Going solo

I found myself in an unusual position yesterday. I am a mum of young children and I found myself at a loose end. It's not often 'mum' and 'loose end' find themselves juxtaposed in the same sentence. This liberating situation came about as my husband is away with work and my children were away at their grown-up cousins for the weekend.

So I went solo. Off to The Hepworth Wakefield I made my way. It's a new art gallery dedicated to the sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born in the city. Got my priorities prioritised and straight into the café I wandered. Up to the counter and made my mind up in lightning fashion. No children of my own so I didn't have to clarify to them what was on the menu nor wait 10 minutes for them to decide what they wanted to drink nor spend some time in debate as to where to sit nor point out where the loos were nor have to keep them amused while we waited for the food to arrive. In, ordered, observed, received, ate, observed, out. Fabulous.

I loved some of the sculptures, didn't like a few; didn't understand quite a lot but enjoyed making my way around at my own pace. It's shame you aren't able to touch any of these sculptures. So many seem very tactile but I guess it would destroy them if thousands of grubby hands started caressing or nudging them. It would be good to have just one which you could touch.

The Hepworth stuff was interesting especially the explanation of the process behind the creation of the sculptures. The guest exhibition by Lynda Benglis was really very good - bright, colourful, textural, covetable. And all of these works of art in a rather lovely building which seems to sit naturally on the banks of the Calder River. Every so often as you wend your way around the galleries you come across a huge picture window which invites you to look out onto the river. A heron stood there on the weir in the sunshine. I wonder how much it gets paid to just be there?

Anyway I would recommend going solo every now and then. My 8 and soon to be 10 year old are due back any minute. I am very much looking forward to having them back......I think. Perhaps another few hours to get out into the garden without being asked to play rounders. Oh there we go a thump on the front door - they're back.

A sieve

Take an old-fashioned garden sieve and thread lights through:

Are you boring?

Is your coat black or dark grey or brown? In other words is it really boring? It struck me as I walked into the playground at school and waited outside the classroom for my daughter that every parent there was in a black coat. My coat is red.

Silver spoon in your mouth

Stick a spoon in your mouth whilst cutting up onions and you won't cry. David tried it today and it supposedly worked although he told me after the event.....although I might have been the one crying looking on at his efforts with spoon and knife.

Recordering

By popular demand I'm back. Well...when I say popular I mean a few people have asked where have I been. Well...when I say a few people it's actually one person who wants to read new erudite and compelling blogs from 88. Well... when I say one person is interested in my writing I mean it's actually a close friend who is nosey and wants to keep up with what's happening in the Blakeley household. So I'm back.

So Dermot....sorry I mean my whole readership....my daughter is learning the recorder and I am so excited. I realise I've been waiting for this day since she's been born. My daughter is learning the recorder. Not that my son couldn't do it too if he wanted but he thinks it's an awful instrument and makes a terrible racket. He thinks the recorder makes a terrible racket too.You see I never got to learn the recorder when I was seven and I wanted to. I can't remember why I didn't get the chance. My best friend did it but somehow it passed me by and I've sulked ever since. I was fascinated in assemblies when older children got their descant recorders out: a little recorder that had been fed and had grown and grown and grown.

Still I have my chance now. I'm mastering Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at the moment. And in a fashion it does sound like the nursery rhyme. Oh yes and my daughter is learning too and I'm being encouraging and supportive and smiley. I look forward to her performing in a little school concert and moving onto fatter and  bigger  recorders. I will enj She will enjoy performing I feel sure.

P.S. Hope this keeps you up-to-date, Dermot.

Christmas Cake

I made my Christmas Cake the other day, following my Mum's recipe. It's full of fruit and cherries. I have tried it in previous years to absolute disastrous results as I think my thermostat had really broken on my old oven so any cake that had to stay in over 30 mins came out black. But now I have a new oven.

I lined the cake tin, I mixed the cake ingredients and in it went for 3 hours at a very low heat and came out with not one burnt mark. My Mum's tip to cover the top with milk before it goes in the oven  to prevent scorching worked a treat.

I am feeding it now with alcohol and resisting the temptation to cut into it to see if it's as deliciously moist and flavoursome as my Mums used to be...only 5 or 6 weeks to go. I will then inexpertly plonk some marzipan on top, sprinkle with glitter and other small cakey decorations that I can purchase in a tube at the supermarket and then stand my little models of a stag and fawn on top. You can tell I don't go in for brilliant decoration - more rustic is my approach.

Don't know whether to cut into it in the immediate build-up to Christmas and have with mince pies on offer for guests and risk it disappearing before Christmas Day or wait until the big day itself.

Think I'll have to make two.

Castle of Park

Castle of Park including two ghosts

I have been lazy and not posted for some time. It could in part be due to the fact I started a new job in September so all my energies have been going into that. But I'm back and I have a new tower. Not quite a perfect tower as we couldn't get out on to the roof but 2 spiral staircases and 4 floors and we had it all to ourselves. We were in heaven.

 

Castle of Park is a fortified tower house set in Dumfries and Galloway which we slept in for four nights. Lots of hide 'n' seek and chase and a monopoly game that went on and on which meant there wasn't quite enough time left to complete the intricate jigsaw that David started just too late. There was also the 'let's turn all the lights off on the stairs and then challenge each other to go up one set and down the other with just a torch while Mum makes spooky noises' game. I was too scared to even contemplate doing the challenge (I had to wake David up to go to the loo with me in the middle of the night) but the children loved it.