Montgomery Guitars

I have been playing the guitar a little more recently.  This has mainly come from a need to do so for the church praise band.

To date I have been playing an Avalon Silver Series belowing to one friend or an Ibanez something-or-other from another friend.  While I appreciate the graciousness of these guys to let me loose on their guitars I was thrilled when I got my own instrument.


And it is no ordinary guitar.  This guitar was hand built by my brother.  He has been building guitars as a bit of a hobby recently and the one I now have is the second off his production line.  It is 100% solid wood.  It has a Spruce top and Indian Rosewood back and sides.  The fingerboard is ebony.  It has a beautiful tone.

As I primarily play in church there was a need to install a pickup.  In choosing a pickup I wanted one that performed well live on stage with minimal chance of feedback.  It also needed to capture a least some of the natural tone and be fitted in a non-destructive way.  I know nothing about these things so took advice from several quarters.

From the outset though I wanted an LR Baggs setup.  That partly came from recommendations and also, admittedly, I just like the feel of their company and the look of their products.

Originally I wanted the LR Baggs Anthem system which looked like it could capture the guitar tone very well through their tru-mic setup.  It probably could but I was put off for a couple of reasons.  One, the preamp just wouldn't fit into the body of the guitar given the shape and bracing used.  Two, microphones are more prone to feedback.  But to be honest the main reason was just that it would not fit.

To cut a long story short I bought the LR Baggs M1 Active system which you can see just sits in the sound hole.  In fact the only drilling or cutting required was for the strap jack which would have been necessary for just about any pickup.

The LR Baggs M1 Active is designed to give a balanced string and body signal so it should give a mic'd up sound without the mic.

First impressions are good but I need to try it in the church setting to understand if it will be ok.  I bought it from Matchetts in Belfast who gave great service.

I'm really thankful for this guitar.  It's production was a labour of love for my brother.  I don't think I have received any physical gift that required so much work and craftsmanship.  It is truely unique.  My prayer is that it will be used to glorify God who gave the gift of music, made the raw materials and gifted the luthier to put it all together!

Wheaten Bread

Had a go at a hand-me-down recipe for wheaten bread.  The recipe is one my Dad uses but he learnt it by watching his Aunt do it.  I did the same with my Dad a few years back but as we're in modern times I did so with my laptop open while trying to type in all the things he did.

It was a tricky.  I thought I'd easily get all the measurements down into a fool proof method but the process began like this:

Mix 2 handfuls of course wholemeal flour with 1 handful of bran...wait now...how big is a handful?  As it turned out Dad's hand lifts about 4oz of flour...which is also handy if you're baking a cake.

Anyway the rest went something like this:

Dry Mix

2 handfuls Course Wholemeal Flour

1 handful Bran or Plain Flour (Dad usually uses bran)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)

Liquid Mix

Mix the following separately then add to Dry mix

2 dessert spoonfuls Molasses Cane Sugar (mixed in a little hot water to aid mixing), can be varied to taste

0.75 pint approx Butter Milk

2 dessert spoonfuls cooking oil

Add the final mixture to a greased and lined rectangular loaf tin.

Gas Mark 5, 45 mins approx

So that is what I followed tonight except I doubled everything.  I couldn't bake my Dad's old recipe without making him a loaf and the other one is for the SWOT breakfast tomorrow.

Ricotta & Orange Tart

While flicking through a colleague's magazine a couple of weeks ago this recipe stood out. I thought I'd give it a go.

Ricotta & Orange Tart

Ingredients

4 sheets of fill pastry

olive oil

500g ricotta cheese

zest of 1 orange

1tbsp of vanilla extract

100g caster sugar

4 eggs

(stewed fruit to serve)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.

2. Brush the insides of a 20-25cm round tin with olive oil. I used a spring form tin just so its easy to remove afterwards.

3. Use a brush to coat the filo pastry sheets and layer them up in the tin. Make sure you oil the edges as these will hang over the edge of the tin and may dry out while to do the remain next few steps.

