Fungi…... A Recipe!!!......From Stromness Museum…
by Bernie Bell - 08:48 on 22 July 2024
Fungi…
The Good the Bad and the Edible…
https://frontiersmagazine.org/fungi-the-good-the-bad-and-the-edible/
And now – the Buildable!....
Aren’t fungi THE BUSINESS!
**********************************************************
A Recipe!!!
First….a bit of veg-patchery…
This year’s tatties are coming through – planted using a no-dig method due to our infirmities! I cleared a space in the veg patch in preparation. Mike went along using a raised kneeler with side handles for support, and planted the tatties one by one using a hand-trowel. He got them in at the Solstice and a full moon!
When he mows the grass, he tips the cuttings on top of where the tatties are planted - et viola – a tattie patch with minimum strain on his ankle.
They’re in the same bed as what’s left of last year’s brassicas, which are still producing - Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbage.
We’ll be having Pasta with Broccoli & Cauli for tea. Here’s a rare thing – a recipe in m’blog!
Pasta with Broccoli & Cauliflower
About a third of a packet of pasta shapes (tubes, bows, whirls)
Olive Oil
2 oz cheese ( grated)
Heads of broccoli & cauli, divided up into small pieces.
1 clove of garlic, chopped.
Wash broccoli & cauli and par-boil in salted water.
Cook pasta.
While pasta and veg are cooking, fry garlic in Olive Oil then add cooked veg and fry lightly.
Drain pasta, stir in veg, garlic & oil.
Stir in grated cheese and serve.
It’s a light meal for warmer weather. You can add other things which might suit the mix.
********************************************************************
From Stromness Museum…
Visit our Summer Exhibition
Our summer exhibition centres on the life and work of two Orkney geologists – Ted Kellock and Matthew Forster Heddle. This summer sees the culmination of a year’s worth of work to digitise Ted Kellock’s microscope thin section collection. Volunteers have been involved both on-site and remotely. Visitors can see the rock samples themselves and the microscope slides created from the samples, alongside photos taken with our microscope of the slides under plane and cross-polarized light. Exhibition highlights include a collaboration with Dounby Primary School who have curated part of the exhibition and a loan of a selection of Forster Heddle’s mineralogy collection from the National Museum of Scotland.
The summer exhibition is available to view in the museum until Thursday 31st October.
‘Dounby Rocks’ museum skills project
We had so much fun working with Dounby Primary School’s P6-7 class to co-curate part of our Mineral Minds summer exhibition.
The project was supported by Developing the Young Workforce and Museums Galleries Scotland who are partnering on a national programme to develop museum workforce skills in our young people.
The Dounby school children learned how to catalogue and digitise museum objects (Ted Kellock’s rock samples and slides). Then, by working with local textile designer Kirsteen Stewart and jeweller Sheila Fleet, the children discovered how geology and mineralogy can inspire creative outputs.
In the exhibition you’ll see rocks that pupils collected which were then cut and polished with Sheila’s help. You’ll also see a new textile design they created with the help of Kirsteen and their art teacher Eilidh Harcus.
Islean Gibson, Head Teacher of Dounby Primary School, said:
“It has been a real honour and a privilege for our Dounby bairns to work with Stromness Museum on their Dounby Rocks exhibition. Their support and encouragement has been invaluable, as well as sharing their skills and experiences in lots of different roles and jobs that our children could be stepping into in the future.
“This collaboration has just been amazing, and spending time in the museum and with museum staff has brought out the best in our learners, giving them a wider audience for their creative sparks and ideas as well as helping them to see just how they link with their local environment.
“We are all exceptionally proud to have been part of this project. It has brought Curriculum for Excellence and our ‘Dounby Way’ to life…and cannot wait for the next one!”
Dounby School greeting cards on sale
As part of the ‘Dounby Rocks’ project, pupils captured beautiful photographs of Ted Kellock’s thin section rockslides from the museum’s collection.
These images are now available for purchase as greeting cards, both at the museum and through our online shop. 50% of the profits will support Dounby School, with the remaining 50% benefiting Stromness Museum.
