Foraging The Year End!

Christmas Eve always has such a special atmosphere - almost as if the whole world is, for a while, connected. A night when everyone is thinking about the same things, doing the same things, houses full to bursting with presents and anticipation! Then, finally, we all disperse in our own different directions again, all hoping to meet up again next year! Before that though, we have Hogmanay and the start of a brand new year!

We're past the Winter solstice now and each and every night the days are slowly getting longer once more. It won't be long here until this becomes increasingly obvious and the light of Spring appears at the end of the Winter tunnel! Before we get there though, there will no doubt be plenty of snow! Hence the inspiration for this Winter Foraging Basket, full of the seasons harvest with horseradish root, juniper berries, rosehips and chestnuts! The weather on Skye this Christmas has really been something of everything, there's been rain, wind, sunshine, hail, ice! All sweeping clean for the beginning of 2012! Don't forget to keep an eye on our New Year 2012 Countdown clock to your right as well! Not long to go now!

Val & Sadie



Nature's Winter!



A Winters Tale!

Here we are then! Christmas Eve! It seems like such a long time ago now when we sat down to experiment with our first festive miniatures of the season and here we are at the end of the journey! All the presents bought, cupboards around the globe full to bursting with all the delicious tastes and smells of Christmas!

To help celebrate Christmas at Homewardflight we wanted to bring you a very special miniature so, this afternoon, we have added this Winter Vegetable Box to our Etsy store. It was featured in Day 2 of the Artisans in Miniature 2011 Advent Calendar & it is a joy to be able to share it with everyone!

Have a very happy and most of all, peaceful Christmas!

Val & Sadie

Merry Christmas!

T'was the week before Christmas and all through the world minis are making their way to new homes! Yes, not long now and this week Homewardflight is featured on both The Mini Food Blog and Artisans in Miniature Members Showcase - A Seasonal Celebration Tour! Do take a look at both as there's some wonderful work displayed on both sites and well worth losing an hour or two on the Christmas preparation to peruse!!

Here in Scotland, once the Christmas celebrations are over we, of course, have Hogmanay and all the wonderful things that New Year brings. One of these is Burns Night on the 25th of January and we just couldn't resist the opportunity to bring you a Burns Night Supper in miniature! The night when we celebrate the life and works of Robert Burns poems always includes the traditional supper of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties! Neeps are the mashed turnip and Tatties mashed potatoes! We've never seen a miniature Burns Night Supper before and feel this is really quite an exciting wee addition to the Homewardflight collection!

Time to head back to work on more goodies for the Winter season but we'll leave you with Robert Burns "Address to a Haggis", written 225 years ago in 1786!

Val & Sadie

Address to a Haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, 
Great chieftain o' the pudding-race! 
Aboon them a' ye tak your place, 
Painch, tripe, or thairm : 
Weel are ye wordy o'a grace 
As lang's my arm. 

The groaning trencher there ye fill, 
Your hurdies like a distant hill, 
Your pin wad help to mend a mill 
In time o'need, 
While thro' your pores the dews distil 
Like amber bead. 

His knife see rustic Labour dight, 
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight, 
Trenching your gushing entrails bright, 
Like ony ditch; 
And then, O what a glorious sight, 
Warm-reekin', rich! 

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive: 
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive, 
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve 
Are bent like drums; 
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive, 
Bethankit! hums. 

Is there that owre his French ragout 
Or olio that wad staw a sow, 
Or fricassee wad make her spew 
Wi' perfect sconner, 
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view 
On sic a dinner? 

Poor devil! see him owre his trash, 
As feckless as wither'd rash, 
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash; 
His nieve a nit; 
Thro' bloody flood or field to dash, 
O how unfit! 

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed, 
The trembling earth resounds his tread. 
Clap in his walie nieve a blade, 
He'll mak it whissle; 
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned, 
Like taps o' thrissle. 

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care, 
And dish them out their bill o' fare, 
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware 
That jaups in luggies; 
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer 
Gie her a haggis! 

Snow, Ice & All Things Nice!

We've been through just about every type of weather known to man this past week. We began the week with several inches of snow on the ground and a picture perfect landscape! Then, on Thursday, The Big Storm arrived, bringing gusts of 165 miles per hour to the Cairngorm mountain range. Here on Skye winds touched almost 80 miles per hour which was bad enough! It was difficult to know how it could actually have been any worse than it was here but we certainly didn't get the extremes of it!

The winds blew away the remaining snow in the hedgerows but yesterday morning we awoke to another light dusting! It really is quite stunning to be able to look out of your window and see that wild Scottish landscape! We thought this icy weather was the perfect time to continue the theme and share this delicious Iced Coffee & Cakes. With the cold weather and Christmas Day itself now just two weeks away we've also been thinking ahead to Burns Night, that Scottish celebration of the poetry and life of Robert Burns! That though, is for next time!

Enjoy all the Christmas preparations!

Val & Sadie

Our beautiful island in the snow!



Stirrings Of The Season!

It couldn't be a more seasonal start to December here, not only is a Homewardflight miniature the Day 2 Project in this years Artisans in Miniature Advent Calendar, but it's snowing! It's lovely, soft flakes, falling from the sky at the pace of a Christmas card scene and by morning, when dawn breaks over snowy lochs and hills, it will no doubt feel as though we're inside one!

With Christmas Day itself just three weeks away now, the world feels like it's starting to glisten with excitement and twinkling lights! Once the Big Day is over though, even those in the dolls house are left wondering what they should do with the leftovers from the Festive bird! This stir fry seems like an ideal option and whilst here we've used "chicken" we're sure Cook wouldn't mind in the least if "turkey" were to be used instead!!

Val & Sadie

Homewardflight in AIM Advent Calendar!

The countdown to Christmas is now well underway and every morning millions of Advent Calendars will be opened as we move one day closer!! Here at Homewardflight it's always tradition to have an Advent Candle as well, there's something about the smell of the wax and watching the glow of the flickering flame that just completely embodies Christmas!

Today, though, we are not just opening an Advent door - we are behind one!!   Sadie has a project behind door number 2 on the wonderful Artisans in Miniature Advent Calendar! It's crammed full of wonderful projects to make all the way through until Christmas Eve and there's projects by some incredible artisans so make sure you bookmark the page!

                                                        Val & Sadie