Baking Subscription October

 

Toffee Apple Drip Cake. 

What can I say?  It looks delicious., but it's enormous and full of calories and not a great thing to have hanging about in a household of only two, both of whom are overweight and have a sweet tooth. I have appealed on Facebook for local friends to come and help eat it.  

The sponge was very soft and two of the layers broke coming out of the tins. This was not just me, it seemed a common problem in the FB related group. The finishing I didn't find so fiddly as I have in the past; perhaps I'm just getting more used to it? Buttercream, toffee sauce and then the caramel curls sprinkled on the top.

I think the time may be approaching for me to cancel my subscription. I have some lovely recipes that I will do again, and some not so much to out taste that  I won't , but they're getting  a bit repetitive and it may be time to call a halt. It's not as though I am short of  other baking books. The good thing about this was that it meant that I did bake at least once a month and without the stimulus that is the box arriving I may not.  Something to ponder. 

Books to Read Poster No 30

 

As is often the case I don't think you would guess the book from the icon, but it was Margaret Attwood's The Handmaid's Tale. 

I borrowed it in audible format from the library. I thought I had read it before but there was a whole swathe about two thirds of the way through of which I  had no memory at all, so I can only assume that I read so far, and then skipped to the end. 

Having now listened to the whole thing I cannot take my younger self to task for doing that. I found the whole thing so utterly depressing; reinforcing once again that there are infinite numbers of ways that men can find to control and repress women and that when they can get away with it they do, and they do it with relish,. And the most disheartening thing about it is that some women , for good or bad but almost always totally understandable reasons, make themselves complicit in this male agenda. 

It's a brave, clever, farsighted book but it left me sickened and despairing. I really should read something cheerful now, but in fact I am slogging my way through the current tome for Saturday Slaughters and that's going to be another total miss. Oh well ... 

And I'm Back

In the event we got away no bother and the crossing was really quite calm. The same can't be said of the return trip which was unexpectedly choppy. More like a rollercoaster than a ferry. On the upside it was dark so as I couldn't see the ship rolling up and down against the horizon I wasn't really affected. Which was a good thing as I had just eaten a Kit Kat.

I had a good time away. Rather than foregather at someone's home (the group in general feel that they are mainly too old to cater a 3 course lunch for  6-8 people, especially after falling out of practice during the various Covid lockdowns) we stayed overnight at a small hotel near to where one of us lives. 

As the only couple the OH and I had a double room; in fact the de-luxe double as it turned out. I wasn't keen on the colour scheme, far too much lilac, but it was large and comfortable and warm and the en-suite was fab. 

No I don't have a photo of the en-suite, but that's the view from the window and the seating area. These came from my phone so they're a different shape to normal! It wasn't the poshest hotel I have ever stayed in but the food was good and plentiful, and the  staff couldn't do enough for us, so all in all it was a successful stay. We didn't do much but eat and talk; the others had been out to a local place of interest in the afternoon we arrived, but too early for us to join them since we were travelling from Glasgow. It was a fun time, although sadly one of us couldn't come in the end as she was suffering with what sounded like the cold to end all colds. Fingers crossed she will be fine for next time though, which is scheduled to be in Glasgow at the end of Feb/beginning of March.

Sunday was the Glasgow School of Yarn, which really didn't disappoint. It occurred to me to wonder afterwards why I had been looking forward to it so much, as I have only been to two previous yarn festivals (Edinburgh in 2017 which I wrote about here ) and the first Yarndale. Both of these  had been mixed experiences which might just edge over the 5 on the infamous 'On a scale of 1 -10 how much did you enjoy your day? question. I suppose the excited anticipation was just the triumph of hope over experience. 

Anyway it was fabulous. I had such an enjoyable time. It probably helped that numbers of both vendors and attendees were restricted due to Covid, which kept crowds and noise down. I'm sure it also helped that I have already interacted with several of the vendors who were there; buying from them, watching their vlogs on You Tube, attending the occasional virtual knit night, and so on. So that meant I had a point of connection with several of them and we were able to chat about things. Also, having learned from previous experience I had thought about what I might like to buy before I went so I had a shopping list and a budget. I came away with everything on my list bar one thing which I had to order, and under budget. I didn't regret anything that I bought and I didn't regret not buying the things I looked at and left on the shelves. Which I think is the right way to be. 

