Living a contented creative life.

All my life I have loved the colour red. My kitchen walls are painted red. So cheerful, warm and inviting. Fifty years ago I bought a set of red pans. After all that time I only have two left but they’re often used and still appreciated. One small saucepan which I use exclusively for boiling eggs and one stock pot without a knob on its lid but still used sometimes for making jam.

I treasure these, partly because it’s unusual to find red pans but also because I have had them for so long. Reminders of another home, far away, and another kitchen.

Red kitchen accessories please me too. Red gingham curtains and a check tablecloth I bought in a street market in Calais years ago. Red teatowels and other bits and pieces.

Red is so vibrant in the garden as well. The beautiful berries are glowing on the hawthorn tree, on the cotoneasters and skimmia. Reminders that summer is over but pleasing nontheless.

The greenhouse is ablaze with red tomatoes. I’ve grown big plum tomatoes this year. Really good to eat, not many seeds, juicy and flavoursome. I’ve had a few problems with them but they’ve still done very well. What a glorious sight!

They all seemed to be ripening at once so I decided I must act quickly to preserve them. Although I’m an old hand at fruit bottling I haven’t done tomatoes before. I consulted my Soil Association preserving book for advice. I think I succeeded but only time will tell. They look fine and the jars have sealed so fingers crossed that they keep their colour and taste good when I use them. Here are a few photos of what I did.

I used lemon juice, a little salt and sugar to coat the chopped tomatoes before packing them into the jars. Then the lids and bands went on and I put them into a cool oven, increasing the heat to 150C once they were warm. Then left them at that temperature for an hour.

When I took them out some of the juice had boiled out. I had some boiled water with a little added sugar and salt ready to top up the jars. I managed one, a little in the second but then the third sealed before I could do it. Lovely to hear the popping sound as the lids are pulled on by the vacuum which forms inside.

Needed a walk around the garden after kitchen work. It’s all a bit restrained now but there are some nice bits here and there.

Signs of early autumn as the colchicums pop up beneath the acer. Delicate beauty despite their annoying habit of falling over.

And now that summer’s ending a little poem came to mind. Here are my thoughts on this time of year.

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 rising 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.

I hope you’re enjoying fruit, flowers, lovely woody scents and all the pleasures of this time of year. Bye for now. With you again next week.

Over many years I’ve collected cones from places we’ve lived or visited. Not only are they lovely things but they stir many memories.

We have two gigantic conifers but strangely they have very small cones. I find tiny new conifers growing around the garden wherever the cones have been spread by the wind or dropped by the birds. Bluetits and sparrows nibble the seeds the cones contain. In spring clouds of pollen blow out from the trees. Quite a dramatic sight.

It’s not just the birds who are enjoying what the garden offers. We’re enjoying nutritious fruit and vegetables.

The pears are dropping from the trees and I’m trying to keep up with them. Usually I bottle some but I still have some left from last year so the other day I prepared some and put them in my dehydrator. Dried pear pieces are a deliciously sweet but healthy snack. All the natural sugar is concentrated as they dry. Here’s what I did.

Sliced the pears into salted water. Rinsed and patted them dry with kitchen paper before arranging them, spaced out, on the dehydrator trays. Took a few hours with the heat on. It’s important to dry them well and allowing to cool before storing in an airtight jar.

The beans are good now too. I grow yellow French beans and runner beans. Both are really tender if you eat them while they’re not too big. If I miss a few and they are too big and stringy I open the pod and cook the beans from inside. Different but equally tasty. Kidney beans are just beans allowed to grow inside the pods.

The cooking apples are falling as well. I gathered some windfalls and made a new cake recipe. So good I would like to share it with you.

Apple and Cinnamon Squares

You will need a roasting tin approximately 25x30cm/10x12". Needs a vitreous enamel surface to prevent the apples reacting with the metal. Most roasters have this. Stainless steel would be fine too.

