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

It's the final countdown!...

... and now only just over 5 days till departure. Yikes!!

Had a wee leaving night last night in Stirling with a few friends which was great. A few couldn't make it but I'll see them at work during the week (get well soon Ian!). To those that did come along Thank You!, it means a lot. I'm really starting to dread saying goodbye to people (you'd think i'd never been away in my life) but somehow this just feels different. Can't really explain it. I was getting ready to go out last night and Ryan came upstairs chapping on the bedroom door. 'Ryan just come in for a wee 5 minutes' he said with his big doe eyes. 'No Angie's getting ready' i replied. I felt so bad saying it but he was going to stay at my auntie's house as his mummy was coming out for the night too. He waved goodbye and it set me off. I don't know what i will be like saying bye bye to him for real on Thursday. He still thinks I'm going up the Ochils for 2 weeks!! Wee scone.

Some more sponsorship money has been coming in during the week which is great so the total is now £3636.35 - fantastic amount. I can't say a huuuuuuge thank you enough to everyone!

Training is going well. Hills, work, gym, work, gym, work, looong walks again... you get the drift. This coming week i have to attend the hospital on Tuesday for my orthopeadic insoles. I can confirm it thas been a year since I first went to the Docs about my sore knees and he gave me ibuprofen!! I then proceeded to spend quite a bit of money on physio appointments until November and visited the Doc again (a different one this time) who referred me to the hospital. I am due to be getting physio on the NHS but that appointment hasn't come through yet since January!!! Amazing eh... So hopefully these insoles will take the strain off my knees and keep my feet, legs and hips aligned properly. Failing that i've packed lots of ibuprofen ha ha. No but seriously i think i will be fine. I'm not getting the pain as sore when walking in the hills which is great, stil can't run for a while but interval running seems tot be doing the trick too. I know my limits and when to stop.

My new camera was tested again this week whilst i was out walking. Took some sunest mode pictures whic hturned out pretty good so i think i'll have some amazing photos to show (or bore) you all with when i get back! Be prepared!!!

I like the greens in the first photo. Second photo is a distant shot of Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle and third picture is the sunset mode. Think they are ok.

I will update more during this final week and have a special posting to be revealed...

so for now take care, be safe
Ange xx

Fundraising Thank yous!! - Donations to the QUIZ NIGHT

Hi everyone

How are you all?

In case some of you didn't know I'm having a QUIZ NIGHT on Thursday 20th November from 6-8pm (well it may run on after this time!). It's taking place in the Common Room at work as quite frankly it's free and close by and well ... despite people trying to persuade me I'm just not one of those types that can go with a brass neck and ask a place to get free hire of a function room in a bar/pub or somewhere. At work i can book rooms myself plus i don't want to be worrying about stuff on the night (although those who know me know i will be!). So it's £5 per ticket (includes entry to the main quiz, soft drinks and nibbles (can't sell alcohol as I'd need a licence). Hopefully people won't find this too much to part with i mean after all it is for charity.

Postering has become my latest adventure sport. It's where you print off posters, trawl the corridors of the Uni 'postering' with 2 mates and get lost in the maze of the A, B, W and X corridors, lol. A good wee jaunt though - eh Sharon and Linda!!!!!! Big face anyone! haha.

Anyway lots of letters have been sent out last week and this to try to get some prizes and raffles. There's been restaurants, cinemas, hotels, beauticians, football clubs, outdoors stores etc etc. So far I've had a few replies and Linda has been extremely helpful in calling in favours and sourcing good prize donations.

A huge thank you to the following companies for kindly giving me prize donations. Very much appreciated. :)

Donations so far:

£30 national book tokens - University of Stirling Bookshop (John Smith's)

30 minute Aromatherapy Facial - Beauty by Nina, Stirling

Mobile Car Valet - Shakemashammy

bottle of Bacardi - Mr J McGuire, Cowie

beauty voucher - Elaine at Unique Beauty (Gannochy Sports Centre, University of Stirling)

This is a short post but the donations section will be updated as new ones come in.

