There are those who seek novelty, wonder why anyone would want to visit an area more than once - or twice, maybe.
Not me.
We have made many visits to this part of the world and each time find something new to do, to see, tips to improve the trip.
The Lake district is blessed with a very good bus service so if you have an English travel pass, bring it. If not, investigate the Explorer tickets which give unlimited travel for a day, or three days, or even a week. There is even a concessionary rate on the day explorer ticket. This is worthwhile if one is only doing the return journey from Penrith to Keswick. Travelling on public transport means no petrol costs, no parking fees, no car stress. The upstairs on the scenic routes are full of retired walking groups (to the mutterings of locals) and the rush for the front seats is reminiscent of school outings and the scrum for the back seats. When coaches meet in narrow lanes, over sharply turning bridges, it is soothing to know this is some-one else's problem. Time is less relevant, passengers more likely to chat to a neighbour. And the scenery is.... well, just fabulous. The colours, the light, (the silence shattered by low flying aircraft) the sheer majesty of it all. That over-used word, awesome.
One day we went to Ambleside (bus to Keswick, then another to Ambleside). My recollection from last time was the nightmare of trying to park.This time I noticed the architecture, the individuality of the shops and eateries. We found the ferry terminal was quite close so took a trip to Bowness and back, picking up ideas for our next trip here (Wray Castle, a walk along the lakeside).
There was a very county day out at Acorn Bank, celebrating Apple day with a surprise certificate for chutney.
Even home base has its surprises. An evening walk resulted in an hours serious study of the fungi book. Five different types, in just twenty minutes.
Despite forecasts of rain, we have not had to use the umbrella yet. Beautiful sunrises cloaked in mist, evenings drifting pinkly in to night and cool, bright, autumn days.
Who needs airports?
Saturday 18 October 2014
Monday 4 August 2014
poppy petals, red ....
A century ago, an enveloping sadness spread across much of the world, touching generations, neighbourhoods, affecting life as it is lived today. What started that day (this day, today) in summer, is being commemorated in many ways around the country, 'lest we forget'.
Last week the Giants came to Liverpool and we were lucky enough to see them on the Sunday.
Amazing, all of it.
The parade began with Xolo, the very lifelike black dog.
Then a parade of the Liverpool Pals, dressed in their best, proudly marching to do their bit. I was told that Liverpool were the first Pals to form and the last to be stood down at the end of the War.
This was followed by a Scots marching band and the recruiting wagon.
There were large drums, (representing the gunfire), a large number of people dressed in black (mourners) and a cannon which showered the crowd with recruitment posters.
The Giants themselves ( the little girl and the Grandma) were a mechanical work of art and the Lilliputians who worked them, athletic and enthusiastic.
And Grandma's wheelchair is an indicator of scale!
Last week the Giants came to Liverpool and we were lucky enough to see them on the Sunday.
Amazing, all of it.
The parade began with Xolo, the very lifelike black dog.
Then a parade of the Liverpool Pals, dressed in their best, proudly marching to do their bit. I was told that Liverpool were the first Pals to form and the last to be stood down at the end of the War.
This was followed by a Scots marching band and the recruiting wagon.
There were large drums, (representing the gunfire), a large number of people dressed in black (mourners) and a cannon which showered the crowd with recruitment posters.
The Giants themselves ( the little girl and the Grandma) were a mechanical work of art and the Lilliputians who worked them, athletic and enthusiastic.
And Grandma's wheelchair is an indicator of scale!
A dramatic and moving piece of street art - and the sun shone. What could be better?
Wednesday 25 June 2014
We all have our safe places, somewhere to feel snug, protected from the outside world, where nothing changes. Our personal space, our rut.
My cooking gets like that, not quite 'it's Wednesday so it must be mince' but close. So it is good to be challenged, inspired, make changes.
Two new recipes, then, one sweet, one savoury.
