In The Pink

Image Credit: Brian Davis - Astronomy Picture of the Day I am a bit of a star gazer and so frequently check out NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day site and look what I found! How beautiful is that! I have a fancy to get into a bit of space photography but need a bit more kit to be able to get stuff like this, it is do-able though! (Family and Friends - Watch my Wishlist!)

I post quite a lot of music on this blog and while I think I have great taste in music I also know that not everyone would agree BUT if you only do one thing ever for me listen to this track, I swear its groove personified! You'll love it!

I am a big fan of poetry, both writing and reading, and given my recent blue obscession thought I would seek out a blue poem. Poetry is very subjective and often when I go searching for a new verse it takes me ages to find something that strikes a chord, not so tonight. On my second search I came across this lovely little piece! (Although I have to disagree with him slightly, for me roses yellow are best.) Blue Roses - Rudyard Kipling Roses red and roses white Plucked I for my love's delight. She would none of all my posies Bade me gather her blue roses. Half the world I wandered through, Seeking where such flowers grew. Half the world unto my quest Answered me with laugh and jest. Home I came at wintertide, But my silly love had died Seeking with her latest breath Roses from the arms of Death. It may be beyond the grave She shall find what she would have. Mine was but an idle quest  Roses white and red are best! ...

My lovely man bought me a Kindle for Christmas and collaberated with my parents so I also got a lovely case and light for it. It is an amazing gift and is supporting my ever growing thirst for reading. It has also made downloading books a little addictive! Anyway, another thing I have been doing since having it is reading several books at once which is a new thing for me but something I find more achievable with the Kindle. I am currently reading 6 books. If you are interested in what I am reading there is a list on the left hand side of this blog, and lower down there are lists of what I have read for the past three years. This evening, thanks to my Kindle case and light, I was able to enjoy a candle lit bath with my Kindle. My chosen book was A Great and Terrible King, by Marc Morris, which is about King Edward I. He is a character I became interested in having recently read a historical novel about Robert the Bruce (another interesting character.). I read twice as many books l...

Ah that is so much better! I came onto my blog today and immediately could not stand to look at the orange any longer! Not sure why!! But cold and cooling has been my theme for a few weeks now. I like being cool and having fresh air about and this blue blog is working for me! I really thought I had changed this blog look for the last time, and I think the orange lasted the longest, but they say a change is as good as a rest!! Atleast I managed to change my blog this time without making a complete mess that takes hours to sort out! Ok, I am feeling very bloggy but there are pups to walk and shopping to do so I will scoot for now.

I thought I had better get a post in before January dissappears! I am finding it hard to keep track of what month it is at the moment. Life has been very busy and I had a re-visit from the migraine demon over the holidays which really changed my perception of Christmas and New Year, in a way they kind of didn't happen. Don't get me wrong I had a good time and like all migraine sufferers made sure I had me some fun the moment the pain, nausea and lethargy stopped until the next outbreak, but I still don't really feel like Christmas and New Year have passed. I was not even sad when the decorations came down, infact the room looked, clear, uncluttered and lovely! What's that about!!! Anyway, I am really starting to feel back on track this past week having had a good mental chat with myself about letting things get on top of me which is generally when the MGB's (migraine bouts) tend to strike. I do have an appointment at the Migraine clinic in February and am inte...

Image Credit: The Wizards Wireless

As all pet owners will know this is not a great time of year for animals; it would be but 'the powers that be' do insist on selling small explosives to the public! I have to say it has not been too bad around here this year and thankfully although our dogs are not completely happy with the firework associated noises they do not get really distressed. We are however, planning a pet friendly fire works night and celebrating at home. We have been out to displays in recent years which I love doing but this year we are staying in and having baked potatoes and tomato soup. We are also planning to watch V is for Vendetta which is such a wonderful film in the spirit of rebellion and revolution, and the evening will culminate with sparklers in the back garden! I figure that if we leave the dogs in the house with the curtains closed they will be unaware of our small explosive celebration but we still get to light something! Does anyone still have children coming round with a home mad...

Well I have mentioned a time or two before that is has been a slow blogging year for me, all for good reasons, but since term started again there has been even less time! I am back to thinking about lots of potential posts but not having the energy or time to create them! Teaching is so much fun, I am currently doing pests and diseases, woodland management, business management, forest and woodland skills, investigative project, commercial experience, tree biology, taxonomy, soil science and woodland ecology...phew! The rest of my time is made up of dog walking, house keeping, sleeping and devouring the current series of books I am reading: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin (On TV as Game of Thrones). His books are those odd ones you come across that mean so much you cannot wait to finish them but dread them ending! The first book was just shy of 800 pages, the second marginally longer, I am on the third and there are 5 in total! So fellow bloggers my plan for this eveni...

We had a fabulous holiday in Wales again this year. I was reading a historical novel while we were away which had some Welsh history in it which really brought the countryside alive for me and made the trip we made to Caernarfon Castle  much more meaningful too. Here is a selection of our snaps taken at the tent, the castle and on the many beautiful walks we did. Its nice to know what that amazing place name means! I still cannot say it in Welsh but Mr Dancin can! The mid point of a great walk on Anglesey and a chance for the dogs to have a swim! A huge Crab Apple on the way to Aber Falls. Aber Falls. A farmer with a sense of humour! Storm front moves in! The beautiful Snowdon seen from a third of the way up Moel Hebog. The view from Moel Hebog summit. Beddgelert Woods. Fun back at base. Taking a moment. Campfires in the evening. Aberglaslyn Pass. Taking a dip. Views from Aberglaslyn Pass. Views from Aberglaslyn Pass. Views from Ab...

