De cluttering, sharks, cake recipe, blogging, and Scottish mountains

Hello and Good Morning.
I have been meaning to write this post for the last week, now I am ready. Last Saturday I did something a bit silly, I spent wasted some money on two Saturday newspapers. It was a spur of the moment thing, I thought it might be quite exciting to re visit the past when I used to buy a mega size newspaper every weekend which would then last the whole week. I religiously read it from cover to cover to get my moneys worth. Now, of course I don't buy newspapers at all, and it saves me a fortune in time and money.

Anyway, I thought I would share my review of last Saturdays Guardian, cost £2.70, and a cheapie version of the Independent called 1 on Saturday,  cost 50p, apparently it's the essential weekend briefing, in their words. When I first opened these papers my initial thought was crikey, it's all a bit above my intelligence level, but I stuck with it and found to my surprise that there was a lot of interesting stuff to devour and hopefully store in my little brain.

I'm not one to stick with a lot of long drawn out waffling, my interest quickly subsides and I move on to the next thing. You might be like me and give up on this waffly post, I wouldn't blame you. However if you wish to stick with it I will tell you what caught my eye in these papers, and if you read this you won't have to go out and buy a paper, thus saving you money.

Starting with the Guardian, I have included links to the articles by the way. Tim Lott writes about chucking out the lovingly crafted detritus created by his children, from lolly sticks, papier-mache  and suchlike. He laments the fact that adults no longer make home made gifts for their friends and family but would rather go to a gift shop and spend on tat. Yes, sad indeed. The article is an interesting take on the topic of de cluttering, and gives food for thought on what you actually need to keep or what you should throw away. The article is here.

Another Guardian article, this time from the Travel Supplement. There is a new North Coast 500 mile drive around Scotland, in answer to America's Route 66. Kapla Kassabova checks this out over a four day drive in an old Landrover with partner and dog, starting at Inverness. It highlights lots of stopping places, interesting sights to see, places to eat and sleep. I almost wish I was there, but I would be walking of course, such a shame to whizz past that wonderful scenery in a set of motorized wheels. For more details on the route here is the full article.  For even more details go to the North Coast 500 web site. Some great pictures on there. 

Are you still with me or have you buggered off somewhere else, ha ha.

What's next? Let's move over to The Independent. This next article makes me quite angry, me being an animal lover and all that. Kathy Marks writes a piece about the shark attacks in New South Wales which have killed quite a few surfers in recent months. Whenever this happens a public meeting is called and last week 200 surfers and business people have voted for a cull of Great Whites. They say the uncertainty of surfer safety is deterring people from going into the water, which is affecting local business because people are cancelling their holidays. Well chuffin bad luck is all I say. One simple solution, keep out of the water. Ok I have never been there so I don't know how important surfing is to the residents and holiday makers, but bloodshed is not the answer. Kill a few and there will be more to take their place. My view is that the oceans belong to the marine life that live in their waters, it is their territory, and we encroach on that at our peril. Find another activity for people to do, on land. Read the article here.

Another one from the Independent, this made me laugh. Emma Lunn writes, Can bloggers be legitimate critics if they are taking money or getting free produce? Apparently there was a spat between a blogger and a cake shop owner, which went viral after the cake shop owner felt they had been bullied by a blogger, or blagger as she liked to put it. They both put their side of the story on their own blogs, the cake shop also has a blog. The social media spat opened up a whole can of worms, with the biggest question being, can you trust a food review when the writer got the grub for nothing? My own personal view is no you can't. Read the story here.  And through the power of the internet, here is the story on the cake shop blog. Remember this is a business. And to balance it out, the story from the blogger, also a business. You can form your own opinion.

If you fancy a bit more cake, this caught my eye in the Food section of the Guardian. I don't use my oven because it costs so much in gas, and cooking for one is much simpler on the hob or in the microwave, with the occasional grill being brought into use, so a cake which doesn't need baking seems appealing. Ruby Tandoh presents this recipe which I won't go into here, but burnt honey and vanilla cake looks lipsmacking gorjuss. I doubt very much that I will be trying it though, I don't have any vanilla bean paste, raspberries, or home made caramelized biscuits, and I try and steer clear of double cream and runny honey. But if you fancy giving it a go the recipe is here. It serves 4 - 6, another reason why I would not make it, I would pig out on the whole lot in one go. I can't be trusted.

Well I think that's a mixed bag of stuff in today's post. I won't be buying another newspaper, if I want to read a real one I can go to the library and it will cost me nowt.

Thanks a lot for popping in. It's Saturday, Heidi is looking quite good, she is a lot brighter, has a healthy appetite, and is very playful in the mornings. She still sleeps a lot, right next to me, in her bed on the table, so things are looking good. Rocky is waiting for a walk, and I want to go to town, so I'll sign off. Enjoy your weekend.
Toodle pip

PS. Disclaimer. I wasn't given these papers, I bought them  ;o))