notes from a small shed

at last Christmas spirit turns up

2011-12-19T17:16:00.009Z

The village green at Streethay came through last night with true and simple Christmas spirit ,the best kind. Despite the freezing temperature we all went out there a caroling full of good cheer. It is such a lovely tradition they have and we were pleased to join in with Terry and Yvonne to start Christmas week full of peace and goodwill. It was ****** cold though! We also went to Swinfen magic barn last week and thoroughly enjoyed their effort to bring all sorts of Christmas decorations together under one roof as the picture shows the barn was full of wonders. What fun...

plum's pumpkin fun...

2011-10-31T09:59:00.004Z

...my halloween carving this year is a spooky house and a bear. Julie next door on the plot got me a pumpkin carving kit which made it so much easier than using my old kitchen knife. Thank you very much Julie I really love it. The BIG problem this year was photographing it without flash and not getting camera shake. We tried everything and nothing worked so in the end I used the firework setting it isn't perfect but you get the picture so to speak!!!! I just love carving pumpkins so I am going to have a bigger pumpkin patch next year on the plot just so I can have lots of goes... who needs vegetables when you can have this much fun!

deaf as a post....

2011-10-17T10:00:00.002+01:00

...yes, that was me all week last week and what an eye opener! I am used to having no voice as I suffer from hay fever and it makes everyone whisper to me. I have no idea why, empathy perhaps? Last week everyone needed to shout and whisper it all got very confusing BUT the main thing I learned was everyone also treated me as if I was as daft as a brush. Should I pass this human behaviour onto David Attenborough I wonder? Well I would except this week having had my ears syringed and I have my voice back everyone is still treating me as if I am daft, including Molly, why are they doing that I wonder?????

fruits of autumn to me mean,,,

2011-10-15T11:45:00.013+01:00

`…lovely things,
pumpkins for soup or pie, or something a little out of the ordinary from my friend Sarah’s orchard. Quinces to make jelly to go with cheese through the dark evenings round the fire in autumn; it will never last to winter in our house. The quince, Sarah and I think, may be the pear referred to in the age-old nursery rhyme about the King of Spain’s daughterhttp://www.rhymes.org.uk/a35-i

-had-a-little-nut-tree.htm when she had a nutmeg and a golden pear. It is a really old fruit. It looks like a pear but seems to smell of apples (a weird one, well fine with me) and can only be used cooked, but it can according to Monty (Don), be used as a sort of pot pourri and if left in a fruit basket on a table, will give off a beautiful scent for weeks. Well mine is going to be made into jelly next week all being well so I probably will never know if he is right. I am still finding those lovely little patty pan courgettes on the plot and Issie’s pumpkin (plus the one I had to buy) is ready waiting for her.

We are still eating our pears and apples and yesterday I spotted in the strawberry patch a few rogue strawberries trying to ripen. Will they make it before the weather turns? I hope so. We also have flowers self-seeded thinking it is spring namely hundreds of California poppies and Godetia. To cloche or not to cloche that is the question? I am going to make risotto with my butternut squash despite seeing Nigel make a pie with his last night, as yummy as it looked. And although not a fruit, today I am at the minute baking my first batch of autumn short breads for which I have used my autumn cookie cutters, pumpkins, apples, witches on broomsticks and black cats. Yeah!

Molly seems to like autumn fruits too...

the case of the incredible shrinking pumpkin

2011-10-08T15:47:00.009+01:00

I don't know how we have done it but I have to say little Issie's pumpkin, which looked so promising, growing in it's giant pot all summer, has shrunk. Yes, it is orange and ripe, yes it was watered and getting bigger when Issie visited it and I promised her she would have a big one, but to my utter dismay, I am going to have to take her the tiniest ever giant pumpkin for Halloween. Each day I went to water it as it went from green to orange it got smaller and smaller. How will I face her when at just three and a half she only knows of one pumpkin, Cinderella's and it became a coach!!! Oh what a dilemma! Her's will only make a small seat inside a coach. What a disappointment it will be. Mind you, she also expected it to go blue, don't ask why!!! I am now off to find the biggest pumpkin I can before I get to see her and no matter what it costs she will get her coach. Growing one would have been the best thing ever but there is always next year.

That phrase must be an allotmenteers by- word.

just a simple bowl of soup...

2011-10-08T15:33:00.007+01:00

When we took on the lottie, one of the things we wanted to do was grow our own tomatoes. This hasn't always been successful as the weather and or the blighty has stopped us from getting a good crop. This year, however, as the weather was dryer we have had more success and have had more than enough so we have been making soup. Not just any old soup, but Delia Smith's recipe which Plum has added her secret ingredient to which makes a simple bowl of soup extraordinarily good. I can tell you this is the best soup ever, Mr Heinz eat your heart out. One of the reasons has been that we have used a variety of tomatoes in each batch and it has been delicious. I hope we can do it all again next year!

Internet Blues

2011-10-07T16:51:00.010+01:00

During the last few months we have been having trouble with our Internet connection. The signal keeps dropping out and we haven’t been able to stay on line. This has been, to say the least, frustrating, so much so that I even ended up writing a blues song about it. Not yet been able to upload it to You Tube I have been going back and forth with the Virgin tech guys trying everything to keep it running.

The situation came to a head a few days ago so I called them to cancel as I was going to transfer to BT. The guy there told me I had a contract, which I was unaware of as we pay monthly, and there was a £50.00 cancellation fee. We took umbrage to this and so, we told them to fix it as they weren’t keeping to their part of the contract, so they said they would send us a new router.

The router arrived to day so, full of anticipation, we set it up and, guess what? We couldn’t get a strong enough wireless signal downstairs to stay on line. I looked up on the Internet, using the main computer as to how to solve this problem, and there was a You Tube video, which said to wrap a piece of tinfoil around the aerial. This we duly did thinking we could probably now receive transmissions from aliens, but this proved to be a fallacy as the signal was no stronger. However, Plum solved the problem by moving the router to a different place, which may have been the problem all along. Only time will tell!

Retirement, What retirement?

2011-10-05T13:12:00.009+01:00

When she wrote her last blog, Plum didn't tell you that, due to my back problem, I have had to give up my position as Senior Stock Replenishment Executive (shelf stacker) at my local superstore. I shan’t miss having to get up at 5.45 every day especially in the Winter! However, now that I am 'retired' you may ask how do I fill my time every day? Good question, except that no one knows the answer. It is a peculiar thing that when you have lots of time to do everything, nothing seems to get done because there is always tomorrow. To be fair, I have been somewhat incapacitated for a few months but now I am back on track.

I have been helping Plum clear the lottie for the Winter which was most satisfying as all I could do for the growing season was to watch her struggle to keep the whole thing going. I am proud that, despite everything, she managed to win Joint First again this year. If we do it again next year it will be embarrassing!

I have also now acquired other duties now that I don’t go to work such as doing the shopping while Plum ‘mucks out’ on Mondays. I am also supposed to be learning to cook, and I have Monty Don's cookbook to hand, but so far, I haven’t actually done any. The idea is that we split the household chores so we have more time to spend on our other pursuits such as quilting and music.

I have also joined the committee of our allotment association and we have been cat sitting for our neighbours for the last two weeks

Last Friday we went on a jolly to the Peak District to the highest bookshop in England at Brierlow Bar nr Buxton and then cut through the Peak valleys to Bakewell. The sky was cloudless and the day was as warm as any we had in the Summer, fabulous!

We went to Elford Village Hall to see visiting folk singer Slaid Cleves fro Austin Texas on 23^rd September and last weekend we cleared the little pear tree and went to Terry’s for a BBQ and tonight we are off to Sarah’s for tea so you see there is always plenty to do when you have ‘retired’

seems like old times

2011-10-05T12:22:00.015+01:00

I haven’t blogged all Summer, in fact not since Spring. We have been a little preoccupied with Bri’s back. He had two bulging discs and couldn’t lie, walk or do much of anything except do Richard III impressions. He had a wrong diagnosis for the first eight weeks from a NHS physio who said he wouldn’t ever get any better because of his age and there wasn’t any difference between an X-ray and a MRI scan. What hope do we all have I wonder? Well, let me tell you, she was wrong, wrong, wrong. We went to a fantastic chiropractor called John Lang, who lots of our neighbours had recommended and after just a couple of goes Bri was on the way to standing up straight and in far less pain. Meanwhile we had our beloved Lottie to do. So I had to step up and get dirty (not unusual for me though). Doing both our parts was tough and when I thought I was failing, help came from our friends, Pam and Paul from up North and they put the weeds in their place and helped me get some sense back on the plot. Terry, our good ole brother came and although he got stung from the wasp nest, managed to help us plan the guttering for the shed and clear the bags of rubbish we couldn’t compost. Lesley and Angela came for a picnic down the shed and planted flowers but I am proud to say I managed the rest of the summer better than I expected and came Joint First for Best Small Plot. Bri is almost back to normal as John Lang is a miracle worker thank goodness.

Also over the summer, Henry and Ferret left for a new home up the road, over a roundabout, up a hill a bit to a bigger house and we missed looking after them everyday a lot. However, Henry decided he would come back and visit us as soon as his three months of being locked in had passed and today, six months later, Ferret turned up and took up residence in his always spot in our back bedroom as if he hadn’t been away. Tom (his daddy) is fetching him and Henry after work. Molly was really surprised and we think pleased to see them again. She has been lonely, after all, her life had been spent seeing them everyday. While we have been home so much I have started and finished a scrap quilt which is now on our bed. We also won Joint First place for Shed Dressing. We did the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Yvonne hand painted tree trunks and we made leaves from crepe paper. I made Alice and the Mad Hatter with pillows off the bed, Issie’s blonde play wig , a blue dress for Alice and Top Hat for the Mad Hatter and a very large white rabbit borrowed from Yvonne’s school. We had lots of fun and it only cost us 50p.

This weekend we harvested apples from the plot which were plentiful but not as plentiful as my dear little pear tree who gave us 400lbs of pears. Yes, I am not exaggerating, 400lbs. We have shared them with all our neighbours, relatives and friends and I am making Italian Country Pear Cake a lot. I did go out in the dark and give it a big hug and a thank you when no one was looking in case they thought me crazy but what else could I do? It was a wonderful harvest from such a little tree.

good enough to eat

2011-07-09T15:36:00.010+01:00

It's that time of year when all that preparation and sowing and planting in April and May, comes to fruition. We have already had a bumper harvest of strawberries most of which we have turned into jam which we are eating with home made scones and clotted cream.....yummy!
Lots of our other veggies are now ready. Broad beans have been double podded and either frozen or added to risotto, beetroot is being cooked and used in salads not to mention lollo rosso and cos lettuce. The peas are coming along as well as runner beans, tomatoes, leeks, potatoes (early and mains) together with courgettes. On that subject I must take issue with Monty Don (yes, I know all you ladies only watch Gardeners World because he is the presenter) but he suggested that courgettes could be grown at the bottom of the bean wigwams. This is just not practical as it is very difficult to harvest them, or indeed to see if they are ready at all as the beans foliage gets in the way. Think again Monty! The corn is not quite as high as an elephants eye, but it is getting there. Today we picked our first raspberries which are being used for a new recipe fresh raspberry and lemon squares which is coming out of the oven as I write. We have goosegogs for crumbles, cobblers and fools in fact enough for all year. However, after saying all that, Plum's favourite are the sweet peas which represent the smell of Summer even though you can't eat 'em!

I might as well give up being a dick!

2011-05-10T13:21:00.021+01:00

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather as they used to say. I had to check my eyes twice when I went down to the plot on Sunday, for there on our little bench, was the tiniest cowboy just sitting there. No, I'm not seeing the little people, well yes, I suppose I am. I know he wasn't there on Friday he just moved in just like the creature who made the hole. There must be something inviting about our plot things just keep on turning up to our delight or not if they leave bones behind. Well all I can say is, 'howdy pardner', wherever you came from, you can join Pip. Now Pip is our newest member and he is there to keep an eye on the apples and plums. Why the name Pip? Yes you guessed we have great expectations in the fruit patch and Pip seemed just right for someone who will stand under an apple tree. At the rate we are gathering the ' odd folk' word must be getting around that there will be a party on our plot. I wonder who will turn up next? The Ladies Number One and a Half Detective is running out of clues so I give up...

Them Bones, them bones?

