards.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigUbcws5BJtpibADGDZp52iLSHrZY5On8vqB-oqAyJiP2HYKsofNQ-Iabjyfgpyq10Y_i7Y73k4ivQpLJxdxLsEisKK5hmfT2bIsgmVlDvs3toCCNp9DhzgFpAdWGupoklde0fmhBMFIAp/s640/Blog+cards.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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<h4>
<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">{Japanese Noh Masks}</span></h4>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> If you lived in Oxford your entire life you could still find new things to study here. Rather like reading Proust, you can't help feeling you can't look closely or slowly enough.</span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> Thank you Madeline for our great day out!</span><br />
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</div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-35732350108814864432012-05-14T14:28:00.003-07:002012-05-14T14:28:37.562-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Not too long now. This is one of the rooms we are most excited about, our kitchen. It is on the first floor rather than the ground floor, so that we can make the most of the light. <a href="http://dreamingahome.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/so-work-has-begun-on-top-two-floors.html#comment-form">We initially thought the wall between the bay window and the window to the right was masonry</a> but when the false ceilings were removed a huge gap appeared and it turned out to be a simply put up plaster wall and easy to remove. Now there is so much space and light. We hope to put our low-level kitchen units across the wall to the right with a simple shelf above.<br />
The floor-boards are a bit worse for wear but, rather excitingly, a local department store has recently been partly demolished and they have been looking for a new home for their beech wood flooring. It is in lovely long planks and tongue and groove, so no little cracks in which to lose knitting needles. It'll be odd to have a floor in our home that I walked across fifteen years ago to buy an umbrella!<br />
<br />Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-83861754482725542792012-04-18T10:24:00.000-07:002012-04-18T10:26:13.207-07:00<br />
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I always wonder why people see the need for a large garden. I do love to grow a few herbs or even some flowers and it is lovely to sit outside and have a cup of tea in the sunshine. But when I feel the need for some 'green' I want to walk far, preferably with a destination. Parks, tow-paths, streets, beaches, riversides and public gardens bring us back to nature far more readily than our own privately-owned spaces.<br />
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We are so lucky here to live near Kew Gardens. It does, I admit, cost us some money to buy an annual pass but it is so little compared to just one visit to the dreaded Garden Centre. And, of course, I could never dream of owning such a garden as Kew. But truly, what's the difference? In fact the pleasure is even sweeter knowing that everyone can share.<br />
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<br /></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-56595235329849746152012-04-15T12:21:00.002-07:002012-04-15T12:21:48.674-07:00We are now half-way through packing boxes in our rented house and our new home is a gutted and empty shell. And we need to get through the exam season before we can finally move to our new home. It is time for some healthy but homely cooking to relax and sustain us, I haven't yet packed the baking sheets. I tried these <a href="http://blueberrygirlinoz.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/no-sugar-oat-drops.html">healthy home-baked cookies</a> for the first time. No sugar, no raising agents yet really yummy, a small miracle I'm sure you agree!<br />
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1 1/2 cups of porridge oats<br />
1 cup of desiccated coconut<br />
1/2 teaspoon of salt<br />
1 teaspoon of mixed spice<br />
3/4 of a cup of ground almonds<br />
1 cup of raisins<br />
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3 ripe mashed bananas<br />
4 tablespoons of healthy oil<br />
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract<br />
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1. Preheat oven to 175<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">°C</span><br />
2. Line baking sheet with baking parchment.<br />
3. Combine the dry ingredients then mix in the wet ingredients thoroughly.<br />
4. Press the mixture into biscuit cutters. I used a large love heart.<br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">5. Bake for 20 minutes until the edges are golden. Leave to cool on the tray and then transfer onto a plate.</span></div>
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Now hoping for the larger miracle of a home with electricity and plumbing in time.</div>
