... a Beautiful Blogger apparently.

The rather lovely Ali of Hestia's Larder received a Beautiful Blogger Award yesterday. It's entirely deserved, as Ali is lovely and warm and funny and insightful, and actually beautiful as a person.I am happy to say I know this for fact, as I met Ali recently. She is one of those people who lives up to the person she presents in her blog! Ali, did I mention you are awesome?

As well as this, she does have a beautiful blog - about marriage, and being a mum, and make-up, and funny things, and burlesque, and lots of other good stuff!

I an rather pleased to say that I am one of the ten people Ali has passed the award on to!

As part of accepting the award (thank you, thank you *bows effusively*, etc) , I am supposed to tell you ten interesting things about me. I don't know that there are 10, but I shall try!

1. A week from today, I will have been married for 2 years. Check me being a grown up!
2. I think people might get the impression from the recipes on here that everything I cook works. It really doesn't. the last cake I made collapsed. Also, I can't make choux pastry.
3. I am in the midst of setting up an etsy shop. Hopefully it will be done by September.
4. I love Christmas (yes my friends, I said the 'C' word in July), and everything that goes with it. I collect books based around Christmas time, and I love watching films, be they classics or cheesy made for TV ones. Even in July!
5. I try really hard to eat well, and am relatively fit for a chubby person, BUT I have been know to eat a whole pack of biscuits or big bag of crisps in one sitting.
6. If I am accepted, I'm going to go back to Uni next year to finish my degree. I'm well aware that it in no way leads to a solid career now, but I'd like to be finished properly at GTC registered!
7. That handle came off my favourite teacup a few weeks ago, which was a gift from my sister-in-law, and I actually nearly cried.
8. I would quite like to be the Scottish Nigella Lawson, except the Tory dad bit(eugh). I adore her.
9. The family I am nanny to are expecting a baby imminently (due date is today). This is both exciting and a bit scary. It will be interesting to see how the children react, and if the family dynamic changes!
10. One of my (and Dave's) favourite things to do is have a cheese board after tea for a treat. I love cheese!

My other duty is to pass this on to ten bloggers, so without further ado

One Small Mouse

Baby and Wool

Seeds and Stitches

Teacups, Cupcakes

Homesick Wanderlust/Happily Ever After in Seattle -Mrs Eastman writes both, so I'm including them as the same nomination!

Lisa's Yarns

Conversation Pieces

Moments of Perfect Clarity

A Southern Grace

Face Goop/Belgian Waffle - Again, two blogs by the same person, with added M for Facegoop!

I would like to have given Ali the award back, but i'm not sure if I can by the rules!

Also, if anyone would like to leave me ten bits of chat about themselves, I'd love it!

...a happy(ish) camper (or, tales from a festival goer)

Dave's bag's are packed, and he is ready to go...

Now, the first thing I must point out is that my title is a bit not true. I don't like camping. That's what hotels are for if you ask me. However, if you add a road trip, my husband and 6 of our friends, lots of laughs, alcohol, food, innuendo and music, I can handle the actual camping part.

At the weekend, Dave's band, and also our friend Ross (Roscoe Vacant) we two of the acts at Full Throttle Festival in County Durham. On Friday, Rachael(Dave's backing singer)'s freind Tim very nicely agreed to drive half of us there and back, with the other half travelling with Ross. A long roadtrip full of laughs, food, some alcohol and questionable music ensued.

We arrived at 10.30pm, which meant it was pitch black Our tent was already pitched thanks to Captain Millets(Dave's bassist Dan), so we went straight to the main tent, and found a disco!

Dave, Tim and Adam

The back of Captain Millets' head, Adam, Ross and Woody(Dave's drummer)

Dave, Rachael and Tim

This went on till 1.30, and then back to our wee campsite we went, for an ramshackle singalong, that probably looked like this but in the dark

We woke in the morning, and having a look around discovered that we were camped right next to the detainment huts for the POW camp the festival was on the grounds of.

our camping area

POW camp huts

There were more singalongs, then Captain Millets* made us pasta for lunch!

Ross was asked at the last minute to do an additional set, which some of the band joined him for bits of. During this, the tent filled up, and the croud responded well to Ross' Scottishness, The biggest cheer of his set came when he said ' I am Scottish and ready to shout at YOU!' Ross is one of the best signer songwriters I've ever seen, and it pleased me to no end to see his raw, honest songs be taken in and loved by strangers.

