A Leap of Faith

Hello Friends!

I have taken a huge Leap of Faith and now the border in front of my patio and French window that looks out over the lawn sports a gaping gap, almost end to end, where the Pieris, buddleia, and Frances E Lester rambler bloomed of late.  They are still there, but greatly reduced in size as they were getting out of hand, blocking my view of the garden and keeping all the late afternoon sunshine off the low, raised borders that mark the edges of the patio and the lawn restricting planting choices. 

It's a risk I've had to take, a Leap of Faith, for I needed to open up the space so that I can find the original edges to the lawn border to enable me to get in and clean it.  It's hard enough weeding on your hands and knees to begin with, but even more difficult when you can't see what you are doing because of leaf laden branches on shrubs, or worse, being impaled on dagger like rose bush thorns. 

I know the rambler will be fine.  Most roses, delicate though they appear, are tough as old boots and respond well to a good pruning.  

The buddleia, well, we all know that they are nigh on impossible to kill.

It's the Pieris that worries me.  It was a gift from Dad's niece.  I have researched it well, and apparently they, like camellias, can take hard cutting back, almost to ground level.  It was getting leggy, all top growth and woody stems, so I've made the Leap of Faith and cut it right back, hard.  Very hard.

 

Now all that's needed is to clean around them, feed them, and tidy up the remains to make good shapes as they regenerate and regrow.

I had planned on making the borders deeper and having a little less lawn, but now I have found the stone edging, which has been hidden for years, I realise it's the original edging put in place by my Mum about thirty eight years ago, and I like it more than I remember, so am leaving it as it is.

Finally, the small, raised border will have better light and fair play for me to plant out the potted and patio roses and lavenders that I so long to see from my window.

Storm Ellen battered us, followed by an unprecedented second named August storm in under a week with Storm Francis. On the day in between I got out and did as much post Summer tidying up as I could manage, and picked another 2lbs of blackberries.  That's four pounds in two picks.  I have already enjoyed an apple and blackberry pie, and turned the rest into juice for making jelly.

I successfully avoided walking headlong into these lovelies and although I doubt they survived the recent weather I know more will have already taken their place.  It might be time to cut those seed heads if I'm going to use them this Autumn.

One of the great comforts during lockdown life has been rediscovering bread making. What a joy it is, to create something so simple yet so immensely satisfying as a loaf of bread.  Here's one I baked the other day, a rustic Farmhouse loaf.  Perfectly crusty on the outside and delightfully light and soft on the inside.  Absolute heaven toasted and slathered in unsalted Welsh butter with Marmite and slightly softened cheese on top.  Of course, you may prefer a different topping.

Then, there have been several bowls of windfalls after the storms.

Sometimes, these apples are Snow White red all the way through.  So pretty, and often the applesauce turns out quite pink, but not this time.

My favourite way to use these up is to make applesauce, but think I'd like to make another applesauce cake again, or an apple topped cinnamon cake. Delicious.  This time, I kept it chunky.

In clearing some corners, I found these.  Mum and Dad were given some garden centre vouchers about twenty years ago, and picked these garden ornaments.  I had forgotten all about them but am so happy to have found them, and I love how they are weathering.

It's funny, I have never been a fan of garden ornaments, but now I cherish these dearly.  I've cleaned them up, not too much, for I love the aging affect of lichen growing on things, and now they adorn the lawn, along with my Ddraig Goch.  I wonder what he dreams of?

Do  not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup!  

He needs a small make over, and I think we can arrange that.

In honour of the turning seasons, I have brought out my Autumn Sunflower socks.  They're ever so comfy as well as looking pretty.  Almost too pretty to wear shoes with, but in the cottage of a seamstress, going barefoot, no matter how comfortable, is not a good idea at all.  

My Happy Socks! How can you not smile when you see Happy Sunflower Socks?

