Those catching up jobs

I've had a couple of days at home this week, which has enabled me to catch up on some of the outstanding jobs that needed doing.  This much-mended and loved old Welsh quilt had an outing last week - only for me to discover that whilst it had been airing on the outside line back in September, a bird (which had eaten blackberries!) had left a little gift.  I tried getting the stain out by hand, on a discrete area, but it didn't really remove it much and then I got a spread out area where it had been wetted, so it ended up just about fitting in the machine.

Unfortunately the stain is still just visible, so the blackberry made an effective dyestuff . . .  Below:  Ah well, I could always turn it back to front and sell it with the reverse up!



Below, here is a delightful antique Welsh quilt, all hand sewn, and stuffed with wool which had been gathered off the hedgerows and/or left over from spinning.  It was too large, when dry, to go in my washing machine, and so I had to soak it in the bath.  It took some doing and three changes of water only lightened it a little, to pale teabag brown!  It had an old laundry ticket on it, but gosh, it hadn't been washed in a great number of years to get this filthy.

I managed to shove it in the washing machine after the quilt above came out, and it got it much cleaner.

It has two different materials - a blue and beige side, and a pinks, greens and blues side.  This will now be offered for sale at my next big Fleamarket.

Below is an antique narrow loom Welsh blanket in need of tlc.  I had to rebind the ends as all but a few inches of the original machine-blanket-stitch had come undone.  It also needed the central seam resewing in parts, and a couple of darns affected.

Meanwhile, my husband hasn't been idle and below is his latest restoration project.  It's a lovely old Georgian coffer with coloured geometric inlays.  Some of these had fallen out and so he has been busy replacing them.  Some will need staining to fit in with the pattern.

For 10 p at the weekend, I bought a very old copy of Country Living magazine, and it had some ideas for using up a glut of apples (I have that alright!)

One of them was Apple Marmalade, which can be used as a glaze, a filling for cakes, or as pectin for jam making.  It was very simple to make in the oven.  You should be able to read most of the instructions, if you can't and would like the missing bit (under the glare from the camera flash) let me know.

The final jelly.  It reminded me somewhat of the colour of that quilt water . . .  I did have a quince, and so just made half the amount in the recipe.

Above, a little treat for me this week when I was in Charlie's for bird food.  I just couldn't resist the Cow Parsley design on these oven gloves.

Finally, another project of my husband's which has been sidelined for months now.  When finished it will be a solid oak grain ark, which I will keep my various bags of flour in.

I hope you are keeping warm - it's not good gardening weather any more, that's for sure!

Llyn Brianne reservoir Part 2

Above: gorgeous colour in these trees.  It was just such a beautiful afternoon (nice to remember now we are in 10/10 cloud cover and rain today!)

The dam was constructed in the late 1960s/early 1970s and apparently it is the River TOWY it controls, not the Cothi.  I don't know why I got that wrong, but hey-ho, one lives and learns.  This valley was flooded, and the remains of just two houses are beneath it.  Fannog Farmhouse can be seen when levels are low and many years back, in an exceptionally dry period, some wag put a For Sale notice by it - I can remember seeing the photo in the Carmarthen Journal.

I should have got a proper picture of the dam, which is apparently the tallest in the UK at a height of 300 feet.  I do know that the year before we arrived, there was terrific flooding further downstream as a result of water run-off and the dam being overwhelmed with water and the houses by the bridge across our river were flooded to a depth of 4 feet.  HERE is a link to a page about the reservoir and including a 6 minute video of it which will give you a good idea of the area and its beauty.

I forgot to say that the "pub lunch" was a non-starter as the pub we had decided to go to was SHUT!  So we had to resort to eating some of the extra strong Cheddar (which I don't normally like, but I was VERY hungry by 2 p.m.) which we had to break into chunks using the car scissors . . .  VERY sophisticated!!!  I hadn't bought bread as we didn't need any, so it was cheese only and for me, a handful of plum tomatoes, which wasn't a good idea as I couldn't wash them and the spray on them affected my asthma.

