Steamy Sundays!

Froogs on the Miss Marplemobile!

 That caught your attention, didn't it? I'm starting to feel more energetic and I can only assume that moving around is easier now that I've lost a few pounds and I know it will get easier. Just being 30lbs over weight is like spending every minute, of every day with a toddler in my arms and carrying them about. Today, we got the bikes out. We are really spoilt by our local surroundings; there are plenty of places to walk, to swim, to bike ride, virtually for free although we do have to get there. Today we drove to Bodmin and rode our bikes on the Camel Trail to Wadebridge. It's 7 miles each way, mostly flat but through woodland, farm land and by the river. We often drive to Wadebridge and ride to Padstow, but as it was so windy, we chose a more sheltered route.

 We passed the Camel Valley Vineyard and the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway. No wine for me anymore but it was a delight to see the little steam train. I was fascinated and watched the guard get off the train, change the points manually, watched the driver and the stoker getting up a head of steam, watched them shunt the train down the track and onto the front of the train to take it back to the centre of Bodmin. It was a delight.

 My day out was free, energetic and certainly left me feeling energised from the fresh air and exertion. I'm now feeding Dearly Beloved exactly what I eat, but he has carbs with his meal, whilst I don't. We had dry fried mushrooms, they sizzle and release their water if you add the tiniest amount of salt and a spray of one cal oil.

 I also made courgette chips in exactly the same way. This blog will soon be called a million things you can do with vegetables with no/very low carbs and no/very few calories.

 The meal here is why I could never go back to calorie counting, this is simple, there is a list of food I can eat and a list of food I can't. Eat what you like from one list! Simple. Lunch was steak at an unfrugal £1.75 a portion!, green beans, mangetout, mushrooms, courgettes, fat free/carb free bearnaise sauce and 1% fat cream cheese. This is not a frugal diet and I'm spending on average £2 an evening meal, which is double my usual expenditure.

We don't eat this expensively every day, however, after 14 miles on my bike, I felt like I had earnt it!

(added as a response to the question, the bike basket had warm clothes and waterproofs as you can't trust the weather and bottled tap water......I'm not eating snacks between meals)

Until tomorrow,

Froogs xxxx

Frugal day out

We always try and have a 'treat' once in a while and today we went to Tavistock. Unfortunately, so did everyone else! It was packed. We visited the pannier market and I bought some string and grease proof paper to wrap my soap, which I will give as gifts. We looked for somewhere to eat and have a cup of tea and I got what I can only describe as the 'jitters' about spending any money! I know a cup of tea and a piece of cake can blow our budget. We ended up having a pasty and a cup of tea each, which cost the incredible amount of £8 for the pair of us! That just seems so much money to me and could provide the pair of us with three meals a day for the weekend.

Tavistock is such a lovely old market town, full of expensive shops........don't worry! I didn't go in those. Lovely craft stalls in the pannier market with delightful fabrics and I didn't buy those either. As usual, I browsed around the charity shops, which had nothing I fancied today but charity shops are like that; some days full of treasures and some days full of things you just don't want. I also visited Odds and Suds and took a look at their handmade soaps. They were impressively priced but don't let my miserly ways stop you from buying a product that brings a well needed income to the local economy.

We saw some amazing shops selling locally produced food and the farmer's market was in town as well. I didn't buy anything today; I didn't go with the intention of doing so. After the shock of 'eating out' I couldn't bring myself to spend any money.

This evening I made 'Rose geranium and lavender' soap and had my first soap disaster. It reached trace very quickly and then proceeded to cook even more when I poured it into moulds and ended up expanding out of the moulds. It cracked and split! I researched this and it implied that it may have had too little water, so I added some until I was able to re blend it and get it back to a gel like substance. Consequently my arm nearly fell off stirring the gloopy soap. I can't bear to throw it away and I will attempt my first 're-batching' as it is still grainy and unpleasant to the eye. It smells so divine that I just can't waste it, especially as I have used coconut oil and shea in the recipe. If it all goes wrong, then I shall have the world's most luxurious laundry soap!

Soap disaster or not, we've had the loveliest day together.

Owl be seeing you!

