Mother at large

Even gargoyles get political

Tue, 04 May 2010 22:28:12 +0100

As the nation prepares to express its views on the finest politicians we can muster, here are some candid opinions from the gargoyles at York Minster.

Stone masons at the minster are carving the gargoyles as part of restoration work on the building. Each has a distinct character. Below left: Toothache. This guy would have taken an interest in NHS spending cuts.

Below right, a line-up of early English kings. I wonder how they would have voted. They look like Cameronites.

No-one has it all

Mon, 03 May 2010 11:48:52 +0100

At last, a sensible column from Times journalist Minette Marrin: "The best tip for women wanting to have it all is, don't bother" Who could disagree with Marrin, when she argues that the demands of being career woman, domestic goddess, yummy mummy and pillar of family and community are too much?

Marrin has good advice for working mothers. Among her best tips: "Don't cook unless you really must. Think catering rather than cooking."

She advises: "Give up answering the telephone just because it's ringing." It'll probably only be a sales call anyway.

Another tip: "Don't spend time with people who boast, either about their beautiful lives or their talented offspring." That rules out most mother and baby groups. And makes toddler music groups an absolute no-go.

Peppa knocks Labour election hopes

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:11:17 +0100

Peppa Pig has pulled out of a Labour Party election event, saying she wished to avoid any controversy. "It's all far, far too political for me to understand," the BBC quotes Business Secretary Lord Mandelson as saying.

Peppa was scheduled to join Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper and Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell on a visit to a children's centre. The event was intended to highlight Labour's policies to support families.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls described the pre-school character as a 'global media star, acclaimed around the world'.

But E1 Entertainment, which licenses the cartoon, said it wanted to avoid controversy and withdrew rights for the character's use.

When not bossing her family (Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and younger brother George), Peppa helps promote the Sure Start scheme. The programme provides government-funded children's services.

Children in 180 countries watch the much-loved porcine TV star. She generates £100m in retail revenue in the UK alone. She has sold 3m DVDs and 2m books.

Making play dough: a sticky business

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:23:33 +0100

Did you know that play dough is made with salt? Not just a pinch. Cups of the stuff. After the kids used up all the official stuff (pictured) in their toy sausage-maker last week, we brought out the scales and mixing bowl.

Making stomach crawl?

Beanie and her pal Morgenstern poured in flour, water and oil. Plus, of course, salt. Lots of salt. Cup after cup of white crystals. We skipped the boric acid and silicone.

After we added the pink colouring (a job for the grown-ups) the dough looked like post-partum stomach flab. Or the remains of gastric band surgery.

Innards on kitchen table?

We kept adding flour. But the dough stuck to our hands like something excreted from alien space ships. Days later it remains embedded in my cuticles.

Our efforts did not smell like shop-bought Play Doh. A disappointment.

We have not yet replaced our salt supplies. Unsalted food may be doing wonders for our sodium levels, but it remains an acquired taste.

Not for consumption

Beanie was frustrated at not being allowed to eat the dough. But with so much salt, it was inedible. Husband did a double-take when he saw innards on the kitchen table.

The children did not seem to mind.

Sponsor me for Moon Walk

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:49:35 +0100

It's that time of year again. When ordinary folk walk miles on Edinburgh's pavements by cover of darkness. Showing their bras to the world. Yes, the men too. And before you jump to any conclusions, wondering if I've got mixed up with a local hen party, let me explain. I have started training for a Half Moon (witty, eh?) at this year's Edinburgh 2010 Moon Walk event. I'll be walking thirteen miles through the night, pestered by lecherous drunkards, lacking sensation in my feet, desperate for my usual comfy bra and an indoors loo. But not such an ordeal, when you consider it's to raise money for breast cancer.

No misconceptions here...

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:52:13 +0000

Up and coming Edinburgh musician Susanna Macdonald is launching her new album on Friday 26 March. Hailed as 'one of Scotland's most original musicians," Susanna has already won a loyal following with her first album Best of Nothing Yet (pictured). She'll be launching Some Misconceptions at The Big Red Door in Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh. Tickets £10 (includes cost of CD).

Downloads at Susanna Macdonald My Space

Returning to work

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:43:30 +0000

Caught in an unflattering pose. But good ideas here on the return to work.

Where you can find me these days....

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:36:03 +0000

You can find me writing over at the new AOL channel Daily Finance. I'm posting there several times weekly.

And here's a recent feature I wrote for Financial Times Investment Adviser on investing in antiques: How to avoid getting hammered in the auction room. And another one: Seeking value in the past.

If you're interested in my writing about Edinburgh, please have a look at Let in Edinburgh. I write the twice-weekly blog there about great places to visit, cafes and shops.

Mystery berries tracked down

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:12:28 +0000

I have tracked down the mysterious juniper berry. Delia Smith mentions this delicacy in one of her books, but I have never before seen such a thing with my own eyes. I confess, in my darkest hours, I wondered if they were a myth. Then, last Friday, I happened to be buying venison from our local butcher. Cook it with red wine and juniper berries, they advised. "Yes, I know about juniper berries," I wailed. "But where can I find them?" It turns out, as so often with these things, that the berries have been under my nose all these years. A small local shop stores them, hidden at the back on a shelf in a large jar, like one of those you used to find in old-fashioned sweetie shops. No casual shopper would know the juniper berries were there, unless they went in and asked.

