frayed at the edge

You may have thought .......

........ that the sun had gone to my head when I promised you interesting electricity boxes, but this article in an expat magazine might pique your interest

 

don't worry, I didn't take photos of all 55 boxes!  This one was outside our hotel, so I started with it

 

then just snapped ones which caught my eye.  I love the way that the fly that the chameleon has caught is on a bit sticking out the side of the main box

 

I think they got the proportions a bit wrong ....... the bee would never fit into the hive!

 

every time I see a bird of paradise flower, I start singing "may the bird of paradise fly up your nose" ......... (I can't remember any more words!)

 

how cute is this frog!

 

this one was outside a bar!

 

I am not sure if the moon is rising or setting, but wouldn't it be good to be sitting on the beach watching it

 

and to finish, some random photos.  Why did I take photos of pomegranate trees hanging over the pavement?

 

because they are, of course, for Meredithe, the famous Miss Pomegranate and Chintz (hope you are keeping better sweetie!!)

 

maybe if we win the lottery we could buy a villa, and you could all take turns coming to stay?

 

the crossed legs are a clue as to what this sign indicated

 

yes, it was the door to a very posh Ladies! 

 

it's Friday, so there has to be cake!  On Monday, our last morning, we went wild and had two cakes with our cuppa (and as usual we had half each!)  Strawberries and cream

 

and apples ....... so, healthy eating really!

 

I have a vague recollection of doing some sewing before we went away ........ I will have to get myself sorted out for Monday, when normal blogging will resume.  We are over at the flat, and it has been a bit wet and dreary, but hopefully the weather will improve and we will get out for a walk on the beach.  I hope you have a great weekend, love Anne

 

 

Some favourite restaurants .......

........ and lots of delicious food!  (if you are on a diet, I apologise if this post sends you running to the biscuit tin/secret chocolate stash!!).  On my birthday, we walked up the hill to the Earth Café for breakfast

 

it had only just opened when we were in Carvoiero last year

 

and we were delighted to see that was obviously very successful

 

my favourite breakfast, smoked salmon and scrambled egg - delicious!

 

Malcolm had mushrooms on toast, also delicious

 

we visited the café several times, sharing a scone with jam and cream

 

and when on the next visit they didn't have any scones, we shared a slice of banana cake

 

Taste has now been open for five years, and always seems to be fully booked

 

we went there for my birthday dinner, and had a table inside

 

as all the outside tables were already reserved

 

we started with the "couvert" ........ going clockwise, olives, garlic butter, tuna pate and aioli, served with warm rolls

 

a little "amuse bouche", compliments of the chef

 

Malcolm had sea bass with risotto

 

while I had duck breast with potato waffles

 

and mixed veggies

 

we bravely made room for dessert ....... and Malcolm combined his with coffee to have an affogato - a scoop of ice cream with espresso poured over it

 

there was a brief pause before my dessert arrived - accompanied by three of the waiters singing Happy Birthday!  By the time they had finished singing, the sparkler had burned out, but the candle made up for it - every time I blew it out, it relit!  Chocolate brownie with salted caramel ice cream and caramel sauce ....... you know that I only ordered it for you to see!!

 

then to finish a very special meal, we were given a glass of port!

 

another of our favourites is Jan - which is straight across the road from the hotel.  This is it basking in the sun

 

and this is it in the evening

 

I had asked the waiter to take this photo

 

then when we were there several evenings later, when the waiter saw me taking a photo of my dinner, he offered to take a photo of us

 

another delicious dinner - salmon in a butter and lemon sauce with veggies and potatoes

 

Onze is just a few yards up the hill from the hotel

 

having seen someone eating this when we arrived, Malcolm promptly ordered it - a monkfish, salmon and prawn kebab

 

while I had spinach and ricotta tortellini in a gorgonzola sauce.  I tried to get the recipe for the sauce from the waitress, but she said it was the chef's secret recipe - so I shall just have to guess at what was in it - I think there was a hint of mustard!

 

but I wouldn't want you to think that all we did was eat ........ sometimes we just had a cuppa!

