Tag Archives: autumn

It doesn't look like much, but that's a big bowl!

Purple Gold

Autumn’s here and I’m in my element. I’m a creature of habit, and I like having things to look forward to, and autumn is full of those. Over the last couple of years I’ve really gotten into making a few different cold weather tipples to make things a bit warmer. My favourite by far is Sloe Gin, there’s nothing that even comes close for being warming, fruity, sweet and very, very drinkable!

Sloe gin is a very traditional thing to make over here, people have been adding sloes, bullace and damsons (to name but a few) to gin for years, and it’s very easy to see why. There are loads of traditions and recipes that go into it, depending on where you are and what’s been passed down to it. Recipes vary, but the one golden rule was always to pick sloes after the first frost. That would make sure they weren’t picked until October at the earliest usually, meaning they’d be ripe and juicy. Down here though (Cornwall) we’ve had a pretty warm summer, and as is usually the case, our crops were ready much earlier than that this year. I managed to pick 5 lbs out on a walk with the dogs in the second week of September – get in!

It doesn't look like much, but that's a big bowl!

After spending a small fortune on gin it’s time for the very laborious job of getting the sloes ready for the bottles. Again, tradition dictates how you do this, I’ve heard stories about how it’s meant to be done with a pin or a sewing needle. All it really needs to be is something to break the skin to let the juice and colour from the skins to leech out into the gin, so I find the best method for me is to sit down with a big bowl of washed sloes, an empty bottle and a sharp paring knife. I slit each one up one side and pop it in the bottle. It’s pretty mind-numbing, but it means I can watch a film or something while I’m doing it. All that’s left to do then is to add some sugar and put the top on the bottle.

Here are the recipe and proportions I use:

  1. Take an empty litre bottle of gin and half-fill it with sloes
  2. Add 150gms of sugar
  3. Top up with gin (allow a little room at the top of the bottle for turning)

That’s it. After that, turn the bottles every day for a couple of weeks and then once a week for the next couple of months. Ideally you want to leave it for at least three months before you drink it, despite the temptation. After that time, decant the gin into a new bottle. If you get lots of debris and sediment pour it through a coffee filter. They say it’s best left until the following winter for the flavours to mellow, but to be honest mine doesn’t usually make it through until new year ;) . The sloes you’re left with aren’t just ready for the bin either, there are loads of things you can do with them, including making Shlerry and Slider, or my preferred option, chocolate sloe truffles.

Three litres in bottles, already looking good enough to drink

Mine’s been in the bottle for nearly two weeks now and is already starting to look rich and tasty. If you’ve got any sloes nearby, get out and get some and have a go, you won’t look back :)

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Checking My Balance

Is it just me or is it starting to feel distinctly Autumnal? Maybe that’s a bit of wishful thinking, as I write this it’s gorgeous outside and very hot, but that’s been the exception over the last few weeks rather than the rule. I know I probably sound like a bit of an idiot, wishing away summer, but I love autumn. Hell, have a search here for that word and see how much I do. It feels like the year’s speeding up now, and I think that’s the impending Bank Holiday making me feel like that, either way I’m looking forward to it.

Training’s still ongoing, and I’m still really enjoying it. I’ve finally nailed Jinto into my subconscious, and it’s really nice being able to concentrate on the performance of the moves rather than which one comes next. It’s a really tricky form to get right, there are very few ‘standard’ moves in it, save for a few punches, and so execution is going to take me a while to get right. The cats are already getting fed up with me stomping around the kitchen practicing – getting excited as I get near the food cupboard, and then shouting at me as I go back the other way again. The most difficult part so far is nailing the balance during the crane stance parts of the form.

I don’t normally have too much of a problem with crane stances in other forms, I feel relatively solid during Chil Sung Sam Roh, Sip Soo and Rohai, and to be fair even in Jinto. The problems come with the transitions from the crane stance to the snap and precursor for the front kicks. The snap entails a 90° rotation of the upper body and a repositioning of the arms, but in order to do that it means a lot of torque which needs to stop abruptly and in a very solid position, all while balancing on one leg. In itself it shouldn’t be as hard as it is, but because it’s a very unnatural movement it’s very difficult. I think the root of my problems lie with not applying the same amount of torque with the top half as the bottom, and because they’re moving in opposite directions it means if more force is applied in one direction than the other, I keep moving when I intended to stop. This throws my balance off and leaves me hopping around like someone who just had their foot run over.

Unfortunately there’s no short-cut to getting it right, I’ve learned now that there’s only one way to make it happen, and it’s just repetition, repetition, repetition. But repetition done correctly of course! It reminds me of something I read somewhere once, but I can’t remember where, or how it goes exactly but it’s along the lines of: “If you practise a form 1,000 times you’ll know the form. If you practise it 10,000 times you’ll be able to see your opponent. If you practise the form 100,000 times, other people will be able to see your opponent”.