Llyn Brianne Reservoir Part 1

This is the sunrise a week ago.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Anyway, we felt we would have a day off after a busy weekend and the big Fleamarket on Carmarthen Showground.  I suggested we went out for lunch, so after we had taken new stock in and done some basic grocery shopping, we set off for Llyn Brianne Reservoir, above Llandovery.  It was probably 15 years since we were last there.

The photographs are scenic ones, so not many words I'm afraid.  It was good to be out on such a lovely sunny day - I think the temps were around 71 degrees F.  (21 degrees C).

There were lots of berries on the Hawthorn trees, but I did spot lots of Redwings and some Fieldfares, which in the light of the cold spell which has suddenly hit us (and a threat of snow on high ground here mid-week) doesn't seem at all surprising.  Our Winter Visitors are arriving early from Scandinavia, where it is obviously much colder already.  The birds in the garden are very evident now, a dozen or so in the apple tree I can see out of the window here, including lots more Blackbirds than normal (interlopers too).  I shall buy bird seed and peanuts when we go to town today, and put the feeders out for the first time since April.  I follow the RSPB guidelines and don't feed through the summer months.

A lovely bracken clad hillside soars above us.

Another colourful Hawthorn which will provide food for the wild birds.

A lovely splash of lemon yellow in the trees ahead, and steep rock cliffs hidden behind the trees.

The foothills of the Cambrian Mountains with the River Towey at their feet.

Another view of the Cothi below us, and wonderful autumn colours.

This was about 1.30 p.m. and already the sun had dipped enough to darken the valley bottom here.

What a wonderful spot to live, although it is probably a holiday cottage by now.  More later on today.  We're off to town to do some shopping next.

Home Made Chocolate Hob Nob Biscuits

OK, so these didn't look like the gorgeous photo in the magazine (the Oct/Nov edition of Baking Heaven, a magazine I buy regularly) as I didn't have a special (and probably expensive!) patterned plastic sheet to put them on and get a fancy pattern on the chocolate, but . . . O.M.G. they tasted wonderful.  I made them as a gift for my friend Tricia and her family when I went to visit last week. That meant I didn't get to eat more than one or two of them.

As you know, I am passionate about cooking and baking food from scratch so that you don't have a list of ingredients 35 items long.  This recipe has just 7, as you will see.  I used Lidl 70% chocolate with raspberry flavouring for the topping but you can use milk chocolate if you prefer.

Chocolate Hobnobs

Makes 24 biscuits

150g (5 1/2 oz) plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
125g (4 1/2 oz) rolled oats
150g (5 1/2 oz) caster sugar
150g (5 1/2 oz) unsalted butter (mine was salted, as that's what was at hand)
1 tblspn golden syrup
500 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Patterned plastic sheet (I didn't have one).

1.  Preheat oven to 180 deg. C/Gas mark 4 and line two baking trays with silicone paper, or alternatively use a non-stick baking mat.

2.  Sieve together the flour and bicarbonate of soda twice into a bowl.  Add the oats and sugar and mix well until evenly combined.

3.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat.  Add the golden syrup and mix together.  Pour this into the dry mixture and mix well.

4.  Divide the mixture into 24 balls and place them on the the prepared baking trays.  gently push down on each ball in order to flatten them slightly.  Bake for 18-20 mins, or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool.

5.  Temper the chocolate:  Place 2/3 of the chopped chocolate into a double boiler or over a bain marie.  (I use a glass bowl over a pan of water.)  Do NOT boil the water as it may scold the chocolate.  Stir regularly until the chocolate has melted and reaches 45 - 50 deg. C, ensuring all the fat and sugars have melted evenly.  (Oops - forgot to do that).  Now gradually add the remaining cocolate, stirring until everything has fulled melted, cools to 28-29 deg. C and thickens.  Warm back up to 31-32 deg. C.  The chocolate is now tempered ready for use.  (Note to self: must be more scientific).

