Back again

It's been a while since my last post but I have been busy finishing this.....

What do you think? My very first crocheted blanket, I'm so proud of it, I even put it in the garden for some "arty" shots.  

 It has been put to good use over the last couple of nights when we have been sat out late round the chimenea, we have all had a go with it although the boys wouldn't like that news broadcasting. I'm itching to get started with something else but I should try and get my knitted blanket finished first. Mr T says I'm very faddy, I don't know what he means!
                               I have also been busy with the garden, the veg patch is coming along nicely. It looks a lot neater than in my earlier posts.

The potatoes I planted a few weeks ago are poking through the ground now

and the broad beans are growing rapidly, must be something to do with all that chicken manure that I've got plenty of.

The twiggy shrub from an earlier post is filling out now, but the photos don't do it justice. It's tiered and each tier is covered with white flower buds just ready to explode into life.

The weather has been fantastic here lately, hope it has been where you are and you have been out in the garden enjoying the sunshine like these three.

Hope you had a lovely peaceful Easter, see you soon.

The garden

Hi, I thought I'd show you some pictures of my garden now that spring has sprung and I feel inspired to get back out there. It's looking a bit shabby at the moment after the harsh winter but shouldn't take long to spring back to life.
         It's L-shaped but not a bad size for a modern house garden. On this side it backs onto the village wildflower park. Notice that I still haven't moved that dead cordyline off the lawn. Oops caught out.

 

The pile of dead twigs in the foreground is another victim of the weather that I hacked down today. The box on the grass is my Guinea pig run that they go into on warm days.

                  This side of the garden (below) backs onto a farmers field and we can see the Cathedral in the distance. We also get the Red Arrows flying over when they are practising, it is really exciting they come in quite low and sometimes with their coloured smoke on. I will try and get a photo some time. Enough about my obsession and back to the garden.

Hopefully the climbing frame will be going this year as Little T is too big for it now and it's a pain to move when I need to mow the lawn. The two white lumps in the foreground are the chickens dust bathing in the future strawberry patch. Look how grubby they are!

In the middle of the garden is the veg patch that I put in last year. the only thing left is the red curly kale which survived the winter. At the minute there is pile of branches ready for burning at the weekend and then I can crack on and get it sorted out.

                                   

This sorry looking area below is next to the patio and is where  the Cordyline was. There a few Hostas planted in here so it will fill out soon.

In the greenhouse the Broad beans and Sweetpeas that I sowed a few weeks ago are emerging bringing promise of things to come. Today I sowed a tray of Alpine Strawberry seeds, I hope they grow ok, I haven't grown them from seed before so it will be interesting to see what happens. I planted a couple of plants last year and the fruit was delicious, they were quite productive.

The Hellebores are performing really well this year, but their heads hang down so you need to get down low to appreciate them.

(As you can see I've got the hang of the macro feature on the camera.)

          Remember the twiggy shrub from an earlier post? Well here it is now, it's starting to green up and small flower buds are forming. It seems to change every day now.

It's not as drab in the garden as it seems in the long shots, this Primula denticulata is in full flower

as is this species tulip. Aren't they a pretty colour? 

Before I go I must show you my favourite plant in the garden. It looks a bit boring doesn't it? It's a Stipa gigantia or Golden oats and it gets 6ft flower spikes on it later in the year which are backlit by the evening sun. Stunning. 

I hope you enjoyed the look round my garden I will post more pictures as the year progresses. Enjoy your own gardens.  

Chicken nuggets

Little T had a friend over for tea tonight and requested homemade chicken nuggets, so I thought I would share my recipe with you. It originally comes from my mum in law and always goes down well.
                                          
                                              Chicken nuggets

1 3/4lb minced chicken
6oz fine oats
6oz grated cheese
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
crushed cornflakes

Mix all the ingredients together and form into balls. Roll in crushed  cornflakes. This amount will make quite a lot of nuggets depending on how big you make the balls.( I find myself making them bigger and bigger each time as I love them.) Cook at 180c  on a greased baking tray for 20 mins, turning halfway.

I usually make a big batch as they freeze really well and are handy to have in. If cooking them from frozen allow 40mins.

 Give them a go you wont be disappointed, these two weren't.

New addiction

Good morning. I've got a bit a of time whilst I wait for the floors to dry to let you know about my new passion. It's crochet. My mum has been trying to teach me for years but I just couldn't do it. I've been inspired by the fabulous blogs that I visit ( see list right) to try again. I bought a magazine that included some wool ( not good to use as it turned out but okay for practising with) and settled down to try it. But again my attempts were rubbish and I got disheartened., still I don't like to give up easily. It was a good excuse to purchase more yarn so armed with 10 balls of acrylic ( a mix of Hayfields, Cygnet and Boyes own Dk) I tried again. The yarn made all the difference it was so easy to work with, and here are the fruits of my labours. 

