Spilled Notes

Words

My post yesterday got me thinking about words.  There are some words that just sound so good, feel so good to say, regardless of what they mean.  I've realised that, for some reason, a lot of the words I particularly like begin with 'm' - murmuration, mellifluous, melismatic, mesmerising.  I also love the musical direction lontano, meaning to play something so it sounds like it's in the distance.  Here is a Wordle image of some of the other words I've jotted down.

What are some of your favourite words?

Starlings

Last month, this wonderful photo was taken in Taunton, near my home village in Somerset.  My dad was lucky enough to see this actually happening (although the photo isn't his, it comes from this report in the Somerset County Gazette).  I've never seen this amazing phenomenon, but I remember watching this sequence on a programme with Bill Oddie which just amazed me.  Apparently the name for a flock of starlings is a 'murmuration' - what a wonderful word.

Giraffodil (ii)

Last year, L and I went to Rosslyn.  There were lots of lovely flowers out, and L tried to describe daffodils that have a trumpet of one colour and petals of another to me:

"You know those giraffes - no, I don't mean giraffes at all, I mean daffodils!"

I made these giraffe biscuits as a Christmas present for a friend.  I had so much fun painting all the little chocolate patches onto them, I could do that sort of thing for hours.  I also made her chocolate penguins with piped white tummies.

I wonder if there's much of a demand for animal biscuit painters...?

Giraffodil

There's something so cheering and 'springy' about daffodils.  This beautiful bunch actually came from Lidl, of all places.  It was even lovely and sunny and almost warm (!) when we were out shopping and bought them, in fact you could almost believe it was spring.  But this is Scotland, so it didn't last all that long.  Now they are a little patch of warmth and sun in our kitchen, even though it's all grey outside again.

(The giraffes will follow soon...)

The Significance of the Potato

William Marshall once called the arrival of the potato to Scotland 'the greatest blessing that modern times have bestowed on the country'.  I fervently agree.  I don't know what I would do without potatoes. They're just so versatile, and they go with everything.  I've grown up eating home-grown potatoes that I helped to plant and pick.  I'm hoping I'll get to help plant this year's crop when I'm at home for Easter (we always plant them over the Easter weekend).  The potatoes below are Roosters, which are wonderful for pretty much anything.  They're especially good for roasting (I must admit, L does make wonderful roast potatoes), which I think is probably my favourite sort of potato.  We bought two huge baking potatoes in Lidl today, later in the week they will be consumed with copius amounts of tuna and salad.  I just found a brilliant quote from Oprah Winfrey - 'my idea of heaven is a great big baked potato and someone to share it with'.  Only I would call it a jacket potato. And I don't need to find someone to share mine with :-)

I'm currently procrastinating (again!).  I should be reading about land use for my archaeology tutorial, or doing a documentary analysis for Scottish history, or working on my project on mummers for Scottish Ethnology.  I know I'll regret not working now, but somehow that motivation isn't enough.  Douglas Adams once said that 'it is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes'.  I wish our potatoes could do my incredibly boring reading for me.  Oh well, I'm sure chocolate will help instead.

'There is no remedy for love but to love more'

For Valentine's Day this year, my partner and I decided we would make gifts for each other.  As L is allergic to milk, she hasn't had fudge for years - I found a recipe that doesn't use condensed milk, so I thought it would be perfect.  I was slightly concerned that I might ruin both the saucepan and the fudge, but it was fine.  It even looked, felt and tasted like real fudge!

I had no idea what L was making me, only that it involved sewing.  I was intrigued.  Inside a home-made box were felt fortune cookies, each with a quotation (including the title of this post, from Thoreau) and a love heart inside.  I think it's one of the loveliest gifts I've ever received.

'Fun'

My second Scottish History essay this term is entitled 'Was early modern Scotland a fun place to live?'. At first glance this seemed like a ridiculous essay question, possibly a bit of a joke.  But I study Scottish Ethnology and recognised a lot of the books on the reading list, and it looked like a much better option than something on government or politics, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Surely it can't have been that bad?  I mean, there were ballads, fiddle and pipe music, dancing, lots of calendar festivals (religious and otherwise), traditional drama, carnival-style celebrations, poetry...

