Up, Up, and Away!

Trapped in town by the craziest Balloon Fiesta traffic ever, we abandoned our plans to head out to Bedminster (or even up to Clifton and the Downs) to watch the mass balloon ascent and ended up with some of the best views we’ve ever had of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. 

Month In Pictures: July

Here we are again, the end of another month.  It's hard to believe that we've had almost two weeks of the summer holidays already! (I've even managed a whole day Without Getting Cross.  Parents, you know how big a deal that is during the endless holidays!)

So July was pretty cool...

Top: The month kicked off with Bristol Pride. I've never seen the parade before, so we watched it from Dave's office window which gave us a great view. Where on earth do people get these huge flags?! 

Two willow whales have taken up residence in Millennium Square for the summer, The ocean they're swimming in is made of plastic bottles and bubblewrap, collected after the Bristol 10k.  It's a beautiful piece of art, with a big message behind it.

July also saw me baking my first (and last) wedding cake.  I was honoured to do it, and so thrilled that the happy couple loved it, but I was a nervous wreck by the end of it.  I'll stick to making fun cakes for the family that I can plaster with flowers to hide mistakes!

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Middle: The Bristol leg of the Shaun in the City trail started this month.  While I find Shaun tremendously irritating--Gromit is just lovely though--I've still really enjoyed hunting down each Shaun with Dave and Lucas.  I'm hoping that we'll get a few more next weekend!

We seem to be spending loads of time at the Harbourside this summer. Last year we were all about Tyntesfield, but this year the marina and the brightly-painted houses have caught our eye.  This pic was taken on the same day as Pride, when there was a small regatta in the floating harbour.  Lush!

My partners in crime being 100% them. They're totally bonkers but in the best way possible.  Love 'em.

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Bottom: I splashed out on one of my favourite Gromits from the trail two years ago. Shipshape and Bristol Fashion now lives on my Welsh dresser and is often joined by a bunch of peonies.  I love them, even though they don't always open.  I could be doing something wrong, though??

We've spent rather a lot of time at Friska this month.  I might have a slight addiction to their dirty chai, but that's okay as all their food is dead healthy and delicious.  It all balances out, I'm sure!!

Lucas and I went to the aquarium and found Nemo.  He was right there in the tank (along with Dorie and the yellow tang whose name escapes me).  I bet lots of other aquariums have a Nemo tank...

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In August I'm looking forward to our summer holiday in Cornwall.  We're going to a different farm this year as our usual one was booked solid--although yay for our favourite place doing so well!  I need to unearth my swimming costume as it has a pool.  Farm holidays have certainly changed since the days of the Famous Five!!

There'll be pasties, cider and far too much ice-cream, plus fresh eggs collected by Lucas.  Should be awesome.

Talking of ice-cream, I keep hearing about a gelateria on Baldwin Street. I must go and look for it... I haven't had real gelato since we went to Venice for our first anniversary,

So how was your July?

Le Weekend

The rain is pitter-pattering against the window as I type; it's hard to believe that we had such a glorious weekend, but we totally did!

We spent Saturday pottering around the Harbourside in town, sort-of following the Shaun the Sheep trail and basking in the sunshine.  I'm a bit like Goldilocks when it comes to the sun, it can't be too hot or too cold, it has to be just right.

Bristol was super-busy this weekend, with Pride, Grillstock--it smelled so good--sheep hunters galore, and a regatta.  It was manic, frankly, but the city was so happy and buzzing that no one seemed to care.

We watched the Pride parade from Dave's office window which gave us a great view of all the goings on.  So much colour, music, and happiness.  It was lovely to see Avon & Somerset police out, waving rainbow flags and sporting very natty rainbow epaulettes on their uniforms.  And no Pride parade would be complete without some very sassy drag queens and stilt walkers!  So much sparkle!

