mogling

Well Shetlink is a 'virtual community', so we could have a virtual party? Glug glug, Clink, rustle rustle, rattle, munch, slurp, "Cheers!"

"Sandy Peterson, a trustee of Disability Shetland, is preparing to walk the 40 miles from the charity's Lerwick offices to Ronas Hill in time to welcome in the New Year on top of Shetland's highest peak. The 72-year old will set off at midnight on 30 December, allowing himself 24 hours to complete the walk and reach the summit. This is the third fundraising campaign the retired teacher from Vidlin has undertaken this year. It is all in support of Disability Shetland, whose financial survival is hanging in the balance." http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/11924-sandy-s-new-year-s-eve-challenge Please support Sandy - the man's a total hero! To donate please go to: https://www.justgiving.com/disability-shetland Thank you Karen x

I just noticed something: "Mr MacColl, who is half Italian, wanted to build a single-storey detached restaurant, seating 24, beside his home... ...But the planning department refused the application because the pizzeria was not located within or adjacent to an “existing settlement”. "Settlement: a place, typically one which has previously been uninhabited." Assuming that Mr MacColl's house already exists at Parkgate, would that not constitute an "existing settlement" that he could build a pizza place "adjacent to"?

Weather forecast for Monday 14th December - it will be a very cloudy, overcast, weet, cold & windy night. And then again, it might not be! Geminid Meteor Shower 2015. The Geminids are expected to put on a good showing this year, 2015. Activity is likely to occur between December 8 to December 17, reaching a peak on the 14th in late afternoon/early evening. The crescent Moon (phase 12.2%) sets at 19h 06m UT on the 14th. At maximum, one may expect to see up to 100 meteors an hour, always weather permitting of course. From The Orcadian online http://www.spanglefish.com/northernskies/index.asp?pageid=274754

Leonid meteor shower The 2015 Leonid meteor shower is expected to be at its best on the night of November 17-18. The predawn hours on November 18 are the optimum time, no matter where you live on the globe. {Is mentioning a meteor shower on here just tempting fate for a cloudy night??} Gosh Colin - your CB exploits bringing back some memories! - The Grand Apricot at Chapel House! Bummer they confiscated your stuff

Hi Colin did you manage to have a go? Pity it was so darned cloudy… as usual

Absolutely! http://www.softservenews.com/Aurora.htm The highest number I've ever seen them use is 5… and they're thinking 6 or 7?!! Could be communications blackouts etc if it's that strong? I just minded earlier-when we were young and had CB radios - the 'skip-talking' was amazing when the northern lights were out - spoke to folk all over the UK / northern europe as if they were just soon the road! could be quite interesting tonight / tomorrow?

I'm always quite sad when I hear folk say they just chuck out their pumpkin scrapings after they're carved them All that lovely steam-and-freezeable flesh going to waste! Good luck with the recipes - hope you like the results - I just love them! x

Wow! That's a super set of photos - the northern lights are really bonny- well done! Good luck for the next shower… fingers crossed for clear skies!

Orionid meteor shower "The Orionids usually produce good observed rates, especially in the later part of the night. Although some meteor shower listings give a start date in early October, Orionid rates remain very low until the third week of the month. There is no sharp maximum and good rates should be seen during Oct 20-23. The peak ZHR will probably be about 20 this year." http://www.popastro.com/meteor/activity/activity.php?id_pag=231 http://www.popastro.com Society for Popular Astronomy - British organisation / website I never knew about... Absolutely! Just a pity we get so much cloudy skies on the nights that matter

Pumpkin Muffins Makes 12 Ingredients: 9 oz / 255g Plain flour 2 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda ¼ tsp Salt 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon ½ tsp Ground Ginger ½ tsp Ground Cloves {or less} 1 Egg 5-6 oz / 140 - 170g fine white Granulated sugar 12 fl oz / 340ml pureed Butternut squash / Big pumpkin/ tinned pumpkin 3 fl oz / 90ml Milk - adjust as necessary {soya milk or almond milk works ok} 3 fl oz / 90ml vegetable oil 2 oz / 60g chopped Walnuts {Optional} Prepare Muffin tin, set oven to 190-200C /375-400F / Gas mark 5-6 In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt, spices. In a separate bowl beat egg with a fork. Stir in sugar, pumpkin, milk, oil {& nuts} Scrape all of the liquid mixture into the dry, stir lightly until evenly combined. The batter should have a thick dropping consistency. Spoon into tins / cases, bake about 20-25 mins until tops are browned and spring back when pressed. Cool on a wire rack.

