Hedgie

Look at what R found on the driveway when he came back on his scooter last evening! He kept this prickly baby in a box, fed it grape and cereal and only showed it me this morning after he declared, ”I have a little surprise!”.

We found the baby hedgehog, which looks like a floor brush and is only slightly smaller than a $10-note, fast asleep in the box. At the moment, it’s still dozing in the garage and I haven’t seen its face yet, but hopefully when the nocturnal creature wakes later, I’d be able to take a good look at it.

We went out to buy some cat food for it, and plan to release it to the wild when it eventually comes around.

Oh I’ll miss cute Hedgie! Too bad we can’t keep him.

Rolling in the river. Wye me?

How should I start…?

We were just slowly paddling down the River Wye when we hit the rapids at a wrong angle and our two-man canoe capsized. As I went down under, our aluminium vessel flipped over and hit me above my left brow. Fortunately the waters were only up to my knees and I quickly picked myself up.

Cold, sodden and shaken, I looked around for R and the canoe and saw that they were a few metres away at the side of the river. I picked up my paddle and tried to walk on the rocky riverbed toward them. A fellow paddler came to tell me R panicked when he couldn’t see me and wanted to know if I was alright.

When I got to the canoe, some other paddlers were trying to scoop the water out. R lost his glasses when he fell into the water and got pushed downstream by the canoe. We also lost one of the cushion seat pads and his paddle.

Later when we got in and continued our journey, we saw that the other few boats with his colleagues were waiting somewhere nearby to see that we were OK. They also managed to pick up our missing paddle. But R was quite blind without his glasses so I had to navigate us through the rest of the course.

Thankfully it was a very warm and sunny summer’s day so though we were wet, we weren’t cold. Despite our accident, we enjoyed meandering down the dark green river with mallards, swans, ugly ducklings and soaking in the beautiful scenery, as well as soaking in our clothes.

It took about 5 hours to complete 20 kilometres downstream and by the time I got back in the afternoon with a wet bum, swollen forehead, bruised leg, very sore and tender arms, thoroughly soaked and possibly damaged camera and phone, I just collapsed and slept.

A few hours later when I woke I discovered I was hot and a bit sunburnt (I know, how ironic to do that in the UK!), and I could not move my arms without cringing. There was a little crater where I knocked my eyebrow. Feeling quite ill and horrible, I popped a few Panadols.

Luckily much of the swelling and aching have resolved this morning but my electronic equipment has not sprung back to life. R has better luck. His phone is at least working, he’s found another pair of glasses in his cupboard and only had minor cuts and bruises on his body.

“Hey what shall we do next week? Skydiving?” he joked. No, you know what? I think I’d stick to baking.

Happy Birthday, R

It was R’s birthday yesterday so I spent the afternoon baking 20 vanilla cupcakes with strawberry buttercream icing topped with chunks of strawberries, chocolate shavings and cocoa powder. He took it to the hospital to share with his colleagues.

We thought the icing turned out really well but that the cake could be softer and more moist. Never mind, I’ll work on it but my next project would be fruit enzymes and strawberry jam!

Soaking up summer

The weather has been amazingly wonderful and warm this week so we went for a walk in the countryside just minutes away from home. I met a boy and his beautiful 11-year-old chestnut horse and also sneaked up to a herd of dairy cows standing in the fields. I wish summer lasted longer!

Garden Treasures

I found a lovely lavender shrub growing near the pond. Crushing it releases such a wonderful fragrance. Really handy to be able to pick it just from the back of the house!

R saw some frog spawn in the pond some months ago and look what we discovered in the garden when we turned on the hose and watered the plants the other day. Loads of cute froglets hopping around and into the pond. I managed to catch one, no bigger than my very small nails. Grribbit.

Oat and Raisin Cookies

The oat and raisin cookies were a hit. I am so pleased that they turned out so delicious the first time I made them. OK, I burnt the second batch because I got glued to the computer but thankfully still made enough to go around.

