Monday, August 20, 2007
Pub quiz
Mat: We've been going to the pub quiz at The Globe every Sunday night since we moved to Lostwithiel. At £1 per team, the entry fee is an absolute bargain considering it includes a slap-up feed and the chance to win a round of free drinks or some chocolates. We usually come somewhere in the middle of the 10-15 teams, but last night we got our best ever score with 17/20 in the first round, which netted us a handsome second place (but sadly no prize).We've been trying to recruit better team members since Bryan, Kat and I have a real blind spot for the common themes of 60s music and horse racing. So if you're thinking about visiting us and have a good brain for trivia, please make sure you stay on a Sunday night so you can help us win!
If you think you're good enough, have a look at yesterday's questions and see what you get.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Summer fun
Kat: We messed up our social calendar last weekend and found ourselves double-booked - very challenging when your house is as small as ours! The cosy living arrangements notwithstanding, it all turned out for the best and it was a weekend-long party with Jon, Emilie, Juliana, Mel and Joel.On Friday we went to the Eden Project, our first visit since shortly after it opened in 2001. There were plants in the biomes at that stage but they weren't properly established, and the surrounding area hadn't been developed. Now it's a riot of sculptures and flowers and all the more impressive for it.
Saturday we headed to Pentewan bay, a wide sandy beach with rocky outcrops at either end. We all had a go at kayaking around the bay and exploring the coves and beaches which are hard to reach from the shore. Kayaks are definitely near the top of our wishlist now (possibly just superseded by George's amazing new DVD-and-projector-in-one), although they're going to have to be singles not a double because Mat and I kept crashing our oars together and paddling in different directions. In the evening we nipped over to Mevagissey to buy some fresh fish for supper (our fourth BBQ in three days) and saw a seal in the harbour.
The weather's changeable again which is not good because there are several open-air events this week. On Tuesday we watched the first day of the National Fireworks Championships from Plymouth Hoe. Conditions were perfect: dry and windy enough to blow the smoke away, and the fireworks were spectacular with colours and shapes like I've never seen before. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tonight because I'm going on a girly-outing to see Little Women at the Lost Gardens of Heligan while Mat judges the entries in the latest photo competition at the MCPC.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Mat's babies
Kat: Last week Mat became the proud owner of one tenths of four piglets, or if you prefer, the owner of four tenths of one piglet. Previously, Bryan and Debs had formed a pig collective with four sets of friends in the village. The collective was instigated by a couple who rent a field just outside Lostwithiel, and who have kept pigs before.Bryan has sub-contracted half of his pig duties to Mat, in return for a share of the spoils. As a non-pig-eater, I don't intend to do any of the legwork. Their responsibilities are to feed, water and generally keep an eye on the pigs every Monday and every fifth weekend. The piglets seem very happy in their new home apart from a bit of sunburn on their ears (other collective members have been applying suncream). They've got a low electric fence to stop them straying all over the field, although as they get older the main field fence will need to be repaired.
The piglets are only a few months old at the moment; the plan is to fatten two up for Christmas this year and keep the remaining two as baconers for the following year. There are three barrows (neutered boy pigs) and one gilt (a sow that has not farrowed i.e. had a litter of pigs). They're Saddleback-Welsh crosses and are generally pale pink with a few black splodges (the gilt has a green mark on her back too). On the basis that names will cause people to form attachments to them, the pigs haven't been given names... yet.