Avengers Assemble in my Kitchen.

As Alistair would point out, this is only one permutation of the Avengers line-up, which has homed many heroes over the years.

And sorry, no Black Widow or Hawkeye as I only had four gingerbread men. The gingerbread heroes project may be a goer though....

Icing Ingenious

Who knew icing was So Difficult! In a feminist moment, I'd claim it's another of the many things that people assume 'Women Do It So It Must be Easy'. It's not.

Following on from the marathon Star Wars biscuits...er...marathon, I acquired cutters, reference manual Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits, and many food colours of the type that make small children hyper.

So far I've wrestled with consistency (from cement to water) nozzles (from supersoaker to hypo) and layering techniques. Attempt 2 was Avengers Gingerbread men (ready bought.) And so the project begins.

For no prize at all, name the cutter shapes on the left.

Braver dislikes...

OK then, following a request from No1 blog Follower, my Mum, a list (in no particular order) of things I don't like, but others do. Feel free to disagree with me on the many contentious points....

TV Soaps. Reality TV. Taking part in Team Sports. Anything involving wellingtons. Really posh restaurants. Designer shops. New houses in a historical style. Chick flicks. Religious ceremonies. Wearing trousers. Platform shoes. Mascara. White. Football. Tuna. Beach holidays. Leather sofas. Bus travel. Chinese food. Waxing. R n'B. Celebrity magazines. The Daily Mail. G-strings. Range Rovers. Casinos. Clowns. Swimming pools. Fast food. Mobile phones. Chat shows. Fake tan.

I can see, in fact, this could be the longest list of all time. Maybe I'm just Cheesed Off With Modern Life.

Learning to Like It

I wasn't brave enough to do a list of things I don't like (my friend Sarah Rooftops did this in her blog and it was fascinating, and controversial.) I have lots of things I really loathe with a passion but I thought it might upset some people if my true feelings were revealed.

So I thought I'd do an uplifting list of things I used to hate or fear and now don't! (Apologies, vegetarians for that meat picture again..)

The picture brings me on to
1) Rare and scary meat. Morally, I feel if I'm going to be a carnivore I should face challenging meat. I discovered I liked black pudding, and now I can eat rare steak like Alistair. Still working on haggis.

2) Heights. I used to be a nauseous, quivering jelly at height. When I went to work in a towering castle full of spiral stairs and followed up with a build and climb scaffolding course, I found the fear gradually subsided as I was exposed to it. Now I get quite a kick out of being 'at the top'.

3) Exercise. I described in a previous blog entry how I started running. Sometimes I'm wheezy and short of breath when I run, but now I don't panic and think I'm going to die, because IT GOES AWAY. And I enjoy the running, too. It makes me feel stronger and more confident.

4) Social events. I used to always say no. As I started to trust people more, I started to enjoy the company and stop worrying about what they thought of me. I still sometimes get panicky at formal do's though, but 9 times out of 10, if I go out, I enjoy it, despite the butterfles before-hand.

And some things I'm still afraid of: Fairground Rides, Taking off and landing in a Plane, The Dark, Extreme Weather, Daddy-Long-Legs insects, the Telephone, large Birds (such as the infamous Aberdeen Seagulls.)

Secret Sundial

Not really a tower and not really a clock...

Before the clock we had the sundial. This wonderfully complex sundial, possibly dating from the 1600s, hides away in a gloomy corner of Duthie Park Winter Gardens.

Apparently it has been in the park since 1900, but I would love to discover where it was before.

Other sundial spottings would also be of great interest. I have already had one on a church clock tower (triple -score!) from my friend Lola. (Her awesome blog.) There is one in the walled garden at Castle Fraser where I work, too.

Blog Challenge

My friend Sarah Rooftops issues a regular blog project every week. I have been trying to follow these (sometimes, when I am organised.)

This weeks is Recommend Three Books to Friends. This year, I have been recording books I read in a diary. I thought I'd recommend three novels I'd read recently.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: An odd and intriguing fantasy horror novel illustrated with strange historical photographs collected by the author. A real one-off, this one.

Ready Player One: A really unusual adventure mystery set in a virtual future world of old school arcade gaming. Sounds weird, but is great fun, original and I couldn't put it down. This one is great for all ages too.

The Pleasures of Men: A very dark and disturbing thriller set in Victorian London, where a mentally ill girl becomes obsessed with a serial killer. Brilliantly written though and incredibly gripping. I do like Victorian crime thrillers.