All posts by billpaterson1@me.com

Ordinary, Scones

Wee Winchburgh Café

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We were here at the Wee Winchburgh Café yesterday only to find it closed. There was a notice on the door which read “Just had a baby,  closed today, open tomorrow“. Obviously we had to come back to meet this superwoman! It turned out to be a day of surprises!Internal view of the Wee Winchburgh Café

Surprise 1

Winchburgh village used to be on the main road between Falkirk and Edinburgh but it has long since been bypassed by the M9 motorway. Before the motorway we used to pass through it often. Back then it consisted of the Tally Ho Hotel and several streets of mainly miners cottages. Wall decor at the Wee Winchburgh CaféThe miners were employed in the shale oil industry … Scotland’s first oil bonanza.  If you blinked you could miss it. Little did we know that it harboured ambitions to be a city. Almost 4,000 new houses are being built as we speak. The original village has been completely consumed by what is now a ginormous building site. We couldn’t find the old village and our satnav unhelply said “unmapped area”. Eventually we had to stop and ask someone. However, when we eventually found it it was pretty much just as we remembered it with rows of little terraced houses.

When we entered the cafe the first thing we saw was a set of bagpipes displayed on the wall. A reminder to chase up our bagpipe man we talked about at the Turkish Mint Café in Stirling.

Surprise 2

Unsurprisingly the Wee Winchburgh Café is small … only three tables. When we asked the owner if she had indeed had a baby she just laughed. Turned out her daughter, who lives in Preston, had the baby and she had closed the café the day before so she could visit her new granddaughter, Sienna Rose. We were treated to some photos of the bonny baby and even a video of her sleeping.Internal view of the Wee Winchburgh Café

Surprise 3

Pat asked for a fruit scone and I thought I should try one of the cherry and almond scones on offer. Scone at the Wee Winchburgh CaféInitially, when we asked about cream she said that they didn’t have any. Then she came back and said she remembered she had some canned cream. And apparently, it was much better than the usual sort of canned cream. Normally we wouldn’t have what we call ‘scooshie’ cream but she sold it to us with her enthusiasm. However we weren’t prepared for the scones to come preloaded. They were presented  ‘ready to eat’ complete with jam and scooshie cream. Unfortunately, the cherry almond combo didn’t quite work and Pat wasn’t too keen on her fruit scone.either. Sadly no topscone but a great community café which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Wall decor at the Wee Winchburgh Café
The Broons visiting the Forth Rail Bridge
Surprise 4

As the couple at the next table were leaving and paying their bill they said that they would like to pay our bill as well. Wow! For years we’ve been trying to perfect that art of looking like an little old couple with a purse from which we would count out the pennies one by one but this was the first time anyone had actually fallen for it. Seriously, we thanked them and as they left they simply said “It’s Christmas“. Wonderful when complete strangers do things like that! Earlier our host, new grandmother and scone loader took a phone call from someone placing an order. She finished the call with a “That’s great, I’ll bring it over to you rather than you having to cross that busy road“. It was that sort of place.

Pig cruet set at the Wee Winchburgh Café
our salt and pepper
More surprises

There’s been lots going on that’s taken us by surprise: (a) Ukraine has blown up a Russian army General in downtown Moscow (b) the Church of England is having difficulty replacing the Archbishop of Canterbury because the prospective candidate seems to have been involved in the same sort of sex abuse scandals as the man he is replacing (c) the Royal Mail, started by Henry VIII in 1516, has been sold to Daniel Kretinsky a Czech billionaire. Britain is in a right old state … but that’s not a surprise!Sign for the Wee Winchburgh Café

Thank goodness for places like Wee Winchburgh Café whose heart is in the right place. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers.

