McGonks Going Up Ben Nevis!

Heading Right to the Top via the Tourist Route!

This is it - the final countdown to our journey from Port William in southwest Scotland to Fort William, just over 200 miles north of here, where we'll be setting up McGonk camp in the backpakers' hostel - even although we're driving there!

We leave tomorrow morning and aim to walk up the mountain on Saturday. Our big plan is to get McGonks to the summit and raise some funds to help keep the Port William lifeboat afloat at the same time. It's all VERY exciting, as we havent announced which of the McGonks will be making this incredibe, once in a lifetime, trip.

It's going to be tough, especially for our wee lowland McGonks who have no high hills to climb for practice! But over the past 4 months, since deciding to accept the Ben Nevis challenge, we have both walked and cycled many, many miles in the hope of getting fit for the hike uphill. But we haven't tackled anything steep or relentless, so this Saturday will probably be the biggest test of our strength ever. This is where we hope to be by Saturday evening - right on the summit of the highest mountain in the UK!

www.mcgonks.com
Stoive / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

Foter.com / CC BY-SA

Enlisting the Help of the Hoolet

Widening the Search for Beag

As instructed by the Sneach, Bhreac McGonk had climbed back up the Barr Hill to the very top, so he could have another look around over the miles and miles of wide open countryside.

From this viewpoint he could see all the way to England, but he couldn't see the standing stones or stone circle of Torhouse, nor could he see Beag! He wasn't even aware that Hooter had failed to return home, so no thought was given to his plight with the Trolls from the Twin Caves!

A little higher and Bhreac reached the big angular stone known at 'Trig'. It was massive, with smooth
stone walls and an interesting metal plaque set into the side, bearing a number. After scaling to the top, the views opened out even more, but still no sign of Beag and no sign of the Hoolet, who had been sitting there previously, eating dinner.

But then Bhreac spotted something new and different and decidedly disgusting looking! In fact, he wasn't entirely sure what it was and didn't really want to guess!

This was silly, it wouldn't hurt to take a closer look and the 'thing' wasn't exactly alive.

In fact, it was most definitely dead!

Bhreac peered down at it in disgust, wondering what, on earth, it could possibly be, sitting in such a strange place, atop the 'Trig' rock. But as he looked closer, it suddenly dawned on him what it was...

Hoolet had been here for dinner and, as we all know, olws eat all sorts of weird and wonderful things at all sorts of wonderful times of day. They really are quite greedy creatures, just gulping down their food without a care, no hesitations, no wondering what's in it, just yum, yum, yum... down the throat it goes. And then afterwards, up pops a pellet, bleugh, spat out by the owl and containing all the bits and pieces that weren't supposed to have been part of the meal.

Bhreac had found an owl pellet!

On much closer inspection of the pellet, he'd become fascinated by one particularly shiny, white object and he wouldn't be satified until he'd discovered exactly what it was. Carefully, he wrapped the pellet and set off in search of the Hoolet, to find out more. And, of course, to enlist his help in searching for Beag.

It was a long, hard walk for Bhreac while carrying the huge owl pellet, but he finally spotted Hoolet snoozing on a high ledge, far above the gardens of Thrift Cottage.

Clambering up the vertical wall, he deposited the pellet at Hoolet's feet and looked expectanty for an explanation, in particular, with regards to the shiny, white object...

Hoolet began his curious tale of mystery, how he'd spotted what looked like a tasty morsel bobbing along the edge of the long straight burn by the side of the lane, and how he'd seen the glowing eyes of the creature and heard the gurgling, eery sounds in the night. His tale went on, the watching, his stealthy, silent flight overhead and, finally, his swoop to snatch whatever t was from the water's edge just after midnight!

What an exciting tale the Hoolet had to tell, but he hadn't seen Beag since their trip to 'the Doon'. Once again, he promised to spread the word far and wide so every creature within the Kingdom of Frugal would be on the look out for the missing Beag.

