52 Walks With My Camera - Week 34

Another close to home walk. I am ashamed to say The Wards nature Reserve is within walking distance of home and I have never been.




The Wards is an area of boggy land lying between Elgin and New Elgin immediately to the south of the Aberdeen-Inverness railway line. While rather untidy in appearance, the site is an important habitat for many bird and animal species and was recently awarded a certificate of commendation in the Living Wetland Scheme which is managed by the RSPB and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management.
It is an important area of green space right in the heart of Elgin and despite its urban setting attracts a host of wildlife.

There were quite a few people walking the paths - some dog walkers and quite a few parents with young children. The paths have been designed to be accessible for all meaning pushchairs and wheelchairs can get round with ease.

Plenty of wild flowers in the reserve - although with a brisk wind blowing it was quite difficult to get decent photos. This looks like some sort of bindweed but I thought the buds had a really interesting shape - and I love the colours of the lichen growing on this tree.
























Cow parsley against a rather ominous looking sky.
























There is a small pond teeming with tadpoles which has a boardwalk so you can get a closer look. As you can see from the house on Wards Road we aren't far from the town centre at all. I have driven along this road before now and caught sight of a deer in the reserve.




Plenty of blackberries around too - next time I go I will be better prepared and actually have something to put the berries into once I have picked them - I had to make do wit a plastic carrier bag I found in the boot of my car. I turned these little beauties into my Blackberry and Apple Loaf.

Learn Something New Every Day

Shimelle's annual Learn Something New Every Day class starts again next week - and the bonus is that if you signed up for this class previously then each subsequent year the class is run it won't cost you a penny.

Last year was my first year but I didn't get too far - not even sure I managed half way through the month. This year I am willing to give it another shot but to make it easier I have gone small - very small!!

My pages are a diddy little 4x4 and are made up of kraft and black card stock with a few acetate pages thrown in for good luck. This album will be made up using plenty of scraps although I am using a few brand new sheets of American Crafts Everyday papers (get yourself down to your local TK Maxx for a bargain!)

For my cover I have used KI Memories stamps, sissix dies, tiny alpha stickers and my trusty Dymo tape machine and ait's all held together with a book ring.

























Here's hoping I keep up this time. But it is small enough to sit up on my shelf on my desk where it will shout down to me and prompt me to keep up to date.
























Is anyone else joining in??

Blackberry & Apple Loaf

What else is there to do on a damp Saturday morning but bake.

The other day I went for a walk and gathered a few blackberries - not enough to make a pie or jam out of but I couldn't walk past them growing at the side of the path could I?

So I had a quick look on the tinternet this morning for a suitable recipe and found this one on the BBC Good Food site - and even better it was marked as easy!

Ingredients:

250g self raising flour
175 butter
175 light muscovado sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
1 small eating apple (not cored or peeled)
2 large beaten eggs
zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon baking powder
225g blackberries.

Preheat oven 180C/GM4/fan 160C.

In large bowl rub together flour, butter and muscovado sugar to make fine crumbs. Measure out 5 tablespoons of this mixture and place in a small bowl for the topping, and mix into it the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Set aside.
Grate the apple down to the core and mix with the eggs and zest. Stir the baking powder into the flour mixture and then quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture - don't over mix.
Gently fold in 3/4 of the blackberries trying not to break them up. Spoon into the loaf tin and level. Scatter remaining blackberries on top and then sprinkle over te topping mixture and bake for 1 1/4 -1 hour 20 minutes. Check after 50 minutes and cover with foil if it is browning too much.
Leave in tin for 30 minutes before turning out. Cuts into 10 chunky (and crumbly) slices.



This really was an easy recipe even with some substitution of ingredients - lemon zest instead of orange and light brown sugar instead of muscovado.

Don't think it is going to hang around for too long though - and I think it would be delicious served as a dessert with custard.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!






See more {moments} here.

A first

For the very first time I have entered one of my photographs into a competition. It is for the BBC Countryfile Photographic Competition 2010 .

The theme is A Moment of Magic, and you can interpret that anyway you wish, as long as your photo captures a magical moment that makes the rest of us wish we’d been there to see it.

Photographs must have the countryside or natural world at their heart, and can feature landscapes, people, British wildlife (plants and animals), farmyard animals or countryside activities, but no pets or garden plants please. And do state if the images are of British wildlife in captivity.