Beach Boy, BAA-WULF, Green Poems for a Blue Planet, Life Aquatic 

After the parade left Queen Square, we set off on our sheep hunt.  I highly advise picking up a paper map from the tourist information office, the Aardman shop at The Mall (and I'm sure there are other locations, too) as the Shaun in the City app is a bit flaky when it comes to route planning.  Luckily we had Dave, who seems to be part carrier pigeon and never steers us wrong!

Love this water fountain in Millenium Square!

Air Fleece, Dolly, King Arthur of Lambelot and Excalibaaar, On the Waterfront

Some beauts on this section of our walk.  King Arthur was fantastic!  I wonder if it was the same artist who did Sir Gromit of Bristol?  We're still trying to estimate how many glass drops are covering Dolly!

Catch of the Day, the new figurehead for Bristol Ferries

We were lucky to spot Catch of the Day, the new figurehead for Bristol Ferries replacing their mini-Gromit.  I love his/her mermaid design, complete with seaweed lovingly twined around the ankles. (Do sheep have ankles?)

Jarsberry Ram, Sgt. Shepherd, Lotus, Baaarbersheep

The Pump House sported another berry-licious sheep. This time, raspberry flavoured with Jarsberry Ram.  (I hope they bring out a tea towel for him to go along with my Gromberry one!)  We cooled down inside with a drink--it's lovely and cool inside on a hot day, perks of the proper stone walls, I guess--before crossing the river and weaving our way through teams of rowers to find Sgt. Shepherd.

Further downstream we found Lotus outside Aardman's headquarters which was absolutely gorgeous, with lots of hidden details.  I was especially fond of the tai chi poses on each leg.  Peek through the windows and admire their giant Shaun which almost fills the lobby!

Baarbersheep behind the M Shed had it's own farmyard enclosure, complete with haybales (hayfever sufferers beware) and had some gorgeous hand-lettering done by Gav Strange.

It's not a walk round Bristol without a Banksy! Girl with a Pearl Earring

The Pirate Captain, Shaun Beam, King of the Carnival, Justice Lamb

Here are our last few Shauns of the day.  The Pirate Captain was just awesome.  I loved that film!  I'm really not so sure about Shaun Beam. We originally thought that it was something to do with Shaun Bean, but apparently it's inspired by a sculpture in Chicago known as 'the Bean'.  I'm still not sure if I like it... Justice Lamb was great, though!

And lastly, my favourite photo from the day.  I've actually splashed out and ordered it on canvas for the living room wall, that's how much I love it.  And him, too, obvs.  Can't believe he's nearly nine...

Lucas at the Harbourside

Baaa-rilliant!

Shaun In The City starts in two days, on the 6th. Hooray!  It's felt like an absolute age since the London flock got rounded up by the farmer; we have been waiting quite impatiently to get our sheep spotting on.

Now, the trail officially starts on the 6th, but a few Shauns have started stealthily getting into position around the city following Nick Park's parade across the Clifton Suspension Bridge.  The lovely folks at Warmley Waiting Room welcomed their Shaun yesterday and there are three early bird Shauns at The Mall!

Bee-dazzled

Shrek Shaun

"Beware, ogre."

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that I only have pictures of two; I'm afraid I was too lazy to go and track down the third, but I shall triumph another day!

The 'Shaun Shop' is also hosting an exhibition of mimi Shaun's decorated by local schools, so there's plenty to admire as excitement builds for Monday!

Our school's mini Shaun is still busy being decorated but I'm sure he would loved to have taken part in the show.  Still, there was a local-ish Shaun--this Special Delivery sheep from Mangotsfield School.

While we were in the Shaun Shop, I decided to treat myself to one of my favourite Gromits from the original trail.  It's taken me two years of dithering to finally get over the price of them!  Shipshape and Bristol Fashion is now happily ensconced on my Welsh dresser.  I wonder which Shaun will join him?!  (Eventually.)

The one where I meet The General Lee (and go racing)

Ever had one of those days when you nip out for a few minutes and then crawl home hours and hours later?

(That may be a slight analogy for my blogging habits of late, too...)

