Taking Stock – February
Making : Slow Cooked Beef Brisket, recipe here except I added lashings of balsamic vinegar too. Cooked for 8 hours on medium, then sliced the beef and gently reheated it in the sauce, in a heavy based...
View ArticleMuch warmer
Walking with a friend today, it felt almost balmy outside at 8-9 degrees. Lovely! Signs of Spring are back in full force as you’ll see. There were patches of snow alongside the roadsides, piled up on...
View ArticleAll this beauty
“This is proper England” I found myself saying this morning, on another Tuesday morning walk with my friend B. This is a stunning new find for both of us: Evenley Wood Garden. It’s one to return to...
View ArticleLambkins!
Another Tuesday walk with my friend B and this time it was at Stowe, a National Trust garden. There’s fascinating history to the house and estate (see here.) During a tour several years ago I heard...
View ArticleTaking Stock – March
Making : Triple chocolate brownies (yum!) Cooking : Thai pork noodles Drinking : tonic water with ice still as it’s Dry Lent (I always stop on Easter Sunday) Reading: Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty...
View ArticleSpringtime, feels like summer
I asked for a new fridge sentence to replace my post road-trip one, which was boringly ‘Over a thousand miles later home’. I know it wasn’t exciting but it was current. Oh, but I’ve really truly been...
View ArticleIn the bluebell woods
A choir of birdsong, a gentle breeze and the rustle of leaves overhead Ferns gradually unfolding Celandines Cowslips with a background of bluebells make such a pretty picture. I always think of Uncle...
View ArticleA meadow of moon daisies
The plan for Sunday was meant to be shopping for an expensive, boring-but-sort-of necessary thing, but I totally subverted that by lobbying for a day out. It was another lovely sunny weekend and...
View ArticleTaking Stock – July
Making : smoked salmon pate – recipe here Cooking : all things sourdough, still. Flatbreads and pizza happened this weekend. Hobbs House Bakery sourdough recipes are excellent. I’ve tried crumpets,...
View ArticleTaking Stock – August
Making: my first sourdough loaf in over a month today, it’s a baking morning Countryfile Live at the beginning of August Cooking: chicken something later, for dinner Drinking: jasmine tea, it’s cooler...
View ArticleTaking Stock – September
Making : sourdough pizza, because Friday night was made for it Cooking : spicy lentil soup, the first of the new season Drinking : red wine, it’s particularly fine for autumn Reading: My Name is Lucy...
View ArticleAutumn days
We are having some cracking October weather, as you can see. Lovely sunny days with blue skies and sweet little fluffy clouds. I love it when it’s like this; it feels like it’s a bonus when we get...
View ArticleTaking Stock – October
Making : a hot water bottle cosy. One half done. I started the other yesterday, but you really don’t get very far along in a 10m session, and I’m not up to everyday yet either. Try setting a 10m timer...
View ArticleA great day out
Yesterday I went into London to spend a day doing some of my favourite things. I found myself taking lots of photos and decided to share them with you. Now, before I begin I have to say that I’ve done...
View ArticleStowe at Christmas
On Sunday we went to Stowe, a National Trust property, to have a good walk, where we followed a Christmas trail. This was after listening to a mixture of traditional carols and modern Christmas music...
View ArticleChristmas at Upton House
Another Sunday, another day out to see a National Trust property decorated for Christmas: Upton House and Gardens, Warwickshire ‘If you’re looking for something a little different this Christmas, Upton...
View ArticleSerendipity
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step Lao Tzu Today I had a rather nice thing happen. While walking at Blenheim, lamenting that my usual six mile loop is still not able to be...
View ArticleTaking Stock – May
Beautiful wisteria this month Making: salads – chicken with a bit of blue cheese, inspired by my friend who’s obsessed with it for lunch right now! Cooking: rhubarb and clementines Drinking: fizzy...
View ArticleBluebell woodland
A walk on a lovely warm May morning in the bluebell wood. It is an annual tradition to go whenever the bluebells are flowering, to listen to the swell of birdsong, to notice the leaves on the trees...
View ArticleLate Summer Days
We’ve had a week of rain, some torrential – the kind which wakes you up in the night, the water butts are now brimful. A week and a half ago they were nearly empty. It was such a relief to … Continue...
View ArticleOut-out
My first trip out-out with a friend since August! Because doctors, pharmacy and hospital don’t count, do they? I was so excited to go back to my happy place a.k.a. Yarn Heaven on Wednesday. I can’t...
View ArticleI would like to live in a house like this
So, following on from my last post, here is the Christmassy National Trust property we visited. Greys Court is somewhere that we’ve visited in the summer, mainly because they have a sculpture...
View ArticleMerry & Bright
Shall we play a game? It’s called spot the sprout on the Christmas tree! And no, he hasn’t got his googly eyes yet, because I need to get some glue. I’m very reluctant to use superglue because of all...
View ArticleAnd there were lambs
My Star Blanket is slowly growing as I crochet another round and then undo half because I made a mistake. My concentration isn’t always great at the moment and my hands are sore from digging up...
View ArticleMid-June
Eating: Mackerel salad with homemade honey, lemon & mustard dressing, sprinkled with 4 different mixed seeds. Reading: The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves it’s the first in her Vera Stanhope series. Far,...
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