Category: hobby

blog, hobby

Little Worm

Dub Mouse

From an early age we are all taught to read, it all starts from being a child when your parent will sit with you at bed time and read a story. You’ll end up following the story on the pages as your parent reads and slowly you will end up attempting to read (with guidance) along with them. Of course you process onto school where your reading improves, you’ll be picked by the teacher to read a few pages of the current book being read during English lessons and not forgetting the reading homework.


Bring on adulthood where you will either read on holiday, curl up on a winter’s evening with a nice book, read a very boring (yawning at the thought) “celebrity gossip” magazine whilst in your Doctor’s surgery waiting room – really? Who reads those shit things? I couldn’t give two hoots as to which overpaid football star, film star or these so called tv stars from those crappy “reality shows” (if you can call it reality) are marrying, divorcing, shagging or what toilet roll they’ve just brought.


I’ve recently had a big clear out of books and gave a load to charity, I’ve kept my favourite books and opted to start buying any on iBooks (apple app – as if the i part didn’t give it away). I tried the kindle app for a while but have found that the books sold are more expensive when compared to iBooks. Electronic books free up so much space in the house, are so much more lighter to carry and of course fit quite nicely into a bag. The only bad thing about using a electronic device for books is that when on holiday, the last thing you want is to take it to the beach and leave it unattended whilst you fancy a dip in the sea.


Everyone has their favourite books they would recommend to people. Here’s mine, in no particular order:


1) Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.There’s no need to explain this one, everyone knows who Holmes is and if you don’t – where have you been?


2) The Blitzcat by Robert Westall.Seen from a cat’s point of view as she travels through England during the Blitz in World War 2 trying to find her owner who serves in the R.A.F


3) The P.C Grant Novels by Ben Aaronovitch.This is a series which is about the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the Metropolitan Police. After his unexpected encounter with a ghost, he is recruited into the small branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural.


4) The Mudbug series by Jana DeLoren.About a ghost who comes back to haunt her ex-daughter inlaw. She only becomes visible to people who are about to experience near death.


5) The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy.If you have a young daughter, I would recommend this for her. This books are from my childhood and I still love them.They are about Mildred Hubble who is the worst student at Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches.


6) James Herriot – All Creatures Great and Small series.These are semi-autobiographical books set in Yorkshire, United Kingdom about the authors experience as a country Veterinary Surgeon.


7) Police series by Mike Pannett.Very much like the James Herriot series except these are autobiographical and are about the Author. Based in Yorkshire during Mike’s time as a rural Bobby. Would recommend these books and if you’re on twitter, give him a follow. Mike is quite a nice chap: @MikePannett


I wanted to make my list have 10 books but to be honest I couldn’t think of 10. The ones above are my favourite books and would recommend you give them a try. What’s your favourite book that you’d recommend?

blog, hobby

Dancing On Water

Dub Mouse

Ever wanted to go sailing? The fella’s dad invited us to do just that with him on his boat Star Dance. So whilst onboard, I thought I would do a blog of our sailing in Turkey and a mini trip to Greece:

After an hour’s delay to our flight from London Gatwick due to a thunderstorm as we were going to taxi for takeoff and then as we were due to take off, all topped off by bouts of turbulence during the flight, and a scary taxi ride to the Marina (as in rally car type driving down an off beat road in the dark 😱), we arrived, were greeted by the fella’s dad and welcomed onboard Star Dance. 

Day 1-3 : Saw us have a tour of the boat with loads of technical terms and quite a bit to remember along with where to stand and not stand. The sails were attached and Star Dance started to look how she should. We also learnt how to make rope coils – yes there is a way which stops the rope twisting into a figure of eight as you make a coil along with learning how to tie various knots onboard. 

Next saw us trying to get the wind vane fixed which proved difficult and failed. This involved the fella’s dad climbing up the main mast to replace the one up there as it was thought to be faulty, the fella even did some wiring.

The day before we set sail saw us going to Marmaris town, doing a little food shop to last 10 days along with a dingey shop. Later we had diesel delivered so Star Dance had a full tank. 

Sailing

Day 1 (You are welcome to have Rod Stewart’s I am sailing song stuck in your head when reading this): 

So after the skipper received a Certificate to leave harbour yesterday, we were able to set sail but first Star Dance needed prepping. We had to make sure everything was stowed away, the water tanks were full and then she had a little wash down to remove dust. 

A radio call was sent so we had someone arrive to be guided out the little mooring space from harbour and away we went. We were taught various things required during a sailing trip such as the log book, which needs to be recorded every hour (no this is not like Star Trek and unfortunately no star date is recorded). We did a practice of the Man Overboard manoeuvre aka M.O.B just in case any of us decided to fall over. We sailed for a few hours and finally anchored at Turunç (it sounds like to lunch hehehe) for the night. This area proved a wee bit choppy for me which was to trigger my nervousness scared cry mechanism for a little bit.  