I got this made before we went on holiday although I did not have time to put the picture up. 6 jars and one tub in total. Not bad for my first attempt! (Friends and family be warned, I will be bringing some with me on any visits planned soon.)

We are now on the final count down to our summer holiday! Yey!!!!! I have been starting to collect up the camping gear and the camping lists are printed and updated. There are a lot of little items we do not want to forget but have done on many previous holidays. Oddly enough the most common forgotten item is sheets for the airbed! We are going to Wales again this year to stay on a friends farm in Snowdonia so I have been looking through our photos from the last visit there two years ago and have been remembering the amazing walks we did and what a great time we had. Here is a small photographic summary which you can click to enlarge. I can't wait to get there and get the tent up and the camp fire lit! I have to say Scotland is my favourite holiday destination and when we don't go there for our summer holiday we are both always a little sad that we will not be exploring a new area of Scotland, but Wales is beautiful and does not have midges!

Well the apples are drained and have yielded about 6 litres of fluid which smells and tastes lovely, I am actually loathed to add sugar to it! Here is is: I tried to take a few artistic shots of the tubs it is currently in and failed miserably so thought I would just go with a close up of one showing the beautiful colour. It's in plastic containers at the moment hence appearing cloudy. I may experiment with some of it and try and come up with a few soft drinks as it really does have the most lovely flavour as it is.

In addition to the farmers being out harvesting their crops it is time again to pick the crab apples off the tree. The past few years we have been able to leave them until we return from holiday but the long Spring and Summer seem to have caused them to ripen early and I did not want to risk loosing the fruit. So yesterday I cut 12 lbs of apples from our lovely, small John Downie. The apples are currently stewed and draining in the kitchen and the smell is wonderful. I am making Crab Apple Jelly this year although on the suggestion of my Mum will be trying Crab Apple Wine next year which sounds lovely. I have found a couple of recipes for it here  and here . I have not made either Crab Apple Jelly or Wine before although from the looks of it the wine will be more of a challenge but I look forward to having a go and enjoying the results the year after.

It has been a very long week this week and so I am starting my Saturday in the style of days gone by. I am sat on the couch, wearing my goony (dressing gown) and drinking tea. The only thing that is missing is something cool on the TV! I used to love Saturday morning TV as a small child. We would watch The Flashing Blade, Champion the Wonderhorse, the Six Million Dollar Man, the Monkeys and the Banana Splits. I know nowadays there are lots of great shows for kids on the TV, and dedicated channels for them, but I don't think they have the appeal that some of my childhood favourites did. I have recently been thinking about Monkey, which was another childhood favourite, and The Waltons which I loved and also associate with the weekend after it was last repeated on Sunday mornings. I even looked at the box set of The Waltons on amazon but that show has kept its value a little too well! I looked out some images of the shows I have mentioned to remind you (in case you needed it) ...

I went to the library in my local town today to return some books and get some new ones out. I tend to get 4-5 out in one go, dependant on what catches my eye, but I always return them as I read them so that someone else has the chance to take them out and also for the experience of visiting. It is such a peaceful and quiet place and despite my recent decision to get a Kindle at some point I will never loose my love of being around books. I like to wonder round and view the shelves, searching for a title or cover that attracts me, and I came away today with some great books. I got the next Giles Brandreth mystery book featuring Oscar Wilde, and two books by Ian Mortimer AKA James Forrester, centred around the Middle Ages which is a favourite historical period of mine. Its an odd time. I always fantasise myself living happily in that period given the simplicity of life but from reading about it know that the reality was quite a different story and I would have been lucky to surv...

Well as the year continues its still very busy but exciting! And I have been managing to keep up on my reading which is great. I joined the public library recently and have been raiding their shelves, and have also downloaded the Kindle software onto my PC to make the most of the free books. The experience has really sold Kindle devices to me, having originally thought they were not for me, my favourite tools being the immediate access to books and more impressively the dictionary tool. Often when I am reading I come across a word I do not know the meaning of and as it is not always practicable to grab the dictionary every time to look it up I often move on, missing some of the meaning of the material I am reading. I now at the click of a button can look up a word and swiftly move on. I have especially noticed the benefit of this while recently reading some older literature such as my current book The Tales of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle. Anyway, the Kindle ...

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Hello Blog! Compared to my output last year I have been pretty absent from the blogging world this year but all for good reasons. Things have really kicked off for me personally with my photographic hobby, and professionally with work abroad and a change in career paths. However one of my favourite things about blogging is creating a record of just what you have been up to in the time you have which flies by so quickly. Someone told me the other day that the older you get the quicker the time flies by which is a little worrying however I have found that when I record my events for future reflection it does remind me that I have actually been achieving a lot, so although my perception of time is that it flies by in the blink of an eye, I know I have used some of the time wisely, by my standards. So here I am today, taking note of the of the events of the year. Its half term at the moment so I am not working at the college this week although I am using the time to over prepare for th...