Crab Apple Jelly

Our beautiful little home has a fabulous big lawn with beautiful flower garden and fruit trees. Through the archway at the back is the landlord's orchard in which we have been given free reign to pick whatever we like...

 I hate seeing things go to waste so have recently been making apple pies and apple sauce but without the family around to feed, I just have to stop cooking. However, the other day I found that the crab apple tree was laden with fruit ready for picking.

 There is something so satisfying about cooking the produce from your land. (well, someone else's land technically but we wont split hairs).

 I haven't made crab apple jelly before but the end result looks great.  Like most jams it just takes fruit, sugar and lemon juice, a lot of boiling, some skimming and then you're done. I did feel a bit sick pouring all that sugar into the pot when I have been so busy trying to keep sugar OUT of our food, but the end result is so beautiful.  Satisfaction is a beautiful jar of homemade jam.

A day in York

Yesterday I went to York. It's an easy 1.5 hour journey from Peterborough on the train.  I went because David was off to a meeting there and I thought we might be able to catch up for lunch, didn't happen.  However, I had a great day mooching around on my own.  Thankfully I had worn my leather jacket as it was cold even at 10am when I arrived. My first mission was to find a cafe with GOOD coffee.  I was distracted as I passed the museum gates (one of my possibilities for the day) by a sign advertising a guided walk at 10.30am.  That was it! I now knew what I'd be doing for the next couple of hours. I whipped across the road and found a fab deli/cafe  Cabra Verde. I just had a coffee but it was great and the cakes and treats on display looked very tempting but for once I was good. This will be a place to return to on future visits.

Back to the park gates where I met up with John, a lovely retired man who is passionate about York, literature, history and coins (I'm sure he had many other hobbies too but we didn't have time to get onto those!!).  John charged the man standing next to me for my ticket as well before I explained that we were not together - the man looked very relieved! I love these sorts of tours because you find out so many fun facts that you would never know about just walking around with a guide book.  And so we set off on the Snickets, Ginnels and Walls tour with John who had an old leather satchel out of which he pulled coins found in actual sites around York, old books, photos and maps. He had stories of famous people from York, including Judi Dench (one of my favourite actresses) whose career started in York. Having worked at the library and then as a tour guide in the Minster, John had a wealth of information about the place. We visited the Kings Manor (below) where Henry VIII stayed when in York. We even got to see York's tiniest window which is said to be where the king's bathroom was. One of the fun things was that he pointed out many places where the city has been altered to meet tourists expectations. Tourism is York's major industry and the town was full of thousands of them yesterday.  But John  had photographic evidence of streets that were asphalted in the 50's and now are cobble stoned, once derelict buildings now prettied up to look like marvelous old shops and even one of the town entrance arches bearing arrow slits facing into the town (really, they were going to shoot their own?), where previously there had been arched windows - again verified by old artwork. It was a fun 2 and a bit hours and John was a great guide.
The rest of my afternoon I wandered the streets, checked out a few lovely stores and walked a part of the city wall. The walkway around the city wall did not exist when the wall was first built (thank you John for the info).  Apparently, wooden scaffold would be used on the inside of the city wall so that if the wall was breached the scaffold could be pulled away so that the enemy faced a large drop. It wasn't until ladies in crinolines started visiting York that the walkway was built for them to take in the views of the city and its surrounds.
It was back to the train station and the 16.02 to Peterborough. David jumped aboard at the last minute so we got to enjoy the ride home together, mostly through fields, some still being harvested, nice views, sunshine, sleepiness. We are loving the train travel, so comfortable, easy and FAST.
And my favourite sign of the day.......

Burghley Horse Trials

Waking up it was wet, wet, wet outside so we weren't sure what the day would hold when we were going to an outdoor event.  However hard it had rained overnight though, it managed to rain itself out and we ended up with a dry day that got warmer and warmer as it progressed.  We set off to Burghley around 9am and took the back roads in and across the fields of the estate. We are still amazed by the numbers of people that are at events. Apparently 160,000 people go to the horse trials over a 4 day period so its pretty busy.  We went on Saturday which is the cross country event day so there would have been around 40,000 people there.  It is quite spectacular. 
The event itself doesn't start till 11am but prior to that everyone heads to the shops and the score boards. Serious money is spent there!! It was fabulous to look at and very tempting.... you could buy anything related to horses  from clothing, boots, hats, to horse equipment and feed, horse trailers, and then there was everything unrelated but that would make you look fabulous anyway, Rolex watches, Aga ovens (go figure - "I brought my Aga at Burghley"), designer jewellery, cashmere clothing, leather everything and the list went on. I think my favourite thing was the alpaca scarves in the most beautiful colours and the finest weave.  I should have taken a few more shots of the fashion for the day, often involving tweed, hunter boots and sleeveless quilted vests.  There were some fabulous suits, but we couldn't choose which one suited His lordship the best.
Next to the shopping were the food outlets and oh my, there was some amazing goodies there. Massive wheels of cheese, amazing pies filled with wonderful concoctions, juices, cakes, fudges, the biggest meringues you have EVER seen (yes we did share one and it was delicious but oh so sweet). I settled on paella and David had a wonderful pie with mash to warm us up for the start of the event.
 Basically we walked the course and it took us the rest of the day. The course is about 6.5km long, up and down hills, with a couple of areas with big screen TV's to watch the action. I am so glad I have watched this all on TV before coming because when you are on the course you only see one rider for no more than about 20 seconds as they appear down the track, leap what jump or jumps are there and then thunder past you. It is all thrilling, but you then have to wait another 5 minutes for the next horse and rider.  We sat down by one of the big screens and it was great to see the rider coming through the preceding jumps and then heading onto the next ones.