Have you discovered beetroot and apple? Not a spot of vinegar in sight, the ready cooked beets in a bag are fine for this and makes for minimal pink splashes. Equal quantities, grated, are good with any salad or cold meat. Then talking and mulling and muttering out loud resulted in the A.B.C. cake. Yummy, yummy. An adaption of a plain chocolate cake (recipe on a free leaflet from a high street chocolate shop eons ago, when such things were rare) with the addition of said beetroot and apple. Looks nothing, tastes good.
Savoury recipe was a bit obvious, really, but it can help if someone else in your kitchen suggests combinations. Pear + Walnut tart with a subtle blue cheese. Great because you can use what is in the fridge, pastry takes no time to do and a mini one is handy for a packed lunch. Any left-over egg/cream can go in to scrambled egg.
A.B.C. Cake.
Cream 4oz caster sugar with 2oz soft margarine or butter until fluffy. Add 1 egg and beat in well. Sieve 1 1/2oz cocoa and 3oz self-raising flour and fold gently in to the mix. Grate 1 apple (peeled) and 1 beetroot and mix together. Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of this to the cake mix. (It needs to slacken the mix, think similar consistency of normal cake mix.)
Transfer to lined 1lb loaf tin. Dot with a few chocolate drops, if liked.
Bake at gas no. 4 for 30 mins. (Aga, on tray, bottom of top oven with solid tray above. Check and turn after 15mins.)
Times are approximate, as all ovens vary and it is a long time since I baked with a conventional cooker.
Enjoy!
Pear and Walnut Tart with Blue Cheese
Hardly a recipe at all.
Line a foil pie dish or flan ring with pastry - I use shortcrust. If you are happier blind-baking it, then do so.
Peel, core and small dice enough pears for dish.
Mix enough egg/cream in a jug to fill dish. 1 egg to about 2-3 fl oz single cream (some milk could be used) is about the right balance.
Chop some walnuts, not too fine.
Cut some soft blue cheese (I like Cambazola) in to small cubes.
Then fill the tart. Pear chunks, then cheese chunks, fill with eggy mix (not too full or it will slosh about and burn in the oven), then top with a sprinkle of walnuts, to taste.
A bit of white pepper on the top works.
If you have a odd spring onion in the salad box, a bit of this could go in the base of the tart.
Bake until done - as you normally would a tart of this kind. In the Aga, it is second shelf up, top oven for ten minutes and keep an eye on it, turning the tray if doing lots of small ones.
Tuesday 20 May 2014
A little sunshine....
Have you noticed just how many bees there are about this year? Few honey bees locally, I admit, but that may just be because our neighbourly apiarist moved house some years back, but bumble bees aplenty in the garden. I was given an identifying card of common types, from our local museum but either we have uncommon varieties or I am just useless at spotting the differences. Enter the point-and-press. This was the first attempt....
and the second.........
...... no, it's not you, I can not see it, either. I not only lack an apiarist's skills but photographic ones, too.
So I picked something a little slower. This may be a lily beetle (although there are no lilies in the garden since vine weevil moved in and ate the bulbs).
A combination of pond and dapples shade (magnolia with plans of world domination) encourages many different hover fly (perhaps there is a reference book somewhere...).
This is one of the many....
Then I got distracted by the wonder of Nature .... isn't this the most perfect flower?
(Broad bean, if you did not recognise it).
Spring is synonymous with new life and this sight rarely lasts more than a day......
And I finally took a picture of a bee.
It may have been tired, or sleeping, or......
.... or maybe on its last legs, but there was time for three goes to get its good side.
At this time, it is still unidentified.....
and the second.........
...... no, it's not you, I can not see it, either. I not only lack an apiarist's skills but photographic ones, too.
So I picked something a little slower. This may be a lily beetle (although there are no lilies in the garden since vine weevil moved in and ate the bulbs).
A combination of pond and dapples shade (magnolia with plans of world domination) encourages many different hover fly (perhaps there is a reference book somewhere...).
