Wednesday 28 October 2015

Holiday countdown

Not done much in here lately, so a bit of an update. Been on my speed awareness course, found it quite interesting and well run. Car started making some very troublesome noises on the way there though and I was worried I wasn't going to make it. Took the car in to the garage the next day and I'm now £450 worse off. 
Got a day off gardening today and I'm having a sort out, making up some jam with a few oddments of fruit left in the freezer, and experimenting with the rhubarb left over after I bottled up the rhubarb vodka. By the way, must go back and make a note about it, as it's gorgeous, can't see me giving much of that away for Christmas!
I tried a bit of the rhubarb that had been picking in the sugar and vodka and even 'raw' it was rather tasty, so I froze it awaiting inspiration.
Might just cook it up and freeze for pies and crumbles...not sure yet.
I've got loads of apples to do something with, not sure on them yet, but might have a go at a chilli jelly or something.
Oh, and we've booked a holiday...setting off 4 weeks today for 24 days, back on 19th December. 

Monday 12 October 2015

Back in Northumberland

This week I have a week off from gardening and am back up at Northumberland dog sitting for a friend for a week. The weather isn't quite up to what it was in August when I was here last time, but there is a beauty to autumn that you really get to experience up in the countryside round here.
I've brought a few things up with me to be getting on with, a load of magazines to sort through and take cuttings from for my decoupage, a bit of knitting, fed up doing hedgehogs at the moment, so going to either start on some wrist warmers or another of the dogs from the book 'best in show'.
I've brought up a big bag of jewellery making bits to be doing too, but how much I actually get done is questionable.
I have Ita coming up tomorrow evening and staying until Thursday tea time, so we'll get some walking done and hopefully a bit of beachcombing - last time I was here I found some beautiful scraps of blue and green sea glass and I'd like to look at making some jewellery with it.
I've been in touch with Trev and Charlie, who have just got back from a trip to America, so it would be lovely to catch up with them, and another friend from Facebook has suggested a catch up...hmm might to get much crafting time done then!😉

Thursday 1 October 2015

Tomato soup in large quantities

The past few weeks have been. About finding ways to use up the glut of tomatoes and I found a recipe for tomato soup which I actually like, it's a pretty simple recipe, a bit of faffing at the end, but it is a lovely soup and I'm making more today on my day off to put in the freezer for over winter.

Begin by frying gently a chopped onion and chopped potato, just to soften a little, I used some garlic and basil infused olive oil that I make, but any other sort would do, just a tablespoon or so.

While that's happening, chop up a load ( hmm measurements a bit uncertain here, let's say around 750g or so) of ripe tomatoes, I've used the yellow ones and red ones, we decided the yellow ones were a bit mushy for salad type tomatoes...must remember this next year)

Add half a pint of chicken or vegetable stock to the onions and potatoes, then tip in the chopped up tomatoes, add a sprig of thyme and a dash of celery salt and black pepper then stick a lid on and simmer for around an hour.

Then comes the messy bit, push it all through a metal sieve, this takes out the seeds, skins and stalky bits of the tomatoes.

Reheat, and enjoy.

Monday 28 September 2015

Speeding ticket

cant believe it...opened all my mail today from while I've been on holiday and one was a lovely letter from humberside police telling me I had been captured speeding on the week before I went away...doing 35 in a 30 zone. Now today I've been back to the same ladies I gardened for on that day and have worked out where I was caught, it's just after where it drops from 40 to 30 mph, I obviously didn't slow down quickly enough.
I've filled in the paperwork and sent it off and I'm hoping that they'll offer me the speeding awareness course rather than the fine and points, but come on...it was 35 in a 30 zone...is there not bigger criminals than me out there ?

Autumn is here

Well, I'm back from my holidays and back to the usual this morning, got 3 jobs on today and it's looking distinctly autumnal outside, we are blanketed in a thick fog and it's wet and drippy outside. Not really looking forward to my workload as it will be cutting back and digging up and I'll get soaked.
I think I need to look for some more work, not gardening, but something else to keep me going during winter, whether that ends up being housework, ironing, cleaning, I really don't know. I wouldn't mind a bit more dog sitting type work, but then that doesn't really bring in the money, there's only a small daily charge and I still would need other work.
I would t mind a bit of delivery driver type work, and as we're heading up to Christmas, there might be some of that around, but, and I know I'm being a bit picky here...which is definitely limiting the possibilities, I don't want to work late on a night, or weekends. I have a fair booked for one of the days of most weekends now until the end of November and I know they don't make me a lot of money, but I enjoy doing them and I can't just sit on the mountain of stock I have.
Anyway, back on with the day. Wet is only wet, I'll dry and then I'll forget how cold and wet I was.

Saturday 12 September 2015

No recipe chutney

Yesterday I was trying to work out what to do with a small batch of pears and some rather soft nectarines and a few other bits and pieces. I had in mind a sort of really sticky sweet chutney/relish but couldn't find a recipe that really sounded right. 
So I thought, damn it, I've made enough chutneys before, just stick to the basic principles and if I cook it for long enough it'll be fine. 
I peeled and chopped the 15 small pears, added them to a bottle of cider vinegar, then chopped up the nectarines, not bothering to peel them, added them, cut the peel off half a honeydew melon and cut that up small and then simmered them for a while, while they simmered I sorted through my baking cupboard and chucked in half a packet of chopped apricots, a full packet of dried cranberries and a couple of handfuls of crystallised pineapple that I had in a jar from a previous recipe. 
Once everything looked good and soft, I added a 500g packet of soft brown sugar and then just let it simmer away until I thought it looked about right, which ended up being a couple of hours...I suppose the melon probably added quite a bit of water to the mix, but anyway it looked fine.
I've potted it up and will now let it stand for a few weeks, I've given Julie a small, not quite full, jar of it that I couldn't find a lid for and asked her to let me know what she thinks. If it's rubbish, I've only wasted a couple of pounds and you never know, I might have created something rather lovely.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Plum and cardamom jam

I rescued as many plums as a could last week from our Victoria plum tree before the wasps had ruined them all and it's only a small batch, probably a couple of pounds, not had time for the past week to do anything with them, but this morning I've no jobs booked so I'll crack on with making something.
Just had a browse through my books and nothing really drew mean. I've made a few varieties of plum jam over the years and they do taste lovely but are not that popular. 
I've read somewhere that plum and cardamom are supposed to go well together so it think I'm going to give that a try. 
I'll just use a basic plum jam recipe which is 1.5kg plums to 1.25kg sugar and 400 ml water and add a couple of teaspoons of cardamom seeds ( not in the pods).
Nothing much else pressing to do at the moment, I've been busy with gardening for the past couple of weeks, so it's rather nice to have a quiet couple of days. I have my voluntary work to do this afternoon and then am at Hannah for one of our regular CDWMs tonight. I rather fancied being able to have a drink, and Mike has offered to pick me up, but I'm going to be good and drive.