Roscoe Vacant and The Renegade Folk Punk Band( minus Dan)

After a quick practice, Dave and the band took to the stage. John, who was introducing the bands, proclaimed that they were his favourite of the festival, though that may have been because Dan fixed his beer jug with duct tape when it broke...

The band played, people sang and danced and clapped along, and cheered at the end od songs, with a big cheer at the end of the set.

Joined by Mr Vacant for Ramblin' Rover

Afterward, many people came up to say they were 'the best band of the festival', which made Dave happy and embarrassed at the same time. I think at least all of the crowd came away feeling entertained, which is the point really.

Afterwards, we bagan the long trip home, which ended at 2pm yesterday for me, after an additional Megabus journey. Today, I am glad to be home and to have a day to relax and eat proper food before I go back to work tomorrow, and filled with happy memories of good times had!

How was everyone's weekend?

*Dan is know as Captain Millets for a few reasons - he works in Millets(whilst studying for his Masters), he can put up and take dow a tent in 7 minutes, he comes complete with a range of camping luxuries, and he always has a back up plan.

... enjoying unseasonal food.

The title of this post is a bit misleading - the ingredients I used were seasonal, but the end result was not. I try generally to make food that suits the weather, but today, before I'd ventured -or even looked - outside, I decided I wanted sausage casserole for tea. Upon going out, I found that the weather was summery again, having been quite autumnal yesterday.

Obviously, the sensible thing to have done would have been making something lighter, but I had decided on casserole, and casserole we had!! The thing I love about stews generally is you can just chuck in what veg you have, and it always ends up being delicious!

Sausage casserole with herb dumplings

(herb dumpling recipe here)

before cooking

1tbsp olive oil

6 thick pork sausages, cut into small chunks

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 large carrots, diced

8 large mushrooms, diced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 pint stock (i used beef)

2tsp wholegrain mustard

1tbsp basil

1 tin chopped tomatoes

• heat oil in pan
• add sausages pieces and brown
• remove from pan, add to a casserole dish
• heat oven to 180c
• put veg in pan and cook till slightly soft
• add vinegar and cook till reduced, de-glazing pan
• add stock, tomatoes, herbs and mustard and cook for 5 mins
• make dumpling mixture and divide into 6 balls
• add sauce to casserole dish
• drop dumplings in
• cook, uncovered in oven for 30 mins
• turn dumpling over after 15 mins

This is tasty good, though quite sweet, so if anyone doesn't like sweet sauces, maybe add a bit of salt. I am quite glad I stuck to my unseasonal recipe.

I've promised Fay I'll post a homemade chicken kiev recipe, so I will do next week!

...lurgified, and making soup.

Hello lovely people. Also, hello new followers! Thank you for following, and do feel free to come back and comment. I promise my posts won't be as moany as this one!

Yet again, I have been absent from this wee blog for a week. This week though, it hasn't been from being busy. I have the lurgy (a hefty cold), and have done nothing other than go to work, cook things I've already posted, drink ALOT of hot drinks, and read alot. I have that odd feeling where your eyes feel like they are trying to escape from your head, and your nose feels like it's full off wool and wood shavings, and on not-at-work days, I've wandered around or sat wearing and assortment of blankets.

This morning, haven woken up later than I ever do - at half past 11! - with a very, very sore throat, I decided to make some soup - soup being easy to eat. I've made beetroot soup before, and my opinion was pretty much 'it tastes a bit like dirt' by which I think I mean it tastes to earthy for me. I've looked through lots of recipes, and cobbled together my own, probably not very authentic version of borscht, with some spices to temper the dirt taste a bit.

Borscht (approximately)

2tbsp oil

1 onion, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

1 parsnip, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely diced

1tsp caraway seeds

1tsp peppercorns

2tbsp red wine vinegar

2l stock (I'm use beef)

3 bay leaves

5 small beetroots, diced (mine are the pre-cooked ones you get in the supermarket, i also put the juice from the pack into the stock)

• heat oil in a pan
• add onion, carrot, leek, parsnip and garlic
• cook till everything is soft (5 mins)
• add caraway and peppercorns, cook an additional 2 mins
• add red wine vinegar, and stir to de-glaze pot
• add beetroot and stir, well cooking for 1 min
• add stock and bay leaves and cook for half an hour, till liquid reduces and veg are cooked through.
• I whizzed a 3rd of the mixture in the blender and added it back in to add some thickness.

