Rose Petal Jam

Recipe from that handy pocket sized book Food For Free: Wild dog Rose petals, caster sugar, water, lemon and orange juice and that's just about it... Will have a tasting when Iv'e made some scones and bought some clotted cream.

Many Tears Animal Rescue (MTAR)

I've just started collecting used postage stamps for Many Tears Animal Rescue based in South Wales, here they take in and re-home primarily ex-breeding dogs who are no longer required; those on "death row" in the pounds and those whose owners are no longer able to keep them. MTAR also have many foster homes set up all over the country. Collecting used stamps is a simple and easy way to help raise much needed funds for the rescue. If anyone wants to help can you email me for my address and I will send them on for you or you can acquire the co-ordinators address from the website www.manytears.co.uk. If you have the time take a look around the website as there are a number of different ingenious ways you can help especially if you like knitting;-).

Here is a photo of how the stamps should be collected with a half inch border around the stamp. Please don't peel or steam the stamps off the envelope as they are worth less this way especially if they are damaged. UK stamps are good but foreign stamps are worth more.......

Wildlife At The Tranquil Otter

With key in hand Phil and myself set out to locate the Tranquil Otters bird hide somewhere along the perimeter of the Lough. It was quite a nice snug little place, with leather settee, chairs,binoculars and a visitor book. I like this photo of Phil coming over all twittery;-D.

Now in order to see stuff you probably have to hang around for quite a while and be prepared to visit at key times of the day. It was suggested dawn for the kingfisher so of course we

didn't see them. We did spot what looked like a kingfisher perch and a little twiggy nest in the water.

Think this may be a coot? One was sitting on the nest then climbed off swam into the reeds and like clockwork another swam over to sit on the nest. What great parents

He's behind you Phil......

Finally Phil got a great shot of the male chaffinch

The Tranquil Otter

Just over two months ago I decided to book a short break to the Tranquil Otter, it being a favourite place with Harry Lab and my brother Michael. Last time Harry went to the Tranquil Otter with my parents and Mick, to my utter astonishment Harry sulked the whole day when he came back to us a week later. Blimey I thought it must be good. As you can see its pretty special...

Little more than a couple of days after booking the holiday Harry unexpectedly fell ill again with his arthritic joints, sadly a return to this quiet idyll was not to be. We nearly didn't come, it was a effort to get motivated enough to pack our stuff. In the end we decided it better to come and try to relax than mope about our home which was now so quiet a place.

Upon arriving at the Tranquil Otter lodge we immediately felt at ease, I hadn't finished looking around the place when Phil decided to get his shorts on and jumped into the hot tub.

Our own little boat....

It probably took half an hour to walk around the perimeter of lake Lough which we did every day about eight o-clock, this is the view across the lake with our lodge in the distance.

The owners of the Tranquil Otter wrote in the information booklet that their own dog Leah might pay us a visit from time to time. Here's our Mick fussing Leah.

With bird feeders in place did we see any wildlife other than Leah? Well here's a clue....

Crikey it feels like a gold fish bowl with these pesky patio door peckers, more next time.

Harry 20.09.1999 - 31.05.2011

I wasn't going to write this blog because the emotional parting from my beautiful, gentle and faithful companion Harry Labrador has been so painful and personal to Phil and myself... Even as the days go by it is difficult to speak about him without getting upset. All Harry's extended family my brother mum and dad feel the hole that he has left in our lives. However it feels.... not right at all for me to continue to blog until I acknowledge, if only to myself that he is gone. This portrait picture is one of my favourites and was used on my very first blog where I spoke of my great love for him.

Black Pearl Chilli

Black Pearl Chilli, wow its a bit of a looker with its vibrant purple flowers and glossy dark green to black leaves. Definitely one of my all time favourite plants sown from seed....

Dandelion Wine

Yarrow at Oakmoon studio posted a recipe for Dandelion wine which I couldn't resist making once I'd seen it. Those who read my blog will know that I've made sloe gin, elderberry and blackberry wine before, so far elderflower champagne comes top as the best tipple. Once the idea was in my head that was it .... The next day I went to a field near where I work with bucket in hand to pick 4/5 pints worth, pretty easy really as these weedy plants are so abundant. Picking the green bits off once I got them home was another matter it took me about an hour and a half and I ended up with very orange sticky fingers;-(. As you can see the juice is quite orange resembling wee wee a bit. By the way I can confirm its a myth about the bed wetting