Sunshine

Woke this morning and the sun was shining, no wind blowing, no rain. Forgetting other plans, we went down through the tropical gardens to walk on the beach.

It was lovely!

Stir-up Sunday

Did you stir up a pudding or cake mix yesterday? I had intended to make my Christmas mincemeat and then realized that I had no cooking apples. Until the move to this town I have always had access to a plentiful supply of free fruit. At my childhood home we had a small brick built building in the garden that was used as an apple store. It smelt wonderful inside! I'm not aware of seeing cooking apples for sale in the shops but shall have to make an effort tomorrow to find some. Instead I made a batch of lemon curd, six lemons to make three jars of curd, plus a little more that we polished off at teatime.

It is a pleasant recipe to make. In a bowl over a pan of simmering water melt 6oz of butter. Add 12oz sugar and the grated zest and juice of six lemons. Beat 6 eggs and add to the mixture, stirring continually until the mixture has thickened. Pour into warmed jars while still hot. One jar for the fridge, two put into the freezer.

Hate to say it

I hate to say it when it is still November but it is starting to look a bit like Christmas! Just a dusting where we live but the temperature is low and I've draped a bit of fleece over the citrus trees.

Leaf sweeping continues but the bulk of leaf fall is over now. It is stir up weekend ahead, time to be mixing mincemeat, stirring the pudding and cake, all great reasons to be busy in the warmth of the kitchen!

Words for weather

The weather report is threatening us with icy Arctic weather and I looked out of the bedroom window this morning to see what the day promised.

It was mizzling, one of the many descriptive words used in the English language to describe weather. 'Mizzling' is a Yorkshire term for a fine mist of rain, finer than drizzle. It sounds like a mixture of mist and drizzle. The day was 'soft', still, quiet, no wind and not especially cold. Not a particularily good day to be gardening. Leaves continue to fall

and the compost heap is already rather full.

I had a bit of a wander about outside because, although it was damp, it was really rather beautiful.

Every day a blackbird comes to eat the beauty bush berries. He looks very fine with his black feathers and orange beek amongst the purple berries. I've tried to get a photo of him but he obviously has one bright eye fixed on me because whenever I lift my arms to snap him off he flies.

I cleared the leaves from the front drive before conceding defeat, putting on a dry jacket and going to do the weekly shop. (And the kitchen, HURRAH, is once more, and more brightly so, mine, all mine!

In the garden

It was a cold, crisp day yesterday with plenty of sunshine, something we haven't seen for quite a while. The workmen returned to paint the ceiling so I put on a warm jacket and spent a day in the garden sweeping and collecting fallen leaves.

My compost bin is now full to the brim with collected leaves but there are plenty more still to fall. At the weekend, while we were away, our neighbours had a tree surgeon take out some damaged branches from the oak that hangs over our house. I went up onto the flat section of our roof and removed four large bags of leaves and debris. The sunshine made the best of what autumn colour there is.

I stayed outside until the light began to fade and a full moon came into view beyond the neighbouring trees. What a lovely sight. I kept popping back outside to see if it had cleared the branches.

The last time I went outside I was surprised by a new sight, the light from the kitchen shining through the newly fitted Velux windows lightening up the side of the house.

(The cold weather meant that the first coat of paint didn't dry on the ceiling so the painter is back again today to finish off. I'm looking forward to reclaiming my kitchen!)

Weekend in Bath

We've had a weekend away from home, staying with a friend who lives in Bath. It is such a lovely city, we lived nearby for more than half a century and I miss it. It was calm, misty weather and we walked into town through the park where drifts of newly fallen and brightly coloured beech leaves were crisp underfoot.

The door to the Georgian garden was open so I took a look inside. It is rather a forlorn looking sight at the moment, not very impressive for a city that is labeled a winner of Britain in Bloom! It won't take much work to tidy it up. I shall expect better things by next spring!

Himself has work in the current exhibition at the Victoria Gallery so we went along to see how it was placed,

It's the annual open exhibition and I thought it very well hung, it is no easy matter to display a very mixed selection of work and have it look cohesive.

Bath is a great place for shopping. Unfortunately (or possibly not!) as we walked through town on Sunday morning one of my favourite shops was closed. All I could do was look at their window display and covet the net skirt!

We met up for a lively Sunday lunch with the book group. We have been members for about forty years. What a rowdy bunch - good company, good food and talk, it's always a lot of fun.

The story so far!

A dry day, cold but no wind, just the thing for having two holes put in our roof! This was the state of play first thing in the morning.

Yes, there is a large oak tree that overhangs our house from a neighbouring garden. And, yes, there are always plenty of leaves to clear. There is a tree preservation order on all the trees around us because we are in a conservation area of former woodland. (But the leaves make great compost.)

The kitchen was ready for action.

But in the early afternoon work stopped. What's this? It was because the main workman had fallen off a ladder. WHAT!!! Off he went to hospital to check whether he's broken any ribs. The cover is on. I hope it will be able to be removed tomorrow so that work can proceed.

Now that one of the windows has been put in place on the ceiling it looks rather small.

We are all scrunched up in a corner of the kitchen. it will be good when it's done! Hey ho.