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September – Ahhhhhh

Everyone knows I’m a massive fan of all things Autmn, and the arrival of September today is a good thing in my book. The summer never really happened except for a few good days, in fact I can probably remember all of them, so the transition to Autumn won’t be very stark this year. The evenings have drawn in and the air is starting to feel cooler, I’m looking forward to those long shadows and orange evenings already.

Unfortunately I’m starting September feeling very off. I was fine for most of yesterday, but as the evening came in I gradually started to feel terrible. The headache I’d been nursing all day just wouldn’t stop and my whole head felt swollen and ‘swooshy’. It put an end to any thoughts of dog agility despite us not having been in weeks (poor Murph), and also to my last heavy session at BJJ before the competition at the weekend. I still feel rough today, and writing this now, it feels like something inside my head is swelling and trying to burst out through my temples. Quite how I managed to use the new self-service machines at the Post Office is beyond me, so if someone ends up with my wallet in the post or something like that, send it back eh?

I managed to be fairly productive over the Bank Holiday break and even got around to seeding what will be the back garden. The ground out there is really tough and stony though, so just how much of the seed will ‘take’ and start to sprout, I couldn’t tell you, but I broke up as much of the topsoil as I could. It covered surprisingly well, and it was even nice to look at a light brown garden rather than a dark brown mud one, so I can’t wait to see how nice it’ll look when it’s all green. Long-term I intend to get some fruit and veg growing at the bottom, and a few nice trees in too; namely flowering cherries and a couple of decent acers. I’m going to line the bank at the end with bamboo too, it grows like mad and it’s a great natural windbreak.

All that remains for this week is to get better, pray my new gi arrives in time and get the new club patch sewn onto it. If I’m going to get my ass handed to me in my first competition, I’m at least going to do it looking smart.

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Better Late Than Never

Well what do you know, the sun’s shining! It’s a shame it’s taken until September to see it, but it’s nice to see it all the same. A nice sunny Autumn would be just the ticket in my opinion, there’s nothing as nice as getting wrapped up and going for a stomp through the leaves in the woods when it gets like that. The only danger of doing that with a particularly ‘rusty’ dog is that it’s easy to lose him in the leaves!

I’m the mayor of Achesville this week, after a particularly good kickboxing session on Wednesday night after the TSD class. I lost count of just how many various sit-ups we did continuously, and the same goes for the pushups. I felt quite inadequate during those, as my partner for the exercises was an absolute machine and just blasted them out at a crazy speed, each one well done. There was a great vibe for the whole evening and I think it’s fair to say everyone worked hard. I wonder if anyone else is still feeling as sore as me…

I had a bit of a bargain mission this lunchtime in town, heading to the Gul shop first for a look and picking myself up a nice warm winter coat for 20 quid down from 80! Ideal, as I desperately need one and I’d been budgeting for about £80. Then I headed into <generic sports superstore> and picked up a nice big drinks bottle for training, another bargain at less than two quid. It started to lash down so I headed into Game for some shelter and noticed that Rock Band is released on PS3 and Wii today, so a friend of mine who works in the shop brought in his own copy to demonstrate. It took every ounce of self-control to not pick up the guitar and blast out ten minutes of Green Grass & High Tides on Hard like the archetypal posing idiot, but manage I did and walked out with my dignity intact ;) .

The weekend is here good folks, no work for two days for the lucky ones among us, bliss. :)

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So Long, Summer

I think what I’ve done here is tantamount to blog neglect, I feel like I’ve abused my little corner of the Web by not using it. Naughty Adam! There’s not really a large amount to tell since the last time I etched my ramblings here, but I’ll try my best to remember it.

Training is back on track now, after having been a real part-timer for longer than I care to think about thanks to one thing or another. Injury after injury slowed me down, and then I managed to catch an absolute stinker of a cold which knocked me on my ass for a week or so. But I’m back now, and after the first few lessons which really made me realise how unfit I’d become, I’m feeling a bit more like it now.

Things are moving along at full speed with our house now. The mortgage is all sorted and sat in an account waiting to be spent, and I’ve put all my finances in order – something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. No more logging in to online banking once a month on pay-day for me, at least that’s the theory. We got our plans from the architect too, and it’s looking good. The house is going to look amazing once it’s all done, I just get the feeling it’s going to take a good few months of stress and work to get it that way.

This past Friday I headed out to the local Rock Night, feeling the need for a good time. It was the birthday of one of my friends from the old night I used to go to, and there were loads of familiar faces, plus a good turn-out from the club. Rumour had it that an Iron Maiden tribute act were going to be on, but they weren’t and instead we were treated to a local band who were excellent. We had an awesome night with much dancing, lots of shouting along to the music and perhaps just a couple of drinks ;) .

