Warming up

In the Cold war this place was where our mutually assured destruction would have begun. Spot the nuclear pyramids in the background?

Now families and horses roam around , Sunday strolling, where once no public could enter, where security was tight.

I've lived on the doorstep for 4 years now and couldn't bring myself to go there. I don't know why really, I imagined it would be a place of outstanding natural beauty- the way the born-heres go on about it. It is not. It is bleak, barren, austere, all that grows is scrub , bushes and gorse.......

At the other side, I have been, there is the art centre, the studios which I'd love to rent , to paint in, but can't afford, firstly and secondly, doubt would be allowed, the local art council is liberal democrat- I'm a Tory....... they would tell me I was "on the waiting list".

On The Other Side is the main gate and Peace Garden, a haunting place where the women's peace camp for many years stood. It is spectacularly small, considering the noise they made and media coverage they got.

I have known and struggled for sometime with my personal inner conflicts. People ask me , how can you be a Tory and a Buddhist? how can you be married to the Military and be a Buddhist? How can you believe in social welfare and be a Tory? How can you believe in peace yet let your son play with toy guns and swords? How can you be an English Teacher and yet be so quiet? And that is just for starters!

The answer is I don't know, but I am and many more conflicts reside within.

Visiting this place was so surreal and made me think .... What do I believe in????

I do want to save the planet, and protect human life, I understand now why those women chained themselves to the gates and laid on the roads when cruise missiles arrived on trucks, I do see now why they were so passionate about it.... but as a Buddhist who respects life, as an ecologist who wants to save energy and resources, as a tory who is compassionate and an equal opportunist, a fan of Obama, and as someone who can take the piss out of herself whilst taking herself far too seriously (yeah really) I do still think....

Mutually assured destruction was the only way.....? Lets face it, you won't bully me if you know I will lash back at you,now will you!!!

Green shoots

The New Years' day Amaryllis

The Christmas Amaryllis

The Christmas one is now in bud.

And the 2010 Amaryllis is starting to grow.

Somehow once the nights get a bit lighter and the temperature raises a few degrees, it is easier to be more optimistic.

Good things come to he who waits....

Where do dvd's go? the bermuda triangle of dvd's seemed to exist in our house. In total since November 10 dvd's vanished without trace. Abducted by aliens?

We then had the player totally quit on us and the drawer refused to open.....

My husband took a screwdriver to the backplate.

All ten missing dvd's jammed into the drawer, spewing out into the vcr. Well mystery solved.

Patience, and Waiting, hmmm, my son is clearly not going to be a Guinness man!!!

It has been a while

I'm sorry.

Did you miss me?

I've been unfaithful.

I've been squandering my time on Facebook, playing silly games by myself.

My husband asked me why I wasn't blogging, to which I replied." I have nothing to write".

"yes you have" he indignantly responded.

Actually my love, I don't much feel like blogging or talking, sharing my self or my thoughts with anyone. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed.

I'm just happy being me, being with my boy and taking it easy.

I've stopped ranting and raving about listed buildings and boating ponds, because I fear that my tiny anonymous nobody's voice isn't being heard. I guess I accept that if I want to make a difference it has to be in my own immediate environment. I can't control the world.

So instead of campaigning and complaining, let us just eat cake and enjoy.

No I am not giving up, I am just tightening the sphere of influence. Let's do what we can at home, ourselves, recycle, grow our garden, bring up our boy well, reduce our electrical and gas output, conserve water, buy organic and Farmers whenever we can.

My latest trick is to make my husbands old shirts the ones with worn cuffs and collars, into new shirts for my son. They cost too much to throw away, but more-so new ones cost too much in Earth Price to buy. I've started to think in Earth price since I saw Kevin Mccloud "sluming it". The one where he was at the Indian recycling plant. I still haven't got over that. And I imagine neither has he. Google it. And be grateful for your life, your job and where you will sleep tonight.

Oh go on then, I will make it easy for you.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kevin-mccloud-slumming-it/4od

Winter wonderland

Epiphany

Gallette de Roi, or Epiphany cake from A French Swiss recipe for twelfth night.

One 500g pack of frozen puff pastry for the base and top (cut 2 10cm circles and then a strip to make a containing wall for the filling.

Cream together 2oz butter and 2oz sugar (60g) add a tablespoon of sherry or rum, add an egg yolk and 2oz of ground almonds, add to this if you wish an amount of melted chocolate (to your taste , I used 2/3 a bar of Green and Blacks 70% dark) mix well.

Layer the filling onto the base and place on the second circle as a lid, (I used strips to make a lattice effect of an Union Jack). Bake at 220c for around 30 min, before placeing in the oven glaze with beaten egg and after 15min sprinkle with icing sugar!

Voila, as they say in Geneva!

Me thinks it will be yummy with vanilla ice cream!

Apparently you should hide a non poisonous charm or trinket in the pastry and whomever gets it is king for the day. (I didn't , as I had no desire to accidentally poison someone!!)

Learning the hard way

Fun and Games on Christmas Day....

What is the definition of ironic?

Surely it has to be the fact that you take a fabulous portrait of your child playing in the (free) empty box from Venture portraits. You paid several hundred for the Venture portrait.

Or maybe it is that you spent several hundreds on Christmas Gifts, and your child spends hours and days playing in the empty venture portrait box, (Which makes a great tent when placed open on its side?)

Or perhaps that you spend rather a lot on a toy train set, and your child prefers to sit inside the box and have you "choochoo" him around in it as the passenger?

Alternatively it could be that someone kind bought him new pyjamas, which he wore on his head and tore around the house playing blind man's buff laughing hysterically and getting far more fun out of than anything we bought at ELC.

The best things in life are free. When will we learn to turn a blind eye and deaf ear at the Marketeers who so want to rob us of our hard earned cash?