Curlew Country

Candlemas Bells

2012-02-19T19:17:00.000Z

Sharp, blue skies and the promise of flowers brought me out of hibernation today. Finally we got to go off on our snowdrop walk and it was the perfect day. Cold, brisk and bright.

I've not been here for many years and it was lovely to return. There were more snowdrops in the woodlands than I remembered and fewer on the walk to the lake, but the display was just beautiful.

They were everywhere; carpeting bank sides, drifting through the trees, crowding together in pots and dotted singly here and there. The stiff breeze made their little heads nod and dance making the whole garden seem alive.

A short stroll through the trees brings you to a mile long lake, full of waterfowl and with an ancient boathouse. They're lovely things I think, but a bit sinister. In all those country house books and programmes, something terrible always happens in the boathouse!

The boys enjoyed a run about, collecting sticks as ever and Woody (although absolutely not a gardening fan) loved the gentle surroundings and being out in the fresh air.

Me - I just loved the flowers. Oodles of them, so early in the year was a joy. I'm getting fonder of cyclamen as I get older. There were some minuscule varieties dotted about that could have been bouquets for fairies.

Isn't this a clever trick? In amongst the borders are little mirrors so that you can see the delicacy and beauty of the inside of these little beauties. Genius.

And then, past this lovely private walk to the estate church, is the kitchen garden that one year I will definitely visit in July when it'll be fit to bursting with crops.

The Gardener's Cottage is still lived in and today smoke curled from the chimney across the fallow, turned beds. I find walled kitchen gardens fascinating, full of memories all those gardeners been and gone. Here there are espaliered fruit trees, Victorian greenhouses and traditional terracotta rhubarb forcers. One day I shall get to have a proper look around and not a two minute sprint, chasing small boys!

A truly lovely afternoon to remind you that winter is on the wane. There might still be plenty of time left for the frost, the snow and the cold but those weeks are numbered now. Spring is creeping up to the surface and even though we'll still be muffled up for ages, the flowers will flow. Crocus next then the narcissi and before too long the glorious bluebells. Bring it all on I say!

P.S. I've been faffing around with my blog again! You can choose to view it in which ever way suits you by selecting from the menu on the left - I rather like "magazine" but have fun choosing. Just select the picture in the top left hand corner for the latest post and I think commenting is the same as usual. Xxx

Dropping On...

2012-02-12T16:51:00.002Z

A local phrase (I think), meaning a lucky happenning or something you've hoped for,
falling in your lap...

Like after you've had to call off your planned walk to see the snowdrops in a lovely garden because the weather is just too bitter and foggy....

....and everyone is feeling a little fed up of the chill and the gloom...

....so you bundle up the family and head to a new favourite pub for Sunday lunch...

...and find that they've booked you onto the table right by the roaring fire.... dropping on indeed!

XxxxxxX

Winter Whirlwind

2012-02-05T17:35:00.000Z

Blimey what a week. I can't believe we're at Sunday afternoon again so quickly. Where did last week go? It started off for us with some brilliant news; my second nephew, little Charlie, arrived safe and sound and right on cue so there has been much visiting, cooing and baby talk around these parts let me tell you and pretty fantastic it is too.

Last Sunday was the birthday party for one our boys' closest friends. Since they've known each other we've become really firm friends with his mum and dad and really enjoy getting out and about with them and having many a good old laugh. One of their traditions is to have an outdoor party, despite their chap's birthday being in deepest January. Every year they plan a walk around the valley, a different route each time, and all his friends come along for an afternoon of fresh air, adventure and discovery.

It's such a brilliant afternoon and somehow the cold and chill adds to the whole event. This year we were walking around the old Victorian waterworks down the valley that were restored long ago to leave pools, water meadows and woodlands behind. We ventured along the canal too which even with 10 adults to chaperone 11 kids was a bit hair raising at times, but there were no splashes or incidents and we had a pretty marvellous time with a picnic lunch and hot chocolates at the pub playground the round things off.

Mind you it was absolutely freezing! The kids never noticed once but it was definitely one of those afternoons where you have to keep moving along or you just might freeze to the spot.

All this bunch needed was a stick and some ice on a marshy pond to keep them happy though.

I do love this time of year and find the bleached stems, stark branches and misty hollows quite amazing. You can see so much bleak beauty in the different textures and washed out colours all about.

And then the week got colder again, the air dry and still. Until yesterday when the wind got up and the clouds came down. The first flakes fell around lunchtime here and were that curious, powdery type that you think will never amount to much and then you turn back and the next time you look out of the window the trees are covered, the lawn has gone and you can't see the hills anymore.

All afternoon and evening it fell so we cancelled plans and stayed home to play and cook. By the boys' bedtime the radio brought news that the city roads had ground to a halt (as usual), cars were being abandoned and the football crowds were stuck at the stadium. I was so glad to be home ringing out soggy trousers, gloves and coats and getting ready for bed in our little house, covered in a deep blanket of snow.

Today we're warming up under dripping rooves and trees. Woody's igloo is holding it's own but the roads are clear again and it looks like we'll be back to normal in the morning. Fun while it lasted though.

P.S. Thank you ever so much for all the lovely comments on my scribbling! They made me smile so much and blush rather too. Bless you and thanks again.xxx

Daydreaming

2012-01-28T20:15:00.002Z

I do spend probably far too much time imagining what life would be like in my dream house. Nothing would really be any different of course but I can get lost in my head for ages conjuring up what china would be on the dresser, how many tea towels would be hung in front of the Aga to dry, what paraphernalia would adorn the wooden airer over the kitchen table, how the light might fall on the landing stairs on a summer morning and the view down the garden through a pair of, most probably, very rickety French windows.

Now it's important to know that I have never seen this house of my dreams, never set foot in it either, but inside my head it is very real indeed and sometimes I feel I surely must have lived there. But I haven't. Although last week I thought I might have finally, actually clapped eyes on it, on the telly. You know, on one of those sell up and move to the wilds and spend the odd few hundred thousand (plus more) on a little place for the weekend sort of programmes?

I was babysitting at my sister's house at the time and sat for ages with the screen on pause, all goose-bumpy and shivery, thinking, "That's it - our house! And it's Cornwall, a pebble throw from the beach - it must be mine!"

Well of course it's not but I could hardly bear to press play again so I decided to draw it. I am a very childish, amateur sketcher and don't get around it it very often at all but I could think of no other way to capture my dream home and a scrap of paper and an old Biro I found were the only tools to hand.

Later I added a little colour. Just a few touches with my treasured "sorry boys these are mummy's", naughty pencils. Don't they look beautiful in this adorable roll I won on Nicole's Pay It Forward blog post. It came on my birthday a while ago and is absolutely just what I needed to keep my precious colours nice and safe and I think now they're so easily to hand I may have a go at sketching something else. Thank you so much Nicole, I love it enormously and will be running my own Pay it Forward soon.

Now I know this is quite hopeless as far as drawings go and the only reason I have posted a picture is that I'm sure the paper version will get creased, torn, covered in juice etc etc so I wanted to have a permanent reminder of my dream home. So on the blog it must go, embarrassingly.

Until the day I find my dream house, buy it, tidy and replant the garden, cut flowers from it for the kitchen table, open the windows and let the sound of gulls and the waves stream in, stack muddy wellies by the back door, hang our laundry on the line, bake bread in the Aga and slump on a comfy old sofa by the fire with my boys and look out of those rickety French windows down the garden for myself. Xxx

New Year, New Start

2012-01-15T19:14:00.002Z

I love simple weekends and now I'm at work lots more, this weekend was just perfect. My first week in the new job has been full on to say the least but I've really, really enjoyed getting back into the line of work I'm experienced in. There's lots to learn and do (which is pretty daunting) but my new colleagues are lovely and very welcoming.

We're sorting out a different routine at home to make sure we can still spend as much time together sharing and doing the things we love. Woody is manfully taking on more cooking and I've been making up soups, casseroles and sauces for the freezer and some cakes for the tins.

I was worrying about having enough time to keep shopping locally, and really didn't want to go back to doing a big supermarket shop at all, so we've sorted it out. I'm visiting the butcher twice a month and portioning up mince, joints (and cheese!) for the freezer, doing a big weekend cook up or bringing something home from the family butcher in the town where I work that raises its own livestock and makes the most delicious free range sausages ever!

Our greengrocer is a complete star and is delivering us a box of veg a week if I drop him an email with what we'd like. This week's order came on Wednesday with just some watercress missing; unavailable. It was only an extra really for my lunchbox salads and I wouldn't have missed it. But the next day there was our greengrocer on the doorstep, full of apology and a bag of the green stuff.

I'm genuinely agog at this magnificent service. We paid up there and then but he's happy for us to call into the shop or send a cheque in the post. Everything arrived in brown paper bags in a cardboard box, not a single piece of plastic in sight and its all gone straight into our recycling bins.

The fruit and veg is the most fantastic quality and at 60p for an enormous Savoy cabbage, completely affordable. They won't even accept a delivery charge as they don't mind calling in on their way home. They deserve a medal but instead I've nominated them for a Hidden Gem award on here

We're making the most of the milkman too (ooh that sounds rather dodgy doesn't it!) He's delivering butter, fruit juice and our bread as well as the lake of milk we seem to get through each week. So that leaves just a few bits and pieces to pick up from the bargain supermarket or the village shop.

I swear its cheaper than a big weekly shop. I can get easily distracted in a supermarket by the sweet treats, essential clothes and fancy bits of this and that I think we'd use. This way we support great independent traders, eat fabulous food and still keep a close eye on the pennies too.

So we celebrated with a family lunch today with mum and dad for company. Roast chicken (don't panic not one of our girls, they're strictly pets and egg layers), sweet potato gratin, roast potatoes, cabbage, broccoli and carrots then pear, ginger and chocolate crumble with custard for pudding. I don't think I'm going to eat again for a week!

There's no better way to spend a chilly afternoon that us all huddled around the kitchen table, remembering happy times with family who've sadly long gone, sharing tales and passing the time. It was such a cosy afternoon and its been a great weekend spent swimming, playing with the boys, visiting the library, lots of drawing and a lovely treat for Woody and me last night. We celebrated my new job and Woody's contract being confirmed here for a cosy meal and time to talk. Can't remember the last time I put on a frock and going out shoes!

Smashing. Just the way weekends should be in my book. Hope yours has been lovely too. Xxx

Edited to add: For Sally and anyone else in our neck of the woods, please do support Totally Locally Leek and give our fab traders a try. There's a brill £5 offer scheme on currently with great bargains too. The wonderful greengrocers is Harrisons', the shop is open everyday apart from Sunday (I think) and you can find it on the edge of the Butter Market Hall, even when that's closed. The full market stall is open Wednesdays and Saturdays. I'm not sure they do delivery as a regular thing btw. My butcher is Meakins inside the Butter Market Hall but they also have a shop tucked away in the back streets at the top of Queen Street. Don't miss the fabulous fishmonger in the Butter Market (Select Fresh Fish - again top notch quality and great service) too which is open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Thanks for the fantastically enhusiastic comments. You'd all laugh if you could see how disorganised I am which goes to show shopping locally isn't that tricky if you have good independent traders close at hand, they can just take a bit of searching out I guess.

Slow Start

2012-01-07T12:17:00.002Z

It seems to be taking me ages to gear up and get to grips with this New Year. 2012, goodness. I remember when I was small thinking that I'd be ancient by the time the Millennium came around (all of 26) so 2012 seems pretty futuristic.

January has blown in on a fierce gale that's still buffeting our valley this morning. Trees are thrashing about, bending and bowing in the wind and chilled me to the bone out feeding the hens this morning. So B and I are cosying up indoors while the hardier souls in our family go for a swim.

Now the decorations are put away again, signs of the New Year are appearing. The first week of January always sees the first jug of daffodils on my mantelpiece. Thanks to the mild start to winter they've been around for weeks but I'm very strict about not buying any until after Christmas, a little herald of the spring that is still so far away.

I like winter, it's a slow Spring I despair of a bit. My favourite pastime this time of the year is daydreaming about the garden. My books come out again and piles appear on the kitchen table for a quiet read with a cup of coffee and by the lamp in the living room for the evening.

This is the stash on the kitchen table, mostly food and gardens. I've turned into a complete Monty Don convert recently. Once upon a time I found him a bit snobby if I'm honest but since he came back to Gardener's World I've really enjoyed his gentle, mellow approach to growing and his writing is fantastic.

