Our Sunday Routine

This week has been a long busy week as I rushed through the usual never ending list of 'to do's'. It was a particularly challenging week with a few things going wrong (like mislaying my house keys twice!) and had me thinking how precious time is and how it does seem to start running away with you as you get older. My days are full to the brim from the moment I get up to the short time in the evening when I can stop, sit, and maybe watch an hour of my favourite tv, or catch a few pages of my current book. Those moments, when they come, feel stolen and I look forward to them during the day. We try to relax at the weekends but there are still some obligations to be met, especially the ones preparing for the week ahead. But on Sunday's I do try to step back from it all and really take time out, I may still do chores and organise things in preparation, but it is done at a slower pace with less stress on the clock. Thank goodness we don't have the tradition of eating a huge roast dinner at lunchtime - all lovingly prepared by hand.... In fact we usually have a roast on Saturday nights when I can listen to the radio as I chop and prepare and cook.  Sunday's are easier, they start slow, although still at an early hour. I make pancakes for breakfast - Scottish ones, the recipe is here - and they are eaten in the sitting room with Nutella or jam and a cup of tea or glass of milk depending on the age of the breakfaster.

Scottish Pancakes

The little one plays with his toys or stretches out on the sofa with the ipad. We stay in PJs and take our time. Then it's out with the dog, who I may add and have mentioned before, is happy to stay in bed well until 11am....! But he needs his fresh air and a stretch of his legs, which means I get it to. This morning was blissful in the autumnal light walking through the greens and browns of the fading summer foliage.

I usually make a soup for lunch, boiling up stock from the bones from the roast the night before if it was chicken. We Scots do like our soups in the colder weather, and I have a Frenchman here who adores soups too.  With big chunks of bread and maybe some cheese afterwards, this is a tasty and satisfying lunch with little fuss. I always think soup really doesn't take much time to prepare at all and I can do a big pot of soup in a jiffy. It's usually very traditional, nothing fancy in this house, a chicken and rice, or a lentil soup. Although I have a wonderful recipe for Pea and Lettuce Soup here if you scroll to the bottom of the post, one of my absolute favourites.

Pea and Lettuce Soup

In the afternoons we usually spend time in the garden unless it's raining, I'll potter about with plants while the boys swing from trees, kick a ball around or go fishing for minnows in the Water of Leith. On colder days we'll stay inside with a fire on and watch a film or mooch about doing not very much if that 'to do' list allows. Occasionally it does creep in and try to take over but I do really try to keep Sundays relaxed with few obligations. Although that in itself can be a challenge.

Woodcraft lessons in the garden, in preparation for winter.

Some of the potatoes from the garden this year

Relaxing....

There is usually a cake in the kitchen, quite a plain cake, nothing fancy with lots of icing or decoration. Maybe a Victoria sponge, or a plain chocolate sponge with a dusting of cocoa and sugar on top. Ready for a slice to be taken with a cup of tea in front of the fire at any time.

Always time for cake.....

I hope you are having a lovely Sunday too? 

Windy Walks and Cosy Reads

Everyday life here has its routines like all households and I actually really enjoy these.  In fact they are precious to me as they are the cornerstone of life with my little family. Walking Thumper twice a day is one of these routines and we often go along the same routes which are close by the house as I'm usually squeezing them in between work obligations. I think Thumper gets a little bored and needs a bit of a change so occasionally we head out in the car and go a bit further afield. This time it was to Craiglockhart Hill, which is actually only about 10 minutes in the car but is an exciting journey to new smells and places to explore for a doggy nose.

It was sunny but very windy the other day. At the top of the hill we saw the beautiful views

We headed down through the trees back to the car after quite a walk through the woods and up to the hill, and then the weather came in. And we got this

   

A full blown gale and heavy rain. It was pretty wild and it was definitely time to head for the car - although I have to say I love wild weather. But Thumper....not so much! 

