I'm back. K and I had a lovely few days "up north". As you may remember from my last post, one of the reasons that I wanted to go up (apart from seeing family) was to take some pictures. The idea was to create some Moo cards for my Brother-in-law. Actually my sister would like some as well but one set at a time please. With a birthday coming up and the spring light at its best I snapped away in the garage and poked around in the shed. Isn't it amazing what you find in sheds....
I wanted the cards to reflect his interests, hopefully he will agree. Here is a selection of what I came up with. I didn't think you would want to see them all as I took full advantage of the different image on each card offer..... They are displayed pretty much as they will be on the cards as I really like the mini cards, very cute and a bit different.

Spring really does get going a bit later on Royal Deeside which is great as we can see it all again. The displays of daffodils in Aberdeen are ledgendary but these were on the road-side just outside the house....

The garden pond has a real spring in its step too. There were literally hundreds of tadpoles, tiny newts, pond skaters and new plant life abound....

K and I came home "over the top".. past Ballater and Braemar. The roads weren't too busy as the tourists are probably waiting until any chance of snow has gone, there are still wee pockets up on the tops. The weather was fabulous and we stopped a couple of times to admire the view (and visit cafes)...

This cottage is in Braemar, just look at the view....

The burns up this far are still quite high with melt water although further down the rivers looked less full as there hasn't been any rain for quite a while (in Scottish terms I mean).
The last stop on this part of the journey was to call into a house that I stayed in when I was very young. The owners were out but as the gardener was there, no pictures.. I thought it might seem a bit odd. There was no gardener when we stayed there and I have to admit it looks a bit sanitised now. The trees have been replaced by lawn and flower beds. The grass has been taken over by a swimming pool. (In a wooden house, probably a bit chilly for an outdoor one). Don't know what was wrong with the woods and burn personally but there you go....

To pack or not to pack.

Tomorrow K and I are heading over the border. It's a bit of a girly adventure, staying with my sister and just doing stuff. As I have to go to work first we won't be able to leave until about 5pm which means stopping to eat along the way. How does Dundee sound? Have you any idea how long it takes to drive to beautiful Royal Deeside from Carlisle? Nearly forever... well at least long enough to ask "Are we there yet?" about a million times..

What to pack? No I'm not organised!  Here I am blogging away when I should be packing. How about some of these?..
.

They may well be needed. But then we might go shopping... And visit my parents, and be nice to this fellow who is really much more friendly than he looks....

Chester


Perhaps I need to be more organised and should have bought some of these to take....

Actually much as I love my sister she wouldn't  have a hope as I took this photo outside Liberty's in London last week and I was too frightened to look at the price although they were THE most beautiful colour. Still it's the thought that counts.
Must go and put the camera in as I've been asked to do some piccies to use for Moo cards. A project... exciting! Have a good weekend Xxx

That'll be an oops then....

First of all thank you to Susan for my very special blog award. It was waiting for me when I got back from my little break in the BIG SMOKE. I will have to cosider who to pass this on to as the award is to be given to blogs that are either new or have less than 100 followers. I will think about this and post later in the week, watch this space...

What else? ... Agnes has been sick... it all started with a cold kitchen one morning and escalated ino having to do a re-light several times over a few days. Not convenient and quite a lengthy process. Yesterday it all came to a head and the doctor was called...

As you can see this doesn't look good..... However she was rebuilt and looks as good as new, especially as she was much easier to clean when a bit on the cool side. She can be a bit hot and fiesty at times...

Now we are all set, except not quite, as her thermostat is gone and a new one needs to be ordered. At the moment we are on manual control, a bit of a dodgy business.
The BIG SMOKE was fabulous.. no children, lots of good food including a visit to Maze. no photos though as  I thought it wasn't quite the done thing. We went for the early evening Wine -Flight menu. A safe option perhaps considering that the most expensive bottle cost a mere £1600. Needless to say we didn't try that one.

Oggled all the mad shoes in Harrods and agreed that even if we had the money we would probably give them a miss....

This pair was mild, honestly....
Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather....Speak soon love Helen xx

It's not quite right....

How many times have you read a recipe through, gathered the ingredients, read through again and something doesn't sit quite right?
Yesterday K was very keen to bake. It had to be chocolate cake and it had to be just the right one, the cake of her dreams.
She decided upon this one. Brooklyn Blackout cake from the hummingbird Bakery.
The cake went well, very well and I would certainly make it again. BUT I'm not so sure about the chocolate custard filling. The recipe says to add 200g of cornflour to the cocoa, sugar, syrup and water mix and then to cook until very thick. We got to very, very thick almost immediately and I hadn't added all of the cornflour. It tastes just a little bit bland as if it needs a little something.....

