Berry Picking in The Garden and The Best Brownies this Side of The Pond ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ Welcome to the Garden on a beautiful Summer's afternoon ~~~ we have had some "rain stops play" weather this week, but it gave the garden, fruit, and vegetables some much needed watering and, of course, I had a most welcomed rest from lugging heavy watering cans! {big, smiley face icon here}  Mists swirled across the Shire and, as a friend said of this picture, "it is very Brigadoon~ish" I love that film!  Remember, it is Wimbledon so we must have rain ~~~

 {apologies ~ I could not resist making this photograph very large as I wanted you to see the land rising like islands out of the mists but just scroll along sideways and you can see it all}

As the rain fell the dust of weeks was washed away and the ground turned dark once again and leaves glowed brightly and appreciatively in the golden sun when it finally broke through the heavy, thundery rain clouds ~~~ and I watched ~~~ my eyes glittering ~~~ and I found magic ~~~

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”  {Roald Dahl}

Glittering silver and golden raindrops ~~~ full of magic ~~~ sprinkled and strewn across the garden ~~~ I looked and and I found that which is hidden in the most unlikely places ~~~

 

I have picked a lot of raspberries in the last two days and I think this evening I might be making jam, if not today then definitely by tomorrow or Tuesday.  The picking is good but a constant battle against Mamma Blackbird who seems to think I've gone to all this effort for her dining pleasure!  I do not begrudge her some and I reckon I'm happy to allow up to a ten percent loss on my crop for the birds and mice ~~~ as long as I have enough for my Winter table then I am happy ~~~

~~~ I do wish, though, she wouldn't dive at me all the time ~~~

Right now there are bowls of freshly picked berries lined up on my kitchen counter top ~~~ raspberries ~ loganberries ~ blackcurrants ~ and gooseberries ~ oh! yummilicious things will be a jammin' and a pie~in' and a freezin' and a bakin' ~~~

Monty Don said, on BBC Two's Gardener's World programme aired last Friday that it is not too late to sow a wide variety of seeds, and he dug in and planted several courgettes that are at about the same stage as my left over plants still in their pots, so I am now in the process of digging in four more courgettes!  I reckon I will have a really good supply now ~~~ plenty for my plate, sharing, and chutney too ~~~ oh! yummy!  I will be happy if they grow for the space will be otherwise empty this summer ~~~

I have noticed that the planted into the ground earlier are much smaller but have more leaves, whereas the ones I have planted out today have fewer leaves but they are much bigger and stronger looking ~~~ so now the comparison begins!

This is the big leap of faith day too ~~~ the courgettes I planted out earlier, and my leaves are now too big for their night time 'slug and snail' protective cloches so from tonight they, and the runner beans, are on their own.  Of course I am afraid for them but they need their freedom now to grow and flourish if they are left alone ~~~ so, this morning I put the canes in and loosely tied the runner beans on using a "figure of eight" loop so as not to damage the delicate stems ~~~ oh! and the carrots have germinated ~ and a lot earlier than I thought.  It is not worth a photograph at present for they are mere specks of green on the surface of the compost but they are there!

Now, Gentle Reader ~~~ you know as well as anybody else that I love my cake and tea ~~~ and this week I have made a discovery and have decided to share it with you ~~~ I have discovered Sugar Moon Brownies that come to you by mail order ~~~ I have waxed lyrical over these delectable, home baked morsels of deliciousness on my Facebook page and now I will tell you about them here.  I ordered them on Monday and they were here on Wednesday ~~ so that is a BIG B~Z to Royal Mail {as well as to Sugar Moon for baking them on Tuesday} ~~ I did feel for the poor postie afterwards though, I think I have scarred him for life, for I confess to lying in wait for him and accosting him as he got to my door ~~~ but it was worth it {although he might not agree!}

This is the lovely brown box in which they arrived ~~ see, that is my name on the label and sweet Alice is on the sticker in the corner ~~ this is as close as you can get these days to a 'brown paper package tied up with string' {one of my favourite songs from one of my favourite films}

Open the box to a lovely card on top ~~ and a personalised Thank You from Rachel {the owner and baker} of Sugar Moon Brownies ~~

and through the layers of protective packaging to the first brown paper package tied up with a ribbon ~~

and to the second layer ~~ can you see me smiling?

