Blog

Simply..uncertainty....

6/12/2022

..is what we are all having to deal with, isn't it? I am, like you, naking all these plans for events which might not happen!

Friends and family are affected by Covid (still arounnd), jury duty, rail strikes, cancelled flights, changed or even cancelled appointments, sudden hospitalisations, and sheer exhaustion coping with it all.

Here on the blog I am focussing on the certainties and the small beautiful things which are happening around me

I am pretty certain that this extravagant bunch of gypsophila will delight me every day for the rest of December and maybe beyond.

And that sunlight on cold water will continue to mesmerise,

and that the birch against the blue sky will look amazing for a while yet.

and that there will be blue skies!

What things can you be certain of?

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Simply..multipurpose....

5/12/2022

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Repurpose, re-use... a bit of glinty tinsel and a few lights and we have changed season. It is frosty and beautifully starry tonight and I could hear the owls when I went out to take the photograph. It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas! Love it.

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Simply..delicious....

4/12/2022

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A bruschetta breakfast I like to have on a Sunday morning..

Rub a slice of bread on both sides with a garlic clove, cut out a circle from the bread. Fry in a generous amount of good olive oil (careful not to burn it like me!), turn and drop in an egg. Sprinkle with plenty of rock salt and enjoy with a cup of strong tea.

I get this nice Polish bread from the supermarket.

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Simply..happy....

3/12/2022

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Today I heard someone say 'Happiness is a defiant thing. It takes courage to be happy'.

I think I agree.

Do you?

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Simply..lists....

2/12/2022

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..of lists! I love lists. I found myself making a list of the lists I need the other day! One for cards, one for presents, one for food shopping, one for shopping when I am in town, one for when I am in the city, one for online shopping, one for meals stocked in the freezer (sardine and lemoon terrine next)...

The optician's window display made me smile.

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Simply..suspending judgement....

1/12/2022

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We judge each other all the time. It's what we do, and necessary for survival, but we are often expected to express an opinion when, it seems to me, we are in no position to judge and social media encourages us to be simplistic (thumbs up/thumbs down) on even complex issues.

Try, just for a day suspending judgement. Just let things be. Give yourself a break from it, from turning everything into an ethical dilemma for example. Or from judging yourself, perhaps harshly, as well as others. When I tried this I was quite shocked at how many of my thoughts were very judgemental indeed!

After a few hours of not judging I felt very free and relaxed, and since my private judgemental thoughts rarely if ever make any diffference in the real world it seemed like a very good idea to try it out more often.

What do you think?

I got the Christmas box out from under the eaves to retrieve the Advent calendar..

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simply..fruity....

30/11/2022

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Fruit loaf for the freezer. Instead of sultanas I used mixed dried fruit with peel for a slightly more festive version.

I am enjoying this. Next, venison in red wine.

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Simply..sweet treats....

29/11/2022

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..for holiday season visitors. I lined three containers with double layers of cling film as I won't be serving 8 - 10 people at once.

I used bought meringues, popped them intto a bag

and enjoyed bashing them with a rolling pin!

I nixed the neringue with the whipped cream adding strong coffee and raspberry liqueur. I plan to serve it with raspberries, pomegrante seeds and a spoonful of the liqueur.

Drizzled some of the strong coffee on top, folded over the clingfilm and put on the lids. Three desserts now in the freezer.

(There is a link to Sarah Raven's original recipe on Saturday's post.)

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Simply..uh-oh....

28/11/2022

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The moon is about to topple!

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Simply..hygge....

27/11/2022

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..as a stepping stone to Christmas.

I enjoyed this little video (Am I right in thinking that in the UN list of happiest countries UK didn't even appear? How very sad!)

I was tempted to buy a lovely white table wreath I saw lately, but I looked around at home and used this little 'running foxes' garland I bought cheaply in Ikea some years ago.

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Simply..start now....

26/11/2022

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by listing the ingredients needed for some delicious holiday food. I am going to make this this week.

