Behind with my emails and answering comments
It’s either writing a post or answering comments and emails this evening. As the latter have built up over the last few days they must take priority. I went to the seaside with Seraphina today and we ate huge crab salads and looked out over the harbour of Wells by the Sea. We had driven to Fakenham, to consult a specialist orthopaedic vet as one of her dogs has problems with his back. The scans would take six hours so we motored to the sea. It felt very strange to be lolling about doing nothing. Meanwhile the prognosis was better than...
read moreWonderful tulips: Queen of the Night
When I first moved to the cottage I planted Queen of the Night tulips with scented white irises beside the new pond – the combination looked stunning but they petered out when the yew hedges grew large. The hedges are great for making compartments and adding structure to a garden but they also create dry shady areas on one side and on the other side very dry sunny areas if you have a south west facing garden like us. But a challenge is often a good thing. You are forced to think around the box, rather than just outside it. We have a vast pot...
read moreHow to make a deluxe fish pie for less – well worth considering as it’s brain food.
Back in the 1990’s I discovered that I disliked poached salmon. A friend used to stay for the weekend every couple of weeks and she’d bring fresh salmon down as a treat. I made the mistake of enthusing when she produced it the first time. I should have known better – I had eaten a vile dish of curried chick peas for years with another friend. When I originally tasted the chick pea concoction my reaction was a shriek of horror which I attempted to disguise as a sob of delight. Unfortunately, she was fooled. Poached salmon also seemed...
read moreSoft and gentle rain
Last night I repaired to bed expecting a rainy day today. In the morning I woke to cloudy skies, 6cm of rainfall over the last 24 hours and the promise of more. I prepared for a day on the cliff face (thermos of sweet tea, elevenses and hearty lunch) but expected to return by mid afternoon at the latest. There were spits of rain between two and three this afternoon so I scraped down some ancient iron guttering and painted it at the end of the day when the sky cleared. We’re now expecting rain all day tomorrow. This has an adverse impact on...
read moreWe are gardening but just in case you are wondering, we are still developing recipes
Last Sunday D roasted a superb chicken, stuffed with some of the lemon skins and orange peel left over from the St Clements Punch. He added a teaspoon of finely chopped preserved lemons and presented a roast chicken dish to die for. This evening we made a great stir fry with the remnants of the lemony orangey infused chicken. Now we need to try this recipe with complete lemons and oranges, rather than just the peel. I’d be loath to encourage anyone to use just the skins of citrus fruit. We will, of course also add the instructions for those...
read moreGiving away plants and watering
“I gave him some purple sprouting broccoli plants and told him to net them. A week later he rang me to say that the pigeons had eaten the lot.” John Coe peered at me, eyebrows raised over his coffee cup. “And then he had the nerve to ask for replacements! No chance. I’d cared for those small plants for months.” If you give away plants you have to let go of them there and then, and not get upset if you see dried out husks still in their pots a couple of months later. This only happens occasionally. It’s generally with new gardeners...
read moreThe annual village fete and a precious Eltex memory
We were lucky with the church fete this year. It was a warm sunny day and attracted loads of people. Gradually over the years it has evolved from a quiet village fete to an efficiently run machine. As a fund raising enterprise, this has worked. The takings have shot up and the small village church reaps the dividends. these days, we have Stewards’ badges and T-shirts for the core workers. Danny and I help run the bar which now sells beer, lager and soft drinks alongside the St Clements Punch . The latter used to be optionally...
read moreEvery year I fall in love with Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’ again
We only grow old roses in our garden. As we have loads of space we can afford to do this rather than plant repeat flowering roses. Some of the old ones do repeat their flowers throughout the summer but even with these the first flush is always the best. The newer varieties of roses are bred to flower on and off all summer. If you have a small garden these can be a joy but they rarely bowl you over or are stunning at any point in the year. They are bred for repeat floweng and that’s what you get. The old roses that flower just once a year...
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