What to watch, what to read

I love finding new recipes, so while TH has been away i've been snuggled up cosy on the rocking chair making lists.

Daisy on my lap and just staring at the pictures and occasionally reading how to actually make it.

I love that when it gets colder we all go back to nursery food and i love knowing that there is something in the oven or slow cooker

I know what i want to cook.

I know what i want to bake.

I know just need to know when i will find the time!

I love the shows on T.V. right now about Autumn, i remember watching the Valentine Warner one a few years back and getting his cookbook then.  Cyclical-just the way i love it!

Tea Perhaps?

I've had some very good luck recently.  While working through our laundry pile I found some old unused, long forgotten vouchers for our favourite hotel in Aberdeen.

We went there for Valentines weekend last year and had so much fun.

We hung out in the drawing room reading papers and drinking tea.  We walked around the grounds, came back again and sat down to drink yet more tea.

We sat in the lounge and spoke to the First Minister (only for a short while mind).

We spent so much time just chatting to each other.

We ate nice meals and rested...away from any stress...

and when we came home we felt better and planned for our next trip, we told everyone how much fun we had and that Christmas we got some vouchers to go back....that is until they got lost in the move...

UNTIL NOW....!

Some tea and cake perhaps?

Time to Hibernate!

I am beyond excited that we are now into proper Autumn viewing and all for the lovely adverts for all of the best shows are starting again.

I know the Bake Off can put me in a great mood!  It is most certainly time to start moving back indoors and getting cosy as it gets darker earlier each evening. 

Don't tell me!

I have recorded The Mary Berry Story so that I can sit in peace and watch it tonight all at once.  I've seen some mixed reviews of it from papers and things, but I do adore her! 

The Great Comic Relief Bake Off

I have loved every episode of this show!!

The funniest thing i have seen in ages!

Can't wait to buy the booklet!  Job WELL DONE!

Snowy Weekends and Kitchen Plans

The radio this morning told me that more snow was coming, well actually, that “blizzards are to batter the North East.” We were also told to phone in when we saw the first flakes, and were reminded that the other end of the country has a red warning. I wanted to reply that yes snow can be disruptive, it can be dangerous, and it can be a pest, but we are not children that need to be told to wear our mittens, and not go out at play time. Surely this is not the way it has always been? Surely people actually kept calm and carried on instead of screeching it at the top of their voices from their car as they over take you on a bend in a snow storm? “Oh dear, the roads are bad, I must rush home as fast as I can to be safe!!”
This weekend I intend to be inside, safe and warm. I will toast crumpets and keep toasty. I will read specific chapters of books that contain any reference to snow. I have already started to re-read The Wind in the Willows, one of my favourite books, even if it is aimed at little ones.


TH is making a loaf and we will gorge on soup and warm bread this weekend. I would love to get into the kitchen and start the baking I always promise myself I will make time for. I would like to pull all of the things I need to make marmalade together and use the kitchen I fell in love with when we first saw the property. The garden needs work, but it will be hidden in a whirl of flakes, and I don’t believe you can be cross with a warm tummy full of good things.

My October

October is wonderful and if put into list form in my head (which I invariably do) you’d find it above March, which is The Husbands Birthday month and May, which is my own. You’d find it above all months and it would reign supreme, even above February which has Valentines Day, because October is the loveliest of months being the anniversary of our wedding day.

In October 2008 we wed on a particularly windy day. Bells were rung and toasts made and four years down the line we still love the look and feel of Autumn and are very glad that we made our wedding day right in the middle of it.

This October is different from the last as 2011 was full of trips away for TH, searches for a new job and a bit of uncertainty. The whole family has made similar comments at differing times after contemplation and we have all mentioned how last year we weren’t very festive. We didn’t do anything for Halloween, Bonfire Night, St Andrews Day or much in the run up to Christmas. This year is and will be very different and we have truly been blessed so far. Even with renewed energy to overcome anything in the future if things get hectic again.

This October we all feel like we are seeing things for the first time. We are having a small Halloween get together with some friends, and a joint Bonfire and Birthday Party at the beginning of next month. I have looked out the half finished Christmas projects of last year and I’m planning to use these to get ahead with some pretty home made decorations. (Although we may be moving we can still tinsel up the boxes!)

This October is wonderful because we have already been taking full advantage of the weather staying so calm for so long with very little exception. The nights get dark but TH and I are keen to head out directly after work to kick leaves and collect conkers not nibbled by squirrels.

The dark nights make me want to root around to the back of the cupboard for the slow cooker, I want roasts, I want crumble, I want s’mores!

So that’s our October, the very little plans that I have put here, but you know what? I'm so at peace. I believe that I have had time to rest, recuperate and start a fresh.

Some bakes....gone wrong!

Ooops, guess i should have rolled out the dough a wee bit more

And tidied the kitchen too 

And not eaten soo many as testers....and stayed within the lines.... 

But the main thing is...um, whats the main thing? 

Oh...yes, now i do remember...That it got me playing with my new icing set.  That it got me some ME time in the warm, sweet smelling kitchen with my Christmas CD.  That it was the first time i have baked in a long, long...LONG time.  And it was good fun.

Now to throw these guys out and start again, maybe a wee cuppy first!

New book!

I got this fab book over the weekend and have not been able to put it down!  DH bought it for me as a treat...YAY!

I always take the jacket off of books, and underneath is just as pretty.  It will go very nicely on my baking books shelf.

