tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84985803670748094322024-03-14T09:41:03.979+00:00The Urban CottageJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comBlogger272125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-15544309166716438892016-08-07T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:34:10.226+00:00Gate-workSince building the wall at the side of the house the old gate has been barely fit for purpose. As it happens we were wandering around around <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/snowshill-manor-and-garden">Snowshill Manor and Gardens </a>a few months ago and spotted this:<br />
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Joe was inspired. It was also a good excuse for a trip to our<a href="http://www.wentwoodtimbercentre.co.uk/"> local timbre merchants</a> which is always a dangerous move. They have several rooms full of hardwood planks, oddments and off cuts - unique pieces that are perfect for bespoke woodwork; we always seem to come away with more than we went for.<br />
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On this occasion we found some sweet chestnut that is going to look great as a gate, particularly when it weathers in and goes all silvery in colour. We've come up with a design heavily modelled on our National Trust inspiration, though for a single gate rather than a pair: two solid uprights, with three horizontals, and 5 sets of batons filling in the gaps.<br />
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Joe's been slowly chiselling away ever since - in odd 5 minutes here and there - though that's not to say that a few power-tools haven't been put to good use where it makes sense. He's now most of the way through the mortise and tenon joints that will hold the main structure together and relishing the challenge of a some proper woodwork to keep him busy.<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-21857934271222364782016-07-31T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:35:26.182+00:00RaspberriesI'm fast becoming convinced that my favourite part of our garden is the fruit. I love reaching that time of the year when you get a complete glut of one thing or another. The effort required to sustain them - pruning the trees, or tying up bushes, is minimal compared to the potential rewards.<br />
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At the moment this joy is coming from the raspberry canes as we go out every few days and collect another tub-full. Mostly we're just eating them, often with ice-cream. So good. There really is very little to beat soft fruit fresh from outside.<br />
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The hens, of course, would heartily agree. They are complete gluttons over all things fruity and always hang around while we're picking in case any manky bits get thrown their direction for them to fight over.<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-18991769260691276922016-07-24T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:34:10.242+00:00The Mechanical Doorbell, Part 2: BashOne of our very first posts on The Urban Cottage was talking about our <a href="http://the-urban-cottage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-mechanical-doorbell-part-one-ding.html">slightly fantastical doorbell</a>, created from bits and pieces found around the house (follow the link for a reminder). This has been quite a talking point and provides us with much amusement when we open the door to a new visitor to be greeted with "is that your doorbell?! Please can I see it?".<br />
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The intention was always to expand this beyond it's initial "ding" to also include a "dong" but a couple of years later we ended up skipping that plan (for now) and instead went straight for "bash".<br />
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A very tired cymbal, looking for a new home, has been lined up next to the guitar. A short section of pipe left over from the bathroom is then carefully positioned to catch the marble as it speeds off the end of the original shute and directs it into the cymbal. 9 times out of 10 this then bounces and is caught in an old weaving shuttle.<br />
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All in all an excellent addition - not least because the previous incarnation was only just loud enough. If you were in a far corner of the house you were more likely to pick up the sound of a marble hitting the floor than you were the guitar. The cymbal certainly solves that problem!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-49156279670069757322016-07-10T14:19:00.000+01:002016-07-10T15:09:32.403+01:00Scarf or Shawl?My Regina Marie shawl is now completed. I'm really happy with this one; it's come out pretty much as I hoped for, the yarn has been great to work with and is still beautifully soft. <br />
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I made a couple of tweaks to the pattern as I wanted something that was more scarf than shawl; long and thin. Firstly I went for 32 repeats of the main pattern block, rather than 26. I wish I'd been braver and gone even further with that as I still had yarn left at the end, though I'm not sure an extra couple would have made much difference.<br />
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Then during the short rows section I knit four stitches beyond the gap on each pass so that I consumed the stitches more quickly to create a thinner crescent.<br />
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I don't know what the technical definition of a scarf vs a shawl is - but whatever it is I've made I love it.<br />
