Cabin Fever

As far as I can tell, I'm finally better! Yes, I do believe that my eye is done acting up and now I can get on with life. On this side of the river, I can honestly say that my time in quarantine did have its benefits. My solitary confinement allowed me to work on some projects I'd been waiting to get started on. Here are a few...

One of the days that I was home on my own was Easter Sunday. It was the first Easter that I've ever spent on my own, but I set out to make the best of it. I made myself an Easter pizza (look closely), and took a little walk out to the sea armed with my eye protecting sunglasses and damp cotton ball.

I also knitted an arm warmer that I've been trying to figure out for a couple weeks, but I'll wait to post anything on that. So far my knitting standard has been very low, and this perfectionist needs a few more tries before sharing any of that with the public. But speaking of knitting... look at my new knitting bag! I crocheted the bag some time ago, but didn't put in the insert until last week. Now the needles don't poke out the side!

Stuck.

On Sunday night I felt a bit strange and definitely a bit tired. I chalked up everything to just going too hard for a hair too long, but knew that the next few days would be just as busy and if I could just get through until our trip to Skye, it'd be fine. Wrong. On Monday I felt the beginnings of a sinus infection that is making itself known by one goopy eye and a achey left side of my face. Great. I managed to get out last night for a fun filled night of fajitas, ice cream and Brian Regan, but today have yet to leave the house. Torture!

So, in order to relieve some of my cabin fever and general feeling of yuck, I'm providing you with a blog highlighting some recent events.

Yes, I am still waiting for my african dwarf frog to materialize. It's been over a month, and I'm a bit disheartened after this last weekly visit to the pet shop. I'll be off the island this week, so at least I'll have one week without the routine disappointment. But look at that lovely new home! Isn't it cozy :) He's gonna love it!

I also won a cake at the last ceilidh I went to! Isn't it gorgeous...


I also headed out to "the Port" about 5 minutes drive from my house. It was a windy day, but sunny and really pretty. I had the chance to see the waves crashing over the pier and am glad that I took advantage of the day before my health and the weather took a turn for the worse.



I just have to keep telling myself that this too will pass. Not sure why, but it seems like everytime I get sick like this, I feel like I'll never get better. I'm such a wimp when it comes to puffy sore eyes. Not sure if it's the pain or the fact that it prevents me from wearing make-up.

A qualified driver's thoughts...

I passed my driving test!!! And those of you who know me know that I didn't predict that outcome...especially after my test! Within the first 5 minutes of the drive, I made a huge mistake turning into a little packed side street. It was terrible! I was waiting for an oncoming vehicle to come through past the parked cars blocking my side of the street when she came to a halt and sat there for a minute. Being the airhead that I can be under pressure, I thought she was giving way for me and started up. Seconds after I emerged from my waiting spot, I realized that she was not waiting for me, she was talking to someone in one of the parked cars...AAAHH!!! My mistake resulted in her having to back up to let me by, and me accepting that I'd completely screwed up almost before the test had begun.

I was gutted as I was flawlessly backing up around a corner yards away from the scene of my mistake, but knew that I had to keep going and just finish up the test. The examiner was really nice, so I was even asking him when he'd be back up! I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to schedule my next test when he was the examiner... He said he'd be back up at the beginning of May, so I spent the rest of the test making small talk hoping to get him in my corner for next time.

Turns out my HUGE mistake was characterized as a minor fault, and the rest of the test was uneventful enough to get me by! When he said "I'm pleased to tell you that you passed your test," I had to restrain myself from jumping over the gear shift to hug the poor man. I think he saw it coming... At least that's the only explanation I can think of for him scooting deep into the corner of the car door right before he broke the news. But, even with his involuntary defense mechanism kicking in...I must say that he was my favorite person yesterday! When I woke up this morning I breathed yet another sigh of relief :) Sigh....

I made quiche!!!

Yes, I conquered the quiche this week thanks to Jamie Oliver. I know I know, he's got a lisp...but you've got to admit he's pretty good at what he does. Did I follow the recipe? Not really... but that's why he's awesome! He gave me permission to take some risks.

Here's what I stuck together and how I stuck it together for my awesome mini quiche:

1) - Thawed frozen store bought pastry crust. Overnight in the fridge, then left on the counter for 30 minutes (or however long it took me to put on my make-up on and blow dry my hair).

2) - Found myself something rolling pin-like to roll out my nicely thawed pastry. I used a wooden spoon for this one, but intend to use my brand new rolling pin next time...bought 1 day too late.

3) - Fitted the pastry into a shallow dish, scrunched up the sides and stabbed the bottom with a fork. *Mom, I really should've paid more attention to you on this step.

4) - Stuck in an oven preheated to 450º F or gas mark 8 for about 6 minutes.

5) - In a non-stick skillet, fried 2 slices of british bacon, about 1/2 an onion, and a handful of mushrooms.

