Weekend

Yesterday we celebrated Fathers Day and had great fun with seeing our daughters and grandchildren.  Thank goodness the internet didn't let us down.  I was also able to speak to my Dad too which was a real delight.  We celebrated with a few of my dear husbands favourite foods.  Not least pork fillet stuffed with apricot and ginger stuffing and wrapped in streaky bacon.  It is a Hairy Bikers recipe and one that we love and use a lot.

It was delicious and enough to have it again today for dinner.  A great recipe that is a huge success every time I cook it.  We had it with a medley of vegetables and a Yorkshire pudding that had been made previously and put in the freezer.  I have been asked for the recipe and how I get them to rise.  The key is to ensure that the pan and the oil is hot prior to putting in the batter. Another great tip to ensure they rise is not to open the oven door until they are cooked about 20 minutes.  The batter I make using:

70g plain flour

2 eggs

100ml milk

sunflower oil for cooking

Mix the ingredients together until they are lump free and pour into the pan.  The batter is enough for 4 large or 12 small puddings.  Hope that helps.

Followed by another favourite lemon meringue pie.

Enough for a couple of days.  This is the one time I do cook the pastry blind to ensure that it is cooked as the meringue is cooked on a quite a low heat. 

We didn't get to the beach as planned, the weather let us down a little but today is another day.  Although a little windy and raining at the moment I am hopeful that this will pass.  I have a pile of ironing that needs my attention and there is always a craft project to keep me busy.  Have you any plans for today?

See you soon.

The Sun Makes Everything Bright

My goodness how time has flown by this week.  We have had a wonderful week of great weather, not the temperatures you get down south but good for here.  We have been enjoying pottering in the garden and sitting out in the front watching the world go by.

We have kept ourselves busy pottering, doing the garden and mowing the lawns.  Enjoying the sunshine but not so much the insects.  I have several bites from who knows what that are quite itchy.  Progress is also been made in the outbuilding with a bench been constructed out of old pallets.  It will make an nice seating area in front of the building.

It needs to be sanded for a smoother finish and stained but ideal for what we want it for.  We have also made a work bench that I think is looking good.  That was also made out of pallet wood.

More masks have been made, I tend to make a couple a day.  I don't think Islanders are particularly worried about the pandemic as there have been so few cases here.  I will say that everyone is doing as advised and wearing masks is compulsory on public transport and enclosed spaces.  The pattern I used is off the internet.  There are lots of patterns and demonstrations available on Youtube I browsed them until I found an easy one to do.

Other sewing continues, a couple of bags made with Cath Kidston fabric are all ready to solve a storage issue in my bedroom.  Lavender bags were also added.

I quite enjoyed the experience of making them and they add to the ambience of the room, whilst giving a little extra storage.  The smell of the lavender is quite relaxing too.  I dried it from last years growth which was cut and simply dried in a brown bag, stalk as well. 

I have mint hanging in the kitchen at the moment, already drying out ready for the Winter months.  It is nice to have a selection of herbs dried ready for the stews and soups.  As from Thursday we were allowed out for a walk, I can't tell you how wonderful that was to be able to leave the confines of the garden was a real delight.  We intend to have a walk along the beach and  enjoy our little adventures out and about once again.  We are living in strange times but for us it has made us stronger.  We have got on with it and made the best of a horrible situation.  As we go through the phases coming out of lockdown I am starting to look forward now and have started to plan seeing the family.  Not sure yet when that will be but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  The sun makes everything feel better and makes everything bright...

Hope all is well with you.  Take care and stay safe,

See you soon.

Catching Up With Life Without Internet

Here I am...Yes you guessed it right!  No, or intermittent internet, but finally I am hoping to get a post done.  I am not missing in action and there are no health issues it literally is a lack of internet that has kept me away.  I will try to catch up with you all tomorrow and reply to the very caring e-mails for which I am very thankful and feel blessed by your concern.

I have wonderful neighbours and a very grateful for their thoughtful gifts left in my porch.  We certainly don't go hungry, in fact we have made an effort this past week and have eaten lots of salad.

The lettuce and rocket has been amazing fresh from the garden, along with the chives makes for a very tasty base to any salad.  Scones were left by one neighbour:

A cherry and almond cake by another:

Along with reels of cotton from another neighbour as I continue to add to the pile of face masks.  They are disappearing as quick as I make them.  It is so nice to be useful and be able to give back.

I place them in a polythene bag and leave them in the front porch friends and neighbours pop by and help themselves.  I have also been working on a small gift for my sweet little friend who is going to have a birthday next week.  She has lots of bits and pieces so I thought it would be nice to make her a storage bag, along with a heart filled with last years lavender that I dried.  She walks past our little cottage and waves it will be nice to be able to catch up with her, when all this shielding is over.

I have also made several more storage bags and lavender filled hearts for our Grandaughter all ready for her new bedroom as they have finally signed all the contracts on their new house they have had built.  Exciting times for them.

Little pockets in the front and bits of lace add to there beauty.  The Harris Tweed coats for the boys are finally finished and I also added a scarf and a face mask.  I am hoping that they won't be needing them but I had a little fabric left so thought they may be useful.

I am so looking forward to seeing them wear them.  They are all packed up ready for the post.

We had a Tesco delivery today so the store cupboard, fridge and freezer are all well stocked up.  I am grateful for the delivery and the staff who provide the service but I must admit I do miss not choosing my own meat, fruit and vegetables myself.

We continue to work outside when we can and have completed several projects which I will share in a later post.  In so many ways life appears normal and yet the hidden virus keeps us separated from each other, particularly family.  It seems such a long time since we have seen them all and my heart is heavy from yearning but deep down I know that we need to be sensible.  We are living in strange times that is for sure.

I will stop for now and press the publish button.  I will try to catch up with everyone tomorrow.  Take care and stay safe.

See you soon.

Weekend

A beautiful weekend, weather wise enabling a little bit of sitting outside and watching the world go by.  Or in our case very little go by, it is so quiet.  In fact most of the time all we can hear is the birdsong, which is a real delight.

Saturday I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen preparing the Sunday roast and goodies for the cake tin.  On the list this week, banana bread to use up a couple of bananas that were starting to go black.

We picked our first crop of rhubarb to make a crumble.

A little ginger and some almond made it quite decadent, a real treat with icecream.  Then a bread pudding was made to use up some stale bread.  Mixed spice and good amount of dried fruit.

Yorkshire puddings and some sage/onion stuffing made and then the surplus for the freezer.

Finally meringues, a real treat for afternoon tea filled with chocolate. 

One made to use to top trifle, a real luxury making it a very special desert.  No reason just because...

I can report that it was very tasty.  We had so much fun catching up with our daughters and the grandchildren via the internet.  We are starting to dream a little and hope that we will be able to make plans to see each other soon.  

I have ordered some more elastic and am awaiting its delivery but in the meantime I have another 20 masks cut out ready to go.

I have also added a Christmas bear to the gift drawer, it is filled with both love and lavender.  It really does smell divine.

Its little face features are not as prominent as I would have liked but it will make a great gift topper.  I also added some mini wreaths using oddments of fabric, all ready to top gifts.

They were made very quickly but I think will made a wonderful addition/topper to a gift.

All in all a quiet weekend but one filled with love and laughter.  I have a lot to be thankful for when I see the news and events happening around the World.  How was your weekend? 

Take care and stay safe.

See you soon.