 

we didn't visit this bar, despite the handsome chap pictured on the wall

 

nor did we visit the establishment that this little dog guarded, lying in the middle of the pavement in front of the door

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a last holiday report, including some very special electricity junction boxes!

Two weeks of blue skies ......

...... then we came home to rain!!  So if your weather has been as dreary as ours today, I am sure that you will enjoy all the blue sky in these photos!  This is the hotel we stayed in

 

which had a lovely pool - but I was limited to this photo, as there were other people there

 

but if you prefer the beach, you only had to come out the hotel, turn left, and it was a short walk to the sand

 

however, you won't find me on the beach, as I don't like getting sand everywhere and I don't like swimming in the sea!

 

but if you want to be energetic, you can go for a stroll along this amazing boardwalk, which meanders along the cliff top

 

although I managed to take photos with only a couple of people in them, it is a very popular walk

 

I hope the crew on this pirate ship were friendly!

 

the little dark mark on the point of the cliff is a fisherman ..... I couldn't bear to watch the fishermen as they leaned right out when they were casting their lines

 

this boat was on its way to explore the caves, which is something that I would like to do, but I get seasick!

 

the buildings are beautifully maintained ........

........ except for this one - perhaps we could buy it and I could turn it into - yes, you know I am going to say a quilting retreat!

 

can you see the seagulls on the roofline ....... they were keeping an eye on us as we ate our dinner one evening

 

there were two afternoons when a little bit of cloud appeared ........ but then that meant that we had sunsets to enjoy

 

if there are no clouds, the sky goes vaguely pink as the sun goes down, so there were lots of people taking  photos of this dramatic sky

 

I'll be back tomorrow with more photos, but for today I will say cheers ........

 

as we enjoyed a glass of wine before dinner on our first evening

 

 

 

Going for gold!

When we saw this gold pillar box, Malcolm didn't quite screech to a halt, but he did turn the car round and drive back so that I could take photos 

 

we were surprised that 4 years on, it was still gold, and hadn't returned to being red

 

we visited several National Trust properties, all of which had wonderful gardens.  Some of them had ponds with beautiful water lilies

 

all of them had apple trees

 

this chap and his dog were having a well deserved rest from looking after the garden

 

to me, this is just typically British ....... having a picnic sheltering under umbrellas.  Why let a little bit of rain spoil your fun!

 

so who is this fine fellow?

 

the sign gives a potted history of King Alfred

 

this painted bollard was in Winchester - there were several of them, featuring different artists

 

Winchester Cathedral - with some tourists to give you the scale

 

the old buildings in Winchester look good in B&W

 

this is a section of mosaic floor in the Roman Villa at Bignor.  Some other photos of the floors will feature in a later post, as the patterns are just perfect for a quilt!

 

no, not somewhere that we ate even more food ....... I took this photo for the wonderful higgledy piggledy roof

 

everywhere we went, we saw beautiful old buildings

 

and lots of gnarly old trees

 

a little fairy door

 

all you need to know about folding table napkins!

 

this little quilt may look very faded and old, but I am sure lots of you will recognise the Laura Ashley fabrics, so it was of the wrong era for this room setting

 

woohoo, I found another money pit!  This one is a recently closed hotel in the village of Selborne, which of course as always I wanted to turn into a quilting retreat!

 

it may have a different name, but this is the pet shop where Stuart got his hamster when he was about eight!

 

I wouldn't want to meet this chap when having a paddle!

 

of course there has to be an arty photo.  I just liked the look of this old watering can hanging on a wooden peg

 

and of course we have to have some animals - these are from the Home Farm at Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.  This beautiful bull was making eyes at the camera!

 

it was feeding time for the pigs

 

and they were getting very excited - there was a great deal of squealing

 

perhaps this one was thinking that if she ate up all her food ........

 

she would get to be this size (I was thinking ........ mmmmm bacon sandwiches!)

 

a rare breed calf

 

these Shetland ponies aren't big enough to see over their stable door!

 

I think the one on the right is a boy!

 

not one .......