Bye for now

Ange xx

If there's a rocket tie me to it...

Hey everyone
OK here goes for an epic update!! I say epic as it suddenly dawned on me that I have acquired my Pappy’s (and my Dad’s) skill of starting one story which twists and turns and goes off on several different tangents before I reach the end goal that is the whole point of my story in the first place. Apologies to all who have read through any epic emails when the whole point was only ‘hiya, how are you?’ Ha-ha. I quite enjoy writing, typing, asking questions, telling stories and generally pouring the inner most thoughts from my head into emails, blogs or any other medium that you are able to read. I might write a book one day.... now there’s a thought. Anyway see there was a tangent already and I only wanted to say hello!

So... you have been warned, settle in and let’s begin...

Firstly, I visited the docs last week and I have now been referred to the orthopaedic clinic for my sore leg, gammy knee, dodgy left peg, whatever you want to call it. I have been assured that it will take a few months for an appointment so I am not hopeful that anything would be done before my travels in April. Whether or not this is a good thing I have yet to decide. The negatives are that I MAY get some pain when I’m trekking and I’ll be worrying about it constantly I think but the positives are I’m going on the trip of a lifetime and the views, scenery, experience, personal journey will be much more than the pain ... and besides I may have many other things to worry about than a bit of a sore knee.

It’s been a busy time of late what with Spanish class, cake-baking, fundraising, work and general fun-times. Not to mention that saga of the moose loose aboot ma hoose!! I managed have a nice relaxed weekend and started (whispers) Christmas shopping.... ssshhhh! Also went to see a talk at the Albert Hall in Stirling with Sharon. It was by Simon Yates (he of Touching the Void fame). So there we were in a hall full of (mostly) over 50’s, I was admiring the gorgeous pictures listening to his interesting talk and wondering why, when he mentioned his friend Joe who was a bit clumsy and prone to breaking his leg, did this bring a round of laughter in the audience. It wasn’t until it finally clicked that he was talking about the incident that the whole film Touching the Void is actually about is what he was talking to us about. The moment that he cut the rope he said was a pretty simple decision really. He hadn’t had a tug or heard Joe shout and he couldn’t see him because of the storm that was blasting around them so in that position I ask would you do the same? I think maybe so but I wouldn’t really like to find out. So as the talk went on I realised that was only a small (but not a minor) incident in his life and he has done much more climbing since then. His latest endeavours have been to South America, islands off the coast of Chile to be exact where he has climbed several unknown and unnamed mountains in the past few years. All in all it was a good night and a very interesting talk by a remarkable yet very straightforward guy. Cool!!

Did I mention that I have joined (well almost) joined a mountaineering club? When I say mountaineering I mean hill-walking and when I say joined I mean we went along to see what it was all about and then you have to be nominated by a member then accepted into the fold, so to speak. It’s the Ochils Mountaineering Club. Sharon also very kindly signed us up to a weekend in Fort William at the end of November with members from the club. There were two non-members places available and so there she was with our names on that list quicker than you can say ‘I’m a munro bagger!!’ All in the name of training you understand. It’ll be my first venture out in the hills 2 days in a row so we’ll see how i get on. The strange bed in a shared bunk room is more worrying than the 2 days on the hills but it’s another thing i’m going to have to get used to.

Speaking of that, I have to tell you this funny story. We went to our first night at the OMC about 3 weeks ago. They meet on a Thursday night at the Rugby club in Stirling so we went along to a talk by a guy called Es Tressider (www.es-on-ice.co.uk ) about a recent trip to the Tasermiut Fjord in Greenland. Amazing talk and pictures but we were sat behind this row of fairly old guys and one fell asleep, snoring and all! And his mate gave him a nudge on the arm and he almost fell off his chair. It was sooo funny. I couldn’t look at them as it was one of those situations when you know you aren’t meant to laugh but can’t help it – like at school.