I love almost everything inside it, as its proper old fashioned baking, I can't wait to show my home bakes off to you all!

Have a grand ol' Tuesday, DH and I are going for tea tonight as we are both a bit poorly at the moment and can't be bothered to do a thing!

Sheila

Autumnal days off

Good morning, how are you today? Isn’t it well and truly Autumnal outside? Yesterday was so cold and blustery that while picking brambles Daisy Dog and I had to make a hasty retreat inside, lest we be swept over a cliff edge into the roaring sea! Needless to say not many brambles made it into the crumble!!

Today seems much sunnier outside, one of those, “oh it does LOOK nice, but don’t go outside or you will FREEZE” days! It is lovely and bright to have a peek through the window at though-which is a massive change from yesterday, I had to go about lighting candles at mid day. I have been wrapping myself up in eiderdowns, bedspreads and duvets as the house is starting to get cold in the morning and fearing that its going to be another winter like last, in a much bigger house, I feel like id like to keep the heating off for as long as possible. The husband cares much less than I do, which is odd as I get cold so easily, I'm sure I was always destined to live in Kefalonia.

So being inside on a very rare day off I gave myself leave to do exactly what I like. This morning to far ive sat in bed rereading Pride and Prejudice as I thought I needed some romantic motivation in my life, I've also listened to my beloved BBC Radio 3, and done a little bit of online shopping. If the day ended now I would happily say it was a great one!

Its all part of my ‘Getting Ready for Christmas-little and often’ buying plan-so its not really like treating myself, well except for the one teeny tiny book I bought myself.  I had reserved Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer at the local library, but the copy had went missing before I could actually get it, and so seeing as it would be much too awkward to go and collect it from another district, I decided to treat myself.  I got it from the Hawkins Toyshop and so it was only £8, and as I needed to get a couple of cute little stocking fillers for my nephews and niece I thought it would be a great opportunity to really do the whole ‘little and often’ thing!  I have bought two as I know someone who would love it too, following on from my last post I could start my own Great British Bake Off with my friend!  I also got these super adorable paper chains, which I thought I could mix in with some especially Christmas ones, which are a bit more expensive, to make them go a bit longer.  I know it will look great on the Welsh Dresser we’ll be getting next month.

Now I'm off to the Post Office to get some vegtables so that I can make some life restoring soup, and properly snuggle down for the rest of the day!

Bye for now,
Sheila
x

Luing adventures and too little time

 Oh dear, it seems as if Mark and I only just set off to the Isle of Luing to visit one of our dearest friends. Now we are back in Aberdeen and our home seems so quiet and empty. I feel as if my heart will break i am so far from Catherine and her lovely family. When we were in Luing there was so much to do, we had to feed the chickens each day, and make visits all over the Isle, now i'm at home and i feel as if i still need to be baking enough to feed a small army.  It was an amazing time and one of deep thought.  Our family really don't have a lot of time to ourselves to really just sit and think in the wide open.  It was great to go somewhere to quiet and still and have this time to ourselves.  It was an extra advantage that we did it at the start of a new year where we could promise ourselves we would continue to take that time for ourselves.

Catherine invited us over to the beautiful Isle of Luing, and after Christmas time and how busy we have been for the latter half of 2008 it seemed like the perfect idea. Our wedding photographs haven't arrived yet, so as Catherine was one of the most dutiful bridesmaids i could ever be lucky enough to have, she had plenty of beautiful pictures to keep me delighted and fill all of the gorgeous frames that were given as wedding presents. I have to say that i am always excited when Catherine takes a trip to Aberdeen, as i can get baking and bring out my lovely tea sets which stay hidden away all too often.

Our scrummy cake....and all of the trimmings.

 Our friends stay in the most beautiful home, as you can see, and we're hoping to get lots of trips to see them as Summer draws nearer. That way i can help Catherine settle in more, as although it will have been a year that they've stayed there. as a busy Mother, there never seems to be any end to some jobs! Mark and I took delight in making a meal for Catherine and her family. We started off with some potatoe skins, filled with lots of naughty cheese and ham, then we had some of Marks delicious lasagna, and then our cake for pudding.

Daisy had so much fun exploring the Island, she has never been able to run about so much in her life. She was terrible on a number of occasions and came running back to me covered in mud! It was lovely to be able to let her off and see her explore all around.

While in Luing Catherine and I got baking while the boys went out and looked after the farm. These are some of the cows that Mark was feeding each morning. Poor Mark isn't so used to all the work he did, but it has made him ever so healthy, and i guess will be a wonderful way to keep up all of those New Year promises. I do love Mary Poppins title for those kinds of promise- Pie Crust Promises, easily made, easily broken!

The Island is so amazing, its a completely different way of living. I wish i did more walking around as there was so much to see.

The Husband and I did have some time to ourselves. We looked about in an old slate quarry and visited Oban a couple of times. I love all of the second hand shops there as i love some of the books you can find, and they do seem to have many more independent shops which i just adore. We don't seem to have as many of those in Aberdeen. Mark bought me lots of old books about housekeeping which i love. They are by Elizabeth Craig, who i think must have been the Martha Stewart of her day! He also bought be the most beautiful set for doing my nails. Its pink and floral-he knows how to please a girl!

Catherine has promised to visit us soon, which i am excited about, and until then i think i will just have to run up a rather large phone bill