I have chosen 2 photos that I took on our visit to the Isle of Skye last year - and one of them I love so much I use it as my blog header.

Given the standard of last years entries I know I don't stand much chance.

Skywatch Friday

Season 4, Episode 7.

I can't take the credit for this photo - Andy took it out of the plane window on his was back from Germany last week. I think it is a pretty good picture - as it was taken on his mobile phone. Love the way the sun is just glinting off the wing.

Harvest

My little reject of a tomato plant - rescued from the clearance section of B&Q - has finally produced it's first ripe fruit.

It is a little cherry tomato plant that has been growing in a hanging basket and although it has never looked in tip top condition is is covered in fruit.

These are the first ripe fruit we have been able to pick - and we ate them with our salad last night - delicious.

Coffee Cake

This is a really easy peasy recipe I found in an old WI cookbook - you put everything into one bowl and mix - what could be simpler?

175g (6oz) margarine or butter
175g (6oz) caster sugar
175g (6oz) self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons instant coffee dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water
3 eggs.

Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat together until well mixed (3 minutes with a wooden spoon or 1 minute with an electric mixer.)

Place mixture in a greased and lined 20cm (8in) round cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes at 180/160 fan/ gas mark 4 until cake is springy to the touch and golden brown.

I then made up some coffee flavoured butter icing and some chocolate hundreds and thousands finished it off.





Perfect with a cuppa and the girls at work seemed to enjoy it.

Weekly Challenge

The weekly challenge over on UK Scrappers is set by the Paper Addicts team and is as follows:

welcome to our challenge, we have had great fun setting it so i hope you enjoy doing it

In honour of our group member Rak's new baby girl Sophia we would like you to scrap about something new. This can be anything new, a member of your family, something new for your house/garden or something we are all guilty of.....something new for our crafting. So come on and own up, what have you bought?

We would like you to use something old in your layout, papers, embellies, brads etc.

Last of all we would like circles in your lo. These can be anything circular, buttons, brads, just plain circles if you wish.

So,
something new 10pts
something old 10pts
use circles 10pts.



Here is my take on the challenge and it is a scraplift of a LO by Tanya Tahir in the Scrapbook Inspirations Ideas Book 2. The original is stunning and I don't think I have done it justice - but I didn't have all the supplies used so had to improvise.





The something new is the Basic Grey Origins papers which I bought on my recent (and first but not the last) trip to Simply Create in Alford. The strips of papers have been punched with my Fiskars Threading Water punch and then layered to produce a slightly 3D effect.




The something old is my trusty Autumn Leaves swirly stamps - I think these were one of the very first set of stamps I bought when I started scrapping several years ago.




My circle is the frame around the photo which I have embellished with punched flowers and leave and a bit of bling.





I am really pleased with how it has turned out - in fact I think it is one of my favourite ever pages. The photo is of Callum - caught in a rare quiet moment - whilst on holiday last month in the Western Isles.

Will............

...............it ever stop raining??

























(My gorgeous sweet peas that I have grown from seed.)

More Library Books

I am pleased to say that I no longer have a reservation list at my local library - which is just as well as I think my ticket is well and truly full.

This is the selection of books I picked up last week.

More Agatha Raisin - the library must be buying in new copies of this series and I am a sucker for a brand new book (in fact I have a thing about not reading scruffy books!) The Passage by Justin Cronin has come highly recommended from several sources. The Girls by Lori Lansens was one of my favourite books from last year so I had to get her latest one The Wife's Tale. And the Debbie Macomber is due to a discussion over on UK Scrappers so thought I would give the first one a try.














And now to a recommendation - The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley. I was doing my usual of wandering around Waterstones after work looking for new titles (with pen and paper in hand to make notes!) when I spotted this one. The staff had given it a glowing report and though the subject matter wasn't my usual thing I thought I would give it a try.




It's every mother's nightmare. And it's getting closer. For Ann Brooks, it's been a tough year. But it's about to get worse. Still mourning for the baby she lost and the marriage it cost her, Ann's bringing up her two young daughters alone. She's about to discover just how strong she can be. Panic has gripped America. A deadly killer is moving across countries and oceans, a virus so deadly it kills every other person it infects. As society grinds to a halt and ordinary families quarantine themselves in their own homes, desperate to avoid its spread, Ann must face her worst fears. But how do you protect your family from a threat you cannot see? Sealed inside the family home she once loved, Ann, Maddie and Kate will have to battle the cold and the dark, food and water shortages, and the greed and violence of their former neighbours if they're to make it through. Harrowing and deeply moving, Carla Buckley's debut novel sheds light on the choices we make in the darkest of times, a powerfully compelling thriller that is only too real.


