Nirvana in a Chocolate Shop.....

Last week I found nirvana in a chocolate shop in a wee village in the north-west of Scotland. I should explain that chocolate is as important to me as air is for breathing. At island parties parents ensure I have a party bag of chocolate and sweeties so I don't steal any from the kids. OK not one of my more endearing traits, but it demonstrates the seriousness with which I regard chocolate.

Imagine my delight then when I visit Cocoa Mountain in Durness. Visitors can see through the clear glass doors to the chocolate making emporium - there is probably still an imprint of my nose that was pressed against the thick glass on a daily basis viewing with awe huge quantities of liquid chocolate...... Yes, dear reader, daily.

The shop also served mocha to die for (a double espresso, with chocolate, froth and liquid chocolate drizzled over the top) - I did resist the full blown "hot chocolate" experience as I feared I may die of joy and there is still too much chocolate left to taste to go just yet.

But I did sample a different "truffle" each day. The flavours run like a litany... black cherry and toasted almond, fresh raspberry, cranberry and cashew, chilli and lemongrass, ginger and cinnamon, coffee vanilla, whisky caramel, and my personal favourite - orange and geranium.

And then there were the bags of chocolate - with pieces of fudge, pistachio, marshmallow, almonds, hazelnuts or ginger embedded in the thick sweet delicious chocolate coating. And chocolate buttons, chocolate nibs, chocolate beans........

OK, someone asked, if we didn't know it was "special" would it *taste* special? Well I think so - YES! And as well as delicious chocolate (white, dark, milk) it was the interesting mix of flavours - who would think to mix strawberry and black pepper and clothe it in chocolate? Only a genius of a chocolate maker....... sigh......

As you can see from the photo above I brought a little home for myself. Yup all for ME! Well it's going to be a loooong winter so I need something to help my mental health and wellbeing.... Does fruit covered in chocolate count as one of my "five a day"? I wonder if I could apply to be their chocolate taster for new flavours........ a girl can only dream - sigh. At least I can buy the goodies online - I already have the site bookmarked. Oooh I just checked it and it said "Your shopping cart is empty" - I shall soon have to remedy that. Well maybe in a week or two. (Visitors please note - do not expect to be offered any of my supply of chocolate - bring your own!).

Durness, NW Scotland

As promised some photos from my recent holiday in Durness. The photo above was from the window of the cottage where some friends and I stayed on the edge of the Balnakeil Craft Village just by Loch Croispal.

Upside down sheep?

The craft village itself is - er - interesting in appearance! It was built in the 1950's as an early warning station in case of nuclear attack - this was the time of the "Cold War" remember. Anyway although built by the military it was never used and was eventually reborn as a craft village in the mid 1960s and has continued since as a place for local crafts, and also includes a great bookshop which serves wonderful soup and lunches among the books, and the most wonderful chocolate shop - more about that tomorrow (chocolate deserves full attention)!




Durness is a great place to explore the North West tip of Scotland, and there are fantastic beaches all along the coast.



Not to mention intrepid surfers.... (or rather I think they were "body boarding"? or whatever the correct term is?). Completely bonkers......

Nope - not Orkney.....

OK I confess - I've been on holiday "South" - to the North West of Scotland, Durness to be precise. Got home yesterday so still catching up on emails, post, and the usual tasks associated with returning home - such as mowing the grass around the house as the neighbourly "ground staff" has hurt his knee, or was it his toe? The story changed during the telling ;-) - either way I felt I ought to mow the grass myself for once (well OK using a walk behind mower but you know what I mean). And I'm having to console poor Button who got beaten up yesterday by another cat. Her beautiful face is quite a mess but thankfully only superficial and the fur will grow back. Her pride is hurt too - but I suspect she gave as good as she got.....

Anyway had a lovely holiday and will share more later in the week. Meanwhile enjoy the picture of the mountain (and no I didn't climb it but admired it from afar).

Skara Brae

I've had a colleague from far south visiting for the last couple of days. Among the talk of work etc we did find time to take a quick look at Skara Brae which is located in Skaill Bay (see here for loads of info). As well as investigating for ourselves this important neolithic village, we had also to sample the wonderful home bakes sold in the cafe - for quality control purposes you understand. It's important these are tasted regularly to ensure they come up to the high standards expected by tourists.....

