Thursday 29 April 2021

A Marmite Hen . . .

 


Today was a Hay Market day.  As yesterday had been a TOTAL return to Winter (my goodness it was cold) I was debating what to wear, but opted for my new blue long sleeved blouse and a vest top under, and my seldom-worn chunky knitted long cardi.  (Mind you, I put a jacket in the car, just in case).  It's nice to dress up just a little bit now and again.  Here is a scene from the lay-by with a view near Brecon, where we stopped to eat our Patisserie stall lunch.  Those lemon tarts with white lemon and strawberry topping were calling out to be bought! Keith tried the dark chocolate and ginger, which has a big walnut on top.  Yummy!


Hay wasn't quite so busy as last time we went (I think Lockdown had only just been lifted then).  Here is one side of our friend Kath's shop window - a tempting display.


Looking along that same row of shops - I love the old timbers, left to age and not painted with black paint (I have a thing about black - or white, inside houses - painted beams.)


Opposite, woven baskets outside of the indoor market in the Buttermarket, where we used to stand at the Wee Flea there on a Friday.  I have a few of these, which are used for holding craft supplies.  I noticed prices had gone up, but that is the way of things.



I looked in the window, but was very good and didn't get tempted to go in.


One side of the window display at the Antique Centre has been changed, very spring-like.



Inside looking out, this was the opposite window which has also been altered.  Lots of Carltonware china.  I can remember when it was flavour of the month and you couldn't touch it at auction, now no-one wants it! The sort with the Foxgloves on still charms me.



Hen and chicks. I liked these and would put something like this on my stall.  Keith and Tam just went YUK!  Ah well, Keith has always said he doesn't know why I bought chicken-orientated stuff (well I do, as it always sold!)  So, this is a Marmite hen - you either love it or hate it!

Above and below: Velvetfern.  We went in, and she had some lovely things, and at sensible prices, so I am hoping she will make a go of it.  So many people come to Hay and think it is the land of milk and honey and put silly prices on stuff.  This shop is well worth visiting and I am going to treat myself in there next time.  I've just noticed my reflection below . . .




The plant stall.  I looked, and a couple of things were appealing, but having spent £25 the other day, I thought I had best leave my purse in my bag!


A curious little prickly thing on another junky stall.  It was quite weighty and I think was for parting the fibres of flax or similar, when it had been retted in a pit.  Again, I didn't even ask the price.


Finally, Hay castle. Work is still ongoing, but it looks like it is mainly the roof being worked on now.

Purchases from the Market were White Rye Flour and Brown Rye Flour, for bread (I have a recipe for a Rye Loaf made with plain yoghurt (in fridge already) which I will make tomorrow.  It was on Kate Humble's farm programme recently.  Also more jumbo oats, and some flaked almonds.  Oh, and those little patisserie pies of course.  From the butchers, a Steak and Ale pie for our meal tonight.

I have been busy in the garden this afternoon, and finally planted the two gooseberries, the first (and biggest) of the Autumn fruiting raspberries, one of the golden ones.  I also sowed some of the grass/wild flower seed mixture (and hope that the wretched pheasants don't discover it's there - though I did sprinkle soil* over.)  I transplanted some more of the Astilbe to the other side of the pond where there was an abandoned area covered in ivy. Then I planted the orange Geum (Borisii), and two more Delphiniums, this time white ones.  

* This came from one of the ceramic pots left behind by the previous owner.  It had two unhappy Primulas in it (now transplanted to the bank) and some gone-over Tete-a-Tete daffs, which I shall bung in elsewhere.  The spent compost was fine for spreading over the grass seed mix, but no goodness in it for growing any fresh plants.  I have another couple of the same to empty and replant.  I will be working all year to try and get the paddock area sorted, as still lots of roots and stones up there.  

As we drove round the countryside today, the Blackthorn was still in flower, though just starting to go over a bit now, just as the May (Hawthorn) blossom is starting to flower.  I don't recall seeing the two in bloom at the same time but this has been a long and very cold start to spring.  All the oil seed rape fields are golden yellow with flowers, and the verges equally golden with Dandelions, and the last of Celandines and on the way to Brecon, the roadside banks have plenty of Cowslips. Sadly, our one Swallow doesn't have a mate yet, and there are none to be seen - hoping they are just held up over Europe due to the cold weather and not decimated by the trigger-happy lot in the Med. He/she looked so disconsolate sat on the power wire by the stables today . . .  Do you have them returned to your area? wherever you are.

