World Porridge Championships Scotland

This weekend we went to the World Championships of porridge making - yes, you read that correctly, a World championship. The town/village of Carrbridge where the competition is held has a population of less than one thousand and yet they have competitors from all around the world converge here to celebrate the humble bowl of porridge.

Before we entered the arena, we of course stopped to have breakfast (it was only 10:30am) and with my lovely latte I decided to have porridge as it seemed only right - Ken always has porridge at home so he went for something different.

The porridge makers all walked down the centre of the town with a pipe band, then stopped in front of the hall to have a toast (with whiskey of course) to porridge, before heading inside to start the competition.

The gentleman in the middle of the picture with the red vest and hat on is last years winner from America.

There were competitors from the UK and Ireland, but also Russia, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, Iceland, and the USA.

This is what they were all competing for - the Golden Spurtle. A spurtle is basically a wooden stick for stirring porridge and has been in use since the 15th century.

This very cute little bear was on the trophy table so we presume it is given to one of the winners.

The room was set up like this, with tables around one half of the hall and the rest of the hall set up with seats so that people could sit and watch the cooking. The traditional porridge has to be made with three ingredients - untreated outmeal, water, and salt, and they are given half an hour to produce it in.

The eventual winner, after several heats, was Ellinor Persson from Sweden.

There is also a speciality porridge category where porridge must be the main ingredient in a sweet or savoury dish. There was tasting going on in the back room, which we didn't try as apparently one of them was porridge with haggis. The winner of the speciality porridge was Per Carlsson who was also from Sweden, and he did a sweet porridge with cloudberries, orange peel, and whipped cream.

Another competition that takes place in Carrbridge during the year is a wood carving one - we didn't make it this year but will go in the future. In the park there is this beautiful seat that was put in this year to commemorate the 300 year anniversary of the bridge in the town. It's absolutely incredible with so many different things carved into it.

Lots of different Scottish animals - the bird on top is an Osprey, and you can see a deer, a wildcat, and down the bottom is a very cute badger.

 There's even a carving of a man doing a chainsaw carving of an owl.

A steam engine - we think it might be the train we went on from Aviemore (Posh Afternoon Tea).

Cute little fairy door at the bottom of one of the columns.

The same little bear that we saw on the judges table - I love that the porridge championship is part of the carving. I also love that he is sitting in front of his door.

We went for a drive around the area to find some more of the carvings that are dotted around - there is even a map with the carvings on it so that you can find them all. Here's a selection for you to enjoy.

My beloved found another old vehicle to peruse - thankfully he declared this one beyond help.

This is the bridge that is 300 years old - it's not in use anymore.

On the way home we did a slight detour past a very picturesque loch, with all the heather fading into a pinky brown now.

It was a wonderful experience visiting the porridge championships, but Ken is most disgusted that a Scotsman didn't win. I've told him he'll have to practice and enter next year to try and claim back the pride of Scotland. I even bought him a spurtle from the championship to practice with.

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

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Princess Cookie Cat padding on her bed - she always looks a bit drugged when she does that.

Friday's Friendly Reflections

One of my favourite things to do, apart from reading, is writing, so I love this blog link up that I've found 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. October is the perfect time to celebrate porridge at the 24th Annual World Porridge Making Championship on October 7th. This festival happens in the tiny Scottish Highlands village Carrbridge and we're hoping to attend tomorrow. Last years winner was from America and he's back again this year to try and retain his trophy. If you'd like to read more about it Click Here.

2. Halloween is the perfect time to throw a fancy dress party, but I've only been to three during my life. My three costumes have been; a Gypsy, Magenta from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a Witch.

Witchy me & Deranged Dog Ken

3. Every October, I always feel a bit torn about the season as I love seeing the beauty of the changing leaves, but I really dread the colder, wetter weather.

4. My experience with the supernatural world is minimal and confusing. I tend to sit on the fence with this as I think that there are a lot of things in life we don't see but we still believe them. I have had a couple of unexplained experiences and both of them were shared with different people so it wasn't just me, which I guess makes it more believable. 

