Mincemeat Palmiers

Gentle Reader ~~~ ooops! A while back I promised to share my Mincemeat Palmier idea. So, I'm sitting here today, the day before St Valentine's Day, curled up in front of the fire nursing a nasty head cold ~~~ feeling a tad sorry for myself as the weather is horrible and the world looks as glum as I am feeling today ~~~

I did make a mistake, as you will see, but they are very easy, and great for using up those odds and ends that haunt the fridge and freezer after Christmas, but, of course, you can make them at any time of year.  Sometimes they are called Elephant Ears or French Hearts ~~~ 

I made mine using up leftover frozen puff pastry {which I always keep on hand in the freezer for emergencies} and a half jar of mincemeat that was languishing in the fridge ~~~

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

I used a half jar of mincemeat, an orange, bought puff pastry, and some left over marzipan from icing the cake ~~~

I always add extra spice to everything ~ I love spice, but of course this is optional ~~~

In a small bowl, place the contents of the jar of mincemeat and the grated rind of the orange ~~~

Add your spice if using and grated marzipan ~~~

Unroll the puff pastry and spread the mixture across, leaving a small margin on the longer sides ~~~ these are a little over filled, and you will see what happened ~~~

 Roll up the edges to nearly meet in the middle of the pastry ~~~

Fold in half ~~~

Cut into pieces, about 1/2 an inch ~~~

Place cut side down on a baking tray ~~~

Bake in the oven for about 15~20 minutes until all puffed up and golden ~~~ as you will see, a lot of my filling oozed out because I'd overstuffed them. I didn't mind though, they were not for anyone else, only me, and they tasted really yummy and didn't last long ~~~ {I'm not afraid of showing what went wrong, we learn from our mistakes!}

Plated up with a light dusting of icing sugar snow to mask the imperfections ~~~

I might not get 10/10 for looks but they tasted just fine and it is better than wasting the ingredients!  Next time I'll get them right!

In the UK, Valentine's Day is a celebration of the love between couples, but in the spirit of an American Valentine's Day ~ where it is for everyone to share love and friendship ~ I send you all greetings for a Very Happy St Valentine's Day and thank you for the friendship we share through our online writings and photographs ~~~

White Picket Fences, Garlic and Onions, and Future Thoughts

Gentle Reader ~~~ if there is one thing my heart yearns to see in my garden it is a white picket fence ~~~ and soon I hope to have one!  Plans are afoot but I am a classic Libran so it often takes me a long time to make up my mind, in this case to find the answer to the question "Where shall I put my white picket fence?" but I think, at last, the answer has arrived! Hurrah!

My love of white picket fences came long before I had even seen one when, as a child, I read books that transported me to faraway places where each house in the neighbourhood had these wonderful white picket fences.  No home was complete without a white picket fence. Even though no one had a white picket fence in my neighbourhood, I felt my childhood was incomplete without one of these magical things. I was obviously deprived and living in the wrong world. Of course, I never told anyone about this deprivation, this void in my formative years, for I would appear ungrateful as there was a wonderful, large garden in which I could play and ramble, with a swing, and an apple tree to climb, hens to pester, flowers to pick, and vast space in which to have as many adventures as I wanted to invent. Just no white picket fence to make my childhood complete.  Later, I saw them in films, or in television adaptations of the books I read as a child; then, when living in America, I'd sometimes see them in villages and towns as I travelled, and then I came across Susan Branch's vegetable garden, and if you click here you will see Susan and Joe building their very own white picket fenced vegetable garden.

You can read a little potted History of White Picket Fences.

You can also see a really pretty, thoughtfully considered, and useful white picket fenced garden over at Petals Paper Simple Thymes, where my friend Dawn has a sweet and heart warming tale to tell how her fragrant Tea Garden came in to being.  You just might notice a Susan Branch theme developing ~~~ Do stop by and take a peek ~ not only is it a such a dear story, she has added some truly special touches of her own.  Dawn will make you really welcome there ~~~

So, my hankering to own a white picket fence grows; long have I pondered and long have I wondered ~ for my garden is surrounded by stone walls, and there is not much I can do about that, nor is there a space to cordon off a special area as Susan and Dawn have done. Thoughts passed through my brain. Ideas are batted around and fall by the wayside. Then, it came to me ~ in a rare light bulb moment ~ that if I can't knock down the stone walls, if I can't have a whole fenced off area, I can have a white picket fence as the fourth side to my vegetable plot! It is too open and needs something to make it an enclosed area.  Perfect! Finally, an idea to run with that has real promise!

