Thursday 10 November 2011

7 days - barefoot again

Our past seven days, a walk again through the last week - see the link below for how you can join in with Jacqui at the Barefoot Crofter... A week full of adventuring - we began with lunchtime - between work walks on beaches covered in seaweed...............beside the office at home.
 Trying not to fall over squishy rocks and seaweed, loving the colour.........autumn colour under my feet? I've been looking in the wrong place!
 Trying to keep up with the dog, and failing!
 And remembering to breathe - slow down and take stock of life........I've got a new job, I'm now ending an old one, and beginning a whole new chapter in my life. And I know I'm needing to take time to look, to think and breathe! I want to make a real great go at the new job and enjoy a good balance of life too!
Inbetween thinking and breathing, cooking for visitors and finding unexpected 'B's in home made pancakes ......... can you see it too?
 Hopping on airplanes to get to Glasgow 350 miles from home, for family adventures..............
 Finding autumn colour in airport carparks..............
 Gawping at bridges, river, traffic and trees and autumn colour all the things I can't see at home!
 Charging towards botanic garden Kibble Palace glasshouses at speed - desperate to get in there and see tree ferns!
 Meeting squirrels with unknown names...... I don't know any squirrels names at Glasgow botanics, (but I ensure the children I know them all in Edinburgh at that botanic garden, my old home)! Don't tell them anything but that!
 Popping into the national tree fern collection, oohing and ahhing, beautiful they are - well worth a look! (And free!)
 Loving the purple of flowers in glasshouses which just don't seem real!
 Meeting mice, who really don't seem to mind being photographed before they nip up a tree fern......
 The fern crozier is something that always takes my breath away.......
 Learning about tree ferns.........and how endangered they are.
 Making up names for 'carnivorous' plants which make us giggle - this one is a 'doyouthinkhe'lleatus'
 Fast food, unusual in our life - and chats and laughing and tasty snacks with chopsticks
 Enjoying a bit of fast lane life - we managed cinema, eating and contemplated getting a bit of snow but had to get off to the concert! Maybe next time......
 A night at Mr F's flat in Fife and finding raspberries in the garden overloaded with fruit - ready to pick and take for an adventure up north in the car.
 Leaves scrunching below my feet........
 Walking with giants in big tree country!
 Admiring beech leaves in full flow
 Watching my daughter contemplate life over a waterfall whilst no one was watching
 Goggling more colour!
 Finding the ideal house, for when we move to the mainland? Nice view, compact property.....running water.....!
 Walking with toddlers in Moray, an overnight on the way home - finding new delights in dandielion clocks and releasing the 'faeries' which each head has held captive
 Watching the sunset over the bridges up the A9 enroute to the ferry home -meandering home.
Home again, life back to normal, like making buns from neeps (swedish turnip) for a laugh with LinneW, just to see if we could - and making people guess the magic ingredient! (they all thought banana!) but they ate them all, until I told them what the magic ingredient was, that is! Then I got a bit of weird commenting from the family.
We've had a bit of a busy fun filled 7 days here - between walking and eating and laughing and adventures! I hope you're weeks been good too! Pop over the 'The Barefoot Crofter' if you want to see her last 7 days too!

Ps - Don't tell the dog we've been away, he's only just forgiven us! Wonder how your week ended up?

20 comments:

  1. I'm in a spin just reading it! My fave pic is the bridge surrounded by trees filled with Autumn colour.

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  2. Mine too - quite a adventure week gone by!

    Nice to hear you - the bridge is right by the Botanic Garden in Glasgow is something else isn't it? We've no rivers here, merely wee burns, so I love rivers with trees.

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  3. What a lot you pack into a week, I couldn't keep up with you. Slow and sedate that's me.
    That purple flower at Kibble is a tibouchina and I grew one in Orkney. They come great from cuttings but I gave them all away. They may still be lurking in Orkney houses on the east Mainland somewhere.
    I think putting neeps in buns is probably the best use for them or feeding them to the sheep...
    Hope the new job is all you want it to be!