 The things that struck me most was that these were some seriously courageous people riding these horses, the horses are all big but some of them are MASSIVE.  A couple fell off and one rode past with a bloody nose and then another one nearly lost it right in front of us and managed to hang onto the horse's neck and drag himself back on. Real adrenaline pumping action.
We walked along an avenue with the plaques of past winners.  It was very cool to see the Kiwi riders in there and particularly Mark Todd who is around 60 and was still competing that day - we gave him a good old Kiwi cheer as he went past. He is an amazing athlete to have competed at the top level of his sport for 25 years or more. There are not many sports that you can do that.
 
We had a great day, we were thoroughly exhausted at the end but we had a Pimms to sustain us half way round so it was all very manageable.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

We had booked this weekend a while ago. That doesn't mean that too much was planned other than time off and tickets to shows. However, we like the mix of random and organised. Last Friday we left Peterborough around 9am and on the way decided we should stop somewhere about half way for a good break, food and a walk, it's about a 5.5 hour journey to Glasgow.  The first stop was for food at Cross Lanes Organic Farm.  We had spied this place from the road last time we travelled home from Scotland.  It might be the location or it could have been the grass roof with the sheep grazing on it that caught our eye.  It's a great building; positioned for the sun, grass roof one side, glass roof the other, hay bale building with reed water filtering system and best of all great food and coffee. Not to be forgotten is the organic meats, food and cheeses - some of which we had to take to Scotland with us.

After replenishing we crossed the road and drove into Barnard Castle, yes, that's the name of the town but there is a castle, or was, there.  We love walking around castle ruins, getting an impression of the size and how people used to live. This one would have been cold to live in but with stunning views up and over the river (great for spotting the enemy I guess). The town itself was gorgeous, this is definitely a good stopping point for us on our journeys north and next time we will head to the Bowes Museum for a visit.

As soon as we hit the border we headed into the worst rain we've been in since a tropical downpour in Queensland but it cleared quickly and the drive through to Glasgow and our very welcoming family was easy from there.
The next day we were up early and off to Edinburgh with the family. We took the park and ride option as there is such limited parking in Edinburgh.  We drove to Edinburgh airport and caught the tram into the centre of town for £3 return. The full tram was a good indicator of the volume of people in the city. They were everywhere! We had booked 5 events for the day. 

The first would have to be the standout for it's passion and intensity. I, Elizabeth is a 90 minute monologue of the actual words of Elizabeth 1. Rebecca Vaughan was a totally convincing queen and so passionate that she even had tears and snot (not nice but appropriate to the performance). A totally WOW show and had the 4 of us captivated from start to finish. This was followed by a photographic exhibition then kiwi, Jane Ashton's musical Promise and Promiscuity - a totally captivating energetic one woman show for anyone who enjoys Jane Austen.

We needed sustenance after the show and found ourselves at a fabulous place for lunch,  56 North.  It just so happens that this place has the largest selection of gins in Scotland, over a hundred from all over the world. Three of us selected our gins, then our mixer (yes there was a range of tonics) and then our garnish. It was a delightful lunchtime sip and was accompanied by a beautiful Ploughams Platter, yum indeed!


Late afternoon we went to the Assembly Hall at Mound Place which is in itself a fascinating building, and there we watched 5 guys and 1 girl throw themselves all round the stage and up in the air in Traces.  Their strength and agility was amazing. great show for David who happened to pick the seat which was at the end of their mats and where he was sometimes accompanied by a catcher in case they misjudged their tumbles. We tried to find somewhere for dinner but everything was booked out, we hadn't thought that one through, so we had to make do with fish and chips in a tiny chippie. That meal lead up to our final show which was a Nina Simone tribute, Soul Sessions. I really enjoyed it because I loved the story interwoven with the songs but it wasn't everyone's cup of tea.  At the end of all that we took ourselves back to Glasgow the way we had come and got in around 11.30pm. All exhausted.

Day Two dawned sunny yet again, the predicted rain disappeared and we enjoyed another superb day wandering Edinburgh.  This time we had nothing booked but we had the gorgeous Annie (another intrepid Kiwi) instead of the Scottish cousins, to accompany us for the day.  We wanted to just see the sights and we did; a book festival, numerous street performers (my pick would be Simeon Baker, a young Aussie percussion guitarist), people people and more people, the smallest pub, the groovy 70's caravan, a pub with our name - too full to go in, a castle (actually THE castle), beautiful houses, tweed shops, gardens and balconies, fabulous spaces to sit, and great food.                                            

   We finished the day satisfied that we had seen enough to fill us up for a while to come.  We are in love with Edinburgh and will go back to continue the journey......

Campanology, gave it a go!