Saturday 5 September 2015

Bleaching pine cones

I saw a post on Pinterest a few months ago, which I kept a note of, and today is the day I'm going to give it a try. Just been out walking the step son's dog who is staying with us again this weekend and picked up a handful of cones from our lane end.
I've put them into a tall glass vase, and then the instructions say to fill up with cheap bleach. I've not got any cheap stuff so am using 2:1ratio of thick bleach and water. Filled it to the top, weighted it down (rather precariously) and then I need to leave them in the mixture for 24-48 hours, depending on which set of instructions you read. The cones will close up, as they get wet, but then once dried out will become a glorious pale bleached colour...hmm, well let's see shall we?
Here they are at the start, the picture is a it dark, but I don't want to be carrying vases full of beach around, just to get a better camera shot, I'm hoping the change will still be clearly noticeable.

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Glorious hydrangeas

As I went out to feed the hens this morning, I glanced across at the hydrangeas and they made me smile. They are in full flower at the moment, unlike the rest of the plants around the house, which are definitely going into autumnal mode. 
Each year these plants give me a glorious display, getting bigger and better as the years go by, yet they are positioned with absolutely no shelter and are battered by the high winds coming across the fields and cold frosts of being on an exposed site. 
I really need to get some work done in my garden, I'm trying to clear the multitude of violets and campanulas that I have allowed to self seed over the past few years, and try and get the garden a bit less random.
My echinacea aren't looking too bad this year, and I noticed that one of the Japanese anemones that are at their best right now is actually a white one ( hurray) , but there's not much else to cheer about flower wise.
Tomatoes are ripening at a fair rate, and the courgettes that I left are maturing into marrows nicely. The artichokes, which to be honest, I thought I'd dug up in spring must be 10 feet tall. The only real disappointments are the beetroot, which have lovely tops, but no root yet and the corn, which I know I planted too late and it's not going to mature in time.




Tuesday 1 September 2015

Roasted tomato paste

So, life returns to a more normal pace after a hectic weekend of baking, grandchildren and fairs in the rain.
I have 3 gardens booked in today and so will be done with them by late lunchtime, I then will pop to Mrs H's bungalow and check everything is ok there before heading in to York and checking on IH's and then go and see Mrs H in the nursing home.
On Saturday, whilst the oven was on with the baking I roasted some of the vast supply of ripe tomatoes that we are getting currently. I chopped up a couple of onions and a load of my small garlic in  with them and then once they had fired out a bit, I blitzed them in the blender before roasting to reduce further.
I left the end result in the fridge yesterday and Sunday, with no time to do anything with them, so this morning I've quickly filled an old ice cube tray with the resulting paste and will freeze them to add at later dates to stews and pasta dishes.
I'm very pleased with the end result, it's a nice thick, strong flavoured paste. 
Been out this morning and picked another bowl full of tomatoes and the last of the Victoria's, very disappointed with what we've managed to get off the plum trees this year, they are absolutely covered with wasps. So early morning when they are very sluggish is the only time I can get anywhere near the trees safely. Not sure I've even got enough for a batch of plum jam. 

Saturday 29 August 2015

Baking day

Today I am spending most of my time baking, ready for Lou's open house charity day for York against Cancer tomorrow. 
However I had offered to help Sam and drive him to pick up a new triple glazed unit to replace his kitchen window, this involved driving Dave's van, which I love doing.
Just got back from doing that and having a bit of lunch before I carry on. Have done the basic cakes and buns, so this afternoon is a bit more leisurely and I might experiment with a couple of recipes I've been wanting to try. 
So far I've made 2 banana bread loaves, a lemon sponge ( for lemon drizzle), a chocolate sponge ( for chocolate fudge cake) and two batches of cup cakes, one chocolate, one toffee.
Oh, I was going to make a cheesecake too, so need to get that one shortly.
I've also just offered to have the grandkids for an hour while Mike and Sam go to collect a greenhouse that Sam bought 2nd hand off eBay. Apparently it's other grandad's ( Martin) birthday today and so I've said I would make a chocolate cake for him too and then the kids can decorate it while they are with me...that'll be fun.! - photos may follow.

Friday 28 August 2015

Lemon curd

I have a couple of fairs coming up this weekend, the last of the summer really and I'm just trying to get myself sorted for them. I had an order for 2 jars of lemon curd from a lady who can't make the Sunday event, but has asked someone else to collect them from me.
I have a bit of curd left, but was going to make a lemon tart with it in my baking tomorrow ( all to be donated to the charity fair I'm at on Sunday)
So this morning I've made a new batch, it's quite an easy recipe, none of this double boiler lark, just patience and calmness needed.

The basic recipe follows, although I do tend to deviate from the exacting measurements depending on the size of the eggs or lemons I'm using, sometime I add a couple extra of one or each of them.

Into a pan, put -
170g unsalted butter and put a low heat to melt slowly.
While that's happening, finely grate the zest off 6 lemons and then juice them, add the zest and juice to the pan ( then save the lemon shells and pips in the freezer to make homemade pectin when I have a bit of time)
Chuck in 400g of white sugar and stir it all away, keep the heat low.
Break 6 medium-ish eggs into a jug and give them a good beating with a fork, then pour through a sieve into the pan.
Whisk gently to amalgamate the whole lot, then change over to a wooden spoon, and stir gently and turn the heat up a fraction.
Then it's basically a job of getting your 6 small jars ( condiment size is about right, you know, the ones that supermarkets tend to sell their tartare sauce/ mint sauce etc in) ready and sterilised whilst very regularly coming over and stirring the curd for a minute or two.
It normally takes about the time to thicken that it does for me to wash out my jars and stick in the oven for 15 mins to dry and sterilise.
It's ready when it's thick and if not stirred, the occasional bubble rises from the bottom ( just off boiling)
That's about it, I pot it up using cellophane discs dipped in brandy under the lids and store it in the fridge due to its ingredients, and it's fine for a good few months, but once opened, needs to be used relatively quickly.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Chicken, ham and leek pie

It's been a day at home today, loads done, voluntary work this afternoon, and then out in my garden for a few hours when I got back. Tonight for tea I've made a chicken, ham and leek pie, this is a recipe I originally got from a newspaper at some time a few years ago and I make it now and then when we have leftover cooked chicken. Fry a sliced onion gently in a little butter. Slice a couple of leeks and chuck them in with a handful of chopped fresh thyme. Put a lid on the plan and cook gently for 20 mins or so. Sprinkle in a tablespoon of flour and stir through until mixed. Slowly stir in around half pint of milk to make a thick sauce, and then just cook for a couple of mins to cook out the flour. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and chuck in the cooked chicken and ham, I used half a small chicken, and a few slices of sliced ham that were in the fridge, just pulled the chicken into small pieces and sliced up the ham. Leave to cool Using a pack of frozen ( defrosted) puff pastry, cut in half, and then roll out each piece to about 12" x 8" Place one sheet on a baking tray, either well greased or use silicone baking sheet Pile the chicken mixture into the middle, paste the edges with beaten egg, paste the edges of the other piece then place on top and crimp the edges in whatever way you like, then bake in the oven for around 40 mins.
 
