The bridge did get finished:
Now this may appear to be a blurry photo gone wrong – well, it is - but it is also a picture of trees reflected in chocolate so worthy of inclusion 
It is a montezuma’s very dark bar…
Weve had a few spring-like days now, causing me to dig over some ground for the little polytunnel and clean and set up the coldframe to let the ground warm up for salad seeds. Browsing Suttons trying to decide what to plant this year – will have more room with extra raised beds… this really does feel like waking up after winter! The pond is finally unfrozen today so I expect frogly activity soon 
It’s been like this in varying thickness of ice and pattern for months:
Dance mania continues with ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary being studied :)
Books and films amany dug out to accompany this in fine home educating fashion. The Ballet Companion is a gorgeous book, it’s been to good for me to read that things have come on with problems such as eating disorders and painful pointework (ouch pouches – love them!) being dealt with much more compassionately in general. High quality vegan ballet shoes are even available As for films… oh so many, from White Nights to A Chorus Line, loving them all, also deeply appreciative of friends sharing the enthusiasm and cost of DVD purchase… Had a nice time reading over T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and then watching Cats and boring delighting others with tales of cast members I knew/was taught by or with… same goes for Billy Elliot… ah to be an old “when I was young — fill in with unbelievable sounding fact–” person – it’s great fun!!
Vegan Easter has been updated
Walnut cake with a tablespoon of Nocaf added to the mix. It is not coffeeish as had intended but is very nice:
1st of March tomorrow, so will it get more springlike?
Lots more has fallen – we are ankle deep again…
just as I was taking photos this fox came and had a good look into the garden. We do see them quite often here, but not usually when holding a camera
then, while eating my porridge by the window this morning I noticed I had an onlooker!
We do still favour green smoothies for breakfast but on a cold winter’s day sometimes only decadently topped toast will do
Valentine cookies: made this basic dough and did half plain (some topped with coconut), a quarter of it with a little finely chopped fresh ginger and the other quarter with unwaxed lemon rind, beautiful flavours!
Tried this Mamma Cucina cheesecake, very impressive to get a vegan one readymade in a shop but not a patch on homemade… what is though?
and a scene from a recent sunny day (more snow predicted for tomorrow!)
Cat has a wonderful new website: The Tasty Herbalist - go see
Strange day today where a slight disaster led to us doing totally unintended things such as visiting the Wallace and Gromit exhibition at Satrosphere. It was very good, also being about other animation and techniques etc.
There were swans on the loch yesterday
Had a lovely day with friends morphing into a very balletic afternoon which was great fun. It’s been wonderful rediscovering ballet being for enjoyment, rather than an eternal striving (not to mention starving) for perfection. Looked out the old class music etc. I have but it’s all on cassettes – technology moved on a bit fast for me there 
Watched Fast Food Nation (quite good trailer there on amazon), fictional film based on the non-fiction book – strong stuff, a round of exploitation to go with the fries… good cast, making it very watchable though gradually more horrifying.
a frugal recipe again, basic pasties :)
and bargains to be had – the book people are offering 10% off all orders until midnight tomorrow (Wed. 3rd Feb) – just enter WIN10 at checkout for offer.
more snow… some little bits I’ve been meaning to mention spread among the lovely signs of spring to come
Wayne Dyer’s new program: Excuses Begone! – been enjoying listening to that – he is always so motivational and uplifting.
The Bristol Dyslexia Centre has some interesting stuff on it’s site including some free educational games taken from the Nessy learning program.
Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome: Different Sensory Experiences, Different Perceptual Worlds
Olga Bogdashina has written a wonderful book here – helpful in very practical ways and quite refreshingly non-patronising in it’s manner of looking at autism and the associated sensory and perceptual issues. There is evidence that these may be at the core of ASDs and what is actually physiological has been treated as purely psychological for far too long by the so called experts. A fascinating read
Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
If you’re looking for a Scottish dish to make for Burns night other than haggis*, these are very good – nothing like the English item of the same name and containing the somewhat surprising ingredient of potato (undetectable, is lovely fondant) – the recipe is still up on Cat’s old blog with pics of them properly covered in coconut, of which we are out of this time…
other Scottish recipes on site include cranachan (traditional pud at Burns suppers), Balmoral pie, skirlie, bradies and mince with dumplings and here’s a previous Burns night posting from 2008 complete with haggis, poetry and music.
*note: do not serve the macaroons with neeps and tatties
update: toasted coconut and it stuck fairly well – they were just not right without it!
Living in the North of Scotland, vegan, home educating, cake eating, woodland walking... no set subject matter here really though :)
The more ancient archives are the old home ed diary starting in June 2005 and evolving on from there.
amazing language, wonderful poems
a beautiful ballet book.