🗁Added 14 photos to album Fife 2022.
New year's day loony dook, and walks around the village. It was 13c! Practically summer.
Posts between 2022/01 and 2023/01 (187 out of 188)
- Finished painting the hallway.
- Worked on some BODS stuff, but kept getting stuck on silly things.
- F came for new year's weekend. We ate lots, watched movies, and wandered around with Max.
- Went in the sea at sunrise on the 1st of Jan. Sun didn't come out til later, but the air was warm.
- Finished I, Robot. Started Ender's Game.
- Walked through the woods to Wemyss and picked up rubbish.
- Foraged an improbable amount of large oyster mushrooms. Prepared an improbable amount of mushroom soups and bottled diced mushrooms.
- Watched all of Godless. Started The Book of Boba Fett, continued The Expanse.
- Stole Max again. We walked to Wemyss and back and got very muddy, and around Ravenscraig Park.
- Made mushroom pie.
- Weeded the garden.
- Wrapped up BODS work, for now, and Co-op recruitment/onboarding admin.
- Took the train to Mum's after handing over my flat to E&M. Spent the weekend resting, reading, eating, cooking, crocheting, moving blocks of wood. Did my tax return. Tried to catch up on photo uploads..
- Finished Ender's Game (actually fab!). Started The Death of Grass (not enjoying this so much).
- Saw my Grandma and Dad.
- Read The Death of Grass, but I didn't like it at all.
- Went on a Vipassana meditation retreat as a server. Cooked for 200 people, made amazing new friends, and found my meditation vibes again. Read the Sattipattana, Sayagi U Ba Khin Journal and an anthology of Buddha's words. Stayed at the center an extra couple of days.
- Then back home via another couple of night's at Mum's (watched Vivarium). Immediately messed up my sleep pattern. But the beach is good.
- Caught up on Co-op and started thinking about BODS again.
- Took up my bedroom capret but can't make a secret tunnel because concrete.
- Caught up on Expanse and Boba Fett, watched The Eternals and started Speaker for the Dead.
- Seedlings sprouting! Tomatoes, squash, cucumber, gherkin, onions. It all begins again..
- Made berry muffins for Greener Kirkcaldy Community Kitchen.
- Reminded myself how the BODS translation workflow works.
- Attended a meeting of the Vipassana Trust Accessibility Committee.
- Found and fixed underfloor problems, and replaced some floorboards in my bedroom. Got the hammock up on the walls! Now I can see the sea from it, which means I never need to get up again. Laid new laminate in my bedroom.
- Dismantled my espresso machine. Cleaned out limescale and gunk. Discovered it never has had a shower screen. Have not yet reassembled it.
- Dave came back, brought Sri Lankan tea, made curry, left again.
- Tinkered a bit with sloph.
- Kirkcaldy Friday markets are back on!!
- Watched all of Reacher.
- Max is back! Walkies.
- Found velvet shanks in Ravenscraig Park, and a couple more oysters. First forage of 2022.
- Made "peanut butter and jam" pies, with blackcurrents, coconut oil, and date/coconut/nuts crust at home, and lemon pies and choc chip muffins in Community Kitchen.
- Co-op coworking days.
- Visit from M and Lowenna.
- I have Max all to myself for a week. Many cuddles and a trip to the vets after a run in with a Beagle..
- Sunrises and walkies.
- Still haven't reassembled the espresso machine, but cleaned more of it.
- More seedlings sprouted. My last cherry tomato ripened, but it's flowered again....
- Started morning yoga again, with Max's help.
- Dining table and chairs: thanks Felicity
- Sofabed: free from Gumtree
- Chaise long: Furniture Plus
- Cosy chair: Gumtree
- Coffee table: Furniture Plus
- Rug: Gumtree
- Chaotic plant table: Furniture Plus, was my desk in the old place
- Snazzy clock: Kirkcaldy Boot & Mart (20p)
- Oil paintings of Dysart Harbour and Ravenscraig Castle: Methuselah's
- Speakers: Freegle
- Projector: Kit and I bought this 50/50 in about 2012. My turn for custody.
- Curtains: original, but cut down and lined by a local seamstress
- Wall tiles: Tile Warehouse (local)
- Floor: Tapi
- Toilet: ripped out of Mum's new house
- Corner bath: original; frame made from the old one plus floor tiles
- Shower, sink and bath taps: Ebay
- Shower screen: Gumtree
- Sink bowl: B&Q
- Sink cabinet: Furniture Plus, upcycled by me
- Mirror: gumtree
- Heated towel rail: B&Q
- Shelves: wood scavenged from R's shed down the road (sanded and oiled)
- Ceiling bar and towel rail: Ebay
- Walls: Silver Birch from Victory Colours and Otillie from Craig & Rose
- Floor: Tapi; edging: ebay
- Hammock: ebay; wall fixings: R's shed
- Cosy chair: Kirkcaldy market
- Desk: thanks Kit and Mariette
- Chair: ebay
- Standing lamp: thanks Kit and Mariette
- Chest of drawers: thanks Kirstin
- Bookshelf: Furniture Plus
- Yarn shelf: Barnardo's
- Rug: Cancer Research
- Curtains: original
- Walls: Victory White and About Damson from Victory Colours
- Floor: Carpetright; edging: B&Q
- Bed: Furniture Plus; mattress: Freegle
- Desk: Ebay
- Chair: Dave's
- Drawers, bookcase, shelves, bedside: Furniture Plus
- Built in wardrobe: original
- Curtains: Barnardo's
- Blind: Furniture Plus
- Walls: tiles from Tile Warehouse (local) and Victory White paint from Victory Colours
- Floor: B&Q
- Ceiling: Rembrand Timber (Glenrothes)
- Toilet: ebay
- Shower tray: original
- Shower, sink taps: Ebay
- Shower screen: B&Q
- Sink and cabinet: Freegle
- Mirror: Furniture Plus
- Shelf: wood scavenged from R's shed (sanded and varnished)
- Heated towel rail: ripped out of Dad's old bathroom
- Cabinet: Castle Furniture, yet to be upcycled
- Towel rail: original, moved
- Walls: custom mixed of Craig & Rose Lady Emma, by Victory Colours
- Floor: original
- Barometer: Chest, Heart & Stroke
- Scotland etching: Furniture Plus
- Coat hooks: original
- Hat stand: Ebay
- Shoe racks: one from the Bed Shed, the other homemade from scavenged wood
- A year since I moved into my flat; drafted a post but haven't finished it yet.
- Hung out with Max loads and loads and went on short walkies and long walkies and shared sunrises and many snuggles and also yoga.
- Finished Xenocide, started Children of the Mind. Definitely Speaker for the Dead is best so far though. Also watched the Ender's Game movie, just to see. Not as bad as I'd been led to believe? But not good. Maybe better having read the book to fill in all the shortcuts the movie takes.
- Watched loads of Disenchantment. Read, napped, too much.
- Baked things.
- Finally reassembled my espresso machine! It espresses! And I learnt so much about espresso in the process!
- Potted up more gherkin and courgette seedlings, and watched things emerging in my footpath garden.
- Measured and sawed up all my door threshold strips, but haven't screwed them down yet.
- More sunrises and walkies with Max before Max went home.
- Made krompirusa! Or some approximation thereof.
- Made dead fancy desserts in Community Kitchen.
- Finished a narwhal.
- Worked on BODS translation workflow.
- TAG IRL f2f got postponed/reconfigured again again again.
- Read How can I get through to you which was better than I expected (actually really good).
- N came to visit. We watched sunrises, walked Max to East Wemyss and had a day in Edinburgh.
- Walk with N and Max into town and back and watched a final sunrise before N left.
- Started working on a project with Woodland Trust, about TREES! (I call it Laboratree).
- Made a hasty apple and sultana pudding at Community Kitchen, and other things.
- Braw weekend. Worked in the garden, litter picked the beach to Wemyss then back through the woods (no mushrooms).
- Went out on the kayak! To Wemyss.
- Finished Children of the Mind, started The Overstory.
- Made spotted dick and custard, and gluten-free cranberry muffins in the Community Kitchen.
- Decided to get some new glasses. Maybe I'll actually wear them.
- Got stuck into trying to make sense of Tree Preservation Order data and Planning Applications.
- Co-op admining.
- Broke and fixed my image proxy. Did a bunch of work on sloph to make sure it doesn't show posts dated in the future (so I can schedule posts).
- sunrises, sunsets, sunrises, sunsets,... time in the garden.
- Spent monday getting part of my body fixed that wasn't working ideally, and the next couple of days recovering from that.
- Scraped websites that don't want to be scraped.
- Braw weather.
- Foraged seaweed and planted some trees near Crail (including spontaneous last minute camping trip).
- Made foraged seaweed salad, among other things.
- Spent a day in Edinburgh.
- Went to London. Got total culture shock. Too many people in too small spaces. No stars. so loud.
- Started The Lefthanded Booksellers of London (though I haven't finished The Overstory but the former was lighter for taking on a trip. Also thematically appropriate.)
- Recorded a podcast?! (as a guest).
