The sun has got his hat on

For weeks I have been waiting for Spring to finally arrive. I've been kidding myself by having daffodils, of which who knew there were so many varieties.

Last weekend  the sun did have his hat on. This being the case meant that Majorie Mountfield could come out of hibernation. I'd never needed such a lawn mower before moving here the grass areas were always a bit of postage stamp and needed no more than a flymo.

As you can see that is not the case here. When we first moved here just over a year a go the bearded one was not so keen on the purchase of Marjorie but after spending 5 hours helping me do all three lawns with a flymo he seemed to very quickly think that maybe Marjorie wouldn't be such an extravagance after all. She did take a bit of getting used to it felt very strange the first time I sat on her to drive around the garden but I wouldn't be without her now. The gardens here really are a blank canvas and my intention over time is to plant it up to make it into more of a garden than a paddock. 

With having these four fiendish devils our first priority was to make sure the garden was dog proofed

Rufus is quite an accomplished escapologist given half the chance.

I've made a start on the one side of the front garden 

This is a photograph of the hydrangeas I planted last year but with all plants they are taking their time to bed in and grow and haven't quite sprung back into life yet after the hard winter we had, but that just means I can take more photo's to share with you as things start look more like a garden and less like a paddock. 

We have a lot of bird life visit us here at the farm house. It always tickles me the way the sparrows queue up on the front gate to take it in turns to come to the feeder. What doesn't tickle me is the little deposits they leave behind. 

I managed to find some these planters in the sale and purchased six to sit on top of the gates to see if this would deter them. I set about starting the laborious job of creosoting the fences last weekend which included three gates out of six and once dry popped the planters on top.  So far the sparrows are avoiding them and my hope is once I have planted them up it will continue to stop them.  

Last weekend also saw the return of the swallows. They are what I call time wasters as I could watch these birds swoop over the garden and surrounding fields for hours. 

They had nests up in the eves of the farm house last year and D even had to rescue one from the drain pipe hopper when it fell in and couldn't get out. The mother kept flying up to us just missing our heads and screeching in desperation until we realised what the matter was.  When D climbed up on the step ladders to get it out she kept flying right up to his face as if to warn him not to hurt her baby.  It was a bit of a reluctant fledgling but after D let it go she kept coming back and flying round us as if to thank him. It was really quite a thing to see so I am looking forward to seeing them raise their families again this year.

When I know the weather forecast is in our favour,  and the likelihood is that I will be able to spend most of the day in the garden, I always try and get something prepared that doesn't take a lot of effort when we're finished for the day and come in feeling a little weary and ready for a hot bath or shower. I have always made quiche, it's something my mother taught me to make but she also taught me two alternatives to making conventional short crust pastry!!

This weekend unfortunately the sun has not got his hat on and it has continued as it has all week and been non-stop rain which means creosoting the rest of the fences is clearly not going to happen. Instead I have put the time to good use and tried to be a domestic goddess and clean the house, sort the washing you know all those boring things we have to do. But yesterday I had a very enjoyable afternoon with my pasta machine and made homemade mushroom and spinach lasagna and sun-dried tomato frocaccia for dinner which I hadn't made for sometime.  It can be a bit of a faff getting the pasta machine out etc but if I could have make this blog have smellavision I tell you the smells coming from my kitchen were out of this world. Even if the bearded one when asked what he thought of my bread asked if I had bought it at the supermarket that morning. I couldn't decide whether I should be insulted or flattered but the majority on my facebook and instagram accounts felt I should be flattered that he thought it was that good so on this occasion I will let him off.   I will of course get around to sharing the recipes for all of these at some point soon. 