Looks and tastes delicious

Monday 24 August 2015

Holidays

We've had quite a lot of rain over the weekend and although it's been warm, it definitely feeling autumnal, this morning it's misty and very damp, I was booked for 2 gardening jobs today, but one has been cancelled over the weekend, leaving me with just one lady to see at 12.00.
I've got a massive pile of ironing to do, and I want to get started on making more jewellery, I have another busy craft fair weekend coming up, and then things quieten down for a month or two until the Christmas season starts off in late October.

This Saturday is a marathon cake bake, I then donate all the cakes to Lou for her charity day on Sunday, which I go along to and also run my stall, giving 10% of my takings to her charity too.
Monday is Fulford show, I'm hoping for good weather but I've done this show on August bank holiday Monday for about 5 years now, and the weather has always been poor, but here's hoping that this year it might be different. Andrea and I are sharing a pitch again.

It's less than a month now until I go on holiday with my sister and I'm looking forward to it very much, I've not done bad with getting some weight off, around a stone, but I've slipped quite a bit in the last week or so and need to get back into the routine.


Sunday 23 August 2015

Cherry Jam

Yesterday while making the chutneys, 2 batches of pear, orange and ginger ( see previous note for recipe) and one batch of Carolina Reaper, I boiled up all the apple cores and peelings and then strained the resulting mush. Today I've taken a kilo of the stoned cherries out of the freezer, added them to the liquid along with the juice of 2 lemons and 900g sugar, with the hope it'll make a set-able jam. It's boiling up now, and I have my fingers crossed. 
Got family coming this afternoon for a later lunch/ early tea, so need to get on with that next.

The most Christmassy of chutneys

Yesterday in the baking heat, I had the day scheduled for chutney making, I decided to just get on and do it, while up in Northumberland looking after Jane's dogs for a few days, I had come across 3kg of Rocha pears for a measly £1.20 and couldn't resist them, you can use any pears, but they don't want to be too ripe. I have a chutney I make every year and it's a popular one when ever I have it up for sale. I sold out a while ago and so needed to get some made ready for the up and coming season. It's another easy one as in that everything just goes in the pan and then boiled up for an hour or so. It may be easy, but it's a bit of a lengthy prep process, peeling and coring 3 kg of pears takes a while, the 3 kg was split into two and I made up two batches.

Pear, orange and ginger chutney.
So, into a preserving pan goes:

1 pint malt vinegar
1.5kg pears, peeled, cored and chopped 
450g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
450g raisins or sultanas
450g dark molasses sugar
2 large oranges, zest grated and juiced
200g crystallised ginger, chopped
Then the secret ingredients that elevate this to something else...
1 heaped teaspoon each of :
ground ginger
ground cloves
ground allspice 
ground cinnamon.

You could use a spice bag and while spices if you like, but I find freshly ground spices give more depth of flavour.
It makes a delicious spicy dark chutney that is wonderful with cold meats, especially white meat like chicken and turkey.

Saturday 15 August 2015

Spiced plum and red onion chutney

This morning I have friends coming to see our horses, this is Andrea and her dad, Mick and her little boy Archie, Andrea and I did the stall together last week at Elvington.
So I'm trying to get a batch of chutney on, as time is a bit short today and tomorrow I'm away to Northumberland until Thursday.
I got all the plums stoned last night, and I've got about 5lb. This recipe is a bit of an adaptation of a recipe I've used for years, and I don't even know where the first read it! 
It's a really easy one as all the ingredients just go into the pan together and then it's simmer and stir for 2.5 hrs and that's it.
So into the an goes:
3lb plums - halved and stoned
1.5lb red onions - peeled and diced
1lb cooking apples - peeled,cored and chopped
2 pints malt vinegar
1lb Demerara sugar
1lb dark brown sugar
3 cloves of garlic - chopped fine
2 heaped teaspoons ground ginger
2 heaped teaspoons ground cinnamon 
1 heaped teaspoon ground allspice
2tbsp salt.
That's about it, go off and do something else for a couple of hours, popping back to stir it every now and then, especially towards the end. The pot up into sterilised jars and seal. It should be stored for a couple of months before eating, so ideal to be making now and perfect for Christmas.

Friday 14 August 2015

Cherries and plums

Today was forecast be be absolutely dreadful, there had been large and heavy rain storms due, mainly down south, but expected up here overnight and today, so I have crammed all my gardening jobs in to earlier in the week to all myself to stay at home today. I assume planning on making something with all the cherries I picked and stoned on Monday.
I had decided to even clean the stones and use them to make pretty heat bags, ones where the stones  are sewn into a pretty cotton bag and then you can just warm them in the microwave for a short while and use them like a hot water bottle. However, it's proving difficult to remove all the fruit from the stones and having researched on the Internet, it would seem the only way is lots of washing, rubbing, rinsing and effort, so a bit undecided on this.
Cherries are also really low in pectin and acid, so it's hard to get a good set with them, I've seen a recipe for a dark cherry conserve, which uses redcurrant juice as a base to give more acidity and help with the set, so I thought I could probably melt some of the cranberry and redcurrant jelly I made a couple of weeks ago and use that.
I also have about 1.5 litres of juice, left over from stoning the cherries and a bit of amaretto syrup from bottling some of them and I'm thinking of some sort of syrup or sauce, still undecided.
I picked plums yesterday too from our little dark plum tree, I managed to get the majority before wasps took a liking and need to stone these and then either make chutney or freeze them. We have several Victoria trees, and I make jam with those, but these little dark plums are just a bit too sharp for jam.

Tuesday 11 August 2015

Heliotrope

Of all the plants in my garden the one with the most amazing smell is one that's not all that showy, or that popular, it's an old fashioned plant that has somewhat fallen out of favour. 
Every time I walk past it, especially early mornings and late evenings I get the most heavenly scent, and the smell just cheers me and makes me smile irrespective of how I'm feeling.
I came across the plant a few years ago at a little garden centre and because it was purple, I bought it and I'm so glad I did, I now seek it out each year and usually manage to find it somewhere.
This year I bought it from the slightly mad, and rather eccentric gentleman who owns and runs his own nursery on the outskirts of York, he had bought them to raise into standards but he sold me 3 small plants at £1.50 each. Looking back at that last sentence, I wondered if he read this would he be upset, but actually I think he'd smile at my description of himself. I don't think I'd mind being described as slightly mad and rather eccentric.
Anyway must get on, not too busy a day today, just 4 customers to do and Mrs H to go and visit, however I rather badly stubbed my toes last night on the slate hearth around our wood burner and I think I'm going to have some difficulties putting weight on my toes, so will just have to see how I go. The forecast is good anyway.

