Tag: Mount WIse

#1349 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn ProcrastinationLeave a comment
The view from Mount Wise

Time to say farewell to February. Normally one of my favourite months because of its brevity and the first signs of Spring. This year February has been a wash out and if the first signs of Spring are out and about it has been hard to spot them in the driving rain.

The sun appeared a few times this week, enough to show me that some home chores needed to be done. Not quite enough for yard chores.

I don’t know if the water finally got to me or a cleared up kitchen,but after years of procrastination an Air fryer appeared in our kitchen courtesy of some sort of instant decision fairy.

I believe there is only a tissue thin barrier between procrastination and sponteneity

I think she was hiding under these gorgeous little daffodils on the slopes of Mount Wise.

Maybe she was just the Wise Fairy of Mount Wise. Whoever she was the next few weeks will be filled with air fried experimentation. Because the weather is not set to improve greatly once March arrives and a wise fairy would know that.

I am particularly excited to make Scotch eggs. Normally made with a deep fat fryer. I have never owned a deep fat fryer. My mother set our newly built house on fire with a deep fat fryer. Barely had the ink on the house purchase contract dried, when the sparkling state of the art kitchen was just a blackened shell. My mum blamed unfamiliarity, my dad blamed the Cordon Bleu cookery course she was attending. Me and the cat kept out of the way. Probably both accusations were partially correct.

Cordon Bleu cookery was a little bit fancy for mid-week and the cooker knobs were unfamiliar.

Now I have lived fairly contentedly for more than fifty years never deep frying anything. The idea that air-frying is a safer alternative seems just the thing to take my mind off a murky March. If it does not spark enough joy to pull me through more bad weather the wise Fairy of Mount Wise is going to have to think of something else.

#689 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn dog walks, SerendipityLeave a comment

For the first time this morning I did one of my regular winter walks in summer sunshine. Richmond Walk was built in 1790 by the Duke of Richmond to give the public access to the coast path between Stonehouse and Mount Wise. Richmond Walk is a winter walk because it is slightly less exposed to the winds of winter, is tarmac or concrete for the whole walk and has small patches of grass for the dogs to enjoy sniffing and exchanging messages.

There are two outdoor pools which are open throughout the summer at no charge. On my winter walks they are rather desolate unused spaces. But today they were a riot of abstract blue water reflections and the noises of happy swimmers.

There have been pools and even public baths and spa facilities with bathing machines in this area for a couple of centuries. All that is left of The Royal Clarence Baths is a small beach and some stone arches.

But for me the joy of the day was the turquoise waters of the current pools.

#524 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn dog walks, Firestone Bay, SerendipityLeave a comment

Bobbing has not had many mentions in March. Today was my third dip of the month and the most photogenic by a very long way. The sea temperature has risen a bit to 9.4 after last week’s 8 degrees. Just a brisk there and back in the bay this morning followed by some excellent quality chatting and a Tim Hortons coffee to warm me up. I think I have cracked swimming year-round without a wet suit. Last year I gave up my wetsuit in April and made myself feel very poorly. I then went back to wearing the wet suit and didn’t get out of it until late May. Anxious not to go down a similar path again, I have cut down on my time in the water but stayed just in a swimsuit since last May. There have been two dippings without the swimsuit and I decided a skinny dip a month is the new target for 2023. These events may not make it into the blog.

The sunshine today is gorgeous, as demonstrated by the plant convalescence corner in our dining room.

I’m not sure these plants will ever move to other places in the house. They exude happiness from every leaf and frond.

Happiness also exuded from the dogs when their afternoon adventure took them to just the other side of the water from home, for a walk, and they got Mount Wise park to themselves and could do chasing and wild running on a grassy hillside, unbothered or interrupted by any other dogs or humans.

Their human companions were not so lively. Our morning swim was fabulous but sometimes swimming in these cold temperatures produces severe lethargy a few hours later. Even caffeine in the afternoon didn’t give us the required fizz to do anything more than a circuit of the park with a few stops to admire the view. It was important to make the most of the day though, the weather forecast for the rest of the week is dire.These blue skies and blue seas are unlikely to be back until April.

©Debs Bobber