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-69052465886584426282016-07-03T09:00:00.000+01:002016-07-03T09:00:17.005+01:00Squawks from the Chicken CoopThis is Lemon and Pepper checking in with the Blog. Things are much the same as ever in the Garden.<br />
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There is grass to be scratched, dirt to be rolled in and sparrows to chase.<br />
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There are sudden sounds that are a bit scary and we have to make lots of noise about. That's especially important early in the morning when no-one is around in case they don't notice the scary things.<br />
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There are eggs to be laid. Not as many as we used to have to do - getting old has it's advantages. The downside is that getting the shells right seems to be a bit tricky at the moment, sometimes they're a bit thin and then we accidentally stand on them so they break. That's not so good.<br />
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And of course the best bit is still when people come out of the door with something tasty for us to eat. Corn is our favourite, but stale bread or apple cores are pretty good too.<br />
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Cluck Cluck.Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-76212641132943736742016-06-26T09:00:00.001+01:002017-01-28T14:37:10.314+00:00A Week on the WaterLast week we swapped our urban cottage for a few days in a narrowboat on the Llangollen Canal. A little chill out time was just what we needed and the pace of life as we pottered along at 3 miles an hour got right to the heart of that.<br />
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The Llangollen was a lovely canal to spend our time on. Travelling almost exclusively through countryside rather than towns and cities, the highlight of the journey for us was the day we spent reaching the source of the canal. As the Vale of Llangollen started to open up around us, we passed over the longest and highest aqueduct in Great Britain - the Pontcysyllte. Not for the faint hearted as there is a shear drop from the edge of the boat. Definitely stayed seated during that one.<br />
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From there the canal got narrower and narrower, winding it's way along the valley edge towards the town of Llangollen and a final unnavigable section where we had to switch to foot. Finally we reached the horseshoe falls; a perfect semi-circle of waterfall that separates the water for the canal from the river Dee.<br />
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We were with my brother, parents, and my parents 18 month old labrador - Monty. It was great to spend some time with family, both working our way through the series of locks and swing bridges, and settling down at the end of the day to a glass of wine and a game of cards. Monty also seemed to enjoy his week, providing us with much amusement as he checked up on everything that was happening, hared up and down the towpath and did laps of each lock - though also providing us with a few heart-stopping moments as he ran over the lock gates or leapt from the boat in pursuit of someone who'd dared to get off the boat without him.<br />
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A really good week.<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-20185559829280446172016-06-19T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-31T10:08:26.272+00:00Oiling the FloorOne of the biggest projects we undertook while we were "off-air", was a transformation of our living room. I might have mentioned before that when we moved in we painted almost every wall in the place - but did little else, and now we're slowly working our way back through each room giving it a little more time, care and attention.<br />
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The living room for us is a place we spend much of our free time. It's somewhere for sitting with a laptop and planning our latest project, making music, doing crafty things and whipping up a blog post, and when all that's done it's also the place to relax and pop on the TV. The design of the house also means that this is the main thoroughfare - the only way of getting from the front door to the kitchen, conservatory and upstairs.<br />
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And it was a struggle. The furniture we'd brought with us from our previous house just didn't fit. Well, it fitted physically - but that was about it. The room isn't tiny (though by no means large), yet it felt cramped, crowded and messy. You had to zigzag your way around it all to get through the room, and more than a couple of extra people was a squish. After much debate we decided to go all out in getting this room sorted and that meant a couple of new bits of furniture.<br />
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<i>(As we weren't thinking of blogging this we failed to take any "before" shots and as it turns out we've taken hardly any photos in this room over the years. To give you a small idea of what it was like here's the best of the bunch; a christmas photo of our decorated tree sitting in front of the piano, and a shot of us playing a card game on the floor with all the furniture pushed to the edges. Sorry if that's not much help!)</i><br />
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Changing our large three seater for a corner sofa, along with passing on our acoustic piano for a much more compact digital version allowed us to rethink how the room works with startling results. There's now a clear path from one side of the room to the other, space to pack in a few extra friends, and even some clear floor space for laying out that tangle of yarn that needs unpicking. The new piano is a marked improvement on the old one, inspiring much more regular playing even if we do still both have a definite fondness for the mechanics of a traditional instrument. More than anything, the room feels like it has doubled in size despite having almost as much stuff in it and that's all down to the change in layout.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Much much smaller piano, plus a clear path from the front door on the right to the kitchen on the left.<br />