EH52 6RA           01506 200659             Wee Winchburgh Café FB

///cared.childcare.watch

Ordinary, Scones

Mint Café

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You know how it is … you go into somewhere like Mint Café in Stirling for coffee and a scone and by the time you come out the world has changed. Okay, Syria to be more precise but who knows what is going to happen next. The hellish Assad regime has fallen and people are rejoicing. Mint Café signHowever, within a day of the Russians stopping their bombing of the country, Israel, Turkey and the US have started. All trying to protect their own interests but hardly an auspicious launch of a new era! There are all sorts of tensions mostly caused by slightly differing interpretations of the same religion … clerics have much to answer for! Nowhere are these tensions more evident than on the Turkish/Syria border with the third longest wall in the world separating the two countries.  Only the Great Wall of China and the US/Mexico wall are longer.Internal view of Mint Café, Stirling

Anyway, purely by accident we are here in Mint, a Turkish café. But why? Well, we were hoping to pick up a set of bagpipes in Stirling but having been unable to contact the guy who was renovating them, we decided to pay a visit to his shop. 

a light fitting in Mint Café, StirlingJust our luck, when we arrived, it wasn’t open. The word on the street, however, was that he normally opened a bit later in the day. What to do? Our solution was to go away and come back later, hence you find us here in Mint. Not only are we here but we are the only ones here. The place was deserted … just the Turkish owner busying himself behind the counter, and us. It seemed to be a place that specialised in cakes but there was a bowl full of scones on the counter … yeah, the day was taking a turn for the better!

I’ve always had a soft spot for Turkey since hitchhiking to the country in 1970 and experiencing the hospitality and kindness of the local people. Our host was no exception ,,, he made us very welcome. A scone in Mint Café, StirlingHe soon had us sorted with a scone and some coffee. Rather odd presentation but the scone was nice and warm with a very pleasant texture. It came with butter, jam and a dollop of ‘scooshie’ cream. The coffee was great but the rest maybe not so much. Ten out of ten for effort but some way short of a topscone.A wall hanging in Mint Café, Stirling

Afterwards, we made our way back the bagpipe shop. Hallelujah, it was open!

Lifestyle notice in Mint Café, Stirling
It’s not working

Turned out that our man was uncontactable because he had lost his phone. He had a new one but didn’t want to use it in case he found his old one?? And, in spite of having had the pipes for almost three months he hadn’t even started on them. He apologised profusely and promised to get on to it straight away. He would even deliver them to our house! Chaotic is the only way to describe his business operation but the workmanship is excellent so we remain ever hopeful of a delivery before Christmas. Internal view of Mint Café, Stirling

Being here in Mint made us feel a little closer to Syria. Bashar al-Assad and his family have successfully escaped to Russia. Presumably with him being an ophthalmologist he saw his downfall coming 😃. Sorry! The brand spanking new Syrian government has an uphill struggle ahead but hopefully they can magic up some real stability for the region.

FK8 1BJ           tel: 01786 357541           Mint Café TA

///bucks.agent.sculpture

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Pitlochry Festival Theatre

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We are back home now after our short but very enjoyable break in Pitlochry. After our posts from Fonab Castle and Victoria’s we can now bring you one from Pitlochry Festival Theatre which we visited on our final day.

Advert for the Sound OF Music
The hills are alive

Currently they are putting on the Sound Of Music. Sadly though, there are no performances on two days every week and we were there on one of them. The cafe was open, however, so all was not lost. A scone coming up but first a fairy tale!

External view of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Fairy Tale

Readers could easily be forgiven for asking how a small town like Pitlochry in rural Perthshire with a population of less than 3000 has a theatre at all. The theatre could comfortable seat a fifth of the population. The story of the theatre is a bit of a fairy tale in itself and testament to one man’s vision and single minded determination.

In the early days of WWII, John Stewart, head of Skerries College in Glasgow, hid a slip of paper in a wooden post down by the River Tummel. It read ‘When peace is declared I shall return to this spot to give thanks to God and to establish my Festival’. On VE Day he did just that.

View of Port na Craig ferry site
Port-na-Craig was the site of the original ferry that crossed the River Tummel, connecting it to Pitlochry. The theatre roof can be seen behind Port-na-Craig
Whisky Galore

Because of the post war shortage of building materials he could not get permission from the government to build the theatre.

