A Little of This and a Little of That

As you can probably tell, yesterday was AGAIN laundry day.  I was determined to not quit until I had washed everything in our dirty clothes box.  When you do it in 3 pound increments that can take awhile.  But, I powered through and finished at 1:00a.m.  Now it is all hanging everywhere drying and, of course, there are things in the dirty clothes box again.  But, like Scarlett O'Hara, I'm not going to think about that today, I will think about that tomorrow.

Mike discovered it first but I can personally attest to the fact that when it is cold out not only can we see our breath, when a duck quacks you can see its breath.  Just thought you would like to know that astonishing fact. :)


Our narrow boat weighs about 16  metric ton.  A metric ton is 1000 kilograms or 2200 pounds.  That means our boat weighs about 35,200 pounds!  And yet, the recent winds we have been experiencing can rock the boat without any problem.  If you are motoring down the canal a gust can move you to a location not of your choosing.  Now that shows the power of Mother Nature.  She is a force to be reckoned with.


Photos by B.B. Photography

The first photo shows a wave hitting the western coastline of England.  As they come across the Atlantic they gather force, a lot of force in the current weather conditions.
The second photo is, believe it or not, the Main Street of a coastal town that is being hit by these waves.  Amazing. With these waves and correspondingly higher tide surges comes a lot of rain, even by English standards.  Places all over are flooding.  Mike keeps whispering "Hurricane Sandy".  He has a feeling I may have brought her with me.

That yummy looking thing is a Scottish Mince Round.  It is what I made for dinner last night and Mike has given it a thumbs up so I will be making it again.  I try to use "local" recipes for at least half of our meals.  It is part of the British Experience thing.  
As we have all been told, Scots can stretch a pound until it screams for mercy.  And this recipe is one that definitely makes their money stretch.
It contains one chopped onion, one grated carrot, 7 chestnut mushrooms chopped fine (you could sub in finely chopped tatties),  a minced garlic clove, a generous handful of uncooked porridge oats, some beef broth (homemade or from a cube) and 1/4 pound of minced beef. Amazingly, the result is a very meaty flavored pie that gives 6 normal servings or 4 "I'm starving" servings.