The understairs cupboard is more accessable and a new chair that can be both tucked <br />
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But all of the above is a complete tangent - I was going to tell you about the floor!<br />
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There was one major flaw with the living room when we moved in (in our opinion anyway), and that was the cream carpet. I'm not adverse to using pale coloured carpets in the right place - but the highest traffic room of the house is definitely not that place. It constantly needed hoovering, and even then was never quite clean. We were also starting to have problems with the chipboard underfloor having rather a lot of bounce to it. It either needed replacing or reinforcing before we found ourselves with a hole in the floor.<br />
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Our solution was to install an engineered oak floor, something solid that would wear well over many years as well as taking the pressure off the ageing chipboard. However, as we were fitting the planks into place we noticed that the finish on them was very uneven. There had been foam strips between the planks to stop them being damaged in transit and where the foam had been was much paler than the edges of the planks. After a few months of back and forward with the flooring company they agreed to send us enough of the hard wax oil they had used so that we could refinish the floor.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uneven colouration can be seen around the edges of the central plank.</td></tr>
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And so we found ourselves, just a short while after finishing the decoration of the room, emptying all of the furniture out again so that we could put a fresh layer of oil down. Fortunately, it has been completely worth the effort. The finish is much more even and the wood has a much warmer feel to it.<br />
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Transformation complete.<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-34423929540032970002016-06-12T09:00:00.000+01:002016-06-12T09:00:08.656+01:00Regina MarieA little over a year ago now I received a gift of what has to be the softest skein of yarn I've ever had the delight to knit with; <a href="http://www.manosyarns.com/the_yarns/lace/">Manos del Uruguay Lace</a>. 70% alpaca, 25% silk, 5% cashmere. Beautiful.<br />
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I've been looking forward to working with this yarn ever since; giving it a quick squeeze every time I've had an excuse to go into that box. I wanted to make something that would be worn against the skin and have debated many scarf and shawl patterns, but it was only when I saw <a href="http://araigneestangledweb.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/regina-marie.html">Araignee's Regina Marie</a> project taking shape that I thought I might be onto a winner.</div>
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It had to be a "one skein" project - because that's what I had. I also wanted something that was generally long and thin in shape so that it could be worn more as a scarf than as a wrap, and Regina Marie met both of those criteria. I also liked the way the lace work weaved in and out of itself along the edge. Araignee's assurance that this was a lovely pattern to knit sealed the deal.<br />
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And she was right. It's coming together really nicely. I have a little more yarn than the pattern calls for so I'm thinking about following the instructions to make it longer - but I'll see how if feels once I've done the required number of repeats... but now I need to go and knit just a little more!<br />
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-13567489239768731812016-06-05T09:00:00.002+01:002017-01-28T14:35:26.129+00:00Veggies, or a lack of...Do you know what the most successful thing to come out of our veg plot was last year? Raspberries... yes, not even a vegetable! We had courgette plants eaten by slugs, sweetcorn that got to about half height then turned black, and leeks that looked more like spring onions. We also had a very poor germination rate for peas and beans both attempting to start them inside and then planted straight out. Generally not our finest year.<br />
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All of that caused us to take a step back and think about what we're working with. When we converted this area of the garden the soil was in a very poor state. We dug in a lot of compost initially and have done so a little more each year, but the reality is that the ground is probably in need of some T.L.C. </div>
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So this year we're planting no vegetables at all. We're leaving the area fallow, though instead of leaving a nice empty space to fill with weeds we've planted green manure. A couple of cycles of that followed by a healthy dose of compost or manure and fingers crossed we'll have a better success rate with whatever we decide to grow next.<br />