Cooking Apples
200g Caster Sugar
4 large Eggs
200g Self-raising Flour
2 rounded teaspoons Baking Powder
30g Bran
200g Sunflower Oil
3 tablespoons Sugar for sprinkling
2-3 teaspoons ground Cinnamon

Grease the roasting tin.
Have a bowl of salted water ready and prepare the apples.
Slice peeled and cored apples into the salted water.
Make sure all slices are coated by the water to prevent browning.
Beat 200g sugar and eggs together. Add flour, baking powder, bran and oil. Mix well.
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan oven or gas equivalent.
Rinse apples and drain, then place in roasting tin.
Sprinkle the 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon over the apples.
Put the cake mixture, evenly, over the apples.
The mixture will feel a little stiff but the juice from the apples will moisten it while it cooks.
Bake at 180C for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Lift with a palette knife and either use or freeze.These are even better after a day or two and make a really good pudding with cream. Sticky, so best eaten with a fork.
Really easy to do and has a wonderful texture and taste.

A busy time of year but very satisfying. Lovely in the garden on good-weather days and snug in the kitchen on wet days.

Meanwhile the garden is mellowing and has that little hint of autumn. The flowers are still attracting lots of interest but I haven’t seen the little Gatekeeper butterflies which usually visit the marjoram blossom. Sad evidence of the decline. The rudbeckias were still busy though with other flying creatures, a grasshopper was basking in the sun and the bees were gathering pollen.

A few late roses are looking pretty and sunlit leaves form pleasing shadows on the fence.

So another week has passed. I hope you have had a good one. With you again next time.

The garden has been full of aromas this week. Woody, earthy dampness with the scents of lavender and marjoram. Huge white fungi have sprung up overnight in the bed where wildflowers grew and are now dying back.

The fruit has been blowing off the trees and landing with a thud on the ground. The split and bruised pears are being feasted on by wasps and other insects. I don’t mind the wasps. They do a lot of good in the garden, taking caterpillars and other creatures that munch where I don’t want them. Everything has it’s place in an organic garden.

The rest of the fruit is not mature enough to pick yet but there is usually plenty left on the trees for us to harvest when the time comes.

Although it’s been wet the flowers and leaves look lovely bearing raindrops. Here are some I captured with my camera.

While it was wet I kept busy in the kitchen preserving ginger. It’s very easy to do and probably much cheaper than buying stem ginger. Never really worked it out but it provides so much delicious syrup as well as the lumps of stem ginger that I feel it must be economical.

If you love ginger, as I do, you can find many ways of using it. Although the syrup contains a lot of sugar it’s only used in small amounts so I don’t worry about that. I use it drizzled over shredded cabbage for a tasty salad to eat with an open sandwich. I add it to cake recipes. Sometimes I drizzle it over vanilla ice-cream or serve a little with greek yoghurt.

The stem ginger is so good chopped finely and added to a chicken and rice one-pan meal or added to my ginger cake and Christmas cake recipes. I’m sure I’ll find many more ways to enjoy it.

This is how I did it. ( Photographs to follow).

I washed and peeled the ginger root, being careful to remove all the skin then cut the ginger into small chunks. At this stage I pressure cooked the ginger in just over a litre of water at low pressure for 10 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and allowed the pan to gradually cool to release the pressure slowly.

If you want to preserve ginger it isn’t necessary to use a pressure cooker. Just simmer for about an hour in a litre of water in an ordinary saucepan until the ginger softens.

When the ginger had tenderised I added 800g of sugar and stirred well until the sugar dissolved. I brought it back to the boil then simmered in the syrup for about an hour. After a while the ginger becomes a bit translucent and the syrup thickens a little.

While the ginger is simmering in the syrup I wash and thoroughly rinse some jars and bottles then place them in the oven. I turn it to a low temperature to warm and dry the jars while the ginger is cooking. The lids are dried with kitchen paper or a clean cloth. I have a heater in the kitchen so I put them to warm on that.

I always have a wooden board covered with newspaper and kitchen paper next to the hob to prevent putting the hot jars onto a cold surface which might crack them. If I lift the heated jars out with a cloth, ladle the ginger and syrup in and screw on the lids while everything is hot they will seal. I hear the lids pop as they cool. Although the sugar will preserve the ginger it’s good to know air is excluded so the contents will keep indefinitely.

A funnel is always a good bit of kit when ladling into jars. It stops the sticky contents from touching the rim or outside of the jars. Saves a lot of wiping after the jars cool. I definitely don’t like sticky jars to handle.

The ginger syrup is amazing. The taste is out of this world. A good way to spend a couple of hours during wet weather and so good to have in the cupboard.