As for the white, shiny object? Well, that was... the tooth of a troll!

McGonk Meets the Easter Bunny

In Search of the Missing 'Beag' McGonk



Beag McGonk



As you all know, my favourite little 'Beag' McGonk went missing in action a few weeks ago, completely vanishing without trace. A search party was deployed on several occasions without success and now, with the onslaught of this Siberian Spring, heavy snowfall has brought the searching to a temporary halt.

 

McGonks love nothing more than to explore, so we're hoping that Beag simply wandered off and forgot he was supposed to return home to Thrift Cottage. They can be very, very forgetful little creatures but they can also be very naughty, especially the diminutive micro-McGonks! Beag disappeared after a trip to Torhouse Stone Cirlce, when he was last seen heading towards Wigtown, Scotland's national book town.

Hooter McGonk

Earlier today, a little visitor arrived in the shape of Hooter McGonk,  a nosy wee character who was adamant that he go in search of his wayward cousin as soon as possible, despite the weather conditions. Much debating went on until we could debate no more and off he scampered, out into the snowy lands of Frugaldom to begin his own investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Beag. What he hopes to achieve in this weather is anyone's guess, as he's barely visible himself when wading through the chilly white carpet provided by Mother Nature. He doesn't care how high or how low he has to search, but search he will until he discovers the whereabouts of his cousin, 'Beag'.

 

 

Following the invisible Sneach

Through the snowy fields he clambered, climbing drifts and exploring icy tunnels and igloos made by the Sneach - a clan of seemingly invisible, white Mcgonks of the north who over-winter in Galloway. They're normally quite easy to spot, as we don't usually have this amount of snow, but to our human eyes these snow McGonks are undetectable during times such as these. It was amazing to watch Hooter communicating with them, chattering away, following in their footsteps. We could see their tracks, but it is impossible to spot a Sneach even on such a glorious day as today.

Climbing the tree

The Sneach McGonks led us all a merry dance, poor Hooter was exhausted by the time he got back to Thrift Cottage. First they suggested he climb as high as he could to survey the snowly landscape. Up he climbed, higher and higher, his little nose getting redder and redder. Several times he had to scuttle for cover under gnarled branches, as passing blackbirds kept mistaking his nose for a juicy red berry they'd overlooked on the Hawthorn! What a to do that would have been, losing Hooter to a scavenging blackbird!

 

Poor wee Hooter - he climbed as high up the tree as he could possibly go and then the mischievous Sneach McGonks closed their eyes and disappeared from sight, camouflaged to perfection against the glistening snow! Even Hooter was having trouble spotting them, but he could still hear them chattering away, calling out instructions to him and making tracks in the snow for him to follow.

 

From his viewpoint, far up the tree, Hooter could see so many tracks in the snow that he didn't know which to follow. The Sneach were everywhere and nowhere to be seen, but there seemed to be a great deal of trampling and stamping coming from the direction of the burn, very close to the home of the Trolls!

 

Carefully, Hooter picked his way back down the tree and headed towards the deep, dark, watery cave, convinced that the Sneach wouldn't lead him into danger. They may be cheeky and impish, but they certainly weren't evil or cruel.

The Trolls' Cave

The mouth of the cave looked spooky, the banks were slippery and cloaked in deep snow and there was a whispering, gurgling echo coming from deep within the tunnel.

 

Hooter crawled over the bridge and gingerly stuck his head inside to call out to the Trolls, asking for their help in finding his lost cousin. The echoing whisper that rushed from the cave mouth was unmistakable, audible to all around, incuding the multitude of Sneach that had surrounded the area - if the footprints were anything to go by, that is!

 

"Speak to the Easter Bunny!" the voices murmured, repeating the same command over and over again...



Avalanche alert!

Great commotion broke on the embankment, with a flurry of snow as the Sneach scurried to help Hooter back from the water's edge, leading him along the lane at top speed, back along the path they had previously come. It was tough going for Hooter, he was slipping and sliding all ways, trying to balance precariously between snow drifts, ruts and ridges.