- Had IRL TAG meetings!
- Did IRL Co-op coworking!
- Saw IRL friends I haven't seen for years!
- Returned from London. Two-day long migraine immediately went.
- Finished The Lefthanded Booksellers of London. Resumed and finished The Overstory; it's a hard read. Started Five Ideas to Fight For but so far that's just making me as mad as twitter does.
- Purple sprouting broccoli was ready to harvest when I got back. Two new inside tomatoes have appeared on the scraggly monstrosity I should have kicked out ages ago but didn't.
- Covid finally arrived in my life. Presumably from London. Sealed myself in my flat and ordered groceries for delivery like it's 2020.
- Worked on planning application document scrapers for Woodland Trust and i18n stuff for BODS.
- Crochet slippers are not going well, so sidetracked on a tea cosy and a scarf.
- Very sensible episode of the DID Rubric podcast aired.
- Cooked and baked some things.
- Watched Raya and the Last Dragon, both disney Atlantis movies, and Treasure Planet.
- Share offer extended for the co-operatively owned wind farm being built on the West Coast of Scotland. If you're in the UK you should really check it out.
- Still in covid isolation most of the week; mornings okay, but fatigue hitting like a ton of bricks in the afternoons. Tested negative on Saturday.
- Crocheted a tea cosy.
- Worked on BODS and Woodland Trust and logistics for May CoGM though. Seem to be more productive with covid than not.
- Made ugali, or some approximation thereof, from maize flour.
- Had Max for a day.
- Then Lowenna for the weekend. Max came to play as well and they are too cute together.
- Did loads of work in the gardens, including giving my footpath garden an overhaul with mushroom compost.
- Almost caught up with season 2 of Picard and watched a couple more Uncanny Counters. Read a lot of Ender's Shadow.
- apricot and coconut scones;
- Burkinabe-style babenda;
- chu hou noodles with homemade seitan.
- Finished Ender's Shadow, started Shadow of the Hegemon.
- Lowenna went home, then Max came back By mid-week when my flat was no longer full of doggos it was quite strange. There is still fur and grime everywhere though.
- Made scones, babenda, seitan.
- Continued to work on scrapers for Woodland Trust, though we really should be wrapping this up. And did some final translation workflow wrangling ready for the BODS 0.3.0 release.
- Sorted out slides and stuff for my spot on a panel about sustainability at the W3C AC meeting.
- Went to the market! It's been so long. Made up for 3 weeks of missing out by buying loads of stuff. Caught up on all the local Kirkcaldy news from Real Humans instead of Online.
- Made loads of garden progress. Helped to sand a chopping board.
- Caught up with Picard and finally finished Uncanny Counters.
- Hung out with Maud (mostly) and Jess (token appearance).
- Finished Shadow of the Hegemon, started Shadow Puppets.
- Wrapped up the Woodland Trust 'LaboraTree' project, for now. Did some stuff with DeepNote dashboards for the first time, which was interesting.
- Made Mauritanian-style cherchem, carob brownies, and finally got back to the Community Kitchen.
- Planted a load of things in the footpath garden on Friday afternoon, but was so foggy from lack of sleep that I forgot immediately what I put where. Sunflowers, nasturtiums, wildflowers, carrots and chard... I'll just have to wait and see what pops up.
- My oxalis is flowering, tradescantia are taking off, inside cherry tomato has more fruit, and all four remaining chilli plants are bearing fruit or starting to flower now, despite the aphid infestation. Seeds planted in the polytunnel last week are sprouting.. french beans, romanesco, aubergine, onions.
- Got up to watch planets aligning, but didn't see them. Saw sunrises instead.
- Watched Y Tu Mama Tambien and The Lady in the Van.
- Made a website for The Tiffin so I don't have to depend on facebook to check their menu. This was the first time I've made a simple website in years and ohemgee the state of the ecosystem. It's amazing. The CSS Grid? The browser dev tools? Lightyears ahead of what I remember.
- Started another crochet project.. writing the pattern for this one.
- Went on an adventure to Glenrothes and Falkland and around.
- Took the week off work! But still had loads to do.
- Took part in a panel for the W3C AC meeting, about sustainability and web standards.
- Planted chillis and potted up romanesco.
- Made coconut chia puddings at the Community Kitchen, peppers stuffed with lentils and mung beans with tempeh on top, and krompirusa again.
- Called the fire brigade for the first time ever. Fortunately nothing turned out to be on fire, but better safe than sorry..
- K, M and Lowenna came to visit.
- Dryad's saddle season is beginning. The early warning tree is fruiting, but nothing so far anywhere else. Did clean up a load of stuff from the woods when we were out looking though.
- Went in the sea. Some beautiful days.
- Caught up on Picard.... quite disappointing tbh.
- Got various little DIY things done... or partly done... door thresholds in hallway, internal kitchen cupboard improvements, clocks/hooks on the walls..
- Went on an adventure to [redacted] woods in Perthshire, where we discovered large quantities of amazing shiny rocks...
- Caught up on Co-op stuff that I've been neglecting.
- A grey week, in contrast to last week, warm and cold.
- Finished Shadow of the Hegemon, started The Vampire Lestat.
- Baked vegan quiche, mincemeat tarts (still dragging out the christmas leftovers), and made jelly at the Community Kitchen.
- Made khichdi, a victoria sponge cake, spaetzle/knoepfle (Liechtenstein) and kanom krok (Laos).
- Went to the Black Cat Cafe, and discovered many exciting new things down the far end of the High St where I don't normally go.. a new veg shop and organic food store! Also got top Kirkcaldy gossip in the cafe.
- Harvested more dryad's saddle from the early warning tree.
- Potted up French beans. More aubergines sprouted, and sweet peppers, better late than never. A few nasturtiums and mystery seedlings sprouted in footpath garden. Planted out tomatoes in footpath garden. Only inkycap mushrooms are coming up in the new chilli farm, but Hungarian black peppers are ripening.
- Soya beans hadn't come up, and some digging around revealed they seem to have rotted. Will be contacting Johnson's..
- Hung out with Max.
- Put yellow and pink cellophane (that I found in Furniture Plus!) in my bathroom light to make it warmer and less stark. Definite improvement.
- Started a series of posts on cooking experiments from countries I've never been to. In lieu of actually travelling, and inspired by worldle generating a new inspirational country every day.
- Went to the Scottish vegan festival in Edinburgh, spent about £100 on hot sauce and other tasty things, then stayed over with K&M and poor wee Lowenna who is recovering (well) from emergency surgery.
- Long peppers sprouted! Many!
- Three days in Wortley Hall with ODSC! For our first almost-whole-coop IRL meeting since the beforetimes. We had a great time, got some useful strategic thinking done, went on long walks in the Yorkshire countryside, and - as is traditional - ate lots of carbs.
- Attended a W3C FO Council meeting.
- Saw the Ethical Web Principles and Privacy Principles move onto the W3C Statement Track.
- Looked inside some rocks.
- Enjoyed a day in Buckhaven for a CLEAR gardens open day and plant sale. Helped out at the stall selling locally grown and made jams, chutneys, relish, etc. Came home with two sunflowers, and two pretty rockery succulents..
- Looked for dryads saddle on the way back, and found enough for a few meals, but not a ton.
- Planted out brussel sprouts, and many romanesco, and for some reason loads more onions. Potted up even more of the celery seedlings, with a view to giving as much away as possible, and also the aubergine and sweet peppers that sprouted late, though no idea where they're going to live yet.
- Someone deposited a bag of large cabbage leaves on my doorstep, so I made stuffed cabbage, Eastern Europe stylee.
- Finished The Vampire Lestat, started Queen of the Damned (but already, totally different voice, not so into it).
- Caught up on Co-op admin and governance stuff.
- Gave away loads of excess seedlings on Freegle and to Greener Kirkcaldy.
- Made many cookies at the Community Kitchen, and dal, and ravioli, jam stuffed peanut cookies, falafel, and hazelnut carob cake at home.
- Self-seeded nasturtiums, chard and mysterious other things continue to sprout in the footpath garden. Jalapenos sprouted on my windowsill.
- Tried St George's mushrooms for the first time, courtesy of Veg Man.
- Went to an amazing talk in Aberdour by Debora Kayembe, in support of Aberdour Refugee Resettlement and Support.
- Had a fab day in Glasgow with F and J.
- Nice weather.
- Went out for a mushroom walk, and found lots of dryad's saddle, baby chicken of the woods, and a too-old ring of St George..
- Did tons of Co-op work/thinking about governance, cohesion, and decision making for staff welfare.
- Made mushroom steaks, teriyaki mushroom stir fry, and had a mushroom pie competition.
- Dinner at the Wee Buddha in Edinburgh with Co-op colleagues was fab.
- Another week of nice sunrises.
- Made coffee, almond and sour cherry cake, and stir fry at the Community Kitchen.
- Set out to walk from Dysart to Dundee. Day 1 was Dysart to the Lomond Hills, day 2 was the Lomond Hills to Pitmeddon woods and day 3 was Pitmedden to the hills outside of Balmerino.