2011-04-13T10:08:00.024+01:00

I am now opening The Number One and a Half Ladies Detective Agency because at the weekend that naughty tortoise we usually look after did a runner and we all had to get out there and look for him. You can imagine everybody looking under the bushes and running around as there was a reward of one hundred pounds mentioned by his desperate owner. Someone in the family had let the tortoise out to play unsupervised for half an hour and of course after being in for such a long winter, the sun being high in the sky, what was a poor tortie to do? Well he did.. he legged it round the corner of the house to the nearest bus stop and if he hadn't been found just in the nick of time I reckon he would have just caught the 604 to Birmingham. Of course the name of the tortie is Speedo. The owner claimed the £100.
I have decided to be a dick because of this adventure
coupled with the mystery we have going on down the plot....
A few weeks ago a tunnelled hole, not too large, appeared next to the spinach and onions. We gently covered it over hoping it was just an odd incident but to our dismay it got longer and a bit wider, too small for Mr. Fox, too big for the White Rabbit. We know it doesn't like spinach because that is still intact. What the hell? We are now logging clues daily. Not heavy enough to leave indented footprints. Obviously and thank goodness, not vegetarian as we have lettuce just coming up. Yesterday gave us another clue, macabre though, there were bones at the mouth of the tunnel, Yuk! We have been looking up various habitats for wild things and are non plussed unless it could be not your regular visitor, maybe a polecat or a mink, the hole is too big for a rat, mole, ferret or weasel. Hope the bones don't get any bigger or we may get worried, real worried!

Home is where the heart is...

2011-03-23T16:23:00.009Z

A Des Res or three, that is what we have put in our mini woodland bit of the plot. Bri bought me three birdhouses for Valentine's Day and I have been waiting to get down there to put them up. Today was that day and I saw a robin giving them the eye while we were working. Julie has the most incredible bird feeding station on the next plot to us so between us they have a home and a local supermarket. I can't wait until our little apple and plum trees blossom, they will look a picture. Most of all though I hope some robin, bluetit or the like will move in. The blue bells amongst the strawberries are up and getting ready at the base of the trees and I know the lupins and iris and foxgloves will follow. Wow spring is a coming!!!! Watch this space...
P.S Thanks Julie for the tea and the sunflower seeds for the birds.

A Passsion for Perfection

2011-03-16T10:50:00.007Z

There aren't many things that bug me, but bread making bugs me. But I want to get it right, I want it perfect. When I don't I quit and say never again. A few weeks ago I tried Larraine Pascale's method and used my dough hook - she owes me a food mixer, it burnt out the motor. Her dough was too hard, or was it ? my mixer was forty years old and I have to say almost family but it's gone now along with my aspirations of being a baker. Until, that is, Michel Roux persuaded me to have another go at it and so I'm off again this time by hand. I am writing this while it is proving and before the next knocking back. There, I'm mastering the language, if only the art of the perfect loaf was as easy... well I shall add my sun dried tomatoes to one half of the dough and keep the other half plain for jam and hope. Hope that this will be the one in my dreams, the perfect loaf, if not I won't give up, I can't!

The Impossible...

2011-02-16T13:57:00.005Z

...to dream that for just five minutes you could, say, start a new quilt, read a bit, listen to music is an impossible dream in our house it seems. Molly and her gang keep up a procession of wants and needs and chair stealing. On cold grey days the lot of them think our house is a playground cum doss house. While I just love them to feel ‘at home’, this week has been more of a nightmare, however, I am still dreaming of those five wonderful uninterrupted minutes. I have plans afoot. I plan to use all my scrap materials and make a quilt that costs nothing. Well virtually nothing, as I have already dashed out for border materials and cotton to help it along, but nothing is ever free. It will at least give me more space to stash new fat quarters which will inevitably come back with me from the next Quilt Fair of which I am also dreaming of. I can see in my minds eye, the wild flowers in the hedgerows along the lanes bathed in sunshine on the way to the Three Counties Showground in May. Oooh, I’ve just had my five minutes and it’s gone, here comes Molly followed by Henry and I expect Ferret is around the corner, damn I missed my turn!

New Year Baby

2011-01-05T11:29:00.007Z

I sowed a seed Christmas week when we had Butternut squash risotto I just couldn't wait until May, guess what, it germinated alongside my money plant cutting as happy as Larry, which is what I have called it. What to do next, will it grow on the windowsill until May or am I expecting too much? I do hope it will grow into a strong and healthy plant it is just the right variety of squash we love to roast ohhh nooo it's my New Year Baby, I don't think I could eat it now it's got a name. I can most definitely eat my soda bread though. I made it this morning no fuss hardly any time taken, it is Nigel Slater's recipe for a Lazy Loaf I hope it tastes good with our veggie soup that I made with all the veg that needed using up while they were still fresh., mmmmm.

Well Wishers

2011-01-02T18:27:00.006Z

Bri and I would like to wish everyone who has been poorly over Christmas, which is almost everyone, a speedy recovery and of course to everyone of us, A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR xxx

I Want to Know...

2011-01-02T17:41:00.011Z

...just like Davy in Ann of Green Gables I have a 'I want to know' mentality. In this instance I just had to find out why my granny and my great granny and probably my great, great granny always had a piece of pork pie for breakfast on Christmas morning. I just got this snippet of family gossip from my Auntie Mary when doing more research on the family tree and she gave me a jar of the very old family recipe, (no not whisky) but a jar of wonderful piccalilli, which I had with my slice of Christmas morning pork pie. One has to do their bit, don't you know when it comes to keeping up tradition.
Well, I have found out that it is eaten because no one had time to cook a breakfast on Christmas morning. In Melton Mowbray they had pork pie in medieval times because there was no turkey. In Nottingham, D.H. Lawrence had it for his breakfast. It all seems a tradition coming from Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, or in my case, Shropshire. Well now I know!!. If there is anyone out there that knows more please tell me...

Ray Mears, eat your heart out

2010-12-29T10:32:00.009Z

Christmas being Christmas means you get surprises. I for one had something unusual from Bri. Although, if you know me, perhaps not. It was the Worlds smallest whittling kit, but I have BIG plans for it. I have watched what you can do when abandoned in a wood in the snow and the bears are coming. You make a hatchet from the nearest branch, plus writing paper to send a note home, a bowl for the berries and of course, for fun, a fancy spoon with carving on the handle. So I am ready for the doing of. Armed with my new knife to go along with the knowledge, I thought I may have a go at a canoe. If I can carve a pumpkin, I can carve anything, give me a tree trunk and let me at it.
Molly had a lovely surprise too. It was a laser light thingy and she has been chasing the spot it makes and having a fine old time.
Bri's surprise was the book he thought he was getting turned into one he had never heard of on the way through the post, magic eh? I bet a lot of people got those kind of surprises this year, it was the snow to blame of course, not the post office...

I'm Dreamin' of a White.....

2010-12-22T10:44:00.016Z

...out, well I don't mind one bit I've always wanted to step into the most Christmassy Christmas card and now I can. The reality has been a little chillier than expected but what the heck we are one day into winter now what else can we expect? One day is that all? We have embraced the weather, we are feeding the robins which come every couple of hours they know a sucker when they get one. The blackbird is on the berries back and front of the house in turn and Molly is demented with her own Christmas turkeys just lining up! We have decorated the cake with a snowman, complete with snowballs of course. But the exciting thing this week is we have finally, after all the Christmas movies we have watched, made a batch of genu-w-ine Egg Nogg and I can say it is really potent and scrumptious at the same time, bring me another cup Bri. I am watching the snow come down and listening to Andy Williams Christmas CD playing Let it Snow and thinking, for me, it doesn't get better than this as long as we can stay in by the fire toastie warm but of course we will have to go out and deliver presents, get those sprouts ready to put on Thursday for lunch on Christmas Day!!! But for a while it is Snow Day and Silver Bells is now playing and I'm ready to make Merry. Have a Good one everyone.

Highs and Lows

2010-12-08T11:46:00.012Z

It's that time of year again to review what went right and what didn't down at the lottie. The obvious high is that we won Best Half Plot (Joint with Chris 2a) which was totally unexpected but we were glad that we did. The tomatoes in the poly tunnel did well, we made some fantastic tasting tomato soup from them (Sungold) however, it was a bit of a pain to have to water them on a semi daily basis during the warm weather (Yes, we did have some warm days this year!) Next year we plan to grow fewer (two per grow bag) and use our mini greenhouses instead. The broccoli was disappointing it wasn't the tight round green heads that we wanted but a straggly variety that was no use to man nor beast. The red cabbage, however, given to us by Reg, grew to huge proportions and was delicious braised. Raspberries, gooseberries and strawberries were prolific and made great jams and crumbles. Like everyone else, we grew too many courgettes so next year we promise to only have two plants which should be just about right. The potatoes (Desiree) behaved themselves admirably by growing in neat rows and not falling over. They have been really good to eat too and we will definitely grow them again next year. The swedes and the parsnips are still in the ground , swedes don't look too good but I think the parsnips will be o.k when we get to pull them after the snow has gone. Lettuce, beans, sweetcorn, apples, spinach, beetroot, onions and rhubarb were all good so overall we didn't have too bad a year. Plans are afoot for a new design next year so watch this space to see what happens.

Molly's Tale...

2010-11-05T15:05:00.011Z

We can almost set our watches by our Molly, who does everything by the clock. At 5a.m. she wakes us just before the alarm goes off, 9.25 a.m is her breakfast time after her morning walk and ablutions. Then 12.30 lunch and 5 p.m. curfew, probably it will be 4.30 now the nights are drawing in. She doesn't do cold and dark and she is never late. Except, that is, when she is up to no good and we then always go and check on her. Sure enough this morning was one of those occasions. Bri found her nose to nose with a tiny little wood mouse so he fetched me and the camera. Bri doesn't do mice and spiders. We never imagined they would still be there when we got back, but neither had moved. What a surprise the mouse hadn't been bumped off, just stared at! We managed to pick Moll up and bring her home without any fuss and the teeny tiny mouse scurried away under the leaves. How lucky he was he'll never know. Unless of course Molly knows him well and they always have a chat in the morning, this we will never know. At least we got a photo of him in case he turns up again and we so like to recognise all her little friends. Hope this is one she won't be bringing home, dead or alive...

My own Gobolino (the witches cat)

2010-10-31T20:19:00.010Z

I can't believe it's eggs for tea Sunday again, which is how I always think of the clocks changing backwards. It is also Halloween tonight and I have finally managed to carve a pumpkin. I have wanted to do this for years but always have done it with my niece and nephew who got to the pumpkin first. Now they are grown it was my turn so I thought I would do something less scary than theirs. I chose a cat and a bat and here it is my first solo carving. I love the colour of pumpkins they are so comforting. Now we have a great-niece I decided to save the seeds and let her sow them next year and grow her own to carve and keep up what has become a family tradition. This is so much fun I can hardly wait!

Return to Sender?

2010-10-08T12:04:00.005+01:00

Bri's very favourite person in the whole world is the Postie, doesn't have to be one we know just the postie. Even the kids told him he should be one when he was made redundant, in fact everyone told him. This is because everyday he gets post, expects post, gets excited when it's post time until - a few weeks ago that is. What has changed you may wonder, has he stopped ordering stuff... No, we have a new dyslexic postman. He is driving us crazy! You can spot him holding the letters at arms length and scratching his head, this is not good we think. It isn't good we hadn't had mail in days.We finally got a letter that wouldn't go through the letterbox and when I opened the door (only because I saw him, not because he knocked) he was half way down the path. I asked are you our new regular postie? he shrugged and became confused, he didn't speak English. No hope for us then! The next day, however, he left a red card saying we weren't in for delivery so we trekked up to the sorting office having waited the 24 hours they said on the card, to be told they couldn't find our packet and when they asked our postie thet weres told he couldn't visualise our road. Tough, we want our parcel and we want it now! No chance! They took our phone number and would ring us if they found it. I hate our postie, I wish we had a dog and I'm not keen on the Royal Mail either. I might start a protest. I am watching with Bri at the moment as he is watching the postie going back down the road as he has missed someone and he has now gone past us yet again and we just know we are expecting something. No, wait he is coming back again, yes pushing post through, well half way through ....we have got mail... just not ours!!!

We Don't Get Out Much...

