Busy in the kitchen

Scroggs (Crab Apple) Jelly - one of 11 jars made.  The darker colour due to an infusion of Bramble Jelly juice.  Lack of clarity due to me squashing the crab apples before straining through the jelly bag.  That's something you shouldn't do, so I don't know what made me do it this time!  Ah well, it will still taste good.

Below: we are inundated with apples at this time of year.  This is one box of about 10!  That's just from one tree too, and some windfalls from the two at the top of the yard.  I am giving away as many as I can before I disappear beneath the apple mountain!

This is just one of the windfall boxes, which will need using quickly!

At Sunday's car boot sale, I bought a dozen back numbers of Country Living magazine from a fellow dealer we know.  It's a magazine I enjoy but the amount of advertising in it puts me off buying it brand new, so I just read it 2nd hand when I find it offered.  In last year's Christmas issue were some lovely clay horses, white with red painting on them.  I thought they were lovely but couldn't find the recommended cookie cutter, so I bought this one instead and will have a play with the clay (when I've been to the Range, which I hope stocks it).  Obviously, this is a cookie cutter, so it will get used for that too.

As a follow-on from the cube pincushion I made the other day, I have made two more, using the method my patchwork teacher recommended, which was to use one long piece of material around the centre.  Well, I did, but tbh, think my way gave a better shape so if I make any more, will have separate pieces of material for each side.  Anyway, this turned out reasonably well and is stuffed with the coarse spinning wool, as are the others.

Today I have been spending my time on line following an auction which we thought of buying at - but the items we were interested on went too dearly.  When I wasn't up here, I was outside carrying on with the autumn tidy up in the garden.  I have just dug up one big clump of Oriental Borage - another of the culprits which have little in the way of flowers, but are large on leaves the rest of the summer . . .

I managed to fit in a short walk too.  Short, because of getting back to the computer and also because a neighbour was trashing the bottom hedge - a really brutal job as it had about 4 years' growth on it so some of the branches being trashed were the size of my wrist.  He is the neighbour who has no sympathy towards nature and just does any job the easiest way.  So I had a walk around the overgrown field beside the river, a short loop of a walk.  The river stretch was beautiful and so relaxing.

I am not sure what is happening tomorrow yet - I may have to miss my Patchwork class if there is a trip to the auction in the offing.  We are waiting to hear from a neighbour who was going to go with us (if she can get a dog sitter).