I couldn't put it down - it was quite dark but gripping - but it really makes you think - this could actually happen.

I am also hosting the Book Club for September over on UK Scrappers and my choices are as follows:

The Legacy by Katherine Webb
The Wife's Tale by Lori Lansens
Fallen by Lauren Kate
The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life by William Nicholson
The Bed I Made by Lucie Whitehouse
The Perfect Mother by Margaret Leroy.

The Studio Summer Cybercrop

A friend over on Facebook pointed me in the direction of Saturdays cybercrop over on the The Studio blog.

There were some great challenges and classes - I have printed some of them off to do at a later stage - although I think you have until 4th September to upload any LOs if you want to enter.

I did the Delicious DIY challenge at 2pm created by Anna White-Sharman and made a couple of little paper windmills for the first time. Thought they looked quite cute of this beach photo of Callum taken the other week.

I used the Gottacraft August kit again - although I am only using little bits of it in an attempt to make it last longer - the Indie Girl papers by Sassafras Lass are delicious.
























I have another LO on the go - this time it is to use a frame on your page but it's taking longer than I expected to do.

Maybe you should also look at the Sunday challenge on The Studio blog -

"Right people, no cheating with this one!

Step 1: First of all, go and pick the 2 ugliest, most mismatched papers in your collection, that you honestly can't ever see yourself using. Take a photo of them.
Step 2: Yes, you saw this coming, didn't you?! Make a page using those papers. You can add any other embellishments you like, but those 2 papers must play a prominent role in your design! Take a photo of it.
Step 3: Upload your layout AND your horrendous papers 'before' photo.

The papers must be obviously ugly to begin with - no choosing something you secretly like! Good luck!"

I am sure we all have papers that fit the bill lurking somewhere.

Isle of Lewis

A few more photos from our camping trip to the Isle of Lewis last month.

The Whalebone Arch at Bragar was erected by the former village postmaster Murdo Morrison and was formed from the jaw bones of a giant whale which beached itself and died in Bragar Bay after being harpooned by hunters. Read the story of the whalebone arch by Mary Macaulay, eldest daughter of Murdo Morrison here.
























Callum at Eoropie beach - a huge expanse of golden sand.


























Not sure who she is supposed to be - or why she is there at the side of the single track road to our campsite - but the boys had to have their photo taken with this young lady!!!!























Valtos Post Office!!
























This is the village next to our campsite. I am afraid we had a case of the Monty Pythons everytime we drove through - reciting lines from The Holy Grail and the Knights who say Ni!!!!













A view from the coastal path by our campsite.













The Lewis Chessmen (or Uig Chessmen) are a group of 78 chess pieces dating from the 12th century which were found in Uig bay in 1831. They are currently owned by the British Museum in London which has 67 of the pices with the remainder in the Royal Museum in Edingburgh. There is some controversy about where is the most appropriate place to display these pieces. Personally I believe they should be returned to the island as that is where they belong although they are coming home next year but just for a temporary exhibition. All that remain are these wooden sculptures which are dotted around the area. You can read more about them here and more about the campaign to to get the pieces returned to their rightful home here.























Mobile driving hazards we encountered on the island - slightky worryingly the sheep have a knack of lying down in the middle of the single track roads - usually on a blind bend!!
























A typical view of the island - much of it is quite bleak like this away from the coast.

Blog Giveaway

For a chance to win a copy of the new Pencilines book packed full of inspirational sketches pop over to Anna's blog and leave a comment.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!

























See more {moments} here.

BTT - Booking Through Thursday

Found this through Kim's blog this morning. Some of the questions made me think - and some of them I will have to come back to.

1. Favorite childhood book?
The Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton.

2. What are you reading right now?
The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
Surprisingly few. Live To Tell by Lisa Garner and No Place Like Home by Pen Farthing.

4. Bad book habit?
Buying too many books in charity shops!

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Too many to list.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
No – don’t see the point of it for me personally.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
I prefer only one book at a time.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
No – although I do now keep a list of the books that I have read – good to refer back to when I’m not sure if a book sounds familiar.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
I liking trying new authors – especially when they are recommended to me.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Very wide and varied – not sure I could pin it down to any one genre.

