Boats, butterflies and goodbyes

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must
have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." 
~Hans Christian Andersen

An email from Amazon Kindle dropped into my inbox this week, reminding me – politely but firmly – that it has been over 30 days (shock, horror…) since I put virtual pen to paper and penned an update from the Sparrowholding. Knuckles duly rapped, I rapidly tried to remember what has been happening in our lives during the past six weeks, which was no mean feat given the daily depleting capacity of Yours Truly's middle-aged grey cells.

However, a quick flick through the photos on my ubiquitous Blackberry proved to be a propitious starting point…. First there was a metaphorical feast of photos charting my annual pilgrimage with fellow foodie L. to Crail Food Festival.

Once we'd crossed "The Kingdom" and arrived on the outskirts of Crail, we left our car in the requisite car park (aka field) and strolled along the quaint, winding streets of this charming East Neuk fishing village, dropping in at various venues to admire the panoply of local produce.

Loaves aplenty - from award-winning Barnett's Bakery

A bowl of big meringues - sweet!

As ever, there were tempting goodies on offer wherever we went: giant, squidgy TipsyMallows (or perhaps I should say "Mmmmmallows"); aromatic artisanal bread from Barnett’s Bakery; massive, melt-in-the-mouth meringues from Ardross Farm Shop; giant scones from Balgove Farm Shop; delicious dipping sauces from Trotter’s Independent Condiments; and dinky bottles of fruity vinegar from The Little Herb Farm.

Tipsy Mallows come in a range of different flavours
 and colours - the raspberry ones were fab!

Scones as far as the eye can see :-)

Spice up your life - with Trotter's Condiments

Vinegars infused with flavours of fruit and herbs

Another local treat awaited us in the form of the fresh crab rolls for sale down at the harbour. We sat happily on a bench that overlooked the bobbing fishing boats, munching our rolls and chatting about everything and nothing. Idyllic. Or rather it was until the sight of a toddler tottering unfettered towards the edge of the precipitous harbour wall sent our maternal adrenaline levels into instant overdrive!

We rose, as one, to shout “stop him” and moved instinctively towards the wee toot, scared to sprint at him in case he panicked and overbalanced. 

Meanwhile, his mother – who had apparently been engrossed in a particularly juicy exchange of gossip with some local pals – looked at us as if we were two middle-aged madwomen and ambled nonchalantly towards her offspring, who was still hovering precariously at the edge of the sheer drop.

At that point, L. and I had to leave the scene or we might well have said what was on our minds and become embroiled in a “parenting rage” argument. All we can hope is that she realises how close her wee boy came to a potentially fatal fall and invests soon in a set of toddler reins.

Kylie and Eck - the perfect couple... Note height from the
unprotected edge of the wall down to the waiting water...

Nothing to beat fresh crab in a fresh roll

The next event of note recorded by my trusty mobile phone was our flying visit to Oxford, in mid-June, to help our exhausted elder daughter celebrate the end of her finals. The past four years have flown by unbelievably fast, and it was somehow rather sad to think of her bidding a fond farewell to St Something’s College, where she has forged such great friendships while relishing (if that's the right word!) the long hours of academic rigour. 

The dreaded "Examination Schools" in Oxford

However, daughter dear's studies are not yet over, for in September she hopes to begin a law conversion course at a new seat of learning in London, i.e. the exam stress looks set to continue for the foreseeable future...

True to the nature of the beast, DD1 had planned the parental micro-break down to the n^th detail. Day 1 saw us punting on the River Cherwell (naturally, HunterGatherer was duly handed the unwieldy pole and told to get punting!) then later we tucked into an excellent supper at The Trout in nearby Wolvercote.

HunterGatherer getting to grips with being a punter...

The pudding platter at The Trout: wowsers!

Much of Day 2 was devoted to Blenheim Palace, a local must-see which DD1 had been keen to visit for ages. The entrance fee of £60 for the car plus the three of us did rather make us gulp; however, in fairness, there was an abundance to see and do on the estate. We could probably have spent another full afternoon there and still not exhausted everything on offer, so the price wasn’t unreasonable as it transpired.