I’ve started putting a little more time into actually playing some games as well, and I’m glad I have. First up I finally finished Fahrenheit (which is a brilliant adventure, highly recommended), and now I’ve started on some others and I’m really enjoying it again. I have shelves full of games which deserve some attention, I’m hoping the winter months provide me with the opportunity to dig them out and give them a go. Saturday night was ideal, I set myself up in my favourite way and had just the best relaxing evening. For me, the best way to relax properly is to turn all those pesky bright lights out and just light a few tea lights, then get set up on the sofa in the tidy (I can’t relax properly if there’s a mess) living room with a cold beer and some great TV nonsense. I’m not much of a one for TV usually, but for some reason I find those American detective-type series great entertainment. I’m particularly taken with Numb3rs at the moment.

It’s blowing a gale outside my window today, the rain’s coming down and I’ve started noticing that we’re finishing training after sunset which can mean only one thing – summer’s over. Not that there was much of a summer to begin with really, it’s been the worst summer in recent memory. May was ok, but over the actual summer months we’ve had nothing but grey skies and rain. Bring on Autumn I say, at least it’s actually supposed to be like this! As it’s now September I can start to get excited about these great last months of the year. I know most people prefer the summer but I can’t wait for everything to turn orange, and to have to get wrapped up warm to go out. I get a particularly nice feeling from having to put on a coat, scarf and hat to walk the dog. Speaking of whom, soon we’ll be able to take him to the beach again. Over the summer months you’re not allowed to take dogs on the majority of the beaches down here, and I’m getting bored walking the same paths around the woods every evening, so the sooner we can get down there and start splashing about with the pooch, the better.

…I’ve already started plotting my pumpkins for this year too ;)

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Chasing Twilight

I spent the first three days back at work at a training course 250 miles from home. It meant coming into work for an hour on Monday morning before picking up a very nice 2.0l turbo diesel Focus to travel up in. Last time I went I was under the impression I’d get mileage allowance from work so I took my own poor little car up, but it turns out there’s no mileage paid out of Cornwall…. This time I made sure I got things right and took a bigger hire car up, something more akin to cruising up. It only had 100 miles on the clock when I picked it up and was a joy to drive, although in all honesty I could have done with not having to drive home straight after the course ended last evening, but it’s not all bad. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been abroad this year, but it feels like Summer’s over, or dying at the very least, and I’m starting to feel very Autumnal already. Some people who know me well know how much I love Autumn, it’s my very favourite time of year. Why it is, I can’t really sum up in a sentence or two, so I’ll save it for another post sometime, but part of it is the fantastic colour of the light in the mornings and evenings. Last night as I was coming down through Dorset and Devon and heading back into the West, I noticed how the colour has started changing already and it was glorious. Rolling over hills with great music playing, windows open and chasing the Sun westward was just awesome, I enjoyed it so much. So much so it’s spurred me on to dig out my favourite ‘Octoberish’ albums and stick them on my ipod in readiness.

I’m just starting to get into the swing of things again now being back at work, it’s been quite weird re-adjusting after not being there for the best part of three weeks. I’ve also missed training twice so I’m really looking forward to getting back in the Dojang and working up a sweat. On the subject of the Dojang/Academy, we’ve had some awesome news – our Change Of Use planning application has gone through at the District Council! After some less-than-friendly opposition to our application from our new neighbour (who has a spat ongoing with our landlord and was being awkward out of spite), being told that there’s no way it’d go through and after a *long* application process and a lot of work behind the scenes, it’s finally ours! In Sung Kwan Martial Arts has its own academy building, a place to officially call our own and use. Now that the last lingering hint of doubt has been removed we can set about finishing the building off, the first step of which is to go along this evening and tear the ‘To Let’ sign off the front. How much tearing I’ll be doing with a dodgy shoulder is another matter entirely, it’s going to be satisfying regardless.

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October Rust

Yeah, another Type O Negative reference – so sue me! :)

Everything’s turning a good orange colour now, especially in the woods where parts of it are knee-deep in leaves. I’ve also learned something new this year, small ginger spaniels are hard to see in lots of leaves!

I got a vision disturbance again during sparring on Friday, that’s the second time in four weeks. At the time I thought it was after I took a knock on the head, but on reflection I think I just started to notice it more then as I had a target in front of me. Given the way it fades away within half an hour or so it looks like it might be blood pressure related, which has irritated me a bit if I’m honest, as I’m the lightest and fittest I’ve been in a good many years now! Still, a quick trip to the doc’s this week should tell me for certain.

I missed this year’s Battle Of The Celts sadly, and it sounds like it was an eventful one too! I have to miss this week’s coming UK TSD Championships in Essex too, and I was quite down about it, but last night’s training put pay to that self-pity! :D The main lesson was sparring-focussed, and the kick shield work was great with more opportunity to try out the power we know we’re holding back on normally. After the lesson came a fight squad session, and a real belter at that! I was annoyed with myself for holding back in my first fight, I barely threw a single attack, but the next bouts were much better and I gave plenty of strong points. It seems I took some too, I’m aching all over today!

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