We only used about 1/2 of the custard mix but the cake still went down really well both at home and at work where a lot of my 'testing" takes place. It looks good but, I think needs some more work. Watch this space....

It seems like quite a while since I last posted. Work seems to have got in the way. I still haven't decided about a colour scheme but no doubt it will all come together in the end.
I have been off work today. Well in the sense that I didn't leave the house at 8am. K has to provide cake for a sale at school this evening to help raise money for a connecting schools project. I'm sure most of you will understand that this means I have been baking......
Requests were made, but this is also an opportunity to try out something new......

I've attempted Martha Stewart's Hummingbird cupcakes with pineapple flowers and......

My own version of Nutella cakes with candied hazlenuts.....

Chocolate cake is always popular.....

And a grown up lemon sponge... just hope it all goes well and doesn't come back home!

Decisions, decisions.

As of last month, we have lived here for 13 years. When we first moved in we were a bit overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place and, with two very small children we rattled around a bit. Quite quickly we got used to the space but not the very 1970's decor. For a long time we had to live with it, swirly carpets and all.
Then slowly, slowly we started to change things. We have done our best to keep the original features of what was a Victorian rectory. This wasn't easy as the family that were here before us had strived to remove all evidence of the Victorians and indeed those that followed. To be fair, the fashion at the time was to modernise whatever the cost. All of the bedroom fireplaces had been removed and it was only good luck and the determination of one builder that stopped the beautiful staircase frome being boxed in.
We reach 2011 with only two rooms left to tackle as things had been put on a back-burner a bit when I was having treatment. Feeling well now, I really want to get going again and perhaps get all the work finished over the next year or so.
The window people are booked to restore the sashes and we can finally take the last bits of secondary glazing to the tip. We'll even be able to open the windows in the lounge or perhaps I should say Drawing Room.
Our bedroom is the only other remaining room and I won't be sorry to see the pink blown vinyl wallpaper being stripped off and replaced. Interestingly this was the only room not painted in a shade of magnolia but it isn't good, not good at all.
So what about THE room? Let me show you what we have now. All suggestions are really welcome because I am well and truly stuck with this one... The room is big, about 17 x 17 feet with south and west facing windows. The shutters will be sorted so that they can actually be used and stripped to a warm pine colour.

I have just started stripping the fireplace which is yellow sandstone under the paint. (what possessed them to paint all the fireplaces I really don't know but  this is the last one to show its true colours). We will also take away the 70's style slate and open up the fireplace a bit. Either a stove or Spanish basket arrangement will be put in depending on what we find when excavations are started.....

The little scrap of paper was just peeking ot when I took a piece of paper off today...

The table has been moved to what will become the dining room but the piano will have to stay, it's just too big to move and although bought originally to take up a bit of space is now well used by no. one son.
Looking forward to your suggestions.

The Power of Water

Another favourite walk tok K and I to Gelt Wood today. It has been very wet here recently and as you can imagine the river is running high. Over the years visiting here I have been amazed by the way the water has carved out a course for itself through the valley.

Man too has spent some time here carving away at the sandstone in the old quarry...

We stopped at what has become a favourite spot for a rest, a picnic and in the summer at least a bit of a paddle. Can you spot the stolen / borrowed wellies?

We spotted this beautiful bracket fungus along the way...

Before heading home for a piece of almond pear tart.....

In Search of Spring.

Some of you have written about the signs of Spring and posted beautiful photos. Up here however things are a bit slower, more considered or perhaps still feeling the chill. I set out to see if i could find any evidence.... yes there are snowdrops in the garden and I should probably have photographed them but I wanted to be a bit more adventurous and so set off to Talkin Tarn . The walk around the Tarn is just over a mile and we used to go quite a bit when the children were small. A promise of icecream or hot chocolate usually made sure of a winge free excursion. Today though, I was on my own, no cafe stop needed. 

It was absolutely freezing and I was glad of my down jacket and hat as I met up with this fellow... his rather shy new wife refused to have her photo taken or perhaps it was the other way around...

There were signs though....

and this....

the council have taken over the upkeep of the Tarn and apart from starting to charge for parking, not much else seems to have been done. Perhaps it's too early to see what they have been up to but at least they've left the special seat that looks out over the choppy water...

And the old tree that fell down in the winter storms....

Time to head home and inject my own little bit of spring with some orange sponge...

Which, turned out like this....Spring blossoms.......