This is the main vegetable plot taken a few years back but it is pretty much the same today, bounded by three stone walls. The fence will go along the edge closest, or I shall make a rectangle across the foreground and enclosing the area up to the edge of the yellow weed suppressing sheet and over to the small bin ~~~ oh! and I want a row of lavender plants edging and falling over on to the paved area {where I am standing to take the photograph} ~~~
{don't look at how untidy it is, I've been using it as a holding bay for flowering plants for the borders}

They will be white and purple long stemmed lavender plants to contrast against the fence and to provide stems for lavender wands, which I love to make in the lazy summer evenings, sitting in my deck chair ~~~

If I make an enclosed space there must be just enough space over on the left where there is a small path {hidden under the ever~expanding osteospermum and sage plants} to push Wilbur Wheelbarrow on to the plot. As soon as the weather is a little warmer, I will go out and measure things up!  

Goodness, I am quite excited about this.

~~~ Let's Talk Onions!~~~

Onions are probably my most favourite and most used vegetable. A day does not go by where I do not use onions in some way in at least one meal, whether it be as part of the trinity that forms the base of most home made soups, in a vegetarian chilli or a rich tomato pasta sauce, caramelised as a pizza topping, in a lentil stew, raw with a salad, or in a cheese sandwich.  I could go on, and I know you are mentally adding your own personal favourites to this list as you read ~~~ unless you don't like them ~~~ 

Do you know that onions are one of the most widely grown and widely used crops on the entire planet? Every culture grows and uses onions in cooking, and they have numerous health benefits as well as being versatile and tasty. If I have onions in the fridge I have the foundation of a meal. Just think about how many times in the week you use onions ~ but did you know that they aren't just the spherical brown, white, or red ones in the shops ~ their cousins include shallots, banana shallots, leeks, garlic, spring onions {salad onions or scallions} and the tinier pickling onions too?

I recently read an interesting article, which will help you get to know your onions too. It tells you a little about the history of onions, and even how they are found in the first known recipe book that is four thousand years old ~ yes, you read that correctly!  I find that so amazing ~~~

Despite being a favourite, I don't actually grow onions {or potatoes} for the simple reason that they are inexpensive, readily available, and I do not have a huge vegetable plot that I can turn over a lot of space to growing when they are so readily available.

However, this winter, rather than leave the garden to rest, I sought advice and planted a small area with an assortment of onions, and a couple of tubs of garlic; if you click here and scroll all the way down you will see what they looked like about four weeks after I planted them in November, and below is what they look like now.  I am thrilled at their progress, and am probably quite unreasonably excited over them, but then as a novice gardener I always get excited when things do well ~ and the reward of nurturing anything from a tiny bulb or seed to a full grown plant that gives so much pleasure when it ends up on the plate, when you know the complete provenance of what you are eating, is something you cannot describe, or buy!

First, the two bins of garlic ~~~ the first one had rather a nasty accident three weeks ago, but from the looks of things was caught and rectified in time!  We'd had a lot of rain, and one day I noticed the bin was full to the brim with water! Panic strikes! The holes in the bottom somehow clogged up, so I pierced around the base of the bin to let the water drain out, which it did very slowly. I was afraid the crop was waterlogged and spoiled, but new, green shoots are growing from the middle of each plant so I'm hoping all is well below the soil ~~~

If growing in these bins is a success, I can move them on to the paved areas where there is nothing at the moment, so I will increase my growing space!

This bin was planted about a month after the first one and has nearly caught up! ~~~

and here are the onions, with weeds still growing so I shall have to clear them in a week or two ~~~

They are still quite small, but looking sturdy and strong, so I hope they will start to increase in bulb size as the weather warms up ~~~

{I had to zig zag the frames with string to keep off the birds and cats that might do a lot of damage if they are able to get on to the planted area}

If you want to know more about planting onion sets, garlic, or anything else garden~related for that matter, then the RHS has good information and guidelines.

While looking around the garden earlier, I also noticed my clematis is putting on a lot of shoots already.  Do you remember the dead clematis that suddenly came back to life after many years?  It now seems to be doing all right for itself, so it is time to look for a permanent structure and maybe take some cuttings when the time is right!

Thinking and planning forward into Spring and planting vegetables, I have bought some raised beds with suitable liners to retain the soil, on a spare piece of land adjacent to the cottage. These will hold my simple salad crops of lettuce, leaves, Spring onions, baby beetroot etc., thus freeing up space on my small plot for other things. Photographs and ideas will follow!

For now, though, I am still browsing the seed catalogues ~ for remember, I am a typical Libran and cannot make up my mind what to plant in my precious small spaces!  Top of my list this year will be seeds for growing outdoor tomatoes ~~~ I've already selected two varieties, and must think carefully as to what else will be grown this Summer ~~~ in the meantime, while I peruse the seed catalogues in front of a warm fire, with a mug of hot tea, remember that ~~~