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  4. Neeps? Is that a parsnip? If so it was huge before you got to it.

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  5. Lovely holidays indeed! :) :)

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  6. Oh my! The bridge picture is like a Monet, it reall is. What a wonderful week you had! I know you don't always fly down to the mainland, but it seems you often live your life at that speed in any case - you pack a lot in, and good for you!

    Loving the turnips in the cakes, what a brilliant use for them **giggles**

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  7. Love your pictures, the one of the fern crozier is my favourite, and the little mouse is cute.

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  8. My week was so boring while you did it all! Love the photos, mouse was a favourite. Neep cup cakes, cool. Hope the new job works out well for you.

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  9. LOL at the carnivorous plant name! That is just the thing my husband and I would crack up doing! looks like you had a lovely break :)

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  10. Quite a week indeed. You've tempted me to visit Glasgow botanic gardens when we're next through visiting our student son - tho since we live 15 minutes walk from 'the Botanics' in Edinburgh we're spoiled for glasshouses.
    And you were in my home county, Moray! Of course the sun was shining!

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  11. Linda - not often we get 'south' but when we do its jam packed.

    I have to say the Glasgae Botanics are quite different to RBGE - but are really worth an adventure to, oddly run by their council (?) - the Kibble is absolutly stunning, what a folly eh? But also - probably very exciting is that behind the other glass house range is an old victorian filmy-fern house - its just stunning. Worth a go - really.

    Moray what can I say - we love it - what a gorgeous place - and Forres put on a not bad firework display too!

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  12. Astra - it does make life fun when you don't take yourself very seriously doesn't it? We had a nice fast lane fix thank you!

    spiderlover - thank you for the goodluck for the job - what a find in the glass house a wee moose! Neep cup-cakes are a little odd, but tasty with a good helping of cinnamon - or probably some icing. The children are now very suspicious - might stop them scoffing the baking so quickly eh? Our weeks are often boring too - but now and again we get a bit of an adventure!

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  13. Rainbow child I just love fern croziers - they are amazing - when they get further on unfurling - I think they look like monkey tales!

    Jan that bridge is gorgeous isn't it? We just parked and walked over the road to find that gorgeous view - traffic zooming by! An adventure and a half I guess, we pack it all in when we can. Neeps are bigger than carrots, if I can get a recipe sussed, think of the size of the cakes compared with carrot cake?

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  14. Elephants eye - 'neep' sorry a very scottish word - neep is a swedish turnip - (the kind of turnips with a 'neck' where the leaves come out) and the flesh is a buttery colour. As Linnew says probably really good for a paint colour name............

    I think you call it a 'Rutabaga'? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassica_napobrassica

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  15. Janet - thank you!!!!! How lovely to know that - I'll keep an eye out.

    Ah the wonder of getting off here and away for a bit - ace and you know how much you have to pack in to make it worthwhile!

    Cheery - thank you :)

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  16. wow ... what a week! you certainly did a lot this past week. i like the bridge picture also and i love the Hermitage, although i've never been there but it's definitely on my wish list.

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  17. Love that fern photo. And do remember to breathe, am sure you will do a grand job with the new role. Enjoy!

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  18. Janet, I love ferns, anything that starts it's lifecycle as a green cornflake you've got to admire!

    I'll try remember to breathe. Xx

    Jts, Glasgow has it's gorgeous bits doesn't it? As for the hermitage, if u get the chance go, it's breathtaking.

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  19. Hi, I think I call neeps - swede by the photo. What recipe did you use for the neep buns please - they look good.

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  20. There are the neep cakes! And don't they look great with a little sugar on top... Really we need a tasting-widget for blogs-- when I find one I'll forward it right over to you! Thanks for the awesome & inspired contribution to World Neep Research. (Hope the children recover soon from the trauma.)

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