50 Years Young

The end of June saw me reach the milestone of my half century, how on earth did that happen?  I was only 21 last week surely!  The day before my birthday, my lovely work colleagues managed to trick me out of my office whilst they decorated it with balloons.

They then presented me with a lovely thoughtful gift of a Red Letter Day voucher for a brewery tour and pub lunch at one of my favourite places, Cropton which is based at The New Inn in Cropton, North Yorkshire.  We just so happen to have a cottage booked there for a week in November so I have been able to book our treat for that week.  Needless to say both Patrick and I are really looking forward to that.

Since last year I had been umming and ahhing about whether or not to bother with a celebration and if so, what to do. I don't like a fuss really but felt that I should do something, afterall 50 is a pretty big milestone so I decided to have a small party in my house for family and close friends.

I'm very lucky to have a fella who cooks, so Patrick offered to cook the curries.  Three HUGE curries, enough rice to feed a fairly large Indian village and other nibbles like pakoras, bhajis and samosas there was a fair old feast awaiting our visitors.  I had bought wine and best of all a 36 pint cask (along with a hand pump) of one of my favourite beers, Jem's Stout from local brewers Great Newsome, this is a family run micro brewery and we had beer from them for Patrick's 50th birthday too.  Their service and helpfulness is second to none and I really would recommend them if you're having a party or whatever and want a cask of ale delivering and setting up.  It was a lovely evening and I enjoyed having the people I love around me.  I'm quite irritated with myself that I didn't take more photos though.  My two sons had disappeared back upstairs, being the antisocial brats that they are, before I thought to get the camera out but here are just a few of friends and family.

Me and my man

Donna & Pete, Dave & Beverley, Jenny with Patrick and Me with Paul

Two of my best friends Justine on the left and Debbie on the right

The Ives (what IS George doing?)

 

Ray & Chris (left), Harry & Janette (right)

I must recount the story of the Bain Marie so it doesn't get forgotten in the midsts of time.  I had borrowed slow cookers from family members so that we would be able to keep the food warm once it was cooked and ready to serve and Patrick's sister Coral had a borrowed 'Bain Marie' which she offered to us to use for rice.  Well, with a bain marie, you fill the base with hot water and the dishes of food then sit in that and stay warm - easy peasy.  All was under control in the kitchen so Patrick sent me off upstairs to get myself changed and prettied up ready for our guests to arrive.  I hereby place it on record that as usual Justine was first to arrive at 6pm prompt but I digress, back to the story I go.  Whilst I was upstairs getting ready, Patrick decided it was time to fill the 'bain marie' with the hot water and using my large 2 litre jug began to do just that.  One jugful in and it didn't seem to even be halfway there so another jugful goes in.  It's during the pouring in of this second jugful that Patrick hears the trickling sound of dripping water and realises that the 'bain marie' isn't a bain marie at all and that four litres of water are now pouring out of it, all over my kitchen floor!  What's more is that it's actually an electrical hotplate that he's poured water all over!!  Luckily there were no parts for the water to seep into, it was a smooth stainless steel plate and the water had just run off it and under the frame which the food dishes rest on.  By the time I came downstairs looking gorgeous, he had cleaned it all up, which was just as well because I would have flapped and panicked.  I was able to see the funny side which if I'd been there and having kittens about the mess, I wouldn't have done.  Coral, when later tackled about this and informed that it wasn't in fact a bain marie found the whole thing hilarious and just said "No, I know it's not a bain marie but that's just what I call it".  Not much you can say to that really is there?

A Massive Big Catch Up

Oh My Word, I have been so neglectful of this blog and I'm quite disappointed in myself because I do this primarily for myself because I enjoy looking back through it from time to time.  It's surprising how you forget how you felt until you read your own words back.  So, I think I'd better try and bring things up to date as much as possible.  So much has happened that I'll have blog in installments to bring myself up to date.

First up, back in May we went to a fantastic food and beer festival in Ludlow, Shropshire.  It was held in the grounds of Ludlow Castle and rather than me trying to remember and describe it all, I'll just point you in the direction of this fabulous blog post by Patrick.  He does a great job of telling the tale and below are some photos that I took on the day.

Next event up was our annual summer holiday.  Instead of the usual cottage stay, we had opted for a boating holiday on the Norfolk Broads and off we went in mid-June.  The weather had been horrendous in the weeks leading up to our holiday, rainy, windy and just plain horrible but actually, during the week we were away we were pretty lucky and it only rained briefly one afternoon, it rained every night but we were tucked up and cosy on the boat then so it didn't matter. 

