Doris's Day: Bank Holiday Outing to Parkgate

Have just been reading other posts about outings on Bank Holiday Monday so thought I'd add my own. The sun being out, I announced in the morning that I'd like a walk on the beach.  But other things to be achieved first so it was mid-afternoon before we set off up the Wirral peninsula heading for the nearest beach at Thurstaston.  Traffic backed up a bit so we turned off the main road a little earlier and went instead to Parkgate, a very unusual village which used to be a thriving resort and port but is now totally silted up.  So it has a promenade but the sea, or the Dee estuary to be precise, is a silver line in the distance.  Not a beach but it would do.

I'm quite fond of Parkgate having once worked in the black and white building on the right which is Mostyn House School.  Sadly this has now closed down and the beautiful old building with its wood panelling and private (and freezing) chapel where we had assembly is now supported by scaffolding.  One day when I was teaching there the tide came in:  this happens a couple of times a year and it was quite a shock. Mostly though it looks like it does in the picture above.  Acres of marshland and sky.

We found a parking space eventually.  Kate and I went to buy ice creams, one of the main attractions of Parkgate.  Nichol's, the famous ice-cream shop,  had a very long queue so went to the less famous one next door.

Meanwhile Ronan the dog had been let loose on the marshland.  Bad move: he found something very unpleasant indeed to roll in and now stank to high heaven.  Stank so badly that grumpy husband refused point blank to walk with him in that state. So plans abandoned and we headed home to hose him down (the dog, not the husband).

Everybody grumpy by that stage so we went our separate ways: me to the garden to sit in the sun with a cup of tea and my journal; Kate to her room to phone a friend and moan about her dad and he to listen to music. Loudly.

The dog forgave him first and was soon chasing around the garden, tail wagging in pursuit of a ball. I relented when he transformed our M&S 'Dine In' gammon joint with plastic packet of parsley sauce into something more delicious with the addition of gingered carrots, caramelised red onions and roast tomatoes.  He knows how to get round me. Kate still throwing him looks like daggers two days later.

Introducing Doris's Day

Have decided to out myself as a Doris. When I started the blog that I was using a pen name, as I was worried about my ramblings being discovered by kids I teach.  Feel a bit more secure now in blogland and am weary of keeping up the Eleanor front.  Eleanor has a capsule wardrobe full of clothes from Boden and shoes from Russell and Bromley and an uncluttered home full of tastefully chosen items.   Doris doesn't, something regular readers may have realised by now.

There aren't many of us Dorises about.  I don't know any - do you?  My husband had an auntie but she's passed away now.  Most Dorises are in their eighties I reckon.  So I was very excited to discover a new mumsnet blogger on their newsletter recently called Lunch Lady Doris.  Left an enthusiastic comment about her name on her blog only to discover what you probably already know: that Lunch Lady Doris is a character from The Simpsons.  Mortified.

Yes my name is a bit of a joke and I've found myself apologising for it as I introduce myself to someone new to pre-empt the inevitable reactions: the smart-alec comment or the look of pity.  It's the pity I hate the most, as I can usually deal with the former.

Refuse to apologise any more or to hide behind Eleanor. I am who I am.  And so this blog will henceforth be subtitled Doris's Day. Que sera, sera....

52 Weeks of Happy 2/52: Dandelions and Butterflies

So here's my second lot of 52 Weeks of Happy.  I'm in a bit of a muddle about this numbering business.  Last week I decided to go along with the numbering I'd seen on another blog assuming that everyone was doing the same thing and that it was the 30th week the idea had been going.  But have seen another one with a different number and so I'm doing my own. This is my second week on happies and so 2/52 it is.

1. Butterflies. Loads of them - more than I saw the whole of last year.  I've spent all week chasing them with my camera/phone.  They seem to be attracted to the dandelions and the purple dead nettles which line the edge of dog walk field  Failed to get a photo as every time I crept up to a glorious peacock settled on a dandelion it flew away.  Or the dog scared it off. So here's the picture of where they were before they moved!

2. Dandelions on the lawn: I have spent money on chemicals trying to zap them and last year on getting someone to physically remove them with a knife.  But they're back!  So this year have decided to live with them and enjoy their yellow beauty.  And they attract the butterflies.

3. My daughter singing loudly along to music as she gets ready in the morning.  Currently her favourite also features butterflies. It's by Paramore and she tells me it's called 'Still into You' and not 'Butterfly' as I called it.  I've heard it about 50 times this week...don't mind really.  Just love to see her happy.

 4. A reminder of why I love teaching.  A student, inspired by the poems we'd studied by Carol Ann Duffy, had bought a copy of her Love Poems and brought it to show me.  Asked me to read one.  Wasn't sure her classmates would want this -it was during a break,  but they did.  Read 'Valentine'.  Silence fell. Loved it.

Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,
if you like.

Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife. 

(Perhaps not the best choice of poem on reflection - a rather jaded view of love)

52 Weeks of Happy 30/50

Joining in belatedly with Jen at  little birdie and loads of other bloggers with this lovely project.  So my four happies this week:

Getting a unexpected £5 voucher when paying for my petrol and spending it on scented lilies.  Kitchen filled with the heady perfume all week.

Rare night out catching up with my mum friends at new Porta tapas bar in Chester

Seeing my first butterflies of the year. A peacock basking in the sun on patio and two others - tortoiseshells, I think, dancing with each other as we walked the dog across the field.

Warm greeting from our lovely Irish Terrier every time I come home.

Wordless Wednesday: Nettles Welcome Here

World Book Night Giveaway: 'Noughts and Crosses' by Malorie Blackman

 

It's World Book Night and I applied and have been selected to give away 23 copies of my chosen book to as wide a selection of people as possible.  I picked this book for young adults which I read last year. Not for younger kids, but suitable for those aged 13 up.  I enjoyed it a lot, though found the ending a bit harrowing. Here's a quote from the Guardian review - a bit pushed for time to write my own.

'The first book in a superb trilogy of discrimination and injustice, set in a world where black is right and white is wrong, comes the story of two lovers, fighting against the world to be together. Sephy (daughter of one of the leading Crosses) and Callum (a lowly Nought, whose mother was Sephy's nanny) are two best friends who eventually fall in love, and their journey together as they try to pick up the pieces after a bomb goes off.'

So far I've managed to give away just one copy - to a traffic warden doing a survey in the local library.  But I'm going out tonight with some mums who have teens so I will take some copies with me.

So I've got two copies to anyone out there who would like to read this book themselves or to pass it on to a teen.  Just leave a comment if you want to join in.

Salad Days

I hate those nasty plastic bags of supermarket salad with too much spinach and half-dead droopy leaves.   So this year I'm determined to grow my own:  after all I'm a farmer's daughter and know about this stuff. A couple of years ago I had great success with my veg patch, using a method called square foot gardening.

Indestructable rhubarb

But the last two years have been less successful - the cold and wet here in the north west left my patio tomatoes hard and green and the surviving lettuce slug ridden.  I have only managed to grow two things : the rhubarb which as you can see above is emerging again and my chive plant which seems indestructable.

So this year I have done everything by the book. Compost has been dug into the bed; seeds planted indoors until the soil warms up.  The seedlings look a bit leggy, probably because I didn't use proper seed compost. Not so sure about all the thinning out and hardening off business so have bought a couple of ready planted trays from B&Q just in case it all goes wrong.

The rocket seems to grow the fast

Peas also doing well