Edinburgh marathon

This is the moment when our eldest son set off on his very first marathon. He had completed no training whatsoever and was relying on his youth to carry him through. He made it to the end, although he had to call on every ounce of reserve that he had in him. A fantastic achievement showing his true personality and grit and determination to succeed. 

A gorgeous day

The sun has been splitting the pavements today in south west Scotland and we finish the day in the garden on the sun loungers, however the Memsahib got up for one minute and a cheeky dog took instant advantage 😄

Foccacia Bread

Pleased with this Foccacia bread, but I have to report that the sourdough starter died somehow. I'm not sure what I did wrong but it definately did not look right after the first rise. Oh well, back to the start and try again.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Sourdough starter 3 days in.

Here is my sourdough starter after 3 days, full of life and needing a feed. It has trebled in size and is full of bubbles and when I opened the lid a sound reminiscent of a weak fart escaped. The smell was as described (not the fart description) slightly sour and it had darkened in colour. So far so good, let's give it a feed and see what happens next. I could be making sourdough bread by the end of the week :-)

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Yellowhammer on the hedge

I wish my phone had a better camera to capture this little beauty sitting on the hedge, such a lovely song as well.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Sourdough starter

Here it is, my sourdough starter. You can see life already bubbling up through the batter, time for a feed soon I feel :-) can't wait to get cracking on some bagels as requested by no.2 son (he, with the ooh so delicate constitution unable to cope with a little horse poo) OK, so it was a lot of horse poo but we are getting off subject. I will post updates of my Levain (sourdough starter by another name) as it grows and then follow it through to the end products.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

What a load of *#it!

Why is it so difficult to get your teenage son to muck in (quite literally on this occassion). I had advised the aforementioned that I had need of his services to assist me off loading the trailer. "What is it?" Says he. "Horse muck" says I. "No, your alright" says he and promptly walks off leaving yours truly to off load the steaming pile. Kids! Who'd have 'em.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device