~~~A Gardener's Work is Never Done~~~

February Frosty Days and Clear Skies

Gentle Reader ~~~ It has been a while since I wrote here for I have issues, yet again, with the computer.  I have been totally locked out of Facebook for what now seems ages, but I think about a fortnight in reality. I have no idea what is going on, I cannot access my account,so I cannot write anything on the garden page, although I'm told it is still there.  Strangely, though, I am not missing Facebook in the slightest, but at least you know why I am not there now.

I don't know about you, but I find February one of the more confusing months.  I find it a slow month, a grey month, a hard~to~get~going again month. I suffer from mild SAD and February is often my worst month for this and I do my best to overcome the trials of the dark days. Winter is half way through, and it's teeth grip ferociously across the much of northern hemisphere; many of us shiver while the days start to lengthen and we look forward to the returning light and some warmth.  Yet, while I long for longer, lighter and brighter, warmer days ahead, I dread the very thought of the scorching heat of Summer, and part of me clings madly to the cold days of now. I wish we had snow. Snow would make Winter perfect. We seldom have snow here in the west.  I am reading all your lovely journals sharing your snow adventures and photographs, while I sit here with temperatures outside my window at a balmy 36F average!  I know many of you have had more than enough snow, with blizzards and thundersnow, and more, but I long for snow, my heart yearns for snow, but not a flake has fallen from the sky.  Instead, we have had sleesh ~ this is my new word for that horrible wet not~quite~hail and not~quite~sleet stuff that falls and leaves the ground a sloshy sloppy slippy mess. We have had wind, seventy mile an hour winds, and it brought down my television aerial! Thankfully, that was all and no damage was done, and it is fixed again.

Thinking ahead to those lighter and brighter days, Spring Cleaning continues in the cottage albeit slowly!  I find it just a tad too chilly to go and dig the claggy wet soil in the garden at the moment so I am making the most of days spent inside before the garden really starts to call, to clear the cupboards and drawers of things no longer needed. Many bags have gone to the thrift store, mostly to the Red Cross as they collect everything in one go from the cottage saving me a lot of trips.

The wicked winds have mostly dropped and the skies, by day, are mostly clear and blue with promises of Spring around the corner. We did wake up to a light frost the other morning, so I was able to nip out and take a few quick photographs ~~~

This tiny leaf was about the size of a 10p piece, maybe just a little smaller ~~~ so pretty with it's crystal edging of ice ~~~

This is a frost covered mullein plant ~~~ the fuzzy wuzzy hairy leaves look so different now ~~~

I love the light dusting on this leaf, it looks like a delicate mosaic ~~~

Even the lid of the compost bin took on some extra dimension! ~~~

I love walking out in the countryside, especially at this time of year when the leaves are gone and all we see are the skeletal structures of the trees in winter ~~~ here are a couple of my favourites ~~~
The trunk of this one is covered with ivy! ~~~

