Cullen Skink and Crannachan

Last week Valerie returned from New Zealand and Annie and I caught up with her for a walk along the foreshore at Langstone, followed by breakfast at the Sussex Arms in Emsworth. She gave us her first-hand account of life in Christchurch immediately post-earthquake - the regular hefty after-shocks, the damage to her daughter's house which has rendered it uninhabitable, the disruption to daily life (portaloos in the street) and the mutual support and generosity that is much in evidence.

 And so to Friday 29th April - the big day! Jen, Al and Heloise were in party mood in Cardiff, complete with tiaras and bunting -

I have decided that insanity is:
a) relative
b) possibly catching

Louise, June, Peach and I had arranged to meet for an afternoon walk followed by a Scottish Supper and film..........We enjoyed an amazing walk from Stoughton up to the top of Kingley Vale, fortified by the Scottish shortbread kindly supplied by Louise. The views were fabulous, and it was fairly quiet, because of The Wedding.
On our return we toasted the happy couple with Pimms on the (still sunny) porch and then came inside for Cullen Skink and Crannachan. All Scottish recipes on the web sound like something out of a Dickensian Workhouse - but the smoked haddock soup was actually quite tasty. Being a bit of a lightweight, the Pimms kicked in soon after the soup and I remember plonking the smoked salmon on the table without a great deal of finesse.....ah well! I also remember enjoying June's Crannachan - oatmeal, raspberries, cream and whisky. We washed everything down with Peach's Irn Bru and prepared ourselves for the film.
We took a vote over supper and Gregory's Girl won the day. June and Peach got into a bit of a pickle with the recliner chairs (I'm clearly not the only lightweight), unfortunately none of us had room for the popcorn and I (predictably) fell asleep before the closing credits.........!
I was disappointed to have missed the Dawn Chorus walk on Sunday morning at 430am with Peter, Margaret and On the Edge. I had wanted to share with them my DVD of Marcus Coates' installation "Dawn Chorus".

Amazing.

And finally - at the risk of this post becoming over-long - RB1 (see last week's post) has been joined by RB2-9 inclusive in the garden.

 I had almost given up hope for RB10 but it is showing signs of life and is now in intensive, if somewhat lonely, care on the kitchen windowsill.

oh, and I almost forgot. Insanity is also

c) fun