Kitten Cat, Kippers and Knapsacks.

This is my beloved Kitten Cat Princess Chloe. She is a most wonderful pet, companion and a very clever, 'Lap Top Kitten Cat'.
As many of you may know, I am a very keen Scrabble player, as soon as I'm tapping away at the keyboard,she appears from nowhere, sits on my lap and stares at the screen.
Whilst I am trying to knit together my latest set of letters, hoping to form a killer word, that'll knock out my opponent.
Nearly each time I win a game she'll be sitting on my lap, I guess she's my lucky charm!
 Sometimes she bops the keyboard with her huge white mittens (paws), as if she's putting a crucial letter in.
  She is nearing her twelfth birthday, yet still plays like a Kitten Cat,

Kippers

I love kippers,
As I live in Liverpool. which is just a short ferry trip across the Irish Sea to The Isle of Man, we had many childhood  holidays there with our parents,
. Apart from the most endearing times  spent there, I can always remember  the delicious aroma of grilled Kippers,  at breakfast time,  wafting around the cosy boarding house, where we stayed for our annual two weeks idyll,
Before the Kippers   were served we had the choice of, a huge bowl of steaming hot porridge or Kellogg's Cornflakes, also, there was a choice of the ubiquitous Great British Breakfast, consisting of juicy rashers of bacon, sausages, black pudding, potato cakes and fried eggs, Lots of warm toast was served with this King sized feast.

Kippers are,  as most will know, simply, smoked  Herrings, a great delicacy in The British Isles.
At the end of our holiday we always took home with us a large box of them which we shared with friends and family.
Lots of places in the UK produce Kippers, not surprising  as we are an Island surrounded  by  seas,
rich in sea food, including shoals and shoals of silvery Herrings,

 The Kippers  from Craister, a lovely little seaside town in Northumberland  produce the most delicious Kippers too, when ordering them on-line I vary between the two, as I really can't make up my mind which are the most tasty!

. The Craister  Kippers are bigger than the Manx (Isle of Man) but equally as mouth watering, Therefore, the only way to find out is, order some !

Knapsack

As a youngster I was very much involved in church activities, being in The Brownies, attending Sunday School and so on, These activities including a trip to camp and the annual Sunday School outing,
 As I got older I joined the Church Choir, The Girl Guides and then became a Sunday School teacher, also I played Badminton in the Church Hall.
All these activities required my trusty  Knapsack in which I could pack the necessary equipment to  help me  in the particular pursuit of the day, 
Kudos  ruled the day as we all competed to have the most fashionable bag.
Mine was made of fawn canvas and had blue piping around the various pockets.
The greatest fun my lovely Knapsack and I  had, was when we went up to the
 Lake District for walking trips, we always sang as we walked along, this  is what we sang...

I love to go a' wandering
Along a country path
And as I go I love to sing
my Knapsack on my back.....

Val-deri val-dera 
Val-deri
 val- de  ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

My Knapsack on my back,

My thanks to the kindly Mrs  Nesbitt for making ABC Wednesday happen and to Roger the administrator, for Keeping the close KNIT family of ABCW's together.
http://abcwednesdays

Isaacs Byre

For my ABC Wednesday offering I would like to tell you about a most 'interesting' holiday cottage we stayed in at the end of January 2014. I have written about it previously but felt I should tell you more about 'Isaacs Byre', it really was a most 'intriguing' place to stay. Most of the ground floor, apart from a large double bedroom and separate bathroom, was in open plan style which flowed from the front door to an 'integral' fitted kitchen a dining area and a sitting area with large comfy sofas. All this looked through a complete wall of double glazed windows that opened onto a small patio and the most 'inimitable' view of the rugged countryside. The most 'interesting' feature of the place was an 'immense' log burner, the heat that emanated from it could only be likened to Dante's 'Inferno'! 'Isaacs Byre' is 'immersed' in the middle of a tiny hamlet called Garrigill, North East Cumbria. 'Irksomely' we drove past the place four time before we found it! We settled in quickly and enjoyed the 'intimacy' of our warm and cosy dwelling. The cottage is Eco friendly and the water for the place is drawn from the ground and heated via an electric boiler. There are six hens that will provide the most delicious new laid eggs for breakfast, unfortunately, they were not laying during our visit but maybe better luck next time we visit. We did however, manage to get some from the local deli, in the nearby village. During the second evening, there was a blizzard but we weren't bothered, it was 'infinitely' more pleasing to sit in front of the blazing log burner, watching the farmer with his dog rounding up the sheep to put them 'inside' the adjoining bar for the night. Whilst I imbibed a large Brandy and Soda, dearest husband 'Ian' cooked supper, a delicious 'Italian' styled Vognole.... Linguine with clams in white wine, chopped shallots, garlic, parsley and finished with some fresh cream...... 'Indulgent' and 'intoxicating' but who cares, we were on vacation ! My thanks to the 'intelligent' and witty Denise for creating ABC Wednesday, and to Roger the 'infallible' Administrator.