Moss covered stones bring colour and scatter the ivy covered floor ~~~

I love the different textures when you look closely at the fuzzy moss and the shiny smooth penny wort leaves ~~~

The first early snowdrops of winter ~~~

Clear, cloudless days give way to clear, cloudless twilight evenings and stars twinkle brightly in the darkening blue sky ~~~ this is Venus in the south western evening sky, the brightest star at the moment ~~~

In November ~ oh! how long ago that now seems ~ I planted some onions which I hope to harvest in the late Spring or early Summer ~~~ here they are in December and soon I will be showing you how much they have grown ~~~

I had to put down lots of string, tied across the frames to keep marauding cats and pigeons away! ~~~

I also planted garlic, and it is such a thrill to see the first sight of buds pushing their flavoursome shoots through the soil ~~~

They have even kept growing in the cold ~~~

February has seen me starting to eat more responsibly and sensibly than I have done in recent years.  I do not diet.  Diet is what we eat, not something we do. Here is a typical evening plate of delicious food ~ oven roasted parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, and onions with some spicy baked tofu cubes served on a bed of blanched kale.  Kale is one of my most favourite vegetables.  I am a vegetarian, but a recent health scare made me take a long look at what I eat and how I cook and prepare my food, so I have made some radical changes.  The hardest part was getting through Christmas and January with all the Christmas gifts of chocolate and left overs to deal with!  I have slowly introduced some changes, but this last week has seen me embrace the transition completely.  I have taken on a 'one meal at a time' approach which works for me. I am really enjoying my food.  I have already lost a few pounds and I have a lot more energy, which is a bonus as I find February is the month I seem to have the least energy of all the year. 

Soon, I will be outside working.  The Community Recycling scheme starts on March 12th and I think my bin will be full to overflowing by then!  It is only a month away now and that time will fly by, as January is already gone! I can scarce believe that, can you?

Until next time, when I shall have more photographs of the progress of the onions and garlic, and hopefully be able to outline some of my plans for 2015, remember that ~~~

~~~A Gardener's Work is Never Done~~~

Offerings of Poetry ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ Words only today, for I have been Spring Cleaning ~ are we allowed to say 'Spring' Cleaning ~~~ well I've been cleaning and clearing, New Year's Turning Out maybe? Along the way I found some long forgotten papers, folded up, yellow and faded, and no idea what lay within ~~~ so, with a little trepidation I carefully peeled them open and imagine my surprise to find poems I had written some years ago, some when I lived in Iceland and some I really don't remember when ~~~

~~~A long time ago, I had another online journal, Tales from a Celtic Heart and I shared a link to my Flickr Iceland album, which you can find here ~ so if you want, you can have a look at some of the pictures of Iceland that I took.  They are proper 35 mm film, and about 20 years old, so are grainy and gently faded, but full of character, and greatly loved and treasured for I was happy as a polar bear in snow when I lived in Iceland~~~

So, I am going to be brave and share, copy some of those long forgotten words here, and I will see what memories they bring for me ~~~

Iceland is a land of water, surrounded by water, with shining, shimmering water everywhere you look ~~~ you cannot avoid the water ~~~ rivers, lakes, waterfalls that will take your breath away ~~~ frozen water, glaciers, and snow ~~~ 

WATERS OF ICELAND

Silver, sprightful threads

Dancing in the breeze;

Cascading waters tumble

To the river far below and

Meander to the sea

Gushing, grubby torrents

Tearing headlong through the land

Spew forth from mighty glaciers

Ever~changing courses

Charging to the sea

~~~~~

Þingvellir {pronounced Thingvedlir} was one of my favourite places to visit. Part of the Golden Circle it is the site of the oldest parliament, the Althing, and sits across the mid~Atlantic Ridge.  In my heart, I always felt very 'Middle Earth' when visiting this special place, and this was my tribute twenty years ago ~~~

THINGVELLIR

Silent you lie, in dreams of long ago;

Lives have been born and lost on your shore.

Here did the Settlers make their laws work;

Here Christianity first made it's mark.

Oxarafoss, the toy of the gods

Tumbles and falls over moss covered rocks

To Dreykinggar as it waits far below

Where many a sharp, scolding tongue did go.

Almannagata, that gate of all men

Stands high, overlooking Thingvellir plain,

Here Njal fought with friend against foe

Within the rift, formed so long ago.

Here East meets West, near the Shores of your Lake