 

Suddenly, he felt the ground move beneath him! In a panic, he became rooted to the spot, feeling the tremors rippling underfoot. He expected to feel himself plunge through chasms of icy darkness at any minute, disappearing throught the deep snow, never to be seen again.

 

What a predicament to be in, out on his first major search and rescue mission only to find himself in need of rescuing! That's when he suddenly realised that the Sneach Clan members were rolling about the ground like tiny snowballs, giggling and laughing uncontrollaby.

 

How curious!

 

"Look down," they yelled in glee, "look down, now!"

 

Peering carefully downwards, Hooter soon saw the reason for such myrth - he wasn't clinging for dear life to an icy peak waiting to be swept into  the snowy abyss by some ground-shaking avalanche...

 

Hooter had woken the Easter bunny, who had been sitting by the wall, like hare waiting for tortoise, enjoying a little nap before his very, very busy weekend arrived!

 

Shrieking with delight, Hooter slid to safety and apologised profusely to Easter Bunny. He quickly explained his predicament and told the bunny how the Sneach had led him to the Trolls and how the Trolls had sent him in search of the Easter Bunny.

 

To all of this, the bunny responded with one word ...

 

"PATIENCE!"

 

Whatever could he mean?

McGonks' Christmas Clootie Dumpling

Traditional Scottish Clootie Dumpling

It's Christmas Eve here in Scotland and that means one thing for McGonks - the making of the Christmas clootie dumpling!

 

What is a 'clootie dumpling', you may well ask. Well, a 'cloot' is a cloth and the dumpling is the cakey goodness that gets boiled inside it to make pudding to have as part of the Christmas dinner. It's a really easy recipe and you can mix and match anything you like into the basic 'goo'. We use raisins or sultanas, but you might choose to include chopped nuts, glace cherries, dried mixed fruit or even grated vegetables, seeds or grains. Our 'secret' family recipe can be found here.

 

We sent one of the junior McGonks to fetch the cloot this morning and that was when panic struck the tiny, furry inhabitants of Thrift Cottage - they couldn't find the pudding cloth!

 

"Fear not," declared the wise, red King Ruaidhri, "we'll make a new one!"

 

With that, he began giving instructions to little 'Rory', while the other McGonks scurried around Thrift Cottage looking for suitable materials.

 

We still aren't sure if this will work, but we're trying using a freebie pillowslip that had never been used. It's more of a pillow protector than an actual cotton pillow cover, so it remains to be seen if it will hold the Christmas dumpling together for long enough to cook it! We cut our circle the exact same way we do the Tam o'Shanters, only on a much larger scale! Then we'd to rinse it and scald it in boiling water to ensure it was clean. So far, so good - it didn't disintegrate in the boiling water! (McGonks were banished from the area during the use of scalding water.)

Flour, suet, sugar, spices, raisins, syrup and treacle - these all need to be weighed and then mixed together with some milk to turn it into pudding goo! Ruaidhri junior had great fun bouncing about the bowls, jars and tins, making sure all the right ingredients got added in the right combination and in the right quantities. He was most helpful, only falling into the pudding bowl once - thankfully before the ingredients went into it!

 

Once it was ready to mix with the milk, things go a little bit too sticky and messy for 'Rory' junior, so he was asked to stand back and observe from a safer distance.

 

The pudding got stirred and mixed, stirred and mixed, adding the milk little by little so it didn't turn into a soggy, muddy looking mess. Once it looked good - not too gloopy, not too doughy, the cloot got rung out so it was nice and damp, laid inside a big bowl and then a sprinkling of flour added, which clung to the damp cloth like frost around a freezing glen.

 

The pudding mix was then poured, scraping every last morsel into the 'cloot', then it got tied firmly, with enough space for the goo to slowly turn into a big dumpling. You have to be firm and strict with dumplings! They must be tied in tightly, lest thye attempt to escape or, worse still, break free!

