Enough already!

View from the house; we've hit a thaw..apparently!


Sun setting


G'bye sun; we only knew you for a brief moment...but you warmed our toes and noses..we'll miss you.

Please help me. I'm so cold. My nose is permanently pink. The tips of my ears can no longer be felt can you ever feel your ears though?. At a party at Sam's on Saturday night, the temperature was so much on our minds, we even discussed the weather; good for sledging, bad for walking, whether it was stalagmites or stalactites....really, we shouldn't be discussing such things, especially not on a Saturday night! We should be merrily drinking and singing Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of our voices ok, the first person to mention Boxing day gets hurt. Apparently, you remember stalactites as coming downwards because "tights come down". "Yeah" I mumbled "maybe in Fife....". All those over the age of 41 seemed to know this; all us under had no idea what they were on about.

Despite the brief weather talk, it was a lovely Saturday night and the house was toasty...very, very important when accepting invitations these days. We had lovely chilli, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, tortillas, wraps, antipasti, couscous, olives, dips and much, much more. Delicious. Sam even came up with two lovely wee birthday cakes Happy birthday Ann and Ian....*thrrrp* with fireworks on top...yup, actual burn-your-eyebrows-blind-you-for-life fireworks...but we Glaswegians like to live on the edge I know you're not Glaswegian Sam but you have to accept an honorary status after at least 10 years.

The spread; that empty space was filled with glorious couscous!


Ian and Ann's surprise cakes! The now no longer have eyebrows.

During the holiday period, the cold doesn't seem to be as much of a nuisance because the kids are here, we're all playing and snuggling up to watch old movies which is great fun...I forgot how funny My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn was:

Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: I do hope we wont have any unseasonable cold spells, they bring on so much influenza. And the whole of our family is susceptible to it.
Eliza Doolittle: My Aunt died of influenza, or so they said. But its my belief they done the old woman in.
Mrs. Higgins: Done her in?
Eliza Doolittle: Yes, lord love you. Why should she die of influenza, when she come through diphtheria right enough the year before. Fairly blue with it she was. They all thought she was dead. But my father, he kept ladling gin down her throat. Then she come to so sudden she bit the bowl right off the spoon.
Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: Dear Me!
Eliza Doolittle: Now what call would a woman with that strength in her have to die of influenza? And what become of her new straw hat that should have come to me?
[pause]
Eliza Doolittle: Somebody pinched it. And what I say is: them 'as pinched it, done her in.
Lord Boxington: Done her in? Done her in did you say?
Lady Boxington: Whatever does it mean?
Mrs. Higgins: Its the new slang meaning someone has killed her.
Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: Surely you don't think someone killed her?
Eliza Doolittle: Do I not? Them she lived with would have killed her for a hatpin, let alone a hat.
Mrs. Eynsford-Hill: But it can't have been right for your father to be pouring spirits down her throat like that, it could have killed her.
Eliza Doolittle: Not her, gin was mother's milk to her. Besides he poured so much down his own throat, he knew the good of it.
Lord Boxington: Do you mean he drank?
Eliza Doolittle: Drank? My word something chronic.
[responding to freddy's laughter]
Eliza Doolittle: Here! What are you sniggering at?
Freddy Eynsford-Hill: The new small talk, you do it so awfully well.
Eliza Doolittle: Well if I was doing it proper, what was you sniggering at? Have I said anything I oughtn't?
Mrs. Higgins: No my dear.
Eliza Doolittle: Well thats a mercy anyhow...

---

....but after the holidays have past, there is that week. That first week the kids are back to school, I'm barely organised and it's too damn cold anyway! But then we move on to this week. I always like this one as motivation goes up and the blues come down; it's week 3 of the new year already and the cold, despite it being a big blue pain in the pants, is not going to limit me anymore. The heating is on full blast, the thermals have been sent over by helicopter, courtesy of Marks and Sparks and I'm going out. Yes! Out I tell you. If you don't hear from me for a few days, send a mountain rescue team up The Whangie. Tell them to bring gin. Lots of it.

Fried Prawn Patties

I had a lovely lunch with Maureen today; well, when I say lovely, it was grand to see her but the Burnbrae has been bought over by some cost cutting, penny pinching morons who provided us with half the portion of food we were used to and decided on a 'half hot half cold' theme when providing grub. When asking for a latte, they informed us that it was instant coffee for now. Bill please. We headed to Costa for a proper cup of the black stuff.

So, hunger set in rather quickly on my return and on searching the freezer for some sustenance I uncovered frozen, raw prawns (shrimps) hidden at the back. What to do, what to do? I could stir fry, breadcrumb, curry or chop. Saute, flambe, souffle or plop. Hmmm. Skewered? Fried? Fried! I had a brainwave.

