All posts by caroline

Impossible task – finding the perfect tea caddy

Other, , , ,

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a bit of a tea fanatic!  I have many loose leaf teas at home, and a Fine-T tea machine that allows me to brew tea to the right temperature on a timer so I can have Metrodeco Shades of Grey (a variety of Earl Grey) for breakfast without having to get up early to make it!

I get my teas from a few different places usually with my favourite places being Metrodeco and Jenier Teas – the latter even puts nice notes, free samples and occasionally sweets in with each order! 🙂  I’m a big fan of smokey teas, so Russian Caravan and Lapsang Souchoung always go down well with me, but at times white or green varieties of Tea are just what I need.   For example, Pink Pride (white tea with rose petals) from Metrodeco is a good relaxing evening cuppa if I need to wind down before going to bed, and Lemon Gunpowder Green Tea from Jenier is very refreshing mid afternoon.

Whilst I have many ways of making a cuppa (strainers, the Fine-T machine, loose leaf tea bags, and the Attic Tea Maker), what I have been struggling to find for years is what I think is the perfect tea caddy.  Now you can get tins or boxes or glass jars etc that all say they are good for storing tea (though I’m not sold on glass at all as think light might damage the tea) but none of them are perfect for me.  I want someway to take all my teas and put them in stackable, airtight (preferably rectangular) containers that can hold about 100g of tea each WITH somewhere to put a label that can be changed easily or can be written on with chalk so can be easily wiped and redone.  AND it has to look good otherwise my other half will not let me put them on display.

Doesn’t sound too hard does it?  Well you’d think so but so far no joy!  I’ve searched the internet, dragged my other half round many shops, tried a few varieties etc but no joy so far.  The tins either aren’t easy to label cleanly, don’t stack well (I am talking about 20+ teas here), or just look horrible so I’m left with a cupboard full of teas and I keep on forgetting what we’ve got.  Help me out people – I want to get my teas out of the cupboard so I can enjoy them all!!!

Maybe I’ll just have to commission someone to make the caddies for me – think that might be a tad expensive though! 😉

Midnight Walk – DONE!!

Other, ,

Thetime had finally come, and last night we did the midnight walk for the Martlets Hospice here in Brighton and Hove.  We set off towards the front of the 1500 or so people doing the walk with some glowing ears on which another walkee had donated to us 🙂  but went at our pace so were soon overtaken by the faster people.  Not that we minded – we knew that we would need to do a steady pace of around 3.25mph in order to finish in the sort of time that we wanted to (between 4 hrs and 4.5 hrs).

The route was a lot better than the first time I did the walk and we didn’t have to walk across the racecourse in the dark!  The route took us first down bear road, which is quite steep so I was glad we were going down it!  There were quite a lot of marshals and security people about, so despite the time of night we felt quite safe even when at times we were walking pretty much by ourselves, and there were always people to tell us where we needed to go next.  Neither of us had taken coats as the weather forecast was dry for the entire time, and in actual fact with our walk t-shirts as well we were actually too hot!

The first part of the route took us mainly along Old Shoreham Road, ending with a stop at the Martlets Hospice centre in Hove.  Here there were loos (very welcome!) and a snack and some water, and we also had to reregister so that they knew everyone had made it successfully there.  Anybody who was only doing the shorter 6 mile version of the walk at this point were able to take a bus back to the racecourse.  According to my iPhone app though we were under 5 miles round!  Not sure if they’d changed the length of the shorter walk, or whether they were dropped off at some point to walk the final mile or so but it did seem a bit strange!  We had said to ourselves that if by the time we got to that point we were struggling for any reason we would stop but we were still fine so carried on.

Turning onto Boundary Road in Hove it was noticeable that the wind had really picked up, and in fact had to rescue our ‘ears’ several times as the wind tried to blow them off!  As we got towards Hove Lagoon we were half way round, and my feet were starting to get a little sore but we pushed on.  The long walk along the seafront took us past the clubs as they were starting to wind down a bit which is always interesting as the clubbers are very bemused by these weird groups of women most wearing the same T-Shirt and flashing ears or costumes going past!  At least this time I wasn’t accosted by anyone asking what I was doing and why!  There were again a fair number of stewards and security about (the security included a couple of 4×4 cars and at least one motorbike and someone on a bike) and they were also making sure that everyone had enough water, though we’d taken some of our own with us so didn’t need.

I’d started to struggle a bit coming along the seafront, with pains in my feet and feeling a bit queasy but I put that down to the aftereffects of my various recent ailments and also doing strenuous exercise at a time when my body just wanted to go to bed!  Once past the Palace Pier, we started the long uphill slog along Marine Parade towards the Marina and I started to struggle again so our pace slowed a bit.  Gemma was very encouraging and kept me drinking and motivated and we were soon on Wilson Avenue and heading up towards the final part of the route to the racecourse.  However, I really started to struggle at this point as the whilst not as steep as Bear Road it was certainly steeper than I wanted to deal with at that point!  My feet were sore, but I tried to push on through it which turned out to be a mistake as all of a sudden I felt dizzy, faint and quite sick so had to stop – my body was telling me that enough was enough at that point.  We were only 2 miles from the end, so I was determined that we were going to complete the course!  After sitting down for a few minutes, and taking a drink or two the feeling past and I was able to slowly get going.  I just HAVE to listen to my body in those situations, and I probably hadn’t drunk quite enough water so it made me stop!

We were quite slow, so were overtaken by a few people but steadily we got closer and closer to the finish though it did seem like it was never going to come – always one more slope, always one more corner!  Eventually we could see the car park, and the gate, and then WE WERE THERE!  It had taken us 4 hours 20 min so even with the various loo stops we’d taken and having to stop so I could recover we were still in our estimated time frame – what a result!!  We picked up our medal, then went and got a drink and brioche to recover a little before we drove home.  We were home by 5am sore, tired, not feeling 100% but very very satisfied that we’d made it to the end and raised over £400 for the hospice.

Well done to all those who took part, and for those that organised and helped make the event so successful and safe.  I hope lots of money was raised for this excellent cause!  Now roll on the London Marathon….

24 Hours from now…

Other

… we’ll only be half way through our walk.  Now thats a bit scary!  Think thats probably the reason why I can’t sleep at the moment, but at least we’ve got tomorrow (or should I say today?!) off work, so we can lie in!  I hope I don’t feel bad during the walk – I think its my one real reservation about doing the Midnight walk as it messes with your metabolism and its not been the best of years healthwise though I do finally feel like I’m nearly back to ‘normal’ (whatever that is).  My left foot which has been sore after both of my last two long walks which is a slight concern too, but I just have to get through the 13 miles, and then I can rest it properly for a couple of weeks before I start training for the London Marathon!  *fingers crossed* it holds out!  It is at least looking like the weather may be dry, which is a relief after the recent rainfall, but I’m taking nothing for granted as its been so changeable recently.  Is there such a thing as a no-rain dance???

Same-sex marriage – it’ll cause the end of civilisation don’t you know?!

Other

I read a report yesterday that said the Church of England basically viewed same-sex marriage as the catalyst that would bring about the destruction of our civilisation. Ok, so that’s probably a bit of an over exaggeration of their claims against same-sex marriage but there are some people who actually believe that it will!

Now before I comment further, I have to admit a couple of things. First, I am (and have always been) a Christian and am a member of the United Reformed Church. Second, I am a lesbian and had a civil partnership with my partner of over 12 years in 2008 and we are still together and happy. Therefore you could say I have a view from both sides of the argument.

There are much better blogs and articles out there on this subject, but from my perspective, how does marrying two people of the same sex who love each other and are committed to each other ‘demean’ marriage between a man and a woman? How does it go against Gods will (as if any of us could even speak for God anyway!)? In my opinion, if two people love one another why shouldn’t they get married? It’s not going to stop ‘traditional’ marriage is it?! It’s not encouraging paedophilia (no more prevalent in the gay community than in the straight). It’s not going to encourage spousal abuse (again, happens in straight relationships as well as gay ones). It’s not even going to make people in straight marriages feel any less valued/married is it?

From a Christian point of view, I know that people argue it goes against the Bible – to which I say that a lot of the Bible is interpreted based on society ‘at the time of writing’ and we don’t follow the bits that are now deemed incompatible with modern life (we don’t stone people for adultery for example!) so why do people pick on the few bits that appear to be against homosexuality? Why would marrying same-sex couples in church cause the downfall of mankind? And why would a loving, caring God what some people to feel inferior to others just because they love someone of the same sex?  I really don’t understand! We all know that ‘straight’ marriages suffer from divorce, adultery, abuse, etc so how can a same-sex marriage make it worse?

What it will do is give people in same sex relationships the chance to feel as valued as those in straight ones, to be able to explain in a legal document and to other people that their partner is their wife or husband without awkwardness or embarrassment. It will allow me and my partner to be the same as our married friends and family, though we are lucky in that they already treat us as such.  Yes, civil partnerships are great and give us nearly the same standings, but its still a distinction which doesn’t need to be there and reinforces the difference between a straight and a gay relationship.

Yes married gay and lesbian couples will have affairs and get divorced just like their straight counterparts but it will not lead to a breakdown of society, it will just show us to the world as an open and inclusive society – just like we should be!!

Midnight Charity Walk Training done

Other

Yesterday we managed to get our last training walk in for our midnight walk for the local hospice this Friday/Saturday night without it raining more than a little bit over the whole 2 hours we were out which is quite a result at the moment!  In our last two main training walks we’ve covered pretty much the whole course so hopefully we’ll be ready for the hills though yesterday I did feel quite ill going up one!  Maybe we just went up it too fast – I hope so anyway otherwise I’m in a bit of trouble.

Must admit to being a bit nervous about the walk, as its a long way (13 miles) and at an odd time of day (we should finish between 4am and 4.30am) which plays havoc with the body clock.  And then theres the weather at the moment with it looking like we might get very wet too.   Its for a good cause though so we’ll do it, and if you’d like to sponsor us please go to http://www.justgiving.com/teams/carolineandgemma

Roll on Friday!!!  Eeeeeekkk!

