Living a contented creative life.

Halfway through October with misty mornings and sunlit days. Leaves drop and drift around the garden and collect here and there in damp, scenty, heaps.

The acers are changing colour in a lovely way but usually hang on to the leaves until next month, when they shed them suddenly. The fruit trees are losing theirs much more rapidly and covering the ground beneath.

Still some pleasing green leaves, here and there, especially the silver-leaved brunnera and the patterns on the cyclamen hederifolium are a pleasure to see. Hederifolium means “ivy-leaved”. This is because the shape resembles those of ivy. The patterns on them are really lovely.

Asters, known as michaelmas daisies, are a beautiful feature of the Autumn garden. They are one of my favourite plants with their lovely shades of mauve. Sadly, this year, they suffered in the drought and their leaves are not at their best. The flowers are still a pleasing sight though. I brought some in for an arrangement in a pretty pottery basket given to me by my lovely daughter.

They make me smile each time I look at them.

When I went into the garden a few days ago I was delighted to spot a beautiful pansy. I hadn’t planted it. It had sprung up from a stray seed dropped by the birds or blown there by the breeze. Absolutely lovely, with its combination of colours and perfect shape. Like a pretty little watercolour painting.

Not many flowers now. Summer perennials are fading fast and no longer producing flowers. Just a few strays pop up now and then, like this lovely campanula.

I bought more pansies. Planted most. Still a few to put in.

The robin joined me while I was planting some in pots. Hopping from pot to pot, he investigated thoroughly.

What a pleasure it is to see these beautiful little creatures so close. I even hear a little song as he perches and watches my movements. Such fearless and delightful garden companions. One of life’s simple, yet satisfying , experiences.

I’ve planted my onions to grow outdoors over Winter. Last year I bought plants and had a nice small crop, so this time I intend to increase my yield. I bought seeds and started them in my own compost in the greenhouse. The onions are called “Toughball”, but this name refers to their hardiness while growing in the coldest months not their eating qualities. They’re deliciously sweet and tender when cooked.

I’ve sown “Arctic King” lettuces to grow in the greenhouse bed when the tomatoes come out. I still have a few tomatoes on the plants so I shall leave them until heavy frost sets in. The seedlings will be ready to transplant by then. The lettuces will grow slowly until the days lengthen in February, then they’ll put on a spurt. Meanwhile, I can take a few little leaves now and then to have with a sandwich.

I make my seed compost from mature home-made compost and well-rotted leafmould. Roughly equal quantities mixed together. I keep a supply in a bin in the greenhouse ready for sowing. Works well, although I do find a few weeds pop up. Not a problem once you’re experienced enough to identify the different seedlings. I just pull out the weeds.

Time to be thinking about indoor jobs like Christmas gifts and baking. I usually make some gifts and I always bake a Christmas cake. Need to put my thinking head on and summon up some creativity.

Last year I knitted novelty cat cushions for my daughter and daughter-in-law. They were fun to do and were received with pleasure.

I hope I can rise to the task this year. I would like to reduce the amount of plastic in my gifts. There is so much useless and polluting packaging. That’s another reason why I try to make some. I usually bake my daughter’s favourite fruit cake and my daughter-in-law’s favourite pecan pie, along with preserves, in a food hamper for them. These things don’t take any more time than Christmas shopping and for me that’s a bonus. Knitting and sewing are pleasures for the long dark nights and it’s fun to see the items coming to life.

Haven’t done much painting recently but the urge is building. Here’s a very old one I drew and outlined with pen before filling in the colour with gouache paint.

I hope you have plenty to keep you pleasantly occupied. With you again soon. Bye for now.

I missed writing my blog last week and yet the time has flashed by. So here I am again with all the latest.

Lovely autumn days, which are sometimes wet and windy, fresh mornings and early nights, are upon us. The garden is full of changing leaves, seedheads and berries. The asters are just beginning their show of purple shades while the rudbeckias are still a blaze of golden glory.

A few hangers-on are giving me a glimpse of pretty colours.

The fungi have been fascinating. First, smooth white forms, later flaring out to give a canopy over the stems. Fading now to dullness among the scattered leaves.

The glowing colours of autumn are developing by the day. Some leaves enhance the plants and others fall on the ground in a pleasing bundle. Here are some which caught my eye.

