Food, Interiors

Ooops!

We ate all the cake! Actually, it was a pudding. And a delicious one.  So much so that it was all eaten up before I remembered to take a picture. It was called Torta de Laranja and if you’d like to have a go yourself you can find the recipe here,  it’s flour free so good if you’ve been having trouble finding that.

Strangely enough I didn’t find the recipe on a cookery page but posted in a gardening group I belong to!

 

Here are some pictures of a cake I made for Easter, I don’t often bake (or make puddings) just for the two of us – I’m too greedy and could easily polish off most of a cake on my own, so it’s too risky. But it’s nice to have a treat now and again.

IMG_0261

that was my last jar of Paradise Kitchen jam*

And there’s some of my favourite chocolate olive oil*** cake (it’s also flour free) and breakfast goodies here**

 

* Unfortunately Paradise Kitchen closed last year, but Kate has given George some jam making tips so that’s part of his lockdown homework.

 

Good luck with the recipes if you try them.

 

Caroline  x

 

**Giulia Giannetti photography

Sarah Beattie Food on Facebook

***Chocolate Olive Oil Cake, Nigella Lawson

 

Family history, Interiors

Fabric of Life

If you’ve stayed with us here at Sheiling you’ll probably have noticed lots of different fabrics.

I like to use tablecloths and cloth napkins at breakfast.

My table linens drawer

We’ve “inherited” lots from our families, I’ve used the quotation marks because they aren’ t a valuable inheritance, not in monetary terms anyway. Others were presents, people know I love dressing a table.

a vintage lawn tray cloth

Fabric is also a way of introducing colour and pattern, our walls are plain and painted in cool colours, cushions and throws add warmth; they tell a story too. Downstairs in Nancy the cushions and throws are Welsh, upstairs in Flora, Scottish tartans.

Some are purely decorative, some made by local craftspeople, others came from the students on the textiles course at Heriot Watt University in Galashiels. They had an exhibition each year in the Textile Tower House Hawick, (where Bramble was born, she’s a Teri terrier!). One was woven on the other side of the world.

And in the places you don’t see?

Even the booking diary has a vintage fabric print!

"Strawberry Thief" furnishing fabric by William Morris - stylised birds, fruit and flowers.

Fabrics featured are vintage, Melin Tregwynt, Anta, “Clyde” by Audrey Logan, FunMakes Good, HazelMadeIt felts, Timorous Beasties and Hatti Pattisson.

Caroline.

Interiors, Uncategorized

Boxes, bags and bubblewrap

July and August flew past. We hosted lots of lovely guests and spent our free time walking and enjoying trips out in the boat. I caught my first fish,  it was quite a small mackerel, but delicious. The house in Greenock is now home to a new family and their stories. But we haven’t said goodbye to packing. ..

boxes2

Almost since we moved in we’ve been waiting for a start date for our extension works. Now it’s excitingly/unnervingly/thrillingly/worryingly/nail bitingly/disturbingly close and I’m busy once again with tissue paper, bubble wrap and boxes, squirrelling  away the contents of the soon to be demolished kitchen.

I’ve been arranging a temporary kitchen, MrS found this excellent induction hob

induction-hob

and we have our combi oven and an old slow cooker rescued from Greenock

slow-cooker-1

so we shouldn’t have to live on beans and toast (though I have been wondering if I should start a pop up cereal cafe).

cereals

We’re hoping we can live here through most of the  build, time will tell.

And I’ll keep you posted

Interiors, Uncategorized

Back to business

I haven’t posted in a while, but we haven’t been idle. Walls which were painted last year have been refreshed, furniture has been moved around and the dining  room has a new colour scheme.

We had a little uncertainty about plans for the summer, but now any building work has been pushed back to the Autumn,  so it’s all systems go for the summer season.

We woke to grey skies and rain,  but this afternoon the sun has returned. Lets hope it’s here for the summer.

blue sky and clouds