Bath, marmalade, thoughts

Still excited about the Liebster Award, have tried to put it at the side on the advice of Perpetua.

Now I need to tell you about the trip to Bath, this event took place on Monday 16th January and if you were in the UK you will know it was a very chilly and dry cold day. Way back in November last year on our local Freecycle site I spotted an offer for return tickets from Twickenham and Bath. The kind person offering them had the wrong date, apparently it was cheaper to reorder and give the tickets away. There was the condition too that the tickets were linked to Senior Railcards, so no problem for us there. Don't know if any one applied, but we were so lucky to receive them just before Christmas so January didn't seem a blank prospect.

Everything went so well, we travelled on the earlier train from Twickenham as we didn't know our way around Reading station. That turned out to be easy peasy so plenty of time for a hot chocolate before train from Paddington arrived. Reserved seats around a table, so good. Of course train journeys give an ideal opportunity to work on hexipuffs so now I have completed 82.

We met with my friend at Bath station, as her birthday was the next day we had arranged to meet up so we could take her out to lunch. Bit disappointed with my choice, the Brunel Brasserie in the Royal Hotel right opposite the station. Apart from the fact there were only two other diners, A. chose the dish of the day, which was chicken based, when eventually the food arrived it was duck on the plate. Meant a long wait for A. for her meal, we'd had ours served, fortunately I am a very slow eater, the mixed grill was a much larger serving than the chicken so there wasn't much difference in our finishing times. So, we won't be going back to that venue, although the food tasted fine, thought it would be a change from the usual chain meals, good as some are.

Interesting to potter around the Highgrove shop in Bath, especially as there was a sale on. Didn't actually buy anything but viewed some lovely glassware. We are attempting to clear rather than acquire. Also found Wool, a yarn shop and although they didn't stock the yarn I  wanted, I did buy some sock yarn in greeny, browny random shades which will make loads of hexipuffs and balance out the colour scheme a bit.

Back home it is marmalade time, in between bashing the keyboard I have been leaping up and testing the rolling boil that is the preserve on the point of setting. This third batch is a different mix of fruit, a LOL (lemon, orange and lime) - Martha suggested the latter. The finished product doesn't seem to differentiate between the different fruits.

First batch here:-

To me marmalade making has been part of my life for ever, whilst cutting up the fruit I just think, often about the other times in my life when I have been doing this, and when my mother made it when I was a child. Even though I know that today one can put the spare fruit in the freezer to make at a later date this seems 'wrong' to me and so I have three more pounds of fruit to slice and cook. On a wet, cold grey day like today that is an enjoyable task and certainly not a chore.

Marmalade makes a good gift, often instead of wine.