Sparks of Hope

Sparks is the brainchild of Annie at McGuffy's Reader, and her words are the best to use to explain:

"I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!"

The aim is to post a positive quote, thought, poem, or verse, so here is my contribution. 

Pop over to McGuffy's Reader to get more positive inspiration for you week.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Culture, History, & Deep Fried Chocolate in Stonehaven

On the east coast of Scotland, 18 miles south of Aberdeen is the town of Stonehaven which was originally a fishing village. It's now a very popular tourist destination. We went to Stonehaven for a very specific reason that the title of this post might have given away - we'll get to that in a moment.

It's a fairly typical Scottish seaside town with large caravan parks on the edge of town, lots of takeaway shops, and quirky little boutique shops like the one this very colourful pushbike was outside.

The harbour is very pretty and there were lots of people around enjoying the fine day we'd been granted with.

Now the reason for our visit. The rest of the UK often joke about how the Scottish will deep fry anything as the traditional diet used to leave a lot to be desired and as a result Scotland has the highest rate of heart disease per head of population in the UK.

Through these comments about deep frying anything the deep fried mars bar was born and The Carron Fish Bar in Stonehaven was the birthplace of this Scottish 'delicacy', so of course that's where I wanted to try this sweet treat.

And here it is in all it's glory, a mars bar fried in the same batter that the fish is coated in. I can't imagine how many calories are in it but we're not thinking about that.

Did I enjoy it? I would say yes. I mean what's not to like, crispy light batter surrounding melted chocolate and runny caramel - slightly odd but still scrummy. My beloved wasn't very keen but he did have one mouthful and I wish I'd taken a picture of his face as it wasn't a very happy one. It's not something I'd necessarily eat again but I'm glad I've tried this bit of Scottish quirkiness.

Lobster pots piled up on the harbour.

The two of us - the building to the far right of Ken is the oldest building in the town and now houses a museum.

A Mercat Cross is the Scottish for market cross, the place where markets were allowed to take place and often where announcements were read out to the locals.

We saw a couple of barometers whilst we were in Aberdeenshire and they were both pointing to 'change' - I think this must be quite a common forecast for this part of the world.

Looking from near the harbour along to the main town where there is a lovely walk along the front.

As we walked along the sea front we discovered some really interesting sculptures made out of metal. The boats that have fish as the workmen were really cute and so intricate.

Note that the fish worker is wearing a knitted beanie and smoking a cigarette.

A selection of the other sculptures including a wonderful lighthouse that if you look in the windows you can see fish in bed, and in another room they're sitting on a couch watching tv.

Just outside of Stonehaven, on a dramatic outcrop of stone, sits Dunnottar Castle where there has been some sort of fortress since about 400 AD - a long, long, long, long time ago. It's such a stunning setting and one day we'll go back and actually explore the castle - it was getting a bit late in the day when we got there and the sign says that it takes at least two hours to do it justice.

We did however have time to stop in at Dunnottar Church graveyard - well it would have been rude not to.

There are some really old graves and amongst them were these two that really intrigued us as we'd never seen quite this shape before. I'm going to have to do a bit of research, which isn't a hardship as graveyards are one of my favourite things.

My beloved reading the Covenanters stone which is the memorial to the 122 men and 45 women that were imprisoned in the castle in 1685 and all died. There crime was to adhere to the belief that God was the head of the church in Scotland and not the King of England.

This small building beside the church was built in 1582 and is called the Marischal Aisle. It was built by George Keith, the 5th Earl of Marischal, for his family's burials. He died in 1623 and is buried in the aisle and there is the below plaque to commemorate him.

A damaged plaque that was leaning against the building.

Beautiful autumn leaves on a tree in the more modern part of the graveyard.

That was our lovely day out to Stonehaven - culture, history, and 'fine dining'. What do you think, would you try a deep fried mars bar?

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a really lovely week.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Friday's Friendly Musings

One of my favourite things to do, apart from reading, is writing, so I love this blog link up at McGuffy's Reader. In the Friendly Fill-ins we're given written prompts (the words in purple bold) and then complete them how we wish.

1. I would like to interview so many different people that I had to split this one into two, one who's already dead and one that's alive - I love these type of questions.  

Firstly I would have loved to have had the chance to interview Mother Teresa as her life fascinates me and I nearly always include her in my list of people I would invite to my perfect dinner party. The top three questions I would want to ask her are:

• How did you maintain your faith when faced with so many horrific events during your lifetime?
• Did you ever experience romantic love?
• What one moment in your life is the one you are most thankful for?

