Sweet Treats

Sunday was spent watching Formula One and then at another family gathering saying goodbye to my cousin who leaves for a six month sabbatical to Australia on Wednesday. But before all that I'd cooked up a batch of raspberry cream sweets.

Why? Because we're organising a Christmas fayre / cake sale / Christmas jumper day at work on Friday 13 December for Save The Children. It's their annual Christmas Jumper Day where you wear your best (or worst) Christmas jumper, pay £1 to take part and donate the money to Save The Children. We thought we'd go one better and sell cakes as well as have raffles. So far so successful. Thanks to Linda we've had around 35 prizes donated from various local businesses and crafty businesses on Facebook. It's really amazing. One prize includes a 4 night stay in a holiday cottage in Aviemore. The voucher is valid for 18 months too! Quite remarkable isn't it.

Anyway, the cakes. So I'll do my usual Mars Bar cake, coconut balls and i thought I'd try peppermint creams too. Put them in nice wee Christmas bags, sell em for a pound maybe.

I decided that as well as peppermint creams, I'd try strawberry creams. Couldn't find frozen strawberries on their own so opted for raspberries. I boiled and simmered them until they'd broken up and were a thick luscious sauce. Strained them through a sieve (a muslin cloth would've been for easier and less time consuming).

Boiling and straining

To my cream paste I added a few teaspoons of the raspberry sauce and mixed it again. I then rolled out the paste and used little cutters to make the star and heart shapes.  I chilled the shapes for a little while then melted some chocolate i had laying around and dipped ht shapes in.

So i didn't have a lot of chocolate left over. The ones i sell won't look so messy. Still taste great though

Pretty easy really. Pretty messy too. They taste pretty good but I'll add more of the sauce next time, whichever flavour I decide on. They'll keep for a few weeks on an airtight container but I'll make my batch for selling in the week of the fayre.

So if you're free on Friday 13 December and are in the area, come along, buy cakes, have a cups, win raffle prizes. Go on.

Angela x

Merry Christmas...

I hope that wherever you are and whoever you are with, that you are having a really good Christmas break.

Merry Christmas.

XoXo

Merry Christmas

Just popping on to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hope your day is filled with family, food and fun.

Take care of each other,

Love Angela x

December Begins

Here we are! Welcome to December. It's going to be great!! This is the first of my post every day in December posts.

I'm sitting here on my bed typing away at this post on my new iPad. Yes. I took the plunge and treated myself to an early Christmas present for me. Only trouble is, it's being collected tomorrow by a courier as the metal back panel has visible signs of wear and tear. Little scratches and marks. They're only little ones but still, I pad for a brand new iPad and this looks to me like a refurbished one. Disappointing. Give them their due though, at a quick call to Apple, and a chat with a nice young man all the way over in Austin, Texas, my new one is already on its way. Phew!! I've been playing about with it since Tuesday night and it's good but.... Yes, there is a but... I think the screen on my iPhone 4S is a lot better. Clearer. Sharper. Did you all know this? I mean it is handy. I will be keeping it but the screen clarity is very noticeable, to me anyway.

Anyhow, December. Wahey! It's come around so quickly hasn't it. For the first time in a few years I am rally looking forward to December and all that it's going to bring me. I don't me presents. I mean fun, days out, time spent with great people, laughs, tinsel, twinkling lights and a HOT CHOCOLATE! Who wants to meet for a catch up and a hot chocolate? Say Aye!

what are you looking forward to in december? Spill the beans...

Angela xx
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Merry Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and everything's done that needed to be done.  I'm now wondering with great anticipation (but not too much expectation) what Santa is bringing me for Christmas!  I know some stuff, heck i was there when it was bought but i wonder if he figured out i wanted new stuff to go with my bike - lights, helmet, ruckack a new jacket even?!?!  Nah... the Santa that visits this way isn't that imaginative and I don't like writing lists for him to tick off once he's got me it.  But hey we'll see.  I might get a few surprises!  Although i'm not great at surprises - yikes... 

Anyway, to everyone who visits here Merry Christmas.  Hope you all have a lovely day.

