Fun and Games

Eight months ago I was in Scotland. 

On Saturday I was in Glasgow.  Glasgow, Kentucky that is!  First weekend of June (for the most part) Glasgow hosts the Glasgow Highland Games at Barren River Lake State Park.  This year the weather was perfect (high of 75 F) so we made the 2 hour drive to join the fun.  It has been years (like 15) since I was last there. 

We arrived just in time for the opening ceremony with the ‘massed bands’ marching onto the review field. 

They were lead in by the official piper of the games, Karen Brumley.

The dignitaries of the Games were seated in the review stand. 

I was enjoying myself!  We had a grand time listening to the band. 

Here’s a bit of video when they played “Amazing Grace”.

After they were finished and cleared the field, it was time for the big boys to come out to play! 

Really big boys…

And the reason they are big is their athletic events involve throwing heavy things for long distances. 

Including up in the air!  That is a sheaf that has been attempted to be thrown over that bar (which I believe was set at 16 feet, something at that time) using a pitchfork.

They also throw handled metal weights! 

These feats have come from tasks of everyday life… clearing ground for farming, moving timber, and hauling anchors. 

Besides the athletics, there was a lot of music.  There were 2 venues going all the time.  One had easy, folk type music, such as played by this performer, Colin Grant-Adams of Oban, Scotland…

… and the other venue had bagpipe rock.  What’s bagpipe rock?  Here’s a video of some of the best out there… The Red Hot Chili PIPERS.  

And speaking of pipers, another event at Highland Games are the piping competitions.  The different groups scatter about to practice, making a fantastic photo opportunity. 

I had a great time getting all the shots I wanted.  The huge crowds of spectators made it a challenge but that is to be expected.

 

Here is a practice session.

And here is the Kentucky United Pipes and Drums in their competition.  http://www.kentuckyunited.org/ 

One of the things to do at the Games is to visit the clan tents.  This is especially fun if your clan is there.  It gives you a chance to visit with them AND a good place to get out of the heat for a while.  Also, if there’s space, you can sit with your clan and watch the games in the competition field. 

At these Games, the Clan MacDuffee was there. 

They are part of the Clan MacFie and a clan themselves.  It’s kind of hard to explain how it all works, I basically think of them as “cousins”.

So I had a good time visiting and talking about Colonsay, while cooling off for a wee bit. 

I found out the Clan Commander was at the Games.  As I understand it, the Clan MacFie doesn’t have a Laird because the Laird was killed without an heir.  Thus the MacFie clan became a “broken clan” and aligned with other clans… including the Cameron’s.  (Which makes me smile since Dave Cameron took such great care of us during our tour of Scotland.)

It’s great fun to walk about the grounds doing a bit of people watching. 

And a bit of shopping and eating.

This is haggis gone wrong.  Sorry folks but a Scotland/Kentucky fusion just doesn’t work.  BBQ sauce on haggis is just nasty and a waste of a pretty good haggis! 

But other than that, we had a pretty good time.  You know it's always a good day when it has pipes, kilts, and clans in it!

Once in a Lifetime – Don’t Miss It!!

Tuesday night the sky will put on a once-in-a-lifetime event.  The planet Venus will cross the face of the sun.  The next time this will happen will be in 2117. 

The transit will start at 6:09pm EDT so the farther west in the US you are, the better/longer you’ll be able to see it.  The transit takes about 6 hours to complete, so here in The Sticks we’ll only be able to see it to the halfway point. 

It is really easy to watch but DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN!!!!!  (Yeah, I know you’ll have heard that before but I have to say it again…). 

To watch all you need to do is to build a “pinhole camera”.  It is really, REALLY easy to do.  Oh, by the way.  The awesome thing about these pinhole cameras is they really are “cameras” (so to speak).  What you look at is the true image of the sun… not just sunlight coming thru.  How cool is that?! 

It can be done with a shoe box.  HOWEVER, there is some sort of math ratio where the greater the distance from the opening to the ‘screen’ (i.e. the length of your box), the larger the projection will be.  And since you will want the image to be large, you will need some decent length to your tube.

Himself had mailed home some old sea charts and I still have the four-foot long boxes.  I snatched up one and in about 10 minutes had a rough pinhole camera!

On one end I sliced in a ‘viewing window’ and put a piece of white paper at the end.  This is where the sun’s image will be projected.  You can see I just shoved the folded paper in and it still work well.  Best would be to have it nice and flat.

At the other side I sliced off the whole end.  Then I took a flat piece of cardboard and cut it to the same size at the box end.  In the middle of that piece I cut a square about of about an inch and a half.  I then taped a piece of heavy duty foil over the hole and attached the piece to the end of the tube (thus recovering the end like a cap). 

Last step was to poke a hole in the very center with a pin. 

Now it was time to look at the sun! 

Finding the sun – without looking at it – is a bit tricky.  Here’s a tip to do it.  Look at your shadow on the ground.  If the pinhole camera looks like a tube… you’re off.  If it looks like a square (or whatever the shape of your tube is)… you’ve just about got it!  Having someone to help ‘aim’ makes it lot easier.

Here’s my first view of the sun.  Too much light was hitting the ‘screen’.  You can see the image at the bottom of the V.  

