Banana Nut Loaf Recipe

As promised, here is the recipe for the Banana Nut Loaf

Heat oven to Gas Mark 4 350F 180C

Grease and line a 2lb (large) loaf tin

Mix together thoroughly

4oz (100g) soft margarine

4oz (100g) soft brown sugar

2 eggs

8oz (200g)self raising flour

1 level tsp mixed spice (or more if you like it spicy!)

1tbsp golden syrup

1 large ripe mashed banana

4oz (100g) sultanas

Finally add 2oz (50g) chopped walnuts and mix well















Bake for one hour, then reduce the oven temperature slightly for another 20-30 minutes until golden. To check the cake is done, insert a skewer into the centre - if it comes out clean the cake is done!

When the diet goes out the window

I'd been very good for the past few weeks, trying to eat sensibly and hoping to lose a bit of weight. But I was tempted by the Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins I saw on Pink Purl's blog. My amazing daughter, now back from Romania, loves banana nut loaf, and so Sunday became a baking day.

Trying to multi-task I managed to make a mistake with the muffins - I omitted the egg and the first six were already in the oven before I realised (I only have one muffin tin). The recipe called for one egg, so I beat up an egg and put half of it into the remaining mixture. The two batches looked similar, but as it turned out I actually preferred the mixture without the egg - it was more like a scone, and you can't beat a good scone.

The banana nut loaf is always popular round here (I regret to say I like mine with butter on!). I've been using the same recipe, cut from the back of a flour bag, for many many years. Unlike most recipes, I've never seen any need to change it at all as it is easy, it works every time and I've never known it to go wrong (other than the time I didn't have any greaseproof paper to line the tin and couldn't get it out without breaking it).

So easy - if anyone actually reads this and would like the recipe I am happy to put it up - though I can't give credit to the originator as I can't remember which brand of flour I was using that long ago!

Be careful what you wish for

I've lived in the same house for over 15 years. All that time, there has been a copper beech tree growing in the garden next door. Although I adore trees, this particular tree has been a problem for my garden, casting very dark shade for half the day and shedding leaves everywhere. Our gardens are very small and not really suitable for trees that potentially can grow to over 100 feet. In the past 15 years it has been "pruned" by previous owners on 4 different occasions and but every time it has grown back even more vigorously. This spring I've been complaining bitterly about it and wishing it gone.


I came home from work on Thursday and was startled by the amount of daylight in my kitchen and discovered that the tree has been lopped off three feet from the ground. I should be happy - but sitting on the fence were the pair of wood pigeons who had been nesting in the tree. I've watched them building their nest for the past few weeks and now they sit forlornly wondering what has happened to their hard work and their babies. Laying on the path I found two broken eggs - I feel so sad for them. I hope there is enough of the summer left for them to find a new tree, build another nest and lay more eggs.



On a more selfish note, whoever cut down the tree trampled all over my garden and broke off my two sunflowers - and this all happened without my neighbours even mentioning they would be cutting down the tree and would need access to my garden. I imagine my poor rabbits were very stressed by the entire experience too!

Fathers Day

Remembering my lovely Dad, Ray, who died 27 May 1993.

Your three daughters are all thinking of you today.

Thanks for being a wonderful Dad, we all miss you.

Time away from the computer

I wish I could say that I had done something constructive in the past few weeks, but other than suffering from a cold that completely wiped me out, and then two migraines that each lasted several days, the past three weeks have not been very productive. I have done very little gardening (other than tending the few vegetable seeds I've sown), only read one book and my whole house is a bit of a disaster area.



My amazing daughter finished her exams on the last Friday in May and I drove up on the Sunday to collect her from university and empty her room in her shared house - she won't be returning to university for her third year as she has a placement in Cambridge. I should have taken a photo of my car filled with (almost) all her possessions (we had to leave her bike, a bookcase, and a few other bulky items in my mum's shed in Bristol for collection at a later date). It was a frightening sight!



AD had only two brief days to sort everything out, pack and get ready for her trip to Romania. On the Wednesday, I drove her to Luton Airport for her flight and then straight back to work for a tedious finance meeting. What an exciting life I lead.