Monday 10 August 2015

Feeling the after effects of Elvington

Woke this morning with everything aching, went back to sleep for another half hour while mike was showering and getting ready - he has a full day golf today, so was away for 8am. Still didn't feel any better when I got up so rang and cancelled my only job booked for today and will have a quiet day getting cleared up after the weekend.
We did really well this weekend with our fresh food sales, Saturday was quiet and steady, but we expected that, as most people knew the Avro Vulcan was coming to do a display on Sunday and wow, was Sunday busy, the show organisers must be very please.
The burger van man however was not, he came up to us on Sunday morning and had a heavy word with us about him having all catering rights on the site, and how we were flouting all sorts of regulations. Andrea and I were both polite and 'interested' in what he said, then laughed about him after he had gone. We had sold out of all sandwich fillings and bread by just after lunchtime and the cakes were all gone by mid afternoon. We did pretty well with our other stuff, and I'll cash up today and see what we actually have taken.
The Vulcan, as ever, was spectacular, we got a fly past as it went to do a couple of other events it was booked for, and then it came back and gave us all a thrilling 5 minutes. The noise is amazing and makes your heart flutter, I do wonder how wonderful it must be to be the pilots, but apparently they don't hear most of the roar of the engines. Anyway, a brilliant weekend all in, but paying for being on my feet for all that time.


Sunday 9 August 2015

Elvington model air show

Just up for day 2 of Elvington Model air show, day 1 was steady but not overly busy, I think we did ok with sales, it was a hot sunny day but the wind got up in the afternoon which had memories of last years event which was windy as hell on the Saturday and then dreadful rain on Sunday. So far so good this year. The weather is forecast as cloudy today, which will suit us as the difficulty yesterday was shading things from the bright sunshine.
We will be happy if we do the same trade as yesterday but are hoping for a few more people as the Vulcan is coming to do a bit of a display this afternoon.
Right, need to get packed up and then away to pick up Andrea who, I am sharing the stall with this year. We have branched out  into sandwiches and salad boxes on top of all our other things. They seemed to sell quite well, our only competition is burger vans, so we just need to try and catch people before they've invested in the burgers, difficult as the catering vans generally are right by the entrance.

Sunday 2 August 2015

Rhubarb ketchup

This morning I was weeding in the garden and realised that our rhubarb plant is massive again and needed a fair bit pulling out at it was swamping the beetroot in the same bed.
I'm not a great rhubarb fan, Mike loves it, but there was a significant amount, I'd say at least 4lbs of the stuff, so I've chopped up some of the pinker, smaller stuff and stuck it in a casserole in the microwave for 5 mins for him, and then I browsed my cook books for a rhubarb chutney, I made rhubarb and ginger jelly earlier in the year, it's a pain to get a good set, and it's not a big seller either, so didn't want to go down that route. 
I found a recipe in the river cottage cookbook for a variation on roasted tomato ketchup, which said to use rhubarb instead, I've as usual, upped a few ingredients and amended the recipe as it was much too thick, either that or my rhubarb didn't yield as much juice...although I did leave it in the oven longer than suggested - due to getting sidetracked with other things.
So...this is my version slow roast 2kg of chopped rhubarb along with 4 chopped large red onions and a handful of garlic cloves ( 6?) at about 180/gas 4 for about an hour ( I left it in at 160 for 2 hrs)
Now it says to sieve the mixture, which turned out to be a right pain in the behind, as did attempting to use the mouli, so in the end I stuck it all in the blender, ( in 3 batches).
Using a heavy bottomed pan ( with a lid) bring to a simmer and simmer for 25 mins, adding along the way 250ml cider vinegar ( the recipe said 100ml, but that just wasn't enough) 100g dark brown sugar and the spices, -a teaspoon each of ground ginger, celery salt, ground cumin and ground coriander.
Bottle up and seal with vinegar proof lids. Easy peasy! Tastes delicious.

Saturday 1 August 2015

A free Saturday..woo hoo

Today I have nothing to do, well, I've got loads that could be done, but nothing that MUST be done and that's the difference. No fairs to do, no other people to consider ( apart from Mike I suppose), no fruit to process into jams or chutneys, no orders to make up or anything like that. This is a very rare occasion for me and I don't know what I want to do to make the most of the day.
I rather fancy a few hours in the garden at my leisure doing just a bit of weeding, a bit of deadheading, we have a massive bonfire pile and if the wind is in the right direction, maybe I could get that going, especially as rain is predicted this afternoon. Yesterday afternoon was spent cutting down docks and other large weeds in the horses fields before the seeds spread, and all this needs burning so that the seeds are destroyed.
We have Sadie with us, (Mike's son's dog - they have gone on holiday) and we could go for a walk somewhere but I'm not overly confident about letting her off a lead.
Or I could just sit and play minecraft for a few hours!
A leisurely breakfast first. And I think I'll turn the laptop on and get some labels printed. I made lime and lemon marmalade yesterday, I've got the redcurrant and raspberry jelly to label and the cranberry and redcurrant sauce, I can then get them all put away rather than cluttering up the side, oh, and the strawberry/lime/Pimms jam stuff, which I'm still undecided what to call it.

Monday 27 July 2015

Picking raspberries and red currants in the rain.

Today I've managed to get soaked twice and rip my work trousers, which I admit have seen better days, but I love them, they are patched and repaired all over and do give me a certain sort of tramp-like air when I am wearing them, but I'm dreading the loss of them, which could happen soon.
They are just great for gardening, they have padded knees, elastic on the back of the high waist, lots of large room pockets and they are Rohan walking trousers, so made of fabric that does dry very quickly.
Actually, I think I started to rip them last week when I snagged them on a tree stump, but the rip got enlarged today, and once dry they will need some major repairs.
My first job of the day was hedge cutting, and in long grass they soon started to sag with the weight of water on them, and then I think I stood on the ripped hem and tore it much further.
I dried off driving to the next job which was a quick case of planting up a few pansies and giving everything a good watering. However Lisa had already phoned my on Saturday and said to come prepared with plastic tubs for fruit picking and so I've collected 900g of very ripe raspberries and 1.8kg of red currants. I've boiled up the raspberries and half the red currants with enough water to cover and they are now dripping through a jelly bag. I've frozen the other half of the red currants and plan to make cranberry and redcurrant sauce with them. ( I think in the depths of the freezer there is a bag of frozen cranberries). This may happen tomorrow as the weather forecast it dire.

Hens issues...again

This morning when I got up, Mike said he'd just seen a young fox at the edge of the field and he thought it had just taken one of the hens, however, the hens were all still locked up and when I went over and counted them, there were still the 5 that we have left - the cockerel, 3 hens with him, and a broody in the nest box. He explained what he'd seen and it seemed there was a hen that has been living in the tin hut, sure enough when we went up and searched, in between all the bags of logs, there was a nest with around 20 eggs in it. Well, we've no idea how long this hen has been there and how long she had been on the nest, and what do we do now? 
 Suggested we stick all the eggs, which were still very warm under the broody in the nest box, but when we looked she was already bulging at the seams. The other issue was we couldn't see a strike site, usually a pile of feathers where the fox grabbed the hen. So I suggested we left the eggs where they were in case the hen escaped.
An hour later we went back and checked and sure enough there was the hen, back on her brood.
I have no idea if any of these eggs will hatch under either of the hens, but if they do, then I think we may need to get them segregated this time.
Not a great time for all this t be going on as we have Sam's dog staying with us from tomorrow night for nearly three weeks, and when they called today, she started chasing the chickens...not a good start! 