2010-10-08T11:09:00.011+01:00

...which became VERY apparent this week when we went to Marks and Spencer for a quick coffee. They have the most up to date caff we have ever been to. So much so that we had to figure out how to order a cup of coffee and a teacake. None of your slosh it on the counter and no butter for the teacake affair. You order and get a thingy which you hand back when your order is ready. You then go to another island and get your coffee which came hot and steaming in large cups and then you go to your table with your thingy and wait. No one could have prepared us for the shock we got. We were just taking a sip of delicious coffee, and this thingy rattled and beeped and vibrated on the table and scared us half to death. It took us a full minute of this racket to realise what had happened, our teacakes were ready, that's all. It wasn't a fire alert or our phones it was a wonderful new fast way of letting us know we could collect our order. Genius! we thought and decided there and then we must get out more, we are being left behind by retail technology. So I thought I would just pop to the ladies powder room before I left and was met by a wall of plastic where I couldn't find which was door and which was wall, new fangled locks and all that. When I did get in I was met with square loos and square everything else, amazing! Came out to wash my hands and blow me the taps were automatic and the scary bit was you put your hands down a hole to dry them, I've seen too many horror movies to do this. I used a tissue which was swallowed up by a greedy bin that pulled it in. I left pronto, too much technology for me, perhaps I'll become a recluse instead.

It's Been a Funny Old Week

2010-09-18T15:46:00.015+01:00

This week hasn't been a run of the mill usual one for us, it started with a party and is ending with a party and for anyone who knows us, they will know this has never happened to us before as we are not usually party goers. The first one was a very special occasion as it was Terry's 50th birthday celebration, Bri had written him a song and I had spent all last Winter and this Spring making him a quilt which I called "50 Quilted Leaves", there really are 50 I counted them after to make sure I hadn't missed one. I spent all the Summer worrying if he was going to like it. He did and it is now on the bed. The party was a great success and we really enjoyed ourselves. Sunday brought us another invitation from one of our neighbours who we cat sit for Elle C , Little Momma) this time for a 3 course Sunday lunch in October. Monday' we had a surprise from our friend Sarah who brought us damsons to make into jam which we've done. It is all dark shiny red waiting for scones or crusty bread. Tuesday our surprise was our little pear tree was ready for picking and although we feared that we wouldn't have many this year as it looked a poor crop, we still managed to pick a giant basket full, all sound which we share with our neighbours every year. Wednesday the postman started bringing our Autumn collection of books and movies. Thursday, a neighbour brought us round a box of chocolates to thank us for sharing our veggies from the plot with her, she especially loves the raspberries and a second box of chocolates on the evening from our cousin who had come to share information about our family tree. Friday, Bri won a cd in a competition from a magazine he subscribes to and today, being Saturday,we are about to get our glad rags on and go partying again to another cousin's 60th birthday bash. Blimey! time flies when you're having fun. Wonder what next week will bring?

Wild, Weird and Wonderful

2010-09-01T16:47:00.017+01:00

We revisited our favourite village of Elford again last Sunday. The weather was wild and stormy and just the right setting

for a Scarecrow Festival. It was a terrific way to spend an afternoon. Terry, Yvonne, Bri and I went round the village searching out the scarecrows one by one, they were wonderful. There was even a scarecrow wedding in the village church complete with guests. I sat next to one of them and then thought better of it in case someone might poke me to see if I'm real or one of them, as I said it was really wild and windy. The scarecrows outside the Crown pub having half a pint were my favourite. Terry liked the Wizard of Oz scene, Yvonne and Bri loved the one made with flowerpots. We had hot dogs along the route and went through two old fashioned kissing gates passing a French man on a bike complete with onions and E.T riding in the basket on the front of Elliot's bike on a roof, Dennis the Menace and Fag Ash Lil. They were all just great and so much effort made by the people of Elford yet again to give their community a sense of togetherness. The village certainly knows how to have a good time and the atmosphere at any of their events is just fun all the way. I have never spent such a weird afternoon but I hope to again soon!

The Good Life...

2010-08-16T14:10:00.014+01:00

..if you don't count Saturday standing out on the allotment in torrential rain picking raspberries for tea. We feel very Tom and Barbarish these past few weeks. We have been almost self sufficient in fruit and veg (we don't intend keeping any pigs). ..we have had peas, beans, beetroot, radish, lettuce, courgettes,cucumbers, tomatoes, red cabbage, gooseberries by the thousand, strawberries, blackcurrants and now, our Autumn bliss raspberries. So, it will be back to making jam in the next few days as our nephew has a partiality for raspberry jam. We are also going to be digging up our Red Desiree potatoes and the corn is coming along nicely, must be our scarecrow, Zak watching over them. Then later we shall have our very own plums, apples, swedes, parsnips, onions and leeks and perpetual spinach which we have just planted out. We have also risked a second crop of peas which are almost mature and Reg from further down the Hill says that they will more than likely mature before the first frosts and they will be o.k. As he has won firsts for so many of his beautiful veg, we believe him. Yes it is the good life if you don't count the pesky slugs.

Pond - ering

2010-08-11T17:51:00.005+01:00

After walking to our plot yesterday afternoon and seeing squashed dead frogs on the driveway, I decided to do my bit and have a good look round for something I can use for a little tiny wildlife pond on our plot. John of number one plot, said a little washing up bowl or the like would do plus a few plants to keep the water clean and clear which I could have from him and, as we all know, frogs too. I fancy the odd newt though or something like. I have seen the said newt at the back of our plot under our greenhouse when I moved an old damp brick, he may just need a home. I haven't found the perfect pond yet but I know Hall's Garden centre have a real good variety of tiny ones. I love the one in the picture don't know where to get it from yet. I have a new quest!

a nice little haul

2010-08-02T16:08:00.014+01:00

We had a lovely surprise when we started harvesting today we came home with a basket full of tomatoes, cucumber, beans ,red cabbage, a few raspberries that we hadn’t eaten on the way round and of course, yes you’ve guessed, courgettes. Alison on the front of our plot asked us to pick what was ready on her patch while she is away and so we had a second crop of beans, great they are a different variety to ours, thanks Alison. Julie was hidden in her fruit cage picking red gooseberries which we sampled and they were sweet and a lovely flavour and they didn’t make you run about sucking in your cheeks either! We also ran into JB, plot number one and his granddaughters and all had a chat about the show this Sunday which was nice. He was also trying to off load frogs today, he has a glut...so if anybody should need any you know where to go!! Well, now we are home and I need to do something with the red cabbage, which weighed in stripped down at 5lbs. I shall braise it with apples, onions and sultanas ready to go with those autumn casseroles, with the next one I shall probably do pickled red cabbage and there will be one for my friend Cara who loves them. Tonight I think we shall make a tomato, courgette, onion and basil sauce to go with pasta for tea and tomorrow we shall have beans with - well everything there seems to be more than I thought...

P.S Molly is also having courgettes for tea as I notice Felix has put some in their with their salmon packets

Eggstra special

2010-07-22T10:15:00.011+01:00

My ultimate fantasy in food is a perfectly cooked soft boiled egg. Simple as it is I just love them. It has taken me a very long time to do the egg justice, but after seeing the Julie and Julia movie I got out the Art of Mastering French Cooking by Julia Childs and first thing I learned was how to boil the most perfect egg. I thought after all my experience in the kitchen I should know this but did it her way just to see. It was perfection. We had bought some very large eggs from Amerton Farm,( near Salt) fresh as a daisy, we know this because we were looking at the hens that laid them across the courtyard. The timing is crucial apparently, no egg timers - just know the size of the egg and lower it into salted boiling water (the salt in the water was a tip my grandmother taught me, it stops them cracking) then time them. Six mins for very large, five and a half for standard and five for ordinary smallish ones. Then run them under cold water to set the whites. Well mine came out just like you see in the ads and the yolk was a wonderful deep golden yellow mmmmm' lovely stuff. I'm going to try some more of her ways of doing things. I was impressed and I may move on to the French stuff too. I won't be doing 365 recipes in one year though, like the girl in the movie, she must have been crazy. I'm not crazy?

Lost...Where?

2010-07-22T09:43:00.009+01:00

Now everyone that knows us will understand when I say we got lost yet again, but NOT when I say on the way to Nuneaton. A small trip we planned would take twenty minutes took us two hours. We enjoyed seeing the red tractor in the cornfield the first couple of times but then we panicked - yes - lost in the countryside. No signs, no one to ask, here we were again! We carried on as you do and eventually found a Post office cum village store. Hope restored. "Where are we?" the reply "Not sure all the roads around here are very long but if you keep on the one straight out of the village and don't give up you'll be somewhere". O.k! I half expected her to have a meat cleaver behind her back and direct us to the mincing machine but we made it out o.k. Down the very, very long road to somewhere and found we were going to the Astley Farm Book Barn just where we wanted to be. WOW! We're getting much better at this lost and found stuff. However, next day we did get lost inside Dobbies.

The Darling Buds of Summer

2010-07-10T13:59:00.014+01:00

My teeny weeny little garden has produced flowers with all its might this year. Each geranium has nine glorious heads on them, the yellow begonias are non stop, my bucopa has spread everywhere, my wild purple geraniums have bloomed like never before, the coniasta is covered with tiny buds waiting to burst open into tiny pink flowers, our viola have the prettiest faces ever. My window boxes are spilling over, the honeysuckle is filling the air with perfume and I have just added, for a bit of whimsy, a black eyed susan to match our yellow door and to creep up the wall as my seven foot square garden seems to be running out of space. It may be pocket sized, but I do love it so.

Goosegogs Galore!

2010-07-04T16:10:00.008+01:00

My arms are cut to ribbons today, but I don't care because I harvested 21 pound of gooseberries from my two tiny bushes yesterday and put them in my new found fruit collecting basket. It was well worth battling with the thorns. All of them are sound, big fat goosesgogs. My problem now is, what am I going to do with them all? We have shared with our neighbours half of them which still leaves 10 and a half pounds to make giant crumbles? enormous cobblers? invite everybody I know round for a gooseberry fool, plus strangers. or simply jam some, freeze some and cook some. What's a harvester/gatherer to do? What a lovely problem to have.

A Quacking Afternoon

2010-07-02T17:40:00.027+01:00

Since Sunday it has been all excitement over in Kenilworth. The duck brood behind the flower pot started hatching and within hours eight little ducklings had emerged ready to take their first dip. They waddled off much to Lesley and Angela's horror down to the brook and didn't come back. But, the next morning another duck arrived with nine ducklings headed straight to the other ducks nest and took it over. Since then she has stayed and we were invited over yesterday afternoon to see them. What a really, really wonderful sight to see them dipping in and out of all of John's pools and each one having a different personality. The brave one that run off, the one that hurled itself off the bank straight into the water, the shy one who waited until Mom went into the water and called it. It was a truly delightful summer afternoon in that garden watching their antics. Then, just before we left, Mom brought the whole brood up to the top of the garden to see what we were doing. Nobody over in Kenilworth has had any sleep this week though they have all been on duck watch.

Speechless - well almost!

2010-06-28T11:30:00.012+01:00

If you go down to the lottie today be sure of a big surprise just like we had .... with a little help from our friends down at the lottie we are now so proud to be joining such good company as Haydn, Julie, Fran, Eileen, Chris and Reg and to say we have won shared first place for Best Half Plot. We haven't done it alone. We have had some of Julie and Chris's beans, Reg gave us some fine baby red cabbage seedlings, Tony and Alan always make the path between us look better, Mike and Jason gave us advice when we were getting started with our tomatoes, Lionel helped by telling us when to put out our peas when we were nervous because of the weather, my brother Terry helped us lay a path which was given to us by our friends Pam and Paul and our friend Sarah gave us some cucumber plants. Barry's advice will be sadly missed by us. We have never had a garden, so have never grown food before coming to the Hill. Boy! Are we glad that we came here, the kindness, help and cheerfulness is never ending. It certainly makes you try all the harder each year when all those around you are working away. Although we are ecstatic about being "best" we won't run around the plot with our tee shirts over our heads - promise!

Lucky Finds

2010-06-26T12:17:00.012+01:00

This week I found myself at a counter buying a pair of 1920's style cushions "Soleil" and "Hotel De La Plage", which is really unusual for me as I always shop to a list but I fell in love with these two cushions and greed took over! I needed them, I wanted them, I had to have them for my bench. They were a find in the Cancer Research shop so I didn't really feel guilty. I was only just passing on my way to the St Giles book shop where I found a book for my cousins, who have been lucky again this year to find the return of members of the family of ducks they raised last year. Alas, they aren't any brighter though for she laid her first eggs in the flower border - they went! Now, a second clutch very close to the house behind Lesley's flower pots. Maybe she'll be luckier there. The book I found for them was Jemima Puddleduck who was also daft as a brush. Another find down the lottie was what seems like a ton of strawberries all sound, large,red, ripe, plump and juicy. Now that is a find!!
P.S. I do love my cushions, they make me feel happy and as if I am on holiday.
P.P.S As I was sitting on the bench with my new cushions I overheard a father saying " It's really hot today" and his little boy answered, "not as hot as the Equator" and then proceeded to tell his dad why, in minute detail. When I looked up the child was all of six - amazing what they find out these days.