Tonorrow I will check what I have got - ingredients for recipes, wrapping paper etc, stamps and cards, and I might get the decorations box out from the cupboard under the eaves...

Nice things to do on grey wet November days.

What will you be doing?

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Simply..wintry....

25/11/2022

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With perhaps just a hint of Christmas? Too soon for baubles and twinkly lights but preparing the candles for the season..

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Starting to think about table decorations and making lists. Might get a little early baking done and in the freezer. A long slow run up to Christmas might be the thing this year. Leisurely.

Have you begun preparations yet?

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Simply..Edinburgh....

24/11/2022

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..at it's most beautiful.

And we got that afternoon tea which was a gift from last Christmas! A lovely treat.

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Simply..town or country....

22/11/2022

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I loove that the exquisite facade of Mackintosh's Willow Tearooms has been so beautifully restored. It is hard to beleive it opened in 1903. One of the delights of the city.

I also love that I can walk out of my front door into this..

I am so lucky to have access to both.

Town or country? Do you have a prefernece?

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Simply..whatever next?

21/11/2022

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A herd of wild boar have been creating havoc in gardens in Strachur, a village on Loch Fyne 11 miles to the north of us and word has it they are heading this way! There are about twenty of them. I didn't even know we had wild boar in Scotland!

I wonser if the soap trick works with wild boar..

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Simply..oh deer....

20/11/2022

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Here is the beautiful viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii' in early summer.

It appeared to die a number of years ago then over the past five or six years floourished again, mysteriously. However there is no mystery as to why it is now a stump. The deer have eaten it!

I don't usually get deer in the garden until spring, or when there is snow on the higher ground and I manage to deter them by putting down bits of strongly perfumed soap (works a treat to protect your tulips by the way).

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Simply..the smell of the season....

19/11/2022

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Woodsmoke..I do love this smell.

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Simply..not storm proof....

18/11/2022

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I suspect the decoratons on my wreath (see this post) are a bit delicate for the front door, exposed as it is to wind and rain.

The wreath itself is sturdy enough but the leaves will just have to take their chance..

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Simply..when it does stop raining....

17/11/2022

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I have to get out there and enjoy it.

Coffee for ten in my small sitting room today! Our village Conservation Group got together for the first time since Covid to tidy Coronation Wood and plant lots of bulbs in tubs. It rained. But we are hardy folks, and it was good to catch up and get to know some new residents..

Click on Menu to see the story of Coronation Wood.

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Simply..domestic....

16/11/2022

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The ceazier the wider world, the more I relish creating order and calm in my narrow domestic sphere. A stack of freshly laundered towels, a linen cupboard all in order, a newly defrosted and organised freezer, well stocked, a pretty table setting and a home cooked meal.

I have control in my little world and it feels good!

Are you in charge in your home and is it your sanctuary where sanity can rule? (Even if it isn't always tidy.) Does that feel good to you too?

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Simpl..the waiting game....

15/11/2022

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..is defrosting the freezer. It takes forever! But I found the last of the bramble and apple puddings and had it for lunch.
Such comfort when the sky is dark and the rain is lashing down.

What is your favourite comfort food in November?

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Simply..home sweet home....

14/11/2022

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Aching feet after a day's shopping, But counting my blessings that I can afford to shop and that I have a place to come home to. This winter must be about helping those who are not so lucky.

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Simply..inspiring....

13/11/2022

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I almost missed a brilliant exhibition, and I did miss an afternoon tea!

Last Christmas I was given a voucher for afternoon tea for two at Patisserie Valerie, so a friend and I set off for Edinburgh for this lovely treat. However we decided to look foirst at this exhibition

It was so wonderful, with lots of work I had not seen before that we completely lost track of the tme and discovered we had left it too late for the afternoon tea! We will just have to go again.

Here re two of my favourites. An exquisitely balanced composition by Vuillard, and a joyous Dufy which is about 2 m x 1.5 m.