A new cook

I had a lovely surprise yesterday when Nick said he wanted to make a cake. I sat at the other side of the kitchen giving instructions but didn't help. We ended up with a wonderful coffee and walnut cake.











Another lovely surprise was a box of flowers that came from Sue and Joanne. They look even better this morning as the flowers are opening. They have pride of place in the fireplace next to my cauldron.

Meet Marigold

When my mother asked what I wanted for my birthday I had to tell her the thing I wanted most. I had a lovely surprise yesterday to find that he had managed to find just what I wanted.

Meet Marigold, the new addition to our family. She is like Angel and has sort legs and is very cute. We also grow enormous Bizzy Lizzys in Basingstoke!

We also have new names for my parents - they are now known as Nanny and Billy!

A bigger container

I had to pick yet more fruit at the allotment at the wekend as the Whitecurrants were getting overripe. I ran out of plastic boxes so had to resort to the tin bath. We have a whole basket in the freeze with just Whitecurrants as I didn't have the opportunity to cook them so it will be a job for later in the week.

There was also loads of blueberries ready and still more Jostaberries which I also had to freeze as there is a limit to how much we can eat.

Fly past

The red arrows must have known it was my birthday today as we had a fly-past with the Vulcan Bomber. They seemed really low and slow and with the fabulous clear blue sky it was a fantastic spectacle.

I would like to think it was for me but actually it is the start of Farnborough Air Show and we are on the route in and out.

I didn't get a picture but borrowed one from Google Images to show you. Thank you http://thevulcanbomber.blogspot.com/


Not long after the Vulcan Bomber came back over so I think the Red Arrows must have stayed to do a display. This time I caught it. It made me realise how much I miss Concorde which used to go over at 2pm every day.

Who's shed?

It seems that Angel has taken over my shed. She loves to sleep in the boxes of fabric on the high shelves. If ever I go into the shed she is there checking that I am not making a mess or disturbing anything.

She even has the cheek to sit and watch out of the window while I am in the garden.

At least this is a way to show the hanging basket on the side.

Much needed rain

We have had a lovely lot of rain over the last few days. The allotment will be really grateful.

When we were there at the weekend I found that the pond that the ducks used to love swimming in had totally dried up in the hot weather.

All that was left was a thick layer of silt deposited by the ducks, and two balls which at onetime, were full of barley straw to try to keep the water clear.

It will be interesting to see how much rain we have actually had.

Regular breaks

Now that I am working full time from home, I need to take regular breaks. I had a good clear out of all the scraps of fabric that I have acumulated over the last year so my break consists of making a cup of tea and 15 minutes in the sewing room.
EaEa
I can't belive that I had 8 breaks yesterday but this is what I produced. Each block is 6 1/2 inches square. I am not sure what I will do with them but I will just keep stacking them up.

Noe that's what I call a fruit harvest

Sort fruit is amazing this year. I picked white currants, red currants, loganberries, jostaberries, gooseberries, blueberries, a couple of blackcurrants a few raspberries. Yum

I also have some broad beans that I picked and I swapped a box of eggs for some French beans and courgettes with Maria.

Not so bad after all

The garlic has been drying for the last week or so and I sorted it to see what was usable now and what would store. The news was better than thought and I have three good strings to hang up.

There were about 10 heads that won't keep so I will prepare and chop them and store them in jars of olive oil. It might be a good solution for Christmas presents.

As well as a plait of heads of garlic I seem to have included a head of Nick (look closely and you will see what I mean).

Gooseberry

Now that is what I call a gooseberry. This punnet of fruit came from the tinies little bush we have. The branches were weighed down with fruit.

A weekend away

This weekend we went to a Golden Wedding Anniversary party in Streatly, staying at the Swan hotel. In the afternoon we had a boat trip from Streatly to Wallingford. It was a great chance to catch up with all Nick's family but it was also a chance for some great bird watching.









It is a beautiful stretch of watch with some lovely islands, houses and boat houses to see on the way. It is obviously good feeding ground asthere were large flocks of Canada Geese grazing in the fields as well as heron standing in prominant places along the banks. They were loving the sunshine and seemed oblivious to the attention from the passing boats.












The most amazing site was the Red Kite that seems to have spotted the canapes and was circling around the boat. I really was glad that we had a good zoom on the camera and that he was such a poser.









It was also a photofest for duck and swan lovers. Our balcony was on the river side and it was just like being at home, as we were woken up to ducks quacking. These two had found a lovely shallow spot under the bridge to start the day.

I just kept thinking how much Emily would have loved a swim inthe river.