Until next time

Be responsible, and stay safe

Deborah xo

An Apple A Day ~~~

Hello Friends ~~~

Just a quick dip in and out this morning. I am working on an entry for my David Winter Cottages, in which many of you expressed interest and said you'd like to see more of them. It's taking longer than I thought and I'm thinking I might do two instalments ~~~

Today I thought I'd share my breakfast with you. I know that might seem odd to share my breakfast, but it's been a bit of a revelation to me.  For years, my usual daily breakfast has consisted of more or less the same basic structure ~ unsweetened or no added sugar cereal of some sort {usually oatmeal or muesli} with fruit, usually blueberries or raspberries, and any one of a choice of non~dairy milk or home made yoghurt.  I'm not 'dairy free' I just don't like milk. Anyway, a few weeks ago I ran out of berries and after two days of bananas in my bowl, I decided to try Bircher Muesli which is the traditional way the Swiss {who I believe invented muesli in the first place} prepare and eat this delicious breakfast dish.

You can find any number of muesli recipes online, and it is so easy to adapt them to make one to your own personal tastes, which is what I do by lessening the amount of dried, sweet fruits and adding lots of extra seeds and nuts which I love.  Bircher museli involves soaking the muesli base overnight traditionally in apple juice {which I don't like, so I soak in oat milk} and in the morning stirring in one grated apple per serving. Now, that's where the revelation happened ~~~

Despite what you read, and much as I love oats {in all forms} an oat based breakfast never ever fills me up and fails to keep me going until lunchtime, as it is often written it is supposed to do.  The fact is, whatever I eat for breakfast, the Hobbit in me is always ready for Second Breakfast, or a little top me up snack around Elevenses.  However, no one was more surprised than me when I found that the addition of the grated apple not only fills me up more than the blueberries, or other fruit such as banana or raspberries, but keeps my energy topped up and more evenly spread out so that I get to lunchtime not wanting that mid~morning snack!   And, talk about delicious! Apples, oats, nuts and seeds are a complete marriage made in heaven! Who would have thought a simple apple could make such a huge difference to my morning!  I've always enjoyed apples, but usually eaten on their own, or with a small treat of a piece of cheese, and I've always had a fruit at breakfast but never an apple, that's always been eaten later in the day. Now, I have my breakfast fruit later in the day instead. A simple switch, but what a difference it's made ~~~

Recently, I bought this Emma Bridgewater mug which was made exclusively for Fortnum and Mason.  The teabag tidy is from the Sophie Allport range ~~~ both are so 'me' with all the bees ~~~

I took the time to write a review, and guess what? A few days later I was notified that I've won a £25.00 voucher to spend on Emma Bridgewater for my review!  I think I'm going to treat myself to two of her new city scapes mugs. There are currently four, Paris, Venice, London, and Oxford.  I think it will be Paris and Oxford ~~~

Now, how many of you tried wearing socks to bed to help you get a better night of rest? Did you try it? Did it work? I'm still using them, and as a control some nights I don't wear them and you know what? I don't sleep nearly as well or nearly as restfully.

