my favourite kind of day

We have had a mixed few weeks here... with both good news and bad.
Firstly the joy of a new little soul and then the sadness of learning that a friend of ours had tragically lost her 3 year battle against breast cancer.
Life's preciousness has been very much in the forefront of our minds and it has made us more determined than ever to live for the moment and to fully embrace life and to give our children happy times and good memories.


Yesterday was a well needed lovely low key day with the four of us just hanging out together, with good measures of pottering and relaxing. These kind of days with simple pleasures are my favourite and days that i feel very fortunate to be able to enjoy. These are some of the things we got up to.

My little ones planted out their seedlings... polly pansies, calendulas and pumpkins.

My eldest painted the bricked up wall of the workshop with a tiny paintbrush and a sample pot which is all we had left of the colour as the paint it seems is now discontinued. She did a great job.

I pulled some rhubarb and made us all crumble for lunch - one plain and one with our raspberries added in and served with vanilla ice cream...delicious.

The girls merrily played with pebbles in the pebbley bit of the garden and lined up their finds on a chair which we were under strict instructions not to move. They also made a den with windbreaks around the climbing frame where they made up all sorts of wonderful games, of which little snippets were a delight to hear!

We also spotted a large hoverfly on the sage bush and luckily managed to get a shot of it...

I think R was avoiding tackling the last bit of the workshop as instead he made these two covers for the salad bed out of some of our offcuts of wood.

but the biggest distraction on Saturday was seeing this arbour seat in the sale at £75 at our local garden centre... i could not believe it as they retail at over £300. I set my heart on this style of seat ages ago but had just resigned myself that i could never justify buying one. It is perfect and i bought it with my 40th birthday money which i had been saving. So last night was spent relaxing there with my beau after the girls had gone to bed.



Before i sign off, I would like to say a huge thank you to lovely Diana at Pebbledash who's kindness this week has overwhelmed me. She has been making these beautiful sketch books recently and ran a little giveaway to win one. She then decided to make one for everyone that left a comment. Three beautiful doodle books arrived with a bundle of lovely tags and some 'delightful 'chocolate. The girls and i love them and daddy was very interested in the chocolate! Diana has a lovely calming blog with gorgeous photos and lots of creativity. Do pop over and say hello.


So a good day yesterday but now i have a very poorly girl at home who woke up with a sickness bug at 3am this morning. She is asleep at the moment, hence the chance to post. Better get back to the housework now before small gets home from school... it's been nice to check in though as i have been a little absent lately.
Have a lovely week everyone!
g x

dreaming...

I am a bit of a dreamer. I like to muse over things and always have ideas bobbing around in my head of things i am planning or the seeds of new creations. This past week i have been musing about flowers for the garden. I mainly grow herbs and veg with a bit of fruit but really fancy introducing a bit more colour and tartiness to the garden. On Friday i treated myself to a little wander around our local garden centre with only myself and my thoughts to accompany me. I wandered around for ages. It's a good time to go to see the variety of plants available and to get ideas. I wasn't intending to purchase anything but something wouldn't let me leave empty handed. After coveting a beautiful heuchera, a replacement eucalyptus (yes mine died) and a nostalgic hydrangea (fond memories of visiting my granddad's house with a lilac hydrangea to the right of his front door), i came away with two dramatic 'gallery' dahlias (art nouveau) and 3 blue trailing verbenas. I wasn't even sure were i would put them. It wasn't until i got home that i realised my chosen plants reflected the exact colours i was wearing.


Have you ever done that? Deep pink really does seem to be a favourite just now....

my gardening gloves...

... and my new tulips are a similar colour.

Later that day i sat outside with all my gardening books dreaming of flowers and sowing my new seeds. Early that evening i started digging up a bit more lawn to make a bit more planting space.




My favourite flowers are echinacea or 'cone flower'. My clever youngest daughter discovered this and brought me two types of echinacea seeds for my birthday. They were sown a few weeks ago in a heated propagator and are doing well, so fingers crossed that they will be successfully potted on.


I also have studio progress to report...

The old purple wooden door was removed and a huge hole in the end of the building appeared late on Saturday afternoon.




The idea was to reuse the window we took out last week and put it where the old door was. This is a south east facing aspect so it made perfect sense put a window here to allow more light into the room.




The windows were originally recycled from an house near my father in law's some 7 years ago. Much as i hate UPVC i would rather reuse them than for them to go into landfill. Why buy new when you can recycle? You can see from this picture all the crates of fabric and stock piled up inside. Not long now before i can start to unpack.