We have a very friendly robin this year. He’s following us everywhere. He even goes inside the shed to see what’s going on. I managed to capture his beauty as he posed obligingly on a post next to where I was working.

We even had a heron visiting. Sadly, for the heron, our pond is just an empty hole right now. It’s a project waiting to be tackled. At least we could rest assured that our frogs were safely tucked away under stones around the garden. The bird was a magnificent sight, standing on top of our woodstore as we ate breakfast and watched through the kitchen window. I couldn’t take a photo through the wet glass but here’s one I caught a few years ago from an upstairs window. I was lucky that day.

The plums are ripe and falling from the tree. Allan gathered as many as he could reach. I froze some and made a plum pie with the rest.

They are sweet and delicious raw. I also like them cooked but they do become piquant and need an awful lot of sugar. Not really healthy but a tasty treat even so. I put breadcrumbs underneath the fruit in the pastry case to soak up the juice. A nice idea passed on from my lovely sister.

I’m making some parsnip wine. A warming winter drink and easy to do. Although I have parsnips in the garden, mine need a lot of cleaning up which is very tiring when you need two kilos of them. I prefer to buy the supermarket ones for this because they’ve had a preliminary wash. I only need to give them a light scrub and top and tail them before chopping and cooking.

It’s been fermenting in the wine tub for just over a week. Now it needs a further period of time in a demijohn with an airlock to release the gas. A very pleasing process watching it bubble away. It looks very cloudy at this stage, but it will clear beautifully as it matures. No chemicals used. If you do it properly, they’re unnecessary.

The cooked parsnips don’t go to waste. When I’ve strained off the juice for the wine, I cool them and freeze in small tubs. Great for adding to winter soups or casseroles.

The recipe for my parsnip wine, with step-by-step instructions, is in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. Find it with this link. https://geni.us/eANQu

Looking ahead, I’ve planted next year’s garlic in the polytunnel. Best put in around now because it needs a cold spell to stimulate it into growth. Fingers crossed that the dreaded allium leaf miner won’t find it in a few month’s time and wipe it out like my leeks. Gardening is always a bit of a gamble, but the rewards outweigh the problems.

Still some jobs to do in the garden before Winter. I hope you’re finding your own way of keeping busy and enjoying what the season has to offer.

Bye for now. With you again soon.

That Autumn feeling is in the air. The scent of golden leaves underfoot and a certain change in atmosphere. So difficult to describe, yet a sensation we all know so well.

From September onwards, the perfume of apples greets me when I fetch garden tools from the shed. Now and then a ripe, juicy plum will drop from the tree. If it’s undamaged I bring it in and enjoy the combination of sweet and sharp tastes. Will have to harvest soon and freeze them for jam. Especially good with apple. A pleasant job on a cold wintry day.

At this time of year fungi pop up around the garden. I love it. They’re so fascinating. Only white ones so far but sometimes I find something a bit more surprising. I’m keeping a look out.

The last photo shows a nibbled one. Probably a mouse has gnawed the surface by the look of the marks.

The colours are deepening on some leaves which helps to make up for the lack of flowers.

We visited our local nursery and brought home a boot load of lovely plants. Winter pansies, cyclamen hederifolium, dianthus, tiny campanula and a gorgeous hydrangea.

A little friend has been joining us around the garden. Too elusive to take a good photo but here’s a glimpse.

Runner beans are still producing. If I find swollen ones I just remove the fat seeds and cook those instead of the stringy pods. Just as delicious. Their lovely rosy colour is lost, unfortunately, when they’re cooked but they taste good.

The seeds inside are kidney beans and they’re nutritious. Simply remove them from the pods and cook them for at least ten minutes. The discarded pods will make excellent compost.

I keep thinking the cucumbers have finished and then I find some huge ones hidden by the leaves. So, I’ve been pickling again. Mixed with sliced onions they have a good flavour. Can’t have too many pickles, in my opinion!

As I promised last week, I have a new recipe for you. Using seasonal cooking apples again but this time I thought I would mix them with walnuts. A really nice combination and easy to make.

