New Flickr

New Flickr, a photo by gillean55 on Flickr.

the start..

View of Taransay across Luskentyre Beach, Seilebost, Isle of Harris

Luskentyre Beach, Seilebost, Isle of Harris, a photo by pebblesfromheaven on Flickr.

Skinburness to Criffel

Skinburness to Criffel , a photo by pebblesfromheaven on Flickr.

Snake's Head Fritillary

Snake's Head Fritillary (28/365) a photo by pebblesfromheaven on Flickr.

Duddo Stone Circle

We visited this wonderful little site yesterday and as one of my facebook contacts said they couldn't find it when they visited so they gave up and went to the pub instead (A likely story) I thought I'd publish this to help others to find it.

I've been a few times over the last 10 years or so but this is the first time I've been when the new parking notice and info board have been put up - fairly recently I think cos the board talks about the excavations in 2009.

Anyhoo - Park at NT 932 425 on the grass verge next to the gate, go in through the gate and walk alongside the field, following the path north. The path signposts take you down and round the bottom of the field which quite frustrated me after years of taking a short-cut through the crops! But I suppose cos the farmer's gone to the trouble of signposting it and allowing access we should make the effort...

this map shows the route:



Duddo Stones at Sunset:

Fieldfare

Fieldfare
Originally uploaded by pebblesfromheaven

AUTUMNWATCH TIME!!!

Housemartin nest

We've had a slightly different nest this year - housemartins

Housemartin lining nest
Originally uploaded by pebblesfromheaven

more photos on flickr 

THE RECIPE - Cheese Ham and Olive Loaf

So, a friend at work (Maria) got into a phase of bringing in luscious food they'd baked, and the best of these was a loaf / slice thing containing olives and ham. I must have eaten about half of it cos not everyone was keen, but it you like olives and ham, and cheese, you've LOVE THIS!!!

So I can't find it anywhere online so I will retype here. For credit, it was in the BBC Good Food Magazine in March, sent in by the wonderfully-named Anne Shrimpton from Lincoln.

I bring you: Cheese Ham and Olive Loaf

Serves 10 (ahem) Prep 15 mins (woohoo) Cook 55-60 mins

Ingredients

150ml / quarter pint of dry white wine

4 eggs

150ml / quarter pint olive oil

250g / 9oz self-raising flour

140g / 5oz Gruyere cheese, grated

200g / 8oz thick slice ham

140g / 5oz pitted green olives

140g / 5oz pitted black olives

Method

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C / gas 5.

Butter a 900g / 2lb loaf tin and line with baking parchment. Beat the white wine and eggs until frothy. Add the oil and sift in the flour, mixing until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredeinents to combine, then season with salt and pepper.

2. Pour into the prepared loaf tin, smoothing the surface with the back of a sppon. Bake in the oven for 55-60 mins until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack before cutting into slices, and serving with some chutney or a bowl of soup

Per serving: 368 kcalories, protein 14g, carbs 20g, sat fat 7g, fibre 2g, sugar 1g, salt 2.1g

So there it is, typed in from a photocopy of a photocopy.

TIP: Maria used cooked gammon instead of ham which I suspect made it as wonderful as it was.

When I eventually get round to making this, I will be sure to post some photos :)

25 Things

It's been ages, I know. So I thought I'd post this thing sent to me via Facebook - you know the deal, tell me about yourself etc. Here are 25 fairly random things about me.

1. My favourite TV programmes (in no particular order) are currently Dexter, My Name is Earl, Come Dine with Me, Time Team, QI, HIGNFY, "Period Drama Shit" (as B calls it), Family Guy & American Dad, Spooks, The News (BBC or C4), Wildlifey programmes.

2. I've just had my first Pilates class

3. I've never seen a dead person but I've never seen a live badger

4. I've lived in this house 5 years and only redecorated the bathroom.

5. I have a mock standing stone in the garden

6. The "My photos" folder on my PC is 51GB - all backed up but I can't bring myself to press delete

7. I've got an old Casio scientific calculator that my Dad bought on 21st May 1981 from Curry's in Carlisle, for £19.95. I know this because it still has the receipt and little booklet with it. It still works (slowly)

8. Most people think my favourite colour is pink, but it's just convenient. It's really a particular shade of blue-grey or grey-blue, but it's hard to describe. Nor can you easily get pyjamas in it.

