Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Snappery and Tinkerage

by admin - 20:05 on 12 April 2010

It was good while it lasted. The gorgeous spring sunshine we enjoyed this weekend continued today until mid-afternoon when the sky turned grey and dropped drizzle on the garden.

This may be no bad thing. The garden of The Rural Retreat seems to be the last place in Scotland without huge clumps of daffodils, for apart from half-a-dozen brave blooms our bulbs have yet to burst forth.

The willow tree is less restrained and pushing out pussy willow as fast as it can, much to the delight of the neighbourhood bees and wasps who droned back and forth all day carrying huge buckets of pollen. I may exaggerate a little.

I broke my rule about man-made objects in bird snaps
because the detail in the picture was too good to ignore

Bess, who enjoyed a Romeo-free day, made the most of the weather, curled up in the sun or yowling happily while she writhed on the warm stone of the path.

Then the drizzle began.

I should have made the most of it too, but lethargy prevailed, not helped by the absence of Matchgirl the jet-setter who's taking care of business in Shetland yet again. So the day was frittered away in blue tit snappery and website tinkerage.

You might notice that it now sports a Links page. Strangely, photography predominates.

The silver lining of veggie Matchgirl's absence was the opportunity to cook up a chicken madras for the first time in a while. I don't miss home carnivory (that's another new word I've coined) but an Indian feast doesn't go amiss now and then.

You'll find the recipe here on the Curry House website. Give it a go – it's worth the effort. I added a few chopped courgettes. Matchgirl's veggie influence may be stronger than I thought.

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