oh, boy! do you see me smile now??? 

and if those weren't enough ~~~

Now, I've eaten some brownies in my time but I'm telling you these are the best I've ever had ~~~ these are perfect brownies.  Deliciously rich and decadent, perfectly moist and fudgey, slightly crumbly, and choc full of chunky chocolate pieces in milk, white, and dark that just melt in the mouth ~~ I had three sorts: Chocolate, Chocolate and Orange, and Walnut Fudge ~~~ each as delicious as the next ~~~ they are perfect {there's that word again} with coffee, or tea, or with vanilla Haagen Dazs {warming the brownie first is optional} or just on their own.  I slowly savoured each delicious mouthful, carefully picking up the crumbs on my fingers so as not to waste a single nibble ~~~ oh, there is my Emma Bridgewater mug hiding in this photograph too ~ more smiles!

All I can say is try them ~ if you love brownies you will not be disappointed.  I think they are the best brownies this side of The Pond.  Just get yourself settled in your comfy chair, make a pot of tea, grab a copy of your favourite magazine or a good book, take the phone off the hook {very important that} and curl up and enjoy yourself ~~~ next time I'm chasing the Salted Caramel ones as I have a bit of a thing going on with anything salted caramel at the moment ~~~

On that note, I am off to warm up a Chocolate Brownie and serve it in a limited edition Emma Bridgewater bowl with a scoop or two of Vanilla Haagen Dazs ice cream ~~~ after all I've worked hard in the garden today and I've earned it!  Remember ~~~

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

I know I said ~~~

Gentle Reader~~~I know I promised not to deliver more than two blog entries a week, but the photographs are starting to pile up, and being a person of minimal organisation skills they get lost in the ether of cyberspace {did I actually use that word here?} or the darkest recesses of my hard drive, along with the other few thousand pictures {yes, you read that correctly} that infest my computer where they remain unnamed and unsorted, catalogued only by the date they were taken.  I know this is very bad practice indeed and I really should sort myself, and the photographs, out.  Life was so much easier when all was on 35mm film and the temptation to shoot everything that poses or stands still long enough did not exist, or was simply too expensive.  Imagine taking over 200 images a day on 35mm film!  My bank manager would never understand or give me an overdraft facility for that!  I would have to lie and tell him the money was for new tyres for my car ~~~ which as I do not own a car would be a bit of a stretch! {giggles}

The weather is simply perfect and glorious now.  I could throw all manner of descriptions out, from simple adjectives to flourishing sentence fragments, but comfortably warm to sit out, too hot to dig and weed, big blue skies, bright sunshine, contra trails not clouds, deck chairs, and Pimms {or home made lemonade} on the lawn just about sums it up.  In other words, it just feels good.  After the Winter we had it feels like a miracle!

I did dig a bit this morning, because yesterday I removed the big weed smothering covers from the veggie patch {that took forever!} and this morning I started to turn the soil over, breaking it up, ready to receive several of the courgette plants that are coming on very well now.  I went into Spider Town {aka garden shed} and brought out several of the home made cloches which will give the plants extra protection from everything that threatens them once they are in the soil, so all is ready.  These home made cloches are 5 litre water bottles that I cut the bottoms off and they make great cloches, the tops come off and on to regulate the heat inside the little mini greenhouses and I am recycling instead of adding the bottles to landfill.

So, I did say that I'm bursting at the seams with photographs to share with you ~~~ would you mind waiting just a moment, it is getting very hot here in the living room, the sun is streaming in through the French doors and I must draw the curtains ~~~ ah! that is better ~~~ ironic too!  We spend all Winter trying to keep warm, if only we could harness some of today's starting~to~be~searing heat to use in January and February!

Gentle Reader ~~~ are you still with me? ~~~ here is the reason for my digging and preparing ~~~ do you recall, a few short weeks ago when I planted my courgette seeds here and then this happened ~~~

Then this ~~~ 

and a few days ago this ~~~

 

Well, today they are even bigger and are rocketing ever up in size with the increasing Summer warm days and lots of watering on my part, so I think they are now ready to plant up.   It really is one of the best feelings in the world, to see the tiny seeds you sow germinate and grow into healthy little plants ~~~hence the digging and clearing, but only in little bits and often as it is very hot and uncomfortable working out there today, with the sun beating down on my back and almost no breeze {well, there's a change, isn't it, no breeze?}

There are runner beans too, but they are quite behind, in total I have six plants, three in the big bin and three in the tray that I planted as my 'insurance'.  However, I am confident that they will come on and give some cropping, even if it isn't huge.  Anything fresh from the garden is a treat, even if it is small ~~~

  

Across The Shire drifts a lonesome drone~~~the farmers are busy making hay while the sun shines! 

