Leafblogotanicals

A Day Off....

2011-02-05T09:33:00.002Z

It 'feels' like an age since I took a day off from work... but of course it is not as bad as that.. honest!

Over here in England, we are enjoying gale force winds - I hasten to add that these winds are nothing remotely like the force poor folk in Queensland, Australia have recently had to battle through. And after all those horrific floods too.

No, ours are just plain old ordinary gale force. Mildly irritating after a while... you know how strong wind rather sets the teeth on edge and generally makes everyone a bit tetchy.

I am amusing myself right now by looking out my window and watching my little hens. They are being blown hither and thither by the wind, their 'skirts' are being blown over their heads, they are even being blown head over heels when they have their beaks to the ground to peck at some delicious morsel or other. They remain determined. They have a studied nonchalance that belies the fact that they are totally powerless against the force of the wind.

They make me laugh.

You know how much I love my hens. They are little charmers that wriggle their little way into our hearts. Individual characters with individual voices. They have taught me so much over the past 3 or 4 years we've been 'keeping' hens. And they gladden my heart every time I look at them.

Whatever it is that gladdens your heart, I hope you have time to enjoy it this weekend. With love, Vxx

Been a looooonnnnng time comin'...

2011-01-16T20:52:00.003Z

Yes, it has indeed been a long time coming.. this post that is! Much has happened in our neck of the woods and we have, sadly, lost many good friends in the intervening period of time since I posted.
My darling Bear, for one, has departed, R's most lovely and wonderful father also. I've hated the thought of passing on bad news to you. So radio silence seemed the best and frankly, the easiest option.
But times move on and we are gently enjoying our lives again. And I hope to be able to annoy you in the future with some more posts from this side of the world. We have thought of you often and just as often, snuck in to see what you have been up to.. cheeky of us, I know.
Love to you all, Vxx

Simple things...

2009-06-13T09:58:00.002+01:00

I'm late, late for this post - I said I'd post this yesterday but I didn't reckon with 'Fridays' and all that Friday sometimes brings with it. So my apologies to Christina of the beautiful Soul Aperture and her celebration of the simple, everyday things in our lives.

Sunshine on my face ~ my dogs ~ the scent of honeysuckle in the early morning light ~ you ~ a clutch of newly laid eggs ~ a rose ~ the warmth of your hand in mine ~ the grasses waving in the gentle breeze ~ the waves lapping on the beach

I wish you a peaceful weekend in the company of all you love. Vxx

It's raining, it's pouring....

2009-06-11T08:08:00.008+01:00

For nearly a week now, we've had rain, rain and more of the jolly stuff... I know the ground was far too dry and the farmers were beginning to be a little depressed but I didn't think we needed quite this much rain. Thunder storms and lightning. Tropical rain. Deluging. Flooding. You name it, and it's doing it! It's even been cold enough to light the fire and click the button to start the central heating going.

The evening before the rain started, I had rather fortunately decided that I should take a few photos of some of the roses in the garden. Madame Alfred Carriere has chosen this year to put on her best display since being planted near our front door about 7 years ago. Gorgeous, shaggy blossoms with an intoxicating perfume. In the still evening air, the perfume is almost overwhelming.

Here she is again, but in close up.

And once more, even closer...

The next rose is 'Sceptr'd Isle' which is a David Austin rose. Simply perfect blooms with an extraordinary perfume - aromatic rather than sweet to my mind.

And this is Buff Beauty. The first is the early stage of the flower with it's egg-yolk yellow centre

and which slowly turns into this...

A quick view of a couple of clematis climbing over a trellis fence - The President and Broughton Castle. The latter has been an amazing plant as when I bought it, the poor thing was such a mess that the garden nursery decided to let me buy it for 50 pence only. I guess they didn't expect it to survive, but this is only its third season and it's growing so well!

Finally, here's a photo of our younger dog. She is never too keen on having her photo taken and I think you can probably see that from her expression!

I hope you are enjoying warm and sunny weather - please could you send a little over this way?!! With warm wishes, Vxx

New Hens...

2009-06-10T08:12:00.007+01:00

It seems like an age ago that we collected our 'new' rescue hens. At the time, I hadn't even thought of names for all of them, so I asked for suggestions from you... and I'm pleased to say that the two 'nameless' ones now have names. Gretchen and Miss Marple are the lucky ones (the other two already had names of Betty and Ellen).

Here's a now rather oldish image of them enjoying their first time truly in the sun. I think it was taken late March this year and the ground was still too wet for them to enjoy a dust bath so they stretched out on the paving near the old tennis court and, I think, enjoyed their first taste of true freedom. You can see that they are still in pretty tatty condition. Ellen is at the front of the photo, Betty to the right behind her and Miss Marple is to the left of Betty.

From Hens clematis and pear trees

Here's Gretchen - she's very sweet and probably can't quite believe that a) she can stretch out rather than being cramped in her cage and b) she's free to do whatever she wants... I've rather cropped her jaunty little tail feather which looks like a feather sticking out of a 'Robin Hood' type cap!

Back when these photos were taken, the new girls were still being kept away from the other hens as I was very concerned about the strong territorial instincts of the existing hens. The two groups are now being permitted to mix together during the daytime but they are still not very keen on each other. I guess before too much longer I will put the four new ones in with the others at night and hopefully that should sort the problem out. Why haven't I done it before now, I hear you ask. Well, because the older ones try to keep the weaker ones away from the food and so they become even weaker...

Miss Marple (above) was very badly damaged on arrival. Very, very bruised and she still holds her right wing in a rather peculiar fashion, although she is now able to use it quite well. She is such a character! As soon as she sees either of us, she comes running full tilt towards us, chattering away and weaving herself through and around our feet. She's so tiny that utmost care has to be taken not to hurt her whilst we try to walk with this little thing scurrying along between our feet...

There is no doubt in my mind that these little creatures very definitely know that they have been given a new and different life.

This photo above shows you that they were still in quite poor condition, feather wise. They are slowly improving and growing new feathers to cover their little pink tummies. They are becoming so much stronger and I know it won't be too much longer before they fully integrated with the other girls.

I hope you are enjoying warm weather and sunshine! With warm wishes to you, Vxx

Sverige nationaldag

2009-06-06T09:12:00.007+01:00

... and just as you were getting over the party from yesterday's celebrations for Danish National Day, they hit you with...

Swedish National Day! Oh no; another party!

Here are a few photos from our last trip to Sweden - we travelled to the island of Orust to visit the Hallberg Rassy yard during their Open Weekend... BIG mistake! We stayed at the iconic Handelsman Flink Hotel for a couple of nights and rather wished we'd booked for longer. This is one view from outside our room which was very comfortable, spotlessly clean - we enjoyed sitting outside to drink in the views (and a beer each...).

I also wished that we'd booked into the little cottage right on the waterfront - you can see it just above the hire car - it looked absolutely divine.

From My Scans

Here's another view across the sound to Orust - how lovely it all was.

From My Scans

Here's yours truly, enjoying the sunshine and one of those beers I was talking about earlier. Not my favourite drink I have to admit - which is not something I can say about Champagne :) ... Sadly the colour has scanned very badly - it was far more restrained than it is in these photos.

From My Scans

On our last day visiting the yard, we had organised a couple of test sails. The last one was on the Hallberg 54 (a BIG, BIG mistake...) and Magnus Rassy himself kindly took us out for this one. My husband Richard is at the helm, and you can see the big smile on Magnus' face as my husband gave us an absolutely cracking sail back towards the yard and marina... Magnus is delighted because Richard is catching the HR48 which had started out before us. Richard is smiling because the guy at the helm of the HR48 has sailed in the Olympics... (and made all the more special because the HR48 was under full sail whilst we were only under staysail... yes, I'm proud of him!)