Since returning to blogland my posts do seem to be a little foody but in the background I am still stitching and crocheting or knitting and will have lots of projects to show you before too long. In the meantime I hope you are enjoying the recipes I have shared certainly my Grandmothers Iced Tea Bread has proved very popular. If you've had a go at making it please share a photo on my facebook page or Instagram or even on your blog I would love to see it. My grandmother was a big feature in our lives she was known to wear a pinny at all times, they did that in those days didn't they I'm sure I'm not alone in this memory, but she was also known to be the nanny with the pinny of many pockets whatever you needed it was bound to be somewhere in one of those pockets. 

I will leave you with this little blue tit sitting on the feeder in twilight it was taken a few weeks ago now but is one of my favourites. I am still filling the feeders most days at the moment as it is still slim pickings for the birds at the moment I had to wait until this little chap had taken himself off to bed before I could go out and fill it up again.  I didn't want to disturb him he looked so chilled. 

Take care & stay safe

Mx 

The Art of Hiding - Amanda Prowse

I have been a fan of Amanda Prowse novels from her very first novel  Poppy Day, released in 2012 with all the proceeds going to the British Legion to help injured servicemen, Amanda is married to a serving soldier Major Simeon Prowse MBE.   Amanda Prowse is a prolific writer and writes about real life situations that everyday people can relate to but,  as with many prolific writers some of her novels are better than others.  My favourites are still Clovers Child and Will you remember me and complete Poppy Days story. She has gone on from strength to strength writing about looking after a mother with dementia, miscarriage and anorexia  to name but a few and Three and a half heartbeats originally written as a kindle edition to raise funds for Sepsis Trust, but due to popular demand is now going to released in paperback in July 2018 with all proceeds going to help raise awareness of Sepsis a condition that can be life threatening but is treatable if caught early enough. 

So what is The Art of Hiding about.  Nina McGarrick and her husband Finn are happily married with two sons. Finn has always worked hard and provided for his family, whilst Nina has always ran the home and looked after their boys. They live in a beautiful house and their sons are excelling at Kings Norton public school. Nina's world falls apart when Finn is killed in a car accident.  The life she knows is about to unravel. Unbeknown to her Finn's company has been in trouble and they are in a mountain of debt leaving them facing bankruptcy.  Even with  the life insurance its not enough to cover the 18 million they owe.  Nina begins to wonder if she ever really knew the man she married.  Forced to leave her family home Nina returns to the rundown Southampton council estate and the sister she thought she had left far behind. Nina can't let herself be overwhelmed, her boys need her to be strong. To save them and herself, she will have to do what Finn had always discouraged her from doing; pursue a career of her own. Torn between the life she thought she knew and the reality of the situation she now finds herself in she needs to take back control of her life. Armed with the last thousand pounds to her name, which Finn had hidden in the laundry basket as a rainy day emergency fund she moves their life back to Southampton to be nearer her sister. Nina needs to find a job and quick but what is she qualified to do? She will need to get her boys into the local comprehensive school a world apart from the school they have known since they were three. 

In a nut shell I really enjoyed this book. With all Amanda Prowse books they are thought provoking and do get you thinking about what you would do if you were to find yourself in this situation. D runs his own business and I have never questioned how his business is doing.  He will comment when business has been quieter and we always know when the tax bill is due as he will go around the house turning lights off and ranting that it's like Blackpool illuminations in this house and turning the thermostat down on the heating, but I am sure if things were that bad he would sit me down with a strong glass of something and break the news to me and after nearly 20 years I would hope that I could tell if something was wrong but I suppose there are those of us that are really good at bravado. We have discussed at length what insurance policies are in place  and who to contact should anything ever happen to him but I'm sure we all tend to go through life in that blissful ignorance of that will never happen to us but this book makes you think about those things that none of us likes to have to think about. 

I would definitely recommend this book for you to read and I would definitely recommend that you have those conversations with your family I know I will be.

Take Care

Mx

The Key - Kathryn Hughes

Best Sunday morning, cuppa, tea bread and last few pages of my latest book

1956

It's Ellen Crosby's first day as a student nurse at Ambergate County Lunatic Asylum. When she meets a young woman committed by her father, and a pioneering physician keen to try out the various 'cures' for mental illness, little does Ellen know that a choice she will make is to change all their lives for ever...

