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.

Winter approaching

Sunday felt like the first proper winter's day. Though it has never been exactly hot this summer, the air on Sunday had a definite chill about it. I remember this always happening each year round about the time the schools go back for the Autumn term.

So with this in mind I cast on my gorgeous orange wool to knit a new pair of bed socks, as I only have one pair (my yellow socks with red beads) and they are in high demand and need back-up.

They are so easy to knit, basically just a tube with a bit of ribbing and turning, so I'm hoping to get them finished fairly soon. I've adjusted a Debbie Bliss pattern, which she knits flat, as I much prefer to knit socks in-the-round. There's no sewing up afterwards, so much easier! 

I also took a GREAT liking to this bicycle material I found in John Lewis recently. I initially thought of making a skirt with it, but quickly remembered that white clothing and I don't go well together at all.


Then, while Hagos was on tour, I had a great hankering for cotton napkins of all things. I occasionally read through old knitting, sewing, baking, general crafting books and magazines and I looked through Bend-the-rules-Sewing by Amy Karol, and I loved the photos of her mix-and-match napkins. So I spent a lovely evening cutting them all out and sewing them up. I absolutely love them.

I also made two toiletries bags out of the grey bicycle material. One is for a friend, and I hope she doesn't read about it here before receiving it in the post, and the other I made for Hagos, though he said he likes his old toiletries bag so much he wanted another exactly the same, so I'll probably do that and keep the bicycle toiletries bag to give to someone else. 

I have been really lax at taking photos recently. I've been to four events at the Book Festival: Alasdair Gray, AL Kennedy, Maggie O'Farrell and Rebecca Hunt. I didn't take any photos of the Book Festival at all! 


But now that I'm not reading towards upcoming events I'm contemplating which of the three books above I will read first. Probably in order from top to bottom. I want to read The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. It's only about a hundred pages. Then The Little Stranger. I've only recently discovered Sarah Waters. I knew about her, of course, and read The Night Watch a couple of weeks ago and absolutely loved her storytelling. Really involving. And then I was so impressed by Maggie O'Farrell at the Book Festival I immediately ordered her book from Amazon.

My husband returned home a couple of weeks ago from a long tour of America, Canada and Japan. Though I think the anticipation of it being a long tour meant it actually went by rather quickly and it didn't feel so long after all. Five and a half weeks.


Anyway, Japan is my favourite destination on earth and I would love to go back for a visit. I love Japanese design, particularly with stationery paper, fabric, knitting, styling, cups and plates etc. It is all so understated and just right. So my lovely husband brought me back some Japanese stationery to add to my collection. 

The notecards are particularly spectacular. I'm not sure I'll ever use them!

But the writing paper is beautiful too. Exquisite.

Red and Purple Loop Jumper finally finished - after six years!!!

Well apart from all the ends still to be woven in, I've actually finished knitting and sewing together my red and purple loop jumper. I almost can't believe it myself. 

I think I'll probably just weave in the ends that would otherwise hang down (as you can see in the photo) and knot all the other ends. There are too many to deal with. So, it will have a kind of fringe on the inside. But that's okay. 

I tried it on straight away and really like it. Although I still don't know what possessed me to buy that colour of purple, except those are the colours used in one of the knitted examples in the book and it looked good in the book! I wish I'd knitted the main colour in blue, but nevermind, I have a pair of deep purple cords that it'll go with very well!

This is the next thing I'm knitting from another of the Rowan magazines. Again, I bought the wool for this years ago, though I never really started it. Well actually I did start it on a plane journey a few years ago, but the 4-ply rib took ages to knit up, partly because it's such a wide rib. Anyway, that was enough to make me put the project away for about four years and I only took it out recently because I'm determined not to spend any more money on wool until I've knitted all the outstanding projects I have wool for already.

This is the finished version in the magazine. I don't plan to knit that big butterfly attached to it!