~~~~~

Of course, there was snow ~ many kinds of snow ~ and for over half the year snow was a fact of life, something that you dealt with every time you left your apartment, so this is my little ditty about snow in Iceland ~~~

NORTH WINDS SNOW

The North Wind is blowing

and there will be snow e're long.

It howls and it moans about our heads,

It squeaks in the cracks, wakes us up in our beds,

The snow starts to fall in the shimmering light;

When we wake up tomorrow, all will be white.

The shovels and scrapers wake up with alarm,

Winter is here boys, get up now and arm!

We've slept for six months, but now is our time ~~~

The paths must be cleared, it is our time to shine!

The children can't wait for school to be out,

To "Deadman's" they'll rush, with a scream and a shout,

Up the hill, down the hill, up once again,

Soon Mom will be calling, "It's time to come in!"

The snow plough is out, Two Alpha's arrived

Sent home from work, in our homes we must hide.

Hope we've got food in, I don't want to starve,

The Commiss'ry's closed and the wind's blowing hard.

For the time it is over, the roads are all clear,

But it will be back, soon enough, don't you fear!

All Winter long the North Wind will blow,

And time after time, we shall have snow.

~~~~~

Well, there you have some of my poetry now.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I remember writing it ~~~ already I am editing the words I wrote! I have some more, but will save them for another day.  Sorry, I know I promised you the recipe for the Marzipan Mincemeat Palmiers, and I haven't forgotten, I just wanted to share these words and it, somehow, didn't seem right to share the recipe with the poetry ~~~ it will be shared very soon, I promise you.

A Kiss of Frost

Gentle Reader ~~~ the sun is shining brightly in a clear, blue Winter sky and the storms have moved on ~~~

Thank you to everyone who took time to reply to my recent question.  You have given me much food for thought, and some of the replies have surprised me in that the font is easy to read on small devices.  I am not going to reply individually {as I usually do} but I have read everything you have said and am now sifting through the pros and cons.  I think the search will be on for something that is  more easily read ~~~sighs and moves over, once more, to the drawing board~~~ but in the meantime, for the next few entries, I am reverting to something more simple ~~~ and it is now more like my own handwriting ~~~ oh, don't you just love an indecisive Libran?

For three days, a Winter storm raged over our heads, with gusting winds of up to 80 mph.  We did not have snow.  Instead, we had rain, rain, and more rain, with some hailstones thrown in for good measure.  The chimney rattled and shook, the rafters in the roof rafted, ~~~ and my rosemary plant of twenty years was rent in two.

We learned a new word.  Thundersnow.  This is the new buzz word I'm hearing or reading it everywhere, or so it seems. We did not have thundersnow, we just had a lot of thunder and lightening with plenty of rain. No snow.  I would love to see thundersnow, for I know it would give an interesting light for photographs.  I see such beauty and possibility in even the most adverse weather conditions, as long as everyone stays safe and free from harm.

We did have some frost! Not very much, but here are a few quick snaps for you ~~~ this first one fascinates me with all the puddly bits underneath the grass ~~~

This one is just frosty kisses on a delicate moss {the current scourge of my lawn} ~~~

After Hallowe'en, I put my pumpkins {the ones that didn't get eaten} in the garden for birds to peck, and this is what it looks like with a dusting of frost ~~~ I see so much in this and I'm itchin' and twitchin' to do some print making from this ~~~

I do not dead head until the Spring, leaving berries and seeds for the birds to forage naturally, as well as supplementing their food from the feeders. It is important for them to forage too ~~~

Tiny speckles of glistening frost on what I think might be a daisy plant ~~~

One of my favourites ~~~ rosy red and orange rose~hips with a backdrop of a frosty pumpkin ~~~

It is time for filling comfort food, and one of my favourite dishes to make in the depths of Winter is my Broccoli and Cheese Casserole.  It is very simple, and quick too, deliciously tasty, and warmly filling ~~~ here is the recipe ~~~

Ingredients ~
10 oz frozen {do not use fresh} broccoli
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg
3/4 cup cottage cheese
2 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon grainy mustard {optional}
salt and pepper to taste
1 oz butter

Method ~
Blanch the frozen broccoli in boiling water for two minutes. Remove and plunge into cold water to prevent any further cooking.  Drain well and set to one side.
Pre~heat your oven to Gas Mark 5 {375F or 190C}
Place the butter in an oven proof casserole dish and put in the oven to melt.
In a bowl, beat the egg and stir in the flour and mustard, salt and pepper if using, adding both the cheeses.  Stir in the cooled, drained broccoli.
Tip the mixture into the melted butter in the hot casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the mixture is hot through and the cheeses are bubbling and golden brown.

Serves two with hot with crusty bread as a vegetarian main dish or four as a side dish. It is also very good cold, and reheats well.

I have also been using up the Christmas left overs and made some delicious marzipan mincemeat palmiers and will share those with you next time!  In the meantime, remember, despite the Wutheringly Wild Winter Weather ~~~