We popped to The Mall to pick up Dave's repaired iPhone and after plenty of mooching around the shops--so much gorgeous copper and crystal at John Lewis just now--we remembered that the Bristol Motor Show was on, so we had to stop to take a quick look...

Lucas checked out the new Smart cars: "Too big"

I was chatting with a rally car driver sponsored by my garage when Lucas hared over and demanded my phone because he had to take pictures.  When I eventually wandered over I found the boys getting snap happy with the '89 Batmobile.

So big! Had to a panorama to get it all in!

I'm afraid that for once the Batmobile didn't hold my attention. Right next to it was The General Lee!  Please tell me you've all heard of The Dukes of Hazzard?  My brother and I used to pretend that we were jumping The General whenever we drove over a humpback bridge and had that millisecond of hang-time... I was going to marry Bo Duke when I was old enough.

The General Lee. Even better than the Batmobile.

The Wee Man was in his own world of geeky joy as he went nuts over Bumblebee from the Transformers movies.

Love the Autobot detail on the wheels!

There were loads of lovely new cars at the show, but I couldn't help but coo over these beauties, who were selling ice-cream.

Possibly the cutest ice-cream stand ever!

From vintage to hi-tech loveliness...

Lucas loved having a go on one of the Freewheelers blood transport bikes and getting to play with the blues and twos.  I hadn't realised how huge these bikes are!

I thought it was a nice little show. There was a nice mix of eco--Smart cars, the Tesla, bike-powered smoothies--along with family cars, motorbikes, and fun displays from BMX riders.

Afterwards we were in the mood for a drive so we zoomed around the countryside which was absolutely stunning in the sunshine and eventually found ourselves at Castle Coombe watching the Lotus Owners Club track day.

Trust me, they were fast!

Sun, fast cars and a great view... we had loads of fun watching the racing and predicting who was going to spin off. Dave is the Undisputed Champion in that respect...



We loved watching all the Lotuses zoom around the track. I'm not sure I'd have the guts to throw my own car around the track but it's a hell of a lot of fun watching other people do it.  The boys are off to watch Smart car racing at Castle Coombe next month--I wasn't very interested before, but this was so much fun that I might tag along.  (If I can take an armchair.)

Here's some cars that managed to stay on the track!



And purely because no post is truly complete without a shot of the Wee Man, here's Lucas doing his very best 70s impression.

Straight out of The Professionals!

The Sodbury Sheep Search

Last Wednesday Lucas and I spent the morning chasing around Chipping Sodbury, trying to capture twenty-five escaped sheep.  We're awesome like that.

Actually, we were taking part in a fun trail around the town to find the fluffy sheep who had escaped from their field and were hiding out in shop windows.  Not only was this a fantastic low-cost way to spend a morning, but it also introduced me to lots of new shops that I'd never been into before.  Exactly what the local Chamber of Commerce wanted I suspect!

Celebrating National Afternoon Tea Week, perhaps?

We ambled up and down the High Street, and spent ages peering into shop windows and happily browsing in any shops we fancied the look of. Lucas can spot a sheep from a considerable distance!  I had to be really sneaky to spot a sheep before his eagle eyes!!

As per usual I had to stop in at Hobbs House, even if only to look longingly at their cakes and meringues.  Damn you fast days!!  I love their butcher's bike so much!  It's a great (and unusual advertising) method; so much better than a sandwich board.

I admired the Bake Off themed window in Swagger--I really want the tray they had in the window with enamel pictures of British cakes and biscuits on it--for ages until Lucas dragged me along to Purple Parrot who specialise in miniatures for dolls houses and had some impossibly tiny toys in the window.

Along the way I found myself noticing little details, like the house with the magenta-painted windowsills and door with an original boot scraper outside, some beautiful carvings, and all manner of gorgeous doors.  Apparently I have a thing for a nice knocker--who knew?

The details on the police station are amazing.  I love the beautifully carved Public Entrance sign--that must have been a talented stone mason--and the old olice lamp had me snapping photos like a crazy person!  Surprisingly the police station is still in use and hasn't been turned into a dreadful themed pub, a fate that too many of our gorgeous old buildings face.

