The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Valentine’s Day What this woman wants tomorrow
FOR a restaurateur, Valentine’s Day can be the most challenging of the year. An atmosphere highly charged with young lovers eager to make the most of what is supposed to be the most romantic day of the year. Anniversaries are shared, awkward first dates, proposals planned – anything can happen. A disappointed table of one; (he has been stood up!) A couple trying to smooth over an earlier argument; awkward! A frisky table in the corner. We’ve seen it all.
This year it’s all different.
A food at home box for two, delivered from your favourite restaurant might do the trick or a box of oysters delivered with a very expensive bottle of champagne, but it could still all go so terribly wrong.
The thing I love about a restaurant meal, apart from not having to cook or wash up, is the fact that I can eat exactly what I fancy. So, tomorrow night, chez moi, it’s a Virgin Mary cocktail and a camone and buratta salad and a T-bone steak for the gentleman.
VIRGIN MARY ICED DRINK
I love this refreshing drink. Nice and spicy makes me feel good.
Ingredients: (serves 1)
125ml tomato juice (my favourite is Folkington’s)
Splash Worcestershire sauce Splash of tobasco
Pinch sea salt and white pepper Pinch celery salt
Squeeze lime juice.
Sprig fresh celery
(25 ml vodka optional)
Method
Add all the ingredients and adjust
Ingredients: (serves 1)
STRUGGLING to achieve a balanced lifestyle? Island life may be the answer. According to mortgage experts at money.co.uk, the Outer Hebrides is the best place to live in the UK in terms of work-life balance based on money.co. uk’s 2021 Work-Life Balance Index, which ranks local authorities across Britain based on a list of factors such as happiness, anxiety, unemployment levels, earnings and hours worked, life satisfaction and access to public and green spaces. Interestingly, over one third of the local authorities within the top 20 are coastal. The Orkney Islands were tenth in the top 20 list.
A RAILWAY station served the East Berwickshire village of Reston and the surrounding Borders area for over a century between 1846 and its closure under Beeching’s axe in 1964. But thanks to the tenacity of local campaigners over many years, this week Scottish Borders Council’s planning committee approved proposals which will see a station open in the village once more.
Looking online to find out more about the village, which lies just off the A1 on the western bank of the Eye Water, I was amazed to discover a property currently on the market is none other than The Old Station House – originally incorporating the station master’s living
DOWNSIZERS and first-time buyers will be equally receptive to Number 94 Midton Road in Ayr, an impeccably refurbished cottage attached to The Knowe, a grand B-listed Victorian mansion house surrounded by mature garden grounds at the end of a long leafy driveway.
Flawlessly presented throughout, the accommodation comprises large living room with feature fireplace (inset Living Flame fire) and roof windows which flood the room with light; cloakroom; spacious dining kitchen with integrated appliances, Corian work surfaces and a sliding dining bar with feature lighting; dual aspect double bedroom (fitted wardrobe) and modern fully tiled bathroom with vanity basin/storage and over-bath shower.
The cottage also has a basement, currently housing a drying/utility room, storage area and additional store. Completing this
roots from drying out and overheating in pots as well as allowing plants to grow freely.
Greenhouses must be constructed on absolutely level ground, as should tunnels if at all possible. My tunnel is on a very slight slope longways, so is perfectly secure, but there could be better distribution of water throughout the beds.
Polytunnel hoops are driven well into the ground and the structure sits safely on compacted ground. But heavier greenhouses do need a solid base. Small ones can be secured with anchor spikes, driven into soil well compacted by a roller.
But a greenhouse larger than 8ft x 6ft should be screwed down on a concrete, slabbed or a perimeter brick foundation. This protects against subsidence and strong gales.
Greenhouse frames are made from different materials: steel, aluminium or wood. An alternative to glass, polycarbonate, reduces the intensity of summer sunlight and possibly some heat loss in winter. One greenhouse in the Robinson range includes a workshed at the back, perfect when you don’t have space for both.
With hugely fluctuating summer temperatures, greenhouse shading and good ventilation are essential. Modern greenhouses have windows designed to open automatically, but in my experience, that may not be enough. I leave both doors open and hope the geese don’t drift in for a refreshing green salad.
Tunnel fluctuations are equally bad and again, I leave open a door at each end.
You may need heating to protect any overwintering tender perennials. I use a thermostatically controlled heater. Without a power source, you may be able to find a battery or solar-powered heater, avoiding paraffin if possible.
As for watering, I’ve found a water supply has been invaluable, letting me run an undersoil irrigation system. A water butt helps but quickly empties during a dry spell or overflows in winter, so you’d need to run a hose from a standpipe and organise a soakaway for winter. Sadly there’s never room for the butt inside: it would absorb some surplus heat in summer and release a little warmth in winter.