Ange xx

Advent Calendar - Door 19, a little bit different

For today's offering there will be no pictures.  I thought I'd tell you something about myself.  I realised there may be some things that not a lot of people know about me so here are 50 odd things to know (or not!) about me.  I hope you like / enjoy / can copy and paste it and fill it in for yourselves.

Want to know more about me? Read on!

1. I live in Stirling, Scotland.
2. I love it here, it's right in the middle of the country.
3. But I’d love to live somewhere else one day.
4. I have no tattoos and only got my ears pierced when I was 25.
5. One of my earliest memories is being knocked over by a pack of dogs at our garden gate and them barking and fighting over the top of me when I was about 4...
6. ... needless to say I don’t care much for dogs of any kind. Come to think of it I don’t really like pets. Sorry!
7. I only eat Weetabix with a tiny sprinkle of sugar and hot milk and Cornflakes with no sugar and ice cold milk. Rice Krispies either hot or cold milk. These are the only 3 cereals I eat.
8. I last had a bath in April 2009 when I came home from Nepal. I’m not dirty I just prefer a shower every day.
9. I’m quite naive (in some ways). I believe things people tell me like ‘i’ll email you’ or i’ll phone/text you’... so I am really disappointed when they don't.
10. I wear glasses and once had 5 appointments at the optician for contact lenses but i couldn’t get them in. (It’s the poking your own eye thing I can’t do!).
11. I hate smoking and will moan and grump when anyone (including my parents!) smokes near me.
12. I really wish I could give up eating chocolate, it is my one serious downfall.
13. I love my mum’s home-made macaroni cheese and I have it for my dinner every Tuesday night!
14. I’d really like to be friends with Dave Grohl and Chris Martin...
15. ...And yes, I am a dreamer. I daydream all the time. It’s the Pisces in me.
16. I’m quite a quiet and reserved person and it’s one of my traits i wish i could..err... get over?
17. I still have a pair of Portside shoes i got in 1989, they’re in the box and the hand written receipt is in it too.
18. My least favourite time of the year is New Year. I’ll likely spend it watching telly. Then a walk on New Year’s Day to reflect on the year gone and the year still to come. Perhaps it’s this time of year I don’t like? Ach I dunno...
19. I currently have 5 bottles of cleanser ‘in stock’. That’s my facial skin care routine taken care of for the year then.
20. Gordon Ramsay is my favourite TV chef. Yes!
21. Vladimir’s Blues by Max Richter is one of my favourite songs of this year.
22. I have many favourite films including Once, The Bourne series, Blood Diamond, The Departed, Love Actually plus loads more and I can remember being blown away when I saw The Matrix for the first time. Ace!
23. I like having a bit of colour and so have been known to use fake tan. My fair freckly skin does not take the sun very well so I prefer to be safe and use high factor sunscreen.
24. I’ve got every episode of Dawson’s Creek on video from the late 90’, early 2000’s... Pacey was my favourite.
25. I love art, modern and contemporary art.  And things that are wonderfully colourful.
26. I passed my driving test first time on 11 December 1995 and have written off one car in year 2000.
27. Events have happened in my life that I think affected me more than I realised or wanted to admit. I really need to do something about it now.
28. I like baking and mars bar cake is my speciality. I’ve also taken up cross-stitching again after years of doing none. It’s quite relaxing and I like making things for people!
29. I often feel very alone.
30. I don’t like dark nail polish on me and prefer the natural look.
31. My favourite perfume is Eternity by Calvin Klein.
32. I’m not allergic to anything (as far as I know!).
33. I used to do highland dancing when I was younger. I was pretty good at it. I also loved going dancing every Friday and Saturday night at the under 18’s nights at a nightclub in Stirling. Them were the days!
34. I don’t like my teeth (although I am learning to like them). I wish I could get a brace to straighten them. It is the reason I may not smile that much or talk to you on a first meeting until I’m comfortable. It’s not that I’m ignorant.
35. I love walking in the hills and being in big open spaces but at the same time i love the buzz of a city centre.
36. I don’t like to impose on people, hence the reason why I fly solo with most things: shopping, hill-walking, cinema, gigs. I’m scared to ask you folks in case you say no!
37. I chipped a bone and tore ligaments in my left foot and ankle when I was 15. The plaster cast left me with a bent wee pinky toe.
38. I think there are only about 2 people that actually ‘get’ me. At least that’s how it feels sometimes.
39. I am the proud aunty to 2 gorgeous nephews, Ryan (3) and Connor aka Banksy (3 months). Yes by some sort of miracle (!) I ‘acquired’ Connor as a nephew on 09/09/09.
40. I buy a Radio Times magazine every Tuesday.
41. Sometimes I get sad that I don’t have many close friends.  But the few that I have, I am loyal to the end and love you all.
42. I’ve never read Jane Austen, Shakespeare or anything like that and don’t think I ever will.
43. History and English were my least favourite subject at school, but i loved Geography, Graphic Design, Maths and Chemistry.
44. It annoys me when the girls in WH Smith scan that god damned stupid voucher for whatever it is. Why?!? I DO NOT WANT IT. I’m only buying a Lotto ticket.
45. I can spend hours on the internet reading blogs and still get nothing done. I also like Twitter very much!
46. I drive a Ford Fiesta but only because I couldn’t afford a Volkswagen Polo GTi at the time.
47. When I have a fried egg I only eat the yolk! Boiled eggs... I eat the lot! Weird I know.
48. I love my curly hair especially since I discovered diffusers on hairdryers and hair straighteners for when I want a wee change of style with straight hair, it is great!
49. I currently own about 45 pairs of shoes including 3 pairs of Converse gutties, 2 pair of Dunlop, 2 pairs of Nike and a very 1990’s pair of Muddy Fox hi-tops plus numerous heels, boots and 1 pair of walking boots.  I take a size 3 or 4 by the way.
50. There are 4 books on my beside cabinet and they’ve been there for about 6 months. I’ve started reading them all but have yet to finish one. They are: Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert), Born to Run (Christopher McDougall), Death of a Ladies Man (Alan Bissett) and The Man Who Cycles the World (Mark Beaumont).
51. I think David Tennant is so completely attractive. But Christopher Eccleston was a better Dr Who! And he is one of my favourite actors.
52. I’ve learned that I should always trust my gut instinct. I’m usually right! (in the good and bad way).
53.  In 5 years in my current job I've only been off sick for 3 days and that was this year after Nepal.
54.  Lance Armstrong is my hero.  But you knew that already. 
55.  I would say 2009, my 32nd year on this earth has been the best in my life so far.  The places I've been, the things i've done and the people I've met - I love you all.