Here's a couple of pictures. Most of this stuff was gifts for other people. 

The two skyline hat kits wouldn't fit in the other photo, hence the separate pic. The Glasgow one on the left in the colours of the Saltire is naturally for me and the other is a gift. On the lower picture the scissors and stitch markers. the mini skein set top left and the full skein at the front and the item on order are all for other people, The other things are for me and were all bought with a specific purpose in mind except for the brown/red/orange sock set which was a bit of an impulse buy as in, it wasn't on the list but I know what I'll do with it so it's allowed. 

And I would definitely go again, which is more than I ever said about Yarndale. Or EYF either. 

And we're off - weather permitting , of course.

We are supposedly going south tomorrow, crossing our fingers very very hard indeed since due to the wind and tide conditions all ferry sailings tomorrow are 'under review' which is polite speak for 'possibly cancelled at very short notice'. Our local provider generally manages to get one boat a day across the Firth in each direction except in the most appalling conditions so we can only hope. 

If all goes according to plan we're driving as far as Glasgow tomorrow, then to West Yorkshire for overnight on Friday. returning to Glasgow late on Saturday so that I can go to the Glasgow School of Yarn ie yarn festival on Sunday and back to Orkney on Monday. 

So probably no blogging again before Tuesday but on the up side lots of pictures of pretty yarn and other nice stuff that I might buy or just look at on Sunday and maybe even a few pictures of things that are not knitting related.

Of course if we don't get away I shall be blogging, mostly moaning about how awful it is to live somewhere where for half of the year you can feel like a virtual prisoner due to the inability of modern transport systems to get you away from the place. Ninety year olds sent into space - easy.  Dwellers on windy islands travelling at will to the mainland - not guaranteed. 

Twelve in Ten

 Yes, my self-inflicted challenge to knit Son No 1 a pair of socks per month for 2021 is successfully completed. It's a while since I documented any of the completed pairs so here's a catch up. 

August - Laurier

September - Meighen

October - King

November - Bennett

December - St Laurent

 

The October and November ones will go in the post tomorrow. December's will be delivered in person. They are a bit sparkly perhaps for Son no 1, but I decided I would make a pair each for all the adults in the family who will be having Christmas in Toronto and we could all wear them on Christmas day. 

(No you don't need to rewind, I did indeed say I thought it would be a good idea to make five pairs of socks for Christmas. and no I don't know why I do these things to myself and yes perhaps a new years resolution on the lines of 'stop doing that' would be a good idea. Meanwhile three of the five pairs are done, so only two more to do. )

For anyone still wondering about the naming sequence, it's the first twelve Prime Ministers of Canada. If they should get a new PM in 2022 I could bring things right up to date with another set of twelve names and pairs of socks , but I think I can safely say that I won't! 

Stirling's 'Bloody Scotland'

'

Bloody Scotland is the name of Stirling's annual crime fiction festival which I've often thought of going to in person and indeed it was one of the things high on the list for after the Ph D. As things turned out my first chance to go would have been in 2020 and we all know what happened then. And 2021 was little better from that point of view. They held a blended festival which meant it was available to attend in person and to view on line and having looked at the brochure I thought 'what the heck?' and purchased an Access All digital pass, which meant I could watch as much as I liked on screen and what I didn't see at the time I could access on their you tube channel up until the end of September. It was good value, or at least I got good value from it. 

The big draws  for me were Mick Herron and Elly Griffiths, but there were plenty of other names about that I thought might be of interest. I didn't in the end manage everything but I did manage all the ones I particularly wanted and a few that I was curious about, some of which were more interesting than others.And some which were quite boring to be honest. Not all writers are entertainers in person!