H IS FOR HEARTHSIDE HOMILIES

,

Home is where the   Hearth is...

This is one of the most favourite places in our home, it's where we all gather on family occasions before and after dinner or indeed, most evenings at present, whilst the weather is so cold and damp.
 Many Happy Hours have been spent sitting together regaling tales of yester year, recalling funny little anecdotes of the mischief our three girls used to get up to when they were hormonal teenagers, to save further blushes I shall say no more! 
The Hearth is as old as the house, approximately 62 years old, and the brickwork is typical of that era in the fifties, Many people have removed the fireplaces but I just love it. 
We do have a lovely cream coloured French Limestone Fireplace with more a more contemporary finish but it still has a  Hearth .

This my first attempt at ABC Wednesday so I hope you are all happy with my  humble attempt,
Many thanks to the most humerous   Mrs Nesbitt  and the Honourable Roger Green  for making ABC Happen,,,, 

   

 

Snow and a Spooky Occurance

 

 

Here are the snow pictures just before it went dark, they're not really very good, taken with the Blackberry,  slightly out of focus, but I wanted to show the colour of the sky,  hopefully there will be an improvement  when I get my new camera in action,

  One afternoon we decided drive out to view the scenery from Cross Fell, on the top of The Pennines, which I believe is quite stunning, As we were tootling along I noticed a strange looking  white cloud which seemed to be furled across the top of the fen......

.One moment were driving along in bright daylight then, suddenly we were enveloped in a swirling cloud of huge white snowflakes....Ian managed to turn the car around drove us gingerly back to the cottage.

There was an eerie howling wind to accompany the enormous snowflakes, now splattering against the windscreen, in a menacing manner.
 Ian parked the car and  got out to open the front door and put the lights on in the cottage.

 Whilst I was sitting waiting for him to help me out the car, a weird feeling overcame me, as if  someone or something was watching me..... I turned my head slowly and there was a huge black woolly face with enormous amber eyes, staring at me.  It was a sheep, an exceedingly large sheep!...
'That's strange', I thought because the sheep were in the field surrounded by a stone wall, at the rear of the cottage....
 It had it's chin resting on the wall and stared and stared and stared...
 Just then the lady who lives in the cottage next door, came over to the car and explained that the sheep was a pet, called Lamb lamb, she'd rescued her as an orphaned lamb...an d had bottle fed her and raised her indoors, with her sheepdog  Jess.
 Jess treated her like her own puppy, however, as Lamb Lamb grew and grew, she was given a large out building to live in, but she still insisted upon muscling her way indoors, whenever she could, to sit by the fire with the dog.
After this encounter with Lamb Lamb,, each time we went out or returned home, we had welcome committee of said sheep and her adoptive mother Jess the sheepdog.....
 You could here her hooves clip clopping across the yard to greet us and to have her head tickled and of course a stroke for Jess, who spoke to me by woofing gently and standing on her hind legs.
 I don't know what the sheep in the field must have thought of this cossetted beast... or do sheep think ? Or did Lamb Lamb want to join the flock who knows ?
 I should think if she had any sense she would rather stay with Jess and the family or end up as some ones Sunday lunch...
.Oh! and did I tell you about the the three little Piggies that shared the barn with her, but then, there lies another tale!