Apple and Walnut Squares

500g Cooking apples
200g Brown Sugar
4 large Eggs
225g Self-raising Flour
2 rounded teaspoons Baking Powder
25g Bran
200g Sunflower Oil
75g Walnuts

Grease a large baking tin or roaster,30x25cm (12x10 inches).
Half fill a bowl with salted water (roughly 1 tablespoon salt to 500ml water).
Peel, core and quarter the apples and place in the salted water until needed.
Break the walnuts into pieces and set aside.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan oven.
Put the sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, bran and oil into a mixing bowl. Beat well, then add walnut pieces and mix again.
Drain the apples. No need to rinse. Chop them into small chunks.
Add the apples to the mixture and mix in.
Spread in the baking tin and bake for 30 minutes.
Allow to cool, then cut into squares. Lift out with a cake spatula.
These are even better when a day or two old. Freeze well.
Make a good pudding, warm or cold.

A lovely way to spend an hour on a rainy day, with a tasty reward later. One of life’s great pleasures. A warm, fragrant kitchen, the satisfaction of doing something creative and a delicious cake to eat when you relax.

I hope you’re finding your own pleasures. Enjoy all that the season offers. I’ll be with you again soon, but I’ve decided to do another post a bit later because I don’t want my readers to be tired of my blog. I still love doing it but I know we all have busy lives and sometimes things can lose their appeal. So, I will be with you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.

Our Queen has been laid to rest in a moving ceremony. Time perhaps for us all to move on and think positive thoughts about our own lives. Time to appreciate those things which really matter.

Regular readers will know how much I value my home comforts, creative pastimes and self-sufficiency. As Winter approaches once again, we need these things even more.

Because the weather is cooling, I’ve gathered in my small crop of squashes. I grow a type called “Buttercup”. They have sweet orange flesh which is lovely roasted with a drizzle of olive oil.

The cucumber plants are showing signs they’re missing the warmth as much as I am. I was surprised, though, to find three fat cucumbers hiding beneath the leaves. I thought I might pickle them with onion slices in cider vinegar. The seeds might need removing because they will be mature and chewy, but the flesh will still be very good.

These outdoor cucumbers have been generous. Their knobbly, bitter skin protects delicious, juicy flesh. They need to be peeled, then they’re very tasty.

The cooking apples are always abundant. The shed is full of stored ones to last through Winter (providing the mice don’t find a way in) and the windfalls which drop from the highest branches of the tree are making delicious cakes.

I have invented another cake recipe for apples and walnuts. I will share it soon as it’s easy and scrumptious. I baked the mixture with a little wheat bran and brown sugar to give a crumbly texture and complimentary sweetness.

I have some basil plants just about hanging on in the greenhouse, so I made my nutty sausages which include herbs. I vary the herbs according to what I have available. Parsley is good because I have it all year, but basil is my favourite for these. A simple vegetarian meal and very tasty.

My recipe is in Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook, available with Amazon. Just click this link: https://geni.us/eANQu

My colchicums, known as “Autumn Crocus “, are so pretty. I love their fabulous pink colour. Under the trees they stretch too much as they struggle towards the light and then flop over. The ones opposite the kitchen window are better. They have lovely double petals. These are called “Water Lily ” for their resemblance to those flowers. They stand up well because they’re receiving plenty of light. They’ve given me a week of pleasure already. Here are some photos of them.

The garden is disappointing this year, but a few pretty flowers pop up here and there.

Seasonal colours and fruitfulness are developing every day.

I brought in a selection of seed heads, grasses, berries and flowers to fill a jug with the beauty of this month. It’s so nice to see these close up in the house for a few days.

Although roses and dainty flowers look perfect in cut glass or a pretty pottery vase, a jug looks so right for simple flowers like daisies. With this kind of arrangement, the width of the jug allows for the bulkiness of all the stems as well.

With you again next week with my new recipe for apple and walnut squares. Meantime, enjoy the changing season. Bye for now.

It’s been a week of great sadness and yet, also, a time of hope and renewal. The death of our Queen shook the nation but the ascension of King Charles offers hope and continuity in a time of turbulence and trouble.

At times of social upheaval, we take comfort in the familiar things in our lives. For me, like most people, first and foremost my family but then my home and garden. My home represents not only shelter but a sense of stability where our belongings are treasured and kept as long as possible. My garden provides renewal where each new year brings new life, change, and optimism.

Although the year is fading gradually, there’s so much going on. The welcome rainfall has revived many things and stimulated others.

