A&E Ninewells Hospital Tayside.

Yesterday I was referred back to Ninewells Hospital. A precautionary check-up following major surgery Thursday last week. More of this in subsequent posts.

A&E entrance to Ninewells Hospital Tayside.

I took a wee rest in one of the many long corridors opposite some art work, sat and enjoyed this painting. Artist unknown to me.

The river Tay looking westwards at 5-15pm yesterday, heavy, heavy overhead on my way to Ninewells Hospital, Tayside.

The River Tay Rail Bridge carrying a train to Edinburgh via Leuchars, Cupar, Ladybank, Markinch, Kirkcaldy, North Queensferry and across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh. Beyond the bridge is Newport North Fife.

The same view of The River Tay Westwards from riverside Dundee. What a difference 2 hours make.

Tashi Mannox

Tashi Mannox my no1 son. A wee video of him in his studio near Hereford on the Welsh borders.

Tashi Mannox - Tibetan Calligrapher from Planetary Productions on Vimeo.

For more of his Calligraphy.

4 Lyall Place Newburgh for sale

4 Lyall Place, Newburgh for sale.

Offers over £70,000

* Property Type : Flat
* Public Rooms : 1
* Bedrooms : 2
* Garage : no
* Garden : yes

* HOME REPORT AVAILABLE
A first floor flat with own garden grounds. This property would be an ideal first time buy and early viewing is highly recommended.

Reception hallway. Lounge. Kitchen. 2 bedrooms. Bathroom. Gas and electric heating. Double glazing. Rear garden
Pagan Osborne Property Services
Solicitors and Estate Agents
1 Crossgate
Cupar
Fife
KY15 4HA

Tel : 01334 656525
Fax : 01334 654119

E-mail : property-cupar@pagan.co.uk
Website : www.paganosborne.com

The River Tay 20th September

The River Tay 20th September, a heavy sky with a gap of sunshine over Perthshire in the West.

Today work proceeds on The Steeple Arts complex.

The steeple, Newburgh from the South side showing the erupted garden on the parapet. Accessible from the inside but health and safety dictates a fortune is spent to complete a relatively simple job.

The Steeple surrounded with scaffolding. The purpose being to facilitate eradication of pigeons and cover all entrances with netting also to clean up the structure of Buddleia and Rose bay willowherb which have taken up residence. Poor doos, evicted.

Elderberries and Grapes North Fife

Elderberries. Profuse this year, a shame not to harvest them as they make very good wine and jams.
A simple and useful recipe.
Gather as many fronds of elderberries as you can carry. Sit for a few hours stripping the berries from the stalks into a large bowl. Remove any unripe ones and bits of stalk.
Weigh.

Equal the weight with chopped de-seeded and skinned pears.

Equal the combined weight with preserving sugar or ordinary sugar and pectin.

Combine all ingredients and bring to the boil in a giant pan, simmer and stir from time to time for 10 to 15 mins.
Test by chilling a dollop on a cold plate and see if it sets.

Pour into sterilised jars when hot, screw on lids and place upside down, as they cool a vacuum is formed and the contents will be good for years.

Label the jars and disperse to friends and relatives, they will love you for ever.
We have it on toast.
Local food, home produce we all know it makes sense. Any of us can make as prescribed in this instructive book.

Preserves
Preserving is a centuries-old way to make the most out of every season, stretching the more bountiful months into the sparser ones - and what's more, it is fun, rewarding and easy to learn. Explaining the history, science and basic processes of preserving, Pam Corbin guides us through a world of jams, jellies, butters, curds, pickles, chutneys, cordials, liqueurs, vinegars and sauces that can be made from local produce throughout the year. She includes 75 recipes, covering everything from traditional favourites such as raspberry jam, lemon curd, quince cheese and sloe gin, to fresh new combinations such as apple butter, cucumber pickle and nettle pesto. The handbook includes seasonable tables, regional maps, flow charts of all the preserving processes and full-colour photographs throughout, and is completed by a directory of equipment and useful addresses. With a textured hard cover and an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Preserves is destined to join Mushrooms (Handbook No.1) as an indispensible household reference.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £8.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery.
To view and buy here.Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2
.

Grapes, yes they do grow outside here at Flisk. Another week or two and they will be delicious, it's not every year they come to profusion. Now it's a battle with blackbirds.

Fly Agaric, this little stand is fair coming up, every time I pass by I take a peek should any other fungi be present. Quite a few edible kinds grow under and by Birch trees.

The iconic toadstool.

Newburgh Walking the Marches 2010

Over 200 meaningful people turn out for The Walking of the Marches on a brilliant day.



Starting at The Abbey Pub and heading down Tay Street for an 8 mile walk of Newburgh Marches.

Clearing the way at Parkhill farm.

Heading for the rail tunnel.



Emerging from the undergrowth on the way up.

The coos.

Gathering near Whinneybank contemplating the coos.

Bringing up the rear near Whinneybank.

Food and drink at Woodriffe.


Youngest 3years and the oldest 81 years being acknowledged.

Back from throwing a stick towards Mugdrum along the Boundary line.

The River Tay Sept 17th

The River Tay September 17th. Another ever changing view yesterday from just above my home in North Fife.

The river Tay September 17th.

Errol houses on the north side of The River Tay.

The Start of the Walking of the Marches down Tay Street Newburgh North Fife today, much more of this tomorrow.

A History of the World in 100 Objects [Hardcover]

A History of the World in 100 Objects currently on BBC Radio 4 each morning at 9-45. I listen to it, am fascinated and delighted to discover this publication of 608 pages. A book can be taken and read anywhere, is accessible any time and is relatively permanent and only eyes and hands are needed.