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Birthday cakes

This week I've had orders for 4 cakes to make,  3 birthday cakes and a chocolate fudge cake. So after I'd finished gardening jobs for the day, which fortunately was by 2.30, I've come home and been baking. I've done an angel cake 70th birthday cake for Hannah's MIL, a low sugar coffee and walnut cake for Ita's husband, which wasn't a great success, it hardly rose, but she insisted I had to go down the low sugar route, even though I was nervous of the result, I've covered it with a the layer of a very dark chocolate ganache. Th fudge cake was easy, I make these quite regularly for orders and then, the one I've not started on, is for our grandson's birthday on Saturday, he will be 6 and of course wants a minion cake.
And here is the finished Minion cake, which I have to admit, I'm rather proud of.


Monday 20 July 2015

Back on line

For the past week I've had no internet, I've been staying at a friend's flat in Harrogate whilst working at the Yorkshire show, and the flat is just about to be put on a long term rental agreement, so there was no telephone line or Internet. Then to cap it all, when I left on Friday, I forgot my iPad.
I had a hard but enjoyable week at the show, the rain came on Monday when we were getting set up and walking our teams around the show ground to get them orientated, but the 3 days of the show were glorious weather and I've got quite a tan.
The days were long and tiring, and to be honest, having no internet was a blessing as there was no need to try and keep up with emails and such, it was basically a week of get up, make coffee, go to work,come home, bath and bed each day.
Anyway back to normal this week, I've been out gardening all day today, 4 customers done and been to visit Mrs H who I've also not seen all week.
 I've got 6 more tomorrow to squeeze in then I need to come home and start making icing sugar flowers as I have 4 cake orders to do before Saturday. 

Friday 10 July 2015

More missing chickens

Over the past few weeks we have slowly been losing hens, we are down now to 6 and the cockerel, it must be a fox, but we've not seen or heard evidence of it and it's odd for a fox to only take the occasional bird, they usually do a complete wipe out. But can't really work out what else could be happening, the first two birds to go could have been explained away by other issues, but now now some of the 'gang' have disappeared. I'd like to keep them cooped up, but we've just disinfected the hut and it smells very strongly of jeys fluid and it would be just as cruel to keep them in. I know it's just nature and part of the food cycle, predators and all that, and I tell myself that at least it's a quick death but I still fret about it.
Anyway, most get on, got the car to get loaded to take my stall things for tomorrow,mother got an airport run, then got grass cutting job this afternoon before going to visit Mrs H in the nursing home. 
Not sure who reads this, so just need to be careful what I write, but got family problems at the moment and that's taking up some of our time, hopefully it will settle itself out, but we'll just have to see what happens there.

Thursday 9 July 2015

Busy days ahead

It's been a few days since I've posted so thought I'd better just get my head straight as to where I am with things. I've been back to back gardening all day for the start of the week followed by taking an elderly couple to hospital for an appointment because they were unable to contact the patient service that was supposed to collect them and bring them home, then ended up working late to catch up on jobs I should have been doing when I wa at the hospital with them.
I went to one of our CDWMs last night, at Sue's we had a great laugh as always and ended up quite a late night, I was driving as usual, so at least I had a clear head this morning.
Today I've been in Harrogate helping Judith clear out her flat, she has managed to get long term tennants from early August, but will be letting it unfurnished, so lots to do there, this is the kind lady who is letting me stay there all next week whilst I'm working at the great Yorkshire show.
We do rather long hours, usually 6 ish in the morning to 8 or 9 at night, so having somewhere to crash in Harrogate saves another couple of hours driving a day.
Busy getting sorted for another hectic day tomorrow, then stalls to run both days this weekend, the Saturday one will probably be pretty quiet, but Sunday could be madness as it will on the river bank in York while the Dragon Boat races are on.

Sunday 5 July 2015

Hanging baskets and wall troughs

Very pleased with a couple of my wall troughs this year, a couple of they may need another few weeks till they look their best, they have fuschias in them which are still some way off a good show, but this one is looking lovely, even Mike commented on it the other day.

Wasps and roses

I bloody hate wasps...what purpose do they serve in life?, bees are a different kettle of fish, but wasps seem to just be vicious creatures with no aim in life apart from inflicting pain. Can you tell I've just been stung?
I was just emptying an old plant pot on to the compost heap and I realised there were a large number of wasps around, one just landed on my arm and stung me, I didn't provoke it, or try and brush it off, it just sat there and did it!
The compost heap is next to an old plum tree and once I've got over the shock, I'll go and see if the plums are maybe nearly ripe, it is an early plum, usually ready a good 6 weeks before the Victoria's so I suppose that may explain the wasps.
I've been out in my garden since early morning, deadheading and weeding and was just about to stop for a break when I got stung, so sat here with a coffee whilst my wrist throbs painfully.
Taken some pictures of the roses today, they are beautiful this year, I wish I knew their names, but the only one I am certain of is one of the pink ones,
which is called Darcy Bussell, it's a David Austin rose, bought for my 50th birthday by a dancer friend of mine. She said it would always make me think of her...and it does.

Tuesday 30 June 2015

Chilli jelly and jam

Beautiful day here today and although I'm enjoying the sunshine, I'm busy in the kitchen too, I have some cooking apples I need to use, they've been in the fridge for a few weeks and I knew I had a bag of frozen pieces of peppers, and somewhere in the freezer there are a load of chillis chopped up, so I've dug them out and am boiling up the chopped apples, chillis and peppers along with a rather soft mango, I'm then going to have to decide whether to take the long winded route and make chilli jelly, or just put it all through the mouli and make a chilli jam. Think the jam will be the choice, but for now I'm going to sit outside and enjoy a coffee while it simmers away.
I've had two loads of washing on today with the weather being so good, so all beds are stripped, been printing labels for jams and chutneys that never got labelled when I made them and also the chocolate fudge sauce I made yesterday. 
I've cleared out the under stairs cupboard and was going to get on with some more hand made jewellery today, but it's too nice to sit inside.
This is the starting point, everything chopped and in the pan, I've now come back inside, put everything through the mouli, measured it and added 400g sugar to every 600ml of liquid plus a handful of the shells of red chillis that I reserved and have sliced up. Boiling it up as I write this with the jars in the oven sterilising. Smells lovely, tastes not too hot, only used green and red finger chillis in this one.