I thought the runner beans had given up but suddenly their scarlet flowers are blooming again and delicious pods are growing. The purple beans are growing well too. Their lovely purple flowers giving way to tiny green beans which darken to almost black as they grow to maturity.

The strawberries finished fruiting weeks ago but a few snow-white blossoms have popped up here and there. Probably won’t amount to much but there just might be the odd berry to savour.

Even my clematis “Freda” has a spray of new flowers. Never known that to happen to it before at this time of year.

Sadly my leeks seem to be dying. A few weeks ago, I found they’d been attacked by allium leaf miner. I tried an experiment. I cut them down to a few centimetres from the ground and they seemed to thrive. The leaves grew back and they looked promising. However, this week they’ve flopped and the leaves are withering. It looks like we will be without leeks this winter. Gardening is always a gamble. When it works it’s wonderful but sometimes, despite, best efforts, it just goes wrong.

There are always pleasures in a garden though. I caught a few snaps of flowers and leaves dripping from the refreshing showers. Here are some of them.

Under the trees, despite the dryness of the soil, pretty little cyclamen are appearing.

The apples keep coming. I’ve given some away and baked cakes, made chutney and this week I’ve made mincemeat for Christmas. It has time to mature. In December we like a warm mince pie with a glass of sherry on a cold afternoon.

As with all preserves, scrupulous cleanliness is essential to prevent moulds developing. The jars should be washed and rinsed carefully and placed in the oven. The oven needs to be switched to a low heat and the jars allowed to dry. Lids should be carefully dried with kitchen paper and kept clean until the jars are filled.

There are lots of recipes for mincemeat. Here’s mine.

MINCEMEAT

240g / approx. 8ozs Vegetarian Suet

340g/12ozs Raisins

340g/12ozs Sultanas

225g/ 8ozs Cooking Apples (peeled and cored)

225g / 8ozs Brown Sugar

115g/4oz Candied Peel

1 Lemon

1 teaspoon Salt

1teaspoon ground Cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground Cloves

1 teaspoon ground Ginger

2 tablespoons Brandy or Rum

The amount and type of spices can be varied to suit your own taste, eg. nutmeg or mixed spice.

Mince the apples, raisins, sultanas and candied peel. I mince them with an electric mincer/juicer but a hand mincer works well if you have one.

Add the suet, spices, salt and sugar.

Grate and then juice the lemon, sieving out any pips. Add the zest and juice to the other ingredients.

Add the brandy or rum ( you can add a little more or mix the spirits).

Stir thoroughly and cover. Leave for a few hours or overnight to allow the fruit to absorb some of the juice and brandy or rum.

Stir well again and put into clean sterilised jars and store in a cool dry place.

Usually keeps for 2 years and improves with keeping.

I usually add a little more brandy when I open a jar to make mince pies and stir it in carefully with a fork.

If you have a mincer, this is so easy to make. It doesn’t have the sharpness of bought mincemeat, which for me is an improvement. The spirits in it give it a delicious flavour and depth and it needs no preservative. Alcohol and sugar ensure it keeps well for over a year.

I have a new recipe buzzing around in my head. It will use more of the apples and I intend to add walnuts. Not tried it yet but might bake it this week. Been working out the quantities and I shall use one of my favourite ingredients, wheat bran. For fruit cakes, it gives a lovely crumbly texture and soaks up the juices.

With food in mind, here’s an old painting of a homemade loaf of bread ready for some butter and marmalade. I painted this with gouache.

I hope you find some lovely and satisfying Autumn jobs of your own to do and enjoy the coming season. Bye for now. With you again next week.

September, the beginning of the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness”. A little change in the air, cooler nights and a bounty of good things to eat.

Some of the apples and pears have been gathered in. Some are high in the trees and will need a bit of effort to reach them. Plums are almost ready but need a while longer to plump up their sweet juiciness. A few have fallen but they’re not ready yet. Blackberries are glistening in a hedge and scarlet berries are everywhere.

Someone kindly asked for my apple and cinnamon squares recipe so I gave her some of our delicious windfall apples. Although they bruise when they fall they’re too good to waste. Lots of juicy flesh left once the bruising has been cut away. Sliced into salted water, they keep their colour until they’re added to the recipe. I’ve been gathering them up to make my cakes and next week I hope to do this year’s mincemeat.