The Ivington Diaries is next on my wish list and a bargain, second hand copy of The Weekend Gardener is one its way to me too.

Seeds have been ordered, seed potatoes are on their way and I've been doing lots of scribbling in my notebook. My head is full of ideas to change the borders. We've been here for four years now so a fair few perennials could do with being divided and rejuvenated.

(A thrifty New Year find. Anything that reminds me of The Good Life finds a home at our house! I can just imagine this poster on the wall in Tom and Barbara's kitchen.)

I'm not too confident about setting too but suppose I ought to really just go for it really. Not just yet. Time to do a bit more thinking and enjoy some more cosy, midwinter days.

Looking Forward and Back

2011-12-31T22:21:00.000Z

Another year has spun past and tomorrow the next opens up, all clean and new. 2011 has been full of great things, a few tricksy problems yes but nothing we couldn't cope with in the end and it's when you look back you can see best what a lot of blessings you had to count isn't it.

I've enjoyed so many things this past year, many are familiar and comforting but there were some new experiences and the joy of watching our little chaps grow bigger (a lot bigger!) and their lives and what they're interested in change and shift. So I thought I might make a list, well two actually because I can't resist a list. One looking back at some of the best things of 2011 and another looking into the year ahead and to get all excited about.

2011 highlights:

Growing in the garden - I grew much more from seed this year and it added another dimension to our little plot. Even though the summer was dreary the garden seemed full to the brim of colour.

A Cornish swim - On the last day of our holiday the sun shone all day and the north coast in the first days of September was utter paradise. While the boys demolished some ice creams I pinched one of their little body boards and had the best fun for half an hour making a prat out of myself in the waves. I handed it back then and spent ages swimming up and down watching the surfers and people enjoying a perfect summer's day back on the beach. I can still feel the water and hear the gulls and my boys laughing in the surf.

Kitchen tales - from somewhere I've learnt this year just to have a bash in the kitchen and see how it turns out and not worry so much. We've had new flavours, been a bit more adventurous and now I can't imagine how I cooked before. For the first time in years I've felt happy to have friends over for something simple to eat and a chance to catch up.

Vintage shop - I never thought I'd get around to it but I did this year and Curlew Vintage has been fantastic. Thank you everyone who's bought something, I really appreciate at it and you should hear the shouts of excitement from my house when a sale comes through!

Baving - a daft Woody phrase but I have completely got into holidaying in our little van. Tootling off to pastures new and setting up on a cheery site for a bit of exploring, cosy evenings under our blankets and tea in a tin mug adventures was fantastic.

That Wedding - oh it was such a great day. The party in my sister's street was just the business. Everything they'd hoped it to be, we had such a great time. There've been street barbeques, firework parties and all sorts since and plans for the Jubilee are coming along nicely. Ace.

For 2012:

The Plimps - I've got no idea why this is Woody's names for the Olympic Games but we can't wait to get down the Smoke for the cycling road race. Like everyone else we got zero tickets so this is our best chance to see it up close (and our favourite sport too) but we'll be following everything from the water polo to the shot put at home too.

Patio Produce - we're saying goodbye to the allotment now I'll be working full time but now we know what we love to grow I've been planning how to make the best use out of the space outside the kitchen door for beans, peas, salads, soft fruits, courgettes and lots more.

Eggs, eggs, eggs - our girls are very at home in the garden these days and bless them they've kept laying all winter so far and don't seem to mind being out in the rain or even snow. Very tough our girls. Easter with our own eggs will be great.

New family - best 'til last though...saving up all my good luck for my sister and her family who'll be welcoming a new little one at the end of next month. An auntie x2 - how great is that!

Happy, happy New Year. Hope it brings lots of lovely memories for you. Xxx

A Green Christmas

2011-12-28T21:38:00.000Z

No frost or snow this year but wintry brightness, low sun and wind roaring in the chimney.

A true green Christmas

I've been cosyed up with my lovely family for days on end and its been ever so marvellous. There have been Lego marathons, hours spent on the carpet building various things and lots of special time devouring books, having family chats, enjoying favourite films and some championship slumping.

Today we spent the afternoon with good friends, tramping through the woods and up the lanes getting some much needed fresh air. My stinking cold returned the day before Christmas Eve and all the preparations were pretty hard work this year. It was a shame not to have my usual energy for it all so I concentrated on just the really important bits and well, we got there in the end.

Thank goodness for my mum who was a marvellous assistant chef on Christmas Day and we all managed to sit down on time and nothing got burnt, so huge result. Cooking the biggest meal of the year with a raging temperature and a hacking cough wasn't perfect but we were all together and having fun and that's what mattered.

Today was just what I needed and I'm definitely on the mend.

And the mulled wine we had at a favourite cosy pub definitely helped me back up the hill!

A few more days snuggled up in my cosy new pyjamas and some Christmas reads will definitely see it off.

Its been a really extra special Christmas so far with some lovely memories made to treasure. And lots more to look forward to with visits to friends and mum's birthday celebrations on New Year's Eve. Time to squeeze in a little more slumping yet though I think. Pass the Roses!

Solstice

2011-12-22T20:06:00.002Z

To mark the solstice yesterday I went into the garden and gathered up all the greenery I could find to hang from our doors and celebrate the turning of the year and the coming of Christmas.

My patch was looking pretty dreary and very muddy after the snow and I wasn't sure there'd be much at all but in amongst the stalks of dissolving perennials I found ribbons of ivy, glossy holly, fir and lots of laurel so there was plenty for a huge front door bough and some for the kitchen door too.

I decided against wrestling with it all to make a wreath and gathered it all together in a great big swag which to be honest would look more at home on a big wooden farmhouse door (in my dreams!) or a lovely door with stained glass panels and painted in some gorgeous chalky Farrow & Ball shade, but even on our 70s glass panelled thingy it really does cheer me up and makes me sing the holly and the ivy over and over again!

And one last decoration decks the halls, not made by me but something I bought at the craft market in the next village a few weeks ago. I love it's bright cheery colours and patterns so much!

Almost there now. Still plenty to do (more cleaning, baking, still more wrapping - does it ever end!) but we're all at home now and really looking forward to happy cosy days with precious family, time for fun, sitting back and enjoying it all - and an industrial amount of chocolates I think.

Wishing everyone a joyous and happy, happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year for you and all your loved ones. Xxxx

Cosy Snow Days

2011-12-17T21:52:00.000Z

Ooh my Christmas wish came true! Every year I hope and keep just about everything crossed for a little of the white stuff in the build up to the big day. We've had a few flakes already but yesterday and today it has snowed and snowed and snowed! We've had it all from spitting hail to feather like flakes that have drifted across the village in lacy veils.

There's not so much of it lying about but I suppose that was a good job really because I've been a busy bee flitting to town and back, stocking up on essentials for our little feast (you know, vital things like Elizabeth Shaw mints and greaseproof paper).

All the orders are in now with the butcher, greengrocer, fishmonger and delicatessen and I can hardly wait to pick up my treasures on Christmas Eve. I had little man with me as we dashed about before an appointment to get his bunged up ears sorted out. Poor love has an ear infection but the antibiotics are doing their thing now and he was the most fantastic company, enchanted by the lights and fabulously dressed windows all over the town. I love seeing the festivities through their eyes.

While daddy was out doing some last minute shopping this afternoon, we three holed up at home and got busy baking. I've been determined this year to overcome my mince pie nightmares - I've never managed to make a decent one. Ever. Always too heavy and doughy. So this year I turned to Nigella and blimey I think it might have worked!

Well, we'll see wait and see how they go down with the family tomorrow when we all catch up. B really got into the pastry making side of things. Took it very seriously!

Little man has devoured three already, I didn't think they'd be his sort of thing at all but turns out we've got a new favourite. Well, bit more of this wrapping lark to do yet so I'd better get to it. Xxx

Christmas Home

2011-12-14T19:05:00.003Z

I can't wait to hit the downhill run - can you? Next week the holidays start, there are only a couple more school and office days to do and the nice things like a family lunch, cocktails with my sister, carol services and lots of baking are all stacking up nicely.

I'll admit to feeling a little bit martyrish about the festivities today, but only for about five minutes. As a rule I avoid this sensation like the plague because I'm a firm believer in making the Christmas you'd like to have. No one (least of all the man in the house) makes me do anything but most years I have a little wobble during the build up when I feel I'm trying to single handedly deliver Christmas on a plate for everyone.

But actually no ones' asking me to. Only me. Stupid isn't it. Woody is under the cosh with work and really all I want is to share the wrapping and the fetching and carrying etc and get a bit of Christmas spirit going with him. But he's a bloke and most I know don't have a clue what I'm talking about. They'd be fine with Christmas dinner at the local curry house to be honest. Which all in all is how it should be isn't it - a celebration, not hassle. But I love to pull out all the stops (very simple stops) for the boys and therefore, I guess I'll have to pull them.

And when you think what many families have to deal with, grumbles about who's done all the wrapping etc get firmly put away. So they are. (Woody interviewed the amazing team here last week and we're hoping the publicity will help to raise lots more funds).

So I've taken a step back this afternoon just to enjoy how Chrsitmas has crept into the house. The dresser is pretty much groaning with decorations now and our lovely friends dropped around a beautiful gift for us on Sunday. Ginourmous bunches of holly, smothered in berries. Perfect

With the heating on full blast and a warm fire in the living room I've crowned just a couple of the pictures with sprigs because otherswise they'll be dry and dull by the big day, so instead I've filled jugs for the table and the mantlepiece instead. I think I prefer it.

Some very beautiful cards are going up too, most are treats to myself I've collected over the years which is quite embarrassing if anyone looks inside them but they're so lovely I couldn't resist!

(this one's genuine honest - a birthday card from me to Woody)

Time now to sort out party clothes for a day of fun at school tomorrow and find that wrapping paper I've stashed somewhere! Hope the festivities aren't too hectic with you. Xxx

P.S. Almost forgot - thanks for all your warm wishes on our good news. I've got a new job! From the New Year I'm moving to a different part of the NHS locally and doing a smiliar role (but much more straightforward) and thankfully with more hours and working with a lovely team. Keeping the wolf from the door has been really hard this year after my hours were reduced so the relief at home is absolutely huge! Happy Christmas!

Jolly and Joyful

2011-12-11T14:13:00.001Z

We reckoned we'd earned a treat, Woody and me, after several week of really hard work and a fair bit of stress too. But on Friday everything changed. We got some fantastic news that changes things so brilliantly for our family and our fortunes too. I can't really say what until tomorrow but you know that miserable post I wrote a few weeks ago, well all that's behind me if you see what I mean!

We haven't been to Oxford in a long, long time and have really fond memories of a special weekend there before we were married, on a tourist board press trip where we were treated fabulously and were lucky enough to stay at the marvellous Randolph Hotel, opposite the Ashmolean Museum.

So with some help from the grandparents we tootled off for a day away yesterday and before 11 o'clock we were strolling down Broad Street, muffled up against the cold and enjoying a pretty fantastic saunter.

We lingered around the stunning quads and courtyards of the Bodliean Library for ages, admiring the soaring architecture and a beautifully simple Christmas Tree.

Our Christmas shopping is done and safely stashed away so yesterday we had nothing better to do than have a good old explore of the city's alleys and lanes, cosying up in an ancient inn or two with a mug of mulled wine and good old window shop.

We discovered Oxford's incredible covered market too. Oh my word. You all know how I love our little market in town but goodness me, this place was utter paradise! Stalls with the most amazing produce, quirky little boutiques and so many fabulous places to eat you could choose a different one for each day of the week. The fishmonger especially was out of this world. We had a lovely hour in here and stopped for lunch in a cosy cafe with scrubbed tables and read the papers while we watched the world go by.

Coming from a small town it was a real treat to browse in some really wonderful shops. I adored the maps and prints on display in this window and I finally got to set foot in Brora, Toast and Fat Face having only ever seen their catalogues before. Some very special pyjamas came home with me from Fat Face too (I can't remember the last time I bought any new clothes just for me). A treat to myself for my good news - roll on Christmas Eve when I shall be most definitely snuggled up in them by the fire.

And then there were to colleges too of course. I'm full of admiration for those who study here. I'm fascinated by the cloistered atmosphere and the mysterious staircases leading to the world of study. My university days in London are long behind me but there's a little part of me that wishes I'd worked harder and I'd aimed for here.