Fried Prawn blobs Patties! Just the thing.

First job was to defrost the prawns. Obviously, fresh prawns would be better but hey, when hungry and frugal, frozen will do.

I shelled the prawns, shoved them in a blender alongside a finely chopped clove of garlic and 2 finely chopped spring onions. I added half a teaspoon salt, a good grinding black pepper, a little cayenne and 60g plain flour. If using Nigella's recipe, you'd add 4 teaspoons of sherry as well but I prefer wine to the mix. I then added water and mixed to make a thick batter, covered with clingfilm and waited 1 hour.

During this hour, I continued painting; I have been decorating. I have one room half completed, five more to go. Why do I start these things? Kelly is moving into the big room so she was first; after some deliberation, she decided on lilac for one wall, magnolia for the rest. She then decided she wanted painted onto the wall, a girl holding a baby dove, looking over at a mummy dove on a branch........yes, this is what she decided. HUH?? Was my first response. What the freakin'......?? my second. "Ooooookay, Kelly" I said "I shall do my best". Well, it's finished, for better or worse....

So, the hour has passed and I heat some olive oil in a pan. I take teaspoons of the mix and fry in the oil, turning after a minute and cooking on the other side. When brown on both sides, place onto plate covered with paper towels.

I like to make homemade mayo for this but Hellmans will do the job just as well! Add some lime and fresh coriander though. If not partial to mayo, squeeze some lime juice over the tasty little blobs and eat immediately. Bleedin' luverly.

Tomorrow is the big silver wedding anniversary party. My friend Sam did the cake:

Isn't it wonderful? I know you can't see the whole thing, I was not averse to pulling it out and setting it up for your perusal but you just know what would happen, don't you? Especially with three wee acrobats around. I shall take some more pics at the event and report back on the deliciousness of this tasty baked lovely.

Have a freakin AWESOME weekend!

100th Post!

I'm celebrating with a cup of coffee and a mini Bounty. Wooo!

I was the proverbial blu-arsed fly yesterday. To begin with, the kids and I jumped on the train at 9.30am to go to the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow city centre. I had booked them in to a printing workshop. Imagine my surprise when the girl running it said "cheerio then, pick them up at 12.30"....! "You mean...you don't need me to STAY?" I asked, half running down the stairs before she could change her mind.

I breathed in the fresh air, put on my sunglasses and smiled as I headed for the shops, but suddenly screeching to a halt...I had no money. No money, no cards, nothing. I had rushed out the door, expecting to stay with them and get the train back or get picked up by Brian so I didn't consider the need for cash....how ridiculous that I still make sure I've got tissues and rainjackets for the kids but no means of emergency cash.

I rooted in the bottom of my bag...being a messy cow comes in handy from time to time...and I found a delightful little red Mulberry purse full of coins. Ok, I couldn't go buy a dress or anything but I had enough for a coffee at Costa in the square, sitting outside and watching the world go by. There was even enough left over to get the kids each a wee Freddo bar and a bottle of diet coke. Hurrah.

We rushed home on the train, grabbed our cossies and headed to pick up a kid or three on the way. We stopped at Sam's house and had a lovely lunch then walked down to the sports centre for a swim. We dropped the extra kids off and sped home to get ready before going out to Kember & Jones with Shona. This place is just gorgeous; the food on display, the smells the colours. I of course ordered the antipasti which came with the most amazing sun-blushed tomatoes...I really can't figure out how they tasted so good but I'm going to find out... and pesto, pecorino cheese with huge, mixed olives.

The chocolate cake was covered in strawberries, raspberries and redcurrants so we were forced to share a portion over some illy coffee...I bought a ridiculously expensive cannister of the stuff; I won't be paying the mortgage but hey, I'm happy and wired to the moon!

Shona dropped me at the Burnbrae to meet The Two Karens; needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I got home but I had Shona's homemade fruit loaf and my coffee to look forward to for breakfast.

Today, we had a host of visitors and the food was anything but fancy; egg and tuna mayonnaise sandwiches and chicken noodle soup for the kids, leftover antipasti for me. After everyone left, Kelly and I got the train into town once again to try and find a dress I'd tried on the day before...the day I'd had no cash. It was still there...and it was reduced! It was new stock and not in the sale but did I argue? I did not. I had every faith in their scanning abilities.

I bought some lovely little gifts with Kelly's help and we went to Wagamamas for dinner. Kelly had chicken katsu curry and milk and I had yaki soba, an asahi beer and some little gyoza dumplings. It was lovely. We didn't get home until 7pm and I suddenly realised that they'd all be waiting on me coming home before they had they're tea....heaven forbid a tin of beans gets opened. We stopped at the chippy for fish and chips and, of course, Irn Bru.