Autumn beauty

We get lots of sparrows and starlings visiting our garden and we often find ourselves whiling away a few minutes watching them from the house.  They tend to come down mob-handed and I find it difficult to take half-decent photos as I'm usually taking them through the dining room window, and the sparrows in particular move about so quickly!

I'm sure that all the weeds wildflowers have told you that this is the ornamental side of the front garden 😄  I'm not really complaining too much about the wildflower-takeover at the moment, as it's obviously benefitting the birds judging by how much poking about they seem to do out there!  I shall have to do some careful planning on what to plant when we come to sort the area out, hopefully next year.  I want to be able to strike a happy balance between what's good for the birds and the ornamental plants I like ~ plenty of research ahead, methinks 😉 

I've been so busy doing other things that I haven't inspected the kitchen garden borders for a couple of weeks or so.  Most of the plants are now tucking themselves up for winter but there are still some blooms hanging on, like on the escalonia.

Isn't the foliage on this rosa rugosa alba gorgeous!  It's one of the new roses that I planted as a bare root earlier this year.  All the roses have settled in really well over these past few months; fingers crossed that they get through winter unscathed!  

The last of the blooms on A Shropshire Lad.  The flowers are usually a very pretty peachy-pink shade, but as you can see these last few blooms of the season have faded out to cream.  Even so, they are still very beautiful and a welcome sight on a dreary autumn day.

Remembrance...

Little words of wisdom

 

Sorting the stash

Do you remember the stash-of-shame in our guest bedroom??

Well, over the last couple of days I've been a good girl and got it all neatly tidied up into bags...

...which are now languishing stacked equally neatly in my craft room instead of the bedroom.  It was a very worthwhile exercise, actually; I now know exactly what yarn and how much of it I have, with appropriate notes in all the bags and crates.

I've set aside four bags filled with various of the yarns to make blankets for our bedroom, the guest bedroom, and another two as gifts for Christmas 2021.  And although I haven't yet decided which yarn to use, I have it in mind to make another couple of blankets as "just because" gifts sometime next year 😊  Also, my Mum would like me to make a cover to spruce up a pouffe she uses a lot, so I sorted out some suitable yarn from the odds 'n' ends bag for that little project today.   

I'm making good progress on the Christmas gift blanket, too.  It's working up into a lovely warm blanket, and I'm really liking these two pretty colours together.  I'm certainly keeping myself out of mischief 😉 

Such a treat!

We had a fish and chip supper on Saturday, the first takeaway we've had since March 😋  The Peedie Chippie van usually comes through to Stromness on a Saturday but, of course, has been out of action for most of these past few months.  It was lovely to see them back on the road again, and judging by the socially-distancing queue plenty of other folk were glad to have them back, too 😉  Adrian queued for about 45 minutes, and he said that by the time he'd got our order the queue was as long again behind him!  They serve up delicious fish and chips, and I always have a little pot of mushy peas to go with my supper.  The portion size is very generous, so much so we quickly learned that one supper was plenty for the two of us!

Isn't it funny how the little things that we always took for granted become so much of a treat when we can't have them so readily 😊

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014) 

A bear's tale

Once upon a time there was a sweet little teddy bear.  He was given to The Boy when he was a baby, and teddy lived in The Boy's messy little bedroom with all his other soft toys. 

The Boy did play with teddy but no more than any of his other soft toys.....in other words, this teddy wasn't The Boy's favourite, can't-live-without softie ~ which is what all teddies hope to become when they go to live with their particular boy or girl.  Still, teddy was played with often enough to wear out the pads on his paws ~ so The Boy's Nanny very kindly knitted him some lovely new ones, and sewed them in place.  Teddy thought he looked very smart with his new knitted pads but still The Boy didn't choose him as his most favourite softie.

The Boy grew older and eventually almost all the softies were relegated to the loft in a big black plastic sack ~ including poor teddy.  They all lived up in the dark, too-cold-in-winter/too-hot-in-summer loft for many years until one day The Boy's parents decided the time had come to have a jolly good clear-out.  Lots of things were discovered up in that loft, some of which The Boy's parents had even forgotten they had put up there!  

