Milomade » Life in Kinghorn

Lovely Spoons

Milomade — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:07:07 +0000

I was in Aberdour this morning taking the dog to the vet and for the first time in ages my visit coincided with the small antique shop being open – yay! I’ve not been in there since I moved to Kinghorn and they had some lovely silver spoons in the window, so I had to pop in and rummage around.

I didn’t have much time so I only managed to get my hands on one set. It’s a really lovely set of Edward Viners spoons and I’ve had this design before and the rings I made from them were really popular.

As I was leaving the shop, I noticed a lot of cutlery boxes piled up in one corner, so I enquired whether they’d be open tomorrow afternoon. Luckily they will be so I’ll be able to go in after my craft fair ends and have a good root [...]
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My Stove is Smoking!

Milomade — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:32:13 +0000

And not in a good way. We installed this stove ages ago but it’s hardly been used as I’ve not been in my studio to use it as we’re still renovating the ground floor of the house. We did light it earlier this year and had problems with smoke blowing back into the room. So we called the chimney guy in and replaced the cowl on the chimney with one that would create more draw and this worked perfectly.

Since then though the stove has not been lit. Colin decided it would be a good idea to get it lit today to generate some heat in the downstairs room(s) and we were horrified with the results! The fire within started off as normal and lit quite well, but then smoke just started accumulating within the stove and not going up the chimney at all. we just had to close it down [...]
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Vialli Garden Services Came To The Rescue!

Milomade — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:30:30 +0000

We’ve been wanting to get our garden sorted for years but never really got going with it fully. When we first moved in we had to remove a thick layer of bark chippings and under that we discovered a 3″ layer of red gravel that took an age to remove and bag up – got rid of more than 40 bags on Freecycle! We then laid a square patio foundation and built a greenhouse on top of it, but the rest of the garden got neglected and we’ve been staring at mounds of mud and weeds for years! That all changed last month…

Michael from Vialli Garden Services came over for a few days and helped us dig over the entire garden. We got rid of all the weeds, laid a stone circle patio as well [...]
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Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining

Milomade — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:31:33 +0000

I’ve written a few posts over the years about my struggle to conceive and become a mum and a while ago I wrote a ‘Catching Up‘ post where I announced my first and very brief pregnancy. It was a very distressing time and I thank you for all your support and lovely messages and emails.

The problems I’ve had trying to conceive have all been down to endometriosis and it’s a catch 22 situation – if you have endometriosis, it’s really difficult to get pregnant, but one of the best cures for endometriosis is actually being pregnant. And here lies the reason for this post…

Although my first pregnancy was very brief, I was pregnant long enough for my endometriosis symptoms to subside and a miracle happened quite soon after I recovered from surgery. I can’t quite believe I’m typing this, but I can now happily announce that [...]
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Autumnal Colours

Milomade — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:53:38 +0000

We had a lovely day out the other day, despite setting off in the pouring rain. We drove up to Perth to visit The Burning Question to look at wood burning stoves as we need one for our lounge. I recently re-designed their website so it was lovely to go up and meet them in person and get their expert advice.

We came away with some brochures and our list of the top three stoves we liked – just got to do some measurements and decide which would be the best fit, but we both already think we’ve decided on which one it’s going to be.

We then did a bit of shopping and popped in to see the exhibition at the Concert Hall but were very disappointed to find that most of the work was switched off or not working!

On the way home we stopped off [...]
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Onion Marmalade

Milomade — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:00:57 +0000

Whenever we have ‘Bangers & Mash’ for tea I chop up a few onions and caramelise them as they’re a really great accompaniment. I recently spotted a recipe for Onion Marmalade though in my River Cottage Handbook No.2 – Preserves and this has changed the way we eat ‘Bangers & Mash’ for good.

It’s a really simple recipe and doesn’t take too long to make. If you’re a contact lens wearer then chopping up 2kg of onions shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re not, you’re going to get rather teary – I started off without my lenses in and couldn’t get past the first onion, so I had to resort to putting my lenses in as this always stops the tears when I chop onions – not sure if that’s just me though.

Anyway – you will need…

100ml Olive Oil 2kg Onions, peeled and finely chopped 200g Demerara Sugar 150g Redcurrent Jelly 300ml Cider Vinegar 50ml [...]
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Lots of lovely peas!

Milomade — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:00:45 +0000

As you may be aware, we took on an allotment earlier this year and although we’ve not planted that mush stuff, of what we have planted, we’re getting quite a harvest from. I’ve never had success with peas before – birds have always pecked at them before they can develop and grow – but this year we’ve had an amazing bumper crop.

So every other day or so one of use has gone up to the allotment with the dog and picked a huge bag load and peas have been on the menu most nights – that’s if they’ve made it to the plate at all as they are so yummy eaten straight from the pod!

How can you resist these…

Misty Days

Milomade — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:00:18 +0000

Sometimes we have beautiful sunny days, sometimes we have rainy ones. Sometimes we get to see the sunshine get shrouded by mist that rolls in from the sea and covers the land…

I love living by the sea!

Catching up…

Milomade — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:04:12 +0000

I’ve been away from my blog for a while now as I’ve had too much going on, so I’m going to be doing a bit of catching up over the next few days as there’s been so much I’ve wanted to blog about but just not been able to. So I’m going to backdate a few posts and if you’re interested you can step back in time with me and find out what’s been going on lately.

The last few months of my life have been the weirdest, most wonderful, most woeful, tiring, emotionally draining months of my life. As some of you may know I got pregnant at long last recently and what a miracle that was. It’s the first time I’ve ever been pregnant in so many years of trying and although my pregnancy was brief, it was wonderful to experience.

After a few weeks of having weird tastes and [...]
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A gift from the local moggy

Milomade — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:00:43 +0000

I nearly stepped on this today – a poor little dead mouse, strategically placed by one of the local moggy’s at our gate – I’m convinced it’s a warning message of some sort for our dog Abee.

It looked so peacful as if it was sleeping or just resting. It’s little paws were ever so tiny and delicate.

Yet another reason to dislike cats I’m afraid…

Sourdough Revisted

Milomade — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:00:46 +0000

A while back I had a stab at making sourdough bread and it was quite successful at first and then the temperatures in the house plummetted and it was so hard and took so long to get any dough to rise that I gave up.

Now we have a spanking new kitchen and the house is a bit more insulated, things are on the up with regards to breadmaking.

I captured some wild yeast with a starter a few weeks ago and this is my third loaf, but it’s the first successful one – doesn’t it look beautiful!

It tasted pretty good too!

Yay – my first tomato!

Milomade — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 08:00:58 +0000

I’ve got my greenhouse stuffed full of tomato plants and got my very first tomato of the year today!

Hopefully there will be plenty more where that came from!

Raspberry Jam

Milomade — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 08:00:56 +0000

I thought I’d missed the raspberries this year because of being rushed into hospital and then all the time spent recovering after my operation. I went out to my favourite spot though to see if there were any left and was amazed how many were there – nobody else had been out picking and so I managed to collect tons whilst still leaving loads for the birds.

I love making jam and especially raspberry jam as it’s my favourite – I only discovered this flavour last year though and have been over indulging ever since! It’s look so yummy and can I say – sexy?

Nothing beats a fresh jar of raspberry goodness…

Especially on my morning porridge…

I’m keeping a few jars for myself and then the rest is getting donated to my good friend Matt Hulse for him to sell at Edinburgh International Book Festival – There will be a special BSL [...]
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