As we were leaving, we spotted a lonely sheep chained to a bench.  The label around her neck said that she was looking for a husband.  Apparently she'd be no trouble, all she'd need would be a bit of dusting now and then and a few loving words.  If you fancy a low-maintenance wife, she's waiting for you outside the Penny Farthing gift shop on the High Street!

PYO strawberries at Chosen Hill Farm

This year we spent our wedding anniversary picking our own strawberries at Chosen Hill farm near Chew Magna.  Not quite our usual anniversary celebration of a table somewhere fancy and gorging on amazing food, but, this was just as good and we had so much fun in the sunshine!

Chosen Hill farm is tucked away, up a hill overlooking Chew Valley lake.  The views are spectacular--I bet it looks amazing in autumn with all the trees ablaze with colour.  With the perfect growing weather we've had recently, it's really hard to spot the lake with the trees sprawling everywhere!

Strawberries on tables!

One of the nicest things about Chosen Hill is that they grow a lot of their strawberries up on tables to make strawberry picking as accessible as possible.  It's also rather nice for those of us who remember just how back-breaking traditional strawberry picking is!

Stepping into the strawberry field was an incredible experience; the rich and heady scent of ripe strawberries settled around us like the most delicious blanket imaginable.  I'm sure that alone made us keep picking and picking and picking.  And when we tasted a berry each, well...we nearly went back for a second basket!

Romance abounded in the field--Dave found a heart-shaped strawberry and presented it to me.

There were some monstrously large berries, so large that their weight was ripping them away from their stems.  I suppose they could have been full of magic, like Roald Dahl's giant peach... We stuck to smaller berries who were perfectly ripe and ready to feast upon (and turn into jam, but that's a story for another day).

The farm shop handily sells local cream and meringues so that you can make an almost instant Eton Mess or pavlova--what a wonderful idea!  We stocked up on both and that evening Dave made me a gorgeous Eton Mess, lightly tinted pink with strawberry juice.

I'd thoroughly recommend Chosen Hill farm for PYO fruit.  The flavour of the strawberries we picked utterly blew away any supermarket berry and were better than I've had in many a starred restaurant, too.  We ventured into the raspberry canes--these smelled amazing, too--and had a look for gooseberries so that Lucas could see what they looked like.  They have a really good variety of fruit, with some that I'd never tasted before, too.  I could happily spend a day there, picking fruit and then taking it all home to make jam!

Elderflower Cordial

Every year I promise myself that I'll make my own elderflower cordial, and every year I promptly forget until the leaves are turning gold and I'm left kicking myself for being an idiot.

This year I vowed that things would be different.  I would make that bottle of cordial and it would be awesome.  So I went out on an elderflower foraging walk with my friend Claire.  We scoured the banks of the duck pond near school only to discover that the council had ripped all the bushes out along with the brambles, leaving behind a swathe of opportunist jagged, green nettles.  As much as I'm growing to love foraging, I don't think I'll be making nettle soup any time soon!

So we started walking the lanes near school and eventually found a lone elder bush.  Well, more of a tree, really.  The only trouble was that someone had beaten us to it and all the lower branches were stripped bare.  After jumping up and down, snipping wildly at far-away blooms with my longest pair of scissors like a crazed Edward Scissorhands, we admitted defeat and Claire popped home for a step-ladder.  Things went much better after that!

© Julochka via flickr

Sadly we only managed to reach eight heads so I headed to a park and managed to snag another two heads of flowers with my umbrella.  Not quite the romantic basketful that I had in mind!  Enough, however, for a half-batch...

I prettied up my bottle of cordial with this gorgeous label generously created by Holly at Hollytron Blogs.  I didn't have any proper sticky-back label paper to use, so I printed it out on regular paper and used Power Pritt (the grey one) to stick it on.

I'm so pleased that I finally got round to making my own cordial.  It's just as good as Bottlegreen's and so much cheaper, plus there's the satisfaction of making it yourself!  I've been experimenting with it in cake, drinking it over plenty of ice, and I've also had fun trying out cocktails.

