A Scottish Farm

It's well into August now and I haven't written a thing about..............The Edinburgh Festival!! Shocking! But as is often the case when you live somewhere special you take the special things for granted. It has been known for some Edinburghans to actually avoid all the fuss of the festival. Well, I didn't go that far, it just so happened that we'd planned a break away at my parents farm for the first week or so of August. It's a beautiful place, a little bit magical, and unchanged in a way that makes you feel history hasn't left, but is still lingering around. You can feel it in the old stone buildings and in the fields and the trees. The stone walls (dry stane dykes) make pretty green parcels across the land. But perhaps only pictures can tell its story.......
 
The farm house is a traditional Scottish but n ben. Small and cosy with the thickest walls and smallest attic bedrooms. There is nearly always a fire burning inside the house, even in summer, because the walls keep the rooms so cool. Only on the hottest days is it not lit.

The farm land is pretty and pastural in summer, but it's a harsh place in winter.

  My Dad has an old tractor that he'll never change. It does whatever he asks of it.

We picked raspberries to make raspberry jam

Someone we know had a ball running wild in the fields

 We went to the local and famous Alternative Games in New Galloway

and enjoyed the vintage cars

and the Sheep Throwing Competition

  And after a busy day there are nice places back at the farm for a cosy snooze

It truly is a magical place.

   

Sunday Summer Rain

The weather has turned! Well, it couldn't last and we did have a great run of beautiful perfect summer weather. We've been able to sit outside for breakfast eating pancakes with Nutella and drinking tea under a warm morning sun. We've had suppers under the trees as the sun faded behind the Edinburgh roofs. But all this heat was turning the lawns yellow and drying out the flower beds. It felt like those long ago summers from childhood, running barefoot on the grass and paddling in cold stoney waters.......

And then the storms came and with them the rain. The thunder was terrific and the lightening a little bit too close! Luckily our very sensitive and gentle lurcher Fur Baby didn't seem to mind at all - not what we expected from such a shrinking violet! But he took it all in his stride - although he did object strongly to being taken out in the rain (quick dashes for a pee!).

Today, it was cooler and darker in the house as the clouds were heavy. So I felt the need for a bit of cosy whilst listening to the rain outside.

With candles in the sittingroom

A gooey chocolate cake for afternoon tea

Then more candles in the evening........with a good thriller on television, sitting in my pj's on the sofa.

And another slice of cake with a final cup of tea. That's what weekends are for, whatever the weather :-)

 
How did you enjoy your weekend?

    

French Linen

One of my favourite things in life is anything old, curious and with a (sadly forgotten) history. I have loved poking about in antique shops and bric a brac stalls since I was very young. When I was about ten I bought two small antiquarian books bound in leather; one in brown calfs skin and the other bound in black with ornate gold finishings. The first was printed in London in 1820 and was titled 'Lady Montagu's Letters' and the other an Edinburgh print of Goldsmith's 'Vicar of Wakefield'. I confess they are both very dry reading but I like them nonetheless and they sit ever present on the desk in the sittingroom. They've been with me all these years.

Last year, my french mother-in-law gave me a beautiful gift. Very kindly she passed to me a pile of original vintage linen tea towels. They are beautiful to touch and to look at.

I use them every day in the kitchen and every time I pick them up I do so with a sense of the family they came from. They have travelled from a farmhouse in the green Loire Valley in France to the elegant city of Edinburgh, but they are as much treasured now as they would have been by my beau's Grandmother when she was a girl. She has embroidered her initials on the corner of some of them..... AA. Alice Audenot. What a lovely name.

Alice passed them to her daughter who in turn has passed their care on to me. I love them and treasure them and they are part of my daily routine preparing food for the family, washing and drying dishes, and hanging out with the laundry......just as they've always been through the years, first with Alice, then Elene and now me.

I never knew a washing line could look so pretty :-)

Alice was over 100 years old when she died just a few years ago. I wish I had met her but sadly I didn't get the chance. I would have liked to have asked about her days in the kitchen, what food she prepared, where she bought her linen, and about life on the pretty farm all those years ago.

 

A View of Edinburgh

Edinburgh is stunning, that we know. So I've put together some beautiful pictures which may inspire you to visit if you haven't already.  Some are familiar sights and some are the hidden places off the beaten track that as a tourist aren't so easy to find.

A view from Princes Street up to the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle beyond.

Princes Street Gardens looking up to The Balmoral Hotel

If you arrive by train your destination is Waverley Station, right in the centre of town.

