National Blog Posting Month 2022 - #30

 This is the final entry for the National Blog Posting Month 2022. It has been fun, and I think I managed a good variety of postings. I hope you enjoyed it. I may try to continue to post every day, if I can. 

Meanwhile, November 30th is St Andrew's Day, the patron saint of railway level crossings, Scotland and a few other places besides. I am being slightly tongue-in-cheek because of the current debate in Scotland on the subject of independence. A generation is something that spans a couple of weeks in the political party that is obsessed with independence for Scotland, to the detriment of all other responsibilities of government. Our members of parliament, both of SNP hue, both excel in either absence or fatuous uselessness. The disaster that is our ferry service has been contributed to by a breathtaking example of the above shift in the taking of responsibility. Two ferries were ordered to be built in 2015, for delivery in 2018. The order was granted to a yard in Port Glasgow, which is still building the wretched vessels, due for delivery in 2024. Ferguson's were granted the order because they were Scottish. Not on account of technical or financial suitability, on account of which the yard should never have been awarded the contract.

National Blog Posting Month 2022 - #29

This is a parsnip cake I baked today. The finished product comes with a citrus icing and is absolutely yummy. I post the recipe for those intrepidly minded

Parsnip and walnut cake
175 g  plain flour
5 g baking powder
5 g bicarbonate of soda
5 g ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
175 ml sunflower oil
175 g caster sugar
3 large eggs
175 g grated raw parsnip
60 g chopped walnuts
80 g sultanas
zest of one lemon

Sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt together.
Place the oil and sugar in a large bowl, beat with an electric whisk then add the eggs one at a time until all are combined.
Fold in the dry ingredients, then the parsnip, the walnuts, the sultanas and the lemon zest.
Grease and flour a 25 cm diameter cake tin, pour in the mixture and cook in the over at 180C / gas mark 4 for 35 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 170C / gas mark 3 and cook for another 30 minutes.
It may be necessary to cover the tin with baking paper if it appears to be cooking too fast
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then remove from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Citrus icing
100 g unsalted butter at room temperature
175 g icing sugar
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
juice of half a lemon
25 ml milk

Place the butter and icing sugar in a bowl and cream together, then add the zests and lemon juice.
Add the milk until you achieve a spreadable consistency, then spread evenly over the cooled parsnip and walnut cake.

Modified 18 June 2020

National Blog Posting Month 2022 - #28

Just want to post this image of sunset this afternoon. The sun sets at 3.45pm; this was about half an hour earlier.

National Blog Posting Month 2022 - #27

Over on the continent, there is a tradition surrounding St Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors and children. In the Netherlands, the Bishop of Myra (modern day Smyrna in Turkey) arrives by steamboat from Spain, riding a white charger and accompanied by black-faced serfs, also known as Black Peters. They scatter candy and presents. St Nicholas is rumoured to ride the apexes of the roofs, dropping presents down chimneys. In turn, he collects a carrot for the horse, that children leave out in their shoe, set by the fireplace. Black Peter reputedly descends the chimney to leave the present and collect the carrot. Children who have been bad are warned that they will be carried back to Spain and given the rod, as carried by Black Peter. 

The historical background is slightly warped; as I wrote, St Nicholas lived and died in Myra. After his death, and upon the advent of Islam, his bones were disinterred and spirited across the Mediterranean to Spain. At the time, Spain was occupied by the Moors, a dark-skinned people from North Africa. 

This was an innocent tradition when I was a child, and once at a certain age, you were told that St Nicholas and Black Peter was a fable, a bit of fun and a foil for giving presents to each other. You'd be asked to draw a name from a hat and obtain a present for the person concerned. This would be accompanied by a poem, usually in inexecrable rhyme, highlighting the recipient's misdeeds and misfortunes of the year gone by. 

Over the last few years it has become increasingly tainted, and I am now of the opinion that it should be abolished altogether. The reason is that people no longer see that it's just a bit of fun, and is not discriminatory against people with dark skin, or favouring slavery or serfdom. There are protest movements, rallies that turn violent and groups travelling across the country to stop the Grand Entrance of Sinterklaas. 

It is bad enough that Santa Claus (St Nicholas' alter ego) has crept into the commercial side of December in the Netherlands. But violent protests debase the concept of it being a bit of fun for the children. That's the tradition killed off, in the name of political correctness.

National Blog Posting Month 2022 - #26

 Just to share some piccies I took round Stornoway on Friday evening. 

National Blog Posting Month 2022 - #25

 The Football World Cup is in full swing, and so is all the political fall-out. Whether it be those who prefer something different to a heterosexual relationship (isn't that a personal choice?), problems on the home front or just regional or national rivalries. 

The host nation, Qatar, is an odd choice, as it does not have a footballing history. However, money talks. Pity more of that money was not spent on the safety of those working on all the construction projects since the championships were awarded to the country - thousands have reportedly died. 

I am keeping half an eye on the results, I don't watch any matches. No, thank you.

Seasonal cheer

Today's Stornoway Gazette is required reading should one need a bit of cheering up this week. I summarise.

A recently elected member of the health board has visited the islands all of two times. He perambulates between Newcastle and Aberdeen, and of choice hangs a left at Perth to visit Stornoway.

The population in the Lewis district of Uig has been without EE broadband for weeks, in spite of technical teams having been in situ for the same amount time. Maybe they are prefixing the name of the company with the letter T. 

Calmac does not seem to wish to have island residents on its board, as it goes out of its way not to publish vacancies, leaving it for current members to inform their cronies of any such vacancies.

The workers in the Ferguson shipyard at Port Glasgow are ashamed to tell anyone they work there, following the 6-year delay in the delivery of two ferry ships. The reasons for that make very interesting reading, and could yet involve the Police.

The two surgeons in the Western Isles Hospital are quitting at the end of the year, leaving their positions to be filled by locums - which are very expensive.

Meanwhile, our MP is asking questions of the PM to which he already knows the answer - only to be able to flaunt his independence mantra, and get his face on the telly.