The year is off to a good start, sunrise-wise.
Amy added 15 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Amy added 9 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Remember the buttercream disaster of a few weeks ago? I've had tubs of too-runny orange buttercream sitting around in the fridge ever since. I don't have anything like enough of a sweet tooth to want to lather it onto everything. Finally I figured that since many cake recipes start with creaming butter and sugar, why not give the buttercream a whirl in its place? I vaguely recalled that the ratio of flour to butter+sugar should be about 1:1, though obviously I didn't know what the sugar to butter ratio in the buttercream was. So I put together (everything approx): 350g plain flour + 1.5tsp baking powder + 0.5tps bicarb + cinnamon + nutmeg + ginger 250ml almond rooibos (I'd normally use oat milk here, but had none) + 1tbsp vinegar + vanilla extract I mixed the wet and the dry into the buttercream bit by bit, until a cake batter of a sensible consistency formed. I stirred in raisins and mixed peel, then baked it for about 40 mins at 160c. The result was amazing! The cake has a perfect crumb, the spices and orange flavour come through nicely, and it has an undertone of creaminess that really surprises me. It doesn't look like much, but it turned out so much better than expected.
Amy added 2 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Two days in Edinburgh for co-op time. Lots of post-its; food from Green Bite, Soul Vegan, BBL.
Amy added 19 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-edb/
A week of brilliant pink skies, mornings and evenings. Cold and bright. Ever the looming threat of snow.
Amy added 46 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Amy added 24 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
The Edinburgh fireworks visible from my beach at midnight. Fireworks were going off all along the coast on both sides of the Forth, quite apocalyptically.
Amy added 7 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Primulas in my foodpath garden are doing well despite it being frosty. I tidied up all of the old remains of veg plants, and it's looking better..
Amy added 4 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
Courgette choc chip cake in the Community Kitchen. I actually got to stay and eat it this time - they served portions double the size I would've, with cream! It was great. Pumpkin gnocchi made by J and H on their visit. Also a pizza by me, because I was gifted some Violife (homemade seitan pepperoni, still fine in the freezer!).
Amy added 11 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Coconut raspberry tart with a shortbread crust at the Community Kitchen. Choc hazelnut coconut cupcakes at home, for sharing.
Amy added 6 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
The menu said lemon meringue, but we had no cream of tartar, so I settled for lemon tart with a biscuit crust. The non-vegans got regular meringue that had been donated crushed up on top of theirs.
Amy added 3 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
H and J came for a visit. They sent their Lake District weather on ahead - as soon as they left their house it started drizzling. That didn't stop us from helping K with roof-related tasks, or going for a swim in waves that are far too big for me to brave on my own. J spent several hours making gnocchi, and we wanted the new Indiana Jones movie. We also had brunch at Roots & Seeds.
Amy added 25 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Three days in The City for TAG f2f. Views of shiny buildings from the Apple office. Lots of coffee and fancy food. Pizza at Purezza with MW before the Caledonian Sleeper home. There were bagpipes, because it was Burns Night.
Amy added 58 photos to https://i.amy.gy/202401-ldn/
A long weekend at Mum's, with woodland walks to The Ramblers. A day trip to Manchester to see some more of the co-op gang for curry and milkshakes. And rail replacement buses.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
Planted several varieties of tomato and chillis, aubergine, pumpkin, butternut squash. Covered them in clingfilm in a desperate attempt to deter the remaining fungus gnats from moving in. Diego2 has produced a teeny tiny flower.
Amy added 11 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Tomatoes and pumpkins sprouted. No chillis, aubergine or squash yet.
Amy added 4 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
As soon as H left the skies cleared and it was gorgeous again, if a bit frosty.
Planted tomatoes, chillis, aubergine, pumpkin and squash, after taking every precaution I can think of against fungus gnats. Caught up with a friend I haven't seen for ages who is.. opening a new cafe this week. At least I have somewhere to go to immediately replace Kangus. Went to Edinburgh for the co-op CoGM, then to Mum's, then to Manchester for a day. Started and finished The Galaxy, and the Ground Within.
