Sunday 26 January 2014

Burns Night Blackout

Being part Scottish I like to join in the traditional celebration of Robert Burns' birthday on 25th Jan.  But being part English, I won't sit in the same postcode as a haggis which is a bag of meat in a sheep's stomach and therefore not for me...or anyone else when I asked if they'd like to try some. So our Burns Supper was going to be a big old roast chicken with some stuffing left over from christmas,  accompanied by Irn-Bru since the boys are too young for whisky.  It was all ready, the chicken was in the oven, the tartan table cloth and Saltire bunting were standing by.  The weather outside had been pretty wet and wild all day but we were smug and toasty inside...and then the lights went out.
And then the water went off.  And then I remembered how much we still had in the freezer.  So instead of welcoming our guest of honour (Himself's mum) to the Country House, we de-camped to her electricity, heat and water supplied house with the part cooked meal, 10 ft of saltire bunting  and half our freezer.  Just in case.
All foiled up and ready to go....
The meal was gorgeous, everyone had a good time and when we got home late in the evening, all power had been restored.  Even the freezer food we'd had to leave had survived.
It had been a rainy, breezy start to the day, but for a short time the clouds lifted a little and I was able to catch up on what the garden's been doing.  It's been busy out there with buds popping out all over the place.
Time for a little birdbox repair too...
And when the rain returned, it was back indoors with Madeleine Peyroux playing chilled music in the background and some Zentangling practice...



I was unsure of what vocabulary to use when talking about these doodles because the concept of tangling, tiles and naming "doodles" has been trademarked and I didn't agree with that.  How can you trademark a doodle?  But now I've been working through the method and getting more familiar with the concept and understanding how it works, I'll use the "official" (still got a tiny issue with it!) language.  So...the 3 1/2" square of card you draw on is called a tile, the patterns you make are called tangles and the whole thing is a Zentangle.  It is relaxing and you do lose yourself in the repetitive lines but I'm learning more than i expected to about actually drawing.  Bonus!  If you want to know more, try here
Baking is also a big relaxation for me and as the rain lashed against the windows this morning I was just in the mood for a cup of tea and a nice cake.  We didn't have cake or a lot of time to make one but I found a really fast recipe for muffins and threw in a banana and some blueberries to cuddle up together and create - comfort!
From thought to mouth in less than an hour.  Nom nom!




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