Anyway - just sharing some pictures with you. Must dash - lots to do, may not be around for a few days - so hopefully these photos will keep you going.......

These photos are of one of the houses in the village



This shows the famous "neolithic" dresser - where objects made of bone and pottery were found when the site was excavated.


The village is now right on the shore and in danger from coastal erosion, but evidence suggests that it was much further inland when originally inhabited. The green mound in the bottom left corner is the top of one of the houses.

Bring back our sunshine.....!

OK the South-East of England seems to have gathered up all the sunshine for itself and has temperatures in the high 20s (C). Harumph....... meanwhile in Orkney we are preparing for a bl**dy gale with gusts of 70 to 80mph. Eeeek! Plus heavy persistant raind.... I think Autumn just arrived.

Later sailings of the Hamnavoe ferry between Stromness and Scrabster have been cancelled due to the sea state. Our wee ferry will keep sailing though as the water here is more sheltered.

Oh well we had a lovely summer and I am always talking about liking being in tune with the natural rhythms of the seasons so I shall have to stop whining like the wind and welcome Autumn..... A time to put the garden to bed, turn on the heating, and curl up on the sofa in the evening among the pile of books I have gathered in over the summer.

I'd better go and see if anything needs tying down before it gets blown away!!

And the Met Office have just issued a "Flash" Severe weather warning - sigh.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/os/os_forecast_warnings.html?from=rss&sn=2145

Tom & Jerry are alive and well.....

...... and living on Graemsay....... Tom & Jerry (as in the cartoon cat and mouse, not to be confused with "Ben & Jerry's" ice cream - that would be silly). Anyway, there I was one day last week, minding my own business and in pops Button through the cat flap. I noted the slightly muffled "meow" and did take time to glance across the kitchen. Yup, in her mouth was a dead mouse..... she drops mouse on floor and gave me that pleased-with-herself expression that only a cat can give. I stepped over the corpse and cat and reached for the dustpan and brush.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle from behind and I turned to see the "dead" mouse making a break for it, closely followed by Button. There then ensued the usual Tom&Jerry chase led by mouse, closely followed by Button, with me bringing up the rear brandishing the broom. We did three laps of the kitchen before I got the mouse with the broom. Before I hear your wails of outrage - I must clearly state that NO animals (or humans) were harmed in this exercise (well I was a bit out of breath...). The idea was to get the broom in front of the mouse so that it can hide in the soft bristles (yup I've been here before...), whereupon I scoop up cat and deposit her outside the kitchen (this is the tricky bit as there are two doors into the kitchen and she can nip back through before you can say "Jiminy Cricket" - though why you would want to say Jiminy Cricket is another matter.)

Anyway, after scooping cat out of the way, I deftly used a large yellow duster* to scoop up mouse and deposit outside in the field. First remembering to a) close porch door so cat can't get through cat flap, and b) put my shoes on else slippers get soggy. Meanwhile Button is up on her hind legs, front paws against the window pane, look of outrage on face.

I return and give Button a lecture about NOT bringing anything LIVE through the cat flap with her. She's a cat - she'll do as she pleases.......

I needed a strong cup of tea after that episode.........

*Duster - a piece of cloth that is apparently used to collect the dust, I, however, find it just redistributes it so have no use for such an article, except for the rescue of small rodents...

Note on catflaps - in previous posts I've muttered darkly about the cat flap that works with Button's microchip - or rather doesn't work. Anyway I wrote to the supplier complaining about the ineffectiveness of the flap and this morning got a call from the manufacturer's (Sureflap) general manager, apologising for inconvenience and after some discussion and rummaging around the cat flap (by me!), he is sending me a new "improved" version, and will also send me a version that is due out later this year which has an even better mechanism in it. So I shall keep you posted, but at least I'm impressed with their customer service!

Ouch!

One of my hens must be walking about very gingerly after laying the egg on the left - it's almost square! Well OK not quite, but it IS considerably larger than she usually lays (see egg on the right). Poor thing!



And these are my first "tatties" from the garden! Pink Fir Apple variety (though I am assured they ARE potatoes). I think they should be renamed Prolific Pink Fir Apple - this is just the crop of two plants!