Off to The Smoke

We're off to London Town for the weekend woohoo!  I am really excited, this is the first time we have  been for a couple of years as I just haven't been well enough to tackle it.  I'm not going to go mad, there are only a few things I have planned, we have been there many times so have seen most of the 'tourist' things.  I may have to pop into Liberty though :)  The bearded ones eldest daughter who moved to London a few years ago has just moved to a new flat so we are going up to see her new place.  We have both been incredibly busy at work so are looking forward to a couple of days chilling.  No cooking, no housework and no work.  Plenty of good food and wine, Liberty, Persephone Bookshop and Camden Market .....bliss ......though I always look forward to coming back to my beloved Cornwall.

I will leave you with the last of the photos from Eden.  There are so many fabulous ideas that I would like to use in my garden.


Ideas for the veg patch

Tyres and pipe to divide up the different areas and paths

Beautiful fencing

Some yarn bombing

Tableware

and unusual nests

Well I'm off to make some sarnies for the train, hope you all have a good weekend and welcome to new followers Anna and Melanie.

Chickpea xx

Driving to the Med

Hello lovely blog readers and fellow bloggers.    It's been busy here in the Chickpea household what with all the stair fixing and general running around like a headless chicken. (that's not a nice saying is it?)  Our camping in the lounge was an interesting experience.  The bearded one was on the sofa grumpy cat usually sleeps on, so she was prowling around all night.  Jumping on the sofa I was sleeping on and trying to push me off.  When this was unsuccessful she decided to cough up a fir ball very loudly at silly o'clock in the morning.  Having a strip wash in the very small sink in the downstairs cloakroom before work was not an experience I want to repeat too soon!  As for the stairs.....they are still creaking, which means we have to rip out the under stairs cupboard to get to them.  More upheaval, but at least we can use the stairs at the moment, and the smell of the glue is gradually clearing.   Our previous home was a very old miners cottage that needed a lot of work.  We moved to a new house as we were both working and didn't have the time for lots of D.I.Y.,  we seem to have spent a lot of time putting things right that were done shoddily by the builders.  I think we will be moving back to an old house again, at least we know what to expect.

I have been busy planting seeds, squashes, sweetcorn, cucumber and chillies indoors and kale outdoors, but looking at other blogs I seem to be way behind everyone else.  All but one of the tomato plants has germinated so I am please with my first attempt at growing them from seed, and the sweetcorn is already growing!  I'm not sure where I'm going to plant everything.

It was a cold and blustery day here today so I decided to head off to the Med for a bit of warmth, luckily it is only about 30 minutes drive.  It was wonderful to strip off our coats and hats and wander through the lush greenery of the Mediterranean Biome at the Eden Project.  Come along and have a look around with me, the colours are beautiful, especially the show-stopping tulips.

Some of the lucky birds who have found their way into the warmth of the biome

The storytellers wonderful coat made from ties

Citrus fruit growing in Cornwall in March!

Don't ask me what this is, but it was beautiful

Weird and wonderful statues

There were even pigs snuffling around the undergrowth

Hey parsnip, these reminded me of the square dogs!



Welcome to Liz on Bloglovin :)

Chickpea xx

A Visit to the Clacky Man and The Rainforest Part 2

I have a really painful shoulder at the moment, it has been like this for a couple of weeks this time.  I have had it before for a few days, then its gone away, but this time.........!!!!!!  It is very painful to move my arm, even typing hurts, and it's giving me a headache as the muscles in my neck tense up.  So I went to see a chiropractor, or as my cousin calls them 'the clacky man', I can now see why she calls them that!  It is very disconcerting when he twists your neck and it makes a loud 'clack', then pushes down on you spine and it makes loud clacking noises.  Anyway, after poking and prodding the good news is that the movement is good and there doesn't seem to be any problems with the bones, I was expecting him to say it is arthritis.  It is more like a repetitive strain injury (not helped by drumming) and the muscles around it are tensed up to protect the injury.  Over the next few weeks he will be able to sort it out, but in the mean time no drumming nooooooo!!!!!!!!  It is the first time I had been to a chiropractor, I felt spaced out and tired after, but hopefully will soon be back to banging that drum.

Anyway here are the last of the photos I took of the Eden Rainforest Biome.  I have decided that if there is a zombie apocalypse I will head to the rainforest biome.  Inside there is a beautiful Southeast Asian house, plenty to eat as they grow many edible crops, coffee, cocoa, nuts and spices.  There are even little birds that scoot through the undergrowth.  What a perfect place to live.

Hope you all had a delicious pancake day,


Chickpea xx

Edens Elbow and a Heavenly Lunch Break

Last night

Singing along to beautiful songs surrounded by otherworldly domes.  A very special place.

Guy Garvey a genuinely lovely person made it a special night

 One of the most beautiful views from a bus stop you could wish for.

Today


My lunch break

The sound of the surf.
The buzzing of insects
The whir of grasshoppers
Swallows whizzing past
Warm sun on my bare feet
Greetings exchanged with a surfer, board tucked under his arm, a sharing of how lucky we were to be there.
Watching a fishing boat in the bay
Dogs chasing each other in and out of the surf, barking in sheer delight
A yearning to dip my toes in the surf
An ice cream treat



Life is beautiful, I just have to make an effort sometimes to remember that.

Thank you for your kind words yesterday.

Chickpea xx