From My Scans

I guess that you can see from the last couple of posts that we love both Denmark and Sweden. Both countries are stunningly beautiful and the people could not be more charming and friendly. Perhaps one day we will turn that love into a home. As to the yacht, well that is definitely on our list of 'must haves'! And then we'll be able to visit another country that we love very much - Finland.

We have yet to visit Norway but I suspect that it too will become a firm favourite with us.

Anyway, here's to Sweden, the Swedish people and their National Day!

With warm wishes to you, Vxx

National days

2009-06-05T11:13:00.004+01:00

Here in the UK we don't really celebrate any 'national days' which is a shame! Today is National Day in Denmark. We love Denmark and the Danes! A couple of summers ago my husband and I chartered a yacht from a company based in Kerteminde on the island of Fyn and sailed around that island, with small detours, for two weeks. It was fabulous! Actually, there were three of us on board... Fizz was there. Here he is in Årøsund looking after the boat while we popped ashore for a walk:

We had meant to spend the night in the lovely town of Haderslev but, having sailed 6 miles up the stunningly beautiful river to the town harbour, it was full! So, 6 miles back again to the entrance, turn right for a few miles and into Årøsund. That's one of the (many) wonderful things about sailing in this area: you are never far away from somwhere nice.

So, very best wishes to all our Danish friends on their day!

Warm wishes! Veronica. xxx

'Tis the season...

2009-06-03T08:36:00.006+01:00

Actually, it's well into the season. You might be forgiven for wondering if this little creature is some form of particularly well-moustached mouse ...

From 2009_05_11

...when in fact it is just a little Dunnock collecting 'Bear hair' (from my dear dog, Bear) in order to do a little home renovation/refurbishing..

From 2009_05_11

Just how these little things manage to collect so much into their little beaks is a mystery - or maybe a miracle

From 2009_05_11

But I love to watch them wandering around the garden collecting straw, grasses or fur to do their mid-season work. How industrious they are and how 'house proud' they are !

From 2009_05_11

Still, a bird has to know just when enough is enough and head back with the collection for re-lining the nest.

From 2009_05_11

I hope you'r enjoying a sunshine filled day. With warm wishes, Vxx

Thank You...

2009-05-28T09:18:00.000+01:00

It's been sometime since I last posted - and goodness how a few things have changed on Blogger! Seems I have to spend a bit of time re-learning how to load images etc!

These photos of some flowers in my garden are to say Thank You for all the wonderfully kind comments I have received since my last post (which I've deleted...)

This first image is specifically for my friends in Iowa (Russell and Bailey) as I had promised to do a blog on the lilacs in my garden but never quite got around to it... sorry guys and I hope you'll forgive me!

This next flower is commonly known as Bleeding Heart but more correctly as a Dicentra...

And finally, a Clematis that flowers in late winter just outside the window where I type here for this blog... the view is taken from directly underneath the flower heads so as to be able to see into the little blossoms rather than just from the side as normal...

I'll be spending a bit of time catching up with your blog over the next few days or so. With warm wishes, Vxx

Thank you...

2009-04-18T12:30:00.016+01:00

Firstly, this post is very late in coming as it seems like ages ago that Spencer from Bellamere Cottage so kindly gave me these awards. I've been having the strangest problems trying to load the images onto my blog but happily that mostly seems to be resolved now -I'm still having trouble with a couple of the images but if I wait for that to sort itself out then I might be waiting a long time. Too long for politeness, that's for sure! Spencer does know that about this so I hope that she will still forgive for the inordinate amount of time it has taken me.

Secondly, I am absolutely delighted to have received these awards so Thank You Spencer for your kindness and generosity in giving them to me. Actually in truth it must be said that I very much doubt that I deserve them at all, so it just goes to show what a lovely person Spencer is! I love her great sense of humour, and even though she has only just started out in Blogland, Spencer is already making a multitude of friends because of her pretty blog and her charming posts - she seems to bubble over with happiness even when she is going through a sad time. So if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Spencer then please visit her blog and introduce yourself to her.

And finally, the Friendship award which asks me to pass this onto 8 more blogging friends.

The Friendship Award also comes with the following message:-
"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated." It adds:-
"Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I have to say that it is the Friendship Award that strikes a chord with me because of the friendships I have made from blogging. So many wonderful people scattered around the globe who have touched my heart and who I feel are my friends. Thank you all and thank you once again to Spencer.

I do understand that many people in Blogland are very, very busy and maybe don't even care to receive these awards so please don't feel obligated to go through all the steps here - just know that I think YOU are special and that I'm grateful to know you. If you want to take up the awards and name a further 8 people then that's great. Just copy and paste the images and post them (well, try to...!)on your site and link to the other 8 people's blogs. I'd like to be able to pass the award onto each and everyone of my blogging friends, so please, please feel free to pick up any, or all, of these awards and post them onto your site. I'm well aware that this is probably breaking the 'Rules' but how can there be rules with friendship?

Anyway, here's my list:-

Meggie from the wonderful Life's Free Treats - my first blogging friend with a fabulous, thought provoking, insightful blog -http://lifesfreetreats.blogspot.com/

Deedee who is also quite new to blogging but has quite a following of enthusiastic fans - look at her blog and you'll see why! -http://deedeecutadrift.blogspot.com/

Jack, my good friend with a such a wonderful sense for a good post - he's not feeling too well right now so please visit him and cheer him up - http://jackc50.blogspot.com/

June is simply Wonderful! That's really all I have to say because that describes her perfectly - excepting that she is also the kindest, most gentle person around blogland - http://laughingwithangels.blogspot.com/

Pondside, my dear friend from Vancouver Island - beautifully written and thoughtful posts, all judiciously mixed with such a sense of humour and love of life - http://pondside1741.blogspot.com/

Russell from Iowa with a fantastic blog - well, let's face it, it's really the gorgeous Bailey, his dog, with the fantastic blog (sorry Russell!) - http://iowagrasslands.blogspot.com/

Tracy from Norway who has befriended me and has such a beautiful blog - she is extraordinarily talented and makes exquisite jewellery and knitted items for her fabulous Artfire and Etsy shops - http://pinkpurl.typepad.com/

and now someone with a wonderful eye for a sublime photograph/image. Maureen posts regularly and has some wonderful studies from around her famous home city - http://maureendonegal.blogspot.com/

I can't finish this post on Friendship without mentioning my friend Marie from Dreaming of Wild Roses (http://dreamingofwildroses.blogspot.com/)- we have so much in common and I'm so grateful to have met her. Marie is going through an immensely busy time right now, with no extra time for all these awards entail, but I wanted to take this opportunity of acknowledging a special friendship. Hugs to you, my friend.

I hope you are enjoying a sunny and happy weekend! With warm wishes, Vxx

Blue, White and some Vintage...

2009-04-14T11:02:00.007+01:00

A posy of blue and white flowers from the garden. Simply because they are there for the picking now - such a treat after the winter.

Another view -

An old platter that was my Mother's. It's from our days in Malaysia and I love both this and the one to follow dearly.

Some enamel work on the back of a spoon...

A few of my favourite things around the home - hope you like them too! Warm wishes to you, Vxx

Scenes from the Weekend... Part 4

2009-04-13T12:25:00.009+01:00

We enjoyed a very pleasant evening at The Queen's Head... There were only a few people around this time, either chatting to friends, having a meal, reading newspapers or just relaxing at the end of their weekends. It was nice to catch up with a few of our friends and find out about the things that they had been doing over the course of the weekend - Sarah and Mark had been gliding, and Roger and Maureen had been busy in the garden and windsurfing.

Here's an image of the main fireplace at the Queen's...

This is one view from the table we sat at to eat our meal. There probably aren't too many pubs even in this country with the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom on the wall... England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are each represented on this Coat of Arms. If you look at the top right hand image in the collage, then you can probably get a better impression...