<br />Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-59840945354850855122012-04-06T10:36:00.001-07:002012-04-06T10:49:51.021-07:00Good Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1jZv9rYACeXyvHrPrORf239gdk237QEmB-QneUGxyOgWYM1jH4NBWiCsSqpY6kg9gs2GrmnIBV_KjlTfFJovHWXjtUMcDpVx7TQRAA_HtqXjfKWH8Ccn6lwfKkABPvcfov6mgDiJCvbN/s1600/Spring+bathing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1jZv9rYACeXyvHrPrORf239gdk237QEmB-QneUGxyOgWYM1jH4NBWiCsSqpY6kg9gs2GrmnIBV_KjlTfFJovHWXjtUMcDpVx7TQRAA_HtqXjfKWH8Ccn6lwfKkABPvcfov6mgDiJCvbN/s640/Spring+bathing.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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We have set a date for our move for June from this rented house to our new home and things are starting to become a lot more urgent and real. I have already started packing boxes of books, twenty so far; more wool than one girl needs and more chemistry sets than any family should safely own. We are retreating from the chaos to the stillness of the garden and filling the gaps left by our belongings with tissue paper flowers.</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Hot Cross Buns</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">600g of strong white flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">2 teaspoons of mixed spice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">400ml of hand-temperature warm milk</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">10g of yeast (the dried sort you add to water)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">2 tablespoon brown sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">a knob of butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">a handful of sultanas</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">1 lemon's zest</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">brown sugar (for glaze)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">1. Whisk the milk, yeast and sugar together in a bowl and leave until it begins to bubble.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">2. Rub the butter into the flour and spices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">3. Gradually stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until you have a sticky dough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">4. Knead the dough for about ten minutes or until soft and elastic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">5. Knead in the sultanas and lemon zest.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">6. Leave to rise until doubled (about an hour).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">7. Form into small buns and leave again until doubled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">8. Meanwhile preheat your oven to <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;">200°c.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">9. Cut crosses deeply into the buns, being careful not to drag the knife and cause the buns to deflate too much.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">10. Bake straight away.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">11. Whilst your buns are baking, mix four tablespoons of brown sugar with a little water, just enough to make a thick sugary paint.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">12. When your buns are nicely browned take them out the oven and brush them with the sugary paint.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">13. Put the buns back in the oven for just less than a minute.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">14. Take out and brush with the sugar again. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">15. Leave to cool or serve straight away with butter and jam.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; line-height: 16px;">You can also leave the buns to cool and ice the tops with icing sugar (confectioner's/ powder sugar) mixed with lemon juice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Even the fuchsias are made of tissue paper; we fooled a couple of bees and a brother.</span></div>
<br />Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-20068555472504066922012-04-04T22:35:00.002-07:002012-04-04T14:58:21.865-07:00<span style="font-size: 100%;">So work has begun on the top two floors. This is the destructive stage where all the false walls and stud walls (those added later and only made of wood and plasterboard) get smashed up and removed. Our first layout plans included, on the top and first floors removing the walls between these long thin rooms at the front</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcj9WkhWjc3zeukr_jmwAT912l2KxaEF34w3vfVj3iJi6axepZaTK1VlDjNGhmHXztmgDvqsLoZeMyyyynC8RJKO3XAzWVLA6Rhy5I3eYK7d1REh_O4ZyCpOt_gsACJvU-TSzHhw6ipDH/s1600/F3+DSC00883.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727556979746037282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHcj9WkhWjc3zeukr_jmwAT912l2KxaEF34w3vfVj3iJi6axepZaTK1VlDjNGhmHXztmgDvqsLoZeMyyyynC8RJKO3XAzWVLA6Rhy5I3eYK7d1REh_O4ZyCpOt_gsACJvU-TSzHhw6ipDH/s400/F3+DSC00883.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 266px;" /></a><br />
