Snow, bridges, rivers, birthdays, knitting and buttons

We've had two days of snow around here in Edinburgh this week. And one day of such stormy weather that we didn't leave the house after 10.30am!

Hagos and I found this little bridge across the river near where we live. It was great fun exploring the other side (more to be discovered).

Hagos on the bridge. We've both had colds this week. Hagos got his as soon as he returned from tour. And I came down with it on Friday evening. Saturday and Sunday were bad, and I expect today to be the last of it, though Hagos still has a bit of it left over.

When I woke up to the snow the other day I just had to get out in it straightaway with my camera before anyone else was out. I felt like the boy in The Snowman. I put on my wellies and my coat over my pyjamas. It was great.

Three and a half hours later our neighbours dropped in as they'd seen my footprints in the snow. Hagos and I were still in our pyjamas, trying to smooth down our hair and look semi-respectable for visitors. Their baby, Archie (6 months) had on his little santa hat and a pair of Rudolf slippers. Very Christmassy.

I love the composition in the above shot.

And this was Sunday at Pete and Lynsey's house. Lynsey had organised a brunch for Pete's birthday. Above are Hagos and Nate. Hagos is guessing what characteristics Nate's school friends may have based on their names. 


It was lovely to catch up with other friends there too and work on persuading them to join our new pub quiz on Tuesday night, resurrecting an old tradition when we used to live in Highgate, London. The pub quiz was run/frequented by people who worked at Private Eye and it was SO difficult. Our friend Kev, who is now also back living in Edinburgh was in our team, along with other regular members Mac and Janie. Good fun. 

And these are the only Christmas gifts I'm knitting this year. Little bootees for my nephew's new daughter Lucy. They're satisfying to knit as they can be done while a cat is sitting on me (anytime I sit on the couch) and are finished fairly quickly.

A second pair, which I'm hoping the mum will see as purple rather than blue. Some people are funny about gender/colour-dressing. The buttons alongside it are possibilities. 

And it was nice to go through my novelty button collection, which I haven't done for ages. 


Well, it is almost half five in the morning. I got up at 4am needing a Lemsip. I really don't like Lemsip but have had a lot of them in the past few days. Meg is all over me, trying to get me to give her more roast chicken, stamping on my laptop, biting me.


I started re-reading The Night Watch by Sarah Waters when I went to bed last night. My friend Sophie sent me a text on Saturday saying she was reading Fingersmith and described Waters as 'devastatingly good'. And it's true. She is a blisteringly good writer. Affinity is on my Amazon Wishlist, and I ordered Fingersmith myself. I would love to observe her working methods for a month. And be her friend :)

A meditative drive

This is The Devil's Beeftub, which I drive through on the way to my parents' house. I absolutely love the drive; I make myself a cappuccino and today I listened to the radio adaptation of Jeeves and Wooster (on CD - live radio reception drops out for most of the trip). PG Wodehouse has such a silly sense of humour, he's great.  

These photos don't capture the grandeur of the hills and the sweeping 360 degrees scenery. Often, the mist is so low it skims the hills. The entirety of the drive is a sort of meditation. 

Also lining the road, which I didn't photograph, lots of Christmas trees, so very apt :)

Wool porn

I had coffee today with my friend Lynsey, who I recently knitted mittens for. I loved the dark, charcoaly-black of hers so much that it made me rethink the pair I'd been knitting for myself (one mitten finished in purple and green). So after coffee I went into town as I had to change up some Euros anyway, and popped into John Lewis while I was there. 


I was immediately drawn to the above wool, mostly because of the yolky-ness of the yellow ball, but also because it is so amazingly soft (75% wool / 25% alpaca). And I knew I just had to have it! And of course, there was no point buying one ball of yolky-yellow wool, so I bought two black balls too and will knit them into my new winter scarf.

I also bought a ball of the charcoaly-black Pure Wool 4 ply to use with my leftover, similar yellow 4 ply wool and will knit them into my new mittens, to match the scarf.


