It's a Hurley heat wave

From cold and damp, rain and wind we are now basking in an English heat-wave. Ten days and counting... Excuse the thinly disguised excitement, but it's been some time since anything like this has been enjoyed on these shores.
A long weekend allowed us to enjoy this lovely weather.
And some lovely photos too.

"Sally Slapcabbage"- that's the name of the boat. On the Thames path to Marlow.

The Henley Regatta.

And blue skies up above. A 'Saltire Sky' as named by Margaret.
(Aircraft vapor trails that resembled the Scottish flag).

I now pronounce you...

Man and Wife.

"You may kiss the bride, when she stops laughing."

What a great day (2)

Chelsea Town Hall, Friday 3rd May, 2013

WHAT A GREAT DAY

Ding Dong.... and the sun shone !

M loves B - TRUE
(May 3rd, 2013)

Holy Moley... Amen

We have caught (and killed I am afraid to say) our first mole. It's not a nice feeling but they started it. And information (below) suggests why we got targeted (following the floods) and that there maybe more moles around. 

We can only wait and see.

Moles are solitary but not as solitary as people think. Sharing the main runs under hedges and fences, but will defend their own territories aggressively. Territories will overlap and this is why when a mole is caught or vacates its territory another mole will sense this that it has been vacated and will quickly move into the vacated territory.

The moles have several layers of tunnels, shallow short lived surface tunnels, and deeper tunnels used for breeding and feeding. The large mole FORTRESS the very large molehill one frequently sees, are usually found in areas of high water tables or on land which can become flooded.

Hurley Declaration

"We have just returned from our van at Hurley and have issued a final ultimatum stating that unless we hear from them by 11.00 am today that they are prepared at once to withdraw totally from our garden, then a state of war will exist between us."

"I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received and that consequently we are now at war with the moles of Riverside Park."

Hurley Ahoy !

In the weeks leading up to Christmas the rain continued falling. The flood warnings for England increased as we kept our eyes on the weather forecasts. It was looking like we were dreaming of a 'Wet Christmas'.

Fortunately the nightmare wasn't as bad as first feared. My cousin and her husband were keeping an eye out and while the over flowing River Thames did fill many peoples gardens and the surrounding fields it stopped short of our front gate.

By New Years Day the water levels had reduced, even though we still needed wellies to wade our way to our van. See more pictures below.

Normal view from the road to our van in Cedar Field.

Willow field.... !!!

Newly formed Cedar Lake

River Road, Hurley 'in' Thames

The Hurley burley

Bit of an update on our holiday home in Hurley, now that we have moved in.
As we slowly transport the relevant parts of one house and one flat to a 28x12 foot van (and two sheds), plus garden, we have made the transition mentally but not entirely physically.
Actually we are going a wee bit mental as it happens. Losing track of some items already in residence and the whereabouts of those still to make their way there. In this process we have on occasion felt like we are also losing our minds, in the forgetful sense. So little point looking for them.....

But we will get there, and the invites to visit are not far away.

For now, here's some more pictures.



The Lounge

Cheers One

Cheers Too!

The Fish pond !

Genuinely! Ice Cream anyone ?

Oh yeah, not only is there wind in the willows, but we have moles too!

Say tuned for further updates on all this Hurley burley and the moles.

Weekend Retreat

VW campers to bigger Motor homes would lead us to sign up on the mailing list at Hurleyford Farm Holiday Home Park, now just over a year ago. At the weekend we finally dipped our toes much deeper into the River Thames and Holiday Home territory.
We hadn't been keen on anything sent us from Hurleyford, but across the way there's Hurley Riverside Park. We looked at the vans they had for sale. Liked one especially. Went back the next day for a look inside. And again the following day for questions and answers and to make an initial offer.
My daughter amusingly called us impulsive, 'just liked kids' she said. Which felt like my life turning full circle.
Anyway our offer was excepted there and then and the paperwork signed. Once the money changes hands we will be the proud owners of a weekend retreat in this lovely part of England.
Two minutes from the river. Five minutes from the village's one shop and two pubs. Close by Marlow and Henley. And on the door step of walks and cycle rides and the beautiful Thames valley countryside.
Now all we need is some summer ! Bring on the sunshine... we are ready when you are.

Cedar Van. 34

For further images see http://79.170.40.247/hurleyriversidepark.co.uk/

New Batch

2011. NEW Jam 

This is Plum Jam (with ginger) for 2011.

How the 'mandb' came about

That should really read M&B because that is how it started.

We made some Plum Jam in 2008 and thought we'd nick the Marks and Spencer tv advert line "This is more than food, this is M&S food". See link below. Substituting a 'B' for the 'S', and specifying Plum Jam instead of simply food.


www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA6435

By the following year we added the first line and played with the words to make 'more than' read Morden (where the plums grew in my garden). We also added a year, which someone had suggested we should.

2010, we made Chutney for a change and called this latest offering 'Chum Plutney'. 


This year it's back to Jam. 
Watch this space.

Bella Mia

Our 5th Anniversary Celebrations

Joining us: (clockwise from Margaret, at the top of the table) Josie and Jimmy, Jackie and Robert, Grant and Najib and back again to Bill.

We went to 'Bella Mia' on York Road, across from Margaret's flat. A very friendly family run Italian restaurant, which has not been open long and deserves to succeed. Delicious food and great value for money. So below is the link to their website. Lots more than just pizzas it should be said.


Calling all locals - use it or lose it! Would be a real shame if that happened.
www.bellamiaristorante.co.uk/