 

While back in the Garden busy bees drone as they go about harvesting the bounty of pollen from the poppies ~~~

  

Do you notice the wings are beating so fast they look as if the bee is wingless! Oh My! ~~~

 

  

 But here, you can see the blurry wings whizzing to keep the bumble bee in the air!  A miracle ~~~

  

I was thrilled yesterday to be watching, off and on, all day long two darling little wrens and here is one for you to see ~~~ 

 

Then, late last evening, one of them came flying straight at me, why! I thought he would fly straight in to me, but no, he sat on a nearby wall, close to where I fill my watering cans, and just looked at me, you know "that look" that says, well, look at me, here I am, aren't I just so cute? ~~~ Magic, and made me so happy too ~~~ that momentary connection with nature at it's best ~~~

The light was amazing too ~~~ every corner of the Garden bathed in a glorious golden rose glow as I have seen often, of late, in the Shire evenings ~~~ here are some photographs, which by no means capture it, for it is so hard to do, so it is a poor imitation of what was really there ~~~

 

 

 

This morning, the native Mullein are opening too ~~~ one of my favourites which I will allow to freely self~seed across the garden, as I feel privileged it has chosen my garden in which to grow ~~~ but see how badly eaten are the leaves? ~~~ Do you recall the Mullein Moth I showed you here?  Well, this is what the do {sad face icon here} ~~~

One final image for today ~~~ this magnificent view {after all, I only capture what God gives me} across the Shire ~~~ where the sky is blue and big, the fields are green, and hay is being made ~~~ I just had to share with you today! ~~~

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

Just Sayin'

Gentle Reader~~from a cold and windy west Wales this morning, where white clouds scud across a blue sky, and grey clouds with threats of impending downpours roll in from the Atlantic.  My coffee is hot and strong and I am slowly waking up!

I am considering a few changes to this blog. I might even modify the title.  Don't be alarmed!  You see, over on Facebook land, I write passages of prose quite frequently and those of you who are not over there cannot read what I am writing.  My FB friends and followers all seem to like what I do, and I would like to share it with you.  I also enjoy sharing recipes ~for I am a self confessed foodie~ although my recipes are of the hit and miss ilk that go 'a handful of this, a pinch of that' it is still fun; I also enjoy crafting and sharing some of my simple makes.  I started out here with the good intentions of a gardening blog, but find myself wandering, wondering, and pondering too, further away from wanting to blog about just gardening.

Some of you visit my other two blogs linked here, my primary blog Tales From A Celtic Heart and my fun teddy blog  The Adventures of Treasure Bear and Other Animals both of which are now equally neglected from my blogland identity crisis!

I've had a few technical problems, and I know some of you have had the same, issues like not being able to put up your photographs, which I must admit has stopped me from posting.  My computer is also slow, sometimes quick, sometimes slow, sometimes nothing at all as it freezes more solid than an Arctic Winter!

I tried setting up a new blog, consolidating all three blogs on to one new page but Wordpress is hard work for my computer and I have decided to stay put.  Goodness only knows the changes in the last few months that Google has made have left me spinning more than the tin top I played with as a child~~~and that did some spinning!

So, I think it is time to just go with the flow, blog what I want to blog and not try to be so purist, when being purist means all I get to do sometime is re~hash the same things as last year.   There will still be a lot of gardening, and way too many pictures {but I do so love photography} but more variety, and I hope more regular posting and everything will always be a work in progress!

There you have it!  I dashed out this morning to get a couple of shots of things before the rain comes in, a lovely white foxglove {which is confusing me, but more on that next time} and the return of my lovely dwarf verbascum! 

I hope you will stay with me as I make these changes, and who knows, maybe a few more will join us in the Garden in The Shire?

