Frogs and Jugs

A lot of activity in the garden now. The frogs have appeared at last in the pond and the first lot of spawn appeared yesterday. They are late this year.

It was good to hear them croaking and splashing about. We have a lot of duckweed, as you can see, but it never seems to trouble the frogs. In fact, it hides them from the eyes of passing Herons who are always on the lookout for a meal.

I saw several insects about. A Shield Bug was on a sage leaf in the sun, Ladybirds were wandering around and a lovely Bumble Bee was feasting on Crocus nectar.

The Broad Beans are just peeping out of the seed compost in the greenhouse. So relieved they made it after the big freeze.

It was time to move the wine on to the next stage. I sterilised a funnel, a straining bag, an airlock and bung and a demijohn. These all needed thoroughly rinsing before using. Don’t want any steriliser in the wine. I gave the wine a stir, then tipped the contents of the wine bucket gently into the demijohn using the funnel and straining bag.

I filled it almost to the neck. It was time to insert the bung with an airlock attached. I use the small airlocks, not the fancy curly ones but they seem to work well. I wiped the neck of the demijohn and the bung, put a little water into the airlock then pushed the bung in to seal out the air but allow the fermenting gas to escape.

It looks completely cloudy at this stage but will eventually be crystal clear and look perfect. It has to stand now for several weeks to ferment. When all the bubbles have stopped it can be siphoned off the yeast into a clean demijohn to mature for a while before bottling.

I wish I could show you the bubbles coming up. It is a lovely thing to see and sometimes if the yeast is particularly vigorous you can hear it constantly popping as it escapes through the water in the airlock.

The apples in the shed have kept well but a few are going past their best now and need using. Might make an apple pie. If I’m not in the mood I’ll just stew them and we’ll have them with some greek yoghurt.

Don’t forget when you prepare apples you only need some salted water to stop them going brown before you cook them. No need to have a lemon handy. Just a rinse, then into the pan, the pudding or the pie.

It’s been a difficult twelve months for all of us but I think all this time at home has made me even more appreciative of little things. My home has always been important to me so I cherish the bits and bobs which make it feel right for me. The longer I’ve had something the more I love it. Here are a few more of the jugs I have picked up over the years.

I also like contemporary studio pottery. I usually buy these from a craft fair or gallery but occasionally I have a look at eBay. Here’s one I bought from a lovely little local gallery.

Pretty things are nice though. I love flowers so anything flowery catches my eye.

I hope you are enjoying your own treasures and looking forward to Spring. With you again in a few days.