and uniting them with their neighbours<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjxSUGCMdLGX-cTn6WXNpymPk3sQMMa_cWphGEAoG1sK8ol5fZbB3w-n2XsJgI-pIQW97Xu7apYEuugki4QvWGgXdpwZoQ3crWCiWlPFiNTUG3ydcZNJKBFEqrTDIjFthL2o_y-xQAyz1/s1600/F3+DSC00894.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727556340600355938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjxSUGCMdLGX-cTn6WXNpymPk3sQMMa_cWphGEAoG1sK8ol5fZbB3w-n2XsJgI-pIQW97Xu7apYEuugki4QvWGgXdpwZoQ3crWCiWlPFiNTUG3ydcZNJKBFEqrTDIjFthL2o_y-xQAyz1/s400/F3+DSC00894.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 266px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
to create lovely big rooms with four windows across. One nice big bedroom on the very top floor and one even bigger room on the first floor - completely open plan for the whole floor. But the architect took a look at this wall </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nth0cOmFd1QsUNHvRKyaaMI37bPoB_U4Japirrd0ABm-I869_RMmK0x6Xnx-x7ZsLPbi05ZqeU6EwB0WsARSM0VKTpqNNZfMIuEQdPrPNd6oki7sZV7SleJp0mo2U4ZYiyhQEMuLijcM/s1600/F5+DSC00916.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727555819008728258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nth0cOmFd1QsUNHvRKyaaMI37bPoB_U4Japirrd0ABm-I869_RMmK0x6Xnx-x7ZsLPbi05ZqeU6EwB0WsARSM0VKTpqNNZfMIuEQdPrPNd6oki7sZV7SleJp0mo2U4ZYiyhQEMuLijcM/s400/F5+DSC00916.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 266px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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and decided it was a load-bearing and masonry. We were quite surprised since it had sounded hollow and anyway why put such a huge window at the end of such a long and narrow room. What could this room have been used for? It was a mystery. Ah well, so we planned how lovely our oddly thin kitchen would look anyway.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Image from </span><a href="http://www.normcph.com/" style="text-align: left;">Norm architects</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">Image from </span></span><a href="http://remodelista.com/posts/inspired-by-nature-the-interiors-of-baixa-house-in-lisbon">Baixa House, Lisbon</a></div>
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We are easy-going folks. It will be great. Lovely, yes.</div>
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Today our friend who we have seen do this sort of thing again and again, who has years of hands-on experience and a lot of common sense, a man who we of course asked to manage the whole project for us, removes the false ceiling. He looks above the line of the false ceiling and sees there is nothing at all. He looks at our plans and looks at the huge empty space that he is going to have to 'make good' and gives us a call. </div>
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'Are you sure you really want this wall?' </div>
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Why did we think it would be masonry?</div>
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</div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-55924531178879324012012-03-25T13:20:00.007-07:002012-03-25T13:48:03.108-07:00A Walk Around London's South Bank<div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">We have the go-ahead by the council for most of the work on our house. Work can begin as soon as next week. It is very exciting but we are </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; ">determined to keep things as simple as possible. If a complication comes up we will side step it. The room we had planned as a bathroom has a too narrow doorway for a bath to fit through. It is now going to be a charming shower room. Well, with only one bathroom between the four of us it will make more sense anyway. We don't want anyone lingering (reading) in there. Lingering will have to take place in dry areas only from now on. We took a walk around London. See how building work can get out of hand?</span> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFqW3HpHmaSTQUy50NdKz3ig1WretppzQfYKo8rIaNFGsnw0bWtKjsKQryG2hyphenhyphen48l7IBvYaAxFh-VROVYKo34RIEOO4OIVcnx56KaiuaEMYUZLsuzrj_gJDcYtqmiOVBP9SpLWZXKAhnd/s1600/DSC01011.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFqW3HpHmaSTQUy50NdKz3ig1WretppzQfYKo8rIaNFGsnw0bWtKjsKQryG2hyphenhyphen48l7IBvYaAxFh-VROVYKo34RIEOO4OIVcnx56KaiuaEMYUZLsuzrj_gJDcYtqmiOVBP9SpLWZXKAhnd/s400/DSC01011.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723933328662902866" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">1. </span><a href="http://the-shard.com/shard/explore-the-shard/vertical-city/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">The Shard</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "> - which became the tallest building in the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; ">European</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "> Union at the end of last year (Southwark Cathedral is that dwarfed church below it)</span> <span><br /></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNtHvSAikjRB1OSLT8Vtnk-jDGAJD5RsjSlEvP8dUlp9_zqOhNr-e5d0my0hG9K2hj4S2aOaKSOZDd9i_62UtW6VHQqqP5rC_kLMA0orDXJXisxZwMmTZkSAykxrK26cSIXFvKKL_4NBC/s1600/DSC01026.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNtHvSAikjRB1OSLT8Vtnk-jDGAJD5RsjSlEvP8dUlp9_zqOhNr-e5d0my0hG9K2hj4S2aOaKSOZDd9i_62UtW6VHQqqP5rC_kLMA0orDXJXisxZwMmTZkSAykxrK26cSIXFvKKL_4NBC/s400/DSC01026.