Until next time ~~~

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

Some Very Good News

Gentle Reader~I have been absent for a while, three weeks, and I am sorry. You must think I have forgotten you.  I have not, but I have been keeping up with bits and bobs over on Facebook, on A Garden In The Shire page, but have neglected my blog ~~ I think the reason is that, as things slow down there is not much to write about.  I have been distracted by family matters, and I am also not wanting to do too much in the way of heavy work until I am certain my back is up to it. Also, my computer is struggling to cope, and I fear it will now be a while before I can replace it. Anyway, this will bring you a little update.

As the blog title suggests, there is some very good news, but I am going to hold that back until the very last moment! Oh! I am such a tease, but there we are! On with other news first~~~

There have been bags and bags of leaves to sweep up!  Oh, my have there been leaves.  These are all swept up into big bin liners, holes poked in the bottom for drainage and left in a corner where in a year or so they will have metamorphosed into beautiful, rich, crumbly leaf mould for the garden.  At the moment though, there is a slight problem.  We have a badger who is tearing the bags apart, presumably in a search for worms.  Not only that, but he, or she, is digging big holes in the lawn!  I shall have to work out what to do, but no harm will come to the badgers, I would rather put up with the holes in the lawn than hurt those lovely creatures.

I have started taking pictures of the sky again, from time to time, especially when something catches my eye, like this big, squiggly shaped cloud ~~

Or, yesterday evening, when after the greyest of grey days the rays of the setting sun set fire to the sky above and we were treated to one of nature's brilliant, bright displays~~

But I also like to see the paler skies too~~

Earlier in the week, I played a little magic trick on my Facebook page with these two photographs~~now you see it, now you don't~~for these were the two views from the bottom of my muddy lane looking out across The Shire~~isn't nature wonderful, perfectly hiding the rocky outcrop in mist, as if erased by some giant hand from above, only to put it back a short while later~~

There have been quite a few sunny days, and surprisingly the butterflies, which have been absent most of the summer, arrived in force.  Here are some lovely Red Admirals sunning themselves, making the most of the last warm days of the year before they hibernate until Spring~~

Here is a close up of this quite beautiful British butterfly~~

 

 The days have been sprinkled with dew, making chains of gossamer beads across the webs that scatter across the garden, and this one is a pretty backdrop to a spray of rose hips.  The Frances E Lester rambler has now set it's seed, and the hips are swelling and ripening well.  I hope the entire bush will soon be covered in such clusters, for that will make a very pretty picture.  Here, for now, is one such cluster~~

Late last year, I discovered, growing in between some paving stones, what looked like a small rose seedling.  Now, I have never seen a rose growing from a seed, but sure enough, earlier this year I found it again, only this time much bigger.  I resolved to move it, for it cannot be left to grow where it is, partly because I do not know how big it would grow, and partly because it is on the path. Before I had the chance to move it I hurt my back and could not bend, so the rose has grown much bigger. 

 

Last week, I managed, with much struggling, to get it out from its comfortable nook and I potted it up in some fresh compost with lots of rooting gel and other root~growth compounds and so far it looks quite happy in its new home.  This is about a week after the transplanting work was done ~~~

 

 

The courgettes have continued to harvest and give up their bounty long after I would have expected this year, and after a late start they have given plenty~~here are the last ones, sizzling in my cast iron griddle pan, in oil.  I later enjoyed them tossed in a delicate sage butter~~

 

 

The big, rosy red hips on the rosa rugosa give a glorious splash of colour, and later in the year they will help to feed the birds too~~ 



 

During the days I have not been clearing and tidying, I took a little walk around the cathedral and wandered into the Secret Garden, the healing garden around the back of the building, half hidden from view, and only known to those that stumble across it, taking the time to turn a corner and look.  There I found this mysterious doorway, half hidden by the planting around the edges and growing across~~

 

 

I love it, the mystery, the magic, the wondering if my grandfather ever stepped through this door during his time as caretaker of the magnificent and ancient building and grounds~~

 

Well, Gentle Reader, I promised some very good news, and here you shall have it!  Do you remember the dreadful state of affairs when my well meaning neighbour cut down my hedge, in particular the Elder trees?  Well, just the other day I found some tiny green shoots, miraculously shooting and regenerating from the stubby remains!  Here they are~~

 

I hope you are as thrilled as I am to see this!  Isn't nature wonderful?  I will monitor their progress carefully now, and make sure no one gets close to them with a machete again!