- Finished walking to Dundee from Dysart. Day 4 was Balmerino to Dundee.
- Did Co-op work on Staff Welfare processes, and stuff.
- Made rhubarb crumble sponge at the Community Kitchen.
- Had a mega mushroom feast.
- Made berry coconut tart, and a jaffa cake for Dave's birthday.
- Hung out with Max.
- Planted wild flowers in my footpath garden, more brassicas in the garden, mounded potatoes, and and potted up some things.
- Looked after Lowenna for the weekend.
- Revamped my sloph CSS and templates.
- Finished Queen of the Damned, started The Lair of the White Worm.
- Passed my Food Hygiene certificate.
- Got a mega strawberry harvest, as well as artichoke and onions.
- Made amazing fancy flapjack, with a date layer and pistachio halva at Community Kitchen, and strawberry coconut tarts and mushroom pies at home.
- Had an amazing brunch in Roots & Seeds.
- Went on an evening adventure with K to pick up a giant wooden chest from Cowdenbeath.
- Went on a Saturday adventure to Bowhouse market, Pittenweem and Blacketyside Farm with K, K&M, and Lowenna.
- Went on a Sunday adventure to visit J and H in Currie with K.
- Worked on reviewing the extensive quantities of Web of Things specs; and working out Staff & Welfare related things for the Co-op.
- Planted out celery seedlings, but they're still a bit small. Mounded potatoes.
- Made lemon fruit (mincemeat) cake, lemon tart with mincemeat oat crust, and energy balls made primarily from mincemeat at Community Kitchen. We have vast quantities of mincemeat still left to use. Also matcha/lemon/strawberry muffins at home.
- Finished The Lair of the White Worm; started and finished 2001: A Space Odessey.
- Spent three days at Mum's with my sister, then visited Grandma.
🗁Added 12 photos to album Fife 2022.
Beach walkies and sofa snuggles.
🗁Added 23 photos to album Fife 2022.
It was drizzly and grey but Max doesn't care. He got very muddy. Fortunately the sea was on hand. (A couple of hours, to Wemyss and back.)
Week in review: 27th Dec - 3rd Jan
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🗁Added 48 photos to album Fife 2022.
A braw sunset, seen with Max from a loop around Ravenscraig Park. (I still can't believe I live here.)
🗁Added 6 photos to album Homemade food.
Foraged oyster mushroom and lentil pie (my first hot water crust pastry - fabulously cooperative!)
🗁Added 1 photos to album Stuff I made.
Mum was struggling with very fiddly reindeer antlers, so I did one for her.
Week in review: 4th - 9th Jan
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🗁Added 16 photos to album England, Jan 2022.
A bus to sunny Edinburgh, then a train (not the one I planned on, obviously, that was cancelled) south. Through snow in the north of England. Then cosy at my Mum's house. Visited Dad and Ruth too; the tradescantia cutting I gave him is thriving.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Homemade food.
Made samosa pies with Mum.
Out of office: I'm going on a Vipassana meditation retreat, offline until the 24th of January.
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🗁Added 12 photos to album England, Jan 2022.
Serving at Dhamma Dipa. On a day off, I walked with others to an old ruined churche in Llanwarne. Dhamma Dipa is beautiful, and the skies were clear and blue during the day, and bright with stars and moon at night. The clouds came back as soon as the course ended. I stayed a couple of extra days anyway.
🗁Added 5 photos to album England, Jan 2022.
Another couple of days at Mum's, eating and working, then back home.
🗁Added 2 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Picked some carrots I planted last autumn. They're not going to grow any more and if I leave them the slugs will eat them. Not sure what's going on with the chicory.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Doing-it-meself.
I finally took up the carpet in my bedroom. To my great disappointment, someone poured concrete under the front half of the flat. So my dream of having a secret trapdoor to underfloor storage in the 3-4 feet of space I thought was down there has been dashed. Some of the floorboards are knackered, so I might end up having to replace the lot.
🗁Added 11 photos to album Fife 2022.
Beach and sunrises are much the same as I left them.
Weeks in review: 10th - 30th January
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🗁Added 4 photos to album Doing-it-meself.
My hammock is now attached to the walls instead of on a stand. This gives me a lot more space around it, but more importantly makes it high enough that I can see the sea and the sunrise from it, so I never need to get up again.
🗁Added 30 photos to album Fife 2022.
Some braw sunrises, as usual. Some days freezing, some days mild. And views from my newly elevated hammock.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Homemade food.
Berry muffins at Community Kitchen. Homemade seedy bread at home.
The Kirkcaldy Artisan Friday market is back! To celebrate, in exchange for goods, I gave money to Mix Fruit, Hughes Bakery, Grain and Sustain, (Not) Just Herbal Tea, The Happy Go Lucky Dog Company, Ecobean, and The Tiffin. I do love to keep the Kirkcaldy economy moving.
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🗁Added 4 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Monster leeks from the garden! Also, not pictured, celeriac and salsify. And seedlings sprouting for another round... tomatoes, cucumbers, gherkins, squash, courgette.. and some strays.
🗁Added 22 photos to album Fife 2022.
New tea stall at the Friday market. Walkies and snoozles with Max.
🗁Added 22 photos to album Doing-it-meself.
Took up the smelly old carpet in my bedroom and removed damaged floorboards. Insulated what was possible of the pipes beneath, and fit new floorboards. Then laid new laminate floor, as modelled by Max.
Week in review: 31st Jan - 6th Feb
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🗁Added 8 photos to album Foraging 2022.
First foray of the year. Winter oysters and velvet shank. A bit slimy, but fine on toast.
🗁Added 12 photos to album Fife 2022.
Beautiful Dysart.
🗁Added 9 photos to album Fife 2022.
Rainy walk along Ravenscraig beach.
The cosy vegetarian cafe in Kirkcaldy (Anderson's) has been made-over as a grill house (by the same owners). Paint me heartbroken.
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🗁Added 19 photos to album Fife 2022.
Lowenna came to visit. She and Max tornado'd around for a while until Max decided she smells tooooo good and they had to be separated by a door. Outside, the ball was not enough of a distraction, and I had to pry Max off her then hold him down with my full weight while M took Lowenna out of the way. Sigh.
🗁Added 12 photos to album Homemade food.
Velvet shanks on homemade seedy bread. Blackcurrent pie with a nut/date crust and peanutbutter cup topping. Lemon pies and choc chip muffins in the Community Kitchen.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Doing-it-meself.
Finished floor edging and skirting for the missing bits of skirting, and put my room back together. Also got an adorable stool for the extra couple of inches I need to get into the hammock now.
🗁Added 17 photos to album Fife 2022.
Another beautiful day with Max.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Fife 2022.
Max had a run in with a beagle thing called Banjo in Ravenscraig Park. We crossed paths twice, the first time was fine though it was clear Banjo didn't like Max. The second time Max was strutting a bit but keeping his distance, then Banjo just went for him. It does Max good to get snapped at from time to time, especially by smaller dogs, because he's used to being the alpha. I didn't realise Banjo actually drew blood until we were a little way down the path (and I could hear Banjo getting a good telling off behind us). It was just a nick to his ear, but turns out they bleed a lot. When we got home he splattered blood all over the floors and back of the sofa. I washed it out and he rolled onto his back with his head in my lap to let me do it. Then I nipped to the pharmacy for bandages. I put an adhesive dressing on it and tied his ear down to stop him from flapping, but I wasn't sure I'd cleaned it well enough, but also didn't want to do more damage by cleaning too hard. Plus I was worried about infection from Banjo. So I called the vet, they booked me a slot an hour and a half later, and K came to rescue us in the car.
That was an exciting adventure for Max. He was in there for over an hour. They shaved a bit of fur, cleaned him up properly and glued the skin flap down, then bandaged him really tightly to stop him flapping. He shook it off before I'd even paid. So they took him back, and tried again with extra heavy industrial strength bandage.
He was gloomy about this, but had squirmed out of it by bedtime. Thankfully he seems to have stopped bleeding, though.
Week in review: 7th 13th Feb
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Making my home
On this day in 2021 I moved into my flat. I got the keys two weeks prior, but one week prior the boiler gave up and it was freezing, so I had to postpone.
On February the 14th, Dave and I unpacked boxes, cleaned anything we hadn't already cleaned, and exhaustedly wondered what we should do for dinner. I begrudgingly started getting out some vegetables. There was a knock at the door with an Indian food delivery. We hadn't ordered Indian food. The guy left, then came back again. Were we sure? Dave checked the name on the order.
It was ours.
Only then did we remember we had pre-ordered it some days before, knowing we would not be in the mood for cooking dinner that night. Great work, past us.
When I bought this flat, I was full of doubts. I'd never expected to own property, nor particularly wanted to. It was in a middling state of disrepair - habitable, but not pleasant - and I didn't know anything about decorating or have any idea what work would be involved. I thought I'd be on the road again, nomadding, within a few months, and that this would be a place for Dave to live if he hadn't found somewhere else by then.
