Cunning Cartography

Yesterday saw us driving over the Border on a cold, crisp morning.  We’d decided to find a geocache in a comparatively remote part of the Borderlands, never anticipating what a bizarre cartographic experience it would be.  We followed our usual routine of arming ourselves with our Landranger map and trusty GPS.  But on arrival at GZ, there were huge discrepancies between the mapping and the features on the ground (and no, it wasn’t our navigational skills). After some head scratching we eventually found a parking place down an unmarked track and tramped off into the hills in search of tupperware

I thought I was a werewolf but I'm OK nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Puzzle geocaches?  Nightmare!
So why all the Werewolf wrestling? Simply put, we’re hooked.
The Beast of Bowness is responsible; a puzzle geocache set for last week’s event.  With 15 challenges to solve before the final co-ordinates were revealed we tackled local history, cryptic clues and devilish code breaking for I3 tortuous but surprisingly enjoyable hours before finally cracking it.  (Google is our new best friend!!) Then, during our event, another cacher tempted us with tales of Whitespace and Werewolf, two other fiendishly difficult puzzles. Whitespace fell yesterday so now we’re hunting the Werewolf. But as yet, we’ve no silver bullet!

Cake Bake

Yesterday, Nerea announced there was a cake sale at school today.  As we had commitments last night, the baking took place first thing this morning.  But the buns weren’t decorated when Nerea had to leave.  As I had 2 teleconferences this morning, I stopped at home, took a banana cake out of the oven during the first and finished the cupcakes before the second.  But the piece-de- resistance was my multi tasking delivery to school.  I walked up, carrying a foil wrapped tray while on my second call, mobile phone set to loud speaker and mute to avoid background noise!

Banana and Cherry Loaf

100 g (4 ozs) glace cherries

100 g  (4 ozs) softened unsalted butter

100 g (4 ozs) caster sugar

50 g (2 ozs) soft brown sugar

2 medium eggs – beaten

225 g (8 ozs) S.R. Flour

2 ripe bananas – mashed

Preheat oven to 160° C/fan oven 150° C/gas mark 3.

Lightly oil and line the bottom of a loaf tin.   

Wash off the syrup, dry and chop the cherries

Cream the butter with the sugars until creamy. Gradually add the egg and the flour. Stir in the chopped cherries and bananas.

Mix to a soft consistency then spoon into the prepared tin.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 90 mins.  (Test if cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre – it’s ready if it comes out clean)

Remove from the oven but leave in the tin until it is cool.

When cool tip out onto a wire rack.

Freedom Of Speech

I believe that freedom of speech is one of life’s fundamental human rights but so is a right to privacy.  So it’s no surprise that I’ve unresolved issues over the appropriateness of posting comments likely to offend or encroach on another’s right to privacy on a public internet forum.  Although I’m an occasional poster myself, I’m much more of a lurker who reads with incredulity, the sort of comments considered appropriate for a public arena.  I wonder if people genuinely don’t care (publish and be damned) or are so naïve they don’t realise that what they write may be libellous

Letting go

Letting go can be a difficult step to take, but it’s one that must be made by the members of Team Awesome, the affectionate collective which evolved from following the Strictly Come Dancing duo, Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna,.  When Ali and Brian developed a personal relationship during Strictly, Team Awesome was a comfortable concept, but after a private and dignified end to their romance, some supporters felt uneasy about the appropriateness of continuing with it. I agree; it isn’t about abandoning support for either Brian or Ali but essentially, Team Awesome is over and we need to move forward

A Colony Of Cumbrian Cachers II

What a weekend!  51 people from 21 different caching teams attended our event so no pressure there!  As Saturday dawned a sunny spring morning on the Solway Firth, everywhere was looking particularly lovely, so many of the teams spent the morning hunting for new butty box hides before rendezvousing at the pub for lunch and a drink.  Then, it was into the Village Hall next door for a light hearted quiz and a raffle with cups of tea and biscuits to ease the chatter along.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and once it was over…. we discovered we had too

A Colony Of Cumbrian Cachers

In a moment of madness some weeks ago, we decided to organise a small geocaching event out at Bowness on Solway.  It’s a lovely but infrequently visited area so we thought we’d create an opportunity for local cachers who rarely meet in the wild, but feel they know one another by reading cache logs, to explore the area,  find a few new caches, meet up for a pub lunch and share tales of daring do. Never having been to an event ourselves, we’ve decided to keep it low key.  The Big Day dawns tomorrow! Let’s hope some cachers turn up.