The Beauty Of A Rainbow

 Time has flown by once again.  Our little cottage is now back to normal, clean and tidy after the departure of our visitors.  It is so quiet, so the radio has been on quite loud for a couple of days to compensate.  All the linen for the beds and towels have been washed, dried and ironed, all ready for our next lot of visitors.  I have all kept myself busy in the kitchen batch cooking for the freezer.  I have also made a start on drying out some of the herbs ready for Winter stews and casseroles.  We have had an amazing crop of rhubarb this year, so I have cooked several batches ready for crumbles later in the year.  The garden is a little slower than usual in producing salad crops, I think that may have been the awful weather we had in May.  We have had several days of sun and it is starting to look a lot better, so I am hopeful for a good crop.

We did have a wander around the garden centre when we did our trip to town last week.  We came back with a beautiful lavender plant, which is smelling divine already.  I do miss the lavender we had in our old garden so it is nice to have it back in our herb garden.

I am blessed with a wonderful son in law who is good with technology so both the computer and my phone is now back up and running.  I am now having problems with my camera and downloading photos, I am sure I will work it out eventually.  There have been so many updates of late it is hard to keep up with it all.

  The doorstep blessings project has come to an end as we start to emerge out of this lockdown and try to get our lives back on track into a semblance of normality.  I feel honoured to have been part of the project and know that it gave such a lot of pleasure to so many.  It gave me something to do and kept me busy so I am thankful.  I am now moving on to making a start for Christmas.  I have made a list which changes as I gather my thoughts or find a new pattern but it is almost firm now so I intend to start gathering the materials together for each project and making a start. 

I will leave you with a beautiful photo of a rainbow from last week.  We are blessed with living in a beautiful part of the world but sometimes we don't always take the time to appreciate the beauty.

As always I thank you for your visit to my humble blog and thank you for your comments on my last post.  I found it really interesting to learn about the restrictions in your areas.  Vaccination seems to be the answer and thankfully it does seem to still work against the different variants at least for now.  We were finally allowed to sing at Church last Sunday, but I must admit it did seem strange singing with a mask on.  Hope all is well with you and that life is good.

See you soon.

Sunny Weather

The days are beginning to become a little samey, each day merging into the other.  No clear definition between one day and the other each, feeling the same.  So what a delight to wake this morning to sunshine.  What a difference a little sun makes.  Both Gerard and I were happy to 'don our coats and work outside today.  Gerard worked on getting the lawnmowers ready for the season and gave them a service.  They are both now ready to go.  The plants that we overwintered in the garden room are back in their positions at the front of the house.  A little addition is needed here and there to give them a little colour but they have done well.

We have made a start organising the garden room, positioning the endless trays of seeds.  We are hoping to grow a few veg and salad produce to add to the kitchen.  We added a table and chairs to the room so that we could sit down and enjoy a cup of tea.  It will be fun to enjoy afternoon tea down there.  We would like to grow a few flowers to make it pretty but food seems more important at the moment.  We are a little concerned there will be a shortage as there appears to be a lack of labour force required to pick the fruit and veg at the moment.

We like to grow herbs too, which I like to dry out and add to soups and stews during the Winter months.  The mint is prolific and is coming back with a vengeance, although once contained in a tyre it is growing around it now too.  The chives and both flat and curly parsley are now coming back too.  I love to add chives to salad and the parsley is always good with fish.

The girls are getting out and about and enjoying the freedom, they have not stopped laying all Winter and are a joy to watch.  They have been basking in the sun and run as soon as they Gerard.  They love him.

 We achieved a fair amount and  it really did make a difference to be outside once again.  Bringing with it a feeling of normality.  It was nice to see villagers go by and wave.  It was cold but so nice to see the sun and so good to realise it was the same sun that the family were seeing and in fact the same sun the World over.  The isolating thoughts and feelings disappearing as the sun did its thing and worked its magic.  Long may this good weather last.

As always I do thank you for your visit to this blog and your uplifting comments.  Internet is still a little intermittent here but I do visit as often as I can.  These are strange times we are living in so take care and stay safe. 

See you soon.

Rain Has Stopped Play

It is Bank Holiday here in the UK and as is normal for a Bank Holiday it is raining.  The gathering in the harvest of the land began in earnest in the back field late Friday. 

 

Unfortunately natures bounty was not safely gathered in before work was abandoned, rain, rain and more rain has stopped play and the back field lays dormant.

 

 

The positive out of this is that I have stopped sneezing.

 

No getting out and about today, or getting out to do some work in the garden.  The forecast has predicted much of the same for the rest of the day.  I am keeping my eye on it though and keep nipping out in between bursts to harvest some of the herbs for the freezer.  I have run out of ice cube trays so I am snipping some into an empty plastic egg box to freeze.  They will be perfect for adding to stews/soups/casseroles in the coming months.

 

 

I intend to harvest some mint and lavender and hang in the kitchen to dry.  Last years harvest of lavender is ready to be put to good use.  The perfect day to start on some of the lavender projects.

 

 

I wish you were able to smell this stunning bounty, perfect for aiding sleep and keeping moths away from stored clothing/bedding.  Nice to make some little gifts for friends and families, filled with love and something grown from the garden.

 

 

I love just been able to walk into my craft room and have all the materials to hand, it is so satisfying finding the exact things needed.  Thank goodness for stashes.

 

 

I have made a start, I could be sometime...

 

Hope your day is not as wet as mine.

 

See you soon.

 

 

 

 

 

Five On Friday

The mini heat wave was indeed mini, a short lived sunny interlude which was enjoyed immensely but we are back to a typical British summer.  Cloudy and showers with sunny intervals seems to be the forecast for the next few days.  I am leaving shortly for a visit to my daughters and to see Bertie for the weekend so I will catch up with everyone on my return.

Summer means reaping the harvest of the garden and spending copious time weeding, to that end my five on Friday post is once again garden orientated.  This week I have chosen to share five herbs that I enjoy in my garden.  I use a lot of herbs in cooking, so they are a great addition to the kitchen.

First up is mint, we have tried many varieties but favour the common garden mint which is a perfect accompaniment to new potatoes.

 

Lemon thyme is another favourite that I use a lot.  It is great chopped up in scrambled eggs for something a little different, a thyme butter is perfect for rubbing on chicken or pork for added flavour.

 

 

 

 

 

Chives is next up, it has been a little slow to get established but I do have several pots.  It is my go to herb for salads in lots of forms but particularly potato salad.  It is great with cheese and adds flavour to sour cream for baked potatoes.

 

 

 

I have several containers all around the garden of lavender and I must confess I rarely use it for cooking but I grow it to dry out for gifts.  I dry the flowers and use to make lavender bags for the airing cupboard and drawers.

 

 

Last but not least is basil, a great addition to any Italian style meal it goes particularly well with tomatoes so is great added to any tomato based sauce.  Once again I grow it in pots and is a great asset to the kitchen.

 

 

Five herbs that each have their own personalities but are a great addition to even the simplest of meals.  Have you got a favourite go to herb?  I am once again joining Amy at Love Made My Home for the Five on Friday post, pop over and see what everyone has been up to.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, I will catch up with you when I get back.

 

See you soon.