A perfect Saturday

Sun streaming through the bedroom window.

Saturday morning pancakes and syrup.

A coffee morning to raise funds for the Boys' Brigade.

The boys got a few bargains since everything is for sale for about 50p.

David went to the cake stall to buy himself some cakes and bought back the ones I had made!

Watching the first shinty match of the season.

(OK, so you can hardly see the players but I was trying to get the whole vista in!)

A bit of shinty practise behind the goals.

You need to start them young!

A walk along the beach in the dimming light of the late afternoon.

To me, this is not a proper beach at all compared to the ones from where I come from, see here. But it still has sand and sea, and that is what matters to little boys.

And then a chippy tea to finish off the day.

In my hunger, I didn't take a photo of our actual chippy, so I  looked online for a photo. When I was doing so, I found this discussion board by ex-pat Scots about the humble chippy, which I thought would be a useful explanation of what I'm on about for my overseas friends!

And if you read it, as a West Coast girl who is now living in the East, I am still horrified at the thought of that runny brown sauce on my chips that the East seems to love. We West Coasters are far more civilised with our vinegar. 

:0)

Gaelic word of the day:

teaghlach (chi-lach) - family

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Things I'm loving Friday ♥

Spring flowers.

Ok, so the daffodils are not growing outside yet, only the brave snowdrops are peeking out so far, but I did get these daffodils the other day, reduced to 25p a bunch!

I bought 3 bunches.

A 2 for 1 pizza voucher which meant we had a lovely dinner at Pizza Express.

We don't normally go there as Calum and Alasdair can't have the pizzas, but they were happy to give them cooked chicken and salad instead.

Another voucher.

This time for the Body Shop.

Allowing me to buy £30 of stuff for only £12!!!

Especially loving my most favourite scent of all, vanilla.

Have a great weekend everyone.

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Recipe of the Week - Lime, Ginger & Coconut Loaf

This week's recipe has a touch of the tropical about it. Lime and coconut make me think of white sandy beaches with clear water. 

This cake is a new one and has proved to be a big hit, especially the sugary topping!

You will need:

7oz dairy-free margarine

6oz sugar

4 limes

3 eggs

7oz Doves Farm Wheat-Free Self Raising Flour

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground ginger

2 oz desiccated coconut

2 balls stem ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsp rice/soya milk

an extra 3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp stem ginger syrup

~Cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy.

~Grate in the zest of 3 of the limes.

~Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time.

~Add the flour, baking powder and ground ginger and fold in gently.

~Now fold in the coconut, chopped stem ginger, milk and juice from 2 of the limes.

~Spoon the mixture into a lined loaf tin and bake at 180C for around 45 minutes.

~Cool the cake in the tin for about 10 minutes then make a few holes in the top with a cocktail stick.

~Mix the extra sugar with the juice from the other two limes and the stem ginger syrup.

~Carefully pour this sugary syrup over the top of the cake.

~Leave the cake in the tin until cooled.

~Enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

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Something else to watch and listen to....

Another video today, but not one of ours.

One of my friends posted this link on her Facebook page a while book and I've been meaning to share it ever since.

Back in the days when I was a music teacher, before little boys took over my life, I used to do the rainstorm effect with groups of children, but not to this level and the song that follows is just - amazing!!

Enjoy.

And if you enjoyed that, then watch them sing Mas Que Nada.

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A Movie Premiere

It seems like the day after the Oscars is the ideal time to premiere our James' Lego animation.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how I had bought some animation software for him since he so enjoyed making little animations using my phone.

He worked out how to use the software in no time. You use your webcam to take the still photos. There are over 2000 sound effects to add, as well as music and the option to add your own voice and music.

He spent the mid-term holiday week working on this one, which he has entered in the short film competition at the local Mod (the Mod is a Gaelic music/arts competition. More in another post, I'm sure!)

The animation is the story of the Sword in the Stone, but in Gaelic.

I think Aardman Animation will be on the phone soon offering him a job :0)

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Work in Progress Wednesday - Crochet Beret

This hat crocheted up really quickly because of the holes in it. It took me two evenings.

When I was working on it Calum asked me what I was making. I told him it was a hat. His reply was, 'but it's full of holes!'

Yes, dear, thank you, but the holes are part of the pattern.

I also learned a new stitch, a front post double crochet and a back post double crochet. These give the kind of rib round the brim of that hat that you can see better in the darker picture.

Now I can get started on the baby blankets I mentioned in yesterday's post!

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Calling all crocheters...

