Day 59. Ageing with dignity.

Some of the adverts on the digital billboards in Kings Cross fail to grab my attention; not this one. Here's a man who's aged gracefully. No signature cigar but after a long day this raised a smile.

Day 58. Better than sliced bread.

It was my turn to sort out supper today and when I was still at my laptop at 7pm, the chicken curry I had planned to put in the slow cooker was clearly out of the question. A quick trip into town and I returned with a loaf of thick cut white, bacon and a four pack of Hoegaarden. Add to that sumptuous feast the remaining two slices of lemon meringue and let's just say I scored major Brownie points with this impromptu meal. Not sure I can top it tomorrow. Unless I pick up an Indian takeaway on my way home from the station. Now there's a thought.

Day 57. You're gonna need a bigger boat.

It may be small but Downham Market station is perfectly formed. There's a bar serving real ales, a café that can whip up a very tasty bacon sarnie and a waiting room where you can sit in a comfy arm chair and peruse the second hand books for sale. Today I left my book, iPad and Kindle at home; I was late and I blame the unscheduled baking of chocolate chip cookies at an unearthly hour. With a few minutes to spare I scanned the shelves looking for something to read on the way into London and I found this.

Jaws is one of the first films I remember watching, a true blockbuster and frightening enough to prevent me from heading into the sea for a swim the morning after I'd watched it.

This absolute gem of a book is written by Carl Gottlieb who tells the story of how this cinematic classic was made. Insights into the industry, the early career of Spielberg and some of the unthinkable obstacles faced on location are included, I have almost finished it already. Did you know the mechanical shark(s) were nicknamed Bruce by the crew, except when they were in shot and then they reverted to it/them as 'sonofabitch'?

It was the perfect book choice at 7am this morning. Look how old it is. Dog eared, yellowing pages and blurred illustrations.  It looks well read and well loved. I'm going to drop it back at the station next week and I hope someone else picks it up.

So what's your favourite bit of the film?

'You're gonna need a bigger boat' is up there but for me it's the shot of Chief Brody, that Hitchcock zoom or Vertigo shot as he sits in his chair on the beach and then he sees it, something in the water. It's gripping.

This weekend I'm going to watch Jaws again with a fresh perspective and try my hardest not to jump when the head falls from the hole in the boat or the shark appears next to Brody when he's throwing chum into the water. I'll try but it's probably best if I'm not holding a glass of red at the time. It's almost 40 years since Jaws was made. Nice work Bruce.

Day 56. Eyes on the pies.

I've had my eyes on the prize all day.

The time finally arrived when I could log off, pick up The Grinch from after school club (she'd transformed beautifully into Cindy Lou Who by then) and spend a blissful hour in the kitchen making a lemon meringue. It was a last minute decision to go 'crunch' but thanks to an adapted Mary Berry recipe the crumbly base was the perfect contrast to the tart lemon curd and sweet, squidgy meringue.

We are now replete but at least we didn't eat all the pies. Not quite.

Day 55. Scrabble.

After four days away today has consisted mainly of unpacking, washing and generally getting ready for back to school and work tomorrow. I'm now off to bed. Inspirational stuff hey?

Day 54. What's your smell?

This pair of swans joined us for breakfast each morning at our hotel. We didn't really venture out to the lock side, apologies 'Ellesmere Porters' but we're not quite used to your unique industrial odour - cows, sheep and sugar beet being more our regional scent, but we found beauty in the location all the same.

Locks, shops and two ... damn it these are Mute swans not Bewicks and they're not smoking...it doesn't work now.

So long Cheshire.

Day 53. Please Please Me.

As a working Mum, sometimes I try a bit too hard to make up for not really having enough time to spend with Bea. Today I think I got it just right. Back in my home town it was time to share some of the experiences I had when I was growing up and Bea loved it. 

We started off at St George's Hall for The Narnia Experience, a bit too heavy on the religious theme at the end but there was just enough magic in the journey for me to forgive that. From walking through the fur coats into the wardrobe, to being hypnotised by Mr Tumnus in front of his fire, Bea was enthralled and I was simply glad to be there to see how much she enjoyed it.

Next the Walker Art Gallery to look at Henry VIII, a painting many children in Liverpool will be very familiar with. We had to draw this on a school trip and my mate Paula remembered this when I mentioned where we were headed. These super colourful, non-pooping pigeons welcomed us on our way in and we played spot the pigeon as we wandered from exhibit to exhibit (if you haven't been, Peter's bottom courtesy of Hockney is particularly eye catching!).

Then a catch up with my two nieces, who are turning into the most beautiful young women, inside and out; we wandered through town, had lunch (of sorts), hot chocolate, a bit of shopping and then a trip on the Liverpool Eye (as Bea likes to call it). If only my sister had been able to take time off work to join us, maybe next time.