Blenheim's extensive grounds are immaculately maintained, and the palace itself is packed to the gunnels with curios and artifacts – indeed in some of the public rooms, it’s hard to see the wallpaper there are so many fabulous paintings or exhibits on show.

Sickles and scythes and much much more!

Together with DD1’s Uni friend G, we first boarded the charming little train that trundles its way across to the aptly named Pleasure Gardens. Having devoured our pre-purchased M&S sandwiches at one of the family picnic tables there, next we perused the display of antique farming tools and implements (taking plenty of photos for Farmpa!) before being seriously wowed by the incredibly attractive incumbents of the Butterfly Enclosure. 

With a little gentle encouragement, this bold
butterfly was soon on his way

The camouflage of this butterfly is amazing...

I spent the entire visit to the Butterfly House dreading that we’d tread on one of these delicate insects, as they were wont to land on the ground at one’s feet, having no respect even for HunterGatherer’s tackety boots!

Our subsequent tour of the Palace was fascinating – it transpires Winston Churchill was born in one of the Palace bedrooms, so a whole display was dedicated to his life and association with the Marlborough family home.

For me, personally, the most moving exhibits were letters written by Churchill to his father from school and from Sandhurst. It was obvious that the young Churchill was desperate for his dear ol' dad to come and see him, and that these much-longed-for visits didn’t happen very often.

The bedroom where Winston Churchill was born

The approach to Blenheim Palace

Think of how long it would take to trim these hedges!

In the evening, we returned to the scene of our punting exploits, this time to enjoy a delicious supper at Cherwell Boat House. Sadly this lovely meal marked the end of our break in the sunny south – it was time to exchange the beautifully manicured grounds and greenhouses of Blenheim for the unkempt lawn and predominantly weed-populated polytunnel here at The Sparrowholding. Still, I suppose it gives HunterGatherer something to aspire to… ;-)

PS: Just noticed that this is the 100th Square Sparrow blogpost, so many thanks to all followers of the blog for taking the time to read my ramblings. I'm currently contemplating moving the blog across to Wordpress for logistical reasons, but will let you know when the big move takes place!

Dream starter at Cherwell Boathouse: asparagus
with quails eggs and pea'n mint mousse

Let the food times roll

Living near Kinross positions us at a first-class culinary crossroads, with ready access to fresh produce from Perthshire, Kinross-shire and Fife. Foodie events offer a perfect opportunity to sample the local delights and Crail Food Festival on 14th/15th June is a veritable celebration of all that's wonderful about East Coast fresh produce.

Last year, my brief was to write about Seriously Good Venison and the Pittenweem Chocolate Company. This year, my remit was to muse about smoked fish, so I put together a rather tasty (without wanting to "angle" for compliments) recipe for a Seriously Smoky Fish Pie. Enjoy!

It's that time of year again: the lambs are pronking...

Chocolate Brownie and her twins

So that's it over for another year then. Our Shetland ewes have now lambed, and the paddock is resounding to the patter of tiny cloven hooves as fourteen happy lambs pronk (see the explanatory blog post from May 2012) and prance from dawn till dusk. The final set of twins were born at around midnight on Friday after we'd spent a long day watching and waiting while the ewe prowled up and down the drystane dyke for hours, having refused her feed in the morning (and thus alerted us to the fact that she was thinking about "the deed"). 

Penning her in for closer supervision later in the day proved a tad problematic, and at one point she almost flew past HunterGatherer's right ear, though the fact that she managed to get airborne at all despite her vast girth is nothing short of a miracle.

There is a fifteenth lamb, but sadly the poor wee soul is not up to pronking, as when she was born first thing on Saturday morning, her legs had no strength at all - a physiotherapist friend suspects she sustained a spinal trauma during the birth. The only part of her body she could move was her head, so we sat her propped up on one of HunterGatherer's boiler suits for the first 24 hours and tube fed her colostrum (the rich milk that ewes produce just after birth) to give her a fighting chance. 

Then to keep her out of the chilling rain last night, we cleared a space next to Vinnie the Vine in the polytunnel and popped mum and bambino in there for the night. This morning, she has managed to get up on to her feet and is even taking a few hesitant steps, but we're not sure she has the balance required to suckle her mum yet, so we're keeping a close eye on her. Her chances, to be honest, don't look great at the moment.

