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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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).