But we had a fabulous visit. A very happy, festive day and time to share it together. First class.

And Winter Came...

2011-12-05T17:34:00.001Z

Watching the seasons change marks the rythym of my year. Traditions and rituals of each month and quarter might be small sometimes but I couldn't be without them. This weekend winter took over. The light dropped further, the wind picked up and the air had that sharp, almost metallic, tang to it that can only herald a frost.

We woke to snow this morning. Just a skittering across the tops of the highest hills around our valley and a little on the lawn and rooftops. But defintiely snow so winter has arrived. Along with a stinking cold - marvellous! I've been fighting it off for what feels like weeks but since Thursday I've been properly laid low and spent most of today in bed but I think I've begun to see it off. Oh well, better to have it now than in a couple of weeks time. Just hope no-one else at home gets it.

Despite the sniffles we've made a slow start to the festivities at home. There's a colourful tree up in the living room, a few paper chains and lights and some little decorations appearring about the place, just in time for a get together with my sister's family who'll be away in the West Coutnry with in-laws for Christmas. We had such a cosy day full of delicious food, playing with little ones and plenty of chat. Smashing.

I like a slow start to the festive season. A bit of decorating here, some baking there and plenty of time to savour, enjoy and take it all in. Things all ramp up and get a bit hectic before school finishes so now is the time to try and keep things S.L.O.W

Standing stirring homemade soup is a thing to take your time over I think. Twenty minutes chopping, softening and stirring vegetables full of flavour while watching the birds on the feeders and the snow showers whip across the fields is time well spent. Pumpkin today.

Time now to cosy up under the eiderdown on the sofa, light the fire and curl up with a seasonal read (Miss Read most probably). So how about you? Glad to see winter already?

Goodbye Autumn

2011-11-26T14:37:00.001Z

Not long left of my favourite season now but it really has been fabulous this year. The lack of frosts meant the colours turned quite slowly and perhaps weren't quite as vibrant as other autumns, but I have loved and savoured the mellowing and turning of the year towards the darkness.

It's been so mild, week after week, that we've been out and about a fair bit and seen the season move on across the countryside. There have been walks with friends, trips out to nature reserves and plenty of strolls to school where we've noticed the subtle transformation from high summer in October, to this weekend when winter is most definitely knocking at the door.

I've really enjoyed the occasional days of crisp sunshine, mornings of low mists and mellow late afternoons when the shadows have been enormously long and dusk has crept up on us. I even like the fog and love those days when its grey, almost dark and feels like the sun hasn't got out of bed all day.

The right weather at the right time of year is all I want. I love the atmosphere of bleakness and dreary days now because that's the trade off for it still being light at half past ten in June.

Yet again Autumn has flown by. Spring can take an age to arrive and eventually turn into summer can't it, but Autumn always disappears in a flash, especially as it didn't really get going until mid-October this year and it's been almost warm ever since.

Today I can feel it has waved goodbye. Looking out of the kitchen window this afternoon I can see right through the hawthorn hedges that bound the garden, not a leaf left. Across the fields the great beech trees on the hill are already completely bare and the sky is lowering all the while. The grass is a dull, dormant green now and down the valley the wood is every shade of brown and black.

A keen wind is buffeting the hens as they peck around my forlorn looking borders and their feathers are ruffling as they go. Black headed gulls and rooks tumble through the air over the fields and I've glimpsed the occasional flock of redwings and field fares streaking over the hedges in search of berries.

The garden birds are few and far between at the moment; a few blue tits, some male blackbirds and the robin of course but I hear this week the temperature will fall a little more and I'm hoping to see the first reed buntings return along with the finches. We've had one unusual visitor, a yellow-browed warbler spent an afternoon flitting around the hedge. I've never seen one before and they're rare visitors to these part of the country apparently.

There's so much to look forward to now. Until the end of January I'm in love with winter. More time for cosy cooking, quiet afternoons with the paper by the fire and playing Lego with small boys. I've got a list as long as your arm and the festive build up section looks like this:

:: Go ice skating at the outdoor Christmas rink

:: Make more soup (Butternut Squash has been November's favourite)

:: A walk in the woods with my friend to gather greenery and a few berries then make wreaths for our doors

:: Sunday afternoon trip to see Arthur Christmas

:: The Christmas tree hunt

:: Christmas curry night with friends

:: Mince pie and jam tart making session

:: Carol & Gift services

:: Learn to make hot chocolate from scratch

So you can see I'm looking forward but I'm a little sad to say goodbye to the colour and magic of Autumn. Here's to staying cosy Xxx

P.S. My boys are back from Turkey safe and sound, very tired but full of news - thanks for all your lovely wishes.

P.P.S Thanks to everyone who's shopped at Curlew Vintage this past week. More new arrivals will be in the shop in a week or so's time. Thanks again!

Curlew Vintage - Late Autumn Arrivals

2011-11-19T22:41:00.001Z

A new range of vintage homewares and lovely decorative items have made their way onto Curlew Vintage today. There are things for Christmas, books from memory lane, something to wear and a colourful crochet blaket to curl up in too.

You can also find vintage Pyrex, some period kitchenalia and pretty things for the home

Enjoy having a browse and I hope you find something that takes your fancy. Thank you to everyone who has shopped at Curlew Vintage already. Xxx

Gearing Up...

2011-11-16T18:30:00.001Z

It's been a fairly busy tumbly old time this past week or so. What with cats needing emergency vet visits (Bertie is back home and perking up no end now thankfully after fighting off a massive infection), big presentations at work, birthdays and trips of a lifetime to prepare for, things have all been a bit chaotic.

Which is why a trip out today with a really lovely friend was just what I needed. We woke this morning to heavy mist that thickened to fog and a chill in the air that deepened through the day. A belated brithday outing, (I had a lovely day last week and was properly spoilt with homemade cards, lovely flowers, another trip to Ludlow and a new frock!) this was a special trip over the hills to Chatsworth House to peruse the sparkly, seasonal gifts and decorations that's been on our to do list since the summer and it didn't disappoint.

We were both very restrained though and despite much oohing and ahhing at gorgeous things we came home with a couple of small trinkets and family presents; I think we enjoyed the beautiful journey and a chance to chat more than anything. Feeling very festive now, definitely the thing to put us in the mood - although to be fair, my friend P and I are always ready for Christmas, even in June!

Preparations wise we're not doing too badly this year and might even be a little bit ahead of the game (gone and jinxed things good and proper now haven't I!) I've been hoovering up festive magazines and squirrelling away treasures and bargains for weeks and we're not far off for once.

It's a good thing really as next week I've got the chance to wrap and indulge myself in festive things as Woody and B will be away. Far away. Almost on another continent. They were really lucky to be picked for a school exchange as part of a British Council initiative to link up 3 schools across Europe.

On Monday they fly (with 2 other children, plus a parent, and 2 teachers), to a town close to the Turkish capital Ankara for a 5 day stay. Amazingly all the costs are paid for so the children get the opportunity to share and learn and visit amazing places they'd never have the chance to otherwise.

I can't believe he's going. The idea that he'll be the other side of Europe without me is bizarre and unnerving. Of course he'll be with his amazing daddy and great teachers but our little family has never been apart before so its going to feel so very strange. He's only 8! News of earthquakes and terror arrests over there don't make me feel any easier either. I know its all going to be fine and we're giving him a truly brilliant experience, life is all about risk and adventure I suppose, but next Friday night really can't come soon enough..

So Little Arch and I will be at home alone and we've made lots of plans. Tea at a Chinese restaurant with Grandma and Grandad, a visit to the library for festive books, a trip to the Christmas lights switch on and market in a neighbouring village and lots and of lots of reading, drawing and game playing by the fire. Notice anyone trying to distract themselves...?

Bonfiring

2011-11-05T22:32:00.002Z

Christmas Eve aside, tonight is my most favourite night of the year. There's something magical and a bit primal about crowds of people walking through the dark night, towards the brightness, to gather around the fire on the hill.

We like to make a bit of a party of this colourful night with friends and a few garden fireworks to get things off to a bang. A special feast is called for too. Jacket potatoes, oven baked sausages with honey and grainy mustard, butternut squash soup, good cheese, garlic mushrooms, then ginger cake and mulled cider to wash it all down. Delicious.

The magic of sparklers never lessens does it? Or the nervousness!

Then we join the throng walking up the hill and head for the first of the two big village displays this week, with bangs and flashes filling the air all around us.

Eleven years ago Woody and I had our very first date on Bonfire night. What a long way we've come. It's a special, special night for us.

And after having had this camera for two years, at long last I've finally figured out the firework setting. There's no stopping me now! Just a few more I promise.

Marvellous stuff. Hope you had fun too.

P.S. Thanks so very much for all your kind thoughts and wishes on my down in the dumps post. They really did cheer me up and helped me to focus on the positive this last week which really rubbed off on what I was doing at work. I've managed to push a few important bits of things forward and spoken up about what I was finding difficult or unrealistic. Can't thank you all enough. Blogging is a brilliant thing. Thank you. Xxx

Happier Outside

2011-10-26T22:11:00.001+01:00

Every now and again I crack. When all the bits of things I'm trying to juggle come crashing down and I don't know how to pick them all up again. What's most ridiculous (and I've given myself a good talking to about it) is that these things aren't life threatening or damaging. Just stressful. I'm not very good with stress.

And with me it's always work stress that brings things crashing down and it did for me again this week. Working fewer hours (not through choice), with more and more demands and yet again lots more change, has proved rather too much.

I find it hard to switch off and keep thinking of what there is to do and how to do it. Again, not through choice. I'm not a workaholic or a career mad type. I just want to do a good job. When I'm there.

There have been tears and sleepless nights this week but I've had enough of that. Other people have real problems, at least I've still got a job, or part of one. So today I'm at home with my precious boys and I knew just what would help. Getting out. I wanted to feel the wind blow, kick leaves about and hear them laugh.

Bless them. It never fails. How can you be distracted by anything else when you have such joyful, funny inquisitive souls for company.

We laughed, visited the pigs who live in the wood, found colourful leaves and played see saws on fallen logs.

And when we came home we brought a little of the outside in and made leaf bunting and some lovely stained glass leaves for the windows, inspired by Lou.

As usual improvisation was the name of the day (I never seem to have the right crafty things at the right time) but it turned out that colouring in waxed discs for jam pots works pretty well instead of tissue paper. Not sure where my boys have seen pink and purple leaves but I think they're pretty marvellous.

So I'm feeling much better, calmer and rational. It's only work. I can only do my best. Onwards and upwards as they say. Tomorrow is another day and it's autumn after all. So I will smile x

Last and First

2011-10-15T22:43:00.000+01:00

This is usually the week when the first autumn frost blackens the foliage of tender plants in my garden. Even though the sun shone the air was sharp this morning and my breath rose in clouds as I pottered about with the hens.

Almost time for the garden to go to sleep. Each time I look at the borders there are more gaps and more brown stems as it fades away.

Picking my final bunch of flowers for the house has become an annual ritual, a marker of the seasons that I have come to love. I don't feel sad, thankful rather to my little garden that has given so much through spring, summer and early autumn and it jolly well deserves a rest.

This is my final hurrah posy that celebrates another colourful growing season. There are a few odd blooms left but gradually everything is fading and I'll leave those last ones in place for the bees and insects to enjoy while they can.

Our garden falls away from the house and as the season moves on and the leaves fall from the hedge and trees, the view across the valley really opens up so we get to enjoy the hills and the visiting wildlife while the garden slumbers under the frost and snow.

Inside, the lamps go on earlier and I love to close the curtains and light the house as the sun goes down sooner and sooner each evening. This little corner of the kitchen is a favourite cosy spot and I'm enjoying what I suppose are the last bunch of dahlias from the greengrocer this year too.

Chrysanthamums are still going strong of course. Mine are almost, almost ready so I'm bringing them into the greenhouse to keep Jack Frost's nippy fingers off them.

So these are the last but what is the first?

Well, today was the fist time I got that flippy, excited tummy feeling when I cast my mind to thinking of what I might be preparing and cooking at Christmas.

Too early to plan I know - but never too early to imagine!

P.S. Thank you, thank you so very much for all your wonderful messages of support for my little vintage venture. Every word of good wishes and encouragement has been really, really appreciated this week. And to everyone who has purchased thank you so much again. I've certainly kept the village post office busy this week! More lovely things coming soon. Xxxx

A Little Vintage Venture

2011-10-08T18:30:00.002+01:00

Well I've been meaning to do this for a long time and finally I've conquered (sort of) the technology and I have a little vintage web shop open for business.

