Confusing

This week has been interesting with a few minor problems. I bottled up one of the demi-johns of wine but seeing as neither of us had thought to label it there was over an hour of guess work involved to try and identify it. It didn't smell the same as the pea pod wine but then it smelled far nicer than the dandelion wine. Oh dear. What made it worse was finding out how easy it was to put the cork in the bottles thanks to the gigantic device that looked like a cross between a nut cracker and a corkscrew because after proudly lining them all up I noticed a tiny black fly had somehow made it into one of the bottles. Argh!! The second demi-john has to wait to be bottled as we have run out of bottles and it may take a little while to drink enough wine so we can use the bottles. What a tough life.

I harvested all of the beetroot, being careful not to cut the stems too short in case they bled out and as I laid them on the potting table to dry out a bit my OH pointed out that I had laid them all out at the same angle...then moved one so it was upside down while I was looking away. Don't worry, I got my own back. My sweetpeas don't seem to want to die back at all so I am still harvesting a bunch of flowers every three days. Things could not sound more productive although I had to wrestle with some guilt over not growing any vegetables over the winter.

Yesterday started with a giggle because I opened the sitting room curtains and it must have scared Fat Pigeon who was sitting on the little gate because he fell off it. Nothing was hurt except his feathered pride. JR continues to warm my ankle as I potter about and he has faithfully warmed my toes as I have finished knitting all of the mini Christmas stockings. Every crafted gift for little ones this year and the snowflakes I am crocheting for Tewkesbury Abbey Christmas Fair have been completed so now I shall start working on the decorations for the house. My little ones have helped gather pine cones which have dried out in Mrs Jones, the rayburn, ready to be beaded, bowed and glittered however they choose. It might seem silly but in some ways I am very frugal and the growing trend to attach labels to clothing with little ribbons and safety pins has added to my stash of ribbons and pins but this time of year I like to order extra ribbons. Actually 'extra' doesn't quite cover it. Last year I bought a cute length of ribbon which had little gingerbread men on it and my plan is to buy some more just like that. These fine details will have to wait though as the splint on my hand is restricting my crafting more than I would like although I admit that there was a rather dreary day last weekend where I just sat and watched one Christmas film after the other. Yes, it's early but thinking about Christmas makes me all happy.

There is now a tub of crumble topping living in the fridge as I do like to make it as a quick pudding on hungry days or just days that need pudding. I don't tend to measure it all out as it makes extra washing up but having a quick standby comfort pudding on grey days is essential.

Unfortunately I have to admit that my homemaking skills do not extend to taming ironing piles so I had better go and practice that now.


Hugs from Haggis Land

Jx

The Turn of the Year

This week has seen the Autumn equinox come and go so now the days are officially shorter than the nights. As I was thinking about the seasons yesterday when out for a walk with my OH and JR it is obvious to me that Autumn is my favourite season. The leaves are turning beautiful warm colours and soon, in the right shade of golden syrup light, the trees will be on fire but in a good way. We are lighting the Rayburn on most nights and it makes the place cosy. My little quirk in naming inanimate objects has risen to the fore and the Rayburn has been called 'Mrs Jones' as it heats the home, heats the water and it is easy to cook in the oven or on the stove top so it is practically a housekeeper and what would be a good name? Why, Mrs Jones, of course!
I'm not crazy just differently minded.

There is always at least one plastic bag or empty drinks bottle in my bag when I go for walks now as I can never quite tell when I will find a huge cluster of gleaming blackberries and the gin has been needing topping up. Fruit pies and crumbles are a big hit in our home this time of year and later today I will be stopping by a friend's house to pick some plums at her invitation. There are some family favourites in the recipe books that we have at this time of year and my two children love a classic apple and lavender tart which is on my list of things to bake tomorrow. My store of jams and preserves is quite full now and the pressure barrels are full of ale which will be ready to drink at Christmas. Yes. I am thinking that far ahead already. My project bags that sit by my side of the sofa are filling up with little knitted stockings in red and white also tiny crocheted snowflakes are collecting in drifts.

My first year with a greenhouse is drawing to an end and although there are things I could grow over the winter, according to books and things, I am not sure as there are a couple of panes missing so things might get a bit chilly. Hardly any tomatoes ripened on the vine which was really disappointing so they are now sitting in bowls on the side in the kitchen to ripen a bit before I slow roast them and make a basic tomato sauce to put in jars for the winter. Next year I am trying some italiam tomato varieties at someone's recommendation. The chillies are ripening to fire engine red at a few per day and there are so many more than I had hoped for so they have been going into our dinners already although a slight miscalculation on my part led to some discomfort on my OH's part but let's gloss over that for now. The squashes are growing slowly and all that is left to harvest is some beetroot and carrots...oh, and some runner beans. Okay, maybe the greenhouse is doing better than I thought! My ginger experiment seems to be working better than I had thought and I am getting impatient to empty out the bucket to see how much root ginger I have managed to grow from the original three inch root that I planted a few months ago. Some of the online sources have said to leave it a year before digging it up but I really want to know how much it has grown so far...argh! Decisions, decisions.