Bridge over the River Tummel
The ferry operated until 1913, when a suspension footbridge was built

As a result the theatre began life as a large tent in the garden of his Knockendarroch House. In 1952 a storm destroyed the tent almost spelling the end of the theatre. Stewart, however, formed a Society to which he gave over his house, garden and workshops. The Society was able to build a more substantial theatre at Knockendarroch and gave him permission to continue living in his own house.  Success followed success and 1959 saw the world premier of Whisky Galore – The Musical in the current building at Port-na-Craig. Incredible! And we have to arrive on a day when there’s nothing on! However, the future for the “theatre in the hills” looks bright. The new Artistic Director is none other than local boy and fierce campaigner for Scottish Independence, Alan Cumming.  Internal view of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre

The theatre itself is impressive and the cafe is a fairly typical self service facility in the foyer area. A scone at the Pitlochry Festival TheatreIt’s a large light airy space and surprisingly busy considering the time of year and the fact that there were no live performances. There was a choice of plain and fruit scones so as usual, we chose fruit. They looked as if they had loads of fruit and they did, maybe too much. Not a topscone but very enjoyable nevertheless.

Tickety boo?

Pitlochry seems like another world where everything is just fine. When you are here in the Festival Theatre it feels even more like another world.

Sign in Pitlochry
It’s a sign

In the real world, however, things aren’t quite so tickety boo. That Far Eastern beacon of democracy, South Korea, has suddenly and inexplicably declared martial law. Luckily North Korea has sent half its army to fight with Russia in Ukraine. Russia has also resumed fighting in that almost forgotten war in Syria. In Europe, France seems determined to make itself ungovernable. Across the pond, at the risk of giving banana republics a bad name America continues with its system of Presidential pardons. Why? The hills are alive with the sound of people scratching their heads!

PH16 5DR           tel: 01796 484626         Pitlochry Theatre

///charge.choppers.talents

Scones, Top

Victoria’s

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In our previous post from Fonab Castle we were bemoaning the fact that it was no longer family run. It’s difficult to put your finger on exactly what happens when an establishment goes from “family run” to a more corporate style … it’s just different, less personal. Today, however, we are still in beautiful Pitlochry but at Victoria’s restaurant. It proudly proclaims, loud and clear that it has been “family run” since 1996. Would we notice a difference?Sign for Victoria's Pitlochry

Established on the town’s Main Street and named after the family’s new born daughter you can work out how old she is now. In the low winter sun it’s not too impressive from the outside but in the summer its large al fresco dining area will be buzzing. Inside it has a warm homely feel with lots of Christmas decorations.Internal view of Victorias Pitlochry

According to Victoria’s website Luciano Pavarotti, once said “One of the very nice things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is  we are doing and devote our attention to eating“. How true! We had just walked from Fonab Castle into town and now we felt the need to do exactly that. 

Christmas recipes

We were looked after by a young girl who was full of the joys. Turned out she was from South Africa. She and her husband had come to work here in Scotland for the next few years. A scone at Victorias PitlochryThey wanted some adventure before settling down to start a family. She informed us that her husband was responsible for making the scones. When they arrived they were accompanied by the usual little pots of jam and the biggest bowl of cream we have ever seen. Not clotted cream but pretty spectacular.  Everything was delicious. She asked us if we noticed anything different about the scones? We had but couldn’t quite identify what it was. Apparently her husband had added star anise to the recipe to make them taste more Christmasy. It worked, “Christmasy” was exactly how they tasted. Internal view of Victorias Pitlochry

Although busy attending to other customers our girl always came back to us for more chat. She even produced a map of Pitlochry and, with a felt tipped pen, marked places we should visit as well as the most picturesque route for us to take back to Fonab. This was service above and beyond which eventually persuaded us to award a topscone. Well done Victoria’s, “family run” is definitely better!