2006

Sarah is drawn to the abandoned Ambergate Asylum. Whilst exploring the old corridors she discovers a suitcase belonging to a female patient who was admitted fifty years earlier. The shocking contents lead Sarah to unravel a forgotten story of tragedy, lost love and an old wrong that only she may have the power to put right . . .

I came across the author Kathryn Hughes purely by accident whilst thumbing through books to purchase on my kindle.   The Letter  was the first novel released by Kathryn Hughes in 2015 and I just couldn't stop reading till I got to the end.  Her second novel The Secret released in 2016 was equally as spellbinding. I have been eagerly awaiting the release of her third novel The Key, which is currently available on Kindle with a release date in paperback in September 2018.

I like the style of Kathryn Huges writing. Her stories usually move between the present in the past and The Key is no different. in 1956 Ellen Crosby is a student nurse whose first placement is at Ambergate Asylum. The patients she cares for all have their stories some have been their for many years. Amy is a young girl committed to the asylum by her father, he says she is mentally disturbed where as these days Amy would probably be classed as a troubled teen, who having lost her mother when she was young and blames herself
for her mothers death isn't happy to share her father with his new wife and compounded by the arrival of a new baby things at home escalate and Amy makes a bad decision and finds herself certified and put into the care of a young psychiatrist at Ambergate Aylum.  Ellen takes to Amy and when an event happens that will effect Amy for the rest of her life Ellen decides she has a choice to make.  In 2006 Sarah works at the library. Her father was at Ambergate for 4 years. He won't talk to her about his time there and isn't happy when she tells him she has been back to the now abandoned building and discovered a suit case belonging to a patient, there is no name only a number but he immediately knows who this patient is.  He realises that if her suitcase is still there then Amy never left or did she.

The Key will have you riveted from start to finish and I would definitely recommend you read this and  Kathryn Hughes two previous novels I don't think you will be disappointed.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my Grandmother's iced tea bread post and I hope some of you have had time to try it. 

Hope you all have a lovely week till then stay safe

Mx

Grandmother's Iced Tea Bread

My grandmother was definitely one for an afternoon tea or high tea. She was a fabulous baker and I have many fond memories of her being up a the crack of doom and baking bread. It was such a glorious smell to wake up to and as soon as I smell fresh bread all those memories come flooding back.  One of the things she used to make  was tea bread.  When she made it of course it was still loose leaf tea. No tea bags in our house. She would make a large pot of tea, stronger enough to stand a spoon up in as she would have said. She would have a cup and the rest was used to make her tea bread.  My grandmother died when I was 10 years old and although my mother made the same tea bread it never was quite the same as my grandmothers, maybe it was just that she hadn't made it that was missing.   I haven't made tea bread for a long time but with spring finally peeping around the corner, even if its threatening rain again today, I thought I would resurrect my grandmothers tea bread just for you.

You will need a 900g (2lb) loaf tin which you will need to grease and line or if like me you have loaf tin liners, which you can purchase at most supermarkets these days, that will work just as well I've never used the silicone liners they have now so not sure whether one of those would work or not.

The ingredients you will need

225g (8oz) raisins

115g (4oz) sultanas

300m; (1/2) pint of strong hot tea

225g (8oz) light brown sugar

300g (10 1/2 oz) Self raising flour

11/2 tsp ground mixed spice

1 egg beaten

175g (6oz) icing sugar

5-6 tsp orange juice

In Preparation

The night before you intend to make your tea bread you will need to place the raisins and sultanas in a large bowl, pour over the hot tea and stir to mix. Cover and leave to soak overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin and set aside. Stir the brown sugar into the dried fruit mixture, then sift in the flour and mixed spice. Add the egg and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed.

Turn the mixture into the loaf tin and level the surface. Bake for 1 1/4 hours, or until risen and firm to touch - a fine skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean or in my case a knitting needle. The skewer being something else I've not found since we moved house. 

Remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Combine the icing sugar and orange juice to make a thick icing. Spread this icing evenly over the top of the cake. Leave to set.

Tea bread is nice at anytime of the day but is especially nice with a well earned cuppa. Its a very moist bread and simply delicious. I can't tell you how long it will last in an air tight container because quite frankly it doesn't last long enough in our house to be able to tell you.

Enjoy

Mx 

Scones

No matter what way you pronounce it 

no matter whether you are a cream or jam first, scones are just quintessentially English and taste delicious. It was always interesting growing up as mums family were Cornish and my dads Devonian, you can imagine the debate that went on as whether you put the jam on first or cream. I am definitely governed by the seasons as to what I cook and bake. Even though the snow keeps coming we are now officially in Spring and therefore it will be scones, muffins, breads and the occasional cake throughout the coming months. I am no Mary Berry when it comes to baking but one things for certain I make a decent scone and I thought I would share my recipe with you. 

This recipe if for plain scones 

and you will need 

225g (8oz) self raising flour

A pinch of salt

1 tsp of baking powder

25g (1oz) caster sugar

finely grated zest and juice  of 1 lemon

40g (11/2 oz) butter, diced

150ml (1/4 pint) milk

Beaten egg or milk to glaze

• Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. 
• Grease and flour a baking sheet and put to one side
• Sift the flour (I sift it twice), baking powder and salt into a bowl 

• Add the butter and rub together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Now if you are like me and have warm hands when it comes to mixing I have found this little gadget that mixes everything together without overworking, and I found it in the supermarket for not much money.
• Add the caster sugar and lemon zest and combine the mixture together with enough milk to form a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead gently, then roll out until about 2cm (1/4") thick.using a 3" cutter fluted or straight, dip the cutter into flour so that the dough does not stick and cut the dough into rounds and place on to the baking sheet leaving space between each one for them to expand during baking. 

• Brush the tops with beaten egg or milk to glaze, then bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.

Now if your oven is like mine and doesn't always give an even bake turn the baking tray round part-way through the baking process. This helps to give an even rise and even colour, and unlike cakes scones do not dip in the middle if you do this. Just remember even the best bakers in our supermarkets get odd shaped scones, they just sell them off cheap at the end of the day, where as I say it just adds character a bit like misshaped vegetables. They all taste the same no matter what shape they are.

• Once baked remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

If by some slim chance these last more than the day they were baked I generally find they will last for 3-4 days if kept in an air tight container. 

And there you have it 

I hope you enjoy not only making but eating whatever way you serve them

Take care & stay safe

Mx

One year on

 Today marks the first anniversary since we moved into the farm house. 

We fell in love with the character of the house and all its original features and yes the garden really is that big and is a totally blank canvas. And as you saw when we had the snow the only way to and from the house is up a dirt track.

The move was a little chaotic, and that was water I was getting from the fridge not wine that came later.

I am full of admiration for those of you who can pack everything up from your home,  load it into the van or two and move all on the same day, especially if you have young children to cope with at the same time.

 We were at least fortunate that we had a few days in which to move 

The four boys adapted to their new surroundings very quickly and are very much at home here.

Today I thought I would show you the heart of our home which I think is definitely the kitchen. 

It is the first room you enter when you come into our home

      It still has it's latch hook furniture and this beautiful ornate lock on the door

I can listen to the radio (Radio 2 obviously) and from my kitchen window I can watch the birds visiting the bird feeder and we've had some very unusual visitors some of which I have never seen before.

I'm sure you will all agree your kitchen table plays a very important part 

Its where a lot of planning takes place

It's where you eat as a family, and where many discussions and debates take place
and occasionally it becomes an extra baking space

and at times is also used as my craft space

Do you have a favourite room in your home if so and why?

Happy Easter to all

Take care & stay safe

Mx