I'm not sure what I'll use to make a new hat, but I have some leftover wool in my stash that might do. 

And this is Meg tonight. She is so sweet. I think part of the reason I'm drawn towards those gorgeous honey-yellow colours is because Meg's colouring is in that part of the spectrum. 

Must Try Harder

I make my own bread from Dove's Organic Wholemeal and White Strong Bread Flour. I do a 50/50 mix. Yesterday I went to the cupboard to make a new loaf only to discover I had run out of the wholemeal and only had 250g of the white flour. So I made these lovely rolls instead. There were four of them but they were so delicious that two got eaten before I thought of taking a photo. I'm the type of person who thinks I can work stuff out by myself, with only the barest of instructions, so though I knew that kneading the dough is an integral part of bread making, I only ever kneaded the dough for a minute or two because, well, it turned out okay like that.

It's only very recently that I've started kneading the dough for the full ten minutes (after watching one of the baking programmes on TV), and what a difference! It really is much lighter and airier. And more delicious.

 

"Paula will get an 'O' grade without too much effort. But more effort would get her a V good pass."

My mother is completely unsentimental when it comes to keeping stuff from the past. She's constantly on at my dad to go through drawers and cupboards with her to throw stuff out, and will list items that have been in their bedroom walk-in cupboard for 30 years that they've never used. My dad is the complete opposite and keeps everything just in case it comes in handy. This means that when I left home my mother disposed of most of my childhood toys, which I find quite shocking because, eh, well, I thought they belonged to me, and I never got the opportunity to say whether I wanted to take them with me or not. This included board games, dolls, and books! A few things survived, and when I realised what had occurred I would rescue any remaining items I could, mostly books (though very few actually made it). The last time I visited my mother she said she'd come across an old school report of mine, which she gave me. 

The above report sums me up pretty well. I get by in most things without much effort. I pick information up pretty quickly and managed to be in the top sets at school (except science, which I was in the second set for) for all subjects and managed to get a 'B' or an 'A' pass fairly easily, only having to cram for a day or so before each exam.

But recently I've been thinking a lot about what I could achieve if I put actual effort into my work. My friend Janie recently completed her BA in Music and got a First; she then went on to do her Masters in Music and got a distinction in that too. I know exactly how much effort and application is required to achieve this. I got a 2:1 in my first degree and I also have a Masters degree (each without distinction, though I did get a distinction for my final piece of work in my BA and was chosen as one of the four top students out of the whole year - something I've just remembered). 

But anyway, the point is, I am aware I need to apply myself to my work with the hope that I will achieve more. Though I know I work better when I have a deadline to hit.  

And onto more frivolous subjects: Meg had brought a mouse in just as I was making lunch. She set it under the table (where I was working) and wasn't too interested in eating it. I disposed of the poor wee thing in the bin and then sat down to eat poached egg on toast. She then jumped onto the table and kept trying to nose her way onto my plate. I fended her off until the last couple of bites, then I had to push the last of my egg on toast to one corner while she licked the rest of the plate. She likes the butter, but I think she likes egg yolk too.

And this is an amazing tree root near where I live. It's taller than me (I like scale) and is so impressive close up. One of my favourite things is to be outdoors scampering about the countryside. I like having a purpose (collecting kindling, looking for the river) but just being outdoors in this beautiful Scottish landscape with the colours and the light is amazing.

Pay It Forward

A couple of years ago I responded to this offer and this week I received these lovely gifts from Caireen:

A Clutterbucket, which is a great idea for keeping current projects in. I filled it with my knitting immediately. A long time ago I bought some plain, faded green material to make 'project bags' for my many unfinished knitting and sewing projects, the idea being to line them all up, with a photocopy of the project on the front, so I could easily pick up the project at any time and continue. Anyway, I think clutterbuckets are a better idea as they are reversible, compact, and easy to see what's inside already. And they sit perfectly on the shelf.

My current knitting project modelling the bucket :)

Caireen also sent me these gift tags, which she's recycled from magazines by sticking cut out pictures onto card. I love anything stationery so these appealed to my messing-around-and-making-things streak.

