Herve's Marvellous Medicine

I've recently made 4 bottles of moonshine from a French recipe using unripen green walnuts as its key ingredient to give this aperitif its distinct flavour. When I was passed the recipe from family (an ex-nun) living in the North East of France, I was told rather firmly that it was best to make the drink by the 14th July. However, the carefully packed stash of walnuts got a bit delayed in the post from France to the UK, but fingers crossed this is not going to affect the flavour too much. The only problem now is that I have to store the bottles, give them a shake every couple of weeks to encourage the fermentation, and keep this up for an agonising 12 months until it is ready to quaff. Hopefully at the end of this process I should have some rather pucker aperitif to warm the cockles on a chilly autumnal eve...2011!

You're Awful, but I Like You...

I couldn't resist buying this little oddity from one of the shops in George Street; they sell a good selection of old fabrics, some second hand books with beautiful covers and a crop of old games. They have an old haberdashers cabinet crammed to the gills with old worn odd-bod

toys. However, when I got this home, I decided to remove it from the temporary resting place in the bedroom as I felt its sombre thousand-yard stare was not really complimentary to a good nights sleep. I can't decide if this is original or it's an old doll's head which has been carefully sewn onto a body which appears to be in some style of Dutch costume. It has super large feet, which I think is trying to denote a pair of wooden clogs! .

Through the Keyhole

Again, the sun prompted me to go on walkabout with my camera and snoop about when I should have been working. I hereby award myself 2 out of 10 for work completed or an equivalent of a D+.

View From Up in Suze's Room

Slow, slow progress in the house but the sun is out and I snuck off for a long walk along the beach to celebrate, purchasing a copy of J L Carr's 'A Month in the Country' along the way. I was in that kind of mood. Having to take the sewing machine in this car this weekend to fathom out how I sew up the heavy jute curtains with a calico lining. Unfortunately, I've noticed the jute starts to pong a bit; not in a bad way I may add, but there is a definite waft of 'eau de shredded wheat' permeating the air once the sun shines directly on the material. I should have been watching the chaps don their tweed on The Tweed Run this coming weekend with Mr Sutton, but since I've been a tad slack at the old DIY malarkey, I'm just going to have to pull my socks up, take the paint brush between the teeth, and jolly well get cracking and put all thoughts of being in Barcelona out of my head until at least Monday. Oddly enough, Mr Sutton's friends have a place in Hastings too.

La Electric Palace - La Electric Landlady

All day Saturday was spent ripping up carpets with a Stanley knife and scrubbing down floorboards here in Rosemary Cottage. Floorboards are being painted over the Easter break as I should have my first let of the year in early Summer. Just need to find more time and money to finish off the house. I needed a break from the housework, so slipped two minutes across the road to the lovely little Electric Palace Cinema for coffee and a film. Before heading home on Sunday morning, a super early 7am breakfast was had on an empty beach outside Rye. Just me watching a little group of Sandpipers making their sporadic mad dashes tight along the very edge of the shoreline in their hunt for food. I'm starting to think about a short trip somewhere in late April/May; France, Barcelona or Amsterdam, or maybe back to Copenhagen again? Just the weather to be sitting outside at the cafe of the Black Diamond Library next to the riverside.

Alfa Romeo Giulia 1968 - Faggio Vs Ochre

Currently running errands to the house in Old Town Hastings in the 'Ginger Carthorse' aka the 1968 Alfa Romeo Giulia. I was sad to see the trusty dark fig Alfa (1975) traded in for this oddity of a colour. There have been a few early mornings getting the breakdown chaps to come out to try and coax the car to start in the recent cold weather. The London climate is not quite suiting the little Italian at the moment, I'm afraid. If you see Old Ginger on the A2, don't be fooled into thinking the drivers are 70s sitcom types 'George and Mildred' at the steering wheel; give a wave as we hare past! Hats off to the lovely Titus Rowlandson, the Alfa guru based in Eye, Suffolk, for working his magic and keeping this oldie on the road. By the way, do keep a look out for Jasmin Rowlandson's ceramic work which is making regular appearances designing ceramics for interiors and galleries across the UK.

Anticipation of Spring

Still all grey skies, chill winds, weather reports threatening snow and multi-layers of clothes to keep warm. Looking for some sure fire signs of Spring. My first blog post, so I've added some pictures taken last year on holiday, courtesy of Vintage Vacations, in late Autumn where I hired an Airstream Caravan built in 1965. This is to remind me of what the sun felt like and that colour exists! Lots of longs walks in the surrounding countryside and trips to the sea with the odd stop for a cup of tea. At the moment, I've got the kettle on the go permanently to make cups of tea to keep me feeling warm. Come on sun, we know you're there...