I've posted photos of all the other lambs on the Square Sparrow Facebook page each day as they arrived, so here are the final four to complete the set: Orangina (our second "orange" ewe, aptly named after my favourite soft drink by our lovely new neighbour, S.) had twins – a boy and a girl – while one of our young ewes, SplitEar, had a single baby girl (the one trying to find her feet in the photo below). Lulu, the "limp" lamb, is in the 3rd to 6th photos.

Proud mum Orangina with the midnight arrivals...

Steady she goes! New lamb Juliet takes to her feet.

Day 1: All Lulu can lift so far is her head

Morning 2: After a night in the polytunnel, a bit more upright

Afternoon 2: Now able to stand on all fours

Lulu: Not quite ready for a 100m sprint, but able to toddle...

It's also great to see welcome signs of plant life and growth in the garden once again. The only problem with that, of course, is that the weed life is also springing into life even faster! I made my first rhubarb crumble of the season last night, and HunterGatherer and I polished off a portion topped with some Porrelli tablet ice cream. A winning combo... I use Delia's crumble recipe, and have done since I can remember (rub tog. 8oz of plain flour and 3 oz butter till crumb-like then add 4 oz of sugar). My own little "twist" is that I also sprinkle demerara sugar over the top of the crumble before cooking, to give it extra zing!

Ruby the rhubarb plant seems a bit small and stunted this year

However, we've still had a few nice stalks of rhubarb :-)

Sprinkle over some soft brown sugar...

... and stew for five minutes in the microwave.

Then pop your crumble mixture on top and cook till golden. Yum!

Meanwhile in the milder climes of the polytunnel, the asparagus is growing nicely. It's best steamed – if you have a steamer – but also delicious boiled. Just watch not to boil for too long, though, or it loses some of its unique fresh-from-the-garden flavour. On this occasion, we steamed the tips then dipped them in HunterGatherer's special Marie Rose dip, which he makes himself. And very tasty it was, too!

Nothing to beat asparagus fresh from the polytunnel.

And into the dip it goes!

Miniature Woolly Jumpers

On Good Friday, our first bouncing lamb of the season arrived: a ewe lamb, who was promptly christened Pipsqueak. Luckily for her, she was born into a gloriously sunny world. We've taken a photo each day to show her growing – in size and in confidence!

Day1: What is this strange place –
and how did I get here?

Five minutes later: Woah, steady she goes...

Day 2: The natives seem friendly enough

Day 3: Are my facial markings symmetrical, mum?

Day 4: Getting braver and bolder by the day...

 All went quiet on the western front for a few days, then last night the weather turned. Often mother animals prefer to give birth when it's damp, so we peered expectantly into the lambing paddock this morning to find...  not one, but two sets of twins! Our orange-faced ewed (we didn't paint her – that's the colour she is naturally) had twin boys (below) - both black.

It's raining lambs...

 Meanwhile, the tiger-faced ewe had a boy and a girl – both are a gorgeous merle grey colour. Shetland sheep come in over 30 different colourways and I'm determined that one day I will try to learn all the names on the "colour chart". For now, I'll just enjoy looking at the colours in real life :-)

Not quite sure how to describe the colour of these ones!

Trugs, 21st Toasts, Tries and Waddling Woollies

Our two trusty trugs

 The recent spate of spring-like weather (interspersed, it has to be said, with weather more reminiscent of mid-November) has inspired us to rummage around in the garden shed and unearth (metaphorically speaking, of course – eccentric we may be, but we don’t keep earth in our sheds…) various horticultural accoutrements in anticipation of getting the garden “sorted out”. Obviously, we are kidding ourselves here, as the weeds that inhabit our garden are generally more than a match for HunterGatherer and his shining hoe, but he likes to consider himself a valiant slayer of chickweed.

Seeds of hope

At least the spinach is growing well!

Nectarine bush in full bloom - Vinnie the vine looking dead!

One of my personal favourites when it comes to garden equipment is our duo of wooden trugs. Now here I have a confession to make. When we received these trusty trugs as a wedding gift (24 years ago, as you may remember if you read last month’s blog post), I wasn’t exactly smitten by them. Granted, I am very fond of wood, so I liked the feel and look of them well enough. However, in those days, I didn’t ever envisage actually using them. How wrong I was! Ironically, since we took up residence at The Sparrowholding nearly 17 years ago, they have turned out to be one of our most-used wedding gifts, regularly transporting homegrown produce from polytunnel or veggie patch to kitchen.