It was SO lovely to get something fun and exciting in the post, and in the spirit of the original entry, I am now offering a 'Pay It Forward' myself.

So, the first three people to leave a comment on this post will receive a home-made gift from me within the year. I have a few ideas of what to make and pass on.


Looking forward to hearing from you! 

Bonfire Night! and Monday Morning

We had a great Bonfire Night this year. We always try to celebrate with the Burnses and this year it was much easier living only 8 miles away. I wanted to keep it as easy and stress-free as possible, so we stripped it right back to: bonfire :: takeaway food :: fireworks.


During the afternoon we collected firewood with our neighbours and their kids (having a truck, a chainsaw and a mini-wheelbarrow really helps!), then the three wives did a dash to the fish and chip shop (and Tesco's for wellies and dry socks) while the husbands continued to build the bonfire. After food Pete and our other neighbour Hamish (who had turned up with his one mega-box of fireworks) disappeared into the darkness and from then on the rest of us watched the lovely colours and sparks and heard the bangs. We could just make out Pete and Hamish beating a hasty retreat from the occasional larger firework. It was great fun, and so lovely to be outside next to a warm fire. I missed lots of good photo opportunities by leaving my camera back in the house after we returned with food. There was a particularly good shot of three of the kids lined up with sparklers, which I missed. It was great to see the kids getting involved in the wood collecting with much gusto! Nate and Peter and Guy threw themselves into the adventure. JJ was struck, almost as soon as he arrived, with very wet feet and was out of action until the wellies came to his rescue. 


I also enjoyed walking back to the field the following morning (bright sunshine, crisp and frosty) to collect the spent fireworks and try to return the ground to its former state. Though I did think that if a woman had been setting up the fireworks she would have carefully laid the removed clod of earth next to its corresponding hole, for ease of return, rather than what looked like Pete and Hamish's excited frenzy of flinging the clods willy nilly across the field making them difficult to find :) But, you know, boys and their toys.

This was the lovely reflection above our fireplace this morning.

My jumper progress. I'm liking it more and more. Though I feel I should stop once I complete the front, and work on Christmas presents instead.

I wanted to capture the close-up detail of the stitches but I think I need a macro lens to do that.


I'm thinking of knitting more of the capped 4-ply jumpers to use as vests through the winter. I never really knew what to do with that jumper until now, but it really adds insulation to wear it as a vest (on top of my actual, cotton vest - one can never have too many vests in winter in Scotland). It only uses four balls of wool and is an easy knit. 


I'm also thinking of re-designing my new winter accessories range and going for charcoal and purple as the colour theme. I loved the charcoal base of Lynsey's mittens, and I think purple snowflakes on the mittens would be striking. I'd also knit my favourite winter hat pattern in Big Wool charcoal, and put purple pom poms on the bottom. Then I'd just have to decide on the design for the scarf. I like the idea of chunky cables somehow, though I also thought of repeating the snowflake pattern at each end of the scarf. Lots of winter knitting coming up!

Apples on the Bounty (apart from the mittens)

We tried our real cider last week and it was much improved on when we put it into the bottles for its second fermentation, so now we're letting it rest some more before getting stuck in. Above is a little crate of goodies we took round to our neighbours: six bottles of 'Toe Curler' (real cider), a jar of Tomato Relish and a jar of Plum and Apple Jam. All of which has been made from apples off the estate. A good little hamper, I thought. It was fun taking it round. Our neighbours had come over the previous week with Apple Cheese (can you spot the theme?) and Apple and Walnut pudding, which was delicious. We had the pudding after dinner that night. So nice to get an unexpected present.

I love those squat jars. I haven't found an independent baking/cooking supplier in Edinburgh so far. Lakeland is okay for some stuff but heavily over-priced on others. 

I like seeing all the preserves and relishes lined up, ready to be used throughout winter. Next year I hope to be better prepared for canning/preserving.