Until next time ~~~
~~~Deborah xo

The Last of the Apples

Hello Friends!

Just the other day, I mentioned to someone how more like Winter our weather is right now. Much of the rest of the country is experiencing the hottest September on record, with a high of just over 34 degrees Centigrade {that's about 100 degrees F} recorded this very afternoon in Kent, while here in the west the winds are 40 mph and it rains buckets full. As the weatherman said at midday 'The South of England roasts and, typically, the west is cold and wet' which just about sums it up.  I'm glad he said 'typically' ~~~

As I type, there is a lamb casserole in the Crock Pot. Many of you know I am vegetarian, and this is for my Mum. I admit, it isn't complicated and that is just as well because I can't taste it to check for seasoning so I really have to wing it when I cook Mum's ready meals for the freezer.  I am such a chicken {not a pun} and buy trimmed and diced meat from the supermarket so that I don't have to handle it. I just open the box and put it in, along with stock and vegetables. It has been so long since I ate, or cooked, meat that I can't remember much about it now. This week, after it's quarterly defrosting and clearing out, the freezer is being well restocked with hearty, warming and nutritious casseroles {both meat and vegetarian}, as well as lots of Apple Sauce, fresh picked wild blackberries, and more. I love this time of year, preparing comfort food and puddings for the Winter freezer more than any other.

I was speaking to my neighbour over our shared fence this afternoon and she confirmed my suspicions that the blackberry pick just isn't as good as usual this year.  Summer was simply too cold and dry, and this is probably to blame. I'm still picking what I can daily and freezing them and will decide what to make once the season is over. However, if you have plenty and would like to get a really delicious recipe for a scrumptious Blackberry Roll then pop over to the blog of my good friend Martha Ellen's The Joy of Home with Martha Ellen where you will find the recipe ~~~

I have put off decorating, but as September is now midway through and the Autumn Equinox is in a few days, I think it is time to bring out the boxes of Autumn decorations.  I am honouring the imminent arrival of Autumn by making a recipe from my Susan Branch "Autumn" book called Cranberry Apple Crisp.  I am not sure if I can, due to copyright reasons, share the recipe, suffice to say {for my British readers} it is very similar to a Fruit Crumble, but if you own a copy of "Autumn From the Heart of the Home" by Susan Branch, you can find the recipe on page 95.

Here it is ~~~

Getting the ingredients together with my green glazed Mason Cash bowl 

I used frozen cranberries, thawed, and a few blackberries that were to hand ~~~

Ready to work in the butter with my pastry blender before finishing by hand ~~~

Ready to bake on a tray in case it leaks! I used wholewheat flour so it looks quite brown before baking

The finished dish 

Nicely layered with plenty of topping and fruits

This will be pudding tonight served with a warm custard sauce ~~~ delicious!

Not much is happening in the garden, but I'm hoping the blackberries will continue to produce some good fruits for the next few weeks ~~~ there are plenty of buds and blooms  ~~~

but already the leaves are starting to turn colour ~~~

Until next time
~~~Deborah 

Apple Sauce and Wasps

Hello Friends!

Oh, dear, there has been a mishap!  I'm not really sure what happened, but I managed to delete all my photos of the process before I uploaded them ~ sighs ~ so, my friends, only one photo of the ingredients and process today ~ sorry ~ but these things do happen ~~~ as I don't know what happened, I can't say 'lesson learned' can I?

As an aside, do you think we are more protective and precious about storing, and the possible loss, of our photographic memories since the advent of digital images and The Cloud? I make back ups of my back ups, but in the heady, good old days of real film all we had was our set of prints and our negatives and if something happened, well, it happened and they were gone. Today, if I lose a photo I wail and mourn it for days on end ~ we are a peculiar lot, we humans!

I digress.  In the garden there is an apple tree. I do not know the name of the apple, or the number of the dwarf stock upon which it is grafted, but I do know that it produces some of the most delicious rosy red apples worthy of The Wicked Queen's basket in Snow White {which just so happens is my favourite fairy tale}

During Springtime, the tree is a bridal bouquet of purest white blossoms with a delicate tinge of pink, then as the blossoms fall and fade, tiny hard green marbles appear, and slowly, over the Summer months they swell and grow, gradually changing colour as they aspire to the warm and rich candy apple red of the mature fruit.

For those of you who have not read it, I wrote a Haiku {actually, my first and only Haiku to date} about the apple blossom.  Here it is, superimposed on a photograph of the tree ~~~

and here are some images of the tree, the earlier blossoms, and the harvest of the fruits ~~~

Now, I have competition in the garden for my apples, the birds love them, and also the horrible wasps that nest in a neighbour's bird box, and which home in on the fragrant scent and nibble away at the tops, hidden from view, so that very often I pick an otherwise perfect looking apple only to find it is spoiled.  Wearing long sleeves and gloves is a must when picking these apples, as is exercising great caution and care not to be stung by the competition ~~~

Half eaten by the birds, the wasps come in to finish the job

Help yourself, please, do!

This year, however, the apples ripened a lot earlier and I got to them sooner so the damage is minimal compared to other years. Sadly, probably due to the unseasonably cold Spring and Summer, the fruits are not as big as they normally are, nor are they as many.  I am grateful for what I have harvested and now the time for putting the fruits up into storage is here!