9. I like wind turbines. Even in unspoilt landscapes.

10. I like high-up places but can't look down over a cliff or my legs turn to jelly.

11. I once went on a Granny's bus trip to Italy. £350 for a fortnight, half board? Damn right! I was the youngest on the bus my quite a bit ...

12. One of my pet hates is toilet brushes.

13. I don't follow a religion but have respect for those who do - I'm simply far too cynical. I'll probably start panicking when I'm about 90, although I don't really expect to live beyond 60.

14. I met B through an internet dating site - he moved in after two days, almost 4 years ago :-)

15. I do enjoy a good sneeze. Preferably from pepper though, not a cold.

16. I hate liars. The worst, most evil sorts of people are the type that talk bullshit but believe it all. It makes me very frustrated and I've had to develop a coping mechanism so I don't end up smacking them around the face.

17. On my bookshelf beside me I have a copy of "500 Bus Stops" on video by John Suttleworth. I no longer possess a VCR but can't throw this away because it's not mine, I borrowed it years ago and have lost touch with the person so here it stays.

18. I hate waste, by that I mean I hate to see things disposed of before reaching their complete potential. That's why I have 50+ used jiffy bags here.

19. I download songs for free. So there. I justify this by saying I only listen to them on the PC, and that's the same as hearing them playing online, right?

20. I started an Open University geology course twice cos I fancied it, but never got past the first book. I seemed to get on better with calculus and organic chemistry... got my degree after 10 years, presented by Betty Boothroyd. Forgotten almost all of it now, of course.

21. The first time I got properly drunk I was 26.

22. I like the idea of reading books but don't because I find it hard work. I can never find a comfortable position to hold the book, then it takes concentration I simply don't posess. Although, I could quite happily study a map for hours.

23. I own a stuffed-toy representation of a flesh-eating bacteria streptococcus pyogenes. It's red and has a little knife and fork.

24. I have a massive 1:500000 map of Scotland on my wall.

25. I have to give my cat an injection of insulin twice a day. She's also on a special diet.

Quiet Heroes

Sometimes I feel inspired to write posts on this 'ere blog, but it's usually when I'm miles away, perhaps driving to work, perhaps sitting in the cinema, even while shopping... always when my mind is wandering as it so often does. Today I've decided to pop a quick post up because I'm actually sat sitting here at my PC at the right moment.

I've just been reading an article about Lockerbie on my local newspaper's website. It's the 20th anniversary this weekend, and because I now work in the town it's rising up in my consciousness as I'm sure it is with everyone else who remembers it.

My memories: I was 18 - I'd just come home from my boyfriends on my bike, on a cold dark evening. I thought I would be in trouble for getting home late... I was called into the living room and remember very vividly standing there in my reflective sash and waterproofs, steamy hot from both the bikeride and the heated room, watching the news open-mouthed. At this stage the news reports were saying it was probably two fighter jets which had collided; a fair assumption as we have so many training flights over the area. So we settled in for the night and watched all the reports until (as with most of these occasions) the news teams changed their story, then ran out of things to say, the police had clammed up, things were repeating themselves and so, we all went to bed.

I don't really remember anything else in detail, we were after all miles away, and most of the conversations at work revolved around the stories of sandwiches being donated by the company to feed the searchparty members, and the idea that the bomb maybe went off right above our heads, how we were lucky to have escaped, and then - well - then it was Christmas. We got on with our lives, subdued but pretty damned normal. This was a time in my life when venturing to Lockerbie had associations with teenage ice-skating trips with the Girl Guides; of course the fact the ice rink was used as a mortuary was amazing to me (I pass it almost every day; I think of this fact every single time).