When the weather turns to this I turn to books and cosying up next to a fire. With blankets and pots of tea and always some cake. And the rain lashing against the window - bliss! Scotland does bad weather very well and gives plenty of excuse for relaxing with books or an old black and white film. If you want some inspiration for books throughout the coming colder months may I offer my suggestions? 

The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy by Penelope Lively. One of the best children's writers I know of. A wonderful story set in Somerset, full of mystery and superstition. 

A children's story? Oh yes, but just as much fun for adults who don't take themselves too seriously. The writing makes good enough reading for any adult. This book isn't so readily available but it's worth hunting down a copy. 

The Taxidermists Daughter by Kate Mosse....actually any of her books. She can create atmosphere and suspense beautifully and her writing describes the creeping grey weather of Britain so well in this book.

House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine, (and again any of her books). But I do remember this was the first of her books I read many years ago and being really quite freaked out by how creepy the story was.

Good old fashioned ghost stories are Ms Erskine's forte and you can't beat them for a nice page turner which will give you a chill running down your neck!

You'll have noticed a theme to these books - a good mystery waiting to be solved in all the stories. Perfect reading for me. I hope you might be inspired to read them if you haven't already. If my love of mystery and superstition needs any explaining I can offer this.....

I was brought up in an old house full of antiquarian books and my two favourites were The Tinkler Gypsies and the one above, Witchcraft and Superstitious Record by J Maxwell Wood published in 1911. It is full of historic ghost stories and superstitions of Galloway where the remote farm I grew up in is located. And the nearby farms and villages named in the book were all around, allowing a young child's mind to roam freely amongst the old stories of these old places. So you see, all this love of mystery and ghost stories is really not my fault......

Until next time!

(I found this beautiful fungi on my walk with Thumper at Craiglockhart Hill. It was huge!)

Escape To The Farm

Last weekend I whizzed down to stay with my parents for a couple of nights at the farm as I hadn't seen them for some weeks. The farm is beautiful in summer, and the longer days are all the better to spend time outside in the fresh air. The days are warm and the nights chilly now as autumn sets in.

My Dad and I visited a neighbouring farmer to talk about local history. My Dad is a history boff and writes articles for a local magazine. We set off after buying his paper at the local village shop and trundled up the long gravel road to the farm. It sits up high on the hill looking over the valley below and across to the village of New Galloway. It's a beautiful setting and a farm I have always wanted to visit. It's an old place, like many of the farm settlements in the area and they haven't changed much from the time they were built, some 200 or 300 years ago. The walls are thick local stone, usually painted white. These farms are dotted all around the green countryside, a constant reminder of older times and a history long past, but the lifestyle still lingers in these rural homes. Farming and hard work combined with tradition, and even some superstition.

These farms have wonderful names like Killochy, Torwatltie, Torwilkie, Barnshalloch. Beautiful old names with their own individual meaning, in a language long gone.

It is a place not much visited by tourists, not busy like the Lake District just a couple of hours away by car, and just as beautiful. And so it retains a sense of self, not chocolate boxed or set in aspic. But it has its own glamour - it was here that Outlander's Sam Heughan was brought up and went to school.

After a long chat about bad men roaming the countryside in the 17th century and the awful deeds carried out on the local farmers, my Dad and I drove back home for some lunch. Our farm is much like all the other local ones in this area, small and old and not much changed. You can sit a while amongst the stones and fall back in time easily. Just like Outlander's Claire Randall. It's not hard to imagine 200 or 300 years falling away.

Bramble Picking And Other September Pleasures

So this weekend the children were playing in the garden and spotted some brambles ready for picking and had a little feast and came home with smears of blackberry juice on their faces. We then decided to have an official bramble picking outing with three small boys in tow. They went exploring up and around the back of the houses in the woods and found a huge bramble patch untouched by others and drooping with lots of little juicy jewels provided so lovingly by Mother Nature.  They came back full of cheer with a big tub of fruit and went straight to the neighbours' house to make jam (this was a community effort!) ready for the afternoon. I was on scone duty and had my orders to produce a batch ready for a feast when the jam was done.

The scones were in the oven and ready in a flash (15 minutes) and were lightly browned.

