A horse, a horse!

Dugs frae Fife!

Well, we went to the horse show.  And it was rather fun to be honest.  I enjoyed seeing the foxhounds from the Fife Hunt (not that I knew there was was a Fife hunt until then) and herself took multiple shots of big horses jumping over fences - she was last seen editing out all the blurry ones and the multiples of a rear view of a horse... But I did quite enjoy the skill involved.  Anyway, there was music from the bandstand  if I got seriously bored (including an opera wumman doing most of the background numbers from Inspector Morse with the background of Hopetoun House which was very Inspector Morse-ish) and vintage vroom-vrooms including an E Type Jaguar!  We could have gone and shot at clay pigeons, but we decided to enjoy the sunshine instead.

Foodwise we had great fun - hog roast on a bun with apple sauce for lunch!  Proper traditional ice cream cone, pork, leek and pancetta pie for dinner another day and yummy homemade shortbread for munching with tea.  When we got back I did the cooking (yeah, I know typical male making a a song and dance about something the other half does daily) but I have to say with some pride that I do a rather decent Risotto Primavera!

St Joseph's day

 

Feeling slightly Lionel Blue-ish today, so instead of piety, pastry!  Wish I thought about having one of these today! A zeppola is an Italian  St. Joseph's Day cake.  These are a kind of doughnut and  are usually topped with powdered sugar. They can be filled with custard, jelly, pastry cream or a butter-and-honey mixture.  Zeppole are traditionally eaten on La Festa di San Giuseppe. In Rome, Naples and Sicily and Malta, these little pastries are sold on many streets and are sometimes gifts on this day. They are also common in Italian-American communities in the United States.

Actually the Memorare of St Joseph seems a good way to remember the step-Father of the Redeemer.

Remember, O most pure spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

my sweet protector St. Joseph

that no one ever had recourse to thy protection

or implored thy aid without obtaining relief.

Confiding therefore in thy goodness,

I come before thee, and humbly supplicate thee.

Oh, despise not my petitions,

foster-father of the Redeemer,

but graciously receive them.

Amen.

St John the Baptist's Day

 

It's John the Baptist's birthday today, hence the Caravaggio above, which Rachel and I saw in the Rembrandt's House museum in Amsterdam on it's 1st public outing from the private collection where it normally lives.  I went to see Mum, visited Dad's grave with her and then we went out for a Spanish meal (Tortilla (that's a tattie   omelette) for a starter, followed by Arroz Valenciana (chicken & bacon risotto, only Spanish rather than Eyetie) for me. Mum went for the patatas with garlic mayo and then the Hoose penne).  Yes, I know Cowdenbeath isn't where you'd expect any cuisine less commonplace than a chippy, a Curry House or a Chinese, but hey we are getting better.  We bumped into the big sister of one of my best mates at High School and chatted.  Kevin is (evidently) bald, married and living in Angus.I intend to avoid replicating 2 out of those 3!  Happy Baptiser's birthday!

Best laid plans etc.

Plans are often re-written at short notice. I have had to jiggle my shifts to help at work, so must find an earlier service on Sunday in order to be at base for 12 noon. My two split days off this week were both blessed with good weather - so one was spent mooching in a book shop after a veggie lunch, then reading my purchase on the grass in Princes Street Gardens with a take away latte! T'other was spent spent lurking round the Botanics in company, plus looking at a Glasgow Boys exhibition in the National Gallery and a very tasty Chinese meal in a dowdy looking restaurant where us westerners were in a very definite minority! Good going really.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

Last night after work, I met up with a friend from my London days who was in town with the parish choir he sings with. They were doing the services at St Mary's (the choir being on post Easter break). So a very decent Italian meal in Bar Roma ensued: carapaccio of beef, risotto Della Oeste and Cassata Sicilliana (or ice cream in real speak!) for me, antipasti (that's cold meat in Scotland), lamb cutlets in Garlic and rosemary (the wife hates both lamb and garlic, so a wee treat whilst off the matrimonial leash!) and tiramisu for Tim! A nice guy (for a Tory) and a Yorkie, we ganged up together when working with the effete Southerners in Ealing.

This morning was an enjoyable Parish Mass at St Ninian's Comely Bank (covering for the Encumbrance), then up to Corstorphine, only to find my charge is oot with his family and there is hee-haw to do until he returns. Sunbathing with a coffee beckons!

A ginger Jesus and spinach day.

No, the meds ain't causing hallucinations: I took myself off to the Royal Scottish Academy this morning to look at the Turner in January exhibition and then into the National Gallery to feast my mince pies on familiar and well-loved things of beauty - a magnificent Immaculate Conception by some Spanish guy whose name begins with a 'Z', a still life with Monstrance by a Dutch artist and Poussin's "7 Sacraments" series. I hadn't noticed until today that in Poussin's "Baptism" picture (where John the Baptist is baptising Jesus in the Jordan) that Jesus was a redhead. Hence, "Ginger Jesus"! I'd got out of the habit, I realised, of refreshing my inner spirit with time spent enjoying art and beauty and I must make time in future to do this more often.

Then I went into the cafe under St John's Princes Street. In August it was taken over by Henderson's (the famed Edinburgh veggie restaurant) and I haven't been in. So I treated myself to spanokiptta (Greek spinach pie made with filo pastry) and salads, which brought back memories of wonderful holidays in Rhodes and Cyprus. I now have time to enjoy my idleness given that it's time limited and I'm going to make the most of it!

Music for pleasure today: Frankie Goes To Hollywood and "The Power of Love"



And just so nobody forgets the hoo-hah in Ireland:


Happy St Aelred's Day btw!

Grub n' stuff

Dougalthinkists will be aware that I rather enjoy my grub. Mercifully, I am blessed with a metabolism that burns calories faster than an Olympic sprinter on amphetamines, so I can do so with impunity. Today was a case in point. I was taken for lunch to Bar Roma and indulged my inner fat Opera singer with a plate of delightful Onion soup (lashings of Parmesan) followed by a really rather tasty artichoke risotto. Last week I discovered the local Thai place had changed hands and had seriously improved. Nice sea bass starter. Ah, the joys of good food! And tonight's sausage and Murphy's casserole was just as yummy. And the poached pears!! (Dougal tip: poaching in apple juice, with a mulled wine spice sachet and a good slug of Drambuie works very well!)

I also treated myself a little by nipping into the Edinburgh University Library to have a shuftie at their current exhibition: a very fine 11th century Psalter (probably illustrated on Iona) which is the old book produced in Scotland still in the country, a wonderfully preserved copy of our 1st printed book Bp Elphinstone's Aberdeen Breviary of 1509. A 1599 text of Romeo and Juliet in splendid nick, a copy of the the 1st printed book in Gaelic (Knox's Book of Common Order). But the prettiest of them all was a lovely book of designs of the medallions in the Choir School of St Mary's Cathedral by Phoebe Ann Traquair. Just gorgeous! Do pop in if you get the chance.