The graveyard and ruined church pictured below is on the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. I love these places and have never felt creeped out in one and believe me when I say that we have been around hundreds of old graveyards, all in varying stages of repair. The enclosed area at the end of the church is the first time I've ever felt uneasy and I had to get out of there very quickly. Ken went in after me and when he came out he said that he felt something weird in there - who knows, maybe we'd both eaten something funny.

What are your thoughts about October and Halloween? Before you go, why don't you pop over to McGuffy's Reader to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and we hope you have a wonderful day.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Princess Cookie Cat just chilling in her comfy bed.

Top Ten Thursday - Waiting

It's Top Ten Thursday and today we're listing the things we do while we wait... at the doctors, the airport, or waiting for a train. and your phone battery is low so you can't use it for mindless Facebook scrolling. The theme is set by Tamara at the blog; Part-time Working Hockey Mom.

Picture from Pixabay.com

1. Read: My phone may be going flat, but if I know I'm going to have a long wait somewhere then I would either have my Kindle or a book with me so that I can continue with whatever story is my current escape hatch.

2. People Watch: this is a great pastime, especially if you're with someone that you can share it with. My beloved and I will squeeze each others hand if we see someone interesting but more often than not we'll both look the wrong way.

3. Lottery Winnings: a regular daydream that I have is what we will do when we win the lottery. The first thing will be to make sure we don't leave the winning ticket anywhere near Bramble Jelly as she recently ate a ticket that had a few pounds winnings on it! A lovely home will definitely feature, lots of travel, and lots of rescue animals.

These two handsome chaps were at Harefield Dogs Trust

4. Christmas Plans: at this time of the year I start thinking about what I've got to do before the big day, what I'm going to put in our Christmas letter, and whether I can convince Ken to pose for a Christmas card photo with the brats.

5. Chocolate: first I will rummage through my handbag and see if there's any chocolate hiding near the bottom or in a side pocket (I usually stash chocolates you get given at the end of meals in restaurants) and if that doesn't result in anything I'll see if there's a vending machine that I can raid.

6. Work: much as I try not to, if I have too long to wait then work related thoughts start encroaching on my mind. A lot of planning thoughts about upcoming courses or workshops, and worrying about whether I've said the right things to people.

7. Holidays: thinking about where we should go on holiday next is always on my mind. So many places I'd love to go, but until #3 happens then I have to stop thinking about an epic journey on the Trans Siberian Express and instead think much closer to home and for maybe slightly less time.

Bus tour of Krakow, Poland

8. Earwigging: I often find myself tuning into peoples conversations without even meaning to, but then get quite frustrated as I wish I could contribute to the really interesting ones. Ken's just as bad and when we were at a cafe on Skye earlier in the year, he did get involved in a nearby conversation as the child at a table was saying that the song playing was Ed Sheeran but the father told her that was ridiculous - Ken interrupts and lets them know that the daugher was correct.

9. My bed: yes, sometimes my thoughts go to how wonderful it would be to be snuggled up in my bed instead of waiting wherever I happen to be at that time. I love my bed.

10. Ken: invariably if I'm waiting too long then I will start thinking about my beloved and our life together and hoping that we have many, many more years to share.

Do you do some of the same things when you're waiting, or do you have other things that help pass the time? 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 I hope you don't spend too long waiting for what you want this week.

Pamela & Ken

xxxxxxxxxxxx

A Hodgepodge of Dinosaurs, Farming, and Weirdness

Wednesday Hodgepodge is here, when we answer a series of questions set by Joyce at the blog From This Side of the Pond.

1.  Have you ever spent time on a farm? Tell us a little bit about it. Have you ever grown your own pumpkin? Been on a hayride? Driven a tractor? Milked a cow?

I grew up on a farm in Tasmania so have done all of the above except grow my own pumpkin, and even though lots of it was lovely, I used to always say that I was a city girl who had been born in the wrong place. The church youth group I was part of used to go to a local farm for hayrides which were great fun and usually descended into mayhem. The majority of us that went were from farms, but there were a few town kids who it must have been a real novelty for.