It turned out to be a great decision. I've made amazing friends here. The local community is wonderful. The local nature is incredible. I can see the sea from my window and go down to the beach every day for spectacular sunrises. I can borrow my neighbours pets. I have learned a ton of DIY skills. I have barely had itchy feet to travel again the whole time. I still feel like I'm on holiday every time I walk outside.
What I saved in rent I sunk into improving the flat interior, which would have been difficult if not impossible without the hands-on help of friends and family. I tried to do as much secondhand as possible, or failing that, using local companies. There were a few big chains involved as well though. All of my furniture is from local secondhand shops, Gumtree, Freegle, given by friends, or a nearby skip. As of last week, I've almost done all of the refurbishments I want, so this seems like a good time for some before and after pictures.
You can see all of the in-progress DIY photos here.
In lieu of a fisheye lens, I used vertical panoramas to capture as much of each room as possible, so some of the photos are a bit janky.
Living room
This is the boring one. No redecorating, just furnishings.
Before, after:
I gave away two old sofas, two TV cabinets, a coffee table and a great deal of bric-a-brac on Freegle/Gumtree or to local charities.
Kitchen
The kitchen, once all the grime was cleaned off, was the best room in the flat. We took out some weird electricals, gave away a tiny dishwasher and washing machine, and carved out some cupboard space for an under-counter freezer (The Bed Shed). Replaced the fridge freezer (Andy's Buy & Sell) as the one in the flat gave up after a few months. Put up some hooks in a few different places.
Before, after:
I'd definitely like to replace the floor, as it's all warped MDF tiles. Maybe some dark green subway tiles on the walls, too... but that's a long way off.
Bathroom
I count myself extremely fortunate that my Dad is a qualified plumber. And that he was well up for coming up here for a month to completely refit my bathroom. I helped.
Before:
After:
I gave away the old toilet locally, bath taps on Freegle and built-in cupboard on Gumtree. Dad took the mirror. The sink is still sitting in the flat stairwell because I refuse to send it to landfill. Many of the old tiles are smashed up and serving to help drainage in pots in my footpath garden. The radiator went to the scrap metal dealer.
My bedroom
The walls were such a violent blue that I had to repaint them before I even moved in. Removing the built-in wardrobe yielded gaping voids that needed plastered. The carpet in my room was the last to go, and I think what finally got the smell of 12 years of cigarette smoke out of the flat. Floorboards needed replaced. But any amount of work was worth it for the sea view.
Before:
After:
I gave away the bed, smelly mattress, and built in wardrobe on Freegle/Gumtree.
Dave's The guest room
Removing all the built-in cupboards wasn't quite as bad as in my room, but we did do quite a lot of damage to the walls that needed plaster to fill in the process. As well as visible redecorating, a weekend was spent crawling around under the floor to insulate all the pipes.
Before:
After:
I gave away the bed, smelly mattress and extremely excessive built-in cupboards on Freegle. Dave put up with extensive inconvenient redecorating by complaining the whole time, but I think he enjoyed it really.
The ensuite
Dad came for a second trip to refurbish Dave's bathroom the guestroom ensuite. This involved knocking out a bit of a wall, which went surprisingly well all things considered.
Before, after:
Old sink, toilet and shower enclosure were rehomed on Gumtree. Dad took the mirror.
Hallway
This years dream is to replace the half of the hallway floor that is terrible MDF tiles with something nice. I also plan to rip out the two built in cupboards and replace them with organised shelves instead of chaos drawers or useless space. One of the cupboards (with the electric meter in) can only be opened when the bathroom door is open.
Before:
After:
The hallway was originally divided into two by a brown glass sliding door. I gave this away on Freegle.
So what?
This has been a really fun adventure, and absolutely not what I'd have imagined myself doing a year before. I don't think it's over yet.
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🗁Added 16 photos to album Fife 2022.
Today's ambling around Dysart.
🗁Added 1 photos to album Foraging 2022.
Wood ear mushrooms in Ravenscraig Park. They're very reliable all year round. I gave a handful away, and put a handful in a stirfry.
🗁Added 10 photos to album Fife 2022.
Sunrises, beach walkies, full moon.
Starting to wonder if I can get from the UK to Vancouver by freighter and long distance train for W3C TPAC in September. Definitely possible, but I'd need a good month and a half, and a few thousand $$. There were a lot more options before covid.
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🗁Added 14 photos to album Fife 2022.
Braw day with the braw dog.
🗁Added 14 photos to album Fife 2022.
Max being cosy in various chairs.
🗁Added 9 photos to album Fife 2022.
Max takes downward dog very seriously.
🗁Added 14 photos to album Fife 2022.
A drizzly walk in between showers/snow/gales. After which Max had zero-gravity dreams in various places.
🗁Added 23 photos to album Fife 2022.
Max watched over me while I watched the sun rise. Then we ambled a third of the way to Wemyss before I decided I should change out of my pjs and put my coffee cup down, then try again for a proper walk. Braw day!
🗁Added 71 photos to album Fife 2022.
The tide was out further than I've seen it in a long while. Perfect for a walk to Wemyss along the beach, instead of the coastal path which is really muddy at the moment. We visited the fossil spot, and Max chased the ball almost the whole time. The solid rock part of the 'beach' at Wemyss is usually completely submerged when I'm around there, so it was great to wander over it like the surface of an alien planet.
Max was a Very Good Boy and zonked right out when we got home.
🗁Added 4 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Tomato, gherkin, courgette, cucumber and fancy squash seedlings are coming along. My purple sprouting broccoli, that I thought capterpillars killed last autumn, is sprouting once more! And onions I planted in December are still coming up.
Max thinks yoga is a funny game that is all about him.
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🗁Added 9 photos to album Homemade food.
Almond chocolate brownies in the Community Kitchen. Super gooey. Even the gluten free batch (which were identical except for gluten free flour). Refined-sugar-free blackcurrent cakes at home (contains banana and coconut sugar); the batter was art. And a loaf of seedy bread.
🗁Added 3 photos to album Doing-it-meself.
Espresso machine havoc that lasted for weeks is finally put back together.
🗁Added 10 photos to album Fife 2022.
Max was a lazy bean. Weather was drizzly so we only did little walks, but he didn't mind. Big rainbow.
Week in review: 14-20th Feb
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🗁Added 13 photos to album Fife 2022.
The sky was such an unearthly shade of blue at sunrise today I was convinced we were in a simulation. Obviously my camera couldn't capture it in its true glory.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Homemade food.
I made krompiruša! My favourite Bosnian (or in fact Balkan) food. I never made it at home before because the pastry is complicated, but I was left some pre-made puff pastry which worked out perfectly. I rolled one a bit thin and it broke but had the best texture, and the other less thin so it held together but wasn't exactly right. But still delicious. Obviously I also got some Vegeta for the occasion.
I'm feeling very nostalgic for Sarajevo right now.
🗁Added 25 photos to album Fife 2022.
Monday and Tuesday beach walkies.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Fife 2022.
Put socks on Max. He loved it. Silly Max.
🗁Added 8 photos to album Fife 2022.
Braw morning for a walk to Dysart harbour.
🗁Added 8 photos to album Homemade food.
It's amazing what a bottle of raspberry coulis can do to make anything fancy. Today's michelin star quality Community Kitchen desserts, peach and coconut jelly set with agar, with a spring of mint from the garden. I also made lemon and coffee jelly this week, on my six-monthly agar kick.
🗁Added 1 photos to album Foraging 2022.
Velvet shank and jelly ear in Ravenscraig Park.
🗁Added 9 photos to album Stuff I made.
A narwhal for E.
🗁Added 27 photos to album Fife 2022.
Sunrises, and walkies to East Wemyss (out along the coastal path, ice cream shop stop, back along the beach.
🗁Added 36 photos to album Edinburgh, Feb 2022.
A beautiful sunny day in Edinburgh. A wander around town, across the Meadows, climb up Arthur's Seat, food in Beetroot Sauvage and The Doghouse.
Week in review: 21st - 27th Feb
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🗁Added 21 photos to album Fife 2022.
Sunrise, sunset.
🗁Added 20 photos to album Fife 2022.
Rainbow, watercolour skies, sunset.
🗁Added 9 photos to album Homemade food.
Baked mac n not-cheese. Sweet potato coconut pie (refined sugar- and gluten-free, with a coconut/buckwheat crust). Overnight bread getting better and better.
🗁Added 17 photos to album Fife 2022.
Cleaned the beach between Dysart and Wemyss on a warm, sunny, March Sunday. Stopped for a snack on the top of the tall rocks by the fossil spot. Returned through the woods. About 6 large bags of rubbish in total.
Week in review: 28th Feb - 6th March
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🗁Added 13 photos to album Fife 2022.
Braw still day! Kayaked to Wemyss. I put my wetsuit on, but was far too hot. My arms ached all day afterwards.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Fife 2022.
Beach sunrises.
time to leave the house, i'd better put on something more presentable.
*changes from baggy trousers covered in dog hair, dried mud and paint stains into different baggy trousers covered in dog hair, dried mud and paint stains*
that's better.
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🗁Added 13 photos to album Fife 2022.
Big waves, moody skies.