And here's the other view from our table, looking through into the bar area itself. Roger and Maureen are seated to the left.

And here's the view from the other side of the bar, with Jerry doing his stuff behind the bar - he's an excellent bar manager. We're standing and chatting to Sarah and Mark who had just come in as we were finishing our meals...

They decided to eat also so we sat down with them whilst they enjoyed their meal. Here's a close up view of the beer engines behind the bar, taken from the table just near the fireplace.

and a final view of that wonderful fireplace with the wood burning down at the end of a very pleasant evening.

Thanks for joining us and I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we did. Warm wishes, Vxx

Scenes from the weekend... Part 3

2009-04-09T11:28:00.027+01:00

Right Jack and Pondside have you everything you'll need... wallet, handbag, coat or sweater? Okay, jump in my car and let's head off to the Queen's Head. Our table is booked for 7.30pm but we'll leave about 7pm so that the light is still good enough to show you some of the sights along the way. Seat belts on - it's the law over here. Comfy? Off we go!

We pull out of our drive and head to the right, south, and to the village of Hawkedon. It's England so that's pronounced with 3 syllables as in Haw - k' - d'n...

We go past Stonecross Green which of course you already know about and head out into the open countryside. Unfortunately for everyone else, we are heading into the sun so the images have come out a little dark but hopefully you'll be able to see fairly well... This is looking towards the next village, Rede (as in Reed) which is quite charming although you won't get to see it all as we turn left at the junction into the village and leave it behind us.

The road's quite a winding one and we cross over this little bridge...

now you can see Rede church ahead of us...

and here we are at the little junction on the outskirts of Rede... of course, you could always catch the bus to the pub if you wanted to?...

Having turned left, we're heading in a south westerly direction. Before you know it, we're sort of on the 'outskirts' of Hawkedon. We're just going past the Hawkedon Veterinary Surgery where we have a major financial interest due to all the times we've visited over the years. When we first had to come here it was with our younger dog. She was just a puppy and it was an emergency visit (aren't they always...), Sally the vet looked at our puppy and said to me, 'Here, hold this...' and thrust her 6 week old baby daughter into my arms whilst she got on with the serious stuff... those were the days when the surgery was in a tiny little 'Portacabin' arrangement... so, as you see a major financial investment here... But I still think that they do a fantastic job and wouldn't consider taking my pets anywhere else...

On the crest of the hill and now you see in the distance the village of Hawkedon...

down the hill and you see the village sign...

Perfect! Not too many people here but enough to mean that we have to park the car here on the road, just outside...

Here's a photo of the outside of the pub - maybe you can show your families back home where we went for a meal, a drink and a chat...

The Queen's Head in the village of Hawkedon, Suffolk, England.

Grab your coats, it's cold now - let's go inside and see if there's anyone we know there and we'll introduce you...

Scenes from the weekend... Part 2

2009-04-07T16:45:00.025+01:00

Palm Sunday morning; gorgeous blue sky and some real warmth in the air. This morning we're off to our local community centre where a few members of the village cricket team are gathering to do some preparatory work for the coming season. The pitch has to be marked out, the grass mowed and rolled. The practice nets need to be checked and mended. The grass where last year's Guy Fawkes bonfire was situated also needs some work to it before it can be played on.

It's not a 'serious' team but they enjoy quite a few social matches and we all chip in to do our bit. I don't play but my husband does and I thought it a perfect opportunity to snap a few photos for my blog!

The first thing we saw when we drove into the carpark was this hot air balloon - not sure if it had a 'learner driver' at the controls but it seemed to be having some problems with sufficient lift. By the time we'd parked and I'd managed to grab my camera and scramble out of the car, it had gained some height...

only for it to skew off to the side a little when it then lost all height and dropped into the field... that it wasn't supposed to land in! It dragged along for probably 100 metres or so and then started to climb once more... no doubt the basket removed quite a lot of the crop as it dragged along the ground!

Fortunately, it regained good height and headed off to wherever these things head off to... but I rather suspect that the passengers got a little more excitement than they bargained for.

The guys got stuck into the area of grass that needed to be repaired from the bonfire. Although new turf had been laid here, the heavy winter rains had done a bit of damage to the soil levels and it needed to be levelled out a little to make it safe for all.

I thought I'd leave them all to it and take the opportunity to see what was hiding in the 'outfield' or the rough grass. Maybe head over to one of the benches whilst I watched them all working - what a treat! When I reached the first bench, I decided that there wasn't quite enough sun to enjoy so started to walk on by. And that was when I noticed that it was not actually the nice quiet little spot I'd originally thought it might be...

It's one of those compressed air bird scarer guns and it was only about 30 or so feet away from the bench! Mind you, I guess it would be pretty peaceful after you'd had your heart attack.

A sweet little violet blossoming in the shelter under some trees and below a photo of some leaf bursting through on a horse chestnut tree... and clearly an angel had brushed by this branch.

Meanwhile, the guys were starting to get a little serious with their work, so I decided to wander back and take a some photos of their efforts. Discussions were held about the correct area to mow - or was that about the correct way to mow the area?

Some manpower went into the cutting and the rolling...

then more cutting whilst some fertiliser was spread over the cut grass...

and the batting practice nets were mended...

But clearly they enjoyed themselves and a lot of fun was had by all.

Time to have a little chat about this and that before we all headed back to our homes, lunch and whatever other plans we had in place for the rest of the day.... for us, a little more work in the garden, a lazy lunch in the sun and then later on we were heading off to the Queen's Head for a nice, relaxed evening meal. Hope you can join us! Warm wishes, Vxx

Scenes from the weekend... Part 1

2009-04-06T10:35:00.018+01:00

The Saturday before Easter and the weather is superb today. Whilst the air temperature is not exactly on the cosy side, the sunshine is wonderful and, if you can get out of the cool breeze that's blowing, then there is definite warmth in the sun! We had an exciting morning visiting one of the local supermarkets (I know, I know) and then headed off to an agricultural supplier to get some more grit and various bits and bobs for the new hens. More of them later. Then back home and a few chores around the home before heading into the garden... lots and lots of chores to be done there at this time of the year.

In tune with Easter, a bunch of (mostly!) yellow flowers, some from the supermarket visit earlier this morning whilst the daffodils are from our garden. Just in an old white jug and placed in the hall...

I love these two green crystal bowls you can see here - they are old but I don't know how old they are. However, I think the etching is charming. I expect that they are the type of bowls that would have been placed on a dining table, ready for the dregs a wine glass to be emptied into when a new wine was to be served...

In keeping with the yellow theme, some freesias with their delicious perfume wafting through the kitchen. Fortunately, you can't really define the dead ceanothus through the window - it didn't survive this last winter even with the protection of the house close to it, so this weekend it's going to go!

More on the theme of yellow - this time some self sown cowslips in the garden underneath one of the pear trees. There are masses in this area of the grass but these are the first to show their faces.

Just behind the cowslips are these deep blue grape hyacinths or muscari - these are pretty little things and as with the cowslips we seem to have thousands scattered around the garden. Even my bulb digging hens don't seem to be able to destroy these. Thank goodness!

And some white hyacinths just by the old well in front of the house. The bulbs are planted in the grass so happily my little darlings are not able to scratch these pretty flowers out of the ground.

The grass had its first cut for the season. This area of 'lawn' has been ravaged by a mole (and the hens) so we have some serious work cut out for us in order to firstly deal with dear little Moley, and then to get the lawn into shape again. Irritatingly, the ride-on mower decided that it is still on winter holidays, so refused to start. An acre or so of unkempt winter grass is a pain to cut with an normal mower!

Reward for effort!! The sun is now well over the yardarm (it's about 6.15pm) and so I made a cool, refreshing gin and tonic for each of us. Delicious!

