Hong Kong V Scotland

Carbisdale Castle


I had planned to update this blog with stories from Hong Kong, but it is proving difficult because life back home has been as hectic and exciting as the holiday. However I still have to report all my Firsts, so I will start with another Hong Kong First and slot in some of the Scottish ones.

Fifty First Timer No.15
Eat Shark’s Fin Soup

I know some of you will be throwing up your hands in horror or even just throwing up at the thought of this, but when my principles started to niggle, I remembered the words of my Muslim friend when I once offered her Stornoway black pudding (made from pigs blood) for breakfast and she replied ‘Lovely, I never let religion get between me and my stomach’.

I now apologise and promise never to do it again.

I have tasted Shark’s Fin soup before but it was made from synthetic shark fin. The soup I ordered in Hong Kong was the real thing. The venue was the American Restaurant in Wanchai. The restaurant has been around for xx years. When Hong Kong was a popular R&R destination for the US troops during the Vietnam War the restaurant’s owners, hoping to attract the GIs, renamed their restaurant thinking it would sound welcoming. The name and the restaurant proved popular, so when the war ended they retained the same.

The waiter helped us to decide on the size of portions we needed and advised me that the soup was expensive, was I sure I still wanted it. ‘Yes sir’, falling into an American twang. Like most Chinese meals the food came at different times, what we would consider the second course was delivered first followed by the soup. Sharks fin soup is thick and gluttonous with fibrous strands of fin laced through. The taste is light and eggy which I found delicious, almost like eating noodles in potato soup. The meal was washed down with Tsing Tsao beers and buckets of green tea. Despite his advice, we ordered too much food which gave the waiter a good laugh at our expense.


Weekend wedding and more Firsts

Fifty First Timer No.16
Stay in a haunted castle

The weekend saw a few Firsts, most I will do again because it was such fun.

We attended a wedding party at Carbisdale Castle. The castle is perched on a hill just outside Bonar Bridge in Sutherland and is the Scottish Youth Hostel Association’s flag ship. I have passed it many times on the road to the far north and looked longingly at its towering ramparts and cosy welcoming lights twinkling through the trees, but this is my first stay there.

The castle was built in 1917 by the widow of the Duke of Sutherland. It was gifted to the Youth Hostel Association in 1945. The castle is reputed to be haunted but there was no evidence of ghosts this weekend, they were probably all quivering in a corner to avoid the noise of the ceilidh band, disco, general revelry and my musical abominations.

John and Kate, the happy couple, wanted a party and they certainly bagged their wish. The hostel can sleep over 180 visitors and we almost filled the whole place from Friday night through to a bleary eyed Sunday lunchtime.

Colin and I were attending the evening part of the wedding so we were lucky to spend Saturday in the surrounding area. We went for a wander round Dornoch, had scrummy home made Cornish pasties at the Dornoch Patisserie then walked along the four mile pristine beach to Embo trying to spot minkie whale in the Dornoch Firth. A pass remarkable supper was picked at in a pub before we tarted ourselves up for the party.

The ceilidh band played their ‘Gay Gordon’s’ ‘Dashing White Sergeants’ and ‘Strip the Willow’ for the group, the majority of who were hill walkers who skirled and whirled until the buffet was served. We then switch to the gyrating disco beats of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

When the official music stopped the party moved to one of the many lounges and this is where my other Firsts came in.

Fifty First Timer No.17
Learn to play a bodhrán

Fergus, one of the two Best Men is married to an Irish lady and came to the wedding complete with bodhrán, a traditional Irish instrument, under his arm. I begged for a lesson which he was quite happy to provide, he explained how to hold the single drumming stick and demonstrated the beat then said ‘right practice, I’ll be back in five minutes.’ Being a tenacious learner I did what I was told, but the others in the company moaned in horror, ‘you’re not really going to do that for five minute?’

The stick was as slippery as noodles in chopsticks, and kept falling from my hand. When Fergus came back he told me to relax and steer through the wrist. I did for a little while until my hand grew tired then I handed the bodhrán back to its rightful owner. I think I will add a bodhrán to my birthday list.

Fifty First Timer No.18
Play an electric guitar

Ranald, the other best man, took his electric guitar and amplifier to the wedding. I couldn’t resist a go. I strummed some chords and tried to pick out a couple of tunes, but the combination of previously drunk glasses of wine and the fact the shiny red and white guitar continued to slide over my chiffon dress and off my lap, did not make for a pleasant experience for the other hard core party goers, in the end I reluctantly handed the guitar back and looked out at the dawning day. It was time for bed.

I now apologise but can't promise never to do it again



Blonde Bird on a Bike

Someone who did not partake of too much wedding wine and was probably getting out of bed when dawn was breaking was Lucy. Lucy attended the wedding but rose early to arrive on time for her nine o’clock, Sunday morning start of her John o’Groats to Lands End Bike ride. You can follow her progress on her blog

http://lucymcnee.blogspot.com/

I have also added Lucy's Blog to my top favourite blogs.