This is one of the many....
Then I got distracted by the wonder of Nature .... isn't this the most perfect flower?
(Broad bean, if you did not recognise it).
Spring is synonymous with new life and this sight rarely lasts more than a day......
And I finally took a picture of a bee.
It may have been tired, or sleeping, or......
.... or maybe on its last legs, but there was time for three goes to get its good side.
At this time, it is still unidentified.....
Friday 25 April 2014
eeyore thoughts....
What makes us who we are? Is it Nature or Nurture? Where can we place the blame for our failings? Our parents? Where they lived, their rules for us as we grew up? The schools we attended? Or is it simpler, just Fate, our future written in the stars, dependent on the day and time we were born.
How many people buy a newspaper just to read their horoscopes (and do the crossword, of course)? Both the western and eastern systems of astrology have many followers and both can (and are) debunked as being too general, too vague in their predictions. But is either any more accurate when assessing someone's personality?
Most people have come across the rhyme that starts -
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is......... etc
A piece of doggerel, sung like a lullaby by a mother to her baby, or an inherited way of assessing character? A piece of nonsense chanted by midwives to new mums down the ages?
The verses were first written down (according to Wikipedia) in 1838 but such fortune-telling rhymes were recorded in Suffolk during the late 16th century. A long time for a piece of nonsense to persist.
Just think of all those job application forms blithely filled in with name, address and date of birth. Could this be a cheap, basic way to assess character and suitability for a situation?
I looked at the days some friends and family were born. What a surprise!
Probably just coincidence.
Then I thought about how much we really know about people. Why we are comfortable in some company and yet inexplicably repulsed by others.
This (almost) inevitably leads to deep thoughts of reincarnation, Purgatory and familiar souls .
The weather has turned gloomy and T.P's Reaper Man is calling to lighten the mood.
Time to put the kettle on - and will there be biscuits?
How many people buy a newspaper just to read their horoscopes (and do the crossword, of course)? Both the western and eastern systems of astrology have many followers and both can (and are) debunked as being too general, too vague in their predictions. But is either any more accurate when assessing someone's personality?
Most people have come across the rhyme that starts -
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is......... etc
A piece of doggerel, sung like a lullaby by a mother to her baby, or an inherited way of assessing character? A piece of nonsense chanted by midwives to new mums down the ages?
The verses were first written down (according to Wikipedia) in 1838 but such fortune-telling rhymes were recorded in Suffolk during the late 16th century. A long time for a piece of nonsense to persist.
Just think of all those job application forms blithely filled in with name, address and date of birth. Could this be a cheap, basic way to assess character and suitability for a situation?
I looked at the days some friends and family were born. What a surprise!
Probably just coincidence.
Then I thought about how much we really know about people. Why we are comfortable in some company and yet inexplicably repulsed by others.
This (almost) inevitably leads to deep thoughts of reincarnation, Purgatory and familiar souls .
The weather has turned gloomy and T.P's Reaper Man is calling to lighten the mood.
Time to put the kettle on - and will there be biscuits?
Wednesday 2 April 2014
hissing steam...
Now is the time to sound like an old grump (apologies....)
I remember a time when one (a patient, not a customer) went to the doctors when one was ill. You just turned up and waited, in the Waiting Room and if there were fifteen people already sitting in the faux Chippendale dining chairs, well you found a perch against the wall or went home and either came back next day or recovered. Patient sat opposite doctor, they talked, inspected and then parted, patient faithfully clutching a flimsy script en route to the chemist.
Any kind of socialising was only acceptable if initiated by a doctor who had known ones grandparents.
No receptionists, practise managers, nurses. I don't even remember seeing the secretary, whose main function was, I think, to write letters to various consultants.
Now one is invited for yearly check-ups and is checked-up upon if one fails to make an appointment.
