Monday 25 May 2015

Blue and Green should never be seen...

... of course they should; especially in a bluebell wood in May!

Bank Holiday Weekend and Jean-Luc and I headed off to one of our favourite places for a walk.
Imagine our delight to find the woods were full of bluebells.
The scent was delicious.




 The camera doesn't do justice to the colour - a dusty, deep blue that verges on violet set against the most vibrant spring greens all set in dappled light.
Hmm I feel quilt inspiration coming on. :-)


 We wandered off our usual route and went exploring and found this lovely beach with a very picturesque stream and bridge running down into it.


We walked through beautiful spring woods and picnicked by the side of the reservoir; sadly the camera ran out of battery so we only have a few pictures of a glorious day.


We followed the streams from the reservoir and came to the river that runs through the wood; it wends it way through sedimentary rocks and boulders creating channels and mini rapids and pebble beaches.
Beautiful, serene and completely enchanting.
 





Sunday 24 May 2015

Recycling

Jean-Luc has been busy recycling over the last few weekends.
It started when he went to mow the lawn at the Bank Holiday weekend at the beginning of May; only to find that the shed was leaning so much that he could barely get the door open far enough to reach the rake but definitely not the lawn mower.  


The shed had been engaged in a slow collapse ever since we moved in and had spent most of its life with us wrapped up in blue tarpaulin in an attempt to keep the rain off.
Jean-Luc decided its time was up and so down it came.



We piled the wood in the yard and then Jean-Luc had a brain wave.
'You know I was going to use pallets to build that compost heap?  Well that wood's only rotten at the ends so I'll use that.'... and so he did.

After some careful measuring and work with the jigsaw there was a back, sides and centre wall.



It was cuprinoled and the lids were added.
The little pegs you can see drying inside are to hold the slats that make up the front in place.

Jean-Luc then felted the lids.

Notice how the lids slope from front to back to shed rain off the lawn - brilliant.

And here's the finished bin -  the pegs hold in the front slats that are movable to enable me to add material without taking the lids off.  When the time comes for turning or emptying I can easily remove the front and top to get at the compost.
Simples.


The much smaller pile of waste wood.
It's amazing what you can do with a tape measure, a saw, some nails, screwdriver, bolts and a very able and talented man.
Jean-Luc - carpenter and wonderful husband-type guy.

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Hereagain, Goneagain, Backagain

Well that was a bit of an unintended break!
I suddenly found myself without any inspiration to write.
And then I woke up this morning and though ' Oh for goodness sake, pull yourself together and get on with it'; so I have.

In the Interregnum Jean- Luc and I took a much needed holiday.  After a winter of what seemed continuous virus's plaguing us and a very hard time at work for Jean-Luc, we decided to set off for warmer climes.

We went here.....
 This is Mahe, the largest island of the Seychelles.  Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it.
Granite islands covered with rain forest, ringed with palm fringed white coral beaches and turquoise seas.
I say turquoise, actually it's every colour of blue and green you could imagine.

 Massive granite mountains sheltering outcrops of rainforest.

 Lush rain forest full of bamboo stands, lianas, vines and exotically coloured flowers.

Views that would make the gods of Olympus weep with joy.

 Sunsets of sheer perfection.
This is taken from a bar that overlooks Beau Vallon beach.  We would go and drink beer here most evenings just to watch the sun set.  The sheer magic of watching the sky catch fire over a silver sea and then slowly fade to indigo night was breath taking.

Beau Vallon beach market.
The Seychelles has some of the most delicious food you will ever taste.  Fishing is a massively important trade here and we often bought dinner from the beach stands of freshly caught and cooked fish and home made fruit juices; along with eye watering chilli sauces and wonderful chutneys.

We came back refreshed and relaxed; the bronchitis which had been plaguing me disappeared by our second day in the warm, soft air and our frazzled nerves were healed by two weeks of life at a much slower pace.  I learnt the Seychelloise saunter - vital in a place of over 90% humidity and over 30 degrees C temperature.  We also learnt you can never drink enough water and that wet flannels kept in the fridge overnight are the greatest luxury after a walk in the rain forest.

More of this beautiful place later .... interspersed with more everyday happenings.