Visiting Friend

My after school and weekend job when I was in high school was at the college food service at Cornell College in Mt Vernon, Iowa. I made lots of friends in the bowels of the Cornell kitchens and dining rooms. Some are still friends to this day. Anne is one of those friends.

This is a souvenir of an award Anne and others had made for me back in 1981. I kept it all this time. I don't remember the circumstances that led to me getting this, or why I never threw it out after so many moves and life changes, but there it is.

She was over here in the UK, far from her native Minnesota to be a referee in a tae kwon do tournament in Manchester. As a 5th dan black belt, she's kind of a big deal in tae kwon do and travels all over the world to be a referee. Manchester is a mere jaunt down the motorway from us. In fact, we regularly travel to and from our family holidays from the Manchester airport. Armed with this information, she extended her visit to the UK for a few days and came up for a visit.
I had not clapped eyes on Anne since she was a guest at our wedding over seventeen years ago. I must say that the years have been very kind to Anne.

We did have a bunch of fun during her stay. I took a few days off so that I could devote all my time to her visit. We went to Edinburgh one day and the Scottish Whiskey Experience at the top of the Royal Mile and slap up against Edinburgh Castle.
Anne accurately described the whiskey experience as" sort of like Disneyland for drunks". Pretty accurate description! We bought tickets, went on the ride (yes there is a ride) that informs about the process of making whiskey. On to the good bit - whiskey tasting! We bought the higher priced ticket that included extra whiskey tasting (naturally). Sitting in front of four jars, each jar having cotton impregnated with one of four different elements you might taste/smell in Scottish whiskey. Mostly I was thinking "blah blah blah . . . give me whiskey". I still don't like the smoke riddled Islay malts. Give me a gentle Speyside malt anyday! Oh, blends are nice too.

After the whiskey experience we went to The Jolly Judge for some lunch. Outside Inside

We toddled around the centre of Edinburgh for a bit - took the obligatory photos of Fleshmarket Close. Have you read the book by Ian Rankin named after this small bit of Edinburgh?
Anne was here for about three days and we really packed in a lot in that time. When she was getting ready to depart, I gave her my copy of Julie/Julia. Anne had already taken her mother to see the movie and we talked about the film/book. The film hasn't arrived at our local cinema yet, but I had finished the book and was happy to see it go to a good home. I liked the book well enough, though I did find Julie a bit of a drama queen and ever so slightly whiny. Despite that, the story was engaging and it had me all fired up to inflict some experiments in French cookery on my family.

About a week after Anne left, a parcel arrived for me. . . . From Amazon . . . . . boxes from Amazon are always good. It was addressed to me! More intrigue! It was box of presents! As a generous thank you Anne sent me My Life in France by Julia Child ( a delightful autobiography) A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, A Primate's Memoir by Robert M. Sapolsky (which I am reading just now and really love) AND the ultimate fabulous book of all time Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Child, Bertholle and Beck!! I was thrilled beyond speech to have these lovely books. With this kind gesture, Anne has cemented a permanent and standing invitation to visit whenever she wishes, with whom ever she wishes and stay for as long as she wants. In addition to that, I solemnly promise that she will never ever have to eat fish or cooked spinach.

Grandma's Cook Books

I am SO lucky to be the caretaker of my late grandmother's cook books. They were entrusted to me by her only daughter, my mother.

The three old books no longer live their lives in a kitchen. They're too fragile for raucous kitchen life. They now stay on the sedate shelves of our guest bedroom. From time to time, I will go in there and visit them, leaf through the pages and marvel at them. They are church cook books from Fargo, North Dakota. These are books created to raise funds for a church or ladies aid society with recipes donated by members of the parish. One book still has its cover so I know that it was created by The First Lutheran Ladies Aid, Fargo, North Dakota.

The other two cook books are missing covers but in the body of the book one can see that underneath each recipe is a woman's name and town of residence (usually Fargo), the standard format for crediting a recipe in a church produced cook book. I love that a lot of the time the woman's name doesn't actually appear. What comes instead is something like Mrs. Walter A. Rost or Mrs. Gordon Naylor. The recipe and the husband's name lives on for all to see, but the woman who donated the bit of kitchen lore is hiding behind her husband's name. The tradition still lives on in our family with ancient aunts and uncles. You get points for addressing letters to Mr and Mrs Paul F. XXXX leaving the aunt's name off altogether. When Christmas cards come to the house address to Mr and Mrs Henry, I know that they are from beloved ancient relatives. In the blank and mostly blank pages of these books, my grandmother has written in recipes that she liked. Sometimes a recipe has been pinned to a page with a straight pin - no staples just yet.
Her grandchildren have lovely memories of her visits as she would almost always make a special batch of cookies, a pie or cake.Here is one recipe entitled Susan's cookies. The Susan in the title can only be my cousin Susan, the only Susan in the family and one of her first and most treasured grandchildren.