Harry Potter moment?

It was a Harry Potter moment when they brought that jar down, magic revealed in the everyday. Inside this jar were no pear drops, sherbert pips or gobstoppers. Just thousands upon thousands of tiny, purple berries gathered from juniper bushes on the Scottish hills. Thirty years ago, I would have been disappointed by this, last week I was jubilant. We had a bad moment when the assistant keyed in £16 on the till. "That's my budget gone," I worried. That was the price for a full kilogram. Even I didn't want that many of them. A small pot set me back just 80 pence. The berries were everything I hoped for - and more. Even after three hours in the oven, cooking with venison and red wine, each one burst on my tongue. Like a taste of gin and tonic.

Choosing trams over education?

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:11:08 +0000

The carnival against Edinburgh education budget cuts took place last week. Children, teachers and parents gathered in the front quad at the Council's Victorian City Chambers. Shouted, sang and waved placards.

I would never have dared go along, without fellow parent and musician Susanna Macdonald. But we both have school-age children. And parenting makes you militant, you see. It makes you care, where previously you might not have.

A couple of days later Edinburgh Council passed the proposed 1% budget cut. Despite our protests. So there will be £2m less for Edinburgh schools from this April, bringing the budget down to £198m.

Schools were already under pressure, even without this latest set-back. Anecdotal stories exist of parents having to buy children jotters. Maybe not such a problem for more affluent families, but what about the ones who are struggling? You hear of broken plumbing that goes without repair for weeks.

The cut will mean fewer learning assistants, the end of specialist teachers in drama, art, PE and music and further delays to building repairs. There will be fewer books and learning materials.

The Edinburgh tram project is costing the city more than twice as much (£512m) as the entire annual education budget for the city. Really, sometimes I could get quite annoyed about how Edinburgh Council is using our money.

Hundreds at education rally

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:46:16 +0000

Parents, children and teachers from schools all over Edinburgh gathered in the Council City Chambers to protest at planned education budget cuts. We chanted, sang and shouted. Posed for photos. And talked to the press.

Reporters, camera crew and police watched as small children chanted "No more cuts". Council officials took pictures of us from upstairs windows. Drummers kept up a soundtrack. Parents hoisted kids up onto their shoulders for them to get a better view.

"If this was France,we would sue the council," said one parent. "No way would people just put up with this."

Up until last week Edinburgh Council was planning 3% cuts to the education budget. Then, in a piece of interesting timing, it climbed down from that position. Instead of the announced figure, our schools would suffer 'only' a 1% cutback. Lucky us.

Call me cynical, but it's hard not to see the scaling back as a deliberate political manoeuvre. The sort of move that might have been planned all along to make the cuts more palatable.

The sort of timing that makes a 1% cut to over-stretched budgets actually start to look like a good deal. I suspect the council was planning on 1% cuts all along, but started with the threat of three times as much at that.

That way we would all breathe a (misplaced) sigh of relief when they climbed down and the council would look, yes, almost generous. Sometimes I wonder why I bother paying my council tax. The council doesn't seem bothered about honouring its side of the deal and providing my kids with a decent education.

Failing to deliver on their commitments

With inflation running at around 2%, cutting the Edinburgh education budget by 1% means that - in real terms of what the money can buy - it's set to fall by 3%. It's important not to forget that inflation will eat away at the budget, even without politicians tampering with it.

Even without any cuts, the existing budget will be worth less this time next year than it is now. Simply because of inflation stripping away purchasing power.

We deserve better

Add the cuts into the equation, and our schools will be even more dilapidated, teachers even more over-worked, supplies even scarcer.

The proposed cut-backs go to a council vote tomorrow.

Parents hold rally against Edinburgh School Cuts - Evening News Edinburgh

School rally goes ahead in Edinburgh

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:07:03 +0000

Tuesday's rally in Edinburgh against planned education cuts is going ahead. Yes, it's good that Edinburgh Council has agreed to scale back cuts from 2.5% to 1%. But it's not much of a victory. Allowing for inflation, we're facing cuts of 3% in real terms.

The proposed cut means £10,000 less for the average Edinburgh primary school, according to education experts. And the typical secondary school stands to lose four times that sum.

"The cuts come on top of the 1.5% efficiency saving schools have had to make in their budgets for the last two financial years," says one Edinburgh parents' council. "Schools are starting each year with less money."

More, not less

Money is tight. Schools across Scotland have to implement a new curriculum, the Curriculum for Excellence, by August. They need more, not less funding at a time like this.

The battle is far from over. The rally is going ahead because scaled-back cuts are only a partial victory. "The council may have backed down for this coming financial year but they have given no assurances beyond that," said one parent.

"Lack of strategic planning?"