I'm going to try to grow a few vegetables in the garden this year. Years ago (when my children were at school and I only worked part time) I used to have an allotment and would love to have one again, but know that I can't dedicate enough time at the moment. But I miss the satisfaction that comes from growing and harvesting your own food. I'm just going to grow tomatoes, courgettes, some salad vegetables and a couple of pumpkins (they make wonderful soup!).

Random End of Week Ramblings

It's been a very busy week work wise. One of the pleasant elements of my job involves writing a newsletter twice a year, which is great fun and a lovely change from the day to day routine. However, it's been tough to fit it in to the normal week and I've ended up staying late and even bringing work home in order to get it done. But my articles are all finished, and the draft has gone to the design and print company, who do a great job on the layout. I do feel a little bit of satisfaction when it is all finished.

We have had no hot water all week - amazing son discovered the problem on Sunday night - while in the shower - ouch! Cold water is far from ideal for washing hair that is almost elbow length (AS likes the goth look and hasn't had his hair cut for a couple of years!). However, we were able to get someone in to fix the immersion heater, and I had a lovely long shower this morning (as opposed to juggling with kettles and jugs of water every morning). Being a person who washes their hair every day, I read this with interest. I don't know if this is something I could try. I do try to cut down on blow drying my hair. When I was much younger I had waistlength hair, and I didn't even own a hairdryer, so it is possible to manage without. But the washing.... somehow I can't contemplate this at the moment.

AS is suffering with a very bad cold and sore throat and quite a few people at work have similar symptoms. Amazing daughter is in the middle of her university exams and has been struck down by a horrible bug too, though of the stomach variety. In addition this is the worst time of the year for hayfever, which another cross she has to bear. She has worked so hard, but is very worried that she will do badly this year (this is her second year).

Thanks to Willow for your comments on our rabbits' window box - the wendy house was bought from EBay, and had been built by a dad as a play house for his daughters, but they had outgrown it. It was originally painted blue, and the window box was already attached to one end and a trellis to the other. To me, it looks a bit like a prairie log cabin, you could just picture an old woman in a rocking chair on the porch shelling peas, or darning socks! It is just over 5ft high inside (I can just stand up in it as I am just under 5ft tall) but AS keeps banging his head! I liked the light colours - most wood preservatives and stains are quite dark, but having painted my fence the lovely light green, I thought the cream and more of the green as a contrast would look nice. I like the beach hut look too, so my poor old shed had better look out or it might get a lick of paint next!

I'm currently reading my way through the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin - 6 down, quite a few to go. I think I'll take a break when I finish the current one and try something a bit different. When I find a writer I like, I then try to read their entire output, but that doesn't always have good results. I'd read a couple of Joanne Harris's novels that I really enjoyed, but when I read a couple of later books I found them disappointing. I started reading the Ian Rankin books because I got a bargain paperback of his from a charity shop, but when I started reading found that I needed to know what had happened in the previous novels. I've gradually got through the earlier Rebus novels, and haven't been disappointed yet, but I do feel the need for a change of style for a while.

Bunny House

Our rabbits have at long last moved into their new home, though there is still some work to be done. As mentioned in an earlier post, we really wanted to give our rabbits a secure home where they would be safe from extremes of weather, and most of all be protected from foxes, kestrels etc.

Anyone reading this who doesn't have rabbits might think this is rather excessive - you are probably right, (my daughter has begun to refer to me as the mad rabbit woman!) but if you are a rabbit, you like to have some private space as well as lots of room to move around, and space to stand on your hind legs and stretch out to your full length. Inside we have provided different levels, dark cubby holes and cosy places filled with hay to snuggle up. We have fixed wire mesh around the "verandah" but this weekend I hope to put the finishing touches, which will include fencing off a small area of lawn to the front for them to use. Another photo will follow when everything is done.

A couple of random photos of the two lucky rabbits - here is Bramble

and here is Clover washing her face. They come into the house sometimes for a few hours at a time, but are very shy and usually like to burrow out of sight!

