fly fishing by..........

So in my quest to discover ways of whiling away the balmy summer days, my newest pursuit in fly fishing! I think it may be up there with with any activity which allows you to empty your mind, enjoy the surroundings and find your zen, it's a relevation! Having been invited by friends and keen fly fisherman to spend a day learning and having a go, I immediately got hooked (excuse the terrible pun). Watching someone who is very good at it, casting the perfect line, always in the quest to make the fish believe a fly or insect has just landed, watching the beautiful shapes made as the line is about to be cast and listening to the sound of a perfect line being cast is something very pleasing.

So it came to me having a go, at first I was all too aware that instead of creating the illusion of a fly hitting the water, I was creating the impression of some the size of a hippo hitting the water and most probably sending the fish to the far corners of the water. But then, every now and then I did it, my fly was cast into the water with a delicate touch, like a ball hitting the sweet spot on a racket, it felt good, it sounded great.

It didn't matter that I didn't catch anything, the pleasure of standing in water for hours on a balmy summer day, watching the world pass by, in the form of an occasional boat, various birds and insects and a big sky to admire was more than enough and left me with a very satisfied smile etched on my face at the end of the day.

Does anyone have a copy of Fly Fishing by JR Hartley?

messing about on the river

Life can be good.
I'm discovering more and more that quality not quantity really does count and this weekend was another fine example of exactly that.
Friday night I joined some friends down on the River Orwell in Suffolk to spend the evening aboard Grumble Bee, a fine sailing vessel. An evening of fine food and suitable refreshments and once again many laughs was had, the sun set was spectacular and the night sky soothed. We settled down for the night on board Grumble Bee, inserted into sleeping bags and still giggling, falling out of beds (one of us, at least). I woke in the morning after very vivid dreams involving competing in the Tour de France, I'd like to know what that's all about if there are any dream analysts out there! The only slight disappointment was that there was no sensation of being on water, the boat being tied up (not sure that's the technical term) in the marina meant there was no shifting unless a huge tanker on it's way to the docks passed and managed to generate a bit of a wave. After a stroll along the shoreline and a pub lunch we were able to take to the water, with the arrival of Skipper John and Deckhand David, the sun broke through the clouds, a breeze picked up and Grumble Bee moved gracefully through the water and I sat with the sensation of contentment washing over me and all around.
Driving home Saturday I really felt like I had been away alot longer than just one night and I had the prospect of Sunday to look forward to, lovely, proving that quality not quantity really does count.

sun & laughter

So summer is here, alledgedly, and to really get into the spirit I joined three friends for a long weekend in Portugal. The sole objective to press the pause button, lie by a pool and soak up as much vitamin D as the body would take. Generally these objectives were met except for the small matter of vitamin D, you go all that way and kind of expect that the sun will be guaranteed.....NOT. One day of clear blue skies and hot sunshine, then cloud accompanied by heat and humidity, so there was nothing for it but to revert to fun and games, involving a child size lilo and some slightly disapproving looks from fellow guests, remaining mature and dignified in the heat is really hard work.

I've reached a conclusion that laughter is definetly one of the very best forms of therapy and when this therapy is undertaken amongst great friends the the positive effects are doubled if not tripled, so to my partners in crime & laughter (bob & mouse in particular) thank you and when's the next therapy session?

Fields of Yellow

The fields are once again a blaze of yellow and are the perfect backdrop for the new shots for cafeknit spring summer. So with Frankie, cafeknits house model, we found ourselves a field and a blue sky and snapped away and got the perfect shots, it helps when your model is a complete natural and therefore it doesn't take much to get the shot.

In addition to playing around in a yellow field we thought we'd go for some action shots with Frankies brother, Henry, joining in the fun, more great shots, very rock & roll and no broken bones.

Anyway the day really felt like summer has arrived and you know when the landscape is full of yellow it's a good thing, though not so good if you suffer from hayfever, my advice is go and stand in the middle of it and breath in deeply, eventually you'll become immune...........This is not official medical advice so don't quote me, but if it doesn't cure the streaming eyes and runny nose the view is spectacular!

Remember, please read & pass it on........

Here we go again

So the clocks have gone back, hoorahhhhhh!!!

Just having that extra hour of daylight you can feel the vitamin D deficiency being dealt with. Personally I'm very glad to see the back of winter and the hibernation season, it's been miserable but hopefully we can all find hope in the face of adversity!

Have you looked out your window and noticed the greens shoots, surrounded by all the debris of winter and suddenly feel guilty that you haven't spent the winter toiling away and preparing just like the "experts" say we should! So, now it's the mad dash to clear away the debris to give the green shoots a fighting chance. Suddenly this sounds like an analogy for life and current times......

Whatever debris you're going to tackle, enjoy the green shoots which will surely then blossom and here's to the Balmy Summer Days to follow!

end of summer but fun still to had

So I haven't been keeping up with the blogging due to suddenly been struck with a condition (spinal myoclonus) which means my body is constantly twitching, jerking, spasming (!) (haven't decided which is the best and socially acceptable description yet!) So my life is rather consumed by this at the moment but not one to curl up in a corner in the face of adversity, sometimes I do, I have tried to laugh in the face of it. Spent over a week in hospital having various tests and drugs offered to me to see if anything would have any affect, including botox. Botox, WOW! go for it and if there's any left over use it for the serious frown I have rapidly developed. No such luck, it all gets pumped into my abdomen and guess what has no bloody affect what so ever, so anyone out thinking of going down the botox route think again and enjoy your frown.

My mobility has also being affected, can't drive, can't walk very far, so along with a dear friend, Becs, who I think just to make me feel less lonely decided to break her ankle around the same time, came up with a cunning plan to get mobile for a day and enjoy some late summer sunshine. The cunning plan involved visiting a local National Trust property, Ickworth House, Bury St Edmunds, highly recommended. We were delivered to aforementioned stately home had a spot of lunch before heading off in search of our wheels. To our delight and barely contained excitement we were told that of course we were entitled to the free use of the mobility scooters, just sign here listen to the instructions and away we go. The requirement to contain my fit of giggles made my medical condition appear even worse and therefore received sympathetic looks from those passing by. Once away from public view and those in a worse state than ourselves we were able to screech and giggle until the tears smudged the mascara! We then decided that photos would have to be taken and were joined by Becs mother to be the official photographer. At this point, unable to contain our amusement, we started to receive some looks of "how very dare they" but unperturbed we carried on our merry way even taking them off road to catch the best views. Finally exhausted from our merriment the fresh air and beautiful sunshine we returned the scooters and plan our next day out with scooter mobility. So my top tip if you can't beat them join them!

more barmy than balmy

So here in Blighty we are not experiencing a balmy summer but we are experiencing a "barmy" summer which wasn't part of the plan. So what to do when the weather isn't playing ball......take up knitting......might as well make a start on hat and scarf collection for the autumn. My sis-in-law has being doing this and could be termed as slighty obsessive but then comes up with the cunning plan of a business which involves her passion for knitting and she has just launched a website selling all things knitting, www.cafeknit.com

Anyway back to the barmy summer, the only thing that seems to be benefiting from the rain are my tomatoes which seem to be doubling in size by the day, the only problem is they remain very green, I'll be looking for a recipe for fried green tomatoes at this rate. Over the garden fence the apples are also soaking up all the rain and doulbing in size, I can feel another scrumping expedition coming on!