Pumpkin and Ginger Cupcakes 200 grams Unsalted Butter, softened 175 grams muscovado sugar 2 eggs 85 grams Stem ginger in syrup 250 grams Pumpkin Grated 200 grams Plain flour 2 tsp Baking Powder 1&½ tsp Allspice 1&½ tsp Ground Ginger ¼ tsp Ground Clove ¼ tsp ground nutmeg Icing 125 grams Butter JUST MILK Splash 125 grams Cream cheese Full Fat 225 grams icing sugar Preheat the oven to 190c/fan 170c/gas mark 5 Cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy Beat the eggs in one at a time Add the stem ginger and the pumpkin to the mixture and stir until blended Stir in the flour, baking powder and spices Fill the cupcake or muffin cases three quarters full with the mixture Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch Take out of the oven and transfer on to a cooling rack When the cakes are nearly cool start making the icing Cream together the butter, splash of milk and cream cheese. once blended, add the icing sugar and whisk together until smooth If you prefer a thicker icing, add more icing sugar Spread some of the icing on top of your cupcakes using a spoon, or fill a piping bag and pipe a pretty swirl Top the cupcakes with sliced stem ginger, crystallised ginger, a sprinkling of cinnamon or anything else that takes your fancy {I never bothered with icing - they were sweet enough}

Safeways Witches Brew Pumpkin Soup You can also use Butternut Squash when big pumpkins not available. 1 red onion finely chopped {ordinary onion is fine} 30 ml /2 Tblsp oil 450g / 1lb pumpkin diced - or Carved-pumpkin scrapings! 450g / 1lb potatoes peeled & diced 225g / 8 oz carrots sliced 1 Litre / 2.2 pints veg stock salt & pepper 5ml / 1 tsp ground ginger Optional: 300 ml / ½ pint milk 150 ml / ¼ pint double cream {I never add milk or cream & it tastes fine} Place the onions in a large pan with the oil & sauté gently till tender. Add the veg, pour in the stock. Cover & simmer 30-40 mins or till carrots are soft Liquidise & return to the pan Season, add ginger, milk & cream {more or less, according to taste or required consistency} Serve piping hot, decorated with cream if desired. To make a spider's web- spoon a circle of cream onto the top and drag from the centre to the outside with a cocktail stick. Freezes well.

Now that pumpkins are back in the shops at last! Pumpkin Pie {American recipe} 3 large eggs 2 cups cooked pumpkin puree or 1 x 15 ounce can (425 grams) 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream {Evaporated milk, Soya milk...} 1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt Pate Brisee (Sweet Short Crust Pastry): 1 & 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose {Plain} flour {half wholemeal?} 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch pieces / {Or PURE / Stork marg} 1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) iced water Make as regular pastry. {Doesn’t say to bake blind, but you can, if desired} In a large bowl lightly whisk the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and place on a large baking pan to catch any spills. Bake the pie for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust has browned - the center will still look wet. A knife inserted about 1 inch from side of pan will come out almost clean. Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or warm, with maple whipped cream. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. Makes one 9 inch (23 cm) pie. {No temperature was given, but I do it at 180C}

Not with either of those 2 methods, but I did have a severe lifelong phobia completely resolved a few years ago after only 1 session of TFT - Thought Field Therapy, the Callahan method - "Tapping the Healer Within". I had signed up for a 1 day course on TFT with Ken Sawyer from Aberdeen. We worked in pairs to try it out - tackling an addiction, anxiety, phobia, whatever. I had a go at my worm phobia. I never did any more rounds of tapping, but after 3 weeks- I was able to go out and plant something in earth without any gloves on, and pat the soil with my bare hands! Before - I couldn't even say "the w-word" is was that bad. Gardening? No way! Couldn't even cope with bags of sterilised compost before. I am sure there will still be folk up here who did the 2-day Practitioner course - look up the "Health" section of the local phone book, or ask at Healthcraft. or, I can pass on a copy of the instruction sheets?