🗁Added 3 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Tomato, cucumber and courgette seedlings. Hungarian black pepper is flowering again.
🗁Added 3 photos to album Homemade food.
Spotted dick and saffron custard at the Community Kitchen. Sprouted mung beans at home.
🗁Added 11 photos to album Fife 2022.
Huge surf all day. Sunset from the coal binn.
I want to make an AP client to do scheduled posts, which first means I need to sort sloph out so it doesn't show posts dated in the future, and oh boy am I creating so many bugs right now.
(Maybe one day I will create tests instead of bugs, eh.
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If you see this before 18:30, scheduled posting does not work.
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🗁Added 1 photos to album Homemade food.
I've been failing to set lemon juice with agar for some weeks now, and it's just been sloshing around in the fridge. Every few days I'd reheat it, add more agar, try again. No dice. Finally this evening I thickened it with cornflower and oat milk and made it into lemon curd instead.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Fife 2022.
Struggling sunrise (cleared up eventually). A communal paper recycling bin on the beach this morning.
Monstera unfurls big new leaves.
Week in review: 7th - 13th March
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🗁Added 30 photos to album Fife 2022.
A selection of braw sunrises and sunsets in Dysart. As usual.
🗁Added 52 photos to album Fife 2022.
A spontaneous decision to get the last bus to Crail and camp by the sea. This meant we'd be there in time for low tide (the first bus in the morning was too late) for optimal seaweed foraging. Then we helped to plant lots of trees in the nature reserve with other volunteers arranged by Footprint East Neuk. Chips in Crail ended a great day.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Homemade food.
Homemade dal makhani, accompanied by mustard greens pakora.
More bubbly overnight bread than usual - I accidentally added way too much water, then evened it out with rye flour, to great effect.
Homemade sushi (avocado, courgette, pepper) with foraged wakame salad.
🗁Added 72 photos to album Foraging 2022.
Awake at sunrise for low tide seaweed foraging near Crail.
Sea spaghetti is so cool! Its strands grow out of little mushroomy buttons, and it has a great crunch raw. We also got tons of wakame and kelp, as well as carrageen, dulse, and bladderwrack. Most of it went on the washing line or over the dehumidifier to dry.
Also experimented with blanching it to colour it bright green. Some went in salad.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Edinburgh, Mar 2022.
A day in Edinburgh with J and BT. Lunch at Seeds for the Soul.
Week in review: 14th - 20th March
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🗁Added 32 photos to album London, Mar 2022.
Most of a week in London. It was exhausting.
I saw more people per hour than I see in a month at home. Everything is loud. Overstimulating. Too many people. No stars at night. Did I mention the crowds? It's like another universe. I walked as much as possible, and took the bus as the next option, but due to logistical.. challenges.. ended up on the Tube more than I would have liked.
But it was fantastic to see TAG colleagues, Co-op colleagues, and old friends, who I haven't seen in three dimensions for well over two years.
Also to eat lots of exciting things. Ethopian and Indian food. Falafel. Seed Cafe. Temple of Seitan. Purezza. Finally a Sri Lankan feast with D. Then the night bus home.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Edinburgh, Mar 2022.
Arrived into Edinburgh before 8am, and a while before the Sunday buses to Fife begin. A nice sit on the edge of Holyrood Park, then breakfast at BBL.
Week in review: 21st - 27th March
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🗁Added 3 photos to album Stuff I grow.
A mini footpath garden harvest! (Chard and purple sprouting broccoli.) and a pretty weed is growing in the Cloud Garden.. I'm leaving it be.
🗁Added 13 photos to album Fife 2022.
🗁Added 13 photos to album Homemade food.
Curry-y bread; apple caramel pie and baked apples; gingerbread; buckwheat apple pancakes; urid dal with greens; sprouted chickpeas and brown lentils.
🗁Added 1 photos to album Stuff I made.
I started making a hat but ran out of yarn and didn't have anything else to match, so I backed up and turned it into a tea cosy instead.
Week in review: 28th March - 3rd April
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Another weekend squandered..
.. no wait. I rested, read, crocheted a bunch, baked a bit, sorted out all my yarn, watched several movies I should have seen as a child but didn't, went on some wikiventures, and even did a bit of work. That's probably not squandered.
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Ugali, Tanzania: food I've never eaten
I have tried sadza in Zimbabwe, made from sorghum flour. The Tanzanian variation on a similar side dish is ugali, made from maize. Every 'recipe' I found seems to be different, but I felt the most coherent instructions on WikiHow. I already had maize flour from when Grain & Sustain had run out of gram flour and offered me that as an alternative.
I used one part maize flour to four parts water and mixed them slowly together. The texture was smooth, and it held together without being sticky once it had cooled enough to touch. Dave said he would have believed me if I told him it was mashed potato, but he isn't very discerning. I served it with a vegetable and bean stew.
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🗁Added 4 photos to album Stuff I made.
Crochet tea cosy, using alpine stitch. It started out as a hat but I didn't have enough yarn, so I backed up and tea-cosied it instead.
🗁Added 30 photos to album Fife 2022.
At the last minute, Lowenna was deposited on my doorstep on Thursday evening. She was full of bounce and beans and buzz as usual, and has decided that nonstop barking at Dave is now a thing. I was still in covid isolation on Friday, so we snuck down to the beach at sunrise, then she spent the day alternately lounging around and barking at nothing (until Dave got home, then she barked at Dave). She also thoroughly systematically dismantled Max's colourful string ball, and set to on his fancy olive stick thing so there is woodchip everywhere.
🗁Added 3 photos to album Homemade food.
Made ugali / sima from maize flour, for something different. Ate it with a spicy root veg and bean stew.
This week's bread came out fluffier than usual. Possibly I put fewer seeds in.
🗁Added 22 photos to album Fife 2022.
Lowenna and Max frolicked on the beach for a lot of Saturday. Then they snoozled inside. Once Max had got past his most primal urges, he started trying to romance her properly. They would gaze into each others eyes, or delicately lick each others paws and faces, sweet little puppy kisses.
🗁Added 5 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Finally able to work in the garden. Planted tomato seedlings, radishes, dwarf purple french beans in the polytunnel; romanesco, more dwarf french beans, aubergine, celery, runner beans, in trays; beetroot and chard in the garden; and overhauled the footpath garden with fresh mushroom compost; pulled out the chicory (to eat) and dead plants and got it all ready for seedlings in a few weeks.
Remember last year's rhubarb that definitely died completely and rotted into a ball of mush? I threw it in the weeds across the road. It... has come back to life. Whilst lying on top of weeds and grass, over the winter. Retrieved it and potted it back up. Who knew.
Week in review: 4th - 10th April
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🗁Added 13 photos to album Fife 2022.
On Sunday Lowenna was knackered from all the walks on Saturday. We worked in the garden, and the doggos chased the ball and frolicked. Lowenna is faster than Max, but less precise, so they're evenly matched in ball chasing competition. Lowenna is definitely learning good behaviour from Max, and Max is learning how to be socially normal from her..
In the evening, Max took over 2/3 of the sofa as usual, and Lowenna discovered the best way for her to fit on was to lie directly on top of Max.
On Monday Lowenna was scared to go outside because there was an Alsatian very far away in the distance who she is for some reason terrified of. She wasn't really okay until Max came over and demonstrated that outside is safe.
K&M came for her in the evening, and after about an hour of sitting around and talking with Dave, ignoring Wenna's barking, she suddenly realised Dave is not actually a threat, and brought him a toy to play tug with. Hurrah! Then she went home.
I love a good Star Trek time travel back to the present day episode as much as the next guy, but did Picard S2 run out of budget or something..?
(I'm almost caught up but still one or two behind atm.)
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As of this week, previously 'public' facebook pages seem to be behind a login wall. I can't check the menu for my local Indian takeaway, see which stalls are on the market this week, or get a clue about things happening in the community around me.
I can't find anyone talking about this online, and the only thing anyone - even local biz owners - seem to be able to say to me is *shrug*. What the fuck.
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🗁Added 17 photos to album Fife 2022.
Sunrises and Max time.
Babenda, Burkina Faso: food I've never eaten
I make 'West African style' peanut stew fairly regularly, so what else is there to this collection of hearty and rich cuisines? Babenda from Burkina Faso immediately jumped out at me as something I'd love to try. Funky smelling fermented locust beans? Sold. They're called soumbala, dawa dawa, or iru, and after failing to find them during a brief trip to London I ended up ordering some off ebay, dried.
I looked through a few recipe variations, and most closely used this one. Of course, no anchovies for me, but locally foraged seaweed (dulse in this case) gives it that salty fishy edge.
The first step is to blitz everything in the food processor: peanuts, iru, spices, and also the uncooked rice. I was using sushi rice, because that's all we ever have in, and it didn't break down much. Also probably because the tiny food processor was too full.
Then I simmered everything until it seemed cooked, and stirred in some homegrown bitter greens. I think I added too much chilli, using both dried and fresh.
I loved it. Everyone else who tried it agreed it was funky and weird, and didn't seem convinced. They did eat it all though.
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🗁Added 12 photos to album Homemade food.