50 days to go!

London 2012

Today marks 50 days to go, which is virtually no time at all but still seems to me like AGES.  I bet it doesn’t for the Olympic committee or the athletes though!

A few more of my tickets arrived yesterday, which then prompted me to go and buy some more (I know, I know, I really shouldn’t buy anymore) – but I do have a good reason.  I originally got tickets to the Womens Football Gold Medal match (woo hoo!) through the ballot, but they are Category C tickets.  As they are still available, I’ve now bought some Category A tickets so hopefully we’ll have a much better view!  Does mean that I have some additional tickets to pass on to someone – anyone interested (at face value only of course, I’m NOT a tout).

Talking of views, I’ve had a look around and I can’t yet find a seating plan for the Olympic stadium (or other venues).  Am I being blind, or are they not available yet?  Given that the tickets are being sent out and they have seat numbers on them it would be nice to see where they are in the venue.  I guess it could be because the final seating configurations are still being worked out, but come on people we need information! 😉

 

Congratulations Ma’am!

Out and about

These past four days have seen an outbreak of national pride as the Queen reached her Diamond Jubilee – and what fantastic events we have had!  The River Pageant on Sunday, followed by the Jubilee concert on Monday and then finally yesterday the service, carriage procession and fly past – amazing!

We were in London for the Pageant, and saw the a lot of the man powered boats and a few others heading towards the start.  Even where we were (Putney), the crowds were lining the banks and clapping and cheering.  We were going to try and get a viewpoint further up the river and see the Queen herself but with the weather deteriorating and no guarantee we’d be able to see anything we decided to watch on TV.  Not quite the same in terms of atmosphere (didn’t really come through on the TV coverage), but we probably saw a lot more.  I did feel really sorry for the singers on top of the Philharmonic barge at the end as they were absolutely soaked to the bone and looked freezing! Professionals to the end though, they belted out their songs to the Queen – I hope she appreciated their effort!  Hopefully they won’t all go down with flu…

Unfortunately we didn’t get tickets for the Jubilee Concert so we stayed at home and watched on TV.  We could’ve gone to the Mall I suppose, but neither of us are very good at standing for hours and we weren’t sure what the weather would be like or how much we would be able to see.   From the TV it looked like even the people in the mall were having a blast though, so maybe we should’ve gone!  The concert itself was a bit hit and miss for us.  Some of the acts were great (i.e. Elton even struggling with a virus, and Madness on top of the Palace), some mediocre (i.e. Cliff and McCartney who both sounded like their voices were going), and some terrible (yes Cheryl I’m looking at you!).

Tuesday brought us an extra day off work (yey!), but for the Queen and the rest of the royals and dignitaries it was off to St Pauls for a service led by Archbishop Rowan Williams.  I felt rather sorry for the Cadet who got flustered when she realised that the page she was reading from for her prayer was the wrong one and it took her a good 30 seconds to find the right page!  We were willing someone to go and help her, but she kept herself under control and got through it.

A few other engagements later (no rest for the Queen!), there was a carriage procession back to the palace which was a great spectacle with the gleaming cavalry and carriages, followed by a balcony appearance and a fly past which included the Red Arrows and a Lancaster bomber with Spitfires and a Hurricane.  Everytime the Queen and Royals were in view the crowds thronged, cheered and applauded – God Save the Queen indeed!

Everyone (aside from the odd anti-monarchist) seemed to enjoy the spectacles whatever the weather and however many people there were and I wish we had been there to see more of it in person and experience the atmosphere.  The Queen did look a bit forlorn at times once Prince Phillip had been taken ill and was therefore not by her side, and we hope that he gets well soon, but like the trooper she is she carried on.  Long live the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family as far as I’m concerned!

Its next month!!!

London 2012

After waiting for so long, it now seems a bit unreal that the Olympics are NEXT MONTH!  Tickets have started to be sent out (I’ll pick up my first lot from the post office tomorrow) and I received the Official Programme yesterday – can’t wait!  I did manage to panic myself this evening when I thought I hadn’t actually bought some of the tickets I thought I had, but I eventually worked out I’d got them from another EU provider that I’d completely forgotten about – doh!

London 2012 here I come! 😀

Well done Channel 4!

London 2012,

I’ve just been reading the Channel4 press release about their coverage and presenters for the Paralympics this year, and I have to say well done for pulling together such a broad range of top notch presenters, specialists and newcomers and for the amount of coverage that will be going on.

I have to admit that after the ill-fated Ortis Deley debacle at the World Championships last year (sorry Ortis, though I think putting you in such a prime coverage with no real experience first was a mistake Ch4 bosses should accept blame for) I was not very positive about Channel4 showing the Paralympics, but from the sounds of it its going to be great!

I also look forward to seeing how the LEXI symbol is going to be used to help us viewers understand the different paralympic classifications.  Should be an interesting and fun two weeks!