October at Burmieston

Sneaking in before the month ends, read about our month here at Burmieston.

I have been (in my own way) following a course called The Artists’ Way. Part of it is to write morning pages, 4 A4 pages every morning by hand. It has made be notice the view out of my window, that reads so weird. Why wouldn’t I notice the view out my window? Yet actually, I often don’t. I know it’s there, I know what it should look like and part of my brain assumes it doesn’t change. Another bit of my brain says yes of course it changes - the light changes, the darkness changes, the occasional car or tractor in the distance comes and goes. And yet I have to stop to see these things. I wonder how many other things in my life I assume are static but are really moving constantly; everything?

We went away, on holiday. It was lovely and warm and stressful and full and empty and easy and hard. All at the same time. I thought about the state of tourism on this planet of ours - an industry we are completely part of and occasional purveyors of. It is such a different beast from those two sides. From the provider side, we are all about personal interactions, the experience in reality, the feelings of the space. When I went to find where to stay looking at hotels, self catering homes and flats, it’s all about algorithms. And I felt pushed towards particular options. I felt like it was all set up to make me feel like there wasn’t enough and there was always something better. I needed to book as soon as possible and pay as much as possible. It cost a lot of money - way more than we charge, and it felt like there was no cheaper option without drastically compromising on our needs - comfortably sized beds, somewhere we could make breakfast, hopefully open a window. It all felt so managed. I felt like I was being managed. It was theoretically easy - you just click a few times. But where was the personal touch that we hope to provide for all of our guests? At the flat we were given a ‘cleaning pack to feel at home’. Inside was the smallest tube of washing up liquid you have ever seen, a tablet for a washing machine and one for a dishwasher. The apartment didn’t have either. There was no bread board nor a bread knife. The decor was beautiful. Very insta-ready. Huge lamps on large wooden benches, except for by my bedside where a very large lamp hurtled to the floor when the tiny table capsized after I put my book on it.  The plumbing rocked in their holes, the shower doors tried to push the shower heads off every time we opened or closed the doors. But it looked beautiful, the bar fridge was so chic. The owners (a large multinational company) must have paid a lot of money to fully restore the building and they will need a lot of guests to pay that off. But perhaps they never need to. I don’t think I quite understand the economics of these places and I wonder where places like Burmieston fit into or around this world? We are less about the look and more about the feel and the experience.

We had a power cut during Storm Amy and another large limb came down. We didn’t have any guests staying but I did wonder how we could improve their experience so they could continue their stay rather than feel they had to go home. If you were staying here what would you think to a ‘Bad Weather Box’ with candles, charged lights, a box of ghost stories and use water from the water butts? It would be like Glamping but just more comfortable. What else should we include?

November is shaping up to be pretty busy for my cooking so I’m head deep in cookery books. I don’t feel I had enough tomatoes this year so I’ll look for any more and of course squashes, coconut milk and rice. Perhaps a glazed banana or two? I’m doing brunch and dinner for a retreat Yellow Bamboo is hosting, dinners for another retreat and lunch and snacks for our joint day retreat with Susan and Rachel (last few spaces available!).

It has been raining again, a lot. Our new track is standing up to it quite well as the drains down the side fill and recede. The pond has filled again for the first time since last winter, emptied and then filled. Just as well there weren’t any fish in there! I’m not sure how we could have a pond that doesn’t empty but also doesn’t hugely overflow (which it would if we lined it).

Halloween 🎃

I’ve never really been a Halloween adult. I remember having an awesome Halloween party when we were kids. Mum went all out with the decorations and because she worked in film and TV, we had amazing make up and costumes. There were these great ice cream cakes in the freezer, which my dad put a couple of large dead lizards on top he had found. The reptile imprints on the cakes made them extra spooky!

Little E asked for Halloween decorations so I took great joy cutting out simple ghosts from an awful book and hanging them with leaves I had collected when waiting in a queue. I think little E was thinking more along the lines of plastic pumpkins and artificial spiderwebs. He did come up with using sheep’s rovings as spider webs so maybe next year.

The idea of Samhain and the celebration of the seasons is something that is feeling quite precious, and the idea of honouring things that and life that ends. This evening I am planning on lighting candles, digging out photos and consciously remembering those lovely people we have lost and giving thanks for my time with them.

Bugs to you all

X

K

PS The willow basket making course is now on the 24&25th January making it the ideal Christmas present for that loved one you can’t think of what to get!  Talking of classes for loved ones - the illustrator Dylan Gibson will be here for a residential drawing retreat 24-26th April.

Monthly recommendations:

📚: Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. It really is worth all those awards and makes some very pertinent comments about the rural world and our food.

🧑‍🍳: Burmieston lamb shoulder with a persimmon salsa, of course from @Ottolenghi in his Guardian column. Have you ever had a persimmon? Oh my goodness, what a fruit!

📺 : Having a slow month health wise is always easier where there is SO much excellent TV to watch, from The Diplomat to The Lionesses to The Newsreader. I also watched a film called Puzzle, which I very much recommend.

PPS. Just remembered we went to the Enchanted Forest for the first time this year. It’s quite an amazing transformation of Faskally Wood into a night time Avatar. Have a look: