life – Page 29 – Louisa Parry

Wild Food Fun: Wild Food Foray with SlowFoodWYorks @ Bolton Abbey

27/5/2010 / louisa / 3 Comments

On Sunday, we went on a Wild Food Foray just north of Bolton Abbey, North Yorks, organised by Slow Food West Yorkshire and led by medical herbalist & wild food expert Jesper Launder.

It was a glorious day – beautiful countryside and super sunny but with a lovely cooling breeze and a river for Lily to cool off in – and under Jesper’s tutelage, we got to try over a dozen different plants. We also did a spot of crayfishing in the river (catching nasty, invasive Signal crayfish), which was a lot of fun.

There was really too much information to take in during the day and I’ll probably only be confident identifying a few of the things we tried – but it still was an excellent day and a great introduction to the potential finds out there. I’d highly recommend going on such a walk and we’ll certainly go on more in different locations/seasons.

Some of the things we tried (in rough order of trying them):
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Last week’s Tweets (up to 2010-05-23)

23/5/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

HSBC? Hate-SBC more like. #
Am definitely ill at the wrong time of year – porch full of seedlings needing potting on/planting out but I'm too tired to do it. Sigh. #
Had lovely pizza for dinner with @strowger78 & Lizzie. Lily was a pain for her auntie Katherine. Suspect we got the better side of the deal. #
The worst thing about working in our new office? Our open office door is directly adjacent to next door's open kitchen door. Smells so good. #
@left_realistic well you would, wouldn't you, you Nazi. ;) in reply to left_realistic #
Walk in the woods. Speckled sun. Tiny singing birds. Bluebells. A mysterious fruit. More wood sorrel. A nest. New horses. Peeling back bark. #
Boron just came in from sunbathing with a catkin-fluff beard. It made him look distinguished. And just the slightest bit funny. #
Enjoyed the food but not the slow/very inattentive service at the usually great Dos Amigos. Oh, and I enjoyed the Katherine company too. :) #
Thinking of organising a Big Lunch this year… http://www.thebiglunch.com/ #bd10 #greengates #
Today I'll be slaving away in the garden while @johnleach drinks nice coffee in the sun. A great division of labour as I don't like coffee. #
@IdleSi Sainsbury's is in Apperley Bridge? Did it move overnight while I wasn't looking? ;) in reply to IdleSi #

Last week’s Tweets (up to 2010-05-16)

16/5/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

Just when I thought I was better, the crap kicked in again. Sigh. #
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. #
@tim_waters happy ageing and happy bearding! in reply to tim_waters #
The house is disturbingly quiet without @johnleach and the dog thundering about. #
…Or it was disturbingly quiet until our neighbour started listening to disco music at full blast. Getting his groove on while making lunch #
With my back to the window, the blue-with-white-clouds sky & trees are reflected in my blue-with-white-clouds & trees Twitter background. #
Just had my first blood test in 22 years. Sore and unhappy. Phobias suck, swollen, painful joints suck more. #
Our lunchtime walk was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a running horse. Thought it was a big dog at first. A REALLY big dog. #
Lost a day playing Theme Hospital, inspired by Thursday's visit to the doctors. Still not 100% myself but feeling a bit better (again). #

Last week’s Tweets (up to 2010-05-09)

9/5/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

Frustrated by the amount of venues keeping day delegate rates/room rates a secret. I know why they're doing it but still A*N*N*O*Y*I*N*G. #
Getting tired of being exhausted all the time. Going to get through today with a combination of caffeine and painkillers. Healthy. #
Sleep barking is possibly the cutest thing I've ever heard. Bloodshot eyes open & rolling around during the same REM cycle … not so cute. #
After carrying it around in her mouth for weeks, dog has finally realised her prized possession is actually a chew toy & must be destroyed. #
Feeling strangely (for me) apathetic towards #ge2010 today. And, well, everything. Sigh. #
Dog appears hypnotised by Joanna Newsom. #
Is it time to go back to bed yet? #
RT @DocRichard: Votes needed to get one MP: Lab: 33k/seat, Con: 35k/seat; LibDem 126k/seat, Greens 200k/seat. First past the post stinks. #
Am currently not so much a girlfriend to @johnleach as a sleepy lump, demanding cups of tea & occasionally making acerbic yet witty remarks #
Best news of the day! BNP thought they'd win the council in Barking&Dagenham. Instead they lost the 12 seats they had. http://bit.ly/bfO65c #
After a week of feeling too exhausted to stand up let alone dig, loads of catching up in the garden to do today. It'll be worth it though :) #
I only realised after it was too late: the herb bed is not planted in alphabetical order. Borage & chamomile the wrong way around. Gutted. #
2 beds sorted & 4 small ones good to go when the seedlings are ready. 2 big ones still to dig over then containers to sort. Getting there. #

Last week’s Tweets (up to 2010-05-02)

2/5/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

Had such a great, interesting weekend that today seems uber crap in comparison. Will have to strive for mediocre weekends in the future. #
I have a lot of hate for HSBC's business internet banking atm. Can log in fine but then the site refuses load at certain times of day. Grr. #
@SlowFoodWY @johnleach and I (and our doggie Lily) do very much fancy that! Our cheque will be in the post this afternoon :) in reply to SlowFoodWY #
@davidsmalley a lot of people use it as a commuting route & i've never had any problems. Seen people having sex? yes, but no problems. :) in reply to davidsmalley #
Finally in our new office! Desks a bit big really (4x the size of the table we were working off in Armley!) but great to have a base at last #
Saw lots of spider mites in the field while walking the dog, now super itchy. Thanks spider mites. Thidermites. #
@sarahjarvis we've got up to XXL in the unisex fit, would that be big enough for you two? ;) in reply to sarahjarvis #
I've blogged about our chicken killing & sausage making from this weekend – http://bit.ly/chickenmdk & http://bit.ly/sausageomnom #
@Caius there are a few fabric stands in the market – lower end. Usually another in the outside market too. All usually have some offcuts. in reply to Caius #
@Caius Failing that, there is a haberdashery behind the organic shop opposite the corn exch, loads of fabric downstairs. Market cheaper tho. in reply to Caius #
Has opted out of the NHS's Summary Care Record scheme – http://www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk/options #
@tim_waters #euphemism or #notaeuphemism? in reply to tim_waters #
RT @recycle_this: General Election 2010 (#ge2010): Environmental Policies across the parties http://bit.ly/c3cIo9 #
@urbanwide Katherine's Joe has been trying out nursery too today. He's his first proper long stay on Tues. They're getting old these boys! in reply to urbanwide #
I hope @jeremyjarvis and @sarahjarvis got everything into their new house before the rain started… #
@tim_waters mmm, free protein. in reply to tim_waters #

3BT – once our own, the afternoon’s colours, nightmare-inducing

2/5/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. It’s still early for Armley and the woods are our own again. I tell Lily about the adventures the cats got up to when they lived here. It feels like a million years ago now. I thought I’d never been able to let it go but it’s been surprisingly easy.

2. The dusky pink blanket on the rich blue sofa. The stove’s orange window. The lilac flowers on her shoe.

3. After a week of fighting it, I eventually give into my growing exhaustion and all over aches. I spend the whole late afternoon/evening reading. Amongst other things, I read John Christopher’s ‘The Death of Grass’ from cover to cover. Like John Wyndham, the UK location makes it feel startlingly real and at one point, I turn to John to report that Leeds has been destroyed by an atomic bomb. “Well then,” he says, “I guess we should stay away from the bottom of the garden.”

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