Half term catch up

 Hi there,

It's been a little while since my last confession and that was in the form of a bad poem!  The half term was enjoyable.

It involved a lovely trip to Maldon on  Valentines Day.  CBC and I went to lunch at Mrs Salisbury's tearoom where, to our delight, we met our friends Lara and her husband. We explored the town and then returned home.

Sunday, apart from a trip to church, where I was completely saturated by torrential rain, the day was spent sheltering inside.

Monday and Tuesday, CBC had 2 days of work experience for  Garden design company so I travelled over to Mum's for the morning and early afternoon. We had a tasty simple lunch, lots of chat and tea, a walk to the seafront and then I returned home via town where I had my hair cut into a short bob which I was very pleased with!  

*Updated with haircut photo for Ang! *

Later, after an achy and muddy CBC returned home, I went off to the station and went over to have a rehearsal with my lovely flute quartet.  This was especially lovely as I didn't have to rush home for school and we ate cake and had a pleasant time. It meant I got to chat with Lara on the car journey from the station.

Tuesday, I had a tidying morning and then headed to town for the market. I bought delicious olives and fresh fruit and vegetables.  In the evening, CBC and I travelled to the other side of Chelmsford to a friend's house for a pancake party! It was the first time we've seen her since her husband died which was sad but we cheered her up. I was touched that she gave me a lovely cashmere cardigan which had belonged to her Mum whose memorial I played flute for last year.

Wednesday, after packing, we drove to Sussex to Angmering where we were staying for 2 nights at the Angmering Manor Hotel.   

We went to eat some lunch in a nearby cafe Juna and then after relaxing in our room, we went to swim in the pool. There were only 4 of us in there and most of the time was just CBC and I. We tried the sauna but it was boiling!

After showers, we went to dinner in the hotel. Huge portions. The young staff were really nice there.

Back in the room, we read and had a game of Qwirkle Cubes (SOB, my proper travel version of Qwirkle is stuck in Northumberland STILL!).

The next morning, we enjoyed a very pleasant breakfast down in the beautiful restaurant and then drove to Bosham for a walk around the water and church.  The tide was in.

Later, after tea and cake, we drove to Chichester for an explore of the Cathedral gardens and a look about town.

Back at the hotel, we read and I went for another swim.  There was only myself in the pool most of the time!

For dinner, we headed to Ferring where we visited Andalucia, a family run Tapas of 39 years which was wonderful!

The next morning, after packing up, we drove to Petworth to see our music camp friends Ellie and Nick. 

Ellie, C and I drove to walk around a Neolithic circle and got extremely wet!  We had lunch at Ellie's and then C and I drove to Guildford where we got the train to London to meet CBC's French/Phillipino cousins for a lovely catch up. We went to a beautiful Art-deco restaurant, Zejel for dinner which had a live Jazz Band.  Back to Guildford to pick up the car back home.

The next morning, after some washing and tidying we mostly spent the day avoiding/doing some work and the same on Sunday, except I went to church late so I went to the sister church for the 11am service and walked the 2miles home which was pleasant.

It was a lovely half term.

The return to school has been exhausting but OK! I have been filling in a Grant application for some equipment for school till now so I am very tired! Tomorrow, Lara is coming to tune the pianos at school and then in the afternoon, she and I are going to give mini recitals to the whole school. We'll then have a natter in the car on the way home!

February poem

 Ang's post on Saturday, reminded me of a poem I wrote for February.

February, a time for love,

But not only romance,

Kind affection can be shown in many ways,

And here are some cunning plans,

A note left anonymously,

Telling a friend something nice,

"You are kind and gentle, your hair looks great, 

You listen and give great advice."

Or what about offering to do some chores, 

For someone in your family, 

Offer to wash up without a prompt

Learn to make them a cup of tea, 

Random acts of kindness like 

Making a card with a friendly greeting, 

If your granny's lonely, give her a call, 

Or arrange a real life meeting. 

A kitkat left in someone's pocket, 

With note saying, "Hope you smile!" 

A poem written and posted, 

Listen to someone talk for a while. 

February's a month for love, 

Love for friends and family. 

If you give to the universe selflessly, 

The love comes back to thee! 

Valentines Day Card

CBC has been sending me lots of Tweedy and Fluff reels on Insta. I hadn't heard of it. It was an animation programme for young kids about the adventures of a little ball of fluff and a sort of Tartan sewing kit creature. 

The adventures are delightfully innocent and sweet. Mainly Fluff gets into some sort of pickle and Tweedy rescues him. 

The soundtrack is delightful - recorder and cello music. 

I knew that I needed to make him a card with them on so last night, I got out my watercolor pencils and paintbrush and gave it a go.  Most of these pencils, I bought in Bali, 25 years ago with a few extras from my friend Norma and a couple purchased in a Liverpool art shop when I was there in 2016.

It was a little hard to match a few of the colours but I'm quite pleased with it. 

You can see a clip here:

Happy Valentines Day! 