View over Loch Faskally
View across Loch Faskally
A flicker of light

At Fonab, we talked with a young Ukrainian girl who was working there. Eagle sculptureShe didn’t think her family were in immediate danger but the concern in her eyes was plain to see. With President Zelenskyy hinting at talks with Russia there appears to be a glimmer of hope for an end to the fighting. However, if Zelenskyy requires a cast iron guarantee that Putin can never return it is extremely difficult to see how that can be achieved.  But for the sake of our girl and her family, at least there may be a tiny flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed!

Today there is also a memorial service in Edinburgh for Alex Salmond. Ten years ago he led Scotland to within a whisker of independence. Needless to say, none of the promises made to the people of Scotland at that time by the UK government have been delivered … not a single one! At least Salmond knew that independence had only been delayed.

Whisky messsges in Pitlochry
In a grocery store across from Victoria’s

PH16 5BX         tel: 01796 472 670           Victoria’s

///divides.disbelief.thanks

Scones, Top

Fonab Castle

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Breaking news bannerMost of our readers are aware that we regard the scones at Fonab Castle as the best in the world and the benchmark against which we judge all others. Our first visit was back in 2015 and we have been back several times since to check that standards were being maintained. That said, we haven’t been for a couple of years and in that time the hotel has come under new management. It used to be family owned but now it has been bought by an investment company that owns a chain of high end hotels. The transition from “family run” to a chain hotel can sometimes be problematic.

Internal view of Fonab Castle
Part of the “1892 on the Loch” restaurant looking across Loch Fascally towards Ben Vrackie. 1892 is when the castle was built.
Just checking

We decided to book in for a few nights. Of course, we wouldn’t be here unless we felt duty bound to ensure standards for our readers … honest! No really … honest!

The Lounge at Fonab Castle
The Lounge/Bar

If you are looking to get back to basics, however, this is probably not the place for you. A picture at Fonab CastlePampering, on the other hand is no problem and at this stage of our lives we seem to be able to tolerate pampering very well. We had a lovely swim and then par-boiled ourselves in one of their hot tubs. There were all sorts of other spa treatments available if you were in desperate need of further relaxation.  We opted to skip these and indulge in the ultimate relaxation … tea and scones.

However, it was with a degree of trepidation that we ordered a cream tea. Obviously, it would be disastrous if it failed the “best scone in the world” test. Our tried and tested benchmark that had lasted almost ten years would have gone.  It didn’t bear thinking about! Scones at Fonab CastleThe expectation was that we would each get two ideally sized scones presented in a lovely  linen napkin to keep them warm. They would be “melt in the mouth” and be accompanied with delicious jam and cream. Sadly, it was not to be.  Presentation was okay but not what it used to be. The scones were perfectly acceptable, in fact they were topscones but definitely not the best scones in the world. Attentive readers will remember that we once asked the Fonab chef for the secret ingredient in his scones. He simply replied “happiness in the kitchen.” Presumably the kitchen these days isn’t as happy as it used to be?

External view of Fonab Castle
Alternatives

Disappointed and slightly traumatised, we had to wrack our collective brains to think of an alternative. Not easy! We had become so used to thinking of Fonab as the be all and end all of scones that it was difficult to think outside of that particular box. Had we just become complacent over the years? However, a few worthy contenders immediately came to mind … Schloss Roxburgh and Mingary Castle as well as Lamlash House to name but three. We are spoiled for choice. 

Christmas decor at Fonab CastleLater, we had a delicious dinner followed by drinks in the bar chatting to some lovely people including a lovely family from North Carolina. They were keen to learn about Scottish history and whisky. Obviously, from an educational point of view, several  whiskies had to be sniffed, looked at and quaffed, followed by knowledgeable nods and hushed mmmms. They were on holiday so we didn’t burden them with our scone traumas.