Looking out the window I can see that the snow patch that was still on the hills in August has finally melted which would be good if they weren't starting to forecast snow on the hills. It's time for me to head outside to pick bunches of herbs for drying and if I am quick I might be able to give JR the slip as he has left my side long enough to fall asleep on the sofa. His self confidence has been dented by yet another large spider which scared him so he is hiding somewhere high up.

Hugs from Haggis Land

Jx

Golden Grains and Ripe Berries

This is my favourite time of year and it is definitely Autumn now. The sky has that shade of blue reserved for now and the warmth that is is the air has an undertone of the cold that is on the way. Walking around I love watching the golden fields bobbing gently and how they are turned into wiggly lines of piled up corn before a machine comes along and seemingly sucks in the corn only to spit out a perfectly round bale at the other end. Soon all of the fields will have standing bales, corn henges, dotted around them. We cut the grass yesterday, well my OH did, and the smell of the grass was a reminder that soon it will be the last cut as we get ready for Winter.

In the kitchen I am taking stock of the jars of preserves and working out what we will want for the next few months. Last year the blackberry gin was very popular so there will be more made as soon as the berries are ripe. With all of the sorting and reshuffling as I check for jars, bottles and kegs while making space on the shelves and in the freezer JR has been watching from under the huge kitchen table. He has been continuing his persecution of the postman but he has been spending a lot of time with his bone. This bone has been chewed but was maybe a teeny bit too big for him and remains quite unchanged despite his every effort to nibble, knaw, and chomp through it.

Another sign of Autumn is that the buzzards are back in the field next to the house. Last year there were three and this year we have seen two but they might not like having so many pheasants so close to them. Fat Pigeon is still very much in evidence and getting fatter seemingly by the day. The other day I looked out of the window and saw him strutting around the yard out front before he took off and flew to a nearby tree except his wings were creaking and working overtime to get him there. This is the only time I have seen him flying as he usually wanders up and down the bank behind the house, eating his way through the undergrowth and fluffing his feathers at any sparrows and robins that come close. This morning when I opened the curtains he was perched on the small gate at the top of the bank, he was watching me as if to say that he knows I've been telling you about him, although I really can't imagine him flying up there even after seeing him in flight; maybe he walks up the gatepost like SpiderPig in The Simpsons. The crow that knocks on my front door is back and if someone in the village hadn't told me they knew of him I would swear he is a figment of my imagination as he never appears when my OH is here.

Despite the menagerie I have never wanted to be a vegetarian although I have been perfecting my favourite meat free pizza. A couple of months ago we went camping in Wales and on the site the was a fabulous pizza business (it wasn't a wagon or a shop, just an oven and tressle tables under a tarp) and there I had a pizza with goat cheese, rocket and balsamic vinegar. I have changed it in that I use my homemade sourdough bread base, add onions cooked down with balsamic vinegar and seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, tomatoes, basil, chillies and rocket from the greenhouse, goat cheese slices and a little mozzarella. Yum.

Hugs from Haggis Land

Jx

Foraged feasts

This week has seen me serving up sorts of food including beetroot and walnut bread along with runner beans, peas and carrots from the garden but then my focus drifted further afield...again.

We went for a walk in the woods with JR and now have blaeberry muffins for this morning's brunch, chanterelle cream sauce to go with the beef at lunch and raspberry gin...for next summer as it will need to mature. Looking for the blaeberries was a lengthy task and mostly on my hands and knees. It was odd learning to 'get my eye in' as it were as these things are little dark blue ninja berries and not at all obvious. They hide under leaves and seem to almost grow into the moss (yes, I know this doesn't really make any sense but they just do). The raspberry gathering was easy by comparison, they practically waved flags to say where they were, although the thorns were a bit tricky and I did get stuck by a couple but that's the price to pay for homemade raspberry gin. Last year I made blackberry gin as a gift for my OH's dad at Christmas which was more than a bit popular so I want to make more this year beacuse it was lush. This year I am aiming to make some sloe gin as it has been a few years since I made it and there is a good quantity of sloes to be foraged nearby although the thorns are huge so I might want to use some gloves. Correctly identifying the chanterelles was brilliant; I thought I recognised them and decided I was certain enough to pick them and take them home for a final check of their identity (thank Google!) and cooking.

Note to self: there is a line and I must obey the line. I may have ruined Sunday roasts from now on because that chanterelle sauce was so tasty and anything less than beef roasted with a salty thyme crust and served with chanterelle cream will not be good enough. My OH has actually said it is so.

chanterelles gathered in my cap. Always be certain when you identify mushrooms as some are toxic and will make you ill rather than happy.

My OH has suggested that I put the receipe for the lunch on here so here it is...

beef roasting joint
fresh thyme
rock salt
freshly ground black pepper

*sear the beef joint in a hot pan until it is very nice and brown all over
*combine the fresh thyme, salt and pepper on a plate and roll the seared beef joint in the mixture before putting in a roasting tray. Put the rest of the mixture on top of the beef then roast at 180C until cooked to your preference.