Not good enough…

So I tried darkening the viewing area by putting a towel over my head (think the old-time cameras where the photographer was behind a cover).

MUCH better even tho there was still a bit of light bleeding thru.  (Sorry about the blur, not enough hands to hold everything and get a steady photo!) 

Himself came over and tucked up the towel around my camera hand.  Next time I’ll use a small blanket to make it even darker and easier to work with.

And WOW… this is what I saw.  Folks… that is the sun’s corona you are seeing!!  The astronomy sites I visited to learn about this say that with a longer tube, you can actually watch sun spot activity. 

So you know I was off to Lowes to buy a section of PVC pipe.  Got one that is 10 feet long and 4 inches in diameter.  Himself cleaned the grime off of it and is going to cut out my viewing area before Tuesday. 

This is going to be SO fun!!!

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Salud! at Whole Foods: Dinner From Mexico

Himself and I attended a cooking class at Whole Foods recently.  This one was a bit different in that it was a demonstration class rather than a ‘hands on’ class. 

Here’s the class description:

Mexican cuisine revels in the balance of flavors, and contrary to what many people think, most dishes are not very spicy. A cuisine originating in Mexico, with considerable Spanish influences, Mexican cooking is more than street foods or Americanized versions of nachos, tacos, and burritos. It is more delicately spiced, relying on corn, chiles, and herbs and complemented with tomatoes and beans. Tonight, we’ll look at a few authentic dishes and sauces from Central Mexico as we unravel a refined dinner menu, from appetizer to dessert. MENU: Mushroom Crêpes with Poblano Chile Sauce (Crepas Rellenas de Hongos con Salsa de Chile Poblano); Filet Mignon with Rajas (Filete Mignon con Rajas); Colonial Fresh Corn Cake (Torta de Elote Colonial); Blackberry Sorbet (Sorbete de Zarzamora); and “Three-Milk” Cake (Pastel des Tres Leches).

This class was taught by Cindy Chambers.

She started with the corn cakes.  Here she is making the batter for the cakes.

The class used a lot of poblano peppers.  She showed us how to peel them by roasting them over the fire.  The skin comes right off then.  You can also oven roast them to do this.  Just make sure they are really black.

And when you are cutting them up, be sure to use gloves!  If you don’t… and rub your eyes later it could light you up!!  Also, remove the ribs of the pepper as they have a lot of ‘heat’ to them (if you want a milder pepper).

The crepas recipe was quite good, with thin crepes.

For the class, the crepas were baked in the oven.  This would be a great ‘make ahead’ dish.

Mushroom Crêpes with Poblano Chile Sauce (Crepas Rellenas de Hongos con Salsa de Chile Poblano).

Filet Mignon with Rajas (Filete Mignon con Rajas) on top of Colonial Fresh Corn Cake (Torta de Elote Colonial).

Blackberry Sorbet (Sorbete de Zarzamora)

“Three-Milk” Cake (Pastel des Tres Leches) whole…

…and sliced.  Yum! 

Everything was really good and not your normal restaurant fare you find everywhere.  This is the type of food I had during my visit to Celaya, Mexico.  Fabulous.  (Yes America… there is more to Mexican cuisine than burritos and enchiladas).  

Torta de Elote Colonial (Colonial Fresh Corn Cake)

4 cups fresh (or frozen) corn kernels

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

8 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

2 Tbs sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

 Preheat oven to 350*F.  Butter 13x9 baking dish.  Working in batches, puree all the ingredients in a blender until almost smooth.  Transfer batter to prepared pan. 

Bake until golden brown and tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes.  Invert corn cake onto platter.  Cut into squares and serve warm.

Makes 8 servings.

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Pinterest Inspired: World’s Smallest Potato Patch

I enjoy gardening to a degree… meaning that if it is easy and has good results – I’m all about it!  But gardening on our property is not an easy thing to do.  We’re on the side of a hill and the ground is clay covered stones.  Digging a 3 inch deep hole can take you five minutes!  (Or the use of the mattock…) 

So I’ve taken a keen interest in the container and raised bed gardening I’ve found on Pinterest.  Several have been on how to raise potatoes in a cage using straw. 

When my potato basket was moved into a closet and forgotten, the little potatoes decided to grow.  That’s when I decided to give cage potatoes a try.  I had the roll of fence and some potting soil to start them, all I needed was the straw.

Himself cut the fence for me and formed it up to a cage.

He spread a couple of bags of soil and raked them level.

I told you those potatoes had been busy! 

They were starting to grow leaves!

He covered them with a bit of dirt to get them started.

And then he put the cage over the mound.

Now it was time to add the straw.  Isn’t that the tiniest straw bale you’ve ever seen?  I’m not happy with Lowe’s for selling that as a “bale”.  That little half bale cost a full bale price.  Next time I’m heading over to the Co-Op! 

We covered the potatoes with about 6 inches of straw and gave it a good watering. 

Now I’m supposed to keep it watered and add more straw every time the plants grow about 6 inches above the straw layer.  “They” say doing this will give you baby potatoes you can just reach in and pull out. 

We’ll see… 

But it’s going to be a fun experiment!

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