PH16 5ND          tel: 01796 470140               Fonab Castle

///soup.material.newsreel

Ordinary, Scones

Glenkinchie

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Statue of Johnnie Walker with his dogToday we are in the pretty little hamlet of Glenkinchie just a little southeast of east of Edinburgh. About 90 people live here. It’s a little bit unusual. because unlike the surrounding towns and villages which are all built from stone, here it’s all red brick. Not sure why this should be but it certainly applies to the distillery in the heart of the village which is entirely made of red brick. It’s owned by the drinks giant Diageo who use it as the “Lowland”corner of what they call the “four corners distilleries” The other three are Clynelish (Highland) Cardhu (Speyside) and Caol Ila (Island) and they are all used in the making of the Johnnie Walker range of blended whiskies.Sign at Glenkinchie Distillery
Battle of the distilleries
We have a love hate relationship with Diageo. About thirty years ago the company also owned our local Rosebank Distillery just a few hundred yards from our home in Falkirk. It was generally seen as the King of Lowland whiskies, however they closed it in favour of  Glenkinchie … booo! It fell into a sorry state. This year, however, there were fanfares as Rosebank was opened again. Bought by Ian MacLeod Distillers who spent £millions returning it to its former glory. The town also has the added bonus of another brand new Falkirk Distillery. All is forgiven, hence we thought this rival might be worthy of a visit.
Internal view Glenkinchie Distillery
part of the visitor centre restaurant
Becoming legal
It began in 1825 by a couple of local farmers presumably trying o diversify away from farming. They ran it for about 12 years as Milton distillery before deciding to make it legal and renaming it Glenkinchie after the little river Kinchie which runs past it.
Window seat at Glenkinchie Distillery
looking out on to the gardens
Scones
Distillery tours are of no particular interest. They’re all much of a muchness so we decided to leave this one out. A scone st Glenkinchie DistilleryScones, of course are another matter and we had spotted some in their café restaurant earlier. The staff were very friendly and helpful and they so had us sorted with some fruit scones and coffee. No cream but there was plenty butter and jam served on nice crockery with unusual bronze cutlery. Everything was well presented and although it wasn’t a topscone it was very enjoyable nevertheless. Sign for Glenkinchie Distillery
 
Johnnie Walker is the world’s biggest selling scotch whisky brand with 205 million litres going down the hatch every year. That’s a lot of whisky and a fair amount of that must be made here at Glenkinchie. It is marketed under different coloured labels, red, black, green, blue etc. we’re not sure what the difference is except to say that ‘blue’ is four times the price of ‘red’, a marketing triumph!Whisky barrels at Glenkinchie Distillery
 
Troubled
We’re raising a glass of Glenkinchie to toast the health of all our readers in this strange and troubled world. Logo of glenkinchieThe ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Not before time many might say. He is now classed as a ‘fugitive’ along with Mad Vlad Putin. We live in peculiar times when the leaders of Israel and Russia are international fugitives and America’s President Elect is a convicted felon.  Another dram please and make it a large one!
 
EH34 5ET          tel: 01875 342012            Glenkinchie Distillery
 
///gravitate.bongo.talking
Scones, Uncategorized

Lost Shore

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Weird things happen. By “weird” we mean things that just seem a bit out of place, a bit incongruous! Logo of Lost Shore CanteenThese days that takes in a lot of things. For us, surfing is normally associated with sun bleached beautiful people on beaches like Bondi and Waikiki, not Scotland! But what do we know? Here we are at Lost Shore Surfing Centre and it’s only twenty minutes away from home on the outskirts of Edinburgh. We know the area well because the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena is in a quarry right next door but “surfing?” It just opened last week so we thought we should be nosey and check it out. Maybe catch a wave or two.

External view of Lost Shore Canteen
The Canteen restaurant

From the car park you have to walk down into a large sunken area which presumably was also some sort of quarry at one time. It’s incredible!  A kind of assualt on the senses.  Music playing, hundreds of people milling around, some with surf boards, some just lounging in deckchairs (warm enough in a wetsuit) and others in the water actually surfing.Surfers at Lost Shore Canteen

They are surfing in what turns out to be Europe’s largest wave pool. It’s situated in a 60 acre country park with accommodation, restaurants, bar, shops and a wellness studio. The accommodation consists of anything from small pods to more than fifty three and four bedroom lodges. It’s almost a small town and seems to have just dropped out of the sky. Miraculous, it may be but it has obviously been a long time in the making. Ten years planning and construction apparently and we didn’t know anything about it. Surders at Lost Shore Canteen