It's Been A Funny Old Week.. First Up..

2010-06-12T14:41:00.042+01:00

The Great Escape...

We have had a real mixture of stuff going on this week. It started quiet and usual enough with just looking after Ziggy, Henry and Ferret for two of our neighbours, but we had the added fortune of also looking after two expensive African tortoise - they only eat dark green leaves, which had all gone, zero, zilch in the fridge. Fortunately with the weekend rain we had plenty of spinach down at the plot – o.k, so I overplanted – see I knew it would come in handy I told Bri. When we got back, Bri told me they had gone AWOL. Yes, two small tortoises in a glass tank had gone missing. We spent an hour looking for them.They don't come when you call 'em. One we found almost straight away heading towards the stairs the other took almost an hour to find and after we had searched under the floorboards which were up, we eventually found him wedged behind the tank up against the skirting board on his side. Still alive but very hungry .We were amazed at how they had escaped, but Tom, (Henry Ferret’s and tortoises Dad) has the heating lamp in the way so that the door doesn’t close by two inches. So, the bigger one, must have made the opening bigger and planned the Great Escape. Well, all’s well that ends well they say but we are going to keep an even closer eye on those two!

It’s Magic!...

Sunday brought us a wonderful visit from our Great Niece, just two years old, little Issie , everything in her eyes at the moment is magic. She found an old stick and a thimble put them together and made a magic wand. She went upstairs and found a little book that when opened plays music, “Magic!” she cried in delight. A ball which lights up and changes colours. “Wow!” more magic. A pop- up book of the Three Bears, Ooooh, magic! It really makes you look at things with new eyes, the way Issie is discovering things, for the first time. Knowing she was coming again later in the week, we scoured the shops for a pair of fairy wings and a real magic wand which she loves, but she still hasn’t forgotten the stick and thimble and she hasn’t let go of the new found torch either.

Not so Magic!...

Was the next item this week. We all returned from lunch and our visit to the swings later in the week and our niece, Jay, exclaimed, ‘should there be a puddle on the floor there?’Our cupboard seemed to have sprung a leak. Great stuff, however, not to panic until we opened the cupboard and it sounded as if the wind was blowing. It turned out to be fine spraying water. The copper pipe to the water main had a very small hole in it. We are so blessed to know Steve, our plumber of thirty something years who was with us within in an hour and had fixed it by the time Issie had painted a page in her new magic colouring book, the just add water kind, We had plenty of that!!

Have Another Piece of Cake, Vicar....

...or in my case Terry. If I know anything about my brother and Bri, it is they just love cake and this week I seem to have baked up a storm. I have started on last Christmas’s stash of books and I can’t put down Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket . it is chapter after chapter about children’s feasts in literature and at the end of each chapter there is a recipe. It is a nostalgic dream. So far I have made and had fully sampled, almond macaroons, coconut buns with coconut butter icing and a real solid fruit cake which have all been approved. I am only a third of the way through and each chapter seems to send me back into the kitchen. If there is one sure thing about this book it can seriously damage a diet.

Salad Days...

On a lighter note my dear friend Sarah on Monday brought me plants with dear little cucumbers and even dearer little gherkins on them and a black chilli too which are good for my diet so we all rushed down the plot and popped them in the poly tunnel for safe growing. Mike Hubball gave me lots of information and tips on growing tomatoes when we met him for which we are very grateful. If they grow half as big as he says they will, we should be eating our own grown tomatoes this year for the first time with our lettuce, radish, cucumbers and beetroot. Before the rains came we planted our leeks wondering if they were going to get enough water. Yes they did!

Dick Barton, Special Agent...

Friday night at the Aldridge Youth Theatre, the Circle Players gave us a slice of nostalgia with their performance of Dick Barton Special Agent. Based on the old radio serial (before television) this was a comedy spoof which involved the audience flag waving, booing the villain and cheering the hero. The cast and the audience did a grand job and we all went home happy, including Sarah, Plum and me

Saturday at Last...

This means we got to go to the lottie again and catch up with this weeks goings on. Alan ran in the Fun Run, Tony got some good deals when out shopping, Julie was bizzzzy photographing varieties of bees, we all did some weeding after the rains and had a moan about them, Mike helped me yet again with my tomatoes in the polytunnel which have most definitely run amok, typical, last year I couldn't even get them started. But I have a plan... At least we were able to bring back about a thousand radish, a big Lollo Rosso and Cos Lettuce, some strawberries and rhubarb and another bag of spinach for those tearaway tortoise. I am making a 'mmmm rhubarb crumble this afternoon and a rhubarb and ginger jelly... will this toil ever stop I hope not It's magic!...

Mellow Yellow

2010-05-27T16:18:00.005+01:00

Today, whilst we were out for a jolly, we came across the cutest little bird house that we couldn't resist buying even though it was on the plain side. I saw the potential, brought it home and painted yellow flowers on it. Bri saw the perfect bee for '21Bee' which we also bought which meant we needed a new sign for the plot. So I painted yellow flowers on one of those as well. So, between us, we got something for the top and the bottom. Couldn't leave out the middle, so we found a little bee for the bee and herb garden sign. We passed on the gnomes even though there wasn't a shortage of them. We got carried away with all the yellow and bought a yellow butterfly for the shed and a sunflower door stop and some yellow mimulus as well for our other hanging basket. With all this yellow we will probably need sunglasses!

Another Fine Mess?

2010-05-23T16:01:00.012+01:00

I have decided I should never sit for even a few minutes doing nothing down the plot because I will always come up with yet another strange idea. Yesterday's was 'let's make a leafy canopy over the patio bit to give us shade on blisteringly hot days', I know we only get one or two but you can't risk it! I also have a sudden passion for brown rustic string since the bunting caper. So I got Bri to heave me up on the bench so I could tie string into the opposite bushes to our posts above the bench and then I can train the Mile a Minute vine across to the other side and Voila! a leafy roof, dappled sunlight, pretty.. yeah! Well we shall see what we shall see. The Mile a Minute has already grown a foot since we left yesterday afternoon so I reckon my the end of this week maybe.... In reality I shall probably need a machete as I have read horror stories on wikipedia about this vine overnight such as it starting in York County, Pennsylvania crosssing the state line and going on for another 300 miles. Whoops! Bri says " that sounds like another fine mess you've got me into".

A-Bunting We Will Go

2010-05-20T11:58:00.006+01:00

Yesterday, after planting some more peas, watering everything in sight, weeding and generally keeping control of the plot, we thought we would have a bit of fun. I made some bunting for the shed last weekend with some material I had had from the quilt fair that has tea pots and kettles printed on it. We thought it would be a nice touch of nostalgia to go with the 1940s postcards, cherry cake sign and Webb's lettuce signs on the shed door. It now feels like going back in time with growing our own and the atmosphere set for afternoon tea and scones accompanied by the birds singing and the bees buzzing all around us. Pure bliss... Ooo I have just found a really old fashioned recipe for cherry cake and lemonade. Where's the sun we're ready.

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree...

2010-05-11T15:54:00.008+01:00

... with anyone else but me, hum, hum...Our godson, Simon, sent us two cut off tree trunks yesterday because he'd remembered from our last visit, that I wanted one ass-sized to sit on which fitted perfectly and he had also carved mine and Bri's initials on it which was really, really thoughtful and another one to raise our bird bath off the floor. It now looks a treat. He had been clearing broken trees from his Mom and Dad's orchard and he knew this was just what I needed for our lottie. We can now sit, well just about, under our very young apple trees and sing! Well the simple pleasures in life are always the best.

Bread and Brass Monkeys

2010-05-02T13:41:00.013+01:00

With the weather taking a turn for the worse, and it feeling like winter on the plot, we hurriedly potted on lettuce, sowed a few more beans as nothing has turned up yet, had a quick chat with Wendy and Carl the newcomers opposite the gate, whose plot is looking delightful, and said thank you to Barry for offering some white broccoli spears for me to steam, which we will pick tomorrow. We hurried home out of the cold and wind to try and persuade Molly to venture out. Nothing doing there, she's no fool. She has a cosy position on the back of the settee where she can look out without shivering. Talk about a fair weather cat! So what do we do with the rest of the day before going to Terry and Yvonne's for lunch? I know, we'll make bread, something I've wanted to do for a long time and now I have read about biga, I think I know how to get it less like a brick. My last effort could have been used as a murder weapon and the evidence eaten! So, I am making an Italian/ French country loaf. If all goes well, I shall be putting a photo of my loaf at the end of this. If not, we shall be using it as a door stop. Well, we are back from lunch and my bread must have been a success because I took it with me and my little great-niece (2), who wouldn't eat her dinner, had a slice and then asked for another and she didn't have to butter me up.

Down Memory Lane a bit...

2010-04-29T15:33:00.023+01:00

I have had memories pouring back to me today. It all started down the plot when I was covering our new brassica cage with fleece ready for the next few days of horrible weather. It looked just like an old Nissan Hut and then with the posters on the shed door 'Dig for Victory' and 'Land Girls I kept thinking of all the good things everyone used to do, simple things, like Alys on her Edible Garden programme last night. She made fruit leathers and also did flower pounding. These have definitely caught my imagination so I brought home some violets and pretty leaves and the hammer. It really works I love the leaves especially. I am about to collect all my favourite poems and fairy stories and I want to decorate the pages with the flowers that belong to the poems. This new found craft will work very well and a really summery thing to do. The Fairy story is one I was told over and over when I was teeny tiny and I treasured it in my memory as a special time with my Dad. He would tell me the story of the Lady in the Vinegar Bottle ( about a fairy with attitude) and the rhyme about the little girl who wouldn't wash her face, every night. As I grew up and mentioned either of these to others they would tell me they had never heard of them. I couldn't find them in books, were they real, had my Dad made them up? This became an obsession with me - until today that is - they were real I didn't imagine them, Dad knew them. Ian, my postie brought the proof. The Lady in the Vinegar bottle by Margaret Read MacDonald was written in 1940 as a variation on one of Grimm's Fairy Tales. I found Miss Nan Knockabout on the net. It was there all the time I just hadn't searched for it right. Both of these will take pride of place in my collection and I just need to find a fairy to press and all will be well. Where do I find one of those I wonder?

Mange Tout, Rodney, Mange Tout....

2010-04-22T17:08:00.013+01:00

....as Del Boy would say. Down on the plot today there was a hive of activity. When we asked Lionel if our peas should be going out yet he said he'd come and have a look. He did and exclaimed Good Lord, yes they definitely need to go out'. I guess it was because they were about to cling onto the next shelf of the greenhouse. So, as we already had our pea netting up and ready, out they went, under fleece of course. Our tomatoes needed potting on so we have done those. Our Lollo Rosso and Cos lettuces were ready to plant out under cloches, half a row of each. Sweet peas went out too to climb over the new trellis we have put up for the Tayberry. Phew! We then went on to re sow a tray of French climbing beans as there was nothing in the tray. It makes me wonder if I really had sown any. We also sowed cucumbers and courgettes but we still have the parsnips and swedes to do. The corn is coming on though, it's growing in front of our eyes. Ooohh, we do hope that this year will be better than last even if we do have to water ourselves instead of waiting for a shower. It was a good feeling to get really started again and to see our little seedlings or in the case of the peas, bigger ones, doing good.

Colour Me... er... Brown?

2010-04-21T15:26:00.008+01:00

Our days never seem to go the way we expect for one reason or another, today being no exception... We woke up to brown water running into the sink! We then realised we must have made tea with it, eeeww!!! Never mind we love our cuppa and the water had been boiled... Bri rang the water board after I had alerted our neighbours not to do the same as us. Jean next door, however, had spotted the sludgy colour as she showered at this point Bri was shouting don't go in the shower until the water runs clear, instructions from the Water board. They had also informed him that a water main in Lichfield was to blame it had been severed and it would be noon before it woild be repaired. Great, our bottled water is in the shed down the Lottie, no more tea then, no coffee made with milk either because our instant was non existent. What to do? Go out, yeah!! So we got ourselves off to Barton Marina (so we like water even if we can't drink it) We had never been before but promised ourselves a look see. Today was as good as any. It turned out to be a great trip out. The sun was shining, the sky a wonderful deep blue and the seagulls calling, perfect. It was a lovely place to visit with its little shops, bought a Stilton and pork pie, had a nice lunch and a pot of tea at the Waterfront Pub and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Yes, days may start out a bummer, but they don't have to stay that way. When we returned the water was running clear again and peace and harmony restored and yes you guessed a nice cup of tea...