Then the appointment itself. No just turning up at the surgery, one has to follow guidelines as to when one should telephone and then it will be a day - or two- before one sees the doctor (or nurse). After the main reason for going has been dealt with, there will be a quick scan of a computer screen followed by - "Oh, can I just ask you...?" Or "I don't have (this detail) on your record...?" and the unwary will find another ten minutes of Life has just slipped by.
The NHS is a wonderful thing and has always been there and effective whenever me and mine have needed it. But it is forever in the news, lamenting the stress it is under, the cost to the taxpayer, how few doctors/nurses/health professionals there are.
And yet so much time seems to be spent in filling out questionnaires. We are all (mostly) living longer and perhaps ticking all those boxes plays its part in this, but it does irritate me when I am part of a queue waiting to have my blood pressure checked, only to realise the delay is because an enthusiastic white coat is checking through the forms on a computer screen. As my parent would have said, it makes my blood boil!
Now, where did I put those pills?
I remember a time when one (a patient, not a customer) went to the doctors when one was ill. You just turned up and waited, in the Waiting Room and if there were fifteen people already sitting in the faux Chippendale dining chairs, well you found a perch against the wall or went home and either came back next day or recovered. Patient sat opposite doctor, they talked, inspected and then parted, patient faithfully clutching a flimsy script en route to the chemist.
Any kind of socialising was only acceptable if initiated by a doctor who had known ones grandparents.
No receptionists, practise managers, nurses. I don't even remember seeing the secretary, whose main function was, I think, to write letters to various consultants.
Now one is invited for yearly check-ups and is checked-up upon if one fails to make an appointment.
Then the appointment itself. No just turning up at the surgery, one has to follow guidelines as to when one should telephone and then it will be a day - or two- before one sees the doctor (or nurse). After the main reason for going has been dealt with, there will be a quick scan of a computer screen followed by - "Oh, can I just ask you...?" Or "I don't have (this detail) on your record...?" and the unwary will find another ten minutes of Life has just slipped by.
The NHS is a wonderful thing and has always been there and effective whenever me and mine have needed it. But it is forever in the news, lamenting the stress it is under, the cost to the taxpayer, how few doctors/nurses/health professionals there are.
And yet so much time seems to be spent in filling out questionnaires. We are all (mostly) living longer and perhaps ticking all those boxes plays its part in this, but it does irritate me when I am part of a queue waiting to have my blood pressure checked, only to realise the delay is because an enthusiastic white coat is checking through the forms on a computer screen. As my parent would have said, it makes my blood boil!
Now, where did I put those pills?
Thursday 13 March 2014
fungi?
Just a quick post today.......
Tidying the garden after winter, picking up leaves and cutting back the old seed heads and stems, I found what looked at first like old, rotted rose buds, but I don't think so.
There is a similarity to the shape, hmm?
So I checked my trusty Collins gem guide to mushrooms and there was one like it, the Collared Earthstar.
Of course, that picture was taken in the autumn, when the fungi was fresh, not dried and shrivelled like mine.
Also it gives the habitat as on chalk (my garden is almost pure sand) and under beech trees (this was under the magnolia).
So is it, or isn't it?
Any ideas.......?
Tidying the garden after winter, picking up leaves and cutting back the old seed heads and stems, I found what looked at first like old, rotted rose buds, but I don't think so.
There is a similarity to the shape, hmm?
(Sorry, just realised my point-and-press has focused on the fence!)
So I checked my trusty Collins gem guide to mushrooms and there was one like it, the Collared Earthstar.
Of course, that picture was taken in the autumn, when the fungi was fresh, not dried and shrivelled like mine.
Also it gives the habitat as on chalk (my garden is almost pure sand) and under beech trees (this was under the magnolia).
So is it, or isn't it?
Any ideas.......?
Thursday 6 March 2014
green and eco-friendly...
This week was all about pancakes, but in our house pancakes, like ashes, are gone before you notice. So the camera came out for muffins instead.