13. Can you read on the bus?
Probably – to relieve the boredom. But I cannot read in the car.

14. Favorite place to read?
In bed.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I wouldn’t lend a book I hadn’t read – and I would only lend to someone I knew would lok after the book.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
No.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
No.

18. Not even with text books?
Long time since I used a text book!

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English.

20. What makes you love a book?
One that I can’t put down – so that I can’t wait to go to bed so I can read some more.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If I love a book then I will recommend it to another book lover – or the girls in the library!

22. Favorite genre?
Really not sure – I like so many sorts of books.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Historical fiction – but it mostly leaves me cold.

24. Favorite biography?
Don’t often read biographies.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
No.

26. Favorite cookbook?
Got to be a Delia Smith one – her Complete Cookery Course - had it as a wedding present almost 20 years ago – and I still refer to it.

Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley – really made me think.

28. Favorite reading snack?
A cuppa.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
I have never read Harry Potter because of all the hype about the books and films – seemed like everyone and his dog was reading them. This has also put me off reading the Twilight books although they are all sitting there on the shelf.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Not always.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
Don’t like doing it – but if I don’t like a book then I will say so.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Not sure I want to.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Not sure there is one – if it is intimidating they I probably wouldn’t have picked it up in the first place.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Have never been tempted by some of the classics that people say you should read – I have Wolf Hall sitting on the shelf – but I don’t like its size and have heard many people say its hard to get into. Lord of the Rings would be another.

35. Favorite Poet?
Enjoyed the metaphysical poets when I was at school.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
My ticket is full!

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Often – I have a tendency to pick up books in the library on a whim and then decide later that maybe they aren’t for me.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Will have to think about that one.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
And this one.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Whatever is at the top of my to be read pile.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Maybe a few day.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Noise.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Films are never as good as the books – but I did enjoy a French Lieutenants Woman.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
Haven’t seen any recent ones – I try to avoid them.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Probably when I had book tokens to spend.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Never..

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If it was too slow – or hadn’t “grabbed” me.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
No – but I now keep lists of what I have read – and what I want to read!

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I hoard them – but when we moved house I did a car boot sale and reluctantly sold loads.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
The Twilight books – I will read them eventually – when everyone has shut up about them.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
Can’t think of one.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Will have to come back to this one.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
And this one!

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Chick Lit – I’m not ashamed to admit it. Also the Agatha raisin series.

Skywatch Friday

Season 4, Episode 6.


A catamaran in Findhorn Harbour. An ominous looking sky - but fortunately it stayed away so we could enjoy an ice cream in the sunshine.























You can see more Skywatch Friday shots here.

Back To School

Tuesday saw the return to school for the boys - and not before time!

I almost forgot about the obligatory first day of term photos - and poor Callum was made to stand out in the rain minutes before we were due to leave. Scruffy little wotsit isn't he? Long gone are the days of having a neatly knotted tie and over sized jumper - obviously trainers and rolled up sleeves are the in look!

And I'm afraid to say there is no photo of Sam - his school had a late start so he didn't leave for school till I had gone to work. Think it is the first year I don't have a photo to make this momentous occasion.

Never mind.

52 Walks With My Camera - Week 33

We didn't venture too far - just along the coast to Cullen - home of the delicous fish soup Cullen Skink.

First stop was a coffee and a cake in Puddleduck Patch - I would love to go to a class there and learn how to quilt.
We started off by walking over the disused viaduct which gives a fabulous view of the town - and out over the golf course and across the Moray Firth. I can't remember what these plants were called but most of them were covered in bumble bees.

























Then it was back down and towards the harbour. Such a shame we had to pass the door of Cullen Crafts - we had to pop in for a browse as it would have been rude not too!

Sam and Wendy had a go at crabbing but the little blighters weren't biting so they soon gave up.




There is a campaign to raise money to restore the rusty old beacon at the end of the harbour wall. I was surprised to learn that the harbour was designed by Thomas Telford - I thought he just did bridges.






The it was down the coat slightly to Portknockie to look at Bow Fiddle rock - unfortunately a coach load of photographer had just pulled up so it was a challneg to get a shot which didn't have a person wearing a brightly coloured jacket in!!!!



Yeah - that's my walks up to date - wonder how long that will last??