Loans and Acquisitions
National Museum of Scotland Loan
We are extremely grateful to the Royal Society for a ‘Places of Science’ grant, which has enabled us to arrange a loan from the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) for our summer exhibition. The loan comprises of minerals collected by Scotland’s greatest ever mineralogist, Matthew Forster Heddle, who was born and brought up in Hoy.
This is the first time these minerals have been on show in Orkney.
The National Museum’s Mineralogy Curator Pete Davidson came to deliver the specimens with his colleague Bob Gooday. This was extra special for Pete as it was the last day of his employment at NMS in advance of his retirement.
Nonsuch ship model acquisition
Our newest acquisition to the collection is a scale ship model of the Nonsuch, generously gifted to the museum by Angus Hardie.
The Nonsuch was the ketch that undertook the first speculative fur trading voyage which set sail from Gravesend to Hudson Bay via Orkney in 1668.
This detailed model was made by the late Hamish Hardie from Glasgow. Hamish worked in Canada in the 1950s and became very interested in the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Passage. He was a seafaring man, sailed for Great Britain in the 1948 Olympics, and a skilled craftsman.
In the 1980s he undertook the task of building a wood replica model of a ship – he chose the Nonsuch as the subject for the model.
Our goal is to install the Nonsuch model in a prominent museum window display within a protective case, accompanied by interpretation boards to share the model and its history with everyone. Elaine Hardie, Hamish's widow, has generously donated to support the required installation work, for which we are extremely grateful. We hope to begin preparations this winter so the Nonsuch can be on display next season.
Summer Events Programme
We’ve developed a programme of events fun for al the family to get involved in this summer, come rain or shine!
Outdoor Summer Programme
Shoreline Rambles 22 July,
14 August
Join us on a walk that link the museum's natural history collection with the Stromness shoreline. You'll get a sneak peek at our research collections before heading outdoors to explore the beaches and discover the local plants and animals.
Community Events
Stromness Shopping Week
24 - 27 July
This Shopping Week we are partnering up with the Restoration Forth project who are up in Orkney collecting seagrass seeds this summer. Come along and say hi at one of our events.
Wed 24 | 3pm - 6pm | Robert Rendall Building: We’ll be offering fun kids crafts at EMEC’s Renewables Revolution Open Day event
Thurs 25 | 7pm | Stromness Museum: Restoration Forth Seagrass Talk (spaces limited, reserve your free spot below)
Tours
Curator Tours
Join our exclusive guided tour, created by our curator, for an engaging experience that connects you with the stories behind our artefacts and the people from our past. Tours run on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Check availability and book in advance.
Blue Plaque Trail
Explore the lives and stories that shaped Stromness with the ‘Blue Plaque’ audio trail, available to download through Smartify, the world’s most downloaded museum app. Discover local buildings and notable figures, including surgeon John Rae, an Arctic explorer, and eminent writer George Mackay Brown. The audio tour is self guided and narrated by Stromnessian Cameron Stout.
Professor Dame Mary Beard Visit
We were delighted to welcome Professor Dame Mary Beard to Stromness Museum last month. Professor Beard was in Orkney to officially open to the Ness of Brodgar exhibition, and tour some of the island’s archaeology sites. During her visit Honorary Curator Janette Park gave a private tour of Stromness Museum, prior to a book signing event. The evening was a great success!
Before opening the doors to a queue of people eager to get copies of Women and Power, The Emperor of Rome and SPQR signed, Professor Beard was presented by a gift from the Trustees – a bespoke leather-bound notebook with gold tooling made by Hamnavoe Bookbinders.
Orkney Nature Festival Round Up
Stromness Museum had a busy week of events during Orkney Nature Festival in May. From shoreline rambling, to our plankton fun afternoon with Strathclyde University, we shared the wonder of our natural history collection with over 60 people of the course of the week. It was also an opportunity to gather folk together to work on Orkney’s new snorkel trail currently in development with the Scottish Wildlife Trust. We’d like to thank all who participated and helped.
Retail Corner
Our Pucka T-shirt is back in new colours!
Our popular museum T-shirt, designed by local artist Pucka (Colin Kirkpatrick), is now available in new colours!
Visit the museum or shop online to get yours."
Add your comment
