Yellow and gold

It was time for my haircut this morning. Claire was delayed at the school drop off so was late. I'd hoped to be out quite early, but flexibility is the name of the game.

I did have time to go to Corbridge, where they have a proper butcher and greengrocer. Then I walked by the Tyne on the flat path from the bridge.

It's very much a dog walkers' walk and very popular. I hate the fact that some leave the bags of dog poo by the side of the path, presumably to pick up later, but not always remembering where they left it!

After a very cold night and heavy frost, the sun shone and I was too hot! Up above the sky was blue and the first pussy willow looked glorious.

This afternoon, I made a beef stew with an internet recipe. I was fascinated to find "7 spice" or baharat in the mix. I had not heard of this. Most of you probably know that it is used in Lebanese cooking and that the ingredients vary between families and manufacturers.

This one was allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, ground cloves, coriander, cumin and nutmeg. I had only whole cloves and they were very elderly, so I omitted them!

Margret (next door) came over to tell us all about her study weekend at Higham Hall. The Schumanns and their lives and music. When I mentioned the spices she immediately said that it would create a sweetness. That's the first thing Mum said when she sampled the puréed version later. It was delicious, but did not cook as quickly as promised, so I finished it off in the pressure cooker. 

That created extra washing up!

I watched part of the Camversation talk last night and was pleased to hear about shooting black on black. What a simple technique to make life easier if you are doing composites. (Not that I do them very often.)