Lynn Chapman Writer
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Hydrangea taken at Port Lymphe Zoo -
Traditional Kentish Foods – Huffkins
I hope you had a lovely weekend. Here we are at Monday again and I’d like to share another traditional Kent food with you all this week.
The humble Huffkin is, quite simply, a bread roll. It’s notable for the indentation in the middle of the roll, made by the baker’s thumb. The rolls are circular to oval and are made from the following ingredients: flour, water, sugar, yeast, milk, salt and butter. Once baked, the rolls are traditionally wrapped in a cloth to keep them soft and prevent the crust from hardening. Some recipes recommend filling the indent with cherries or jam.
Huffkins are unique to Kent and these are based on a recipe that goes back to the 18th century. History says they were originally made for Kentish cherry pickers to enjoy during their lunch break. I’ve never tried them, but they do sound quite delicious. If you like the sound of them, you can find the recipe here.
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What are 5-10 writing tools that you can’t live without?
I’m sure we all have our ‘go to’ writing tools, be it a favourite pen, dictionary, how to book, or notebook. Here are mine:
1. My 27-inch all-in-one desktop PC. I love it because I can have multiple windows open and actually read them! The best money I ever spent was investing in a larger screen.
2. I have several pens, but always choose one that I use continuously until the ink runs dry – I take it everywhere with me, then when it’s finished, I go on to the next one.
3. A red ‘editing’ pen is always on my desk.
4. Collins English Dictionary.
5. My Collins English Thesaurus.
6. Penguin Guide to Punctuation. This is essential for me.
7. A pad of post-it notes, because I’m forever making notes, as I’m sure my fellow writers are, too.
8. The Crime Writer’s Casebook by Stephen Wade & Stuart Gibbon. This is the best reference book I have; my copy is well thumbed through.
9. Magnetic wipe-off note board. This is invaluable when editing my novel.
10. A ‘to do’ list for the coming week of all my writing tasks, so I can tick them off when achieved. It’s a great feeling!
I would love to know your thoughts on this and what your writing tools are.
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This is how Lady Olive Baillie’s bedroom looked in the 1930s, taken inside Leeds Castle, Kent. Lady Baillie was an Anglo-American heiress and owned Leeds Castle from 1926 until her death in 1974. She was known for throwing wild weekend parties, where guests included Charlie Chaplin and Errol Flynn.
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LAKESIDE & HAVERTHWAITE RAILWAY
I have more about our Lake District adventures this week, namely the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Steam Railway, Cumbria.
This was a must-do for us. I love travelling on the steam railway we have here in Tenterden, so when we discovered this one, we just had to give it a try. We weren’t disappointed.
We boarded the train for the thirty minute journey to Lakeside and it was surprisingly packed with tourists. We managed to find a seat with a table and made ourselves comfortable before our train departed. You obviously couldn’t escape the smell from the burning coal and the steam as the train slowly pulled away.
Although it was a short journey, the views were spectacular and I couldn’t think of a better place for a ride on a steam train.
The railway is staffed by a mixture of both volunteers and paid staff and has been since they took it over in 1970. There’s a delightful tea room at Haverthwaite station and to get the best photos, you can go and stand on the bridge along the platform to capture the full beauty of this beautiful train. If ever you visit the Lake District, I would highly recommend a trip on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway.
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This week I’d like to share another piece that was written by Susan Batten. It’s all about writing competitions. I would love to know your opinions on this in the comments.
Roll up! Roll up!
I realised the other day that not all competition entries are assessed by judges. It is made plain in the rules that this kind of competition is a draw.
But when I came to think about this later, I began to feel offended.
The competitor probably won’t win a prize, or even be short-listed, but he or she has worked very hard, not only to write the piece in the first place, but to edit it carefully, follow the specific conditions for each competition, do the lay-out in the approved manner, pay for each entry – and get up the courage, in many cases, to send their darling out into the world.
To have all this effort reduced to a matter of chance is galling, isn’t it?
It’s hard enough for writers to become authors, without making fun of them. We are not estimating how many cornflakes there are in the box!
So here is the question: is this just a bit of fun, or do “draws” make a mockery of what we take so seriously?
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These two beauties live at the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary.
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TARN HOWS, LAKE DISTRICT
Nestled in the Lake District National Park, there is a little gem called Tarn Hows, which is managed by the National Trust. It’s a man-made accessible 1.75-mile beauty spot that is very popular with walkers and families alike. The mostly gravel circular path is ideal for pushchairs and wheelchairs and has some amazing scenery.
We visited Tarn Hows, which is a few miles from Hawkshead, purely so I could capture some good, scenic photographs to take away from our visit to the Lake District. I wasn’t disappointed. It’s such a wonderful, unspoilt place, with some stunning views. We were there on a Saturday morning and it was full of families having fun, with children playing hide and seek; which is the ideal game in this setting. Dogs enjoyed jumping into the water to chase sticks, then shaking the excess water off their coats before jumping in again.
I have a bird app on my phone that picks up birdsong in the vicinity you’re in. There were a multitude of different birds: Willow Warbler, Tree Pipit, Cuckoo, Eurasian Wren, Common Redstart and a Green Woodpecker, amongst others. It was wonderful to hear so many different kinds.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and enjoyed a very nice coffee at Joeys Café at the end of our walk.
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Share one of your hobbies – what do you do when you’re not writing?
I think it’s important to step away from the desk and do something different from time to time. As writers, we spend so much time either tapping away at our keyboard, or writing in our favourite notebook, that we forget there’s a big wide world out there.
That’s easy for me to say, but I’m guilty of occasionally spending hours and hours at my desk without a break – which isn’t good for my mental or physical health. I’m sure this resonates with some of you, too.
Luckily, I have another passion: playing my bass guitar. Being in a band means I’m regularly having to rehearse for a gig or learn new songs, so I have to fit that into my schedule. But I guess it’s not really a hobby.
I find it incredibly difficult to find that balance and have regular breaks, but this year I’ve made a concerted effort to do just that. I have joined a creative craft group, where I can try a number of different crafts. I’ve taken a liking to diamond art, so that’s what I currently do, every Monday afternoon, for a couple of hours. We know writing is a solitary business, but I’m a sociable person, so I enjoy the interaction.
Other things I enjoy are jigsaw puzzles and watching (not playing!) tennis and football on television. Downtime for me is chilling out watching crime dramas with my partner and the fur babies on the sofa.
What do you do other than write? Do you have time for anything else? Let’s have a discussion on this!
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I couldn’t resist posting this pic – it sums up my cats for sure! Whatever you’re doing this weekend, I hope you have a good one.