Found the simple recipe on a bag of Scottish oats and improvised it. They are quick and easy to make so here it goes:

Ingredients

230g self-raising flour

100g whole rolled porridge oats

100g caster sugar

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon honey

A few tablespoons of milk

Method

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, oats and salt. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the honey, raisins and sufficient milk to form a stiff dough. Knead well. Place small spoons of the mixture on a lightly greased tin and flatten. Bake in a pre-heated oven 190C for 10-20 mins until lightly golden. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Not so desperate housewife

He came back from the hospital after his shift last night and I had his dinner waiting for him. I made haddock and mash.

He hung his coat on the door and said to me, “Hey you know there’s this old lady on the ward who’s been there for months. Suddenly out of the blue today she said to me, ‘Ah you’re looking well! You must be courting!’ How odd!”

We laughed and he had his food after washing up. I’m enjoying cooking dinner and baking cookies while he’s at work. I also try to tidy the house a bit but frankly there isn’t much I can do as most rooms are still unfurnished and the kitchen has yet to be put in.

So this week, I’ve been moping around, reading in bed, going to the supermarket, preparing meals and snacks and waiting for him to come home.

I’m also recovering from a mild case of urinary tract infection (first time in my life and it’s no fun at all) and the antibiotics just make me so groggy that I stay in bed all afternoon. So I’m really like the housewife who does not do housework. Or more like – no housework to do.

Well I’m not sure I’d like to stay this way though I do enjoy having the time to do what I want.

I feel pressured to find employment quick because ”doing nothing” isn’t exactly what I want to say when I meet people, because I don’t think my family think “doing nothing” is such a good option, because I do prefer to dress up and get out there and earn my own keep, because I don’t know if I’d like to be a housewife, yet.

He’s been very nice about it and wants me to find something I really like, and not do it just for the money. He said, “If you don’t find anything, or don’t want to ever work, then I’ll support you.”

I think that’s very reassuring so I am taking my time to look for something I like and making it a priority to focus on getting the house in a liveable condition.

It’s nearly eight o’clock in the evening and the summer sun is shining on brightly. It won’t get dark now till about ten. But the British weather is unpredictable. All could change as you turn your back.

I don’t find the unknown or such unpredictability exciting, I am just curious to see how it will all turn out.

A new beginning

No, don’t worry. The British Airways flight got me here alright. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the journey went. The hours passed very quickly as I was able to sleep through most of the flight.

It’s just that I have been pretty busy with settling in and I haven’t managed to get an internet connection yet, thus the lack of updates. Hopefully that will change in the following week as I plan to get broadband soon.

This week we had new carpet fitted and also did painted the living room. In the coming days we plan to get the kitchen ready so I hope that will make the place look more homely.

Nothing really disappointing so far apart from the awful weather – unbelievably low temperatures at this time of the year. Where’s all the sunshine?

Will update again when I can sit down to put together my thoughts in a more conducive environment.

Jet-lag before the jet

Leaving home seems to get harder and harder as you grow older. I don’t remember feeling so melancholic when I first left home at 19, though I remember crying bucketloads at Heathrow Airport as I watched my mother leave.

I’ve been feeling strong all this week, feeling very ready for the journey and feeling pretty optimistic as well. I don’t want to hope for too much and I’ve been reminding myself to keep an open mind and go with the flow.

But this afternoon as I was doing some last minute packing, I just could not control my tears. They just fell suddenly without warning. My mother came in to ask me what was wrong. Parting is always so damn difficult and I had thought I got better at doing this.

My mother said the parting day should be viewed upon and handled as any other normal day, so as not to emphasise on the significance and sorrow. We did not do anything special these few days, we went on with our normal lives and I think that really helped to take the pressure off us.

Perhaps this is the reason why I hate farewell parties, get-togethers and all that fanfare. I think quietly slipping away without creating too much of a scene would make it so much easier for all parties involved.

And how do I feel at this point, 7 hours before my flight? Jet-lagged, already!

You see, after a poor night’s sleep, hours of packing and trimming my luggage, sitting on the floor crying and visualising the very long and tiring journey ahead, I already feel like collapsing even before leaving home.

Bamboo goes to Wales

The girls got me a handmade one and only pillow available in the whole world, created by very talented Singaporean plushie-maker, Chun Yi. Bamboo will have a new home in my bed in Wales and I shall stash all my treasures in his kangaroo pouch and sob into his belly when I’m homesick.