Burns Night

Strangely dressed people descended on my house recently.  The intention was to honour the Scottish poet Robbie Burns.  Burns Day is actually the 25th of January but we pre-empted it by a few days.
A varied selection of friends and neighbours settled down to what I believe was an enjoyable evening. The evening started with everyone being divided into Clans - McDonalds, Campbells, Stewarts etc. They then had to find the other members of their clan before settling down to complete a light hearted (but difficult!) quiz on Burns.

When everyone was relaxed it was time for the traditional supper.  First the haggis had to be addressed
'Great Chiefton o' the Puddin' Race' and ceremonially cut.  We didn't have any bagpipes in which to 'pipe in' the haggis, but no one seemed to notice!

The traditional supper is cock a' leekie soup, followed by haggis, neeps (mashed swedes) and tatties (mashed potatoes).  A wee dram (whisky) is used as the haggis' gravy.

Desserts for us were a choice of lemon mousse cake or apple crumble.
After everyone was well sated we sat down to a sing song.  We did sing a few of Burn's classic songs but soon went on to old favourites including 'Dirty Old Town', 'Leaving of Liverpool' and 'If I Could Walk 500 Miles' amongst them. We were lucky to have a friend who played his guitar to accompany the singing.
Surprisingly one of the highlights of the night was a box of Tunnock's teacakes.
Cries of 'I haven't had one of these since I was a child.' were heard constantly. As you can see the box was practically emptied.

I made the soup from scratch borrowing a friend's jelly/jam pan which was the only thing big enough for the quantities I needed (nearly 30 people).

The recipe I used was an old one and everyone commented on how good it was.  So, just in case you're thinking of having your supper on the actual date. Here is a good, traditional soup.  I just hope you're not making it for as many people. I can't tell you what my five year old granddaughter said it looked like (it was very green).

In metric and old money!
Cock-A- Leekie Soup  (serves 8)

1 1.5kg/3lb fresh chicken
2.25 ltrs/4 pints water (10 cups)
1 kg/2lb leeks (washed and sliced)
50g/2 oz pearl barley (rinsed) (1/4 cup)
salt and pepper to taste.

Put the chicken, water and 1/4 leeks in a pan and bring to boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove chicken and leave to cool. Add remaining leeks, barley and seasoning. Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove meat from chicken and chop into small pieces. Add chicken to soup.
This soup can be frozen,

An Unusual Day

A few days before New Year, I went to a football match.  It is worth mentioning as this was my first match in nearly 43 years of married life.  My husband asked me to join him on a trip to Wolverhampton to watch his beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers play. (They won!)
As, over the years he has wandered around many castles and cathedrals with me, I could hardly refuse. Now I am the least sporty person you are likely to ever find.  Will I go again, to another football match?  Maybe in another 43 years!
However he did make the day special, by suggesting a trip to the National Memorial Arboretum near Derby. It is a stunning and moving place and well worth a visit. It's much larger than I imagined with over 300 memorials of all shapes and sizes.  There are also thousands of trees (obviously!) planted in memory of people and events. One particular moving plaque read 'To the unknown but kind lady who donated her liver'. The vast wall with blank stones brought it home as to how many more young men and women are we destined to lose in future wars?  A terrifying thought.


Amongst all these memorials was the Basra wall, which was taken down piece by piece when the army left and rebuilt here.  The Somme Memorial with thousands of coloured crosses, presumably painted by local children.The Falklands Memorial, The Shot at Dawn Memorial and...I could go on naming them for a long time. If you do get chance to visit it, you should.

t

Time flies!

It's been a month since I last wrote. I have been very busy. Although if you can call taking holidays being busy I'm not sure!

Our last holiday took us from Southampton on a cruise around the Iberian Peninsula. It was wonderful, visiting places like Valencia, Cartagena, and  Cadiz. This was followed by a stop in Tangiers and Lisbon before sailing home.

We decided to take advantage of having a couple of days sight-seeing before joining the ship. We stopped at Salisbury and I was able to see Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and Old Sarum.

I shall ignore the comment about one ancient monument visiting
another!

Last time I told you about my few minutes of fame on the Andrew Edwards show on BBC Radio Leeds. They did bring the show to our village library and broadcast from there. It was great fun. We were discussing The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop. By chance I discovered one of my neighbours used to work for Bletchley Park on one of the outstations. She had never discussed it in 70 years as they had been sworn to secrecy. Marjorie, who is now in her 90s kindly came along and chatted on the show.

Marjorie preparing for the show and talking to Andrew Edwards.

What about my own writing I hear you ask! Well I'm glad you did. The novel, Resolution, has been edited and revised, that's another reason why I've been so busy. It has been returned to the publisher and I hope to hear from them in the New Year or soon after. Fingers crossed for me and anything else you can manage to cross, would be appreciated.

Earlier this year I was privileged to judge short stories for the Hysteria competition. The anthology has now been published. I was also asked to supply a short piece on what I looked for when judging. It was a fascinating experience. I think I read over 100 stories over a few weeks.

You can find the anthology at www.HysteriaUK.co.uk
You would be supporting a worth while charity.

I hope I've made up for disappearing for a while. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a successful, happy and healthy 2017.

15 minutes of fame?

