John Muir

Recently, I’ve been captivated by the writings of John Muir, his descriptions of  life as a Scottish emigrant to America, vividly illustrating the harsh environment faced by those early settlers in the pioneering days of the mid 1800s. His prose is truly beautiful, depicting an affinity with nature and an instinctive attitude to “conservation”, despite the seemingly endless abundance of natural riches that the virgin environment provided.  Clearly a spiritual man, his writings reflect how his youthful enjoyment of the wilderness remained  throughout his life and left a lasting legacy  in a way that would have delighted and humbled him

It is FINISHED!

It is finished.  I resolved earlier this year to finish stitching my flock of Northern sheep and at last, it’s done. Despite my reluctance to sew the last couple of sheep over the last 2 decades, I’ve enjoyed stitching the Scottish Blackface far more than I anticipated. It began so well, 20 years ago; the Swaledale was soon stitched, followed by the Herdwick but somehow my enthusiasm waned.  I undertook a myriad of other sewing projects, but my pleasure was always diminished, knowing that the Cheviot was still incomplete.   But, finally, determination (and new glasses) have freed me from guilt!

El Papa

I remember commenting, when the elderly Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as Pope Benedict 8 years ago, that the primary legacy of his inevitably short reign should be the creation of a stable platform for a subsequent incumbent to progress much needed modernisation.  I don’t think I’m far wrong in believing he’s achieved that.  It’s clear from his unprecedented,  in modern times at least, resignation, that the Pontiff has no intention of replicating the lengthy stagnation of natural growth that overshadowed the later years of Pope John Paul II’s leadership.  Although I don’t expect liberalism, I do expect reform and swiftly

Let the paper sticking begin!

No doubt you are wanting to know how my attempt at papier mache went (not)?  Well,  I have to say, it was great fun.  First up, I made a small bowl using a stainless steel bowl mould but for my second, larger project, I took the plunge and started a shallow dish using sculpted chicken wire.  I haven’t finished either of my pieces but I fully intend to complete them over the next couple of weeks.  Some of my fellow crafters undertook ambitious projects, including creating a pig and a belted Galloway.  My appetite for further crafting has been whetted!

The search continues.....

For over 40 years, I’ve been searching for an oaty biscuit recipe that re-creates biscuits like those a school-friend’s mum used to make.  I remembering asking her for the recipe several times but maybe it was a family secret as sadly, it never came my way.  These delicious “melt in the mouth” shortbreads  ( pretend they’re healthy as they contain oats!),  go some way to fulfilling the challenge as  the texture isn’t far off but they still need some adjustment to  the taste.   I shall definitely bake them again as they are so easy to make but my search continues

Oat and Vanilla Shortbread Cookies


Makes about 25


Ingredients

200g (7oz) butter, softened
100g (3 ½ oz) icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g (7oz) plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
100g (3 ½ oz) porridge oats

Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF), Gas mark 4. Cream the butter in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft. Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then stir in the oats and bring the mixture together to form a dough. Using a sheet of cling film to cover the dough, roll it into a log about 30cm (12in) long and 6cm (2 ½in) in diameter. Allow to chill in the fridge, covered in the cling film, for about 30 minutes until firm. Remove the cling film; slice the log into rounds about 5mm (¼in) thick and place slightly apart on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until light golden brown and dry to the touch. Carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Papier mache!

I’ve been invited to a “papier mache” workshop tomorrow and despite not having an artistic bent, I’m going to attend.  I’m going to go along as much out of curiosity as anything else, for I’ve seen some glorious papier mache items when researching on the internet . I’m interested to see how achievable they are for someone whose last efforts were making a dubious model of a volcano out of papier mache and chicken wire with our daughter when she was in Junior School. If nothing else, I’m sure I can create a simple bon-bon dish with minimal artistic talent

 

Brace yourselves!

I’m looking forward to our dinner tomorrow as we’re having quail for the first time.  We were given a brace of pheasants along with a brace of quail on Friday by a colleague of Andy’s.  As we were going away for the weekend, I hung them in the shed from my bicycle handlebars as I didn’t have time to pluck them. (Personally, I don’t think that’s extraordinary but my colleagues in the office found it bizarre.) Tonight, I’ve prepared the quail which are now reposing in the slow cooker, dressed in red wine and tomorrow, I’ll deal with the pheasants.