~~~A Gardener's Work is Never Done~~~

A Question and An Announcement

This Thread Is Now Closed to Comments. I Will Delete it Shortly but Leave it for the Time Being as There is No Other Way to Remove.

Thank You Everyone for Your Input.

Gentle Reader ~~~ I would like your help, please.

You will have noticed the change in font that I made recently.  First, I must tell you that I have been looking for a font to use which is different from the stock offered, says "this is me", and one that I can settle on as a keeper.  This is why you have seen several fonts appearing and disappearing over the months.  

When I found this style of handwritten font it spoke volumes to me on many levels, including my love of calligraphy; it has a Jane Austen~esque style that also appeals, but, more importantly, it is incredibly similar to the hand writing of my grandmother who was the single most significant force behind my gardening, and the reason for starting this journal.

Several of you have commented that you love it.  I must admit that I do too. However, I have been told that it might not be suitable for ease of reading on smaller devices.  I use a laptop so can only speak for what I see and it never crossed my mind that things change visually to such a point that they may not be readable on something smaller.  

Anyway, here is my question, and my plea for help ~~~ your honest opinions, please ~~~ what do you think?  Do you use a smaller device such as a tablet or phone to read blogs?  If so, how does this font appear? Is it easily readable or does it cause problems ~ of any kind on any device or computer ~ remember, I want honest opinions and input!

The announcement is that I have decided I am going to give up my Facebook companion page in the very near future in favour of focusing my efforts solely on this journal.  It is  more than double the work to try to find something fresh for each page, and I do not like to be constantly repeating myself across both pages.  Everything is suffering because of this, so the decision is made ~ Facebook is going.

So, there you have it!  I await your help in the comments box or via messages and thank you in advance for your help.

Cranberry Relish

Gentle Reader ~ Will you accept my sincere apology? I showed you a picture of my bowl of perfect porridge topped with that oh! so delicious ~ my go to recipe ~ of fresh Cranberry Relish ~ and I didn't share the recipe ~~~ my head hangs in shame ~~~

So, I shall put that right immediately!

I think the reason I overlooked this was I shared it on my companion page over on Facebook and promptly forgot to share it here ~~~ no excuses though, and I am very sorry ~~~ It is so very easy and really tasty and I'm sure it is quite good for you too if you reduce the sugar, or don't think about it too much, but we all need a little sugar in our day sometimes ~~~ 

Here is the recipe ~~~

Ingredients

2 cups of fresh cranberries
3/4 cup ***brown sugar {I reduce this to 1/2 cup sometimes, depending on how I will use the relish}
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 grated orange peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice {or use port for special occasions}
1 grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon each of allspice and ground cloves {again, I often double up on the spices just because I love them so much}
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts {optional}

Method

In a food processor bowl {do not use a blender} process all the ingredients except the nuts, until the berries are roughly chopped.  Stir in the nuts, if using.  Pour into a clean glass jar {food safe polythene is fine} and store in the refrigerator.