A History of the World in 100 Objects [Hardcover].
‘In this book, we travel back in time and across the globe, to see how we humans have shaped our world and been shaped by it over the past two million years. The story is told exclusively through the things that humans have made – all sorts of things, carefully designed and then either admired and preserved or used, broken and thrown away. I’ve chosen just a hundred objects from different points on our journey – from a cooking pot to a golden galleon, from a Stone Age tool to a credit card, and each object comes from the collection of the British Museum.’ [from the introduction]
This book takes a dramatically original approach to the history of humanity, using objects which previous civilisations have left behind them, often accidentally, as prisms through which we can explore past worlds and the lives of the men and women who lived in them. The book’s range is enormous. It begins with one of the earliest surviving objects made by human hands, a chopping tool from the Olduvai gorge in Africa, and ends with an object from the 21st century which represents the world we live in today. Neil MacGregor’s aim is not simply to describe these remarkable things, but to show us their significance – how a stone pillar tells us about a great Indian emperor preaching tolerance to his people, how Spanish pieces of eight tell us about the beginning of a global currency or how an early Victorian tea-set tells us about the impact of empire. Each chapter immerses the reader in a past civilisation accompanied by an exceptionally well-informed guide. Seen through this lens, history is a kaleidoscope – shifting, interconnected, constantly surprising, and shaping our world today in ways that most of us have never imagined. An intellectual and visual feast, it is one of the most engrossing and unusual history books published in years.
About the Author
Neil MacGregor has been Director of the British Museum since 2002. Before that he was Director of the National Gallery from 1987 to 2002. He was 'Briton of the Year' in 2008.
RRP: £30.00
Price: £19.50 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery.
You Save: £10.50 (35%)
To be published Oct 28th. Be amongst the first to own it.
Order Now. A History of the World in 100 Objects

Wild Mushrooms North Fife September 15th

On my way to Cupar North Fife today I had my wild mushrooms eyes on, at Brunton I came across these, nothing fantastic but over the coming days if I wander further than the roadside then it may prove beneficial.

Horse Mushrooms, past their eat by date, brilliant to eat if you can catch them in time.

Brown roll-rim (Paxillus involutus) not edible. A shame as there are loads about under birch.

Fly Agaric, (Amanita muscaria). A small emerging specimen, it grows in association with birch trees. Toxic to the liver and kidneys though used by Shamans for its hallucinogenic effects first being digested by reindeer, the urine is then drunk rendering it safe. So, first find a reindeer, feed it and follow with a bucket, imbibe and it will be a wonderful world you find yourself in.

Puff ball perfectly edible when young, that's when the flesh is white throughout on cutting, beyond that, forget it, lovely texture though when right.

Maggie Lill Photogapher

Maggie Lill photographer, Artists see and notice, capture and by association remember the moment, qualities which can be drawn upon to create later artworks. It's all accumulative.

By Maggie Lill. All taken in North Fife.

Maggie Lill Artist in North Fife

Maggie Lill.

Maggie Lill spent one month as artist in residence at The Steeple Arts, W.A.S.P.S studios Newburgh North Fife. Maggie has drawn inspiration from the surrounding environment. She is based and works in London.
Maggie states that she is predominately a photographer, it being the medium for recording what is seen and captured, historically it would have been a sketch book.

Feltwork & drawings.

Mixed Media.

Mixed media.

Crochet work.

Feltwork.

Feathers.

Feltwork and drawings.

Feltwork.

Mother & Offspring

Mother & offspring. Mother we think is a Lohmanns, the father a Black Orpingtons X, anyway a right mixture given the chick is white at ten weeks old. Both adept at the one legged pose.

Grow Your Own Drugs: Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Treats

Grow Your Own Drugs:
Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Treats.

Grow your own Drugs.
Whether you're struggling with insomnia, the kids have eczema, or your partner is feeling under the weather, this book could have the answer. With easy recipes ethnobotanist James Wong shows how to make simple creams, salves, teas and much, much more from the stuff growing in your window box, the local garden centre or in the hedgerows. Using the flowers, fruit, roots, trees, vegetables and herbs that are all around us James provides preparations to help relieve a whole range of common conditions, including acne, anxiety, cold sores and general aches and pains - plus great ideas for beauty treats such as bath bombs and shampoos. Inspired by his grandmother in Malaysia who taught him about the health-giving properties of plants, James uses his top class academic knowledge to show how easy - and cheap - it is to make creams, lotions, lozenges and more which can help relieve the symptoms of a variety of common complaints. He reveals how many plants contain the same active ingredients as over-the-counter drugs and chooses his Top 100 plants to grow or buy, complete with ideas for a whole range of uses.So unleash the power of plants and soothe the symptoms of everyday ailments the natural way.
James Wong grew up in Malaysia and Singapore. He trained at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and gained an MSc in Ethnobotany from the University of Kent, graduating with distinction. His research has taken him to highland Ecuador, as well as to China and Java. He now lectures at the University of Kent and has also co-designed and built two RHS medal-winning gardens (in 2004 and 2008), which were designed to show that there is more to plants than ‘looking pretty’.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £7.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery.
To buy now. Click Here. Grow Your Own Drugs: Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Treats

North Fife September 12th

Yesterday full of expectation, armed with my illustrated wild mushroom book we took off to the forests, stretched my legs and found nothing edible. Great day though.

Black Loch near Red Myre forest, North Fife. What a tranquil spot, my daughter and I were happy just to sit in the sunshine on a provided bench, labeled "daves bench" boats were nearby, so obviously fishing takes place.

The Golden Loch, a local trout fishery tucked away 2 and half miles from Newburgh.

North Fife Sky 12th September for Jennifer Wardle.