Here I am outside the BBC studios in Leeds. You may well ask what am I doing there?  I wasn't too sure myself at the time.

Andrew Edwards hosts an afternoon show here from 12 -3pm.  Part of his show is the Big Yorkshire Book Club. He has invited local councils to join him and pick the book of the month.  This month was the turn of my council Kirklees.  They requested volunteers for names to go in a hat. The winner would choose the book and go along to talk to Andrew on his show.

Not wanting our little library to miss out, I put my name forward, never for one single second expecting it to be drawn out. It was!

I was joined by Elaine Berry from Kirklees, who kindly came along to hold my hand and give me support.

On arrival at the studios, we were met by Katy Lambert who took us through and looked after us very well.  Anyone who supplies me with a cup of tea is immediately my best friend. Everyone was friendly and very welcoming. They soon had us relaxed and laughing. When it was our turn to go into Andrew's studio we were joined by Phil Caplan who runs an independent bookshop in Roundhay, Leeds.He brought along a selection of books to discuss.

I talked about the book my local group were about to start reading, The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop, The blurb says - an indepth picture of life in Britain's wartime intelligence centre. The women of Bletchley Park tell their story - War, Secrecy, Love and Loss. Hopefully some of the listeners will get hold of a copy and join us in reading it. Why don't you?

Andrew kindly asked about my own book, Resolution. I explained that I am busy with the revision suggested by the publisher. As soon as those are finished I will be re-submitting it to them, with fingers and everything else crossed.

The most exciting part about this is hopefully at
the end of this month, Andrew and his team will broadcast his show from our library.  It does depend on whether they manage to get a signal there and an engineer is coming to check.
We've only recently gained a reasonable internet signal and the mobile signals vary enormously here,  More fingers crossed!
Thank you to Andrew and all the team for an enjoyable afternoon, It was fascinating to learn what goes on behind the scenes,
I hope to welcome them to Shepley very soon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioleeds
https://www.facebook.com/BBCRadioLeeds
https://twitter.com/BBCLeeds

Where have I been? Have you missed me?

Last week I returned from a cruise along the Danube. It was as magical as I had hoped it would be. The scenery was stunning and every time we stopped we visited medieval walled towns, cathedrals, castles and ancient monasteries

Our first stop was at Nuremburg. A city famous for its World War II connections, but a now restored beautiful medieval city and well worth visiting.  We followed this with a visit to Regensburg.  I had never heard of this town but wow, visit if you can.  Its walls are still complete and much of the architecture has an Italianate feel, truly beautiful.

 We went on to Passau and then to a very wet and cold Vienna.

The weather is Vienna was awful and we didn't see the city at its best as we dashed from cover to cover. However as we sheltered we were lucky enough to see some of the Lipizzaner horses coming out for a training session.

The weather improved the next day for us to enjoy the Schonbrun in all its glory.

 The most  memorable place though has to be Budapest. I knew very little about this city and I was stunned by its beauty. Both during the day and at night it is a city of outstanding wonder.  The architecture is amazing and most of it has now been renovated and cleaned back to its original state. The bridges that cross the Danube are in themselves pieces of art.

We certainly plan to return here  for a longer stay and to explore further.

 I can only post a few photos on here to give you a glimpse of these wonderful places, If you scroll down my facebook page you'll be able to see a few more. https://www.facebook.com/carol.warham. Of course, if you visit my home be prepared to sit through hundreds of photos!

The Quietest Time (Derwentwater)

 It is early in the morning, the quietest time.

A mist blankets the water, shrouding it from me.

The watery sun cannot yet penetrate this velvety cover.

Ghostly wings break through when, without a sound,

ducks rise and fly across the lake

A craggy outcrop sits up high, with a tree-hidden

bench on which to sit and gaze and gaze and gaze.

I can hear the lapping of the water below, where

flowers are trapped and bobbing amongst the rocks,

in memory of others who have loved this place

Dew makes a sparkling cloth on the grassy path.

The air is still damp and without warmth.

There is nothing but the grey and silver.

No insects are awake to buzz or dart about me,

I am quite alone in a silent, still and soft land.

The quiet is broken by the call of a gaggle of geese

returning for breakfast.

Soon hoards of people will arrive to admire this view.

They will break the surface of the water with dipping oars

But for me, for now

It is early in the morning, the quietest time.

RESOLUTION - A few snippets and their (summer time) locations.

"Her heart pounded and her breath came in short, irregular gasps as she arrived at the hotel. An ambulance waited outside with its blue lights flashing. Grabbing the hand rail Ben hauled himself up the steps two at a time and sprinted inside."  





"Once they were out on the quiet moorland road, he eventually spoke. His voice was almost a whisper. "I lied to you. I did try to ring you but I didn't want Savannah to know." "

" "There’s an old inn, not far from here. Why don't we get some lunch?"

Within a few minutes Ben turned into the car park of an old thirteenth century inn. It perched on top of the moor with sweeping views around it. Carly caught sight of a reservoir, as the weak winter sun gave a slight glitter on water, at the bottom of the valley.

She smiled in appreciation. “This looks lovely. I bet the views are stunning in summer.” "

 "As they entered the inn, she was charmed by the mullion windows, which faced the valley, giving diners a superb outlook. The walls were covered in horse brasses and old sepia photos of the inn in the past couple of centuries."