Meanwhile, there’s much to do in the garden. Clearing up after the fence was installed, cutting back dead stems and watering thirsty plants, to name just a few. Some late flowers have appeared and others are flowering again. Here’s a selection.

The marigolds have been a cheerful sight all Summer and are full of seedheads. The seeds will drop and provide next year’s flowers. Always welcome in my garden.

The beautiful and delicate colchicums, known as “Autumn Crocus” are appearing beneath the trees and opposite the kitchen window. I love their fragility, but unfortunately, their slender stems do flop. I need to grow something for them to stand among so the stems are supported. Wonderful though.

I managed to capture them looking lovely in a shaft of evening sunlight.

Still lots of feathers about but they look so appealing that I’m forever snapping them with my camera.

The little green shield bug is still on the peas. Not sure what he’s doing there. I hope it’s nothing naughty.

I’ve had plenty of cucumbers so I pickled some more this week. It’s good to see the winter preserves stashed away for later. It’s very easy to do and it saves having to eat cucumbers every day while they’re fresh. I love pickles, so it’s a bonus for me.

I have some tiny “Toughball” onions and spring cabbages coming along in the greenhouse. When they’re big enough I shall plant them. The onions will go outside to grow slowly over winter and the cabbages in the polytunnel. Despite the name, the onions are sweet and tender. They cook to a transparent softness and have a lovely flavour. Spring cabbages can be grown outdoors but I find they’re earlier and nicer when they’re grown under cover. These have a ball head, not the loose leaf kind, so they’re delicious shredded raw or cooked in a steamer.

With so much going on I’ve been making the most of my one-pan meals. So simple after a busy day, nourishing and full of flavour. Recently I’ve been stirring in a spoonful of soured cream to the reduced stock at the end of the cooking. With rice, or potatoes, and vegs it makes a delicious sauce and yet it’s so easy to do. Creme fraiche is just as good.

Essential for my one-pan meals is a good stock cube. I use an organic vegetable one in a small amount of water as a savoury base in which to cook potatoes or rice with vegetables and fish. I use a chicken stock cube when I cook chicken or turkey.

The vegs partly steam so all the flavour goes into the stock and retains the vitamins. Frozen fish fillets cook on top of the vegetables. So simple and convenient.

Ideas for my one-pan meals are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook. If you’d like them, you will find them by clicking this link:

https://geni.us/eANQu

Also contains lots of my recipes for cakes and other tasty treats.

If you try my recipes I would love to know how you go on. I’ve had some very positive feedback so far and it’s really heart-warming to know that others enjoy them.

To finish off this week, here’s a photo of a favourite little tile. I bought it from Jackfield Tile Museum in Shropshire. Sunflowers are always lovely and the glossy brightness of these is so cheerful.

With you again next week. I hope you’re enjoying treats and satisfying activities as the Summer comes to an end. Bye for now.

It’s been a week of mixed fortunes.

Lovely warm days, some rain to revive the plants and the gardeners, a new fence and the excitement of planning for a flower border. On the downside, the garden is full of wasps around the fruit and my husband had a very unpleasant sting with an allergic reaction. I’m usually very relaxed about garden insects but it’s made me a bit jittery.

We have had an ugly and useless privet hedge replaced by a fence. So now I will have a border in which to plant lovely flowers. Also underneath the adjoining soil is an old path which will run alongside. This was hidden by the overhanging hedge. Much uncovering to do yet but here’s a glimpse.

You can see in the last photo how far the hedge spread on our side. The fence is paler where it had been covered by it. The potted shrub was standing in the corner and hasn’t been moved. You can see the area that was taken up by the privet. It’s given us a lot more useable space.

Another small problem this week has been the killing of birds by a neighbourhood cat! The garden and the drive have been covered with feathers. Natural, I know, but sad too. We love to see the birds enjoying all our garden has to offer so we don’t like to think we’re putting them in harm’s way.

Already the garden is hinting that Autumn is close on Summer’s heels. Leaves under the fruit trees are crisp underfoot and cyclamen are popping up through the dry soil.

The asters are beginning to flower and although the Japanese anemones have fewer blooms this year they’re still a pretty sight.

My red salvia has continued to thrive in our dry soil for about three years and is still putting on a bright show. Red seems to be the colour at the moment, with pelargoniums, red haws on the hawthorn trees, tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse and other berries swelling with juicy ripeness.

