Stepping Into Sixty and Out Of The Comfort Zone

Welcome October

The darker days are definitely coming and October is here with the leaves coming off the trees and hedges every time the wind blows.

This week was the start of the garden clear up and the downstairs garden was definitely looking a bit straggly. I have cut back some of the perennials and pulled up some of the dead or dying annuals. I planted some daffodils and fritillaries and have some spring iris to still go into the bed.

Mia started her Master’s degree this week at Exeter University and is thoroughly enjoying playing with bones 🤣. Rather than buying food each day she is taking in snacks and therefore I made the following

Leek and goats cheese puffs.

Thinly slice a medium sized leek and a couple of garlic cloves and saute in a pan with olive oil until soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Whilst cooling mix together 2 tbsp double cream, 2 oz soft goats cheese, 1/8 tsp oregano, thyme and marjerom, salt and pepper and 1 tsp of honey.

Chop the leek mixture even finer and then add to the goat cheese mixture.

Use a pre rolled puff pastry sheet and cut into squares. I was able to make 24 squares. Place half of them on a lined baking sheet and then put about a heaped tsp of the mixture on top of them. Put the second square of pastry on top of each and place in the freezer for 10 mins.

Brush the top with milk or egg and put into a pre warmed oven at 400 ° for 15 mins.

These would make great canapés and you can cut your pastry squares even smaller or just make one larger one for a lovely lunch or light supper dish served with salad.

WARNING I am going to mention that C word….

Christmas!

Yes I am thinking ahead to the festive season and presents. As you know I love giving presents that I have made as I feel they are much more meaningful.

One thing I know I am going to make this year is bird seed suet cakes. They are super simple to make and will be delightful hung around my friends and family’s gardens.

I have also picked up my crochet hook again and am working on a baby blanket to put my little koala that I made on it.

I got the pattern from Nellas Cottage she has lots of super cute patterns on her Etsy shop.

I also got my cross stitch out that I started a few years ago and then put down and didn’t pick back up again until now. This has given me inspiration for some Christmas gifts too.

I am now looking forward to the colder and wetter days as it means I can cozy in the house and craft rather than feel I need to be out doing things in the garden.

Hygge the Scandinavian term for a feeling of coziness and well being found through little things. I feel this sums up Autumn and Winter.

I’m off to walk the dogs and then craft the day away.

Chris x

Here comes Nigel

Good morning I am waking up to yet another storm warning. Nigel is apparently coming to visit! Well I suppose he will blow even more leaves off the trees and hedges. My side hedge is becoming quite bear in places already but I suppose as soon as there are just have branches it will make it much easier to cut.

I dug up the first of my containers of potatoes this week for our September Supper Club the theme was Harvest.

I made the starter of potted mackerel with pickled cucumber and melba toast.

Recipe

50g unsalted butter melted for the top
350g smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed
150g full-fat soft cheese
1 tbsp horseradish sauce
1 tbsp chopped parsley
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Mix all the ingredients together and put it in individual or one large pot and then put the melted butter on top to seal.

Pickled cucumber

1 cucumber
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 cloves garlic sliced
Chilli flakes

Soak the sliced cucumber in boiling water to soften and then melt the sugar in the vinegar and then add everything together. Place in a screw top jar and put in the fridge.

We followed with boiled beef and carrots and seasonal vegetables and my freshly dug new potatoes and finally a cinnamon apple crumble cake and homemade custard.

I mentioned a new venture previously and can now reveal that we have now been granted a Community Interest Company status. This means we can make money as long as it is used for the good of the Community. The first project we are organising is a family music festival for next July. Whilst I have the admin and accounting background I have no musical background so will be relying on my co director who is a singer and is married to a drummer in a very popular local band to help in that area. She also has a background in sales and marketing.

It is important to surround yourself with people of different backgrounds and strengths when starting a new project and hopefully I have a good core working group.

I will keep you updated on the trials and tribulations of putting on a music festival on a shoestring budget. The first thing was to secure a venue and our local rugby club has agreed to host and is charging us a very nominal fee. So the date has been arranged and is 12th and 13th July 2024 which sounds ages away but there is so much to sort and plan and learn as this is new to all of us.

I have created a landing page for our website to have a place for people to connect with us and also a Facebook and Instagram account.

The name of the company is Tawland Events and the Festival will be Tawland Music Festival. Tawland was the name of North Tawton in the Doomsday book.

