Marlborough Playground Grafitti

Used to walk past this all the time but never really paid much attention to the site itself, wandering round it looks like it's an initiative by Bankside Open Spaces Trust to get all the local kids involved in outdoor activities, the site itself was set aside (all the way back) in 1919 by the Duchess of Marlborough purely for kids to play in (but until recently it was just a large tarmac square)...now, however -

- it's got beach volleyball -

- a very nice 5-a-side football pitch (didn't take pics but) - basketball hoops, a few objects to grind off if you like skateboarding, a very large bag stand (presumably for kickboxing) and this -

- a "Growup box" (complete with "Shutterpatch") -

- looking at the BOST website, it's been *extremely* successful (like 3000 users successful)...the Duchess would be proud... ;)

Commuting from Oxted

We're a couple of days in now, so what's it been like commuting from/to Oxted? Well, good and bad actually...my first journey there (on Monday) I managed to pick up the 1808hrs from London Bridge (a fast train, literally stopping at East Croydon and then Oxted), super quick, and the luxury of being able to then just walk for 3 minutes and be at the front door...total bliss...Tuesday morning on the journey in we lucked another fast train, but there were no seats (for me) until East Croydon where about 50% of the people on board flew off to find connections (Flyingpops was able to flash her "Baby on board" badge as soon as she got on board and a kind lady moved for her), so not quite as good in that respect, as there are always seats from Earlswood...the other bad thing is that (as we were last night) if you are late, the trains get rather far apart (like half an hour apart) instead of the excellent rush hour 10 minute gaps between trains, and unlike being able to nip to East Croydon and catch the next Redhill service out of Victoria, with Oxted trains there really is no alternative but to wait...so actual journey, largely much better, as long as we get out reasonably early...

One thing that really bothered me yesterday (and I have no idea how my sister put up with this in the middle of the summer), is that her old room (where we are lodging) has thin white curtains with no backing...at 5am when the sun came up the room got bright extremely quickly - waking me up - at home we have blackout curtains or blackout blinds on all the windows (pretty much) meaning the sun doesn't get a look in until it's allowed, but this morning I actually found myself quite enjoying slowly being woken up by the sun rather than by a blast of (far too early in the morning) pop music from Radio MurkyMercury...the other really nice thing about being based in Oxted town centre is the proximity of the shops and restaurants...we really are out in the sticks at home, having only one small shop within reasonable walking distance...I'd forgotten what it's like to have everything right on the doorstep (not had that since I lived in Dorking)...

Flyingpops is loving it, she prefers the mattress as it's slightly harder than the one at home, meaning she doesn't sink so low and moving around is easier, the bed is also smaller (and in a slightly bigger room) than at home, meaning there is a gap on her side of the bed so she can get up more easily if she needs to in the night, and (of course) we just happen to be surrounded by all the things we have bought for the baby (this is where it is all being stored while we do the decorating) - she sorted out all the baby grows twice last night, while I was watering the garden-

- which seemed to take ages, it was actually getting dark by the time I finished, but it's all in a good cause, as Kipperfrog's wedding reception is due to be held there, so we can't let it all wilt while it's our sole responsibility! ;)

Tomato plants - Hanging Basket

It's been a couple of years now since we last grew tomatoes at home, this time Flyingpops came up with a radical idea to prevent sharing at least half the crop with slugs and snails, putting the plants in hanging baskets -

- and it's been incredibly successful, taking advice from a gardener at Horley car boot sale (where we bought the plants), we planted them in the contents of a grow bag (just tore it open and popped it on top of a plastic lining), then let them grow four good sets of side branches and then simply pinched out the growing top -

- and we already have some fruit! However, I must say, the plant that we put into a regular pot seems to be much more healthy than the hanging basket ones, but I think the trade off is a good one considering the total immunity from slimy pests... ;)

More pics later when we have some juicy red coloured things to show off... ;)

Leathal Tree Care

Spotted in Redhill last night, doesn't inspire one with much confidence, does it? ;)

Welcome back to England...

