Makie Inequality

Plink has brought to my attention that as she's approximately 1/6th my size, she should get at least 1/6th of my wine.

No. We're not swapping. 

I'm going to have the RSPCB* after me.

This morning's lie-in was once again rudely interrupted. Not as you might think by a cat throwing up under the bed (that woke me 15 minutes prior to my alarum going off yesterday), but first by a rather hopeful boiling of the kettle, then by a considerable amount of clanking and some screaming. 

Cats wail. They do not scream. 

Sighing mightily, I decided that further sleep was not going to happen, so proceeded into the kitchen for coffee. Little did I know what was in progress on Twitter... 

Yes. They'd suspended the poor thing from the kitchen cupboard by her pull ring. By the time I got down there the Makies had scampered and she'd managed to get herself vertical, but was dangling precipitously over a bowl of rather hot water. Apparently, they'd promised her a hairwash. 

The poor girl was rescued and given some hot sweet tea. 

Plink and Melchett are now banned from leaving the study without my express permission. The Blythes are re-grouping on the windowsill and plotting their revenge. 

Oh, for a quiet life? 

*That would be the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Blythes

Plinkography: Around the House

Hullo and welcome to what I like to call a session of Plinkography!

Thanks for getting the camera, Fil!

Today we're taking a look around the human's hovel house. I had hoped to show you the garden, but the Welsh weather is up to its usual tricks.

Drip drip drip drip drip DRIP DRIP DRIP DRIP

The birds don't seem to mind.

There are LOADS of these little sparrows. Like, 40 or more.

This is Bagpuss.

Get. Out. Of. My. Sight.

I don't think he likes me much.

Mrooooooooooooooowrl!

This is Pirate. He likes me even less.

FLEE!

This is my human. The jury is out on what she thinks of me. The other human is still out at work.

O HAI

These are some pretty sunflowers. They're one of the nicer things here.

Pretty!

Taadaa! That's it for today's Plinkography tour. See you next time for more stunning shots!

Cooking with Plink

"HELLO and welcome to Cooking with Plink! Today I'll be teaching you how to make some delicious cheese scones!

Yes yes. Wave at the camera. 

First, make sure you're wearing your prettiest apron and have your hair tied back. If you've been working on your rocket ship, you might like to wash your hands too. Have your human pre-heat the oven to about 180 degrees centigrade (a bit hotter if it's not a fan oven... you can work out the flipping gas mark yourself).

Now gather your ingredients! You'll need...

6 ounces butter, 12 ounces flour, a chunk of cheese, baking powder, salt, pepper, milk. 

The manky apple is not required. 

Put the butter in a bowl. Sieve in flour, a teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix through the pepper.

Pre-breadcrumb stage. At this point, I threw it in the food processor. 

Plink had not yet irritated me enough to meet a similar fate... 

Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs. If you're lazy, like my human, you can whizz this step up in a food processor.

Now grate your cheese and stir through the mixture. You could add some more exciting ingredients at this point if you like! Cheese and ham works well. Cheese and Jellybabies is less of a success.

Do be careful with that. No nylon in the food.

Carefully settle yourself out of falling-into-the-bowl distance whilst your human adds enough milk to bring the mixture together and make a dough. Remind them several times not to over-knead this; it's not bread, you know! Press the dough into a round and get ready to roll out.

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

Cut out your scones; I like to use a tumbler for this, because my human is too cheap to buy proper metal biscuit cutters.

Harrumph.

Place on your floured pizza rock, if you're middle-class enough to have one*, otherwise bung the scones on a greased baking tray. Brush each scone with a little milk and top with some grated cheese. Be sure not to irritate your human too much at this point, as you may find yourself baked.

Apparently, I blurred the 'main photographic focus'. Diva.

Ask them nicely to put the scones AND NOT YOU in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until they're a little brown on the top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Poking your human repeatedly in the head and asking if they're cooked yet is a great way to ensure they don't wander off and do something else in the meantime. 

I wonder if she'd fit *in* the kettle?

Admire your work. Have a nice cup of tea. Dream about your TV show/cookery book offer that's inevitably just around the corner. Chastise your human."


*I WILL get around to teaching her some manners, honest.