Well , Sort Of ... - ish .....

It started off so well , too . All the ingredients lined. up , wholemeal and white , raising agents , buttermilk  , even the paper muffin cases . Wholewheat Apple Muffins , a  Smitten Kitchen recipe , so I couldn't go wrong . Only it was me making it .
 So ....  . Having measured most of the dry ingredients ( a tablespoon of cinnamon ?  I love cinnamon but ... how about a teaspoon of mixed spice instead )  into one bowl and some of the liquid ones into another , I peeled the two large Elstar apples and blenched at their hideously speckled , soggy interiors . Now what ? It was pouring outside , not the weather to pedal off for more .  Frantic re-reading of  muffin recipes . All I had was a couple of rather ripe bananas so I mashed  and added them  . Now the mix would be too mushy  if I added  all the liquid . O.K., only half the oil , then .
 Now it looks boring without chunks of apple . So folded in a handful of chopped up dried apricots ... and some chia seeds, why not ?  .
 Fill one muffin case ... Rats !! I'd forgotten the brown sugar  Oh , for Heaven's sake . Filled the rest of the cases anyway and shoved the lot in the oven .

I told you a Smitten Kitchen's recipe was fool-proof . They were astonishingly nice ... not to mention low in fat and sugar . I'm just going to eat another . Might make it look less gloomy outside

No , Of Course I Didn't !

Of course I didn't start 2014 by jumping off the river bank , wearing a red pom-pom hat !
 But I did cheer as about a hundred others did  just that , this morning  while a brass band , teetering in a boat nearby , played "Yellow Submarine". One likes to encourage endeavour  in whatever field .

 ( And no , I didn't push the woman  with the big head and her Cossack friend over the edge either , when they nipped in front of me as the count down began . )  This restraint mayhave been be due , in part , to not yet being fully awake...
 New Year's Eve had been quite strenuous , what with sitting on the sofa , watching Spanish television till midnight and the eating of 12 grapes to ensure good luck for the year to come
 Then rushing outside to see the Leeuwarden sky full of fireworks in all directions  for fifteen minutes , till our ears rang and our teeth chattered . Back inside , change channels , and it was time for Jools Holland , Scottish pipers and Charlie Wilson et al .
My first ear-worm of the year is Oops Upside My Head  ... and the first event in the social calendar till now would seem to be  the Pea Soup World Championships in Groningen in February . It's can only get better ... I hope your 2014 does too !!

Better Late Than Never

The last ten days whirled by . By some sort of miracle there was a turkey and industrial quantities of olives  . YD worked her own miracle by managing to make a detour via Marks on her dash from work, leaping on and off trams , and grabbing one of the last Chritmas puds. on her way to the train north from Amsterdam , on Tuesday . Husband persuaded our wizened tree to perch in the corner without toppling , though rather ruined it by his aside ,  "That's a very ugly tree" . I keep on expecting it to keel over , its self confidence totally destroyed . I find myself murmuring encouragement , every time I pass it .
Never mind , if needs be , I'll hastily copy the local library's clever idea ....

So , with apologies for the delay , I wish you all a wonderfully Merry Christmas however you're celebrating, !

Some Graffiti Is Cosier Than Others

'

When I was little and went to the cinema with my mother , she'd censor the film . Whenever there was a scary bit ... the burning of Atlanta in Gone With The Wind , for instance ... her hand would suddenly be clapped in front of my eyes till she judged it suitabe to watch again .

Whenever I cycle past a wall of graffiti I think of her . I don't think the above would have got past her but she'd have liked this , even though cats always made her sneeze .

Doing Good , One Way Or Another

Knitted kittens apart , the big aim in town this month is to raise lots of money for 3FM - Serious Request 's drive to provide clean water and sanitation in Third World countries . And I love the Nature Museum's fundraiser this weekend ... two whole days of poop and pee , specially aimed at children , if you see what I mean . Lots of delightfully Ee-uugh!  exhibits , films of wiggly bacteria and shedding tapeworms , sewers and smells and farts galore . A guaranteed success  . I expect it's been full of giggly little boys revelling in the rudeness of it all !
 If shit's not your thing and you missed the Auction and the Popmarathon , there's always the Christmas Market next weekend . Later  there's a three day rowing marathon following the Elfstedentocht route ...for once ,  we'll have to hope that there isn't a freeze . And for those who love wearing tickly fake beards , red dressing gowns and black wellie boots , there's a Santa run on the 21st .
 Meanwhile I should really clear out the kichen drawers ... there's a schoolgirl who's collecting up everone's old ballpoint pens . 

Sucking Eggs

One each side , Mum and daughter hoisted Gran up into the train and helped her down the carriage , her feet hardly touching the ground . They parked her next to me , after checking for draughts and possible noisy ,  neighbouring children .  Then grandaughter retreated behind her 'phone and Mum heaved a sigh of relief . Everyone in the carriage who'd ever had anything to do with the day-to-day care of an elderly relative looked on in sympathy .
Gran opened her enormous handbag ... one of those that open with a clasp at the top ... and started rummaging . I , who tend to do the same , watched fascinated . What was she looking for ... reading glasses ? hanky ? or a packet of Wilhelmina Extra Strong Peppermints ?
No . With a smart click of her wrist , she pulled a tablet out of the depths , opened it and announced to her daughter ,
"I'm going to read the paper. " . And did ... the online version .
I wish she'd give me a few tips ... my laptop and I need to be re-trained . Hence the infrequent posts  lately .

Ch...mas Shopping

It's nearly time to start Christmas shopping . I like to think about it for a while , ponder all the possibilities , ask everyone what they'd like , make lists , narrow it down . Usually by the time I've done all this , it's suddenly nine days before Christmas  , I still haven't bought anything and the shops look as though looters have swept through . So , instead , yesterday I set the alarm and went down to Amsterdam on the first train .
 And now I'm back ... with a pop-up book about  a goose for Small Grandson ....No , not just any old pop-up book . It's in English and from Waterstone's in Kalverstraat  ( only because I temporarily mislaid the American Bookshop round the corner ) . You might think that the language it's written in is of minor importance , given that he's still not quite two , but his big brother felt that it was , so I complied . Of course , I know that he'd really have preferred his own baby elephant and a banana plantation but his parents haven't really got room for a howdah and the neighbours might complain ..
Still , I'd made a start and  after a break for lunch , a bowl of sweet potato and coconut soup ( delicious ! ) and a chunk of homemade bread  in this corner of a tiny side-street cafè  , I

went window-shopping and managed to find a few stocking fillers .

But the real breakthrough present-wise came when I got back to Leeuwarden in the evening . Stowed next to mine in the bike racks was this !

Look! The perfect Christmas present for everyone ... crocheted mud guards . It's enough to tempt me to conquer my inability to crochet