4. Mix the ricotta cheese with the orange zest and vanilla in a bowl.

5. Beat the eggs and sugar together until fluffy.

6. Fold the beaten eggs into the cheese mix.

7. Pour the lot into the tin and fold the excess edges in. These will crisp up in the oven a look nice when you take it out.

8. Put the tin on the hob for a bit to crisp the pastry base. It'll take about 5 mins.

9. Put the tin in the oven for about 35mins.

10. Let it cool before serving.

As it was quite late when I made it I left it until the next day to eat. Unfortunately in the intervening hours it was placed in the fridge. Logically you would think that would help chill it and it probably did. But it also seemed to make the filo pastry a bit soggy.

The recipe suggested serving with stewed fruit. That might have been nice but I couldn't be bothered with that. Ended up just serving with tinned mandarin oranges!

All in all I quite enjoyed it. It reminded me a little of a dessert we get in Cyprus. But I think that because the pastry in the greek dessert is sweeter it made me miss that in this tart. Maybe some honey and rose water would add something to it. Also, if I actually made the stewed fruit then its sweetness would have come through.

I'd like to try the recipe, of derivative of it again. I'll either do the stewed fruit or the rosewater and honey in the pastry. I'd also like to try using a different cheese in the mix. The ricotta ended with a slightly graining consistency - a bit like semolina was what my Dad said. Maybe something like Philadelphia would work better?

I've got about half the filo pastry left. If I don't make this again straight away I think I'd like to make some kind of custard tart. Maybe with that confectioners custard and fruit.

Blogging Along

It is hard to believe the time between my last post and this. Maybe its because after doing all that travelling back then that I didn't have much that was terribly interesting to share.

Be that as it may I thought I'd start recording a few things here. The first will be some of my attempts at baking but I might throw a few other things in now and then.

I'll see how it goes.

The Animals - Ngala Private Game Reserve

Some of the animals I saw while on two game drives in Ngala.

The Lodge - Ngala Private Game Reserve

While in Ngala I took about 450 photos! I want to share just a few of them with you to give a flavour of my experience.

In this entry I have included pictures of the place we stayed.  That is, the Lodge itself.  

It was a perfect place to relax.  My phones simply did not work so for the first time in months I was unhooked! I could relax on a number of decked areas overlooking a watering hole or a pool or one that just let me stare into the distance.

The rooms were fantastic.  My bed was really comfortable - not that I got to spend much time in it!

We fed well.  The lunch was a sumptuous spread of salads and cold meat.  I was a little disappointed to find out that what I though was a side of wild boar freshly caught that morning was just regular pig.  But it and the chutney that went with it was superb.  Oh, and there was an apple pie to die for!

Dinner was served in a lantern lit court yard.  It was an idilic when to end the day.

Sweet Federal Air

When Federal Air talk about a departure gate they mean a literal wooden gate.

Our pilot met us at the gate and walked the small group out over the tarmac to our waiting plane.  If you are never sure if you would prefer a window or an aisle seat then this plane was made for you.  With only one line of seats on each side you get to do both.

The in flight refreshments were selected from a cool box as we stepped onto the plane.  This same box was then brought on board and used by the pilot to sit on while he pulled the door shut.  No hot hostess required.

It was a fun flight.  I felt like all the flying I had done up to that point had been kind of fake.  This was cooking and all the other stuff was tv dinners.

But then we had to change planes.  For this we had to land in the middle of nowhere.  I still do not know where it was!  We only stayed at arrivals terminal (if you could call it that) for a few minutes where we met a Ranger Trainer.  I'm not sure that was his real job title but it turned out he was responsible for the training of the Rangers or Guides at the game lodge we were going to.  So what was for us a trip of a lifetime was nothing more than a commute to him!

Then we moved to the second plane.  It was even smaller than the first!
Again, the pilots walked us to the plane - all 3 passengers.  I got in at the back of the plane and after hitting my head on the ceiling I crouched, took 2 steps and sat down behind the pilot.
This was fun.  As well as just enjoying a more basic form of flying we lucked out by having the guide on board the flight.  He drew our attention at various points in our small journey to different spots on the ground.  As a guide he knew how to spot where the animals where - so before we even got there we were sighting Wilder-beast and Impala from the air!