It was a truly special day. Family focused, time with Bea and ending with a glass of wine, a punnet of strawberries and Wild Arabia on TV. I miss home terribly, especially when I'm there, but I'm determined not to leave it so long until my next trip. Please Please Me. Yet again, you did.

Day 52. One for the album.

Today we went to the moon.

Spaceport is a cheap day out compared to many other visitor attractions and although a few of the computers were playing up, on the whole it's definitely worth a visit. We met up with my folks and spent several hours travelling around our Solar System. Downstairs you can hop from one planet to the next, learn about wormholes, black holes and stars. Be reminded that in 5 billion years our sun will lose all of its power and life on Earth will end. The planetarium is running a film, narrated by Ewan McGregor, that takes a look at what it’s really like to be an astronaut complete with nausea inducing effects. Mind expanding stuff and as my Dad said ‘That Brian Cox fella’s in his 40s, he only looks 30 and his brain works in ways that mine doesn’t’. Genius. My Dad not the Prof.

Never fear though. When your own brain has ceased to work from the sheer magnitude of data it’s trying to take on board head upstairs for an Aardman adventure. The Wallace and Gromit exhibition, like the rest of Spaceport, has plenty of interactive exhibits including alien voice creating microphones, trivia questions with Shaun the sheep sound effects and a clay modelling station. Everyone is encouraged to make their own alien and these are ours: Bea’s, mine and my Mum’s, from left to right. Basically its reuse and recycle the clay that’s already been formed into creatures by other visitors and by the time we were ready to leave ours had already been squashed, adapted or remodelled.

The moon may not be made of cheese and it’s probably not realistic to build your own rocket to fly there but at £25 for 1 adult, 1 child and 2 over a certain age, Spaceport was, as Wallace would say, ‘One for the album’. Aye Gromit, a grand day out.

Day 51. Girls on tour.

We spent most of the day travelling so after a quick turnaround at the hotel we headed straight out for some dinner.

There are many things I love about this photo. Bea's expression above all, her painted nails, the Blue Peter use of a hair bobble to aid chopstick control and the various people in the background who don't seem to be having half the fun we are. We're now all tucked up in bed after a pit stop at a HUGE M&S to stock up on pants and vests. I'll leave you to decide who they were for.

Day 50. The empty suitcase.

It's been a bit of a crazy work day as I've been focused on tidying up projects before I take three days leave. Yes. Three days. This may seem insignificant to many of you but if I tell you the last time I had five days off was in August then you'll understand the context. Tomorrow I head out of the door. Just me and one very excited 8 year old; mine of course, I haven't nabbed a child in a bid to justifiably take part in the many child-friendly half-term activities happening in the North West this week.

I love this time before any journey. The empty suitcase, full of opportunity. So much promise. So many possibilities. The known and the unknown. Three days. I can do a lot with that.

Day 49. Brain food for three.

One sea bass per person, seasoned inside and out, placed on a sheet of oiled foil. Bash together 3 lemongrass stalks, a 3cm piece of ginger, 2 chillies, 2 cloves of garlic, teaspoon of honey, juice of a lime and then rub into each fish. Place a wedge of lime in the cavity. Seal each one into a foil parcel and bake in the oven (180C fan/200C conventional/ Gas 6) for 20 minutes. Serve with noodles or rice and vegetables. Delicious brain food.

Day 48. We're lambing.

We started our day at the Ryston Cross Country event in Shouldham Warren. Now I know I'm competitive and although I do try to rein it in when it comes to Bea, I'm not always successful, but at the Ryston races I look like an Earth Mother next to some of the other parents. One Dad was actually running alongside his kids SCREAMING at them to run faster. Scary stuff when you're under 9. Bea managed a sprint finish and as always she did it with a beaming smile, which is enough for me. Just. Like I said, I'm trying to rein it in.

The highlight of the day though was heading on our bikes to our neighbour's farm to see the lambs. I'm in awe of them; my neighbours, not the sheep. Each year they save all their leave for lambing and it was great to hear that this year they had only lost 2 out of 85 lambs with just 2 ewes yet to lamb and that looks all set to happen over the next few days.

Phil had saved this lamb for when Bea visited. She helped to dock its tail (to prevent fly strike) and then she marked it and its mother with a letter 'B' so we'll be able to recognise it as 'Bea's lamb'. It's a texel sheep and soon they'll all move up to the top field where we'll see them each day until they're sold in May. After that Phil and Jo will head up to Skipton to buy some more ewes ready for next year's breeding season.

Such a treat for us to be able to get up close to the lambs; I wonder if we'll still enjoy our dinner tonight? Yep, slow roasted shoulder of lamb. It's Colomendy all over again.

Day 47. Brackets.

