Stapleford Walk

Today we had a trip to Cambridgeshire to do again a walk I had led for the group in the past (see here).

Gin and Lime Marmalade

A topic of some debate on the foodies-only-no-plebs channel on our Crossword Central site on Discord has been lime marmalade. 

Courgette Anyone?

We've been away a lot so the harvesting of produce hasn't been happening. I was going to make some ratatouille. My recipe called for 3 courgettes to go with the aubergine etc so I went to pick some.... I don't think I need 3 of these!

P.S. I haven't dared look, but we may have more monsters lurking in the vegetable patch. Would anyone like one?

Surprise Party

We were in Burnley for a reason... my sister-in-law Jilly is retiring at the end of the month...

Singing Ringing Tree Walk

We have been up in Burnley for a couple of days for a family get together. Rather than travel up for the event on the day, it being the Friday before a Bank Holiday Weekend, we travelled on Thursday, going via York to drop Sarah off for the new term.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 58 - Solution

My fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Saturday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Sawbill's turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTT. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 58 - by Sawbill

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times for The Times every other Friday, I often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Times for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too. And then, more recently, so did Sawbill. So now the three of us take turns, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. 

This time it is Sawbill's turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 58 in the series.

You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info.  As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Cherry Tomato Chutney

We have had a glut of cherry tomatoes, so yesterday I made some chutney with about 1kg of them and today I labelled the jars.

Dyrham Park

Today we had a day out at Dyrham Park, just a few miles from Kirsty and David's.

Bradford-on-Avon

Yesterday we drove down to Yate to visit Kirsty and David. Sister Sue came and stayed with us too.

The Kelpies

Today we took a little detour on our way home from Comrie to visit The Kelpies in Falkirk. It was only about an 18 mile detour and well worth it.

Melville Monument Walk

Today is our last day of our holiday in Comrie. Time to do the walk we couldn't do the short way up earlier in the week - a climb to the Melville monument. We parked just past the Deil's Caldron and took the gentle path to the top and back.

Crieff Baird Monument Walk

It has been getting hotter each day this week. Today I thought we'd do a walk with plenty of shade followed by a picnic.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 57 - Solution

My fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Saturday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil's turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTT. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 57 - by Phil Jordan

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times for The Times every other Friday, I often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Times for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too. And then, more recently, so did Sawbill. So now the three of us take turns, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. 

This time it is Phil's turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 57 in the series.  You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info.  As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Wakeboarding

This afternoon Sarah and William had a go at wakeboarding at the Loch Earn Wakeschool.

Killin, Loch Tay and the Falls of Dochart

Today we went a little further afield as Sarah and William had a Wakeboarding experience (q.v.) booked for late afternoon at Lochearnhead. I included a short walk from Killin to the end of Loch Tay before lunch at the Falls of Dochart Smokehouse and a short walk in Glen Ogle.

Glenturret Distillery

This afternoon we took a breather from walking and climbing and took the car to Glenturret Distillery.

Glen Lednock, Invergeldie and Ben Chonzie Walk

This morning we drove further up Glen Lednock to the last Car Park a little over half the way up the Glen and did a bot of a climb towards Ben Chonzie.

Ruchill Walk

This evening we had a short walk after our evening meal at the edge of the River Earn and along the Water of Ruchill - not the full walk in the walks leaflet, but just a short version.

Crieff and The Knock

After our Earthquake Walk, we headed to Crieff for a look around the town, some lunch, a walk up Crieff Knock to see the view and some food shopping at the Co-op.

The Earthquake Walk

This morning we did another of the walks from the Comrie Local Walks leaflet - The Earthquake Walk.

Drummond Castle Gardens Charity Day

This afternoon, following the advice of the girl in the Art Gallery yesterday, we visited Drummond Castle Gardens. The Charity Open Day started at 1pm and we arrived shortly after. 

Glen Lednock and Deil's Caldron Walk

I found the excellent Walks around Comrie leaflet from Comrie Community Council for sale at the post office. It provides colour maps with guide notes to six local walks on rights of way. Today we did our first - Glen Lednock and the Deil's Caldron.

Hello Comrie

Today we travelled the 420 miles from home to Comrie in Perthshire, out holiday place for the week. We had an excellent journey stopping at Gretna Green for our picnic lunch and arriving at about 2:45pm. It turned out to be the last day of the Comrie Fortnight. We were too late to see the float parade, but we caught up with them later at Laggan Park.

U3A Walks from Clare

Today was the first Thursday of the month and the day for the USA Bury St. Emunds Longer Walks group monthly walk. It was Andrea's turn to lead us this month.

Eye Walk and Piggy Tail Trail

Today we had a relatively short walk from the village of Eye. I missed this walk the last time Joyce led it for the group as it was my last week at work.