Day 2: The night proved to be okay. Took me a while to fall asleep as swells made Star Dance roll but it was alright once I dozed off. Day two saw all the checks before setting off such as engine, sail prepping and filling in log book. It was also the fella’s 30th birthday. 

It was the day of proper sailing with sails up – it was a bit hairy but I found out it was easier to look aft (behind) rather than to the bow (front). 

We anchored at Bozuk Buka at 1351, which was quite a busy place. I had taken on the role of lunch maker. Also tried having a solar shower on deck (was a 20litre camping shower bag that heated up when sun was on it, however the hose part kept coming off and 20litres quickly became something like 5 😱.

Day 3: We left Bozuk fairly early and set Sail to Datça so we could check out of Turkey. The sail today was actually quite nice. As we were sailing, the greek rozzers appeared 😱 eek. It’s alright though, they weren’t interested and carried on sailing. 

Today I have experienced something interesting or rather challenging – Having a pee whilst sailing on choppy water. It’s not easy and you have to try and brace yourself so you don’t end up crashing through the loo door 😂. This has not happened so far, as I’ve figured out you turn sideways and brace with legs when stood. Standing up from sat down position however is not so easy 😕.

Day 4: We arrived at Datça, where we had to go ashore to the harbour, had our own escort (two dogs followed us around) and checked out of Turkey. We had to have passport checked by the police (they carry guns 😨) and had the transit log checked by a man called erm no idea how spelt but was said as oh f**k (honestly that is how he pronounced it). We then had a little wander round the harbour, one of the dogs had decided to keep following. Seemed almost spaniel like with a little fan (tuft of fur) at the end of its tail. I decided to give it a piece of pastry that I was eating. She seemed to enjoy it and asked for more by standing on her hind legs, little front paws up and did a little whimper. Me being me and a sucker for dogs….gave her a bit more, again she gobbled it down then wandered off into some shade. 

We were recommended to try some Turkish coffee by the fella’s dad. I’m not a fan, it was really grainy. No wonder a glass of water is given with it 😂.  

Back on board and away we sail again. I then start to feel icky, probably the coffee so I didn’t take many photos. We arrived at Panormitis in Greece which is a lovely peaceful place to anchor. Overnight it got very windy and in the distance over the top of the mountains we could see a lightning storm. 

  
Day 5: Today we go ashore to have a look around as well as get a receipt for something to prove we had gone out of Turkey waters so we could check back in back later. 

From Panormitis, you can catch a bus to Symi. We were told it starts at 0800, and so decided we could row ashore for 0830 to catch a slightly later bus. It proved to be a pain waiting. We asked at the little monastery cafe who said it didn’t start until 1030, so we waited a bit longer and the bus actually didn’t start until 1200!!! 😠 anyway, we waited for 1200 and as we were first you would have thought people would let us on right? No, instead they all tried to get on the mini bus before us, and so we used rugby tactics. Luckily there were “normal” seats available, I say normal because once all the bus seats were taken….. The driver went into the little luggage compartment and pulled out plastic stools which were handed down the bus to those standing! There is no way health and safety would allow this in UK and to be honest I can understand why. When the driver ran out of stools, he wandered off and grabbed a wooden chair from the monastery restaurant.

At Symi town we discover it’s a nice little harbour village though there isn’t much to do. We were told by the mini bus driver that we could meet back at drop off point to catch a bus for 1400. However there we were waiting expecting to see the silver bus we arrived in, then suddenly we see the driver drive away in a blue bus and he waved as he drove off, so we ended up getting a Taxi back for €25 – the driver was pretty good and stopped so we could get out at various places to take photos. 

Once back to Panormitis we visited the monastery. It was a bit disappointing as all it had were two tiny museums due to the main working part not open to the public. The monument was pretty interesting as we discovered that the monastery aided the allies during WW2 with counterintelligence, but were found out by the Germans and as a consequence the Abbot, his assistance and the radio operator were executed on the 11/02/1944. 

Did you know the Greeks have something called “Greek delight”? No neither did I. Now I’ve heard of Turkish delight and the proper stuff is amazing but had no idea that the Greeks did it too, so naturally I brought some. 

Day 6: We set sail back to Datça to check into Turkey again. The sail in the morning was a bit choppy but then it sorted itself out and was actually quite enjoyable.  

We arrive in Datça and had issues with anchoring as the previous time we arrived. Once ashore we went to the passport police and whilst there we got to see the “police dog” who was a giant Labrador and I mean giant but she was a big softy and rolled over on the floor for a tummy rub.