My recipe for scones is here

I keep my scones small and light, not big and heavy, so they don't end up sticking you teeth together!

Then it was down to the garden to eat them with the children's jam and a pot of double cream.



They went down a treat with everyone wanting seconds, I think I should have made a second batch...

Thumper tried to get in on the action. I relented and gave him a bit of mine.

The jam was really delicious, with a wonderful deep purple colour, and was heaven with the cream.

When they were finished everyone wanted more! And the and result was blackberry faces all round.



A very lovely Sunday afternoon. And one to be repeated as we have plenty of jam already and the bramble season isn't even in full swing yet. I can see me having pots of it in my cupboard soon, ready for winter.

I will have to post a lovely recipe for a jam pudding when the weather really has turned for the worse and it's time for puddings and custard.

At the moment I am still enjoying the lovely final days of summer.

It was beautifully warm yesterday morning and I woke up very early (I am not a morning person!) and after a cup of tea and looking out the window at the most gorgeously pink morning I decided to get Thumper out of his bed (he is also not one for getting out of his bed in the morning!) and headed out for a walk. It was so lovely, I am very glad I did.

It was magical walking along in the pink light, and with very few people around - a couple of runners and dog walkers only. 

 

It always seems as if this path is leading somewhere very special, even though I am very familiar with it, it still holds a magical appeal.

Thumper met a friend and had a great run and play and paddle in the water, then played King of The Castle on the rocks.

And then he did a good impression of the Loch Ness Monster ;)

As Summer Fades

Oh, how lovely the summer has been, and how quickly autumn seems to approach. Although for me this is a wonderful time too. The sense of change in the air, as Mother Nature begins to turn her wheel again and prepare us for the new colder days. The wind has started to swirl, the trees are being blown about and the ground is slowly beginning to cover with dried broken twigs and leaves. The flowers are fading and that exciting feeling simmering below the surface of coming days of jumpers, and thick tights and boots, and sheltering from the rain, and warming soups and old fashioned puddings. All things I love.

 We have had bursts of sunny days, not something to be taken for granted in Scotland.

With lazy days in the garden

 We've spent time with friends and family....eating much of the time.

The children played freely

And we had BBQ's and picnics in the garden until evening.

And Thumper did his usual thing.....

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is the recipe I mentioned in my September Bake Off post for chocolate chip cookies. This recipe is very easy, the only trick is that you need to know when to take the cookies out of the oven. Keep your eye on them and when they are near to the end of their baking time check to see that they are just beginning to toast lightly at the edges - not too brown as that means they are getting drier and crisper. What you're aiming for here is a chewy middle and a crisp outside. The best combination for a cookie, not too dry and not too gooey. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

150g soft butter 

125g soft light brown sugar

100g caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg, fridge cold

1 egg yolk, fridge cold

300g flour

half a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

325g or thereabouts of chocolate chips

A large baking tray (I line mine with parchment or greaseproof paper)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170c or gas mark 3

2. Melt the butter and let it cool a little. Put the sugars into a bowl and pour in the butter and beat together. 

3. Beat in the vanilla, the cold egg and the cold egg yolk until all creamy. 

4. Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda and slowly mix until blended, then fold in the chocolate chips. 

5. Scoop the cookie dough into large gobstopper size pieces and place on the baking tray with enough space apart to allow them to spread and settle while cooking, bout 5 to 6 centimetres apart. It will probably take two batches to get all the mixture baked into cookies. 

6. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, depending on how fierce your oven is - I find different ovens really do differ, so keep your eye on the cookies in the last couple for minutes and as soon as they start to turn a gentle golden brown at the edge - TAKE THEM OUT!!

7. Leave them to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a plate or tin.  

This is a great recipe for children, who can't help but eat the dough before it's in the oven it tastes so good! 

Summer Memories

Here is just a little snap shot in time from earlier this summer when I spent a few days at my parents farm. Thumper played with the farm dogs and they had such fun running through the long grass. This is home to me and always will be.