As you can see I’ve kept myself occupied but I haven’t been painting for a few weeks. Unusual for me but I expect when it goes dark early and nights seem long I shall pick up my brushes again. Meanwhile here’s another old painting I did of Stokesay Castle in Shropshire. Painted with gouache from a photograph I took on a visit. A lovely building with a pretty garden.

I hope you have the pleasure of a garden and if not that you enjoy hearing about mine. Another week has flown and it’s time to say goodbye . With you again next week when I will have a recipe for delicious cakes.

Half way through August. The year is flying by. Summer is winding down and the garden is changing yet again. The flowers have performed and are now making seeds for the next generation. I’m always a little melancholy about the end of summer and yet there is still so much to look forward to. The seedheads, fruit and berries are beautiful. Here’s a selection in the garden now.

The birds and small creatures enjoy the fruit and seeds too. The seeds have been taken from this poppy head by blue tits.

Birds and mice nibble the fallen apples and pears. It’s good to know the garden is sustaining wildlife as well as us.

While some plants are fading others are just beginning to please and some roses are producing a few late flowers.

I wrote a little poem about summer ebbing away.

Summer's End

Summer's end is now in sight.
Though the days are warm
They end too soon in the fading light
Or the dark of a sudden storm.

The scents of lily and rose
No longer fill the air
But some new aromas tease the nose
With each falling apple and pear.

Hints of autumn's fiery glow
Are spreading everywhere.
Golds and oranges; a vibrant show,
The garden's final fanfare.

Orchard fruits are swelling,
Seedheads rattle in the breeze,
Their hidden treasure trove dispelling
And leaves are falling from the trees.

Summer into autumn blending.
The earth soon takes a rest
But though it's sad it's not the ending.
It will return refreshed.

I like to write rhyming poetry. I know in poetic circles it’s considered old-fashioned and amateurish but I think it has rhythm and a more musical sound. I suspect a lot of people still prefer it. I do, anyway, so I write what pleases me. I hope it pleases you too.

I’ve been stewing the windfall apples which we’ve enjoyed but nectarines are really good in the shops right now. One of my favourite fruits. I made a flan with a pastry base and a breadcrumb filling to soak up the delicious juice.

I used my quick pastry recipe with one cup of plain flour, a third of a cup of sunflower oil and almost a quarter cup of cold water, whizzed in the food processor. I pressed the pastry into a 9″/22cm dish being careful to cover the base.

This doesn’t give a perfect finish so if you prefer a neater look to the edge follow your favourite pastry recipe, roll and trim it. My recipe works well with my method but isn’t easy to roll out.

I used five nectarines and about 80g of white breadcrumbs. I always use a white bloomer loaf for best results. The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness required. I used about four good tablespoons. Ripe fruit works best as the crumbs retain all that lovely juice.

Bake at 190C/170C fan oven for about 30 minutes.

My baking never looks very professional but it takes away the hassle and does taste really good .This flan is delicious served warm with vanilla icecream or cold as it comes or with cream.

Lots to do later when it’s time to make picalilli and chutney but I’ll tell you about those when the time comes.

That’s all for now. I hope you’re enjoying all that summer has to offer. With you again next week.

First of all, a big apology. On my post “Delicious Pesto and Lovely Spoons” I forgot to add garlic to my list of ingredients! I have now updated it because it’s definitely tastier with garlic. I hope it hasn’t caused any disappointment.

It’s been a mixed picture to the start of the month. Gentle sunshine and then heavy downpours. That’s British weather for you!

The garden has an air of winding down. Some late flowers to come though. Asters, for example, are favourites with their purple daisy flowers. Buds are fattening, ready for the show. Meanwhile, some bits and bobs have caught my eye.

The summer vegs are growing well too and I’ve been thinking of ways to use them. The yellow French beans, carrots and kohl rabi are producing tasty treats.

They combine well in my one-pan meals.

A favourite is turkey breast with cranberries. Yes, I know it’s not Christmas but I often buy a frozen turkey breast to provide a few versatile dishes and I always have delicious dried cranberries in the cupboard.

A small turkey breast is a great stand-by in the freezer. Normally these are cooked in the oven but I do them in my thermal cooker. Easy, economical and still as good to eat. I talk about my thermal cooker on a previous post with the title, “Soup and Still Life”.