Best Departure Lounge in the World

I've done a bit of traveling lately but of all the departure lounges I have been in, the Federal Air terminal in Johannesburg has got to be the best!

Sitting in the open air always beats air conditioning.  And it is hard to top a departure gate that is actually a physical wooden gate after which we had only a very short walk to get onto the plane.

We were on our way to Ngala Private Game Reserve for a great weekend of wildlife spotting!

Johannesburg

Its not long since I returned from Johannesburg.  It is the sort of place where people warn you to keep your eyes and ears open.  But I found myself listening and watching, not just for the bad guys, but to all that was good and wonderful about the city and the nation.My time there was spent with a few South Africans but also with representatives of many other African nations.  It was fascinating talking with those people.  Everyone has a story about the problems in their home country, some claim to have a solution to those problems and others just voice their general acceptance that things will not change.

I went on a tour of Sowetto and Johannesburg while I was there.  Such contrast.  

The rich live well but they do so behind concrete walls and electric fences.  They live in fear that someone will break into their fortresses and shoot them and there family just to steal the car.  I'd love to comment on the beautiful houses in the 'millionaires' part of the city but I didn't see them behind their walls.

The poor do not have concrete walls, or bricks, or electric fences.  But they do have Coca-Cola!  Part of the tour took us on foot into one of the townships - I think we only got a flavour of what it was like.  To be honest it didn't strike me as hard as the poverty in India.  

Also, while being shown through this ladies home I felt a little odd.  Maybe it was guilt for being so wealthy my comparison and not being as thankful as I should be.

Another thing that I have taken for granted is a good education.  In 1976 a teenager called Hector Peterson died during a mass protest by students in South African.  The then government wanted to restrict their teaching to the Africaans language - not learning English would hold them back.

You can learn all about it at the Hector Peterson museum in Sowetto.

The memorial outside the museum is pictured below.  It was opened by Nelson Mandela in 1992 after he was release from prison.

In 2010 South Africa will host the World Cup (Fifa.com).  Maybe a sign of the progress in this part of the world - or let's hope so anyway!  

Victoria Square

I haven't actually bought anything there yet but I did get a chance to see the view from the dome in Victoria Square, Belfast.

Again, only the iPhone otherwise I may have taken a few more shots.

Thanks to Matt for the coffee!

Dundrum Castle

I have been to some wonderful places this year but I was glad of spending a day in good old Northern Ireland after returning from India.

We really do have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
Sadly, I only had my iPhone with me but even with that I really like the shots I got.

Thank you India

My third train-the-trainer session was in Mumbai, India.  It was a fascinating experience.

Driving in India is not for the feint hearted.  They cram at least 7 cars across a 4 lane carriage way and are constantly hooting their horns at each other!  

The poverty is plain to see.  People live on the foot path in make shift lodgings and spend most of their day sitting around the road.  Some don't even have a roof over their heads.  All this in one of the fastest developing economies in the world at the moment.

While there we had a tour of the City.  Here you can see Dhobi Ghat which is where most of the city hotel's laundry is done. You can see it hanging out to try right below the overcrowded train!

Families live and work here.  They move from their shacks to their concrete pens where they soak the linens in sudsy water before beating them on the concrete blocks to start the drying process.  It is a hereditary occupation meaning that the same families have been doing this for generations.

We also visited a Hindu temple.  It was a strange experience.  Hard to believe that people spend so much time and effort bowing before idols they made themselves.
I discovered my cameras macro function at the hanging gardens.  There is nothing hanging in these gardens.  The name is given as the gardens sit on top of the main reservoir for the city.
This cheeky monkey was one of many we found during a trip to Elephanta Island.  We took a boat trip to the island where we saw some ancient Hindu caves.  It was a hot day so on the way back to the boat we got the little train.  When we arrived at the dock the visitors who just arrived hardly gave us a chance to get off the train before barging on.  They pushed on in a style not dissimilar to the way they drive.  It was like it was the last train out of town.

Back at the hotel the restaurant staff got to know us well.  So much so that when we left they gave us a cake which was iced with 'Thank you, come back soon!'.  Here we are with the chef and a few of the waiters.