Out and About

Last weekend Y, K and I went off to watch a cycling race at Croft circuit where one of our friends was racing. The weather had turned out quite wll here so off we set with snacks for k and flapjacks for friend....
The nearer we got to the circuit the greyer it became and it was cold, ok freezing. The cyclists were warming up.... how hard that must be in grey February weather, all that is except for friend who had, probably quite sensibly decided that it was much too cold and grey to be riding around a wind swept airfield....

So after watching for a while we set off to look around Richmond......A very pretty market town in Yorkshire, mind you it was still very cold and grey as you can see here...

After poking around in all the vintage srores (read junk shops for some).. we headed home to make this for my dad. His very own sheep dog trial.....

It looks much more spectacular with the flaming fountain.....

Then yesterday I was given a fantabulous present.........

An enamel sign for my kitchen.

Cupper or Twizzler?

All of us women fall into one of these categories. I was always a committed cupper. Right from the moment when (far too young) I learned to fasten my bra. I remember it well the blue or pink gingham shining through my primary school shirt causing great excitement and embarrassment in equal measure.
What brings me back to all of this was a trip, yesterday to Glasgow, the big smoke and the mecca for all things shopping. The train was delayed as always giving time for this.......

Sugar magazine let me tell you has a lot to answer for...... It was declared that a new bra was required. A particular bra indeed. As this was unlikely to fit and, lets be truthful here I didn't want to spend precious Glasgow time in M & S we went to Lewis's. Eventually after much trying on and persuading the very nice but bossy assistant that at 13 you really don't want to wear a skin coloured anything never mind a Triumph, the deed was done and we had 2 beautiful bras in the bag. Then the problem started. Having been so successful I decided that I would like a new one too. I should have kept my mouth shut.....
I was measured, prodded, told how well I had done to "survive". I should have left.... I stayed!
Bra after bra was brought out. The woman was on a mission....
At one point I was told that I needed to watch my weight now that I was getting on..... Ok so I'm not in the first flush but I'M NOT THAT OLD! Anyway why oh why was she trying to stuff me into a 32 B when I haven't been that size since I was 11.
None of this was helped by the fact that twizzling is not the done thing in bra fitting stakes. I have no choice due to being unable to reach and fasten properly at the moment. (I am working on it honestly) and so said assistant was fastening each of these monstrosities for me.
I have a dread, a deep dread of the Triumph Doreen. The highlight of the "comfy" bra world..... If you are an aged granny perhaps. (Sorry all grannies). Not only that but it was the first bra I had to wear after my op last year and I wasn't going there again. The assistant got upset and said how good a bra it was...... Sorry but no. In the end we came away with 2 beautiful daughter bras. (Am I jealous? Yes!!!!). I am now the proud owner of a Triumph and wait for it because it gets better...... A Playtex  Fits so well. (They have given up on the phrase "cross your heart"... too twee). Ok so they fit and what can I say.... comfortable but the are HORRIBLE.
Anyway just as well we went to other places and could drink in this......

And this

And this

Lost Marbles

Do you remembermy last sleep-over post? sleepover whoopie
Well.... the experience has just been repeeated with a twist. No show without punch K rightly asserted that if big brother could have a sllp-over then she could too..... Ok I'm a bit loopy and I said yes.
There were only 5 of them this time (more managable less good friends so far).  Then the truth outs...... It will be a pamper party! Ok I can cope of course I can, I'm a big girl even if I do have certain OCD tendancies in the tidy stakes......
Now please don't worry I know of at least one mum who reads this blog..... I am NOT complaining, just puzzled.

We started out with a shared meal including said big brother and dad as well as myself and 5 girls.....

Big bro did most of the clearing and provided the cake......
The girls disappeared upstairs not to be seen again. We heard lots of giggling, laughing and whispering but no sight of them....
I went to bed and fell asleep to more of the same noises.
THEN this moring Y couldn't get into the bathroom. Light off, door locked... What was going on? I was asked / sent to investigate meaning dressing gowns and all the stuff you don't bother with when alone....
Yes the door was locked. Yes the light was off.... Was someone ill? Much knocking and K appeared.....
She had been sleeping there.... With 3 others as number 5 had gone to sleep too early and they wanted to ......... wait for this..... Talk. Threres's no accounting for girls.
Anyway I'm off to work leaving them all here. Maybe I truly have lost my marbles.......

Gingerbread Dreams

Left alone, with no-one "helping", it's amazing what you can get up to....

Streets of houses....

Herds of wild horses.....

Teeny ducks swimming away.........

Dare devil little men and women.....

All huddled together! 

Have a good day.