Daisy Chains and Picnics

  As we are still in the middle of renovating the bathroom and everything is in a muddle and mess, I didn't put much effort into Burns Night this year. Mum had posted out a couple of tins of Haggis so we had those along with neeps and tatties which we ate off of our tartan plates. Oh, and talking of Burns night, I managed to pour scalding hot water over my finger which instantly came up in a huge blister which burst under the pressure of the cold running water. It's left a raw patch on my finger which I have to keep covered with a dressing for a couple of days or so! So that's Burns Night 2023 in a nutshell!

  Happy Burns Night 2022 We enjoyed the usual haggis, neeps and tatties. And, yes I did add a wee dram before serving 😜 After tea and when it started getting dark we looked out some snacks and watched Brave outdoors. It was a bit cooler so we wore some cosy P.J's and warm slippers. Another enjoyable outdoor movie night.

Wow, a whole month since Christmas and now almost the end of January already!! Darren decided he wanted to come round for Burns supper, fortunately I had 2 tins of haggis left, Margaret brought these out for us during her visit in 2018, (will have to get her to send some by post for next year! 😜) I bought some smoked hake (that was all they had at the supermarket) and made Cullen skink, see recipe  here  for starters. Then came the haggis, neeps and Tatties, with a touch of Whisky sauce. I think he enjoyed it 😋 We played a few games on the TV before Darren went home.

Fortunately we still had a couple of tins of haggis left, so I used one to make a haggis wellington see  here . We were out during the day and then had to take Cerys to her friends in Margate so I had prepared the wellington before hand. It turned out better than I thought it would, the pastry was flaky, the whole thing just went well together. I used the remaining whisky sauce to pour over the tatties. So that was it, another Burns supper done and dusted.

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftan o the puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye worthy o' a grace As lang's my arm The groaning trencher there ye fill, Your hurdies like a distant hill, Your pin wad help to mend a mill In time o need, While thro your poems the dews distil Like amber bead. His knife see rustic Labour dight, An' cut you up wi ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrails bright, Like onie ditch; And then, O what a glorious sight, Warm-reekin, rich! Then horn for horn, they stretch and strive: Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive, Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve Are bent like drums; The auld Guidman, maist like to rive, 'Bethankit' hums. Is there that owre his French ragout, Or olio that wad staw a sow, Or fricassee wad mak her spew Wi perfect scunner, Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view On sic...

This year we didn't have our usual Burns night supper, as the temperature was pushing 38° we decide to cook on the BBQ, but you can check out our previous Burns nights  here  and  here But we still made time to take some photo's 😂

Happy New Year...From our house to yours, we wish you all the best for 2019. Lang may yer lum reek! We didn't do much through the day of Hogmany as Scott, Margaret and I were going on the Hobart historic river cruise for dinner see blog post  here It was a 2 hour cruise from 6 pm-8 pm so we were home by 8.30 pm. We watched some T.V, ate a few snacks and waited for the countdown. Margaret first footed us with some lovely gifts....hope she brings us luck 😅 We popped some party poppers, lit some sparklers and toasted the new year with a couple of glasses of prosecco before heading to bed.