Made some very tasty food this week, including:
The babenda is peanuts, iru (fermented locust beans, very stinky), chilli and rice blitzed together, then simmered until thick, with bitter greens (I used chard and mustard greens) stirred through. As promised by various blogs, taste was funky and unusual - a combination I love.
Seitan was improv; veg stock, nut. yeast, soy sauce and spices with vital wheat gluten, boiled in miso, then sliced and fried with the veg. Chu hou sauce came in a jar.
🗁Added 1 photos to album Stuff I made.
Helped to make (well, mostly watched.. did some sanding..) a hefty chopping board from an irregular chunk of scavenged oak worktop. Why do I never remember to take before pics?
🗁Added 9 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Romanesco sprouted. A new raised bed erected, new home to a squash and a cucumber. Planted onions, soy beans, mange touts seeds; and pepper plants into the polytunnel. Kale in the footpath garden is flowering; I should probably eat it.
Week in review: 11th - 17th April
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🗁Added 2 photos to album Homemade food.
Mauritania-style cherchem: millet with tomato, herbs and mint.
Cherchem, Mauritania: food I've never eaten
I read about the iron ore train in Mauritania and added that to my definitely-to-do list. But probably not any time soon. In lieu of that, I made what felt like either a hybrid of or transition between African and Middle Eastern food: cherchem. Recipes online were consistent more or less with the spices that go along with the millet (which, incidentally, I like way more than cous cous, but all my brother can connect it with is that my parrot used to eat it / scatter it everywhere) - mint, oregano, thyme, bay, coriander, garlic and paprika. Plus some tomato paste, and boiled up all together. I served it dolloped on top of salad for lunch.
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🗁Added 33 photos to album Fife 2022.
Hung out with and fed Maud and Jess over the long weekend. Mostly Maud. Jess put in a couple of token appearances, but soon realised I wasn't going to let her outside while her human was away and resumed her usual state of sulking in the airing cupboard. Maud, on the other hand, is a tiny zooming blur of affection and excitement. Though she forgot how to eat, and only managed it if I hand-squeezed food from the pouch directly into her mouth, or handed her one tiny biscuit at a time.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Fife 2022.
Market day! First trip into town in at least three weeks. Pizza from Roastie Toastiez on Pathhead beach. Max kicked sand into it but it was still good. Later: Max tried on my new tea cosy for size.
Last night was an enormous blood moon.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Homemade food.
No-recipe sugar-free carob brownies. The secret ingredients are sweet potato, cooked and blended with a bit of coconut cream, as well as sunflower butter. Besides that, they have coconut sugar, carob, flour, apple cider vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. Chopped hazelnuts inside, and hemp and goji berries on top. They turned out well! Fudgy and chocolatey.
🗁Added 4 photos to album Homemade food.
Back at the Community Kitchen after a month! I made experimental (no-recipe) cookies with gluten free flours.. A risk on several counts.. but it worked out well. They had lots of ground almonds in. I also made chocolate cake with secret cranberry sauce inside (not pictured). I started on some vegan haggis spring rolls, too, so I could nab some before I left.
Also pictured: soba in miso with tofu and foraged seaweed.
I had a fabulous sunny time at Kirkcaldy Artisan Friday market today and am feeling so much appreciation for the local community here.
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The local 'ooligans tipped a communal paper and card recycling bin over the bank onto the beach (again) last night, so cleaning all that up at 7am was how I started my day.
Some critiques of my neighbours' paper recycling practices though.. good job to whomever flattens and packs everything inside everything else, including toilet roll tubes within toilet roll tubes... Zero points to the person putting mixed waste in a bin bag in there.
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🗁Added 30 photos to album Fife 2022.
Finally getting up closer to sunrise again. Motivated this week by those planets that were supposedly aligning, but cloudy horizons meant I didn't manage to see the spectacle. Still, it's always worth rising early for coffee on the beach.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Stuff I made.
The oxalis is flowering! I didn't know it flowered when I bought it, I just liked the foliage, then I saw one in flower at Inverness Botannical Gardens some months later. So I've been excited for it, but not hopeful, because it has seemed to be struggling. Nonetheless, tiny delicate pale purple flowers have emerged! The tradescantia that I got at the same time has had ups and downs too, but is thriving on the mantel piece at the moment.
My chillis are all bearing fruit or flowers now, and my ridiculous inside cherry tomato has three more tomatoes on..
French beans, runner beans, aubergine, onions, romanesco planted last week are all sprouting in the polytunnel.
🗁Added 73 photos to album Fife 2022.
Adventure day! the main goal was to scout fields for St George's mushrooms, or tufty grass ring evidence thereof, but there were none to be found. First walked around Balbirnie Park in Glenrothes. Then to Falkland. Cake and coffee and lunch at Pillars of Hercules, before a couple of hours walking around Falkland Estate. Saw friendly bluetits and robins, amazing shell-like bracket fungi, enormous hundreds-of-years-old fallen trees ravaged by honey fungus, tree art, the ruined Temple of Decision, the Bruce monument, the waterfall at Maspie Den.
Week in review: 18th -24th April
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🗁Added 5 photos to album Homemade food.
Made krompirusa again: premade puff pastry rolled thinner, potatoes, onions, vegeta. Mmmm.
🗁Added 3 photos to album Foraging 2022.
IT'S BEGINNING
🗁Added 4 photos to album Homemade food.
Chia puddings with coconut milk, topped with fruit cocktail, for something different at the Community Kitchen.
Grilled peppers stuffed with delicious teriyaki-adjacent lentil mush (three kinds of lentils plus mung beans) and topped with tempeh, for K&M.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Planted a ton of chilli seeds of various different kinds. Most of them were out of date. We'll see what comes up. Also potted up a thousand romanesco cauliflowers... not sure where they're all going to live when they're bigger..
Oxalis flowers are lovely!
🗁Added 55 photos to album Fife 2022.
A week of astonishingly beautiful days. Walked into town a couple of times, and mornings on the beach of course. Enjoyed a quiet cove off Ravenscraig Park for a while, before heading back to Dysart beach for a dunk in the sea.
🗁Added 16 photos to album Fife 2022.
A quick detour through some woods on the way to Perth and.... spent the rest of the afternoon there. Just a few agates. Canny tell ya where.
Week in review: 25th April - 1st May
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🗁Added 4 photos to album Foraging 2022.
More dryad's saddle on the Early Warning Tree. But either someone had taken most of the new baby fruits, or the slugs had had a mega party. Kind of hard to tell, but I'm sure they were taken too young. A few survived under the nettles at the back of the log (until I got to them).
Kasknopfle, Liechtenstein: food I've never eaten
This week I checked out cuisine from Liechtenstein, and came across kasknopfle or spaetzle. I more or less followed this recipe for a veganised version.
The texture of the batter was surprisingly compliant. I used a chopping board and bench scraper to make strips to drop into the boiling water. The main mistake was making them far far too big. But they nonetheless cooked quickly and tasted fine.
I layered the dumplings/pasta with grated not-cheese. In lieu of dried onions to top with, I used the tops of home-grown onions, which caramelised a bit in the oven, and baked it all together. I would have just eaten that alone, but I was feeding my brother too who has greater quantity and diversity requirements for his evening meal, so I served it with breaded chicken-of-the-woods from my freezer (the closest thing I could think of to thematically appropriate schnitzel) and steamed broccoli from the garden.
There were plenty of leftovers, and they reheated well for a substantive lunch.
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🗁Added 33 photos to album Fife 2022.
Max time, a couple of walks into town (coffee at Black Cat Cafe), braw days and grey days.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Homemade food.
Quiche was on the menu at the Community Kitchen this week, so I swooped in to make a vegan one with gram flour as well. I also used aging mincemeat for tarts, plus jelly with the rest of the fruit cocktail.
At home I baked seedy bread, and a victoria sponge with homemade raspberry compote, and coconut cream. Dusted with coconut flour, instead of icing sugar, and only uses coconut sugar inside. It's a bit denser than ideal, though not solid. I might have a go with margarine (instead of oil) next time.
🗁Added 20 photos to album Homemade food.
Khichdi (mung bean dal, rice, tomato, spices), an Indian dish I picked up from Vipassana kitchen.
Spaetzle (veganised with semolina and spelt flour instead of egg), baked with not-cheese and onion, served with breaded chicken-of-the-woods and greens, from Leichtenstein, Germany, Switzerland and thereabouts.
Kanom krok, sweet/savoury coconut mini pancakes from Laos or Thailand.
Kanom krok, Laos: food I've never eaten
One day I'd love to visit Laos, and making kanom krok made me even more keen. They are small coconut pancakes, vegan without any modifications, also commonly found as street food in Thailand.
I made the pancake batter up ahead of time and left it in the fridge for a couple of hours. It seemed quite thin. I combined coconut milk (the thickest parts from a can that had separated in the fridge) with rice flour, desiccated coconut, some leftover cooked rice, and brown sugar in the blender. For the filling, I whisked coconut milk (again, the thick part) with a little white sugar and cornstarch. Lacking a proper kanom krok pan, I made do with a muffin tin and the oven on high. I heated the tin to melt coconut oil in each one first, then poured the batter in. It sizzled.