My favourite kitchen appliance

Another wedding gift which is still in active service nearly quarter of a century down the line is the electric orange squeezer that we received from the (then) Free Church Minister on the Isle of Mull and his lovely wife. It’s a simple wee device, but it’s so much quicker than doing the job manually. I’m a massive fan of fresh orange juice, so every time I pour the glistening orange nectar into my glass, I silently toast the donors.

Talking of toasts, we had occasion to raise a glass to DD2 a couple of weeks ago, when she popped back to the Sparrowholding during a whistle-stop visit to Scotland. I suspect that she was secretly counting the minutes till she could get on the plane back to Aix-en-Provence, where she has been spending a pleasantly warm and dry (meteorologically speaking at least…) ERASMUS exchange year. 

The cosy bar at The Grouse and Claret

We seized the opportunity of her presence in the “hameland” to stage a belated celebration of her 21^st in the form of a meal for twelve at the relaxed, cosy setting of the Grouse and Claret near Kinross. A lovely, laughter-filled evening ensued, during which we were looked after impeccably by Vicki and David Futong and their team. As we chatted in the comfortable lounge over a Cava aperitif, we were treated to a fabulous array of canapés, before heading through to the dining room for a splendid repast.  Our feast was finished off with an appropriately Alpine-themed cake, topped by an icing model of the birthday girl complete with skis, which was created by Celebration Station in Perth. Another slight setback for the diet, of course, but it was worth it…

Canapés in abundance... Don't mind if we do!

A mountain of cake

Just days later, DD2 shed her thermals and fled back to France where temperatures were in the mid-20s …. Meanwhile, DD1 was warming up in a slightly different fashion – for the much-anticipated clash of the Titans that is the annual Oxford vs Cambridge Women’s Rugby Blues Varsity match. HunterGatherer and I, plus my dentist sister-in-law and teenage nephew, headed down to Oxford for a weekend to watch the match (and were first treated to a very thorough and enlightening tour of the dreamy-spired city by DD1’s ever patient boyfriend). The match was a tense affair, and parental nerves were fairly frayed; however, it proved to be the dark blues’ day in the end, with the Oxford girls triumphing 17–12 (even if three of them – including ours! – were sporting black eyes).

The dark blues on the advance

Tired but happy :-)

A further exciting trip awaits later this month, as ever-thoughtful Supergran’s Xmas present to Yours Truly was a return flight to Marseilles for a long weekend, allowing me to soak up a few rays of southern French sunshine with DD2. OK, so three days won’t exactly see me bronzed and beautiful (not much chance of either, even if I stayed for three years, the truth be told…), but the prospect of not being rained upon keeps me perky on precipitation-filled days – of which there are many hereabouts…

Fortunately, I am also cheered up, even on the dreichest mornings, by the visitors to the bird feeders outside the office window. My spirits are quickly uplifted by the antics of the feathery five thousand whom we seem to be feeding on a daily basis currently. There is a strict pecking order as to who gets to eat when. The sparrows seem to rule the roost, with blue tits, coal tits, great tits, robins and yellow hammers snatching seeds slyly as soon as the sparrows’ backs are turned. With such a continuous flurry of activity, it’s a miracle I get any writing done at all!

When I’m not being distracted by things avian, the 11 things ovine in the adjacent paddock also contrive to prise my gaze away from the screen. Our Shetland breeding ewes certainly share one thing in common with Yours Truly at present, i.e. their girths are increasing with every passing day. There is, however, one major difference: hopefully most of them are carrying lambs – whereas my last “lamb” will be 19 years old next month... I do feel rather sorry for the poor girls: their pace has slowed down considerably in the past couple of weeks, and there is a lot of cumbersome waddling going on.

If HunterGatherer has calculated correctly (five months from the date he unleashed our tup/ram, Mungo, on the woolly harem) then lambing should start around the middle of April, so perhaps by the time I write my next post there may be a few additions to the (ovine branch of the) family. Will keep you posted!