Toys, books and blogs

My new toy

Fifty First Timer No.11

Build and stock a greenhouse

Before I receive another ticking off for stretching the truth, I have to admit I didn’t build the greenhouse myself. I was the labourer. Colin (the engineer) did all the tricky stuff, but we made a good team and on Sunday evening we took great pleasure sipping our G & Ts in the comfort of the ‘High Eave Elite’.

A greenhouse is not a cheap option but it is a concerted attempt on our part to grow some of the more exotic veggies. I love cooking with chillis and peppers and I go through mountains of tomatoes in a year. I will probably stick to these easy options for this year and experiment a bit more next. I am hoping it will pay itself off in enviromental and monetary terms in the next couple of years.


New Blog

I am the proud mother of a new blog. As a new member of Erskine Writers I was coerced into helping them out with their website. This is managed externally and seems a bit of a ‘footer’, so I persuaded them a blog would be a good idea to bring news to the people in quick time. The intention is to have all these talented writers blogging and sharing their witty and clever observations with a wider audience.

What this space http://erskinewriters-uk.blogspot.com/

New website

Last week I heard about an interesting new website that is still in its infancy, but has the potential for greatness.

http://beta.booklamp.org/aims to find and recommend the right books for you. Using new analytical software the founder, Aaron Stanton, hopes to build a huge database of titles, analyse elements of each book and construct a sort of book DNA. Once this database is crammed full it should be possible to pick a book or books you particularly enjoy, and then start a search. Booklamp will give you a recommendation list. It is a bit like the recommendations Amazon do but based on the information you give Booklamp. No more being offered a crazy selection after you’ve Amazoned all your Christmas pressies.

Please be patient, Booklamp is still in its baby stages, they have only a short list on offer, mostly SciFi, but they aren’t claiming otherwise. They welcome people to join, have a play around and see their potential, and there is a forum that allows users to leave comments and ideas.

Book Heaven

The Bibliocafe, Woodland Road, Glasgow

This is a word of mouth sort of place, but now I know where to find it I am hooked. The Bibliocafe sits on the corner of Woodlands Road and West End Park Street in the vibrant West End of Glasgow.

The concept is easy. Before you leave the house, pick up those books you've read but won’t read again. Take books to the Bibliocafe. The lovely lady there will tell you how much the books are worth to her, you strike a deal. She gives you a credit note to the value of the books and you spend the next few hours drinking coffee, eating yummy cake and browsing the shelves for a quality second hand book to replace the ones you took along. If the value of your purchases does not meet the credit note, the note is marked up and you can use it next time around. Good eh?

I didn’t have any books to trade because I can’t bear to part with any printed material, but that didn’t stop me enjoying an organic ginger tea while people watching from the large picture window upstairs. Oh and I bought a book, well I had to. My request for The Poisonwood Bible has been in the library for six weeks and Bibliocafe had a once read copy for £3.00 – what would you have done?

Bits and Blogs

A cosmic Loch Broom, Ullapool.

(Photo © Colin Baird)

Fifty First Timer No.4


Performed in Public with my guitar


OK there were two other guitars, a fiddle and a very out of tune singer performing with me. And it wasn't in front of a hostile audience in Glasgow but a handful of Ochil Mountaineers in Ullapool Youth Hostel. It was still a debut performance.


We played Dirty Old Town, that famous Ewan MacColl song that reminds me of school. Unfortunately performing is addictive and I wouldn't shut up for the rest of the night.

Sorry OMC.



Farewell Penguin Scotland


This weekend I was saddened to read that publisher Penguin are closing their Scottish office. To me it is another sign that reading markets (or supermarket book buyers) are tired of Scottish writers. When I look back through my reading journal I find that the majority of the books I read are published by Penguin. I am so disappointed in them


Lets hope the publishers left in Scotland continue to publish high quality Scottish literature and aren't tempted by the easy money to be found in the growing trend of celebrity biographies and sensational blockbuster doorstops.


Read the full story in the excellent blog Beattie's Book Blog.




Julia's Blog


Another Blog I discover recently is that of the late Julia Darling. I was prompted to search for information about her after reading Jackie Kay's poem Darling. I have admired the poetry of Jackie Kay for years but I believe this particular poem can touch every one who reads it. It is perfect.

The blog is very special. It starts in September 2002 and ends in April 2005 with Julia's death from cancer. The blog is the diary of a busy writer and is fascinating to read from that aspect, because Julia's style is friendly, funny and generous. But this blog also chronicles Julia's declining health and it is humbling to read how positive she is about the whole experience.

I have only read half the blog so far but I did read some of the later entries before posting it here and I am amazed at how Julia manages to work so hard and retain her bright outlook even when she must have been very ill.