I pulled up the first of this year’s parsnips and had to laugh at the length of the root. Took a photo with my veg trug to give the scale.

The purple climbing beans are just developing their pods. The lovely flowers are nice too.

Green pods when they’re tiny, colouring to a deep purple when they mature. They turn green when they’re cooked. The colour of the pods on the plant is not just striking, it’s also easy to see them among the green leaves. Less likely to miss them hiding among the foliage. I will freeze some if the crop is good.

Although I never want Winter to arrive it’s time to think ahead. With energy prices rising and threats of power cuts we needed to restock our wood supplies. We only have electricity so we value our log stove to give extra warmth and back up. Our logs were delivered and are stacked in the wood store now. A pleasing sight.

This year we decided to try some long-burning compressed wood-fuel briquettes . Naturally we haven’t tried them yet as it’s very warm. Fingers crossed that they were a wise investment. They’re ready and waiting.

The apples are as abundant as ever this year although they’re a bit smaller. I made more apple and cinnamon squares for the freezer. While they were still warm we had them as a pudding with greek yoghurt. A taste sensation.

Here’s a poem I wrote last year but its still relevant as the air stirs up our feelings at the end of the season.

Changing Seasons

The fragrance of the damp earth 
Mingles with each fallen leaf 
And lavender wafts its sweet scent
Now Summer's days are brief. 
The wasps are feasting on the fruit 
Which drops upon the ground 
And butterflies with their dainty tongues
Sip without a sound. 
Toadstools, mushrooms, instantly appear 
Spontaneously in the night,
Their ever fascinating forms
A strange but pleasing sight. 
Blackberries glisten in the hedge. 
Despite their ripping thorns 
They're gathered eagerly and eaten
As early Autumn dawns. 
Each season has its pleasures 
And Summer's soon will end 
But another one will take its place 
And our melancholy mend.

The sky has been magnificent this week. Azure blue with cotton-wool clouds. Framing the tops of the trees beautifully and silhouetting our neighbours’ Chusan palm.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Summer and are looking forward to the more mellow days of Autumn. With you again next week. Bye for now.

More than half the month gone and harvest time is apace. Apples and pears are begging to be picked and fall off the tree if they’re ignored. So much to do at this time of year. The fallen fruit is being appreciated by the garden wildlife so it’s not going to waste.

I found time to make my apple and cinnamon squares from windfalls. If you’ve tried my recipe, here’s a discovery I made when I forgot to sprinkle the sugar on the apples. I nervously mixed the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled it over the cake mixture before I baked it. Needn’t have worried. The result was delicious. A sweet, crispy topping and a piquant apple base with a lovely crumby cake in between. They still freeze just as well, if you can resist eating them straight away.

This week I’ve been happy in the kitchen making chutney. I make two different kinds. My husband’s favourite and my own. These are recipes I’ve worked out to suit our individual tastes. One is dark and sweet and the other, my favourite, is more piquant and a bit more spicy.

I use courgettes in them but this year my courgettes have been very unyielding. I put out an S.O.S. and a very kind person let me have some of hers in exchange for some cooking apples. She said they were very big because they’d been away on holiday and so the courgettes had kept on growing. They were also yellow ones instead of green. I didn’t mind. Just so grateful. They were in fact marrows rather than courgettes when they arrived but they were still juicy and they were fine for chutney. So thanks all round. I had five. Here’s a picture of three of them.

I might cook one with a stuffing of Lancashire cheese, tomatoes, breadcrumbs and onions.

The cupboards are filling with delicious preserves for the winter. They add a kick to simple cold weather meals.

The two chutney recipes are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook, available with Amazon. Here’s a link if you would like it.

https://geni.us/eANQu

There is a picalilli recipe too, which makes the most of the season’s vegetables .

They involve a lot of chopping but are very easy to do and there’s nothing to go wrong. The chopping can be speeded up in a food processor or, if you enjoy sociable cooking, by having a helper.

Here’s a tip for chutney or jam making. Wash and rinse the jars, place in the cold oven without lids and turn the oven on to low heat. Allow the jars to dry while you make the chutney or jam. Dry the lids with kitchen paper and put somewhere warm but not in the oven as some lids have an inner plastic coating.