Oh, the buzzin' of the bees

2010-04-17T14:48:00.019+01:00

Having promised myself last year to start a proper aromatic herb garden, I have spent the last three weeks trailing poor Bri from garden centre to garden centre looking for Sweet Rocket, Woodruff and Bergamot which I finally found. To my delight, I have also picked up some Ginger Mint and a wonderfully pineapple scented Chamomile. These now complete my collection of perfumed flowering herbs which will bring in the bees to the strawberries, apples, plums and raspberries. I am expecting a good crop this year if the bees do their work so I have treated them to the cutest little bee house. The basement of the bee house can also be rented out to ladybirds who, I hope, in return for bed and breakfast will take care of the greenfly. I think I've turned green! But how am I going to deal with those slugs and snails? A glass of beer I think, not for them, for me.

My Kind of Package Holiday...

2010-04-02T15:20:00.008+01:00

...comes with our postie Ian who brings me all sorts of holidays, the latest one being on safari to Botswana with Madam Precious Ramotswe. When I open Alexander McCall Smith's books I just go there off in the baking sun drinking Red Bush Tea and eating fruit cake on a scorched porch sorting out the latest mystery. Sometimes I go off to a tropical island looking for treasure in a little sea plane, but not so often as I go to Minnesota, baking cookies with Hannah Swensen as she solves the odd murder, or maybe to Pickaxe or Brrrr four hundred miles from everywhere with Quill and his two cat detectives, Koko and Yum Yum solving absolute mayhem. Texas with Biggi a grandmother deputy sheriff is another favourite hangout. I love armchair travelling, luggage is never lost and the plane always leaves on time. Most of all I love our postie coming down the path bringing a ticket to somewhere wonderful.

Last Leeks Standing

2010-04-02T15:04:00.013+01:00

So what if it's raining again, we slipped down the plot this morning to check on the greenhouse and, to our delight, every little seed that we have sown over the last two weeks has germinated. What a happy sight! On our way back up the path, we collected a few last remaining leeks to pop into our chicken pot pie tonight to go with our cheesy mash and peas followed by lemon surprise pud. I also took note that our winter spinach has suddenly stopped growing and I had planned to use some next week in our ricotta and cannelloni dish. Last week, when the weather had picked up, there were real signs of baby leaves sprouting and they seem to have disappeared with the cold. The onions we had planted three weeks ago look promising, they have all got little green sprouts and the carrots I think are making an appearance but it could be grass. They look the same to me when they first start off, we'll soon know.Oooh, rain, rain, go away, so we can all have some fun.

Meet the Ancestors

2010-03-28T09:53:00.025+01:00

When I was a child visiting Gran, I feared the stern man in the brown photograph on the sideboard who judged me while I played. How wrong can you be? This man, my grandfather, I have learned was generous, kind, a loving family man happy with or without money. A boy who had lied about his age and ran away to join the Royal Marines at 17 in 1915 and crosed the Atlantic 23 times, torpedoed , avoided capture by speaking Welsh he was thrown back into the sea and was in the water 2 days and 2 nights clinging to a piece of wood before being rescued. He came back to be a hero. A man who single handedly saved an ammunition train which was on fire and was commended with a plaque at Preston station, together with a reward of £90, some of which he spent on a bike for the family to share. I never got to meet my grandfather, he died at 38 years old leaving nine children, my father being the eldest at 14. But in a way, I did meet him, as my father grew up to be just like him. I can also add he must have had a really good sense of humour because every child in that family knew how to laugh. I wish I could have met him.

My great grandmother, Hannah Mann ( photographed with her eldest daughter, Rachel), on the other hand, must have been really tough. She had worked in Pasturefields asylum in Derbyshire as a very young girl before she went on to become a ladies maid in Hebden Bridge,Yorkshire where she met and married railway points man John Beech. They moved to Shropshire, where she became a mother to eight children. She was widowed when the youngest was eleven and ran a boarding house for railway men. I like to think of Granny Whitchurch, as she was called, as a regular Pride and Prejudice Mrs Bennett, who, according to the records I have found, seemed to marry her four daughters off to the unsuspecting boarders, one of them being my grandfather Cadwalladr from the sideboard above.

My maternal grandparents were also a kind and jolly bunch. They were in the hospitality game. My great grandfather was a meat carver in a restaurant, great granny came from a family of publicans. They knew how to party. I know this because my nan and grandad threw some whoppers. Everyone had to do a turn. My Mom played piano, accordion and tap danced, my uncle was a good magician until he forgot to swap the watches! My grandmother and great aunt did the Can-can much to my embarrassment and another aunt could always clear a room when she insisted on ending the party with' One Fine Day'.

My grandmother loved dressing up and very large hats. One day, she was walking down the road in a large fur coat and then very fashionable, mop hat and I remember my father saying ' Come and look, is that a bear or your nanny coming down the road?' My maternal and paternal families married into each other twice. I bet the weddings were fun. This is a snap of my Mom and Dad's bun fight!

One family tie which binds us is we all grew and still grow our own veg!

Something Old, Something New

2010-03-27T09:53:00.010Z

Bri and I think we need another new interest and after watching the Natural History Museum programme it struck us... yes... of course we need to go fossil hunting ( no jokes about have a glance at each other and you found one, please). Knowing that we don't do travelling, we need to keep it local to the West Midlands so we need to find a fossil digging site not too far away, how? where ? If anyone knows about this subject please let us know, preferably so we can go in good weather as we also don't do cold , wet and windy. Also preferably clean as we don't do muddy, oooh, also we don't do uphill so no rock climbing. Don't forget, we are not allowed sharp instruments, but if anyone can help us, please get in touch.

Do It Yourself Lunch

2010-03-26T12:35:00.018Z

I have been driven mad by food since our outing to The Butlers Arms. I need to have real food in my life, not arty stuff with no substance. So, still feeling cheated by our misadventure, today I am cooking us an obscene amount of fresh veg soup which is bubbling away and with it we shall have crusty bread and, to follow, a banana, apricot spiced loaf which I am watching rise in the oven at this moment. Now that to me is lunch.
I watch Masterchef and always feel women have to live up to this fancy stuff they produce but we don't, we just need our families to enjoy what is cooked with love. John Torode's new gimmick of cooking and having the contestants guess the ingredients, has done me the world of good as no one recognises the meat or lobster main ingredient with all the unnecessary marinades and over spicing So I think there is still hope for all of us home cooks who value and respect expensive ingredients a little more than the T.V chefs do. We will , however, try The Green Man at Middleton next week after our fellow plot holder Hazel and Terry and Yvonne have given it the thumbs up.

Happy Anniversary 'House'

2010-03-24T14:21:00.013Z

Today, we have lived in our house for forty years and we still love it. So today should have been a happy day, instead I have had the grumpies. I hate going to the hairdressers since mine sold her shop I find it stressful and haven't had a good cut since. So, to cheer me up, I suggested to Bri that we should 'do lunch' somewhere new for a change. Big Mistake!! We tried the Butlers Arms which we pass on our regular route to the garden centre. We point at it each time we pass and say, 'we should try it out'.
It was grim in there to say the least, being cold, dark and dreary, still we stayed, hopeful of at least there being something different on the menu. I ordered warm black pudding salad with apple and sauteed potatoes and a poached egg on top. When it came, it was a very small portion and covered in a vinaigrette dressing, so covered, that my tongue is still pickled andI am still hungry! Bri ordered a pea and tomato tortellini which was o.k but nothing out of the ordinary. Not exactly of Master chef class. No bread accompanied it until I asked the waiter. However, it was only lunch and at £5 per head not unreasonably priced.
We have decided to stick to our old haunts where we know for sure that we are going to get a good meal our favourite being Bromley Hayes Garden Centre which specialises in really good carvery lunches, steak and kidney pie, chicken and leek pie with great suet pastry, all home made. That's more like it, comfort food! But, coming home to our little house wth our happy little Molly made everything just fine.

The Day I Have Waited So Long For...

2010-03-14T17:04:00.009Z

...finally arrived today. I have dreamed of Molly becoming a quilters cat but, apart from the odd run across 'em while you are working, she has paid no mind. Today, while I was working on the final edges of my Bears and I quilt to finish it, she settled down on it and watched me stitch the whole of the edge. When I looked up into her little face, she was watching the needle and cotton going in and out and getting drowsier by the minute. She obviously doesn't find it as fascinating as me but it's a start. I have really missed Amy, my old cat, who never missed a stitch. Here's hoping Molly will like her new hobby as much as Amy in years to come.

Coming Along Great

2010-03-11T14:48:00.008Z

We have worked SO hard the last two weeks getting the plot into really good shape, making a nursery box, clearing paths, slabbing the bottom of the mini greenhouses, and actually sowing our tomatoes, leeks and flowers. Our last construction job will be to lay a path with the stuff our friend sent us from Harrogate. It is a flexible path and will suppress the weeds between us and Julie. Today, though, we got a bonus, it is Julie's birthday and she invited us over to her plot for cake. It was yummy, soooo yummy I can't wait for her to give me the recipe. Spring must be really just around the corner now, we are waiting impatiently... Happy Birthday Julie.

Great Expectations

2010-03-03T13:55:00.008Z

Today was another good day down the plot. Yesterday, we finished mucking up the beds which left us the raspberry canes to cut down along with the buddlea and the famous shed to clean out.
Well! The shed was like walkingionto "Miss Haverhsam's" with the whole of it covered in cobwebs, spiders (big ones) and moth cases, empty I'm glad to say. It took two solid hours to empty, sweep and clean it with Jeyes fluid but I have to say it is a "Pip" now and awaiting action.
Bri spent those two hours on the raspberry bed which is now looking good - just some wire to mend around the posts to keep them from escaping and running amok. We are now ready to produce this years bounty.
Meanwhile, at home "I Got Mail" I had been looking for a book on Amazon and Google which was the first book ever bought for me besides Annuals. I always got mine from the library. It was from my Auntie Violet and while I was doing our family tree I was reminded of it fondly. So, I searched and searched and found "Mistress of the Air" by Dorothy Carter. It was Christmas 1953 when Auntie Violet bought it for me. I wonder if I will still love it now?

Everything Changes...

2010-02-22T12:30:00.010Z

Molly's best friend in the whole world has moved away. She has looked out of the window at their meeting times, gone up the road to their meeting place everyday since he went, it is really sad to see! But nothing lasts forever everything changes it is the one thing you can count on. Toby and Molly have been friends since day one an odd combination to be sure with him so very large and white and her so small and black but they rough and tumbled round the pear tree without a hiss or growl everyday for the last two and a half years. How strange it is to watch cats make such attachments, you would think it not possible and only meant for us but I can assure anyone that they truly have big hearts and true loyalties to each other. I hope Molly will find another really good friend soon because despite the cold now, summer will arrive and there will be hours of play coming for her and she does love a good game of hide and seek with a buddy. We have a new gardener on the estate and her cat comes with her perhaps, 'Sophie' will fit the fit bill or perhaps she will rediscover her friendships with Will and Elle C when they come out of hibernation. Henry and Ferret visit us everyday still for a wee smackerel so meantime they will just have to do. In fact as I write this Henry is banging on the catflap - it must be lunchtime, Ferret comes for the afternoon matinee. I hate change...

A Breath of Fresh Air

2010-02-13T14:37:00.006Z

After two days of playing hunt the thimble with Molly, who had us worried to death in case she had swallowed it and watching her looking under almost every piece of furniture we own we were demented and ready for a breath of fresh air. Today seemed just right for a trip down the lottie. We have dug a bed and half over and spread it with a good layer of muck, ready. We chatted to Reg who has offered us some onions to plant. We gave him some of our very large parsnips and we brought the rest of the row home to make soup and roast. We caught up with Julie who has already got seedlings in her greenhouse, good stuff Julie! We came home, stiff and rosy cheeked but happy with our outing and ready for the next one. Molly I am glad to say has her beloved thimble back - it was upstairs under our bed, who'd have thought of looking there? Obviously not us... My good ol' brother bought her a new one yesterday which she has now abandoned for her old one, but it was so kind of him and we now have a spare just in case.

and what happened next...

