Firing up our pizza oven

So once we'd filled our gabion baskets, we needed to lift the pizza oven onto the top of it. Something that was easier said than done. It comes to pieces - the base which is very heavy, the interior dome which is less heavy and then the outer dome, which is heavy and an awkward shape. 

It wasn't something I was looking forward to, even though I knew it was essential. The bruises we'd both encountered carrying it through the house (oh how we wished we had side access!) were still there, but healing and I wasn't that keen on adding to them.

As it turns out having the smaller gabion baskets to the side of the larger metre high one was a good plan as lifting kilos worth of a clay oven a metre off the floor is hard work. Less hard work if you can clamber onto a half-metre high block in the process. After a lot of sweat and tears, it was in place. Actually there were no tears, but a lot of the other stuff and some effing and jeffing all round. 

And it looks great, but it needed to do more than just look great.

It seems we've put it in a great spot, it gets the evening sun but is sheltered enough by the laurel tree to avoid the rain. That's brilliant as there'll be no excuse for MOH if we fancy pizza in the rain, well apart from having to get to the end of the garden!

Before we could use it in earnest, the inner dome needed curing. To do that MOH lit small fires around the inside and waited for the temperature to reach about 200, which was the most angst-ridden and most precise thing ever, according to MOH. And tricky, so tricky that he decided he needed an infra-red thermometer, which had I know how pleased he'd be with this I think we could have started with that and progressed to the pizza oven, it's such a good boys toy!  

Seriously if you're looking for a gadgety gift for your OH then an infra-red thermometer could be just the thing. Just be prepared for him to tell you the temperature of everything close by, including yourself. It's kind of addictive though.

Back to the fire. Look. Fire.

FIRE...

As the oven was starting to cure properly - it needs to be done over four days - I decided to make a start on dough for our 110th party. There was a lot of dough, and boy did it rise. In fact it didn't stop rising and took on a life of its own. 

THE PIZZA DOUGH ROSE MORE THAN I EXPECTED IT TOO

I like bread dough though, and while MOH tended his fire, and told me I'd made the pizza dough all wrong. I know, give him fire and a pizza oven and suddenly he's a grand master, even when I'm the one that makes the bread in this house...

Thankfully though it wasn't long before the fire needed a good close look at...

And our first pizza wasn't far behind either. We started simply; tomato sauce, torn mozzarella and topped with some torn basil (clearly we hadn't got to that bit for this photo!) and as you can see the lively pizza dough continued to bubble in the oven too.

It tasted great. Way better than any shop-bought, oven-cooked pizza and just like the ones from our local pizzeria. We just need to master slightly bigger pizzas now, and to not annoy our temperamental neighbours with the smoke...  I guess we could always offer to cook them a pizza!

I've some more dough to make - perhaps just half of what I made before, and the plan is to freeze it before it's second prove so that we're never that far away from a decent pizza.

What do you have on yours?

Nautical loos in the Sail Loft at Greenwich, what else?

It's been a little while since my last visit to the Sail Loft in Greenwich, remember the one that wowed me with the floor and its furnishings? Well this time I popped to the loo, and remembered to take my phone, and they didn't disappoint.

I suspected that it was going to be a good loo when I spotted this door. I mean it'd have to be something to live up to the boldness, wouldn't it?

And on the other side of the door, there was a large and interesting space. The often seen rectangular tiles, and spotlights, industrial nautical lighting but also a black ceiling and some gorgeous oak woodwork, and not forgetting the terracotta floor tiles. They all work fantastically well together, but at first thought probably not something you'd automatically think of.

The lights were very similar to those at El Pastor in Borough Market, so I'm spotting a loo light trend...

The double - or should that be a double double or quadruple sink - was framed with ironwork and exposed pipework, with a handy shelf above it, so there was actually somewhere to put your bag while make up or hair running repairs are undertaken. All too often there's nowhere is there and then it all becomes a bit of a juggling act.

And flowers too. A bold arrangement which looks striking against the decor.

Mirrors too, weren't in short supply.

So that's another great looking loo, and this pub keeps getting better and better in my eyes. Now all I need is another visit on a sunny(ish) day so I can check out the outside space...  Maybe, just maybe it won't be too long away!

What do you think of these loos? Are they your style, or are there elements you can use at home?

Behind the ornate gate in Greenwich Park

It was back in January that I first spotted the ornate gate of the Queen's Orchard, and it's taken me a while to step inside. But finally, some several months later I've managed it, and I wasn't disappointed. We were out in Greenwich this Saturday for a lazy brunch, treating ourselves after the events of last week, and generally having a mooch around. 

The main entrance to Greenwich Park was shut and so as we headed home we aimed for the Park Row gate, and then I remembered that the Queen's Orchard might be open. So off we went to check. And it was. 

And I wasn't disappointed.  The first section of the long thin space is the most bountiful vegetable growing space.

Much more plentiful than my allotment. And don't even mention the onions.

Yes indeed.

After the raised beds we reached a pond, with this stripey pond grass screening it off nicely. 

It wasn't until we were at its side that we were able to appreciate it fully. And it really was as tranquil as it looked, despite the children's playground being just behind us. What a view those houses must get though...

I suspect there's also a micro-climate within those walls, as not only is the veg better than my allotment, their agapanthus are already in flower too. Mine are just starting to flower.  My sunflowers are a long way behind these, 

AGAPANTHUS

SUNFLOWERS TOO

 My sunflowers are a long way behind these, but even so they're still a plant which make me smile.  I picked up some tips for securing my hoops - cable ties - I think that might just work, and make our tunnels sturdier than we've managed before. 

CABBAGES

A LADDER FIT FOR AN ORCHARD

The ladders along the walls intrigued me to start with, mainly for their shape. Until I remembered that this was an orchard and so a ladder shaped this way would be much easier to use, and less likely to damage any fruit. Clever hey? 

After the pond the area was much different - it actually looks more like my allotment that the vegetable growing section did - and the path gently encouraged us around the orchard. Just by the entrance there was a plan detailing all of the trees, something we checked on our way out and were pleased to learn that we'd correctly spotted a mulberry tree. 

LED AROUND THE GARDEN BY THE WINDING PATH

A MULBERRY TREE

I was quite taken with the wild flowers finding them particularly photogenic. 

And then in a fenced area we saw three bee hives, and its residents were evident throughout the garden, especially as we discovered in the lavender.

And if you were a bee, wouldn't this just be heaven?

I've photos with bees throughout the lavender, and with the sweet peas flanking the other side of the path I bet the honey from these bees is great.  We have the everlasting kind of sweet peas in our garden and they are great - easy too - but always pink. Seeing the jewel like colours always makes me stop and wonder.

Just one last photo, because I couldn't resist. Lavender, gravel and allium heads - gorgeous isn't it?  And a very special place, and one that now I've discovered is likely to become a favourite.