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723933126889950162" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">2. Tower Bridge - Click on the little </span><a href="http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Tower-Bridge-10214" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">movie clip icon here</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "> to see how crazy it is to even build a Lego verison.</span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBBW2S3YUc_zme3GwDprqbVg5PcbU8ozSvRlS1Pl5PJ-fsJppQOvJyW8y4kJCPk2lkElea-QVGVEIqGyO1vYMR-RC4aoIu_J5w55alw5nu2VlMVD2ofQ-RrlRxRry1NjN_zaDGiVe86Zb/s1600/DSC01003.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBBW2S3YUc_zme3GwDprqbVg5PcbU8ozSvRlS1Pl5PJ-fsJppQOvJyW8y4kJCPk2lkElea-QVGVEIqGyO1vYMR-RC4aoIu_J5w55alw5nu2VlMVD2ofQ-RrlRxRry1NjN_zaDGiVe86Zb/s400/DSC01003.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723932899087294546" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">3. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Mex_House" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">Shell Mex House</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; "> - If you look very closely at ten to and ten 'o'clock you can see wee orange men balancing on the clock hands.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4_-Eqckle05bXc3CEms3gbhlt1B6VyuomYXmniHxAL0QySyND_ggdn24yzpRrJVVPCjdm4DJY5PbWKo1YtCXeBE6zPzTOmmSJSJKtPHwpKpza3xuzEQfdGkvS8LWQ_X8hIwZwGXe_Kjl/s1600/DSC01001.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4_-Eqckle05bXc3CEms3gbhlt1B6VyuomYXmniHxAL0QySyND_ggdn24yzpRrJVVPCjdm4DJY5PbWKo1YtCXeBE6zPzTOmmSJSJKtPHwpKpza3xuzEQfdGkvS8LWQ_X8hIwZwGXe_Kjl/s400/DSC01001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723932686191641970" /></a><br /><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div><span> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">4. The craziest of all perhaps. We saw this helicopter straining unnervingly close to the roof of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Waterloo_station" style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; ">Waterloo</a><span style="font-size: 100%; font-family: Georgia, serif; "> Station attempting to lift a weight, thereby, we presume, saving themselves the bother of a crane.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-22257678811620594502012-03-20T06:34:00.010-07:002012-03-20T09:02:30.863-07:00Carrot and Coriander Sunshine BreadAs soon as I bake a loaf of bread in a new place I instantly feel at home. I can't imagine that there is any type of bread that hasn't been tried already in some corner of the World, but the other morning I had the original-to-me idea of adding some grated carrot to my loaf and well, why not, coriander seeds. I often add them to my rye bread anyway. The result was this gloriously fragrant golden loaf.<div><br /></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span><u><br /></u></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0FT1zzdJkSKxubzzqq9L6XQuMetUjINu-k7HSYUN1Ta8lFEVjH9AqIEOyXB0ZZCrd9j_98w5YMm9xo03qEDAc73kqylCOxi5X-W2NRZT72SqbP_aVUj1rsXlRltweJnd1vV_s7rk-Bvc/s1600/DSC01061.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0FT1zzdJkSKxubzzqq9L6XQuMetUjINu-k7HSYUN1Ta8lFEVjH9AqIEOyXB0ZZCrd9j_98w5YMm9xo03qEDAc73kqylCOxi5X-W2NRZT72SqbP_aVUj1rsXlRltweJnd1vV_s7rk-Bvc/s400/DSC01061.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721972472458651874" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Carrot and Coriander Bread Recipe</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">2 carrots</div><div style="text-align: left;">175g strong wholemeal flour</div><div style="text-align: left;">400g strong white flour</div><div style="text-align: left;">2 teaspoons fine sea salt</div><div style="text-align: left;">2 tablespoons coriander seeds</div><div style="text-align: left;">400ml warm water</div><div style="text-align: left;">15g honey</div><div style="text-align: left;">10g yeast (dried or fresh but the kind you add to warm water)</div><div style="text-align: left;">3 tablespoons olive oil</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1. Grate your carrot into a food processor.</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. Change your blade to a dough blade and add your flour, salt and coriander seeds to the grated carrots.</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. Whisk your yeast and honey into your warm water. Leave into it begins to bubble.</div><div style="text-align: left;">4. Now switch on your processor and slowly add the olive oil.</div><div style="text-align: left;">5. Follow by slowly adding your yeast mixture until a ball forms. You may need to add more flour at this point until your dough starts to come together in a ball.</div><div style="text-align: left;">6. Run the processor for five minutes or so. </div><div style="text-align: left;">7. To lift the dough out, wet your hands. This will stop it sticking.</div><div style="text-align: left;">8. Leave to rise in a covered mixing bowl for at least an hour.</div><div style="text-align: left;">9. Form into two loaves. Leave for another hour or until doubled in size.