I realise some of my workmates might read this post, and hope they don't mind. I realise they all have stories and none talk openly, and I never ask. Sometimes it is hinted at, and there are plenty of legacies remaining both emotional and financial but at the end of the day they are normal folk in a normal wee Scottish toon, which is dank in the winter and pretty in the summer, complete with school kids outside eating chips in their lunchbreaks and old ladies rushing the Pelican crossing past the boarded-up old shops caused by the obligatory Tesco takeover... but it's always a busy main street as it's not too far from the motorway, and handy for the curious traveller taking a slight detour.

There's always a sense of vague sadness to the place but tomorrow night we will be ignoring all this and attending the company Christmas party, held at a large local hotel and trying not to think of the rescue teams, families and volunteers which probably stayed there during the searches.... or is this just me, I dunno. I doubt we'll talk about it, though.

x

Ruthwell - a novelletto

I'm endlessly fascinated by gravestones. They are small novels in themselves and all the better for being true biographies; although exceedingly brief, they are written with love and as much accuracy as those who left behind could bare to reveal.

What a story this family had:

In Memory of Christopher McLean, Mariner, who died in Annan 25th Nov. 1831 Aged 29 years. Also James & James his children who died in infancy. Also his son,
William McLean, Mariner, who died at Sea on the 20th June 1842, aged 16 years.
His Body was committed to a Watery Grave Latitude 49N Longitude 21W

Though in the Seamy Body ly,

Mong many of our Fleet,

Ere long we will Set Sail again,

Our Admiral Christ to meet.

Also Janet Lang, Widow of the above Christopher McLean who died at Annan 30th
April 1887, aged 90 years .

(I think the co-ordinates lie somewhere in the mid-Atlantic)

Ruthwell gravestone
Originally uploaded by pebblesfromheaven

Benny's Noo Hoose

Benny's Noo Hoose ... 51/365
Originally uploaded by pebblesfromheaven

It was raining this morning when we were leaving the house; Benny was making good use of her new little house (she could have come inside the big house, she just prefers her own space sometimes ... )

Closing the Cumberland Gap!

I am unfeasibly excited! The new motorway opens today!

I've been travelling this section for work and pleasure for many years now, and this will take at least 5 minutes every day off my journey to work, I've calculated that as 42 hours a year .... oh I am so chuffed!!

All that plus it will be massively safer than the old situation, the one I felt strongly enough to rant about almost three years ago.

I've seen it develop slowly over the last two years, and all credit to the scheme managers because I think I've only been held up twice and I think that was nothing to do with the roadworks.

I'm so excited I might even go to work early today!!!

A tickler, in particular.

Get someone Scottish to say the above phrase to you. In fact, if possible, get someone from Partick to say it: it would then be a Partick tickler in particular.

Then, give them some Curly Wurly Squirlies.

New goodies in my shop!

Throughout the horrible wet summer (and current horrible wet autumn) I've been dabbling with making earrings and some other stuff, and I decided this morning that the time has come to put some of it up for sale.

I've started with earrings - and why not. They are my favourite thing to make - it's where I started and I keep coming back to it.

Enjoy!

Trying the 365 - starting with Penrith Museum

Penrith Museum ... 1/365
Originally uploaded by pebblesfromheaven

We attended a flint knapping workshop on Sunday - it was fascinating but we'd no chance of making it look as easy as the tutor.

His bench and basket set-up looked (intentionally) as if from another time - so I had another little play with the sepia setting on my camera.

When I reviewed the photos after I got home, I decided this one looked like one that Flickerites might put in their diary or 365 set (ie one photo per day for a year). So, I started my own 365 set. I fully expect it to be like all my diaries throughout my life - I start well and quickly grow bored, but every now & then return for a prolonged burst ... time will tell.

Mooooooo Cards

Sepia Bead #1
Originally uploaded by pebblesfromheaven

I've just ordered some Moo cards.

Took some arty farty shots to put on them...

Seasons, Skylines and Stone Circles

We spent an interesting day at Tullie House on Saturday, taking part in what was billed as a "day-school" but was essentially a series on lectures on a subject we love. The title "Much more than Stone Axes" was obviously dreamt up by someone who thought we wouldn't want to know about axes (we did, really) so we were sad to hear the stone axe man had cancelled.