Curlew Vintage is a small virtual shop stocking treasures that I find on my travels and haven't space at home to display or imagine someone else may want to give a home to. From 1940s Christmas decorations to crochet blankets for cosying up with, there's plenty to choose from.

My aim is to keep things affordable as anything vintage seems to have rocketed through the roof recently but things are becoming harder to find.

I'll be adding a new selection every few weeks so keep checking back and I'll put up reminders on the blog.

I hope you enjoy having a browse and if you notice any problems or things that need fixing please let me know! This just a little hobby for me, not a big business but I promise to make sure I'm top notch for service and will get anything to you as quick as a flash.

So here goes... Curlew Vintage is online!

Golden Garden

2011-09-28T19:35:00.002+01:00

It definitely feels like summer outside this week, but there are plenty of signs that we're already well into the season to follow. It was hot and balmy this afternoon but while I got some gardening jobs done I realised that the sky was rather still and very quiet. All this dreary summer long the housemartins, who nested above our bedroom window, have flitted in and out as they raised their four broods and every sunny day the skies over the meadows were thick with birds chattering and calling to each other.

But now they've gone. Off again for another year, maybe heading out across the Channel or pausing down south for a pit stop while the sun shines again. Driving past the farm yesterday there wasn't a swallow left sitting on the telegraph wires. Susan Hill likens the arrival and the departure of the swifts as "hidden apostrophes around the summer" as most are gone by the second week in August. The housemartins though stretch the season on and it seems strange that the week summer finally reappearred, they have not.

My Sarah Raven sweet peas have been a roaring success this year. The scent from this dark mix I planted in a half barrel on the patio are so heady that it carries on the breeze and into the house. My only problem with them is that once they're in a jug they can look rather sombre without all the greenery. I've mixed mine in with other flowers but next year I think I shall plump for the brights mix instead.

Another sign of Autumn despite the tempreatures. I've spent the afternoon potting up crocus and narcissi for a lovely show by the doors early in the spring. While I was at it I put these sweet cyclamen and a pretty heather in a planter for some colour for this season. I'll add a few more I think and in a month or so I'll pile up some gourds we've been growing and a pumpkin or two on the doorstep.

Florence in the garden

The hens have really matured now and we're finding two or three eggs a day, the boys are besides themselves! Plenty of arguing goes on everyday about who's turn it is to check.

Autumn flowers are filling the garden with late colour and the bees are having a field day. Helianthus Lemon Queen (I think, it came from the WI with no label!) is a real favourite of mine. I should have staked it really I suppose but I do enjoy the way it weaves and waves around. Last Autumn I split it and now it bookends my patio border and I get a lovely view of it from the kitchen window with pots of dhalias behind.

I've added lots of asters to the garden this year. I think ideally, if I had the space, I'd indugle in a big prairie scheme but with fewer grasses (not so mad about those) but in our little patch I'm adding asters and rudbekias where ever I can manage to fit them.

This lovely plant is Aster Little Carlow, I've been wishing for it for a long time and found one at the Chatsworth Plant Fair a couple of weeks ago on an afternoon out with my sister.

Not sure which this is, it was the only flowering plant in our garden when we arrived and its a very lovely thing. There's something so simple but perfect about asters. I love the colours and the way they wave in the breeze and look fantastic in this low, golden late September light.

Talking of which, the sun has just set. 7 o'clock and dusk outside already. I can hear a tawny owl calling from the wood. Must go and fetch that washing in and put the hens to bed. Night night.

Thrifty Autumn Outfit

2011-09-25T12:01:00.000+01:00

Now I know summer is supposed to rocket back in later this week and bring us the sort of temperatures we haven't seen around here since April, but that's a blip as far as I'm concerned. There is a bowl full of conkers on the kitchen table, asters in a jug on the mantelpiece and I've cooked a crumble already.

All this means that it is most definitely autumn and therefore perfectly fine to wear my pumpkin coloured cardigan. So I have. With my new frock. Both fairly recent charity shop finds (cardi = Per Una, dress = Florence & Fred at Tesco), I've been waiting and waiting for the temperature to drop so that I can team these two with my faithful brown boots and some delicious looking, rusty orange tights I found in New Look last week.

Oh I do like wearing frocks with tights and boots. There is a cosiness to this sort of outfit that I can't describe. I am just so much more comfortable in this attire than thin summery skirts and things with short sleeves.

So I will succumb to the sunshine later in the week and wear something light and airy, but inside I shall be railing and wishing for a nip in the air.

Have a lovely week. First recipe added to the home cooking page at last. More to follow soon!

Foraging Time

2011-09-17T14:34:00.000+01:00

It seems our hedgerow harvest is a little behind most of the country. I've read of people missing the blackberries already but around our way only a few have ripened so far. I tramped across the fields this morning, dodging the showers and sheltering under beech trees when the rain was heavy, on a little foraging trip hoping for fruit.

Solo tramping was very relaxing but rather quiet. My little men begged to stay at home today and finish some mammoth Lego construction with daddy supervising and who am I to argue? After a long week, concentrating hard at school all they wanted was to be left to play, cosy in pyjamas with toast and hot chocolate to keep them going. I think they deserved it.

There were hips and haws a plenty on the hedgerows and some beautifully dusky sloes but as we're not really drinkers I thought I'd leave those for the birds rather than take them to make sloe gin with.

I've had my eye on a lovely crab apple tree all summer but the little fruits are still quite hard, bright green and firm on the tree so another forage in a few more weeks will hopefully yield up a crop of rosy apples ready for picking. Crab apple jelly with cheddar cheese and some smoky ham is divine.

Hunting was much better along the canal side. In this picture you can see the line of trees I walked along (from right to left) and then I cut through the water treatment plant (with my nose closed!) and down onto the tow path.

Its a funny day today, every time I took my hood down the rain returned, even though the sun was so bright.

This is my way back, past the narrow boats home to a few hardy souls. Today there was woodsmoke curling from a chimney and the smell followed me all the way home. Autumn is truly in the air.

Wellies by the back door is a sure sign the year is getting older. Crocs and sandals are packed away for months now. Time to gather my little haul of purpleness and make a crumble for lunch tomorrow. Yippee!!

Thanks for all your lovely comments about market shopping and recipes. Its especially great to hear from people who know our little market, small world!

Quite a few people have asked for some of the recipes and now at last I have worked out how to add separate pages to my blog I though I'd add a few of my standbys over the next few days. Some are from my favourite cook books so I'll add links and credits where I can, otherwise I hope you won't mind a few random scribblings on my favourite seasonal food. Hope to have the courgette cakes and paella dishes up later this evening. Have a happy Saturday Stephx

A Saturday Away

2011-09-11T11:04:00.000+01:00

My parents are great. After a very busy summer they offered to give Woody and me a day to ourselves and took the boys off for adventures on steam trains and up church towers. So what to do with Autumn creeping in and a whole day to potter about? Only one choice for us, off to Ludlow we must go.

Up over the Shropshire Hills the season is much further on than in the Moorlands surprisingly. Every shade of crimson, sienna and burnt umber lined the hedgerows as we trundled along one of my favourite journeys in the world from Eccleshall to Newport ,(I ignore the bit through Telford - I studied near there for a year and I just have to admit its really not my sort of town), then on across the Severn, uphill to Much Wenlock and then the final stretch to Ludlow with the mighty tower of St Lawrence's church beckoning us on.

This journey turns me into a jibberring wreck of joy but we can only contemplate coming in the season of mists and mellow fruitfullness. There's something so magical about the textures and colours of Shropshire's patchwork landscape that transfixes me.

Acre after acre of blonde, stubble fields sat hard up against newly ploughed velvety furrows that snaked around knots of woodland changing into their autumn clothes. Yesterday was a day of heavy clouds then bright low sunshine that threw amazing shadows across the countryside as the clouds scudded swiftly over a soft blue sky. No photos sadly but those pictures will stay in my head all season.

This weekend is the Ludlow and Marches Food Festival , usually the sort of busy event that would put us off visiting but being just us two we thought we'd make the most of it and enjoy a bit of festiveness. Well I did.

Going to a Food Festival with a non-foodie is interesting believe me. Woody has no interest whatsoever. He likes a good meal but only if its quick and he doesn't have to get involved. Left to his own devices he'd live totally from the freezer and the tin cupboard. London Grill with fish fingers and a fried egg is Woody's idea of foodie heaven. I was in my element though.

So we didn't do the tented village inside the castle but we visited the Fringe stalls and had a proper linger around the market admiring cobnuts and damsons, lychees and fennel, all sorts of tomatoes and fabulous apples. Woody does however love his cheese and fruit so we treated ourselves to a few local specials and the most delicious peaches.

Mostly we just enjoyed a bit of good old fashioned sauntering, people watching and mooching. There were Sausauge Trails, Ale Trails, Waiters Races, Pudding tasting; all sort of queues for this and that but we could still potter about in one of our favourite places and just enjoy the day.

Ludlow has few chain shops and is a British pioneer of the Italian Slow Food idea that puts shoppers back in touch with the best produce from where they live with the emphasis on quality, provenance and taste.

But there are other traders too, vintage heaven with lots of lovely emporiums selling salvage, clothing, brocante and lighting but my favourite shop is a traditional ironmongers, just like Frost's where my mum and dad used to shop. You could get everything from lawn seed to a roll of lino for the kitchen floor, all in a village shop in a row of terraced houses. Brilliant.

We came home with new books, old books, a few treats to stash away for Christmas, the new Country Living (perfect timing) and a beautiful bunch of Shropshire chyrsanthemums. Mine are a way off flowering yet so these are bringing a lovely feeling of harvest to our little home for now.What a wonderful day.

New Season

2011-09-07T19:35:00.000+01:00

Autumn has well and truly arrived this week. Blown into our our neck of the woods on gusty, blustery winds, full of lashing showers. I love it.

With the boys back at school (quite happily, couldn't wait to go back!) I had my first day off alone for weeks and got myself straight back into the shopping routine I like. The holidays tend to cause havoc with my attempts to organise what we have in the cupboards. In the past few years we've cut back our weekly shop drastically by sticking to a menu list, buying fresh and local as much as we can and the market in town is where we shop most.

This week's menu looks like this:

Monday - Spaghetti & vegetable bolognese
Tuesday - Chicken (left over from Sunday's roast) & chorizo paella
Wednesday - Smoked coley, oven chips & peas
Thursday - Courgette cakes with feta, roast tomatoes stuffed with cous cous
Friday - Homemade chicken curry (every week, without fail - it's a ritual!)
Saturday - Stir fried prawns & veg with rice
Sunday - Roast beef, roast potatoes, greens etc and plum crumble

Nothing very exotic and not huge amounts. Our two can be a bit fussy at times so there are a few fishfingers and tins of spaghetti hoops in there too. Some weeks we eat more fish, more veg and less meat. Next week I'm planning a spicy sausauge and lentil hotpot and baked white fish with a herby top I think.

I rarely do pudding during the week but make sure we have stocked up fruit bowls, plus the odd biscuit and maybe ice cream in the summer. All the meat (mince, ham for sandwiches etc, plus delicious cheese) comes from the butcher, including the small topside roasting joint I buy for less than £5 and should stretch to sandwiches too.

The greengrocers' stall looked particularly delicious today; new season apples (English Cox's and Egremont Russets) and three varieties of plums - I came home with Majorie Seedling today, hope she doesn't mind.

I love this way of shopping, everything in paper bags, minimal waste and time for chat too. On sunny days the cobbled market square is bustling but the showers kept most away today. After the market I head to the bargain supermarket in the town centre to stock up on tins, cereals, pasta/rice, olive oil, cleaning things and the like. In and out of there in 15 mins, no fuss or frills and value too.

We eat very well I think and for not much money at all. With Autumn on the doorstep it gets even easier and better value too. Root vegetables are in their prime, perfect for roasting and mashing. Casseroles fill the house with rich, warming flavours transforming cheaper cuts into succulent dishes to savour. Colder evenings call for earthy, spicy dishes that warm you through. Hurrah for Autumn, the finest season for the frugal cook to conjur with.