</div><div style="text-align: left;">10. Bake for 20 minutes at 220<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">°C</span> , then another 20 minutes at 180<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">°C</span>. Check it is done by tapping it on the base. If it sounds hollow then it is done.</div><div style="text-align: left;">11. Leave to cool at least 15 minutes until slicing (if you like a softer crust then wrap it in a tea towel at this stage).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I hope this brings an early Spring into your home!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-22950538302392132912012-03-08T02:24:00.005-08:002012-03-08T03:37:27.659-08:00<a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_03.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 588px; height: 392px;" src="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_03.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6tmMRCZaO8DRKCoUvAGSoI_mXImYERgPnu2pGRbWJnZBwYUmFWv7zyx1BoXtqLS-zqIH0Va5Qg9tkPq4kdw2V5x_n5ISIcTEKW8NimzTkLGc7IVks97Q7Bx9wS6kR0Oh3YuObrTco8k/s1600/Picture+7.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 420px; height: 594px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6tmMRCZaO8DRKCoUvAGSoI_mXImYERgPnu2pGRbWJnZBwYUmFWv7zyx1BoXtqLS-zqIH0Va5Qg9tkPq4kdw2V5x_n5ISIcTEKW8NimzTkLGc7IVks97Q7Bx9wS6kR0Oh3YuObrTco8k/s1600/Picture+7.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_13.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 588px; height: 392px;" src="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_13.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBYs_V6p0QxWe1uCxlWWLNwe3oDnuKRWbWX7lPVMbeQlhtLnICFcdsskbYJc4QgOPdrvlzkcymI6zo6tCdEX9IGzNhCNlUn6NhiepeZnYy_XlUUY04akHsX9KgguUfqeFjbR0oCM1Q5w/s1600/Picture+1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 483px; height: 594px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBYs_V6p0QxWe1uCxlWWLNwe3oDnuKRWbWX7lPVMbeQlhtLnICFcdsskbYJc4QgOPdrvlzkcymI6zo6tCdEX9IGzNhCNlUn6NhiepeZnYy_XlUUY04akHsX9KgguUfqeFjbR0oCM1Q5w/s1600/Picture+1.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_24.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 261px; height: 392px;" src="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_24.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_12.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 588px; height: 392px;" src="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/images-locations/Hou_12.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1NGAK_k5ClHPt93-bhx-a4LQlfS4a-PWMazgGY4xJUTsMmcu8a9dE94fVbVvHnqFxIY6TJfKeBwu-A5Hy6wkrmVZN7Y6nXo1S1E1EYDnFJo4taBShx-dW8sGF6Pfhud2fBq8Pcrx4qs/s1600/Picture+3.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 417px; height: 534px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC1NGAK_k5ClHPt93-bhx-a4LQlfS4a-PWMazgGY4xJUTsMmcu8a9dE94fVbVvHnqFxIY6TJfKeBwu-A5Hy6wkrmVZN7Y6nXo1S1E1EYDnFJo4taBShx-dW8sGF6Pfhud2fBq8Pcrx4qs/s1600/Picture+3.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">1. Shoot Factory <a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/tv-video-photo-film-location.html">'House Next Door'</a></span></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Located <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?rlz=1C1CHFX_en-GBGB435GB436&ix=acb&q=10+Manor+Road,+London+N16+5SA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x48761c6613637b65:0x75f4076b9bd717ac,10+Manor+Rd,+London+N16+5SA&gl=uk&ei=e5RYT8m5Dobf8AOTtJWJDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCIQ8gEwAA">here</a></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>2. <a href="http://www.toast.co.uk/">Toast</a> Christmas 2010</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>3. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">Shoot Factory </span><a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/tv-video-photo-film-location.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">'House Next Door'</a></div><div><br /></div><div>4. <a href="http://www.toast.co.uk/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; ">Toast</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "> Christmas 2010</span></div><div><br /></div><div>5. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">Shoot Factory </span><a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/tv-video-photo-film-location.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">'House Next Door'</a></div><div><br /></div><div>6. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">Shoot Factory </span><a href="http://www.shootfactory.co.uk/london-houses/686/tv-video-photo-film-location.