We are very lucky that these two are very well litter trained, and cleaning up after them is so easy. I am looking forward to some excellent compost in a few months time!

My Journey to Work

Although I am not originally from Essex, since I've lived here for over 15 years I have come to love many things about this county. I'm originally from the West Country, and much appreciate the drier climate here, and the distinct lack of hills (which as a cyclist I do prefer!).

One of the things I like about living in mid Essex is the proximity to the countryside. On my short journey to work each day, I am fortunate enough to travel along a very attractive path, which is surrounded by trees, with the River Chelmer running alongside.

Most days I cycle to the office along this path and cross over the river via a footbridge. It's very pleasant, and as the seasons change there are so many lovely things to see. I actually took these photos about two weeks ago, and in just that short time everything has become even more lush, there are even flowers opening on the water lilies in the river (the variety is Brandy Bottle - though I've never got near enough to catch a whiff of the scent that gives it it's name!).

Recently, one bank of the river was banked up with willow, which is a natural means of reducing erosion. It is quite attractive, and apparently in a couple of years there will be a lovely willow hedge holding everything firmly in place.

A busy couple of days

The last couple of days have been a rush. I had planned to leave work early on Thursday, to get organised and away early on Friday for the drive up to the West Country, but typical of things in local government (which for my sins, I have the privilege to work in) I was called upon at the last minute to produce a pointless paper exercise. This meant that when I got home from work at nearly 7pm, I had the start of a headache and a total loss of energy. So I ate a big bowl of my patent homemade vegetable soup and went to bed early.

Up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning (thankfully without the headache), I cleaned out the rabbit hutch and run (doesn't need much cleaning - our two bunnies are quite the cleanest rabbits you could wish for - they are perfectly litter trained, and no trouble at all), did washing, ironing, cleaned the house from top to bottom and shopped for favourite and manageable meals for AS who has college on Friday and didn't want to make the journey to Bath and Bristol. I am learning to give him a bit more freedom and let him stay home if I go away overnight. As big as he is, it is very hard to leave him on his own, particularly knowing that I am a three hour drive away. It is amazing to me that I can do this at all, when he was a toddler and didn't (or couldn't speak) I never knew that he could be as independent as he is. Being autistic is not something you can measure, and some people might not even notice that he is different. He doesn't have any "Rain Man" skills (unless you count encyclopaedic knowledge of Transformers!) and he struggles with the concept that he has any kind of special needs. He daily claims his right to self-determination and it gets easier every time to give him the chance to prove that he can look after himself. His most enormous step was taking the train to Colchester - alone! Now it is a daily journey for him - including the long walk to the station (although he can catch a train the bus is out of the question - there are too many pitfalls and he doesn't want to even try).

So with my amazing son taken care of, I set off for Bath to see my amazing daughter. I picked her up from the University, we grabbed a bite to eat and I left her at the stage door where she has a chorus part in an amateur production of Hello Dolly. She loves musical theatre so much, and has been involved with a local group at home since she was about 10. During her first year at university, she missed it so much she just had to find a group in Bath to join and so she auditioned with Bath Operatic and Dramatic Society and was really thrilled to join the chorus. She loves dancing (she is in the Latin and Ballroom Club at University) and music, particularly from the shows. Although she loves the theatre, she is also very conscious of exams rapidly approaching, so next week she'll be back with the books!

I paid a flying visit to my sister in Bristol (at 6.00am Saturday!). We went to walk her dogs in the local park - but found a rave still in full swing. Neither the police or the local council were particularly interested when she phoned them, and the drum and bass line could still be heard at 9.00am when I left. I am SO glad I don't live in a city any more....

Mum and I then went to have lunch with AD in Bath and then to the theatre for the matinee. It was a lovely show (though if I am honest, I am not a huge fan of musicals, despite supporting my offspring on many occasions, and even taking her to the odd West End production - I did fall asleep once in Les Miserables to her everlasting embarrassment!). The costumes were lovely, and the dance routines were spectacular. I actually had a hard time recognising my own daughter what with the big Edwardian hats, wigs and stage makeup!

