Summer Days

Hello Friends!

What a glorious week of wonderful Summer weather we have had in the west.  It has been hot but not unbearably so, and the days have brought endless sunshine from one end of the day to the next. Tourists have been happy, the annual Sand Church competition went ahead with the tide way out and plenty of good weather for building such creative ideas. I had to work, but found it all on Facebook later that evening.  Fetes, outdoor events, and local festivals have all happened in the best of weather and everyone is smiling and happy, which is what we all like to see.

Blue sky above my cottage!  More than enough for a pair of sailor's trousers, I think we can outfit the fleet!

Please pause with me for a moment, though, for it is not all blue sky and sunshine.  My heart and prayers go out to the parts of England that have suffered most dreadfully. There are some areas that suffered with a heatwave of record breaking proportions, only to have this followed by horrendous thunderstorms, bringing torrential rain which is still bringing life threatening floods and destruction to so many.  I am sad to say that Lyme Park National Trust property is one such place under flood, and some of the significant historic gardens have been destroyed. There are more storms to come.

Speaking of the National Trust, I have been busy polishing my wood furniture with a tin of their finest Furniture Polish. Well, if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me!  Isn't this the most sumptuous colour?

The garden slowly fades into late Summer now, and flowers are fewer and further between.  My favourite Field Poppies are flowering and producing welcome seed heads now.

However, this very morning I picked a small handful of the first blackberries of the season. They were sweet and juicy, for we have had rain and sunshine in good quantities at the optimum times. Later, I found half a dozen more.  Yummy!

Butterflies have been visiting too, and Painted Ladies are in exceptionally high numbers across the country.

A Gatekeeper

Red Admiral 

Large White

Do you recall that lovely patio rose I shared here {scroll down a bit to see it}?  The buds that grew around the main one opened suddenly and all together making this sumptuous display.

My one worry is that this spray is on a sucker. I know the damage suckers can do, but oh! it's just so pretty I have not the heart to cut it off.

I apologise for my intermittent appearances, and the brevity of my words, but I am very busy at work now. The main season is upon us, and for most who live here it's a case of all hands on deck while the holidays run, then it will all calm down again. The weather is on the turn too, which means it will be even busier as people do not want to go to the beach or walk the coast path. 

Until next time

Deborah 

Let's Give This A Go?

Hello Friends!

Let's give this a go with pictures and text today and see how it goes.

Thank you for all your comments and support. Things are still not right on my end, but are better than they were. My Reading List is empty, and I know that there should be many! My page looks different too, so I was this all something to do with a really big Windows 10 update I had? Some of you had all my blogs publish in one go, going way back, while others got no notifications at all, and some of you wonder what I'm going on about because you haven't seen any of it! My page views plummeted to fewer than five per day! They are back up now, to normal, thankfully.  I won't list more, but you get the drift, all is still not right with my blog.

So, let's just keep this simple today, and see how things go?  It's a beautiful Autumn day here in the Shire, the sky is blue, cotton puffs of cloud drift on by, so lazily that they are almost at a standstill, the wind is barely moving, and I feel as lazy as the day. I can't do much, I'm waiting the arrival of a new appliance, so am tied and limited as to what I can do today.

I made an old favourite for my lunch, something I haven't made in a long, long while. My Vegetarian Meatless Balls in a sweet barbecue sauce on rice. So easy, and to get back into the swing of things I'll share it with you.

I made up a packet of soya based vegetarian sausage mix, according to the directions, but you can use any recipe you have for meatless balls.  You can even use real meat if you must!

I rolled them into small rounds, and dusted in lightly seasoned flour before searing them to give a crispy crust in some hot oil.

Meanwhile, I warmed some barbecue sauce and an equal quantity of apricot jam in a pan.

Pop the meatless balls in an oven proof dish, pour over the sauce, and put in a medium oven, Gas Mark 6 or equivalent, for about 25 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the balls are cooked.

Serve over plain boiled rice and with some vegetables of choice, if desired.  This recipe also goes well in Submarine style rolls, and the sauce is good with a lot of other dishes too ~~~

Pudding was a bowl of sun ripened, freshly picked juicy blackberries, from the stone hedge at the back of the cottage.

Well, my friends, so far so good. All have uploaded and fingers crossed this will publish!