6) - Pulled out the crust, scrunched up the sides of the pastry again after they had collapsed on me, and stuck in most of the fried up mess I made.

7) - "Whisked" together 2 dollops of creme fraiche, salt & pepper, and 1 egg, then added a bunch of shredded cheddar cheese. I was worried for a second that I put in too much cheese, but then common sense ruled. Of course...there's no such thing as too much cheese!

8) - Poured that mixture into the pastry shell and fried mess. Topped with a bit more cheese, and stuck the whole thing in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Jamie said 10-12, but I'm pretty sure it was longer than that...but I guess I was hungry...

There you have it, my lil quiche. Jamie's was much more interesting with things like spinach, prosciutto, and some herb I'd never heard of, but mine was tasty all the same. Success!

Excitement & Disappointment

After almost a year without a pet of any kind, I finally decided that enough was enough and decided to get an African Dwarf Frog. I've had 2 in my pet owning history, and I loved both. They are aquatic frogs, and are much easier to keep alive than fish. They're usually quite friendly and entertaining with great personalities. I think they're hilarious personally...

Now that I've established the pros to owning an aquatic frog, I'll get on with the excitement part. As soon as I decided I wanted to bite the bullet and get a frog, I went to the local pet shop and inquired about the possibility of getting one in. They assured me it wasn't a problem and told me to come back the next Thursday...which was yesterday. I was so excited that I practically jumped out of bed, which for this chronic sleep-in-er is very very unusual. I'm pretty sure the last time it happened was the day I left home to come to Scotland! Not even Christmas morning elicits that response anymore.

I prepared a temporary home for my little critter and drove to town thinking over the many name ideas I was given over the past week.

Enter Disappointment...

They canceled their shipment for the week because bad weather had been in the forecast! Need I add that it was a beautiful day? Ugh. They told me to come back next Thursday. I wonder where my frog is at this very moment...not where he's supposed to be...



Luckily the day wasn't completely wasted...check this window display out! It's at the Celtic Clothing shop...

A shopping trip is a shopping trip is a shopping trip!

(view from the ferry)

Last week I took the proverbial giant leap for a vehicle dependent Kansas girl and hopped on the ferry for the mainland with nothing but a backpack. Yes, I left the island knowing that for the next two days I'd be completely dependent on public transportation. Not such a big deal for most people, but a huge step of faith for me. So are you wondering how it was? Are you imagining me stranded at a crossroads in the middle of the Scottish Highlands? Well, although that would have been a somewhat romantic situation (I'm now picturing a tall dark Scotsman coming to the rescue of course), that's not what happened at all.

My friends and I got to Inverness, to the B&B, the shops, and the movie theater and back home without a hitch! I even came back with a free artistic vegetable peeler from a Tesco Extra demonstration. Don't worry, I'll have an example of what it is capable of up soon :)

aN oFF DaY...

Today was the very definition of an off day. Woke up early and still managed to be scrambling for the bus that turned out to be late. It was sunny as I scrambled and started snowing just as I crossed the street to wait. I got carsick on the bus (amazingly this has never happened before). Once in town I headed to the Lanntair (the local arts center) to get some lunch and hang out before my dreaded driving lesson. I choose to go here because they have nice tables and free wi-fi. Today it was drafty and the internet was down, but since it was cold and I was lazy, I stayed put until my driving lesson...which turned out to be canceled. Although most of me was ready to jump for joy, the reasonable part of me reminded the rest that I only have 5 more weeks until my driving test...doom.

Since I was free now until 3:30 I decided to head to HS1 (another restaurant) to have a hot chocolate served with some of their free wi-fi...which was indeed working, yay! However, it wasn't long before my computer ran out of juice :( Apparently I'd spent too much of it's power waiting for the wi-fi to work at the Lanntair.

With more free time on my hands, I decided to give myself a driving lesson. I ended up in 3 culdesacs and ran a red light.

Next up, my Gaelic conversation class! I LOVE my Gaelic conversation class. Today I HATED my conversation class, and was watching the clock the whole time. When I finally got to leave for my Ulpan class, I was out like a shot. I ended up at the college a little early...just in time to eat my dinner, perfect. Until I headed inside and found that not only was my class in a different room, but everyone was early that day. Overachievers...

After class I had a few spare minutes before I had to pick up my roomie, so I headed to the grocery store. I grabbed a few non-necessities and found my check-out line. The man in front of me had a cart full of bags of flour and breakfast cereal. Like, those were the only two items he had chosen and the cart was FULL. Needless to say, I had a bit more time to mull over my day.

On my way to pick up my roomie, I decided to try once again at a bit of driving and...can you guess? Yes, I ended up in another dead end...I really seem to have a nose for those culdesacs.

Once I was finally home, I breathed a sigh of relief, looked in the mirror and realized that my shirt was inside out. Oh dear...