Sorta Kinda Partly Done

The Good News - they've finished putting the waterproofing on the walls. The stuff they put on is really goopy and we need it in our basement at home, too. Apparently it's the same stuff they used on the Channel Tunnel.

The guy doing the work finished up with an Om Symbol which will be hidden under the plaster (which will be done next week, after the Goop cures enough.)

The Bad News is that the deck above the ceiling is rotting - it's visible (though you can't see it) in the little corner cut out of the ceiling in the first picture) and it will all need to be replaced.  We don't yet know how/when etc that will happen.

After, plus another day

Today, they applied.... I don't know what it is, some kind of concrete mix to the walls, covering the bricks. Also, they pulled some more plaster board off the opposite wall and around the sliding door and then applied the same stuff.

It turns out that the area around the sliding door was completely filled with a hydroscopic filler that was totally inappropriate and that may have been a big part of our damp problem.  They dug it all out and refilled it all today.

Tomorrow they'll do the ceiling and install a vent in the wall, and do the first coat of the damp-course.
The stuff they use for the damp course, I'm told, is the same as they use in the Channel Tunnel. So, if there's a tsunami or floods, we should run into that room and we'll stay dry.

Flooding is on our minds because there's flooding all over Sussex today, and more to come, say the weather reports.   Rain and floods, a perfect way to spend a vacation.

Time Out for a Recipe

Actually, more of an idea, but there is a recipe.  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall writing in the Guardian had a fantastic idea, which he calls 'Fruit Fumble'.  The basic idea is that you cook separately the crispy topping you usually put on a fruit crisp or fruit crumble.  Then you assemble the actual dessert at the last minute - some kind of fruit, yogurt or cream or other creamy layer and then sprinkle some of the fumble over the whole.  We made a large amount of the crumble and stored it in an air-tight tin, so we can use it for several meals. It's a little like Granola, but buttery-er.

We've done this the last couple of days, first with strawberries and greek yogurt, then with rhubarb and greek yogurt with honey.  Yummy and fast.

I just made the crumble part. If you don't have a scale, either use your own Apple Crisp recipe or just estimate quantities - roughly 1 cup of flour/ 2 sticks of butter/ 1/2 cup oats/ 3/4 cup sugar. I also added a cup of walnuts.  This is not health food.



Strawberry Fumble

400g strawberries - hulled and cut into smallish-pieces
1 tbsp caster sugar
1        vanilla pod
200ml double cream
100ml plain yoghurt
2 tbsp icing sugar

For the 'independent' crumble
225g plain flour (or try ground almonds)
A pinch fine sea salt
200g chilled - unsalted butter, cut into cubes
150g granulated or demerara sugar
100g medium oatmeal


To make the crumble, which you can do well ahead of time, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put all the ingredients into a large bowl. Rub together with your fingertips until you have a crumbly dough. Squeeze the mix in your hands to form clumps, then crumble these on to a large baking tray that has an edge. Evenly spread out the lumpy crumble and bake for 25 minutes, giving it a good stir halfway through, until golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool, then transfer to an airtight container. You'll have more than you need for this recipe, but it stores well for a couple of weeks and can be used to top all sorts of fruity and/or creamy puds.

Hull the strawberries, cut them into smallish pieces, sprinkle with caster sugar and leave to macerate for at least an hour.

Just before serving, split open the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the cream. Stir in the yoghurt and sift in the icing sugar. Beat with a balloon whisk or electric whisk until the cream thickens and holds very soft peaks (don't overdo it, or it becomes too hard). Add the strawberries to the cream and stir gently so you have a swirly, marbled mixture. Transfer to four dishes, top each with a generous scattering of crumble, and serve.

Before and After

We are having a Damp Problem fixed while we are here. This means taking the walls and part of the ceiling back to the brick, installing some kind of damp-proofing to the bricks, and replacing the plaster. I hope to repaint the plaster after Alec returns to the US. This is what our back room looked like this morning. A bright light room.

 









This is what it looks like this afternoon.


















We found an old door that had been filled in when the extension at the back was put on. The problem was apparently caused by the fact that  sometime after the extension was put on, they just glued plaster board over the existing plaster walls.  Tomorrow they will remove more plaster above the door and around the perimeter of the ceiling, clean up, and install the first coat of damp-proofing.  That's the plan, anyway.

Annual Naked Bike Ride

Brighton has been celebrating the Worldwide Annual Naked Bike Ride since 2005.  In 2010 1,500 people participated. Last year and again this year, the weather was chilly with pouring rain, so only about 300 people participated.

We realized this morning that the bike ride was going down our street (though entering half a block down) and we decided to brave the elements and go see it. It was so much fun. there were very few onlookers, due to the weather, so when the riders saw us, they waved an hooted. We clapped and took pictures, so you can enjoy it, too.  It's an odd thing: one nakedness is so private, but when you see naked people on the beach or on bikes riding down the street, it's more about universal shared humanity than about privacy.

Here are some pictures:

Home (Brighton)

The COG arrived this morning the same day as the Kemptown Village Festival. I saw them setting up when I walked to the bakery this morning. It starts just around the corner from our flat and continues for many blocks. We just went for a walk to see what was happening. There's a lot of musical groups - one on every street corner and many booths selling food of all ethnicities and quite a number of tchotchke booths - homemade and imported. Kind of like the Fête de Musique, but with Morris Dancers and market stalls thrown in.

 Because I am short basically the outing was pushing through crowds of people holding bottles in their hands. I couldn't see anything because everyone was taller than me. Except the children, of which there were many. It's interesting to note that people tend to give kids space - the crowd parts a bit to give them room. They do not part willingly for adults. The COG took some pictures of the crowds.

 Then we came home. The late afternoon light is filtering into our sitting room and it feels like home. The music is still very loud, but I can deal with it. It's supposed to stop at 9.

Gale Force Winds

Odd weather. There are gale force winds here in Brighton, gusting to 70mph, which I think is hurricane level, but it's partly sunny and about 60 F. The wind nearly knocks you over but it's not cold. On the way back from filming this, a complete stranger and I linked arms to cross the road. It was that difficult. The shaky picture is due to the wind.