With this project underway there has been little time for crafting but as the nights draw in and the horrible weather descends I am sure I will pick up the crochet hooks again.

I will head off now before Nigel starts blowing a gale.

Chris x

I’m Back

Wow where did the Summer go!

It was a busy time which started off with me catering my friends wedding weekend. This was by far the biggest party I have prepared food for. It started with canapes, then a cold buffet for 60 and an afternoon tea the following day.

Whilst it was really stressful mainly because I wanted it to be perfect for my friend I loved the organisation, preparation and presentation.

I have not been away on holiday but we have managed a trip to the beach which I plan to do more often especially as Mia has taken up surfing so will give me more of an excuse to go. With the end of the summer more beaches are open to dogs so it will be lovely to take them for a run. We went to Black Rock Beach which is on the North Coast of Devon and is open to dogs all year round.

In the garden things are turning from the vibrant colours of summer to the sultry colours of autumn with lots of oranges, reds and yellows. The sweet peas over my arch produced flowers for nearly the entire summer season but have now been consigned to the compost heap.

It’s time to harvest and I have to say my garden was not a great producer this year. The courgette which I normally am over run with did extremely badly with just one courgette that was edible being produced the rest rotted before getting to any decent size. The peas just never really grew. I did manage to grow my tomatoes and have had a reasonable harvest from.

I have just planted coriander and garlic bulbs in my vegetable bed as I was told September is a good time to plant them. I use a lot of garlic in my cooking so it will be amazing to grow my own.

I went to a friend’s orchard last week to pick apples and made a Dutch Apple Cake, apple crumble Bronuts and a few mini apple crumbles. Most of which went into the freezer to be enjoyed later.

I looked for a recipe for the Bronuts but could not find one so made up my own.

I made a crumble topping using butter, flour and sugar and placed it in my donut moulds and then added the apple sauce on top. I then made a basic vanilla brownie mix and added that on top. The result was really good and tasted just like eating apple crumble.

The biggest news to come out of this summer is that thanks to a lovely summers night party celebrating another friends wedding, the talk turned to music festivals and how it would be lovely to resurrect the one held in our town. The result being we said yes let’s do it.

I am therefore at the moment in the process of registering a Community Interest Company to organise a music festival in July 2024. Myself and another friend are directors but there is a core group of people who are on board to make this happen. We hope to run the festival to raise a profit to be able to put on more community music, arts and crafts events and projects. Watch this space as I am now stepping way out of my comfort zone 😂

Chris x

Work In Progress

Update on hand:

It is now uncovered and generally healing well. Certain places are still a little numb and some are a little tender but most of it is good. I am now massaging all around the wounds with rosehip oil which is definitely making the skin feel more supple. I still have restricted motion in my index finger but it is definitely getting the move back.

To help with the motion of my finger I have started crocheting a new project which does not take too long for each piece as my finger begins to get tired and sore quite quickly. The actual art of crocheting is definitely helping with restoring the motion.

I found this delightful memory game that is all crocheted turtles the pattern is from Stitched by Shari and includes the mummy turtle which is used as the carrier for all the baby turtles which have a colour dot on their tummies. You make two of each colour. They are placed tummy down and then you turn two over to find the matching colours. If not the same colour you turn them back. The next person then has a go. Remembering the colours of the tummies and where they are will win the game.

I have only made two babies at present so will hopefully make more by next week and will take a photo of mine.

I have started the cake baking process for the wedding I am catering for at the end of the month. I am making batches and then freezing. I have made two batches of flapjacks so far which is vegan and gluten-free also one batch of lemon drizzle bars and have frozen without the icing and will do that once I defrost.

I am also making a vegan cherry brownie recipe which I am making with gluten-free self raising flour and when defrosted I will use not only ordinary whipped cream but plant based whipped cream to decorate and make them black forest brownies.

The garden was very happy with the rain we had this week and it did mean a few days that I did not need to water. I have been cutting back and deadheading the roses to encourage more flowers and did have to support some of my taller plants after the rain. The grass is still looking very dry and arid but at least it means I don’t have to mow!

I realise I have taken very few photos this week, mainly because I have so many unfinished things on the go. Next week I will do better, on many fronts I am a work in progress 😊

Chris x

Enjoy the Little Things

The hand is a little lighter due to less bandages and the stitches are now out. The back of my hand still needs to remain covered until the skin has a chance to knit together but all in all it is so much better and the best thing is I can drive again.

