Highland Games & Apple Green Tea

Food 051

Oh, I’m so lazy.  I have done absolutely nothing since arriving home from school.  Worst thing is that it’s a lovely day outside.  

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 Hee hee.  Writing that last paragraph made me feel so idle I took my bike out of the garage and went for a short cycle.  Extremely glad I did so.  Not only has my mood gone from slightly grumpy to rather jaunty, but I also discovered a little wooded glen with a  stream running through it.  It’s only a five minute ride away from my house.  Wonderful!  Will take Rosie (brother’s dog) there this summer. 

Perhaps my earlier lethargy was brought on by the lack of pressure at work just now.  I’m just not used to it!  It’s an odd time of year in school.  Though we have more than two weeks left of this term, there are so many activities taking place during class time that I rarely have a full class.   

Keeping track of who has missed what is virtually impossible and I have all but given up doing so.  Instead I’m leaving the responsibility of catching up with the pupils.  This statement caused some guffaws in the staffroom as, though this method tends to work well with the more able classes, it doesn’t tend to work at all with the poorer classes.  These latter classes, one could argue, are the pupils who most need to keep up to date with their work.  What to do? 

One of the major events the school is preparing for is the Alness Highland Games.  On the evening of Wednesday, 20th June the field beside the school is going to be transformed into a huge events arena with pipe bands, Highland dancing, Gaelic singing, sporting events and stalls.  We’re expecting approximately 6,000 people to turn up on the night.   

I should take this opportunity to clear up a little misunderstanding – for Genna in particular.  During the staff meeting informing us of exactly what events were scheduled for the night I must admit to being somewhat tired and confused.  For the record: there WILL be a Scottish Infantry parachute jump taking place on the night; and there WILL be a display from the Nothern Constabulary’s Police Dogs.  However, despite what I excitedly told Genna and a huge amount of other people, there WILL NOT be dogs parachuting into the event! 

That’d be really cool though… 

A drinks suggestion today.  Green tea is apparently very, very good for us.  Unfortunately, I can’t stand the stuff.  Have tried to like it – you can’t help but try when you’ve lived in Japan for a year – but to no avail.  This concoction is delicious though.  I can almost feel those anti-oxidants working… 

Apple Green Tea 

700ml boiling water

2 green tea bags

300ml unsweetened apple juice (I like the cloudy stuff)

Juice of one lemon

Ice cubes and slices of apple to serve 

• Steep the tea bag in the water for 10 minutes.  Remove.

• Add the apple juice and lemon.

• Chill.

• Serve with apple slices and ice cubes.

 This keeps well in the fridge for several days.