Reading the blog is like getting to know Julia as a friend and I feel sad to know that I will never meet this special lady.



One Last Blog http://www.thenag.net/

The banner of this website is;

'do one thing a month to make the world a better place'

Once you sign up to The Nag you receive a monthly nag which suggests a list of improvements to make to your life and reduce your 'footprint'.

Some of them are totally unreasonable, like change to green energy, but that takes planning and needs lots of time and money.

I am still a bit sceptical about this site and not sure what it's motives are. Today I was nagged and chose to look at my lunch regime. I was immediately offered the opportunity to buy a lunch bag or a flask or a Tupperware box or a water bottle.

Is this really what The Nag is about, selling on merchandise? I can go to Woolies and buy all of these items the next time I am in town. That way I can save the planet by not having goods transported to my door from goodness knows where.

I will keep you posted.

Cheer Up

SMILE

Today is officially the most depressing day of the year. I think the fact that someone has actually taken time out of his life to work that one out should be enough to make everyone smile.

So what if all your New Year's resolutions have been washed down the gutter with the rain, you can always make some more next week when you're feeling more optimistic. I have found no matter how bad things become in life there is always someone else who needs cheering up more.

Outside there is a cracking full moon and the nights are getting lighter, buds are forcing there way through the soaking ground. It will soon be spring and time to plant the sunflower seeds.

Fifty First Timer No.3
I made and drank my first pina colada

We had friends over for dinner on Friday night and because the days are long and the weather dire I thought we needed a cheer up. I concocted a Caribbean dinner menu from my Australian Woman’s Weekly Caribbean Cookbook.

We don’t normally drink rum but a Trinidadian friend brought us some back the last time she was home and this seemed like the perfect excuse.

Menu

Pina collada aperitifs
Callaloo (a spinach and crab meat soup) served with homemade oat and maple bread
Chicken, rice and chickpea with mango and avocado salsa
Grilled mango cheeks

Served with lots of calypso music; and burned off with loads of singing and dancing and in the morning mucho sore heads. Great fun!




New Artist’s site

Have you seen great artists site? http://www.redbubble.com/

Free competitions and heaps of inspiration from the fabulous pieces of work submitted from around the world, although at the moment it seems to lean towards Australian artists. It is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a community of like minded artists

man's inhumanity to animals

Roe Deer

Living in the countryside is idyllic, (most of the time), but it sometime divulges its grim side. Yesterday I witnessed a sickening act. I was out in the garden protecting some plants from the anticipated frost when I heard horrendous screaming, Colin grabbed a stick and rushed into the field next to the house and what he found was a pitiful sight. One of the harmless little roe deer, that normally spends it days bounding through the long grass and darting in and out of the forest with its mate, was lying mangled on blood soak grass. By the time I had grabbed my coat and followed I was just in time to catch sight of a lurcher dog skulking off in the opposite field, scattering sheep in its wake.

At first we thought it was a stray, but as I called the police, Colin caught sight of a man on the skyline waiting for the dog. This was a poacher, he had brought his dog into the countryside to hunt and kill animals. Hunting with dogs is illegal in Scotland and I now know why. This was a barbaric act towards an innocent lovely creature. Thankfully one of our neighbours very quickly put the poor beast out of its misery with a bullet to the head, but the cruelty of the act lingers with me still.

An Interesting Discovery

While editing letters for my new magazine role I have noticed that Microsoft's spell check does not recognise the word 'renewables' (and neither, it appears does Blogger). Isn't that interesting?


Writer's workshop

I attended a writers' workshop last week led by talented Scottish writer Laura Marney. Building a character was the task for the afternoon, and although some of the exercises were similar to other I've completed, one exercise Laura dished up to the group was a meditation. She explained that she uses this method to clear her mind before she begins writing. The practice helps to rid the mind of all those niggly wee things that stop the flow.

I have been trying it this week and it works!


Great new blog

This is a rather unfortunate piece of synchronicity, considering the story I told at the start of this post, but I found this website and blog last week and always intended to feature it.

Velvet Antlers is the creation of Clare and Dave MacLeod. Dave is the world class mad man who climbs death threatening climbing routes and Clare is the crazy women who belays his climbs (for the uninitiated in the art of climbing this means holding the rope attached to her man and praying he doesn't fall off the rock). Clare starred in this supporting role in Dave's recent TV climb 'To Hell and Back' and my nails still haven't grown back from the chewing fest the climb induced.

Velvet Antlers website sells exquisite Scottish produce similar to the stuff I have been blabbing about for the past couple of months. The blog also features Clare's foray into the world of filming and mountain festivals. I am adding this site to my favorites list. Check out Dave's blog too.

Incidentally, I voted 'To Hell and Back' as the top TV programme in www.laurahird.com 'Best of 2007' section. I will post the link for the winter issue when she has announced its release.