Draconid meteor shower "The constellation Draco the Dragon will be spitting out meteors, also known as shooting stars. The Draconid shower is predicted to produce the greatest number of meteors on the night of October 8. Watch for them first thing at nightfall. Fortunately, the waning crescent moon won’t interfere with this year’s Draconid meteor display. Oftentimes, this hard-to-predict shower doesn’t offer much more than a handful of languid meteors per hour. But watch out if the Dragon awakes! Once again, watch at nightfall and early evening because that’s when the radiant point for the Draconid shower is highest in the nighttime sky. We emphasize it, because most meteor showers are best after midnight … but not this one." http://earthsky.org/tonight/legendary-draconids-boom-or-bust

http://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-venus-and-jupiter-align-in-morning-sky-october-2015 "Moon, Venus and Jupiter align in morning sky October 2015Tomorrow before sunrise – October 7, 2015 – you can’t miss the moon and the sky’s two brightest planets near the waning crescent moon. Look east, the direction of sunrise. From top to bottom, you’ll see the moon, Venus and Jupiter – the brightest, second-brightest and third-brightest celestial bodies of nighttime, respectively – before the sun rises." It's an american website, but should still be relevant to us?

There are only 4 Disabled Parking spaces on The Street: 2 spaces outside the Royal Bank at one end, and 2 spaces opposite the Fort Chip shop at the far end. People are only issued with a Blue Badge if they are unable to walk very far at all for whatever reason, or if they have to use a wheelchair, so if you need to go to the Bank of Scotland, or want to go to Conochies, you don't have any option but to drive along the street. I and a lot of other disabled drivers used to try and avoid driving on the street where possible, and if you needed to go to Boots or a premises near there, you went up the bit at the Clydesdale Bank {Burns Walk?} Since that got bollarded off, all Blue Badge holders have no option now but to drive along the full length of the street, including the perilous 'Swanson's Bottleneck', just to get to Boots. Vehicle access is restricted to Blue Badge holders only between 11.30 and 6.00 from the Cross, but a lot of other drivers ignore that, thinking they can go in and park outside the Bank of Scotland - but we've no Traffic Warden to prevent that now. Because the street and an awful lot of the premises in Lerwick are inaccessible and awkward for wheelchairs, I hate to admit that I rarely go there now and just shop and do banking online. I do understand a lot is to do with the geography/topography and some of the premises simply cannot be made accessible. But it is so much less hassle staying at home.

Boats 26 v Planes 26 ... Love it! Thank you, all you brilliant, generous photographers who take the time to share your excellent work. I canna win oot to see onny o' it for mysel noo, so especially appreciated

Aw, pity I never saw your post... I did see a funny peerie patch of herringbone clouds looking out the window to the east from my chair here - pity I missed the NLCs - never seen any before

Foccacia! {Breadmaker Recipe but I just use the machine as a mixer as I havna the strength to mix & knead…} 275ml {10 fl oz / 1 & 1/4 cups} water 2 Tblsp Olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 450g {16 oz / 3 cups} Strong White Bread flour {You can make with half soft grain / wholemeal / Spelt } 1 & 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp Caster sugar 7g / 1 & 1/2 tsp / sachet of Fast-acting yeast Semolina or Polenta for dusting bottom of dish Fresh or dried Rosemary for sprinkling Sea Salt Put the ingredients into the pan in the order they appear in the recipe Set to “Dough” programme {Or just mix in a bowl, knead for 10 mins} Oil a large 30cm / 12” pie dish -Sprinkle the dish with semolina/ Polenta to prevent sticking {not essential}, Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and quickly knead Shape into a ball and press into the dish. Cover with oiled paper and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size Dimple the surface with your fingertips, gently drizzle Olive oil into the holes and sprinkle with Rosemary and Sea salt Bake at 190C / 425F / Gas 7 for 15 - 20 minutes or until well-risen and golden Drizzle with a little more Olive oil and eat warm {Reheats best wrapped in foil in a steamer or in the oven} Variations; Sprinkle with dried Basil, or ready-to-eat finely chopped Sun Dried tomatoes, Stud with black olives, drizzle with oil & sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese etc...

Good photo Ronnie, thank you. {Coincidence - the first photo on the page is a semi-sub rig-carrier too!}

Hang on a minute... Remember this famous quote? "Now is a good time to bury bad news." What have the Tories been up to, quietly, since the Carmichael story broke? Smokescreen?

… he probably thought it rude to pee on the first post, so created a second post especially for the purpose?

I met Jock a few years ago, and he IS, in fact, a Wonderdog. Logged on to say that I had gleaned some inside-information from an informant, and that Rex had indeed been spotted on the Shopper's Bus, so he's still to the fore Hi Rex x