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

 

 

Autumn Harvest and Braised Red Cabbage

Gentle Reader~I am at that dangerous stage now, where my back is almost healed, and my fingers are a itchin' and a twitchin' to get out there and dig that soil!  I must be strong!  I must not sally forth with undue care into the garden to do these jobs before my back is ready, for I do not wish to pay the price of rushing.  The work will still be there when I am fully able.

I managed a turn around the lawn pushing the mower, last week, and that was enough.  Pruning is happening where I am able to do so without reaching and bending, and I am gathering seeds from all the many flowers of Summer, so I will have free seeds to sow and share for next Spring.  There is much joy in the harvesting of seeds to set aside for future displays.

I'd like to welcome the new followers to my blog~~Croeso! Welcome! Thank you for following and I do hope you enjoy reading my ramblings and photographs.

First, I must share some sad news.  My neighbour has desecrated the ivy and honeysuckle along my Pembrokeshire stone hedge.  I think he thought he was doing me a favour, but he did not tell me his exact plans and I came home one day to find the entire section hacked into non~existence by a machete.  As one friend pointed out~at least he waited until after the birds had finished nesting and the young have fledged!  Even my two Elder trees are matchwood.  Here are some of the disturbing images~and I know you will share my distress~

Two splintered stumps are all that remain of my magical Elder trees~

I have been told the Elders may recover.  I can only hope they do, for I prize and value the berries and flowers.  I know nature has a way of healing and recovering, and this damage will soon be restored, it is was such a shock to come home from a day out to this sight.  I grieve and am concerned, not only for the damage, but the removal of shelter, for many small birds fed and sheltered in the tumbled growth of ivy and honeysuckle.

Gentle Reader~shall we move on? 

The weather is changing, Autumn chills the air, and there are now many small birds in the garden, foraging for seeds and insects, and one of my new friends is this adorable juvenile robin.  Do you see how his red feathers aren't quite full, there is still a vestige of the downy new fledgling about him, but he is more adult than baby now.  I call him my Teenage Robin!

This week, I have seen woodpeckers, blue tits, chaffinch, goldfinch, sparrows, and many more.  I must settle down to getting some photographs, mustn't I?

The raspberries are fruiting again!  They did the exact same thing last year.  They flowered and fruited (and were greedily devoured) in the expected time frame, and then, two months later cropped again!  The only difference is that in both years the second crop, although much smaller in quantity, is producing much bigger, firmer, and flavoursome fruits.  They are altogether a far superior berry to the earlier crop produced~~how strange is this?  Here is a photograph to show you the quality fruits~

Don't they look good?  Luciously red and deliciously juicy jewels of plumptiousness!

Here is my recipe for Braised Red Cabbage.  I devised this vinegar~free recipe because my mother is unable to eat anything containing vinegar.  I hope you like it~~

Ingredients~
1 head red cabbage
2 medium onions
750 ml good quality apple juice
Seasonings: salt, pepper, 1/4 teasp each cinnamon, clove, freshly ground nutmeg, juniper berries, 1 tablesp grainy mustard. {all seasonings can be adjusted to taste}

Method~
pre~heat oven to Gas Mark 3
Remove outer leaves of cabbage and slice as thinly as possible. I use the finest blade on my mandolin. Finely shred the peeled onions.
In a large, oven~proof lidded casserole layer the cabbage and onions, adding seasonings to each layer. Pour over the apple juice.
Slow cook in the oven for around 3 hours, until cabbage and onions are buttery soft.

This freezes very well and is great for people who cannot take vinegar. When reheating, I add a tablespoon of loganberry or redcurrant jelly {optional} which gives a lovely glaze if serving the dish to company. 

Three hours later, this is what you should be removing from the oven~a casserole dish full of ruby red delicious goodness~~

Of course, it would not be Autumn if the Dreaded Giant Marrow Courgette did not rear it's fearsome head, and here is the one for this year~

Not as big as some I know, but big enough!  Until next time~~~

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