Seasonal delights

Seasonal food is a must for so many reasons, and I love the 'first of the season's ' anything! tonight I had the first of the new Jersey Royal potatoes with the first of the English asparagus - very early for this, was grown in Kent.  Not cheap at £4.99, but well worth every penny with the only addition necessary being a little local, organic butter. food of the goddesses ;)

Spring flowers

The pink daffodils are from my front garden; primroses and violets a present from a friend

Thursday funny................

............. because I need it :)

There's always one wee tail you miss.................

- will get it tomorrow lol Pleased with the finished blanket

Colour

Lots of colour going on today Rainbow  eggs for a bit of fun This blanket is finished now - small squares of retro pastel shades, surrounded by cream and the whole blanket edged in sage green. I'm really pleased with it, and it just needs the ends sewn in; will post a pic of the full thing when that's done. Another couple of rounds completed on the multi coloured granny blanket too, as and when the wool becomes available. Blueberry pancakes for afternoon tea with a friend

Longhope Lifeboat tragedy

On this day, 17 March 1969, RNLI Longhope Lifeboat TGB, capsized while on service to the Irene, a Liberian registered cargo ship. At the time the Longhope boat was lost, it would seem very likely that no boat could have survived in the conditions prevailing north of the Pentland Skerries at that time, with an immense wind against an even more immense tide which would produce seas up to 60ft high with correspondingly deep pits between them. It was believed that the TGB was turned end over end and then fell from a great height, either stunning the crew or creating such disarray that it would be beyond human capacity to handle the boat. This was the worst lifeboat disaster to ever strike the Orkneys, and indeed the whole of Britain. All eight crewmen lost their lives – and included two fathers both with two sons on board – and leaving behind seven widows and ten fatherless children; all of them were from the tiny village of Brims with a total population of 30. Almost a quarter of them, the most experienced in the ways of the sea, had been taken away in one bitter blow. “The Orcadian” (Orkney’s newspaper) commented: “All Orkney this week mourns over the tragic loss of the Longhope lifeboat with its crew of eight fine men. Right up until the last minute, everyone was hoping against hope that the lifeboat crew who had so often snatched others from what looked like certain death might still themselves have a chance. Then came the sad, final messages. There was no hope. The crew of the Longhope lifeboat were dead.” Those that died were, as previously mentioned, Dan Kirkpatrick who was 59, the coxswain, together with two of his sons, Ray who was 29 and the bowman, and Jack, 26 a crewman. Both were married with a child. The engineer Robert R. Johnston, who was 61, and his two sons, James, the second coxswain at 34 and Robbie, a crewman at 31. Both sons were married and both had two children. Also to die was the assistant mechanic, Jim Swanson who left a wife. A single man of 24, Eric McFadyen, volunteered to go at the last minute, but didn't have to, as the lifeboat could have sailed with seven crewmen. Today my candle is lit for everyone affected by this tragedy all those years ago http://www.longhopevillage.co.uk/orkney/

Polperro

Lost my heart to this wonderful wee place...................