Saturday 27 June 2015

Afternoon in the garden

I got back from a school summer fete a couple of hours ago and have been in the garden since, just pottering, a bit of weeding here, dead heading there, that sort of thing, sat for a while with a cup of coffee and just enjoyed the day. Tomorrow is forecast rain, and I have another fair booked for the afternoon, so making the most of some peace and quiet. Mike is out at a golf match until 7ish, and Dave, well who can tell were and when he is, so just me.
My roses seem to be very good this year and I think I've already commented about the irises being the best I've had for a while, even the poxy standard rose in the centre of the garden, which I had planned to remove this year and replace with a small magnolia is putting on a good show, typical!



fox on the prowl

When we got back home from our day out in Thursday we were confronted by a large pile of feathers, another hen has been taken, this was one of the older Maran cross hens and she was a bit slow on her feet, so although it seems rather heartless to say it, the fox, which is what we are now certain it is, has taken our two problem hens. I am now on guard at all times and we have agreed that if we are planning on being out during the day, the hens will be kept in the enclosure until someone is home. I know this isn't a safe plan as foxes have taken our hens in the past while we have been home, but as they seem to be getting picked off one by one, I'm hoping it's a young animal that is wary of humans and it will stay away if it hears activity around the place.
Our biggest problem is the farmers field to the left of the house( or right, depending on which way you're looking 😉) it has a broad bean crop in which is currently around 4ft high and a perfect way for the fox to creep up unseen.
Anyway last night, as they had been locked in all day, they wouldn't go to bed until the last rays of the sun were dropping away, which led to a fraught evening for me, I was outside every 10 minutes checking on them.

Thursday 25 June 2015

Ooh a whole day with no plans

Today both Mike and I have no plans, I have no work jobs on today and he has no golf, a very rare occasion that our plans coincide. Not sure we will actually do anything, I did suggest a trip out to the coast as it seems like it's going to be a nice day, it's warm out but a bit of a cloud layer. Will check the weather forecast shortly.
There's nothing urgent needed around the farm to do, there's always jobs, but nothing pressing, there's a pile of ironing and of course there's always weeding. I have work on tomorrow and all weekend, then Mike is away for 3 days next week so I feel we should make a bit of an effort and go somewhere today, hmm lets see what happens.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Missing hen

Yesterday I noticed the little brown hen wasn't around, this is the one that has been literally hen pecked by the other hens and she was a sorry little thing, I'd caught the other hens viciously picking on her regularly and she was wary of allowing anyone or anything near her. I always tried to find her on her own and give her little treats, making sure there were no eavesdroppers around to go and tell the rest of the gang. She would often hang near me if I was out in the garden.
Her injuries didn't look life threatening, but she did have pretty bad pecking damage to the back of her head.  I spent a good hour last night wandering through our fields looking for her, but the grass is 2 ft high in places and so it was difficult. Not really sure what I was expecting to find, but haven't found her anyway. I did the same this evening, but not a trace, not found a 'kill site' which would be the evidence of a fox attack, it's the most likely outcome at this time of year, but have one last field to search, which I will do tomorrow evening. I am almost hoping that it was a fox attack and she had a quick end, rather than that she had been attacked again by the other hens and has gone off to die slowly. Torturing myself over it.

Monday 22 June 2015

Mushroom soup

Dave came home yesterday with a large box of mushroom from the car boot market, he said the bloke was selling them off for a £1 and he thought id be able to use them for something. I was thinking along the lines of a mushroom sauce to bottle and sell, but Mike started on about a soup his mum used to make where from what he could remember she just boiled the mushrooms for hours and you ended up with this grey soup, which although looked upappetising was delicious.
I gave him a Mrs Beeton cookbook I got from Mrs H and my Larousse Gastronmique to look through but he couldn't find anything he thought sounded similar.
So I've experimented, I've seen a few recipes on the internet about making mushroom soup in the slow cooker, so using a bit of them and some of my own ideas, I've just put on my mushroom and wild garlic soup.
I chopped up as many mushrooms as I could fit in the slow cooker, then into 1pt of hot water I've added 2 of those ready made stock thingies, 4 of my ice cube bagged wild garlic purée, some grated nutmeg, a pinch of cayenne, a heaped tsp of pesto. Poured that over, stuck in a couple of sprigs of thyme and that's it.
I've put it on low and hopefully when I get back from work tonight, I'll just have to blitz it for a few seconds. Doesn't look that exciting at the mo, but fingers crossed.

Sunday 21 June 2015

Elderflower cordial, but not again

I plumped for making elderflower cordial today, went out and picked the elder flowers from around our place then boiled up water and sugar, which I poured over the elder flowers and seated and sliced lemons. Next set is to leave it all to infuse for 24 hours or so. I'll hopefully get it strained and bottled up tomorrow evening.
However,  have to say I was shocked at the quantity of sugar in the several recipes I looked at, basically I'm making a flavoured syrup, so won't be doing it again for us to use, but might see how it sells on my stall. I have two fairs next weekend to try it at.
I'll have to sell it ' to be used in the next few weeks' as I've not added Campden tablets, which means natural yeasts in the elder flowers could start to ferment - which will either make it fizzy, and risk an explosion, or will turn it mouldy. I might try heat processing a few bottles, but I hate doing that as its a awkward job requiring quite a large pan to be able to 3/4 submerge the bottles. Hmm, well I'll see.
I've managed to get my sweetcorn planted out today, which was in desperate need, I've weeded the vegetable plot and put more French beans in and also potted on the rest of the tomato plants. I've planted a few of the tomatoes in the soil in my old raised bed, really just out of interest to see how the do outdoors, if the weather doesn't warm up soon then the answer will probably be...not very well!

And here's the end results, there's quite a lot of it, I haven't heat processed it yet, but think I maybe ought to, I will see how the sales go this weekend.

Elderflower what

Tomorrow I have a rare day at home and I want to make the most of the day, I've been contemplating elder flowers for the past few days and was originally planning to make elderflower champagne, I made it a few years ago and rather enjoyed the whole tense experiment. The drink was rather nice, but ther was a lot of waste in each bottle from sediment build up and having thought about the timings...being away from home for 4 days in about 3 weeks time, I decided it wasn't going to be ideal as I'd have to get mike to remember to check the bottles each day and let out any excess gas that has built up. So..I think I'm going to make a cordial, I love elderflower cordial and have never made it myself, so I think that's going to be my challenge for tomorrow. However, I've also seen a recipe for elderflower liqueur and I might give that a try too. More about it all tomorrow.

Saturday 20 June 2015

Craft fairs in the rain

Today I've been at a school summer fair, it didn't look promising to begin with, the forecast was showers and that's what we've had. My friend Julie came and helped, along with Andrea, Archie and Mick having a stall next to us, with no gazebo, so we shared. It's been an enjoyable day, but didn't sell a great amount, it was lovely to see Julie and I think she enjoyed herself, she likes sorting out things and always organises things for me. Archie and I discussed minecraft strategy ( he's 9) and I had a good catch up with Andrea and her dad ( Mick).
Popped in to see Mrs H on the way back as I've not really spoken to her all week as every time I've visited, she has been asleep, yesterday evening I discussed with both the nurses and one of her close friends as to whether she was in decline, but today, you'd never have guessed, she was in good form and we had a lovely hour together.
Now sat at home, drying out the gazebo, got tea in the oven ( chicken bhuna) and a glass of wine in hand, lovely evening, the Sun is now shining and there is cricket on TV.