And that has been a little bit about me.  Now, tell me something about you that I don't already know?

Ange xx

Advent Calendar - Doors 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 - platinum edition

Okay, okay so i might have forgotten again to post some more advent calendar doors but instead here is a few cool little Christmas songs to get us all in the mood for Santa coming!  Yay....

This one is a cool wee song and you'll all be singing it before you know it...













And finally the best Christmas song in the whole world ever!!



Woops.. nearly forgot this one... Christmas number 1?!?!




Ange xx

It's been a while

Doodoo dododoo, bzzzzz... text comes through.  It's from Linda who's busy sunning herself in all inclusive luxury at a resort in Egypt having arrived there yesterday safe and sound.  As I sit here and daydream what that must be like I get roused by the wind and rain battering off the window and i watch as one by one the raindrops hit the window and slowly make their way from top to bottom whilst randomly heading off in different directions, but always down....  

Today's soundtrack on iTunes is Snow Patrol.  I'm not hitting shuffle cos I've never listened to the new album yet.  They are familiar songs but in a different order.  I like that though.

I decide a new blog post is needed as it's been a while I feel.  Not that there's too much to report so I'll just fill you in with what's been happening around my life that is Project Everest.  Jees that sounds so lame now because when you think of Everest you think giant, grandness, amazing... you never really think small do you.