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While that ticks over we'll be enjoying a regular box of fresh, seasonal vegetables from a local farmer instead, and looking forward to a good harvest of fruit from our various trees. </div>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-76829312492293572802016-05-29T09:00:00.002+01:002017-01-31T08:34:47.475+00:00Hidcote Manor GardensA couple of weekends ago we took the opportunity of a sunny Saturday to take a trip to Hidcote. Just over an hours drive away, and conveniently National Trust where we have membership, we set out hoping to find ourselves some inspiration for our own garden, along with a good spot for a picnic!<br />
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Hidcote was the private garden of Lawrence Johnston who divided the whole area up into a series of rooms, each with it's own identity and character. While the arts and crafts styling wasn't what we wanted to achieve ourselves, we eventually stopped worrying about that and set to looking at how he had attained that unique feel to each space and found that a limited plant range, colour palate and textures seemed to be at least part of the key. On top of that there were a few themes that carried throughout the garden to give it a sense of unity. Brilliant planning on the part of Mr. Johnston.<br />
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Careful thought had also been given to the line of sight as you moved through the garden. High hedges and walls obscured your view in most directions, so when you did get a glimpse through you could be sure it was deliberate - a tantalising peek at what was to come next.<br />
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It's certainly given us some food for thought as we're in a definite planning stage with our own space. We often think about our garden as distinct areas, each with a different purpose - the veg patch, the chickens run, the pond, the patio, the lawn. The patio is next up for a change, but our trip to Hidcote has also inspired a look at our garden as a whole - thinking about the differences of these areas while considering themes we want to carry through each. Debating how each section works with it's neighbours and maybe planning a few tantalising sight lines of our own...<br />
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It proved to be a lovely day out, sunshine, plants and good food. Perfect.<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-79341734824297268952016-05-22T09:00:00.000+01:002016-05-22T09:00:20.594+01:00Is it socks again?I often take my knitting out and about with me, in the car, to friends houses, on holidays and day trips. When people spot me quietly adding a few stitches to my work in progress this naturally this sparks the question "what are you making?". Nothing unusual there. Of late though I've noticed that this is sometimes followed with the second question "is it socks again?!".<br />
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Why yes, yes it is. Socks, socks and more socks. They're certainly not the only thing I knit but it seems every time I finish another project and I hit that lull where I'm just not sure what to make next socks are always the answer. Small, useful, portable projects with endless possibilities to be tried. I think the real trick though is that they take a relatively standard weight and thickness of yarn so I never have to worry about getting the right pattern/yarn combination, I can just grab a ball from my box, find a pattern that tickles my fancy and away they go. </div>
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Where they're all going though I'm not sure as I still only have one pair of hand knitted socks to call my own, so my latest pair - these ones are for me.<br />
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Pattern: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/its-tea-time">It's Tea Time</a> from Around the World in Knitted Socks by Stephanie Van Der Linden</div>
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Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners <a href="http://www.wyspinners.com/bluefaced%20leicester%20yarn/4%20Ply/4%20Ply%20-%20Spice%20Rack">Signature 4ply</a> in Nutmeg.</div>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-55437409155692827902016-05-15T09:00:00.001+01:002017-01-28T14:35:26.303+00:00Wall Building<div style="text-align: left;">
Where best to start blogging again than a project that's been going for almost as long as The Urban Cottage, and was finished just last week. We have a lot of projects around here that are half finished. Some tucked neatly away in a corner waiting for the right moment while some are deliberately left where we can't ignore them until they've been there long enough that that's exactly what we do. Some take forever in the planning stage, and some linger endlessly in the finishing stages.</div>
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This particular project has been all of those and more! <a href="http://the-urban-cottage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/photo-friday.html">Three years ago</a> we were offered a large quantity of stone that we decided was just the thing for replacing a hedge we weren't particularly fond of. We sat it in an unused corner of the drive "temporarily". It's also been three years since we bought a set of lavender plugs to go in a new flower bed we would build with the stone and gave them a temporary home.<br />
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Skip on a bit to last summer when we moved all the stone onto our patio, sorted by size and shape. It took over the area somewhat! Then the old hedge came out thanks to brute force on Joe's part, and it was time to start being constructive. By the end of the summer we'd successfully put in the two smaller walls that now form flower beds alongside the drive, and had made a start on the main wall that will divide the front garden from the back. Progress at last.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zbvrRNtIfqk/VyTIgjvrooI/AAAAAAAADss/Dg5te6ezt1w11uikZfIJPgnSxH5g9JBswCKgB/s1600/IMG_0716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zbvrRNtIfqk/VyTIgjvrooI/AAAAAAAADss/Dg5te6ezt1w11uikZfIJPgnSxH5g9JBswCKgB/s640/IMG_0716.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Once more the project lay dormant, this time for a just a few months. Wind, rain and generally winter got in the way.</div>