I've made all these in a week. I can't put it down now! Do you want a closer look..

  

not bad for a newbie, do you think it looks neat? I'm following a pattern from Attic 24's blog, she has really inspired me, I also used her pattern for the jar cover below. I made that just before school pick up yesterday. 

I haven't abandoned the knitted blanket if you're wondering, I have decided to crochet 10 squares and then knit 5 squares and so on. I think the granny blanket will be finished first though as it comes on quicker, I can do a few squares a day quite easily now.

                                                     On a different note we had to chop down a Cordyline at the weekend as the bad winter weather had killed it off. It's a bit sad really because my Dad give me it as a baby plant off one of his years ago and it flowered for the first time last year. Still the birds and chickens have had fun picking all the insects out of it but I need to clear it away now.

Just time to show you my potatoes chitting in the sunroom. The varities are Belle De Fontenay and Arran Victory. I've grown the Belles for a few years now but the Arrans were new to me last year and what a revelation, they were delicious. They made fantastic mash, so a definite for me again this year. If you dont know what chitting is, its letting the potatoes shoot a little before planting out to give them a head start in life. Just put them eyes upwards in an egg box and leave somewhere light and frost free for a few weeks and they will sprout little shoots rather than those long spindly ones that occur when they are left at the back of the cupboard.

Well the floors should be dry now, and I've got to go and meet a friend so see you next time. 

Baking

I had the morning to myself yesterday as hubby had to go up north to collect Little T from his extended holiday with Grandparents. Anyway after I had caught up with the cleaning, sorting the livestock and a bit of gardening, I had the urge to try a new scone recipe that I'd had in a cafe last week, apple scones.

        I just used a rich scone recipe but added diced apple instead of raisins, and they turned out really well. 

What do you think?

If you want to have a go at making them here is the recipe:  

                                     

                                                     Apple Scones.

8oz(225g) self raising flour

pinch salt

2oz(50g) margarine

1oz(25g) caster sugar

1 egg beaten with milk to make 1/4pt(150ml) liquid

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

Heat oven to 220c and grease a baking tray.

Mix flour and salt and rub in margarine, then stir in sugar and apple.

Add the egg mix, but keep a little for glazing tops.

Mix it all together.( I needed to add more flour at this stage as it was quite sticky.) Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead gently. I didn't roll it out but instead just patted it into shape then cut out rounds and placed them on the tray.

Brush the tops with the egg mix and bake for about 10 mins.

Give them a go, they are really easy and they taste delicious.

The growing season

We (well my hubby mainly) spent most of last sunday tidying up my very untidy greenhouse ready for the new growing season. I should do it at the end of the last growing season but I can never be bothered. As soon as I opened the door to take the photo the girls decided they wanted to be in their favourite place...  

an old growbag. They have spent most of the winter scratching and dust bathing in here. But it needed to go.

 Poor old Amber looks confused with the nice clean and tidy arrangement. I wonder where they will choose next to dustbathe? No doubt it will be somewhere inappropriate.

I've been itching to get started on seed sowing but Little T and I have been away most of the week visiting parents, he is still there as he didn't want to come home with me! It's more fun at grandparents obviously. Anyway it gave me a chance to get on with some much needed gardening. So today I sowed some trays of sweetpeas. These can be sown in autumn to give earlier flowers but I prefer to do it in spring.

Now that's done I feel positively spring like. As the weather has warmed up a bit the immediate reaction is to rush out and sow all sorts of things but I err on the side of caution and leave it a while longer, as later sowings do tend to catch up.

                     I forgot to plant tulips in my old wine crates near the back door last year so I bought these sprouted ones today for 99p each, what a bargain. I transferred them to the crates, but planted them slightly deeper than they originally were and hopefully they will grow on okay.

I had to distract the girls with some melon as they thought I needed some help to get the job done properly.

Before  I go I wanted to show you this twiggy shrub ( must apologise for the bad photos, I shall have to practise). 

It's a Viburnum plicatum  "mariesii", not much to look at now but give it a few weeks and it will be stunning. Call back and I will keep you updated with it's progress. 

success

Well I have successfully finished my four needle socks and am feeling rather pleased with myself. They fit well and feel very comfy. And yes they are for my feet as my feet are that small!

Now they are finished I will have a rest from wrestling with multi needles and go back to two. I started this blanket in November, isn't it divine? 

It's made using Rowan Denim which fades and shrinks when it's washed, so I've washed the squares  separately before I sew them together to avoid colour run, it would be heartbreaking if it was ruined after all that work. 

It uses a variety of techniques including beadwork which I thought would be difficult but is actually quite easy and interesting to do. I have made 30 squares so far...

 only another 50 to go then. Better get cracking. Will keep you updated on my progress.