But having had more lectures on the period, and started the reading, it seems it maybe wasn't quite so great.  After the Reformation, it wasn't exactly fun if you were a Catholic, or suspected of being a witch, or a folk-healer.  And the Presbyterian kirk decided that anything possibly approaching 'fun' (e.g. dancing, music, feasting) was a very bad thing indeed.  Did you know that Christmas wasn't a public holiday in Scotland from 1690-1958?  (The kirk decided there was no scriptural evidence for it, or for other holy days such as Easter, so didn't celebrate it.)  If you were chosen to be the 'abbot of misrule' at celebrations, and accepted the post, you could be either jailed or banished from the realm!  And then, of course, there was the population growth leading to limited opportunities, plus famine and disease (including that old favourite, bubonic plague).  Oh yes, and the fairies, who weren't friendly little Tinker Bells but beings to be avoided, else they might steal your child and replace it with a changeling. (A lot of this came from a wonderful book on calendar customs in Britain, which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the subject - 'The Stations of the Sun' by Ronald Hutton.)

Hmmm, maybe not so fun after all.  I think I'll stick with modern Scotland, it's much more exciting (and the fairies don't seem to cause so much trouble any more).  Our excitement for today was going out for afternoon tea! But that's another story.

Moggy

There's something so wonderful about tea.  It can be warming and comforting, refreshing and invigorating, whatever you need it to be.  And it goes perfectly with cake.  My mum sent me up part of a fresh moggy cake this week.  No, it's not made of cats, or in the shape of the cat.  In fact, I have no idea why it's called 'moggy' cake.  It's a wonderful sticky ginger cake from a family recipe, I think from the part of my mum's family who came over to Yorkshire from the Isle of Man.  I think it has to be my favourite cake.  It only gets made a few times a year; I remember that we always used to make it when we went to visit my grandparents in Lancashire (usually at New Year and in May).  It's one of those cakes that gets better as it matures, and is perfect a couple of days after it's made.  And it goes perfectly with a steaming mug of Yorkshire Tea.

My love is like a red, red rose...

I love flowers, especially roses.  And I love receiving flowers, especially when they're not for any reason in particular.  There's something so romantic about a surprise bouquet.  And I know red roses are a bit of a cliche but they are beautiful, you have to admit.  These were from L last year, and they made me smile so much because I wasn't expecting them, and she was miles and miles away in Somerset while I was in Edinburgh.  When the roses finally died the flowers didn't fall off but just turned black; I've never seen any other flowers do that.  They came from the Harvest Garden, a wonderful florists and chocolate shop in Edinburgh.  If you're in Edinburgh then a wander over to Bruntsfield and Morningside (where Harvest Garden is) is a must - not only is it the 'chocolate quarter' (Coco of Bruntsfield, James of Arran), but there are lots of lovely little shops like Halibut and Herring, and a very good Oxfam book shop.  It can be a very dangerous afternoon, what with both of us being chocoholics and avid readers!

Church of the Marzipan

I love marzipan.  But not enough to worship it (I know you were getting worried).  No, the title comes from a mistake I made several years ago while staying with my grandparents in Heysham, Lancashire.  I've walked past this particular building quite a few times, but for some reason I misread the sign on this occasion.  It was not, in fact, the 'Church of the Marzipan', but the 'Church of the Nazarene'.  (They both have a 'z', which clearly confused me!)  I might be tempted to be religious if there was a church of the marzipan.

I also love Battenburg, but then who doesn't?  It looks so happy and is so reminiscent of childhood.  I decided to have a go at making my own, because my partner can't have dairy and so wouldn't be able to share a shop-bought cake.  It was HUGE!  But looked just like Battenburg should.  And the offcuts of marzipan made wonderful strawberries (though that did result in me having rather pink hands). Unfortunately I can't find any photos of it (though I'm sure I took some).  I guess I'll just have to make another one - what a shame!