One-by-one the bags and boxes in the loft were opened and the contents examined.  A few things were kept and put back, but everything else was taken to the local charity shop or put out on the drive with a big sign beside them saying "FREE!  Please help yourself!" ~ it really is quite amazing just how much stuff will be taken away if it is accompanied by a sign saying "free" 😉

The time eventually came for the big black plastic sack to be opened up and examined.  The Boy had a quick look through all his childhood soft toys and decided that he really didn't need them now that he was a Young Man.  So The Young Man's Mum sorted through the softies; some went to the charity shop and some went out on the drive.  She came across the poor sad teddy and saw that he still had a sticky patch on his lovely yellow fur from way back when The Young Man was, well, a little boy.  Hmm, thought Mum, it looks like poor teddy must have had some juice spilled on him.  And then Mum remembered that teddy had been given to The Young Man by her aunt and uncle when he was just a baby.....and had been made by her cousin.....and The Young Man's Nanny had knitted new pads for teddy's paws.

Mum decided that with such a family history the sad teddy couldn't possibly be sent away.  So into the washing machine went teddy to make him lovely and clean again, then he did some sunbathing on the clothesline to dry off.  Mum did feel a teensy wee bit guilty about pegging teddy on the line by his ears but he didn't complain ~ after all, he had just been through a wash cycle in the big metal drum!  

After teddy had been spruced up, Mum wondered what she should do with him.  First-things-first, she decided, teddy needs a name as he had never had one when he belonged to The Young Man.  Mum thought about it for a moment, looking carefully at teddy, and the name Archie just popped into her head.  So teddy now had a name for the first time in about 23 years.....he was so happy, even though he still wasn't anyone's special, favourite bear.  Mum explained to Archie that even though she had grown very fond of him indeed, she still had her own teddies from when she was a baby ~ and so it really wouldn't be fair to have a favourite teddy.

       So now Archie lives in the bedroom which belongs to The Young Man's parents, and spends his days relaxing on their bed.  He has two new friends, Arthur and Fred, who were Mum's teddies when she was a baby over 50 years ago!  They are very kind to Archie and he now feels very special and loved 💖

This little tale happened quite a long while ago now but a couple of years back, all the teddies had a Big Adventure together.  It all began one winter's day when they were rather alarmed to find themselves packed into a box!  "Oh my goodness", Archie said to Arthur and Fred, "what is happening?  Are we all going to be given away?".  Before they knew it, their box was put in a big lorry by Jolly Men with strange-to-their-ears accents.  Suddenly the engine of the big lorry was started and a very long journey had begun.

The Jolly Men drove and drove for hundreds of miles.  The poor teddies were very frightened, especially when the big lorry stopped and they were left in their cold box all night long.  The next day The Jolly Men started the engine of the big lorry once again and before they knew it, the teddies were on a boat crossing the deep blue sea!  Poor Archie was so very frightened but Arthur and Fred, who are much older and wiser, reassured him that Mum would never just give them all away.  They were sure everything would work out for the best in the end.

And, of course, they were quite right!  The big lorry soon pulled up outside a new house, in a little town on a Scottish island.  The Jolly Men took that box into the new house and before long Mum had unpacked all the teddies once more.

So Archie still spends his days relaxing on Mum and Dad's bed with his best friends, Arthur and Fred.  They now have a lovely view out of their bedroom window of wide open skies and the beautiful sea.....and Mum would never part with any of them 😍 

A pudding experiment!

 During the early part of lockdown I used up the last of our pudding rice and couldn't get any more in our local Tesco, which was a tad annoying.  Anyhoo, I had a brainwave and got some arborio rice to try out as a substitute ~ after all it's short-grain like pudding rice is.  And then I promptly forgot all about making rice puds over the summer 😄  Fast-forward to Christmas Pudding Sunday and I found myself with fresh milk to use up from the leftover ingredients ~ finally time for that rice pudding experiment 😉

As you can see the arborio behaved just like the pudding rice does.  I got to thinking about what exactly "pudding rice" is, so did a quick search on Google and this is what the good 'ole BBC has to say on the matter:

"This is not a specific type of rice, but a generic description for short-grained white rice used for making rice pudding.  The term is rarely used outside England.  Whichever rice you use, the important thing is that it should give a soft, creamy, slightly sticky result."

So now we know!  If you too fancy a bowl of comforting, rib-sticking, rice pudding here's the very simple recipe I've used for donkey's years, which gives 4-6 servings:

5oz/140g short-grain rice, such as pudding or arborio rice

3oz/90g sugar

2 pints/1 litre milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients, except the vanilla, in a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Turn down to a gentle simmer and cook for about 25-30 minutes, stirring from time-to-time to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  When the rice is cooked, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Little words of wisdom

 

Determination

 Do you remember me telling you about the poppy that was having a second flush of leaves?  Well, that bud it sent out was obviously determined to open, despite the lateness of the year and the ravages of Storm Aiden over the weekend.  It's looking a tad battered and torn now but how appropriate that it should have flowered so close to Remembrance Day.....