I had a brief instant message conversation with yet another cousin, dear Lu Ann yesterday she recalled quite vividly Grandma's lemon meringue pie and molasses crinkle cookies. The pie recipe was one that was written on of the blank pages right underneath a recipe for grasshopper pie. The pie is not made with real grasshoppers though grasshoppers are plentiful in North Dakota! The pie is made with creme de menthe. Sounds yummy!

I trawled through for which recipe could be the molasses cookie recipe. None were called Molasses Crinkles and there are more than one recipe for molasses cookies in each of the three books. There was one recipe that stood out amongst the others due to the well spattered page it was on. It could very well be the ones that Lu Ann remembers. Lu Ann will have to make the cookies and see if this is the recipe that she remembers.

Harsh Realities

Dearest darling readers,

I will start with an apology for not giving this blog the attention it deserves. What started out as a lazy streak turned into an almost summer long break. I will endeavor to be better in the future. I have LOADS to write about!

With all the stories that have backed up in the past weeks, I don't want today's news to get overshadowed.I killed chickens today. I killed all six of them. I know this news will upset people but my hens were not pets. The hens are on our place to lay eggs for me, that is their function. The stock was getting very old. I think the youngest hen was at least three and the oldest was well past six. They were not laying very well anymore, some not laying at all and it was time for sentimentality and these old hens to go.

I will spare you photographs of dead chickens and draw a discrete veil over how they were dispatched. I will say that it was done as humanely as I know how and that before they died, my hens had a happy and cosseted life.

Not long after the deed was done, the ones that were healthy enough were plucked, cleaned and either put in my freezer for coq au vin at a later date or given to the neighbours for their pot.

I then whipped around to the nearest free-range egg farm that is run by friends Shona and Paul and purchased eight fresh hens. These new girls look a bit bedraggled even though they are free range gals. A few weeks here should see them plump up a bit. As they are already laying, I look forward to their first efforts!
These are the new hens. They will be getting kitchens scraps and lawn clippings as well as some cabbages that were too slug riddled for humans to eat. Let's hope for their sake that they make with the eggs pretty quickly.

Happy Birthday Old Friend

I've known Joe since I was a kid of about 16. That means that he was about 18 as he is two years older than I am. He has always been a friendly, steady, stand up sort of guy. A real salt-of-the-earth sort. I am pleased that I can still call him my friend after all this time. A Cornellian staff photo, circa 1979. I will be about 17 (and far too young to be drinking beer) and right in the front there. Joe is the one in the back with the mustache. This could be one of my all time favourite photos of Joe.

Today is his birthday. Stop by his blog if you get a chance and say hello. In honour of the day, I have had The Man of The Place help scan in some old photos I have had up in the attic for a number of years.
These photos are from the spring of 1986 (correct me if I'm wrong). When a group of us got together for a canoeing-beer drinking weekend at Matsell's Bridge. It is a stunning camping place in Linn County, Iowa with a log cabin available for rent. Back in the mid 80's the area was home to a family of whip-o-wills that were quite effective at waking us up at the crack of dawn. The pretty young gal behind Joe, Vickie in this second photo went on to become his wife. They are soon to wave farewell to their eldest child as he goes off to attend DePaul University in Chicago.

We used to get together annually for a weekend of camaraderie. I sure would love to do it again sometime.
Vickie, Joe and me

Happy birthday Joe! Though the mustache is gone, the years have been kind to you.


(photos courtesy of Benny McDougalhoff)

It Was Hot!

My family and I enjoyed temperatures in the low to mid 40's C the entire two weeks we were in Port Ghalib, near Marsa Alam in Egypt. We had a fantastic time!! As in our other visits to Egypt, we found it to be a very welcoming place. There wasn't one single incident where we weren't felt welcome. We felt safe too. I even made a trip into Port Ghalib by myself a couple of times and didn't feel the slightest bit worried or hassled. If you know us at all, you will not be surprised to learn that we spent 10 out of the 14 days diving. Some days the sea was like a mirror.

Weather the sea was calm or had a little swell to it, the visibility under the water was always good. Some days, the water was like gin and we could see for over 30 meters, other days it was slightly cloudy. I must say that even on the worst day, the visibility was still at about +15 meters, which by UK standards is pretty fantastic.Here we are - I know that the Man of the Place looks a bit like he's sinking or trying to pull us down. Really he is a fantastic diver and is v. graceful under the water.

The hotel was wonderful! We stayed in the Marina Lodge formerly Coral Beach. The dive company we used, Emperor Divers (and have used in the past) have a centre on the ground floor of the hotel.
The rooms were lovely! The rooms were spotless and bordering on luxurious! On top of that, everything worked!The days we didn't spend diving, we lounged by the pools, and met up with new friends for drinks.