This little beauty is vodka, a couple of slices of chopped cucumber lightly muddled with the vodka, ice, a dash of cordial and all topped up with lemonade.  (I have a sweet tooth, but tonic water would probably work well.)  Cucumber and elderflower goes amazingly well together!   No proper measurements, I'm afraid...I put a couple of fingers of vodka in a jam jar--why yes, I have succumbed to this hipster trend--and went from there.  So good.

Elderflower season is over in my part of the country, but if you're further north then you might strike it lucky and find some elderflowers blooming in a park.  If you do, go forth and make your own little bottle of summery sunshine!

Elderflower Cordial

from Countryfile

Notes: I've read that a lot of people have difficulty getting hold of citric acid these days.  (Apparently Boots don't sell it any more as drug addicts use it to cut heroin and cocaine!!)  I ordered a 50g box from my local independent pharmacy, and you can also get it from wine or beer-making shops.  Of course, Amazon sell it too.  (Is there anything they don't carry?)

900g caster sugar
600ml boiling water
30g citric acid
1 lemon, unwaxed
10-15 heads of elderflowers--do not wash. Pick in the morning on a dry, sunny day.  Check for insects and pick them off before using!

Place the sugar into a large bowl.  Pour over the boiling water and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.  Add the citric acid and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Grate the lemon zest directly into the syrup, then slice the lemon thinly and add the slices to the syrup, too.  Place the elderflower heads in the syrup, ensuring that all the flowers are immersed.  I left the stems sticking out as some recipes say that they add a bitter flavour.  Cover with clingfilm and leave to steep for 24 hours.  (Some of the flowers may turn brown and look yucky; it's normal.)

Strain through a sterilised muslin into a sterilised jug.  (A still-hot jug straight out of the dishwasher will be fine, and pour a kettle-full of boiling water over the muslin or even a clean tea towel.  You want everything to be squeaky clean so that the cordial will last for as long as possible.)  Fill sterilised bottle(s) with the cordial and add a label.  Store in the fridge.

Le Weekend (in pictures)

I spent Saturday manning (womanning?) the book stall at the PTA summer fete with my friend Claire.  Luckily after some apocalyptic rain during set-up the rain gracefully agreed to hold off for a couple of hours while the fete itself was on.  (Which gave me just long enough to dry out.)  Lucas joined me for a stint and turned out to be an enthusiastic (and rather successful) salesman!  My crocheted flowers were a hit with the girls, and made our stall look extra-pretty.

Sunday was Bristol's first Armed Forces Day celebration in Queen Square.  We always go to the one up in Staple Hill but since (a) the weather was crap and (b) it was on the same day as the school fete, we opted for the one in the city centre.

I got to play dress-up with the Royal Marines and donned a fully-loaded bergen (36kg/80lb) and carried a general purpose machine gun.  I walked a little and could probably have made it round the square once, but I absolutely cannot imagine being fit and strong enough to do the 12-mile qualifying march with all that weight.  I didn't even have half of the kit on!  The Sergeant I spoke to said that they typically wear 100kg of gear.  Imagine getting up in the morning for work and slinging a whole extra person on your back?!

I have so much respect for our Armed Forces...they do the world's hardest jobs in highly unpleasant conditions and for the most part, come out smiling.

Lucas tried out a few guns, but decided that a grenade launcher was more his style as it was "cooler" than a machine gun.  He was fascinated to learn that army surveillance drones are steered with an X-box controller!  Mind you, he still wants to be a professional footballer who drives a F1 car in his spare time, so I don't need to fret about him going off to war.  (Especially as he decided that two sports bags were too heavy for him and delegated to me...)

We lounged around in the deckchairs at @Bristol for a while, eating ice-cream and watching science videos on the big screen--no tennis! Shocking!--before heading home.

And because any decent weekend must involve cake, I baked some salted caramel cupcakes.  OMG...so good!

What did you get up to this weekend?