I'm a bit sad this isn't that bright purpley-pink colour beetroot has, but it tastes really good. Next time, I may go even less authentic and add some chilli. I'm having some now as I watch made for TV Christmas films on Movies 24. The combination, while unseasonal, is quite comforting and satisfying when you feel ill!

...still here!

This week has been really busy, so I haven't had time to post, and as I'm Paisley bound today on the Megabus (oh joy), and we have no interwebs there, I doubt I'm going to be able to post anything substantial until then. I've been trying to post roughly every 3 days or so, to keep the blog consistent, but it seems that sometimes my life doesn't allow for that.

This week I have

• Worked 3 days with the kiddies
• taken and extra 2 hours in total travelling to and from work because of T in the Park traffic.
• Made a tea cosy for my friend May's birthday
• Gone out for tea for tea for said birthday
• Got lost in roadworks with my friend Kyla
• Helped potty train smallest of charges, and almost cried with pride when she was successful.
• Almost finished two books
• Bought 4 new books and been given 3! This is good because I'd run out of books I hadn't read, and if I don't have about 6 it makes me a bit nervous! The books I'm currently reading are Dave's and his brother's.
• 
NEW BOOKS!

• Travelled to Glasgow to meet Ali for sushi and chat(she gave me jam!), thus proving that you can actually meet people from the internet, have good banter, and not end up in a ditch.(I'm in the midst of a post about this).
• Gone to see Eclipse(no spoilers, but it was VERY GOOD), then had pizza, beer and chat with my Dundee ladies.
• NOT managed to keep up with my blog reader at all. I promise I will catch up! Must be better at being a member of the blog community!

I've also thought alot about how lucky I am. I have a lovely husband, a lot of lovely, loyal friends, caring family, and a job I love and am valued in. Can't ask for much more really!

...an avid reader.

I noticed today that I haven't posted about reading for a long time, since just after Christmas I think. I started the year taking part in the 100 book challenge, but I've stopped, as I was just forcing myself to read, and it removes the enjoyment.

The other reason is that I keep note of what I read(more or less) on Goodreads - feel free to add me if you have an account and haven't already. I've gone through phases of not reading much, and ones where, as in the last two weeks, I read 5 books in a week. I figure that I read alot, and I read a variety, so it's probably enough!

Recently, I've really enjoyed most of what I've read, but the one I had the most preconceptions about turned out to be the one I enjoyed most!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

I have put off reading 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies', partly because I didn't want to be disappointed by it (I am a huge Austen fan), and because I have heard/read alot of scathing reviews in it.

I was expecting to be disappointed, but I wasn't. In fact, I think Grahame-Green has done a brilliant job of adding the zombie element to the story. In it, we find that the Bennet girls live in an England over-run with zombies, are trained in the 'deadly arts', and are the best zombie hunters in their area.

It is a really good mixture of classic fiction and fantasy - I found it very like what Buffy the Vampire Slayer would have been had it been written in the 1800s! I read it in one sitting, absorbing the story well known to me, whilst enjoying the new parts. Austen's grand romance is still there, but the girls occasionally have some zombies to deal with. One of the highlights of the book for me is that it has classic book illustrations, but they are of zombies eating people's brains, or Elizabeth Bennet fighting with them!

The additions are well written in, which is an accomplishment when working with Austen's beautiful storytelling.. They bring moments of humour and horror to the story, without actually detracting from the central theme. I don't think everyone would enjoy it - I happen to like both classic and fantasy, which made it an easy read for me. The only thing I would say is that if people are worried about reading it, they should try - they may well like it!

Happy Birthday Dave!

Photo by Adam Boucher

Dave is 27 today, and for a whole month and two weeks, we will be the same age. He has been a high achiever in this year of his life, moving, starting his first proper academic research job, and getting and EngD! Alot to be proud of I'd say...

Celebrations will begin when our friends (and Dave's bandmates) arrive for lunch. They will continue with a gig at Maggie's Festival, raising money for the charity. After that, there will be some drinking and merrymaking, and tomorrow there will be family visits.

Happy birthday husband, I hope it's a good one! :)