Cornish Dreams

2011-09-03T16:53:00.006+01:00

Well, what a week we've had to round off the summer. Heading south-west last week in the pouring rain we never imagined that we'd return sunburnt, stuffed with ice creams and with several hundred hours body boarding under our belts. The wind blew (very, very hard) and there was plenty of cloud, but each day the weather improved and from mid week on Cornwall did a very good impression of the Med, only I'd take the breaking surf and rocky coves of these shores any day.

Mostly we stayed north this year, discovering new beaches and glorious views with wheat fields rolling to the edge of mighty cliff tops. As ever we coseyd up in a lovely old cottage in Port Isaac and stayed just yards from the harbour in a higgeldy-piggeldy little house with ancient wooden floors, thick walls, deep window seats and a wonderful view of the sea that we weren't expecting. Many hours in the early morning and evenings were spent sat here gazing let me tell you. I always take a couple of crochet blankets away with us just in case and I don't think they've ever looked more at home!

And we ventured to the south coast too, for our favourite ferry trip over to Polruan from Fowey. Such a simple thing and full of pleasure for us. We pootled around the village, fought the tide as ever and then chugged back across for a pasty.

One early sunny morning before breakfast, while everyone else was lolling around for a while, I managed to grab a precious hour alone for a very longed for walk up to the cliff top at Lobber Point. A tall ship was anchored just off the bay and I spent an age watching it and the smaller fishing boats pull up their lobster pots, enjoyed the wind in my hair and endless peace and quiet.

We got onto a beach everyday thankfully, even if it was pretty bracing at times. But our little men didn't seem to care and this was finally the year we kitted them both out with a wet suit and body board. Oh my, what fun. Later there was time to sit and watch the waves and be so thankful for the sun smiling on us and just to be together.

Such a brilliant time, more memories made and the perfect way to say goodbye to summer.

P.S. Thanks for all the smashing comments left this summer. I love reading them and really appreciate your time and effort to keep in touch with me even if I can't get around to saying hello myself all that often. Thanks so much.

Summer Partying

2011-08-23T21:45:00.000+01:00

Our little boys are growing up so quickly. And we've had tons of fun celebrating.

The cookbooks were raided for ideas and I gave it my best shot. I'm not the best cook so it was a relief to see it all eaten and some very smiley faces, even if the dragon arrived without his wings.

We did the old fashioned thing; a few good friends, games in the garden and jelly and ice cream.

Special summer days.

Time to pack up now and set off for the south-west, hence the new header. Holiday time is here.

Back soon with tales from the sea.

Scenes from Show Day

2011-08-13T22:36:00.004+01:00

The rain stopped finally and we headed a few short miles to the hills for a lovely afternoon at a local agricultural show. If it was just me I'd have spent all day here from the crack of dawn, taking in the preparations, the atmosphere and the characters around. Why there's never been a documentary series about show days I don't know.

The Manifold Show is a small, traditional event with all the usual classes for cattle, sheep, horses, poultry. What it has less of are the commercial stands (aside from farm equipment and country clothing) that can dominate at the big shows. Right on top of the hills above Dovedale, under a lowering sky, we bought plants, ate ice cream and watched the skills of stockmen, riders & drivers and keepers.

The Handicrafts tent is always a favourite of mine. The place where you find the skills of growers, bakers, makers and children too, with cups to be won for everything from "My favourite salad" to enormous veg, flower arrangements and cakes .

Being new hen keepers we all loved the Poultry Club tent. All sorts of fancy hens, ducks and doves plus giant rabbits, funny ferrets and sweet little guinea pigs.

Around the show ring is where you find the real farming folk with their magnificent beasts. There were some jolly lunch parties going on in the backs of trailers, complete with stoves, picnic chairs and tea urns while the cattle and sheep in their rosettes munched theirs

Years ago I used to ride and read all those horsey novels written in the 50s about gymkhanas. These scenes bring all those books back to me. Woody and the boys don't get it at all but I really enjoy watching a bit of showing and showjumping, even though I was never any good at it!

There's a real tradition of showing Shire Horses around these parts and there were lots here. They're magnificent; I think these chaps probably deserve their ice cream.

A really lovely outing despite the grey sky. Hopeless for pictures but thankfully it wasn't raining and we got to enjoy the highlight of the farming season. Looking forward to next year.

P.S Thank you for all the fabulous comments I've been left recently, especially in light of the riots in England this past week. Its disturbing and embarrassing to know how shocked people across the world have been. Thanks for all your thoughts. But seeing the fantastic community spirit that's emerged across the country is really heartening, so there's hope at least.

Evening Light

2011-08-09T21:57:00.002+01:00

We took the top path around our part of the village tonight on a small family walk. Golden sunlight flooded the fields and a cool breeze waved through the high grasses as we passed by.

Through dark tunnels of trees the light broke through and bathed us in blazing gold.

Already trees are thick with berries that will ripen very soon. Skeletons of hogweed are shedding their seed too, making stark silhouettes against the bright sky.

It was a beautiful evening to be out and about, enjoying the peace and quiet. If only everyone felt the same. While parts of our cities are ransacked and torched again tonight, I can hardly believe this is my country too.

Strange, unnerving and dangerous times. Held to ransom by bunches of kids for trainers and TVs.

What are things coming to?

High Summer, maybe Late

2011-08-06T15:51:00.002+01:00

Where is it going? Two weeks into the holidays already and I've no idea where time is flying to. Thank goodness the weather has been going our way at last. Its even been good to see the rain this morning and now the sun is peeping from behind the clouds and I've been busy in the garden potting up the chrysanths and deadheading.

I love this part of the summer, the bit when you can feel yourself at the top of the downhill run into the season ahead. I'm always thinking about the autumn, even in March if I'm honest! July drives me to distraction with its disappointing weather and all the end of term madness, but when we tip into August things wind down to a slower pace and I can feel my favourite season around the corner.

But before its over there are lovely summery things I want to enjoy over the next few weeks and then I can let September pick me up in all it gorgeous, golden splendour, breathe out and get ready for cosying up.

In the meantime though I want to:

Have birthday fun - both our boys are August babies so there are special treats planned for the safari park, cinema, a party at home, water park fun and we'll be eating plenty of cake.

Collect our first eggs - our girls are settling in very nicely, hoping we won't have too long to wait for those first eggs.

Camp by the river - if the weather holds we've made plans with friends to pack the tent and head into the hills for a couple of nights in a field by a White Peak river.

Walk the fields - and find where the blackberries and crab apples are ripening

Swim in the cold sea - for the last week of summer we'll be back in our favourite part of the world to eat pasties, cook fish on the beach, play in the waves and sing with The Fishermen.

Visit the show- its Agricultural Show time again around these parts. Hoping to make it to The Manifold next weekend to see huge cattle, massive vegetables and eat ice cream by the bucketful.

What are you up to in August? Xxx

Feathered Friends

2011-08-03T22:03:00.003+01:00

Being brought up watching The Good Life changes what you want in life. Three little hens have made me more excited than a designer handbag or posh shoes ever could. I've always wanted chickens. I love their comical expressions and their busy little ways. And now, officially we are a hen family. At last!

My lovely family knew about my dream and surprised me with a very early birthday and Christmas present of a lovely hen house and run which we could never have stretched to. The view down the garden is looking a little different now. And today we did the exciting bit and brought home some feathered friends from the farm up the road. So here are the girls...

Ethel is a Black Rock hen with the darkest of feathers and a beautiful gold fringe around her neck.

Dottie (Dorothea) looks a little fierce in this picture doesn't she, but she's got the makings of a supermodel. She's a Cuckoo Maran cross called a Speckled Star.

And hiding at the back is Flo (Florence), a lovely bright Light Sussex.Our ladies are all hybrid hens which are supposed to be easy to look after for beginners (phew), good layers and should stand up to our harsh moorland winters.

They're all tucked up for the night now and tomorrow we can let them out into their run because for now we're keeping them off the garden. Perhaps in the autumn and winter we'll let them range around the beds but they've got plenty of space in the run, and flowers and chickens I understand don't really mix.

And the flowers are starting to perk up again here. The warm weather has brought on the late summer stars. Hot, strong colours are pushing through the green again.

And we've been sitting back enjoying it all. I keep finding little friends amongst the flowers.

And now we have some feathered friends to join us to. Looking foward to those eggs so much.

Time for a Rest

2011-07-26T19:16:00.001+01:00

Wherever there's a crochet blanket around our house, you'll find a cat. Bertie is spending the good weather sleeping things off and I wish I could join him some days. Thank goodness the holidays are here. The past few weeks have been an endless whirl of plays, concerts, trips, fairs, open gardens, maypole practices, fetes, services you name it. We're shattered!

And rather ambitiously we thought we were up to dashing off up the motorway with the caravan for the weekend just as school rolled up. Luckily it was a smashing time but tempers were a bit frayed and I think tiredness had a big part to play in it. Not all the time though thankfully. On Saturday afternoon we sat by the cooling water of Windermere enjoying the return of summer at long last. Bliss.

A weekend in the busiest corner of the Lake District with thousands of other people isn't exactly our usual recipe for relaxation, but the chance for the boys to see the Air Show again, over the Lake, was too good to miss. We managed to find a few more peaceful havens (honestly the lakeside did a very good impression of Oxford Street on the first day of the sales!) and enjoyed the peace of a grand hotel's gardens with space to play, demolish several ice creams and marvel at the aerial acrobatics.

Most brilliantly we finally got to see the Battle of Britain memorial flight which was cancelled thanks to bucketing rain the last time we came up.

Seeing the immense scale of the Lancaster and the agility and speed of its Little Friends, the Spitfire and Hurricane, was immensely moving and very spine tingling for a girl who hails from the same neck of the woods as the Spitfire's memorable designer, Reginald Mitchell.

But the highlight of our 48 hours away was being out on the water. The people, noise, queues and bustle all disappeared while we (well Woody actually I was far too relaxed!) rowed some of the long reaches of this famous Lake, sliding past huge, great gin palaces, secret islands, old fashioned elegant yachts and smaller pleasure craft.

I'll remember our relaxing hour on the water for such a long time. Now we're back home and a more peaceful air is slowly descending on the house.

Summer is high, the relaxing can begin and goodness its not before time. But look, someone is awake and ready for tea. Better push off or I'll never get a minute's peace. Take care. Xxx

In lieu of decent weather...

2011-07-16T11:31:00.003+01:00

Well its July so therefore we are experiencing the traditional unseasonable weather of British summer time. Its absolutely tipping it down today and the forecast is set the same for the whole weekend. Such a shame for everyone who's spent forever organising fairs, fetes, weddings, country shows etc, etc. We all expect summer showers but this is an utter deluge.

I've really fallen out with summer. I wear myself out hoping for a good forecast and then seething when its dreadful. Let's hope it perks up for the holidays. If my boys' birthday parties are rained off again I think I might weep. Poor A will be 5 at the end of August and he's never once had an outside party. Not fair.

So to cheer myself up I'm remembering a lovely visit to our favourite hilltop farm a couple of Sundays ago. We went to enjoy the Wool Experience, a day all about sheep shearing, but realised we'd gone a day late. Ooops.

Anyway we still had a wonderful afternoon saying hello the animals, wandering the woods and fields and eating their delicious Hilly Billy ice cream. Blaze Farm is such a simple place to visit and we get so much out of our outings there, up high on the hills, watching the swallows dip and dive around the farm buildings and taking in the views.

I got quite carried away imagining us buying this farm over the fields when our lottery numbers come up. I can just see us cosied up on a winter night, Aga keeping everyone toasty, jumbled crockery on the dresser, big old enamel bath in bathroom and a roaring fire in the sitting room....

A's favourite friend, Blaze the donkey.

Lovely memories for a soaking wet Saturday! Stay dry if you can.Xx

Thanks for all your sweet comments on my Midsummer trio posts. Glad you enjoyed them as much as me.

Plants in the Post

2011-07-07T17:43:00.003+01:00

The garden is going through it's annual slump. After bursting into loveliness in May and June, everything is looking rather exhausted and a bit bedraggled thanks to the heavy rain showers we've been having. It happens every summer and it deflates me a little after things having looked rather nice for a while. I've learned though that the key is not panic or get too dejected, but to plan for a bit further ahead.

I've chopped back some of the more ropey looking perennials (hardy geraniums, lupins, lady's mantle etc) and now I need to wait for them to come back for a second show in a few weeks time, along with the late summer stars in the borders like heleniums, echinacias, rudbekias, asters and crocosmias and things. But I've been hankering after adding something a little grannyish to the garden to round off the summer.