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; ">'House Next Door'</a></div><div><br /></div><div>7. <a href="http://www.toast.co.uk/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; ">Toast</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; "> Christmas 2010</span></div><div><br /></div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">Lately I have been thinking about the fantasy of homes and the reality, and how a little bit of imagination can bridge the gap. </span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> For some years I have loved the homes presented by <a href="http://www.toast.co.uk/">Toast</a>. These are peaceful places, often undecorated. I have imagined them as much-loved town houses untouched by the years or elegant and homely country houses, miles from neighbours and protected from the world by their remoteness. I imagined that these town houses were nestled in the centres of picturesque European cities, with impossibly high house prices. But in fact these islands of homely beauty are sometimes<a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?rlz=1C1CHFX_en-GBGB435GB436&ix=acb&q=10+Manor+Road,+London+N16+5SA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x48761c6613637b65:0x75f4076b9bd717ac,10+Manor+Rd,+London+N16+5SA&gl=uk&ei=e5RYT8m5Dobf8AOTtJWJDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCIQ8gEwAA"> in places we wouldn't expec</a>t. Places that are partly empty and people have turned their backs on. Places where we might not even expect to find a home.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> With the imagination of just a few, the pattern of property ownership can lead from </span>dilapidation to bohemianism and then gentrification. <span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> An area becomes empty of people until those with little or no money - aspiring artists, musicians, writers and those who are not afraid to think a little differently - move in. When the herd sees the area full of life once again, they want to buy into this dream for themselves. Of course the prices get higher and higher until the only people who can afford to live there are those focussed on money and the place loses its soul and </span>affordability <span style="font-size: 100%;">simultaneously. In fact sometimes the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchmont">newer affluent residents</a> turn against those who pulled the area out of the doldrums in the first place.</span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> We shouldn't feel afraid to take chances on places. There are many areas of the UK that are virtually empty for no good reason. They are often only streets away from wealthy unreachably expensive areas, yet we don't take advantage of them. Here is <a href="http://www.emptyhomes.com/">a great place to start looking</a>.</span></span></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-74680006777878441862012-03-05T11:14:00.005-08:002012-03-05T11:33:51.440-08:00Effortlessness<a href="http://assets6.designsponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/7_summerhome1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 751px;" src="http://assets6.designsponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/7_summerhome1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://assets6.designsponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/5_bryan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 750px;" src="http://assets6.designsponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/5_bryan.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://assets4.designsponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/1_bryan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 750px;" src="http://assets4.designsponge.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/1_bryan.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span><u><br /></u></span></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WChuAdVBUt1vLvjpfRwV7REQKt1ZVx5BxI8I0U8HVHZbsz5wx4i-cYgvKOv0BS6CZSBj69SPdaRALg1NjdWvp3UAKoM93IVMkW6UDXMwEs1FTJOnHMPnZhHC3w867iLlswFf6gypdaE6/s1600/F3+DSC00881.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WChuAdVBUt1vLvjpfRwV7REQKt1ZVx5BxI8I0U8HVHZbsz5wx4i-cYgvKOv0BS6CZSBj69SPdaRALg1NjdWvp3UAKoM93IVMkW6UDXMwEs1FTJOnHMPnZhHC3w867iLlswFf6gypdaE6/s400/F3+DSC00881.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716495432351946146" /></a><a href="http://www.designsponge.com/2011/11/sneak-peek-robert-kristiansens-summer-home.html">1. Robert Kristiansen's Summer House, Norway</a><div><a href="http://www.designsponge.com/2011/12/sneak-peek-bryan-minnich-katie-dangelo.html">2. Bryan Minnich and Katie D'Angelo, Washington DC</a></div><div>3. Bryan Minnich and Katie D'Angelo, Washington DC </div><div>4. One of the bedsit kitchens in our new house</div><div><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">Today I was looking at a couple of 'Sneak Peak' homes on the inspiring designsponge.com blog. Although we need to start from scratch with our house - removing the false walls and ceilings in order to install unified heating, plumbing and electricity systems, it made me realise how what we have already could be easily become something cosy and of beauty.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> The major charm of these kitchens is their effortlessness. They make the most of what is there already. With some paint, a clean up and a thoughtfully placed table and vase of flowers or arrangement of ceramics these rooms are warm and friendly.</span></span></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-23956719242517326942012-02-27T08:31:00.008-08:002012-03-05T11:36:02.707-08:00<a href="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394275103069_GRKhirkj_c.