Summer Seedlings

In summer, I like to grow plants on my kitchen windowsill. An indoor garden. Usually I do herbs, in these nice galvanised containers my mum Leen bought me. Basil is the most successful, grows well and great in pasta sauces. This year, she also got me some instant salad seeds which are doing well. I am also trying cress, grown on damp paper towel. Does anyone else remember growing mustard and cress in school? I like to look at the seeds several times a day as they grow fast!

Body Balance (or not)

I am deliberately saving everyone from an image of me in my new Body Balance class. Sounds serene, a combination of tai-chi, pilates and yoga. Actually agonising and sees me flailing and sweating like a nutter. Strangely, I look forward to this. The instructor is the buffest and most muscular woman I have ever seen, which is both motivational and depressing. This is part of my knee rehab which includes horizontal cycling on Sundays, pilates and now this also. My plan is to rebuild strength and flexibility in my core and legs to help the knee and try to trim off the flab I am suffering from since I stopped running. The exercise also makes me feel better about how my body looks and works.

I am trying to work up to Mondays: Body Balance 7.30pm, Thursdays: Pilates 9.30 am (day off)  Sundays: Horizontal Cycling in gym 11am.

Does anyone have any exercise routines or recommendations to share?

More Seen from the Car

This interesting ship-like Brutalist building is the Best Western Summerhill Hotel, on Lang Stracht in Aberdeen.

The hotel was designed in 1968 by architects Baxter Clark and Paul. Again, I suspect this one looked better on the drawing board. The top is the hotel, beneath, a rather depressing arcade of shops.

The design is described as 'a response to vernacular fishing villages' but is more like a response to a giant oil service vessel, which is appropriate to Aberdeen. This one is a love/hate building and it's hard to say where I fall, perhaps impressed/appalled would be closest.

Atomic Fashion

This is a scan of the fabric in my latest sewing project. This amazing 50s atomic style print is part of the new John Lewis retro fabric range. It reminds me of the Festival of Britain, which I love.

Over optimistically I am making a summer skirt as I had got a bit tubby (ahem) for some of my old skirts. Given the weather in Aberdeen, I don't try my summer clothes often. The skirt is 50s style too, full with box pleats.

Half timberation

I love the half timbered, from Little Moreton Hall to Morris Travellers. So I loved Strasbourg with its medieval and renaissance houses.

To backtrack, we just got back from a holiday in Strasbourg, which is in France not Germany (many people get this wrong). It is important to get this right as it can cause offence.

Strasbourg is a lovely medieval city in Alsace. It has a Germanic flavour in the many gothic castles, predominance of sausage and saurkraut and excellent white wines. All of which we enjoyed.