Late last autumn on a trip to lovely Ludlow I brought back this beautiful bunch of blooms that just sings harvest festival to me. I've grown very fond of (and rather addicted to if I'm honest) brightly coloured chrysanthemums.

The Sarah Raven catalogue got me all inspired earlier in the year but its rather too pricey for me on the whole and I looked everywhere locally for seedlings in the colours I fancied, but no luck.

But joy of joys, I was sent an email for the 50% sale at Sarah Raven last week and the stunning, glorious Jewel collection was still in stock. I've only ever bought a rose by post before and was a little anxious about how these teeny plug plants would reach me safely, but they arrived in tip top condition with a very comprehensive and straightforward planting/cultivation guide.

And haven't they got such lovely names, Payton Blaze Red sounds very impressive and Littleton Red rather grand I think! I can't wait to pick them and see these rich, clashing shades on the kitchen table in a battered old enamel jug.

I bought some sweet pea seeds from SR and they've all germinated and grown on very well so I've got high hopes for armfuls of harvest chrysanthemums, at my favourite time of year, for a fair few years to come!

Midsummer : Celebrations

2011-06-26T21:32:00.002+01:00

Hurrah - the summer came back at last, just in time for a very special family get togethers today. 50 years ago my lovely aunt and uncle started out on their married life together, just a few days after my aunt's 20th birthday so this week is extra special for them. To celebrate they threw the most smashing of afternoon parties at this beautiful country house.

We spent a glorious afternoon catching up with family, (many of whom we haven't seen in far too long), enjoyed a delicious lunch and generally basked in a perfect June day.

Here are the origianl wedding party from 50 years ago. My mum is on the left, then my uncle, my auntie (mum's sister) my uncle's sister and her two daughters. The girls and my mum were bridesmaids back in 1961 and the groom's sister made all their pretty dresses after just three sewing lessons apparently.

It really was a lovely place to while away the afternoon, catch up and share memories.

Happy Golden Wedding to a lovely couple and thanks for sharing such a special day. Xxx

P.S And a special hello to all the family I discovered today are readers of my little blog! Hello Aunty Pam & Uncle Graham, hope we see you again before too long. xxxx

Midsummer : Friends for Dinner

2011-06-25T13:29:00.003+01:00

In lieu of summer weather (raining again today, can't believe there's play at Wimbledon) we decided to eat the season instead and enjoy the flavour of summer with some good friends. We got know each other through our teeny children and many, many hours at playgroups, swimming pools and play centres and, although we moved over the hills a few years ago, we still get together every now and again to share home cooked food and lots of laughter.

On a chilly spring night we last met up over in the spa town for dinner at J & A's. It was a fabulous Thai evening and we ate sweetcorn fritters, fragrant green curry and coconut ice cream with luscious mango. A's lemon grass martinis were out of this world. So what to cook for our turn?

We love to cook and eat seasonally and enjoy what's best from our local farms and producers when we can so that was where I started from. Our produce is a little thin on the ground so far (apart from early peas, tons of mint from my mum and last autumn's raspberries from the allotment I had in the freezer) so I turned to our smashing butcher, the greengrocer and his vibrant stall for ideas, as well as a little inspiration from Mr Slater.

Menu for a Summer's Evening

:: Baked field mushrooms with broad beans, early peas, goat's cheese, mint and lemon thyme ::

:: Roast shoulder of spring lamb with garlic, cumin and garden mint ::

:: Sweet potato gratin ::

:: New season broccoli ::

:: Lemon ricotta cheesecake with confit of lemons ::

:: Raspberry & elderflower Bellinis ::

It all went really nicely, my portion control wasn't fantastic and I ought to have made two gratins and cooked more broccoli but I think we were all pretty well fed overall and we laughed ourselves daft as usual. It would have been lovely to sip our cocktails in the garden and watch the midsummer moon rise over the meadows but never mind.

My culinary confidence is definitely growing so we've promised to have everyone back for a harvest supper in September. Yum.

Midsummer : Sports Day

2011-06-24T18:35:00.004+01:00

Finally the rain held off just long enough for the whole school to get outside today and have some fun. This morning we cheered on the little ones jumping in sacks, carrying eggs on spoons and jumping as far as they could.

Later on it was the top of the school's turn to show off their skills with hockey sticks, skipping ropes, running relays and racing to put on as many clothes as possible.

Everyone seemed to have a smashing time and the general opinion was that we were all glad to see an element of competitiveness back after last year's extraordinarily pc affair. There was chance for everyone to have a go to test themsleves and sometimes against others too and no child seemed the worse off for it.

And we got to enjoy the lovely views from the school field (the building on the right was the infants' school years ago and is now a rather nice tea room). I love that our little boys go to school in such a beautiful place with the village and farmland around them.

In the distance you can see the dark hills of the Peak District rising above the town. Not a bad spot for learning I think.

June Garden

2011-06-12T18:06:00.002+01:00

I need reminding today of what a summer garden really looks like because outside here the rain has pummelled my poor plants into submission all day and it's a paltry 8 degrees c. Flaming June literally. This is what it feels like to be on the brink of a drought then?!

Hardy Geranium Johnson's Blue (I think?)

This is the joy of living in England, who knows how the day will pan out? I woke up to sunshine and scudding clouds but by the time breakfast was over the sky was grey and the rain soon followed. It'll be dark before it clears but things look better for tomorrow (when I'm stuck in the office - typical)

Just the other day it was like this - blissful, just the day for a garden project. Remember this old thing, well the extremely generous people at Days Gone By Deckchairs offered to help me out with her restoration.

From far too shabby to be chic, to a new garden friend in a very short while thanks to the most marvellous canvas, upholstery nails and a little bit of hammering and bashing. Thank you so much! I did mean to take some photos of how I did it but got rather tangled up in things as you can imagine, (and it still needs tightening up a little too.)

New deckchair canvas in Margate stripes by Days Gone By Deckchairs

Re-slinging a deckchair is one of the very easiest things I've done and with these delicious fabrics with such evocative names, I feel cushions for the garden bench and perhaps covers for the caravan seats in the pipeline.

New deckchair canvas in Rothesay

Anyone with a hankering for the feel of a traditional English afternoon (not quite as traditional as today mind you!) will adore what's on offer at Days Gone By Deckchairs. Do stop by and have a look

Now I have somewhere perfect to sit back and enjoy the garden just doing its thing if the sun ever returns.

Astrantia Roma

We're still very ahead after that hot spring, about 2-3 weeks I think which, all being well, means there'll be time for a second flush of my favourite perennials when this early show is over. The weeds are smothering my allotment to be honest, it's been too wet lately to spend much time up there but the early peas are cropping now and our first strawberries aren't far off.

Front garden

Nepeta (catmint) Six Hills Giant, lupins, pinks about to pop and Alchemilla Mollis (Lady's Mantle)

Knautia Macedonia

Foxgloves & Lupins

Come back soon summer. Remember - it's supposed to be like this!

Dorset Ramblings

2011-06-08T19:36:00.002+01:00

For most of our week away we clung to the coastline, discovering new beaches and enjoying old favourites. But we did venture inland too and had a good old nosey around some of the villages I stayed in as a child and into the county town to the dinosaur museum when the rain poured all day (what a life saver!)

At Charmouth we dug in volcanic dirt and sand for fossil treasures and did battle with the sea.

West Bay was an especially brilliant discovery with its jolly harbour and soaring cliffs, fulmars and racing waves that take your breath away.

Oh and did I mention the Vintage Market... a solo trip there as I'm sure you can imagine! Gosh it was quite fantastic and if I wasn't quite so skint I'd have hauled all sorts of treasures home in our van. A new/old chair, tray and a couple of lovely old kitchen utensils bits were the sum of my haul. It was a smashing event, lovely atmosphere and very reasonable on the whole I thought. When I am flush (if ever) I will definitely return and explore some more of the delightful Bridport on a busier day.

Ahhhh, Winterbourne Steepleton. We stayed in a mill cottage next door to this church the year my dad was 40. We couldn't understand why he didn't want to celebrate with a massive bash and was happy pootling with us in Dorset. I'll be 40 in a few short years and now I can see exactly why he was so content.

This is my another of my dad's favourite places- Lulworth Cove. There's everything here that a boy could need; sand, sea and a shovel.

Inland Dorset is like a time capsule in places. The bin, car and satellite dish aside, I was half expecting Miss Marple or DCI Foyle (admittedly a bit out of his patch) emerge at any moment.

Such a blissful week that will stay with us for a very long time. Thank you Dorset, be back soon.

Xxx

Caravan Tales

2011-06-06T21:53:00.002+01:00

One of the best things about our little break away has been falling in love at last with our caravan. We've had it for two years now but this is the first time we've had a proper holiday away in it. For the most part it's been a pretty expensive play house and place to store bags of old stuff for the charity shop.

It's taken us a while to fix it up, get everything working and to be honest build up the confidence to get out on the open road. But now we have and it was just the best. My favourite part of the day was waking up early and having my first brew of the day either snuggled in my cosy bed or out on the grass on one of our stripey chairs (all thrifted finds) watching the boys play pyjama cricket while I took in the morning.

And I actually got around to prettying it up a little. I've had this fabric for ages and at last it's in the caravan and looks just like I hoped. There's only so much beige velour a girl can take! The swirly wallpaper will have to stay but a few old books and postcards have made it feel a little more like a home away from home.

The boys loved being away so very much. I'll admit that the levels of noise and over-excitedness got rather a bit too much on several occasions and sometimes the elastic snapped and words were spoken but on the whole it was pretty perfect. Amazing how a spot of drawing can calm things down.

We stayed out most days until the light started to go, had beachy picnics or fish and chips for tea and then perhaps a bottle of pop and a playground romp at a cosy pub before we wended our way back to our little bav for toast, stories and bed .

We got rather used to being careful with the amount of water we used, saving the gas and the battery power. Very make do and mend which is just my cup of tea. I loved being on such a sweet, friendly site and noseying at other people's camping/caravanning set-up - washing lines, picnic tables, multi-multi-multi roomed tents, fairy lights etc.

So we're definitely converted and the next trip has already been booked (Windermere in July for the Air Festival). It was such a lovely break full of special memories. Wagons roll.

Thanks for all your smashing comments, can't tell you how much I appreciate every one. Lovely to hear about your Dorset memories and favourite places. More Dorset adventures next time

Time Away Down Memory Lane

2011-06-03T22:31:00.002+01:00

When I was a child we holidayed for lots of summer's down in the rolling countryside of the South West's gentlest county - Dorset. I haven't been back since but this half term we took our little men away in our caravan for five nights of nostalgia in Hardy Country.

It was bliss. Weymouth, Dorchester and the pretty Wessex villages around have hardly changed in 25 years. Last time I was here I'd never even thought of having children and to be back on the very same stretch of beach with my little family, doing the very same things, was quite moving.

Weymouth's architecture is as fabulous as I remember. I'd heard the port town had faded a bit but I thought it was looking really rather lovely with fancy new restaurants and boutique shops but is hasn't lost any of its charm. These ice cream houses by the harbour fascinated me as a child, I wished I could have a room on the top floor and sit on a window seat to watch the boats come and go.

Oh the harbour! I love harbours, the busyness, the comings and goings, the colours and the journeys the people onboard are on - and it all began here, sitting enjoying fish and chip teas with my parents and sisters on summer afternoons. So we went straight there on our first evening this week and the chips still taste as good.

The tiniest things brought memories flooding back. Sand ripples on the shoreline, colourful streets and sails on the horizon took me back all those years in an instant.

Even the deckchairs are the colours I remember.

We packed so much into five days, (more of that another time), but just to see this view again was the stuff of my dreams. Happy days.

Busy Indoors

2011-05-14T10:55:00.004+01:00

The rain keeps pouring down this morning but that's good news for the garden, the allotment and the water butts I suppose. Thanks for your lovely, lovely comments on my garden post which seems to have temporarily disappeared. Blogger is doing weird things this weekend.

But a rainy day means time for getting around to those things I keep meaning to do. Its just we three this weekend, Woody is down Wembley way reporting on the Potters attempt to win the FA cup final. I have to confess to being on the black & white side of the city's football allegiancies but I'd love them to win for my dad and dear Grandad who followed them through the barren decades with no reward. Good luck Stoke.