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And then it was spring again. Looking at what to do next we decided it was more important to get the plants in place and finish the construction around them, than leave them in their rather overgrown temporary home any longer. The beds got a good filling of muck and grit and the lavender finally got space to breath. We also popped in quite a few allium bulbs that had been in the conservatory all winter and were starting to sprout. Both are showing excellent signs of new growth already which is very pleasing.<br />
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The last few weekends have been just right for a final push. Joe's steamed ahead and I think we can now say that is is done. All in all this has definitely been a successful transformation.</div>
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There's so much more to do in this area of the garden and we're both really excited by the blank canvas that this wall has given us. The phrase "courtyard garden" has been bandied about, sometimes accompanied by "Mediterranean"; we'll have to see where our ideas take us with this one.<br />
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Before:<br />
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-4627828022836396042016-05-08T09:00:00.002+01:002016-05-23T13:16:11.072+01:00The Catch Up, Anniversary EditionHello! It seems we hit a bit of a blogging burnout back there. There was a tangible sense of freedom in making the decision to put it down for a while, to not have to make sure that we had photos of all the things we were up to. We just wanted to get on with life and the pressure to document had become just that, a pressure.<br />
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Almost 1 year later, and conveniently 3 years since our first post and I've found myself wanting to write again, planning posts in my head. So, here are a few photos we've taken in our absence while I wonder what to write about first...<br />
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[Southwest Coast Path, North Devon; Birdwatching at Hardwick Old Hall; </div>
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The gardens at Hardwick Hall; London Nightscape; Selfie at the British Museum]</div>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-19411878229334230442015-05-20T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:34:10.250+00:00Done, finished, complete!Yes, it can only be the bathroom!<br />
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While we knew we were going to be squeezing a lot of this work in around the rest of life, I don't think either of us predicted it would take three and a half months! To be fair, most of the last month has been dealing with the things that didn't work first time. Finally though, we can say that it is finished. Finito. Done. Hooray!<br />
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First up though, a reminder of the "before" photos:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a5yrhdXrfyE/VVuRCMKJl2I/AAAAAAAACjU/9FFToqQDpi8/s1600/IMG_3193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a5yrhdXrfyE/VVuRCMKJl2I/AAAAAAAACjU/9FFToqQDpi8/s640/IMG_3193.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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And now it looks like this:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worktop with countertop sink and plenty of storage</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Draining board for lots of bottles</td></tr>
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-87551290594460098192015-05-13T09:00:00.000+01:002015-05-13T09:00:11.915+01:00How Not To Design A Knitting PatternOver Christmas I started knitting something new. Not just a new project. Not just a new yarn. I started to make up a new pattern. Obviously (I say obviously - turns out this was only obvious to me in hindsight) this hasn't been as straight forward as just knitting from someone else's pattern; I'm trying to design some gloves, and am pretty sure I've gone about it all the wrong way. There are plenty of guides out there on how to write a knitting pattern, but from my limited experience I give you:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">How NOT To Design A Knitting Pattern</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1. Guess</span><br />
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If you're trying not to design a knitting pattern then guessing is a great way forward. Need to know how many extra stitches to add as you work the base of your thumb, and how many rows you need to increase those stitches over? Don't take any measurements and definitely don't work out your gauge. Guess! That way you can have the joy of knitting your thumb many times over.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. Be Indecisive</span><br />
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You may have a rough idea in your mind how this might look and that's plenty to get you started. By no means should you swatch variations on your pattern to see how it affects the look before you start knitting properly. When wondering whether the pattern would look best over 30 stitches or 40 its best to not decide until you're part way through making the finished article, and then to go for 35 instead.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3.<i> </i>Design purely for you</span><br />