Ready for some lambing action

Birds, birthdays and cat burglars

Antiquities...

Of course, I blame my mother (aka SuperGran) for my obsessive hoarding. At the bungalow where FarmerBruv and I spent our entire childhood, the rafters used to creak (and still do!) under the weight of all the sentimental essentials stashed away in her attic.

And guess what? Here at the Sparrowholding, the attic is no less stuffed. Indeed I often wonder if we were both squirrels in a previous life.

Perhaps the seriousness of my hoarding compulsion will become evident if I confess that the picture above is of the lipstick and powder that I wore when HunterGatherer and I got married 24 years ago today, on a blustery but dry February afternoon in 1990.

I very, very rarely wear make-up, which probably explains why the lipstick and powder are still not finished! However, a friend did send me into a slight panic lately by pointing out that the chemical constituents have probably long since become toxic and that I’m no doubt risking some nasty skin complaint by wearing them, albeit occasionally!

So, by the time I write my next blog post, I resolve that I will have dispatched my antique pampering products to that celestial make-up counter in the sky. Or at least I might have – alternatively, they’ll have travelled marginally less far in a heavenwards direction and joined one of the burgeoning boxes of baby mementos, student memorabilia,  photo albums, books, music, etc. in our attic…

After 24 years of marriage, I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that HunterGatherer has recently started observing other birds… How liberal of me to be so understanding, I hear you cry. Perhaps I should explain that these birds are of the feathered variety. A few weeks ago we took the radical decision to move our bird feeders round the back of the house – and what a difference the new location has made to the number of avian species who pop in for an all-day breakfast.

Feeding time!

Excuse me - where's the snack bar?

HunterGatherer is transfixed by our chirpy wee visitors and, on the rare occasions when he’s home during daylight hours, is now to be found standing at the window, his gaze alternating between the merry band of breakfasters and his “Fool’s Guide to Birdwatching”. He is not the only person to be entranced – FatCat is mesmerised by the “breakfast” whirligig…

FatCat enjoys birdwatching too...

Still on the subject of auspicious days, tomorrow is another family landmark: DD2’s 21^st birthday. It’s hard to believe that a whole year has passed since her inauspicious 20^th birthday, several hours of which were spoiled by a rather unpleasant CrossCountry train guard. I’m pleased to report that on that occasion, the outcome was a happy one, as the customer complaints department was quick to respond and sent her complimentary travel vouchers to compensate – hats off to them!

She was quite cute back then ;-)

Sadly, the unfortunate incident that has marred DD2’s 21^st birthday celebrations is not likely to be so easily remedied… In the (less than) five minutes that it took her to pop from her room at Aix University student residence to the kitchen (she was there and back in under five minutes), someone forced their way into her bedroom and stole not only her laptop but also her precious iPhone.

Perhaps the worst aspect of the theft was that it was carried out so slickly that it almost had to be an inside job – especially since someone had propped the door of the fire escape open to allow the thief to escape quickly. As you might imagine, this leaves DD2 feeling less than comfortable as she surveys the other occupants of the corridor…

Still, before we all feel too sorry for her (say “AAAHHH!"), I should point out that the upside of being a student in France at the time of her 21^st is that she is going to be skiing on her actual birthday. Our family celebrations will have to wait for early March, when she abandons clement Mediterranean climes and returns for 10 days in not-quite-so-balmy Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, here at the Sparrowholding, there are definite signs that winter is winding up and that spring might come eventually…

The polytunnel is like a canvas awaiting paint...
(or rather plants!)

The ewes are due to lamb in 6 weeks so
are lying down more often

Our snowdrops are in full bloom

The crocuses (or croci!) aren't far behind

Even the daffodils are sallying forth

Finally, in other news, Yours Truly is seriously chuffed to have been asked back as one of the guest bloggers for this year’s Crail Food Festival. As you may remember, last year’s assignments took me to two very different (but equally wonderful) local food producers, Seriously Good Venison and Pittenweem Chocolate Company. Needless to say, this eager foodie is on the edge of her seat waiting to see where she’ll be assigned in 2014. Bring it on!

The fruits of my labours at the Chocolate Workshop...

Appropriate decoration in the Seriously
Good Venison office