A little grumpy?

I am a bit of a grumpy Pip this morning. I had promised my self some time out to garden with Isabella today, so naturally it is raining; an endless curtain of fine drizzle mists the garden and scuppers my plans...pooh! I have cleared a whole morning to do what needs doing and, more importantly, what I would like to do and it is raining, after the most beautiful day yesterday where I could do no more than look out the window and plan. No weeding and planting as I sit on the grass under a little apple tree dreaming away the time as Isabella plays with the cats and the hens gently chat ahead of me. Ah well, better think of things to lift my mood. The centre of this peony is a pretty good place to start.



She has the unfortunate name of Shirley Temple, but Raspberry Ripple would be far more appropriate. So creamy and soft, the light swirling the folds into a gentle lemon that deepens as your eye is drawn to the centre where a tiny raspberry pink budlet forms, yet never opens. And the perfume...delicate and evocative as it floats on the evening air, drifting away like a playful butterfly before you can quite catch it. Then there are the gooseberries and the fun of picking them for a lovely meal with a dear uncle and Dave's mum - more of that in a bit.



Thinking of that meal brings to mind the borage scattered all over the garden and now beginning to dot the beds with little blue stars. I used it for one of our favourite summer soups (though not a chilled one as I have to admit to not being a fan of these). Isn't it pretty? I love the way it self-seeds everywhere. Anything like this is such a bonus in the garden and can always be lifted out without much problem while still young, providing endless kitcheny possiblities along the way.



So to the meal - an evening of food and cribbage which we always do when Dave's uncle arrives for his month in Cornwall every year. I made pea & borage soup (quite possibly my favourite soup ever, though I say this with whichever soup I am currently obsessed with)with delicious homemade bread, followed by a lamb casserole and the whole rounded off with a gooseberry and elderflower fool accompanied by tiny scoops of eldeflower ice-cream. I am still working on my recipe for this one as I felt it was a little too sweet, though no-one else seemed to think so. When I am happy with it I'll pop it onto my website under the 'what we are doing' page along with the recipe for elderflower cordial - hurray, it's that time again and the hedgerows are positively lagged in the creamy umbels.



Other things to bring a note of cheer? Just take a look at this beautiful skirt which my lovely, lovely friend bought me from the carboot sale. We are both addicted to such things and are most upset that we can no longer have a day out at the local dump as the idiot council sold it off and now all the left-over goodies are sold abroad...argh!!! I do understand that not everyone's idea of a good day out is a trip to the dump, but you should see the things we both got there - beautiful windows which now adorn Davey's writing room, mirrors, cupboards...the list goes on. So much for the idea of councils supporting recycling. Off high horse now....so, this beautiful skirt which is the most gorgeous mix of flowers and raspberry reds which I just love (though the dullness of the day does it no justice). It swirls beguilingly around my ankles and goes so prettily with my gauzy rose camisole...sigh. I have seriously lived in it since she gave it to me. Thank you Lou x


Note those cute feet to one side? Little sweetie and another thing to be cheerful about. On that note, I will head off as I feel decidedly less grumpy and it is Friday after all. Gardener's World, knitting and wine...what could be better? A little of this over the weekend perhaps....



Have a lovely weekend x

A bit of this and that

Isabella needed new shoes and so a trip into Falmouth was on the cards. Yet again, I forgot Lucy had drama club after school and patiently waited at the school gates for her to appear - durr - and finally worked out that now would be a good time to go shoe shopping as we had an hour to kill. This is what we see when we go shopping in Falmouth...




You see, the river Fal runs from the sea into the harbour mouth - 3rd deepest natural harbour in the world - past the docks...





through the town alongside the main street. These pictures show what we see from any of the little alleyways that lead off from the one main street; all were taken from the car park which Isabelaa and I use in the centre of town. This rather poorly taken shot gives an idea of what we see looking back over our shoulder into the town fromt he same car park: a glorious higgeldy-piggeldy mixture of rooftops silhoutted against a bright blue sky.





Hmm, must take more time over these pictures in future as they really aren't of good quality; then, we did have pretty teal blue and chocolate brown shoes to buy!





Our elderflower champagne is almost ready and fizzing so much that even the pressurised barrel split yesterday to gush a steady stream all over my dresser; thought the kitchen smelled a little worse than usual! Her's a posy I picked the other day to dry for when the hedgerows stop billowing with their creamy umbels. Many things - vinegars, tisanes, cordials, etc can be made with dried flowers as well as fresh.





We made so much cordial we are having to store it in demijohns as we can't face any more bottling up just yet. Well, time to finish; here's a pie to end on as I seem to have included food in most posts lately.





Have a lovely day all xx