The Good Morning Girls team have set a challenge for all the groups taking part. The challenge came about as a result of what we were reading in James (especially James 1:22-27 & James 2:20) about true faith showing itself through our actions.

The challenge is to think of a way our group can help out The Mercy House, a project being set up in Kenya by a friend of one of the GMG team. For the full background you can read here, but in short, it is being set up to provide care, practical help and support for young street girls in Kenya who are pregnant and would otherwise be forced into having back-street abortions.

There are different ways to help out.
♥ You can buy from their fundraising etsy store, (at the moment it looks like they only ship to the US, but we have contacted them and asked if they would look into overseas shipping costs, as I'd like one of the t-shirts!)

♥ You can send things in for their monthly collection drives (lists of wanted items are on the site)

♥ Our group has decided, and here is where the post title comes in, that since a few of us love our crafts we would crochet some baby blankets and send them in. Or knit. Or sew.


I've found some lovely free baby blanket crochet patterns online and can't wait to get started.


I'd love to get more people involved too, so if anyone out there would like to help then please let me know. I have a really strong desire to get this going and to keep it going too. The more we have on board the more we can help!

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Keys to a healthy marriage

On Friday evening my husband and I went to a seminar run by Care for the Family called, Marriage Unlocked. It was aimed at all marriages, new or old (or inbetween!)

We were pleasantly surprised to see about 200 people there, and a few who we knew too!

At the seminar the speakers, a couple who have been married for 25 years, gave us 6 keys to unlock an even better relationship. While I think we had worked most of these out for ourselves over the last 12 years, it was good to feel reassured that we are on the right track! The speakers were excellent, really approachable, and the talk was full of anecdotes from their own marriage.

Briefly, the six keys were as follows.

(1) Be the best of friends.
Make time for each other. Just yourselves. Don't just assume it's going to happen.
We make Friday or Saturday night our time for this. We rarely go out on a 'date' as such, but often just leave our dinner until the boys have gone to bed and then we have time to talk without the juice spills and the meat cutting and the sauce passing etc etc! Then we will watch a DVD or sit and read. Simple but so effective!

(2) Keep talking.
Talk to each other about everything and listen to each other too. A good listener will encourage someone else to talk.

(3) Argue well.
Here is where we have some ground to make up. According to the statistics the speakers gave, the average couple has 8 arguments a day! I think I would be exhausted if that was the case with us. Neither of us are really the argumentative types, and I can't say I remember us ever arguing. That's not to say we don't disagree on things. We just don't shout our point of view at the other.
Anyway, the three Rs of good arguing are; recognise your differences, respect each other and resolve the issue.

(4) Communicate Love.
There are 5 ways to communicate love.
Words, Presents, Time, Actions and Touch.
Not everyone appreciates being shown love each of these ways and so you need to work out which way your spouse likes.

(5) Build Intimacy.
Intimacy is an expression of your exclusive commitment and the best way of communicating your love.
And it is never, ever the way that Hollywood would portray it!

(6) Choose to love
Remember those vows you made on your wedding day. There are bound to be times when everything isn't plain sailing but that is no excuse to throw in the towel!

A strong, happy marriage doesn't just happen. It needs to be nurtured, almost like a plant I suppose. Put the effort in and the rewards will be great!



Gaelic word of the day:
posadh (paw-sagh) - marriage

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Things I'm loving Friday ♥

Linking up with Paisley Jade again 

Here's my things I'm loving this week.

Chip-proof nail polish. The colour? Deluxe Chocolate of course!

The (slight) increase in temperature outside so that I finally got to wear my red shoes out of the house instead of my big boots.

And, at the risk of turning into the 'Paisley Jade appreciation society', when I saw one of these on her blog last week I just knew I had to make one for us!

A rainbow cake.

Have a great weekend everyone.

xx

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Recipe of the Week - Toffee Popcorn

A quick and easy recipe this week.

You will need:

3-4oz popping corn

1oz dairy free margarine

1oz brown sugar

1tbsp golden syrup

a little oil

~Put enough oil in the pan to just cover the bottom. Add the corn, and the lid.

~Heat gently until popped, shaking the pan occasionally to stop the bottom corns burning.

~Meanwhile, in another pan, melt the butter.

~Then add the sugar & syrup and boil for a couple of minutes until a bit thicker.

~Pour the toffee mix over the popped corn and give the pan another shake to cover it all.

~Enjoy with a good movie.

We're watching 'How to Train your Dragon' tonight. 

And last night.

A Hollywood film with genuine Scottish accents! Excellent. Oh, yes, I should have said on Monday, apologies  for the American accents in the LEGO movie!

Watching the corn popping.

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