Feelin' hot hot hot

This was the first year I've tried to grow chilli peppers.
They're on the kitchen windowsill, but not in full sun.
There was loads of flowers, followed (obviously) by little baby chilli's.
They all came out green and started to grow, then miraculously, the new baby ones were coming out red. So now we've got some green and some red on a plant. I have no idea why... but it looks really pretty!

A little cheeky snifter in the making

Fearing we were too late to pick raspberries for our annual Raspberry Vodka making session, I popped off to Sopley PYO to see if I could get any. I was in luck! The 'autumn raspberries' were just coming into plumpness and I was assured there was 'a few'. A few?! what, like 6?

So off we trotted (Kerys too) towards the Autumn raspberries. Yup, there was 'a few'... not loads but enough to fill 2 punnets - albeit taking slightly longer than we were used to.

Recipe
1 litre vodka
1 punnet of raspberries
250g granulated sugar

Use a sterilising tablet to sterilise your jar. Wash the raspberries, pop them in the jar. Pour over the vodka. Add the sugar. Stir. Pop in a cupboard. Stir once a week. After about 3 or 4 weeks, strain through a muslin into a bowl. Pour the lovely pinky vodka goodness into sterilised bottles. Enjoy!

PS. I don't even like vodka that much but this raspberry vodka is to DIE for - you can even drink it by the shot it's so lovely and sweet and raspberry-y

Come to mama!

I got a new Mac... I love it.
Mmmmmmmmmm!
Wireless mighty mouse and wireless little keyboard an' all.
It's like ACTUAL Christmas day...

Och aye tha noo!

It's not everyday yer little sister gets hitched is it?
And it's not every day that you get to have a cracking good time in Edinburgh festival in a lush townhouse to celebrate said little sisters Hen weekend is it?

So it started well enough - Mum got to our house early in the morning for our 8.30am flight. I knew it was trouble when there wasn;t a checkout open that said "Ryanair Edinburgh"... it turns out that cocking Ryainair had re-scheduled the flight by 2 hours. 2 HOURS EARLIER!! With not another flight until Saturday afternoon! Not only that, but they'd cancelled our 8.35pm sunday night return flight to 8.20 in the sodding AM! Honestly, NEVER fly with those cowboys again... I beseech you.

SO ANYWAY!

We found ourselves on the 8.54am to Edinburgh train. It was a somewhat unideal prospect: 7 hours on a packed train... but it was actually a really good laugh! Mum and I drank wine (I forbade it until at least, lunchtime) and chatted to our new best friends in the carriage all the way there.

Wowowaaweewaa! What a lovely town house Cara had found us! Stu-uh-ning.
The girls had cooked an amazing chilli and we drank bubbly until ghost tour o'clock. The ghost tour was really interesting, we went deep into the haunted vaults under the city. In one vault everyone got reeeeeally cold and my breath was visible like a winters morning. Weird.

and played games and sang and danced and air-guitared to Queen until the wee wee hours.

The next day (and it was lovely and sunny, better than the Scottish rain we had arrived to) we mooched around the BEAUTIFUL city of Edinburgh. It was my first time to Edinburgh, indeed Scotland and my camera was going clicky KERAYZEE...

The evening was spent in silly dress up with outrageous wigs in a lovely Tapas restaurant followed by comedy club (2 comedians good, 2 not so great). Then it all goes a bit of a blur... I know we tried to get into a club, but a fight broke out and a girl was yakking up outside so we decided to move along. We found one but Mum needed to get home so May and I walked her home and, well.. it was 2ish and a bit too late to go back out to the club to meet the others.

The train ride home on Sunday was less drunken and loud and chatty than Friday. Funny that. We left Edinbo' at 12ish and got into Sunny Bmth at half 8. Long old ride eh?

All in all, a lovely weekend. Happy hen Cara, hope you had a blast!
Roll on the 11th September wedding!