It's that time again!

I made the Christmas puddings yesterday ~ sadly, though, no "Mummy's little helper" this year.  Still, I had Radio 3 for company so it wasn't all bad 😉  So here is my annual post for the Larkin Christmas pudding recipe:

12 oz/340g sultanas

12 oz/340g raisins

6 oz/170g glace cherries, halved or quartered

8 oz/227g finely chopped mixed candied peel

8 oz/227g plain flour

1 level teaspoon ground ginger

1 level teaspoon mixed spice

1 level teaspoon nutmeg ~ freshly grated if possible

1 lb/454g soft brown sugar

8 oz/227g breadcrumbs

10 oz/284g shredded suet ~ beef or vegetable, whichever you prefer

6 eggs

5 fl oz/142ml barley wine or stout

5 fl/142ml oz brandy

grated rind and juice of 1 orange

1/2 pint/284ml milk (approximately)

This recipe makes enough mixture to generously fill four 1 pint (5ooml) pudding basins, each one of which will give about six servings; I usually use three 1 pint basins and one 1 1/2 pint (900ml). Grease whatever size of pudding basins you would like your finished Christmas puddings to be. 

Sift the flour and spices into a very large mixing bowl, stir in the sugar, breadcrumbs and suet, then add the dried fruit and grated orange rind.

Beat the eggs and add to them the barley wine/stout, brandy and orange juice.  Stir this into the dry ingredients and mix well, adding enough milk to give the mixture a soft dropping consistency if necessary. 

Put the mixture into your well greased pudding basins.  Cover each one with a doubled-up sheet of lightly greased greaseproof paper or baking parchment, making a pleat in the centre to allow for expansion whilst the pudding is steaming.  Hold the paper in place with string or an elastic band.  This year though, as you can see, I had a brainwave and thought it would be much easier to use baking parchment cake tin liners ~ I know, genius right 😄

  I use a pudding basin net to make life easier when lifting the basins in and out of the steamer, but if you haven't got one simply use string to make a handle.  Whatever you use, do be very careful when taking the puddings out of the steamer as they will be very hot!

Bring a pan of water to the boil and place the pudding, in a steamer, on top; turn the water down to a low simmer. The puddings will take 6-7 hours to steam, depending on the size of basin you use.  I steam the one pint puddings for 6 hours each, and the larger pudding for 7 hours.  I usually set my timer for one-hour-at-a-time so that I remember to watch the level of water in the pan, keeping it topped it up as necessary with boiling water from the kettle. 

This old saucepan belonged to my Grandma and I only ever use it for steaming puddings ~ each time I use it, though, I am reminded of her 😊 I've had the steamer forever; it's a tad battered these days as it was dropped on the quarry tiled kitchen floor of our old house a number of times over the years!

At the end of the steaming period, take the pudding from the steamer and remove the greaseproof paper. Leave it in the bowl, cover with a clean tea-towel and leave on one side to cool. 

When the pudding is totally cold, remove it from the basin and wrap in a fresh double sheet of greaseproof paper and then wrap tightly in cooking foil. Store the puddings in a cool, dry place.

I try to make my puddings towards the end of October/beginning of November and it's a family tradition to save one to have one at Easter.  They should keep well, with all that sugar and alcohol in them!  On occasion, though, I've been somewhat less organised and haven't made them until close-on Christmas Day ~ they still taste delicious 😋 

 When it's time to eat your yummy Christmas pud, you can either gently steam it for about 1 1/2 hours or reheat in the microwave.  I'm afraid I can't really tell you how long to heat the pudding in the microwave; it's very much a trial-and-error process as each machine seems to heat differently!  I just tend to heat ours on full in 3-4 minute bursts until it is good and hot all the way through.

 Serve your pudding with whatever your family likes best: rum or brandy butter/sauce, custard, cream, ice cream, etc.  My husband likes to have cream with his but I prefer a brandy sauce which I make very simply like custard ~ just substitute cornflour for the custard powder and add brandy to taste!

I really hope you enjoy this recipe.  You can tweak it as you wish on the proportions and varieties of dried fruit, just keep the total amount about the same.  You could have a little less fruit and add nuts.  You could also use rum instead of brandy ~ I use brandy as I'm not that keen on rum.  Make the recipe your own by using the fruit (and nuts, if you wish) that you and your family like to eat 😊

Peace...

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)