2010-02-08T11:47:00.011Z

I love a good book, and finding myself a new author has always been an adventure to me. This time I reckon I have hit the jackpot. ‘Where the Heart Is’ by Billie Letts has had me not wanting to put it down, wanting to read faster, but most of all worrying about the characters until I can get back to them. Now that is what I call a good read. Perhaps it's because Billie Letts herself has had such a colourful life as a roller skating waitress, a dish washer, a dance instructor and now teaching creative writing. I hope to goodness the ending is a great one! I have now been reckless enough to send for another of hers, 'The Honk and Holler Opening Soon' from Amazon and the dvd of the one I am reading so I can compare book and movie. I haven’t been using the library as much as I used to but in future I shall use it as a testing ground when I find ‘a new to me writer’. Just give me a cuppa, a good book, a blanket and I’m a happy bunny, I always told Bri I was a cheap date!

January Made Me Shiver...

2010-02-01T13:31:00.009Z

....and today the weather man said that this January was officially the coldest for twenty years. When I woke up on Thursday morning, I found out why I was so cold on Wednesday and couldn't work when I went down the plot. I had succumbed to the dreaded lurgie, eyes running, sneezing, aching and all that went with it. Now I could either waste my time and wallow while I had to stay in to keep my germs to myself, or, use the energy I had got to plan this years crops, get on with my quilt big time, read a new author I had got from the library, cook comfort food, so I chose all of the latter and ended up having a very productive week. When I am fully recovered, I am now full of enthusiasm from my weeks planning to get down to our dear plot, give it a good digging over and start fresh. First up will be checking on all our seeds left from last year so that we don't waste any of them. Second will be to check our compost bin, after two years we should have a good haul. Oooh look at me, I'm ready to go, the flu must have done me good!

The Little Blue Bag

2010-02-01T13:04:00.012Z

With my lunch today, I had a packet of Walkers ready salted crisps. This reminded me of when I was growing up and there was no such thing as ready salted crisps. Oh no, there weren't scores of different flavours either, the choice was plain or cheese and onion. The other thing about them was that they were do it yourself in the salt department. By that I mean that each packet had in it a little twist of blue waxed paper which contained the salt which you then had to sprinkle on and then give the bag a good shake to distribute the salt evenly over all of them. This was even more fun if you were sitting in the pictures and all the kids were shaking their bags so you could hardly hear what was going on on the screen. You may think that this was a lot of trouble to go to but you would be wrong. Firstly, there was no guarantee that there would be a little blue bag in the packet, peculiarly, whenever my Dad had a packet, he never had a blue bag in it and would go off ranting about it and secondly, sometimes there were two or even more blue bags as the machinery at the crisp factory had obviously not done its job properly. Some years ago, Smiths tried to reintroduce the little blue bag but it didn't catch on which is a pity because it added an element of excitement to opening a packet not knowing if the little blue bag would or would'nt be in there.

Non but the Brave

2010-01-27T14:48:00.010Z

We left home full of enthusiasm thinking it was a bit chilly but never mind, we'll soon warm up when we get started, dig up a few parsnips to roast for supper, muck up a bit... well, we passed Julie and Chris on our way up to park the car and thought it can't be too bad out there, Julie and Chris are working away.
They are now our heroes. It was bl***y freezing out there on the Hill. We managed to dig up a giant parsnip and a couple more, and then we are ashamed to say, we quit. Bri had strained his back already and I had got so stiff I couldn't take my gloves off. We will try again when the temperature rises to oooh, say at least a good eight degrees. Until then its back to the quilting frame in front of the fire for me, and back to a warm study for Bri. Meanwhile Julie and Chris have all our admiration for carrying on the true spirit of allotmenteering.

Age Renew My ****!

2010-01-24T08:15:00.010Z

This week I had to buy some new make up so I bought the one that promised to make fine lines disappear and it actually said ‘makes you look five years younger’. Well, it made me look thirty odd years younger, it gave me teenage spots to go with the fine lines. When it comes to feeling younger in an instant, it has to be the call of the wild, the open air. Yesterday was the first day that it hasn’t been freezing, raining, snowing for more than twelve hours and it must have struck hope into the heart of every gardener. It almost felt like Spring. Bri and I couldn’t resist a quick trip down the plot to check the shed (which needs tidying) and we was thinking Oh No! It will be an horrendous task to bring the plot back to life. No! it was a wonderful surprise yo us to see that there hadn’t been mayhem and destruction from the weather. There are still carrots leeks and parsnips to be had and obviously no weeds because of the cold. There’s plenty of muck to spread, oh what joy...Max Factor can keep their makeup full of empty promises. Forage renewal and feeling and looking younger, it’s fresh air and the plot all the way for me, Bri looked good to me on the way home too while we made plans for next weeks visit if the weather holds.

The Incredible Journey

2010-01-17T19:19:00.027Z

When we first started our time travelling, we thought it would be fun to do, something to amuse us. How wrong can you be? This journey became obsessive and we really couldn't say why at the time except it was interesting, full of surprises, turned us into detectives, made us think outside the box and gave us a great deal of pleasure. The results have now made us realise how much the past creeps into the present. I, for one, have found out why my Dad always took me and my brother to Bacons End at the weekend to see the little piggies. We went every Sunday religiously without question because it was how we spent time together. I found out why I still have to look into every hedge that has a hole in it to find birds nests and can recognise their eggs and I can name most trees in Britain by their leaves. I know now why we walked down every lane looking for wild flowers, crab apples, oak apples, hedgehogs. water voles and harvest mice which we always seemed to find. I know why my brother and I are tree huggers it is because my whole family came from the country whether it be Shropshire, Etwall or Bedgelert, it was a natural way for them to spend their time. It is obviously built into our genes. We were also miners of either gold or slate and our nephew, the geologist, is still in the rocks, he looks for oil. The journey continues...
Brian, has found out why music is so important to his life. It has been in his genes since 1837, each generation has had something to do with entertainment and the theatre. He too can't pass a musical instrument without trying it out. He can't have a shower without singing, no matter how very early it is, believe me! Bri is also an urban cowboy through and through the only concession being the lotty, but not surprising when we found all of his roots in the centre of London or Paris. It is really sad coming to the end of all these discoveries, but we do know ourselves a little better for these forays into our pasts. For instance I know I would be really at home in Lark Rise, Bri on the other hand in Candleford.

The Shipping Forecast

2010-01-10T17:26:00.015Z

Way back in the 1950's when I was a lad and dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, we didn't have television. (You poor soul, I hear you cry). However, we didn't worry because we had the wireless to listen to. We used to huddle around it as if it was a fire and would keep us warm the closer we got to it. (As it was full of valves and wires, it probably did) Now, as peculiar as this may seem, we used to love to listen to the shipping forecast which was given out at the end of the nightly news bulletins. This weeks obsession with the weather has reminded us of this. It was the names of places that we had never heard of and had no idea where they were such as Finistere, Dogger Bank, Cromaties, Fair Isle ( I thought that was a type of pullover) German Bight etc which fascinated us. What makes this even more strange, is that we live in the middle of the country therefore the shipping forecast had no relevance to us whatsoever, just far away places with strange sounding names.

Are We Stir Crazy Or What?

2010-01-09T17:49:00.018Z

OK, what is everybody else up to this week who haven't had to struggle to work? We are sitting on our reupholstered settee watching snowy Christmas movies, eating Christmas chocolates and drinking lots of tea (sometimes with lebkuchen as well) We didn't even know what lebkuchen were exactly until Plum opened her new musical box, which was full of them. It plays Let It Snow! How prophetic is that? We haven't been entirely idle, however, we have now almost reached a point in time that we can't go any further back with our family trees unless we go on field trips to dig out parish records. We have got as far back as 1800 with each branch of our families. We are also finding little stories about many of them along the way. If only we could find photographs for all of them. We have spent this afternoon feeling guilty because we are not doing the jobs we should be doing down the plot but it must be like Siberia up on the Hill. We have watched the weather forecast and we have another five days holiday next week and so we suppose we will start on a jigsaw, maybe, play Boggle, maybe, quilt a little, play guitar a little, maybe, or just be as lazy as this week! Oh boy, do we love snow! But going out doesn't seem to be an option! This snowy weather is making us punchy, I think we may need rescuing... eventually.

Snow Cat

2010-01-05T13:55:00.007Z

As I took this picture of Molly this morning it was hard to believe that just a few minutes before, she was scared of the flakes falling from the sky with no reason she could fathom. She begged to go out to see for real so I put my coat on and went with her. Oh what fun I had with her as she skidded and chased snow flakes and snowballs in turn. I am now having a job to keep her in the warm and with the forecast of more to come I am just hoping it won't be so deep she will disappear as she is still so tiny but obviously fearless!! I love the snow too so the next few days promise lots of fun together. Bri can watch - not a snow purr-son.! OOhhh I just looked out of the window and it has started to snow again, where's Molly?....

Simplification...

2010-01-03T12:08:00.017Z

...is the name of the game. Over the last three years,Plum and I have tried all manner of things down on the lottie, a lot of which haven't quite worked out. For instance, we tried growing beans and sweet peas on a wigwam and found that they became too tangled together to be able to pick them. We have grown tomato plants in pots outdoors only to have them taken by the dreaded blight. We have tried growing brassicas under netting but, as soon as the plants reached the top, the butterflies laid eggs all over them. The' mini' pumkins we grew were, indeed, mini, however, the foliage certainly wasn't and ran amok all over the plot. The list seems to be endless, however, it is all part of the learning curve when you take on anything that you aren't familiar with.
This year, come Spring again, it's all going to be different! I have a plan. A simple plan in that we are going to grow less of everything. One of the problems with allottmenteering is that, you always plant more than you need 'just in case' and then when everything grows, you have a glut. We will have to hold our nerve this year, plant less and hope that it all germinates. Fingers crossed! Also there will be no elaborate constructions involving canes, netting, fleece, wood etc. All the veg will be put straight into the ground rather than pots etc.This makes for much lower maintenance as we have found that using the mini greenhouses and pots has meant that, whether or not we had the time to go to the plot,we had to to make sure that nothing dried out. The other thing is that we will start planting later in the year than we have been doing and only grow the veg that we know we like to eat rather than experimenting and then finding we don't like the taste of the results. There you have it then. What could be more straightforward than this? Watch this space and see how we get on this year, you never know, it might just work!!!

Happy New Year Everyone from Bri, Plum & Molly

2009-12-31T14:55:00.003Z

Close Encounters

2009-12-31T14:17:00.010Z

Molly came rushing into the kitchen this morning and when I looked up, a huge shadow crossed the kitchen window. I thought, now what? What now indeed, it was a flock of at least ten really huge birds circling our little pear tree. I thought it can't be swans and it wasn't. Looking up they were white but had black tipped wings. They had great big yellow hooked beaks and looked menacing. They circled for a good ten minutes and it seemed as if Molly and I were suspended in a snowglobe. It was a weird experience and I was glad Molly had the good sense to be worried and come in. They were hungry for sure. After sorting through my bird books I discovered they were herring gulls, a bit far from home I think. I really hope so, I wouldn't want them at my bird table every day if ever.

Well Preserved

2009-12-31T13:52:00.008Z

On the bleakest morning of winter so far we had a summer treat from our allotment. Yesterday, for breakfast, I opened a jar of our strawberry jam for our croissants. When I closed my eyes I could smell and taste summer. I knew then that I will never quit wanting to grow fruit and veg. We still have leeks to make into soup and to go in chicken pot pie, swedes to go in our mash with sausages, parsnips to coat with maple syrup and roast, but best of all a cupboard filled with rhubarb and ginger jam for our steamed puds, raspberry jam to go on anything, strawberry for croissants and scones and beetroot chutney for well, I'm not quite sure yet. However, it is wonderful to know it's there and we grew it. I know on cold horrible weather days the time for planting seems so far off, but the speed last year went I'm sure it will be right round the corner. Bri's plan for next year will be entirely new to us and will make it all fresh again. I can't wait...

Well then...

2009-12-26T14:55:00.010Z

...another Christmas Day over and another collection of happy memories. For us a treasured one will certainly be seeing our great-niece who is almost two, dressed up in her fairy costume complete with golden wings and twirling around so everyone could see them. Memories don't get better than that, except that we were all together with our family and Terry and Yvonne had done the cooking (It was wonderful). We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas Day as much as us. Having done the turkey route and all the trimmings, I have to say we are looking forward to the rum soaked Christmas cake we have been feeding since the end of October. Yes, it should go nice with our coffee each morning. Talking about coffees, our biggest Christmas disappointment this year was, after having walked on the ice to get to Costa's or Starbucks for an Egg Nog Latte and finding they were sold out. Not to be miseries, and to get into the festive mood, we tried the Gingerbread one and we honestly couldn't tell the difference between that and a regular old plain one. What a let down! We won't fall for that one again.