A day out to be cheered up by Foster Mummy and Man Wonderful today. I've been totally spoilt! FM cooked the most delicious Dal and flat bread for lunch and then we went for a spot of charity shop shopping in the little nearby town of Plympton.

I read recently about a local man, who has pet owls and takes them for a walk every day. People talk to him about his owls and he and his owls are delightful I was mesmerised by them. I love birds, they always lift my spirits, even the finches all over the blackberry bushes are delightful. Here is the news article about Mr Russell....I feel as if I've met someone really special today! Another part of my spoilt rotten day!! Well I met the owl man and his owls today.

Owl Man: I feel famous

WALKING AGAIN: Russell Burt and a feathered friend

PLYMPTON'S "Owl Man" Russell Burt says the support he received during his dispute with Plymouth City Council has made him feel famous, writes Gayle McDonald.

The 74-year-old pensioner was banned from walking with his owls in Plympton after the council said they posed a health and safety risk to the public.

Readers of The Herald rallied behind Mr Burt, who has been walking his owls for nine years. The council has now said Mr Burt is allowed to walk with his owls in public.

Since the dispute, Mr Burt has received media attention from national papers, radio stations and magazines. He even heard about it when he was on holiday in Italy.

He says: "I feel famous. I didn't realise how liked I was.

"I would like to thank The Herald and everyone who showed their support."

Family friend Zoe Forsyth said all the attention had been quite a shock.

She added: "He's just a little old man who likes to walk his owls."

Mr Burt shows his owls at local care homes and events. He does not charge but accepts donations to Woodside Animal Welfare Trust.

He has seven owls including Ben, a Bengal eagle owl, and Spot, an African spotted eagle owl. FROM 'THIS IS DEVON' 24/08/10

Here I am with one of Mr Russell's owls. I love English eccentricity, I knew a man in Fowey, when I lived there, who used to take half a dozen ferrets for a walk on leads to the British Legion for his pint every day! Long live individuality!!!
Plympton was a fabulous place to shop, with plenty of independent local retailers. I bought a couple of bags of local tomatoes.
I bought three tee shirts for £1 each and a long tunic style jumper for £2.95 from the Hospice shop and Woodside Animal Shelter shop. We also went to the local craft shop and I bought three balls of wool for £1.50. FM and I had a really good root around and we managed to buy everything we wanted off the sale rails in the charity shops. So my shopping splurge cost £7.50 and I think it was worth that to have lunch and be taken out by wonderful friends and meeting the owl man was just magic.

Notes from a small island..........coast.

As you all know, I am a huge fan of the BBC and think that the world is a better place because of BBC2 and Radio4; the radio is on all day and Radio 4 keeps me informed of the day's events from around the world. I love documentaries and in particular; 'Coast' where a team of historians, engineers, archaeologists and geologists looks at our little island from the water. Being the British Isles, we have so much coast and so many little islands that I have to admit, I didn't know about most of it. Tonight, I watched the journey from Glasgow, around the coast and then through the Caledonian canal and then down the east coast to Edinburgh. I llllllllllllllove Neil Oliver's perfect pronunciation with his Scottish accent enunciating every consonant so perfectly. I thought tonight of my own coast and the cliffs that I played on and where I still feel free on when I walk them now.
I'm going to start my coastal walk in Fowey and end up in Par, which is a day's walk as far as I'm concerned, unless you are athletic, which I am not. You can have a look at the coast in detail HERE and look at the interactive map at some of the places that are so familiar to me. The walk starts in Fowey by heading to the beach, crossing the beach and through the woods up onto the fields above and carrying on to the next beach. Locally known as Polridmouth but know by those who read the books of Daphne Du Maurier as Menabilly, where the author had her home for many years (claim to fame..............old Daphne had a Yugo Zastava/Trabant type pre-Gorbachev type worthy old pile of rust and used to make our school bus late when we would get stuck behind it every day after she'd driven to Par for her daily paper.............so my education suffered because of a literary giant!). Polridmouth (pronounced prid-muth) can only be accessed by foot and you walk from Polkerris or Fowey to get there. It's rocky, isolated and still a place to this day where I can actually hear the stillness of my own soul.
After Priddy you make the breath stealing ascent to Gribben Head and the day marker that guides ships back by daylight, the steer a clear course between Dodman and the Gribben and head straight for Fowey. When I was at Fowey School, the sadistic bastards in the PE department had us run to the Gribben and back for our cross country run!!!! It was agony.....freezing cold, waist deep in mud and cow shit; with the Atlantic hitting us sideways on blue thighs! I have to say, I have a greater appreciation now I can enjoy this at a plod with a camera and a flack.