Once I got into the body of the jumper I actually really like it. And it's very easy to knit. Not much shaping and just a repeat pattern over 8 rows using the two colours. The body of the jumper is knitted on 5mm needles so that makes up for the 3mm needle rib!

The first of my strawberries turning red! I hope to be able to eat it in the next couple of days. There are lots of strawberries appearing all over the plant.

I love this photo of me and Meg out collecting potatoes in the early morning a couple of days ago. What more does a girl need except a cat friend, pyjamas, wellington boots and home-grown potatoes? Well, my husband coming home in two weeks' time will complete the picture nicely.

A Little Update

It was my sister's birthday a couple of weeks ago, so she came up to Edinburgh during the day so we could indulge and celebrate before heading south to our parents' home to a family party. We went to The Chocolate Tree in Bruntsfield. I'd passed it a few times as I walked through Morningside, through Bruntsfield and across The Meadows into town. It was totally amazing. The choice of cakes (all chocolate) was impressive, and they also had a cabinet of individual chocolates to buy, and bars of chocolate on the shelves. And, I was pleased to find, the coffee was pretty good too. I was sorry not to be able to sit inside as it is fairly small and all the tables were taken, as I wanted to photograph the cabinet discreetly. But also, I much prefer sitting inside cafes to sitting outside. My coffee stays warm for longer, and I just really like the cafe atmosphere and warmth. Jacqueline and I both had a chocolate tart with raspberries and cream.

Before Hagos went on tour we paid a visit to Edina Home Brew and bought a cider/wine making kit. We got the cider tub to begin with. It was good fun concocting it, but it hadn't stopped fermenting before Hagos went on tour, so I had to sit with the syphon tube and syphon it into the barrel once it was ready. I got a little bit drunk doing this. The cider will be ready when Hagos returns from tour in two weeks and five days' time (not that I'm counting). I tried some on Saturday morning and I thought it was grand!

The two men who ran the shop were right characters. Almost like a Two Ronnies sketch with their stories, ladders, and dishing out whiskey to all the customers.

On Saturday morning it was such glorious weather that I decided to take a drive south of Edinburgh and see what I could discover. I drove out to Peebles, and wasn't very impressed with that town, but on a different route out I rounded a corner and discovered the most breathtaking castle, Neidpath Castle. I didn't realise I had my camera in my bag or I would've taken a photo. I was so astonished I turned back on the road and returned to get a better look at it. Sadly, it isn't open to the general public, though my neighbour said he was taken there twice on tours when he was at school. They seem to hire it out for weddings and events, and it looks like they accept tours too. Maybe I should try to get a gang together and make enquiries.

The other place I discovered on the way home (after driving through amazing, rolling, sunny hills) was Whitmuir Farm, an organic farm with a cafe, a shop and a few walking routes. I'm sorry to say the cappuccino wasn't so great, but the ambience of the whole place was amazing. Maybe I'll try a different type of coffee next time I go. I bought a bag of organic plums and apples from there and yesterday I made an early batch of my famous Plum and Apple Jam. It tastes totally delicious.

And finally, I finished my bee jumper. I don't remember if I blogged about this project before. I unraveled my bolero, keeping the sleeves intact, bought some extra black wool and honey-coloured wool (both Rowan Pure Wool 4-ply) and knitted them all into the body of a TV jumper from Sarah Dallas's Vintage Knits. The bolero had come from that book too, but because the band was sewn on afterwards and not knitted on to the bolero, it never quite sat right. It was the first time I'd knitted a band separately and I think I made it too long, and so it didn't have the tautness once it was in place. I wore the bolero a few times, and loved the wool (the long ago discontinued Jaeger 4-ply, which I still yearn for) but the way it sat always bothered me. I absolutely love the finished result. It looks good on and is really snug.

That's all for now. I have other knitting projects that I'm making my way through with great success. When Hagos is on tour I knit in the evening while I watch an hour of telly. I'll photograph and update my next two jumpers soon!