I got to wear my new hat! Me and Jean Luc and his delightful wife Sylvie. Jean Luc and I were dive buddies for almost a week. Our dive styles suited each other as we are interested in the small fish, nudibranch and other small things that are found in coral reefs. Mocktails at Pizza Hut - I cannot remember the name of the blue drink, but it was cold and refreshing.Mojitos (doubles) and beers at TGI FridaysWe also took advantage of the free WiFi to check who Sunderland has signed for the upcoming season.Henry was concerned that Peter Crouch was going to be signed.

I know that he is under age. We were unsure of the alcohol laws in this very relaxed and friendly country so we assumed, as did the waiters that George is allowed the occasional cold one in the company of his parents. Coming up . . . . Mum is a fish nerd, karaoke and sharks!

Tropic of Cancer

We're off on our annual family holiday. You can be certain that it will include lots of diving.

We will be very close to the Tropic of Cancer -

This one:

Not this one:

With regard to Mr Miller's book. I am ashamed to say that I've never read it. I checked out a copy from the local library and am taking it with me to read during the non-diving days.

I discovered that WiFi connections are the equivalent of 10 Euros an hour - so forget that! I'm not taking the laptop. I may post while I'm away if there is a convenient internet cafe.

Annan Riding of the Marches

During the first Saturday in July, in conjunction with the Riding of the Marches, or Annan Common Riding there is a pipe band competition with a parade at the end. Pipe (bagpipe) and drum bands the world over come to the small town of Annan to take part in this competition. The benefit to us is that we get to see a very high standard of marching when we attend the parade.

The Marches or boundaries of Annan have been ridden since the town was created a Royal Burgh more than 600 years ago. Each year in early July more than one hundred horsemen and horsewomen Ride the Marches to ensure that the landmarks, cairns and other features have not been removed or tampered with and all is safe

The past several years we have missed this parade as we have already departed for our annual summer holiday. This year, due to scheduling, we're not leaving on our holiday until the 8th of July and we were able to travel into Annan to see the pipes. Although I can ride, I haven't ridden in years and I don't have a horse. I would love to go out with the riders one year. It looks like great fun! The High Street (main street) is blocked to traffic for a couple of hours. It seems that the regulations for drinking in public is relaxed as well.

The pavements get crowded with spectators and competitors. There are lots of kilts around. Competitors are getting ready for the first march down the street.
The riders!

We had a good spot near the beginning of the parade. We were just in front of the Annan branch of our bank and across the road from Mr Graham's where George has always gets his hair cut. We've had an exceptionally warm and sunny week but the luck didn't hold out until Saturday. Saturday was overcast with occasional showers. Thankfully there was no wind with the rain and the showers that came during the parade were light and warm.

There are pipers of all ages, sizes and from all walks of life.

The second group of pipers - playing Scotland the Brave - I love to see them getting into step at the beginning of the video clip.


The third group of pipe bands - neighbour girl Laura's head in the bottom of the frame.

Even with a small amount of rain everybody had a great time. Pipe bands make such a stirring sound. I love that I live in a place where I can catch a bit of it from time to time.

Successes and Confessions

It's about 30 C here today! For those of us who live year round in our jeans and fleeces, this is HOT! We've dug the shorts and t-shirts from the bottom of the dresser drawer. Usually when it is this hot, we've spent a small fortune and we're in the Greek islands or some other lovely vacation spot. I just love it! I'm glad I'm here to water things!

Here are a few successes so far:

Lettuce! Isn't it beautiful?! We've got about twelve or more of these still to pick. I wish they were ready to pick in stages instead of all at once. My neighbours will get a few of these.Here it the lettuce again, this time with the cucumbers! The cukes are lovely with no hint of bitterness! There are about four on the vines that could be picked any time now.The potatoes (the ones that managed to come up that is) are exploding with vigor. (note that they have been weeded!)Cabbages are doing well too. I think I will cover them now with agricultural fleece before the cabbage white butterflies start laying their eggs on them and they are reduced to skeletons!

Then there is the untimely death of one of the tomato plants. It wasn't looking very clever and now it is gone. I may have over-watered it.

Confessions: I know I can be quite selective about what is shown on the blog. Who can blame me for framing a photo so that all the work yet to be done is out of shot. If I do that too often, people start to form the opinion that I am actually an industrious person. HA!The area between the two greenhouses - full of weeds and perennial plants in pots that should have been put into the herbaceous borders last year!The larger greenhouse is used a lot in the spring to grow on seedlings - but by July - it is a glorififed parcel delivery site with a grape vine taking over.

The weedy side of the house that nobody sees: Complete with punctured ball for tormenting the dog.

The front of the house doesn't look too bad. . .. .just a few weeds in the gravel . . . .but if you take a look around the corner . .. . This is where the patio is supposed to get put down. I've been waiting about three years for this.So, I can still call myself a lazy gardener! There is plenty of work to be done!