After Gribben head is gentle decline to Polkerris, which is a deep harbour and once a herring packing took place on the factory on the beach..................a hundred years of more ago. It's now a busy tourist destination, but be warned, be there and parked by nine with the decision to stay until at least five. There is one road in and out, one car wide, a thousand year old deep ravine carved by rain water...................unless you can reverse up a 1:9 hill in a road no wider than a Mini, then you're there for the day. Funnily enough!! We always walked there!

Again, after leaving Polkerris, you have steep inclines and the half hour walk (it might only be five minutes but I dawdle) onto Par. The factory on the beach is what is left of the clay driers..............mostly defunct. Par is a mass of sand and a low tide you walk for what seems hours through the water, only to find it isn't over your knees yet. There is a huge caravan park at Par Sands and so many people I have met holidayed there as a child.

So there ends my coastal walk for Fowey to Par, just a few minutes of my coast of my small island.

Staycation trip to Totnes

Today is technically the last day of Dearly Beloved's holiday as he goes back to work on Monday and my life resumes as usual. Today we went to Totnes. I love the place even though it's so far up its own ar*e that most of it is totally pretentious. (Apologies to anyone reading who lives in Totty, but you have to admit............it is almost a parody of itself). Totnes is wonderfully ethical, fair trade, organic, vegan/vegetarian/macrobiotic/local food that you can actually spend money every where and anywhere and not have to spend every minute with a magnifying glass; reading the labels trying to decide whether the product is fit to buy or not. I must add readers, that I should do that, I know I want to do that but I'm realistic and buy with what I have and certainly not the way I know I should. But I think we all know that we have to buy what we can afford.
We arrived in time for lunch and headed to what I believe to be the World's best restaurant- Willow. I came across this tiny place by accident years ago and have never been to a restaurant as good since. It's vegetarian and predominantly vegan, the food is local, organic, homemade and as you can imagine fekkin' expensive but I would like to add that it's worth it. It's very much part of the slow food movement and once lunch is gone it's gone, so get there early. Lunch is between £6.90 and around £9.00 and with two drinks today we spent about £16 but that is the only sit down, eat out meal we've had so far this year and this is the last day of our holiday.
We parked at the bottom of town by the quayside of the river Dart and walked up the hill. It was pouring with rain and also extremely hot but we made the best of our day out. I couldn't take photos outside as it was just too wet, so you'll have to make do with stock photos. We made our way to the market after lunch, mostly to walk off what we had eaten. We bought a bar of soap from Emma (see her website here) and I was interested in her ingredients, her packaging and what real homemade soap felt like. It feels like a massage bar from Lush, it feels quite greasy. When I got it home and tried it, it was so soapy and luxurious and left my hands feeling like I had just used hand cream. I think I will wrap my soap in cotton and use a small ribbon when I give mine to people for gifts. You can see this on her website.
We didn't buy much at the market as it is very expensive, although I don't mind paying more for ethical and local products, there is a limit to my expenses. My favourite stall is run by a collective called Common Loaf and I had a good nose, so I can make similar loaves myself. In fact, I spent today being very nosey and looked in bakers and food producers windows for ideas, in shabby chic emporiums for ideas and have filed away a lot of things I might do myself.
Below is my actual lunch of soup, smoked tofu dip, salad, cheese scone and I can assure you that I won't need to eat again today. I bought smoked tofu today and will try to make a smooth smoky tasting dip for us to eat tomorrow. I also dug out my sprouter and have some seeds soaking.
My usual splurge from Totnes market was off cuts of fabric, all at £1 each from the rummage basket outside. Tonight I shall enjoy cutting out lots of squares as I work towards my target of 1080 squares needed to make my quilt.