We all love muffins, any excuse to eat cake for breakfast, yes? As an exercise in using up bits and bobs in the fridge, Frugal Muffins also give a warm, inter glow that has little to do with the addition of ground ginger to the mix.
A nearly-empty packet of spirulina powder has been lurking on a shelf for some months and I pondered if this wonder stuff would work in a muffin. Trying to make this breakfast staple as healthy as possible, I always add jumbo oats, fruit, minimal sugar and use sunflower oil and skimmed milk (although hazelnut milk is rather tasty). Then top with either sunflower or pumpkin seeds. And the obligatory ground ginger, of course.
Have you come across spirulina powder before? It is green. Very green. Also, the powder is very fine and can spread further than icing sugar if handled unwarily. My hand looked like the Hulk. The muffins could have been his favourite snack.
Green. Very green.
I ate the first one with my eyes shut.
Tasted fine.
Second try with the green stuff, there was half an apple in the fridge so grated that and added cocoa powder, reasoning the brown would dominate in the mix.
Looked a bit like a pond in winter, slimy with a hint of, yes, green.
When cooked, they looked a bit better. A kind of duckety-mud.
Not sure if the white chocolate drops were a good idea, but they tasted good. (I managed to keep my eyes open this time.)
Now for a change, a non-green variety. There is a spoon of spicy marmalade in a ramakin and a little leftover filling from some Eccles cakes I made the other day, also some orange syrup from a jar of preserved Seville orange peel and a few home-preserved sweet chestnuts that need finishing off. It just needs some dried cranberries, maybe, or.........
Is it me, or do they look just a tiny bit boring.......?.....
We all love muffins, any excuse to eat cake for breakfast, yes? As an exercise in using up bits and bobs in the fridge, Frugal Muffins also give a warm, inter glow that has little to do with the addition of ground ginger to the mix.
A nearly-empty packet of spirulina powder has been lurking on a shelf for some months and I pondered if this wonder stuff would work in a muffin. Trying to make this breakfast staple as healthy as possible, I always add jumbo oats, fruit, minimal sugar and use sunflower oil and skimmed milk (although hazelnut milk is rather tasty). Then top with either sunflower or pumpkin seeds. And the obligatory ground ginger, of course.
Have you come across spirulina powder before? It is green. Very green. Also, the powder is very fine and can spread further than icing sugar if handled unwarily. My hand looked like the Hulk. The muffins could have been his favourite snack.
Green. Very green.
I ate the first one with my eyes shut.
Tasted fine.
Second try with the green stuff, there was half an apple in the fridge so grated that and added cocoa powder, reasoning the brown would dominate in the mix.
Looked a bit like a pond in winter, slimy with a hint of, yes, green.
When cooked, they looked a bit better. A kind of duckety-mud.
Not sure if the white chocolate drops were a good idea, but they tasted good. (I managed to keep my eyes open this time.)
Now for a change, a non-green variety. There is a spoon of spicy marmalade in a ramakin and a little leftover filling from some Eccles cakes I made the other day, also some orange syrup from a jar of preserved Seville orange peel and a few home-preserved sweet chestnuts that need finishing off. It just needs some dried cranberries, maybe, or.........
Is it me, or do they look just a tiny bit boring.......?.....
Saturday 1 February 2014
Snow - drops and flakes
A few days away at this time of year is a delight. Sun, sea and sand, hmm? Not necessarily. The Lake district, for example, has its own smile factor. The place names for instance. Ling, Unthank (Skelton and End), Johnby, Blencow (that comma is not a mistake), Maulds Meaburn and Greystoke. There are also two nearby villages, Wellington and Boot!
Then the weather. Yes, there is rain, but also rainbows. We saw a squashed one tucked in a valley, looking like a six-layered liquorice allsort on its side. And we had sunshine. Out early, driving west along Bassenthwaite Lake, the sun rose in the rear view mirror, sparkling pinkly on the snow which lightly dusted Skiddaw.