A Sad Demise or Two

2009-12-14T11:44:00.008Z

Now call us crazy, most people do, but to get upset about losing your thirty year old beloved vacuum is probably on the list of insane. But, I have to say our loyal old hoover junior has been just wonderful over the years and just the right size for me at four foot eleven oh all right, four foot ten. To replace it has been a nightmare; everything is just so heavy and tall. Eventually, I have had to compromise and say O.K. to a wind blowing panasonic it will do as, long as I remember to dust afterwards. It was making it's debut this morning, as Monday's is mucking out day for me and I was thinking maybe this isn't so bad, when tragedy struck.... Ralph got sucked up!!! Who is Ralph? Ralph is Molly's peanut, she picked him out of a whole bowlful of peanuts the day she arrived. She just popped out of the carrying basket Lynn (Team Rescue) had brought her in, she gave us all a kiss and headed straight for the peanut bowl and has been in love with Ralph ever since. How do I tell her? Perhaps get another one quick just like my vacuum - BUT replacements are never the same.

Hickory Dickory Dock...

2009-12-02T13:24:00.007Z

the cat ran up the clock.... Last night we were safely tucked up in bed with our books and cuppas when I thought I heard the keys on the hall table jingle. Or being this time of the year, I thought I'd watched one Christmas movie too many already and was hearing sleigh bells. No, when I came down this morning I found our new heart shaped pottery clock's delicate fingers mangled. Mistaken for one of those there bugs from Sunday I suppose. Now who do you think could have done it ? Yes you've guessed our ' dear Molly'. This week we reckon we have had at least a hundred pounds worth of damage from all our furry friends. I ask you are they worth it? To us they are... But let's hope this is the end of the carnage, before we have to file for bankruptcy. Now where's the glue and pliers.

Gold Fever

2009-11-29T17:05:00.004Z

Yesterday, our latest wedding certificate (1897) arrived for my great grandparents. I found out that my great, great grandfather's occupation was a gold miner. I am now wondering was he one of the 49ers? Was it in Australia?, Klondike? California? or Wales?, was he a claim staker or claim jumper? All to be revealed now I have some more dates and names to work with. I gather he never found any us not being rich like. This is more like it, better than an insurance salesman!

Civilization restored..well almost

2009-11-29T16:43:00.015Z

At last we have furniture back! I really thought we would never see it again as the days have crept past and I couldn't get him on the phone. But it has returned, brand new and a bit stiff; needs breaking in now, just like new slippers. With everything back in its place - we hate change - all is comfy cosy and we thought how peaceful and relaxing ... until there's a hell of a clatter in the kitchen and two huge cats fighting, neither of them ours. My favourite Royal Worcester mug (collectors item) smashed to smithereens by Ferret and Toby who had finally met up after weeks of us making them miss each other. They must have crept in through the cat flap one at a time whilst Molly was out and while we were admiring our new furniture. I am now looking on the Net for a replacement of my Art Deco Sails in the Sunset Royal Worcester mug, not the later conical shaped ones, if there is one left anywhere. I would settle for Castles in the Air instead if I could find one of those. Meanwhile, I said to Molly 'you can come upstairs with me to look for a mug'. She immediately started looking up the wall for bugs not mugs and made me laugh when I felt really fed up. It was a tonic.

Karma

2009-11-23T12:21:00.006Z

I think I am beginning to believe in Karma. This morning, I went out to do a good turn and by sheer 'karma' found my mini photo Christmas albums. Oh what joy. I am now set up to do my parcel packing and table decorating. Hope it comes out as I am expecting or all that shoe leather and time will have been wasted. But never the good deeds.

I Got 'em!

2009-11-22T13:31:00.006Z

They say seek and ye shall find. We went to our favourite city of Lichfield this morning, and found the elusive candy canes almost straight away in Hawkins Bazaar, who'd have thought it? Then, across the road in The Works, boxes of 'em at 99p a box so I am well stocked, and well pleased. You'd think there was a war on... now for the miniature photo albums....

Where, Oh Where?

2009-11-21T15:19:00.020Z

Having no furniture is one thing, we are adapting. But not being able to buy a few traditional Christmas items is quite another. Thinking we had better try and do something towards Christmas whilst we can't sit down anywhere, we have worn ourselves to a frazzle over the silliest things. For instance, I took it in my head that I would like candy canes for Christmas tree decoration and for putting on our parcels as the Americans do. Every year since I can remember, BHS have sold 12 in a box for £1.99 or thereabouts. This year, there is not one in sight in BHS, M&S, House of Fraser, garden centres, supermarkets, Cosco or sweetie shops, not one bl...dy Christmas candy cane. Where are they? So, I thought, I'll try another idea, I will look for very small Christmas photo albums. Not a lot to ask for, WHSmith, the biggest stationers we know, sent me to Poundland, they also sent me there for bookmarks which no one has either. This is a Catch 22 situation. The shops tell you they don't stock it because no one buys it, and no one buys it because they dont stock it. Is it me, or them? Bring back Woollies, all is forgiven! Help....

A Long Days Fortnight!

2009-11-21T14:38:00.011Z

How your life can change so easily. We have only had no furniture for two weeks, but, in this fortnight, our leisure time has changed dramatically. We have found that we have nowhere to sit together to blog, do our family tree, Christmas shop on line, e-mail friends, quilt, read, make music, watch a good old movie or entertain friends and family. All these things we have obviously taken for granted and boy, do we miss them when they are taken away. Our furniture is being reupholstered. They took it all in one go and have now decided that it will take longer than they told us before we will get it back. A lesson to be learned here is to always appreciate the things you do day by day and never take anything for granted whether it be small or large as you do not realise how much they make up your lives until they are gone. You may wonder where we are writing this but we have found an old deck chair as Molly has taken the best seat in the house loaned to us by Terry and Yvonne as they took pity on us. The other lesson we have learnt is to never take anyone's word, but to always get it in writing. The days when a gentlemen's word was his bond have truly passed. We can now take pity on Terry and Yvonne who have ripped up their kitchen and hall floors awaiting their new one and have just been told that the man is starting the job at least half a day late. Good luck with that then!

Enchanted Places

2009-10-26T12:28:00.016Z

It's no secret that my brother and I are tree huggers. When autumn arrives, each of us goes around picking up the reddest, goldest leaves we can find, I press them in books or my flower press. I don't know what Terry does with his. We try to find tree places that have the best displays to ooooh and ahhh over. This weekend, Bri and I went to Shugborough, nothing grand there, but today on our own doorstep, in Sutton Park I found an enchanted spot in the woods by Henry VIII's old hunting Lodge at Bracebridge. I also found the reddest holly berries by the side of Blackroot Pool. Our Park has so many hidden gems in autumn and, in winter, jewels of a different kind, frosty spider's webs, watching the ducks skate on the frozen ponds in fact, lots to look forward to.

'and there would, she knew, be crumpets'...

2009-10-25T08:53:00.007Z

this is a quote from Jan Struther's Mrs Miniver, it is about her return home after the summer has finished and winter is arriving. I love this book, it is almost poetry in her wonderful descriptions of daily life in the late 1930's. On turn - the - clocks - back -Sunday I appreciate it even more and always read the bit about tea. It is cosy comfort on a page.
Last week was my birthday and I had a quilting frame, which I absolutely love, It will be a joy this winter seeing my almost finished Bear Paw quilt in the frame waiting for me when I come home to crumpets for tea after toiling down the plot , muck spreading or cleaning out the shed, or harvesting the last squash, leek, swede, parsnip or collecting my well dried out onions. Ooooh! how I love long evenings with things to do.

Plum's Little Hooligans

2009-10-20T16:20:00.011+01:00

Hooligans come in all shapes and sizes and mine are no different. We had Molly two years last week so I decided to take a photo for posterity, a nice one I thought, one that shows her true nature I thought. Well did I get a surprise when I looked more closely. There she was sticking her tongue out at me as she leaned over the edge of next door's trellis. Was this a coincidence or was it the real Molly? I will never know. The other little hooligans that came in from the cold was twelve little one meal sized pumpkins from our plot. I guess they are called hooligans because, although the seed packet says they are mini pumpkins the vine itself sprawls all over the place and I couldn't control it... Now to cook these little gems you just take the top off, scoop out the seeds, pop 'em in the microwave for four mins and then fill the centre with butter, cheese and bacon bits, just like a jacket potato, but apparently they taste nutty. I will let you know.

Rock On!!

2009-10-13T14:35:00.004+01:00

Yesterday, when we went to the plot to do some tidying up and check on our mini pumpkins and squash, I had a nice surprise as Julie (second best in Bham) had kindly brought me some pink rock back from her trip to Barmouth. She has even offered to do this on a regular basis from the famous Barmouth Rock shop (pictured) am I looking forward to that ..thanks Julie, rock on!!!

Bri's New Adventure

2009-10-12T12:25:00.011+01:00

Bri, aka Ramblin' Robbo, has decided that listening to, reading about and playing blues is not enough so he is on a quest to change everyone's mind about blues music being sad and miserable. I have to say after living with it since I was eleven and hating it, even I have become a convert up to a point. I really like country blues. I hope you will give his new site a go, it may be just up your street and you didn't know!!! There is a link to his new blog in our blog list.

Who Stole September?

2009-10-10T13:21:00.011+01:00

I can't believe, as I am sitting here with the smell of Christmas wafting through the warm house, that we are already into October. It was so cold yesterday, that we decided to put the central heating on early and start our Christmas cake which is cooking as I write, so it will be well fed by December, which, at this rate, won't be long.
I was still waiting for an Indian Summer when all the signs say it is well and truly Autumn, such as the rust coloured carpet of leaves covering the pavements, the squirrels collecting and burying conkers everywhere followed by the magpies who are busily digging them up again. Our resident hedgehog is getting fatter by the day ready for his long nap and the low flying geese who have made their long journey, plus our dear Molly, who we have had two years this week, asking for the fire to be switched on. I want to know why the months are suddenly passing a lot faster - are there still thirty days in September?
Where's my camera, I don't want to miss October!

Reminder Days

2009-10-02T17:13:00.020+01:00

There are certain days that just shout out to remind you of a certain time or place and certain things that go with those days. For me, it is a day like today; overcast, still and quiet. It shouts TOFFEE APPLES. When I came out of school on an October or November afternoon, there used to be an old man selling toffee apples at the gates and for an old three pence he would sell me a wonderful dark golden crack toffee apple. I saved my crisp money for this treat and it was always a grey day. These days are known to me and my family now as 'Toffee Apple Days'. I love 'em toffee apples and quiet, still, grey days such happy memories come to mind like soon to be bonfire night with woodsmoke filling the air...

Now there are other treats that provoke memories too, such as Butterkist. This always reminds me of snowy mornings walking with my Mom, snow up to my knees, to the nearest shop to buy me a bag of the lovely crispy sweet candy. We never walked to get any at any other time. I think it was an excuse to go out in the snow. I love snow and still buy Butterkist but I can't be trusted with a big bag...

Now Bri, on the other hand, can't be trusted with Pink Rock. He begs on his cell phone and pleads with anyone packing a case going away to any seaside town in England, preferably going Oop North as this is the hottest, to bring him back a stick - a big stick mind, not a tiddly one and it has to be pink. He doesn't seem to have memories to go with it he just loves the stuff. When he text Yvonne to say R O C K spells rock, he got a text back saying T E E T H spells teeth, our dentist can't believe his luck that he still has almost all of his teeth.

Hot doughnuts, lovingly called by us 'duffnuts' always remind us of quilt fairs as we never leave without having a hot doughnut drenched in sugar and cinnamon. This is a real treat for both of us...

I wonder how many people have these special days...

Tomorrow, according to the weather forecast is going to be a right 'Winnie the Pooh! ( a blustery day)

The Italian Job

2009-09-29T16:47:00.016+01:00

We got a surprise call on Friday night from Terry & Yvonne who said 'Get dressed up Italian style we are going to cook you an authentic Italian meal for your anniversary'. This sounded lovely. So the next evening, off we went all dressed up like a mafioso and his moll not knowing what to expect. We took our Italian phrase book with us from our Italian lessons and some cantuccini. All that was missing was a violin case.
We arrived to a 'bueno serra' and the dining room given over to red and white gingham cloth and little candle holders, Dino on the hi fi and the garden with twinkly lights - it was the perfect Italian atmosphere. The meal was out of Gino Decampo's book and started with a dip followed by a tagliatelle with a red wine beef ragu with little tiny peas. It was delicious. It was accompanied by cheesy focaccia and followed by a real raspberry polenta cake with a raspberry coulis. We had lots of fun and was a thoughtful anniversary present and very much appreciated, and cooked great.
This started our anniversary weekend with a bang and, Monday, we decided to go to Amerton Farm for a wander round and pick up some home made bread and a look at their crafts. Then we carried on down the road to the small village of Salt, which originates from the Saxon word 'Selte' which means salt pit or salt works where we had lunch at The Holly Bush. This pub is the second oldest licensed pub in England. Pubs first got their licenses in 1670 under the reign of Charles ll but this hostelry has been there since 1190 (it is mentioned in the Domesday Book) as it was a stage coach stopping place on the highway from London to Liverpool which is now the A51. They serve the biggest onion rings we have ever seen and a delicious home made cheese cake. It was a different and interesting weekend trip and we really enjoyed it.