So we're pottering today. Making bed boats, eating lots of toast and generally mooching about. My main achievement this morning has been to put together this beautiful seed packet bunting which I won on the lovely Emma's Silverpebble blog giveaway a while ago. Now that I have finally posted my thank you to her I feel I can get around to showing this off.

Aren't they beautiful, they're French seed packet labels which would look great backed onto small brown envelopes but I just couldn't get any in town so decided to put them up on their own. I've double backed them so that when the sun comes out again they'll look the perfect thing in the garden. Thanks so much Emma, hope you like your little gift and apologies for taking so long to post about it!

And I've done a little framing too. My sister bought me some postcards from the London Transport Museum featuring old travel posters advertising Kew Gardens. This one she enlarged for me as foxgloves are one of my favourite flowers and matched with a bargain frame from Oxfam it looks perfect above my china cabinet in the kitchen. I love it! You can buy the postcards and prints online if you're interested

While I was pootling about I realised just how many things I have featuring anenomes. Such pretty colours and simple shape, just like how a child would draw a flower. Emma sent me the cards in a beautiful anenomes tin that's so pretty it makes me smile. The tin also contained some wonderful flower seeds that I've already sown in my cut flower patch up at the allotment. Thanks Emma, you're so kind. She's a very talented silversmith and has the most amazing blog. Pop along and say hello!

This little anenome jug was 50p and is not just pretty but is from Cornwall, so a double win for me! And I adore this embroidery which I found at the flea market a while ago. It lives on the mantlepiece and looks so at home with my old clock and Spode green candlesticks.

Well, small boys needing snacks are calling so I shall leave you to the weekend and hope that you're dodging the showers and having a relaxing day. Xxx

Tonic

2011-05-13T18:19:00.005+01:00

Summer clouds

2011-05-08T19:32:00.000+01:00

Along the lanes, across the fields and up and down the valley clouds of cow parsley and hawthorn blossom are cloaking the countryside in May.

England is at its most glorious, softest, gentlest best in Maytime.

Cow parsley seems to frame even the most ordinary things around the village and sets off every view to its finest.

Foaming creamy clouds blanket the verges and the very welcome rain showers this weekend have refreshed the greenery too and now it zings.

On our stroll this evening, just before bedtime, the lowering sun tinged everything with gold and I felt very rich and showered with nature's gifts. Oh to be in England now that summer's here...

P.S. Thanks for all the lovely comments and compliments on my sister's street party. It was a really special occassion and I've loved hearing about how everyone joined in the celebrations across the globe; especially you hardy types who got up at the crack of (or even before!) dawn and dressed in your finery. I'm sorry but the teatowel a few people asked about wasn't ours so I can't tell you where it came from. There are quite a few versions avaibale on ebay though if you're still looking for one. Xxx

A Day to Remember

2011-04-29T22:34:00.004+01:00

The sun shone, it was warm, friends and neighbours came out to celebrate and we had a day to remember at the street party my sister and her neighbours organised.

Everyone made such an effort to join in, contribute and get to know each other. No matter where you stand on the monarchy there's no doubt that today came about because of the wedding and never would have happened without it.

After watching the service at home (magnificent, moving and sweet all at the same time), we headed over the hills with cake and spare chairs for an afternoon in the sunshine.

Can't believe how beautiful the weather was. It's been known to snow in June here and when we lived in the town too we rarely saw the sun. Everything it seemed came together for everyone today.

A day of special memories, family & friends and a good old fashioned British party. Brilliant.

Straight into Summer

2011-04-22T20:31:00.004+01:00

April seems to be masquerading as mid-summer around these parts and in most of England too. This must be the third Spring in a row that we've had the paddling pool out, eaten breakfast, lunch and tea in the garden and spent sunny afternoons in the woods. Spring seems to be harsh and short nowadays. Just a few weeks ago there were frosts and cold winds but before the month is out we've been catapulted into summer.

Already the beech leaves have unfurled and things are romping away in the garden and the greenhouse. A bit too soon if I'm honest because its a few weeks yet before I can plant out our tender crops and flowers.

But we're revelling in it too, especially as summers recently seem to all be over by mid July when the cloud, rain and Atlantic fronts roll in for weeks on end. So today has been an exceptionally good Good Friday. A quick trip to town this morning to collect the meat for our family lunch on Sunday and then, after another alfresco lunch, we headed up to our favourite shady spot for a stroll through the bluebells.

They're just emerging and the delicate scent is just beautiful when you walk into the woods. There were plenty of other wildflowers too; red campion, bugle, unfurling ferns and what I think might be a common orchid but I'm not sure. Any ideas?

There's nothing we like more than being out in the woods, exploring.

And gathering too. A little wild garlic came home with us - (there are swathes of the stuff and I was very careful to take just a few leaves). Some will flavour our curry this evening and the rest I think will be nice as a cheesy toasty snack tomorrow. Hurtling into summer is rather delicious.

Back in Time

2011-04-19T22:19:00.004+01:00

The weather was glorious for the 40s event down at the station this weekend. The family were visiting for Grandma's birthday so we strolled down the lane after lunch for an afternoon of nostalgia, atmosphere and fabulous clothes.

We didn't have time for a trip down the line or see the entertainment at the other stations unfortunately, but the three little boys we had between us (and the two bigger ones) seemed to get just as much out of watching the engines chug up and down the line, peering in the beautiful old cars and noseying around the military vehicles.

For Grandma, sister-in-law and myself though it was the music and clothes that made our day. I love 40s music and really enjoyed Victory Belle's performance in the NAFFI tent. Lovely dress too. Is it ok to have snood envy?

This lady particularly looked the part. Even her newspaper was from 1940. The atmosphere was wonderful and rather surprising sometimes.

I hadn't expected to bump into a German colonel and the Dad's Army gang too!

Great fun for free and on the doorstep. Just my cup of tea - if rationed.

A Little Bit of Vintage

2011-04-15T19:47:00.000+01:00

Finds have been thin on the ground lately. Charity shops in particular have been pretty poor hunting grounds but in the past few weeks I've found a few lovely treasures, my favourite being this ramshackled old deckschair that I hauled home from the flea market for £3. I've wanted one for years but never found one so yesterday was a very happy one indeed.

It needs a new sling and I'm on the look our for some old style/new canvas if you know what I mean. I don't fancy anything too vibrant. These deliciously mellow colours with an atmosphere of sunny afternoons listening to the band in the park or ice cream on the prom are more what I'm looking for.

Talking of the prom, I couldn't resist this tea towel. Woody grew up in the rather refined Lytham St Annes so any cheesy Blackpool kitsch comes home with me. Just the thing for doing the dishes on our caravan trips.

Looking forward to eating something delicious from these juicy bowls too. It'll have to be something old school like trifle or jelly and ice cream won't it. I've no idea how old they are or where they're from and I imagine there should have been a sixth but the four of us will enjoy squabbling over which colour we'd like. Perfect.

Weekday Weekend

2011-04-08T18:57:00.000+01:00

Today has been just heart stoppingly beautiful. Bright blue skies, a warm breeze and hours and hours of bright sunshine. Not working on Fridays anymore is working out brilliantly I think.

The boys finished for the holidays yesterday so we decided on a very relaxing day today, filled with not very much more than enjoying this blissful weather. Breakfast in the garden, a bit of drawing and plenty of Lego keeps our two happy for ages.

Me too. I could have stayed here for ages.

But I thought a little wander might go down well so we packed up our lunch and headed a short way down the road to explore the island in the river.

Its the tiniest of islands with stepping stones to it that are often flooded and a few perfect little picnic benches to stop for a munch and a think. We watched herons and buzzards soaring around and barges slipped past down the canal alongside while we ate and played and imagined being marooned.

Back across the river is the steam railway and we can neverwalk past without a look around. No trains today but I love to just drink in the atmosphere.

Looking forward to this very much in a couple of weekends time.

A last paddle and then we headed back to the garden for a bit more refreshment and relaxing on a sunny afternoon. Happy days at home.

Over the Border

2011-04-03T19:25:00.002+01:00

I am an extremely lucky mummy. Our two little men have worked so hard making cards and chocolates and this morning I was treated to a full family breakfast in bed with flowers and, inevitably, the cat too.

Nothing beats a handmade card using every felt tip pen possible does there?

Sunny skies greeted us when we finally got up and our plans for lunch at home with Grandma were quickly changed for a jaunt over the hills, (Grandma too) which I'm all in favour of when the skies are blue and filled with dramatic clouds. So we headed to one of favourite villages, a few short miles away over the border into Derbyshire.

I know Spring is in the air because we always find ourselves here when things start to grow again for a mess around in the playground, a delicious ice cream and a peer into the beautiful village pond (in case you don't like amphibians be warned - froggy picture to follow!)

Mothering Sunday smells of daffodils and primroses to me and there were glorious displays on the Green, at the school and even in the pub garden.,

I would love to open the door of this cottage and stay awhile.

The pond was full to the brim of frogs and toads and we spent a fun hour looking for spawn to bring home and watch mature. Then we will bring the little froglets back here, home again.

It was a perfect April day, a bit too chilly for our picnic but spells of warm sunshine chased the odd shower away and the light was magical.

Back home our delayed roast was all the more delicious and we're all full of fresh air; heads filled with glorious spring scenery. Giddy lambs and excited boys, nodding daffodils, oddles of frogspawn and views to dream about. What more could a mum ask for today?

First flowers from my garden this Spring, for my lovely mum who's away working in Macedonia this weekend. See you soon Mum. XxXxXx

Edited for Sally - The village in this post is Monyash, near Bakewell in Derbyshire. Very pretty and the pub serves great food. Youlgreave is close by and a slightly larger village with perhaps a few more places to stay. Lovely walks and scenery. Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall are not far away and well worth a visit. During May and June the Well Dressing season takes place too. Hope that helps and you have a lovely holiday!

Watery World

2011-03-30T19:51:00.001+01:00

When I was younger my family used to say that I had webbed feet, and they might have been right. At school we were really lucky to have a pool and, although I wasn't a sporty type, I loved to swim. I even joined the synchronised swimming team (we were rubbish but it was brillliant fun) and sometimes swam three times a day around competitions.

Oh but that was a lifetime ago and I haven't swum properly for years. We take the boys most weekends but ducking and splashing just isn't going to shift the mummy spare tyre I'm carrying around with me. And approaching my late 30s I've finally realised that cutting back on the biscuits isn't going to do it either and so for the past few weeks I've been getting the webbed feet out again.

Now the boys are getting a little older its much easier than I thought to find the time for a swim. Off I trot with my pretty bag and jolly towel on Mondays for the late swim (9pm!) but I'm back home on the sofa by 10.15pm with 50 lengths under my belt. On Wednesdays after poottling around town doing the food shop, I meet my lovely friend Phillipa in the pool and we get chance for coffee and chat after 40 or so lengths.

And then I round off the week on Friday evenings with a swim on my way home from work (hopefully for another 50 but maybe 40 depending how tired I am). Most surprisingly though, I'm really enjoying it; me who hasn't exercised seriously for years (and I've never been in a gym!) and didn't believe I could get a buzz from it either.

Well I still don't to be honest but I do feel pleased and a little bit proud of myself for getting off my increasingly large behind and doing something about it. I've been going for 6 weeks now and things are definitely less wobbly, flabby and flappy, if not much smaller yet. I'm working hard on it and definitely getting faster (40 lengths in 30 minutes today) so soon I think I'll try and step things up a little. Blimey - that's me talking, doesn't sound like it!

And it does make me feel better, I had a headache and achey neck this morning but it had all disappearred after my swim. So, like looks this could be the way to a new me, smelling of chlorine but a tiny bit fitter and with very curly hair (no time for all that straightening now). Roll on our Cornwall holiday. I'm determined to wear shorts at least once without dying of shame and summer vests without cringing at my flabby arms. Wish me luck - lots of lengths to go.

Best Laid Plans

2011-03-20T15:28:00.001Z

This weekend we had plans up our sleeves for an energetic scramble over some fearsome rocks and a hike across the hills. The forecast looked good and we were all ripe for an explore so preparations were made. But then a tummy bug knocked our littlest man off his feet and the drizzle came in.

Time at home with comforting, cosiness around is definitely required. There is much cuddling, dvd watching and slumping going on and slowly, slowly he is brightening up. Funny how quiet the house is when Little A is off colour, very odd.