1 handful of chanterelles, cleaned and torn into chucks
knob of butter (2oz approx)
2 shallots, peeled and sliced
1tbsp brandy
3 tbsp (approx) double cream
salt and pepper to taste

*melt the butter on a low heat in a saucepan then add the shallots to soften them (1 minute)
*add the chanterelles and allow to cook down, stirring occaisionally for ten minutes
*add the brandy and cook off for 1 minute then add the cream
*add seasoning


As you may have already gathered this is why I cannot diet!

Hugs from haggis land,

J x

End Of Summer

Summer is nearly over and I am not sure if it ever got properly started. The other day it was odd to be standing outside in the warm sunshine the other day and looking over the way to see snow patches on the hills, I mean, it is supposed to be summer for the raspberries tell me so. A mere two hours later a blackness descended and the rain pounded down while thunder and lightening had a good discussion outside and the power went out for a while. When I was little I used to like power cuts, lighting candles and listening to adults wondering about the contents of the fridge and freezer but now I am the adult I find I still like them every bit as much only there is a little guilt attached that I don't worry about the contents of the fridge and freezer. Oh well.

It has been very busy here and it has been a whirlwind of new bread experiments, foraging for raspberries and cherries and various crafty results but throughout it all JR has been a constant. He is glued to my ankle as I type and has been by my side as I bake with varying amounts of interference and dragging me to the best raspberry patches. My love for these sweet fruits is such that I decided years ago to grow some and in my last two gardens half the garden has been full of raspberry canes, however, the first year I had my tiny little Jack Russell puppy the harvest was awful. I had been checking and waiting and it all seemed to be going well then it was as if there had been a plague of birds that had stripped the canes. It took me a couple of weeks until I noticed that JR's, ahem, shall we say 'deposits', were studded with raspberry seeds. His fondness for raspberries puts mine in the shade and whenever he can he will eat them. The walks have been a bit of a battle to see who can find them first, well they were until we found the absolute motherload of raspberries. I was able to pick enough for a few jars of jam without JR huffing at me. There were lots of cherries too, sweet and sour, but they were so small that we ended up with some in a compot to go with some bread and the rest had to be turned into liqueur. I mean, there was nothing I could do about it, they just fell into a jar with some spirit and sugar. Luckily JR only munches on fallen cherries and there is no way he can climb trees to harvest them although that is a funny mental image.
It seems though that there is a limit to the bonds of hound and owner as I discovered the other night when a gigantic spider rushed me and JR ran for his life insead of protecting me. He looked particularly ashamed when he came to find me half an hour later and he has been extra vigorous in his guarding against the perceived evils of the postman.

Hugs from Haggis Land,

Jx

Doe Ray Me

Not a very imaginative title to the post, I'm sure, but the rather obvious ear worm from The Sound Of Music was playing at the time so maybe you can see why. First a little about myself. I am a lady of many varied interests and I live in Haggis land or Scotland if you were to be looking at a map. The title of the blog came from the weekly newsletters I have been sending my nearest and dearest via e-mail since moving here which are signed off that way. My hobbies are more of a way of life and frequently revolve around yarn of all types since I learned to knit at the age of nineteen. At the moment I can't knit, sew or crochet as I have fractured my wrist for the second year in a row but fret not folks as this will not be an annual occurrence as next year there is a rather important wedding to attend and I am doing all the flowers, making certain accessories and setting up the venue so both hands will be required.

My family are all very supportive of my crafting and encourage in different ways; my other half enables mad schemes, my daughter has perfected the 'negative eye roll' which is the most positive of all pseudo teen gestures imaginable, my son asks questions then offers brilliant ideas which are of the nutty professor ilk and my Jack Russell remains firmly attached to my ankle throughout. For example, today I am experimenting with a new sourdough bread recipe and JR was clamped to my ankle like a saggy leg warmer while the first stage of mixing was completed. When I made some goat's milk and honey soap an hour ago JR was doing an excellent impression of a dodgy ankle cuff, the sort you could have found in the indoor market in Cantebury when I was a teen. As I type his affections have been transferred to my elbow but only for my convenience you understand; JR would never want to be in the way.

It is possible that my world view is slightly flawed as I have been noticing certain trends more and more. "Hmmm...I should eat more salad" led to me refurbishing the greenhouse in the garden and growing salad but then because lettuce on its own is not all that interesting I also grew tomatoes, beetroot, carrots and potatoes. "I'm a bit cold" led to me cutting up tea towels, sewing them into rectangular pillows and filling them with rice to make heat packs then teaching myself to crochet so I could start making blankets out of the ends of all my leftover yarn from knitting projects. Affordable, useful crafting preferably with an element of learning something seems to be the result.

Having made a huge batch of pasta sauce for the freezer and sending my OH off to work with some new soap in a tin with a request to try before reporting back I have decided to curl up with a glass of red wine.

Hugs from Haggis Land,

Jx