Staycation..............down memory lane.

I moved to Plymouth, to be with Dearly Beloved in 1996. It was a big risk, as although I was leaving a complete and utter b*****d, I was leaving a home. Little did I know I was actually walking towards: safety, love, happiness and had truly found the happy ever after I had always wanted. Little did I know that brassy old Plymouth would find a place in my heart for ever more. I don't miss the bustle of Plymouth but I still love the place and today it was part of our staycation. We parked up in town and walked out to Plymouth Hoe and the first thing you see is Smeaton's tower. I love to go up inside but we kept our money in our pockets today and just enjoyed the walk and the scenery.

When I first moved to Plymouth, Tinside Lido was derelict and it wasn't until a few years later that it was brought back to life. I used to love to collect my daughter from school in Stonehouse and take her to swim and meet Dearly Beloved there after he finished work. Even on an overcast day, it truly is one of Plymouth's many jewels and it feels so part of our family.

Our family days out usually involved the Hoe and the Barbican as we had no car when the kids were small. The one we had went for a burton and we couldn't afford to replace it for years. Foster Mummy will laugh when she and I remember a colleague of ours offered me her bike to which I sarcastically replied "I'll just throw my two kids on the back of that, shall I?" She shut up and realised my predicament! It's actually easier than you think to bring two kids up without any money as we could treat them with the slightest thing. For them, a walk to the Hoe with an ice cream really was a day out. It's where we took them to ride their bikes, skateboard and roller blade, for picnics and swimming off the Hoe.
As our circumstances improved and I went to the local university, we could afford the occasional night out and if we did, we would head for the Barbican. It's steeped in history, where the Pilgrim Fathers left for America and one of the few areas of Plymouth that survived the Blitz. When I graduated it where we went as a family for dinner, when I obtained QTS (qualified teacher status) it's where I celebrated. In fact, when I became a teacher and actually had a salary and we could squeeze the budget it where I danced the night away with Tasha and Pam on the tables of the Cider Press, the Three Crown and The Dolphin..............in true Janner girl style of sinking a few bottles of Lambrini between us before we went out, drinking coke with sneaked 'handbag scotch' before making our way home. No one believed we were teachers when they were stupid enough to chat us up.................they never got far!
It's all cafe society now, lattes, espresso and mochachinos! No more cheap lager, wet tee shirts and bar top dancing here anymore! Oh well, even Plymouth had to succumb to gentrification in the end!
Now it's floating gin palaces, shore front serviced apartments and chic restaurants..............it's a different place from even a few years ago. Our walk in the sunshine continued down memory lane.
Plymouth always has the ability to make me feel welcome, to make me smile and remember the real affection I have for the place. Below The Giant Prawn. It turned up as a piece of public art to be met with derision...............I loved it and still do; he's so spiky and mythical and frames the adjacent scenery of the Aquarium. So Deary Prawny, it was good to see you again.
Then there's exhibit #2................The Royal Navy! Dockyards and Warships! I lived in Ford, with a clear view of Ford Hill a 1:9 hill!!!! or it felt like it and on the route of the Royal Marines daily run! Oh how I miss the sight of Lycra in the morning! The other unknown part of Plymouth is the fact that there are two barracks actually in the heart of Plymouth, 29 Commando (always pronounced two nine) and Royal Marines Stonehouse, as well as the part of the Navy being based permanently in Plymouth. They are just there, part of the place....................or as they are now............not! If it's quiet, it's because they are deployed. From the times of Drake, Plymouth has always been a garrison town, unlike some, I don't think it's to the detriment but the addition of the diversity and flavour of Plymouth.