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 379px; height: 500px;" src="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394275103069_GRKhirkj_c.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394274814703_1lSJOPth_c.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 495px; height: 581px;" src="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394274814703_1lSJOPth_c.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394274779310_GK1tcMKF_c.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 366px; height: 500px;" src="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394274779310_GK1tcMKF_c.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span><u><br /></u></span></div><a href="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394274779307_kdWfAtjF_c.jpg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 746px;" src="http://media-cdn.pinterest.com/upload/219902394274779307_kdWfAtjF_c.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">We got the keys to our new house today!</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "> Our next job is to get all the floor plans drawn out. We need to know which walls to keep and which are false walls that can be removed. The house is divided into dingy bedsits right now and we want a simple home with bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. Simple is our goal. We need and want to do as little as possible. One of the very favourite apartments we rented was one in Copenhagen. It had a first floor sitting room knocked through with the kitchen and dining area. It was filled with warm sunshine all day. Although it was small and nothing special had been done to it, it felt so homely, snug and bright. Instead of wasting this gorgeous sunshine on a bedroom we will only go into at night, we want our kitchen and sitting room to have this cosy warm golden light. Our first idea.<div><br /></div><div> We have been pinning on Pinterest and imagining how it might look. We are so lucky to have some lovely big windows, we hope that with some white paint and a simple white kitchen, the sunshine will do the rest.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-79097973149293108452012-02-25T08:04:00.010-08:002012-02-25T08:50:44.412-08:00Montpelier Row, Twickenham<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>Today we went for a stroll around our current neighbourhood for inspiration from similar Georgian terraced houses and thanked our lucky stars that we didn't have pay the crazy local prices to match. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "> Montpelier Row in Twickenham is a long brick Georgian Terrace with some prettily individual doorways. </span><span style="line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Number 15</span><span style="line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">was built in about 1721. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 19px; ">Alfred Tennyson and his family rented it in 1851, albeit only for a couple of years. </span>We loved the way the number was painted on the gate post. So beautifully styled. Simple and elegant. It would be easy enough to recreate by enlarging the shape and tracing it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSt6DTAcoofV2x36nSDq594FqpFjTSkbWSjqdbcZzjGKzbiu876JBXJbMZwE0XnY19l-Dh8P4oxq_cNhmW29N-ebx833pq5Jt0-iBzDLvD1LM_8vO9kPRuE-Zk42csCxFiqQoXw1KpZUDo/s1600/DSC00818.JPG"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSt6DTAcoofV2x36nSDq594FqpFjTSkbWSjqdbcZzjGKzbiu876JBXJbMZwE0XnY19l-Dh8P4oxq_cNhmW29N-ebx833pq5Jt0-iBzDLvD1LM_8vO9kPRuE-Zk42csCxFiqQoXw1KpZUDo/s400/DSC00818.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713106506533446194" /></span></span></a><div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr19FHxh6WQ6PEJc66o9t_bDKKC6IuZV4RVFFbsHX9Z5SwWWcSPEFn7NtkXEwMkWKbPOC0tFaDmyTB1VyvYh6QP7Tr8H2sDMHbEzldGzuWMAFk7DHc7cipnF4e4LRQNwJz_-C8myaUffGO/s1600/IMG_0951.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr19FHxh6WQ6PEJc66o9t_bDKKC6IuZV4RVFFbsHX9Z5SwWWcSPEFn7NtkXEwMkWKbPOC0tFaDmyTB1VyvYh6QP7Tr8H2sDMHbEzldGzuWMAFk7DHc7cipnF4e4LRQNwJz_-C8myaUffGO/s400/IMG_0951.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713106277909564658" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuio3p5HKFmtKj4XBZmHhaAQ7X3HlkiEYGmk9xOR0uhnhsPl3RhRySShizzb5abJzgUjLZtTInSKeaPIp88c7Gw_HF0PzoXd9qfQUwQf3C6DbcxDBXZVRvAstaRPwnOJ2KWF2ujSFD-YkN/s1600/DSC00815.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuio3p5HKFmtKj4XBZmHhaAQ7X3HlkiEYGmk9xOR0uhnhsPl3RhRySShizzb5abJzgUjLZtTInSKeaPIp88c7Gw_HF0PzoXd9qfQUwQf3C6DbcxDBXZVRvAstaRPwnOJ2KWF2ujSFD-YkN/s400/DSC00815.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713105937288292978" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jIs5rfSi1C8NZ0JL527HVhrZ8SmVCPxN5dsL10n4r6xRFNeqCAKKFOattCOM0qDHebhTx7whMdSGX4Gj1xsfRbtm_02bVijGQe3QNX89RUAEjyCzHRLBz5GOLPkwNegzag_hP8Is2xXk/s1600/DSC00814.JPG" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jIs5rfSi1C8NZ0JL527HVhrZ8SmVCPxN5dsL10n4r6xRFNeqCAKKFOattCOM0qDHebhTx7whMdSGX4Gj1xsfRbtm_02bVijGQe3QNX89RUAEjyCzHRLBz5GOLPkwNegzag_hP8Is2xXk/s400/DSC00814.