Saving a Family Kilt

Hello everyone.

I hope you have had a good week. 

The rain here has been wonderful, but it has kept me inside for a while, and I decided to go in search of a crafting project. I have a lot of these activities awaiting my attention; some are partially started, while others are still just ideas. The one I have been working on this week is a family project. 

My husband and his family on his father's side have some Scottish ancestry, and this project was intended to showcase some special items.

When hubby and his siblings were youngsters, they often went along to Scottish dance evenings with their parents. They learnt many of the dances, and hubby's brother and sister also took part in competitions. Hubby's kilt was made using the tartan with our family name. This particular tartan is Ancient Wilson, with orange and green colours woven into the fabric.

Hubby kept his kilt from those early years but has not worn it since then. It has been in the loft, and unfortunately it now has some moth damage as well as wear and tear. I was reluctant to get rid of it and instead wanted to transform it into something we could display on our living room wall.

It was quite scary cutting into the kilt fabric, but it needed to be done for the greater good. I had a suitable frame and some backing fabric and set to work. It was at this point that I realised the intricacies of how a kilt is made and the huge amount of fabric involved. Eventually I managed to fit everything together, including a section of the pleats. 

Once this was firmly attached, it was time to add the other items.

The largest item was the leather sporran, which was wired through the fabric to keep in place. A sporran is worn at the centre of the kilt, around the waist. It acts like a money purse for personal items because traditional kilts don't have pockets. This one is really for daytime wear, as it is made of leather, but there are many beautiful and far more intricate versions for more formal occasions. Sporran means purse in Gaelic.

The ornamental knife is called a Sgian Dubhs (pronounced skee-an-doo) and is tucked into the right or left sock depending on the dominant-hand side, with only the upper part of the hilt showing.

Finally, the buckle is from hubby's leather belt that he also wore. He gave it a good clean with some metal polish before adding it to the display board.

And here is the final photo showing all the pieces together. Now it can be properly displayed, and our family can still enjoy those memories of Scottish country dancing together.

Have a fantastic week, everyone, and who knows, I may start another project this week. 😊

Cat sitting and a Walk in the Forest

Hello everyone. 

I hope you have all had a good week. If you are in the UK, hopefully you will have had some cooler weather and maybe a spot of rain. If you live somewhere else that has already given you lots of the wet stuff, I hope the sun shines for you in the coming week.

Our son was on holiday in Morocco last week, so we have been keeping an eye on his two sweet girls, Lola and Nala.  

On one of the days we were kitty-sitting, we ventured out to Kingsford Country Forest for a walk. It was clear to see how the weather had taken its toll on the ferns and other plants. Even so, there were green shoots and plants unwilling to give up completely. Kingsford is owned and managed by the National Trust and is in the southern half of the Kinver Edge escarpment. We followed one of the shorter routes for our walk, which was quite steep in places but still very enjoyable.

We found this swing in the forest but were not inclined to try it out!

Even though we found many areas that had been scorched and burnt by the excessive heat and sunshine of the Summer heatwaves, we did find plenty of places that were still green or showed some colour. 

It has also been one of the busiest birthday weeks of the year for our family, with hubby, daughter and son celebrating their special days. I shall need next week to recover from all the cake. 🎉🎈🎂😂

Wishing you all just the right amount of sunshine and showers this week, good health, and something to make you smile.

Take care.

B x

A Few Degrees Lower Makes All the Difference

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and the week has been good for you.

For most of this week, it has again been exceptionally hot, with more fires burning closer to home. Our son lives near Stourbridge, where people have had to be evacuated. I do hope people take note of the requests about lighting any outdoor fires at the moment. A spark can so easily cause flames to spread quickly. I am so grateful to the fire brigade and others who are working tirelessly to stop this happening.

This week we had the solar eclipse on Wednesday. Unfortunately, hubby only managed to get a few atmospheric photos of the sun's rays through the clouds that covered the skies. Our son managed to get a better photo.

Meanwhile, just a few more photos of the bees enjoying the sunflowers. They are such a joy to watch, as they are busy collecting nectar.

We also enjoyed a 30th birthday party with a friend, and this is what we bought her for a bit of bright fun. Hopefully it will keep her smiling whatever the weather. It is also practical, as it is a doorstop. 

With the cooler temperatures arriving this week, I intend to get back outside and try to bring some order to my frazzled garden.

Wishing you all a happy and safe week.

B x

Chocolate and Cruising

Hello everyone. 

As it has been a little cooler at times this week, hubby and I have been baking again. This week we made Easy Chocolate Squares. It was a lovely recipe that just required some melting, mixing and some time solidifying in the fridge.

Here is the recipe, which I changed to the ingredients I had in my store cupboard.