Thursday 18 June 2015

Harvest loaf and banana bread

Yesterday I made a couple of cakes, well not quite cakes, more loaves, but not actually bread either.
I noticed a bunch of bananas we're going black in the fruit bowl, so I was going to make my usual banana loaf, but fancied something different, had a browse through a couple of cook books and came across a recipe in the River Cottage cakes book for a banana bread that had cardamom seeds in it, so I had to try it as I love cardamom. 
It came out pretty good apart from the fact that it said to grind up the cardamom and I couldn't be bothered, so I crushed them a bit with a pestle & mortar, and I think it would have been better if I'd made the effort. I did quite like the cardamom hit you got whenever you got a bit of seed.
The other cake was Harvest Fruit Loaf, this is a cake that a friend in Ireland always has made when we go to visit and Ita brought it back with her last week and gave me a copy of the very simple recipe. 
Anyway they both came out well, so will definitely make again.

Ascot Day at the Oaks

Today we are going to a race day at Mike's golf club, it's an annual event and we always go, it's about the only day of the year where I dress up nowadays. We are sat here at the moment watching The Morning Line for a few tips and hints, I've still not really decided which dress to wear, but I've narrowed it down between two, but things may change!
It all starts off at around 11.15 when we will be off to Stuart and Wendy's for a Pimms reception, then off to the club for an afternoon of drinks, gorgeous food and big screen footage of ladies day at Royal Ascot.
Mike is a betting man anyway, but I'm not and so my bets at the Tote bookie that will be there will be in the region of £1 each way and such. However we also do a little sweepstake on each race where everyone on our table draws a playing card for £1 and the number on the card related to your horse in the next race, it's a bit of fun and everyone seems to enjoy it.
Anyway, back to the horses for now.

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Deepest purple Iris

I am so impressed by this Iris, it is so dark and velvety, again, I don't know it's name, but I might have a record somewhere of buying it, so will have a look through my books to see if I can get its name, it seems pretty happy where it is, so hopefully it will spread so I can divide it up.

Thalictrum

Had a manic 2 days since Bramham with gardening jobs and looking forward now to a couple of more relaxing enjoyable days. Tomorrow I have voluntary work in the afternoon and probably mundane things like washing to do in the morning, then Thursday is ascot day at the golf club and it's all posh frocks and horse racing. Still not decided on which outfit to wear yet, and probably won't decide for certain until Thursday morning.
Another plant to add to my garden list is this little beauty, it's very delicate and can easily be lost amongst everything else, but it's so dainty and unusual. I bought it last year and it's survived the winter I'm pleased to say. When I nipped to the nursery the other day for a few more bedding plants for people I noticed he also has it in white, so I might just have to invest in one.

Monday 15 June 2015

Bramham Horse Trials

Finished working today at the horse trials, it's been an enjoyable but tiring few days, feet and legs ache, got sunburnt on Thursday and Friday, soaked yesterday and today. Saw some lovely horses and some gorgeous dogs. Back to usual tomorrow, a few gardening jobs booked. I'd initially planned on having a day off tomorrow after Bramham, but just can't manage to get all the work I have booked done if I did, so have decided just to crack on.

Monday 8 June 2015

Another Iris

I have another Iris out in the garden, lovely colours, purple, of course, but coloured with yellow and white, not looking it's best in the rain, but caught a picture of it while I could, need to look it up and find out its name.

Pink Plant

Not sure what this is, but of interest as its not purple, not sure if it's some sort of Lily, need to investigate.

Sisyrinchium

Love this little plant, have had a yellow one in the garden for years,but about 3 years ago, picked up a display pot of them at the end of the spring flower show in Harrogate, I split it when I got home and got a number of decent sized plants from it, and they are dotted around the garden.
They are nothing spectacular, but they are pretty and spread quite easily, but in a neat way, unlike my aquilegia so, which if the rain holds off, I'm going to go and dig up a few clumps of the darker coloured ones, I have too many and they are not tidy spreaders!

Nectaroscordum

Just thought, this is an ideal place for me to keep records of plants in my garden, where I can look back and add extra notes, so from now on I will keep a separate note for plants as they come to mind. Might not be the right use of a blog, but who cares.
Just been out in the garden and took some more photos, which I shall catalogue separately but, on to Nectaroscordum, I've had these in my garden for many years and some years they come better than others, this year is a good year and they look tall, strong and healthy, they spread from seed, and not prolifically but at a sedate pace, and only in their own vicinity, or so it would seem. 
I seem to recall these being renamed a few years ago, and need to look up the different names for them.

All chicks died

I'm sad to say, we've had a sorry tale with the recently hatched chicks and they have died one by one in the last week, one of them was definitely trampled by the other hens, it died in my hands on Saturday morning, the others I've found on a morning. Dave - suddenly the guru of animal husbandry - said we shouldn't of had them in with the hens, but segregated out, but last year we didn't have any such problems and so I'm ignoring his sage advice.
It's sad, but that's the way of life and there's nothing I can do now, so no point dwelling on what should or could have been. Onwards and upwards!

Rained off

Not had time over the past few days to stop and sing in here, so am taking to opportunity for some quiet moments as I've been rained off this afternoon. Not a great time for this to happen as I've got so much to fit in over the next few weeks, but these things happen and it means I can get on here at home with a few odds and ends.
I've had 2 fairs this weekend, both all day events, and both ok, not fantastic, but good enough to have been worth going. Saturday was a bit of a nightmare weather wise as it was really gusty and it was an outdoor event. My gazebo held up to the challenge, but it was touch and go at times, and the stall next to me wasn't quite as lucky and suffered several snapped connections.
Sunday was glorious, we were lucky in the placement of our stalls as I had a sheltered spot next to a friend and we had an enjoyable day chatting and selling.
Looking back, my last post was Thursday, so a quick update on Friday's CDWM at Lynne's, I ended up driving as I had a lot to get done during the day and decided it was easier if I had the car, we had a great night, Lynne did some delicious stuffed mushrooms followed by Lasagne with garlic breads and salad, and my chocolate pots went down well, we had a great night, lots of laughs and memories, looking forward to Sue's in a few weeks time.
On Saturday we met up with Mrs H's relatives and we went for a few drinks and an Indian meal with them, again, lots of fun, a really enjoyable night.
Anyway, rain has stopped for now, so going out in to my garden for a few hours.

Thursday 4 June 2015

College taster evening

Not getting a lot of free time at the moment, so it was rather lovely this evening to sit and enjoy a most wonderful 6course taster dinner at York college, all cooked and presented by trainee staff. The theme was a taste of the wild, and although not as wild as I'd hoped, there were some beautiful dishes. Venison with asparagus and pancetta, monkfish ceviche with rhubarb and elderflower, salmon tartare, crotin wrapped in wild garlic, strawberry and Douglas fir parfait and peaches poached in camomile with clotted cream ice cream. Every single bit of it was wonderfully presented and tasted divine. Just what I needed.
Another busy day ahead tomorrow, but can't complain, much better than stuck in the office somewhere. I need to be up early and get on with things, I have the dessert to get made for Lynne's CDWM tomorrow, I need to go and see Mrs H ( as I ran out of time today) , I need to go to see her solicitor and there is still plenty of gardening work to be done.

