Magical Monstrosity

Carlisle’s Civic Centre, albeit a listing building, isn’t one of the cities’ most attractive sights.  It’s an angular, modernist tower which was completed in 1964 following a design competition with 200 entries.  The area formerly housed the Ricker or Northern Gate to the city and a host of houses and state owned pubs but with archetypal 1950s enthusiasm for modernisation, the land was cleared to create the site for Carlisle’s  only “tower block”.  I’m definitely not a fan of cubic design but even so, I was enthralled to see a rainbow arcing over it on a rainy day last week.

Autumn, that fickle mistress

The morning was damp and mild, almost sultry. A gossamer veil of mist cloaked the voluptuous curves of the river as she wandered languidly to the coast.  An orange flash burst into the tranquil setting as a brightly clad cyclist pedalled by, a harsh, incongruent note, at odds with the muted colours of the autumn leaves littering the river bank.  But the interruption was momentary. A heron stood motionless, his grey plumage fading into the mist like a whisper on a breeze.  Autumn had arrived, offering teasing reminders of the summer past and a glimpse of the winter to come

20 years on........

We're approaching our annual Welsh pilgrimage (yes, It's that time of year already) and it’ll be our 20^th year of returning to the Snowdonia region.  As always, when reflecting on times past, it seems hard to believe that 2 decades have elapsed since our first long weekend in a cottage near Caernarfon. But they have!

We’re delighted that Nerea will be with us to celebrate this auspicious anniversary as she joined us as a hatchling during that first holiday and has been with us many more times since. Being a home baker, I feel a “celebration” festive cake coming on

Curry Night

We had a lovely evening yesterday with friends, sharing a homemade curry from the Hairy Bikers Curry Book.  We made a “light” korma so that it would be mild enough for our guests. It definitely tasted as good as the photo looked.  The onion and tomato pickle was also delicious with poppadoms so we’ll definitely be trying some other recipes. The homemade naan bread recipe looked fairly simple to make so I think we may try that soon. I especially enjoy fish curries and there are several recipes in the book so they are also on the “must try” list.

Hot and Spicy!

Nerea and Andy gave me a very acceptable birthday present today; The Hairy Bikers Curry Cookbook.  It’d been recommended to me by a friend and I fully intended to buy a copy when I was next in town but now, there’s no need.  We’re trying a Chicken Korma this evening as we have friends coming for a bite to eat and they are not into the wildly hot versions of curry that we’d normally eat! But no matter. The illustrations look good enough to eat so if the recipes taste as good as they look, it’ll become a family favourite.  

Above Ullswater

Ullswater

Today was one of those barmy autumn days when summer returned for a brief moment. Molly and I set out to climb Sheffield and Heron Pike above Ullswater returning via Glenridding Dodd, finding several caches along the route.  It was unbelievably warm and before I reached Seldom Seen cottages, I’d needed to divest myself of a layer of clothing.  It was a steady pull along Glencoyne to the Sheffield Pike summit but we were rewarded with superb views. Although I didn’t experience the solitude of other recent walks in Scotland, it was a wonderful day to be in the hills

Catstycam and Helvellyn

Towards Red Screes

By the Marker post

From Glenridding Dodd

Looking back to the fell from Mossdale Beck

My bag for a lifetime

I’m not a handbag person but some weeks ago I decided that my tatty old nylon handbag had to be replaced.  The zips had finally given up the ghost and the miscellaneous stains mapping its surface were too much for even me to tolerate!  I had an idea of the bag I coveted, for 10 years ago, I had visited Henry Tomkins’ leather workshop in Camden.  A short google later and I had “dream bag” in my sights, for Henry is still working his magic with leather.  My Hunter is now as beloved as an old friend. I’m finally content!