Rain rain rain...bleugh...just lucky I was backing up all my photos and found some nice pictures of the garden from the summer that I had forgotten about (just to cheer us up) -


- oh and out of interest, I was rather shocked to discover that since the 5th of May (when I got the new camera) I have taken over 9000 photographs(!), that's 21.7Gb of data to burn...urk!

Ring-Necked Parakeet, Oxted

Check this out - my folks have got a couple of rare Ring-necked Parakeets that come to visit the bird feeders in the garden! Rumour has it that there were a number of escapees from Gatwick Zoo when it closed down back in 2002...I don't think anyone really expected them to survive, but they have adapted by stealing Green Woodpecker nests to hide in (not ideal for the native population, admittedly) but an amazing sight for a chilly autumn day in Surrey! ;)

Garden Makeover

Check it out! After 2 weeks of terrible mess (following the boiler installation) -

- we are finally sorted! All done for a bargain price too, cheap plants from the boot sale (special deal with one of our contacts) and bags of rose coloured stone chips from the wholesale allotment club for £2.80 each...(well done to Flyingpops who came up with the idea, and thanks to Mum for all her hard work)...! ;)

Bird Table - Thrush

Well, having a 10x zoom certainly makes taking pictures of the wildlife a bit easier! Even shot this one through the patio doors (they get a bit scared if you open the door)... ;)

Really funny thing I have noticed about the birds just lately is that they seem to have specific times (like humans eating breakfast, lunch and dinner) when they all seem to turn up, not a minute goes by without at least one of them grabbing a cheeky mouthful, and then the bird table is empty for hours on end...

I guess they eat until their little bellies are full and then just muck around for a while, not much else for them to do at this time of year! Oh and something I did forget, even though I now remember I noticed them doing last year, they are using the water garden as a bird bath *and* for drinking water...no wonder I'm having to top it up so often!

Still, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it short of putting it under chicken wire (which would rather ruin it's appearance imho)...

Tesco Water Garden - Year 2

Well, we obviously had a mild enough winter for the water garden to survive, I didn't really do anything else other than occasionally top it up, and it's all sprung back to life (in fact, it actually looks like we have a lot more sprouting up), more pics when we get some blooms... ;)

Surrey Heatwave

It is scorching here...three degrees centigrade lower than it is in in Bahrain (where today's F1 race is, yes, in the middle of the desert!), and they obviously have a lot of wind over there...not a breath in Whitebushes...anyway, good luck Hamilton! ;)

DIY - New felt on the shed roof

So after the storms ripped the felt off the shed roof (I *know* it's been ages) all my little repairs finally failed, and at some point a large sheet of felt (about 3 meters long) has managed to totally vanish from the far side of the shed (must have just blown away)! So this morning I got out with my tape measure, a brand new roll of felt, a hammer, my steps and a lot of felt tacks, measured the roof, measured the felt into sections, cut it with some kitchen scissors (which worked best in the end) and (following the instructions) started at the bottom, tacking in at even intervals, overlapping a bit on the ends and folding in neatly (like a Christmas present)...

...then the same on the other side, finishing off with a final section over the top (more tacks - nails wouldn't do the trick as the felt would just rip off at the next hint of a gust of wind)...

...and there we go, the jobs a goodun... ;)

Tesco Water Garden - a bloom!

A beautiful flower has sprung up, and I know why I didn't notice it until now also, it stays tightly scrunched up during the night and slowly opens when the sun shines upon it! ;)

Gardening etc.

Spent most of yesterday in the garden and earned a bit of a sunburned back for my trouble...Got the baby tomato plants into some bigger pots and gave them a good feed, potted up my baby basil plants, topped up the water garden, ate some strawberries, pulled up about a million weeds (all that sort of thing) so it's looking a little bit less wild out there now... ;)

Oh, the rose above (in full bloom) is the one that Rans bought for Flyingpops' birthday...beautiful! ;)

I'm looking forward to the football tonight...but got to get the shopping in first and go out for a run with Flyingpops as the Race for Life is next weekend! Busy busy!

Mmmm...Fresh, ripe, English strawberries... ;)

And all for me for my breakfast... ;)

Yes! Harvested a strawberry!