This trip of ours was supposed to be about new adventures but you know, new adventures don't just happen, you need to be purposeful about making them, taking the first step and embracing them. You might not believe me but I can get myself into a pickle before I start something new.  However, last night I put myself out there and ended up having a great night.
I was recently inspired by my friend Amber who had a go and entered her jam in a local show in Australia; she even got a prize! Our local village gardening and craft show is coming up but as I have no cooking delights to offer, I am going to enter in the photographic competition, the theme is village life.
My idea for my village life picture was to go and photograph the campanologists hard at work; the local bell ringers. I had no idea what I was going to see or what they would be like but I had the nicest evening and even got a quick lesson and rang a bell myself. Not just any old bell, a 350 year old bell in a church that is centuries old, built on top of Roman ruins.
I'm not sure if my photos will win any prizes, I don't know that I captured anything special last night  (picture wise) but I met a lovely bunch of people who did their very best to convince me that I needed to join them regularly, even plying me with wine afterwards at the Prince of Wales Feathers. I might just do that!
Here's a few quick shots, one of the team even snapped me having a go.

Queen of Faffing

Let's set the record straight. The Queen of Faffing is not a beautiful country pub just down the road, nor is she a quaint thatched roof cottage.  No, this Queen of Faffing is me! That's right. Hard to believe, but true.
"What have you been up to today", my beloved innocently asked on our way home after he'd slaved away all day on his hot little computer.
I wanted to answer honestly but felt that my response was not really sufficient to account for the 10 hours since I'd last seen him. So I paused for a moment before giving him my response.
"I think I have perfected the art of faffing".
He looked at me......
It's true. I can easily while away a day doing not very much at all.  In fact on that particular day I'd washed the sheets, dried them, ironed them (yes, I DO iron my sheets, a much nicer finish on the bed I think), and remade the bed.  Currently we wanderers only have one pair of sheets so this all needs to be completed on great weather days, requiring coordination skills. I even did a second load of laundry, washed, dried, ironed, folded and stored. I checked up on my FB friends around the world, relationship building is important. I looked for a job, really, I did but nothing took my fancy.  In between I may have pulled a few weeds, though not enough to get my hands dirty or to make a large pile of weeds. I talked to the chooks who have decided my garden is a lovely scratching place, and tidied the cushions on my couch and well, that's about it. All that in 10 hours.
Seriously, I need to get a job but I am wondering, now that I have perfected the art of faffing, how will I fit in any work?

Fort William to Inverness

We had a few days with not much to do so decided to drive. We ordered a hire car  from Easirent.  DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT ever hire a car from Easirent. To be fair, we did warn Easirent that we would tell all our friends that we would NOT recommend them or use their services again. Not sure why we had selected them anyway, they looked the cheapest but once we got to their desk the costs started to add up.  We had no choice but to take this car but really........ Anyway, the least said the better about Easirent.

We headed for Tyngrum taking a break at The Green Welly Stop.  This place can't be recommended for it's food but it has clean rest rooms, petrol, a fabulous shop that has Scottish goodies (shortbread, whiskey and lollies) and a great range of outdoor clothing and accessories plus good phone reception.  This was important as I had timed our stop to coincide with a job interview, only interrupted once by a fighter jet flying directly overhead, so loud that I couldn't be heard!! Interview complete we headed off again and on to Fort William where we stayed at a fabulous B & B, Buccleuch Guesthouse.  This was 5 star but at a reduced rate online so we feel like we got a great bargain.  It was sumptuous to say the least and that influenced our decision to stay for a second night.  The service, food and the bed were fantastic - think Grandma's feather bed covered in luxury linen. 

Fort William is a small town but a hub for loads of activities.  It is where the West Highland Way ends (we will walk that before we leave) and the road out of town leads to castles, bens, lochs.  Eateries are few and far between but we managed to find a pub with reasonable meals and a deck to sit on to watch the sun go down.

Our first stop next day was the Caledonian Canal where we laced up our walking boots and hit the track up beside the canal.  We were really fortunate to see a boat just starting to go into the lock at Neptune's Staircase.  We stayed around and watched it move up a couple of locks. Patience required. We missed a turn off but as you can just keep walking alongside the canal we still had an enjoyable walk before heading back to the car. 

Next we were off to Mallaigh.  On the way we stopped at Glenfinnan and climbed the hill to view the viaduct on one side (aka Harry Potter's viaduct) and the monument at the top of Loch Shiel where Bonnie Prince Charlie rallied his troops.  The monument was closed and it was bitterly cold on the top of the hill so we headed off again, not before smiling for the Google Maps photographer, and enjoyed the spectacular scenery on our way to Mallaigh. It is a tiny port town, filled with tiny coloured fishing boats and the large ferries that provide transportation to the Isle of Skye. We had left our run a bit late that day and the weather didn't look so good for staying the next day on Skye so we had some lunch and a quick look through the shops and headed back to Fort William.

On the way we diverted to look at Loch Morar, Scotland's deepest loch. It was magnificent in its isolation. A few houses on the shores but no one to be seen. It's so hard to capture the colours (various shades of brown mainly), the light and the sky but it was all really intense and would be a fantastic place to just get away from everything.
Day Two we headed north out of Fort William with our first stop at Fort Augustus. This is another beautiful little town on the Caledonian canal. We watched more boats going through the locks there. Not too far on from Fort Augustus was our favourite castle so far, Urquhart Castle. 

Actually it's not a complete castle because it was totally ransacked in the 1500's (and apparently since then by locals for their use!). It's now in the care of Historic Scotland and it is has a great display in the visitor centre but also what is left of the castle gives you a great idea of its proportions. There are plenty parts that you can climb up, and the views of Loch Ness, which it overlooks, are just stunning. The only siting we had was of a lone motorboat, dwarfed by the size of the loch.
From there we drove up the side of the loch to Inverness where we stayed in a B&B on the banks of the river.  After a long walk around the town centre we found a fabulous Italian restaurant, Riva. They had a selected early evening menu which we thoroughly enjoyed. We finished it all off with the best cup of coffee we had had to that point in Scotland.  The barista was new to the job that night but he nailed it - real coffee made well - a satisfying end to the day.