When the chutney or jam is ready, keep it hot and have a covered surface next to the hob. Take out each jar, one at a time, and fill the jars with hot preserve using a funnel, leaving about half an inch (1 cm) of space at the top. Put on the lid and tighten immediately. As the jar cools a vacuum forms and pulls the lid on, sealing it. You will hear it pop as the lid pulls on. Then the contents will keep for a very long time.

Of course, jam and chutney will keep well if you don’t do this but not as well as when the jars are sealed. I always do this and I have never had anything mouldy or spoiled. It’s so simple to do and so satisfying when the lids go “pop”.

In the polytunnels I have “Autumn King” carrots coming along nicely and “Tender and True” parsnips look very promising. But I had a problem with my leeks this year. A few years ago my entire crop was wiped out by allium leaf miner grubs. This is a pest which hadn’t troubled my locality before but climate change had pushed it northwards. So I began to grow leeks under cover in the polytunnel. Went brilliantly for a few years but this year the little so and so’s have managed to find a way in and spoil my crop.

I was naturally dismayed but I had the idea (might have read it somewhere) of cutting the leeks down to about 5cm from the ground to see if that would cut out the pest. So far, so good! The leeks have regrown and are looking healthy.

Ignore the weeds. Been too busy in the kitchen!

The cucumbers have been wonderful. I grow “Marketmore”, an old outdoor variety. They are easy to grow and are generous croppers. Although they have prickly bitter skin, the flesh, once peeled, is juicy and delicious. I’m hoping to make a few more pickles before the plants have finished.

Not many flowers to see but a few pretty things, here and there.

I finished my flower painting. Not entirely happy with it but it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours. I love the colours of flowers and although it’s a challenge to recreate that glow I do what I can. I don’t think it will be one for framing but it might look better to me when I’ve forgotten all the bits I struggled with.

I’m a self-taught amateur artist but I prefer to do my own style, come what may, rather than take instruction. Having said that, I wish I’d gone to art school to learn about colours, painting media, composition and the history of art. Since I don’t fancy doing that now, at my age, I will muddle along in my own way and hope for the best. It’s the most absorbing hobby. I find it’s the only thing which holds my concentration. Good for the mind.

I hope you’re finding lots of summer pleasures of your own. Bye for now. With you again next week.

It was a scorching week. The garden has really suffered despite our efforts. Fortunately our house stays cool and it’s been a pleasure to venture outside in the relative coolness of the evening. Time then to top up the birds’ water and to sprinkle wherever reinforcements are needed.

The evening air is scented with lavender and the light has been lovely with some gentle shadows. I tried to capture a few moments with my camera.

I managed to snap a few brave little blooms this week before they struggled with the hot, dry air. A lupin has produced a few small flowers and the pansies which have sprung up beneath the squash plants are doing well.

There is always something interesting to see in a garden, even when flowers are fading. Seedheads, feathers, odd little features like a knot-hole in a fence, all play their part.

I sat on the garden bench one day and when I looked down I spotted a fascinating insect on my trouser leg. No idea what it was but very interesting.

In the veg garden the cucumbers are doing well. Deliciously juicy and sweet. Several were ready at once so I made some pickles to preserve them. I adapted a recipe for courgette pickles which I’ve enjoyed for a few years. I found the original recipe in a very good book called “What Will I Do With All Those Courgettes?” by Elaine Borish. I tweaked it a bit to suit myself and it makes one of my favourite pickles. I’m sure the cucumber pickles will be just as good. Mixed with sliced onions and preserved in cider vinegar and sugar, with a bit of turmeric, mustard seeds and celery salt, they’ll be a tasty treat with winter meals.

Summer, of course, demands cool refreshing meals. Now and then though, it’s nice to have a change from a leafy salad. This is an alternative I came up with a couple of years ago.

Baked Bean Salad
Makes enough for two.

Small amount of cooked Bacon or Ham
1 tin of Baked Beans
Small Onion
1 Apple
half teaspoon Celery Salt (optional)
Pepper
Soured Cream


Empty the beans into a colander and rinse away the sauce. (I know this sounds odd. You might think, why not use a can of haricot beans? The reason is that this way you have deliciously sweet and flavoured beans. Rinsing away the tomato sauce makes it not too sticky and moist. Trust me, it tastes good.)
Drain and dab the beans with kitchen paper to dry them a bit.
Put them into a bowl.
Peel the apple and cut into small pieces and add to the beans.
Peel the onion and slice thinly. Chop into smaller pieces.
Add to the beans and apple.
Sprinkle with the celery salt and pepper. If you don't like celery salt add a little table salt but not much as the beans and bacon or ham are already salty or you could add some chopped celery if you have it, instead.
Add a spoonful of soured cream and stir through.
Serve and enjoy.
Cheap, nutritious and tasty.