So alas there have been no outdoor activities apart from trying out my new wheels in a car park at the Uni last Sunday morning!!  It appears I'm in the process of buying a very cool bike courtesy of Freeflow Bikes and Flying Fox Bikes.  Why 2 bike shops you may wonder?  Well i've been thinking of getting a bike since I came back from Nepal in April.  You see I go to the gym and I like it but i'm not really a gym bunny.  I now also go yoga and to Spin Bike classes at the new leisure facility in Stirling called The Peak.  It's a brand new sports centre with state of the art gym, swimming pool, curling rink, ice rink, a few studios, a large sports hall and a few climbing walls.  It's a great place and Stirling was well overdue something like this.  Anyway back to the bike!  Work has started the Cyclescheme which entitles you to a bike and equipment up to the value of £1000 and you can get some sort of discount via tax and NI payments (or something like that!) through a salary sacrifice scheme.  Anyway when I enquired about it I was told that the University only runs the scheme in 2 months of the year - April and November.  This meant I had to wait until November before I could get the bike.  Why wait you may ask?  Well simply you end up getting a pretty good discount on a decent bike which for me equates to about 31% off a brand spanking new bike.    

After asking people I knew about certain bikes it came down to a choice of a few.  I mean I just thought bikes were bikes unless you spent a fortune.  Don't ask me about hydraulic disc brakes, forks, seats, bottom brackets...  These are things I've heard my dad talk about in the past few months since he started his new job.  But it seems there are a load of different variations of bikes out there so best to ask some experts.  I set about posting a question on a forum and got a shed load of advice and recommendations.  Initially I put a price ceiling of £500 on my spending and then folk tell you if you're going £500 you may as well go a wee bit further and get a whole more of a decent bike.  A nice girl gave me good advice, she was a novice mountain bikers who'd got into it a few years ago and had just taken delivery of some carbon featherweight bike but she'd rode a Cube Access for a few years beforehand.  Her other bike was a Kona Lisa for 'running about'.  Now these bikes don't come cheap.  No siree.  I toyed with the idea of other cheaper bikes and visited a few shops locally.  In one establishment I waited for over 20 minutes pawing the bikes and stuff and no-one came near me.  This instantly put me off from giving them my custom.  Other places were trying to palm me off with pink or pastel shaded colour schemed bikes - do I look like a pink kinda girl!?  No!  I know that sounds silly but let's face it, how a bike looks has a lot to do with my purchasing it.  In fact that goes for anything I buy really.  Doesn't everyone think like that?  Function is good but how it looks is also important.

Anyway via the magic of Twitter I 'follow' a local bike shop called Flying Fox Bikes.  In fact it's local and also very, very new - the shop just opens this Saturday.  After a few exchanges I asked if they stocked Cube.  (I think there's only one other place round this way that does).  He said he did and will have more in March but all demo bikes were sold but his wife and sister have Cube's and I could have go and try them out if I wanted.  

After a few weeks exchanging emails and info on all things bikes, I met Pete from Flying Fox bikes in the car park at the University to try out this new beast!  He'd brought the two bikes.  A Cube Access WLS SL and a Cube AMS WLS Pro.  To be honest, they both looked very smart indeed but I knew the Pro would cost a fortune and was a full-sus which honestly would just be wasted on me.  I tried them both and the Access SL was instantly rideable.  WLS in the names means Woman Like Series - built for women's geometry basically.  I'd been told by men in bike shops that I could get a small size men's bike if I wanted but it's subtle things like narrower handlebars and a seat for women's..er... 'geometry' that i thought i'd stick with a woman's bike.  Anyway after my test drive my mind was pretty much made up.  It was to be the Cube Access WLS SL.  

Now for the business...  Since Flying Fox Bikes are a fairly new business they don't have the Cyclescheme up and running yet but he pointed me in the direction of Freeflow Bikes of Glasgow.  He recommended Freeflow as a good place to buy your bikes and gear from.  So that's what I've done.  The bike is on order (hopefully) and the Cyclescheme voucher is being processed by work but I'm not sure when my maiden journey on my new bike will take place.  You might hear of it here first!!

Anyway Flying Fox Bikes opens it's doors on Saturday 21st November.  Drop by!  Details here.