Day 7: We stayed anchored in Datça due to the weather and winds so this meant we got to go ashore for a day. We strolled around Datça and of course the very annoying thing about Turkey came about for the millionth time : none of the shops seem to have any change, however this was to my advantage as I went to buy a bracelet and because the shop keeper had no change….he let me have the bracelet for free!! Woohoo!! 

Day 8: Today was an early start – 0500 wake up in order to get the boat ready for sail at 0600. We actually managed to set sail at 0557 (it’s the small things). It was a lovely sail and managed most of it without engine aid. We made good time and arrived at Turunç at 1530, 9hrs 20 was a far better time than expected.

Day 9: We rolled during the night (as in very choppy side to side) so I didn’t have a good sleep. We ended up having a nice lazy morning and set sail at 1242 for a tour of marmaris bay to Pupa Anchorage.

Day 10: Today was the end of our sailing trip, so we had another lazy morning, with a nice little cooked breakfast onboard, soon after we Sailed for the Marina. 

Getting Star Dance scrubbed:

Day 1: Saw us having an early start as it was a working day. Star Dance had to be washed down, scrubbed and polished. All sea water had to be washed off as the salt if left will cause erosion. 

Day 2: We travelled to Marmaris town via a free ferry whilst the fella’s dad cleaned below deck. I somehow managed to get burnt feet. It was a very hot day, and so naturally we took stayed out the sun by sitting in bars as they were shaded areas and ended up eating two Kebabs 😆 

Conclusion:

Would I do sailing again….. Probably not as I wasn’t keen on the choppy water or the boat going at certain angles but at least I can say I tried it and on the plus side I throughly enjoyed the sights and some of the sailing. 

blog, hobby

Old Lady Confession

Dub Mouse

Cross-stitch! WTF are you on about woman, I hear you cry. Yep cross-stitch, that thing where you makes crosses on fabric using needle and thread to make patterns, something that is normally associated with little old ladies sat in a club nattering away.

It happened when I stayed round my one of my nans, during a half-term or weekend. Cant remember age, maybe 13? Maybe 14? Or was it 15? (Is that the old lady memory loss kicking in?). I was helping nan as she was having a mini clear-out and we came across an embroidery set complete with threads, those wooden hoops things and fabric. (Her nan’s she said – though suspect it was hers). Sod the clearing-out, this looked far more interesting. The entire afternoon was spent with nan showing me how to do embroidery, and I went home armed with a bag full of threads and those hoop things.

Roll on a few years and I decide to pick it up and move onto cross-stitch as a way of keeping myself entertained. I subscribed to a couple of magazines, brought some cards, fabric and threads off eBay, then self-taught myself the art of cross-stitch. I started off by making birthday, Xmas and thank you cards.

Once I mastered those I thought would try a bit bigger and stitched something for cousins first born, then a hedgehog with sunflowers. I even managed to merge a design and create a little something for the bathroom.

A friend was diagnosed with cancer and I had found a quote for her (oddly enough from Star Trek original series) which was very apt advice, not just for her but it could apply to anyone – those afraid of make a chance or take a risk for something etc. she likes Japanese things and has even done cross-stitch herself, she’s done some lovely Japanese figures and framed them. Hudders asked me to do a design for her with a Japanese theme incorporating the quote, even went out, picked the colours, brought the threads and fabric for me. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Trying to find something Japanese to symbolise strength etc so I opted for symbol meanings, created a hand-drawn version then drew onto fabric so it was easier to stitch rather than creating a chart to work from. Hudders couldn’t of picked more difficult threads. Had to keep wetting them to make them workable. A large amount of swearing sessions occurred whilst creating that masterpiece. I had to get a frame especially made for the design because silly me didn’t think to make a design to fit within the bog standard frames. I never do things the easy way (is there one?), the completed piece now hangs on a wall in hudders bedroom as it was designed to fit in with her bedroom colour theme. Sadly Emma passed away on the evening of 13th December 2013.

My latest project was for the kitchen. It fits in well with my ideal colour & retro theme (for my ideal home – provided I ever afford one). I had started it months ago but then put it down for a while, cross-stitch is one of those things you have to be in the right frame of mind to do. The “bug” can hit and leave just as quickly (not much dissimilar to a held in fart allowed to escape. Those come out fast and quickly go). Its now finished after oh must be about three months now i think and hangs proudly underneath my retro style cream clock (why you need to know its a cream retro style clock I don’t know but hey now you do).

And roll forward to 2018, I no longer do cross stitch. Why? Because our rescue dog has decided he is far more worthy of attention than my hobby and every time I tried to sit down and get started, he would run off with the threads.