Cupcakes!

There seems to be a cupcake obsession going on at the moment so I decided to join in.  D bought me this:

There is nothing to not like about this book...

As I hadn't tried any recipes from it yet, this week I was determined to make something.  I read how nice the Gingerbread Cupcakes were on Scottish Vegan Homemaker's old blog so decided to have a go.  I omitted the topping as this was a trial run but the cakes were delicious anyway, as verified by D.  The two main things I learned from baking these are that it is hard to measure golden syrup (apparently an ice-cream scoop helps), and that the remnants of raw cake mixture left in the bowl taste very nice.  I'm taking some of the cakes to work for our coffee break but won't mention the word v*gan until they've been eaten! 

Result!

Wet Monday

So much rain, so much life like the swollen sky

of this black August.  My sister, the sun,

broods in her yellow room and won't come out.

Everything goest to hell; the mountains fume

like a kettle, rivers overrun; still,

she will not rise and turn off the rain.

The wonderful Derek Walcott says it all really, this is a small section of the poem Dark August which was  poem for the day on Saturday (in the book Poem for the Day Two).  Very apt considering what's happening in the world.  On a much lesser scale we also had very bizarre weather yesterday - one minute torrential rain running down the street where I work, the next brilliant sunshine.  D ran outside last night with my camera to snap a photo of a rainbow before it disappeared.  I was in the bathroom using my eyedrops so missed the whole thing!

I did manage to snap a couple of images on my phone at Bradgate Park when out for the weekly cross country.  The first is of the deer - they are absolutely beautiful and are so used to people that they will stand quite close to the path.  The second is just an amazingly large mushroom or toadstool growing in the bracken.

B is for Batsford Arboretum

Spent a very pleasant time at Batsford Arboretum in Gloucestershire yesterday - such a beautiful place, it used to be part of the estate of Batsford Hall, home to the Mitfords.  It's quite oriental in feel, with a Japanese bridge, statues of a Foo Dog and Buddha, and a Japanese Rest House, as well as Japanese Maples at every turn.  We hope to go back at the beginning of October to see the trees in their autumn colours.  Funniest moment was visiting the Hermit's Cave, which actually appeared to have a hermit in it playing a drum - very pythonesque...

Leaks, and other vegetables...

Slight crises last night. I was a little over-enthusiastic when washing my hair in the shower and didn't notice the shower curtain had slipped inside the bath. The result was a soaking wet carpet in the bathroom and water dripping down the chimney breast onto the wooden mantel in the living room. David was running around with towels etc like a thing possessed.

This begs two questions: why is the shower against the wrong wall so it doesn't reach out into the bath? And why is there carpet in the bathroom? This doesn't acquit me from blame (I heard David telling Charlie it was my fault) but I think allows for mitigating circumstances, along with the fact I am very shortsighted and can barely see where the bath is let alone the shower curtain when I don't have my glasses on.

The evidence against me...

Oh well... the evening wasn't a complete waste of time as I threw half a butternut squash that was on the verge of being thrown out into a roasting tin with half a marrow, an onion, and a carrot, sprinkled them with cinnamon and nutmeg and roasted them. I then put them in a pan with some stock and made some soup that looks like mud but smells gorgeous. And I still have some home-made bread left to go with it.

Bought two magazines yesterday (HOW expensive????), Good Food and Country Living. I bought GF as I was hoping for a discount voucher for the Good Food show in November that Cath and I want to go to. I was very disappointed in the lack of veggie recipes in it, and astounded at the lifestyles of the people in CL. (It says it's a complete lifestyle magazine... I'm not sure what a lifestyle is, and even less sure that I have one). I've lived in rural England all of my life but this was a different world... houses overlooking National Parks, bottling fruit from the orchard, and interior designers used for advice on wallpapers. The cats seemed to like the magazine anyway - they each took turns to fall asleep on it.

Posky approves of this particular lifestyle...

From the ridiculous to the sublime - went to St Mary's Church to browse their bookshop at lunchtime.  Came back with a haul of classic children's books (plus a William Boyd), one of which was Anne of Green Gables which I had to start reading straight away.  I'd forgotten how well written it is, wonderful characters and so funny too.

Book haul...

As if that wasn't enough to raise the spirits, my favourite season of the year is on its way as evidenced by the leaves on my acer - Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, etc etc etc.  I sense some good photo opportunities coming up...

A few things I like...

Butternut squash...

The colour of these veggies waiting to be roasted and made into soup...

Dark chocolate soya dessert - oh my!

The fairy lights on my bookcases...

Goes without saying...

My pottery oil burner...

Lapsang Souchong...

The rain... Pepper and the garden Buddah approve too...

The spicey cookies that I made (only have Christmas and Halloween shaped cookie cutters, hence the bats!)

The portrait of Will we have hanging in the hall

A nice Sunday...

 I won't talk about Saturday which, due to male ineptitude and general unpleasantness was written-off, but Sunday was great.  I left everyone else asleep then went to pick Cath up for our Sunday morning yomp around Bradgate Park.

Charlie demonstrates the 'after breakfast, before mid-morning snack' sleeping position

Whilst Pod does her 'cushion slug' pose

How can a day not go well which starts with your best friend giving you a BIG jar of giant olives at 7a.m?  I love olives... it says on the jar these have to be eaten within two weeks of opening - it won't be a problem. 

THE OLIVES!!

Then it was off to Bradgate Park.  It was misty, cool and damp, a hint of autumn in the air.  We started off by climbing up to Old John, a folly on top of the highest hill in the park with fantastic views, then to the War Memorial and then we just walked for an hour and a half.  It was a lovely morning with the deer appearing out of the mist and the bracken just beginning to turn.  By the time we made it up the last hill back to the car park the sun had burned through and we were hot, tired and very ready to collapse in Starbucks on the way home!

Old John

The War Memorial

The Park deer

The reward!

Then it was home, shower, change and I then decided to go to the meditation centre at Kelmarsh in the depths of Northamptonshire for lunch.  It is a lovely, tranquil place with a World Peace Cafe which serves the nicest veggie food.  D hadn't been before but was impressed.  They have a lovely black cat who lives there but who ignored me despite my overtures of friendship. 

The Kelmarsh Panther - guarding the path to enlightenment...

D then wanted to visit Harrington, a place not far from Kelmarsh with an abandoned airfield.  We walked probably a couple of miles up the taxi-way and back - me admiring the view and enjoying the peace and quiet, D taking photos of old concrete bunkers.

Yet more walking...

Then it was home with enough time to catch a few more episodes of The West Wing on DVD before bed.  What's not to like?

Better late than never...

Seems ages since I posted anything, mainly because it is ages since I posted anything! We've still been keeping up with the walking - Cath and I now do cross county at Bradgate Park on a Sunday.  The first time we did it my glutes and quads were so stiff the next day I felt as if I'd repelled the north face of K2.  Thankfully it's got better since then. 

Finally got to go to Ironbridge - lovely place and didn't realise it wasn't that far from where we live

Crochet-wise, I made a pom-pom cushion and started on a shrug and a capelet

And I finally finished the throw for the sofa in the study...

I even cooked something!! Made some chilli jam which is a relish with a bit of a kick...

...and some ginger cookies.  D was so amazed he took a photo of them.  They were all meant to be stars but I got bored so also turned out a couple of pumpkins and a bat...