Can I Have Another Piece..?

I have a guilty pleasure blog that I read ever so often whenever I either want to cheer myself up or want to depress myself (and sometimes I want both - I'm a complex woman). The blog in question is Tartelette and it is a food blog. No, let me rephrase that: it's a food blog and I tell you them italics there make all the difference.

Tartelette features mainly desserts and baked goods - at least that has been the focus since I started dropping by ever-so-casually. A typical entry would be somewhere along the lines of this Lemon Rhubarb Mascarpone Mousse Cake entry: mouth-watering photography, exquisite recipe and a delightfully humourous blogging voice with oodles of that 'personal touch' which is so essential to a good blog read. And, of course, let's keep in mind that we're talking about a lemon rhubarb mascarpone mousse cake which is miles away from that lumpy lemon pound cake I managed the other day. It's good to daydream sometimes.

Seeing as I won't be making a lemon rhubarb mascarpone mousse cake (nor the honey panna cotta and raspberry terrine, alas), I think I shall have to pay The Mannequin a visit. It is a scrumptious tea and cake shop which has opened just a few minutes away from Casa Bookish. Last time we enjoyed their fabulous New York Cheesecake. I think it's time we sampled their Belgian chocolate cake.

Weather With You

Oh, you Scottish summer.. We've been having thunder on-and-off for most of the day and it's raining, raining, raining. Suddenly knitting a wool sweater in July doesn't seem like such a stupid idea.

Five Things I Have Learned Recently

Don't you just love lists? I do.

+ Mattel has made The Birds Barbie. It's brilliant. (thank you Darth Ken)

+ Wordle is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It even makes Spandau Ballet seem cool.

+ I have finally found a food item that I simply cannot abide.

The falooda we bought at today's Glasgow Mela bore an unfortunate resembles to worms bathing in strawberry milkshake with added (pink) tadpoles. I think we were unlucky because all the falooda recipes online have very yummy photos. How did it taste? The kulfi was delicious but I couldn't really cope with the rest of it..

+ I can knit quite awesome shawls and watch football at the same time. Both my teams are out, alas.

+ This is how stormtroopers are made. They're not space soldiers of Maori descent - no, they're Danish!

Stick A Fork In It

Today is World Wide Knitting In Public Day. That means I'll be bringing my needles and wool to the F.O.R.K. Gala (as well as a rug and a book and my patient Other Half). Meanwhile, The G delivers a deliberately misguided attack on crafters. I'm slightly disappointed.

I've been reading up on D&D 4.0 and so far it sounds intriguing - particularly the "streamlining of skills" bit which was something which always frustrated me somewhat with previous editions. It didn't feel entirely intuitive that certain skills - say Climb and Tumble - weren't connected (although 3.0 introduced the idea of synergy). I understand the new set of rules have implications for magic users but as I have never been massive on magic (I think I've only had one magic-using PC), it is not such a massive thing for me. You gamers out there, what is your take? Are you going to convert to 4.0 or are you holding on to previous editions?

Finally, because I can, here's something for the easily amused amongst you (and also me).

Ghost Tree

The other day we went for a stroll along the river and saw a ghostly tree. It stood out like a sore thumb around the rich, green foliage: it was completely white with no leaves.

We walked closer trying to find out what it was: was it an art statement or maybe an act of vandalism? We were busy discussing various possibilities but as we got closer, we fell completely silent.

The tree was covered in a web of white silky strands. And it was alive.

It was alive in more than one sense of the word. It was alive with tiny caterpillars crawling all over it. The grass area surrounding the tree was yellow - that is, the part of the lawn which was infected by caterpillars. Tent caterpillars, to be precise.

The local birds were quite enamoured by this tree and happily swooped down for an extra juicy caterpillar or two whilst completely ignoring the two foolish humans below. One bullfinch even posed for a photo or two whilst enjoying the caterpillar buffet.

And at home the internet provided us with answers and I realised that things could be a lot creepier than just a single ghost tree down by the river.

When Friends Become Famous

All I can say is that I know and love this Terry Wogan and we had a splendid Eurovision party together.