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Because if it fits you, of course it will fit everyone else. No thought at all is needed on how to produce different sizes or shapes to suit different people.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4. Just Start Knitting</span><br />
<i><br /></i>There's nothing more conducive to getting the design right than thoughts of "I've just come up with a new way to do this, but that would mean undoing what I've done". Having a half finished project on your lap will always inspire you to stick with what you've got rather than making the right decision - perfect for the non-designer.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">5. Don't knit at all</span><br />
<i><br /></i>Finally, ignore your new pattern design. Don't think about it for months at a time. That way the fairies will come and design it for you. Guaranteed. Knit a jumper instead.<br />
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<i>P.s. Yes, I've done all these things. Yes, it could be a while before this is an actual pattern. I now have a glove that might one day have a matching pair, was reworked many times in getting this far and is wonderfully soft and warm. It might also one day resemble the final pattern. I'm now going to take some measurements, knit some swatches and remember that I have an engineering degree - logic should be my forte, not an afterthought (I blame Christmas)! Shame it's no longer really glove weather, maybe I'll just knit something else... just for a little while of course...</i>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-86777072545585943582015-05-06T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:36:25.199+00:00Weeds or um, harvest?I was really hoping that this would be a finished bathroom post, but a kerfuffle with the flooring means its still not quite finished - though a lot closer than last weekend. Instead we've been getting on with other things, including returning our conservatory to a dining room rather than a workshop - removing large quantities of dust as we went. Happy days!<br />
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Joe recently inherited some demijohn's from a friend who no longer had use for them and has been contemplating thoughts of homebrew ever since. When he came home from work one day recently to find me tackling the stinging nettles that were threatening to take over part of our veggie patch it all seemed simple... nettle wine!<br />
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So he popped the nettles along with some sultanas, sugar and yeast into a brewing bucket and left it to fester on the kitchen side for 9 days the result at the end of which was this...<br />
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...which has since sat on the side for another week or so. It has clarified a lot in that time which makes a huge difference to how drinkable it looks but it has another few months sitting to do before the final verdict!<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-19721666767412584472015-04-29T09:00:00.000+01:002015-04-29T09:36:07.223+01:00Big Cables and Little Ones TooFinished!<br />
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All done, it took a little longer than hoped, but then life has been busier than planned. The pattern was very straight forward to follow and well written, the yarn is lovely; soft and cosy, and its a nice fit. What more is there to say, except perhaps, what's next?<br />
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I'm definitely a one project at a time sort of person. My knitting time is limited and the busier my knitting bag is the less time each thing gets. For the most part I'd rather work on one thing and have the satisfaction of a finished project, than to try and complete lots of knits at once.<br />
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Except when a more exciting project comes along. Then, for example, I might finish a jumper and discover half a glove in the bottom on my knitting bag. Shame it's not really glove weather anymore isn't it?<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-15678175740545742982015-04-26T21:40:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:34:10.234+00:00On going backwards and other such thingsWe realised, with great joy at the thought, that this weekend is the first of five weekends at home. That's five consecutive weekends with only a few bits and pieces in the diary. With a burst of enthusiasm we've made ourselves a list of projects we'd like to work on, almost certainly more than we'll get done - but its good to have aims in life!<br />
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First things first though, the bathroom. You may have noticed we've gone quiet on that one, and that's because the project has gone quiet - in fact with no help from us it's been going backwards. We've hit two snags...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where the sink was....</td></tr>
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The first is that around a week after rejoicing in the final fitting of the sink, we discovered that it was not to be the final fitting after all. A very slow leak appeared, coming from a manufacturing fault in the sink itself rather than our plumbing. This one has been really frustrating as plumbing leaks we can deal with (usually by applying a hefty dose of silicon sealant), but a flawed sink means it had to come out and be sent back for a replacement, damaging the finish on the worktop in the process.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting ready to refinish the scuffs and other damaged caused by removing the sink.</td></tr>