My good man worked late into the evening to finish off the block work. He was able to reuse some of the original blocks which we discovered were actually sandstone. Unfortunately they had been painted a shitty brown colour so we hadn't realised . I had over painted them 'fly blue' some time ago... this was his first ever bit of wall building i might add. It's taking shape now. We covered it with a tarpaulin for the night just in case of rain....


and on Sunday morning the window went in, much easier than we had anticipated. So now the new shell is complete and it's just two more interior walls to finish. We sat outside last night drinking beer and marveling at what had been achieved. I want to move in now, but it'll be a few more weeks at least... so i shall continue dreaming for the time being....

Do you think my grass needs cutting?

We have had a pleasant few days here in the south of England.
At this time of year the first few good days of sunshine give rise to the sound of neighbours mowing their prized lawns. Yesterday, whilst in the garden, i heard the familiar hum of a lawn mower to my right. This evening my neighbour to the left followed suit and both gardens are now sporting freshly cut lawns.




It got me thinking.....




Should i cut mine?




I kind of like the shagpile look of it at the moment. The forget-me-nots and the dandelions seem very happy with it too.



But the garden always feels bigger when i finally cut it.

What do you think? Leave it a bit or give it a haircut?

Have you cut yours yet?

Time at home

The girls and I have spent a few productive days pottering about at home and in the garden.
We cleaned the greenhouse out yesterday, finally, and have washed all the seed trays and pots. We are now ready to sow. A little later than usual for some things but as it has been so cold i think that we'll be ok. We did manage to get our garlic in just after Christmas and it is doing well and our raspberry canes are looking promising. We will be growing a selection of all sorts like last year; cucumbers, rocket, tomatoes, sweetcorn, courgettes, french beans, lettuce, carrots, coriander, chillies and basil. We will also be trying brussel sprouts and cabbage and if it's not too late time, one of my fav veggies... leek.



Today i had a lie in. Whilst the girls were playing in their room and i was drinking my morning cup of tea, still lying in bed, i switched on the lap top. and started to 'bloghop'. I came across The Homely Year's blog. I have visited before but not for a while. I must bookmark them for as well as being an enjoyable read,the site is full of great recipes. I came across a few which i jotted down. I fancied trying this lemon cake and as both my girls have sweet tooths i thought they would be keen to help.

It was fairly straightforward and we all took turns, creaming, beating , juicing lemons and grating the zest. We popped it in the oven for 50mins and this is how it came out.



We fancied icing it so sieved the icing sugar into a bowl and mixed it in with more lemon juice. As you can see my icing is always too runny. We ended up coating the whole thing.




The girls also made some shortbread in butterfly, flower, star and heart shapes. They had a friend to play this afternoon and all three girls enjoyed polishing off most of the cake and a fair amount of biscuits. There is some cake left for us grown ups to gobble up tonight. It is very very tasty! Thank you Margaret and Noreen.

Realisation that summer has passed...

The sunflower has now faded

The long days of Summer are now gone...

But my passion flower is still going strong.

Seeds to gather

and time for me to welcome in Autumn with all her beautiful colours.




This time of year often finds me slightly melancholic ... but the beautiful colours, the conkers, the smokey evenings.. all your inspiring Autumnal posts.. have me in brighter spirits than usual and i am appreciating all that this time of year brings.


Do you have a favourite season or do you love them all?
I have added a poll (on the side bar) if you'd like to vote for your favourite.
Happy weekend

Gx

Harvest reflection...

One of my great passions is gardening. I have dabbled with growing herbs and veg for just over 10 years now. Pre children, i spent all my spare cash on plants for the garden in our rented flat. I even managed to bring some favourites with me when we finally moved out of London in the late 90's.
This year my husband has taken an interest in the garden too, which has been great as keeping on top of it with the children still young and with running a business has been pretty difficult.
As we were flooded in freak weather in 2006, we decided to raise the old veg beds and built some very tall beds from oak sleepers. My man built another raised bed for salads nearer the house. The greenhouse was tidied, staging built and we happily sowed away.

It has been a trial and error year and I would like to share with you our attempts ...

Our first harvests were from Lollo Rosso lettuce, rocket ( really easy and really tasty), spring onions, basil and spinach (good for a bit and then bolted).
We then enjoyed some fruit; raspberries, gooseberries and alpine strawberries.. only a few of each but still great.




The potatoes came next and we were lucky that as the beds were raised so high, the damp weather didn't spoil them.

This was our alien potato.

The dwarf french beans were our favourite crop of all.. so fresh and enjoyed by the whole family (good yeild over a long period for only six plants).





The carrots actually grew (a first for me!). They were of variable sizes but the earlier ones could have been sweeter. The spot we grew them in was not in direct sun so we wondered wether they needed more light? We had some this weekend and they were better.





The veg which did really well were the courgettes.. almost too many to eat and many turned into marrows whilst we were on our holiday. I did find a good recipe this book..

'Food from green places' by Rosamond Richardson for

' Courgettes Parmigiana'.