  

Some Stamford Treasures

NOW I've found my new favourite place, Stamford. This is the prettiest town we have come across yet, though there is plenty of competition! Stamford is picturesque with a river, bridges, old old old houses, cricket in the green, water lilies (think Monet) cobbled roads, Wisteria strewn walls, stunning gardens, vibrant shopping and of course it's own beautiful churches. However to be fair, most towns whether large or small have a beautiful church or at least ruins from a church.

Walking up a street we passed ASK Italian and spied through the huge windows someone tucking into a lunch that looked too good to pass up. It was a little chilly outside so it was nice to step inside to a sunny and warm interior.  We were whisked to a table up by the kitchen and before long our Butterfly King Prawns were sizzling away in front of us.  We also ordered a rocket salad, with parmesan and balsamic, and olives. These were some of the best prawns we have had in a long time and that's saying something when we have come from the land of King Prawns (Australia).  They came in a small sizzling hot cast iron pan which had been drizzled with olive oil and then had rounds of baguette placed in the bottom that had turned crispy by the time they were ready to eat. I succumbed to the bread, it was too much for my will power. We finished our lunch with a well made macchiato each, just the right way to end our meal.
We have since returned to ASK Italian and had the prawns again pre a dinner of pasta for Number One and a beautiful chicken salad for me. We were not disappointed the second time or the third time we went back. I think this restaurant is definitely a favourite for nice clean tastes, great atmosphere and excellent service.

Finding the Wildwood

There are so many beautiful villages within a one hour drive of us that I am not sure we will ever get to see them all.  However we recently repeated a great experience by heading to Oakham for lunch.  The first time we had been was a Saturday and the town was alive with markets, people and loads of great little shops to explore. However, that is not the case on a Sunday! Only a couple of shops open, no markets, no people but we did find the Wildwood Kitchen which we had spied on our previous visit.  This looked like a great place to stop for lunch and we were right. After striking up conversation with the people on the next table we were reassured that this was a good decision, their meals looked good and they gave them the thumbs up.

There was pasta, pizza, burgers and more on the menu. We were both after something tasty so both ended up having burgers; a lamb and chorizo one for my man and a deconstructed portobello mushroom and haloumi one for me.  There was no fuss when I asked for the burger less the bun and I think I got some extra salad as well. I am amused that in the UK we have only found Haloumi deep fried. In Australia we eat it grilled (on the Barbie) or pan fried (with no fat). Here's an opportunity to reduce some fat on the plate!
We sat at a table in the front window of the restaurant which gave me sun on my back, a view of the cooking in the wood fired oven plus a chance to people watch on the pavement outside. Service was great, attentive and quick. We just had sparkling water with lunch but if we'd chosen a wine, beer or spirit then it was all on offer. There were a good range of people in Wildwood Kitchen that afternoon, including couples and families and the place seemed to cater well for everyone. Our meals were tasty, affordable and we would definitely stop here again.  This would be a great place to take friends.

Roastit Bubbly Jocks

Sometimes if feels like we know nothing about anything in this new land that we have come to. That is especially true when it comes to cafes and restaurants. To start with they are often hidden behind unassuming doors and shop fronts, tucked away where you have to pop your head around the door to take a look. It's too cold to sit outdoors in Glasgow and there's not much space so very few places have outdoor seating to identify them.
Anyway.... we happened to walk past Roastit Bubbly Jocks around 3pm on Sunday after walking around car yards for hours and having nothing to eat.  Something caught our eye, this little place had an inviting look about it. Best decision we made all day!
We just needed a tasty morsel to get us through to dinner (we were going out with friends and family) so we ordered a starter each. I had a twice baked goat's cheese souffle which was divine. Light and fluffy with enough substance to satisfy me. The big man had a plate of smoked salmon with bread and was very happy with his choice.  But, the thing that caught my attention, apart from the fabulous roasts served up at the next table, was the gin menu on the wall.  I'm partial to a gin, especially on a hot summer's day and apparently the weather we had been experiencing in Glasgow is equivalent to a hot day in Glaswegian terms; there have been women walking around in strappy tops while I wear my down jacket zipped up to my chin!   Anyway, back to the gin. We decided it was Gin Oclock somewhere in the world and that we would have a wee drop with our starters.  I had a Millers with strawberries and he had Caorrans with apple slices. Oh yes! We had made great choices.  That little gin added some rays of sunshine to our day and we happily celebrated our afternoon nibbles.
Roastit Bubbly Jocks will see us again.  Next time I shall reserve space for the Roast Beef.  The atmosphere is congenial, the furniture is well used, the service was excellent and the staff had a great sense of humour.  We loved it, we'll be back.

Rooky Travel Mistakes

When you pack up your life in 3 suitcases you are bound to make some mistakes. I think I can safely say I could have brought one suitcase of the things I have actually ended up using regularly and then I could have brought 2 more suitcases of things I needed and didn't bring.

Lesson 1. Check that your airpoint status doesn't drop down the week before you fly leaving you with less free luggage allowance than you had planned on.