On Tuesday evening we had our June Supper Club evening and this month the theme was Portuguese. We started with a prawn, chorizo and butter bean dish with crusty bread. That was followed with an amazing fish stew. We had Mateus Rosé to drink which is a very well known Portuguese wine. For dessert I made Pastéis de nata or Portuguese Custard Tarts. I have never made them before but I will definitely make them again as they were extremely delicious. We had a glass of Port to go with them.

The conversation ranged from light hearted to heavy debate. Our next theme will be Indian cuisine. Now who doesn’t love a good curry but we all agreed that dishes can be spicy but not overly hot. I am thinking I will do a couple of vegetable side dishes and make mango lassi.

We have a hosepipe ban here in Devon which is making hydrating my garden a long chore of filling up the watering cans to water all my fruit and vegetables as well as my planters and pots.

The Rhubarb I bought back in the Spring is definitely taking longer to establish despite continued watering. I’m still waiting for flowers to appear on my potatoes and the courgette is very slow. The tomatoes are now beginning to flower and are probably looking the best of my vegetables at present.

The sweet peas are now at the point of picking a small handful each morning to keep the continuous growth. I now have a posy of them constantly on my kitchen island where they sit in one of the tins with the crocheted Stylecraft garden party tin covers from last year.

Last night as Georgina was working Mia and I tried a different tofu dish. I had marinated it all day in a mixture of oyster sauce, sweet chill sauce, sesame oil and some miso paste. I then popped the blocks into the air fryer for around 10 mins and then topped it with the last of the marinade and gave it another 10 mins. I served it on top of sticky rice and sprinkled chopped spring onions and toasted black sesame seeds on top. We also drizzled extra soy sauce on the rice.

We actually ate outside as the evening was very pleasant, hence the very strangely lit photo 😜

July is nearly here, I cannot believe how quickly the months go and it’s going to be a really busy month so I have a feeling it is going to seem to go even faster. I need to remember to take time out to just sit and enjoy my life and where I live.

Whatever you are up to this week remember to take time to just be in the moment and enjoy being alive.

Chris x

Ouch!

So let me start by saying I am a little one handed this week as unfortunately I got bitten by a dog on the back of my hand. I stupidly put my hand in-between two adolescent entire males, one who was grumbling at the other. I thought to diffuse the situation by moving the non-grumbly one away with my hand and restraining the grumbling one. Unfortunately it mistook me touching it as an attack from the other dog and retaliated on my hand 😪

So after an afternoon spent at A&E and then plastics I got the all clear that there was no major damage to ligaments or tendons and was stitched and bandaged up.

I have had it checked since and there is no infection so stitches come out next week and the bandage has been reduced in size.

I have ordered some rose hip oil so that I can start massaging the area as soon as the stitches are out to help prevent too much scar damage. I must also remember that I use a high factor sun cream on the back of my hand as the new skin growth will be much more susceptible to the sun and will burn easily.

Luckily before this happened I had made my nephew’s birthday card. A pop up design that was all about the folding of the inside. I found a video on Pinterest

Obviously with only one working hand I have not been able to cook that well so Mia has been helping out and last night made a delicious air fried silken tofu in a miso noodle soup. It’s the first time we have tried doing the tofu in the air fryer and whilst it was very tasty, we both agreed that the outer tofu should be crispier. We will be experimenting and when we crack it I will let you know.

With the elderflowers in full bloom, my garden smells amazing at the moment thanks to them. So time to make my elderflower champagne. I still have a few bottles left from last year’s batch. This year I have just made 10 bottles without using champagne yeast and I think I will make another batch this week using yeast to see if there is any difference in flavour.

I will leave you with a photo of my beautiful climbing rose that only looks this good for a couple of weeks but is magnificent and smells amazing.

Until next week.

Chris x

She’s Home!

Yes I missed last week’s post but just had too much happening on Sunday and the rest of the week ran away from me.

I had to help Mia move out of her flat that has been her home for the last two years. We did one collection on the previous Tues and Georgina came too so we had lunch out, packed up the car with the first load and then I went down on the Sunday to do the final load and bring Mia home.

Now she just has to wait for most of her results and will go back to do one final exam in August. Then fingers crossed she will start her Master’s in Forensic Anthropology at Exeter Uni in September.