***I use a very dark brown molasses sugar from Traidcraft, but any brown sugar is good.

This keeps for a good two weeks and improves with keeping.  It also freezes well.  I don't keep it just for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Right now, I have several boxes made up in the freezer to keep me supplied through much of the Winter as I use it often for a topping for my porridge {oatmeal}

I also mix it in with home made, or shop bought, mincemeat and use it in mince pies and mince meat cookies or tray~bakes ~ they are just so good, especially if you use pastry for the bottom of the pie and marzipan for the lids!  You just have to use your imagination and experiment and you will see how versatile this little jar of yumminess can be!

If you want to give as gifts, use pretty jars that are  sterilized and add some pretty ribbons for presentation.   The porridge, by the way, looks so dark because the sugary juices from the Relish have melted over ~~~ yum yum happy tum!

I know we all have our own favourite porridge recipes too, and mine is to make the porridge using half a cup of oats to a cup of almond milk, adding more almond milk as needed to get the consistency I like best.

Food fit to keep a hungry gardener going all morning from breakfast until lunch ~~~ because ~~~

~~~A Gardener's Work is Never Done~~~

January is Here!

Happy New Year 2015

Gentle Reader ~~~ is it not hard to believe that January 2015 is here already? Where did the last year fly to?  I've put up my Susan Branch calendar and if you hurry, there may still be some left.  

The wind of Winter is blowing from the East, so maybe Mary Poppins will drift by one day soon?

Cold and chill, no longer fragrant with the faded flowers of last Summer, whip and whistle through branches stripped of leaves long fallen to the forest floor.  Time to reflect on a year gone, and wonder, ponder what the New Year will bring ~~~

Here are some of my favourite pictures that I took towards the end of 2014 ~~~ some late Autumn colours, like a sprinkling of confetti, a remnant of a memory, scattered over the barest branches ~~~

A mossy wall and ivy clothed trees bring green to the muddy brown landscape ~~~ 

This particular bridge has always fascinated me ~~~ there is no vestige of path leading up to it, it is surrounded by fields on both sides of the bank, and it is quite a clamber to the top ~~~ it just sits there, the endless waters running underneath ~~~ my lovely, lonely bridge to nowhere ~~~

The newly refurbished clock faces on the cathedral tower ~~~ my, how lovely they do look, indeed, marking time and ever marching to the future ~~~

The wild and wintery looking sky of late afternoon across the Shire ~~~

Some amazing fungi ~ do you remember the secret fairy doorway? Well, it was hiding a great secret indeed ~~~ just look at what sprung up in the doorway ~~~

Here is a short musical interlude ~~~ the Tower Bells peal out across the gardens and the meadows of the Shire ~~~

Now Autumn is gone and the Winter sun sits low in the sky preparing for the long, slow climb ahead, and makes a nearby outcrop look quite spectacular in the late afternoon sunshine at Christmas ~~~ do I espy some people who have climbed all the way to the top?

There is a new tapestry, custom made to fit an alcove in the north transept of the cathedral ~~~ 

It is dedicated to Saint Caradog ~~~

The tree is lit in the village, on the Square ~~~

My hand shook taking this one, but I do love how each tiny light looks like a jolly jingling note of music, strung across the Square ~~~

Here is a picture of one of my favourite breakfasts during the Winter, when warm and filling food is called for to stave off the biting winds that blow ~~~ porridge made with almond milk, and topped off with a sprinkling of muscavado sugar and a generous helping of my home made Cranberry Relish with some whole almonds ~~~

The wind is whipping wildly about my cottage tonight and I am glad to be indoors and sitting by the fireside.  There are gardening catalogues by my chair and I peruse their pages often through the day as I plan what will be planted in the garden in the Spring ~~~ but in the meantime, remember that ~~~

~~~ A Gardener's Work is Never Done ~~~