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Our other set back is that the paint on the wall in one particular corner has started to react. Slowly but surely its been bubbling and peeling until we could ignore it no more.<br />
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Since the corner in question is the one nearest the bath and shower we debated if humidity was the problem. We stripped off the dodgy paint, made sure everything was dry and applied a fresh coat - and within a matter of minutes it started to bubble up again. Oh.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the first coat of base coat the bubbliness was still coming through a little <br />- not very easy to photograph though!</td></tr>
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Time to pull in the big boys. Over the course of the weekend we've applied several liberal coats of Base Coat by Polycell - the same people that make Polyfilla, which is supposed to seal in whatever is behind and allow you to paint your colour of choice over the top. So far we seem to be winning - but we'll have to keep an eye on it.<br />
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So this weekend has been re-painting, re-varnishing and putting up the mirrored cabinet that arrived this week.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forward progress at last - fixing the new medicine cabinet to the wall.</td></tr>
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In other news, we've taken the old bath to the tip, revealing the lanky grass that's been hiding underneath it, and bonfired away some more of the bits that have been covering our patio. Oh and Lemon is having her first broody spell of the season - we had a couple of warmer days apparently and she was off, hunkering down in the coop at every possibly opportunity - eggs or no eggs. So starts the annual battle of wills....Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-36004023899394603902015-04-19T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:36:25.041+00:00A Charity Shop FindA couple of weeks ago we were at a wedding, and found ourselves wandering the streets of Wells between the service and the party in the evening. Not one to resist a charity shop we popped into an Oxfam book shop and left again 10 mins later with a copy of 365 Reasons to Sit Down and Eat for the princely sum of £2.99. It's a recipe for every day of the year, some interesting, some intriguing<br />
and some downright odd!<br />
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We certainly wouldn't religiously follow it every day - it would produce the most random of menus - and the first recipe we've tried was from September. (Yes, we were feeling rebellious that day, why do you ask?) It was a hit though - gnocchi with mushrooms in a white wine sauce. We were after a quick meal at the end of a day of DIY, so bought the gnocchi and just made the sauce to go with it. Not the healthiest of meals, but certainly rather tasty.<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-34444390857946779692015-04-15T09:00:00.001+01:002017-01-28T14:34:10.283+00:00The amazing colour changing bass guitar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some of you will know that I play bass guitar (occasionally). I have long fancied making another and adding an extra string. When I spotted <a href="http://www.kitbuiltguitars.co.uk/5-string-sr.html" target="_blank">this</a> 5 string guitar kit I decided it was time to have one. This time, rather than cutting the body out myself I got someone else to do it but it still needed finishing and assembling. Here's the picture highlights!</div>
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Dry assembly for marking the bridge location for pilot holes</div>
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Testing the finishes in places that don't matter once the sanding was finished.</div>
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Dye applied to the wood (wet). I had a pile of ancient fabric dyes in the garage I decided to try and they seemed to work quite well!</div>
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And the colour once dry. It really did change that much!</div>
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With the first layers of french polish it changed again.</div>
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All polished up.</div>
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Applying lemon oil to the fretboard.</div>
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Earthing the bridge with a bit of aluminium tape.</div>
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Checking the conductivity - you want the strings to be well grounded.</div>
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More bits go on. Several of the tiny screws for putting all the bits on were useless! I snapped a few even with pilot holes.</div>
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Wired up and fitting strings.</div>
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<br />Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13349358328938603876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-40546426889698144552015-04-12T09:00:00.000+01:002017-01-28T14:35:26.265+00:00Sewing the SeedsDo you remember back in January how we wrote a post about getting on top of the garden? We'd ticked off lots of little jobs and were looking forward to what came next. Well what came next was - you guessed it - the bathroom, and we've not really been in the garden since. Our fairly sorted patio now has a toilet and sink sitting on it, and the old bath is still in the middle of the lawn!<br />