Baking these until they had a small skin on top took about 7 minutes. I pulled them out, added the filling, topped with sweetcorn and spring onion, and put them back in for another 12 minutes or so. I could/should have probably cooked them slightly longer to make the edges crispier.
They were delicious, if a little soggy or droopy. I waited just long enough for the tin to cool enough to hold it with a tea towel before removing them with a spoon. They came out surprisingly easily and had more structural integrity than they looked like they should. I got eighteen in total out of the mix, and most of the first twelve were eaten before the second batch were done. An eater-of-eggs who tried them swore they would have passed as eggy desserts without question.
They were easy and quick to make, and so so good, I'll definitely be making them again.
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🗁Added 9 photos to album Fife 2022.
Beach walkies. Max was getting in the way of mowing the lawn so we put the seedling-protector over him. He was happy. Wagging for a new ball access challenge.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Stuff I made.
Planted out tomatoes, cucumber and dwarf french beans in the footpath garden. Some things are sprouting in places I do not remember planting them. Also more aubergines have come up, some very belated sweet peppers, and a whole load of long slim chillis.
Week in review: 2nd - 8th May
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🗁Added 13 photos to album CoGM May 2022, Wortley.
A lift to Edinburgh with K for a visit to the Scottish Vegan Festival. I bought many treats. Then an afternoon and night with K, M and Lowenna. Before heading back into Edinburgh for a train down south... by way of a long chat with a Cat's Protection charity man who persuaded me to sponsor a moggy.
🗁Added 28 photos to album CoGM May 2022, Wortley.
Checked into a room bigger than my flat, including a bathroom with ceiling arches, and a view over Wortley Hall's fantastic grounds. Day one of the CoGM, with some team building and strategic thinking, lunch with aggressive ducks, plus a long walk through the fields in the afternoon.
🗁Added 2 photos to album Stuff I made.
Cellophane addition to my bathroom light to change the moooood.
🗁Added 45 photos to album CoGM May 2022, Wortley.
A sunset walk in the hills around Wortley. Definitely no getting lost, confrontations with cows, or strange men burning logs. Found an inkycap, and left it to go splat to make some mushroom art, before redistributing it in the Wortley Hall grounds.
The next day, clear skies for sunrise, and I had front row seats. Into Sheffield for a fantastic brunch at South Street Kitchen. And then the train ride home.
🗁Added 8 photos to album Fife 2022.
Cutting rocks.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Foraging 2022.
A few large dryads in the nearby woods. Some already too old. Not all within reach. More than enough for dinner.
🗁Added 10 photos to album Fife 2022.
A few hours in Buckhaven, helping CLEAR out with a plant and local produce sale and gardens open day. Then a walk through the woods to admire the bluebells. Found a few dryad's saddle, but not a lot and nothing else.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Stuff I grow.
A wee chilli harvest. Many long peppers are growing. Planted out brussels sprouts and romanesco in the garden. Potted up aubergine, sweet peppers and yet more celery. Planted sunflowers and rockery plants in the footpath garden.
Look at the flower on the salsify we have been neglecting!
🗁Added 14 photos to album Homemade food.
My upstairs neighbour left me a bag of massive cabbage leaves, so what else is there to do but make stuffed cabbage rolls? I've eaten the like in Czech Republic, Ukraine, Poland, and doubtless other places in Eastern Europe too. I didn't follow any particular recipe, but made the rice filling with brown and black lentils, onion and goji berries, and the sauce from onion, tomato and carrot. After blanching and stuffing the cabbage leaves, I simmered them in the sauce for about an hour. Delicioius!
In a further burst of inspiration, I made matcha and white chocolate cookies, and they came out perfect. I have been seeking this cookie texture my whole life. I hope I can replicate it with other flavours.
Also pictured: lunch with Kama vegan bakes pies and homemade pickled tomatoes.
Week in review: 9th - 15th May
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🗁Added 10 photos to album Homemade food.
Homemade ravioli stuffed with smoked cashew cheese (from Kama Vegan Bakes) were a success!
Tried to adapt my perfect stuffed matcha cookies to use peanut butter and be stuffed with compote, but they were way too soft, and should have baked longer.
Also bread.
🗁Added 5 photos to album Homemade food.
Homemade onion- and garlic-free falafel for J.
🗁Added 4 photos to album Fife 2022.
2.5 hour each way trip on a bus full of football fans, was worth it to hang out with J and F in Glasgow and get tasty lunch at Mono, doughnuts at Tantrum, and fancy half price hot chocolate from Hotel Chocolat.
🗁Added 41 photos to album Fife 2022.
A week of sunrises, blue skies, and nice walks. Some big waves in the mornings. A longer-than-usual visit from Stagecoach.
🗁Added 3 photos to album Homemade food.
Carob and hazelnut cake. Perfect texture! Used my usual coffee cake recipe but subbed in carob.
🗁Added 14 photos to album Foraging 2022.
A boatload of dryad's saddle. Found a chicken of the woods that is not ready yet. Plus a too-old ring of St George (finally) and other unidentified things.
Week in review: 16th - 22nd May
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That feeling when you are braced for a drawn out and infuriating customer service experience, but your problem is solved without any hassle within 2 mins of an online chat. Now I feel like I have the whole day free!
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🗁Added 5 photos to album Homemade food.
Matcha and chocolate cookies at the Community Kitchen. Only vegan margarine available was in 10g sachets.. we make do..
🗁Added 5 photos to album Homemade food.
Marinaded thick wedges of dryad's saddle in homemade BBQ sauce, then stuck them in the oven for an hour. Result: tasty mushroom steaks! Served with sweet potato mash, and homegrown sprouting broccoli.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Fife 2022.
Dinner at the Wee Buddha with Co-op colleagues in Edinburgh. I've always wanted to eat here, and it lived up to expectations!
🗁Added 2 photos to album Homemade food.
Coffee, almond and sour cherry cake at Community Kitchen. Carob nut muffins for hiking.
🗁Added 14 photos to album Homemade food.
R and I had a mushroom pie competition, impartially adjudicated by Dave. We presented two entries each. Competition was fierce, but I won. My homemade pastry tipped it. R got more points for presentation; his fillings were basic dryad's saddle and onion, and dryad's saddle with split peas. My "forager's pie" (the winner) was a dryad's saddle and black lentils spiced mince (Cornish-pasty-esque); and my "winner winner chicken dinner" pie was chicken-of-the-woods chunks and sweetcorn in a creamy dryad's saddle gravy with thyme and rosemary.
🗁Added 13 photos to album Fife 2022.
Early starts, but most day snot as early as I'd like. Did catch a couple of sunrises though.
🗁Added 22 photos to album Dysart to Dundee.
Day 1 of a walk to Dundee: Dysart to Falkland Hill.
🗁Added 58 photos to album Dysart to Dundee.
Day 2 of a walk to Dundee: Falkland Hill Pitmedden Forest.
🗁Added 73 photos to album Dysart to Dundee.
Day 3 of a walk to Dundee: Pitmedden Forest to Balmerino.
Week in review: 23rd - 29th May
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Walk to Dundee
It's the time of year again for a long hike. This time, through the middle of Fife to the north coast, then along the coastal path to the Tay bridge, and over to Dundee. I had thought if we were at the bridge with enough time and energy, we might continue round to St Andrew's from the other direction instead, but that was not to be. We had way points, but not a route plan, and figured it out as we went along. The result was less direct than it could have been. The weather was primarily great, and although my walking boots rebelled and were causing pain by the end of the first day, it was still a fab trek.
The quality of the photos is atrocious; my camera is now completely out of focus on the right hand side.
Day 1: Dysart to Falkland Hill
I was absolutely convinced we could get to Pillars of Hercules by tea time, but after 12 and a half miles of walking we had barely even made it to the Lomond Hills. We followed Queen Mary's Road from Wemyss to Balgonie, went through Markinch and skirted around the east and north of Glenrothes via a little detour through Balbirnie Park, and stopped to fill up our water bottles at the Pitcairn Center, before heading towards the Lomond Hills and pitching camp at the corner of some woods, away from the main trail at the foot of East Lomond. This was all familiar territory, and we were perhaps overconfident in terms of ground we could cover, and did lots of unfocussed zigzagging.
At some point Max picked up an empty plastic bottle and decided this is much better than a ball for fetch.
See all photos from day 1.
Day 2: Falkland Hill to Pitmedden Forest
We walked between East and West Lomond, along the lime kiln trail, and into the back of the Falkland Estate. We finally got to Pillars of Hercules, in time for a spectacularly disappointing not-sausage sandwich. But a nice coffee, and some communing with a friendly robin.