Snail

Do you remember my Snail Smoocher poem from October 2025? It was promoted by Noel in Year 1 delightedly coming up to me tell me he'd kissed a snail. I think it began my year of poetry. At a similar time, I ended up writing a quartet of snail-related poems for a poetry submission (not successful but I don't regret giving it a go). 

One of these was this Kennings poem below. 

In case you don't know what a Kenning is, it's a poetic device where you name or describe something by using a noun and a verb. We are singing a gorgeous song in Singing Assembly at the poem by my musician friend Kate Wakeling, who is a well-known poet calmed Tree Power and it has several kennings to describe trees. 

Last week's Toy Press word of the Week was 'Ooze' and I knew I already had this poem to fit the bill. Well.... Ooze became Oozer. 

As I put it into Publisher to make an image, I couldn't resist trying to illustrate it with a snail or snails. I went into the most retro program, Paint, and freehand drew a snail, then I copied and pasted it in and reduced and duplicated it. It looks rudimentary at full size but I think I got away with it here. 

I noticed some errors after I had shared it, inconsistent use of hyphen. Annoying. 

Kennings are a fun poetic form to write with and for children. Which of my lines do you like best? What Kenning would you write for a snail? 

Xx

jhjh

TARDIS Tuesday- Yasmin Khan Ghost Monument

 Greetings there!

I had a successful concert on Saturday! I was playing with my localish orchestra (one I've been playing on and off with since 1997).  I played 1st flute this time and we performed Bruch's Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra with a brilliant soloist who was only 14 called Kate Lai.  I had a very fast duet part with her in the middle which went very well and then we played Tchaikovsky's epic 5th Symphony.  She has a bright future ahead of her. When she was 12, world famous violinist, Nicola Benedetti, performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with an orchestra I was playing in so it would be lovely to have this happen again!

As one orchestra rehearsal sequence ends, another begins.  We are playing Mendelssohn's 5th Symphony, The Reformation Symphony, with Kensington Chamber Orchestra, which I am so happy about! I played 2nd flute in it about 22 years ago and I loved it then and hoped to play 1st flute in! Finally, that day comes! It has a wonderful flute cadenza in it that I get to play!

Anyway, onto TARDIS Tuesday. I last featured this look in December 2024 and I seem to feature it a year apart each time I wear it!

https://www.doctorwho.tv/characters/yasmin-khan

It's really strange but when I look at these pictures of Yasmin Khan (the screen shots, not the ones from the promo photo above), sometimes I think I'm looking at either a picture of my sister or myself. I can't work out which one of us but I do think there are similarities sometimes which I've only recently noticed!

Anyway, here I am and I decided to go with Yaz's hairstyle from the promo photos!

#

I like this cheerful orange jumper, it always makes me smile. It's always a shame to hide it under a leather jacket (Clara's one as usual!)  so I am sharing a photo without it!

I decided to wear CBC's Shoe Embassy trainers for the photo as they are more cheerful than plain trainers. Why not? I'm feeling relaxed about accuracy!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

Garden harvests of 2025

 I realise that I didn't ever total up everything I grew and picked in the garden at home in 2025 which was a shame as it's lovely to have a record of this.  Some things in the garden were very successful and others were not to successful! 

Alpine Strawberries:  47.  Not a great sum from my 2 plants compared to my mum who had hundreds or even thousands from her many plants but much loved despite their small number. They are incredibly sweet!

Strawberries:  190.

This isn't as many as some years but better than last year I think!

Blueberries: 445

I'm quite surprised as I didn't think they were doing as well as other years but not bad from 2 plants! Many went in the freezer so I have yet to enjoys some!

Rocket:  9 handfuls.

This was disappointing! I need to plant more rocket as it is is usually prolific!

Cherries:  44

The birds got some but these were juicy and wonderful! I did also get freebies from the tree in the carpark down the road!

Raspberries:  83.

This was pathetic!!!I remember the year of 2000 and I am most annoyed at the badger or whatever killed my Autumn Bliss plants. These new varieties are not as good!

Loganberries: 1

This plant is GOING if it doesn't do something soon! So, so, so much foliage and nothing else!

Cucumbers: 9

I'm not very good at clipping these in. I think they'd have done better if I had done!

Tomatoes:  176.

This was quite successful. They did not get blight this year!

Courgettes:  14

I was pleased with these from one plant!

Runner beans:   273.

I paid 50p a piece for 2 bean plants from the yellow bungalow and their honesty box down the road and I consider this an absolute bargain! I keep meaning to pop a note through the door to thank them for their amazing plants! Next year, I will buy more! They were really good ones too! These were one of the star crops for 2025!

Rhubarb:  20 stalks:

Most of this went in the freezer and into fruit amber! I would like to plant more!

Dwarf French beans: 30

A small amount from about 6 plants but appreciated!

Everlasting onion scapes: 23. 

Considering these were free from Mum, I'm happy with this.

Peppers: 8

From One plant!  I was very happy with this!