Lesson 2. Don't ditch the walking shoes at the airport due to overweight bags  Should have ditched the swimming togs! Walking shoes should rank higher on the "to take" list than good shoes, especially when you wont have a car.

Lesson 3. Pack a capsule wardrobe rather than all those things that you love and can't bear to part with. There ARE shops here - lots of them! I brought lots of things I love but nothing goes with anything else or it simply isn't warm enough.

Lesson 4. Make sure you change/ delete your old telephone number at your bank. It's hard to receive notification texts from your bank when you have thrown away your old SIM card. (There goes the rubbish truck....)

Lesson 5. Don't expect banks or insurance companies to believe that you could possibly be a respectable, responsible citizen. You are starting again with no credit rating, no credit card. Make sure you bring your country of origin credit card with you because sometimes you just need a credit card to make bookings etc. 

Lesson 6. Find the nearest laundrette, motels don't exist in the UK. Hotels don't have laundry, fridge, or cooking facilities. Bring patience and a good book.

Lesson 7. Don't bother with chargers etc for all your techy stuff if you haven't bothered to pack an adapter. It's much easier to buy a charger wherever you end up OR an adapter before you leave

Lesson 8. They sell handbags worldwide. I admit, 5 handbags was excessive especially since I have already brought another one that is becoming a new favourite.

Lesson 9. Make sure that you really don't want an excuse to buy another set of knives. The ONLY household item I packed was my Global kitchen knives. I have had far too many years using substandard knives so wanted to keep my good ones.  However, I have found the most beautiful hand crafted knives and if I hadn't brought my Global ones I could have had a set of these.......

Lesson 10. Pack a couple of tiny things from home. You will miss home, your people, your things, so little reminders help.  I packed some photos to put straight up on the wall, a farewell drawing from one of my granddaughters and a little ceramic NZ fern in it's flax kit. Being able to whip these things out easily wherever I was was great and gave me a little reminder of the people and things I love.

And lastly, ALWAYS take a computer with you if you are moving.  Managing life on an ipad has been difficult especially as it was nearly full to the max and didn't have some functionality that I was expecting it to have. As we speak my ipad is in its last death throes. I am so thankful for my brand new MacBook Pro!

Winter Wonderland in Connecticut

Christmas 2014 we were in Connecticut with my youngest son and his family for Christmas.  The four of them live in an historic 3 story, 5 bedroom house in a street of beautiful old homes in an old part of the state.  The house is made to keep you warm with central heating, a log fire, double insulated windows and good insulation. Inside you are toasty warm. Outside it's a different matter.....
On Christmas Eve and we found ourselves sitting in front of the fire, having just got home from an evening of extended family hospitality that involved a house FULL of children and adults, some serious present exchanges and a big shared meal.  The snow had fallen (and melted again), the rain had come and the cold was... well, very cold!

I loved my first cold Christmas. Because I'm a Kiwi of course I've had cold Christmases before but they are not "on purpose" cold Christmases, they are "surprise!" cold Christmases in the middle of what should be summer. Thankfully we brought great jackets for our journey that we would never ever wear in Brisbane. We have rugged up with hat, scarf and gloves as well. It's cold out there! But the snow is amazing, it turns the world outside into something really beautiful, until the cars drive through it!
Holidays are time to do different things and while it is not a long holiday period for the kids, they did get nearly 2 weeks at home with us. We were mostly confined to indoors so we played games, read stories, rolled play dough, completed puzzles, wrote, read, french knitting (not so successful), stitching (one stuffed felt owl pillow complete!), and baked so much food.
It's great to find that my son has become a house husband and is also a good organiser and cook.  He has taught himself to make new, interesting dishes incorporating Spanish and Mexican flavours and to use local ingredients.  What a thrill when he pulled out and refer to the little cookbook that I made for him before he left home. I was requested to make some Scottish shortbread just like his grandma used to make (yes family, I did put Grandma's special markings on them) and a Kiwi pavlova (sorry Aussies, we made it first). Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without those.
There has been wood chopping, carol singing at church, a new closet made, interior house painting, walks around the park, a visit to the New Britain Gallery of American Arts, the Aquarium, the State Capitol,  a castle, a train museum, a plane museum and to the movies.

In the yard we watched the chickens (9 of them) with interest. They were still laying despite the cold and apparently are bred for winter conditions.  They really didn't like walking in the snow though.  An update on the chickens is that mid Feb with the temp at -11C and snow so high you cant see over it around the streets, the chickens are laying more eggs than ever!!
We loved our wintery Christmas, it was great to be with the family and we look forward to our next Christmas together.

Home Sweet Home - Day One

I knew that travelling would be disruptive to my life but I just never knew how much.  Maybe it's just because I'm not 21 anymore but I am SO pleased to be in my own home and not living in a tiny hotel room and out of suitcases.

