Wednesday, 30 August 2017

A shrimp is not just for potting or cocktails.


Our pet Wood or Bamboo Shrimp 'Sydney'
Syd has been a bit a bit poorly for a week or two but we are pleased to announce that he has responded well to an intense shrimp focussed feeding programme. I am very pleased he has 'perked up' as Syd and I have established a crustacean - hominid bond that is so much more than the sum of the parts. Sydney's shrimply the best.

RIP Syd - It is with great sadness that I must announce the untimely death, on the 5th of September 2017, of Sydney the Bamboo Shrimp. 

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, 
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, 
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum 
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. 

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead 
Scribbling on the sky the message 'Syd Is Dead', 
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, 
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. 

Syd was my North, my South, my East and West, 
My working week and my Sunday rest, 
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; 
I thought that shrimp would last for ever: I was wrong. 

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; 
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; 
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; 
For nothing now can ever come to any good. 

after W H Auden
 
 

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Cetti's Warbler


I believe I saw one of these rather secretive birds this week, in the reeds by the railway line, on Oulton Marsh - Suffolk.

If I wasn't so interested in the celestial sphere and had not already spent a fortune on telescopes etc. I think I might have become a birdwatcher!

Tweet - tweet!

Monday, 7 August 2017

Painting the Beach at Wells


Having fun on the Beach at Wells next the Sea' - mixed media sketch - George Roberts  August 2017
The weather was mixed but what a great day we had on the beach with our friends at Wells next the Sea in Norfolk. As the tide came racing in - I spent a frantic 45 minutes sploshing paint onto a page in my sketch book, kids played on the sand and a small boat with brown sails went sailing by.

Later, in the evening we sat in a 'chip-shop' eating cod, haddock,scampi and chips. Delicious!

Thursday, 3 August 2017

Our meal tonight as pretty as a picture


To start - Seafood, Salad and Brown Bread

Pudding - stewed Hedgerow Damsons - Pears poached in orange juice, red wine, star anise and glazed with honey - jug of reduced pear stewing juice with added sugar to create a Syrup. Plate as preferred and add Salted Caramel, Clotted Cream and a plain Sweet Biscuit.




Credit to our fishmonger 'World of Fish' Lowestoft for providing the best whelks and Cromer Crab we have ever tasted!