Started and finished This is how we lose the Time War. Went to London for the TAG face-to-face which was very positive and productive. Spent more time in The City than I think I have before. Ate some excessively expensive food. Took the sleeper home on Burns night, and they kindly provided a bagpiper. Got home to find the tomatoes and pumpkins have sprouted and the sea is where I left it. Made a surprisingly successful cake. Found out another beloved local-but-not-local-enough-to-go-regularly cafe, with excellent vegan options, the Old Barn in Auchtermuchty, has closed :( Survived a week with only a 'work' laptop.
Worked every day, which was a bit much. Lots of meetings. Too much co-op, too little time. Did a Mental Health First Aiders course, thanks to Greener Kirkcaldy, which was really good. Made raspberry coconut tart at the Community Kitchen, and chocolate hazelnut cupcakes at home. Mostly braw but freezing days, interspersed with flurries of snow. Swam in the sea twice. Went to Burntisland for an afternoon. Found out that the vegan cafe isn't reopening after the winter break, which is very sad. Started contemplating upending my life to open a cafe again. Advice from the people who were running it, and other small business owners in the vicinity, is "don't."
While I was drinking my coffee on the beach this morning, the confluence of thoughts about the writing style of The Algebraist (Iain M Banks) and the storytelling of Hamilton, which I watched last night, unblocked a plot point I was stuck on in a novel I started in 2018 and haven't really thought much about since.
I was feeling left out, but I finally got some of that Mastodon spam I've been hearing about.
It's not like the old days though because I now have the power of ALMIGHTY CSS GRIDS.
Making a little website, like in the old days.
'Pay to avoid ads' is more of a hostage situation than a business model. Especially given that ads creep into paid services regardless - ie. on-demand streaming media, cinemas, cereal boxes... I'm tired of this false dichotomy being presented as the only way to keep the web platform alive.
A day out in Anstruther, with K&M and RG and dear slimy Lowenna. We ate chips and sorbet and frolicked on the beach, then played board games.
Amy added 19 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
A day of coworking in Portobello. Pizza for lunch, pida for dinner. Pretty birds on the beach.
Amy added 9 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-edb/
Amy added 3 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Confronted with an enormous mound of frozen raspberries, and a desperate craving for chocolate cake, I made many raspberry chocolate cakes, and covered it in raspberry chocolate ganache.
Amy added 18 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Two raspberry themed treats at the Community Kitchen this week: peanut butter cups (with a secret raspberry center) and raspberry swirl cake. Unfortunately the pink part and the vanilla part came out the same colour once baked, so I had to do swirly icing at short notice instead. Also made peanut butter blondies at home, with almonds and choc chips.
Amy added 23 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Potatoes and hot sauce on toast for breakfast most of this week. A lot of potatoes to get through before it's time to plant the next lot... Raspberry jelly and banana (n)ice cream at the Community Kitchen. Then a last minute birthday cake for a four year old who liked last week's pink icing. Earl grey, orange and thyme cupcakes. I flipped a nomelette without breaking it.
Amy added 21 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
A whole lotta frozen raspberries and coconut cream for a whole lot of cranachan. To emulate whisky in the cream, I used vanilla essence and liquid smoke. Instead of honey, I used agave. There was a gluten free version as well (Community Kitchen).
Amy added 7 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
A night and a day in Glasgow, mostly for a training course. But also a visit with F&M, curry from Raunak Raseeli India, pastries from The Dorky French, and fancy dinner at Stereo.
Amy added 16 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
Day trip to Helensburgh for an educational time and curry with E&E (and J&F). It didn't even rain! But we stayed in.
Amy added 10 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
The usual views. Some days of very still sea, dramatic skies; swam twice. An afternoon in KDY; lunch at Koku Shi and cake at Merchant's House... who have a new vegan menu! To pick up the customers left behind by Kangus, I presume...
Amy added 57 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Amy added 23 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Some braw clear days, and some stormy rainy ones (not photographed). King tides and big waves excavated a secret tunnel at the bottom of my beach steps, toppled a load of the brae, reconfigured the beach again and trashed the carpark at Path Head.
Amy added 61 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Amy added 35 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Some very braw and very dreich days. The sea was very still compared to recently which was nice, and once I went out to swim in the mist. It was all very muted and gentle. Also, a walk to Wemyss, and some winter oysters. Food at The Kitchen Treasury.