 

Now we have ten McGonks sitting patiently waiting for the dumpling to bump, bubble and boil in the big pan of water, but they'll need to be patient. The dumpling won't be ready to unwrap for at least 3 hours! Let's just hope that it doesn't burst out of its thrifty, homemade cloot before that!

 

With some festive luck, we'll be back later to update you on progress and, hopefully, with a photo of the McGonks' first attempts at making their own Christmas clootie dumpling!

 

McGonks

McHaggis McGonk's ADVENT-ures

A Gingerbread ADVENTure for McHaggis McGonk

As Christmas approaches, the McGonks have all been getting more and more excited! They couldn't wait to get the tree decorated and then all crowded around to have their photograph taken.

Excitement is probably too tame a word to use at this festive time, as there have been so many things happening, some of them HUGE!

Several McGonks have now left on their Christmas travels and we've sent one to Aberdeenshire, where one of the relatives seems to be partying just a bit too much!

Shortly after the above photo was taken, little 'Beag' disappeared! He is such a naughty micro-McGonk! We searched high and low, until we finally found him in the most obvious of places... Beag loves to climb trees!

The biggest international McGonk news is that 'Duncan McGonk' (#I) has set off on his exciting adventure that will lead him to EGYPT!

The name 'Duncan' derives from the gaelic word meaning 'brown warrior', so I do hope he behaves himself and doesn't get into any confrontations with camels or the like.

Duncan McGonk

Duncan McGonk is going to live in Egypt, so watch out for future tales of his trips along the Nile or visits to the Pyramids, Imagine that! A little piece of Scotland all the way out there in Egypt, by way of a Galloway McGonk. How exciting!

But that wasn't the only excitement of the past week or so, oh no, not by a long chalk!

We also saw the arrival and departure of McHaggis McGonk, a rather dashing chap who received news of his mission earlier this week.

The gingerbread Nativity

McHaggis McGonk has, since, been whisked away to Wigtown, Scotland's national book town. This is him standing guard over the beautiful gingerbread Nativity, during his big ADVENTure. McHaggis has gone to live in the Manse and will be helping *Renita* with her storytelling and entertaining the local childen. Hopefully, he'll be introducing them to 'Frugal Fun' in Febrary 2013...

Well, that was the simple plan, but then we were alerted to a rather alarming misshap that had occured while McHaggis was watching all the delicious gingerbread making and decorating! He decided to go for a swim in the frosting and has had to have a bath and a blow dry! Oh dear! I am so glad we opted to fill him with lovely fluffy stuffing rather than shredded paper, otherwise he could have been trying to play papier mache McGonks, especially if he'd been near flour! We hope he recovers very soon - perhaps he thought it was snow and wanted to go sledging!

Chilli McGonk

As if all of the above wasn't exciting enough, Clan McGonk decided to put their heads together to come up with something unusual for someone local who has a passion for chillies! She kindly brought us a jar of her luxury *Galloway Chilli Jam* ... and we absolutely love it - with absolutely anything and everything!

However, being inhabitants of Thrift Cottage, living within the lands of Frugaldom, the purchase of such luxury items doesn't fall within the reaches of a thrifty spender, so we called upon the help of one firey, Scottish red head - Chilli McGonk! Hopefully, he will be attending the Wigtown Christmas Fair as an ambassador for Frugaldom. Of course, you can guess what this all means! Can't you?

It means that this Saturday, there will be both (Mc)Haggis and Chilli McGonks in Wigtown and that could make for a very interesting combination if the two should happen to meet. Perhaps we'll leave that one for closer to Burn's Night!
(Edited in: Chilli McGonk stayed with us for Christmas, so didn't make it to Wigtown.)

That's it for now but stay tuned for all the latest McGonk news and updates. We've now introduced the new 'About' page along with a 'Contact' page. These should provide any information you require.