A few more things to be done outside, tools to be cleaned and put away, the hens to be bedded down for the night and safely secured in their runs. By now, it's cold outside, the light is going from the day and it's time to light a fire in the wood burning stove in the Snug. Time also to turn some lights on inside the house and to think about preparing the evening meal.

If you were coming to share a meal with us tonight, you'd see this view of our front door...

before being welcomed into our little entrance hall where we like to have lots of candles burning, no matter what the season or weather...

perhaps you'd care for a glass of chilled white wine before your meal?

I hope you enjoyed your Saturday as much as we enjoyed ours! Warm wishes, Vxx

Stonecross

2009-04-04T09:20:00.005+01:00

Sometime ago, I mentioned the remains of an old stone cross just down the hill from our home. I've been waiting for some sunshine to take a photo but eventually I decided that if I wait for the sun, then maybe I won't be able to take the photo to include the daffodils that flower around the old stone base. The cross itself was removed centuries ago, probably when Henry VIII sacked the Abbey... there is a strong rumour that the cross was buried in what was then a field but is now the grounds of one of the local homes...there is an even stronger rumour that it was recently dug up and then hastily re-buried...

The stone cross has now lent its name to the hamlet of homes that surround it... Stonecross Green...

Here, the road leads further to the south of our home. If you read my post about the Queen's Head pub, then all you have to do is follow this road and in about 5 minutes, you would be at the pub...

I was parked in Robin and Becky's drive so if you pull out of their drive and head along the road to the north of the cross, past Herringbone Cottage (sorry you can't see the absolutely stunning herringbone pattern brickwork to the front of the house... another time perhaps!), round the bend in the road, cross the bridge and then continue up the hill, we're the first house on the left. Pull in the drive, park your car and welcome to our home!

Have a great weekend! Warm wishes, V xx

Roses, Sunshine and Spring...

2009-04-02T14:08:00.009+01:00

The sun is finally shining today after a cold, misty start. It's true to say that the sun even has some genuine warmth to it and I have been pootling around the garden, chatting to the new hens. They're doing well, and have begun to venture a little further afield from their little coop.

All my rose bushes are beginning to develop new leaves, new shoots and before (too) long, I hope to see the first flush of flowers. But in the meantime, I can enjoy some lovely roses in my house...

The paintings are quite old, and we were blessed to inherit them a few years ago from a very dear friend. I love these paintings and sometimes the 'right' roses are in bloom together in my garden and then I am able to recreate these pictures in reality on my dining table or other places around the house.

I think this next one is my favourite - well it is today! I dither between them but I guess who really cares which is 'better' - they're all lovely and a joy to look at when winter is here and all is grey outside.

Wishing you a lovely sunny week and weekend to come! Vxx

Rescue day for our new hens....

2009-03-29T09:29:00.011+01:00

Yesterday was the rescue day for our four new hens. We had to be at the collection point between the hours of 2pm and 4pm so we planned to drive to the town of Maldon (home of the superb Sea Salt for cooking) and to have a little picnic by the water, take a few photos and then pootle slowly along to collect our girls.

The weather had other ideas and Saturday dawned cold, wet and pretty miserable. So the picnic plan was abandoned for another, sunnier and warmer day. By the time we arrived at the collection point, the weather had deteriorated even further! Ugh, what a day to have to collect poor, frightened little hens. It was raining so hard that the hens had had to be kept in the horse boxes they'd been stacked into when they were removed from their battery cages. Here's one of the good volunteers lifting them out ready for those of us who were there to collect them and bring them home.

Here the hens are being placed into open pens so that they are easily lifted out and placed into the new owners assorted boxes or crates. They look a pretty motley crew but in fact are in excellent condition by and large for ex-battery hens. It was raining so the plastic you can see piled up is to cover the hens in case it really started to belt down. They have never been outside in their lives before this.

Two more wonderful volunteers from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust - they are holding the girls up as the hens' claws have to be clipped before they leave the collection point. The hens have always lived in their cages so their claws grow long - no scratching at the grass or ground you see.

It's all done very quickly and efficiently; the hens are fine afterwards. Not too much off the claws but just enough to help them walk on the ground.

Then back into their little pens to await their new owners.

When they arrived home with us, we popped them into their new but temporary accommodation. Our existing girls are pretty strong and hens being territorial little things, we want the new hens to have a chance to regain some confidence and strength before being allowed to mingle with the others. In the photo below, you can see Madge and Ginger inspecting the new arrivals.

Once again, we were lucky with the girls we were allocated and all are pretty well feathered. Just very pale and quite stunned at all that happened to them over the course of the day!

If we had not collected them, if the Battery Hen Welfare Trust had not organised to collect and pay the farmers for these hens, then today they would all be at the slaughter yard. A quick end by either electrocution or gassing and then they would have become either dog food or good old Chicken Nuggets. Yes, you read correctly... Chicken Nuggets. It's so easy to blame the farmers but we have to look a little closer to home I'm afraid. We are the ones who demand cheap eggs, cheap chicken and egg products so this is the result. If I buy a cheap cake from the supermarket then I can bet my bottom dollar that it will have been made with battery farm eggs. Poor little hens.

She'll be OK with lots of new, good food and fresh water and fresh air. In a day or so, when they have settled a bit from their stressful day yesterday, we'll move them onto a larger area where they can roam a bit more. Hopefully, we'll be able to introduce them to the others in a few weeks.

Two have names already.... Ellen and Betty... but the other two are currently anonymous so if anyone has some nice ideas for a couple names, please do send them through!

Warm wishes to you and I hope you are enjoying your weekend! Vxx

How on earth............??

2009-03-23T12:00:00.003Z

Look what we found in my car this morning! We cannot begin to imagine just how this little guy jumped up into my Jeep but jump he obviously did.

My husband had given the vehicle a thorough clean out yesterday so the doors were open for a few hours whilst he vacuumed a zillion yellow labrador dog hairs out from the carpet... and sometime or another this little mouse decided to hitch a ride. I imagine he had a pretty disconcerting overnight stay - he certainly did not look on top form when we found him.... he has now been removed to greener pastures and hopefully he won't be returning in a hurry.

Hens, havoc and I must be crazy...

2009-03-17T10:11:00.005Z

I must be crazy... there's no other excuse. Here you can see the kind of havoc my dear little rescue hens have made around one of the walnut trees in the garden. There used to be bulbs here. Lots and lots of bulbs. Now all I have is the dessicated remains of some lemon balm/melissa and lots of dust baths. You may even be able to see the original levels to the soil surrounding the walnut tree. The hens have excavated, fluffed their feathers and enjoyed many, many dust baths here. As you can see.

They've had a wonderful time (times) fighting over the prime spots. Even though these images were only taken about 3 weeks or so ago, now the craters are so deep that the hens can actually disappear from sight if they want to.

But make no mistake, I love them dearly and just grit my teeth whilst I sweep the path yet again.

However, back to the crazy part. I've just committed (hmmm, that's an appropriate word...) to take on FOUR MORE rescue ex-battery hens. They should be ready for collection on Saturday 28th March... So that's 40% more destruction in my garden. Crazy but I can hardly wait... stay tuned!

Warm wishes to you Vxx

Sunday, Sunshine and Spring...

2009-03-16T08:55:00.021Z

Isn't it amazing how our spirits lift when the sun shines! Yesterday was a beautifully sunny day here, and today looks as though it's going to be at least as good. The first of our daffodils have begun to open their blooms so it really does appear as though Spring has begun in earnest. It's been a difficult week as dear old Bear has not been so well. Yesterday however, she was able to lie in the sunshine and that seemed to perk her up quite a bit.