The number of 0-15 year olds in Edinburgh is set to grow by 11% between now and 2023. Parent councils are concerned about what they cite as: "the council's lack of strategic planning when it comes to delivering education to our children."

Our schools cannot face this extra pressure. Our children deserve better. Let's use Tuesday afternoon to prove that. Bring banners, colourful clothes and musical instruments.

City leaders vow no more schools will be axed - Edinburgh Evening News

Schools take biggest hit - Scotland on Sunday

Leave our kids alone

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:44:51 +0000

Edinburgh Council wants to cut the city's education budget by 9% over the next three years. Our children will suffer if these cuts go ahead. Jobs, facilities, even entire schools are on the line.

Stand up and make your voice heard at a carnival next Tuesday (9 Feb), after school. It runs from 4.15 to 4.45pm outside the City Chambers (pictured) on Edinburgh's High Street, opposite St Giles' Cathedral.

All affected by the cuts are welcome to attend. It'll be a child-friendly event. Please bring your kids along.

Be there

Meet up with groups at local schools after pick-up. Or make your way to the City Chambers on your own. The more of us there, the more attention we'll get.

Organisers are asking people to bring along musical instruments, sports kit, art work and drama costumes. Get your kids in face paints or fancy dress.

Bring banners, have fun

Mine will bring tiaras, wings and wands. Please bring along banners too. The message is "No more cuts".

Make them see sense

Last year's protests were enough to change Edinburgh Council's decision on the cuts. This year the plan is to show we are more worried, and even more engaged. Let's get out on the streets next Tuesday. We can make the council see sense.

We might not be strong enough as individuals. Together, we can do it.

Here's an audio briefing on the issues.

Bruntsfield has more details on the carnival here

"Shoes, coat, wand, tiara"

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:42:55 +0000

It's hard work being a fairy princess. Realising this, eldest daughter Beanie has begun a daily checklist of essential items before leaving the house. "Shoes," she says, standing in the hallway. And looks down to check each Start-Rite is on the correct foot. "Coat." A nod of satisfaction to herself as she registers her puffa jacket. She holds out an empty hand and looks at it. "Wand?" She puts a hand to her hair."Tiara?"

Teaching my daughter to cook

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:40:17 +0000

Granny arrives out of breath. She has climbed two flights of stairs. In her waterproof coat is a pamphlet of recipes. She hands it to me with a look of significance in her eyes.

It is a 1930's edition of Be-Ro Home Recipes, familiar from my own childhood. This book belonged first to Granny's mother, then to Granny, and now, so it seems, to me. From mother to daughter, over the generations.

Link to the past

Splotches cover the browning print. It feels like a precious link to the past, almost too precious to risk in the kitchen. I am to use it to teach my daughters to make scones, just as my mother used it to teach me.

"Good home baking is something to be proud of," states the author, in blissful ignorance of the decades to come when so many women would disagree with that statement.

What is a puff ball?

Its black and white pages are testimony to a vanished world of more than just sponge castles, eve puddings and puff balls (whatever they might be). Although these forgotten confections feature plentifully among the recipes.

It harks back to a world with values different to our own. One where little girls dreamt of learning to cook for their families, a world of simplicity and decency. Where nobody grew up aspiring to be a pop star fairy.

Jurassic Age

As I open the book, it feels like stepping back in time, to a place without Marks & Spencer ready meals, take-aways and out-of-town supermarkets.

"The woman who can cook well and bake well has every reason and every right to be proud of her cooking," says the author. "In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred she has a happy home, because good cooking means good food and good food means good health." Easy to laugh at, yes, but any nutritionist would confirm the truth in these simple words.

Girls only

Only female cooks feature in Be-Ro Home recipes. And only female offspring. Neither men nor boys cook themselves, but they figure occasionally as consumers of tempting delicacies.

In the section "Teach your daughters to cook" it states: "The mother who allows her little daughters to 'help her' in the kitchen on baking days may find them somewhat of a nuisance at first, but if she will only encourage them by kindly and patient example to learn the rudiments of cooking, they will become a great comfort and help to her when they grow older."

Homes of their own

Also, says the author: "They will learn one of the most important sections of homecraft, in preparation for the great day when they themselves will have homes of their own."

An insert in the title page, no doubt added after the outbreak of war, tells women how to adjust recipes for World War Two rationing. "Although a pre-war publication, these recipes are economical and suitable for present recipes. Good results are obtainable with dried eggs and dried milk."

Effect of rationing

It continues: "As National Flour varies in its capacity to absorb moisture, a little more or a little less liquid than stated may be desirable. Owing to rationing, many ladies prefer to use only half the quantities."

Granny brought me the book to help me with a cooking demonstration at Beanie's school later this week. Leafing through its pages, I felt a sadness at the vanished world of simplicity and decency these recipes represent.

Nostalgia

The world where you saved the last potato for the next day, where you made do, where you showed love by baking food. Sexist? Yes, certainly, at least judged by today's standards. But it cannot be so very wrong to take pride in learning how to feed our families.