Until next time,
Ruaidhri 'the red king' McGonk
www.mcgonks.com

*You can find out how the children and Renita made the gingerbread Nativity by visiting www.facebook.com/RenitaBoyleBibleTalesAndTunes

** You can see the actual Galloway Chilli Jam logo by visiting www.facebook.com/GallowayChillies

How to... Make a Tam o'Shanter for your McGonk

Scottish Clan McGonk 'How To...' Guides

Now that you have your wee frugal friend, the Scottish McGonk, you'll need a Tam o'Shanter (traditional Scottish hat), so here's the instructions for an easy to make and very frugal version.

MATERIALS

• An offcut of tartan or tweed coloured material
• Pompom
• Scissors
• Needle
• Thread
• Glue

Tartan material always makes the best Tam o'Shanter

Cut a piece of fabric approximately 17cm square

Fold it into a triangle - 3 folds is usually enough

Trim from corner to corner with circular edges, like a slice of pie

Unfold the 'pie piece' and you should have a rough circle

Keep all your trimmings, as these can be used for stuffing

Find a pompom, or else you could make a tiny one from wool

I was lucky enough to have been given this pompom edging, so I have been cutting the pompoms from that to attach onto the tops of the Tam o'Shanters.

Stitch around the edge of the circle of material. Once you have stitched all the way round, draw the thread tight, so it pulls the fabric together like purse-strings drawing a money bag.

Stitch the folds together around the centre on the underside and this will give you the small, circular hat. Tie the thread off firmly and that's it - all that's needed now is the pompom glued or stitched to the top and hey, presto! A mini Tam o'Shanter for your newly made McGonk. You can either stitch it on or, as I do, glue it in place.

You can use any fabric at all for making the McGonk hats. I use a pastel shade or flowery cotton for the lady McGonks as this gives them little mop caps. (Tam o'Shanters are, or were, normally only worn by the men.)

Have fun making your McGonk and please remember to take a photo and share it with us on the Clan McGonk fan page on Facebook. It can be found at www.facebook.com/ClanMcGonk

Now you are all ready to join the fun in 2013, taking McGonks wherever you go and photographing them. Next year, we'll have an exciting set of competitions for McGonk owners as we follow the explouts of our furry, frugal little friends as they branch out and spread around the globe.

If you'd prefer to buy a handmade Scottish McGonk, I will happily make one for you and list it in the new frugal store, along with any others I have available. Check out the Frugal Shop at www.frugalshop.co.uk

Watch out, McGonks about! and they're hopefully coming to a town near you.

Ruaidhri McGonk
The Red King
www.mcgonks.com

How to... Make your own Frugal McGonk in 10 Easy Steps

How to Make a Frugal McGonk

 

Please remember that the McGonks are not toys.

Children should always be supervised when crafting.
 

Some people accuse us Scots of being mean, but we prefer to think of ourselves as frugal. We try to lead a 'waste not, want not' lifestyle here at Thrift Cottage, so every little bit of anything counts in the quest for frugal fun.

 

If you have anything left over that can be made into something else, then it can be rather fun getting crafty and making the most of what you've got.

 

This is the part 1 of 2, showing you in easy to follow steps how to make your very own McGonk using nothing more than bits, bobs, scraps and offcuts.

 

MATERIALS

• Offcut of fleece or furry fabric, approximately 12cm x 24cm
• Small piece of black felt, fabric or cardboard
• Small piece of white felt, fabric or cardboard
• Button for nose
• Oblong piece of firm cardboard for base
• Needle and thread



STEP 1 - Gather your materials together.

STEP 2 - Lay out your fabric then fold it in half, so the fur is inside.

STEP 3 - Stitch along both edges to form the body, leaving the bottom open.

STEP 4 - Turn the fabric inside out, this is the body of your frugal mcgonk.

STEP 5 - Prepare your stuffing - I just shred some old paper but you can use anything available.

STEP 6 - Stuff the body of the frugal mcgonk, leaving about 1cm at the end.

STEP 7 - Stitch around the edge and then draw the thread tight to pull the ends together before stitching this all flat.