Then back to Mum's (with Mum singing Hello Dolly the whole way home) to load up my car with half the contents of her shed - we are giving away all her old garden tools, a manual typewriter and assorted other items on Freecycle and to a charity that takes tools to Africa. Then I drove home and was back around 10.30pm to find amazing son was absolutely relaxed about being alone for 36 hours. I shouldn't have worried. He'd baked himself a batch of cookies (from a packet mix - I am working on teaching him how to follow a recipe and this is the first step - following the instructions on the box) and even washed up some the dishes! (The slightly burnt baking tray was left for me).

Today, I plan to put my feet up for a couple of hours and finish my current read, Mr Golightly's Holiday by Salley Vickers, before I mow the lawn and tidy up the front garden.

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Like a lot of other people, I am trying really hard to reduce my "carbon footprint". I do all the usual recycling - paper, glass, cans etc. Most vegetable waste and peelings goes straight into the compost bin, or if suitable we feed them to the rabbits (though they are quite picky eaters!). All our lightbulbs are low energy (except the ones that operate on a dimmer switch). I'm lucky enough to be able to cycle to my office (though I do have to drive all round the county for meetings and am really conscious of those miles - Essex is a big county). I always take my own shopping bags with me - I used to use the "Bag for Life" type all the time, but am moving towards non plastic - I have about 8 calico bags, but am planning to make some more heavy duty ones out of remnants of upholstery fabric for heavier items. I try to buy food with less packaging. I'm the annoying person in the office who goes round other people's desks turning off their fans, lights, printers etc when they've gone home. Sad - I know.

So what else can I do to make a difference? I have registered with the mail preference service, stuck a sticker on my letter box saying no junk mail, told the post office to stop delivering leaflets (they make a lot of money out of getting the postman to deliver leaflets with the post - but that means it takes him longer to do his rounds!). I've told my credit card companies not to keep sending me credit card cheques (I hate them - it's such a worry that someone could intercept your post and use those cheques and you wouldn't know until your statement arrives). But I still receive lots of mail I don't want. So I have started returning junk mail to the companies that send it to me. You know the type of thing - somehow they know when your car insurance is due for renewal and you get six brochures offering you a "deal"; your credit card company sends you a letter reminding you that you can transfer a balance; your bank or building society writes to offer you a loan at a preferential rate... Everything I get that I don't want I put a sticker on that says "Return to Sender - Junk Mail - Sender: Please remove me from your mailing list - Save Money Reduce Waste Save Trees" and put it back in the letter box.

Gosh - that was a bit "Grumpy Old Women". I'm not normally so grouchy, but I do feel quite strongly about these issues. Other ways I am trying to make a difference: I use Freecycle (local groups can be found at www.Freecycle.org ) to give things away - the idea is to save putting so much stuff into landfill and this helps match up people who have something to give away with people who want it. So far I've given away 5 bikes, a sofa, an artificial Christmas Tree, lots of childrens games and videos, a big mirror, and lots of old garden stuff (plant pots, seed trays etc). I really want to have less stuff so although I read the local notice boards regularly, I don't often ask for anything. I also release books into the wild with Book Crossing www.bookcrossing.com.

I've been listening to Prof Jeffrey Sachs giving the Reith lectures on Radio 4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2007/ but find the scale of the problems he outlines quite terrifying. I feel that all the little things I'm doing to reduce my impact on the environment can't have any effect on all the huge problems the planet is facing - but I can't stand by and do nothing. How can I expect the people in positions of power to take action if I don't do something myself? When I read blogs by other people around the world who are also trying to do their bit, I feel there is some hope for the future. I like this quote attributed to the anthropologist Margaret Mead "Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has". The great thing is that due to the availability of information via the internet, people don't need to even meet each other to get ideas across.

Unrelated comment:
I'm new at this blogging game so I don't know if the etiquette is to reply to comments but I wanted to say thanks for the couple of nice comments I have received. I rarely comment on other people's blogs; though most people seem so nice and friendly, I feel a bit like a person who's gatecrashed a party and tries to join in established conversations between friends. I feel comfortable with continuing to "lurk" but may eventually build up enough confidence to comment and let other people know what I think!