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713105577790126850" /></a><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some more <a href="http://extraordinarybookofdoors.com/LondonTownHouses.aspx">Georgian terraced houses</a> in London and their doorways.</div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958872341097471865.post-78447544949897034152012-02-24T07:23:00.014-08:002012-02-24T12:22:15.873-08:00<span><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XJPaQ8lnNtY/T0fi-CuEA8I/AAAAAAAAD98/eARntj7tEOU/s640/blogger%2520back%2520room%25202.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 480px; " src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XJPaQ8lnNtY/T0fi-CuEA8I/AAAAAAAAD98/eARntj7tEOU/s640/blogger%2520back%2520room%25202.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><span>Last week we bought a house. </span></span><div><span><span><span>Finally. </span></span></span></div><div><span><span><span>We have spent the past five years travelling, renting and even towing our home behind us around the cities and countryside of Europe. Our children are now fourteen and sixteen. They have had a rich few years of an ever-changing landscape in which to learn and play. Now we want them to have a few happy years in one place, creating memories in a happy home that they can retreat to in spirit and in real life.</span></span></span><div><span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ciY5v6LYoxg/T0fiJ3PEIcI/AAAAAAAAD_M/cQhaZ2oyzTY/s512/IMG_0883.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 384px; height: 512px; " src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ciY5v6LYoxg/T0fiJ3PEIcI/AAAAAAAAD_M/cQhaZ2oyzTY/s512/IMG_0883.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span><span> The house isn't a home yet. It was divided up into six scarily-tiny-looking bedsits by the council at some sad point in its history, then we bought it. </span></span><span>We bought it at an auction. It took five minutes. </span></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span> No one wanted it.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><span> It might have been the six sad flimsy little kitchens. It might have been those too-tiny shower rooms and the odd smell. Perhaps it was the oppressive false ceilings. But it was this outstanding staircase that made them actually gasp with horror as they stepped through the promising, relatively smart Georgian black door.</span></span></div><div><span><br /><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e0BeI0INlBk/T0fjH4PrdVI/AAAAAAAAD-0/EiRX_1TXKT4/s640/blogger%2520stairs.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 480px; " src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e0BeI0INlBk/T0fjH4PrdVI/AAAAAAAAD-0/EiRX_1TXKT4/s640/blogger%2520stairs.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>That red! Those black 'treds'. What is that linoleum stuff and where did every school/hospital buy it?! But wait. It is rather bright at least. And someone was inspired enough to put in a rather unimpressive but effective skylight.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span><br /><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u4KdxFfGvcc/T0fiLNMvTcI/AAAAAAAAD9U/IUKK8MGz9Qg/s640/IMG_0885.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 480px; " src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u4KdxFfGvcc/T0fiLNMvTcI/AAAAAAAAD9U/IUKK8MGz9Qg/s640/IMG_0885.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /></span></div><div><span>But we knew it was in one of our favourite streets in one of our favourite cities. It was cheap so we had some money left over to tidy it up. The roof is in good order; the windows need some paint but are sound and even the cellar is essentially dry. How hard can this be? How could we resist having a go? How could we say no to the promise of these beautiful windows.</span></div><div><span><br /><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a3ajv_-HYjI/T0fjHhWiTAI/AAAAAAAAD-s/mGy9GR4D0MQ/s640/blogger%2520top%2520floor.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 480px; " src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-a3ajv_-HYjI/T0fjHhWiTAI/AAAAAAAAD-s/mGy9GR4D0MQ/s640/blogger%2520top%2520floor.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PSY_mxltw4w/T0fiCqsRzlI/AAAAAAAAD9s/JHORx9jIzOw/s640/IMG_0889.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 480px; " src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PSY_mxltw4w/T0fiCqsRzlI/AAAAAAAAD9s/JHORx9jIzOw/s640/IMG_0889.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-TEMpGRp59Ho/T0fjG4ol7MI/AAAAAAAAD-o/eJsNgVi1tlo/s640/blogger%2520room.JPG"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 480px; " src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-TEMpGRp59Ho/T0fjG4ol7MI/AAAAAAAAD-o/eJsNgVi1tlo/s640/blogger%2520room.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a> This blog might be an unveiling story of horror, one where you can barely peek through your fingers, but hopefully it will be an adventure story of the making of a home.<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;font-size: 100%; "><span><u><br /></u></span></div></div></div>Ruskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16649005553043895008noreply@blogger.com2