The relish is a Mrs Beeton's recipe (as is the jam). I like it because it uses very little vinegar and sugar to preserve the fresh ingredients, which include root ginger, chillies, apples, tomatoes and onions. So it remains fresh and delicious.

And finally, the mittens I've made for my friend's birthday tomorrow. I doubt she will look on here before then. I totally love the colours. I wasn't sure when I began, but quickly loved the contrast. They are very vibrant. So much so, that I may un-knit my own green and purple mittens and knit them back up as black and purple. I'm loving this slightly-off black (Rowan Pure Wool 4 ply). 

Insomnia

For the past week I've been getting up for a couple of hours during the night, unable to sleep, even with herbal sleeping pills and Ibuprofen. I know it's to do with my caffeine intake as this happens every so often. I drink strong coffee (usually only one) about mid-morning. Then the build-up of lots of strong coffees over time takes its toll and I have to cut it out completely for a few days. I had no caffeine a couple of days ago and slept really well the night before last. But yesterday I just couldn't resist having a small amount of caffeine in my decaf coffee. Big mistake! I felt sleepy around 9pm, that passed and I was up until midnight. I read in bed for a while, put the light out, couldn't get to sleep, and ended up getting back up until 6am! 

I re-watched Strictly Come Dancing, AND the results show, AND It Takes Two from yesterday. I didn't feel sleepy at all. 

I ate two satsumas, and three squares of dark chocolate, knitted a few more rounds of my mittens, and STILL didn't feel sleepy.

I was badgered by Meg into giving her the last of her half-chicken, knitted some more, Meg got on me and we had a cuddle for a while. 

And finally I went to bed. I took more Ibuprofen and fell asleep. 


I slept until 11.30am and woke up feeling full of caffeine (though I've had none).


So, today will be a caffeine-free day, and probably the rest of the week, until I feel normal again.


For some reason, during the darkness, Elspeth Thompson came to mind. I had only just discovered her writing and books and had begun following her blog when her husband announced on her website that she had died. I felt very sorry for her and her family (of course), and sorry that she wasn't able to get through that deep depression to surface again and find enjoyment in life. Because she had so many positive things and interests. Sometimes life is about endurance, until the fog clears and colour returns. 

Busy-ness

It has become a tradition of mine, every year, to make Plum and Apple Jam, roundabout now, though I am a little later this year. Part of the purpose of the exercise is to make jam from the free bounty that is around but I am short of a plum supplier now, and we used all of our eating apples to make cider! So, I went to Whitmuir Organic Farm and bought local apples and imported Italian plums. I was hoping they would have local plums, or some of the Greengages I used earlier in the year to make jam, but non.  


I must say it is one of the best batches I have ever made! It turned out really well and is as delicious and jewel-like-in-colour as ever. Two jars are for my friend's birthday, and the other two I'll keep for ourselves. I think it's very likely I'll make more very soon.

This is my little bowl of bounty that I got from the garden the other day. Not as much as in previous years, obviously, but lovely to see nonetheless.

The Great Cider Mission! I collected Hagos from the airport on Tuesday and we headed straight to the home brew shop to collect bottles and bottle tops for the real cider. It smelled a bit whiffy when we took the top off the tub (!) but I thought it tasted okay. Hagos thought it tasted like lemon juice! So now it's fingers crossed for this second fermentation process. There are so many people who are interested in the real cider, it has to be a success.

On Friday when I watched Nate and JJ we went with our neighbours and their children to the cooking apple tree in the centre of the maze. We picked a few apples, though it had recently been plundered, and I got enough to make this batch of apple tarts. They are okay. Not great as I only had butter rather than margarine for the pastry, so they're a bit heavy, but nice anyway.

I really wanted to include my latest knitting project in this update, but though I think the friend I'm making them for won't check my blog before her birthday I don't want to chance it. But, I'm very pleased with the knitting! And I was/am just in the mood to knit this particular thing, and the colours, which I really wasn't sure about to begin with, I've grown to really love, and I think they look a bit gothic! I'll update photos after 1st November when the present will be given.