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Spion Kop fuschias

On Monday I was gardening for a Danish lady and she had me planting up new fuschias into tubs to put around her doors. She had bought snowcap fuschia, not one of my favourites, it's a bit 'blousey' for my liking, but she had got it because it's supposed to be red and white..the Danish national colours.
Anyway she didn't have enough, so I said I would get some more, knowing snowcap are quite a common fuschia...or so I thought. Yesterday, I had to go in to York to visit Mrs H, and also go to the nursery to get some large geraniums for Tony's garden, so I visited a number of plant stalls and garden centres as well as the nursery. None to be had, however they had a fuschia id never heard of called Spion Kop, now I know Kop is cap, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to think that Spion could be snow, I didn't buy them, but this morning I looked up Spion Kop on the Internet, I was wrong, it means Spy Hill in Dutch or Boer. And I've just read a very interesting tale about a terrible battle on 23rd January 1900 in the Boer war.
So back to my search for the snowcap. I'm in Selby this afternoon after my library work, so will have a look for them there. Odd really as I thought they were one of the most popular fuschias.

Headache on day off

Woken up this morning with a headache, nothing unusual there, everyone had headaches, but nowadays, I don't. I used to get loads when I was in charge of a large operation for a large company, what with hundreds of staff and corporate boll.cks to deal with all the time, but in the 6 years since I left, I've rarely had a headache unless it was self inflicted.
I've been up a while and have done the chickens, put the washing on, tidied up a bit, but I'm just going to sit and relax for a bit, I've got voluntary work this afternoon, but I wanted to get on in my own garden this morning, the winds are still stronger than I would like but I think I'm going to have to risk putting out the wall troughs.
I've got an order for one of the children's bracelets to make up, never going to earn a fortune with these but I enjoy making them, I would like to get a few more wine glass charms made up, or as a lady suggested, try selling them as stitch markers too. 
Tomorrow will be another busy day, I have hanging baskets to deliver, grass cutting to be done in York, general gardening work, a visit to Mrs H in the nursing home with her latest list of requirements, some banking to do and then in the evening I am at a taster evening at the college with Judith.

Monday 1 June 2015

Winds again?

Apparently, according to the weather forecast, we are due unseasonably high winds later on today, makes me wonder what all these other strong winds that we've been having for weeks are! Bit of a dilemma now as today's jobs are all about planting out hanging baskets and planters for people, I can't really move them as I'm getting filled up with work and therefore no space to move them to. I spent a few hours in my own garden yesterday and it's just starting to look really good, the lupins are coming out,
as are the oriental poppies, 
and my lovely tall Siberian Iris, 
all ready for a good bashing from the wind. Well must get on.

Chicken update

Just a quick update on the hens, one of the chicks died over the weekend, looked like it suffocated or was squashed by mum, this has happened before and there's nothing we can do about it, we still have 4 (visibly) healthy chicks.
The rest of the hens seem to have settled down a bit from the squabbling that was going on a few weeks ago and the henpecked one seems to be recovering, the scab has fallen off her head and feathers are regrowing.
Our glut of eggs has disappeared and we are now in the opposite situation, due to us needing to lock the hen enclosure during the day, the hens are laying around the place and I keep finding their stashes too late, after magpies or crows have raided and eaten the eggs, at least I hope that's what it is, rather than the hens turning canibalistic. Yesterday was asuccessful day and I found 7 eggs, but broke one as I managed to retrieve it. 
For note...under pyracantha, in between paving slab stack, and under jasmin hedge. Wonder where they will be today, the hens have always been a bit lazy about laying, and just seem to do it where they feel the need than making their way back to the laying boxes, so no great surprise, it's one of the jobs the grandkids like to do when they come - egg hunts.
Don't know if this will help, but I moved the old laying boxes yesterday, they were in the tin shed, but up against a wall, so they couldn't use them, I've turned it round, will go and put some shavings in it now and see what we have later in the day.

Sunday 31 May 2015

Lemon Balm Lip Balm

This is a recipe I make every year around this time, when my lemon balm is nice and green and lush, it's a lovely lip balm that is supposed to cure cold sores, not that I ever get them, but I made this for the first time for a friend who does.
It's a bit of a faff, but worth it for the goodness it has.
Firstly grab a load of lemon balm, you really only need the leaves,
so strip them from the stalks and and then finely chop, I have one of those brill little choppy gadgets that you just bash up and down and it chops everything up.
Put into a pan and heat gently with 100ml of olive oil, not virgin, just a nice light one, along with a couple of tablespoons of wheat germ oil.you want it to sizzle a little but not boil or fry. Simmer really gently for around 15 mins.
Then strain the whole lot through a muslin lined sieve, you need to squeeze every last drop out , so I usually put on a pair of rubber gloves and squeeze and wring the stuff in the muslin, wipe out the pan, then put the 'juice' back into the pan. Add 2 tbsp of honey and 1oz beeswax and melt gently in the pan,
keep stirring to amalgamate it all, once melted, add 10 drops of tea tree oil, stir through and then pot up, I use those little pots that you get jam in at little cafes and tea shops.

Rain and wind again and banana jam

really getting sick of the amount of wind there has been lately, don't mind the rain, we need it in the gardens, but the wind is stopping me from having the garden done, it's a double edged problem, as I can't get the troughs out on the wall, as the flowers will get bashed about and ruined, they are in the greenhouse, getting lusher and bigger every day, but the growth is soft from the warmth and light in the greenhouse, which makes them more prone to wind damage...Grrr.
While  sorting through the freezer yesterday I found several bags and tubs of sliced up bananas, these are usually ones that have gone to the point of too ripe that no one will eat them, so I chop them up and freeze them ready to make a banana cake or something.
so today I'm making banana Jam, it's a pretty simple recipe, and not really a jam.
To begin with, mix 320g sugar with 5oz water and heat in a jam pan,,stirring until it's all dissolved, sorry for the mixture of metric and imperial measures, tip in 650g of chopped ripe bananas and 2.5 oz of lime juice, bring to a boil and then simmer for around 30 mins. About half way through, add 1.5 tsp of cinnamon and stir in.

Pot up, you're not looking for a setting point or anything here, but provided you have simmered for 30 mins and everything is sterile, the it should keep fine.

Saturday 30 May 2015

Three fruits marmalade

Having a bit of a clear out today, we had some oranges that no one has eaten, a couple of grapefruits and 3 old lemons, so making up some marmalade. This is a recipe I do quite often. I always freeze citrus fruit shells if I've used them for anything, so got a few bags of shreds out of the freezer along with the chopped up fruit and 4 pints of water. Simmer away with the lid on for a couple of hours.
 I then have to do this in two batches as our cooker is rubbish and if the pan is too full, I never get a good rolling boil. Anyway add the sugar, bear in mind this ain't no diet recipe...450g sugar to every 600ml liquid. 
Bring to a good rolling boil and get to setting point, using a sugar thermometer is the best way, but there other tests, such as a rolling boil which won't stir down, or doing the wrinkle test on a saucer ever few minutes after about a good 10 mins boiling.
In the meanwhile I 'sterilise' washed jars in the oven for 10 mins at 150 degrees,  once it's at setting point, by whichever method you choose to check, take jars out of oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then Pot up and seal. I use cellophane discs dipped in brandy and original lids.
             And the final product.