There are two ponds each making more than thirty different types of wave. Don’t ask how they can produce more than 1000 waves per hour but they do.Internal view of Lost Shore Canteen

Because they seemed to have thought of everything we thought there wouldn’t be a problem getting a scone in the Canteen restaurant. It houses three well known Scottish restaurants serving a variety of food.A morning roll at Lost Shore CanteenTurns out scones probably aren’t really cool enough for the surfing fraternity. They want straight forward food and aren’t too bothered about how it’s served.  No scones so just to add a bit more weirdness to our day I had what they called a “morning roll” in the middle of the afternoon.

Not like a roll, it was more reminiscent of a cinnamon bun. No idea how it got its name. It was good though and came in a polystyrene box, the coffee in a paper cup. Great vibe though! We ended up chatting to a family who had driven up from Durham and were staying for a few days.  Their teenage daughter was learning to surf so they thought the whole Lost Shore facility was fabulous.Surfboards at Lost Shore Canteen

Apparently Scotland has some of the best waves in the world. We should have known that because one of our favourite islands Tiree holds the annual Tiree Wave Classic one of the oldest competitions of its kind. They’ve even written books about it. We consider ourselves educated. 

Even weirder

However, Scotland doesn’t have a monopoly on weird happenings. Take the recent Presidential election in America for instance. With apologies to our American readers, here’s a little quiz.

This is how the rest of the world views Trump becoming President Elect … again! It is, however, democracy in action so we will just have to suck it up as they say. However, the prospect of four years of schoolboy economics isn’t exactly thrilling. Throwing an isolationist ring around the US in an attempt to make the wealthiest people on the planet even wealthier at the expense of the poor elsewhere is more than a little bit crazy. Of course, there will be the inevitable backlash but Trump will be gone again by then. That’s assuming he hasn’t done like Xi and Putin and made himself President for Life. Internal view of Lost Shore Canteen

Also weird was the ancient Mike Tyson’s recent fight with a YouTuber more than thirty years his junior.  Whatever happened to standards?Surfers at Lost Shore Canteen

Perhaps not so weird was the fact that we seemed to be the oldest folk here … probably by a factor of almost forty years! Just the thought of trying to get in and out of a wet suit is exhausting. No waves and no scones were caught by us today but it was great just being in this amazing place. 

EH28 8AY            tel: 0131 287 4590             Lost Shore

///imposes.hazel.arise

ps: We thought we were finished with Pat’s recent Macmillan Coffee Morning but more contributions have come in. Final total now stands at £4,810.05 … amazing!

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Dynamic Earth

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The title picture is of Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh with the Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat in the background. Obviously you want to know the age of Arthur’s Seat, everyone does, don’t they? It’s a 346 million year old extinct volcano, give or take a couple of million. Back then, fire and lava would have been spewing everywhere!  But,of course, that all happened when Scotland was much closer to the equator than it is today … obviously!  Another old Celtic explanation is that a huge dragon used to terrorise the city until one day it ate too much,  lay down to sleep and turned into the Arthur’s Seat.  Today, looking up at the craggy hill, for some reason the dragon explanation seems much more believable.External view of Dynamic Earth

Awkward questions

The only reason we are able to furnish you with these little nuggets is because we’re here with a couple of granddaughters at the Dynamic Earth Science Centre and Planetarium. It tells the epic story of how planet earth began. The girls are always asking awkward questions so this seemed like the place to get some answers.Internal view of Dynamic Earth

You know how they say that the best place to start is at the beginning. Well. here you can enter a Time Machine which takes you all the way back to the Big Bang. The visual and sound effects are amazing. At one point you have to hang on to railings as the ground violently shifts and rumbles beneath your feet and volcanoes explode all around. Luckily, rather than millions of years, it only takes about 90 minutes to walk all the interactive experiences from the Big Bang back to the present day. However, you do emerge from the Time Machine with more than a touch of information overload.Lola and Ebba holding up the world

Facts and figures

Our 9 and 11 year old girls are fascinated by tectonic plates and how mountains and valleys are formed so this was ideal for them. Did you know that continents move 2cm every year? Did you know that 200,000 people are born ever day or that 2 people die every second? Well, if you didn’t, you do now!

