Daisy Chains and Picnics

Cerys is daft on anything Llama and Alpaca so when we found out there was an Alpaca farm near Kelso we jumped at the chance to go for a visit and let the girls walk an alpaca.  We booked the last stroll session of the day and headed off from mum's to Hownan, a small village located in the Scottish Borders not far from Kelso, where the family run Bierhope Farm is nestled into the foothills of the beautiful Cheviot Hills. We were met by the very friendly Lynne and husband Mark. We were shown to their all boy brood of charming, mischievous and handsome Alpaca's with equally charming names; Tenzing, Graffiti, Yehudi, Monty and Sam. These chaps were their first Alpaca's who joined them in April 2017, they now have 13 Alpaca's including two babies born this year. Cerys was introduced to her walking pal Graffiti, a very laid back sort of chap, easy to lead, Jodie was introduced to Sam a more funny, mischievous and quirky lad who needed a ...

While sorting through things I came across this Scottish poem that my mum gave me years ago, my gran loved this one...so here it is.... Wha's Like Us ? The average Englishman in the home he calls his castle, slips into his national costume ---- a shabby raincoat...patented by.... ...Chemist Charles Macintosh from Glasgow, Scotland. En route to his office he strides along the English lane, surfaced by.... ...John Macadam from Ayr, Scotland. He drives an English car fitted with tyres invented by.... ...John Boyd Dunlop, Veterinary Surgeon of Dreghorn, Scotland. At the office he receives the mail bearing adhesive stamps invented by.... ...John Chalmers, Bookseller and Printer of Dundee, Scotland. During the day he uses the telephone invented by.... ...Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. At home in the evening his daughter pedals her bicycle invented by.... ...Kirkpatrick Macmillan, Blacksmith of Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He watches ...

We love pork cooked any style, it is delicious with any combination of flavours and spices but we especially enjoy it as a treat on a Sunday roasted with crackling and complete with potatoes, veg and gravy. I used cola as the liquid base as I had some leftover from a recent sleepover, I normally make icy poles with it but as it is winter, no one wants to eat cold things but you can use chicken or vegetable stock if you prefer. The cola made a deliciously sweet/savoury gravy that went well with the pork. I took the string casing off the pork roll and lay it out flat then seasoned the meat, making sure that the entire area was seasoned. I propped the pork up on some onions quarters and garlic to keep it as straight and flat as possible, this helps to get a great crispy crackling. Ingredients 2.5 kg boneless skin on shoulder pork 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp onion salt 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1.5 tsp   Asian ginger spice rub 1 tbsp olive oil 2 garlic...