We searched high and low for a place to live and finally when we were beginning to despair,  the right one came along! Patience...... This place popped up on the internet and we got to view it straight away, were deemed to be ok by the owners (?) and last weekend we moved in (See below). Well, we moved our 3 suitcases and lots of shopping bags. Furnished places are hard to find so we ended up getting a place just with the white goods and we have to get the rest.  We have a table and 4 chairs and a bed, oh yes, AND we have 2 bedside tables purchased after a harrowing trip to Ikea in Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes is an hour and 5 mins away from where we now live. I thought we could take a simple drive there, whizz into Ikea, get our goods and then out again.  But no! We arrived at Milton Keynes to find that EVERYONE wanted to shop this weekend as it is a holiday weekend.  There were literally thousands of people there.  Now, I thought Ikea in Brisbane was big but I haven't seen anything like the Milton Keynes store....  We were starving because the UK sadly lacks places to stop for a bite to eat (cafes are rare when you are on the road ), so we decided to eat at Ikea.  Well, the wait for that was 30 mins. The food filled us up thankfully and left us ready, I thought,  to embark on the Ikea never ending journey.  We got to the chair section at which point instead of liking my selection, the other person in the relationship decided he liked something else.  Something VERY SIMILAR to what we had had in Australia.  Now, my idea is that we are somewhere different so we should take the opportunity to do something different.  I had been sweating over catalogues and magazines and had a fairly clear idea of the design direction we should be taking.  Alas this was not to be. So we left Ikea without seating but with bedside tables, which are built and functioning very well. Lesson = never take husband to Ikea again!!

On arriving back at our new house we were hungry for our dinner and looking forward to cooking our first meal.  I turned on the new induction cooktop but alas, we could not make it work..... turns out our new ceramic cookwear does not work on induction cooktops  - another lesson learnt.  No problem we thought, we'll head down to the local pub (our village has 2 pubs, a cafe, and a general store).  We walked down  (2 minutes) and then discovered that neither pub does meals on a Saturday night! We looked at each other laughed, ordered a drink, walked back up the hill to home and made a dinner of cheese and tomato on toast.  Day One complete so we fell into our new bed and the next morning we both agreed that it is one of the best beds we have slept in.

These photos are of the grounds and the beautiful big home where we live. 

Mulling it Over in Scotland

Starting life in a new country highlights differences in culture, food, systems, governing bodies, language and oceans. We are now sorted with bank accounts but because we have no credit history here in the UK we can't be considered reliable enough to have a credit card. We gained our Nino (aTFN in Australia and an IRD number in New Zealand) so that we can work.  We speak the same language (English) but a different one because we choose to call things different names, or use brand names as descriptors or speak with such a broad accent that understanding is challenging. We have phones but no one to call.
I'm not sure how to describe myself here in the UK because I am a Kiwi (and proud of it) but I have lived in Australia for so long that my life experiences are often referencing Australiana.  It's all a bit tricky to explain what makes me tick.  So, the commonplace has become uncommon and the world has slighlty shifted on its axis.  Same, same but different.

But you know what?  As long as I remember that I chose this adventure and that the differences are just that, then things are fine. I'm learning each day. My listening skills are being put into play tuning my ear into the local accent, the other night in the taxi I was completely lost when the driver was trying to communicate, and when a car salesman called I had to ask him 3 times to repeat himself and in the end had to admit that I could not understand him at all!!!

And the weather in Scotland? Well, it's a bit like New Zealand, summer and winter in one day.  In fact this afternoon as I write, the cousins are sitting outside on the deck in the sunshine having a coffee while I am inside in my jeans and merino jersey! The sun is lovely though. I am thankful for the down jacket I brought in Brisbane and never wore there, for my shoes that I brought in Perth but never wore in Brisbane and for my NZ merino clothing that just about makes things the right temperature for me. 

We have traveled to Oban, Mull, Iona and Staffa.  It was a slighlty, haphazardly organised tour but we got there in the end.  Yesterday started with brilliant sunshine, the flatest bit of ocean I've seen in years (not usual) and the best car, bus, train, boat rides. Our trip took us from Oban across to Craignure on Mull by boat, onto a bus and westward passing Glens, Bens and Lochs on the way (valleys, mountains and lakes). We also saw red deer, otters, and sea eagles and we traveled on a single carriageway road (woohoo that was exciting when the big truck was heading straight for us and didn't slow down before sneaking into the passing area - phew!).  Arriving at Fionnphort we transferred to a smallish boat and were whisked out to sea (about 35mins) to the island of Staffa.  What a privilege to go to this amazing island so small that you can't find it on most maps.  When we approached it was unclear how we would get close as the waves were crashing all around it.  But with some superior boating skills in use, the guys navigated their way into the little jetty. We were able to climb to the top of the island and then scramble down again and walk around the rocks to Fingal's Cave which had massive oceans waves rushing in and out; the noise and energy of the waves was fantastic.  This was the cave that inspired Mendelsson to write The Hedribes Overture, Fingal's Cave.  The drama of the music definitely reflects the dramatic island, this You Tube clip gives a good video of what it is like on Staffa. 

After a couple of hours we were taken off to the island and headed back towards the Isle of Iona.  On our way we stopped and saw Puffins floating in the sea, getting ready to head for land for nesting.  These creatures are tiny, I was busy looking out for big penguin-like birds but they are more the size of a sparrow! We also stopped mid ocean and watched a pod of Bottle Nosed dolphins who  followed the boat for a while when we took off again.
Iona was stunning.  It was mid afternoon, the sun was shining, there was no wind and the island was seen in the best light.  Tiny cottages dot the village area, beautiful little craft shops abound (I brought an exquiste woven blanket and He-who-cares-about-me brought me a beautiful little ceramic cathedral), the ruins of a nunnery were waiting to be walked through and then the Priory was waiting to be explored.  Our Historical Scotland card has already paid for itself allowing us free access to the site. Stunning.  Afterwards we found a little hotel and got ourselves a nice drink to have while we sat in the sun overlooking a paddock of black faced sheep and sweeping views of the bay.  Along the pathway was the hotel's superbly organised and planted organic garden and in the distance we could see the boat that would take us back to Fionnfort.
Eventually we headed back to the  wharf, onto the boat to Fionnphort, bus back to Craignure and boat back to Oban. It was dinnertime when we arrived back so we ordered ourselves Haddock and chips,  and sat at the waterfront to eat them.
Our day ended at midnight back in Glasgow after a very cold train ride from Oban. Tired but satisified with our brilliant day, we both slept soundly!! 