Amy added 48 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Amy added 42 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
A slightly less stressful week, feeling more on top of things. Trending up. Made peanut butter cups and raspberry cake in the Community Kitchen, and peanut blondies at home. Had a Co-op OGM. Spent a whole day on BODS schema tests refactoring, which was nice. Hung out with Max and founder winter oysters. Swam in the sea thrice. Some TAG documents were mentioned in a report by the UN Human Rights Council about ethics and web standards, which is pretty cool. Finally enjoyed a weekend with NO PLANS. Used it to make a website for The Kitchen Treasury (pending approval). Headphone shopping, as the Sennheiser MM450-X I've had since 2019 are finally giving up (one ear has stopped emitting sound, and the bluetooth and noise cancelling won't even switch on). This is the third pair of essentially the same headphones I've been buying since 2009 because they're compact for travel and really comfy to wear for hours. I have very small ears, so they're perfect for me. Only now I only seem to be able to get the 550-X model, which would be fine, but it's from circa 2015 and still £140+ secondhand for some reason; 3x what I've paid previously. I'm tempted to just pay it because I know what I like, but on the other hand maybe I should investigate other headphone brands..? Hmm. Finished The Difference Engine (found it a bit challenging to stick with; probably would have enjoyed it more if I knew more about the time period it's set in). Started The Algebraist.
Enjoyed an evening in Edinburgh with JB and RG. Bought some bright pink beats headphones from a local person and they're good so far. Bulkier than the sennheisers, so we'll see how they travel. Made jelly and (n)ice cream at the Community Kitchen, and an emergency birthday cake for a child which was requested right at the end of my shift (it was my pleasure). And earl grey, orange and thyme cupcakes at home. Got loads of BODS done, again! Started This Is Us and started and finished the newest season of The Orville. Ups and downs in co-op land. Swam in the sea twice. Went on walkies and enjoyed some clear, still days. Enjoyed an afternoon in Kirkcaldy JB and K, and discovered Merchants House has a new vegan menu.. Planted some more things and cleared up the garden. The daffodils and crocuses are out, though it's still frosty in the morning. Mixed signals regarding the onset of spring.. Encountered my dear frenemy and neighbour Mulder with no barking and growling for the first time ever! The strategy was to wave a bag of treats from the distance as I approached. He took one from me quite happily and climbed up my leg like we've been friends forever. I've been carrying around treats waiting to try this for a while. He has previously hated me with the burning rage of a thousand suns (because, I presume a) I live in close proximity to his territory, and b) because I associate with Max, whom he hates even more), so I'm very happy all it took was one treat to turn things around. Hopefully he can stop barking whenever I'm tiptoeing quietly through the hallway between our two homes, now. Watched Hamilton. Almost turned it off a couple of times, but was mostly enjoying it by the end. Learnt a lot more about US history than I knew before, and managed to stick with it, by wikipedia-ing things for the duration.
A bit of a heavy week. Long days, and coop angst. Running out of patience for being the person in the middle of everything. Dave and Huan visited for one night, eating everything in sight like a swarm of locust. (Read: with great affection.) Started The Difference Engine. Made lemon tart at the Community Kitchen. Swam in the sea twice. Finished Ugly Betty. Gallivanting in Glasgow (Went for Tripod training about conflict in non-hierarchical groups. I'd booked it before This Week, but it was incredibly useful). Adventure in Anstruther.
Week in review: 29th January - 4th February
Too much to do, not enough time, and no time or energy for anything other than coop. Better than last week though. A day coworking (and eating pizza) in Edinburgh. Made raspberry chocolate cake at the Community Kitchen. Swam in the sea. Watched The Artful Dodger. Day trip to Helensburgh to visit J and the gang. Big waves and king tides demolished more of the bank, and excavated a secret tunnel at the bottom of my beach steps.
I just made powdered sugar from granulated sugar in my blender. I always knew it was theoretically possible, but I kind of never believed it would really work. Happy to find I'm wrong!