National Trust membership is a little like gym membership in our house. When we join we're full of enthusiasm and excitement about how often we'll visit, making great plans for picnics, weekend walks and after school hot chocolates.

Like joining a gym, we quickly forget that our average cost per visit is about £50 which is why when we headed over to Oxburgh Hall today we of course signed up for annual family membership rather than paying the price for one day's admission. It's a charitable donation. Let's look at it that way.

Oxburgh has a beautiful and incredibly peaceful woodland trail, resplendent with copiced hazel, poplars, cherry and touch wood (sorry), a healthy number of ash trees. I found this bracket fungus on a hazel trunk, its shelves and petalled edges all velvety and vividly colourful.

We were due to spend the day clearing out the study but when you wake up on a February morning to find the sky blue and the sun shining, staying indoors is really no option.

Day 46. Molly and Ned.

This is Ned. In the background is his Mother, Molly.

They belong to our neighbours, Phil and Jo and Molly was bought as a companion for Jo's ageing horse, Harty. When they brought Molly back to the village they had absolutely no idea that she was pregnant. Then one day they went out to the paddock and thought someone had tied a plastic bag to her tail only to discover on closer inspection that she was actually giving birth! It wasn't part of the plan to have two donkeys, especially a high spirited male but a new horse on the scene, Archie, keeps Ned in his place.

They are part of our day. Ned and Molly.

Day 45. Made with love.

Love it or loathe it, it can't have escaped your attention that today is Valentine's Day. Yesterday Bea and I spent a happy few hours creating these choccie goodies for her friends at school. There are eight milk chocolate lollies, each one initialed for the intended recipient - seven of them girls and one boy; nice to see she's keeping her options open! We also made our first batch of chocolates and bagged these up with red bows too.

The Tibetan charms say 'made with love' and it's fair to say these were. I hope they're well received, especially this dark chocolate 'K' which has a little more love in it than the rest of them.

Day 44. Just. Can't. Get. Warm.

Today is the coldest I've felt since we had snow. This is helping, but only a little. Cold.

Day 43. Liberty.

I've cheated today because I actually think the side views and back of this London icon are more interesting than the main entrance hence the three photos rather than one. I work a few minutes walk from Liberty and if I have half an hour spare I quite often end up here.

One of the things I love about it isn't the obvious, the mock Tudor frontage, but the fact that the brand is housed in a collection of buildings reflecting how it has grown. Since 1875 it's been the home of eclectic design, mixing the traditional with more contemporary products. Arthur Liberty started the business with a loan of £2000 and a lease on half of 218a Regent Street. Eighteen months later he'd repaid the loan and taken over the rest of the building. As the business grew, adjoining properties were purchased and merged  - look at the bridge in the bottom right picture. The Great Marlborough Street part of today's store, the main frontage, was built in 1924 when there was a fashion for Tudor revival and using the timber from two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan.

Historically fascinating. Fashionably eclectic. Beautifully London.

Day 42. The Harrods of the Fens.

I had originally planned to buy some Kilner jars online but I'm not very patient and they were unlikely to arrive until February 19th (Day 50 of my blog). This gem of a store in Downham Market is like a Tardis and almost every time I go in, usually looking for something very specific, Reeds has it. Apparently referred to as 'The Harrods of the Fens' (not by anyone I know so perhaps a generational thing) the kitchen department did indeed have Kilner jars, in a variety of sizes and only 25p per jar more than a deal I had seen on eBay.

Buying local is satisfying for many reasons but it also provides instant gratification: 30 minutes after deciding to head to Reeds I was back home, purchase complete and coffee in hand. The jars now sit in my kitchen waiting to be filled and I'm certain that my baking will reap the benefits of flour, sugar and ground almonds being housed in such iconic containers.

I'm just a little embarrassed that I headed online first instead of into town. Lesson learned.

Day 41. Sunday + Winter = Crumble.

You've probably already worked out that I like to cook, specifically bake. On a day like today when Bea was at the theatre and Will on another of his crazy long runs, what better way to spend the afternoon than cooking a lamb casserole and a plum crumble for their return.

We were lucky enough to get a decent harvest of fruit from our plum tree last year and they have sat patiently in the freezer waiting for their moment of glory. Here it is. A crunchy and crumbly topping oozing with sticky fruit juice. Tomorrow it's back to work (and the gym) but as it's still officially the weekend I may have to mimic Nigella later and head down to the fridge for late night seconds.

Day 40. Bread.

Today I made bread. It's the first time I've used my 'Bread Revolution' book and I'm already on the hunt for a pizza stone so I can make flat breads next Saturday. This week I kept things simple; a white, crusty, split-tin loaf. It was delicious with soup for lunch. Then for supper, Rick Stein's stir-fried squid with chorizo provided the perfect messy plate just waiting to be mopped with what was left. Not quite a revolution but most definitely a revelation. More bread making here for sure.