These days, for Pat and I, information overload kicks in pretty early. What a relief then to find A cheese scone at Dynamic Earththat there was no thinking  or decisions required at the cafe. Cheese scones, take them or leave them!  We took them along with a bowl of lentil soup. The girls had a kiddies goodie bag which they emptied in double quick time.. The soup/cheese scone combo was surprisingly good and much easier digested than some of the rather mind boggling facts and figures. It was never going to be a topscone but enjoyable nevertheless.Internal view of Dynamic Earth

Differentiation

Our 11 year old is fascinated by Time Machines. When we suggested that she just wanted to go back to the beginning of time, we were emphatically corrected. “No. I just want to go back 70,000 years!” Okay, why just 70,000 years?. “Because that’s when human’s cognitive abilities developed so that they could differentiate themselves from other animals“. she explained in her serious voice. A slow “okaaay” was our only response. These girls are a constant source of surprise and joy.

Cognitive development
Lola holding up the world
Maybe she can save the world?

However, given that we have presumably been developing our cognitive skills over 70,000 years it makes the slanging match that characterises the American Presidential elections somewhat puzzling. You’d think, after all that time, that selecting the most powerful person on earth would be a tad more sophisticated.

But we should know by now that people are fickle. Australians, for example. Recently Lidia Thorpe protested during King Charles’s visit to Australia with “You are not my King“. Charlie’s official title is “King Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth”. The question is why do people, particularly straight thinking Australians, put up with this sort of nonsense? Even the King himself, a thoroughly decent chap, looked embarrassed being reminded of Britain’s genocidal land grabbing tendencies. Privately, we suspect he would have been on Lidia’s side.

Now they are discussing dropping the word “Empire” from the King’s honours list. Could this be yet another attempt to sanitise Britain’s history. Perish the thought!

External view of Dynamic Earth
Starting to get dark as we left Dynamic Earth
Fungi?

The only slight disappointment to our day was the  Planetarium visit. We had always assumed that Planetariums only did things about planets.  On this occasion it was all about fungi! Interesting enough but not what we had expected. In terms of learning, we did learn not to make assumptions! An very enjoyable day of time travel for everyone concerned.

EH8 8AS         tel: 0131 550 7800             Dynamic Earth

///clots.lived.margin

Ordinary, Scones

Cronies

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There are questions and answers in this post. For example … is vandalism still vandalism if it takes the form of a poem. Or, could it then take on some other cultural significance such as  ‘art’.  What if the poem itself is seen by some to be offensive or in poor taste? Okay, okay, there may be more questions than answers in this post from Cronies bar at the Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling.

Reception area at the Golden Lon Hotel
Reception at the Golden Lion

And, while we’re asking questions, do you know the collective noun for a group of cronies. We don’t either but some think it might be “The House of Lords”.

Internal view of the Golden Lon Hotel
Cronies Bar
Inscriptions

The ‘vandal’ in question, of course, is Robert Burns, Scotland’s national bard.  How could someone who wrote a celebration of friendship and memories with friends in “Auld Lang Syne” be a vandal? Not that difficult as it happens! 1786 turned out to be an eventful year for the ploughman poet.Logo of the Golden Lon Hotel Earlier in the year, the Earl of Glencairn had gifted him a diamond pointed pen. The intention probably was that he might inscribe some suitable ditty on one of his drinking glasses during dinner. Burns may well have done that but later he used his present to inscribe poems on windows all over Scotland. He even inscribed a window at the Cross Keys Inn, just a few hundred yards from our home in Falkirk. On this occasion, however, he was visiting Stirling Castle and staying at the newly opened Golden Lion.Commemorative plaque in Cronnies bar

Power

The poem in question had no name but has since become known simply as “The Stirling Lines“. In it he displayed Jacobite leanings and his dislike of Hanoverian Royalty and George III in particular. Such was the furore that followed he was forced to return a few months later and smash the offending window to avoid prosecution. So to some, the Stirling Lines poem was ‘art’ but, obviously, to George III ( generally thought to be deranged) and his cronies it was just “libellous vandalism”. And they had the power to make things extremely difficult for the poet.