24 comments:

  1. I do love visiting Hay, and shall watch out for Velvet Fern next time I visit. I believe that prickly thing is a flower pin holder. I purchased one many years ago when I attended a flower arranging class.

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  2. Ooh, I would never have thought a flower pin holder (having not heard of one.) You will enjoy Velvet Fern. She had a lovely selection of things.

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    1. My grandmother had several of those weighty pin things for flower arranging so i assummed that's what it was, but of course they may have had a previous life as something else.

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  3. That is indeed a "frog" for holding flowers. They are very useful, both the kind with holes and the kind with pins. What a lovely town Hay is. I enjoy it immensely when you post your trips and walks. I LOVE that hen!

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    1. Well, I will recognize the flower frog when I see one again. Hay is our favourite town - we have good friends there, and there are some lovely shops. I used to enjoy exploring the back streets (so to speak) when we were selling there at the Wee Flea(market).

      Glad you like the hen.

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  4. I had never heard of a flower pin holder either. I looked them up. I've got a glass 'frog' but never saw them in this form. I like the idea of replacing foam though. I really enjoyed walking through your little town.

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    1. Debby - you'll be on the look-out for one now. We will have to put longer on the parking next time - we'd been putting an hour, but now the shops are open and friends trading, I will have to put 2 hours next time.

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  5. Oh, how my heart went pitter patter seeing all those wonderful shop windows and displays {note to self, if ever in Hay, leave purse and cards at home} I can't say I have seen swallows here yet, but may have heard a cuckoo.

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    1. Oh gosh yes, LOTS of tempting things in Hay. I was very firm with myself but fell off the wagon today (post at weekend). I heard a Cuckoo as we went out of the door at 6 a.m. on Sunday . . . but not since.

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    2. I commented on here before my walk, so naturally I saw swallows today!

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    3. So pleased you had a nice walk again, and BRILLIANT that you saw Swallows. Oh, HOW I hope that they arrive here again soon.

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  6. My mother had one of those lead flower pins. I once left here on a hot Summer day wearing only a shirt (plus trousers) and arrived in Brecon needing a jumper and an overcoat. The man in the cafe guessed where I had come from.

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    1. Quite often we would leave Carms and it would feel reasonably warm. Get to Brecon and it felt considerably chillier!

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  7. Lovely walk through Hay, so glad to be an armchair tourist on your blog ;) The shops really do have pretty displays hope everything goes well for them.

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    1. Cheaper to be an armchair tourist too! The displays were very tempting and well done. It's good to see shops old and new, surviving and with hope for the future.

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  8. Sounds like an enjoyable outing. I recognized the flower frog only because my mother had several of them for arranging flowers. Lots of birds here but haven't seen too many swallows yet. Did see an Indigo Bunting the other day. Usually on see them once a year, so I guess that was it. Have to laugh at a robin that has decided to scold me every time I go on my deck (lots of container plants there to tend). He gives me a real "chirp-lashing" and even though he is usually perched on a tree branch only 10 feet away from me, he does not fly off as I move around the deck. Perhaps the pandemic is getting to me...I find myself "talking" back to him. LOL

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    1. Nothing wrong with talking back to birds. My mum once had a "pet" fly she called Freddie!! Robins are always about the garden when I am working, and are often the first to sing in the dawn light.

      Oh wow to the Indigo Bunting - that looks so exotic.

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  9. I miss selling in Hay, I used to have a stall in the Butter Market , but it must be ten years ago now that I stopped.
    Nice to see the place

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    1. So do we gz. Saw several of our old friends there, and had a lovely chat and a real laugh with Rob. We used to have such (freezing!!) fun when we were doing the Wee Flea.

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    2. I did the weekly market..I bought a few things from Tom over the years,and the French baker and The Sock Man..

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  10. Bookstores are my weakness! I admire your resolve. :-) ~Andrea xoxo

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    1. Ours too, but having moved recently I know only the Very Best Books can be found room for and I need to get rid of a few hundred surplus to requirements.

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  11. Hay looks so interesting - hope we can make the trip soon. I like that Carltonware too especially the foxglove one. Not sure about the hen!! Although I do have some hen related things here. Not seen a swallow yet - I thought I would see them last week in Hereforshire but failed to spot one - perhaps next time.

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    1. You'd be daft NOT to go to Hay, but knowing your love of books, leave your debit card at home! We had a pair of Swallows join the singleton here. I am guessing this cold weather from the North has been holding them back. I do hope that's all it is.

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