I went to a Snow Patrol gig at the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh last week. It was for the launch of their new album on 27th October and was a good show. I had a great seat at only about 4 rows from the front and was given a guitar plectrum at the end by a guy called Troy who plays with the band on some songs but is also part of the crew. Again my trusty camera goes everywhere with me and the pictures can be viewed here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64341&l=22f6e&id=682653237 and here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64344&l=e268b&id=682653237

Hello to Jonny and Ryan who spotted themselves in my pictures.

So what next?...

• Well another talk at the OMC in the rugby club on Thursday 6th November. It’s by Kev Shields who climbs with a prosthetic arm. Amazing!
• Off out on the hills this Saturday with Sharon. I think she’s making me to 2 munros again – weather permitting of course.
• Then it’s Pitlochry on 15th November for a talk by Kenton Cool and Ian Parnell. Really looking forward to that should be interesting and perhaps I can blag a signed photo or something to raffle off for my fundraising.
• In between all of this I’m holding my 4th cake sale on 11th November and a Christmas themed cake sale on 3rd December. These are always popular so if you’re in the vicinity drop by for some tasty home-baked treats. Plus a QUIZ NIGHT on Thursday 20th November in the Common room, Colin Bell Building, University of Stirling, 6-8pm. Tickets are £5 and can be paid on the night. The prizes are coming in slowly but surely.

After all of that it will be Christmas and before i know it it’ll be April!!

Jings, crivens, help ma boab!

Time-check: 11.43pm on Tuesday 4th November 2008 and we could be about to witness history unfold in the next few hours by the unveiling of a new black American president. ‘Change’ was his campaign slogan. Do you think anything will change? And will that change be for the better or the worst? I don’t know but surely a change is as good as a holiday! isn't it?

Change (Noun) can mean:
• The process of becoming different
• the act or process of changing
o Social change
o Biological metamorphosis
o The mathematical study of change
• Small denominations of money given in exchange for a larger denomination
Synonyms
• transition, transform, vary, adjust, alter

Song of the week: If There's a Rocket Tie Me To It - Snow Patrol

take care,

Ange xxx

Wow ... i'm knackered!!

Hey

I wonder when it was that i had this strange idea that some things in life could be easy? Driving test - no bother; climbing a munro – hard but good; trekking at altitude to Everest base camp – hard but very rewarding; trying to catch a wee mouse about 3 inches long – torture, nightmare, a living hell!!!...

After quite a stressful past few days I sit here blurry-eyed typing in the safe haven of the office. I've just spent my 4th night in a row in my new bed – my Rab sleeping bag on the couch!! Suppose i’d better get used to camping out for when i’m trekking. And although camping out in the living room wasn’t exactly the practice run i had in mind, needs must.

You may be wondering the reason for this mini-adventure. Well it is because of Wee Jeemy – the mouse that has now been camped out in my bedroom for 2 weeks!!!!!! Aaaarrrgghh. All joking aside it’s really starting to get to me, to creep me out even and just when i thought we’d got him, (i.e. no mouse activity) he scuttled about my room last night again at 10 past 12 last night!!! I jumped out the bed and shouted on my dad - lame i know but it's sooo creepy. At first i could only hear him but then i caught sight of him running along the skirting boards and almost jumped out of my skin. My dad proceeded to spend then next hour with a brush trying to coax it out but alas he was too quick and at 1.10am he finally gave up and closed the door.

The next thing to do was to get my clothes and stuff out of the room for work. For this task my mum was called into action. She appears to be much braver than i thought. I sent her in for trousers from the wardrobe he's hiding behind and then i manage to grab a few essentials for the next few days. I fear i will be camped on the couch for another couple of nights.

