Monday, 16 December 2013

My younger son asked me if I was going to make some mince pies this Christmas. He loves them. I haven't got round to baking any for a year or two but I knew I had some jars of mincemeat in the cupboard. I found four! Obviously I had good intentions in recent years but not seen the task through. I opened them all to see if the contents were still edible. Two of them were horrid and two were so/so. I rummaged in the store cupboard and found the remains of some ready-to-eat prunes so chopped those up, grated a couple of tiny Cox's Orange Pippin apples, added the contents of the two, slightly crystallising jars of mincemeat, sloshed in some brandy and it can sit there until tomorrow when I will have a mincepie baking fest.

Many years ago I used to write restaurant reviews for the local rag. I always thought it was a bit of a swizz because I never got to go to any restaurants for a free meal but muddled through by reading the menus! I was reviewing a new Indian restaurant in Farnham and highlighted a couple of promising dishes, one of them listing 'mincemeat' as an ingredient. The printers misprinted the word and it came out as 'micemeat'! A bit unfortunate to say the least. However the little hiccough made its way to feature in the Radio 4 News Quiz programme where they read out howlers at the end of the programme. I thought that was rather good fun!

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In a vase on Monday - colour

The intense colours in my vase this week come from nasturtiums, sweetpeas and a single glorious zinnia! Their beauty and love of life speak for themselves and need no further words from me! Enjoy!

Early morning light

There have been some cracking early morning skies this week. The sunrise has generated a strong rose gold light which has been picked up not only in the clouds but also through the silver-white grasses around the edge of the golf course. I always marvel at the clouds. Constantly changing, formations that have never been seen before, never to be seen again.

Coastal walk from Gullane to North Berwick

By the time I have walked about four miles, my toes are screaming at me - it's the arthritis, you see. One of the joys of being that little bit older than I was. However, for a long time, I have been keen to walk along the beaches, and follow the coastal path, between Gullane and North Berwick. So, having worked out the tide times, I decided today was the day, and off we went. Below is our starting point, the bay at Gullane. It's a lovely beach, very popular with dog walkers. This is looking east, the direction Tilly and I were going to take. Looking back, up the Forth, the unmistakable bulk of Arthur's Seat, and Edinburgh's skyline, just clear enough to see. For most of the walk, there is the choice between wandering along a series of beaches, or following a path along the top of each. There's no denying it, at heart I am a shell-seeker. I have loads of shells at home. We lived on one of the out islands in the Bahamas for a just over a year, ...

the running wave

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