Instead of almost two hours in the oven it only takes 20 minutes on the hob, then I leave it in the thermal cooker for two or three hours, without power, to continue cooking. Economical and results are brilliant. Then I have a turkey breast to use in various ways.

For my one-pan turkey and cranberry meal I put a small amount of water in my lidded frying pan, stir in half a vegetable or chicken stock cube, add French beans, carrots and this time, cubed kohl rabi, a crushed clove of garlic, some frozen rice, a sprinkling of dried, sweetened, cranberries and chunks of cooked turkey breast. I put the lid on and let it cook for about 12-15 minutes until the water has reduced and the vegs are tender.

The cranberries are sweetened with fruit juice so they’re a healthy ingredient and they taste so good. I use either Whitworths or Ocean Spray “craisins”.

Precise quantities are not necessary with these meals but the stock cube is an essential ingredient. The vegs cook mainly in steam so the flavour is rich and all the goodness stays in the meal. So simple, nutritious and enjoyable.

The cooked turkey breast keeps well for a few days in the fridge and makes the most delicious sandwich filler or topping. Sliced thinly and placed in a bowl, salt and pepper added and a spoonful of mayonnaise then mashed and spread on bread. Really good.

Good equipment is essential in the kitchen and of course should be as perfect as possible for hygiene reasons but I also have a fondness for old things like pottery and tins. Some of my old tins are battered but their shabbiness is pleasing. I just keep these to look decorative.

Ones in good condition are very useful and I use them all the time, like cake tins and a couple to keep stock cubes dry.

Homely things are always pleasing. They’re what make a house a home and especially make it our own unique place. Items collected over a lifetime have meaning. They stir memories and satisfy the eye. My little embroidered picture at the top of the page is something I treasure. I sewed it over 50 years ago when we were living far from home. I can’t imagine living in a bare house. It might be easy to clean but for me it would lack soul.

I hope you’re enjoying the last of the summer and have lots to look forward to. Bye for now. With you again next week. Please feel free to leave comments. I love to hear from you.

The thirsty garden was desperate for rain. At last it came and the plants revived. Leaves have plumped out and stems stand tall. The waterbutts are full again. The rainwater is so much better for most plants but especially acid-loving ones like rhododendrons and our blueberries.

The blueberries are just beginning to ripen. When they’re a deep ink-blue they will be sweet and juicy and indescribably delicious. We keep them in a fruit cage or the birds would strip the bushes. I don’t mind the birds having the redcurrants and wild strawberries but the blueberries are too special to share.

The garden is dripping wet but the sparkling drops look so wonderful.

Although we all complain when it rains too much, water is essential to life, including our own, and yet it’s something we take for granted, at least in the western world. Outdoors we collect as much as we can and have several waterbutts placed around the garden.

We all waste water. Hard not to when it flows so freely from the tap. Now though we are all more conscious that the earth’s resources are precious, and find little ways to be more careful with what we have.

I keep a plastic jug by the kitchen sink and if I need to run the water off, to cool it for a drink, for example, I fill the jug instead of allowing the water to go to waste down the drain.

I use the saved water to rinse vegetables or after washing the dishes. I learned to rinse dishes from my mother-in-law. A new idea to me at the time. It’s surprising how many people just leave the soapy water and all the bacteria to be wiped off on the towel. Of course we all have our own way of doing things but this seems a better way to me.

I also turn off the tap while I brush my teeth. It seems wrong and really unnecessary to just throw water down the drain for no good reason. Every drop saved is worth doing.

The wet garden has been looking a little bedraggled but there are some pretty phlox with my favourite pinks and purples.

The colours remind me of my favourite shades of embroidery thread.

Soon the asters will be filling the garden with similar colours. Lovely purples to clash in a pleasing way with the vibrant yellow of the rudbeckias. These attract late season butterflies and are a last fling before the garden begins to die back in autumn. Here are some photos from previous summers, showing what I hope to see again.

Usually at this time I have a lovely show of dramatic Stargazer lilies. This year they have been badly affected by lily beetles and I think the pots got too dry early on when the bulbs were sending up shoots. I still have a few and they are all the more welcome because they’re scarce.

A few pretty pansies keep popping up, looking like a watercolour artist has painted their delicate “faces”.