About 3lb courgettes cut diagonally and blanched for 3-4mins, drained, then arranged in layers (as in a lasagna) with fresh tomato sauce and then sliced mozzarello (each layer seasoned well) and then topped with grated parmesan and drizzled with olive oil. All baked at gas 4/ 180c for 40-45 mins. It was so easy to do and tasted really good.

We also have a large clump of rhubarb in the garden and have made fruit crumble a few times too. Crumble is my all time favourite pudding and in times of low moods (i get a few of these from time to time), my mum will always find an excuse to make me a blackberry and apple crumble (my most favourite). A small morello cherry tree gave us and the birds a few fruits too.

The crop which failed dismally for us were the tomatoes. I had sown gardener's delight and my man sowed Super Marmande beef tomatoes. Firstly we grew too many, and found it hard to care for them all, and secondly the they hated the wet and most got brown patches on their stems and got blighted so we had to dig them up. We were pleased to hear we wern't the only ones and even Monty said the tomatoes at Berryfield were a disaster.

A few salvaged tomatoes.

Our final crop to harvest is sweetcorn. We barbequed our first cobs today and they really were the best we'd ever tasted. They do say that sweetcorn is best picked and eaten straight away and it seems to be true.




We still have ridge cucmbers going strong, some blackberries (thornless ones planted by me for the girls), more courgettes, a few salads, garlic and these bannana peppers.



All in all a good year .. i think next year we should plan for leeks and parsnips .. two of my favourites and romanesco.. but one thing at a time ...
It still amazes us that all this comes from tiny planted seeds ..So i want to say thanks for the harvest from our garden this year and how enjoyable it has been to share this new adventure with my husband. Our girls have really enjoyed helping too, especially picking the goodies.
If you have any veg/harvest stories or advice to share please do leave a comment.. i'd love to hear how this year is going for you..
Have a good week.
G
x

Reflections...

I have been awarded a blogger Reflection award by Ally, a mother and great face painter from Canada. Thanks Ally... I'm not sure if i deserve it but i am touched and very grateful. Check out her blog
Simply Nice
, when you get a chance.
I am now to choose 6 blogs for the same Reflection award and then contact them letting them know. I understand that i need to pick blogs which have touched me or inspired me in some way. It is hard to choose as i enjoy reading so many blogs for a variety of different reasons.

The blog which has inspired me the most is

'Contemplating Change
' by Willow.

It is because of her that i have been reading 'Timeless Simplicity' by John Lane and that my husband made vanilla ice cream ... delicious. What i love about Willows's blog is that she shares with us her journey in low impact and simple living.

Carrots


2. is the amazing Tash at Vintage Pretty

Her blog is inspirational. Not only are her photographs of flowers,veg and wildlife stunning but she raises many questions and debates on ethical issues.. from seasonal food, food production methods, to toxins present in everday products and other enviromental issues. A blog to make you think with photographs to make you dream.

Dad's Dahlias

3. is Jane from
Snapdragon's Garden

Her passion and love of her small business growing cut flowers is inspiring.She writes most days and is often the first blog i read in the morning. As i know Alice does too. She likes a good debate and i love reading her comments. Direct and to the point , just like Alice. Jane also makes textile crafts which she sells through her website.

Posy of Dahlias

4.Tracy from 'Cupcakes at Home'

A blog full of beautiful creations and many photographs of her 'girls'. Tracy is off to live the life in Scotland starting with building a home with her partner Stephen. I am so excited for her and look forward to joining her as she writes about this new journey on her blog. Since starting the Flour loft, she has been really supportive and left lovely comments. I have also ordered a special something from her for my daughter's birthday. Will reveal soon.

lavender

5. is Marie Chantel at
Wild Rose

Marie is from Toronto and has a natural skin care range. Her blog is really informative and of particular interest to me as i am passionate about growing herbs. She seems like a lovely sweet soul and i find her blog warm and friendly.

Sweet Myrtle
6. Emma at Sew Recycled

I have only recently found Emma and have been reading back in her archives. She is a fellow textile artist also using recycled fabrics. She has 2 young children and I instantly liked her when she said she loved Charlie and Lola as i love them too! A recent post showed her boys enjoying a magical place
which thanks to her link we are set to check out this Summer.

Geranium in bud

Well i hope if you don't already know the 6 i have highlighted that you will go and have a look at their blogs. I have been taking photos of the garden again today as you can see (the geranium bud was taken a few weeks ago). I may get around to showing some creative stuff soon too and to talking about the business which is ticking over, but is in need a few more web updates. A big new project is now underway which i will talk more of in the weeks ahead.
Thank you to all who stop by, i really enjoy linking up with you all and hearing your comments. Happy Sunday.
G
x