Aztec Broccoli: 4 takeaway tubs full.

I think I messed this one up! I let it grow too much and it was too tough to eat! It grew well but I didn't know how to harvest it.

Apples: 11

The most apples we've ever had from the tree!

Nasturtium seeds:  87

I picked most of these in Vinegar and saved a few for growing next year.  These were brilliant plants and came from seeds I liberated in Madeira from the many Nasturtiums growing like weeds!

Chard: 2 handfuls

This is usually prolific so this was disappointing!

Butternut squashes:  2

Again, these would have been a lot more successful if I had planted these in the ground instead of a pot and clipped them in better! I'm not very good with climbing plants! Still, I'm proud of these two tiny babies!

Sorrell: 8 leaves

This needs new compost!

Blackcurrants: 963

The absolute star of the crops this year!  Mum gave me a titchy plant which had come from hers 2 years ago.  It grew majestic this year and kept producing! Many are in the freezer!

So there were some pleasing successes and other disappointments!  I hope we will be able to grow some exciting things this year!

TARDIS Tuesday - Yasmin Khan in Flux!

 For TARDIS Tuesday this week, I thought I'd pay a return visit to Yasmin Khan from Series 13, known as Flux!

Let's have a look at the inspiration pictures.

https://www.bbcamerica.com/ 

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/television-academy-board-directors-nne-ebong-jamily-hunter-1235090265/

I managed to make some screen shots where Yaz wore her outfit WITHOUT the leather jacket  from some Doctor Who challenge videos for Behind the Scenes.

Her blouse AND jeans come from All Saints (I IDed the jeans) and her necklaces, not really visible are from Alex Monroe. Her boots are Leonore boots from Dr Martens.

The blouse is the most striking part of this outfit!

And here's my 2026 iteration of this outfit. It's the 3rd time it has featured on TARDIS Tuesday.

I since I last wore it, I managed to identify and purchase the jeans which are called Jules from All Saints, a very posh brand. Despite them being a skinny jeans, I actually found them quite comfortable, presumably because of the good quality stretchy denim cotton.

The blouse, also from All Saints which has the name Caressa (Almost my name!) is very pretty and so vibrant for a dull January day!

I wore another pair of Yaz's  boots, from Dune, rather than the Dr Martens and added my usual Clara Oswald brown leather jacket which is cracking a little bit now on the collar which is the danger of fake leather! It's happening to both my 'leather' jackets!

Today was a good day at school.  I had 3 productive lessons with year 4 and one Year 3 lesson that seemed to go well for the kids (they enjoyed it and did what they were supposed to!). Drumming club was also enjoyable. I had one new member today which makes the total up to 12 children. It's not the usual 16 I'd have, but it's better than the start of the year!

CBC and I had some delicious Kashmiri sweet potato curry from Leon Lewis, brilliant Veggie chef who I visited on Saturday to purchase some of his meals.  We also dined on a delicious red cabbage, cranberry, pecan and pickled salad by him and some filo veggie parcels- Delicious!!!

Hope all is well with you!

xx

jiuiu

Schwarzwalder Fungi 5

It's now quite a while since we went to the Black Forest in Germany but I still have some photos I did not share, of some of the mushrooms and fungi we saw.

I think this is the last post from the trip!

This first toadstool looks like it could be a Fly Agaric but I wasn't totally certain as it didn't seem to have the white spots.

One of the most common fungi I see is Turkey Fantail fungus (although I discovered there is a False Turkey Fantail as well which doesn't have the same underneath.  I love all the variety in colour you see of this fungus and the example below had lovely blue and grey hues.

The example below was similar with some mustardy/brown shades too.

At one point, we climbed into a very high bird hide up a tall ladder and sat there a while trying to spy squirrels and birds.  As we climbed down, I saw this purple poking out and was very excited.

I'm still not 100% sure on what this is, but I really hope it was/is an Amethyst Deceiver. I've seen differing photos of this. Some that look like this, others that are much more bluey-purple!

Onto another purple fungus and one I've seen before:  Purple Jelly Disc!

Another example of Turkey Fantail/False Turkeytail but in more pastelly shades.

On this mossy tree-stump, I think we have some Sulphur Tuft fungi.

CBC came towards me proffering this example of a Coral Fungus.  He assured me it had already been uprooted  so I didn't tell him off for that!

CBC and I spent a lot of the walk trying to find a perfect example of a Fly Agaric and we think this was our best one that was the least chewed up!

I think this was another Brittlegill below.

The colours on the bracket fungi below were beautiful! Almost rainbows!

I think this could be a Dyer's fungus

We saw this burnt-toast looking fungus poking out a tree later in the day.

The final example was another set of Winter Chanterelles/AKA Yellow foot fungus.  These ones were very young but jolly!  Next time I find these, I'm definitely picking and eating some. They have a wonderful fruity smell. Not at all mushroomy smelling!

 I hope you enjoyed seeing this array of fungi.  I still have some fungi from the Summer holiday to share at some point!