Cakes, and a Wedding

JJ and I baked fairy cakes on Friday, and decorated them (as above, and below). He did all the mixing of the cake mix, and requested the raspberries, and directed how the cakes with icing/writing icing should be done. There were 12 cakes altogether, but we had to test one to make sure it was okay, hence why there is no cake with my name on it. Actually, stopping him from eating them all was no mean feat! I had to keep reminding him they were for dessert.

I was really pleased I'd decided to make the cakes rather than buy them pre-made, as I did with the gingerbread men. They tasted delicious. Recipe was from The Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.

And then, on Saturday, Hagos and I went to Rik and Jenny's wedding, held at Duddingston Kirk in Edinburgh, then onto the reception in a lovely hall in Leith.


We've known Rik for years, met him way back in London while we were touring with Senser. 


It was a really great day, though I started crying as soon as I turned and saw Rik walking into the church! I know he reads my blog so I will restrain the sentimentality, but suffice to say he is such a heartfelt person, and this was reflected in the enthusiastic happiness and genuine joy his friends felt for him on this special day. 


We also bumped into another mutual old friend at the wedding and had good fun swapping a few unrepeatable Rik-tales. Splendid. 

Many tangents

So, I've been feeling very distracted recently. And feeling that the effort and energy I exert each day don't quite produce an equal or greater return. I lurch from one task to another and bumble through it all and feel worn out and dizzy at the end of the day.

Anyway! Below is a selection of some of the good fun bumbling that has occurred in amongst the annoying bumbling.  

I watched my Godson JJ last Friday and we decorated gingerbread men!

I had considered making the gingerbread men as well as decorating them, but decided eventually to just buy the kit from the supermarket with the gingerbread men already made. It took me by surprise that JJ started eating the gingerbread man before he'd finished decorating it. And that he thought he had to eat each one he decorated. So I had to eat a couple myself, and dedicate one to be put aside for his brother.

I finished my orange, winter socks. They are less stretchy than the Rowan Pure Wool 4 ply, but I like the colour very much, and it's great to have a second pair of bed socks. I love that there is so little sewing to be done once the socks are finished, thanks to my amendment of the pattern.

On Sunday we had the most fun day of all. Hagos had decided he wanted to make cider using real apples. We have recently started making cider from kits, and the results have been good! But there are so many apple trees around where we live that it seemed a good opportunity to try real cider-making.

The Burnses came out to help us gather the apples, and our initial caution over the kids climbing ladders and trees was soon thrown aside and the kids were soon up the ladders and trees gathering apples with much gusto!

This is Hagos and JJ returning to the small apple tree (big tree, lots of small apples) after checking out something in the house.

And JJ showing off all the apples we had gathered from five different trees over the course of the day. They looked amazing in the bath.


Hagos and I then spent the rest of Sunday juicing all of the apples. It was a long, laborious process but we were happy to get through it without breaking the juicer! It's now bubbling away in Hagos's studio and we're excitedly awaiting its readiness.


I'm now reading The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, having become re-interested in the Uncanny/Marvelous/Fantastic genre after reading Sarah Waters's The Little Stranger. I was so impressed by the whole book I did something I've never done before and I wrote her a fan email via her publisher. And she emailed me back! It made my day. 


Hagos has a lot of coming and going coming up over the next two months. It's been so great having him home for a longer stretch over the last month (with a few gigs thrown in) but, you know, money is useful.


So I'm looking forward to Rik and Jenny's wedding on Saturday, and then getting back into writing. 

Carrot!

I think this may be the only carrot I get this year from the very few I planted. I did a tub with about 11 carrot seeds and 11 beetroot seeds in each half. The beetroot has formed fine, but the remaining carrots are small, and will be gone in one bite.


So, we'll probably have it tonight with dinner. 


I'm planning to make the beetroot into relish again, if I can put my hands on the great recipe I made last year. 