Easy Chocolate Squares

Ingredients

225g/8oz plain dark chocolate

75g/3oz butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

75g/3oz shortbread type biscuit ( I increased the amount of biscuit and kept the pieces chunky rather than having too small crumbs)

100g/4oz raisins or sultanas. (I also added some glazed cherries)

Method

1. Grease a swiss roll tin or line with baking paper.

2. Put the biscuits in a strong food bag and lightly crush with a rolling pin.

3. Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a small heat-proof bowl. Add the syrup and butter. I melted these ingredients in the microwave in short bursts, but if you prefer, you can do this over a saucepan of hot water.

4. Stir the biscuits, dried fruit (cherries) into the mixture and spread over the swiss roll tin. Chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours, preferably overnight. Cut into pieces and enjoy.

And now, over to D with an update on her holiday adventures.

Hello all, D here.

I had a lovely time on holiday around the Greek Islands - plenty of rest and relaxation amongst a few excursions I went on. I thought I would share some of the photos I took during the tours.

The Acropolis at Athens - that's the Parthenon. 

The site of the First Modern Olympic Games

The famous Hourly Changing of the Guard outside the Greek Parliament

Santorini

Bodrum Castle, Bodrum (Turkey)

The Palace of Knossos, Crete

This is the great palace of the Minoan civilisation, which existed between 3000 and 1100 BCE; they are considered to be the first civilisation in Europe. However, you might be more familiar with Knossos from the myth about Theseus and the Minotaur - this palace is where the labyrinth was supposed to have been. Although sadly, there are no signs of a labyrinth anymore.

Aphrodite's Rock, Cyprus. 

According to Greek Mythology, this is where Aphrodite - the Greek Goddess of Love  - rose from the sea.

Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sunion.

This temple looks out over the Aegean Sea, and it is a very stunning place to visit. However, when I visited, it was very windy - I had to shove my hat in my bag, for fear it would try and fly home without the benefit of an aeroplane. Still, I managed to get some really lovely shots of the temple.

The Habour at Rhodes.

Have a great week.

B and D 

New Plants and Cookie Biscuits

Hello everyone. 

It has been another sunny week here in this small corner, but there have also been a few cooler breezes and some rain showers on Thursday, which were very welcome.

As the temperatures have been lower than we have been used to over the last few weeks, hubby has been getting on with constructing the rest of the raised beds nearest the decking. 

The last bed was much more of a challenge, as is usually the case with a project. After the rain on Thursday, hubby was able to lift the old turf, but the ground was very compacted underneath, and we have quite heavy clay soil. He started turning the ground over and found a metal spike for a rotary clothes line. It took some time to dig that out, and it must have been there over 25 years, longer than we have been in this house. Having removed that spike, almost next to it, he found another one. This was of his own making for a rotary line we put in over 20 years ago. Hubby had set that in concrete, never to be removed!! It took a sledgehammer and a heavy-duty jackhammer drill to break it up. Then he had to fill the crater he had made. At least now the ground has been properly turned over, and once the compost and manure are added, any new plants should have a good start in our garden.

I have not done any digging this week, but instead I have been busy buying plants. A friend of ours had recommended two new garden places to visit - one has great air conditioning in the cafe and a good selection of plants to tempt. Then further down the road was a wonderful nursery, again with lots of very good plants. 

I'm afraid I came away with several plants for my new garden beds. 

French Lavender

English Lavender

Anemone

Choisya(Mexican orange blossom)

Hebe

Santolina

Geum

Chives

Oregano

Rosemary

Once they have all filled out some more, they will be perfect. I still need some other plants, but I think a good start has been made.

This week, my tomatoes have started ripening. At first the colour change was slow, but now there are lots of ripening tomatoes that I can start picking and using. 

D is on holiday at the moment, so I am missing my baking partner. This week, I found a new helper to bake with. Hubby usually stays out of the baking zone, but the chance of cookies at the end of the day encouraged some practical support. These were the cookies/biscuits we made.

It was a very easy recipe that I adjusted to the ingredients I had to hand.

Here is my own version.

It was a very easy recipe that I adjusted to the ingredients I had to hand.

Here is my own version.

Traditional Sugar Biscuits

350g/12oz plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

115g/ 4oz butter

225g/8oz caster sugar (I used granulated sugar)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence (or essence of your choice)

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

Topping

A mix of crystallised sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling on top

Method

1. Sift the dry ingredients together except the sugar, and set aside.

2. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat to mix well.

3. Add the flour mix alternately with a spoonful of milk until a soft dough forms. ( You may not need all the milk). Wrap in cling film and chill for about 45 mins.

4. Heat the oven to 180℃/350℉/Gas 4

5. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 3mm/ 1/8 inch. Cut into rounds with a floured biscuit cutter and transfer to a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon topping. Bake for 10-12 mins until golden brown. Allow to cool and enjoy.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone, and have a good week ahead.

B x