One plump, juicy, delicious, bright red strawberry was sitting waiting for me on the plant this morning...(there are about 5 others almost there)...(pic/s later, no time this morning)...

I had it in smoothie form with a banana, 2 kiwi fruit, a handful of white seedless grapes, a handfull of frozen blackberries, 2 ice cubes and a splash of grapefruit juice...yummy... ;)

Glorious sunshine!

Perfect weather for doing absolutely nothing at all... ;) Unfortunately Flyingpops' is off to Morocco with work next weekend, so it's been all suitcases and washing machines and lost accessories this morning instead of gently pottering in the garden...oh well...

Anyway, just time for a few pics I took yesterday (when I was pottering in the garden), these are the amazing flowers on the chive plants, the bees love them, it's just a constant stream of workers all day long, sometimes 3 or 4 at a time...

...and the strawberry plants are absolutely thriving (well, the big one anyway, the alpine one seems to have been finished off by the winter weather, ironically) and are covered in fruit - thank goodness...I'm sick of those pale, sour, out of season immitations that Tesco insist on shipping over from Israel...the plants that I have (must be about 40 or so), don't produce enough fruit to ever really have a bowl-full, it was just my little treat when I would be out watering to search for one that's ready to eat, but they should be perfect for grabbing one or two each morning to throw into the smoothies instead now! ;)

Tesco Water Garden update

Just watching the F1 qualifying, but thought I would post a couple of pics from the garden -

- the water garden is coming along nicely, those clay blobs do make the water murky though (i'll keep flooding it with rainwater, we'll get there), and the tiny basil seedlings are really thriving (so my experiment may be successful...) -

- (anyway, back to the racing now!)... ;)

Barbecued spare ribs with Peri Peri and Mango...

...for supper last night, prior to cooking marinade in a mixture of sliced peri peri, mango, olive oil, garlic, sticky american-style smoked BBQ sauce, a generous grind of pepper and a good few shakes of tabasco habanero sauce (omg! Tabasco now comes in gallon jugs!) for as long as you can, then stoke up the BBQ.

Meanwhile soak your sweetcorn in water (for at least ten minutes), pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and put the ribs on a baking tray, bake them for 25 minutes, turning once, then, when the BBQ coals are completely white and the heat is intense, cook 'em, turning frequently and moving them away from the worse of the flames that will spring up when the oil hits the coals...they only need a couple of minutes...

Take the sweetcorn out of the water, chop it into four bite-sized bits (cuts down on the greasy face factor), put them on a skewer and liberally cover the kernels with butter and a nice grind of seasoning, then cook on the coals...

Oh and Flyingpops had a veggie burger, but I've no idea how Mr Tesco made that...you'll have to check his blog... ;)

Evidence of Global Warming...

...(if further were required) is that I have now had my second BBQ of the year (Peri Peri pork ribs with Mango, got some new marinade from the tiny African shop in Redhil), the weather reports were quite correct, it was glorious....

- (okay, perhaps a bit too much propellant on reflection there ;)...The first one was last Saturday - 29th April - which was admittedly only marginally good enough (Flyingpop's opted to eat her kebabs in the living room), so I checked back on the blog and last year the weather didn't get good enough until the 16th of May...that's a pretty dramatic jump! So it looks like global warming is real (and making our weather better)...Damn... ;)

Homebase Garden Umbrella

Got up early today (really early) Flyingpops isn't very well at the moment and she couldn't sleep, so we were in Crawley by 8am (zzz) picking up her new DVD writer from the City Link couriers office (they tried and failed to deliver it to an empty house yesterday), we nipped into McDonalds for a naughty breakfast, then decided on a whim to check out Homebase for special "Bank Holiday" offers and came away with this -

- which really was a good deal (£68 quid down to £44), so we're enjoying the intermittent sun, I've been doing a bit of gentle gardening (just tidying up really) -

- ready (assuming the sun keeps shining) for me to dust off the BBQ, which seems to have survived the winter quite well, later on this afternoon...I've got a load of ribs and some piri piri marinade... ;)


Oh and Unazukin liked her new home btw (here we are enjoying a last beer together yesterday)...and is looking forward to her adventures with Kipperfrog... ;)