There's a Moose Loose Aboot This Hoose!

2009-09-24T14:00:00.017+01:00

Or a series of unfortunate coincidences...Molly was incredibly quiet yesterday afternoon and sat on top of the radiator in the hall. We took no notice for about an hour and then began to worry. Mainly because Molly never sits anywhere for longer than ten minutes at a time and she is very rarely in of an afternoon. What was up? I'll tell you what was up - a mouse, a tiny mouse which eventually ran from under the radiator and up our curtains. Hell, what's a person to do? Scream? Run? Panic? yes, we did all of these things before forming a plan to rescue him from the Big Bad Pussy Cat. It was a real Tom and Jerry afternoon which ended up in a real Laurel and Hardy evening.
We managed to drape the curtain through the window and force the poor shell shocked mouse outside. We heard him plop onto the bushes and hoped he made a full recovery. Molly meanwhile was locked out and watched through the glass door with utter horror as he went free.

It didn't end there though and, unless you believe in coincidences, you are never going to get a grip on this...

We are cat sitting this week for Elle C (Little Mama), and we went to sit for an hour with her to calm ourselves down and watch Masterchef with a nice cuppa. Now ,as we closed our neighbours curtains, a mouse ran down them , a little tiny mouse!!!! Oh my, this was too much to take in we couldn't believe it - wouldn't believe it - how? - did we bring it with us? - had Molly brought one round to Elle C? - did we bring one round to our house from Elle C's earlier ? We will never know but, we did chase it around the house a lot, opened the back door for it to run out when it made it to the kitchen, but, in the end, totally disappeared somewhere and we spent the evening with our feet up. Elle C, meanwhile, took no part in any of this and only wanted a cuddle from two nervous wrecks. Oh, well, fiddle dee dee, tomorrow is another day. I suppose the mouse will have the last laugh!!!

Breakfast at Blackroot

2009-09-24T13:32:00.018+01:00

Who needs Breakfast at Tiffany's when, right on our doorstep, we have the Blackroot Bistro set in the heart of our park.

We woke up to the most beautiful Indian Summer's morning, and decided not to waste it but go and have a full English brekkie with scenery, so we did.

The views were beautiful, and so was breakfast.

We may do it again tomorrow.

Lost and Found

2009-09-15T11:35:00.022+01:00

Autumn Days full of mist and mellow fruitfulness or something, or ... well, I have found two brand new shiny conkers fresh from the big chestnut tree this morning and it has made me go all poetic. Two 'V's of geese just went over practising their flight and calling - I just love that sound, it is my very favourite. It says " time to quilt, time to enjoy the fire glow, time to make soups, and crunch leaves." All the things I love start coming with Autumn so bring on those conker contests, let's feed those birds, collect pine cones and I'm off to look for red toadstools with white spots.
P.S The damsons have arrived from Sarah's orchard, thousands of 'em... and the postie has just delivered our first Christmas movie this year ready to put away for chilly afternoons. What a great day!
The Saving of the Green - We Lost and We Won! Some might say what's in a name? We say lots, we called ourselves, Terry, Yvonne, Sarah, Bri and me The Village Idiots, and we were. Next quiz night we are going to be oh, I don't know, we'll think of something brilliant. It should be a night to have fun as well as save the village green from builders and it was fun. Even though we didn't win the quiz, we did have THREE WINS on the raffle. Champagne for Sarah, hair voucher for Yvonne (Bri didn't think he could use it) and chocs for Bri - Now that was embarrassing but not enough to stop them getting their photos in the local paper and us all promising next time to try harder and, as Yvonne wrote on our score paper - See Me!

Found...Bri's great granny has been found and here's a turn up, we think she comes from the Channel Islands. She is still under investigation but the evidence (the marriage certificate arrived today, her name was Lizzie Lefebvre) is pointing that way!
Also found was Bea and Bobby, the cat and kitten who went missing yesterday and the neighbours all came out to find them. Bea was in the sub-station (I remember Molly doing that), and Bobby, the kitten, had just plain wandered off into the nearest bushes. It took all day to find them and part of the night - they were lucky this time...

Garden Spells

2009-09-13T16:28:00.013+01:00

Thanks go this week to my little pear tree for delivering a second helping (around another 30 or 40 pounds) of delicious pears from the top branches. We couldn't reach the very top layer but, to our pure delight, the next morning, after a very cold night, they had dropped to the floor. A couple of weeks ago, the little tree seemed to be throwing pears at me to let me know it was ready for me to pick them, which I thought was really odd, as I have just been reading a book called 'Garden Spells' where a little apple tree kept throwing apples at people, and when they ate them, it showed them a future event that would change their lives. It was a good book as it was an unusual magical story which I really enjoyed. Fortunately the only thing my pears told me was to put them in two new recipes I have found, one being an Italian Country Pear Cake, the other, Pear Frangipan Tart. I have also found another new recipe to use up apples from the plot which is Apple Parkin. I still have the frangipan one to bake, but the others are hot out of the oven and looking and smelling good. But, the proof will be in the eating... Oooh, I just thought I bet the pear cake will go really well with a glass of pear cider which I have also just discovered.. pearfection!!

Roll Up! Get Yer Fresh Produce Here!!

2009-09-07T17:04:00.023+01:00

Summer Days, Drifting Away~~~

It is now the fag end of the growing season, however, we are still collecting a bounty of veg and fruit when we get the time to go down to the plot. Unfortunately, this year we haven't been able to spend as much time as we would have liked down there, due to the lousy weather we had, making said wedding cake, going to quilt fairs and, of course, work, but we have still managed to grow some good stuff. The courgettes, have, as usual, been prolific. (Note to self not to grow so many next year). We have had more beans (both French climbing and dwarf) than we could eat, loads of apples, pears (90 pounds so far and we have only cleared half the tree), raspberries, which are still coming thick and fast, swedes, another 12 pound courgette, really large onions, potatoes... the list seems endless!!
There have been some lows, however, not least of which is the tomatoes again succumbed to the dreaded blight - next year we have resolved not to grow them on the plot but to use space in the poly tunnel up by the Social Club.
The red cabbage and brocolli which started out so promisingly, ended up as pathetic weedy things which we had to pull up -my New years resolution is not to grow any thing that requires netting as it is ineffective as the butterflies and every other insect can get through it as the holes in the mesh are too big.

How to Catch A Molly ~~~
Take one tethered Ferret to get one Molly - in at night. Anyone with a cat will know they don't do curfew well. Molly has to be in before the moths fly or else we won't be able to get her in at all. It has become a real game trying to think of different ways to outsmart her at coming in time. Knowing how she feels about Ferret getting any fuss from us, we decided to use him as bait under the tree, like Big Cat hunting. It worked. Tonight, that is. Tomorrow, we will have to think of something else. Being black, we worry about her being out in the dark, even more so since we saw her sitting on the car park and a car drew up and pipped and she just sat there totally unperturbed. The lady kept pipping - no joy - Bri had to go and get her, how embarrassing was that? Very. Everyone now thinks she is deaf, not daft.

Wedding Cake Walk - Part lll

2009-09-07T16:39:00.020+01:00

Uncle Bri's Very BIG Adventure (and Plum's too)
We really crossed the border this weekend when we ventured Oop North to the wedding. To every one's amazement, including ours, we didn't get lost, and Bri got us there safe and sound. We had instructions from the AA (no, not Alcoholics Anonymous) and we followed them to the letter and ended up at a garden centre...
He got us back on track, and we made it to the beautiful country church down a long lane with time to spare. In fact, we arrived so much on time, on seeing the totally deserted church and grounds, we almost panicked and thought that we may have gone to the wrong one. We then spotted the beautiful flowers around the arched wooden gates and knew we were right. The ceremony was lovely and our little great-niece, who has just learned to talk, cheered and clapped all by herself when our nephew ( her uncle) said 'I Will'. It was a wonderful moment to remember. She was so good on her first venture into church. The Reception was full of fun and the day was a really happy one. The cake, however,succumbed to its fate and was cut into lots of pieces as I watched the knife go in. It tasted good though!
We decided, however, not to tempt fate by staying over and followed our cousin home... it was dark, and we can't be trusted!

Wedding Cake Walk Part ll

2009-09-01T11:43:00.021+01:00

Aunt Plum's Big Adventure (Bri's too, of course)
Well, there are just four days left to our nephew's Big Day, and the cake is done, in the box, and ready for collection to go to the florist. Phew!! I really did it, what a learning curve, but now I have calmed down a bit, and can almost sleep I can reflect on an adventure never to be forgotten and I think I'm glad I did it! The worse bit for me is yet to come. It will be when the Happy Couple pick up that knife and I shall have to stop from hurling myself onto the table to stop them from cutting it. What has got me through it, though, was Bri and my family's unwavering faith in me and my memories of my Dad always saying to me, " just do your very best", and my Mom always telling me, "you can do it". I guess they were all right, and so I thank them...
P.S What I really learned, was making a cake for tea is one thing - a Wedding Cake completely another!!

Wedding Cake Walk

2009-08-30T09:19:00.009+01:00

If I thought yesterday was tough, and it was, seven hours of smoothing and polishing all three tiers with marzipan and icing, covering the board and crimping (all new terms to me), today is dowel and assembly day. I am scared witless! If I make a mistake at this stage there is no going back and no time for corrections, (even if I knew how to) Wow! I just scared myself even more. The Girls at the cake shop where I bought the stuff said it would be O.K. as long as I don't panic and take things slowly, so I will. I have to say at this point that one of our neighbours works at the Little Cake Shop and has given me loads of advice, but she is away for a few days camping and not back until after the deed is done. Will it be a walk in the park or a roll down the hill? Time will tell!

Wedding Cake Blues

2009-08-29T10:10:00.008+01:00

I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind and a gibbering wreck...
it was to start on our nephew's wedding cake. This has terrified me for two years since he asked me to do it, as I have never made one before, only an occasional quick birthday cake, but, he insisted that I did it, and who can say no to our dear nephew who is about to tie the knot next week? So first up, the small madeira cake which is the top tier and the most important. I need to get this right.
Two hours later, frazzled but not too unhappy with my effort, it is marzipanned, smoothed and polished and stuck to the turntable! Half and hour later, it has been prised off and carefully placed on a piece of foil to dry ready for the next step. I will remember not to go over the board with the marzipan next time. Just the middle and bottom fruit tiers to go !

Blowin' In the Wind

2009-08-27T17:59:00.003+01:00

Well it's that time of year again. Time to give the quilts a blow ready for those chilly nights which I suppose are just around the corner. Unless, we have an Indian Summer and it's going to sizzle all September what do you think,? My money's on the chilly nights.

Jam Today and Jam Tomorrow and the Next Day...

2009-08-27T17:20:00.013+01:00

...And probably the next. I have made more raspberry, rhubarb and ginger, beetroot and horseradish chutney, and today flaggingly, made 'Sarah plum'. I called it this because my best friend Sarah grew the plums and I (Plum), preserved 'em. Along with the strawberry and the earlier raspberry and gooseberry jam and pickled beetroot the cupboard is heaving. How I'm going to fit in the piccalilli, still to be made with our last veggies Heaven only knows! What I do know is that I am all pickled and jammed out...

Jeepers! Now My Frog Has Turned Into Don Juan

2009-08-27T16:57:00.014+01:00

What a shocker! Bri may now have Spanish blood. The marriage certificate of great grandpa and granny turned up this week. Next step was to investigate grannie's past and we find she had yet another son, living with her in 1891 who we hadn't come across before. She'd lied about her age by five years and got herself a job in The Queens Music Hall, Poplar, London, where she also lived and of which we found a photograph. Did great grandpa get her the job seeing as he was a musical agent? This family is full of surprises. Great Grandpa may have been born in Paris, but all of his children have Spanish names including Raphael the new one we have found. So was great grandpa's parents Spanish or just one of them? We won't know that until the next certificate arrives. This is turning out to be fun.