Fruit and Fabric and Flowers Too.

The teazels are growing away with their spiky almost alien calyx. Isabella, Lucy and I can see this one from one of the bedroom windows and will keep watch to see which birds peck seeds from it later in the year.



Really quite incredible isn't it?



In the cool of the evening I picked the redcurrants. They are one of my favourite plants in the garden as they put up with any amount of neglect, are situated in a dry shady spot and yet repeatedly fruit heavily for us, the scarlet globes hanging in clusters and shining like so many ruby jewels. Luckily the birds had left us some.



They will make lovely toppings for a pavlova or for one of Lucy's cupcake sessions.



On the subject of fruit, the blackcurrants moved so late in the season are doing well too and Isabella is already following in big sister's footsteps by grazing as she ambles along.



Just the gooseberries to show you now, large and fat and ready to be paired with elderflowers in fools or pies or crumbles (probably my favourite of all).



So now the garden is settling for the day and I am pondering this fabric which I am re-using from my one of our eldest daughter's skirts: she had already cut it up and now I think it will make a funky skirt for Lucy (as woefully there is not enough fabric for me...sigh). It has a wonderful texture - sort of sheeny in a nice way and light yet willing to hold its shape. Well, we'll see. I'm thinking a little shirring may come into use inspired by sweet Florence's recent posts.



Or I may just sit and enjoy the evening quiet with a glass of crisp white wine.



Bye for now x

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 Mid-summer Night's Tale!

Just a few more photos from Monday morning as the sun is weak here today and I feel the need to see the early morning light playing with the leaves. I have been finding myself popping back to my own blog regularly and clicking on the pictures containing marigolds to make them larger and then scrolling through the entire picture to view it all - the reason for this odd behaviour is that it seems to fill the screen with glowing, vibrant colour, May greens and zesty orange all catching the sun's rays and making me feel as though I have been filled with it too. The only problem is when you return the picture to its normal size the world suddenly seems to dim, so perhaps it's not the best thing to do after all!


The foxgloves are opening from this...




to this...




so pretty and I'm sure whichever fox wears these gloves must be the most elegant in the garden ( I have been trying this story out on Lucy as she is the most receptive to my ramblings!). We think the night animals, the hedgehogs which bumble around below our bedroom window making the strangest of noises, the badger who occasionally crashes through the hedge late at night and the scrawny fox who thinks I can't see him as he sits in the duck house cursing the deepness of our pond as the ducks circle around quacking in delight at his displeasure, Lucy and I think all these creatures are planning their mid-summer party and nothing could be nicer for a fox than to have beautiful, velvety gloves to adorn her paws. Well, that's what we think anyway.


Here is the view from our little, ramshackle back porch:





and here are the timy gooseberry fruitlets all hairy and tart. I love them and as we have three bushes I am hoping there will be enough for crumbles and wine and, my personal favourite, gooseberry and elderflower fool - yum.




Have a lovely day xx