Day 39. Sugar, tomatoes and bees.

We live very close to the British Sugar factory at Wissington and piles of sugar beet are a common sight for us through the Autumn and early Winter.

It's the largest sugar factory in the world, producing over 400,000 tonnes of sugar a year, fairly standard stuff for any sugar factory (after all the clue's in the name). However, at British Sugar they have an integrated manufacturing system which means that the output of one process - waste carbon dioxide streams from processing the beet - becomes the input for another - used by tomatoes during photosynthesis. Who knew? Approximately 250,000 plants are grown each year in the UK's largest tomato glasshouse and more than 8,500 bumblebees, in 170 bee hives, pollinate the crops.

So next time you bake a cake or sweeten your tea, remember the tomatoes (and of course the bees); all part of the sugar production cycle and an output most people won't even be aware of.

Day 38. In touch with my inner Stanley.

On days like this I know I'm hard to be around but that's just how it is. I'm either really up or really down. Today I'm in touch with my inner Stanley. Tomorrow let's hope someone found the bicycle pump.

Day 37. Dirty carrots anyone?

This is just a small section of the fresh produce available at our local farm shop, Dents. There's a better range and quality of root veg here than you'll find at Tesco in Downham Market including 'Dirty Carrots' and 'Dirty Parsnips'. Rather than offering carrot batons or grated carrot, the farm shop goes to the other extreme and offers a straight from the ground option at a lower price than its washed and scrubbed neighbours.

Not only can we buy vegetables and fruit, much of it grown on the owner's farm, but it's also the source for last minute gifts, the place where we buy our Christmas tree and the garden centre we visit for annuals and hanging baskets. We buy local beer here, Norfolk honey and freshly baked bread. The staff at Dents are always happy to have a chat and because we're local (in a non League of Gentlemen way) it's a proper chat. Basically it's the good old days and I'm delighted that they're expanding so that by the summer we'll benefit from a deli, butcher, cafe and bakery too.

In a retail environment that seems to be defeating any business that isn't digital in some way, the independent trader is flourishing in our area and as you can see online is not top of the agenda for Dents. NFN? I'm not totally sure but we certainly know a significant number of people who don't rely on the big brand names for all of their spending activity.

Good old Dents. Pop in if you're in the area. I mean dirty root vegetables - more 50 shades of graded soil than 50 shades of grey granted - but it's got to be worth a look for that alone. You won't be disappointed.

Day 36. Too many emails.

I don't know about you but I rarely receive junk mail any more now that email is the channel of choice for most companies. Not only is it cheaper to create and send but it's also easier to track responses. Thank heavens for Tiffany's Cupid themed Valentine's Day brochure; a luxurious reminder that sometimes customer experience is more important than open rates and click throughs.

The stars are out in the Tiffany blue night sky and although I won't be buying anything this month, it's a wonderfully tactile reminder of why I have in the past and may again in the future.

Day 35. Poplars.

With some time in hand on the school run today I took the scenic route through Ryston and Bexwell. This row of poplars looks even more beautiful when the sky is so blue.

Day 34. Sizzle and drizzle.

It's fair to say that investing in a KitchenAid has been money well spent. Never have cakes been made with so little effort, buttercream whipped to such a smooth consistency and in addition to its usefulness, it's just so damn sexy to look at!

Lemon drizzle cake and a Victoria sponge are the results of today's time in the kitchen, along with a delicious chicken and seafood paella using a saffron mix that my friend Jane Flint's Mother brought back from a trip to Spain.

I couldn't decide which photo to use but the lemon drizzle is sitting on a plate that Bea hand painted when we are at Center Parcs so for that reason alone I've picked this one.

It must be time for a coffee now and maybe a slice of cake. But which one? 

Day 33. Welcome drops of snow.

Today I saw my first snowdrops of 2013, a reassuring reminder that Spring will soon be on its way. Carpets of white are already beginning to appear on the verges in the village and on the 10th February the annual snowdrop walk takes place at Ryston Hall.

Such tiny flowers; so exquisite and beautiful.

Day 32. Lockdown.

#fridaynotebooks appeared on twitter yesterday. This is mine. It has a navy blue cover and off white plain pages. It features in a Storify by Gary Bainbridge. Seriously, what am I doing with my life?

Last year I was sat in work next to our MD and our technology consultant. I had this notebook; it's messy inside. Multiple ink colours used and regularly alternating between scrawled notes, drawings and neat, numbered lists. The MD's notebook was soft covered and lined pages. Fairly neat, single colour ink. The technology consultant's was hard back with squared paper. We decided our jobs determined our choice of notebook, as much as our personality. It's clearly an extensive study using qualitative and quantitative research. What does your notebook say about you?

Apologies - I'm on lockdown with an ill child. #stircrazy #housearrest