 

......... but two beautiful donkeys

 

this is Wimpole Hall - front

 

and back

 

normal blogging will resume on Monday - but there will be the odd holiday photo sneaking in.  And so to the Friday cake.  This afternoon, we went to Miele, where we had half each of a raspberry brownie

 

and a tarte au citron

 

as always, we are hoping to go for a walk on the beach tomorrow, and we may also visit some of the town's heritage buildings, which are open to the public this weekend.  Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a good weekend, love Anne

 

A tale of two houses

Although it is officially known as New Alresford, it is just call Alresford by the locals (it's pronounced Allsford).  This looks slightly hazy as it was taken through the car windscreen

 

we parked in the town, and walked up the hill to the street we lived in.  When we moved in, the houses were newly built, with bare front gardens

 

this was our house.  It hasn't change much ....... there is a new front door, and the garden has been altered - they have dug up my lovely lawn!

 

this bookshop looked as old and dilapidated 30 years ago ....... and I think it is still selling some of the same books!

 

the Swan Hotel, where for some weeks I went with my two neighbours Jo and Jane, for a restorative glass of wine after we had been at a keep fit class.  Why do I mention this?   Because we passed the end of our street to walk down into town to the hotel.  We probably expended more energy walking to and from the hotel than we did in the exercise class!

 

this used to be the Post Office.  At that time, we had two dogs, and one of them, the spaniel Honey, often went for a walk to town with me.  She knew all the shops that she was allowed to go into ........ some of them may have had "no dogs" signs, but that was generally disregarded.  She didn't like going into the chemist shop, and we eventually decided that it was because she mistook the pharmacist in his white coat for the vet!  She also growled somewhat threateningly at a man who dared to stand next to me in the Library - she was very protective of me (we won't mention the time she nearly got through the dog guard in the car to attack a policeman who had leant on the car while explaining to me that there was a diversion in operation!)

 

I used to spend many a happy Thursday morning at the WI market which was held in the Community Centre, usually going home with another plant for the garden, bought from a very knowledgeable chap who sold the plants very cheaply (and cake may have been purchased as well)

 

I don't think I was ever in this pub, but Malcolm says that I was!

 

one of several smart new shops

 

and I think you can guess what this one sells

 

lots of the houses had amazing hanging baskets

 

this house is called The Fulling Mill.  The stream that was used to full the woollen cloth runs underneath the house.  The main drawback with the house if that everyone stops to take photos, but then the advantage is that from the windows you can see .......

 

......... swans

 

......... cygnets

 

........ and ducks

 

there are so many wonderful houses .......

 

........ that I bought a lottery ticket, in the hope of buying one

 

but as you can see from this photo of a house in the estate agents' window, I would need to win an awful lot! (click on the photo to enlarge it if you can't read the price in the bottom right hand corner)

 

this used to be a little restaurant, where I briefly had a part-time job ........ I had been seduced by some beautiful (very expensive) cushions in the posh interior design shop, and realised that I had better earn some money to replace what I had spent, or we would have been eating beans on toast for the rest of the month!

 

I was amazed to see that this little children's clothes shop was still going strong - I had a part-time job there as well, but I think I spent most of my wages on posh clothes for Stuart (not that long ago he confessed that he didn't like the beautiful French clothes, he would rather have had a track suit!)

 

so, talking of Stuart, this is the first school he went to in Alresford

 

he was there for a year, before he moved up to ........

 

the Junior School

 

fortunately the pupils hadn't yet returned from the summer holidays, so I was able to sneak in to take photos

 

when we left Hampshire and drove to Cambridgeshire, we stopped at the school Stuart went to.  Reading the sign, it appears to have gone somewhat upmarket

 

but the buildings looked the same!

 

and so on to East Hatley, which consists of one street

 

how inconsiderate of the present owners of our house to have such a high hedge, so I couldn't get a better photo as we drove slowly past

 

there is slightly more in neighbouring Hatley St George ........ but the Post Office is only open a couple of mornings each week

 

I used to go to a regular coffee morning in the village hall.  We would end the morning with a little raffle - I think most of the prizes were what had been won last time, and had then been put in the next one!