I overachieved on F's birthday cakes - coffee cupcakes with cheesecake center, cream cheese frosting, and another mini cupcake on top... and I even got them to Glasgow on public transport in one piece! They didn't last long after that though. I also made my trusty matcha cookie recipe, which never fails. At F's, I made us all an elaborate breakfast.
A new burger recipe, involving pinto and kidney beans, cous cous, vital wheat gluten. Turned out well! Most of them went in the freezer.
Amy added 15 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Coffee and biscoff cake at the Community Kitchen. Lotus biscuits and coffee beans crumbled on top of a biscoff frosting.
Amy added 8 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Delicious, if slightly charred, oreo muffins (the ganache and oreo may or may not have been to disguise the slight charredness - my timer didn't go off). Tacos every day for a week after I got lots of tortillas from the Community Kitchen, with various different fillings. Peanut butter and jam brownie with banana (n)ice cream (chocolate coconut, or sea salt caramel flavours). Suuuuper good, if I do say so.
I finally got the giant bucket of sheese cream cheese I'd been given by Louise from G&S out of the freezer and carved it up. Then I made a lot of cheesecake. I tried both baked and raw versions, expecting the latter to turn out best, but it didn't set. The baked on the other hand, was beyond my wildest dreams. The raw one went into the freezer, and is like a delicious ice cream cake. The raw crust was just nuts and dates; the baked crust was oats and dates. This was my first ever baked cheesecake, and I'm so happy with how it turned out.
Amy added 28 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
A day in Edinburgh with new co-workers. Food at Mosque Kitchen, Hideout Cafe and Holy Cow.
A mix of clear and dreich days, some big moon and big waves.
Amy added 34 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
My sister knows how to entertain me when I visit: she left me an undecorated cake to adorn. We also made several other tasty meals between us.
Seeds are germinating. Planted lettuce and chard. Potted some things on and put some tomatoes in the ground in the polytunnel. The different varieties are all mixed up already, of course, despite my diligent labelling efforts. Chocolate habaneros in the living room have sprouted!
Amy added 10 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Birthday Cottage rekindled after many years. It was a weekend in F's flat in Glasgow, but it was filled with good food, chat and movies <3
Amy added 5 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
A rock hunting hike in the hills near Abernethy. I was just along for the ride. Turned out to be a much nicer day than expected
Amy added 52 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Braw mornings and good rain at night. A few cloudy days. L came to visit, and we tried the new 'wellness cafe', Rumours, which has finally opened. Excited to be back there! Helped K move half a ton of slate.
Getting up early enough for the sunrise, when the clouds part enough to wake me.
Amy added 30 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Sometimes I can't tell if a meeting went well or if I'm just boundlessly optimistic.
I think I've found the absolute optimum cafe. There's wifi (with a memorable password), power, lots of space, many different kinds of seats, really delicious coffee, incredible vegan cakes and sandwiches and I can sit behind a very large potted tree with my laptop feeling slightly hidden from the rest of the world. And it opens early. The only drawback is that it's in Luxembourg.
Planted some things. Worked a lot. An incredible sense of relief as I finally passed milestones for both projects I'm working on, BODS and Open Fibre. Also lots of prep for our new starts next week. Swam in the sea twice. Made cranachan at the Community Kitchen and many cheesecakes, burgers and bean things at home. Finished The Algebraist (loved it); started Tears of the Giraffe. Went on a hike in the Perthshire hills.
A very positive day in Edinburgh with new co-op people. Swam in the sea once. Seeds are germinating. Planted lettuce, chard; put tomatoes in the ground. Finished Tears of the Giraffe, re-read Artemis Fowl (it's as excellent as I remember from my childhood), started Morality for Beautiful Girls. Made coffee and biscoff cake at the Community Kitchen, then elaborate coffee and cheesecake cupcakes and matcha cookies for F's birthday. Weekend adventure (Birthday Cottage) in Glasgow with J and F. Watched Nimona and The Mitchells vs the Machines. Discovered a new story to be told...
I'm going to be completely offline and uncontactable for the rest of the month from tomorrow, so if anyone needs me for anything before then.. well ideally sit on it for a couple of weeks please.
Planted tomatoes and beans in the footpath garden. I wasn't planning to have tomatoes there this year, but there are surplus seedlings...