Wildlife was scarce, it being winter (and cold) but not all the pheasants had succumbed to the autumn shoot and there were lots of black birds - not sure which, but as I have heard of 'rookery' but not 'crowery' I suspect the former. Then there was a dark corner in a graveyard in Carlise, illuminated with random clumps of early snowdrops.
Even shopping was a pleasant experience. Locals smile 'good morning' and there are bargains to be had - over trousers, gloves and even a hat!
And surprisingly,celebrity spotting is also possible.....
Next time you need a break, leave the passport (intentionally) at home...
Then the weather. Yes, there is rain, but also rainbows. We saw a squashed one tucked in a valley, looking like a six-layered liquorice allsort on its side. And we had sunshine. Out early, driving west along Bassenthwaite Lake, the sun rose in the rear view mirror, sparkling pinkly on the snow which lightly dusted Skiddaw.
Wildlife was scarce, it being winter (and cold) but not all the pheasants had succumbed to the autumn shoot and there were lots of black birds - not sure which, but as I have heard of 'rookery' but not 'crowery' I suspect the former. Then there was a dark corner in a graveyard in Carlise, illuminated with random clumps of early snowdrops.
Even shopping was a pleasant experience. Locals smile 'good morning' and there are bargains to be had - over trousers, gloves and even a hat!
And surprisingly,celebrity spotting is also possible.....
Next time you need a break, leave the passport (intentionally) at home...
Thursday 9 January 2014
Essential season extras - part 2
I know the festive season is over, but the weather has been erratic, everyone I know (including me) is or has been suffering with cold/flu (probably the same bug, just varying in intensity) and it is nice to remember pre-sniffle days.
So,
4. Mince pies have to make an appearance and if you took time to do homemade mincemeat in the autumn, all the tastier. (Home made also means you can leave out the suet (so low fat) and adjust the sugar (so lower calorie.)
5. Some years ago I stumbled on a recipe for anchovy butter (sometimes known as Gentleman's Relish) so, as my brother is a fan, I made some and gave him a pot along with some of the commercial product.
Taste the difference, I said.
Both good, was the verdict.
Now the recipe is an essential on the festive to do list.
6. However kitsch it may be, this time of year cries out for some green, red and white, even if it is only the red of embarrassment, the green face of the morning-after-the-night-before and the glass of something fizzy and white to settle the excesses.
But isn't this is prettier?
7. And a roaring log fire. (An open one is best, but that takes photographic skill...)
8. A bonus is the unexpected gift of colour in the garden. Usually it is a rose in bud, Brother Cadfael being the most dependable, but this year it was a nasal memory kick with unexpected purple hyacinths.
Happy birthday, Dad.
So,
4. Mince pies have to make an appearance and if you took time to do homemade mincemeat in the autumn, all the tastier. (Home made also means you can leave out the suet (so low fat) and adjust the sugar (so lower calorie.)
5. Some years ago I stumbled on a recipe for anchovy butter (sometimes known as Gentleman's Relish) so, as my brother is a fan, I made some and gave him a pot along with some of the commercial product.
Taste the difference, I said.
Both good, was the verdict.
Now the recipe is an essential on the festive to do list.
Also Cranberry sauce here, with a jar of (unsuccessful) sweet chestnuts.
6. However kitsch it may be, this time of year cries out for some green, red and white, even if it is only the red of embarrassment, the green face of the morning-after-the-night-before and the glass of something fizzy and white to settle the excesses.
But isn't this is prettier?
7. And a roaring log fire. (An open one is best, but that takes photographic skill...)
8. A bonus is the unexpected gift of colour in the garden. Usually it is a rose in bud, Brother Cadfael being the most dependable, but this year it was a nasal memory kick with unexpected purple hyacinths.
Happy birthday, Dad.
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