Holiday bliss

It's been a while since my last post.
But wanted to show you pics from our lovely holiday at Meon.
(See previous post about the lovely Meon beach shack)

We got there Sunday night.
Oh man, as soon as I open those curtains to that lovely view I relaaaaaaaaaaaax.
It's such a relaxing place I love it.

Monday morning we awoke to perfectly delicious hot weather, bikini time weather.
The kids lolloped in the sea and G got the little boat ready for its maiden voyage... puh! that was funny. All 4 of us in a little boat floating around whilst G frantically tried to get the freakin' outboard motor started. So we went back to shore... THEN he remembered he had to turn the fuel on! DOH! so anyhoo, pretty rubbish first voyage but then we made up for it over the week.

Loads of fish were caught from that little boat. I caught loads - 8 in one go! AND I filleted them all. Get me!

Oh poor Kezzy though - on the first day she chipped her tooth, well, lost the cap from an already chipped tooth. She was so upset bless her. So Wednesday we had a frantic rush back to Wimborne for an emergency appointment to restore her lovely smile. Glad we were able to get an appointment...

We had amazing weather all week - well, apart from an afternoon of rain Thursday arvo. We were all getting niggly which was resolved with sweets and a few games of UNO. And wine and beer for the grown ups of course.

Friday was the end of Cowes week and was the best day. HOT HOT HOT with swimming in the sea, messing on boats, messing on kayaks, lovely dinner, our own Red Arrows displays (or so it seemed) and lovely fireworks over in Cowes. There's such a lovely party atmosphere in all the huts on the last day of Cowes week.

Saturday and Sunday were equally as delicious as Friday, but with less Red Arrows. Sitting in the sun reading... swimming in the sea... bit of fishing... sitting in the sun reading... lunch... swimming... boat... wine... sitting in the sun... wine... dinner... sunset... more wine... board game... laughing... sleeping...zzzzzz.

I didn't want to leave. I could quite easily hole myself up there with G and the kids ALL summer long. If only...

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Meon Shore is near Titchfield Haven RSPB bird reserve, quite near Stubbington... about 20 minutes from Southampton. It is a little quiet oasis of calm with a backdrop of big old cities of Portsmouth and Southampton... and I love it there.

Ma and Pa Orlebar own a beautifully sweet little hut, which has been in Ma's side of the family for generations. G and James grew up spending entire summers there.

It is right on the beach - a shingle beach - and overlooks Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Consequently, you can sit and watch yachts a-coming and a-racing, plus the Wight Link ferries to-ing and fro-ing, not to mention the odd HUGE cruise liner sailing out of Southampton on their way to exotic climes full to bursting with excited cruisers happily exploring their cabing, unpacking and deciding what to wear for the dinner dance at 8pm.. well in my mind, anyway.

Last year we saw the QE2 on one of her last journeys - she's titchy compared to huge Oceana or whatever they're called these days.

Anyhoo - we were at Meon with Ma & Pa last weekend and the sun shone. It was blissfully perfect, as usual. And it has got G and myself itching to get back there for our holiday - but we've only got to wait a week... hurray!

Larmer Tree 'Outreach' Festival

Meriel coined the phrase 'Outreach' festival for Larmer Tree in the deepest depths of Dorset because it is THE most middle class festival you're ever likely to see! And I'll tell you for why...

1. When we arrived to see Andrea, there was no space to dance, just a sea of grey hair and wax jackets around the stage, erm, I mean SEATED around the stage...reading the Guardian and wondering what time the 'dream catcher' workshop starts.

2. No hippies... no travellers... no complete festival nutters having a far out messy time

3. Posh campervans everywhere... and caravans... being pulled by Porshes and BMW 4x4's

But anyhoo, we had a good time, despite the rain and MUD. Lots of mud...

Andrea had a cool time hanging out on BBC Radio Solent with Sally Taylor and Jonny Walker - Jonny Walker from Radio 2! Andrea was told by a dude from the BBC that if Jonny plays any of her songs just twice onhis show and Radio 2, then she's there! If she gets on the Radio 2 playlist that'll be AWSEOME... clever little sunshine lady!