STEP 8 - Cut your cardboard base into an oval shape - I include a nick in the middle to make the front edge look like mcgonk's feet.



STEP 9 - Glue the cardboard base onto the bottom of your frugal mcgonk so it stands upright on its own. (I use my hot glue gun for this but any glue should do.

STEP 10 - Cut two ovals about the width of a penny from black card/fabric/felt and two much smaller circles from the white. Glue these onto the mcgonk, along with a button for a nose. You can also use smaller buttons for eyes - this one has beads in the middle of its felt eyes for a good reason.

Hoots, maun, there's a moose, loose, aboot this hoose... and Owl McGonk has spotted it!

 

In the next part, I'll show you a quick and easy way to make your frugal McGonk friend a bonny Tam o'Shanter hat.

 

Until then, 

Frugaldom. :)

Beag's Sunny, Sunday Mini Adventure



MEET BEAG!

In the Gaelic language, the word 'beag' means small. As expected, the way we say the word depends on our dialects and accents, so to make things easy, it sounds quite like 'BUG'. Personally, I think it's a fantastic name for any of the micro McGonks!

This is Beag (Bug). He's grey, measures about 6cm high, has a pink button nose, pink felt 'shoes' and wears a blue tartan Tam o' Shanter with a tiny white pompom on top. Beag McGonks are great, they can be clipped onto almost anything and go anywhere without causing too much of a fuss - handbags, keys, zippers, bicycles...

 

But first, a little bit about Tam o' Shanter:

Tam o' Shanter is the character in a very famous poem of the same name written by Robert Burns. (You can find the poem in its entirety HERE.) Rabbie Burns, as he's commonly referred to, is possibly Scotland's most famous and influential poet. His birthday is celebrated every year on 25th January on "Burns' Night", when all good McGonks eat the customary haggis, neaps and tatties (haggis, turnip and potatoes) for dinner. Official Burns' Supper events are held all around the country and wherever else you find McGonks - I mean Scots! The Tam o'Shanter hat is the flat tartan cap that was often worn by Scotsmen of that time and so-named after the poem's main character, Tam.

 

Today the sun shone and the outdoors beckoned. Beag McGonk couldn't really go for a gallop on his trusty steed, Black Bess, so he donned his Tam o'Shanter, wrapped up against the blustering wind, hitched up the bike and had a wander along the local lanes. The views on such days can literally blow you away, but there really wasn't much to see by way of life - no cows, no sheep, no birds flying overhead, no herons by the stream. In fact, not a soul in sight - so nobody to spy Beag as went secretly exploring.

First stop was a signpost. There was still nobody about, so Beag climbed right to the top to see if he could see any signs of life further afield. Scrambling up, blown all ways by the blustery winds, he almost lost his balance more than once! He finally made it to the top and scrutinised the panoramic views for signs of life. Unbelievably, on such a glorious day, there still wasn't a soul in site, not even the hare that's usually bouncing around the adjacent field! But then he spotted a fabulous, huge tree, leaf-less and begging to be climbed!

 

Back on the bikes, we cycled a little further along the lane until Beag stopped by a prickly looking clump of winter-bare hedging. Off the bike, stumbling through the grass he went, scaling the gnarled, twisting branches with a definite mission in mind. Once he'd reached a particular spot in his chosen 'tree', Beag stopped, looked all around and then peered anxiously downwards. Following his gaze, I spotted the long, slender, pointed looking branch he was eyeing.

Just at that exact minute, I heard a yell and watched as Beag leapt clean off his resting place and then hooked the branch below in one death-defying action. Off he went, swinging along, shouting with glee as he flew through the air, almost as though on a magic zip-wire, sliding his way in a flash to the base of the branch. What a naughty little McGonk he is! If this is the kind of exploits the micro-McGonks are going to get up to then I really don't know how the red king Rory or any of the others are going to cope!

