Live life outdoors

Oh I do love a Bank Holiday weekend. Just the pure joy of a long weekend so full of potential! So much to do and all the time in the world to do it! Saturday was an absolute cracker. We, Mary and I, headed off to the Garden Centre to get some replacement tomato plants. We had planted some out at the beginning of the month and lost the lot. We think it was a combination of weak plants (we left them in a heated propagator too long and they bolted) and sun scold. Anyway, regardless of what it was we lost the lot. We had some other plants that are doing OK hanging on the fence; even have a couple of fruit on them. I had also bought on some giant plum tomato seeds which I had brought on slowly and had been given a few plants by our friend Emma. We now have 24 plants so fingers crossed we will have a good crop of toms again this year. In the afternoon it was time to go and play pirates with my brother, Paul. As our alter egos, The Wessex Wyverns, we had arranged a Splash Mob – a Ge...

I feel good today, not just OK but actually chipper. As I mentioned the other day I’m in the transition period from one set of meds to another, and the past few days have been rough. The tiredness I can deal with (what’s a full night’s sleep again?) but the mood swings have been horrible. Never knowing from one minute to the next whether you’re going to want to laugh or cry; shit or go bust is not fun. So I say again, I feel good today. The day started badly oddly enough. I had planned on making some mushy peas (Ambrosia of the Gods) today and to that end had put the peas in to soak yesterday. Anyway when I came to cook them off I bolloxed it up but recovered the situation enough so that I now have enough pea soup for lunch at work every day next week – yay me! After that I got on and decorated a triple layer chocolate fudge cake. One of our team is leaving tomorrow and I promised her I would go all out on a cake for her. I think I’ve kept my promise! (I will quite happil...

Good morning you lovely people Apparently May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so to get the ball rolling I just want to say my name is Phil and I suffer from Endogenous Depression. Most of the time like everyone else I’m OK, but every so often I need to take a break and reset my clock and this happened recently and my GP suggested changing my prescription which I was happy about. The only problem is the transition period which I’m in now. It’s horrible; swathing mood swings, ennui, headaches, pressure and apathy. It’s going to be a fun couple of weeks. I’ve had this for the past couple of days. I went into work yesterday and finished off a job I had promised someone and then came home as I could feel myself sinking fast. To try and alleviate that feeling this morning I thought I would cut and split a cord of pine for use with the fire pit and brazier; exercise is brilliant for helping my mood. It’s even better when the sun is shining! I got everything asse...

Today was one of those days that I’ll remember for a long time to come! About a week ago I had arranged with some friends and my better half to go kayaking on The Hamble. Yesterday afternoon whilst Mary was busy elsewhere I got the car packed and the kayaks loaded ready for an early start. We set off at 8 ready to meet James and Kiah at Lower Swanick. The sky was blue, and the weather warm. Once at Swanick Mary and I got the kayaks set up (and in the case of The Saucy Nancy II inflated) just as the second Dynamic Duo arrived. We got everyone down to the water and got launched and just chilled for a while whilst our 2 man (person?) team got settled; after a few adjustments and a quick change of paddle we were off. Going up through the marina to start with and then under the bridges (road, rail and motorway).  As we passed the pillars of the M27 bridge we noticed something unusual, there are oysters growing there and some...

I managed to do something today that I've wanted to do for a while, I took The Saucy Nancy III along The Hamble in the company of Katie Kayak (oh, and my big brother!) We parked up at the car park on Swanick Shore Road and got kitted up and then carried the kayaks down to the waters edge to shove off. After a slow paddle through the marina we then did something, that for some unknown reason, I find very exciting; we paddled under some bridges. we paddled under the M27. Now I have no idea why but I think it's great and I get excited every time I do it; simple pleasures. We then took a nice leisurely paddle up to the jetty at Manor Farm Country Park where we pulled the kayaks up on to the beach so that we could chill out and brew up. Once tea was over, the kit repacked and stowed away on the kayak we took back to the water to start on the the harder part of our paddle, heading downriver at the height of a rising tide which wasn't too bad until...

After the high winds/gales of yesterday today seemed a perfect day for a backyard cookout. I had popped out yesterday to pick up a joint of beef from our local butchers (remember everyone shop local!) and brought it home and seasoned it with some Cajun spice. I then left it resting in the fridge for 24 hours. After a morning's gardening, sorting out sweetcorn, brassicas, and six different varieties of tomatoes it was time to send out the Bat Signal and request assistance from my partner-in-crime; my big brother. Whilst Bruv was sorting out the fire I set to prepping the beef in the Dutch oven - a few onions and some Hobgoblin Beer. It was at this point I realised that the joint I had bought was too big for the pot. So a quick bit of butchery and I had a nice sized joint in the Dutch oven and one in the freezer for next week. By now the senior partner had a good fire going so we got the tripod ready and also the charcoal starter so that we had some coals well unde...

How much fun can you fit into one Easter weekend? The answer is "a lot!" The weekend started with a roadtrip to Cricklade with my mum to go and see the fritillaries in the Nature Reserve there. This one meadow has 80% of the country's Snake Head Fritillary population and is an incredibly beautiful spectacle! When you look across the meadow there is a purple haze from the sheer number of flowers, then when your eyes adjust you can then begin to focus in on the individual flowers and see the intricate patterns on the petals, some like chequerboards. After our roadtrip it was back home and time to launch The Saucy Nancy III and Katie Kayak. Our first paddle was from Marchwood up to the Redbridge Causeway and back with my big brother (best brother ever). We went up on a rising tide and it was our plan to get under all three bridges ( a rail bridge, road bridge and the old stone foot bridge) to the landward side which we did. After a short break we were back...