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 

Fall in to Autumn~the Last of the Harvest ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ the days of Autumn are now well and truly upon us and we are preparing for the first storm in just a few short hours.  The forecast is for severe gale force winds, torrential rain, and later in the week thunderstorms may add their presence to the mix.  I have scurried around the garden as best as I can to quickly bring under cover all those things that will not stand up to wildly windy weather; bins and things that could blow over and away are now safely stowed in the garage.  The hatches are as battened as I can make them, but I am never fully ready for the bad weather.  

I know you know that Autumn is my favourite season of all, and I love it best for the cosy warm feeling I get decorating, sipping mugs of hot cocoa, the lengthening shadows, bonfires, bringing in the harvest, walks in the countryside, stomping through crisply crunchy leaves, and so much more ~ I don't mind the gales and rain either, although they do curtail our outdoor activities ~ what you do not know is that I do miss, deeply, in my little corner of the world, the rich colours of trees turning to gold before shedding their summer coats ~ for the winds rolling in across the Atlantic wreck their havoc before the trees have turned, and leaves, dry and burned from weeks of drought and salt laden breezes, tumble from the trees, dried brown long before the yellows, oranges, and reds take their turn ~~~ so I live this vicariously through the images of others on places such as my Pinterest boards of Autumn landscapes, pumpkins, and other Blissful Autumn themed images ~~~

Here is a lonely leaf, falling free from the tree ~~~

As each day passes into the next, I check the vegetable garden thinking each day will be the last before Spring when there will be a gift to bring inside ~~~ well, those days go on and on ~~~ each day I found something more to harvest ~ for everything is a bonus at this time of year ~~~

I was delighted to find a small pick of tomatoes, a small treat of raspberries, a fair few courgettes and a plentyful bowlful of cooking apples ~~~

The courgettes are bigger than I like, why, one is a 'dreaded marrow courgette' that escapes detection until the very last, and although not as delicious as the tender, younger, smaller fruits it will not waste for it can be stuffed with lentils and a served in a home made tomato sauce ~~~

Then again, a few days later ~ there were more ~~~

Courgettes, the very last of the carrots, and some delightfully red eating apples ~~~

The courgettes gave so generously ~ right up until yesterday! So, I have been busy putting up yet more stores for the winter ~~~ isn't it wonderful?

Then, just yesterday, when I thought all was safely gathered in, and with the warnings of imminent severe gales {why, I can hear the winds beginning to gather momentum outside my cottage as I type ~ believe me, they have not been missed} I picked the last few very small courgettes that will not ripen now, and cleared the stems and leaves of the plants to put in the compost bin, I found these ~ a big fistful of tiny baby beets that had escaped earlier detection as they hid and sheltered underneath the big leaves of the courgettes ~ so there was a delightful bonus on the last day of the Autumn harvest! ~~~

While out and about on the byways and back roads of the Shire there are blackberries on brambles, berrilicious goodness ~~~

Pies, cordials, jams and jellies, blackberry wine ~~~
Just look at all those colours ~~~

Hawthorn berries, fiddly to eat and with a big stone and little flesh, although delicious, I leave for the birds and mice ~~~

Aren't they beautiful, how they just hang so invitingly ~~~

The stream is running dry, but after this weekend the water level will rise substantially and all the trout will be happy again ~~~

I think I found a Faerie House ~~~ 

I waited, but no one was home ~ or came to call ~~~

As ever, sunsets are a special and spectacular gift and this one was no different except that I put a filter on {and now forget which one, so cannot tell you}

Here is a link to the church yard that my Great Grandfather used to have to cut by hand ~ this is only a small part, and my mother tells me he did it all with a scythe ~~~ can you imagine that?

It was a gently grey and dampening day, you can hear the rainfall pitter pattering on the leaves and the birdsong that is omni~present in The Shire ~~~ so calming and restorative ~~~ before the walk back up that hill!