The second person, who is still alive, would be the Dalai Lama. A man who at the age of two was identified as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and entered the monastery at the age of six. The top three questions I'd like to ask his holiness are:

• After having so much responsibility put on you at such a young age, did you ever feel like rebelling and turning your back on it all?
• Who do you think has had the worst impact on the world during your lifetime and what would you say to them if you had them alone in a room?  
• Having visited well over sixty countries, which place (apart from Tibet) has been your favourite and where did you meet the nicest people?                               

2. I would like to be interviewed by Ellen Degeneres. I was debating between Oprah and Ellen as I think they're both amazing women, but I chose Ellen as she makes me laugh as much as she makes me cry and I think I'd feel more comfortable with her.

3. Halloween night I'm working till 8pm so my beloved will have to deal with any children that come to the door. Last year we only had one child call as we're not really in an easy position for trick or treaters. When we lived in London we used to ignore the intercom as we lived upstairs and not all trick or treaters in London were of the nice variety.

4. Once Halloween is over, I'll look forward to all the Christmas decorations taking over the shops and town streets. They always make me smile.

Who would you like to interview if you had the chance? Before you go, pop over to McGuffy's Reader to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a fun filled weekend.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Nothing to see here, just the Princess chilling.

Top Ten Thursday - Childhood Sweets

This week Tamara, at Part-time Working Hockey Mom, had asked us to list our favourite Halloween candy as children. We didn't do Halloween but here is my top ten of my favourite sweets growing up. I have to say that this post is going to make me really homesick as I can't buy any of these in the shops here.

1. Definite number one is Violet Crumble.This is a fine honeycomb covered in milk chocolate - so delicious

2. Clinkers. Chocolate covered candy in different colours where you never know what colour you're going to get.

3. Musk Sticks. These are soft candy sticks that taste like musk - I know, that sounds disgusting but they are surprisingly addictive.

4. Chokito. A layer of caramel fudge surrounded by rice krispies and chocolate. Super sweet so the sugar rush is quite epic - it's one of the few chocolate bars that actually make my teeth ache it's so sweet.

5. Cobbers. A hard caramel covered in chocolate that would get stuck in your teeth and was probably hated by dentists the world over.

6. Wizz Fizz. A paper bag full of sherbert powder with a little pink shovel for eating it with. I always ended up getting white powder all over the place.

7. Caramello Koala. Chocolate, shaped like a koala, and filled with caramel - what more could you want.

8. Cherry Ripe. Cherries, coconut, and rich dark chocolate - so delicious.

9. Jelly Beans (but they have to be Allens). These are a real taste of childhood and even though I now prefer the more exotic flavoured jelly beans that are on the market, nothing can beat the black ones in an Allens bag.

10. Bananas. A yellow banana shaped sweet that has a sugary banana flavour - I used to love buying these in my mixed sweets from the shop near my primary school.

I'm craving sweets now so if anyone in Australia wants to send me a care package then I really wouldn't mind. What were your favourite sweets growing up? Before you go, pop over to Tamara's blog, Part-time Working Hockey Mom and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and treat yourself to your favourite piece of candy this week.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

The Hodgepodge via Tennessee and Tasmania

After a one week break the Wednesday Hodgepodge is back and thanks to Joyce at the blog From This Side of the Pond for a very interesting set of questions.

1. What's surprised you most about your life or life in general? 

What still surprises me in life is how judgemental and discriminatory people can be to others just because of skin colour, religion, nationality, sexuality, or gender. None of these things make the person - just because I'm a white Australian christian heterosexual female doesn't make me better or worse that others, how I behave and treat others should be what matters. (sorry, slight soapbox moment there).

2.  Sweet potato fries, sweet potato casserole, a baked sweet potato, a bowl of butternut squash soup, a caramel apple or a slice of pumpkin pie...you have to order one thing on this list right now. Which one do you go for?

Pumpkin pie - my beloved made one for the first time recently and it was scrummy.

3. What's a famous book set in your home state? Have you read it? On a scale of 1-5 (5 is fantastic) how many stars does it rate?

I live in Scotland but my home state is on the other side of the world, Tasmania. A wonderful Tasmanian author is Richard Flanagan who always features Tasmania in his novels. His book The Narrow Road to the North won the Man Booker Prize in 2014. The novel of his I would recommend people read is The Sound of One Hand Clapping, which is jointly set in the 1950's during the development of Tasmania's Hydroelectric Dams and the late 1980's where the grown up daughter is trying to understand the past. It's incredibly well written and I would give it a five and recommend it to everyone.

4. There are 60 days until Christmas...have you started your shopping? How do you stay organized for the holidays?

No, no, no!!! I will start as soon as it's November and I try to keep organised with lists and reviewing my lists from previous years. I do love Christmas and how pretty everything looks and I especially love fairy lights everywhere. This was a garden centre we went in today - they have their Christmas grotto set up already.

