Back to Gloucester

Back in September I had a lovely day out in the summer sunshine meeting up with old friends from work for the day in Gloucester.

Last week I got to meet another old friend, back in Gloucester, but without the sunshine!! 

We have been trying to arrange a day to meet up for over six months, but one thing or another has always got in the way. This was the third date we'd tried and this time nothing was stopping us.

I set the alarm, which was a strange activity for me, got up early and walked down to the train station in heavy drizzle. After a nice relaxing journey, catching up with some reading, I arrived in Gloucester to absolutely torrential rain. 

My friend arrived a few minutes later and we decided a good plan would be to chill in the station cafe and wait for the deluge to pass. It soon did and our main aim for the day was to have a good wander round the cathedral before finding somewhere nice to have a relaxing lunch and a really good old catch up. 

On our wander towards the cathedral we hit every charity shop in sight!! 

Now, if anyone had told me 10 years ago that I'd be, not only doing that, but enjoying every minute, I would have laughed in their faces. 

Our charity shop trawling was not without objective. My friend's daughter gets married this year and she has tasked her mum with hunting out vintage floral china pottery for a traditional cream tea, so every time a new charity shop presents itself it is an opportunity too good to be missed. 

I was more than happy to tag along, looking for china that I could smash up for mosaics, or beads that may come in useful for my bracelet making. We did have to make a pact that I would only have second dibs on any china, as my friend would be giving it it a far better second life as she would not be smashing it to pieces. 

After a good old mooch, diving in and out of the rain, which resulted in a pretty milk jug for the wedding and some nice beads for me, we made our way to the cathedral and had a good old wander around inside. 

It was really impressive, with lots of nooks and crannies and interesting things to see. The Lady Chapel, the choir stalls and wall and ceiling frescoes were particularly impressive. 

When we came out of the cathedral there were hints of blue sky trying make an appearance so we had a walk around the outside before being hit by another deluge, which was our cue for lunch. 

We just happened to stumble across Lily's, which we had read good things about on line, so we decided to give it a go. We weren't disappointed. It was warm and cosy, the staff were very, very friendly and the food was great. A roast lamb dinner, followed by lemon meringue pie and a steak and Stour Budding ale pie, followed by chocolate brownie just met the spot perfectly.

We whiled away a good couple of hours enjoying the warm and the chance for a real good old catch up before heading back out, with just enough time for a couple more charity shops on the way back to the station, where I waved my friend off, before catching the 15.50 to head for home and a chippy tea for Martin!

One Pot Creamy Chicken & Spinach Pasta

This is an adaptation of a recipe that I have had on my Pinterest board for a while.  It's one of those where there isn't any real right or wrong way to make it.  I've used chicken, mushrooms and spinach as the main ingredients, but the options really are endless.

It is very quick and easy to make and took about 30 minutes from starting the prep to being ready to eat.  The measurements I've given are to serve 2.

Ingredients
Olive oil, for frying
1 onion, chopped
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
Mushrooms, cut into quarters
300g tin chopped tomatoes
250ml chicken stock
Pasta shapes, sufficient to serve 2
3 good handfuls of fresh spinach
A good dollop of creme fraiche
1 mozzerella cheese ball, sliced
Chunk of grated cheese
1 bunch of spring onions, sliced
Cornflour - for thickening if required

Fry the onion in the olive oil until softened, turn down the heat and add the chicken.  Continue to cook until the chicken is golden brown.  Add the mushrooms and continue cook for a few more minutes, just to start the mushrooms off.

Add the tinned tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil.

Add the dry pasta, making sure that it is all covered by the liquid.  Bring to a rolling simmer, cover and cook until the pasta is how you like it.  Thicken if required and stir in the creme fraiche

Add the spinach, a handful at a time, stirring until until wilted before adding the next handful.

Sprinkle the cheese on the top and leave to melt.

When ready sprinkle with the spring onions and give a good stir to give a delicious creamy texture.

We had this with garlic bread.

I have only made this the once and it was scrummy and will definitely be an addition to our list of favourite one pot dinners.  When I make it again I may add either some smoked paprika or Worcestershire sauce just to give a little bit of added heat.

A Year in the Life ...

Well, 31 January 2015 saw the last day of the first year of my new Life of Pottering.

When I first finished work I set myself the following objectives to give me a bit of focus to get me started on this new chapter in my life story:

• Start a blog 
• Be more creative 
• Learn to take better photos 
• Get fitter 
• Keep in touch 
• Make my money go further 
• Be happy 
• Add value to Society 
• Keep on top of general household and garden activities 
• Have less stress

I thought now would be a good time to reflect on the year and to see if I'd met my objectives and if I could answer the questions I asked myself when I started out on this new stage of my life .... Is there life after working for the same company for 30 years and can you really make a life out of pottering? 

I think I pretty much know the answer to both questions but still think it would be good to take a look back over the year. 

Early on there were some really sad times.  Losing Poor William on the very day that I finished work, followed by losing Martin's mum, just a week later, was not really the start that I had planned for. 

Whilst it was very sad to say good bye to both, losing Martin's mum did set us off on a journey of discovery with our finding of the war diaries of William Preston Sidney, Martin's granddad. I am still working through the story of his war years. Through our research we have both learned loads about both Martin's grandad and the kind of person he was and what WW1 was all about. 

We've started to get to grips with the new Canon and Martin has even had a photo included in a National Trust garden calendar. We've also had a go at film making, though I think it's safe to say it's early days. This year I hope to work through my photography e-course and do more from a photography point of view. 