So while the sun shone yesterday I got to play with my new tiny plastic greenhouse (a present from mum) and moved the cosmos (Dazzler and Sensation) seedlings into their new home while I enjoyed the view from my potting bench (do excuse the laundry!).

And while little man curled up with daddy, big brother and I had a quick whizz around the car boot sale in town and brought home dinosaurs and racing cars to cheer a small boy up and pretty cups to make me smile too.

There might be a bit more gardening this afternoon if the rain has eased off but for now I'm off for a morsel more of this. Apple and raspberry crumble made with the last of the autumn harvest. Hope you are having a delicious Sunday too.

Emerging

2011-03-15T18:48:00.000Z

A good word for today I think to describe both my mood and what's going on in my garden. Thanks to all your wonderful, lovely, cheery and oh so welcome comments, I'm perking up again and facing up to the big change coming and trying not to panic too much. I can't describe how much I appreciate your kindnesses. Thank you ever so much, truly.

Up close you can really see now that the garden is waking up again. I'm a bit scatterbrained about bulbs and either shove lots of the same colour in when meaning to have a mix (as above!) or totally forget (as in the four allium bulbs in my kitchen cupboard.) Evey year I aim to be more methodical but hey ho.

I love Tete-a-tete, so strong but weeny. The forget-me-not seedlings are romping away too. They're very invasive but that sea of spring blue is the next best thing to bluebells if you ask me and much easier to achieve.

My dad chucks a few sacks of his amazing compost my way every year and with it come forget-me-nots and lots of foxgloves. Flowers for free and I don't find them a bother at all, you just have to rip them out when they start to go over and then they're gone for the year. As under planting for wall flowers and late tulips I think forget-me-nots are just the thing.

Inside too there is a burst of Spring. In my doldrums at the weekend Woody and his mum brought home some beautiful tulips and a couple of pots of hyacinths to cheer me up and they really have done the trick. Aren't these blowsy beauties?

In the kitchen there is more pink as these hyacinths emerge, just along the window sill from some more sculptural tulips.

I can't help but smile when I see them and my heart has leapt right out of my boots. And making me the happiest of all is this little self sown pulmonaria, emerging from the drystone wall by the garden steps. I think its called Soldiers & Sailors for its red and blue petals and in a few more days will look glorious.

Spring proper is almost here.

Charity Shop Chic

2011-03-12T18:05:00.003Z

I've never been a snob where charity shop clothes are concerned. For the last few years particularly, I've revelled in the thrill of discovering the "perfect thing" for the fraction of the original price, getting a green buzz and donating to a deserving cause all at the same time.

I am quite discerning and items have to be in excellent condition, be a great fit or easy to alter, for me to buy them. At the risk of this blog becoming a clothes horse here are my most recent joys.

I can't resist a ditsy floral print and this cheery shirt brings me little bit of Liberty-esque cheer for £2.50.

It came home with me this morning after a lovely walk around the town to find a present for my nephew's first birthday. Living where we do is a very precious and a deeply held pleasure of mine. I love to catch snippets of conversation, jokes and news being shared when I walk from shop to shop and through the old market hall.

There's something very special about bumping into friends while you're out and about, chatting to the stall holders and just enjoying being where you belong while doing something so very ordinary.

And it was more welcome than ever today. It has been a hard, emotional week. After a brief reprieve, I was told on Thursday that my working hours will definitely be cut down by almost half from April. It looked as if the axe might not fall after all, but now it has and the disappointment, stress and money worries a second time around have been much harder to bear for lots of distressing reasons.

But all things pass. This is not what I will remember as the years roll by, it will be just something we got through in the past. So I keep re-reading my positive intentions and keep my eye out for the cheap and cheerful. Like this.

I don't wear blue all that much, (a navy school uniform put me off for a long time I think) but I do love it. And this Topshop dress is a beautiful little number to wear and will be perfect for warm office days and special occasions

And when you discover a new item, with the labels still attached, unworn, the thrill is magnified tenfold. My aunt and uncle are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in June and have invited all of our small family here for a very special lunch . Roses with a 50s twist will be the perfect thing to wear. Can't wait.

While we're losing a lot financially I am very grateful for all that I do have, especially with all the bigger concerns going on around us all at the moment and such devastating events across the world . These small spends mean much more than if I'd been able to afford them full price, if that at all makes sense. £12 the lot. Not bad. In fact very, very good!

Have a smashing weekend.Xxx

Taste of Things to Come

2011-03-07T23:06:00.001Z

It may have been cold and rather breezy but our real first taste of Spring yesterday was just wonderful. These two enjoyed it very much let me tell you. Nothing like making mud swamps up at the allotment and burying your dinosaurs to pass the afternoon.

The man of the house got stuck in too, he's the hard labour behind our allotment spoils while my thing is more of the cutting back and planting variety. This will be our third season up on The Avenue that may moons ago was the site of the Home Farm of the big manor in the village. The land was turned to allotments in 1940 and villagers have been digging for victory ever since.

The views are superb and there's a special peace and quiet up there that I don't find anywhere else. Because they're surrounded by houses the plots have no sheds or structures and there is no piped water and fires are not allowed. Ours is a very simple site and the more special for it. Just plants, compost and the odd bench and bath full of water. Perfect.

The soil is beautiful, it crumbles like chocolate cake and there's not a stone in sight. Very different to our little garden down the hill. This year, (with any luck) there'll be more flowers, salads, new potatoes, climbing beans, peas, radishes, broad beans, courgettes, strawberries, raspberries and hopefully a few squashes and pumpkins - if we get the weather.

And today - even though its too early, my favourite cut flower is back in the shops again. The scent of stocks fills the house and takes me right back to our May wedding day. Oh I am looking forward to happy Spring days. Are you too?

Scenes From Sunday

2011-02-27T15:04:00.003Z

Rain has poured down incessantly this weekend. Hammering stair rods in fact. There is nothing for it but to revel in a lazy, relaxing day at home today. I've done rather a lot of that this week, although none of it was very relaxing. My nasty virus seems to be on the way out though now thank goodness, even if a week on the sofa and in bed has given me then chance to get all the way through the Foyle's War and Band of Brothers box sets.

But I did a little more sloping around in my pyjamas this morning, just for good measure.

And spent an age in the bathroom eeking out the last of my favourite toiletries, a Christmas gift from my parents.

We all seem to be in the same mood for gentle pursuits today, catching up on reading, checking on the seedlings, a bit of bird watching and some plain old lozicking.

And then my favourite part of the day, spent in the kitchen in the company of The Archers, the shipping forecast and cricket from India. I find peeling veg in a fuggy, cosy kitchen on a wet Sunday morning so very comforting.

And now maybe we'll venture out in the rain, walk off our lunch and see how high the river has crept up overnight. The train trips that rumble down our valley have begun again for the new season and the air outside the kitchen door smells of soot and steam. Too enticing to miss.

Thank you and hello to all the new visitors to my blog who have left such lovely comments (especially about my splurge dress -thank you, I'm blushing so much!)

I've had a couple of questions about the camera I use; it's just a simple Canon A580 Powershot I got a couple of years ago. The flash is rubbish but as I rarely use it that's not a big deal for me. The macro is good and it really is very simple to use. Hope that's helpful. Sxxx

Spoiling Myself

2011-02-19T19:23:00.003Z

Throughout the Autumn and all over Christmas I kept gazing at this picture wishing it was me sifting flour next to a cosy Aga in this pretty frock. But if you too get the Brora catalogue you'll know that for me this outfit is the stuff of dreams.

£135 is just not within the realms of my charity shopping budget, so I've consoled myself with thrifted blouses and lucky finds for a couple of quid. The Aga is years out of reach too sadly. But I must admit to secretly longing for this beauty, even the name "40s dress in Hawthorne & Indigo" made me pine, me with my wartime housewife fashion sense.

And then someone, or rather the nice Brora people, had a Sale. A massive, huge, great big, enormous sale and for forty five of my carefully saved and squirrelled away spends (a third of the original price), this beauty became mine. Oh joy, oh rapture! I know I am supposed to be revelling in the goodness of self-denial but my resolve is weak dear readers and I succumbed.

One of my favourite epsiodes of The Good Life is the one where Tom decrees he and Barbara deserve a pagan rite - well this is mine. A one-off and it feels marvellous. So much so that I wore it to the cinema this afternoon (a little overdressed perhaps but who cares, it was dark) to see the King's Speech with my mother-in-law.

I might not take it off!

First

2011-02-12T16:56:00.004Z

There's a moutain of washing to do, the house is a tip and my kitchen floor doesn't bear describing but today there were more important priorities.

With two little boys off for a run over the fields with daddy, I knew where I would be. Thick jumper and wellies on and at last, the first gardening afternoon of the year. Leaves cleared, the last of the summer debris removed and a little bit of last minute hedge lopping have smartened things up no end.

When we return from our little break I'm hoping to see colour as well as shoots in the borders and my pots are stirring into life too. The air was mild and full of robin's song and I stayed out until the light faded and smoke began to rise from our neighbour's chimney. Time to go in.

It was so good to breathe fresh air, lose myself in my thoughts and look forward to Spring. And my first garden cuppa was rather smashing too.

Have a lovely weekend.

Winter Walk

2011-02-06T17:19:00.003Z

With a good coat and a warm scarfe I hardly noticed the wind and drizzle this afternoon. The outdoors called today, despite the weather. In the winter I enjoy nothing better than a day snuggled up at home but I remembered this morning how much I love to hear the wind in the trees, feel my cheeks glow with cold and just enjoy the silence. So it was decided, after a Sunday roast it would be time for a stroll down the riverside.

There is a bleakness in the winter landscape that I find enthralling. This hedge was wrapped in scarlet bramble whips and the colour on such a grey afternoon was startling.

My Christmas hat kept me very snug, even though I have a huge head and it looks rather more like a tea cosy on me than the beret style it ought to be.

The light was low and today felt like the trough of the year, right at the bottom where the sun doesn't reach. But if you look closely there are tiny, embryonic buds on the branch tips and dipping from the canal side willows were golden catkins.

Lichen is a magical thing isn't it and in the damp meadows between the river and canal it thrives.

Its a rather busy corner of the world too. Plenty of ramblers, noisy geese and whooper swans, dog walkers and the odd jogger, and cosy barges and motor boats are home to several people.

Even so, there was much peace and quiet to enjoy and the fresh air will hopefully see me through a busy office bound week before our trip away to the forest.

Back home the light has truly faded now and the lamps are lit. Time I think for sandwiches and cake. Xxx

Cheeriness

2011-02-02T15:15:00.001Z

On a dark, dreary day like today, little things like these bring lots of cheer, lift my heart and make me smile.

Pretty thrifted blouses and a little jug in my favourite shade of green.

Fresh fruit on the table and shoots full of promise.

Bright and beautiful tulips on the mantlepiece.

And a much needed cup of tea with a new magazine. Simple things but so much pleasure.

A Little Winter Sun

2011-01-26T19:06:00.001Z

Just for a few hours this morning, the sun peeped through and it cheered my week up very much indeed. It seems an age since I looked up to see the brightest blue, a watery sun beaming down and clouds scudding across the sky.

In the town early on the wind was keen, cutting right through me and making me wish I'd put on another layer. Raw was the word. Later on though, on my drive home from the mid-week market I pulled in on the verge just to watch the sun lighting up the valley.

Winter sunshine is such a precious thing. It vanishes for what seems like weeks and has no real warmth at all but just the sight of it makes the heart lift.

Down at the river the Churnet sparkled through the blackened trees and the sky was high and bright.

By lunchtime though it was almost over, just the last few rays lighting up the house. I lit the fire this afternoon and made hot chocolate for my sniffly boys and shut the curtains early.

I'm rather good at the art of cosying up and could do it all year round but it was so good (if cold) this morning to feel the wind blow the air clean and the memory of this light filled morning will light the rest of my week.

P.S Thanks so much for all the lovely comments I've received over the last few posts. It is wonderful to know other people too enjoy the same things that I love to ramble on about! Thank you too for the recommendations for the Susan Hill book with more Angela Barrett drawings, I do have it actually (it was given to my free by a stall holder at the flea market when I bought another old gardening book lucky me!) and I love her illustrations in "Through the Kitchen Window" as well.

"The Gardener's Almanac" was produced by The Sunday Times in the 1986 and written by Graham Rose if that's any help to anyone who's trying to track a copy down. I can recommend Abe books for out of print copies and ebay is always worth a try!