The view of Edinburgh from the Castle

Edinburgh Castle from a distance

 The Palace of Holyrood

Historic Architecture at Dean Village

 Stockbridge Market

 A lovely quaint street

 

Restaurant on St Stephen Street, Stockbridge 

 Modern Flats built in a traditional style

A 'close' between streets

Picking Strawberries at Craigie's Farm

What a glorious day we had here - the sun shone so brightly and the breeze was warm. We don't often get days like this even in summer so we really make the most of them and spend as much time outside as possible. After a lovely walk in the morning with the Fur boy we headed out to Craigie's Farm to pick strawberries. The view from the farm is wonderful, looking across to the Firth of Forth

There are my two boys heading off to find strawberries!

I sat at 'Ambers Canine Cafe' with the Fur boy, enjoying the sun.

And then a walk in the woods nearby. It was cool and fresh feeling and there wasn't another soul around, just me and the dog under the green canopy. Bliss.

After an ice cream with the boys we headed back home to enjoy the spoils, with more ice cream!

Craigie's Farm is a lovely place to visit with children, or with a friend for a coffee. The cafe is full of gorgeous food and fresh vegetables and fruit to buy, as well as all the usual goodies you find in a great farm shop. It's only a few minutes drive out of the city but the surrounding countryside makes you feel you have driven for hours to get far away.

http://www.craigies.co.uk/   

A Walk to Stockbridge

Today, after the wind and cloud of yesterday, the sun shone again. It was a little breezy too but it was a gentle warm breeze. Perfect for a walk!

So instead of my usual walk to the waterfall ad back with the Fur Boy, I continued on to Stockbridge. Along the way there were some pretty sights to see, even though they are familiar to me, they still delight.

A rose outside someone's door

And when I turned the corner there were lovely historic buildings.

And over a wall, a secret garden

And then the New Town starts to rise above the trees.

I went to buy my bread in a local cheese shop called Mellis - it's quite famous in Edinburgh. It's full of the most delicious cheese and breads and hams and tasty things in jars.

Then the walk back home for lunch. I had some soup which I had made yesterday at lunchtime to use some spinach up. It's actually a recipe for Pea and Lettuce Soup but I used the spinach and it tastes just as good. I confess I am a thrower inner when it comes to some cooking, especially soups. I don't really use measurements.....

Pea and Lettuce Soup

Half a bag of frozen garden peas (about 4 cupped hands full)
1 garden lettuce (or a pot full of spinach - it reduces to nothing once cooked)
Pint and a half of chicken stock
Splash of sherry
Teaspoon of sugar 
Cup of single cream
A good size nob of butter

Melt the butter in a good size soup pot, then add the peas to sweat and cook a little in the warm butter for 5 minutes. Then add the lettuce, torn into pieces, and let that sweat for a few minutes. Then add the stock, the teaspoon of sugar and let it cook for about 15 to 20 minutes gently on the hob. Then add the splash of sherry, just enough to flavour it but not overwhelm the taste. Then the cream and a little salt and pepper. Once it's cooked a little whizz it to a smooth glossy green and then enjoy with lovely bread.

   
http://mellischeese.net/

Summer Steamed Pudding and Custard

Yes, it's summer here in Edinburgh, but that means lovely sunny days followed by damp windy ones which can get chilly. Sooooo for me that's just an excuse to put on a wee fire in the sittingroom and boil up a steamed pudding. With custard of course. I love traditional food like stews and pies and puddings! I blame it on being brought up on a farm in the middle of nowhere with no central heating or double glazing - you kept warm by getting as close to the fire as you could, and meaty pies and lovely puddings kept you going while you mucked out the byre. I still have the calluses on my hands!  

So yes, it is summer, kind of. But in Scotland there is such a variety of weather here that you can still have something comforting and yummy on a chilly evening. Personally I don't need much of an excuse....

The recipe is easy

4oz self raising flour
4oz sugar
4oz butter or margarine
2 eggs
A little water
Vanilla Essence (if you have some)
A couple of pudding spoons of jam (I used raspberry)

Custard to serve!

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl as if making a cake, using a little tepid water to give a nice dropping consistency. Butter a heatproof bowl or steam pudding basin (which will have a lid). Spoon the jam into the bottom of the bowl and add the pudding mixture on top. If using an ordinary pudding bowl then you'll need to make a 'lid' for your steamed pudding by tying on a circle of greaseproof paper with string across the top of the bowl - tying the string around the lip of the bowl just below the top. This can be tricky and it might be easier if you have a pal to help you while you tie a knot in the string. If you have a pudding steamer then you just need to put the lid on. Then lower your pudding bowl into a pot of boiling water, not letting it be any higher than two thirds up the bowl or the water might leak into the top of your pudding. Boil gently for 2 to 3 hours, remembering not to let the water boil dry!!!!

Below is my pudding steamer with a lid, already in the pot.

 And after 2 and a half hours it's ready.

 
Add some custard

Yum!