Finally the ground seems to be drying out from all the rains and snow. The mud is almost gone - hooray! So it's time to get out into the garden and sort a few things out before we are inundated with all the new growth. The gardening day started with the planting of a new section of Yew hedge along the road side of the property. This is the second hedge we've planted here - the first was a Pyracantha hedge which died back after a few years or so. But first things first... barrow loads of horse manure needed to be dug in to enrich the soil.

After a long day in the garden, we headed to one of our local pubs for a bite to eat. It's a beautiful old country pub which sadly is not located here in our village (or maybe that's a good thing!) but it's less than 5 minutes by car so we still take advantage of its proximity to our home.

When we made the reservation on Friday night, we had thought the pub would be pretty much empty, but on arrival we found it was busy with locals. Of course, everyone had enjoyed the first real day of Spring and so wanted to continue their day and weekend for as long as possible! We decided on a Beef Rogan Josh curry for me and my husband chose a pizza for his meal. A glass of chilled white wine for me and a pint of beer for him. It was delicious!

Here a couple of images of the little room we chose to eat our meal in... it has a fireplace and it was warm in there. The day might have been sunny and warm but the night air brought a chill to it. However the main reason we chose this room was because I could take some decent images - too many people in the other rooms to be able to do so... after all, who wants to have their photo taken on a Sunday evening when all you want to do is relax and be comfortable! The pub is called The Queen's Head - nothing at all to do with the stuffed boar's head on the wall though!

Here's a photo of that all important fire... the pub has another fireplace which is wonderfully impressive but it's very much a prime location and had a crowd gathered in front of it. Perhaps I'll be able to get an image for you on another occasion... ah, the lengths I'm prepared to go to for my blogging friends....

I hope you have all enjoyed your weekend and the coming week is good to you.

Banana Bread and a Spot of Bother

2009-03-09T08:29:00.015Z

I would have not only baked the cake, but I would have blogged about it too... but for some reason I couldn't upload the images I took... Surely you all heard the explosion from over this way?? Or maybe saw the 'blue air' floating your way? No? Well, that certainly surprises me! Perhaps this cake or more accurately, bread, was never meant for public consumption because right from the word 'Go' it was troublesome.

I love Jane Grigson's Fruit Cookbook - my dear cousin gave it to me many moons ago and it is well used. In particular, I love Mrs Grigson's recipe for Banana and Walnut Bread. So on Saturday, I assembled the ingredients and arranged them to photograph. Took the shots. And then realised that - shock! horror! - there were no walnuts in the house. Which is pretty weird given we have two walnut trees in the garden.

It was a tad too late in the day to rectify the situation, so Sunday morning I headed off to dear (and you can use that word in many ways...) old Waitrose, one of our local supermarkets. Whilst I was there, I noticed that they had their current food magazine in stock so of course, one came home with me... here it is on the hall table...

I have an obsession with recipe books, food magazines and I have carted several hundred around the world with me. I won't embarrass myself by showing you photos of all these just now, but the next image shows you about one third of all the cook books (excluding the magazine numbers ) I have at home...

However, here is the recipe for the Banana and Walnut Bread with some introductory text from Mrs Grigson.

"There are many recipes around these days for banana bread, with more or less bits and pieces added to the basic mixture. This simple recipe is my favourite, because it needs no butter when it is newly made, and for a day has a crust that is crisp and buttery golden brown. Put it in a box and the softens.

125g/4oz butter
175g/6oz caster sugar
2 large eggs
2-3 large bananas (500g or 1lb approx)
60-90g/2-3oz walnuts, coarsely chopped
250g/8oz self-raising flour
1/2 level teaspoon salt
1/4 level teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, and add the eggs, beating them in well. Peel and mash the bananas with a fork: do not use a blender or processor or the bananas become too liquid. Add them to the mixutre, with the walnuts. Stir together the dry ingredients and fold them in using a metal spoon.

Line a 23 cm (9inch) loaf tin with baking paper (Veronica says - I just grease a non-stick pan well) and brush it with melted butter. Spoon in the mixture, levelling it out. Bake at gas 4, 180 C, 350 F, for an hour. Test with warm skewer and give it longer if the skewer does not come out clean. Leave the cake in the tine for 15 minutes when it comes out of the oven and then turn it onto a wire rack to cool. When the cake becomes too dry to eat with pleasure on its own, spread the slices with brandy butter." Note from me - it's never lasted long enough to get to the brandy butter stage!

St. Petronilla's...

2009-03-06T11:40:00.022Z

March, July and November of every year I wander up the hill to our little church, St Petronilla's. There I join Lesley to help her clean the church. This is not an onerous task given the tiny size of the congregation, so it's generally a simple matter of dusting the pews etc, sweeping the floor and vacuuming the carpeted areas. It usually only takes about 45 minutes, every Friday morning of those months. I started doing this as a way of participating in the day to day activities of our little village. Apart from that, I rarely set foot in the church, just attending local funeral services, the annual Christmas Carols by Candlelight service and perhaps a couple of other services or fundraising events that may be going on there.

It's a really lovely sunny day here today although I guess it's also typical March weather - namely it's also jolly cold outside! So some of these photos have some camera shake but given that I was shaking from the cold, it's hardly surprising...

Here's the view from the car park looking over the 'new' graveyard and across to one part of our little village...

And this is the gate into the churchyard itself with some the old gravestones to be seen. Most of them are in a pretty precarious state and only on a very few can you actually read the inscriptions... a shame really because I enjoy reading old inscriptions. Some can be amusing, others downright vitriolic!

Inside the church, the stained glass windows are stunning...

These are all different in each of the window bays...

But my absolute favourite is the window above the loft where the bell ringers sit. You will just have to imagine the magnificence of this window as the sun had not moved sufficiently to show its true glory...

Here's part of the door leading into church, showing some detail to the carvings...

And finally, a photo of the church, showing the path leading into it... shame the rose isn't in bloom because it really is superb with the most beautiful perfume to it...

Over the years I've been meeting Lesley here to do our little bit, I've grown very fond of the church and I enjoy the peace and quiet here. Mind you, Lesley and I tend to put the world to rights as we chat away (teeth chattering too through the cold inside the church!) and we share many giggles about this and that. All in all, I think I'm the lucky one who receives far more from this 'chore' than I ever expected to. What a bargain!

Sunday afternoon...

2009-03-01T13:07:00.013Z

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm feeling a little jaded... we went to a 60th birthday party last night and Maggie (the birthday girl) and her husband, Mike put on a great party for us all with lovely food and even a disco afterwards. So having danced the night away, I'm still feeling a little 'weary' today. I'm supposed to be studying for final exams tomorrow so I'm trying to motivate myself - it's not working too well ... sigh.

All I really want to do is just lie on the sofa in the Snug and snooze quietly. With lots of cushions and warm, snuggly throws it's a good place to be on a rather grey, misty day.

My husband has brought in loads of firewood and has lit the woodburning stove so it would be perfect to snuggle down in front of it.... The dogs know that it's a great idea and have claimed their rightful places in the prime positions. Troy is a little miffed because she really prefers to be in the spot that Chelsea has claimed.... and Chelsea is wondering if perhaps there might be any toast and honey for tea...? No, they don't get that kind of food but it's the sort of thing that would be most appreciated right now. Well, it's what I'm thinking of anyway.

There's still room for my husband if he would like to join us ... just have to convince Troy that she needs to move so that he can actually have somewhere to put his feet.

The Snug is where we mostly hibernate for the colder months of the year - although it's not as light as the sitting room, it does have a really cosy ambience with all the beams and the fire. Lots of lamps placed around add more warm light to the atmosphere. We tend to shut the other end of the house down during the colder months. Gosh, doesn't that sound grand! It's not I promise you, but it is a practical solution to a much cooler part of the home.

Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed your weekend as much as we have so far. But for now, I'm going to stretch out and shut my eyes for a quick nap. Hopefully I'll be able to then convince myself to get back to the books!

Warm wishes to you all! V xx

Goats and kids...

2009-02-20T17:40:00.011Z

I can't say that I am normally too keen on goats. They seem to have a 'malevolent' eye in most cases and are smelly... rankly smelly. However, one lives and one learns. I should state that the smelly problem does not seem to arise with goats cheese - in fact, the smellier the better. Strange person that I am!

Our friends, Matt and Ruth, live just down the road from us, on their smallholding. They are pretty much self-sufficient with all their vegetables and meat. The only vegetable they don't have sufficient land for, is potatoes. They have chickens for eggs and chickens for meat. Every year they raise pigs and sheep, selling off the surplus to the lucky ones (like us!) as a way of paying for the purchase of the young and associated costs of feeding and raising them.

Ruth is amazing! She does so much - looking after a vast vegetable garden and looking after the animals is a full time job. But she also makes beautiful, hand painted cards, sews and knits, cooks like a dream and is generally a lovely person. Accomplished and articulate - grrrr!!! And Matt is pretty cool too - calm and gentle with a great sense of humour.

However, they have never been able to provide for their own milk requirements. At least not until a couple of months prior to Christmas when their first goats arrived. Ruth kindly invited us down to view and of course we went, albeit a little reluctantly (see above and reasons for...).

We were introduced to Iona and Bracken. Iona is three years old and Bracken is only 7 months. They are Golden Guernseys... or is that Guernsey Goldens???... oh well, hopefully they'll forgive me and they are far from the aforementioned 'types' I was expecting to see. Extremely attractive with kind eyes and charming natures and characters. Iona was already 'in kid' so as to ensure a milk supply from her.

Two days ago, the happy event took place and Iona's twins were born. Ruth tells me that normally goats aren't the most maternal of animals, but Iona is turning out to be an excellent and devoted mother. So sweet!

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce to you, Iona and her two little babes or 'kids' as I really should call them...

In the picture above, you can see the young male being 'kissed' by Iona and the female is just turning in for a nap in the corner.

Sibling love! They have bonded well as a family unit already and are very affectionate towards each other - aren't they a beautiful colour? Their coats are as soft as silk too. Sweet little faces.

I'm tired! I just want to go to sleep please...

Below is a photo of Bracken - girls just check out those eyelashes!!!! Bracken has been rather excited by all of this and Ruth thinks that she probably hasn't had a lot of sleep since the youngsters were born. Today, however, the sun was shining and she was starting to relax and calm down.

Bracken also has a new party trick, which she displayed the day the kids were born. She has taken to jumping on this box and Ruth was trying to encourage her to do so for our entertainment... but Bracken was having none of it. Just give me the food please.... so Ruth and I walked away to have a little chat about life in general and....

Bracken immediately jumped onto the box as to say, well I can do it if I want to... oh and by the way, aren't I just too pretty....

As you may imagine from someone as talented as Ruth, she has already begun to make cheese from the goats milk.... which is where I come in again.... yum!

Winter Snow and a Bear

2009-02-13T11:32:00.016Z

Last night we had about four inches of snow fall here and the trees and their branches laden with snow looked magical with the light from the house shining on them. This morning, the snow is all melting but there is still enough around the garden to show you some photos taken about 30 minutes or so ago..

Here is a very special Bear who is showing us her remarkable recovery from her stroke a couple of weekends ago... She has been enjoying regular sessions of Reflexology, Reiki and gentle Massage as well as taking a special blend of minerals and vitamins prescribed by her vet.

Typical Labrador pose, sniffing the ground as she is walking along. Wonder if there's anything to eat around here?

What? Did you say something to me....? She's getting a little deaf although I do wonder if it is selective deafness as she always seems to know when food is ready or when it's time for a walk. Surprise, surprise...

Everynow and then, she lurches as the 'boat moves' and so you can see here that the effects of the stroke are still lingering. She has improved remarkably and I am so happy about it. The best thing is that she is happy once again!

But of course, it's tiring being a Super Model...

When do I get my reward for this modelling?

Thanks once again to everyone for all your kind, caring posts and emails.

Dark corners...

2009-02-11T15:01:00.032Z

My house has quite a few dark corners and this is a collage of the dark corner on the landing. There is only one small, mullioned window to cast any light but as it is north facing and right under the eaves of the thatched roof, there is not a lot that comes in...

Over time, I have deliberately added to the darkness by changing from a much lighter, painted chest to this walnut chest of drawers and by placing a black lamp on top. The books at the back of the chest are guarded by a charming pair of storks, both of which manage to convey a rather comical air of deep depression and gloom... I'd probably be depressed if I had to stand to attention like this all my life.

On the right hand side of the collage, you can see a rather different impression of the Sydney Opera House. Normally we see it as glistening sails over the harbour but this time the whites belong to the real sails on the yacht. I like the twist to this image.

I have often thought about redecorating this little corner into the light, bright whites of Scandinavian style. And maybe I'll do that one day. In the meantime, I am enjoying the drama of this little corner.

The candles sparkle and dance in the darkness and it makes for a nice contrast...

In this next photo you can see I have added some of the books I received at Christmas... I enjoy Dorothy L. Sayers and it was a delight to revisit the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. Somehow, most of my original copies got lost in the translation from Australia to Suffolk....

And to add to the list of contrasts, the book written by Khaled Hosseini, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' is far from the light, easy reading of the Wimsey books. But it is a book that is well worth the detour...

In the image above, you can see the rough, original lathe and plaster walls whilst the wall behind the radiator is new vintage plain, modern (boring) plaster which was added to make a bathroom. The original plaster has horsehair, and goodness knows (or wants to know!) what else in it. The pond to the south of the house was likely the place from which all the mud was drawn to make the walls.

But what you haven't seen in the collage are the uneven floors old houses have! Upstairs, we have to prop most of our furniture on blocks and somehow we have never managed to make the smart blocks we originally intended for this chest. Ah well, that's what makes life interesting - the contrasts...

Bushfires and The Fourth of the Fourth

2009-02-08T12:04:00.016Z

I'm watching the bushfires in Australia. I can hardly think of an adjective to describe this horror and find that I am fearful for friends who live close by to the areas concerned, and also fearful for friends in and around Sydney - even though there are no fires burning there at present. My dear friend Liz, who lives in Sydney, emailed me earlier this week to say that Sydney is expecting a heatwave this weekend. The whole country is tinder dry and it's just too easy for a fire to start - or be started.

My heart goes out to all those who have lost family, friends, loved ones in this disaster.

This link to the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney tells it all; succinctly. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/nickbryant/

Earlier today, I was catching up with the lastest post on Pondside's lovely blog. She had been tagged to show the fourth picture in her fourth folder. The result, as always, was charming and interesting. I thought I'd take a peek at my fourth photo in my fourth folder and see what was there. Not too bad, it's an image of my dining table/room, with the table laid for breakfast.

Meggie at Life'sFreeTreats emailed me this week and asked what it is like to live in this old, thatched cottage - do I feel a sense of history?

Here's my reply to her...

I have always wanted to live in a thatched and timber framed cottage/house – it is a delightful time living here. And yes, I do feel a sense of history although sadly there are few facts to glean from the local records at the council offices. It is only about 50 or so years ago that land titles were in place for every sale/purchase of properties in Suffolk – prior to that it was all done the old way; on the shake of hands and on the word of each party. We do know that at one time the house was a pub - but that was common too – many old properties used to have one room of the house where ale was sold to passers-by. The well at the front of the house and the proximity to Bury St Edmunds is a possible clue to the house being on a Pilgrims’ path to the old Abbey (before Henry destroyed it!!)