Painting of Burns with his cronies
Burns with some of his cronies at the Golden Lion

We wonder if the hotel made Burns pay for a replacement window because it has been dining out on the poem ever since. The words are inscribed all over the place.  And we are here dining out on scones in Cronies Bar as well. It’s a comfortable atmospheric space – you could almost imagine Burns and his cronies at the next table in lively discussion over the problems of the day.

A scone at the Golden Lon HotelThe staff were very friendly and soon had us equipped with some fruit scones, nicely presented with little jars of jam and cream as well as a couple of delicious Puro coffees. Both scones were lovely and warm and mine was perfect. However, we thought the jam and cream portions were a bit on the meagre side and Pat felt that a bit of her scone was slightly undercooked. What are we like? Moan, moan, moan! No topscone but pretty close.

Wood carving commemorating wee courin' timorous beastie poem
A large wood carving depicting the ploughman poet and his “Timorous Beastie” poem
Mad

So even back in the 18th century things could be a bit mad politically.  Today we have the UK government sending £millions in Humanitarian Aid to a destroyed Gaza to alleviate the disaster they helped create. We are tempted to agree with George Bernard Shaw when he said “the older I get, the more convinced I am that this planet is being used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.” Burns would have probably have agreed!

FK8 1BD          tel: 01786 475351            Cronies Bar

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ps In our last post from Macmillan Coffee Morning we said we would update you on the final amount raised.. It was £4,810.05 … fantastic! Many many thanks to everyone for their amazing generosity and helping make it such a happy enjoyable event.

Scones, Uncategorized

Macmillan Coffee Morning

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Okay, after our post from Dumpton, this is another rather personal post. Pat has held a Macmillan Coffee Morning for the past few years in aid of Macmillan Nurses who look after people with cancer. They did a fantastic job with our son, Rory, when he was reaching the end of his life.  They made things much easier for him and us.

Macmillan nurses provide free services to people living with cancer and their families. They work closely with patients to alleviate pain, manage discomfort, and boost overall well-being – both mental and physical. Yet, as a charity they are entirely dependent on public donations, hence the coffee mornings which are held all over the UK at this time of year.

Reunions
My sister arrived form the south of France to man the coffee machine

Pat’s coffee mornings have become something of an institution. For a couple of hours every year our house is buzzing with a happy throng of people who come to support her and raise money for Macmillan nurses. Many are neighbours and people from the surrounding area. Some haven’t seen each other since the last coffee morning so there is the sound of joyous reunions everywhere. Friends and family, of course, are roped into to help with arrangements.

Our daughters took us by surprise by flying up from London to lend a hand … fantastic

Our favourite coffee company, Henry’s, generously supplies a machine a lots of tea and coffee to ensure everyone is kept suitably refreshed.

Sandy scanning me at Pat's Macmillan Coffee Morning
My brother scanning me

Of course, with around sixty people attending there is also overspill into the garden.Overspill to garden at Pat's Macmillan Coffee Morning

Disappearing scones
For Pat it is a hectic but wonderful couple of hours. The culmination of several days of baking cakes and making sandwiches and sausage rolls. She even made scones.scones at Pat's Macmillan Coffee Morning Morning
I can’t say what they were like because they simply vanished.  Friends also brought baking and things to sell.  Suffice to say, everyone’s combined efforts online and on the day raised about £3,400  … amazing!
Pat finding a quiet corner to have some of her own baking

With the world in such turmoil it’s great to be reminded that ordinary folk are just wonderful. A huge thanks to everyone who helped and gave so generously at the coffee mornings. Donations are still coming in so we will let you know the final total in due course.

Macmillan Support Line –  free 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week, 8am — 8pm).