Double Shot Please!

It's ages since we have eaten at Riverbend Bookshop in Bulimba so when we turned up today and found it is now Double Shot Cafe it was a nice surprise. The eating area is all outdoors but mostly undercover and today's temps finally lowering to a pleasant level made eating there a delight.
The service was great.  The staff circulated constantly and new arrivals were made welcome as they walked up to the entrance area.  The menu is sure to please everyone with all day breakfasts and lunch specials as well.
I was after a salad today and my Green Papaya, Mango, Shredded Chicken, and Mint Salad hit the nail on the head for me. Beautifully presented and clean fresh flavours. He-who-paid-the-bill ordered the Shredded Pork and Apple Pie with salad.  It came on a large wooden board and looked really appetising though it did take a while to cook and so my belly was nearly touching my backbone by the time it arrived.  (Dear close friends, please stop snorting with mirth at that image!).  I really was hungry.

 I passed off the ritual coffee (I had a headache later in the day for my effort) in favour of a fresh pressed apple juice which arrived in a lovely glass jar; delicious.
The new cafe is fresh, and bright with black and white subway tiles and splashes of yellow as an accent colour in lemons and a wonderful vase of fake but lovely flowers.  The glass display case had a good selection of goodies in it.  Most of the tables were full but there was a good turnover of customers and no one seemed to be waiting to find a seat.
This meal more than met expectations for lunch on a summer's day.  Nice changes, worth going back.
 

A Spoonful of Goodness - East Brisbane

Spoon, situated on Lytton Road in East Brisbane is a great place to drop in. They have express coffee that can be obtained from their outdoor cafe nook which sits just outside the indoor eating area. The fabulously huge indoor / outdoor cafe and seating area has a range of fixed seating, chairs and stools around small to large tables so there is somewhere for everyone to sit.  I prefer the larger tables because I love to spread out the paper and have a good read. The big long table is great when there is a group of you wanting to share. 

I had a very pleasant meeting there the other morning. The coffee was good and I had a quick breakfast of avocado and haloumi which was much bigger than I expected (but I ate it all!).  I have eaten here many times before though and find they have a good selection of eats. One meal I particularly liked there was the breakfast rice with a poached egg on top,  I'm unsure if this is still on the menu but if so, it's worth a try. They always have a great selection in their showcase too. The food is fresh, hearty and consistently well presented.

I've also been to a private function at Spoon and it was a great place to hold a special event. The space works well for a small crowd providing easy indoor /outdoor flow. The only complaint I've ever had about Spoon is that the service can be so slow but that was not the case this visit so they have redeemed themselves!  I will be back.

A few things to do in Melbourne

Sunday morning early my daughter-in-law and I zipped into Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne city to check out the vintage clothes stalls. We both ended up with goodies to come home with. I love to walk into the food hall at the markets, I could get lost there for the morning. There cheese shops, bread shops, meat shops, fruit shops, and variations of all those. The goods are amazing and well presented. You get to taste test and the shop owners are generally passionate foodies. I particularly liked the coffee we got from the little Italian coffee van. The Italian food looked amazing though I couldn't eat the beautiful pastries (rats!), my hands were full and I didn't grab a photo or the name of the van but it was a stand out because it looked clean, fresh, and the offerings were different.

After lunch we wandered down to the Morondah Community Fair and enjoyed watching the smallest boy's delight at driving a fire engine, jumping on the jumpy castles and dancing with the Tickety Toc crew on main stage (yes I was the only adult in the front row but I was SUPPORTING my grandson!!).  There were an amazing amount of free activities so we had a very happy boy that afternoon.

 We headed out for a coffee the next morning and went straight to Bekendales.  This is a cafe we love to head to when we are in Croyden.  Dale is a real character; welcoming and warm, loves his food and coffee, and he serves the normal breakfast fare with nice treats in the cabinet. The cafe is small and cosy on a cold day, air-conditioned on a hot one, and there are outdoor seats for when the weather is lovely....

Monday saw us alone with Mr I-Must-Have-2-Marshmellows (3.5years old). We went up Mt Dandenong which is another favourite thing to do. Main destination was Sassafras for breakfast and as much shopping as the 3.5 yr old would allow (not much apart from in Geppettos Workshop).  The  Cafe de Beaumarchais beckoned us in on this cool morning.  I had held off having breakfast and thought I would get something healthy to eat. NOT! One look at the offerings and I just had to have something so NOT good.  I settled on a white chocolate, raspberry, lemon curd cheesecake.  It was decadent to say the least. but I washed it down with a short macchiato which cut through the sweetness. Of course someone lactose intolerant should take a little more care over their choice of breakfast, the consequence was that I suffered a little but it was a lovely thing to eat at the time. Husband ate a fritatta and Grandson had banana bread which went down a treat and was enjoyed all morning as the left overs were wrapped, taken with us and munched in the car. This cafe is a little bit of Paris, the pastries are beautiful to look at in an old glass fronted case, the furniture has a distinctly French look and the atmosphere is dark and moody which reminds me of that night we had in Paris.....