Below is me, with West Hoe in the background. A walk here today with Dearly Beloved really felt as if we'd never left the place.
Below is one of the massive reasons that Plymouth is such a brilliant place to bring up children. The free summer play schemes, which move from park to park throughout the summer holidays, along with subsidised play sessions in the swimming pools and recreation centres.
Here they closed the streets, and provided tonnes of fun for children and families and it costs nothing. Plymouth City Council!!!! I miss you as Cornwall Council does sod all for families in Cornwall, doesn't fund play schemes and forgets that there are children here at all. I used to go to the local library with a note book and write down the dates and times of free activities across the city, sometimes there were mini-music festivals in the parks too and brought so much happiness to local people: us included.
Below is another reason that I love Plymouth. It's culturally diverse. Below is the Greek Orthodox church, nearby is Plymouth Synagogue which is just around the corner from Plymouth's minster church, St Andrews and the Catholic Cathedral of St Mary and St. Boniface. It has a growing Islaamic community and everyone seems to rub along quite nicely. Polish, Latvian and other Eastern European immigrants blend in harmoniously and it does mean you can buy food of any variety! It's one of the elements of life that I miss in Cornwall. Also, unlike a few people in Plymouth; I think it adds to the colour of the place.
Our walked nearly ended as we left West Hoe and made our way back via Milbay docks and to the town centre where we were parked. Oh I really, really miss my trips to France. Brittany Ferries is French owned and run; so the staff aboard are French, the announcements are always in French first and the sight of the ferry always reminds me of my holidays. Watch this space because in 2012 or sooner! I will be back on that Ferry. When we returned from France, I used to feel for the people who would drive off the ferry and have a ten hour journey home to the north of England, when I knew I would be in my front door within five minutes. Foster Mummy, if you're reading this!!! 2012! Your tent next to my tent!!! Deal?
So we finished our walk down memory lane and made our way back to Cornwall. The Torpoint ferry carried us over the six minute crossing and within twenty minutes we were in the different world of the sedate town of Liskeard. We just went for a walk, and ambled slowly through the summer crowds but it was so good to go 'home' to Plymouth for a few hours.

Staycation day 2 for £3.40

Today we took our bikes and rode the Camel Trail, which follows the river Camel from Wadebridge, to Padstow. The only expense we incurred, other than getting there, was the £3.40 to park all day. We didin't even pay for the sugar for our coffee. Dearly Beloved got some free vouchers from the paper (which he freegans from the train) and gets coffee from Starbucks, we also gather tonnes of sugar, ketchup, salt, pepper from the occasional trip to Mc Donalds or other huge companies who wouldn't miss them.
So, on arriving close to Padstow, after the five mile bike ride; we stopped and enjoyed the incredible views. (Sorry about the face pulling, but I'm blowing on hot coffee).
We parked up the bikes and walked into Padstow.
The tide was dropping all the time, revealing the sand banks and the wading birds.
When in Cornwall, try to have a Kelly's ice cream, they are still a major employer and have hudreds of people in their factory in Bodmin; we didn't succumb today.
It was another overcast day today, but Padstow was as busy as ever. It was thick with tourists, typically the Phoebe and Quentin types, who didn't know what to do with Tarquin and Tabatha now they'd given nanny the fortnight off! They had arms like stretch Armstrong, laden down with bags of surf clothes and the multitude of goodies sold by Ricky Stein!
In some streets, Steiny boy had three shops next to each other selling: art, clothes and the cafe, in another street he had a pasty shop, several chippies and of course his three story, bar on the roof terrace restaurant. It might be over kill, but it brings tourists to Padstein all year round and keeps people employed.
We on the other hand, just soaked up the ambiance, took our picnic and found a bench by the harbour and sat, ate our sandwiches and drank our coffee. We then snuggled up in the afternoon sun and listening to a folk musician busking and watched the tourists try to keep their children from falling in the harbour and spending all of their merchant banking city bonuses!
After snoozing together for a while, just generally being lazy and on holiday; we walked further from town and towards the beach. We've never done this before and I can recommend it. We walked through a field that led to the war memorial and we met with a line of benches at the top of the hill. The views of Rock and the estuary were wonderful.

After taking as much sun and lazing around as we could cope with, we headed back. The hedge rows were groaning with crab apples (Malus Sylvestris) and by the time we got back to Wadebridge, we managed to pick half a basket full. The blog about what I did with the crab apples will follow later!
Our journey by bikes was so slow as we stopped to watch the Canada geese and their aerobatic displays, to watch the wading birds and so often just to sit by the estuary and watch the world go by. We didn't go to a fancy restaurant, we didn't step foot inside any shops, not even for a coffee but we had a fantastic day because we had time and each other.