The accessible footpaths were not giving us a lot of options north of Falkland, and we took an indirect route to Auchtermuchty via Strathmiglio. We almost had to detour all the way to Dunshalt, but cut through a field instead. On the way into Auchtermuchty we passed through the grounds of a big fancy house, which were very nice. In Auchtermuchty itself, we looked around the high street and old buildings, said hello to friendly locals, and then I stuck my head into the one cafe in town thinking - after the Pillars disappointment - that maybe they'd have one vegan cake, for a treat. A treat! Almost all of the cakes were vegan, and there was a range of about twenty options. They had vegan cream and marshmallows for a hot chocolate, and vegan dog treats (handmade in East Wemyss!). They took a picture of Max doing 'nose' for their facebook page. Even though he was wet and muddy, and slobbered the treat all over the floor, they made him welcome. We stayed for a while, enjoying the fab treats and lovely atmosphere. The cafe - the Old Barn - is also (was originally) a furniture upcycling shop. Definitely recommend if you're in the area.. or even worth going out of the way for.
Out of Auchtermuchty and into Pitmedden Forest we went. We've been here before, but took a route through the woods which was new; one that skirts around several hills. The woods were full of downed trees from recent storms. Ancient things with huge roots which had hoisted enormous clumps of soil up into the air, and sometimes nearby fences to boot. We camped under the conifers, out of sight of the well-used track. Our longest day, at 17.9 miles.
See all photos from day 2.
Day 3: Pitmedden Forest to Balmerino
The next stop was Newburgh, which would signify us finally reaching the banks of the Tay, and the Fife Coastal Path at last. In fact, Newburgh is the very start of the Fife Coastal Path, and I was determined to find the beginning of it. I backed up along the coast until I ran out of signs, but saw nothing of any significance. But later discovered I should have gone inland a bit, for the true start. Maybe next time. Or, close enough.
After Newburgh the coastal path goes inland. On OpenStreetMap it looks like there is a trail running right along the coast, but being somewhat time constrained and not sure exactly how accurate that was, we stuck to the signposted route. I expect to return in future to attempt the very coastal trail though. We passed along the edge of fields with lovely views over the Tay, and regular alternating between drizzly grey and warm blue skies. After Glenduckie we veered from the official path and took a shortcut through the woods alongside Norman's Law. Again, lots of downed trees.
We stopped to look around a very old and overgrown churchyard at Creich. I really wanted to camp closer to the coast, so we pressed on despite being pretty much ready to stop. We finally turned into a narrow strip of trees off the main path, and pitched the tent in a quiet spot, after a total of 14.4 miles.
See all photos from day 3.
Day 4: Balmerino to Dundee
Almost as soon as we got to the wood that runs along the edge of the Tay we found a far more perfect spot for a campsite. Next time! We lingered over an hour there; Max systematically destroying every one in a giant pile of sticks, and R scouring the beach for agates.
Our next stop was Balmerino village, which is super lovely! I'd move there. We looked around the grounds of the Abby, which includes a giant and stunningly gnarly 400 year old chestnut tree.
The path leads shortly to Kirton of Balmerino, and then, after longer than it feels like it should, to Wormit and Woodhaven. The weather continued to change between extremes at short notice. We passed under the rail bridge, and along the beach a way before realising we had only sheer cliffs and crashing waves in front of us; but instead of turning back to find the proper path, we dug through the undergrowth to scramble up and alledgedly disused stairway and through some spiky bushes and over a 5 foot high brick wall, to the road. It was still far to walk, mostly through the town streets, to get to the pedestrian bridge at Newport-on-Tay.
A storm cloud passed over us as we crossed the bridge, and soaked us. The bridge is infinitely long when you're on foot. Max was thoroughly unimpressed by the loud traffic on either side, and positively tore my arm off with the lead, forcing me to walk at a hitherto unforeseen pace to make it to the other side.
At last, Dundee! 12 miles on the final day. The sun promptly came back out. I made a beeline for Rad Apples but found it closed. So we summoned just enough energy to head across town to Loco Rita's, where Max was welcomed despite, once again, being wet and muddy, and we ate great vegan tacos on a comfy sofa.
Then we conked out for the hour and a half bus ride home.
See all photos from day 4.
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🗁Added 109 photos to album Dysart to Dundee.
Day 4 of a walk to Dundee: Balmerino to Dundee.
🗁Added 8 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Flowers and beans in the footpath garden. Planted brassicas, mounded potatoes. Look at the salsify flowers!
🗁Added 5 photos to album Homemade food.
Rhubarb crumble sponge at the Community Kitchen.
🗁Added 4 photos to album Homemade food.
Mega mushroom feast after an evening of foraging. Breaded chicken of the woods and dryad's saddle worked great. Plus a teriyaki dryad stirfry, and veg from the garden.
🗁Added 9 photos to album Homemade food.
A hasty tart that worked out really well. The base is dates and oats; the middle berry compote and dessicated coconut, and a bit of coconut oil; and the top is carob with creamed coconut. The top separated a bit, but you could pretend it's a feature. Tasted great.
🗁Added 17 photos to album Fife 2022.
Hanging out with Max by the sea.
🗁Added 7 photos to album Homemade food.
Made a Jaffa Cake for Dave's birthday. The base was a thin lemony sponge, overcooked to be drier than cake but not quite biscuit. The orange jelly was made with agar and fresh oj, and was my second attempt - better with some lemon juice to bring out the orange flavour. The top is melted chocolate chips, tempered using a couple of squares of dark orange chocolate I happened to have. It went down well!
🗁Added 40 photos to album Livingston 2022.
A wonderful weekend of snuggling and long walkies with Lowenna. Since her recent near-death experience (from which she is now recovered) she has become accustomed to sleeping in the bed with her humans.. So I let her cuddle up with me too. She expands to fill the space available, and if she gets to bed first I just had to work around her. We walked through Bellsquarry woods a couple of times, and did a long round trip to Livingston Village, where I finally managed to get mac n cheeze from Castaway Coffee.
Week in review: 30th May - 5th June
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🗁Added 8 photos to album Homemade food.
Fancy flapjack. The base is coconut (soaked in freshly squeezed orange juice) with orange rind, pistachios, and the usual oaty mixture. I was very short on golden syrup, so there's only a squeeze in there, but the result is that it isn't as horribly sweet as flapjack often is, and it has a good texture that is not too dry and not too dense. The middle layer is dates cooked to mush, topped with crumbled pistachio halva. Then another layer of coconut/orange/oat mix. The last of the halva went on top 5 minutes before the end of baking.
We've had this halva to use up for weeks, which is actually the reason this flapjack was born. Hm, what goes with pistachios? Orange, obviously. Originally I had thought to top it with crumbled halva, but fortunately it occurred to me to test how halva responds to being baked first. I took bets in the kitchen as to whether it would burn or melt. After 10 minutes in the oven - it did both. Not good. Though underneath the burnt part, it was deliciously gooey. So I topped it 5 minutes before the end of baking, and it melted into an absolutely delightful sesame mush.
People who tried it were still talking about it next week, which doesn't often happen! Community kitchen food memory is short.
🗁Added 1 photos to album Stuff I grow.
Mega strawberry harvest, and first artichokes.
🗁Added 30 photos to album Fife 2022.
Some Dysart sunrises.
A great brunch in Roots & Seeds in Kirkcaldy.
An adventure to Bowhouse market and Pittenweem with K, K&M and Lowenna. Too blowy to swim (except for Lowenna), but we had hot chocolate in Cacao Tree and Lowenna was a super good girl.
Week in review: 6th - 12th June
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🗁Added 12 photos to album Homemade food.
Big harvest of strawberries, so I made tarts. The crust was dates and nuts; the middle dessicated coconut with last year's strawberry compote, topped with a layer of fresh strawberries, coconut cream, and more strawberries. I made a version with grated chocolate instead of fresh strawberries for me, which was better, but strawberry ruins anything for me..
🗁Added 8 photos to album Stuff I made.
Potatoes are thriving; purple beans and lemon chilli are happy in the polytunnel. Planted out celery in the footpath garden at last, but it's a bit cramped.
🗁Added 6 photos to album Homemade food.
Three layer muffins - matcha, lemon, strawberry - went down a treat.
🗁Added 1 photos to album Homemade food.
I made loads of stuff at Community Kitchen today, but was so focussed on making it that I forgot to take photos. Today's challenge was: use up as much as possible of the leftover christmas mincemeat. And we had lots of lemons. So I made a lemon tart, with mincemeat and oats as the crust. And a lemon fruit sponge, where the 'fruit' was, you guessed it, mincemeat. And then blended loads of mincemeat with various combinations of oats, cacoa, ground almonds, coconut, to make energy balls.
🗁Added 22 photos to album Family visit, June 2022.
My sister and I stayed with our Mum for the latter half of the week, and worked from there. We ate lots of cake, and had many tours of the garden. Mum is managing to grow enormous strawberries, and has a grapevine in the greenhouse. And the wildflower meadow is looking great! And that's just a little bit of it.
We had a successful family game of Who Did This Poo. And went for some walks in the woods.
Then we drove across the country to visit my Grandma, who had just turned 90. My brother drove down to join us too. We ate more cake. Grandma remembered who we all were the whole time and was as sweet as ever.
Afterwards, we managed to squeeze in a half an hour visit to Dad and Ruth, before catch our respective trains back up north.
Week in review: 13th - 19th June
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