Deluxe scrambled egg recipe
Last Saturday morning I discovered that we had run out of bacon. I unearthed a pack of streaky from the back of the fridge. Weekend breakfasts are important at the cottage. They tend to be indulgent. Danny covered his disappointment with a practical suggestion. “Let’s crisp it under the grill and scatter it over scrambled eggs. It would enhance the eggs.” He stared at me for a second and quickly added. “I’d offer to make scrambled eggs but you are so much better when it comes to scrambled.” It’s true....
read moreThe Dreaded Lily Beetle
Three years ago my mother started to mutter about the Lily Beetle. It was attacking her lilies, chomping all her flowers when thery were just tasty shoots. I checked our lilies carefully. They were fine. Two years later the Lily Beetle reached our village, fifteen miles away. I didn’t notice the invasion. We had no lilies in flower that year. Lily Beetles are bad news. Generally in the first year you find the decimated lilies before you find the beetles. You never make that mistake again. They seem to have a great love life as you tend...
read moreBunty’s half remembered Asparagus and Ham bake recipe
Five years ago my friend Bunty mentioned this recipe to me. “If you are pressed for time. This asparagus dish is lovely. It is classy.” She twinkled so much that I knew that this was a good dish. I was not tempted. I love asparagus. Plain and steamed to a point where it still has a bite. Served with hollandaise sauce or melted butter. Why would I want to try a dressed up asparagus dish when I prefer my asparagus naked? Today I visited Fred Fitzpatrick’s and bought some excellent thinly sliced smoked ham. I grabbed the last...
read moreKill your slugs with milk
I am working in Saffron Walden at the moment in my friend Anna’s new house. It doesn’t have a fridge. A pint of milk doesn’t last more than a day. Two days ago Anna cleared the kitchen of various dead milk containers and put them on the terrace outside. One container was a transparent plastic cup, half filled with stale milk. The next day I was having a break in the garden and spotted that a lot of tiny curled things were in the cup. Initially I assumed that her little girls had put a handful of gravel in it. But something...
read moreHoney bees, emergency and the Snelgrove board
“There have to be three elements for the bees to swarm: a queen, flying worker bees and honey stores. If you remove one of these elements, they will not swarm.” Mike was striding down the garden towards the hives. Despite it being a showery day we were going to divide our colony in two as he suspected that the bees were preparing to swarm. I had mentioned that we had found queen cups and cells on some of the frames ten days earlier. These are special cells the bees make to breed a new queen. Although we had destroyed them and added...
read moreNon alcoholic drinks: Anne Mary’s St Clement’s Punch Recipe
On a hot summers day when I have been working in the garden I sometimes take a break and loll in the bower with an ice cold citron pressé. Half a squeezed lemon in a tall glass topped up with iced water and a dash of sugar. It is instantly thirst quenching and takes me right back to summer holidays in Brittany when I was a child. St Clement’s Punch is a much more sophisticated drink. Superb on a warm sunny day. Although it has a grown up taste, children seem to like it too so it is a great drink to make for a party or a fête. I...
read moreSelf Publishing
If you love books you may have considered writing one yourself. Perhaps you have written a book and have had it rejected. If the latter is the case you are one of many disheartened writers and are probably wondering what you should do next. Did you know that eminent writers such as Rudyard Kipling, Lord Byron, Virginia Wolf, D H Lawrence, Robbie Burns, Beatrix Potter and many others were self published authors? Recently Danny came into contact with George M Talbot, author of Dark Glass Pt 1. D thought it a great read and says: “Dark...
read moreGreat Uncle Frank’s tip for broad beans: don’t throw away the tops of this delicate vegetable
My great grandparents took their chances in the California gold rush. It didn’t work out and they saw their four children die of scarlet fever. They returned to England and had four more children. Three girls and a boy. Those four children would have been extra special. Boys were best in those days as they carried on the family name. My Great Uncle Frank was the one and only boy. He contracted consumption (tuberculosis). His mother was told that he wouldn’t live beyond 21. She didn’t tell him. At twenty and 10 months he...
read moreGuest spot: In praise of the Aga by Chris Nelms
Chris and Louise live in Wiltshire and are proud possessors of an Aga. We don’t have one, sadly, and are extremely envious. An Aga tends to be the hub of most happy houses that we visit. Our long term plans are to install one. When Chris wrote to me and described making friends with his Aga, I knew that it would be of interest. Danny, a romantic, has dubbed it a love story. Guest spot: In praise of the Aga by Chris Nelms Louise and I were fortunate to inherit a nearly new four-oven oil-burning Aga when we bought this house. We had no...
read moreLogs
A few years ago I was looking for a decent source of logs for the winter and someone pointed me in the direction of Tuddenham woods and John Grundy, the exceptional man who owns and manages them. He has owned the woods for quite some time. It’s a beautiful place and a sanctuary for the horses that he has rescued over the years. He sells the logs to pay for their maintenance. At the end of a long drive you will come to a clearing with a number of small barns and sheds, stables and paddocks in a rackety sort of order. Most buildings are...
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Most Recent Articles
I made two litres of dog food by mistakeOn Monday I decided to test out the theory that cottage pie is best made with pieces of beef rather than minced… »
Recipe for meatballs and spaghetti with red wine, tomatoes and bell peppers. Foolproof slow cooker/crock pot recipes“Please don’t buy mince again. I just don’t like it.” Danny grumbled out of the kitchen. “But you like… »
Win £50 worth of B&Q vouchers with The Cottage Smallholder and Direct Line Grand DrawFor those of you who missed out on the metal bedstead competition: we’ve got another great prize to offer you!… »
New layout for CSH – testers wanted pleaseDanny here, everybody. 14% of our visitors use mobile devices, such as tablets, iPad, smart mobiles and so on.… »
Update on the remaining Min PinsIt’s been seven weeks since The Conteesa died suddenly in her sleep. Danny buried her in the garden under the… »
It’s the little things that make the differenceI don’t often write much about the little things that give me pleasure. They initially seem too insignificant to… »
Recent Comments
{ I was thinking the same as Magic Cochin but then like you I don't have my phone attached by an umbilical cord wherever I go.... } – Wed 8 :47 pm
{ Good point but I don't tend to take it about with me everywhere 
} – Wed 7 :25 pm
{ Doesn't your mobile phone have an alarm setting? C x } – Wed 6 :32 pm
{ I would put it towards a bbq, it's just a shame you can't purchase some sunshine from b&q } – Wed 12 :04 am- { Hi Lesley The clucking means that she is brrody also plucking her own feathers is a sign too. } – Tue 11 :58 pm
- { Hi Lesley They have to stay in the broody coop 24/7. Could you put in a garden shed or garage? } – Tue 11 :57 pm
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