A little advance news to end on ~ I am thinking to plant onion sets this month and see if I can crop an early harvest next Spring ~ something I have never done before ~ but more on this later ~~~ in the meantime, Gentle Reader, remember that ~~~

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

***DO NOT EAT ANYTHING YOU FIND IN THE COUNTRYSIDE UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN WHAT YOU ARE PICKING!!!***

Blissful Rain ~~~ Introducing Whilber ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ Are you like me ~~~ totally and completely besotted and obsessed with that most enchanting of all the seasons

~~~ Blissful Autumn ~~~ 

Are you impatient, and cannot wait for the days of heady Summer heat to cool to more bearable warmth, for the leaves to turn colour and fall from the trees, for the days of hot chocolate, mittens and scarves, and long walks in the countryside of the turning year?   

I could not wait a moment longer, and as soon as I was able to turn the page on my Susan Branch 2014 wall calendar, {I have just ordered my 2015 ones} so I have changed the background here on our little corner of The Shire to one of my lovely sunflowers pictures from previous years and the colour scheme is now more Autumnal too ~~~ soon I will put an Autumn themed header in too, but for now there is one of the corner with all the oregano and lavender in ~~~ I hope you like the changes ~~~

The sky, grey and gloomy, heavily humid for days, emptied blissful rain upon the earth, and all is glistening and fresh, the dust of weeks is washed away, the air this morning cooler, clearer, and all together very pleasant indeed, despite the sky still overcast.  The grass, dry, parched, and brown, will soon be growing green again and the Garden is cleansed and refreshed by beautiful, blissful raindrops ~~~ sometimes gentle, sometimes heavy and torrential ~~~ as you will see from the amount of water collected in Whilber {oh, I do not believe you have met Whilber, so, Gentle Reader, may I introduce Whilber?}

Whilber is one of two Welsh names for wheelbarrow ~ the other being berfa ~ so Whilber is what I have called my wheelbarrow. This one is actually Whilber III but we do not upset Whilber by adding the numbers to his name.  He is just "Whilber" ~~~ and I could not be without Whilber's help in the garden, for he carries many heavy loads for me, compost, rocks and stones, even when I have many bits and bobs to move from one spot to another, Whilber is my constant gardening companion and friend ~~~ 

The rain lashed against the windows of the cottage all night long, and this morning there was quite a depth of water in Whilber so I pulled out a measuring stick and there was just over four and a half inches since yesterday morning!  That is a lot of water in two days.  Of course, it isn't an official measurement, but it does go to show that the garden does not need watering today!

I took advantage of the Summer rain to pop some of my houseplants on the patio during the rain ~~~ the gentle raindrops wash away the dust that is impossible to do on such a fullness of growth on cacti, succulents, and ivy, leaving the plants refreshed and clean once more {in the Winter, I pop them in the shower, but the rain is so much better for them than chemically treated tap water} ~~~

Of course, dewdrops are everywhere this morning, and here are just a few more pictures of dewdrops on blooms and flowers ~~~

I love how things reflect in the droplets as they dangle from the plants ~~~ 

The rain will swell and ripen the few remaining raspberries in the berry patch ~~~ but picking is slowing down now and will soon be over ~~~ doesn't this look so tempting?

Small branches of bramble, laden with a promise of blackberries, bounce in the breezes that drift across the garden ~~~

Soon, the nurturing rain that fell will make it's way up the thirsty stems and swell the tiny fruits into plumptious purple jewels of fragrant berriliciousness ~~~

See how they are already in different stages ~~~ some swollen and darkening to ruby red and the colours of wine, others just behind but still green, and some only just starting to form as berries ~~~ all will be picked and turned into my very favourite Apple and Blackberry Crumble, served with lashings of custard ~~~ if the pick is good, then Blackberry Jelly will be made too! 

Oh, wouldn't this last one {above} make a wonderful colour scheme for a room?

Today, I must start the task of deadheading the lilies, to let the goodness that is in the leaves return to the bulbs and not waste the energy of the plant into making seed!  Sadly, the rain has washed away the Stargazers, so I hope the remaining tight buds will open after the rainy spell has passed us by ~~~ my reward for the job of deadheading is this ~~~ 

My September Country Living magazine {UK copy} just arrived through the letterbox and plopped on my doormat ~~~ it is my most favourite magazine, and right along side you see my most favourite mug ~ my Emma Bridgewater "Rose and Bee" mug {which I notice needs to be refilled!}  I just love the sofa on this cover, don't you?  Well, the weather will have to change very quickly if I am to do the deadheading, so I might just reward myself sooner rather than later! I am incorrigible ~~~

Whatever the weather, there is always work for the Gardener, so remember that ~~~ 

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