Just Humans Being...

We arrived home late last night & it's been a successful trip, although there's no news on my Uncle - as he's still in the coroner's hands... We enjoyed more FOOD A plate of vegetables & a yorkshire pudding for £4.25 at The Trentham Hotel. We visit there every time we go up... Flowers for FRIENDS, whose Son died on New Years Day. We haven't seen them for over 10 years & we used to care for Nick, when we both worked for Social Services. He was 31 years old & had a condition called Lowe Syndrome. His funeral took place while we were in France, so we're glad we got a chance to spend some time with his parents - who are lovely folks! Two days after this building caught FIRE & they're still putting out the flames! We went to have a look at this cook shop  yesterday (on the right) & spent well over an hour chatting & eating in the tea room  above... It was real treat! Sime couldn't resist these Staffordshire Oatcakes filled wi

We're staying in Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is just a mile or so from Stoke & yesterday morning - we decided to have our walk & visit the town centre (where we haven't been for over 9 years). On leaving the hotel, we saw that a building across the road was on fire...  So we went to investigate. The whole area was cordoned off - with lots of fire fighters & police in attendance. Nobody knew how it started, but it was in the store room above a shop & it had been blazing for around 5 hours when we got there... And what was supposed to be a quick walk & bite to eat, turned into a few hours chatting with locals... Because like Stoke, the folks are really open & love to talk - there was the Police Officer who told us all about her holidays in Cornwall, the elderly woman who told us all about her cat, Herbie, her Husband, Leonard, how she loves her food, the best places to eat & what she was eating for breakfast - when she spotted the "acrid sm

We both felt weary when the alarm sounded at 7am, but thought that a quick walk would bring us round and it did just that.  The sun was shining and it felt good to have some warmth on our faces after all of the biting cold we've endured since our return from France. The hedgerows are waking up from their winter slumber and the first crisp nettles are now evident. For those of you unfamiliar with the stinging nettle, it is a miraculous plant. Imported into Britain by the Romans (what did they ever do for us?), as a medicinal crop, this prolific weed is not only nutritious, but it's sting has been proven to be beneficial to those suffering from the debilitating effects of arthritis.Now is the time we gather nettles and add them to our home brewed beer. We have been brewing ale for many years and love to experiment with different edible hedgerow plants. Nettles add a wonderful earthy flavour to beer and are full of minerals such as magnesium and potassium. For a truly rustic

We're heading North tomorrow for a few days.  Bebe needs our assistance with a few things & we heard today that my Uncle has died - who we were going to be visiting while there.  I feel bad that we didn't speak to him as often as we should have & that he died on his own, though it would have been the way he wanted it - at home, in his sleep & without any fuss! He lived in the same house for over 75 years, with his parents until they died back in the 70s & he was quite a character - had lots of friends, but never wanted to settle down.  His next-of-kin is my estranged Mother - who'll be coming over from her home in the states, so difficult times ahead... Anyway, on a lighter note - here's some photos from yesterday:  Portmellon Bay from one of the properties we look after. (My camera phone always makes grass seem very green) After work, it was a quick bite to eat & then out to see Sime playing with his band again... Sound check done, then time t

We've had our work cut out today... But at least the views made up for it. A perfect spot for taking a break... A milder, brighter day. We were very tired... But still managed to laugh - even though we worked until 8pm... And drove through thick fog to get home! An unusually long day for us at this time of year.   2 more full house cleans tomorrow... And another gig for Sime's band tomorrow night! We've just had dinner at 11pm - which is crazy, but my tooth has calmed down now, so I'm very happy! Looking forward to getting into bed... Kay :)

Woke up this morning with toothache... I knew it was coming, as the tooth had cracked while we were in France. Had the dreaded emergency treatment this afternoon (a filling) & am now in more pain! Luckily, I've found some homeopathic remedies in our bathroom cabinet, which a friend gave to Sime last Summer after having his 4th tooth extracted... I've taken one dose of Arnica & have some Hyper & Cal to take too. Just hope that the pain will have calmed by tomorrow! I find the best way to cope with pain like toothache is to just keep busy - this morning there was lots of paperwork to sort through, then I decided to make: bread, rolls, a brown lentil cottage pie & a big pan of vegetable soup. We also travelled down the lane again for our daily walk - this is the view 10 minutes from the house... The beach is getting nearer...  The field has a footpath - which is the short cut to the beach, but we like going along the lane instead. Will take some photos of the l

It's half term for the school children of the UK this week. This means lots of families head to Cornwall for a holiday & make lots of work for us! Of course this is great for our own holiday fund - but doesn't half interfere with our leisure time... We had an evening out in our newly opened village pub on Sunday, which was very nice (though we ended up staying much longer than planned & spending more money than we anticipated), so it was a struggle to get up yesterday - which really annoys me, because I like to be organised.  Anyway, we made up for it today - up early, got lots done & while the car was having a light fixed at the garage (which amazingly, they did free of charge - as we're regular customers!), we had time to have a cuppa at  The Eden Project Cafe , which opened in St Austell last week & is very nice - they have local vegetables for sale, a book swap scheme & a great looking menu with veggie & vegan choices too, so we were impressed!