So Long January

Well, this has undoubtedly been a busy and strange month. I cannot believe tomorrow is February. The month started at a pleasant walking pace, which developed into a run as orders poured in. I am not complaining and thank you very much for liking my work and purchasing; without you wonderful customers, I would be struggling, and at my age, I feel too old to learn a new job skill. Orders are being made, and I feel I am back on track again. However, Storm Erowyn sure hit our wee village hard. We were left with no power for four days, which meant no internet, and we only had an occasional mobile phone signal. At first it was quite sobering and relaxing, which we both needed. Although the first two days were frightening, watching the trees sway and bend and hearing the storm batter against our wee cottage. We dare not open the back door in case it blows out of our hands; having tried it once, we did not do it again. Our wee cat Finesse (aka Twinkle Toes) did not leave our side, and she is so small even though she is fourteen, she would have been blown cross country. Fortunately, we still had a litter tray and some kitty litter hidden in the back of the attic. We were so thankful not to have incurred any damage to the house or sheds, more importantly to ourselves. One of our neighbour’s pony's stable got hit bad and ended up hanging from a tree. That was sad to see, but no pony or goats were hurt, and I was amazed the sheep in the field were still there on Sunday and not blown up to Inverness some 240 odd miles away.

The slow pace of life forced upon us was welcomed at first. We cooked one of my favourites, I call it Tuscan Beef Stew. Slow cooked with shallots, lots and lots of garlic and olives a good old slug of red wine and lots of tomatoes. We have a great cast iron gas stove, we use a lot in the garden during the warmer weather, its pretty big and takes a hug pan, making cooking easy and fun. We had stocked up on food and wine, logs and candles, so it was a bit of a posh camping affair. Thank goodness we had the log burner so we could camp out in the living room, toasty! We were limited on board games, so we had to learn some card games (neither of us knows any other than snap!! I know what you're thinking, don't say it). Yenga is fun for a while and knots and crosses, but it was good old Scrabble that kept us going. However after fours of continual playing in the evening, we had had enough. Still, I know we were lucky, so there are no complaints from us, but we are very happy to have power restored. A long shower was well over due, although it's amazing how long you can go with hot water boiled on top of the log burner in a whistling kettle poured into a bowl! Many years ago, I spent almost six months travelling in West Africa, and I don't mean hotel travel; I am talking about a huge open sides Bedford truck, camping out under the stars cooking on an open fire, and weeks of no washing through the desert zones. Now that's pretty ripe, I can assure you. But more on that later in the year. If you want to hear a wee African Tale, let me know in the comments box. I hope you have enjoyed the first month of this year, and I wish you a fabulous February ahead.