Dip the top of each biscuit into th chocolate and place chocolate side down onto the patterned plastic sheet.  Push down gently and leave to set for 1 - 2 hrs.  Carefully remove the hob nobs from the plastic and store in an airtight container and consume within one week.  As you can see, I just spooned the chocolate onto my biscuits, but they tasted just as good!

Lovely walk around Stanpit Marshes - and a Large White Egret sighting

I had planned to meet up with my So'ton relatives whilst I was at my friend Tricia's, but when I phoned it turned out my aunty and uncle were going to be down in Exmouth that week, so instead I ended up having a lovely walk with my friend and her collie around Stanpit Marshes near Christchurch.  It was a lovely warm day and it felt so good to get some sea air.

No Avocets or Waxwings were spotted, but we did see several Curlews, a Redshank and . . . excitingly, a Large White Egret.  They are considerably bigger than the wee chaps we have been seeing (we even have them on the Welsh coastal margins now too).

Christchurch Priory.

How nice it must be to live right on the marshes, with lovely views across the estuary towards Hengistbury Head.

Sea Asters (above).

This might be Pickleweed . . .

My friend and I wondered how on earth planning permission was given for these modern houses . . .

Oystercatcher? in foreground, Curlew (I think) to the right) and great White Egret middle beneath the white yacht.

A far more positive ID of the Large White Egret.  My friend has seen them here before, but I didn't know they were in Britain.

Some of the New forest ponies who were grazing on the marshes.

What a lovely little river boat.  I was waving away, as I thought someone had waved at me, but it turned out to be their dog's tail wagging!!!  Perhaps I need stronger specs . . .

Finally, a rusty old wreck which the Authorities had perceived as Dangerous, and put fencing up around it!

Tomorrow (hopefully) some photos of Llyn Brianne reservoir, where we went yesterday.

Now the proper New Forest post 1

Now that I am back home it is catch-up time again.  We had the Fleamarket at Carmarthen yesterday, but were so tired when we got back - late, as we got stuck in a huge traffic jam the moment we joined the main road into Carmarthen from the showground - that the car is still unpacked, so I need to do as much as I can of that, and just leave the really heavy boxes until my beloved finally wakes up and is ready to help me.

I am being held to ransom by the apple harvest too - talk about a bumper one, and on ALL our trees.  I have given boxes and boxes away, but there are still lots to be picked, so I think the birds will do well this year.  I have made some chutney and will make more, but it's finding the time to do it as the garden needs more autumn tidying and I have a long list of "fings to do".

I hope you will enjoy these pictures from a local walk at Ashurst which I did on two of the three days I was in So'ton staying with my friend.  It is difficult to see her so poorly and not able to bounce back as she did a year ago.  It was a lovely visit though, and as we have been friends since we were five years old, I feel like one of the family when her children and grandchildren visit.

I'm not sure if this mare is yet to foal, or whether she is just saggy from previous foalings, but I think there may be a very late foal for her.

A photo to demonstrate a) the reflective collar round this mare's neck in case she strays on the road in the night, and b) how her tail has been cut by the Agister to show which part of the Forest she is hefted to.  The ponies are caught up in the annual Drifts and foals separated for weaning/selling (though there are VERY few of them now as no real market for them), wormed, fillies being retained will be branded with their owner's mark.  They aren't wild as such as they all belong to the Commoners who live on the Forest and have grazing rights.  HERE is a note about the system.

Certainly not the deepest part of the Forest, as this was just a short stroll from the main road, but you could keep going and end up in Lymington or Brockenhurst if it took your fancy!

The trees were turning and some of the colours were stunning.

How I managed to get the only car in the area that morning in MY photo shows how ditsy I can be!!

I loved this lumpy old tree.

This is it from another angle, with better lighting.

Some more photos tomorrow.  Now I really MUST unpack the car and stew up some apples.

There are several MORE boxes and still LOTS more on the trees . . .

This is the one we have picked MOST from!