On my last blog I told you I was taking the littlies for a walk along the East Okement River. Well it was such a beautiful walk, all under the canopy of trees and therefore protected from the rather hot sun.

Also the previous week we had our Supper Club and it was quite the glorious event I had hoped it would be when I started this Club. Our theme was rainbows and the array of colourful food did not disappoint. I made my rainbow meringues and I have to say they turned out better than the previous batch.

Our next theme is Portuguese so I think I will have a go at making Portuguese Custard Tarts (pastéis de nata) I have always wanted to try making them and this was the whole point of starting the Supper Club.

With all this hot weather we have been having I have had to water a lot of my pots and planters and even some of my newly established plants in the ground in order to keep them alive. I now have all my tomatoes in their growing containers and the courgette is beginning to look a little healthier than it did. The roses are all bursting into bud and I have been able to have a steady flow of them cut for my kitchen island display.

On Friday night we re-introduced the Cocktail night. It tends to be the only evening of the week we are all able to eat together due to work or activities on other evening. This week we had Strawberry Daiquiri’s due to the fact we had some Strawberries that needed eating before they started going off.

I placed the strawberries and a good handful of crushed ice in my blender and blitzed it. Then combined it with white rum and sugar syrup. That’s it, extremely simple to make and taste like summer.

I need to head off now as I have Dora the Explorer (Dachshund) being collected by her owners soon as she has been enjoying a stay with us while her owners have been away.

Have a good week and remember the sun screen 🔆😊

Chris x

Lots of good smells!

We are nearly at the end of May, how has that happened? It seems to have gone so quickly and we have had a beautiful month with sunshine throughout a lot of it, which has been brilliant for the garden.

This week I made a little mushroom ornament for decorating one of my flower beds, it took very little time to make, the longest part was waiting for the paint to dry. I used a terracotta flower pot and 3 different sized pot saucers and painted them inside and out. Once dry I used gorilla glue to join them together and once set painted little spots on my mushroom top.

When I am in my garden early in the morning and late evening I can really smell my beautiful honeysuckle which is looking the best it has since I moved here.

It’s that time of year where sitting out on the patio in the evening having a drink with friends is upon us and it’s nice to have a few canapes to tide you over till dinner and soak up the alcohol 😉

I made these cute little soft garlic cheese mini tarts for Friday evening drinks. So simple to make all you need is a sheet of puff pastry, packet of Boursin and cherry tomatoes and I just decorated with some basil from my garden.

I found a recipe for brioche rolls this week and was really happy with the results as they are not so sweet and crumbly as most of the rolls I have found. The smell of freshly baked bread is so inviting 😋

I am planning to go for a new walk today with the littlies along the East Okement River, definitely will need to put on the sunscreen and take a hat. I will post photos next week.

Until next week enjoy your Bank Holiday.

Chris x

Downstairs Garden Project

This week has definitely been a get outdoors week with the better weather with us but with the UK you never know for how long, so you have to get things done asap!

The garden is coming along nicely despite the slugs which seem really bad at the moment, probably due to the fresh young shoots and heavy dew. I may have lost one of my courgettes despite having lots of egg shells around it, only time will tell if I get any new shoots off of it

I have potted on two of my largest tomatoes into their forever pots whilst the others play catch up.

Last year I created the downstairs garden flower bed which is really taking shape this year as the plants establish themselves. This year it’s the turn of the sloped bed which had been over run by mint and weeds. Also there was a dead ceanothus that needed taking out. I forgot to take a before image but did remember before going too far

The slopped garden already has a couple of well established shrubs in it so it was more about clearing the dead stuff and then I will under plant and maybe included one more statement plant where I removed the ceanothus but have not decided what it should be. I have cleared it all and made tiers to make it easier to maintain.

I had a trip out to a new garden centre this week which has just opened its newly built building and managed to get a few plants but not all the ones I had been hoping to get. They do have a lovely cafe and an amazing terrace with a view. So I had to try it out and had a delicious mocha cortardo.

The venue where I do my dog training lessons had a new baby born at the end of last week and I got to see him this week with his mum in the field behind the indoor school. How cute 🥰

Now it’s not all about work in my garden and now we have some good weather I need a good book or two to read outside. I have just got two murder mystery books written by Janice Hallett and I will let you know what I think about them. I am reading The Appeal first.

In the kitchen because it’s been nice I want things that are quick and light. I made a nice roasted vegetable frittata using veggies I had left in my fridge and crumbled some feta into it for a salty tang.