Still, Beag seemed as proud as Punch with his flying trapeze act and was quite happy to settle back onto the bike and come home afterwards. Phew! First mini-adventure over without mishap and we all got some fresh air and exercise into the bargain.

 

Back home, there was a lovely bowl of hot, steaming lentil soup waiting and a room full of McGonks wanting to see the photos of the day's mini-adventure. Sending the littlest member of the clan out as a scout seemed like a good idea at the time, but he didn't quite grasp the concept of surveying the lie of the land. Perhaps next time he'll concentrate more on his mission than playing at swinging from trees.

 

McGonk.

Clan McGonk Welcomes You All

Welcome to Clan McGonk!

Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a clan of Scottish gonks, many of them known as McGonks. As the years passed, new rulers and new rules came to the lands of Scottish gonks and this, in turn, saw the demise of these tough, hardly little creatures. In fact, many of them had to go into hiding! They searched out the darkest recesses, hiding out until long forgotten. For many, they found themselves confined to the realms of understair cupboards, boxrooms and even BINS!

McGonks were never meant to be toys - although there were gonk toys. McGonks, for me, were a token reminder (and very hard reminder, if inadvertently hit by one) of the hardy Scots and their tough ways of surviving a cold and, for many, inhospitable environment. Wastefulness was everywhere and the humans wanted bigger and better 'playthings'.

By the late 1990's, simply, frugal little gonks were a thing of the past - overtaken by the techno-furry, whizzkid known as the Furby! Now, once again, the fabulous techno-Furby has resurfaced, but we're ready for them this time!

Archie McGonk says,
"Fun can be frugal, fun can be free, you don't need a fortune to have fun with me!"

The ancient tribes of McGonks were never overly adventurous, that seems to have been their problem. Brave, yes, without doubt, but not as adventurous as our modern-day heroes. But nowadays, a McGonk can go almost anywhere, be it by horseback, bicycle, plane, train or automobile. In fact, once you have a McGonk as a friend, it will willingly accompany you almost anywhere you want to go.

Clan McGonk is ruled firmly, but fairly, by the red king. Being of Scottish descent, many of the clan names are of old Celtic or Gaelic origin, so Ruaidhri McGonk is well named. Ruaidhri ('Rory' to you and I) means 'red king'. He has set up home, along with many of his kinsfolk, in Thrift Cottage. His sidekick, Bhreac, is easily spotted and never mistaken. (Bhreac is gaelic for speckled.)

McGonks are very frugal - they hate waste and try to make the most of everything they find, recycling everything from bottle tops to buttons, scraps of fabric, cardboard and even shredded paper. They love recycling! In fact, they even have pet worms to help recycle the mealtime scraps into 'worm juice' plant food, which can then be used to feed the fruit trees and vegetable plants.

Thrift Cottage lies in the heart of the tiny kingdom of Frugaldom, which lies along an ancient hill ridge in the Machars area of Galloway, southwest Scotland. It is from here that they have succeeded in re-establishing a small clan of McGonks, one that is growing steadily, ady by day. Indeed, several have already left and are on their way to investigate other corners of Britain.

Right now, Angus McGonk is preparing to set off and amke his way even further afield... across land and sea, sand and surf, all the way to Egypt!

During the coming months, years and, possibly, decades, we will be following these adventures, recording the trials and tribulations of the various McGonks as they set out to conquer the 21st Century world. It's sure to be a rollercoaster ride but it is one in which ANYONE can take part. All you need is your own McGonk.

We have already set up the McGonks Adoption Agency at http://frugaldom.ebid.net but if you would prefer to make your own, then check back here soon to become part of our 'make a McGonk workshop. It will be online here, free for anyone to enjoy.

We'll be back very soon with more news of Clan McGonk and details of the free workshop. In the meantime, you can subscribe to this blog and come visit Clan McGonk on Facebook, where you can add your own McGonk photos and news. There's also a McGonks website at www.mcgonks.com that should make it easier for folks to remember where to find us.

Until next time x