5. October 26th is National Tennessee Day. Have you ever lived or spent any time in Tennessee? Is this a state you'd like to visit one day? The top rated tourist attractions in Tennessee are-

The Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Gatlinburg area), Elvis's Graceland (Memphis), Birth of the Music Biz (Memphis and Nashville), Dollywood (Pigeon Forge), Tennessee's Military Heritage (many battlefields), The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home), The Parthenon (Nashville), Oak Ridge American Museum of Science and Energy, Chattagnooa and the Tennessee Valley Railroad, Downtown Knoxville, Lookout Mountain, The Titanic Museum (Pigeon Forge), The Museum of Appalachia (Clinton), and The Lost Sea Adventure (Sweetwater)

How many on this list have you seen? Which one on the list would you most like to see?

I've never been to Tennessee but there are loads of things that I would love to visit in the state. Of the list above I think the number one thing would be the Military Heritage sights, and especially Shiloh National Military Park. The second place I'd have to go to is the Grand Ole Opry - I grew up hearing about this home of country music so would have to see it for myself.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Today I drank sake for the first time. We'd had a lovely meal at a Japanese restaurant and the owner gave us a glass each, on the house. The problem being that Ken doesn't drink alcohol so for fear of looking rude I drank both of them. They were small glasses, one being a plum sake (yummy) and the other tasted like a lemon drink (even more scrummier). For those that don't know, sake is a Japanese drink made from fermented rice. I also loved the little glasses that the sake was served in, they were very tactile and fitted perfectly in my hand.

What would your answers have been to the questions? Before you go, pop over to Joyces blog, From This Side of the Pond to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with their hodgepodge.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and try something new this week.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Holding hands with our Princess.

Looking for Fairies in Rosemarkie

Today we headed to Rosemarkie which is on the Black Isle north of us. We went to the beach cafe for lunch and it was really lovely to see so many people out enjoying themselves. It was a really good snapshot of how people in Scotland cope with the very changeable weather - on one side you have the people sat outside the beach cafe all rugged up in coats, scarves, and hats, and then on the beach there were people building sandcastles and paddling in the water.

We went into the cafe for lunch and when we came out we found this very patient puppy dog lying in the doorway waiting for his human servants - he didn't budge no matter how many people walked by him.

This beautiful mosaic is on the end of the building housing the cafe and includes fairies in it - rather fitting as we were on our way to visit the fairies.

We then went to walk to the Fairy Glen, which is a two mile return journey. There is a well marked path to follow but it was quite muddy due to the time of the year - good excuse to wear my funky festival boots.

This tree route system is amazing - it's almost as if it's walking on the earth rather than being deep in the soil.

The autumn leaves are so beautiful now so expect quite a few pictures during this post.

Fungi alert - I love how many different types of mushroom and toadstool there are in this area. Here's a few pictures of them.

Beautiful yellow carpet of leaves.

Me on one of the bridges we had to cross on our walk.

This pond that we passed has a platform at one edge of it that was specifically put there for school children to do dipping and look at all the creatures that live in the water.

A few trees that appealed to me - I loved the moss on the left, and the one on the right is being taken over by fungi.

 My fabulous assistant holding up three lovely large leaves (good alliteration there).

This tree had a coating of furry moss and fungi.

Tree across the stream - I tried to talk Ken into walking out onto it but for some reason he wasn't that keen. It may have been something to do with the log being very wet and slippery.

We made it to the Fairy Glen and the beautiful waterfall.

Tree where people have pushed coins into it to make a wish - it's leaving a gift for the fairies so that your wish is more likely to come true, and yes we left a gift.

Can you see any fairies behind us?

I even took Horny my unicorn to the falls as I thought he might tempt the fairies out to play - he looks really at home there.

Looking back towards the waterfall as we headed back down the track and up at the rocks around the glen..

More beautiful and colourful autumn leaves with my gorgeous assistant helping to display them.

After our walk to mingle with the fairies, we then took Bramble for a walk along the beach where we were able to see the magnificent sand castle that the people from earlier had created.

That's not a seal you can see in the water, it's a Bramble Jelly getting very wet.

Here she is looking like a drowned rat - she must have been freezing, proven by the fact that when we got back in the car she burrowed under her bed for the journey home.

Lovely carving of owls in one of the seats near the beach.

Near the beach was this long pile of discarded wood in the form of pallets, furniture, and just remnants - we're presuming it's being collected for bonfire night next week, as they have an event at the beach.

You may have guessed that I like unicorns, and how lovely it was to see this pub sign with a drawing of a very fine unicorn on it.

Do you have any fairy related scenic spots where you are? I've definitely found more in Scotland than anywhere else I've lived in the world.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and look out for the little folk when you're out and about.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx