Saturday 11 January 2014

What More Could A Girl Ask For ... Fresh Air And Sunshine!


Hello there ...
what a lovely day we have had ... I do hope you have had a bit of sunshine in your little bit of the world.

Cheers a Girl up no end!

On such a Spring like day ... 
a Girls thoughts turn to her garden....



I reached it down from the shelf ... my special tin ... my seed tin ....
just to have a see what's in there ... just to kinda plan .. and daydream a bit...

Not that I can plant much just yet ... 
not being as organised as some lucky people with their heated propagators and nice warm glasshouses ... 
Oh a Girl can dream....



But I found a packet of Cress languishing at the bottom of the tin ... that will do ... it will curb the urge to plant and grow ..,
it gives a bit of fresh green stuff in no time at all ...
and its just nice to see something growing.
I didn't even need to find any compost ... just sprinkled it on a bi of damp kitchen paper ... and sat it on the windowsill.

My Christmas flowers have given up the ghost ... not bad they lasted almost three weeks in this hot room.

So as Hubby P said ... 'you've had your annual flowers ... its back to the weeds .. I see' ... and they say romance is dead!



He was commenting on the rather fetching arrangement of seasonal greenery ... or rather what I could find in the garden that didn't look dank and half dead.



It looks quite pretty with the sun on it ...
 nice and fresh and zingy green.

I spent a pleasant couple of hours sectors in hand ... and filled the green (garden waste) wheelie bin with some rather nasty .. sharp..
half dead roses ...  and I thinned the gooseberry bushes.


Not very glamorous but it had to be done.

I needed to clear and trim the shrubs away from up against this fence ... its a very old fence .. and the recent winds have done their worst with it.
Its about had it I'm afraid ... it will be used as firewood .. and keep us warm for a night or two.



The fence sits atop the wall between us and next door ... we have a lovely family next door ... its not as if we want to shut them out... but the fence was put up many many years ago when their boys were small ... and we had bouncy .. energetic dogs.


We found two little boys ... lots and lots of footballs .. and noisy dogs ... was not a good mix.
We spent a good amount of our days finding footballs lodged in the greenery of the garden and returning them over the wall...
to little shouts of 'thank youuuu'!

Not that I minded in the least we have four boys of our own ...
and children have to play .... but a fence made sense .. and made life easier.


But now sadly we have no dogs barking over the wall .. and the little boys are big boys and have other fish to fry ... football has turned into other more grown up pursuits.

So down it all comes ...
its not a very wide garden bed .. I shall just plant a few more shrubs and turn it into more of a hedge. It will give our friend next door a bit of privacy and something pretty to look at.

So all this fresh air ... what shall I feed a hungry man...


Well I rooted about in the freezer and found a very small pack of scrappy looking lamb chops ... obviously I had hotpot in mind when I bagged them up.
So I put them in the bottom of the much used roasting tin ..
pulled out what veg I had left and chopped it (I had some carrots .. a leek from the garden ... butternut squash .. swede and a little cabbage) ... put the mixed chopped veg on top of the chops .. added 2 oxo's and a spoonful of mint sauce (some water). I sliced some potatoes and layered them on top.
Pan/tin lid on and in the oven very..very low for a couple of hours.
I switched the oven up for the last hour (whilst we were out packing the van) ... took the lid off on our return and let the top brown/crisp up 
By the time we had coats off .. fire stoked and hands washed ..it was all ready. 

And very nice it was too.

I must just say .... that the butternut squash and cabbage I have were bought before Christmas from Approved Food ... I bought two of each. Just as an experiment really .. I've not had fresh food from them before. 
It was one way of me bringing the weight up (to get my moneys worth) ... buying something I would use ..yet keeping the overall cost low.
And they have lasted ... they are still good to use ...I will buy fresh again.
So what have you been up to today ... did you get the sun on your face?

xxx 








13 comments:

  1. I have done exactly what you have done today with the seeds i have got left from last year , i am planning something on my spare bedroom window to start the seeds of that you can plant in January indoors , exciting times xxx

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  2. a hot pot is something I have never made, it sounds perfect for us! I enjoy my visit here so ch and I can't wait to pop over as soon as I see you on my list!!!

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  3. How busy have you been? Other than walking dogs we've had a day in. The ground is just so muddy, when it dries we'll get our little rotavator out and go over the veg patch to get it ready for Spring x

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  4. A lovely productive day in the fresh air and hotpot for tea, what more do you need :)

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  5. Oh, no sun here...snow yesterday and rain and fog today. Not a thing outside that could go into a vase!....
    The hot pot sounds lovely..pizza tonight for dinner (home made)...will root through the freezer and fridge to see what is there...
    Cutting up some old pajamas to make into a quilt or 2...grandchildren sre outgrowing their cot quilts! I really love the quilts made from old fabrics rather than new. And then love to embellish them with embroidery/redwork...no snow drops, too early to plant seeds..off to mark the seed catalogs and order!

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  6. We walked down on the beach, by calm water and in beautiful sunshine. A real tonic after the storms and grey clouds.

    I do like your foliage arrangement. Just as nice as flowers and it brings a bit of a winter garden indoors.

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  7. I took my daughter to Llandudno today as I had a Christmas gift jumper to return to M&S.. had a face-numbing walk along the prom..gosh it was cold especially with the sea breeze, but fab to see some sun at last. On returning I thought about pruning my roses but was too knackered. I'll have a go tomorrow..there are buds on the magnolia and snowdrops are forming..longing for spring now.Soon be time to plant those tomato seeds :-)

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  8. The hotpot looks scrummy! I'm a big fan of one pot meals, ready when you are tired and a real belly warmer, best of all, less washing-up! I would really recommend a propagator, I've had 2 small ones for donkey's years and they have really earned their money, so I will be starting off some of my seeds next week. Yes, you are right, the sunshine does make a huge difference!
    Jak x

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  9. Fresh air, sunshine and a tasty lamb hotpot....perfect day!

    Sunday morning and its white over with frost here in Yorkshire..a quick trip to the oldies and then a bit of patchwork for me today.

    Hope your trading goes well today. Xx

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  10. A very good days' work there. My day was spent shopping, cooking and chores generally as I my workplace is now further away and I don't have use of the car during the week, so had to play catch up yesterday. Not so nice here either today, but nice roast chicken for dinner tonight. Your post has prompted me to grow some cress too, I had a packet lurking in the kitchen cupboard. X

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  11. The sun shone here yesterday too and so I managed to get out into the garden. I popped a large bucket over one of the rhubarb crowns to force it a bit. I pulled out the last of the broad bean plants - I left them in in an effort to get the nitrogen into the soil and tidied the bushes along the front driveway.

    I had a smile at your photos - we brought some chimney pots - the twins to the ones you have there - down here from Anglesey a good few years ago!

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  12. Once again, a lovely meal made from what you had available. Looks delicious. We had dropped scones with jam for tea today. Recipe out of my tatty old Bero book. Cost virtually nothing. I said to my husband "How much would they have cost in Betty's in Harrogate,then? " "Nothing, cos we wouldn't be going in there, " came the reply! Ha ha. I could have made the Welsh griddle cakes [on the same page. ]
    But hadn't got any currants. Must get some now I've thought about it.

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  13. No sunshine out here, only wind and rain. Quite normal for January but not pleasant. No lovely greenery in my yard so I bought a few houseplants ( on sale of course) and a pot of daffodils that are just starting to open. Reading your tale of the bed collapsing reminded me of my bed, growing up, which also had the bad habit of collapsing just the same way!!

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