My favourite meal this week was a meal for one last night as my daughter was working and I had done four classes back to back and did not fancy spending much time in the kitchen but wanted something tasty. I had some halloumi and knew I had a tin of chickpeas so I created this salad.

Chickpea and Halloumi Salad (serves 1)

1/2 small onion chopped
1/4 drained can of chickpeas
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 pack of Halloumi
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 brioche wrap
4 to 5 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 ” of cucumber diced
1/2 small gem lettuce shredded

Melt the butter with the oil and add the onion and cook till soft, then add the chickpeas and continue cooking over a medium heat till everything starts to colour. Sprinkle the garam masala over and mix in and then add the agave syrup and continue cooking. Add the halloumi to the pan and brown each side.

Meanwhile place the rest of the salad stuff in a bowl and quarter the wrap and either crisp up in an air fryer for a few mins or this can be done in the microwave or oven.

Place the chickpeas and onions on top of the salad and then the halloumi and serve with the crispy wrap on the side.

It is exam time for school, colleges and Universities and Mia is hard at work revising for her two final exams and finishing her poster for her presentation. She will then have finished her three years at Plymouth University. It has gone so quickly. Next Sunday I will go and collect a good percentage of things from her flat and just leave her with enough to spend her final week and also take the hoover down so she can clean it before handing back the keys after two years of living there. She will then be back living at home whilst she undertakes her Master’s at Exeter.

I’m off to enjoy more of this good weather.

Chris x

Gardeners Joy

Last week I told you I was hoping to get out into the garden and I did just that after a little visit to the garden centre 😆

My favourite thing is making up my summer baskets and pots. This year I have my pallet planters to fill as well. I still have things on my window sill in the conservatory to eventually pop into my planters too but for now they are looking good. I actually have put two courgettes in the bottom gap of one of the planters so they can spill out. Unfortunately the slugs got to one of them before I put egg shells around them, fingers crossed it survives 🤞

I have earthed up my potatoes and potted on my tomatoes into larger pots. I have also done another sowing of lettuce as determined to have home grown lettuce throughout the summer.

Not every day this week was nice enough to spend time out in the garden but when it was the dogs enjoyed laying out in it too!

On the days I spent inside I have been rekindling my enjoyment of making cord bracelets and here is the more complicated one I made this week.

In the kitchen it’s been more Mediterranean cooking The first was a Greek Lamb and Orzo dish

Lamb Orzo Stew (Youvetsi)
Cubed lamb I used 2 lamb steaks
Olive oil
1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced
Cup of red wine
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup orzo
1/4 chopped parsley
Feta cheese for garnish

Brown lamb in olive oil and remove from pan whilst cooking onion and garlic till soft. Return lamb to pan and add the herbs and spices and coat the meat and onions before adding the wine and tomatoes and a cup of water, bring to boil before reducing heat to a simmer and cover and cook for about 30 mins. Add the orzo and continue cooking for a further 15 mins or until orzo soft and most of the liquid absorbed. Garnish with parsley and feta.

The second was a wonderful sounding dish called Eggs in Purgatory

Eggs in Purgatory
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, lightly crushed and peeled
pinch red pepper flakes
1 red bell pepper coarsely chopped
Frozen spinach (I used a couple of handfuls)
salt
1 can chopped tomatoes
4 large eggs
5-8 fresh basil leaves, torn
3-4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano

Cook the onion, garlic, spinach and red pepper in oil until soft. Then add the tinned tomatoes and season. Continue cooking for a further 10 mins until mixture starts to thicken. Make four wells in mixture and add the eggs and then cover to enable the eggs to poach. This should take about 4 to 5 mins depending on whether you like your egg runny. Garnish with basil and cheese. I served with roasted garlic focaccia. The recipe for the foccccia can be found on The Mediterranean Dish

Eggs in Purgatory and Roasted Garlic Focaccia Bread

Yesterday was a glorious day and I cleaned off my bistro set after getting it out of its Winter hibernation and was able to have my morning coffee out in the garden.

I am loving my Pasqueflower heads in my gravel garden not only are the flowers beautiful but I think the seed heads are even more so 😍

So I’m off to do a lead walking class this morning and hoping the fog will burn off by the time I get home so I can finish off weeding my pathway.

Until next time I hope the sun is shining on you.