Just down the hill are the remains of a ‘stone cross’ which is the ancient version of the soap boxes in Hyde Park where people can stand and ‘harangue/lecture/save’ passers by. Very likely local priests or monks would exhort the poor pilgrims to repent etc. Sadly the cross has also been destroyed but the big block of stone is still there so I’ll try to get some photos of it when the daffodils are out a bit later on.

From about 1901 till up to WWII, the house was the local ‘working man’s club’ and the sitting room (the one that has the French doors to it) was the dance floor. It is difficult to find any information about those times – the only elderly man who had been here as a boy would not tell me anything about it as he implied that his information was ‘unseemly’ for a woman to hear. Absolutely infuriating! I was desperate to learn as much as I could about the house but dear old Mr B was too much of a gentleman to offend my delicate sensibilities... if only he had known!!

The house has some history or local lore, of ‘looking after’ people and of being a shelter in times of need. There is no doubt that old houses ‘wrap their arms around you’ and this one has the most peaceful atmosphere. We are very lucky to live here.

Fieldfares and Bears...

2009-02-06T13:05:00.012Z

We had a few hours of glorious sunshine the other day, and the chance to get some images through the kitchen window of a couple of fieldfares feeding on the cotoneaster tree was too good to miss.

Most of the berries have been eaten and there just remain a few boughs still holding on tight to their little crop of scarlet jewels.

When the birds had had their fill, they were off...

Thanks to each and everyone of you who have either posted or sent emails to me about Bear and wishing her a speedy recovery. She is still doing well, although in truth it has to be said that that term is relative, but she is eating with a good appetite, drinking water and er.... etc. She has to be helped a lot as she is very, very shakey on her legs but my goodness, she is a fighter! Hugs to you all.

Snow!

2009-02-03T11:34:00.017Z

We've been enjoying these wonderful two days of snow - the best snow in 18 years, so the best snow that I have experienced since coming to the UK 17 years ago. What a treat and delight it has been!

This morning the sun is shining and although the snow is now melting, it looks quite magical with the sun on it. My hens were rather less than impressed however and I wish that I had managed to take a photo of them when we were down feeding and cleaning early yesterday morning... they were wading through it with the snow actually reaching above their little tummies... Later in the morning after I had let them out of their run, they decided to hide under one of the cars where the snow had not reached and where I had sprinkled seed for the other little birds in the garden to eat.

They refused to come out from under the car and I had to entice them with all manner of bribery in an attempt to get them back to their run later on.

In this next image, you can see the view from my bedroom window yesterday morning -

and the difference today

Yesterday, the snow looked like this from the window by the PC where I am right now, typing this information to you

whilst below is an image taken at 7 this morning from just in front of the well, looking over the road and across the valley to the east...

In between all of this, my darling old dog, Troy (AKA Bear) has been suffering from the effects of a stroke on Sunday night. We are very fortunate to have a wonderful vet nearby however, and with the combined effects of the vets advice and the rest and love she is receiving, we are seeing improvements to her condition. Bear is now sleeping and resting by the fire in the Snug - I am hopeful of a full recovery for her. She is my best friend (next to my husband) and has been the most loving companion thoughout our many years together. It is also quite wonderful to watch the reactions of our younger dog who is clearly concerned for her friend and companion and she is also looking after Bear in the best way she can. Here's a recent photo of Bear...

and one of her sister, Chelsea, also recently taken...

A new month.... already!

2009-02-01T09:46:00.015Z

Gosh, it has been such a busy week and suddenly I find that January has slipped out the door and February has arrived. I hope that you have all had a good start to your year.

The UK is apparently experiencing its coldest winter for 13 years and we are 'braced' for a heavy snow storm tomorrow afternoon. Here, where I live, we are have a mix of pale blue skies with patches of sunshine, leaden gray clouds - and tiny snowflakes floating in the air. Quite a mix and really rather enchanting!

I have been watching for the Bullfinch family that normally raids the newly formed buds on our old Greengage trees about mid January. They are a little later than normal due to the cold weather. But this morning, I caught sight of some of them and raced for the camera to try to get a couple of images for you to see. Not the best circumstances as they were taken from inside the house and the distance was at the limits for the camera lens. But still they are magical birds and I hope you enjoy what you can see of them...

The photo above is of one the males and here below is another male in the group... (and an apology for the image being out of focus LOL!)

The female Bullfinch does not have that amazing pinky-red breast but to me, her plumage is so subtly beautiful and at least as attractive as the male plumage...

I have been watching this group since we came to this house and to their territory - there are about 9 family members now although the number ebbs and wanes throughout the seasons and years. I am hoping for a bumper 'crop' of young this year so please keep your fingers crossed for them. Bullfinches are a rare sight now, being shy and retiring birds, so we are very fortunate indeed to have this family living with us here.

Cyclamen...

2009-01-23T20:15:00.020Z

I don't know about you, but there are certain plants that seem to convey charm and beauty with so much ease. For me, the cyclamen is one of those plants. I love them and find them to be elegant creatures, with a delicacy that is so, so delightful. Starting with their petals hanging straight down and then slowly but surely furling them upwards until they are upright as though they are exclaiming about the joys and delights of life itself.

Here is my latest cyclamen, photographed today in my kitchen. It was raining at the time I took these photos and then just after midday the rain turned to snow - those big fluffy flakes of snow that always remind me of Peanut cartoons when Linus and Snoopy would try to catch the flakes on their tongues.

So evocative were those cartoons that I occasionally try to do the same thing myself! So much fun to be had as a 'grown up child' I think....

Snowdrops - signs of life in the garden...

2009-01-21T16:36:00.034Z

I have found a patch of snowdrops in my 'wild' garden area (or should I say, one of my wild garden areas!!!) and it's so good to see a sign of life at this time of year. But sadly, it appears that my darling little hens have decimated the other patches of snowdrops I planted a few years ago. Either that, or they have rearranged the soil levels so much that the poor snowdrops have extra work to do to reach the sunlight.

Elsewhere in the garden I am beginning to see Daffodil shoots emerging from hibernation. It will be a treat to see their sunny yellow flowers after these long, long winter days. I don't know what the weather is like where you live, but here it has been either heavy frost or snow with alternate days of deluging rain. The ground is either rock hard or a quagmire. It's that time of the year when I struggle with the English weather! I long for summer and the welcome return of warm evenings when we can sit outside and enjoy a barbeque with friends... a time of year when I love the English weather. In Australia, sunset arrives early and the sun drops down like a stone into the sea - it's over so quickly and there are none of these gloriously long evenings to savour.

And I'm starting to keep my eye out for fresh nettle shoots as I have been given a lovely Nettle Soup recipe by my friend Sarah. I'm keen to try it - the gardener's revenge on the stinging nettle!

Here's the recipe in case your nettles start to grow before mine do...

Nettle Soup - serves 6.

1/2 carrier bag nettle tops/young leaves
55g butter
1 large onion, sliced
1 large carrot, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 litre chicken/vegetable stock
pinch ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons cooked rice
2 tablespoons cream or creme fraiche
salt and pepper

Method:

Pick over nettles, wash thoroughly. Discard any tough stalks

Melt butter, sweat onions, carrot, celery and garlic until soft but not brown

Add stock and pile in the nettles. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes until tender.

Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Puree the soup in a liquidiser with the cooked rice.

Return to a clean pan, stir in cream/creme fraiche and reheat but do not boil.

Enjoy!

My marmalade venture was good fun - here's the finished result from batch 1 - batch 2 starts this weekend.

It's a lovely, clear marmalade with lots of delicious peel suspended in it. This recipe is one where the quantities can be changed to suit you - it is just 1 part oranges, 2 parts sugar and 3 parts water. Just make sure that you stick to either Imperial or Metric measurements, keep the proportions and all will be well.

My first Comment on my Blog!!!