Australia Day Ride

Australia Day dawned with the weather predicted to provide (1) rain and (2) heat, so we decided to jump on the motorbike and head to the hills early in the morning to avoid both.  While the sky was overcast and threatening rain, we managed to be out for 3 hours and not get wet or too hot. We headed to Dayboro first, such a pretty spot. Usually we stop at the Dayboro Deli Country Kitchen for a bite to eat but we were too early. I've got to do a plug for this cafe because we have always had great food here. We have been for breakfast several times and for dinner (special set menu) on St Patrick's Day; that meal in particular was fabulous with the green theme prevalent in food and service! I have also been there on a breakfast outing with Nat and Carol (the bird scarer). Thanks go to our friends Michael & Pip for loaning us Carol who loved the convertible, with the wind blowing over her feathers. The Dayboro Deli staff even brought Carol a "birdie chino" to enjoy while we had our breakfast - very accommodating I thought! Here's a few pics of Carol, Nat and our adventure.
Anyway, I digress. No Dayboro Deli for us this time so we headed the bike towards Samford and enjoyed being one of only a few vehicles/ cyclists on the road which was really surprising since it was a holiday - we must have been early!!  From Samford we headed up the hill to Mt Glorious.  This hill is massive and full of switch back turns which I hate as a pillion passenger (my thrill is speed) but it is a beautiful drive climbing rapidly up through the trees. Once you reach the, turn right and in no time you arrive at the Maiala Rainforest Teahouse at Mt Glorious.  This stop is made for cyclists and bikers. There is covered seating stretching out in front of the long low structure which fronts straight onto the road allowing great views of cycles and motorbikes passing, stopped and leaving. On this particular morning there was plenty of action with one side of the frontage filled with cyclists and the other with motorbikers.  If you want to see serious $$$ all lined up then this is the spot to go. You don't come to Maiala for the food experience, this stop is a fueling station for the next part of the ride however, the coffee surpassed expectations and the scrambled eggs on toast were well done if plain.

We would have expected a surcharge on this holiday weekend but instead there was a big sign at the door saying no surcharge for the holiday but all food would be served on plastic plates and we would have to come and pick up our order when our number was called.  I was perfectly happy with that arrangement and I doubt that anyone else there would have cared either.

Once we had finished breakfast we headed back home along the top of the mountain range, through Mt Nebo and down through The Gap. The view across the valley from the top of the range is breathtaking and if you have time it is well worth stopping for a while at Jolly's Lookout on Mt Nebo Road. Even though we haven't stopped there for ages, the Dr Red Vineyard, is worth having a look at. The views from the cellar door out of the valley are amazing and the wine is ok too.

This is a nice easy ride (not too bum numbing) though care needs to be taken on these roads which are narrow and shared with cyclists and cars, there is not always enough room for everyone plus the corners require a high care factor.  Coming home we saw someone gathering bits after a spill from his bike, thankfully he was ok.  It's always disappointing to drop down out of the cool of the mountain and back into the heat of the city but the pleasure of the ride usually outweighs the disappointment of the heat.

A night to remember....

Don't you just love dining with good friends? We had the opportunity late last year to trial dinner at at Cinco on Cleveland Road, Camp Hill with some very special friends who were visiting.It may be in the midst of suburbia but this restaurant can hold it's own against the city restaurants.  We were not unhappy!

One of our party of 4, Reece, is a chef.  I can vouch for his cooking skills because he and his family lived with us a long time ago and we all looked forward to the nights he was on dinner! For me it was a good time to not have to think about the cooking but I also loved watching him at work. Now, whenever I can, which is rarely because we don't live close anymore, I love nothing better than to jump in and stir, slice or be his lackey to make a feast for friends and family.

There is always a little pressure when you take a chef out to make sure that what is served up will thrill his tastebuds and meet his stylistic standards! Cinco thankfully satisfied all four of us.  We all enjoyed each mouthful of our dinner, the service was exceptional with a waiter who knew the menu inside out - we do all like to ask questions about what we are eating, and a good wine menu.

I hadn't done any research into this restaurant, it had been a recommendation and I had been gifted a voucher to dine here so I feel like a winner. I had thought this was an Italian restaurant (after all there is a pizzeria next door - Piccolo Pizza) however I think it is best described as Australian fusion.  All the best fresh local ingredients with global ideas.

The menu has changed a little since we went and I can't remember the exact dishes we had but the pictures all still remind me of a lovely evening dining out.

Mickle Pickle

I've driven past Mickle Pickle numerous times but I'm usually in the far lane and it's too difficult to cross over.  However this time I set out to stop so I was in the correct lane and pulled into the roomy carpark, necessary since this place fronts Wynnum Road at Tingalpa and not very often found.
I arrived early after my morning walk at the seaside so they were just getting ready to start up when I rocked up.  They took my order and explained they'd be a few minutes which was fine by me. This place is comfortable.  I was able to spread out the paper and read, the fake grass adds a touch of mirth to the grimness of Wynnum Road and the people were just, well, nice! Oh yes, and the coffee was worth waiting for.  If I lived in Tingalpa this would definitely be my local. I didn't eat this time around but this could be a good brekky spot after a weekend walk.