Elly Griffiths was a delight. She was on a two woman panel with Lin Andersen and it was a warm conversational and collaborative time, which is more than could be said for most of the other sessions. I find somewhat to my surprise that I have not already  been enthusiastically recommending Mick Herron's Slough House books which I discovered earlier in the year here on the blog. I  immediately devoured the series to date with the result that I am now left hanging on for the next one which isn't due until who knows when; certainly not this year and possibly not next either. He was surprisingly 'ordinary' in conversation but there was some interesting background stuff about the books. Two sessions I didn't expect to enjoy were with Kathy Reichs and Karin Slaughter and yet I did find them interesting and enjoyable after all, so sucks to preconceptions I guess.  I said hard things about Slaughter on the blog earlier this year which I now take back. She explained that one of her motives for writing about violence done to women came from her direct family experience; the family 'joke' about what a clumsy woman her grandmother was, as every time she was seen she had bruises, black eyes etc and her husband ad four strapping sons maintained consistently that she 'fell over, walked into doors' etc when everyone knew her husband regularly beat her and no-one said anything about it, let alone tried to stop it. She feels it's a duty to speak up for all the women this sort of violence is perpetrated on, and really I can't argue with that. It doesn't mean I'll read any more of her books  as I do find them too violent to take, but I acquit her of sensationalism and trying to up her sales by chronicling the suffering of women at the hands of men. 

As always I found listening to Ian Rankin talking much much more interesting than reading his books. Jo Nesbo was boring, and Stuart MacBride is really irritating. I did find a new author to try, one Marion Todd, who sets a police procedural series in St Andrews. I've listened to the first two on Aubdible but will try and get subsequent volumes on Kindle or at the library. The audible versions are read by the author, and suffer from the fact. You would think having the author read the book would be a good thing, but apparently not always! 

I'd like to go in person next year but it seems unlikely to happen, as with luck and a following wind we'll be in Australia on our much delayed Ruby Wedding Anniversary trip while Bloody Scotland is taking place. 

Not Knitting, Not Books, Not Devon -

When we came back from Devon we brought son no. 2 back with us for a few weeks break. He'd had his second jab just before we arrived  in Glasgow on our return trip to Orkney so that fell nicely. We didn't do a great deal while he was here, he was pleased to have some cooler weather, and fresher air which allows his asthma to be less troublesome and his eczema to heal. The heat and pollution in Glasgow does neither of those conditions any favours. 

We did have a couple of trips to Geri's Ice Cream parlour, he and the OH went out one night for an Indian meal at our local Indian restaurant which I'm told is excellent. I don't eat Indian food so I don't go. We had a trip to the cinema to see - what else? - Marvel's Black Widow! and then we took a day trip to Sanday. 

We've been to Sanday before, decades ago when we were here on holiday and we didn't see much of it because it was swathed in thick fog. But we felt obliged to go as we had booked the ferry and we didn't; appreciate in those days that you could just cancel if the weather wasn't brilliant, or really if you just changed your mind about going. Anyway we anticipated better weather this time and we booked. When the day dawned it wasn't foggy but it was grey and cold and wet and we thought about cancelling; but then decided to go anyway. 

The Vikings named Sanday as they named most of the Orkney Islands and as they weren't very imaginative they didn't wrack their brains for too long when it came to christening places. So Sanday simply mean sandy island and that's because - yes well, need I say more?

We had a good if somewhat cold day, mainly exploring beaches, although we visited the Heritage centre, where they have an impressive Pictish stone which for some unfathomable reason was allowed out of the clutches of the National Museum in Edinburgh and returned whence it came after some restoration work, took a look from as close as we could get to the vertically striped lighthouse ( the track up to it was closed due to  some serious erosion) and had a picnic. We were very glad indeed that we had taken a picnic, because although the Sanday website tells you you will never want for opportunities to eat and drink on Sanday this is not actually the case. There is one very run down looking hotel* with odd opening hours and a cafe which is open one day a week between 11.00 and 2.00 and not the day we were there. 

* We did visit the hotel on our previous visit. The OH was carried away by the  offer of warm apple pie and cream and ordered it. He wasn't prepared for a plate with a microwaved Mr Kipling individual fruit pie topped with that cream you squirt our of cans. It has changed hands since then, probably several times, but it looks very dilapidated now. 