A few days in Edinburgh with sunshine and food. No Tara though.
Amy added 28 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-edb/
A couple more visits to Edinburgh, part-time housesitting.
Amy added 12 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-edb/
Oyster mushrooms beginning. R dumped a massive amount of chicken of the woods on my doorstep for me to 'deal with'. Not complaining.
Amy added 6 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
Dryad's saddle in Edinburgh. Jelly ear on a budlija!
Amy added 11 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
Amy added 13 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Broad beans, peas, courgettes, tomatoes, squash.
Amy added 6 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Elaborate rose, rhubarb and custard cupcakes for K's birthday. I finally got my doughnut filling nozzle out, and pumped them full of rhubarb curd.
Courgette glut begins. Cake and pakoras.
Amy added 5 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
A night in Edinburgh after returning from London; a day coworking in Portabello.
Accompanying N and R to Prewired (via Nandos)
Amy added 2 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-edb/
Courgette chocolate muffins (gf) at the Community Kitchen. Dried rose petals and made rose flavoured things after the solstice harvest at home. Also a courgette cake, soda bread, mushroom tempura.
Amy added 17 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Candied rhubarb ribbons at the Community Kitchen was a lot trickier than expected, but everyone loved them on top of rose and elderflower jelly with rhubarb cream and strawberries! Also made pesto from garden greens and sunflower seeds, and a rhubarb curd cake.
Amy added 22 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Foraging with Lowenna. Chicken of the woods and dryads.
Amy added 8 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
Oyster mushrooms with Lowenna. Also rose petals at dawn on the solstice. Tried not to get as many as last year but it was still quite a lot.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
Oyster mushrooms in Ravenscraig Park
Amy added 3 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
Went to London for an extremely fancy TAG dinner. And a visit to MW and the chickens.
Amy added 13 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
To PotFest in Scone for K's birthday, then a drizzly garden bbq.
I made oreo rocky road, as requested, for R's 10th birthday party. I made honeycomb from scratch for it too. It contained more sugar than should be legal to feed to children. I also made a blackcurrant and rose cake for the grownups.
After a day coworking with coop colleagues, I had dinner at Makarmash - a mashed potato bar with a surprise mushroom growing basement.
Amy added 11 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-edb/
Lemon tart and not-chicken pie at the Community Kitchen.
Amy added 4 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
R climbed a tree after a massive haul of chicken of the woods, but it was far too old.
Manchester co-op coworking, plus excellent food and some museum and city wandering adventures.
Amy added 33 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
I have realised that I can send a special treat to myself in the future by placing a deferred hold on a book from the library for several months so that I completely forget about it until I get an email saying it's ready to be collected.
To Arbroath for Marine Mammal Medic training, then some time exploring and eating chips.
Amy added 11 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
I'm organising a vegan food festival in a small town and it's either going to be amazingly good or a heartbreaking failure. I'm currently very excited so the come down is gonna be hard when nobody comes :') (The bar for 'success' is pretty low though as there is absolutely nothing like this going on here normally, so will be happy to eat a doughnut (doughnut baker is confirmed) and meet some new people really.)
Just finished Children of Time and I'm absolutely floored. I can't function. That was the best possible ending. I cried. That was everything I want from science fiction. Can't believe it's taken a year of people recommending that for me to get to it.
A Doors Open Adventure with K. Leslie village, then the archives in Glenrothes. Stops at Pillars and M&S en route..
Amy added 22 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
"Market research" for VegFest at a vegan Yard Market in Dundee. Lots of great food and conversations.
Amy added 8 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-visits/
A visit to EATS Rosyth on a rainy day. Hanging out with Dad and R and the kids, variously. Brisk November-style sunrises. Followed by strangely warm days.
Amy added 39 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Amy added 66 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Lowenna joined me for the sunrises. Big moons. Max sits on every chair.
Amy added 73 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
What's that? More glorious sunrises and cuddles with Max? Don't mind if I do.
Amy added 58 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Parsnip apple cake at Community Kitchen. Chocolate bramble muffins at home.
Pear upside down cake and tropical fruit with chia pudding at the Community Kitchen. Fermenting various leaves at home. Creamy chanterelle pasta.