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Seed sewing time is upon us though, and regardless of the state of outside we're being hopeful and getting ourselves set up for another year of vegetable growing. We're using our conservatory as a greenhouse once more as this has worked well in the past. This year we've set up a simple set of shelves to rack up all our seedlings on, and over Easter we set about planting some veg.<br />
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So far we've sown these:<br />
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Broad Beans<br />
Courgettes<br />
Leeks<br />
Peas<br />
Pumpkins<br />
Runner Beans<br />
Salad Leaves<br />
Squashes<br />
Sweetcorn<br />
Swiss Chard<br />
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It all sounds quite exciting when its laid out like that. We always try and grow those things that are nicest fresh, and that we eat lots of over the summer months, but this year we've expanded the list by trying to utilise every bit of space we've got, and also to pop in a few autumn and winter veggies too. Sounds like a plan to me....<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-6946097994830371082015-04-08T09:00:00.001+01:002015-04-08T12:20:57.266+01:00Sleeves... there should be two!We seem to be having a little blogging crisis at the moment. It's a bit frustrating really, having (reasonably) happily written three posts a week since we started nearly two years ago suddenly we're missing out posts left, right and centre. The reality is that time just seems to be running away with us, another Wednesday, another Sunday and - oh look, it's Wednesday again.<br />
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One thing I have been ticking over recently is my jumper. I've finished the body and have started to crack on with the sleeves. I'm itching to start another project, but masterfully resisting on the basis that otherwise this one will never get finished.<br />
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Another couple of days like the last few though and I'll be almost there. I seem to have managed a sudden burst of speed and slightly suprisingly I'm half a sleeve closer...<br />
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Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-61813433487898668332015-03-20T18:09:00.000+00:002015-03-20T18:09:16.152+00:00Photo Friday - #eclipse special<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13349358328938603876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-3799538379531110882015-03-18T09:00:00.000+00:002017-01-28T14:34:10.300+00:00Refitting the Bathroom: 5. Two steps forward, one step backA misleading title really since everything is part of the planned progress, but when you spend your Sunday evening undoing the work of a weekend it doesn't feel like it!<br />
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By the end of Saturday we'd got all the cabinets in position. Much chopping and sanding was needed to carefully shape each piece so that they all slotted together really well, but we got there in the end. We'd also cut the worktop into shape and could finally get a feel for how the finished bathroom was going to look. Seeing the wood of the worktop against the white of the tiles started to bring home how close we are to done.<br />
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After church on Sunday we cut holes in the worktop for both the sink and the tap and then sat those in position too. What do you think? From the start the counter-top sink has been one of the features we've been looking forward to and seeing it in position - even if not plumbed in - was a very exciting moment.<br />
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And then we had to take it all apart again! Our bathroom is now back to how it was a week ago and all the cupboard panels are down in the conservatory so that we can sort all the final details and get everything painted.<br />
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<br />Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8498580367074809432.post-20078275534232777782015-03-08T09:00:00.000+00:002015-03-08T18:22:07.460+00:00In My KitchenBeing completely unprepared for this months "In My Kitchen" I've taken the prompt rather literally this time - and no "pre-blog tidying" has gone on! I'm not sure we've ever shown you our kitchen as a whole. Its rather chaotic in different ways; the complete mish-mash of cupboards, empty spaces, broken drawers and different colours of worktop come to mind before we even start on the added everyday clutter.<br />
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Looking around, this month of particular note is the broken down freezer which we've decided has given itself up for lent! We were going to hurry out and sort a replacement, but having dealt with the food that wouldn't fit in the fridges little ice box the urgency has gone. It'll have to be done soon though.<br />
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The chop saw sitting in the middle of the kitchen is certainly not a normal feature, nor the large stack of cardboard packaging to its right. A birthday present for Joe which should hopefully make the upcoming cabinetry a little easier.<br />
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Talking of cabinetry, without the cabinets in the bathroom there is no sink, and so toothbrushes are sitting on the kitchen side still.<br />
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Finally, some rather pink lilies that Joe found in the reduced section at 10% of their original price. Bargain.<br />
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What's in your kitchen? Celia at <a href="http://figjamandlimecordial.com/">Fig Jam and Lime Cordial</a> is collating her monthly roundup of kitchens all around the world.Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09877883607133338348noreply@blogger.com