Next year we'd like to grow loads of veg and try to store as much as we can to see us through the year, and can/preserve whatever's possible. It was such a joy last winter to go to the shed and get a fresh bulb of garlic that was hanging there. The onions lasted no time at all and I would need to grow a lot more next year. Our potatoes in the tubs are lasting us well though. I did one tub of International Kidneys, and they produced a heavy crop, all fairly big. Now we're onto what I think are Red Roosters (all my writing got washed off the marked sticks a couple of days after I planted them!). They have also provided us with a heavy crop.


I've missed my gardening this year due to the move. The potatoes have kept me going, but next year I want to do it all properly again.

Country Walks

This is Flotterstone Reservoir in the Pentland Hills. I was introduced to it by my neighbour, Gill, a couple of weeks ago, and Hagos and I returned last week. There's a good car park by the Ranger Centre at Flotterstone Inn, and then there is the choice of either walking on the road (very few cars come by) or going off into the hills on one of the many footpaths. Part of the land is military and there are signs warning you may be 'ambushed'. Sounds fun.

The colours of the water, the hills and the heather are just amazing in the afternoon light. We chose a very windy day to go and at some points I was unable to move forward due to the wind pushing me back. But it was exhilarating.

On Sunday I met up with the Burnses (below) to go to Vogrie Country Park (Vogrie House, above). The house and grounds are amazing. It is all now owned by Midlothian Council, and though there is a sweet little cafe at the back in the main part of the house, the rest of it has an institutional feel about it. It was sold in 1920 by the Dewar family and operated as a mental health hospital. Later it was used as a communications centre during the Cold War. The downstairs is open to the public and has various rooms marked off for Boy Scouts etc. The house has an open day one day a year, I believe, where people can explore the rest of the house.

We went to do the Pond Dip, an event arranged by the Rangers, for kids to take a tray, a net and a tub with a magnifying lid to explore what lies in the pond. All the boys, including the biggest boy, were keen to get their hands on the net, and Lynsey and I were disappointed that at least one boy didn't fall in the pond.


I'm really enjoying finding different country walks and houses and castles in the area to explore.


In other news: I have just finished reading one of the most impressive books ever. It's The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters. I do believe that finding the right book at the right time is one of the most rewarding experiences ever, and I was exactly in the mood for The Little Stranger. It was so well paced and developed, and though there was one point towards the end where I suspected what was going on, Sarah Waters keeps it well contained. And the resolution in the very last sentence was just brilliant. I would highly recommend it. A word of warning though: it is a ghost story, and I finished it in bed while Hagos was away (I live in a country house, in the country!). I had only intended reading a few pages before falling asleep, as the following day I was due to get up early to drive to meet my sister for lunch, but the end of the book pushed me on, and I was so absorbed that by the time I finished it was 2am, and I became aware of my surroundings, realising I was alone, and how late it was, feeling a little unsettled!


And, other news: I have almost finished my second orange winter sock. I reckon three more nights of TV knitting and it will be done.

PJ Harvey!

This smudgy photo is PJ Harvey playing at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Sunday. One of Hagos's colleagues is touring with her at the moment so we were put on her guest list for the gig.

I've admired and respected her as an artist for years. The first time I was aware of her was about 1993 when I was on tour with my husband's band in Europe. They were playing at a festival in Belgium (probably Pukkelpop) and PJ Harvey was on the same stage either just before or just after, which meant we were all backstage at the same time. Some of her band members came into our dressing room, and a few of us went back with them to theirs. PJ Harvey was lying across some chairs having her make-up applied. It was drag queen-type make up: huge eyelashes, lurid green, sparkly eye shadow to match the lurid green cat suit she was wearing. This is from memory. If I researched the gig the eyeshadow and cat suit may turn out to have been lurid pink, or lurid, sparkly blue. But I remember it as green. She was extremely skinny and played a great set. I watched it from the side of the stage and from the mixing desk front-of-house. And I've liked her ever since and respected the career she has built and directed for herself. A true artist from inception to delivery.

So I was really pleased she won the Mercury Prize tonight.