With the rain bringing some cooler weather I took the opportunity to bake. I had some ripe bananas and made our favourite banana and cranberry loaf. Best sliced and spread with butter. Very more-ish but healthy ingredients.

My recipe for this is on a previous post with the title, “Banana Loaf and Apple Blossom”. A good way to use ripe bananas and with the tasty addition of sweet cranberries. A fruity treat. Easy to make, delicious to eat.

Soon we’ll be gathering fruits from our small orchard. The windfalls have started with the breeze and the rain.

A bowl of fruit is always a nice subject for a winter painting session. Here’s one I did from fruit I bought. I did this with acrylic paints on canvas. I wasn’t completely happy with it but it kept me occupied for a few hours.

That’s it for this week. I hope you’re enjoying the summer as it flies along. Bye for now. with you again soon.

It’s been so hot! Lovely mornings and evenings but uncomfortable at night. One night when I couldn’t sleep and the cool fresh dawn approached I wrote a little poem about it.

Summer Contrasts

Sultry summer nights.
No rest the darkness brings,
The hours stretch out till dawn 
When the blackbird sings.
Air lies like syrup
In the stillness of the night
And naked skin begs for mercy
As it waits for light.
But a cooler morning,
A fresher feel, however brief,
Revives our spirits
And brings sweet relief.
These contrasts of life
Are far beyond measure
And give us the special gift
To turn misery to pleasure.

The garden has been thirsty. So much to sustain in the parching heat. Worth the work though when flowers glow and delicious food thrives with the attention. Although the weeds are winning in places and it’s too hot to tidy up there are still beauties to catch the eye here and there.

Where the flowers have faded interesting seed heads and berries are forming. These have their own beauty.

I pulled up a potato plant to see if enough were ready. I’m not a great fan of potatoes but I do love new ones fresh from the garden and briefly cooked. They were still tiny but just about enough for a light meal. I left the other plants to grow a bit more. There were some tasty carrots and a few yellow French beans ready, so I made one of my one-pan meals with haddock. Easy and speedy to do after a tiring day.

Just half a Kallo veg stock cube, a small crushed garlic clove, a little water. Brought it to the boil, added vegs, placed frozen haddock fillets on top, checked it was at temperature for simmering. Left with the lid on for about ten minutes, then mixed a little cornflour with a drop of water and gently stirred it in to thicken the stock. Then I added a spoonful of soured cream. Quick, easy and nutritious.

Soon the fruit will be ready so I need to use up the ones I bottled last year. I’ll have some empty jars then to preserve this year’s crop. I have a few jars of pears left so may not do much this time. Although I love doing it, to be honest it’s not easy and a lot of work. Extremely satisfying though to see a cupboard full of home preserves so I might be daft enough to do it again.

Even in the garden food is never far from my mind. I never seem to grow enough lettuce. It’s important to sow seeds every few weeks so more plants are growing while you eat the earlier ones. I’m not that organised! The other day it was too hot to cook but I’d stripped as many leaves as I could from the lettuce plants and I needed to allow them to get on with growing. So I thought what can I do for a simple cold meal? Well, canned beans make a good alternative salad so I put one together.

I drained and rinsed a can of baked beans to remove the sloppy sauce. The flavour is still there once they’re drained. Dabbed them dry a bit with some kitchen paper, then tipped them in a bowl. Added a finely chopped half of a small onion, salt and pepper and a peeled diced apple. Tossed them well to combine flavours.

If you’ve never tried this it might sound like an unlikely idea but it is really good. You have the sweetness and chewy texture of the beans and apple with the savoury piquancy of the onion balancing it out. Tastes very good with sardines or ham for extra flavour and protein. A cold meal for days too hot to cook.

The heat at night has been unpleasant but we have been able to use the moth trap because rain was very unlikely. We’ve had some lovely moths again. So pretty and delicate. Here are some examples.

I think the scent of the lilies and evening primrose attracts them on warm nights. I love the waft of the lily scent as I pass along the path. I only have a few but they look as wonderful as they smell.

I hope your evenings are cool and scented with garden flowers. With you again next week.

The garden is a bit in between now. The June show is over and I’m waiting for the later flowers like phlox and asters to brighten it up again. The roses have been lovely but are past their best except for two lovely potted ones near the house. There is usually a small flush of later flowers at the end of summer though to look forward to.