Last Thursday saw me, Susan and Chris make our way to Glasgow to see Sir Chris Bonington do a lecture about how he got started and his early climbing career.  It was a great wee night once it got started - albeit a bit later than we expected.  It was great to hear him talk about his early days and still his enthusiasm for mountains and climbing and nowadays walking and trekking.  He spoke of people he climbed with such as Doug Haston, Don Whillans, Mick Burke and Hamish McIntosh.  It was great to hear the stories and see pictures of places such as Patagonia and Nepal from back in the day.  Their gear was pretty basic but was probably the best of their day and they seemed pretty fearless.     

What else?... hhmmm... Well work has been somewhat strange recently.  I don't know what's happening to the place but people seem to be... changing (?), that or going a bit daft.  I'll put their selfishness and mentalness down to the dark nights fair drawing in...  Cos nothing else can really explain the strangeness about the place.  You know, you think you're doing a good thing but it ends up being the excess water dripping off the end of an as yet uncooked chip and into the chip pan and you just end up with spitting chip fat in your face!  We've decided, in our wee oasis of calm office, just keep our heads down and get on with it.


Mountains and hills.  Yes I see some everyday but haven't ventured up them in anger for ages.  Not likely to be this weekend either - have you seen the weather?!  And KIT.  Well I cheered myself up the other day with a purchase of the kit kind.  It'll be quite useful I'm sure and I'm just waiting on delivery of it now.  Bridgedale and Smartwool PHD socks - yes they are very cosy and keep my feet warm at yoga class.  They're also useful in that the bottom of my too long trackie bottoms can be tucked into them so they don't get wet!  Genius, but can attract some strange looks as I wonder through the aisles of the supermarket on my way home.  Mountain Equipment Chamois trousers - yes they were comfy when I went for my bike test drive.  I still can't get over that wee bits of fluff (pooly wool) have gathered at the back though and can't be removed.  I didn't think the material would do that.  They're also comfy and free moving when I'm lounging about and as is sit here and type this story.  Mountain Equipment Astral softshell jacket - again kept me warm on the test drive.  Light enough to wear around the house when my mum refuses to put the heating on early and I'm freezing.  So there you go.  Not your normal kit reviews but kit's not just useful on the hills you know!  Oh aye, and I'm hoping I might have 'won' a pair of red down booties - get that competition going Bobinson!!  (mind don't tell anybody though!)  :o) 


Decorating... that's what's happening in our house just now and it always seems to be that 2 weeks before Christmas our house is a tip because they're always decorating then!  this year is a major one.  The spare room has been transformed with a lick of paint, new carpet and new furniture.  It's great as I've bagged half a wardrobe and set of drawers in there for my kit.  Yay!  The stairs have had a lick of paint and are awaiting the fitting of a new carpet.  And The Boy is scared to go down them now after stepping on a carpet gripper nail that was sticking up - wee shame.  The living room will likely get started next week.  And the front door lobby is currently having tiles laid by my Dad who has been using an electric saw thing to cut the tiles all night and the noise is going through my head into my toothache!  ouch!  Can you hear it??...  Why oh why do they wait til now to decorate every year?!  Also, in thinking about this... does anyone else clean the house from top to bottom on 31st December each year? or is it just us???.. Don't know if it's a tradition to start the new year with a clean house and a huge pot of home made vegetable soup?!  Ah it's those wee quirks that I love.


Soon it will be Christmas and I can't wait.  For the holiday.  2 weeks off work - nearly.  Bliss!  Went shopping with mum today as I had a day off.  We went for stuff for the boy(s) but his Fireman Sam scooter was out of stock.  It's ok I can write this here cos he can't work the computer yet to read this, ha ha.  So we got another thing for him that he'll love.  And when he gets it and uses it I'll post some of the results on here.  It'll be interesting to see things from a kids viewpoint.  He loves photies...  So then mum asked what I wanted for Christmas and whilst i like this it also pains me too cos I end up not getting any surprises for my Christmas presents.  I mean I don't really like surprises as such but I'd prefer if she just went and got me something rather than me being there when she buys it.  So for Christmas this year I'm getting a ....  nope not telling.  I will put more on my list to Santa and hope he delivers, I've been a good girl afterall. 


Time for me to go.  This has been an epic update.  Sometime, perhaps in my next post, there will be some of the great outdoors in it.  Hopefully.


peace out
Ange xx