Here is this year's harvest ~~~ about 20lbs or so ~~~

I love Apple Sauce, I use it a lot in yogurt or cream; poured over ice cream; on my porridge or muesli; or stirred into red cabbage; stirred in a warm mixed fruit compote for breakfast.  It's a quick and easy way of getting an extra portion of fruit, especially if you lower the sugar, as I do.

With a lot of apples to process each year, about twenty years ago I invested in a gizmo that peels, cores, and slices my apples at the turn of a handle. It has more than paid for itself as the wastage is minimal and it speeds up the process a lot.  Apple Master Peeler available at Lakeland Ltd.

And, yes, I buy my cinnamon in big bags! I really do use a lot of cinnamon in my cooking and baking, and buy it in bulk from Steenbergs.

So, I am making up lots of delicious Apple Sauce for the freezer as there are a lot of slightly under ripe and damaged apples that won't keep and are unfit for eating raw, but with the damage cut away they will be just fine made into delicious apple sauce. Here's what I do ~~~

3 1/2 to 4 lbs of apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 cup of brown sugar {you can use white if you prefer}
300 mls of good quality cloudy apple juice, such as Copella
1 tablespoon {or to taste} cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon {or to taste} ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon {or to taste} freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Put all ingredients into a Crock Pot and cook on low for 6 hours, or until your preferred consistency is reached. I like mine chunky, so keep an eye on it after about 4 1/2 hours.  Cool and spoon into freezer containers.
Enjoy!

Of course, you can always make it more quickly in a large saucepan, but I find I like it better from the Crock Pot ~ I don't know if it is the stoneware pot or the slow cooking process, but the flavour is deeper and more apple~y.

~~~~~

One thing I love about working in the garden is the company of the extra little helpers, and here is one of my regulars who always pops up for a beak full of juicy bugs and worms ~~~

Until next time ~~~
Deborah

Celebrating Apple Time ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ it is that time of year when the garden and the hedgerows begin to give up the last of the seasonal bounties ~~~ the fruits that have silently and slowly formed, ripening during the warm Summer days are waiting to be harvested ~~~

Blackberries glisten as black jewels dripping from the bramble vines, wild damsons, bullace, sloes, rose hips, nuts of all sorts, and crab apples fill the hedgerows across The Shire ~~~ humans and animals alike are foraging for their Winter stores ~~~

Blackberries

Sweet Chestnuts

Rosehips full of Vitamin C

 

The apples in the garden are inviting and delicious. One of life's simple, yet sweetest, pleasures is stepping out from my cottage door in the early morning, walking barefoot over the dew kissed grass of the lawn to the apple tree and picking a fresh, perfectly fragrant, rosy red, apple, slightly warmed from the sun that is slowly climbing in the pale blue sky of an early Autumn day ~~~

Rosy Red Apples on the Bough

Yet, all is not well ~~~ I have fierce competition for these deliciously fragrant fruit call out and beckon wasps and crows to sample their delights ~~~

Crows have already nibbled away

making a perfect hole for a wasp to enter

and get his fill of the fragrant fruit

So I had an idea ~~~ I tied some of those net bags, the kind that come with washing powder tablets, over the reddest and most enticing looking apples to deter the marauding crows ~~~

It worked, up to a point ~~~ but there was a shortage of bags, for the bags are few and the apples are many and also very high up ~~~

So, today, although some of the apples are not fully ripe, I started picking them for storage. As you can see, there is a good lot of apples here, and I have about the same amount left to pick again.

Although they are eating apples, they do not store well.  I will take the best for my own fruit bowl and give some away.  The rest I will put up in the freezer or make jelly or wine. I am not a fan of Apple Butter. I will spend the next day or so using my Apple Master. I could not manage the processing of this amount of apples without this brilliant little gadget.  By tomorrow evening, these two baskets will be peeled, cored, sliced and either frozen ready to make into pies during the Winter months ahead, or into apple sauce for the plate.  I can then go and harvest the rest!

As with all foraging, do not eat anything unless you are completely certain what you are eating is safe. If in doubt, don't!

Until next time,
Sincerely yours
Deborah

For those of you who put your guesses down for the what is it? I will give you a few more days in case anyone has missed it, and tell you what it is in my next entry.