2009-01-20T15:03:00.015Z

Huge thanks and love to Marie of Dreaming of Wild Roses blog for my first ever comment on my blog. I could scarcely believe my eyes when I logged on today... you know one of those moments when you seem to be unable to comprehend or even believe what you are seeing! Just before the excitement hits!
Marie has the most beautiful blog and I thank you Marie for leaving your kind comment about dear little Fizz, the Moose and for your welcome to 'Blogland'. I hope that you will soon be able to find the time and space to get back to your blog, as from a purely selfish point of view, I so enjoyed reading all your posts and seeing the beautiful photos you have on it.
I will be telling Fizz about your comment too - it is quite likely that he will have a very swollen head because of it! At the very least, he will be pleased as Punch.
I promise not to bore you all with too many photos of him, but here's one more of him in Denmark whilst we were staying at the simply divine Falsled Kro on the island of Fyn.

Fizz, THE Moose...

2009-01-17T20:50:00.008Z

There is a very special 'person' in our lives. His name is Fizz - because of his sparkling personality, don't you know... Fizz came into our lives about 5 years ago (but goodness gracious please don't tell him how 'old' he is...) when we were looking for a special Christmas gift for some friends of ours... He arrived a bit early for wrapping, so we had him in our bedroom for a while.

Well, he worked his magic on us and we found ourselves totally unable to give him to our friends as originally planned.

Fizz travels most places with us - except where or when we worry that he would be damaged or harmed in any way. Many of our friends simply adore him - he is quite, quite the most amazing little moose you will ever meet and I am proud to introduce him to you all....

Here he is, Fizz the Moose... he is pictured here at our favourite hotel on Lac d'Annecy just as he is about to tuck into his meal ....

Sunshine

2009-01-17T15:00:00.016Z

This morning the sun was shining and for a blissful change, the interior of the house was warmly lit by sunshine, rather than by candlelight or lamplight alone...

These two photos show the 'new' part of our home - this room dates back to the 1860's and it is a real bonus to be able to open those french windows wide in summer...

Keyrings

2009-01-14T13:03:00.013Z

My husband makes fantastic knot keyrings and here are a few of his latest offerings, made specially for our friend, Ali.

And here's the rest of them...

Lazy Day...

2009-01-13T15:33:00.018Z

My husband started his new Danish for Beginners course last night and I was also at college, submitting to my first practical exam for my Facial Therapy course... he enjoyed the first night, meeting new people and finding out why they are interested in studying Danish... he's interested because we have friends over there, have visited quite a few times and have done a bit of sailing in Danish waters. We love it, love the people, the beautiful countryside and coastal areas, the wonderful seafood, the fishing, clear waters...
I managed to get through the exam and was pleased with the result.
But perhaps with the excitement and a late meal at about 10 pm when we returned home, neither of us slept well. So today has been a rather haphazard sort of day.
But the wood fire is lit now and when I was outside just a moment ago, getting the hens back into their run, I could smell the wood smoke and see it curling up from the chimney - time for tea and a slice of home made fruit cake! I'm looking forward to a night in front of the fire, curled up on the sofa and reading a good book.

Sunshine thoughts and good friends

2009-01-11T18:04:00.013Z

I've been sitting here, reading a few blogs and one of them was from Sydney; another from central New South Wales. I realised that I am missing friends and missing warmth and sunshine. So, looking at some old-ish images from holidays past this one caught my eye. It reminded me of a very special time when we stayed at a lovely hotel in Talloires, France. Our very dear friend Andy was also visiting the area as he was following the Tour de France - he's a mad keen cyclist... possibly with the emphasis on 'mad'...

He came to visit us at the hotel and we had a magical afternoon sitting by the lake, chatting and catching up on all the news.

Of course this has nothing to do with anything really - just me, reminiscing...

Hens

2009-01-11T10:54:00.019Z

When we were first thinking about getting some rescue hens via the Battery Hen Welfare Trust we were told that we should expect them to be in pretty bad shape. It was to be expected that they would be terrified, very weak and probably with few feathers (if any). It is not unusual for the hens to be 'oven ready' - that is with no feathers at all due to the overcrowding and having to fight for their food and drink, as well as being so stressed.

We were told that the girls would be unlikely to come out of the coop for some days and that when they did, they might not be able to walk very far or even able to stand for long periods of time. We were lucky. And I guess that by comparison to many others, so were our girls. Clearly they were not in top show condition and had pale faces, combs and what feathers they did have were in pretty tatty condition. They were indeed terrified but they came out of the coop almost immediately. And within about an hour, were already starting to scratch and peck at the grass. (The picture above shows them on their first afternoon with us).

My husband had made a tiny little run for them as we were also told that they would be terrified of wide open spaces and so a small run to start with was 'a good idea'. We soon realised that our girls were made of much stronger stuff and within a couple of days had moved them to an interim run - our old tennis court! And within two weeks, when they were pretty settled and had established their pecking order (not a pretty sight!), we started to give them more and more access to our entire garden.

We had also been told that we should not expect too much from them with regard to egg production. After all, they had had the stuffing beaten out of them every day and would be pretty much 'spent' as far as egg production was concerned. Not our girls! We usually run at 90 - 100% production which means that there is a surplus of eggs. I believe that this is because they are given free range (unless we are away from the house when they are locked in their run) access to fresh grass, lots of good food, plenty of fresh air, clean bedding and water every day, and Mother (me) gives them a cooked meal every day of vegetable peelings and rice/pasta.

Their eggs are delicious and are highly sought after by locals who buy from us. So much for being 'spent'. I wish I could explain to you the sheer joy and delight these little creatures give me - simply knowing that they have had some sunshine on their backs is reward enough. Bless them.

Here is their new home and run which we built especially for them. It is warm and secure with shade from the apple trees and the fencing is strong and dug deep into the ground as well - designed to keep Mr and Mrs Foxy out. You can see some of them here on their 'moving in day' having inspected their new 'palais de poulets' for the first time - the palais is a converted child's play ranch and is perfect for them. Standing room inside for humans and warm, airy and secure for the girls!

In case you're wondering, yes, they do have their own names and personalities to match. I was warned before getting them that they would enchant and captivate me. So I warn you too if you're thinking about it...

Hens

2009-01-10T15:38:00.008Z

And here they are, legging it...

Freedom!!!!

Hens

2009-01-10T14:59:00.018Z

Our 10 rescue ex-batts are insatiably curious and always eager to get to the other side of the fence where the grass is always greener and far more tasty than in their pen. Here they are, eager for me to let them out so that they can go exploring...

Frost in the morning

2009-01-10T14:50:00.007Z

It's quite beautiful outside today and I love the hoar frost on the trees - a shame that there is no sun to highlight it but it hardly matters when the world is fringed white and silent.

Marmalade

2009-01-10T10:35:00.006Z

Our local farm shop has the new season organic Seville oranges in stock and I am going to make the first batch of my favourite marmalade. I use my Granny's recipe - very simple and although it looks like it's a bit of a hassle, in fact it is really easy. One of the things that I particularly like about the recipe is that it is spread over 3 or 4 days and so I can do a bit now and then...

Seville oranges
Sugar (you can use sugar with added pectin if you like a firmer set)
Water

Day 1: Weigh, wash and cut into 1/4's then slice thinly, removing all blemishes and pips (save the pips, wrap in muslin). Soak the fruit and muslin wrapped pips in water overnight.

Day 2: Bring the water with the fruit in it to boil and simmer until the fruit is very soft. Leave overnight.

Day 3: Add sugar, bring to the boil very gently. Dissolve sugar completely. Once dissolved, boil rapidly until set is reached. Bottle in warm, sterile jars. Cool completely and seal the next day with wax discs.

And it is a great base recipe for other citrus fruits - I use it for my grapefruit, lemon and lime marmalades too.