Along the way there have been our favourite recipes, some new and some old, shared with you all, lots of jam, jelly and chutney making and plenty of garden activity. 

Highlights in the garden this year have to be the new fence and gate out the front and the new brick edge out the back. It was also great to be able to spend more time just doing what needs doing. Hopefully this year we will get more time to enjoy the garden, assuming we get some decent weather.

We are already starting to think about this year's cycle and it won't be long before we have a good look through the seed box and make our plans for this year. 

There has been plenty of time for holidays with time spent away in The Peak District, Snowdonia, Dartmoor and a week away in Norfolk with the family to celebrate my 50th birthday. We already have places booked for this year with two trips to the Peak District booked in and a week in a wooden cabin booked in the Cairngorms. We'd also like to try and get to Suffolk and the New Forest, so plenty more holiday cottage reviews are on the cards. 

There's been plenty of time for catching up with friends and family, combined with days out just catching up and just a spot of caching along the way. 

On the boring side there has been lots of thought gone into ways of saving and making money. After all, I can't replace what I spend with a salary anymore, which can be a bit scary at times. It's made me finally have a bash at selling unwanted stuff on ebay and have a good look at cashback sites. It's not going to make me a millionaire, but hey, every little helps. 

There has also been time for getting started with some totally new craft projects, including hand made beaded bracelets, which went down very well as Christmas gifts for friends and family, a tentative start at decoupage and big plans for working with mosaics. 

On a socially responsible note I've taken on the role chair of governors at a primary school not too far away and, as well as feeling like I am doing my bit from a volunteering point of view, this is keeping my brain very active. I've learned absolutely loads of new things and am really enjoying spending more quality time at school. I'm really starting to feel that I'm getting to grips with how things work and what we need to do. 

So, so far, so good! 

From an objective point of view, I don't think I've done too badly. Other than my objective of 'getting fitter,' which, I have to be honest, has gone a bit by the by, I think I can definitely tick off the rest, even though I will continue to develop some of them further in 2015.

In answer to my questions ..... 

There is definitely life after work, though I do sometimes miss everyone. It's hard not to when you've worked with people on and off for 30 years. I can see what some of my old friends are up to on Twitter and my brother does tend to keep me posted, as he still works for the same company. I have also managed to fit in a few meals out with old friends locally and a couple of days out with my old friends from further afield.

Can I make a life out of pottering. Well, I definitely think so, and a good life at that. 

So, what does 2015 hold .... More of the same I hope. 

This year I hope to finish off telling the story of William Preston Sidney and then we will decide what to do with all of his war memorabilia. 

I want to work through my on line photography course and think about where I want to go with my photography. Will it remain just a hobby or do I want to take it further. I'm sure there will be more recipes and more garden activity.

There will definitely be more caching and more time exploring this beautiful land we are lucky enough to call home. .

There will be more craft posts as I now have everything I need to get cracking on with my mosaic and decoupage projects. 

I also want to start posting about my '50 things to do before I'm 60' list. It's not really a bucket list, as I still plan to be alive and kicking by the time I'm 60. I just want to make the very most of this next 10 years. 

With Martin planning on retiring in early 2016, we also need to have a serious look at finances and find as many money saving ideas as possible, to make sure that this will be financially viable. 

Oh yeah, mustn't forget that never ending project - the guest bedroom.  This year I am determined that I will see that fully completed.

So, lots on the agenda for 2015 - best get cracking!

A lull in the Storm for Will

In my last post about Will Sidney's War it was 30 September 1917 and Will had been granted a day's sick leave as a result of straining his side.  This could be seen to have been a be a bit of a lucky injury for Will.

Whilst Will's personal diary entry for 30 September reads ...

"30 Sun - Got excuse duty for 1 day, sprained side. Rest all day. Painful."

You can read the Battalion's official war diary entry, which was actually written in the field as events were unfolding, below ...

"About 4 am very thick mist; 4.30 am intense bombardment helped on with minewerfers & smoke bombs: 5.15 am enemy discovered in large numbers advancing against our trench especially on our right: mist still very thick: enemy used bombs and flammerwerfer. Heavy fire with rifles, Lewis machine guns and bombs was opened on them & none reached our trench: S.O.S. sent up but was not seen at Batt H.Q. owing to mist: an orderly arrived with the first news at 7.20 am. About 6 am enemy again attacked but was driven off: took 2 prisoners, 1 flammenwerfer & a machine gun: 60 or 70 dead were left in front of our trenches: the attack was repulsed entirely with the fire of the infantry: the artillery did not barrage our front: a wire fence, put up during the previous night by a pioneer battn helped greatly to impede the enemy. A short barrage was put down on our lines at 10 am: the remainder of the day was normal."

The card below was found with Will's things and is to commemorate the Division's actions at The Battle of The Menin Road earlier in the month.

As you can see, Will sent the card to Ethel, though we have no way of knowing when it would have been sent.

On 1 October Will went to see the 'Doc' and was diagnosed with a compound fracture.  He was excused duties for 2 days and moved to Meteren, where he was placed in charge of the stores for 3 days.

On 3 October Will writes that the Battalion came in and had been badly cut up.  Who knows what may have happened to Will had he not suffered his injury when he did.

Following his stint in the stores Will acted as the Orderly Corporal for the Company.  He carried out this role until the 8th, when it seems he helped run a course for a group of NCOs.

On 9 October Will was back into the fray, having been dismissed after Parade, awaiting orders to go back up the line.  The Battalion went, by motor, to Ridgewood, for 1 night, before hitting the line again on the 10th.

You can read more about Will's next foray to the front line in my next post.