Strawberry and rhubarb crumble, and gf pear brownie, at the Community Kitchen. Bottled, dried, pesto'd the harvest. Sourdough bananabread with old bananas from GK worked out well.
Apple peanut butter cake at the Community Kitchen. A food waste workshop at GK too, where we used leftovers from the day before to make all kinds of things. I made a really good wild mushroom gravy, and ate it twice. Battered puffballs and ate them with everything. Forgot about the tomatoes in the dehydrator, and lost a few..
Foraging with Lowenna and Max. Lots of chanterelles.
Amy added 29 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
Amy added 9 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
The cabbages are completely swiss-cheesed, entirely caterpillar buffet. The mice got some pumpkins. Max got some courgettes..
Amy added 9 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Max goes undercover as a potato. The aubergine plants collapsed so we just picked them.
Amy added 5 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Amy added 4 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
Walk to Wemyss with Wenna and Max. Both so needy. Some cooperation over stick destruction. Both want to do whatever the other is doing. Bugging each other all evening instead of just relaxing on the sofa. Wenna wants to sit where Max sits. Max only wants cuddles when Lowenna is there.
A jaunt to Edinburgh and then Livingston to see colleagues and friends. (And Wenna.)
The road to publishing Linked Data is paved with broken tooling.
A packed week, and didn't manage to get any "actual" work done (S&W, governancy stuff, Directors Meeting, admin...). I did go to an IATI Standard Stewardship WG meeting. Lots of meetings for other things. ENT. Pen Pals. VegFest seems to be getting some attention o.o Made rhubarb and strawberry crumble, and gf pear brownies in the Community Kitchen. Attended a nice Pen Pals event. Finished Seven Mercies. Happy to be back down to one book again. Went to a vegan market in Dundee to do some... market research. And some marketing. Ba-dum. Walkies with Max. Caught up on garden. Bottled tomatoes, courgetts, beans, aubergine (two kinds) and made banana bread and pesto.
Swam on a still grey Monday morning and a strangely warm Saturday lunchtime. Had my first novelry coaching call. Finished Children of Time but also bought my own copy. Started Station Eleven. Meetings! Dysart Community Council; Greener Kircaldy training, HR WG, Board; more VegFest stuff... Made apple peanut butter cake at the Community Kitchen, and helped out with a food workshop about reducing waste by using leftovers. Also lots of good mushroom things. Finally consolidated all of the G&S stock that has been occupying my living room in the form of a wall of boxes. Took most of the day. Much improved. Wrote and plotted. Hung out with Max. Ate puffballs that R left behind. Did a harvest.
Busy week, with Dad and R still here. Visited EATS Rosyth with Greener Kirkcaldy. Made parsnip and apple cake at the Community Kitchen and chocolate bramble muffins at home. Spent a couple of nights in Livingston. Co-op OGM. Planning VegFest in earnest. Finished Sirens of Titan, read Player Piano (eyewateringly close to home) and started Seven Mercies.
Mostly HR-adjacent co-op work this week. Garden catchup. Made tropical chia pudding and orange and pear upside down cake at the Community Kitchen. Swam in the sea (with the kids). Got Lowenna; went for walkies and a forage or two. Doors Open weekend adventure with K. Well into 90 Day Novel. Started Children of Time. Mind absolutely blown.
Me: why is it so cold, this is an outrage, September has no right. Also me: lovely morning for a swim in the North Sea, off I go.
Day 6 of post FESS recovery: novelty has worn off. I'd harboured fantasies of enjoying 2 weeks off work but being basically functional. Permaheadache, face feeling full of cement and continuous bloody snot production are slight hindrances to being enthusiastic about being awake. My lovely friends and mum do keep supplying me with treats though.
The first ever Fife VegFest surpassed all expectations. I did a little writeup here and we got some good press. Also one person said they heard about it on Mastodon. Own up! Who was it?!
Worked late, and was rewarded by finally getting to see the aurora from Scotland! And better than when I was in Finland tbh. Went down to the beach, and as soon as I was clear of lamp posts it was super vivid. Sat out freezing for an hour and a half, watching it ripple around the sky.
