Thoughtful Thursday - The Overtoun Bridge Mystery

Photo courtesy of Allan Ogg Creative Commons License 

Overtoun Bridge, an arched bridge near the village of Dumbarton in the Scottish Lowlands, has gained quite a bit of media attention. Over the past 60 years, the crumbling stonework has seen more than 600 dogs taking a 50 foot plunge, with many of them meeting an untimely end at the bottom. All of the deaths have occurred at virtually the same spot, between the final two parapets on the right-hand side.

Rumors have long circulated that the bridge and the nearby Overtoun House are haunted, with the spectres said to be responsible for influencing the living. In 1994, a local man threw his baby son off the bridge, claiming the child was the anti-Christ. Shortly after, he tried to end his own life with an unsuccessful suicide attempt from the same bridge. In Celtic mythology, Overtoun was known as 'the thin place' - an area in which the veil between heaven and earth could easily be passed.

Animal experts have conducted experiments as to why dogs would be jumping to their deaths. Their conclusion? The musky smell from mink living under the bridge was the culprit. For those who are not satisfied with that explanation, you are not alone. Dogs who survived the jump didn't run off to catch those minks--they ran back to jump off the bridge again. 

The bridge now has a warning: "Pet owners should only walk their pets at Overtoun with extreme caution. Dogs should be leashed, leash-trained and under the control of an adult."

The mystery continues.

#MeatlessMonday - #Vegetarian Haggis #vegan #books #romance

This week's posts are inspired by The Legacy of Buchanan's Crossing by Rhea Rhodan. If you haven't picked up a copy of her book, please do! The Legacy of Buchanan's Crossing just won the EPIC ebook Award 2015 for Fantasy Romance.

Breaking denial’s spell takes more than magic 

Cayden Sinclair: BBW—big, beautiful witch—struggling to control her power and become worthy of her legacy.
Clint MacAllen: Blinded by ambition and desperate to save his failing construction company; he’s not expecting to find redemption wrapped in goth and toting a truckload of crazy.
J Milton: Mega-developer with plans for the Crossing.
Buchanan’s Crossing: One of the last magical strongholds on earth.

Each has everything to lose. All will stop at nothing to win.

Available as an e-book from these and other major etailers. Coming soon in print! 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iBooks

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I left this week's #MeatlessMonday recipe up to Rhea who wanted to pick something Scottish. And what's more Scottish than haggis?  Traditionally served with "neeps" and "tatties" (turnips and potatoes), Rhea graciously offered up a vegetarian version of the recipe—because you don’t need magic to make a good Scottish Haggis vegetarian. But don’t tell Cayden’s Gran, okay?
Enjoy!

Photo  courtesy of Donald Macleod via Flickr

Vegetarian Haggis

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
5 portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup vegetable broth
1/3 cup dry red lentils
2 tablespoons canned kidney beans - drained, rinsed, and mashed
5 tablespoons chopped nuts or seeds of choice (peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds and/or pumpkin seeds are a few to try)
1/2 tablespoon marmite
1 tablespoon lemon juice

1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 1/3 cups steel cut oats

Directions:

Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat and saute the onion 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in carrot and mushrooms and continue cooking 5 minutes. Stir in broth, lentils, kidney beans, nuts/seeds, marmite and lemon juice. Season with thyme, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and mixed spice. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer 10 minutes. Stir in oats, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch baking pan.
Stir the egg into the saucepan. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Bake 30 minutes, until firm.

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Tomorrow, Rhea Rhodan will guest on Tangled Tuesday and (shhh...) there may even be a contest to enter.

On Vacation...

I had all my blogger posts scheduled for when I was on vacation. Apparently, Blogger decided not to auto-publish any of them. Soooo, my vacation blog posts will be posted this week, lol

My UK vacation was wonderful and I was sad to leave.

Our cottage was absolutely awesome. I highly recommend this place if you're looking for a historical country cottage in the Cumbria region.

Ona Ash, High Bankhill, England

Castlerigg Stone Circle, Keswick, England

Caerlaverock Castle, Dumfries, Scotland
Second time I've visited this castle--one of my favorites