A few pansies are still presenting their cheerful little faces to the sun.

Almost time for the tree fruit to have its day. The soft fruit like strawberries and redcurrants have passed their peak. The strawberries have been abundant and delicious but I leave redcurrants for the blackbirds. They seem to enjoy them so much, if the clucking sounds are anything to go by, as they strip the glowing red fruit from the bushes. But the fruit is so beautiful. Worth having if only to look at.

The apples and pears are growing nicely. The pear trees, unfortunately, have pear rust on the leaves. It’s a fungal infection. The fruit seems fine though. In a few weeks time we’ll be snowed under with the crops.

A few more pretty things are dotted here and there around the garden.

Herbs have done well with the heat. Thyme, marjoram and mint are flowering now and the butterflies will soon be attracted to them. The basil has grown really strongly in the greenhouse. Great for salad with bread cubes, olives and tomatoes but it also makes delicious pesto.

When I first tasted pesto it was from a supermarket jar. I hated it and thought I’d never eat it again. Then I grew some basil and realised it had a pleasing flavour so I decided to try making my own pesto. Much better but I don’t like pine nuts which most recipes include and I don’t see why I need Italian cheese. So I made my own version which we really like and is so easy to make. Here is my version.

Basil Pesto

A good bunch of fresh Basil leaves
100g Cashews
120g Lancashire Cheese
5 tablespoons of Olive Oil
Garlic clove, crushed
Salt & Pepper

Wash the basil and trim off any stalks. Dab dry on
kitchen paper.
Grind the cashews in the food processor. Add basil, garlic,cheese and salt and pepper. Whizz to chop finely.
Add the olive oil and whizz to blend until well combined.


Freezes really well in small containers. Good stirred into pasta, on a baked potato, new potatoes or crackers. I use Lancashire cheese a lot for cooking. It crumbles so it's easy to mix in and it has a good creamy flavour. I don't use cheddar for pesto because it has more fat and would make it too greasy combined with olive oil. Cashews are also a favourite because they're versatile and blend well with other tastes.

When I cook I like to use a favourite old spoon. I bought it with a similar one at a boot sale. The traders did house clearances. They had lots of old cutlery which I’m fond of. Charity shops often have a good selection as well.

I like the look of the old silver, the shape and the feeling of perfect balance as I hold it.

All spoons are pleasing. Although they’re something we take for granted as something we see every day, when you think about it they’re a perfect example of form following function. In other words their shape is dictated by what they do. A good spoon has a bowl and a handle which fits well in your hand. You can’t really mess about with other shapes without spoiling the performance of the spoon. I like their appearance too and some of mine have interesting handles. Here’s a selection.

Old berry spoons are lovely too with their bowl impressed with the shape of fruit. Of course you do have to keep shining them up, unlike stainless steel, but they look very appealing.

I have lots of wooden spoons too but I’ll save those for another day. Kitchen stuff is so fascinating.

Finally, here are two lovely moths we found this week. Sadly, one has a damaged wing. Both new to us and beauties.

Bit of a ramble this week. I hope you’re still with me. Feel free to comment. I love to hear from you. Bye for now. With you again soon.

Summer surprises continue in the garden. We have a bed which is useless for growing vegs. It has tree roots and a hedge sucking the moisture out. I had lots of seedheads on the poppy plants last year so during the autumn I shook them liberally over this bed.

When the poppies started to grow in Spring they were very overcrowded and I thought they would be no good but I left them to see what would develop. Now there is a beautiful display of small but pretty poppies. Along with them the self-seeded borage have complimentary blue flowers. Such a lovely sight.

I also planted some sunflowers in the same bed. Because of the poor conditions they’re very small but still lovely and they attract the bees.

I have grown enormous sunflowers in the past. They’re great fun to grow. I love their cheerful faces and the seeds are good for the birds after they’ve flowered. I’ve also painted them a couple of times.

I have a little tile decorated with two sunflowers bought from Jackfield Tile Museum in Shropshire. It’s tube-lined which means it has a raised outline. A favourite object.

The tile has a pleasing Art Deco style. It’s a style I’m fond of and I’ve collected a few bits of this type of pottery over the years. They used to be easy to pick up in charity shops but since they became more widely collected they don’t turn up as often because they’re sent to auction. Here are some I love.

Although I love the sharpness of Art Deco I also really like the round base to the last jug. Round shapes are pleasing and perhaps that’s why I love to see a cabbage when it’s a fat ball and promising good eating. I had three left in the polytunnel which need using now so I harvested one and made my cheesey potato bake. Tasty, simple and satisfying.

I steam the cabbage and some carrots over the boiling potatoes. When they’re tender I place the vegs in a baking dish, heat the oven, mash the potatoes and mix in some grated cheddar. I spread the cheesey potatoes over the vegs then pop the dish in the oven for about 25 minutes at 200C/180C fan oven until they’re nicely golden brown. Especially good with home-made chutney or picalilli.

Summer seems to be flying by so I’m soaking up all the pleasures I can in the garden. Here are some more of the season’s lovely flowers.

Enjoy whatever summer brings, sunshine or showers. Bye for now. I’ll be with you again next week.

The weather has changed. Wet, windy and thundery. I brought in a few pretty blooms before the rain and wind could spoil them and arranged them in a vase. Beautiful bell flowers, roses and hydrangeas with a little greenery for background. Lovely to look at while the rain lashes down outside.

I did take the opportunity when the sun was out to gather a few goodies for the freezer.

I have an abundance of parsley. It’s fresh, crisp and green and although I have plenty growing in the polytunnel in winter, on a cold, wet, miserable day I don’t feel like trekking down the slippery garden paths to fetch some. Easy to pop some away in the freezer for that sort of day.

I just wash and gently dry it on some kitchen paper, snip off the stalks and put the leafy bits in a container to freeze. Sometimes I chop them first but if I’m going to use the food processor when I use the parsley that will do it for me. Frozen parsley is crumbly anyway so it breaks up or chops easily.

Had an abundance of strawberries this year. We’ve enjoyed several dishes of them and I’ve stashed away a couple of kilos for winter. On a cold day I shall make jam in my lovely warm kitchen. One of my favourite ways to pass a winter day. I also like to cook some with a bit of sugar, allow it to cool then serve it with greek yoghurt for a really delicious treat.

There are wild strawberries in the garden as well. A friend gave me a few plants years ago and they now grow like weeds everywhere. The berries are small and seedy but nicely flavoured. Because we have plenty of other strawberries I leave the wild ones for birds and other creatures.

I couldn’t keep pace with the mange-tout. Obviously we didn’t want them every day so some began to grow into peas and before long I had lots of them. Fortunately I don’t mind shelling peas. A trugful takes a while but it’s not so bad when you nibble them as you work. Cook’s treat.

I froze some for later. First I blanched them. In other words boiled them, for two minutes. Cooled them quickly, spread them on a baking sheet and placed this in the freezer. When the peas had frozen I transferred them to a bag for storage. This way the peas stay separate and don’t stick together so I can use a few at a time.

Have you noticed that bananas come in bunches so obviously they all ripen at once? I like them a bit under-ripe but I do love them in a pudding if I have some ripe ones. I gave my recipe previously for a banana bread pudding but here’s a quickie version which is delicious and very easy to make.

Speedy Banana Pud

Approximately 200g bread ( white bloomer is best)
100g Sugar
2 small or 1 large ripe Banana
3 large Eggs
300mls Milk (I use oat milk but dairy is fine)

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan oven or gas equivalent.
Break the bread into small pieces and put into a greased 
baking dish.
Peel the bananas and whizz in a food processor or mash really
well.
Add eggs, sugar and milk to the bananas and mix well. 
Pour the liquid over the bread and allow to soak for a few minutes.
Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden and crisp on top.

Good warm with cream but really delicious cold.

Although the fruit and flowers don’t last long the garden has new pleasures every day. The poppies under the pear tree look so lovely with the campanulas. A pretty combination of blue, white and pink. So many colours, pleasing shapes and lovely scents around the garden.

I keep meaning to paint some flowers but not started yet. Lots of photos saved though so something to occupy long winter evenings and a reminder of pleasant summer days. Here is one I did some time ago of lupins, one of my favourite early summer flowers. Painted with gouache.

I hope you’re enjoying your own summer pleasures. Please feel free to comment. I love to hear from you. With you again in a few days.