Amy added 26 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Breaded more pufflballs, and shaggy inkcaps too.. Courgette cake at GK. And fancy salads with courgette pakoras at the Plate Up For Fife workshop. Made some pretty salads at home too.
Spiced pear cake with apple maple sauce at the Community Kitchen. Emergency pickled watermelon (because why not). Bottled tomatoes at home. Started two different batches of kombucha.
Amy added 14 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madefood/
Had carrot tops for pesto, but not enough, so supplemented it by [sending Mum outside in the rain to harvest] nasturtium leaves and wild sorrel. Pickled aubergines according to L's Mum's Persian recipe. It has mint in. Blended my yellow tomatoes - fermented for just under a month - into sauce. It's not as funky as the last batch, and works well as a sauce, a relish, whatever else I can think of...
Keep eating my sourkraut, but it could go for longer I think. It's about 2 weeks, but it's not really zingy and still very crunchy. It has been bubbling away happily. Pickled aubergines are excellent. Made some exciting grated veg salads for colourful bowls. Peanut stew, with masses of fresh tomatoes to make the sauce. Used my fermented tomato sauce for extremely high effort beans on toast (haricot beans from dried, homemade bread). Dead good. Made the rest of the beans into hummus, which is also delicious. Used fermented tomato sauce on a pizza too, with some chanterelles that really needed eating, and an array of other garden veg. Discovered I can cook barley in the rice cooker!
Tara came to visit. We went for walkies and found a handful of chanterelles and and a single baby cep. Lots of russulas and fibrecaps. Shaggy pholiota, shaggy inkcaps and shaggy parasols in Ravenscraig Park.
Amy added 22 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-foraging/
R away this week, so I've been gardening at my own pace. The tomatoes are getting blighted, but still producing more than manageable quantities. Still harvesting beet, rocket, mustard greens, celery and some runner beans. The peppers and chillis seem to have got the message and started ripening, better late than never. Put some sprouting broccoli, asparagus kale, belarussian cabbage, red sorrel and spinach in the ground, and planted cauliflower seeds in the polytunnel. For hopefully some early greens in spring.
Amy added 15 photos to https://i.amy.gy/growstuff/
Amy added 2 photos to https://i.amy.gy/madestuff/
My nose stopped bleeding, I reduced the amount of painkillers I was taking every day, and started to be able to go out in public without my face being swaddled in tissue. I didn't do much though, because I was still completely knackered and felt like my head was full of cement. I did manage a little adventure to Pillars with Mum before she left. And on Sunday I finally had lunch at Betty Nicol's. Work in progress to make their vegan burger the best it can be..
Coop meeting in Newcastle. Nice venue, good vibes, mostly good food. Great colleagues. Sad I had to leave a day early. (Super Natural, Pink Lane Bakery, Pizza Punks, Thali Tray.)
Pre-VegFest trip to end of the Fife Climate Festival to see Fergie's Kitchen (who ended up not coming for logistical reasons. Then time in the King's to start setting up.
Amy added 9 photos to https://i.amy.gy/vegfest/
Bright skies early in the week, before heading to Newcastle. Came back to sinus surgery and grey skies. Mum came, and I did much convalescing.
Amy added 29 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Sunrise writing and dramatic skies, sparkly seas.
Amy added 51 photos to https://i.amy.gy/2024-fife/
Just a normal week. More dramatic sunrise skies. O turned up with Tigger (the cat) and Miley (the dog). Decided to take Miley home and leave Tigger behind. Tigger not impressed. Persuaded O to take Tigger home in case he decided to wee in my flat. Got Miley back. Eventually took O for a walk without any pets. Lunch in Roots & Seeds with Pen Pals people.
The first ever Fife VegFest went incredibly well, with us selling out and closing up early. Read more about how well VegFest went here...
Amy added 42 photos to https://i.amy.gy/vegfest/
Spontaneous trip to visit Wenna for her birthday. Many belly rubs.
I really need to get my sleep cycle sorted out again. *British summer time ends* Well that was easy.
I still have an old account at a US bank, who have recently disabled my ability to transfer money out, cancelled my debit card, and told me my account is now dormant and can only be reactivated if I transfer some money or make a debit card transaction. How helpful of them.