 

the sign may say village, but at most it is a hamlet

 

there hasn't been much food on the blog this week, so let's put that right.  There were several new cafes/coffee shops in Alresford, and we chose this one to have lunch in

 

I knew we had picked a good one when my tea arrived

 

we had asked for one sandwich to share ...... and were delighted when we were given a plate each, with our own little cup of crisps and some salad

 

when we were in Winchester, we popped into a café next to the Guildhall for a cuppa.  I didn't take a photo of the café, and the Guildhall is so big I had meant to cross the road to take a photo, but forgot.  So here is a photo of its grand entrance

 

we were only going to have a cuppa, but when Malcolm went up to the counter to order, he saw that they had a special offer on cheese scones with chutney, so of course we had to share one

 

the Long Barn is just outside Alresford.  We were going to sit outside for lunch, but it was threatening to rain, so we sat inside which was the right choice as there was a short, very heavy shower (I think we had a shower one other day, but other than that the weather was glorious)

 

Malcolm had mushrooms in a creamy sauce on toasted ciabatta, topped with bacon

 

I had mascarpone and blueberry pancakes, also with bacon.  Malcolm thought bacon with fruity pancakes was strange, but it was delicious.  I shall need to recreate this!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with a last report on our holiday (and maybe even a Friday cake!)

 

 

 

The Coach House

It was just by chance that we had picked up a Farm Stay brochure way back in March, in the Tourist Information office in Berwick.  I had suggested that we should go to Hampshire to celebrate our anniversary, and looking through the brochure, I found the Coach House.  A few clicks of the mouse later, it was booked

 

going in through the front door, there was a welcoming hall, with stairs to the accommodation on the first floor

 

the lounge was comfortably furnished

 

with a tv and dvd for evening entertainment

 

the kitchen was really well equipped with crockery and cutlery

 

although fortunately we didn't have to cook on the range!

 

the bedroom had a very comfortable bed - it can spoil a holiday if you get a nasty saggy uncomfortable bed!

 

next to the Coach House is the much bigger Granary

 

and this is the beautiful farmhouse, where our delightful hosts Jean and Robert live

 

they made us very welcome - when we arrived, the table was laid ready for an afternoon cuppa, and they gave us a lovely box of chocolates for our anniversary

 

first thing one morning, I ran outside (in my nightie!) to capture this hot air balloon

 

but when another one went over on our last morning, I contented myself with a photo taken through the window!

 

a not very informative signpost!

 

the view from the lounge

 

imagine how excited I was to see this enormous heron sitting beside the pool!

 

there were quite a lot of these stone mushrooms dotted around the place, but Malcolm refused to lift them into the car boot for me!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of photos of Alresford, the town we lived in.

A last round up of the holidays

 We start with some night time photos of the pool and the villa

 

then we have sunrise (I hope nobody saw me out in the garden in my nightie taking these photos!!)

 

and a stunning sunset

 

wonderful fruit and veg at the Sunday market

 

and of course we have to have some arty photos - lovely rusty wire on a fence, and an electrical gubbins

 

some little collections of bits and bobs I picked up from round the villa.  There were dozens of snail shells, all slightly different

 

would you like some more delicious food to finish?  We go to il giardino every year, and I always have the same starter, carpaccio of beef with rocket and Parmesan.  Malcolm decided he would have that as well

 

then I always have the rack of lamb

 

Malcolm had pork

 

Malcolm had a coffee to finish ....... and some of my delicious dessert (the waiter asked if he should bring two spoons!) ...... raspberry mousse, which had a lemon mouse in the middle, topped with raspberry sauce

 

all washed down with an excellent bottle of wine

 

I hope you have enjoyed our holiday photos!  I'll be back on Monday with some sewing ....... so have a good weekend, and I'll see you then.  Love Anne

Boats big and small

Every year on holiday, Malcolm dreams of setting sail (just keep dreaming dear!), perhaps in a boat like this

 

or like this

 

when we had a stroll round the marina he was smitten with this one

 

but I suggested this fixer-upper might be more in his price range

 

or maybe even this one!