On the upside the colours of the sky, the sea and the sand were all beautiful and if I cold paint I would definitely be trying to turn one of my photographs into a watercolour. As I can't. I'll have to be satisfied with the photos although they couldn't quite capture the subtlety of the colours. 

Devon Part 4

So the Wednesday was my birthday and we took things easy. We started off with a walk around the lake that was part of the property and on which we should have  been able to row, not that the iron has entered my soul over that or anything. It was very pretty

Later we drove over into Cornwall where the OH's brother lives, just on the other side of the Devon/ Cornwall border. We met at his house where the OH's cousin and his wife had already arrived and we all went out to lunch at the local pub. It was a fun time, although having havered over my choice of dessert I made the error of selecting the cheesecake. This had a rock hard base that really needed a chisel to penetrate it, although I managed a little of it by spearing it with my fork and knocking on the top of that with my spoon. Most of it got left, which mean most of what I ate was vaguely strawberry flavoured gloop. I should know better than to order cheesecake when I'm out really. 

We then went back to brother-in-laws house where there was coffee and cake! 

and had I known about the cake I probably wouldn't have bothered with dessert at lunch. We had a good old family gossip in the afternoon - I hadn't seen cousin and wife since my mother in law's funeral so it was good to catch up, and I was really touched that they had driven down from Gloucestershire so we could all be together. The fact that it was my birthday was purely coincidental, A had made the arrangements with his brother over the telephone weeks before and I heard him say the day and the date and then he came back to report to me and said It'll be the 4th and I said, so it will, and that's my birthday. Which obviously had not registered with him at all. Not that I was complaining as I thought it would be  a lovely way to spend my birthday, and it was. 

And Silence Fell....

 Sorry. 

Sadly the loss of my previously intended post was followed by a few other frazzly things, which led to me doing one of my 'withdrawing into myself and not engaging with others' phases. I'm a bit like one of those flowers who curl their petals up tightly if you touch them - more so at some times than others. I try very hard not to be like this, as it's a bit pathetic, but sometimes I can't help it. 

So the two minor frazzles which led to me deciding I was never putting my toe into the water of social media in any form ever again were; a comment the OH made about the blog. 'It's quite fun some of the time' he said 'when you're not banging on too much about books', and the reaction I got to posting a photo of a recent knitting project on Facebook. I rarely do this, as it smacks far too much of the childhood sin of Showing Off, and after the comments on this I'm not in a hurry to do it again. I can hear my mother's voice in my head 'Well it serves you right, if you hadn't been showing off they couldn't have made those hurtful remarks' and the voice is of course right. That won;t stop me posting the project here in a few days time with a bit of explanation about what' it actually is, rather than what some mucky minded people might think it is. 

The major hassle though was doing without the car for a fortnight. We had not of course, planned to do without the car for a fortnight particularly as the two weeks we were without it were the busiest we've experienced since the beginning of Lockdown 1. We were told it would be in the garage for three days and experience led us to add another day to that. Experience did not lead us to add 11 days, and so we limped on, every day expecting to see the car back with us. Two hospital appointments, two trips to town with large bulky parcels for the post office and several trips for less than a full week's shop all on a limited rural bus service did not add up to a barrel of fun. I have no objection to using the bus, in fact given that it is free due to my advancing years I embrace it, but it has to be said that the timetable doesn't necessarily fit in all that well with arbitrarily timed hospital appointments. And it fitted so badly with the time and site of the UHI Awards ceremony that I was unable to present the prize I give each year  for the Gaelic Legacy Module in person. I found this more upsetting than all the rest, since the rest could actually be done on the bus, albeit not necessarily conveniently, but the prize giving would have meant four hours out of the house and a lot of hanging around, for  ten minutes of masking up to award a prize and get my photograph taken for the local rag (shudder), and all that seemed a bit disproportionate. 

So I was very pleased indeed when we finally had the car restored to us. It's all very well governments banging on about how we all need to give up our cars, and I'm in favour of anything that helps with climate change, but they need to do a lot of thinking about how we can recalibrate the way we live and move, especially in rural areas, before it becomes something that people can really get on board with. Just now being without  car just makes life difficult. . 

On that note I shall go, with every intention of coming back on a more or les daily basis until I'm caught up with everything!