Started two batches of kombucha. One of them seems to have failed already. Went to Newcastle for Co-op. Spent a day in hospital for sinus surgery. And then some time recovering from sinus surgery. Mum came. Finished The Full Cupboard of Life and read Ecotopia and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and started The Alchemist. Made random-plants pesto, pickled aubergines, and blended my 3 week fermented cherry tomatoes into sauce.
Lots of recuperating on the sofa. My sinuses hurt. Not up for much. Mum left. Lots of nice people brought me treats. Finished The Alchemist. Read Kindred, The Color Purple, started Worthing Saga. Wrote and did a lot of plotting. Made lots of nice things to eat. Fought (and won) TDBank, got my USD back after they made my account "dormant". Planted winter brassicas and did some more harvests.
Clear skies for sunrise and beach walks. Multiple meetings in Dysart about Dysart... Made courgette choc chip cake at the Community Kitchen, and helped with another food workshop (about eating seasonally and locally). Fermented tomatoes, and made some beautiful salads, breaded more mushrooms. Went to the end of the Fife Climate Festival. VEGFEST!
Week in review: 30th September - 6th October
Garden catch up. Worked late, too much, mostly on a bid. Rewarded by amazing aurora from the beach though. Made spiced pear cake with maple apple sauce at the Community Kitchen. Anti-racism workshop with Pen Pals. More sunrises, visit from children and animals. Birthday party for Lowenna. Walk with Tara. Found a handful of chanterelles and one cep.
After serving two terms, I'm not standing in the upcoming W3C TAG election. I have loved working with the TAG, and been privileged to learn so much from the other members and wider community over the last four years. I wouldn't rule out running for election again in future. But for a while at least, I need to dial back the time I spend behind my keyboard, and put more focus into my (geographically) local community. If you have a vote in the election, I would strongly encourage you to rank highly Lola Odelola and Sarven Capadisli. Lola has a strong technical background, ample experience of W3C processes, and a track record of fighting for marginalised voices in tech; we've had brilliant, hope-filled conversations at TPACs about what the future could be, and how to build the ethical tech and systems to get there. I worked with Sarven for several years in the Social Web WG days and never have I met someone with such a strong sense of justice and so relentless in pursuit of what they believe in. They'll do the work needed for the TAG to have impact, and far better than I ever could. If these two are elected, I'll sleep easy. It probably goes without saying that you should also re-elect Hadley Beeman, who has been an invaluable member of the TAG for many many years, a great mentor, and a reliable voice of wisdom.
I'm doing admin for the next Fife VegFest (January 19th). It's very exciting to see this list of local vegan companies who have already confirmed their places. We've doubled the venue size and already are nearly full. We'll be announcing the first batch 'officially' (on mainstream centralised social media) this weekend, so consider this a sneak peak for the fediverse (or the two people who read my website).
I've been writing all year, and pretty consistently since July, so NaNoWriMo/WritingMonth feels a bit redundant this year. It trained me for years in controlling my inner editor, which has been invaluable to me in all kinds of ways. This summer I've been taking classes and learnt some more technical stuff, including the superpowers of plotting and structure. But November has been a special month since I was a teenager, so I'm still going to keep the habit of tracking writing stats. I'm writing a second draft of the pile of words I made last November. I'll be logging word count on my site and NaNoWriMo - because I like the charts - and I've set chapter goals on WritingMonth because that's more meaningful than word count at the moment. Also my living room floor is strewn with index cards and post-it notes. I need a tri-fold display board or something.
I've made plans for next October, which is the furthest I've thought ahead in very many years. And perhaps the first time I've assumed I'll still be in Fife in a year without a second thought..
life goes on (for me) and it doesn't (for many) and i feel it every day i feel connected to everyone and helpless i've been writing more it's the only thing that seems reasonable that doesn't seem obscene
Throwback to 30th November 2023: I'm up to 50,151 words and there's a whole 20 minutes of the day left. I still haven't written the fucking ending, but I've sure as hell built up to it... I wrote the ending last Monday! 11 months later.
You know how many delicious meals take days to prepare then are consumed in just minutes? I'm starting to think about how that applies to novels, too.