Blog Archives - Slow Life Blog from the Lake District

The Cattle Auction

26/3/2010

Our Cumberland White bull has been performing his duties with such vigour that the farm is becoming over-stocked. We now have well over 100 head of cattle, including the Wagyus, which is more than a farm of 155 acres can support, what with the sheep,the pigs and the other livestock, so the time has come to sell off the surplus. Which is why we are at the Borderway Auction Mart in Carlisle at a sale of rare breed cattle with twenty of our Galloways and Aberdeen Angus on offer.

The Aviary takes Shape

26/3/2010

It wasn’t until I saw it assembled today for the first time (without the roof or any of the joinery) that I realised just how impressive a structure our aviary is. Impressive, firstly, in its bulk- its huge, far larger than I had envisaged. Impressive also in its solidity- it is made of solid steel and the structural engineer who came to assess it today only had to whack it with his foot to conclude that it’s never going to fall down.

Holbeck Ghyll

25/3/2010

The three iconic hotels in the Lake District in the last twenty years have been Sharrow Bay, Miller Howe and Holbeck Ghyll. David and Patricia Nicholson of Holbeck Ghhyll never quite became as well known as John Tovey of Miller Howe or Francis Coulson and Brian Sack of Sharrow Bay but in the end they have done something their rivals never achieved- they have sold up for a magnificent price. How magnificent I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say in a public forum like this, but suffice it to say that no hotel in the Lakes has ever achieved half as much per room as they did.

Can you cook better than an 11 year old? Part 2

18/3/2010

This is the “healthy” version of Chocolate Brownies, using ground almonds instead of flour and not a packet in sight. In this video clip our eleven year old daughter Sara shows making chocolate brownies is simplicity itself and that there’s absolutely no need to use cake mix. Our thanks to Nigella for the recipe.

Best of Lakeland Show

17/3/2010

How Gail got away with putting live pigs next door to the Cumberland sausage stand I’ll never know. But it was fun watching people tasting the free samples of sausage under the pleading eyes of the little pigs. The Food Marquee of the Lakes Hospitality Association “Best of Lakeland” Show also contained a pen of llamas, who formed part of the appreciative audience for a cooking display by the Malmaison Hotel Head Chef.

Bob Dylan’s Women

15/3/2010

If his paintings are anything to go by, Bob Dylan likes his women hefty. Or to use a more artistic term, “Rubenesque”. Dylans’s paintings are on show at the Halcyon Gallery in London. The pictures originated from a series of small pencil sketches which he made whilst on tour between 1989 and 1992. Then, in 2007, he had the drawings scanned onto scaled-up sheets of paper and he coloured them in, sometimes creating several paintings from one original sketch. Many of the drawings are of the furniture in his hotel rooms (there are lots of TVs), many of the scene from the hotel window.

Shake Them Boobies

13/3/2010

Sometimes an itch just has to be scratched. This Middle White sow has been lying on her side for the last two weeks patiently allowing her litter of nine new-born piglets to feed. On her first taste of freedom there was one thing which she just had to do- scratch that itch. No-one would say that the Middle White is a handsome beast but there was something beautiful in the look of pleasure which spread over her face as that itch got scratched.

Maggy’s mosaic takes shape

11/3/2010

Maggy Howarth, who is making the mosaic path which leads from Main Avenue to the Aviary has sent us an exciting progress report. Here’s what she has to say:
‘I had a day out getting the coloured rocks for the peacock’s tail; there’s a glorious Aladdins cave in Yorkshire where you can buy exotic rocks & gemstones from all over the world….

Rose Gray- A Tribute

8/3/2010

Nine out of ten restaurants fail and when Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers set up their restaurant in 1987 no sensible person would have bet on it’s survival. For a start, both partners were home cooks, with no real commercial experience; they were both middle-aged when everyone knows that cheffing is a young person’s game and they had the ridiculous idea of writing a new menu, not only every day, but for every service.

Heroes of She Triumph in ‘Live and Unsigned’ Competition

7/3/2010

This was the Heroes of She’s most important gig since the final of BT’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ at the Post Office Tower. The venue – the Willow Club in Manchester; The event– the regional final of the ‘Live and Unsigned’ competition; The crowd- 500 very enthusiastic fans; The prize- a chance to play at the O2 stadium. 19 finalists took part and each had to play a 3 and half minute set comprising of part cover/part original competition.

62 Piglets

7/3/2010

5 months ago, George, our resident Boar, became the proud father of 58 piglets in 48 hours (see posting of 7th October, 2009). George has been up to his old tricks again, but this time the 5 sows have produced a scarcely believable 62 piglets. Because George is a cross between a Saddleback and a Gloucester Old Spot the offspring of the Red Tamworth Sow are multicoloured – ranging from pure white to pure black with speckles in between. This video shows Sara holding one of the day old Middle Whites, followed by a clip of the Middle White sow with her litter and of the Tamworth sow with her multi-coloured brood.

Welsh Wagyu- From Conception to Consumption

3/3/2010

Several years ago, completely independently of each other, Ifor Humphreys and I both had the same idea- to breed Wagyu cattle. Wagyus are the Japanese breed whose meat is uniquely marbled, making it more succulent and tender than any other meat- and also much more expensive.

A Gunman at the Riverside Hotel

2/3/2010

Mrs Edith Robinson, on a visit from London, was enjoying the afternoon sunshine on the balcony at the Riverside Hotel, watching the river go by. As a southerner, where everyone is buttoned up, she longed to try the open friendly, Northern approach to life and, summoning up her courage, got chatting to the young man at the adjoining table. “Have you any plans for today?” she asked, “Yes”, came the reply, “I’m going to kill someone”. Edith didn’t know quite how to take this and looked quizzical. The man, as if to prove the point removed a gun from under his jacket and said ” I’m just waiting for my friend to arrive”.

About Slow Life

The idea of Slow Life is to take the principles of Slow Food, which are “good, clean and fair”, and extend them to life in general.

Here in the Lake District, the air is clean, the pace is slow and the atmosphere is calm. If we don’t grow food ourselves, we can buy it in friendly small shops, where you know the quality is going to be the best.

This blog is a celebration of the Slow Life, with forays into the world of design, music, the arts, gardens, and my particular weakness, Japan.

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