Wild crocus
I glanced out of the sitting room window and saw a splash of pale lavender blue in the grass. We are lucky. Wild crocus have naturalised and spread. They were here when I came to the house, large pools of shimmering blue. Just before I bought the cottage I passed its gate in a former Jalopy. There was a wash of the palest blue across the grass. Magical and almost unreal – like an illustration from a 1930′s children’s book. These flowers seem so much more delicate than the standard crocus. They respond to the gentlest breath...
read moreBeware of China in your dishwasher
I have a soft spot for Graham. He fixes our cooker, washing machine and dishwasher. I trust him. He has tinkered and fixed our stuff for years. He trained as a TV repair man. Electronics were his world until everything changed. TVs got cheaper and were just jettisoned when they died. So he switched to domestic appliances. He is the best guy to know when the honeymoon warranty period is over and things start to go wrong. Today I found out that he is also the key man when things go wrong within the warranty period. Our dishwasher must be at...
read moreBest vegetarian recipes: Delia’s chick pea and coriander cakes with marinated red onion
“How do you know that Delia’s vegetarian recipes are going to be as good as this, when you choose them?” Danny helped himself to another chickpea and coriander (cilantro) cake, a lashing of red onion salad and a vast dollop of Greek yoghurt. Delia’s recipe is here. It was tempting to keep my secret. But as I want him to exercise his paws and run up some Veggievore meals in the future, I came clean. “If she mentions that a recipe was popular in the Norwich City Football Club Restaurant, I’ll pick it out....
read moreDecorating for Einat
Sometimes I feel a bit sad when I finish a job. Especially if it’s an empty house that I am doing up for sale or let. It seems so final. I load up Jalopy, kick off my boots and vacuum the house. I have a good long look at every room and lock the front door for the very last time. Over the weeks I’ve often built up a close relationship with the house. Got to know it, discovered its potential and disguised its drawbacks. Wondered about the people that have lived there over the years and sometimes even imagined living there...
read moreThe slow cooker chef: Delicate parsnip soup spiced with Garam Masala recipe
Parsnips were on sale – 2 for 1 in Tesco’s last week. Great, I thought, I’ll make parsnip soup. The parsnips had knocked about on the larder floor for so long that even Danny had given up asking what I was going to do with them. It was time to make the soup. When D was secreted in the Rat Room upstairs, I peeled, diced and popped them into the slow cooker with some rich chicken stock, onions and a teaspoon of Garam Masala. I love this light combination of spices, not too overpowering to kill the sweetness of the parsnips....
read moreUpdate on the Farming Friends – Cottage Smallholder Interblog Guinea Fowl Event. One wife and a handful of husbands.
It seems ages since Sara at Farming Friends sent us six guinea fowl eggs in the post. June 2007 saw the launch of the Farming Friends’ – Cottage Smallholder’s Interblog Guinea Fowl Event. Now the guinea fowl have grown up and I must admit I have fallen in love with these gentle creatures. A couple of weeks ago I went down to clean out the chicken house. Carol (our Roman Empress Maran hen) was looking a bit rumpled and was clearly rattled. She was squeezed on the roof of the chicken house – there is just enough space for...
read moreSimple homemade bread sauce recipe
I got up quite early this morning to check the washing machine and dishwasher. One or other was leaking massively. It looked like both but discovered that it was the dishwasher and put a load of clothes on to wash while I did the big shop. I like shopping (don’t get out much at the moment) and had taken up Amanda’s idea of a meal plan. My list shimmered with an orchestra of relevant ingredients. Although I was tempted by a prima donna, not on the list. I signed her up on the spot. Spinach, in case you are wondering.. Rushing off to...
read moreThird Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading
Pottering on Monnroot’s blog, I spotted an invitation to Third Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading. This, amogst other festivities, celebrates Brigid, the Celtic goddess of poetry, healing and craft and Groundhog Day. The invitation was originally sent by Deborah Oak. I love poetry. And find half remembered lines a comfort and inspiration. Whether it is “The boy stood on the burning deck” or something as sensuous and delightful as the lines below. Poetry can be carried easily in your head and unwrapped carefully when...
read moreThe grand amaryllis challenge
My mum gave me two amaryllis (Hippeastrum) bulbs at Christmas and finally today they have been set in a bed of compost. They will flower a bit later than usual but that’s fine with me. We usually have a race to see whose amaryllis flowers first. A few years ago I was decorating her house and seemingly overnight her amaryllis developed a second bud. Neither of us had ever seen this wonder before. Like many people nowadays she keeps her mind in trim by tackling The Times crossword every day. She does not get up in the morning until she has...
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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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