Firstly, Aaron Watson gave an animated talk about stone circles - what they are (they're not all the same!) and why they might be where they are. The most interesting bit for me was where he showed a series of images taken as he climbed a Lakeland fell, and as he became more elevated the distant Mull of Galloway seemed to rise up out of the Solway. This we know now is as a result of the perspective changing to account for the curvature of the Earth; but what must prehistoric people made of it? Did they think that mountains had special powers because they called up entire other mountains out of the sea? And what about the fact that it can be sunny and warm down at low levels but as you climb upwards, the air gets colder and there even might be snow on the peaks? Did they think they were travelling through seasons, through time?

Next there was a lecture by Kate Sharp about prehistoric rock art, a subject we are very familiar with and even so because some of B's images were to be used in the presentation! There were a few sites I hadn't seen before though, and I'd like to check out, especially one reused as a gatepost which looked great. B had to stand up and take a bow for his photos ...

The lunch came next; carrot soup and plates of sarnies, too many sarnies and no cake! shocking. I had to go buy a brownie.

B placed some of his business cards on the top table and they all went almost immediately - each a little artwork all of its own. Some people must have been collecting the set...

The talk after lunch was about fieldwalking in the Eden Valley. This was fabulously interesting to me and made me amazed to think this had been going on so near to us and we didn't know. They had found loads of flinty tools and arrowheads; just imagine being the person to find those - we might do some next year, it sounds amazing.

Finally, the last lecture was about the Brampton Lunula, an item we'd seen pictures of before in a previous talk about Prehistoric Bling! It was a gold fragment first thought to be a gold spoon but soon identified as a lunula, the true purpose of which is unknown but it's shaped like a necklace so is often portrayed as such.

So afterwards some delegates took advantage of the offer of free entry into the museum - something we are already entitles to as locals, so we headed home, our minds buzzing.

FRED 2008 - Cumbrian Art Invasion

Well it's a sad thing to say, but our experience of FRED2008 has not been a good one, but I'll try to review what little we've seen fairly.

The feather was, well, a floppy bit of plastic on a pond which was starting to say more about litter than a "giant feather fallen upon the water, seeming to have been plucked from the air and destined to float with the wind".



Then last weekend, we drove all the way to Dent because we were incredibly attracted to the idea of Line of Site by Jenni Danson, but when we got there the traffic was depressing, the artwork what looked like miles away, and they wanted £££ for parking the car (Dentdale isn't the sort of place that lends itself to fly-parking). So, I think we saw it, but it could have easily been a bit of gas pipeline.



On the way to Coniston we'd tried to tune in to "Under the Waters" at Thirlmere. On the A591, all we could get was Radio 2 so decided to revisit on the way back north. So yes we did this, driving around the western side of the lake for the first time, which was nice. We promptly forgot about the radio, and walked by the lake instead, capturing a few nice dragonfly shots while there.



And last night, we decided to drive to Stainmoor to see Domestication by Chloe Burns & Hannah Stewart (I could say something here about middle-class pretentions, but I'll resist because I know it's just me being unfair) ... This one more than most sounded right up our street - "A homely glow, from abandoned huts along the railway, are people living there again?" - this had our imagination warking overtime and it would be fabulous with the sunset behind it, perhaps with the Stainmore rock art in the foreground - B had great plans for this in his head. When we got there, just after 7pm and after dusk, not a sign of it, and the directions / loaction description was crap. The A66 is fairly unforgiving to U-turns, so we headed home disappointed having wasted 2 hours and more diesel.

"Get Out There?" I think we did.

This year is the last for FRED - no funding or perhaps the director Steve Messam wants to spend more time with his family or doing something creative (his Drop is fab)

It's a shame that our experience of FRED has been low, I still believe in it and things like it, and regret that it won't perhaps be around in the future. I love outdoor art and to have it in my home county is great. But PLEASE make it easier to find and PLEASE don't make the homepage look so impressive and fabby - the photos made our expectations too high.