I can't really say I've driven a tractor, but I have sat on it and steered it round the field whilst dad was at the back throwing out hay for the cows (I was slightly older than in this picture but it was the same tractor). We had machinery to do the milking and I think I might have once or twice put them on the cows. I much preferred feeding the calves as I loved how they'd latch onto your clothes and suck them as they were desperate for milk. It was always a great sense of achievement when I'd taught them to drink milk out of a bucket.

2. What's something younger you would like about you now? 

Younger me would like that I have travelled and learnt more about this world we live in. I think she would also be happy that I have finally become a pescatarian (fish eating vegetarian) as it was something she often thought about. Young me would definitely be happy about the man I'm spending my life with as she didn't think she'd ever find anyone that would suit her weirdness.

3. What are three things you'd like to do more often? Three things you'd like to do less often?

I'd like to travel more with my beloved, have more massages, and spend more time writing. (I was going to say spend more time in bed, but that would negate the other things).

I wish I could spend less time worrying, take less time to make decisions in life, and obviously wish I could spend less time working.

4. What's on your nachos?

Guacamole, mild salsa, refried beans, sour cream, and lots of cheese.

5. What's the most random thing in your purse or wallet? Does it need to stay there?

My actual purse is tiny (deliberately) so that I can't keep too much in it. I have a bit of a habit to hang on to really odd bits and pieces. Due to this I also tend to use a smaller handbag than I used to, but I still managed to find a really random thing in one of the side pockets. Early last year we were out walking and we stumbled across a geocache (Geocaching Information) and I swapped my cupcake keyring for this little orange dinosaur and he has stayed in my bag since then. I'm debating leaving him out of my bag to give him a bit of freedom, but then I think that perhaps I should just leave him where he was.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

 I've started this random thought several times and then deleted it as I tried to write something about the craziness that has been happening around the world in the last week, but I can't find the words to express how I feel. So instead, in the week that we lost another great singer/songwriter, I'm going to share one of Tom Petty's songs for your enjoyment.

What do you think? What would your answers be to the questions? Before you go, pop over to Joyce's blog, From This Side of the Pond, to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and make sure you take time out for yourself this week.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Princess Cookie Cat looking way too cute.

Old Cars & Coffee in a National Park

Today was a lazy day out with the purpose of picking up our lovely painted plates from last weekends day of fun (Coffee & Creativity) which I'll show you later in the post. It's a really lovely drive to Grantown as it sits in the Cairngorms national park.

We went back to the cafe we discovered last week, The High Street Merchant Cafe and had a lovely lunch and of course an even lovelier latte.

The farmers market was on which was a lovely surprise, and there were some wonderful stalls including one with knitted hats. The Shivering Sheep Beanies lady had some lovely hats and amazingly she can knit two a day!! I bought a lovely tassled baggy beanie in, surprise, surprise, purple wool.

This van amused us because of what is written below the business information; 'Listen oot for the Toot Toot!'

Unsurprisingly Ken managed to find a couple of cars to look at - total projects. When we win the lottery we'll have to have at least a four car garage and a shed for him to store his projects in - he does love to tinker. These two are staying where we found them.

On the way home we stopped for a little wander at a scenic spot and I loved this old fence post that is all by itself in the middle of the woods - it's rustiness appealed to me.

Selfie of the two of us in the woods.

We found some very interesting fungi in amongst the trees - I tried to find out what sort they were for you, but couldn't decide which ones they were from the fungi identification website.

View across the moor on the way home - beautiful big sky.

This is a rock that we drive past every time we come back from Grantown, and it's always interesting to see what is painted on it. For months when we first moved up to the highlands, this is what was on it, but every now and then someone will paint something else on it. We've seen birthday wishes to people and declarations of love, but then Jesus Saves reappears after a while.

Now to reveal our plates after they've been glazed. First Ken's beautiful plate and then my bowl.

A short day out but still interesting things to be found. Until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a fabulous week.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: This week I bought Princess Cookie Cat a new bed as I thought as she ages she might like something a bit softer. Usually when we've bought beds for the brats in the past it usually takes them a day or so to really like them. Not this time, Cookie has hardly left her new bed she loves it so much.