I have to say that my feelings now, four months on are still  "Least said, soonest mended"!  Let's just say that I didn't take to it and was very nervous driving the boat all week.  On the way down, we stopped off in Kings Lynn at Beers of Europe for supplies of our favourite Belgian Ales to take onboard.  The place really is a beer lover's paradise and we spent rather a lot of time (and money) in there!  We stayed in Norwich overnight and visited some of the lovely pubs there before driving to Stalham the next day to pick up our boat.  After a (very) short drive / sail (not sure what to call it) out of the boatyard and a quick tutorial on how to moor up, we were on our way.  I can't say I really enjoyed the week on the boat, although I wouldn't say I hated it either.  For me, it was just a stressful experience and I wouldn't want to do it again.

Still, we got lots of photos of ducks, geese and swans :-)

And Patrick did get to relax some of the time.



 That's this post done and dusted.  I'll try to post again before the week is out to get us a bit more up to date.

Beer Festival

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I volunteered to help at the Hull & East Yorkshire CAMRA beer festival this year and I have to say, I had great fun.  It was being held inside the Holy Trinity Church in Hull's market place which is apparently the largest parish church in the UK.

I arrived on the Thursday at around 5:30 ready to start my shift on the handpulled beers bar at 6pm not knowing what to expect really.  Luckily I already knew either to talk to or by sight a lot of the other volunteers and of course I know the Committee.  Having signed in and been given my festival staff tee shirt (a bright orange number) featuring the name of one of the sponsors Great Newsome Brewery I toddled down to the bar - a very, very long bar.  It was nice and quiet for a while so I could familiarise myself with the layout, all beers being alphabetically by brewery, it was easy enough to negotiate.  Once people started arriving, it was all about keeping an eye on who might be waving a glass in the air for a refill and not keeping people waiting too long.   I soon got into the swing of it.  The church setting was stunning as was remarked upon by a large number of the festival-goers and with the added advantage of keeping the beers nice and cool and the disadvantage of us volunteers being absolutely freezing!!

Patrick arrived at around 8pm and had a good mooch around whilst waiting for my shift to end at 9pm when I could join him for a couple of beers.  I had enjoyed a half of something that I can't remember for the life of me now whilst working and as soon as I was able to get away, I made straight for the Gravity Bar area where the stronger beers are dispensed straight from the cask.  I was aiming right for Brass Castle Brewery's Bad Kitty, a chocolate/vanilla porter that I have been hearing great things about.  I wasn't disappointed, it was wonderful. I didn't have anymore to drink after that, up for work on Friday and all that!

I also worked the 6pm to 9pm shift on Friday evening, this time on the tokens and glasses desk.  This was very hard work and I never stopped once in three hours.  I think three hours is too long for that task personally, having now experienced it.  There is a constant queue of people coming in, needing to buy tokens to exchange for beer and pay a deposit for a glass as well as the people who are bringing back tokens to cash in and wanting their deposit back on the glass they have returned.  Lots of people didn't know the drill so having to explain the system and work out how many tokens they wanted/could have and giving change because almost everyone had notes rather than pound coins was all a bit mind boggling and I really felt exhausted at 9pm.  We had started to run out of the more popular beers too so a few people, having paid to come in and then bought tokens were a bit miffed and were coming straight back to cash in their tokens in disgust.  This is a problem every year really, a successful festival obviously wants to have sold all the beers by the time it finishes but customers want to be able to come in and have a choice of all the beers in the programme.  You simply cannot have both of those things and I really don't know the solution, or even if there is one. 

Patrick's friend Paul had come along so after my shift I went to find the pair of them.  I had a few beers, chatted to a few people and generally relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the Friday evening session.  The beers I had wanted to try had all sold out but I enjoyed the ones I had instead.  By Saturday morning there was only 9 casks left out of 85 and those sold out before 1.30pm.  That is a successful festival and thanks must go to the hardworking Committee and volunteers, most of whom did much, much more than my palty two shifts.  And of course the church itself because there is no doubt at all that the surroundings made the festival much more accessible and interesting to the general public.  There were a lot of people who had never been to one of our CAMRA festivals before and if we've managed to convince a few of them that cask beer is good stuff, we'll have done our duty!

I'll leave you with a few photos from inside the church and I think you'll agree, it's beautiful, even if the photos were only taken with my phone.  (I do hope there is no one there who shouldn't be!!)

Behind the Bar

Behind the Bar



Window



Part of the ceiling







I almost forgot....

I have been given an award by the lovely Shirley over at Squirrel's Knitting Conquests.  I'm chuffed to bits Squirrel, thank you so much!

Now I have to bestow this onto 15 other bloggers so I'll have to have a think about that. 

The other 'rule' is that I have to tell you seven things about myself...hmm:

1. All I ever wanted to do when I was young was to work with animals..dogs in particular.  How the hell did I end up doing accounts in an office??
2. I don't watch many movies nowadays because I get bored too easily and pick holes in plotlines.  However I adore old musicals, especially with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.  I could watch them over and over.
3. My favourite flower is the daffodil.  I love the colour yellow and daffodils always herald the promise of milder weather and lighter nights.
4. I cannot sing a note in tune...this does not prevent me from singing along at top volume to songs I love on the radio
5. I hate ketchup, the stuff can actually make me retch if I get a whiff of it.
6. I have been a Bob Geldof fan since around 1977 and still adore him now. 
7. I hate hot weather.  It makes me lethargic and irritable.  I prefer to be colder rather than hot, at least I can put warm clothing on to remedy that. 

So, there are my seven things...I'm sure you all feel much better now you know!

Here I am

Back again.  I've just been busy with other things and not really had time or motivation to blog recently.  However I do have some news for you.  As you all know, I'm a real ale enthusiast and CAMRA member.  Well for a good few months now I've been considering becoming more active in our local branch.  There is currently a core of four or five people who do absolutely everything and I've been feeling that I wanted to help out in some capacity. So firstly, I have volunteered to work at our Annual Beer Festival which is being held this week from 19th to 21st, I'll blog about my experience on both sides of the bar at the weekend hopefully.  Secondly and the main thing, I have joined the Committee as Pubs Officer for Hull.  This actually is quite an undertaking and I'm not entirely sure I thought it through properly before volunteering!!  However, I will give it my best shot.  Basically I have to make contact with licensees of pubs in Hull and report to committee and members of any news or changes, current branch members often report any news to the pubs officer already so that will help.  I also would like to encourage some licensees to become more involved in CAMRA promotional campaigns such as the discount scheme to get more CAMRA members through their doors and other campaigns that run throughout the year.  Previously there just have not been enough people in the committee to do everything needed so I'm hoping to take some of that on.  Now this would take a very confident and self-assured person one would think eh?  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am neither of those things so this will be a challenge for me.  One I am looking forward to even though I am a little daunted by it.  Wish me luck!  The branch was also missing a proper webmaster due to the previous one having to give up due to work and family committments so Patrick has volunteered in that capacity too.  He has designed a new branch website and I'll link to that when it goes live.  It's been many hours of hard work but it's looking brilliant, we just need people to make decisions now before we can take it further.

In knitting news, my mojo went AWOL for a wee while but I've now finished the baby jacket for my work colleague.  I hope she's having a little 'un because this has turned out much smaller than I expected. 

I'm also halfway through the second of my Pretty Pink Bubbles socks.  I love these socks, the pattern is so easy and yet pretty.  The yarn which is Cygnet Wool Rich 4ply is a very cosy but I think it will felt easily so it will be hand wash with care for these.  I am also now determined to finish Maude Louise before I allow myself to cast on another thing.

I have a wonderful fella...

He bought me these lovely daffodils just to cheer me up. They smell as beautiful as they look.

Q & A

Kate at Haunted Yarns  linked me on her blog to answer 12 questions she has set for 12 bloggers (me being one of the twelve).  It's a fun idea so here are my answers.

1.Of all the projects you’ve knitted for yourself, which is the one that you wear most often?
Hmm...I actually wear most of my handknits fairly regularly but at the moment, I'm probably wearing my February Lady or Purple Greenjeans most often.  I do wear my shawls all the time in the colder months, I wear them as scarves under my coat and of course all of my hats get regular outings too :-)

2.What item would you never knit, even if you were offered a million pounds/dollars/euros to make one?
Crikey, I think I'd knit a cover for the Humber Bridge if I was offered that kind of money! Haha.  I can't think of anything I wouldn't knit for that but certainly there are things I just don't have any desire to knit.  Dishcloths/Facecloths for instance, I've done them but I really don't get all the fuss that some knitters make of them.  Another thing I really, really would never want to knit (or wear) is THESE!!

3.Do you have a favourite place to knit in your home?
In my house not particularly, though it's usually the sofa I have been known to knit in bed.  My favourite place of all is on Patrick's sofa in his house because it has a recliner so I get my legs up and I'm settled for the duration.

4.How long do you spend knitting per day?
I don't always have time to knit everyday because I work full-time.  I do find that work gets in the way of life sometimes ;-). On the evenings I can knit though, I do make the most of it.  I get cosy on the sofa once the dinner dishes are washed and any chores are done.  I rarely watch TV, so I plug a podcast or audiobook into my ears and do nothing but knit and listen until bedtime.  Some evenings that can be two or three hours if I'm lucky.

5.Do you have a favourite knitting (or other craft) magazine?
Twist Collective.  Hands down favourite, I read it from cover to cover every issue and although I've never got around to purchasing any patterns yet, I'm sure it's only a matter of time until I do because I have loads of them in my favourites on Ravelry.  I don't tend to buy knitting magazines because I think they are a bit pricey at around a fiver and I don't really have a fiver to spare very often.

6.Have you ever used knitting needles for something other than knitting?
No.  I've often been tempted to strangle people with my circulars though!

7.Have you ever – successfully – taught another person to knit?
Unfortunately not.  I've never even successfully persuaded anyone to let me try, despite many attempts with various work colleagues and friends.

8.What is your favourite flavour of crisps?
Oh it has to be Walker's Cheese and Onion...in a sandwich of nice fresh bread from the bakery.  Yum Yum.

9.Have you ever given up knitting for a long period of time (more than six months)?
Well I actually had a break of around 15 years but I have no idea why.  It wasn't intentional, I just stopped knitting.  I used to knit in the 1980's when I first had learned and because all women's magazines at that time tended to have a knitting pattern or two in them.  I had no idea of nice yarns back then and would just buy cheap acylic from our local bargain shop but I did knit some nice things, a Mohair jumper back in the day when they were ultra-fashionable which was envied by all my friends.  Then when my first son was born, I knitted clothing and toys for him up to around 1994 when my second son was born.  And then I stopped.  Like I say, I don't know why but I still feel guilty to this day that the only handknits son2 had were hand-me-downs from son1 :-(.  Then when I took up knitting again around four years ago I discovered Ravelry and my fate was sealed!

10.What makes you laugh?
I think it's easier to say what doesn't make me laugh really.  I can't bear silly 'alternative comedy' (alternative in this situation usually just means that it is comedy that isn't funny!).  I hated The Young Ones and Bottom and those kinds of things.  One thing I do laugh at which is to my discredit really, is other folks having accidents.  Now I don't mean big accidents obviously that would be horrible, but if someone trips in the street or walks into something I just cannot help myself from laughing.  Cute animals or babies doing comical things also can crack me up.

11.What is your favourite book?
I always answer this with To Kill A Mockingbird because Scout really is my favourite fictional character ever but really I love lots of books.  Little Women is another favourite.  I joined Goodreads a while back and I really enjoy browsing that and seeing other readers opinions and reviews of books I've either read or want to read.

12.Do you accurately know how much yarn you own?
I do put stash on Ravelry and connect it to projects I've knitted so I think I'm there or thereabouts with it.  I also have it all on shelves in my bedroom so I can see it.  I used to forget what I had, even though it was on Rav but seeing it all there inspires me to choose projects to match my stash.

So there we are.  Now I am supposed to choose 12 bloggers to ask my 12 questions to but I'm afraid I only have 7 so stand up and be counted

Pinkshoes
OzzyBlackbeard
Clicky Needles
Christine65
JosieKitten
Snoopydog
Squirrel

1. What is your favourite thing to knit?
2. What is your favourite yarn, fibre/colours etc to knit with?
3. Where is your favourite or dream holiday destination?
4. What is your best tried and tested recipe?
5. What are you usually doing, if anything, at the same time as you are knitting?
6. Any other hobbies or interests that you are passionate about?
7. Choose: Starter or Dessert
8. Do you have a favourite book?  If so, what and why?
9. If you could meet a famous person, either present day or from history, who would it be?
10. What is your favourite animal?
11.  What kind of music do you enjoy?
12, What makes you happy?
.