 

I took a photo of this boat two years ago, hoping that it was an omen for the upcoming independence referendum ........ and of course it was, as a majority of us decided that we were indeed better together

 

ok, I admit it, these two men were so casual as they zipped in to the quayside that I wanted them to fall out of the boat!

  

 

I wouldn't mind if we had a boat and just kept it moored in this lovely setting

 

one of these beauties would do - especially if it came complete with handsome young crewmen, in smart white uniforms, to pour me a glass of perfectly chilled wine, and cook me delightful meals

 

but Malcolm would probably sail off, and leave me with this one (which has been sitting in a corner of the marina for years!)

 

Out and about

One of our favourite places for a stroll is the Pine Walk in Puerto Pollensa.  Over the years I have taken several photos of this leaning tree, always complaining about the litter bin which spoiled the composition ......... but this year, there was also an ugly concrete support under the tree, a couple sitting on the bench,and a woman just visible in front of them!

 

this daft dog was trying to carry off this little buoy - but it was tethered to the seabed!

 

this one was keeping an eye on diners in a coffee shop, hoping for a titbit 

 

and this one was just looking for love!

 

I don't think this stump of an olive tree will ever rot away - it hasn't changed in the last ten years!

 

I think we have only once seen water flowing through the Roman Bridge

 

I think the sign looks like a cross between a fish and a duck ........ but this new shop sells salt and vinegar!!

 

these yellow post boxes don't have the same appeal as our red ones

 

even if they look out to sea

 

or look good beside a collection of bikes

 

this is a very expensive car, but that hasn't stopped the owner having a cute sheep added to it!

 

even on holiday I can find a tractor .......

 

....... or two

 

and a big machine!

 

these weirdly attired people seemed to be shooting a film, which appeared to be set in Jamaica.  They probably thought we were watching because we were captivated by their youthful goods looks, but we were just laughing at how ridiculous they looked - the chap on the left had a wardrobe malfunction when his dungarees fell down, exposing his pants!!  (sorry girls, I didn't capture that!)

 

the name of this coffee shop, Manzanas y Peras, translates as Apples and Pears ....... but you have to be British to know that is rhyming slang for stairs - the tables are set out on a series of steps (credit to Malcolm for spotting that!)

 

I can't really think of anything to say about this photo - it just appealed to my quirky sense of humour

 

are you exhausted by all that sightseeing - then join us for a delicious ice cream to recover (Malcolm had already made inroads into his before I managed to take the photo, claiming that it was melting!).  Mine was mango on the bottom and jaffa cake on the top, and Malcolm's was coconut on the bottom and caramel on the top

 

 

Multi-cultural cuisine!

We found this new tapas restaurant in Puerto Pollensa

 

it is very stylish

 

and if I had a big enough space on the wall, I would make a clock like this

 

there is a bright covered courtyard

 

given how much I like to eat, I must be the very best person in the world!

 

eat, drink, sleep, repeat ........ good advice

 

but can you guess from the menu what we ate on our first visit?

 

yes, we had the full Scottish breakfast, which was very stylishly presented

 

when I lifted the lid on my mug of tea, I found a strainer filled with tea leaves, which lifted out - the lid turned over then to become a dish to put the strainer on 

 

we did go back to have a Spanish meal 

 

a delicious selection of tapas, with empenadas, chicken skewers and calamari in panko breadcrumbs

 

spicy patatas bravas

 

and superb albondigas 

 

of course we also ate Italian, visiting our favourite pizza restaurant.  Malcolm had ham and mushroom, topped with an egg

 

and I had ham and pineapple

 

and just looked at the view!!

 

and a little taste of Chinese - beef chop suey and chicken with almonds

 

and another good view from the restaurant

 

and now for something completely different (yes, I stole that from Monty Python) ....... the Great British Sewing Bee started again last night.  There is a new judge called Esme ....... she may be tiny, but she has a big personality and was very entertaining

 

and the delicious, delectable Patrick is as gorgeous as ever ....... you could just drown in his big brown eyes!!  (oh, the sewing was good too).