During the hot afternoons I chose to paint. Not the weather for work if you have the choice. I started my new picture. First I printed a photo I took earlier of roses, chive flowers and campanulas in a vase, drew it onto watercolour paper then began to paint with gouache.

Here’s how it looks so far. Lots to do yet.

A very enjoyable way to spend an hour or two. Challenging and absorbing. Takes my mind off the worries of the world.

I hope you’re all keeping cool and well. With you again next week. Bye for now.

The year is swiftly flying by. August already and changes in the garden. The apples and pears are falling. Telling us they are almost mature enough to pick. Daily checking now to see if they yield when lifted gently. If they come away when cupped in the hand they’re ready to harvest. If they stay attached they need a little longer on the tree.

Some have fallen. When they hit the ground they bruise and are no good for storage but windfall apples can be used if gathered quickly before rot sets in. Small and under-ripe will still cook very well.

So I brought some in and made our favourite apple and cinnamon squares. I’ve discovered that these are even more delicious if I sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on top of the cake mixture instead of onto the apples. Once it’s baked it has a crispy sweet topping which is really enjoyable. A sweet treat at the top of the cake and moist and piquant apple at the bottom with lovely crumby cake in between. Mmm!

I stewed a few small apples, slicing them into salted water before rinsing and cooking for a few minutes until fluffy. Because they were a bit sharp in taste I fancied making some sage and onion stuffing to have with the applesauce and chicken. Sage and onion stuffing is so easy to make. You just need an onion, some bread and a small bunch of sage leaves. Whizz them together in the food processor or chop finely and break the bread into small pieces. About 70g of bread. Salt and pepper. Then add 100mls of water and combine well. Bake in the oven at 190C for about 25 minutes or 5 minutes in the microwave. I think it’s nicer done in the oven but I was in a hurry so I microwaved it and it was still very tasty.

Sage is a good garden shrub. Its evergreen leaves are always available for cooking and the plant makes an attractive bush. There is a variety with golden, variegated leaves, a purple one and the classic green. Nice to just be able to pick a few for cooking when you need them.

The pears are being gathered in and stored for a while. Pears need a few days to ripen enough to be juicy and edible. Straight off the tree they’re rock hard but after a little wait they’re brimming with sweet juice and tender flesh. They ripen from the inside out so if you wait too long, although the outside looks good, the inside is mushy.

I usually preserve pears in sealed jars using my pressure cooker. I still have a few from last year to use up so may not do them this time.

Lovely Gatekeeper butterflies have appeared, fluttering daintily on the marjoram flowers. They always seem to be attracted to marjoram. It’s another good herb for cooking and the flowers are enjoyed by pollinators. Like sage, it retains it’s leaves in winter and they smell wonderful when crushed. I use them in my nutty sausages.

Cabbage White butterflies are not welcome in the veg garden but they look pretty sipping at the flowers.

The rudbeckias have started to open their beautiful golden daisy heads. Such a cheerful show towards the end of summer and they will flower for weeks. They leave lovely black seedheads afterwards.

Although I’m disappointed with the garden this year there are always things to appreciate if I look closely. Here are a few glimpses of bits I caught with my camera.

The cucumbers are producing now so I will make some pickles if I have enough. I need some for chutney later on too. They have lovely yellow flowers, another bonus.

I had a fig in a pot a few years ago which provided me with delicious plump figs. Sadly it died in a bad winter and I replaced it. The new one did nothing for years but I was delighted last week to find two tiny fruits on it. They may not ripen in time for this year but at least it’s doing something at last.

I’ve started a new painting. A vase of lovely roses and campanulas which I’m drawing in pencil then I will enjoy painting it with gouache. Might be a bit challenging with the colours and the light and shade in the petals but where there’s no pain, there’s no gain! Or so I’m told. We shall see.

With you again next week. Enjoy the fleeting summer days. Bye for now.