I know you must be thinking ‘it’s only a wee mouse’, well i thought the same at the start but now it is really starting to get to me not being able to go to the place that was my solace – my bedroom, now i can’t relax there until he’s gone!!!! There are now several traps strategically placed around the floor but alas this one is no ordinary mouse, he’s a fly guy! Even had the cheek to manage to take bits of food from the 2 traps without them going off! Hhhhmmmm. Every hole in the skirting boards and in cupboards have been filled, the window is in the catch, the radiator has been turned off so there’s no heat and the bait has been set so heaven knows how he's getting in and more to the point where was he hiding yesterday after noon when i hoovered the place for the 8th time this week!!! Fingers crossed he will be gone soon and i can hopefully relax and de-camp from the living room. Mouse trapping tips would be greatfully appreciated.

Anyway apart from that i feel like i am hitting a brick wall with the fundraising, training and that. I had 3 intensive physio sessions and ventured out in the hills on Sunday to see if any knee pain came on. The good news is that it took a it longer for the pain to come on, the bad news was that it was still as sore as previously. I am totally gutted at this as the doubts about my trek are starting to appear again. I don't know what I'm going to do now. The physio said there was an improvement in my knee and ankle and i can definitely feel that my thigh is a bit better – although I’m a bit tender and bruised from all of the pummelling! If there is no improvement then I’m afraid it’s a trip to the Doc. Hopefully this time he’ll give me much more than 3 minutes and a prescription for a box of Ibuprofen!

As far as the fundraising goes well... I am getting there, but very slowly. Thanks to those fantastic people at work who have helped me by baking yummy cakes and also to everyone who has sponsored me so far. More funds are needed though – please give generously. When i set out on this journey i thought i had nothing better to do than to ask a few people and write a few letters to various companies but so far i have had no reply, nada, nothing, zilch, zero! Not even to my requests for prizes to raffle off. I wasn’t thinking of anything major like a 2 week break to the Bahamas (aaah wouldn’t that be lovely just now) but just something simple like a voucher for a meal at local restaurants, cinema tickets.... you get the drift. I have had one VERY generous cheque in the mail from a nice man at NISSEI AS Ltd but on this occasion i did have the advantage of him being an associate of one of my uncles which helped. Anyway very soon i will be staked out in my local supermarket (that rhymes with fresco) and will be packing bags for a day so if you are in the vicinity on one of the following days – 8th or 22nd November or 14th December - i’ll pack your bags ... for a price!

All of the above has made my week very challenging indeed. It started off great last Monday too with a nice meal at the MacRobert with Dorothy, Linda and Brigitte. I’ll be getting that pancake again!! Yum.

Tiring, knackered, stressed, fun, laughter, hard work – these are some words to sum up my week that has passed. I hope that the new week dawning will be much better though. If you too have had a tough week i suggest you join me to celebrate the new better week to come by listening to one of my favourite songs: Chocolate – Snow Patrol http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LHTZd9bV6NY

Cheers for now
Ange xx

Fundraising event #1 - cake sale!

Event 1 down - loads more to go!

In the end I raised £91 from the sale of cakes! Good effort indeed i thought. Thanks to Linda, Susan and Brigid for contributing their tasty treats, time and effort - cheers guys.


Sold to colleagues from work were 'Rocky Road to Base Camp' Mars bar cakes, Coconut 'Khumbu Glaciers and Boulders', 'Khumbu Cough' chocolate drops, Iced 'Everest' cakes - that turned out a bit disastrous so were sold at cut price - bargains! hee hee. (Are you guessing the theme I was going for??) There were also banana muffins, marshmallow and jam tarts, white choc & almond cookies, home made tablet and more!!! It went down well with those sweet-toothed colleagues we have. Thanks to all who bought, contributed and donated far more than they ate.

So Event 2 will be starting to get planned soon. Please let me know if you have any ideas, i need to et that total going up, i'm at 12% so far and am quite pleased with that as i only started just over a month ago. Anyway, let me know of any good fundraising event ideas!!!!!!

As ever, stay safe

best wishes
Ange x